Disclaimer: Saiyuki is not mine, although the thought of owning Sanzo has crossed my mind more than once...
Summary: When you lose someone close how do you cope when they are all you know? Friends offer haven but it can only last so long, and repentance always seems so far out of reach. But what happens when the unconventional cure that turns up at the door isn't quite what you were expecting?
NB: This is a fic for Cruiseberry, my lovely 100th reviewer of "The Rough Divide"! I really hope you like it, and even though it may seem a little dark and angsty at the beginning, honestly, where would a S/G story be without fluff? Of course I couldn't resist a smidgen of Hakkai/Gojo either though, as they are my darlings too after all. This is my first Saiyuki fic and so I hope it all goes as planned! It's also AU just to let you know before you get confused!
Requiem for the Moon
It was raining, again. I hate the rain, especially at this time of year. It pours from above as if never ending, as if the sky and the ocean have switched and now there is only the steady drip drip drip until the world rights itself. The moisture infects everything, makes it cool and damp, but I know that if I close the window the air will only turn stuffy, humid.
I hate this time of year.
I hate the rain.
Most people do, I suppose. For most people the rain is troublesome, a nuisance, something that makes you late for work because you forgot your umbrella, or catches you out on a walk far from shelter. It's something to complain about to friends over a drink, something to make adults whine and children shout with joy as they dance in the puddles littering the gutter.
For me it's different. For me the rain is not simply water, it's...memories. Falling memories, or perhaps more memories of falling. The memory of the rain that wiped the slate of my life clean.
I simply continued to stare at the shapes in the water as it slid down the clear surface of the glass, reaching out to touch the smooth expanse of the window and listen hollowly to the thundering outside.
I didn't start when I heard the front door creak whisperingly open. The sound was dulled by the rumble of thunder that passed overhead, after no lightening flash that I had noticed, and I ignored the sound of discarded shoes and soft footfalls travelling the corridor behind me. The deep grey clouds inched across the sky, momentarily unveiling the sun to cast a soft glow on the water spitting against the windowsill.
Eventually the door to the room slid open and the soft tread entered and retrieved the plates that sat forgotten on the table, the empty beer cans, the overflowing ashtray, and then padded out again without a word. I brought my hand back from the window and watched with distant fascination as the outline of my fingertips misted and then cleared, leaving faint smudges.
I sighed, my head hanging heavily, forehead coming to rest against the glass.
How long was I going to let myself act like this?
"I made sukiyaki tonight, would you like some?" Hakkai's voice floated to my ears as I entered the dining room, two hours later.
The soft glow of the lamp in the corner cast the room in an almost sombre mood. I scratched around the bandage on my arm and sighed through my nose as I looked up at the table in the middle of the room where the voice had originated from. Hakkai's green eyes were watching me intently and, for some reason when he watched me with that slightly tense look of readiness it seemed that he was just expecting me to keel over in the doorway any minute. Of course I wouldn't do that, not just to uphold my image, but also because Hakkai had company. It was bad enough feeling like the fragile patient without having to play host to an audience, especially when the audience consisted of the world's biggest asshole. Hakkai was, in all truth, my only real friend and I sometimes found it hard to fault him but...his taste in company was appalling. I should know, he was friends with me, wasn't he? However, no matter how much I hated myself, I still found it grating to put myself in the same category as Gojyo the inherent gambling playboy.
"...I'm not hungry," was all I could think to say.
"Yeah right, cause you could stand to lose some weight off that skinny ass of yours. Eat any less and someone might mistake you for a Gashadokuro."
I ground my teeth and tried my best to ignore him. What Hakkai saw in the gangly limbed smartass sat at his dining table was beyond me, it must be something only he could pick up on. Surely he couldn't like him for any of the personality traits I could list, either that or Hakkai was simpler than he looked, something I wasn't willing to believe so easily.
"Now Gojyo, I don't think he would fit in the house if that were the case..." came Hakkai's even, reasonable tone, although I could hear the smile in it.
"Don't humour him Hakkai," I ground out.
"Hey blondie, don't avoid the situation here, you're gonna eat some of this sukiyaki and you're gonna like it wise ass," his red hair was tied back loosely at the base of his neck and a few locks fell loose as he looked up at me with a smirk, "don't you appreciate home cooking?"
"Sure I do, as long as you weren't involved in its creation," I shot back, staring him out, "I may not look it but I'm not quite ready to die yet."
He shrugged in response, turning back to his food instead of flipping out another of his usual wisecracks. Perhaps he'd promised Hakkai he'd behave tonight, well as much as could be expected. I walked across to the sink and grabbed a glass, turning the tap and letting it run before filling it. I waited for his reply, feeling like was I taking part in some perverse play where the lead character was subjected to the same monotony every day.
"So you gonna fill your quota of daily socialising Sanzo-sama?" Gojyo's good behaviour never usually lasted very long; I tried not to rise to the bait and failed.
"Not with a crude, degenerate waste of time like you," I said back evenly.
"Why Sanzo, straight through the heart," Gojyo said, taking my insults in his stride, "I know that's not true. You just can't admit that you love spending quality time with me."
"I'd rather cut my own nuts off."
"Oh, kinky eh?" one ridiculous brow raised, he stared at me, "never knew you had it in you. That quality time is starting to sound more appealing, how about we take this somewhere more private?"
"I'd like to see you try and make me," I said back after another moment filled only with the sound of pattering rain and Hakkai's delicate sipping.
"Oh yeah? That a challenge?" he was all out smirking now, enjoying himself far too much.
"Guys, please, don't start," Hakkai finally admonished, "the food is getting cold."
Gojyo relented with a snort, shaking his head and once again turning back to his food. Hakkai turned to me with a soft, caring gaze, his smile inviting and impossible to resist, even to a hardened cynical bastard like myself. I leant against the countertop and sipped my water, feeling my stomach complaining as all it had received was the liquid diet I had been on since the day before yesterday. Of course as soon as I thought about food suddenly I couldn't seem to escape the rich smell of the sukiyaki drifting from the pot. I stared at the table, then back up at Hakkai who was now wearing his I-know-you-can't-resist-my-cooking face, hand reaching over to pull out the chair next to him.
"Please Sanzo, have a seat."
"How much longer ya gonna let him mope around here like that?"
I never have been one for eavesdropping, but it's hard not to listen when you know someone's talking about you. I had been feeling ill since dinner, not because the food was bad, just because I hadn't eaten anything substantial in a couple of days. So I had thought I would go outside and have a smoke, since Hakkai didn't like it when I smoked indoors. I had just reached the end of the hallway and was trying to search for my shoes in the dark when I heard his voice from the living room.
"It's not that easy Gojyo," Hakkai replied, his voice slightly muffled by the door I was now hiding behind, "things like this take time. You can't rush it."
"It isn't healthy," I heard the redhead retort, my eyes narrowing instinctively at his criticism, "not eating, not sleeping, constantly grouchy...oh wait, that's just the normal Sanzo, guess I can't complain about that."
"Gojyo," Hakkai sighed out, I could picture him shaking his head in admonishment but still having that small affectionate smile grace his lips, "please try and be more constructive."
"Hey, I am being constructive," Gojyo said back, his voice laced with his ever present sarcasm, "I mean hey, who wouldn't want a lousy, bad tempered freeloader to invade their house for two months, force you to wait on him hand and foot and then give you zippo gratitude for ant of it."
"I don't blame him for the way he's acting," Hakkai mumbled back after a pause, "it isn't...it is not easy trying to get your life back in order...after you lose someone close to you."
Then there was silence, one where I felt distinctly out of place, the reality of what I was doing suddenly becoming unavoidable. I frowned, ignoring the stab of guilt that tried to work its way into my thoughts as I turned away from the door. I heard the rustle of fabric as I left, like someone rubbing their hand along soft material.
"Hey man, I'm sorry," the rare sound of sincerity in Gojyo's fading voice almost made me pause, "c'mere."
When I awoke the next morning the silence seemed to loom over me. I blinked at the sunlight trying its best to wake me through the slats in the blinds, turning over onto my side and sighing. No more rain, the sound was gone. Somewhere in my chest, despite my constant complaining and annoyance at the seasonal weather, I almost missed its familiar thudding against my morning window. At least it let me think of...no.
No I won't think about it. I felt an all too familiar stab of pain lance through my chest and screwed up my face, pushing it into my pillow. God I was pathetic, wallowing in my own self pity, not even able to summon the energy to get out of bed just because the rain had stopped. Perhaps Gojyo was right, I was acting like a spoilt brat, but then...what else was I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?
You never told me that, did you? With all your wisdom and your anecdotes and your kindness? What was I supposed to do when you left me? Huh, not that I ever needed anyone, not to survive. That's what I'm good at ne? Surviving? Yeah, like a damned cockroach, as Gojyo would so nicely put it.
It was only when the familiar thumping of Gojyo's heavy gait pulled me from my thoughts that I realised I was scowling. Scowling at nothing but the ghosts in my head. I slowly pushed myself up and let the covers fall down my chest. It wasn't cold now that the weather had brightened and I stepped out from under the covers without even shiver.
I opened the cupboard door as quietly as I could, Hakkai's room being next to my own, and tried not to look at the full length mirror lurking in the corner. Of course as soon as I tried to avoid it, just like the smell of Hakkai's cooking the night before, I inevitably caught a glimpse and then couldn't look away. I looked up and down the body reflected in the polished surface and grimaced, touching my hand to my skin and trying not to notice the fact that you could almost see my ribs. I've always been skinny but never like this. I looked emaciated, my cheeks seeming slightly hollow, my skin paler than usual, my hip bones jutting out sharply. As I pulled out a faded yukata and slipped it around my bony form a familiar question took form in my thoughts, one that I hadn't been able to answer since I showed up at Hakkai's door two months ago.
How long was I going to let myself act like this?
"Honestly Hakkai, is there someone else coming to breakfast that I don't know about?"
I was staring out of the window again, looking away from the breakfast table and watching the fresh, white clouds passing languorously across the blue sky. I only half listened to the conversation taking place, mainly because it had been filled mostly with Gojyo's inane banter and, if I had paid any attention, I probably wouldn't have been able to refrain from stuffing his grilled fish down his throat, whole. Hakkai simply smiled softly in response to his friend, his usual mask of a smile, as he placed his chopsticks down and picked up his bowl of miso soup, inhaling gratefully before sipping it.
"I thought you might be hungry," he said, his eyes on the redhead who simply smirked in response, as if sharing some in joke that I wasn't meant to know about.
"Well who's fault would that be?" he said with a shrug, eyes drifting back to his breakfast, "but really, there's enough here to feed an army."
"Ha, you really have forgotten haven't you?" Hakkai said with a shake of his head as he placed his bowl down and took up his rice, chopsticks pulling the slightly sticky pieces into his mouth.
That caught my attention. I hadn't really cared until he said that, but now I was suddenly suspicious. Why had Hakkai cooked so much? What had we forgotten? Was...someone else going to be here?
"What?" I asked bluntly, trying not to let the slight anger I knew I shouldn't be feeling seep into my voice.
"You too Sanzo?" Hakkai chuckled to himself, "you disappoint me. I mean Gojyo forgetting was a given, the man can't remember what day to take out the garbage..."
"Hey," Gojyo complained gracefully through a mouthful of rice, to which Hakkai just shrugged.
"I have a student coming today," He said, letting a feeling of dread mix with the anger pooling in my stomach.
"But it's the school break," I said back through clenched teeth, my hand gripping my empty rice bowl.
"That's right, but this student is a little behind on his studies, although he tries very hard. I told him that I would tutor him over the break, it isn't as if I have anything else that pressing to do," the brunette seemed oblivious to the two disbelieving stares he was receiving from either side, picking up a piece of rolled omelette and popping it into his mouth.
"Well, it was nice of you to remind me," Gojyo huffed, pushing away his empty plates and picking up his green tea, fixing green eyes with a hard stare, "considering you knew I would forget."
"I didn't think it would bother anyone," Hakkai said, not looking at either of us, "and anyway, who am I to deny a student in need of help? You don't want him to fail the upcoming final exams now do you?"
I ground my teeth, a gesture becoming all too familiar to me, and tried not to think about having some little brat running around this place I had declared my sanctuary, my hideaway. It was as I thought about this that another reality struck me, just like when I had looked at myself in the mirror that morning as I had dressed.
I hadn't come into contact with another person other than Hakkai and Gojyo in two months.
Since I had holed myself up here, I hadn't even spoken to another person, used the phone, answered the door, taken a walk into the village...the furthest I had been was the stream that ran through the garden at the back of the house. I had cut myself off so effectively that now, embarrassingly enough, the thought of a mere school kid coming to visit for the day was setting my nerves on edge.
Dammit...I...really am losing it.
I guess I didn't realise how thankful I was that Hakkai's house was rather remote. It was about a twenty minute walk from the village, where Hakkai taught in the small school, out near the forest with no other house in sight. It was perfect for what I needed, perfect for the solidarity I craved, coupled with the care I required. I sighed gruffly at the thought of that peace being broken, at having to avoid this child.
"So who is it," Gojyo was saying as I zoned back in to the conversation that had gone on without me, "this kid?"
"Oh, his name is..." Hakkai started, but was interrupted by a knock at the door, "ah, that must be him now, I can introduce him properly. Excuse me."
I waited until Hakkai had left the room, the door sliding gracefully shut, before grabbing up my remaining portion of the feast Hakkai had prepared and stood to leave by the dining rooms other door and hopefully slip into my room unnoticed. Gojyo was shaking his head as he watched me, noisily sipping his hot tea.
"Don't waste your time, do you?" he said with a grin, the murmur of Hakkai's voice in the background mixed with a higher, more exited one making me want to simply drop the plates and run, "What's the matter? It's just a kid, afraid they might try and talk to you and you'll have to burst that bubble you're living in? In my opinion that's what I call cowardly."
I paused, trying not to raise my voice and give away the fact that I was here at all, and glared back at him. The voices grew louder and I felt my nerves straining, feeling trapped but still indignant enough to grace him with a reply.
"For future reference, if I want your opinion," I hissed, eyes narrowed, "I'll beat it out of you."
I slid open the other door, peeking out into the corridor and checking for Hakkai and his guest. Luckily for me Hakkai was obviously giving him a little tour, I could hear him pointing out the bathroom and study where Hakkai would hopefully incarcerate his guest until his stay was over. I slipped out into the hall and closed the door behind me, making as little noise as possible. I reached my bedroom door in another couple of covert steps, just as I heard Hakkai mention breakfast, and the rather overly enthusiastic reply.
"Are you sure Hakkai-san?" the voice was light, melodious, and yet entirely alien to my ears.
"Please Goku, just call me Hakkai, there's no need to be so formal out of school," Hakkai corrected, his voice calm and kind as ever, yet holding an authoritative edge he had never used with me, "and of course you can join us, I cooked extra for you. Out of everyone I know you appreciate my cooking the most."
I opened the door to my room, slipped inside and closed the door just in time for the two of them to round the corner of the corridor. I listened to their footsteps, heard the door to the dining room slide open and then shut, the now muffled voices raised in greeting, and one raised in obvious gratitude for the feast I had only so recently partaken of.
"Wow, this really all for me?! Thanks Hakkai-sa...I mean Hakkai!"
Hakkai's melodious laugh drifted through the house, and Gojyo's mumbling voice, mixed with that alien noise, that strange, appealing and yet...terrifying voice.
God, I really am pathetic. Completely, utterly, spinelessly, pathetic.
I set out the remnants of my meal on the small table in the middle of the room and tried my best to ignore the sounds of normalcy mocking me as I ate alone and in silence.
I didn't remember falling asleep but, when I woke up it was to the deep crimson of the setting sun ripping through the fading orange of the sky. I was slumped against the wall, covers half pulled over my legs from the nearby bed, facing the window. I blinked over at my half finished breakfast, wondering absently where the day had gone. Had I slept here all day? I...I didn't really remember. Hell, was this what it was going to become? Life, an endless monotony into which all time and space falls and becomes one.
Huh, as if I would be so lucky.
I stretched out my legs, savouring the cracking joints as I let the blood flow back to my feet. The house was still, quiet, peaceful...and yet that voice...that voice from this morning still echoed gently in my head. I tried not to focus on it, banish it from my thoughts but, well, I suppose I didn't really have anything else to think about. Cause and effect, boredom and the need for stimulation, the contact starved idiot and the disembodied voice of someone he wasn't sure if he could handle yet. Story of my fucking life.
As I stared out the window and watched the garden through sleep tinted eyes, a large white bird drifted into view, landing gracefully on the bank of the river. It folded its wings, its elegant beak and grey and white plumage identifying it as a crane. As I stared out, in the paling dusk, a second crane swooped into view, landing practically on top of the other. The new arrival tossed back its head and let out a shrill cry. The other answered, a long, slow howl which sent shivers up my arms. I had seen them here before, fishing in the small river in Hakkai's garden, a breeding pair, and had watched them then with the same dead eyes. Just like the rain, now the wildlife is getting to me. Shit, is everything going to make me think about..?
"I wonder, who do you think it is it that decided that the birds are free?"
No, dammit, I don't want to hear it. Don't make me remember...
"They can fly wherever they choose, but perhaps they will regret that freedom when their weary wings seek rest."
God dammit, please, I don't want to...
"Perhaps true freedom...perhaps true freedom is having a home to return to."
That does it! I stood up forcefully, throwing the blanket from my legs and grabbing one of the nearby empty plates piled haphazardly on the table. The window banged as it opened but I didn't care if anyone was asleep, I didn't care if I was acting like a maniac, all I wanted was to throw this plate out of the window. I really did believe, as I watched it sail into the garden and scatter the congregated cranes, that it would make me feel better. It hit the grass with a dull thud and a crack. I was breathing hard, heavy, the cool night air filling my lungs as I tried my best to reign myself under control. As I slowly came back to myself, realising what a lunatic I was being, I let my head drop to my chest, all the latent energy draining from my limbs.
I needed a cigarette.
The window was the easiest way to the outside world. I grabbed my lighter and the last lonely cigarette from the crumpled Marlboro packet on the dresser and clambered over the low step of the full length window, relishing the feeling of the dew on the grass slipping in between my toes. The night air was cool against my heated skin, the thick smoke heavy in my lungs as I lit up, making my head feel light. The stars twinkled silently as I stood out in the darkness, sucking in the nicotine and letting my eyes drift closed.
"Bastard," I tried to ignore the fact that my voice was cracking as I opened my eyes to stare up at the moon, its light filling the sky.
"Ohayo Sanzo," Hakkai set out a bowl of rice to my left and flashing me a closed eye smile, "soup will be ready in a moment."
"Morning sourpuss," the red head at the other end of the table glowered up at me from between droopy bangs, "thanks a bunch for giving me a god damn heart attack last night, I thought someone was shooting at us."
"Oh, what," I said back coolly, pulling in my chair and surveying the table, noticing it was just as heavily laden as the previous morning, "did I interrupt your beauty sleep? It would explain a lot."
"Shut it you grumpy old git."
"Player."
"Droopy eyes."
"Please guys," Hakkai sighed out, placing the soup out on the table.
The same every morning, for the last two months. The same antagonising, the same jibes, the same appeasement. The rice was tasteless in my mouth as I shovelled it in, trying not to listen to Hakkai and Gojyo's polite innuendos.
I didn't even pay any attention when Hakkai left the table, Gojyo smirking like an idiot. I chewed harder than it's really necessary to when eating rice and closed my eyes. I swallowed mechanically, reaching out for my soup, thinking about what I was going to do today. Oh, wait, that's right I'll be in my room feeling sorry for myself and trying to drown my sorrows in some premature alcoholism...
"I'm going to take a shower," I said shortly, just as Hakkai set out the soup, ignoring his slightly startled face.
"Of course," he smiled, "I'll save your share for later."
"Hn," I grunted back, pushing the empty rice bowl out into the fray of fish and omelette and umeboshi.
I hadn't really wanted to think about it, but not only had I not eaten properly in the past two days, but I hadn't bathed either. Now I know Hakkai can be polite but, really, there is only so much a guy can take. I was just surprised that Gojyo's keen sense for an insult hadn't picked up on my state earlier and monopolised his advantage. Of course Hakkai could have taken care of that, probably last night. It still cracked me up that they thought I didn't know, even if I didn't show it.
The water was hot, that was what I had been banking on. I had studiously avoided the mirror as I undressed, instead watching the water as the shower ran, waiting for it to heat to the right temperature. Strangely enough it was not the same as the rain, it was odd how my feelings could differentiate between water falling from a shower head and water falling from the sky. It just didn't affect me in the same way, something I was very glad about because I really did enjoy my shower, when I could work up the energy to take one. Thankfully for my housemates I had finally gotten round to it...of course the imminent arrival of Hakkai's student was a slight incentive to hide myself away in the bathroom.
Gee, don't I just sound like the teenage girl.
An hour later, when the bathroom's atmosphere reached a higher moisture than oxygen level, I decided that it might be a good idea to go back to my room and dry off. According to the condensation covered clock the time was ten fifty five. Good, just enough time to fit in some wallowing self pity in the garden before lunch. Huh, sometimes I just crack myself up.
I wound the now slightly damp towel around my hips and pulled at the slippy door handle, edging the door open as I made sure to keep my footing on the tiled floor. I instinctively cringed back as the door opened, letting the cool air invade my sauna, but grit my teeth and pushed out into the hallway as fast as I could before my ever so wonderful instincts could persuade me to stay in the bathroom for the rest of the day. No, really, it wouldn't be the first time it had happened. Of course, as most things, there is a reason they call them 'instincts'. If I had listened to them this time around, perhaps I could have saved myself a lot less embarrassment than being towed out of the bathroom at twelve o'clock at night by Hakkai and put to bed.
I couldn't really see as I exited the bathroom, the plume of steam flowing out around me, and so therefore didn't see that there was someone else there, running down the hallway with youthful abandon.
"Whoa..!" was all I heard before the wind was knocked out of me, my feet slipping on the wet wooden floor, and I went down with the full weight of my assailant on top of me.
I heaved in air, my vision blurring for a moment before I realised exactly where I was. Everything went deathly quiet for a second that seemed to stretch out into an eternity; I was on my back, on the floor in a pool of water, staring up into a pair of startled and yet entirely wondrous golden eyes.
And my towel wasn't round my waist anymore.
"What the hell you doing out there Goku?" Gojyo's voice slid into my ears, very quickly ripping me back to reality, "Wrecking the joint?"
The golden eyes blinked, then suddenly the heat was lost as he scrambled desperately to his feet, hands slipping against the water covered floor as he struggled to right himself.
"I-I'm so sorry!" he stuttered out, eyes stalling once more as he seemed to suddenly realise the fact that I was naked, "Uh, sorry, I...here..."
He stretched out his hand, his gaze sincere and yet unwavering as he focused on my face. I blinked up at him for a moment. What a strange and eventful morning this was turning out to be. I kept my face entirely passive as I sat up, picked up my towel which had fallen by my feet, stood up without assistance and wrapped it back around my waist.
"Uh, look I really am sorry, I didn't see you there, you just sorta came out of nowhere y'know," the boy was rambling, "and I guess I shouldn't have been running it's just that..."
"Whatever," I ground out, pushing past him, ignoring the slightly hurt look in those golden eyes, ignoring the slight ache along my spine now that the shock of the fall had worn off.
As I walked surprisingly calmly back to my room I heard the living room door open behind me and the sound of the radio drift out into the air.
"Shit you really are wrecking the place you little ape!" Gojyo's voice was only half angry, half amused, "what you do? Crack your head open and all the water spilled out?"
"I did not! It wasn't me, some mean guy with blonde hair was comin' outta the bathroom and I..."
"Wait...you knocked into Sanzo and...you didn't, oh, you did!" his laughter was all that followed until I slammed the door to my room closed and knocked my head against it repeatedly, "oh, can't breathe..."
What a way to make a first impression. But then, hell...that boy, speaking of first impressions...
He was maybe only five foot six, skinny as any late teenager would be out here in the countryside. He looked innocent, naive, almost dumb (although the situation itself could account for the yokel like gaping). I snorted, letting my towel drop to the floor as the air began to dry my heated skin.
At any other time, any normal time, I would have never stalled the way that I did back there in the hallway. I mean, shit, when I should have been getting my ass up off the floor and divesting myself of frightened teenager I had simply stared at him like a deer in the proverbial headlights. Those proverbial headlights in this case took the form of a pair of golden eyes, vivid with life, staring out from under a mop of unruly brown hair. I shivered again and this time it had nothing to do with the change in room temperature. The feeling in my gut was one of, dare I actually say it even to myself in my own head, acute butterfly's, and I was both attracted to that feeling and repulsed by it simultaneously.
I was jarred from my thoughts suddenly by the sound of Hakkai's rare and yet uncontrollable laughter from somewhere in the direction of the study. It was another of those alien sounds that was becoming all too regular an event recently, breaking down my well rehearsed and practised routine of the day. I sighed and pushed myself back from the wall towards the cupboard, trying not to think about how much shit I was going to get at dinner tonight about this.
Author note:
Okay, I know it might seem weird, but this is only going to be a short story, about three or four chapters long (yes I really do find it impossible to write one-shots). I'm setting it in modern day, somewhere in rural Japan simply because I don't know enough about China (yes it is that shallow a reason). I apologise if it seems like an odd AU that doesn't contain much explanation yet, but that will follow, honest, this won't turn out like the other rubbishy unfinished stories that I generally write!
Okay! Cruiseberry, I hope that you enjoyed it so far (if you didn't you can tell me you know, I can change anything if you want!) and I'll finish it soon. I had a look in your favourite stories and saw that the Sanzo/Goku that you have stashed there are AU's so I thought I would give it a go, hope it doesn't disappoint as I have never tried it before! Oh and the next chapter of RD is on its way!
Thanks for reading!
Maiko x
