:: Perfect World ::
Gensomaden Saiyuki
Disclaimer: I don't own Gensomaden Saiyuki, which rightfully belongs to Minekura Kazuya.
Rating: PG
Pairings: none
Warnings: AU-ish, angst, mild language, mild violence
Beta-read by: Iapetus
Notes: Again, thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far. Teh feedback makes me a happy D-chan. It really is great when I come home from school and see reviews for this fic. I've been working on this "behind the scenes" for a few months now, so getting solid feedback on it is absolutely fantastic.
Anyway, just as forewarning, chapters like the previous one will be coming few and far between at times. The main focus is on Homura and Goku-- especially Goku. I try to even it out when I can, though.
In any case... thanks again to the reviewers. And, as always, constructive criticism and feedback is still always appreciated.
Chapter Three
If he didn't know any better, and if he hadn't known the man for nearly three solid years, Son Goku would have said this was an extremely unfair situation.
Bad enough that Zenon treats me like a child, he grumbled silently, trying to keep quiet as he made his way through the thick brush. But he treats me like an incompetent one! And Homura knows it!
In fact, Homura was the one that had set up Goku's little training system. Shien would teach him stealth (he was frustratingly good at it, and so far Goku hadn't 'won' a single round) and battle tactics, Zenon would instruct in survival skills and physically test him in endurance (that was not fun when he had to go against a Zenon happily armed with a machine gun), and Homura would be the one to train him in whatever martial arts he could, building the boy's strength gradually.
The first three years with Zenon and Shien hadn't exactly been easy. Goku found out fairly quickly that Homura was the leader and that it had been his idea to get Goku out in the first place. He'd been friendly from the start. Zenon and Shien, however...
Zenon was the one most vocally against having the boy in their group in the beginning. He had seemed quite set in the idea of their trio and having Goku there was like having a weakness. As much as he respected Homura -- he and Shien both did, clearly so -- not even the man's presence would hold back the biting comments that would always lead into shouting matches between him and Goku. Those had always ended with Homura laughing, Shien shaking his head in exasperation, and either Zenon or Goku sporting some sort of bruise or bloody limb.
That had been for the first two years; Goku was relieved to note that the tension between them was calming to a more companionable level. They still had their disagreements, but there was far less shouting and a lot more of the verbal fights ending with one of them, usually Goku, saying something stupid enough to make them just stop and see why Homura found them so amusing. (Which only made him laugh harder.) The physical fights were still there, but the injuries were, thankfully, much less serious.
As much of an older brother Zenon was to him now, though, the coldness radiating from Shien hadn't lessened one little bit.
Okay, maybe I was pretty childish back then, Goku thought, getting irritated as tiny branches and twigs scratched at his face. And maybe I still am... but I'm not as stupid! What's his problem?
The worst part was that he had no idea why Shien seemed to dislike him so much. Asking him would be stupid, of course, and he'd already tried getting it out of Zenon and Homura. Zenon had simply scoffed and said it was Shien's own personal problem and for him not to worry about it. Homura had just smirked and said that he'd tell Goku when he felt he was ready to understand.
Goku, of course, had no idea what either meant at all. It wasn't the only subject he felt in the dark on, either. Sometimes when returning to the campsite he would overhear faint murmurs that would abruptly stop just before he opened the door.
Homura may have saved him, but Goku still didn't feel like he belonged here.
He shook his head, trying not to think about it. Doesn't matter, he told himself firmly. We made a deal and that's that. Homura's honored his end of it; I need to do my part. And right now that means training until he feels I'm ready to help in making his perfect world.
Even after three years with the man Goku still had no idea how Homura planned to do it. Oh, he knew the reasons behind it; Homura was disgusted with the arrogant gods in the heavens, and if he made this new world it would be a perfect one without those annoying gods. Goku privately agreed; after all, it was the gods that had forced him to be alone for five hundred years. But as for the mechanics... well, all Goku knew was that Homura wanted the Seiten and Maten scriptures.
He stilled suddenly; was that a rustle? Goku could have sworn he'd heard something... but looking around, he realized he was nearly to the point of being home free. With a grin he continued onward, nearly bursting out of the bushes.
Indeed, there was Homura at the end of the path, arms folded over his chest and watching Goku expectantly.
I made it! he thought gleefully, waving to the man and starting to run toward him. However, before he'd taken more than a few steps, a pale blur came out of nowhere, causing Goku to skid to a surprised stop just before he ran into Shien.
Eyes still closed, Shien said a quiet, "Not good enough," before the hilt of one of his whips was abruptly slammed into Goku's gut.
------
More painful than his bruised abdomen was his hurt pride; Goku lay on his bed that night, barely able to enjoy the feel of really sleeping on a bed for once. Normally Homura would have them camping outside, and that usually turned into another survival lesson from Zenon. This time, however, he had calmly suggested they stay in a hotel for the next few days and take a little break from the training.
Goku was in no position to argue. He curled up a bit more, arms folded over his sore stomach in attempt to lessen the pain. That jerk, he thought sullenly. He did not have to hit me that hard...
The door opening suddenly startled him. Goku started to sit up, thinking it was Zenon (who was normally his roommate simply because it amused Homura) but his savior's voice saying, "Relax," immediately made him lie down again. Somehow being weak in front of the man wasn't quite the same as it was with Zenon or Shien. It wasn't that Goku didn't mind it; he actually was more self-conscious about his weaknesses in front of his savior. But Homura didn't needle him about it anymore than he was comfortable with, so it was okay.
Homura sat down in a rather comfortable looking chair by the wall across from Goku, resting his chin in his hand and smirking. "Shien hit you pretty hard. How do you feel?"
"Like kicking him between the legs," Goku replied honestly, grimacing. "And sore."
Chuckling, Homura said, "I realize he's sometimes unfair to you, but I also think this is for the best. You may not like it, but it will toughen you up in the years to come, Son Goku."
That was another thing Goku couldn't get Homura to stop doing: calling him by his full name. "Just call me Goku," he'd once protested. "It feels weird when you call me that."
Homura had simply shrugged and said, "I won't go on a first-name basis with you without good reason."
At the time that had hurt a lot. Goku had frowned and demanded, "What's wrong with me? You don't trust me?" Laughing, Homura had assured him it was nothing to do with trust. Goku had thought about then for a moment before asking, "Well, will you ever call me just by my first name?"
The expression on Homura's face had been strangely serious, as though the question was a lot more difficult to answer than Goku could ever hope to guess. At last, he'd simply said, "If the circumstances for that to happen ever come up, I will call you by only your first name... and only when I'm sure you will understand." Goku wasn't happy with the promise, but at the time he'd just nodded.
Sighing, Goku focused on the current conversation. "I guess, but can't we do it one level at a time? It feels like the second one of his hits don't cause an immediate bruise he turns it up five whole levels!" He knew he was whining, but Homura was really the only person that would put up with it.
Homura shrugged. "I can't interfere. Shien knows what he's doing; he's never injured you seriously, never broken a leg, arm or bone on your body. And he never draws blood." He smirked. "In fact, I'd almost say you're being a child about this."
Goku glared at him. "I am a child!"
Homura raised an eyebrow, the amused smirk never leaving his face. "This is coming from the boy that always complains how his instructors treat him like a little boy?"
Goku felt his face warm as his words were used against him. He sighed and rolled over on his back, stretching out a bit and cringing as that upset the muscles in his stomach. "You don't... really treat me like a child," he admitted, eyes focused on the ceiling. "I mean, you're the only one that really listens to me... and you talk to me like an adult sometimes." When you're not keeping secrets from me, anyway, he added quietly.
He heard a gentle creak, as though Homura was shifting in the chair. "I believe someone has to," the man said calmly. "I also believe that as a member of this group you have a valid opinion-- god or not."
Grinning, Goku turned his head to look at him again. "Sometimes I forget you're a god."
"Don't," Homura said simply. "That may be the death of you."
Shaking his head, Goku pushed himself into a sitting position, flinching slightly but trying to control it. "Say... Homura..." The man made a noise to show he was listening, but Goku fastened his eyes on his toes as though they would provide an answer to his question quicker than Homura. "Not that I'm unhappy about it, but... why're you rooming with me?" He finally glanced up. "I thought you liked it when Zenon and I got into stupid fights."
"They are amusing," Homura admitted, the corner of his lips curling up. "Why should I need a reason? I just felt like it."
Goku sighed in relief. "Good... I mean, Zenon's okay and all, but he can be really annoying... and his punches hurt like hell," he grumbled, his jaw aching in remembrance of past fights.
Homura arched an eyebrow. "Perhaps I should have done this from the start. You seem to be picking up some of his habits." Goku shrugged; it really was Zenon that he learned the swear words from, no denying that. Shien's speech was far too polite to allow that and Homura didn't seem to care for them. Besides, he could be smug and cocky without them and pull it off brilliantly. It was something Goku privately admired but would never bother to try doing.
"Homura..." Goku waited for another barely audible noise that signaled he could go on. "If we're not gonna be training the next few days, what are we gonna do?"
The man smiled, his expression more smug than anything else at the moment. "Well, it will be a sort of break for you while the rest of us go about discouraging any strange rumors." Goku wrinkled his nose; that sort of thing was boring to him, but the others insisted it was necessary.
"Why?" Goku protested. "Why not let them think you're all gods? You can control them that way, can't you?"
Homura fixed him with a level stare, his voice quiet. "Would you do it?" At the boy's puzzled look, he tried again. "Would you abuse your powers like that if you had them? Is that what you want, Son Goku? To become strong so you can control people and make them bend to your every whim?"
He cringed at the idea; he hadn't wanted to make it sound like that. "I... no," he said quietly, lowering his eyes.
Homura nodded. "Just trust me on this. It's necessary. Can you do that?"
The question brought an unexpected, very broad smile to Goku's face. "Trust you? Yeah!" He laughed. "I've always trusted you! You never gave me reason not to."
Homura smiled back, looking pleased. "Then believe me when I say it's necessary." Once getting the nod from his pupil, he smirked. "Now, why don't we see how much of a beating you can take today?"
As Homura was his teacher in everything involving the martial arts and fighting techniques, Goku actually couldn't complain when the man beat him into the ground. He had at first, of course; though he didn't seem like it in the beginning, Homura was a tough teacher and he seemed to have high expectations for his young student. Goku still had no idea what made him think that, but if he could say anything it would be that yes, he had improved greatly in the past couple of years.
"So is that all you guys'll be doing?" Goku asked curiously.
"No," Homura said calmly. "But much of the rest is none of your business."
The boy glared. "Then what am I supposed to do?" he whined, kicking the mattress in his version of a tantrum. "I'll be bored! And I don't wanna help Shien, and Zenon will just find a way to make fun of me all day, or get me lost on purpose!" He glared again when Homura chuckled; Zenon actually had gotten the boy lost in a crowd before. Maybe Homura found it amusing, but Goku hadn't. It had been on one of his first days being set free, so he'd been near tears by the time Homura came across him.
Goku was embarrassed by the memory; he knew he'd been so relieved to see Homura that he'd actually ran forward and nearly tackled the man, clinging to him and burying his face in Homura's stomach until his soothing petting and words calmed him down. From that point on Goku never trusted Zenon when they were alone. Being in a hotel didn't count since Homura was usually just across the hall, and besides, it would be rather difficult to lose a boy in such a tiny place.
He leaned over, hands on his ankles as he frowned at Homura. "I wanna go with you! I hate being bored. And don't you even try telling me I'll find something to do here!"
"You're right," Homura said dryly. "Let's see... what have you done when alone in a village before?" Goku reddened, not wanting to hear it, but before he could protest Homura was already speaking again. "Aside from causing simple trouble just by being careless about our identities, you've played the little orphan boy to get older women to feed you, gotten into several fights with spoiled children, gotten into a lot of mischief by stealing--"
"See?" Goku interrupted hastily, trying to ignore Homura's smirk. "You wouldn't want me loose in this town!" He bounced a bit in his place, pleading. "Please Homura? Let me go with you? I'll be good, I promise!" He rarely had to stoop this low, but Goku really didn't want to be alone. That was why he'd even accepted Homura's offer in the first place; because of the promise to not be alone anymore. He hated, really hated, not having anyone nearby... and for some reason it was ten times worse when he didn't know where Homura was.
Homura stared at him for a long moment, looking thoughtful. After a tense minute or two he shook his head, a rueful smile touching his lips. "We'll see," he said. "I'll decide in the morning."
The boy made a face at him. "Will it really take that long?"
"Perhaps." He blinked, taken aback by Homura's serious tone. "What I'm doing is a bit personal, so I'll have to decide if I'm ready to tell you or not."
"Oh..." Goku shifted uneasily; he had been prying, but he hadn't thought it was into something that serious. Homura was generally good-natured and humored him a lot, but when he talked in that tone it meant Goku was getting too nosy.
Homura glanced outside. "It's getting late... and it looks like rain." He shot the boy a look, his usual smile back in place. Goku relaxed; Homura wasn't mad at him, at least, and that was a huge comfort. "I'm sure you're happy."
"Camping out in the rain sucks," Goku agreed, falling back on the mattress and closing his eyes. "Mm... maybe I'll sleep all day tomorrow instead... if he hit me like he usually does, I'll be really sore in the morning," he complained.
Laughing, Homura stood. "Suit yourself, Son Goku." He turned out the lights and Goku could hear the faint rustle of him climbing into the other bed.
It seemed that Homura had been right about the weather. When Goku fell asleep it was to the soft breathing of his savior and the gentle thrumming of light rain against the window.
------
Homura couldn't sleep.
Contrary to popular belief, gods did need to sleep. They were just like humans in every way except for their longer lifespan. He, like anyone else in the Lower World, needed at least a few hours to rest and recharge himself. Every god needed to, especially the god of war.
It wasn't too unusual, even if it was troublesome. Homura had difficulty sleeping quite often, and usually only when he was in the same room as Son Goku. He did genuinely like the boy; he was entertaining, especially when he and Zenon got into arguments over the silliest things. And though it had dimmed a bit over time Homura still recognized that childish innocence flickering in the recesses of golden eyes very much like his.
Heretic eyes, he thought absently, rolling over on his side. Eyes that are said to bring great fortune be it good or bad... His eyes were long adjusted to the room's darkness and found Goku's sprawled form easily. The boy was carefree, even in his sleep, the sheets kicked and tangled in ways no human could ever achieve. Goku was obviously not the practical type; should someone attempt to attack him in his sleep, he'd be a very blatant target.
But it was something Homura liked about the boy. He was very childish and obvious, but it made him blunt and straightforward without being entirely predictable.
He sighed softly, shaking his head a bit. It was quite apparent that Goku had abandonment issues and that was what made him so persistent when it came to going certain places. Even after three years the boy hadn't quite grasped that Homura had no intention of abandoning him... but at the same time, perhaps that was a good thing.
After all, in the end it just may seem like abandonment...
Trying to take his mind off that, as it was too far in the future to worry about right away, Homura's thoughts went back to Goku's request. It was true that all Homura was going to do was go around to dispel any "rumors" about a band of gods wreaking havoc... on the surface. But even as he did that he did have other intentions: to find her resting place.
It had taken too long as it was. Five hundred years was far too long to find one place, but he simply hadn't had the time to do his search whilst heaven used him as their new killing doll.
Five centuries as their doll, he thought, a faint smirk on his lips. I wonder what they'll do when they have no heretics left to do the killing for them? Gods, technically speaking, weren't allowed to kill. Only the god of war was expelled from that rule, but he had to be under their control and kill only whoever they felt necessary.
Really, without him heaven would be so helpless.
A soft, barely audible mumble distracted him from his thoughts. Something about it made Homura sit up and look sharply at the sleeping boy. There was an unnatural note of fear in there.
And Goku's posture was all wrong. Only moments before he'd been sleeping with his limbs going in every which direction; now he was curled up on his side in a fetal position, one of his hands gripping the sheets beneath him. Homura quietly slid out of bed, moving to kneel beside the boy. He took note of the drawn-down eyebrows, the teeth worrying at his lower lip...
Goku muttered softly, his muscles tensing. "Cold..."
Homura sighed. Just as he had trouble sleeping Goku seemed to have nightmares whenever they shared a room. Zenon had never seen the boy have any bad dreams, and Goku and Shien never shared a room for obvious reasons. (Homura wasn't worried about bloodshed, but he knew that in the end Goku would whine enough until someone switched anyway.)
He'd never disrupted the boy's dreams before. Homura had heard somewhere that doing that may just make things worse somehow.
But then, he'd never seen Goku shake this badly before, either. His body trembled as though with anger or overwhelming sadness.
For some odd, unexplainable reason, it made Homura want to protect the boy. He placed a hand on Goku's arm, shaking him a bit. The boy made a small whimper, so Homura shook him a bit more roughly. "Wake up," he said, his tone quiet but firm.
The words must have triggered something because the tremors died down. Goku's eyes opened slowly, blinking as though his eyelids weighed a ton. He gazed blearily up at the man, mumbling, "The rocks... cave... so alone..." He moaned, trying to pull back into himself. Clearly he wasn't entirely awake yet. "Closing in... no one... cold..."
Homura's smirk then was bitterer than anything else. He gave Goku's arm a light squeeze, saying gently, "It's all right. You are not there anymore."
"Not..." Goku murmured, relaxing as he stopped trying to pull away. "Where..." Homura opened his mouth to start explaining, but then Goku finished with a sigh, "Is the sun...?"
Closing his mouth again, Homura could only watch as Goku fell right back to sleep, his posture as relaxed as an infant's. The man pulled away, getting to his feet and staring at the boy contemplatively.
He went back to bed, feeling strangely drained and a bit numb. Homura looked over at the boy once more to make sure he really was sleeping; Goku continued to breathe deeply and evenly, seemingly untroubled by his earlier dream.
So... even now he still desires you above all else, Konzen...
