Hakkai noticed Sanzo's tension, but could not isolate the cause of it. In any case, it probably had something to do with their interminable journey. The healer knew that Sanzo might put on a show of indifference, but in reality he knew the monk's deeply-held burden of putting things right again in the world. Gingerly touching his limiters, Hakkai wondered how many times he had left to remove the thin metal rings before his demonic nature took over irreversibly. He had taken them off a few times already on this journey to save his companions, but he was terrified that one day, someone would need to save them from himself.
He sighed. The ikkou was strong; Goku was Seiten Taisei, Sanzo was the wielder of the sutra, and Gojyo...
Hakkai knew he would never harm Gojyo.
The few times he had removed his limiters, it had taken only a single glance at blood-red hair and eyes to stop Hakkai. The green-eyed man had even caught himself forcibly stopping a punch an inch from Gojyo's face even though he was crazed with bloodlust at the time.
With a start the healer realized that Gojyo was his actual, living limiter. Without Gojyo...
The thought didn't bear thinking about.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Goku rubbed his stomach in satisfaction and hopped down to the kitchen again to find his friend Hong. The boy was funny and eager to become stronger so he could take over from his father, despite his illness, and Goku liked the feeling of being depended on.
"Hong!" he called out. "I got something for you!"
The boy emerged and brightened. "Goku-nii-san, what is it? Oh, a mask!"
"Yes, a mask. Do you like it?" Goku grinned happily. Hakkai was right; giving people things were more fun than receiving – unless it were food, in which case receiving was WAY better than giving.
The boy tugged the gruesome mask on and posed. "Thanks, Goku-nii-san, this is cool! Now Mother must let me join the Festival of Faces!"
"Festival of Faces?"
"Yeah!" Hong pulled the mask off. He puffed out his chest, glad to be able to impart some knowledge. "It's held every year at Mid-Autumn. Three days from now! Father says it's to comm.. coemmor... to remember how the villagers scared away the Great Devil when he came to steal babies!"
Goku widened his eyes. "Wow."
"The villagers all put masks on the babies and themselves, so when the Great Devil arrived, all he saw were monstrous faces staring up at him. And thus fearing a mass attack by monsters he ran away and never returned." Hong gazed at his new mask. "Mother never let me join the Festival because I'm sick, but I'm not sick now. I've always had to watch through the window while everyone else has fun. This year, I'm gonna be there."
The younger boy looked determined. Goku, struck with sudden affection, ruffled the boy's short hair. "Yeah, it'll be great!"
Hong beamed at Goku. "Can y'all stay till then? I promise you'll love it!"
Goku squirmed a little. "Eh, I don't think Sanzo would want to... we're setting off tomorrow, he said."
Hong's face fell, but he managed to smile again. "I'll get Mother to prepare a feast tonight!"
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Aaaah, that's real good," murmured Gojyo. His usual leer had been replaced by a satisfied smile. His head lolled to the right. "Oooh, right there, right there. Yesss..... ah." His red eyes blinked open languidly.
Hakkai gazed down at a pleased and contented Gojyo. "Going by the sounds, I'd say you're enjoying this."
"I am," drawled the redhead. Then he stretched like a cat, each joint extended fully to the limit, before he slumped back. "Hakkai, I swear you work magic even without chi."
"Basic understanding of the human anatomy, my dear Gojyo," Hakkai replied. "And of course, knowing you for so damn long. When will you learn to sit properly in the vehicle?"
Gojyo leered. "The day you stop these awesome back massages."
"Today is the last, then."
"That's what you said the previous time."
Hakkai snorted but didn't take the bait. He wiped the medicated oil off his hands and threw the dirty scrap of cloth at Gojyo, who caught it easily. The lanky redhead went to clean the rag properly; it was one of his older headbands.
Someone burst into the room and Gojyo instinctively leveled a kick at the intruder's midsection. The foot caught the intruder by surprise, but managed to block the attack easily.
Goku lowered his arms. "Stupid kappa! What if it had been someone else? You might have hurt them!"
"Someone else would have knocked, monkeybrain," said Gojyo and ducked into the bathroom.
Goku stuck his tongue out. "Stupid kappa."
"Monkeybrain," Gojyo retorted from inside the toilet.
Hakkai sighed. "Enough of that, Gojyo. What is it, Goku?"
"Can you please ask Sanzo if we can stay for three more days?"
"Uh..." Hakkai frowned. "Three more days? Why?"
"There's a festival coming up. If I ask Sanzo he'll definitely turn me down, so can you ask him instead?"
The healer shook his head. "Sorry, Goku, but we are on a mission. There isn't time for dallying."
Goku made a face but shrugged in resignation. Gojyo came out of the washroom and swiped the back of Goku's head with the headband. "Why didja wanna stay anyway? We've been to many festivals, and they never end well."
"Hong just seemed really excited... hey! Where's Sanzo?"
Gojyo raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you know? I thought you had a Sanzo radar built into that monkeybrain of yours."
"There's plenty of space inside for a Gojyo-radar too," said Sanzo dryly, leaning on the doorway. "I went down to talk to the innkeeper. Seems like the road will be ready by late morning tomorrow. Make sure you're packed, and before you ask," he pointed at Goku, "no, we cannot stay."
Hakkai and Gojyo could hear Goku pleading with Sanzo all the way back to their room. Gojyo shut the door as he chuckled. "Damn monk. He knows the monkey inside out."
"They've been together for a long time," Hakkai said.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Dammit. It's surfacing.
Sanzo took another drag on his cigarette as the other three continued eating. He had no appetite at all. Sanzo was well aware of his jaundiced perspective of relationships, and he acknowledged that he was definitely not the best judge when it came to romance, but something that was more than brotherly friendship was emerging between Hakkai and Gojyo.
The brighter, genuine smile on the healer's face when Gojyo joked.
The redhead's eagerness to amuse Hakkai.
The healer stopping Gojyo from a drink too many.
The kappa putting out his cigarette because the smoke was blowing into Hakkai's face.
He had always been aware of the strong bond between the two men. Each had saved the other from self-destruction. Perhaps they were unconscious of their reliance on each other; many a time it had been Gojyo who anchored Hakkai from his wilder rages, and it was Hakkai who drove Gojyo to become stronger, the redhead not possessing a natural propensity for violence.
"I'm going to bed," announced Sanzo. He could feel the beginnings of a migraine blossoming at the back of his head.
Goku leaped out of his seat and tagged behind the monk, leaving Hakkai and Gojyo to finish up the wine. This wasn't a difficult task.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
In his dreams Gojyo remembered how it felt to be happy.
Not momentary pleasure, but true contentment, the kind that made life's difficulties seem that little bit easier and the gloomy days seem less depressing.
He remembered, because he had experienced it before. The dream faded and left behind vague discontentment, and Gojyo woke up, drifting slowly into consciousness.
Sitting up in bed, the lean redhead scowled and scrubbed his face with his hands. It was a trifle too warm in the room and he tossed open a window. Moonlight cascaded in and lit everything up with monochrome splendor. Gojyo breathed in the cool air, loving the feel of the night that embraced him.
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
Gojyo whirled around, startled by the husky, drowsy voice. Hakkai sat up and squinted.
"Is something wrong?" the healer asked, hand automatically reaching for his glasses.
"No, nothing," Gojyo answered hastily. He darted over and stopped Hakkai. "It was just too warm, so I opened a window."
Hakkai smiled. It was a languid one; he was still groggy. "It does look nice like this."
"Yeah, it does." Gojyo wasn't looking at the room anymore, his intense red gaze caught by the innocence on Hakkai's face. Fingers moved of their own volition, trailing along an angular jaw to the chin, tipping the face up to catch more moonlight.
The healer blinked. "Gojyo?"
The redheaded kappa jerked his hand away from Hakkai's face. "Sorry," he mumbled. He had almost thought he was touching one of his flings, enjoying what was left of the night. "I was... thinking of something else."
"A lover?" Hakkai teased sleepily and yawned. "Try to sleep, Gojyo. Else you'll sleep in the car, Goku will drive Sanzo insane and he'll start shooting at everything in sight, and I'll skin your hide if I get shot."
Gojyo smiled to himself, amazed that Hakkai had been correct in his guess and amused by his description of the coming day. "G'night, Hakkai. Sweet dreams."
"Mm."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
It took all of Hakkai's acting skills to continue to pretend to be sleepy when Gojyo threw open the window and bathed the room in moonlight. For one thing, the tall, lean male's exotic coloring was converted to something abstract, dark hair and pale skin, in a manner that made him appear to belong to another era. For another, when Gojyo had inhaled and luxuriated in the cool air, he exuded an air of nobility, as if something else was shining through him. Not a common-born hanyou, not an unwanted child, but a prince of high birth.
And when Gojyo caressed his cheek, Hakkai thought his heart would break with the unusual show of tenderness.
A sudden inexplicable surge of jealousy and envy rushed through Hakkai. He squeezed his eyes shut and then curled into his blankets, willing himself to sleep, to dreamless rest.