A/N: Here's chapter four for everyone out there who has reviewed so far!

Discussion

Gojyo followed Hakkai into the small establishment where they were going to spend the night. The red headed kappa shoved his hands nervously into his pockets as the other demon politely asked for two rooms for the night. The girl at the desk kindly agreed and showed them to the rooms.

"Thank you, miss," Hakkai said kindly as he placed his bags on the floor of the room.

"It was no problem, sir," she said, giving Gojyo a flirty glance.

"Yeah, thanks…" Gojyo said distractedly, still staring at the ground.

"I'll leave you two to get settled, unless one of you wants to help me with the firewood?" She asked, still looking suggestively at Gojyo.

Gojyo looked up at her, his face still not paying much attention, "If you come with us to our jeep, we've got a monkey that would be glad to help." he answered in a monotone.

"Oh…that's ok, I can do it by myself." She answered.

"Ok…" Gojyo answered.

Hakkai cut in, slightly worried at his friend's less-than-flirtatious behavior, "At this rate nothing will get done!" he said cheerfully, "Gojyo, I do believe we have an unconscious monk to get up here, if you'll excuse us miss." the demon grabbed his friend and pulled him down to the jeep, leaving the girl standing in the doorway of their room.

When they appeared at their vehicle, they found a half-awake Sanzo and a very worried Goku, "Are you alright, Sanzo?" he was asking quietly.

"Wha..? Yeah, just a goddamn headache, a fucking bad one too." the monk said in a groggy tone.

"It's ok, Hakkai and Go- hey, they're right there!" he said, pointing to the two men.

Hakkai smiled, "I see Sanzo is awake, how do you feel?" he asked.

"I already said I had a fucking headache, Hakkai, you got anything for it?" The monk asked.

Hakkai shook his head, "I'm afraid not, I was just about to go out and buy some more supplies for everyone after we brought you upstairs." he apologized.

The monk let his head fall back to the jeep cushion, "Damn it all." he muttered as he let himself fall back into painless unconsciousness.

Hakkai strode about the small town, checking into various shops and stalls for the many items he had neglected to stock up on for the past few weeks. He sighed happily as he finally found a vendor whose wares happened to be pain-relieving drugs.

The demon purchased the desired objects and with a small smile of thanks to the salesman, he began to walk briskly back to the inn. "Sanzo will certainly be pleased by the aspirin." Hakkai mused quietly, "And Goku should be kept busy by the meat buns I bought for him," he sighed, "That leaves enough time to talk to Gojyo, if I get back to the inn quickly that is…" he picked up his pace at the words left his mouth.

But, luck was not with Hakkai at that moment, in fact, she was on the other side of town helping a certain monkey get lucky with not getting himself killed. Hakkai heard the scream and sighed, "Ah, it seems as if Gojyo will have to wait." he took off at a sprint towards the sound.

He arrived quickly at the scene where a weak demon was terrorizing a clan of humans outside of town. He placed his groceries off to the side and jumped into the fray.

Luckily, the demons were quite weak ones that had not been employed by Kougaji and they just took pleasure in torturing humans. The brown-haired demon quickly took care of the mess with no injury to himself. After destroying them, he seated himself on a nearby stump and began brushing his now dusty clothing off.

A girl ran up to Hakkai, "Thank you, mister, we really needed your help." she said shyly with a blush.

Hakkai grinned at her, "Don't you even think about it, I like helping people, honest." he ruffled her red hair.

The girl smiled brightly and looked up at him with adoring eyes. Hakkai smiled, then did a double take, this young child has red eyes and red hair too, the mark of a hanyou. The demon's smile faltered and the child frowned, "Are you ok, mister?" she asked curiously.

Hakkai shook his head, "Oh, I'm fine, don't worry. I was just wondering where the parents of such a fine young lady would be."

The girl grinned once more, "Oh, my mommy's over here. D'you wanna meet her?" she asked.

Hakkai nodded, "Yes, I would like to meet her very much."

"Ok!" The girl exclaimed, "Follow me!" she grabbed Hakkai's hand and pulled him along.

Hakkai followed willingly, "What might your name be?" he asked as they walked.

The girl stopped and turned, "Me? My name's Kanan!" she resumed tugging Hakkai along.

Hakkai followed as if in a daze now, the girl, she looked the very picture of his Kanan as a child, only with the obvious difference in hair and eye color. She acted as his dead fiancée did too. She couldn't be the reincarnation of his old beloved? As a hanyou? No, Kanan was a wonderful woman, she should have been reincarnated into an easier, better life, unless…

Realization struck Hakkai hard as the learnings of his Christian upbringing rushed back to him, including the seven deadly sins, one of which read, 'Thou shall not kill,' including oneself. Kanan had killed herself…and the child that lay within her. This was her punishment: being reincarnated as a child of taboo His eyes widened as this new revelation his Hakkai hard.

All to soon they had reached the tent where Kanan and her mother apparently lived during their groups travels. Kanan stopped outside the tent and whispered to Hakkai, "Mommy's real sick, so she don't like noise too much." she said before walking quietly into the tent. "Mommy," she said quietly but cheerfully, "I brought a man who wants to meet you."

Hakkai followed her into the dimly lit tent to see a woman lying in a bed, her face covered in shadow. Hakkai watched the covered face turn towards them, "Thank you, Kanan, do you think you could go play with Chi now? Mommy thinks she should talk to this man alone." she said weakly.

Kanan nodded, "Ok, mommy, I'll come back after mister leaves." she bounced out of the tent to find her playmate.

Hakkai watched the woman in bed struggle to sit up so he moved towards her to help her lift herself. He pulled her into a sitting position, then took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Would you like me to light a lantern?" he asked.

"If you wish to," she replied.

Hakkai lifted a lamp and lit it so that a soft light was cast about the tent. The light swept away the shadows enshrouding the woman's face revealing that of a woman in her late middle ages that also bore a striking resemblance to his dead fiancée.

Her face was pale and gaunt, her sickness making her far to thin. She clasped her hands in front of her, "I am Kanna, I assume you wonder about my the nature of my child?" she questioned.

"My name is Hakkai and yes, I do wonder about that, but first, may I ask, what became of your husband?" Hakkai answered.

Kanna smiled, "My husband is out getting wood for the bonfire tonight, he shall be back later on with the wood, along with healing herbs for me. He is indeed a youkai, like yourself, I can see the wonder in your eyes."

"But…how?" he asked in wonder.

"My husband, he is not a normal demon…he was once human." she answered, "But one night…" her voice trailed off.

Hakkai nodded, "I am curious, but you do not have to tell me if you don't wish too."

Kanna brushed a tear from her eye, "No, no, you have something about you, a sadness that seems not to be, yet it lingers in the confines of your aura." her eyes took on a faraway look, "Once, long ago we had a beautiful child, her name was also Kanan. When she was still very young she was stolen from us by slave traders. We thought we had lost her forever, but three years ago we found out that the same child had been taken in by an orphanage."

She glanced at the man next to her and was shocked to see him crying softly, "You…did you know our Kanan? We found the village she lived in with her fiancé, did you know her?"

Hakkai was crying with a pain in his heart that hadn't been there in years, his Kanan…she had had loving parents that cared for her, "I-I knew her," he chocked out, "I was the man she was to be married to."

Kanna gasped, "Oh my, I knew there was something about you, something familiar…" she whispered.

Hakkai quelled his tears, "P-please go on with your story, I want to hear."

Kanna nodded, "We found out where she was living with you, her fiancé, so me and her father were journeying to find her when we heard the news that a young woman had been sacrificed to a local demon tribe and was killed. We knew immediately that it was her. My husband…he went into a murderous rage that his only daughter that he had found after so long was dead. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. He killed every demon he could find, until he turned into one himself." she stopped for a moment to cough, "After that we heard that her fiancé had killed every single demon involved with the clan that killed her. We knew naught of what befell him, but now I do know."

Hakkai looked at the woman, "I am glad I could satisfy your curiosity, but I still wonder, what happened after that?" he asked curiously.

Kanna looked at him, "Me and my husband were distraught and in pain over losing our baby a second time. Eventually we decided to try for another child, despite the lingering warning of the curse of a taboo child."

"And that child is Kanan…" Hakkai finished.

The woman nodded, "Yes, we could see our first child in our second born, so we named her Kanan in our firstborn's memory. Young Kanan does not know that her namesake is her elder sister, she does not even know that she once had an elder sister."

Hakkai spoke, "So, you see the resemblance too?"

"Yes," Kanna answered.

At that moment a particularly bad fit of coughing overtook her, the fits wracking her small frame. Hakkai quickly moved to support her until she stopped. "Kanna-san," he said, "Allow me to look inside you and find the source of your sickness, I am a healer, I can help you."

Kanna looked at him, gratitude evident upon her features, then an expression of worry overtook the smile, "But," she said, "What about a doctor's fee?"

Hakkai smiled reassuringly at her, "Trust me, I do not wish a fee, I help people as a way to repent and because I want everyone to have an equal chance in living." he explained.

Kanna smiled once more, "Thank you so very, very much, Hakkai-san, I am forever in your debt." she said to him.

"Please, do not worry about it," Hakkai said. Kanna nodded, "If you would please lay down again?" Hakkai asked.

"Of course," the woman said, following Hakkai's order immediately.

Hakkai then kneeled down next to her bed and placed one hand over her forehead, the other over her stomach. He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling the soft feeling of his healing ki being releasing into the woman's body, checking every square inch of her body for signs of illness.

He was able to pass over her head quickly, seeing no signs of harm there, but gasped in horror at what lay in her chest and stomach. Everything was black, as if an evil entity had planted a seed of darkness in her, but he knew this was not the case.

The healer pulled away, his eyes narrowed "That bad, ne?" Kanna said weakly.

Hakkai sighed, "You are extremely sick," he said, "If I had come any later there would have been no hope, your body would have continued rotting from the inside out at such a pace that no healer would be able to stop."

Kanna's eyes widened in horror, "So it is that bad…" she paused, "But, you can rid me of this damned disease, right?" she asked.

Hakkai smiled reassuringly, "I believe so, Kanna-san, if I infuse you wish some ki, it should keep the infected area contained in one spot. It should also relieve the pain until I can bring the medicine tomorrow."

He knelt once more and pushed his energy into the sick woman's body until his ki was nearly half gone. He stood shakily and moved to leave, "You should be fine until tomorrow afternoon, but I should be bringing the medicine by tomorrow morning, so you'll be fine. Goodbye, Kanna-san." he said cheerfully as he lifted the tent flap.

Kanna suddenly motioned for him to wait, "But, Hakkai-san? How…how did you know of the pain? I have not even told my husband of it." she wondered.

Hakkai's eyes took on a far-away look, "There was an epidemic of this very illness in a little known village in the desert nearly three years back. At the time I was traveling through with a…comrade of mine and he took ill. I did not catch the disease, my ki purified it. However, I was the only healer in the village at the time, so I cured nearly the entire population."

Kanna's mouth opened in surprise, "But, the pain?" she still wanted to know.

"I saw a grown man cry because of that illness, and he was not nearly as infected as your body is. You are a strong woman, Kanna-san, stay that way for Kanan's sake."

Kanna nodded and Hakkai exited the tent, the same far-away look lingering inside his emerald orbs.

Gojyo sat on the full size bed he had claimed as his own in the room he and Hakkai were sharing that night. The brown-haired youkai had not yet returned from the marketplace and Gojyo was beginning to worry. It was already 9 and there was no sign of his friend. Gojyo knew that Hakkai could certainly take care of himself, but often times that led to the repenting youkai overexerting himself.

Gojyo perked up when he heard slightly heavy steps work their way up the creaky wooden stairs and to his room. He was ecstatic when he saw the emerald-eyed youkai stumble his way to his bed, his arms full of groceries.

However, Hakkai seemed not to notice his red-haired hanyou friend as he rummaged sleepily through one of the bags, producing a large white pill bottle, then somehow summoning the energy to go to the bitchy monk's room.

"What the hell…?" Gojyo mused aloud.

His question was answered when he heard the blondie-bitch monk growl at the exhausted youkai, "About damn time, this fucking monkey's only served to irritate me….All. Fucking. Day."

"Maa, maa, Sanzo, I bought you some aspirin and some sleeping pills, I'll leave them here." Gojyo heard Hakkai say, then he listened as his friend poured the monk a glass of water and leave.

This time when Hakkai walked it, he greeted his friend, "Ohayo, Go, and gomen for not returning earlier." he yawned.

Gojyo nodded, acknowledging his friend, "It's alright, Kai, I'm just slightly curious as to what kept you. You said you'd be back around 7, it's 9." he said, pointing at the clock.

Hakkai glanced at the time to confirm what Gojyo had just told him, "Oh my," he said, "I didn't think I had taken that long."

"I know, what kept you?" Gojyo asked again.

"I had to take care of a minor demon problem in a small encampment outside town." Hakkai muttered as he stripped down to his boxers.

"Demons?! Kai, you're going to kill yourself one of these days." Gojyo exclaimed, his eyes lingering on Hakkai's nearly naked form.

Hakkai yawned into the shirt he was pulling over his head, "Iie, it wasn't that. A small girl who lived with them took me to see her mother and her mother was very sick. Most of the time I spent discussing things with her and figuring out the most suitable treatment."

Gojyo narrowed his eyes, "Is she alright?" he asked.

She will be, I'm bringing her an antidote in the morning." Hakkai answered.

Gojyo nodded, "Well, now that you've successfully exhausted herself, you're going to bed." Gojyo ordered.

Hakkai tried to protest, "But I told you I was going to talk to-"

Gojyo cut in, "You need rest, we'll talk tomorrow, I promise."

Hakkai, too tired to protest, yawned and nodded before crawling under his blankets, "Arigato, Go." Hakkai yawned.

Gojyo smiled as he watched Hakkai quickly drop off to sleep, "Goodnight, Kai." he whispered to the sleeping man. He lay down and rolled on his side so he was facing Hakkai, "I think," he murmured, "I think I might just love you." he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling until his eyes, heavy with sleep, closed and bore him off to dreamland.

A/N:

Dragid: Squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOJYO FINALLY ADMITTED HIS FEELINGS TO HAKKAI!!!!!!!…..Ok, so Hakkai was asleep when Gojyo admitted it, but that's ok…

::Ducks angry reviewers at lack of excessive fluff::

Don't' kill me! Please! ::People still continue to throw sharp, heavy objects at Dragid::

No! If you kill me you wont get anymore of this story!

::People stop throwing stuff except for a few dickheads who are too damn thick::

::Dodges remaining items::

Anyway, I actually had quite a hard time with this chapter, something about making the transaction from the market to the nomadic type people on the outskirts of town was kind of hard for me. God knows why, so if the scene change seems a bit choppy, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it to be so…icky . . Just a little hint here, but remember the reincarnation of Kanan, her little sister, Kanan. She wont play a major role anytime really soon, but mark my words, she will return. And, I case your wondering, little Kanan is almost three years old. Please review, I will LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER!!!!!!! Oh yeah, if you leave an anonymous review, please leave your email so I can send you a message when I update.

Love to all of you who are kind enough to review, Dragid