In this World and Life

Chapter 2: Hi! I'm... what?

A very, very, VERY looooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggg time doesn't even begin to describe how long I haven't updated... Well, I guess maybe does, but anywayz, gomen ne!!

Disclaimer: Think. If I owned saiyuki, then would I still be wasting time, space and effort in writing this disclaimer? Nooooooo..
________________________________________________________________________

.:goku:.

Bump. Bump.

That's how jeep, and of course, we went.

The road we were on was quite rocky. Surrounding were large fields, with lots of trees, a forest far ahead of us to the left. There was a river flowing to our right. The weather was good though, not too hot not too cold. It was a sunny day.

I looked around us, at the fields that went by. Maybe there was a village hiding somewhere. We have been on the road for almost two days since our last stop.

When I didn't find any, I started looking around for fruit trees, or any food that someone might have left behind; anything to eat. I had thought I saw a bun lying on the ground, but as we got closer, I realized it was just a rock.

Frustrated, I slumped back into my seat. "Mou... Sanzo, harahetta..."

I had expected him to hit me with his fan, shout at me, or something, but he remained silent. He must've shown signs of irritation though, because Hakkai glanced at him then laughed.

"Don't worry Goku, there's supposedly a village around here somewhere. The barkeeper from the last village said that we would be able to reach the next village after about one day and one night of traveling."

"Hontou?" Gojyo spoke up, looking slightly doubtful. "Doesn't seem like it though. All I see is grass, grass, trees, grass, that river and..."

Hakkai slammed on the brakes suddenly, causing us to rush forward.

"What was that for?" I said, recovering from what had happened.

No one answered. Then I realized why. We all stared as a grayish-white dragon [bigger than Hakuryu; probably as big as Kougaiji's dragon, Hiryu] flew low in front of the jeep. He was nearly run over. It seemed he had come from somewhere in the riverbank, and was heading into the forest to our left.

"Matte Kuddasai!!!!!"

Our heads turned simultaneously to the right and we all stared again at this girl who seemed to be running after the dragon. After a short moment of running, she tripped and fell, face down, to the ground.

We all sweatdropped.

________________________________________________________________________

"Oi, daijobou desu ka?" I had jumped out of the jeep and rushed to the side of the girl to help her get up. She had brown hair and brown eyes and looked about my age, maybe younger.

At first she didn't notice me. Her eyes flared and she raised her fist. "I'll get you for that, Hajuryu! You're supposed to help me here!!" She was frowning, but I swear I could see a smile tugging on the sids of her lips.

Her eyes, still focused on the dragon that slowly flew out of sight into the forest, softened then she grinned. "That's the second time... Silly." She shook her head.

"Ano..."

"Oh!" As if she just saw me. "Gomen ne." Her cheeks reddened a bit and she bowed her head, embarrassed. After her embarrassment passed though, she looked at me. At my eyes I think. She looked curious, frightened, and as if she didn't understand... something. They were piercing, and I thought that she could actually read my mind.  

She just stared. She opened her mouth, about to say something, but she took it back. She looked down, bit her lip, then when she looked back at me. She put on a weak smile.

It seemed as if she was curious, scared, relieved, confused, happy and sad all at the same time. There was something else though, something barely there that I couldn't tell what it was. Something familiar....

I don't know how it had happened but soon our faces were only inches apart.

Suddenly, she stepped back, slightly blushing. For some unknown reason, I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Ano," she said, breaking the silence. " Watashi wa Zeia, by the way."

"Ore wa Goku."

She turned towards the road, where jeep was; where Sanzo and the others were. She saw Sanzo waiting impatiently with folded arms, Hakkai smiling, erokappa lighting another cigarette. "You guys are travelers?"

"Hai."

"Then you guys must be tired." she said, turning back to face me. " Why don't you come back to the village for a while and rest up? Besides, the next village is about two days away. And, if you want, you could stay at our place. We've got extra rooms."

"Hontou? Oi! Hakkai! Sanzo!" I ran back towards the jeep. "That girl said there's a village near here, and they've got a place we can stay."

"That's good." Hakkai said, smiling. Sanzo narrowed his eyes suspiciously for a while. "How do we get there?"

"Umm..." I had forgotten to ask.

"You'll have to pass through that forest. Then you'll have no trouble finding it. I don't think your jeep'll fit though." Zeia was standing to my left. I was sort of surprised by that, I had only noticed her just now.

"Yosh." Gojyo casually jumped out of the jeep. Sanzo and Hakkai went out too, then jeep changed back to Hakuryu. "Kyuuu!"

"Ah! Sugoi! A dragon!" Hakuryu landed on Zeia's head for a while then he flew away and landed again on Hakkai's shoulder.

"Ikuso." Sanzo turned around to face the forest.

"Nani? We're walking? But my stomach..."

"Stay here then."

"Never mind," I said, somewhat reluctantly. The village can't be that far, right?

"Zeia, maybe you would like to come with us?" Hakkai asked.

"Hai, coming."

I turned around in time to see her walk towards us, a bucket of water in each hand. "It's a chore," she said. "There's no source of clean water in the village. This is where we get our water."

When Hakkai turned back to face us, he looked somewhat troubled. "Doushita no, Hakkai?"

"Iie, it's nothing."

________________________________________________________________________

I was in the kitchen with Zeia and Yuki-oneesan. Sanzo, Hakkai and Gojyo were in heir rooms resting, waiting for dinner.

I guess I couldn't wait.

"Light the stove then set it to lowfire, okay Zeia? I'll be in the dining room setting the table."

"Hai!"

"Ano... You two live alone here?"

"Yup, ever since my parents passed away," She turned slightly away from me and put an extra amount of concentration on lighting a matchstick, "and my brother fled..." Despite her partly genki voice, I knew she was sad. What's weird was, I sensed a bit of hatred in her voice... Iya, couldn't be. The matchstick broke.

"Gomenasai."

"It's ok!" Her voice was 'fully genki' now.

I watched as she tried to light the nth matchstick.

"Yes," she said silently when it caught fire.

We leaned in closer to the stove. She cupped one hand and put it to one side of the lit match, protecting the tiny fire from the wind.

Closer, closer...

A centimeter more until it touched the burner, then... poof! The fire went out.

We sweatdropped.

"Kono!!" she said, "stupid matchstick.."

I watched with wide eyes and a sweatdrop on my forehead as she got kowaii. She snapped her fingers and a small flame formed. She whispered something and the flame grew bigger and bigger, and when it got as big as a watermelon, [yum..]  she swiftly brought her hand forward.

I moved back as the fire nearly burned everything in front of us.

The burner finally caught fire.

"Sugoi!" My eyes widened even more.

She stopped, realizing how she had acted and what she had done.

"G-gomen! Don't tell them, onegai!!"

She said this really fast, it took me a while to understand.

She was referring to Sanzo and the others. She didn't want them to know.

"Are you youkai?" Even before she answered, and even before I asked, I knew the answer. She didn't have the smell of a youkai. But there was no other explanation.

She looked at me, shocked, and quite angry. "Iie."

"What are you?" Iie, I wasn't scared. I wasn't angry either. Why would I be angry? It's not like she took my dumpling or anything. I just wanted to know.

I guess my feelings didn't show in my eyes though because she was slightly trembling. Her head was bowed down, and so I couldn't see her eyes. But when she stopped shaking and lifted her head and looked me straight in the eyes, she was so calm it was almost unnerving. Her eyes were expressionless.

When she answered, it wasn't just what she said, but how she said it, coolly and devoid of any emotion, that sent a small shiver up my spine.

"Shitenai."

.:suzuku:.

________________________________________________________________________

How was that? Quite boring, I know. And that's why I'm in dire need of some suggestions!! Please be kind enough to give me some... [hint, hint]