Disclaimer: Characters of Gensoumaden Saiyuki belong to Minekura Kazuya.

Beta-read by: missed-f

Turbulent Days: Chapter 5: Immolation Part 2

Gonou stared expressionlessly at the scene before him. His prey was wearing a look of agony. Trussed by a rope looped over the banister of the stairs above him, the hapless man dangled over a raging fire, which flirted ominously with his dangling toes. He had been stripped clean of his clothing.

"Why are you doing this?" he croaked out the question for the umpteenth time as he lifted his legs away from the flame. As he drew in ragged breaths, another question nagged ceaselessly in his mind: Why is this man still alive?

Gonou remained silent, training his eyes on the fire, making sure that the blaze was large enough to slowly broil his victim, but not so fierce as to cause the man to suffocate. That would be too easy on him. The sickeningly sweet smell of burning flesh filled the vast, luxurious living room as Old Man Yiu's muscles gave up on him and his legs flopped back downwards. Above them, the demolished smoke detector bore silent witness to the macabre sight of a man being slowly broiled alive.

When the stocky, middle-aged man started to cough, Gonou splashed a little water from a bottle, careful not to kill the blaze completely.

"You know, Hundred Eyes Yiu," he broke the silence, insolently addressing the paramount leader of the Douzan-wa [1] clan by a familiar nickname, and watched with perverse pleasure as the man flinched at the insult from a common foot soldier.

"I wonder how long it takes to broil a man thoroughly. From inside to outside. Making sure that every single piece of the innards is perfectly done, while still leaving the outer skin as crisp as possible without becoming too dry," he continued in an eerily cheerful voice as he rekindled the fire to the desired intensity with a bundle of newspaper.

"You are crazy! Completely crazy… aargh!" Yiu's protestation was cut off as a lick of flame tasted his toes. Molten fat dripped onto the fire, causing it to rise higher. Even through the pain, a faint click sounded at the back of his mind. He is alive because I have been betrayed. And by who? Good old ___, of course.

Watching Yiu attempt to bend his knees again, Gonou replied in the same cheerful tone he had used earlier: "I used to be a cook before Kiyoi persuaded me to quit and go full-time in this field. 'You've got the potential' he said. So I became a hit man. I am your best. And still am. Maybe that is why you tried to get rid of me, is that it?"

The expression on the older man's face told Gonou everything he needed to know. So Kiyoi had been telling him the truth. Not that he had ever doubted his immediate superior, one of the most prominent Red Pole rank holders of their clan.

Yiu started to laugh bitterly. Despite the hideous pain he had to be suffering from the slow burning, the laughter increased in intensity, until the man was practically howling his head off. Perhaps the realization that everything was lost, or the gruesome agony, had unhinged Yiu's mind.

A slight frown crossed Gonou's face. He did not want this man to die insane, insensible to his pain. He wanted Yiu to go through what Kanan must have suffered in that inferno. No, much more. Because he knew (or hoped) that Kanan had succumbed to the smoke before the first tongue of fire ever touched her body. He wanted the man who had taken his life away from him to die sane, and aware of every single throb of the searing agony.

In reality, Gonou did not have any cause for worry. Old Man Yiu was sane, very sane indeed. In fact, he had never been clearer of the facts in his life than tonight. As much as Gonou thought he had read the older man's thoughts, the truth was, Yiu had seen in Gonou's face that the upstart had obviously not known two important facts. After all, Hundred Eyes Yiu had not climbed to his position in the clan by not having a penetrating and astute mind, which still functioned even under the ghastly torture.

He doesn't know that

- I know about him and his so-called sister

- both of us have been played for fools

Which one shall I divulge to him with my last breath? he thought as his legs gave up and collapsed downwards.

Why, none of them. He would tell his would-be murderer a lie instead. A lie that would vicariously serve as Yiu's ghost to haunt Gonou for the rest of his life. Gritting his teeth, he mustered his remaining energy and spat out the words with all the venom in his heart:

"My men said your sister was a good fuck too. Many times over. Couldn't get enough. Didn't she get it regular from you?"

Yiu watched as a shadow darkened the young man's face, almost imperceptibly. Oh yes, but it got him where it hurts most. Satisfied, Hundred Eyes Yiu ended his own life by sinking his teeth onto his own tongue.

He would not have lasted much longer anyway. Within a few minutes, his vital organs would have shut down from the extreme heat, even before reaching the perfect state of being, as described earlier by Gonou, top organization hit man and former cook, "perfectly done".

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Outside the mansion of the late leader of their clan, a group of men bunched together near two cars. One of them, a man with an almost feral beauty, raised a hand in a signal when he espied a single figure walking out of the residence. The rest, apparently used to obeying him, went into the cars quietly.

"Do not interfere," Kiyoi reminded them as he moved towards the figure.

His lips curved into a smile as he marveled at the foolishness of men. How easy to manipulate. How amusing to see a face crumple in tears, or brighten with a smile, all because certain buttons had been pushed. It made them more fun than chess pieces. Old Man Yiu. Cho Gonou. The guards. Even Kanan.

He had planned this for months. Turning the Big Boss against Gonou by planting false evidence that had cast a shadow upon Gonou's loyalty, stirring the old lecher's desire for his sister, and suborning Yiu's closest guards. By whispering the true nature of Gonou's relationship with Kanan into Yiu's ear, Kiyoi had planted the idea into his boss' mind: getting rid of Gonou the traitor would be killing two birds with a stone. Pluck out the thorn and take the flower.

Only, Kiyoi had hit upon the seemingly implausible subterfuge of dressing Gonou up as a woman to accomplish the bogus assignment, hence tricking Yiu's watching men into believing that it was Kanan who had walked out of the house with Kiyoi, as previously arranged between him and the boss. That had been the most difficult part of the plan. Thanks to the help of the earlier pair (whose gambling debts would be reduced substantially after tonight), he had been able to arrange the needed distraction. Which bought him enough time to get Gonou inside his car before any of the boys had had a chance to take a good look at 'Kanan'. Well, not that any of them should smell anything fishy in the first place.

The sight of his car leaving the car park (and the person riding on the shotgun) had given the ruffians the all-clear to proceed to chain-and-padlock the door, pour the lighter fluid, struck the match, and let the merriment begin. And then, after the piece that was Yiu had done his part, it was time to deploy the knight: Gonou. To dispatch the king.

Kiyoi had been certain that the bereaved man would believe every single word of what he had told him this morning. Tonight had proved Kiyoi right. Gonou, having been granted access by Yiu's treacherous guards, had walked right into the Big Boss' sanctuary with impunity. And gone right on to do exactly what Kiyoi had wanted him to - snuffed the life out of Old Man Yiu.

They came face to face.

"I'm sorry, Gonou," Kiyoi said as he pulled out a pistol from his breast pocket. His eyes swung with a slight movement towards the men in the cars.

"I understand. Payment for the killing of a clan head," the other man replied mechanically. To Kiyoi, he looked as if he had aged ten years since the previous night, even though he had not seen Gonou shed a single tear since he walked out of the partially razed building. "Are they the witnesses?"

"Yes," Kiyoi replied softly, cat-like eyes fixed on Gonou's face with intense gaze. Then, leaning close to the other man, he started to speak with minimal lip movement: "Listen: I am the one who is going to dump your 'corpse' after this. You'll find the 'necessities' in your coat pocket when you 'revive', if you do."

"I don't mind if you really do it."

"I am going to. Your luck depends on my aim tonight. Good bye, my friend." Kiyoi gave the other man a final smile, and stepped away.

"Good bye, my friend," Gonou whispered and closed his eyes as Kiyoi cocked the safety lever off, and aimed.

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Coming soon:

Turbulent Days: Chapter 6: A Meeting of Pasts

After finding out that Goku does not exist – in theory, Sanzo pays Hakkai a visit, making him an "offer he cannot refuse". Jealous Gojyo commits a masochistic act by inviting Sanzo to dinner. On a balmy Sunday afternoon, Hakkai makes his decision.

[1] Tung san wo - a real-life clan, one of the still-active old triad societies

Annoying Notes:

Until I wrote this piece, I didn't know that Chin Ii Sou could be this captivating. Unfathomable, treacherous to everyone except himself, yet he kept his promise to Gonou - or was that done with an ulterior motive too? Well, the answer lies in a few chapters ahead. Check out the colored picture of him on the contents page of the 2nd edition of Book 4 - it was this one that goaded me into writing him this way. I didn't want to turn him into Beaver (of Dreamcatcher), so I took the liberties of replacing the toothpicks with cigarettes - one of the four basic food groups (aside from liquor, meat and women ^___^) among those living dangerously.