And When The Sun Goes Down
The Devils Come Out
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Disclaimer – I do not
own or profit from Saiyuki. You can sue
me if you want, though. I have this
coupon for a free piece of bubble gum that I know everyone just covets.
Rated R for slash,
violence, and darkness that aren’t yet R-rated.
Makes sense, right? ^_~
Also, this contains
small Gaiden references, but I wouldn’t consider it a normal\'>spoiler, as I have
so anything I say is pure conjecture based on repeated, obsessive watching of
the Saiyuki anime and repeated, obsessive reading of the Saiyuki manga.
of context... *lol*)
Thank you to all the
readers and reviewers. You make writing
this a real treat.
And I’m thrilled to
know that it isn’t just Sanzo/Goku fans who are
enjoying this story. Considering the
content, I’m incredibly flattered.
Cookies for everybody!
Chapter Summary: In
which Gojyo gets (*gasp*) a role,
Hakkai continues his descent, and Sanzo and Goku wonder if I’ve written them
out of their own d*mn story.
Anyway, enjoy.
***
normal\'>mso-bidi-font-family:Arial\'>
normal\'>mso-bidi-font-family:Arial\'>And When The Sun Goes Down
Arial\'>
normal\'>mso-bidi-font-family:Arial\'>Chapter Five: The Devils Come Out
Arial\'>by
Arial\'>
Arial\'>***
It was the silence that alerted Gojyo.
True, the slamming and crashing (normal\'>the crack of flesh on wood and brick) that came amid the silence
was a giveaway, too, but by then he was already curious; when Hakkai had said
he’d track down Goku and Sanzo so they could play mahjong (anything to relieve
that damn monk’s foul temper), he’d rather assumed there would be some talking
involved in the asking.
And the stupid monkey’s voice could carry easily enough to
his room, because the kid talked like everyone was a room away from him instead
of a few feet. Possibly the result of
spending too much time in Hakuryu, when you had to practically shout to be
heard over the rush of wind and the glorious beat of the engine, but he didn’t
feel like giving the kid excuses. The
stupid monkey was just loud.
But right now he’d give anything to hear the kid’s voice,
just so he’d know what he was walking into.
Hakuryu ‘koo’-ed sleepily when he
passed by the bed, and he spared a moment to be thankful that the little dragon
was too tired to follow him – if demons were attacking, protecting him would be
difficult, if not altogether impossible in the confined space within this
inn. The little animal would just get
hurt.
Though how could there be demons attacking?
and his hearing was especially keen; unless they’d come in the front door.
in that way? If so, the quality of
Kougaiji’s assassins had improved
And if demons weren’t
attacking, Gojyo wasn’t sure he even wanted to normal\'>know what the hell was going on.
Yet somehow, he found himself outside Sanzo’s door anyway.
The door had been blown completely open by the wind, so once
outside the doorway he could see inside the room, though the flickering
candlelight made his visibility poor.
But almost immediately he saw a few, select (normal\'>important) things-
The glint of gold and red on Goku’s head, as blood oozed
over his limiter.
More gold by the window, though topped by
a forbidding, shadowy form.
And most importantly-
The body that actually belonged to that gold wasn’t moving.
Gojyo froze for just an instant, not seeing anything in that
moment but that golden hair. He felt
like he’d seen this man dead before – which was ridiculous, because though he’d
come close to dying several times, Sanzo had never actually
But if he stared-
-long golden hair
spilled onto the floor as the body collapsed, not dead before it hit the floor
but dying, and doing it quickly; and there was a hollowness in his chest that
hadn’t been there before... until the
boy-beast started howling, and the hollowness was filled by fear-
-he saw too much, and not enough.
bitch die he was absolutely fucking certain
the blonde would come back from death to haunt him until his dying day, thus
ensuring that he never got laid again.
Bastard monk.
He raced forward, whipping out his shakujou-
And hurriedly pulling it back, away from the danger zone,
the instant he realized exactly who it was on top of Sanzo.
He had two options, he realized in the split-second before
Hakkai turned to him and struck: he could try to reason it out with Hakkai and
possibly let Sanzo die, or stop Hakkai now
and maybe salvage the time necessary to save the pissy monk’s life.
No choice at all, really.
So, in a move he knew he would not have gotten away with had
Hakkai not been consumed by this single-minded intent, this murderous rage, he
struck out with his hands (not his chi – he was too far gone for that now, for
which Gojyo was grateful) and used
the other man’s movement to put him in the exact right position, so that when
he brought his shakujou down the long pole collided with the back of Hakkai’s
head. Hakkai went down.
And despite his worry for his friend, his sudden guilt,
Gojyo ignored him in favor of making sure that when Hakkai woke up, when he was
back to himself, he wouldn’t have Sanzo’s death (normal\'>I won’t let you bloody your hands further, my friend) on his already
marked conscience.
***
There was nothing in
the world but them, these two, him killing and the other being killed.
away beneath his fingers, getting darker and colder-
But a soul that
perverted deserved to be frozen and
shadowed. It was only fitting.
And then he felt it;
another presence, approaching quickly, one that bled confusion and pain all
over the floor...
He knew the instant
that presence decided to really go after him.
He turned, swung-
And
missed.
Then something was
crashing into him, carrying him to the floor.
He would’ve screamed
in rage, but all around him was suddenly dark, and he knew no one would hear.
***
Gojyo felt for the pulse in Sanzo’s throat with a hand that
would not, could not, stop
shaking. He counted in his head:
Still, nothing.
But it couldn’t end this way, not like normal\'>this. Where was the honor in
this, the death a man like Sanzo deserved?
It’s not like he’s earned
Not even I would put him in the ground.
He shoved all these distracting thoughts aside, grabbed
Sanzo’s chin and tilted it up. He’d seen
people do this, but never done it himself...
But if Hakkai crushed
his windpipe, this won’t matter anyway.
He put his mouth over the monk’s cold lips, no time for
perverted thoughts and no inclination towards them, instead blowing air into
that unmoving body, sharing his breath as the Merciful Goddess had once forced
him to share his blood.
– and where is that bitch?
He pulled off, checked for a pulse.
Sanzo’s heart (I know you’ve got one, you
gods-damned blasted monk, so get the fuck upnormal\'> before you break Goku’s), again and again and again.
More breathing into his mouth, now, and if he was panting
from exertion and fear no one was awake (alive)
to know it.
Maybe he was doing this wrong.
it? Sha Gojyo often got things wrong,
and Sanzo would just love the chance
to taunt him from the afterlife...
I shared my blood with
you, and now my breath. What else can I
give?
He pulled away again, and Sanzo’s lips were a shade of blue
he thought he would always remember (and
always hate). This was over,
then. Their whole goddamn mission was
over, and for what?
A chill overcame him then, one he could not, did not even
try to curb.
When Goku wakes up,
he’ll kill us both. Me,
for failing to save Sanzo, and Hakkai... for doing what he did.
He closed his eyes.
It wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d thought, knowing death was
forthcoming. He sat back on his heels,
wished for a cigarette-
And nearly fell over when he heard a cough from the body (
Sanzo?
***
The man opened his
blurry eyes, caught sight of one blood-red head bent over the body of the
priest he’d slaughtered in cold blood.
And it was that hair that
brought him back to himself, always that goddamned hair
“G-gojyo,” he whispered, but his voice was too faint even
for Gojyo’s half-youkai ears.
I’m sorry
not quite remember what he was sorry for.
Then Gojyo moved away, and through dazed eyes he saw a
single shaft of bright, shining gold.
He remembered, now.
And as unconsciousness claimed him once more, he wished he would never
wake up again.
Somebody kill me.
--