Rhyming Games

I apologize for the wait, my dear readers. You have been very kind to me so far, and I've read all your reviews. I thank you all, and I heed your advice. I hope you enjoy this next installment. The tension builds!

Chapter 6: Slow Progress and Small Success


The next morning, Hakkai laid in bed, mulling over the events of the previous day. His thoughts went like this:

I cannot ignore it any longer. I am a youkai.

(And a pervert.)

He blamed the latter entirely on Gojyo. It was easier that way.

He rose and made breakfast, not entirely surprised to find the apartment empty. Perhaps Gojyo had stayed out all night. As he cooked, he wondered if that was his full demon form. If it was, he’d managed to stay in control remarkably. He’d felt no overwhelming bloodlust, no madness. True, he’d given in to the urge to romp around the forest like a dog off its chain, but he’d retained his wits. He’d come nowhere near the village. He was calm and collected enough to simply return to where he’d left his clothes and put the ear cuff back on. After he’d exhausted himself. It was odd that he could have enjoyed being in such a state, considering the horrible memories attached to it. It should have sent him reeling with flashbacks and involuntary rage, but instead he’d felt liberated. He’d felt wild, and powerful.

Yet it was also odd that he could not remember the journey home, or when he’d gone to bed. Clearly he needed more practice, especially if he ever intended to remove the other two. This time he caught himself when his fingers reached up to absently stroke the metal on his left ear. None of that now. He decided he’d wait a week, then he’d try again.

Gojyo had fled the apartment that morning, understandably. He’d slept fitfully at best, and while he usually slept late, nerves had him wide awake at dawn. He figured he’d regret the missed hours of beauty sleep, but he figured he’d regret seeing a drugged out, sleep-mussed Hakkai even more. Better safe than sorry. He’d leave and give whatever was wrong with Hakkai time to wear off, and try to figure out what was wrong with himself in the meantime.

The market was open, and he sat on a stool at a noodle stand, winter coat pulled around him, distractedly working his way through a cigarette. There were no other customers, as it was still early morning. Let’s recount, shall we?

He’d done what he’d told himself he’d never do. He’d begun picking favorites just because of their looks. He picked the blondes because of…

(Sanzo)
…that damn bastard monk…

Clearly he needed to face that issue. Bad enough that he went after girls that reminded him of a guy, but girls that reminded him of that particular asshole? It was a horrible thought, but the cruel truth. He was, in some deep-down way he really didn’t want to think about, attracted to the guy. Or maybe he’d already overcome that. His easy switch to brunettes was evidence to support that.

But “that”, of course, was his current problem - being attracted to girls who resembled his roommate. Hakkai.

Gojyo allowed his mind to linger on the mental image of Hakkai, safe within the boundaries of the deserted noodle stand. And there, faced with his own honest evaluation, he realized that Hakkai really was quite the catch.

On the surface, he added to himself. To any stranger in town, any nice girl looking for a safe date, Hakkai was grade-A dating material. He was handsome, well-groomed, pleasant, chivalrous, intelligent, and not without his own rare sense of humor. Girls seemed to stay away from him, though. Maybe he turned them down when Gojyo wasn’t around. Or maybe the girls just knew instinctively that he was damaged goods. Perhaps it was the glint in those emerald eyes… the glint that flashed both ruthless killer and grieving lover, in turns.

Oh yeah. Hakkai would be a great catch if you could see past that mass-murderer thing. Or the youkai thing.

Neither of those things had ever really bothered Gojyo. Even the murdering. Scary as all hell? Naturally. But Gojyo could be pretty scary, too, when he wanted to be.

“Hey, buddy. You gonna order somethin’ or what? You’ve been sittin’ here for a half hour.”

“Got booze?”

“Are you kidding me? We got noodles or nothin’, pal. And ‘nothin’ means no seat, either. We don’t provide chairs for the broke.”

“I’ve got money. Shit, keep your toupee on.”

Nosy son of a… Noodles acquired and paid for, he resumed his ponderings. His most pressing problem rose to the surface of his thoughts.

He’d never felt physical attraction for the guy before. Why now? And what the hell was he going to do about it?

Before he left the noodle stand, he asked the vender if he sold packs of uncooked noodles to go. The guy did. Gojyo headed for home, hoping Hakkai would be lucid enough to be pleased that he brought home food. By the time he’d reached his front door, he’d come to the decision that his attraction to Hakkai was just some freaky phase, that it was unwanted, and that he would fight it or ignore it until it went away. He liked his life the way it was, damn it.

As it turned out, Hakkai couldn’t wait a week. After just three days, he found himself in the woods behind their apartment again, his thin human skin shivering in the freezing December weather, and again, he cursed himself over the reason why.

The past three days had not been pleasant ones. Something was bothering Gojyo, and since Hakkai was confident he’d shown no signs of his own inner turmoil, he was certain it had nothing to do with him. But whatever it was had put a strain on their friendship in a surprisingly short amount of time.

When they’d played cards the first night, both attempting an air of normality, Gojyo had taken unwarranted pleasure in winning two hands in a row, and it had irritated Hakkai enough that he “forgot” to leave enough hot water for Gojyo when he showered later that evening.

The next day, Hakkai had asked Gojyo to clean up the guerilla army of beer cans and cigarette butts that were littering every surface of the house. Gojyo had snapped at him, calling him an oppressive neat-freak, and refused. Hakkai had then casually mentioned aloud that it was no wonder Gojyo had such a hard time pleasing a woman for more than a night if this was how he chose to live. Before Gojyo could say something he’d truly regret, like bringing up Hakkai’s own luck with love, or perhaps to keep himself from simply wringing his roommate’s neck, the redhead stormed out the apartment in a huff, his mess untouched. When he’d returned later, the apartment was just how he’d left it, only Hakkai had gone to sleep and shut the bedroom door, and the lights had all been turned off. Quietly, he’d settled on the couch and started masturbating, relieving himself of the hard-on he’d had since he’d left, never knowing that just a few hours before, on the twin bed, Hakkai had done the very same thing.

They’d had several little fights in the last few days, none of them very logical, and almost every one had left both men with erections that they’d fled to take care of. Hakkai could only imagine that it was a direct result of his limiter experiment; somehow that experience must have awakened his body. It was very distracting, and thoroughly unwelcome. Gojyo, on the other hand, knew it was all because of his troublesome infatuation with Hakkai.

But while Gojyo could find no answers to his problem, the tension had driven Hakkai to his current state, half naked and shivering in the woods behind their home. This could not go on. The constant arousal and the confusion and the feeling of being helpless. He needed to regain control. It was his own fault for losing it in the first place, but now that he’d started it, he needed to finish it. And only practice would help him get back that control. He needed to try again.

He removed the lowest cuff, just like the first time, and was momentarily overwhelmed by the changes. But he righted himself more quickly this time, and soon stood with confidence, his senses alive, each breath of winter air invigorating his body and mind. He barely noticed the cold.

His plan was to spend more time in this form, and to travel closer to home. He wanted to know that the scents of other people wouldn’t trigger anything. He spent about twenty minutes racing about the forest again – he couldn’t help it, it was just so fun – but when he made his way back to his clothes, he did not replace the limiter. He carried his shirt and shoes in one clawed hand, and the limiter carefully in the other. He could feel an impressive erection just begging for attention within his pants, but his intellect was in charge for the moment, and his brain was saying to ignore the erection and head home.

It became more and more difficult not to give in to the urge to simply race through the trees. He forced himself to walk at a steady pace, but his youkai instincts were fighting him.

When the sight of his and Gojyo’s apartment did finally come into view, he hesitated. Youkai Hakkai couldn’t care less about a dwelling of wood and stone, but was interested in the smells coming from it. There were no feelings of aggression or ill intent. At most the feelings were… playful? Human Hakkai had only intended to go this far, but at the same time, he was curious to see his new self in a full length mirror. And he could tell with two whiffs that Gojyo was not home.

Alright then, change of plans…

Hakkai slipped quietly into the apartment. The lights were off, and it was dark, but he could still see superbly with his good eye. He laid his clothes in the bed and stood for a moment, absorbing the multitude of smells.

It was amazing. He could identify exactly what each smell was, even though many were smells his human nose had never known. How did his youkai brain know? And the smells that were most prevalent in the apartment were Gojyo’s. This shouldn’t have come as any surprise, but his youkai self found it extremely interesting. And exiting. And… Hakkai took a deep lungful of air…

OW…

And arousing, apparently. The erection in his pants gave a monstrous throb, making its demands known. He could smell Gojyo’s heavy, masculine scent, the smell of his sweat, his shampoo, his aftershave, his cigarettes… and… and he could smell… Dear god, what was that wonderful smell?

Sex, his youkai brain supplied. That sweet, musky, totally hot smell that seemed to linger everywhere… That was the scent of Gojyo’s arousal. That darker, thicker smell underneath was the scent of his come.

Hakkai didn’t have time to ponder why this information excited him so. He was too busy limping towards the bathroom, his right hand scrambling as fast as it could to undo his pants and release his rock-hard, youkai-sized shaft. Limiter still clutched tightly in his left hand, Hakkai kicked the bathroom door closed and gave up trying not to ruin his pants. His claws simply shredded the confining material and tore it away from his body.

Ahh! Blessed relief! He stroked himself furiously, all thoughts and plans abandoned. He saw himself in the bathroom mirror, and couldn’t even bring himself to care about the wild, disheveled, vine-covered youkai he saw there. About the only thing that did register was that the hot, heavy, throbbing cock in his hands was every bit as magnificent as he’d imagined.

Gojyo was gritting his teeth around his cigarette in frustration as he walked home. It was only the desperate, instinctive need for calming nicotine that kept the stick from being cleaved in two. Gojyo’s luck had been swan-diving from bad to worse, and with Hakkai’s recent passive-aggressive performances, the persisting erections, and the sleepless nights all together, all determined to break him, the redhead was at his wit’s end.

Tonight’s attempts had not gone well. Not only had he been miserable company for the ladies (and boy weren’t they troupers for still hanging around, flashing their cleavage in weather like this), but he’d lost a good bit of money to this one sad sucker that he usually cleaned out. He’d even failed at drowning his troubles in alcohol. Once he’d tasted the watered down crap that he’d been given, he’d stood and left, giving the bartender a very nasty look on his way out. And then, lo and behold, it had deemed fit to start snowing on him as he walked back.

He swore to any worthless gods up there laughing at him that if his roommate was still acting pissy when he got home, he was going to just chuck the guy out on his attractive ass. And he’d sleep in the damn bed for once. Fuck it, it was HIS house in the first place. Hakkai was just a glorified houseguest. Hakkai could just deal with it. Just one little evil smirk or veiled insult, and the guy was toast.

Hakkai panted heavily in the aftermath of his orgasm. His thick trails of come now adorned the bathroom counter and mirror… and the hand towels… and the soap dispenser… and Gojyo’s comb… and his and Gojyo’s toothbrushes in their cup… Dear god, it was a war zone. And Hakkai had never felt so perfectly content in all his twenty years of life. Perhaps he’d won this war…

His thoughts now went like this:

…
…
……YES……
…

And that was about the extent of it.

Then he heard the front door open.

As Gojyo approached his shared apartment, his youkai senses picked up on a strange, yet familiar scent. It smelled like Hakkai. Sort of. It took him a moment, but Gojyo’s self-absorbed thoughts managed to recall that it smelled just like three nights ago, when he’d come home and Hakkai had been all spacey. And what was more, the smell was strong, and everywhere. Gojyo nearly cried when he realized that “little Gojyo”, which had been thoroughly uninterested by anything all evening, was now sitting up and giving its undivided attention before he’d even entered the apartment.

Bastard, Gojyo thought with the conviction of righteous anger. This is it. This is the last straw. This is THE LAST time that green-eyed son of a bitch gets the better of me. I’ve HAD IT with wanting him. It’s gonna stop NOW.

Gojyo thundered through the front door, finding it unlocked, and charged into the darkened apartment. The smell nearly overwhelmed him in the confined space, and he staggered to a halt, doubling over as his straining erection made it nearly impossible to walk. Aroused as he was, his anger sparked anew. He would crawl if he had to, but gods damn it all, he would see Hakkai flung out into the snow before the night was through.


tbc...