Koshi's Journey
Disclaimer:
Megami-ryō no Ryōbo-kun is owned by Ikumi Hino and Asread
Journey To The West is owned by Wu Cheng'en
Saiyuki (manga) is owned by Kazuya Minekura
Many thanks to those who read and reviewed this fic. I am really happy and this inspired me to bring in the next chapter, and here the story picks up where the last chapter left, in which our main character would find himself in a predicament as he is now in a DIFFERENT SETTING without explanation…and how he would adjust to the situation he is in…
Well then, read on and enjoy!
Ch. 2: Tabi e no pureryūdo
By morning, Koshi blinked his eyes as sunlight struck his eyes and he got up, but then he looked around as he noticed that the setting is different and it somewhat looked like it was a different era, and when looking at the mirror, he finds out that he is garbed in a 16th century bed clothing, and as he frantically went out of the bedroom, he stared wide-eyed seeing that there are people here, mostly males and sports SHAVED heads and dressed like temple staff members.
As he looked around, he is startled to see his old preschool teacher, except that she is dressed like a Sanzo priest and tells him that it is time to work inside the temple, which made Koshi feel confused.
"Good morning, Koshi-kun."
"Eh…?"
"Today is the start of a new day…"
"S-sensei…?"
"Come now, Koshi-kun. We have work to do. The temple needs to be cleaned."
"Eh…?"
"Come now…"
"Eh?"
Koshi was perplexed at what is happening around him, as he recalled that last night everything was normal and that he is inside the Goddess' Dormitory, and that it was the present time 2021, but now he feels like he is in ancient China and as he glanced at a calendar that was hammered on the wall, he stared wide-eyed as he slowly deduces that he is in the 16th Century.
There he glanced at his preschool teacher as she smiled at him as she told the 12-year old boy to have breakfast before starting work, which made Koshi feel more baffled as to how she is acting NORMAL whilst being in such an outrageous setting like being in a country that resembled ancient China, as well as how she knows about Koshi since the last time she and Koshi saw each other was during his time as a preschool student, hence the preschool teacher should be unaware of the fact that Koshi now physically resembled a 12-year old boy.
"Oh, morning, Koshi..."
"Uh…sensei…?"
"Its good that you're up."
"Huh?"
"Come…you should take breakfast. You'll have work to do after that…"
"Is…this for real…?"
"What are saying? Let's go."
"…"
Several minutes later the scene shifts at the dining hall where Koshi is eating breakfast yet he felt uncomfortable as he he could feel the piercing glares coming from the temple students and staff members as they seemingly hold contempt towards him, yet Koshi opted to ignore them and finished his breakfast before leaving.
Koshi is still baffled at how he ended up here, and at the same time he was mystified that the temple, which houses several monks and students, resembled a dormitory. There he began sweeping the lawn as there were several trees where the dried leaves fell to the ground and he felt like it was business as usual like it was nothing.
Still he is baffled as to what happened to Atena and the others as they somewhat disappeared all of the sudden without a trace and now he finds himself alone, and he wondered how this happened without any warning whatsoever.
While sweeping outside the temple a few passerby passed by, all dressed in 16th century attire, and Koshi sighed as he sensed that he somewhat got stuck in the past and wished that there must be a way for him to figure out how to get back home and in his OWN TIME.
However, Koshi blinked his eyes when an airplane flew above him and this made the 12-year old boy baffled. According to the calendar he saw earlier, the present year he is in was the 16th century, yet there was a modern-day airplane which looked like a commercial plane that carries passengers to local or international destinations. Thus he wondered what is going on here and if he is really transported into the 16th century or not.
By then his preschool teacher, identified only as Shūgaku Sanzo, approached Koshi and asked how is he doing, and though baffled at seeing his old preschool teacher dressed in a Sanzo priest attire, Koshi decided to try getting some information and asked how he ended up here, and there Shūgaku Sanzo smiled and said that Koshi was found and she decided to bring him to the temple and raise him here.
"…and that's that…"
"Uh…seriously…?"
"Yes."
"Um…how exactly…"
"Very well. I will tell you everything."
"Wh-what…?"
"How I found you as an infant quite over a decade ago…"
"Eh…?"
There Shūgaku Sanzo began to tell Koshi about his SUPPOSED story on how he was FOUND AND BROUGHT to the temple to be RAISED HERE.
-FLASHABACK-
About 11 ½ years ago…
The scene shifts somewhere within the heart of Asia, where you can see it in a form of a map, which displayed several Asian countries, such as Japan, India, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the like, and the scene zoomed around until an ARROW pointed towards CHINA, and the scene zoomed closer where it shows that the you can see a rather huge temple at heart of the country, which is situated in the middle, surrounded by a mixture of ancient and modern structures, and yet you can see that the area resembled a desert, and one day, a monk, who is actually a female, which unlike others is sporting a shoulder-length hairstyle, is seen walking by a nearby river, and is looking around.
The person is seen dressed in yellow robes, and is wearing what appeared to be a sutra, and as she is meditating, seemingly heard the cries of a baby, and he looked around until she saw a basket that is on the verge of submerging, and the monk went towards it and picks it up, and he opened the basket where it revealed that a baby is inside, abandoned and crying, and the monk smiled seeing that this is a BLESSING and decided to adopt him so as to raise him as a pupil at the temple she is staying.
"My...you poor little one..."
"WAAAHHH!"
"There now...you will not be alone anymore..."
"WWWAAAHHH!"
"I will raise you..."
"WWWAAAHHH!"
"Let us be off now..."
"WWWWAAAHHH!"
The monk carried the basket where the baby is inside, crying, and soon she returned to the temple, where it is revealed as Goddess' Dormitory Temple, and there the monk, who found the abandoned baby, is identified only as Shūgaku Sanzo, and she told the chief priests about what she discovered and entertained the idea of adopting the infant which the chief monks are pondering, while other temple students said he is nothing but trouble, suggesting that they should throw him out, deeming him a trash.
But Shūgaku Sanzo glanced at the arrogant pupils and they immediately went silent, showing that Sanzo is their high-ranking priest, and they apologized immediately to save themselves from his wrath, knowing that she is very serious and strict, the elder monks are divided, and said they will consult the THREE GODS for advise, and they went to the room where it shows that a huge monitor is stationed, and one of the pupils began typing, and one of the elder monks asks if its ready.
"Is it ready...?"
"Almost..."
"What do you mean almost?"
"The signal is weak..."
"But the temple is equipped with WI-FI..."
"I think we need to adjust the sim card...there...I adjusted it..."
"Good...open the browser...use Google and not Yahoo..."
"Okay..."
After a few minutes, the screen lit and the image is shown, where you can see the THREE GODS' faces which appeared, and they resembled Hajime Nagumo, Chihiro Kamina and Eiji Hoshimiya (the main characters from Arifureta, Lord Of Vermillion: The Crimson King and Big Order respectively), and there they were told about the infant that Shūgaku Sanzo has found, and the trio huddled for a few minutes and soon they came to a decision, which they say that Shūgaku Sanzo can keep the infant, and the elder monk told Shūgaku Sanzo that she can keep the infant.
Sanzo was pleased with this and glanced at the infant, and said that the infant will be his FIRST disciple and gave him the name Koshi, and while the elder monk watches the scene with happiness, the other pupils are not pleased, seeing the infant as mere trash and deemed him a heretic, and they questioned among themselves why Sanzo is willing to adopt a mere trash that is not born within the temple, and they treated the infant with disdain, feeling that they are above everyone else.
"What is Master Sanzo thinking...?"
"Why bring home a baby...?"
"Yeah...this isn't a daycare center..."
"And neither is the temple a nursery..."
"Master Sanzo is too soft..."
"I agree..."
"Maybe we should..."
"Don't...if he finds out we'll be kicked out..."
As Shūgaku Sanzo took Koshi to her quarters, the pupils glared at the infant, and gritted their teeth as they view him as a mere eyesore, but the elder monk told the pupils to resume their lessons, which they did, flustered and trying to regain their composure as they went back to their stations, resuming their lessons to become a high-ranking monk, which they were aspiring as they believe it would grant them great privileges and fame.
-x-
The following years, Koshi, currently aged 5 years old, his appearance has a rather thin and petite build, being shorter than almost all of his fellow children, spent most of his childhood living and studying inside the Goddess' Dormitory Temple, and he is studying directly under Shūgaku Sanzo, in which they bonded more like mother-and-son instead of master-and-pupil, and Koshi diligently studied all the lessons taught to him, and despite being bullied, ridiculed and taunted by his seniors, he remained humbled and down to earth, and there it is shown that, unlike the previous monks who received the title of Sanzo, Shūgaku Sanzo did not follow the traditions of what the other Sanzo priests do, much like what the current Sanzo did, as Sanzo did not deliver sermons, and instead she teaches Koshi how to face hardships and not let anything hold him back.
Despite this, Koshi had a rough childhood, as other child pupils were taunting and teasing him, calling him with a lot of degrading names and even the senior pupils were encouraging the other children to mock Koshi in hopes of causing him to leave the temple, but Koshi's optimism kept him from giving in, and stood his ground until the senior pupils began to manhandle him and make fun of his features, such as his appearance and body frame.
"You trash!"
"You're an eyesore!"
"What does Master Sanzo see in you?!"
"You're just a garbage...Master Sanzo should have let you drown!"
"You river drifter!"
"Lets feed him to the sharks!"
"Lets set him on fire!"
"Good idea!"
The taunting stopped when Shūgaku Sanzo came, having witnessed what the bullies did, and began chanting a prayer which caused his sutra to expand and wrap around the adult bullies, holding them, and the other children became terrified and froze in fear, and Sanzo told the senior pupils that she will not tolerate any form of harassment and bullying inside the temple, and gave them a warning never to look down on other people.
Sanzo then glanced at the other children and gave them a stern warning never to bully anyone again, reminding them that this temple is sacred and everyone living here are of equal stature, and made it clear that if anyone does something against the teachings, they will face a severe penalty, and the children began to sob and pleaded for forgiveness and promised that they will not harass Koshi again.
"WE ARE SORRY!"
"FORGIVE US!"
"WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN!"
"WE PROMISE!"
"PLEASE...DON'T PUNISH US!"
"HAVE MERCY!"
"WWWWAAAHHH!"
"MMMOOOMMMYYY!"
After that, Sanzo nodded and released his hold on the senior pupils, which they ran off in fear as did the other children, and she checked on Koshi, who was sporting a lot of bruises on his face yet he was not emotionally deterred, and Sanzo nodded seeing that Koshi is strong, mentally though, and he has a feeling that it was fate that led her to adopt Koshi, seeing that there is something about the boy who appeared ordinary outside, but extraordinary on the inside.
-x-
Another several years have passed, and Koshi has grown considerably, though he physically has a slim and petite build, while his height is still shorter than an average teenager, his mental fortitude was a bit stronger, such as his optimism and humbleness, and right now he is 12 years old, and still serves under Shūgaku Sanzo, and he steadily learns much from his master though he also follows her advise which he did not follow the traditional teachings of the previous Sanzo priests, which earned the ire of other servants of the temple and other senior pupils.
As Sanzo and Koshi continue to bond, disgruntled pupils were starting to get agitated because the current Sanzo is spending too much time with an impure being like Koshi, seeing the boy as a mere ordinary object and they wondered what Sanzo sees in Koshi and why she gives the boy so much attention, and they began to conspire and think of a plan to get him kicked out of the temple so that they can get rid of an eyesore like Koshi, seeing him unfit to stay inside the temple.
"That river drifter..."
"He's getting on my nerves..."
"Makes me want to kill him..."
"Say...I got an idea..."
"Really...?"
"What's the plan...?"
"Tell us..."
"Lets set up a secret meeting...then we will make the plans..."
The disgruntled pupils would soon form a secret meeting somewhere within the temple and are discussing on how to make Koshi look like a threat to the temple's security and how to give the high priests the reason to expel the boy, as they needed something to convince them that Koshi o is a threat, and that he is not fit to be a pupil here, and there they began to formulate a plan to frame Koshi, and they soon came up with a plot on how to frame the little boy, which the leader of the posse smirked as he said that his plan is fool-proof and this would cause Shūgaku Sanzo to regret her decision and will be forced to banish Koshi.
However, what they did not know is that someone is watching them, and the person appeared to be among the senior officials of the temple, though he has a habit of drinking and ended up having a hangover, but his keen senses make up for it. He is identified as Isshin Kakihara, and is a confidant of one of the THREE GODS, and after hearing everything, Kakihara secretly left the scene and intends to report this, but stopped when he heard another additional plot from the dishonest senior pupils.
"We are gonna stage a theft..."
"And...?"
"We put the stolen goods inside the brat's room..."
"What good would that do...?"
"The priests will think that the brat did it...and he will be expelled..."
"Wow...good idea..."
"I like it..."
"Sounds good..."
Kakihara sighed as he has heard enough, dismayed that despite the place being a sacred temple, there are some ROTTEN elements that existed here, and he felt sorry for the chief priests here and Shūgaku Sanzo, knowing that they would be dismayed once they are told about what he has discovered, and yet this is for Koshi's own good, knowing that he is an innocent boy, and feels bad that Koshi has to endure the emotional hardship of living inside the temple at a tender age of 12.
As Kakihara is walking, he saw Koshi sweeping the ground, and he smiled at him and waved his hands, and Koshi just nodded, and there Kakihara asks if he has seen Shūgaku Sanzo, which Koshi said that she is inside the main temple, and Kakihara decided to entertain the younger boy, asking him if he has any regrets about growing up here, which Koshi just smiled and optimistically said that he has no regrets, saying he is glad to meet someone like Sanzo.
"Really...?"
"Yeah...really..."
"You sure are one heck of a kid..."
"..."
"Keep up the good work...one day you will be rewarded..."
"Really...?"
"Who knows..."
"..."
After that, Kakihara left and went to the main temple to meet up with Sanzo, and Koshi continued to sweep the ground, unaware of the plot to frame him by the dishonest pupils of the Goddess' Dormitory Temple.
-x-
A few days later, the scene shows that Koshi is sweeping the garden area and is minding his own business yet he was a bit optimistic, looking forward to a good day, and so far no one has tormented him since last week, and he is glad that no one is picking on him after Shūgaku Sanzo imposed a warning to the pupils and senior monks not to resort to bullying on the younger boy, and it appeared to have worked, as not a single person attempted to provoke the 12-year old boy,
"Ah...so peaceful..."
However, one of the caretakers came running, saying that a robbery took place and that several valuables within the temple are missing, prompting the chief priests and other pupils to come out, surprised to hear this, and Koshi blinked his eyes at hearing the screaming, and soon the other pupils gathered and began gossiping about what they heard and discovered, confirming that a robbery has indeed took place inside the temple.
"The temple has been robed..."
"What?"
"Seriously?"
"Who would do such a thing?"
"The outside world is tainted with blasphemy!"
"The robbers have no shame...ransacking a temple..."
"What do we do?"
"Call the police!"
The chief priests came out of their quarters after hearing the news and they went to one of the rooms, where several valuables, such as chests that contain donation money and other items used to sell and make money in order to buy food went missing, and some of the temple officials became alarmed, as they never thought that someone had the guts to try and rob a temple, and the caretaker said this is an insult to the gods.
The chief priest urged his fellow priests and the monks, as well as the pupils, to calm down and not panic, as he believes that there may be a thief here since the temple gate is still close and that given that the items stolen was so many that it would take a group to carry out the task, and believe that an experience burglar did this, and said that they should search the entire temple as he thinks that the thief is hiding somewhere here, and one of the pupils came and said he has a suspect in mind which the chief priest listens to what the senior pupil has to say about his claim.
"Chief priest..."
"Yes...?"
"I have an idea..."
"What?"
"I know who the culprit is..."
"You do...?"
"Yes..."
"Who is it then?"
The pupil said that he believe that Koshi is the culprit since he never participated in the temple activities and that he always distance himself from the others and he may have been aiding other thieves in breaking in the temple, and soon other temple pupils nodded in agreement and said that Koshi should be expelled from the temple as they singled him out, but the chief priest urged the pupils to calm down saying they cannot just act like that without proof, but another senior pupil, who works in the temple suggested that they search Koshi's room just in case, and the chief priest nodded in reluctance, and everyone then went to Koshi's room to commence the search.
A few minutes later, the scene shifts in front of Koshi's room and soon Koshi was summoned, and the 12-year old boy acted casually since he knows he has done nothing wrong, and he sensed that the pupils are giving him the malevolent stare as the chief priest told Koshi the accusations hurled against him, which he denies it saying that he has been spending his time sweeping the temple grounds and not interacted with anyone other than Shūgaku Sanzo, which the chief priest seemed to take his word for it seeing that Koshi's tone is as normal and does not falter.
"Are you certain about your statement, Koshi?"
"Yes, chief priest."
"And you never entered the room where the items were stolen?"
"Yes, chief priest. I spend all day sweeping the grounds and nothing else."
"I see."
"That is the truth, chief priest..."
"Then perhaps you are innocent..."
"..."
However, the pupils began complaining saying that they believe that Koshi may be the culprit and is aiding the thieves and said that they should search his room for evidence inciting he rest to support their claims, and this led the other pupils to follow suit, and the chief priest tries to calm the pupils and reluctantly gave in to their requests and had his servants search the room, and soon the stolen items are found hidden within Koshi's room, and the other pupils then said that Koshi is indeed the culprit, and with the evidence found, they said that Koshi has abused the privileges given to him and demanded that he be expelled from the temple, and incited the others to support their cause, causing the others to unknowingly chant along with the disgruntled pupils.
"EXPEL HIM!"
"EXPEL HIM!"
"YEAH, THROW HIM OUT OF THE TEMPLE!"
"HE IS CURSED! A HERETIC!"
"HE SHOULD HAVE DROWNED AT THE RIVER TEN YEARS AGO!"
"A LOWLY RIVER DRIFTER!"
"KICK HIM OUT!"
"WE DEMAND IT!"
The chief priest tries to calm the pupils down fearing that a riot and/or an uprising might ensue, and urged them to calm down, yet Koshi appeared to be calm though he is seen to be dismayed as he figured out that the disgruntled pupils did this so that the chief priest would be obliged to have him thrown out because of the fact that the boy is an orphan and the disgruntled pupils did not want a HERETIC to stay in the temple, and one of the disgruntled pupils began to grab Koshi by his collar and began to shake him rather violently and forces him to admit that he did the theft, which Koshi stood his ground and deny the charges.
"Alright, admit it!"
"Admit what?"
"That you did it! You are the culprit!"
"I am not..."
"Yes you are! The proof is there and you are guilty!"
"No...I am..."
"Master Sanzo is a fool who took you in ten years ago...you should have drowned and not cause shame in this temple!"
"..."
Soon the other pupils join in and began to shove Koshi and blamed him for the theft, saying that Shūgaku Sanzo made the mistake of bringing him here and said that Sanzo should have let Koshi drown at the river 11 years ago, Koshi was forced to glare at them, and the insurrection was getting stronger, and the chief priest is starting to lose control in staving the protest seeing that the other innocent pupils are slowly getting swayed to join in having Koshi expelled, and he is starting to give in, feeling that the only way to put a stop to this is to have Koshi leave the temple, and he urged everyone to calm down and approached Koshi.
There the chief priest sadly told Koshi that he cannot overlook the evidences found in the boy's room, and said that though it is unjust, he cannot risk the temple leave open to attacks due to the insurrection that just happened, and thus he told Koshi that he has no option except to leave the temple immediately, which Koshi appeared dismayed, seeing that he is unjustly expelled because he is accused of a crime he did not committed, and defended himself from the accusations.
"I am sorry, boy..."
"Just like that...?"
"Huh?"
"You are a chief priest yet you buck in to pressure because of what they said?"
"But the proof shows it..."
"How can you say that since I cannot do those things by myself..."
"But..."
"Please think about it..."
But the disgruntled pupils began inciting another loud protest and urges the chief priest to have Koshi thrown out, and did so in a rather violent vocal protest, and just as their cause is about to work as the chief priest is about to give in to their demands, Shūgaku Sanzo appeared, chanting in prayers and the sutra began to glow and spread around the area which caught everyone's attention, and there things went silent for now and Sanzo stop chanting and told the chief priest not to give on anyone's whim, saying that the accused has the right to defend himself from charges that may be deemed as fraudulent.
The chief priest then told Sanzo that the evidences are found and said that Koshi may be the one who perpetrated the theft, but Sanzo pointed out that if Koshi is the culprit, how was he able to bring all of the evidences inside his room given that some of the items are too large for the younger boy to carry alone, and how was the boy able to bring it to his room without being noticed.
Sanzo also said that the area where the items went missing in the first place is off-limits to Koshi, and pointed out that Koshi spend most of his time at the gardens and temple grounds, sweeping and that he did not interact with others given that SOME pupils are urging others to avoid the 12-year old boy, which he glanced at the disgruntled pupils, where they are seen going silent for a while.
Sanzo then said that he is sure that what is happening right now is indeed a frame-up and said that the perpetrators did this so that they have a legal reason to expel Koshi simply because they deem him a heretic because he was adopted and branded him an UNCLEAN person, and the chief priest is quite surprised to here this and asks if she can back up his claim.
"But Master Sanzo..."
"You heard me... Koshi is innocent..."
"But the evidences..."
"I have proof to prove the boy's innocence..."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"Could you show it?"
"Of course."
Sanzo nodded and by then Kakihara came in, carrying a LAPTOP, and played the video, where the footage shows that the disgruntled pupils are shown physically, and vocally, making preparations on how to frame Koshi for the crimes and additional footage shows that the disgruntled pupils were the ones who broke inside the sacred rooms and took away the stolen items and planted them inside Koshi's room, shocking the chief priest, and the disgruntled students began to sweat non-stop and shivered in fear as they were now exposed as the actual culprits.
The chief priest was shaking in anger and dismay, and glanced at the disgruntled pupils and demanded an explanation on why they did such a thing after sheltering and adopting them with open arms, only for them to reciprocate their gratitude by being such selfish fools, and the disgruntled pupils knelt down and begged for forgiveness and not be expelled.
"I AM SORRY!"
"FORGIVE US!"
"WE DIDN'T MEAN TO!"
"SPARE US!"
"FORGIVE US!"
"THE YOUKAI MADE ME DO IT!"
"PLEASE FORGIVE US!"
"WE'LL DO ANYTHING!"
Unfortunately, the chief priest needed to do what he has to do, and has the disgruntled pupils expelled from the temple and the temple guards showed them out despite the expelled pupils pleading for mercy, and soon the pupils were thrown out, and the incident was slowly resolved, and the chief priest apologized to Koshi for what happened, which the boy just nodded, and soon everyone went back to their usual posts, though Shūgaku Sanzo slowly petted the younger boy's head seeing that despite his optimism, the boy is visibly upset that up until now the expelled pupils would still pick on him for a very shallow reason, and Sanzo told Koshi to move on, which the boy just nodded.
-END FLASHABACK-
Koshi sweat-dropped at hearing this as he is sure that something is amiss as he knows that something is wrong here, as yesterday he was inside the Goddess' Dormitory doing his duties as the dorm mother after attending middle school classes yet now he finds himself supposedly in 16th century China yet he saw some modern-day things like airplanes and even a laptop.
"Really…something is going on here…but the better question is…how will I get back home…and in my OWN time…?"
To Be Continued...
Hope you liked this chapter, as this fic is inspired by the manga's extra chapters, and this is coupled with my revived interest in the Saiyuki anime, hence the fic I written…
Looks like Serene has accidentally did something and Koshi ended up getting separated and finds himself in old-century China…more are on the way…especially as Koshi's JOURNEY is about to commence…
Preview:
As Koshi tries to figure out what happened, certain events took place that led him to become a Sanzo priest himself…and commences his SECRET JOURNEY…
See you on in four weeks…
Reviews are welcomed, but needed…