Ok...another little side note...when I wrote this I had seen only a handful of the anime and was like not even half way through the manga, so if Yaone is OOC then I'm sorry ToT.
Yaone eyed Hakkai briefly before entering further, like Hakkai she had gotten fairly wet from the rain. She shivered a bit but didn't call attention to it, Hakkai on the other hand noticed and smiled kindly. He then took out a box of matches from his pocket, if anything he was probably the most prepared member of the Sanzo Party.
"How about I light a small fire? It doesn't look like the rain will stop any time soon, and you look cold."
"Ok…" Yaone sat down and watched as Hakkai started a small fire, "May I ask why you are out here?" she then asked. Hakkai, who was still smiling just sighed,
"I was just going for a walk, you know how it is, sometimes we just need to get away from familiar faces."
"Eh, heh, yeah I guess so." Yaone smile to herself.
"What brings you out here Yaone?" Hakkai asked good naturedly, he had a feeling he knew what he answer was. If Yaone was here then Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were undoubtedly near by, or Lirin got away again. In either sinario it spelled trouble.
"Well," she was about to answer, Hakkai smiled and said it didn't really matter and it was rude of him to ask, "Oh no, it wasn't rude." Yaone quickly assured.
"Well, it's nice to have such pleasant company; the rain has always been so depressing." Hakkai was looking out at the rain solemnly. The two sat in silence for a moment, not really sure what to talk about. Yaone would periodically glance over at the good natured young man; she noticed how he kept looking out at the rain with a sad expression. She's always known him to be cheerful and perpetually smiling, it was odd to see him look this way.
"Is there something on your mind?" she then asked, mostly to try and ease the unsettling silence between the two. Hakkai looked up and smiled at her, it was not a cheerful smile, no matter how hard he was trying to make it seem that way; it was a smile that hid an inner turmoil.
"Not really, just thinking that's all." He then gazed stoically into the small fire and said, "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not very good company after all."
"What makes you say that?"
"Oh, it's nothing," Hakkai stood and walked over to where he'd set his green shirt, he sighed, "It's still damp." He took it and set it closer to the fire. Heaving a deep sigh Hakkai sat down again, this time though he sat a bit closer to Yaone.
"What are you doing?" she asked questioningly eyeing him. Hakkai just chuckled sheepishly scratching the back of his head,"
"I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable? I just read somewhere that when people are stranded in a cold place they should huddle together to conserve heat."
"Oh…well …"
"Though I guess we're not really stranded, but you do look cold." Hakkai scooted closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders, "There, don't want you to catch cold."
Yaone blinked a few times in mild embarrassment, this was not a situation she was fully prepared to deal with. She knew Hakkai wasn't like the other members of the Sanzo Party; he was usually calm and very collected. Unlike the others, he was always the first to try and take a more civilized approach to a serious situation, like that time she first attacked them. She had to fight Hakkai but no matter how many times she attacked him, he always seemed to hold back. Then Yaone remembered that moment when she was going to kill herself, the way he reacted, she never did find out why.
"You know, this is kind of ironic don't you think?" Hakkai suddenly said, "It's kind of like this one children's tale I heard once. Where a wolf and a lamb where caught in a storm and had to seek shelter in an abandon shed. It was so dark that they did not know what the other looked like; they became good friends simply by talking to one another. It wasn't until after that they found out the others true identity, but they had become such good friends that it did not matter." Hakkai looked at Yaone and smiled, "I just wonder, who is the wolf and who is the lamb, not that it matters really."
"Why are you being so nice? I mean, aren't we supposed to be enemies?" Yaone quickly brought up, it wasn't that she didn't mind his company it was just the fact that he was being so nice despite the fact they were enemies. Hakkai didn't answer right away, he had a thoughtful expression on his face as he considered how exactly to answer her question. Finally he smiled and said,
"I see no point in fighting; I don't have the Maten Scripture which gives you no reason to attack me. You haven't attacked me so that gives me no reason to attack you."
"You could lead me to where Sanzo is though."
"I could, but that isn't going happen because it's still raining. I really don't feel like drying out my shirt again."
Not really sure how to argue Yaone sighed, she then remembered her previous thought. Now was as good a time as any to ask,
"Do you remember the first time we fought?"
"Well, that's a funny way of putting it. But yes, what about it?" Hakkai replied.
"Why did you try so hard to prevent me from killing myself?" There, it was out, she hadn't looked at him directly when she asked. After a moment of silence, Yaone glanced over at Hakkai. He had a calm yet slightly sad look on his face, as if deep in a memory. "I'm sorry, you don't have to…"
"Oh no, it's quite alright." Hakkai then smiled, "You reminded me of someone."
"Who?"
"My…sister Kannan. She was taken by the centipede youkai Gyakugen Maoh." Hakkai started to explain. Yaone's eyes had widened slightly, Gyakugen Maoh was the same youkai she was being offered to when Kougaiji, more or less, rescued her. "I went to his castle and killed every youkai there. I'm nor sure if you know about the so called legend about killing one thousand youkai…"
"One who kills one thousand youkai and bathes in their blood shall become a youkai themselves." Yaone said slowly.
"Ah, you are familiar with it. Well, that's what happened. I found Kannan in the dungeon, I tried to get her to come with me but she refused. She said that she bore the monsters child inside and that she couldn't let it be born." Hakkai seemed to pause every so often, "So, she killed herself."
Yaone wanted to say something but she wasn't sure what, she hadn't realized just how deep her actions struck him. There was yet another awkward silence between the two, Yaone sighed and said,
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"There's no need to apologize, you had your reasons and I had mine." Hakkai replied simply, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you working with Kougaiji?"
"Well, you answered my question so." Yaone thought through her answer carefully before saying, "I was the daughter of a very skilled apothecary and was to be offered to a youkai who threatened to destroy the village. Kougaiji saved me from that fate, so I agreed to work for him as a way to repay him."
"I see." Hakkai nodded in understanding.
"That youkai was Gyakugen Maoh." She then added, Yaone wasn't sure if she should have told him that. But it was out and she awaited his reaction. Hakkai did not reply to that right away. He just sat there gazing into the fire as if deep in thought.
"That's quite the coincidence." He finally said, he really didn't know what to say on the matter. "A while back, I told myself that from that point on I'd live for myself."
"Do you still?"
"I'll admit, I'm not really sure I even started."
"What do you mean?"
"I've only just started to think about…" Hakkai paused, perhaps that wasn't the best subject to bring up at the moment, he though. "Well, to have a more open mind." Hakkai corrected himself.
Yaone remained silent, she was still a little shocked at how open Hakkai was with her despite the fact that they were enemies. She was starting to enjoy their conversation, if anything, even though she still serves Kougaiji above anybody else; she wanted to stay there with Hakkai forever. Which made things difficult; Yaone knew that she shouldn't fall for the enemy no matter how charming and kind they may be. But that was easier said then done.
Meanwhile, Hakkai was lost in his own thoughts. He was thinking about what he had said, it was true; he was starting to think about possibly finding someone else to share his life with. It was still hard to open up completely to someone else, but, he found it far easier to talk with Yaone. Chuckling to himself at the irony of that, he tossed a small twig into the fire.
The sky outside started to grow light as the rain slowly came to a stop. The two were not sure how long it had been raining, it seemed like hours. Hakkai stood up with his shirt in hand, it was dry now so he put it on, he then kicked some dirt on the fire putting it out. Yaone also stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes, she then glanced over at Hakkai, he was standing near the enterance of the cave, she then walked over to him; her mind made up.
"Hakkai," she said.
"Yes?" Hakkai turned around, Yaone hugged him, "Y…Yaone? What are you doing?" he couldn't help but feel tremendously taken aback by this sudden action.
"I'm sorry but, you're such a kind person, you treat me with the same amount of respect as Lord Kougaiji. I don't know how else to say it."
Hakkai just smiled kindly, he was going to keep his word to himself…and Kanan, and live for himself. He put his arms around Yaone, at first it was hard to grasp the fact that he may be falling for someone, but it was a door soon past.
--
-Back at the Inn-
"Hey guys, sorry I'm so late." Hakkai walked into the room with his good-natured smile on his face as usual. Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo all look up from what they were doing and look at him. Gojyo was the first to react.
"Where the hell have you been Hakkai?! You had us…"
"Them…" Sanzo corrected.
"Whatever, worried about you man!" Gojyo had shot a irritated glare at Sanzo for his interruption.
"Did you bring back any food?" Goku asked, he was rewarded with a smack by Sanzos' paper fan, "Ow! What the hell Sanzo!"
"You just ate, you stupid primate." Sanzo glared. All three of them started arguing again as Hakkai shut the door. He continued to smile as she sighed,
"Yes, good times."
THE END
