Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction / Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction / Saiyuki Reload Gunlock Fan Fiction ❯ Episode1: Truly,Madly,Deeply ❯ Dawn ( Chapter 23 )

August 19, 2005

 

XXIII. DAWN / IT'S OUR WAY

 

In which Goku finds a way to break through and rekindle the fighting, no, the *winning* spirit in their hearts.

 

 

A.

 

Sanzo and Gojyo's room. Sanzo lies in bed, eyes closed, the pale skin whiter than ever. Gojyo straddles a chair at the foot of Sanzo's bed. The other bed is unrumpled, immaculate.

 

“Why don't you lie down, Gojyo?” Hakkai asks, concern in his face. “You've been awake since last night.”

 

Gojyo runs tired fingers through his hair. “No kidding… How can I sleep with a zombie crawling all over me?” Red eyes glance desperately at the priest.

 

“You don't mean you still insist on sharing Sanzo's bed in both of your conditions!” Hakkai scolds.

 

Gojyo sighs. “I can't sleep without feeling his heart beating next to mine,” he reveals, blushing.

 

Hakkai snorts. “So Goku *was* telling the truth. You're each other's *pillows*.”

 

Gojyo shakes his head miserably. “Didn't you hear me, Hakkai? Zombie, I said. ZOMBIE.”

 

“Sonna…” Hakkai breathes.

 

Gojyo sniffs. “An unfeeling, cold creature…”

 

“Eh, then he's *normal*!” Hakkai scoffs.

 

Gojyo glares at Hakkai. “Quit joking! This is serious… Kami-sama just may have accomplished what even that idiot Homura couldn't do…”

 

“Nani? Get into Sanzo's pants?”

 

“Get me out of Sanzo's heart, baka!”

 

 

B.

 

“What are we gong to do?” Gojyo exhales tiredly.

 

“Well, we were supposed to just ignore Kami-sama and just go on West, but since he stole the sutra…”

 

Gojyo jumps up, a fierce light in his eyes. “I'll get it back if it's the last thing I do!”

 

Hakkai shakes his head. “That sort of bravado and cocky arrogance is what got us into this mess in the first place…”

 

Gojyo ignores him. “Yes! After I wipe the smirk off that fool's face, I'll come back with the sutra in my hands, and then my baby will snap out of this stupor that Kami-sama put him into! Then we'll finally be together again!” he cries wildly.

 

“You're *daydreaming*, Gojyo,” Hakkai murmurs.

 

“Urusei! You can't talk me out of it!”

 

Sanzo throws off his blanket, a violet eye glaring beneath the fringe of gold. “Quit the selfish talk,” Sanzo growls. “It's *my* problem. It's none of your business.”

 

“Your business is *my* business, angel,” Gojyo pleads.

 

“Damare! I'm not your angel anymore,” Sanzo tells him quietly. “I'll be no one's angel ever again…” he adds in an empty, dull voice.

 

Gojyo strikes Sanzo a heavy blow out of sheer desperation, sending the monk flat on his back on the bed.

 

“GOJYO!” Hakkai gasps.

 

“FUCK!” Gojyo yells, shaking with despair and frustration. “Snap out of it, angel! We *belong* together!”

 

“Damare…”

 

“You and me!”

 

“Urusei…”

 

“The kappa and the priest!”

 

Sanzo jumps up swiftly and punches Gojyo hard in the stomach. “I said SHUT UP! Stop *saying* those things!”

 

“NO!” Gojyo denies fiercely. “I'll say it as much as I want! I'll say it again and again, until I break through the goddamn brainwashing number that that idiot did to you! You belong to me, Sanzo! And I belong to you!”

 

Sanzo knocks Gojyo to the floor. They struggle wildly. Hakkai dances around them in a panic. “I've heard of people dying for love, but this is ridiculous!”

 

Sanzo bears down on the kappa's shoulder with one hand, the other locked tight around Gojyo's clenched fist. Gojyo wilts suddenly and turns his face away, eyes shut tight.

 

“Dammit, Sanzo,” he whispers softly. “I love you so *much*, baby…” he gasps brokenly, tears sliding down his proud cheeks.

 

Hakkai is frozen to the spot. This is it. Sanzo's mind hangs in the balance. If Sanzo decides now that he is nobody's baby, then Heaven and Hell cannot change his mind.

 

Sanzo stares down at Gojyo. Then he crumbles. “Gojyo… My Gojyo…” he breathes.

 

Hakkai exhales in great relief, groping blindly for the bed and sitting down weakly. Balance has been restored. He collapses back against the pillows and rests contentedly, ignoring the two on the floor, busy making up for lost time.

 

“Sanzo!”

 

“Gojyo!”

 

“Sanzo…”

 

“Gojyo…”

 

 

C.

 

BANG! Goku throws open the door, a hard, determined look in his eyes. And then he spies the lovers kissing madly on the floor. He goggles.

 

“Yup,” Hakkai murmurs from the bed, not bothering to get up. “Together again.”

 

“Together *forever*,” Gojyo mumbles against Sanzo's lips.

 

“And never to part,” Sanzo mumbles back.

 

Goku rolls his eyes. Then grinning, he lightly kicks Gojyo's head. “You guys make up later.”

 

Sanzo growls, refusing to let go of the kappa. So Gojyo blinks at Goku, upside-down.

 

Goku leans down. “I'm collecting on your promise, stupid cockroach. Your word is your bond, remember?”

 

“Oh! That's right…” Gojyo gently pushes Sanzo away. “Later, sweets. I promise…”

 

Goku sets up the mahjong table happily. Hakkai takes a seat. Gojyo plops down with a satisfied sigh.

 

“Sanzo?” Hakkai prompts, gesturing to the fourth place.

 

“Eh, I'm still sore and bruised and aching…” Sanzo refuses in a bored, lazy voice.

 

Hakkai raises his eyebrows. “Oh, I get it. You have the energy to play tonsil hockey with Gojyo, but you can't be bothered to play, huh?”

 

“Why you…” Sanzo advances menacingly, cheeks pink.

 

Gojyo firmly pushes Sanzo down. “C'mon, buttercup! Play nice! … Besides, I promised the monkey.”

 

 

D.

 

Goku wins.

 

And wins.

 

And wins again.

 

And then he grows suspicious.

 

“Dammit Goku! What method are you using?!” Gojyo growls, as the monkey takes the winning hand yet again.

 

Goku snorts disgustedly. “Doesn't mean I'm strong,” he snaps. “But you two are busy playing footsie under the table and won't even take the game seriously!” he accuses, glaring.

 

Sanzo's cheeks flush guiltily and he hides a grin. The kappa winks naughtily, further incensing the livid Goku.

 

“Here I am trying to teach you guys a lesson about fighting spirit, and the will to win, and how accepting this status means we are defeated by his words, but what do you do!” Goku glares, his voice rising higher and higher. “And with poor Hakkai cheating to make sure I win, too, just to prove my point!” Goku yells.

 

“Oi!” Hakkai jumps guiltily.

 

“Gomen, gomen, Goku,” the kappa apologizes.

 

“Huh!” Goku sniffs petulantly. “You *promised*. You said I could have all of your winnings…”

 

“I did, and I meant it…”

 

“Then quit fooling around and play to WIN, dammit!”

 

 

E.

 

“So what Goku is saying is, we must choose our methods on the premise of winning…” Hakkai muses.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Gojyo agrees. “From the beginning, no one said we were ready to die!” Gojyo plunks down his tiles triumphantly. “Richi! Kon! Tsumo!” he crows. “Oi, c'mon you guys! Pay up!”

 

Goku blinks at the sudden reversal of fortune. “O—oi… What happened? You guys now…”

 

Hakkai grins. “Isn't it important for us to be *defiant*?”

 

Sanzo chuckles. And chuckles. And chuckles; the low, rich sound permeating the room.

 

“H-Hakkai, he's scaring me again…” Goku sweatdrops.

 

“Have you gone nuts from losing too much, baby?” Gojyo asks jokingly.

 

Sanzo sighs, and lights up another Marlboro. “Iie…” He blows out the smoke smoothly. “It's just that *that's* me… DEFIANT. The rebel.”

 

Hakkai comprehends. “James Dean, huh?”

 

Gojyo smirks. “Rogue Priest, rather…” he murmurs. “That's why I'm the Rogue's Lover…”

 

“Yes you are,” Sanzo croons. “The smoking-drinking-killing-cursing-irreverent-golden-maverick-priest's-lover& #8230;”

 

“Mmm…”

 

“OI! Don't get carried away again!” Goku scolds. “We still have a long way to go…”

 

“Eh, just take the damn points and be done with it,” Gojyo drawls.

 

Hakkai yawns. “Hai… I'm pretty tired as well…”

 

“NO!” Goku yells. “We do it fair and square, or I'll never believe a word you say again,” he tells Gojyo firmly.

 

Gojyo sighs. “Hai-hai…”

 

When the owner comes to check the next morning, he finds the ikkou exhaustedly asleep, sprawled in various awkward positions on the floor. Hakkai leans against the wall, cradling Hakuryu. At his feet is Goku, drooling, and with a happy grin on his face as he clutches his winnings to his chest.

 

“Hmmm… The kid cleaned them out, just like he bragged,” the owner murmurs, astonished. And then he grows more astonished as his eyes land on Gojyo, pillowed contentedly against Sanzo's chest, brown arms clasping the priest in a possessive grip, with their alabaster counterparts wrapped around Gojyo as well. The owner arches his eyebrows wonderingly.

 

“So they made up, after all…”

 

 

F.

 

Sanzo practices his target shooting. He closes an eye, aims, and fires three ringing shots, nailing the empty beer can with deadly precision.

 

The kappa hoots. “Well done! I wonder how you can shoot with such a tiny gun… How about promoting him to `Dangerous Priest', then?” Gojyo drawls, grinning wickedly.

 

“'Ch. I'll stick to `Rogue Priest', thank you,” Sanzo drawls back. “Besides, I don't recall you complaining that my *gun* was tiny, last night…” Sanzo arches a golden eyebrow mockingly.

 

Gojyo moves swiftly to engulf the monk in possessive tanned arms. “No,” he admits in a husky voice. “Quite the *opposite*, actually…”

 

“Mmm… baka, we have a Kami-sama to teach a lesson to, remember?” Sanzo murmurs as Gojyo nuzzles his throat.

 

“FUCK Kami-sama,” Gojyo growls, and then freezes, realizing what he's just uttered.

 

But Sanzo lets the comment slide with just a light bite on the kappa's ear. “Over my dead body,” the monk grins.

 

Gojyo's eyes widen in surprise. “Well, what do you know. *Some* of that freak's psychobabble worked miracles, after all,” he drawls. “And to think you've spent a fortune on your shrink…”

 

“'Ch. Shut up and *kiss* me, baka.”

 

Gojyo sighs happily. “Hai-hai, Sanzo-sama.”

 

“Nani?”

 

“I said, yes, *baby*…”

 

“That's better…”

 

 

G.

 

The ikkou start up the steps to Neverneverland to reclaim the sutra and their pride. On the way, they squabble light-heartedly over food.

 

“Talking of ramen, I can't call what Gojyo cooks eatable,” Hakkai teases. “He just grabs everything out of the fridge and throws it all together.”

 

Goku makes a face. “Even *I* wouldn't eat that!” he winces.

 

“Damare!” Gojyo scowls. “Don't you like ramen with many toppings?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, with steamed pork, and sliced ham, and roast tenderloin…” Goku drools.

 

“Only talking about meat…” Hakkai sighs. “What about you, Sanzo?”

 

“Mayonnaise.”

 

“Huh?” Goku goggles.

 

“Nani?!” Hakkai stares.

 

“Er…” Gojyo avoids their eyes.

 

Sanzo turns and looks backward at the kappa. “Don't we usually put it in ramen?”

 

Gojyo sweatdrops. “Actually, sweets, we don't.”

 

“But you ate five bowls, when I made it before… You even asked for extra mayonnaise…”

 

“Hehehe…” Gojyo laughs weakly.

 

Hakkai shakes his head in wonder. “The power of love, indeed…”

 

Goku's eyes pop. “So *that's* why you hogged the toilet for five days straight!”

 

Sanzo realizes the import of what the others are saying. He halts, turns, and tackles the kappa to the ground. “Baby! You really *love* me…” He showers Gojyo with passionate, tender kisses.

 

“That's what I've been trying to tell you all along…” Gojyo mumbles happily.

 

“OI!” Hakkai and Goku stand in front of them, arms akimbo. “NO WAY we are fighting Kami-sama by ourselves!” Goku glares. “You two idiots started this mess in the *first* place!”

 

“That's right! Save your sweet nothings for later,” Hakkai scolds. “*Collaboration*, I said! Cooperation! *Not* me and Goku working our butts off while the two of you swap spit!”

 

“KYU!!!”