Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Marionette ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

CHAPTER THREE

The next morning, Hakkai parked Gojyo in the living room with his son's old grammar and storybooks. The scientist was amazed by the learning speed of the clone. He was relieved at least that the data processing function of the master circuit inside his brain was functioning properly. After thirty minutes, Hakkai left Gojyo alone so he could clean up his lab in the basement. He couldn't help but smile, hearing the marionette read out loud the words that were written in the alphabet book.

"A is for apple, B is for boy, C is for cat, like Kwannon, D is for dog, like Jiroushin," Gojyo slowly intoned, a frown of concentration fixed on his brow. "E is for egg, F is for flower, G is for…" Giggles. "Gojyo, of course! H is for…HAKKAI!"

Thinking he finally got the marionette out of his hair at the sound of that happy whoop, Hakkai set his mind to the work at hand. It took over an hour for him to clean up half of the lab, as he tried to salvage any working parts he could still use for his computer.

Just as he was about to begin on the shattered remains of the cloning chamber, a cheerful voice called his name.

"Hakkai?"

The geneticist turned to see Gojyo grinning at him, carrying an armload of books. "What is it, Gojyo?"

Holding the books out to him, the marionette eagerly requested, "More PUHLEEZE!"

Hakkai couldn't resist that sweet smile. Taking the books, he said, "Very well. Wait for me in the living room. I'll get some more for you."

However, unknown to Hakkai, rather than obey, Gojyo followed him to his son's bedroom. As he was placing the books back on the shelf and pulling out more, Gojyo curiously peeked through the door.

"Nice room!" the marionette said in awe. "Lots an' lots of books! An' really pretty toys!"

Before Hakkai could stop him, Gojyo sped past him and grabbed the patchwork Teddy Bear lying on the bed, cuddling and kissing it lovingly.

"NO! Gojyo, no!" Hakkai chided him, gripping his shoulders. "You're not allowed to be in this room."

The marionette blinked at him, that full lower lip sticking out in a pout. "Why not?"

"This is someone else's room, and these are someone else's things." Hakkai pried the Teddy Bear out of Gojyo's grasp with much difficulty. "You can't take things without asking permission. I'm just borrowing these books for you."

"I don't understand," Gojyo mumbled, scratching his head.

"You'll learn it soon enough. Come! Let's go back to the living room."

The marionette skipped off ahead of him. When he reached the living room, Gojyo had already plopped down on the carpet, waiting eagerly for him.

"Thank you!" said Gojyo gratefully, taking the books from him.
"You're welcome." He pulled out a thick tome. "Here's a dictionary. If you don't know the word, you can look for its meaning in here."

"Thank you again!" the clone grinned.

"Again, you're very welcome!" Hakkai even playfully ruffled the marionette's hair.

Giggling, Gojyo briskly shook his head, that his hair was messed up.

"I'm going to sic my comb on you later, Gojyo." As an afterthought, Hakkai warned, "I don't want you going inside that room, okay?"

"Okay," the marionette replied, not looking at him, as he opened one book.

The scientist then headed back to the lab, thinking he had another hour to work. So it was to his surprise when Gojyo showed up again with his earnest request for "More PUHLEEZE!" thirty minutes later. This happened several times that it made it impossible for Hakkai to get any more work done. Worse, in only a few short hours, Gojyo's intelligence has reached the level of a High School student. Despite this, the marionette still behaved like an exuberant child.

Wanting the clone to get engrossed with his readings, Hakkai decided to haul his wife's entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Gojyo's jaw dropped at the thick tomes that Hakkai laid before him.

"But," the marionette began with a grimace, flipping through the pages, "these books don't have any pictures."

"True, but you'll learn a lot from them."

Gojyo pointed to sliding glass door, leading to the garden. "They don't like it without pictures."

Hakkai saw that his animal clones were sitting side by side outside the door.

Pointing to the Golden Retriever, Gojyo said, "Jiroushin's teaching me Arithmetic." Gesturing to the Persian cat, he added, "Kwannon's teaching me how to read."

"Gojyo, they're animals. They don't know how to read or count."

"That's what you think." The marionette beamed at the dog. "Hey, Jiroushin, what's 7 plus 3?"

To Hakkai's amazement, the Golden Retriever barked ten times. "That's impossible!" he blurted out.

"Oh, yeah! What's 20 divided by 5?"

At once, Jiroushin barked four times.

"If you're so good, Jiroushin," Hakkai began, " what is 9,765 divided by 15 minus 408 plus 376 times 78?"

There was a smug grin on the geneticist's face when the dog fell silent. But he then gave him a series of seemingly inconsequential barks.

Gojyo looked at Hakkai. "Jiroushin said the answer is 48,282. Is there anything else you want to ask him? If you like, Jiroushin said that you could throw him a trigo...trigono...whatever equation and he'll give you the answer."

The scientist gave the marionette a dubious glance. "Are you sure you didn't compute this yourself? You didn't do this for Jiroushin?"

"Nope!" said Gojyo, shaking his head. "I also got the same answer, but Jiroushin beat me to it." Then, the clone was distracted by Kwannon's meowing. "Kwannon is asking when are you going to teach me Shakespeare? 'To be or not to be, that is the question...'" Frowning, the marionette looked at the cat. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Even Hakkai found himself staring at the cat, his jaw slack. Kwannon merely ignored that rather stupid expression on the scientist's face and licked her tail.

"You understand what they're saying?" Hakkai asked the clone.

"I hear them inside my head."

Again, there was a meow outside. Turning, Hakkai saw that the cat was staring straight at Gojyo. Then, the cat waved its paw.

"Is Kwannon talking to you?" the good doctor queried.

"Uh huh!" Gojyo confirmed. "She said that a growing boy, like me, needs to go out and play."

At that reply, Kwannon hissed her dissent.

"It doesn't look like that's what she said." Hakkai gazed at the now blushing clone. "Is that what you want to do right now? Do you want to go out and play?"

"Not really! I want to read a little more."

Outside, Kwannon hissed again, her emerald eyes focusing on some location inside the house, but Hakkai could not pinpoint where.

"Shut up, Kwannon!" the marionette snapped at the cat. "That's not true!"

"What's 'not true'?"

"That I want to do something else instead of read." Gojyo looked at Hakkai with desperate pleading. "Please don't believe her, Hakkai. I swear all I want to do is read and learn more."

Hakkai sighed. "Oh, all right! But if you want to go out and play with Jiroushin and Kwannon, just tell me. I don't want you guys wandering outside the gates."

There was a soft meow. Exasperated by the snitch of a cat, Jiroushin nipped Kwannon's fluffy tail and dragged her off.

"What did Kwannon say/" asked Hakkai, noting the troubled frown on the marionette's brow.

"He said we're 'not guys'. We're siblings." Gojyo looked quizzically at Hakkai. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Though he knew exactly what the cat meant -- that because they were clones, they were siblings, the scientist answered instead, "Probably she meant the saying in the Bible -- that all living creatures are equal in the eyes of God."

"What's the Bible? Is that a book? And who's God?"

"The Bible is very heavy reading for you right now." Hakkai smiled at him. "One time, when I've finished my work, we'll go through it together."
"Yes," beamed Gojyo. "I would like that."

Hakkai knelt before the marionette. "Now, Gojyo, I still have to clean up the lab. I want to get the computer running." Winking, he added, "If you'll be a good boy and let me finish, I'll hook you up to the Internet, so you could learn more stuff and see great pictures."

Gojyo's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really!" Hakkai nodded. "Now I want you to stay right here. I'll be checking up on you later and we could eat lunch."

"Okay, Hakkai!" the marionette said obediently as he bent down over Volume One of the encyclopedia.

~~~~~

However, as it usually happens to him when he's engrossed with his work, Hakkai lost track of the time. He gazed up at the clock and found that it was already 1:30 PM.

The geneticist hurried to the kitchen and cooked a quick meal for him and the clone. But when he went into the living room, Gojyo was gone. Thinking he went outside, Hakkai went to the garden, calling the marionette's name. Gojyo, though, was nowhere in the garden.

"GOJYO!" he called out, getting worried.

Then, Jiroushin plodded up to him, tongue lolling.

"Have you seen Gojyo?" Hakkai just found himself asking the dog.

Jiroushin shook his head briskly. Turning to Kwannon, who was lounging on a deck chair, he barked once. The cat looked at Hakkai for a moment with its round green eyes, and then peered into the house.

"But he's not inside the house. I called him but he doesn't answer." To Hakkai, he sounded stupid talking to the two animals.

Kwannon, however, gave him that smug, know-it-all pout and looked back inside the house.

Suddenly, the geneticist remembered a bit of the conversation he had earlier with the marionette, about the cat's accusing the clone of wanting to do something else instead of reading.

Hakkai gave Kwannon an incredulous glance, and quickly ran back inside the house, and headed up the stairs. He hoped he would find the marionette in his room. To his dismay, it was empty. Stepping out into the hallway, Hakkai turned to look in the direction of his son's bedroom. The door was open.

A displeased scowl on his face, Hakkai made his way to the room. The scientist groaned at the sight that greeted him.

His son's books and toys were scattered all over the floor. Sitting in the middle of the mess was Gojyo. Seated on his lap was the worn patchwork Teddy Bear. The marionette was happily reciting nursery rhymes to the toy.

At once, anger and resentment rose inside Hakkai's heart, seeing his beloved shrine invaded. "What are you doing in here?"

Still ignorant of human emotions, Gojyo smiled and answered, "Look at all these wonderful toys, Hakkai. I was teaching Teddy how to read."

Furious, Hakkai tore the bear out of Gojyo's grasp and shook it before the startled marionette's face. "Didn't I tell you not to go in here?"

"I...I didn't want to bother you." Gojyo couldn't understand the sudden, frightening change of behavior in his guardian. "I finished all the books you gave me. I just wanted to read the nursery rhymes again."

"This is my son's room!" Hakkai yelled at him. "These are his books! These are his toys! You're not supposed to touch any of them without my permission! Hell, you're not even supposed to be in here!"

The marionette bit his lower lip, shrinking back from the geneticist's anger. "I didn't want to bother you because you were so busy."

"Well, what you did was WRONG! You disobeyed me, Gojyo! You did a very bad thing!"

Gojyo shook his head in utter confusion. He could feel something wet filling his eyes. "Hakkai, I don't understand. What is 'wrong'? What is 'bad'? Please explain this to me so I'll understand."

But Hakkai pointed his finger to the door. "GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!"

Although he was burning with curiosity, there was something in the scientist's tone of voice that caused Gojyo to get to his feet. Apparently, that move was too slow for Hakkai that he grabbed the marionette's arm and pushed him outside the door. Before the clone could look back at his angry guardian, Hakkai slammed the door in his face.

Inside the room, alone with the cherished possessions of his son, Hakkai was shocked by what he had just done. Sliding down to the floor, he found himself breaking into tears.


"Why are you and Mommy always fighting, Tousan?" Linchei asked him in confusion. "Don't you love each other anymore? I don't understand what's happening!"

Suddenly, there were flames. He could see the face of a terrified little boy, a woman unconscious and bleeding in his arms. And his screams...

"TOUSAN! HELP US, TOUSAN!"


"Nooo!" Hakkai whimpered as he blocked the memories from his mind, hammering them back into the dark recesses of his subconscious. He hugged Linchei's Teddy Bear to his chest, rocking back and forth, his back hitting the side of the bed.

The scientist was in this distraught state for over half an hour, lost in his grief, guilt and pain.

Then, there was a soft knock on the door. Hakkai's head lifted. "Linchei?" he breathed the name, as he quickly stood up. "Linchei, is that you son? Linchei?"

When he opened the door, however, standing outside was the marionette. Hakkai was so disappointed. But then, the expression on Gojyo's face... It reminded him so much of Linchei.

The marionette said solemnly, his voice tremulous, "Webster's Dictionary defines 'bad' as 'not in accordance with an established standard, previous arrangement, given intention, etcetera.' We had a previous arrangement that I shouldn't enter this room. It wasn't the right thing to do." Bowing his head, Gojyo whispered, "I was bad! I'm sorry, Hakkai!"

Hearing these words, Hakkai stared at the marionette in surprise, unable to speak.

Gojyo's lower lip visibly trembled. "As much as I would like to hear you accept my apology, I...I understand if it is...hard...for you to do so. Please let me fix things here. I promise I'll put everything back where they belong."

At these words, the marionette began picking everything up. As the scientist looked on, the clone placed the books in their exact spots on the shelves. He also arranged the toys on the table, fixing them in the same position he had found them. Soon, the room was in order, except for the Teddy Bear in Hakkai's arms.

Giving the geneticist a little smile, Gojyo raised his hands to Hakkai. "May I have the bear, please?"

Still speechless, Hakkai handed the toy to the marionette. With greater care than he accorded the other toys, Gojyo laid the toy on the pillow and tucked him in with the blanket. There was a wistful look in his crimson eyes as he struggled to straighten up the satin ribbon.

Gojyo glanced back at the scientist fearfully. "Hakkai, I can't fix the ribbon the way it was."

"It's all right!" Hakkai spoke at last. "It's fine the way it is." Somehow, he just found himself saying, "That's Teddy."

"I thought his name was Linchei."

Hakkai swallowed hard. "Linchei's my son."

"Oh!" Gojyo said timidly, "Where's Linchei? I would like to say sorry to him too for using his books and toys without his permission."

"Linchei..." the good doctor began with difficulty, trying to hold back his tears. "He's...uh...with his mother right now...somewhere."

"Then I'll say sorry to him when he gets back." Gojyo then queried, "Aren't we going to eat yet? Hakkai, I'm hungry."

"Yeah, sure." Striding outside the room, Hakkai exclaimed, "I made a fine lunch for both of us." As he began to babble off the menu, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gojyo pause at the doorway.

"Bye, Teddy!" he whispered, waving sorrowfully to the bear, closing the door with a soft click.

~~~~~

For the rest of the day, Hakkai would find Gojyo standing before his son's bedroom many times. At one point, he actually saw the marionette peeking inside.

"Go to sleep, Teddy," Gojyo said scoldingly. "I've very busy right now."

Those words pinched the scientist's heart.

How many times had I said the same thing to Linchei? mused Hakkai in sorrow.

While he was cooking dinner, Gojyo approached him with great reluctance, twisting a lock of his hair between his fingers.

"What is it, Gojyo?" Hakkai asked the troubled marionette.

"Hakkai?"

"Are you hungry? Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

Gojyo went around the kitchen counter so he could face his guardian. "No, I'm not really hungry."

"So what can I do for you?"

"Hakkai..." The marionette took a deep breath. "Hakkai, I heard Teddy calling my name. If you'll give me permission, I want to check on him for a minute."

"Gojyo, Teddy's just a toy," said Hakkai in mild exasperation. "He can't talk."

The marionette shrugged, a confused frown on his brow. "I know that. But all day, I felt him calling me..." He pointed to his chest where the backup circuit was located. "...here. Then, when I was walking by the bedroom, I clearly heard him call my name."

"It's just your imagination."

"The creative thought process?" Gojyo queried. "If it is my imagination, how come I heard him?"

"Or maybe because you want to be with Teddy that's why you're hearing things."

"Is that how it is?" Gojyo looked at Hakkai with intense longing. "You're not going to let me see him, are you."

Hakkai let out a sigh. "Come now, Gojyo. Let's have supper. Just let Teddy sleep."

"But..."

"He'll be fine, I assure you."

~~~~~

After they had finished dinner, Hakkai brought the marionette into the living room for more lessons. Although Gojyo seemed to listen to him, he could tell that the clone was distracted, those expressive red eyes kept darting up the stairs to his son's bedroom.

"Is Teddy calling you again?" Hakkai asked him.

"No. Toys can't talk." The marionette pretended to yawn.

"You've had a long day, Gojyo. Maybe you'd like to turn in early," the scientist suggested.

"'Turn in'?"

"I mean go to sleep."

"Oh!" Gojyo nodded his head in comprehension. "Okay."

Hakkai escorted the weary marionette up to the bedroom. "Do you want me to give you a bath?"

For a moment, Gojyo's face brightened at that query. He enjoyed bathtime with Hakkai. But then, he became serious and answered, "No, thank you. I can manage."
"Are you sure?" Now, even Hakkai was troubled. When the marionette simply nodded and stood up to go to the bathroom, Hakkai took his hand. "Gojyo, I want to know what you're thinking."

"Nothing, Hakkai. Really!"

"Gojyo?"

Gojyo plopped right down on the bed. "I'm so...confused."

"About what?"

"This...feeling. I can't think of a better word to describe it."

"Yes, and what are you feeling right now?"

"I don't know. It wasn't like this morning. It was nice this morning. But now, it's not the same. It's not nice. It seems...bad. Just as bad as when you left me alone yesterday."

Hakkai frowned. @It can't be! He can't be experiencing... Gojyo's just a cyborg! A marionette!# Still, he had to ask. "This bad feeling... Did it start after what happened in Linchei's bedroom?"

Gojyo bit his lower lip and cast his eyes down on the floor. "Yes," he replied, almost a whisper.

"Gojyo, what you're feeling is sadness." Hakkai tried to explain to the marionette, "It's what you call an emotion. You're sad because I yelled at you for entering Linchei's room and playing with his things without my permission. I was angry, but I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Sometimes, people say things they don't really mean when they're angry. You apologized to me and fixed Linchei's room. I'm sorry if I did not accept your apology. I was wrong, Gojyo. Bad! I hope you could forgive me. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"It's rather hard to understand, but I think so." Gojyo wrapped his arms around Hakkai's waist, hugging him. "I'm sorry, Hakkai. I promise I won't be bad. I don't want you to be angry with me."

The scientist held the marionette tightly. "I swear I won't yell at you like that ever again. I want you to be happy."

"What's 'happy'?"

"'Happy' is the way you felt this morning. The nice feeling."

A shy smile formed on Gojyo's lips. "I'm happy now."

"That's good!" Hakkai pulled away slightly to grin at his ward. "Come on then! I'll give you a bath!"

A few minutes later, the good doctor was tucking Gojyo into bed. As Hakkai bade the marionette "Good night," Gojyo suddenly called to him before he could leave.

"Hakkai, could you please check on Teddy for me?" the marionette pleaded with him. "Please tell him 'Good night' for me?"

"Okay, Gojyo," Hakkai reassured him as he closed the light.

Somehow, the scientist found himself heading in the direction of his son's room. Opening the night lamp, he saw Teddy's beady eyes staring up at him. Hakkai sat on the bed, picking up the bear.

"Why are you still awake, Teddy?" he whispered gently. "You should be asleep now." Hakkai pressed the bear's snout to his ear. "What's that you say? You can't sleep?" As his fingers caressed the green satin ribbon, Hakkai remarked, "Maybe I have a way to cure your insomnia."

Saying this, Hakkai took the bear and went back to the guest room. But as he suspected, Gojyo was no longer inside. With a sigh, Hakkai padded to his bedroom and found the marionette lying in his bed. To his amusement, Gojyo even left a space for him on one side. Going towards the sleeping figure, Hakkai tucked Teddy in with the marionette.

"Hakkai?" asked Gojyo drowsily. "I want to sleep with you. Please? I couldn't sleep in my room all alone."

"Well, it seems someone couldn't sleep either," the scientist declared. "I hope you don't mind the three of us sharing one bed."

It was only then that the marionette realized who was in bed with him. "Teddy?" Gojyo gave the bear an exuberant embrace. "Oh, Teddy! It is you!" A beautiful smile curled up the corners of his lips. "Thank you, Hakkai! I swear I'll take real good care of Teddy for you and Linchei!"

Getting into bed with the marionette and the bear, Hakkai found himself staring at that beatific smile. So innocent, his clone was. So kind, so gentle. Just like...

"I know you will, Angel," Hakkai whispered. "I know you will."

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