Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Time ❯ On The Wind ( Chapter 13 )

 

Rei and Hakkai made their way through the market at a fairly good pace. She introduced him to all of the merchants she spoke to as they went. Oddly enough to Hakkai's mind every merchant greeted her warmly and she barely had to negotiate on prices. That seemed strange to him considering he'd seen the way people tended to treat halfbreeds through Gojyo. He turned toward Rei intending to ask her about it when she smiled at him and he seemed to lose all train of thought.

 

“We'll have to go back to the edge of town and have Hakuryuu change soon. I'm not sure I want to lug all of this around for the rest of the morning,” she said, adjusting the weight of one of the bags she was carrying.

 

“I think you may be right,” Hakkai said. “If you have no objections we can do that after we finish at the next place.”

 

“No trouble. The next stop is at Miraim's and she'll want to feed us at very least before we go.”

 

“You certainly seem to be well received here, Rei.”

 

She shrugged. “It's mostly because of Dad. Everyone loved him,” she said, smiling wistfully at the memory. “Here we are.”

 

They came to a stop in front of a small shop instead of a merchant's tent. Rei ducked in the door and set her bags on a low lying table. Hakkai followed her in and his senses registered a thousand and one different kinds of spices and herbs. This had to be a spice shop or an apothecary's place at very least. An extremely old woman made her way slowly from the back of the shop, smiling widely at Rei.

 

“I'd heard you were coming,” the old woman said, hugging Rei tightly.

 

Rei laughed. It was the first time Hakkai had really heard her laugh and he seemed to be momentarily mesmerized by the sound of it.

 

“How did you hear that? Especially since I didn't know I was coming in until early this morning.”

 

“I hear things on the wind,” she said, looking around Rei at Hakkai. “And who's this lovely young man? I didn't know you were interested in gaining another husband, Rei.”

 

“He isn't . . . I mean . . . we're not,” Rei stammered for a moment then took a deep breath to regain her scattered wits. “He isn't staying permanently, Miriam. He's just traveling through, staying at the inn with his companions.”

 

“Hmmm. Maybe he isn't staying for now,” Miriam said, moving over to where Hakkai was standing by the door. “But he is coming back. How are you called, child?”

 

Hakkai bowed deeply to her. “My name is Cho Hakkai, Grandmother.”

 

“It is now but that wasn't your name to begin with,” she said, patting him on the hand. “That's fine. We all have pasts that we need to deal with. Come to the back, we'll have a light lunch and I'll let you children be on your way.”

 

Rei laughed a little, sensing extreme discomfort from Hakkai because of what had been said and trying to distract Miriam a little from her focus on him. “I'm nearing thirty winters, Miriam, and I've been married before. I'd hardly say that counts for being a child.”

 

“It does when the person calling you that is close to a hundred winters. Now, come along. I'll find some fresh meat for the dragon,” she said, wandering back to the rear of the shop and motioning for them to follow.

 

“Rei,” Hakkai said nervously. “How did she . . .”

 

“I probably should have warned you before hand. Miriam is a seer. One of the few real ones I've ever met among a vast number of charlatans. Unlike me, she can control her gifts. If it makes you feel any better, she read my whole life the first day I met her. Scared me out of my mind.”

 

“I can certainly see why,” Hakkai said, following her somewhat reluctantly to the back of the small shop.

 

Miriam already had tea poured into china cups that looked as though they might break at the merest wrong breath. There were bowls of soup set out as well and Hakkai was slightly embarrassed by the way his stomach growled as soon as the smell hit him.

 

“Go ahead and start eating. Soup's good on a chilly day like today,” Miriam said, bustling around the small table and setting down a small plate for Hakuryuu. “My, aren't you a talented thing, little one. Being able to turn into a vehicle must be a rare gift indeed.”

 

Hakuryuu chirped and squeaked at her. Unlike the way Rei communicated with him, Miriam returned the chirps and for some insane reason it seemed to Hakkai that they were having a real conversation. After that, they ate while she and Rei discussed the herbs and spices she needed for a while in between bites before Miriam became very serious.

 

“Rei, do you have your weapons with you?”

 

“Of course I do,” Rei said, shifting her tunic to show one of sheathed blades strapped to her upper thigh.

 

“Good. That's good. I can feel the darkness clearer by the day. I can't say when exactly. Either tonight or tomorrow at the earliest. They'll probably hit near the inn since it's close to the edge of town. Not to mention, most of them have a grudge against you.”

 

“Of course they do. If I were one of them I'd have a grudge against me as well.”

 

“It shouldn't have fallen to you to do this,” Miriam said, shaking her head. “Not after everything you've been through.”

 

Rei shrugged. “It has to be me, Miriam. No one else has the strength or speed to counter them.”

 

“That still doesn't make it right or fair.”

 

“Whoever said life was fair?” Rei said, patting the old woman gently on the shoulder. “If you'd get me those spices, I'd appreciate it. We really do need to get going.”

 

Hakkai watched Miriam putter around gathering the things Rei had asked for. Rei was also helping, getting things from higher shelves that the older woman couldn't quite stretch to reach anymore. Miriam wandered over and set a variety of jars and small bags down on the low table where Rei had set the other foodstuff. She turned to him and smiled slightly.

 

“Let me see your hands, child,” she said in a tone of voice that brooked no refusal or argument.

 

Hakkai reluctantly let her take his hands in hers. She turned them over, studying the lines for a few moments before speaking again.

 

“A complete break in the lifeline. See how it's so short here,” she pointed out. “But it starts again further down then breaks again. That's why it seems like it ends completely even though it doesn't. So much grief. I see sorrow and pain have been constant companions for you throughout your life. You didn't heed the adage that whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. That worked to your advantage and detriment. You are a thousand times more than what you were before but you were unable to save what you tried to. That was not your choice but hers.”

 

Hakkai winced and tried to pull his hands away but found them held fast, surprising him with the strength she had.

 

“It isn't my place to speak ill of the dead as I'll be joining them in a few years, no doubt. The weight of her passing should not have fallen to your shoulders, not after all you did for her. She could have done that before you arrived or after when you were sleeping. It was cowardice at the highest level. You'll no doubt be angry with me for saying that about her but the truth is what it is. She was right about one thing, Cho Hakkai. You have good hands, make sure you use them well,” she said, dropping his hands and meandering back over to where Rei was standing on one of the small ladders to get something on a top shelf.

 

Rei stepped down and turned to look at Hakkai, who was still standing by the door and looking at his hands. She turned a quizzical glance on Miriam who shrugged.

 

“What in the name of all the long forgotten gods did you say to him?” Rei asked.

 

“People rarely handle the truth well, child. They would rather bury themselves in guilt and gloss over what doesn't suit their frame of mind. Be careful with him. For all of his strengths he's still quite fragile.”

 

Rei nodded and paid her then herded Hakkai and Hakuryuu out into the open air, calling her thanks for lunch over her shoulder.

 

“Well, we should probably get somewhere that Hakuryuu can change without being seen,” Rei said.

 

They walked to a deserted street where Hakuryuu transformed into the jeep once again and Rei loaded the things she had bought into the back seat. Taking the groceries out of Hakkai's hands with minimal protest, she frowned a little, worry creasing the space between her eyebrows. She reached up and touched the side of his face gently, a little startled when he jerked back from her suddenly. She dropped her hand and sighed heavily. Things had been going so well too, she thought.

 

“Maybe we should just get back. I can pick up the rest of the things I need tomorrow.”

 

Hakkai just nodded, still lost in deep thought about what had just been said to him. They drove back to the inn in relative silence Hakkai finally snapping out of it as they neared their destination.

 

“Rei, I didn't mean to be rude back in town. It's just . . .”

 

“Don't concern yourself, Hakkai. I'm not much of one for being touched either, even now,” she said with a shrug.

 

“It isn't that. Miriam, she . . . told me something I really hadn't thought about and I'm not sure I was ready to hear it.”

 

“If you weren't ready to hear it, she wouldn't have told you.”

 

Hakkai nodded, his mind switching gears to other things that had been said. He stopped Hakuryuu and turned to look at Rei. “Why did she ask if you had weapons on you? And why would you have them in the first place?”

 

“I've had them on me for years now,” she said, removing one of the blades from its sheath. It was unlike anything Hakkai had ever seen before. The hilt was obviously carved ivory but what was unusual was the blade itself, it was solid black yet vaguely see through and glinted in the sunlight. “Dad said the blades were made of obsidian, it's a kind of glass that's made when something he called a volcano erupts.”

 

“Yes. I've read about it but I've never actually seen it.”

 

“As for why she asked if I had them on me, she senses the youkai who've lost their minds before they ever arrive. Them among other things. It's like an early warning system for the town.”

 

“I'm presuming that you take care of that for the town,” Hakkai said carefully.

 

“Who better than me? I've been a fighter most of my life, I'm as fast and strong as one of them without the weaknesses. It makes sense for it to be me.”

 

Hakkai nodded, idly wondering about her younger years. From what Anya had told everyone, none of them had a happy childhood, all of them had grown up at least partially on the streets. As he looked back on it, his years at the orphanage hadn't been so bad. They had been lonely, yes, but not bad. Certainly not anything like what Rei had apparently experienced. They drove the rest of the way chatting about the weather, what flowers were just starting to bloom, etc, but nothing of any real importance.