Title: The Abstract Noun (Chapter 6)
Rating: T for language, violence, and alcohol/tobacco use
Pairing: GojyoxSanzo
A/N and Warning: OOC reaches its zenith in the longest chapter yet. Wow, I haven't updated for over a year, sorry for that. I actually had this chapter written since December or so, but I've been too lazy to type it up. Therefore, please point out any mistakes - I have no beta. Also, I don't know if I can actually finish this story. I've kinda dropped out of the Saiyuki fandom (and into One Piece. I kept typing Sanji instead of Sanzo when I was doing this), but I'll try. And yay for plotholes.
Sanzo's stunned silence permeated the room. Nonetheless, when Nii tossed the Smith & Wesson he had confiscated at him, Sanzo felt his hands automatically shoot out to catch it.
"Well," Nii spoke, "get to it, then."
"What?"
Sanzo jolted out of his shock in a very late and lame comeback to Nii's demands.
"Go kill your friends. You have your gun."
"No."
Sanzo's words carried no weight, for his feet carried him in the direction of the door. Ignoring him, Nii added his final instructions.
"Oh, just to let you know, you've been out for a couple of weeks, so I don't know if they've given you up for dead or not. They'll probably still be in town though."
Nii blew out a ring of smoke and stuck his cigarette back between his lips.
"And this place is enchanted. Only way out is the river. You're gonna have to take it downstream for a week or so, then go around the bend up to the town."
Sanzo dimly registered the nod of his head. Nii waved.
"Have fun!"
Sanzo cursed as he left.
Now we speed up back to where we left our three remaining travelers, a month after Sanzo's disappearance. Listless and dejected as ever, they sat around a table in hopes of whittling the hours away. It was a totally different situation than when Gojyo had gone missing – Hakkai, of course, felt nearly the same as he did then, stress and irritation gnawing away at his patience, but no-one was there to bring it out into full anger. The others' feelings for Sanzo ran much deeper. Neither Goku nor Gojyo could dismiss their emotions as mere annoyance.
Hakuryuu rustled restlessly around Hakkai, unaccustomed to staying in one area for such a long time. Faintly, the three heard a scuffle downstairs, the shrill voice of the lobby attendant muffled by the door. None of them paid heed, writing it off as another bar fight, and also much more intent on battling their apprehensions and doubts for emotional stability. So naturally, they all jumped in surprise at a loud banging coming from their room's entryway, not expecting anyone to have any reason to intrude on their sorrows. The door flew open with a crash, and three pairs of eyes widened at the sudden realization of who the intruder exactly was.
"Sanzo…," Hakkai gasped and stood from his seat to walk towards him. Sanzo raised his head, purple gaze lingering over his companions. His gun followed suit, halting Hakkai in his tracks.
"Sanzo, what –"
"Run."
The first shot clipped Hakkai in the leg as he dodged at the last second, throwing the room into chaos. Chairs and other furniture were left overturned as Hakkai, Goku, and Gojyo scrambled to get out of the way.
"Shit, what the hell's going on!" Gojyo shouted from behind a bedstand.
"That can't be Sanzo! We should atta – "
Goku's suggestion was cut short as the Smith & Wesson barked twice, leaving two crimson holes in his torso. The boy dabbed slowly at the openings with his fingers, mute in shock and staining his hands in red. Looking up with disbelief in his wide golden eyes, he fell to the ground.
"Goku!" Hakkai yelled, starting towards his fallen form when he, too, felt the bite of a bullet through his chest and collapsed, blood leaking his mouth. From where he remained, half-crouched, torn between trying to help his companions and avoiding death, Gojyo could clearly see Sanzo's face – still, immobile, and impassive. However, the eyes told everything he needed to know, for in that gaze lay pain and panic beyond measure. This Sanzo couldn't be an imposter. Gojyo suddenly remembered that one night when he had fervently wished for a panicked expression from Sanzo, how nice it would've been to see the ice cracking and vulnerable. But seeing it here, unfolding before him, he felt, not the elation he had expected, but dread twisting low in his stomach. When he felt self-loathing begin to creep in as well, Gojyo could no longer stand idly by in hopes of saving his own skin. Abandoning his shelter, he leaped towards Sanzo.
Pain exploded in his shoulder as a bullet pierced through it, but the killing blow didn't follow. Gojyo had pinned Sanzo's arms to his sides in a warped imitation of an embrace.
"Sanzo," he pleaded, "stop, goddamnit. I know you wouldn't do this. Snap out of it."
The figure in Gojyo's arms tensed at those words.
"Sanzo…please…."
Gojyo felt himself being detached from Sanzo's form and thrown roughly to the ground. He closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet between his eyes.
It didn't come.
Rather, he heard the door slam shut, and opening his eyes revealed that the priest had left the room. Jumping to his feet, he wrenched the door open to see Sanzo downstairs, running out the main entrance. Gojyo was poised to follow him when he heard a low groan from inside the room and remembered Hakkai and Goku's conditions.
"Someone call a doctor, quick!" he yelled to the people in the lobby.
Taking one last look at the opening through which Sanzo had disappeared, Gojyo walked back inside and shut the door behind him.
The alleyway was dark and dank, shadows from the surrounding buildings flooding the narrow strip of dirt and stone. Sanzo planted a hand against the brick wall for support as his knees quavered beneath him.
He had shot them. He might have killed them.
His breath came in low gasps, trying to quell his rampant emotions and return them to some semblance of order. Hakkai and Goku wouldn't die from those wounds. They were stronger than that. They had been through worse. Slowly, he coaxed his mind to submission to his reasoning. As for Gojyo…
Sanzo felt like he had just swallowed something very unpleasant. He immediately chastised himself. He had shot Gojyo in the shoulder. It was nothing serious. So what was this feeling? Why was he so worried about him? Sanzo felt like kicking himself. He was NOT worried about Gojyo. He did NOT feel anything for him. A nagging voice in the back of his head questioned why he even had to reassure himself. Sanzo told it to shut the hell up.
Then he wondered how he had shaken off Nii's influence. It was sometime during the fight after he had shot Goku and Hakkai. Gojyo had hugged him. No, he had restrained him. Nothing more.
Sanzo forced his train of thought to leave the current situation and travel backwards towards the root. He had been captured by demons. The sutra had been stolen. He'd gone to retrieve it. He was kidnapped and placed in a laboratory. A man with a stuffed bunny –
"Nii," Sanzo growled.
He stalked out of the alley and headed towards the forest once more, having channeled his emotions into vengeance. Only of them was going to get out of those woods alive, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be that rabbit-obsessed psychopath.
"Well, they're out of the danger zone for now."
The doctor, finished with Hakkai, stood from his chair and collected his bag. Goku was asleep on the next bed. Gojyo nodded his acknowledgement from a nearby seat. With his hand on the doorknob, the doctor turned to speak to the redhead.
"Make sure you get your rest too. That shoulder wound isn't a pretty one. I feel like I'm seeing you boys too often for your own good."
Gojyo smiled, more to humor the doctor than in amusement. As soon as the door swung shut, Gojyo stuck a cigarette between his lips, letting nicotine wash over him. The smoke wouldn't harm Goku or Hakkai. They frickin' LIVED with a couple of the biggest chain smokers in the district. Well, one chain smoker now. Gojyo's thoughts inevitably wandered over to their missing member.
Sanzo wouldn't do something like that. Not of his own will. Of course, the blonde's mental stability was questionable at times, but Gojyo highly doubted that the man ever shot at them to kill. Just wound, maim, or otherwise cause pain and suffering but never to KILL. But there was no doubt about it, Goku's and Hakkai's wounds a testament to Sanzo's intent. Gojyo leaned back, tipping the chair onto its tow back legs and staring up at the ceiling.
Sanzo's eyes.
They never left his mind. It was as if they were burned into his retinas. Gojyo could relive that moment when Sanzo had turned those eyes upon him and recall every bit of emotion wavering in the purple.
It was as if he was calling for help.
But Sanzo wouldn't do that, prideful bastard as he was. Gojyo almost laughed at himself for even entertaining such a notion. And he did laugh. It was a hollow, mirthless chuckle that escaped his lips as he brought the chair back down to all four legs and buried his face in his hands.
What could possibly have made Sanzo like that? What made him run off?
Gojyo blew the smoke he had been holding in his lungs into the still air.
"Where are you, you son of a bitch?"
"Move!"
Sanzo smashed the butt of his Smith & Wesson into the demon's nose and stepped into the small boat bobbing on the river. Apparently, he'd been expected back at this time with the now-prone youkai as chaperone. Sanzo's lips lifted slightly in disgust as he kicked off from the shore and rode the little skiff down the cascading ripples.
Passing the neck of trees and the magical barrier within, Sanzo loaded a bullet into the last slot of his gun's chamber and steered the boat to the approaching bank. He jumped out on to the dirt before he felt the wood scrape sand and took off towards the stately building towering before him.
There were only two demons stationed on either side of the heavy oaken double doors – burly, menacing, and staggeringly thick-headed. Seeing Sanzo approach them, they only blinked stupidly into the business end of the gun before the shots erupted into their heads and left the entrance relatively unguarded. Sanzo didn't even notice the peculiarity of the fact that there were no other youkai around. Even if he did, he probably would've dismissed it as the time of day the demons used to eat or sleep or whatever else demons did, so focused was he on his target. Thrusting open both doors, he stormed into the laboratory, throwing subtlety to the wind.
"Nii! Get out here, bastard!"
Sanzo's voice reverberated around the closed walls of iron and heavy stone. Hearing the metallic clunk of footsteps, Sanzo pointed his firearm up at the steel walkway above him upon which stood Dr. Nii leaning casually against the railings, stuffed bunny under his arm. He seemed totally unperturbed by the gun pointed at him, speaking with the same mocking tone he had used when Sanzo was defenseless several weeks ago.
"Ah, Sanzo-sama! Back so soon?"
Sanzo wordlessly shot at him, teeth clenched and eyes blazing with utter loathing. The bullet passed harmlessly through the flicker of shadow remaining where Nii had been standing a moment prior. He was now off to the left, relocated with inhuman speed.
"Such a shame the effect wore off so quickly," he continued, "I would've estimated six months at the very least."
Another shot, another flicker, and Nii was on the right side of the walkway. Without missing a beat, he went on with his very one-sided conversation.
"But I doubt you overcame it on your own. It seems as if that half-demon had quite a startling effect on you."
Sanzo paused for a moment to digest Nii's words.
"What? You were there?"
"Yes, of course! You're my prize experiment. People don't let their guinea pigs or their toys just run around the place unattended, now do they? Back to the subject, that redhead was the only one you seemed extremely hesitant to kill – "
"Shut up!"
Sanzo fired once more even though it was already obvious to the both of them that the action was merely a waste of bullets. His eyes widened, however, when he heard Nii's voice creeping from behind him.
"Seems I've touched a nerve, hmm? Now, you seemed to be fine until that touching embrace, and then things started to fall apart from there. It's strange. It's not like you love him or anything –"
Sanzo visibly tensed. Nii's smirk grew even wider.
"...but then again, I've always thought you looked quite feminine, so perhaps your preferences lie in that direction as well?"
He grinned suggestively. Sanzo swung around to shoot but was robbed of the opportunity as Nii's arm darted forward into Sanzo's abdomen, punching into the newly healed scar and bursting it open. Blood dripped neatly to the ground as Sanzo's knees crumbled underneath him. He double over on the floor, splurting blood from his mouth and cursing his own weakness, rage increased a hundredfold and his capabilities dwindling to none.
Nii smiled above him, the entire left arm of his lab coat drenched in Sanzo's blood, the head of his stuffed bunny a glistening red.
"Let's play together again sometime, Sanzo-sama. That is…"
He looked up at the ceiling of the room as the earth underneath them trembled violently. Several spiderweb splinters began to wind their way up the walls, dust falling from every crevice and swirling through the air. Nii dug into the pocket of his lab coat and drew out the Maten Sutra from within. Sanzo's eyes widened when he saw it, and he tried and failed to regain his feet to retrieve it. Nii tossed it onto the ground, mere inches from Sanzo's fingertips.
"Amuse me a little while longer."
With a final "bye-bye!" he slipped out the double doors.
The shaking was extremely prominent now as chunks of stone dislodged themselves from the walls and ceiling. The building was coming down around Sanzo. Mustering whatever remaining strength he had, Sanzo seized the sutra and struggled to his feet. Hand clasped firmly around his wound to stem the bleeding, he staggered forward in spite of his fading vision, hoping to locate the door. The lab continued to crash down, pieces of rock narrowly missing the priest who, by sheer luck, was painfully making his way to the exit.
He was almost thwarted when the walkway upon which Nii had stood fell down with a tremendous bang right in front of the door, but Sanzo managed, through simple stubbornness, to force his deteriorating body over the railings and out the door. Momentum carried Sanzo's body forward enough to leave the danger zone of the collapsing building, but even if he was in the radius, he probably wouldn't have cared.
To say he fell like a sack of bricks would be an understatement. Sanzo practically melted into the ground, his breath coming in short gasps and his hand tightening around his bleeding stomach. His world flickered around him, and Sanzo surrendered his consciousness.
Sanzo walked through a faceless crowd, the voices coming from the surrounding area muffled and dim. His eyes glanced casually around, not really taking note of anything, when something caught his eye as the crowd parted. A shock of red hair stood out among the others as Gojyo walked towards him. Soon, Sanzo found himself caught in the half-demon's embrace, almost like the one he had received back at the inn. This one, however, wasn't as desperate and held no ulterior motive. Sanzo let himself give into it, an incredibly warm feeling spreading to even his fingertips. It was a good feeling – one he hadn't experienced for a long time. He could hardly place the word…right, it was happiness. Sanzo had never even imagined that he'd be able to feel it again after Koumyou's passing. It was so incredibly warm…
Suddenly, he noticed it was warm and wet. Sanzo looked up at Gojyo's face and saw betrayal in there. Gojyo collapsed against him, and Sanzo beheld his own hands. One was stained in the warm and wet substance – bright red and glistening. The other was tightened around the grip of a smoking Smith & Wesson. Sanzo dropped to his knees beside Gojyo. No, he couldn't have. He couldn't have shot – he couldn't have killed – no…
"Excuse me, sir. Sir!"
Sanzo's eyes flew open at the urgent voice, wrenched away from the nightmare. He was soaked in perspiration, his limbs twisted in the sheets. The source of the boice turned out to be a genial-looking middle-aged man who had a hand against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you were having quite a dream, thrashing about like that. Didn't want to tarry and let you open your wound."
The man's voice was thick with the accent of the region. Sanzo looked down at the clean linen bandages encircling his abdomen. Now aware that he wasn't in any immediate danger, Sanzo sat up and observed his surroundings.
He was in a small room, cozy and quaint, in which stood a Spartan amount of furniture – a cabinet, a table, the chair occupied by the stranger, and the bed currently being filled by himself. Sanzo turned to face his benefactor.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Oh, naught but a day. Young blood, I assume. Not many would be able to get up after such short rest."
"And my belongings?"
"They're all over there."
The man gestured to the top of the cabinet where Sanzo's robes lay neatly folded along with his gun and, thank the gods, the Maten Sutra. Sanzo breathed a sigh of relief and fell back against the pillows.
There was a quiet knock at the door, and a teenage girl, presumably the man's daughter, entered with a tray in her hands. She blushed profusely over the steaming cups of tea at the sight of Sanzo. Her father didn't notice. Sanzo didn't care.
The man took the tray from his daughter's hands and offered a cup to Sanzo.
"Tea?"
Sanzo pushed himself up on one elbow and extended the other hand to receive the mug.
"Thank you."
As he sipped, the man stood from the chair and proceeded towards the door through which his daughter had already disappeared.
"Well sir, I'll be taking my leave now. Take care not to move too much lest you hurt yourself again."
Sanzo nodded in acknowledgement and was soon left to his own thoughts. Unsurprisingly, his thoughts drifted to their newest acquisition, the dream, or rather, nightmare from which had been awakened.
Now, Sanzo was a very logical person. But he was also very stubborn. As he sat upon the bed with the steaming mug in hand, his mind struggled to process the outcome of his brainstorming evenly between the two personality traits. Logic stated that his subconscious was telling him something. Stubbornness told him that he was merely replaying the scene from the inn. However, when logic began to trickle the fact that neither Goku nor Hakkai had appeared in the dream, followed by the slow spread of the warmth of Gojyo's embrace, Sanzo knew that logic was winning out.
Fanning the flames was Nii's accusation still lingering in his mind. All of this combined left Sanzo very confused, and Sanzo definitely did NOT like to be confused. His knuckles tightened around his mug. Perhaps Nii did have something there. Sanzo's feelings for Gojyo, as much as he would have liked to deny it, had undoubtedly changed over the course of time. The question was to what extent his feelings at changed and if they were reciprocated.
Sanzo wanted to shoot himself.
He thought he had abandoned all unneeded emotion ten years ago with the solid belief that they would only hinder, never benefit. To have this motley crew of idiotic bastards bring emotions back out in him was absurd.
Finishing the last of his tea, Sanzo placed the mug on the seat of the chair and lowered himself down to the pillow again. His temples had suddenly begun to throb, and since he was in no particular hurry to see his companions in such a befuddled state, he allowed himself to return to sleep. His final thoughts were of Gojyo who, though he would never say this aloud, was not all too harsh on the eyes.
'Slap!'
Four angry welts blossomed on Nii's cheek as Gyoukoumen Koushi's hand swept over his face.
"You mean to tell me you had the sutra but gave it back!"
The demoness' hysteric shrieks echoed through the halls of Gyumaoh's palace. Nii lit the cigarette dangling from his lips, not seeming to care or even to notice the blood dripping from his newest wound.
"If you wish, I will send someone to retrieve it."
"Do you not care about Gyumaoh's revival at all?" Gyoukoumen ranted, "Why would you do such a thing!"
Nii grinned and looked up at her from where he stood, taking the cigarette from his mouth with two fingers.
"My dear mistress, I like to think that I'm much like a child. I play with my toys until they break."
"I don't care about your philosophies. I care about Gyumaoh. Retrieve that sutra before I throw you out the door!"
Replacing the cigarette, Nii nodded languidly.
"Already being taken care of, mistress."
Sanzo awoke to the first scream punctuating his half-asleep state. The thundering of hurried footsteps rumbled outside the room as he swung his feet off the bed and hurried to the best of his ability to retrieve his belongings.
Stumbling out the door revealed the middle-aged man holding a kitchen knife, standing between his crouching daughter and a wickedly smiling demon. Without a second thought, Sanzo shot the youkai before it could attack and told the man to stay down and inside. A demon raid was obvious. No wonder there had been only two guards at Nii's castle.
Beads of sweat dotting his brow, Sanzo forced his way out the door, turning back only to say, "Consider my debt repaid," before stepping into utter chaos.
Screaming villagers rushed past the doorway, unaware of when they where they were going just as long as they were getting away. Sanzo shuffled in the opposite direction of the flow, staying close tot eh walls to avoid being trampled. As the stream of refuges dwindled, Sanzo was able to see the mass of glinting teeth and claws advancing in his direction. Lifting the arm that had been pressed against his throbbing abdomen, he stepped into the demons' pathway and put his hands together in prayer. One youkai, upon seeing him, broke into an outraged cry: "Hey! That's the guy who stole my boat!"
He rushed forward, the entire demon phalanx trailing behind him. Sanzo's lips quirked in a sneer. Oh, he had missed doing this. He closed his eyes and began chanting.
"Oh man ee hatsu mei…"
The demons prepared to strike.
"Un."
Sanzo's eyes flew open in a purple blaze as he drew back one foot and extended his arm, the Maten Sutra erupting off his shoulders.
"MAKAI TENJO!"
White light exploded from the sutra and engulfed the youkai army, their screams echoing dimly through the streets as one by one, they disintegrated and were absorbed by the magical properties of the scripture.
As the last of the demons faded into nothingness, Sanzo withdrew his hand, the sutra neatly materializing in scroll form in his grip. He took one staggering step and fell forward, pain lancing through his stomach. His coughs drew blood from his mouth, droplets that fell and splattered onto the dirt in almost artistic patterns. Struggling to regain his footing, there was no way Sanzo would have noticed the flash of a grin, the glint of glasses, and the long-distance dragon taking off again towards the west.
A/N: I probably made references to events during the storyline, but I didn't mark them and I wasn't going to go through to look for and mark them, so if you need something cleared up, leave a comment, e-mail me, whatever, and I'll explain.