Disclaimer: I would like to say that Gensoumaden Saiyuki does not belong to me at all. All characters honorably belong to Kazuya Minekura-san Sensei except for the storyline and the original characters that rightfully belong to me. The title "Love Potion No.9" is not mine too. I'm just borrowing it from a Hollywood movie.

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Ayie: Well…thanks GS-chan and Arista Niara for having reviewed the last chap. And gomen for taking a long…make it very long time, to upload this new chap. I was going crazy with all the assignments and classes that I hardly have time to write the fic. Lucky for me I got my own computer…or else… I might have to retire from FFNet for one whole semester…Yare yare desune! But don't worry as long as I'm alive this fic will continue…unless of course, it's the end ^__^

Hakkai: Well…we would like to thank GS-chan and Sk8er boi for having helped keeping ayie-san's feet back on the ground.             Aiko: Hai! A week ago, we really think she's going mad…and would decide to flee off from college…

Sanzo: Her parents had appointed me to take care of her and make sure she'll never give up…I promised them I'll whack her head if she ever think of fleeing away. harisen's ready in hand

Gojyo: Ah! No way I'm letting her go back to the peninsular…I'll kill her if she did. There were lots of pretty girls here and to hell I would want to leave this place.

Ayie: Oi urusei will ya? I'm keeping you illegal in here…if someone heard you, I might get kicked off as well…smacked Gojyo's head with her bag

Goku and Kazo: Harahetta….

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Love Potion no.9

Chapter 2

"Kazo?" Gojyo swallowed the word painfully.

The hanyou looked down to the bed and his gaze fell on the boy lying on it. The red fiery eyes of the boy reflected great pain and suffer, but yet it still gleamed with happiness at seeing the figures stood next to him. His paled lips uttered a silent word and curled up slightly. It seemed like smiling was a lot of pain to him when he flinched and the smile quickly faded away. The crimson red hair that used to be spiky was glued to his skull by the cold sweats. The once red rosy cheeks of his had turned out pale blue

Kazo tried to say something but what escaped from his mouth was a slow hiss. He gulped painfully and turned his gaze away with tears trickling down his cheeks. The young hanyou was no doubt disappointed of his disability to greet the ikkou, which he had missed for so long.

Aiko wiped the tears and caressed Kazo's head, sweeping away the sweats as she did so. The boy looked at her. She returned the pathetic look with a smile. Kazo once again faced the ikkou.

"I'm happy to see you again" the words were whispered away with slight hiss in between them. Kazo winced at the stabbing pain in his chest as soon as he finished uttering the remark. He groaned and stirred restlessly. This time the pain was so reluctant to go away. Kazo bit his lips and struggled hard to hold back the pain.

"Kazo…" Goku's voice trembled. He hopped onto the bedside and held Kazo's head. The latter's head burned furiously. It was so hot that Goku abruptly yanked his hand away. The young itan looked up to Aiko. "Aiko…what happened to him?" he started to get solemn. His eyes turned dreary and his body shook with sadness.

Sanzo and Hakkai studied Kazo's face. They didn't have to hear the story to know the boy was terribly sick. And from his condition, it was possible he's dying.

Gojyo was struck with grieve. He expected to meet the boy in his genki self, not in this condition where he was not able to even smile. The red headed sunk to Kazo's bedside. He looked at Aiko and his eyes sent the message that he demanded an explanation of the real situation.

Aiko lowered her eyes and turned away from Goku and Gojyo's gaze. Even Hakkai and Sanzo waited for her to explain everything. She was about to open her mouth when Kazo gave away a loud heart rending cry. The pain struck him and this time it was accompanied with a tremendous convulsion of his body. The boy gritted his teeth, tried to bear the pain with all his strength. His gripped the pillow underneath his head until his knuckle turned white.

"Kazo! Hold on kiddo!" Gojyo urged the boy as he cradled Kazo's head on one arm. The kid convulsed violently and the scream got louder each time it occurred. Goku hopped down the bed and slowly backed away. There was a sense of fear on his face. The young itan tugged at his caretaker's robe and clung at it without any word spoken.

Sanzo glanced down to Goku. The kid looked terribly frightened. He would have sworn that he never saw that much of fear on Goku's face before. The saru's face turned white and sweaty as if he too could feel Kazo's pain. Sanzo turned his gaze back at the wailing boy and looked at Aiko.

"Aiko…why don't you do something?" Sanzo asked, fuming at seeing Aiko sitting down by the bedside doing nothing to help ease her brother's pain.

"Do what?!" Aiko snapped back. She looked up to Sanzo with a face as pale as Kazo's. There's a smear of tears on the side of her eyes. "Neither my ki nor any medicine could ease the pain!" she cried, almost shouting and suddenly hung her head low.

"What do you mean?" Hakkai asked. He rushed to Kazo's bedside and tried to heal the young hanyou's pain with his ki. The green beam flowed from his palm and covered Kazo's forehead but then it did nothing. The ki didn't work a bit.

"It's useless" Aiko pointed out when Hakkai retreated his hand with shock expression on his face.

"I've tried using a ki before but the pain never cease" said Aiko as she caressed Kazo's head. Her hand trembled with cold. "It just worsened the pain" she explained. 

Gojyo fell silent at hearing the remark. He looked down to Kazo and suddenly lifted the boy in his arms. He nestled the boy in his cradle and hugged him tightly. The kappa sunk his face to Kazo's hair and rocked his body back and forth, as if he's putting the young hanyou to sleep.

"Gojyo?" Aiko stammered at Gojyo's act. She never expected that kappa to do that. Aiko knew that kind of tenderness would usually come from Hakkai… but from the half-breed man, it's almost a dream.

Gojyo didn't look up. He just kept quiet and still. Suddenly, the boy in his arms stopped crying and convulsing. His pain seemed to go away as soon as he settled in Gojyo's cradle. Gojyo stopped rocking his body and stared down to the boy's face. Kazo had fallen asleep with his hands still clinging to Gojyo's shirt.

Sanzo, Hakkai, Aiko and Goku gawped at the scene. They could not believe their eyes. Gojyo had actually stopped Kazo's pain and put the boy to a rest in his sleep? Even Hakkai was surprised. He knew Gojyo liked children but he never knew Gojyo had so much affection towards Kazo.

"Gojyo…" Aiko tried to reach for Kazo but Gojyo lifted up his face and gave Aiko a look that made the girl retreated her hand. She looked straight into the crimson eyes of the kappa and nodded silently. "Very well then… feel free to join us at the dining hall downstairs if you are hungry" she said as she rose up from the bedside and backed away slowly. She stood by Hakkai's side.

"Let's have our lunch" Aiko chirped merrily as she looked at Hakkai and soon grabbed Goku's hand into her own. She coaxed the boy through the door and then walked out of the room. Sanzo and Hakkai followed her a little later.

Hakkai closed the door softly behind him. Still, he stole a glance and peeked inside the room trough the shutting door. Gojyo was in the exact same position. Serenity fell upon his friend's face. Hakkai let out a slight smile as he pulled the door closed firmly.

"Aiko?" Sanzo stared at the girl whose back was facing him. She still held Goku's hand in hers. Hakkai walked to Sanzo's side and joined the monk in studying the girl's back. Hakkai knew well that Aiko tried to hold back her fear of losing someone she loved so much and he knew Sanzo knew that too.

"You don't have to keep it inside you know?" Hakkai said faintly. He knew nothing could be said to please the girl's disturbed mind. A slight mistake would only make Aiko crashed down at instant.

"I won't lose him" Aiko uttered, almost whispering. She turned her head and smiled to the blonde monk and the dark-haired man. Then she gazed down to Goku. "We won't lose him Goku…don't you worry" she assured as she ruffled Goku's hair.

The affirmative tone in Aiko's voice and the confidence in her eyes made Goku's hope revived. He nodded eagerly and smiled heartily. Aiko sighed with relief. At least that smile gave her a peace of mind. The exhaustion faded away at instant at seeing the smile again.

"Let's go and get you your meal" Aiko pushed the boy's back softly and made him walk towards the stairs.

"Yay!!" Goku shouted happily as he descended the stairs, skipping and jumping playfully.

Hakkai smiled at seeing Goku but then his smile disappeared as his eyes met Aiko's sapphire. Although the girl tried to hide her sadness and fear underneath the fake smile, her attempt was proven futile since the negative feeling was clearly shown in her eyes. Eyes couldn't lie and that's what made her smile meaningless, at least not to the kids.

"Anou…ikimaska?" Aiko asked. She tilted her head to one side and smiled again. Aiko almost looked like a ten year old who tried to plead her parents to buy her a bunny doll. Sanzo grunted. That face reminded her of young Reika, so naïve and silly, but yet so sweet.

Hakkai held out one arm and let Aiko slid hers upon it. He smiled, at least to keep her mind at peace, and headed towards the stairs. The monk quietly tailed them.

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"You mean almost half of the kids were sick from this disease called 'red death'?" Hakkai asked Aiko, who stood next to him, pouring the limejuice inside his glass. The girl nodded, making the strands of raven black shook aimlessly with her head. The strands flailed back and forth softly.

"We were assigned to look after the kids as soon as we got here but unfortunately, Kazo's immune tend to be weak at that time since he's having a flu" Aiko explained. She scooped out a cup of ice cream and handed it to Goku. Goku received the treat with a merry 'sankyu na'. The boy hastily gobbled up the desert.

"He was inflicted with the disease after a couple of days and because of his flu… the disease seemed to give him the worst effect than the other kids" Aiko handed a glass of limejuice to Sanzo but the monk politely turned it down with a slight movement of his hand. "The kids will die in a couple of days if we couldn't find the cure" she put the glass back into the trail.

Aiko made her way towards the fireplace and settled herself on a couch. Sanzo and Hakkai joined her and gathered around her. Sanzo sunk himself into an armchair and anchored his head with one hand. He stared at the blazing fire in the fireplace. Goku appeared right in front of him as soon as he turned to look at the dining table. The boy sat cross-legged on the carpet down at his feet. Goku was so occupied at finishing his ice cream that he cared less about the conversation among the elders around him. Harkuryuu and Nimmiku on the other hand, helped Goku cleaned himself by licking the smear of ice cream on his cheek.

Hakkai sat down on the couch next to Aiko. He leant against the comfy couch and sighed. "Have you found the cure?" he asked as he threw himself upwards and looked at Aiko's face.

Aiko nodded. "The only cure was the water from the ancient well in Okadia… I was on my way to get the water when I found you" Aiko gazed at the fireplace and studied the flame that blazed furiously, burning the firewood to ashes. The air was a little bit still. No other sound was available except the crackling sound of the fire burning the stack of firewood in the fireplace.

"A cure from the water of a well? What's so special about this well anyway?" asked Sanzo, superstition didn't get so well with his ideology.

"It supposed to be a sacred well of Okadia's townsfolk… red death was first found in Okadia and the only way to cure it is to drink the water from the well" Aiko explained. "I don't know why the water turned out to be a curing aid…but it was said that five hundreds years ago, Goddess of Love had laid her hands upon the well and shed her tears into its water" she scratched her head with confusion.

"Goddess of Love?" Hakkai had heard the name being mentioned before but it was long ago, before Kannan died.

"It was the goddess that made people believed a kiss could cure everything" Goku explained briefly. "That's why your kiss had cured Aiko… am I right Sanzo?" Goku looked at Sanzo, proud of his statement.

"Ch! Baka!" Sanzo murmured. He was in no mood to whack the boy's head right now, so he guessed he owed the kid one.

"She was said to grieve and to weep upon her fate at the very well… I think that megumi-sama didn't really enjoyed her post as Goddess of Love" she sunk into the warmth of the couch and closed her eyes, tried to give her tangling mind a rest. "I'm going back there again tomorrow"

"I'm going with you" a voice penetrated the air as a figure advanced into view. He appeared from behind the door and leaned lazily against it. The man combed his crimson hair to the back.

"If you insist…" Aiko smiled as she snapped her eyes opened.

"Yare yare… looks like we don't have any choice other than going ne Sanzo?" Hakkai smiled merrily and that made the monk surrendered into approval.

Aiko pushed herself upwards. "But you must know that the town was not fond of receiving a male visitors" Aiko warned.

Gojyo made his way to the fireplace and joined Goku on the carpet. He lied down on his side and propped on one elbow. The half-breed flicked a cigarette in between his lips and lit it. As he inhaled, the tip of the cigarette gleamed with yellowish orange light.

"What do you mean they don't accept male visitors?" asked Gojyo, rather confused with the remark. Sanzo turned his head, glanced away from the fireplace and fixed his gaze at Aiko.

"They'll kill any male who entered the town" Aiko said, without answering the kappa's question.

"Why is that?" Gojyo's cigarette almost fell down and burnt the carpet before he hastily tossed it away into the fireplace.

"They are all females"

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The ikkou jaw dropped at hearing the answers. "NANI?!!!" was the word that escaped their mouth.

Aiko smiled. She had expected that kind of respond. The sapphire-eyed girl raised her shoulders and chuckled slightly. "I know that sounds weird but the townspeople were all females… no male including the animals" she explained. "Any male who went into their town will be slaughtered to merciless death" she put one finger under her chin and made a slashing mode across the neck.

"Erk?!" Goku held hid neck with both hands and gulped nervously. "Nande yo?" he asked, rather perplexed.

"Ch! They are only women… wait till they meet a man like me" Gojyo brushed his hair to the back, the remark of his hentai self.

Aiko shrugged. "I'm a woman and do you think I'm weak?" she asked with a raging tone. It was clear that she's not very fond of woman being claimed as 'only women'.

Gojyo raised his brows. 'Okay…I'm wrong'. He had no doubt that Aiko was not 'only women'; she was far from 'only women'.

"The people of Okadia were all fighters, some were as best as you are" Aiko explained, rather sarcastically. She glared at Gojyo from the corner of her eyes. "If you ever intend to sleep with them…well, think again… any man who had slept with them, woke up dead the day after"

Gojyo sweat dropped. 'Well…better forget about seducing them right away'

Sanzo smirked at hearing Aiko's words. Finally the kappa will suffer of hunger for love. "Hope you'll survive kappa" he said devilishly.

"K'so!" Gojyo pouted. 'Damn this mister worldly monk!'

"Well…if there were no men…" Hakkai's brows connected as his forehead twitched. "How do the people in Okadia managed to last for centuries?" the emerald-eyed man looked a little bit confused.

"Do you mean how they keep their generations last?" Aiko asked and the latter man nodded. "Well…there's another town about two miles from Okadia which its townspeople were all men" she said, grinning menacingly.

The ikkou jaw dropped for the second time.

"This town called Keioka… and it takes about three hours to get there by foot" Aiko explained. "Keioka and Okadia's people were actually from the same town called Keiokadia…something that happened in the past that caused them to separate themselves into two town" she studied the distorted faces in front of her.

"And let me guess… this townspeople of Keioka would never tolerate to any female visitors?" Sanzo made a wild guess as he looked at his 'sister's' face.

The girl nodded in approval. "Once in a full moon… the men from Keioka would come into the town of Okadia and sleep with their partners" Aiko's face showed disgust and hatred. "Each of them were actually married…if the future offspring was a girl, she will be left at Okadia and if it's the other way around, the father would take him away to Keioka" she would never understand why there could be such insanity of having to part away a married couple from each other or any infants from any of its parents.

"What a nonsense?!" Hakkai looked outraged even though his face didn't suggest it. During Aiko's storytelling, his smile never appeared into view. That suggested that he was not fond of the story he's listening to.

"That was the only time any male were allowed to enter the town…if any of Keioka's men come to the town other than that time, they will be slaughtered to death by their own partners, sisters or parents" Aiko added with a fuming tone in her delicate voice. "The men must came at the time said and left when the first horn being blown or else…" Aiko didn't finish the last sentence but the ikkou would have guessed it right.

"You mean… a mother would kill his own son, a sister killed her own brother, a wife murdered her husband if he came in the town other than that night?" Gojyo asked bewilderedly.

Aiko nodded frantically. Her answer made the ikkou frowned with disgust. "And it was the other way around in Keioka… it was a sorry since no one can stop them because every one of them were actually innocent, they were just being bind by the old custom and the rules of their king and queen"

"This remind me of the *Amazon's people in ancient Greek" said Hakkai, reading was his habit and he remembered of having came across the same story from a legend during the ancient Greek period.

Aiko smiled. "Glad you know… yes, they were the same" she exclaimed in an amusing tone but rather cynical. Hakkai stooped forward and anchored his chin on one fist. He sighed as he shook his head with disbelief.

"That's why I stopped you from going into the town" Aiko explained of her action before. "It was far from full moon and you cannot outlast a bunch of innocent women who just obliging the rule of their town… you have no choice" she rose up and walked to the fireplace.

"If the safest time to get in the town was only in full moon night… how are we going to find the sutra and moreover, the cure of the Red Death?" Gojyo inquires the answer as soon as possible. 'Well…it's okay if he could not seduce any of the woman there and lose a great opportunity to quench his thirst for love, but he could not tolerate about not able to get the cure for Kazo'. "I mean… okay the sutra can wait but how about the kids?" he looked at Sanzo with alert for he feared if the shoureijuu would make its appearance as the result of his excuse for the sutra.

Sanzo didn't even grunted for his remark. Gojyo let out a deep breath.

"He's right" Hakkai agreed with Gojyo. Sometime that kappa knew how to make sense of what he's saying. "If we wait for the next full moon… the kids won't make it till that time" the dark-haired youkai rubbed his temple. Judging on Kazo's condition, he doubted that the hanyou would last till the next couple of days.

"We got like four days to get the cure" suddenly Kei appeared in the room, wiping his hands with a white towel. He just came out from the quarantine room, where they kept the sick children to be treated and to be quarantined from the other healthy kids. The bold youkai spent his time around the clock in the room, treating the kids and looking for the remedy to alleviate the pain. "A little more time than that will cost us their lives" Kei sank himself to the couch next to Sanzo.

"There must be a way of how we can get into the town unnoticed?" Goku looked at Aiko and Kei. "We can't let Kazo dies" there's a tremble in his voice as he uttered the refusal. He thought they got no way to cure Kazo and he started to fear.

Aiko kneeled in front of Goku and took the boy into her arms. "Daijoubu da yo Goku… Kazo will be all right" Aiko assured. She had lost Kazo's genki and no way she's risking herself to lose Goku's. "I'm a woman… I can get into the town without being harm"

"Aiko…I've said it that I'm going with you" Gojyo insisted. This is a task he must be involved with. "After all… we can't wait till the next full moon which is in about twelve days… to get the sutra" he really wanted to go and having the risk of being killed by a bunch of anti-male residents was not an excuse for him to break a promise he made to Kazo a moment ago.

Kei shook his head back and forth. "May be you need their assistance Aiko, since the queen of Okadia would never tolerate any strangers who came near the sacred well" Kei said as he looked at Aiko.

Hakkai, Sanzo and Gojyo were astonished to hear Kei's suggestion. They abruptly turned their heads toward Aiko. The elders of the ikkou gawped at the girl. 'This girl was risking her own life to get the cure… and now tried to prevent us from risking our lives?'

"But Kei-ji-san…how?" Aiko gave away a worried glance.

"There's a way for the ikkou to enter the town unnoticed" Kei said as he leant back to the couch. "But it needs a little sacrifice from you boys…" he studied every faces of the young men before him.

The ikkou exchanged glances and turned their gaze to Kei, who smiled meaningfully. That youkai definitely had something playing in his mind.

To be continue…

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*During the ancient Greek, the period of Zeus, there's a myth about a tribe called the Amazon tribe. The tribe consists of women and no men. The Amazon tribe were said to be a great fighter whom no man can defeat them. They were said to be stronger and smarter than a male. Even the great Hercules approved their strength and avoided a fight with any of the Amazon women. Great huh?

Ayie: Wah! Completed chapter two… I know I got less review from any new readers, but I don't mind since I got my faithful readers here. GS-chan, Fuuei-chan, Arista Niara and sk8er boi… thanks minna-san. Well, I don't think any new readers would ever willing to read the prequel "Surviving Life" since it's a very loooonnggg story…Phew! Any new readers out there…if you ever came across this fic and read it…thanks ne? ^__^

Hakkai: Ayie-san, how are you feeling right now?

Ayie: Huh?! I'm fine now since I finally tuned myself back into university life after 3 months holidays at home…wei..it's not my fault right for having been at home for months and finally found it difficult to adapt to college life again. It's the damn university's fault!!! bit the draft for Love Potion no.9 furiously Grrr….

Aiko: slapped head in disbelief She's still mad about coming back here…

Sanzo: At least she had found the best of friends in some of the readers out there and in her new roommate…Ami.

Gojyo: Talking about Ami… do you think she'll ever go out for a date with me?

Ami: Never! Nonsense! Ridiculous! Over my dead body!! Shi—ne!!!

Gojyo: Guess not… hunched shoulder and sweat dropped

Goku: Served you right kappa! After all…she's a great martial artist…you'll die in her hand if you insisting of her going out with you.         Kazo: BWAHAHA…at seeing Ami kicking Gojyo on the butt