Shinku no En: The Crimson Bond
by UltraM2000
Disclaimer: Don't own Saiyuki…yet. Severe fluff, M2000 style, and slight PWPness. Don't step in the puddles of bishoujo blood. GREAT liberties taken with portrayal of Chinese/Tougenkyou hell.
Drip.
One incarnadine droplet hit the floor, the sound in the silent darkness like the crash of a sudden wave.
Drip.
The flow began to increase. Tiny rivulets of liquid ran down Houran's fingers, staining her clothing as she sought to hold back the axe.
Drip.
The blade dislodged itself, causing a spurt of blood to issue from Houran's wounded chest. She blinked just once, and crumpled gracefully onto the ground.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
"HOURAN!!!"
Gojyo didn't even realise that had been his voice, only that his throat was raw and his gorge was up and his eyes were stinging and his hands were running with warm red blood. He pressed his fingers upon the wound, trying to stem the flow, but she insisted on pushing him away.
"Dame…don't," she murmured weakly. "It hurts more when you try and do that."
"But…Houran, what in…WHY TH'ELL DID YOU TAKE THAT BLOW?!"
"I did…not…want him to kill you. You still have a job to do, Gojyo-san. Seal him in Avici…that he may not harm others again."
"Houran…you're an idiot. The damnedest kind, but the bravest, most bloody amazing idiot I've ever seen." The smile upon his face was feeling kind of wobbly, almost like it would just fall off any minute.
I don't believe this. This has t'be a dream, a really disturbing dream that's a little worse than the ones before.
Houran, speak to me and tell me I'm dreaming?
It took a while for Houran to be able to speak, but she smiled up bravely at the half-demon as she continued. "Gojyo-san, I beg that you don't think too badly of me. A shikigami and a man can never be together, no matter how much the heart asks for this love. There is so much I wanted to say to you, but…"
"You can tell me all this later, babe, when we're out of here," muttered Gojyo softly, and in one swift movement, he embraced her close and caught her lips in a long, hard kiss.
All at once everything melted into nothingness. There was no pain and no blood, only the warmth of the man's embrace, skin upon skin throbbing with the warm pulse of affection. Even as her heart slowed and her mind became numb, she was dimly aware of his breath and heartbeat and a tongue probing through the depths of her mouth to touch upon hers. Her body responded on its own, pressing ardently closer to his and drinking deep of every moment, if only to glean the warmth that could sustain her in the final moments.
In the depths of such a warm and silent embrace, even the pain that surged through her died quickly.
Quickly and cleanly, Gojyo touched his fingers to the wound, took a firm hold and pulled the orange paper plane away from Houran's dying heart, crushing it quickly into a crumpled ball of orange and red. She shuddered and coughed, and the taste of blood in his mouth made him pull away. Her eyes brightened momentarily as the charm's effects fled her, but the flame soon died down again.
"Thank you, Gojyo-san, for everything," she whispered softly as she looked deep into the garnet eyes above her. She felt suddenly cold, like ice had taken blood's place in her veins, and she was sleepy, so incredibly sleepy. She closed her eyes at last and exhaled softly before she fell limp against him. Gojyo felt a sudden tightening of his throat that told him tears were on their way, and he quickly bowed his head, jaw clenched tight.
"Bakamono ga…"
Fact of nature: Demon pupils tend to constrict when they're under more severe stress. Apparently this proved true for half-breeds too, for the crimson in the eyes that bored deep into Dougan's cold gaze overwhelmed the black slit of pupil within it.
"Wow, isn't this just a kick in the head, Sha Gojyo? She sacrificed her life to save you." Dougan heaved a most stageworthy sigh. "Pity. This is the second time she's failed me. I ask her to kill you once, and she gets herself killed this time round…oh dear."
Filled with unspeakable anger, Gojyo's only response was to place Houran's inert body upon the ground and slowly stand, the crimson of his irises resembling blood more and more by the minute.
-----o-----
Goku was the first to stir, his legs still feeling like minced hamburger. Sanzo and Hakkai rejoined the world of the conscious soon after. What the three saw was their fourth member standing tall and strong over the bloodied body of a shikigami, eyes smouldering and shakujou being summoned to hand.
"Methinks you need a lesson on how to treat women properly, brother," he growled in surprisingly mellifluous tones, and with one effortless leap, he had socked Dougan the greatest sock he'd ever been socked. The demon was caught by surprise and tried to pull back, but Gojyo gave his weapon a neat little flick, sending a ripple of movement up the chain that translated into the blade attached to it looping loosely around Dougan's wrist. With a mighty pull, Gojyo pulled the demon off his feet and to the floor before recalling the crescent-shaped piece of metal and charging, soundless and deadly. Dougan recovered quickly and lunged, claws aimed for Gojyo's throat, but the half-breed twisted out of the way and lashed out once more, giving Dougan quite a whack with the body of the shakujou. Dougan ducked, and turned, growling fiercely, but was met with another fist in the face from a furious opponent. When all was said and done, Dougan was strong but Gojyo was equally powerful and the punch had been thrown with the force of a battering ram. [1] The demon went a-spinning through the air and crashing into the same wall Hakkai had met with just minutes earlier.
"Gojyo!!!" Goku shouted, staggering to his feet and seizing his Nyoibou.
As if Goku had never called out to him, Gojyo swung the heavy metal staff at Dougan's head. Dougan hadn't run out of tricks yet, though—he ducked, and resumed his attack on Gojyo with a sudden volley of punches. Gojyo did well defending himself at first, but the two punches broke through with sudden ferocity. Blood tinged his vision and flavoured his spit. Smiling evilly, Dougan flung himself at Gojyo once more, simultaneously transforming and re-summoning the power that belonged to the souls he had assimilated.
Metal grated furiously against stone as Gojyo used his shakujou to keep himself from getting crushed by Dougan's now-massive foot. Unable to change position, he had to rely on the strength of his arms alone to hold the demon back until he could find a way to escape. Curses in various demonic dialects were running through his brain frantically the shakujou began to bend at the middle.
"You're still no match for me, half-breed!" Dougan grunted, forcing his foot down imperceptibly closer and closer to Gojyo's chest. The half-demon fought back with all the might in his body, but his arms were aching with wounds and the strain of holding Dougan off.
Looks like I'm going to get that bloody death wish! he thought, the shakujou bending dangerously in his white-knuckled hands. Can't die…have…to get…them out…get her out too…
Can't let a babe die in vain down in this filthy dump…
"WAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" came a wild scream, part agony and part anger. Gojyo looked up quickly, seeing a dim blur of red and gold and brown flinging its tiny self at Dougan's head. The blur yelled out a string of foul curses (Gojyo's teachings, no doubt) and swung the most almighty crack it could muster at Dougan's head. It actually had some effect, as the demon growled and shifted his attention from Gojyo for just a second. Quick as a wink, Gojyo seized his chance and thrust the shakujou up with all his might. The straight blade sank deep into the sole of Dougan's foot, dark blood gushing out, and the behemoth let out a frightful shriek. The half-demon scrambled as quick as his feet allowed him, as another green blur dashed sylph-like past him and slashed at Dougan's midriff with no mercy whatsoever.
"Nice one, Goku, Hakkai!" Gojyo called out, spitting a wad of viscous blood and saliva from his mouth.
"Sankyuu!" the youngest Sanzo-ikkou member grinned hugely. "We couldn't let YOU have all the fun!"
"And besides…you have an amazing tendency to attract trouble, Gojyo," Hakkai said with a half-smile. Although blood slicked the right side of his fringe down over his eye, the one remaining visible glittered in a very feline manner as he lifted up his sword again. "Well, here we go!" With those words, he raised his sword, shook the blood from its blade and broke into a run. Gojyo was soon matching his pace, shoulder to shoulder. Dougan roared furiously as Goku did a neat little dance upon his shoulders, swinging the Nyoibou left and right across his face, and failed to see the two men leaping up at him. With two fluid movements, the blades of a shakujou and longsword had cut deep furrows across Dougan's eyes. Black blood sprinkled the two as they landed with cat-like balance and turned. Goku added one more crack across the jaw for good measure before dodging the semi-blinded Dougan's arm and jumping for the walls, where he bounded closer to the ceiling. "Sanzo, hurry!" he yelled over one shoulder. "Go do what you said you would!"
"SHUT UP AND DIE, SARU!!!" Goku's guardian tenderly replied. Sanzo needed no further invitation to get going. He knew he, and only he had the resources to stop that machine from activating and giving Avici the final power surge it needed to break its bounds. His ankle throbbed painfully within the confines of his left sock, but he broke into a desperate gallop towards the construction of curved pillars.
"OH NO YOU DON'T, SANZO-SAMA!" a dreadful bellow rang out through the air. There was an explosion just behind the monk as Dougan spat a torrent of glowing white energy at him. Luckily, he missed, but the shockwave was enough to send Sanzo tumbling to his feet. More pain, more blood. The monk spat out the tainted fluid (and what he felt was a chip from a back tooth), cursed and struggled to his feet. If he didn't finish this off, he'd see no more daylight. He'd never feel the wind on his cheek again, either. He'd break his vow to his late master to become strong, something that still needed perfecting…and the saru and kappa would never give him any peace under here.
Dougan let fly with the beam again. Another explosion. Sanzo rolled away to avoid it, getting his elaborate robes in a mess, but that was beside the point. As he struggled to his feet, a sharp pain radiated up his ankle and he fell again to one knee. Damn Dougan! Bite back the pain, you idiot, and stand up, screamed his brain furiously. He noticed with growing trepidation that the power that he had been feeling radiating from the structure was definitely growing stronger—his finely tuned senses were sure of it. There was no more time to waste. He would have to use broader-range tactics.
"You will NOT ruin these plans when I have come so far!" Dougan roared, and charged, his massive feet shaking the ground with every step and his bloodthirsty claws raised to strike and crush.
"Sanzo, look out!" Goku shouted as the monster drew closer and closer. He closed his eyes, unable to watch.
"No, no, saru, don't do that, look!" spat Gojyo.
The monk was unhearing, unseeing, unheeding. The only sign that he was alive was that he was up on his feet, chest rising and falling and the lips moving in quick, silent chanting.
An sai ken soku hi shin dou shou …ran metsu ki shou nou gyaku shin shou…shin zen mu shin zen kuu zan sei kai ten kaku shin ON! [2]
Dougan had failed to notice the extra sutra Sanzo had criss-crossing his chest, which was now glowing with a bright bluish light. Upon the utterance of 'ON!' strips of sutra burst upwards like live things
"What the—" spluttered the demon, shying back.
"Perhaps you forget, Dougan," Hakkai interrupted pleasantly. "We didn't just defeat Gyuumaou in Tenjiku…"
"…Sanzo got his sensei's stuff back!" Goku grinned, realisation dawning.
The monk opened his eyes, his whole body now glowing with a blue aura not of this Earth. Slowly and deliberately, still chanting, he pointed two fingers forward at Dougan, closed his fist and then spread it wide open, a gesture imitating a burst of light, light that would flow forth into darkness and destroy it forever.
"On ma ni hatsu mei UN…" [3]
From his mouth flew the stern command to the sutras—to be precise, that which he had reclaimed as his inheritance from his master Koumyou Sanzo. Seiten Kyoumon, the Holy Sutra.
"TENKAI KAIZA—N!" [4]
[1] 750 Newtons, as a matter of fact. I tried to calculate pressure, impact and impulse, but failed miserably—sorry, folks. Dougan may be strong and powerful and all that manure, but he's still a ghost with a CREATED physical body. Gojyo, however, has the original product, and knows how to pack the maximum punch with it. So, not being 'inhibited by a mortal shell' does have some disadvantage…particularly when an angry erogappa is out for your blood.
[2]'See dark disaster, and swiftly move the secret heart to erase it; erase the spirit of wild destruction and erase the wild reversed trust; Truth is nothing, truth is emptiness, bring forth life, open heaven and awaken the gods, om'…or at least, its equivalent. Pinched straight from the Windows XP Japanese character map.
[3] Om mane padme hum.
[4] Summon Heaven (Heaven-Forbidden Open-Arrive)