Title: Reign of the Heart
Content: shonen ai/yaoi, AU, I believe the pairings are blatantly obvious by now…
Pinku: But you're evil! You might change 'em!
Lorelei: *stuffs a rag in his mouth and continues talking as he mumbles in the background* How annoying. I'm not that cruel.
Disclaimer: All of these characters belong to…um…*sweatdrop*…the person who makes Saiyuki! Yeah! Not me! Damn it…
~Chapter Two~
"You stupid ape!" The annoyed cry followed the loud crash of a material most likely made of nice glass, shattering to the hard stone floor.
"I'm sorry Sanzo! That plate was really heavy! Here—I'll get it!" Goku quickly busied himself in picking up the pieces of glass the littered the corridor floor. The aggravated young prince stood over him, his annoyance at the boy beginning to ebb. Goku let out a sharp gasp, pulling away his hand from the wreck as his finger came into contact with a sharp shard of glass. A thin line of blood trickled down his hand, and the youth cringed at the sight of it. Sanzo kneeled down before the boy, gently taking the injured hand in his own.
"Idiot." He chided softly, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping the wounded hand. "There. Now finish that and you're done for the day." The prince stood, and Goku stared up at him, once more in confusion.
"But…Sanzo," Violet eyes glared at him.
"Who is the prince here? I said you're done." With those words, the blonde turned on his heel and walked off down the hall, the fabric of his robes flaring dramatically behind him. Goku ran a hand over his eyes in disbelief, and smiled to himself. He began to carefully finish picking up the pieces of glass from the floor, his heart in better spirits than when the day had started.
Slowly, the door opened, and Hakkai slipped in, shutting it soundlessly behind him. He sighed to himself, and then looked up with an open and friendly expression on his face. However, a tinge of weariness still existed there. Gojyo raised his head at the man's entrance, and arched an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry I left before you woke," Hakkai apologized. He sat down in a chair across from where Gojyo was perched on the window sill. Hakkai watched Gojyo, somewhat anxiously. "Are you hungry? Would you like me to get you something?" Gojyo waved a hand at him carelessly.
"Don't bother. Won't they get suspicious if you start takin' meals up to your room without explanation?"
"Well, I could always make an excuse," Hakkai persisted, but was met with Gojyo's flat expression.
"I'm not hungry." The half-breed stated. Hakkai nodded slowly in understanding, leaving the room silent. Gojyo continued to stare out the window, almost ignoring Hakkai's presence entirely. Finally, he turned his head so his red eyes burned into Hakkai's own, leaving the latter captivated, yet eerily uncomfortable. Those eyes were the exact shade of blood, and that was what first had came to Hakkai's mind. Those eyes read into him, read far deeper then Hakkai ever wanted anyone to know about. Flustered, the green-eyed man cleared his throat, dropping his head to break the eye-contact.
"You know, there are many spare rooms in the palace. It's possible I could find you someplace to stay…" Hakkai offered.
"I don't plan on staying too long," Gojyo answered quickly. This again left Hakkai without anything to continue the conversation, and that eerie silence threatened to settle in once more. Gojyo smirked slightly. "It'd be too lonely anyway." He added, almost wistfully. "I enjoy your company, believe it or not."
"I see," Hakkai stood, subtly dodging Gojyo's eyes, for fear he may not be able to tear himself away again. "Then you are welcome to stay for as long as you want." Gojyo nodded, his eyes falling upon the small silver clasp on Hakkai's left ear. He looked about to ask something, but turned away to the window once again. That was what Hakkai had seen out of Gojyo, mostly. The half-breed wasn't one who looked to be thoughtful and intense, but that was the side presented to Hakkai. In a deeper part of him, Hakkai wondered what had happened to cause Gojyo to be this way. However, it was probably best to leave the subject untouched, or at least let Gojyo be the one to bring it up. "Gojyo?" The red-headed half-breed glanced up. "I'm very sorry, but I've got to leave you again. It seems that Sanzo's fairly certain there's a war a-foot, and we've got to prepare."
"Go. Who am I to stand in the way of you and your kingdom, eh? Go, I'll be fine," Hakkai continued to stare at Gojyo, faint lines of worry shadowing his young face. Gojyo smirked. "Really. You're way too young to be so concerned about everything. You're going to give yourself grays if you keep stressing so much," Hakkai smiled.
"Thank you for the concern. I'll take that under advisement," Gojyo watched as the door closed behind Hakkai, and let his smirk melt away.
"You'd better,"
Kougaiji had been waiting by his window nearly the entire morning, when finally, much to his dismay, he saw the flamboyant white horses that pulled his stepmother's coach. There was never a time when he anticipated her arrival with joy, and this was most definitely one of those times. Nevertheless, he was obligated to meet her at the gate.
He'd made his way to the entrance, poising himself with as much dignity as possible, maybe to make her somewhat jealous of his stature. One of her coachmen lent a hand to help her down from the carriages, which she accepted. She smoothed out her dress slowly, eyeing Kougaiji subtly. Once she was done, she plastered a feigned smile onto her face.
"Kou! Oh Kou! How I've missed you!" The woman flung her arms around Kougaiji's neck, brushing her lips against his cheek. Stiffly, Kougaiji raised his arms to return the embrace. His stepmother, Kyosyu, pulled away after a moment or two. She looked him over critically, nodding to herself. "Well, I see you've kept yourself nicely enough," she paused, looking behind her, where her coachman was helping two more people out of the coach. One was a beautiful young woman with long violet hair, and eyes of a rare shade, a pinkish shade of red. She bowed her head coyly as his eyes ran over her. The other was a young girl, with short and spunky orange hair, and large green eyes. "Girls," The two joined Kougaiji and Kyosyu at her beckon. Kyosyu gestured to the violet haired woman. "This, Kougaiji, is Yaone. She is the daughter of my dear friend, and I made it a point to let her meet you," Yaone bowed to Kougaiji again, a light pink blush spreading across her cheeks.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Lord Kougaiji," she greeted in a soft voice. The little girl frowned, and began to tug on Kyosyu's sleeve. The woman wrinkled her nose, and shrugged herself of the child's grasp.
"What about me, mother?" the child asked. She smiled at Kougaiji. Kyosyu glared at the impatient child.
"This, Kougaiji," she stated. "Is your half-sister; Lirin." The child beamed. Kougaiji wondered how'd he'd had a half-sister without knowing so. It seemed a difficult thing to hide. But he found himself warming up to the child, who seemed worlds better than her mother. As for Yaone, Kougaiji suspected she was of a wealthy family looking for dowry. But he'd never thought Kyosyu, with her flagrant want for his kingdom, would ever present to him a wife, ensuring his place as king. For now, he shrugged the thought.
"Would you come inside? I have your quarters prepared, and you can settle in immediately," Kougaiji offered. "I have rooms for Miss Yaone and Lirin as well." Kougaiji gestured for the three of them to follow him inside. It was now clear to him that Kyosyu was definitely planning something, but what, he wasn't sure.
"Kyosyu wants something," Kougaiji explained, as he unevenly paced about the balcony he and Doku stood. He sighed, leaning over the railing of the balcony. "I don't like when I can't read into her moves. It's dangerous," Kougaiji admitted. Doku stared at him.
"Well, she hasn't gone after anything more than the kingdom so far," the slave stated. Kougaiji let out a sigh in the form of a short breath.
"And that isn't bad enough?" the young prince argued. He propped his elbow up on the railing, letting his forehead rest in his hand. "I just can't see how she hopes to accomplish that by making me king. I'd suspect that would make her job harder, wouldn't you?" Doku didn't respond, and Kou looked around. He felt a light pressure on his shoulders, and turned to see his faithful servant behind him.
"Don't you think you're worrying about this too much?" the dark haired man asked. Kougaiji looked away.
"Maybe…" Doku took the prince's chin, tilting the young man's head towards his own. He lest his lips rest upon Kougaiji's, feeling the redhead's tenseness fade away.
Kyosyu watched from the entrance to the balcony, her lips twitching in a smirk. It had just happened that she was passing by the balcony on her way to find Kougaiji, and she did. Kyosyu hadn't any idea the prince had kept pleasure slaves for himself. Suddenly, finding Kougaiji's weakness didn't seem so hard anymore. She turned quietly, leaving the two alone…for now.
Goku wandered into Sanzo's bedroom, which had become almost a habit since he did it so often. He watched as the prince busied himself gathering clothes and packing them into cases. The young boy moved closer, curiously hovering about Sanzo. The blonde stopped, giving Goku an annoyed stare.
"What is it?" he asked sharply. Goku blinked up at Sanzo, and then pointed to his packing.
"Sanzo, why are you doing that? Do you not like those clothes? Huh, Sanzo?" Sanzo's sighed deeply, shaking his head.
"No, you stupid monkey. I'm going away for a little while." Goku continued to watch Sanzo as he sealed up the cases. He didn't have a lot packed.
"So, you'll be gone for a day?" Goku asked. Sanzo raised an eyebrow at the boy, wondering how so little knowledge actually stuck inside his head.
"No, it will be much longer," Sanzo replied evenly. Goku's large golden eyes widened.
"You're leaving? For a long time? But why, Sanzo?" Goku exclaimed. Sanzo desperately fought the urge to whack him on the head. Calmly, he tried once again to explain to Goku.
"Look, I have to meet with some people to make friends with those people, ok?" Goku nodded. "If I make friends with these people, then they will help me when I need help, do you understand?" Again, Goku nodded. Sanzo smiled inwardly at having put the youth to silence calm and rationally.
"But, Sanzo? Why can't they come here? Or, why do they need to be your friends? Hakkai's your friend, and so am I, and I know I'd help you whenever you need it," Sanzo stopped working completely, and stared at Goku. That had very much sounded as though he meant it. And Goku wasn't smart enough to lie well anyway. Sanzo sighed, now beginning to feel a tinge of regret for having to leave Goku behind.
"Goku, I know you'd help me, but in all honesty, your help alone would not be enough. If there was to be a war between my kingdom and another, I wouldn't want you getting killed. Your body would make a poor shield if my soldiers needed to use you as one," Sanzo added, yet his tone was serious. Goku nodded, seeming to understand this time. A knock came at Sanzo's door. Goku and Sanzo looked up as Hakkai entered.
"Hakkai!" Goku exclaimed. Hakkai smiled at the boy, and then turned his attention to Sanzo.
"Are you about ready?" Hakkai asked. Sanzo nodded.
"No help to this idiot," he muttered, gesturing to Goku. Goku flushed angrily.
"Hey! I'm not an idiot! Hakkai, I'm not an idiot, right?" Hakkai chuckled, patting Goku's head.
"Of course not," This satisfied Goku enough. Sanzo frowned.
"You're giving him too much of an ego," he stated. "Children take advantage of you when you do that." Goku glared at the prince. "Hakkai, are you sure you can't join me?" Hakkai looked thoughtful. The green-eyed man seemed to have something important keeping him from complying, but what, Sanzo wasn't sure. The dark-haired man shook his head apologetically.
"I can't, I'm sorry Sanzo." Suddenly, Goku bolted upright. He turned to Sanzo, with a serious look in his gold eyes for once.
"Sanzo, let me go with you!" the youth exclaimed. Sanzo stared at Goku incredulously. Then his expression hardened.
"Absolutely not." He responded. Goku's face fell.
"Sanzo! Please let me come! I can help you! Please!" The youth had now latched himself to Sanzo's arm, begging him mercilessly. Hakkai chuckled.
"Well, Sanzo. You have to admit, he's the most dedicated servant you've had in awhile," the brunette observed in amusement. An annoyed look crossed Sanzo's face.
"Please Sanzo!" Goku chorused. Sanzo could now feel his eye starting to twitch, which wasn't a good sign. He was much too young to be having this kind of stress. "Sanzo!" the boy cried out. Sanzo swiftly brought his fist to Goku's head, not too hard, but hard enough to get his point across. The youth recoiled in melodramatic pain, rubbing his head. "OW! Sanzo, you jerk, that hurt! You'd better take me for that!" Sanzo set his jaw together tightly, attempting to ignore the boy's relentless pleas, but failed miserably.
"All right, if I let you come, will you shut up?" Sanzo growled. Goku grinned widely, completely forgetting his pain.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. Excitedly, he jumped up and down. Sanzo began rubbing his temples.
"Hakkai, why didn't you stop me from allowing him to go?" Sanzo asked wearily. Hakkai smiled.
"Don't worry. He enjoys your company more than you'll ever know." The brunette grabbed Sanzo's bags. "Here, I'll have the horses saddled." He stated. Sanzo shook his head.
"Just one. Goku, unfortunately, can't ride…" Hakkai chuckled. Sanzo dropped his head in defeat. "Stupid monkey…"
Author's Note: I'd just like to say thank you for your encouraging reviews! ^ ^ Thankies! This chapter's shorter than my normal chapters, but it's pretty good for having nothing happen at all. ^ ^;
Pinku: You can stretch utter nonsense farther than anyone else I know!
Lorelei: Die. *grins* As always, I'll be trying to get more out as soon as I can, but really, I think I should be going faster soon. I just had a bunch of work to do (quarterly assessments) *shudder* But those are done now, so I'm happy! ^ ~
Pinku: …
Lorelei: I'm gonna fill this space with meaningless things. I found out that 'kappa' can mean cucumber, or raincoat! i.e.
Goku: You perverted raincoat! Or Goku: You perverted cucumber!
*snickers* Oh yeah, kappa is also the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet. *sweatdrop* You see that I have WAY too much free time on my hands, considering I'm busy…
Pinku: *shakes head* you scare me, Lorelei…scare me so much I can't comprehend it…
Lorelei: Sank you! (I realize that all of Sora's guys say that…oddness…O.o) Ja minna!
Pinku: Good! The insane ranting ends! *gets hit with a flying pot* ow…
