The Taste of Crimson
Chapter Three
Disclaimer: Saiyuki and all associated characters were created by Minekura Kazuya. I am making no money from this and am merely using the characters and setting for storytelling purposes.
Author's Note: The reason I give for Gojyo's ponytail is based on the fact that it's usually (but not always) only seen when he's upset about something (like the night before he leaves the group to go after Kami-sama) or seems to be suffering from depression (like in the flashback to when he found Gono. He'd had the ponytail even before the woman brought up his hair, but his thoughts suggest he'd been in a depressed state for a while). For those not familiar with poker, a tell is a habit, behavior, or physical reaction that gives other players information about your hand.
Grim, middle-aged humans patrolled the streets of their town, watching closely for anything out of the ordinary. Heniao, the brown-haired woman who had approached Gojyo in the inn, observed them contemptuously from the shadows. They would never catch her with such clumsy tactics.
She removed the necklace that sealed her powers and true form, a black swirling pattern forming on her skin from her right temple to her chin. Energy flowed from her as she used her clan's ability to blend in with the shadows. It was ridiculously easy to get past the humans, but the waste of precious power irritated her, as well as the need to leave town to catch her prey. If he hadn't been such a delicious looking young man, with all of that beautiful blood-colored hair, she would have given up on him and marked someone from the town.
Once she was far enough to not raise suspicion, Heniao used her power to call to the venom she had introduced into his system. She waited for him to come to her, slowly licking her lips as she thought of what she'd do to him. The night would end with his death, she would have to drain him dry to get a decent amount of power, but she had always enjoyed playing with her food before it died.
First, she would use him to satisfy her lust, then she would play with him. She shivered, imagining the sweet sound of his screams as she ripped her claws through him. Perhaps she'd even slice open those lovely scars on his face.
The delightful fantasy was dispelled by the pleasant reality of her half-naked prey appearing before her. Her gaze roamed over him hungrily, lingering on the long legs encased in tight black jeans before lazily moving up to his bare upper body. She reached the blankly staring red eyes and recoiled in disgust.
"A half-breed!" she spat in revulsion, all thoughts of enjoying her meal evaporating. Humans tasted exquisite, but their blood held little energy. Just a mouthful of youkai blood was enough to fully energize one of her clan for a few days, but the taste was nauseatingly bitter. The one time a member of her clan had fed on a half-breed, it had tasted like a youkai with the weak energy of a human.
Heniao unhappily took a step toward him, feeling sick at the thought of what she would have to do. Despite the wretched taste, she would have to feed deeply from him to replenish her strength. She roughly cupped his chin, her fingers digging into his cheeks hard enough to bruise, and tilted his head to the side.
Her fangs slid into him, a slow in and out motion, and he moaned softly as the chemicals in her saliva set his nerves alight with pleasure. Blood welled from the puncture marks, coating her tongue with the nearly orgasmic flavor of human tinted with the barest hint of bitterness. She swallowed greedily, and power only a little less than that of a full youkai rushed through her.
She pulled away, giving herself a moment to consider the possibilities. Killing him would be a waste, but taking him back to her clan would be pointless. He would just be taken from her. There was another option, though. She could use the Shadowed Ways to follow him. If she fed from him regularly, she would eventually gain enough power to challenge her clan leader and take over.
She smiled wickedly and pressed herself against her prey, running her fingers through his hair as she breathed in his scent. He smelled of cigarettes, sex, and faintly of cool spring rain, though it was dry and autumn. She nuzzled his neck, her tongue slowly caressing the bleeding wounds with feather light licks.
Soft, breathy gasps of pleasure escaped him as she sucked and nibbled at his throat. Those soft sounds became a low, drawn out moan as she pierced him again with her fangs. He tilted his head more, allowing her to plunge them deeper within him as he thrust his hips against her.
Her hands roamed his back and sides, her claws leaving red welts along his skin as she pulled him down to the ground. Clothing was an obstacle quickly removed, and in the warm glide of body against body, Heniao claimed her prey.
The next morning, Hakkai watched Gojyo as they got ready to leave, smiling on the outside while he frowned on the inside. Sanzo and Goku thought Hakkai was the master of masking his feelings, but they didn't know Gojyo as well as he did. They didn't know that the half-breed could fake being loudly cheerful and carefree while slowly dying inside, drowning within his own bitter self-loathing. They didn't know what it meant when he pulled his hair into a high ponytail, leaving the sides and front free so he had something to hide behind.
They didn't know, though Sanzo likely suspected some of it, but Hakkai did. He knew that the ponytail was Gojyo's unconscious tell when he was depressed, like the nervous tic of an amateur gambler with a bad hand. Hakkai also knew that spending the night with a woman made Gojyo feel better about himself. It made him feel wanted and like he couldn't be too horrible if someone beautiful was willing to let him touch her.
Even taking the innkeeper incident into consideration, Gojyo should have been in a good mood, but when they'd all gotten up that morning, his first action had been to absently gather his hair up into a ponytail. That went against everything Hakkai had learned during three years as Gojyo's roommate, and he didn't like it. He also didn't like the round bruises, shaped like fingerprints, on his best friend's jaw and cheeks or the ugly bite marks half hidden behind the unbound portion of his hair.
As they piled into the jeep, Hakkai kept half his attention on Gojyo, listening intently as the redhead aggressively teased Goku in an attempt to distract himself from whatever was bothering him.
If I can get him alone when we stop for lunch, I might be able to coax him into talking about it.
"Hakkai, stop!"
He slammed on the breaks at Goku's call, the passengers all yelping in surprise as they were unexpectedly flung forward. There was nothing in their path, and he didn't sense any youkai energy beyond the confines of the jeep. There was a small shrine by the side of the dirt road with an old food offering, but surely even Goku wouldn't be interested in that.
"Damn it, Hakkai, don't do that so suddenly!" Sanzo snarled, glaring at him from the passenger seat as he finished beating out the embers on his robe. He had bitten his cigarette in half due to the sudden stop.
"But it would have been rude to ignore his request," he said, flashing Sanzo his brightest smile. He glanced over his shoulder at the two in the backseat. Goku was squirming, and Gojyo was muttering something about stupid monkeys and crazy drivers. "What is it, Goku?"
"I hafta go to the bathroom," he mumbled, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. He had meant to go before they headed out, but Kyoko had started calling him a doody head again, and he had completely forgotten, even though Sanzo had gone to the trouble of reminding him. Now his bladder felt like it was going to explode.
"Oh for…." Sanzo pulled the paper fan out of his robe and lunged toward the backseat.
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
"Ow! Sanzo, why are you hitting me?" Goku wailed, lifting his arms to protect his head.
"I told you to go before we left!" The monk gave him one last whack for good measure, then put the fan away and settled back into his seat. "Keep driving, Hakkai. Maybe Goku will learn to listen if he ends up wetting himself."
"What? No fuckin' way!" Gojyo objected. "I am not sharing the back with a piss-soaked monkey. Let him take a damn leak, it's not like it's going to cost us more than a few minutes."
"I have to agree with Gojyo on this, Sanzo. Hakuryu wouldn't appreciate being urinated on," Hakkai pointed out reproachfully.
"Kyuu!" Hakuryu exclaimed in agreement. His master patted his steering wheel reassuringly.
"Tch. Whatever," Sanzo grudgingly acquiesced.
While Goku clambered out of the jeep and trotted off into the bushes, Hakkai took the opportunity to study their surroundings, half of his attention still focused on picking up any unusual behavior from Gojyo. They were on a nice little dirt road near the river, the rundown shrine with its ancient bowls of noodles and rice the only sign of nearby human habitation.
Goku came back after a short amount of time, but didn't get into the jeep. "I'm hungry. Can we eat something before we get going again?"
"What? No. How the hell can you be hungry?" Sanzo asked in irritation. "We ate twenty minutes ago."
"I don't know. I just am. I'm really starving, Sanzo. Can we eat, please?" Goku whined, staring at him with huge golden eyes.
Sanzo twitched, Goku's twin powers of cuteness and noise beginning to melt away his resistance. Would it really hurt to stop for a bit and let the monkey stuff himself? If he was nice and full, he'd probably curl up into a cute little ball for a nap, and with no one to play with, the kappa would keep his damn mouth shut. It would give Sanzo at least a few hours of blessed silence.
He was about to tell Hakkai to fix a quick meal for Goku when Gojyo reached out and rapped his knuckles against the boy's head.
"Oi, monkey, if you're really hungry, you could always eat that," Gojyo suggested, pointing toward the shrine. Goku's eyes lit up and he raced toward the food. "Wait, Goku, I was kidding! Don't eat that crap, you don't know how long it's been there!"
It was too late. Goku had already devoured half of the rancid food before Gojyo's warning, and the awful taste, registered.
With a moan like a dying yak, Goku settled onto his bedroll with Gojyo's help, clutching his stomach in agony. It was only late morning, but they were already camped for the day, and Goku was in his sleeping clothes. His normal outfit would have to be thoroughly washed.
"Oi, Goku, you gonna live?" Gojyo asked around a cigarette. His tone was casual, but the look in his eyes betrayed concern and guilt. Goku had seemed okay at first, but after only an hour, he'd gotten violently ill.
They'd set up camp near the river, and Gojyo had half-carried Goku into the water. The bath had been tough on the kid in his condition, but he'd desperately needed it. Surprisingly, Hakkai had helped with the task, even though it hadn't made things any easier for Goku. Normally, his friend let him deal with things on his own when he royally fucked everything up.
Goku moaned again and curled into a ball, briefly looking up at him with dull golden eyes.
Damn it, this is not my fault! I know the monkey isn't exactly a genius, but I didn't think he'd be dumb enough to eat random crap from a shrine at the side of the road, Gojyo thought gloomily.
"Oi, moron, you still have cleaning to do!" Sanzo snapped irritably.
With that as his only warning, Gojyo barely dodged the pile of soiled clothing flung at him. "Hey, watch it! Why do I have to clean up after your stupid pet anyway?"
"Because you're the idiot who told him to eat that shit!" Sanzo growled through gritted teeth. His gaze kept trying to wander to his incapacitated young charge, but he refused to let it. He was not attached to the little, empty-headed, bottomless pit of a monkey, damn it!
"Yeah, but I didn't think the little bastard would actually do it." Gojyo muttered in his own defense as he pulled a new cigarette from his pack. He lit it from the still smoldering remains of his previous one, running his hand through the unbound part of his hair as he took a deep drag. From the moment he'd woken up, he hadn't gone more than a minute without a cigarette in his mouth, not even during breakfast.
"That's because you're a moron. Anyone with a half a brain would ha-"
"Sanzo," Hakkai cut in, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and holding a sketch of a plant in front of the monk. "Could you collect a few of these for me? If I make some tea out of it, it would help Goku feel a little bit better. Gojyo needs to wash those clothes before the stains set in, and I should remain near Goku in case he starts feeling worse."
"Keh. Fine, whatever," Sanzo grumbled, snatching the sketch from Hakkai. "I don't want to stick around here too much anyway. Gojyo's idiocy is probably contagious."
"Hey! Why don't you come and say that to my face, you stinking monk?" Gojyo yelled as Sanzo stomped off into the trees.
"Now, now, Gojyo, calm down," Hakkai said, patting him on the shoulder. "Goku's clothes really do need to be cleaned, you know."
Gojyo sighed and scooped up the filthy jeans and shirt, wrinkling his nose at the smell. At least the cape had escaped the mess, giving him one less thing to clean. He waded up to mid-thigh in the river and held the clothes under water, letting the strong current wash away vomit and other less pleasant things.
Jeez, pukin' and shittin' both at the same time. Poor kid, he thought in sympathetic disgust. Luckily, they had been able to get Goku out of the jeep before his guts had decided to violently expel everything he had eaten for the past day and a half. Hakuryu probably would have been traumatized for life if they hadn't.
He swished Goku's traveling outfit around in the water with one hand, the other going up to his neck to rub at the tender bite marks. He didn't remember Retsuko biting him, but she obviously must have at some point. Not that he minded being bitten, quite the opposite, actually, but not remembering bothered him.
Man, I'm still in my early twenties, and I'm already going fucking senile. Distracted by his musings, he didn't notice at first as the current tugged the laundry from his hand.
"Shit," he hissed, lunging after the clothing. He caught it, but his cigarette fell into the water. "Damn it."
He pulled out his pack and lighter, trying to hold his smoking paraphernalia and Goku's things without dropping anything. His cigarettes fell into the water and were instantly washed away.
"Fuck!" he snarled, flinging the laundry at the bank, where it hit with a wet plop. He angrily trudged into shallower water and sat down, hugging his knees to his chest and pressing his forehead against them. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
He heard Hakkai sloshing toward him, but didn't look up until the other man sat beside him and held out a freshly opened pack of Hi-Lites.
"Thanks, man," he muttered, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. Their shoulders touched as they unconsciously leaned against each other, both offering and accepting support.
"Do you want to tell me what's been bothering you today?" Hakkai asked. His tone was softly inquisitive, with no pressure for an answer.
"Not really." Gojyo shuddered, thinking of the dream he'd had after coming in from smoking the night before.
Hakkai waited patiently. If nothing distracted him, Gojyo would talk, if only because he valued having someone who would actually listen and care about what he said.
The redhead exhaled with a smoke-filled sigh, and Hakkai's patience was rewarded. "Just had a really nasty nightmare, is all," he grudgingly admitted.
Hakkai frowned. That wasn't normal. "After being with Retsuko?" Sex generally kept Gojyo's nightmares at bay.
"Yeah. It wasn't one of my usual ones. Guess that's why the usual stuff didn't keep it away."
"What was it about?"
Gojyo smoked quietly for a while, not answering until he had finished and started another one. "Remember that chick from the inn? Not even sure if you saw her, but she was a real looker with a nice body and hair the color of caramel. Everything's kind of hazy, but in the dream she looked different. I'm not even really sure what the difference was."
He frowned, vaguely recalling some kind of curly mark on her face. "Anyway, in the dream she…." He trailed off, shuddering slightly. Hakkai slipped his arm around his shoulders, which helped a little bit. "She… forced herself on me. I mean, if she had asked, I would've probably said yes, even with the skuzzy nails, but she didn't give a damn about what I would've wanted. She just wanted sex, and I was there for her to use. I guess it wouldn't have really been all that bad, except…."
Hakkai started gently rubbing his back as he shuddered again. "Except?" he prompted softly.
"Sometimes… sometimes in the dream, it wasn't the chick from the inn on top of me," Gojyo whispered, his voice sounding almost like that of a melancholy child. "Sometimes, it was her."
Hakkai froze for an instant. "I see," he murmured. Despite his constant sleeping around, there was only one woman who had any real meaning in Gojyo's life.
"She still wouldn't stop crying."
His hair hid them from view, so Hakkai couldn't see the other man's eyes, but he knew how they looked. Gojyo had never cried as a child, and he had never seen him do it as an adult, but those crimson eyes could hold enough sorrow to make others want to weep in his stead.
Hakkai carefully shifted away from Gojyo, but still stayed close. Now that he had talked about it, a distraction would be good. He playfully swatted at the bouncy ponytail and watched it swing.
"Hey, quit it!" Gojyo said indignantly. "Only chicks get to play with the hair. You're probably the closest I'll ever get to having a wife, but you are definitely not a chick!"
"I am nothing like a wife," Hakkai said in mock reproach.
The half-breed grinned at him, his mood greatly improved. "You cook, you clean, and you nag at me. Face it, Hakkai, if we ever went homo, you'd so be the girl," he teased.
Hakkai surged to his feet, splashing water on Gojyo as he did so. He smiled sweetly as the other man yelped and moved to protect his precious cigarettes from the water. "Oh my, I'm very sorry, but it just occurred to me that we really should check on Goku."
"You did that on purpose," Gojyo accused.
"What a rude thing to say!"
Gojyo grumbled and led the way back to camp. Hakkai followed, smiling in satisfaction as the redhead absently reached up and removed the ponytail holder from his hair.
Sanzo squinted at Hakkai's plant drawing and looked dubiously at the surrounding foliage. He saw nothing that even resembled it. He looked back at the drawing, wondering if it was even a real plant.
Hakkai had been surreptitiously watching slutboy all morning, most likely because of his increased smoking and the stupid, bouncy ponytail that only seemed to show up when the kappa was depressed or upset about something. Sanzo was pretty sure he'd been sent on a wild goose chase so Hakkai would have a chance to talk to Gojyo alone. At least it gave him something to do other than sitting around uselessly while his annoying monkey was sick.
Sanzo's eyes narrowed, and he lowered the sketch to his side as the youkai energy he'd been feeling since leaving camp increased. "Tch. I know you're there, so you might as well come out already!"
"It was foolish of you to wander off without your protectors, Sanzo," a nasal voice said mockingly from the trees. There was a rustle of leaves, and a male youkai was hurtling down at him from a high branch. "That scripture is as good as mine!"
Sanzo twitched and drew his gun. "Protectors?" he growled indignantly. "Those guys are pains in my ass, not protectors. I look after my own damn self!"
He aimed the banishing gun, but before he could pull the trigger, a knife flew through the air and embedded itself in the youkai's skull. There was another rustle of leaves, and a badly scarred half-breed woman jumped down.
Sanzo kept his gun out and ready, but didn't aim at her. If she was planning to attack him, she probably would have done so already. "I could have handled him myself."
She shrugged and retrieved her knife, cleaning it before vanishing it to the youkai pocket dimension. "Most likely, but that wasn't a risk I was willing to take, though I'm usually happy to let humans and youkai kill each other off."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Then why did you interfere?"
"The only reason I give a damn about your existence is because you're traveling with a half-breed," she said bluntly. "I may be an ugly, scarred up, prejudiced bitch, but I look after my own kind."
"How noble of you," he said dryly. He held up the drawing. "More importantly, though, have you seen any of these?"
The woman gave him an odd look and pointed over his shoulder at an entire patch of the plants. "You mean those over there in plain sight?"
Sanzo ground his teeth and twitched.
Hakkai had just finished giving Goku a few sips of water when he became aware of someone watching them. He felt no hostile intent, so he waited for Goku to fall into a deep sleep, which didn't take long at all, before turning and studying the trees. There was a hint of red amongst the green.
"You can come down. We won't hurt you," he called.
"Eh?" Gojyo, who was sitting on a large rock and busily lighting yet another cigarette, looked up and followed Hakkai's gaze. He blinked in surprise as a redheaded boy dropped down from the tree and eyed them warily.
"Hello, there," Hakkai said in a friendly tone. There was at least one other person in the tree, but he wasn't going to pressure the boy's companion into coming down. "Who are you?"
"…Kishou," the boy answered, hesitantly taking a step toward them.
"Huh. And here I was starting to think me an' Yanming's kid were the only male half-breeds around," Gojyo commented. Counting the scarred woman, Kyoko, and the kid who'd just shown up, he'd met six half-breeds on their continuing journey west. Four of the six had been female.
And Houran and Kougyoku both died saving my worthless ass. He hoped Kyoko and the scarred woman wouldn't follow the trend.
Kishou glanced at Gojyo, his expression shifting to resentment. "Damn, you are good-looking," he muttered.
"Wha?" Gojyo blinked stupidly at Kishou for a few seconds. Then he grinned and approached the boy, flinging an arm casually around his shoulders. "What an excellent taste in men you have! Sorry, kid, I'm not into guys."
Kishou turned beet red. "Th-that's not what I meant!" he wailed. "I'm not into guys either."
"Ahh, I see, it's like that, huh?" Gojyo said sympathetically. "Don't feel too badly about being attracted to me, it happens even to straight guys sometimes. It's because I'm just too damn sexy."
"You're too damn something, all right," Hakkai muttered.
"What was that?" Gojyo growled, shooting a dark glare at the brunet.
Hakkai smiled angelically. "Nothing at all. All the nicotine in your system must be making you hear things."
"Tch. Yeah, right."
The sound of muffled laughter came from the tree, followed shortly by a girl climbing down. Gojyo immediately abandoned Kishou, much to the boy's relief, and bounded over to the girl. He put his hand against the trunk and stood in front of her, forcing her to press back against the tree to avoid touching him.
"Hiii," he said, his voice automatically sliding up into the slightly higher pitch he used when first approaching a woman. "What's your name?"
"M-Meihan," she said, blushing at the attention.
"Really? What a cute name. It's perfect for such a cute girl." He flashed a cheerful smile at her. Then his expression became intense and his voice dropped into a low purr. "You can call me Gojyo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Meihan."
"I…uh…th-thank you. It's been one too. For me. A pleasure. Meeting you, that is. I think," Meihan babbled, her face turning even redder. No one had ever hit on her before. At home, she'd always been the weird girl with the red eyes.
Gojyo laughed. "You're underage, aren't you?" He grinned and moved back a little to give her space. "Maybe we could hook up when you're older. OW! Fuck it!"
He whirled around to glare at Sanzo, the monk's arm still outstretched from flinging his fan at the other man's head.
"Quit sexually harassing people, you perverted freak," Sanzo snapped in annoyance.
Gojyo started to protest being called a freak, but then caught sight of the woman who had followed Sanzo into camp. "You!" he exclaimed, pointing at her. "You're the chick who bumped into me in the street. You could have been a bit less cryptic, you know."
"Hey, it's not my fault if you're more of a blond than your grouchy friend," she said with a wicked grin. There was a weird choking noise from Sanzo that might have been a suppressed laugh.
Gojyo had to process her comment for a moment. "Hey!" he shouted, scowling at her. "I am not dumb, damn it!"
"Uh-huh. You just stay there and look pretty while I help your friends with something," she purred, slowly running her gaze up and down his body, pausing briefly at his face and groin.
"Reishu," Kishou said, coming to stand beside her. He glared at Gojyo in open hostility.
"Hey, kid." She affectionately ruffled his hair. "Why don't you and the brat go on ahead? I'll catch up in a bit."
"No way!" he protested. "I'm not leaving you alone with these people. They're weird!" He shot another glare at Gojyo.
Reishu snorted. "I'm a big girl, Ki. I can look after myself." The boy scowled, but gave in.
Sanzo watched him and the girl leave, then turned to Hakkai and thrust the plants at him. "Here," he said brusquely.
"Ah, thank you, Sanzo. Goku is resting comfortably, by the way."
"Hn. Like I care," Sanzo muttered, quickly suppressing his relief. "Reishu wants to mark a few things on our map."
Hakkai got out his map of the region and spread it out over the rock Gojyo had previously used as a seat. He offered Reishu a marker, and she quickly circled three locations, including a mountain pass and a patch of seemingly empty forest near the pass.
She pointed at the one remaining location, a town about two weeks away. "All four of you will be welcome here. This town has the best doctor in the region, so we've been keeping it safe. Five years ago, the only three adult males from my village died saving several people when half the town went up in flames. The townsfolk have a long memory for that sort of thing, so they would never turn out a half-breed, no matter what the local youkai are doing."
Her finger shifted across the map to tap the pass. "The fastest way west is through here. And the best place to get gear for the trip through the pass is here." She pointed to the patch of forest. "The Village of Taboo. It's warded so only half-breeds can see it from the outside. We've got really good traveling gear, since I have to go out a lot on collection missions. Most of our population is under twelve, so we can't run things like a normal village. That means most of our stores have low prices on the stuff that isn't outright free."
"I see. It's very kind of you to help us," Hakkai said, folding up the newly marked map.
"Like I told Grouchy over there, I look out after my own kind." She glanced over at Gojyo, who was leaning against the tree Kishou and Meihan had been hiding in. "There's no way in hell I'd let you people anywhere near my village if not for him."
"Hn. Nice to see that lugging his perverted ass around has finally come in handy," Sanzo said with a smirk.
"Hey! I can hear you guys, you know!"
Reishu chuckled and started rummaging around in the pouch at her belt. "Even with him, I'm still going to ask for repayment for my help later."
Sanzo's eyes narrowed. "I don't recall ever actually asking for your help," he said in a deadly quiet voice. "You can't expect payment for something you inflicted on us all on your own."
"Don't worry about it. I don't think my request will be turned down, and if it is, I won't push things."
"What's your request?" the monk asked suspiciously. If she wanted him to lecture or do anything else related to his position, they would just go through the mountains with expensive gear. It wasn't like it was his money anyway.
"Don't worry, blondie, it'll have nothing to do with you." She finally found what she wanted in her pouch and tossed a silver hairclip at Gojyo. "Here's something shiny to remember me by, hot stuff."
He caught the hairclip, then almost dropped it. The metal tingled weirdly against his skin. "A limiter?" he asked, confused. The woman had both insulted and complimented him, and now she was flinging limiters at him.
"Have any of you heard of the Blood Comet?"
"That… sounds vaguely familiar," Hakkai said thoughtfully. "Though I can't place where I've heard of it before."
Reishu turned her attention to him. "It passes by once every fifty years. From sunset to sunrise of the twenty-four hours when it's closest to the world, all half-breeds become full youkai." She glanced back at Gojyo. "You'd probably be able to keep yourself under control for the night, but it's hard to tell just what will make a youkai give in to the insanity."
"A full… youkai?" Gojyo said, an odd note of longing in his voice.
"Ah hell, not another one," Reishu muttered, looking at him with rough sympathy. "At least you aren't trying to hide what you are like Meihan. Though I suppose it isn't really possible for a half-breed to look like a youkai."
He tilted his head forward, hiding behind his hair as he stared down at the limiter in his hand. A full youkai…. How many times had he wished for that as a child? That his despised human blood would just go away and let his poor mother forget that he wasn't really her son.
Reishu sighed and looked at Hakkai. "If he starts losing himself on the night of the comet, put the limiter on him. I'm pretty sure he won't do it himself."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him," Hakkai said resolutely as the scarred woman left their camp. He wouldn't force the limiter on his friend, but he would keep him from hurting anyone.
In the deep woods, Retsuko ran with Kyoko on her back, the small obstacles, such as sticks, rocks, and slender branches, shifting out of the way to make her passage easier. She focused on her own breathing and the movement of her muscles, trying to ignore the clamoring voices in her head and the smell of the half-human child on her back.
"Humans are food," the voices whispered to her.
Kyoko isn't a human, Retsuko thought desperately.
"Half-human is close enough."
Humans aren't food.
"Think of how tasty she would be. Such a delicious little morsel. And then you would be free of her. Free of the burden your worthless husband left you with when he died."
"Mommy? Mommy, are you okay?"
Rage flooded through Retsuko at the sound of Kyoko's voice. She stopped and flung the child away from her, reveling in her scream as she hit the ground.
"Don't call me that, you horrible little brat!" she snarled, slapping the girl across the face. "I'm not your mommy! I would never have given birth to a filthy abomination like you!"
"M-Mommy?" Kyoko looked up her, close to tears, but not afraid. Retsuko lifted her hand for another strike. She would make the brat fear her. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I don't know what I did, but I didn't mean to be bad."
Retsuko's arm fell to her side as she came back to herself. "Kyoko," she whispered, horrified. She dropped to her knees and pulled the little girl to her. "I'm so sorry, baby. Mommy's sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."
"It's okay, Mommy."
Retsuko sobbed and held her daughter while the voices continued to whisper.