Red-Weasel-Chan: Second chapter up a few minutes later~! I hope you guys aren't giving up on me! I'm sorry if you are and I understand! T.T *feelings are hurt*
Anyways, here is chapter 2~! Enjoy!
We don't own Saiyuki!
Chapter 2: A New Friendship
"Oi, who are you?" a young voice echoed in the huge room the heretic child was in. The child looked to see who asked and was surprised to see another boy about the same age as himself. The boy had light blonde hair held back in a bun, a few strands strung in his face. His violet eyes reflected his own shock to see the golden eyed child. "Hey! I'm asking who you are."
The brunette child looked down in confusion, "Um..." He didn't know how to answer since he didn't know who he was either. Suddenly there were noises outside the room. The blonde cursed, "Shit!" and grabbed the heretic's wrist to pull him behind the big statue in the room.
The door was slammed open by a male servant. "Are you in here Nataku-sama?!" he yelled in the seemingly empty room. "Hugh? Geez, where are you hiding Nataku-sama…"
The boy, Nataku, covering the brunette's mouth chuckled evilly, "Hehe, Baka!"
When the coast was clear, Nataku let go of the boy he found. The brunette asked, "… Are you running away because you did something bad too?"
"It's nothing big," the blonde reassured, "A god who always scatters his ego around was taking a nap with an idiotic face. So I just drew nose hair on him."
There was a few moments of silence until the heretic child burst into laughter, "Bwahahahaha! That's awesome! I seriously want to see it!"
"Right?"Nataku asked like he wasn't sure until he smiled when he noticed the boy was pure in his emotion. "Right! I should have taken a picture of it! You're a funny guy! I'm Nataku. What about you?"
"Um…" the golden eyed boy looked down and started to play with his feet, "I… don't have a name yet. There wasn't anybody to give me one," the boy sadly admitted. "I'm supposed to be weird. They say because I was born from a stone, I'm 'heretic'. They said that golden eyes are bad luck so they have to 'shelter' me here."
"Hmm, I really don't know much, but that's amazing," the blonde replied with a serious expression. "Eh?" the heretic was surprised by the boy's answer. "There's only one of you in this world right? That means there isn't any substitute for you. Isn't that kind of amazing?" Nataku cleared up his response.
The two children were interrupted by the same male servant appearing by the blonde. "I've found you Nataku-sama!" the man yelled.
The boy jumped at the man's voice, "Whaa!"
"You're bad jokes are too much! Please return to the main house," the servant politely but angrily ordered.
"Tsk, fine." Nataku reluctantly agreed. He stood up and was about to leave when he heard, "Nataku."He turned to give the boy who said his name his attention. "Hey, can we play again?" the heretic asked with hopeful eyes.
Violet eyes were shocked but then they closed so the owner could smile, "Yeah! Later!"
"You've made a friend?" Konzen asked, slightly shocked by this news.
"Yeah! He was kind of rude but, he was a fun guy," the brunette child exclaimed in delight. He finally made a new friend in this weird place and he was excited to see him again.
"That's good," the blonde man said, trying to figure out who the little monkey could have met. The only person who was the same age as the boy was-. He felt eyes staring at him which caused his thoughts to stop. Looking to his right, he met gold eyes, "What?"
"Hey Konzen. Give me a name," the brunette did not ask but nearly ordered.
Konzen was surprised, 'What's with him suddenly-.'
"I…next time I see him I want to tell him my name! I want to be properly called by a name. That's why…" the boy yelled, almost desperate to get a name from the beautiful blonde.
Unfortunately the man didn't want any part of it and rolled over on his bed and said, "Some other time."
"No! I want it now! NOW!" the little child yelled.
"Then it's Saru. I've decided on Saru," Konzen clearly made up just to try to get the boy to be quiet. Next thing the blonde knew, he was hit in the head by a pillow.
"Baka Konzen! I'm even begging you too!" the brunette whined, not facing his keeper by how mad he was.
"Bastard! Don't get so…" the violet eyed male was about to yell at the boy but suddenly said, "Goku."
The heretic child perked at the name. He slowly turned to the blonde now under his covers with a shocked expression.
"It's Goku,"Konzen repeated, "It's short and easy so that even a monkey-head like you can memorize it, right?"
Still shocked, Goku simply replied, "Yeah." After a few moments, shock soon turned into delight then excitement, "I see. I'm Goku! Hey! What does it mean?! What does it mean?!"
"Shut up! Go to sleep!" the irritate male growled out.
"What?! You're so stingy!"
"You named him?" a cheerful voice asked in an equally cheerful tone.
"Yeah, I came up with it last night. He wouldn't stop bugging me about it," an annoyed voice replied.
"Well, what did you name him?!" Yuki asked in excitement, forgetting she was picking up the mess in her boss's office.
Before the blonde could reply, his office door opened to reveal Tenpou smiling his usual creepy smile. "Well," the Field Marshal started walking to the blonde's desk, careful to step over random books and paper scattered on the floor, "Even though I haven't visited, it's gotten a lot lively."
Konzen rubbed his temples at the reminder that his office is still a mess, "You can say that."
Goku appeared in the doorway yelling, "Yuki!" but stopped when he noticed someone he's never seen before already in there. "Huh? A visitor?"
Tenpou waved at the boy, "I don't mind. Please come in."
The little brunette, excited about meeting a new person mixed with saying his name said, "Me, I'm called Goku! What about Oji-san?"
"Onii-san is Tenpou," the lazy looking male answered. "You can say that I'm an old acquaintance of Konzen. Please, call me Ten-chan."
"Yay! It's Ten-chan!" the heretic cheered with a giddy face.
"Tenpou…"Konzen growled out, not understanding why the Army guy stuck with such a weird nickname.
"You're so good with kids," Yuki commented with an innocent smile. "Oh, my name is Yuki. I'm Konzen's secretary."
"Nice to meet you Yuki," Tenpou smiled back at the young woman. He was a bit confused because he knew that name sounded familiar but couldn't place where he heard it.
"So, you named him Goku?" the black haired woman brought their attention back to the little boy who was currently playing with a butterfly outside.
"A person who can 'apprehend'...'Ku', a thing that cannot be seen by the eye," the Field Marshal philosophized for the group. "It's a fine name."
Konzen scoffed under his breath, "Shut up!"
Yuki suddenly hugged the little boy and rubbed her face against his, squealing, "It fits him perfectly!"
Goku just lets the woman do as she pleases, thinking he did something good with a huge smile, laughing in a goofy manner. Tenpou laughs at the interaction until he heard his old acquaintance speak.
"Don't you have your own zoo?" the blonde mentioned with a curious side glance.
"Yeah except I got three big children," Tenpou said as he pulled out a cigarette from his lab coat pocket. After lighting it and putting it to his lips he continued, "My Admiral, Amaya, has a huge temper and very brash so the other two love to pick at her to see how far she can go until she explodes."
Hearing her sister's name, Yuki halted her hugging and asked, "Aya?" but fell on deaf ears.
"She's very good at what she does but she's a bit oblivious to things which causes the Squad to baby her a bit because she's still young. She, of course, hates it and strives to show them she doesn't need to be protected," the black haired male let a small smile grace his lips at the thought since he was just as guilty for babying the violent woman.
"She sounds annoying," Konzen grumbled under his breath. He could tell he won't like this woman just by how the Field Marshal explained her.
"She has a bodyguard named Chao Li. Their relationship is...unique?" Tenpou couldn't quite place how the Admiral and her bodyguard are around each other.
"Unique how?"
"Chao Li is very aggressive, impulsive and violent. With this, he is obviously very intimidating and he uses that to his advantage to get his way but Amaya stands up to him. They bicker a lot when Amaya runs off but you can tell they care for each other even when they are at their throats."
"I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet."
"I agree. Last but not least is my General. He's a bigger child than Amaya and Chao Li combined."
"He's Kenren right? I hear he's stronger than the Fighting God that is lying around."
"Even if he's doing whatever he wants, he's a pretty sharp person. With that, there's a lot of enemies."
"Looks like even the top people in the military think he's troublesome."
"Isn't that because there's something shameful in the upper ranks?"
"You think so to?" Yuki interrupted.
Both men looked at her in slight surprise. "You actually know about this?" Konzen questioned.
"Yeah. When I go run errands, I hear people gossiping about how the upper ranks are planning something," the kind woman replied like it didn't matter.
Her boss didn't seem to think so because he gave her a glare and yelled, "And you didn't inform me?!"
Yuki flinched at the tone and tried to explain, "I-I thought it wasn't important!"
"How is this not important?!" the blonde male argued.
His secretary didn't know how to respond. She honestly thought it was just gossip going around that wasn't true. She was a bit conflicted on how to reply next.
"It's not just that. I feel something suspicious about the large number of troops going off to war these days," Tenpou said in a serious tone.
"Oh," Yuki stopped her silent treatment to look at her guest, "Do you know why they are sending so many troops to war?"
The Field Marshal shook his head, "Sorry, I don't know the full details. Why do you ask?"
"Well, for a while my sister Amaya had been receiving requests to join a group that have been assigned to fight in the war. She never told me why they requested her though or why she refused. She only told me that they wanted her to go," the black haired woman explained.
Tenpou was shocked at this bit of news. He never heard his Admiral say anything about being requested to join the troops in the war. "I never knew about this," he mumbled out. Then another thing the woman said clicked in his brain, "You're the sister of Amaya?"
"Ah, yeah," Yuki sheepishly smiled.
Tenpou looked over the woman, almost not believing it. This sweet, kind woman was the sibling of his oblivious, temperamental Admiral?
"Anyways, so I thought they requested her because her violent personality would benefit the front-line," Yuki gave her opinion but knew she had no idea what terms to use...especially in front of a Field Marshal.
"That would make sense but in this Upper World, where a war doesn't occur, and death doesn't exist, a military was made to punish those that disrupt the peace and order. A war is originally there to penetrate one's own ideals," the laid back male explained then sighed, "Complaining to you two won't do a thing. I'll come back again."
The young woman was about to ask why he was so tense about the situation but decided against it. She knew very little compared to the military man.
"Tenpou," Konzen called out to his old acquaintance who was about to leave, "A Marshal is supposed to be higher in rank than the General and the Admiral. Why are you letting yourself be an adjutant?"
Tenpou simply smiled and said, "I don't like to stand out."
Goku suddenly appeared by the Field Marshal, "Hey! You're going home Ten-chan?"
Tenpou beamed at the little boy, "Yes, goodbye! See you again!"
"Goodbye Tenpou!" Yuki also waved at their guest, "Oh, please tell Amaya hello for me."
"Of course!" the black haired male replied, his huge smile still on his face.
Konzen just watched the interaction with a scowl as he thought, 'Don't you stand out enough?' Even with his scowl, the blonde thought back to what his old friend said. He knew that weird movements were starting to come out at a place where his eyes couldn't reach.
Something hit him. Was Tenpou purposely making the General and Admiral whirl and stir the upper ranks?
"Fighting God Nataku Taishi! Forward," a man next to the emperor was sitting yelled in the quiet area.
The huge group of people that gathered for the occasion started to mumble under their breath as the blonde boy walked to where he was instructed.
"It's Nataku-sama's appearance," one voice could be heard in the crowd.
"I can't believe that conceited brat is a fighting god," another voice said in disgust.
"I heard he defeated a monster that was ten times his own height with one hit," the third voice said in amazement.
"He has the strength of an ogre!" another exclaimed.
"It's suspicious considering from whose stomach he was born from," a middle aged man insulted. He was then grabbed from behind, a hand covering his mouth to silence his scream.
"Say things you want with a bigger voice," Kenren said quietly so he wouldn't cause a ruckus.
The elder man was about to attempt to scream again but a young woman appeared in front of him with an evil smirk.
"Or else nobody will hear your pathetic mouth," Amaya finished, giving a look that promised pain if he attempted to do anything else.
The boy finally made it in front of the emperor and bowed on one knee to show respect. "Nataku, the reason I called you is nothing else..." the emperor started but was interrupted by the boy he was talking to.
"The nose hair is still vaguely there," Nataku pointed out with a dull expression.
"Shut up!" the elder growled out, "In this case, let's just wash off your cute prank. I'll order you into a serious mission. Go to Gekai. One has been eating the people through his personal desire, and disrupting the order there."
People around the area quietly listened, not expecting their emperor to give such a mission to the boy.
"Your mission is to subjugate the Dai Youkai, Gyumaou. That man is powerful enough to be called a destructive God. However, if pitted against you, he wouldn't last a second. You'll go, won't you?" the emperor asked like the Fight God had a choice.
Nataku just looked at the old man in distaste. He knew these bastards just saw him as a murder doll. He hated them all and that's why he promised to never become an adult like them.
"Understood," the boy bowed his head to show he knew what to do.