Alias: Well…Welcome back everyone. :-) Been a long time since I got this story back on the road. Life interfered hugely, to say the least. My writing style keeps changing along with it. For those still along on the ride? Many thanks for waiting so very long for this next chapter.
Thanks to Memywing for the beta job, once again. We're having too much fun with this one, ne?
The book that the Sanzo-ikkou got paralyzed by in chapter 6 is a graphic yaoi anthology featuring the Sanzo-ikkou themselves. In other words…really dirty porn. I don't own one of those—yet. Chapter 6 is another of those false chapters. Just a bit of fun inbetween installments, but not always after every installment. Mitsu kept her backpack, if you read back a bit. That was a bit of fun, just like the WTF? Chapter a few back. Enjoy them, and keep your eyes peeled for more!
By the way..i forgot to note this far back on the first chapter. Taku means 'home' in japanese, which is why it's the keyword for activating the talismans that get our adventurers back. That info and OC names courtesy of Memywing's meddling well. :-P
Disclaimers: All GS Saiyuki characters belong to Kazuya Minekura-sensei and not me. Or I'd not be in university, ne? Nerf ™ also does not belong to me, I just borrowed it for Saiyuki character harassment.
Description: AU, two OCs and a smidgen of foul language, making it PG-13ish.
Chap 7: Beaches, Breakdowns, and a Nerf Gun™?
By AliasOfWestgate
About an hour after Hakkai's return, the Sanzo-ikkou sat around the small fire the driver had set up just off the side of the road. He'd cooked up a quick meal to quell the cries of "Harehetta!' from a certain hungry saru after he'd returned from his jaunt to the world where the KouGaiji-tachi was trapped. He'd also packed away the formal suit he'd acquired from his rushed departure. Gojyo and Goku were happily leaning back on their elbows, fed and content. Giving Sanzo the peace and quiet he craved as he silently smoked another Marlboro, sitting cross-legged to Hakkai's right hand side.
"Hakkai, what's this world like that you had to go to? What can we expect?" Sanzo rumbled quietly.
"Anou…it's much like ours Sanzo, but not. A lot more iron vehicles, many different peoples, but the town itself that is our target, is no bigger than any of the cities we've passed through. Leave most of it to the Guide though. She knows the area inside out, and we need that knowledge."
"Oi, Hakkai…you said "she" didn't you?" Gojyo spoke up quickly.
"Hai, I did Gojyo. Our Guide is a young woman." His tone even and smile direct with his best friend, he didn't feel it was right to tell him about her lineage quite yet. .
"Really?" Gojyo leaned back onto the ground, cigarette smoldering in his mouth and gazed to the early evening sky with a sly, thoughtful look on his face.
Hakkai grinned to himself, amused that the kappa's one track mind never wavered from its favorite hobbies, one of which was admiration of women—even those he'd never met.
"Sanzo, we may have some trouble there though. That world doesn't take well to public fighting, and I got the impression from the Guide that we're in for trouble if we get caught for any small infraction. Even with anything Kozeon supplies us." He added.
"I'll note that, but considering who we're chasing after, I doubt we can avoid it at all. You know that, as many times as we've run up against that group." The blonde monk took another drag off his own cigarette to punctuate his last words few words and closed his eyes to think.
No other questions were asked, because in the blink of an eye, a pair of bejeweled hands wrapped Sanzo in a hug and then bodily lifted him up to his feet.
"Now Nephew…that still doesn't mean you can't enjoy your time there." Kozeon grinned from behind Sanzo.
"Get the HELL off me!" he sputtered angrily, and attempted to turn around to face the whimsical Bodhisattva to no avail. Sanzo's unearthly beauty was unmarred, even as screamed at his captor, but anger had twisted his features.
"I'll just borrow him for a little while, okay boys?" The Kami of Mercy's smile was insufferably smug as he winked to the remaining members of the Sanzo-ikkou. With that, both Sanzo and Kozeon Boatzu faded into nothingness and the next mission had begun.
It was two days later in the world across the oceans…
Sanzo landed on his butt with an audible thud. Cigarette still in his mouth, he turned around to swear at the whimsical Deity that had grabbed him away without warning. Kozeon was standing above the aggravated monk, smirking and playing lazily with the Banishing Gun.
"You old hag, that's MY gun! I need that!" he screamed, his voice rising in anger. He lunged up from the ground to reach for it, but the Kami of Mercy simply faded from view momentarily and reappeared, resulting in the priest grabbing nothing but thin air, and landing again onto the ground. His struggle to retrieve his weapon of choice had resulted in his robes becoming a dirty mess of dark soil and grass.
They had arrived beneath a large space, full of trees and sparse grass and within one hundred yards of a sandy beach and incredibly blue water that stretched beyond the eye's sight northward. The air smelled of water, but not the briny smell of salt water he'd found on other similar shores back home.
"No nephew, this item will get you in more trouble here than in your own world. I'll keep an eye on it. For now, you can rely on a few other aspects of your training to get by. Oh, and one last tip? Keep your sutra nearby, but don't count on it to work. For now, I'm off! Take good care of him, Mitsu! Ja masta na!" and the Divinity faded as he waved goodbye.
His last statement had been directed to the small gold skinned girl, who had been watching the entire exchange from a picnic table some five feet away.
"He's right you know, Sanzo. And yes, I'm your guide for the time you're here." The last was said with a mischievous grin, the last thing the now fully irritated monk wanted to see, particularly on a female face.
"Do what you want, not like I can change it." He rumbled as he noted that for all she looked younger than him, her poise showed a confidence of one close to, or above his own age.
"I'm guessing you know who you're out to retrieve." She said.
"Tch." And an eyebrow twitch was the golden haired monks only answer.
"We can stay here, Sanzo, if you'd rather lounge around in dirty robes. Or we can go and get you some better clothes to wander around in. Unless you want to tell Lirin exactly where we are, before we have a chance to find her." she turned around, picked up a paperback book, and a tiny black purse and started walking towards the mildly battered blue Geo Metro in the parking lot behind the beach. Scowling, the badly behaved monk tucked his hands into the wide sleeves of his robes and followed, his boots sliding quietly through the grass.
Mitsu unlocked her door, slid inside and unlocked the passenger door to let Sanzo inside. He sat down hard, and made no point in engaging the Guide in conversation. She shrugged, and turned on the radio as she with her previous guest. Glancing over at the monk, she knew it wasn't time to say anything. She rolled down her window, because the sunshine of the warm July day was too good to pass up, and started the car. Meanwhile, Sanzo leaned up against the passenger side armrest and sulked.
The engine revved, sputtered. Mitsu turned the key again. Another sputter, this time accompanied by a high pitched whine. One last time, the guide attempted to start her faithful little Geo. The engine turned over and suddenly quit with a noisy thunk from beneath the hood.
"SHIT!" the little guide balled up a fist and punched the steering wheel in frustration. She rummaged into her black purse for a slightly out of date cell phone. Then clicked a button, waited for it to fully activate, spoke the word Mashu into the speaker and then put it to her ear. The monk listened as she had a short conversation involving a bit of swearing regarding the vehicle they sat in and a time given for someone to arrive.
"Looks like we wait here. I'm not towing this thing to a garage! Luckily I know just the mad genius to do take care of this crisis." The last was said as she turned up the radio and lounged back in her seat again. Sanzo stifled a yawn of his own, and stayed put on the armrest.
Time passed slowly for him. The radio played nothing of interest to him as he dozed with his elbow on the door handle. Just before he nodded completely off, he heard the motor of another vehicle. It was a sky blue Kia Sephia, pristine and bass rumbling quietly with some obscure music that the driver had dug up on various internet hunts. It rolled to stop right next to the Metro, garnering a look from the little driver and her passenger. Mitsu hadn't rolled her window up during the wait, and she was grinning out the window and waving to the driver.
The next thing Sanzo knew, a barrage of foam darts in various colors was hitting him. The source said darts was a short strawberry blonde, wielding a large toy gun. Sanzo dodged and snarled at the annoyance as the foam darts pelted him on the head, as Mitsu had gotten the first two and then ducked, gigging hysterically.
"Mashu! I shoulda known that would be the way you'd answer my hello." Mitsu choked out between giggles.
The projectiles didn't stop till the source was right beside Mitsu's open window. Behind the gun was an oval faced girl that had mild blue eyes, glinting behind her own oval wire-rimmed glasses. "What's this we have here? Mitsu-chan, you didn't tell me you had a passenger? You only said the Geo of Doom was living up to its name again. You didn't hit it again, did you?"
"No!" Mitsu laughed. "It just objected when I started it up—loudly. And I wanted to save this surprise for when you arrived. She grinned widely at her friend. "Mashu, say hello to Genjo Sanzo, who will be our guest for the day." and hitched her thumb back at the ferociously scowling monk in question.
"She hit the steering wheel when it didn't start, and I'm almost out of cigarettes." Floated imperiously from the passenger seat, as he gave a superficial nod of acquaintance to the new arrival.
"Mitsu-chan! So that's what you were up to all day Monday, wasn't it?" Mashu asked, without skipping a beat, after she returned the nod from the golden haired monk with wave of her hand.
"Yup, I was escorting Hakkai around in search of Yaone that day. You know that arrest at the Fogcutter? That was the result of that little trip." Mitsu replied. "Now we need the Geo to function again, so we can track down Lirin today. I'll tell you the rest of that one while we work." The brown haired guide reached down below her steering while and popped the hood on the car in question, as she said her final few words.
With that, she stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her. Walking around to the front of the car while still filling in Mashu of Monday's little fiasco, the hood was lifted up. Sanzo listened to sound of them as they worked, Mitsu's softer contralto narration and Mashu's alto asking short clipped questions. An hour passed as Mashu went back to her car once, to pull out a single small part and they replaced it while deep in their conversation.
"Alright, one of two things can happen here. This car will either start perfectly, or die a quick death and never start again." Mashu wiped her hands on a towel she'd brought along with her tools and parts. Placing the towel over her shoulder, Mashu folded her arms across her chest and waited as Mitsu got back inside the vehicle. The darker girl turned the key to the ignition and glanced towards the still open hood through the windshield. The engine revved for a second, and turned over. The Geo now sat, idling in the parking lot and drawing a few glances from passers by on the way to the recreation area on the horizon spanning lake not two hundred yards from where they stood.
"Woohooo!" Mitsu's small voice cheered as the car continued running. "Thanks Mashu. Now how to pay you back?"
"You can do that, by letting me follow you to the Circus tonight." Mashu smirked, an evil grin on her pale, lightly freckled face.
"What? Since when? That wasn't in the plans." Mitsu said, all but scratching her head in confusion.
"The Circus that's part of the Festival this week is advertising a tumbling act. I saw a poster earlier and could have sworn the star looked like your quarry. So when do we leave?"
Sanzo finally looked at the two girls, scowled one last time and sighed. Arms folded as he glared at both girls, with a cigarette smoldering between his lips. The ashtray in the front of the vehicle was already half full from the time he'd spent waiting, being bored.
Mitsu shrugged helplessly. "Looks like we're on our way downtown, Sanzo. That is, after we get you some cleaner clothes and some food for all of us." A grunt was the only answer from the blonde monk, glad to finally be on his way again, after all the delay, even though a frown still spread across his face.
"You're treating Mitsu!" the bespectacled strawberry blonde laughed.
"You bet I am." As the little guide fished out the Three Aspects Gold card given to her by Kozeon Boatzu, and waved it in Mashu's face with a grin.
After a few minutes of rushed planning the two cars pulled out of Lakeside Park, and made their way downtown. Following the mouth of the river south towards their goal, and the location of the next member to be retrieved.
To Be Continued………
Owari ;-)
Alias: Looks to be interesting, how will Sanzo-sama handle this? I'm as curious as you are and I'm writing it! Two girls, and Lirin-chan in a circus, and our favorite grumpy monk without his weapon of choice. I should have this one up a lot sooner than 6 months this time! See ya then, that's if Nii Jyeni and Kougaiji don't take over my head again—or the rest of the cast.