Chapter Five
Gojyo was prowling round the room when Kougaiji returned, prodding at the walls with a finger as though expecting to find a secret door behind every silk drape. He was still in dress and corset, but the lines of his bodice suggested that a certain amount of scratching had taken place. He turned lazily as the prince entered, giving a mocking curtsey.
"Oh, stop that," Kougaiji muttered. "Have you been doing anything stupid?"
Gojyo hesitated, then, purely to aggravate, asked, "How do you define stupid?"
"In your case, anything at all." Kougaiji dropped into the chair which he had occupied earlier, and propped his chin on his folded hands. "We have to get you out of here."
The other man posed, hand on hip. "I thought you liked my company. I know I'm not a very pretty girl, your highness, but . . ."
Kougaiji just snorted. "Save the pleasantries. Besides, your hair is badly dyed and it's unaesthetic."
"I am very aesthetic!" Gojyo protested hotly. "I'm a damn sight more aesthetic than you are. And I'll tell you one thing for free. Women get a lot more interested if you actually cover up part of your torso, rather than wandering around with your jacket open all the time."
Kougaiji raised an eyebrow. "You like women?"
Gojyo shrugged. "Famous for it."
"Good." He settled back comfortably in his chair. "Have fun seducing the guards outside."
Gojyo stalked across and leaned over him, hands curled into fists on his hips. "Now that you've quite finished with the jokes, how about us both getting out of here?"
He was more worried than he would care to admit, and certainly far more worried than he would ever admit in front of someone whom he didn't trust. And he didn't trust Kougaiji. Even if that added an interesting spice to . . . other things. The longer he stayed in here, the more likely it became that the others were going to come after him, and while the guards probably weren't more dangerous than any other youkai, they didn't seem to be that incompetent. Someone might get hurt, and it would all be on his head.
That wasn't going to happen.
He grinned rakishly. "Come on, Prince Kougaiji. I'm sure that a mighty prince and sorcerer like yourself has lots of good ideas for getting me out of here nice and quietly and without any disturbances."
"Or?" Kougaiji queried blandly. "I don't quite see where this is my responsibility. I wasn't the one who waltzed in here wearing a dress."
Gojyo leaned in closer. He could feel the familiar devil of danger sparking excitement along his nerves. "Or," he whispered, lips near Kougaiji's ear, and then hesitated. What sort of threat would actually convince the other man to help him?
No. No, wait. Perhaps it wasn't a threat that was needed at all. Perhaps it was just a reason. It didn't even have to be a convincing reason. It just had to be something which would complete this little dance of question and response. "Or," he breathed, "I'll use the mysterious Buddhist tantric sex powers that Sanzou-sama's been teaching us to blow a hole in the wall and escape that way."
There was a long pause.
"Mysterious Buddhist tantric sex powers."
"Yup. Mysterious Buddhist tantric sex powers." He leaned in a little closer so that his lips were brushing the lobe of Kougaiji's ear.
"I believe I have a plan," Kougaiji said flatly.
Gojyo tried to put aside his feeling of mild disappointment. "Knew you would."
---
Hakkai made his way through the corridors, head lowered, peacock-feather-pattern shawl drawn closely around his face to hide his short hair and monocle, skirt dragging on the floor. He'd already passed two sets of the guards who were searching the place. They clearly weren't very efficient, or they would have investigated him. While it was admittedly a good thing that he hadn't been caught, the negligence involved -- not check up on someone wandering around with their head covered during an emergency? -- annoyed him on purely aesthetic grounds.
But in any case, after getting a better idea about what was going on here, he was rather hoping to get out quietly with Gojyo, and to avoid any . . . unpleasantness.
Yes. Avoiding unpleasantness was a good idea. This wasn't the place of his nightmares at all. It was strange to realise that; the tension was released, and he could breathe freely at last. It was just people trying to make their way in the world, no worse than the humans outside.
Of course, the avoiding unpleasantness rule might be relaxed just a shade if anything had happened to Gojyo.
He turned another corner, and got knocked down by a high-speed red-haired missile. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry -- Hakkai! You're Cho Hakkai!"
As he tried to regain his breath, he became conscious of three things. One, that the brat Lirin (his conscious instinct for etiquette hastily substituted "sweet enthusiastic girl") was sitting on his chest. Two, that she'd clearly recognised him, and indeed his shawl was down around his shoulders. Three, that there was a group of guards rounding the far end of the corridor.
His course of action was obvious. He grabbed Lirin and ran. It was astonishing how pure panic could compensate for a lack of oxygen. Fortunately she seemed content to hang on and enjoy the ride.
Several corridors later, he slowed down and dragged the girl behind the nearest curtain. "Lirin-san," he remarked politely, putting her down on the floor without, he flattered himself, unnecessary force. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to find my brother," she whispered. Her tones were nearly as penetrating as if she'd been speaking normally. "I've got something very important to tell him."
Several links clicked together in Hakkai's mind. "Your brother wouldn't be the youkai dignitary who happens to be visiting here, would he?" he said slowly.
Lirin clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "You know where he is? That's wonderful! You can take me to see him!" Her brows drew together. "But why are you wearing a skirt?"
Various sentences arranged themselves in Hakkai's mind and were promptly shot down. "Apparently they kill men who try to get in here," he settled on.
Lirin looked thoughtful. "Oh! Does this mean that if Doku comes here he's going to get into trouble?"
Hakkai kept the smile pinned to his face. "It might do, yes." And I can't quite see him in skirts. "Why, is he likely to arrive?"
Lirin chewed on her lower lip, then ignored the question with a desperately hopeful air. "Do you know where big brother's room is? I've been having lots of fun with the guards chasing me, but I think I'm a little tiny bit lost."
"I think so," Hakkai replied, a touch preoccupied. Let's see, he'd been following the instructions from Bie Liao at that point, then he'd made two left turns, then the second right, then . . . "Yes, I think so. What is it that you need to tell your brother, by the way?" he added innocently.
Lirin looked thoughtful. "You like my brother, don't you? I mean, we always have lots of fun fighting you."
"Of course," Hakkai lied. He didn't actually dislike Kougaiji, after all, and if it turned out that the prince had harmed Gojyo, then mere like or dislike wouldn't come into the matter at all.
"I knew you really liked him! Everyone does!" She hugged him tightly round the waist, looking up at him with big childish eyes. "Madam-my-mother has a really evil plot to make him get into trouble here."
Such as having him found smuggling men into here? the back of Hakkai's mind suggested helpfully. "Well, we have to do something about that," he said firmly. "Will you accept my escort to Prince Kougaiji's rooms?"
Lirin looked up at him with starry eyes. "Yes! And I'll tell him about how helpful you've been, too!"
Hakkai tried to put a certain nagging thought out of his mind. The thought involved Gojyo, and Kougaiji, and precisely how Gojyo tended to behave when confronted with a pretty woman, or with Sanzou, or . . .
"Hakkai-san," Lirin said, sounding a little nervous, "why are you practicing making ki-balls?"
---
Gojyo was prowling round the room when Kougaiji returned, prodding at the walls with a finger as though expecting to find a secret door behind every silk drape. He was still in dress and corset, but the lines of his bodice suggested that a certain amount of scratching had taken place. He turned lazily as the prince entered, giving a mocking curtsey.
"Oh, stop that," Kougaiji muttered. "Have you been doing anything stupid?"
Gojyo hesitated, then, purely to aggravate, asked, "How do you define stupid?"
"In your case, anything at all." Kougaiji dropped into the chair which he had occupied earlier, and propped his chin on his folded hands. "We have to get you out of here."
The other man posed, hand on hip. "I thought you liked my company. I know I'm not a very pretty girl, your highness, but . . ."
Kougaiji just snorted. "Save the pleasantries. Besides, your hair is badly dyed and it's unaesthetic."
"I am very aesthetic!" Gojyo protested hotly. "I'm a damn sight more aesthetic than you are. And I'll tell you one thing for free. Women get a lot more interested if you actually cover up part of your torso, rather than wandering around with your jacket open all the time."
Kougaiji raised an eyebrow. "You like women?"
Gojyo shrugged. "Famous for it."
"Good." He settled back comfortably in his chair. "Have fun seducing the guards outside."
Gojyo stalked across and leaned over him, hands curled into fists on his hips. "Now that you've quite finished with the jokes, how about us both getting out of here?"
He was more worried than he would care to admit, and certainly far more worried than he would ever admit in front of someone whom he didn't trust. And he didn't trust Kougaiji. Even if that added an interesting spice to . . . other things. The longer he stayed in here, the more likely it became that the others were going to come after him, and while the guards probably weren't more dangerous than any other youkai, they didn't seem to be that incompetent. Someone might get hurt, and it would all be on his head.
That wasn't going to happen.
He grinned rakishly. "Come on, Prince Kougaiji. I'm sure that a mighty prince and sorcerer like yourself has lots of good ideas for getting me out of here nice and quietly and without any disturbances."
"Or?" Kougaiji queried blandly. "I don't quite see where this is my responsibility. I wasn't the one who waltzed in here wearing a dress."
Gojyo leaned in closer. He could feel the familiar devil of danger sparking excitement along his nerves. "Or," he whispered, lips near Kougaiji's ear, and then hesitated. What sort of threat would actually convince the other man to help him?
No. No, wait. Perhaps it wasn't a threat that was needed at all. Perhaps it was just a reason. It didn't even have to be a convincing reason. It just had to be something which would complete this little dance of question and response. "Or," he breathed, "I'll use the mysterious Buddhist tantric sex powers that Sanzou-sama's been teaching us to blow a hole in the wall and escape that way."
There was a long pause.
"Mysterious Buddhist tantric sex powers."
"Yup. Mysterious Buddhist tantric sex powers." He leaned in a little closer so that his lips were brushing the lobe of Kougaiji's ear.
"I believe I have a plan," Kougaiji said flatly.
Gojyo tried to put aside his feeling of mild disappointment. "Knew you would."
---
Hakkai made his way through the corridors, head lowered, peacock-feather-pattern shawl drawn closely around his face to hide his short hair and monocle, skirt dragging on the floor. He'd already passed two sets of the guards who were searching the place. They clearly weren't very efficient, or they would have investigated him. While it was admittedly a good thing that he hadn't been caught, the negligence involved -- not check up on someone wandering around with their head covered during an emergency? -- annoyed him on purely aesthetic grounds.
But in any case, after getting a better idea about what was going on here, he was rather hoping to get out quietly with Gojyo, and to avoid any . . . unpleasantness.
Yes. Avoiding unpleasantness was a good idea. This wasn't the place of his nightmares at all. It was strange to realise that; the tension was released, and he could breathe freely at last. It was just people trying to make their way in the world, no worse than the humans outside.
Of course, the avoiding unpleasantness rule might be relaxed just a shade if anything had happened to Gojyo.
He turned another corner, and got knocked down by a high-speed red-haired missile. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry -- Hakkai! You're Cho Hakkai!"
As he tried to regain his breath, he became conscious of three things. One, that the brat Lirin (his conscious instinct for etiquette hastily substituted "sweet enthusiastic girl") was sitting on his chest. Two, that she'd clearly recognised him, and indeed his shawl was down around his shoulders. Three, that there was a group of guards rounding the far end of the corridor.
His course of action was obvious. He grabbed Lirin and ran. It was astonishing how pure panic could compensate for a lack of oxygen. Fortunately she seemed content to hang on and enjoy the ride.
Several corridors later, he slowed down and dragged the girl behind the nearest curtain. "Lirin-san," he remarked politely, putting her down on the floor without, he flattered himself, unnecessary force. "What are you doing here?"
"I've come to find my brother," she whispered. Her tones were nearly as penetrating as if she'd been speaking normally. "I've got something very important to tell him."
Several links clicked together in Hakkai's mind. "Your brother wouldn't be the youkai dignitary who happens to be visiting here, would he?" he said slowly.
Lirin clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "You know where he is? That's wonderful! You can take me to see him!" Her brows drew together. "But why are you wearing a skirt?"
Various sentences arranged themselves in Hakkai's mind and were promptly shot down. "Apparently they kill men who try to get in here," he settled on.
Lirin looked thoughtful. "Oh! Does this mean that if Doku comes here he's going to get into trouble?"
Hakkai kept the smile pinned to his face. "It might do, yes." And I can't quite see him in skirts. "Why, is he likely to arrive?"
Lirin chewed on her lower lip, then ignored the question with a desperately hopeful air. "Do you know where big brother's room is? I've been having lots of fun with the guards chasing me, but I think I'm a little tiny bit lost."
"I think so," Hakkai replied, a touch preoccupied. Let's see, he'd been following the instructions from Bie Liao at that point, then he'd made two left turns, then the second right, then . . . "Yes, I think so. What is it that you need to tell your brother, by the way?" he added innocently.
Lirin looked thoughtful. "You like my brother, don't you? I mean, we always have lots of fun fighting you."
"Of course," Hakkai lied. He didn't actually dislike Kougaiji, after all, and if it turned out that the prince had harmed Gojyo, then mere like or dislike wouldn't come into the matter at all.
"I knew you really liked him! Everyone does!" She hugged him tightly round the waist, looking up at him with big childish eyes. "Madam-my-mother has a really evil plot to make him get into trouble here."
Such as having him found smuggling men into here? the back of Hakkai's mind suggested helpfully. "Well, we have to do something about that," he said firmly. "Will you accept my escort to Prince Kougaiji's rooms?"
Lirin looked up at him with starry eyes. "Yes! And I'll tell him about how helpful you've been, too!"
Hakkai tried to put a certain nagging thought out of his mind. The thought involved Gojyo, and Kougaiji, and precisely how Gojyo tended to behave when confronted with a pretty woman, or with Sanzou, or . . .
"Hakkai-san," Lirin said, sounding a little nervous, "why are you practicing making ki-balls?"
---
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