Hello again, thanks to the people that reviewed and alerted and whatnot, it means an awful lot. So here's the second chappy and its as long as the last one. The final instalment will be here soon. Saiyuki and it's characters are not mine, sadly. The chapter title is from the same song as before.

Two: Have you seen what I've made beneath the wreckage?

One. A cry of surprise ending in a wet gurgle.

Two. A snap and a crunch.

Three. A sick squelching sound followed by the splash of thick liquid.

Pause. Brush the hair out of the eyes. Step back. Take a breath.

Raise the arm, bring it down…

Four. A cry as a body is cleaved in two and lands on the blood soaked floor, nothing more than a hunk of meat.

Hakkai just watched it, waiting for the next move. At this moment, killing was a lot like a dance. It didn't need thought or planning but just moved along as though to a silent beat of a drum or to the steady pounding in his chest.

He wondered if it was healthy, treating anger like this. Bottling it up inside and letting the muscles take the pain, letting them lash out at whatever needed fixing instead of letting it take root in the heart and mind where it would only lash out within and cause wreck and ruin. If it hadn't been caused already.

Turning vacant eyes to the left, Hakkai could see the townspeople watching him with horrified fascination. He rolled his eyes to the right and saw the rest of the assembled youkai. With ten of them already down, they were starting to be more hesitant. The slender man with the simple knife was more deadly than he appeared, that was clear. They didn't know how deadly he was; not even Hakkai knew that.

He absently wiped the knife blade on his trousers, staining them red. He was pretty much covered in blood and none of it was his own, except a small trickle where he had bitten his lip too hard while running from Gojyo…that had been before Sanzo told him about the youkai. He vaguely wondered where the others were. Not that it mattered. He had it covered.

His hands were covered in blood. The rain which seemed never ending wasn't enough to wash it away. Evil blood this time, that was okay. Not even evil blood could wash away…her blood. And to think, he'd been contemplating touching Gojyo with those soiled hands…not that it had mattered then. Now it mattered only too much.

A youkai darted forward and Hakkai swung at it blindly, catching it in mid chest. As it fell to the ground he sighed. Good timing, really. It had stopped him from dwelling on the pain for too long.

Hakkai continued to wait for the next one, and one word was blazed across his vision in scarlet. The word was betrayal.

"Jesus…" Gojyo murmured and took a step forward. "This is insane."

He and his companions stood at the edge of the group of townspeople and had joined them in watching what had turned into a slaughter. One by one, the youkai would fling themselves at Hakkai only to be cut down with a disinterest that was almost offensive. If they had turned and run, Gojyo doubted whether Hakkai would have followed them but they obviously hadn't realised this.

Gojyo winced as one leapt forward only to have his head sliced clean off in a round sweep.

"He isn't smiling," Goku said quietly. "I know this is weird but he's less scary when he's smiling."

"Most people would say the opposite," Sanzo said blankly. "But I'm inclined to agree with you."

Hakkai was standing and staring blankly at the newest body lying at his feet and so didn't see the small, thin youkai creeping up behind him. It raised its claws without a moments wait. Gojyo couldn't stop himself from taking a leap forward.

"Hakkai! Watch it!" Hakkai turned his sad eyes upon Gojyo and just stared at him blankly, ignoring the words if he could even hear them. Gojyo winced as he saw the youkai claws sink into Hakkai's back, before dragging down it in deep red furrows. The worst part of it all was that Hakkai didn't cry out or even wince. He didn't appear to notice at all.

He lazily swung the blade around behind him, cutting his attackers legs in two. As it began to crawl away, he paid it no heed whatsoever but there was more life in his eyes than before. He didn't even turn as the remaining youkai turned and fled. His gaze locked on Gojyo and he tilted his head to the side a little, as though not believing what he was seeing. His lips moved but no sound came from them.

"Gojyo?" Sanzo said softly, something the kappa hadn't believed was possible. "You know why he's being like this, don't you?"

Gojyo opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I…maybe. I can see why he'd be upset…well, I can't but I can begin to see….but this? This is just insane."

"You're more likely to understand than we are."

"What are you saying?" Gojyo said slowly, eyes still locked on Hakkai who was now swaying slightly. "You want me to go over there?"

"Yes."

"But what if he-"

"He won't."

"You don't know that!"

"Does it really matter?" Sanzo retorted, finally getting angry. "He would do it for you, wouldn't he? What kind of a friend are you? Now get your ass over there now!"

Gojyo bit his lip to keep from yelling back; Sanzo was right, but it didn't mean he had to admit it.

"I'm going," he said. "But I'm going for Hakkai, not because you told me to."

He started walking slowly forwards before the priest could reply. He was all too aware of the gazes of the townspeople on him, watching his every move. What was he going to do when he reached Hakkai? What could he possibly say? Hey, Hakkai. Nice pile of corpses you got there. Want to forget everything I said? I'll still love you and I'll still want you, hell that's why I'm here now, but if you'll just stop killing people and go back to being yourself, we can put the whole thing behind us…

"Shit," he murmured. He was now only a metre away from his friend who raised a hand as if in greeting, except this hand was holding a knife. Gojyo didn't have time to even think of ducking out of the way before the blade was whistling down towards him and in the brief moment that he had to think anything, he thought this is ridiculous. How fucking ridiculous is this? Life isn't a movie. I shouldn't die like this.

There was a yelling in his ears and it was coming from him. Over the yelling he heard a sudden hiss of pain and a crack.

"No."

Hakkai's voice was soft and shaking but it was Hakkai that was speaking, not some emotionless killing machine.

"Not him," he continued. Gojyo opened his eyes and glanced up, not able to stifle his gasp of surprise. The knife was halfway towards Gojyo's face but in its way was Hakkai's other arm. The blade had bit down through the flesh until it hit bone and warm blood was trickling out of the gash and onto the already sodden dirt.

There was a metallic tinkle as the knife hit the ground and then a loud thud as Hakkai followed it. Gojyo stood still, stunned by the suddenness of it all. What the hell was going on? Time flowed back and he crouched down beside Hakkai, ignoring the cries of townspeople. His friend was pale and seemed to be out cold.

Gojyo gathered him up in his arms – which was harder than he had expected – and carried him over to where Goku and Sanzo were still waiting. He suddenly realised that he was still shirtless from before and his skin was cold and slick from the rain. Now, it felt warm but that was only because blood was seeping out of Hakkai and onto his skin. He shuddered.

"We have to get him out of the rain," he said simply, as though this explained everything. "Shall I take him back to the house?"

"Sure." Sanzo said calmly, turning slightly to face the wall of villagers that were now facing them, all of them frightened or angry. "Goku, go with him. I'll deal with these people."

Goku looked affronted. "What? But I want to stay and help-"

"Go and help Gojyo!" Sanzo raised an eyebrow. "Or do you want Hakkai to die?"

Without another word, Goku ran in front of Gojyo and began pelting back to the house, yelling at him to hurry. Gojyo glanced at Sanzo before leaving.

"Hey….he's not gonna die, right?"

"No." Sanzo shrugged. "Hakkai wouldn't die from these wounds. He's far more likely to die from something…never mind that. Just get him inside."

Gojyo nodded and began running after Goku, hearing the angry cries of villagers echoing behind him.

"Why help that monster?"

"Is your red haired friend alright? That crazy one tried to-"

"How can you be in company with someone like-"

"What if you hadn't-"

"How could he-"

Gojyo ran faster and ignored them all. It didn't matter what they thought. What mattered right now was the man in his arms. He ran after Goku who was shouting something pointless up ahead and holding the door open for him.

The rain continued to pound down and wash the blood away.

Hakkai hurt. It was that simple. Everything, inside and out hurt.

The claw marks on his back were painful, as was the gash in his arm. The rest of his skin prickled from how cold it had been but was starting to feel better. His head ached from suppressed anger and his heart…his heart ached too.

He had awoken lying in a bed under clean, white sheets which were slowly turning red because no one had bandaged his wounds yet. He didn't mind this, not really. At least being here meant that someone had cared enough not to leave him out in the rain, and that person had been…

"Gojyo," he whispered, eyes half lidded. He was shocked when it became clear he was alone and cursed himself for not looking around the room first.

"Hakkai? You're awake?"

Hakkai lie perfectly still and shut his eyes; he wasn't ready to talk to Gojyo about this, not yet. Not until he had a better idea of how Gojyo was feeling about his…actions. Better to feign sleep and let the voices wash over him.

"I don't think he is, Gojyo." Goku said loudly. It sounded as though he was sitting in the corner. "If he was awake, he'd be sitting up or something."

"But I could have sworn he….said…ah forget it."

The room lapsed back into silence and Hakkai into his thoughts. He tried to work out how long he had been here for, how long he had bee unconscious. His hair still felt wet against his face so he deuced he had been out for no longer than ten minutes or so.

"Are you alright, Gojyo?" Goku asked in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. Hakkai could almost picture them; Gojyo standing nervously in a corner while Goku sat on a chair in another, arms wrapped around his knees.

The vision was almost enough to make him 'wake up'. Almost.

"Uh…not really. Why do you ask, monkey? Worried about me?"

There was a noise that signified Goku jumping up angrily. "I was asking because you hadn't called me a monkey for so long, but now I take it all back! Who would be worried about you, you-"

"You're worried about Sanzo, right?" Gojyo's voice was soft. There was a short silence and then a little sigh.

"Shut up."

Hakkai smiled to himself and felt guilty. They were all in this because of him, weren't they? It was no good blaming Gojyo, Gojyo hadn't been the one to lose control and anyway, it was Hakkai who had first fallen-

The door crashed open and caused Hakkai to jump. He heard angry footsteps into the room.

"How's he doing?" Sanzo's voice was brisk and angry…not that that was unusual.

"Same as before," Gojyo answered. "If he doesn't wake up soon, we'll have to dress his wounds while he sleeps."

"Right." There was a sound a lot like Sanzo laughing to himself and then, "Goku and I have to leave."

"What? But we only just got here! What about-"

"Why?" Gojyo asked calmly, cutting Goku off.

"The people are angry," Sanzo said simply. "Despite the fact that Hakkai saved them all and their shitty little town, they think he's going to wake up and attack them all. The only way they won't throw us out of the town tonight is if Goku and I stay in a different building and neither of you two leave here."

"Why are they letting me stay?" Gojyo's voice was now laced with suspicion.

"I told them you had passed out from shock."

"You little-"

"It was the only way, Gojyo so get over it. They also think that Hakkai is chained down somewhere so only have one light on at a time if you get up. Got it?"

"Sure."

"And Gojyo?"

"What?"

"Once we've gone, talk to Hakkai and sort all of this out. I don't want to know hats going on but I don't want anything like this happening again. So right after we leave, got me?"

"He's asleep," Gojyo said angrily. "I'm not gonna wake him up just to upset him again."

"He's not asleep, Gojyo." Sanzo said calmly and Hakkai bit his lip. Damn.

"Oh really? He looks asleep to me."

"Sleeping people are normally relaxed and unless he's a corpse and rigor mortis has set in…he's awake. Isn't that right, Hakkai? How are you feeling?"

Hakkai turned towards the wall, away from his companions. "Under the circumstances, I'm alright thank you Sanzo."

"Hakkai!" Goku yelled happily. "You're alive!"

"Yes. It might not be a good thing but I am. Sorry to have worried you, Goku."

"What does he mean, 'might not have-"

"We're leaving, Goku. Now."

Hakkai stayed facing the wall as he listened to Goku being dragged from the room and the door shutting behind him. The front door then shut too. Hakkai didn't move and Gojyo didn't speak but he was all too aware of his breathing. A full minute must have passed before anything was said.

"Hey, Hakkai," Gojyo said quietly. "Turn and face me, will you?"

"I don't know if I can." Hakkai whispered.

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