"Unseen Dangers" (Saiyuki)

[March Hare]

So I started this a loooong, long time ago, and I still don't really have a clue where it's going to go... if anywhere. But I'm posting it anyway, because Saiyuki. Which the forum obviously needs more of.

~

They had come out of nowhere, and now they were everywhere. A whole bunch of them. A herd. A swarm. Sidling up with drooling jowls and claws at the ready, surrounding the four on the mountain path who stood at the ready to fight and kill.

Not exactly business as usual for any weary traveller except these four. And they treated it as such. They might not have seen them coming, but they had known it could happen. They were impossible to surprise.

"Take that, ya puny ass-face bitches," one of the travellers growled. He was wielding a crescent-shaped blade on a long chain, attached to a wooden staff: a shaku jou. Without turning a hair he dispersed limbs and heads left and right. "Get you some jig-saws to take home to your leader."

"...'cept there won't be any a'ya left to take anythin' home 'cause we're gonna kill you all!" yelled another, the youngest-looking of the quartet, who was going through the attackers fastest of them all, kicking and thrashing around with a staff of his own and doing a respectable amount of damage.

The other two fought in grim silence, but no less effectively; one with a handgun who never seemed to miss a shot, one with devastating blasts of focused energy. Within fifteen minutes the whole platoon of demonic attackers had been transformed in a pile of dead bodies, bloodied and dismembered and with bullet holes in vital places.

"There weren't that many this time," the energy manipulator remarked serenely, wiping his forehead. "Shall we move along?" He looked up to the sky and called out, "Hakuryuu!"

A small white dragon was fluttering around in loops and circles, cheeping with excitement. It had witnessed the skirmish from a safe height, but now it came down to the ground and, as if this was the most normal and everyday thing in the world, changed without further ado into a sturdy-looking four-seat Jeep. His owner smiled, patted the hood and got in behind the wheel.

"Yeah, but not such dopes as usual, maybe," said the red-haired youth with the shaku jou. "Seems like they lasted longer 'n the last batch." He stretched, winced, and rubbed at his shoulder. "I feel my muscles, man. That was some good exercise!"

The boy nodded. "Made me hungry. Hey, Gojyo! Aren't you hungry?"

"What else!" The redhead shrugged and grinned, his hands in his pockets. "I'm hungry for some p..."

"Don't say it." The cold voice of the man with the handgun, who wore the white robe of the Buddhist high priests: Sanzo. He paid Gojyo no further attention, but went on reloading his gun in silence and frowned at a long ragged tear in the sleeve of his robe. Courtesy of a youkai claw. If he'd stopped to think about it, he might have found it ominous that one of the shitheads had been able to get that close to him.

"Hey, Hakkai!" Gojyo called out. "You alright, man?"

The dark-haired driver suddenly seemed to be reeling where he sat; his head sank down on the wheel, and his breath was coming in shallow gasps. At the sound of Goyjo's voice he looked up, however, and assured that he was quite all right, just a little tired.

"Why'n't you let me drive," Goyjo suggested.

Sanzo frowned. "You just get in that back seat and shut up. Last time you drove, you threw us down a goddamn staircase."

Goku sniggered, but Goyjo ground his teeth and balled his fists. The memory of that particular adventure was still fresh in his mind, even with a dozen or so others piled on top, and he didn't think it was funny. Not that Sanzo was likely to have meant it as a joke, of course. Genjyo The High Priest of Buddha wasn't famous for his sense of humour.

"It's not a problem, Goyjo," Hakkai's gentle voice cut into his thoughts. "I can drive. It's not that far to the next village." He had barely finished his sentence when he turned his head aside and sneezed audibly into the crook of his elbow. "HiESHu!"

"Dude," said Goyjo, "bless you." His voice was harsh with surprise. "You sure you okay?"

Hakkai simply smiled and nodded, but Sanzo heard the little sniff! that followed even over the enthusiastic roar of Hakuryuu's engine. He narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze on the driver, but he said nothing. Instead he fumbled for his cigarettes and lit up. But his eyes never moved a millimetre.

They drove on for a while in unusual silence, Goku daydreaming up an endless and diverse lunch menu, Goyjo and Sanzo chain-smoking, Hakkai alert and concentrating on two things: driving and trying not to sneeze again.

He wasn't feeling nearly as well as he wanted his companions to think. His muscles ached, his nose was running and his head was swimming so badly that in any other car than this one he'd have been useless as a chauffeur. All perfectly recognisable fight-related symptoms, except the runny, tingly nose. He would have liked to just sneeze the feeling out in a few satisfying bursts, but the others would notice and ask questions. Hakkai was simply too tired for questions. All he really wanted was to get to an inn and retire for the night.

"HiESHHu!" Shit. That one had slipped out. Wouldn't happen to him again. He was determined to... "HhhESSHiu!" Aargh.

"Bless you, Hakkai," a deep voice next to him murmured. Hakkai looked sideways, embarrassed. But Sanzo was staring right ahead into the distance, over the tip of the cigarette he was twirling slowly between his fingers, and there was no expression at all on his angular face. It looked almost serene with the half-lidded violet eyes and the relaxed jaws. Not friendly, just calm.

Hakkai smiled and turned his own eyes back on the road ahead. The nervous urge to sneeze had died down, which was a huge relief. Seeing Sanzo's face like that was also a huge relief, although he wasn't sure why or from what. Never mind.

"I'm so huuuuuuuuungry," Goku sighed in the back seat.

Goyjo growled something and shoved him. There was an indignant squeal and a loud angry "Oi, what you do that for, you filthy kappa!"

Goyjo opened his mouth for a retaliating sneer, but Sanzo was already back to front in the passenger seat, armed with nothing but a death glare and a folded paper fan - but both together were quite sufficient. "Silence or DEATH."

At once the two adversaries were as one again, cowering back as far as the scant space in the jeep's back seat allowed, yelping with fright. Sanzo nodded once and turned back round and ignored the rebellious whisper-dialogue behind his back.

The silence among the passengers of the Jeep was thick and slightly uncomfortable. Each was again submerged in their own thoughts. Hakkai managed to stifle two or three sneezes in complete silence and a minimum of motion,

After an hour or so, they reached the outskirts of the village. It looked peaceful and undisturbed, which would have made Hakkai sit up and take notice had he been feeling himself. As it was, he just stopped the Jeep on main street and tried to be polite to a passer-by over the headache that was taking over his entire skull.

“Excuse me, sir? Could you please direct us to the village inn?”

The man looked them over. “Strangers in this town, huh? Dunno if you want to put up in what we call an inn, for lack of a better word. But I guess it beats sleepin’ outside. Right at the end of this street. Can’t miss it, really.” For some reason, he gave a chuckle that sounded positively malicious, and walked on.

“What a dick,” Gojyo muttered.

Hakkai wanted to say something, but the return of the vicious tickle made him clamp his jaws together instead as though he wanted them to melt together from the sheer force. He managed to silence the sneezes by squeezing his eyes shut and focusing the pitiful last remainder of his willpower, but the intensity of the headache tripled, and when he opened his eyes again his vision was all swimmy.

“What do you think, Sanzo?” he said. His voice was undeniably congested - alarmingly so. “Shall we take the chance?”

The priest turned his lidded amethyst eyes on Hakkai, surveying him for a second or two without answering. Then he said, “Let’s go.”

I will not show relief. That is the last thing I will do. Hakkai simply nodded and started the Jeep.

Sanzo’s eyes had had an odd look just now. Hard and heated at the same time. Like little flames behind violet glass screens. Usually the glance from those eyes was cold, or cool, or neutral, or blazing in fury. This was... different.

That’s the fever talking.

Maybe. But it was interesting, all the same.

“Sanzooo! When are we going to get some FOOD?!” Goku was wriggling around in his seat, massaging his stomach and messing up his hair in frustration. “C’monnnn! I’m starving!”

“Shut up, monkeybrain.” Gojyo swatted one of the flailing arms away from the too-close vicinity of his ear. “You’ll get your food when you get it and it’s no use being a crybaby.”

“Who you callin’ a crybaby, you stupid ol’ perverted -”

“Please refrain from making so much noise,” a low and throaty voice called out from the front seats. “We are almost there.” The voice was calm, even slightly cheery, but nonetheless it gave both Gojyo and Goku an almighty case of the chills. That voice... had almost sounded sub-human.

They looked at each other, shrinking back into the backrest. “Something’s really wrong with Hakkai,” Goku muttered. “I dunno what’s goin’ on, but... it’s kinda scary!”

“Man, you are not kidding.” Gojyo frowned at the back of Hakkai’s head, trying to think. That voice of Hakkai’s had really creeped him out. Could it be that he had lost one of his limiters in the fight?

“Hakkai...”

Now it was Sanzo who turned around. His eyes looked directly into Gojyo’s.

“Gojyo.”

“What?”

“Leave it.”

“Eh, whatever.” Gojyo sank back into the cushions. Grumbling to himself, he lit another cigarette, and resolved to stop trying to make sense of things. If both of his adult team mates had suddenly decided to go all weird on him, he sure wasn’t going to let it bug him. They could do anything they wanted, as long as they left him alone.

~

MAYBE TBC. I guess you all know how unreliable I am!

[Spoo]

Oh, MARUUUU~

I wish you could see me right now. I'm rolling around, hugging myself, basking in these beautifully nostalgic FEEELS. Reading this makes me want to re-read the manga, and possibly re-watch Gensomaden. Even after all this time you have their voices down perfectly. Andandand, Hakkaiiiiii! Poor baby.

Let's hope the TBC sticks, because I am a crazy Saiyuki lady who needs MORE!

[Anonymouse]

I have no idea who any of these guys are but I love it nonetheless! Sounds like an interesting story and I'd like to see it continue, even if I'm totally unfamiliar with the premise of the show/manga/whatever this is. A dragon that turns into a jeep? Awesome.

He would have liked to just sneeze the feeling out in a few satisfying bursts, but the others would notice and ask questions.

Mmmm.

[BlueRandom]

Oh, awesome! This is just so right. And I love that you're writing Hakkai, too - he's such a tricky one, and you got both his sweetness and his darker side. I don't mind any unreliable-ness because this is lovely!

[Ciuty80]

oh PLEASE PLEASE do continue this wonderful story!!!!! :yes:

i LOVE saiyuki so much!

you´ve done already a very good job here!

please more!

[March Hare]

My DARLINGS! I love it that I'm not alone in the Saiyuki fangirling! Thanks so much for your delightful commentary

Ha, Spoo, I totally know what you mean... ALL the nostalgic good-feels! And thank you all for your kind assurances that I've got the voices right their endless snarky dialogues are what I love most about the whole series, so I'm really happy I've sort of got that in

Have more! This is just a little teaser to tide you over until I've found out what the hell is wrong with Hakkai put the actual story on paper...

~

The inn was actually not bad-looking at all, outside or in. If anything, it seemed rather smaller than what they were used to, but at least it was clean. And quiet. Hakkai managed to walk inside on his own, without having to resort to using any of the others as a crutch - no mean feat, considering his splitting head and complete exhaustion. He tried to think of every disease he knew, to figure out what it could be that he seemed to have contracted. It was perfectly possible, of course, that it was simply a severe case of flu; but he had never known flu to set in so swiftly.

“hIESHU-EESSHu!” Sniff. The room was starting to waver before his eyes. “Ahh... TSCCHT!” It was all he could do to clench his teeth and bite down on the sneeze. Stifling them was well beyond him now.

“Hakkai,” Gojyo muttered right behind him. “For fuck’s sake sit down somewhere. You’re gonna crash to the ground in a minute.”

“I am... all ri-EhhEDSCHIHH! Uhnn.” He stumbled, tried to regain his balance, and failed. Lying down, now, something droned in his mind. On the floor. No matter. Lying down is good.

Gojyo cursed and grabbed hold of Hakkai’s shoulders. “Okay, no more of this nonsense. I’m taking you to our room right now and you are not going to go anywhere else today.”

“I said I’m all right -”

“You are not,” the half-youkai hissed in his ear. “You are burning up with fever and sneezing and your voice is freaking me the fuck out. You sound as though you’ve swallowed a goddamn meat-grinder.” He continued to drag him along as he spoke - and came to an abrupt halt at the door of the room they had been appointed.

There was no door. There was a doorway, but it was just an opening without anything to close it off. The room was bare except for half a dozen pallets that did not look much more comfortable to lie upon than the floor on which they sat.

Gojyo shook his head slowly. “I’m... not sure this beats sleeping outside.”

“No beds?!” Goku pushed Gojyo aside and ran into the room, checking every corner before he whirled around and turned a furious face on his companions. “We’re supposed to sleep on those?! Sanzo! Let’s go find another inn!”

“Are you out of your mind, you stupid monkey? Take a look at our driver and tell us we can just move on along to look for another damn inn!” Gojyo shook Hakkai’s shoulders. The healer’s dark head lolled from side to side. His eyes were closed.

“Hakkai!” Goku whispered. “What’s wrong with him, Gojyo?”

“Haven’t a clue. He’s sick, is all I know. Anyway, we can do without blankets for one night - Goku, put everything you can find on that pallet in the corner there, we’ll try to make it work somehow. Guess we’ll need to find a doctor or something.”

“We should get him something to eat. You gotta eat when you’re sick.”

“That all you can think about? Sanzo, why don’t you move your holy ass for a change and go get him some water?”

“You’re as good a nurse as a woman, Gojyo.” But Sanzo turned around and left the room anyway. Gojyo ignored the weak gibe and tried to drag Hakkai over to the corner where Goku had succeeded into making some sort of makeshift camping bed out of the few ragged blankets the room had on offer.

“He’s on fire,” Gojyo murmured. “I don’t understand. He was fine during that fight - hey, do you think one of those assholes had some kind of poison on their claws or something?”

“Dunno.” Goku knelt beside Hakkai’s bed, eyes wide with dismay. “Did he get scratched?”

“Didn’t think so. Maybe we should check...”

“Yeah,” Goku whispered. “But Gojyo... I kinda not wanna touch him.”

Gojyo frowned and nodded. “Yeah, me neither. This whole mess freaks me out, man.” He stood up and lit a cigarette.

At that point, Sanzo returned, carrying a bottle. “You two. Go out into the village and see if you can find a doctor.”

“Aww. Who’s the dedicated nurse now?”

The violet eyes narrowed. “Go.”

Grumbling, Goku and Gojyo left the room, bickering about whether they should go straight for the infirmary or stop for food on the way. Sanzo scowled after them, then knelt at Hakkai’s side.

“Hakkai.”

The one dark-green eye that was not hidden from sight by a now fogged-up eyeglass opened slowly.

“Hakkai, tell me what’s wrong with you.”

“Sick.” It was a voiceless, gravelly whisper. “Other... than that... I... don’t know.”

“Recognize the symptoms?”

The head on the wadded-up blanket moved left, then right.

Sanzo sighed. “Never mind. Drink.” He held out the bottle to Hakkai’s mouth, then checked himself. Awkwardly, he shifted his arm underneath Hakkai’s shoulders and bore him up so that his head was almost upright. Then he put the bottle to the sick man’s lips once more.

“Rest. We’ll take care of... everything.” Sanzo lowered him back down carefully. Hakkai’s mouth twitched at the corners.

“Sorry... for delay.”

The priest looked away, fumbling in his robes for his cigarettes, and shrugged. “Can’t be helped.”

[NameTaken]

Ahhhh how did I miss this what the hell :0

Maru is writing heaps of saiyuki. I am so happy!! Your spelling for Hakkai are perfect and agh Gojyo the nurse Can't wait to see where this goes!

[Spoo]

I loved their interactions so much, OMG. It's like watching the show! Ahhhhh. <3 I have to admit: I got all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings with Sanzo giving Hakkai water. There's something about those two interacting with each other that makes me super happy.

Bahhh, I hope that Hakkai will be okay! Lord knows the others can't function without "mommy".

[March Hare]

Ahaha, NameTaken, you ain't seen nothing yet Prepare for a Saiyuki onslaught in the coming units of time measurement! Thanks so much for your sweet reply

Aw Spoo, you're making me blush. It's so great to write this stuff and know someone really appreciates it I think you'll like this next bit...

~

The silence in the room was thick, uncomfortable. Sanzo walked over to the window and frowned upon seeing there was no pane in it: it was just a square hole in the wall. He leaned out, lighting his cigarette, looking out without much interest for the view. His eye fell upon a cat, stalking along on the other side of the street, close to the houses. He scowled at it, hoping the damned thing would stay far away. If there was anything he could use less in this already messy situation, it was an allergy attack.

The town was really quiet. There were hardly any people about on the streets; there was hardly any sound coming from the houses opposite the inn, either. Had Sanzo deigned to notice, he might have wondered at it.

Behind him, the sick man on the blanket-covered pallet was stirring and making uneasy noises. Sanzo dropped the butt of his cigarette to the ground underneath the window and turned round, putting one hesitant foot forward in Hakkai’s general direction.

“Heesshh! TSCHHH! ESSCHU!” They were not loud, not wet, but desperate in their relentlessness, and evidently exhausting. Under Sanzo’s slit-eyed gaze, Hakkai drew a couple of shallow breaths, his mouth opening and closing as if he had trouble getting in enough air. His cheeks were bright red. Sanzo stood very still, watching. When Hakkai was quiet again, he turned back to the window and lit another cigarette.

Voices approached outside, getting louder and more familiar by the second, and Sanzo caught “...hate this goddam dump already” and a slightly masticational “Well at least the food is good” before they suddenly broke off, indicating that the two bickerers had gone into the inn. Sanzo frowned. Evidently, those idiots had not brought the doctor.

“Well, that was a dead fuckin loss.” Gojyo strode into the room, with Goku and a cloud of cigarette smoke close on his heels. “Doc says he doesn’t make house calls. Wanted to know the symptoms, I tell him, he says it’s flu. Rest and plenty of fluids and when he’s recovered enough he can come in for a vitamin shot. I mean seriously!”

“Keep your voice down.”

“Yeah, yeah. But anyway, there we are. So what’s next?”

Sanzo made no answer. His eyes were fixed on the prone figure in the far corner.

Gojyo growled in annoyance and tried again. “Suppose we...” But he didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence.

“HRRASSHIH!” The hoarseness of Hakkai’s voice turned the sneeze into something that was almost a roar. It was a dry, painful sound. Gojyo winced and turned to Sanzo with accusation in his eyes, pointing in Hakkai’s direction as if to demand that the priest do something about this right now.

“Man.” Goku moved a little closer to Sanzo’s side, peering at Hakkai. “He even sounds scary when he sneezes.”

Gojyo shuddered. “You are not kidding. I know I’m no doctor, but no way in hell is this normal flu.”

“You should have made that doctor come.”

“Sure, right!” In his anger Gojyo entirely forgot to keep his voice down. “Why don’t you do something for a change? Are you the team’s appointed Holy Terror or not? Didn’t they teach you any healing spells at priest college?!”

“I do know a lot of ways to make you die, so shut the hell up, you no-brain pervert.”

“You guyyyys! Keep it down! You’re gonna make Hakkai go all weird again!”

“God damn what a fuckup this is,” Gojyo groaned. “Maybe we should just try and keep him cool. Give him enough water and all that. Or could be the barkeep has some strong stuff that’d clear his head...” He shrugged and thrust his hands into his pockets. “Shit, I’m outta ideas, you guys. This is... I dunno, man.” He sank down, cross-legged, on the bare pallet that was underneath the window.

“Sanzo.”Goku tugged at the priest’s sleeve. “We brought back some food. Ya want it now?”

The violet eyes rested on Goku’s face for a moment, inscrutable. “I’m not hungry.”

“But, Sanzo! You gotta eat, else you might get sick too!”

“Yeah?” The priest folded his arms and looked away over Goku’s head. “What makes you think I’d catch this? I’m no youkai. You two had better be careful. Don’t go too near him.”

In a flash, Gojyo was back on his feet and well within Sanzo’s personal space, grabbing the front of his robes with both fists. His eyes were spitting sparks and his voice suddenly resembled Hakkai’s sick grinding whisper to an alarming extent as he hissed “That’s it, you so-called human asswipe. You shut your bastard mouth right now or I’ll kill you.” His fists clenched further. Sanzo’s eyes met his scarlet glare with icy disdain.

“Gojyo.”

The voice came from the other end of the room.

Gojyo spun around, so fast that Sanzo, released all to abruptly from his grip, lost his balance and almost tumbled to the floor. “Hakkai?!”

The healer had somehow managed to sit up, propped up on both arms and struggling to keep his head from lolling forward onto his chest. His breath sounded ragged and too shallow, but his one good eye looked awake and aware through the glittering brightness of the fever. His cheeks were deeply red, but there was no sweat on his face. “Leave it, Gojyo. It’s not worth it.”

Gojyo shook his head in disbelief. “Um, Hakkai... shouldn’t you lie back down?”

And there it was, that bland smile, seemingly genuine but so unsettling that Gojyo suddenly went weak in the knees. “Ah, but it is kind of hard to rest with all the noise you are making.” His head snapped forward suddenly as a sneeze overtook him “HuASCHHI!”

“Oudaijini,” Sanzo and Gojyo said together. They looked at each other. Sanzo raised one eyebrow. Gojyo turned away, with a rueful grin. “This seriously can’t get any freakier, you guys.”

Hakkai coughed and lifted one hand to reach for the water bottle that was still standing next to his bed, but his other hand wasn’t sufficient to support his weight and he fell back down on the pallet. There was a sharp crack as his back connected with the slats.

“Shit,” Gojyo growled. He made to move toward Hakkai, but Sanzo was already there. Kneeling next to the pallet. Holding Hakkai up and letting him drink.

“Okay then,” the kappa muttered. “I was wrong. It could get freakier. Man, I need alcohol. And someone sane. With tits. To not talk to.” Shaking his head, he turned and left the room. Goku followed, throwing a hesitant, wide-eyed look over his shoulder, one finger in his mouth.

~

Genjyo Sanzo sat cross-legged on the floor in the slowly fading light coming from the paneless window. He hadn’t bothered to look for a light switch; for himself it made no difference how dark it was, and he suspected that the man who was lying close to where he sat, shivering under a few threadbare blankets, would not miss the light much either.

In fact, Hakkai was hardly aware of his surroundings. For him, at this moment, the world consisted largely of overwhelming heat, a burning pain in his joints, a deep, maddening itch throughout his sinuses and, above all, a raging thirst. His ability to produce saliva seemed to have shut down completely; his tongue felt as though it didn’t belong to him any more. Drifting in and out of consciousness, at one point he noticed he was actually trying to spit it out, like a wad of sponge that someone had thrust into his mouth for some reason.

Definitely not flu. But what kind of sickness caused these symptoms? It was hard to think over the pounding in his head and the faint, but persistent urge to sneeze that was perhaps worst of all. Sneezing was a drain on his energy as it was, but in these circumstances, it was all but impossible.

He was glad that the others had taken themselves off for a while. Tension had been running high ever since he’d started showing the first signs of ailment; it was as though he was the gue that held the rickety contraption of their team spirit together. As soon as he was out of commission, things started to shake, rattle and roll.

“Sanzo.”

The priest looked up. “Don’t talk.”

“Try to be - ihhh...” He tried to breathe the sudden upsurge of tickle away, but it was no use. “HIEESSHH! ...uhh... to be calm. Gojyo. Not... make him angry.”

The violet eyes dulled and Sanzo’s mouth thinned as his face drew into his trademark deadpan gaze. “He’s only making this more difficult. I hope he stays away for a while.”

So do I, Hakkai thought, before sinking back into a drowse that felt as though a roaring fire enveloped him, making it almost impossible to breathe, dehydrating him throughout. The air he managed to inhale burned his throat and lungs. He would have moaned, if that would not have made it worse.

The damp cloth that was suddenly on his face doused the worst of the flames, but Hakkai had receded too far into unconsciousness to be aware of it. Sanzo, meanwhile, wondered wryly how soon the heat coming from Hakkai’s skin would dry his sleeve back out again.

~

TBC! Nothing else to be done, really, is there?

[NameTaken]

TBC! Nothing else to be done, really, is there?

You tease <:0

But oh my goodness poor Hakkai- even though he's majorly suffering, I hope those sneezes don't stop anytime soon. You have the most awesome spellings

Also, such totally in character Gojyo and Sanzo interactions aghh, precious babies that they are

[aliasnz]

....

This

Is

CANDY XD

ASDFGHJKL; Please continue!! I love Hakkai and how Goku & Gojyo are getting scared- lol!

And sure would be a shame if that kitty happened to cross the street... After all, the first thing... Err .... LAST thing we need is for Sanzo to be sneezing as well ;D

Thanks for writing - it's AMAZINGGG

[March Hare]

Ohai, this one! Yes! Well, that's one New Year's Resolution down: I've actually finished this one. Thank you, darling Mercedes and NameTaken, for your sweet comments! Now, without further ado: have at

~

“I’m gonna see if there’s a decent bar in this pisshole. Stay outta my way, monkeymeat.”

“But Gojyo -”

“No buts.” Gojyo was too preoccupied to notice Goku’s lack of objection to the word ‘monkeymeat’. He left Goku standing on the doorstep of the inn and marched off, boots creaking softly on the uneven pavement.

Goku sighed and decided to go and find something to eat. Or maybe something to fight. It was getting dark; the shops would probably close soon. He had to hurry. Wishing he could have had someone for company, he started running in a direction that wasn’t the one Gojyo had taken.

Gojyo, meanwhile, was having luck - after a fashion. He had found a bar, a little seedy booze-hole with a dirty floor, five grubby stools along a stained and sticky bar made of unpolished wood, behind which a wizened, ageless little bald guy stood smoking a cigarette and staring dreamily into some unknown mind-scape. When Gojyo asked him for a beer, he motioned with one listless thumb in the general direction of an empty stool and shuffled to the tap.

“Ssso,” the wastoid on the stool next to Gojyo’s slurred, almost directly in his ear. Gojyo’s spine sprang out straighter than a ruler with the shock of the unwelcome presence in his personal space. He leaned a little to the other side, mouth stretched in a very uncomfortable grin. “Sa noo kiddin town, huh?”

“Ehh... yeah, hi to you too, dude. Just passin’ through, though.”

“Passin’ fru. Yeah. Shrr.” The drunk seemed to be trying to grin. The grin looked a little like a three-legged cat slipping on a wet floor. Gojyo felt himself go queasy just looking at it.

“Yo, barkeep - c’n I ask you a question?”

The bar gnome put a not-quite-clean glass of beer in front of him and turned around without a word.

“And a nice day to you, asshole,” Gojyo muttered. Well, to hell with it, then. He turned to his inebriated neighbour. “Say, um, mister - you don’t happen to know about a disease that causes high fever and sneezing, do you? Y’see, one of my fellow travellers seems to have caught it from somewhere.”

The butter-footed grin fell flat on its ass as the drunk turned his face away and into his beer. His voice turned suddenly dark, though not less slurred. “Yeah... gotta be fi’ fever.”

“Fire fever,” Gojyo repeated, not sure if he’d heard it right.

“Yeah,’s wha I said.”

Gojyo clenched his teeth. “Then why... the fuck... didn’t that stupid-ass moron doctor tell me so?!”

“Kenjin?” The face sagged in places, sort of resembling another attempt at a grin. “He’s a quack. Knows howda fix people up after a barroom brawl ‘n he knows the cures for a few a those kids’ diseases, b’dother than that... he wouldn’t recinnize fire fever if’nee catch it annit catch im back.”

Gojyo shook his head in disgust and got up off his barstool. “Lemme go get a second opinion from someone who’s sober,” he muttered.

It turned out to be a difficult and thankless job, however. There were only three other patrons in the bar; only one of them was sober enough to at least properly pronounce words, and none of them seemed much inclined to volunteer information about the fire fever, except that an epidemic had wiped out a quarter of the village’s population and chased away another significant amount of people, not all that long ago. Oddly enough, nobody as much as mentioned the word ‘youkai’. Or perhaps that wasn’t so odd; these people had had to deal with a threat far more stealthy and eerie than a rampaging horde of demons gone berserk. Gojyo heard a few sob stories, but when he finally left the bar he was none the wiser about the actual progress of the disease, or whether there was a cure or at least a treatment available.

He did know one thing, the only thing the inebriated villagers had been unanimous about: it was no use whatsoever going back to that quack who called himself a doctor.

~

“Fire fever, he said?”

“Yeah.”

“Hn. Never heard of it.”

Sanzo and Gojyo were sitting together in a corner of the room, their mutual grievances forgotten for the moment, the glowing tips of their cigarettes the only light in the room save for the sheen from a streetlight or two falling through the unshuttered windows. Goku was fast asleep on the pallet underneath the window, wrapped in his cape, one hand tightened around the remains of a spring roll as if the mere presence of food lent him a bit of comfort.

“Those people didn’t seem to know what it was all about, either. Of course, they might have if they hadn’t been drunk. Although I asked the innkeep, and he was all weird about it too. Didn’t even want to let Hakkai stay.” Gojyo’s hands clenched at his sides, his anger welling up again at the thought of the selfish anxieties of that dumb old villager.

“Well, I hope you told him none of us are going anywhere for now.”

“Damn right I did. Bastard’s probably gonna charge us double, though.”

“I’d like to see him try.” Sanzo didn’t have that unsettling blandness that Hakkai sometimes employed, but he could manage quite the creepy voice nonetheless. A kind of cold, dead my-way-or-hell tone. Gojyo grinned.

“So. What are we gonna do?”

“Tell Hakkai what’s wrong with him. He’ll want to know, and who knows, he might actually have heard of it.”

“You think that’s a good idea? He’s really sick. Maybe he’s... you know, out of it. Not really there.”

“I’m here, Gojyo.”

Gojyo started so violently he almost dropped his cigarette. “Shit, Hakkai. Did I wake you?”

“No.” A rattling breath. “Was awake. Heesshh-HRRASSHeh!”

“Oudaijini,” Gojyo muttered. “You hear everything?”

“No. Any... result?” Another rattling breath, a dry uneasy sniffle. It was as though the very effort of talking was increasing the urge to sneeze.

Gojyo gathered his long limbs and moved closer to the sickbed in the other corner. “They said it’s fire fever. Apparently there was an epidemic not long ago. They knew the symptoms.”

“Fire fever,” Hakkai repeated in that sandpapered voice.

“Yeah.”

“That’s... unusual.”

“You know it?”

Hakkai nodded, but Gojyo couldn’t see that in the dark. “Heard of it. I... hehhh... DSSCHTehh! Should’ve thought of that.”

“So what do we do? How do we treat it?”

“You’re not going to believe this, I’m afraid,” Hakkai whispered. Gojyo was surprised to hear a hint of laughter in the whisper. “The best way to treat fire fever is alcohol.”

“Damn right I don’t believe it,” Gojyo managed to say once he’d found his voice again and picked his jaw up off the floor. “You serious?”

“It only... HIESSCHH! treats the symptoms. But it’s effective.” Hakkai took a few deep breaths, exhausted. Gojyo picked up the water bottle and carefully, clumsily, helped him drink.

“So... what, I pour a quart of booze down your throat and you’ll be good to go? That it?” Somebody remind me of this, next time I say shit can’t get any freakier.

“Not quite,” said the rusty machine that Hakkai’s larynx had become. “Just... quietens the symptoms. A few days...” he took in a couple of sharp breaths, but apparently the sneeze was stuck; after a second or two he continued, “of rest and I’ll hehh.. . be able to continue. But the only cure is time. Huhh! HRRESSCHIH! EhhISSHHt! ...ehh.”

“So booze and rest,” Gojyo repeated. Well don’t that just fuckin figure.

He turned around to Sanzo, but Sanzo had gone. Well, didn’t that just fuckin figure, too. Gojyo sighed and rubbed his forehead. He’d all but had pretty much enough of this by now, thank you very much. Goku was one lucky little chimp for being able to sleep through everything. It wasn’t as though his team mates didn’t need their sleep, but when the one true grown-up of the ikkou was down, what were you gonna do?

“So I guess I’ll go and see what that yellow-ass little bastard downstairs stocks behind his bar,” he grumbled, and got up. At the same moment he made for the doorway, however, Sanzo walked in cool and collected as you please, holding a bottle of quite decent proportions.

“Well, lookathat.” Gojyo felt the shit-eating grin split his face right in half. “Hey, Hakkai, hang in there, man. Nurse Sanzo has delivered the goods.”

“You will die, half-blood scumbag.”

“Oh yeah, someday. Not by any pretend priest’s sissy little nurse hands, though.” Gojyo dodged the fan and ambled out of the room to go enjoy his smokes in peace and quiet. He felt more than entitled to a little of those.

Meanwhile, Sanzo was again kneeling next to Hakkai’s sorry excuse for a bed and waiting until the healer had gotten his fittish sneezing under control. When Hakkai had bitten off the last two or three of the fit off into jaw-clenched soundlessness, Sanzo uncorked the bottle and helped him sit up. “An unusual disease,” he said while Hakkai took a careful sip from the bottleneck. He shuddered. It was home-distilled rotgut, but of a potent percentage.

“Yes. Its origins are unknown and most healers don’t know it.”

“So how do you?”

Hakkai didn’t answer and took another sip. Sanzo’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

“Is it helping?”

“Yes,” Hakkai replied. “It is.” His voice did sound less gravelly, more human. “I think I’ll be able to sleep now.”

“Then sleep. The sooner we can get out of here, the better.”

“Duly noted.” There was some amusement in the voice. “Thank you, Sanzo.”

“Don’t mention it.” The priest got up and walked out of the room. Hakkai smiled to himself in the dark and closed his eyes.

~

It was so quiet outside you’d have been able to hear someone breathe on the other side of the street, if someone had been there. The sky was cloudy, but here and there a star pinkled through the raggedy edges of rain vapour. Gojyo leaned against the wall, a clumsily-laid stone poking him between the shoulder blades, his last cigarette slowly burning itself up in the corner of his mouth. He ignored the white-clad figure standing next to him, and the figure ignored him back.

Something touched his ankles. Something warm and soft and purring. Gojyo smiled. He crouched down, buried his hand in the cat’s soft fur for a moment, then picked it up and held it against his shoulder. It nestled there, apparently quite content.

“Are you insane?!” Sanzo hissed. “Put that thing away! I... HehhAASSH-HihhITSCHH-EhhISShuu... oh for fuck’s sake.”

“Heh, right.” Gojyo tossed the cat gently back on the ground. Indignant, it turned tail and marched away. “Guess I forgot. But man, I gotta say - it’s kinda a relief to hear you sneeze like that without... you know... soundin all scary and burnin up with fever and all that.”

“Hnn.”

Gojyo leaned back against the wall, crossed his ankles and lit a cigarette. His not to reason why, but for the first time in this entire weird-ass day he was starting to feel a bit better about everything.

THE END.

Sorry.