A/N: Yes, I know that was an evil cliffhanger last time. Gojyo throttling Keiji? But why? Well, here goes.
I know I started another Saiyuki fic, but I promise that before I post a chapter of Eights and Aces, I will work on Cornerstone. Until Cornerstone is finished. No kidding! So this fic will -not- get left behind.
(Subliminal message: Now that I've mentioned my other Saiyuki fic, aren't you in the least curious as to what it's about? Hm?)
Blades: Gojyo and Goku, when charging with Hakkai into Keiji and Kozue's camp, battled for just a little while before being captured. The other aches are stiffness, dehydration, hunger, and the bruises he sustained earlier on. Not to mention the backlash of being concussed, even if Hakkai did heal him. Glad you're enjoying the abuse ^.^
Enjoy
***
After the first time, Gojyo didn't hear his name being called, didn't feel the clawed hands trying to tear his arms off. He could only see the brilliant eyes, his eyes, and the distended, awkward hands at his wrists. He could only hear the strangled gurgle he wrested from a well-nourished throat, from the voice of the privileged. His Adam's apple bobbed under Gojyo's thumbs.
"She -gave- to you," Gojyo said with a soft smile, a shadow of the madness that had once graced his twin. "She let you be her pretty brat and she -gave- to you." His arms shook from the fatigue of keeping his hands clasped around Fearless' throat. He bled from the clawmarks of Fearless' lackeys trying to free their beloved leader. Their hanyou leader. "Did you give her anything back?" he asked, not even aware of his own voice anymore. "Do you make her happy?"
The eyes that stared blankly up at him were clouded from pain and lack of oxygen. Gojyo let go, watched as Fearless was caught by the two other youkai, realized he was bleeding. Fearless coughed, massaging his neck and the bright red marks below his chin.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, finally able to focus on Hakkai. "Get in," the brunette muttered. "Before they drop him and come after you."
Already Fearless was regaining his feet, able to meet Gojyo's eyes. Gojyo climbed into the passenger seat, surprised because he hadn't noticed Hakuryuu's transformation. As Hakkai gunned the gas, Gojyo was able to make out Fearless' voice, ragged and thin.
"I hope you are vindicated."
*
"Baka! What the hell was that about?!" Goku shouted as soon as Hakkai eased up on Hakuryuu. He thrust his face between Hakkai and Gojyo, glaring at the redhead.
Gojyo rubbed at his wrists, itching under the bandages where Fearless pawed at him. Hakkai glanced over and asked, "Are you hurt badly?"
The blood was coagulating over his wounds already, though he knew the cuts were going to get severely infected because no youkai claws are ever remotely sterile. "I've got to get 'em cleaned out, but I'm fine."
Goku growled at being ignored. "What's your problem?!"
"It's getting bumpy," Hakkai said, changing the subject. "Goku, please make sure Sanzo doesn't fall out of the back."
"We seem to be getting along fine without his guidance," Gojyo muttered to himself, ignoring Hakkai's admonishing glance. The last thing he wanted was the monk chastising him for his actions when he could hardly believe he'd done them himself. He would have been perfectly content to just walk away, to get the hell as far away from that bloody pen as possible and head out for revenge once he was fresh. Just take Sanzo and go.
But once there wasn't a wall between him and Fearless, there were no inhibitions. He could have killed all three of them alone, he knew it. And he wouldn't have cared until later. Gojyo had no idea how to answer Goku's questions, and didn't even want to try.
Hakkai's voice broke the long silence after they emerged from the trees. "Oh, look, I remember this town."
"We're doubling back." Gojyo frowned. He could see the logic in it, but he didn't like it. And then he remembered that the inn they'd stayed in before had running water.
"Goku, how's Sanzo doing?" Hakkai called back, gritting his teeth over one particularly large bump that sent pain shooting through his arm.
"Same as ever." And it didn't change until Hakuryuu skidded to a stop in front of the familiar inn.
*
They had been greeted with stares and the incredulous gasps of the innkeeper's twin daughters. They hid behind their father until Hakkai, with as much tact as possible, pulled Sanzo's arm warmers off and found the Sanbutsushin's charge card pressed close to his right wrist. His skin had taken the imprint of the card in vivid, living red. Gojyo held Sanzo, sitting down on a nearby chair and laying the blonde over a table because he doubted Sanzo could stay upright on a chair. Once Hakkai had promised copious payment, the girls set to work.
One led Goku to the kitchen and let him raid the pantry, noting that his injuries were far more superficial than those of the other three. She brought fresh water and towels. The other girl, who proclaimed herself older by five minutes, couldn't decide who to attend to first.
Finally, she picked Gojyo, because he winked at her. She was a pretty thing, as was her twin, and moderately proportioned so her breasts didn't interfere with the movements of her arms. She swiped a gauze-wrapped finger into each of his cuts, a process that reawakened hot pain and made his eyes tear, but he didn't make a sound. "So brave," she murmured, wrapping bandages over the holes in his skin.
"Get some food and water," Hakkai told him. "But don't drink too much yet. Just a little water."
Gojyo nodded, not quite understanding the reasoning behind prolonging his thirst, but willing to obey because Hakkai Knew Best. He found Goku bent at the waist, half-hanging out of the pantry. He was stuffing fruit, raw vegetables, salted meat, bread into his mouth as fast as it would go.
Gojyo snorted and got to the sink, pouring himself a glass of water and tipping it down his throat. Suddenly he realized just how dry his throat was, how badly he'd needed that water. The pounding in his head lessened, it no longer hurt to breathe, he could detach his tongue from his teeth. He almost attached his mouth to the tap and let the water run, but he remembered Hakkai's edict. And he needed a toilet more than he needed another drink.
*
When Gojyo returned to the frontroom, Hakkai was waiting for him.
"Sanzo's upstairs in his own bed. You'll be with him because Goku would never sleep otherwise."
"How are you?" Gojyo asked, putting his hand out and watching Hakkai sway into it.
"I'm fine. The girls rebound my arm. They're really very good at it." He moved the limb experimentally. "It barely moves."
"I'm so glad you found someone to do it right," Gojyo said with a snort. "D'you want some food?"
"Food would be a good idea."
He followed Hakkai into the dining room and, preempting Hakkai's politeness, asked the waitress for "the fastest thing you can whip up back there. And some cigarettes."
"Eat little and eat slow, Gojyo," Hakkai admonished when the food came. "Or you'll get sick and throw it all back up."
Gojyo frowned but forced himself to slow down, not too keen on losing whatever food he got into his system. Another glass of water was good for his throat and his gut no longer ached from bursting bladder and vacant stomach.
After finishing only one plate and restraining himself from ordering another, he lit one of the cigarettes the waitress was able to find. It was cheap, thin, and perfect. Gojyo smiled as the nicotine met aching cells and the world again was a-okay.
"So, when are we going back?" Gojyo asked, leaning his elbow on the table.
"As soon as we can. I couldn't find his shourejuu and it's kind of obvious the sutra's gone."
Gojyo grinned. "Not to mention the saru's going to want to get a few hits in."
"We've got to let Sanzo rest for as long as he needs." Hakkai sighed and took another sip of water. He'd barely drained a glass. "I can't force him to heal himself when he's got no energy."
"You need to save yourself," Gojyo shot back. "Goku and I aren't much worse for wear. You tell us what to do and we'll do it, but you're sitting out."
"That's very matronly of you, Gojyo," Hakkai said, his smile returning. Gojyo couldn't tell if his tone was teasing or affectionate, but the smile was a reassurance. Before, Hakkai had been too worn to even plaster his false congeniality over his words and features. The return of his mask meant, at the least, the return of his strength.
*
Gojyo stumbled half-blind into his bedroom later that evening, exhausted and content to just lose consciousness. He flopped onto the bed nearest him and was pleased to find that Sanzo had been stationed nearer the window and he hadn't just landed on a lump of belligerent, broken monk.
He blinked and Goku was before him in the bright sunlight of late morning. "Any change?" Goku asked, turning from Gojyo to Sanzo and looking over the blonde.
Gojyo groaned and rolled over, leaning hard on his aching arms so they might go numb. "He's still out. Let me sleep."
"Goku, one of the girls cooked you a huge breakfast after she saw how much you ate last night," Hakkai said from the door. "Sanzo will be fine until you get back, I promise. Go eat."
Goku tore his eyes from his sun and nodded at Hakkai, slowly leaving the bedside. Once at the doorframe, though, he broke into a jog. Hakkai smiled after him.
"I wish it were so easy with everyone else. Gojyo, do you remember what you told me last night?"
Before he could stop it, the knee-jerk reaction flew to his lips. "Baby, whatever it was, I didn't mean it."
Hakkai raised his eyebrows and began to laugh. "Be that as it may," he replied, teasing in his voice, "I've got some favors to ask. I can't do them with my arm."
Gojyo pushed himself up and rolled over, sitting up in bed and staring muzzily at Hakkai. "I know what you're talking about. And you know, he's going to wake up -right- then. And I'm going to get hurt."
Hakkai motioned to his arm. "Better you than me."
*
Contrary to Gojyo's prediction. Sanzo didn't regain consciousness for another thirty-six hours, waking up rather conveniently in the middle of the night. He tried to get up and fell out of bed with a cry, the first outburst to leave his throat in utter surprise and sudden, extreme pain.
Gojyo woke half-stupid, rubbing his head and cursing whatever it was that made the noise. Flicking the lights on revealed Sanzo in fetal position on the floor, curled over his torso and biting into his lip so blood flowed over his chin.
"Oh, son of a bitch!" Gojyo swung his legs out from under the sheets and planted his feet on the ground. "Are you gonna get up or do I have to carry you?"
Sanzo didn't answer, but kept his arms over his stomach and his teeth in his lip.
"Lighten up or you'll bite it off," Gojyo warned, getting to his knees and reaching down to Sanzo. The blonde growled and batted his hand away. Gojyo shrugged and got back into bed. "Stay down there, then. See you in the morning."
I know I started another Saiyuki fic, but I promise that before I post a chapter of Eights and Aces, I will work on Cornerstone. Until Cornerstone is finished. No kidding! So this fic will -not- get left behind.
(Subliminal message: Now that I've mentioned my other Saiyuki fic, aren't you in the least curious as to what it's about? Hm?)
Blades: Gojyo and Goku, when charging with Hakkai into Keiji and Kozue's camp, battled for just a little while before being captured. The other aches are stiffness, dehydration, hunger, and the bruises he sustained earlier on. Not to mention the backlash of being concussed, even if Hakkai did heal him. Glad you're enjoying the abuse ^.^
Enjoy
***
After the first time, Gojyo didn't hear his name being called, didn't feel the clawed hands trying to tear his arms off. He could only see the brilliant eyes, his eyes, and the distended, awkward hands at his wrists. He could only hear the strangled gurgle he wrested from a well-nourished throat, from the voice of the privileged. His Adam's apple bobbed under Gojyo's thumbs.
"She -gave- to you," Gojyo said with a soft smile, a shadow of the madness that had once graced his twin. "She let you be her pretty brat and she -gave- to you." His arms shook from the fatigue of keeping his hands clasped around Fearless' throat. He bled from the clawmarks of Fearless' lackeys trying to free their beloved leader. Their hanyou leader. "Did you give her anything back?" he asked, not even aware of his own voice anymore. "Do you make her happy?"
The eyes that stared blankly up at him were clouded from pain and lack of oxygen. Gojyo let go, watched as Fearless was caught by the two other youkai, realized he was bleeding. Fearless coughed, massaging his neck and the bright red marks below his chin.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, finally able to focus on Hakkai. "Get in," the brunette muttered. "Before they drop him and come after you."
Already Fearless was regaining his feet, able to meet Gojyo's eyes. Gojyo climbed into the passenger seat, surprised because he hadn't noticed Hakuryuu's transformation. As Hakkai gunned the gas, Gojyo was able to make out Fearless' voice, ragged and thin.
"I hope you are vindicated."
*
"Baka! What the hell was that about?!" Goku shouted as soon as Hakkai eased up on Hakuryuu. He thrust his face between Hakkai and Gojyo, glaring at the redhead.
Gojyo rubbed at his wrists, itching under the bandages where Fearless pawed at him. Hakkai glanced over and asked, "Are you hurt badly?"
The blood was coagulating over his wounds already, though he knew the cuts were going to get severely infected because no youkai claws are ever remotely sterile. "I've got to get 'em cleaned out, but I'm fine."
Goku growled at being ignored. "What's your problem?!"
"It's getting bumpy," Hakkai said, changing the subject. "Goku, please make sure Sanzo doesn't fall out of the back."
"We seem to be getting along fine without his guidance," Gojyo muttered to himself, ignoring Hakkai's admonishing glance. The last thing he wanted was the monk chastising him for his actions when he could hardly believe he'd done them himself. He would have been perfectly content to just walk away, to get the hell as far away from that bloody pen as possible and head out for revenge once he was fresh. Just take Sanzo and go.
But once there wasn't a wall between him and Fearless, there were no inhibitions. He could have killed all three of them alone, he knew it. And he wouldn't have cared until later. Gojyo had no idea how to answer Goku's questions, and didn't even want to try.
Hakkai's voice broke the long silence after they emerged from the trees. "Oh, look, I remember this town."
"We're doubling back." Gojyo frowned. He could see the logic in it, but he didn't like it. And then he remembered that the inn they'd stayed in before had running water.
"Goku, how's Sanzo doing?" Hakkai called back, gritting his teeth over one particularly large bump that sent pain shooting through his arm.
"Same as ever." And it didn't change until Hakuryuu skidded to a stop in front of the familiar inn.
*
They had been greeted with stares and the incredulous gasps of the innkeeper's twin daughters. They hid behind their father until Hakkai, with as much tact as possible, pulled Sanzo's arm warmers off and found the Sanbutsushin's charge card pressed close to his right wrist. His skin had taken the imprint of the card in vivid, living red. Gojyo held Sanzo, sitting down on a nearby chair and laying the blonde over a table because he doubted Sanzo could stay upright on a chair. Once Hakkai had promised copious payment, the girls set to work.
One led Goku to the kitchen and let him raid the pantry, noting that his injuries were far more superficial than those of the other three. She brought fresh water and towels. The other girl, who proclaimed herself older by five minutes, couldn't decide who to attend to first.
Finally, she picked Gojyo, because he winked at her. She was a pretty thing, as was her twin, and moderately proportioned so her breasts didn't interfere with the movements of her arms. She swiped a gauze-wrapped finger into each of his cuts, a process that reawakened hot pain and made his eyes tear, but he didn't make a sound. "So brave," she murmured, wrapping bandages over the holes in his skin.
"Get some food and water," Hakkai told him. "But don't drink too much yet. Just a little water."
Gojyo nodded, not quite understanding the reasoning behind prolonging his thirst, but willing to obey because Hakkai Knew Best. He found Goku bent at the waist, half-hanging out of the pantry. He was stuffing fruit, raw vegetables, salted meat, bread into his mouth as fast as it would go.
Gojyo snorted and got to the sink, pouring himself a glass of water and tipping it down his throat. Suddenly he realized just how dry his throat was, how badly he'd needed that water. The pounding in his head lessened, it no longer hurt to breathe, he could detach his tongue from his teeth. He almost attached his mouth to the tap and let the water run, but he remembered Hakkai's edict. And he needed a toilet more than he needed another drink.
*
When Gojyo returned to the frontroom, Hakkai was waiting for him.
"Sanzo's upstairs in his own bed. You'll be with him because Goku would never sleep otherwise."
"How are you?" Gojyo asked, putting his hand out and watching Hakkai sway into it.
"I'm fine. The girls rebound my arm. They're really very good at it." He moved the limb experimentally. "It barely moves."
"I'm so glad you found someone to do it right," Gojyo said with a snort. "D'you want some food?"
"Food would be a good idea."
He followed Hakkai into the dining room and, preempting Hakkai's politeness, asked the waitress for "the fastest thing you can whip up back there. And some cigarettes."
"Eat little and eat slow, Gojyo," Hakkai admonished when the food came. "Or you'll get sick and throw it all back up."
Gojyo frowned but forced himself to slow down, not too keen on losing whatever food he got into his system. Another glass of water was good for his throat and his gut no longer ached from bursting bladder and vacant stomach.
After finishing only one plate and restraining himself from ordering another, he lit one of the cigarettes the waitress was able to find. It was cheap, thin, and perfect. Gojyo smiled as the nicotine met aching cells and the world again was a-okay.
"So, when are we going back?" Gojyo asked, leaning his elbow on the table.
"As soon as we can. I couldn't find his shourejuu and it's kind of obvious the sutra's gone."
Gojyo grinned. "Not to mention the saru's going to want to get a few hits in."
"We've got to let Sanzo rest for as long as he needs." Hakkai sighed and took another sip of water. He'd barely drained a glass. "I can't force him to heal himself when he's got no energy."
"You need to save yourself," Gojyo shot back. "Goku and I aren't much worse for wear. You tell us what to do and we'll do it, but you're sitting out."
"That's very matronly of you, Gojyo," Hakkai said, his smile returning. Gojyo couldn't tell if his tone was teasing or affectionate, but the smile was a reassurance. Before, Hakkai had been too worn to even plaster his false congeniality over his words and features. The return of his mask meant, at the least, the return of his strength.
*
Gojyo stumbled half-blind into his bedroom later that evening, exhausted and content to just lose consciousness. He flopped onto the bed nearest him and was pleased to find that Sanzo had been stationed nearer the window and he hadn't just landed on a lump of belligerent, broken monk.
He blinked and Goku was before him in the bright sunlight of late morning. "Any change?" Goku asked, turning from Gojyo to Sanzo and looking over the blonde.
Gojyo groaned and rolled over, leaning hard on his aching arms so they might go numb. "He's still out. Let me sleep."
"Goku, one of the girls cooked you a huge breakfast after she saw how much you ate last night," Hakkai said from the door. "Sanzo will be fine until you get back, I promise. Go eat."
Goku tore his eyes from his sun and nodded at Hakkai, slowly leaving the bedside. Once at the doorframe, though, he broke into a jog. Hakkai smiled after him.
"I wish it were so easy with everyone else. Gojyo, do you remember what you told me last night?"
Before he could stop it, the knee-jerk reaction flew to his lips. "Baby, whatever it was, I didn't mean it."
Hakkai raised his eyebrows and began to laugh. "Be that as it may," he replied, teasing in his voice, "I've got some favors to ask. I can't do them with my arm."
Gojyo pushed himself up and rolled over, sitting up in bed and staring muzzily at Hakkai. "I know what you're talking about. And you know, he's going to wake up -right- then. And I'm going to get hurt."
Hakkai motioned to his arm. "Better you than me."
*
Contrary to Gojyo's prediction. Sanzo didn't regain consciousness for another thirty-six hours, waking up rather conveniently in the middle of the night. He tried to get up and fell out of bed with a cry, the first outburst to leave his throat in utter surprise and sudden, extreme pain.
Gojyo woke half-stupid, rubbing his head and cursing whatever it was that made the noise. Flicking the lights on revealed Sanzo in fetal position on the floor, curled over his torso and biting into his lip so blood flowed over his chin.
"Oh, son of a bitch!" Gojyo swung his legs out from under the sheets and planted his feet on the ground. "Are you gonna get up or do I have to carry you?"
Sanzo didn't answer, but kept his arms over his stomach and his teeth in his lip.
"Lighten up or you'll bite it off," Gojyo warned, getting to his knees and reaching down to Sanzo. The blonde growled and batted his hand away. Gojyo shrugged and got back into bed. "Stay down there, then. See you in the morning."