The Aftermath-Farewell to Bad Rubbish
Just when Karin didn't think she was going to make it and her body started feeling cold, hot liquid magma began to rise inside of her chest and spread all throughout her body. She heard screams ringing loudly in her ears, and then all went black.
When she came to, she was in a warm bed in a small room with a weight on the left side of her bed. She glanced over and saw that Hakkai had fallen asleep with his head on her bed. There was a soft scraping noise as the door to her room opened and in walked Ran holding a tray of food.
"He's still asleep…I guess he was more tired than I thought," she mumbled softly. "Karin you're awake…how you feeling?"
"Sore all over," Karin said honestly. She didn't want to move for fear of waking Hakkai up. "How did I manage to survive?"
"You can thank Hakkai for that one. I'm not sure what you did but, he was able to heal you."
"Kusuma?"
"Hakkai disintegrated the guy."
"The women?"
"We gave them some of the lake water to drink and they went back to normal. They're all safe at home."
"Really? That's good," Karin said with relief.
"You gave us all quite the scare back there…how did you manage to tick Kusuma off so much. I thought getting people angry was my job," Ran asked with a small chuckle.
"I slipped him some of the water from the lake. I figured since it had such a negative effect on his plants it would do the same to him," Karin explained.
"Well you were right about that one. When were you planning on letting me in on that little idea though?"
"I didn't want you or the others getting involved," Karin told her honestly.
"If you weren't bedridden I'd hit you right now." Ran sighed but smirked. "Being reckless and impulsive is supposed to be MY thing. Stop stealing my qualities and stick to your own."
Karin laughed. "I can't help it if you're such a bad influence on me. But I'll try not to make a habit out of it."
"Good because if you do I think you'll drive Hakkai into an early grave," Ran chuckled. "At any rate I have some medicine here that's supposed to help you out. Yuzuna said that you need to drink it every two hours until your pain goes away." Ran set the tray down before picking up a small bottle and pouring a green liquid into a small cup. "Here drink it," Ran commanded helping Karin sit up slightly so she could drink the liquid.
Karin gulped it down, grimacing at the taste but did not complain. "I'll come back to check on you later," Ran told her heading towards the door. "By the way, did you know that you talk in your sleep?"
"Really?" Karin asked in surprise.
"Yeah, you said some of the funniest things like… you know what, never mind."
"Hey, don't go leaving after saying something like that," Karin protested but Ran just smirked before walking out and closing the door behind her.
"It's true though… you do talk in your sleep." Karin looked down to see Hakkai smiling up at her.
Karin flushed. "Were you awake this whole time?"
"Hard not to be. That girl has Gojyo's volume."
"How long have I been asleep?" Karin asked smiling up at him.
"A few days…though I half expected it to be longer," Hakkai answered as he moved some of her hair out of her face. "Ran was right though…some of things you say while sleeping is rather amusing."
"What did I say?" Karin asked curiously.
"At one point you said something about Ran and eating tomatoes," Hakkai answered with a laugh.
"Weird…" Karin said shaking her head. "Was there anything else?"
"Nope," Hakkai said a little too innocently. "Nothing you need to worry about really."
"Hakkai… what did I say?" Karin pressed now starting to get really worried.
"…You told me that you loved me." Karin's face turned 37 shades of red and she covered her face with her hands in mortification. Hakkai chuckled. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Really… it was a nice thing to hear." Karin chanced a peak at his face and could tell that he meant what he said.
"Ran said you saved me…how did you do it?" Karin managed to ask changing the subject.
"I'm very sorry about it but it was the only thing I could do to keep you alive," Hakkai stated morosely.
"What did you do?" Karin pressed concerned.
"I put some of my demon blood into your body which healed up your punctured lung. However, now you are technically part demon," Hakkai explained apologetically.
Karin stared at him before pulling down the neck of her shirt to reveal a scar which was, surprisingly enough, shaped like a deformed flower. "I tried to heal the damage as best as I could," he said apologetically.
Karin looked at his somber face and she put a hand on his. "I don't mind." He looked up at her and she smiled. "Thank you for saving me. Even though I told you not to come after me, I'm glad you did. Besides now I have this cool looking scar to make up for the tattoo my aunt would never let me have."
Hakkai stared at her for a moment confused by how well she was taking it. Then his face twitched and he started laughing very hard. "I guess that's one way of looking at it," he chuckled.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything amusing but I thought I'd stop by and see how sleeping beauty was doing," a voice said as Gojyo stepped into the room.
Behind him Ran walked in with an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry about this guys…he kind of over heard me telling Auntie that Karin was awake."
"So, how does it feel to be part demon now?" Gojyo asked her.
"Honestly I don't really feel all that different," Karin said truthfully.
"Well, we ended up putting a limiter on, just in case," Hakkai told her pointing to the silver bracelet that was now on her wrist.
"Wow, I didn't even notice." They all sweat-dropped.
"She has the monkey's observation skills," Gojyo said with a small laugh.
"Yeah….on everything except plants at least," Ran agreed.
"Karin….alright you're awake," Goku shouted running into the room and glomping her.
"Will you control yourself stupid monkey," Sanzo said smacking Goku on the head with his paper fan.
"Hey Goku," Karin said with a laugh. "Did you manage to get your money back, Mr. Sanzo?"
"Yes, now we can finally leave this forsaken town," Sanzo grumbled.
"Hey, now that Kusuma isn't around… does that mean that this town is going to die?" Goku asked worriedly.
"Don't you worry your pretty heads about us," Yuzuna said from the doorway. "The townspeople may not like it at first, but we'll manage to pull through. You boys did a decent job."
"We learned a lot about how to take care of the plants around here. We know how to keep our crops growing without destroying the land now. Besides now that Kusuma isn't around we can finally start getting travelers through here again," Ran explained happily. "This village may go through some hard times at first but we'll pull through just fine."
And so, the next day, Karin, Ran, and Yuzuna were saying goodbye to the boys. Karin and Ran decided to walk with them to the edge of the village. "It's hard to believe it's only been a month. Yet at the same time it feels like the time went by too fast," Karin said to Hakkai.
"Yes it has," Hakkai agreed.
"It may have gone fast but at least we had a blast with it," Ran stated walking with her hands behind her head. "It was, after all, a lot of fun."
"It could have been more fun had I been able to be alone with one of those gorgeous women…even for just a night," Gojyo muttered out loud.
"Say something like that again and you'll be leaving in a straight jacket," Ran threatened with a false smile.
"You aren't going to hit him?" Goku asked surprised. "Ah man and I was so sure he was going to be beaten by a girl again."
"Be quiet stupid monkey!" Gojyo shot at him.
"Don't tell me to be quiet stupid water sprite!"
"Why don't you BOTH be quiet!" Sanzo shouted firing off his gun.
"I can see, you have quite a few adventures ahead of you," Karin said with a small laugh.
"So it would appear," Hakkai concurred.
The next words she spoke were for his ears only. "You think we'll ever see each other again? After all I still have to repay you for all that you've done for me."
"I'm not sure if we will see each other again…but I sincerely hope that we do," Hakkai answered turning to her as they reached where the forest began.
Karin nodded her agreement enthusiastically making Hakkai chuckle. "Either way I'll always have this scar to remember you by," she said happily.
"Just don't get any more okay," Hakkai told her with a smile and both of them laughed at their own jokes.
"Man, check out the love birds," Gojyo said with a smirk as he glanced over at Hakkai and Karin.
"Huh? They don't have feathers," Goku said staring at them and tried to picture Karin and Hakkai as birds which led to him thinking about cooked turkey. "I'm hungry…"
"Don't you think about anything beside food, stupid monkey?" Gojyo asked annoyed.
"I'm not a stupid monkey," Goku shouted back.
"Shut up," Sanzo shouted turning his gun on Gojyo and Goku.
They quieted down instantly and then Goku ran forward to catch up with Sanzo. "See ya Goku…don't go touching any strange plants got it," Ran shouted after him. "I'm going to miss that little guy."
"You've never traveled with him," Gojyo said smirking.
"Well, don't go getting into too many fights with him. Otherwise Sanzo just might put a bullet through you," Ran cautioned.
"Like he could," Gojyo said shaking his head. "But thanks for the sentiment. Didn't think you'd ever be worried about my safety."
"Oh, I'm not," Ran assured him.
Gojyo laughed. "Good, because you shouldn't." Then he leaned down and gave her quick peck on the lips. Ran went completely rigid. "And in case you've forgotten, it's called a kiss," Gojyo said with a smile before turning and walking away.
It took Ran a moment to register what just happened…but the moment she did Gojyo was feeling it via a hammer on the back of his head. "I'm gonna kill him," Ran muttered angrily.
"Well farewell Karin, and Ran. It was a pleasure to meet the both of you," Hakkai said as he too headed off into the forest.
As the party traveled through the forest, Gojyo fell in step beside Hakkai. "It was fun while it lasted, eh Hakkai?"
"Yes indeed it was. One must wonder though…why do you anger Ran so?"
"Don't know…maybe it's because she looks so cute when she's mad," Gojyo replied closing his eyes to picture something only he could see.
"Something tells me she's a lot more than meets the eye…so you may want to watch how far you go with your teasing," Hakkai warned.
"I saw something different as well. But you know the same goes for you and Karin…whatever is different about them could end up hurting you too."
"Well, I suppose we'll deal with that when the time comes. So there's really no sense in worrying about it now," Hakkai said with a broad grin.
"Heh, yeah. That's how we usually work, isn't it?" Gojyo said with a smile of his own. "Wait for the trouble to come to us."
"Hey guys! Check it out!" Goku said pointing. They all stopped when they saw a huge, crystal clear lake glimmering in the sunlight.
"I guess his plants covering the lake vanished when he did," Hakkai said staring at the majestic beauty before him.
"If we weren't trying to get to the next town I'd say we should go for a swim," Gojyo stated watching the lake as it rippled gently.
"This means the town's going to be alright…right?" Goku asked.
"I think it does Goku…I think it does," Hakkai agreed smiling.
It began to lightly drizzle, yet the sun was still shining through the clouds. "Well that's not something you see everyday," Gojyo commented. "The sun and rain together."
"No, it's not," Hakka murmured, feeling strangely at peace despite the rainfall 'I guess in the end…' He thought. 'She was the sun that broke through the endless rain.'
"Whatever, let's just get going all ready," Sanzo muttered breaking through their happy moment.
"Fine…but let's make sure that the inn we stay at has as good of food as Auntie," Goku shouted joyfully.
"I'm surprised you can even tell the quality of food considering how fast you eat it," Gojyo criticized.
"I can taste it just fine," Goku protested.
"You'd probably eat poison and ask for seconds," Gojyo remarked.
"You're the one always stealing my food!"
"You're the one always hogging it!"
"Well, it would seem that we're back to our usual routine," Hakkai told Sanzo cheerfully.
"Shut up both of you," Sanzo shouted firing off a couple rounds in their general direction.
"Hey you almost hit us!"
"Geez, you damn monk!"
"I said shut up!" And the forest rang with several more gunshots.
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CM: So here's the end of Sun and Rain...but don't worry, there's more where this came from. Look for the sequal to find out what's so different about Ran and Karin in "Fire and Blood". ^_^ Hope you enjoyed the story. THANKS FOR READING!