Chapter 6: Laundry Gossip
A/N: Whoo-Hoo. Sorry it took me so long. My mom has been a weenie. This chapter is a little more centered on Goku and Sanzo's life in the castle.
It was a bright, early morning at the castle. Most of the survants are still sleeping in their small nine by nine foot rooms. Their rooms are elegant and you can tell money was definately put into them, but it was too stuffy. It was two survants to a room, they got to choose their partners and that's who they worked with. In this case, there was one survant who always tried his best to please everybody who was ranked above him.
Goku was probably the youngest survant hired. He was about 17 years old and has no memory of his past life, he was just dropped off in the town at a young age and after that is a blur. He was picked up by Princess Yaone and taken in and became her live-in friend. Goku is probably the hardest working survant there, because he's been around long enough to know not to screw up.
" Sanzo!" he yelled, bursting into the room at almost five in the morning. Sanzo growled and turned over. Only his eyes and the top of his head could be seen, a certain glare on his face.
" What time is it?" he growled.
" Umm...almost five." Goku smiled, a finger over his lips.
" Wake me up in four hours..." He hissed, turning back over.
" But you need to help me do the laundry. I have to clean Yaone's French-Laced emerald corset dress for tonight. We have that dinner that's set by the king and I can't clean that dress by myself."
" Yes, yes, you can Goku." Sanzo said, trying to put as much cheer into his voice as humanly possible.
" Huh?"
" You can if you believe in yourself...or some shit like that. Whatever, no, I am not helping you. Wait four hours." Sanzo explained, in a haze of half-sleeping, half-rambling.
" Argh! Sanzo!" Goku whined. Sanzo shot up in bed.
" Fine! Fuckin' monkey." Sanzo growled.
" Whoo-Hoo!" Goku cheered, setting Sanzo's uniform out of the small dresser in their room. Their uniforms were navy blue pants and red shirts, theirs of course were covered in stains and creases, but weren't bad material at all. They were the kings two favorite colors, and matched almost every hallway and room in the castle.
Goku quickly dragged Sanzo out of bed and went to retreve Yaone's laundry bin. Goku carried it himself outside, with Sanzo behind him with a basin, a washboard and soap. Around his wrist was a thin but strudy wire for drying. Goku kicked open the door to the garden and they walked over to a specified area for cleaning, two benches lie in front of two 7 foot wooden poles with two step-stools for reaching.
Sanzo sighed. " We'd better be getting paid extra."
" We already do. We're lucky we're Yaone's favorites. That sounded like we tricked her into her being our favorites, which isn't the case." Goku said, walking over to the well nearby and filling the basin.
" That's why all the other, higher survants--"
" Which is just you, me, Kougaiji, Dokugakuji and Gojyo, whom get paid higher wages--"
" That's why all the other lower survants hate us." Sanzo said, leaning back on the bench and pulling out a few shirts of the princess'.
" So, what do you think about Gojyo and Hakkai?" Goku asked, a sneer in his tone.
" Hakkai's alright, Gojyo's an ass."
Goku shook his head as he walked back to Sanzo with the bin.
" Not like that. You know, what do you think about their relationship?" Goku asked.
" Homura's going to kill them obviously, I mean, if they are doing anything. Pass me the washboard." Sanzo said, holding his hand out. Goku gave him the washboard, Sanzo put it at an angle into the basin and tied his hair back into a ponytail.
" You might need some more soap for that stain. How does Princess get to dirty?" Goku said, trying to rub a dirt stain out of one of her skirts.
" I have no idea." Sanzo growled, rubbing frustratingly against a large juice stain.
" Anyway, do you think they're doing anything?"
" Probably. Hakkai tells me that he admires Gojyo. But, what I don't understand is-" Sanzo stopped for a second.
" What?" Goku asked.
" How, can Hakkai fall for him, if he can't see him?" Sanzo asked, a bit embarassed about his choice of words.
" You obviously know nothing Sanzo." Goku grinned.
" WHAT!? How can you say that to me? Stupid monkey." Sanzo said, tossing a shirt at Goku's face.
" ow." Goku said, pulling the shirt off his face. " He obviously fell in love with Gojyo's personality." Goku said, starting on the dress.
" But, for all Hakkai knows, Gojyo could have been a deformed monster with a pretty voice and a good personality." Sanzo sneered.
" But, he's not. Gojyo's not that bad looking." Goku said, pulling the dress out of the water to hang up.
" I know, but it's more of a what-if question."
" Hakkai will eventually get his vision back. The doctor said so after Homura--"
" Please don't say it."
" I don't want to." Goku shivered sadly. " But, I think after all Hakkai has been through, all that I have watched him put up with and go through, I think, more then anything, he actually just wants somebody to feels a strong love for him, like Gojyo does."
" What about Yaone?" Sanzo asked.
" That's a different kind of love. Hakkai needs to be excepted by somebody outside of this prison we call a castle, and that just so happens to be Gojyo, his only outlet. Do you kinda get it now?" Goku asked with a smile.
" Maybe you're not such a stupid monkey." Sanzo said, pouring more soap into the basin.
" Maybe not." Goku smiled, shoving a shirt in Sanzo's face.
" Nevermind, you are stupid." Sanzo growled. " Getting me up at five in the morning." Sanzo said, shaking the soap bottle.
" Are we out?" Goku asked.
" Yeah. Go get some more." Sanzo stood up, " I'll hang the clothes you've already cleaned. Hurry up though."
" Alright." Goku said, rushing into the hallways of the castle, while turning a corner, not looking, he ran into somebody. " Gah!" Goku said, bouncing off of the person.
" Where were you head to so fast, Goku?" Homura asked, still standing in place.
" Oh, I'm sorry Lord Homura. I didn't mean--"
" I asked you a question Goku." He said, not really needing an excuse.
" Sanzo and I were doing laundry and we ran out of soap."
" Laundry, eh?" He smiled. " I remember when my wife used to do laundry. She would always talk, gossip if I must say."
" Really? About--"
" About things going on behind my back." Homura said, looking above Goku.
" Oh, how strange." Goku said uneasily.
" Indeed. But, I am just rambling on of course. It just, made me so angry when she did that, and you heard what happened to my love Rinrei right?"
" Yes." Goku nodded. Homura leaned into Goku's ear and smiled.
" I killed her. Hung her and her lover in front of the whole city. Wouldn't that be positively awful if something like that happened to...a friend?"
Goku shook nervously, the whisper of Homura's stern tone against his ear made his knees jiggle. " That would be awful."
" Keep that in mind." He said sharply, ending another chill through Goku as he turned around and back down the hallway. Goku fell to his knees.
" Oh no..." Goku said as he started to cry. " He knows. What am I going to do..."
A/N: Now we're getting to the juicy parts! WHOO-HOO!