Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Choices ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: My first Saiyuki fic. Written December 2003.

 

Disclaimer: "Saiyuki" and all of its characters belong to and were created by Kazuya Minekura. In this story they are used without prior permission. No profit is made through this story.

 

 

Choices

 

Chapter one

 

 

It was exasperatingly hot, they hadn't been sleeping indoors for over a week, and their food supplies were almost gone. Not to mention the water.

 

"Sanzo…! I'm hungry…!"

 

Goku's whining was as annoying as the heat.

 

"Shut up, Goku."

 

Sanzo didn't bother to turn around and look at the monkey boy in the back seat. It was too hot to start a fight; not even Gojyo seemed to care about the boy's complaints.

 

It had been like this for three or four days, and it was getting worse. In daytime nobody cared about anything but to keep going, and hardly that. In the evenings, when the chill woke them up from their lethargy and they made camp, they were all extremely irritated and picked on each other for just about everything. Sanzo had went to bed early those nights, only smoking a cigarette, then pretending to sleep, lying listening to the others' wild quarrels. Well, Goku and Gojyo started the quarrels, but Hakkai was always dragged into their arguments when he tried to calm them down. Even Hakkai had been in an irritated mood these last nights. About twice a minute Sanzo wished he was alone on this trip, not needing to deal with these morons.

 

Gojyo had stretched out his body as much as Hakuryuu permitted, looking up at the blue sky, where the sun implacably let its rays shower them with heat. He was wondering if he should put his hand in his pocket to pick up his cigarettes, but it seemed like too much trouble. This heat was killing him. How come that little monkey was as perky as ever? Well, not exactly perky, but he was more lively than any of the others.

 

"It's not much further to the village," Hakkai said. "We'll probably be there in less then an hour."

 

"Really?" Goku brightened and leaned forward. "Sanzo, did you hear that? Oh, I'm so hungry! I want a lot of foods; meat buns and fried noodles and fish and dumplings and…"

 

This time Sanzo turned around and smacked him with his fan. "I told you to shut up, idiot!"

 

Gojyo laughed, a little more life in his body at the thought of the village close by. "Don't expect a stupid monkey to listen, monk."

 

Sanzo glared angrily at Gojyo. "You could do with a little listening yourself, half-breed. Every night I've told you to keep quiet, but still you've been nagging about everything."

 

"Sanzo…" Hakkai tried to say something soothing, but at Sanzo's angry look he quickly closed his mouth again, only muttering: "I guess I should be quiet too."

 

There was a tense feeling in the jeep as they drove on. Goku was angry. Why would Sanzo have to beat him with this fan of his? They were approaching a village and Sanzo must be hungry, too. He should understand. And Hakkai used to protect him, or at least reassure him, a little more than this. While he was at it, he cast a glare at Gojyo too; the red-haired half youkai was always bickering at him. He had no need for that. Come to think of it, maybe this trip would be nicer without him. Goku sank into dreams about what it would be like, having the back seat all by himself, more to eat and no one (except Sanzo, of course, but he really didn't mind that) calling him a stupid ape.

 

Hakkai drove in silence. He didn't feel like talking and no one else seemed to bother either. This heat made Goku's complaining so much more annoying, and Sanzo had been worse than ever these last couple of days. Hakkai thought about Gojyo, his closest friend. Gojyo had given him some hungry looks when they made camps by nights, but they had always started to fight before anything else could happen. As a matter of fact, he was quite irritated with Gojyo right now.

 

Sanzo lit a cigarette and blow out the smoke. This was a stupid trip - or the reason for the trip wasn't bad, but he could have done it so much quicker and better if he had been allowed to take care of everything alone. If he had to take someone on this trip, it should be Goku. That's because the boy was the superior fighter, of course. He guessed he could take Hakkai, too, it was convenient with a healer, and Hakkai was also a good cook. But Gojyo, he had been extremely annoying for quite a time now. He was the first to become stingy by this heat and these last nights… No, he could have handled this much better without Gojyo.

 

Gojyo was thinking dark thoughts too. Sanzo always acting so superior, Goku whining and whimpering like the monkey brat he was, and Hakkai… He usually hadn't much negative to say about Hakkai, but these last nights his normally so calm friend had been really stingy, and they had had some bad quarrels that hadn't been settled.

 

They saw the lone hill first, but when they approached they could also see the village at its foot. As they drove closer Sanzo got a bad feeling.

 

"Goku. Can you sense something?"

 

Goku, who had been half slumbering, raised his head and felt with all his senses for something different.

 

"Yeah. There must be a youkai somewhere near, but not in the village, I think." He frowned. "No, it's not a youkai. I don't know what it is, but there's something strange about it."

 

"Whatever it is, it's very powerful." Sanzo could feel its aura more and more clearly as they drove closer to the village. The feeling of the creature's presence was… uncomfortable. In fact, if they had had a choice, he would have preferred not to enter this village. But as it was, they needed food and water, and Goku was right, the aura's center wasn't in the village. He decided not to say anything more and let Hakkai drive on.

 

They reached the village and drove in to the square at its center. Some people were out doing errands, or just for a walk, laughing and talking to each other like in every other village.

 

When they saw the jeep, they looked at the visitors curiously to see who they were, then they suddenly started. Every single one of them looked strangely terrified, and everyone disappeared, almost running into their homes, closing the doors.

 

The Sanzo-party looked around at the empty square.

 

"Where did everybody go?" Goku wondered.

 

"Home, apparently," Gojyo answered.

 

"Why?"

 

"How the hell would I know, stupid monkey!"

 

"Let's get into that inn and have something to eat," Hakkai suggested, before Goku could start another fight with Gojyo. He stepped out of Hakuryuu. "I'm almost as hungry as Goku."

 

"And maybe there are some girls inside." Gojyo looked expectantly at the inn. "Tonight I want a single room, Sanzo, I really need to play a little with some girl." He tried to catch Hakkai's eyes to give him a challenging look, but Hakkai didn't look his way.

 

Sanzo snorted. "Don't you ever think of anything else, kappa?"

 

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not as holy as the revered Sanzo-sama!"

 

Sanzo made a move to let out his gun, but Hakkai interfered.

 

"Please, could we just get inside the inn." He sighed; he couldn't stand all the fighting and bickering they had had during these last days.

 

Sanzo and Gojyo glared at each other but stayed quiet and followed Hakkai and Goku through the door into the inn.

 

As soon as they stepped inside, the buzzing sound of voices from the room silenced. Twenty odd pairs of eyes were staring at them. Some faces seemed frightened and some angry, but most of them seemed to be both.

 

The innkeeper, one of those with an angry face, approached them.

 

"We don't serve his kind here." He addressed Sanzo, as the leader, but pointed at Gojyo. Almost unwillingly he then faced the half youkai. "Half-breeds are not allowed inside this inn, so why don't you just get your ass out of here, as fast as possible."

 

"What's the big idea?" Gojyo was angry, but Sanzo interrupted him.

 

"Get out and wait in the jeep, Gojyo."

 

"What!?"

 

Gojyo was about to tell Sanzo what he thought about him, but before he could say or do anything more, Sanzo pulled his gun and pointed it to Gojyo's head.

 

"I said, get out!"

 

The innkeeper smirked. "Could have been a good idea, if it hadn't been so that we don't want any friends of half-breeds here either."

 

"I'm not his friend!"

 

"You're traveling with him, aren't you? That's enough for me and everybody else in this village. Half-breeds bring great misfortune and we are not eager to bring that down on ourselves. If you knew what was good for you," he looked at Sanzo, Hakkai and Goku, "you should all leave him, the sooner the better."

 

"Could we at least buy some food to take with us?" Hakkai asked.

 

"No. And I don't think you'll find anyone in this village that are willing to give you food."

 

Sanzo turned around.

 

"Come on, let's get out to Hakuryuu and talk."

 

The innkeeper called after them: "Leave the wells alone, you're not going to get any water either." They heard him laugh as the door shut behind them.

 

Nobody said a word as they walked over to Hakuryuu and got seated, but Gojyo could feel the accusation in the others' silence. What the hell, he couldn't help being born a half-breed, the gods knew he would have chosen it differently if he could.

 

"So, what'll we do now?" Hakkai broke the silence. "Fight for food and water?"

 

"Yeah, I'm too hungry to fight properly, but I can take care of a few humans." Goku sounded eager.

 

Sanzo lit another cigarette and gave it some thought. "No. We'll wait outside the village until they're asleep and then we send Gojyo in to bring back water and steal some food."

 

"Why me?"

 

"It's your fault we couldn't eat at the inn, so it's you who must fetch the food."

 

"You monk-bastard…"

 

"Ahem…"

 

They turned to the sound. A little girl, about ten years old, was standing by the jeep and looking frightened.

 

"What do you want?" Sanzo asked the girl.

 

"I… I just wanted to tell you, that there is a well with fresh water over at the hill." She pointed at the lone hill about 200 meters away. Then she turned and ran.

 

"What was that?" Goku looked after the girl. "Why did she tell us that?"

 

"I don't know…" Sanzo shook his head. "Either she felt sorry for us…"

 

"Or it's a trap," Hakkai filled in.

 

Sanzo nodded. "Probably is. Take us out of the village anyway, Hakkai."

 

They drove out of the village the same way they had arrived from, and stopped only a few hundred meters from the outermost houses.

 

"I'm huuungry, Sanzo! Can't we eat now?"

 

"For once the stupid ape is right, we must eat at least a little before we decide what to do." Sanzo nodded to Hakkai. "Let's share what's left of our food."

 

Hakkai took out what little food they had left and sighed. "It's not enough for more meals after this, and we are not going to be satisfied this meal either."

 

He divided the food and distributed the meager meal to each one of them. Goku quickly ate his part and then tried to steal Gojyo's, but got hit on the head by Sanzo's harisen before he had any chance to get it. Gojyo quickly put the last of his meal in his mouth to hinder Goku from another attempt. Hakkai was right, this didn't fill them up, and now there was nothing left.

 

Gojyo took up a cigarette, and noticed there wasn't many left. He lit it and strolled away to the other side of the jeep, so that he didn't have to look at the others' faces. Would Sanzo send him away to steal food and water, or should they hope the girl hadn't been setting them up, and get some water from the well at the hill and then try to continue the trip with only water and no food? His questions were soon answered.

 

"Gojyo!" Sanzo's voice.

 

"What?"

 

"We've decided to try for the well at the hill. Hakkai says it's no more than a two-day trip to the next village, probably less. We can make it if we have water enough."

 

Gojyo rose and walked around the jeep to face the others.

 

"What if they don't like half-breeds at that village either?"

 

Sanzo gave him a cold look. "You'll stay with Hakuryuu outside the next village, until we know. I'm not going to let them chase us out without food or water again. If you refuse, I'll shoot you myself, and dump you in the desert."

 

Gojyo gasped at Sanzo's tone. He had been threatened a number of times, but this time he believed Sanzo. The monk gave the impression that he really was going to kill him if he didn't obey.

 

Without a word he climbed into Hakuryuu's back seat and Goku, just as silent, seated himself beside him. Hakkai and Sanzo, as usual, sat in the front seats.

 

They drove around the village towards the hill. It wasn't far. As they came closer, the powerful aura Sanzo had sensed before became overwhelmingly strong.

 

"Turn the car!" Sanzo was absolutely sure they shouldn't come closer to that hill, and at the same moment Goku yelled: "Stop!"

 

Hakkai immediately tried to turn Hakuryuu around, but the jeep-dragon only squeaked helplessly and continued forward.

 

"It's no good, Sanzo. Hakuryuu can neither turn nor stop." Hakkai's voice merely stated a fact.

 

"Shit. Then we all have to jump."

 

They all tried to leap out of the jeep, only to find it was impossible. Inside the jeep they could all move in a normal fashion, but there was no way they could get out. All they could do was to sit in Hakuryuu, looking at the hill that rose above them.

 

And then there wasn't a hill anymore. For a moment their visions became foggy, and when they cleared again they were standing inside the walls in front of a castle. They couldn't move by their free wills, but something made them step out of the jeep, walk over the yard, through the doors and into the castle.

 

They entered a big hall with no windows and lit only by a fireplace at the opposite side of the room. A voice was heard, a female one, but no one was to be seen.

 

"One human, two demons and one of those much hated and despised creatures, a half-breed." The voice laughed. "It has been so long since I had fun with a half-breed. Oh, I hope you didn't mind the welcome you got in the village. I love those people, they're so adorably scared of half-breeds. But I guess I've had something to do with that." She laughed again.

 

"Who are you? What do you want?" Gojyo asked.

 

"I have many names, but you can call me Goddess of Fate."

 

Sanzo quickly raised his head. The others looked at him.

 

"Have you heard of her, Sanzo?" It was Goku.

 

"Yes. She is a most powerful demi god with the ability to change her victims' futures."

 

Another laugh was heard. "Among other things, yes. Very good, little monk. As for what I want, well, that's nothing special. I just want to make all half-breeds to suffer as much as possible before I kill them. I want every half-breed to die! That's why I'm going to play an interesting game with you."

 

Gojyo looked angrily for someone to fight against. "You think this is fair? Keeping me here not being able to see you, and then you'll just strike out to kill me? Show yourself and let me move by myself again, then we'll see who ends up dead!"

 

"Well, well, at least you have guts, poor thing. No, I don't think I'll show myself right now. But I'm always fair, I'll give you a chance to survive. That survival will not be up to you, though, it's entirely up to your three… friends?"

 

"Ch… I'm not his friend." Sanzo snorted.

 

"Of course not, half-breeds doesn't have anyone who loves them deep enough to call themselves friends. That's why I'm sure of winning this little game."

 

She laughed again. "Shall we start playing?"

 

---

 

Gojyo suddenly found himself alone in another room, more like a cell, chained to the wall by his wrists and ankles.

 

"Do you want to know how fragile your future is, my red-haired half-youkai?" What looked like a plain human woman of middle-height and with brown eyes stood before him, dressed in a long green robe.

 

"Why are you doing this?" Gojyo struggled with the chains.

 

"It's for the good for us all, including you. As a half-breed you will always be sad and bring bad luck to everyone you encounter. When I've ended your life, you don't have to suffer anymore and the rest of us will have escaped from your bad luck."

 

"That's not true. It's just superstition."

 

"Well, you might be lucky. It is said, that if a half-breed have at least three friends who loves him so much, that they are willing to sacrifice their own future for him, then the half-breed will not bring misfortune to others and according to the rules, I'm not allowed to kill him."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"It's as simple as this. Your three companions will all get a choice between saving you or save themselves. They will not die, but if they choose you, they'll suffer, a lot. If all three choose you, then you'll live. If anyone chooses himself before you, you'll die. So your chances are not good, are they? By the way, I sensed you coming this way early on, so I let you all feel a little extra annoyance, anger and hate towards each other, especially towards you. Did you notice?"

 

"You call that fair?"

 

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't on an extra friendly basis the moment you reached my castle. It may have been unnecessary, though. I haven't met even one person, human or youkai, that didn't choose himself before the half-breed. Not with the choices I give them." Another laugh. "Stop struggling, you won't come free, you're just hurting yourself."

 

"Why do you care?"

 

"I don't. Just a friendly advice. Or maybe I'm just selfish, I want it to be me, hurting you. I'll leave you here for now. I must give your partners their choices. Don't worry, I'm going to pay you some visits during the game, but in the end, I will most certainly kill you. I'm looking forward to see how long you can stay alive in my hands."

 

With that she was gone. The lights went out, leaving a terrified Gojyo in the darkness.

 

He wondered what the choices would be about and if anyone at all of his friends would choose him, and what would happen to them if they did. Yes, his friends. The irritation and anger he had felt for the other members of the team had disappeared altogether and was replaced by a rage towards that female demi god. Knowing that what might have been his last days with those he loved most had been infected with hate by this woman made him even more infuriated. Even if he never would have told them, he knew he loved them. Would they remember and admit they loved him, too? Did they love him?

 

To be honest, he couldn't be sure what choice he would make himself. If what that goddess had said was true, the choices must be really tough. Gojyo could do nothing but stand here, against the wall, thinking about them all.

 

Hakkai; they had been living together for three years before this journey began and they knew each other from the inside and out. Still, that only made Gojyo know there were things Hakkai might choose before him.

 

Goku; he knew how he would choose if it was Sanzo who had been captured. That little monkey brat would do anything for Sanzo. Anything for him, Gojyo, was another matter.

 

And then Sanzo… No, when Gojyo thought about Sanzo he knew he wouldn't survive this. Sanzo never did anything for someone else. Maybe, if he was given a very simple choice that didn't cost him so much. Gojyo had to laugh bitterly at himself. Yeah, right. Like that demi god was supposed to give any of them something that made it easy to choose Gojyo's life before whatever the other choice was. Oh, if he only could die fighting, instead of chained to a wall. He hoped at least he wouldn't have to stand here too long before it was over. Waiting for the Goddess of Fate to come back to kill him, Gojyo stared out into the darkness.

 

 

TBC