Chapter 5

How do you live without playing the game

Sit on the side and expect to keep sane
Step right up and be a part of the action
Come get a piece of it before it's too late
Take a look around
You can't deny what you see
We're living in a violent society
Well my brother let me show you a better way
So get your game face on because it's time to play
~ Disturbed, Violence Fetish

Goku blinked his eyes open slowly as someone pounded on the door. Iyame's face was buried in his chest and one of her legs was wrapped around his hips, pulling her firmly against him. It was delightfully warm and comfortable. He growled lightly as Gojyo poked his head in cautiously. Iyame did not stir.

"What?" he asked as he picked his head up enough to see who was bothering him.

"Sanzo said it's time for you to get up so you can show Iyame some basics before we take off for the day."

"Go away." Goku grumbled before putting his head back down and pulling Iyame more tightly against him.

"No. You need to get up and get moving before the monk comes to get you." Gojyo said.

When he got no response he stepped into the room and walked over to the bed to poke at Goku. "Get up monkey. Iyame, you need to get up too."

She gave a quiet growl and pulled the blankets over her head.

"For crying out loud. Get up you two!" Gojyo yelled as he reached down and shook the bed.

Iyame jolted up and when her sleepy eyes landed on Gojyo shaking her bed she tackled him to the floor. Once he was down she glared at him before climbing back into bed and pulling the blankets back up over her head.

Goku looked between the stunned kappa sprawled on the floor and his wife curled back in bed and laughed in delight. "Come on, Iyame. Get up. It's time for you to learn how to fight!" he said as he tugged the blankets away from her.

She peeked open one eye, "Five more minutes?"

"No. Get up. I'm hungry and then we gotta get started." he said as he tugged her hair gently and then started trying to push her into a sitting position. "Come one, Iyame. Wake up!"

"Oh, fine. I am awake." she sat up and smiled at him before glancing at Gojyo who was standing huffily at the foot of the bed. "Sorry. I was not ready to wake up yet. Did I hurt you?"

"As if a little girl like you could hurt me." he scoffed, refraining from rubbing his sore backside where they could see. "Now get moving, you two."

"Okay." she said brightly before grabbing her clothes and dashing down the hall.

Gojyo watched her go with a raised brow. "I see you didn't do anything I would in the nice soft bed."

"Shut up, you pervy water sprite!" Goku said before grabbing his own clothes and walking to the bathroom to change.

After breakfast Goku led Iyame out into the back garden and smiled in delight at the prospect of teaching her how to fight. "I'm going to start out easy so let me know if I hurt you and I'll ease up."

"Can you show me how to block first? I have never gotten into a hand-to-hand fight before." she said.

"Okay. Watch this." he said and demonstrated several different ways to block.

Iyame watched closely and duplicated the moves a little clumsily.

"No, like this." Goku said as he guided her arms through the motions.

She narrowed her eyes. "Do that again." she commanded.

He guided her arms through the motions several more times before he let her go to try it on her own again. He watched her closely and noticed her stance was not as balanced as it should be. If he were to actually hit her, she's go flying whether her arm was up or not.

"Here, we need to work on your stance too." he told her.

"What do you mean?"

He reached over and pushed her and she nearly toppled over. "If I hit you, you'll fall because you're not balancing right."

"Oh. Okay, how do I do that?" she asked brightly.

He showed her a ready stance and she tried to duplicate it several times. At first she couldn't place her feet correctly because her skirt was too tight and she had to undo the laces up to mid-thigh to be able to actually do more than walk. She flatly refused Goku's offer to loan her some pants. Once the skirt issue was handled they went back to practicing the stances. Each time she would say she was ready he would push her and she'd teeter and almost fall.

"Iyame, how do you get through the day without falling on your face?"

"I can walk just fine, thank you very much." she replied with a slight edge of irritation in her voice.

"You're doing it wrong." came Gojyo's voice from the doorway.

The pair looked at him in irritation as he casually walked over and smirked. "It's like a dance and you need to be close to your partner. I'll show you an easier way."

He stepped up right behind Iyame and put one arm around her midsection. "Pay attention, both of you." he said before standing an inch or two behind her and using his legs to nudge hers into the right position. Once they were set he moved her arms until they were in the right place and then stepped away from her. "Give her a push, monkey."

Goku stepped over and pushed her lightly. She didn't move. He grinned and pushed her a bit harder and she still stayed upright.

She grinned back. "I got it." she said happily. "Thanks, Gojyo."

"Yeah thanks, kappa."

"Anytime kids. Now show her another one. The monk said we'll stay here for another day and take off tomorrow instead." he said as he sauntered away with a gleeful expression.

The pair grinned at each other before Goku stepped close to show her another stance.

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By the end of the afternoon Goku was cursing the kappa for ever suggesting such a technique for teaching. Sure, it worked very well, but it put him in such close proximity to her that it had rapidly become uncomfortable and doing it all day was wearing on his composure.

Kensi poked her head out the back door and called, "Time to clean up you two. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Thank you, Kensi-chan." Iyame said with a smile before twisting to look at Goku, who was once again flush against her and walking her through a kata. The movement brought her lips very close to his and they froze for a long moment before Goku stepped back, breathing hard.

"That's enough for today." he said. "Let's go inside."

She nodded slowly and reached to twine her fingers with his before he could get away. "Are you all right?" she asked quietly.

He tugged his hand free. "I'm fine. Just hungry." he told her before hurrying away to get cleaned up.

She watched him thoughtfully for a moment before slowly making her way inside for a nice cool shower. She was not immune to being so close to him all day either.

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During breakfast Sanzo suggested they practice summoning her weapon before they left so as soon as breakfast was finished they trooped back outside. Sanzo, Hakkai and Gojyo followed them out, curious what her weapon would be and how it would work within the group's fighting dynamic. Goku stood a few feet away facing her.

"We don't know what your primary weapon is but it will be the one you have the most natural skill with. To summon it you just think about the need to defend yourself and it will come to you. See?" he explained as he held out his hand and Nyoi-Boi appeared right in front of it.

She held out her hand and furrowed her brows in concentration. Goku tried to ignore thoughts about how cute she looked when she was concentrating and think only about the task at hand. Suddenly, a large black bow shimmered into existence and she took hold of it before it could tumble to the ground. They stared at it for a moment before Iyame smiled.

It was taller than she was with the grip about one third of the way from the bottom. The top curve was longer than the bottom so it had an asymmetrical, yet very graceful shape. The top and bottom curved back out and had small opalescent stones that sparkled on each end. Iyame reached to hold it with both hands and noticed she had a three finger glove on her right hand. She stopped to examine it for a moment before returning her attention to the bow. It was not too heavy and seemed to have the feel of a wise and respected friend.

"Hmm. I don't know anything about fighting with bows and stuff." Goku said in disappointment. "Where are the arrows?"

Iyame reached over her shoulder to see if there were any arrows hanging from her back and brought her hand forward with a satisfied smile. "They're on my back silly." she said as she held up a sparkling silver arrow.

Goku's eyes widened, "No, they're not. Where did that come from?"

Iyame turned so he could see her back and said as she grabbed a second one, "See? On my back."

"Oi! Iyame, there isn't anything on your back. You pulled that arrow out of thin air." Gojyo called as he stepped over with the others.

"Let me see one of those ya." Sanzo demanded.

She handed one over as she tried to look over her shoulder. She should be able to see the arrow shafts but didn't. She reached back to pull out a third one while watching and saw one sparkle into existence at the same moment she touched it. "That is a little unsettling."

"But kinda cool, don't you think? I bet that means you never run out or have to reload." Goku told her.

"Well, that would be useful." Hakkai said as he watched Sanzo study the arrow intently.

"Let me see the second one." Sanzo said as he returned the first ya. After another moment of study he looked down at Iyame. "These are blessed by the Gods. They can do anything you will them to do: explode, pierce, poison, burn, be made of specific materials or anything you can imagine. That makes up a little for the fact you'll have to shoot at a distance, but you're going to have to get better with your hand to hand since this won't help you in close contact."

"You should experiment with the haya and otoya and see if they have a preference." Hakkai suggested. He elaborated at Iyame's blank look. "Haya are the male arrows and otoya are the female. They are made with feathers from opposite sides of the bird and haya spin clockwise while otoya spin counter-clockwise. They represent male and female energies and may show preferences for particular methods."

Iyame studied the arrow thoughtfully as Sanzo gave it back. "Do you suppose I could make them heal too? You know, if you are poisoned, could I shoot you with the anti-venom?" she wondered idly.

Sanzo glared at her, "Who would want to get healed by being shot?"

"Who would rather die than get shot?" Iyame shrugged noncommittally as she considered testing it out on the monk one day. Perhaps if she could give it a soft tip that spread an energy field? If it did not work, she could always heal him the old fashioned way.

"Do you suppose her secondary weapon might be better suited for close quarters?" Hakkai asked.

"Perhaps. Let's see." Sanzo said before turning to her expectantly.

She looked at him blankly.

"Goku."

"What? Oh, sorry. Iyame, summoning your second weapon is similar to the first. You should put this one away first though by concentrating on returning it to its place." he explained.

Iyame concentrated for a long moment before the bow and arrows shimmered out of existence. Once it was gone she looked at Goku expectantly.

He concentrated for a moment before a sansekkon appeared in his hands. "See? It's nearly the same as calling your first weapon."

A moment later Iyame was curiously studying the pair of fans that had appeared in her hands. She flicked them open with a practiced motion to reveal maiohgi-gata style fans, or ones that were highly decorated but made with iron ribs instead of bamboo. She was delighted to see one had a picture of her and Goku together in their original forms on a gold and silver background and the other had the rest of the family sprawled out in a meadow. She looked up as the others started to laugh. Even Sanzo managed to crack a smile. "Something funny?" she asked with a light edge of sarcasm.

"That's tessen. It looks like you'll be learning Tessenjutsu without us." Hakkai chuckled.

"How will I do that?" she demanded.

"The skill to use your weapons is instinctive. If you meditate while you start learning it will come to you more quickly." Sanzo explained.

She looked at the fans thoughtfully for a moment before reaching out and swatting Goku and Gojyo in a lightening quick swipe. They stopped laughing. "Like that?" she asked innocently.

"That's worse than Sanzo's fan!" they cried.

"Really? Let me try." Sanzo demanded.

Iyame glared at him, "I think not. You keep your cute little paper fan. Only the fiercest warriors get to carry tessen. Less snickering, if you please." she said primly with a warning tap of one fan as they broke into snickers.

"I believe you'll find the tessen suites you, Iyame. It is more for self-defense and incapacitating your opponent rather than killing them outright." Hakkai offered.

"That does suit me." she replied with a smile.

Sanzo took one last vaguely amused look at the fans before speaking, "Load up. It's time to go."

Iyame let out a piercing whistle and they watched as the pair of cats came lumbering over a few minutes later. "Hello Virya, Dana. Did you have a nice rest and play with the little ones?" she asked as she scratched both of their cheeks.

The cats butted her shoulders before turning their attention to Goku. Virya knocked him down but Iyame could tell it was more to tease him than anything else. Goku gave him a dirty look as he stood back up and dusted himself off. He could have sworn the damn cat was laughing at him and he grumbled something to that effect. Iyame smiled and started strapping on Dana's pack. Goku came over and helped her and soon everyone was ready to head out.