The Strength of Crimson

Chapter 3

Gojyo awoke early the next morning, slipping out of his bed. Goku snored once, loudly, startling him, but he shook his head, continuing on, pulling his clothes on silently, grabbing his cigarettes and lighter, heading to the door. He opened the door and nearly lost his sanity. Hakkai was standing on the other side of the door, that infuriating smile on his lips, one hand raised as if to knock.

"Oh. Good morning, Gojyo. Are you going somewhere?" He said cheerfully, lowering his hand.

"Th' hell are you doin' up so early?"

"I figured you would try to slip out on us again, so I decided to make sure you didn't do that. It was such an annoyance the last time you did."

"Right." Gojyo turned, starting down the hall. "I'm gonna go ask why those kids were killed. You wanna come?"

"Of course. I am as curious as you are." Hakkai smiled at his friend, who gave a weak smile back. The two of them walked slowly out of the inn, walking into the morning light. They headed down the streets, meeting no one. "Perhaps we are a bit early. Shall we return to the inn and get some breakfast?"

"That sounds fine." Gojyo followed Hakkai back through the streets of town, silent, his hands deep in his pockets, cigarette protruding from his lips, sending a trail of smoke to the sky.

"Gojyo, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Hakkai. Don't worry about me."

"Too late."

Gojyo chuckled deep in his throat. "Guess so."

Hakkai smiled, leading Gojyo inside the inn. They returned to their rooms, Hakkai sighing slightly when he saw Sanzo sitting in the windowsill of their room, glaring out into the sunlight, smoking. "Sanzo?"

"Let me guess, you're going to go shopping."

"Yes. I need the credit card, please."

Sanzo pulled the card from his pocket, sighing as he handed it to the quiet healer. "Hurry up. And get more cigarettes."

"Of course." Hakkai walked back out of his room, starting when Gojyo appeared beside him. "Gojyo!"

"Hey Hakkai. I'm coming to help you."

"Thank you." The two of them once again walked out into the sunlight. Bootsteps sounded behind them as they walked and Hakkai turned slightly. "Oh. Sanzo. Goku. Are you coming to help as well?"

"The monkey's going to help. I'm coming to talk to people."

"Right." Gojyo eyed Sanzo, but didn't say much any else.

The four of them wandered through the town, Hakkai buying things, handing them to Gojyo and Goku. He frowned when he noticed how quiet Gojyo was being. The red head was strangely silent, not looking at the other people in the group. Hakkai was pulled out of his thoughts by Sanzo talking.

"So, you say that youkai attacked yesterday morning, before we arrived."

"Yes."

"How did you keep from having the town destroyed?"

"We gave them a sacrifice."

Gojyo snarled lightly, stepping forward, one of his hands clenched into a fist. "What did you give them?"

"Could it be the bodies of the children that we uncovered in the collapsed hut not far from here?" Hakkai asked, his voice soft, but holding the promise of pain.

The village leader they were speaking to shrugged. "We gave the youkai those children. They agreed to let us live if we let them kill all the half-breed children in the town. No one cares for those children anyways If a hanyou child is born here, they are abandoned at that hut, where they are given food twice a day. They stay out of our way and we stay out of theirs. They have no family, no one to miss them. It's not like we could give the youkai one of our own children. These children have no parents, no one to miss them, no one to mourn them. It's better this way."

Gojyo stiffened as the village leader kept talking. He glanced over at Hakkai, startled by what he saw. The normally calm healer was almost snarling, his back ramrod straight, his dark green eyes narrowed in a death glare more terrifying than Sanzo's, his hands clenched in tight fists at his sides. "'Kai?"

"Gojyo, it's just like what they did to me." He snarled, his voice low, harsh, cold.

"I thought it was." Gojyo answered quietly.

"They were nothing, no one cared about them."

"Sir, if you were not who you were, I would destroy you. Those were children, you fool. Innocent children." Hakkai suddenly growled, stepping forward.

"It did not matter. hanyous are a waste to the society."

"My closest friend and the only person I trust in the world is a hanyou. If I were you, I would watch what I say."

Gojyo watched Hakkai, who was suddenly smiling again, his true eye dark with anger, contrasting the smile curling his lips. Shit. He's pissed. 'Course, I don't blame him.

"How could ya do that? They were kids!" Goku asked, looking at the village elder.

"They were not needed in this world. The hanyou only bring bad luck and pain."

Goku looked back at Gojyo, who was hanging his head so his bangs were covering his eyes. A strange smile was crossing his lips and Goku frowned. He opened his mouth to ask Gojyo about it, but a hand descended on his shoulder. He glanced behind him to see Sanzo standing there, cigarette held to his lips, violet eyes looking past him to the people behind him. "Sanzo?"

"Ask him later if you have to."

"Okay."

Gojyo stepped forward, looking up at the village elder. "So I'm bad luck, am I?"

"Y-yes. Before you came, the youkai attacked!"

"Before I came, I caused bad luck?" Gojyo's crimson eyes widened, then he looked over at Hakkai and laughed. "Did ya hear that?"

"I did." Hakkai grinned at Gojyo. "Apparently, you are able to produce some very strong bad luck."

"So it would seem." Sanzo spoke up, frowning. "You really are a good for nothing kappa."

"Shut up." Gojyo growled good-naturedly.

"Sanzo, if they killed kids to save the village, that makes them bad guys, right?" Goku asked, looking over at Sanzo.

"You can't really say we're good guys, Goku." Hakkai replied softly. "But yes. It does make them 'bad guys'."

"Let's kill 'em, then." Gojyo piped up.

"We aren't in the business of killing humans, Gojyo."

"You may not be, bein' a human yourself, but I'm not a human. I have no qualms about killing humans. In fact, the world would be better off without 'em."

"While I agree with you, Gojyo, please refrain from causing trouble." Hakkai said softly, placing a hand on Gojyo's shoulder. "And don't forget, I am no longer a human. I gave that up years ago."

Gojyo drew in a deep breath like he was going to respond, but he sighed instead, his broad shoulders slumping as the fight left him. "Fine, Hakkai."

Hakkai watched his friend, who turned from the townspeople, staring off to where the freshly dug graves stood out dark against the lighter ground. Gojyo. . . Hakkai turned back to the townspeople, frowning deeply. "You are all hypocrites."

"What?"

"You pretend to be righteous, accepting and truthful, yet you shun children because they are different, then when it comes to a choice between your life and their lives. . . you give up the child's life to save your village rather than fight and lose a few adults. You slaughtered innocent children to save your own damn asses."

"They were nothing." The town leader replied.

Hakkai snarled, then flung his fist forward, catching the man in the mouth. "Do not speak to me about that. Every living person is someone, something."

The town leader stumbled backwards, wiping the smear of blood from his face. "Arrest them!"

Gojyo summoned his shakugetsujo as guards surrounded them, but Hakkai put a hand on his arm. "'Kai?"

"Let me handle this." Hakkai replied. "Arrest us, if you so want to, but let the priest and child go. They have nothing to do with this."

"We would never dare to arrest a Sanzo priest." The leader replied. "And we will let the child go since, as you said, he has nothing to do with this. But you and the hanyou must surrender to us."

"Fine." Hakkai held his wrists out. "I surrender. Gojyo?"

"I. . ." Gojyo glanced over at Hakkai, who looked at him. His face was smiling, but his green eyes were dark and muddled. " . . .surrender."

The guards slapped shackles on Gojyo and Hakkai, dragging them off to the prison, leaving Sanzo and Goku behind.

"Sanzo!"

"What?"

"What are we going to do?"

"They're adults. They can get out of this situation on their own." Sanzo replied, striding off from where the townspeople were still gathered.

And the plot thickens. . .

I'm glad you are all enjoying it thus far! ^_^

Thanks to my reviewers: Phantom Gypsy, mimi, and duck113.

Ja ni!