Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Saiyuki characters. They honorably belong to Minekura Sensei. Please don't sue me.
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Ayie: Yosh! Mother's Day is around the corner….Well, never mind, my siblings and I got it all planned out…^___^.
Hakkai: What you have in mind Ayie-san?
Ayie: pointed one finger up That…um..looked at Goku, jumping merrily around ayie's mom. It's a secret…!!
Hakkai: sweat dropped…couldn't reveal it with Goku's around is it?
Ayie: smiled You can ask Sanzo….I told him…because I asked him to do something to help me.pointed at Sanzo, who's painting the ceiling
Sanzo: Oi! This is my gift for your mom…it's got nothing to do with your gift. cursed as a paint splat onto his face Ayie: Yupe! I know…
Hakkai and Gojyo: Are we the only one not having anything to give to your mom? scratched heads ….Hakkai: Aha! I know! I'm going to bake a cake for her. Gojyo: May be I'll treat her dinner then… All: started to work
Ayie's mom: Guys….what are you doing…
All: scampered around, pretending to do nothing he…he…nande monai…sweat dropped as Ayie's mom left
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Mother's Day Special
Goku glanced over to Hakkai, who's paying for all the goods he had bought and the food Goku had urged him to buy with Sanzo's golden credit card. Goku stuffed another bun into his mouth. He was indeed happy to go shopping with Hakkai. The brunette would never complaint about his appetite and would never hesitate to buy any food that he wanted.
"Do you really think okasan wouldn't know that we're planning a surprise party for her?" a girl's voice pricked Goku's ear. He turned around and found two young ladies standing behind him, waiting to pay for their goods. Goku bewildered at the sight of their goods, so huge.
"Iya!" the other girl replied. "It's mother's day and she's out for work, so this is our best time to prepare for the party" she continued as she took out the biggest card Goku had ever seen from her shopping cart.
"I want to cook dinner for okasan, candle light dinner for two" Another voice from behind the girls attracted Goku's attention. He extended his neck and peeked further to the back. A young man, almost the same age as Hakkai was talking to his companion. "I'll make sure that this year's mother's day is the best mother's day for my okasan" the young man continued.
"I think I just treat my mum dinner at a five star restaurant and spend the night dancing with her" his companion added. He was holding a huge bouquet of red roses. "This is for her" he smiled.
Goku stretched his neck even farther to the back as he caught a sight of two kids comparing their cards with each other. "I got a card with Lady Bugs on it" the young girl said, holding her card to the face of a young boy.
"Well, mine got flowers on it" the boy waved his card in front of the girl's face.
"Kawaii" the girl grabbed the card and inspected it admiringly.
Goku scratched his head with wonders. 'Mother's day? What was that?'. "Goku?!" Goku turned around and found Hakkai had already waited for him at the exit door.
"What's wrong?" Hakkai asked, seeing Goku's face a little bit distorted.
"Nande monai" Goku answered happily. But deep inside he was struggling for the answer for his last question. 'What's mother's day?'. He walked through the exit with a slow gait. But then, he halted at sudden and ran back to the reception counter. He tugged at the girl's sleeve, the girl that was holding the huge card in her hands.
"Sumanen….o-nee-chan" Goku interrupted the girl's attempt to pay for her goods. The girl with the orange-dyed hair looked down on him and smiled.
"Nanda?" the girl asked softly. She patted Goku's head, as the latter was so kawaii and chubby.
"What's mother's day?" Goku asked naively.
"Ek! You don't know?" the girl startled. Goku shook his head innocently. The girl smiled. "Sorewa…it's a special day dedicated for all mothers around the world. It's the day we celebrated our most beloved person in the world" she explained.
"It is also a day where we show how much we appreciated their love, kindness and sacrifices that they had showered upon us" the other girl continued.
"Honto ni?" Goku asked with disbelief. He scratched his head.
"Hai!" the girls nodded as they smiled merrily at Goku.
"Sankyu na…O-nee-chan" With that Goku dashed away and headed for the exit door after waving the girls goodbye.
"Kawaii…" the girls sighed as they watched Goku went away.
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Goku looked at Hakkai. He was about to say something but then he stopped abruptly as soon as he wanted to voice out the question. Hakkai glanced down at Goku, realizing the kid was being restless since the last time they left the shop.
"What's bothering your mind Goku?" asked Hakkai. He smiled at the kid, as if urging the kid to talk.
"Hakkai…" Goku opened up his mouth. Hakkai waited for the rest to come out. "Uh…nande monai" Goku continued, making Hakkai's brows twitched.
"Come on, you know you can count on me?" Hakkai tried for second time. He's not going to let the boy keep it up to himself. "Nanda?" Hakkai repeated his question. "Do you want more food?"
"Iya!" Goku answered. He stopped his pace and looked up to Hakkai. Hakkai halted and returned that glance. "What's a mother?" finally Goku had forced it all out.
Hakkai stammered. He gazed upon Goku with solemn look. The boy was looking down to his feet, nudging the sand beneath his feet with one foot. He patted the boy's head and kneeled down in front of him. What can he tell him about mothers? Even he himself never met his own mother and didn't even know if he ever had one. The only woman who gave him the affection he needed was long dead. 'Kannan? Help me to explain to Goku'.
"Ano…" Hakkai tried to give the best explanation. "A mother is a person who loved you forever. A mother will praise you for what you did right and scolded you for what you did wrong" he continued. "A mother will console you if you were sad, a mother will treat you if you're sick and a mother will feed you when you're hungry" Hakkai had finished his explanation. He was lost of words.
"Sou ka…" Goku nodded as he looked up to Hakkai. "That's a mother?"
"Why do you want to know what is a mother?" Hakkai asked. He was worried since Goku never said any word concerning a mother before. 'Is he longing for a mother's affection? Something we could not provide to him?'
"Harahetta yo Hakkai" Goku tugged at Hakkai's arm and pulled him toward the inn. Hakkai followed with a worried glance and an edgy smile upon the kid.
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Hakkai turned the doorknob and pushed the door opened. He stepped inside, with Goku's tailing behind him. The boy was completely quiet by the time they entered the inn and Hakkai was not fond of it. There must be something wrong. But Goku doesn't seem to be sick. 'May be he was bored, it's been days now since our last fight'. But Goku seemed to be happy while they were shopping a moment ago. Goku seemed to be thinking of something, and that's definitely weird.
"Goku, I'm going to the kitchen to prepare lunch" Hakkai chirped as he knew the word lunch would surely turned on the boy behind him. Hearing no yelp of joy or a cheer from the kid, he turned around and found Goku's sitting cross-legged on the floor. He folded his arms around his chest and his face was tilted to one side. His face was a little distorted and his eyebrows twitched. "Goku, you're not coming?" Hakkai asked. 'May be the kid did longed for a mother'.
"Ah!" Goku was snapped back. "You…you go ahead" Goku replied. "I…I want to take a nap" he pretended to yawn and climbed up onto his bed. Without waiting for Hakkai to go out of the room, Goku lied down on the bed and closed his eyes. He snored out loud as if he's trying to shove Hakkai out of the room.
"Goku…?" Hakkai sighed sadly. Seeing the genki boy acted like that made his heart torn to pieces. But he couldn't do anything anymore. Goku was trying hard to be alone. Hakkai exited the room, pulling the door softly behind him. He thought he had made a big mistake by telling Goku what a mother is. Now the boy was downcast.
"Oi Hakkai!" Gojyo appeared from the staircase. "Where's the saru?" he asked as he walked toward Hakkai. 'Gojyo must have been hanging at the bar'.
Hakkai sweat dropped. This friend of his always teased Goku, with or without him around. "Gojyo, I would highly appreciated if you did not disturb Goku for today, he seems to be in a bad mood or something and insisted of being left alone" Hakkai said with a saddened tone. 'It's not usual for Goku to wanting to be alone. Being alone was the biggest fear for Goku.
"Who cares?" Gojyo smirked as he kicked the slightly ajar door opened. The loud bang of the door slamming to the wall caused Goku to jerk up at sudden. Hakkai slapped his head in disbelief. 'This guy can't be help no more'. He retreated to the kitchen. May be he should cook something fast to enlightened Goku.
"Oi baka saru! Don't waste your time sleeping, go and hog the pretty ladies downstairs" Gojyo slammed the door closed. He looked at Goku, now lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Goku just ignored him and lied on his side, facing the other way.
Gojyo startled. The saru didn't respond to his mocking, which is quite unusual. Usually, Goku would return his favor by strangling him madly and uttering the word 'ero kappa' or 'red haired gokiburi'. 'Okay, may be Hakkai was right, the saru was in bad mood today'. Gojyo sighed and headed for his bed. There's no more fun when the saru was not in mood for a fight or at least a quarrel.
Gojyo sunk himself onto the bed. He closed his eyes and was about to doze off when he felt a sudden weight at his bedside. Somebody was creeping beside him. He snapped his eyes opened and found Goku staring down to his face.
Gojyo jerked up into a sitting position. He poked the boy's head, hard. Goku fell onto the floor, moaning at his aching head. "What do you think you're doing staring at me like that?" Gojyo scolded Goku. "I'm not a yaoi you know?" He accidentally uttered the word.
"Yaoi? Nanda'to?" Goku asked with his eyes blinking rapidly. Gojyo slapped his forehead. 'My mistake'
"Gojyo, what is a mother?" Goku's question caused Gojyo to stammer and looked at him anxiously.
"Why did you ask that?" Gojyo asked back. He felt a sudden blow down to his heart. 'So, this is what was bothering his mind'. He felt sorry for the boy but then the question brought him back to his painful past.
"A mother…" Gojyo stopped and sobbed quietly. He looked up and smiled. 'Don't contaminate this boy's mind, he has the right to know what a real mother is'. Unfortunately, Gojyo couldn't make the words to describe the real mother is. Everytime he thought of something nice about a mother, the image of his stepmother trying to kill him flashed back to his mind. Gojyo quickly shook the memory out of his head.
"A mother is a person who will scold you when you did something bad. A mother would say bad words to you if you're naughty and a mother will poke you on the head if you acted like a saru" that was the best Gojyo could think of. That's what he knew about his 'mother'. He never knew how a real mother would be like, so how could he explain one?
Goku scratched his head. Gojyo reached out a hand and ruffled Goku's brown hair. "I'm going to the bathroom" Gojyo rose up from the bed and went outside.
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Sanzo was about to turn the doorknob when the door suddenly being jerked opened. Gojyo was standing right in front of him.
"Uh Bouzu!" Gojyo smirked as he closed the door softly. "If you're planning to whack the saru's head today, think again" Gojyo warned as he he left the monk dumbfounded.
"Ch! Baka!" Sanzo grunted as he watched the kappa went away. 'And what was that I saw in his eyes? Tears?'
Sanzo pushed the door opened and found Goku sitting cross-legged on his bed. 'Well, he did look a little solemn'.
"What happened? You couldn't find a meat bun while out shopping?" Sanzo said sarcastically.
Goku pouted. He looked up to Sanzo and turned away. He turned his back to Sanzo and faced the wall behind him.
Sanzo startled. 'Eh! The saru didn't whine for food or saying his favorite verse 'harahetta' out loud?'. "Oi! What happened? You had nightmares again?" he asked with a rare flicker of concern on his face. He sat on Goku's bedside, back to back to Goku. He took out a cigarette and lit it. He smoked while waiting for the saru to respond to his question.
"Naa…Sanzo" Goku finally ceased his ignorance and turned to look at Sanzo. He stared at Sanzo's back and sighed. "What is a mother?" he asked.
Sanzo's cigarette fell onto the floor and without wasting anymore time, Sanzo quickly stepped on the cigarette. 'Now, that's a question he never expected to come from the saru's mouth'. "Ch! Why do you ask that?"
Goku's head hung low. "Nande monai" he said at the lowest pitch of his voice.
Sanzo grunted. How could he explained what a mother was? He never knew a mother for his entire life. He only knew he had a mentor, who acted more like a father to him. But a mother? Oshio-sama was far different from that. "A mother…" Sanzo could not let the boy down anymore as Goku was giving him his puppy look.
"A mother was a person who will tuck you to bed if you feel sleepy, who would wakes up in the middle of the night if you had a nightmare, who would get angry if you do not behave, who would take care of you when nobody else does, and get you out of loneliness" Sanzo took a deep breath after that. He spat it all out in just one single breath.
"Sou ka…" Goku chirped happily.
"Why are you asking this?" Sanzo asked curiously.
"Nande monai" Goku hopped down from the bed and rushed toward his backpack. He took out a book and a pencil from the backpack and rushed back to his bed. He jumped onto the bed and lied down on his stomach. His foot swayed back and forth as he happily scrabbled something on his book.
Sanzo glanced over Goku's shoulder, peeping on the boy's book. Goku realized his attempt and shouted out loud. "You are not supposed to look!" He leaped out from the bed and pushed Sanzo away. He pushed the monk at his back toward the door.
Sanzo smiled a ghostly smile. 'What he's trying to do?'
Goku chased Sanzo out of the room and slammed the door furiously behind him. Sanzo could hear the lock being twisted. Goku had locked him outside the room?
"Oi saru!" Sanzo pounded on the door, banging furiously. No sound from the inside. "Oi! Do you want to die badly?" Sanzo reached in his robe and searched for his shoureijuu. But the spirit-ascending gun was nowhere inside the robe. Sanzo slapped his forehead. He misplaced the gun on his bed.
"Sanzo?" Hakkai appeared from behind him with a tray of food in his cradle. It was obvious that Hakkai had just returned from the kitchen. "What happened?" he asked worriedly.
"Goku shoved me out of the room and locked the door from inside" Sanzo explained. He gave Hakkai a deadly glare as the latter tried really hard not to laugh. 'It's not everyday Goku would locked Sanzo outside the room'. "Oi Hakkai! Do you have the key?" Sanzo asked.
"Nain" Hakkai answered, shaking his head.
"Why the two of you are out here?" Gojyo joined them a little later. "Where's Goku?"
"It seems that Goku had locked himself inside the room, alone" Hakkai explained. He chuckled edgily.
"Oi baka saru!" Gojyo pounded his fist to the door. "Open this door RIGHT NOW!!" he shouted. No respond from the tenant inside.
"Sanzo?" Hakkai remembered something. "Goku was in bad mood today, where do you put your gun?" he asked anxiously. Sanzo and Gojyo bewildered at that thought.
"Oi oi Hakkai! You don't think he would shoot himself right?" Gojyo asked. He stared at the closed door as if he could see what's beyond the wooden door. "Oi Goku! Don't you ever think of that!!" he yelled as he banged fumingly at the door. His pounding got more rapid and harsher. It seemed like he could bring the door down if he kept pounding the way he is now. Even Sanzo started to pound heavily and desperately.
"I'm going to knock the door down" Said Gojyo as he backed away a few steps. At the count of three, he darted toward the door with great speed. Suddenly the door was jerked opened, causing him to went straight into the room and dashed onto the wall. Gojyo fell tremendously on the floor with a loud thump. His head spun madly and there were stars twinkling around his aching head. "Ittai…" he moaned softly.
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Gojyo looked at the door. Goku was staring at him bewilderedly. Gojyo rose up at sudden, feeling a little bit humiliated by his own act. "Oi saru! What were you thinking locking yourself in the room?" Gojyo darted toward Goku and shook the boy furiously. "What were you thinking? Trying to commit suicide" Gojyo asked with a worried tone. He hugged Goku tightly, much to the other's surprise.
Sanzo and Hakkai startled at Gojyo's hug of wisdom.
"Eh! Commit suicide? Who said anything about committing suicide…ero kappa?" asked Goku curiously.
Gojyo released Goku at instant. "Nani? You're not?" Goku shook his head. Gojyo looked at Hakkai, who's now chuckling edgily.
"Gomen" Hakkai said. "My mistake". Gojyo grunted. Hakkai went to get Goku and kneeled in front of him. "Daijoubu desu ka Goku?" he asked, anxiously.
Goku grinned. He took the tray Hakkai is holding and put it on the table. He rushed back to Hakkai, Sanzo and Gojyo and pulled their hands, dragging them toward the bed.
"Please sit" Goku asked politely, which is rather weird. The three bishounens jaw dropped at the hospitality cast upon them by the kid. They sunk unwillingly to the bed.
Gojyo put his palm on Goku's forehead, feeling the boy's heat. "Saru, are you sick?" he asked. Gojyo was not used to the boy acting so polite like Hakkai. It gave him the creep and made the hair behind his neck stood. Unfortunately, Goku just ignored him and went to get something from the closet.
"Hayaku baka saru!!" Sanzo is getting impatient. The waiting task is killing him.
Goku returned after a while, hiding something behind him.
Gojyo stood up. "Saru, you're not planning a prank on us aren't you? Coz if you did, I'm out of here!" Gojyo was about to walk away when Goku stopped him. The kid looked at him with his puppy look.
"Gojyo….pweaseee?" he pled. Gojyo sighed and sunk himself back onto the bed.
Goku grinned childishly as he held out a big paper that was made of several piece of paper glued together. On the paper was a lousy handwriting and drawings. Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai looked down. The handwriting, which looked more like a scratch spelt out "Hepi Maders Day!". He only got the word 'day' spelt out correct. On the card was a lousy drawing. A drawing of two large meat buns with eyes popping out and it smiled greedily. 'Uh! Okay, we get the idea. The boy was trying to create a Mother's Day card'.
"Oh Goku! That's so kawaii…" Hakkai complimented as he kneeled down in front of Goku and took a closer look at the card. The card is not much to be proud of but at least he tried.
"Kawaii…? Hakkai, it looks like a…" Gojyo couldn't finish his words when he heard a soft click from his back. No doubt from Sanzo's shoureijuu. "It's nice" he continued unwillingly.
"I know it's not much but this is the least I could do" Goku sighed. "Happy Mother's Day, minna-san!!" he wished merrily. The older bishounens jaw dropped. 'Mothers? Them?'
"Goku, mother's day should be celebrated with a mother, not with us" Hakkai found it difficult to explain. What if he let the boy down again?
"You guys are my mother" Goku replied in glee. Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai stammered at the words. They stared at Goku with eyes wide opened.
"Well…" Goku looked at the astounded comrades of his. He turned to Gojyo. "You said a mother would scold you if you're naughty and poke you on the head if you're acting like a saru" Goku repeated Gojyo's word. Gojyo nodded. "You always did that to me" Goku's last statement flattered Gojyo.
Goku turned to Hakkai. "And Hakkai, you said that a mother would treat you if you're sick, feed you when you're hungry, praise you when you did right, and console you if you're sad" he said. "And I couldn't find anyone who did all that any better than you did" Goku continued. Hakkai smiled as he felt his heart's melting.
Goku walked to Sanzo. "And you said a mother will tuck you to bed if you feel sleepy, would wakes up in the middle of the night if you had a nightmare, get angry if you do not behave, take care of you when nobody else does, and get you out of loneliness" Goku chanted out.
"Ch!" Sanzo grunted. He glanced at Goku from the corner of his eyes.
"That makes you my mother number one because you're the one who took care of me when nobody does and you're the one to free me from the lonely prison on Mount Gogyo" Goku continued as he held Sanzo's hand. "You are my sun" he said, almost crying.
"Baka!" Sanzo muttered beneath his breath. He reached out a hand and patted Goku's hair. Hakkai and Gojyo smiled at that sight. 'The monk has a softer side after all'.
"I loved you minna and thanks for your sacrifices" Goku looked at the rest of the guys. "We've being through a lot together and you had done many things for me and I appreciated that, Arigatou!!" he bowed slightly and presented each of his companions a huge bear hug.
Gojyo, being the first one, returned the hug by ruffling Goku's hair and lastly planted a kiss on the latter's head.
Hakkai, when it's his turn, kneeled in front of Goku and hugged him tightly. "Sometimes, I do feel like you're my baby" he whispered at Goku's ears, making the latter smiled. Hakkai chuckled merrily. He held Goku's face in his hands and presented him a peck on the forehead.
Sanzo being the last but not least, accepted the hug with a rare smile upon his face. He surprisingly kissed the boy on his head and pulled the boy tighter into his arms. He could hear a soft sob escaping the boy's mouth. "Don't cry…"he whispered.
Goku smiled sweetly as Sanzo let him free. "Sankyu na Sanzo?"
"Ma…ma…minna-san, let's celebrate this moment with the food I prepared for you" Hakkai chirped as he unveiled the tray on the table. There was a huge banquet of Chinese cuisine. His comrades sweat dropped, except for Goku of course. "Why…? It's not enough?" he asked.
"Hakkai, why do you cooked so much?" asked Gojyo, astounded.
"Ano…I thought Goku was having a bad day so I wanted to cheer him up by cooking all of his favorite dishes" explained Hakkai, one hand behind his head as he chuckled edgily. "Looks like I made the right decision even though I'm wrong, we can party all night" he said, proudly.
Gojyo slapped his forehead in disbelief as Goku darted toward the table and sat on the chair. "Sugee! Ita ra shimas" he said out loud as he started gobbling all the food.
The older bishounens stared at each other and sighed. "Oi saru! I want to eat too, don't gobble it all up" Gojyo dashed toward the table and poked Goku on the head. They fought for food again.
"Ch!" Sanzo followed a little later. "URUSEI!!!" he whacked Gojyo and Goku's head.
"Ittai!!" the latter two cried in agony.
Hakkai smiled. He glanced at the card in his hands. 'Guess everyone had their own way of explaining to Goku what a mother is….except that nobody tell him that a mother supposed to be a woman'. Hakkai shook his head. 'But heck, even a guy could be a mother sometime because motherly love didn't count in gender…everyone's a mother deep inside them'. Hakkai smiled as he put the card on the bed and went to the table, joining his friends for lunch.
"Ma….ma…what a peaceful day" Hakkai chirped.
~Owari~
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Ayie, Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo, Goku, Aiko and Kazo: Happy Mother's Day!!!!! followed by cheers and applause.