Title: Zettai ni Shinai
Rating: General/ PG 13, depends on how the story goes.
Pairings: Konzen/Homura, Sanzo/Homura
Status: 2/?
Author: Hagane ^^\/
Disclaimer: I wish I could say that I own both Sanzo and Homura, but I'm afraid that's just not the case. Oh, the injustice of it all……. *sigh*
Ever wondered why Homura is obsessed with Sanzo/Konzen even when it seems as though the 2 had never had much to do with each other back in Heaven? Well, I did….and after leaping to several radical conclusions, here's my story.
//Konzen//
There he was again- surrounded by guards and heavily chained. No chance of escape. He reminded me of a trapped animal with nowhere to go but with his captive. Yet, pathetic though his situation was, his eyes held a defiance and fire unlike I'd ever seen before. And oddly enough, it fascinated me.
"What would you like, Konzen?" asked Tenpou, waiting patiently for my answer.
I glanced down at the menu in my hands. I'd forgotten it was there.
"I don't care. Anything will do."
Kenren grinned. "Bet you've never been out for dinner before have you?"
"So what?" I snapped at him angrily. "Never saw the need to."
"It's no fun locking yourself up inside the palace. I mean, we know you're a highly-ranked god and everything, but it's fun to come out once in a while to play."
"Play?" I looked at him, contemplating murder.
"You know, have fun," his grin widened.
"Maa maa…… I'll order for you if you like," Tenpou intervened, trying to appease me.
"Hnn."
Kenren decided to drop it. "Poor guy huh?"
My ears snapped to attention.
Tenpou sighed before the waitress scurried away with the order. "It's horrid the way he's being treated. Those chains must hurt."
"Aa." I grunted my input.
"Wonder why they lock him up like that. Poor guy looked terrified of the sun," commented Kenren, lighting up a cigarette.
I leaned the slightest bit forward.
"It's cruel to do that even to a heretic," Tenpou said, passionately putting forth his view.
"What's wrong with him?" I tried to keep my voice as impassive as I could, not to make it sound like I cared.
"And you call yourself a god," Kenren shook his head in mock disappointment. I shot him a dirty look.
"He's the child of a god who was banished to earth because of an affair with a mortal. Heaven decided to keep him, and he's been here ever since," Tenpou graciously elaborated.
"Hnn."
"I just don't understand why they keep him in chains," Kenren puffed out a ring of smoke, "It's not like he can harm anybody."
"I wonder why they decided to keep him in Heaven in the first place," mused Tenpou.
I snorted. "It's none of our business."
"Aa. Maybe so, but it's somewhat disconcerting to see such cruel treatment, ne?"
"Whatever happens to him doesn't concern me."
"Our Konzen-sama, unstinting as always," Kenren added dryly.
I glared at him. The sarcasm was not lost on me.
"Maa maa….. let's just enjoy our dinner ne?" Tenpou tried to ease the tension.
"One question. Why'd you want me here?" I asked, looking suspiciously at Kenren.
"Wellllll…….." he began.
I stormed to my room in a huff. Tenpou ran after me trying to amend things.
"Maa Konzen, he probably didn't mean what he said!"
I grunted. Right.
"You know how Kenren is. He can be quite tactless at times," he smiled helplessly.
"Still doesn't explain his stupidity."
"Aa…..but that's a different thing altogether."
"What? Coming from his stupid mouth, every damn thing's the same!" I snap, staring straight ahead and picking up my strides.
"But he was telling you the truth Konzen! You should at least appreciate his honesty!"
"Appreciate?" I stopped and whirled round to face him.
Tenpou halted as well.
"How the hell am I supposed to appreciate the fact that he was showing me off?!!!!?!!"
"Ehe." Tenpou smiled helplessly, backing away.
"You're all nutcases." I strode off, without a single backward glance.
"Mou……." I heard him sigh.
//Kenren//
Was it so wrong to tell the truth? If I lied he'd still fly into a rage. Even when I told him the truth, he flew into a rage. What in Heaven's name was I supposed to do?!!!!!!
Tenpou came back, presumably, without him.
"I tried," he said, shrugging helplessly.
"He didn't listen did he?" I said, rubbing my temples.
Tenpou shook his head.
"Stubborn idiot," I cursed under my breath.
"Well, you were a bit too forthright……"
"What the hell was I supposed to say? 'Konzen please grace us with your presence at dinner because we think we'll enjoy your company'? 'Konzen I thought we should get to know each other better, so I thought we could start off with dinner'? or maybe, 'Konzen, you're so damn pale I thought you needed real food'? What the hell was I supposed to say, Tenpou?!!!!!" I burst out in frustration.
"Anything but, 'Well……everyone's after you so I thought I'd just show them that I could ask you out for dinner. You know, to make them jealous.'"
"ARGGGHHHHHH!! Now you tell me!!!!"
Tenpou gave a crooked smile. "Well, now that you've fully embarrassed yourself in front of the whole restaurant, shall we enjoy our dinner?"
I stared at him in disbelief. Sometimes I wonder who's worse- Konzen or him.
//Konzen//
I decided to take a stroll around Heaven's compound. It was one of those restless nights where I couldn't fall asleep no matter how much I drowned myself with alcohol. The night breeze was cooling and refreshing on my skin. I wandered further out of the palace grounds.
"Who's there?" a sleepy voice asked from somewhere to the right.
"Konzen Douji," I replied, almost arrogantly.
As expected, the guard immediately fell to his feet. "Pardon my rudeness, Konzen-sama. I didn't know it was you."
"Hnn." I snorted derisively, about to move on but something caught my eye. He was standing guard outside a small shelter. Odd, considering that I'd never seen such a miserable architecture around before. But of course, how could I, since I rarely stepped out of the palace?
"Why are you here?" I asked, in my most authoritative manner.
"Well, it's my shift tonight," answered the guard, still on his knees.
"What's so important that you need to guard it?"
"It's not important sir, just very dangerous."
"What is it?" I asked impatiently.
"It's the heretic sir. He's inside."
So. The man called Homura is inside. Very well.
I stepped past the guard. He stood up immediately and blocked my path.
"I'm afraid I can't let you in sir. Heaven's orders."
"Hnn," I snorted, and pushed past him. Surprised, he took a moment to recover before pointing his spear at me.
"I'm sorry Konzen-sama, but no one is allowed to see him," he said, more firmly this time.
I turned to glare at him but realized he'd been frozen in place. Eyes widened in shock and he stared after me helplessly as I entered the darkened building.
It took awhile before my eyesight adjusted to the gloom.
"Che." I grumbled. It was empty. I wandered around in the darkness, uncertain of what I was looking for, but looking for something, nonetheless.
There. A trapdoor, barely noticeable in the darkness, hidden nicely in the floor. I would have missed it if my garment had not hooked onto a nail just there. Bending down, I gave the trapdoor a hard yank. It was stuck. Frowning, I gave it another tug. It budged a little. Grabbing hold of the handle with both hands, I tugged at it with all my strength. The door flew open, and I fell unceremoniously onto the ground. Scowling, I brushed the dirt off my garment and took a tentative first step through the hole in the ground.
It seemed stable enough, so I took another step. And another. Soon, I found myself going down a winding staircase that seemed to lead to nowhere. The air was getting stuffy and I had slight difficulty breathing. Adding on to the trouble was the fact that I couldn't see a damn thing- I just kept going blindly, groping the walls as I made my way.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, but which probably was not, I came to a narrow passageway. There was a faint light at the end of the passageway; it flickered every so often so I presumed it to be a lighted flame of sorts. Not that it mattered. I made my way quietly towards the flame.
//Homura//
It sounded like someone opened the trapdoor. The sound of irregular footsteps on the stairs suggested uncertainty and caution. It couldn't be the guards- they usually took the stairs three at a time. This person was taking very careful steps, as he made his way slowly down. I sat up in my prison. Surely this was a visitor I'd never had before.
I waited, with bated breath for his arrival.
//Konzen//
The passage was longer than it appeared. Tenpou was right- this was cruel treatment, even for the most blasphemous. To live in such deleterious conditions… surely no one could survive this long…. But he had. According to Tenpou, he'd been imprisoned in this hole since birth.
My eyes narrowed at the thought. Was this really Heaven's order?
The flame flickered as I neared, and the shadows seemed to pull back away from me. Picking up the torch, I held it out before me. The darkness gave way to the light and I saw, for the very first time, the heretic in his residence.
//Homura//
It was the blonde beauty from the palace. Of all the people to come down to see me, it was him- the blonde who was on everybody's lips. I stared up at him, as he held the torch out, his eyes wide as they took in the chains that bound me to the walls, the heavy weights tied to my feet and the suffocating size of my prison. I winced slightly, in embarrassment, that he had to see me in this miserable state.
//Konzen//
How cruel……. He looked up at me, eyes unblinking, face slack and emotionless. Surely this was not something ordered by Heaven! This was cruel! Tenpou mentioned such things happening on earth, but surely not here in Heaven!
We regarded each other in silence- before he opened his mouth to address me.
"Konzen-sama." His voice was deep, and hoarse, probably due to lack of use. He bowed his head slightly, the chain around his neck pulling taut.
"Hnn." I grunted in reply.
Then there was silence again as I stared at him.
"Are you here to visit?" he asked, raising his head. His eyes held faint amusement as he waited for my answer.
"In your dreams."
A sad smile spread across his features. "I wish I could, Konzen-sama. But all I get are nightmares."
I don't know what to make of this. Was I supposed to say something comforting and encouraging? If I was, then he might as well expect me to get down on my knees and cry over his pitiful state.
He smiled wanly at me. "It's not so bad, you tend to get used to all this after say, your whole life?"
He chuckled deprecatingly. "I beg your pardon, Konzen-sama, I seem to have lost my manners. My name is Homura."
"I know."
He looked vaguely surprised at that.
"I know who you are. I'm not stupid." I said, a little too forcefully.
"I never said you were. Stupid would be the last word I'd use to describe you," he relented, eyes twinkling.
I felt as if I was being laughed at by this pathetic being. It was insulting. I turned on my heels and walked off.
He called after me. "Thanks for dropping by Konzen-sama. I really appreciate the company."
I didn't look back.
A/N:
Somehow I find this chapter rather draggy. Not only that, the fact that I made Konzen sound so exceedingly self-centered bothered me and I thought to revise the entire chapter, perhaps even scrap it completely. There were too many references to himself- if you noticed, there were 'I's in almost every sentence. *sigh* but I hope you'll pardon my glitch ne? It was this or all-out cynicism. And we all know that Konzen's not like that ^.~
Thanks to all those who reviewed. I promise I'll take time out to acknowledge you personally the next time, so don't get mad just yet! ^^
huggles~~~
Hagane