Title: Hakkai's Surprise
Rating: T
Summary: Kanan took her own life because she believed the child inside her to be Hyakugan Maoh's, but what if it was really Gonou's? A year post facto, Hakkai's been living with Gojyo for a while, and they've fallen into the commonplace normalcy of life (punctuated with visits from Sanzo and his pet monkey). But when a young girl comes bearing an announcement and another chance, what will happen to our beloved human-turned-youkai?
Chapter the third: The Monkey, the Monk, and the Storks (oh my!)
Gomen, dear readers, gomen nasai. I've been sick lately, and unable to be on the internet. ;;
Soon after the storks gave Hakkai his three-month check up, his nausea stopped entirely. This, he deemed, was a good thing, since it allowed him to eat without fear of tasting it again on the return trip. The growing bump of his no-longer-flat stomach was still so far hide able under his loose green tunic, but he was under the distinct impression that that wasn't going to last long. Luckily, his annual visit from Sanzo and Goku was in a week, so he figured that there would be no problem hiding it. Hakkai and Gojyo both had decided that the monk and his pet needn't know about this, so they agreed that 'mum's the word'. In a fit of bad timing, however, a note appeared on the door that said that the storks would also be coming in a week for Hakkai's five-month check up. This was apparently set in stone somewhere in the universe, for Hakkai (in a desperate attempt to postpone them at least a day) had left a note outside in response that had been returned with 'NO' stamped on it in red ink. Down at the bottom, in blue ink and swirly handwriting, was 'Nice try, though. Eight o' clock sharp.' Now, upon reading this, neither Hakkai nor Gojyo had any idea as to whether that was in the morning or the evening. Sanzo and Goku were set to arrive at seven thirty, but again, morning or evening wasn't specified.
"Damn them." Gojyo crumpled the letter one-handedly. It was the night before both parties were expected to arrive, and Gojyo was pissed. Hakkai, who rarely lost his calm demeanor (especially now that he was pregnant, surprisingly enough), was sitting calmly in a chair, one hand resting on his stomach, the other sitting on his lap.
"Sanzo and Goku usually arrive in the evening, Gojyo. Therefore, we just have to hope that Jihira and Jyuuseii come in the morning." Hakkai said logically, watching Gojyo terrorize the innocent piece of paper in his hand. Poor, sweet, nicotine-deprived Gojyo. For two months now, the half-kappa had barely left the house, which meant he pretty much hadn't had a smoke in two months either. This made the young hanyou twitchy and irritable, which in turn made Hakkai want to forcibly shove Gojyo out of the house and tell him to go ahead and be a chimney outside. This was definitely one of those moments.
"God, I need a smoke," the half-kappa muttered. Hakkai almost laughed.
"Go ahead, then," the expectant youkai said with a smile.
"But Jihira said-"
"Not to smoke around me. Outside, I'd think, is far enough away." A look of protest crossed the hanyou's face. "I'm not going to break, Gojyo, while you step outside for a cigarette. I'm pregnant, not terminally ill." Really, his friend's concern was endearing, but this was bordering on possessive. The hanyou looked about to protest, but then his face broke into a smile.
"Be back in a few," Gojyo said, walking outside to smoke. Hakkai chuckled quietly, leaning his head back to stare blankly at the ceiling. What had brought on this change in Gojyo's behavior? Depending on the moment, the hanyou was either treating him like he was made of glass, or like he was a ticking time bomb. While this was certainly worth puzzling, Hakkai's thoughts traveled to more pressing matters, for instance what he was going to do tomorrow. Sanzo absolutely couldn't know about his pregnancy, but with the storks there it would be hard to keep it from him. Now, Hakkai normally didn't swear, but kuso, this was a predicament. He really didn't figure that one day with a smoker would harm the baby, particularly since most of his time wasn't spent with Sanzo anyway. It seemed more like his time when the four were together was spent keeping Gojyo and Goku from killing one another. He could suggest a picnic, and then the smoke wouldn't even be an issue. If the storks didn't come in the morning, he could leave Hakuryu at the house to intercept them. The dragon would understand.
The next morning, Hakkai and Gojyo were up and antsy at around six thirty. At least, Gojyo was antsy (as he frequently was nowadays). Hakkai was tired, but too nervous to sleep. At seven fifty-nine in the morning, both sets of eyes were trained on the door as if willing it to knock. At promptly eight o' clock, there was a knock on the door. The two friends looked at each other, and the knock came again, more urgently.
"Hakkai! Gojyo!" A voice on the other side of the door whined.
"Baka saru..." Gojyo grumbled, standing to get the door. He promptly grabbed the short boy on the other side of the door around the neck, effectively giving him a noogie. "Hey, monkey-boy, long time no see!"
"Don't call me that, hentaikappa!" The boy whined, trying to upset the unfair balance that the tussle had. Hakkai fought not to laugh when the last one through the door pulled a harisen out of nowhere and soundly smacked Gojyo and the boy in the head.
"Ohayoo, Sanzo." Hakkai stood, careful not to upset the delicate arrangement of folds covering his slightly rounded belly. Of course, the droopy-eyed monk was far too busy beating Gojyo and the monkey king into submission with his harisen to notice Hakkai's greeting.
"Ow! He's the one that started it, Sanzo!"
"Urusai, Goku!" With a final smack, the monk walked over to Hakkai. "Mm, you aren't injured. You've actually managed to not have someone try to kill you. I'm surprised." The monk nonchalantly lit a cigarette. Hakkai tried not to inhale too deeply.
"Hey Hakkai, got anything to eat?" Hakkai's attention was turned to Goku, and he smiled warmly at the boy.
"Actually, it's a beautiful day outside, so I was thinking that perhaps we could have a picnic." Hakkai smiled. The boy grinned, his face lighting up.
"That's a great idea! Can we, Sanzo? Puh-leeeeaze?" Sanzo was unfazed.
"Why on earth would I want to go back outside after walking all the way here?" Hakkai just smiled and went into the kitchen, where the already-packed picnic basket was, and was just about to tell Hakuryu to come and get him if the storks arrived, when two new, unwelcome, familiar voices could be heard.
"And who are you?" Sanzo.
"Kazak Jyuuseii and Sin Jihira. Care to tell us where Cho Hakkai is?" Jyuuseii sounded impatient, as if his mood shifted to fit those around him.
"No." Sanzo was getting pissed - if the sound of his gun cocking was any indication.
"What do you want with Hakkai?" Goku, this time. Good, Gojyo seemed to be keeping out of this. Hakkai could hear Jihira whispering to her husband, then the gun went off and the stork 'eep'ed.
"Next time, I won't miss. You heard the saru; what do you want with Hakkai?"
"Hey-! I am not a monkey!"
"If Hakkai-san wanted you to know why we're here, he would have told you. And what's a man of the cloth doing here anyway?"
"Hakkai's an associate. And I can't allow anyone to kill him."
"We can't allow that either, Sanzo-houshi."
"How do you know who I am?" Sanzo's gun cocked again.
"The chakra on your forehead denotes your closeness to the gods, and the sutra around your shoulders shows that you are a high priest." Aha, smart Jyuuseii. "That and we heard that the high priest Genjyo Sanzo is the only Buddhist known who carries a gun." This last was said with almost a laugh from the dark-skinned stork.
"Ah! Gojyo-san! Mind telling us where to find Hakkai-san?" Hakkai could practically hear Goku's jaw hit the floor.
"Gojyo? You know these two!" The saru asked.
"They've stopped by before." Gojyo said. "He's in the kitchen."
"Domo." Jyuuseii said.
"Arigatou gozaimasu!" Jihira chirped. The two storks burst into the kitchen, nearly bowling Hakkai over in the process.
"Weird friends you got, Hakkai-san." Jihira said. "So, any complaints?"
"Not really. The nausea went away, but the cramping has worsened." Hakkai said quietly.
"That's to be expected. It's just because the..." Jyuuseii trailed off, looking over to the door. He pounded his fist on it. "Nobody likes an eavesdropper!"
"I assume you don't want Sanzo-sama or his pet to know about this, ne?" Jihira's voice was a whisper.
"I'd rather they didn't, no." Hakkai said with a slightly nervous look toward the door. Jihira grinned.
"I always did love confusing people. Ready?" Hakkai smiled and nodded.
"So, Hakkai-san, how's the garden growing?" Jihira spoke a little too loudly.
"Ah, very well, very well. It finally stopped rejecting the fertilizer." While the garden metaphors were coming very close to making Hakkai laugh, the encouraging gestures from Jyuuseii (who had a Cheshire grin on his face) were coming closer.
"That's good to hear. And how's that troublesome edge? Still not growing right?"
"I think nature moved most of what's planted there down a bit. It looks a bit uneven." At this, Jihira's brow furrowed.
"Uneven? How so?" She motioned for him to lift his shirt up, which he did uneasily. She studied his belly for a few minutes, gauging the size of the growing bulge with gentle fingers.
"Oh, it just seems a bit more weighted at the bottom, that's all." Jihira smiled, nodding after she finished her examination. Hakkai pulled his shirt down, tucking it in neatly and arranging it to hide the gentle swell of his stomach.
"Ah, is that it? Well, remember we found out that the soil on the top edge wasn't that healthy. It's only natural for the plants to migrate to more yielding soil."
"Ah, sou desu." Hakkai said. "Thank you again for stopping by, Jihira-san, Jyuuseii-san." The storks smiled.
"Our pleasure, Hakkai-san. Nice to see you again."
"Another two months, ne?" Hakkai asked.
"Hai, see you then." Jihira smiled, winking at the youkai. He winked back.
"Sayonara." He and Jyuuseii spoke in unison, as he grabbed the picnic basket and Hakuryu settled on his shoulder. Jihira opened the door and held it for Jyuuseii and Hakkai. The human-turned-youkai escorted the two storks out, and then returned to Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo.
"Well then, shall we go?" He asked sweetly.
Later, Hakkai and Gojyo had said goodbye to Sanzo and Goku, and had barely shut the door when Gojyo started laughing.
"Nice metaphors, garden-boy." Gojyo managed to get out. Once he realized what the half-kappa was laughing about, Hakkai joined him.
"I was playing along with Jihira." He argued. They laughed companionably for a few moments, before their mirth faded.
"It's a good thing that those two only come once a year." Gojyo said, obviously talking about Sanzo and Goku.
"It would be difficult to keep my pregnancy a secret if they came more frequently." Hakkai said in agreement.
"Well, yes, that too."
"Oh? And what was your reason?"
"That baka saru would eat us out of house and home if they came more than once a year." Hakkai laughed. He yawned.
"It's been a long day. I believe I'll retire for the night." Gojyo nodded.
"Oyasumi, Hakkai."
"Oyasumi, Gojyo." Hakkai smiled.
Language notes: kuso - damn, dammit, etc, baka saru - stupid monkey, hentai kappa - perverted water sprite, harisen - paper fan, Ohayoo - good morning, urusai - shut up, saru - monkey, domo - thanks, arigatou gozaimasu - thank you very much, ne? - right? Sou desu - I see, hai - yes, sayonara - goodbye, oyasumi - good night
Canon notes: I actually couldn't find what the word 'harisen' means, but it's the widely accepted term for Sanzo's paper fan for idiots. Of course, that was a bit too specific for the language notes to handle. xD
Culture notes: The suffix '-houshi' is like saying "High Priest" (Sanzo-houshi - high priest Sanzo). For the few of you who might not know, the chakra is the red dot on Sanzo's forehead. Obviously, I don't need to explain what the sutra is. I hope. Oo;
Story notes: And yes, the garden metaphors just sort of came to me. What? It's 2:30 am! oo; Also, in case you couldn't tell, I'm trying to emulate the traditional Saiyuki balance of comedy and drama, without the action/adventure. That and the plot bunnies are multiplying at an alarming rate. OO;;;