Chapter 5 - The Conclusion
Yes, it did take me bloody long enough to finish.
The next morning, Gonou stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror. He'd risen and bathed that morning automatically, as he usually did. Without much thought or observance of his surroundings. That's why it wasn't until he was clean and drying his hair that he noticed it. A scar. A huge, hideous scar, running from his right hip to left waist. It was the one Gojyo'd told him about. According to Gojyo, he'd received the injury from a Youkai prince after . . . after Kanan died. As believable as Gojyo was, Gonou was still hoping the scar wouldn't be there. But it was. Concrete proof that Gojyo was telling the truth. He'd lost all memory of the past four years. Four years! Four years of grief. Of pure, unrestrained anger. Of loss. But also, four years of happiness. Of freedom. Of a brand-new start on life. How had he met Gojyo-san and his friends? If he'd really killed all those people, how could he have been allowed to go free? Gojyo-san had said that Sanzo-san had interjected on his behalf, but how? Why?
He didn't know how long he stood there, staring absently into the mirror, towel abandoned on his head. He only stopped staring when there was a knock at the door. Gonou blinked. The door opened before he'd begun to think about answering.
"Oi, Hakkai! Are you sick in there or something?" Gojyo's face popped out from behind the door as it swung open.
"G-Gojyo-san!" Hakkai grabbed the towel from his head and wrapped it hurriedly around his waist. "N-no, I'm fine."
"Fine? It's never taken you this long before." Gojyo stepped inside and leaned against the wall beside the door frame. Gonou took a deep breath and smiled at Gojyo as warmly as he could manage, but Gojyo's deadpan expression told him Gojyo wasn't buying it. He sighed, and turned to face him.
"The scar." Gojyo said. Hakkai said nothing, but crossed his arms over his waist, staring at the floor. The silence lasted several awkward moments before Gojyo finally broke it.
"Look, you heard what that weird Youkai said. He's the one that took your memories. And if he took them, all we have to do is take 'em back. It'll all be over until this time tomorrow." He turned back to the door, opening it.
"I suppose so." Gonou forced himself to smile, although he wasn't sure he was entirely successful.
"Just hang on until tomorrow. It'll all make sense then." Gojyo repeated, and then left, closing the door behind him.
It took two hours of driving to reach the place the purple-skinned youkai had mentioned. A field that had been harvested less than a month prior. The youkai stood in the exact middle, a handful of mercenaries and bounty hunters flanking him on either side. Behind the wheel, Gojyo brought the Jeep off-road and through the field like a roller coaster on its track, barely slowing down.
Gojyo was the first out of the jeep. He stood in front of the purple youkai and his bounty hunters, raising his hand and summoning his shakujo. He brought it back down as Sanzo took up a spot to his left and reloaded his gun. Goku leaped out of the jeep, summoning his nyoi-bo. With a chuckle, he ran over to line up beside Sanzo. Lastly, Gonou swung his over the side of the jeep, stood up, and joined the line to Gojyo's right. The purple youkai stared at them, his face growing paler and paler as each person joined the line, until he was almost pink.
"What's the matter, grape-face? You look surprised to see us." Gojyo narrowed his eyes and grinned. In response, the purple youkai took a step back.
"No. No! You can't all have made it here," he said, as if he could change reality by denying it enough times.
"Oh? Why not?" Sanzo pointed the barrel of his gun squarely at the purple youkai's forehead, staring down it at him.
"My research was perfect! Cho Hakkai is the calming influence of your group. Without him there to impose order, you should have killed each other by now." the youkai insisted. Gonou didn't know whether to be flattered that their opponent thought so highly of him, or insulted that he thought so little of the other three. Perhaps he would if he regained his memories.
"When I kill these idiots," Sanzo said, taking a step forward, "I won't need any help from someone like you." Sanzo fired. The purple youkai threw himself at the ground, and the bullet flew over his head, striking a bounty hunter behind him.
And so the battle began. The purple youkai remained where he was, while the crowd of miscellaneous youkai and bounty hunters charged for the group. Gojyo-san and his friends had also split up and charged into the battle, Gonou noticed. Or most of them did. Sanzo didn't move much either, except to dodge an attack, concentrating on firing round after round from his gun. Goku was easier to hear than see, darting here and there among his attackers, shouting loud war-cries as he handed out concussions and cracked skulls with his nyoi-bo. Gojyo was trying to make his way to the far side of the crowd, using his shakujo to push attackers out of his way rather than inflict injury.
Gonou stood where he was. Unlike the other three, he had no weapon. He didn't have very much in the way of muscles, either, and so, he was useless in battle. If their journey was dangerous enough that Gojyo-san and his friends all needed weapons why Gonou even come along? And why didn't he have a weapon of his own? There had to be /some/ reason.
It was a loud battle cry that snapped Gonou out of his thoughts. Coming from behind and above him, descending fast. He spun around quickly, launching a counterattack before he even had time to think about what he was doing. The attacker was knocked away from Gonou by a ball of green energy. It dissipated as the enemy's body slammed into the dirt, leaving a number of burns where it had made contact. How had that happened? Gonou thrust his palm towards another bounty hunter, raising a sword to his left, but succeeded only in slamming it into the bounty hunter's chest. Who fell over when a bullet flew through his skull. Sanzo had made his way to Gonou while his back was turned.
"I'll take care of this." Sanzo waved his gun in Gojyo's general direction. "Go help that stupid kappa."
Gonou nodded, staring at his hands. Now he knew why he didn't carry a weapon. But how had he done that? Frustratingly, once he began /thinking/ about using the ki attack, he couldn't do it. Exhaling sharply, he dodged, shoved, and kicked his way through the mob towards Gojyo.
"Damned blueberry!" Gojyo swung the staff of his shakujo, sending the chained blade flying through the air towards his opponent's neck. "You're gonna pay for what you did to Hakkai!" The purple youkai dropped to the ground as the blade sliced through the air above his head, taking off a good centimetre's length of hair. He kicked outwards, connecting just above Gojyo's knee. Gojyo fell forward, bringing the end of the shakujo into the earth to prop himself up. As close to the side of the youkai's leg as he could manage.
"I have the key to your friend's locked memories." The youkai's voice didn't waver, and he stared directly into Gojyo's eyes as he spoke. A few beads of sweat fell down the youkai's face. "If you kill me, you'll never get them back." He rose to his feet.
"And if you don't want to die, you'll unlock them before I kill you!" Gojyo shouted, swinging the shakujo once more for the youkai's head. The youkai back stepped, raising his hands to protect his face. Gojyo pressed forward, and the youkai retreated, letting out a nervous squeak.
As the purple youkai grew more and more desperate, an odd thing began happening to Gonou. A strange feeling, like some benevolent goddess was pouring a stream of knowledge, memories, and information directly into his mind. Of course, /that/ was how he'd lost Kanan. He could remember it so clearly now. He was still surprised he'd survived.
No, of course he'd survived. Gojyo'd saved him. The surprising part was that he hadn't been abandoned in a dungeon after he'd turned himself in.
No, of course he'd been released. Sanzo'd testified on his behalf. But what was everyone doing so far from home?
The purple youkai picked up a rock, hurling it at Gojyo. It connected with Gojyo's ribs as he had his arms raised to swing the shakujo. Clenching his teeth shut, Gojyo brought the staff back down, the chain swinging outwards and twisting it around the purple youkai's left leg. Gojyo gave it a tug and the youkai fell backwards. As the youkai's skull connected with the ground, the last drop of the stream of memories fell into place.
Cho Hakkai took a deep breath, and then pulled his face into a smile. He walked up to the purple youkai, taking a spot beside Gojyo. He began forming a glowing mass of ki in his right hand.
"Gonou-san!" The purple youkai leaped on the opportunity. "Didn't I tell you your friends were crazy? They're cold-blooded murderers. How can you trust them over me?"
"I think you have me confused for someone else. My name is Hakkai." said Hakkai, and he launched his attack.