Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, plots, the whole load of Gensomaden Saiyuki. But I do own Yuki-chan and Soichiro-kun.



A Snowy Run-In


Chapter Two: Warmth Of Souls


White was all he could see and the freezing touch was all he could feel. A pair of emerald green eyes forced themselves fully open, his hands struggling to push against the pounding weight of frozen water off his constricted chest. After digging through, Hakkai breathed deeply with relief.


'Oxygen is really a miracle...' Hakkai cleared his thoughts and surveyed his surroundings of massive piles of snow following to the sheet side of the cliff where they fell, 'Fell?'


Suddenly he recalled the memory when he and Goku fell. He was sure Hakuryu had flew away for safety so he should be with Sanzo and Gojyo. Visions of Goku's frightened face blinded his sight before he found the sense to call for him as he trudged through the snowy ground. His eyes searched frantically for any signs to show that the young boy would be still alive. He grunted when he felt spasms of pain attacking his left arm. He sighed when he found it to be slightly bleeding.


"Goku! Goku!" Hakkai howled out, his heart pounding with fear and his free hand clutching his injured arm, "Say something! Goku!"

"Ha...Hakkai...where...where are you?"


A soft groan caught Hakkai's ears. The black haired man shakily stood up on the spot, trying to make out where the voice came from and he was still feeling slightly disoriented from the fall. He knew the soft voice belonged to Goku. Hakkai's concern overridden his anxiety. Goku sounded weak and in pain. A flicker of movement coming from the side of the cliff caught the right eye behind the monocle.


"Goku!"


Hakkai's still heavy legs dragged into the snowy ground, his green eyes focused on the lump of snow before him. As soon as he reached his destination, he fell onto his knees, spotting the gold metal of Goku's gold limiter shining in amidst the snow. Pushing aside the intensity of his arm's pain, he carefully dug the snow, uncovering Goku's shivering body curled up in a fetus position. Hakkai wasted no time to gather the boy in his arms.


"Goku...yokatta...thank god, I found you," Hakkai breathed with relief, "Daijoubu desu ka?"

"Ha-Hakkai..." Goku was shivering more, his golden eyes laden with pain and fear, "So...so cold...Hakkai, my...my chest hurts. Ite!"

"Goku, hold still," Hakkai pulled back Goku's cloak to find the shirt etched with scratch marks and dampened with crimson liquid that was the boy's blood. The man winced at the sight, "Shimatta...the winds that hit you earlier must have created those scratch marks by high air pressure. Goku, can you stand up?"

"I think so," Goku unsteadily got up to his feet but hissed slightly, making him lean against the taller man who wrapped his cloak tighter around him. It was then the boy noticed the wound on Hakkai's arm, "You're hurt too."

Hakkai smiled reassuringly, "Daijoubu, Goku. We are lucky that the snow has cushioned our fall. But we have to find shelter first before a real storm comes."

"It looks like it already has," Goku shivered, feeling and hearing the winds howling, "Hakkai, I don't see anyway to get up to the mountain."


The older man sighed. Goku was right, he couldn't see a ledge that was reachable enough to journey upwards. He then spotted a small opening of a cave nearby.


"Yokatta!" Hakkai exclaimed and supported Goku, "There's a cave up ahead. It's not a long distance but we'll make it there before bad weather rises."

'Cave...' Goku's heart constricted, looking at the small black opening in the distance, 'No...I don't want to go back there...not into the darkness...'

"Goku?" Hakkai gently shook the boy's shoulder with concern, "Are you all right? Can you walk?"

"Hakkai, daijoubu..."


Hakkai traced an unknown fear shining in the golden eyes when he was looking at the cave. Then he recalled one conversation with Sanzo about the mountain the boy was imprisoned in.


'Sou ka...the cave must have jolted the bad memory...the poor thing...'


Goku was given a pleasant surprise when he felt a warm hand clasping his fingers. The golden eyed heretic looked to find Hakkai gazing at him.


"Goku, you won't be alone in the cave. Na, ikuzo."


There was an unusual tinge of tenderness in the other man's soft voice that made his soul burst with warmth and assurance that the man would protect him like Sanzo. Taking in the sight of Hakkai's smile, Goku nodded and walked with him.



"Mou...onichan..." Yuki mused, watching Goku and Hakkai walking in the snow, "It looks like they survived."

"Sou ka...mountainous weather is very unpredictable at this time of year...we're in for a snowstorm tonight," Soichiro turned to his sister, "And look at us, we're not the ones controlling it."

"But we are part of the snow, aren't we?"

"Hai. But let's retire for now," Soichiro grabbed the other demon's hand, "We'll have more fun later with Sanzo-sama when the storm clears."

"Hai, onichan."


A wind swept by at the very moment the two demons disappeared.



"We'll search again once the storm passes."

"I don't know, Sanzo," Gojyo cocked his thumb over to the opening of their sheltered cave. The outside view revealed a rough snow blizzard, "Looks like we're in for a long night."

"Ch!"


Gojyo, while stroking Hakuryu who was sleeping on his lap, observed the monk sitting grumpily beside him as they leaned back against the stony walls of their temporary shelter. The corrupted monk looked more sullen than ever, staring outside the falling hail of the storm. The red-haired man smirked when he noticed a strange look of genuine concern and worry in the cold amethyst orbs.


'The corrupted monk does have a soft side after all.'


Gojyo reached for his back pocket for his half-full packet of cigarettes and lighted one. Inhaling and exhaling the smoke, he began to see Sanzo in a new light. Against the snowy weather, the golden haired man looked quite lonely. Gojyo shook his head at his new perception.


"Oi! Sanzo."

Cold amethyst fixed on smirking ruby, "Nanda?"

"Nah..." Gojyo held out the packet to the monk, "Have one?"


Sanzo looked suspiciously at his companion. Gojyo was not the type to offer.


"Just this once...no tricks..." Gojyo smirked, "But don't expect me to do it again once we're out of this freezing hell."


The monk eyed the cigarettes in the offered box. He recalled that they would tear at each other over the brands of cigarettes they smoke or when their flints of their lighters were broken. But seeing that this was not the time to start an argument and the rare sincerity written on Gojyo's face, he allowed a trace of a smirk cloud over the thin lips and taking out his own lighter and the cigarette from Gojyo's packet.


"Sankyu..."



"Let's stop here, Goku, I think we are far enough from the entrance," Hakkai said as brought Goku close, "Daijoubu, the cave is not very deep. We should be safe from the storm."

"Hakkai..." Goku coughed softly, clutching the cloak tightly him.

"Ne, Goku, let me have a look at you," Hakkai drew the boy close, opening the cloak then removing his shoulder armor, cloak and shirt off.


He examined Goku's tanned upper torso that was marred with red marks that looked like whip marks. Hakkai's calm look disappeared as it was replaced by seriousness that Goku had rarely seen. He ran a gentle hand across the wounds, careful not to put too much pressure to cause pain to the boy.


"Hakkai...it's so cold and painful..." Goku pulled away from Hakkai's hands, pulling the cloak over his body.

"Goku, you know I'm not going to hurt you. I have to close those wounds otherwise when they are in contact with the snow, you would get frostbite and it'll be more painful than ever," Hakkai reasoned, as he cupped the glowing chi in his right hand, running it over Goku's chest and stomach after opening the cloak.

"Demo, Hakkai..." Goku's golden eyes traced to the wound on Hakkai's left arm, "You'll hurt yourself even more. Yamero..."


But Goku's protests stopped as he felt the familiar warm energy of Hakkai's chi passing through him, healing his wounds and bringing warmth to his skin. Hakkai gave a smile at him when he finished.


"It's done, Goku, you're fine now."

"But you're not, Hakkai," Goku shook his head and went to his winter cloak, "You did so much for me today. I caused so much trouble."

"Goku..."

"Let me repay you, Hakkai," Goku gritted his teeth as he tore the hem into a long brown strip.


Hakkai stiffened with surprise when Goku clumsily but effectively wrapped the bandage over the arm wound before tying tightly. Hakkai then relaxed as he took in the genuine gratitude written over the boy's face, feeling a strange warmth rising up within the dark depths of his lonely soul. He hadn't felt this warm before ever since Kanan died.


Hakkai smiled and laid a hand on Goku's brown silky locks, "Arigatou..."

"Iie!" Goku said with an innocent grin, "Sankyu, na?"


The comfortable atmosphere vanished when the winds howled in the opening of the cave. Goku immediately cringed and cowered behind Hakkai.


"Shimatta...the winds are getting worse..." Hakkai noticed the slouched figure beside him, "Goku? What's the matter?"

"It's the sounds that scare me..." the boy whispered, "Because they remind me of the darkness and the loneliness..."


Hakkai's heart twisted with empathic sympathy as he took in the now fragile form of the boy before him. The winds were growing colder and a fire would definitely not help as he didn't have any proper supplies with him.


Goku gripped Hakkai's green top, "Hakkai...I've never felt this cold before...I can't seem to warm up..."

"Shimatta...Goku!" Hakkai brought the boy close to him, feeling the cold skin biting his nerves. He grimaced when the lips were turning a bit blue. Goku clung onto him like a pet monkey to its owner, burying his face in Hakkai's clothed chest.


Hakkai was getting more worried. Goku was suffering the initial stages of hypothermia. His health would surely fail if he was not sufficiently warmed up.


'We must retain our body heat in order to survive the next day,' Hakkai deduced before his eyes fell on the discarded cloaks and Goku's top garments, 'I got it...'


Goku was not willing to move as Hakkai shifted. With some difficulty, the older man managed to retrieve their cloaks and Goku's garments. The younger of the two blinked his eyes sleepily as Hakkai wrapped one of the cloaks around his shoulders before attending to his own. As he did, Hakkai undressed his upper torso of his shirt and sash carefully not to inflict his bandaged wound.


"Hakkai? What're you doing?" Goku inquired softly as Hakkai wrapped his shirt and sash around the younger one's body.

"You are going to suffer from hypothermia if you're not warmed up, Goku. Combined body heat will see us through," Hakkai briefly explained as he spread his warm arms around the thin body, pulling him against his chest, "Come closer, Goku. As long as we have skin to skin contact, the warmth won't leave us and we will survive through the storm."

"H-Hai..."


Goku felt strange as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around the bare upper torso, feeling Hakkai's own arms snaking around him that were pulling him close. But it wasn't strange in a bad way, more like in a good way. The embrace they were sharing was very much similar to embraces shared with his master except Hakkai carried a different kind of warmth. A warmth that the man was not afraid to show and share despite his miserable and tortured past.
Goku leaned his head against the hard muscle of Hakkai's chest, listening to the gentle heartbeats beating rhythmically. His golden eyes flickered to the scarred gash across his stomach, remembering how much pain it must had caused him. He traced the scar tissue lightly, making the skin shiver. The boy inhaled and exhaled deeply, slowly feeling the warmth seeping back into his shivering body. He blushed slightly when Hakkai gazed upon him tenderly, brushing his chin against his forehead.
Hakkai couldn't help but let a smile linger on his lips as he took in the sight of the boy gazing up at him. He felt so right in his arms. The boy's touch on his stomach scar gave him a pleasant ticklish sensation. He could trace a hint of haunted fear in the golden orbs when the young boy looked around in the darkness, feeling him shiver in his embrace. His shoulders were shaking slightly and he felt a warm dampness trickle down his upper torso. Hakkai pulled back the boy's head to find tears staining the flushed face, sadness and fear clouding in his eyes. Hakkai softened and cupped his head close to his breast, nuzzling his cheek against the soft hair.


"Daijoubu, Goku. I'm right here..." Hakkai's tender fingers wiped away the tears, "You're not alone here."

"Hakkai...when will the storm stop..." Goku whispered, "I miss Sanzo and Gojyo."

'Goku...' Hakkai was inwardly filled with surprise how Goku was like a child in many ways.


Hakkai traced the boy's cheek with his thumb and spoke in his softest and gentlest tone that made Goku swell with warmth.


"Everything will be fine," Hakkai comforted him, "I'm sure it'll be clear the next day. We'll find them, don't worry."

"Un..." Goku found it hard to stifle a yawn. He rubbed his eyes with a heavy hand, "I can't keep my eyes open."

"Sleep, Goku," Hakkai's soft and soothing voice rang into his ear, "I'll be here to warm you up."


As he did, he pulled the other tighter to his chest, slipping his arms underneath the cloak and onto the bare skin. Goku felt another rush of sensational warmth passing through his skin, slowly lulling him to close his eyes. Goku lifted his head onto Hakkai's collarbone, noticing the glowing in Hakkai's hands. He looked up to the older man with new concern as Hakkai laid his hands over his back.


"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'm warm as long as you are near me. Close your eyes and sleep. We have a tough journey ahead and we must rest up as much as we can."


Goku nodded, finally succumbing to the pleasure of closed eyelids and silent breathing. After observing the formation of icicles at the cave's entrance and the snow falling in swift loads against the darkened sky, he averted his attention to the boy in his arms. Hakkai gazed with adoration in his green eyes, his still glowing hands softly combing the other's hair. Goku looked so innocent when he was sleeping. On sleepless nights whenever they camped out, Hakkai would take a long look at Goku's sleeping form and wonder how the boy's innocence could never been taken away. It often brought an unknown peace to his heart, seeing how genki the boy was. He chuckled slightly when he recalled that Sanzo and Gojyo related the same habit when they would sit up, smoke their cigarettes and watch the boy sleep without a worry. This was another chance for him as the man nuzzled his nose against the boy's forehead.


'Kawaii...Goku...and I thought Kanan was the only one who could bring me this warmth...'


With some hesitation, he eventually landed a platonic kiss on the boy's head. He chuckled when Goku shifted slightly and huffed a sigh before sinking deeper against Hakkai's bare chest. Before the chi manipulator knew it, he was leaning his cheek against the silky chocolate coloured locks, feeling the hypnotic spell of slumber shutting his eyes.


'Oyasumi nasai, Goku...'


As he slipped into a deep slumber, his lips bore into a beautiful and serene smile instead of the usual stoic grin he carried.



While Hakuryu was sleeping in the darker region of the cave, Gojyo observed the slumbering monk as he wrapped himself in his cloak. Although Sanzo looked threatening than ever with dark obscured bangs covering his eyes and his mouth in a frown, the red haired man noticed that the monk was shivering even in his cloak.


'Ch...the corrupted monk can't even stand the cold, ka?'


But his blood red eyes were filled with a new strange sympathy he had never felt before, he also noted the stressed lines on the monk's figure. The hidden brotherly compassion he kept within unveiled itself when Gojyo shuffled over to sit next to Sanzo, wrapping one arm casually over the cloaked shoulder. It was just enough to retain the body warmth at close contact. Gojyo smirked when Sanzo growled in his sleep and fidgeted. However, he was inwardly surprised that the blonde didn't push him away nor throw obscenities when his rest was disturbed. Pushing the thoughts aside, he leaned his head on Sanzo's shoulder and closed his eyes, eventually fell asleep with one thought.


'It's only for tonight anyway.'


Unknown to Gojyo, Sanzo was awakening at the exact moment he was closing his eyes. In his irritated mind, when his eyes opened, he was met with the vision of Gojyo's crimson long locks trailing over his shoulders. He cracked a small vein. He wasn't supposed to be in this position with the sleeping man against his shoulder. But he found that he couldn't move. Gojyo's weight was pressed against his shoulder and the arm around him prevented any sudden movements. But it emitted some warmth...just enough to survive through the wintry storm.


'Ch...I'll have to deal this in the morning...'


Throwing away the intention to escape the warmth, he shifted closed to the other man and laid his cheek against Gojyo's red-haired head. He had found little difficulty to close his heavy eyelids and gave into a surprisingly deep and peaceful slumber.

Outside, the snow storm continued to rage its freezing wrath on the mountain. But it wasn't able to break the warmth the two pairs of men were sharing through the night.


**tzuzuku**


Author's note: That was quite fluffy at the end, wasn't it? But I just can't help it! Still two more chapters to go. Wait for it.