Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Gensomaden Saiyuki. They honorably belong to Minekura-san Sensei.
Ayie: Well, I'm keeping the OC's identity and her background as a secret for this moment, but I promised you Animegurl-san, I'm going to reveal it soon. I hope you'll be patient…hihi…gomen for making you guys wondering..^0^. About pairings…. You'll find the hint in this chap. Look adoringly at Harkuryu and his new 'friend'
Harkuryu and Nimmiku: Kyu….?
Ayie: ^.^# gomen minna-san…that's include you..
The dragons : Kyu….Kyu…
******************************
Chapter 5 – The Trouble
Hakkai glanced at the girl who's walking with him side by side. The girl is checking her list of goods that she didn't seem to realize she was being stared by emerald eyes of her walking companion. She ticked the last word on her list and looked at Hakkai. She smiled. 'What secret does she veiled behind that smile?'
"Have you got everything you need?" Aiko asked while her hands are checking the goods in her shopping bags.
Hakkai smiled. "Hai!" But then he remembered something. "Matte! I do need to buy some herbs, iodine, bandages, plasters, chloroform…" Hakkai mentioned some medical terms while counting his fingers.
"Chloroform?!" Aiko astounded. "What was that for?" Aiko was surely shocked when he mentioned that term. From what she had learnt from her stepmother, chloroform was used to put someone into a long sleep.
Hakkai chuckled. "I need that for emergency purpose" he explained. "In case someday Sanzo went insane and might shoot his own head" Hakkai said it sarcastically.
"Souka… Then you'll use the choloroform to doze him off" Aiko continued Hakkai's explanation. She almost sang it out. Hakkai laughed and nodded.
"Hai! Hai!" Hakkai agreed. He smiled merrily.
"Go! Get away from here!" A harsh voice that emerged from nowhere put the two brunettes into sudden halt. They gaped at a scene in front of their eyes. A man is shoving away a woman with a baby wrapped in her arms, away from a stall. The woman kneeled down and tugged at that man pants.
"Please sir…. Please give me some food" she begged. Tears are flowing down on her fresh bruised cheeks. She looked at the baby in her arms. "My son was famished, the food is for him" The woman kept on crying. Her voice sounded so weak and she looked worn out. She was terribly pale despite the bruises on her face. Her face showed fear, sadness and pain. Still yet, her grip on her baby was firm and tough.
The man suddenly kicked the woman on the face and caused her to stumble down on earth, but still she didn't let go off her baby. Hakkai and Aiko gasped. The man treated the woman as if she was a worthless animal.
"Iya!" the man shouted. From his outfit, they could find out that he was the stall keeper. "Nothing is free in this world, if you have no money then starve and die!" with that, he returned to his stall. He didn't even give the weeping lady a second look. His face displayed great hatred and anger, not at all sympathy.
Hakkai could feel his face reddened with flushes of anger. 'K'so'
"Darn!" Aiko cursed slightly under her breath, even the young man with the monocle didn't hear it. She dropped all of her shopping bags on the ground and lurched toward the woman. She kneeled on the ground and gave the woman a friendly pat on the shoulder.
The woman looked at her with a pathetic look. Tears are soaking her face wet. Aiko gave her a reassuring smile. She swept the dust on the woman cheek and helped her to stand up on her feet. Hakkai joined them a little later.
"Doujibou desu ka?" Hakkai asked the lady worriedly.
"Doujibou…."she replied with a feeble voice. She looked down to her baby and reassured the little one who has been crying when his mother was shoved to ground. She rubbed her cheek to the babies' and looked up to Aiko and Hakkai. "Arigatou minna-san" she said with a slight tremble in her voice. She was about to walk away when Hakkai grabbed her arm softly.
"Matte kudasai" Hakkai asked with a voice that managed to comfort her. Hakkai smiled sincerely. The woman halted and waited for the man to say something.
Hakkai glanced at the stall, to the stall keeper who was busy attending to his customer. He seemed to forget what he did before. There was a disgust look in Hakkai's face. Hakkai was about to step toward the stall when Aiko walked passed by him.
"That man really know how to treat a lady" Aiko said, without even looking at Hakkai and the woman. "He deserved to be thanked for that" Aiko fixed her gaze on the stall keeper. A smile appeared from her cheerful face.
"Aiko?" Hakkai stood dumbfounded at her act. 'This is ridiculous, how can she thinks of thanking that guy?'. Hakkai wanted to grab her arm and asked her "What are you thinking? That man was being rude to this lady and you wanted to thank him for that?". But, instead of stopping Aiko, Hakkai just let her go.
Aiko advanced toward the stall and stopped in front of the table. She looked down to the variety of food arranged on the table and turned to look at the man's face. "What a delicious food you have here" she smiled to him.
"Arigatou" the stall keeper replied with a greedy smile. "All the food is fresh"
"Hai!Hai" Aiko nodded. She picked a dumpling and held it in her hand. "Er… by the way, what was wrong with that woman just now" Aiko asked curiously. She said what she said as if she was not aware of what has just happened before.
The man grunted. Actually, he was busy attending to his customer that he didn't realized Aiko was the one who helped the woman he just kicked on the face a moment ago. "Ch! Ano baka, she asked for a free food" the man said sternly.
"And you denied her pleas?" Aiko took a paper bag and stuff some dumplings into it. She did not even look at the stall keeper. Locks of hair covered her eyes, giving away a shady spot on her face, mostly on her eyes.
"Of course, what was free in this world?" the man answered sternly. "You have to give something in return for what you get" there was a flicker of anger in his eyes.
"Souka…" Aiko nodded slightly. "Well, never mind. I'll pay for what I'll get" She smiled. "I want that, that, and that, and oh…that too" Aiko started pointing her index finger here and there, all over the food on the table.
Hakkai who's looking at that scene from afar, shook his head in disbelief.
The stall keeper happily packed all the food she wanted. He seemed to enjoy this customer very much. "That cost you 10 dollars". He handed the pack of food for the girl and waited for the money. Aiko reached for her purse and took out several amount of money before handing them to the stall keeper.
"Please come again" the man bowed slightly to the girl. Aiko smiled. She turned around and took a step away from the stall.
Before Hakkai could even blink, Aiko turned abruptly and punched the stall keeper right on his face. The punch sent that man to flew backward and feel down hard on the ground. He lay still and unconscious on the ground.
Hakkai stared at her sudden act with amazement. He never expected that to happen especially when Aiko acted kindly to the man a little while ago. But then, a thin smile appeared on his lips.
"That's what you get when you treated a woman like that" Aiko gave that man a little advice before she headed for Hakkai and the young mother. "Gomen…"she whispered to the man. She could avoid violence against that man but she couldn't stand it when it came to child and women's abuse.
Aiko smiled at Hakkai and went toward the lady with the baby. She patted the woman's shoulder and looked into her arms, to the little chubby face hid under the blanket. The baby gave a delightful squeak when Aiko tickled his nose. 'He was no more than one year old'. "Your baby was a cutie little pie" she complimented with a sincere tone. Aiko looked up to the mother and smiled.
Hakkai peeked into the woman's arms and came face to face with the baby. The baby blinked once and blinked again. Then he held out both of his tiny and chubby arms and touch Hakkai's cheeks. Hakkai chuckled merrily. He looked into the babies' eyes, he have different eye colors. One of them was blue in color and the other was gold. 'He's like Homura!'. Hakkai gasped.
"He likes you" Aiko tickled the babies' tummy and the baby giggled continuously. He returned her favor by gripping her index finger in his tiny hand. He put her finger in his mouth and sucked on it eagerly until he fell asleep.
"He's so kawaii…I wished I'll have baby as cute as him in the future" Aiko pulled out her finger slowly from the little guy's sucking mouth. She looked at the mother and smiled. "Please take this with you, considered it as a gift from me" Aiko handed her the pack of food, which she bought from the stall keeper. The mother hesitated at her act of kindness. She just stared at the pack blankly.
"Please take it, I'm giving this away because I loved your son" Aiko insisted on her taking that pack. The woman slowly understood. The girl would never give up. She took away the pack and bowed her head to the brunettes.
"Sankyu" she said faintly. She turned around quietly. She was about to walk away when she turned abruptly and hugged Aiko, which sent Aiko to jerked backward and almost stumble on the ground. Aiko returned that hug with a tighter grip around her shoulder. The woman's cloth that covered her hair fell slowly on her shoulder, revealing a shining golden hair.
The woman released the girl in her arms and covered her hair with the cloth. She looked toward Hakkai. "I'm sure you two would make a fine couple and a good parents too" she said before she turned around and walked away. "Ja ne"
"Ano…" Hakkai watched the woman walked into the darkness of the night and disappeared into it.
Hakkai and Aiko stood dumbfounded at the woman's last word. They stared at each other's face and spontaneously turned away. Each of them blushed severely.
Hakkai smiled nervously, the flushes of red on his cheek still visible. "Well…that's a good way to thank a man with disgusting manners" Hakkai took a glimpse toward the stall keeper who's now counting the stars that went twinkled around his head.
Aiko shook her hand, which she used to punch the man, hastily. Her knuckle had reddened. "My hand still hurts" she smiled.
Hakkai chuckled. He picked up their shopping bags and helped Aiko carried one of hers. "We better get going now, it's getting late and Sanzo was not fond of having to wake up from his sleep and open the door for us" he reminded.
"Eh!?" Aiko looked at Hakkai. "Then what about the chloroform?" she asked.
"Never mind, I'll buy it tomorrow morning" Hakkai smiled. Aiko agreed. Even she was not fond of having to sleep outside the room. They walked abreast toward the inn. What they didn't realize was that someone is spying on them as they entered the inn.
**********************
Yumi retreated into the alley. She put the pack down and looked at the two figures stood in front of the door of an inn. The girl and the young man with the monocle, who had helped her a while ago, had just started to enter the inn.
Yumi looked down to her baby. She cuddled him tightly. A tear came down her cheek.
"Gomen nasai… If I never fell in love with your father, this wouldn't have happened" she said softly. She nuzzled her son's cheek lovingly. "I can't let you die" Yumi exclaimed. She looked at the pair, now they were pushing the door and entered the inn. Yumi stepped out from the darkness. She looked around with worried look on her face. She covered her face with her cloak and rushed toward the inn. She entered the inn and looked around. The young couple is walking up the stairs.
Yumi quickly followed them, but on her way, she bumped into someone. Someone tall and tough.
"Gomen" Yumi said softly. She looked up and found a tall man with red hair staring down at her. The man smiled with guilt.
"Sumanen" Gojyo replied, laughing slightly. "Is your baby all right?" Gojyo was about to look at the baby when Yumi looked up to him. A pretty woman she is, with that golden color of her hair and the lips of deep rose in color. She still looked beautiful despite the bruises on her face.
To Gojyo's surprise, the woman ran up the stairs without saying anything in return for his act of concern. 'At least she could say goodbye'. Gojyo raised his shoulders, "Woman" he sighed and went toward the bar. 'There's no use going back to the room now, I'll be facing a boring monk, a smiling Hakkai and now his clone, and two Gokus, Ermph!'
Yumi sighed. It's not that she wanted to be rude, but she wanted to keep up pace with the brunettes. She looked around as she finally reached the end of the stairs. She managed to catch a glimpse at a closing door and a hand with green sleeve was pulling it softly behind him. The arm no doubt belonged to the man with the monocle. Yumi hastened her pace and tiptoed when she reached in front of the door.
Yumi looked at her baby, giving him a peck on the cheek and kissed him continuously. "Sumanen…but I have to let you go, you're better off with them" she whispered softly at his ear, hoping that he would understand. Yumi wrapped the baby neatly with a piece of cloth and put the baby basket on the floor, just in front of the door.
Yumi turned away and walked to the stairs. She didn't even turned back for a second glance to her baby. She ran down the stairs with tears falling down on her rosy cheeks like a stream.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a tough hand grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the side, into the shade at the corner of the inn. She stumbled in someone's arms. Yumi cried in horror as she looked up and found a man with gray hair staring down to her face.
"Let me go you bastard!" she squeaked when the man tightened his grip on her waist. The man clamped her mouth with his palm and sneered.
"Where's the baby?" the man asked, the tone in his voice was full of terror.
Yumi shook her head as a sign of refusal.
The man grabbed her head, making the cloak that covered her hair fell backward, revealing long golden hair. Yumi cried in pain as the man pulled her hair, hard.
"Where is he?" the man asked again, no more patience in his eyes.
"I'm his mother, and I'll never let my son die!" Yumi whispered under her breath, weak but sharp.
The man sighed impatiently. He grabbed her chin harshly and sunk his lips into hers. The woman was too weak to fight back. So she just retreated to her own weakness. She was pinned down to the wall, with her arms folded behind her back. She flinched in pain and tried to kick the man. But he was too strong for her.
"Ch!" Gojyo sighed as his gaze connected with two figures in the shady corner of the bar. He turned his gaze away from the two lovebirds, who's kissing passionately in the public. "What happened to the world today? People kissed here and there in the public. Don't they have a proper place to do it? Gesh!"
Gojyo realized something familiar about the woman in the man's arm. The woman has long golden hair. 'The lady was the one who bumped into me just now, where's her baby?'. Gojyo was confused. "Ah… may be she sent the baby to sleep so she could have good time with her husband" he concluded by himself. Gojyo stood up as the couple walked hurriedly out of the inn.
"I will make you suffer until you voluntarily killed your own baby for me!" the man whispered to Yumi's ears. Yumi panted heavily in his arms. Both of them walked out of the inn with him dragging her limp body with force.
*********************
Hakkai opened the door and looked around. Nothing. He swore he heard something outside the room by the time he closed the door. The sound appeared as soon as he closed the door after Aiko left for the bathroom.
Hakkai glanced around for the last time and was about to close the door when he heard a ruffling sound at his feet. Hakkai looked down and found a basket covered with a piece of cloth. He bent down.
"Are…?" Hakkai lifted the basket and brought it inside the room. He shut the door quietly behind him. He put it on the table.
"Nanda?" Sanzo opened his eyes at sudden and stared at the basket in front of him.
"I don't know, somebody leave their belonging at our door" Hakkai explained as the monk yawned slightly. Hakkai looked down to the basket, inspecting what its' content. He's going to reveal what was beneath that cloth when two tiny arms popped out from beneath the cloth. A tiny head with golden hair appeared then, making Hakkai jerked backward and stumbled upon a chair. He fell helplessly on the floor. His smile changed into a groan of horror.
"Nanda Hakkai?" Sanzo startled at Hakkai's reaction. He hasn't seen what Hakkai had seen. Sanzo rose up from his chair and walked toward the basket. He looked down into the basket and screamed with grimace when two tiny hands reached out from under the cloth and clung to his hair. Sanzo was taken aback.
"A..a…bab..aa…baby…?" Sanzo stuttered. "How come?" He asked in disbelief. Sanzo took a step backward and tripped over Hakkai. He fell down on Hakkai. The brunette coughed in pain as the weight of Sanzo fell upon him in sudden.
"Sannzoo?" Hakkai trembled. Sanzo quickly rose up and pulled Hakkai to his feet. Hakkai sighed heavily as the throbbing pain in his chest started to ease. They stared at the tiny infant with bewildered eyes.
"This baby…" Hakkai is recalling something from his memories from the last few minutes. He advanced forward and took the baby out of the basket. The baby crawled around the table. He found Sanzo's Smith and Wesson and was about to put it in his mouth when Hakkai grabbed it away from his hand. The baby startled. He looked at Hakkai and Sanzo with eyes wide opened. Then he started to weep. His tiny lips trembled and his face distorted with shock.
"Wargh!!!!!!" the baby cried out from the bottom of his lungs. He put all his effort to cry aloud.
"Make him stop!" Sanzo closed his ears with his hands. Veins popped out from his forehead. He tried to stay as calm as possible as the cries continued. Hakkai went to the babies' aid and lifted him in his arm. He tried his best to cease the cry but the baby just wouldn't stop.
"Hey! What's all the fuss about?" Gojyo entered the room and astounded by the sound that filled the air around him. He stood with mouth wide opened to the sight of Hakkai who is carrying a baby in his arms. The baby was crying out of his lungs and wailed loudly. "Argh!!" Gojyo yelped in astonishment.
The baby cried even louder due to the red haired reaction.
The cry woke Goku and Kazo up from their sleep. Goku yawned and stretched his hands. "Is it breakfast already?" Goku asked, rubbing his eyes with the back of his palm.
"Oi! Saru, it's not morning yet" Gojyo snapped back. The wailing of the baby made his eardrum pounded heavily, and it's giving him a throbbing pain in the head. "We have more severe problem than that" he slapped the back of Goku's head. The kid jerked forward.
Goku and Kazo glanced at Hakkai, who's holding a baby in his arms. The brunette is trying to calm the baby down by patting his back tenderly. He made a hushing sound in order to encourage the boy to hush. His effort failed. Goku and Kazo jumped from the bed and darted toward Hakkai.
"Hakkai…Hakkai..is this your baby?" Kazo asked, tugging to the brunette's arm.
"Hakkai…where does it come from?" Goku jumped up and down, trying to catch a glimpse at the babies' face.
"Hakkai…why he cried?"
"Hakkai…Is he your secret son?"
"Hakkai…can I hold him?"
Thousands of questions showered Hakkai at all of a sudden. The question made the brunette felt a little bit dizzy. All the noise seemed to gather beside his ears. His eyes spun and his mind seemed to float aimlessly in the air.
"Urusei!!!" Sanzo cried out loud. The noise ceased, including the cry. All of them stared at Sanzo. Hakkai sighed with relief. 'Sanzo's scream becomes rather useful these days'. Even the baby stared at Sanzo, dumbfounded.
Sanzo grunted. Finally, a moment of silence. But it didn't last as long as he expected. The baby started to wail once more and this time it's louder than before.
Sanzo is getting to his nerve. He took out his harisen and was about to whack the babies' head when Gojyo hugged him from behind. The red haired stopped him from coming near to the baby. "Shi-ne!!" He cursed while struggling hard to free himself from Gojyo's strong hands. "Let go off me you kappa! Let me whack him dead!" he insisted, he swayed his harisen toward the creature in Hakkai's cradle. Hakkai stepped back to avoid the harisen from getting any nearer. Goku and Kazo tried to snatch the harisen but failed.
"What happened?" Aiko suddenly pushed the door opened. She stood still at the door and stared bewildered at the scene. Sanzo's going mad again and he tried hard to free himself from Gojyo's hold. She looked at Hakkai and rushed toward him when she noticed the wailing baby in the man's arms.
"This is the baby from last time" Aiko gawked at the baby. She took the baby into her arms and patted the little guy affectionately. Amazingly, the baby stopped crying as soon as he settled in Aiko's cradle. He sobbed faintly. Aiko hugged the baby closer to her chest. The baby eased down a bit and sunk himself into the warmth of the girl's arms.
Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo, Goku and Kazo startled at her act of tenderness that caused the baby to stop sobbing, and by now he's starting to sleep in her arm. The baby wrapped Aiko's neck with his small arms and placed his tiny chin onto the girl's shoulder. His eyelids are dropping down and he yawned slightly. It was obvious that he's trying to fight sleep.
Aiko smiled, she patted the babies' head and stroked his golden hair to the tip of its' root. She hummed softly to the little guy's ear and rocked her arms. It doesn't take long for the baby to fall asleep. Hakkai smiled to that tenderness of hers.
The bishounens sighed with relief. Gojyo received a blow on his head, courtesy of Sanzo's harisen. He released the monk as he realized he's still holding the monk's waist. Sanzo grunted and sunk onto a chair.
Aiko looked at Hakkai with a sharp glare. "Hakkai, I demand an explanation" Aiko insisted. Hakkai chuckled edgily.
"Yare…yare…." He sighed as he rubbed his throbbing ears.
To be continue…….
*************************
Ayie: I guess those who wondered about the pairings already got the answer to their questions ne? ^___^. Please review and tell me if you like it….so, I can carry on to the next chap.
Gojyo: Not fair….Sanzo whacked my head a lot more than the saru…
Goku: Don't call me saru, you red haired cockroach. tugged at Gojyo's hair
Gojyo and Goku: * Fighting *
Ayie: * sweat dropped ^o^``* I got another plan for Sanzo…
