Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Saiyuki characters. They honorably belong to Minekura Sensei. Please don't sue me.
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Ayie: Thanks to everyone who rewiewed this fic, actually this is my first fic…so don't kill me if you don't like it or if you found it worthless. I'm just a simple writer with no experience of writing any fic before.
Hakkai: Correction….This is your first English and anime-based fic. smiled in glee
Ayie: Hai! Arigatou, Hakkai-san bowed head. But I'm still just a beginner.
Sanzo: Not to mention, you are a crazy writer too…
Ayie: Me? Crazy? -__-+….you might got it right chased Sanzo around the table
Hakkai: Ma…ma…Sanzo, Ayie-san….calm down… O__^"
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Chapter 9 – The Old Memory
"Koryuu the river-drifter…Koryuu the river drifter…" a group of boys danced frantically around him. One of the boys pushed him, causing him to jerk backward and fell into the river. Koryuu doesn't make any effort to get up, he just hung his head low.
"That's where you belong, you river-drifter" a fat boy pointed his finger at him. As soon as he finished teasing him, the boy along with his friends left him, alone in the river.
'River-drifter huh? Koryuu stared into the crystal clear water, counting the fish swimming in it.
"Doujibou desu ka, o-nii-chan?" a soft and sweet voice appeared from the riverbank.
'O-nii-chan?'. Koryuu looked up and found a little girl, much younger than him, staring down at him with a flicker of concern on her face. The girl went in the river and walked surpassed the swift flow of the river, heading toward him. She stood right in front of him, with a sweet smile on her tiny peach colored lips.
"Doujibou desu ka, o-nii-chan?" the girl repeated her question and held out a tiny hand to him.
Koryuu stared at her with disbelief. But then, he smiled and took the hand with his own. The girl pulled his hand and helped him stood upright. "You shouldn't let them bully you like that…" the girl coaxed him toward the riverbank.
"They always did that, I'm used to it" he replied. The girl sighed and shook her head. The ponytails, which she tied her hair into, swayed to the left and right when she moved her head like that. "After all oshio-sama wouldn't want me to fight back"
"Oh…if that so, next time I'll fight them for you" the girl smiled in glee. She held her chubby hands in tight fists. "I'll punch them right on their face" The girl pretended to punch something, but the result, she swung around and fell tremendously in the river. Splashes of water hit Koryuu and soaked him wet, again.
"Ekk…! Gomen!" the girl chuckled nervously as he looked at her with bewildered eyes.
He held out a hand and let the girl took it in her hand. She pulled the girl up and they stared at each other. After a second, they burst out into laughter. "What's your name?" the little girl asked him with the sweetest smile he ever saw.
"Koryuu" he answered, softly.
"Koryuu?" the girl fell silent. "My name is Reika, Koryuu-nii-chan" the girl grinned a childish grin as she looked at Koryuu. Koryuu startled.
"Sanzo" where's the hell do that comes from? What's that voice? He looked at Reika as the little girl slowly vanished into thin air. 'Reika?'. Reika disappeared into thin air like a puff of smoke, along with that sweet smile of hers.
"Reika!!!" Koryuu cried out loud.
"Sanzo"
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"Sanzo?" Aiko patted Sanzo's cheek several time. She looked down to that unconscious monk with an anxious glance. "Don't die on me" She became terribly horrified by the time Sanzo blanked out a moment ago. The monk's breath was shallow and faint. Aiko started to cry. She didn't know why there's a sudden fear, emerged from her heart, fear of losing the man in front of her.
"Don't die…" Aiko wept and pled for that man to wake up. "Don't die on me like the other did" she whispered, clinging to his robe and slapping his face, softly. "Wake up, you stupid bouzu!" Aiko yelled to his face.
Suddenly, the man's eyes snapped open. "Do you want to die?" He cursed out loud. He looked at the girl with a tired look. "And why are you crying?" Sanzo asked when he saw the tears streaming down the girl's cheek.
Aiko let go off her hand from the monk's robe. Immediately, she rose up and looked away. "Who's crying? I'm not crying…it's just that I got something in my eyes" she gave out fake reason. "And you…how come you dozed off just now, it's not that your wound was sooo bad!!" she sneered even though she knew it well it was wrong.
"Ch!" Sanzo grunted as the pain on his waist started to throb. The wound is still pouring down crimson liquid. Aiko quickly turned to his aid.
"Doujibou desuka ?" Aiko asked out of concern.
"Doujibou" Sanzo replied as he clung to his wound to stop it from bleeding more.
"Then, may be I could attend Goku first" Aiko turned to Goku, who was leaning unconscious against a tree bark next to Sanzo. The boy was seriously wounded. The wound in his chest was pouring large amount of blood. The boy's chest heaved with painful breath. His breath was so shallow. Deep moans could be heard down his throat.
"Will he be okay?" Sanzo asked as he sat upright, leaning himself against a big rock.
"Let's see what I can do" Aiko laid Goku on the ground. "Is it okay for me to attend to you later?" she asked, glancing at Sanzo's pale face. 'That monk's wound is ain't any better'.
"Do not waste your time, baka!" Sanzo said sternly.
"Hai!" Aiko giggled nervously. She stripped off the boy from his shirt and checked the injury. 'The wound is indeed serious, but no important organs got harm'. She sighed with relief. Aiko put her hand on Goku's wound and a faint pink light gleamed in between her hand and Goku's wound. The wound started to close and the blood started to vanish bit by bit. In a matter of a second, the wound was healed, leaving only a scar with a thin trickle of blood.
Sanzo sighed with relief.
Goku suddenly opened his eyelids, revealing a couple of golden orbs staring to the sky. He blinked once and then blinked again. The kid looked around and suddenly jerked up to a sitting position. He hissed at the throbbing pain in his chest. He gripped his chest, no wound but the pain inside is killing him. A warm and tender hand touched his thin shoulder, sending a comfort down to his chilly body.
"Don't move too much" a soft voice. Goku looked up and found Aiko smiling at him with an assuring smile.
"Nani?" Goku looked confuse. 'Where's all the youkai? Why Aiko's here?'
"Your outer wound might have been healed, but the inner wound wasn't properly healed" Aiko explained as she stopped Goku from moving around. "It may takes some time, so don't let it got worst than ever" she warned with a soft and motherly voice.
Goku nodded. "What happened?" He remembered he was fighting an army of youkai when he heard gunshots from afar. He ran to that direction and found Sanzo being surrounded by swarm of youkais. A spear was tossed toward Sanzo and the monk didn't have the time to avoid it. The last thing he remembered, he lurched in the carnage and stood in front of Sanzo. That's it.
"Sanzo! Sanzo! Where is he?" Goku got panic as he looked around like crazy. Before he could turn next to him, a paper fan whacked him hard on the head.
"Ittai!!" Goku cried out loud, clutching his head with his hands. Quietly, he smiled with relief. He knew the paper fan would only belong to Sanzo. "Nande sun dai yo?" he rubbed his head, looking at Sanzo.
"What do you think you were doing back then? Committing suicide?" Sanzo scolded the young heretic. Aiko smiled. Sanzo is being Sanzo again.
"Ano…" Goku gulped. He didn't know what he was thinking at that time. Nothing, he just didn't want to see Sanzo got hurt.
"Kono baka…urgh!" The stabbing pain on his side took Sanzo aback. He clutched at the wound and bent down, trying to ease the pain. Sanzo moaned beneath his breath.
"Sanzo!" Goku started to get panic. He rushed to Sanzo and held the monk's shoulder. Sanzo was indeed in great pain, as he didn't fend off Goku's helping hand, which he usually did when the saru showered his concern upon him.
"Ma…ma…Sanzo, let me see your wound" Aiko moved toward Sanzo and Goku. Sanzo's face was getting paler and his breath was becoming harsher. She pushed Sanzo's body softly until the man was leaning back to the rock behind him.
Goku stared at his guardian with a worried glance. He looked even worse than Sanzo. Goku tugged at Aiko's arm and shook it madly. "Can you help him? Can you? Can you?" asked Goku, not able to shut his mouth from asking. 'Can't blame him, when it come to Sanzo, Goku would always turned berserk'
"Urusai!" Sanzo shouted, Goku's whining just made his pain worse. This time, he didn't whack Goku's head with his harisen, suggesting that his pain was making him weak. His body was getting numb due to the pain. Goku cupped his mouth shut with both palms. He's not taking any risk of making Sanzo's wound worse than it is now or he's the one who'll be having a severe wound on his head.
Aiko shook her head in disbelief. 'This monk is in great pain, yet he still has the energy to shout out loud'. A thin dark lock swayed on her forehead as she shook her head. She brushed the lock to the back and started attending to Sanzo's wound. The wound was horrifying, an inch deeper and it will expose the monk's kidney. With a deft movement of her hand, Aiko lifted the shattered robe and examined the wound. But she found the robe annoying, as it kept falling on the wound every time she wanted to heal it.
"Sanzo, I need to take off your robe" Aiko said, as if to ask the monk's permission to carry on her task.
"I'll kill you if you do it" Sanzo warned. He's blushing despite of the color of pale shown on his face.
"I don't buy that" Aiko argued back. She took off the breastplate on Sanzo's robe. No protests from the blonde guy. But when it's time for her to take off the monk's robe, Sanzo smacked her hands aside. Aiko shook her head and give it one more try. Again, her hand was smacked away. There was vein popping behind her locks of hair.
Patiently, Aiko tried again. And for the third time, Aiko's hand being smacked away. Aiko muttered something beneath her breath. 'Okay, that's it, I could not take it anymore'
"Genjo Sanzo!" Aiko called out loud, with an annoyed tone. Her face turned crimson red as her cheek flushed with anger. And if they could look any closer, Goku and Sanzo swore they could see smokes puffing from both ears of hers. "You better let me take off your robe and treat your wound or I'll kiss you!" she warned. A pair of sapphire blue eyes stared down at Sanzo with rage.
Sanzo startled at the last three words uttered by the young lady in front of him. That line seemed familiar and it reminded him of someone from his childhood.
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-Flashback-
"I can't treat your wound if you don't stop moving" Reika looked at Koryuu with rage. Her chubby cheeks flushed crimson red. She said that when Koryuu kept declining her order to stop moving, as she wanted to treat his scrapped knee.
"Koryuu-nii-chan, stop moving already or I'll kiss you!"
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Sanzo looked up, Aiko was staring down at him with eyes that flared anger.
"What ever you want" Sanzo grumbled, giving way to Aiko.
Aiko's raging face turned softer. Her crimson cheeks once again turned peach colored. A smile returned to her rosy lips. Aiko gently took off Sanzo's robe as the monk blushed severely. She folded Sanzo's robe, revealing the tight black suit underneath.
Aiko checked the wound again. Her movement, though so tender and soft made Sanzo stirred a bit. He flinched when Aiko touched the wound.
"Oi! Are you trying to heal it or trying to make it worse?" Sanzo said spontaneously. It's just the reflex and Aiko knew it. So, she just smiled.
"Well, it depends" Aiko raised her shoulders slightly as she cleaned the wound. "If you do not trust in me then it'll be worse" she continued, placing her hand firm on the wound. Aiko started the healing session as the pink light gleamed from Aiko's palm and being absorbed by the wound. The wound slowly closed.
"There you go!" Aiko chirped as she had already completed her task. "It may takes some time to heal completely" she reminded as she rubbed her hand to her pants. Aiko glanced at Sanzo. The latter's face was forming beads of sweat. She wiped the sweat away, making Sanzo startled and looked at her with disbelief.
"Now, what I need to do is to clean up the wound" She untied the band she wore around her waist and tore it into two pieces.
The first piece was used to clean the blood and the latter one was used to bandage the monk's robe. Sanzo hissed at the swift movement of the girl's hands.
Goku just watched. It amazed him to watch Aiko completing her task. The older girl seemed to bear a resemblance to Hakkai in some ways. Her smiles, her gentility, and her skills, everything was quite similar. 'Hakkai? Gojyo? Kazo?'
"Do you think the others are okay?" Goku asked, he couldn't help himself from getting worried.
Aiko glanced at Goku and smiled before turning her attention to her task. She managed to reach out a hand and ruffled the boy's hair.
"If the others were as strong as you are, I'm sure they will be fine" she assured the boy and drew her hand back to the monk's wound.
Goku smiled.
"Ch!" Sanzo's way of showing relief. He moaned as Aiko pulled the last strip of the bandage tightly.
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Baron entered the dungeon as the guard unlocked the bars. He stepped further and halted his gait in front of a weary figure tied to a shackle at the wall.
"So, how your answer would be today?" Baron asked as he lifted the figure's face. He stared down at Yumi as she gave him a gaze filled with hatred.
"My answer would be the same, and it'll stay the way it is until the day I died!" Yumi snapped back as she glared at Baron, her eyes displayed a strong feeling of disgust.
"Why do you insist of protecting him? Give it up!!" Baron uttered with anger. He lifted her face and pinched her chin between his fingers. "I'll make you the wealthiest woman in the world" He promised.
"Never!!" Yumi declined as she spat to the man's face. At sudden, the man slapped her hard on the cheek, making way for another bruise. The woman spat out blood, result of an inner injury in the depth of her cheek. She braced herself as the man sent out another blow, followed by several other of the same force.
"Oh! Bad news for you" Baron stopped as the woman became terribly feeble. "The ikkou, who you risked your baby with was on their way to save you" the news was like a sharp blow to Yumi's heart.
"It looks like I don't have to get your permission to kill the baby, the ikkou would make it easier for me" Baron grinned, followed by a loud laugh. "Your effort of saving the baby was useless, you know my men would kill them anyway"
Yumi fell downcast. She burst out crying all her hearts out. Baron just stood laughing.
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"Lexus-sama, when are we going to carry out the second attack?" the youkai admiral looked at Lexus as the latter was observing the foothill area.
"Let's wait until they get back together" Lexus answered boldly. "It will be more fun" He smiled. The admiral shook his head with disbelief. Lexus was being his youthful self again.
"After all, our enemies were in their disadvantages, and you know well Wai, I would never attack anyone when they were disabled" Lexus explained as he glanced at Wai, an admiral whom he had considered as his own father.
"Hai Lexus-sama!" Lexus was right, Wai knew him too well that he understood the young youkai leader was full of charisma. He would never take advantage of his enemy when they are not in a good condition to fight.
"We attacked them as soon as they get back together" Lexus gave his final decision, sending Wai to retreat.
Lexus smiled.
"Sanzo-ikkou, I've been longing for this time long ago" Lexus smirked as he glanced down the foothill.
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Aiko finished treating Sanzo's wound as she tied the bandage neatly. She glanced at Sanzo. The monk's face was pale blue. Aiko put her palm on Sanzo's forehead, much to Sanzo's disagreement. But the monk didn't make any effort to stop the girl.
Sanzo's face was cold, probably because of the shock, caused by him losing too much blood. Aiko brought out a canteen from her sling bag and poured some water into a tin cup. She covered the cup with her palm and let her ki-energy being absorbed into the water.
"Drink this!" ordered Aiko as she held the tin cup to Sanzo's lips. She knew better that Sanzo could not even hold the cup right if she lets him to drink by himself.
Sanzo grunted, but he obeyed the girl. He drank it halfway through and chocked. He coughed harshly. Goku went to his aid by patting his back gently. 'Hakkai always did that to him when he chocked down on his food'
Sanzo rubbed his mouth with the back of his palm.
Aiko smiled. "Good boy" now she is treating the twenty three year old monk as if he was a little child. Sanzo cursed slightly before he gulped down the water till the last drop. Aiko reached out a hand and patted Sanzo's head.
A vein popped out from Sanzo's forehead as the girl patted her head. He smacked the girl's hand away. He felt like an idiot being treated that way. Aiko chuckled in glee. She pinched Sanzo's cheek, leaving a red mark there. Goku rolled on the ground laughing his heart out.
"Ha…ha…kawaii" Goku laughed until he shed tears.
Sanzo was so pissed off. Only if he were not too weak, he would reach out for his harisen and whacked the boy's head for laughing.
"You are such a crybaby" Aiko commented as the image of Sanzo flinching and moaning when she was treating his wound, came back to her mind.
The word 'baby' reminded Sanzo of something. "The baby?! Where's the baby?" he glanced over Aiko's shoulder, to check whether she has the baby with her. He found nothing.
"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down" Aiko got panic when Sanzo started moving too much, which may increase the possibility of making his wound worse. She pushed Sanzo's shoulder and made him leaned against the rock, again.
Goku tugged at Aiko's sleeve. "Where's Dai?" he asked with a saddened tone. "Did the youkai got him?"
Aiko shook her head. "Nope! I shielded him in a cave not far from here" Aiko explained. Goku sighed with relief.
"Shielded?" Sanzo startled, but then he remembered the way Aiko shielded Goku when he was about to use maten kyuomou in order to kill the youkai. Only then he was relieved. The baby may be somewhere, but he was safe and sound.
"Can you two walk?" Aiko rose up. "I leave the baby in the cave for quite some time now". She looked at her two injured companions. 'She might have shielded the cave with an energy barrier that even Baron could not surpass it, but Dai was still a baby and being a baby he might woke up and cried for food.
Sanzo tried to stand up with the help of Goku who was supporting his uninjured side. "Goku, stop pretending" Sanzo grumbled. "You are not in perfect condition to help me, you might stumble down and bring me with you to the ground" Sanzo decline the offer as he shoved Goku's supporting hand. He knew his condition was a lot better than the boy's. Sanzo, being himself, could not show that he's worried. That's the best way he could think of to avoid the boy from hurting himself.
Goku pouted at Sanzo's remark.
"It's okay Goku, I'll help Sanzo" Aiko turned to face the bishounens. Sanzo's face turned even paler and then magenta red.
"Don't you dare!" Sanzo warned as he casts her a deadly glare. But Aiko pretended not to listen and not to look. She lifted Sanzo's arm onto her shoulders and support the monk's waist with her arm.
"Goku! You go help yourself" ordered Aiko as she handed the brown haired boy her sling bag. Goku nodded eagerly. Aiko started walking, or in another words, dragging the blonde monk away with her.
"Ch!" Sanzo grunted. He's praying hard that Gojyo wouldn't see this humiliating moment, or he would never survive another day being mocked by the kappa.
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"Ku…ku…ku…" The Goddess of Mercy giggled on glee as she observed her favorite nephew down in Genkai through her lotus pond.
"What's the matter Kanzeon Bosatsu?" her assistant, Jiroushin asked.
"Hi..hi..hi…I should have let the ikkou met the girl earlier instead of letting fate to decide it" the kannon-sama smiled as she looked into her binoculars.
"Kanzeon Bosatsu?" Jiroushin eyes bewildered. "Don't say it out loud" he reminded his master or is it mistress?.
Kanzeon Bosatsu ignored his warning and kept on giggling.
"Oohh…this is fun" she sighed happily.
To be continue ……..
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Ayie: Finally, Kanzeon Bosatsu made her first appearance in this fic.
Sanzo: Oi! Why did you included her in your fic? desperately trying to shove his kusobaba from ruffling his hair
Ayie: That's for whacking my head and saying I'm a crazy writer. winked at Kanzeon Bosatsu
Kanzeon: winked back Oh…Konzen…ops! Shimatta….Sanzo, you will always be my favorite nephew.
Sanzo: That's because I'm your only nephew…swept the lipstick's mark on his forehead, courtesy of Kanzeon's kiss
