Title: Sixth Sense

Author: Lauand

Beta: purpleicicles

Pairing: Gojyo/Hakkai

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Hakkai's Terms and Conditions.

A/N: Written for the Saiyuki_time LJ community. Thank you very much to purpleicicles for the beta-reading!

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With the effortless grace of someone who has done the same gesture a million times before, Gojyo took a long, deep drag of his cigarette and tried to determine how badly he had fucked up this time.

It hadn't been the sex, Gojyo was sure. Not only was he confident in his own abilities, he had also seen with his own eyes, heard with his own ears, felt in his own guts that Hakkai's pleasure was sincere. It wasn't as if he could have faked his orgasm. Although, on second thought, that wasn't a feat to be put beyond Hakkai.

No, the sex had been awesome. More than awesome. Fabulous. Fucking great. He couldn't really put into words how good it had felt, how damn right. No, it had been in the aftermath, Gojyo was sure now, his big mouth mentioning off-handedly, in that ambiguous tone that didn't exactly say if he was being serious or joking, that maybe they could really start going out or something. ''Cause I want the sex, but I'd like the other things, too.'

Hakkai had been acting weird ever since. That is, last night. Weird in the Hakkai-ish sense of the word. He smiled, he was kind, he cared, he kept his peace. But in a cold, detached way that was so totally phoney that Gojyo had wanted to punch him.

He hadn't, though. Gojyo congratulated himself on his self control and brought the cigarette to his lips again. The familiarity of the smoke in his mouth, in his lungs… it was reassuring. Unlike the creepy silence in the house that screamed Hakkai wasn't there.

After a couple of puffs more, Gojyo put out his cig and made up his mind. He would back-pedal and give Hakkai his accustomed morning-after drone: Sha Gojyo wasn't made for just one woman (or man), it hasn't been a mistake – you were great, baby – but neither would happen again, he hadn't been thinking straight when he had said what he had said, it was only the heat of the moment, you know, and well, they could be still be friends, yeah…? Gojyo gritted his teeth. That last part wasn't the usual. It had been especially made up for the present occasion. Fuck.

He got up and went in search of another Hi-Lite. Just when he had found the lighter in the living room and was about to lit up, he heard the front door opening. Hakkai.

"Hey," Gojyo nervously greeted.

"Oh, good evening, Gojyo," the man was smiling so hard that it was impossible he was really seeing anything through the squinted eyes. Calmly, with the care he put in everything he did - from tucking a drunk Gojyo in to dusting the bookshelves - Hakkai took off his coat and produced a sheet of paper from one of its pockets after he had gently hung it on the proper hook. Gojyo remembered the day Hakkai had made him nail those hooks to the wall, "how are you?"

"Eeer, fine, I guess. Look man--"

"I've been thinking about…" Hakkai interrupted him as if he hadn't heard him and then paused to choose his words after making sure that Gojyo had indeed shut up to listen, "…the unexpected turn of events last night."

"Yeah, precisely that's what I wanted to--"

"Have this."

Hakkai presented Gojyo with the sheet of paper. Gojyo took it without thinking the moment he saw Hakkai wasn't smiling anymore.

"What… what's this?"

Gojyo's incredulous eyes ran over the neat calligraphy once more just in case he had read wrong the first time.

"It's my sheet of terms and conditions."

Too engrossed in the reading, it took Gojyo some extra seconds to catch up and confirm that, indeed, he didn't understand shit.

"Your what?"

"My terms and conditions.." Hakkai stood calmly, without fidgeting, close to him. His voice was soft but dead serious. "I'll only accept to enter a relationship if the other party (that would be you in this case) is willing to warrant that this conditions will be fulfilled."

Gojyo finally took his eyes off the sheet.

"Are you nuts?!"

Hakkai smiled in that special way that was an answer of itself.

"Man, I mean, this is…" Gojyo read again, this time aloud "…one: not dying. Two: not getting pregnant in case of rape. Three: not being raped. Four: not being kidnapped. Five: not committing suicide in front of – no, wait, that's scratched, alright – five: not committing suicide, period. Six: not dying. – you already mentioned that one, I think – …"

"It's an important one."

"Figures."

Slowly, Gojyo let the sheet down and took Hakkai's hand to drag him to the table, making him sit on a chair and taking himself a seat on another.

"Hakkai…" Gojyo inhaled air and let it out again. "You know I can't promise I won't die. What the fuck, everybody dies…"

"You know..." Hakkai started casually, smiling that… that thing that nearly hurt to see, "Goku has it."

"Ugh?"

"That sixth sense. That pricking of the thumbs, that raising of the fine hairs on the nape, that warning, that alarm that goes off every time Sanzo is in danger. He just knows. Like that time against Kinkaku; no matter what, he can always tell. Always. But I…" slowly, the smile was fading and Gojyo couldn't decide for sure if he preferred the falseness of a fake smile or the truth in the resigned pain Hakkai radiated now as though it were body heat. "I already told you once, Gojyo. I don't have premonitions; I'm not gifted with that sixth sense. And as I won't know when you'll need me, I can't be there in time. So I need you to promise me that sixth sense that I lack will never be necessary, that I'll never be too late to save you, because, I tell you this in all honestly, I don't think I'm strong enough to face that again."

Gojyo's eyes were determined when he took another look at the sheet and firmly promised:

"Ok, I'll give you my word on number two." He risked a glance at Hakkai and judged it was not enough. "Alright, number five, too. And I solemnly swear that I will work hard to avoid breaking the other ones… yeah?"

He was not used to seeing Hakkai so vulnerable. He wasn't used to feel so vulnerable himself. Gojyo couldn't understand why anything that involved more than fucking had to always be so damn complicated. Getting abruptly up, he started searching for a pen. The first thing he found was a permanent marker from the monkey. Uncapping it with his teeth while he walked back to the table, he cast a last look at Hakkai and signed with irregular characters the fucking paper.

"Here you are," he handed Hakkai the signed sheet and impatiently asked, "can we start with the lovey-dovey shit now or not?"

Hakkai exhaled, smiled – this time for real – and started to fold the paper with the utmost care. He then reached hesitantly for Gojyo's belt and pulled until Gojyo obediently stepped nearer to the sitting man. Hakkai then put his warm arms around Gojyo's hips and hugged him, unhurriedly but tight, pressing his head against Gojyo's belly. Feeling like an idiot for wishing so desperately that his guts didn't start growling just now, Gojyo sneaked his own arms clumsily around Hakkai's head and softly caressed his dark hair.

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