Shinku no En: The Crimson Bond
by UltraM2000
Disclaimer: Don't own Saiyuki…yet. Severe fluff, M2000 style and slight PWPness. Still more hopeless angsting by Houran.
Gojyo snatched a few brief hours of sleep and left the apartment earlier than usual. His jacket was still a little damp, so he left it hanging across the back of the couch and changed into something slightly more formal—a knitted wool vest paired with a long, blue-black coat and matching pants. [1] At least the chill wind that had howled down the streets last night had subsided, and he was not more than moderately chilly as he tromped through the snow with the resolve of a man who has something that needs doing.
He turned left down one street, turned right at another some distance on and ended up in a sheltered avenue, stopping in front of a block of flats. Up three flights of stairs he went, and he walked straight to the end of the unfurnished corridor. There, he rang the doorbell of apartment 03-87.
"Coming!" a female voice answered, and footsteps were heard galloping to the door. Seconds later, a young woman's round, earnest face poked round the door, glasses slipping down over her nose and her thick fluffy hair a haze around her face.
"AAGH!" yelped Gojyo with unfeigned surprise.
"Ah, Gojyo-san!" she beamed. "You came very quickly! Sorry, I just got up."
It didn't take long for the kappa to regain his composure, and he shrugged and grinned. "Babe, I am a man of action. So sue me. Let's not waste time, shall we?"
"But of course." She let him in, and motioned for him to sit on the couch. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back with all the necessary items."
"Go right ahead."
Yin disappeared into the mess that was her office cum study, and returned with a massive sheaf of papers that she dumped in front of Gojyo. She adjusted her spectacles and clicked open her pen.
"Now, about the necessary paperwork to buy this apartment…"
Houran slept fitfully all that night, and woke at six o' clock in the morning. As she got up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she heard the muffled tromp-tromp of Gojyo's boots outside. So, he was leaving for his appointment with that 'Yin' after all. Houran wondered what exactly she looked like. Must be very pretty. The door closed, a dreadful, final sound for the young woman.
"Sayounara, Gojyo-san," she whispered softly to the empty air. She had one last thing to do now, before she closed the book on this chapter of her life. Rising from the bed, she gathered together in a shopping bag a few of the simpler garments she owned. Slowly and deliberately, she then removed her earrings and hair ornament, letting incarnadine tresses fall loose. She looked down upon the exquisitely crafted creations, antique jade and gold and silver thread, and shoved them into her pocket. Houmaou, the man she called 'father', would surely have been incensed if he knew. The earrings had belonged to her human mother, and had been passed down her maternal line for generations.
Still, money for a bus ticket was money for a bus ticket, no matter how she got it.
This was it. She tied back her hair right at the ends with a thin black ribbon and hefted the shopping bag—all her worldly possessions. Opening the door to her room, she bid the place a silent goodbye…
"Houran? Why the sudden…where are you going?" It was Hakkai, a plate of instant yakiudon[2] in one hand and a mug of green tea in the other.
"I am leaving, Hakkai-san," she said with a small bow of her head. "Thank you for everything, but I've really overstayed my welcome."
"You've done nothing of the sort!" he exclaimed, setting his breakfast down on the table. "Why…does Gojyo know about this?"
"No, and it is for the best that you do not tell him of what I'm doing."
"Where will you go?"
"Home. Back to where I first met you. I'll get a job and restore my clan's name."
"Gojyo…he…"
"He left early this morning. I heard him talking to a woman on the phone last night. They seem quite close. I will not stand in his way if he wants to be with Yin."
"…Yin?" Realisation crossed Hakkai's face. The name was a familiar one, and he finally realised what Gojyo might be doing. "Wait a minute. I know Yin, and…"
"…A mutual friend?"
"It should be the same Yin, yes," Hakkai conceded.
"You knew about this, and you could still tell me he loved me?!"
"Yes, I mean NO! Goodness, Houran, it's not what you think…" he spluttered.
Her expression only hardened further. "I heard enough last night. I am going, Hakkai-san."
"Houran, onegai, please! Just listen to me for a minute!" He grabbed her arm, and with surprising ferocity, she whipped around, shook his hand off and slammed her free palm into his chest.
"Shi," [3] she intoned quietly, and a haze of blue energy surrounded them both.
At once, every single one of Hakkai's joints locked stiff. He gave a surprised gasp, finding even his fingers paralysed, and crumpled to the floor. He could only watch in distress as Houran unlocked the door and prepared to leave.
Amazing, he thought, Houmaou's powers must have included immobilisation.
"I'm sorry, Hakkai-san," she murmured, a single crystal tear sliding down her fair cheek, "Gojyo-san saved my life once, and I will never forget that, but he has his own life to live, and I realise that now. Tell him I'm sorry. Tell him…that I loved him."
She left, and Hakkai blacked out.
It was some time later that Hakkai came to, Hakuryuu's sandpapery tongue brushing against the tip of his nose. The yakiudon had gone cold, and Houran's trail would surely have done the same by now. She could have gone anywhere! Hakkai cursed silently, thinking that Gojyo would have plenty to say about this…and he was about to find out just how much.
"Whoo! It's still freezing out there!" exclaimed the half-demon as he flung the door open, cheeks flushed red as his hair.
"Gojyo."
"Morning, Hakkai. Damn, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! Where's Houran?"
"We have bigger problems. She's gone."
Short silence. Gojyo froze in the middle of removing his coat. "Gone?! B-but where?! Why?" His face was twisted in disbelief.
"Do you realise how your late-night conversation with Yin-san must have sounded to her?"
"Late-night…" The penny dropped. "Oooooooooooh, shit. I thought she was asleep then! And I was such a jerk…"
"No kidding," Hakkai said dryly, but his brow was furrowed with worry. "I tried to stop her, but she used some sort of paralysing ki on me. She told me to tell you that she's sorry. And that she loves you."
Despair and hurt flickered through Gojyo's eyes for a while, but then he shook himself. "Hakkai, where'd she go? I have to find her and explain things."
"Back home, to where we first met her, she said."
"She's not going to WALK there?!"
Hakkai didn't answer that, but reached up to pat Hakuryuu's head. "She won't be stalling—her mind is made up. Take Hakuryuu, he'll give you some speed. Oh, and Gojyo?"
"What?" He was rebuttoning the blue coat.
"Good luck."
-----o-----
It would have been nice to say that Gojyo drove like a bat out of hell, scattering innocent chickens and scaring the crap out of the residents of Chouan as Hakuryuu roared around the corners…but he didn't. Chouan didn't have any chickens to scare, anyway. Still, Gojyo kept the pedal to the metal, stopping only to flag down acquaintances, mutual or not, who might have seen her.
He got little luck until he made enquiries with the local pawnbroker, a skinny little man known as Gouron. Gouron looked surprised that Gojyo was asking around for her.
"Land-sakes, boy, you'd better make haste," he gasped. "She pawned her earrings and headband here just an hour ago! She said she was going on an out-of-town trip, and you knew about it!" He cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "Did you do anything out of the ordinary to her, boy?"
"I might have," Gojyo moaned, massaging his temples furiously, "I've been an idiot to her for the past few weeks. Foogit..."
"Well, at least you're admitting it. She said she needed the pawning money for a bus ticket! Go! Go! Don't let me be a-keeping you here!"
Gojyo went. It was only five kilometres down the road that he realised the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny problem—he didn't know where in hell the bus station was.
"One way ticket to Hattarei, please. Direct."[4] Houran had finally reached the front of the long and winding queue, and pushed her money across the counter. The lady behind the counter looked up in surprise, fingering the notes with well-manicured, black-painted nails.
"Sorry, miss, but there're no more direct tickets to Hattarei. That bus just left. However," she was quick to add, her deep, low voice becoming a touch gentler upon seeing Houran's stricken expression, "I can sell you a ticket for a bus that is leaving in about fifteen minutes for Hattarei. It stops halfway at Bakuga, though." [5]
"That will do nicely. Please hurry. I'm in a bit of a rush."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were running away from something," chuckled the attendant. "All right, here's your ticket. Have a nice day!"
"Thank you." Houran took the ticket from the manicured hand and made her way towards an empty bench. A small growl rose from her stomach, and she winced. She had completely neglected to eat any breakfast. She decided to tough it out—the journey to Hattarei couldn't be too far.
Not too far away, a certain red-haired young man was pulling up to a stop in front of the bus station, cursing fit to turn the air blue. Gojyo ordered Hakuryuu to stay put and charged into the station, calling out for her, ducking into the little shops and stalls scattered around the building, peering at every face to make sure it wasn't hers. He was beginning to despair of ever finding her, but as he looked over one shoulder, he saw, for a fleeting second, a flash of red being swallowed up by the crowd.
"Houran! HOURAN!" he roared, charging towards the already moving bus. If she heard him, she made no reply. He put all his speed into it, but the vehicle accelerated faster than he could, and was already halfway out of the station by the time he'd managed to jostle his way through the crowd.
"Chikushou!" he almost shouted, self-control kicking in at the very last instant. He turned, strode towards the ticket counter and placed his hands upon it, fixing the attendant with his sternest gaze.
"Lady, where's that bus headed to?"
"Hattarei—stops at Bakuga," came the reply from the attendant. She rested her chin on folded hands, making Gojyo wonder where exactly he'd seen those nails before. "I suggest you take that jeep of yours and give chase. You should be able to reach Bakuga first if you drive fast and stay off the expressway."
Gojyo jumped back as if she had suddenly asked him to strip naked and dance in the middle of the floor. "B-but, how did you…!"
"My dear man, I am all-knowing and all-powerful," purred the ticket attendant, and gave Gojyo a luscious wink, smiling roguishly. Gojyo suddenly realised this definitely wasn't any ordinary ticket attendant as features and face suddenly meshed into a recognisable picture. All too recognisable.
"K-what—Kannon?!" he spluttered.
"Bingo," Kanzeon Bosatsu sang out gleefully. "Clever boy, you recognised me. Still, this is no time for chit-chat, or other activities." She grinned, recalling their first encounter[6]. "I've been watching you for some time now, and seeing you act like a lovesick kappa is most entertaining. The en has truly reinstated itself."
Gojyo groaned. "En? Bloody hell, not YOU too."
"What can I say?" smiled Kanzeon sweetly. "I am the goddess of true love."
"Cheesh!" Gojyo turned on his heel and made as if to go, then stopped in his tracks and turned back. "She's headed for Bakuga? I suppose I owe you one."
"…Don't burn any incense in thanks. The smell gets into my hair and stays for ages." She winced. "Just you keep on living the way you were meant to, and that's quite enough. Now get that rear in gear, Kenren. She really does need you…as you need her."
[1] Let's just say my ex-teacher's daughter came to school to claim her SPM results wearing a similar ensemble, and the first thing I thought was 'Ohmigod! That would look so GOOD on Gojyo!'
[2] Yakiudon = fried thick noodles.
[3] Shi is a common reading for may Japanese kanji (borrowed Chinese characters) and can mean, among other things, 'will', 'envoy', 'child', 'death', 'support', and in this case...'stop'.
[4] Hattarei = as I've mentioned before in the bloopers section of A Time For Us (look it up, sankyuu!), this is MY hometown.
[5] Bakuga = Mohe. It's the part of China where my ancestors came from.
[6] If you will recall, in manga chapter 13, Faith in mind, or anime ep 7, Goodnight @ Tasogare no Wakare (Farewell at Twilight), Kanzeon, er, 'SMOOCHED' Gojyo. Poor kappa, what an experience XD
And finally, reviewer thanks...
Konzen n Ashura A. -- Uh, I'm glad you like
Gojyo, konzen. Sanzo and Goku will appear in precisely three chapters, Ashura.
Hopefully for both of you, you'll find some small explanation to his actions in this
chapter. Blink and you may miss the sentence. ;) Damn, Gojyo, I never thought
we'd be fooling
READERS!
Gojyo: ...I feel terrible. *mutter* Especially considering most'a' these
readers are ladies.
M2000: Love is blind. I swear you'll be able to make it up, dear kappa.
*mutter* Oh ye gods, I loved Konzen's reaction...