Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Gesture Without Motion ❯ three: a reunion in death's other kingdom ( Chapter 3 )

“…sunlight on a broken column

there, is a tree swinging

and voices are

in the wind's singing

more distant and more solemn

than a fading star…”

 

three: a reunion in death's other kingdom

 

Darkness and the stifling humidity of hot water—a sudden reminder of the state of his own hygiene. What he would gladly sacrifice for a bath…

 

…footsteps.

 

Clinking metal.

 

He blindly turned towards the source of sound; moisture dripping onto his upturned face—residue from a fleeting caress, droplets streaming down wet hair.

 

Click. The smell of burning. A lighter—his lighter—used.

 

Brightness with the removal of the blindfold, or was the newly acquired sense due to the soft pool radiating from the just-lit candle?

 

A drawn breath and a shaky exhale: “Konzen,” more a lover's clinging call than a statement.

 

“I'm not your fucking lover anymore,” a spat rebuke at the amused demigod.

 

Delighted laughter. (The sound of irony.)

 

 

“—So you remember.”

 

 

“…those who have crossed

with direct eyes to death's other Kingdom

remember us - if at all - not as lost

violent souls, but only

as the hollow men…”