Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Fateful Encounters ❯ Preparations ( Chapter 4 )

Title: Fateful Encounters [part 4/?]

Author: Enigma

Series: Saiyuki

Written: June - September, 2002

Rating: R

Pairings: (Gojyo + Hakkai)

Category: Shonen ai/yaoi, Angst, Romance, Action/Adventure, Blood, Language. AU-OOC.

Archive: fanfiction.net [author: "E-sama the Llama"]

Warnings: shonen ai/yaoi, angst, romance, action/adventure, anime-based bloodshed, crude language matching the characterization of the series, original characters to support the main characters from the anime and not detract from them, medical and other squick, additional warnings and pairings possible as fic comes into being over time. AU-OOC.

Spoilers: Since this is based on episodes 15 & 16 of the anime, there are definite spoilers for them, but there are also minor spoilers for other aspects of the series which I will try to keep to a minimum so readers both new and old can enjoy this tale.

Disclaimer: "Saiyuki" is the property of Kazuya Minekura, et al. All original characters featured herein (including but not limited to: Zan, Long, Kiko, etc.) are © Enigma, 2002, and are not to be used without permission. This unauthorized work of unpaid fanfiction is intended for entertainment only; kindly do not sue me.

Notes: What might have actually happened after Gojyo found and rescued a severely injured Gonou (a.k.a. Hakkai) three years prior to their journey to the west? How will these revelations change not only their own lives but also Sanzo's and Goku's as well?

*****

Time passed as Gojyo quietly returned to his culinary tutelage under Kiko and continued to find admiration for the boy who was almost half his age even as the hard-working physician got some much needed rest.

Now that they were able to set aside the unfortunate incident involving too much sake thanks to Kiko's decision to keep it between the two of them, the pair of crimson-haired males found they enjoyed their almost brotherly camaraderie. When evening arrived, they were happily ensconced in the living room with the elder of the pair attempting to teach the younger one the finer points of bluffing when playing poker. The lesson was in partial payment for the cooking classes that had yet to be completed, but after awhile, the ten year old yawned in a manner that reminded the nineteen year old how great the age difference between them truly was.

Patting the sleepy boy on the head, Gojyo said kindly, "Looks like it's time for bed for you, kiddo. Why don't you pack it in and I'll clean this mess up later." His eyes gestured towards the remains of an admittedly delicious meal they'd shared earlier as well as the cards plus the nuts they were using as betting chips.

Snorting softly and trying to not look cute as well as sleepy, Kiko insisted, "Baka. I'll help take care of it first. I'm not a little kid you know." His semi-defiant façade was totally ruined by the huge yawn that overtook him and with a helpless shrug, he acquiesced saying, "Then again, being awakened in the middle of the night last night *has* left me a bit more tired than usual."

Pangs of guilt squeezed Gojyo's heart and he almost blurted out an apology that was entirely unwanted. But since he realized it was difficult for the younger half-breed to be this open and that Kiko had given him a gift of trust that very few others had received, he simply nodded and offered, "Then why not go get some rest? I'll make sure everything here is ship-shape for Zan-mommy then go get myself some shut-eye, too. Oh, and I'll check on our nameless wonder while I'm at it, too. That's another new skill I need to perfect, right?"

Kiko regarded him uncertainly for a moment, afraid he was being made fun of then nodded and accepted this at face value as it was intended to be. "Right. It'll take me a few minutes to brush my teeth, though, so why not check on him now so if there's a problem you can tell me before I fall asleep." Slight nervousness entered the boy's tones as he explained, "I hope that I can handle anything that might need attention, though. Aunt Zan was *very* tired after delivering those twins and I'd rather not wake her up if we can avoid it."

Rising with a fluid, leonine grace, Gojyo extended a hand to the shorter scarlet-eyed male and agreed, "You got *that* right, kiddo! I can't begin to thank her--or you, for that matter--enough for putting both of us up unexpectedly like this. So taking care of things that way sounds like a damned good idea to me."

Accepting the proffered hand and rising to stand beside someone who could easily be mistaken for his elder brother by appearance as well as by actions, Kiko remarked quietly, "Yeah, so it does. C'mon then, baka, let's get to it."

Gojyo snorted softly and grumbled under his breath, "Don't call me a baka unless you mean it, kiddo. It gets on my nerves after awhile."

"What was that?" The ten year old asked with another endearing yawn.

Holding both hands in front of his face as if to ward off an attack of cuteness he simply couldn't handle, Gojyo lied quickly, "Nothing! Nothing at all, Kiko-sama!!" With one of his trademarked smirks, he added more agreeably, "I'll check on the patient and unless you hear anything from me in the next few minutes, assume all is well and go get some much needed rest, all right?"

"Well, all right," the boy grudgingly agreed then added vehemently, "But you've got to let me know if anything's wrong, understand? And I do mean *anything*! Too much blood on the bandages or whatever, you tell me! Understand, baka?"

"Yes, yes," Gojyo answered as patiently as possible before shooing the boy off to his nightly pre-bed ritual. Smiling sadly, he asked the newly empty room around him, "I wonder if my brother ever had to put up with crap like that from me? I kinda hope not, but considering the fact that every time Kiko gets all 'don't talk to me that way!', I get a funny warmth inside me that just might explain why Jien did what he did to save me."

With a heavy sigh, the crimson-haired man headed out of the living room and went to confirm for himself that not only was Gonou resting as easily as a man in a coma ever did, he discovered that he, too, was tired. Gojyo kept his word and cleaned up the remains of not only their meal and card game but also the fairly dirty kitchen then went to gratefully fall into a deep sleep in the empty bed in the room the green-eyed stranger occupied.

The gambler's dreams were atypically non-sexual and non-memorable, but was that because he'd spent the vast majority of the day and evening with someone he knew he'd sooner die than see in that light or was it because of something more? The half-youkai didn't know, didn't care, and ultimately was simply glad for the rest his weary body needed so badly.

*****

Once the household began to stir several hours after dawn, Gojyo knew it was time to leave.

The half-breed felt he was definitely ready for the insensate patient to move into his small apartment with him and planned to spend as much time as possible caring for and guarding the being fate herself had entrusted to him. All that self-confidence aside, however, he certainly wasn't ready for the final lecture he was about to receive from Zan.

The middle-aged physician stood regarding him thoughtfully as the crimson-haired teen prepared a more complicated breakfast than he usually bothered with--leftover beer and a cigarette had stood him in good stead for years now--then asked, "Are you *sure* you want this great a burden, Sha Gojyo? That man isn't an abandoned pet you've taken in off the streets after all."

Glancing up from the pan he was combining rice, vegetables, and broth in, the scarlet-eyed man frowned a little and answered, "I thought that was settled by now, doc." Gojyo shrugged and added, "You said it yourself. The room we've been in is needed for emergencies and the sooner we're out of it the better in case someone else runs into trouble and needs your help. Besides, you and Kiko have done a really good job of teaching me how to take care of him. I think I can handle it."

Her gaze never wavered as he spoke but Zan also didn't smile the way that she usually did when she repeated and clarified, saying, "I didn't ask if this was necessary or whether or not you were prepared for it, Gojyo, I asked if you *wanted* this or not." She tilted her head to one side as she stated simply, "There are no guarantees as to when or even *if* he'll come out of this coma, you know. He could become your houseguest for quite awhile and unless you truly desire this responsibility, you could easily come to resent his presence."

Placing a heavy lid onto the pan and leaving the rice to cook on its own, Gojyo gestured for the physician to follow him and soon they stood in the doorway to the bedroom where Gonou lay as motionless as ever. Bathed in a stray ray of sunlight which somehow seemed to emphasize his utterly helpless condition, the wounded man seemed even more frail than before and his soon-to-be caregiver said quietly, "Just look at him, doc." He sighed unhappily, saddened by the silent man's predicament, then stated in a voice filled with strong and possibly conflicting emotions, "Right now, there's only a few people in this entire world who even know that he's here much less that he needs to be protected and cared for."

Confusion-filled scarlet eyes turned towards the quietly thoughtful doctor and Gojyo added, "I'm not sure why, but somehow I know deep inside myself that if I let someone else take on those tasks now, I'd hate myself for it later. Even though it makes no sense at all, I know he needs *me* and nobody else at this point, so that's the way it's going to have to be." He chuckled softly as he reflected on some of the realizations that time spent with Kiko had granted him, then he remarked as if in answer to an unspoken question, "Yeah. It'll be a major lifestyle change for me and it might get a little boring to not spend my nights out carousing and chasing skirts, but somehow I know it'll all be worth it in the end."

Warmth filled onyx-colored eyes as Zan nodded slowly, then she smiled and said, "I'd hoped that might be your answer, Gojyo." She shook her head slightly and commented philosophically, "There is a reason you were the one destined to find him and even though we may not know what it might be, it's best to honor the forces beyond our control and obey them. Perhaps someday you will know the truth, but for now, I know that *I* feel quite good about entrusting him to your care."

Gojyo returned her smile with a determined one of his own and he said in as earnest a tone as she could recall hearing from him since the fateful night he had arrived at her door carrying the badly injured stranger, "Thanks, doc. Your trust means a lot to me." Turning his attention back to the man who was unwittingly the topic of discussion, he promised, "I'll take better care of him than I ever did of myself, that's for sure. He'll get good, healthy meals and whatever else he needs even if I have to give up smoking and drinking to afford it."

An expression of satisfaction entered the doctor's eyes but then it changed slightly and Zan said, "That reminds me. About your smoking, Gojyo…" Her words trailed away as he rolled his eyes heavenward and suddenly regretted saying that aloud. Realizing she didn't need to reiterate what he already knew, she just chuckled softly and advised, "Just don't do it around him too much, all right? His system will be hard pressed to recover from these injuries as it is, tobacco smoke will only slow down his rate of healing, something that I know you wouldn't want to cause, right?"

"Right," he agreed not entirely displeased yet feeling obligated to at least act a little annoyed at being mothered all over again. Then he gave in, shrugged helplessly as he smiled at her then unexpectedly leaned down and placed a single adoring, appreciative kiss to a gray-haired temple before commenting, "Thanks again, 'mom'. I'll take real good care of him, you'll see."

Blushing like a schoolgirl and raising a hand to touch the side of her face as the lanky man sauntered from the room, Zan blinked in astonishment and then sighed quietly, "Oh my. No wonder all the girls talk about that boy so much. Even a simple kiss of gratitude from him can make my old heart beat a little faster."

She gazed at the peaceful face across the room and silently wondered yet again if she was reading the situation correctly and if so, how long it might be until the severely injured man found out for himself what a kiss from the infamous Sha Gojyo felt like. It wasn't her place to say anything or even wish for it aloud, but considering the drastic changes in the crimson-haired teen's behavior that had already been seen, Zan felt it wasn't unlikely at all that an answer to that question might not be too far off into the future.

*****

Several hours later, after Kiko had helped his "aunt" and Gojyo to not only change all of the dressings on Gonou's wounds but to also bathe him as best they could, the two half-breeds carefully loaded the comatose man into the back of a wagon in preparation for departure.

Trying not to fuss over his new housemate too much, the scarlet-eyed man tried to ignore a desire to rearrange a blanket that wasn't as well tucked in over the injured body as it could be.

That resolve lasted all of ten seconds.

"Oh, to hell with it," Gojyo mumbled to himself around the unlit cigarette that dangled from his lips and began to shift the covers to suit himself when he heard a quiet, masculine laugh. Glancing up, he startled slightly as the cigarette fell to the ground and rolled away, then he exclaimed in understandable surprise, "Dr. Long?! What are *you* doing here?"

The man held a large, cloth-bound package in both hands and he smiled as he answered, "Kiko came by my house yesterday to ask for extra bandages for your friend and mentioned to my wife that Zan was going to transfer him to your care today, Sha. She thought you might enjoy not needing to cook for a few days while you got used to being a full-time nurse." As Gojyo gratefully accepted the gift and somehow failed to point out that the stranger was *not* his "friend" the way he usually did, Long added with a touch of worry, "What exactly *are* your living arrangements, though? I would've thought a bachelor like yourself might live in a fairly small place. Is there really enough room for you both there?"

Not the least bit concerned, Gojyo peered into the gift and smiled appreciatively at the numerous small packets of home-cooked delicacies his own newly gained cooking skills could never recreate and answered, "Yeah, it's pretty small. [1] I've got a weird apartment that's mostly just a bedroom with a kitchen and a bathroom, but that just means he can have the bed free and clear. I'll see about tossing a bedroll together and sleep on the floor. That way, I can keep an eye on him and I doubt a guy in a coma will care much about his privacy, ya know?"

Agreeing with a soft laugh, Long admitted, "I hadn't thought of it that way, Sha. I assumed that it wouldn't be *his* privacy that was an issue in the first place, considering the reputation you've built among the ladies in the area, that is."

Preening slightly even as he stowed the food in a corner of the wagon, the crimson-haired man winked at the doctor and remarked as if he was sharing a professional secret, "I never take 'em back to my place, doc! If they want me badly enough, they can provide the mattress *and* cook me breakfast in the morning, too!"

Long snorted in amusement and then remarked knowingly yet almost with regret, "Well, I'm afraid it will be awhile before you have anyone cooking you breakfast again if that's the case. Zan tells me she estimates it will be a week to ten days before he comes out of this coma and who knows how long before he's able to go back to wherever he's from. You do realize that you won't be able to leave him unattended overnight, right?"

Eyes the color of sunset gained a look of determination as Gojyo acknowledged his new responsibilities easily, saying, "That's all right by me, Long. Zan, Kiko, and I talked this all out plus I figure that taking a break from the ladies for a few weeks will only make 'em want me all the more when he's up and around again." With a slight smirk, he added playfully, "Who knows? Maybe I'll even get to where I *like* being a homebody?"

The physician gave him an appraising look and then said noncommittally, "Perhaps. Either way, if you need anything while you're caring for him and Zan can't help you with it, let me know, all right? You don't have any family in this area and apparently neither does he or someone ought to have come searching for him. I'd rather not leave the two of you completely on your own."

With a single nod of acceptance, Gojyo said, "Thanks, Long. We ought to be okay on our own, but it's good to know there's backup available if it's needed." Glancing over to Zan and Kiko who were approaching carrying the bandages, medicines, and other supplies that would be needed to convert Gojyo's apartment into a recovery facility for awhile, he added with a fond smile, "Between all of us, I'd say he's in pretty good hands, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I'd say so," Long agreed and then helped to load everything into the wagon before bidding them all well prior to going to check on a few patients of his own around the village.

Only a few days had elapsed since the fateful night when a critically injured stranger had entered Gojyo's life and as the physician walked away, he couldn't help but wonder what changes were yet to challenge the once carefree lady's man.

Long was understandably impressed by the changes he'd seen in the crimson-haired man and he felt as if he was privileged to have been there for some of those developments to begin to bear fruit. The casual manner in which Gojyo had deported himself failed to conceal the serious side he was displaying more openly than usual, hinting at what the gambler had the potential to become. This was a transformation that the doctor wisely realized would never have occurred without the arrival of the newest addition to their village.

Regardless of the outcome of the patient's medical situation, the gentle-faced brunette had already left a lasting impression on those around him. Granted, there were at least two other people yet to encounter the emerald-eyed man who would find their own lives as irrevocably altered by knowing him as Gojyo would discover his own to be, but at that point in time, they were busy following their own separate paths.

Even as the man who would one day enter combat alongside and be willing to die for them was laying in a coma, far away, a blond twenty year old man was predictably chastising an umber-haired boy for his noisiness with a few well placed blows of a paper fan. [2] In return, the boy would try to be quiet for awhile, then return to happily pestering him until the high priest gave in and turned him loose on some unsuspecting noodle shop owner. Cries of delight would echo off walls in that not-so-distant city muffling a grunt of annoyance, two sounds that Hakkai would one day consider welcome evidence of the healthy balance within the group who would be closer to him than family ever could be.

For now, though, the insensate man couldn't even hear some softly spoken words of encouragement from the crimson-haired man who remained by his side as Gonou lay in the wagon unknowingly awaiting the move to his new home.

*****

To be continued.

Author's Notes:

[1] The description of Gojyo's apartment used here is based on a barely legible pair of tiny sketches in an artbook that I have as well as from careful observation of the anime. Basically, his place is one large bedroom with a twin bed against one wall, a large trunk of some sort, a bookcase with unspecified contents, a closet-like area concealed behind a screen, a small table with two straight-back chairs, a tiny kitchen, and a fairly generous bathroom. There's no couch or other comfortable place for Gojyo to have slept for the month or so Gonou was with him, but I can't believe that he would've shared the tiny bed with the seriously injured man the whole time. Instead, I've chosen to use some creative license and have assumed there were some extra blankets or something in the trunk or closet area which Gojyo can use to make a bedroll for the floor. I've also added a table lamp since that ugly overhead light fixture had to get old after awhile, but the rest is as close to my best guess based on the fuzzy images in the artbook as I can offer.

[2] My apologies to the Sanzo and Goku fans that this is such a brief reference to them, but since this is primarily a Gojyo/Gonou POV piece at this point and they haven't met yet, this was the best I could do. There will be more of them when it matches the storyline from the anime along with a few other "peeks" at them if they fit, but I just wanted everyone to know there was no intention of ignoring these two marvelous bishounen.