Title: Sapphire Eyes and Amethyst Ones
Author: Sapphire-Amethyst
S.A.: Um… I'm back again…I hope you readers didn't notice the time gap between this chapter and the last one…
Shurei: Suuure…
Sanzo: Just shut up and get on with the story.
S.A.: Meanie…Anyway, um…here you go!
Shurei: S.A. doesn't own Saiyuki; only Naoru, the sorcerer, and Reiko.
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Chapter 11: Realization
"Reiko-nee-chan!" Naoru screamed, running and catching her bleeding sister, who had just blocked an enemy's attack that was meant for the canine youkai…with her own back. "No…!" she muttered, sweeping her elder sister's body with her eyes.
Reiko smiled at her, "Weren't you supposed to return tomorrow?"
"I was worried about you guys…" Naoru tightened her grip on her sister. Amazingly, no enemy was attacking the two of them. "And I was right…"
Reiko nodded. "Your senses…are such help…" She started panting, a sign of incoming death. Naoru's eyes widened. "No…no…don't die on me…" she muttered. "Don't die on me…onee-chan…please…"
"Leave me here, Naoru," her sister ignored her pleas. "Go and help our family. They need you more than I do."
Naoru blinked once and already tears had started flowing from her eyes.
"Don't cry, Naoru," Reiko replied. "You know it has always been your weakness to cry. Don't cry now." She breathed, then continued, "I'm sorry for those times I had been mean to you. I was trying to stabilize you, toughen you up. Tell me I didn't fail in doing so."
Naoru shook her head. "No, no…you didn't fail." She rubbed her tears away. "I won't cry this night…but I guess I will after it…I will always mourn for you and our relatives who have died. Please, if you don't want me to cry then don't die on me."
Reiko managed to get out a small laugh. "I will try. But then don't get your hopes up."
Naoru smiled despite the situation they were in. How ironic it was that she and her sister would be able to talk about her sister's death and the situation now so casually. She didn't even know how she could smile. What's wrong with me? she thought, the smile disappearing after she laid down a panting Reiko whose eyes were closed, not seeing her now serious features. The ice youkai stood up and turned around, lifting her head to see a very violent scene before her, one that started at a time she didn't know. She glared at the enemies, then at the place on the rooftop where the man was supposed to be. Unfortunately, he wasn't there.
"She was right, my dear Naoru," someone said from behind her, and she spun around, coming face-to-face with a man with green eyes and long silver hair. "You shouldn't get your hopes up. After all, I'm going to finish her off right now."
Naoru's blood boiled. "Shi-ne!" she screamed.
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"Shi-ne!" Naoru growled, jerking awake, wide eyes immediately opening and staring horrorstruck upward.
Breathing gasps of anxiety and weariness caused by the dream, she sat up, pupils only dots in the middle of her blue irises. Her mind was reeling, full of jumbled thoughts, but one thing was more visible than all the others: why had she dreamed of that?
Her hands went up to her head, holding it as if it might fall any second, an action very well associated with either having a headache or going crazy, but neither two had any hold on her; she was simply frustrated. Frustrated at having a hateful dream, frustrated for what had happened that fateful night, just…frustrated.
And then, while she looked at her hands which were now raised in front of her, she realized there was something odd going on. There was definitely something odd going on. But when did it start?
She looked around. Where was she?
She was sitting on a futon. It was dark, but she could get a glimpse of glowing fire clearly in a slit in the space in front of her and its glowing shadows around the said slit. Smelling her own scent in the air, she relaxed in realization. She was back in her own tent.
Naoru sighed, falling back on her futon and closing her eyes. While she lay there, she let all the memories flood her again. Her quarrel with Sanzo, the youkai, the poison…
Her eyes snapped open again. Wait…she was alive?
When she finally got out of the tent, icy wind slammed into her face. She shivered, realizing how cold it was that night, and laughed mentally. I'm an ice youkai yet I shiver in the cold.
"How are you doing?" a kind voice asked and Naoru saw Hakkai coming out from the forest, carrying a basin of water in his hands and a towel hanging on his shoulder.
"I'm fine, arigatou," Naoru answered, walking over to Hakkai who had then sat down by the crackling fire. She sat down beside him and asked, "What's the water for?"
Hakkai smiled and felt the woman's forehead. "You seem to have lost your fever now."
Naoru, realizing that was the answer, smiled sheepishly. She scratched her head. "So I had a fever, huh?" With that statement, Hakkai turned serious.
"Why didn't you tell us you were poisoned?" Hakkai asked, unusually stern, just like how a mother would be.
"Gomenasai…"
"Don't you trust us?"
"I do!" Naoru immediately replied, almost panicking. "Really, I do…" She sighed, wearily blinking her eyes slowly as she watched the burning embers glow in the dark.
Hakkai took in the sad features of his female companion with disappointment in his eyes. He then slowly shook his head, upset, and turned to the fire. "Do you prefer being with Kougaiji's group?"
"Huh?" Naoru's eyes widened to the size of saucers and quickly turned to look at Hakkai in the eye, taken aback by what he said so much that she had to stretch out her hand behind her just to prevent herself from falling on her back. Her look was like this: O.o. Hakkai blinked then he scratched his cheek. "Was I too forward?"
Naoru sweatdropped, laughing nervously. She sat up straight again. Before she could speak, however, Gojyo came shouting about nonsense. Then, "Oi, Hakkai! I see that the canine is awake! How about the primate?"
Hakkai had returned to his smiling attitude as he turned to the red-eyed hanyou. "He's still asleep, Gojyo."
"He's so lazy," Gojyo said, sitting across the two youkai. Then he smiled, lighting a cigarette. "At least we can have some peace here. You fine now?" he asked Naoru, who jumped and answered timidly, "H-hai…"
There was a pause for a minute while Gojyo examined Naoru, playing with his cigarette in his mouth. Then he blinked several times and said, "What were you thinking there, anyway? Not telling us that you were poisoned, eh?"
"How did you know I was poisoned?" Naoru asked in disbelief. Gojyo smiled cheesily, "Ask Hakkai."
Hakkai was sweatdropping and smiling nervously. "I knew something was wrong when you didn't follow us back here. I went to look and found you lying there, as pale as though you were dead. Then I saw the plant you were beside."
"You have to admit, Hakkai here is such the medicine man," Gojyo commented cheerfully.
Naoru's smiled widened, then disappeared, once peacefulness was taking over the place again. She stared at the fire, the embers crackling cheerfully in the night, while she stared and stared but did not see. Too lost in thought about the dream to even start another conversation, she settled to drowning herself in thoughts about her dream…or rather, memory.
She still couldn't forget how he took her sister's life away right in front of her. Naoru was not planning to do so at all, not when he had done it so slowly, torturing Reiko, while both females were bound to giant boulders, facing each other.
Reluctantly, Naoru found herself traveling back to the recent past.
Reiko let out another pained moan after that one more lash of the whip, which was stained badly with blood. Understandably (and unfortunately), it was Reiko's blood that was splattered on the ground, the boulder, and on the man.
Naoru kept averting her eyes away, turning her head to one side whenever she saw the whip thrown over the man's shoulder. Then she would cringe at the cracks of the whip while it hit flesh and Reiko's cries of pain. Kami… she thought, between cries and cracks. Help us…
At last, to her pleading relief, the lashes stopped, the cries stopped, leaving Naoru to hear gasps, shallow and quick ones.
"What, Naoru? Why don't you look at your dear sister?" she heard the idiot, as she would like to call him, sneer, while she felt him glide over to her. She had her eyes shut, of course; she didn't want to even hear Reiko's sufferings. How would she even bear even a glimpse?
Fire, endless fire, was still coursing throughout the mansion. It seemed as if time had stopped, though the speed of the moving figures all around them were the same. No one was helping…The Ryuu clan was too busy fending off the hooded creatures.
A hand reached up, taking hold of her chin, and steered her head so she faced the battered body of her sister, who was gasping with weak and shallow breaths. Naoru stared in horror, her eyes glued to the terrible scene. She was half-aware of the commotion now; her mind was reeling with the appearance her sister had taken up after all those beatings. "Reiko-nee…san…" she mumbled, amidst the maniacal laughter of the man who was inches beside her.
"Picking you demons one-by-one was more enjoyable than what I thought!" the man leered. "Of course, you're nothing but filth. You all deserve nothing but to die. Don't pretend to be kind-hearted; I know all of you think of us humans as toys to be played with. Helping us humans…Phooey!" he spat, looking down at the horror-struck youkai with disgust. "You're all the same…filthy, arrogant, and always lusting for the blood of those not your race!" He brought his eyes away from the woman and inspected his clothes instead, wrinkling his nose in disgust at having the blood of a youkai all over himself. "And your blood isn't even worth enough to stain my clothes. Disgusting," he added, while waving his hand not holding the whip; the stains disappeared.
Upon hearing the words, Naoru's blood boiled once again. How dare he call her family's blood worthless! After causing bloodshed to her family, who obviously did nothing to him, he'd go and call them worthless? His attitude was not a code of conduct; it was a code of insanity! And to torture her sister right in front of her…when she was dying already…
And as the golden device clamped around her arm unlocked, Naoru's eyes glowed. Her fangs, nails, and hair grew longer, the first two of whom were sharpening. Her whole body was enveloped in blue light while invisible wind played with her hair, causing it to stand and sway.
"You dare call us filth, human?" she spoke, breaking the chains binding her to the boulder.
The man looked taken aback for a second, retreating from the glowing youkai. When he was far enough, he straightened up again and smirked, "Arrogance…is not a virtue, youkai. I am also a sorcerer."
Naoru glared daggers at him from her place, her feet covering the ground beneath them with ice. "You then shall regret your own bloodlust and arrogance, sorcerer."
She couldn't retain it anymore. She couldn't bear to make it a secret anymore. She just had to tell them, otherwise even they might fall under him. "Hakkai?" When she saw that he had turned to her, showing that he was listening, she continued, "Can I talk to you alone?"
Hakkai smiled. He stood up, stretched a hand to her, and she took it. Both of them smiled at Gojyo, who nodded, and entered the forest once again.
At the same time, Sanzo, smoking a cigarette, entered the clearing from the side opposite the side Hakkai and Naoru entered. He eyed the surroundings carefully, including Gojyo, who was relaxed on his place by the fire, also smoking. "What's your problem, monk?" the redhead asked.
"Where's Hakkai?"
"You just missed him," Gojyo nodded to the side of the clearing directly opposite of Sanzo. "With Naoru, mind you." He winked, as if to say something was going on with the two good-natured youkai (but Gojyo's always like that, right?). Sanzo grunted and entered his tent.
Gojyo watched the monk disappear inside his tent then he lay down on the ground, watching the clear sky with millions of specks of light. He was smiling, playing with the cigarette in his mouth. "Shy, are we?" he mumbled. "Like you really were late… You just waited for Naoru to disappear."
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Naoru was pacing here and there. Hakkai was by the side, watching the female youkai with a cheerful face.
"How should I start?" Naoru muttered to herself, not feeling much dizziness. Hakkai, however, was doing so, though he hid it beneath his cheerful attitude. "Take your time," he said.
"Oh?" Naoru stopped, letting herself feel the dizziness. "Ow…Oh...oh, right…" She sat down on the grass and Hakkai followed suit.
"Are you all right, Naoru?" Hakkai asked.
"Hai," Naoru answered calmly. "Just felt a little dizzy…"
"That's what you get when you pace back and fro," Hakkai smiled. Both of them laughed quietly, then Hakkai continued, "So, what were you going to talk to me about?"
The female took a deep breath. Here we go… "There's this sorcerer who went to our house one day. Since only the leader should talk to a visitor, only my father conversed with this sorcerer. I think they took a long time to talk, half an hour, maybe. Then we heard the sorcerer shouting and then we burst in the room to protect our leader."
"We?" Hakkai raised his eyebrows. Naoru nodded, answering, "We may be family, but we have duties. I was one of those assigned to act as my father's guards."
Naoru bit her lower lip and shifted on her position. "A week passed without anything happening, and the next day I set out for three days' training…But two days after, I felt that my clan was in trouble, so I returned a day earlier from my training, and I saw my home engulfed with flames. There were hooded figures all around. My clan was fighting them in vain. They were sliced, cut, anything we could do…but no blood spilled from them. It was as if they were only dummies being controlled by invisible strings…"
"Naoru…" Hakkai muttered but trailed off as she looked up at him. He nodded for her to continue.
Naoru looked down at the ground again. She sighed. "There was a man. Long, silver hair and green eyes." Fidgeting with an innocent leaf on the ground, tears started in her eyes almost at once when she remembered how the man killed her sister, but she did not dare tell Hakkai this; it was a matter she had to keep. Instead of recalling that part, she skipped, "I fought the man…during it, I discovered that he was not an ordinary human being. He was a sorcerer…" Naoru tried to swallow, but found it hard doing so. So she only continued, "I was already losing my mind once I saw his face sneering at me. And as you know, once some youkai are overwhelmed by their emotions, their power-limiters can go off. Well, you should have a hint at what happened… I had my mind, but my canine blood had taken over me. I was ready to go for a killing spree, but first I had to put off the sorcerer's arrogance…and kill him."
She was kind of glad Hakkai was still not talking. "When I finally got control over myself, I realized that I was lying on the ground, my power-limiter restored to its place, and the whole Ryuu mansion was destroyed. But…I didn't get to take his life away…" At this, she felt herself losing control again; she clamped her hands over her head, closed her eyes shut, and muttered, "Burning…death…" She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, the female youkai saw the sad face of the emerald-eyed man.
Hakkai smiled gently. "Don't lose yourself now, Naoru. Enemies tend to grow stronger when you display your weakness and fear." He paused, and continued, "We'll be right here when you need us. We'll be right beside you. All we ask is a little more trust, alright?"
Naoru's eyes shimmered with tears. The Sanzo-ikkou was starting to feel like family to her. As she stared at Hakkai, who was smiling pleasantly, she couldn't help but smile. Maybe going with the Sanzo-ikkou was the right thing to do. Maybe it would be them from whom she could now draw her strength.
Her smile widened and she nodded joyfully. After all, they were trying hard to rescue her from mental turmoil. And she had to admit, she was really dependent on them.
It may be time to treat them like family.
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S.A.: Gomenasai! I took a very, VERY long time to do this one! I had to rewrite it over and over again! I knew I kept making the wrong lines!
Goku: You can say that again…
Gojyo: And I thought you were going to upload this chapter MONTHS BEFORE!
S.A.: Gomenasai! cries
Shurei: Heki, heki! Sanzo?
Sanzo: No.
Shurei: Aw…come on!
Sanzo: No!
S.A.: pouts Alright. Be that way. I'll just make you go all mushy next chapter.
Sanzo: Alright, alright! Read and review! Okay, happy, you two?
S.A. & Shurei: nodding happily
S.A.: Just a reminder: this is strictly a SanzoxOC pairing! No other pairing will occur! Aand...I admit...Gojyo is OoC! TT Gomenasai!
