The Taste of Crimson
Chapter Eight
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.
Thanks to: Nimblnymph for the "the cuteness is melting my brain" line.
Author's Note: As I mentioned in the very first author's note, a kappa is an ugly beasty with depressions in its head that hold water. Gojyo occasionally complains when Goku calls him a kappa, and Goku has made comments about Gojyo's depressions drying out when he clearly doesn't even have them. That's why I have it stated in this chapter that kappa is a derogatory term for all water youkai.
The morning sun was a brighter patch of gray in the stormy sky as the rain continued to fall. The room's small table had been pushed against the window, and Gojyo was sitting on it next to a half-eaten bowl of rice and an empty coffee cup, absently flipping his lighter open and closed. He slowly blew out a thin stream of smoke as he gazed outside, most of his attention focused on the song of the rain.
It wasn't as intense as the night before, but it was definitely much clearer than when he was a kid. If he'd been able to hear it as well back then, he never would have sealed his powers away, no matter what his mother did to him.
Of course, she probably would have just tried to kill me sooner, he thought, drawing in a lungful of smoke. Then again, maybe not. He still had no idea what had set her off that day. He'd been uneasy about something, so had stayed quiet and out of her way.
He shrugged slightly and exhaled another thin stream of smoke. It didn't really matter why she had done it. All that mattered was that she had tried to kill him and had ended up dead instead. And his adored older brother had run out on him, too traumatized by what he'd been forced to do to stick around.
That, or he was too horrified at the thought of having to wander the streets with a filthy little child of taboo in tow, his more cynical side thought darkly. Hell, it might have been a bit of both.
A hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts. He jerked away from the unexpected touch, looking up at Hakkai's worried face.
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" the brunet asked with a sigh.
"Sorry," Gojyo mumbled around his cigarette. "I was thinking."
Hakkai smiled brightly. "It's wonderful that you're open to new experiences so soon after last night's events."
"Eh?" The redhead stared at him blankly for a moment while his tired mind tried to figure that statement out. Then he snorted and flipped him off. "Ha fuckin' ha. Real funny, asshole."
Hakkai just continued smiling and sat on the edge of the table. "You should try to get some more sleep. Last night took a lot out of you."
"I'm fine," Gojyo insisted quietly, stubbing out the remains of his cigarette. He fished another Hi-Lite from his current pack and lit it, flipping his lighter open and closed a few more times before putting it away.
"You were dead," the other man pointed out bluntly.
"And now I'm not. Thanks for that, by the way." He gazed out the window again. Talking to Hakkai had made the rain's song fade to the background, but now it had his attention again.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cool glass, his hair shifting slightly while the rain closest to the window began to glow and swirl in time with the song. There was a soft tug at his ponytail, followed by a harsh yank.
Gojyo yelped, his connection with the rain breaking as he opened his eyes and glared at Hakkai. Then he took a deep breath and blew it out up at his bangs before taking a hit of nicotine. "I was doing it again, huh?"
Hakkai nodded, releasing his grip on the other man's hair. He had monitored Gojyo's energy levels all through the night, waking him at least once an hour to keep him from killing himself again while unconsciously using his powers.
Gojyo leaned his head back against the window, rubbing at his eyes. They were dry and gritty with exhaustion. He opened them and looked outside once again. "Kappa is a derogatory term for all water youkai," he said suddenly. "Real kappas are ugly bastards with depressions in their heads for holding water."
"I know." Hakkai cocked his head, studying his friend. "Does it upset you when you're called that?"
"Nah, not really." He waved the hand holding his cigarette dismissively and took another drag. "It's just like me calling the kid a monkey, Sanzo the random insult of the day, and you emo dude."
"You call me emo dude?" Hakkai asked, raising a brow in disbelief.
Gojyo grinned at him. "Well, not to your face, obviously."
"My, how considerate of you."
The redhead laughed. Then his expression became pensive. "I'm technically a water youkai, but I can't do a thing with the stuff unless it's falling from the sky. I'm half raindancer, and I can hear it sing."
"The rain?" Hakkai asked curiously.
Gojyo nodded. "If it hadn't sucked so much of my energy out last night, I could probably figure out how to control my powers. Right now, though, I can't even manage to tune out the song. If we stay here while it rains, someone is going to have to watch me the entire time. The monkey doesn't have the attention span for it, Sanzo is always moody and distracted when it rains, and you need to sleep at some point."
"What are you suggesting?"
Gojyo frowned and closed his eyes, his hair reacting as he purposely triggered his power. Hakkai called his name sharply, and the half-breed held up a hand to keep him from interrupting. "Just a sec," he murmured. "I'm checking something."
He thought of what he wanted to know, and the song of the rain changed slightly, suddenly focusing intently on him. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, he thought uneasily. But then it was too late. The rain gathered his awareness and pulled him into it.
He becomes part of the song. He is it, and it is him. A perfect melding of unbearable sorrow, innocent joy, fierce independence, and the aching need for companionship. As his essence is scattered throughout the storm system, mapping its dimensions, he realizes something. His power doesn't control the rain. It gives it a measure of sentience while under his influence. It chooses to obey him because it likes him. No, likes isn't the right word. It-
Pain jolted Gojyo back to his body, his chest aching and his cheek stinging from the hard slap that had brought him back to himself. He sucked in a lungful of air, coughing as it burned its way down. He was sprawled across the table with a very upset Hakkai staring down at him. He felt the familiar tingle that meant the healer had used his chi to bolster his failing energy reserves.
"Did you find out whatever you needed to?" Hakkai asked with the pleasant neutrality he used when he was hiding the fact that he was furious.
Gojyo found his cigarette lying on the table where he'd apparently dropped it and took a drag before responding. "How tired are you? Could you manage to drive a couple of hours without falling asleep at the wheel?"
"Possibly. Why?" Hakkai asked, his eyes narrowing. If Gojyo didn't have a good reason for what he'd just done, he was going to throttle the man for making him worry like that.
"It'll be raining here for the next couple of days, but if we head northwest, we'll be out of the storm in a little under two hours."
"We'll have to convince Sanzo that it's worth it," Hakkai pointed out, his anger draining away. Finding out the duration and dimensions of the storm had been a good idea and worth the risk.
Gojyo smirked. "Leave him to me," he said confidently. "Just fetch me the monkey and a meat bun, and we're good to go."
Gojyo barged into Sanzo's room without so much as a knock, Goku following along and finishing the last of the meat bun he'd been given as a bribe. The monk was standing next to the window with a cigarette held between his fingers and a nearly overflowing ashtray balanced precariously on the windowsill.
"We should get going," Gojyo announced, ignoring the monk's murderous glare.
"It's raining, dumbass," Sanzo growled, bringing his cigarette up to his mouth for a hit of nicotine.
"Aww, is the poor widdle monk scawed of getting wet?" the redhead mocked, leaning one arm on the other man's shoulder.
"I liked you better when you were dead," Sanzo muttered in, slapping Gojyo's arm away like it was a particularly nasty insect. "Don't touch me."
"Why?" Gojyo asked with a seductive little smile. "Afraid you might start to like it?" Then he expertly dodged the bullets fired his way, signaling to Goku as he did so.
"Gah!" Sanzo stopped firing and took a step back as Goku suddenly appeared in front of him.
"There aren't many people here, and it's so boring! An' they don't have any good restaurants! Can we leave, Sanzo, please? Can we, can we?"
Sanzo twitched as the monkey stared up at him with huge, pleading gold eyes. "Damn it, the cute is eating my brain," he muttered, pressing a hand to his face. Then he sighed, letting his arm drop and tucking his gun back into his robe. "Fine, we're going! If you two morons aren't ready in five minutes, you'll be left behind. Now, get the hell out of my room!"
Before they could comply, a young woman, the innkeeper's daughter, peered nervously through the open doorway. "I-is everything all right? I heard-" Her words were cut off by her own terrified scream as she caught sight of Gojyo. She backed away, her eyes wide with fear. "Yo-youkai!"
"Hey, wait, miss!" Gojyo called, wincing as she ran away. "Damn it."
Sanzo smirked. "I would have thought you'd be used to women running away from you screaming by now."
"Keh. Bastard," the half-breed muttered, flipping him off.
"Come on, we need to get out of here before her fellow villagers come with torches and pitchforks. I'm sure we could find a replacement redheaded slut in the Village of Taboo, but I've just started getting used to you."
As they headed out, Hakkai, who had come out into the hall at the sound of the woman's screams, fell into step beside Gojyo. "You knew someone would come to investigate the gunshots."
"Yep," Gojyo affirmed. "Had to have something in reserve in case the main plan didn't work."
That hadn't gone as he had thought it would. He had expected the innkeeper to show up, not his daughter. It had hurt to see such a pretty girl so scared of him. He couldn't really blame her for her reaction, though. All of the youkai were going nuts, and he was a half-breed. She had no way of knowing that his human blood kept the Minus Wave from affecting him.
"I see," Hakkai murmured. "Wouldn't it have been simpler to just allow yourself to be 'accidentally' discovered rather than baiting Sanzo?"
"Simpler, yeah," Gojyo agreed, flashing him a wicked grin, "but not nearly as much fun."
Hakkai laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "You are impossible," he said, shaking his head while the other man's grin just got wider.
Goku watched in horrified fascination as Sanzo dipped a spoon into his bowl of… stuff and contentedly ate it. The man was the center of his universe, his bright, golden sun, but Goku had to admit there was something seriously wrong with his sense of taste.
They had set up camp soon after getting out of the rain, Gojyo practically passing out from exhaustion as soon as he got his bedding laid out. Hakkai had lasted only a little longer, managing to prepare a quick lunch for his two conscious companions and Hakuryu before giving in to the need for sleep.
As the afternoon had turned to evening, Goku had gathered more firewood while Sanzo made dinner. In hindsight, that hadn't been the best way to divide the work. Goku wasn't a very good cook, most of the ingredients tending to end up inside of him instead of in the pot, but he at least would have been able to manage something edible.
The monk had put together an unholy concoction of dried squid, a few cans of coconut milk, mayonnaise, honey, tapioca pearls, canned peach chunks, and seaweed. Just the smell had been enough to make Goku queasy, and now he was watching Sanzo eat the stuff, feeling sicker with each passing moment but unable to look away.
"Holy shit, what the fuck is that smell?" Goku gratefully looked away from his keeper and the horrible food, turning his attention to Gojyo. The redhead was sitting up, blinking owlishly before rubbing at his eyes and yawning.
"Sanzo made dinner," Goku said, his voice full of misery and horror. He was so hungry, but he'd keel over dead if he ate the stuff, he just knew it.
Gojyo paused in the middle of releasing his hair from its disheveled ponytail, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He started to ask why the hell Sanzo had been allowed to cook, but a glance to his right at the man sleeping about a foot away from him was answer enough.
He sighed and retrieved the comb from his pocket, running it through his hair a few times before pulling the crimson locks back into a high ponytail. Then he stood up, leaving his customary brown jack behind, and cautiously approached the cooking pot, peering dubiously at the contents. It looked about as edible as it smelled, but damn it, he was hungry.
Gathering his courage, he plopped down next to the fire, snagged a bowl from the bag they kept their few dishes in, and filled it. He poked at the thick, white glop, shuddering in disgust. Then he took a deep breath and tried a spoonful.
"Oh, god, that's nasty!" he said, gagging. "What the hell did you do, jerk off in it?"
Sanzo snorted. "You wish."
Gojyo opened his mouth to respond, but didn't say anything, his eyes going blank and the bowl tumbling to the ground from his suddenly lax grip.
"Shit!" Sanzo cursed while Goku worriedly called Gojyo's name.
The redhead sprang to his feet, his shakujou materializing in his hand. He swiped at Goku with the fixed blade, the crescent at the other end flying free with a rattle of chain and curving toward Sanzo. Both barely managed to dodge, caught off guard by the attack.
"Hey, what are you attacking me for? I didn't cook that gross stuff!" Goku wailed. What Sanzo had done to the poor food was a terrible, terrible thing, but violence wasn't going to repair the damage.
A wall of shadow rose from the ground near Gojyo, deflecting a weak chi blast, and Goku glanced over at Hakkai. The man was awake and on his feet, Hakuryu "kyuu"ing in agitation from his shoulder.
"It seems the shadow youkai have finally decided to make their move," the brunet said grimly.
"No shit," Sanzo muttered, continuing to dodge the crescent blade. He drew his gun, intending to merely graze Gojyo to bring him out of the trance state. That plan was foiled as tendrils of shadow suddenly wrapped around him, forcing his wrists together and then up over his head. Another tendril covered his mouth, keeping him from using the Maten Sutra to confine the half-breed.
Bound as he was, the monk was an easy target, but Gojyo inexplicably retracted the crescent, using his weapon like a normal staff against Goku, who had called in his Nyoi-bo. More shadow tendrils emerged, immobilizing Hakkai and Hakuryu and leaving the monkey to fend for himself.
"What the hell is going on?" Goku asked in frustrated confusion as he fought. He could have easily overpowered Gojyo, but he was trying not to hurt him.
"Hit him, Goku!" Hakkai called. "He's under someone's control, but pain will snap him out of it!"
"Okay!"
Goku exploded into motion, his hesitant defense becoming a confident offense. Gojyo kept up with him for the first few exchanges, but then Goku was able to exploit an opening, slamming Nyoi-bo against the man's side. Gojyo hit the ground hard, skidding into one of the many patches of shadow created by the setting sun.
"What… the hell?" the redhead gasped in confusion, struggling up to his hands and knees. "What's goi- shit!"
A pair of delicate, taloned hands rose up from the ground and wrapped around Gojyo's wrists in a strong grip. Then they tugged sharply, and his yelp of surprise was cut off as he was dragged down into the shadow.
"Gojyo!" Hakkai and Goku both called, the latter running to the spot where their friend had vanished.
He yelled in alarm, arms flailing in a futile attempt to keep his balance, as a figure shot up from where Gojyo had just been. He fell back on his rear, looking up at the brunette youkai woman. She smiled maliciously as shadow tendrils crawled across his body, pinning him down.
Within the black void of the Shadowed Ways, Sanyin held Gojyo tightly for the few moments it took Heniao to reassert her control. Once he was docile, she relaxed her grip and gracefully sank to her knees, pulling him down with her.
"Let's see how your friend's are faring, shall we?" she murmured to him, languidly waving her hand. A patch of blackness cleared away, revealing Heniao's confrontation with the rest of the Sanzo party. The image was one-way, allowing her to watch without being seen.
So far, everything was going as planned. She was keeping Sanzo and Goku bound while Heniao kept Gojyo tranced and maintained the shadow tendrils holding Hakkai. Sanyin smiled. It was almost time to spring the secret part of her plan. Then the bond between Heniao and Gojyo would be broken, and the half-breed would be hers.
"If you're trying to get Sanzo's scripture for Kougaiji, kidnapping Gojyo really isn't the best idea," Hakkai said in a calm, conversational tone. "We won't trade."
"I'm a shadow youkai," Heniao said haughtily. "My kind don't bow to Gyokumen Koushu and her little puppet prince."
She could feel him releasing small bursts of chi into the tendrils holding him. She carefully weakened them, creating the illusion that his efforts were actually working. The other two were also trying to get loose, Sanzo struggling uselessly while Goku flailed and gnawed at his bonds.
"Then why are you doing this?" Hakkai asked.
"Because I'm hungry, and your friend is a tasty little snack," Heniao purred, licking her lips.
Goku blinked, momentarily ceasing his attempt to chew through the amorphous shadow tendrils. "Gojyo's tasty?" His stomach growled loudly.
"Ah-ha-ha…. You really shouldn't try to eat Gojyo when we get him back, Goku. You don't know where he's been," Hakkai gently admonished.
Heniao shook her head in disgust at their idiotic exchange, using the time to weave a thin layer of shadow across her torso. It would take a lot of effort, but if she did everything just right, she could fake her own death, the shadows harmlessly absorbing the chi blast Hakkai would send her way once he "escaped".
And once I no longer have to worry about these fools, I'll be able to put Sanyin in her pla-
BANG!
There was a sudden impact against her back, followed by numbness. She blinked in confusion, swaying slightly as she tried to figure out what had just happened. She slowly turned around, but what she saw didn't make any sense. One of the monk's hands was still stretched up above his head, but the other, the one with the gun, had been released.
That bitch betrayed me, she thought fuzzily. Then she fell to the ground, dead.
"Oh dear, it seems I let one of the tendrils go a little too soon," Sanyin said in mock innocence. Then she threw her head back and laughed, releasing Sanzo and Goku as Hakkai was freed from Heniao's power.
The man in her arms stiffened, then went limp as the other shadow youkai's death broke the bond between them. He started struggling only a few seconds later. Sanyin got to her feet, grabbed a handful of scarlet ponytail, and flung him aside.
The formless blackness caught him, enveloping his hands as his arms were stretched out to the sides. "Who the hell are you?" he growled, trying to tug his arms free.
"I am Sanyin," she said, gliding toward him. She lightly stroked his cheek, studying him as her hand continued on down his body.
"Hey!" he yelped, squirming as she started undoing his belt. He liked sex, a lot, and the kinkier, the better, but there were some things even he wasn't interested in. Being molested by an evil youkai chick while stuck in a freaky black void was definitely at the top of the list, right under anything involving guys or animals, which amounted to about the same thing, in his opinion.
She smiled wickedly. "The neck, wrist, and the inner part of the elbow are all excellent places to take blood, but they are much too noticeable."
She pushed his jeans and underwear down, and more of the black substance wrapped around his ankles, spreading his legs. He cursed, resuming his futile struggles as she dropped to her knees in front of him, her silver hair brushing against his groin as she slowly licked his inner thigh.
"Damn it, stop it! NO!" His shouted refusal turned into a gasp of pleasure as her fangs sank into him, her saliva entering his system as she claimed him as her prey.
Gojyo staggered through the woods, lost and confused. The last thing he remembered was foolishly trying the unholy crap Sanzo had made. What the fuck was he doing wandering around in the trees? The stuff had probably screwed with his head, sending him off on a delusional ramble through the wilderness.
At least I'm not naked and pretending to be a monkey in the trees like that time I got way too much sugar when I was a kid, he thought, shuddering. Random nakedness he could deal with, but he never would have been able to live down pretending to be a monkey.
He squinted, seeing something that might have been the glow of their fire. His sense of smell wasn't as good as a full youkai's, but when he sniffed the air, he caught a faint whiff of something hideous. The smell got stronger as he moved toward the glow, confirming his belief that it was their campfire.
"Where the hell have you been?" Sanzo snapped as Gojyo trotted into camp.
"I have no idea. The last thing I remember before being in the woods is eating that crap you made. What the fuck did you put in there, anyway?" he asked, glaring at the monk suspiciously.
"There's nothing wrong with my cooking," Sanzo insisted irritably. "It tastes good, and it's not what made you zone out."
"Then what-" Gojyo froze, his eyes widening as several things suddenly clicked into place. His hand flew up to the partially healed bite marks on his neck. "Fuck! I got bitten by a goddamn vampire youkai," he growled. He glanced at the others, noticing that Goku looked surprised and confused while Sanzo and Hakkai didn't. He'd expected as much. "Which you two bastards knew all along."
"We couldn't tell you, Gojyo," Hakkai said soothingly. "You might have passed the information along to the youkai who attacked you."
"Fuck you, Hakkai!" Gojyo snarled, barely noticing as Goku came over to him and poked at his arm. "You guys weren't going to let me go to her, so that's not the reason. You didn't tell me because the bitchy monk thinks I'm a moron. I'm not a child, and I'm not stupid… and why the hell is the monkey licking me?!"
Goku looked up at him, his nose wrinkling in disgust as Gojyo snatched his arm away. "That lady lied," he whined. "You aren't tasty at all. Just kinda salty."
"What?" Gojyo stared down at him incredulously, some of his anger dissipating in the face of Goku's bizarre behavior. "Dude, that is seriously fucked up. The only people I want eating me are hot chicks, and only in the figurative sense, not literally."
"Huh?" Confused golden eyes blinked at him. Then their owner shrugged and glared unhappily at Sanzo and Hakkai. "They kept it secret from me too, you know."
Gojyo snorted and ruffled the monkey's hair. "That's because they knew you would have told me."
"Gojyo," Hakkai said, taking one step toward his friend. The redhead narrowed his eyes, then turned away, ignoring him.
"Come on, Goku," Gojyo said, snagging him by the back of his shirt. "I'm hungry. There's a lake nearby, and we both know how to grill fish."
Hakkai watched as the two of them left the camp, Goku dancing around happily and chanting about tasty fish. He sighed heavily. Gojyo had been right, of course. They had kept it a secret because Sanzo had been convinced the half-breed would do something stupid if he found out. And he had gone along with it, even though he knew his friend was smarter than he let on.
"Hn. Don't worry about it, Hakkai," Sanzo said dismissively. "The idiot's way too forgiving. He'll be over it by morning."
The other man nodded slowly, though he didn't agree. The monk was partially right, Gojyo was an extremely forgiving person and he normally got over things fairly quickly, but Hakkai had the sinking feeling that it was going to take more than one night this time.