Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction / Saiyuki Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ En Masse ❯ Chapter 6

***Here's a fairly major adjustment that I'm making to the canon timeline: in my warped little Weiss world here, they've already met Schwarz and they know about their powers, plus Schreiend doesn't exist (I found that having them in here meant that I had to go into all that Asuka/Neu stuff, and that's not a direction I particularly feel like going in). Now, it should all make sense!

 

Also: plot! Real, honest-to-god plot! Where'd that come from, after so long?***

 

 

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“Oi, Aya, where have you been? We've got a lead on this goddamn mission!” Ken wasn't expecting an answer to his opening question, the words coming out from habit alone. He had no idea about the real Aya, the girl in the hospital bed; he simply assumed that his teammate went off and brooded for long periods of time whenever he mysteriously disappeared.

 

 

From the next room, he heard Aya's usual mono-syllabic response: a grunted `hn' noise. `Jeez, don't get too excited, Aya!'

 

 

Ken realised that he was going to have to go to the redhead if he wanted to fill him in; not a course of action that was likely to end in smiles and hugs all around. But work was work, with or without antisocial bastards who seemed to be far too comfortable with killing people.

 

 

Standing up from the couch in the living room, Ken moved across into the kitchen.

 

 

“We heard this afternoon that one of that annoying princess bitch Ouka's friends might know a guy who's been turned. She asked Omi to go over there and talk to the guy; it's as good a chance as any to see what we can get outta him.” Ken leant against the doorway, addressing Aya's back; a regular occurrence.

 

 

“We're gonna go through the plan in 10 minutes.” Message delivered, Ken turned around and went back to the living room, ready to catch a few more minutes of the football game he was watching before heading down to the mission room.

 

 

Settling back on the couch, he was disappointed to find that the game had been replaced by a commercial break. Inadvertently his mind began to wander, settling on the Chinese team that had been put under the `care' of Weiss.

 

 

`Well, can't say that I have any problem with Goku! That kid can play; I'd swear that he'd learnt before. It's too bad that he's too old for my team of kids…' Ken smiled, remembering the kid's pure enthusiasm and ridiculous energy. He had no idea why that blonde prick acted so mean towards Goku…

 

 

Blondie. Now there was a bastard and a half. `I wonder if that stick up his ass ever makes it uncomfortable to sit down?'

 

 

Ken's mood, which hadn't been great in the first place, darkened further. He had a natural distaste for people like Sanzo; which is why Aya had ended up unconscious on the Koneko floor when he'd first arrived. The same thing had happened to Yohji, but that was because Ken didn't think that he'd looked strong enough to defend himself.

 

 

He hadn't been.

 

 

In his usual near-bipolar fashion, Ken found himself cheering up. The shocked look on Yohji's face as he headed for the ground had been a sight to behold, and that fight with Aya had been a lot of fun.

 

 

Even if he had woken up the next morning amongst the demolished remains of the shop.

 

 

Ken's heard jerked up as he heard footsteps heading down the hall, the quiet noises telling him that Aya was going down to the mission room. `I'd better not keep Mr Irrational waiting; I might lose a few teeth.'

 

 

Hitting the button on the remote to turn the TV off, Ken walked into the hall just in time to see Omi appear from the back. Walking over, Ken slung his arm around his friend's shoulder, directing him down to the mission room. “Hey, Omi! Glad to see that you could drag yourself away from all that internet porn to join us.”

 

 

Snorting in amused disgust, Omi playfully pushed the soccer player away and dislodged himself from under the muscular arm. “I get enough of that sort of comment from Yotan, thankyou very much! I don't need it from you, too.”

 

 

Ken laughed, once again glad that the team only had one Aya. He probably would've topped himself already if he had to live with three humourless assholes.

 

 

In the mission room, Ken sprawled on the couch next to Omi, watching while Aya settled against the back wall. Someone had a bug up his ass about something or other. Silence reigned in the room until Omi muttered something about being late, catching Ken's attention. “What was that, kiddo?”

 

 

“Hmmm? Oh, I called the Ikkou guys, told them to send over two people. I decided that this would be a good opportunity to see what they can do; it's just backup and surveillance, after all. But they're late.”

 

 

Ken thought for a second, until the lightbulb hit. “So…that means only two of us are needed?”

 

 

Omi nodded, and neither of the pair was surprised when Aya spoke up. “I'm going.”

 

 

His tone invited no argument, and Ken shrugged. `He takes every mission he possibly can, and a few that he shouldn't…if it was anyone else, I'd have asked `why' a long time ago, but I like being alive!'

 

 

Yohji was still nowhere to be seen, and so Omi turned to Ken. “Looks like it's out of us two, KenKen. I said that they should send over a long-range and a short-range fighter, so…”

 

 

Ken stood and stretched out, cracking his neck from side to side. “Well then, looks like I'm out for the night. Your darts and Aya's katana; makes a pretty good pair, really. I'm gonna get to catch the game, after all! Call me if you need me.”

 

 

Watching the brunette walk out of the mission room, Omi sighed. He'd at least hoped that Ken would stick around to keep him company; Aya wasn't the greatest conversationalist, in the end. He might just go crazy from silence before the other two arrived.

 

 

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Hakkai put the phone down, turning to face the other three in his hotel room. “That was Omi. He asked that we send over two people, to help them with this mission.”

 

 

Goku immediately perked up, the thought of a fight hyping him. “Can I go, Sanzo? CanIcanIcanIcanIca-…OW!”

 

 

A quick slap across the head with the priest's fan cut Goku off mid-spiel, making Gojyo crack up with laughter. He only just managed to avoid the blow that was sent in his direction, tipping his chair backwards in the effort and being forced to grab the nearest solid object…which happened to be Hakkai. “Oh, Gojyo, please do be careful. We don't want you being out of commission at this point, now do we? Sanzo, I th-…”

 

 

“I'll go with the monkey.” Sanzo cut the healer off this time, crossing his arms and glaring around, as if waiting for someone to object.

 

 

“Ah, Sanzo…Omi mentioned that they had found a possible mutant, and that they were going to try and gain information from him. I don't think that it's the best idea that you go.” Hakkai's small smile didn't waver, despite the steel-melting glare that was being directed at him from the furious priest.

 

 

“Oh, and is that your `expert opinion'? Let me tell you something, Hakkai…”

 

 

“You fuckin' idiot.” Gojyo decided to jump on the interruption bandwagon, this time to stick up for his best friend. Sanzo immediately transferred his glare from Hakkai to the kappa, hand inching towards his gun.

 

 

“It sounds to me like they don't want to kill this fucker, they want to keep it alive for as long as possible for, I dunno, study or some shit. And what does your gun do? It banishes Youkai with one hit. What does the sutra do? It purifies Youkai with one hit. Face it; you'd be pretty much useless for keeping this thing alive.”

 

 

Hakkai sent a genuine smile in Gojyo's direction, glad that someone had understood where he was headed. Sanzo just grunted, seeing the logic but not wanting to admit that he'd been bested. He stalked towards the window, lighting a cigarette on the way. “Fine, work it out between yourselves, idiots. See if I care.”

 

 

Hakkai cleared his throat, turning to face Gojyo and Goku. “Well, I have much the same problem that Sanzo has; my chi is much better suited to eliminating targets than just stopping them.” He refused to let his annoyance at the situation show; yes, he had a great amount of anger to work off, but this wasn't the proper situation to do it in.

 

 

Gojyo's face broke into a lazy grin, and he reached over to mess up Goku's hair. “Well then, it's me and you, monkey. Let's hit the road.” Goku groaned, muttering something about working with pervy kappas, which Gojyo promptly ignored as he walked out the door. Hakkai found himself stifling his laughter when the last thing he heard before the door swung shut was Goku complaining about being hungry, turning back to where Sanzo was leaning against the window sill. When he noticed that the priest was watching him inquisitively, he met the hard gaze with a blankly polite smile.

 

 

“You've got that look again.” Sanzo's tone was mocking, and Hakkai's smile tightened infinitesimally. He was careful to keep his tone light in reply, though. “Whatever do you mean, Sanzo?”

 

 

The priest stubbed his cigarette out on the sill, much to Hakkai's disgust. Even though he was constantly around two smokers, he still found anything to do with cigarettes repulsive.

 

 

“I mean, that you look like you don't want to let him out of your sight.” Sanzo had learned to read Hakkai's moods almost as well as Gojyo, though he was much less obvious about it. That was the thing about staying silent; it allowed a person to be a lot more observant.

 

 

“I'm sorry, Sanzo, you must be mistaken. Gojyo is a grown man and he can look after himself…well, except when it comes to remembering garbage day, of course.”

 

 

Sanzo snorted in disgust, straightening up and walking towards the door. As he passed the healer he paused, speaking in a low voice. “Don't fuck with me. I can tell that you're jealous about how much time he's spending with his twin…don't let your blue balls impair your judgement.”

 

 

With that, Sanzo moved out of the room, leaving Hakkai alone to try and work out why the monk was saying such things. He wasn't jealous; he didn't own Gojyo. They were best friends, and he liked having Gojyo around. But he wasn't about to try and tie the man down…right?

 

 

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Gojyo wandered in the door of the Koneko like he owned the place; after all, he'd spent enough time there lately that it almost felt like a home. Goku was trailing behind, slower than Gojyo because he kept getting distracted by every little thing. Glancing around and not seeing anyone, he headed straight for the mission room.

 

 

“Hello~o? Anyone ho~me?” Gojyo listened, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement. He flashed a smile when he saw it was Ken, trying not to turn the expression into a leer. `What can I say, the guy's cute. Maybe I could talk Yohji into…hmmm…'

 

 

“Omi and Aya are down there waiting, and I've got not clue where Yohji's gotten to. Have fun.” When Ken looked past the redhead and saw Goku, he smiled wider. “Hey, man, we've gotta play football again some time. Hit me up, okay?”

 

 

Gojyo shook his head, having never really gotten interested in sports. A guy got plenty of exercise from sex and assassinations, so it seemed kinda pointless to spend all day running up and down a field.

 

 

He was a little glad, though, that Yohji wasn't going on the mission; he didn't know whether he'd be able to keep his hands to himself otherwise. He'd seen Yohji's leather trench/tiny crop-top combo that he called a `mission outfit', and it was hot. It actually made Gojyo wonder if he should start wearing working clothes that were a little flashier; he may as well flaunt what he had!

 

 

Walking down the stairs to the mission room, Gojyo sighed a little. Another day, another job…

 

 

“Alright, let's get this shit over with so that I can spend some `quality time' with your oldest teammate.” Gojyo smiled when Omi looked around at him, scandalised, and Aya just glared at him. Ahhh, just like working with Sanzo. The similarities were a little unsettling.

 

 

“Kappa, no one wants to hear about your pervy sex life! Keep your prick in your pants for once.” Goku wandered into the room, walking right over to drop down on the couch, right where Ken had just been sitting. He sent an enthusiastic greeting in Omi's direction, which was returned just as happily. Gojyo almost stared in disbelief, still finding it odd that these two kids were trained killers. They were just so damned happy…

 

 

“What have you got, Omi?” Aya finally spoke up, prompting the beginning of the briefing. Omi sat up straight, pulling an envelope from his pocket and spreading a pile of photographs around the table in front of the couch.

 

 

“The target's apartment is on the second floor, here.” He gestured to a couple of pictures, pointing out the right door from different angles. “Abyssinian, you'll be going to the apartment. Gojyo, Goku and I will be keeping watch from these trees here, just in case you cannot contain him or something goes wrong. This is strictly a preservation mission; we are to try and keep the target alive at all costs.”

 

 

Aya grunted in agreement, and Goku was sitting perfectly still, taking in all the details of the photos. Gojyo took a moment to look up from the table into Omi's eyes, and what he saw there was perfectly aligned with the cold-hearted killers he'd met over the years. The kid was young, but there was nothing innocent about the look in his eyes while he explained the plan.

 

 

“Oh, and another thing; during the mission, Aya and I are only to be referred to as Abyssinian and Bombay, respectively. It's just procedure, but it's safer for us that way.” Codenames; something that Gojyo thought was just plain odd. The Ikkou had always just referred to each other by their actual names; all the Chinese groups had.

 

 

“Alright, so when's go-time?” Gojyo checked his watch, wondering whether he'd have time to track Yohji down before the mission. He heard an annoyed `ugh' noise and looked up, seeing Aya glare at him. The look on the man's face made it clear that he knew exactly what Gojyo was thinking; so naturally, Gojyo leered right back at the pale man, causing him to look away and…blush? Nah, it must just have been the lighting in the room.

 

 

Omi was oblivious to all this, still engrossed in the photos, along with Goku. Without looking up, he answered, “We'll be meeting up at nineteen hundred hours, here.” Pulling a map from the envelope, Omi indicated to a spot, making sure that everyone saw the street names.

 

 

“So…we're done here?” Omi nodded in response to Gojyo's question, and the redhead smiled. “Oh well, things to see, people to do…I'll meet you guys later.”

 

 

Walking towards the stairs, Gojyo saw Aya push away from the wall and follow him, still keeping his distance from the blonde. The kappa pulled his cell phone from his pocket, hitting speed dial to call Yohji. When he reached the top of the stairs, though, he thought he heard a familiar ringtone; cancelling the call, he watched as Yohji sauntered in through the back door.

 

 

“Well that's weir-…Oh, hey! How's tricks, Gorgeous?” Yohji had his phone halfway to his ear, looking up to see Gojyo standing in the hall. His face broke into a self-assured smirk, which only got worse when the redhead swaggered over, grabbed the front of his shirt and started dragging him in the direction of the bedroom.

 

 

“Idiots.” The insult was muttered from the top of the stairs, Aya standing there with a look of disgust on his striking features. Yohji simply laughed, but Gojyo stopped moving, which made the blonde walk straight into his back. He covered the accident well though, winding his arms around his lover's waist and dropping his chin onto Gojyo's shoulder.

 

 

“Ouch, Aya! C'mon, man, don't be like that…You wanna come too? Always room for one more…” Gojyo winked at the sullen redhead, making a show of looking up and down his body….which was quite nice, the kappa had decided. Because his eyes were somewhere near Aya's crotch at the time, Gojyo missed the flash of desire that crossed the swordsman's face…but Yohji didn't.

 

 

The blonde decided to put that little bit of information away for later use.

 

 

Aya turned and stalked towards the kitchen, leaving the two playboys alone. Yohji turned his head, whispering into the half-breed's hair. “Y'know, if he didn't think you were joking, he probably would have agreed…”

 

 

“Oh, yeah? Well, who wouldn't want some of this…?” Reaching his arm back, Gojyo pinched Yohji's ass, making the blonde jump slightly and rub against him.

 

 

“Bed. Now.” This time, Yohji took the reins, releasing his hold on the redhead to lead the way to privacy. Not that either of them had any problem with simply having sex right there in the hall; the bedroom was really just comfier.

 

 

Gojyo laughed, trotting along behind the blonde. He had plenty of time until the mission; and what better way to spend it, than with his new favourite obsession?

 

 

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Aya stomped into the kitchen, muttering things about `audacity', `pricks' and `stupid fucking nymphomaniacs”. Those two just couldn't leave him alone, could they? Nooo, they just had to flaunt the fact that their sex lives were ridiculously active at every possible opportunity, didn't they?

 

 

But it wasn't like Yohji didn't already flirt with him at every turn; and it usually didn't make him this angry…maybe it was because Gojyo had been the one to say it, and he didn't even know the man?

 

 

Sitting at the kitchen table, Aya prodded at his emotions a little, trying to figure out where this bad mood- a `worse than usual' bad mood- had come from.

 

 

And then it hit him.

 

 

He was horny, and the fact that he'd just been offered a threesome, no matter how obnoxiously, wasn't really helping. Not to mention the fact that his dream kept replaying in his mind, sending tiny shivers of lust down his body whenever he remembered the way that…

 

 

He dropped his head into his hands, sighing in irritation. How long had it been since he'd touched another person intimately? Casting his mind back, Aya sat directly upright again as he realised; he hadn't had sex since the night before he had left Crashers, when he'd finally relented to Knight's advances…and that had been around two years ago! `No wonder I'm waking up like that more often lately…I should really be above such base reactions…I just need more discipline.'

 

 

Standing up, Aya decided that he had more important things to do than sit about brooding; there was a mission starting soon, and he needed to make sure that his sword had been properly polished.

 

 

And if some small, quiet part of Aya's mind made an inappropriate comment from that last thought, he was sure to ignore it entirely.

 

 

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Leaning back against the tree trunk, Gojyo tried to get comfortable; who's great idea was it to keep watch from the fucking trees? He could see Goku off to the side, sort of bouncing up and down; `He's gonna fall if he doesn't calm the fuck down!'

 

 

His earpiece crackled into life, and he heard the deep voice of Ay-…sorry, Abyssinian, as if the man was talking right next to him. “Approaching the target now. Abyssinian out.”

 

 

`Finally!' Gojyo straightened up, summoning his Shakujou and moving so that he had a clear view of the apartment through the branches. He watched as Abyssinian walked inside the building; and naturally, he couldn't help but think about how damned good the man looked in all that leather.

 

 

He was pulled from his daydream as the window of the apartment smashed open, Abyssinian being thrown through the air by something that definitely looked like a Youkai. The demon was obviously trying to get away; Gojyo was about to throw out his chain when three darts stopped the Youkai in its tracks, sending him right towards where Goku was jumping to the ground.

 

 

The kid hadn't summoned his Nyoi-bo, and when the demon barrelled towards him, there was nothing to block the path. Even so, Gojyo was shocked when Goku was knocked back like he weighed nothing; he knew for a fact that the kid could hold his ground, and so the Youkai must have been damned strong.

 

 

`Oh well, looks like it's up to me…' Flinging out his Shakujou, Gojyo managed to wrap it around the creature's legs, slowing it down; but the demon didn't fall, and the immense strain on the weapon made Gojyo wonder if it was going to break. This was no ordinary Youkai…

 

 

Just as the redhead thought he was going to be pulled from the tree, Goku appeared from behind, grabbing hold of the chain and yanking it as hard as he could, with a grunt of exertion. The chain finally tightened enough around the Youkai's legs to bring it down, and the creature fell to its knees, beginning to sob.

 

 

“I'M HUMAN!” The pure anguish in the demon's voice made Gojyo wince, but he was careful not to loosen his hold on the chain, not wanting to screw the mission up and let the Youkai escape. Abyssinian ran into his line of sight, darting up to the Youkai with his sword raised in defence. “Tell us who did this; we can stop them!”

 

 

The creature howled, and Bombay ran towards it with sadness written all over his face. “We can't turn you back. I'm sorry.”

 

 

Gojyo jumped down from the tree, still keeping a hold on his Shakujou, just in case. Warily, he and Goku joined the Weiss members, wanting to hear what the Youkai had to say. When Goku nudged him in the side, he leant down so that the monkey could whisper to him. “Kappa, the energy coming off the guy isn't…right. It doesn't feel like a Youkai.”

 

 

Gojyo nodded, having come to same conclusion himself. Maybe it was just because the guy had started off human…he didn't really know. The creature screamed again, its voice cracking and wavering. “BUT I-…”

 

 

Gojyo's head flicked up when the tortured voice cut off, a strange whine ripping from the Youkai's throat. Before he could see what had happened, though, he found himself instinctively ducking and rolling to the side; someone had shot at him. Taking cover behind a tree, he looked over to see that Goku had done the same thing, and that Abyssinian and Bombay were rushing towards four men…until they simply stopped.

 

 

Gojyo couldn't figure it out; why had they just gone still? Sure, the two of them couldn't have taken on the four men that had appeared out of nowhere, especially when there were guns involved, but still…?

 

 

A weak moan caught Gojyo's attention, and as he turned towards the source of the noise, from the corner of his eye he could see the four strangers disappearing into nothingness, as the two Weiss men dropped to the ground. With his gaze now on the Youkai, he could see the throwing knife sticking out of the demon's chest, right where its heart would have been.

 

 

Dragging himself up from the ground, Omi stumbled over to the Youkai, and Gojyo ran over to join him. It was clear that the wound was fatal; the mission was a failure. `Oh, fuck, where's Hakkai when you need him? He's the only one who could save this poor bastard.'

 

 

The creature's eyes fluttered open, and it struggled for breath. “K-…Ko…rin…”

 

 

The body went slack, eyes closing as the deeply-embedded knife did its job. Gojyo looked up at Bombay, wondering if the kid understood what the Youkai had been trying to say. Blue eyes were wide in shock, and Gojyo could almost see brain cogs turning. “Korin? Could that be…Korin Pharmaceuticals?”

 

 

Bombay turned to Abyssinian, who nodded. “It's a solid lead.”

 

 

“Shit!” Gojyo swore, picking up the handle of his weapon to banish it back to…wherever it went. “Who the Hell were those four fuckers?”

 

 

Omi sighed, standing up from where he had been kneeling beside the demon. “Them? That was Schwarz, a group of assassins who seem to always be two steps ahead of us. But why were they here? Don't they usually follow…Takatori…” Omi's eyes widened again, like he'd had a brainwave. “Of course! Aya, we have to get back now. This may not have been a total failure.”

 

 

Omi ran off, heading for where Aya had parked his car, far away from the main street. Aya nodded, sheathing his katana and straightening his coat. “Let's go, you two. I'll drive you; save any questions for later.”

 

 

Gojyo and Goku looked at each other, shrugged, and set off behind the taciturn redhead. Gojyo did have a few questions; but he also knew that Weiss would have a few of their own. He'd caught the look of shock on Omi's face when the chain around the Youkai had simply vanished; but the kid had been surprisingly professional about ignoring it.

 

 

Oh well, time for the Spanish Inquisition.

 

 

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It was well after midnight, but all of the Ikkou and three-quarters of Weiss were gathered in the Koneko living room, waiting for Omi to finish his computer search. It was apparently easier for him to concentrate in silence; so the others were relegated to an awkward question-and-answer session at the other end of the house, after a quick debriefing.

 

 

Gojyo was the first to ask; draped over the couch with his head in Yohji's lap, where calloused fingers were absent-mindedly playing with red hair, he directed his attention at Aya. He knew he would have gotten a better answer from Omi, but he'd work with what he had. “So, Aya. When you two were rushing those guys, why did you just…stop?”

 

 

Purple eyes flashed a disgusted glare in his direction, and Gojyo's head was jolted slightly as Yohji started to laugh. “Oh, Aya, did you get done in by that kid again? I guess that an unstoppable force really does beat the immovable object!”

 

 

Gojyo turned his gaze upwards, looking at Yohji for an explanation. The blonde looked down, smiling. “Well, I guess you haven't heard. Schwarz are…well, they're not quite your average humans. Did you see the little guy? Yeah, he's telekinetic; can stop even this stubborn bastard in his tracks.”

 

 

“Woah!” Goku looked and sounded impressed, a goofy smile on his face. “That's so cool! What about the rest of `em? There was four, right?”

 

 

“Oh, wow! The monkey can count!” Gojyo couldn't help it; the answer was basically pure instinct by now, as was Goku's reply of `stupid pervy kappa'. It also wasn't surprising in the least when Sanzo, standing right next to where Goku was sitting on the ground against the wall, kicked out to the side and told his team to `shut the Hell up, idiots'. Hakkai forgot to finish off the routine with a polite laugh, as he was too busy looking anywhere but at where Gojyo had his head resting in another man's lap.

 

 

Yohji waited until that had died down before speaking again. “Yeah, they have four…guess it's some sort of crazy assassin code or something to have four members on each team, hey? Anyway, did you get a decent look at them? No? Well, there's one with an eyepatch, who doesn't seem to feel pain. There's a guy with orange hair- tends to wear way too much green- who can read minds, and a dude with glasses who sees the future. Pretty trippy, no?”

 

 

Gojyo thought about it, and came to the conclusion that he'd seen weirder things. Believing in psychic powers was just another item in a long line of odd shit that happened on a day-to-day basis. “So, they're basically like your nemesis…nemesises?”

 

 

“Nemeses, dipshit.” Gojyo waved an arm lazily at Sanzo, not really worried about the details of proper language. He looked back up at Yohji. “Yeah, so that?”

 

 

“I guess you could put it like that. Kinda sucks, `cause they see our every move before we do…” Ken murmured his agreement from the other side of the room, reflexively cracking his knuckles.

 

 

Gojyo was just about to reply when he heard someone clear their throat, and everyone in the room turned towards the other redhead, standing with his arms crossed in the corner. Aya didn't say anything more, though, and Gojyo wondered if he was actually just starved for attention. Silent seconds passed, until the swordsman finally spoke. “What was that sickle and chain you had earlier?”

 

 

He'd known the question was going to come up sooner or later. Well, it's easier to show than explain…sitting up properly, Gojyo looked around to make sure he had a captive audience. “Oh, you mean this old thing?”

 

 

Reaching his arm out, the redhead felt the familiar tingle that meant his weapon was about to be summoned. The familiar weight materialised in his hand, and he had to resist the urge to swing it around a bit, not wanting to break anything. “That's…that's awesome!” Yohji hadn't seen Gojyo demonstrate anything related to his demon side, and he was pretty impressed.

 

 

Sliding his hand underneath the crescent blade, Gojyo grabbed the cool metal and yelled to Goku. “Monkey, catch!”

 

 

Throwing the blade at the kid so that the chain would extend, Gojyo smirked when Goku summoned his Nyoi-bo, hitting the end of the sickle to deflect it towards the floor. Yohji and Ken clapped, surprise clear over their faces. Hakkai applauded lightly, his polite smile back in place now that Gojyo was keeping a respectable distance from his new `friend'. Aya and Sanzo still just glared, neither of them geared towards childish displays.

 

 

“Holy shit, you've both got `em? Is that some sort of demon thing?” Yohji flinched on instinct when the chain stretching across the room disappeared, wondering where it'd gone.

 

 

Gojyo laughed, sheepishly. “Ah haha, well you see, the thing about that is…”

 

 

He was cut off by Sanzo, who managed to sound like he was trying to kill by the power of his voice alone. “The idiot half-breed and the idiot monkey were fighting instead of cleaning, and they managed to ruin a priceless artefact we were keeping in the temple.”

 

 

“Yeah, apparently they were trying to seal away these awesome things, `cause they've got demon energy or some shit. Really, we should be thanked for getting at `em before all the evil guys could…and it was the monkey's fault anyway.” Gojyo was prepared for the monkey to start arguing; and he wasn't disappointed.

 

 

“Says you, kappa! You started it!”

 

 

“Oh, yeah? I reckon if you weren't borderline retarded, you'd never have knocked it over!”

 

 

“I'm not retarded, asshole! Stupid lechy idiot!”

 

 

“Don't be jealous that the ladies love me, monkey…oh, and the men!” Gojyo leant over, kissing Yohji on the lips. Before they could get too heated, though, a loud crack rang out through the room, and a bullet flew past the pair and lodged itself in the wall, right next to the hole that the playboys had made just days earlier. “Shut up, you two! No one gives a shit who broke it; you're just as bad as each other!”

 

 

“Sanzo!” Hakkai was momentarily shocked that the priest would shoot a hole through someone's house…but then he thought about it, and wasn't surprised at all. Still, it wasn't a polite thing to do…and that didn't even consider Gojyo's behaviour! The healer wasn't jealous; he just had common human decency, unlike some people…

 

 

“Don't fuck my house up, dickhead!” Aya snarled across the room, hand instinctively reaching for where his sword would usually sit. Two pairs of violet eyes locked, and the room's other occupants went still and silent, tension crackling like electricity in the air.

 

 

Just as Yohji thought that he'd have to run buffer and stop a fight, Omi wandered into the room, drawing Aya and Sanzo's attention to himself. He winced as two harsh glares hit him, before straightening up and putting on an impassive front.

 

 

“I've made a breakthrough. Aya, Sanzo, Hakkai; I'll fill you three in first. Come on.”