Heal the Healer

Part II : Stirred Shadows

A fanfiction of Gensomaden Saiyuki

Plotter: Yoong

Writer: Sumeragi Sakura yami_no_tsubasa@otakumail.com

"You Stupid Monkey! How could you leave something as important as the water supply back in the inn?! I've been dehydrating for the last five hours! And it's all because of you!!"

"Hey, Perverted Kappa! I got my hands full carrying all of the food supply! Don't you dare call me "Stupid Monkey" again!"

"Why not? You ARE stupid! Is food all you can think about that you left the water supply?!"

"It's not that! I just….forgot…."

They were driving through a forest. It was nighttime. They had left the last town six hours ago and decided not to stop to rest in the forest because the next town, the town of Kaijin, was pretty much close-by. They would easily find it after they leave the forest, so they wouldn't even stop for any water to save up some time.

In the front seat, Sanzo was rubbing his throbbing temple like usual. Another day, another fight. He would never find peace again once he got rid these two, hardheaded boys. Even his threat of shooting the two of them with his gun didn't work. He was at lost, feeling very much frustrated.

He turned to Hakkai for help, which the quiet man usually gives every time a fight like this breaks up. But Hakkai didn't seem like he even knew that there was a fight going on.

"You're quiet today, Hakkai," said Sanzo in a tone as friendly as he could ever manage to say, being the grumpy, cold monk that he was.

Hakkai blinked, obviously seemed like he just jerked out of his reverie. "Ah, yes, I'm sorry. I'm daydreaming. It's not a good thing to do when one's driving a vehicle, isn't it?"

Hakkai threw a smile at Sanzo, hiding with all his might whatever reason for his gloomy reverie. It almost slipped out of Sanzo's notice, if he didn't see the little straining at the corner of Hakkai's smile.

But Sanzo didn't say anything, knowing that it was not his business that he should poke into Hakkai's trouble.

"LIKE I SAID, rather than calling me stupid, you should see your own reflection in the mirror, Kappa! Does a pervert like you deserve the right to call names to other people?!" Goku shouted angrily.

"HAH! Why don't you look at the mirror yourself, Monkey! Stop being a hypocrite! Every sane, normal man likes sex! If you say that you don't, you'll be lying. You only think that you don't because you've never experienced it."

Goku's face looked like it almost burst like an over-reaped tomato. "I DO NOT! And I'm not a hypocrite either! Only a sicko like you gets horny all the time! Don't bring all the men in the world into your problem, Pervert!"

"That's bullshit!"

"No, yours is bullshit. Not every man is a pervert like you! I mean, take……take Hakkai for an example!"

Without all of the amazing self-control that he had, Hakkai wouldn't be able to stop himself from stepping on the brake and make the Jeep to turn and roll on the sand precariously. He did grip the steering wheel a little too tightly, though.

This too didn't escape from Sanzo's noticing eyes.

"What, Goku?" asked Hakkai gingerly.

"I said, not every guy's a perverted kappa like Gojyo. Look at you! You're a good man, Hakkai, your self-control is perfect. You don't have weird urges and you don't do disgusting stuffs. See, Gojyo? Are you still going to say that every man's a pervert, even Hakkai?"

Gojyo gritted his teeth, tasting the bitter flavor of losing creeping up his throat. He looked at Hakkai's reflection on the rearview mirror of the Jeep and found the man was smiling modestly, almost nervously. He snorted and turned his sight away, pretending to be interested with the view outside the car.

"That's not fair. You picked the perfect man….," grunted Gojyo.

Hakkai flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror, looking at Gojyo's reflection on it. The magenta-haired man glanced at him on the mirror too. Their eyes locked at each other for a long, quiet minute. Not a word exchanged between them. But they understood.

Gojyo was thinking about the time they lived together, when they shared Gojyo's little cabin back in the past. Their friendship born and bloomed inside the little cabin. Gojyo had learned that the man whom everyone thought as a monster for killing a mansionful of youkais, was actually the most tender, kind-hearted man he had ever known. His blood-stained past didn't really taint his noble quality. That was what Gojyo thought when he looked at Hakkai from the rearview mirror.

Hakkai knew that was exactly what crossed Gojyo's mind at that time. And he wasn't happy about it.

Perfect?

Was that what everyone is always thinking about him? Even Gojyo too? Perfect?

Don't be ridiculous. Of all the things people could say about him, perfect was the least correct thing. He was not perfect; he was even far from it. Flaws had scarred his past life in deep, bleeding wounds, unrecoverable with any good deeds he'd done afterwards to conceal it.

To call him a perfect man would be a mockery.

Would be a joke, a not at all funny joke.

Hakkai tore his eyes away from the lock of Gojyo's eyes on the mirror. He pretended to concentrate on the road before him. But Gojyo wasn't fooled. He caught a little strain of frown on Hakkai's brows, right before the calm man turned his head to the road.

Gojyo stared at Hakkai's back quietly, deliberately looking for some other signs. The back, however calm it looked, seemed a bit tense. He just realized, Hakkai was being unusually quiet during today's journey. Even quieter that he usually is. Gojyo knew Hakkai too well, to know that there was something wrong with his friend even just by looking at him. Or his back.

Perhaps, he just didn't get much sleep last night, Gojyo thought grumpily. Man, I didn't know I was such a disturbance to everybody….

"Yes, he's perfect! PERFECT! Unlike you, Kappa!" Goku grinned in victory, slapping Gojyo's back playfully, completely forgot that they were just fighting a minute ago.

"What…what are you talking about?" Hakkai tried to sound composed. "I'm not a perfect guy at all."

Goku leaped and leant his body on Hakkai's car seat. He wrapped his hand on Hakkai's shoulder. A boyish smile broke on his lips. His eyes shone brightly to Hakkai's surprise.

"Of course you are! You're the kindest man I've ever known! You've never gotten angry, or call people with names. You're the one who finds the solutions to our problems. You're the one who cares so much on our well beings. Whenever we get into a fight, you're the one who break us apart and make peace. You're a healer type of a guy, Hakkai! A true healer!"

Hakkai's eyes bulged for a fraction of second. He quickly concealed it by pretending to concentrate on the road again. He gritted his teeth and forced his tight lips to smile.

"You think too highly of me, Goku."

"But it's true! Even Gojyo admits it too!"

Gojyo grunted from the back seat, but not protesting anything.

"Don't be silly. I'm not like that, Goku. Oh look, I think the end of the forest is right up front!"

"It's about time. I'm afraid that the rain will fall down before we can reach Kaijin," uttered Sanzo dryly.

While the others were busy looking at the road in front of them, Hakkai stole a time to bend his head down and hide his face under the concealment of his hair.

The boy didn't mean any harm. Or to insult. But what he said sure felt like it to Hakkai. Swallowing hard, Hakkai tried to control his angry shuddering from the others' sight. Oh, the irony. He was struggling to control himself after hearing Goku told him that he has the greatest self-control a man could ever have.

Hah!

What a neat lie….

Of all the people he knew, he was the one who had the most trouble of keeping his self-control. And he struggled even more to hide the fact that he had the trouble to keep it. No one understood this. No one. And no one had the right to say such neat lies about him.

It was an insult.

Damn it, Goku….

"Hakkai!"

If only he knew what dark, twisted thoughts slipped into my mind every single night, he thought. How losing the existence of Kanan had left a big, black hole inside his chest, in his heart. And how difficult it was for him to hide all of these behind the calm, composed mask of his outer self. The boy was just too young. Or he was just too innocent. He wouldn't know. It wouldn't even occurred to him at all.

"HAKKAI! IN FRONT OF YOU!!"

Hakkai jerked out of his thoughts again. He blinked in surprise, before turning to Sanzo who had just shouted his name.

"Wha…what is it?" he asked, still haven't recovered from the surprise.

"Hakkai, if you don't step on the brake now, you will hit that man!"

Hakkai turned his head to the front and cursed mildly. He didn't realize that there was a figure wearing a hooded robe waving for the car to stop. That person was standing at the middle of the road, a perfect target for a hit and run situation. Hakkai twisted the steering wheel and slammed on the brake, causing the Jeep to screech and lose its balance. The turning momentum made the Jeep swirled on the dirt-covered road, dangerously dragging the car to move to the direction of the hooded figure.

"GYAAAAAAAARGH!!"

"SHIIIIIIIT!"

"HAKKAI, MAKE IT STOP!!"

"I'M TRYING! HAK RYU, TRANSFORM!!"

Hak Ryu obediently obeyed his master. A cloud of puff smoke exploded and the form of the green Jeep they were riding on suddenly turned into a little, white dragon. Hak Ryu flapped its little wings, hovering above the smoke, only a foot away from the hooded figure. He screeched worriedly, calling for Hakkai.

"Damn it, Hakkai, you could've warned us…," groaned Gojyo, lying with his face on the ground.

"I'm…I'm sorry….," Hakkai coughed furiously, because some grass leaves had found their way into his mouth.

"I'm not going to ride on that thing again….," grumbled Sanzo, struggling to stand up in much difficulties, due to his thick-layered holy monk robe.

"Goku, are you all right?" Hakkai looked around, suddenly feeling very worried for he haven't heard the boy made any sounds.

"I think I got a bump in my head….," whined the boy, leaning on a big tree not very far from the others, while rubbing his head. "And I'm hungry……"

"For God's sake, Goku, can't you stop thinking about food for just a minute!" growled Gojyo, patting his pants to clear the dust away.

Sanzo hissed. "Don't talk about that now. We've got a more important thing at hand here!"

Sanzo stepped forward, staring at the hooded figure whom had been standing still in its spot the whole time. He stared at the figure for some silent time, before reaching for his gun and pointed it forward, to the figure.

"Show your face, Youkai," hissed the holy monk.

The other jerked in surprise. They all turned to stare at Sanzo.

"YOUKAI?! But there's no sign at all!" shouted Goku, confused.

Sanzo clicked the safety trigger on his gun, ready to shoot anytime. He shot a challenging look at the figure, until the figure finally took off its hood.

It was definitely a youkai. A black-haired male youkai with dark skin and yellow eyes. On his face cracked a grin of evil, the points of his lips slowly pulled up to form a lopsided smile.

"If you think that you're going to kill me and walk out of here safely, you're wrong, Sanzo-sama," said the youkai.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" Sanzo didn't budge his gun.

The youkai grinned even wider. "I won't bother to tell you, since all of you are going to die anyway!"

The youkai raised his hands up in the air and let out a wicked, screeching sounds. The bushes and trees around them rustled suddenly and from behind the leaves out came other youkais, leaping in battle-ready unsheathed weapons in their hands.

"Sanzo!"

"Watch out! Behind you, Gojyo!"

"SHIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

***TBC***

yoong' A/N:

Things just started in this part. Sorry for a quite slow story flow in Part 1 We need to portray the background of Hakkai's twisted mind that readers will be able to understand his reasons for things he's going to do in the next few parts. And here coming a fighting scene, which I always love as much as the yaoi one. Give credit to Sakura, she is good for one who never wrote fighting scene before!

Sumeragi Sakura's Little Rambling: We're back! Second installment! Neat. Sorry, it took us so long to upload this chapter. Blame not Yoong. It's my fault, really. ^__^. Bear with me, though. This story is getting better and better, if not darker and angstier. Hehehe….

*she doesn't really know what to say in her note…..*