Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction / Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction / Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ When We Remembered ❯ The Tape ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: The Tape

 

Sanzo managed to shove the door shut and lock it before any of the wretched red-haired women could follow him in. He could hear them pounding on the other side of the wood, wailing on about something or other. Bitches. This place was worse than annoying. Time to grab the stupid kappa and get the hell out. Bracing his back against the door, Sanzo turned and opened his mouth to rain wordly fury down on the object of his misfortune.

Instead his breath hissed out of him like a slowly deflating balloon. The kappa sat sprawled on a hideous flower-patterned couch to his right. Gojyo's face had twisted into a ridiculous expression, lips opening and closing like a fish sucking water. Crimson eyes jerked downward and Sanzo's followed, fixating on the hand that was jammed rather unsubtly into the red-head's open pants. Fuck, leave the pervert alone for one minute and look what happens. A little thrill of lust shot through him and he bit his tongue hard to contain it. If the moron was jerking off to one of those harlots….

Sanzo's frenzied brain had just begun to imagine the best place to rip Gojyo a new orifice when a flicker in the corner of his eye made him turn his head. It took a moment to process the grainy image playing on the TV screen but when it finally dawned on him what he was staring at, his hand clenched so hard around his gun that it began to rattle. He lurched toward the kappa and the next second felt his fist impact against the other man's jaw, knowing him off the couch and onto the polished stone floor.

“Wait, Sanzo, I can explain—” Gojyo began but was cut off as Sanzo dug the edge of his palm into his throat and with his other hand aimed his Smith & Wesson right between the kappa's eyes.

“You found it?!” he growled out. “You fucking watched it?!” A stream of expletives poured from his mouth until he ran out of breath and lowered his weight onto the kappa's chest. He didn't know what horrified him more, the fact that Gojyo had seen, or the fact that Han had recorded it in the first place. Thank god he'd shot that bastard dead.

“Hey! Hey!” Gojyo's hands wrapped around the wrist under his chin, trying to pry him off. “I'm the one who should be pissed here - fucking corrupt monk molesting me in my sleep.”

Sanzo snarled and dug the barrel of his gun harder into Gojyo's skin. “Say that again and you're dead.”

Gojyo let out a frustrated hiss and squirmed underneath him. “For the love of… it's no big deal ya big baby. I just wish you'd woke me up.” He pulled on Sanzo's wrist again and when the pressure failed to let up, continued in a raspy, strained voice, “Look you can get rid of it and we'll never speak of it again, okay? I promise I'll keep my mouth shut…” the corners of his mouth teased into a grin, “if y'do it again while I'm conscious.”

Sanzo pulled back and swatted the kappa upside the head with the grip of his gun. As Gojyo curled his head into his arms and moaned with pain, Sanzo raised his gun and aimed it carefully at the TV across the room.

When he didn't shoot, Gojyo peeked out from under his forearm and asked, “What?” The kappa craned his head back to get a look at the screen.

The grainy overhead shot of Han's spare bedroom had disappeared. In its place was an image of a winding spiral staircase threading down into darkness and oblivion.

“That wasn't on there before,” Gojyo muttered. As they watched, the viewpoint lurched away to focus on a group of armed men running down the stairs. A hand with a long-barreled gun raised and the men were quickly dispatched, but more appeared right behind them. A golden streak slipped by the edge of the frame and the view spun to follow it. When the image finally focused again, they could see a man with long golden hair clinging to a thick wire that hung down through the center of the stairwell, a small body dangling from his other arm. He slipped precariously lower, struggling to maintain his hold.

Sanzo's eyes widened as he recognized his self from his dreams. How could that person - Konzen - be on this tape? And the boy he was holding, that had to be Goku…

The long-barreled gun appeared again and picked off an archer below, then aimed straight for the wire. Sanzo wanted to shout, warn, something, but his throat had closed up. The gun fired and the bullet hit its target dead on. But the wire didn't snap immediately. Instead Konzen seemed to use the impact to start himself swinging and tossed the boy in his grasp towards a man on the stairs with shoulder-length dark hair (Hakkai?!). Then the wire began to shred and the view tilted into a blur. Unconsciously, Sanzo leaned forward, digging his nails into Gojyo's shoulder. Was he witnessing Konzen's death?

But then an arm reached out and latched firmly around a wrist and Sanzo found himself staring at his own dream-self's surprised face, somehow saved by the wielder of the gun. Words seemed to be exchanged and Konzen, looking slightly embarrassed, allowed himself to be drawn up to safety. The picture faded into static.

“I said to you `you and your kid are more trouble than you're worth',” Gojyo explained in a uncharacteristically soft voice. Sanzo wrenched his eyes away from the screen to give Gojyo a surprised look. “And then you told me to shut up,” the kappa chuckled.

Sanzo swallowed hard, trying to process Gojyo's words. So it had been Gojyo's other self, that Kenren, who had caught Konzen? Memories of another incident, near the start of that whole Kami-sama idiocy, rose unbidden to the surface of his thoughts. A fall off a cliff was not on his list of acceptable ways to die, but he could have met his end that day if Gojyo had not been quick with his shakujo. Fuck, he hated debts. The kappa had never given him a good answer about why he'd saved him then either.

“When that tunnel started to collapse,” said Gojyo, “that scene just flashed through my head like a waking dream or somethin'. I dunno how it got on that tape though.”

Sanzo frowned. He really didn't want to follow that train of thought. It suggested that those fucked up dreams would continue to taunt him. “Shut up,” he mumbled, and glared when he realized Gojyo had a silly grin on his face. “What are you smiling at you roach?”

The back of his thighs tingled as Gojyo's hands settled there. “I'd say you owe me pretty good, monk. I obviously saved your butt in our past life and I've been being real nice t'ya in this one.”

“Tch, you better stop right there before your mouth gets you into trouble.”

“Oh, I'd say your mouth is a lot naughtier than mine.”

Sanzo shifted a little higher on Gojyo's chest. “I think you just need more practice.”

Gojyo's hands crept around Sanzo's ass and up to his shoulder blades, tugging him down till Sanzo arched over him, resting on his elbows. “You trying to flirt with me, monk?”

No, I'm trying to get another blowjob, idiot. For some reason his eyes had become stuck to Gojyo's lips and he couldn't seem to look away. He suddenly became very aware that Gojyo's fly was still open; that the kappa had been jerking off mere minutes before to a tape with a suspicious lack of females and a decided overabundance of one Genjo Sanzo. Dammit, this wasn't the time for these thoughts. A horde of fem-Gojyos were camped outside the door and Hakkai and Goku could come looking for them any minute.

“Sanzo…” Gojyo whispered. “I'm kinda hurtin' here.”

“Ch. And whose fault is that?”

“Yours, obviously. You're not getting shy on me, are ya cherry-chan?”

“Shut up. You're whinier than the monkey.” Sanzo shoved himself back to grind down hard against the kappa's hips and relished the moan that escaped Gojyo.

The kappa's eyelids fluttered shut. “Sanzo, please…”

Begging? He liked the sound of that. Sanzo glanced cautiously over at the door as though to assure himself that it was still firmly shut then set his gun down on the floor within easy reach. He snuck his hand down between their bodies to capture Gojyo's erection. The kappa bit his lip and arched against the floor. One of his hands lifted from Sanzo's back to clutch at the back of his neck. Sanzo allowed himself to be drawn down into a kiss but latched his free hand into Gojyo's hair to keep him pinned to the floor. No way he was giving up control here.

When he finally broke the kiss, Gojyo ducked his head under Sanzo's chin, breath feathering against his neck. Sanzo's right hand began a steady rhythm that faltered only once when Gojyo began to suck at his skin.

“Don't leave a mark, you ass.”

“Mmm, you left one on me.”

“What? I did not?”

“Yeah you did. On my dick. Take a look.”

Sanzo started to look down before he caught himself and tugged hard on Gojyo's hair. Dammit, he'd almost fallen for that. “Nice try, but you're the cocksucker.”

“Not according to the video evidence…” Gojyo squawked a little as Sanzo stopped pumping and clenched his hand. “Aw c'mon, it just wants another face t'face meeting.” He thrust his hips, trying desperately to regain the delicious friction. “Y'know you wanna.”

Sanzo considered the man below him; the pleading, lust-filled eyes, the scars that seemed to smolder in the flush of his skin, the fiery halo spilling over the floor. He leaned in to tease that full bottom lip with his teeth, then whispered, “No, I want to fuck you.”

When he pulled back, Gojyo's eyes had widened in surprise the body under him suddenly went tense. “W-what?!”

“You heard me.”

“I think you've got it backwards, monk. In the dreams I was always the one doing the fucking.”

“So?”

“So no way! And you wouldn't do it right!”

Sanzo frowned and raised an eyebrow. “It's not rocket science.”

“Hey, you're the one who hadta jump me while I was sleeping so I couldn't compare your sucky-ass BJ to the awesome ones I've gotten from chicks.”

Sanzo felt a vein threatening to pop from his skull. He reached for his gun and jabbed it under Gojyo's chin.

The kappa held up his hands. “Okay, okay, I take it back. Sorry, jeeze.”

“On the couch.”

“Eh?”

“Sit your ass down on the fucking couch.” Sanzo raised himself up on his knees to allow the kappa to wiggle out from under him. Gojyo blinked dumbly, but seemed eager enough to back away from the deadly weapon pointed in his face. He scuttled backward and pulled himself up onto the couch, clutching the upholstery with tight fists. He looked so deliciously disheveled with his hair awry and cock jutting from his open jeans that Sanzo murmured a soft approval and licked his lips. He secreted his gun back into his robes and as Gojyo watched, tucked away the sutra and set about slowly peeling back the upper half of his robes. He crept forward on his knees and put on hand on the kappa's thigh.

“Are you scared of me, Gojyo?” he asked, and couldn't help the small smirk that twisted his lips.

“Who the fuck wouldn't be? Crazy, homicidal—”

“Good,” said Sanzo, and bent down to take Gojyo's erection in his mouth.

 

***

 

Gotta hand it to the monk - what he lacks in technique he makes up for in sheer willpower. Gojyo collapsed back onto the couch, brushing back the strands of hair that had stuck to his sweat-slick skin. He couldn't remember his heart ever pumping this madly after a simple blowjob, and a real sloppy one at that. But the way the monk glared at him with that deadly-sharp gaze as his teeth scraped against too-sensitive flesh just screamed gorgeous danger.

Sanzo pulled himself up onto the couch beside him and casually wiped his chin. But the oh-so-serious expression on his face couldn't hide the pink tint in his cheeks. Gojyo chuckled and grabbed him by the side of his head, dragging him in for a hard kiss. After a few moments of delicious tongue-battle, Sanzo shoved him back, grumbling, but Gojyo thought he saw the corner of his lips curl up into a fleeting smile.

Sanzo stood and started rearranging his clothing back into a modest monkly appearance. “Let's go,” he said. “Hakkai and Goku will be waiting.”

Gojyo nodded, though really he wanted to languish in his satisfied haze a little longer. “Uh, Sanzo?” he said as he reluctantly rose and stretched then zipped himself up.

“What?”

“You notice the pool in the other room?”

“What about it?”

“So there's some freaky shit going on here. Han's mom told me some crazy story that they were trying to cancel the Minus Wave.”

Sanzo stopped in his tracks on the way to the door. “You met his mother?”

“Yeah. And she ain't gonna be too happy with you, let me tell ya.”

“All the more reason to leave now.” Sanzo put a hand on the door handle, then glanced back warily at Gojyo.

Gojyo folded his hands behind his head and grinned. “Don't worry, I'll take care of the chicks.”

“Ch.”

Easier said than done. The minute they stepped out the door the girls encircled them, forming a wall of soft female flesh and suspicious stares that seemed focused on Sanzo. Damn, how come the monk always gets all the attention, seriously?

A couple of the girls started whispering to each other and suddenly Gojyo wondered if they'd heard at least some of what had gone on in that room through the door. Normally that sort of thing didn't bother him, but normally usually involved a hot babe in his lap, not a Sanzo monk with a wicked, wicked mouth. Fuck, the sooner he was back in the jeep sucking calming nicotine into his lungs, the better.

Well he wasn't gonna waste time brooding about it. Sanzo did enough of that for all of them. Gojyo casually looped his arm around the monk's shoulders and gave the girls a bright smile. “Yo beauties, the lady of the house back yet?”

The haughty one, Dandan, seemed to be the only one with the guts to frown and fold her arms at him. “You can't leave,” she told him bluntly.

Sanzo shrugged out from under Gojyo's arm. He'd adopted his usual aloof, cold pose, as if even the effort to speak was too good for the listeners. “You can't stop us,” he said.

Dandan glanced warily at Sanzo's hands, and Gojyo realized the monk must have come barging in with his gun drawn threatening to shoot up the place. Heh.

“Sorry ladies, wish we'd met under better circumstances. You ever get outa here you can look me up, kay?”

Sanzo reached back, grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and dragged him out of the pool room. “Stupid horny kappa,” he muttered. The girls seemed to be sufficiently intimidated by his glare to clear them a path. But when they reached the front door, Dandan rushed around them and planted herself infront of it. Sanzo gave her an exasperated look, and Gojyo wondered if he'd have to step between them to save the poor girl's skin.

“Leaving so soon?”

Gojyo spun around in time to see Shihong step through a corridor that branched off to the right of the main room. Shit, she's back. He searched her face for signs of fury, but if she had clued in to the death of her son, she was hiding it well.

“And just when I'd gone to the trouble to arrange a reunion.” She stepped up to Sanzo and seemed pleased that she slightly outmatched him in height. “How did you get in here, monk?”

Sanzo acknowledged her only with a slightly raised eyebrow. The tense mood, however, was quickly broken by a familiar cry.

“Sanzo!” A short form burst past Shihong and wedged between her and Sanzo. Goku bounced around and tried to get his whole story out in one breath, “Sanzo, you never came back last night so we were worried and then everything started shaking and they didn't want to let us go find you but I beat up a bunch of guys and we escaped and we were looking for a way to get up to you when we met this lady and she showed us this really neat tunnel—”

Sanzo reached out a hand and put in on the monkey's head, ruffling a little through his disheveled brown hair. Goku calmed immediately and fell quiet, a big smile plastered on his face.

Heh, cute. Gojyo found himself grinning like an idiot too as he looked past Goku and traded a nod with Hakkai. It always felt weird now when the four of them were separated for too long. He never thought he'd be the kind of guy who'd be comfortable spending all day with a group of dudes, but it had started with Hakkai and now it was just the way of things.

“I have returned your companions to you,” Shihong said to Sanzo, “but I would like to borrow him,” she gestured a Gojyo, “for a little longer.”

Hakkai shot him a questioning glance and Gojyo shrugged. When he got the chance to tell Hakkai the story, it was gonna be a heavily edited version.

“We've wasted too much time here already,” said Sanzo.

“Oh yes, your mission.” As Sanzo stiffened with alertness, Shihong continued, “Forgive me for not recognizing you earlier, great Sanzo monk. Word of your party has spread even to this isolated town. It wasn't until I met all of your companions that I made the connection. I understand your haste, but what if I told you there was a quicker way?”

Sanzo frowned. “I assume you mean that nonsense about cancelling the Minus Wave?”

Shinhong's gaze slipped over to Gojyo for a moment. “Your friend has filled you in, then. Your skepticism is understandable, but perhaps you would permit a demonstration?”

“Ahem,” said Hakkai. “Perhaps we could be filled in as well?”

Shihong gave him a cool smile. “At least one of you is well-mannered.”

Goku looked back and forth between her and Sanzo. “What? What's going on? Aw, someone tell me!”

Gojyo grabbed the monkey by his shoulder and dragged him back from the scary-tall youkai woman. “Oi, monkey, didja miss me?”

“As if I would miss a big red cockroach!”

“Good, cause a night without a loud shrimpy chimp was a perfect vacation.”

“I'm not shrimpy!” yelled Goku, and he punched Gojyo in the stomach hard enough to make him grunt.

“Shut up!” growled Sanzo.

“Can we leave now Sanzo?” Goku asked after a brief wrestling match with Gojyo. “I don't like this place. They didn't even give us breakfast.”

Gojyo raised a hand, “For completely different reasons, I totally agree.”

Shihong glared at them, her long, elegant fingers twitching. “I promise I will not detain you for longer than necessary… eh, where are you going?!”

Sanzo had already turned away and stood by the front door looking for the mechanism that opened it.

“Ah, Sanzo perhaps we could hear her out?” said Hakkai. “She's helped us so far…”

“Leave it, Hakkai,” said Gojyo. “Her experiments triggered that earthquake, so I wouldn't be too keen on encouraging her.”

“That effect,” said Shihong, “is proof that we are getting close.”

Dandan stepped forward, the rest of the girls clustered in behind her. “You speak of wasting time, but do you think we have time to waste either? The effects of the minus wave have destroyed most of my family. If this conflict drags on I won't have anyone left.”

“If you are really the famed Sanzo-ikkou,” said Shihong, “is should be your bound duty to assist us.”

Sanzo whirled around. “You know nothing of my duty,” he snapped.

Shihong put her hands on her hips and tilted her head up to emphasize her height. “That you choose to travel with youkai tells me you do not seek to destroy us entirely, but to stop the problem at its source. Are our goals not the same? Thus far I have managed to hold on to my sanity through my own means, while my brothers descended into madness. Surely you chose your companions for their similar resistance. All I ask is to borrow small measure of that unique capacity.”

“I didn't choose anything,” Sanzo muttered, but he didn't turn away again.

“Perhaps you could explain your methods, Ma'am?” Hakkai suggested in his best soothing voice.

“I told you, a demonstration would be more effective.”

“No demonstrations,” said Sanzo. “Tell us with words or not at all.”

“Very well,” said Shihong.

 

***

 

Gojyo sat on the couch in the main foyer with an unlit cigarette between his lips, watching a couple of the girls in the adjoining kitchen try to teach Goku how to cook. Sanzo and Hakkai were down in the pool room, listening to that woman pitch her yujutsu or whatever experiments. He should probably be with them, but he just couldn't bear to stand around while she talked to Sanzo about how half breeds could do this or that. What a load of bull. When you start thinking the whole world is set against you, when you start building fucking giant walls and concocting heroic plans, that's when things go to shit `cause you stop taking responsibility. Gojyo had been down that road once before and he damn well wasn't ever going back.

The one thing he'd always liked about Sanzo was that the man didn't bill himself as some savior. If you wanted to follow him, you got your own shit together `cause he sure as hell wasn't gonna do it for you.

The cig in his mouth had gotten soft but for some reason he didn't feel like lighting it. He examined it and decided it was a little too chewed up to be worth keeping, so he tossed it into the ashtray one of the girls had set out for him. In the kitchen, Goku had managed to spill sauce all over the front of the flowery apron he was wearing. The girls fussed all over him and for a moment Gojyo contemplated waltzing in there and drawing their attention to a real man. He didn't get up though, just leaned back farther on the couch and turned his head up to stare at the ceiling.

Without a proper distraction, the monk's words from before kept spinning in his head in that sexy-as-hell voice. He should be smug for getting what he wanted but instead the monk had to go and say that and completely throw him off guard. The thought of Sanzo under him and at his mercy, that was one thing, but no fucking way would Sha Gojyo play the woman's role. Dammit, it had been a long time since he'd felt so insecure about a sexual relationship.

Gojyo slapped a hand over his eyes. Crap, how had he gotten in so deep already?

He heard footsteps, and peeled away his hand to see Sanzo stride into the room, looking agitated and flicking his lighter impatiently at the cigarette in his mouth.

“You should stop buying such shitty lighters,” said Gojyo. He casually reached into his pocket and flipped back the cap on his own, offering the open flame at arm's length so that Sanzo had to bend down to partake in it. The monk muttered something that might have been a thanks or a death threat, hard to tell. He sunk down onto the other side of the couch, leaving as much space between them as possible.

“So…” said Gojyo.

“So she almost has me believing it could work… if what she's doing wasn't right on par with the crazies trying to resurrect Gyumaou.”

“What do we do about it then?”

Sanzo blew out a cloud of smoke and sighed. “As much as I'd like to leave it alone, what she's doing is too dangerous to ignore.”

“Yeah I guess.” Gojyo ran a hand through his hair. “These girls are innocents though; they've just had it tough…”

“Don't get all righteous on me, kappa. I'm not gonna shoot them.” Sanzo's fingers fiddled with the edge of his sutra. “And you should know better than to use that as an excuse.”

“… I know, I know.”

“Ch.”

“Hakkai still down there?”

“He seems to find that woman… interesting.”

“Huh. Hey Sanzo?”

“What?”

“Did you take that tape out of the VCR? Cause, uh, I kinda forgot.”

“WHAT?!”

 

***

 

“And these incantations? What exactly are they?” Hakkai wiped his sleeve over his monocle to clean it of stray dust particles, then leaned in to take a closer look at one of the more oddly-shaped pieces of machinery that lined the pool.

“Would you care to take a look?” asked Shihong. “My research notes are in the office next door. If you look in the cupboard, you'll find bound copies of the sources I used.”

“Really? You'd trust a stranger with them?”

“You're hardly riff-raff from the street. I have nothing to hide here, Cho Hakkai.”

“Then thank you. I would like to educate myself as much as possible in this matter.”

“May I leave you to it, then? I think I would like a few more words with your Sanzo houshi-sama.”

“Of course.” When she left the room, Hakkai let the easy smile drop from his face and stroked his chin thoughtfully. She seemed sincere, but Sanzo had been awfully suspicious and quiet, and Sanzo certainly knew more about such matters than he. He decided that next time he had the monk alone he'd prod him for information. Sometimes he forgot how little informed he was on the practices of their enemies.

This youkai woman who wore a limiter like himself… her motives rang suspicious but her ideas were interesting. He was a little surprised that Gojyo had so vehemently refused to hear her out. Perhaps it was the sensitivity over his past, but still… the few times they'd run into other children of taboo, that incalculable bond of heritage always seemed to draw his friend in. To find so many here… well perhaps he saw Shihong as a threat to the others.

Hakkai wandered into the aforementioned office and began to collect the papers strewn about the table. Interesting indeed, but the woman had failed to mention that her “notes” were not exactly readable. He stacked the paper neatly on one corner of the table, then turned to examine the wall of shelves and cupboards.

One of the cabinets had been opened and a television left on, blaring static in silence. Hakkai reached over it to pull down one of the books on the shelf above. Ah, much better. This one he could read, and it had been illustrated with carefully drawn symbols and pictographs. He flipped through it, humming a little to himself. Sometimes he really missed the library he'd had during his teacher days.

He pulled down another book, then a third, then gave in and stacked them all on the table. Turning back to the cabinet, he scanned it for further reading material, but his eyes kept being drawn back to the annoying flicker of the television. He reached out to turn it off, then hesitated. A dozen or so videotapes lined the shelf below the television, each with intriguing labels like “Experiment C,” accompanied by a date. His finger pulled away from the power button. Sanzo had forbidden a demonstration, but if she had tapes here that could show them exactly what they were dealing with… He pulled out one of the tapes and attempted to insert it into the VCR, only to discover that it already contained a tape. Impatiently, he hit the rewind button. He adjusted his monocle and hoped that Hakuryuu wouldn't mind waiting a while longer where he'd left him outside.

The VCR clicked and stopped whirling. He pressed play and stepped back. Time to see what caused that earthquake.

 

 

 

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