What a difference a day makes
Gojyo squinted in the harsh light of his room, his eyes still blurry from drinking far too much the previous night, and his head was throbbing in agreement. He brushed his hair out of his eyes with as little movement as possible, and judged that it was about dawn. Still early, thank the Gods. He was just about to roll over onto his side when a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye surprised him. A flash of blonde streaked past his vision, and the mattress he was laying on sprung back, as if someone had got off the bed. Gojyo rubbed his day old stubble and tried to remember last night.
"Come on, sleepy head, you've got plenty of time for sleep once I'm done with you", the blonde said, in an attempt to be seductive. Gojyo swallowed hard. Not again. He slowly pushed himself up so he could see the young woman before him, and immediately wanted to crawl under the covers again. She appeared last night to be incredibly beautiful, once under the influence of enough alcohol to fill a bathtub. She had been his 'prize' for winning the last hand of poker last night, against a very stupid man who attempted to cheat, and probably had a lot of bruises this morning because of that, Gojyo thought with a grin. Last night was one he was already starting to regret. She was certainly not the beauty he had thought she was, yet she was not unattractive…he couldn't put his finger on what part of her was missing, but something definitely was. Plastic was the word that immediately sprang to mind, yet he had no idea why.
"Hmm. I don't feel like it babe, maybe go downstairs and I'll see you there in a bit", he suggested. He knew he would never see her again, and was not saddened by the fact.
"Sure thing, sweetheart", she replied. Luckily, she didn't see the kappa flinch when he heard that 'term of endearment', and she exited the room quickly. Gojyo sighed and plunged his head back onto his pillow, longing for the release of sleep. He certainly had not had enough of that recently. Just as sleep was about to pull him under, a sharp knock at his door dragged his body kicking and screaming back into the world of consciousness.
"Go away. You were fun for the night, babe, but lets not drag this thing out any longer, eh? Leave me in peace!" Gojyo almost shouted at the door, frustrated at being denied a few more hours of sleep. That little retort should mean she'd give up, he thought. However, another knock broke the silence, this one sounding quieter than the last, but still insistent. Gojyo groaned, rolled out of bed and approached the door.
What he was when he opened the door almost turned Gojyo's world upside down. Hakkai stood before him – well not really stood, more like clung to the doorframe to stop himself from falling over, drenched in his own blood. He was clutching at his abdomen, as he collapsed in Gojyo's arms. Hakkai's eyes misted slightly, as he looked up at his best friend, just a blur to him now. He had the sensation that he was floating, and then being gently lowered onto something soft and warm. His last thoughts before submerging into unconsciousness were of looking into Gojyo's eyes, and feeling his hands tenderly touch Hakkai's face. The youkai fell into a deep, troubled sleep, filled with dreams of attackers, and Gojyo saving him.