UltraM2000: *bursts out laughing* Bwahahahaha! High-and-mighty Sanzo-sama's an oniiiiiiiiiichaaaaaaaaan…!
Gojyo: *snigger* Come on, Sanzo-oniichan, it's bedtime. Read us a story…
Goku: Hey Sanzo, can I call you oniichan, then?
Sanzo: One more word and I swear on my sutras I'll (words implying much unpleasant torture). NOW GET—TO—BED!!!
Gojyo n Goku n M2000: OK, OK…Sanzo-niichan!!! AAAAH! *dodge hail of bullets*

Hakkai fans (as opposed to, say, […x]Hakkai[x…] fans ;)), rejoice! This fic is unadulterated Saiyuki/Hakkai fluff! It's based wholly on the anime, since I have had no experience with the manga. I hope you enjoy it, and please do R and R! I would greatly appreciate it! ^_^
Freak@ngel—point taken! However, I have been chided before for using too much Japanese in my fics and roleplay, so I thought I'd better put them in. A newbie or two might find 'em useful. In any case, Japanese notes are not as, er, copious from here on in, and thank you for reviewing! ^.^
Teiya—San kyuu! I continue!
Gokugurl—Greetings, O Writer Of Slash. O, so you actually *like* straight pairings? Hope for you yet *evil cackle*. Gomen, Kanan wa shinda ze…sumannai…*dodges evil bombs of Gokugurl*

Until the Saiyuki biseinen all get married…to WOMEN, all you yaoi fans…Gensoumaden Saiyuki is not mine in any way. I only own a Saiyuki fanbook that is falling apart after only a month—that, and my fluff and wisecracks.

Smile of the Father
By UltraM2000

PART THREE
BELIEVING ALONE

Taue no Sekkyou

Gojyo dug his sharp elbow into Goku's ribs time and time again to stop him rolling all over the futon the two had to end up sharing. Han only had one spare room in the house, and only one bed in the room.

Guess which blonde, acidic sutra-bearing monk got it.

Two futons had been laid out on the floor and Gojyo had played a round of poker with Hakkai to see who 'got' to share his bed with Goku.

Guess who lost.

Eventually Gojyo got fed up of shoving Goku every-which-way, and got up with an impatient sigh. The sleeping youth took this as an opportunity to seize all the blankets, leading Gojyo to hiss with rage—not too loudly, of course, lest Sanzo wake up. He had his demon-killing shoureijuu Smith & Wesson in his hand, locked and loaded, warning others of the consequences of disturbing Sanzo-sama's beauty sleep. Cursing the way only a demon can curse, Sha Gojyo left the room and walked to the kitchen to see if he could salvage some alcohol.

He didn't find alcohol, but Hakkai's futon had been empty when he had left and he found the latter sitting at the dining table, staring into the flames of a candle.

"You're one strange fella," Gojyo said, drawing up a chair to sit opposite the man he had saved from death 3 years ago. "Sanzo gets up to smoke. I sneak out to drink and find chicks. Monkey sleepwalks to fill his stomach. You? You wake up in the middle of the night to stare into the flames of a ruddy candle. What's the fun in that?"

"I can't sleep, Gojyo," Hakkai remarked mildly, as if just commenting on the weather. He was actually thinking of Kanan's words again as he looked into the flames.

When we have children… the statement had turned into an 'if' and a 'had'.

"Dun' give me that crap," the crimson-haired hybrid remarked sweetly. "That doesn't answer my question. You really think Meiryu is…you know…your kid?"

"I'm not sure WHAT to think anymore. It's been so long since…since that time. I never wanted to think Kanan died in front of me, just kept deluding myself and hoping that someday on the street, wherever we may be, I'd see her again and we could say 'It's all been a big mistake, love, let's go home and live happily ever after'…" Hakkai sighed, an expression of wryness in itself. "Cho Hakkai is guilty of VERY wishful thinking."

"Maybe," Gojyo agreed softly. "We all have our secret desires. But what if Meiryu isn't your kid? What if it's just a coincidence?"

"Then I'll take it as a pretty incredible coincidence. But somehow, I don't feel like it's a coincidence. I feel like I've found a part of Gonou that died a long time ago." Hakkai smiled at Gojyo again, first true smile that Gojyo had seen all day, and the half-demon drank deep of it.

"See, now THIS is the Cho Hakkai we all know," Gojyo grinned. "This kid did something we never could. Made you smile when you didn't feel like it."

Hakkai blushed slightly and let the matter slide. "Maa, maa, Gojyo, I've bored you for long enough. I'm going to bed. Goodnight," Hakkai said, pulling back from the table and left with a happy little pat to Gojyo's shoulder.

Gojyo snorted softly. "Hmph. I was hoping I didn't have to play Solitaire again to pass the night."

Hakkai did NOT go to bed. He passed by Old Han's room, hearing faint snores bubbling up behind the closed door, and took a cursory peek into the one the ikkou were sharing. Sanzo was grumbling in his sleep (some things never change) while Goku had claimed the whole futon as his territory and was sprawled all over it like a starfish on a rock.

"Oh dear, Gojyo's not going to be happy about that," Hakkai remarked softly.

Meiryu was sleeping in the room across the corridor to old Han. Her breath was peaceful and even as she slept, a small smile lingered on her face. Doubtless, she was dreaming of nicer things than this drab old world, but Hakkai wouldn't notice the tiny touch of sadness in the smile until later, for said touch had become very much part of his own expression.

And as Hakkai watched her sleep, and he would for the rest of the night, he found himself humming softly—a lullaby.

_Eyes like Eastern jade, hair like sylvan night…Kanan, this object of beauty could have never been fathered by the Hundred-Eyed Demon…_

--------------------

The next day, Han put the ikkou to work in the rice fields he owned. It was planting season. Sanzo grumbled, but Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai put him up to it SOMEhow.

"Hakkai-niichan's coming with me!" chirped Meiryu, tugging at the hem of the loose T-shirt Hakkai had changed into. "Oniichan, ikou, ikou, ikou…" she wheedled, tugging at one of his hands.

"All right, all right, we're going, we're going…"

"Hakkai seems to be very popular with the girls today," Gojyo remarked with a lopsided grin.

"Whassamatter, gokiburi, you jealous?" snickered Goku.

"Wait 'til I get my hands on you, monkey, I'll…"

"URUSAI—!!!" screamed Sanzo at the top of his lungs and slammed the harisen down as hard as he could on Goku and Gojyo's heads. "Get out there and quit shilly-shallying around!"

Meiryu took in the scene silently and turned to Hakkai. "Oniichan, are your friends always like that?"

Hakkai folded his arms and sighed, the corners of his mouth turning up in a trademark smile. "Unfortunately."

--------------------

In all his 23 years, Sanzo had never thought he would stoop to working in the mud for his keep. But here he was, in clothes borrowed from Old Han (and a size too big for him) pulling up weeds from the muddy water. Sanzo cursed Old Han's ancestors, and THEIR ancestors, and the one's before those…

"Oi, Old Han."

"Mmn?"

"This land looks pretty fertile. Good place to build a home, so why haven't I seen any women or children here besides Meiryu?"

Old Han scratched his balding pate. "This land is fertile, all right, but there's a reason why. Demons live around this area."

_Youkai!_ Sanzo's guard went right up.

"They fertilise the earth for us, keep the town alive, but every ten years, they pay us a visit for their reward, a sacrifice. They are usually very hungry when they do arrive."

"And?"

"They first started on the women, and soon there were none left. When we sacrificed a child for them many years back, when I was still a boy, they seemed to like it even more than our lasses. Hence…this." He gestured into the empty air. "All the families that could fled and never returned. The demons will arrive again tomorrow. Although I fear for Meiryu, I must defend her with all my strength."

"Does Meiryu know about this?"

"Yes."

"Do any of my companions know this?"

"No. You're the first to ask."

_Hakkai's going to pitch a fit when he finds out,_ thought Sanzo. _But he's not finding it out from me._

--------------------

They spent the better part of the morning transplanting rice seedlings into the flooded fields, and by midday the work was more than halfway completed. The ikkou, Old Han and Meiryu cleaned themselves up and sat down to some obentou. Meiryu didn't seem too hungry and picked gingerly at the food.

"Are you all right, Meiryu? Something the matter?"

"No…not really."

"It's not good to be fussy," he added, pointing at her bentou.

"OK, OK," said Meiryu, and forced herself to eat a few mouthfuls. "Boy, you sound just like an otousan."

"Do I?"

"Yup." Meiryu nodded and resumed eating. After a while, she sighed and said "You know, I kind of feel sorry for the rice."

"Are? Why?"

"The rice is helpless. We give it a home, we fertilise it, we treat it with tender care, and after all that's done, we harvest it and eat it. It's not fair to the rice, is it oniichan?"

She sounded so serious about it Hakkai was compelled to not smile either. "Hmm. A good point, but I believe the rice becomes part of us; therefore, it lives on. Don't feel too sad for it."

"OK. I won't." But deep down, though, her little heart was thinking of more serious thoughts. So many questions had to remain unasked.

_Hakkai oniichan, does it hurt to die? Do you know if the youkai will be fierce, or nice, like you? Do you know if they'll tie you down, before they use the knife on your throat? Do you know how long it'll hurt?

_Ne, oniichan, shinjau no wa itai desu ka?_

--------------------

That night, Han got the provisions ready for the ikkou. "There. Thank you all for your help. Now you can leave tomorrow, but not before I give you lot breakfast!"

"Sankyuu!" grinned Goku. "So, what's for dinner? I'm sooooo HUNGRY!"

"Stupid saru, you're ALWAYS hungry," taunted Gojyo.

"Maa, maa…" Hakkai began faintly.

"Well, you'll see soon enough. Come on! Dinner's served!"

The whole atmosphere was one of celebration and happiness at the table. Even Meiryu seemed to have cheered up, and was talking nineteen-to-the-dozen with Goku, Hakkai and Gojyo all at the same time. Only Sanzo seemed not to have fallen prey to her girlish charms, and was just eating his rice silently.

"Ne, Sanzo-niichan?"

Twitch. There she went with the oniichan again. "What?" he grumbled.

"Why are you blonde?"

Sanzo made a sound that was something between 'hmph' and a snort. "Because I was born blonde."

"Oo. OK. It's a nice colour! It's like the sun that shines on the rice!"

The sun…

Sanzo and Goku could almost hear a voice echoing in the depths of time behind them.

'Sugeeee…your hair is shining like the sun…'

'Bakazaru…!'

Konzen Douji.

Tenpou Gensui.

Kenren Taisho.

Seiten Taisei Son Goku
.

Goku looked a little distant after that and had to be prodded into consciousness by Meiryu, but Sanzo seemed completely unaffected. Still, obviously something must have touched him because he was actually polite.

"Thank you, Meiryu. I'm glad you think so."

"Y'welcome," the girl beamed.

Sanzo almost smiled. Almost.

--------------------

Japanese notes

Gokiburi = cockroach
Ikou = volitional form of verb 'iku', to go.
Maa, maa = In this context, 'well,…'.
Shoureijuu = Commonly translated as 'Demon-Ascending Gun'.
Shinjau no wa itai desu ka= 'Does it hurt to die?' But come on, you must have figured this out before.
Urusai = noisy. In short, 'SHUT UP!'