Hello minna!

Here I am again! As I have a lot of comments to answer, I better start... But first, special thanks to Zelgadis55, who betaed the last chapter and eliminated any errors and weird-sounding words before I updated the story ;-)

05.04.2005: Answers to reviews removed. See chapter 3 for details.

Okay, and now on with the story...

DISCLAIMER: All praise to Minekura Kazuya for giving us four yummy guys to slobber over ;-) Not mine, I'm just borrowing.

CHAPTER 14

Blood.

A lot of it, dripping off his hands, its sickening metallic smell making him dizzy.

"What have I done...?"

A still body lying next to him on the ground, tousled blond hair hiding the face of the youkai he had once known as Genjo Sanzo.

For a moment, he was sure that Kouryuu was dead. Without him realizing it, a single tear ran out of an emerald eye, flowing down a cheek smudged with dirt and blood.

'I have killed him... his blood is still on my hands...'

This fact was all the more horrifying because, on some level, he had known what he was doing all the time, yet had been unable to stop himself...

While Hakkai stared at the hand that he had found stuck deep in Kouryuu's chest mere seconds ago, a hand dyed completely red, Goku and Gojyo were finally able to move again. The boy was the first to kneel down next to the blond man, while Gojyo put one hand on his friend's shoulder in consolation. The healer looked up to him, found the half-demon blinking rapidly, as if to chase off tears welling up unbidden in his eyes.

"It's not your fault", the red-haired man said in a voice that had to be forced to sound steady. "He knew what could happen, and he refused to listen to us..."

Gojyo seemed about so say some more when Goku shouted, "Hakkai... he's still alive!"

A sudden, wild hope washed over the guilt-ridden brunette. Exhausted though he was, he forced himself to turn around to what he had assumed was nothing but a lifeless shell, an empty vessel without soul, and saw that the monkeylike boy was right. Slowly, very faintly, and through blood that was slowly drowning him, Kouryuu somehow still managed to breathe.

However, the damage was extensive, there was very little time left, and he was so tired...

Nevertheless, he had to try and save the man that had forfeited his own life to save Hakkai.

The healer stretched out his hands, over the terrible wound he himself had caused, and began channeling every bit that was left of his own energy into his companion. He staggered under the effort, but there was no way he would give up, no way he would bear another death of one dear to him on his mind...

Gojyo's voice reached his ear from very far away...

"Hakkai, stop! You can't save him, you will only prolong his agony... and possibly kill yourself!"

Another voice answering, hoarse, shaky. His own.

"I... won't... let... him... die!"

A hand on his shoulder, trying to turn him around, to break the flow of life energy between the healer and the one to be healed.

"Stop this folly right now! You're insane!"

Hakkai struggled out of the kappa's grip.

"NO! I WON'T!"

Goku's face, smeared with tears, a sad, yet brave smile on his face.

"Hakkai... I don't want to lose him either... In fact, I don't know how to go on without him, he has always taken care of me... but Gojyo is right. You can't save him. Let him go."

The healer shook his head, tears flowing out of his own eyes freely now. Didn't they understand that he would never be able to live with his guilt if he stopped now?

"I will save him... I HAVE to save him... All my fault..."

And more of his own Ki poured into Kouryuu, trying to mend bones and tissue, yet it did so little, so little...

At this point in time, in Tenkai Kanzeon Bosatsu slammed her fist down on the Shogi-Board in front of her, sending the pieces flying so that Jiroushin had to dive for cover.

"That's enough. The old baboon can show Konzen how pissed he is with him as much as he wants, but I will not have him die like this!"

Jiroushin, trying to recover from her outburst, shook his head in disbelief.

"Tentei was quite clear about the proceedings, Kanzeon Bosatsu-sama. The group is to be left to their own devices, and you are supposed to search for a suitable new candidate to bear the sutra, to defeat Gyuumaoh..."

Kanzeon harrumphed at that.

"Of course, Jiroushin. Would you please try and recall how successful the search was so far?"

Her subordinate lowered his eyes at the Merciful Goddess' tone. Truth be told, no one so far had been able to fullfill the requirements to finish the assignment – an indomitable spirit, unequaled abilities to fight. Though disobedient to the point of outright insubordination, Genjo Sanzo had been their best bet.

Kanzeon Bosatsu, reasonable sure she knew what was going on in Jiroushin's mind, continued without waiting for an answer.

"I am bending the order to suit my taste. Konzen, though youkai, is still to be considered a possible person to finish the assignment, as nobody else has been found yet – and thus, I see it as my duty to keep him alive until a replacement is available."

With that, she vanished...

...to appear again not far from where the reincarnation of her nephew was lying on the ground, his totally exhausted companion Tenpou, or Hakkai, still trying to repair the gaping wound in Konzen's chest. One of her eyebrows raised, Kanzeon noticed that the youkai version of Genjo Sanzo was quite a sight to behold... if he wasn't still her nephew, sort of, she might...

'No time for this, old girl...'

She stepped closer, and two pairs of eyes, red and golden, fell upon her.

"Merciful Goddess!"

Goku, the child that was Konzen's charge. She flashed the boy a quick smile and then knelt down next to the brunette healer, who clearly was on the verge of collapse.

"Cho Hakkai, preserve your life force. You will need it to recover yourself. I shall take care of your comrade."

The green blow of Ki engergy faded as the man let out a sigh of relief, and for a moment, Kanzeon could see into his heart. Unnoticed, her eyes widened for a split second, but then, she decided to think about what she had learned once Konzen was out of danger.

Well-manicured hands stretched out over the injured chest again, this time belonging to a Goddess...

The flash of Ki was blinding. When the Kanzeon Bosatsu dropped her hands, the wound was closed, a large, ragged scar the only reminder of what had happened. Kouryuu's eyes, however, stayed shut.

"I repaired the damage, but he has lost a lot of blood... Oy, redhead!"

Gojyo cringed; he somehow had the feeling he wouldn't like whatever the Merciful Goddess wanted from him.

"Yes?"

Suddenly, she was standing right in front of him, although he had not seen her get up.

"I'll need some of your blood to fill him up a little bit again..."

Red eyes narrowed.

"Not again..."

But before he could finish his protests, he felt Kanzeon Bosatsu's lips on his, and he felt his strength draw out of him.

Kanzeon gave him a sly smirk when she broke the contact, and walked back over to the blond youkai on the ground.

There, she repeated the procedure, and the marble whiteness of Kouryuu's face filled with a somewhat healthier color. At the same time, her hands grasped for his wrists, and when she pulled them back, the limiters were in place again. At once, the unconscious man's features changed back to human proportions.

Task accomplished, the Goddess got up and dusted off her knees.

"There, all better. He will have to rest for quite some time, so it will be important for you to find a place to stay for the night. If I'm not mistaken, the next town lies a couple of hours in that direction", she pointed toward the east.

"Thank you..."

Hakkai's voice, no more than a whisper.

"But Goddess", Goku now chimed in. He held the still wounded Hakuryuu in his arms, who had been lying in a thicket a couple of feet away. "He is wounded, he won't be able to carry us."

A grin appeared on Kanzeon's face.

"It that the only other problem? Very well..."

Another flash, and the small white dragon 'kyuu'ed in surprise at the pain having vanished. No burn blemished his belly anymore, not even a scar was left.

The Goddess nodded, satisfied with her work, and turned around. "I must go now. Take better care of yourself from now on."

She started walking away from the four men, chuckling softly. So Hakkai had not been all that appalled at Konzen's advance on him, huh? Well, well, now that everything was back to the way it should be, she would be watching them with renewed interest, hopeless romantic that she was...

After a few steps, Kanzeon Bosatsu began to fade away until only thin air remained, as the Merciful Goddess returned to the heavens.

A warning: people who cringe at the thought of Sanzo/Hakkai might want to skip the next chapter, 'cause that's what it will almost completely be...

Comments appreciated!