Love Song
Chapter Four- Go With the Flow
By darthelwig
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I do not own Saiyuki. This story is rated M. Slash warning.
Thank you to GhostHelwig for always taking the time to listen to me rant about this story, and for being the best Beta-reader ever. You rock!
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"All is well, my lady," Ni said, and Gyokumen Koushu looked up at him from her seat next to the pool. She fanned herself slowly, leveling her most arrogant, regal gaze at the man.
"Why do you insist on calling me by that ridiculous title?" she asked him, deliberately sounding more annoyed than she actually was. Ni was an odd man, and she did her best to keep him in his place. It wouldn't do to have him thinking he was more important in the grand scheme of things than he actually was.
"It's a sign of my high regard for you, my lady."
'Lady' Koushu, as Ni had taken to calling her, was an intelligent, perceptive woman. She trusted Ni about as much as she would an unfamiliar stray dog. Without warning, it could turn around and bite you. She kept that knowledge to herself, preferring her little 'friend' to think he had her complete confidence. The truth of the matter was, the only person she trusted completely was herself. She was quite aware that she was the only person who had her own best interests at heart. Ni had a different agenda, and one day she would figure out what it was. But for now she would allow him to continue playing the role of dutiful servant. Sometimes it even amused her.
"How is Kougaiji doing?" she asked, moving on to more important matters. "Will he be ready when the time comes? I don't want him to blow this for me."
"Oh yes," Ni said, smiling. "They are well on their way to complete success."
"What about Sanzo and the others? Are they out of the picture?" She sounded anxious about it, she knew, but some things couldn't be helped. Kougaiji's old band mates were the biggest obstacle to her plan to make her stepson a star. If anyone could beat her pathetic, spineless, yet talented stepson in the Battle of the Bands contest, it would be those three hellions. They were good, no doubt about it. But they were difficult, if not impossible, to control and had influenced Kougaiji for far too long. He had started to become more independent, rebellious even, and she had taken steps to nip that in the bud immediately.
Undermining Kougaiji's faith in those three had been a true challenge, but she had finally managed to break their hold over him and reassert her control. If her stepson had possessed more of a backbone, it never would have worked, but he was firmly in her corner now, as he should be. Now all she had to do was make sure those boys stayed out of the picture.
"They're still searching high and low for a guitarist to take Kougaiji's place, my lady. It seems that lady luck and I are not smiling down upon them at the moment."
Lady Koushu smiled, satisfaction dripping from her lips.
"Excellent. I don't know how you do these things, but make sure it continues. I don't want them sniffing around our prize." Her voice was cold and hard. Betraying an iron will beneath her veneer of soft decadence.
"It shall be as you command, my lady," Ni said, bowing slightly.
"Stop that," she told him, annoyed.
"As you wish." Ni giggled, his mind already on other, more interesting, games.
….
Sanzo gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pounding headache forming right behind his eyes. It was only a little further to where they'd parked the van. Surely he could refrain from slaughtering their new guitarist for just a little longer.
The kid was older than he looked. He was just small for his age. Sanzo had almost refused to believe the kid was turning eighteen next month, but the boy also didn't know how to lie, apparently. At least, not well.
Sanzo guessed that part of the reason Goku was so small was due to malnourishment. He'd whined about being hungry for over an hour until Sanzo had broken down and used some of his precious cash to buy him a sandwich. The food had disappeared in seconds, but it seemed to have calmed the boy down a little. For now.
At least he didn't have to worry about losing the kid in a crowd. Goku spent most of his time gawking and exclaiming over everything he saw, but he also never let Sanzo out of his sight. He either had an uncanny awareness of the blonde's proximity or eyes in the back of his head, because every time Sanzo would get just the slightest bit too far away the kid would stop whatever he was doing to follow after him. It didn't matter if he was entranced by a billboard, petting someone's dog or even listening to a passing car's blaring radio- the second Sanzo reached that invisible line, Goku would turn and come trotting after him. He was better than a trained monkey.
Sanzo grunted as the kid ran into him and clutched his arm. Golden eyes stared up at him, begging for attention Sanzo didn't want to give. Not with his temper being fueled by a steadily growing headache. But he looked at Goku anyway, unable to deny the lonely boy whatever company he could give, even if it wasn't great.
"So what do I call you?" Goku asked. "What's your name?"
"Sanzo. Call me Sanzo," the blonde replied. Slightly surprised at himself. He hadn't realized he'd neglected to tell the boy his name. Things like that didn't normally escape his notice. He must be more tired than he thought, to let such a simple thing slip by him so easily. But there'd be no rest for him this evening- not in that damn van- and now they had another body to cram into it. Still, things should be looking up for them soon. They had a guitarist now. All they had to do was teach him the handful of original songs they'd written and a few good covers and they'd be good to go.
A sudden, unbidden and unwelcome thought came to him, and he stopped dead in his tracks, pulling Goku to a stop with him. The boy recovered easily and Sanzo's narrowed gaze examined him closely.
"You're a guitarist," Sanzo said. It wasn't a question, but Goku replied anyway.
"Uh-huh."
"You play guitar."
"Yup!" the boy said, smiling happily. Sanzo's stomach sank as he asked his question, afraid he already knew the answer.
"Where's your guitar?"
Goku's smile faded a bit but didn't disappear. He did begin to blush, though, and Sanzo was forced to restrain himself from slamming his own head into the nearest wall.
"I kinda forgot it back at the house," Goku said. "But it wasn't really mine anyway."
Sanzo felt like slapping himself. How the hell could he have been so stupid as to forget the very thing that had led him to bring the boy with him in the first place? There was nothing to be done about it now, though. It was too late to turn back, and returning to the scene of the crime- so to speak- probably wasn't the best idea. They would just have to find a way to get the kid another one. Somehow.
"Come on," he said, walking more quickly now. "We're almost there."
If Gojyo teased him about this, they'd be one member short again.
….
Goku followed obediently behind his guardian angel. He felt silly for forgetting to bring his guitar, but really, it didn't belong to him anyway. And he didn't really want any reminders of that place with him. It was better this way! Now he could start over completely fresh.
He had no doubts that life would be better now, no matter what happened. At least he would be living, not merely existing.
He also knew there were dangers out here in the world. He'd spent hours sitting with his ear pressed to the door at the top of the stairs, listening with sharp ears to the television his keepers watched, or eavesdropping on their conversations. He was no fool. He knew that walking into an unknown situation with a man he'd just met was probably stupid. He knew that if he'd misjudged this man, he could be headed for death… or worse… at the hands of a maniac, but he didn't care. He was free.
And his heart already trusted. This blond, shining, beautiful man was his savior- his angel. Goku could no more distrust this man than stop the sun from rising- and why would he even want to?
He'd looked into the man's eyes- eyes he hadn't realized were the most amazing shade of violet until he saw them up close- and he'd seen something. It wasn't kindness. It was… compassion. This man truly felt for others. Goku could see the compassion directed at him.
So he followed Sanzo happily, trusting and secure.
They stopped next to an old, beat up van parked in front of a run-down apartment building. There were less people on the street here, and no one who did pass by even gave them a glance. In a place like this, it was best to mind your own business.
Sanzo unlocked the van and pulled open the double doors at the back. Goku's eyes widened as he saw all the equipment jammed inside, as well as a few bags of personal belongings.
"Um… is that the band?" Goku asked, not thinking about how the question sounded. Sanzo glanced at him and frowned.
"Of course not. That's our gear. Are you some kind of idiot?" Annoyance dripped off every word and Goku kicked himself for saying something so stupid. He wanted his angel to think well of him, not become convinced he was some kind of moron.
Sanzo rummaged through one of the bags and pulled out a comb. He tossed it to Goku, who just stood there staring at it.
"Comb that mop of yours," Sanzo commanded, and Goku immediately obeyed. Pulling the comb through his long, thick hair was a pain, but the look in the blonde's eyes held no room for argument. Sanzo lit a cigarette and watched the procedure for awhile, making sure it got done right. He hated messy.
"Hey Sanzo," called a voice. Goku paused in his combing, but Sanzo just raised an eyebrow and the boy continued again, trying to comb as well as he could while only half paying attention. The other half of his mind was devoted to watching two young men approach the van. One had long, blood-red hair and a cigarette in his mouth. Two long, thin scars curved over his left cheek. The other had thick, dark hair and wore a strange little round glass over his right eye.
The two men greeted Sanzo, throwing curious glances Goku's way but not saying anything about him yet.
"Did you get more cigarettes?" Sanzo asked the red-haired one, who nodded and handed over a carton of them.
"We need money soon, Sanzo. It's getting harder to find a girl willing to buy this much for me."
Sanzo didn't reply. He just leaned back against the van and looked at Goku again, who was still struggling with one stubborn knot in his long hair.
"Maybe I should cut it," Sanzo muttered, eyeing the long brown strands critically.
"Ah, Sanzo… who is this?" the dark-haired man asked in a soft, oddly melodic voice.
"My name's Goku," the boy said, giving up on the knot at last. "Who are you?"
"I'm Hakkai. This is Gojyo," he said, indicating the redhead. "Pleased to meet you, Goku." Hakkai smiled at the boy and Goku saw true kindness in the man's eyes. He smiled back.
"Goku is our new guitarist," Sanzo said casually, and both Hakkai and Gojyo turned to the blonde in shock.
"What?" Gojyo said. "What the hell are you talking about? He's just a kid! He can't even get in to half our usual jobs!"
"Sanzo, aren't we supposed to discuss things like this before we arbitrarily decide? Shouldn't he at least audition?"
Then two men were talking over each other, protesting loudly. Goku could see Sanzo's irritation growing as they kept talking. He was annoyed too. They didn't even know him or what he could do!
"I'm not a kid!" Goku yelled, drawing their attention. "I'll be eighteen soon! And I can play! I just need a guitar!"
Gojyo stared at the boy, and then looked at Sanzo in disbelief.
"He doesn't even have a guitar? Great! Maybe he can play air guitar for us! That should be great for our careers!"
"Shut up!" Sanzo yelled, tossing the remains of his cigarette to the ground. "He can play and we'll get him a damn guitar. If you have a problem with that, you can leave!"
Gojyo looked like he'd been slapped. He stared at Sanzo in mute shock for a moment, then shook his head and raised his hands in defeat.
"Fine," he said, not sounding happy at all. "We'll do things your way, like we always do."
Hakkai was looking at Goku, and the boy fidgeted under the man's penetrating stare. He couldn't read the older man's face, couldn't tell what he was thinking. It made him uneasy.
Hakkai finally looked away, looked at Sanzo, and he was much calmer than Gojyo when he spoke.
"We'll trust you on this, Sanzo. If you think he's good, then he must be. I just wish you consulted us first."
"There really wasn't an opportunity," Sanzo said, looking slightly abashed, if not apologetic. Hakkai nodded.
"So how are we gonna get the kid a guitar?" Gojyo asked, voice carefully neutral.
"No idea," Sanzo said, and Hakkai reached into his pocket, pulling out a large gold pocket watch. He looked at it for a moment, running his thumb over the cool metal. He looked at Sanzo and Gojyo with sober, serious eyes.
"We can sell this," Hakkai said, holding up the watch. Gojyo's eyes widened and he shook his head.
"No way, Hakkai. That's too much to ask of you. That watch is important to you. It's all you have left of your family!"
Hakkai smiled sadly.
"I know, and I've treasured it for a long time. But our dream is important to me too. If selling this can help make that happen, then I will gladly part with it." He was sad but sure, his voice steady and his face full of resolve.
Sanzo met Hakkai's gaze and held it.
"Are you certain you want to do this, Hakkai? There might be another way." The words seemed to come hard for the blonde, but he asked anyway, forcing his own wants aside for the moment. That watch was worth more than enough for a guitar and amp. He knew this was a sure way to get what they needed. But it was also a piece of Hakkai's history, and he respected the man enough to give him the choice rather than take advantage of his generosity.
"I'm sure," Hakkai said. "There is no other way. We're broke and there's no one to help us, so we have to help ourselves. I'll have faith in your judgment, Sanzo. If you believe in Goku's abilities, I'll do everything in my power to make this work… even sacrifice this."
Hakkai's face broke into a gentle smile and Sanzo dropped his measuring gaze. Gojyo still looked horrified, but Hakkai put a hand on the redhead's arm and squeezed.
"It's okay," Hakkai said, still smiling. "It wasn't doing me any good anyway."
"If it's what you really want, I won't try to stop you. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing," Gojyo said, looking at Hakkai in concern. "I don't want you doing something you're just going to end up regretting later."
"I've no room in my life for regrets, Gojyo. You know that."
Goku watched Hakkai and Gojyo share a long look. There was meaning there- a deep ocean of swirling undercurrents- but he couldn't make heads or tails of the emotions reflected in their gazes.
Sanzo ignored them and moved to Goku's side. The boy looked up into his angel's violet eyes as one long-fingered hand settled into his hair. An almost tender look entered the blonde's eyes as he regarded the boy before him.
"We're cutting it," he said grimly, and Goku flinched.