Hey people! I'm back with another chapter! Now lets get to business!

(Clears throat and takes a deep breath)

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Saiyuki (manga or anime) nor its sequels and prequels. As much as I want to own the characters in the manga/anime, I'm sad to say I do not. I only own Kasumi, Yuki, Suzume, and Aoi (plus other minor characters)

(Gasps)

Okay! Now that's all over, onwards with the journey!

Culture Shock

Chapter 4: Pride

(About 14 years ago)

"Half-breed filth! Get out of this house!"

A young Kasumi was flung out of her Aunt's house. She had just broken her Aunt's china and it wasn't even her favorite. Kasumi tried to stumble up to her feet but collapsed. Her legs were too weak to hold her body. They were more like sticks than legs. Her fingers were all cut up from the shards that she tried to pick up.

Her face bruised by her drunken uncle

Her ribs and nose, broken by her cruel so-called cousins

Her stomach empty because her aunt refused to give her food that she couldn't work for

Kasumi rolled onto her back and ignored the mud that covered her clothes, more like tattered pieces of cloth. It was a miracle that she was able to obtain this one piece of clothing. A kind fisherman's son gave it to her out of pity. "Because you're a Hanyou." He had said.

A hanyou…

Kasumi touched her ears. They looked more like the ears of an animal than the ears of a human. It wasn't only that, she had hair with the color of oranges and eyes that reflected water, something that everyone but fishermen feared. She was despised because of the blood that she carried.

Her father's blood

Her aunt had just thrown her out for now, but Kasumi knew that she would call her back in. Who else would do the work and labor in the house?

Sometimes, Kasumi wished that she could just die.

"Kasumi? What are you doing on the ground? Was it your Aunt again?"

That warm voice, Kasumi looked up and recognized the person almost immediately. He was their neighbor and a martial arts instructor, Kazuma. He was the only one who took the time to stop everything that he was doing to check on her.

Sometimes, when she had time, she would visit his dojo and learn a little martial art just to spend a little more time with him. She had always thought of him as her father.

He was the only one who truly cared.

He held out her hand. "Let's get you into my house. We need to get your wounds cleaned and wrapped before they get infected."

"Thank you, Kazuma-san. You've always been so nice to me even though I did nothing for you and you always help me when I'm in trouble." Kasumi said hoarsely. Kazuma only smiled and patted her head. "Of course, Kasumi."

"I love you like a daughter, after all."

Then why? Why did you leave me?

Kasumi woke up from her sleep to have the sun shining its unforgiving rays at her eyes. She winced. There wasn't a tree in sight so that was understandable. She flinched when she realized that she wasn't in the room that she was sleeping in last night but in the jeep.

"Morning, sweetheart. Had a nice dream?"

Kasumi relaxed. She was on Gojyo-nii's lap. He was a good person so she had nothing to worry about. She liked the comforting emotions that he emitted. They made her feel safe and secure. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "How did I get in the jeep, Gojyo-nii? I thought I was in an inn."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't wake up so I decided to carry you into the jeep so you could get your sleep." Gojyo explained. Kasumi cuddled up against him like a kit would do to its mother. "I'm lucky."

Gojyo smirked and patted her head. "Anything for you, sweetheart."

"Sweetheart? Isn't that a nickname that you call a person that you love?" Kasumi questioned curiously. "You should save that name for that special someone."

Gojyo doubted that he'd have only one of those.

"Then what should I call you?"

Goku interrupted the conversation, now realizing that Kasumi was awake. "Hey Kasumi! What took you so long in getting up, huh? I was so bored! Do you wanna play cards with me? Oh, what about 'I Spy'?"

"Shut up, you stupid monkey! I was carrying a conversation with her, if you didn't notice! Go on and play with someone your own age!" Gojyo snapped. Goku's expression of excitement soured and he scowled at the red haired hanyou. "You were probably trying to hit on her anyways, you perverted kappa! I want to play with Kasumi! She's fun! Besides," He glanced at the front where Yuki was napping. "Yuki doesn't look like she's going to wake up any time soon."

"Then I'll wake her up, idiot!" Gojyo said, beginning to move forward.

At this suggestion, Kasumi flinched in fright and pushed him back roughly. Gojyo coughed in surprise at her sudden strength. Aoi looked up from reading some sort of book and smirked in amusement. "Please don't wake her up! Never wake her up when she doesn't want to!"

"Okay, okay, I won't." Gojyo winced. As much as he loved having a woman's hands on his chest, her push probably left two hand-shaped bruises. "Dang woman, you're strong."

Kasumi tipped her head to the side in confusion. "Strong?"

"Kasumi, you have to understand that Chinese hanyou aren't like you. That includes Gojyo." Aoi explained calmly.

Hakkai, who just happened to overhear Aoi's little piece of information, asked, "What's different about the Hanyou in Japan. We already have the appearances covered, but are there more differences?"

"Apparently," Aoi snorted, "For one, if Gojyo over there was dumped into Japan by chance, he'd be considered a human not a hanyou and he'd be laughed at if he ever claimed to be one."

"Oh? And why is that?" Hakkai questioned. Both ignored the fuming Gojyo. "Hey! Stop talking as if I'm not here!"

Aoi listed off the facts while counting them off with her fingers. "Hanyou in Japan inherit not only some parts of their youkai parent's "true form" but they inherit their youkai parent's abnormal strength, acute sense of smell, sensitive hearing, and many other characteristics that may vary."

"So you're saying that Gojyo is weak." Hakkai bluntly stated with a smile on his face.

Aoi nodded gleefully. "Yup! You got that right!"

"HEY!" Gojyo shouted.

Goku started to laugh uncontrollably and Sanzo snickered from where he sat.

Kasumi patted Gojyo's shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry about it! At least you don't have to worry about accidently hurting someone." Her eyes crinkled in concern. "I didn't hurt you that badly, did I?"

"Nah, your push was nothing." Gojyo lied. There was absolutely no way that he was going to admit that he got bruised by a simple push in front of Goku and Sanzo.

Kasumi looked a little doubtful. "You're lying."

"And what makes you so confident about that?" Gojyo questioned.

Aoi smirked. "If Kasumi says you're lying, then you're lying. She's like our personal lie detector."

Hakkai once again became interested. "Lie detector? How does that work? Is that another ability that she has?"

"Now that's a special ability that only one in a million people have." Aoi said proudly but dimmed down a bit. "Though this thing is hers to explain. Kasumi? Are you comfortable in telling them?"

Kasumi bit her lip and climbed from her perch on Gojyo's lap. "Um…I guess it's okay to tell them. Just promise not to freak out or anything like that?" She asked Gojyo, Goku, and Hakkai. She knew that the Sanzo priest wouldn't care. She felt it. "I can read your feelings, emotions, and overall character. In some cases, like now, I can feel it like it's mine except it's not."

Goku nodded, telling her that he understood. "Okay, you can read our emotions. So what's the bad thing about it?"

"Let's say that my ability is that radio thing except I can't turn it off. I can muffle it a little but that's it. And the voices are literally screaming everything at me." Kasumi said while looking down. "You get used to the noise once in a while, right? But what happens if you can't muffle it because it's too loud?"

"It gets annoying?" Goku asked.

Kasumi nodded. "Now lets replace the radio voice with the screams of people begging for help, people yelling in rage, people suffering from hunger. What happens then?"

Goku looked at Kasumi with horror. "You can hear all of that?"

"No Goku, I can feel it which makes it a thousand times worse."

A tense silence filled the Jeep and Yuki shifted on Suzume's lap as if she sensed the tension in the air.

Kasumi suddenly clapped her hands, breaking the silence like a knife. "What's with the doom and gloom, people? I thought that this was supposed to be a happy conversation! Hey Goku, want to learn some Japanese?"

From that point, everyone acted like their normal selves but Kasumi knew that it wasn't the case. The emotion of pity covered the air like a blanket. Although she appreciated that they felt no disgust, pity was the last thing that she needed.

Well, not Sanzo. He didn't really seem to care about her ability. Something about his unsurprised aura told her that Suzume told him about her own strange quirk.

Kasumi had to admit that Suzume's ability was a bit more extreme than her own. To be able to see the fates and pasts of other people must be a bit scary, not to mention a bit sad.

"Kasumi, do you know what we're all feeling right now?" Goku asked suddenly. Gojyo whacked him over the head. "Stop being so insensitive, you stupid monkey!"

"No, it's fine." Kasumi assured him cheerfully. She turned to Goku as said. "You're curious, scared, amazed, and…hungry." She giggled at the last part. Goku's stomach grumbled as if on cue and the pair laughed. Hakkai, Aoi, and Gojyo joined in. Suzume merely smiled.

Goku stopped smiling and frowned. Kasumi stopped laughing when she felt a strong wave of his guilt hit her. "What's wrong, Goku?"

"I…I pitied you for a second there, Kasumi. I pitied you instead of admiring your strength because you're really, really strong to still be able to still smile. I just realized that. Sorry for thinking that way. It must've felt terrible to be pitied." Goku apologized sincerely.

Shock. That was what she felt and she was more than sure that it was her own emotion that she was feeling at that moment.

Kasumi smiled sadly. "It's okay. Emotions shouldn't be guided or shackled though no one ever talked to me face to face about this except this bunch." She said while gesturing to the other girls.

Aoi smirked. "Well, you have awesome me, understanding Suzume, and crazy Yuki by your side as friends. Of course we'd confront you about your insanely cool abilities."

A heavy-looking paperweight flew at Aoi's face. Luckily, she expected this coming and dodged it effortlessly. "Oi! You can actually break my beautiful face with that, Brat!"

Someone was up.

"Who's the crazy one?" Yuki questioned, ignoring Aoi's obvious anger.

"You of course!" Aoi hollered before narrowly avoiding a flying sandal. Goku caught it before it flew overboard. "Pity, it didn't hit you."

Sanzo twitched a little with all the noise coming from the back and the front. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder comfortingly and relaxed a little. He turned to Suzume who smiled apologetically for her friends' behavior.

Yuki watched this with a nostalgic expression.

Kasumi felt affection coming from the front and glanced subtly at the 'holy pair'. They others didn't bring up 'The Holy Agreement' yet. It's either the fact that they're still shocked by the news or that they were waiting for the perfect time to bring it up and tease the Sanzo Priest about it endlessly.

It was more likely that it was the latter.

"Oh, that reminds me," Hakkai said suddenly, "congratulations, Sanzo."

Yup, it was the latter.

Sanzo tossed his finished cigarette out of the jeep. "Congratulations about what?"

"Well you're practically married now with Miss Suzume, isn't that right?" Hakkai stated cheerfully, making the monk choke on whatever drink he was drinking. Suzume's face turned into an interestingly crimson color that rivaled Gojyo's hair. She distracted herself by helping Sanzo, who was still coughing.

Yuki gave her friend a mocking smile. "Awww, aren't you the perfect wife? Helping your husband like that, you better feel lucky, monk. The last High Priestess was about forty years old when she died. You were about this close into being engaged to an old lady."

Kasumi could feel the embarrassment radiating from Suzume. "Knock it off, Yuki. You're embarrassing Suzume too."

"What gave you the idea that we're married? I'm a priest, dammit!" Sanzo hissed at the driver. Hakkai shrugged, "Ask little Yuki. She seemed to understand the situation more than all of us."

Sanzo took out his gun. "Mind explaining, Brat?"

"What? I never said that I wouldn't tell if they asked." She said offhandedly. "Besides, they would be bound to know sooner or later. The Holy Agreement is pretty well-known around these parts, or so I heard."

"That doesn't explain why they're thinking that we're married." Sanzo snarled.

"Oh, that. Aoi was the one who compared it to marriage and I guess the idea stuck. It makes sense if you see it in a certain way, Priest. Doesn't the pact require you two to sleep in the same room?"

Gojyo groaned at that. "You lucky bastard!"

"Shut up you perverted kappa. It's not as intimate as you think." Aoi told him. "They may sleep next to each other not with each other."

"Is there a difference?" Kasumi asked curiously. Aoi shook her head. "We're going to have the talk one day, my friend. Just not now when you're surrounded by men."

Kasumi looked confused but nodded. "Okay, Aoi! Whatever you say!"

Aoi hugged her best friend and gave Gojyo a pointed look over Kasumi's shoulder. "You better not have had any lustful emotions toward her during this trip. I want to keep Kasumi pure as long as possible."

Youkai surrounded the jeep in alarming numbers. Aoi looked as if she just hit the jackpot. "Oh goodie, there's just so many! I wonder if they have a 'true form'. That would be very useful once they're dead. I never really paid attention to those details during the war."

It's amazing how relentlessly the youkai came to face the Sanzo-ikkou. It was only the fourth day (or was it the fifth?) and the girls quickly learned this fact. The setting was a forest so it was hard for them to see the youkai before they were surrounded.

Not that it was dangerous situation or anything. It was just that it was annoying.

"They don't." Yuki stated flatly, making the blue head deflate a little before lightening up again. "Oh well! I still get to do some exercise~!"

Kasumi picked up her sword. "I guess Jien needs some blood too."

"Did you really have to name your katana with such a human-like name? I'd understand if it was a pet but it's not. Pets are supposed to be cute and fluffy. That thing is not cute nor is it fluffy."

Kasumi stuck her tongue out at Aoi. "Jien had a much more cooler name but I had to…give its original name away to a person who needed it more than my katana. So, its name is Jien. Deal with it!"

"Is this some kind of joke? We're here for the sutra and the monk! Not for some meddling, weak women. Step aside!" A youkai snapped, interrupting the casual conversation between the pair.

Aoi flicked a throwing knife at the rude youkai's way, silencing him and setting the others into an edge. "Good. Now you youkai scums know better to be rude to us young ladies."

"Young Ladies? More a like psychotic, insane human woman armed with countless tiny yet deadly weapons and an airheaded, bubbly hanyou swinging a scrap of a sword." Yuki 'helpfully' corrected.

Aoi ignored the silver-haired girl. "Look, we're with the monk so if you want to cross him, you better beat us first which I really doubt will happen."

"You wench!" A brave or impossibly stupid youkai snarled and lunged at Aoi.

Lets just say that Aoi took it as her cue to attack all of the youkai freely. She snorted when her blades sliced up the youkai effortlessly. "Oh come on, youkai back in Japan has harder skin than this! You guys are making me look more like a ninja than a demonslayer! That's embarrassing for both you guys and me! Come at me with your all, you soft skins!"

Kasumi was also hacking away at the youkai. She, unlike Aoi, killed them quickly. She liked these youkai better than the ones back home. None had referred to her as a "half-breed" or "filthy-blood" yet. So for that, she gave these youkai the quickest and most painless deaths. "What's wrong with ninjas, Aoi?"

"Nothing's wrong with them, Kasumi. It's just that they refuse to touch the weapons of a demonslayer and resort to using normal weapons. Not that it's bad, but that causes them to chase after the small-fry youkai. I feel like I'm fighting small-fries."

Then, they heard Suzume call out. "I think that would be enough exercise for the day, don't you agree girls? You do realize that I just washed those clothes that you're wearing, right?"

Kasumi and Aoi looked at her clothes and laughed sheepishly at the same time. "Sorry~"

"Whores! Don't forget that we're here!"

Surprisingly, Aoi didn't react to that insult and simply stepped back. "The show's all yours Suzume. We're done here."

"Yeah!" Kasumi agreed while flicking the blood off of her katana. "I'm a little bored now."

Yuki climbed to Hakuryuu's trunk and took out Suzume's bow and arrows. She passed it to the miko with an excited gleam in her eyes. "You guys are going to see a great treat. You're going to have the honor of watching a purification."

Sanzo leaned forward in interest. "Now this I have to see."

Suzume notched her arrow and drew it back. The arrowhead was already glowing with that pink eerie light that always looked a bit beautiful to Yuki's eyes. Suzume chanted in Japanese under her breath. "And shalt all thou sins be washed away by this holy light." She finished before releasing the arrow.

The youkai didn't even have the time to process what happened to them before the light swallowed them. When the bright light dimmed and faded away, the youkai were nowhere to be seen.

It was as if they never existed in the first place.

"Whoa…" Goku stared at the empty space in awe and with a little fear.

Gojyo whistled. "That's some power there."

"I can't help but feel a little scared." Hakkai stated honestly. "I'll be sure not to get onto her bad side in the future."

Suzume slung her bow over her shoulder. "Shall we proceed traveling?"

Kasumi could feel pride from the Sanzo priest. It was faint and very well hidden, but she could feel it. She understood the message that Suzume was sending to him as she approached the jeep.

'I can take care of myself'.

Kasumi smiled softly at this before freezing. Her animal-like ears twitched and she instinctively drew her katana. She heard something move at her right but the wind was blowing at that some direction so she couldn't smell who or what they were. Seeing her obvious discomfort, the others readied their weapons. Yuki looked at Kasumi. "What is it?"

"I don't know. The wind makes it hard to catch their scent."

Yuki snorted. "Really now? Okay, then. Let's resort to the old fashioned way." She took a step toward the direction Kasumi was facing and hollered. "If you cowards don't come out of your hiding place RIGHT NOW, I'll blast your asses out of there!"

As if to prove her point, she jammed her iron fan into the ground and a crack in the earth was immediately created. The earth trembled a bit as if complaining about the poor way it was being treated.

"I…think you overdid it." Aoi said with a sweatdrop.

Yuki scoffed. "Overdid it? That was just me being gentle because I respect the environment. I would've destroyed the whole forest if I 'overdid it'."

"Yeah," Aoi said sarcastically, "I bet the environment appreciates your gentleness."

A figure stumbled out into the open with hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, you got me but I'm not here to fight. Well, not for now anyways."

Kasumi could smell the person's scent more clearly now. Her eyes flashed in recognition and a wide smile appeared in her lips. She sheathed her weapon before running toward the figure. She jumped and tackled the person down. "I can't believe it! You're here!"

"Easy there, kid. You're not as light as you were the last time I saw you." A masculine voice sounded. The youkai's face wasn't visible from the other's angle but that didn't really matter for the Sanzo-ikkou. They already recognized his voice. Seriously, who else would be carrying around such a strange-looking sword? Kasumi grinned and the person more tightly. "Jien…"

Sha Jien, or Dokugakuji (make your pick), awkwardly patted the hanyou's head. "Hey Kid."

And then, the unexpected happened.

Kasumi. Sweet, innocent, kind Kasumi…

Punched Dokugakuji in the gut without holding back. I'm sorry. Did I say punch?

I meant she pummeled his ass.

"You big, fat, JERK!" She yelled while kneeing his stomach. "Did you know how worried I was when you didn't contact me after that incident? I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry!" Dokugakuji squacked while avoiding another punch. When Kasumi's fist made contact with the ground, it made a freakishly deep crater. "How was I supposed to know that you returned to Japan?"

"I TOLD you that I was going to go back home REMEMBER? Or did you forget that too?" Kasumi scowled, which looked strange on her usually cheerful expression.

Guilt covered Dokugakuji's face and he stopped dodging her blows. Thankfully, Kasumi had the ability to control her punches and managed to stop her fist from hitting his face just a few millimeters from his cheek. "Really Kasumi, I'm sorry that I worried you. I had no idea. Honest."

"…"

"I'm really-

"Okay! I forgive you!" Kasumi interrupted cheerfully while withdrawing her fist.

Everyone sweatdropped at her sudden change of character. Yuki shook her head. "You're hopeless. You can't hold a grudge, can you? How softhearted. If I were you, I'd cut him down on the spot."

Dokugakuji inwardly shivered. He had experienced the silver-haired girl's strength, and if she wasn't bluffing about holding back before, he was sure that she'd do more than 'cut him down'.

Not just that, he saw how strong the other girls were too. The blue haired girl seemed pretty efficient with her weapons and the strange woman with the bow obliterated more than half of the youkai army with just an arrow. And not to mention Kasumi, she's a monster with her bare fists alone.

He was beginning to dread the day that he would have to face them.

The jeep dissolved and turned back into Hakuryuu. The little dragon flew over to the blue-eyed hanyou and plopped down onto her shoulder. Hakkai raised his brow at the white dragon's obvious fondness for the hanyou. "It seems that Hakuryuu is tired."

"Okay monkey, let's pitch the tents." Gojyo said in a defeated tone. His eyes wandered over to Kasumi chattering animatedly to Dokugakuji. Aoi couldn't help but notice some strange expression in those red eyes. It was the same expression he had when Goku touched Kasumi's strange ears.

Could it be that he's-no, that couldn't be it. Aoi threw that thought over the hills.

Kasumi smiled at her friend. "So, do you want to eat some meat? I can go and catch something big for you to celebrate."

"Ah man, are we going to camp again?" Aoi complained. "And I wanted to reach the next town and take a shower."

"Then go jump into a river then." Kasumi suggested helpfully. "There's one a bit to the west."

Aoi was about to retort to the statement before reconsidering. "You know what? I think I will do that. Suzume, are you coming?"

Suzume looked up from her conversation with Sanzo. She and Aoi shared a look before she looked back at Sanzo, silently begging him to let her go. He clicked his tongue but he gently pushed her to Aoi's direction. "Don't blame me if you catch a cold, useless woman."

"Thank you!"

Sanzo snorted and lifted the cup of tea that she had prepared for him to his lips. He distantly remembered that she had called it 'green tea' back in the time when she served it to him and his Master.

Amused, Hakkai went over to Sanzo. "Well, it seems that our Sanzo has a soft spot for Miss Suzume."

From behind, Goku and Gojyo snickered at the comment.

Sanzo choked the second of the day.

While he coughed, he drew his gun and pointed at the 'idiot pair'. Protests immediately sounded in the camp. "Hey! Hakkai was the one who said that! Why are you pointing that gun at us?"

"Yeah!" Goku agreed with Gojyo. "You're just embarrassed!"

Gunshots echoed through the campsite and Dokugakuji flinched. He was still a bit uncomfortable sitting in the middle of his enemy's camp. Kasumi helped calm his anxiety but he was still a bit cautious.

"So how do you know Sanzo-sama, Goku, Hakkai, and Gojyo-nii?" Kasumi asked, drawing his attention back to her. He scratched the back of his head. Right, she didn't know about him being their sort of-kind of enemy.

"When I'm with Kou, I'm their enemy."

Instead of yelling at him and kicking him out of the camp like a normal person, Kasumi just nodded as if he just told her what the weather was going to be tomorrow. "Okay. So who's this Kou?"

"Kou is the person who I follow and respect." Dokugakuji responded simply. Kasumi looked into his eyes for a long moment before smiling. "So he's your 'pride' then. That's good, you found someone like that. I'd like to meet him someday. So what's this Kou like?"

"Oh! You mean Kougaiji?" Goku joined the conversation excitedly. "He's this really, really strong guy! I like him!"

Yuki gave him a dry look. "How can you like the enemy?"

"Well, they're not 'enemies' really. More like, they work half-time to kill us or attempt to get the Sutra, which also requires the killing." Hakkai explained to the little, silver-haired girl patiently.

Yuki snorted. "Then you're saying that Doku-whatever is your enemy who's conveniently taking a break on his half-time 'job'?"

"Pretty much."

"Don't worry Yuki," Kasumi assured her, "he doesn't feel hostile at the moment. If he's going to try anything, he knows that he'll have to deal with me first. Oh, and he's scared of you."

Dokugakuji shot Kasumi a look. "Stop digging into my mind!"

"I'm not reading your mind, baka, I read your emotions."

"Same thing!"

Kasumi shook her head. "No it's not. Besides, I can't control it. If you want me to stop, then stop feeling."

Gojyo sat next to Kasumi with his trademark smirk and put an arm around her shoulder. "Stop harassing her already, Bro! I thought you had more manners!"

"Wait…" Kasumi turned to Gojyo with surprise and then at Dokugakuji. "Bro? As in…brother? You're his brother?" She gave Dokugakuji an accusing look. "You didn't tell me that you had a brother!"

Dokugakuji held up his hands in defense. "I didn't tell you a lot of things."

Kasumi pouted. "Not fair! And you know lots about me, Jien!"

"Stop calling me by that name. It's Dokugakuji now, remember?"

"But it's weird when I call you 'Dokugakuji'! That's the name I gave my sword! I have rights!" Kasumi wagged her finger at his face. Dokugakuji decided that he would lose in this argument anyways so he dropped it and changed the subject.

"So how did you end up here? Were you traveling in this direction too?"

Kasumi shrugged. "A pretty lady (Yuki: "You mean old hag.") sent us all the way here from Japan so we can help them with…something."

"He doesn't need to be troubled with those things, Kasumi." Suzume's voice suddenly said all the attention was drawn to the now sopping wet Suzume accompanied by an equally soaked Aoi. Even her clothes were soaked through. Yuki snickered. "I know Kasumi said 'Jump into a river' but I don't think she meant it like that."

Kasumi looked concerned. "What happened?"

"Aoi decided that it would be funny to drag me into the water when I had all of my clothes on." Suzume told them grimly. Sanzo snickered at her predicament at which she glared at him for. Aoi spluttered. "I didn't mean to! I swear that I slipped!"

"And you thought it was necessary to take me down with you?"

Hakkai came over to the pair with two towels. He gave one to Sanzo and gave him a hard look. "If you don't mind, please take care of your wife, Sanzo. She's sopping wet."

"Wife?" Dokugakuji asked incredulously. No, he must've misheard. There was no way that a priest would be able to marry.

Ignoring Dokugakuji, Sanzo dropped the cigarette he was smoking and crushed the end with the heel of his boots. "And why should I help her? She's a big girl and she has you to help her."

Kasumi knew from his emotions that he was a bit amused but a bit concerned as well. He just…wasn't one who would express it. She could also feel that he would help anyways eventually.

Males, she never really got why they always thought that it was necessary to appear 'tough' and 'strong'.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, she's wearing a white top."

"So?"

Hakkai sighed. "She's wet."

"…And?"

"Does he have to spell it out to you?" Gojyo asked in a loud voice. "Whatever's under that white top she's wearing is going to be visible to the world, fake monk! Though," he squinted his eyes in an over exaggerated way, "The view seems nice."

Suzume self-consciously wrapped her arms around herself and blushed a deep red color.

That action seemed unneeded due to the fact that Sanzo was at her side at an instant with a towel. As he hurriedly wrapped it around her to cover her figure, he glared fiercely at Gojyo. "Look away you perverted kappa!"

Hakkai went over to Aoi and handed the towel over to Aoi, knowing that it wouldn't be necessary for him to wrap it around her for her. She reached out for it with a thankful grin.

When their hands made contact, a jolt ran through their bodies.

The towel dropped. Aoi stooped down to retrieve it.

"I apologize, it seems that the towel is dirtied now. Do you want me to get another one Miss Aoi?" Hakkai asked calmly. Aoi shook her head, quickly recovering from the momentary shock. "Nah, it's just a little dirt."

Kasumi placed her hands over both Gojyo and Goku's eyes. Dokugakuji had already turned in back on the sight in respect for the woman's privacy a while ago. "Suzume's body is only reserved for her holy husband to see. Please respect this and look away."

"Pfffft! Holy husband!" Gojyo chortled but made no move to remove Kasumi's hand from his face. He enjoyed the nice, cool feeling it gave.

Embarrassment seeped from Sanzo and he attempted to cover it up with a "shut up".

He herded Suzume to the fire to dry, never once breaking contact from her.

It was as if he expected that she would disappear into thin air or turn into ashes the moment he released her.

Dokugakuji left after a few more hours of conversing with Kasumi. He warned her that he would be her enemy that next time they meet. Kasumi just shrugged and told him to worry more about himself.

Kasumi took care of the fire as she waited for everyone else to fall asleep. She wrapped a blanket over herself and enjoyed that moment of peace where there wasn't any emotion in the air.

She heard Gojyo come out of the tent.

His emotions weren't as intense as Sanzo's so she didn't mind. He sat right beside her and lit his cigarette. She was a bit more used to the smell that the strange rolled up thing gave. It didn't sting as much anymore. "Can't sleep, Gojyo-nii?"

"Yeah, the stupid monkey took up all the space and he's making a racket with his snores." Gojyo scowled in annoyance. Kasumi giggled because Goku indeed was snoring away like there was no tomorrow. "I see. So what's on your mind that prevented you from falling asleep, Gojyo-nii?"

"Don't you already know?"

Kasumi sadly smiled. "I'm no mind reader, Gojyo-nii. I'm just really good at guessing other people's thoughts basing it on their emotions. And I prefer hearing the answers from the person instead of making assumptions.

"I guess…it makes me feel a bit more normal, you know?"

Guilt crashed over Kasumi like a tidal wave, as well as sadness, self-hatred, jealousy, and confusion. She jerked at the onslaught of emotions and toppled over. She landed onto Gojyo's lap. She squeaked as his arms wrapped around her and buried his face into her hair. "Sorry 'bout that, sweetheart. I'm just a bit stressed."

Kasumi poked his cheek. "Duh, your emotions are all messy!"

Her childish action brought a smile to his face and, to Kasumi's delight, took away that feeling of sadness. "Really now?"

"Uh huh! There are all these different feelings that you have scattered around you. If you don't clean them up soon, you'll be weighed down." Kasumi scrunched up her face. "You shouldn't hold it all in like that. It's not like it's weak to show how upset or sad you are at times."

"You wouldn't understand, sweetheart." Gojyo sighed.

"You underestimate me, Gojyo-nii. I've encountered a lot of guys like you and they're all the same! They all have some 'pride' of their own that they always hang onto! They misperceive it as 'strength'. It's a nice substitute, but it's a flawed wall with cracks." Kasumi told him wisely. "Your 'pride' is your emotional independence, right?"

Gojyo nodded, "Spot on, sweetheart."

Kasumi fell silent, contemplating on whether or not she should ask the question that was on her mind. Seeing her reluctance to speak, Gojyo encouraged her by patting her head. "Go on, say whatever's on your mind. It's fair that way, isn't it?"

"Did you have a nightmare about her?"

Gojyo's figure froze for a bit before he forced a smile. "What are you talking about, sweetheart? Thought I was dreaming about another girl and got jealous?" He teased.

"Jien told me." Kasumi simply said. "After saving my life on the day we crossed paths, Jien told me everything. About his sins, his guilt, and about his 'special person' he had to protect from his own mother. At first, I thought the person was some girl that he liked but that was you, wasn't it?"

"…Yeah."

Kasumi looked down at her hands. "I guess I can understand a bit of your pain. Not because of this curse, but because I went through a lot of similar situations like that. It's the life of the hanyou-ne? It was painful wasn't it? To be hated."

"I wanted her to love me." Gojyo said.

"Really? That's a good thing to want. When I was in a situation like that, I wanted to die more than anything in the world." Kasumi said a bit distantly. "Not anymore, of course." She assured Gojyo when she felt his concern and alarm.

"So you know my story, what's yours?" He asked after letting out a breath of smoke. Kasumi bit her lip as she reached into her memories. "I heard my father, who was a fox youkai, died before my birth. My mother died partially because she brought me into the world and also because she didn't want to live any longer without my father. I was entrusted to my human Aunt.

"Naturally, she hated me. I was a burden and a 'half-breed'. She took pleasure in starving me and turning me into her drunkard of a husband's punching bag when he came back home. Her children followed his example and beat me up daily. It wasn't their fault, though. They didn't know any better.

"It seemed that the whole world despised me for carrying my father's blood. I looked different, I healed faster than a normal person would, and I was stronger.

"They feared me for being who I was."

Gojyo chuckled. "What a messed up family you had."

"I know, right? But they gave me that chance to survive for the roof over my head so I'm thankful." Kasumi told him. She felt no malice toward her family. They don't exist in her life anymore. "Hanyou were usually thrown out or abandoned by their human parent so they could die during infancy. Sometimes, they are hunted down as a sport. They don't do that as much anymore, thankfully."

Kasumi took a handful of Gojyo's hair lightly. "You're lucky. If you came to Japan, you'd be accepted by the society simply because you don't have an animal-like appearance nor a superhuman strength. Your red hair would be considered 'lucky' more than anything else."

"What?" Gojyo asked incredulously, "This color as lucky? It's the color of blood."

"Blood? Is blood the only thing that has a red color? It dries into an ugly brown color too, you know. And blood doesn't dry unless it's shed. There are many other different, more beautiful things that have the color red. There are apples, cherries, strawberries, the color when the sun begins to rise or set, the color of the string that binds soul mates together, and many other things too. But most importantly, it's the color of life."

"Life?" Gojyo asked.

"Isn't it the blood that flows through your body that color as you said? It's the blood that our ancestors passed along so they can live with us." Kasumi leaned into Gojyo's embrace. "Every time I see the red color, I hear a strong voice telling me to live. I heard that voice the day the person who I considered both a master and a father died."

She took one of the hands that was wrapped around her and gave it a squeeze.

"So…don't hate yourself for being who you are, 'kay Gojyo-nii? And if you want to cry, bawl your eyes out as much as you want when you're with me. I promise that I won't tell anyone."

Gojyo's self-hatred slowly dissipated.

"Really now? Not even to my own brother?" He asked with a smile in his voice. Kasumi shook her head. "What gave you that idea? Jien wouldn't hear a peep out of me even if he begs 'cause Gojyo-nii's feelings are more important to me."

Gojyo seemed to be a little happier when she said that.

"I thought you had a thing for my brother." He admitted. Kasumi snorted. "Where are all these ideas coming from? Jien is my savior but he's more of a friend. Besides, even if I had a 'thing' for him it wouldn't be requited." Kasumi's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I think he's in love with Kougaiji the way he talks about him!"

She was joking, of course.

Gojyo laughed a little at her joke. The feeling of jealousy was wiped away like dust on a counter. Kasumi had no idea what he was jealous about but she was glad that the emotion was gone.

By this time, the fire went out. Gojyo noticed this and made a move to relight it. Kasumi stopped him. "Wait, look up."

Stars

Millions of them

Kasumi was enraptured by the emotions of awe and amazement that flowed from Gojyo, though the confused emotion was still there. "Gojyo-nii, what's confusing you so much?"

"Just thinking over the things you told me and trying to get over the fact that I was just chastised by a pretty woman. Hey, you tell me your 'pride' so I can pick on you too."

Kasumi answered without hesitation. "My 'pride' is being a hanyou."

"Now wait a minute, I thought-

"I know what I said." Kasumi said hastily. "I hate being a hanyou yet I'm proud of it too. I'm proud that I'm born in the same race as my hanyou brothers and sisters who bravely fought and died in the war just for the sake of the same people who despised and scorned them. I'm proud of being the result of a youkai and human's love for each other even though that used to be something unheard of."

"I'm proud of being the impossible."

Gojyo had nothing to say to that.

"Well," he finally said, "that's one hell of a pride you got there."

Kasumi closed her eyes. "Thank you."

Gojyo's confusion was gone. Kasumi was glad that Gojyo cleared up whatever plagued his mind. And in this way, she felt a little closer to the kappa. She snuggled up against him drifted asleep. "Night, Gojyo-nii."

She never really heard his reply.

"Kasumi, what do you want?"

Young Kasumi stared at her Master's body with dull eyes. He always asked her that question and she never really had an answer to it. Now, she wouldn't have the chance to tell him anymore. Ever. Her master's sword, Dokugakuji, was lying on the ground. It was stained with blood. Whether or not it was the blood of his foe or his own, she would never know.

She picked it up.

She refused to cry because it was considered weak. She won't cry until the end.

Kasumi placed the sword's blade at her neck. She'll finish it. She didn't even have that will to live anyways. Master Kazuma was the only reason why she kept breathing. Now that he was gone…

"…I guess you're living too, huh?"

Kasumi paused. What was that? She looked around but no one was there. Who just said that?

"If you get hungry, then eat. If you're hurting, get wild. If you're in pain, then scream."

Kasumi dropped the blade and dropped onto her knees. Tears escaped from her eyes and it came to the point when they fell like the rain. She sobbed, she screamed, and she mourned for her Master.

"That's what it means to live."

When she recovered, Kasumi picked the sword up again but this time to put it back into its sheath. She wasn't going to spill her own blood this soon. Not when she knew the answer to her master's question.

"I want to live."

Well, I can say that I tried with this one.

I hope you all liked this chapter as much as the others! I had to reread Saiyuki Gaiden to get into the mood and I'm all sad now. God, Kenren's death was so EPIC and COOL! I bawled my eyes out on that scene. How does he do it? If you didn't read Saiyuki Gaiden then ignore my rantings or, better yet, read the manga. It's beautiful and touching.

I'll be working on the next chappie now.

REVIEW! PLEASE!

(It'll make me happy!)