Summer Snow Rebirth
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
x-x-x-x-x-x
Sanzo stepped onto the backyard, itching for a smoke. Smoking was not allowed inside the house, and he felt that he had no choice but to respect that. 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, but the boy was nowhere in sight. Having overheard Hakkai and Mrs. Kazuya, he assumed that the girl was upset about something. He silently walked towards the kiosk.
Linlin heard him and looked down at him from her perch. 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.
"I'm a madman, remember? Madmen can get away with shit, and we don't die easily." 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.
"Hey, madman… I'm talking to you…"
He looked back at the girl. She still wasn't looking at him. "Stop calling me that."
"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 continue to provoke the girl. If the girl didn't want to speak, then he didn't give a damn. But he had to admit, the night sky was clear, and a lot of stars were out. This reminded him of the former Head Priest Jikoku, from those sleepless nights, and him offering cigarettes over and over. Tobacco tastes best in the clear night air.
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. He was almost immediately blindsided by Sanzo whacking him with the paperfan as soon as he landed.
Sanzo looked down at Goku 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, motioning the two to head back to the house.
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, went up to her room and changed into her pajamas. She wasn't that tired, so she decided to stay 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 looked at her, uncertain, 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. "Hey 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 you 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 boy fall on his behind. "OW! THAT WASN'T FUNNY GOJYO!" The boy lunged for the red head, squabbling on the kitchen floor, trying to get the upper hand.
"Cockroach sprite!"
"Stomach-brain-monkey!"
"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!"
"Water monster!"
"Stupid monkey!"
The fight was immediately quelled with two smart whacks of the paperfan.
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 when I'm through with you!
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 to the others 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. 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, 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 siblings 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," Hakkai said, sweeping the floor free from the shards of glass.
"Hey, that cat person was strong, wasn't she? This is so cool!" Goku exclaimed, holding his broom like he would his weapon. 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 Rikku 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 already has a position in the police force once he graduates." Linlin just stared. "You should watch the news more, you know…"
BANG! BANG!
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.
"Your 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 went 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?" Sanzo asked, turning to Hakkai, but eventually, the ruckus the two were making got the better of him and he was about to take out his fan when someone from the doorway yelled instead.
"STOP IT, THE BOTH 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…"
Seeing that Linlin felt embarrassed as it is with her outfit, it made them all the more amused at the scene. It looked great, but she looked out of place.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!"
"It's not funny!" Linlin protested. "Stop it!"
"At least you look cute for once!" Gojyo retorted, taking a good look at the kid, like an older brother teasing the youngest sibling.
"Shut up Gojyo!" Linlin demanded. It wasn't what they thought. "It's a dress meant for fighting, that's why the design had tights underneath. That's why the black shoes were flat for quick movement!" she explained, getting more agitated by the minute.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" but they laughed nonetheless. Having had enough, Linlin charged at Gojyo, jumping for a roundhouse kick which the older man barely blocked. Turning in mid-air, Linlin landed back on the ground, glaring at the red head.
The laughter died down, and Gojyo shook his harm to remove the tingling sensation from the kick. He addressed the girl with a more serious tone. "Hey now, we were just having a good time.." he said.
Out of all the commotion, Linlin's mother peeked inside unnoticed and called Hakkai out.
"It was at my expense!" Linlin shot back, readying her stance to fight the red head. Goku had backed off, feeling bad for having offended the girl by laughing. Gojyo did not take a stance, and raised his hands in front of him.
"Look, I'm sorry if my comment offended you, but I'm not fighting a kid." He said, looking at the other two for help, but Sanzo and Goku refused to make eye contact. "HEY WHAT THE HELL YOU GUYS HELP ME OUT HERE!"
"Hn, you dug your own grave, take the shovel with you." Came the monk's response.
Hakkai came back wearing his old clothes. He didn't miss the tension in the room, but he needed help 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, glancing back at Gojyo who scratched his head and went ahead continuing fixing things up. Linlin proceeded to follow 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.
"HEY WAIT UP!" Goku ran after them while trying to wear a jacket. "I'm coming, too! Mrs. Kazuya said you may need someone to carry things."
Without warning, something white flew by and made a loud sound: "KYU!"
Linlin was quite surprised to see a dragon. It flew towards Hakkai and landed on his shoulder where the white cloth was draped. 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?"
"Ah, right." 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 that!" 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.
"You're going too 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.
Upon entering, Goku was immediately fascinated with the high ceilings and the trees growing within the establishment. People were enjoying eating snacks and resting inside the building as if it were a park. "This is so cool!" Goku exclaimed, running around excitedly.
Linlin grabbed a grocery cart and began checking the aisle information for their list.
"Don't stray too far, Goku!" Hakkai yelled after the boy, to which he had waved back to indicate he had heard him.
"You sound more like a mom…" Linlin commented, grabbing some pickle relish, raisins, and a few condiments. She heard Hakkai laugh.
"Is it a problem that I seem like a mom?" he asked, taking some cabbages in the next aisle.
"I don't know." Linlin shrugged. "It's just that, dad and Uncle Seth don't do these things. I always hear them tell Shun to "be a man", I don't even know I'm sure what they mean by that." Linlin turned to the next aisle, spotting some roasted seaweed in packs, grabbing it and adding it to the cart even if it wasn't on their list. Hakkai caught a little mischievous grin from the girl.
"Hmm" Hakkai mulled over that statement, taking some pancake mix from a top shelf. "I wouldn't know what they're really trying to say to your brother, but maybe it's their version of telling him to toughen up. I'm afraid I'm not your parent though, so I don't think I can comment further on that."
"They don't tell me that, but somehow they seem to expect me to be tough, too." Linlin shrugged, turning to the next aisle with cheese.
"Is that why you prefer dressing like a boy?" Hakkai ventured.
"No, it's nothing like that.." she mused, taking a few blocks of cheese and tossing it to their cart. "It just makes me feel closer to Alex."
"I see."
Linlin touched her hair, seeming to be thinking to herself. "I used to have really long hair, and I'd put it up in pigtails, braids, all sorts of things. Maybe I'll go back to it when I don't feel too sad anymore." She glanced at their list, checking if they forgot anything else. "Ah, we still have to go to the frozen goods section for the meats and shanghai wrappers." The two continued walking while Hakkai tried to locate Goku, but no luck at that time.
"So why did you let your mom have you wear that dress today?"
"She can be… very persuasive." Linlin said simply. She didn't want to further elaborate on her relationship with her mother.
"I understand." Hakkai answered, leaving it at that. They had completed their purchase and ended up with two large boxes of goods. Linlin tried to lift one but failed, thankfully Goku had found them and helped carry everything back to Hakuryu in the parking lot.
Securing their packages, Linlin instructed Hakkai to drive slowly so they won't end up in the same predicament as on their way there. She also taught him how to read the stop lights and road signs along the way.
On one such stop light, Hakkai glanced over to Linlin. "Before I forget, I think you owe Gojyo an apology for taking out your anger on him earlier." The girl was taken aback by this comment and refused to look at him.
"But he wouldn't listen to me.." Linlin justified, motioning for Hakkai to drive on.
"But, is it the only way to have someone listen to you?" Hakkai pointed out, turning the corner to the Kazuya residence. He waited for the gates to slide open and went through the roundabout to the front of the house. "You may have been right, but there are better ways to get your words across." Linlin was quiet as they unloaded the things from Hakuryu. She didn't say anything further about the topic, and once inside the house, she immediately went upstairs to change.
Mrs. Kazuya glanced at Hakkai questioningly, but the man only shrugged. They helped their benefactor clear out the supplies in their proper storage and afterwards, started helping with preparing dinner.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Gojyo found himself walking towards the kiosk in the backyard, having his Hi-Lites and lighter with him. Being unable to smoke inside the house was definitely inconvenient, but there was nothing they could do about it. Finding a spot, he tapped out one cigarette, lit it with his lighter and took a long drag. Before he could exhale, a voice from the trees addressed him.
"That's not good for your health, you know."
Gojyo coughed out unexpectedly, his eyes tearing up from the pain of the smoke he accidentally choked on. Realizing it was Linlin, he looked for her above the trees to glare at her. Spotting her blond head, he spoke. "Don't scare the living daylights out of me, you brat!" he said loudly, taking another drag from his cigarette, this time successfully puffing out the smoke correctly.
"I'm not a brat!" she yelled back, jumping off from her perch, landing in front of Gojyo. She had changed into a shirt and cargo pants. She stood up and made her way to sit at the kiosk itself. She seemed less angry than earlier that day and was swinging her legs while sitting on the kiosk. She was silent for a while, and Gojyo just lit another cigarette. The leaves rustled from the gentle breeze.
"I'm sorry for kicking you earlier today.."
Gojyo stopped and stared at the girl. "What's gotten into you? I was half ready for a fight when you jumped off the tree." He said jokingly.
"I was mad because I didn't like being made fun of." She explained. "And I don't like it when people don't listen."
Gojyo weighed these statements, realizing that the girl had simply been impulsive in her attempt to make him listen. He sighed. "Look kid, I'm sorry too. I'm not entirely sure why I thought it was so funny at the time either. It just didn't seem like you at all, in that outfit and everything. You seemed most comfortable in your own uniform, more than anything." He chuckled. "You still look cute even if you're not in a dress." He offered.
"I know that. And you better not be using that as a pick-up line to a minor, that's disgusting."
"Like I'd be interested in you!" Gojyo retorted, snuffing out his second cigarette. "I take it back, you're not cute at all."
Linlin stopped swinging her legs. "Eh, you're weird guy.." she stood up and started walking back to the house, waving a hand as she went.
x-x-x-x-x-x
A/N: Reading back into this chapter, I had originally stopped it at the mall entrance. The reason for this was, during the writing of this originally, we didn't have any malls yet, so I really had no idea what malls were like, or big grocery chains were like. Ironically, the mall that was constructed later on had an issue with tree cuttings and protesters tried to stop them. In a way, I'm still hoping for a building that actually has trees inside like this story.