Pairings/Characters (for this chapter): Sanzo's reincarnation/Kougaiji, Lirin
Prompts (for this chapter): "2. Toys (~For when you die I'll be there for you)" from 30_angsts, "12. Power" from san_kou
Rating (for this chapter): PG-13
Chapter summary: Jinhai prepares for his departure. Kougaiji insists on going with him.
A/N: In my headcanon, youkai do have longer life spans, but not that long; the only thing keeping Kougaiji and Lirin alive is the fact that they're high-ranking youkai royalty, and thus have magical reserves that no one else has.
Word count (for this chapter): ~1,060

Chapter Seven: All Hail the King

Kougaij wondered if Jinhai knew how creepy he looked at the moment.

They were in what served as the living room of Jinhai's apartment, and the policeman was standing to one side of the room, his forehead pressed against that of his so-called copy. The latter's eyes were open and blank. If Kougaiji squinted, he could see gray zeroes and ones scrolling down the pupils.

Beside him, Lirin was leafing through a book that had been lying on the coffee table in front of the couch they were sitting on. "Look, 'niisan," she said excitedly. "It's a picture of you."

Kougaiji looked at the open book. It was open to a page about the youkai king of ancient India and a picture of a full-color stylized painting took up half of one page. "Don't I look a bit … young in it?" he asked.

Lirin laughed. "You just got used to looking middle-aged." She closed the book and put it back on top of the table. "Is this going to take any longer?" she asked Kougaiji. "We really have to go. You have to get ready for tonight's meeting with the lords."

"I just want to ask Jinhai something," Kougaiji said. "Then we can go."

"Okay." Lirin promptly leaned forward and asked, "Chen-xian sheng, are you done?"

"Almost," Jinhai replied shortly. After a minute, he stepped back from his copy. He raised an eyebrow at the two youkai on his couch and crossed his arms. "Well?"

"This … copy of yours," Kougaiji began. "I was wondering where you got it." The thing was obviously the latest in AI technology. If he could get one for himself, he'd be spared having to attend boring meetings and it'd be useful as a body double …

"That's classified information," Jinhai said shortly.

"Did you get it from the temple?" Lirin asked, her thoughts obviously running along the same track as Kougaiji's. She stood up and approached the copy, leaning in to get a closer look at its blank face.

Jinhai snapped his fingers. The copy suddenly came alive, taking one step back and snapping, "Don't touch me."

Lirin laughed. "It's just as surly as you are!"

"Funny," Jinhai said. "Now if you don't have any more questions, please leave."

Kougaiji stood up as well. "I have a request." When Jinhai did nothing but look at him, Kougaiji went on. "I want to go with you to the Gobi desert." He kept talking, ignoring the frown that appeared on Jinhai's face. "Like I said in the church, I'd like to help you look for the sutras. And I have access to resources that may be of use."

"The temple provides me with everything that I need."

"Do they have an extensive info-gathering network at their disposal?" Kougaiji asked, trying not to appear desperate. "Connections with the youkai underworld?" He met Jinhai's narrowed gaze head-on, waiting for the human's answer.

Lirin's laughter as she annoyed the copy was the only sound in the entire room.

Jinhai opened his mouth to speak, and Kougaiji braced himself for the rejection. He was pleasantly surprised when Jinhai said, "Fine. You can come along."

Kougaiji was about to thank him when Jinhai added, "But if you screw this up for me, it won't matter if you're the youkai emperor or not. I'll exorcise your ass faster than you can say Shangri-la."

He still has it. Kougaiji felt like laughing. What were the chances that Jinhai would own the Maten Sutra? After all these centuries, it seemed that Sanzo still wouldn't give up the one material thing that he really treasured.

Kougaiji was tempted to ask about the Seiten Sutra but instead said, "Thank you very much for letting me go with you."

"I'm sorry, Jinhai, but there's a problem with the helicopter we chartered," the head monk said apologetically.

"It's okay, sir," Jinhai said calmly, though he could feel the beginnings of a headache making its presence known. He cut off the head monk's apologies and said, "Really. It's fine, sir. I'll just try to find some other way to get there."

"Once again, I'm sorry. And good luck."

"Thank you," Jinhai answered. He ended the call on his commlink, and sighed in exasperation. It looked like the trip would be delayed unless he could find and charter a copter on short notice. He pulled up a holograph of the yellow pages on his commlink and began scrolling through.

"What's wrong?" Kougaiji asked.

Jinhai glanced at Kougaiji and tried not to snort derisively. He looked nothing like an emperor; he was decked out in practical camping clothes and carrying a knapsack. If anything, he just looked like a hiker.

They were currently in Jinhai's apartment—again—Kougaiji having arrived half an hour ago. He stood in the doorway leading into Jinhai's bedroom. He'd been waiting for him to finish packing when Jinhai's commlink had rung, informing him of an incoming call from the head monk.

"We're having trouble with transportation," Jinhai said shortly.

"Is that all?" Kougaiji pulled out his cell phone—Jinhai briefly wondered why the youkai emperorwas still using something so outdated when he could afford something more current—and dialed a number. "Hello? Lakshanya? You're not going to use the airplane today, are you?" He paused, waiting, then smiled. "How about the helicopter? … Good. I'll be using them for my trip. Can you have everything prepared? Thanks." Kougaiji listened to whatever Lakshanya was saying and ended the call with a, "You too. Goodbye."

Lakshanya again. While Jinhai wasn't an avid follower of the lives of royalty by any stretch of the imagination, he was smart enough to piece together that Lakshanya was Kougaiji's wife. The list of people who had access to Kougaiji's private airplane and helicopter and could also sub for him in important meetings couldn't be long, and Kougaiji probably didn't have a goofy smile on his face when he spoke to his second-in-command.

Jinhai told himself he shouldn't care because he didn't have a reason why he should care. He straightened up, putting on his knapsack as he did. "Well? You got us a ride, right? Let's go."

Kougaiji nodded and made his way out the apartment and onto the street outside. The sleek black hovercar from yesterday was waiting outside for them, and they got into it in silence.