Transposition

By Orenda

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki. If I did, Reload would have been dubbed with the ADV voice actors.

Pairings: Kougaiji/Yaone, and possible hints of 58 and 39.

A/N: I'm sorry… Lost my inspiration for this fic for a while, and then real life got in the way. I wanted to add an extra scene at the end, but decided to just get this out. Hope you enjoy it.

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Chapter 3 – Revelations and Discoveries

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Making his way down the street, Hakkai stopped and turned to a familiar looking door. He knew that it would be unlocked, so he didn't bother with fishing his keys from his jeans pocket, turning the knob to let himself inside.

He wasn't sure what the other occupant of the place would be doing – perhaps taking a shower or something. But as he walked into the main room, his companion's crimson hair seemed to stand out in the natural light coming in from the window, grabbing his attention. But something wasn't right, the way he just sat there staring at a piece of paper…

"Gojyo?" Hakkai managed to keep his voice neutral, with just a hint of the earlier coldness remaining behind his concern.

The man known as Sha Gojyo did not answer him at first, his red eyes still cast upon the paper in his hands. Then, he casually crumpled it into a ball, squeezing it with his fist. It was the eerie, calm silence of the half-demon that told Hakkai that something was very wrong.

After a prolonged silence between them, Gojyo finally broke it with a tone that contradicted his usual show of emotions when something was bothering him.

"…It's amazing, isn't it?" His hands were shaking, Hakkai noticed. "How easy it is for things to change around you… You'd know."

Hakkai wasn't sure whether or not to answer just yet, not wanting to trigger an emotional outburst. Gojyo was currently unstable, and he needed to find out why.

The redhead made it easy and continued without prompting. "How did you do it? I mean… How did you…" he finally looked directly into Hakkai's eyes, "…give up your revenge? Why did you stop killing everything in sight?"

Hakkai returned the look very seriously, no pretend smiles or fakeness as he had earlier out in the street. He took a seat on the chair next to Gojyo, so that they were on an equal level with each other.

"There are times when I still want to. But… people like you showed me it wasn't worth it."

Gojyo broke eye contact, looking down at the ball of paper still tightly grasped in his hand. "Maybe I was wrong."

Still not wanting to set the redhead off, Hakkai had to make sure to choose his next words carefully. He had to remain calm about it.

"What happened, Gojyo?"

The half-demon gave him an answer much easier than expected. "…My brother is dead."

Hakkai's eyes widened. If he remembered correctly, Gojyo had mentioned his older brother before, but only passing in conversation. He'd never shared the details, but Hakkai knew that Gojyo hadn't seen or talked to his brother in quite some time. It was not what he'd been expected his roommate to say.

And that was when it clicked in his brain. "He was a full demon?"

A silent nod was the reply, a bit of crimson hair falling into Gojyo's face.

Hakkai's voice dropped down a level in volume. "Did he work for Tenjiku Corp?"

At the mention of Kougaiji's business stronghold, Gojyo's eyes grew dark, similar to the way Hakkai's eyes had when Sanzo's name was brought up before.

"How did you find out?" Anger was hidden underneath that unrealistic calmness, but Hakkai only noticed it from being around Gojyo for so long.

"I ran into a friend this morning." Hakkai had no reason not to give an honest answer. "He told me that a body was found."

If Gojyo had been in a different state of mind, he probably could have figured out exactly who Hakkai was referring to. At the moment, however, he could not have cared less.

"They wouldn't take him out easily…" His voice was emotionless. "He should've been able to kick the guy's ass and bring him down too."

At that point, the feelings that Hakkai had put aside before for Gojyo's sake decided to return to him in full force, and this time there was no mask for Hakkai to hide behind; the redhead was able to pick up on the strong change even in his current mind set.

Hakkai looked away, focusing on the wall behind Gojyo. "That is, unless it was someone like Genjo Sanzo."

The half-demon blinked, "That guy's just a legend, a story told by parents to frighten their kids and make them behave. He probably doesn't even exist."

Up until then, neither knew a whole lot about the other's past from before they met. Gojyo knew that Hakkai was a demon that was once a human, and that he had to kill many demons to make him what he was, but Hakkai had never really told him the reasoning behind it other than for revenge. He'd never asked. Just like Gojyo had never mentioned much of his past, or the reason why he hadn't been on speaking terms with he brother. It was just simpler and less painful not to reopen old scars. But Gojyo had a strong feeling they were both going to discover more about the past than they'd originally planned.

"He exists, and he is very real." Hakkai allowed his roommate to see what he'd kept hidden from Tonpou, his anger and frustration from another time and place, "I've actually seen him once."

When Gojyo didn't answer, Hakkai decided to quit putting off the inevitable, his voice a little shaky, "…I watched him as he walked away from our old house, minutes after finding my sister lifeless and covered in blood."

It seemed like the day was going to be full of surprises.

Gojyo stood up, unable to just sit there any longer, especially with this brand new piece of information from the man he'd started to grow close to over the last year or so.

"…And you think that he was here?" he asked.

"I know that he was," was the simple reply.

The half-demon remained where he was, absorbing the last fifteen minutes in his mind. Hakkai was still too wound up from admitting his past out loud for the first time, and was either unable or unwilling to provide anything else. The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence.

Gojyo walked towards the door and left the room without a word, leaving Hakkai sitting there alone in his thoughts.

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It had taken some time for Hakkai to recollect himself, almost an hour. He had never realized just how hard it would be for him to tell someone about his past, even Gojyo, the man who had saved his life and had given him a brand new start on it all.

But now the worst part was over, and if they talked again, it would be much easier the next time. That thought alone made him feel relief. Gojyo already knew the general idea of what he had done, and now he knew the reason why. And Gojyo had accepted what he'd done, what he'd become, even without knowing that reason before. So Hakkai wasn't all too worried in that regard.

He took a deep breath before knocking on Gojyo's bedroom door.

His answer was a bit delayed, "It's unlocked."

Hakkai took the message to mean that he didn't mind having company, so he opened the door. There he found the redhead packing up a bag, some of his belongings scattered around more than usual.

"Are you leaving now?" he asked softly.

Gojyo looked up and him a grim smile. "The longer we just sit around here, the farther away that bastard will get from his punishment."

The brunette sighed, "I don't want you ending up like me, you know."

"I know. And don't worry… I won't. I'll have you to stop me from getting that far." Gojyo seemed very serious about the entire thing.

The statement seemed to be both surprising and not at the same time to Hakkai.

"And what makes you think that I'm going to be coming with you?"

Looking straight into his eyes, Gojyo gave him an honest answer, "…Because you can't stop me, and I know that you'd never let me do this alone."

Hakkai found a dark amusement in the reply. He hesitated, clearing away some of his thoughts.

"Well," he finally said, "I guess I'd better pack some food for later and see what else we'll need."

Gojyo was expecting him to say something like that. "It's a good thing I won last night playing cards, right?" His eyes seemed more noticeably red than usual. "Let's go and avenge our siblings, shall we?"

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If he had been alone, Kougaiji would have already met up with Yaone hours ago. But with Lirin, he had to be much more cautious, taking extra precautions so they wouldn't be seen. And his dragon couldn't travel as fast with both passengers as it could with only just one. That and they'd been flying just above the cloud line all night in order to avoid the rain.

Kougaiji had offered to let Lirin lean against him and go back to sleep until they arrived, but she had insisted that she was fine, asking him several times why they'd had to leave so fast. He was silent and ignored the questions, so she'd eventually grown tired of it and gave up. Kougaiji told himself that he'd try and make it up to her after this whole thing was over, especially since she was still dealing with her mother's death and everything surrounding it, even if she thought differently of her mother because of her actions in the past. She was very tough, and might possibly have to get tougher soon. With his job, and now full responsibility over her, he didn't always have the time for her that he should…

He promised mentally to himself to do what he could to make her life easier, make it all up to her.

As a precautionary measure, he had keys to all of the buildings that he owned or rented in case he had the need to use them for one reason or another, including the place he had gotten for Yaone. The main entrance needed a key to get in, and Yaone's apartment was up on the second floor. He brought Lirin inside with him and headed up the stairs to the next level.

Lirin decided that being within such a close distance to Yaone might make her brother more willing to talk, and made the effort to try again.

"Kou, why are we hiding from everyone? I'm not scared, you know!"

He sighed softly. "I know, Lirin," he assured her. "It was just easier not to be seen. I… don't feel like dealing with anyone else today."

She could tell that it was not the whole truth, but did not call him out on it. Actually, she was more interested in why the door at the end of the hall was wide open when everything else was shut up.

Kougaiji was very interested as well; that was Yaone's door! He rushed inside, his demon eyes burning with worry as they quickly adjusted to the darkness.

"Yaone?" he called out, ignoring his sister as she flew in after him.

Everything was silent, empty. It was as if the owner had just disappeared into thin air, leaving everything behind.

His attention was drawn to a note sitting next to the telephone on a small corner table. Kougaiji picked it up and read it, anger and worry evident in his features.

The note was simple, only four words. "Sorry… You're too late." It was left unsigned, nor was it addressed to anyone specifically, and yet Kougaiji knew it was for him.

They had gotten to her. Someone must have known that he was coming, and they'd taken her away before he was able to reach her.

It meant that they knew what Kougaiji had been up to for the last couple of weeks, and that the game had just gotten a whole lot more dangerous.

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To Be Continued...

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A/N: I'll try and keep working on this soon. I really don't want it to die...