Title: Zang Fu Theory, Part 15
Email: ladylotusmoon (a) hotmail (o) com
Author: Lotus
Pairing(s): Sanzo/Hakkai/Gojyo
Rating: NC17
Summary: While the ikkou are staying in a
town, Sanzo and Hakkai are called away in the middle of the night to help a severely
injured farmer. Gojyo is left babysitting a dragon, who behaves very
strangely. At the farmhouse, Hakkai is possessed by a fire oni, & the
oni's attempt to draw heat results in a sexual situation with Sanzo. Upon
Hakkai & Sanzo's return to the inn, Gojyo & Goku realized what happened
& Gojyo attacks Sanzo. Hakkai attempts to be peacemaker, sending
Sanzo & Goku to the bathhouse, leaving him with Gojyo. Sanzo &
Goku have a chat in the bath, and Sanzo is attacked by the fire oni. Back
at the inn, afraid he is losing his friend to Sanzo, Gojyo uses his special
brand of persuasion with Hakkai. Hakuryu flies back to the inn for help,
leading Hakkai & Gojyo to the bathhouse. They battle the fire oni,
and just when all seems lost, Gojyo remembers Jien's magic beans. Hakkai
& Gojyo wash the ash off each other. Returning to the inn, Gojyo
& Goku are kicked out of the room & Hakkai tends Sanzo's wounds.
Goku gets embarrassed in the bathroom in front of Gojyo, who ends up lending
him a helping hand. The healing session becomes intimate between Hakkai
& Sanzo. Hakkai remembers the past when he was at the temple with
Sanzo and Gojyo seeks solace after accidentally eavesdropping on Hakkai &
Sanzo. Goku follows the upset Gojyo & gets free dumplings from a
vendor because he's a companion of the Chosen One. During a passionate
moment, Sanzo loses control & Hakkai leaves to look for Gojyo. Goku
leads Hakkai to the bar he had followed Gojyo to the night before. At the
Red Kimono, Gojyo is attacked & mysteriously declared to be the Chosen One.
Chapter 15: The purpose of the Chosen One is revealed.
Warning: Language, Sexual Situations
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.
---
Sanzo sat on the curved wooden stool in the araiba,
the washing area, and scrubbed himself thoroughly. When he got to his cock,
he cleaned it in the same efficient manner as his foot. It was just
another body part. He didn't think about holding Hakkai's cock against
it, moving together, hot and hard and velvety soft, the other man's quiet
cries...
"Damn," Sanzo threw the wet washcloth down on the wooden floor with a
loud splat.
He grabbed the bucket of tepid water and dumped it over his head, shaking the
hair out of his eyes. After his bath, he was going to find a quiet place
and meditate.
A rattle to his right made Sanzo look up. The innkeeper's daughter was
standing at the entrance to the datsuijo, the changing room, carrying
two buckets of water on a pole across her shoulders. He raised an eyebrow
at her as he set down the empty bucket.
"I-I apologize for bothering you, Sanzo-sama," she tried to bow,
sloshing water and nearly over-balancing. "I brought hot water to
fill the tub in the yokujyo."
Sanzo glanced back over his shoulder at the noren leading to the private tubs.
"That's not necessary," he said. "I'll use the hot
spring."
The girl's face flushed. "I am so sorry, sir, but the onsen is...
not working," she said.
Sanzo frowned. How could a hot spring be broken? Exactly how much
damage did Hakkai and Gojyo cause when they defeated the fire oni? Naked
and dripping wet, Sanzo stood up, sloughing the excess water from his arms with
the blade of his hand. He ignored the girl's quick, flushed look at his
groin before she averted her face. He felt her eyes return to him as he
padded across the floor to the onsen.
As he got closer to the entrance to the other room, Sanzo saw burn marks in the
floor and the noren itself lay in a charred pile. When he stepped inside
the room, toes curling a bit at the change from warm wood to cool stone, Sanzo
saw massive scorch marks along the wall on either side of the door. His
respect for Hakkai's chi shields went up a few notches. The healer had
been deflecting massive amounts of elemental force.
There was also a complete lack of steam in the room. Frown deepening, Sanzo
walked over to the pool, noting the silent waterfall, and squatted to dip his
fingers in the still water. It was stone cold. Sanzo shook the
water off his fingers and mentally reviewed the ikkou's encounters with the
fire oni.
The lightning storms, burnt fields and destroyed crops, the burned farmer, the
attack in the onsen, all acts of a vengeful oni. However, if the hot
spring stopped when the fire oni was destroyed, that meant the oni had been the
town's water spirit. Such spirits usually lived in harmony with the
village, in a symbiotic relationship. Towns like this one were built around
Something must have happened to shift the balance, to enrage the oni and set it
on a destructive path. Was this another effect of the Minus Wave?
"Father says the onsen will be alive again soon," the girl
interrupted his thoughts.
Sanzo glanced up at her where she stood, sans buckets, rubbing her
shoulder. Her face was flushed, and she was having difficulty meeting his
eyes.
"How?" he asked.
"Well, now that we have a true Chosen One, there will be a Fire
Festival," her round face brightened. "There will be music,
dancing, and special food. And when the priest calls the fire oni, it's
so beautiful, like fireworks!"
Sanzo rose slowly, right trigger finger spasming as a vague sense of dread
coiled in his gut.
"Chosen One?" he prompted.
"The companion for the fire oni," she responded with a cheerful
smile.
"Dammit," Sanzo hissed under his breath.
He strode out of the room, brushing past the confused girl. Goku had been
in the pool with him. Why had the oni only attacked him? Sanzo
swatted aside the noren into the datsuijya and started getting dressed
without bothering to dry off. It had attacked him because he had
exorcised it out of Hakkai.
Fire oni maintained their heat by drawing it from an outside energy source like
the sun, fire, storms. This was why burning torches and small bonfires
were maintained as offerings. Apparently these villagers had been feeding
their oni a different kind of energy. Pushing his head through the sha
silk tunic, Sanzo pulled the robe sleeves up and shoved his gloved arms through
as he walked out of the bath house. His banishing gun was a comforting
weight swinging against his side inside the sleeve.
A chi kung master like Hakkai would be a veritable feast for a fire oni.
The healer must be the Chosen One the girl was talking about. He had to
find Hakkai. If anything happened to the green-eyed man, Buddha have
mercy on this village, because he sure as Heaven would not.
---
"No!" Kaori cried out, sounding panicked, and Gojyo's head swung
around to see the escort struggling against his captors. "Gojyo-san
did not choose, and there was no lottery!"
Gojyo narrowed his eyes up at the old man. This situation was getting
shittier by the minute.
"What the hell is the Chosen One?" he demanded.
The old man gestured to someone behind him, and another masked man stepped
forward, carrying a black silk yukata. The men kneeling on Gojyo's arms
eased up and shifted their grip, allowing him to sit up. Getting the
idea, Gojyo held out his hand and took the robe, slipping it on and belting
it. As soon as it was tied, the two men on either side of him gripped his
upper arms, pulling them back. It was uncomfortable, but at least he
wasn't laying on the floor like a gutted fish anymore.
"The Chosen One is the companion of the fire oni," the old man
replied.
"But," Gojyo frowned, "we destroyed the fire oni."
"Yes," the old man smiled at him and bowed slightly. "For
which we are grateful. That fire oni had gone rogue and was ravaging the
village. Now I will call forth a new fire oni to renew the hot
spring."
"How do you know this one's not gonna go... rogue, too and starting
burning shit up?" Gojyo asked.
"Ah," the old man patted his leg. "It will not leave the
spring as long as it has a true companion." He started using what
Gojyo thought of as the teaching tone, "Several years ago, there was a
terrible catastrophe, and all the youkai in the village went mad."
"Yeah," Gojyo muttered. "The Minus Wave. It happened
all over, pal."
Ignoring the interruption, the old man continued, "The fire oni's
companion was a youkai. It was when the Chosen One abandoned it that the
fire oni came forth out of the spring. We tried to appease it with other
companions, but it quickly burned through their frail human bodies."
Gojyo felt nauseous. "You sick fuckers," he muttered.
"You, however, are the perfect Chosen One," the priest smiled broadly
at him. "You are a hanyou. Your human blood is a limiter that
can never be removed, so the youkai madness will not affect you. Your
demon blood will give you the strength to survive the fire oni. And
now," the priest leaned forward and pressed two fingers over Gojyo's
heart, "you can never leave."
Gojyo's heart sank. It was going to take a hell of a lot more than magic
beans to get him out of this one.
"The previous Chosen One was most happy with his calling," the old
man assured him. "The Chosen One lives like a prince. You
shall want for nothing and reside in a fine house by the main spring. You
may have your choice of women, or..." knobby fingers gestured at Kaori,
hanging limply in his captors' arms, "...men."
There was a soft tapping at the door, and Mr. Yukata turned, stepping back and
sliding the screen open. Gojyo saw a flash of red.
"I said we weren't to be disturbed," he said brusquely.
"I apologize, Master Wu," a woman's voice responded. "Two
of his traveling companions are here and refuse to leave."
Mr. Yukata turned around and glared at Gojyo, who tried not to grin in
triumph. Two of the ikkou were here. It didn't really even matter
which two; there was gonna be some serious ass-kicking now.
"Of course, you will tell them to leave," the old man said.
Gojyo looked at the old fart as if he were crazy. Which he was.
"Like Hell I will."
"Did you forget?" the old man gestured at Kaori.
Oh, yeah. He did, kinda. Gojyo's spirits sank.
"You will tell your traveling companions to continue on their journey
without you," the old man said, "or we will give Kaori to the fire
oni in your place."
Gojyo's nostrils flared as he struggled with his body not to punch out the old
man sitting placidly in front of him with his hands folded in his lap.
"Fine," Gojyo gritted out.
"You may speak with one of them," the old man advised.
"I don't even know who's here!" Gojyo exclaimed in frustration.
"A boy and a brown-haired man in glasses," Mr. Yukata said.
Goku and Hakkai. No brainer. "Hakkai. The man in the
glasses," Gojyo clarified.
Mr. Yukata turned and signaled the woman at the screen, who turned and
left. The old man raised a hand, and one of the men in black assisted him
to his feet. Cautiously, the other men let go of Gojyo's limbs. He
fought the urge to jump to his feet and start kicking ass.
"We will be in the next room with Kaori, listening and watching," the
old man advised.
"Yeah, yeah," Gojyo waved his hand, then an idea hit him. Maybe
a way to buy time until he could think of something else.
"Wait. Hakkai is more than a traveling companion. He's my,
uh, lover." He glanced over at Kaori for confirmation.
Picking up the cue, Kaori nodded his head. "This is true. Gojyo-san
called out his name in a moment of passion."
The old man hesitated, a calculating look crossing his pruned face, and Gojyo
quickly interrupted, before there were any ideas about feeding Hakkai to the
oni.
"I can convince him to leave," Gojyo assured the priest.
"But he's gonna expect more than a parting handshake, if you know what I
mean."
The smile returned. "Of course," the priest agreed.
"We will give you one hour."
Gojyo nodded. One hour was better than nothing. And if he couldn't
think of a way out of this, he might be saying good-bye to Hakkai for real.
---
Hakkai blew lightly on the surface of the tea and sipped calmly as he surveyed
the room around them. It was still early, so there were very few
customers; most of the activity was from staff cleaning and setting up the
gambling tables.
"Hakkai," Goku whispered in his ear. "How can you sit
there and drink tea when they got Gojyo back there somewhere?"
"Goku," Hakkai responded quietly. "We have no indication
that Gojyo is being held against his will."
"Then why's everyone acting all weird?" Goku insisted.
Why, indeed, Hakkai thought, but kept it to himself. Goku was high-strung
enough as it was. He surreptitiously watched the young man as he bounced
impatiently on the balls of his feet next to Hakkai's chair. Something
was amiss. When they left the bar, Goku had most definitely been upset
that Gojyo had sought female companionship, and since they had arrived at the
Red Kimono, he was frowning at every woman that passed them. Very unusual
behavior for the most sociable member of the ikkou. The younger man was
almost acting... jealous.
The tea went down the wrong way, and Hakkai coughed, setting the cup down on
the table. Strong hands pounded him roughly on the back.
"You okay, Hakkai?" Goku asked in concern.
Hakkai waved his hand, nodding, and the pounding stopped. He wiped at the
corners of his tearing eyes and took another cautious sip of tea to soothe his
throat. So much had happened in such a short period of time, he had
failed to check on Goku after the incident in the bath house. When Hakkai
had resuscitated Sanzo, the priest coughing the water out of his lungs at last,
Hakkai had looked up and shared a relieved look with Gojyo. The redhead
had been holding Goku in his arms after giving the naked boy his shirt, rubbing
his back and comforting him.
"Hey, monkey." Gojyo shook the form huddled against his
chest. The wet, spiky head moved under his chin. "Look, the
monk's gonna be okay."
Instead of going to Sanzo, Goku snuggled closer in Gojyo's arms, licking his
neck and sliding his hands down the back of his pants.
"Goku?" The name came out several octaves higher than normal, and
Gojyo shot a confused look at Hakkai.
That was the moment Hakkai had realized Goku was possessed with the fire oni,
and had summoned forth a chi ball, but Sanzo had stepped in.
Hakkai cleared his throat, setting down the teacup. It was entirely
possible the possession had boosted the young man's libido and the focus of his
attention was Gojyo. The redhead would be the natural choice; he was the
most physically demonstrative member of the group, the most overtly
sensual. Knowing Gojyo, he may even have inadvertently encouraged the
inexperienced young man.
"Goku," he began. Golden eyes turned toward him.
"When you were possessed by the fire oni..."
"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," a woman's voice interrupted softly.
Hakkai looked up, and an attractive woman in a red kimono was rising from a
bow. He stood from the table and returned the bow.
"I have been instructed to bring Hakkai-san to Gojyo-san's room," she
murmured.
"What the Hell!" Goku exploded behind him.
"Goku!" Hakkai turned and gave the angry young man a sharp
look. "We do not speak to ladies in that manner."
Hot gold eyes raised up to him. "She's not-"
Hakkai frowned, tilting his head down so the light flashed across his
glasses. Goku's mouth snapped shut.
"I wanna see Gojyo, too," he sulked.
Hakkai reached out and patted Goku's slumped shoulder. "I'm sure
he's fine, Goku. Why don't you return to the inn and wait for us
there?"
Goku crossed his arms over his chest. "No way. I'm waiting
right here."
Hakkai sighed. "Very well."
"If you will follow me, Hakkai-san?" the woman asked politely.
Hakkai turned toward her with a nod, and she bowed gracefully before turning
and walking with small, gliding steps across the room. Giving Goku a firm
look, Hakkai followed the woman to a doorway covered with a red and gold
noren. Elegantly raising her hand, she spread the folds for him to pass
through first. Hakkai found himself in a hall bordered in painted shoji
screens. As he walked, he discovered amid the beautiful pastoral scenes,
the small figures were involved in various intimate acts.
They stopped in front of a screen, and the woman knelt to the side, tapping on
the wooden frame with her fingernails.
"Yeah," Gojyo called out from inside.
Still kneeling, the woman slid the door open and gestured for Hakkai to enter.
"Thank you," Hakkai said to the bowed black head, and stepped
inside. The door whispered shut behind him.
Gojyo was standing with his back to the screen in front of a tousled futon,
wearing a black silk yukata decorated with small red poppies. Black had
always been a good color for the hanyou, warming his tan skin, brightening his
glossy red hair. Hakkai cleared his throat.
Gojyo turned around, arm raising as he ran his hand through his hair.
There was a strange look in the crimson eyes, and Hakkai felt the weight on his
chest shift down. It almost hurt to breathe. Perhaps he was too
late. Perhaps he had already lost him.
"Gojyo-" Hakkai started.
"Kai!"
Gojyo strode across the room and wrapped his arms around Hakkai's aching chest,
squeezing him in a tight hug. And just like that, the boulder crumbled
and fell away. Relief making his knees feel weak, Hakkai slid his arms
around Gojyo's neck and returned the embrace, tilting his chin up to press his
cheek against his friend's. He felt the redhead stiffen, and Gojyo pulled
away, holding him by the arms.
"What is it?" Hakkai frowned.
"I-" a shadow passed over Gojyo's eyes, then was banished when he
blinked. "Forget it."
"Gojyo," Hakkai's hands slid out from behind Gojyo's neck to rest on
his chest. "We need to talk about-"
"Shh," Gojyo said, leaning down and rubbing noses.
Startled, Hakkai felt a flutter in his chest as he recognized the shift in
Gojyo's manner, the change in his body as the redhead transitioned into
seduction mode. Hakkai could practically smell the sex pheromones, the
rise in temperature on the surface of Gojyo's tanned skin beneath his
hands. The crimson eyes softened and warmed, one of the large hands on
Hakkai's back sliding down to cup his bottom.
Hakkai gasped as Gojyo squeezed and pushed their pelvises together. As
soon as his mouth opened, Gojyo tilted his head and closed the small space
between them with a kiss.