It's a Long Life to Always be Longing by a

Chapter 1

The scenery here was less amazing, but at least it offered shade every now and then. They had left the majesty of the badlands behind a few hours previously for the unexceptional sights of these foothills. Though they had not reached mountains yet, still the hills rose precipitously in places, making the road a narrow alley between them. It was cooler here, and Hakkai had assured them that the next town was not far ahead, now.

Even Sanzo had relaxed a bit after hearing that, and now sat smoking in the front passenger seat of the Jeep, arms crossed, his face expressionless. The fact that he hadn’t threatened to kill anyone in the last hour or so was further proof of his current benevolent mood. Even ‘The Boys in the Back’, as Hakkai had recently taken to calling Gojyo and Goku, hadn’t been arguing. The usual protestations of hunger from the youngest of the group were being tolerated without complaint. Things were peaceful, in fact.

Yes, things were peaceful, and Gojyo was bored out of his skull. Clearly, it was time to engage in some antics. To that end, the next word from Goku, -which was, not surprisingly, “I’m” – was met with a punch on the arm from the redhead. As per Gojyo’s plan, this escalated quickly into name-calling, accompanied by a satisfying amount of pummeling from both sides. This should annoy the monk as well, which was all the better.

The tall man had maneuvered into an upright position on his knees, the better to press his height advantage over the youth beside him. He had Goku’s head under his right arm, applying liberal light punches to the kidneys, when Hakkai abruptly slammed on the brakes. This caused Hakuuryu to squeal in protest, and Gojyo to fly unceremoniously into the back of the driver’s seat. He winced as he felt his ribs compress in a way he had never before experienced. As the Jeep halted, opposing forces grabbed him and the younger man, throwing them both back to their own seats.

“Damn, Hakkai, what the hell…” Gojyo managed to grind out. His head was spinning a little.

Hakkai’s knuckles where white from gripping the steering wheel. “Gojyo, Goku, I want you to listen to me. We are nearly at the next town. Once we are there, the two of you can run off and do whatever you want, where no one else will be inconvenienced by it. Until then, I promise you, if I hear so much as one ‘monkey’, or ‘pervert’ from either of you, I will shoot you both myself. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” they chorused in identically small, confused voices. Hakkai hadn’t been himself, lately. That much was obvious to everyone. They had all been trying to be understanding of that, and just stay out of the line of his fire, but it had been dragging on for weeks now, and Gojyo was beginning to become very concerned about it.

It didn’t take a genius to discern the cause of Hakkai’s uncharacteristic behavior, though there was nothing anyone could do about it now. He hadn’t mentioned it, and none of his companions dared to bring it up, but each of them was uncomfortably aware of what Hakkai had done. It was out of respect for both his actions and the man himself that they all pretended that he wasn’t behaving like an aspiring Genjo Sanzo.

Gojyo repressed a shudder as he considered these things. He knew that, had he been faced with a similar situation, he probably would not have had the guts to do what his friend had done. Then again, he had killed a thousand youkai – single-handed – when he was still a human. Then, when confronted by the brother of one of the slain youkai, this man calmly plucked out his own eyeball and threw it at him. Cho Hakkai was decidedly the most frightening of the four, Gojyo had long since concluded, as well as the kindest.

Perhaps it was because they were all lost in their own thoughts following Hakkai’s outburst that they didn’t sense the ambush coming.

The Jeep had been traveling through a narrow defile for some minutes, the hills rising steeply on either side. Small hardy trees lined the road, crawling up for a short distance, giving way to shorter bushes and eventually low scrub near the crowns of the land. The foliage was dense, an easy screen for anyone who did not wish to be seen. As the vehicle topped a rise in the road, a horde of inelegantly armed youkai stepped out from behind various hiding places and placing themselves in a ragged line across the road.

“Oh, fucking beautiful,” Gojyo mumbled under his breath, as his mind automatically started counting.

Anyone near enough to the group would have heard the word ‘nineteen’ quietly stated by all four men, nearly in unison. Now that it was too late, they could feel the thrum of youkai energy all around them. Once again, Hakkai braked and the Jeep ground to a halt. The Sanzo-ikkou stepped confidently out of the vehicle, which instantly disappeared behind them. Hakuuryu floated up above the battleground to await the inevitable outcome.

Gojyo summoned his shaku jou, Goku his nyoi-bou, Sanzo had pulled his gun from the mysterious depths of his robes, and Hakkai, who was his weapon, simply stood and frowned at their attackers. He stood slightly ahead of the others, feet planted firmly on the dusty ground, waiting. A small gust of wind rose, as if on cue, to stir the robes of the Sanzo priest. It never ceased to amaze Gojyo when things like that happened, as if the gods themselves wanted to lend a hand in the form of clichéd melodrama. It never failed to unnerve the enemy, though.

The apparent leader of the band of youkai smirked at the travelers. “Sanzo-ikkou! Hand over the…” he began.

He was cut off by a bored-sounding priest. “Do you all get the same fucking script before you’re sent out?”

Unbalanced by this unexpected question, the leader narrowed his eyes at Sanzo. He opened his mouth to speak, showing ugly yellow fangs. Before he could utter a syllable, a crack rang out, and a look of unsurpassed surprise infused his features as the bullet burrowed into his skull.

“Never mind,” Sanzo intoned as he took aim at another of the youkai.

This was interpreted by the other attackers as their cue. They fanned out, which is what saved many of them from Hakkai’s first blast. Unusually deadly, it took out four aggressors who were directly in its path, and one that Gojyo could have sworn was a good ten feet away, as well. Damn, but he was glad that Hakkai was on their side.

Three sped toward Sanzo, who calmly drew a bead on each, dispatching them with extreme prejudice and maximum contempt. Having one bullet left, he cast about for someone to use it on. Seeing one youkai who had apparently decided he wasn’t interested in becoming dead attempting to duck behind a bush, Sanzo took casual aim and fired. His target fell immediately.

Goku’s hoots of pleasure could be heard from slightly behind Gojyo. The youth and his nyoi-bou seemed to be having far more fun than Sanzo in slaughtering the hapless group that had chosen him as their opponent.

Gojyo himself had thrown out the lethal crescent blade of his shaku-jou twice, catching three of the youkai with it and sending them into the beyond. A fourth was bearing down on his right now, having taken the redhead’s occupation with his fellows as an opportunity to flank him. Movement in the periphery of his vision tipped Gojyo off, and he whipped around to face this new adversary. He flung his blade out again, ending the confrontation before it even began. As the chain rattled back into his weapon, Gojyo heard Sanzo’s name shouted behind him.

He turned instantly at the warning tone in Hakkai’s voice; Sanzo, who had his back to the younger man, did not have time to turn before Hakkai’s body slammed into his own. Goku was still busy playing with his final challenger, and did not hear the shout that had alerted Gojyo.

A final youkai had been rushing toward Sanzo, a large and vicious looking blade in his hand. He was holding the weapon in his right hand, arm slung down across his body, readying for a deadly upward slash at the back of his prey. Hakkai, who had been the only one to see it, had called out to his companion while simultaneously launching himself in Sanzo’s direction. He managed to get his body between attacker and intended victim just as the youkai began his upward stroke, cutting it short, and taking the blow meant for Sanzo across his own flesh instead.

Gojyo stared on in horror as Hakkai’s body turned slightly, his left shoulder falling on the blade. The stunned attacker was dragged down by Hakkai’s weight on his weapon, falling to the ground as his momentum was cut short. The terrible sight of that purposeful metal lifting into the air, red with blood – Hakkai’s blood – burned itself into Gojyo’s eyes.

He could hear, distantly, someone calling out Hakkai’s name. His legs were pumping suddenly, running to where his companions lay on the ground. Sanzo was pulling himself up now. He was turning to see what had happened. Gojyo couldn’t get there fast enough; he was still moving toward them as the monk took in the situation in an instant, pointed his gun at the youkai and pulled the trigger.

The tall man was falling to his knees even before he reached them, sliding the last few feet to Hakkai’s prone form lying in the dust. The fallen man was laying face up, eyes closed. Gojyo, terrified for his friend, frantically looked for a pulse in his neck. It was fast and reedy, but it was there. A sigh of relief escaped the half-breed at this discovery, but he knew there was no time to lose. Pulling Hakkai into a sitting position, he assessed the long gouge in his back where the blade had bitten into soft flesh. It was deep, and dangerous.

Gojyo gingerly lifted the unconscious man in his arms, calling out “Hakuuryu!” as he did so. The tiny white dragon descended from the sky, making flighty little noises of alarm at the state of his chosen master. He transformed immediately, and Gojyo placed Hakkai in the backseat with a tenderness that few who had never seen it would believe he possessed. Hakuuryu continued to mew pitifully until everyone was seated and ready to go.

Gojyo grabbed the map from the dash and practically threw it at Sanzo. “How far away is the next town?” Sanzo turned narrowed violet eyes on him, but he returned the glare with one of his own. “I’m in no fucking mood for your holier-than-thou bullshit, monk. Figure it out and tell me where the hell to go. If Hakkai dies because you felt like throwing attitude, I swear to all the gods there are that I will personally rip your heart out and feed it to you whole. Got that?”

His position on this matter clearly stated, he pulled the Jeep into gear and slammed his foot onto the gas pedal, mentally apologizing to Hakuuryu as he did so.

Sanzo did not deign to answer, opting instead to open the map and begin studying it. He really was no good with maps. He had just been following the orders of the aspects until now. All he had really needed to know was ‘west’. Under normal circumstances, he would never have done anything under threat from Gojyo, but this was anything but normal, and the kappa was probably serious.

Fortunately for Sanzo, the town came into view within just a few minutes. He folded the map, refused to look at Gojyo and stated, “Town, straight ahead.”