Author's notes at the end.

Disclaimer: Saiyuki is not mine. The story is fictional and all similarities to people and events in real life are coincidences.

Those Beautiful Green Eyes

Chapter Seven

"How's your search going, Kenren Taisho?"

I open my eyes to find myself face to face with Kanzeon Bosatsu in a room filled only with light. Of course, I know I never went back to heaven and am probably being visited by the not so merciful Goddess of Mercy in my dreams. I glare at her. "Where've you been? I've been looking for you!"

"Cranky in the morning, aren't you?" Kanzeon Bosatsu laughs. She wags a finger at me, "I just thought you might be needing some help since you were taking so long."

I cross my arms over my chest. Some women are just charming. Some are somewhat annoying, but in a rather cute way. Kanzeon Bosatsu is just annoying. "You should have thought of that ten years ago when I was getting nowhere."

"Oh? What's ten years to a god who has eternity?" she philosophizes.

It takes all my strength not to wring her neck. After all, even if I do try to strangle her to death, she won't die and I'd just earned myself a heap of trouble for trying to kill the Goddess of Mercy. But, shit, I bet that twisted hag will probably find that amusing as well!

"That's not the point," I snap.

She changes the topic smoothly, "The point is you're looking for Tenpou's soul. Have you found it yet?"

I shrug, "Maybe." I'm not trying to be vague for fun, Karin might really be Tenpou's reincarnation, but I've got no proof aside form her green eyes.

"Are you thinking about that girl?" Kanzeon Bosatsu muses over the idea. "You know, she looks like your lovechild with Tenpou."

Yeah, I mean, the red hair would match my former body's hair, and the eyes...

...Hey...

"What the hell are you talking about! Tenpou and I are both men!" Not that Tenpou's repulsive or anything, it's just that despite all the rumors in heaven, I never really thought that Tenpou and I could be lovers. Even if I do remember Gojyo holding Hakkai—whom I am now assuming to actually have been Tenpou's previous reincarnation—during long and lonely rainy nights, those memories only reiterate the fact that they're very close friends and not necessarily lovers.

Right?

She's laughing at me again. I can almost hear her say to me again: "Why don't you try to be more honest?" Damn, she just pisses me off so much!

The Goddess of Mercy pats me on the head as if I were a child, "Don't think too much."

I can think without hurting myself, thank you.

Before I can retort, she gives me a genuine smile. First time I've seen her smile without any amusement. "Do you know how to guide Tenpou's soul back to his body, now that you think you've found him?"

Oh yeah, there's that part, too. I forgot about that.

Kanzeon Bosatsu stares deeply into my eyes. "It's actually simple, but difficult at the same time," she tells me. "Just whisper his name 'Tenpou' into his ear before he dies, and then give him a good reason to return to his body."

The name part is easy enough, but how do I know if a reason is good?

I am not given the opportunity to ask. Kanzeon Bosatsu is gone and with her, the bright light that surrounded us just a moment ago. Darkness envelops me...

...And then, I hear the laugh of children.

They're calling out a name.

"Karin-oneesan!"

I open my eyes slowly, seeing that it would take some time for them to adjust to the light. I am in one of the many guest rooms in Karin's and Father's house. Like the dining room, this bedroom has a past of splendor, but is presently in poor shape. It is on the third floor of the big house. Karin mentioned last night that the second floor was for Father's patients and that I could stay in the house for as long as I want.

When I could fully open my eyes, I stand up and head for the window. There, I see Karin playing with a number of children. Handling kids, she looks like she's in her element. And why shouldn't she be? Tenpou was great with kids and Hakkai was a teacher, why should Karin be any different?

A soft knock on the door, "Kenren, are you up?"

I recognize Father's voice so I go and open the door for him. "Good morning," he greets me with the smile that just warms me. Karin is lucky to have such a nice father. "Did you sleep well?"

I remember my dream about Kanzeon Bosatsu. Well, not exactly...

"Yeah, I did," I step back to make way for him. "Come on in."

He politely declines, "I'm sorry, I have quite a number of patients to attend to. I just came up here to tell you that breakfast is set in the dining room in case you're hungry."

"Thank you," I really don't know what to say.

Father nods, satisfied, and then walks back to the stairs. I close the door to the guest room and follow him. He decides to make small talk. "You're not a youkai, are you?"

"No," I answer simply.

"Not a human, either," he continues. Now, how could he know that? "There are a lot of things blind men can see," he explains. I apparently don't need to confirm his suspicions. There is a short span of silence and he adds. "I've never healed a god before. I wonder if I can do it or if gods even have to be healed."

"We do," I answer his implied question. "We're immortal. But not invincible."

He still looks amiable. "We learn something new everyday, don't we?"

We finally reach the stairs and I am overwhelmed by the flurry of activity in the second floor. There are so many patients running about the house that I'm surprised the house doesn't fall apart from the sheer weight of this number. Everyone appears human, until I notice that a majority of them have limiters.

Father answers my unasked question this time as we proceed down the flight of stairs to the second floor. "I make limiters for youkai who have good intentions so that they could live normally among humans."

So maybe there is still kindness in this cold cruel world.

"Cruelty towards those who are different," Father does not look as sad as he is exhausted by the matters of the world around him. "That is how things work in this place. That is how Karin's parents died."

So Karin isn't Father's real daughter, either. And I guess that explains Karin's aversion for youkai.

We reach the first floor and Father walks me to the dining room where a simple breakfast of rice and soup are laid out for me. The soup is still hot telling me that Father had gone up to fetch me right after the meal was set.

"You'll have to excuse me now, Kenren," Father heads back up the stairs. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Karin's class should be just about done." He beams, "She teaches children basic reading and math."

How come I'm not surprised. I watch as Father returns to his patients, "She must be a wonderful teacher."

Hakkai was.

I allow myself to get lost in thought as I settle down for my meal.

"Taisho, you shouldn't stare at me like that," Tenpou reprimands me lightly as we eat at the officer's table in the West Army Dining Area. "You're just fueling the rumors that have begun to spread about us."

I resume my meal. "I wasn't staring at you," I retort matter-of-factly. Obsessing would be a more appropriate word. Damn. How can a fucking man be so fucking pretty?

Speaking of fucking...

Shit, what the hell am I thinking? Tenpou wouldn't be interested! And even if he was interested, he would still be my commanding officer. And even if he wasn't my commanding officer, he would still be a man! A pretty man, a beautiful man, but a MAN nonetheless!

Vibrant emeralds pierce into my soul with one look. "Then, what were you staring at, Kenren Taisho?"

Why is he saying my name in a sing-song voice? Is Tenpou Gensui flirting with me?

"Nothing in particular." Yes, a safe answer.

Of course, Tenpou knows me better than that. "See to it that it never happens again," his voice is all business. He's actually commanding me.

I know he's not just commanding me to stop staring at him.

He's commanding me to never let thoughts of us getting together cross my mind. Never. Ever.

Tenpou's normal grin returns. "And Taisho?"

"Your food's getting cold."

I blink. Karin is peering at me with a curious expression on her face. She is sitting beside me and is leaning on the table in such a way that her nose is only a few inches from mine. She's wearing glasses.

"What were you thinking about?" I hear her, but only half-heartedly. There is something else about her eyes that I find peculiar.

I take off her glasses and she lets me. I continue to stare into her eyes as I absent-mindedly place her spectacles on the table.

After a few minutes, she becomes restless. "Ne. Kenren-san, what is it?" she asks, blushing furiously. She turns away from me, unable to take the intensity of my gaze.

I come to. "Sorry, it's your eyes..."

She laughs, relieved. "Oh, and here I thought you were hitting on me," she tries to make what she obviously thought was true a joke to ease her mood. She slips on her glasses. "It's not every day that someone notices that one of my eyes are blind."

So that's it.

"I guess they've been that way since they were given to me," she self-consciously brushes away a lock of auburn hair that has fallen over her eyes.

Given? I guess that's how humans have always seen the things they receive: as gifts from the gods. If they only knew. Gods are selfish creatures who only care about fulfilling their petty desires. I'm not an exception. Blessings and suffering, if they were doled out by someone, that someone wouldn't be a god. Maybe Fate personified or some other divine being, but definitely not a petty god.

"Youkai!"

I shoot up from my seat at the sound of the cry. A number of children rush into the house, sobbing in fear, calling out to Karin and in a flash she is at their side, comforting them. From the second floor, I hear the urgent rhythm of Father's cane as he rushes to see what the matter is.

And then, Jien's voice, "Father!"

Before I could open the door that one of the patients had pushed shut, Jien kicks it to let himself in. I see he has to kick because he has a very bloody Yaone in his arms.

Karin had hushed the children and had just sent them into another room, when she went to Yaone's side to check for a pulse. She directs Jien to a small room with a large couch which could serve as a makeshift operating table. Jien is lying Yaone down on the couch as I enter the room. He then stands back, distraught.

"Jien," I call to my bewildered youkai brother. It took him a second to focus and calm himself enough to comprehend words. When he was more rational, I asked, "What happened?"

Jien is close to tears, "She did it again. She cut herself up so badly, and I wasn't awake to stop her!" He lets the torrent of anguish fall, "I should have woken up early so I could have stopped her. She needed someone to talk to and I went out for a drink!"

"She's alive, don't worry," Karin reassures Jien as she kneels beside the youkai woman.

The wound that is bleeding most profusely is the one on Yaone's wrist. Karin places a hand over the wound and uses the other to stroke Yaone's hair soothingly. A pale yellow light bathes the open wound and it slowly closes.

As I comfort Jien, I could not help but be dumbfounded. "That's chi gong."

Author's Notes

This chapter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I didn't want the story to drag, and then I found myself rushing it. Sorry.

I will most likely be doing rewrites.

Still, I hope against hope that you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading.

- Paris