What. The. FUCK!

Gojyo gaped at the macabre scene before him, hands shaking. What the... who... what the FUCK! Hakkai was sprawled on his back, eyes open and blank, glassy looking. Like he's dead. Goku had been flung across the room and had the same vacant expression. And Sanzo...

Sanzo was crumbled up against the bed, gun on the floor next to him, hand limp across his thigh.

Son of a bitch! What the hell happened? Who could have... after all the fights they'd been through... Mind reeling from the shock of coming back to find his friends dead, Gojyo stumbled into the room, not willing to believe it. Not Hakkai... not any of them, but especially not Hakkai...

A demonic presence behind him made him whirl around, shaku-jo appearing in his hand. He was about to swing it around, kill the bastard who did this... only to stop when he saw that kind, the one from the market. Behind him towered a huge black shape that vaguely resembled a youkai form. The boy was grinning, carrying something under his arm. "It's just like you said, mister. Those people were bad."

No fucking way! Gojyo's eyes widened as his words came back to slap him across the face like an outraged virgin. A stupid monkey with a stomach for a brain, a monk with his habit wrapped just a little too tight, and a guy who nags you like your mom. "Y-You... did this? But... you're just a..."

The boy looked up fully, and it was then he saw the youkai marking on his forehead. SHIT! The boy smiled angelically, patting the thing under his arm. "Now all those people you hate are gone. I got rid of them for you, to say thank you for helping me earlier."

This had to be some kind of sick joke. Hakkai wouldn't be above paying some brat to pretend to do kill them. He'd proved in the past what kind of twisted humor he had. This HAD to be a prank... but if this was a prank, why did he feel like puking all over the floor? Something about how utterly still everyone was told him this wasn't a sick joke, that everything the kid said was true. They were all...

"What the hell! You did all this? Goddamn it, I should have known you were a fucking assassin from Gyumaoh!" His hand clenched more surely around his weapon, the anger nearly ready to boil over. He should have guessed something wasn't right about this kid! Why hadn't he guessed it?

Blinking big pale gold eyes, the boy said, "Gyumaoh? Who's that? I've never heard-,"

"Cut the bullshit, kid! What the hell did you do to them?"

"W-Wait a second! You said you didn't-,"

There was a roar of sound and suddenly the big ugly one was in front of Gojyo. Gojyo stepped back, bracing himself for an attack. Fine, let the bastard come! He was just about to attack when...

"DON'T, GINKAKU! This man's not evil!"

Ginkaku... wasn't that the kid's...

BANG!

The monster screamed, clutching at his shoulder as blood arced back and out. Gojyo spun around at that familiar sound, eyes ready to pop right from his head. No WAY in hell... "S-Sanzo?"

"G-Goddamn... brat," the monk snarled, sitting forward, gun trained on the bigger one. "Think you can play the hero... by making us the bad guys?"

Holy SHIT! "Sanzo!"

"Wh-what... how are you awake? I was sure i finished you off!" The kid was beginning to look scared.

"Sanzo, are you okay?" Gojyo asked, still shocked. If the pain in the ass was awake, then maybe the others...

"Don't just assume someone's dead because they're not moving, moron," Sanzo continued, ignoring Gojyo completely.

The big youkai groaned, dropping to it's knees. The kid went over to it, hands gently exploring the neat little hole in it's shoulder. "Ginkaku, please be all right! Please, oh please..."

"Hey, kid!"

The boy wasn't the only one to turn wary eyes to the monk. Gojyo watched, hands relaxing around his weapon a little. He was just a kid trying to protect his brother. Not even Sanzo would be so heartless as to...

"What do you want, and where'd you get that gourd?" The soft click of a bullet sliding into the chamber made the tears fall faster from those eyes.

"B-But... I didn't DO anything! I was just..."

I didn't DO anything... The words he'd said as a kid, to the mother who'd never loved him. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to suppress that familiar pain. He hadn't done anything, and she still wanted to see him dead. Turning back to the stand off, he hoped once again Sanzo wasn't so heartless as to kill a kid.

The larger youkai suddenly surged upward, scooping his brother up into his arms.

"Shit!" Gojyo saw Sanzo's finger start to pull down on the trigger. He was quicker, he knew he was, and he used this speed now to try and stop the crazy asshole. Grabbing the blonde's wrist, he aimed the gun upward just as it went off, shooting a hole into the ceiling. Pressing tendons together, he forced the frail human wrist open, the gun clattering to the floor and skidding out of reach.

"You goddamn piece of shit monk! You can't just shoot a kid like that," Gojyo shouted, knowing full well he was going to be catching hell and then some.

"Back the fuck off NOW!" Sanzo shouted, trying to use Gojyo's own weight against him to free his arm. They both dove to the side as the youkai carrying his brother surged toward them, using its shoulder to smash through the window behind them and part of the wall, plummeting down to the street below before running off into the night. Sanzo ran for the window, teeth clenched fit to crack.

Gojyo stood his ground as the irate monk came back over to him. He was really in for it now! He waited for the usual verbal assault.

And instead got punched right across the cheek hard enough for his teeth to cut into flesh and spill metalic-sweet blood on his tongue. FUCK! The pain was instant and sharp, a welcoming break to push the memories back where they belonged again. He was lucky, he knew, that he only got punched. Sanzo was angrier than he'd ever seen him before.

"Don't you DARE judge me, asshole," the monk snarled, voice very carefully controled in a low tone. He knew Sanzo wanted to shout at him, beat him until he resembled fuzzy pudding, hell just make him hurt anyway possible. The fact that he was restraining himself made Gojyo sneak a glance out of the corner of his eye at the shaking figure before him. "In case you forgot, HE attacked US! I don't care if he is a kid, the fact remains he got in our way."

Cheeks turning pink a little, Gojyo mumbled, "Sorry." The bastard had a point, as was usually the case. Where Gojyo had hesitated, Sanzo hadn't. He still kept in mind what exactly their mission was, even when staring at a kid down the barrel of a gun. He'd never admit it outloud, but sometimes he wished he was as cold and removed as the monk. Maybe then he wouldn't keep getting bitch slapped by unhappy memories.

There was a silence where neither spoke. Finally, Sanzo moved, uprighting a chair to sit in. "So, start talking. And give me a cigarette."

Gojyo let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and pulled his own chair up to the cracked but still standing table. He pulled out his pack, lit one up for himself and then passed both the pack and lighter over to Sanzo. "Man... I don't even know where to start."

"Let's begin with what that kid said. He said this is what you wanted. Is that true?"

Raking his fingers through his long hair, Gojyo braced himself to explain the conversation. This felt so much like getting lectured by his older brother! Never again would he complain about Hakkai's nagging. At least THAT was because the green-eyed man was concerned for him. This was just because he'd given the prick an excuse to treat him like an idiot! "Well, it started out in the market place..."

>>>>>>>>>>

"So... you really are leaving."

Dokugakuji stopped packing his small bag, turning just enough to glance over his shoulder at Yaone standing in the doorway. "It's not like I want to," he answered dismally. The orders had come that morning. He was to lead a team and find a sutra or else. The or else wasn't actually stated in the order, but heavily implied. Gyokumen Koushu... what a bitch!

"I see."

He stopped again, getting frustrated. "Damn it, Yaone, stop acting like I'm abandoning you! I'm going to be back as soon as I get a sutra. If I don't get one..."

Her arms came around his waist, cheek to his back. He hadn't even heard her come up behind him. "I know. Just... be careful, please. And please don't do anything stupid."

He couldn't help smiling as she threw the words he'd said to her a few days ago back at him. Patting the hands folded above his belt, he said, "Okay, I promise."

Satisfied, she drew back only to reach around and shove a small pack into his bag. "Deserts are known for scorpions, so there's an antidote for scorpion poison. And I also included aloe pulp for sunburn, as well as vitamins to put in the water and..."

"Shit... you really know how to spoil a guy. Scorpion antidote and vitamins, huh? Are they labeled? Clearly and not in Latin?"

She laughed softly and nodded. "Yes. I was very of who I was giving this to when getting it ready. It's simple enough, I should think."

Dokugakuji grinned and gave her a quick hug. "Smart ass! Looks like I'm set. Do me a favor while I'm out?"

"Yes?"

"Try and find out how Kou's doing, okay?"

Yaone nodded again, the earlier laughter fading quickly from her face. "I will, I promise."

He wanted to add no sneaking off to the list, but didn't because he knew she'd be angry with him. He didn't want to leave with her pissed at him, especially if things didn't go as planned. Sighing, he finished closing his bag, shouldering it. "Shouldn't be too long. We'll see, though. Be safe, Yaone."

"Is that your fancy way of saying goodbye?" she called after him as he began to leave.

Dokugakuji paused in the doorway, smiling, and said, "Goodbye is something you say to the dying and dead. I'm coming back, Yaone." He left before she could respond to that.

>>>>>>>>>>

Stupid Gojjyo.

Stupid FUCKING Gojyo.

Sanzo blew out a stream of smoke, pleased with the addition of 'fuck' in the statement. The red head really was no better than a waste of flesh. It was just typical his bullshit was the cause of yet ANOTHER distraction! The whole thing with the kid sucking out Hakkai's and Goku's souls, the fight at the inn... the fact they were now traveling in the dark forest after the bastards with the gourd. Why the three aspects would choose HIM over someone a little smarter (Like a door mate. A door mat had more wits than the kappa... and was more useful, too) was beyond him. The only thing even remotely good about the situation was the fact that he'd kept his damned stupid mouth quiet! Maybe he wasn't as dumb as he looked.

"Hey, I wanna ask you something."

Trying not to bite down on his cigarette, Sanzo muttered, "Then ask." So much for keeping his fucking mouth shut... as well as the whole not being dumb thing.

"Do you even know where the fuck we're going?"

"No." The forest was huge, offering plenty of places for that large ugly fucker to hide. But they were attacking people in the village and on the roadway, which meant they would probably stay close to it. All they had to do was follow the road, be on the look out for any demonic aura they sensed and they'd hit gold.

"You son of a... You mean we're dragging our asses up this goddamn mountain and we don't even know where the fuck we're going?" Gojyo ground out.

"Put those antennae to use for a change then if you don't like it."

"They are NOT antennae, you piece of shit monk!"

"Dumb bastard."

"Arrogant prick!"

This was getting dangerously too close to sounding like a Goku-Gojyo arguement for Sanzo's taste. Stopping on the side of the road, he stubbed out the remains of his cigarette. Gojyo sat down on the ground next to him, pulling his knees up to rest his arms on. 'Well, since your holy ass isn't getting us anywhere, maybe we should think a bit on this. It's stupid wandering around like this with no fucking clue where we're going."

"Wow. So there IS a little more than hot air blowing through your ears," Sanzo muttered, leaning back against the tree to ease his sore feet. Gojyo owed him more than his life was worth for all this bullshit!

"Suck my ass, priest!"

"Gods, no. I'd rather chew my own arm off."

Growling wordlessly, Gojyo thunked his head back against the tree, turning a crimson glare up at him. "Of all the bastards in all the world... it had to be you I get stuck with."

This was getting really annoying! Sanzo pulled out another cigarette to calm himself down from wanting to kill the kappa right then and there. After a couple of drags, he said, "So, think. What do you know about this kid?"

"He's an orphan...," Gojyo began slowly, eyes screwed tightly closed as he thought about it. "Um... he has a younger brother... that's about it."

"A younger brother?" Where was the brother then?

"Yeah, they're real close or something."

So, he was still alive. Sanzo blew out a stream of smoke slowly, eyes narrowing. There were two of them, both alive. So where was the younger one then? Unless... "He called the ugly one by a name. Ginkaku."

He felt more than saw Gojyo's shock. He was trying his best not to even glance at the red-head in case the little fantasy of blowing his brains out decided to come true. "Wait... are you saying...?"

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. Just think about it for a bit, dumb ass."

Gojyo was silent for a while, staring up into the leaves. Sanzo was beginning to wonder just how dumb he was until... "They look nothing alike, though."

"That's a pretty tacky decoration, your head."

"Fuck you."

"I refuse. I never said he was born like that. He could have been transformed."

Gojyo pulled out his own cigarettes, pausing to light up before he spoke again. "You don't sound too worried about that. You really are a heartless prick. Why would anyone do that to a kid?"

"Who says I'm not worried about it?" What was with everyone thinking him incapable of emotion? Gods, sometimes he wondered why he even bothered! "But on the scale of concerns, it falls pretty low. What really bothers me is the other one's crusade against evil. Sounds to me like someone force fed it to him. Everything, from the transformation to his attitude, point to someone else pulling the strings."

"Like God."

This time he did look at the kappa. God? Just where the hell did that come from? It wasn't like Gojyo to get all theological. Usually if Sanzo and Hakkai started into something like this, he'd groan and make such a scene they'd stop so they didn't have to hear it. "Come again?"

"Now that I think about it," Gojyo continued, staring ahead into the bushes with a distant look on his face. "He said he had Kami-Sama on his side."

Kami-Sama? He'd heard of religious zealots, even pissed a few off just for shits and giggles, but this was something different. This kid was going after 'evil' people believing God was on his side. How terribly naive. He was about to say just that when the hairs on the back of his neck pricked up, his skin crawling. Demon auras. In the trees above them. Shit... the kid's attack, those rednecks at the bar... and now youkai asassins. This was totally and completely Gojyo's fault!

Gojyo stood up slowly, slinging an arm around his shoulders and giving him a lewd smile. The balls on this one were ridiculous! "Let's blow this place, Sanzo. I think we've got some voyeurists."

Slapping the offensive arm off of him, Sanzo snarled, "No shit, genius!" Pulling his gun he aimed it in the direction the presence was coming from. "Who the hell's up there?"

A cackling laugh came from the leaves. Great, another cackler. Someone really needed to teach these guys how to switch up their evil laughter. "What luck! There's only two of you. We're gonna be laughing as we send you to hell, Genjyo Sanzo and Sha Gojyo."

"Hey, look, asassins! Rotten timing, huh?" Then, shouting up to the figures on the branches, Gojyo continued, "Any of you up there female and looking for a good fuck?"

Teeth snapping closed hard enough to actually hurt, Sanzo bit out, "I am seriously going to kill you, kappa!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're such a tease."

There were muttered whispers from above as Gojyo's words were passed down the line. "Is femmy looking alright?" some smart ass from the back shouted. A few groans followed that. Gyumaoh's people really weren't too picky in the brains department. He could just imagine the sign advertising for assassins now: Anyone with a death wish and little to no understanding of what a death wish actually is, sign here. This was going to be a snap.

"Grr... Stop it! We're here to kill them, not play with them! Attack!"

Sanzo spun around as three dropped from the trees, clicking the safety off and sighting down the barrel for their chests. His free hand was already reaching for more bullets as he pulled the trigger. "And my point is proven. You really are a fucking curse!"

>>>>>>>>>>

"Well, this sucks!"

Hakkai stared around the empty wasteland, hands on his hips. Yes, this most definately sucked. No sign of exit, no idea how he even got in here. The only idea that came to mind was that they'd died. Strange, he didn't feel dead. He felt sort of like he just wasn't in his own body, odd as that may sound. Goku was still out cold on the sandy ground, not even three feet away from a pile of bones. How the boy could sleep through all of this was nothing short of a miracle. Still, he didn't really feel like dragging Goku around while he tried to find a way out. Sighing, he knelt down, shaking Goku as hard as he could. Months of shaking him gently had proven the act was futile. There was no gentle way of waking Goku up.

"Mn... Hakkai?" Large dark golden eyes blinked up at him, confused for a bit.

"Thank goodness you're alright, Goku," he said, laughing. It wasn't that it was funny or anything. Laughing when he was nervous or trying not to be scared was a habit of his.

"Is it breakfast?" the boy continued hopefully, still blissfully unaware of their surroundings.

"How I wish it was." Goku finally began to look around, eye squinting as he took in all the sand littered with bony remains.

"HUH? Wh-what the hell happened? Where are we?" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet.

Hakkai got to his feet as well, dusting his hands off of the sand particles. "Well, the last thing I remember is that boy attacking us. And then we were here."

Goku turned to look at him slowly, the look in his eyes clearly saying he was still processing this information. "So... what, you think we're...?"

"You know, I always knew we wouldn't make it to heaven. But if this is hell, I'm very disappointed."

"WHAT? How can you be disappointed? It's HELL!"

"True but it's just so... dull. Not even a brimstone pit to break up the monotony."

He didn't expect Goku to understand fully what he meant, which is why the confused, "Huh?" wasn't really surprising.

"I'm sorry, Goku, but I think we died."

Goku's eyes filled with big watery tears that threatened to break at any minute. "But... they still let you EAT in hell... right? I mean, we still get seven meals a day, right?"

Laughing again and rubbing the back of his neck, he said, "God, I hope not! I don't think I could stand that kind of torture."

"Then I'll take it for you!"

Smiling at the boy's upbeat attitude, he looked around again, trying to find a seam, a whole... anything that looked out of place in the desert valley. "All joking aside, Goku, do you feel dead?"

Frowning, Goku ran hands down his body and up over his face. "No... not really. I mean, that WAS a pretty lame attack. Nothin' that sissy woulda killed me!"

"That's what I thought." Still, it was odd they were the only two here. He would have expected at least Sanzo for sure to join them in hell, despite his holy title.

"Hey... where's Sanzo? Hakkai, Sanzo's not here!" Goku looked around once more before he began to dig frantically in the sand, searching desperately for his guardian somewhere underneath. In Goku's mind, it made perfectly logical sense. If he couldn't see Sanzo above ground, he had to be under it. Hakkai once again thought how nice it must be to have everything so easily solved.

Yes, a good question though. Gojyo wasn't in the room, so he knew for a fact the red-head had escaped death yet again. "Sanzo seemed to be just fine before I blacked out," he mused out loud, as much for his benefit as for Goku's. "So, I'd say it's fairly safe to assume he's still alive.

"Oh. That's not good."

The response was not at all what he'd expected from the brunette. "Excuse me?" He would have though Goku to be happy Sanzo was still alive.

"Well, we can't die before him, can we? An' leave him all alone up there?"

Oh, good God, he hand't thought of that! Gojyo and Sanzo... alone... with each other. The sexaholic and the sociopath on the road together. They'd end up in jail... or at each other's throats... or WORSE! "Oh, dear... you're right, Goku, this isn't acceptable at all. There's only one thing to do and that's find a way out of here."

"WOOHOO! Let's go, let's go!"

Hakkai and Goku began walking off, Hakkai looking from side to side for possible danger or an exit, Goku singing to himself about finding Sanzo and beating up Gojyo. At least he had is priorities straight! Looking around their location again to memorize the details of the place just in case they walked in circles, he also took another look to see if MAYBE there might be something like an exit as well. "Hm... I wonder if there is an exit," he said, talking more to himself than to Goku.

"I can't see nothin' out there," Goku mumbled, kicking the hard packed sand irritably.

"Anything."

"Huh?"

"It should be 'I can't see anything out there', not nothing," Hakkai corrected automatically.

"Oh... right." Goku continued to kick at the hard ground, trusting Hakkai to get them out of this.

Both whirled around as the ground broke with a loud crack, exposing a blackened hand from inside. It slapped down on the ground, trying to pull a shoulder and head through the small hole and failing. As if things weren't weird enough!

"EWW! What is that?" Goku demanded, backing away from another hand breaking free. Two more popped up behind them and Hakkai could see three more to his right. A few shoulders broke loose, followed soon by heads, torsos and waists. All of them were blackend, more like shadows than rotting corpses, and none had faces. Curiouser and curiouser...

"It would seem they're hell's welcoming committee," he explained as six more started rising on his side alone. He'd lost track of how many were surfacing on Goku's

A small smile graced the boy's lips, followed by a familiar challenging gleam to his eyes. His nyoi-bo appeared in his hand. "Then I guess we better say hello," he replied as the circle of people around them grew a little fuller and closer.

Smiling as well, Hakkai formed his chi into a ball resting on the palm of his hand, waiting for the attack to come. "It would be rude not to, of course." His wrist flicked forward as the first dozen or so ran at them in a wordless, soundless rush of malice.

>>>>>>>>>>

Yaone rolled over in bed, staring at the wall, wide awake. The only light in the room came from the candle by her bed that she left burning all night long. She hated when it was so completely dark in her room that all she could see were shadowy shapes against an even darker background. Before, when she'd first entered Kougaiji's service, she would leave the heavy wooden doors to the balcony open to catch the moonlight. She'd stopped it when she found someone standing in the entrance, watching her. Kougaiji had tracked down the youkai who did it and made him pay for spying on her, but it still didn't change the fact that someone had been up there.

Rolling back over onto her back, she sighed, pushing her hair off of her forehead. Being all alone sucked! Dokugakuji was gone, Kougaiji was missing and finding Sanzo was not an option right now. This was so frustrating! She sat up, hit her pillow a couple times and fell back in it, glaring at the ceiling. Insomnia is such a beautiful thing, she though sarcastically. It wasn't like she would get much piece when she slept either though. Every since Dokugakuji left three days ago, her dreams had been... odd, to put it mildly. Disturbing was a little closer to the point.

The first night, she'd had to watch as a useless bystander as Dokugakuji was taken out into the forest and executed. The executioner had been Dr. Nii, standing over his corpse with a bloodied axe in his hand. His glasses had been sprayed with blood, and still he continued to smile and smoke his cigarette. She'd gone back to sleep after that with a big knot of worry eating at her stomach.

Then there was that awful one about fumbling through the dark toward a rhythmic creaking sound. All she'd known was that she had to find that noise, that it was very important. She'd found it when she walked into it... and discovered it was Kougaiji with a rope around his neck, hanging from a support beam in her room. She had a clear shot of that beam from her bed now and it was adding to her current unease.

The worst was last night's. She'd actually woken up screaming from that one. Yaone closed her eyes, rolling over onto her side again. The start to that one had actually been very pleasant. Sanzo stretched out on top of her, kissing down her throat. His hands a LOT lower down her body than his mouth. Her hands running down his back to his ass, pulling him closer. It had been one of those dreams that felt very real. And very arousing. But all that shattered when his body had tensed up. He'd pulled away from her looking shocked and then... blood began to flow down his chest, seeping from between his lips. Yaone had watched as he'd fallen back onto the sheets, staining them a deep red as he lay dying. She had tried to move to help him but was being held down by some unknown force. And then... Zakuro's laughter. She'd woken up with it still wringing inside her head.

Yaone shivered, fingers curling around the sheets tightly. Him! Almost as soon as Dokugakuji left, he'd started hanging around a lot more. She'd just finished somewhat restoring order to her lab and was locking it up behind her when she'd turned and found him standing an uncomfortably short distance behind her. He didn't touch her, he didn't say a word even. He was just... there. And this evening, Gyokumen Koushu had ordered a feast to celebrate. She never said what they were celebrating, but if Lady Koushu wanted a feast, then there would be a feast. Complete with mandatory attendance, of course. She'd just taken her seat next to Lixue (Dokugakuji's sometimes lover and about the only person still there whom she considered a friend) when Zakuro had sat down next to her. Again, not a word was spoken, but if any other man tried to speak to either woman, he would glare at them until they got the point and left.

What was wrong with him? Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? She wasn't all THAT attractive, especially when compared to some of the more noble youkai women. He could have his pick of any of them... so why her? She was truly hoping it was nothing more than Zakuro being an asshole and not some deep seated infatuation. If it was his idea of flirting, she knew a couple potions that would knock the idea right out of him, and fast. She smiled at the thought of slipping him a little poison. There was one that didn't have a taste and only a faintly metalic smell... of course, if it were mixed with a red wine it wouldn't be as noticeable...

A soft knock came to her door. Yaone frowned sitting up. She'd put new locks on the door after the break in to keep anyone out. "Who is it?"

"Just me, Yaone," Lixue's soft voice called.

Grabbing a robe to put on over her night gown, she undid the three locks and opened the door.

Lixue's silver eyes widened at the added security. "Has it really been that bad with you?" she whispered.

Yaone frowned when a high pitch sound echoed down the halls. "Yes, sad to say. Lixue, what's that noise?"

The other woman beckoned her to follow, a grave look coming to her face. Together, they crept through the darkened halls, staying close together. It wasn't until they reached the stairs going to the laboratory level of the castle that they stopped. Motioning closer, Lixue pointed down the stairs, pressing her lips very close to Yaone's ear so that the sound of her whisper didn't carry down. "I woke up when I heard a commotion in the hall way. They were fighting to get someone back down here. The person's face was covered in a black sack, so I didn't see who. But judging from the build, I would say it was Prince Kougaiji. Shortly after they got him down there, the sound started."

Yaone's heart sped up dramatically. Kougaiji was in the lab? She knew the medical wing was on the ground floor and off in the eastern wing. This led down to the dungeons and the lab. Why was he there? Nodding her thanks, they snuck back the way they'd come, Lixue returning to her own room and leaving Yaone to walk back to her room all alone.

Lord Kougaiji was in the lab. Dr. Nii was doing something to him. It didn't surprise her in the least that the man had lied to Dokugakuji. He'd said he would make Kougaiji 'better', but he'd never said how. She had to find someway of getting down there. Or seeing Kougaiji. But how... The security around the lab and the medical wing had doubled since she and Dokugakuji had tried breaking in. Sighing, exhausted from the lack of sleep, Yaone pushed her door open, prepared to get a good rest and ponder the matter a little more in the morning. She froze in her tracks when she saw someone was in her room. Or, to be more precise, in her bed.

Zakuro smiled, stretched out and fully clothed (thank God!) on her bed. He idly ran a claw along a crease in the sheets, legs from the knees down hanging over the edge. "So this is what your bed looks like. I was very curious after our first encounter. And seeing as you left your door open... well, what man would refuse an invitation like that?"

Her door... shit, she'd forgotten to lock it when she'd gone with Lixue! Covering her eyes, she mentally kicked herself a couple times for not doing that simple thing. And now here was the result of that stupidity. "Please leave. You're not welcome here."

"Aw... now you've hurt my feelings. Why don't you join me for a bit? I'm sure I can make it worth your time."

"Anything involving you is not worth my time. Get out."

Zakuro chuckled but remained where he was. Damn it, what did she have to do, beat it into him? As much as she wanted to see him bleeding on the floor, the fact that it meant she'd have to get closer and TOUCH him made her stay where she was.

"My mistress is quite pleased with me, you know," he continued, ignoring her.

"Oh, how lovely for you. Perhaps you should find someone who actually gives a damn." Think, Yaone, think...Her eyes went over the room, trying to find some idea of how to get him to go away.

"In fact, she's giving me a title. Lord Zakuro... it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

She ignored him, eyes resting on the bottle of sake sitting on table. Her herbs... she spotted them further in, on another table used for crushing them. Okay, so far so good. Now how to get to the two spots without making him suspicious...

"As a lord, I very well could, you know."

Yaone stopped, blinking. She'd missed part of that conversation. "I missed that."

Zakuro's smile grew decidedly more wicked. "I said, as a lord it's within my rights to order in you bed with me."

"Excuse me?" Was he being serious about this? He couldn't be! He had to be completely insane to even think about ordering something like that. Especially with as possessive as Gyokumen Koushu was. It wouldn't just result in Yaone losing her head, but Zakuro would lose his... 'head' as well.

"I really don't want to repeat myself again, Yaone. Play nice now and join me." He patted a spot next to him on the bed, eyes moving down her body without any bother to conceal the lust. His legs shifted a bit, trying to draw her attention to his groin. Oh, dear God...

She couldn't deal with this. She was tired, she was worried sick and now she was pissed off. Yaone shook her head in disbelief and walked out. Lixue would understand her sleeping in her room for the evening.

Zakuro followed after her, laughing. "Are you so afraid of me? Am I so intimidating that you can't stand to be in my presence? Or is it that you're a virgin?"

"It's more the fact you make me sick, Zakuro. I can think of at least a hundred things I'd rather do than you! And your arrogance is absolutely staggering! Go take a cold shower and leave me alone."

"You can't speak to me like that," he screamed, quickening his step. "I am a-,"

"You've told me I think three times now, and I'm still not impressed. And until you show me legal documentation, which has to be approved by one of the royal family, which Lady Koushu is NOT, stating that you've been titled, I don't want to hear it again!" Yaone knocked sharply on the door. Unlike Zakuro, Lixue was a blooded noble. She'd taken over when her father had been killed in the last campagne. Unfortunately, though, her father and the people who looked to him as their lord sided with Gyumaoh. Lixue wasn't happy about it, but she was an excellent politician and leader first. The good thing about it though was that she was respected in Houtu Castle, even by Gykoumen Koushu to a certain extent. And Yaone knew the silvered eyed woman wasn't afraid to throw that around when needed.

Zakuro's palm slammed into the wall by her head. She refused to turn around and face him. She yanked her arm away when he grabbed it, his claws cutting her skin open deep enough for the scratches to bleed. "Listen to me, bitch, I WILL have you! I will fuck you until you scream MY name and the eyes you see aren't his but MINE. I am going to fuck him right out of you, do you understand me?"

"I understand you, but you can stop blowing hot air up your ass. I'm not interested in little boys pretending to be lords." She knew she'd pushed him too far when he grabbed her hair, yanking her back against him. She closed her eyes tightly, unwilling to look into his eyes again. Not again, she wouldn't EVER make that mistake again with this one!

Lixue chose that moment to open the door. Crossing her arms over her small breasts, she arched a dark brow, head held high and proud. "Excuse me, Zakuro, but I think you've had enough fun for one evening. Go back to your mistress' room like a good little lap dog and leave Yaone alone."

"You dare to speak to me like that?" he threatened, hand tightening to the point where Yaone had to fight not to cry out loud.

Silver eyes flashing dangerously, Lixue took a menacing step closer. For someone as tall and thinly built as her, she certainly exuded an intimidating amount of power. "Yes. I do. And if you don't like it, I'm sure we can address it with Gyokumen Koushu right now. She won't be too pleased that her northern allies are marching out because of a lowly servant's rudeness."

Snarling, Zakuro shoved Yaone in Lixue's direction. "This is far from over!" He stalked off quickly before Lixue could call the guard she kept ready at all times.

Shaking her head and draping a tanned arm around Yaone's shoulders, she said, "Come on, there's enough room in this bed for two. What on earth did you do to Zakuro?"

"I didn't do anything," Yaone argued, sitting on the bed while Lixue brought over some water for the both of them. "I went back to my room to find him spread out on my bed like he's God's gift... and this happened!"

"Well, until that little display, I could have sworn he was gay," Lixue said, sitting down on the other side of the bed. Sighing, she pulled the covers over herself, turning onto her side. "You'll be safe for tonight, though, so try and get a little rest."

"Thank you." Yaone got under the blankets as well, stretching out on her back.

"Yaone?"

"Hm?"

"I heard Zakuro talking about a man. Are you seeing someone?"

Yaone rolled onto her side away from the other woman. "Goodnight, Lixue."

>>>>>>>>>>

AUTHOR'S NOTE/APOLOGY: Okay, so I had to pull the original chapter 12. Why? Because I decided to go back and read volume 9 just to get ahead of this thing here... and found that the time line was all kinds of screwed up. SO, I erased a healthy chunk, wrote and even more healthy chunk, and this is the result to all this healthiness. I do apologize to anyone who read Old Chapter 12 and also to anyone who DIDN'T read it. At least I caught the mistake, right?