Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Seiten and Maten, Two Worlds Collide! ❯ Melodies and Meetings ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The next day went by much like the first, at early light, the group left the little camp, Gojyo and Mei refusing to be on speaking terms. Goku spent the ride jeering and poking fun at the both of them, only succeeding in getting numerous whacks over the head by Sanzo’s fan for his efforts. Some small talk passed between Mei and Hakkai, and the group found out she was only fifteen when she had joined Kougaji as an assassin and after three years she had just now decided to leave. She made little reference to why she had left, but none of them pressed the matter either from indifference or respect.
After a while, Mei pulled a notebook from a pack she carried, and with a slightly dull pencil began to scribble furiously, glancing every now and then from Gojyo, to Hakkai, then to Sanzo or to Goku.
“What are you doing?” Goku finally asked her as she made eye contact. She jerked then smiled. She turned the notebook around and the party found a lifelike drawing of their favorite chimp.
“Wow!” He exclaimed looking at the mirror-like image. He asked to see the book and she reluctantly obliged, not really willing to have anyone see the images her heart had kept engraved on its surface.
He turned a few pages and laughed to see Gojyo’s surprised look as Sanzo’s hand reached into the frame to steal his lighter. Another page held Hakkai and Hakuryu as the two sat under a tree from the night before, others held drawings of Kougaiji and Lirin or Yaone and Dokugakuji, Goku finally turned to an old and frayed page to find a fairly handsome demon with shoulder length black hair and piercing ice blue eyes. He had a golden tan and wore only a light tank over his strong shoulders. A lark was perched near his face and he was smiling.
“Who’s this?” Gojyo asked peering over Goku’s shoulder, forgetting that they weren’t talking to each other.
“That’s…who I have to protect..” Mei muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just a passerby I saw.”
Early in the afternoon, the party rolled into a small town and made their way to a local inn.
“No.”
“But why!?” Goku stood whining and pleading for the innkeeper to change his mind. The rest of the party stood off to the left digging in their pockets for change that they could spare to help pay for their room.
“I guess that’s it then.” Hakkai sighed as they all stood around the door as Goku sprawled out in the back of the jeep and Sanzo stood threatening Gojyo that if he went back to “haggle”, he wasn’t going to be so popular with the ladies from then on. Mei shook her head and moved around Hakuryu to talk with Hakkai.
“I’m going to take a look around. If you end up getting a room without me, don’t wait up.” With that, she walked off into a bustling crowd.
“Hey, Hakkai.” Goku said sitting up.
“Where’s she going?” Hakkai shrugged as he turned to his companion.
“I don’t know, she said she was going to go look around.”
“Sanzo,” He continued.
“Why don’t we walk around to see if there’s any odd jobs we can do to earn a little side cash? We do need a room after all, this town isn‘t known to be so kind to people who sleep on the streets.” With an annoyed nod, the Monk and Hakkai went to the right leaving Goku and Gojyo to stay with the jeep.
“You know Monkey, We should do the same.“ Gojyo muttered to his friend as Goku nodded his agreement.
“If only to keep an eye on Mei, she may still be in contact with Kougaji.” With that last suspicion fueled by their own paranoia, the two ran off into the crowds to catch a glimpse of the demon female. They soon came to a large crowd that surrounded a large platform and from the platform Goku heard music. Slowly they made their way up to the front and as they popped their heads out from between two onlookers they spotted Hakkai and Sanzo not too far away themselves.
“Hey Sanzo!” Goku yelled moving to them.
“What’s going on?”
“Its some sort of festival. We’ve been standing here for a few minutes and they’ve been several people walk away with some hefty sums for a good performance.” Hakkai pointed to a man sitting just over by the edge of the stage who held a large bag that was filled with a good amount of currency.
“It seems this whole thing is a contest, and he holds the Grand Prize.” Sanzo groaned.
“Yeah, but since none of us seem to have any talent…”
“Hey!” Goku protested.
“I can eat twice as anyone here! Maybe triple that amount.”
“I don’t think that was the talent Sanzo meant…” Suddenly the crowd turned their attention back to the stage and the group was surprised to find the next person to try their hand was Mei.
“What the hell is she doing up there?” Goku muttered.
“Trying to make herself look stupid?” She signaled something to the musicians present and they started a slow song with soft and deliberate notes that flowed over the crowd like a wave. Then to add to the melody, Mei’s own voice sailed over the air.
The crowd remained silent for a moment, then burst into a cheering frenzy. The man who held the bag came forward and with a few words on the performance, handed it over. Mei silently took the bag and bowed to the people, then the group noticed her eyes widen. She leapt off the platform into the crowd, which only succeeded to make them more frenzied.
“Please!” She cried.
“Move, I have to get through!” She forced her way out of the crowd and out into the street behind them. She stood alone in the dust and sand of the dirt streets, her eyes searching the surrounding area frantically.
“What’s wrong?” Sanzo muttered as the four came out a moment after her.
“I thought…it’s nothing.” Her head fell to her chest.
“But…I was sure that I saw…” She then ran off, shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts.
Stunned, the group made their way back to the front of the inn where Hakuryu had been left. When they arrived, they found Mei counting a small stack of coins out of the leather purse.
“I figure,” She said as they approached, not bothering to turn her head.
“With what I got, we can get a room and still have money left for the next town, or we can splurge on supplies.” She had been leaning against Hakuryu, but now she hauled herself forward and tied the remainder of the money to her belt.
“Here.” She said tossing the change to Sanzo.
“That should take care of the room. I suggest you all get a room together, at least for tonight.”
“Are you expecting something to happen?” Hakkai asked noting the worried look on her face. Mei only looked absently off into the distance.
“I don’t know….”
“So…?” The room that held Gyumaoh’s remains was cold as the young, dark haired demon knelt on the stone floor on one knee, being observed and judged by his mistress.
“The traitor is with the Scripture.” A smirk grew across Gyokumen Koshu’s sickly red lips.
“Good, we can kill two birds with one Demon.” The young man bowed and slipped onto his tan neck a choker marked with the sign of Seiten.
“As you wish My Lady.”
The door opened with a loud squeak as the group filed inside. Gojyo turned to Mei as she entered last, checking behind her every so often and then locking the door safely from the inside.
“ I hope you don’t plan on sleeping in here tonight, there’s no room.” Mei ignored him completely and instead made her way to the single window that overlooked the buildings and threw open the shutters.
“Don’t close this window.” She said hopping onto the sill.
“If something happens, I’m going to need a way in.”
“Uh… are you going to be alright?” Hakkai questioned as she flipped out onto the roof. She hung her head down and smiled.
“Sure, me and…” She trailed off and looked off to the side.
“I mean…I-I used to sleep out on roofs when I was little, so I’m used to it.” Then she disappeared onto the tiled roof.
“Hakkai,” Goku said coming up beside him.
“Was she crying?”
Mei’s dream that night was filled with images she longed to hold onto, she and a young man lay sleeping under a blanket of stars on a rooftop, then her playful shrieks as he nuzzled his scruffy cheek onto hers. With a jerk, Mei snapped out of her dream and felt something approach. She hopped down onto the windowsill and her silhouette cast its shadow onto the floor. A look of relief flashed across her face as she grinned.
“Well, at least they’re sleeping well.” Her gaze lingered over the four men, her thoughts on each one racing through her mind. The monk she didn’t feel an aversion to, but she had never really forgiven him for not taken his revenge, as for the Kappa and Monkey, she could have let them fall from the roof and not cared. Hakkai…she wasn’t sure, up until then she had almost went out of her way to avoid him, he had plead for her sake when all others were dead-set on her extermination. She shook her head and hopped inside. A feeling had been creeping into her gut from the minute she woke and it didn’t feel friendly.
“If they aren’t bothered by it, they’ll never wake up in time if something does transpire…” She stopped a moment and then growled to herself.
“Damn it…since when did I become the night watch?” She grumbled as she locked the window, then made her way over to the door and crouched in the corner so she could see the room in its entirety.
“I’m not about to let my bait be eaten without the fish taking the hook with it!” This venomous thought shot through her mind and she chuckled. She then, with a hint of malice, pulled her choker from around her neck and smiled into the dark. Let one of Kougaiji’s assassin’s try to steal the Maten Scripture now.
“–ell asleep in here after all!”
“Yeah, maybe she couldn’t handle staying out on her own all alone in the dark.” A harsh laugh pulled the dark and blissful sleep that Mei had been enjoying from her grip.
“What the…” She groaned as her eyes inched open. She lay in the corner, her body aching from the long night that she spent in the curled into herself. Mei looked up and found Gojyo and Goku leaning over grinning like idiots.
“Why don’t you two go back to Hell where you came from?” With a heave, she rose to stand and look the two in the eye.
“I am not in the mood to put up with you.” Both of them started back into fits of laughter that only succeeded in pissing Mei off even more. She turned and brandished her fist with a force as it crashed into Goku’s face.
“I warned you.” She hissed. Furious, she turned to Gojyo and bared her fangs.
“Why the hell are you two always trying to start something with me? What have I done to you anyway?” Gojyo narrowed his eyes and cast a glance sideways in her direction.
“How can any of us trust a demon who’s turned to Gyumaoh‘s side?” Mei swiped her thumb across the underside of her nose and sniffed.
“You misunderstand me.” She said.
“You see, from the day I was born, to the day I die, the only side I’m on is my own!” Both stopped, Goku mid-rise from the ground and Gojyo mid-insult. The surprised look on their faces almost comical. With a ‘humph’ Gojyo walked forward and encircled Mei’s neck in a light headlock, ignoring the daggers she glared at him.
“Well Monkey,” He smirked to his friend.
“What can we possibly say to that.”
Outside the door Hakkai grinned and turned back to Sanzo who stood just behind him chewing on the end of his cigarette.
“Well now, for being one of Gyumaoh‘s demons, she sounds a lot like someone we know doesn‘t she?” Sanzo grunted and moved to the doorknob.
“Alright, you can shut up now. Let’s just get in there before she breaks somebody’s neck.”
With a slight smile now pasted across her lips, Mei proudly rode between Goku and Gojyo occasionally taking part in their banter. It had taken some time but the two men had finally forgiven Mei for kidnapping Sanzo, it was for the best in the long run Hakkai decided, they were all stuck together and might as well make the best of it.
“ME-EI!” Lirin stalked the darkened halls of Houtou Castle searching. It had been many days since Mei had been to see her and Lirin missed her hide-and-seek-then-spar partner. Turning a corner the young demon ran full on into Dokugakuji.
“Na, Doku,” Lirin said in her own innocent way, using her affectionate term for the older man.
“Where’d Mei go? She hasn’t been anywhere that I’ve found her before and I know she can’t be hanging out with you and my brother all this time.” With a pang of guilt and remorse searing through his stomach. Dokugakuji told Lirin what had happened. When he was finished, leaving out all the important details that Kougaiji had warned him not to reveal, Lirin’s eyes were filled to the brim with tears.
“No…” She whimpered, trying to prove the facts that were presented to her as false, but failing as she realized why she hadn’t been able to find her friend. Lirin sunk to the ground and sobbed while Dokugakuji muttered an apology and hurried on his way.
“Mei was the only one here that never treated me like a kid….and now…Damn that Sanzo Party….they’ll pay!” With her oath hanging fresh on the air, Lirin made her way to the flying dragon hangar.
It was well into the afternoon when the group arrived in the next town where they planned to merely gather supplies and keep going into the night. After receiving their instructions, Goku and Sanzo to retrieve food and water, Hakkai and Mei to gather bandages and medicinal applicants and Gojyo to watch over Hakuryu, they split and headed their separate directions. Gojyo flopped back into the back of Hakuryu’s jeep form and sighed finally allowed the backseat all to himself.
“It’s nice when there’s just you and me, huh parrot?” Hakuryu just cheeped angrily and flicked his headlights on and off. Gojyo’s eyebrow twitched and he tapped the side.
“That had better be you agreeing with me bird, or I’m--”
“Water Sprite!!” Gojyo jerked, afraid that the voice he heard behind him really was…slowly he turned and then regretted the action. Standing on the nearest rooftop stood the lithe redhead that plagued the Sanzo Party’s every step.
“Lirin.” He drawled.
“Go home, Kougaiji is probably worried and Sanzo’s not here to play with you right now.” The look in Lirin’s eyes grew venomous. She cracked her knuckles and leapt at the jeep nearly catching Gojyo in a cross slash that she made with her shortened, but sharp nails. Gojyo leapt back as she came to rest in the backseat where he had just been sitting.
“Lirin!” He cried summoning his staff out of instinct.
“What’s wrong with you!? Answer me!!” Lirin’s head was hung low as she gazed at the dusty road that lead through the town as she slowly stepped out of the jeep. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with tears.
“Y-you JERK!!” With that cry, she leapt once more at the half-breed and Gojyo brought his weapon into a defensive state. Lirin made no attempt to go around it, but simply grabbed the staff with both hands and then she set her watery gaze deep into the crimson eyes of one of her playmates.
“You guys killed Mei!!” She shoved Gojyo away and took a stance that wasn’t one that Gojyo recognized.
“What are you trying to pull Lirin? You know I don’t want to hurt you and we’re not going to play….Lirin?”
“Prepare yourself Sha Gojyo.” Came the cold and deadly reply. The tears were gone and what was left in their wake were two chiseled emeralds cut and shining with the spark of hatred. Gojyo knew he was in trouble, for all their banter and play, he knew that the small girl before him, however bratty, had enough power to rival that of Kougaji…maybe even Sanzo, if she had set her mind to it.
“Lirin…calm down, let’s talk this over okay?” His attempts to calm the young demon were futile, she merely started circling her opponent and kept all his escape routes cut off from any angle Gojyo might try.
“All right you little brat, I’m through playing games with you! If you persist then I will hurt you!” Gojyo’s silent opposition said nothing and kept her eyes on him in a single minded focus. Placing his staff between him and Lirin, Gojyo forced himself to be prepared to kill if necessary. All Lirin was, was a pain in the ass, she was never any real threat to any of the Sanzo Party, and now that she had become one Gojyo was unsure of how to react.
“Shit.” He thought.
“I can’t calm her down and while she’s on the rampage she won’t listen to reason….if only Sanzo were here…Damn it…” It was almost too late when Gojyo saw the twitch in her left eyelid just before she jumped. He allowed instinct to take over and for one split second after his chain had been released he realized the extent of what he was about to do. Staring helplessly after the blade and chain, Gojyo felt his stomach turn in knots at the thought of never seeing the little brat again.
“LIRIN!” Came a cry from his right as a red flash pounded past him. Gojyo snapped back into the present and watched as Mei dropped her bags and used her Dai-Katana to deflect the chain. It landed safely a few yards away and stunned, Gojyo could only stand there.
“Lirin!” Mei cried banishing her weapon with a wave of her hand. She looked angrily down at the young girl and then blinked rapidly at the sight of fresh tears that were rolling down her face.
“What’s wrong?” With a cry Lirin launched herself around Mei’s waist and clung there as Hakkai walked forward to stand beside Gojyo.
“Hm? Gojyo, what’s she doing here?” He lowered his eyes and then gathered his chain back into his staff, shaking his head.

A/N: The words to the song are important, it’s the second ending to the series but the message is this--All people coming and going carry heavy burdens/Find tomorrow within the mirage wavering in the distance/ Emotions like sand spilling out of my hands/ the words that pierced my heart back then suddenly ache/ Counting the endless nights I search for pieces of me/The more I lose the more certain this feeling becomes/ Now I can surely walk on and on forever. Keep this in mind as you read on. No, this is no songfic, just mind the words.