Blah blah blah do not own…enjoy!
Breathtaking
The group had been on the road for two days now and were supposed to be reaching a town any minute now. "I'm huuuungry…," Goku was hanging his head off the back of the jeep. "Shut up you stupid monkey…," Gojyo nudged Goku's foot with his own in an attempt to keep going but he was out of cigarettes and he had no will to fight. "Come on you two we'll be there soon, just hang on a bit longer," Hakkai was always smiling and trying to keep the group together. Sanzo had nothing to say, he was irritable without his smokes and was attempting to not shoot anyone and it was succeeding, that was a first.
Later that evening after arriving in town, stuffing their faces, and retreating to their own separate rooms at the inn they had booked, things settled down. The four were asleep in no time, overjoyed to have a bed to stay in. Goku was snoring loudly as usual when he was abruptly awoken be the presence of a youkai. "Show yourself!" In one swift movement he was standing, Nyoi-bo in hand. Goku heard a rustle and turned to see…himself? It was a mirror, his reflection staring at him with the confusion he held on his face. He heard the voice of the youkai behind the mirror mumble a short chant. He watched as the reflection of himself warped into the most vial thing he had ever seen in his life. Goku felt his breath leaving him and fell to the ground, unable to tear his eyes away from the image in the mirror. The image vanished suddenly and Goku found himself unable to breathe entirely. The youkai stood over him with an amused smile. "One month without breathing and without dying, have fun," he laughed maliciously and retreated through the window.
Hakkai was first to wake as usual and went to the others' rooms to wake them. First Gojyo and then Sanzo but when he opened the door to Goku's room and found the bed empty he was very confused, Goku was by far the hardest to wake in the morning. He heard muffled noises coming from the bathroom and approached slowly. He opened the door to find Goku curled up on the floor in the corner, sputtering and almost coughing. "Goku what's wrong!" Hakkai wrapped his arms around Goku and lifted him with ease, running to the kitchen where Gojyo and Sanzo were sitting for breakfast. "Gojyo, Sanzo, somethings terribly wrong with Goku! I don't think he can breathe! We need to get him to a doctor now!" The two reacted quickly without questioning, finding out the location of the nearest doctor and jumping into the jeep.
They arrived at a small cottage-like house and burst in through the doors. The man they had been told was the doctor was sitting at a table and mixing some sort of medicine. "C-can I help you your sirs?" He was clearly startled. Hakkai lay Goku on the bed in the room and without hesitation said, "We need your help, something is terribly wrong with our friend and we need you to do something!" The man could see the desperation on Hakkai's face, he immediately stopped what he was doing and walked to the bed. After one glance he sighed and shook his head, "There is nothing I can do for him, this boy will die." The three of them looked absolutely horrified and Gojyo grabbed the doctor by the collar, "What do you mean he's going to die! There has to be something you can do!" The man shook his head slowly and sighed again, "I've seen this many times before, your friend here is no different." Hakkai stepped in now and tried to be calm, "What is it then?"
"There is a powerful demon living in these parts, he has a mirror he uses to 'steal your breath' you don't die for a month though, you just suffer as if being strangled for a long, long time." This time Sanzo piped up, "Do you know where this bastard demon is?"
"No I'm afraid not, I've told you all I know, I'm so sorry for your loss," this is where Gojyo snapped and punched the man across the face. "Your sorry for our loss! You son of a bitch! He's not dead yet and he's not going to die! Ya' got that!" Gojyo was stopped by a weak hand tugging on his hair, he looked over to see Goku trying his best to smile but it was a failed attempt. His mouth was slightly dropped open and his free hand was clutching at the bed sheets in an attempt to control the horrific pain he was going through. All three of Goku's companions at that moment turned to the doctor and said, "He isn't dying!" Gojyo was the one to pick up Goku this time and the three of them left. "Time to go kill this goddamn demon! Hang on Goku," Gojyo smiled enthusiastically at Goku for encouragement as the team headed back to town to find the whereabouts of the demon. He was going down.
I edited the first chapter right after submitting the second…..I have way too much free time! :