Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction ❯ You Were Meant To Be Mine ❯ Hidden Wisdom ( Chapter 4 )

CHAPTER FOUR Hidden Wisdom

 

The next morning Sanzo sat at the same table in the common room, reading more of the same newspaper. At the moment it was most useful as a temporary wall, granting him some vestige of privacy and blocking the unappetizing view of Goku plowing through another small mountain of food.

 

Upstairs, heavy footsteps thundered back and forth. Doors slammed. Gojyo's voice broke into hoarse shouts.

 

"Layla? Layla! Dammit, where are you?"

 

Sanzo looked up from the paper as Gojyo came barreling downstairs, skidding to a halt by their table.

 

"Have you seen Layla?"

 

"Lost track of your winnings already?" Sanzo asked. "Typical."

 

"Go shove it up your tight ass, Sanzo." Gojyo turned to Goku. "Have you seen her?"

 

Goku finally swallowed the last bit of the enormous mouthful he'd been chewing. "Didn't Hakkai say--"

 

Sanzo's fan flashed out, for once high enough to do nothing more than make Goku duck.

 

"Shut up and eat."

 

"But Hakkai said he--"

 

This time the fan caught Goku across the ear, making him howl with pain and outrage.

 

"Shut up, I said!" Sanzo raised the newspaper wall again.

 

Gojyo dropped into a vacant chair, set his elbows on the table, then let his head fall into his hands. He let out a mournful sigh. "Layla's gone."

 

"Gone?" Sanzo asked.

 

"Gone. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't find her anywhere."

 

Goku's mouth opened. He flinched, then glared at Sanzo, who had kicked him under the table.

 

"Consider it a blessing," Sanzo said. "Now we can get on the road with no further excess baggage."

 

"You cold-blooded bastard!" Gojyo snarled. "Those slavers would love to catch her again. She could be alone out there, in serious trouble!"

 

"She was in trouble, you stupid fucking half-breed. That's probably why she ran away."

 

Gojyo stared at him. Confusion changed to suspicion, then to certainty. "You know what happened last night, don't you? Because she told you! Tell me, dammit! Tell me what she said!"

 

Goku looked on, golden eyes wide, chewing away at another huge mouthful. Sanzo just turned another page of his newspaper. Gojyo shot up out of his chair so fast it skidded backward and toppled over. His fist came crashing down through the middle of the newspaper, flattening it into a crumpled mass.

 

"Tell me!"

 

Sanzo's hand was already inside his sleeve, closing around his gun, when he glanced past Gojyo to the inn's doorway. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

 

Layla had just stepped through the doorway, her arms full of shopping bags. Behind her came Hakkai carrying another load.

 

"Layla!" Gojyo flung himself at her.

 

Layla dodged between two tables, forcing Gojyo to slow down as he wove his way through the obstacle course.

 

"Gojyo, slow down!" Layla cried. "What on earth has gotten into you?"

 

"Where the hell have you been?" Gojyo cornered Layla against the wall beside the bar. "For all I knew, the slavers grabbed you again!"

 

Layla looked from Gojyo to Sanzo and back again. "But - Hakkai told Sanzo we needed to go back to the market for a few more supplies."

 

Gojyo shot a glare of pure crimson fury over his shoulder at Sanzo. He patted Layla's shoulder. "Wait here a minute, would you? I'll be right back."

 

Gojyo streaked across the space between him and Sanzo, his long hair a crimson blur. Goku dove aside. Hakkai shouted a warning. A sudden loud metallic click froze Gojyo in his tracks. Sanzo was on his feet, his pistol held out at arm's length, the muzzle an inch or two from Gojyo's nose.

 

"You bastard," Gojyo hissed. "You evil, twisted, corrupt -- You knew! And you let me think she'd run away!"

 

"Moron." Sanzo shook his head. "You will never learn the importance of non-attachment."

 

"Fuck that noise!" Gojyo snapped. "I'm going to attach my fist to the center of your pretty face! You've done some low shit to me, you prick, but this --"

 

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk like that to me. You couldn't keep your hands off her, could you? Not even for one night!"

 

"But she--"

 

"Shut up, pervert!" Sanzo thumbed the hammer back on his pistol. "If I hadn't waited up expecting her to come running out of your room at some point, who knows where she might have ended up."

 

Gojyo's jaw dropped. "Are you telling me Layla spent the night in your room?"

 

"That's right. Some of us are capable of putting the needs of others first."

 

Gojyo was so totally flabbergasted he turned away from Sanzo to stare at Layla, giving her a look that was a combination of disbelief, hurt, and accusation. All that escaped him was a single word.

 

"Why?"

 

"What was I supposed to do?" Layla set the bags she still held down on the table next to Goku's place. "I had planned on sleeping in the kitchen near the hearth fire. Sanzo insisted I stay with him, on the far side of the room, with Goku between us."

 

That revelation left silence in its wake. Layla moved to Gojyo's side and put her arm around his waist.

 

"Sanzo-sama," she said. "While I respect your rank, I must say I am disappointed in you. That was a very cruel trick to play on Gojyo."

 

Sanzo didn't even look at her. His attention was fixed on Gojyo, whose fists were still clenched. Layla looked from one man to the other, then at the pistol still held in Sanzo's rock steady grip.

 

"Fine." Layla stepped in front of Gojyo, putting herself between him and the pistol. "Go on, Sanzo-sama. Kill the real cause of your bad temper."

 

Hakkai and Goku both gasped aloud.

 

"Layla!" Gojyo cried. He put his hands on her shoulders, about to push her aside, but she slapped his hands away.

 

"Go on, Sanzo-sama," she said again. "You want to punish Gojyo for adding yet another burden to the load you already carry. Isn't it wiser to get rid of the burden and spare the man? After all, Gojyo did nothing wrong in rescuing me from a life of slavery."

 

Sanzo's eyes narrowed. His lips thinned to a cold line. He pressed the muzzle of the pistol against Layla's forehead, exactly where the chakra mark would rest if she wore one.

 

"Never get between me and my target. Next time I will shoot you."

 

Sanzo eased the hammer down, thumbed the safety on, then tucked the pistol away inside his sleeve. He shot one last meaningful glare at Gojyo, then beckoned Hakkai to him as he stalked over to a table in another corner so they could discuss travel plans.

 

Gojyo blew out his breath, grabbed the nearest chair, and collapsed onto it, pulling Layla down onto his knee. "Honey, don't ever do that again. He means it. He'll shoot you."

 

"He's not what one usually sees in a Sanzo, is he?"

 

"Don't know. He's the only one I've ever met." Gojyo's attention suddenly sharpened. "Have you met any other Sanzos?"

 

"One, a long time ago. He was such a sweet man, the soul of gentleness."

 

Across the room, Sanzo's head snapped around. Every single one of his senses focused on Layla. She stared off into the distance, her smile pure and serene.

 

"I think his name was Koumyou Sanzo."

 

Sanzo came charging across the room, silk sleeves flapping, and seized Layla by the arms. Before Gojyo could react, Sanzo jerked her up off Gojyo's lap and glared down into her eyes.

 

"Say that again!"

 

"What? That I met Koumyou Sanzo?"

 

"You're sure? You're absolutely positive?"

 

"Yes! Please, Sanzo-sama, you're hurting me!"

 

"When did you meet him? Where was it?"

 

"My village. I was eight years old."

 

"Tell me! Tell me everything you remember about him!"

 

Layla smiled. "He was so nice, especially to all of us children. He'd sit out under this big tree in the meadow, making paper airplanes for all of us. The one he gave me was the fanciest of all. When I asked him why, he just patted me on the head and said, 'You must drink your fill of happiness early, child.'"

 

Sanzo let his hands fall from Layla's arms. His heart thudded within him, every beat a sharp pain. "Did he tell you what he meant by that?"

 

Layla shook her head. "When I told my mother that night as she tucked me in, she started to cry. I think she believed Sanzo-sama somehow knew that I was destined to die early." Layla bit her lip, clasping her hands together so tight the knuckles whitened. "It's almost funny, isn't it? It wasn't about my death but hers."

 

"Tell me more," Sanzo demanded. "What else did this Sanzo do?"

 

Layla shrugged. "He was only there two or three days. He'd stay with whoever offered him a bed for the night. He'd eat whatever we brought to him. I never heard him say a harsh word about anybody or anything. He was always smiling, always speaking in that soft, kind voice." Layla smiled again. "The light just shined out of him."

 

"What?"

 

"The light. Like his body was a lantern made of colored glass, or paper, and inside he had a candle or a wick floating in oil." She moved her hands, trying to shape the mental image into words. "All light. Like his body was just a cloak he'd put on to keep him warm."

 

"You could see that?" Sanzo's voice was the barest whisper.

 

Layla nodded. Then, realizing the consternation on his face, Layla reached out to lay her hand on his arm.

 

"I'm sorry, Sanzo-sama. Have I said something wrong?"

 

"Don't touch me!" Sanzo jerked back from Layla. "You could see, but I never did...."

 

"Please, Sanzo-sama!" Layla took a step toward him, both hands outstretched in entreaty.

 

"No!" Sanzo flung up one arm, trying to shield himself from the girl with his long sleeve.

 

"Don't be angry with me!" Layla pleaded. "I was just a little girl. I won't say anything else."

 

Warring emotions surged through Sanzo. Now he put out one hand toward Layla, his gesture wavering between begging and warding her off.

 

"Did he - did he say anything else?"

 

Layla's smile came back. "He told us we should always be kind to everyone we meet, especially those people we feel like we've met before." She closed her eyes, reciting. "'Such people are important to you, like your family in another life. Sometimes it's their turn to help you, and sometimes it's your turn to help them.'"

 

Hakkai and Goku had drifted closer to listen.

 

"Karmic debt," Hakkai said. "What a simple, beautiful way to put that. Who are you quoting, Layla?"

 

"My teacher." Heat and cold shot through Sanzo. His old wounds ached. His head hurt and his mouth had gone dry. "She met my master."

 

"Your...?" Layla stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. "But if you wear the sutra, then that means...." Layla's eyes widened. She let out a piercing cry of grief. "Oh no. Not him. Not Koumyou-sama." Tears began to pour down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Sanzo-sama!" She let out another wail. "Oh Kami-sama! Why! Why do they all have to die?" She put both hands over her face, shoulders shaking as the sobs wracked her. "Sweetest.... kindest.... So happy just to be near him...."

 

Layla staggered away, moving blindly through the tables toward the door. Gojyo rose from his seat to go after her. Before he knew what he was doing, Sanzo pushed past Gojyo, rushing to gather Layla into his arms and settle her head under his chin. One hand stroked her long braid while he murmured to her, not so much words as the kind of soothing sounds that might quiet a crying child. Layla leaned on him as all the grief she'd been keeping locked up inside her poured out.

 

"Oh wow," Goku said. "Look at that. Sanzo's being--"

 

"Nice--" said Hakkai.

 

"To a woman," Gojyo finished.

 

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