The Sweetness of an Orange by UltraM2000
Disclaimer: Don't own Saiyuki. If I did, I'd get a LOT more angpaus! *wink*
Hakuryuu screeched to a stop, tyres crunching on the gravel road. It had been a long, hard day, and it hadn't helped that three separate troupes of demons had decided a little Sanzo topped with sutra might be nice for a midday snack. The ikkou were very frazzled. All around the large green jeep, people milled in and out of the streets, packages in hand and kids in tow. Some of them wore obviously new clothes, the fabric still stiff and smelling of the shops they had been bought in. Goku's curiosity was, of course, considerably piqued.
"Sugee! What's going on here?" the youth gasped in awe.
"Ah." Hakkai adjusted his monocle slightly. "It seems we've come far enough West to find a place that celebrates the Lunar New Year."
"Lunatic New Year?"
"Lunar," corrected the demon-convert like a born teacher. He then went on to explain how, in Central Tougenkyou, customs were such that the first month on the calendar was not necessarily the first month of a year. Their new year was based on lunar phases--when twelve full moons had passed, so had another year. "And it looks like the new moon is tonight. I wonder what year it is?"
Gojyo counted backwards on his fingers for a while, and grinned, "Well whaddya know, it's 'sarudoshi'--the Year of the Monkey."
"Muh?! Why is it _my_ year?"
"It's the cycle, idiot. Twelve years in a cycle, one animal per year. There's the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig. Then it's back to the rat again." A two-beat pause followed. "It does make one wonder, though, whether you were born a monkey through and through, or just a plain PIG!"
"Hey!" Goku snapped, and flung himself upon Gojyo. "How dare you call me a pig, you stupid kappa?! I'm not the one who stuffed TWO spring rolls into my mouth at the last teahouse!"
"Yeah, but that was to save them from joining the five beef bowls and thirty plates of nikuman in your belly, pig-monkey!"
"Rat-kappa!"
"Dog-ape!"
"Horny snake!"
"Horse-brain!"
"Sheep-butt!"
"SHUT--THE F!CKING--HELL--UP!" bellowed Sanzo, rising to his full height in Hakuryuu's seat and brandishing his harisen. Alas, before he could even launch a preliminary assault, Genjyo Sanzo, 31st of his rank, bearer of Maten and Seiten sutras, having not sustained one injury all day, fell out of the vehicle...straight onto his left ankle.
*-*-*-*-*
To break up the fight (Goku and Gojyo were still hissing various combinations of animal-based insults at each other even as Hakkai booked the rooms), Hakkai 'took charge' of Gojyo while Goku was told to watch over the injured Sanzo, whose whole foot was encased in cotton and bandages. Watch over him he did, with unwavering golden gaze. It was enough to unnerve Sanzo through an extra-thick Lunar New Year edition of the papers. Finally, he flicked the issue down with a sharp, dry rustle and glared at the youth.
"Stop staring at me like that, you ape."
"But I'm supposed to WATCH you. Hakkai said so."
The monk chewed his lips with some fervor and heaved an exasperated sigh. "Psh. If you want to make yourself useful, go out and buy some things for me."
"OK!" Goku agreed with little thought beforehand. "What do you want me to buy? Cigarettes? Nikuman? Tissues? Bandages? Sweets? Springrolls?"
"NO," Sanzo interrupted sharply, cutting through Goku's increasingly hopeful hintage, "get some mandarin oranges."
"Mandarin oranges?"
"Yes, mandarin oranges. This town is renowned for them, according to that Wakuwaku Sightseeing Guide Hakkai has."
"Mandarin oranges?!" "Must I repeat myself? _GO_." The gold card was flicked straight at the boy's nose.
Not one to disobey the monk, Goku dutifully trotted off. He wasn't quite sure why Sanzo would suddenly want ORANGES, though, and decided to check in with the resident expert on All Things Unknown To Goku: Cho Hakkai.
"Hakkai!" Goku burst into the room just as Hakkai was applying a careful dab of ointment to a cut on Gojyo's forehead. There was a quick 'splorp' before Gojyo found he had pale peach gel dripping over his eyebrows and Hakkai found he had been taken very much by surprise.
"Er...just rub it all in, Gojyo," Hakkai said quickly to quell any ensuing argument. "How's Sanzo, Goku?"
"No grumpier than usual."
"Well, at least he's back in good humour," quipped Gojyo as he massaged the wound gingerly. "So whadja want?"
"...What have mandarin oranges got to do with the Lunar New Year?"
Gojyo was all agog "What's this crap, you not knowing about mandarin oranges?"
"Excuse me for not knowing!" Goku snapped back. "I just know Sanzo wants them, so I gotta get them!"
"Well, Goku," Hakkai began, none-too-discreetly jabbing Gojyo's ribs, "Mandarin oranges are called 'kum' in the Western dialects, which sounds very much like the word for gold. Thus, they're symbols of prosperity and wealth."
"Yeah, yeah, and there's this other thing where you give your hubby the two nicest, roundest, biggest oranges you can find, so that the next time you both..."
"That'll do, Gojyo. Now run along, Goku. Have fun."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Three hours passed, and still no sign of Goku was to be seen or heard. Hakkai had brought Sanzo dinner, and he had a glass of whiskey-spiked tea to tide him through a sleepless night (courtesy to his throbbing ankle and the fireworks being let off two floors below), yet the blonde still felt restless, irritable, like something was missing.
_It's not the same without the stupid oranges,_ he thought with uncharacteristic sourness. It might have meant reunion dinners, red packets of cash and shiny new clothes to other children back then, but monks had austere diets, austere pockets and equally austere lifestyles. The only concession that Koumyou was able to make on the part of his young disciple was the mandarin oranges, secretly smuggled into his room tucked within his sleeve pockets. Back then, late at night (in a rather clandestine fashion), master and student would peel one orange each and enjoy the sweet treat the new year afforded them. He never found out where Koumyou got his hands on the fruit--he never asked, only accepted that the oranges would still be there, along with his master.
Funny how he never found a good sweet orange after his baptism of blood.
Just then, there was a hesitant tap on the door, and it silently slid open. "Sanzo?"
"You're late."
"'M'sorry," Goku mumbled, downcast. In the dim half-light of the lamp over the window, Sanzo saw that Goku's hair was rumpled and slicked over his forehead with sweat, his T-shirt and shorts were in disarray, his arms were muddy, and his hands were empty.
"Well? Where're the oranges I asked you to buy, Goku?"
"Ahm..." Goku approached Sanzo, and then looked down at his muddy feet. "It's kind of a long story."
The monk waved his hand irritably. "I'm not going anywhere. And this had better be good."
Son Goku took a deep breath and began. "I got the oranges--in fact, I got you a whole bagful! But then, when I was going back, I saw this poor kid outside a restaurant, looking in through the window. He looked kinda hungry, so I gave him one. He was so happy! After that, I saw a mean ol' man trying to rob a lady, so I beat him up! And then his whole gang came, and I couldn't fight with the oranges in one hand and Nyoibou in the other, so one of the robbers slashed the bag open! And they stepped on the oranges! That made me so mad, so I told them that they were for you! And then they said they didn't care! So I picked up Nyoibou," continued Goku, getting excited, "and I was all, swish! WHACK! Take that! That sword's not going to hit me! And things got all whoosh and kapow and..."
"Ahem."
Goku shut up, his hang-dog expression returning. "Sorry. So after I beat them all up, there were only three oranges left that hadn't been squished or squashed. I gave one to the lady, and I washed off the other two as best as I could..." He rummaged in his pockets, and produced two mostly intact, somewhat round mandarin oranges, glimmering promises of honey sweetness despite their condition.
After a long moment, Sanzo shrugged as irritably as he could and waved Goku off. "Screw the oranges, I'm not hungry anymore. You eat them. And go take a damn bath first, you're dripping mud all over the place."
Goku's eyes brightened. "Really? Really truly, Sanzo?" His eyes brightened, sparks of life dancing again in them momentarily. He looked down at the fruit in his hands, obviously eager to taste them. Suddenly, with what must have been an awesome show of willpower, he shook his head. "No."
"You're refusing food."
"I don't wanna eat them." Goku thrust out his hands, offering the oranges to his keeper. "Not unless you take one."
"I told you to eat them, right? I said I didn't want any," the hapless man squeezed through gritted teeth.
"But Sanzo...it's no fun eating them alone. They won't be as sweet unless you share them with me. They just won't," Goku said with all seriousness. Sanzo heaved another deep sigh.
Some days, you just couldn't win.
Two minutes later, a blonde monk with a bandaged ankle and a grubby youth with golden eyes were both surrounded by bits of mandarin peel (Sanzo's a neat star, Goku's in bright little bits and pieces), and munching on warm, half-squished fruit.
"Sweet, Sanzo?" Goku asked, his mouth full of the new taste of mandarin nectar.
The monk nodded once in acknowledgement. That was quite enough.