Four conversations with the ikkou
So this sort of grabbed me by the throat and said, "Write me!" and I did and then I didn't have it betaed so it's just kind of here. Aha. (and I still have to finish the DN version of this.)
Iiiit doesn't have a title, really. About 950 words, no real spoilers. More vaguely allusive than spoilery, I think.
***
Hakkai asks her to tea, and for a long time they converse in pleasantries about camp: the latest virus, how difficult it is to get really fresh ingredients, the limitations of the chapel's kitchen, the merits of wild yeast in baking. But after an hour or so, he sits back and smiles.
"I've been wondering, Death-san, if there is anything you would like to tell me?"
Death doesn't answer immediately, turning the cup slowly in her hands, appearing for all the world to be simply admiring the glaze on the porcelain. Finally she says, "Yes, there is one thing."
Hakkai's smile never falters, but his gaze grows sharper. "Yes?"
"She said she was sorry. For not letting herself be saved." She drinks her tea, serene even as Hakkai jolts to his feet, sloshing tea out of his cup.
"She said - but it was I who didn't... I wasn't...."
Death looks up, her eyes as bottomless as the sky. "I'm only telling you what she said."
The shadows stretch across the table, growing longer as Death finishes her tea and departs, longer still as Hakkai stares at the empty space across from him.
***
One day there are red flowers growing behind the chapel. Nobody else seems to recognize them, but Gojyo sees them and stops cold. He sits down, lights a cigarette, and just gazes at them for a while, remembering. He can feel her coming, but that's not hard. She doesn't have youki, but he'd have to be thicker than Goku to miss that aura.
Eventually she stops next to him. "Hi, Gojyo. Ooh, pretty!" She sits down next to him and plucks one of the flowers, tucking it behind her ear.
"Hey."
They sit together for a while, watching the wind blow across the flowers. Gojyo knows the fragrance of the flowers is soft and sweet, but it doesn't smell like anything but blood to him. "...Brought my mom a bouquet of these once," he says eventually.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." He scratches his chin, remembering. "Didn't go like I planned, of course. It never did." He pokes at a blossom with his toe; it bobs its head at him. "But you know the stupidest fucking thing? I'd do it again. Just in case she'd smile this time." Gojyo takes another long drag, blowing out a perfect smoke ring. "Dumb, huh?"
Death finds his free hand and squeezes it a little. "You know, I always felt sorry for her. That she couldn't appreciate what she was given."
Gojyo shifts his gaze so he can see her out of the corner of his eye. "They were just flowers."
She squeezes his hand again and gets up. "I'll see you later, okay?"
It isn't until he's helping Hakkai wash the tea dishes that he realizes what she meant. He chuckles and shakes his head, and Hakkai looks at him, puzzled.
***
Death does not speak to Sanzo while he's awake. Instead, she visits him during his scant moments of sleep in the chapel, putting out the cigarette he fell asleep smoking and smoothing out his tangled covers. Then she kisses his forehead gently and vanishes.
She is not her brother. She has no power over dreams. This is something she does for the smiling, sad-eyed ghost standing in the corner.
***
Goku does not approach her for many days. He's not afraid of her - she feels like the earth below him, impersonal but also somehow warm and comforting - but her face calls up the stirrings of memory that make his diadem press more tightly on his brow. When he finally screws up his courage, it's all he can do to blurt things out. "You remember me."
She's watching one of the trees that's taking its own sweet time blooming even though it's already June. "Sure I do."
"You remember me from... before, I mean." Goku shuffles his feet a bit. "Before the cave. I remember you."
Death turns and looks at him steadily. "Yes, Goku. I remember."
"So you know what I did?" He takes an anxious step forward, grabbing the hem of her tank top, the way he used to grab Sanzo's robes only three years ago. "You know what I did and why I got put in the cave and...." He can feel himself degenerating into babbling, words driven by fear and not by sense.
"You know, it would be a shame if apples never grew."
"Huh?"
"If we only had apple blossoms all the time, it'd be pretty. But we'd never get apples, and I really like apples."
Goku frowns. He could swear he's heard this conversation before, but it wasn't her talking, and it wasn't about apples.
"So the blossoms have to fall, and that's sad, but they always come back in the spring."
"What?"
She looks back up at the tree. "...Was it so terrible waiting? Looking back, was it so bad now that you know Sanzo was at the end of it?"
Goku scratches his head, considering. He doesn't know what apples have to do with this, but he doesn't want to ignore her question. "It was really boring," he says, finally.
Death laughs. "And it's less boring now, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Was it worth it, then?"
"I guess so." He sniffs the air. "...Smells like Hakkai's cooking."
"That's worth waiting a century in itself, don't you think?"
"Yeah!" Goku starts to run off, then hesitates. "Do you want to come eat?"
"No, that's okay. Thanks for asking, though."
Goku runs off and Death watches him go: as golden as the sunlight, as boundless as the earth. Then she too is gone, and a few blossoms fall from the tree, spiraling lazily through the air to land where she stood.
Iiiit doesn't have a title, really. About 950 words, no real spoilers. More vaguely allusive than spoilery, I think.
***
Hakkai asks her to tea, and for a long time they converse in pleasantries about camp: the latest virus, how difficult it is to get really fresh ingredients, the limitations of the chapel's kitchen, the merits of wild yeast in baking. But after an hour or so, he sits back and smiles.
"I've been wondering, Death-san, if there is anything you would like to tell me?"
Death doesn't answer immediately, turning the cup slowly in her hands, appearing for all the world to be simply admiring the glaze on the porcelain. Finally she says, "Yes, there is one thing."
Hakkai's smile never falters, but his gaze grows sharper. "Yes?"
"She said she was sorry. For not letting herself be saved." She drinks her tea, serene even as Hakkai jolts to his feet, sloshing tea out of his cup.
"She said - but it was I who didn't... I wasn't...."
Death looks up, her eyes as bottomless as the sky. "I'm only telling you what she said."
The shadows stretch across the table, growing longer as Death finishes her tea and departs, longer still as Hakkai stares at the empty space across from him.
***
One day there are red flowers growing behind the chapel. Nobody else seems to recognize them, but Gojyo sees them and stops cold. He sits down, lights a cigarette, and just gazes at them for a while, remembering. He can feel her coming, but that's not hard. She doesn't have youki, but he'd have to be thicker than Goku to miss that aura.
Eventually she stops next to him. "Hi, Gojyo. Ooh, pretty!" She sits down next to him and plucks one of the flowers, tucking it behind her ear.
"Hey."
They sit together for a while, watching the wind blow across the flowers. Gojyo knows the fragrance of the flowers is soft and sweet, but it doesn't smell like anything but blood to him. "...Brought my mom a bouquet of these once," he says eventually.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." He scratches his chin, remembering. "Didn't go like I planned, of course. It never did." He pokes at a blossom with his toe; it bobs its head at him. "But you know the stupidest fucking thing? I'd do it again. Just in case she'd smile this time." Gojyo takes another long drag, blowing out a perfect smoke ring. "Dumb, huh?"
Death finds his free hand and squeezes it a little. "You know, I always felt sorry for her. That she couldn't appreciate what she was given."
Gojyo shifts his gaze so he can see her out of the corner of his eye. "They were just flowers."
She squeezes his hand again and gets up. "I'll see you later, okay?"
It isn't until he's helping Hakkai wash the tea dishes that he realizes what she meant. He chuckles and shakes his head, and Hakkai looks at him, puzzled.
***
Death does not speak to Sanzo while he's awake. Instead, she visits him during his scant moments of sleep in the chapel, putting out the cigarette he fell asleep smoking and smoothing out his tangled covers. Then she kisses his forehead gently and vanishes.
She is not her brother. She has no power over dreams. This is something she does for the smiling, sad-eyed ghost standing in the corner.
***
Goku does not approach her for many days. He's not afraid of her - she feels like the earth below him, impersonal but also somehow warm and comforting - but her face calls up the stirrings of memory that make his diadem press more tightly on his brow. When he finally screws up his courage, it's all he can do to blurt things out. "You remember me."
She's watching one of the trees that's taking its own sweet time blooming even though it's already June. "Sure I do."
"You remember me from... before, I mean." Goku shuffles his feet a bit. "Before the cave. I remember you."
Death turns and looks at him steadily. "Yes, Goku. I remember."
"So you know what I did?" He takes an anxious step forward, grabbing the hem of her tank top, the way he used to grab Sanzo's robes only three years ago. "You know what I did and why I got put in the cave and...." He can feel himself degenerating into babbling, words driven by fear and not by sense.
"You know, it would be a shame if apples never grew."
"Huh?"
"If we only had apple blossoms all the time, it'd be pretty. But we'd never get apples, and I really like apples."
Goku frowns. He could swear he's heard this conversation before, but it wasn't her talking, and it wasn't about apples.
"So the blossoms have to fall, and that's sad, but they always come back in the spring."
"What?"
She looks back up at the tree. "...Was it so terrible waiting? Looking back, was it so bad now that you know Sanzo was at the end of it?"
Goku scratches his head, considering. He doesn't know what apples have to do with this, but he doesn't want to ignore her question. "It was really boring," he says, finally.
Death laughs. "And it's less boring now, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Was it worth it, then?"
"I guess so." He sniffs the air. "...Smells like Hakkai's cooking."
"That's worth waiting a century in itself, don't you think?"
"Yeah!" Goku starts to run off, then hesitates. "Do you want to come eat?"
"No, that's okay. Thanks for asking, though."
Goku runs off and Death watches him go: as golden as the sunlight, as boundless as the earth. Then she too is gone, and a few blossoms fall from the tree, spiraling lazily through the air to land where she stood.