Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki or the characters.

Chapter 2: The phone call

It was later in the day, and Hakkai had finally convinced Sanzo to eat and settle on the couch. Gojyo was due back any moment, and both wondered how the red head would be feeling.

"I'm sure he did fine," Hakkai told himself in the kitchen. Sanzo on the couch over heard him and sunk into the cushion.

"Either way he'll whine like a bitch about it even if nothing happened," He said. Hakkai smiled to himself as he finished making the coffee.

"Probably," He admitted. Sure enough a few moments later, the door to the apartment opened and a tired looking Gojyo came in. He nearly slumped against the wall as he dropped his keys on the floor, letting out a dramatic sigh.

"I take it everything went well?" Hakkai asked in hope. Gojyo gave a lazy grin as he passed the couch. He ruffled Sanzo's hair, which made the blond growl in warning at him. Approaching Hakkai, he hugged the brunette and kissed him.

"I even got away with the comment I made about the Chief's tits a few months ago!" He said happily, pulling back. Hakkai rolled his eyes as he leaned up to kiss under Gojyo's chin.

"I'm glad," He said jokingly. Before Sanzo could make a comment from the couch, the phone rang. The sound traveled through the apartment, and Hakkai turned to look at the caller ID. He didn't recognize the name or the number, but judging by Gojyo's face; he did. He turned and looked at Sanzo but the blond only continued to stare at the phone.

"Dude! Pick up the phone!" The red head called at him. Sanzo though seemed apprehensive as he stared at the number. Hakkai frowned at the look on his face until Gojyo sighed and snatched up the phone. He held it up to his ear as a large grin stretched across his face.

"Hey! Long time no see. Yeah I'm fine. What? The weather is fine, could be better. Yeah he's here, sitting on the couch, been sick the last week, field duty. Fever, cough, the usual. Yeah right? Anyway here is, I'll pass the phone to him. Good to hear from you!" Gojyo said into the phone.

He walked over to the couch and held out the phone to the blond. Sanzo gave Gojyo a glare before he hesitantly grabbed the phone from him and put it up to his ear. He rose from the couch just as a voice could be heard on the other end and walked to the bathroom.

"I'm fine; it's just a cold," were the first words out of his mouth as he disappeared into the bathroom. Gojyo seemed giddy as he watched the blond walk away, and he faced Hakkai.

"I can't remember the last time I heard from Sanzo's old man," he smiled. Hakkai tilted his head as he watched the blond disappear. Looking at Gojyo, he sat down on one of the stools at the island.

"That was Sanzo's father? I don't think he's ever called here," Hakkai mentioned. Gojyo shrugged as he grabbed a mug and went to the coffee pot with it.

"He only ever calls Sanzo's cell phone. Hasn't called lately though. I think they got into another fight. It seems like they're always fighting . . . Sucks too. He took your advice and started talking to him again. But something happened, wouldn't tell me what." He watched Gojyo fill up his coffee as he contemplated Sanzo's behavior. The man obviously didn't want to talk to his father, for some reason, or another. He briefly wondered what kind of man Sanzo's father was. He sounded like a friendly person, especially with Gojyo. But then again, he really couldn't imagine fully the man that had raised Sanzo.

"What kind of a man is Sanzo's father?" Hakkai asked Gojyo. The red head let out a smile as he sat down across him at the island.

"He's great! Nice, friendly, like one of the guys really. He reminded me of a monk, except, he smokes. He wasn't strict or anything, and he always has a good bit of advice. He's hard to figure out, like when he is angry or happy. He loves Sanzo though, I just wish I could figure out why they fight a lot," the red head shrugged taking a sip of his coffee. Hakkai nodded as he tried to picture such a man in his mind.

"Sanzo said he was a detective?" Hakkai couldn't help but ask. Gojyo nodded as he licked his lips from the last bit of liquid.

"Yeah, good one to. Has a lot of awards and shit. Had a two retire early. I think . . . Work-related accident or something. The guys really young, at first I thought it was Sanzo's older brother or something."

"Sanzo did mention his father had him early. How old is he?"

"I think he's like . . . Let's see . . . Sanzo is twenty-five so that means his old man is about forty-one, forty-two?" Gojyo smirked. Hakkai blinked in surprise.

"That's really young for having a son as youthful as Sanzo," the brunette breathed out.

"Yeah . . . Koumyo always seemed like a wild kind of guy. Bit surprising he's Sanzo's old man," Gojyo commented in an afterthought.

"Koumyo?" Hakkai asked.

"Yup, Koumyo Sanzo."

Sanzo stood in the tiled bathroom as he held the phone to his ear. He could briefly hear Gojyo and Hakkai talking in the kitchen but concentrated on the device in his hand.

"How did you get sick?" The man on the other and asked him. Sanzo closed the toilet seat and sat down on top of it.

"Field duty. Shooting occurred in a neighborhood, and I had to go door to door asking people what happened. It's just a head cold. I'm over it," Sanzo said, voice lacking a motion.

"Ah . . . Gojyo told me you two moved in somewhere? I'm happy to hear that you're still together. I didn't think you would ever take this step in your relationship," Koumyo said sounding pleased. Sanzo remained silent as he stared at the tiled wall debating on telling him the truth.

"It's Complicated," Sanzo said sounding flat. His father made a noise on the other end.

"Complicated? How? Have you two reached a difficult point? Or is it . . . Lack of something? I know you two weren't officially together. I can understand that. However, when you move in with someone Sanzo, that clearly tells me you're getting along all right, better than okay," the man laughed.

Sanzo swallowed deep in his throat, and for the first time in a while he felt his heart speed up while talking with his father.

"Sanzo, is something wrong? Are you in trouble?" His father asked sounding slightly worried. Sanzo licked his lips as he steeled himself.

"All right, listen . . . I'm with Gojyo but I'm also . . . With someone else at the same time . . . "

Hakkai and Gojyo held a conversation at the table and about after an hour Sanzo finally came out of the bathroom. He was sweating slightly, and he looked a little pale. Immediately, Hakkai got up and went to him, feeling his face.

"Are you all right? You look like a ghost!" The brunette commented feeling his forehead. Sanzo nodded as he reached over and put the phone back on the hook.

"I'm fine, just talking to my father," he answered taking Hakkai's hands in his own.

"Must've been some conversation. You're sweating buckets!" Gojyo mentioned looking at him like something was wrong. The blond twitched his nose and looked to the side.

"He wants me to visit him . . . At his place in the mountains," he mentioned hesitantly. Hakkai perked up and gave him a smile.

"That's an excellent idea. It would be refreshing for you to get out of the city for a while. You seem stressed out more so than usual," the brunette smiled for him. Sanzo's gaze wandered back to the brunette before he looked at the redhead sitting at the table.

"He wants Gojyo to come too and . . . He wants you to come also," the blond mentioned looking Hakkai straight in the eye. The brunette blinked in realization, and suddenly the apartment was quiet. Gojyo gave a groan as he slapped his hands on the table and stood up.

"I thought you said you mentioned our situation," Gojyo growled, making quotation marks with his fingers. Hakkai seemed confused as he looked back and forth between the two detectives.

"Oh . . . You told him about us? He didn't know? I hope that's not why you were fighting lately," the brunette worried, green eyes troubled. Sanzo shook his head as he ran his hands through his hair. He walked over to the couch and picked up the newspaper he had been reading earlier.

"No, that's not the reason why. I just told him a minute ago about us. He wasn't angry . . . Surprised maybe? But definitely not angry so you have nothing to worry about," the blond tried to dismiss. Hakkai wasn't having it though as he watched Gojyo continue to glare at the back of the blonde's head.

"You should still go to visit him then, even if it's without me. You haven't seen him for such a long-time Sanzo. He's probably lonely," Hakkai said softly walking over behind him. Sanzo turned on the couch and craned his head toward him. He stared at the brunette for a moment seeming to be lost in his decisions. He looked at Gojyo to see the red head still glaring at him before he huffed and rolled his eyes. "He just wants to meet Hakkai . . . The same way he wanted to meet you when we shacked up Gojyo. Back then he understood it was just sex. Now I told him I'm in a relationship with both of you. He wants to . . . Celebrate," he ground the words out. Hakkai and Gojyo looked at each other before they looked back at the blond. "He wants to celebrate?" Hakkai asked him, sounding surprised."Hotshit! If that's the case, then why are you being such a little bitch about it?" Gojyo smiled widely. Sanzo glared at him from his place on the couch. "Moron . . . Your idea of celebrate, and his are completely different. I have my reasons for not wanting to go visit him! I've talked to him, but I haven't been face-to-face with him in years!" The blond hissed at the red head. "Why? Did something happen?" Hakkai asked him. Sanzo said nothing as he looked at the brunette. After a few moments, he looked toward the living-room windows and said nothing. It troubled Hakkai to see the look on Sanzo's face, like he wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out or refused to.

"I just . . . I want to avoid that man as much as possible," was all the blond said in a defeated whisper. Hakkai frowned in concern as he watched Sanzo sink into the cushion. Whatever the reason was; it must've been bad if Sanzo wanted to completely avoid his own father. Picking up his right hand, Hakkai gently ran fingers through blonde hair, making his lover look at him.

"Whatever you decide; it's your choice. I would love to meet your father, given the opportunity. I'd love to meet the man who raised you. I want to tell him how much of a wonderful son he really has," Hakkai said softly with a smile. Sanzo's face lost its tenseness as he stared into Hakkai's green eyes. Taking a deep breath he picked up the newspaper on the cushion and looked back to the window.

"I'll . . . Think about it," was all he said. Hakkai nodded once in understanding before he turned back toward the table. Gojyo propped up his chin with his arm, watching the exchange with a miffed expression.

"What's his problem? Koumyo's awesome. I've only seen him once myself, back when Sanzo and I became partners," the red head shrugged. Hakkai shook his head as he reached out and gently moved some hair away from Gojyo's face and tucked it behind his ear. Gojyo smiled at him from the display of affection.

"He has his reasons. We should respect that. Now that we're all together, it can't be helped if we find out certain things out about each other. You know everything about me and my past, but that was purely because it was part of the Rainy Day case. It's unfair to ask him or anybody to bare their soul like I have," Hakkai said as he pulled back.

"Give him some time."

TBC

R&R