-- disclaimer -- I do not own Gensomaden Saiyuki
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Part III: Who's the better father?
I woke up, and untangled myself from the blanket. I glowered, squinted at the
clock, ticking away as it hung on the wall. It was eight in the morning. I went
to the bathroom took a shower. I got dressed, and then I went outside. I picked
up the morning paper from the table and scanned it as I ate my breakfast. Then
Hakkai came in, with a very distraught Tai. I stared at Hakkai, who was pacing
up and down as he tried to calm Tai down. I also glanced at the stove- opened
cans were everywhere. "Hakkai, what time is the party?" I asked loudly,
over Tai's cries.
Hakkai smiled at me evilly. "Thank you for asking, Sanzo. I have four hours to make decent food for the guests. And I can't do that, since Tai-kun is brawling on the top of his lungs."
I raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you want me to do? Take him for a walk and give you some peace?"
"Thank you for volunteering, Sanzo." Hakkai said, giving me Tai.
My jaw dropped open. "What?!" I gaped, glancing at Tai, who calmed down and was smiling at me. Then I stared back at Hakkai. "Why?"
"See? Tai-kun likes you much better. Why don't you two get to know each other more and take a nice long walk?" Hakkai laughed, putting his apron back on and turning to the stove. "See you two later."
"Tsk- you sound like my wife."
-- Park --
I don't believe it I thought, here I am, walking in the park with my infant son. People were smiling at us, greeting us good morning. I glanced at Tai, who had fallen asleep in the stroller. God, I'll make Hakkai pay for this at least Gojyo isn't here he'd laugh his head off
"Sanzo?!"
I froze, and slowly turned around. A familiar face was staring at me, wide eyed. It's not Gojyo, but it's another person that I wasn't exactly wishing to bump into, especially with Tai. "Kougaiji."
"I see ten years can change somebody drastically." He leered.
I eyed the boy next to him. The boy was cool and calm, standing straight and proud. Same face I stared in disbelief. "Yeah, I'd say that too." I said.
Kougaiji smiled proudly, and placed a hand on the boy's head. "My son, Kage. The other one, Saki, is with his mother, Yaone."
The boy bowed politely. I must admit, Kougaiji knows what 'perfection' is. "Nice to meet you, Sanzo-sama."
"The boy has his mother's politeness." I smirked at Kougaiji. He ignored that, and looked at Tai. I shrugged, "My boy, Tai. I don't have much to brag about- he's only a year old."
"And your wife?"
"She's dead. Right after he was born." I shrugged.
"I'm sorry"
"It's alright." I said casually, "Hakkai's helping out at home, so we're okay."
"Yeah, I heard that Yaone and Kage met Hakkai yesterday." Kougaiji said. "Well, I think we'd better go. Right, Kage?"
"Hai."
"Sanzo, we're not sure if we'll have time to drop in later. Please tell Hakkai that."
"Yeah."
"See you." Kougaiji said, as they started to walk. To my surprise, he turned around and said, "Sanzo, take care of your child. You're the father- not Hakkai."
I watched their backs as they disappeared. Kougaiji's advice, as much as I don't want to admit it, was true. I think Hakkai's more suitable to be a father- not me. But that's not the case. I'm Tai's father. I'll raise him, my way. And someday, maybe even rival Kougaiji's perfect sons. I smirked at the very thought of it. Then I scowled. Why? I don't know I guess it comes to me naturally. I can't help it; I have nothing to smile about anyway.
I heard a small and soft coo from the stroller. I glanced down, slowly, the corner of my lip curl into a smile. I was wrong; I do have something to smile about. I watched my son stare at me, smiling and arms raised. He was laughing happily. I picked him up, his small hand clutching my shirt. I subconsciously brushed his few fine strands of hair from his face.
Hakkai was there- I ran into him years before- some time after I got married. He said he was a college professor- but he never got married. He never told me the reason, he merely smiled. Isn't that what Hakkai is famous for? Hakkai was also the one who kept an eye on both Tai and me after my wife had died. I didn't ask for his help- I told him that- but he said I couldn't stop him. In the end, since he's always here after work- I told him:
"If you want to keep an eye on us so much, just live here then. But I'm not paying you anything."
He merely smiled and laughed. He said Tai was like a son to him. True, Tai learned to smile and laugh because of Hakkai. He was always the 'nanny'. Fine, I don't mind his presence anyway.
"I'm not going to rely on Hakkai all the time. I'm a father, after all." I said aloud, but softly to him. Tai merely looked at me. I placed him back down. "Come on, let's go home. All this sentimentality is driving me crazy."
Ten years can change somebody drastically, huh?
-- a/n -- It might be a bit out of character- hey, it's hard
okay? Never written a Sanzo pov before. Don't forget the review. ^-^