Ok! Chapter 5! Wow, didn't know I'd make even this many chapters. Cool! Well, I still have my faithful reviewers! Thank you!
Devil-Angel- EEP! quickly hides I'm sorry!! Don't hurt me! But I gotta keep the suspense going! Here's the next chapter for ya!
I also wanted to put this chapter up because both my boyfriend and Rita kept buggin me to put it up! hides from Rita's poking So here it is. Chapter 5!
Chapter 5
The room was quite dark with only another door on the other side and a fire lit in the center of the room. No windows were present to air out the smell of the dripping blood. But Sanzo's gaze did not rest on the blazing fire, but more on the four young youkai suspending in the center of the room.
Strands of what looked like thread were wrapped around the youkai girls' necks, arms, and naked bodies, suspending them about a foot off the ground. They were hanging down around the blazing fire, their skin beginning to turn a slight red color from the heat of the flames. Scares, bruises, burns, and numerous cuts and gashes littered their backs and legs where they could easily be hidden by their kimonos. Around each of their necks were the paper charms. Their eyes were dead and they never made a sound as the thread cut into their skin, blood dripping from the thin strands and down their arms to puddle onto the floor below their feet.
Gojyo moved around Sanzo and looked into the room and gapped. "What the hell is this!?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't like it at all," Sanzo replied.
They all kept quiet as the door on the other side of the room opened. In came a dirty man carrying a whip at his side and a metal rod with a sharp point. He placed the end of the rod into the fire and left it there. Then he took four bowls that were stacked by the door and placed it under each of the girls, letting the dripping blood collect into the silver bowls. Sanzo and the others watched as the threads were tightened around the girls, letting more of their blood spill into the bowls. As this went on, the innkeeper came into the room through the same door that the man had come through.
"I knew it was him!" Gojyo said between gritted teeth. He never thought anyone would ever do anything like that to youkai, but then again, they had seem some pretty horrible shit on their journey.
"Quiet, Gojyo," Hakkai said quietly as they continued to watch.
The innkeeper made his way towards the dirty man. "How are they doing?"
The man bowed to the innkeeper. "Their wounds have mostly healed and their blood is right for the taking, sir."
"Good. Make sure you get enough this time. We wouldn't want our master to be disappointed like before. You know how he likes the taste of young female blood of a youkai," the innkeeper said as he watched the blood drip into the bowels.
"Yes, sir." The man took a hold of his whip and took his place behind Julin.
It was then that he began to lash the whip at her bare skin. Julin made no sound as the whip cut into her skin and let more of her life-blood spill into the silver bowl like wine. The gang watched in slight horror and disgust at this continued for each of the girls until each bowl was filled. The man then took the metal pole, end bright red from the flames, and ran it along each of the girls more serious wounds. Again, none of them cried out or moved away. The innkeeper and the dirty man each took two of the filled bowls and walked back out of the room. Once the door was shut, the flames in the center of the room went out. Four screams of utter pain cried out from the room at that point.
"Come on! We gotta get them down!" Goku yelled.
All four men quickly burst through the door. The flames at the center of the room quickly lit back up once they had set foot into the room. Each of the girls were crying and withering in pain, still suspending from the threads. Blood stained their naked bodies and hair red. Around their necks and at their feet were the ashes of what remained on the paper charms.
Sanzo turned to the three youkai. "Everyone grab a girl and get them down." The three youkai nodded before quickly running over to the youkai women.
Each of the guys used their weapons and tactics to cut away the threads from the youkai women's bodies. But even through their efforts, they weren't able to cause the women some amount of pain as they brushed against the newly made wounds while helping them.
Gojyo held Kirashi gently. "Kirashi. Are you alright?"
Kirashi winced as she looked up at him and motioned him to lean forward. Gojyo blinked slightly before leaning down to hear her. He yelped as she grabbed a fist full of scarlet hair and yanked him down. She then screamed loudly into his ear, "That fucking hurt!!!" Gojyo yelled and quickly pulled back with a hand to his ear.
Hakkai chuckled at this. "It would seem that looks are very deceiving. Come on. Let's get them out of here and cleaned up. We'll take them up to the baths." With that, Hakkai gently picked Maki up and stood. Goku gently helped Julin up trying his best not to hurt her any more. Sanzo picked up an objective Hitachi while Gojyo reluctantly helped Kirashi. They each took the girls back out of the room and down the hall that they had come in from. They stopped only to grab the girls' clothes.
The bath room was nice and steamy. No one was around at this time of night since everyone was sleeping. The water was warm as the guys stripped themselves of their clothes, except their pants, and stepped into the baths, gently setting the girls into the water. Dirt and grime began to slowly come off their skin as the guys helped them to wash their damaged bodies. The girls didn't seem to care so long as they were getting a warm bath and were able to clean their wounds.
Hitachi had given up on fighting Sanzo back and just laid there, letting him wash away all the sweat and dirt that stubbornly stuck to her skin. Sanzo, however, was not in such a relaxed state. Though the four youkai were mere women, they had a fairly good amount of strength in them. He could tell as he washed Hitachi's arms and felt hard muscles move beneath the skin as though they were ready to tense and attack. Her hands were rough, probably by the handling of her sword most likely. They had no idea whether these four youkai would turn against them, or if they were already affected by the wave. Yet, he didn't understand exactly why he was helping them.
He paused in washing the grime of Hitachi's body to think about that. Why was he helping them? Why did he even bother to inspect this? Hell, he was even getting wet to hold Hitachi's head above the water and clean her body. What use were they to him? Yes, he would admit that they had some strength, but how would they help him? He continued to clean Hitachi's wounds, frowning in thought.
"What's your problem?" Sanzo blinked a bit and looks at Hitachi. Her golden eyes looked back at him with distrust. That was understandable since this was the first time they had met that she could actually remember. She didn't even know his name.
"None of your business," Sanzo said as he went back to helping her.
"Ow! Damn it!" Everyone's eyes turned to Gojyo and Kirashi. Gojyo was holding his head glaring at Kirashi. In her hand, Kirashi help a bowl from off to the side of the bath.
"Don't touch me there!" Kirashi yelled.
"Gojyo! You perverted kappa!" Goku yelled.
"Oh shut up, stupid monkey!" Gojyo yelled back as he rubbed his head.
Julin and Maki both blinked at each other before laughing. Hitachi shook her head at the two bickering youkai. Hakkai started to try and reason with the two as they began to fight. Kirashi moved out from between Gojyo and Goku. Sanzo just sighed as the bickering got worse. It didn't take long before Goku slipped and fell into the water, taking Gojyo with him. Them landing into the water made such a splash that everyone got soaked.
Sanzo growled as water dripped from his hair. He quickly went over and shoved both Gojyo and Goku under the water. "Just die!"
The whole time, the four youkai women watched them. They all looked at each other before falling into fits of laughter. Sanzo looked back at the laughing youkai. He was still confused with why they helped him. He thought that it might be a small bit in part with what the Sanbutsushin said about seeing with the eyes on his heart. Who knows?
Ok. That's chapter 5! Hope you like it!! If you wanna see some couples, let me know in your reviews! Can't do it unless you review! Already started in chapter 6!