Chapter 1: The Sanzo ikkou come to a pleasant town and cross paths with a very unpleasant fortune-teller. / Chapter 2: The ikkou's battle with the shikigami and with the Kougaiji group. / Chapter 3: Hakkai's condition leaves the group little choice but to stay in town for a little while to recoup.

Chapter 4

The fresh air wasn't helping as much as Gojyo'd hoped it would. He was a sexual being—nothing new about that. The ikkou's progress so far could have been mapped by the flings he'd had with woman—and the occasional man—along the way. The sex of the person didn't matter. What mattered was that they were the right personality, someone up for a bit of fun but who wouldn't be heartbroken when Gojyo skipped town, as inevitably he would. He'd long ago mastered the skills required to read people, to know who he could flirt with, and who he could do more than flirt with.

The sweetheart who'd prepared the tray of food, for example. She was cute, shy, a little pudgy... but if Gojyo had seduced her, he would have ended up causing her pain when he left. He didn't want to do that to anyone.

But... what if he didn't have to leave the person? What if... what if the person, too, was traveling the same route? What if the person had a face that you would see day in, day out, whose voice made up the music of daily life.

Holy shit, I'm a romantic, Gojyo mused.

He did love Hakkai. No denying that. He'd loved him since their friendship began to form, while they sat up late nights as Hakkai's grievous wounds—both physical and emotional—began to heal. Gojyo had opened up to the gentle man with the kind smile and the sad eyes, telling him things about his own life that he had intended never to tell anyone.

However, did he love Hakkai in a more intimate way? The more Gojyo thought on it, the surer he felt that the answer was...

"Yes." He whispered this aloud.

Would Hakkai reciprocate the feelings, though? Gojyo didn't know. The possibility of rejection frightened him, and that surprised him—at least until he realized that for years now, he had, whether intentionally or no, put himself in situation after situation that would ensure he would not be rejected by anyone but strangers. If a potential hump buddy waved off, Gojyo would shrug, smile, then go after a new target, all while walking away in a manner to give the person one last chance to see what they were missing out on.

To be rejected by Hakkai would be a different matter. Gojyo saw the potential for some real pain there. And knowing Hakkai, he'd be consumed by guilt if he caused Gojyo any pain... and Gojyo didn't want that to happen either.

"Shit." Gojyo found a shade tree behind the inn, sat beneath it, and lit up a cigarette. A soft breeze rustled the leaves overhead.

What to do.

Did Hakkai even harbor any sexual attraction to males? He certainly had his history with non-traditional bed partners in the form of his twin sister for fuck's sake... but in his defense, they'd fallen in love with each other before knowing they were siblings. In their late-night talks, Hakkai had never mentioned any other name but Kanan's.

"Shit shit shit shit shit."

Well, there was only one thing to do. He'd put a few feelers out... drop a couple of hints... and see how Hakkai reacted. After he recovered, of course.

Gojyo stubbed out his cigarette and made the decision to head down the gravel path to the bathhouse. With all these thoughts about his best friend, perhaps he should take a cold bath. In the end, though, after getting a robe and towel from the attendant (his change of clothes was up in his room, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd strode out of a bathhouse in his the robe) and performing his pre-bath sudsing, he couldn't resist the enticing steam of the hot bath.

Thankfully he seemed to be the only person there. He strode to the far side of the bath, dropping his robe and towel in the process, and climbed into the water. He moaned in pleasure. After getting settled, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

For a time, his thoughts continued swirling around Hakkai... but from there they flitted to Chin Yisou... then to the other paths they crossed that day... and—

Jien...

That had been one helluva shock. The last time he'd seen his brother, Jien had been covered in blood and in tears. The pain on his face was something Gojyo could never forget. With their mother's body lying on the floor between them, Jien looked down at the cowering brother he'd just saved. He seemed a giant then . So tall and powerful... yet they were the tears of a child that glistened on his face. And his expression seemed to say to Gojyo, "It's your fault. No, she shouldn't have hurt you, and it was my choice to save you... but I killed her because of you."

That must not have been too far off the mark. Jien had walked out of Gojyo's life that night.

Gojyo thought he heard a small noise. He opened his eyes and saw Jien standing in the doorway, looking down on him like he had done so many years before. He screamed.

The field of grass and flowers stretched over the rolling hills, rippling in the wind like a green ocean speckled with every color imaginable. Gonou felt the sun warming his back even as his Sun walked just ahead of him, smiling over her shoulder at him. Smiling for him. After a life of pain and abandonment, Gonou had finally found the presence who could balance all of that heartache, who could make it all worth it. He would have gone through it all again—and more—as long as he knew that she was at the end of the trail, waiting for him. She was the reward he'd never dared to hope for. Was this life? Could life truly be so good? He felt as though his skin were the only thing keeping him together.

Kanan fell into step beside him and interlaced her fingers with his. Smiling, she lifted their conjoined hands to her face and kissed their knuckles. "I've always loved your hands, Gonou," she said. "They're so beautiful."

Gonou gave a soft, embarrassed chuckle. "Ah..."

"They're so beautiful, Gonou."

Gonou frowned. Something was changing. Something didn't feel right. Though the sun still shone overhead, it seemed as if a shadow had fallen upon the world. "We should get home," he said.

"They're so... beautiful. They're... they're... there is a monster inside of me."

The sun-kissed meadow was gone, replaced by a dank dungeon that smelled of blood and mold and rot. Gonou's beautiful hands clenched the bars of the cell. "No... please..."

The knife plunged.

"NO!"

His entire body jerked. For a few moments—moments that visited him every time he awoke—he wondered why he wasn't in his own bed. Again, as always, he remembered just in time to stop himself from reaching over for Kanan's hand. A hand he would never hold again. Dreams were nothing new to him, but this one had been so vivid. He'd even felt the warmth of the sun and the caress of the breeze! He'd felt her fingers tighten on his. He'd felt her lips...

I need to stop. The emptiness inside of him yawned wider than it had in quite some time. There had been a time when the abyss had been the entirety of his existence; thanks go Gojyo and Sanzo, some parts of him had been re-built... but the treacherous sinkhole remained. It would always remain. But now, the abyss felt closer to swallowing him than it had in ages. All thanks to that strange encounter in the marketplace. Hakkai's thoughts darted uncontrollably—a sparrow tossed by the storm inside his head.

Stop, he begged again. But with nothing save a strange room to occupy him, the pain of his lost Sun rose like the tide to drown him.

On reflex he sat up in bed and looked around. Hakuryu slept next to the pillow, dead to the world. Other than the dragon, Hakkai was alone. He had only vague memories of coming to this inn at all. He remembered Gojyo bringing him food... and that was it. He must have crashed hard, though it didn't feel like he'd slept long. In fact, he felt just as exhausted—if not more so—now than before he'd fallen asleep. The weak sunlight coming through the window was certainly that of early evening, not morning; the room held too much lingering afternoon heat for it to have been any other time of day. So he hadn't slept long, then. Perhaps I'll get better sleep tonight.

That was when he recalled his desire for a bath. Certainly that would help ease some tension from his body—and even if it didn't, the simple task would at least occupy his mind. For a while. He hoped. So, before dark thoughts overwhelmed him again, he grabbed his pack and headed downstairs to find the bathhouse.

After getting some directions from a maid he passed in the upstairs corridor, Hakkai was pleased to learn that the nearest bathhouse was a small one owned by the inn itself that catered primarily to guests but also to a few of the people who lived nearby. He exited the inn via the rear entrance and followed the curving path outlined by sizable stones and unlit torches; his feet crunched softly in the small, smooth pebbles that made up the walkway.

Distant laughter brought a smile to Hakkai's face, and he reminded himself that while tragedy had struck the lives of those who today had lost homes, businesses, their sense of security or—gods forbid—a loved one, life did go on.

Whether you want it to or not.

He shook that thought from his head as he entered the bathhouse.

He folded his evening clothes in a storage slot and carefully placed his monocle atop them. The bag that contained the clothes that would need to be laundered rested on the floor out of the way. Hakkai could smell the steam and incense wafting from the bathing area and couldn't wait to ease his weary body into the relaxing heat. For the next few minutes he undressed and performed his pre-bath cleansing. It really felt good to get the rest of the travel-grit off of his body. Surprisingly the bathhouse seemed to be deserted but for Hakkai. Perhaps the day's events had drawn many of the town's residents toward the site of the battle and had the rest reluctant to leave the relative safety of their homes.

With robe and towel, he found the room with the hot bath, having made the decision that he would see if his over-taxed body would tolerate it—and, if not, he'd simply go to the cool bath.

Without his monocle, his prosthetic eye really didn't do much more than provide some of the depth-of-field vision he would have lost having only one eye. It took him a moment to adjust to the dim light of the bath room. Someone was already there. Hakkai was pleased to see that it was Gojyo. The red-haired half-youkai was sitting arm-pit deep, eyes closed, in the steaming water, leaning back against the bath's wall. His long arms bent leisurely so that his elbows rested on the floor behind him. Unsurprisingly, his robe and towel had been dropped in a careless heap; in fact, the robe's belt hung in the water. Hakkai couldn't repress a soft snort of amusement.

One scarlet eye opened, then both eyes snapped wide open. "GAH!" Water flew. In Gojyo's startled flail, he'd knocked his robe completely into the water. "Hakkai!" he exclaimed, breathing hard. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Gojyo."

Gojyo blew out a hard breath. "It's all right. You can't help that you're a sneaky bastard. If I start goin' gray, though, I'm blaming you."

Hakkai moved to Gojyo's side of the bath, knelt, and plucked the robe from the water. "Oh dear."

"You didn't sleep very long," Gojyo noted with some concern.

Hakkai wrung out as much water as he could from Gojyo's robe then hung it on the back of a nearby chair. "I don't even recall falling asleep."

"Heh, yup. You almost fell off the bed in the process."

Hakkai considered this then resumed removing his own robe. He lay it on the seat of the chair along with the towel—water had gotten all over the floor when he'd startled Gojyo—and then climbed down into the bath. The flush from the heat rose into his cheeks almost at once, but so far he didn't seem to be having any trouble tolerating the heat.

"Hey, Hakkai..."

"Yes, Gojyo?" When Gojyo didn't resume speaking, Hakkai looked to him in concern. The kappa's scarlet gaze was uncharacteristically averted, staring at the surface of the water. He seemed to be trying to form the words to say something. Hakkai knew better than to prod. Gojyo would say what he needed or wanted to say when it was best for him, and Hakkai would be there to hear it.

"Uh..." When he turned his attention back to Hakkai, the familiar devil-may-care smile was back. "I don't wanna hafta drag your naked, passed-out ass back to the inn, so don't overdo it with the hot bath, 'k?"

That's not what he was going to say, Hakkai thought, but he managed a smile in return. "Of course."