--Chapter 6: Animam meam convertit--

Meanwhile, Goku had taken a seat at one of the tables, with Gojyo on his left and the two priests across from him. Again, he was aware of their eyes studying him carefully, but he was less embarrassed this time. He couldn't explain why, but he felt as though he could trust the two of them. Never mind that he couldn't keep his eyes off the gorgeous blond, deciding to keep that particular fact to himself and hoping that no one else noticed. "So…what do you need to know?" he asked bluntly, sipping from his cup of juice left over from breakfast. His wounds had been rewrapped when they had started to bleed again, but he was pleased that they were still without pain.

"Let's start with how you got them. Do you remember how it happened?" Hakkai asked evenly, producing a pen and a notepad from a briefcase that neither patient had noticed before now. He stood poised, waiting to take notes. The sight struck the redhead as rather funny, so much that Gojyo didn't bother to stifle his chuckles as he was promptly ignored by the two priests.

The blond's eyebrows furrowed hard in irritation, keeping his eyes trained on the younger brunet in front of him to prevent himself from reaching over and giving the redhead a firm whack on the head. Of course, this allowed him to note that Goku kept glancing nervously at him, causing him to quirk a single golden eyebrow in question.

"Well…I don't remember much before I was about six or seven. I know I was found wandering around the village by myself. People kept asking me all sorts of questions about where my mom and dad were, but I didn't know. It's all kind of fuzzy," the boy answered, golden eyes hazy in thought. "I remember this nice lady and her husband taking me in, but when the holes in my forehead appeared, they didn't want me anymore. They said it was an evil sign or something like that." He continued with a bit of melancholy in his voice, immediately masking it with a tense smile on his face.

The older brunet felt a stab of sympathy at that, watching as the redhead ruffled the young man's hair affectionately again, chucking him slightly in the chin and telling him not to be such a baby. Goku merely smiled, punching his companion lightly in his shoulder in reply. "And then what happened?" Hakkai asked softly, jotting down a few notes on his pad. He found himself vaguely curious, and a slight glance to his partner told him that the blond was as well, even though the man's face remained impassive

"Well, then I was put in another home, where the lady I lived with didn't care so much. Then, they just went away one day, leaving the scars. But, it wasn't even a month later that my wrists and feet started bleeding too. The lady brought me here, and I've been here ever since. They think that I've got hemophilia or something. The doctors also say that I'm making the holes myself, for attention. I think that's stupid, since I'm not," Goku insisted around bites of an apple he had grabbed from another table, shaking his head slightly.

"Impressive, considering those holes in your wrists are perfectly three inches in circumference. You must be pretty amazing to get them so perfectly symmetrical," Sanzo commented sarcastically, surprising the boy with his sudden attention to the point that he dropped his apple on the table. When the young brunet realized that the comment was not directed at him, but to him, he smiled and offered a laugh. The tiniest hint of a smile appeared on the blond's face at that, hidden in the shade of his hand.

Hakkai hid his laugh behind a cough. "Indeed. So, they just appear?" he replied, both in question and in agreement to the blonde's prior statement. This was the part he was most interested in, hoping to receive answers to the question that had been nagging at him since he first laid eyes on the strange afflictions.

Goku shook his head liberally at that, taking another bite of his apple and chewing thoughtfully before answering again. "Nope. They've just been there since then. They bleed all the time, and they stay open even when the doctors patch them up," he answered in all honesty. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Bullshit. If they bled all the time, you'd be dead. Stop lying and just tell us what we need to know," Sanzo retorted, not wanting to acknowledge that he was beginning to wonder about things he would have rather left latent in the back of his mind. His tone was contradictory to the one he had used earlier, realizing he had sounded as though he believed this nonsense. He had to admit that there was no way that the boy could have made them himself, but he also didn't want to acknowledge that what he said was possible.

"How the fuck would you know, blondie? You just got here, so you can't say 'yea' or 'nay', now can you? Aria changes those damn bandages at least three or four times a day, and if memory serves correctly, that must mean that those damn wounds are constantly bleeding, right?" Gojyo interrupted sardonically, a displeased frown crossing his face at their implications.

Of course, Hakkai had to agree with that. "He's right, Sanzo. This…just isn't adding up. It defies all logical thought," he replied with a slight nod, feeling stumped, a rare emotion for him. He ran a pale hand through his hair, as though attempting to comb through his thoughts so they would make better sense. "So…you're saying that they…just keep bleeding?" he asked, redirecting the attention to the golden-eyed boy.

Goku swallowed the last bit of his apple that felt like lead in his throat, feeling foolish for having said it in the first place. "Yeah. When I get upset or stressed out, they bleed worse. I have nightmares sometimes, about things I don't understand, and that's when they get really bad. When they appeared…" he started to say, his voice trailing off as he swallowed the growing lump in his throat. He was debating over telling them what was going on in his head, something that he hadn't told anyone before. A nervous glance to each of the three men surrounding him made him more uncomfortable, their eyes expectant.

"Go on," Hakkai prompted gently, resting his hand atop one of Goku's. He was sure that this was hard for the boy, especially with the possibility of being doubted. He remembered very easily what it was like to be scrutinized with the fear of being called a liar, and from what little Sanzo had told him about his own past, he could decipher that the blonde did as well.

"You'll think I'm lying," the boy murmured miserably as though he had read his mind, allowing the slight touch as he spoke to all three of them. He found that he liked the emerald-eyed priest well enough, and the blond made him want to blush and hide his face for reasons he couldn't understand. Gojyo had taken most of what he had told him and what he had seen in stride, but what he was thinking could shatter that in an instant.

An loud sigh sounded to his left, and Goku suddenly found himself in one of Gojyo's infamous headlocks yet again, and no amount of struggling was going to ensure his freedom. "Have I doubted you yet, squirt? Have some faith, will you? If I can just brush off the fact that you've got holes in your wrists like you were fucking crucified, then what makes you think I'll doubt you now?" he asked hotly, hiding the slight twinge of hurt at being dismissed so easily. He brushed it off, however, when he felt a fine tremor quaking through the body he held against his own. "Goku?"

Hakkai and Sanzo noticed it as well, as both had sat a bit straighter in their seats at the redhead's choice of words. "Goku, do you realize what these wounds could very well mean?" the older brunet asked cautiously, watching as Gojyo released the boy. At the shake of the other's head, the man continued. "Do you know what Stigmata are?"

Again, no reply other than a rapid shake of his head, but Gojyo's eyes widened visibly at that. He seemed to realize his slight faux pas and that the boy he had been in such close quarters with had no idea what was going on with his own body. "You mean…" His question was ignored in favor of answering Goku's own silently poised one that hung heavy in the air.

"The Stigmata are when a person begins to suffer from the wounds of Christ. You do know the story of Christ, don't you?" Hakkai inquired in the calmest voice he could manage, noting that while the boy nodded in reply, he refused to look any of them in the face. He was still trembling, worsening as their conversation turned further and further toward the topic at hand. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was surprised into silence when a hand stayed him.

"I think that's enough for today. I need to go back and make a phone call," Sanzo stated flatly, though his eyes betrayed a flurry of emotions that even his companion couldn't decipher. He locked eyes with the boy again, resembling the first moment they had met, as though a silent conversation was passing between the two of them. Their gazes stayed locked for nearly a whole minute, with Sanzo breaking it first. "We'll be back, brat. You'd better be prepared for more questions next time." With that, the blond got to his feet, but not before twining his hands in unruly brunette locks once before pulling away. Hakkai looked slightly shocked at the other priest's out of character behavior even as he offered a hurried good-bye to the two left alone in the playroom.

-----

As the hospital disappeared beneath the horizon at their backs, the three men walked in contemplative silence. Finally, when he could take it no longer, Hakkai turned to the redheaded priest and asked him something that he had been thinking about since they left. "Tell me something, Kougaiji. Sha Gojyo…would he happen to be related to the Sha Jien that you introduced us to earlier?" he inquired, tone achingly polite.

The priest in question flinched visibly, whether from the tone of his voice or the question that he posed was anyone's guess. "Yes. They're half-brothers. Why do you ask?" he responded in turn, his own voice mirroring Hakkai's easily. His eyes were challenging as he turned to the brunet, not looking at all happy about the sudden interrogation and suddenly Hakkai was reminded of the tension that had escalated between the two redheads earlier.

"I was just curious. Gojyo seems like a very interesting individual, if I do say so myself," the green-eyed man answered back vaguely, folding his arms behind his back as he walked. "His behavior fascinated me is all."

A slender garnet eyebrow quirked at that, turning to the blond for some sort of elaboration and receiving a stern glare for his trouble. "Gojyo isn't on very good terms with his brother," Kougaiji answered stoically. A quick glance to the man let him know that he was thinking of another question, unsure of whether to continue asking as he was. His eyes had widened a bit, looking genuinely interested in the topic at hand. "Jien tries, but their mother makes it very hard for the efforts to be anything but in vain. The woman makes it no secret that she doesn't like Gojyo at all, and she doesn't care for Jien showing interest in his younger brother."

"I see. So, Gojyo is the child of another marriage?" he queried, deciding to go ahead an venture a guess. The crimson-eyed man had sparked something in him, especially how well he handled the boy. It gave the brunet hope, strange as it was and for what he couldn't place.

Kougaiji's eyes darkened considerably at that, turning towards both of them with a no-nonsense look that spoke volumes. "No." The finality of that single word was enough to discourage the brunet from any more questions. He knew that it wasn't fair to either Doku or Gojyo if he told these strangers about their situation. He began to walk ahead then, leaving the two other priests to their own devices.

"That was certainly strange," Hakkai commented after a moment, keeping his voice low in case the other man was still within hearing distance. A small snort was his reply, causing him to regard the blond with a sour look. "What was that for?"

"If you're so interested, why don't you ask him yourself next time? I just find it funny that you've taken interest as you have. Redheads are a long shot from books, you know," Sanzo stated bluntly, pausing only to light a cigarette and take a deep drag. He could almost physically feel the nicotine entering his bloodstream, sighing in discreet pleasure as it worked its magic on his nerves.

Hakkai's cheeks pinked hotly at the implication, though the unfalteringly polite smile never wavered as he retorted, "Perhaps you're right. However, it would seem that I wasn't the only one taking an outside interest." His mouth turned down in a prominent frown. It was clear he didn't like what Sanzo was insinuating, and even if he was a poor excuse for a priest, there were some things that they simply did not do.

Sanzo said nothing to that, surprising the brunet. Instead, he thought on the encounter, inwardly frowning. That voice had shaken him and something about those encompassing eyes had drawn him in, holding him even now. It was as though they had been silently asking him for something, asking questions that even the blond didn't have the answers for. On the whole, it was terribly annoying. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He glared weakly at the other man, weariness beginning to set in. He wanted the subject dropped until he could think better on it; the of possibly being attracted to another male, let alone someone as young as Goku, didn't sit too well with him. Besides, he needed his wits about him for when he placed that phone call he had mentioned earlier. It hadn't been just an excuse, after all.

"Of course not," Hakkai said in turn, allowing both of them to fall back into their contemplative silence as the small church came into view. It hadn't seemed like that long of a walk, but the sight of the sun as it dipped low against the mountains betrayed that it was much later than it seemed.

As they neared, however, they noticed that Lirin was running to meet them at near full speed. The girl's eyes were shining brightly even as her chest heaved in an attempt to catch her breath. Three questioning glances didn't deter her, as she wrapped her arms tightly around her older brother and she squealed in delight, "Come on! You got back just in time! Yaone's having the baby!"

(Translation: He hath converted my soul)

(A/N: I did want to mention something that Madhumulati pointed out to me. In actuality, it is the wounds on the wrists and feet that appear first. However, for the sake of the story, it's going to be the other way around. If anyone has a problem with this, I'm terribly sorry. Enjoy!)