A/N: Quick little one-shot distraction. Got the mental image in my head and couldn't shake it.
As always, the boys belong to Kazuya Minekura.
Well, it all started out badly...
So, we showed up at this little town. Spent the night at this awesome inn that served the best food. I mean it! You should have seen how high they piled stuff on the plates! Man, they has some special spices rubbed on the fish that were just-...
Ah, man, I'm getting off-topic here...
Anyway, we pack up and start out. The town is built in a little valley in the middle of a canyon. So, of course, the only way out is through a narrow canyon road, just big enough for the jeep to fit through.
And, go fig, one of Kougaiji's lousy assassins comes after us. After causing a landslide to block our path.
The assassin was pretty damn weak. Gojyo took him out in thirty-four seconds. (I timed him cause I was bored.) Sanzo was really mad that we couldn't get through and Hakkai said it would take weeks, maybe months to backtrack and go around. Well, luckily, the people of the village deal with this kind of thing all the time, so when we went back to report the damage, they said they'd have in cleaned up in a matter of days. We decided to wait it out.
I didn't mind a bit.
Sanzo, however, was not happy about sitting around, doing nothing. I spent out first day there trying to cheer him up. There was a little kitchen in the suite we were staying at. (They gave us a nice place to stay cause we were stranded.) Anyway, I had Hakkai help me bake some cookies. Cookies are always good to cheer someone else up with, I thought. ...well, they always make me happy, anyway.
"What's this?" Sanzo asked me when I offered him one. I told him and he frowned.
"I don't like sweet things."
"But Sanzo! I made them myself!"
"Then I definitely don't want one. Who knows what you put in them?"
"But... but... Hakkai helped, so they can't be that bad!"
"No. Now get lost."
Man, did he really have to be such a jerk about it? I only wanted to make him feel better...
That night, I decided I should try again. I had no real plan. I was just gonna go talk to him.
That didn't work, either. He gave me a dirty look when I came in and told me to go away and give him some peace for once, dammit!
I got out of there fast. Good thing, too, as I heard something slam into the door as soon as it clicked shut. Yeah, Sanzo was grouchy more often than not, but he seemed really bad lately. I couldn't figure out why.
I was really bummed out, so I went out onto the balcony and sat on the rail, dangling my feet over the edge. It was pretty high up, but I didn't mind being up high. Gojyo one time said that it was because monkeys loved climbing trees. I slugged him in the nose for that one.
I sat kicking my feet. I needed something to keep my mind off stuff. It was getting late, so the kitchens were probably closed. I could have gone down and tried to mooch some leftovers. But what if Sanzo found out? He wouldn't like me pestering the cooks, and I didn't want him to be even more mad at me.
There was nothing to do. I couldn't start a card game with Gojyo. He'd gone out a couple hours ago to check out the local taverns. And I really didn't want to bug Hakkai. (I don't like playing cards with him, anyway. He always wins by pure dumb luck! It really isn't fair!)
I heard the door to the balcony open and someone step out. They came up beside me and leaned against the rail. It was Hakkai.
"Are you okay?" he asked me.
"I guess. Just really bored. And Sanzo's mad at me again," I replied, sighing.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that," he said, looking off into the distance, "He's just stressed out over the whole situation. He doesn't like this waiting."
"I guess that makes sense..."
"Hmm... Well, would you like to help me with something? It may get your mind off of things for a while."
Hakkai was smiling at me. One of his bright, genuine ones. When you've been around Hakkai as long as me and Sanzo and Gojyo have, you notice differences in the way he smiles. Most of the time, it was, well, mostly a mask. Smiling just to hide what he's really thinking. His true smiles were actually pretty rare. Well, Gojyo insists that they aren't, but he hangs around him more than I do.
But, hey, something to do! I agreed, smiling back.
Hakkai explained that he'd decided to try a new hobby.
"All you need to do is sit on that chair. Please try to sit as still as possible."
I nodded, taking a seat on the stool. Hakuryuu was curled up on the bed. He looked at me, yawned and went back to sleep.
Hakkai was digging stuff out of his pack. He pulled out a book and a small case. He sat across from me and opened the case. He grabbed a pencil, shut the case and set it aside.
"What's that for?" I asked. He smiled at me. It was a mix between his genuine smile and his sad smile. The one he always had when talking or thinking about his past. Wasn't one of my favorites. I squirmed in my seat. I didn't mean to make him sad! I didn't like seeing Hakkai sad.
"I've recently decided to try my hand at drawing," Hakkai replied simply.
"Really? Wow!" That was about the last thing I expected.
"I'm not very good, I'm afraid, but I do find it relaxing."
"What made you want to try that?" I wondered aloud.
"Kanan always told me that she admired my hands." Hakkai looked down at his hands as he said this, the smile becoming sadder. "She told me a few times that they were the hands of an artist, and, well..." he trailed off and shrugged.
"You thought you'd give it a go?" I suggested.
"Exactly." The sadness in his smile disappeared and that beautiful true smile was back. I smiled back, relieved that I hadn't made him depressed after all.
"I haven't tried to draw any people yet, so I apologize if it looks terrible."
"I'm sure it'll look good!"
Hakkai smiled and told me to sit still. I did as I was told. It wasn't easy, but I started to concentrate on his hands. He really did have nice hands. His fingers were long and graceful. His eyes flashed up at me and back down at the paper over and over.
He seemed so sure, so confident with himself. He looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. If I didn't know better, I'd think he'd been drawing for years. That wouldn't surprise me. Hakkai is very talented. Sometimes I don't think there's anything he can't do.
My thoughts suddenly turned to Sanzo. I felt the same way about him, I realized. Sanzo could do pretty much anything, too. But, for some reason, as much as I admired and cared about Sanzo, I always felt... better around Hakkai. I guess that's cause he's easier to talk to and he doesn't hit me when I say something he thinks is stupid.
"Thank you, Goku," he finally said, "I'm finished. You can go now, if you'd like."
"Can I see?" I asked. He looked down, pulling the book to his chest.
"It's not very good."
"Oh, come on!" I went over and bounced in place behind his chair. "Please? Please?"
"If you insist," Hakkai said with a laugh. He moved the book away from his chest so I could see. I looked at it for a few seconds in silence.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked. I could tell he was concerned about what I would say.
It wasn't bad. Definitely not drawn by a pro, but it was still good.
"I really like it!"
"Thank you. Would you like to keep it?"
"Can I really? Yeah!"
Hakkai carefully tore the page out of the book and handed it to me. I held it out and admired it.
"Thanks! I really really like it!"
"You're very welcome, Goku," he said giving me a smile.
That night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I realized that it was a smile that I'd never seen before. I didn't know what it meant, but I promised myself that one day, I would find out.