UltraM2000: Mooooouuuuu…Sanzou-sama, you're MEAN!
Goku: Sou yo!
Sanzo: What are you two monkeys talking about?
M2000: Meiryuu sa, ME-I-RYUU! You chased that poor kid away when all she wanted was to talk her fears through!
Sanzo: I was sleepy, all right?
M2000: When KOURYUU had nightmares, did Koumyou Sanzou send HIM back to sleep frightened?
Sanzo: I never had nightmares.
Goku: You didn't?
M2000: Damn straight…*sweatdrop*

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! ^_^ Incidentally, I just caught Ep 23 of Saiyuki, Scapegoat (Fukujuu no Daika), and realise that the story of SOTF is very, very similar to it. Just thought I'd say it now—this fic was inspired wholly by Ep 11-12 and resemblance to Scapegoat is pretty much coincidental!

Rook—sorry I had to remove ur last review. I know I messed up, uploading part 6, but don't 'spoil the ending' for the others who didn't read it, onegai!
YunCyn—yeah, for some reason the bad guys in the fic always get good lines…heheh…OW! Who threw that harisen?! In any case, no one dies…in this chapter, anyway.
vermillian—Thank you. I do as you wish. :)
Gokugurl--mou...nani o te ni irete mo manzoku suru koto wa nai...well, I suppose you do have a point...but don't forget I wear speccies too! :)

Have you seen Koumyou Sanzou frown? No? Then Gensoumaden Saiyuki is not mine in any way. I only own a Saiyuki fanbook that is falling apart after only a month, and my exclusive, sing-alongable translations of Saiyuki themes. Eyes looking far away…

Smile of the Father
By UltraM2000

PART FIVE
HEARING A HEART'S VOICE
Waratteiru No Youkai

The youkai wasted no time in coming, walking right up the path to Old Han's house. A few of the more cussed ones trampled upon the flowers Meiryu had worked so hard to cultivate in the earth.

"Han! We've come for the sacrifice you promised us!" yelled the leader, a strapping, grey-skinned bloke with a sword the size of his arm. "Bring her out! We're bloody hungry!"

It was not Old Han who appeared with Meiryu. It was a smooth-faced, monocle-wearing young man, holding Meiryu's hand tightly in his own. His brown-ebon hair was whipped around in the sudden breeze and the smouldering emerald eyes and tight-lipped expression told them he meant business. Appearing behind him was a lanky, crimson-haired half-youkai, a very irritated-looking youth wielding a red and gold staff and an extremely bored-looking blonde monk with sutras on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, but if you're looking for this young lady, you will have to get through me first," the monocle said politely—almost too politely.

"Oh yeah? And just who are you lot?"

"Us?" asked Gojyo, feigning innocence. "Nobody special, really."

"We're just passing travellers," said Sanzo, but even as he did so he was dangling the shoureijuu from its trigger.

"Nyyararararaaaaaaarrrrrr!" yelled Goku in reply, and struck the leader an almighty crack to the head with the Nyoibou, sending him flying into a pile of farm-fresh vegetables.

He didn't take it sitting down. "Attack the fools and seize the girl!" the youkai shrieked, cabbage leaves sticking to his ears and hair, and his men surged forward. The fight was on!

"Huh, it's fifty of them to one of us," muttered Gojyo as he kicked a demon's teeth in.

"Yeah…too boring! You think they'd have come in more force," grinned Goku.

"Trust you to say that, saru."

"Saru ja nee!"

Shakujou, nyoibou, ki balls and crystal bullets rained in every direction as the fight went on. Gojyo was in his element, cursing his opponents even as he sliced them into ribbons with his silver crescent blade. Goku separated the Nyoibou into three sections, enabling him to double the damage with the Nyoi-Sansetsukon or Almighty Triple Cudgels. Sanzo, true to nonchalant nature, just fired at will into the seething mess of demons as their dying screams rang through the air.

All of a sudden, five demons broke away from the melee and rushed towards the defenceless Meiryu. Hakkai did not let this escape unnoticed and despatching the demons before him, he, too, broke away from the battle and shot like an arrow towards Meiryu. His jade eyes still smouldered with fury. Split seconds before the youkai closed in upon them, Hakkai had hooked one arm around the girl's waist and prepared to act.

"Meiryu, please hold on tight around my neck. I don't want you to fall and I haven't done this for a while," he said calmly, almost cheerfully, as if he was asking if breakfast would be all right or if she'd like to go and play.

The girl complied, stunned, but scarcely had she done so when Hakkai had sprung up in a superb back flip high into the air. It was a manoeuvre he had not used in quite a while, but it was successful and as he reached the top of the arc, he gathered his ki in his free hand and aimed. A hot wave of energy flew from his palm and splattered bits of youkai messily over the ground. He landed on his feet, seeing Old Han staring at him in an unusual manner. It looked like shock. Hakkai handed Meiryu over to him and spoke only four words.

"Take care of her."

Then he was back in the fray.

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At the end of an hour the number of youkai had not diminished at a significant enough rate to be called success. Even as one fell, another sprang from the ground to take its place.

"Stupid idiots, why don't you die?!" roared Gojyo.

"You can't kill us," slurred one of them, wiping away the blood from a semi-broken jaw. "We are earth youkai, born of rock and stone. While we tread the Earth, it will restore us. Only another of our kind could kill us, half-breed; only a full demon at the peak of his power."

"Ja…I seem to have no other choice," said Hakkai cheerily.

"Hakkai! No!" exclaimed Goku.

Hakkai's hand was going for the three little metal clips on his ears. Many years ago, he had stolen them from a dead demon to rein in his own force. Now he was about to remove them.

"Foolish mortal, don't underestimate our powers," snorted a foul-smelling specimen. "Your words echo confidence, but deep within I can feel the pulse of fear and hatred. You are no match for us."

"Poetic, aren't you?" Hakkai replied icily. "Still, you can't blame me for trying. Like you, I would like to live. UN-like you, I will."

He had always regretted his demon blood. Now he was glad it flowed through his veins.

Something was going to bleed.

The youryoku limiters came off, and the flames leapt to sear the demon-convert's tainted flesh.

"Eep" was all the usually smooth-talking Gojyo could manage.

Hakkai screamed in agony as the familiar bitter pain came washing over him, transforming him into what he had become so many years ago. His nails forced their way out of his flesh, becoming brittle claws, and an intricate, vine-like pattern of black wended its way across his pale skin. Still the power was not finished with him. It closed in on his features, narrowing and sharpening them (especially those features called teeth), and then went straight to his head.

_I must not lose myself,_ he told himself simply, firmly, and surprisingly, Cho Hakkai did not lose himself.

It had been a long time since Cho Gonou the demon had seen the sun, felt it warm his skin. It felt really good. He flexed his claws for a while and then looked into the ranks of demons with narrow eyes. The vine-pattern had extended up to his cheeks, and his face was perfectly expressionless. His hair had darkened to a pure jet-black, like a moonless, starless night, and in the deepest recesses of those dark green eyes, a spark of fire danced and smouldered like the wild soul kept within the physical body.

_And now if you will, Gonou...please kill...kill them all..._

Without another word, the demon-convert launched into the fray and turned seven shades of hell loose, ripping with claws like swords, tearing with fangs like knives. The youkai leader tried to stand up to him, wielding his sword menacingly. Sadly, though he was skilled, it was not enough—Cho evaded two blows, took one to the shoulder, knocked the demon's jaw out of its sockets and clamped his fangs round his throat. Warm blood spilt across his clothes and skin, the demon blood like that which he had shed with his longsword six years ago in the Hundred-Eyed Demon's castle. Not that he took any notice.

"And don't think we'll just let HIM have all the fun, boys!" yelled Gojyo, slashing with his shakujou again and again. Several demons proved their leader's words were but a mere boast as they fell to the sand, twittering and gasping for air with broken throats and shattered ribs. Goku continued dodging and striking, feet and fists doing well in place of talons and fangs; Sanzo calmly kept on shooting, his movements quick enough to do some occasional dodging when a reload was required for the shoureijuu.

Now they were getting somewhere. The demons' numbers began to decrease until there were none left. Gonou the demon appeared to be just starting, although it was hard to tell when his face was as impassive as Genjo Sanzo's. He then whirled to look for more targets…

And looked straight into Meiryu's eyes. She was staring in awe and fright at Sanzo and the others.

_Oh no,_ thought the inner recesses of the demon-convert's mind, _I must be scaring her more than is necessary._ So saying, he replaced the limiters, feeling the change back from Cho Gonou the demon to Cho Hakkai the human occur almost instantly. A slight light-headedness persisted, but he stood up and turned to smile at Meiryu.

_Cho Hakkai has kept his promise._

_That's what you think,_ hissed a voice in his head.

"Hakkai look out!" Gojyo yelled.

Meiryu's expression changed from shock to smile to silent scream.

Before Hakkai could react, something cold and hard and sharp buried itself in warm, living flesh and blood. Somebody had stabbed him in the lungs.
Somebody was Old Han.

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Japanese notes

Ja = Shortened form of 'de wa'. Translates something like 'With that…'
Ki = 'spirit', 'energy'.
Nyoibou = Commonly translated as 'Almighty Staff'.
Saru (ja nee/ja nai/de wa nai) = (I am not a) Monkey