Stay Long

It was the sixth day after Hakkai’s death before they were attacked again. They attack came during the daytime, which was a relief. Another nighttime attack might have irreparably damaged Gojyo’s already questionable sanity.

In fact, it was almost relieving when Lirin dropped out of nowhere onto the jeep’s hood.

Gojyo slammed on the breaks and the youkai girl slid off the hood and onto the ground.

“Hey!” Quickly, she stood and pointed an accusing finger at the kappa. “You did that on purpose! That hurt!”

“You’re the idiot that jumped onto the jeep out of nowhere,” Sanzo replied calmly, silently thankful for the annoying girl’s distraction.

“You stay out of this, baldy!” Lirin shouted back, turning her angry glare on the priest for a moment.

“Fine.” Sanzo casually pulled out his gun, just in case things actually got serious.

“And you,” the girl continued, turning her glare back on Gojyo. “You apologize right now!”

“Look, you little brat, this isn’t the best time for this,” the water sprite replied. “If you wanna start some shit, great. Otherwise, go away.”

“Huh?” Lirin looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “Why are you driving, anyway?”

They hadn’t been making much noise before, but the silence that greeted the youkai princess’ question was painful. It also failed to mask the landing of the dragon landing next to them.

“Lady Lirin!” Yaone jumped off the dragon’s back, followed quickly by Kougaiji. “Are you all right?”

Kou didn’t wait for his sister’s answer. “How many times have I told you not to go off on your own like that?”

Lirin looked abashed. “I know. But they were getting away!”

A moment later, Dokugakuji landed on a separate dragon. “Kou, is she all right?”

“Stupid Gojyo threw me off the car,” the youkai girl grumbled in response. She stomped her foot in a fit of petulance.

Dokugakuji looked over at his younger brother questioningly. Gojyo shrugged. “She jumped on the hood.”

Kougaiji put a restraining hand on Lirin’s shoulder when it looked like she was going to charge Gojyo. “Enough, Lirin. We’re here for the sutra, not personal grudges.”

“At least you have the balls to attack us in daylight this time,” Sanzo said, giving the youkai prince a dark look.

“What do you mean?” Kou knitted his brows in confusion.

“Don’t try to bullshit your way out of this one. That last batch of assassins was too well disciplined to have come from anywhere but your army.”

“What assassins?” Kougaiji asked, none of his confusion relieved by the blond human’s accusation.

“The ones that killed Hakkai.”

Yaone gasped and placed a hand to her mouth at Sanzo’s declaration. Kou looked like the priest had punched him in the stomach. Lirin and Dokugakuji traded confused looks.

Gojyo focused all his attention on the steering wheel, trying desperately not to process his friend’s words.

“When did this happen?” Kougaiji finally asked.

“Six days ago,” Sanzo replied.

“Six days…” Even the youkai prince looked stunned that Hakkai had passed nearly a week ago.

As Kougaiji and his companions properly processed the news of his best friend’s death, Gojyo felt himself falling apart again. Hot tears ran down his face as he tried desperately to keep the sobs inside. He would be damned if he would cry like a baby in front of his older brother.

“Hey, are you crying?” Lirin’s question was the only announcement of her sudden presence in the jeep. She peered questioningly up into Gojyo’s eyes from a position near the gear shift.

The kappa nodded, unable to speak.

The youkai girl stared at him for a moment longer—giving Sanzo time to attempt to grab her shirt and throw her out of the jeep—then she threw her arms around Gojyo and held him tightly. Gojyo sat stunned briefly before turning just slightly and wrapping his own arms around her.

For the first time since Hakkai had died, Gojyo let himself truly cry. Something about the unconditional comfort offered by Kougaiji’s sister broke something free inside him, and he sobbed into the girl’s shoulder.


Kougaiji watched his sister comfort Dokugakuji’s brother through sorrowful eyes. The Sanzo ikkou may have been their enemies, but that didn’t mean he didn’t respect—even like—the other group. Hakkai was a worthy opponent as well as a kind and gentle healer. Yaone had considered him a friend in more candid moments, and Dokugakuji had nothing but words of praise for the brunette scholar. Even his own experiences own experiences made him want to get to know Hakkai better.

He regretted that would never be possible now.

“Genjo Sanzo,” the youkai said, looking at the leader of his enemy’s party. “Walk with me.”

He had no desire to hurt Gojyo further with indescreet questions or Sanzo’s candid answers.

Sanzo gave the youkai prince an appraising look before tucking his gun away and climbing out of the jeep. Wordlessly, they fell into step together and walked away from their respective companions.

When they were out of earshot, Kou turned to the human and asked bluntly, “What happened?”

A pained expression crossed the priest’s face before he answered. “We were ambushed. At night while we were sleeping. They slaughtered him.”

“Surely you don’t truly think that I had something to do with this.”

The human shook his head. He truly didn’t know what to believe; it was true about the youkai being too well trained to be any but Kougaiji’s troops, but he also knew the level of honor that his enemy possessed. “If not you, then who?”

“Gyokumen Koshu has access to the same troops as I. It could have been her, or it could have been one of the remaining youkai warlords, trying to get into her good graces. But I assure you, it was not me or people under my command.”

As strange as it seemed, Sanzo found himself believing the youkai prince.

They continued to walk and Kougaiji continued to question Sanzo about the youkai who had attacked them. The priest told him as much as he could remember, giving him descriptions of clothing, skin coloring and fighting style. The prince returned his information with a single question.

“Do you want me to kill them for you?”

The blond quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re an idiot too. I told you that we killed the youkai that attacked us.”

“You haven’t killed whoever sent them yet. I’m certain there will be more attacks; you have been lucky so far.” He watched as the human seemed to disregard his words and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Sanzo lit one of his smokes and took a deep drag. “Not luck. Mercy.”

Kou was amused that the blond priest even believed in the concept of mercy. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“No. When we find the bastard who did this to us, we’ll kill him ourselves.” Sanzo gave the youkai a dark look. “And if I find out that you’ve lied to me, you’ll wish for a slow death.”

Of that, Kougaiji had no doubt.