DISCLAIMER: Roses are red, Gojyo goes 'squee', I don't own Saiyuki, Saiyuki owns me!
Gojyo: I do NOT go
'SQUEE'!
M2000: Ya just did. Ha ha. ^_^
PASSION
Jounetsu
Kouka was cutting up vegetables for dinner in the kitchen when Gojyo stumbled through the door. His hair was a mess, his white cotton vest was closer to grey-brown and even more alarming, numerous round bruises riddled his body. Normally, Kouka would have let him alone, but today, something in his dejected expression made her stop and straighten up.
"Doushita?" she asked him. It came out more commanding than she'd liked.
"Nothing," he mumbled embarrassedly. "I'll just get the antiseptic and cotton balls..."
Kouka put down the knife and walked towards him. "No. Remain in your seat." She went and got the antiseptic and cotton for him, then sat down beside her stepson and cleaned his wounds herself. He winced, as the antiseptic stung like crazy, but made not a sound as she rubbed the liquid across his bruises and under his shirt.
"Now tell me what really happened."
"...I said it was nothing," he mumbled.
"Gojyo..." she said sternly, rubbing a cut a little harder than was necessary.
"...I got stoned on the way back from school. It's OK. Happens sometimes when they don't have anything better to do." He winced and gently pushed her hand away from his sore forehead. "I'll do that myself, kaasan. I'm sure you're busy. You don't need to worry about me."
A short silence.
"Yes I do. That's what mother's do, poor child," whispered Kouka, and slowly, she drew him close to her and hugged him gently. His eyes widened in extreme surprise, but he leant against her for a while and sighed softly. She smelt of carrots and hot water and...mother.
This felt good. This is the stuff memories are made of.
++++++++++
Once before, Weishan was a sanctuary for demons and their filthy kind, called Minghu. It was ten years ago that a brave force of humans broke through their defences and banished them from the area forever. They then set up their own pure human settlement and renamed the town Weishan.
Two years after that, there had been a young seven-year-old girl who helped an injured demon boy. He was actually secretly residing in Weishan, and upon his and his family's exile, the girl was arrested by the Weishan authorities and brought to court. They found her summarily guilty and dealt the usual punishment--the affliction of the Mark of Black Blood. She would have been the youngest to receive the punishment, but the then-mayor of Weishan, a certain You Mozubane, made the decision to spare her life. Her knew the girl came from a poor family, and so he made the decision to bring her up correctly himself and take the burden off her parents' shoulders. In front of everyone who had come to witness the marking, he announced that he would also betroth the girl to his precious only son, Jouji. The girl wept for joy, and so did her parents. (Speaking of which, they died mysteriously shortly after. But let's not talk about that.)
The girl blossomed into a woman under You's tender care and the boy became a man. It was time that the girl brought honour upon her family by joining their blood with one of the most prestigious clans in Weishan. It was only fair to her. She had grown to love and honour her fiancée, and would make a lovely bride, the pride of all the town...
++++++++++
"...But to say this would mean I have lost the memories of my parents, and the kind demons who built Minghu with their own hands. They weren't at all bad, Gojyo-san: I'd lived in Minghu since my birth, and my youkai neighbours accepted the humans with open arms. I only wish I could say Weishan's founders did the same for them." Yaku Seiko continued bravely, though her voice shook. "I never saw my parents again after that day. The roars of the crowd drowned out my screams and theirs. Mozubane-sama told me the engagement was to repay the debt of saving my life. My mother and father tried to see me, but...There was such a horrible, awful look on Mozubane-sama's face when he told me they had died. It was all a lie. I knew, even as a small girl, he'd had them killed. He wanted no more interference with my 're-education'..."
"If y'knew, Seiko, why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Gojyo, shocked.
"Who was there to tell? The Yous never let me out of the house until I was 13. Any friends I made were summarily scared away. If I ever went beyond his gates without permission, I was severely beaten and deprived of my meals. To survive, I complied blindly--I was too scared of what might happen if I didn't. He was quite a cruel man behind closed doors..." Seiko winced, and her hands went involuntarily to her slender shoulders, as if old bruises had reawakened.
"That bas...idiot COULD at least have tried to defend his fiancée..."
"I thought he would, once Mozubane-sama died. I always thought the father influenced the son but he was really a good man inside. I was wrong; he is as cruel as his sire and keeps a tight rein on me. If I'm seen talking to anyone in the street beyond a greeting, the person is executed for disturbance. It makes for a very lonely life. I realise now he thought that now I was under his roof, he could order me round as he liked--as his fiancée, I had my obligations, even then, and could not refuse. No, Gojyo-san, he hasn't touched me...physically...but after we get married I don't think I could stand being with him when the love and honour I vowed to short hours ago was all a pretence..."
Gojyo was filled with a kind of angry concern.
++++++++++
Hakkai glanced at the shopping list. Almost everything had been crossed off, except for a section Goku had added on; let's just say it was longer than the rest of the list combined. Hakkai laughed, retrieved a pencil from his pants pocket and started crossing off food items left and right before he felt too sorry for the lad. There, that shouldn't overdraw the credit card...too much.
After Hakkai paid and as they were about to leave, Goku spotted a stallish-looking thing selling piping hot buns of various shapes and sizes. "Hey, Hakkai, can I have a nikuman? Pleeeeeeeeeease?" he begged, tugging on Hakkai's shirt with big, googly eyes and hopping up and down like silly putty on a sugar high. Ah, what cold heart can resist the entreaties of an innocent, cute demon 500 years old responsible for a heinous crime in Tenkai? That, of course, and the fact Hakkai would get no peace until he answered.
"Hai, hai, I suppose the budget is large enough for that," Hakkai said pleasantly. "I think I'll join you and have one too. Think they have red bean buns?"
"They should...but...er...I thought you were full just now?"
No reply came as Hakkai stepped to the front of the line and asked for 'three nikuman and a large anpan, please'. The man nodded, bundled up the purchases and handed them over. Hakkai paid, picked out the anpan and handed the nikuman to Goku. The pork buns were promptly devoured and followed up with a hearty 'sankyuu!'.
"All right, let's go find Jeep..."
"Dame!"
"?"
"I didn't say anything, Hakkai," Goku said innocently, and turned. It was the bun-stall owner. He was glaring down at a small, bespectacled boy, clutching a few tarnished coins. Hakkai turned too, arms full of paper bags and anpan clamped firmly in his mouth.
"I...I just want to buy a plain bun, mister," he pleaded softly. "I've got money to pay and everything, so why won't you sell me the bun?" He looked pointedly away from the wondrous assortment of other wares, his eyes fixed on the plain mantou lying upon the back of the shelf. It was clear that he was hungry as a hunter, but the plain bun was all his budget had room for.
"I wouldn't sell this to you if you were the last person on Earth! Go home!" He stepped forward from behind his stall counter to shoo the boy away. The boy cowered fearfully; what sickened Goku deep inside was all the passers-by were walking along with barely a glance at the scene. It was then something caught his attention.
"Eh, Hakkai--is there something on that kid's neck, or is it my imagination?" Hakkai squinted and nodded. There was a sign on the side of his neck, a black blotch that he could just make out as a stylised version of the character 'you', as in youkai. The Mark of Black Blood. The Mark Of Black Blood!? On a child this young?! Without further ado, he re-wrapped the anpan in its wax paper and strode towards the stall again.
"Sumimasen desu kedo..." (Excuse me)
"Ah, it's you! The one from just now! Want to buy some more?"
"Yes please. Five of your nikuman this time. For the boy."
The man's bright and gleaming smile disappeared as quickly as it came. "Sorry, mister, I can't do that," he said, halting in the midst of his wrapping. "I'd sell all these to you, hell, I'd even give them to you free before I give anything to that boy. I'm not selling. It's against the law for me to do that, even if I wanted to."
"Fine, then sell them to me and I'll give them to this child myself."
"...!"
"Excuse my impoliteness, sir, what I do with your wares after you sell them to me is none of your business."
The man's face turned a rather blotchy shade of red. He shoved the buns at Hakkai and quoted a price. Hakkai looked at the price tags calmly, and his teacher's mind did a quick little calculation.
"Sir, I think your overcharging me just a *little* bit..."
"Maybe I am. Things are expensive nowadays, though, and I hate to see anything go to waste," the stall owner drawled slowly and dangerously. People were beginning to gather, but none too close because of the presence of the child with the Mark.
The demon in Hakkai was beginning to feel mildly unpleasant. "If so, then look inside and see whether you use that heart of yours for anything besides pumping blood through those constricted veins," he muttered softly.
"He has the Mark!" some man in the crowd cried.
"The boy is unclean," shrilled a female voice.
"Drive him away!" another voice yelled. The boy cringed and stepped back, only to bump into Hakkai's legs. He jerked up and prepared to make a dash, but Goku grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him.
"Hey, calm down, kid. No one can make you leave if you don't want to. What'cha here after?"
The boy looked at Goku, then at Hakkai, the fuming stall owner and the crowd. "I...I just wanted to get some food," he stammered.
The crowd reacted with unexpected fury "Unclean!" "..might as well starve to death..." "...mark!" "He's dangerous..." "Throw him out! Throw him out! Throw him out!" "Get those strangers, too! There ain't no room for sympathisers here!" "Call the guards!"
Conveniently, some soldiers dressed like the one that had escorted them into town appeared, grimacing foully and drawing sharp swords. They looked decidedly unfriendly. Weishan guards!
There was a frightened whimper from somewhere around Goku's hip and small hands closed in fright around the youth's cape.
++++++++++
"...'tte iu wake de (thanks to that) you're stuck to this guy?"
Seiko nodded. "I don't blame you, Gojyo-san, if you think I'm weak or fatalistic. It's written all over your face. But if You had not saved me so many years ago, I wouldn't be here. Maybe not even in this world. He made sure I grew up healthy, at least."
"But at the expense of losing your home and friends..."
"Ee...yes."
The man sighed heavily, taking another drag off the cigarette he had lit midway through her story. "I didn't have such a hot childhood myself, but even I'm feeling sorry for you about now. If your story is anything to go by, I should have to stick by Sanzo for the rest of my days, and that's *not* a pleasant idea." Small smile. "No-one you can turn to? No-one at all?"
Seiko looked as if a name would spring from her lips then, but she shoved it back into the depths of her mind. She shook her head. "Iie."
"...Then listen. You need anything, just ask. Come and find me. Do something, anything. This guy here will try and put things right."
"Sonna...how could I ever do that?"
"Like this: y'open your mouth and say 'Gojyo, I need your help on something'. And I'll help. Hell, maybe I'll rein the other three in to poke around too. Now smile, Seiko. The last thing they need tomorrow is a bride with tearstains on her face and rings round the eyes, even if they're a bunch of demon-hating bigots."
Seiko laughed despite herself. "Forgive them. They don't know what they do."
"Only because such a wonderfully pretty lady asks me to," came the reply, accompanied with a sexy grin that showed even, white teeth. What was better was it was a real smile, not one of those thin, superior You Jouji affairs.
"Tell me, Gojyo-san...but do you say this to every lady who's in trouble that you meet?"
"Especially if she cries," Gojyo replied with, surprisingly, not a trace of flirt.
Jouji appeared just about then, however, and he didn't think it was so innocent.
++++++++++
The crowd had stepped back to allow about fifteen guards to go about their duty. Each was armed with a weapon of some sort, be it sword, dagger, jitte* or gun. A pair of bright amber-brown eyes narrowed dangerously as Goku summoned his Nyoibou to his hand.
"Goku, dame desu yo!" Hakkai warned. "Don't! They're only humans--even if you just poked them with the Nyoibou**, they'd be scarred for life!"
"What else am I supposed to do? They're going to turn us into hamburger meat!" Despite himself, Goku's stomach responded to the words implying food and growled hungrily.
"Give me a little time. I'll try and hold them off, all right?" Hakkai said, his breath catching slightly in his throat. Concentrating hard, he flung up his arms and let out a battle cry as ki and light sprung from his fingertips into a solid barrier. The guards were seized with bewilderment, unable to make head or tail of this new development. That wasn't for too long, however.
"How long do you expect to keep that up, stranger?" snarled one of the guards, taller than and twice as wide as Cho Hakkai. "Give us the kid and maybe we'll let you live."
"What if we don't?" Goku snarled.
"Then we'll dispense with the formalities immediately, youngster," another one of the soldiers yelled. He gave his sword hand a quick shake and charged, aiming straight for Hakkai's hand. Fortunately, the barrier deflected the blow. UN-fortunately, the force of the blow broke up the barrier and even more unfortunately, the guard switched hands and dealt Hakkai a blow to the jaw that caught him by surprise and sent him sprawling.
"Seize him! He is to be arrested!" roared the chief guard. The others sprang eagerly forward and seized Hakkai, dragging him to his feet by the hair. The green-eyed demon's eyes flashed suddenly, and in one smooth movement, he flicked his head backwards. The top of his skull collided solidly with his assailant's nose, and as the man yowled with pain, he dropped to his knees, whirled and swept the man's feet out from under him. Goku raised the Nyoibou and swung, and with a sickeningly solid WHUMP! the man was sent crashing into his comrades. Those who weren't too badly damaged lurched towards Goku and the child, but were dealt sound cuts about the shoulders by the Nyoibou.
"Whaddya know? Hey, Hakkai!" Goku yelled. "These guys are pretty strong! The Nyoibou hasn't killed them yet!"
"Aa...I guess I was wrong just now, then," Hakkai beamed, casually kicking an advancing guard in the nuts and turning his sword's blade away with the back of his hand.
"Resistance is futile, sympathiser!" screeched the head guard, turning purple in the face. He raised his handgun and was about to shoot when there was a resounding report of a familiar Smith and Wesson somewhere on his right. The pistol flew in a beautiful arc out of his hand.
"Do you mind?" snapped a certain blonde monk. "I don't need two corpses on my hands at the moment."
++++++++++
* jitte -- also known as jutte, this is a type of dagger-like weapon. It isn't sharp, it's two-pronged and is a very good defensive weapon for trapping blades and fingers (ouch). I think modern Japanese police still carry them.
**In the original version, even the more minor gods were afraid of the Nyoibou for this reason. One blow would turn them into peanut butter, one tap would mark 'em for life.
And now, review thanks...
Rook -- Errrr...thank 'ee. Glad you think so.
real-circus -- Awwww, no Haku plushie? *gloom* You're going to Taiwan next? Spiffy. Glad you liked chapter 5--ity was fun creating the most icily polite evil dude I could think of. Gojyo's got the attitude to pull off the fighting back, and besides, I need some Gojyo angst for the fic to kick off the bloodbath...*cough* Thank you so much for waiting! Oh yeah! Update 'Baby Blues' and 'In The Days of Kouryu' soon!
L.L. Artemisan -- Glad you liked the last installment! Seiko's no Houran but I hafta admit she's better off with him (heh) than Jouji. When you're running along for several years chasing Gyuumaou, feeding a saru with a 500-year-old hole in his stomach and smoking cigarettes like they're harmless pieces of candy, you'd better worship your only danged source of cash. ;) Leetness, if you don't know about it it's safer not to ask. Oh yeah, and warui desu kedo but Jackie doesn't like HP. You've already seen the pic of Sanzo and HP she drew -- it was the one where namagusa bouzu flushes Gojyo's head down the toilet.
Zimus -- Yes, poor dear kappa indeed *giggle* I loved writing that drunken Gojyo arc. Glad you enjoyed it! ^_^
Kaylana -- ...And I don't trust this guy alone with ANYONE! *nii*
Ashura Akuma -- Glad I have another hooked reader ^_^ Don't worry about the ikkou, they can take care of themselves. ^_^ No, sorry, Seiko's already taken. Gojyo will get his slash in an upcoming fiction, if THAT ever gets finished. Even I can't imagine Hakkai wearing earrings -- in the original draft he had two and he looked like Kougaiji *shudder* I'm also happy you liked the flashbacks...they get harder and harder to write as time goes by because I ramble on and the chapter becomes more flashback than fic. Gojyo has VERY few sweet memories about his kaasan, unfortunately...as you will soon find out. :P
ayie@Hairi -- Glad you liked the fic so far. No, as outlined above it will NOT be Gojyo/OC. Yes, our kappa's quite a gentleman deep down, isn't he? ;)
Sanzo-ikkou: *snort* *giggle* *chuckle* *choke* GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Ooooo, go ahead and pull the OTHER leg, why don't ya!