To Live or Not To Live

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Gensomaden Saiyuki and its characters don't belong to me, but this story and Yokan do. Period.

A/N: So here, we finally get to Gojyo! Enjoy! Reviews would be much appreciated! ^_^

Gojyo

"You mean baby-sit?!" I exclaimed.

Hakkai smiled sheepishly. "Now, now, Gojyo…"

"Sha Gojyo does not baby-sit!" I said indignantly. "It's – it's not my thing!"

Hakkai listened to all my protests without a word, that smile never leaving his face. Pretty soon I had run out of excuses.

 "You're the one who's good with kids," I ended, feeling a little out of breath.

"She's fifteen," Hakkai reminded me. "And she hardly acts like a child."

"It would be more fun if she were eighteen," I grumbled.

Hakkai laughed. "I'm glad she isn't, then. You will check on her?"

I glanced at him. He was still smiling, but there was something in his eyes and tone of voice that pleaded with me. In fact, I could have said he was desperate. But of course, he always tried to hide everything behind that smile of his.

It was a part of his nature, and I accepted that.

I wouldn't try to change it, not unless he was about to hurt himself because of it.

"This has something to do with Kanan, doesn't it?" I asked.

"Well…yes. This may sound ridiculous to you, but I really don't want to leave Yokan there alone, especially in her condition. If something happens to her…"

"From what you've said, in Yokan's case it already happened," I pointed out.

"Yes, but still…"

Finally I sighed. "Okay, but you owe me one. And I'm going to check on her. Don't expect me to stay with her the whole morning or something."
Hakkai laughed. "I know."

So here I was the very next day, walking down the road to Hakkai's place.

Yokan

I'd been staying in Hakkai's home for about three days now, cooped up in my room, in the silence. The thing with staying in the silence for three days is that when there's a sound, even the tiniest one, it stands out and makes itself known so that you hear it right away.

So I knew it the moment someone came into the house. I listened as his footsteps echoed down the hall.

This must be Hakkai's friend…I bolted upright and watched the door.

For some reason I felt nervous, and I realized with a jolt that Hakkai forgot to tell me his friend's name, or how his friend even looked like. How did I know that the person wandering around the house was Hakkai's friend?

What if it was some weirdo breaking in and entering?

I shook my head; I was just getting paranoid. Any second now Hakkai's friend would come in, and I'd see he was no weirdo, probably some nice and neat guy like Hakkai. He'd see I was fine, ask me if I needed anything. I'd say no and then he'd probably smile, say goodbye and be off on his merry way.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The door opened and this guy came into the room – he definitely wasn't like Hakkai. In fact, everything about him, from his clothes to the smell of smoke that instantly drifted into my nostrils, just screamed gangster.

I really hate to say this, but just then the uneasiness in me peaked, and because of my overactive imagination I jumped to conclusions.

He certainly wasn't anything like how I imagined Hakkai's friend would look like, so he must not be. Then that meant – he was a weirdo-breaking-in-and-entering?!

I screamed. It was such a silly, girlish thing to do, I know, and just thinking about it makes me cringe. But at least it sort of stunned him for a couple of seconds.

I spent that time looking around the room frantically, trying to find something I could use as a weapon. The nearest thing I saw was a cross hanging above my bed, so I stood up, snatched it off the wall and pointed it at him threateningly. Pathetic, I know.

The guy knew it too. At first he was looking at me in surprise, then he burst into laughter.

"What are you going to do, exorcise me?"

Crap.

"No," I said, trying to hide my embarrassment by glaring at him.

I was actually planning on at least trying to hit him with it, or something, and if he'd been human I could've beaten him easily. I was a half-demon, after all.

But then I knew this guy was a demon, probably stronger than me.

It was only then that I noticed. Yes, I know it sounds incredibly stupid, being one myself, but I only made the connection with his hair and eyes then.

Wait a second…a half-demon?

"All right, don't get yourself worked up," the guy said, walking towards the bed.

Then I realized he was looking at me a certain way, and the corners of his mouth were twitching into a grin.

My insides went cold…half demon or not, I wasn't letting that happen to me again.

By now his nose was just an inch from that cross.

"Put that thing down, will you?"

"Don't come any nearer!" Before he knew it I'd punched him in the nose with my left hand (I held the cross with my right), jumped off the bed and bolted into the hall. The only problem was, I was already pretty wobbly when I tried to stand, and while the adrenaline rush gave me enough strength to jump down and run, it didn't stop me from getting dizzy not long after. I slumped against the wall, trying to get my bearings.

Gojyo

Good gods, when that girl screamed it hurt. I covered my ears for a second, and when I looked at her again she was pointing that cross at me like it was Sanzo's gun.

I just had to laugh; in fact, she looked kind of cute that way. I have to admit Hakkai was right back when he said she was pretty, and a grin twitched at the corners of my mouth when I thought of how much prettier she'd be by the time she turns eighteen.

"Put that thing down, will you?" I said.

Next thing I knew she'd punched me and my nose hurt like hell. Okay, scratch out the cute. Or rather, add the prefix un to it.

By the time I recovered she'd bolted out into the hallway.

Damn, my nose was bleeding. I covered it with my left and followed her.

There she was, slumped against the wall. She looked pretty drained, and definitely dizzy.

"Crazy kid," I said, pissed. I hoisted her onto my shoulder with my right hand, carried her back to her room, dumped her on the bed and sat on the chair beside it.

"What the hell did you do that for? Hakkai sent me to check on you, but you seem perfectly fine to me."

By then she seemed to have calmed down, and when she heard what I said her jaw dropped.

"Y-you're Hakkai's friend?"

"Yes, what did you think?" I asked testily.

"Uh…you don't really want to know."

She looked at me suspiciously one last time, then said, "I'm sorry, I guess it was just paranoia."

"Ch."

"It's just that, well, the way you were looking at me, and when you walked towards the bed I kind of snapped." She glanced down. "A…guy took advantage of me once, and I couldn't let it happen again."
My eyes widened as I realized what she was implying, and I said hurriedly, "Hey, I may love women but that doesn't mean I don't respect them! And I'm not a pedophile either!"

She gave me a small grin. "Yeah, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that."

"Hakkai did tell you I was coming, didn't he?"

"Yes, but he forgot to tell me who his friend was. A physical description would've helped, too."
She looked up and she seemed to be staring at me again.

"Hey, what are you looking at me like that for?"
She shook herself and said, "Sorry again, it's just that I've never seen anyone like me before, if you know what I mean."
I grinned. "Yeah, and it's not so often you see one as good-looking as me."
Yokan gave me a weird look. "You wish."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I said indignantly.

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Gojyo. Sha Gojyo," I told her. I grinned once more and leaned back, saying, "And you're the famous Yokan I've heard so much about."

A/N: So there…a bit of a shameless, abrupt end, I know, but anyways I'll try to come up with the next chapter soon. And, um, yes, Yokan's first reaction to Gojyo was panic, then shock ^_^; I tried to make it a little funny but I kind of suck at humor.

Again thanks so much for your reviews, I hope you liked the last two chapters!

*crosses her fingers*