A single light bulb casts its flickering yellow light in a circumference barely reaching the black edges of the small room. The cramped space is fully taken up by five stools scattered about, one of which is occupied by a nervous-looking young man fiddling with a relic of a tape recorder hidden in the pocket of his battered-looking jacket. Every now and then he would glance at the round face of the watch swinging from a chain around his neck, look towards the dark hole of a door, and then back again. Slightly dizzying.
He'd been at it for a good hour already, and is debating whether to stay or not. But he had fought for the chance, had run roughshod over the other reporters (most of them female) in his backwater newspaper office to get this assignment, possibly the assignment that would land him a plush job somewhere bigger and better, and he wasn't about to give up so easily. Caught up in his own thoughts and so used to seeing nothing but empty space in the doorway, the reporter all but missed the figure of Hakkai when the light-footed demon entered.
"Kusanagi-san?" Hakkai's soft tones reverberated around the room, surprising the reporter, and setting the watch a-swinging as it dropped from his suddenly nerveless fingers. "Sumimasen…I startled you."
"No, no…I wasn't paying attention…Please, sit down, Hakkai-san, I recognize you at once, of course, of course, and they told you I'd be here. Yes, I'm Kusanagi Osamu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Er…where are the others?" Kusanagi took a much-needed breath, and surreptitiously set the record button on his relic before taking the handkerchief next to it and making a show of mopping his brow.
Hakkai was studying him with an arrested expression, and Kusanagi wondered if the demon had been fooled. He relaxed a bit when Hakkai smiled at him sweetly, before saying, "They'll be along shortly." Even before the words were out, Kusanagi heard raucous voices just outside the door and the rest of the motley crew the reporter had long waited for arrived.
First to enter was the priest Sanzo, and Kusanagi hurriedly converted his gasp into a fit of coughing, as the famed beauty of the monk impressed itself upon his visage. No wonder those girls were out for his blood. Damn. If only a camera wouldn't have been so conspicuous. Interestingly enough, the monk's robes looked less than immaculate, as though they had dried after a good wetting. Hmm…so the rumors about his perpetual neatness are unfounded.
A redheaded demon and a brown-haired boy came in right after, and Kusanagi was finally able to place the loud voices he'd been hearing. This could only be Gojyo and Goku…but who was that behind them? What luck! Kusanagi's eyes widened as he recognized the tall dark (handsome too, undoubtedly) form of Homura. This last one, he hadn't counted on.
"Welcome, welcome, please take your seats…oh no…I'm afraid I was only expecting the four…but…"
"I'll stand." Homura said the two words through gritted teeth. Kusanagi was a bit miffed at his stiff attitude…until he realized that not only Homura's manner was stiff, but also his whole stance, his entire person. On closer inspection, the god had very blue lips, and Kusanagi speculated on why it actually seemed as though the god were frozen to the marrow.
"Shall we begin then?" Kusanagi's false heartiness was met with brooding inattention on Sanzo's part, a cocked eyebrow and satirical smile from Gojyo, a blank stare from Goku, and a rather chilly silence from Homura. Only Hakkai seemed accommodating, and Kusanagi felt it safer to start with him.
"Hakkai-san, what did you think of your character in Awakening? Do you feel that it was true to life?" Kusanagi's voice broke off at the end, upon hearing snorts from at least two of his interviewees. He decided to ignore that and focus instead on what Hakkai was saying.
"It was rather surprising that the author chose to view my pleasant manner as a façade." Hakkai turned an inquiring eye towards Kusanagi. "Don't you feel that politeness is a matter of course, an indication of good upbringing, rather than a cover-up for some repressed violent nature?"
It is? Kusanagi found himself nodding, despite the contrary thought that whispered into his brain. Somehow, that green eye was hypnotizing in its sincerity.
"Otherwise, each politic gesture, each well-mannered person falls into suspicion, and kindness will be taken as nefarious in intention…a rather exhausting way to interact with people, don't you agree?"
Kusanagi nodded again, disgusted with himself for thinking any differently. He decided to steer the interview into another avenue. "Ehem…what of this reincarnation business? Would you care to comment on how Fa Nam or Kanan as she is sometimes called…" Again, Kusanagi finds himself breaking off in the middle of speech, this time because the person he considered an ally suddenly turned fierce on him.
"I do not wish to discuss that." Hakkai's mien had turned cold, and his pleasant smile had acquired a rather disturbing quality, almost threatening.
Kusanagi starts pacifying a wrath he is unsure is even there, saying in a rush, "Of course, we don't have to talk about the dead girl or the new one…um…I meant nothing by it…nothing…no disrespect at all… …ah…eh…"
In desperation, the reporter turns toward Sanzo, who seemed to have spoken to him. "I'm sorry, I wasn't able to catch that. What did you say?" Kusanagi was grateful for any excuse to distance himself a little from Hakkai. Sanzo's glower appeared habitual, and not personally directed at him, ergo lowering the chances of Kusanagi being in any mortal danger. The reporter mopped at his brow and swallowed convulsively.
"I asked if you had any cigarettes." Sanzo enunciated the words carefully, and looked at Kusanagi as though the reporter were feeble-minded.
"Say, I wouldn't mind one as well" Gojyo piped up, the beguiling smile of an experienced flirt and freeloader turned on full blast at Kusanagi.
The reporter searches his pockets and locates a pack in relief, offering it and an accompanying lighter to the priest first. Sanzo's long, elegant fingers slide one butt from the pack, deftly lights the cig, and as though he'd been craving the nicotine for ages, takes a swift drag, inhaling with pure enjoyment. His mood visibly improves, the hard expression on his face smoothing out, the hands that had shook a bit now steadied, and having acknowledged the reporter's presence, was still glancing Kusanagi's way with faint interest. The reporter decided to seize his chance and carelessly threw the pack in the general vicinity of Gojyo, not seeing how the kappa expertly caught it.
"Sanzo-san, I was wondering, what did you think about the story?"
Just as swiftly, the cantankerous priest narrows his eyes and smites Kusanagi with a look bordering on murder. "What do you think? That writer set me up to be rained upon; it wasn't enough that I have sodden garments, but that I literally be soaked to the skin, and then, adding insult to injury, be left high and dry by that woman…"
"I see however that you did keep the ruby earring." Kusanagi dared to interrupt, to his regret, seeing Sanzo clamp down on his cigarette with very white, very sharp teeth, his violet eyes glittering strangely with yellow light. Kusanagi thought he heard something about impracticality, and writers (Kusanagi presumably included) being morons, but thankfully he could ignore that and instead listen to Homura who was speaking up from his shaded corner.
"Come off it Sanzo. All you got was a-a li-t-t-tle rain…big deal. I had to go through death-de-defying stunts AND be left in the middle of a freaking ice rink. I'm b-b-bloody f-freezing while all y-you've got to complain about is an itty-bitty fever-r." To his credit, Homura kept his teeth chattering to a minimum. Kusanagi was only happy that Sanzo had transferred his murderous glare at the god, and Hakkai now seemed to have regained his equanimity, coming between the two and making peaceable motions with his hands.
"You two have nothing to complain about" Gojyo entered into the discourse without preamble, two cigarettes tucked readily behind his ear, the rest of the filched pack hidden from view, "at least you got some action! What did she give me but two misses and a perverted fascination with the centipede? No offense Hakkai, you're a gorgeous git but I was looking forward to a bit of a slap and tickle with the ladies, see?" Ruby red lips elongate into a pout. "No such luck."
Kusanagi glances around the room, helpless to provide a modicum of control over the direction the conversation was heading. His eyes dart towards Goku, the least inflammatory member in the bunch, but the monkey was groaning and hunched over his stomach. "I still feel queasy…" was all the little guy kept saying.
Kusanagi turns to the sulky Gojyo and surrenders his trump card: "There's talk of a sequel…you know, a continuation." Kusanagi found himself the center of attention from five pairs of eyes. Even Goku quit writhing in his chair to give him a horrified stare. Hakkai looked mildly disturbed. Homura looked as though his frozen body would crack if he took his eyes off the reporter. Sanzo nearly choked on his smoke inhalation.
The only remotely positive reaction came from Gojyo. "You mean I finally get it on with a few of the gals?" His tone verged on perky, and his eyes were shining with…Kusanagi decided to call it "hope" for the moment (hell, he did write for a "respectable" newspaper and not a tabloid, or at least not that kind). He was a little reluctant to crush the red-haired demon's spirits, but they had to know…
"Well, that's it you see. The only person who actually knows is the author…and she's mysteriously disappeared." That was the reason why this was such a big story. Those women reporters may have had something else in mind, but Kusanagi was not likely to let his own penchant for pretty faces get in the way of a potential scandal to be told.
Interestingly enough, no one in the room would meet the reporter's gaze after his big revelation.
Goku had resumed his writhing. "I think I'm gonna be sick again…"
Gojyo looked deflated. "That's a shame." He finally lit one of his purloined cigarettes and puffed upwards, the better to examine the fascinating cracks in the ceiling.
Homura's blue lips had warmed up a bit, turning into a light shade of mauve, actually relaxing enough for him to smile. "Sou desu ka?"
Sanzo continued puffing away, not deigning to comment. As though he had X-ray vision, his penetrating gaze was contemplating something beyond the wall. "That's quite…interesting…honto ni…omoshiroii desu yo…"
Hakkai looked vaguely apologetic, but resigned. "Wakatta…without the author, there can be no continuation."
Everything they said sent chills up Kusanagi's spine. He cleared his throat rather noisily. "But we wouldn't know about any of that, right? No idea where she could be…"
Hakkai, designated speaker from the moment the interview had begun, turned his usual smile upon Kusanagi, and answered, in his best polite manner. "Sadly, we can't possibly add any more to what you yourself know. I'm sure that wherever she may be, she is resting from her literary efforts, spent in our behalf." He stood, and stepped closer to Kusanagi. "Soshite…Kusanagi-san, may I have that interesting device inside your pocket?"
Kusanagi found himself meekly holding out the recorder.
"Arigatou, Kusanagi-san. This was a delightful interlude."
That said, the five interviewees filed out, each in his own unique manner. Sanzo elegantly strode. Homura stealthily glided. Gojyo lazily swaggered. Goku lumbered jerkily. Hakkai walked cat-footed, and closed the door after him.
Kusanagi was left in a sort of trance, deprived of cigarettes, recorder and big story.
Then again, he thought while moping his sweating face, I'm alive.
Not that he believed he would've…they would've…but still…
Kusanagi Osamu decided that for his next assignments, he would stick to homes and gardens.