Disclaimer: Hey, guess what! I don't own Saiyuki! Stunner, huh?
Notes: I have to say, this is probably not my favorite chapter. It has its moments, but the next one's better. (Shameless? Who?) In any case, thanks to Stitcher2ficcer for reminding me that I have a life outside RL. Never apologize for a belated review, folks; that kind of kick in the tail is always appreciated and sometimes needed badly.
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Hir Wicked Style
part 6: Gojyo
by Nightfall
-------------
When the two of them approached him, Gojyo was wringing water out of his hair. "Hey," he grinned at hatchet-face's surprise, "I ain't competing with Sanzo -and- four women for a tub of hot water. Nothing wrong with the river in this weather."
"Oh?" Hakkai asked. He had no less than two helpless smiles on. Gojyo was impressed. The You're Too Much smile was the one that was meant to seen, but Rescue Me Now was somewhere underneath. "Then perhaps, Gojyo, you would like to go shopping with us."
"Why not?" he agreed amiably, mostly for the sake of making everyone stare. "I need a new lighter."
"I think that can be managed," Hakkai said placidly.
"Oh, you do?" Gojyo growled, grinning, and charged him, swooping him away from her with hands wrapped around his arms, towards the road. "Think you could manage a couple of packs, too?"
"Gojyo!" Hakkai laughed, going along with him, and there was only one smile on his face. That was what Gojyo liked to see. "In fact, we should probably get several. Do your companions also smoke, Cho-san?"
"Quite a lot," she said drolly. "Not Kaikara, of course. And under the circumstances, perhaps some beer would be in order."
"Quite a lot," another woman echoed, just as drolly, and they turned to see the other kappa coming around a bend in the river, towelling water out of her hair. She blinked at their surprise, and said, "What? I ain't competing with Sanzo for a hot tub. Nothing wrong with the river in this weather."
"Heeeei," Gojyo said softly, right in Hakkai's ear. "That's just creepy."
"Oh?" his friend returned, just as quietly. "That she said it, too?"
"Nah," he grinned, tightening his grip on black-clad biceps. "That a women was naked in the river with me and I didn't know about it."
If someone had called him on it, he would have had to admit that it was a ridiculous thing to say with his hands wrapped around black cotton and a cool limiter brushing his nose. But he could see very short columns of numbers adding up behind those alien green eyes, and the too-familiar crimson ones were all over them both, stroking like embers, and Hakkai's back against him was loose and warm. In this situation, it probably said something about him that the best part was the sight of those fierce eyes registering his warning, but he didn't care. He didn't care what she thought of the warning, either. She was -dangerous.-
But, "Gojyo," Hakkai sighed in fond reprimand, as though that was all there was to say about that, and fluidly moved off him.
Even that felt good. Even when he held out a hand and linked arms with her. A couple of hours ago Hakkai had been dragging his feet along as though he didn't have legs, poured off Gojyo's shoulder and shaking. By tomorrow he'd be straight as an oak again, as though there'd never been such a creature as a Homura or a Shien, and Gojyo was willing to bet that not only the green tunic but Sanzo's slashed tank would be immaculately mended. The rate at which Hakkai had been bouncing back lately was intensely reassuring.
There was something to be said for this willowy exhausted stage, though. In duplicate, yet. If the journey had made the Kanan-creature a little too pinched in the face, her figure was still nothing to sneeze at, and she walked straight and smooth.
The other one wasn't walking away from him, though, and every angle was inviting him to come on over. "You gonna take my arm?" she dared him.
"I look like some kind of a gentleman to you?" he parried, offering it anyway, and they sauntered after the other two.
The four of them had to look unearthly, he thought, two vivid sets of twins strolling along. The Kanan-creature had put on a simple off-white frock, and she looked appallingly girl-next-door for someone who could blast the paint off a jeep just by deciding to. Those two next to each other looked like life, like apple blossoms and summer leaves. The sexy lady on his arm was wearing mostly black with golden butterflies, and the two of them together probably looked like flaming death.
"We could go hunting like this," she purred, pleased. "What d'you think? Everybody's going to be looking at us anyway; we might as well."
"I like the way you think," he started to purr back.
She kept talking over him, though, cupping her free hand to her mouth and calling naughtily, "At -us,- Kanan!"
"Oh, certainly," the other girl called back politely, smiling back at her with a look that was so familiar it almost made Gojyo like her.
But, "Well, perhaps not," Hakkai said, turning to face them. The sun glinted off his monocle and turned his face, with its smile Gojyo had never seen before, into a mask. He didn't much care for its expression. "Of course, the sun is a glorious vision, but Chang E is easier on the eyes."
"Ooooh!" Gojyo's lady crowed, delightedly crowding in to his side as the Kanan-creature blushed at being called a moon princess. "Your friend's so gallant!"
"Yeah," he said dismissively, smiling through the sour taste in his mouth. "'Kai's polite like that."
"The archer's tribute is too generous," the Kanan-thing said, still blushing.
"The humble woodcutter pauses to pour a dish of sake," Hakkai countered, "for the lady of the Cold Palace."
Her pale face brightened, and Gojyo had a moment's pleasure in thinking they were about to go get some alcohol before she recited, "ÔThe frost I saw from the bed was really moonlight.'"
"ÔBeholding the moon I hang my head, homesick,'" Hakkai finished, looking pleased.
"Oh, Lord Heaven, two of them," Gojyo groaned. Even he knew a few versions of that story; the hero who shot down the extra suns, his lady wife who ate the immortality herb and rose to live on the moon, the woodcutter there who could never finish chopping down the immortal cassia tree, the hare who tried to pound the rest of the herb into a powder so humanity could attain immortality. The poem sounded familiar, too. He could tell they were about to springboard into an ocean of esoterica, though.
"This could get bad," his lady agreed grimly. "Sanzo never encourages her. I vote we ignore them."
"Okay by me," he said fervently. "I didn't catch your name?"
"I'm called"
"Hang on. Hakkai!" he interrupted her.
"ÔPoor lady, her children don't think of Chang'An'--yes, Gojyo?"
"Sorry," he said. "He didn't catch your name either."
"I'm called Honshin," she said with what he suspected was more patience than accuracy. He knew his mother would never have given him a name like that, and the scars on her cheek told him it was definitely the same mother.
"He's called Hakkai," he said, being pointed and meaningful in two directions at once and hoping Hakkai was proud of him. "I'm Gojyo."
"I hope you'll call me Kanan, Gojyo-san," she said with a modesty he would have suspected of being a little sadistic if it had come from Hakkai.
What he wanted to say was, "Sure, 'cause I love watching your brother flinch -just like that- every time the K word comes up." Instead he bowed mockingly and teased, "Oh, I couldn't be so informal with the moon-princess, O-hime-chan."
Which had the effect not only of making everybody laugh and Hakkai relax but of relieving his feelings a little. For somebody caught as far off guard as everybody else by the day's events, he thought he wasn't doing too badly. Then again, Hakkai seemed to be taking it all fairly well, too, but he'd been around the world's best faker long enough learn a few of the tells. The real question was how many of them were in denial.
Ordinarily, Gojyo would move heaven and earth to get out of doing the shopping. It was one of the reasons Hakkai had come back from Sanzo's temple with his shiny new name and nearly died for real from his first good look at their kitchen. It wasn't so much that he didn't enjoy it, but it was a struggle not to buy things he didn't need from the prettier vendors. He was against that wasteful kind of thing on principle, and under prolonged water torture might even have admitted it. For one thing, it was all right for other people to waste their sweaty wages to impress the ladies, but he'd always had better luck in that department while earning money than throwing it away.
The gold card could have changed that, but Hakkai had Formed A Habit by then, and anyone who wanted to change it would have been up against the Mildly Bewildered Smile of Spine-Freezing Doom. Hakkai liked his little rituals.
He wouldn't have missed this trip for the world, though. He'd thought Hakkai was a good bargainer on his own, but those two together were -ruthless.- After a false start with a fruit-seller where they'd gotten their wires crossed and had to go away empty-handed, they cut a sweet, merciless swathe through the marketplace. The tobacconist in particular never knew what had hit him.
Gojyo and Honshin just strolled along behind them and enjoyed the resulting cigarettes and carnage, the game of visibility forgotten. After a couple of stalls, they started to keep score.
OMAKE!
The SEME at the End of This Fic
Hakkai: Ah, well, it's tiring to work alone in any case.
(whistles)
Goku: Eh? Huhuhwhat?
Hakkai: Ne, Goku, would you like me to make you some yakisoba?
Goku: O.O HAI!
Hakkai: Then do me the favor, please, of guarding that link from this gentleman.
Goku: Okay--WAAAAAAAI, TEN-CHAAAAAAAN! (glomp)
Hakkai: (sigh) Perhaps that was to be expected. =.=
[end part 6]
Review Responses!
Stitcher2ficcer: Thanks again for the reminder! But--but--you -didn't- call me warped? (is sad. Gets over it) Yeah, I like that image, too. Sanzo absolutely does not know what to do with themselves.
Incandescens and Me-Nuriko: Glad you're liking, and I hope I didn't make you wait long. Work is eating my ability to keep track of the days. (tries not to go fangirly over getting review from incandescens)
ChaosD: (is sheepish) Yes, I see what you mean... he's a bit mazoku anyway, though, don't you think? Especially under stress. He does remind me of Xellos, and it's not just the voice actor. Well, I'll try to keep them separate. I won't mind an email at all (grins)! Speaking of which--got the response, but resending the story could also help. Eheh. Thanks... And I don't think anyone who can pair Nii up with Kanzeon has any right to complain when people are frightened. ;P
Queasy: (laughs) Hakkai would like me to remind you that the clicky thing is BAD AND EVIL AND SCARY!
DoSet: nice turn of phrase there with 8's feelings for K. Very nice indeed. Yes, they're friendly, but don't think all the tension's been resolved. Mwaha. I think she-Sanzo mostly thinks of herself as Sanzo, the same way our Sanzo does. (is sheepish) Sorry for being distracting... Keeping plotted stories in a clear style is always a struggle for me; I always want to be too subtle. Still working on it! And terrifyingly long reviews are good. (nods firmly)
Drelfinya tells me everything I want to hear and flatters me outrageously (grins). Although I'm not sure the boys are actually less good friends; I think they're just more tough-guy about it. As for whether there'll be yaoi or yuri, I'm going to have to quote Slayers:
O--HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!
Ehem.
Next chapter in the voice of his reverence GENJO SANZO HOUSHI SAMA!
(author gets brained with harisen.)
Ow.
Notes: I have to say, this is probably not my favorite chapter. It has its moments, but the next one's better. (Shameless? Who?) In any case, thanks to Stitcher2ficcer for reminding me that I have a life outside RL. Never apologize for a belated review, folks; that kind of kick in the tail is always appreciated and sometimes needed badly.
-------------
Hir Wicked Style
part 6: Gojyo
by Nightfall
-------------
When the two of them approached him, Gojyo was wringing water out of his hair. "Hey," he grinned at hatchet-face's surprise, "I ain't competing with Sanzo -and- four women for a tub of hot water. Nothing wrong with the river in this weather."
"Oh?" Hakkai asked. He had no less than two helpless smiles on. Gojyo was impressed. The You're Too Much smile was the one that was meant to seen, but Rescue Me Now was somewhere underneath. "Then perhaps, Gojyo, you would like to go shopping with us."
"Why not?" he agreed amiably, mostly for the sake of making everyone stare. "I need a new lighter."
"I think that can be managed," Hakkai said placidly.
"Oh, you do?" Gojyo growled, grinning, and charged him, swooping him away from her with hands wrapped around his arms, towards the road. "Think you could manage a couple of packs, too?"
"Gojyo!" Hakkai laughed, going along with him, and there was only one smile on his face. That was what Gojyo liked to see. "In fact, we should probably get several. Do your companions also smoke, Cho-san?"
"Quite a lot," she said drolly. "Not Kaikara, of course. And under the circumstances, perhaps some beer would be in order."
"Quite a lot," another woman echoed, just as drolly, and they turned to see the other kappa coming around a bend in the river, towelling water out of her hair. She blinked at their surprise, and said, "What? I ain't competing with Sanzo for a hot tub. Nothing wrong with the river in this weather."
"Heeeei," Gojyo said softly, right in Hakkai's ear. "That's just creepy."
"Oh?" his friend returned, just as quietly. "That she said it, too?"
"Nah," he grinned, tightening his grip on black-clad biceps. "That a women was naked in the river with me and I didn't know about it."
If someone had called him on it, he would have had to admit that it was a ridiculous thing to say with his hands wrapped around black cotton and a cool limiter brushing his nose. But he could see very short columns of numbers adding up behind those alien green eyes, and the too-familiar crimson ones were all over them both, stroking like embers, and Hakkai's back against him was loose and warm. In this situation, it probably said something about him that the best part was the sight of those fierce eyes registering his warning, but he didn't care. He didn't care what she thought of the warning, either. She was -dangerous.-
But, "Gojyo," Hakkai sighed in fond reprimand, as though that was all there was to say about that, and fluidly moved off him.
Even that felt good. Even when he held out a hand and linked arms with her. A couple of hours ago Hakkai had been dragging his feet along as though he didn't have legs, poured off Gojyo's shoulder and shaking. By tomorrow he'd be straight as an oak again, as though there'd never been such a creature as a Homura or a Shien, and Gojyo was willing to bet that not only the green tunic but Sanzo's slashed tank would be immaculately mended. The rate at which Hakkai had been bouncing back lately was intensely reassuring.
There was something to be said for this willowy exhausted stage, though. In duplicate, yet. If the journey had made the Kanan-creature a little too pinched in the face, her figure was still nothing to sneeze at, and she walked straight and smooth.
The other one wasn't walking away from him, though, and every angle was inviting him to come on over. "You gonna take my arm?" she dared him.
"I look like some kind of a gentleman to you?" he parried, offering it anyway, and they sauntered after the other two.
The four of them had to look unearthly, he thought, two vivid sets of twins strolling along. The Kanan-creature had put on a simple off-white frock, and she looked appallingly girl-next-door for someone who could blast the paint off a jeep just by deciding to. Those two next to each other looked like life, like apple blossoms and summer leaves. The sexy lady on his arm was wearing mostly black with golden butterflies, and the two of them together probably looked like flaming death.
"We could go hunting like this," she purred, pleased. "What d'you think? Everybody's going to be looking at us anyway; we might as well."
"I like the way you think," he started to purr back.
She kept talking over him, though, cupping her free hand to her mouth and calling naughtily, "At -us,- Kanan!"
"Oh, certainly," the other girl called back politely, smiling back at her with a look that was so familiar it almost made Gojyo like her.
But, "Well, perhaps not," Hakkai said, turning to face them. The sun glinted off his monocle and turned his face, with its smile Gojyo had never seen before, into a mask. He didn't much care for its expression. "Of course, the sun is a glorious vision, but Chang E is easier on the eyes."
"Ooooh!" Gojyo's lady crowed, delightedly crowding in to his side as the Kanan-creature blushed at being called a moon princess. "Your friend's so gallant!"
"Yeah," he said dismissively, smiling through the sour taste in his mouth. "'Kai's polite like that."
"The archer's tribute is too generous," the Kanan-thing said, still blushing.
"The humble woodcutter pauses to pour a dish of sake," Hakkai countered, "for the lady of the Cold Palace."
Her pale face brightened, and Gojyo had a moment's pleasure in thinking they were about to go get some alcohol before she recited, "ÔThe frost I saw from the bed was really moonlight.'"
"ÔBeholding the moon I hang my head, homesick,'" Hakkai finished, looking pleased.
"Oh, Lord Heaven, two of them," Gojyo groaned. Even he knew a few versions of that story; the hero who shot down the extra suns, his lady wife who ate the immortality herb and rose to live on the moon, the woodcutter there who could never finish chopping down the immortal cassia tree, the hare who tried to pound the rest of the herb into a powder so humanity could attain immortality. The poem sounded familiar, too. He could tell they were about to springboard into an ocean of esoterica, though.
"This could get bad," his lady agreed grimly. "Sanzo never encourages her. I vote we ignore them."
"Okay by me," he said fervently. "I didn't catch your name?"
"I'm called"
"Hang on. Hakkai!" he interrupted her.
"ÔPoor lady, her children don't think of Chang'An'--yes, Gojyo?"
"Sorry," he said. "He didn't catch your name either."
"I'm called Honshin," she said with what he suspected was more patience than accuracy. He knew his mother would never have given him a name like that, and the scars on her cheek told him it was definitely the same mother.
"He's called Hakkai," he said, being pointed and meaningful in two directions at once and hoping Hakkai was proud of him. "I'm Gojyo."
"I hope you'll call me Kanan, Gojyo-san," she said with a modesty he would have suspected of being a little sadistic if it had come from Hakkai.
What he wanted to say was, "Sure, 'cause I love watching your brother flinch -just like that- every time the K word comes up." Instead he bowed mockingly and teased, "Oh, I couldn't be so informal with the moon-princess, O-hime-chan."
Which had the effect not only of making everybody laugh and Hakkai relax but of relieving his feelings a little. For somebody caught as far off guard as everybody else by the day's events, he thought he wasn't doing too badly. Then again, Hakkai seemed to be taking it all fairly well, too, but he'd been around the world's best faker long enough learn a few of the tells. The real question was how many of them were in denial.
Ordinarily, Gojyo would move heaven and earth to get out of doing the shopping. It was one of the reasons Hakkai had come back from Sanzo's temple with his shiny new name and nearly died for real from his first good look at their kitchen. It wasn't so much that he didn't enjoy it, but it was a struggle not to buy things he didn't need from the prettier vendors. He was against that wasteful kind of thing on principle, and under prolonged water torture might even have admitted it. For one thing, it was all right for other people to waste their sweaty wages to impress the ladies, but he'd always had better luck in that department while earning money than throwing it away.
The gold card could have changed that, but Hakkai had Formed A Habit by then, and anyone who wanted to change it would have been up against the Mildly Bewildered Smile of Spine-Freezing Doom. Hakkai liked his little rituals.
He wouldn't have missed this trip for the world, though. He'd thought Hakkai was a good bargainer on his own, but those two together were -ruthless.- After a false start with a fruit-seller where they'd gotten their wires crossed and had to go away empty-handed, they cut a sweet, merciless swathe through the marketplace. The tobacconist in particular never knew what had hit him.
Gojyo and Honshin just strolled along behind them and enjoyed the resulting cigarettes and carnage, the game of visibility forgotten. After a couple of stalls, they started to keep score.
OMAKE!
The SEME at the End of This Fic
Hakkai: Ah, well, it's tiring to work alone in any case.
(whistles)
Goku: Eh? Huhuhwhat?
Hakkai: Ne, Goku, would you like me to make you some yakisoba?
Goku: O.O HAI!
Hakkai: Then do me the favor, please, of guarding that link from this gentleman.
Goku: Okay--WAAAAAAAI, TEN-CHAAAAAAAN! (glomp)
Hakkai: (sigh) Perhaps that was to be expected. =.=
[end part 6]
Review Responses!
Stitcher2ficcer: Thanks again for the reminder! But--but--you -didn't- call me warped? (is sad. Gets over it) Yeah, I like that image, too. Sanzo absolutely does not know what to do with themselves.
Incandescens and Me-Nuriko: Glad you're liking, and I hope I didn't make you wait long. Work is eating my ability to keep track of the days. (tries not to go fangirly over getting review from incandescens)
ChaosD: (is sheepish) Yes, I see what you mean... he's a bit mazoku anyway, though, don't you think? Especially under stress. He does remind me of Xellos, and it's not just the voice actor. Well, I'll try to keep them separate. I won't mind an email at all (grins)! Speaking of which--got the response, but resending the story could also help. Eheh. Thanks... And I don't think anyone who can pair Nii up with Kanzeon has any right to complain when people are frightened. ;P
Queasy: (laughs) Hakkai would like me to remind you that the clicky thing is BAD AND EVIL AND SCARY!
DoSet: nice turn of phrase there with 8's feelings for K. Very nice indeed. Yes, they're friendly, but don't think all the tension's been resolved. Mwaha. I think she-Sanzo mostly thinks of herself as Sanzo, the same way our Sanzo does. (is sheepish) Sorry for being distracting... Keeping plotted stories in a clear style is always a struggle for me; I always want to be too subtle. Still working on it! And terrifyingly long reviews are good. (nods firmly)
Drelfinya tells me everything I want to hear and flatters me outrageously (grins). Although I'm not sure the boys are actually less good friends; I think they're just more tough-guy about it. As for whether there'll be yaoi or yuri, I'm going to have to quote Slayers:
O--HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!
Ehem.
Next chapter in the voice of his reverence GENJO SANZO HOUSHI SAMA!
(author gets brained with harisen.)
Ow.