Reviving the Sun: A Baffling Case
Author's note: Right… so… A funny little plot bunny that bit me recently. All I'm gonna tell you here is that it crosses Yami no Matsuei over with Saiyuki. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first, but still, I hope you enjoy. Have fun!
Warnings: shonen-ai, yaoi, language (think of who I'm dealing with here…), creepy spirits, violence, blood … possibly Muraki (I think he deserves a warning of his own ) and a few other things that will be brought up as they appear. And reincarnation… did I mention that one?
Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki or Yami no Matsuei… damn it.
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A drop of water…Somewhere, between pink blossoming flowers, a head of moppish brown hair rests.
Sleeping.
Darkness.
One hand clenched around a roll of green and white parchment untouched by time.
Amused, kind eyes look on through a pool littered with blooming lotus blossoms.
"He's coming, little one."
A voice, watching… promising…
"Your sun will rise again."
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The case had been, needless to say, impossible. They had been bogged down almost instantly, with next to no leads and no links to the supposed victims. No links but one, and even that lead was a trail long cold. Tsuzuki couldn't help but give a pained sigh as he slumped face forward on his desk. In short, they had hit a proverbial brick wall, and a hard one at that considering the kind of headache he was getting. Sometimes this job was down right detestable.
"We're not going to get anywhere if you fall asleep, baka." His partner's voice drew Tsuzuki out of his pained reverie, at least enough to get him to look up. Green eyes stared back at him, a frown gracing the face they rested in; in other words, a normal expression for Kurosaki Hisoka, Tsuzuki's partner of three years. Aside from the steaming mug of coffee in the boy's hands, the figure stood as cold as ice.
"How are we supposed to learn anything from clues this vague?" Tsuzuki couldn't help but whine. Hisoka lifted the aforementioned mug to his mouth, taking a sip before answering his partner.
"Have you even read them?" Tsuzuki moaned in response.
"Even I can read that much," he shot back. Hisoka snorted, a skeptical reply. Tsuzuki's head crashed back against his arms on the desk. "Meany." That comment nearly drew a small chuckle from the green-eyed empath. Leave it to Tsuzuki to turn an idle comment into a direct insult. Instead of reacting to his own immediate feeling, Hisoka sighed, echoing Tsuzuki's earlier sound in its heaviness.
"We need to close this case before more people are killed," he said. "It's unnatural that not even we can find any decent information on the assailant." Tsuzuki sat up, nodding. This whole ordeal was beginning to ware on him.
It had all started when highly ranked monk from one of the shrines outside of Nagasaki was found dead near the base of Mount Aso with no apparent explanation for why he was there or who (or what for that matter) had killed him. Authorities had found no abnormalities in the man aside from the fact that he was in the middle of nowhere, there was no apparent motive, and he was dead with a puncture through his heart that looked as if it had been caused by something far to blunt for a normal human to create such a wound. No signs of struggle could be found at the scene and there were no hints as to where his assailant had gone.
Then the haunting had started. Investigators had reported seeing the outline of a man-shaped figure roaming the clearing and many of the instruments being used in the collection of evidence had been either destroyed or somehow disabled with no sign of what had ruined them. It was as if something was trying to get their attention.
That was when they had gotten the case, and, since the area in question happened to be Kyushu, Tsuzuki and Hisoka had been called in to investigate. Apparently the monk had been on a mission in search of an ancient Buddhist scripture that had been lost so long ago it had fallen into legend.
The two would have immediately dismissed the case as a simple restless spirit (the ghost had gone with them quietly enough), had the situation not brought up other, similar case files of similar (if not identical) incidents that had been happening around Mount Aso for a good few hundred years. The only linking evidence was that all of the deceased had been in search of the very same scripture. As to why Mount Aso was such a draw, neither had a reliable answer. If you asked Tsuzuki, it was mere superstition and rumor that drew the searchers. To Hisoka, it was fanatical idiocy.
This scripture was a legend, lost around a millennia ago when its former guardian, an eccentric (to put it kindly) priest by the name of Genjo Sanzo had been killed. There were no records as to how the monk had died, only that the scripture, one of the legendary 5 Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth, had been lost at his death. The other four were accounted for, all housed within prominent temples in mainland East Asia, but the whereabouts of this final scroll were unknown, so unknown that the only record of its existence was the simple fact of there being five, not four scriptures according to all written historical references.
"It can't be a mere coincidence that they were all looking for the same thing," Tsuzuki couldn't help but mutter, rubbing his forehead with his hand.
"It probably isn't," was Hisoka's muttered reply. "But we don't have any proof otherwise."
"We could always check Mount Aso on our own," the violet-eyed shinigami suggested. Hisoka rolled his eyes.
"We have checked Mount Aso. More than once I might add," he snapped. He let out another frustrated sigh as Tsuzuki looked up at him. "We've checked, over and over again. We always come up with nothing," he explained. "This case is still as dead as it was when it was first opened over 300 years ago." Tsuzuki blinked.
"It's that old?" Again Hisoka gave him an incredulous glare.
"Again I ask, you did read the file didn't you?" Tsuzuki frowned, shifting in his seat.
"Parts," he admitted. Hisoka wasn't surprised considering the older man's attention span. Still, it annoyed him.
"One of these days…" A severe twitch was developing around the empath's eye and if he had never seen it before, Tsuzuki might have been worried. As it was, he was more worried about his own skin as that twitch was a clear sign of Hisoka's annoyance. The dark haired shinigami flinched.
"I didn't expect the case to be so detailed when we were assigned," he said quickly as a sort of amendment to his shortcomings. The twitch disappeared as Hisoka's shoulders dropped. Apparently the empath was just as tired of this case as he (and many before him) was; otherwise Tsuzuki may have ended up a little spot of mush against the wall… and not the good kind of mush either. Another sigh filled the room.
"I didn't expect it either," Hisoka admitted. "But even if we were to return to Mount Aso, what would we find? Another body perhaps? Another loose string to this damned web we've gotten stuck it?" Tsuzuki shrugged.
"I wish I knew," was his reply. "Maybe we should start asking why they were there in the first place."
"Yes, but we already know that." Hisoka was rolling his eyes. "All of them were searching for that scripture." Tsuzuki frowned.
"But why Mt. Aso?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be more likely to find it in mainland China?" Hisoka thought for a moment, taking another sip of the now less than scalding coffee. He had been lucky to grab it before Watari had made an appearance; hence he wasn't keen on wasting it.
"Buddhism wasn't really big in Japan until the 7th century. Considering the historical conflicts with Shinto among those who wished to preserve Japan's 'pure' religion, it isn't likely any of the major priests of the Buddhist religion ever traveled here," he noted. "If the scroll had been lost more recently then that, it wouldn't seem so strange."
"Exactly." Hisoka gave Tsuzuki a strange look. "What?" the violet-eyed man asked. "I don't have frosting on my nose do I?" A faint blush appeared on the younger shinigami's face and he ducked away, inconspicuously burring his face in his coffee mug. Tsuzuki smiled, faking obliviousness. "Well then." The elder shinigami jumped out of his chair grinning excitedly. "Shall we get out of here?"
"Your paperwork?" Hisoka reminded him.
"I can file it when we get back," Tsuzuki replied, darting for the door.
"Tatsumi wanted that progress report by the end of the day."
"Then lets go make some progress," was Tsuzuki's vehement reply. "There won't be anything to write if we stay here." Hisoka sighed, finally relenting. Tsuzuki did have a good point, and in reality Hisoka didn't mind the idea of getting out of the office… there was less of a chance for him to be harassed that way.
"Where exactly are we going?" he asked. Tsuzuki shrugged in response, grabbing his coat.
"The shrine that monk was from. I want to figure out exactly what he was doing near Mt. Aso in the first place." Hisoka nodded.
"Alright, but you'll still be the one writing that report."
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"Keep this for me."
Pain.
"No… Sanzo? Sanzo? You can't!"
Anguish.
"Don't… let..."
Sorrow.
"Don't leave!"
Anger.
"Protect…"
Hopelessness.
"Don't leave me alone!"
A pained smile.
"I'll come back for it…"
Darkness…
"Sanzo? SANZO!!"
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Soft stern chanting filled the night air surrounding the old, unkempt shrine. The chanter was a tall blonde man, his eyes closed and his shoulders tensed in concentration. The long white robes of an omnyouji floated around him as if born by some unseen wind. The strange wind stilled suddenly, violet eyes snapped open, cold fire raging within. An unseen force blew towards him, splitting and spinning round. Then suddenly it settled, calmed by the constant chants, and vanished into nothing. The man sighed, dropping his clasped hands. From an unseen pocket in his robes he drew out a slightly crumpled carton of cigarettes and lit one, breathing in the comforting smoke. He had definatly had harder jobs.
Higashi Kiame was a sullen man of few words and fewer expressions. Not even the most observant could figure out what was going on in his head behind that almost constant frown. Blunt and short tempered, he made friends with no one and held no attachments but to himself. Ironically he was also one of the few remaining powerful omnyouji currently living in Japan, to his knowledge at least. Not that he really cared, it was a living, not much else.
Whether a vengeful ghost or an angry demon, he had yet to fail a case. Then again, seeing as modern omnyouji saw very few jobs, he was by far not the only success in the book. People in this day and age were far less superstitious than they had been in the past. This particular job had been to exercise a yurei, or a vengeful ghost, from a rundown shrine about three miles outside of Kumamoto. The caretaker, or more accurately, the idle landowner, had called him in after a set of unexplained incidents had kept him up for nearly a week. Since Kiame had been the only omnyouji in the area, he had taken the job.
Walking to the road off of which the shrine lay, Kiame opened the door of his old black car, taking another drag of his cigarette and blowing it out in a clouded ring as he leaned on the chipping paint. His current employer had been complaining about a week's lack of rest? The man was a lazy, superstitious fool. Or maybe Kiame was just in a more sullen mood then usual. Kiame himself hadn't slept well in nearly a month. It was this voice, this strangely familiar, constant voice in his head that kept him awake, though he could easily swear he had never heard the voice before in his life. It called to him, beckoning him, but where? Wherever it was, Kiame's biggest wish was to find the person and shut them up. Maybe then he'd get a decent night's sleep.
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"Gomen, Goku…I…"
"Don't say it! He's not… he can't be…"
"Goku…"
A hand wraps tightly around a green and white scroll.
"He'll come back. He promised."
"Goku he's…"
"I'll wait… I'll wait forever. I'll protect this… for him…"
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"Where is Tomotori-kun? The doctor's calling for him."
"Probably in the lounge, you know how he gets."
"Studying again? Figures." There was a low chuckle.
"I'll get him."
As was no surprise from his colleagues and superiors, Tomotori Kuyo, the newest intern at Oita General Hospital, was found in his usual spot in a stiff-backed chair in the doctors lounge, a cup of steaming coffee on the table next to him and a thick medical textbook in his lap. The young man's dark brown hair was tied in a very short ponytail at his neck to keep it out of his eyes and a pair of thin reading glasses perched on his nose.
"Tomotori-kun?" Kuyo looked up, his emerald-green eyes blinking in startled confusion for a moment before he registered the familiar face in front of him.
"Kashin-sensei?" he asked.
"Sataki-sensei is looking for you." Kuyo blinked again, quickly setting his text on the table as he began to search his pockets frantically.
"I wasn't paged." His voice was much calmer than his actions betrayed as he searched for the aforementioned device. The young doctor who had found him sighed, shaking his head as he brushed a few papers off the desk to reveal the pager. Kuyo sighed, reaching for it, before wincing as he looked at the screen.
"You really need to keep track of that thing," Kashin-sensei noted. Kuyo sighed again.
"Sumimasen, my battery seems to have run out." The doctor chuckled in response.
"You're lucky this isn't anything serious," he told the young intern. Kuyo nodded. "You better get going though." Kuyo stood, straitening out his papers and books into a neat pile on the table.
"Thank you for finding me," he said, a bright smile on his face, before taking off briskly towards the door and the hallway beyond.
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"That damned monk… he's the only one who could make Goku this depressed."
Anger.
"There's nothing else we can do. Nothing but wait and hope…"
Despair.
"Are we just supposed to sit here while he wastes away? It could take centuries!"
"Goku's the only one that will live that long…"
Silence.
"What do you mean?"
Fear.
"I…"
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A heavy fist came flying though the night air as he ducked, thin frame spinning around to land a sharp kick in the other man's gut. Two members of a gang that rivaled the one he had once belonged to had met him on the way home. They had recognized him, not so subtly beckoning him into the nearby alley before pouncing on him, or more attempting too. Long black hair tied back at the base of his neck fell over his shoulders as he bounced lazily back, avoiding a strike from his second assailant.
In reality he hadn't minded the attack. Despite the fact that he had left his gang over a year ago, the monotony of everyday life was starting to ware on him and he welcomed a good fight to break the still. It was how Kawasaki Hateki lived, day to day, taking it as it came and never really caring about the consequences. His old gang had become too obsessed with power, and it had bored him, so he left. Granted leaving had not been easy, but he had never really been good friends with any of his companions, but none of them had taken his sudden departure too well.
Another punch and the second guy was flung into the wall by the sheer force. Hateki stood, calmly brushing off his clothes as he gazed over the two men with a lazy grin.
"If you're going to attack me at least make it interesting," he complained. Sighing he brushed a few locks of hair out of his crimson eyes before digging into his pocket to find a cigarette. Lighting it, he turned, walking out of the cold stone alley without a care. It was how he was, no cares, no attachments, nothing to hold him back. The gang had tried to hold him back, so he had left. No one was going to hold him captive, never.
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Author's notes: As you can probably see, I have warped the poor Saiyuki guys a little bit by reincarnating them. Now for the who's who rundown.
Higashi Kiame Genjo Sanzo. He still looks almost exactly as he did back then, though now, instead of being a priest he works as an omnyouji.
Tomotori Kuyo Cho Hakkai. Now working as an ER intern at Oita Medical, he too looks very similar to how he once did, though his hair is longer and he no longer has the monocle but wears reading glasses instead.
Kawatsaki Hateki Sha Gojyo. Gojyo is now a former gang member who works odd jobs around Oita. Again, he still looks very similar to his previous incarnation, but his hair is black instead of red.
Well, there's the basic idea. You may ask where Goku is, don't worry, you'll see soon. I hope you're enjoying so far. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.
-Cat