Chapter 2
Kouryuu had been running for several minutes before stopping to catch his breath. He leaned with both hands on his knees, his sweat falling in a straight line from his brow to the ground beneath his feet. The voice was clear as a bell toll in his mind; no doubt its owner was nearby. He straightened up and wandered a few steps beyond the shade of the trees to a river, where he could see a boy huddled up, his back toward him. He seemed to be watching the river, his eyes riveted on the water flowing serenely past him. The voice stopped as soon as Kouryuu saw this figure, this boy sitting quietly by the riverside; it had become silent as suddenly as it had started. The silence filled Kouryuu with a relief he welcomed gladly.
Could he be...?
"Oi."
The boy started, turned around, stared at him with big golden eyes. His hair shot up in thick brown spikes; a thin stream trailed down his back. He wore a strange golden circlet above his brow.
"Oi, I'm talking to you." Kouryuu stepped forward, scrutinizing the boy's bewildered, childish face. Could he be the one? Could he have been calling me?
The boy's face remained frozen in a look of surprise, his mouth hanging open in a small O. Kouryuu had never seen anything so pathetic.
He approached the boy, extending his hand. "Get up." In the back of his mind he wondered what he was doing, going out of his way to find the voice, and here he was, with this strange boy sitting by a river. The voice had stopped. In the sudden silence he felt disoriented. He stared at his hand, as if it had held itself out of its own will.
The boy reached for the outstretched hand with his own, and a moment later he was up. He was tall, taller than Kouryuu. Broken shackles clung to his wrists and ankles. They stared at one another for a moment. Then Kouryuu turned around and started to walk away.
"Oi! Where are you going?" the boy cried. His voice sounded hoarse, like a pump rusted by disuse.
"Home." Kouryuu was surprised at himself. He had had it in his mind to punch whoever was calling him so persistently, but upon finding the boy he had decided otherwise. It was a waste of time, leaving the courtyard unswept. The trees had probably shed enough leaves to cover the areas he had already finished; he should never have left in the first place.
"Oi! Wait for me!" The boy ran up to him, walking at his side.
"Where do you think you're going?" said Kouryuu. His gaze remained steadily fixed at the footpath in front of him.
"With you. Why did you look for me?"
"I don't know." Truly, he hadn't known why. He had only wanted to find out who was calling him, without knowing what he would do once he had. He had wanted to make the voice stop; it annoyed him.
"Then will you let me go with you?" The boy looked at him entreatingly, his large eyes gleaming in the late afternoon sun. "Please!"
Kouryuu would say no, but at that moment he could feel his indignation with the boy dying a silent death within him. Oshou-sama would understand, he thought. The idea was ridiculous, but he felt certain that his master might like this boy.
"What's your name?" said the boy. He was beginning to irritate Kouryuu; he was like the voice that had called, stubborn and galling.
"Kouryuu. Shut up."
"Kouryuu? What a strange name! Mine is Goku. Son Goku." And the boy smiled, his white teeth glinting.