Summer Snow

curiouzkatt: yay!

Disclaimer: curiouzkatt is tied by M. K. and is hung over a pit of houndooms and houndours Alright already! I don't own Saiyuki! M.K. still lowers her down Oh, for crying out loud! Minekura Kazuya does!

Chapter Two: Under the Stars

Sanzo stepped onto the backyard. The chaos those two idiots were making was a bit too much. He saw Linlin climb up the kiosk and hide behind the big tree trunk. She didn't seem to have noticed him. He recalled having asked Goku to watch the girl. Now he had a reason to hit the boy with the fan. Having overheard Hakkai and Mrs. Kazuya, he assumed that the girl was upset about something about the past. He silently walked towards the kiosk. Without a second thought, he said aloud:

"You're running away from the past,"

Linlin looked down at him with a neutral expression. She looked away. "Leave me alone." Even though she said this to him, he didn't move. Instead, he took out his lighter and his pack of cigarettes. He took a stick and lighted it. "That's not good for your health." He heard her say.

"Ch! Why do yougive a damn?" he replied. "I'm a madman, remember?" he puffed out a breath of smoke and looked up at the night sky, thinking how this whole thing would end up. He could already see that this wasn't going well at all. That old woman in Tenkai sure is insane.

(somewhere in Tenkai…

Kanzeon Bosatsu: AAAACHOOO!)

"Hey, madman… I'm talking to you…"

He looked back at the girl. She still wasn't looking at him. "Stop calling me by that name."

"Why should I?" Linlin responded. "You yourself said you were a madman." A long silence followed, and neither one was eager to start a conversation. Sanzo quietly smoked, knowing better than to start a conversation. If the girl didn't want to speak, then he doesn't give a damn. But he had to admit, the night sky was clear, and a lot of stars were out. He would never admit it, but he missed sleeping on the jeep in the middle of nowhere, at ease with the world even with the threat of demons ambushing them at every corner.

Linlin looked up the sky. She always thought it was pretty, with all the stars sparkling, like shiny beads on a jet-black cloth. She also believed that, somewhere in those stars, was her brother Alex, smiling down at her. The wind started to blow lightly, stealing away the stillness of the night. But still, neither Sanzo nor Linlin moved.

"Linlin!" Goku called out, hopping from tree to tree. He was hoping to find her soon. He wasn't sure where Sanzo had gone, but he was hoping to find Linlin before the monk knew he didn't do his job. "Linlin!" He jumped onto another tree and spotted the blonde at last. He jumped several more trees and presented himself in front of the girl. "There you are! Mrs. Kazuya asked me to fetch you for dinner." He moved to jump off the tree. "Um, don't tell Sanzo I lost you… he will be mad at me again."

"Right," although she sounded a bit sarcastic, Goku jumped off down to the kiosk, then finally to solid ground.

WHACKKK!

….. only to get hit by a fan.

Sanzo looked down at the saru who held the nasty bump on his head. He tapped the fan on his other hand threateningly. "What were you NOT going to tell me?"

Linlin sighed, just when a memory flickered in her mind.

"Don't worry! We'll finish this!"

"Wai! Sanzo-sama! I adore you!"

Wait, did the boy say Sanzo a while ago? Linlin shook her head. She didn't want to think of what was happening – yet.

Linlin ate very little that supper and excused herself to go to bed early; amidst comments of concern and that it was a Friday. She ignored them and stayed at the corner of her balcony. She reflected the things that happened during supper, the family's awe at Goku's hunger, the arguments between Goku and the one called Gojyo, Sanzo's fan-hitting frenzy, and Hakkai's speed at cooking. They were quite an unusual group – quite contrasting in character if she might add. She stifled a yawn…"Life's going to be different for a while… she thought, dozing off to sleep.

She was flying – floating amongst the clouds. She just hoped that no one would call her name for the time being, or she would plunge back to her body, and it wasn't a nice feeling. Clouds were starting to surround her, as she began to hear Alex's voice again. She was sure her brother's spirit was trying to tell her something, she just didn't know what.

"Linlin…" Alex called out to his sister from Tenkai. He frowned at how disembodied his voice sounded. He turned to Jiroushin. "Why can't my voice sound normal? It's so weird and I think I'm creeping out my sis at some point." Jiroushin was ready to answer, but Kanzeon Bosatsu beat him to it.

"I don't think your sister is freaked by it,"

"That didn't answer my question."

The goddess just smiled. "Don't you think it's more fun this way?"

Alex sweatdropped, running a hand through his blond hair. He leaned over to Jiroushin. "Is she always like this?"

"Much worse," Jiroushin replied. "Much worse."

"Er, okay…. How can I tell Linlin anything if my voice keeps echoing? I can't even make a single decent sentence out."

"You don't have to," Kanzeon answered, giving him her usual confident smile. "She'll know soon enough."

"She'll know soon enough and that's it…" Sanzo returned to his paper while Goku still stared at him.

"Just give it a rest, Goku," Gojyo butted in, kicking Goku's chair.

Goku pouted moved his chair away and muttered something about not understanding adults. He turned to Hakkai who was doing the dishes. "Na, Hakkai, what do you think?"

"I think Sanzo has a point…" the younger man said, pausing from wiping the dishes to look at Goku. "Although I have to apologize to her…"

"Why? Did you do something bad?" Goku asked, his curiosity up a little.

"Ahaha… sort of…" replied Hakkai, setting aside the last plate. "Goku, would kindly put these on the top cabinet? I have to look for Linlin before she sleeps."

Goku obliged, carrying more than "normal". "But she already went up to sleep an hour ago." He said, remembering that Linlin left the table early – leaving more food for him.

"Oh, she's not yet sleeping… you can bet on that." Hakkai said then exited the room.

"Better not, Goku," Gojyo advised. "You know Hakkai always wins at gambling." He inched closer the saru's chair, a mischievous grin on his lips.

"I won't…" said Goku, backing away from his finished job. This was what Gojyo was waiting for. Before Goku touched his chair, he pulled it away, making the saru fall on his behind. "ITAIII! THAT WASN"T FUNNY GOJYO!" The boy lunged for the red head, the two engulfed in a squabbling dust.

"Kono ero kappa!"

"Brain-stomach-monkey!"

"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!"

"Water monster!"

"Baka saru!"

WHACKKKK! WHACKKKK!

Linlin paused to listen. Alex's voice stopped calling. Strange, it doesn't usually stop until she woke up. The clouds were still enveloping her, but no sound came through them.

"Linlin!"

That wasn't Alex's voice – that was Hakkai's! The sudden call from reality made everything around her start to vanish and she started to fall back to her body. She awoke, shaking from head to toe. She scolded herself for being half-awake.

"Linlin… there you are," Hakkai said, sounding quite relieved when he found the girl. He wasn't sure if she had ran off somewhere again. He noticed that the girl was shaking badly. He quickly took a blanket from her room and wrapped it around her. She was scowling at him again. He sighed. "I seem to be getting on your bad side…" No answer. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

He saw the she was a little surprised and tried to speak with chattering teeth. "H-how d-did y-you know I was sleeping?"

He walked over to the ledge and leaned on it, still facing Linlin. "Ever heard of the saying 'Never make noise around a place where someone is sleeping?'"

"I thought that was only for hospitals." Linlin said, still shaking. At least her voice wasn't anymore. She didn't sound mad at him anymore either. "And I thought it only applied when you called the name of the person."

"That, too." Hakkai answered. He suddenly turned around, sensing something among the trees. His green eyes searching, he continued to talk to Linlin. "Sorry about this afternoon… I shouldn't have brought out the topic." The thing he was trying to follow suddenly stopped.

"It's okay…" Linlin answered, searching the trees with her eyes as well. She had noticed Hakkai's wariness and wanted to see what was wrong, continuing the conversation. "I feel like I'm holding on, and yet I'm running away from the past."

"It seems to me that you're torn between the two."

Well she won't be as torn as Goku when I'm through with him!

Nocturnal eyes flashed in the darkness of the trees, followed by a blood-curdling inhuman scream. Before either of them could react, the figure jumped to the balcony and into the house. Hakkai and Linlin followed, avoiding the wreck the thing had made on its way to the kitchen. They could hear yells and clashes coming from the room. Reaching the doorway, they found a cat-like being fighting with Goku. The creature kept slashing with its claws and Goku kept blocking, still looking for an opening. At this rate, no winner would be decided.

Linlin just watched, while Hakkai explained what happened upstairs. She watched and spotted a stray bottle behind Goku. "Look out!" But her warning was too late. Goku fell over and the cat was ready to pounce. It was then that Linlin got to get a good look at the creature. It had long unruly black hair. It had all the features of a human, except for the cat-like claws and attitude. It was also a she. Before she could attack, a dark shadow blocked Goku. It was Sniper. Although the cat was bigger, it cowered as the dog growled, inching his way towards the cat. Sniper gave a loud bark and the cat went for the nearest window. Silence followed and she could feel everyone calming down. Pieces of shattered glass now littered the kitchen floor, the night regaining its calm. The dog stopped barking and ran to the dining room. Linlin followed and found Alex's twin petting their big dog. "Shun!"

Shun looked up at his sister and smiled. "Sorry I'm late." He stood up, noticing Goku, Gojyo, Sanzo and Hakkai. "Um…."

"They're visitors," Linlin explained. "Mom's visitors." She pointed them out one at a time. "The brown haired one is Goku, then the tall one is Gojyo (he and Goku always argue about something), the monk over there is Sanzo and the one wearing green is Hakkai." Linlin then pointed to her brother. "This here, is Shun… my older brother."

"Nice to meet you," Shun said sincerely.

"Nice is good, but what happened here?"

Mrs. Kazuya stared at the "assembly" in the room, still bleary-eyed. She walked to the kitchen and gave a horrified gasp.

The sibling looked at each other, "Oops."

Wearing overalls and hands covered with suds, Hakkai, Goku, Gojyo and even Sanzo, worked in cleaning the kitchen and the dining room. Shun worked in fixing the things the 'cat' had broken and replaced some wallpapers with Mrs. Kazuya's help. Linlin on the other hand, ran errands, getting things for her mom, brother and the foursome.

"Ya know," Gojyo began, finishing with his side and threw his cloth and sponge to Goku (HEY!) "It's kinda nice to see the corrupt monk working for once."

"Better keep it down or you'll find yourself with more work," Goku said, sweeping the floor free from the shards of glass. "Hey, that cat person was strong, wasn't she? This is so cool!" Being ignored by Gojyo, he kept quiet then went near the red head and 'accidentally' hit him with the handle of his broom. "Oops, sorry."

"Why you little twerp!" Gojyo dropped what he was doing and went to strangle Goku, who was quick on his feet and ran around the room

Linlin let out a resigned sigh and continued her job in the living room of sorting out whatever she could salvage from what that creature – and Goku wrecked. Placing the last batch of "still good" plates on a chair, she didn't notice the tv remote and accidentally pressed the power button.

"…security vault of our finest bank has been raided. Oddly, nothing was stolen, except for a sapphire jewel. They are currently searching for explosive residues and any sign of bomb fragments."

"...young sleuths Jei Murikawa and Haku Keisuke are assigned to work on this case…."

Jei! Linlin turned her eyes to the TV. Sure enough, it was the boy she had met. Deep black eyes and brown hair. But how come he knows who I am?

"Ooh, it's the Murikawa kid!" she heard her mother exclaim. Linlin turned to the doorway, giving her mother a look of surprise. "He's a senior at your school, isn't he? They say he already solved twenty cases and hasn't missed a single one!" Her mother gave her a small smile. "I also heard he has already earned a position in the police force once he graduates." Linlin just stared. "You should watch the news more, you know…"

TZING! TZING!

Both mother and daughter jumped at the sound of gunshots, turning their heads to the sound before turning back to each other. Linlin shrugged. "I won't be surprised if the ceiling falls on his head one of these days…" Her mother laughed a little, then asked her to go upstairs with her for she wanted to show her something. Getting to her parents' bedroom, Linlin waited as her mother rummaged in the closet.

"You're birthday's still far off, but I want you to try this on, just to see if it really fits you…" She handed her a brown box. She opened it and found a blue fighting dress inside. "Your Uncle Seth left it before he left for another one of his missions. He told me to give it to you on your birthday, but I couldn't wait."

"Thanks mom."

Sanzo watched the two run around in and out the kitchen and the dining room, a vein visible on his temples. "Ch! We're never get anything done with these two idiots fooling around…" He sat on one of the chairs and just looked at the two 'idiots', following them with his eyes.

Hakkai just laughed and placed back the last plates in the cupboard. He would ask Sanzo to help him, but thought better than to try. "But believe it or not, Mrs. Kazuya likes it this way…" Hakkai said, keeping the brooms in one of the kitchen closets. "She says she hasn't had this much fun since her husband's brother was staying here with them."

"Brother?"

"STOP IT, THE TWO OF YOU!"

Sanzo and Hakkai both turned to the doorway and found Linlin wearing a sky blue long-sleeved Chinese style dress, and scowling darkly at Goku and Gojyo, who, by this time had Goku in a headlock. But once they saw her, they stopped everything and just stared.

"Mmpf…"

"Aha…"

and laughed…

"BWAHAHAHAHA!"

"It's not funny!" Linlin protested. "Stop it!"

"At least you look attractive for once!"

"Shut up Gojyo!" Linlin demanded. It wasn't what they thought. It was a dress meant for fighting, that's why the design had tights underneath. That's why her black shoes were flat for quick movement!

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" but they laughed nonetheless.

Out of all the commotion, Linlin's mother peeked inside unnoticed and called Hakkai out. After a while, Hakkai came back wearing his old clothes, minus the white cloth. He smiled sheepishly and asked Linlin to come with him. Out in the hallway, Hakkai told her that he was asked to go grocery shopping for they already ran out of food, but he wasn't sure where to go. "So can you accompany me?"

"Um, okay," Linlin said, following Hakkai out the door, and if they were going to walk. They would definitely look like a Chinese costume parade. she was considering going back to her room to change, but they would just get delayed, judging from the amount they had to buy to satisfy a certain someone.

"Oi… matte!" Goku ran after them while trying to wear a jacket. "I'm coming, too!"

"KYU!"

Linlin was quite surprised to see a dragon. It flew towards Hakkai and landed on his shoulder. Hakkai smiled when he saw her surprised look.

"This is Hakuryu," Hakkai introduced. "Hakuryu, this is Linlin. Would you be so kind as to get us to where we need to go?"

"Kyu!" the little dragon answered and transformed into a small green right-hand drive jeep.

Linlin shook her head. Things were starting to get really weird. She watched as Goku jumped on the back seat, and Hakkai on the driver's seat.

"Linlin, shall we go?"

Linlin walked to the left side and sat on the passenger seat, to direct Hakkai as they went. "Just drive straight this road and then right at the stoplight."

"Roger," Hakkai said cheerily and stepped on the gas. He wasn't sure how the roads here were, but he assumed that he'll eventually get the hang of it.

"Not so fast!" Linlin yelled and didn't get to warn Hakkai to turn right at the stoplight. Hakkai was driving so fast that she feared of how many driving laws they have broken – so far. They have passed too many stoplights already. "Hakkai! Stop!" All too eager, Hakkai hit the breaks at once, sending Goku to fly forward, and into the bushes. "Goku!" Hearing a faint 'I'm fine', Linlin sighed with relief. She looked around and realized that they have reached the mall across town.

It was a grocery place that was very much close to nature, refusing to cut down trees. It gave the place a welcoming, and yet sometimes at dusk, an eerie look. "Oh well, might as well shop here…" As the sun began to move into that comfortable and warm afternoon, the three figures moved into the mall, their thoughts on the task at hand, but even the trees whisper that this is only the beginning of the larger story, larger than anyone could ever imagine.