Title: Zang Fu Theory, Part 12
Email: ladylotusmoon (a) hotmail (o) com
Author: Lotus
Pairing(s):
Sanzo/Hakkai/Gojyo/Goku
Rating: NC17
Summary: P1 - Sanzo and
Hakkai are called away in the middle of the night to help a severely injured farmer
and Gojyo is left babysitting a dragon. P2 - Hakkai is possessed by a fire oni,
& the oni's attempt to draw heat results in a sexual situation. P3 - Upon
Hakkai & Sanzo's return to the inn, Gojyo & Goku realized what happened
& Gojyo attacks Sanzo. P4 - Hakkai attempts to be peacemaker. P5 - Sanzo
& Goku have a chat in the bath. P6 - Gojyo uses his special brand of
persuasion. P7 - Battle in the bath house. P8 - Gojyo remembers Jien's magic
beans. P9 - Hakkai & Gojyo wash the ash off. P10 - Hakkai tends Sanzo's
wounds. P11 - Goku gets embarrassed in the bathroom. P12 - Hakkai remembers the
past and Gojyo seeks solace.
Warning: Language, Sexual
Situations
Notes: As you all know, there
are some differences between the manga and the anime. In the manga, Hakkai
actually gouged out his eye and threw it at his attacker, in the anime, he only
scratched his eye. I'm following the manga.
Disclaimer: Kazuya Minekura's
beautiful boys. If they were mine, there'd be more stops at onsens, secluded
woodland bathing pools, shower scenes and overall general nudity. And fewer
female wait staff.
---
The sound of his eyelashes scraping against the inside of the bandage seemed as
loud as locusts to Gonou's ears. The empty socket and the fragile flesh of the lids
throbbed with pain from where he had gouged out his own eye. When he washed his
hands, bits of bloody tissue had come out from under the nails.
Squatting by the stream, he had wondered how far he would have been able to
disassemble himself before succumbing to death. The thought had provoked a fit
of laughter, stopped by a concerned look from Gojyo. Poor Gojyo-san. He had
made a mess of all of Gojyo's efforts to save him. He'd ripped open the wound
running, and the monks had to stitch him back together again. The gut wound
hurt as well. It itched so fiercely it was like a slow burn crawling over his
belly.
Gonou turned his head on the pallet and focused his good eye on the covered cup
of tea set carefully on a bamboo tray next to him. After the numbing effects of
the first cup, he realized the bitter, yellowish-brown tea was laced with
opium. He refused to drink it again. He didn't deserve relief from the pain.
Nor did he warrant even a moment's distraction.
So he turned away from the medicinal tea and closed his eye to the beauty of
the garden surrounding him. He concentrated on the pain, letting the scraping
eyelashes cover the birdsong, the itching burn consume the warmth of dappled
sunlight. He was so absorbed in his self-inflicted penance, that he failed to
realize he was not alone in the garden.
"The purpose of this sanctuary is peaceful reflection."
Gonou started violently, pain wrenching his gut as his eye snapped open. A
figure in white stood above him, flowing robes pristine, hair a golden nimbus
of light. For a moment, Gonou wondered if he hadn't actually died in the
blood-puddled mud, and one of the archangels loomed before him, prepared to bar
his entry to Paradise. the archangel reached into the sleeve of his robe and
Gonou fully expected him to withdraw a flaming sword or some other sacred
object with which to smite him. There was a click, a flash of light, then a
trail of smoke rose in the air.
Shocked, Gonou realized the archangel was smoking a cigarette. The angel moved
out of the light, sinking gracefully into a cross-legged position in the grass
like a white lotus drifting to the ground. Gonou blinked up at the monk who had
fought Gojyo, chased him down, taken him into custody to stand trail before the
Sanbutsushin. The monk who had stood in respectful fearlessness before the
Three Aspects of Buddha and asked for his life. The monk who had chanted for
Kanaan. Fathomless purple eyes observed him through twisting tendrils of smoke.
"Did you tear off your ears when I wasn't looking?" Sanzo asked.
"Sanzo-sama?" Gonou blinked in confusion.
"Che." Sanzo took another deep drag on the cigarette. "The monks
didn't carry your pallet into the garden sanctuary to wallow in pain."
"I wasn't wallowing," Gonou protested.
A glint of purple that saw a little more than Gonou was comfortable with, then
Sanzo lifted the lid on the tea and peered inside.
"Hm. It's just as well that you learn to deal with the pain now,"
Sanzo said.
The lid rattled back into place, and Sanzo looked up at the sky as a crane flew
over the sakura trees. The creature flew low enough that the black tips of his
wings and long orange legs were visible against the blue sky. Gonou watched the
leaf shadow sway over Sanzo's pale throat and white robes, the gentle breeze
tangling smoke in the fair hair.
This holy man was such a contradiction. He spoke directly with the Three
Aspects and was treated with reverence by the other monks, yet he smoked and,
according to Gojyo, fought dirty as a bar drunk. Sanzo's terribly beautiful
face lowered and his gaze locked on Gonou.
"Cho Gonou's funeral is in two days," Sanzo said around the
cigarette. "But I can't wait that long to start training you. With your
Youkai powers, you're a danger to everyone, including yourself."
"Powers?" Gonou frowned, puzzled. He didn't feel different, most
especially not powerful. Quite the opposite.
Sanzo snorted. "Do you think the average human being could walk miles with
his guts hanging out, recuperate so quickly, then walk around after pulling out
his own eye?" he asked.
Gonou flushed, hand touching the bandage over his eye. In the wild madness of
both those nights, the adrenaline from the terrible violence he had inflicted
and received had overwhelmed rational thought.
"I am going to teach you how to control that power," Sanzo said,
recalling his attention, "and your Youkai nature through a discipline
called Chi Kung."
"Chi Kung," Gonou repeated.
"Since Cho Gonou will die, I will call you Oshiego during training until
you receive your new name." Sanzo put out the cigarette butt in the tea
saucer.
"What shall I call you?" Gonou asked.
Holding his stomach for support, he tried to roll up to a sitting position, a
grunt of pain escaping him. A pale hand reached out, gold ring on the middle
finger glinting in the sun, and helped pull him up the rest of the way.
"You may call me Shishou," Sanzo said.
Sitting so close together, clasping the surprisingly strong hand, Gonou thought
he saw something pass over Sanzo's purple eyes. Something sad and beautiful, like
the slow flight of the crane across the dark blue sky.
---
Leaving a stuffed Goku in the common room, Gojyo headed toward the stairs to
fetch the other two for a game of Majong. His late lunch/early dinner with Goku
had passed with a great deal less squabbling than usual. Feeling extremely
generous, Gojyo even let Goku have the last dumpling. They did tend to fight
less when Hakkai and Sanzo weren't around anyway. Although a lot of their
cutting up was to alleviate the sheer boredom, sometimes it was also to
distract the more serious half of the party.
Gojyo was in extremely high spirits. Overall, today's events had tipped the
scales more on the positive side than the negative.
Fishing out his cigarettes, Gojyo started up the stairs to their rooms. First,
he'd managed to save the ikkou in a battle using something other than muscle
for once. He smiled around the cigarette at the thought of his "good
fortune" bean and the disbelieving look on Hakkai's face.
Gojyo paused to light the stick, snapping the lighter closed and shoving it
into his front pants pocket. Taking a drag, he continued climbing the stairs.
Then, there was the whole fan-fucking-tastic experience of having Hakkai cum in
his arms. His cock stirred at the memory of the delicately flushed skin and
soft cries. He had to adjust himself as he stepped into the hallway.
Finally, he had managed to help out a fairly clueless saru on the finer points
of wanking. In all the physical aspects of sex, he felt supremely confident,
and it had been gratifying to share some small part of his considerable
knowledge and do a good deed. Hakkai wasn't the only member of the ikkou who
could teach stuff. Gojyo was kinda proud of how his impromptu lesson had turned
out. Obviously, Goku was a happier monkey.
Stopping outside Hakkai and Sanzo's room, Gojyo tried the latch. He frowned
when he found it locked. Hakkai kept doors unlocked in case someone needed him,
and Sanzo as a general rule didn't lock them either. Gojyo suspected it was so
the monk wouldn't lose the opportunity to shoot assassins lacking lock-picking
skills. Gojyo raised the back of his hand to knock when a sound made him
freeze.
A cold shiver of dread crept over his skin as he held his breath, listening
between the thuds of his own heavy heartbeat. He must be mistaken. Standing in
the empty hallway, Gojyo strained to the limit of his hanyou senses for the
slightest sound from behind the locked door. Around him he heart the creak of
old wood settling, muted voice downstairs, and the very faint clatter of
crockery from the kitchen.
Then he heard it again. It was a sound he was more than passing familiar with,
both on the battlefield and in the bedroom; the unmistakable sound of flesh
striking flesh. Unlike the erratic staccato of a fight, this had the steady
rhythm of hard sex. Gojyo's forehead touched the door as the cigarette slipped
from his lips, bouncing in a small shower of sparks between his feet.
Hakkai and Sanzo were fucking.
Closing his eyes, the sound he had strained to hear before was now inescapably
obvious. To his experienced ear, Sanzo's low grunts and Hakkai's muffled cries
made it very clear the monk was topping and the healer was face down. Not how
he would have done it. Even if doggy-style was a little easier on virgins,
Gojyo would have wanted those green eyes, wanted to lick his name off those
lips...
"Fuck," Gojyo whispered, hands clenching into fists.
He shoved away from the door and turned toward the stairs. Gracelessly, he
slide down several steps, catching himself by pushing against the wall.
Somehow, he managed to get down the narrow staircase and through the common
room to the inn's entrance.
Ignoring Goku's call, he stumbled blindly through the noren into the street. A
bar. He needed to find the nearest bar. Gojyo patted his pockets and dug out a
small roll of bills from a rear pocket. He quickly counted as he walked. A
hundred yen. Enough to get a game going to win some serious drinking money and
some company. Yeah, he needed to lose his head in some liquor and his dick in a
woman. Or two.
It was time to let this sleepy dustball know that Sha Gojyo was in town.
---
Gonou sat shirtless on the pallet in the garden, holding himself erect while
the healer finished re-wrapping his midsection. Movement caught his eye, and he
looked past the bowed shoulder of the elderly monk at a figure in white
striding purposely toward him, sleeves fluttering. Half a dozen shorter monks
in orange robes were practically jogging to keep up with Sanzo-sama. Even from
here Gonou could read the rigid tension in the blonde man's gait. He almost
looked as if he were trying to escape the cluster of monks. The effect was
rather like a white swan being chased by a group of quacking orange ducks.
"Thank you," Gonou murmured as the healer gathered his materials and
stood.
"You are most welcome, honored guest of Sanzo-sama," the monk showed
a toothless smile in a face that reminded Gonou of a roasted walnut. Bowing,
the healer scuttled away.
"Most holy Sanzo-sama, your young... charge was climbing over the Buddha
statue again," one of the monks said as the group approached close enough
for Gonou to hear.
"And the unclean Taboo Child has returned to the gates, demanding
entrance," another monk spoke up. "He is making a most unseemly
amount of noise."
"And using terribly offensive language," another monk added.
"Sanzo-sama, your charge..." the first monk began again.
"Urusai!" Sanzo stopped, and the monks practically fell over
themselves in surprise.
Sanzo turned around, so Gonou couldn't see his face, but his back was ramrod
straight.
"I will deal with Goku. As for the hanyou," Sanzo paused, "tell
him I will come and see him when the matter of Cho Gonou is settled."
"As you wish." "Wise as always, Holy One." The monks spoke
at once, bald heads bobbing as they bowed, then fled, orange sleeves flapping.
The resemblance to ducks was uncanny.
Rolling his shoulders, Sanzo turned around. Gonou started to get to his feet,
suppressing a painful wince, but Sanzo raised a hand for him stay seated. That
same hand pushed through the blonde bangs as Sanzo gracefully sank onto the mat
across from him.
"Am I to understand that Gojyo-san is here?" Gonou inquired politely.
"Che," Sanzo snorted. "Every day since I brought you to the
temple. Pain in the ass."
Gonou's eyebrows rose. It still startled him to hear profanities come out of
the angelic-faced monk.
"Perhaps I should speak to him," Gonou suggested.
"He's a distraction," Sanzo waved his hand like he was shooing a fly.
Lips compressed, Gonou looked down at his hands. Guilt twisted his gut, and he
imagined the burning itch around the stitches flared. It felt wrong to be so
inconsiderate to the redhead who had shown him nothing but kindness and asked
nothing in return. Yet, he was hardly in a position to take any action.
Although his status had been changed from prisoner to guest, it had been made
very clear to him that while he was at the Temple of the Rising Sun, he was
under Sanzo's direct authority.
"Oshiego," Sanzo said.
Gonou looked up. Sanzo pulled his arms out of his sleeves and pushed his robe
down to gather around his slender waist. The form-fitting black silk shirt and
arm gloves emphasized the lean muscle of his upper body. Gonou remembered what
Gojyo had said about the monk's fighting skills.
"Pay attention, because I hate repeating myself," Sanzo cautioned.
"Of course, Shishou," Gonou put on his alert listening face.
"Chi means "energy" and Kung means "work". It
describes the system that focuses on channeling lifeforce energies. Chi Kung
draws on multiple elements and requires focus and control. The body is
controlled through posture and breathing, and the mind through concentration of
mental activity," Sanzo paused, and gave him an evaluating look.
"I understand," Gonou said, when it appeared Sanzo was waiting for
some sort of response.
"Do you," Sanzo's eyebrow quirked and his tone made it clear he had
his doubts.
"Yes, Shishou," Gonou tried not to sound defensive. He wasn't used to
having his intelligence questioned.
"There are three parts to Chi Kung," Sanzo continued,
""Still" is seated meditation. "Standing Stance" is
motionless standing posture. "Moving" is combining the internal quiet
with external movement. Today we will be focusing on Still."
"I believe I understand the concept of meditation," he began,
"perhaps we could focus on controlling the youkai power..."
"Urusai," Sanzo interrupted sharply, purple eyes flashing. "Who
am I?"
Gonou blinked, startled. "Shishou?"
Sanzo nodded. "And you are?"
"Oshiego?" he ventured.
"Exactly. Which means I have knowledge and you know nothing."
Despite himself, Gonou felt his mouth start to open. He had been a teacher
himself, after all, and was not completely ignorant.
"Nothing," Sanzo repeated with emphasis, and Gonou's mouth snapped
closed.
"Yes, Shishou," he said quietly.
Sanzo nodded approval. The monk pulled up the edges of the robe to reveal bare
feet nestled above the opposite leg, then let it drop again.
"This is the lotus position, the most common pose for Stillness,"
Sanzo said.
Reaching out, Sanzo grasped Gonou's right ankle and pulled it out from under
his left knee where it was resting in his cross-legged position, and pulled it
up over the leg. The unfamiliar position felt strange, but not unduly
uncomfortable, just a slight pull on the thigh muscle. Gonou expected Sanzo to
move his other foot as well, but the monk sat back.
"That is the half-lotus position," Sanzo said. "It'll do for
you. If you wish, you can practice until you can sit in full lotus. I don't
care."
Gonou nodded. He would try the full lotus on his own later. He resolved that he
would learn everything Sanzo-sama deigned to teach him, to practice each lesson
until he exceeded the enigmatic monk's expectations of him.
"Fold your hands like so," Sanzo continued.
Sanzo cupped his left hand palm up as if it were holding water, then lay his
right hand inside, also palm up, thumbs touching. He rested his cupped hands
lightly against his abdomen. Gonou mimicked the gesture, and glanced up at
Sanzo for approval, who nodded.
"Close your eyes," Sanzo said, eyelids lowering over those strangely
sad purple eyes, "and take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Clear
your mind."
Gonou closed his eye and followed Sanzo's instructions. When he breathed in and
expanded his chest, the bandages tightened. He could feel the slight pull of
the stitches. Skin was such a fragile material, really; it damaged so easily.
He remembered it had only given token resistance under the point of the knife
before parting and spilling its contents like the crust of an undercooked pie.
"I said clear your mind." Sanzo's voice sliced through his thoughts.
Gonou's eye snapped open, and he looked at Sanzo, who still sat in lotus, hands
folded, eyes closed. The symmetrical face was as blank as a statue.
"Shishou?" Gonou whispered. Maybe he had imagined the voice?
"I can hear you thinking from here," Sanzo said without opening his
eyes.
"Ah." Gonou cleared his throat. "I apologize."
"Try picturing a cloudy sky," Sanzo suggested, "then let the clouds
dissipate one by one until there is only a clear blue sky stretching out
endlessly over you."
Closing his eyes, Gonou did as instructed. Visualizing the cloudy sky was easy.
Only, instead of dissipating, the clouds grew darker and heavier until the blue
of the sky was completely obliterated, and he could feel the oppressive weight
of the impending storm. A flicker of lighting, like the forked tongue of snake,
flashed across the backs of his eyelids, and he tensed, waiting for the crack
of thunder he knew was coming.
"You're fucking up the breathing."
With a jump, Gonou's eye popped open and he struggled to focus on the monk, who
was now watching him, purple eyes unreadable. Gonou realized he had indeed lost
the rhythm of the deep breathing and was actually panting. He made a conscious
effort to slow the breathing down, but Sanzo looked unimpressed.
"Che."
Sanzo scooted forward until their knees were touching. He reached out with two
fingers and pressed a place about an inch below Gonou's navel. His abdominal
muscles contracted in response, but Hakkai managed not to pull back.
"This is the dantian, " Sanzo said. "Concentrate on this single
point. Picture pushing your breath all the way down to my fingers, then letting
it out. Don't think about anything else."
Closing his eye, Gonou took a deep breath, felt it fill his lungs, then let it
out slowly. He felt Sanzo's fingers push in more.
"You're still breathing too shallow," Sanzo spoke quietly.
Frowning with concentration, Gonou took another breath and forced it down,
imagining the space below his lungs expanding. He let the breath out.
"Almost," Sanzo said. "Again. This time relax your facial
muscles."
What felt like a thumb smoothed the frown line away between his eyebrows, and
stayed there. The two fingers on his abdomen pushed in a little more.
Gonou drew in another breath. His chin lifted and his shoulders dropped,
lengthening his neck. Suddenly, he wasn't pushing the air, it was drawing into
him, sliding easily down into the space below his lungs, deeper, behind his
navel, into his abdomen. The place on his forehead and on his abdomen where
Sanzo touched felt as if the monk were pressing two warm coins into his skin.
Then there was a third coin, held between Gonou's own thumbs, and his fingers started
to tingle, his palms felt a weight, as if he were holding a metal ball heated
in the sun.
The fingers below his naval pushed in hard, and Gonou's abdominal muscles
contracted, pushing the air out in a sudden whoosh that ended in a cough. His
eye opened, and he thought for a moment his hands were glowing and there was a
slight shimmer, like heat distortion on the horizon. He looked up at Sanzo in
confusion.
"You called forth a chi ball," Sanzo said, lowering his hand from
Gonou's forehead and withdrawing his fingers.
Gonou separated his thumbs and opened his empty hands, but he couldn't see
anything.
"A ball of... energy?" he asked.
"Yes," Sanzo said. "New hand position."
Sanzo placed his hands palm up on his knees, fingers touching Gonou's knees.
Intuitively, Gonou laid his hands palm up inside them, touching thumbs with the
other man. He looked into Sanzo's face and this time he imagined he saw the
beginnings of respect there. He hid a smile.
"Close your eyes, and let's begin again," Sanzo instructed,
"Take a deep breath, and clear your mind..."
Gonou followed the directions, only this time he didn't picture a cloudy blue
sky. He pictured a purple sky, the color of dusk, the time when it begins to
darken just enough to see the glimmering of stars.
---
Gojyo found what he was looking for in the second place he tried. A bit more
upscale, which meant deeper pockets to ante up, the Red Kimono also had a staff
of full-service escorts to pour sake and provide "encouragement".
Gojyo currently had two kimonos seated on the floor on either side of him, a
respectful distance from the low table at which three other men were seated,
similarly served. Except, of course, they were only ranking one escort each.
This fact was a growing sore spot during the evening, which Gojyo amused
himself by poking.
"I'm gonna strain my neck trying to look at both these blossoms at
once," he joked.
One of the other men choked on his sake while the fat one glared at him.
Middle-aged merchants, from the look of them. The dealer smiled politely.
"Alright, honorable sirs, one-eyed jacks and suicide king wild," the
dealer announced.
Gojyo caught the dealt cards under the blade of his hand as they slid smoothly
over the polished wood. He lifted the top edge with his thumb. Two queens and a
wild card; the jack of hearts. Figures. The card with the right eye missing,
just like his real-life wild card. Gojyo let the pad of his thumb rub over the
face card before flatting the cards against the table top. He was not going to
mope over Cho Hakkai tonight.
He flicked two cards neatly back at the dealer, tapping his middle finger
twice. Deftly intercepting the two replacement cards snapped across to him,
Gojyo took a quick peek. Another queen. Gojyo was starting to feel insulted.
The guy didn't think he could win with a three of a kind?
The dealer had been cheating all night, in Gojyo's favor. Gojyo's eyes flicked
up at the dealer and caught the surreptitious glance over to the man in the
expensive yukata at the end of the bar. From the way the staff deferred to him,
Mr. Yukata was most likely the establishment's owner.
"Would you like some more sake, Gojyo-san?" the woman on his left
murmured.
He gave her an appreciative smile as she gracefully pulled back the sleeve of
her kimono to pour more of the expensive rice wine. She artfully tilted her
head to expose a lovely neck, leaning forward just enough to show him the tops
of her breasts. Like all the escorts, her kimono was a deep red, matching her
flawlessly applied lipstick. It was the shade of lipstick that made a guy
wonder what it would look like wrapped around his cock.
She was a very high-class working girl. She was also taking silent cues from
Mr. Yukata. The three of them were definitely working him.
Why they'd picked him for a mark beat the shit out of him. He obviously wasn't
wealthy. It might have been something as simple as him being from out of town.
Gojyo glanced around. Once the sun had gone down and the string of lanterns
outside lit, the place really livened up. It was a mix of locals and travelers.
Maybe they were using him to empty the pockets of the other players and keep
suspicion off the house? In which case, they would either have muscle roll him
when he left with the girl, or the girl would roll him herself later. Still, it
seemed like a big set-up for such small potatoes. The entire pot was only up to
eight thousand yen. Something felt off.
Normally, he might let it play out just to see what happened, but today was not
a good day to screw around with him. Time to call their bluff.
When the betting came around to him, Gojyo shook his head ruefully and pushed
his cards away, face-down.
"Fold. Guess I lost my luck," he announced.
The dealer's mouth dropped open in surprise, but to his credit, he recovered quickly.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gojyo caught a startled movement from Mr. Yukata.
This was almost more fun than straight poker. Kind of a cross between cards and
live theatre. The girl was the best actor in the bunch. She leaned in close,
and the scent of cherry blossoms wafted up.
"Perhaps Gojyo-san would care to retire to a private room?" she
suggested.
"You know, sweetheart, that's a great idea," Gojyo replied.
Levering his tall frame upright, Gojyo noted her red lips curved upwards
slightly in anticipated victory. From his new vantage point, he could see she
was indeed nicely endowed. Turning slightly, he extended a hand down to the
flower who had sat silently on his right. Both of them gasped. Rich brown eyes
blinked up at him in confusion a moment, then the soft hand slipped into his.
He could feel the poisonous glare of the scorned woman on the back of his neck
and tried not to twitch his shoulders.
"You can keep me company, right, gorgeous?" he asked, pulling the
quiet escort up.
The black head nodded assent, making a hair ornament tinkle like a tiny bell.
The figure in the red kimono was considerably less curvy, being what Gojyo
thought of as willowy. But, he appreciated bodies in all shapes and sizes, and
the brown eyes were gorgeous. They were the color of dark chocolate, without
even a fleck of green.
Wiping the image of green eyes out of his head, Gojyo collected his winnings,
leaving a tip for the seething woman still seated next to his vacated stool.
His chosen escort led him out of the gambling area to the private rooms in the
back. As they walked down a corridor of scenic painted shoji doors, he heard
male and female voices blended in conversation and intimate cries.
His escort kneeled gracefully in front of a closed door, tapping lightly on the
wooden frame with manicured nails. When there was no answer, the door was slid
open, and Gojyo gestured inside. He looked around and pulled his boots off as
the door whispered shut behind him. Not surprisingly, most of the space was
taken up by two futons laid out side by side. There was a short night-stand
with several bottles and a drawer he was itching to open. Two long steps took
him to the futon, and he sat cross-legged on the edge. The black-haired beauty
had risen, and a pair of sandals were neatly arranged next to his dusty boots.
"Why don't you come over here?" Gojyo suggested, patting the
embroidered comforter.
He kept his tone gentle and encouraging. This one had given no indication of
being in on whatever con had been playing out downstairs. In a rustle of red
silk, his escort complied, sitting gracefully next to him, close enough to be
companionable, but far enough not to be indiscreet. Gojyo's smile widened. He
was starting to feel a little less sorry for himself. His stomach was warm with
good sake, his pockets stuffed with cash, and he was sitting on a bed with a
pretty little thing in a kimono.
He reached out and lightly stroked a pale hand with the backs of his knuckles,
slowly pushing up the silk sleeve. Maybe he could salvage something out of this
night after all.
"Gojyo-san," the whisper was low, "I should have said before,
I..."
"I know," Gojyo breathed into the scented hair.
Reaching across with his left hand, he cupped the slender neck, fingers resting
on the warm nape as his thumb brushed over the small protruding Adam's apple.
Brown eyes looked up at him, and those very red lips parted. Gojyo leaned down.
"I've been around," Gojyo added with a wink.
When he left the gambling parlor, Gojyo hadn't decided whether or not he was
going to sleep with the escort or just slip out a back door and leave him a
nice tip. But what was he going to when he went back to the inn? Lay in the
dark room and listen to the monk fuck his best friend?
The white hand that reached out and squeezed his thigh clenched the deal.
Twisting around, Gojyo lowered the smaller man onto the futon, the hair
ornament chiming softly. His long fingers sifted through the intricate
coiffure, carefully pulling out the pins and setting them on the night stand.
He'd had to replace enough hair decorations for pouting partners to know these
were the expensive kind; inlaid tortoiseshell and ivory. When he pulled the
little brass bell, he jingled it before setting it with the others. The young
man laying on the bed watching him laughed.
"Most clients are not so careful," he said.
Gojyo laughed as well, loosening the thick black coils of hair and massaging
the scalp. He was rewarded with an arched neck and sexy sigh. He knew how the
scalp got tired from having hair tied up too long, and that was just in a
ponytail.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Kaori, Gojyo-san," brown eyes opened.
"Mm." Gojyo leaned down and rubbed noses. "I'm just plain Gojyo,
okay?"
"As you wish, Gojyo," Kaori said with a smile.
Nimble fingers reached up and undid his shirt buttons as Gojyo tugged up the
top of the kimono a little from the tight obi. He shrugged out of his own shirt
as it slid over his shoulders and pushed the kimono top apart and down. The
white skin revealed to him was as flawless as porcelain, devoid of any marks or
scars.
Gojyo remembered watching Hakkai's wound evolve from a blood seeping centipede
bristling black stitches, to a dead white thing, stretching and puckering the
surrounding skin as if it were some kind of parasite plunging roots into its
victim's guts. Sometimes when Hakkai slept, he would pull back the covers to
trace it over and over again with disbelieving eyes and fingertips. How was it
possible the quiet green-eyed man had survived such a monstrous wound?
Shaking off the image of Hakkai's scar, Gojyo pulled the kimono open more,
revealing the narrow chest beneath him was tightly bound with strips of linen,
forcing Kaori's pectorals together and up into false cleavage. Gojyo traced his
fingertips over the thin white material, feeling for the nubs hidden beneath
the layers.
"I'll bet you get real sensitive being bound up all day," Gojyo
commented.
"Yes," Kaori admitted.
Gojyo licked at the red lips, then down the white neck, sucking on the Adam's
apple. A moan vibrated under his lips. His large hands cupped the wrapped
ribcage, thumbs rubbing over the crushed nipples. He felt smaller hands slide
over his back. Gojyo licked down the center of the flat chest, tongue dipping
into the crease. Using his teeth, he pulled the binding down just enough to
free one nipple. He licked all around the light brown disk until the chest
below him was heaving, then laved over the nipple in a single, flat-tongued
stroke.
"Ah!" Kaori cried out.
Gojyo blew lightly on the wet skin until the center was erect, then abandoned
it to free the other nipple. He licked and blew again, going back and forth
until the lithe body beneath him was bowing upward, straining for contact.
Avoiding touching the erect nipples, Gojyo raised himself on his forearms and
leaned over Kaori, nuzzling his neck. The hands on his shoulders clenched,
pushing down slightly, but Gojyo ignored the silent request. Instead, he
concentrated on sucking and kissing neck, ears and jaw, careful not to leave
marks.
"Gojyo," Kaori breathed.
"Mm?" Gojyo sucked on an earlobe.
"Please..." a breathy groan as he lightly tongue fucked an ear.
"Please what?" Gojyo asked.
Unable to resist, he let a thumb brush over a nipple. The response was a highly
satisfying groaning whine. Nails dug into his shoulders. Normally he didn't
make a bed partner beg unless it was their particular kink, but tonight he felt
the need to hear the want for him. Taking pity on Kaori, Gojyo nuzzled his way
over to the other ear.
"I promise that in this bed," Gojyo whispered, "I will give you
anything you ask me for."
It was a promise he had made to countless bed mates and fulfilled with
enthusiasm; he prided himself on being a generous lover. Tonight he had hoped
he would be making that promise to a certain brunette...
"Please, Gojyo," the whisper shuddered as he flicked his tongue
inside Kaori's ear, "take them in your mouth."
"My pleasure," Gojyo purred.
Without preamble, he dropped his head and latched onto Kaori's left nipple. He
followed Kaori's movement as he arched off the futon. Sucking lightly, Gojyo
flicked the nub with the tip of his tongue as he gently rolled the other nipple
between his thumb and forefinger. As he sucked harder, Kaori's cries began to
blend together. He sensed the black-haired man was getting close, and it would
be better if Kaori came nearer to when he was being entered so he would be more
relaxed.
Raising up on his hands and knees, Gojyo licked at Kaori's red lips.
"Gonna get more comfortable," he murmured.
Standing, Gojyo quickly unbuttoned his fly and shimmied out of his pants. When
he stepped out of them and turned around, Kaori gasped. Gojyo raised an eyebrow
in question as he crawled back onto the futon.
"You're so... long," Kaori blurted out.
Gojyo chuckled and kissed the side of Kaori's neck. He was used to that
reaction.
"So I can reach all those secret sweet spots," he gave his pat answer
with a teasing wink.
Kaori laughed, but there was also a lustful heat in the brown eyes and the tip
of a tongue touched the lower lip. Below the obi, Gojyo parted the front folds
of the kimono like a curtain and encountered the second binding. The same type
of linen wrapped around the narrow hips and hid Kaori's cock and balls from a
casual grope. However, Gojyo wasn't being casual.
He licked at the bulge through the material, and mouthed up the length as the
hips jerked beneath him. He pushed down on the pelvis with his forearms,
pinning Kaori to the ground. Carefully, he peeled down the top of the binding
to reveal the red head of Kaori's cock, pearling with pre-cum. Gojyo licked it
clean, and the hips beneath him twitched. He pulled the head into his mouth and
sucked it like a candy.
Kaori groaned and Gojyo could feel the body around him quiver as he struggled
to obey Gojyo's implied command to lay still. Idly, Gojyo wondered if he could
make Kaori cum just from sucking the head and nothing else. Moving more of his
weight onto Kaori's pelvis and thighs, Gojyo firmly gripped the shaking hips
and sucked. He concentrated on that single inch of flesh with tongue and teeth,
motivated by the ragged, moaning breathing above him.
"Nnnnh... ah!"
A warm stream of salty liquid shot into his mouth, and Gojyo swallowed it,
feeling a little thrill of victory. Licking his lips, he straightened and sat
back on his feet.
"Damn," Gojyo murmured.
Kaori had raised his arms above his head, gripping the sleeves, face
half-hidden beneath a glossy tangle of black hair. The white linen of the chest
and groin bindings was a sharp contrast against the partially open red kimono.
Above the bindings, nipples and exposed cock were still swollen and flushed
from Gojyo's attention. Kaori's slender legs were bare except for white tabi
socks.
Kaori turned his head to head to look at Gojyo with smoldering brown eyes, long
strands of hair sliding across his face and neck. He was laid out on the futon
like living pornographic art. And just in case Gojyo was missing the "fuck
me" vibe, Kaori lifted his legs and hugged his knees to his chest. The
tabi socks looked even more obscene hanging over his exposed ass.
Holding his knees with his right arm, Kaori reached up toward the table with
his left for one of the bottles.
"Would you like me to prepare myself?" Kaori asked.
"Allow me," Gojyo murmured, taking the bottle.
As hot as it was watching a partner prep themselves, he always did it the first
time with a new lover. That way he could find the sweet spot easier. He
unstoppered the bottle, and a slightly floral odor wafted out. He knelt between
Kaori's feet. Gojyo pulled aside the single strip of linen running up the
crack, noting that Kaori's hole was already twitching in anticipation. Pouring
some of the oil in his palm, Gojyo coated his fingers. He rubbed a little
circle around the pucker and it twitched more, but gave easily when he pushed a
finger in.
"Mm," Kaori groaned.
He was fairly soft and sucked the index finger right in, so Gojyo quickly added
the middle finger. He pushed in and out, corkscrewing his fingers, while
Kaori's breathing started hitching into soft cries. Then Gojyo found the little
spongy knot he was looking for, and rubbed it.
"Gojyo!" Kaori cried out.
The white tabi socks curled back, and Kaori's legs spread wider. He was more
than ready. Still thrusting and twisting with his fingers, Gojyo reached down
with his left hand to oil up his own cock. When he grasped himself, he had the
shock of his life.
He wasn't hard. He wasn't totally soft, but he definitely didn't have a full
hard-on. Frowning, he gave a few easy pumps, and the oiled touch felt good on
his skin, but he didn't harden. What the fuck? Had that bitch downstairs put
something in the sake?
He had never had a problem getting hard in his life. Sure, sometimes during a
romp with a really energetic partner or partners, it took longer between
cumming to get hard, but he could get it up three or four times a night. One of
the girls he had hung out with had worked the red lantern district, and she
said she'd seen the same kind of stamina with youkai clients. Gojyo had always
suspected she knew what he was, but never mentioned it. One of the best things
about working girls was their discretion.
"Gojyo," Kaori groaned, "I'm ready for you. Please take
me."
Temporarily putting aside the consternation at his condition, Gojyo focused on
his partner. Time to improvise. Keeping his two fingers inside, he leaned
forward, pushing Kaori's knees closer to his chest. Bracing himself on his left
forearm, Gojyo kissed Kaori's sweaty neck.
"I want you to cum on my fingers," Gojyo murmured.
Kaori turned to look at him in surprise. The slight frown between the shaped
eyebrows smoothed out and Gojyo felt hands stroking his back.
"As you wish," Kaori said. "Your pleasure is my pleasure."
Pinning Kaori in place with his larger frame, Gojyo nosed aside hair and sucked
on an earlobe. He withdrew his fingers to the tip of his middle finger,
circling slowly just inside the rim. When he felt the body under him relax,
Gojyo bit down on the lobs and thrust four fingers inside, striking the bundle
of nerves.
"Ahh!" Kaori's voice broke.
The smaller man arched up and the walls tightened around Gojyo's fingers as
nails dug into his back. Gojyo pulled out to the tips and thrust in again.
"Ah!" Prepared, Kaori's reaction wasn't quite as violent as before.
"Are you gonna cum for me, Kaori?" Gojyo whispered in his ear as he
thrust in again.
"Ah!" Kaori's hips pushed up as much as they could pinned under him.
"Yes. I will - ah! - cum for you."
Gojyo sped up the thrusts, but kept them deep enough to hit the prostrate every
time, twisting as he pulled out. Kaori's panting cries grew closer together,
and Gojyo's back stung as sweat ran into the scratches.
"That's it, Kaori. You feel so good, baby," he whispered
encouragement. "Cum hard for me now, Kai."
"Ah!" Kaori's body bowed upward, head thrown back as the hot, moist
walls spasmed around Gojyo's fingers.
Watching Kaori's tense face, Gojyo kept his fingers inside, stroking with his
middle finger until the spasms passed and Kaori collapsed flat on the futon.
Slowly, he withdrew his fingers, wiping them on the coverlet, and sat up,
Kaori's hands slipping away from his back. Gently, Gojyo grasped Kaori's bent
legs and straightened them out, massaging the calf and thigh muscles.
Gojyo crawled back up the futon and lay on his back next to the recovering
Kaori, folding an arm under his head. The black-haired man rolled onto his side
facing Gojyo, propping his head up on his hand. His left hand traced idle
patterns over Gojyo's chest. Gojyo met the brown eyes, and was relieved to see
he had sated his bed mate. Kaori was smiling, and Gojyo found himself staring
at the perfectly painted lips. They looked far too neat considering what had
just happened; they should be smeared, the lips swollen... Gojyo frowned as he realized
he hadn't kissed Kaori properly, which was very strange for him. He was a damn
fine kisser and it was usually the larger part of foreplay.
"I can wipe it off if the make-up bothers you," Kaori said.
Gojyo's eyes flicked back up and he shook his head. "No, that's not it,
they're just..."
"The wrong lips?" Kaori teased.
Gojyo blinked, surprised. He reached out and cupped Kaori's face, brushing the
lower lip with his thumb. The black-haired man was a beauty and sexy as hell.
Yet, Gojyo couldn't help thinking of green eyes and thinner lips smiling in
sweet patience at him, pale skin flushed pink from the bath, the smell of
chamomile.
"Kai is very fortunate," Kaori said.
"What?" Gojyo floundered as the brown eyes laughed at him.
"Having another's name called out in bed is an occupational hazard,"
Kaori's smile widened.
"Oh." Gojyo closed his eyes, mortified.
He had added insult to injury. First, he hadn't been able to consummate the
act, and then he'd actually called his bed mate by the wrong name. His eyes
opened at a throaty laugh. Kaori had moved closer, and leaned in to kiss him
lightly.
"Is Kai your lover?" Kaori asked, laying his hand on Gojyo's chest.
"No, my best friend." Gojyo automatically stroked Kaori's hand and
arm. At the questioning eyebrow, he elaborated. "Hakkai's...
complicated."
"Ah." Red lips pursed. "He doesn't sleep with men?"
"Actually, yes. Apparently," Gojyo wasn't quite able to keep the
bitterness out of his voice.
Kaori pushed himself up on an elbow and leaned over him, black hair brushing
against the side of Gojyo's face.
"Gojyo-san," Kaori said firmly, "you are a skilled and
considerate lover, and though I have only known you a short time, I believe you
are a good man."
Gojyo smiled, his mood lifting again. He reached up and brushed back Kaori's
hair, tucking the silky strands behind an ear. The other man rubbed his cheek
into his palm.
"Hey," Gojyo said softly, "how much for the whole night?"
---
Hakkai woke with a start.
He was in a hotel room, partially obscured by the muted illumination of dusk
filtering through the closed paper shutters. As he forced his strained good eye
to focus in the poor light, he realized he was looking at his own neatly made
bed across the room. A heartbeat later he was aware of the arm draped around
his waist, and the unmistakable scent of Sanzo wrapped around him.
Everything came rushing back with dizzying force. Hakkai reached up and touched
his bones where Sanzo had pressed, and his head cleared a bit. He felt a twinge
in his bladder and realized that was probably what had woken him. Carefully
extricating himself from the sleeping blonde, Hakkai slid out of the low bed
and padded naked to the bathroom.
When he squatted over the toilet, muscles he didn't even know he had, screamed
in protest. He had thought himself fairly fit considering the ikkou's regular
fighting regime, but apparently his muscles were unaccustomed to being used in
certain activities. After he voided his bladder, Hakkai dampened the towel in
the sink and wiped himself down A bit of dried blood came away from his anus,
and he was very tender there, so he suspected he may have torn a little.
He could hardly complain, since he had asked for it. His skin flushed at the
memory of laying face down, hips in the air, buttocks spread open. He had to
grip the edge of the washing basin as he remembered the feeling of Sanzo
pushing inside, stretching him, filling him with such an intensely sweet burn.
There was nothing else but that place deep inside waiting to be touched, so
that every time Sanzo pulled out it was agony waiting for him to return. He had
wished Sanzo could just keep pushing in deeper and deeper without withdrawing,
until he was so far inside all the empty places would be filled.
Hakkai's eyes rose to look in the mirror above the sink. As he suspected, there
were two bruises on his clavicles that would go to purple by morning. Reaching
up, he touched the back of his neck and felt a raised welt, slightly warm to
the touch.
Liquid warmth spurting inside as Sanzo filled him with his seed, the weight of
his body anchoring him to the bed, and just when he thought it would be too
much, the sharp pain in his neck taking the edge off the intense pleasure.
Hakkai's fingers stroked the bite mark he could not see, but others could. It
would be obvious what the mark was, and to the rest of the ikkou, who had
placed it there. With the tiniest amount of chi, Hakkai could heal the mark,
remove all traces of it, so it would be impossible to tell it had ever existed.
Hakkai knew if he removed the mark Sanzo would say nothing. He also knew if he
left the mark, Sanzo would say nothing. With a soft laugh, Hakkai lowered his
hand and exited the bathroom.
With practiced stealth, Hakkai unfolded the blanket at the foot of the bed and
slipped back in, covering himself and Sanzo. He settled back into his previous
position on his side, slowly wriggling backwards.
A gasp escaped him when a firm hand grabbed his hip and pulled his body back
snugly against a hard chest and soft groin, a leg hooking over his. Sanzo
nuzzled the hair at the nape of his neck, warm breath making goosebumps. Soft
lips moved slowly over his neck, as if mouthing a silent prayer, then Sanzo
kissed the bite mark.
Hakkai grasped the hand on his hip, lacing his fingers through Sanzo's, and
brought it to his lips. He brushed his lips across the knuckles a shade paler
than his own before clasping it to his chest. They lay together like that,
Hakkai listening to Sanzo's breathing until it slowed and deepened into the rhythm
of sleep. He stroked his thumb over Sanzo's knuckles, watching the objects in
the room disappear as the night slowly filled the room.
When consciousness finally slipped away from him, Hakkai fell into a deep and
peacefully dreamless sleep.
---
Gojyo unfolded the blanket and draped it over the futon while Kaori set his
sandals outside the door. Apparently that was the "occupied for the
night" signal at this particular establishment. Gojyo slipped under the
blanket, leaving a corner folded back for Kaori as he waited for the other man
to join him. Kaori approached the futon, then hesitated, hands resting on his
obi. Brown eyes met his in question.
"Whatever is the most comfortable way for you to sleep," Gojyo
assured him.
Flashing him a brilliant smile, Kaori expertly unwound the obi and slipped out
of the kimono, small fingers quickly undoing the bindings, which fell in loops
to the ground. Gojyo watched as Kaori knelt in front of the little night-stand
and opened a drawer. He removed a flat box, a little jar and a rag. The flat
box opened into a mirror that swiveled so it propped open. Dipping the rag into
the jar, Kaori proceeded to remove the make-up. Finished, he carefully put
everything away and slipped under the covers next to Gojyo.
Gojyo looked over Kaori's naked face. Without powder, the skin was still pale,
but less smooth with visible pores, more obviously male. Devoid of kohl, the
eyes seemed a lighter shade of brown, the eyebrows less sharply defined.
Smiling, Gojyo kissed the pink lips gently.
With a happy sigh, Kaori snuggled against his chest, tucking his head under his
chin. Gojyo wrapped his body around the smaller man, legs tangling together,
enjoying the warmth of their groins touching even if the belly pressed against
his was smooth of scars.