Hello!

Here my newest update.

IMPORTANT: THIS IS NOT THE ANNOUNCED SHOUNEN-AI-CHAPTER!

I found that the planned chapter turned out to be very long for my standards, so I split it up... shounen-ai-warning in the next chapter!

05.04.2005: Answers to reviews removed. See why in chapter 3.

DISCLAIMER: It's still not mine, and probably never will be. Praise to Minekura Kazuya for those four intriguing main characters!

CHAPTER 15

Kouryuu was dead. Genjo Sanzo was dead.

He heard Goku's wails of anguish, saw Gojyo turn away and break his way through the thickets, into the woods, where he undoubtedly would try to deal with his grief by himself. It had always seemed as though their was no love lost between him and the blond man, but Hakkai knew it to be a mere facade. He stared down at his hands, tainted with blood, saw the still body on the floor, in a puddle of red...

"NO!"

Hakkai's eyes opened wide as he sat up, still shaken by his nightmare. Goku and Gojyo, who had been sitting on two chairs, one next to each one of the two beds in the small room, stared at him and the boy asked, "Hakkai, are you alright?"

The brunette youkai's breathing slowed when he remembered... Kanzeon had brought Kouryuu back when all had seemed lost, and he was now lying on the bed on the opposite side of the small inn chamber, breathing normally, sleeping.

After the Goddess had vanished, Goku and Gojyo had carried their blond companion to the transformed Hakuryuu, had helped Hakkai on the passenger seat of the jeep and Gojyo had driven them to the next town. He did not remember much after that...

"I am fine", he answered the concerned boy's question quietly. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days", the half-youkai sitting at his bedside answered. "You were totally exhausted when we arrived, we had to help you up the stairs to our rooms... then, you just collapsed on the bed and slept."

Green eyes wandered over to the other bed again.

"Has he been awake yet?"

Gojyo shook his head.

"Yesterday, though, he started mumbling unintelligible stuff in his sleep; we figure he'll come around soon."

Hakkai nodded in acknowledgement and began to swing his legs out of the bed to stand up.

"Uh, you sure you should try that yet?" Goku's voice again, from Kouryuu's bedside.

The brunette man nodded. "I am fine now... and, as the resident healer, I want to check how my patient is doing."

He felt a small bout of vertigo when he got up from the bed, but that was only natural – he had been lying on his back for three consecutive days, after all. He made his way over to the other bed, pulled back the blanket and let his trained eyes wander over Kouryuu's bare chest.

Kanzeon Bosatsu's intervention had closed the mortal wound directly above the solarplexus, and nothing but scar tissue remained of it, but there were various cuts and scrapes the Goddess had left unaddressed; Hakkai noted, satisfied, that those had been properly cleaned and bandaged.

"I patched him up", Goku admitted next to him. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong..."

The healer smiled down on him.

"Don't worry, Goku – it looks as though you did just fine."

He noticed the dark rings under the boy's eyes; clearly, Goku had not left the room to sleep or eat, as he was prone to do when his master got injured. A quick glance over to Gojyo told him a similar story.

'They must have been extremely worried – I don't even smell smoke...'

Had the kappa totally forgotten about his craving for nicotine for three whole days?

"I see that, while taking care of us, you two have neglected yourself instead... has anyone of you two had anything to eat in the last 24 hours?"

Two blank stares, then two heads shaking their denial.

Hakkai sighed in not entirely mocked exasperation.

"If you don't have us around to look after you... the two of you will go out there right now and get something to eat. Gojyo, while it is nice that you refrained from smoking in here, I figure your addiction should drive you crazy about now, so go and have a smoke. And afterwards, you two will sleep for at least six hours. We've had enough problems as of late, and you collapsing on me is something I would like to prevent..."

The typical Hakkai-Smile shone on his face as he ushered the two perplexed companions out of the room.

"I will be able to stay awake for a while; if, for some reason, I can't manage anymore, I will wake one of you up. Your room is right next to this one, as usual, right? ... Very well, have fun!"

And the door to the room closed behind them.

Goku and Gojyo exchanged a look.

"Um... do you really think Hakkai is only worried about us?", the monkeylike boy finally asked.

The kappa shook his head. "I don't think so. There has been some sort of... argument going on between the two, I'm sure you still remember..."

Goku thought about it, then he nodded. "Before that woman attacked us, they didn't talk to each other anymore... So, you think Hakkai wants to talk it over with him again once he wakes up?"

Gojyo shook a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his vest pocket. "Yeah. That – and I am sure Hakkai still feels bad about what he did to Kouryuu, and somehow feels he has to make up for it, otherwise he'll keep having nightmares about it – 'cause that's what I think he did dream about just before he woke up. It should be okay to leave them alone for a while, now that he's up and about again."

"Good..." A whiny note crept into Goku's voice. "Because I'm hungry..."

The half-youkai grinned. "Well, that is a problem that has to be addressed immediately – follow me, we're going out for something to eat!"

The two companions walked down the hallway towards the staircase.

Yeah, I know I'm cruel, but I can't help it...

Again Warning: The next chapter WILL have the shounen-ai part!

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