"Hakkai? What is everyone so upset about?"
Hakkai had come over to the monastery to visit Sanzo and give Goku a reading lesson. They were in the middle of reading a book about a boy and his dog when Goku's attention was pulled away from the book by all the noise in the hall from the other monks. Scrambling up from his seat on the floor, Goku went to the windows and pushed them open. Loud voices could be heard in the courtyard, many of the voices sounding mad.
"I believe they don't approve of what will happen tomorrow night. It is October 31st tomorrow, Goku." Bookmarking the page they were on, Hakkai set the book aside and waited for the barrage of questions sure to come.
"What's the big deal about the date? Huh? What happens? Is it bad?" Goku's voice lost some of it's excitement. "Is it gonna snow?"
Standing up, Hakkai went over to the window and put his arm around Goku's slim shoulders. "No, it's not going to snow." Hakkai pointed out the window. "Do you see all the decorations in town? There's carved pumpkins, scarecrows and even some funny ghosts in the villager's yards." Goku nodded but he was still confused on what was going to happen. "Tomorrow night is Halloween."
"Halloween? What's that?"
Smiling down at the child, Hakkai started to explain, warming to the subject quickly. "It's a Western custom that has made it's way here to Shangra-La. Many, many years ago, people would dress up to ward off evil spirits, thinking that by masquerading themselves, the evil spirits wouldn't recognize them and leave them alone. Nowadays, Halloween is something that children celebrate…and some adults." Goku looked more confused than ever at Hakkai's explanation.
"Tch. You have to use smaller words with the monkey here." Sanzo looked up from his newspaper, a smirk on his handsome face. Turning away from the window, Goku stuck his tongue out at Sanzo.
Continuing with his explanation, Hakkai ignored Sanzo. "Children dress up in costumes and go door to door for treats. They knock on the door and when it's opened, they yell 'Trick or Treat' and they usually get candy."
"Sanzo!"
"No."
"Sanzo!" Goku whined out Sanzo's name. "Come on! Let's go! I've been really good lately."
"What part of no don't you understand? I'm not taking you around town just so you can go begging for candy!" Sanzo went back to reading his newspaper. "I'm done talking about it."
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sanzo stood looking at Hakkai, the muscle above his left eye twitching in agitation. He didn't know how it happened but Hakkai had somehow talked Sanzo into taking Goku around the town for this "Halloween" shit. As much as he hated to admit it, Gojyo was right. There was just no way of winning an argument with Hakkai. The man talked circles around Sanzo and the next thing he knew, Sanzo had agreed on taking Goku around town for one hour for trick or treating.
Goku came bounding in Sanzo's office, wearing a pair of jeans and his shoes. Suddenly, it was hard for Sanzo to breathe. All that skin on Goku's bare chest, muscles beginning to form on his growing body, shoulders wider than Sanzo remembered. Then, Goku turned around. Oh fuck, oh fuck. Sanzo tried to avert his eyes but he just couldn't look away. The next time they went into town, Goku needed bigger pants. The faded denim hugged Goku's ass and firm thighs. Purple eyes fluttered shut as Sanzo tried to block out the image of twin dimples on Goku's back, just above the waistband of the jeans. Dimples that were the perfect size for a tongue to dip into.
"Sanzo! Look!" Goku wiggled his bottom, making Sanzo's face flush with heat. The monkey had a fucking tail and Goku was twisting this way and that way, making the tail swish over the curves of Goku's ass.
"Stop that! Just fucking stop it!" Covering his eyes, Sanzo grit his teeth. Hakkai was dead. Dead for suggesting this stupid outing, dead for dressing Goku up in whatever the hell he was supposed to be and dead because Hakkai got Sanzo to agree to this damn idea in the first place.
The door opened to Sanzo's office and in came Gojyo and Hakkai. Those idiots were dressed up too! Staring at Gojyo, Sanzo couldn't figure out just what the hell the kappa was supposed to be. White billowy shirt open to his bellybutton, skin tight black pants, thigh high boots and a red scarf wrapped around his waist. Hanging from the red scarf was a plastic sword. Merciful Goddess, that asshole was a fucking pirate! This night couldn't get any worse. At least that's what Sanzo tried telling himself as he looked over Hakkai's outfit.
A black tank top covered his chest and scar but left about three inches of skin between the bottom of the shirt and the top of the tiny black shorts. Skin tight shorts that left little to the imagination barely covered Hakkai's bottom and on his feet…Well, Sanzo didn't know what the hell were on his feet. If he didn't know better, Sanzo would say Hakkai had shoes that looked like paws. Hakkai turned around to shut the door and like Goku, he had a tail too. It was different than Goku's tail. Goku's tail was bushy, like a dog's tail and Hakkai's tail was sleek and black, like a…
"What the fuck, Hakkai?" Smiling at Sanzo, Hakkai put on the ears. Cat ears, to be exact. "This is a nightmare, isn't it? I'm asleep in my bed and the three of you have gone insane and I'm having a nightmare." Sanzo detested cats. Maybe detest was too nice of a word. He hated the fucking things.
"Goku? Come here please. I need to paint your spots on your chest and back." Hakkai pulled up one of the chairs in Sanzo's office and sat down, a small bowl and paint brush in his hands. Bounding over to Hakkai, Goku grinned at Gojyo, who promptly gave the young man a thumb's up. "Where are your ears?"
"I left them in my room. Want me to get them?"
"No, that's fine. Gojyo, if you would, please fetch Goku's ears."
Pushing himself off the wall he was leaning on, Gojyo left Sanzo's office, returning a few minutes later with a pair of brown ears attached to a headband. After hitting Goku on the top of his messy brown hair with the ears, Gojyo put them on Goku's head. A huge grin split Goku's face as he looked to Sanzo for approval but Sanzo only frowned harder at the three of them.
"Why do I smell chocolate?" Sanzo lit a cigarette as he sat down behind his desk.
"I'm sorry, Sanzo. It was the only thing I could think of to put on Goku that wouldn't irritate his skin." Hakkai stopped painting spots on Goku. "It comes right off in the bath, don't worry."
Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Sanzo sniffed the air again. "What is it?" He practically growled the words out.
"Body paint." Gojyo smirked at Sanzo. "Lickable, edible body paint." Sanzo's head dropped to the desk in frustration. He was going to kill them, bury their bodies in the woods and pretend he never heard of people named Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo and Son Goku.
Hakkai finished painting spots on Goku and after telling him not to lick the spots off, handed Goku a bag decorated with pumpkins, ghosts and skeletons. Thankfully, Goku was the only one with a bag and soon, the little group was off into the twilight, ready for their adventure.
"Where's your costume, Sanzo?" His eyelid twitched again as Gojyo asked the question, drawing his title out in that irritating way of his.
"I'm wearing it."
"Then what are you supposed to be?" Hakkai asked that while he guided Goku to the first house, falling in line with some children that were already there.
"I'm dressed as a fucking idiot that went along on this shitty plan of yours."
Hakkai blinked at Sanzo's blunt answer. "Oh, well…You look nice, then." There was that stupid smile of Hakkai's again. That smile that said he could see right through to your brain and see what you were really thinking. That fucking smile that said he knew you were watching the way Goku laughed as he received his first candy of the night and how it made your heart melt a bit as you watched pure happiness dance across his face.
A strange scent wafted under Sanzo's nose. It was a scent of the past, his past. The scent of Koumyou Sanzo's pipe tobacco. That was odd. Sanzo had never smelt tobacco quite like it after Koumyou had been killed. Spinning around, Sanzo searched the people behind them to see if he could see who was smoking a pipe. There was no one smoking a pipe.
"Sanzo! Hurry up!" Not realizing that he had stopped, Sanzo started walking again, Goku's chattering buzzing in his head. Gojyo and Hakkai were walking behind Goku, keeping an eye on him, Hakkai reminding him from time to time to say thank you when he received candy. The scent was gone as quickly as it had come.
Three children in sheets screamed in mock terror as Goku barked at them. "Wan! Wan, wan, wan!!" Goku's giggle reached Sanzo's ears, along with a delighted chuckle. Stopping again, Sanzo felt his blood run cold as he recognized that chuckle. No, there was no way it was him. He died years ago, damn it! The dead don't come back to life! Spinning around again, Sanzo searched the crowd.
No blonde head with graying hair, no Sanzo robes and no familiar face. This was insane. Koumyou Sanzo was dead, damn it and whoever was playing these fucking games would pay. His fingers crawled into the hidden pockets of his robes and found the cold steel of his gun. Hakkai turned back when he realized that Sanzo was far behind them.
"Sanzo? Are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost."
"I'm fine. Let's just get this damn thing over with and go home." Wiping cold, greasy sweat from his face, Sanzo wouldn't look Hakkai in the face for fear that Hakkai would see just how uneasy and frightened Sanzo was. Nodding, Hakkai went back up to where Goku and Gojyo were, whispering something in Gojyo's ear. The redhead nodded and looked back at Sanzo, a slight frown of concern on his face. Sanzo sneered at Gojyo, making Gojyo roll his eyes.
By the time they had gotten back to the temple, Goku had a full bag of candy, Hakkai and Gojyo could barely keep their hands off of each other and Sanzo was almost sick with fear. Four more times he smelled the unique tobacco, twice he heard Koumyou's distinctive chuckle and once, he even thought he heard the whispered name, Kouryuu. Kicking Hakkai and Gojyo back to their home, Sanzo put Goku in the shower and went into his bedroom. Changing into his night clothes, Sanzo dug out his smokes. His hands shook as he lit a cigarette as he sat by the window. Just what the hell was all that tonight? Smelling Koumyou's tobacco, hearing his voice whispering his old name? Were there such things as ghosts?
Goku finished his shower and after begging a bit, ate a little of the candy he had collected. Belly full of sweets, Goku was crashing quickly. Sanzo snuffed out the cigarette and tossed the butt out the window.
"Sanzo, can I sleep with you tonight?" Goku couldn't hold back the huge yawn that threatened to consume his face.
"No, sleep in your own damn bed." Crawling under the covers, Sanzo put his back to Goku. Silence in the room for a few minutes and then, Sanzo felt the covers moving as Goku slid into bed next to him. He would die before admitting that he'd gotten used to Goku's body laying next to his and Sanzo knew he needed the comfort tonight. Fingers began to thread through the ends of Sanzo's hair and to his dismay, he began to relax from the sensation. His last thought before drifting off to sleep, was if to wonder if Goku did this every night while he slept.
The night deepened and a figure stepped out of the darkness surrounding the temple. Long black hair framed a beautiful face as the woman stopped by the man in the robes that stood watching an open window.
"He hasn't changed much and yet he's a totally different person." The man took the pipe from between his lips and blew out a cloud of smoke. "My little Kouryuu, all grown up." A sad, sweet smile crossed his gentle features. "I miss him so much."
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Koumyou Sanzo, but you can't stay down here any longer. Dawn is approaching fast and the thin veil between the world of the living and world of the dead will be closing and if you're trapped here, you can't see Genjo Sanzo again." The Merciful Goddess lay her hand on the sleeve of Koumyou's robes. "We have to leave now."
Koumyou nodded sadly and with one last glance at the open window, followed Kannon through the veil. Neither one spoke on their way back to heaven. During the long elevator ride back, Koumyou sighed a few times, thinking back on all that he'd seen this night. Kouryuu did grow up to be a good man but he didn't look very happy. Koumyou started at the sound of the doors opening and roused himself from his thoughts and followed Kannon to her viewing chamber.
"Would you like to see him? I have a spare set of binoculars you can have."
Koumyou smiled and accepted the binoculars, bringing them to his eyes and trying to focus on where he could find Kouryuu. Letting out a startled gasp, Koumyou quickly lowered the binoculars. He had accidentally found Gojyo and Hakkai's little house. Gojyo had Hakkai up against the wall and he was currently ridding Hakkai of those little shorts while Hakkai moaned, his head thrown back against the wall as Gojyo's mouth moved up Hakkai's long legs until he…
Kannon laughed knowingly at the mortified expression on Koumyou's face. "You learn not to watch those two when they're alone. They're quite the lusty pair." Kannon pointed in a different direction. "Try there."
Koumyou put the binoculars up against his eyes again and let out a little sound of joy as he found his Kouryuu. He was asleep and laying next to him was Goku. The younger man's fingers were curled around the ends of Kouryuu's silky blonde hair. Koumyou watched as Kouryuu rolled over and threw his arm around Goku's smaller body. Goku smiled in his sleep and inched closer to Kouryuu.
"Is Kouryuu happy?" Koumyou lowered the binoculars as he asked the question.
"I don't know if happy is the right word, but yes, he's content with his life, although he would rather die than admit that fact out loud."
"How did he find Goku?" Koumyou dug out his pipe and tobacco. Tamping down the tobacco, he put the long pipe to his lips and lit it.
Kannon smiled. "He heard his voice calling to him."
A tear ran down Koumyou's cheek. Just like when he found the tiny abandoned baby in the river. As Kouryuu had called to Koumyou, Goku had called to Kouryuu. Whether or not he realized it yet, Kouryuu had found his destiny in this life. To stay by this Goku's side until the end.
Koumyou didn't hear the Merciful Goddess leave the room. He was too caught up in watching Kouryuu sleep, as he had done night after night, all those many years ago.