Sanzo looked ready to kill someone. Not that that was unusual in itself, but when
Sanzo really looked ready to kill someone, he usually was at the end of his rope. The
only one suffering from Sanzo's grumpiness was Gojyo. Goku rarely ever saw them, except
on weekends when he wasn't working, because he was too tired. Sanzo never got irritated
at Hakkai unless the soft spoken man managed to point out one of the monk's bad points,
which he rarely did. This left Gojyo as the only one with whom Sanzo could argue. One
would think that work would be enough for Sanzo. It was why he was here in Gojyo's house
rather than at a monastery. Gojyo suspected that there was more to the story than Sanzo
wanting to escape the chaste, pure life but he didn's know why yet. And he didn't know
why he put up with a man who was constantly trying to kill him and now always arguing
with him. It was driving Gojyo crazy. He wanted nothing more than to slam Sanzo against a
wall, beat the living daylights out of the gorgeous blond, and then throw-Gojyo quickly
halted that train of thought as Hakkai entered the room. Hakkai gave him a sweet smile
and pinned him with a brief knowing eye. Gojyo grinned off the scrutiny.
"Hey, Hakkai." he said casually. "What's up?"
"I'm making dinner." Hakkai replied. "Would you care to help?"
"Love to." Gojyo replied, jumping up.
As he grabbed a bag from Hakkai, an idea formed in his head. He almost dropped the bag
in his excitement. Hakkai noticed his sudden elation as the two headed into the kitchen.
"What is it?" Hakkai asked.
"We're going out to eat tonight." Gojyo said firmly, a mischievous smile on his face.
"But-" Hakkai began to protest as he set the bags on the table.
Gojyo cut off Hakkai by yanking the brown haired man away from the table and twirling
him in a circle.
"Fine, we'll go eat." Hakkai agreed, amused by Gojyo's good humour.
Gojyo grinned.
"I knew you'd see things my way."
Goku was eating happily while Gojyo and Hakkai chatted. Sanzo occasionally yelled
at Goku or Gojyo but seemed content to just drink. They were seated in a somewhat busy
inn, enjoying the rowdy atmosphere. Gojyo froze in mid-sentence and a large grin spread
across his face.
"Well, what a fine looking woman." he said.
Hakkai shushed Gojyo but was also staring. Goku was too focused in his food to care and
Sanzo just had no interest.
"What a face!" Gojyo said.
"She has purple eyes." Hakkai noted in interest, gazing over at Sanzo, who scowled and
persisted in not looking.
Gojyo's smile widened suddenly and Sanzo noticed.
"What?" he demanded.
He stiffened when a gentle hand touched his shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir monk." came a soft voice. "But I was wondering if I could speak with
you briefly."
Sanzo gave an undecipherable noise, which was apparently taken for an affirmative
because the person moved slightly to face Sanzo and Gojyo was grinning wildly. Sanzo
glanced up in irritation and then his scowl died.
"Kouryuu?"
Gojyo watched with a mixture of delight and dismay as the woman he had been watching
cupped Sanzo's face in her hands.
"Kouryuu."
"Anr-"
Sanzo's words were cut off as the woman lurched forward and wrapped her arms around
Sanzo's neck in a large hug. Gojyo's eyes bugged out and Goku choked on his food. Sanzo
stiffened in surprise but, shockingly, he didn't pull away. Finally the woman pulled
away, but remained in her precarious position on his lap.
"Kouryuu, how are you?" the woman asked. "It's been years! You're so big I almost
didn't recognise you. Oh."
She stopped abruptly and put a hand up to touch Sanzo's mark.
"I had heard but I never got to see...I suppose I should call you Master Sanzo now."
She ended this tirade with a teasing smile that Gojyo really liked. Sanzo bore the
whole thing stoically and though he didn't smile, he wasn't scowling either.
"Anrui Kaien, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm on a mission." the woman replied.
"A mission?" Sanzo repeated sceptically.
"I do go on missions, you know." she said sourly.
Gojyo cleared this throat noisily and Sanzo turned a scowl on him.
"Hi." Gojyo said with one of his infamous smiles. "I'm Sha Gojyo, beautiful."
Sanzo growled at the last comment.
"I'm Cho Hakkai." Hakkai said, smiling warmly.
"I'm Goku." Goku spoke up. "Who are you?"
"Goku." Hakkai scolded.
A smile spread across the woman's face. She was gorgeous with long, wavy black hair
that was kept back in a loose ponytail. Her purple eyes were just like Sanzo's.
"I'm Anrui Kaien." she said. "Both are my first name but please feel free to call me
Anrui. Are you friends of Koury-I mean, Master Sanzo's?"
"We're his travelling companions." Hakkai informed. "Are you an old friend, Miss Anrui?"
Anrui blinked at Hakkai.
"Please just call me Anrui." she requested.
Hakkai nodded, realising that he had offended her somehow.
"What's this mission?" Sanzo asked.
"I've been sent to find you." Anrui said.
"Him?" Gojyo said in disbelief.
"Well, any Sanzo actually." Anrui admitted. "There are some monks who have taken over
the monastery. And I don't know what they worship but they've locked up the other monks
and demanded a Sanzo. The ones that escaped asked me to find one."
Sanzo scowled.
"Thank you." Anrui said with a gentle smile.
"Please join us for dinner." Hakkai invited.
"Thank you." Anrui said.
She gently pushed at Sanzo until he moved over so that she could sit beside him. She
started picking food off Sanzo's plate. He scowled but she just smiled cheerfully and
deliberately looked at him while eating.
"You haven't changed much." Anrui commented, feeding Sanzo a bit of food.
Gojyo, Hakkai, and Goku raised their eyebrows, glanced at each other, and then at
Sanzo. The monk's scowl deepened. Anrui noticed this exchange.
"May I ask how you all know each other?" she requested. "I've never known Master Sanzo
to have friends."
"We're not his friends." Gojyo said. "We're his...co-workers."
"Sanzo's the most important person in my life." Goku said with a smile.
Sanzo scowled at him but it was ruined as Anrui leaned over and winked at him.
"He's the most important person in my life as well."
"We were asked to travel west with Sanzo to fight Empress Gyokumen." Hakkai informed.
"Oh. You have to tell me about your adventures." Anrui said, looking fascinated.
"Later." Sanzo growled.
Hakkai noticed that everyone's plates were empty.
"Would you like some more food, Anrui?" he asked.
"No thank you." Anrui replied with a cheery smile. "I've had quite enough."
Sanzo stood and so did Anrui. Hakkai placed money on the table and they all left the
inn. Hakkai and Gojyo trailed behind Sanzo and Anrui, observing them as they walked
ahead. Goku and Anrui seemed to be chatting quite animatedly. Something about Anrui
struck Hakkai as strange. She was dressed in robes similar to Sanzo only they were dark
green. She also seemed to have the black gloves and black undershirt that Sanzo had. He
wondered if this had some kind of meaning among the other monks. Gojyo gave an aggrieved
sigh.
"Such beauty wasted on such a grumpy monk." he said.
"I don't think that's the kind of relationship they have." Hakkai defended.
Gojyo smiled at that.
"I'm serious." Hakkai persisted.
"Two beers says you're wrong." Gojyo said, feeling rather daring.
Hakkai thought about it.
"Alright." he agreed, pretty sure he wouldn't lose.
The two shook hands and continued on their way.
"I wish her robes were tighter." Gojyo said with a wistful sigh.
It was true, the robes concealed too much of her body but her build suggested
slenderness and her face suggested beauty everywhere. Hakkai, too, wondered at Anrui's
features. He had learned that those robes hid a lot. No one would have guessed that Sanzo
had muscles when he was robed. But there were no nuns* that dressed like that as far as
Hakkai knew. He suddenly noticed the way Anrui held Sanzo's arm. It almost seemed as if
Sanzo was leading her, or she was following him. He found this quite curious. He halted
his observations briefly as they reached the house. Sanzo was leading Anrui inside when
Hakkai realised something.
"We don't have a spare bedroom." he said apologetically.
"You can stay with me, Anrui." Gojyo offered with a leer.
Sanzo scowled.
"You can have my room." Hakkai offered. "I'll share with someone else."
"Oh, don't bother." Anrui said. "I'll just share with Master Sanzo."
Hakkai paled slightly at this statement.
"Oh." he said weakly.
Gojyo couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, regardless of Sanzo's glare.
Anrui covered a yawn with her hand.
"Perhaps you could tell us how you and Sanzo met in the morning?" Hakkai asked gently.
"Sure." Anrui agreed, ignoring Sanzo's sour look. "Good night then."
With a few tugging motions, Anrui had Sanzo leading her up the stairs. Gojyo stared at
Hakkai.
"You owe me two beers." he said.
"That remains to be seen." Hakkai replied with a smile.
Goku, not understanding the exchange, shrugged and headed for his own room. Gojyo slung
an arm around Hakkai's shoulders.
"You're in denial, buddy." he said. "But that's all right, you'll be proven wrong."
Hakkai merely smiled a small smile.
It was getting rather late in the morning and Hakkai decided that he should
awaken Sanzo. He knocked gently on the door but received no reply. Shrugging, he opened
the door and peered in.
"Sanzo, it't time to wake up." he said.
Sanzo was sleeping on his side, one arm used as a pillow. His other arm was curled near
his abdomen. It took Hakkai a moment to realise that there was another black clad arm
next to Sanzo's. Sanzo opened his eyes and glanced at Hakkai. Anrui's head suddenly
appeared from behind Sanzo's body. She propped her chin up on Sanzo's shoulder and smiled.
"Good morning, Hakkai." she said.
Her black hair tumbled about her face adorably.
"Good morning, Anrui." he replied automatically. "Breakfast is waiting downstairs."
"Thank you." Anrui said with a smile.
Hakkai closed the door and headed back downstairs. Gojyo glanced up at him and noted
the particular non-expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It seems I may owe you two beers." Hakkai said slowly.
*Buddhist nun
Yes, Anrui Kaien is my creation.
Sanzo really looked ready to kill someone, he usually was at the end of his rope. The
only one suffering from Sanzo's grumpiness was Gojyo. Goku rarely ever saw them, except
on weekends when he wasn't working, because he was too tired. Sanzo never got irritated
at Hakkai unless the soft spoken man managed to point out one of the monk's bad points,
which he rarely did. This left Gojyo as the only one with whom Sanzo could argue. One
would think that work would be enough for Sanzo. It was why he was here in Gojyo's house
rather than at a monastery. Gojyo suspected that there was more to the story than Sanzo
wanting to escape the chaste, pure life but he didn's know why yet. And he didn't know
why he put up with a man who was constantly trying to kill him and now always arguing
with him. It was driving Gojyo crazy. He wanted nothing more than to slam Sanzo against a
wall, beat the living daylights out of the gorgeous blond, and then throw-Gojyo quickly
halted that train of thought as Hakkai entered the room. Hakkai gave him a sweet smile
and pinned him with a brief knowing eye. Gojyo grinned off the scrutiny.
"Hey, Hakkai." he said casually. "What's up?"
"I'm making dinner." Hakkai replied. "Would you care to help?"
"Love to." Gojyo replied, jumping up.
As he grabbed a bag from Hakkai, an idea formed in his head. He almost dropped the bag
in his excitement. Hakkai noticed his sudden elation as the two headed into the kitchen.
"What is it?" Hakkai asked.
"We're going out to eat tonight." Gojyo said firmly, a mischievous smile on his face.
"But-" Hakkai began to protest as he set the bags on the table.
Gojyo cut off Hakkai by yanking the brown haired man away from the table and twirling
him in a circle.
"Fine, we'll go eat." Hakkai agreed, amused by Gojyo's good humour.
Gojyo grinned.
"I knew you'd see things my way."
Goku was eating happily while Gojyo and Hakkai chatted. Sanzo occasionally yelled
at Goku or Gojyo but seemed content to just drink. They were seated in a somewhat busy
inn, enjoying the rowdy atmosphere. Gojyo froze in mid-sentence and a large grin spread
across his face.
"Well, what a fine looking woman." he said.
Hakkai shushed Gojyo but was also staring. Goku was too focused in his food to care and
Sanzo just had no interest.
"What a face!" Gojyo said.
"She has purple eyes." Hakkai noted in interest, gazing over at Sanzo, who scowled and
persisted in not looking.
Gojyo's smile widened suddenly and Sanzo noticed.
"What?" he demanded.
He stiffened when a gentle hand touched his shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir monk." came a soft voice. "But I was wondering if I could speak with
you briefly."
Sanzo gave an undecipherable noise, which was apparently taken for an affirmative
because the person moved slightly to face Sanzo and Gojyo was grinning wildly. Sanzo
glanced up in irritation and then his scowl died.
"Kouryuu?"
Gojyo watched with a mixture of delight and dismay as the woman he had been watching
cupped Sanzo's face in her hands.
"Kouryuu."
"Anr-"
Sanzo's words were cut off as the woman lurched forward and wrapped her arms around
Sanzo's neck in a large hug. Gojyo's eyes bugged out and Goku choked on his food. Sanzo
stiffened in surprise but, shockingly, he didn't pull away. Finally the woman pulled
away, but remained in her precarious position on his lap.
"Kouryuu, how are you?" the woman asked. "It's been years! You're so big I almost
didn't recognise you. Oh."
She stopped abruptly and put a hand up to touch Sanzo's mark.
"I had heard but I never got to see...I suppose I should call you Master Sanzo now."
She ended this tirade with a teasing smile that Gojyo really liked. Sanzo bore the
whole thing stoically and though he didn't smile, he wasn't scowling either.
"Anrui Kaien, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm on a mission." the woman replied.
"A mission?" Sanzo repeated sceptically.
"I do go on missions, you know." she said sourly.
Gojyo cleared this throat noisily and Sanzo turned a scowl on him.
"Hi." Gojyo said with one of his infamous smiles. "I'm Sha Gojyo, beautiful."
Sanzo growled at the last comment.
"I'm Cho Hakkai." Hakkai said, smiling warmly.
"I'm Goku." Goku spoke up. "Who are you?"
"Goku." Hakkai scolded.
A smile spread across the woman's face. She was gorgeous with long, wavy black hair
that was kept back in a loose ponytail. Her purple eyes were just like Sanzo's.
"I'm Anrui Kaien." she said. "Both are my first name but please feel free to call me
Anrui. Are you friends of Koury-I mean, Master Sanzo's?"
"We're his travelling companions." Hakkai informed. "Are you an old friend, Miss Anrui?"
Anrui blinked at Hakkai.
"Please just call me Anrui." she requested.
Hakkai nodded, realising that he had offended her somehow.
"What's this mission?" Sanzo asked.
"I've been sent to find you." Anrui said.
"Him?" Gojyo said in disbelief.
"Well, any Sanzo actually." Anrui admitted. "There are some monks who have taken over
the monastery. And I don't know what they worship but they've locked up the other monks
and demanded a Sanzo. The ones that escaped asked me to find one."
Sanzo scowled.
"Thank you." Anrui said with a gentle smile.
"Please join us for dinner." Hakkai invited.
"Thank you." Anrui said.
She gently pushed at Sanzo until he moved over so that she could sit beside him. She
started picking food off Sanzo's plate. He scowled but she just smiled cheerfully and
deliberately looked at him while eating.
"You haven't changed much." Anrui commented, feeding Sanzo a bit of food.
Gojyo, Hakkai, and Goku raised their eyebrows, glanced at each other, and then at
Sanzo. The monk's scowl deepened. Anrui noticed this exchange.
"May I ask how you all know each other?" she requested. "I've never known Master Sanzo
to have friends."
"We're not his friends." Gojyo said. "We're his...co-workers."
"Sanzo's the most important person in my life." Goku said with a smile.
Sanzo scowled at him but it was ruined as Anrui leaned over and winked at him.
"He's the most important person in my life as well."
"We were asked to travel west with Sanzo to fight Empress Gyokumen." Hakkai informed.
"Oh. You have to tell me about your adventures." Anrui said, looking fascinated.
"Later." Sanzo growled.
Hakkai noticed that everyone's plates were empty.
"Would you like some more food, Anrui?" he asked.
"No thank you." Anrui replied with a cheery smile. "I've had quite enough."
Sanzo stood and so did Anrui. Hakkai placed money on the table and they all left the
inn. Hakkai and Gojyo trailed behind Sanzo and Anrui, observing them as they walked
ahead. Goku and Anrui seemed to be chatting quite animatedly. Something about Anrui
struck Hakkai as strange. She was dressed in robes similar to Sanzo only they were dark
green. She also seemed to have the black gloves and black undershirt that Sanzo had. He
wondered if this had some kind of meaning among the other monks. Gojyo gave an aggrieved
sigh.
"Such beauty wasted on such a grumpy monk." he said.
"I don't think that's the kind of relationship they have." Hakkai defended.
Gojyo smiled at that.
"I'm serious." Hakkai persisted.
"Two beers says you're wrong." Gojyo said, feeling rather daring.
Hakkai thought about it.
"Alright." he agreed, pretty sure he wouldn't lose.
The two shook hands and continued on their way.
"I wish her robes were tighter." Gojyo said with a wistful sigh.
It was true, the robes concealed too much of her body but her build suggested
slenderness and her face suggested beauty everywhere. Hakkai, too, wondered at Anrui's
features. He had learned that those robes hid a lot. No one would have guessed that Sanzo
had muscles when he was robed. But there were no nuns* that dressed like that as far as
Hakkai knew. He suddenly noticed the way Anrui held Sanzo's arm. It almost seemed as if
Sanzo was leading her, or she was following him. He found this quite curious. He halted
his observations briefly as they reached the house. Sanzo was leading Anrui inside when
Hakkai realised something.
"We don't have a spare bedroom." he said apologetically.
"You can stay with me, Anrui." Gojyo offered with a leer.
Sanzo scowled.
"You can have my room." Hakkai offered. "I'll share with someone else."
"Oh, don't bother." Anrui said. "I'll just share with Master Sanzo."
Hakkai paled slightly at this statement.
"Oh." he said weakly.
Gojyo couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, regardless of Sanzo's glare.
Anrui covered a yawn with her hand.
"Perhaps you could tell us how you and Sanzo met in the morning?" Hakkai asked gently.
"Sure." Anrui agreed, ignoring Sanzo's sour look. "Good night then."
With a few tugging motions, Anrui had Sanzo leading her up the stairs. Gojyo stared at
Hakkai.
"You owe me two beers." he said.
"That remains to be seen." Hakkai replied with a smile.
Goku, not understanding the exchange, shrugged and headed for his own room. Gojyo slung
an arm around Hakkai's shoulders.
"You're in denial, buddy." he said. "But that's all right, you'll be proven wrong."
Hakkai merely smiled a small smile.
It was getting rather late in the morning and Hakkai decided that he should
awaken Sanzo. He knocked gently on the door but received no reply. Shrugging, he opened
the door and peered in.
"Sanzo, it't time to wake up." he said.
Sanzo was sleeping on his side, one arm used as a pillow. His other arm was curled near
his abdomen. It took Hakkai a moment to realise that there was another black clad arm
next to Sanzo's. Sanzo opened his eyes and glanced at Hakkai. Anrui's head suddenly
appeared from behind Sanzo's body. She propped her chin up on Sanzo's shoulder and smiled.
"Good morning, Hakkai." she said.
Her black hair tumbled about her face adorably.
"Good morning, Anrui." he replied automatically. "Breakfast is waiting downstairs."
"Thank you." Anrui said with a smile.
Hakkai closed the door and headed back downstairs. Gojyo glanced up at him and noted
the particular non-expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It seems I may owe you two beers." Hakkai said slowly.
*Buddhist nun
Yes, Anrui Kaien is my creation.