Disclaimer: I do own Saiyuki…in my dreams :p
Have just seen the film "The Pianist" it is good, and horribly, horribly sad… makes me mad to see how cruel people can be….Anyway, back to us… you didn't have to wait a month for this, but sorry for the delay anyway :) I can't believe I'm already at Chapter 8; this was supposed to be something short! But the future, my friends, is always full of surprises, and my fingers are still tapping away at the keyboard…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 8
~.~.~.~.~
Shunrei
~.~.~.~.~
Oh gods above… you are so alike…. I hurried through the corridors, trying to get as far away as possible, trying to erase those words from my memory… you are so alike…. No one must notice. No one must get to know about all this. For I knew now, that I could never tell Sanzo that I was his mother. I must have been mad to think I should have confessed the whole truth. I could imagine him looking at me in hatred, blaming me for whatever he had gone true. Or worse, I could see him shrug, indifferent, telling me that by now he did not need me, that he did not care…
Engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't notice he was there until I bumped into him. "I'm sorry, I was distracted." His emerald eyes looked down anxiously at me. "Excuse me, but are you well Shunrei-sama? You seem quite pale…"
"It's none of your business! And look where you're going another time!" I hissed, as I swept past him, ignoring his surprised look. I couldn't bear talking to anyone, anyone. I finally reached my quarters. Rushing into my room, I locked the door behind me, before collapsing onto my bed. His voice kept echoing through my head…
I have a mission to accomplish…
Interference must be eliminated…
Why the fuck should you care?
He was right. I had lost the right to care as soon as I let them take him away. What a fool I had been to think there was some hope of being reunited with my son. In the span of a few minutes, I saw all my dreams and hopes come crashing down, to be faced with the sordid truth. He would never be mine... I had imagined that perhaps he would be like Hiroshi, warm and caring, but instead… instead…My child was like me. I tried to laugh, but I could not. In my son, I had found another Shunrei... a cold, embittered being, who would never accept me. The look in his eyes… cold, determined, uncaring…I knew it too well... I had felt it too often on my own face. Why, why, why? It was not right. I had wanted my son to grow up loved and happy, and live the life which had been taken away from me. But I saw pain, and sadness hidden deep in those amethyst eyes. When I touched him, I could sense a disquieted spirit, tormented by memories, but exactly of what, I could not tell. And what was worse, I could not even comfort him.
Why had the gods allowed this meeting to take place? Had I not suffered enough already? Did I deserve to see my son, and then know that I had to lose him again? I longed for him to get better and leave, so that I could try to ease the pain of the wounds in my heart which he had opened afresh.
~~~~~
~.~.~.~.~
Hakkai
~.~.~.~.~
I watched her as she walked quickly off. What on earth had Sanzo done to make her so mad? I sighed softly. Actually, it wasn't that surprising. I had almost expected sparks to fly when those two met. They were much of a kind, as far as I could tell. And yet, the high priestess did not seem to be a woman whom one could shake easily. There seemed to be more than simple anger in her eyes…
In the distance, a sudden loud crash was heard, followed by a howl.
I froze, and I felt my heart beat quicken. It had…it had come from Sanzo's room. My mouth felt dry, and I caught my breath quickly. Oh, no, not again… Images coursed through my brain … youkai… claws gleaming in the moonlight, dripping with blood… eyes gloating… a body on the ground…Sanzo…
I regained hold of my senses, and sped off to his room, cursing the moment I had left it.
Sanzo… please, not again, please…
~~~~~
~.~.~.~
Goku
~.~.~.~
The door crashed open. Both Sanzo and I stared. Hakkai stood there, pale and panting, hair dishevelled and eyes full of panic. In short, the image of what Hakkai never looked like. "What… what…" His voice faded as he took in the sight. I followed his gaze and grinned guiltily. "Sorry, my fault, I'll clean up myself."
Some colour returned to his pale cheeks. "What happened? I heard a crash and then, someone howled…"
"I…uh… well, I kind of tripped, and hit the table… then I fell to the floor and the bottle of saké I sneaked up fell on my head and broke…" I wiped my face as the liquid was still dripping down my head. I looked at Sanzo, and was surprised to see that he had stopped scowling at me and was looking instead at Hakkai. Coming to think of it, Hakkai had looked rather strange when he'd come in. "Say, Hakkai, are you ok?" My green eyed friend forced a laugh. "Of course I am! You just scared me a bit, that's all." He smiled at me, and gave me his hand. I smiled back, as he pulled me up. He turned to Sanzo, who hadn't taken his eyes off him ever since he'd entered the room.
"By the way," Hakkai said, as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Is everything fine? I met Shunrei and she seemed, quite…upset."
"I don't know and I don't care." Sanzo's voice seemed quite harsh. I felt a sudden twinge of guilt, and I blushed. "Oh…Maybe it's my fault… Cause I thought that she…"
"Shut up!" Sanzo glared at me. "Don't mention that again get it? Or I'll kill you!" I subsided into silence under his threatening gaze, while Hakkai looked curiously from me to Sanzo. Why did he have to yell at me like that? It wasn't my fault if she'd taken it badly. It was a mistake anyone could make! It was almost dark, they both had gold hair and wore white robes. Suddenly it hit me… maybe Sanzo didn't want me to tell Hakkai cause he thought I was comparing him to a woman! That always made him mad. I groaned inwardly. I had a fantastic talent of saying the things which managed to irritate Sanzo. I crept closer to the bed. Hakkai had moved to the table, and was trying to clear up the mess. "Sanzo?" I whispered softly. "I don't think you look like a woman you know."
He lifted his eyebrows slightly, and looked straight into my eyes. "If I didn't know that you didn't have a brain, I'd think that I'd permanently damaged yours," he said slowly.
"Sanzo! That's mean! I was only trying to say sorry!" I crossed my arms, and I glared at him. He shrugged.
"Ch…whatever." He looked at where Hakkai was clearing up. "Why don't you help in cleaning the mess you made?" I grinned and nodded. He didn't seem to be mad at me anymore. I was glad; I hated him being angry at me. I bounded over to where Hakkai was, and started picking up the bits of glass which were on the floor.
~~~~~
We had finished clearing up the mess, and we were now resting in silence in Sanzo's room. Hakkai was sitting on a chair and I was sitting on the floor, leaning my back on the bed.
"We'll leave in two day's time." Hakkai and I looked up at the sound of Sanzo's voice.
"Are you sure you'll be well by then Sanzo? You still are pretty weak." Hakkai looked rather doubtfully at Sanzo's thin, pale face. He looked like a shadow of his former self… he definitely did not look strong enough to proceed along our journey, and I doubted it he could face a pack of youkai in that state. I felt slightly guilty. Perhaps I had made him tired because of all the noise I had made before.
"We are leaving in two day's time," Sanzo repeated firmly.
"But… Sanzo, wouldn't it be better if we waited…"
"Which part didn't you understand, baku saru?" Sanzo frowned at me.
"I just don't want you to get sick, like before." I was worried. He hadn't recovered; even I could see that, and I didn't want to see him suffer again.
"I won't get sick. And I'm not repeating myself. Get it?" Hakkai and I looked at each other. I could see my own anxiety reflected in his eyes. When Sanzo decided we had to leave, it was practically impossible to change his mind.
~~~~~
~.~.~.~
Sanzo
~.~.~.~
"Sanzo?"
"What?" Hakkai had waited until Goku had gone out of the room before telling me what had been on his mind for quite some time.
"It's just that…" He hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Shunrei… I keep feeling that there's something familiar about her, but I can't understand what…" His emerald eyes looked straight into mine. "You feel that too don't you?"
I shrugged. "Perhaps. But I can't sense any evil about this place."
"No," he said slowly, "But it's unnerving…"
"Ch. You can stop worrying about it. We're soon leaving anyway."
~~~~~
Both Hakkai and I had felt that there was something strange about this woman. There was something in her which unnerved me. This temple, the air itself was stifling me by the air of mystery. But why was I so worried? I didn't believe she meant any harm, and we were leaving soon. And anyway, this had nothing to do with me, and I wasn't interested in her...but if so, why did I keep thinking about her? And why that sudden chill when Goku uttered those stupid words? I felt so sure that the answer to all my questions was staring at me in the face if I could only see it.
I lit up a cigarette I had managed to pinch off Gojyo. Luckily, he assumed that I had smoked all the others, even though he kicked up some fuss when I told him I had misplaced the lighter. That was something else which irritated me. How dare she treat me as if I were a child? I inhaled deeply. The cigarette end glowed brightly in the darkness. There was a complete silence broken only by the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. This place made feel uneasy. It seemed to be familiar although I was certain that I had never set foot in this temple before. She too made me feel uneasy. I could deal with the usual type of holy people, but this one was different, in a way, she was too much like… like me. I shook my head furiously. What the hell was I doing, comparing myself to her? It must be Goku's influence. But, even she seemed unnerved by his words… was she hiding something from me? And if so, what? I stubbed out the cigarette. The sooner I got away from this place, the better.
I felt tired, and I settled back on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position. I closed my eyes, and tried to forget…
~~~
"Koryou the river drifter… Koryou the river drifter…" their voices mock me as I struggle to get out of the water. But I can't… the current is too strong for me. I try to shout for help, but water enters my mouth. I feel weak and afraid. I gasp, and know that I am about to drown. My head disappears beneath the water…it is the end… Suddenly, I feel a hand clutching my own, pulling me out, and dragging me to safety. I feel hopeful…Komyou Sanzo… I know it is him. I open my eyes, ready to meet my master's gaze, but icy blue eyes meet mine instead.
~~~
I jerked my eyes open. It was still dark. I shifted slightly, and settled down again, trying to sleep. It had only been a stupid dream.
~~~
TBC
~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A big thank you to all those who reviewed!! THANK YOU!!!! (and multiply that for 1x101000000 times. Did I show enough appreciation?? ^_^)
Gallatica: Eeek! Sorry for the mistake! Thanks a lot for telling me ^_^ I though "-sama" was a term of respect for an older person. Can you suggest what to use? I'd be very grateful if someone would tell me which prefixes are for whom! I don't study Japanese, and my ideas are a bit confused on this subject. (Sank you for the chocolates btw)
fye chan: My idea of Hiroshi? I never watched yami no matsuei before, but I surfed the net and saw a pic… yes… take the black hair and the purple eyes and transfer onto Hakkai, and that's relatively what Hiroshi should look like. Naturally, he is unique… so he's not exactly like one or the other. Will try to send you a rough drawing I made one of these days. (Note… I am not good at drawing… he is not as bad as he looks in this picture) Just keep in mind that he's supposed to be handsome (gorgeous actually… I mean, he is Sanzo's father after all) and he's the kind of guy who can look serious, but can break into a boyish smile which makes you want to smile back. (And what's best of all… He's mine!! Even though I killed him off ;p) That's how I see him :) Hope this doesn't sound too confusing ^_^
I know some people are going to kill me cause the still haven't got to know who's who… you can blame those two icebergs over there ( Sanzo is heard in the background… what the hell does she expect us to do? Run into each others arms all of a sudden cause I've had a dream in which some weirdo tells me that she's my mother? These things need time!!!) Right. But I promise that it will soon end. To make myself forgiven for the suspense, I'll tell you what's going to happen…&^$#^$$%W@#@#^#@^ Oh dear… that's strange… when I try to write about the next chapter, strange words are typed out.. ;-p Just joking!! But something unexpected is going to happen in the next chapter, which may lead to the blondes' reunion… or perhaps not? *Konzen waves her Evil Fanfic Writer badge and grins happily*
Warning: a horrific threat to the time dedicated to my fanfics is looming on the horizon. Can't guess what it is? Really? It's school. Yes my fellow sufferers…My hardest year yet… *shivers at the thought of her Horribly Hard Exams*.
Sanzo: Good. That will teach you to spend your free time torturing me by writing stupid fanfics.
Konzen: *sobs away into her handkerchief ignoring Sanzo completely*
Hakkai: *looking worried* Hmm… that's strange… usually she answers back or starts threatening Sanzo… perhaps I should call a doctor…
Sanzo: *sweatdrops* Oi! You baka! Can't you answer when someone's insulting you?
Goku: *looking completely bewildered* Sanzo, what's school? Can you eat school? Or exams? Huh??
Konzen: *wails even louder and starts hitting at everyone she sees with her schoolbooks*
Sanzo-ikkou: HELP!!!!