Goku
I woke up with Gojyo slumped against me, his head heavy on my shoulder. The right half of my body was cold and my fingers felt numb. My eyes burned when I opened them. Slowly, I looked at him; he was just there, leaning against me, eyes closed, a line of blood running down from beneath his headband, over the bridge of his nose.
We were in the cave I guess. It was dark and cold, and I heard water dripping all around us. Then I realized I was lying half way in a puddle, and that's why half my body was numb.
"Gojyo." I nudged him. "Wake up."
He didn't answer. I tried not to freak out. That was real hard though. Gojyo was such a jerk all the time, but when it came down to it, I knew I could count on him.
I sat up, rubbing my head, and tried to remember what had happened. The details were fuzzy, but I knew he'd pushed me out of the way just in time; another second standing in the same place and I would have been crushed.
Even if I couldn't remember anything else, I knew he'd saved my life, so I had to do what I could for him. I shook him. "Gojyo, c'mon. Wake up."
This time he moaned and I watched his eyelids flicker as he opened them. He stared at me.
There was something weird about Gojyo's eyes. There always had been. I guess it's 'cause they were red. Whatever it was, they always creeped me out a little. Today though, I was so hungry, all I could think was that they looked like two apples.
"Where're we?" He mumbled, sitting up too.
"Idunno. In the cave, I guess." I watched him swipe the blood from his face. He looked at it and wrinkled his nose, then rubbed it off onto his pants.
"Oh, that's right…"
I looked up at where the entrance had been, but it was completely blocked by a pile of boulders now. Sanzo and Hakkai were probably on the other side, but I couldn't even hear them. What about Xiong? Were they still fighting him? We'd had so much trouble, even with all four of us, how were they gonna' fight him without us. My legs ached a little as I stood up, "Sanzo an' Hakkai…what 'bout them? What 'bout Xiong?"
Gojyo didn't answer.
"Crap! Gojyo, they need us! They've still gotta' fight that guy!"
He still wasn't saying anything.
I was irritated, but I didn't have time to worry about it. I threw myself against the nearest boulder and pulled at it, "C'mon! We gotta' hurry! We gotta' help 'em!" I grabbed one of the biggest rocks I could and pulled it loose, and then another.
"Stop, Goku. Wait. Stop."
"Shaddup, Gojyo! They need us!" Another rock.
"Goku wait a minute."
"There's no time! That guy's gonna' have 'em for breakfast if we don't get outta' here." I barely noticed a rumbling starting from above me.
"Shit. Goku, cut it out!" he grabbed my arm. "Stoppit, think about what you're doing! This wall is the only thing holding the cave up right now—if you tear it down we'll both be crushed, maybe Sanzo and Hakkai too! You want that?"
"But-"
"Listen kid." I felt his hand firm on my shoulder, "Just calm down, okay? We're gonna' find a way out of here."
"But Sanzo an' Hakkai-"
"They'll be okay. They don't need us."
"Don't need us? Gojyo, you saw how strong that creep was! How're Sanzo an' Hakkai gonna' take 'im on alone?"
He just shrugged at me, "Be real. Those two guys are the toughest assholes I know."
"Well, yeah, but-"
"I promise when we get outta' here we'll go find them, all right? But we can't help anybody if we're pancakes. So just get a grip, and come on."
I stared back at him. He had a really weird look on his face. It was…serious. Too serious for Gojyo. But I knew he was right. There was nothing we could do for the others while we were in here, but we couldn't do anything at all if we both got flattened. I just had to try to get a grip. "All right." I let go of the rock I was pulling on, reluctantly.
He nodded. "All right."
"So…What now?"
His lighter flicked and flared as he lit a cigarette, and the smell of tobacco filled the air.
"I mean, we ain't really trapped in here, are we?"
"Maybe not. Guess the only thing we can do is go the other way and hope we run across an exit instead of a bear. Then we can go back and help the guys."
An exit. I hadn't even thought of that—but my thinking was a little screwed up right now anyway. Behind us, I could see what looked like a long, dark hallway that went back into the mountain. There wasn't even a slight glimmer of light on the other side. "A bear? Ya' really think there could be a bear in here?"
"Who knows?"
It shouldn't have been a big deal, even if there was a bear. We spent all kinds of time killing youkai, so a bear would be easy to deal with. I thought.
Gojyo moaned and I looked back at him. He was starting to take a step, but it looked like he was going to fall over. I put a hand on his shoulder, "Ya' okay?"
"Nn. Just got knocked in the head."
I waited a second, feeling bad that he had got hurt trying to help me. "Ya' shouldn'ta' done that…"
"Damn straight I shouldn't've. At least if I hadn't, you'd be bear food, and I'd get to go sleep with that chick from the bar."
"I mean…ya' didn't hafta'."
"Guess I coulda' let you get killed instead."
"Gojyo…"
"Don't kid yourself, kid. If I hadn't of done that, you'd be lunch meat right now."
Lunch meat. Why did he have to use food? "Man." I groaned, "I'm so hungry."
"Well who knows?" He turned to look down the hallway, flicking ashes from his cigarette, "There could be an all you can eat buffet down there."
I looked too, but I felt doubtful, "Ya' think so?"
"Sure." He started to walk. "Let's go fill our plates."
A little longer, I stood there, watching him walk away, and then I realized, I didn't really want to go down the hallway to whatever was on the other side. I wanted to stay where I was. I wanted to hope that we could dig our way out and get back to Sanzo and Hakkai, or that they could get through to us somehow. But I couldn't. 'Cause if I did, Gojyo would just walk down that hall alone, and who knew what would happen to him?
One last time, I looked at the rocks blocking the entrance, just hoping…
"Oi, monkey. You comin' or what?"
"Mmhm. Yeah." I turned to follow.
We walked for forever. The cave was a lot bigger than I thought, the hallway was wicked long, and it was cold and dark. Every time I thought we'd be coming to the end, there'd be more. A lot more. Miles more. Every mile took us farther from Sanzo and Hakkai.
"Man. Is it just me or is this place getting' darker?" Gojyo had his lighter out, holding it like it was supposed to help us find our way. I think even he knew it wasn't doing anything.
"I'm soo hungry."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just shut up, we'll get food soon."
"Where?"
"At a takoyaki stand."
I could tell he was just annoyed with me. I looked up at him—he still had that really serious look on his face. It was still weird. He'd been weird the last few days anyway. I remembered the fight they'd gotten into yesterday. Then I realized I never got a chance to ask him what was up."What's goin' on with ya' and Sanzo?"
"What'dya' mean?"
"You've just been fightin' a lot lately, right? Why?"
"Oh, that. I don't know. We've just been under each other's skin I guess."
"That's a sucky reason."
He didn't answer.
I hated it when Sanzo and Gojyo fought for real. If they were just pissing and moaning like usual I didn't care. But when it was a serious argument, I couldn't help worrying. It made me feel like I should take someone's side, even when I didn't know whose side to take.
"Don't worry about it, Goku. It's not a big deal."
"Seems like a big deal ta' me."
"You're a kid—it'll make more sense when you grow up."
I got really sick of him blaming everything on the fact that I was a kid. "I'm not that much younger than ya', stupid, kappa, kappy-face."
Gojyo snorted. "Whatever. You're just a little baby."
"I ain't a baby!" I shoved him.
I was surprised when Gojyo didn't insult me back. He just glanced over his shoulder, back the way we'd come and drawled, "Fine. You win." It reminded me of how Sanzo had stuck the gun in his face this morning. For a minute, I'd been scared that he was really gonna' shoot him. Then he'd said it, just that way. Givin' up so easy. Fine. You win.
Gojyo had seemed weird all morning. He didn't wanna' argue or tease me or joke or anything. Did something happen or was it all 'cause of Sanzo?
They were arguing so much—I just didn't understand it. It made me think if they kept fighting like this it was gonna' split our group in two. That was the last thing I wanted.
It was something I couldn't explain, but this sense of belonging, this sense of having friends and being wanted and having people to care about me, it was…familiar. Even though I couldn't remember ever having anything like it before. It was something I didn't want to lose. Ever.
"Hey." I didn't look up at him. "You're not gonna' leave us, are ya'?"
"Leave? Why the hell would I leave?"
"I dunno… the way you an' Sanzo have been…like ya' can't stand ta' be together no more… I just worry you're gonna' take off."
He didn't answer.
"You're not, right?"
"No." He mumbled. "Even if I wanted to, where would I go? The world's not exactly welcoming youkai with open arms."
But he wasn't a youkai. Not really. I didn't know. Gojyo's situation was something that always confused me a little. Mostly I didn't get why being half of two things made him less important than either of them. I guess he was right though. With the stuff going on right now, there wasn't any place for him, or me an' Hakkai either. "Dya' think we'll be able ta' go home when this is over?"
Gojyo looked down at me, "Whadya' mean? Home?"
"Like, back to the temple, an' back ta' your house. Dya' think people will accept us the way they used ta'?"
"I don't know, kid."
The priests at Sanzo's temple had already hated the fact that I was living there. If they knew I was a youkai, I felt like they'd chase me off.
Maybe Sanzo won't let 'em.
It was the same problem for Hakkai and Gojyo. They lived in a human village. If their neighbors found out they were youkai would they still accept them?
"Seems like we're all better off together." I looked up at him as we kept walking, "Don't ya' think?"
Hopefully he knew that too. Hopefully he realized leaving wouldn't get him anywhere, so he wouldn't.
For so long, Gojyo didn't answer, I started to worry that he wouldn't; I wondered what that meant if he didn't. At last he grinned at me and ruffled my hair, "Man, punky, you're really tense today, huh?"
"It's just I'd miss ya'…if ya' left."
"Don't sweat it, monkey." He put his arm around my neck, "I'm not goin' anywhere. 'Kay?"
I smiled back at him, feeling relieved, "'Mkay."
"Okay. Now let's forget this sappy, bullshit conversation and just get outta' this place. I'm freezing my balls off."
"I think I see some light."
"What? Where? I don't see anything."
"Right there." I pointed. It looked like the hall was coming to an end, and I could see a dot of white light.
"Damn. That still forever away. I'm getting sick of this cave."
"Me too." I started to walk a little faster, getting a few feet ahead of him. "It's creepy."
"D'awwe. Is the monkey scared of the dark?"
"Shaddup! I ain't scared! I just…" my mind raced as I tried to find a better explanation. Or a way to turn it back on him. "I'm hungry! You're the one who's scared!"
"Please. If you're scared just say so."
"Well if you ain't scared, you don't need your lighter."
"Don't even go there. I'm wasting good lighter fluid so you won't trip over your own feet in the dark."
"Right. Like you'd be so okay without it."
"For your information, I-"
He yelped suddenly, voice fading like he was getting further away really fast, taking the light with him.
"Gojyo?" I spun around to see what was wrong, but he was gone. Just gone. Like that. No sign of him anywhere. He'd been standing there just a second ago, now he was gone.
"Gojyo! Where are ya'? C'mon, this ain't funny! Gojyo!"
"Quit your screamin'. I'm okay."
His voice sounded far away, and it echoed a little. Like he was in a can or somethin'.
"Where are ya?"
"Down here."
I edged a little closer to where I could hear him, and then I could see the faint flickering of his lighter, but nothing else. He was about ten feet below me.
"Woah." I dropped to my hands and knees to look down at him. "What happened?"
"What'dya' think, genius?" He sounded irritated. "I fell. There's a hole there."
"A hole?" I couldn't see it, but as I reached forward, my hands found the edge, and I was able to follow it for a ways. It wasn't that big—probably just big enough for him to fall through. "Lucky I missed it."
"Right. Lucky you."
"What now? Dya' think ya' can climb back up?"
"No. It's too high."
"Can't ya' find somethin' ta' stand on?"
"There's nothing down here, Goku."
"Well whatdya' wanna' do?"
"I don't know. It looks like it goes further that way, but I…"
As he kept talking, I inched closer to the edge; I could keep going and find my own way out of the cave, but I didn't want to leave him here like this. Not if he was trapped. So I slid through, dropped a ways—it felt more like twenty feet than ten—and landed smoothly, almost on top of him.
"Holy shit!" Gojyo jumped back. I could see his face now, red eyes glittering from the lighter. "What the hell?"
"Thought I should join ya'." I grinned.
"You idiot! Didn't you hear what I just said?"
"What? No, guess not."
"I said stay up there, there's no point in both of us getting stuck down here."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh. Now what stupid?"
I turned to look up at where we'd fallen through. It was just a narrow hole, in the middle of the ceiling, no where near either of the walls. "There really isn't a way to climb back up?"
"No! What, you thought I was kidding? At least if you were still up there you could look for something to pull me up, or go find help. Now we're both stuck down here!"
That made me feel a little stupid, "Sorry."
"Sorry! What were you thinking?"
"I just…didn't wanna' leave ya' here by yourself."
He sighed. "That's real thoughtful, Goku, but how're we gonna' get outta' here?"
"Maybe I can stand on your shoulders or somethin'."
"Never mind. Maybe there's a way out further that direction."
I turned to look down the hall. It was even darker and narrower than the one above it, and there was a cold wind blowing from that way. I shivered. "Ya' think?"
"It's our best chance." He started walking again. "Come on. I'm almost out of lighter fluid."
"What if ya' run out?"
"Hopefully I won't. You don't wanna' be around me when I can't have a cigarette."
"That's not what I meant."
"Well use your head. What'dya' think'll happen?"
We'd have to go stumbling through this cave in the dark. And who knew, there might be more holes to fall into too. I was starting to feel a little scared. But I didn't let it show. We kept walking, and talking. I did most of the talking, but Gojyo didn't tell me to shut up. I was grateful that if I had to go walking through a dark cave, with no idea where it led, I was at least with someone. I wondered if he felt that way too. If he did, he didn't say so. I guess he probably did. Why wouldn't he? Gojyo always needed to be with people—it was weird when he was by himself. I don't know why. Maybe 'cause I never saw him alone, no matter what. If he wasn't with us, he was with a girl. If he wasn't with a girl he was looking for one. Even when I thought about him living alone before Hakkai came, it was hard for me to really get my mind around. Gojyo didn't do alone.
He wasn't all that quiet either, so I was confused about why he was being quiet now. I didn't want to worry, but I couldn't help it. If he was being quiet did that mean something was wrong?
"Dya' think Sanzo an' Hakkai are okay?"
Gojyo nodded. I could barely see his red hair bouncing a little. "They'll be okay."
He sounded really sure, but I didn't know why. "Even if they get rida' Xiong, that lady…"
He snorted, "Y' mean that bitch."
"She helped us…but, dya' think… I mean, she wanted ta' kill Sanzo, what'dya' think she wants now?" I didn't want to think about it, but maybe they were fighting her now. Maybe they were losing. Maybe they were in trouble and we weren't there to help them. I hated that. I hated feeling useless.
"No." He almost sounded like he was talking to himself. "No. I don't think so. She said she wanted to join us, and then she…I don't know." He swiped at his hair with his free hand. "I'm sure they're fine. She said she didn't wanna' fight us until this Ryptcore asshole is out of the way. Plus she has a thing for Hakkai."
"A thing?"
"Like a crush."
"I know what'cha' meant." I said, annoyed that he thought I was that stupid. "Does she actually like him though, or somethin' else?"
"Can't tell."
Something about his tone… I wasn't great at reading people or their voices, but Gojyo's tone screamed that he didn't want to talk about this. Something about it bothered him. So I said, "That guy was crazy strong. Dya' think they can kill 'im by themselves?"
"Nn. Dammit. I don't know."
"What about that Ryptcore guy? He sent Xiong to kill us, why didn't he just do it himself? Ya' think he's stronger than Xiong?" That was scary to think about. Xiong had been strong—too strong—we almost hadn't been able to handle him. With my limiter off, I knew I could take him on, but I didn't want it to come to that. Ever. That thing. Whatever I was when my limiter was off. Why ever I went crazy. That wasn't me. It couldn't be.
"Don't worry about it, Monkey. We'll put that dick in his place, and then his boss too, we'll send the girlie packing, and we'll keep right on going west. Just like Master Sanzo said."
The part about 'Master Sanzo' sounded…I don't know. Sarcastic was the word I guess. He was still really pissed at Sanzo.
I sighed.
"Nothin' gets in the way of the Quest for the West."
"But that's good, ain't it?"
"Depends. Sanzo likes to overlook important shit just so we can keep moving…"
Sometimes. Sometimes Sanzo did that. "But he's just doin' his job."
Gojyo didn't answer.
This conversation felt…wrong. Somehow. It was so serious. I felt like something was missing. Actually, I felt like a lot of stuff was just out of place. It wasn't like we were in a lot of trouble or nothing. So Kougaji had sent an assassin to kill us. That wasn't new. That happened a lot. So this time the assassin was a little stronger than normal—we could still handle it. There was nothing to be scared of. That lady, the Asahara, she was tough, and she had a thing for Hakkai, but we could kick her butt when we needed to. Sanzo and Gojyo were fighting. So what? They were always fighting. Everything was normal. Everything was going the way it was supposed to. Stuff looked kinda' crappy right now, but it wouldn't always be like this. Right?
Gojyo stopped suddenly. I ran right into him.
"Owe! What'dya' stop for?"
I looked up at him: he was just standing there staring straight ahead, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, eyes focused on something. For the first time, I realized it was bright enough for me to actually see him.
I turned to try to see whatever he was looking at.
"Hey! We found the exit!" It wasn't a very big exit—it was just a hole in front of us that Gojyo could probably only barely squeeze through, but there was daylight on the other side.
"I was so busy thinkin', I didn't even notice!"
"Thinking?" He laughed. "About food?"
"No!"
"That's all you ever think about."
"Is not!" Stupid Kappa. He always had to make fun of me, even when I was tryin' to be serious.
"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, chimpy, let's just get the hell outta' here." He started walking forward again.
No arguing with that. I was sick and tired of this stupid cave, and I wanted to try to find Sanzo and Hakkai as soon as we could.
Gojyo crawled out first. I worried he wouldn't fit, but he did.
I slid out after him.
Looking at the sun, I realized it had probably been about two hours since we got separated from the others. Who knew where they were now? Who knew if they'd finished Xiong or gotten killed by that chick. We couldn't go back the way we came either. I felt hopeless.
Gojyo somehow knew what I was thinking. He grinned, "Don't worry about it. They're fine." He still sounded confident, but I caught him looking over his shoulder a few times, like he was worried too.
We were in some kind of valley, I guess. There were lots of trees all around us, and I could barely see the ridge of the mountain above us, through the canopy. It looked like it was a long ways away.
"That must be where we woulda' come out of if we hadn't fallen through that hole." Gojyo muttered.
"You fell through, not me."
"That's right. You jumped."
"I was just tryin' ta' help ya', ya' stupid red roach!"
"In that case, don't do me any more favors."
What a jerk. I would have kept arguing, but then I noticed what was in front of us.
There were a bunch of trees and bushes and stuff, like the entrance to a forest, but there was also a wall. It was pretty tall, like twice as tall as Gojyo, made of chunks of gray stone piled up like brick.
"Woah, what's this?"
Gojyo laid his hand on the wall, "Looks like someone doesn't want people getting in."
"In to what?"
"How the hell should I know?"
He stood there a second, then he looked up through the trees again. "If that's the normal exit for the cave…maybe most people don't even know this is here in the first place."
"What, ya' mean like a secret place?"
"Something like that."
I studied the wall. "It doesn't look special."
"No. It's just a shitty wall."
I shifted back and forth. My curiosity was interfering with the desire to go find Sanzo and Hakkai. "What's on the other side?"
Gojyo shrugged, throwing down his cigarette. "Only one way to find out."
He jumped up suddenly and grabbed a branch that was hanging low over his head, and pulled himself up. I watched him grab onto the edge of the wall and climb up so he was standing on it. Then he disappeared on the other side.
"What about Sanzo?" I called.
"We'll find him later. C'mon."
I wondered, as I followed him, if Sanzo would wait for us that long, but I was too curious now to care. I wanted to know what the wall was for and why someone had gone to all the trouble of building it.
The other side looked normal too. Just a buncha' weeds and bushes and trees. I heard water rushing somewhere. Gojyo and I walked, being quiet now. I thought I could hear voices up ahead. Gojyo dropped his cigarette and crushed it out with his heel, and we kept walking. I stepped over a log so I wouldn't make any noise. There was a really faint feeling of youkai energy in the air, but there was something weird about it. It almost felt like…
"Gojyo." I stopped where I was.
He stopped too and was turning around, mouth open to talk to me, when someone sprang out of the bushes right next to me.
It startled me so bad, I tripped and fell back, almost running into another person, and before I knew it, we were surrounded.
"Shit!" Gojyo yelled.
I got my nyoi-bo out right away, and I saw Gojyo summon his shakujou, stepped in to stand back to back with him.
There were a lot of people around us—like twenty. I guess it wasn't a real big number, since we'd fought off a lot more youkai. We could each take ten and be just fine. But they weren't attacking us, and we weren't attacking them. We were all just staring at each other.
The guy right in front of me had bright red hair and bright red eyes. For a second, I thought was seeing things, but when I blinked it was the same. And then I noticed that the guy right next to him looked the same. And the guy next to him. And next to him. Everywhere I looked, it was red hair and red eyes, red hair, red eyes, red, red, red.
Just like Gojyo.
I looked up at Gojyo, just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind, but he was staring too, so I couldn't be. Then I realized I was right—the energy I was feeling was sort of like a youkai's, but it felt the same way Gojyo felt: a really weak youkai energy. Like there was a youkai really, really far away.
We were surrounded by half-breeds.
"Son of a bitch." Gojyo whispered. He said it again. "Sonnova' bitch…"
I didn't get what the big deal was. So they were half-breeds… they were still surrounding us, and now I noticed they were holding weapons too: swords, guns, knives, staffs, all kinds of crap that could take us apart if we let our guards down. "Gojyo." I said nervously. "What should we do?"
Gojyo didn't answer. He was just staring.
Maybe he'd never seen another half-breed before. Would that be weird for him? I guess maybe it would be a little.
I nudged him. "Gojyo."
A guy on my right moved so he was standing a little in front of the others. He was bigger than them too, kind of old. Not like, way old, but older than any of us. Like forty or fifty or somethin'. He had a really serious face, and a big sword. He put the tip of it under Gojyo's chin and tilted it up.
"Well, well." His voice reminded me of a river, even though it wasn't all that loud. "Look what the cat drug in. One of our own."
"Who the hell're you?" Gojyo demanded.
"Heh. Excuse me, kid, buy you're the one trespassing on our land, so I think the question here is who are you?"
"Name's Gojyo."
"Gojyo." The old guy sounded like the name was really important, and he looked Gojyo up and down again, like he was making sure he was real. Then he turned to me—his eyes got a funny look in them. Like anger or something stronger. "And that. What's that with you?"
"Who, me?" I'd been called 'that' before, being a youkai and everything, but the guy's voice confused me. He sounded like he hated me, but I'd never seen him before, so why would he?
He didn't answer me. That was sort of a jerk move too.
"Him?" Gojyo looked over his shoulder at me. "That's Goku."
The guy's lip curled up like a dog's, like I smelled bad or something. "And is he with you? Your friend?"
Gojyo didn't answer right away, and I was pretty sure he was going to say no—I don't know why. I guess I wasn't used to any of the other guy's calling me their friend, even though I knew that's what we were.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact he is. That a problem?"
The old guy seemed even more annoyed by that, but he came a little closer to me. "Maybe." He looked me over too. "Is he a youkai or a human?"
I was starting to feel frustrated that he wasn't asking me directly, and I was even frustrated that Gojyo was answering him for me, so I snapped, "I'ma' youkai."
He didn't seem impressed. But then, I got the feeling he was going to look disgusted no matter what I said. He turned away from me again, sort of shaking his head and waving his hand, said 'kill him' just as calmly as ordering a pizza.
"What?"
The other guys started coming toward me, weapons ready, and I clenched nyoi-bo tighter. There weren't that many of them, but I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd taken out a lot of normal youkai…but so had Gojyo. Gojyo was a lot stronger than most normal youkai. Did that mean other half-breeds would be too? Would I have a problem with fighting twenty of them? I shouldn't. I just wished I knew what they wanted to kill me for.
"Hey, wait a minute, dickweed!" Gojyo shouted, "What the hell is your problem with Goku?"
The old guy didn't even turn around. "His kind aren't welcome here."
"What'dya' mean my kind?"
"You're a youkai, kid."
"Yeah, so? You are too."
He glared at me, like I'd seriously insulted him. Jeez, what was up with these people?
"Look, I don't know what your damn issue is with youkai," Gojyo said, "And I don't care. But we didn't trespass on purpose, so it doesn't give you any right to kill him. At least ask us to leave first, asshole."
The old guy looked even angrier, and he practically yelled at Gojyo, "Why are you defending him?"
I was way confused now. We were together, Gojyo and me. We were friends. We traveled together. Why wouldn't he defend me?
Gojyo didn't seem to get it either. He spat, "It's none of your business, pops. If you don't want us here then we'll leave, but if you wanna' fight we're gonna' rip you all a new one. That simple."
The old guy kept glaring at Gojyo, like he couldn't believe this was happening, and then he glanced at me. "You can vouch for him?"
"Vouch for him? What do you mean?"
"Do you trust him?"
Gojyo and I exchanged a look. This was just getting weirder and weirder…
"Yeah. I trust him. What's that hafta' do with anything?"
The other guy snorted, "That a fact? So you're really friends with him? With this youkai."
"Yes. What's the big deal?"
Shaking his head, the guy muttered, "Lower your weapons, men." He seemed disappointed almost. Like me and Gojyo being friends was the worst thing he'd ever heard. Then he sighed, "Let's get moving. You two, let's go."
I just stared at him, then at Gojyo. "Ya' mean us?"
"That's right, you. Both of you. Get your asses moving."
"Why would we go anywhere with you?" Gojyo growled.
This was starting to really piss me off.
"Don't ask questions, just do as you're told."
That pushed me over the edge, and I yelled, "No way, ugly! Why would we go with ya' anywhere?"
"You shut up!" He shoved his finger in my face. "You're alive by the grace of your friend, so if you value your head, keep your mouth shut and your eyes open."
"He's right." The cold, angry tone in Gojyo's voice was back. "You jerked us around and stuck guns in our faces, and you wanna' kill him, and you haven't even told us your friggin' name. Why the hell would we go anywhere with you?"
They stared at each other a while, and I thought they'd never stop. Then the old guy sighed, "All right, have it your way then." He stood face to face with Gojyo, offered his hand, "My name is Feng, and I'm in charge of this reservation. That's all I can tell you now, but if you come with me, I'll answer all of your questions. Or you can take your friend and leave. It's up to you, but we're heading out now." With that, he spun around and started to march away, his buddies shouldering their weapons and following after, leaving Gojyo and me to stand there, looking at each other.
At least, I was looking at him. He was staring after Feng, a strange look in his eyes. I wondered what he was thinking. Personally, I couldn't think of any reason why we should go after that jerk.
"Gojyo." I hissed. "C'mon. Let's go find Sanzo and 'Kai."
He didn't so much as look at me as he put a cigarette in his mouth, "Go on without me, Goku. I'll catch up later."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. I'll see you later." He started to follow Feng and the others.
This was not a good day so far. We were already separated from Sanzo and Hakkai, and if I got separated from Gojyo I didn't know if I'd ever see him again, so I had a decision to make.
Feng, whoever he was, hated me and wanted to kill me, because I was a youkai, I guess, so I definitely didn't want to go anywhere with him, and I really thought Gojyo would feel the same way. He seemed like he had felt the same way a few minutes ago. Maybe he was curious about the answers Feng said he had. I was a little curious too. What did he mean by reservation?
All I could think of was a reservation at a restaurant, and I didn't think that was what he meant.
It didn't matter though. Gojyo was going, and there was no way I was letting him go alone. So I went after him.
To me it felt like we walked half the day. The sun got lower and lower, and the air got cooler and cooler, and I got hungrier and hungrier. I didn't say anything though. These people wanted to kill me already, so if I complained I thought they might just turn around and shoot me.
The half-breeds walked in a line, marching like soldiers and I noticed for the first time that some of them were girls. It looked like most of them were girls actually. They all seemed way too super serious.
Me and Gojyo were quiet the whole time, not even talking to each other. I wanted to lean over to him and ask what he was thinking and why we were doing this, but all I could imagine him saying was 'nobody asked you to come', so I didn't.
Instead I kept thinking about Sanzo and Hakkai. I hoped they were okay. Maybe they really had killed Xiong by now. Maybe they were all right. I just wished I knew for sure.
It felt like we'd been walking through the forest for forever, going through thick grass and around trees, when we finally came to a town. It was really weird—it was a pretty big place for being in the middle of nowhere. All the trees were cut down, and there was this little secret city there, with brown, wooden houses with thatched roofs, dirt paths and wells, a stream running through the middle and a mountain towering behind it. I could smell the sweet scent of fruit wafting through the air, and then I saw an orchard of some kind off on the right. The place was so big, I really couldn't even guess how big it was, but as far as I could tell, it went on for miles.
And there were people everywhere: mostly women. Some of them were really young, some were taking care of kids, others were older, cooking food or sitting on porches. Groups of little kids were running around too, playing with wooden swords or creepy, home made dolls. The few guys I saw were working on things. Fixing stuff. Or standing around talking. Here and there I saw people with swords—they looked like guards.
Everyone had the same bright red hair that Gojyo had.
I couldn't believe that. I'd never seen another half-breed in my life. I mean, I knew they existed, but I had always assumed they were really rare. This was a whole town fulla' Gojyo's.
When I looked at Gojyo, he looked just as surprised as I felt. The cigarette had fallen out of his mouth and his eyes were huge, and he was just turning his head, looking back and forth, all around.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us go by, and I heard them whispering. It took me a second to realize they were looking at me. Most of them looked angry. Some seemed worried. It all made me really nervous.
Most of Feng's soldiers walked away, and then it was just me and Gojyo and Feng, and a couple of others. Feng started talking, "You see, when I said your friend isn't welcome here, I meant it. We don't welcome anyone here of human or youkai blood. Only those with both."
Gojyo stuttered. Weird. That never happened. "Wha-You mean…wait… Wait." He hurried to catch up to Feng, putting a hand on his shoulder, and I couldn't help thinking about how short he was compared to him, even though Gojyo was a really tall guy. He looked skinnier than usual too, and younger. For the first time in my life it occurred to me that Gojyo really wasn't that old. I mean, I know he wasn't much older than me, but in the face of everything else, he was kind of just a kid too. So were Sanzo and Hakkai. None of us were all that old.
It was a strange time to be having that thought, except that next to Feng, Gojyo really did look just like a little kid.
"You mean only half-breeds live here?"
"We don't refer to ourselves that way, but yes, that's what I mean. In lamen's terms."
"Woah." I gasped. "For real? Nothin' but half-breeds?"
Feng stopped walking and spoke slowly, "I don't know why you both find it so strange. Humans have always mistreated the youkai, and youkai have always hunted humans…but that's nothing compared to the way our kind have been treated by both races. Our kind have been hunted, robbed, raped and murdered all over something none of us could control. None of us chose our parents, and if we could have, we wouldn't have chosen this fate." He looked at Gojyo, like he was waiting for him to agree, but Gojyo didn't say anything. He went on, "So this place was established."
"By you?"
"No. Not by me. By a man named Tratto. That was years ago, generations before I was born—long before the calamity took hold. I am in charge now though, and I see to it that all of our kind have a safe place to go, a family. A future. Just like Tratto did. Just like all of my predecessors did. It's a reservation—only we live here, and no one else is welcome. That's the only way we've been able to preserve ourselves."
He leaned against the railing of the bridge and looked down into the water, "We deserve everything the humans have, everything the youkai have, and yet we receive nothing but scorn and hatred from both sides. I believe we should all have something better. This place provides that—nomads come here, hybrids with no purpose or place in the world, and they're given the chance to become whatever they want with people just like them. We are all brothers here. Sisters. Fathers and mothers. Lovers and children. There are no outcasts. There are no black sheep. There are no scapegoats. Just family and protection and belonging."
"Belonging." Gojyo murmured. I couldn't quite put my finger on his emotions.
I looked around at the town again, thinking about what Feng had said. It was sort of nice. There were a lot more half-breeds than I have ever imagined, but I guess if they were all treated as bad as he said they were, it was nice that they had a place like this. A peaceful, beautiful place. It made me smile.
Feng straightened up, "You're welcome to stay as long as you like, Gojyo. Normally we don't accept full-blooded youkai, as I said, but I won't chase your friend off." He gave me a harsh look, "Don't get me wrong. You're not welcome here, kid, so don't expect to be."
That was all, and then he walked away.
I stood there on the bridge next to Gojyo, waiting, thinking my friend would say something. Thinking he'd grin at me and say 'this is the place for me' or something like that. I expected him to be happy. I thought I would be happy if I were him. After all, he'd just sort of stumbled across a village full of people just like him when he'd been misunderstood for so long. Why wouldn't that make him happy?
Gojyo didn't say anything. He put his hands in his pockets and stared down at his boots, kicked at the ground for a second. And then he too just walked off without a word.
"Hey, Gojyo. Where're ya' goin'?"
"Just gonna' look around."
"Um…do ya' want me ta' come?"
"No. Not really."
It was a really confusing moment for me. "But…"
"Go look for Sanzo and Hakkai; I'll come find you guys later."
I took a step toward him, "I ain't leavin' ya' here alone."
He looked at me over his shoulder, and he was smiling, but it seemed sad. "I'll be okay. These people are all like me." Then he walked across the bridge and kept going, getting smaller and smaller the further he got away.
