Into Temptation: Years 6 & 7
And I come bearing ficcie. :) I feel accomplished to get this story back on track again.
My smut writing skills are going away, i think... :( Because I am not happy with either of the mini-smuttish bits in here... *sigh*
Anyway, this installment is brought to you with love, and dedicated entirely to
eyesofshinigami for her help in inspiring me to get this shit done so I can move on to Lead Me Not. XD
Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by moi.
‘----------’ separates completely separate events. Days, a week, or even months could have passed in between. Chronological order. This chapter is two years in one.
IMPORTANT WARNINGS: Some smut, language, improbable situations, character evolution, saaaapppppp, lots of OOCness, SanzoGoku, HakkaiGojyo.
Other Links: Year one // Years Two and Three // Years Four and Five
All of them need a rewrite... but they aren't terrible. Just a bit outdated in terms of my writing ability.
----------
Into Temptation
Sixth Year
----------
Abjuration
Sanzo stared indolently at the other men around the table, their voices droning on and on. He hated these damned meetings. As the highest ranking monk in Chang’an, he had to oversee these meetings between the heads of the city’s dozens of other monasteries, listening to their pleas for resources. They squabbled amongst one another more often than anything got done, and these meetings often went on for hours upon hours. Sanzo hated it.
“There have been many problems with the newest novices, Sanzo-sama. Many have been breaking the Ten Precepts.”
“What do you want me to do about it?” Sanzo drawled, lacking even his usual put-on civility.
“It… there are rumors, Sanzo-sama… and it seems that the novices think the Precepts can be broken, because Sanzo-sama is rumored not to abide by them…”
Sanzo snorted. Idiots. Of course he didn’t abide by the stupid Precepts. The only one he didn’t break was the use of perfumes… they made him sneeze. He certainly didn’t make a secret of his lack of piety, though it seemed the men in this room were optimists to rival even Goku, as they actually believed the stories to be rumors. All the stupider of them.
“Again, what do you want me to do about it?”
“Perhaps you could speak at the Temple, oppose the rumors!” There was a general murmur of agreement, and Sanzo didn’t bother hiding the monumental roll of his eyes.
“Why would I refute the truth? Would it not be another sacrilege to lie to the brats? Let them do what they want’ they obviously aren’t cut out for the crap you all do if they can’t hold off on fucking or gambling.”
They deserved a metal for their sanguinity, as he saw his obvious statement float out of their ears. “Many even frequent the North Hamlet, Sanzo-sama! Surely you cannot condone…”
It was ironic that Goku chose that moment to stroll in, eyes squeezed shut and arm slung over his face to disguise a jaw-cracking yawn. Once he opened his eyes, he blinked rapidly at the congregation before grinning sheepishly. “Oh, sorry. Thought they’d be gone already.” He made to leave, sending a fond smile to his lover, but a hand on his wrist stopped him. Goku glared down at the older monk that helped him, a narrow-eyed look of disdain picked up from too many years with Sanzo. “That would be my arm you’re touching.”
“You are Sanzo-sama’s layperson, are you not? You are horribly disrespectful, to enter the room without knocking, to not show us the proper respect, to…”
Goku pointedly ignored the amused snicker from Sanzo, shaking the man’s hand off his arm and planting his hands on his hips. “Uhh, no. Sorry, I’m not anyone’s servant.”
Off to the side, the monk known as Hikuta was sinking down in his chair, drawing several looks to his waxen complexion. He was present as a representative of their temple, since Sanzo was the mediator. Hikuta was fixing Goku with a look that begged him to be quiet, not to spill what he considered the dirtiest secret their monastery had ever held. Dark eyes flew between him and Sanzo, pleading. Sanzo ignored him with a disinterested yawn, while Goku took the indifference to be permission.
“You cannot be serious… Sanzo-sama! The Parajika clearly states that any voluntary sexual interaction…”
“I’ll be in our room, kay Sanzo? I have to get up early for class tomorrow.” Goku grinned plastically at Sanzo, leaving the monk that had been speaking floundering.
Sanzo rose swiftly and walked towards him, “I’m coming too. I’m so done with this shit,” he paused and looked back at the gawking monks, glaring deeply. “None of you hold any authority over me; even the Parajika do not apply to a Sanzo. So I will fuck whomever I please, drink when I want to, kill if I deem it necessary, cheat, steal, and lie if it pleases me. I have the backing of the damned Merciful Hag. So go foist your principals on some other sucker.”
He walked away to a torrential outburst of denial, ignoring it all the while. He had never given a damn what others thought to begin with… though he couldn’t help but think that this might be more trouble than it was worth.
----------
Domesticity
Goku hummed as he folded his newly cleaned shirt and put it in its place, using his hip to slide the drawer shut. He had spent the last half hour folding and putting away his and Sanzo’s laundry, leaving Sanzo to go over his paperwork methodically as he did every day. He seemed to be working with a new fervor today, though Goku had no idea why; Sanzo was being rather reluctant to tell why.
So instead of the usual plan for a weekend - staying in bed most of the day doing very little sleeping - Goku was doing a bit of spring cleaning in their large suite of rooms. The laundry had piled up, and the twenty-five year old was sick of having to rifle through a pile to find something clean to wear. Now that the laundry was done, he moved over to the bed and yanked off the sheets, wrestling with a clean, fitted sheet to put on.
“God…damn…thing!” he shouted, succeeding in getting smacked in the face by the elastic corner and growled menacingly, “Fucking shitty sheet, just get on there already!”
With his sensitive hearing, he caught Sanzo’s snicker and ignored it; fuck the monk. He could enjoy Goku’s pain all he wanted, but damned if Goku would give him more entertainment by raising a protest and likely digging himself in deeper. Mentally, he turned a huffy cold shoulder on his lover and only felt amusement in return.
Finally subjugating the errant sheet, Goku moved on to the blankets and pillows, arranging them nicely and smiling. He didn’t think he had seen his and Sanzo’s large bed made in at least a year. Both of them had let their work and each other distract them from the more tedious domestic tasks, leaving it to the monks to do the overall cleaning and just making sure any overt trash or mess got put in plain sight for a quick clean.
Now it was time for his least favorite part of the clean up, the part which would send Sanzo’s amusement through the roof and likely end up with Goku pummeling his lover. With a determined sigh, Goku pulled the frilly apron (why did Sanzo own it, anyway?) over his head and pulled a blue bandana over his waist length hair. The office and bedroom had not been dusted in many months, since Sanzo didn’t allow any of the monks in the rooms for more than a few seconds, so Goku was prepared to be sneezing most of the afternoon. The mismatched outfit was to be his only protection.
He spent nearly an hour in their airy bedroom dusting the various shelves of items both ancient and new. Many things were relics of the previous temple head monks, with a few things added on by Goku in his childhood and more presently. He smiled as he polished the silver frame around an old picture of he and Sanzo, barely a year after Goku had come to live in the temple. The blond was livid over something Goku had done… who knew what, really, since he had done an awful lot wrong in those days… and was chasing down a grinning younger version of himself.
It had made him happy to find this picture on Sanzo’s shelves not long after the return from the journey, knowing the blond had kept it in sight despite Goku never entering his room to know any better. He had always known Sanzo had a soft spot for him.
Finally finished with the bedroom, though, and covered in a film of dust, Goku was dreading exiting into the main office area. It was not as if they hadn’t been stuck in ridiculous outfits around one another before… but this time Goku was a grown man in a frilly pink damned apron and dusting like a housewife. Oh, the shame.
He sucked it up and marched out into the main room, glaring at the shocked choking that escaped his lover. The choking quickly dissolved into chuckles, a wicked smirk gracing the blond’s features, “Well now, aren’t you pretty.”
Goku stuck out his tongue and marched to the nearest surface to begin his dusting.
Ten minutes of silence came next, broken only by Sanzo’s occasional snorts of amusement or Goku’s huffs of indignation. It wasn’t until Goku was halfway crawling under a corner table that Sanzo grabbed him, the heretic knocking his head on the bottom of the furniture and biting his tongue in the process.
He landed on top of his lover, and was surprised to see a small but genuine smile on his face. Sanzo had become more open with his emotions in the last two years or so and was more apt to show his amusement or even a bit of kindness if the two were alone, but happiness was rarely an emotion he conveyed through anything but his eyes. This smile was contagious though and Goku grinned goofily back, laughing at his own misfortune.
“I guess I look pretty silly, huh?”
Sanzo shook his head, “No… well, yes, you look fucking ridiculous,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “But it was more entertaining to think of you cleaning willingly.”
Goku couldn’t help the childish pout. “Hey!”
“Oh shut up,” Sanzo said, dumping Goku off of him as he stood. “Take that shit off, let’s go to town and get some food. I‘ve got good news.”
Goku’s grin returned full force. “Like I could really refuse that. Yay, food!”
----------
Vacation
“Tell me again how you talked me into this shit?” Sanzo growled, stamping out his fifth cigarette of the hour.
Goku blew a raspberry. “We all needed a vacation!”
Sanzo pinched the bridge of his nose “But why… here?”
An arm was slung around his shoulder and he glared at the owner, Gojyo‘s eyes curving in a grin. “The four of us never have any fun anymore… where better to catch up than here?”
“Besides,” Hakkai interjected with laughter saturating his voice. “Yaone-san has been inviting us for years now, it’s only right that we come here.”
Sanzo groaned and brought a second hand up to his face, shaking his head and muttering into his hands about the idiots he had chosen to consort with.
And the four began their vacation…
At Houtou Castle, India.
----------
Equality
Goku tasted all the skin in his reach, lips and tongue and teeth mapping the pale back. Sanzo was panting and pressing back into him, making the most exquisite noises. It only made him want to flip the man and fold him in half so he could watch his face in these moments. Goku loved it when Sanzo was like this, the rare times he could make his blond lose all of his control. Even when Sanzo took him, he retained some vestige of restraint over himself. But he never could when Goku was the one doing the taking, fingers gripping slim hips hard enough to bruise as he used all the energy he never lost to pound his lover into the mattress… or wall… or floor… or desk…
Oh, how the tables had turned. In the early years of their relationship, their roles bad been something of a cliché. He hadn’t known any better, and Sanzo hadn’t ever been in a position which called for compromise. But as the years had gone on, slowly the dominance battles had lessened as Sanzo had come to grips with their equality, their roles had become more reciprocal, and Sanzo had begun to appreciate the feeling of being filled entirely, almost as much as Goku enjoyed doing the filling. Something about the loss of control had begun to appeal to Sanzo as the stresses of everyday life had mounted. The man would never admit it in a million years, but Goku knew he enjoyed letting someone else possess him.
“Ugh… harder, damnit! If you can‘t do this right, Goku, I swear…”
Goku gave an exasperated look to the back of his lover’s head. Honestly, did Sanzo want him to break him? When violet eyes peered over his shoulder however, golden hair sticking to his flushed face, and Sanzo snarled at him wordlessly, Goku decided complying was in his best interests.
He planted a hand into the middle of Sanzo’s shoulder blades and shoved him down into the sheets, using the angle to keep Sanzo in place and giving him leverage. Goku picked up speed, driving hard into the blond. His eyes rolled back in his head as he was pulled deeper, and he could feel his climax approaching.
Sanzo swore and Goku watched him maneuver so that he could grab his own cock, harsh panting breaths in time with his strokes. When Sanzo’s entire body went rigid and he screamed out in release, Goku couldn’t hold back anymore, driving what was likely painfully deep one last time and collapsing onto Sanzo’s sweaty back.
Long minutes passed in silence, the clock in the corner of the room and their labored breathing the only sounds.
Sanzo clenched around him, startling a cry from Goku in his post-orgasmic bliss. “Hey, don’t do that!”
A chuckle and Sanzo did it again, harder, and Goku had no choice but to pull out. It felt weird. Sanzo bucked at him until he rolled off, and Sanzo moved himself onto his back, staring at the ceiling. “Fuck. I‘m going to regret that in the morning.”
“You’re the one that said to do it harder!”
“I didn’t say I was pissed, damnit, monkey.”
Goku smirked and rolled half on top of his lover, golden eyes shining. “You like me inside you, don’t you Sanzo?”
Sanzo glared. “Don’t get full of yourself.”
Goku hummed and nibbled his jaw. “I was actually referring to you being full of me… but you love it.”
“Tch…” Sanzo tried to squirm away. “Once in a while.”
“Good to know, Sanzo…” the brunet trailed his tongue down Sanzo’s pulse, purring as fingers buried in his hair.
“Damnit, I’m too tired for this.”
“Feeling old, Sanzo-sama?”
Goku was always surprised by the strength Sanzo possessed, human or not. When he was flipped onto his back with his ankles pressed to his ears, he found himself trying to figure out just how Sanzo had managed it.
“I’ll show you old, stupid monkey…”
----------
Cordon Bleu
Gojyo poked through the cupboards, humming under his breath and collecting ingredients. Hakkai had been under the weather all weekend, and Gojyo was determined to make dinner that night and save his lover the trouble. His hums became whistles which became an off tune song as he danced around the kitchen in Hakkai’s apron, adding new ingredients to his ever-growing pile on the counter.
Gojyo knew he wasn’t much of a roommate; he was messy, didn’t care to cook for himself, kept odd hours, was loud, often drunk, and usually didn’t notice when people did kind things for him therefore appeared ungrateful. But Hakkai had stuck by him for a decade now, even going so far as to be in a serious relationship with him even while knowing how he lived.
As far as Gojyo was concerned, Hakkai was the most wonderful partner on earth.
He knew he never would have gotten a woman who could do all Hakkai did; any that could would never have stuck by the hanyou this long. Hakkai took care of him, listened to him, and didn’t get sick of his consistently bad habits. It was like a match made in heaven.
Diced onions, a cup of margarine, thirteen sliced strawberries, a large helping of steamed rice, soy sauce, three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa, half a package of frozen broccoli, a half cup of salt, the remainder of the box of croutons, curry powder, crushed red pepper, two cans of beer, and three pounds of cubed pork later and Gojyo was somehow covered in flour but very, very happy. He hadn’t had to cook in years, but he still had the talent. The redhead smirked at his meal and dished some out for his ill lover.
Gojyo was disappointed when the instant he entered their bedroom, Hakkai got so ill that he couldn’t partake in the meal he had worked so hard on. It seemed the bug was more serious than they had thought, though. He held back the brunet’s hair, helped him back into bed, and put Hakkai’s serving into the refrigerator; it would keep for at least a month without spoiling, after all. Such was the biggest perk to Gojyo’s meals.
It took seventeen containers to store away all the leftovers, and he carefully stacked every one of them onto a shelf in the fridge. He was thoroughly amazed when Hakkai loved it so much that he finished it off in one afternoon while Gojyo was at work, but he knew how wonderfully delicious it was. He was glad to have satisfied Hakkai, though. It was the least he could do, after all.
For some reason, though, Hakkai didn’t want him to cook dinner again later that week. He was so sweet, always taking care of Gojyo. But someday he wouldn’t be feeling well again, and when that happened…
----------
Seventh Year
----------
Translocation
“We’re moving.”
The sudden declaration stopped all movement at the table, even Goku’s chopsticks froze partway to his mouth as his eyes rounded out to something reminiscent of his younger years. Gojyo eyed the youngest of their group with trepidation as he flashed a toothy grin at his lover. Unsurprisingly, Goku knew what was going on.
“Where in the hell are you going?” Gojyo said, feeling hot irritation bloom in his chest. How dare that shit just decide to up and ditch them, after all these years…
“I said ‘we’, dumbass. I mean you and Hakkai, too.”
Hakkai‘s smile thinned, “May I ask what brought this on, Sanzo?”
“Woah, woah,” Gojyo gesticulated wildly, nearly managing to cuff Hakkai on the side of the head. “How in the hell are you making this decision? Who made you god, you shitty monk? And when in the hell did me and Hakkai become a part of your we?”
Hakkai chuckled, looking far too at ease with the situation for Gojyo’s liking. “I believe that would be around the time the Sanbutsushin sent us on a journey, Gojyo.”
Sanzo snorted and smirked. “Exactly. Now shut the hell up, kappa, and listen to me.”
Gojyo colored indignantly, but a warning pinch from Hakkai to his thigh shut him up before he could even begin. His mulish expression refused to fade, however, as he glared across the table at the monk and his grinning monkey. The serious look that had settled over Sanzo’s face gave Gojyo pause.
“I secured the rights to reopen Kinzan temple.”
Gojyo sucked in a sharp breath, and he heard a faint exclamation from Hakkai to his right. Sanzo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Chang’an is too fucking big. I am not a diplomatic man, nor will I change to suit their ideals of what a Sanzo should be. The monks have been in an uproar over my habits for years, but confirmation that I don’t hold their ideals scares them. So I met with the hag and negotiated to be moved.”
That made no sense. “Why even bother with this shit? Why not just leave this shitty job behind and have a damn normal life? You are the worst damn monk I’ve ever seen.”
Goku giggled, earning his a threatening glare from his lover, but no action against him. It always freaked Gojyo out to see Goku get away with anything after all the years of being over-disciplined. Though, as Goku began talking, Gojyo conceded that nothing freaked him out more than Goku talking more eloquently than he could. The chimp had always been the most underestimated, even by the three of them, but he had never been able to vocalize his thoughts like this.
“Being Sanzo is a ‘for life’ kind of job, Gojyo. When you’re marked by the gods, you can’t get away.”
“That’s the only reason I can get away with half the shit I do. If I was a normal monk, I would have been expelled from the sangha by the time I was ten. However, the moment the chakra appeared on my head, I was stuck in this damn life.”
Hakkai leaned forward, “Well, when do we leave?”
“Hey! Don’t I get any say in this?!” Gojyo protested, mostly for the sake of being contrary.
Hakkai picked up his rice and gave him a genial grin. “Would you like to object, dear?”
Gojyo knew that look. That look scared him more than Seiten Taisei on a rampage, more than Sanzo with an itchy trigger finger. That was the look that told him in no uncertain terms that he was playing with his sex life with his answer. He breathed deeply and gave a roguish grin. “Well, alright then monk man and monkey boy. What’s the plan?”
----------
Ownership
Gojyo sighed happily, flopping back onto the mattress. The town in which Kinzan Temple was placed was small, the population rather sparse. The attack on the temple decades ago had wiped out much of the heart of the town and many had moved away in the months after, leaving a rather strange crowd behind. But Gojyo didn’t care that he was now in what he dubbed as ’bumpkin land’. He had finally achieved his dream.
He now owned his own bar.
“Happy over there, are you?”
Gojyo’s grin widened, and he sat up abruptly to look at the smiling face of his lover. He didn’t resist the urge he got to run to the brunet and sweep him off his feet, spinning him in a circle. Hakkai laughed -- and not that damn fake thing he used when he was uncomfortable. Real amusement positively dripped from this one, eyes shining.
“I take that as a yes.”
“Hell yes, I’m happy! I own a bar, Hakkai! A bar! Of my own! I own it!”
“Yes, Gojyo.” Amusement now, “You can only say the same thing so many times.”
Gojyo leered up at the man he still held off the ground despite. “You’re only with me for my wild success, aren’t you?”
“And you’re only with me for my dashing good looks.”
Gojyo laughed and finally listened to his muscle’s demands to put the man down. “And certainly not for your weight. Been eating a bit too much of your own cooking, babe?”
Hakkai perched on the edge of the bed, still watching him with amusement. Gojyo wanted to wipe that smug little grin off the man’s face, so he did it the best way he knew how -- he pounced.
His heart began pounding in his ears as soon as his lips pressed into the soft ones of his lover, heady feeling coursing through his veins. How could it feel this good every time? It had been years and still Gojyo felt like he was tasting something divine every time he kissed this man. Was this the way love worked, or was it simply the culmination of his years of suffering? Was this his reward for sticking through the thrice-damned journey from hell?
Or was it just that Hakkai was a really phenomenal kisser?
He left that mouth to trail his lips over Hakkai’s neck, muttering endearments and statements of want under his breath. Hakkai shuddered as he sank his teeth harshly into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, fingers tightening in his hair. This was heaven, he thought. Fuck the Merciful Goddess and her promises of afterlife, this was the only thing he needed right here. More skin was needed, Gojyo decided, and he began attacking the clothing that separated him from the lovely warmth of his lover.
“Sh-Shouldn’t you be thinking about going to see Sanzo, Gojyo? You need to look into,” he was cut off as Gojyo managed to push up his shirt and immediately bit down on the tempting flesh just above his pants. “You need to look into staffing the pub, Gojyo…”
“Nah, don’t worry about it, babe,” his voice was muffled by the zipper to Hakkai’s slacks; he didn’t want to stop touching every inch of him in sight, so he couldn’t be bothered to actually move his hands from that damned tempting skin to undo them that way. “There are plenty of hours in the day.”
Any answer Hakkai might have had was cut off as Gojyo ripped his pants down his thighs, setting in with his mouth immediately to tracing ever contour of his hips, every bit of newly revealed skin. It was rare he could get Hakkai this submissive, and damn if he wasn’t going to enjoy it while he had it.
The sounds Hakkai made were delicious. He groaned deep in his throat, voice gone hoarse only minutes in. Would it always be this way? Gojyo never would have imagined that this feeling could last for years, this desire and passion that swirled tangibly between them. He felt like a teenager every time… and he loved it.
His hands ran up pale thighs, and his mouth lowered to pepper kisses in their wake. Gods, he was so hard already. He wanted every inch of this man for the rest of eternity, he wanted to touch and taste every nuance and curve, he wanted to drive into him until he was screaming his name… but no, that would be over too fast. He wanted to go so slowly that it just about killed them both, excruciatingly pleasureful and torturous and…
Gojyo coughed, sitting back on his heels and pawing at his face. Hakkai’s panting voice made some question, but Gojyo was too agitated to really hear it. He had managed to fucking swallow a mouthful of his own stupid hair. Stupid crap… it was down to his shoulder blades now and it was really getting on his nerves.
“Fucking shit, man! What the hell…”
Hakkai was chuckling, but Gojyo ignored him as he finally managed to free his mouth of the choking hair. He gathered it all into his fist and glared at it as if it had a mind of its own, curses running through his mind.
“I want to cut this shit off.”
Any amusement from Hakkai died in that moment, and Gojyo already knew his mistake. Hands, long-fingered hands which knew blood and healing all at once, were wrapped around his and green eyes had narrowed in pain. “Don’t. Please, Gojyo, don’t…”
“Hakkai…”
“No!” Hakkai pushed himself up… shirt still hanging off one arm and his pants and underwear caught down around his knees, he grabbed Gojyo’s face in his hands and stared into crimson eyes. “Please don’t cut it.”
“Babe, it wasn’t your fault…”
“It was. I can’t… I love your hair…”
Gojyo cut his eyes away, sighing as the bad memories swiftly killed whatever was left of his erection. “You can’t say that was your fault, or else it would be my fault for the shit I did, and you’re always telling me that it wasn’t…”
He didn’t know how it happened, but he managed to end up on his back with a narrow-eyed Hakkai on top of him, leaning down with his breath fanning over his lips. “Don’t cut it.”
Gojyo swallowed as arousal built up once more, slowly this time; a small part of him mourned his relinquishment of control, but the rest of him shivered in anticipation. That look in Hakkai’s eyes always promised the most delicious orgasms… “I won’t cut it.”
“Good boy…” Hakkai purred, leaning down to take Gojyo’s lower lip in his mouth, teeth pulling lightly. “Do you want a reward?”
Pushing the memories fully from his mind, Gojyo wound his arms around the brunet’s neck and pulled him down, a leer forming on his lips. “How about punishment?”
----------
Delusion
Sanzo watched the line of men apathetically, their nervous shifting only increasing his amusement. New monks had flocked in every day week since their arrival, coming by twos and threes to serve under the ‘illustrious Sanzo-sama’. Some had come because of his rumors of leniency, some for the ability to work under such a famous and revered man… and some for reasons he had no will to find out about.
Once a week he stood before those who had arrived and gave the same speech, one that generally managed to scare off at least a fourth of the newcomers. All the better for him.
“I am the 31st successor of Toa, Genjo Sanzo. If you are under the impression that I might care why you are here, you are wrong. I don’t. On top of the rules you live by, there is one very important rule of living here if you don’t want to end up dead. Mind your own fucking business. Do not bother me outside of working hours unless it is an emergency. If you manage to disturb by sex life, I will disturb your lifeline.”
They were shifting already; this group might end up halved. Sanzo kept the dark smirk off his face. “I do not care what you do, but you all took your fucking vows on your own, so you’d better do what you are meant to. If the Merciful Goddess catches you doing something she doesn’t like, she will expel you easily. And that bitch watches me like I’m the best thing on television, so don‘t think she won‘t notice. If one of the anal bastards you call superiors catches you at something, I won’t stick up for your ass. I don’t care. So, if you are laboring under some delusion that I would, you might as well leave now.”
Sanzo looked at the stricken faces, feeling rather proud of himself. So it was overdramatic of him, yes… but he didn’t need a bunch of miscreant idiots cluttering up his new, peaceful existence. Let them fuck up someone else’s temple; this one was his. Those who stayed generally liked the way things were run there; despite all appearances, he was good to those under him. He simply didn’t want anyone sticking around that wouldn’t be able to deal with his moods. He eyed the nervous men and nodded. “Right. Go away now.”
As they scattered like their life depended on it, Sanzo couldn’t help but grin.
----------
Haunted
Sanzo didn’t know how long he had been standing there, staring up into the dark nothingness of night. Surely it had been quite some time, as his skin was numb to all sensation and the chill had long-since stopped effecting him. Reason dictated that he should go back inside soon; Goku would wake up if the bed stayed cold much longer.
But Sanzo stayed.
Perhaps it was some foolish remnant that retained the identity of Kouryu that held him there. His eyes roved over the familiar half-remembered places of his youth. Long years of abandonment had not changed this place so much as he had thought it would have, and much of the area remained the same as it ever had.
Weeks walking through the halls had not affected him much, nor had taking a cigarette against what had once been his master’s favorite tree. Goku had started out treading on eggshells when they had first moved in, but after a week without much reaction from Sanzo, he had finally blurted out that Sanzo was ‘freaking him out’ with his placid acceptance. But the return to Kinzan Temple had not filled him with terror or vengeful angst. Not since the years had passed, not since he had been able to exact vengeance.
Not until it rained.
The reality of his slow evolution of character hadn’t set in for Sanzo until this night. When the first telltale crack of thunder had echoed through the room, he had actually managed to remain as courteous as he ever was and not simply isolate himself in his bedroom, locking out his lover in the process, so he could brood in peace. Goku seemed to realize the vast amount of consideration this had taken, and had simply curled against him and left him in silence, staring up at the ceiling of their room. Goku’s familiar warmth was nearly comforting at his side.
The rain had echoed off the windows, a dull roar feeding the unsettled tension, reverberating through Sanzo painfully. To be here, to listen to the rain while only meters away from the place it had all begun… it was a pain unlike anything he had felt in years. The restless anger that had always accompanied a downpour had never fully dulled, but it had been many years since the memories had been so crisp in his mind.
Goku had fallen asleep at his side; a combination of the lulling storm and a long day chasing down the youngest novices had probably played a part in that. Sanzo lay quietly for an hour beside him, hand unconsciously threading through long russet hair. The familiarity had kept him grounded, shackled firmly in reality. But soon the urge to move had taken him, leading him out into the pouring rain.
Again, he really didn’t know how long he had been standing there in the rain, staring at the one part of the monastery he had yet to enter. He had refused implicitly for that place to be reopened, for any person to even set foot into that room. The rain steadily streamed down his face, giving the appropriate impression of tears that Sanzo would not -- could not -- shed.
He had recovered the Seiten Scripture. He had restored peace to all of goddamn Shangri-La. He had taken out the once-friend of his master, the ultimate plotter behind his death. But was all that enough? Why couldn’t he let go of this pain that gripped his heart?
“Sanzo?”
Sanzo sighed as his reverie was well and truly broken, glancing back over his shoulder to the obvious owner of the voice. Goku was cowering under the overhang, the comforter from their bed wrapped around his torso and head. Sanzo was struck by the image; wide, tired eyes and disheveled long hair framed by the blanket, sending Goku back in time over fifteen years to the small boy Sanzo had unwittingly freed.
“Sanzo, you’re going to catch something out here. Come back to bed before you freeze, please.”
Ah, illusion successfully shattered. The Goku from all those years ago wouldn’t have dared, nor would he have had half the nearly polite affability this one did.
Sanzo turned to more fully look at the younger man, violet eyes tracing the features of that familiar face. It was hard sometimes to realize it had actually been eight years since he had stopped lying to himself, harder still to realize it had been over fifteen since he had sought out the source of the nagging voice.
Gods, how he had changed.
“Master?”
“Yes, Kouryu?”
The young boy leaned on his broom, browns drawn together in a frown. “What do the teachings say the purpose of life is?”
Koumyou was visibly startled by the sudden question, but quickly recovered into an amused laugh. “Such a heavy question, Kouryu! Why do you need a teaching to tell you that?”
“I… I was just curious…”
“I’ll tell you a secret, then. Do you want to hear it?”
Kouryu gave an eager nod, leaning closer before he remembered himself and backed away a bit, red dusting his nose.
Koumyou leaned down, long hair tumbling over his shoulder. Kouryu’s eyes watched it settle in a solid sheet between them and the world and looked down to avoid his pleased smile being seen. Wide, violet eyes peered up at the gently smiling face of his master, the man who was his father in his heart. Not that he would ever tell him that, of course. He wouldn’t dare.
“The purpose to life, Kouryu, is to live it. Enjoy yourself, make the best of every moment, and live like it is going out of style. Give yourself things in life that make it worth living, and you will have found the purpose.”
Koumyou stood abruptly and winked down at the wide-eyed boy, effusive smile lighting his face. He ran his fingers through his charge’s hair and murmured as he turned to walk away, “And that is that.”
The memory had been something Sanzo hadn’t thought of in years, perhaps not even since the moment had occurred to begin with. Sanzo shook his head to rid himself of the lingering feeling of fingers in his hair and a warm, proud smile.
He approached his silent lover slowly, drinking in his features and understanding smile. Live, huh?
Goku jumped when icy fingers curled around the back of his neck, but didn’t pull away as Sanzo gently manipulated him forward, pressing his icy lips to Goku’s warm, full ones.
“Thank you.”
Goku’s eyes widened as the words were breathed against his lips, and it took Sanzo taking his hand to start him walking with him to their room.
Ghosts could not haunt a person when the past was but a memory… and Sanzo was determined to make sure he was never haunted again.
----------
My smut writing skills are going away, i think... :( Because I am not happy with either of the mini-smuttish bits in here... *sigh*
Anyway, this installment is brought to you with love, and dedicated entirely to
eyesofshinigami for her help in inspiring me to get this shit done so I can move on to Lead Me Not. XD
Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by moi.
‘----------’ separates completely separate events. Days, a week, or even months could have passed in between. Chronological order. This chapter is two years in one.
IMPORTANT WARNINGS: Some smut, language, improbable situations, character evolution, saaaapppppp, lots of OOCness, SanzoGoku, HakkaiGojyo.
Other Links: Year one // Years Two and Three // Years Four and Five
All of them need a rewrite... but they aren't terrible. Just a bit outdated in terms of my writing ability.
----------
Into Temptation
Sixth Year
----------
Abjuration
Sanzo stared indolently at the other men around the table, their voices droning on and on. He hated these damned meetings. As the highest ranking monk in Chang’an, he had to oversee these meetings between the heads of the city’s dozens of other monasteries, listening to their pleas for resources. They squabbled amongst one another more often than anything got done, and these meetings often went on for hours upon hours. Sanzo hated it.
“There have been many problems with the newest novices, Sanzo-sama. Many have been breaking the Ten Precepts.”
“What do you want me to do about it?” Sanzo drawled, lacking even his usual put-on civility.
“It… there are rumors, Sanzo-sama… and it seems that the novices think the Precepts can be broken, because Sanzo-sama is rumored not to abide by them…”
Sanzo snorted. Idiots. Of course he didn’t abide by the stupid Precepts. The only one he didn’t break was the use of perfumes… they made him sneeze. He certainly didn’t make a secret of his lack of piety, though it seemed the men in this room were optimists to rival even Goku, as they actually believed the stories to be rumors. All the stupider of them.
“Again, what do you want me to do about it?”
“Perhaps you could speak at the Temple, oppose the rumors!” There was a general murmur of agreement, and Sanzo didn’t bother hiding the monumental roll of his eyes.
“Why would I refute the truth? Would it not be another sacrilege to lie to the brats? Let them do what they want’ they obviously aren’t cut out for the crap you all do if they can’t hold off on fucking or gambling.”
They deserved a metal for their sanguinity, as he saw his obvious statement float out of their ears. “Many even frequent the North Hamlet, Sanzo-sama! Surely you cannot condone…”
It was ironic that Goku chose that moment to stroll in, eyes squeezed shut and arm slung over his face to disguise a jaw-cracking yawn. Once he opened his eyes, he blinked rapidly at the congregation before grinning sheepishly. “Oh, sorry. Thought they’d be gone already.” He made to leave, sending a fond smile to his lover, but a hand on his wrist stopped him. Goku glared down at the older monk that helped him, a narrow-eyed look of disdain picked up from too many years with Sanzo. “That would be my arm you’re touching.”
“You are Sanzo-sama’s layperson, are you not? You are horribly disrespectful, to enter the room without knocking, to not show us the proper respect, to…”
Goku pointedly ignored the amused snicker from Sanzo, shaking the man’s hand off his arm and planting his hands on his hips. “Uhh, no. Sorry, I’m not anyone’s servant.”
Off to the side, the monk known as Hikuta was sinking down in his chair, drawing several looks to his waxen complexion. He was present as a representative of their temple, since Sanzo was the mediator. Hikuta was fixing Goku with a look that begged him to be quiet, not to spill what he considered the dirtiest secret their monastery had ever held. Dark eyes flew between him and Sanzo, pleading. Sanzo ignored him with a disinterested yawn, while Goku took the indifference to be permission.
“You cannot be serious… Sanzo-sama! The Parajika clearly states that any voluntary sexual interaction…”
“I’ll be in our room, kay Sanzo? I have to get up early for class tomorrow.” Goku grinned plastically at Sanzo, leaving the monk that had been speaking floundering.
Sanzo rose swiftly and walked towards him, “I’m coming too. I’m so done with this shit,” he paused and looked back at the gawking monks, glaring deeply. “None of you hold any authority over me; even the Parajika do not apply to a Sanzo. So I will fuck whomever I please, drink when I want to, kill if I deem it necessary, cheat, steal, and lie if it pleases me. I have the backing of the damned Merciful Hag. So go foist your principals on some other sucker.”
He walked away to a torrential outburst of denial, ignoring it all the while. He had never given a damn what others thought to begin with… though he couldn’t help but think that this might be more trouble than it was worth.
----------
Domesticity
Goku hummed as he folded his newly cleaned shirt and put it in its place, using his hip to slide the drawer shut. He had spent the last half hour folding and putting away his and Sanzo’s laundry, leaving Sanzo to go over his paperwork methodically as he did every day. He seemed to be working with a new fervor today, though Goku had no idea why; Sanzo was being rather reluctant to tell why.
So instead of the usual plan for a weekend - staying in bed most of the day doing very little sleeping - Goku was doing a bit of spring cleaning in their large suite of rooms. The laundry had piled up, and the twenty-five year old was sick of having to rifle through a pile to find something clean to wear. Now that the laundry was done, he moved over to the bed and yanked off the sheets, wrestling with a clean, fitted sheet to put on.
“God…damn…thing!” he shouted, succeeding in getting smacked in the face by the elastic corner and growled menacingly, “Fucking shitty sheet, just get on there already!”
With his sensitive hearing, he caught Sanzo’s snicker and ignored it; fuck the monk. He could enjoy Goku’s pain all he wanted, but damned if Goku would give him more entertainment by raising a protest and likely digging himself in deeper. Mentally, he turned a huffy cold shoulder on his lover and only felt amusement in return.
Finally subjugating the errant sheet, Goku moved on to the blankets and pillows, arranging them nicely and smiling. He didn’t think he had seen his and Sanzo’s large bed made in at least a year. Both of them had let their work and each other distract them from the more tedious domestic tasks, leaving it to the monks to do the overall cleaning and just making sure any overt trash or mess got put in plain sight for a quick clean.
Now it was time for his least favorite part of the clean up, the part which would send Sanzo’s amusement through the roof and likely end up with Goku pummeling his lover. With a determined sigh, Goku pulled the frilly apron (why did Sanzo own it, anyway?) over his head and pulled a blue bandana over his waist length hair. The office and bedroom had not been dusted in many months, since Sanzo didn’t allow any of the monks in the rooms for more than a few seconds, so Goku was prepared to be sneezing most of the afternoon. The mismatched outfit was to be his only protection.
He spent nearly an hour in their airy bedroom dusting the various shelves of items both ancient and new. Many things were relics of the previous temple head monks, with a few things added on by Goku in his childhood and more presently. He smiled as he polished the silver frame around an old picture of he and Sanzo, barely a year after Goku had come to live in the temple. The blond was livid over something Goku had done… who knew what, really, since he had done an awful lot wrong in those days… and was chasing down a grinning younger version of himself.
It had made him happy to find this picture on Sanzo’s shelves not long after the return from the journey, knowing the blond had kept it in sight despite Goku never entering his room to know any better. He had always known Sanzo had a soft spot for him.
Finally finished with the bedroom, though, and covered in a film of dust, Goku was dreading exiting into the main office area. It was not as if they hadn’t been stuck in ridiculous outfits around one another before… but this time Goku was a grown man in a frilly pink damned apron and dusting like a housewife. Oh, the shame.
He sucked it up and marched out into the main room, glaring at the shocked choking that escaped his lover. The choking quickly dissolved into chuckles, a wicked smirk gracing the blond’s features, “Well now, aren’t you pretty.”
Goku stuck out his tongue and marched to the nearest surface to begin his dusting.
Ten minutes of silence came next, broken only by Sanzo’s occasional snorts of amusement or Goku’s huffs of indignation. It wasn’t until Goku was halfway crawling under a corner table that Sanzo grabbed him, the heretic knocking his head on the bottom of the furniture and biting his tongue in the process.
He landed on top of his lover, and was surprised to see a small but genuine smile on his face. Sanzo had become more open with his emotions in the last two years or so and was more apt to show his amusement or even a bit of kindness if the two were alone, but happiness was rarely an emotion he conveyed through anything but his eyes. This smile was contagious though and Goku grinned goofily back, laughing at his own misfortune.
“I guess I look pretty silly, huh?”
Sanzo shook his head, “No… well, yes, you look fucking ridiculous,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “But it was more entertaining to think of you cleaning willingly.”
Goku couldn’t help the childish pout. “Hey!”
“Oh shut up,” Sanzo said, dumping Goku off of him as he stood. “Take that shit off, let’s go to town and get some food. I‘ve got good news.”
Goku’s grin returned full force. “Like I could really refuse that. Yay, food!”
----------
Vacation
“Tell me again how you talked me into this shit?” Sanzo growled, stamping out his fifth cigarette of the hour.
Goku blew a raspberry. “We all needed a vacation!”
Sanzo pinched the bridge of his nose “But why… here?”
An arm was slung around his shoulder and he glared at the owner, Gojyo‘s eyes curving in a grin. “The four of us never have any fun anymore… where better to catch up than here?”
“Besides,” Hakkai interjected with laughter saturating his voice. “Yaone-san has been inviting us for years now, it’s only right that we come here.”
Sanzo groaned and brought a second hand up to his face, shaking his head and muttering into his hands about the idiots he had chosen to consort with.
And the four began their vacation…
At Houtou Castle, India.
----------
Equality
Goku tasted all the skin in his reach, lips and tongue and teeth mapping the pale back. Sanzo was panting and pressing back into him, making the most exquisite noises. It only made him want to flip the man and fold him in half so he could watch his face in these moments. Goku loved it when Sanzo was like this, the rare times he could make his blond lose all of his control. Even when Sanzo took him, he retained some vestige of restraint over himself. But he never could when Goku was the one doing the taking, fingers gripping slim hips hard enough to bruise as he used all the energy he never lost to pound his lover into the mattress… or wall… or floor… or desk…
Oh, how the tables had turned. In the early years of their relationship, their roles bad been something of a cliché. He hadn’t known any better, and Sanzo hadn’t ever been in a position which called for compromise. But as the years had gone on, slowly the dominance battles had lessened as Sanzo had come to grips with their equality, their roles had become more reciprocal, and Sanzo had begun to appreciate the feeling of being filled entirely, almost as much as Goku enjoyed doing the filling. Something about the loss of control had begun to appeal to Sanzo as the stresses of everyday life had mounted. The man would never admit it in a million years, but Goku knew he enjoyed letting someone else possess him.
“Ugh… harder, damnit! If you can‘t do this right, Goku, I swear…”
Goku gave an exasperated look to the back of his lover’s head. Honestly, did Sanzo want him to break him? When violet eyes peered over his shoulder however, golden hair sticking to his flushed face, and Sanzo snarled at him wordlessly, Goku decided complying was in his best interests.
He planted a hand into the middle of Sanzo’s shoulder blades and shoved him down into the sheets, using the angle to keep Sanzo in place and giving him leverage. Goku picked up speed, driving hard into the blond. His eyes rolled back in his head as he was pulled deeper, and he could feel his climax approaching.
Sanzo swore and Goku watched him maneuver so that he could grab his own cock, harsh panting breaths in time with his strokes. When Sanzo’s entire body went rigid and he screamed out in release, Goku couldn’t hold back anymore, driving what was likely painfully deep one last time and collapsing onto Sanzo’s sweaty back.
Long minutes passed in silence, the clock in the corner of the room and their labored breathing the only sounds.
Sanzo clenched around him, startling a cry from Goku in his post-orgasmic bliss. “Hey, don’t do that!”
A chuckle and Sanzo did it again, harder, and Goku had no choice but to pull out. It felt weird. Sanzo bucked at him until he rolled off, and Sanzo moved himself onto his back, staring at the ceiling. “Fuck. I‘m going to regret that in the morning.”
“You’re the one that said to do it harder!”
“I didn’t say I was pissed, damnit, monkey.”
Goku smirked and rolled half on top of his lover, golden eyes shining. “You like me inside you, don’t you Sanzo?”
Sanzo glared. “Don’t get full of yourself.”
Goku hummed and nibbled his jaw. “I was actually referring to you being full of me… but you love it.”
“Tch…” Sanzo tried to squirm away. “Once in a while.”
“Good to know, Sanzo…” the brunet trailed his tongue down Sanzo’s pulse, purring as fingers buried in his hair.
“Damnit, I’m too tired for this.”
“Feeling old, Sanzo-sama?”
Goku was always surprised by the strength Sanzo possessed, human or not. When he was flipped onto his back with his ankles pressed to his ears, he found himself trying to figure out just how Sanzo had managed it.
“I’ll show you old, stupid monkey…”
----------
Cordon Bleu
Gojyo poked through the cupboards, humming under his breath and collecting ingredients. Hakkai had been under the weather all weekend, and Gojyo was determined to make dinner that night and save his lover the trouble. His hums became whistles which became an off tune song as he danced around the kitchen in Hakkai’s apron, adding new ingredients to his ever-growing pile on the counter.
Gojyo knew he wasn’t much of a roommate; he was messy, didn’t care to cook for himself, kept odd hours, was loud, often drunk, and usually didn’t notice when people did kind things for him therefore appeared ungrateful. But Hakkai had stuck by him for a decade now, even going so far as to be in a serious relationship with him even while knowing how he lived.
As far as Gojyo was concerned, Hakkai was the most wonderful partner on earth.
He knew he never would have gotten a woman who could do all Hakkai did; any that could would never have stuck by the hanyou this long. Hakkai took care of him, listened to him, and didn’t get sick of his consistently bad habits. It was like a match made in heaven.
Diced onions, a cup of margarine, thirteen sliced strawberries, a large helping of steamed rice, soy sauce, three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa, half a package of frozen broccoli, a half cup of salt, the remainder of the box of croutons, curry powder, crushed red pepper, two cans of beer, and three pounds of cubed pork later and Gojyo was somehow covered in flour but very, very happy. He hadn’t had to cook in years, but he still had the talent. The redhead smirked at his meal and dished some out for his ill lover.
Gojyo was disappointed when the instant he entered their bedroom, Hakkai got so ill that he couldn’t partake in the meal he had worked so hard on. It seemed the bug was more serious than they had thought, though. He held back the brunet’s hair, helped him back into bed, and put Hakkai’s serving into the refrigerator; it would keep for at least a month without spoiling, after all. Such was the biggest perk to Gojyo’s meals.
It took seventeen containers to store away all the leftovers, and he carefully stacked every one of them onto a shelf in the fridge. He was thoroughly amazed when Hakkai loved it so much that he finished it off in one afternoon while Gojyo was at work, but he knew how wonderfully delicious it was. He was glad to have satisfied Hakkai, though. It was the least he could do, after all.
For some reason, though, Hakkai didn’t want him to cook dinner again later that week. He was so sweet, always taking care of Gojyo. But someday he wouldn’t be feeling well again, and when that happened…
----------
Seventh Year
----------
Translocation
“We’re moving.”
The sudden declaration stopped all movement at the table, even Goku’s chopsticks froze partway to his mouth as his eyes rounded out to something reminiscent of his younger years. Gojyo eyed the youngest of their group with trepidation as he flashed a toothy grin at his lover. Unsurprisingly, Goku knew what was going on.
“Where in the hell are you going?” Gojyo said, feeling hot irritation bloom in his chest. How dare that shit just decide to up and ditch them, after all these years…
“I said ‘we’, dumbass. I mean you and Hakkai, too.”
Hakkai‘s smile thinned, “May I ask what brought this on, Sanzo?”
“Woah, woah,” Gojyo gesticulated wildly, nearly managing to cuff Hakkai on the side of the head. “How in the hell are you making this decision? Who made you god, you shitty monk? And when in the hell did me and Hakkai become a part of your we?”
Hakkai chuckled, looking far too at ease with the situation for Gojyo’s liking. “I believe that would be around the time the Sanbutsushin sent us on a journey, Gojyo.”
Sanzo snorted and smirked. “Exactly. Now shut the hell up, kappa, and listen to me.”
Gojyo colored indignantly, but a warning pinch from Hakkai to his thigh shut him up before he could even begin. His mulish expression refused to fade, however, as he glared across the table at the monk and his grinning monkey. The serious look that had settled over Sanzo’s face gave Gojyo pause.
“I secured the rights to reopen Kinzan temple.”
Gojyo sucked in a sharp breath, and he heard a faint exclamation from Hakkai to his right. Sanzo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Chang’an is too fucking big. I am not a diplomatic man, nor will I change to suit their ideals of what a Sanzo should be. The monks have been in an uproar over my habits for years, but confirmation that I don’t hold their ideals scares them. So I met with the hag and negotiated to be moved.”
That made no sense. “Why even bother with this shit? Why not just leave this shitty job behind and have a damn normal life? You are the worst damn monk I’ve ever seen.”
Goku giggled, earning his a threatening glare from his lover, but no action against him. It always freaked Gojyo out to see Goku get away with anything after all the years of being over-disciplined. Though, as Goku began talking, Gojyo conceded that nothing freaked him out more than Goku talking more eloquently than he could. The chimp had always been the most underestimated, even by the three of them, but he had never been able to vocalize his thoughts like this.
“Being Sanzo is a ‘for life’ kind of job, Gojyo. When you’re marked by the gods, you can’t get away.”
“That’s the only reason I can get away with half the shit I do. If I was a normal monk, I would have been expelled from the sangha by the time I was ten. However, the moment the chakra appeared on my head, I was stuck in this damn life.”
Hakkai leaned forward, “Well, when do we leave?”
“Hey! Don’t I get any say in this?!” Gojyo protested, mostly for the sake of being contrary.
Hakkai picked up his rice and gave him a genial grin. “Would you like to object, dear?”
Gojyo knew that look. That look scared him more than Seiten Taisei on a rampage, more than Sanzo with an itchy trigger finger. That was the look that told him in no uncertain terms that he was playing with his sex life with his answer. He breathed deeply and gave a roguish grin. “Well, alright then monk man and monkey boy. What’s the plan?”
----------
Ownership
Gojyo sighed happily, flopping back onto the mattress. The town in which Kinzan Temple was placed was small, the population rather sparse. The attack on the temple decades ago had wiped out much of the heart of the town and many had moved away in the months after, leaving a rather strange crowd behind. But Gojyo didn’t care that he was now in what he dubbed as ’bumpkin land’. He had finally achieved his dream.
He now owned his own bar.
“Happy over there, are you?”
Gojyo’s grin widened, and he sat up abruptly to look at the smiling face of his lover. He didn’t resist the urge he got to run to the brunet and sweep him off his feet, spinning him in a circle. Hakkai laughed -- and not that damn fake thing he used when he was uncomfortable. Real amusement positively dripped from this one, eyes shining.
“I take that as a yes.”
“Hell yes, I’m happy! I own a bar, Hakkai! A bar! Of my own! I own it!”
“Yes, Gojyo.” Amusement now, “You can only say the same thing so many times.”
Gojyo leered up at the man he still held off the ground despite. “You’re only with me for my wild success, aren’t you?”
“And you’re only with me for my dashing good looks.”
Gojyo laughed and finally listened to his muscle’s demands to put the man down. “And certainly not for your weight. Been eating a bit too much of your own cooking, babe?”
Hakkai perched on the edge of the bed, still watching him with amusement. Gojyo wanted to wipe that smug little grin off the man’s face, so he did it the best way he knew how -- he pounced.
His heart began pounding in his ears as soon as his lips pressed into the soft ones of his lover, heady feeling coursing through his veins. How could it feel this good every time? It had been years and still Gojyo felt like he was tasting something divine every time he kissed this man. Was this the way love worked, or was it simply the culmination of his years of suffering? Was this his reward for sticking through the thrice-damned journey from hell?
Or was it just that Hakkai was a really phenomenal kisser?
He left that mouth to trail his lips over Hakkai’s neck, muttering endearments and statements of want under his breath. Hakkai shuddered as he sank his teeth harshly into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, fingers tightening in his hair. This was heaven, he thought. Fuck the Merciful Goddess and her promises of afterlife, this was the only thing he needed right here. More skin was needed, Gojyo decided, and he began attacking the clothing that separated him from the lovely warmth of his lover.
“Sh-Shouldn’t you be thinking about going to see Sanzo, Gojyo? You need to look into,” he was cut off as Gojyo managed to push up his shirt and immediately bit down on the tempting flesh just above his pants. “You need to look into staffing the pub, Gojyo…”
“Nah, don’t worry about it, babe,” his voice was muffled by the zipper to Hakkai’s slacks; he didn’t want to stop touching every inch of him in sight, so he couldn’t be bothered to actually move his hands from that damned tempting skin to undo them that way. “There are plenty of hours in the day.”
Any answer Hakkai might have had was cut off as Gojyo ripped his pants down his thighs, setting in with his mouth immediately to tracing ever contour of his hips, every bit of newly revealed skin. It was rare he could get Hakkai this submissive, and damn if he wasn’t going to enjoy it while he had it.
The sounds Hakkai made were delicious. He groaned deep in his throat, voice gone hoarse only minutes in. Would it always be this way? Gojyo never would have imagined that this feeling could last for years, this desire and passion that swirled tangibly between them. He felt like a teenager every time… and he loved it.
His hands ran up pale thighs, and his mouth lowered to pepper kisses in their wake. Gods, he was so hard already. He wanted every inch of this man for the rest of eternity, he wanted to touch and taste every nuance and curve, he wanted to drive into him until he was screaming his name… but no, that would be over too fast. He wanted to go so slowly that it just about killed them both, excruciatingly pleasureful and torturous and…
Gojyo coughed, sitting back on his heels and pawing at his face. Hakkai’s panting voice made some question, but Gojyo was too agitated to really hear it. He had managed to fucking swallow a mouthful of his own stupid hair. Stupid crap… it was down to his shoulder blades now and it was really getting on his nerves.
“Fucking shit, man! What the hell…”
Hakkai was chuckling, but Gojyo ignored him as he finally managed to free his mouth of the choking hair. He gathered it all into his fist and glared at it as if it had a mind of its own, curses running through his mind.
“I want to cut this shit off.”
Any amusement from Hakkai died in that moment, and Gojyo already knew his mistake. Hands, long-fingered hands which knew blood and healing all at once, were wrapped around his and green eyes had narrowed in pain. “Don’t. Please, Gojyo, don’t…”
“Hakkai…”
“No!” Hakkai pushed himself up… shirt still hanging off one arm and his pants and underwear caught down around his knees, he grabbed Gojyo’s face in his hands and stared into crimson eyes. “Please don’t cut it.”
“Babe, it wasn’t your fault…”
“It was. I can’t… I love your hair…”
Gojyo cut his eyes away, sighing as the bad memories swiftly killed whatever was left of his erection. “You can’t say that was your fault, or else it would be my fault for the shit I did, and you’re always telling me that it wasn’t…”
He didn’t know how it happened, but he managed to end up on his back with a narrow-eyed Hakkai on top of him, leaning down with his breath fanning over his lips. “Don’t cut it.”
Gojyo swallowed as arousal built up once more, slowly this time; a small part of him mourned his relinquishment of control, but the rest of him shivered in anticipation. That look in Hakkai’s eyes always promised the most delicious orgasms… “I won’t cut it.”
“Good boy…” Hakkai purred, leaning down to take Gojyo’s lower lip in his mouth, teeth pulling lightly. “Do you want a reward?”
Pushing the memories fully from his mind, Gojyo wound his arms around the brunet’s neck and pulled him down, a leer forming on his lips. “How about punishment?”
----------
Delusion
Sanzo watched the line of men apathetically, their nervous shifting only increasing his amusement. New monks had flocked in every day week since their arrival, coming by twos and threes to serve under the ‘illustrious Sanzo-sama’. Some had come because of his rumors of leniency, some for the ability to work under such a famous and revered man… and some for reasons he had no will to find out about.
Once a week he stood before those who had arrived and gave the same speech, one that generally managed to scare off at least a fourth of the newcomers. All the better for him.
“I am the 31st successor of Toa, Genjo Sanzo. If you are under the impression that I might care why you are here, you are wrong. I don’t. On top of the rules you live by, there is one very important rule of living here if you don’t want to end up dead. Mind your own fucking business. Do not bother me outside of working hours unless it is an emergency. If you manage to disturb by sex life, I will disturb your lifeline.”
They were shifting already; this group might end up halved. Sanzo kept the dark smirk off his face. “I do not care what you do, but you all took your fucking vows on your own, so you’d better do what you are meant to. If the Merciful Goddess catches you doing something she doesn’t like, she will expel you easily. And that bitch watches me like I’m the best thing on television, so don‘t think she won‘t notice. If one of the anal bastards you call superiors catches you at something, I won’t stick up for your ass. I don’t care. So, if you are laboring under some delusion that I would, you might as well leave now.”
Sanzo looked at the stricken faces, feeling rather proud of himself. So it was overdramatic of him, yes… but he didn’t need a bunch of miscreant idiots cluttering up his new, peaceful existence. Let them fuck up someone else’s temple; this one was his. Those who stayed generally liked the way things were run there; despite all appearances, he was good to those under him. He simply didn’t want anyone sticking around that wouldn’t be able to deal with his moods. He eyed the nervous men and nodded. “Right. Go away now.”
As they scattered like their life depended on it, Sanzo couldn’t help but grin.
----------
Haunted
Sanzo didn’t know how long he had been standing there, staring up into the dark nothingness of night. Surely it had been quite some time, as his skin was numb to all sensation and the chill had long-since stopped effecting him. Reason dictated that he should go back inside soon; Goku would wake up if the bed stayed cold much longer.
But Sanzo stayed.
Perhaps it was some foolish remnant that retained the identity of Kouryu that held him there. His eyes roved over the familiar half-remembered places of his youth. Long years of abandonment had not changed this place so much as he had thought it would have, and much of the area remained the same as it ever had.
Weeks walking through the halls had not affected him much, nor had taking a cigarette against what had once been his master’s favorite tree. Goku had started out treading on eggshells when they had first moved in, but after a week without much reaction from Sanzo, he had finally blurted out that Sanzo was ‘freaking him out’ with his placid acceptance. But the return to Kinzan Temple had not filled him with terror or vengeful angst. Not since the years had passed, not since he had been able to exact vengeance.
Not until it rained.
The reality of his slow evolution of character hadn’t set in for Sanzo until this night. When the first telltale crack of thunder had echoed through the room, he had actually managed to remain as courteous as he ever was and not simply isolate himself in his bedroom, locking out his lover in the process, so he could brood in peace. Goku seemed to realize the vast amount of consideration this had taken, and had simply curled against him and left him in silence, staring up at the ceiling of their room. Goku’s familiar warmth was nearly comforting at his side.
The rain had echoed off the windows, a dull roar feeding the unsettled tension, reverberating through Sanzo painfully. To be here, to listen to the rain while only meters away from the place it had all begun… it was a pain unlike anything he had felt in years. The restless anger that had always accompanied a downpour had never fully dulled, but it had been many years since the memories had been so crisp in his mind.
Goku had fallen asleep at his side; a combination of the lulling storm and a long day chasing down the youngest novices had probably played a part in that. Sanzo lay quietly for an hour beside him, hand unconsciously threading through long russet hair. The familiarity had kept him grounded, shackled firmly in reality. But soon the urge to move had taken him, leading him out into the pouring rain.
Again, he really didn’t know how long he had been standing there in the rain, staring at the one part of the monastery he had yet to enter. He had refused implicitly for that place to be reopened, for any person to even set foot into that room. The rain steadily streamed down his face, giving the appropriate impression of tears that Sanzo would not -- could not -- shed.
He had recovered the Seiten Scripture. He had restored peace to all of goddamn Shangri-La. He had taken out the once-friend of his master, the ultimate plotter behind his death. But was all that enough? Why couldn’t he let go of this pain that gripped his heart?
“Sanzo?”
Sanzo sighed as his reverie was well and truly broken, glancing back over his shoulder to the obvious owner of the voice. Goku was cowering under the overhang, the comforter from their bed wrapped around his torso and head. Sanzo was struck by the image; wide, tired eyes and disheveled long hair framed by the blanket, sending Goku back in time over fifteen years to the small boy Sanzo had unwittingly freed.
“Sanzo, you’re going to catch something out here. Come back to bed before you freeze, please.”
Ah, illusion successfully shattered. The Goku from all those years ago wouldn’t have dared, nor would he have had half the nearly polite affability this one did.
Sanzo turned to more fully look at the younger man, violet eyes tracing the features of that familiar face. It was hard sometimes to realize it had actually been eight years since he had stopped lying to himself, harder still to realize it had been over fifteen since he had sought out the source of the nagging voice.
Gods, how he had changed.
“Master?”
“Yes, Kouryu?”
The young boy leaned on his broom, browns drawn together in a frown. “What do the teachings say the purpose of life is?”
Koumyou was visibly startled by the sudden question, but quickly recovered into an amused laugh. “Such a heavy question, Kouryu! Why do you need a teaching to tell you that?”
“I… I was just curious…”
“I’ll tell you a secret, then. Do you want to hear it?”
Kouryu gave an eager nod, leaning closer before he remembered himself and backed away a bit, red dusting his nose.
Koumyou leaned down, long hair tumbling over his shoulder. Kouryu’s eyes watched it settle in a solid sheet between them and the world and looked down to avoid his pleased smile being seen. Wide, violet eyes peered up at the gently smiling face of his master, the man who was his father in his heart. Not that he would ever tell him that, of course. He wouldn’t dare.
“The purpose to life, Kouryu, is to live it. Enjoy yourself, make the best of every moment, and live like it is going out of style. Give yourself things in life that make it worth living, and you will have found the purpose.”
Koumyou stood abruptly and winked down at the wide-eyed boy, effusive smile lighting his face. He ran his fingers through his charge’s hair and murmured as he turned to walk away, “And that is that.”
The memory had been something Sanzo hadn’t thought of in years, perhaps not even since the moment had occurred to begin with. Sanzo shook his head to rid himself of the lingering feeling of fingers in his hair and a warm, proud smile.
He approached his silent lover slowly, drinking in his features and understanding smile. Live, huh?
Goku jumped when icy fingers curled around the back of his neck, but didn’t pull away as Sanzo gently manipulated him forward, pressing his icy lips to Goku’s warm, full ones.
“Thank you.”
Goku’s eyes widened as the words were breathed against his lips, and it took Sanzo taking his hand to start him walking with him to their room.
Ghosts could not haunt a person when the past was but a memory… and Sanzo was determined to make sure he was never haunted again.
----------