Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki blah, blah, blah…
A.N. I'm so sorry!!!! I didn't update for a very long time!!!! GOMEN!!! But I'm glad that even though I haven't updated in a while you guys still review me! ^______^ I don't think I did a very good job on this chapter *sniff*. Not much humor…
About the chapter: I don't want to put Homura in this story (yet, anyway) because he only has eyes for Goku (*ahem*); Zenon's too in love with his wife and Shien's… Waaait a second! I have a new idea!!! They're all going to be in this chappy!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Oooohhhh, Shieeeeeeen! Where are you?! OOC-ness warning.
P.S. I'm sorry if the story is a little distant from one paragraph to the other. I kind of wrote half of it late November and the other half in late December. ^^'. Oh, I'm working on "It's Been Hell". I'm about half way through the first chapter.
***HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!***
Gojyo ½Act 6 – Memories of Fury
The door silently creaked open and a lone figure entered as Hakkai impulsively, but gently, turned his head towards the opening door. He blinked through the flickering lighted candle that was insufficient enough for him to see in the dark, trying to make out who was entering pass the door. Clutching Gojyo, he readied himself for an attack, any attack, as he tried to shield the redhead without awakening her.
"I'm sorry," a soft voice said. Hakkai tried to make out the voice in the darkness as a lightning helped him see the hidden face. It was Ms Kaede.
"I didn't think that it would take me long to get a couple of hot drinks," she whispered. Her footsteps echoed and a soft 'clang' was heard. Hakkai guessed that it was the sound of two glasses being put on the nearby table.
"Thank you," Hakkai whispered back as he turned to the friend in his arms. There were strands of red on her gleaming face and he raised his hand to wipe them away. "You really didn't have to go in any trouble."
Hakkai listened silently at the soft breathing of his companion and listened to his own breathing as well. He focused on to the inhalation and sensed a breathing pattern made by the two of them. He smiled, tore his gaze away for a moment and look up to Miss Kaede again.
"We didn't mean to be such a bother."
Hakkai didn't expect a comment as it seemed that the Lady Kaede was staring, too engrossed, at the two in the flickering candlelight. A draft from the open window made her snap out of her thoughts when she sudden smiled lovingly at the duo.
"You two," she started as Hakkai cocked his face to one side, "make a good couple."
Hakkai would have sweat-dropped if not for the amorous mood he was in, instead he just smiled. "Aa, but we are just—" he paused for a while to look at her face again and studied it for a while, "—best friends."
Lady Kaede smiled at the two figures sharing each other's warmth. She bowed her head and turned to walk to the door. When her hand was touching the frame, she silently whispered through the thunderous sound beyond the bedroom walls, "I know… but still, you can't deny it. One cannot hide it from the truth." Turning slowly, making sure that the green-eyed man can no longer hear, she continued, "But still you try to…"
The old door creaked as the old woman shut it as quietly as she could. The rain, though, drowned up the sound and the two figures still lay with each other's warmth undisturbed.
"I know Lady Kaede." Hakkai glanced to the door then shifted both himself and Gojyo into a comfortable sleeping position. They still lay in each other's embrace. Hakkai was facing Gojyo as he pulled a sheet over them. Memories flooded his mind as he held the half-breed close. Memories of when he first met him… Him, not her. "I know…"
"Oi, Sanzo! Do you think that they'll be okay?"
Sanzo turned and faced the worried young boy who was sitting near the window of the tavern. "They're old enough to stay out of the rain, saru."
He pulled out a cigarette and after a while he grumbled under his breath. He had lost his lighter and the only other lighter was with the half-breed. "Ch."
The monkey, as Sanzo put it, had found its way back to its master. He saw the boy wandering around outside and told the boy to get in before he got wet. Of course, ever since he came inside the tavern, he had been asking for food, which Sanzo was not willing to give. Tetsuyo can only watch in amusement.
It is not until it began to rain that Goku began to really show that he was worried about their companions' welfare.
"But, Sanzo…"
"They'll be fine. Hakkai's old enough to take care of himself and so is the half-breed, saru."
"Saru?" Shan asked with a curious face and dotted eyes. "Is that a another word for friend?" Tetsuyo, who had been inspecting the two, turned to Shan and looked at his little sister with a little sweat-drop hanging on his head. "Areh…"
Goku jumped from the window to the table where Shan and Tetsuyo were sitting, "Eh? You don't know what saru means?"
The little girl blushed hotly with a frown before she answered, "No…"
Goku began to laugh and jump around. "Hah! You don't know what saru means! Which means your more of a saru than I am!"
"What does saru mean?" Shan insisted as she jumped off her chair and chased the hopping Goku.
"Nyeh! You have to catch me first before I tell you!" Goku dashed out of the door with a little girl scurrying off behind him. Goku saw how Sanzo acted. Even though he should have expected this, after all it was raining and he knew how Sanzo disliked rain, he saw that Sanzo was moodier that usual… "Hah! You can't catch me!"
"Just you wait, you!"
Tetsuyo observed them with amusement as they turned to rush up the stairs. Then after, he turned his head to the priest with a more serious face. "Are you sure that they're alright?"
Sanzo didn't answer the anxious man; instead, he just looked out at the rain and took a puff at his cigarette. He remained still for a few moments and seemed to be fixed with his thoughts.
"Sanzo—"
"If they don't come back by daylight tomorrow," started Sanzo, "then I will go look for them."
Tetsuya nodded in understanding, before he added, "You do know that you're not going to look for them without me, all right?"
"Hn," answered Sanzo absentmindedly as looked outside as the sickening rain. It didn't lift up as he had hoped and it seemed that it wasn't going to stop until daybreak. This made him worry; an emotion that doesn't breach easily to him, and made him squirm on his seat slightly.
"I do hope Hakkai found her," he said to no one in particular but it seemed that Tetsuyo noticed this and this made the artist look at Sanzo with curiosity.
"Hakkai? Isn't he her best friend?" he said with a slight dubious tone.
"Yes," Sanzo answered in a monotone voice as he turned to face his only companion in the table.
Tetsuyo looked down a little, as if trying to remember something, and then whispered, "…Gojyo, I hope you found him…"
"Hn." As if by cue, lightning struck and Sanzo, again, turned outside.
"Gojyo…" The priest hoped that those two were alright and that they already found the shelter that they needed that night. He as well knows that he need not worry about those two either. They work together in a very synchronized way… those two know each other well. "Hakkai…"
"Hakkai…?" A soft voice called out into the darkness of the room.
"Hakkai?" she tried again but it seemed that her soft voice only echoed in the small room.
Gojyo squinted her eyes and tried to make out were Hakkai was with a small amount of illumination coming from a candle on the near-by table. Pulling her body up and resting her weight on her right arm, she squinted her eyes in the darkness. Hakkai was not there or maybe he was just hidden behind the shadows of the walls. But she could not feel him; she couldn't feel his comfort and presence… but she felt someone else's presence, a very familiar one.
"Who's there?" She suddenly felt alert as she jumped out off bed and landed with a fierce stance that showed feistiness. "Whoever you are you better show yourself or else I'll—"
In an instant, before she could even finish her threatening statement, a blur passed her and then a pair of eyes settled in front of her… looking and gazing. They were… familiar. She, then, gasped softly but it seemed as though the intruder noticed this and smirked at her sudden intake of breath.
"You!"
"I'm not surprised that you remember me," said the intense voice, sounding taunting to the surprised redhead. "And of course," he said as he raised an arm towards her. "I remember you."
Gojyo took a step back not wanting him to touch her and in the process, making her plop on the bed with a soft thud. She heard a faint chuckle from the man and she hissed. "What do you want, Kougaiji!"
Her eyes looking frantically for Hakkai, her heartbeat seemed to beat a little faster. Kougaiji knew that she was with Sanzo, so how will the demon react to that? She knows that they were always at each other's throats if not proving that the other is weaker. Would he use her to get to Sanzo, Goku and Hakkai? She shook the frantic sensation away. She wasn't going down without a fight.
But she found out that Hakkai was really not hidden in the shadows in the room, he was truly nowhere; she couldn't find him. He was nowhere. Her head snapped back to Kougaiji's illuminated face and growled. "Where's Hakkai? What did you do with him?"
"Nothing," he said indifferently. "I didn't do anything to him."
Kougaiji raised his leg and let it rest on the bed and crouched down to meet up with the redhead's face. He slowly inched his face to her without changing his expression. No hesitation entered his mind as he stared at the half-bread's nervous features. An unnoticed smirk made it's way to his lips as a soft growling voice reached his ears.
"What did you do to Hakkai?"
All of a sudden, his full smirked came into full view. "I'm surprised that you aren't asking about your own welfare."
"Answer the question, demon."
"It's nothing that might kill him, of course."
"You son of a –"
"He gives you his word and I give you mine. We didn't hurt your friend." A voice said and stopped her damnation to the other demon.
Then she mentally gasped. It was not Kougaiji she felt inside the room. It was not him. She only saw his presence, but not felt it. It was another one that she felt; another that she was sure that she felt before. It was a presence that she was sure not to forget.
"Dokugakuji."
"Ah, I see that you're very much acquainted with us." The other demon finally appeared, with a slight smile on his face. "A spirited soul, hm." he deduced as he turned to Kougaiji. "I wonder where she gets it from."
Kougaiji stood up from his position, much to the redhead's satisfaction, and turned to Dokugakuji. "Seems familiar, doesn't she?" He turned again to Gojyo. "It's like we can compare her to someone we already know."
Gojyo gulped at that last statement, happy that other two didn't notice. She wanted to call out to Hakkai, to anyone, at that very moment. But that would mean that she couldn't take care of a couple of guys she fought with on a daily basis. Wait, Hakkai! What happened to Hakkai?
"No use calling out to your friend," Dokugakuji said it like he was reading her mind. "He's probably out cold."
This earned a growl from her. She was ready to pounce on the two, demanding where her friend is but before she could even get a word out of her opened mouth, a knock was heard just outside a door and a squeak was heard, then another figure stepped in the room.
"Kougaiji-sama." It's another girl's voice that rang in the room. Gojyo had to squint her eyes to see the form, yet in her mind she knew who it was.
"Yaone, what is it?"
"It's Hakkai, Kougaiji-sama."
This made Gojyo bolt straight up. "Hakkai! Where is he? What did you do to him?" She jumped out of bed and lounged for Yaone, but something held her back. Two arms were clasping her; one was grasping her waist and the other seized her right arm.
"Let me go!"
"Hey, calm down." Dokugakuji kept his hands clasped as tight as possible so the redhead won't escape. "We didn't hurt your friend! Damn it, you act as though you're his wife!"
Then all of sudden, she did stop. She didn't try to struggle or scream at him to let her go. It's almost as if she went limp with panic, as Kougaiji perceived.
Gojyo, on the other hand, had only one thing on her mind: wife. She acted like Hakkai's… Wife? Spouse? Companion? Then in the spur of the moment, she felt a déjà vu feeling, like it's been said before. Something in her stirred; anger, annoyance, frustration, irritation, fury…
"What did you say?" she said with a growl.
Dokugakuji began to feel uneasy. Yaone stood still with her hand just in front of her mouth with an uncomfortable feeling beside the door and Kougaiji stared hard at the redhead. The half-breed in front of him was exerting so much aura. It was an aura that was foreign to demons and to humans. This thought made him catch his breath, but somehow, a smile formed on his lips as Gojyo exploded.
"What do you mean I act like his wife?"
"Oi! Did you feel that?" A rough, raucous voice said. A boisterous voice that seems to fight with the roaring thunderstorm beyond the safety of the walls that he was in. He turned to the one who was staring blankly at the rain fall near the window, as if expecting him to answer. He looked at the bun that tied the hair of his comrade, frowning a little for knowing the reason why it was fixed that way.
The quiet, conservative man didn't make a move to turn his head towards the one who asked him, instead he nodded, knowing that the man was looking at him intently. He noted that the rain prickled the ground and made melodies with the grass as he watched them.
"Did you feel that?" Shien repeated, directing the question to the last individual in the room. "Did you feel that, Homura-sama?"
Homura, who was sitting on his usual position with his elbow resting on the armrest and his chin resting on his hand, lifted his eyes to the man sitting next to the window watching the downpour beyond the walls of the gloomy castle. "Yes, Shien. I did." With that said, he closed his eyes and opened his ears to the rain.
"That aura. It feels," Shien said in a slow monotone voice, "familiar… Doesn't it, Zenon?"
"Yeah, it does."
"Aa. It feels familiar to me as well."
"Yare yare. It seems a bit vague but I remember it." Zenon stopped for a moment to think. "Now, where have I sensed that anger before…"
Homura, who had stayed silent almost throughout the conversation, finally muttered, "Konzen." He didn't open his eyes when he mentioned the familiar name. It was as if it slipped out of his mouth.
"Nani?" Zenon looked at Homura questioningly while Shien finally turned his head towards his other companions.
"One of Konzen's friends…" Homura said. "I felt that emotion while they exited the party. It was one of them…"
"That's right." Zenon agreed. "It was one of them. But," he said with uncertainty in his voice, "do you remember which one?"
Homura opened his mouth to answer but Shien already beat him to it. He remembered him undoubtedly. He had been eyeing him the day he fought in that celebration. The general's rogue-like lifestyle doesn't do well in Heaven but, he assumed, that it really didn't matter to him. They categorized him as one of the strongest generals… How can he forget?
The name flowed monotonously out of his mouth as he remembered that day he saw all of them together. Konzen… Goku… Tenpou…and…
"Kenren."
To be continued…
Author's Note: Damn… I think I'm beginning to loose my touch. Oh, I want to know if you guys want Gojyo to be a permanent girl.
KarotsaMused: I'm really glad that you liked it and I hope I didn't disappoint you that much with this chapter.
JuniperMoon: I am sooo sorry that I'm such loser when it comes to updating. ^^' Oh, as for Yu-Gi-Oh, I really like Y/YY pairing and next is *big smile* Seto/Joey. Hehehe…
Tripsoverhercats: Don't worry, there'll be more scenes where she can prove herself more. Especially now that I've added the infamous God Trio.
The Magician of Black Chaos: Wow! You almost reviewed every chapter! No, wait… You did review every chapter! Thank you oh so much! And don't worry, I'll try my best to make it long. ^_^
Eiri Izz: *Hides under intense threatening gaze* Hehehe… Well, it does seem like Gojyo/Hakkai pairing is going to win. The only two parings that are fighting with each other are Gojyo/Hakkai and Sanzo/Hakkai. So far, Hakkai/Gojyo is in the lead by 6 points.
KaKa: A lot of people are threatening me that this fic should be Hakkai/Gojyo or else. ^^' Well, looks like Hakkai/Gojyo's going to will anyway. ^^
Shourin: Waaa… I'm sorry for not updating for so long. *sniff* I hope this chapter isn't a disappointment for you… As for the admitting part, well… I'll think about that for a while. ^^' Waa! Don't look at me with frightening eyes! I still have to add the God Trio first! ^^'
Hanae da Firefly: Hey! How are you doing? Hope you feeling better. Sure, I will read Cold Lover.
Miyahara Yuuki: Like I said, I'm halfway through the first chapter ^_^!!! Yay! And Yup, I think Hakkai/Gojyo pairing is going to win this one.
miracle*me: Thank you.
Rukawa_mei-mi: Wow, kababayan ko. Thank you so much for supporting this fic! I'm fifteen by the way. I'm turning 16 this December 30. And I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chappy. I think I it's not really that well-written… Waa! *sniff*
sLL: Yeah!!! Open up your mind, that's the song! I like that song so much and it seemed like the appropriate song for this. ^_^
MoMo-kun: Yeah, I'm really seeing Gojyo/Hakkai going to win the votes.
MiruSedna: Let's all hope she doesn't change! ^^' Hehehe!
Seiko-chan: Thank you! I'm happy that you really like this ficcy. It's the ever-first Saiyuki fic I ever wrote (not to mention I got a flame because of it. I thought of stopping when I got that flame but hey! Count the blessing not the misgivings, right?) ^^'
Amy01: I'm sorry I took so long! Gomen! ^^'