Title: The Life that Wasn't His
Chapter 1b
Author/pseudonym: NemKess
Fandom: Saiyuki
Pairing: Hakkai/Goku main.. others to include Gojyo/Shun-Rei, Kougaiji/Yaone, Kanzeon/Jiro-kun
Rating: PG13
Status: WIP
E-mail address for feedback::

Disclaimers: Goku and Hakkai belong to me? I could only wish. Nope, not mine. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is made. This is purely to silence the voices in my head.

Notes: This just popped into my brain this evening while I was trying to get the Angel to sleep. My spelling of some names/titles could be a little off. Don't stone me for it, please?

Summary: After a serious injury, Hakkai wakes up to find things... a little different than he remembers.
Warnings: Mostly AU. Shonen ai. Het.

It was the feel of hands and lips ghosting intimately over his body that woke Hakkai the second time.

Lost in a haze of familiar pleasure and arousal, the strange world around him ceased to exist. Hakkai arched into the knowledgeable touch with a groan.

Only Goku could make him fall apart with a touch or a look.

His lover ghosted a trail of open-mouthed kisses down his body, stopping to nip and bite along the way. There was a brief pause broken by a husky whisper. "Hakkai..."

And then Goku's mouth replaced his hands on Hakkai's arousal. Another groan was pulled from him and all coherent, logical thought fled with it.

Everything was right in his world once again.

Bang..... Bang....

He woke abruptly to the sound of shouting and turned to see Sanzo's doppelengar firing the pistol at the other two nearby.

"Dammit Sanzo, you're gonna get us kicked out of the inn if you keep that up!"

"Oi, look here you damned monk, you shouldn't wave that thing around you might actually hit one of us one of these days!"

"That's the general idea you idiot. Maybe then we'd get a little peace and quiet on this stupid mission."

"Sanzo?"

"Well excu-use me for breathing!"

"Uh...Sanzo?"

"I don't' think I will!"

Bang. Bang.

"Sanzo!"

The blonde whirled around and hit Goku hard on the head with a fan that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "What, you damned bakasaru!?"

"Ow! That hurt!"

Hakkai's eyes narrowed and he pulled himself gingerly from the bed, trying his best to ignore the stars that swam in his vision. He wasn't much of a fighter even when he was at his best, but if Sanzo really thought he was going to lie still and just let the jerk beat on his lover- even in some strange dream where everything seemed to be backwards- he was damned well deluding himself.

"Hit him again, and I assure you that you will not like the results. Goku might feel he's obligated to take it, but I do not." He tried his best to look fierce, but since he was fairly sure he looked like a strong breeze might knock him over, Hakkai wasn't sure how successful he was.

"Like I was trying to say," the younger of the strange trio said, rubbing his abused skull, "You woke Hakkai up."

The monk eyed him before tucking his fan back into his sleeve and snorting. "Whatever."

"You feeling better, Hakkai?" Gojyo asked. "You kinda had us a little worried earlier, fainting like that. We expect that from the princess over there-" The fan made a reappearance as it was thrown with amazing accuracy into the back of the red head, but it didn't garner any reaction from Gojyo other than a glare at it's owner. "but not usually from you."

"Yeah, are your brains feeling less scrambled now?" Goku chimed in, though he was careful not to get too close. The older brunette smiled a bit sadly at that. He really could have used his lover's strength and comforting touch right about then.

Backing up, he sat back down on the bed carefully. "I... have a bit of a headache." It was probably the biggest understatement that had ever come out of his mouth. A bit of a headache? He felt like he had a pack of sumo wrestlers battling it out between his ears.

Goku and Gojyo both edged closer, worry clear on their face. The boy's voice was tentative when he asked, "You... have a headache Hakkai?"

"Well, yes." Hakkai blinked at them in confusion. "I did fall off a ledge, Goku. You said I have a concussion. Of course I have a headache." It would certainly explain the odd turn his sleeping visions had taken. Maybe he was in a coma? Goku was going to kill him when he woke up. And then his lover would probably insist that he never climb anything more than two feet in the air. And Hakkai would no doubt agree because he couldn't stand to see Goku upset.

The others shared a concerned confused look. Even Sanzo looked a little unsettled.

The redhead brushed his hair out of his face which was unsettling- why was his subconscious making Gojyo so friendly all of a sudden?- but at least they didn't accuse him of being an imposter again. "Hakkai, you got a concussion cuz you got clocked on the back of the head with a really big rock. It wasn't at the bottom of any cliff, a youkai chunked it at ya. You were too busy trying to protect Sanzo-sama over there to watch your own skull." The look Gojyo gave Sanzo made it apparent where he thought the blame for this all should be laid. "And you can't blame us for being a little surprised that you'd actually claim that something hurts. You're the guy who has his guts hanging outta his stomach and calls it a scratch, after all."

Well that was disgusting. And wrong on several points, points he was more than happy to tick off on his fingers in a perfectly logical fashion. "First of all, youkai are nothing more than children's stories. Something some nun somewhere made up to frighten pupils into obeying the rules. Second of all, that's disgusting. And obviously it wouldn't be a scratch because I'd be dead. And lastly- and most importantly- if I were to engage in some random fisticuffs with rock flinging youkai, why in the world would I bother to protect Sanzo?"

His companions shared a stumped look for a moment. Goku sucked in a breath to say something before stopping completely and sniffing again. He sniffed Hakkai and Gojyo in turn, his face a mask of concentration.

Everyone watched in bafflement as Goku hopped up and ran over to sniff Sanzo and then returning to the bed, eyes wide.

"What the hell ya think you're doing, ba-" Gojyo cut himself off as he glanced over at Hakkai. "Goku."

"Remember how I said he smelt like Hakkai, but different?"

"Yeah. So?"

The golden eyes were confused as they remained fixed on Hakkai as if he were some sort of lab specimen. "He's human. It's Hakkai... but he's... human." The boy couldn't seem to grasp the concept. "How is that possible, Sanzo?"

Before anyone could reply, the window shattered and the room filled with some of the most hideous creatures Hakkai had ever seen.

TBC

Author's Note:
Sorry it took so long! ;; I seem to say that a lot, ne? Ah well. I'm working on it. And I've written quite a bit this month, so maybe that makes up for the previously long waits. Not to much to say, few of the reviewers comments really asked anything I can answer, except to say I'm glad ya'll liked it! Thanks for reading and reviewing. -NemKess