Disclaimer: When I rule the world one day I shall stand proudly on a mountain top and proclaim "Whahaha I own Saiyuki!" Then I will probably get sniped by Kazuya Minekura-san and her Saiyuki followers.
For all who reviewed, thanks. I really did not think this story was well liked. This is the second to last handwritten chapter so I'll have to take some typing time off to write some more.
When you expect the unexpected, does it make the unexpected expected?
Introducing:
Saiyuki- The Demons Within
Chapter Six: A Little Bit of Lust
Sanzo moved cautiously to the bend in the hall then leaned against the inside wall and carefully peeked around it. Before him was a short hallway which ended with a strange room. The little room looked tidy and was illuminated by four red lanterns. Sanzo stepped out a bit to get a better view as he saw no imminent danger. From what he could see, there was a small bed, two dressers, two chairs, and a small bath in the corner. It was as if a piece of someone's house had been melded into this messed up place. Sanzo's eyes zeroed in on the bath. Water! Just then, something touched Sanzo's shoulder. The monk jumped forward, turning into a defensive position only to see Gojyo standing there. Sanzo cursed loudly.
"What the hell!"
Gojyo crossed his arms in almost a pout, "Hello to you too, baldie."
"How did you get loose?" Sanzo glared at him.
"Demon boy told me that if I beat this maze then he'd let us go." Gojyo shrugged, "Same as you I assume? That room is safe if you want to take a break. You look like you're half dead."
"Hn." Sanzo stared at him for a moment more, "Go get Gokuu and bring him in here. His illness is worse." Sanzo pointed down the hall to where Gokuu was laying then went into the room and filled the bath with luke-warm water.
When Gojyo brought Gokuu in, he put him down near the bath. Sanzo checked his fever again. It was still dangerously high. He looked at his ruined robe in the red light and sighed. No amount of washing was going to be able to save it. He shook his head then pat Gokuu on the head. He could not hold it against the youkai; after all, he had been the one to put the robe on him in the first place.
"Why do you pet his hair like that?" Gojyo asked. Crimson eyes observed Sanzo closely, "I've seen you do it a lot."
"None of your business." Sanzo turned an irate look to Gojyo and was slightly surprised to see that the demi-god had a curious look on his face. That was…different. Sanzo was quiet for a moment, "It lets him know that I am still here."
"I see." Gojyo looked down to Gokuu, "You really should give him a bath. He stinks so bad I may kill over and die. What did you two do on your way here, massacre a village?"
"Urasei." Sanzo ignored Gojyo and turned to the task at hand, treating a sick monkey. He peeled Gokuu out of the blood soaked clothes. Peeled for the blood had nearly adhered the fabric to the youkai's skin.
Sanzo stripped Gokuu down to his boxers and put the earth youkai in the water, submersing as much of him that he could without drowning him. Then, he rolled the foul smelling garments up in the ruined robe and set them off to one side. He wondered how he was going to get them clean enough to wear. That thought did not sit well in his mind; Genjo Sanzo did not wash clothes. It was bad enough that he had to wash the monkey. Sanzo sighed, and then he got up to check the room. What was the phrase, 'a watched pot never boils'? His presence there was not going to make Gokuu's fever go down any faster, that was up to the water. Sanzo wandered about the room searching for surveillance or items of use. He did find a small knife on the table by the bed. He walked up to the dressers. Inside he found several shirts and pants. Gray was the only color of fabric so they seemed generically the same save for the fact that they came in four distinct sizes. One for each member of the Sanzo-ikkou. Sanzo frowned. This must be part of the game as well. Still, it was not so bad. He had not been looking forward to washing those clothes. Sanzo picked up a pair that was Gokuu's size and turned. He saw Gojyo petting the youkai's hair almost in a mockery of what he had done. His eyes narrowed.
"Away from the monkey."
"Geez, I wasn't doing anything." Gojyo complained as he moved away. It seemed almost a pout.
Sanzo laid the clothes near the bath then picked up the reeking garments. He thrust them at Gojyo, "Make yourself useful."
Gojyo ditched the clothes at the end of the hall so that the smell would hopefully be muted then returned to the room. When he returned, he saw Sanzo check Gokuu's fever then begin to wash some of the caked blood from the youkai's skin. Gojyo moved toward him but was met by Sanzo's cold stare.
"What?"
"I was going to help." Gojyo shrugged.
"Don't bother, I've got it." Sanzo eyed the demi-god critically.
"You don't have to be so damn protective. It's not like I'm going to hurt him." Gojyo grumbled then he went to sit in one of the chairs, "Offer a helping hand…"
Sanzo glared silently at Gojyo for a moment more then returned to washing. He was reminded of when he had taken the boy back to the monastery for the first time. Idiot had not even remembered what a bath was. It had not been a pleasant experience for either of them and had ended up with both of them unhappy and soaked in water. Sanzo scrubbed the blood off as best he could, turning the water a rusty red. Maybe being clean would help Gokuu recover faster. His fever had already gone down a lot just from being in the water. However, Sanzo had come to an impossible challenge at Gokuu's hair. The long strand was matted and tangled beyond conventional repair. Sanzo took the knife out and took it upon himself to give Gokuu a haircut. He cropped it as close to nape length as he dared. It resembled the way his hair used to be cut when they were traveling west. Sanzo grinned at his work. The youkai could complain about it later.
After scrubbing the remainder of Gokuu's hair slightly less bloody and deeming that his fever had gone back down to normal, Sanzo dried and dressed his unconscious charge. Sanzo put Gokuu in the bed and covered him up. The earth youkai sighed in his sleep; it was the first noise that he had made all day. Sanzo took that as a good sign. Taking several other blankets out of the dressers, Sanzo tossed them on the floor. Then sat down exhaustedly in the other chair as all his exertion caught up with him. He closed his eyes briefly only to have them snap open as he felt a hand place itself upon his shoulder.
"Oi, bohzo. If the monkey's in the bed where are we going to sleep?" The voice was close to Sanzo's ear. Far too, close to be comfortable.
Sanzo slapped the hand off his shoulder, "Sleep in the floor, asshole."
"So does that mean you are going to sleep in the bed with the monkey? I didn't know it was like that." Gojyo grinned, "Then again there was that time back at camp when you jumped him, and here I was blaming Hakkai's cooking for it. You twisted Sanzo, you."
"Urasei! Don't mix me up with your perverted mind." Sanzo glared at Gojyo until the demi-god made a pallet on the floor and lay down on it. The look on Gojyo's face was very awkward and so unlike him. It was sharper than usual, with a dark cunning behind it. Sanzo barely noticed it when he had first met back up with Gojyo but as he watched the look took more and more presence on Gojyo's face. Sanzo was too annoyed and tired to seek out what was wrong. He was just going to wait for the problem to present itself. Sanzo got up and moved his chair next to Gokuu's bed then nodded off in it with his arms crossed.
Sanzo woke later that night to find that he had fallen over sideways and was now half lying on the bed with Gokuu's stomach as a pillow. He blinked his bleary eyes annoyed at the fact that it had been a feeling of danger that had awakened him. That just meant that there was something troublesome that had to be dealt with. His eyes cleared only to see Gojyo sitting on the corner of the bed petting Gokuu's hair. Sanzo made a sound of violent disapproval and sat up.
"What do you think you're doing, cockroach?"
"Nothing." The sharp look crossed Gojyo's face, "At least not with him. You're much more interesting." He smiled.
"You want to die, asshole." Sanzo was not a morning person and this certainly was not morning but he had by far not enough sleep to deal with this.
"So cold. It's not good to stay bottled up like that." Gojyo seemed amused in a way so unlike Gojyo that it started to freak Sanzo out.
"I don't need your opinion." Sanzo's eye twitched annoyed and he caught Gojyo's hand by it's wrist as it reached toward Gokuu's hair again, "Don't touch the monkey."
"So angry." Gojyo's strange stare turned to him, "Why's that?"
"None of your business." Sanzo glared. That stare was contributing to the weirdness of the situation. Sanzo was not quite sure what the situation was exactly but that he did not like it at all.
"You hold in you heart a lot of love for him, don't you." It was a statement. Sanzo's eyes narrowed. Gojyo seemed to be thinking, "He's almost as dear to you as a son, wouldn't you agree? Is that why it bothers you so much? Afraid that he'll get hurt?"
Sanzo had enough of this little game, "Who the hell are you?"
"Sha Gojyo."
Sanzo could feel the veins in his forehead pressing against the skin as if they wanted to pop out and beat this imposter to death, "You talk too much to be that stupid kappa and I am quite tired of it."
"That's a harsh thing to say. I'm just stating the obvious. It's not my fault that you think you can build a wall to hide your feelings behind when they're so blatantly seeping into your actions." Gojyo shrugged, "You don't even really hate me, do you? Irritated by my every action yes, but hate, no."
Sanzo wished for his gun, "I asked for your name."
"And what about Hakkai, if you would just own up to it he could be your best friend, or maybe a friend with…benefits?" A wicked grin took Gojyo's face, "I have benefits too."
"Your. Name." Sanzo forced the words out of clenched teeth. He did not have to listen to this crock about feelings that he most certainly did not have.
"Gojyo." The response was simple but Gojyo leaned close to Sanzo.
Sanzo's face took an expression of pure anger at the invasion of his personal space. Even the real Gojyo knew that it was a bad idea to mess with Sanzo's space. Sanzo drew a heated breath to voice his indignation with the fury of archangels when in an unexpected action, Gojyo darted forward and kissed him. Sanzo's fist came across with the speed of reflex and struck the demi-god in the jaw. If he could get anymore angry, the monk would have probably exploded.
"What the hell! I'm going to fucking kill you!"
"Fuck first, kill second please." The dark smile broadened. Sanzo was so enraged that words refused to come out of his mouth for they were too vile for the human language to put into sound. Gojyo rubbed his struck jaw, "That really hurt you know. Pity. I bet you're a great kisser."
There was a sudden quick motion which ended with Sanzo grabbing Gojyo's neck in a tight crushing grip. The monk was nearly shaking from wrath, "Who. Are. You."
"Gojyo." The demi-god choked out.
"I didn't ask whose body this is, you piece of shit! I want to know the name of the asshole that's going to die for that." Sanzo's words lashed out like an angry serpent, "Now or I'll kill you."
"What makes you think I'm someone else?" Gojyo choked out trying to breathe.
"What doesn't? You don't act like the damn roach, there's a evil smile on your face, and he lacks the capacity to think that much about things that he has no comprehension of." Sanzo squeezed the tender neck flesh harder, "You've got five seconds to vacate this bastard's body or I'll kill you both."
"You wouldn't—" Gojyo looked panicked.
"Wouldn't I?" Sanzo squeezed harder.
Gojyo jerked to the side and back pulling Sanzo out of his chair for he had not expected the demi-god to do so. Sanzo threw a punch at him only to have it caught by Gojyo's hand. He threw the other fist and it became locked the same way. They stood there in a shoving match until Gojyo twisted to the side and threw Sanzo off balance again. He fell this time onto the bed but had only a moment to try and get his bearings as Gojyo rushed at him. They grappled and fought, a stray kick sending the chair by the bedside clattering to the floor. Sanzo growled curses as he strained to throw Gojyo once they entered into a stalemate again. It was more difficult for him as he was on his back. Sanzo heard a slight pained sound only to remember that Gokuu had been previously occupying the bed and now they were crushing him or rather Sanzo himself was. Sanzo pushed harder to gain enough leverage to slam his knee into Gojyo's gut and kick him to the floor gasping for air. Sanzo wasted no time in rolling up and following his opponent. He punched Gojyo in the face as he stood back up and knocked him back into the wall. There he proceeded to throttle the demi-god again.
"Feisty." Gojyo choked with a lopsided grin.
"Shut up and die!"
"You don't play fair." A pouting look crossed his face.
"I'm not playing at all."
"You're no fun." As Sanzo tightened his grip and best he could and Gojyo's eyes started to roll into the back of his head, he saw a shadow move out of Gojyo and disappear though a nearby wall. Sanzo let him go. Gojyo fell limply to the floor. The monk stared down at him for a second. Still breathing, but what less could be expected from a cockroach demi-god. He glared at the wall. Someone was going to die once he got his hands on them.
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"Lust is playing games at a time like this?" Greed snapped annoyed, "How dare he taunt us like that! He missed his chance to join us just for kicks!"
"Lazy. Lazy." Gluttony yawned, "This is taking too long. I'm hungry and this creature is too."
"Sloth sees the mistake that dear Azreth made will cause lots of trouble. Oh yes, lots of trouble. The Master will be very mad, very mad indeed."
"Don't be such a sissy. We will make this work. The Seiten can run as much as he wants but he's losing ground. He can't do it forever; he's already grows weary of the fight." Envy narrowed red eyes.
"But the little beast is clever, oh so clever. It escapes even now. When we catch it in the square, it climbs out the top. It fights well, indeed, indeed." Sloth complained, "It will dig out when the next comes and puts a top on the box. Oh, it will. Clever, so clever."
"It doesn't matter. Azreth will get us into the right body or the Master will kill him." Envy glared, "All must go according to the plan to bring forth the Dark Prince."
"Fine, fine. I'll stick around." Greed snapped, "But I demand that we kill something soon. This is boring!"
"You'll get your wish soon enough. I can tell." Gluttony smiled in a lazy way, "We are hungry."
End Chapter Six
Next time on: Four Guys, a Dragon, and a Pizza Pie
The group discovers that ordering one pizza pie was a big mistake when Goku fights to eat it all, Gojyo puts up a fuss, Hakkai laughs unsettlingly while trying to pretend that he doesn't know them, Sanzo recklessly fires a gun in public, and Hakuryuu ends up devouring the pie. Will Hakuryuu get eaten or will he manage to fly to safety after eating such a big pie?
Chapter Seven: Wrath, Pride, and Unity
In which Wrath and Pride join their companions,
Gokuu loses himself,
Sanzo claims no responsibility,
Gojyo makes bad jokes,
Hakkai returns to the story,
The Sanzo-ikkou are reunited,
And Lust comes back to play some more.
