--KaidaThorn – (high fives) Yes! That's what I'm talking about!
I watched the anime, and I thought it sucked, but that's just my opinion. Personally, I always think the manga is better, and I know (from experience) that Saiyuki is strangely difficult to find on the Internet, so I shall provide you all with some useful information, should you care to take it…The website for free Saiyuki manga can be found on my profile page, for anyone interested.
Now, go, my disciples! Go and corrupt your minds! Mwahahahahahaha!! (cue sinister music)
Ohmigosh, omigosh, omigosh! I just read Bleach Chpt. 321. Yumi-chan (Yumichika) is so cool! He just totally destroyed the gayest gaylord that ever gayed the gay-walk. His name was Charlotte Coolhorn, I think…In his released form, he looked like a buff ballerina. It was really gross…But Yumi-chan is amazing…
For this chapter, I basically took one of my favorite parts of Saiyuki and added Tai into the mix. Sorry if you think it's unoriginal, but I had to. I love this part.
Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki.
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-Chapter Fifty-One-
Tai ran through the forest. 'Damn. Where did they go?' she mentally cursed herself for losing them.
Suddenly, she heard voices. As quietly as possible, she crept toward a grove of trees and peered around them.
Sanzo and Hakkai were there. They were facing Chin Yisou. The pointy-eared demon, Tai was satisfied to notice, was missing his entire right arm, leaving nothing but a bloody patch on his shoulder. (A/N: From when he got injured from her lightning blast.)
"…Everything to this point was nothing more than foreplay," he was saying. "Now…do show me, Cho Gonou. I want to see your face twisted in painful pleasure."
'What the hell?' Tai thought. 'This dude's even freakier in person…Skye would be loving this…' She mentally rolled her eyes.
All of a sudden, Hakkai spasmed. He groaned in pain and clutched his head.
Sanzo took a step toward him. "Hakkai?! What the hell did he-"
"Get away from me!" the green-eyed man cried.
Sanzo blinked. "What?"
Without warning, Hakkai grabbed Sanzo and knocked him down, pinning him to the ground. He wrapped his hands around the other man's pale throat and began to squeeze. A look of shocked horror was plastered across his face.
Chin Yisou stood behind him, leering. "You truly are a fragile being. It's blissfully easy to enter a gap in your heart."
"S-Stop it!" Hakkai pleaded.
"Why? You have no objections to murder. Think of it as a single addition…to the long list of deaths you have on your soul."
'Hm…' Tai thought, rubbing her chin. 'I wonder if I should interrupt…No, I already know what's going to happen. It's best not to meddle…' She grinned. 'If Skye were here, though…' She chuckled as she imagined all the havoc her friend could cause in a place where she already knew the outcome of everything. 'Oh, wait. I should watch.' She zoned back into what was going on.
Hakkai was shouting about something, still clutching Sanzo's neck. "I killed you! I know I did!"
"Indeed," Chin Yisou responded. "You ripped me apart quite masterfully. But there was a moment before I passed. And in that moment…I planted this." He touched his chest, and a mahjong tile with the kanji for "life" appeared. "Right inside the wound you created. Clever, yes? And do you know why I did such a thing? I wanted to see you again, Cho Gonou. I've never been truly attached to anything. You're the first person in my life I've taken an interest in."
At this, Tai snickered. 'Gay, much?'
"I want to see your features twisted in insanity," Chin Yisou continued.
"No!" Hakkai shouted.
"To hear your desperate cries…"
"Please, stop!"
"I want to clutch and destroy it all."
'Skye would so love this,' Tai thought.
Sanzo let out a sudden choking gasp, then went limp. His hands fell to the ground and he lay still.
"San…zo…?" Hakkai stared in shock. "Ah…Yaaaaaaaaaah!" He clutched his head, letting out an ear-piercing shriek, like a wounded animal.
Tai's ears pricked up as she heard footsteps heading toward them. It seemed that Chin Yisou noticed as well.
"Oh. It seems your friends are here," he said.
Hakkai was still sitting in shock.
"You're without the will to move? Then please, allow me." He took Hakkai's arm. "Come. Let's lose everything."
Tai made a face. 'Creep.' She turned to face the oncoming two.
Goku saw her first. "Hey, Tai! Where's-?" Then, he looked past her, into the clearing. "Hey! There he is!"
Gojyo came up behind him. "Hakkai, you oka…" He broke off when he noticed something else. "Sanzo?!" He stared in shock at the prone figure of the monk.
"Sanzo!" Goku shouted. "What did he…"
"What the hell's going on?!" Gojyo exclaimed.
"I…I k-killed him."
"Huh?" Goku turned toward the voice, just in time to receive a blow to the face that sent him flying.
Gojyo gaped. "Hakkai, what're you doing?!"
Tai crossed her arms in the shadow of the trees, not five feet away from the scene. 'And like that, I'm forgotten,' she thought ruefully. She sighed silently. 'Wish I had some popcorn…'
"I wouldn't bother at this point," Chin Yisou was saying. "He's one of my dolls now."
Hakkai glowered at Gojyo and Goku, effectively looking like a mindless slave. He dashed toward Goku and, before the boy had time to react, created a ball of chi in his right hand.
"Don't! Hakkai!" Gojyo shouted desperately.
At the last moment, Hakkai altered his direction and hurled the ball straight at Chin Yisou, hitting him square in the chest. The demon flew backward, quickly recovering himself, and landing in a crouch.
"What's this?" he said, annoyed. "You're still of your own mind?!"
The feeling of cool metal against the back of his head caused him to freeze.
"He's not the one out of his mind," Sanzo said, and pulled the trigger.
"Sanzo!" Goku yelled, relieved. Then he frowned. "Wait, you were fakin'?"
"I thought so," Gojyo muttered. "Damn."
Sanzo looked away, embarrassed. "Shut your mouth."
Hakkai laughed. "Sorry for causing such a fuss!"
"Ah. So you followed Gonou's spontaneous directing?" Chin Yisou asked, sitting up. He licked at the blood dripping down his face from the hole in his forehead. The overall effect was pretty darn creepy.
"He wasn't putting much effort into strangling me," Sanzo replied. "But beside that…if he were ever forced to really kill me…he'd sooner bite and tongue and die."
Hakkai laughed. "Oh no, Sanzo. It was all your wonderful acting," he said, clapping his hands. "I honestly thought I'd killed you. Ha ha."
Sanzo glared at him. "…Now you're asking for death."
Chin Yisou looked down, smiling ruefully. "So my spell didn't affect you."
"Well, you said so yourself," Hakkai responded. "It's simple to enter a gap in the heart. Unfortunately, my heart isn't big enough to have any gaps. Well. It would appear that your estimation of me was royally screwed up." He smiled in a way that sent chills up Tai's spine. "Allow me to humbly send you on your way once more."
Chin Yisou laughed. "Try what you will. But do you honestly think you can kill me with chi? I'm not sure. Perhaps you should remove your limiters to fight me. For old times' sake." He leered at Hakkai.
The brunette didn't respond, but made a sudden dash toward Chin Yisou, grabbing his arm.
Chin Yisou laughed. "You've truly lost your mind this time!"
Hakkai's grip tightened and Chin Yisou's eyes widened in surprise.
"I don't need to remove my limiter," Hakkai said. "Manipulating chi…has its uses." His left hand began to glow. "Three years ago…I tore you open around…here, am I right?" He stabbed his arm through Chin Yisou's chest and Tai flinched as she saw his fist come out of the demon's back.
"Cho…Go…nou…?" Chin Yisou groaned.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken." Hakkai opened his hand slightly to reveal the mahjong tile that had granted his nemesis life. He crushed the tile and ripped his arm out of the other man sideways. "My name…is Cho Hakkai."
Chin Yisou fell against Hakkai, clutching his shoulder. "…R-Really. I'm disappointed in y-you."
Hakkai smiled. "Thank you kindly."
"I thought this would be more f-fun." Tai could see the demon's flesh slowly beginning to rot away, showing the bone underneath.
"Unfortunately, these days I've gotten tired of masochism. The people around me have been an influence, you see," Hakkai told him. "However red my hands may be stained…blood can always be washed away. That's how we live. All of us."
Chin Yisou grinned, crumbling away. "Ha ha…Is it, now…I truly hate you from the bottom of my heart. Cho Hakkai. You're nothing but a hypocrite. You only smell like the living."
Hakkai frowned, grasping the dying man's now-skeletal hand. "What a coincidence. I hate you, too." He dropped the hand as the wind scattered the dust that remained of Chin Yisou away. He raised his hand, and Hakuryu fluttered to his shoulder. "Because unlike you…I'm not without a past or a future."
Tai exhaled. 'That was pretty cool…but maybe I shouldn't get involved with these guys. That could spell trouble. Although…' she eyed Sanzo reluctantly. She quickly shook her head. 'No, no, no! Focus, Tai. You're here to save Skye, and only to save Skye! Now, move!' She nodded and turned, beginning to walk off.
"Hey! Tai! Hang on a second!" Goku called to her, waving at her retreating back.
She flinched, but didn't turn around. 'Don't get involved, don't get involved, don't get involved.' She sucked in a deep breath and began to run.
"Hey! Tai! Where're ya…goin'…?" Goku stared after her, confused. "Huh. Wonder why she ran off."
Gojyo shrugged. "This whole thing with the creepozoid probably freaked her out. She was weird, but she was still just a chick."
"Hm…" Hakkai stared off thoughtfully.
Sanzo lit a cigarette. "We should head out if we're gonna make it to a town by nightfall. Let's go." He walked off, and the others followed behind.
-End-
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--Wasn't that episode thingy so badass? I dunno. I love it. I know I made Gojyo kind of Chauvinist pig in that last part. I really don't know why, but it's definitely going to change. (If you know anything about Tai yet, you know why.)
I'm kind of proud. This was a long chapter, wasn't it? Let's see…about 1741 words…At least that's what Word Count says…
I bid thee adieu until the next installment.
