DISCLAIMER: Drive, drive, drive your Jeep, gently to the West; If I ever own these four, try to look impressed...
Whoa, this chapter is super long. I think I got a little carried away...and I still had to carry stuff forward to the next chapter! *grumble grumble*
Bear in mind that things get a bit strange here...I mean, our Buddhist high priest Genjo Sanzo marrying a couple in a CHURCH?Beware also his sadistically OOC side.
DANGER
Kiken
A small bird perched upon a tree by the the dirt road heard voices below it and cocked its head. It wasn't familiar with the tongue of the wingless ones, but it was kind of nice to hear them chatter on. There were two males there--one of them barely a fledgeling, the other already the age where any respectable wingless one should be settling down with a nest of his own. Nestmates, by the looks of them, though.
"...Baka ja nain da yo, aniki!" came the slightly higher pipes of the fledgeling. He was clutching to his chest an armful of scarlet blossoms that stood out against the weak sunlight like living flame.
"Well, any BAKA knows if you squish the flowers like that they'll be half-dead by the time we get home!" the older male grumbled. After a while, though, he spoke again. "To tell you the truth, Gojyo...I'm very happy."
"Heh?"
"...It's a great feeling, you know...not having to watch out for you against ofukuro all the time. I can concentrate on other things better, like getting on your nerves...!"
"Oi! Argh, Jien-aniki!"
...Wingless ones could never say ANYTHING plainly...
"But even so, na...I'm happy too," the fledgeling replied. "Obienakute mo ii. I don't have to be afraid of kaasan any more." He hugged the flowers a little tighter. "I don't want her to cry when she looks at me again either. I want her to smile and..." A puzzled frown crossed his features. "...Y'know aniki, I don't think I've ever heard her laugh before."
"Then whad'ja waiting for then? Run on ahead and give her the flowers already!" the elder one said with a laugh and a slap to the back. The fledgeling staggered, stopped, looked back and stuck his tongue out at his nestmate. "Fine! Since you don't wanna say that you bought the flowers too!" He then broke into a run, laughing gaily.
"Oi! Kono baka-gaki!" (You stupid brat!) yelled the elder one, then shrugged and let the fledgeling run on ahead towards the house down the dirt road. A smile crossed his features for a brief moment. The yellow bird chirped softly to itself, feeling that there would be something good going on although it didn't know why or how.
It was proved very much mistaken when about five minutes on, a child's voice rent the morning air. The bird's blood turned to ice in its veins, as did the older male's.
"Kaasan, onegai, I'm begging you, stop!..."
Jien swore and broke into a dead run.
++++++++++
Genjou Sanzou had no idea what he was doing here in Weishan, sweating to death in his robes, chewing on a still-unlit cigarette and wearing his daft gold-crown-with-a-ridiculous-veil kinkan, waiting to marry two people he didn't even know. The guests strolling into the church had enough discretion to not stare at him--no, they just HAD to sneak furtive, poorly-hidden glances and whisper loudly behind their hands. His little act on the streets yesterday had doubtlessly not endeared him to the population. Studying his fingernails intently and pretending not to notice, Sanzo set his mind to work analysing the whole situation and how it all fit together.
He couldn't say he thought much of You Jouji; he was an even bigger ass than himself. To torture a demon was one thing--to torture a human who gave a demon sympathy was another. _Not fit to be human OR demon,_ the monk thought bitterly. Lang Ying seemed to have a particularly deep-seated grudge against the whole city, although he was not quite sure why. The only thing that he could see motivating Ying was his love (very quickly substituted by obsession, thought Sanzo) for Seiko. Seiko herself seemed an all right lass, but to confide in Gojyo was definitely not a sign of good taste.
Speaking of which, what was the half-demon up to this time? There was a gleam of determination in his eyes that Sanzo recognised as something he'd seen in their crimson depths just a little before the 'Kami-sama' incidents.* Very dangerous. It usually meant that Gojyo had his heart set on defending something, whether it truly needed defence or not.
If those incidents were anything to judge by, it usually ended in a lot of physical pain for all involved too.
It was then that You Jouji appeared, dressed even more nattily than usual. His expression reminded Sanzo of a cat with its paws in the cream, but the priest decided to exercise discretion for now and righted his kinkan.
"Is everything ready, then?" Sanzo very quickly stubbed out the freshly-lit cigarette, cursing profusely under his breath all the while.
"Naturally, Sanzo-sama. My fiancee will be here shortly." As if called, Seiko appeared at the door of the church. Another frisson of apprehension ran through the crowd as they realised who was walking her up the isle.
Let us just say that you need the bride's father, or a good representative, to walk the bride up -- and Hakkai was that unlucky person. He felt a little apprehensive, considering he could recognise some of the people in the crowd from yesterday's bun fiasco. Oh dear. He looked at Seiko for a minute, and his smile became a little strained.
"Ah, what a beautiful bride you make, Seiko. Come, strike up the piano," he said to the lady sitting at the instrument at the fore of the church. She nodded, placed her feet on the pedals and began to play. Slowly, the bride walked up the aisle. The crowd murmured appreciatively, all smiles.
"She's pretty, isn't she?"
"I love the dress. It looks so exquisite."
"I heard it was made from silk imported from the Golden Chersones..."
Typical. Sanzo's jaded ears let all the talk wash by until he heard a boy's frantic whisper of "Mommy, her cheek..."
"Hush, child. It doesn't matter."
Sanzo now noticed a little glint of anger in Cho Hakkai's eyes, not very noticeable unless you'd known the man for quite a length of time. The reason? Not even the thickest make-up could hide the purple-black bruise flowering across the left side of her face.
++++++++++
"Let me go!!!" wailed Hong Zhen Ji pitifully, kicking and struggling against the burly guard's grip. His response was a growl and a furious blow across the face.
"Be silent, you little half-breed!" snarled the man, marching steadily towards the church. "You-sama's going to be VERY pleased. It's been a while since anybody was given the Mark."
Zhen Ji's eyes widened. "The Mark? Like you did to my otousan? No! You're all mean people! I won't let you do it to me either!" Swinging around quickly, Zhen Ji sank his teeth into the guard's arm.
Half-demons may be able to keep their human form, but their dental health was very much comparable to demons.
The guard yowled, more from surprise than pain at feeling eight sharp incisors cut into his wrist, and dropped the boy unceremoniously onto the ground. Zhen Ji ignored the burning pain in his behind, struggled frantically to his feet and made a break for it...straight towards the church.
++++++++++
"Sanzo-sama, why do you stare so intently at my bride's face?" You cut in smoothly.
Sanzo's face hardened slightly, thoughts falling into place with sudden clarity. Hakkai answered for the both of them.
"I suppose, You-sama," he said in a clear, cool voice, "that it is a quaint Weishan custom to swat the bride on the cheek just before she gets married?"
The crowd's attention was now drawn away from the glitz and glitter of the gown to the ugly mark upon Seiko's face, and those who had seen it earlier could no longer pretend they hadn't. The front rows shifted uneasily in their seats.
You drew himself up a little straighter. "What goes on in my household, Cho-san, is not your concern."
"Ah yes, but of course," Sanzo said with a calm yet vicious smile he hadn't used since his capture by Lianli. "It's not our problem. And it is still not our problem should you choose to cripple her or kill her...perhaps have her stoned in public?" Sanzo added tartly as he gave Jouji a piercing glance with his unusual gentian eyes. The younger man swallowed, despite himself. "If it gives you all happiness," Sanzo addressed the crowd, "then go on as you are. Live in ignorance. Live and smile and be happy as the demons outside your walls are dying of hunger and cold. Live in fear of the small child who once gave a starving man food. Oops, sorry, gave a starving demon food. That makes all the difference, doesn't it? Such a crime compassion is to you all. What a pity." The crowd mumbled uncomfortably. Some began to look a little cross.
You resisted the almighty urge to grab Sanzo by the collar. "Sanzo-sama, this is neither the place nor the time to discuss such matters. This is an auspicious day."
"For you, perhaps, because it ties this women to you as something of your own. A toy, if I may be so bold, just another fixture in your life." Deep down somewhere inside, Sanzo was actually enjoying his sadistic little self. "But, as you wish. You Jouji, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and honour, in sickness and death, through richer and poorer, till death do you part?"
"Yes, I do," Jouji answered very quickly, sending Seiko a look that would have made a demon nauseous.
"And do you, Yaku Seiko..." Sanzo paused and looked right at her, asking with his eyes for the truth she had so long kept hidden. "Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and honour, in sickness and death, through richer and poorer, till death do you part?"
"I..." Seiko looked up at Sanzo for a fleeting second. He looked right back, his eyes not betraying a trace of emotion. "I cannot."
"WHAT?!" roared Jouji. The crowd, too, went half-insane.
"Richer or poorer, in sickness or in health--in these I can have him and hold him. But I cannot take him as my husband, willing as he may be...because I do not love him." She looked up at the crowd. "I do not love him!" she cried out again, the words like a release.
Sanzo heard the distinctive thuds of bodies hitting the floor in dead faints.
Now Jouji really couldn't resist the urge. "You...! What have you done to my fiancée, Sanzo?!"
"He has done nothing," Hakkai cut in, in Jouji's face in an instant. "Bear in mind that we had little contact with her oer the past few days. If anyone is to blame, You Jouji," he said, raising his voice, "it is you. You and your father, who trapped her and tried to break her, to make her bend to your will and your will alone. I don't think you have even a jot of intention to follow those vows you just recited. You've been too used to ordering her around for almost all of your miserable life. You can never--force--love."
That was about the closest Hakkai let Cho Gonou come to the surface that day.
"And you--all of you sitting here--you too are to blame," Sanzo pressed on. "Are you all so bloody blind that you could not see beyond his words' thin veneer? Kept you in safety he and Mozubane have done, but he has made you fear what need not be feared, hate what need not be hated, shun what need not be shunned. This is why I travel towards the West, to make sure that this fear can be eliminated--and people like you will gain the least benefit from it, because all of you are too scared to mix with demons even before the Minus Wave occured. Heck, you may even start the cycle all over again. Look, demons are stupid, but not that brainless. You only create more resentment for yourself this way."
At this point in time, two things could have happened. the crowd could have risen up in an angry mob and slaughtered Sanzo and Hakkai for such blasphemy, true as it was. They were too set in their ways for a change to be effected with one sermon. That, however, would have meant the end of the Journey West. What did happen was a small, compact entity of flesh and bone flung the doors open.
"Oniisan! They're after me--!"
All at once, the hostility whipped round towards a certain taboo child called Hong Zhen Ji. "Demon!!!" a throaty roar rose from the crowd. Zhen Ji stiffened. Boy, had he taken a wrong turn.
The atmosphere of piety turned quickly into bloodlust. Zhen Ji saw Sanzo and Hakkai, the only familiar faces in the sea of hate, and darted towards him. He tried furiously to escape, to reach sanctuary, but a guard grabbed him by the leg and hoisted him upside down. He cried out more in fear than in pain.
"Zhen Ji!" Sanzo choked the cry of outrage down in his throat.
"Hold him up like that, Ryouhou!" Jouji laughed. "It appears there will be another Dark Mark bestowed today."
"That's enough, Jouji! He's only a child!"
"Let the child go, You!"
"SILENCE, WOMAN! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK!"
"Oniiiisaaaaaaannn!"
Bang! Slam! Crash!
"Put my brother down if you don't want to get hurt."
The words were delivered at only a slightly louder volume than usual, but the whole crowd fell silent. They recognised two of the Sanzo's companions, and a stranger with eyes and hair as blood-red as the child they held hostage.
"Lang Ying!" Seiko cried.
"Hong Lang Ying?" Jouji spluttered. A thin, icy mask crept over his features, and his cold, stone grey eyes smiled at Lang Ying. "You have guts, Hong Lang Ying," to come back after I banished you and your miserable father so long ago. You want this brat? Come and get him. Pull, Ryouhou."
Ryouhou chucked Zhen Ji up into the air like a clay pigeon. And Jouji drew his silver gun from his long, blue and gold jacket, and fired.
*
*part of a manga story arc that didn't get into the anime. Suffice it to say that Kami-sama is one evil bastard and Gojyo couldn't stand his presence, so off he tromped on his little kappa self to kill him.
And now, review thanks...
ayie -- A LITTLE carried away? ;) If this goes on, I'd better make a
small omake dedicated to all the people who want to kill Jouji...hey,
that's an idea. Reviewers who don't like You Jouji, send in ideas on how you
wish to see him die. And bear in mind also, there ARE fates worse than
death...
Gojyo: *twitch* I feel ILL...
real-circus -- BINGO! ^_^ There there, I hate him too...You can give
him as many punches as you want. See the above reviewer feedback.
Gojyo: ...After I'm done with him. *cracks knuckles*
Fortunata--sankyuu!