Short and sweet. Enjoy the next chapter of Keeping Face! If things go as I plan, there should be about 2-3 more segments. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Chapter 6
"Well, it's going better than expected at least." Gojyo hummed as he walked down the street. Everyone was glaring at Hakkai, but no one had said anything or done anything to him yet. The worst they were doing was just ignoring he was there, and Gojyo wasn't sure if that was shoddier than if they had a riot. From the looks of it, even if things hadn't cascaded downhill yet, Hakkai was still tense. Though, Gojyo couldn't blame him. "No one's screamed yet."
"Thankful for tiny blessings and all that." Hakkai was mortified. The demon had never been so embarrassed in his entire life. He felt as though a thousand tiny needles were boring into his every pore as he walked by the townspeople. There was a practically tangible web of distrust and fear clinging to his every bit of flesh. Had they nothing better to do than to stare at him? Hakkai took purposeful, even breaths to calm himself. He was already starting to feel like a wild animal in a corner and getting nervous would only make him lash out. He felt a pair of tiny eyes staring at up him like he was some freak show and felt his breath speed up again. Control. Hakkai was all about control.
"Get a grip, Hakkai. You're starting to look like a drug addict in withdrawal." Sanzo blew out some smoke from his cigarette. Things couldn't have been going better if he planned it. Hakkai was being forced to empathize for once with the demon cause and no one was causing major trouble. Sanzo sent a glare towards an old man who had made a tiny reach back for a metal pole. At eye contact the geezer quickly removed his hand from the potentially threatening item and went inside his shop. This monk was going to make sure things didn't get out of control. As long as the townsfolk kept the hate out of the physical realm, everything would be fine. They'd deal with a demon who wasn't crazy, and he could make sure Hakkai still had a grip on himself. "Your limiters aren't supposed to be habit forming."
"I'll try and remember that next time I use them. Moderation in all things, isn't it?" Hakkai muttered as he watched the older gentleman to his left walk inside instead of grabbing that stick. Shame, Hakkai would have almost welcomed a fight if it would prove him right and Sanzo wrong. "If you ever give them back. It seems abstinence is more your fancy."
"Hey!" Goku bounced up in front of Sanzo with a big grin on his face. The people in the town were weird, but they couldn't be all bad if his nose was anything to go by. "Something over that way smells really, really good. Can we go check it out? Please?"
"No, we're checking into the hotel first."
"But I'm hungry! And it's right there!"
"It'll still be there later when we have dinner. Control your stomach."
Gojyo rolled his eyes and stretched his arms out over his head. A real bed to take a nap in was looking better and better. "Chill, monkey. I'm sure they'll serve food at the hotel."
"You think?" Goku grinned and couldn't contain the bounce. A good meal and night's sleep in beds should make everyone feel better. That way they could get back to normal faster and this whole mess would be over. "Room service! Yay!"
"Goku seems exceptionally cheerful today, doesn't he?" Hakkai muttered and sent a glare with equal force back at a teenager. The brat had the nerve to step in front of his girlfriend protectively. As if Hakkai would do anything to her; she wasn't even worth his time. "You'd almost think he was trying to compensate for the rest of us."
Goku's face fell at hearing Hakkai's comments. Cheering people up didn't work so well when they were so stubborn to stay miserable. Though, looking back at Sanzo, Goku knew that this was nothing original with their little group. Goku let out a huff of a breath and turned to smile at the demon anyway. "What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, I suppose." Hakkai stopped when he noticed Sanzo do the same a few paces in front of him. A pair of green eyes traveled up where Sanzo was looking and saw the sign of an old Inn. Hakkai could smell something baking in the back. It did smell good and he could hear running water which meant there had to be a bath. It sort of had the feel of a Mom n' Pop's sort of place.
Gojyo didn't know it, but he easily said what Hakkai had been thinking. "Good choice, a little home run place like this would be more open to Hakkai over there than that bigger hotel on the next street that one guy mentioned at the gate, huh Lord Sanzo?"
"Please, this hotel probably has less people staying in it. I'll have a better chance of getting a room to myself that way. I can't stand looking at you three idiots any longer today." Sanzo opened the door to the establishment and walked with a purpose towards the desk. He noticed Hakkai had paused in the doorway.
"Well, you sure you're going to be okay, Hakkai?" Gojyo whispered in his friend's ear as they stood at the threshold. The red-head shoved a few locks of his hair behind his ear as Hakkai watched him calmly. "This'll be your first time talking with someone other than us as a demon. Or at the very least talking to someone who's not us that you don't plan on ripping apart, anyway."
"I'm sure I'll be fine, Gojyo." The demon took a deep breath and took the paces into the main lobby to stand behind Sanzo. The girl behind the desk gasped a little and Hakkai immediately recognized her by her scent.
"It's you." Miao did her best not to shudder as she stared at the demon behind the priest. It was the same one she had seen earlier in the woods when she was doing laundry. Miao hadn't expected to see him again. Most demons stayed away from the town. "From the river."
"Ah, yes." Hakkai could feel his pulse quickening by the second as he listened to the woman's own heart beat faster. The demon shot a glance towards Sanzo who's eyes were boring into him. This was not something Hakkai needed to deal with right now. "I believe I frightened you, I do apologize."
"Oh! No! I overreacted." Miao bowed a little and straightened quickly. Between that polite tone and the other three staring at her, she guessed playing it polite would be the best way to go. Maybe he wouldn't hurt anyone if they managed to not offend him. "Just, so many demons have gone crazy and, well."
"It's only natural you assumed, it's quite alright." Hakkai lied straight through his teeth. There was no way everything was 'quite alright' when his pulse was racing and every nerve in his body was acting up. It was a novel sensation, but Hakkai could practically smell the fear shivering beneath the outer layer of her skin. This woman was only being polite because Sanzo was there. He was sure she'd still be screaming if he had walked in on his own.
"So you two met this morning, did you?"
Speaking of the devil, Hakkai turned to his tormenter for the week. His dear priest had that calculating look on his face again. "Yes, a small run in at the river when I was washing. My appearance seemed to have frightened her, but I couldn't tell you why that might be."
"Indeed." Sanzo growled. He'd make the bastard demon tell him about it later. And if Hakkai wouldn't talk, he'd question the girl. And if she didn't talk, well, guns did wonder for motivation. Only a fool would only be scared of demons. "Enough of this, I just want to go to my room and go to bed."
"Yes, that might be best. Ms.?" Hakkai tilted his head in what he hoped was an innocent gesture.
"Miao, my name's Miao and yes of course. The keys." Miao slowly reached under the desk for the box of keys. The man seemed polite enough, but that didn't change the fact he had to have been washing off a huge amount of blood when she saw him. The blood wouldn't have curled around the plants in the still sections of the water if it hadn't been a large amount. She swallowed and handed over the three keys. That much blood had to have come from somewhere, and she doubted it was good. "Here you go, rooms 102 and 104 are the singles, and 103 is the double room."
"Thank-you, Miss Miao." Hakkai smiled and took the key for room 104. He had no intention of sharing a room with anyone this evening and was almost thankful that Sanzo thought ahead. "And my name is Hakkai. These are my friends, Sanzo, Goku and Gojyo."
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
It was at this point, however, that Gojyo took his turn to speak up after being good and quiet for the past conversation. "Why do I have to share with the monkey?"
"Because they only had two single rooms available, deal with it." Sanzo growled and snatched the other single room key. "If I see any of your faces before dinner, I will kill you."
Goku pouted as Sanzo stomped off to his room. This meant that not only would Hakkai and Sanzo be weird again, but he'd have to stay with the water sprite again. This sucked. "I hope we get to go to that place that smelled really good for dinner at least."
"He wasn't serious, was he? About killing people?" Miao leaned over towards Gojyo. He seemed the most normal out of the group.
"Who knows. He's an asshole, that's for sure."
"Oh, well, please enjoy your stay and don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." Miao bowed and quickly headed for the back room. Hakkai was still giving her the creeps and the way he was smiling was frightening.
"She disappeared awfully quick." Gojyo whistled and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Why did Hakkai have all the luck finding the pretty ones? "You should of told me at least that something like that had happened. Don't blame you for keeping it from Sanzo though. That bastard would have had a fit."
Hakkai held his head and carefully massaged his temples. Maybe he'd go hunt down some tea or something to try and alleviate this constant, nagging headache. "Forget it, Gojyo. I don't even want to start with this right now."
The water sprite was too tired of fighting to bring up an argument. He'd already seen where pushing Hakkai had led him, so for now he'd just let it slide. Gojyo knocked Goku in the head and pushed him towards the room area of the hotel. The kid had been too quiet in the past few minutes anyway. "Come on monkey, let's get a nap in before you fill your gut."
"Oh, okay." Goku took one last look at Hakkai before he let Gojyo pull him away. It was a little obvious Hakkai needed some alone time right now, so it was okay.
Hakkai leant up against the side of the counter as the other's retreated into the distance. His head was aching and he wondered why he wasn't heading to his room himself. All things considered, nothing had gone too badly. The town was wary, but not violent and even this Miao girl was warming up a little. She had at least attempted a civil conversation with him. Hakkai sighed and pushed himself up from the counter when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.
The demon stiffened slightly and turned quickly to look eye to eye with his assailant. Only, that proved difficult when all he saw was air. "What?"
"Down here, youngster."
Hakkai's eyes trailed down about a foot and a half to see a pair of slit eyes looking up at him. "A demon?"
"Yeah, bit of a surprise for me to see you too, Sonny." The elder demon chuckled a little at the boy's shocked face. Jeriche pulled his hood a little to reveal a bit more of his face. The youngster had guts walking around full in the open. Jeriche couldn't decide if that was praiseworthy or just stupid. The old demon pulled the hood back fully over his face regardless. "I take it you don't see your own kind very much, huh? Well, my name is Jeriche and just let me say I am happy to finally see another demon who's not foaming at the mouth."
Hakkai took a small survey of the room. It was just the two of them, and he was a demon. Paranoia kept Hakkai on edge and he briefly wondered if this was a trap. "Ah, yes."
"So eloquent there," Jeriche laughed and gave the kid a light punch to the gut. He flinched something fierce and Jeriche caught himself raising his eyebrows. Kids these days needed to learn how to relax. "Care to join me for a drink?"
Hakkai sighed a little as the man made the motion with his hand of downing a cup or two. He seemed harmless enough. Maybe liquor would do him a bit of good right now.
"You think Hakkai's going to be okay?" Goku hummed as Gojyo fussed over his hair. For someone who used to hate his hair, he sure combed it a lot.
"I'm not sure."
"That's doesn't help much."
"Hey, it's the truth okay?" Gojyo dropped his shirt on the bed and had every intention of hitting the sack early tonight. His head hurt just thinking about stuff. "This whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Damn that Sanzo."
Goku frowned at Gojyo and huffed. "I'm sure Sanzo knows what he's doing. I doubt he'd ever hurt Hakkai on purpose without a reason."
"Says you." Gojyo ducked under the blankets and rolled over to face the wall. "I know you've know him for what, six years or something? But how well do you really know the guy? He's sure given us surprises before, or did you forget his fun with the scorpion bitch?"
"I didn't forget, and that was different." Goku hugged his pillow close. "Sort of."
"Whatever," Gojyo closed his eyes. He'd made the monkey depressed. "Just forget I said anything. I'm stressed."
"And now you're just acting weird."
"Shut up and go to sleep."
Goku fell back with a 'thump' as he hit the bed. The ceiling stared down at him and he wondered what was going to come around the corner for the four of them.
"Well bless my stars, a demon hanging out with humans. And traveling no less!" The older demon laughed and smiled warmly. He'd just finished listening to Hakkai talk about his three traveling companions and was impressed they hadn't killed each other yet. Stuff like that always brought a smile to his face. That and the youngster could hold his liquor; always a good sign. "I didn't think I'd see that ever again. I'm glad."
"It would be unusual now, with all of the demons losing their sanity." Hakkai spoke slowly and clenched the tiny cup between his hands. As much as he wished otherwise, talking with this other demon was making him feel awkward. Even more nerve wracking was the fact that he couldn't talk naturally. It would be too dangerous to let things slip about their mission west and just who the priest he was traveling with was in reality. Hakkai smiled a little as Jeriche took another swig. At least the little bar they were in was nice, even if it was pretty deserted.
"It's good to be grateful for towns like these. They don't really trust us anymore, and they try to ignore us. But to their defense, they don't go out of their way to do anything unless we hurt them first. And they don't mind serving us at their bars." Jeriche reached over to put his hand over Hakkai's own tight grip and gave it a tiny squeeze. The boy was much too nervous and tense. "I know it doesn't seem fair to you now, but when you're older you'll be thankful for these tiny blessings."
"Yes, I'm sure that I will." Hakkai smiled and took a sip from his cup, thankful the man had removed his hand from Hakkai's own. The contact made his gut turn, which in turn made his heart ache from his own bigotry. He should have been over these sensations and feelings. Hakkai took a deeper gulp from his cup and set it forward to be refilled. "It's always nice to hear the advice from elders."
"Shoot, I'm not that old." Jeriche leaned on his elbows. "But you're still pretty young. What made you four go out traveling together anyway? As much as I enjoy seeing the two sides getting along, you still gotta' wonder how something like that happens. It wasn't even that common when demons and humans were getting along."
"I guess you could say," the younger demon found himself thinking back to when the four of them first met. It had all started there after all, and Hakkai found himself smiling slightly as the memories came flooding back into his head. He could remember Gojyo's brash kindness as he recovered from his losses. Goku's cheerful disposition and smiles came flooding in right behind, but more than that he remembered a voice clean and comforting. A voice that reached down into their souls and wrapped so many chains around their hearts they knew they could never escape from it. The binding thought that these three misfits would be bound to that glow until the day they died. "We were brought together by a shining light."
"How poetic." The old demon smiled as Hakkai's shoulders loosened and his face grew warm and welcoming. "You should cherish that bond between you four. Whatever that light was, if it can hold the four of you together than it must be something mighty special."
"In a way, though I think that light likes to stay hidden from us most of the time." Hakkai ran his hand along his cheek in a soft motion as he felt his eyes droop. He flinched slightly when he hit his hand went farther than he had thought it could along his ears. The tiny reminders of his demon body never felt natural. That light turned and had burned him in the cavernous openings of his own doubt. "Lately, I feel as if I can't sense anything at all other than my own shortcomings and mistakes."
"Sounds like you've got a past." Jeriche smiled warmly as the boy's eyes widened. The elder wasn't so drunk to tell the boy had said something he shouldn't have. "But don't worry, I won't ask because it's not important. Take it from an old man, the only thing the past is good for is learning. Other than that it's like a history book. It's worthless unless you take something from it for the important part of life. As much as I sound like a repeating record, it's the right now that's important."
"The right now?" Hakkai slowly set his cup down and stared at his hands, the vines that wrapped around so tightly he could feel them across every fiber of his being. "Even if that past defines what you are? Who you are?"
"Nothing defines who and what you are, except the who and what you are at this very moment."
Cho Gonou was human. Cho Gonou is dead.
"Is that so."
Cho Hakkai is a demon.
"You can't be anything else than who you are, now can you, kiddo?"
And he needs to get over it.
"Yes, yes of course." Hakkai felt like crying.
