*looks on FF.Net* Hmmm. There isn't a single GojyoxHouran fiction here. *Google* There isn't a single GoHou fic on GOOGLE SEARCH! Tsk! That has to change! *rolls up sleeves* M2000 presents…
Shinku no En: The Crimson Bond
by UltraM2000
Disclaimer: Don't own Saiyuki…yet. Wholesome, fluffy goodness, M2000 style, and slight PWPness. Yaoi fans go away, this is S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T. It would help to have knowledge of Saiyuki: Requiem, especially the ending, before reading this piece.
Thoughts, flashbacks, emphasis and Japanese (or non-italic, if the thoughts etc. are in a flashback)
"You said you wanted to live! If that's the case, then run!"
"When the wind stops, finish him. I was happy here…even though I was a taboo child, my father still loved me…"
And you, Gojyo-san…you gave me the best gift I could ever wish for. My hope…and my life…
"Gojyo-san…arigatou…"
"Houran! Stop!! HOURAN!!!" [1]
The crimson-haired maid stirred and opened her eyes after what felt like forever, looking from side to side frantically. An inky blackness surrounded her completely, and she felt the first flutterings of fear in her breast.
Where am I? she thought fearfully, shivering. It's so dark and cold here…neither Tenkai nor Hell…
"I hope you've slept well, little one," purred a smooth and all too familiar voice. Houran felt her blood turn to ice. Her master Go Dougan was standing before her, expression still calm and superior as ever.
"Thought you could betray me, did you, girl? Kono ama!" [2] Dougan struck her a backhand to the cheek, and she fell over with a pained cry. "You had best put aside any and all notions of running away from me. This is my world now, OUR world, and you are but a part of it. Something I can control…something I can destroy." He snapped his fingers, and Houran felt the familiar jerk of the charm he'd planted in her chest, just below the heart. Without warning, one of her arms was wrenched behind her back. She bit back a yelp of pain, determined that she would not give her former master the pleasure of hearing her cry.
"Not enough pain yet for you?" He made a pass through the air with his hands, and her arm was wrenched back further. " Do you know where this is, child? Avici, the endless hell. I took you along with me when I died. Be good and stay with me, and you shall come to no harm. Turn against me once more, and I shall let you rot with the others. I made you what you are, Houran. I let you live all those years ago. I can destroy you completely, turn you into just another wandering soul…like them."
The man withdrew his control over her body for the moment as he gestured into the blackness. Now Houran could hear the low moans of tortured souls around her as they groped blindly for escape. They drew close to Dougan, gurgling and groaning and fumbling for the hem of his robes. There was a glint of madness in their eyes.
"See how powerful I am now? With these poor souls on my side, even Sanzo-sama himself cannot escape me. Soon, I shall seek revenge, Houran, and you, my beautiful orchid, shall help me do it." He chucked her under the chin affectionately, and laughed a deep and contented laugh.
Houran thought she would go quite insane. Even in death, she could not escape the grasp of Go Dougan. For a brief second, the face of a young man with two scars scored across his cheek flashed through her field of vision.
Gojyo-san, gomen…it wasn't meant to turn out this way…
"…!!!"
Gojyo's crimson eyes flew wide open and he choked back a shocked gasp upon his sudden awakening. He had learnt long ago to wake quietly from a nightmare in order to avoid the wrath of an embittered stepmother who wanted her sleep. Dawn was breaking over the distant hills, the sky lightening rapidly outside with wispy clouds flecking the sky like faint streaks of paint. It had been one of those steamy summer nights Tougenkyou liked to throw at her inhabitants, and the half-demon was naked from the chest upwards, but the sweat upon his tanned skin was a cold one and he clutched at his shoulders as if the mercury had plunged precipitously.
Cold and dark and lonely…I remember somewhere cold and dark and lonely…
It took some time to remember where he was as he stared around him. It hadn't been long before that the walls that sheltered him were whitewashed, smudged and cracked, surrounding meagre, cold concrete floor space—these ones were painted a faint delft blue, and cool, smooth faux-wood tiling met his feet as he eased his legs towards the ground. He had the Sanbutsushin to thank for the new apartment.
After the four had reached Tenjiku, kicked the mother-loving crap out of Gyuumaou and ensured his slumber for the next cycle of eternity, the holy Three Aspects had rewarded them for a job well done with a gold credit card each, much like Sanzo's. Sanzo got an upgrade to a platinum card. They covered most of the major expenses, but Sanzo had warned them that the Aspects could be very tetchy about anything unnecessary or unexpected on the bill.
"Thanks for the warning," he had said to the monk. "Rather unexpected, coming from you."
"I'm only telling you because they make ME pay for the surplus," Sanzo had retorted.
Truth be told, three of them had been rewarded, at least—Goku didn't receive a credit card as he was still considered Sanzo's ward. The blonde had fumed for days on end at being referred to as the guardian of that pest of a boy, but Gojyo put that amusing image from his mind for a while; there were better things to think about.
He tried to recap as objectively as he could. For the past two years since they had returned to Chouan, the nightmares had come to him. They were rare occurrences at first, and had struck whenever he found himself thinking about events of the past, but the visions had become more and more frequent in the past few weeks. It had now been four times within four days he'd dreamt of Houran.
He thought he'd managed to put his memories of the young lady behind him—it hadn't been easy. After all, it is not often you meet half-demons on the road to Tenjiku. It becomes more mind-blowing when you find out she was turned into a living shikigami by the same man who killed her clan in a single night. Things get even dodgier when you realise that she is a beautiful, kind, and caring young lady with a large and open heart, and that she's like you, half-demon, crimson eyes and crimson hair and the label of taboo. Look in those eyes, and see the emptiness of solitude. You know that feeling all too well, the way it gnaws at the corners of your heart and twists at your guts. You had wanted to tell her that she was not alone, that she would have…you. You to hold her close against the cold, to make sure no one would come near her any more, to take her in your arms and…
Gojyo stopped there. His imagination was taking a pleasant ramble down Hentai Road, but he really wasn't in the mood now. That said a lot, for a man bestowed the charming nickname of erogappa [3]; emphasis on the ero bit. He decided a good face wash would do him a world of good and rose from his bed.
Several splashes of icy cold water later, he was feeling marginally better. The man in his late twenties allowed himself a glance in the mirror and winced slightly. His rogue's face hadn't aged visibly—must be something about his hybrid blood—but the bags under his eyes were big enough to fit a week's shopping in them. The ladies weren't going to like that, nossir bob, even if he was one of the century's four unsung heroes. He cupped his chin in his hand pensively and thought, looking at his reflection in the mirror.
I have never believed in that thing called love--not since I was a wee brat, anyway. I don't understand--why is it I am dreaming of her more and more often know, when we knew each other for too short a time to make any impression? he wondered. I definitely need to get my sex life back. The women need their Casanova back on the streets again. End of story, no?
End of story, no, indeed.
"Good morning, Gojyo," came a merrily chirruped greeting. Hakkai, Gojyo's flatmate and close confidante, was already up and out of bed, perky and cheerful as usual and cooking up a storm. "Eggs over-easy, hard or in between?"
"Hard. Very hard, garcon," Gojyo drawled, downing his coffee in a single gulp. "With two tomatoes. And hold the toast."
"Hai, hai…"
The two men ate their breakfast in silence, Hakkai feeding his pet dragon Hakuryuu little bits of bacon off his plate. Gojyo smiled thinly, watching master and pet try to divide a fried tomato between them. Dragons liked tomatoes, apparently. The half-demon stirred his eggs around his plate to give the illusion he was eating.
"Gojyo…it's not like you to pick at your food. Is something the matter?" Hakkai's soft, polite enquiry pierced through his haze.
So much for illusions. Gojyo delayed his answer effectively by stuffing a quarter of a fried egg into his mouth and making a great show of chewing. "You remember Houran, don't ya?" he replied after he'd swallowed.
"Go Dougan's shikigami, am I correct?" Hakkai asked. Gojyo's silent nod confirmed it. "Does this perhaps have something to do with the happenings back then?"
"Maa na—sort of," Gojyo shrugged, leaning back in his chair and stirring his eggs around the plate again. "I've been dreaming about her for the past few nights. Look at these eyes! I'm getting less sleep than Sanzo-sama! It's the same thing every time—I see her sacrificing herself for us against Dougan again, and then everything turns black and cold…so much so that when I wake up I still feel like a block of ice. Bloody freaky, man, BLOODY freaky."
"Yes, that is strange," murmured Hakkai, "because I know that despite all your faults, you aren't one to dwell on the past…much," he tacked on. "And you are definitely not a necrophile."
Before the half-demon could retort, there was a series of high notes from the red Nokia 3310 handphone [4] lying on the kitchen counter. Gojyo got up from his seat, snatched the phone and glanced at the screen. One eyebrow quirked up in surprise. "It's from bouzu," he muttered, and answered. Hakkai blinked, a little surprise. What was Sanzo doing, calling them up so early in the morning?
"For the love of Kannon, can't a man have his breakfast in peace without having to deal with a corrupted ol' namagusa bouzu and his bakazaru?" Gojyo greeted the monk on the other end of the line in stock fashion. "What is it now? Uh huh. What? NOW? I know it's not polite to keep them waiting, I mean, why?! Ch', fine, fine, I'll be there as soon as I and Hakkai're finished with breakfast. N. Ja," Gojyo muttered curtly. Hanging up, he jammed the phone into the back of his pocket and set into the rest of his breakfast.
"What did Sanzo have to say?" Hakkai asked, clearing away the breakfast dishes with an efficiency that never failed to impress his companion.
"Funnily enough," said Gojyo, pouring himself a second mug of coffee and draining it to the black, bitter dregs, "that the Sanbutsushin wish to consult us on a matter of grave importance."
"Oh?"
"Some kinda shit like that."
"I see. Ne, Gojyo."
"Hn?"
"Don't be in such a hurry to go yet. You're still in your boxers, and nothing else."
[1] Saiyuki 'Requiem' events.
[2] 'You b----!' Owww! Dougan, you evil *muffled profanity*
[3] Erotic/horny water monster. For more information on what an erogappa is, I think I have a good explanation at the bottom part of 'Smile Of The Father's first chapter (Arrest In Melancholy/Ushinawareta Warai).
[4] …very much like the one I own…