keemew2: Okay. For starters, I would like to say that this was a rush job. I normally proof read it three times after I have typed it up and make extra revisions, give it more detail, make it more fluid, ect, ect, ect. Well, this time I didn't. I feel weird posting this now, but I really wanted to get it out.
Anyway. For now this is a one shot. Depending upon your reviews I may do more with it. I have a story idea planned out, but I am not sure if I will do it or not...
Anyway, please enjoy and tell me what you think!
OO
As the Rain Falls.
Saiyuki
pg-13
OO
The sound of rain echoed in his ears as they pattered on the stone ground. He attempted to shift his weight, the chains binding him, chaffing from the cold rivulets of water. The sensation of pain wracked his bruised and broken body, gashes cut deep within his bare skin slowly leaking life sustaining liquid.
His dull eyes glanced listlessly upward, he barley wondered how he'd gotten into such a situation.
Again he shifted. The chains binding his arms behind his back tugged at the collar around his neck. His feet were bound similarly, shackled together with a short length reaching his arms, forcing his knees to remain bent. The chains, the very reflection of his past sins. Their weight seemed to signify the weight of guilt on his conscience, the weight of his burdens and inner demons.
The sound of a small body hitting the ground reached his ears. A soft kick and then a small familiar body, broken and lifeless, reached his field of vision. His eyes managed to focus well enough to make out the form of his precious pet, his little Hakuryou. The shock coursed through him, sending a freezing shudder throughout his body. He was numb, fearful. Angry and sad. The tiny little dragon was missing his wings, deep gashes littered his tiny body and little darts stuck out from vital points.
"Ha-Haku...Hakuryou!" Hakkai cried, knowing full well the little creature could no longer hear him.
It was then that a mocking voice reached him. Familiar, in a fearsome way.
"My, my. Aren't we the distraught one, eh Cho Ganou?"
Hakkai's eyes widened. His heart froze. He knew that voice. "No..."
"But yes, Cho Ganou." The prim voice of Chin Yisou crooned, "Who else would it be? Who else would put together such an elaborate trap as the one I have set for you? Keeping you alive and then showing you the dead body of what's dearest to you..."
The pure pleasure in the voice gave no mistake to who spoke. But the idea was simply impossible! He killed Yisou! He'd killed him with his bear hands! Twice!
"Who else, Cho Ganou..." the voice continued, much closer now. There was a hesitation at first, then the feel of someones hot, tepid breath next to his ear, "...but the very embodiment of your greatest sin?"
A handful of Hakkai's hair was suddenly fisted into a knot. He felt himself be pulled to his knees, the pain forcing a soft cry from his lips. At this position Hakkai received a much better view of his surroundings. They appeared to be a cell of some kind, old and condemned looking. The stone walls seemed to be falling apart and moss grew in nearly every cranny he could see. There was obviously no ceiling at all, if the rain said anything.
Hakkai found himself being slammed into the wall behind him, the collar around his neck fastening tightly in place; if he were to relax his muscles he would be strangled. However, he was now able to see a dark silhouette, most assuredly Yisou, hovering close by.
"I want you to face your true reality, Gonou. The reality of hopeless despair. Before you die, you will feel every form of remorse I can imagine. You will feel the despair of not only loosing your dearest friends, but also the despair of them discovering for themselves what they should have discovered long ago."
"Hakkai."
The sound of a new voice, weak and familiar, numbed his heart as the icy sensation of pure cold dread coursed through him. "G-Gojyo?" Hakkai feared the answer.
"Allow me to illuminate your confusion." Yisou murmured softly. A torch suddenly lit itself on the other side of the cell, bringing to light another occupant and the answer to Hakkai's fears.
"Gojyo!"
The crimson haired half breed was half leaning against the wall, his arms shackled above his head. He'd been tortured, that much was obvious. His antennae were missing completely at this point and blood leaked from his fresher wounds. He had burn marks scattered throughout his skin and his right hand, just below the wrist, was missing entirely.
"Idiot." He croaked. "What have you...gotten me...into this time? I guess I...should a left...you for dead after...all."
Hakkai's eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't believe what he'd heard, Gojyo would never say that!
"What-."
"This is your fault, ain't it?" Gojyo coughed.
"Wh-what? Gojyo, I-."
"Don't Gojyo me, you little Prick!" The other cried, stunning Hakkai into silence. A thick silence, heavy and frightening. "If I'd...never met you, Hakkai...my life would have turned out differently. I never would have met...that stupid monk and...been shanghaied...into this ridiculously long...journey. And I certainly...most defiantly would not be...dieing...right now."
"No!" Hakkai cried desperately, "Gojyo! Please!"
"Gojyo, please!" The mocking voice of Chin Yisou cooed softly, his face still shrouded in the shadows.
"Monster!" Hakkai cried, not entirely convinced that really was Gojyo. "Why are you doing this!?"
"Why?" Yisou chuckled, "Why, you ask. Simply because it is your just desserts, Ganou."
"I'm Hakkai!" The young demon cried irritably, "Hakkai! Gano is dead!"
"Sins aren't shed so easily!" Yisou sneered, "Especially yours! And for your sins, anyone and everyone close to," Hakkai felt Yisou's breath next to his ear again, "will all die."
Hakkai swung his head to the right, but the moment he did his tormentor was gone. "They will all blame you," Yisou crooned, "and thusly, forsake you. You, who are the cause of all their woes, all their pain. The suffering they will go through, that they are going through, will all be on you, deer Ganou. And when the last of them have cursed your name I will laugh with glee as you finally descend into the pits of darkness, the last shreds of your humanity vanishing from existence and the demon blood born to you shall devour your soul into eternal darkness."
"My friends," Hakkai murmured through clenched teeth. "will never forsake me."
"No?" Yisou mused. "Then who do you call the crimson haired half breed laying against my wall?"
"The real Gojyo is my best friend." Hakkai replied firmly. "He would never-."
"Give it up you creep." Gojyo hissed from the other side of the room. "I came here to re...scue you, but...came to a strange...realization at the same...time!"
"You're not Gojyo!" Hakkai shouted, "He would never-!"
"Give it a rest Hakkai!" Gojyo shouted. "I'm tired! Tired of...looking after you! From the time...that I met you. I have done nothing but...look after you. I'm sick of it. Sick of you. I'm not a freaking babysitter!"
Hakkai felt speechless. He didn't want to believe it really was Gojyo but...
"it...can't be." Hakkai murmured softly
"Beleive it." Gojyo hissed. "I'm done."
"And so you are." Yisou chuckled again, this time his fingers snapping.
Hakkai's eyes widened as mysterious half dead hands slowly formed from the wall. They latched onto Gojyo, their clawed fingers digging into Gojyo's flesh. He gasped in pain, his voice catching in his throat. The blood came slowly at first, then began to gush as the hands continued to dig their way in. Gojyo began to cry out in pain; Hakkai shouted.
"Let him go! Stop it!"
More hands appeared. Chunks of Gojyo's flesh began to peel away. Hakkai watched in horror as his friend was slowly torn to shreds, Gojyo's cries falling on deaf ears, save for Hakkai's.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOooo!!!" Hakkai cried, despair filling his heart as he watched the life drain from Gojyo's widened eyes.
The cell door broke down as Goku came flying in, but not by his own power. He fell to the floor, badly injured, and groaned irritably. Dmmt!" He cursed painfully. The sound of gunshots going off signaled the arrival of Sanzo just before he, too, entered the room. He glanced over his shoulder at Goku, checking the young monkey boy to see if he was okay. Hakkai saw, with some surprise, that blood leaked from his left eye, and his usual gun arm hung limply at his side.
"How's your leg Goku?" The monk asked quickly.
"Fine!" Goku replied before looking around. Upon seeing Hakkai he cried out in surprise, uncertainty in his voice. "Hakkai!"
"Goku!" Hakkai choked, "Gojyo! Gojyo he's-."
Goku looked around until he saw Gojyo and cursed again. "We're too late!" Goku seethed.
"No!" Sanzo hissed.
"He killed Hakuryou!" Hakkai stated, "He killed them...both of them!"
"Figures." Sanzo growled, "I knew this was going to happen sooner or later."
"Now what do we do Sanzo?" Goku asked softly. "We're too late to save Gojyo and Hakuryu..."
"We kill their murderer." Sanzo stated, "Prepare yourself...Hakkai!"!
Hakkai's heart stopped as Sanzo's gun trained on him. Confusion and desperation entered his very being and he looked at Sanzo in disbelief."
"S-sanzo?"
"Your blighted past has caused enough damage! I thought you would be able to control yourself, but I was deadly wrong. And now we're paying for it. I'm sorry, Hakkai. But this is the only way to end it."
"Sanzo, wait!" Hakkai cried, "What are you doing!?"
"Oh, but I can't allow you to end it just yet!" Yisou crowed. Sanzo, as if seeing the shadow for the first time, leapt back in surprise as it made a swipe at him.
"Dmn!" Sanzo hissed, "He was here the whole time!"
"Sanzo!" Goku cried. A quick strike, the sound of piercing skin and the splash of blood.
Sanzo froze, his eyes widened. He looked over his shoulder to see Goku pressed up against his back, disembodied hands digging into his torso. At first, Goku said nothing, just stood there with his own hands grasping tightly to the others. Then he began to scream. His cries of pain filled the room as the hands continued to dig their way in.
"GOKU!" Sanzo cried.
And then the shadowed hand of Chin Yisu, taking advantage of the distraction, was plunging through Sanzo's stomach. Sanzo gasped, choked and coughed. Then he fell to the side, the life departing from his eyes just as Goku's final screams laid to rest.
Hakkai stared in horror at the sight of all his lifeless friends. He was lost to the realization, nothing else in the world existed to him in that moment, save the four corpses.
And then a deranged giggling slowly reached his ears.
"Sanzo...Goku...Gojyo...Hakuryu..." Tears slowly leaked from his eyes. "...why?"
"You still haven't realized the truth yet, Ganou?" Yisou purred from the darkness. "And here I thought you'd already figured it out! You seemed so sure of yourself earlier."
"Dmn you Yisou!"
"Oh, so you thought I was him all along, did you?"
"What??"
The deranged laughter filled the room again. "Think about it, Ganou! They all cursed your very existence in the end. Their final moments were wishing for your death. And it really was all because of you. Just as you have always feared, you killed them yourself."
"What are you talking about?" Hakkai growled, his anger growing inside of him. "You killed them! Not me! Why are you tormenting me like this!?"!
"Hahahah! You are tormenting yourself!"
"STOP IT!" tears burst from Hakkai's eyes as he his emotions finally broke through. He sobbed, pain filling his heart. Why? If that wasn't Yisou then who was it? But most importantly, why did his friends blame him? They had always said they would be there for him. They would never abandon him, they always told him that his past was of no concern! So why? Why now?
"Ganou." the sweetest, most melodic voice in the world reached out with warm comforting arms. "Dearest Ganou." Soft, gentle hands touched his cheek. "My love." They raised his disparingly shocked face to meet with lovely eyes.
"K-Kannan...?" Hakkai, barley able to believe what he was hearing, peared through his dull green eyes to see his long lost love. "Kannan...!"
"Don't cry, Ganou." She smiled softly at him. "I'm here now. I will always be here. With you. For all eternity."
"Kannan!" Hakkai cried. He had noticed her tears. Those same tears from before. The ones that stole her life away...
Her hands slowly slid from his face and fell to his side. She drew back, his dagger in hand. The same dagger. The one from so long ago...
"Kannan!" Hakkai cried, "Kannan, no!"
"Let's be together, Ganou. Always...and forever. Eternity awaits us." She was smiling at him, softly.
And then his tormentor was behind Kannan, his shadowy appearance looming over her maliciously.
"Kannan!" Hakkai cried, "Watch out!"
The shadow, however, didn't attack. Instead, he slowly wrapped his arms around her, his hands overlapping hers.
"We'll always be together Ganou. Always."
"Always and forever." The demon agreed. Hakkai couldn't believe what he was hearing. The demon had agreed in his voice! But...but how? Why?
Kannan seemed to shine with a vibrant aura. The aura of the dead. Her ghostly shine brought light to Hakkai's confusion and shock once again overwhelmed the young man. Green eyes, glittering with malice and blood lust, matched his own. Unique markings, resembling vines, slashed across his face, accenting his features. Vines that wound around his arms, his torso...markings that Hakkai was painfully aware of. Markings that mirrored his own. The mark of his sin.
The demons clawed hand slowly made it's way to Kannan's neck, running his claws along her soft flesh.
"I love her so much." he murmured, "So much that I would die for her. And yet...yet all I can do is...destroy."
The demon whipped Kannan around, her purple hair clenched tightly in his had as he bent her head backward at a dangerously sharp angle.
"Yaone!" Hakkai cried out in alarm. He had no idea when the calm placid Kannan had melted into the frightened Yaone, but her terrified eyes now watched in horror as the demonic image of Hakkai held her, his arm slowly rising. And all Hakkai could do is watch as in agony as his hand speared straight through her chest, ripping her heart out in one fell swoop. Her blood splashed onto Hakkai's face, the red liquid numbing the muscles in his body as the demon stared down at Hakkai, grinning maniacally.
"Looks like we do have her heart after all, doesn't it?" He chuckled, "Right in the palm of our hand. Heheheh. Hahahah! Ahhahahahahahahaaaaa!!!!"
II
Hakkai awoke, bolting upright with a start. Sweat poured down his body and his breath came in heavy gasps. The sound of rain poured outside the inn.
"About time."
Hakkai glanced over to see Sanzo, a cigarette resting on his lips, sitting in a chair by the window. He was looking at Hakkai with his usual placid eyes, unconcerned by all.
"Sorry I kept you awake." Hakkai murmured
"No." Sanzo shook his head. "It was the rain."