Home is Where?
By Shin Sankai
PS: This is late for 38 Day or where I am 83 day. Um, I was inspired to write this randomness by reading a few sentences from Kagetsuya's "Footsteps". Ehehe…
OoOoOoO
"Man, its just like we left it!" Goyjo voiced, having dumped what little belongings he owned onto the floor of the very dusty one-bedroom open living style room with ensuite.
"It has been 3 years Goyjo." Hakkai voiced stepping into the room after the redhead, his eyes roaming to the dust clogged lounge he slept upon.
Three years, it had felt like a lifetime…almost. The two of them plus Goku and his keeper Genjo Sanzo had been sent on a mission West to stop the resurrection of Gyumaoh. Now that it was all over, Gyumaoh and those who tried to resurrect him defeated, it seemed almost natural for the band of four to split apart. Well…almost natural to everyone.
"Oi, Hakkai, you listening to me?" Green eyes turned to the redhead who was currently dressed in jeans and white singlet, his jacket was thrown over an old chair not needed because of the warm weather.
"Of course I am." Hakkai replied back in his usual calm way, showing nothing in his voice of perhaps the little bit of apprehension he felt for being back here. The truth was, Hakkai hadn't been listening and instead had placed his hand over Goyjo's empty bookcase and brushed away cakes of dust that had accumulated over the past years.
Goyjo's home had been his home for three years, but not the three years that had already come and gone, but the three years even before the journey as he had started his fresh new life as Cho Hakkai. Long ago, what seemed long ago at times and yet even in his dreams it still felt like yesterday, did Cho Gonou first meet Genjo Sanzo - a man responsible for allowing him to begin a new life. It wasn't just Sanzo's doing of course, there was the Sanbutsushin, but Hakkai had felt that Sanzo had helped quite a lot in his "re-creation".
"Now what I was thinking is instead of cleaning up, lets go out and get drunk!" A very nice plan set by Goyjo and he was already out the door and heading for his local bar to play some cards and drink many beers.
"You've never cleaned in your life Goyjo." Hakkai remarked as he closed the door behind him, his bag still over his shoulder and Hakuryuu still in jeep form just out the front.
"I know how much you love it, so I decided all those years ago when we first lived together not to interfere with your handy work." Of course Hakkai knew that wasn't Goyjo's true meaning. In fact not so slyly hidden beneath that cocky comment where the words "I know you think a lot during the cleaning process, things you keep very much to yourself and I don't want to disrupt the little personal time you always had".
The two of them walked into the bar and it almost seemed as though the females Goyjo always slept with were right there waiting for him. They slinked on over to the redhead who was more then happy to see them.
"…and this here, is the brunette with the pretty face I mentioned all those years ago." Was the last part of the conversation Hakkai had heard since Goyjo was pointing at him. While Hakkai gave Goyjo a blank stare, unsure of what he was talking about the girls all but fell over Goyjo knowing he hadn't been with other women…or so that's what Goyjo would keep letting them think in any case.
"Whatever happened to the other two you spoke of Goyjo?" One of the women sultrily voicing this into his ear while the other played with some of his long hair.
"The brutal blonde and the youngster? Hmm, we parted ways about a month ago." While Goyjo rambled away to the females, Hakkai's mind drifted as his eyes stared out the window, watching the clouds change as the sun moved towards the horizon.
He had seen many a horizon while travelling with his companions. He had seen and done many things while being with them as well. He'd been to many more places, had many more conversations and loved every minute of it. Well except for the killing – that did become annoying after awhile. What Hakkai had been especially fond of was the short moments he'd spent with the "brutal blonde" as Goyjo had affectionately called Sanzo.
So much time had passed and yet it seemed Sanzo was the only one that had stayed the same. Goku had grown up a little. He wasn't as innocent as he had first been and this probably made Sanzo a little uneasy at times. Goyjo was of course still his playboy self, but he wasn't all about himself anymore. There were people he would protect, no matter how much he tried not to show it. He was of course a brother (though one that teased a lot) to Goku and the best friend of Hakkai. He and Sanzo still fought a lot, but they had some similarities…like smoking and drinking. Hakkai had felt like he too had changed. Of course his darkened past would always be a memory to him, slowly over the 6 years he'd been Cho Hakkai it was ebbing away from the help of those three males.
However, the one man that Hakkai hadn't truly seen change (at least he didn't notice it too much) was Sanzo himself. He was still his ever-nonchalant self. A man who lived only for himself and no one else. Sanzo was very ruthless, but a little kind in many ways. Hakkai had seen it, if only for a second. That still counted though. Goku had become Sanzo's most precious thing to protect, because he wasn't able to protect the person he loved most and now resorted to helping the very boy he freed from the mountain long ago. Penance perhaps? No one really knew that much about Sanzo to speculate on that theory and so Hakkai never dwelled on it much. All he knew was if he asked questions, Sanzo was easy to piss off.
Of course his 'bound by nothing' routine was very hypocritical, but then that also went for Hakkai, Goku and Goyjo as well. They all said they'd only look out for themselves and yet each one of them had saved someone in their band of four one time or another.
"Drink up Hakkai, we got a long night ahead of us." Goyjo voiced, his eyes having every now and then broken from females flocking around him to the far off look in Hakkai's eyes as he stared blatantly at the setting sun.
"Yes…" Hakkai remarked absentmindedly and downed the beer in the glass. He never tasted it and only waited as it was filled again and sunk it down once more.
"Alright we got ourselves a drinker!" A loud voice belonging to a man in his late thirties shouted and that's when the man decided to start a drinking competition with Hakkai.
OoOoO
Three hours later the unknown man was unconscious on the bar floor while Hakkai still gazed out the window, it now pitch black outside and an empty glass in his hand.
"Okay that's it, time to leave." Goyjo slurred lightly as he rose to his feet and watched his brunette roommate do the same and follow him into the warm night air.
"You know you could leave if you wanted to Hakkai."
"You invited me out to drink Goyjo."
"That's not what I was talking about." Goyjo stood in front of his very small home, plants out front wither overgrown or very dead and stared right into his best friends eyes. "Home isn't necessarily where you had last left it ya know?"
"Goyjo, I…"
"Come on, I've known you for 6 years now and if ya ever want to return your welcome here, but don't you think you should smack some stubbornness away and get the hell outta here?"
"I like it here." Hakkai listened to Goyjo snort at his words.
"This crappy town? Its only good enough for one of us…and that's me. Besides its nothing compared to Chou An I hear."
"Goyjo!" Hakkai remarked in surprise as he was pushed towards Hakuryuu, his bag taken from his shoulder and dumped into the back seat, which had once been home to Goyjo and Goku's butts.
"Come on this little act isn't fooling me. The Houshi-sama wasn't too happy when you left him high and dry. I can tell when something's going on, this redhead isn't so dumb ya know?"
"But Goyjo there is nothing between me and Sanzo."
"You just keep telling yourself that. Besides, me and the monkey have no idea what happened behind closed doors." Goyjo smirked as he watched Hakkai's eyes widened at his accusing words. "Relax my hearing is excellent and no moaning and groaning was going on in there, but there is something right?"
"I'm…actually not sure." Hakkai never thought he'd be having this type of conversation with his straight and very sexually active best friend.
"That pain in the ass blonde will like you in the end if he doesn't already. I can tell these things straight away."
"You can?" Hakkai's eyebrow had raised at those previous words.
"Well okay, not straight away, give or take 6 years if you want to be picky, but hey just think if you get forceful he might just snap and say he loves ya." The two males went quiet at that thought, both standing in the middle of the dead street of Goyjo's town.
"Um…" Hakkai began but listened to Goyjo chuckle instead.
"Okay, so that might take a little longer, but you guys got tons of time now right?"
"Yes…so it would seem."
"Man I would love to see his face when you show up at his doorstep. Almost makes me wanna jump in and ride with ya to Chou An, but I think my travelling bug has ended. I'm ready to settle back into my bachelor pad again."
"Goyjo?" Hakkai remarked as he sat in the driver's seat of Hakuryuu once more, only this time he wasn't leaving with three companions. "I'll come and visit for sure."
"Yeah you better and what's this 'I'll will come and visit' crap? Next time you come I wanna see you and Sanzo together…and bring your pet with you alright?"
"Alright…" Goyjo watched the tail lights of Hakuryuu disappear beyond the horizon.
"I can't believe I lost that pretty face to a fucking blonde." Goyjo sighed before turning to look back down the street and towards the bar he'd just been at and the very disappointed ladies he'd left behind…again. "Well, back to work I go." Goyjo voiced, hair blowing freely within the night air as he made his way back to the women craving his presence.
OoOo Chou An – The Next Day oOoO
"How dare you climb that tree! Remove yourself from there this instance!" Where the fiery remarks that was presented to Hakkai as he walked into Chou An. Not too far ahead of him were a bunch of bald monks trying to coax a very hungry monkey out of the sacred peach tree. With two bags in hand Hakkai made his way over to the very tree and smiled up at the disappointed boy who was once again being denied food.
"Long time no see Goku." Hakkai happily voiced to the semi-shocked Goku.
"Ah, Hakkai!" The monkey chanted, jumping from the tree to practically barrel into his 'older brother' whom he hadn't seen for over a month. "So where's that damned ero kappa?"
"He's back at home where he belongs. I see you are as hungry as ever, hmm?" Hakkai voiced with his usual pleasant smile on his face, only this was a little different, this was starting to drift further into his eyes.
"Mmhm!" Goku voiced before his eyes went wide and dewy and his mouth broke into a large smile almost splitting his face when the second bag Hakkai had been holding was presented to Goku as it was filled with pork buns.
"Wah, thanks Hakkai!" Having munched down about three pork buns and wondering the grounds with Hakkai (while confused monks looked on) Goku finally got out the question he'd been meaning to ask since the first pork bun. "So whatcha doin' here Hakkai?"
"Well…um…I kinda wanted to live here…you know?" There was a sort of perplexed look on Goku's face but the boy spoke of nothing and instead headed down a stone pathway towards a private home and flung the door open.
"Oi Sanzo, visitor!" Hakkai stepped into the foyer of the house, taking his shoes off as he was dressed in black jeans, much like his old tan ones he used to always wear and a dark green untucked button down shirt.
"Urusai na, baka saru!" Came a very familiar grumpy voice, which was accompanied by stomping feet moving from the left of the house towards the foyer area.
Green eyes took in the sight of a slightly ruffled Genjo Sanzo. He was dressed in blue jeans, white button down shirt with several buttons undone, no shoes (of course) and blonde hair placed back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His long golden bangs had grown a little longer and were messier then usual. Perhaps Hakkai had come at a bad time. It seemed Sanzo had been working as he held several papers in one hand. Sanzo himself was staring with creased eyebrows at the man before him. A man he thought he had parted ways with, even if it wasn't too pleasantly done.
"Hakkai said he wants to live here." Goku happily voiced between gulps of pork buns.
"Saru, here's money, get the hell out." Sanzo spoke through clenched teeth. There were still occasions where Goku was the innocent boy from long ago and so without much thought of what was happening around him, Goku took the money and ran into town for of course…more food.
"Why are you here? And what crap is he sprouting this time?"
"Ah, its actually true Sanzo."
"You wanna live with us?" Sanzo had more then spat those words out, but it seemed Hakkai would not flinch no matter how pissed off Sanzo seemed. It was just the way he was. Sanzo had never been good with too many emotions. Hakkai knew this and instead he did not mess with them…too much.
"Well I can find another place to live, I saw several in town, but I would like to be closer to you…and Goku." Sanzo couldn't tell if Hakkai added the monkey on as an after thought or not. The bastard was too hard for him to read, which got him even more pissed off.
"And what about the kappa?"
"Goyjo's home is his home. He told me my home doesn't necessarily have to be where I last left it. Things change, feelings change and home wasn't there when I got back."
"And you only found this out when you walked in the door?"
"You ask quite a lot of questions Sanzo."
"Shut up!" Sanzo snapped, only to reel back and into the wall behind him as Hakkai quickly moved towards him, one hand pressed against the wall near Sanzo's blonde ponytail while his other hand held the "monks" face in place.
"Do you want me to say I like you Sanzo?" Hakkai's voice was lowered to almost a whisper as he stared hauntingly into purple eyes, which had grown a little bigger, not expecting this from his Westward journey companion and now friend.
"Let go of me." Purple eyes had narrowed and yet the usual Genjo Sanzo would have already smacked any hands away from his skin and yet here he stood with the taller brunette right in his face and he was doing nothing!
"Home is where I wish it to be and that wish lies here Sanzo. I know you are glad about this."
"Oh am I just?"
"Of course, we've roomed together for many years Sanzo." Hakkai smiled and stepped away from Sanzo to let him have his space back…for now. "And I happen to get along with everyone even if they detest it and do not wish it."
"Smart ass…" The blonde murmured and stepped into the living and kitchen area. It was open spaced. Sanzo was also secretly trying to forget the heavy thumping of his heartbeat.
"What was up with that attitude Hakkai? If I had my gun I would have placed a bullet in you there and then."
"Ehehe, well Goyjo said that I should place a bit of force into my routine to get what I want, but I really don't think it suits me that much. In fact it more then freaks you out I believe."
"Nn…"
"Hmm?" Hakkai looked up but his eyes grew wide as his head was thrust forward and lips fell "brutally" onto his own. It wasn't the longest contact he'd ever shared before, but heat rose to his cheeks as purple orbs bore into his green ones.
"Leave the forcefulness to me." Hakkai really didn't know what to say to that and instead his eyes followed Sanzo as he opened a cupboard, placed two coffee cups on the counter and then a very familiar brand of coffee.
"You gunna make us coffee or what?" Sanzo spoke as though nothing had happened and yet Hakkai could have sworn there was a little happy pink tinge (only just though) on his cheeks.
"I'm hoooooooome!" Goku cried from the doorway as he was taking of his shoes.
"Me too." Hakkai muttered as he smiled fully at Sanzo before getting up and began the preparations of making the both of them their coffee, just the way they liked it.
Oo The End oO