Title: Finding the Sun
Author: AznSage
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Pairings: Goku+Konzen/Konzen+Goku
Rating: PG
Note: Goku POV. Building up time to the war itself--so there may be a few short chapters here because of that. I like evil cliffhangers at the end.
"You know we're in deep shit now, right?"
"We always are, aren't we?"
"I suppose, but that doesn't mean that we *had* to drag Konzen and the monkey boy into this." Ken nii-chan sighed and made himself comfortable on a stack of books by Ten-chan's desk. He was tense, you could tell just by looking at his posture, his stature and just every little thing about him. He was easy to read. Ten-chan, on the other hand, was not. There was an eerie feeling about him that just made it so hard for me to understand what might be going on in his head. The fact that he was smoking was the only sign I could detect of him trying to calm down.
"Did we drag them or did they drag us?"
"Ah...so there lies the rub."
"Kenren, Tenpou, would the two of you stop making asses out of yourselves and let's talk about what the fuck we're gonna do to get *out* of this mess?"
"Yare yare, Konzen, you're always such a tightass. Where's your sense of humor?" Ken nii-chan lit up his own cigarette at that moment, my sharp eyes catching onto that small bit of almost invisible shaking. It was getting to him too, you could tell. There was just a bit of the usual bravado missing from his voice, that extra edge that showed his fearlessness. But...I just didn't feel it at that moment.
"It left the moment you fucking messed up in court!" In an unexpected explosion, Konzen had knocked over his chair, slammed his fist against the table, and contorted his face into an expression I had never seen on him before. Fear. Concern. Anger. Uncertainty. I could feel it. Somehow, he had just become so much easier to read. Maybe it was that weird mind-reading thing Konzen mentioned. He was just so much more tense at that moment that I wanted nothing more than to run up to him and hug him. Though, I'm not one to be able to predict reactions and at a time like this, it seemed that the almighty fan might be used.
"Konzen, please calm down. And Kenren, you're *not* helping." Ten-chan looked pointedly at Ken nii-chan, who had just put his hands up in the air as a sign of surrendering and looked apologetic. Ten-chan was different right now. He was back to being the military leader he was on Earth. It honestly scared me. How close he had just come to snapping I do not know, but I am loathe to say that it was probably borderline. "We need to consider all our options and then make a decision. We cannot afford to do anything rash at the moment."
"Tenpou, shut up for a moment and lend me your ear for a minute." Konzen sat back down and tented his fingers together, face set in a scowl. The emotion running out of him was like nothing else I've ever experienced. And for some reason, it made me want to go to the cause of it and rip their throats out.
That bloodlust...yes, a new word that I had learned recently from Ten-chan...where had it come from?
Ten-chan gave Konzen a look and his eyes that admitted his want to listen to whatever matters that were urgent enough to warrant a break from their strategy meeting. The happiness upon his face was gone and replaced with complete seriousness at the matter. Everyone and everything was changing faster than I had anticipated and I honestly could not take it anymore. I really wanted to scream.
"The monkey can read my mind."
Ten-chan blinked at that. It was obviously too strange and unexpected a response. "That's a bit...disconcerting."
"Any explanations?"
He shrugged. "He's probably just so attached to you that his heightened being has created the effect of linking you two together. You are his most important, most precious person. So he can hear whatever you're thinking. Though, I would say that this would only happen during times of high emotional stress. Any higher than this...well..."
"Spit it out already, Tenpou. I don't think you'd want to keep Konzen in suspense all day."
He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose a bit uneasily. The next lines he was about to say were obviously making him very uncomfortable. The sweat that was coming off his features and hands through the thin lab coat emitted a stench that only my nose could capture. It was intoxicating, that fear that ran off of it.
"If it gets any higher, then he will become HIM."
The other two in the room seemed to understand immediately what that meant, but I did not.
"Ne...Konzen, please tell me, what is "him?"
Konzen looked at me uncertainly. Are you sure you want to know? I looked at him strangely when I heard his voice in my head. It was that link we had again wasn't it? If you knew, everything would be different. You can't know. "Not now." I frowned at him. It seemed that Ten-chan and Ken nii-chan were going to stay out of this. It was a decision that only Konzen could make to tell me or not what this "him" was. "Now we deal with what we have to do with the celestial army and what they're bound to do to Kenren for trying to attack their precious Li Touten."
"And we have to deal with Tentei." supplied Ten-chan.
"You still have your army loyal to you, right Tenpou?"
Ten-chan nodded and stubbed his cigarette out. "Yes, my men are still fiercely loyal to me. They may actually help us. It really depends."
"And we're probably the only unit where we have soldiers who can fight. The rest always follow Nataku around like a lap dog and do nothing. It'll be useful in the whole context of things."
"We're prepared to be rebels but Konzen's position might be a bit more...complex...to deal with."
"Aa...but..." Konzen looked reluctant to say the next words that were just on the tip of his tongue.
"But you would do it for Goku correct?" Ten-chan stubbed out another cigarette and searched his pockets for another pack, only to come out with none. Ken nii-chan tossed him a pack lazily, even though the tension seemed to be getting to him again because, lo and behold, his throw was off. It had never been off before.
"Aa."
"But you don't want to bring him into it."
"Aa."
There was a heavy silence, no one really wanted to say anything and I squirmed uncomfortably in the stuffy room that was slowly filling with cigarette smoke again.
"It's fine." The three turned to look at me, their scrutiny chasing my temporary courage away just for a moment. I squeezed my eyes tightly together--if I couldn't see them then I won't think about them really being there. It was just me and the darkness.
"What?"
"It's fine. I can deal with this." Me and the darkness...
"But...Nataku--!"
"I can deal with it. If it means that Konzen and Ten-chan and Ken nii-chan will be fine, then I'll do it! Whatever it is, even if it means that I have to sacrifice myself, I'll do it!" Me and the darkness...
"Goku, no, I can't let you--"
"IYAAAAAA~!" Me and the darkness...
...and the blood.
"Oi, saru, you need to calm yourself." The four of us were apparently so engrossed in our talk that we had not noticed Kanzeon enter at all. She sounded smug. Too smug. "You should open your eyes before you lose yourself in it."
"Kannon-sama." Ten-chan politely addressed her. "What brings you to my humble study?"
"I was going to tell you that I got Tentei off your backs. But it seems that I can serve a better purpose of making sure Goku doesn't become 'him.'"
"It's a troubling time for him. You'll have to excuse him a bit."
"Of course." She strolled over by Konzen and leaned comfortably against one of the walls. "Under my advice, he's going to keep an eye on Li Touten. But I doubt he'll remember to reinforce it in the end. Nataku will probably be out of commission for the next few days. That kid's gonna be back up pretty quick though. Don't know what the hell Li Touten does to him to make him heal so quickly, but it's not possible naturally. Tentei has Kenren under probation though. But that make that much of a difference in the bigger aspects?"
"Not really. We were planning on taking the revolution into our hands already. It doesn't matter if Kenren is under probation. I will have to address my men though. They may be useful."
"Aa. I have a sinking feeling that even though I was able to influence Tentei, Li Touten will have more of an effect on him with his garbage. The war is at hand."
"I think I have an idea of what we can do to even out the odds a bit more."
"If you say so, Tenpou Gensui. You *are* supposed to be the brilliant one." She stretched a bit at her words and got ready to leave again, having said enough. "Just remember that I cannot help you in any way that is too obvious. But you have allies everywhere. You just have to find them and coax them into helping you."
"Like anyone is crazy enough to help us..."
"You never know." With that she flung the doors open and dismissively waved back at us. "Ja."
"Good riddance, k'so baba."
She turned at that, as if remebering something at the last minute. "Oh and Goku..."
I perked up at the sound of my name. "Yes?"
"Remember you have a sun. Always remember that."
I could only manage a nod at her retreating back.
"And if you have anything to say to Nataku, it's best to say it now. You might not get a chance to say it ever if you don't say it now."
My mind remembered that I had yet to tell him my name. "Oh!" I was going to run after her to make her tell me where he was. It seemed that Konzen, Ten-chan, and Ken nii-chan weren't going to stop me this time. Probably because they had more to talk about. But I didn't care at that moment. I needed to get to Nataku.
But in the split second it took me to get to the hallway, she had vanished already.
-TBC-
Thank you to the continued support of D-chan (Bad Gojyo dub lines--exactly why I don't watch dubs anymore. And the confusion, you're supposed to feel that--because this is from Goku's POV and if you feel like he does in it, tis a good thing =P), Ashen Skies (This is around where I start deviating from Gaiden itself so I get to make stuff up! Whee! At least it's plausible stuff? ^^;; And Goku has some self-restraint--the Seiten is starting to creep into him a bit more though, hence his changing mind and actions ^^;;), Azzie (Noooo~! Come back to Saiyuki~), Nan (Glad you like it ^_^), gallatica (Oh MAN! That line...haha! I have jotted it down as it has given me 'ideas' hehe), UltraM2000 (Li Touten will get what he deserves...though to be honest, I had thought up endings for everyone except for him so far...>.> Need to think of proper way for Heaven to punish him. Need to go back and read Chinese books again for ideas), Duo Lover 2x1 (Thank you for the continued support! It made me ecstatic to see that someone thinks so highly of my writing ^_^).
The war is coming soon. Nataku and Goku will have a short moment. Kenren and Tenpou will wreak havoc. Konzen will try and strangle Homura. Goujun will make a reappearance. How can I tell you these things when my fic is so...unplanned?? Because the next chapter is already written but needs beta-ing. =P It'll probably be out sometime during the week, maybe later depending how much work I have to do. =P