02-Aug-2002
1. This is an unfinished fic and I have no idea when it will be finished.
2. I couldn't resist posting it anyway given the discussion today
3. Satoru means (according to a Japanese name page I found somewhere) "to enlighten"
Title: Satoru
Author: Nixers and bonnejeanne
Contact: nixerchan@aol.com and bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
Category: unlikely?
Pairings: none yet?
Warnings: This is silly...
Spoilers: Series?
Rating: PG-13
Satoru
Sanzo felt a tug at his sleeve and looked down, way down... the wide gold eyes looking up at his weren't Goku's, they were only about half as big, though they took up most of the unbearably sweet face of the very small child.
"You're supposed to be asleep," the priest growled.
The small hand tugged again. "Woke up! Daddy... can I ha' some water?"
The ape was supposed to take care of moments like this. He'd promised he would do all the feeding and washing and cozening of the child. But Goku was dead asleep, exhausted from the battle that had taken not hours but more than a day to win.
Tug-tug. The small face stared up at him, free arm clutched around That Doll. What had Hakkai been thinking when he made That Doll? The effigy had features that were somewhat like Goku's, but the longer hair, pointed ears and soft felt teeth and talons should have been the last possible choice for a... a toy. Well, the last possible choice next to the Other Damn Doll, which was presumably upstairs somewhere. The one dressed in carefully crafted priest's robes...
It didn't do any good to wonder how he'd ended up in this position. He knew the answer to that very well. It had all started after another battle they shouldn't have been able to win...
A lone figure stood amidst what gore remained of the godlike demon they had faced. Shoulders hunched high and chest heaving with excitement, Goku was in no danger of slowing down anytime soon. The look in narrowed golden eyes flicked over his shoulder was anything but weary.
Gojyo clutched the diadem in one hand, the only one still standing. He swore then gave Goku a smirk, understanding that getting his attention, and what that entailed, was the only way of getting him close enough to restore it to the bakasaru's forehead, especially with Sanzo down.
"Gojyo, no!" Hakkai's warning as he staggered back to his feet was too late of course. There wasn't even a blur as Goku simply appeared above the half-breed, smiling with pleasure at having a target. Without thinking, Hakkai began concentrating power in his hand to try and knock the feral being away from Gojyo, then bit his lip and turned instead to find Sanzo, altering the frequency of the energy into a healing ray instead. They'd been through this too many times, and kept making the same damn mistakes. Sanzo was the only one who could even begin to handle Goku un-limited. Wincing and feeling the flood of guilt and anger at the sounds behind him, he willed all the energy he had into the wounded priest.
/The one benefit of fighting the stupid monkey,/ Gojyo thought dazedly, a vague, disconnected part of his mind admiring the furrow in the ground his shoulder was making at this velocity, /with the speed and power, you really didn't start to hurt till *after* he was done with you./ Ruby eyes sought out Hakkai automatically as he shakily got his arms up under him and pushed up halfway. The glow and his position over bouzu gave a good enough indication of what he had in mind. "Heh," he said, spitting red onto the dry sand. Might as well give him some time. "Would be nice if you didn't give a damn 'bout him every now and then." Gojyo grit out, standing just in time for Goku's foot to connect with his chest.
The words fell on Hakkai's ears and were pulled down into the secret place in his soul where he stored all such things for brooding over later when no one else was around to notice. He also heard the next solid blow and even the almost inaudible cracking of ribs. Having done everything he could do to heal the priest, he gave Sanzo's shoulder a shake. "I'm sorry, but you need to wake up, it's important." Not waiting for a response, Hakkai turned, his heart giving a silent scream as he saw Goku settle on Gojyo's sprawled body, the dreamy smile on the demi-god's beautiful face that spoke of the simple joy of murder. Before the taloned hands could begin to batter and tear at the half-breed, Hakkai ripped a last bit of power from nonexistent reserves and flung the energy bolt, the loss staggering him to his knees as he teetered on the edge of passing out. But the ploy worked. A whisper of warm air next to him was the only warning of the next blow that threw the youkai schoolteacher across the torn field like a broken rag doll.
"ON!" Somewhere behind the two of them, the priest had managed to get to his feet, face lined with the agony of the wound, only half healed and tearing, and the will required to even get that far. The Sutra on his shoulders curled and whispered around him, as if echoing Goku's anticipation. "Makai tenjou!"
The dark smile on Goku's face wavered for an instant, proving if nothing else, something of a memory could be retained in this state. Claws swiped futilely at the holy scriptures that seemed to come from everywhere. Delight and an unsettling canniness took Son Goku's features like oil spreading over water. He dove forward, into the mass of paper, talons reaching for the priest's throat. The lead of the Sutra missed him entirely in the strange move, burying themselves deeply into the ground with explosive force, before traveling through the topsoil.
Attacking from below, white strips wrapped Goku's form a bare inch from Sanzo's neck. The saru's fingers twitched, a sound of rage from the bound godling at being unable to get farther.
Deep purple eyes bored into gold, the priest's lips continuing to form the chant, a low thunder under the scream. Even at the bare miss of the razor talons, the chant never faltered, and the expression on the priest's face never changed to fear or terror, mirroring the thoughts in his head, spoken inaudibly since his mouth was occupied with the invocation.
/Go ahead and rip my throat out you stupid monkey, if you can, do me the favor of releasing me from this stupid existence and on to the next equally stupid one, where I can learn the next stupid set of lessons like how to love and have that love ripped apart by other stupid animals who are only repeating their own endless cycle of mistakes so we can all achieve nirvana.../
Throwing his will and soul into the last command, invoking the sutra's power to hold the snarling being for another moment, reaching his hand out for the diadem without bothering to wonder, now or ever, why it always seemed to be there when he needed it, Sanzo met the golden eyes and for the barest instant saw something he did not remember seeing before in the demon's face. Recognition. A look that met his as directly and as devoid of illusion as his own eyes looked back. I know you, have always known you, will always know you, they seemed to say. It was too intimate, too raw, he didn't like the feeling it evoked nor the power with which it did so. With the final words, he slammed the diadem on Goku's brow.
The deceptively small body arched, fighting whatever switch was being triggered in him. Goku's face began to soften, a sort of peace settling over features that lost age with each second. He fell forward slowly as the sutra released him, one hand almost drifting out instinctively for a balance that wasn't there. Shortening claws grazed Sanzo's upper arm parting leather, linen and skin with the same ease, even while retreating.
Falling face first, golden eyes slid shut. Violet however, didn't miss the strange golden glow as blood was drunk by the soil above the retreating scriptures.
It was instinct to catch the falling body, instinct to cradle it gently, nothing more than instinct of course, causing his fingers to brush the thick, wild swirl of now-shorter hair. The weight of the body in his arms pulled him down from his feet to his knees, his injuries screaming, only to be mentally cursed and told to shut the fuck up. Letting the boy rest with his head pillowed on his knees, arms loosely around Sanzo's waist, he peered suspiciously at the ground beside them where the blood dripping from his arm seemed to disappear in the freshly broken earth. Even as the sutra resumed its place on his shoulders he felt it. Something that seemed to stay with the soil. A concentration of the spirit presence of this world itself. It seemed to flare and then to fade. Almost completely.
Looking up, he spotted the small still mound partly covered with some green cloth that marked Hakkai. Further away, another similar mound stirred slightly as a string of curses came from it, scarlet hair swinging back. Glancing back once at the still unmoving green covered form, Sanzo looked away. He was too exhausted to tell the half-youkai to shut the fuck up.
Gojyo was honestly just working on not passing out again. With a line of curses that seemed to rise and fall with stuttered breathing, he only just barely remembered to check the field. Sanzo being real still. Gods knew the bastard has passed out sitting up often enough.. and the monkey... back to normal. Ignoring the way something shifted inside as he moved, there was already enough pain that fresh bursts weren't going to matter... he was either going down or ignoring it.
His body seemed determined for the latter. Not there enough to care, the kappa made it to Hakkai's side, looking over the limp form for anything too dangerous, before slumping back against the hillside himself again. "Kick y'r ass 'morrow," it was hardly breathed, with a hazy dart of red eyes in Goku's direction, and the briefest flicker of relief.
Beside Sanzo, the cracks in the ground had begun to take on a faint, deliberate pattern. It was crude, almost childlike, but with a little imagination, the gouges formed the kanji for life.
There was stillness and silence on the field for a while. When movement came, it was only to gather towards a spot under the trees, close by the torn field. In time Goku woke, and as the single person in the group unscathed, was sent scurrying for water, bandages from the jeep, bed rolls, clothes, instructed in how to bandage, cursed for doing it clumsily, cursed for being too slow with the water, cursed for not being able to produce beer out of thin air, and cursed and told to shut up for complaining about being hungry. Eventually, though not after a few liberal applications of a mysterious paper fan, another stillness descended as the next couple of hours of rest passed under a late rising moon.
A few hours of sleep brought a real measure of healing to the youkai, full and half alike. To the human priest it brought crusting scabs over wounds half-healed by magic, more aches and pains, and the end of the cigarettes. Which dictated the necessity of moving from the spot, not matter how bad any of their shape to travel in might be.
They made it with Hakuryuu's help to the nearest village, found a room, got the monkey and all of them fed, well, all but Sanzo who couldn't eat. Hakkai worried that his second, and better try and healing had missed something, something perhaps internal since the symptom was nausea. The priest growled that it was the sound of all of them talking that was making him sick to his stomach and would they all shut the fuck up so he could sleep.
Goku had taken up a vigil at Sanzo's bedside with what passed for him as subtlety, as in he wasn't watching him constantly. The saru seemed content to mix occasional squabbles with Gojyo, a couple heartfelt entreaties for another meal from Hakkai, and even an offer to share a bit of it with Sanzo just in case he got hungry like he was supposed to, and complaints about the increasingly frequent abuse of his scalp as whatever was aching the priest got no better. For all that he could be normally stingy, he always became very, very democratic about sharing pain.
The latest errand Sanzo had sent Goku running on for a moment of silence ended far too quickly, though besides the cigarettes he already had a couple packs of and the beer he didn't plan on touching, he of course, came back with an armload of snacks, sweets mostly. Looking from where he set it on the round table at Sanzo's bedside and back to the priest himself.
The rest of the inn was quiet, most people in their beds. The priest had a pillow pulled over his head but the tense set of his back belied actual sleep.
After a little while, the pillow flew away and the blond sat up, his expression like a thundercloud. "Moving quietly is beyond your capabilities, ne?" he demanded viciously. His head cocked to one side slightly. "You must have woken it. Now it won't shut up."
Aside from a slight sound of snoring from one of the other rooms, Goku did not hear anything.
Goku's wide eyes blinked a couple of times, before simply accepting that it didn't make the first damn bit of sense. "Na, Sanzo, woke what?" he asked, a duck to the side and speed usually reserved for battle to press a hand long enough to get a temperature without bodily harm. Hakkai had said several times that it was important, far out of the priest's earshot of course.
The priest hardly noticed the brief flicker of touch. "Where's its damn mother?" he muttered. Pushing to his feet, he grabbed his robe and tied it around his waist, his steps uncertain but firming, heading for the door. Once hand reached over and scratched absently at the bandage on his arm that he had been plucking at or rubbing on and off the whole day.
Goku dogged his footsteps for a good deal of the way, uncertainty warring against curiosity. He glanced back a couple of times as Sanzo made it into the hallway, but didn't seem to pause at any of the doors. He supposed it made sense, if whatever it was, was this close, he'd have heard it as well, for sure. At the stairs, his brow knitted, torn between making sure he really was okay, and wouldn't be carrying Sanzo back, and letting Hakkai know if anything happened like he promised he would. "Yoshi!" he exclaimed, slapping his fist into his palm, finding a compromise. He picked up one of the more polite patrons of the inns shoes at the door, and with frightening accuracy threw it as hard as he could to bounce off Gojyo and Hakkai's room with a resounding THUMP. Grinning again, he scampered off after Sanzo, his version of a compromise made.
It wasn't in the inn, that damned incessant crying. If it didn't stop he would never get any sleep. Some woman in the village neglecting her offspring shamefully? He had no qualms about finding the derelict mother and reading her the riot act until she begged Buddha to forgive her and never let the brat make another sound. The direction was south, back the way they had come. There weren't many houses that way. It should be easy to find.
But it wasn't. At the outskirts, the sound still seemed further away.
It was a beautiful night. Not cold, not warm, clear sky, the scent of the nearby woods perfuming the air. Sanzo noticed none of it. Some child in the woods? Perhaps the parents were camping. Amazing set of lungs. But all it would take was for someone to shove a honey drop or something in its mouth. Not noticing the distance and only peripherally aware of the steps dogging his, since they were something he was used to now anyway, he kept walking.
And Goku never heard anything but the night wind and a brief owl call.
It took a couple of hours to get back to the site of the battle. Even in the brightening rosy light of early dawn, the hummock in the earth looked odd. It was too regular, too round, and definitely hadn't been there when they left. The very spot where Sanzo had put the limiter back on Goku. The very spot.
"Sanzo..." Goku's words were distant, quiet. He had stopped some feet back and was simply staring with wide golden eyes. It was possible he wasn't even aware of him speaking the priest's title, since he did nothing to follow it up.
He took a couple of steps forward, coming easily beside Sanzo. Without taking his eyes off of the land, he tugged on the blond's arm. "Hungry," he informed Sanzo quietly.
"Can't you hear it?" the priest muttered. "What kind of inhuman idiot would bury their..."
Moving forward, he began to dig into the mound. Once his hands touched the earth, his movements became frantic, almost frenzied. Earth flew to either side of him, some of it hitting Goku's jeans.
The saru watched for a moment, a little pacing to see if he could help without getting in the way. Not that that had stopped him before, but it seemed different this time. Or at least more dangerous. He shrugged slightly as Sanzo ignored him, well used to it, but instead of gaining volume he dug in his pockets for treats there that had managed to survive by rare reservation or simple forgetfulness. But instead of eating the sugar candies, he set back into waiting. He couldn't hear it... but he knew that feeling. He had it enough.
The pocket was deep in the center of the mound and took a while to uncover. When it was broken there was still no sound, but what was revealed in the growing morning light wasn't exactly a baby... not exactly... nor even the body of one. This curled up form was more like that of a small child, perhaps a two or three year old, tightly folded on itself and naked. Its face was buried in its arms but a thatch of bright yellow hair was evident.
Goku crouched at the side of the hole, eyes threatening to overtake the rest of his face. "Shinda?" he asked, a brief glance towards Sanzo. It... he was so very still there. But, even dirty, there was something, familiar about the way the new sun caught golden hair. Before the priest could stop him, he had leaned down to touch the short rays of sunlight.
At the touch, there was a soft gasp from the little body, arms moving away, head turning blindly and then a pair of slightly canted eyes opened... and opened... and opened, taking up half the small face at least as they fastened gold to gold on Goku's face.
Then they blinked, and turned to Sanzo's face, taking it in, and then back. Then the small, sweet mouth opened and a cry emerged from the newly-breathing body.
"Ah!" The fascination turned quickly to shock, which became distance as Goku jumped back, only to creep back again. With another glance over to Sanzo, he repeated, in the same matter of fact tone, "Hungry," before grinning, and thrusting the sweets towards the child.
A hand slapped his sharply, and then Sanzo selected one of the items, a soft taffy, and broke a small piece off to place it to the child's lips. A small pink tongue came out and the crying was interrupted as the offering was tasted. Watching it closely to make sure it wasn't going to choke on the small piece, Sanzo placed it between the child's lips. Uncurling slightly, they could now both see the small naked form was that of a boy.
Watching them both, eyes going back and forth as the candy was sucked on, the child had managed to wrap the fingers of one hand around a fold of Sanzo's robe.
Staring at the gold eyes, the priest murmured "Itan." Then without looking up, "We should leave it."
Goku looked up at Sanzo doubtfully, then back at the child. The hair naturally drew him, but there was something else, under the surface. Besides, he was cute, staring up at them like that. Like a lost kitten, kinda. He'd never had a cat. "Ne, Sanzo?" He grinned. "Can I keep him?"
"No."
He ruffled the golden hair, delighting in the bewildered and trusting expression that matching golden eyes turned on him. "I'll take good care of him, you won't be bothered at all," he wheedled, putting on his best 'don't deny me or I'll keep this up for the next three hundred miles' look.
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaassssssseeeee. I'll make sure he eats really well and won't cry and keep you up all night like tonight."
"No! This isn't a lost kitten! You've never taken care of anything in your life including yourself!" There was an odd sinking feeling in Sanzo's chest. When he managed to tear his gaze away from one set of trusting golden eyes, there was another ready to suck him in. It was infernal. It was an infernal conspiracy. He was. Not. Going to. Allow it.
"Maybe..." More than a little hurt and discouragement shaded the second set of gold nearly to a copper, before they brightened again. "But you take good care of me, and I'm sure Hakkai can help, he's really good and it'll keep him from worrying so much when he doesn't have one of us to take care of, and he can teach me so I can help." He looked back down at the child. "Don't worry though, I'll make sure the perverted kappa is nice to you. He's a moron, but you'll prolly like him too."
When Goku directed the last few words to the child, its eyes fixed on his again, and then suddenly the small face shifted into a brand new expression, as its mouth opened and the child laughed.
The sinking feeling dropped deeper by about a mile subterranean. The mental picture of standing up and walking away from the open mound and leaving the child there went through Sanzo's mind in great, in excruciating detail. An itan. Why did an itan have to appear just here? It didn't matter. It wasn't his responsibility. Buddha placed things where he placed them. If he meant the child to be found, someone would come along and find it. Heavens help them.
But the laugh... it had a soft music. The music reminded him of something. Another laugh. One that shouldn't have come from an adult, though it often had.
Goku reached his hand down, having already found his answer. "Dunno what I should name you though. It's important, so you can tell other people." Goku said, seriously, coaxing the smaller boy up. He glanced up at Sanzo, a hopeful look. "What do you think?" He paused, thinking. "I mean Itan sounds okay, but doesn't feel right, na?"
The silence and the pause were lengthy. No. No no no. Masters this is not something I can deal with. There is nothing that the baka saru hasn't taught me about patience... No. No. I do not need another damn fucking lesson!
Taking a deep breath, Genjyo Sanzo released his fate from the tight grasp he was keeping around it. A flash of a small creature in a large white room, as innocent as this one if only a little older, movements jingling with the music of chains on every limb.... there and gone.
"Satoru," he said quietly.
The saru's expression was like a hundred suns, the pleasure the exact opposite of what it had been that day, just as pure, but innocent. "Satoru!" Goku said, nodding. A turn back to the child, as if handing him the biggest present he ever could. "You're name is Satoru. I'm Goku. The one that smells like you is Sanzo. He's mine, but then, so're you, so he's yours too... or is it the other way around." The intent expression disappeared as quickly as it came, drowning under another flood of explanation.
The child listened intently, eyes moving back and forth with the explanation as if getting every word.
At some point the child realized that the candy in its mouth had dissolved and was gone. Licking his lips, Satoru looked at Goku and then more distinctly to Sanzo. The priest knew exactly what the child wanted. He waited to see if a wail would be forthcoming. Then he placed the rest of the taffy in Goku's hand.
"Small pieces, but watch to make sure he doesn't choke," he said. "If he does, turn him face down quickly and give his back a pat to dislodge it."
With the passing of the candy, the child's eyes fixed again on Goku.
Goku paused, his own expression taking on that careful listening for the brief instructions, passing into a radiant smile. "Sankyuu!" He said, then picked one out of the handful, staring at it doubtfully as to how filling that could possibly be, before handing it over to the child, smiling for him when smaller hands pulled his outstretched one down enough for him to eat from it, apparently, again, still just keeping the sweet in his mouth instead of swallowing.
"You'll have to carry him back," Sanzo said quietly. "Take off your cape and tie it around until you can find clothes for him. A bit later you can find out if he can walk."
It wasn't unusual for an itan to be born knowing how to do many things, like an animal's cub more than a human. Sanzo didn't bather to wonder why he knew this. It must have been in one of the books he studied.
Deft fingers made short work of the clasps keeping the fabric on the shoulderguards. The heavy red cotton was wrapped around the boy with little ceremony and even less care for fashion. It covered enough, as far as he could figure, or as much as the limited material could. He picked up the boy easily, carrying him as anyone would a bride or perhaps a much younger child, Goku never seemed to notice the weight at all. "Don't worry, we're going back to meet the others now. You can come West with us."
The boy watched everything intently, a delighted smile lighting his face when he was picked up. On hand clutched Goku's tunic, but the boy's head swiveled to make sure Sanzo was coming, staying close by.
Goku's last words marched through Sanzo head. If it *had* been a human child, the very idea of taking him on such a journey would have been unthinkable. Sanzo threw a last, irritated glance at the open mound, and then rubbed again at his shoulder. A sudden, suspicious glance from the earth to the bandage-wrapped shallow slice pressed his lips together tightly for a moment. With a soft, barely audible curse directed at the denizens of heaven, he paced the baka saru and his burden. By the time they got back, Hakkai and Gojyo had better have seen to breakfast and have it waiting for them.
Gojyo was only idly chewing at breakfast, lazily glancing between the door and Hakkai. He still ached and was a little too slow for his own tastes, but that was just as good in the war that meals were... or should have been. It was almost like he didn't know what to do with the assortment of food that Hakkai was still placing around the table without someone to steal half of it from. And then there was that idiotic, foul mouthed, mannerless, unholy excuse for a monk that saw fit to wake him up in the middle of the fucking night then bloody take off.
At the silence from the few tables around him and pointed stares, he belatedly realized that he'd begun to rant out loud again. He cast a somewhat exaggeratedly sheepish look at all of them before turning back to frown at the plate of rice in front of him.
Hakkai patted his arm briefly. "I'm sure they will be back soon," he said, as if answering a question. "I did not feel any traces of evil youkai, other than the fading residuals from the battle."
"Eeehh," Gojyo took a dumpling from what would be Goku side out of habit. "They can take care of themselves, I'm worried about them taking out half the town just because Sanzo-/sama/'s feeling pissy and hasn't slept." Another glance toward the door, and determinedly finishing the dumpling before taking a second.
Hakkai fed a morsel to Hakuryuu, shaking his head. "I haven't heard any rumors of trouble this morning," he said as if this discounted the concern Gojyo had expressed. Only someone who knew him very well would have detected the traces of worry at the corners of his green eyes, or the one that was visible anyway. But those lines were habitual.
A grunt and something that sounded suspiciously like, "Just took out the witnesses this time," was Gojyo's answer, putting his chin in his palm and leaning against the table. With the other hand, he negligently put aside the chopsticks and passed the sake bottle to Hakkai. It had been difficult getting it from the prudish innkeeper's wife this early in the morning.
The green-eyed man took the bottle and poured a very small serving in his cup. He didn't bother to pretend that he wasn't interested in drinking it, merely tossed it down quickly like a morning tonic.
The sound of footsteps outside and Goku's voice carrying on a one-sided conversation gave them warning before the door opened. But probably not enough for what came through it.
Before either Hakkai or Gojyo could even think of forming a word, Sanzo said, "Shut up."
Then he found a plate and began piling food onto it.
Goku had stopped at the door, still holding the child, a stricken expression across his face, and centered on the kappa. "Ahhhh! Those are mine!" He would have pointed in grand accusation, and nearly did anyway, if it weren't for the burden he carried. The boy managed to cross the room in record time, another look at Gojyo, who like Hakkai was still in a stunned state, before setting the golden earthchild down. "JuststayrighthereIhavetodealwiththis!" He babbled then yanked the plate to his side of the table again. "Roachheadded, water for brains, pervert kappa! Now there's only one left!" He mourned.
This seemed to snap the half-youkai out of it. More by instinct than anything, he'd had the chopsticks out and the last dumpling swiped. He stood up, holding it far out of reach. "None now," he taunted, waving it as Goku jumped, then seriously considered the kappa's shins good target practice for a few swift kicks. "Unless you come out with it." He pointed at the child, then ducked down to meet Goku's level, dumpling still raised high. "Who's that?"
"Satoru is going to have a very interesting vocabulary," Sanzo mentioned as he began eating.
The child had pulled his legs up on the chair where Goku had put him and wrapped his arms around them, looking from one to the other of the "new" people with his huge gold eyes. Hakkai's surprised, no, astonished look had dissolved quickly into a smile, which the boy returned. As the conflict at the table escalated, the child seemed to pick up the tension and become distressed.
"See, Sanzo said you're a bad influence," Goku said, another attempt then, a blatant swipe of food from Gojyo's side of the table, no taunt, just inhaling the pork dish while the other man could only protest.
"Oi! You're the one swearing in front of the kid," he said, only the briefest of glances back. "So when're you giving him back?"
"M'not," Goku said, pulling the rest of the plate over as he plopped down next to the child.
The boy looked up at Goku after shooting Gojyo a doubtful, confused look. "Go-ku..."
The child's voice was soft, melodious and about the sweetest thing anybody in the room had ever heard next to birdsong.
Gojyo had paused, halfway to poking the saru in the shoulder with his chopsticks with some line about when the idiot had developed a sense of humor. Eyes wide, he watched Goku almost absently pulling his plate back, attention fully on the yellow haired child.
"That's me," Goku replied, cheerfully, beaming happily at the words. He nodded once, before glancing at Sanzo, then at the table. "Ne, Sanzo, what can Satoru have?" Almost he had turned his attention back to the golden child. "You'll prolly like lots of this, but I think you have to wait for a lot of it, but trust me alla it's good. The guy over there with the dragon, that's Hakkai, he's a really good friend of mine, he's the one who cooks and is really good so alla it usually tastes great."
Somewhere in the diatribe, the color of the child's eyes had finally, truly sunk in. Gojyo glanced at Hakkai, before glancing back over to Sanzo. "Oi... bouzu..."
The only acknowledgement was a look.
In the mean time, Goku had gotten impatient for an answer, or more importantly, the interruption that the answer usually came with and just offered another taffy. He glanced down at his plate and then back at Gojyo with suspicion when he couldn't figure out what had been stolen from it... it didn't seem like anything and the kappa hadn't even picked up his chopsticks again. He shrugged. "And that's your Uncle Kappa," he said, pointing back towards Gojyo.
"Oi...."
"Ka-pa.."
Hakkai took a moment to look closely at the boy, checking for teeth. "Satoru looks old enough to eat food that needs to be chewed," he said, discovering the answer. "But it's probably best to stick to things that are softer, maybe the cooked fruit, and some meat gravy. Don't give him anything spicy at first," he suggested.
Sanzo made a brief gesture endorsing Hakkai's advice.
As Goku listened with a series of nods to Hakkai, Gojyo took the opportunity to look around the distracted boy, shaking his head at Satoru. "Not Kappa, Go-ji-yo... Gojyo.." he clarified, shooting an irritated glance at Goku.
"Don't listen, he's a Kappa," then with an earnest expression. "Rice be okay for now?"
"Unca kapa..."
"Oi... saru..." Gojyo warned.
"Try it," Hakkai suggested, "But watch to make sure he doesn't get choked."
Satoru's eyes had fixed on Gojyo's swinging red locks of hair with fascination. Without paying attention, one little arm reached out towards the scarlet strands almost overbalancing the boy, whose coordination was not that of a newborn, but still less than an hour old.
The plate of rice was taken from in front of Gojyo and placed in front of the child by Goku. The water demon looked more than ready to protest when he felt small fingers in his hair. He turned away, not incidentally offering more of the hair in the action and hiding the smile that threatened to show itself from everyone at the table, except for probably the youkai across from him. A flash, remembrance of perhaps when the saru wasn't such a pain in the ass. "It's not hot," the growl wasn't as defensive as it might have been.
"Nodhot?" The fingers threaded through the crimson fall, eyes wide with fascination.
"Yeah," he replied, crossing his arms, looking for all the world like he was only just barely tolerating it.
Watching the half-breed, Hakkai placed his hand over his mouth to cover a smile.
Catching the gesture out of the corner of his eye, Gojyo pointedly grimaced at Hakkai, a mildly poisoned look in his direction.
"Where did he come from, Goku?" Hakkai asked, turning his head slightly to give the right side of his face to Gojyo.
The first attempt at explanation was incomprehensible, but with the aid of actually swallowing, the second attempt was somewhat more coherent, if not entirely sane sounding to anyone who might have overheard. "In the ground. Sanzo found him and dug him up. S'lucky, I imagine it was really lonely there..." Goku said, sending an adoringly proud expression towards the priest in question before going back to trying to explain the concept of chopsticks again.
Sanzo took a moment to favor the other two with the Look That Promises Death in the event anyone was contemplating any cute remarks.
Satoru managed to almost poke one of his wide eyes out with a chopstick, dropped it, and then simply reached out to Goku's plate and wrapped his small fingers around a handful of rice and put more than half of it in his mouth with an expression of bliss.
Goku took a quick glance over at Sanzo, making sure that there was no sign of The Fan, tense and ready to intercept.
Amethyst eyes looked calmly back at Goku as the priest poured himself a double shot of sake. He'd actually managed to clean a plate that would have made a decent first helping for Goku.
Goku stared for a moment, but decided with more than a little relief not to question it. He turned his attention back to Satoru, watching the boy carefully, having been warned by both of them. The distraction caused him to slow down by at least half as much.
"In the ground...?" Hakkai murmured. He looked at the child again. Gold eyes. Blond hair. Looked at Goku, looked at Sanzo. "Which... ground? Where...?"
"Where the sutra went into the earth," Sanzo said, the words so devoid of expression they were almost brittle.
Hakkai's eyes widened. The he judged it to be the right time to drop the subject for the time being.
"So we're babysitting another child, great," Gojyo said, another glance back to the wide eyes beyond Goku. "Explaining one to the women was tough enough..."
"What do you mean another?"
Sanzo's voice was not raised a decibel but it cut through the room easily. "Goku is not a child. When we run into something too powerful for your wisecracks to defeat it, or Hakkai's magics, or the gun, something even Goku can't beat into the ground, we use his power and whatever price it asks of him."
Finishing the sake, he got up from the table and walked over to stand in front of the nearby window looking out at the day.
Goku smirked at the flame-haired man at the first comment from Sanzo, but didn't seem troubled at all by the rest, digging in with a greater vigor into the meal when it seemed that the child could handle rice pretty well. Gojyo, however, glance between Sanzo's back and Hakkai, the frown more evident in crimson eyes rather than on his face. "So Goku's not a toddler, least he can throw a punch..." he let the protest stand unfinished.
Sanzo allowed himself to glance over long enough to give the Look That Promises Death.
"Goku! When you are finished eating, make sure Satoru is clean and then you have to see about clothes for him. And quickly. We've lost time, we need to get back on the road."
"Aa!" The agreement came quickly, with a shift of speed that went from Get It Before Anyone Else Does to Get It Before The Gunshot.
A temporarily full stomach, three squabbles, two packs of cigarettes, three bottles of sake, and one gunshot later, Goku was finally ready to go. He held out one hand for The Card, while the other wrapped around Satoru's much smaller hand, he grinned, enjoying the prospect of free reign for a little while.
Sanzo held the object out of reach for a moment. Thinking. Frowning.
"Goku, would you mind if I came with you?" Hakkai asked, his tone pleasant as always. No hint of anything, like his awareness that Sanzo was not happy with the idea of Goku and the child on their own, or Goku and the child and The Card on their own...
The consideration was quick. Now that Hakkai'd mentioned an escort, he wasn't getting away without one. And honestly, it was never too bad with the youkai. "Okay!" he said, no indication of hesitance at all. He gave a last wistful look at The Card before reaching both hands to pick up the child again, a slight grin offered in the boy's direction. It was easier to convince Hakkai anyway.
This time the child somehow managed to settle himself on Goku's shoulder, his arm around Goku's neck, clinging like a monkey. Goku found his arm around the child's back, his slight weight supported by the older boy's hip. The advantages for Satoru were obvious, he could look around both frontways, and back over Goku's shoulder. His arm and legs gripped snugly.
Hakkai accepted The Card from the priest and the three of them made their way out of the inn and in search of shops or a market.
That left Sanzo in the room with Gojyo. The priest was still recovering from the battle wounds, though it was obvious to the youkai he traveled with that Sanzo had a near miraculous ability to heal, especially for a human. He never *seemed* to be faster, or stronger, than a normal human should be, but there was something that just seemed to defy certain limitations in the least obvious way possible. As if his human body was containing something a bit stronger than the shell it inhabited.
The half-breed leaned back in his seat, poking at the last vestiges of what Goku had left in his wake disinterestedly. His eyes were more firmly fixed on Sanzo, the half smirk there telling stories about what was going through the kappa's mind. The Look only forestalled it a couple of times. "Saa, well, you've got /some/ experience in parenting, with this group," he said, pretending to follow a waitresses path with more interest than he had. It allowed him to discreetly watch for the thunderstorm before it hit. "Well, and Hakkai, so I suppose you can't fuck it up too much."
"All of you *act* like children," Sanzo agreed, a slightly malicious glint in his purple eyes. "Some older siblings, some younger, but basically all children."
Gojyo shrugged, the spill of red hair didn't quite hide the smirk, but if that didn't get the message across, he had no reservations about flipping off the monk in public, in fact took quite a bit of pleasure in the act. "Like you've ascended above our behavior," the kappa snorted, using a more polite speech to really lay it in. He glanced up at Sanzo, toying with something that wasn't quite ready yet. "The stupid ape would follow you to hell and back, whether you want it or not, but can't say if I know bout the other one."
"Which other one?" Sanzo's voice was bored as he contemplated the end of his spent cigarette before snuffing it.
"Che,'" Gojyo said, flipping his hair back and pushing away from the table. "Come get me when you get the mahjong set up."
"Set it up yourself," Sanzo said, leaving his chair at the same time. "I'm going for a walk."
His expression was a bit distracted, losing focus when the half-youkai didn't follow his comment up with anything more irritating/interesting. Returning to the room had no appeal and he knew it would be a while before the shoppers returned. Perhaps somewhere outside the town would be a quiet spot to meditate, away from all the friggin annoyances that seemed to swarm around him every moment of this never-ending trip.
Goku lead Hakkai almost haphazardly through the morning market crowds. It was easy enough to find, simply by the scent of roasting meats and baking breads, preparing for the lunchtime crowds. A suitable place for clothes was a little more difficult, it was hard to find anything that size without getting just cute... compounded by the bribe suggestion tactics that had to be used to keep Goku on task to begin with.
"I don't see why we just can't cut some of my stuff for his size," Goku yawned, another shop a failure. The natural sway towards a booth that caught his attention was stopped short by the fact that Hakkai somehow managed to just so happen to be in the path, drawing attention back.
"That would be a good idea for when he's a bit bigger," Hakkai made the disagreement a commendation. "There's a booth with second hand for sale, let's give it a try." He didn't physically steer the young man but they ended up at the booth nevertheless. It was being run by some women in some kind of simple uniform, a 'habit' for a church order. They came over one by one to smile and compliment the wide-eyed burden on Goku's shoulder. And when Hakkai asked about clothes for the child, something simple, they pulled out a box with several worn but well-mended children's school uniforms.
It took a bit of shifting and searching, but something almost in the right size was fished out. Satoru was put down long enough to pull a slightly oversized shirt over his head, the few Chinese-style buttons at the neck done up quickly. Shoes were easier to find than pants, but they would have to probably be replaced soon enough, the pants as well were a bit too big, but a little cuffing and a small belt found a couple booths away would have to do for the time being. At least until they found a town quiet enough that they could stop long enough to have something fitted.
There was something else in Sanzo's instructions that he couldn't quite remember, but then dismissed as the fact that if he couldn't remember it must not have been all that important. "So are we done yet? Think we can get some other stuff too, Hakkai?"
About to give consent, Hakkai noticed the child starting to fidget. At first, Satoru had been absorbed in all the new sights and sounds, so many, all one after another, and then the excitement of having his 'cloak' removed - he wanted to keep it, Goku had given it to him - and new clothes put on - they were weird, you could just see it in his expression, but upon comparing the small trousers and tunic to Goku's clothes, he decided they were okay. The women cooing over him was kind of strange, but he didn't dislike it. One of them clucked and asked where was the precious thing's mother, and then placed a little wooden cross charm on a string around his neck, which absorbed some more attention deciding if it was edible and having to be dissuaded.
But suddenly he seemed to look around and notice something was missing. His search became more and more frantic, head moving back and forth staring at the bewildering kaleidoscope of the market. His face turned from curious to the beginnings of a small thundercloud.
It was an impulse that had Goku tying the red cloak around Satoru's neck, barely noticed by the child watching the rest of the people intently. The boy frowned, rocking back on his heels, an uncertain look up at the youkai before back to the child. There was a possibility that the ladies that got so taken with the child would feed them, it happened often enough when he really played it up himself. It was a sixth sense that was rudely informing him that the chance of it happening was getting more and more slim, especially with the dawning expression on the child's face.
"Hungry again too? I know I am, or maybe a toy or something," Goku wondered out loud, watching for any favorable reaction from Satoru. He'd seen a lot of the younger children in a lot of the places they passed playing, and besides, if the toy was interesting enough, he could always find something to do with it, or trade after Satoru was bored. It was resolving into a good enough plan.
The child focused on Goku's face, wide eyes starting to shine with distressed appeal. Raising one fisted hand to clutch at Goku's tunic, he tugged slightly.
"San-so?"
"Don't worry!" The phrase was becoming extremely common when Goku was speaking with the child. The idea that Satoru didn't understand him never seemed to even cross his mind. "Sanzo's not leaving without the Card, which Hakkai's got and even if he did, I'm really good at finding him. I used to do it lots when he first rescued me," he explained cheerfully.
This explanation did not immediately lift the distress from Satoru's face. He'd been born only hours ago and was out of sight of the person who'd lifted him from the earth for this first time. Clutching tightly to Goku's neck, he began to cry. It wasn't a baby's wail, just a soft, bewildered cry, almost as musical as his laughter and all the more heartbreaking for that.
"Eeeh! No... no... geh, don't do that. Um, it's all right, trust me," Goku looked on the edge of panic himself, having no idea what to do with this turn of emotion. "We'll find him right after this, kay.... Hakkai!"
Hakkai patted Goku on the shoulder reassuringly. "I don't think 'right after this' is going to work," he said gently. "Satoru just got here... he doesn't know about things like trust yet, he just knows he can't see Sanzo."
Goku looked back and forth between the crying child and Hakkai, eyes wide. "How long's he going to be like this?" He awkwardly rubbed the child's back. He understood wanting to be in sight of Sanzo most of the time, but on the other side, there were more than a few disappear or I'll kill you fits. Not sure if Sanzo really would or not, but it wasn't worth pushing... that usually used to lead to having to find him again.
"I don't know, Goku," Hakkai said, understanding the conflict. He was trying to stay calm himself for Goku but the child's cries had softened and muffled as he buried his head in Goku's shoulder and were tearing little pieces out of his heart. The child had a powerful ability to evoke empathy from those around him. Heads were starting to turn in the busy market, even though a crying child was the most commonplace sound in the world.
"ThanksforallyourhelpSisters!We'llbegoingbacknow!" It was blurted out in one rush, one of Goku's hands raised before he gave a flustered grin and disappeared out of their sight. "We'll go find Sanzo now, okay?" he asked the child, a quick glance behind to make sure the other was following. He'd been quiet enough so far at breakfast so maybe this could work.
As Goku turned around to head back to the inn, he saw a familiar figure walking through the market towards him. Robed again and looking very much the proper priest that his friends knew him not to be, Genj o Sanzo's face was impassive as he approached.
Feeling the shift of the child in his arms and the fixing of the child's attention, Goku said, with relief. "See, not gone!" He waved to Sanzo with his free hand. "Sanzo! He wants you, so it's your turn for a bit and is it time for lunch yet?"
Sanzo walked up and lifted the child from Goku without a word. Satoru went from crying to happy in less than seconds, the remains of tears still glistening on his cheeks. He clutched the priest and then looked back at Goku, certainly expecting that they were all going to stay together.
"My turn?" Sanzo repeated, but the Fan did not appear, nor the Look That Promises Death. "Five minutes. Get food to go. We are leaving."
Goku was already trying to figure out what place served bentos for travel this early in the day. There wasn't a single doubt that five minutes was a very concrete limit; he nearly pulled Hakkai off his feet.
Lirin was currently being held a good couple of feet off the ground by her collar and was not happy about this at all. Gyokumen had sent them off on another task that, she, of course, could have done herself and was just about to do when they managed to find her again. From where Dokugakuji was holding her, she was working up a queen sized pout, sending sad fuzzies in Kougaiji's direction anytime she suspected he might be looking her way.
It wasn't any good. He was in his For Her Own Good mindset again, and Yaone was watching with an almost cheerful fanaticism to make sure she didn't take off again and displease her brother.
The evidence from the battlefield left little to the imagination. The powerful demon/god had been utterly destroyed, and the rampant nature of the damage indicated a familiar source. Tire tracks leading away. A fair amount of human and youkai blood soaked into the ground. All that was easy to read. It was the slightly more recent tracks that were puzzling. One pair of boots, one pair of sandals. A direct line to a hollowed mound of earth, and away, the boots treading slightly heavier on the trip out. But it was the traces of power all around the mound that tingled against Kougaiji's senses in a way that was confusing.
"Kougaiji-sama..." Yaone's soft voice lifted, deference and mild confusion in it. The chemist lifted her delicately-clawed hand, lifting up a handful of small hard candies. Some mints and caramelized fruit sweets. "I found these scattered next to the hole..."
Lirin perked up at the sight of them, annoyance and frustration turning immediately into pleading.
"Going to behave?" Dokugakuji rumbled quietly, giving her a little shake.
She batted at his hand briefly, but turned a sunny, far too innocent look up on him. "Ha~i!" she sang.
With a watchful expression, he lowered her to the ground and let go, fully prepared to dive if it was needed.
Lirin immediately clasped her hands behind her back, shifting from foot to foot as if enjoying being on the ground again, "Heh heh," she said. "Thank you!" Then a bounding move over to her half brother. "I think they like you more lately, They're leaving treats for us now!"
Kougaiji barely heard either of them, thanking Yaone with an absent nod. Another piece of a puzzle he had no way of making sense of yet. The power... wasn't anything like he'd ever felt, he stalked around the small mound, taking in the signs of a hasty excavation... done by hand, but at the same time, it was hard to pick up any other scent than Goku and the priest.
"I think," he said, turning to walk back towards the flying dragons. They reacted naturally to his presence, wings stirring up a breeze that ran through bright red locks. "That it's time we paid them a visit in person again." /And get our answers directly./
"Sugoi! Playtime!" Lirin cheered, a quick jump into the air before racing beyond her more reserved sibling.
"Confrontation, or more diplomatic approach?" Dokugakuji inquired as he kept his eye on Lirin.
"I'll leave that decision to them," the red prince answered. There was so much blood on the air, fresh blood, that any fight they instigated would be an unfair one, but if they moved first, he would have no reservations about finishing this and getting his Mother back.
A streak of silver speed through the air over the jeep pulled the leaves off of the trees in its wake. The call of a dragon and the sound of movement were right on top of each other, making it absolutely no surprise when a young girl in yellow stood in the middle of their path, fists on cocked hips and giving them a fanged grin. As Jeep skidded to a stop, she put on foot on the bumper and pointed at them all with a loud cry. "Sanzo-tachi!" she called, despite how close they all were. "Prepare to be defea..." She blinked, then jumped up onto the hood and hopped over the windshield. "Oro! Who are you?" She leaned over the back of the seat, kneeling between Sanzo and Hakkai, "You an enemy too?"
"Lirin sama!" Yaone's flustered voice called faintly from behind them as she approached, having landed further back. "Leave them alone." She smiled and bowed. "Please excuse the inconvenience, we're not going to attack you yet."
The princess got Goku's palm in her face, pushing her unceremoniously into the front seat. "Oi! Give him some room. Shee!"
Lirin huffed and immediately climbed back over Sanzo. "I wasn't crowding, I was just finding out who he is. Why's he smell like you and you? He's really young. Are you sure one of you aren't female? HEY! ONE-SAN! Goku and Sanzo have a kid!"
*THWAP!*
The Fan impacted Lirin's thick skull with more noise than force but the point was hard to ignore. "If you do not get out of my lap I will kill you."
Satoru watched the young youkai curiously. Pointing, he looked up at Goku questioningly. "Unca?"
"Ittaaaaaiiiiiii," Lirin complained, holding her head. Goku's snickering laughter got her attention again, and instead of heeding Sanzo's threat, she just used his shoulders to peer up over him at the backseat again. Gojyo was about in fits of laughter and the monkey didn't look much better. "What? What?"
Goku shook his head. "Aunt. She's Lirin. She's a pest and steals my food sometimes, but can be fun. You can play with her when you get bigger."
Kougaiji getting close enough to make out what was going on, sighed, holding his face in his hands, sweatdroping. "Dokugakuji..." he asked.
The dark-haired youkai obediently crossed the space and lifted Lirin, again by the collar. "Said you'd behave, little sis."
"I was..." She whined, then glared back at Goku, fist only hitting air, no more potent than a struggling kitten. "Hey! I'm NOT a pest, and Sanzo gave me the food, didn't you?"
Goku grinned a pulled down an eyelid at her, before glancing back to the front. "You did what?! Sanzo!"
"Everytime!"
*THWAP!* *THWAP!*
"Itaaaiiiii," She held her head mournfully, feet curled up.
"OW! Why me?" Goku protested.
"Aunta...Lidin...?" Satoru lisped slightly. The Fan did not seem to bother him in the least. Perhaps he had observed that Sanzo hit everyone with it except Hakkai and himself.
Yaone's approach was quieter, smiling sheepishly at Hakkai. "Sumimasen," she bowed, "Nice to see you again Hakkai-san." She gave a couple of wide looks back towards the child. "It's been a while."
"You seem to be in good health, Yaone-san," Hakkai replied with a sweet smile. "Yes it has."
Satoru swiveled his head to see the new one approaching, taking in her sweeps of hair and ornaments. "Aunta...?" he asked Goku.
"Yaone," Goku supplied, a look towards her before leaning forward to whisper the rest, "She weird.." Then grinned as she gave him a look and quickly backpeddled before Hakkai could back it up. "But, nice.."
Yaone waved at the child happily before turning, quickly back to Hakkai, blushing slightly at the breech of etiquette. "I don't mean to pry, but we saw the battlefield and... eto.. would you be requiring any assistance...?"
"No thank you," Sanzo interjected dryly.
"Ah, gomen.." She backed away a bit, jumping slightly at the fond but overall exasperated, "Yaone..." from Kougaiji. "Hai! Kougaiji-sama!?" She straightened to attention.
He shook his head. Then made a 'move back' gesture with one hand. She bowed quickly and hopped back a few feet, her spear materializing and held behind her. Kougaiji simply nodded to Dokugakuji, before moving to the front of the group, taking in all five of them... Save for Goku and the newcomer, the rest of them didn't look as bad as he expected but still worse for the wear.
But, the power and similarity to Goku and a few other rather familiar, physical traits that were obviously not from the brown haired boy, got his attention immediately. "Sou ka," the thoughtful murmur was almost purred, as the part of the mystery was solved, the child radiated the exact same power that he'd felt... but.. the sheer amount of it, with no signs of Goku's restraint.
Warier eyes fixed on Sanzo, one red eyebrow raised. "You know the usual business. We can do this quietly or make a mess. I don't care which way."
Eyes narrowing, Sanzo's tone was just as scrupulously polite. "You know the usual answer."
Kougaiji's posture shifted, just a little, hand's curling just enough to summon fire if he needed to. "Then how about a compromise, I'm looking for a couple of answers," he looked past Sanzo to the child sitting between Gojyo and Goku. The huge eyes didn't deter him in the slightest, he'd lived with his half sister far too long.
"I don't remember compromise being among the usual answers," Sanzo said simply.
Kougaiji's eyebrow just twitched once, the struggle for patience, as little as he had, was obvious. "Then we'll return to the familiar," he said with a shrug, and a smile slight smile curling his features. He threw the first punch, not surprised in the least when the priest didn't flinch, or at the call of "Noibo!" before a blur hit him just short of him connecting the blow.
The unusual thing wasn't the priest accepting the child being passed with speed enough to catch him safely from Goku. It was more the gasp from a small mouth and the way Sanzo had to hold tight suddenly. And an odd shifting of wind that disturbed the trees all around.
Gojyo glanced at Sanzo's struggling burden, and shook his head. "Oi, relax. They can't hurt each other," he said, standing up and jumping down from the back of Jeep. He twirled the sickle-topped staff, giving a smirk and a shrug at his brother. "Gonna drop her or is it just those two putting on a show?"
Lirin had one hand over her eyes, following the too-fast battle starting above them, an occasional twitch of hands or feet mirroring her brother's moves.
The air swirled around them again as the child in Sanzo's arms stopped struggling to get free, but Satoru's expression was still a mask of distress. Sanzo left the seat, jumping to the ground and looked up, settling the child against his hip. His free hand lifted the gun as if it had dropped from a sleeve, and the *BANG!* of the bullet leaving the chamber cut directly between the two combatants, knocking them apart.
"That's ENOUGH!"
Goku turned the tumble into an easy landing, looking at Sanzo with more than a little confusion, then at Satoru. Kougaiji stayed in the air, incredulity keeping him from reengaging.
The pistol cocked a second time. "I said that's enough," Sanzo growled. He certainly had everyone's attention. And once they looked at Sanzo, they had a hard time missing the other thing. The fact that the Sutra on his shoulders was not still, nor even stirred by the wind. Its edges had taken on a golden glow and it had begun to whisper and flutter in accordance with a wordless invocation no one could hear. A little of the golden glow seemed to bleed from the borders of the Sutra and edge the mop of yellow atop Satoru's head, the hair swirling with the same windless movement.
That turned the red prince's pause into a calculating stillness. He returned to the ground, clawed hands spread in a non threatening gesture. If it was just him, it might have been worth the attempt, but with the other three so close, there was too much danger to them.
But the reaction didn't seem to be entirely Sanzo's. He glanced at the other three and made a cutting gesture, go back. It was interesting, but it would take some time to figure out if it could be used, or should be.
Dokugakuji pulled Lirin back with a hand on her shoulder, keeping an eye on Yaone as well.
Lirin let out a good disappointed wail, her feet digging furrows in the roadway as she was pulled back. "Mou! Already? But..."
Yaone's weapon disappeared immediately with Kougaiji's name as her assent. She paused before bowing, another look, this time not as focused on Hakkai, but on the child. As she felt the heat and vacuum of the prince's disappearance, she gave him a smile and another tiny wave. "All over!" she said, then gave the Sanzo party another deeper bow. "Please take care!" And disappeared herself.
The wind seemed to settle as soon as the newcomers were all gone. Uncocking the pistol and stowing it wherever it went, Sanzo took a moment to look eye to eye with Satoru. "Trouble," he said, as if pronouncing a name.
"San-so?"
"No, Satoru. Tonight let's have a small talk about Using Other People's Sutras."
Goku trotted back over to the jeepside, staring first up at Sanzo, then Satoru.. "That's why you stopped us? He was just getting into it too.." Goku complained, ignoring a snort from Gojyo, who had just jumped back into the back. "Na, Satoru... that's just like... um... like with the Fan... lotta noise, no hurt.. okay, some, but not enough to matter."
"Monkey logic," Gojyo drawled, "Only a moron'd be disappointed by someone stopping him from getting his ass kicked."
"Who're you calling a monkey, ero-kappa!?"
"See, Satoru-kun? The pot and the kettle are having an argument," Sanzo commented, smoothing the child's hair down.
He turned to Goku before the two could continue bickering. "You wanted to keep him. Part of what comes with that is realizing that he doesn't understand everything yet. And one quick explanation may not do it. A new-born and Unfettered itan who doesn't realize what the one he looks up to can or will do. You have more than yourself to be responsible to. Want to take him and put him back in the hole?"
Goku let go of Gojyo's wrist that he'd kept from landing a backhand, he hardly noticed when the kappa overbalanced and fell face first in the back of Hakuryuu. "Iie!" Golden eyes narrowed with determination, even as a massive conflict surfaced. "No... but, I'm supposed to let Kougaiji hit you.. or anyone?" Goku asked, frustration running his voice up in pitch.
"No, that's not what I said. It's not an easy one-two-three answer," Sanzo said, looking into Goku's face with a glimmer of something in his eyes. "It's doing what you have to do.... but remembering something else as well. Were you saving me? Or having fun? Make up your mind. One might be necessary," the 'might' was a concession to his own pride, and had a growl undertone. "The other... might have to be put off from time to time."
"Hai.." The response had no lightening of Goku's tone, nor easing of any of the frustrations. It was a fine line anyway, it had been fun, but at the same time... he couldn't have let it just go. Unusually quiet, he climbed back up into his usual spot, paying more attention to the scenery than his seatmate's stare.
Sanzo took his seat. Over his shoulder, Satoru watched Goku intently. After a moment he lifted his arms entreatingly, even though the older boy wasn't looking in his direction.
It was a light cuff on the back of his head that got Goku's attention again. He sat up, more than ready to take it out on the unwarranted provocation, that he caught the look out of the corner of his eye. The briefest of suspicious glances back only had Gojyo leaning on one elbow, staring at the scenery as Jeep was coaxed into movement by Hakkai.
The lightening of his expression was nearly immediate. "Saa, want up then?" Goku asked, the cheerfulness in his voice indicating that if the conflict hadn't been forgotten, it was shoved aside again.
Satoru all but climbed over Sanzo's shoulder to get to Goku's lap. Settling in it, he tugged Goku's sleeve. "Noy-bo?"
Goku nodded. "That's my weapon, but I have to call it." He paused, throwing a glance at Sanzo's back then down. Understanding what he was saying was one thing, trying to figure out how to apply it was something else. The world was simple enough for him, but it was harder when you had to explain it to someone else. "Mmm... Well, I guess I could just show you."
"Bakkaaa. Later, you'll knock out someone if you call it here," Gojyo drawled, still not turning away. He had a distinct interest however, considering that out of sheer proximity, he was the most likely to be that someone.
Satoru seemed content with simply sitting on Goku's lap at the moment. In fact he curled up a little, and the wide eyes closed.
In the front, Sanzo was contemplating the ramifications of having a new born child that could call on the power of his Sutra without saying a word.
In the back, the brooding was far less deep, mostly centered on the fact that Gojyo couldn't provoke his favorite traveling entertainment with the child sleeping. He sighed and searched his pockets for his lighter. Still, he mused, it was kinda cute, if you didn't mind that kind of soppy stuff. Goku had wrapped his arms around the sleeping child with every inch of protective behavior, the quiet, studying look on his face, rare, but familiar.
It didn't seem to Gojyo like the priest minded the moron's attention being split. Probably what he had in mind when he found the kid. It didn't sit right, but the theory would do for now.
TBC?
That's all there is for now. Comments welcome!!
bonne & nixers