Downstairs in the small rented cottage, Goku sat in the window.  His golden eyes appeared deeply troubled; the normal sheen of curiosity and innocence were absent from them.  His head rested on his arms as he stared out at the world.  Even the smoke that hung in the air like a fog went unnoticed by the youth.

            Gojyo was sprawled out on the couch, a smoldering cigarette butt in one hand.  The ashtray seated on the coffee table beside the couch was overflowing with finished sticks and ash.  The red-haired half-demon, like Goku, seemed absent in thought.

***

            A mildly annoyed look was in its usual place on Sanzo’s face as he sat in his room drinking tea.  The circumstance of his look, however, was not the usual torture of the stupid ape and kappa.  In fact, the situation was incredibly unique.  Hakuryu had curled himself up on Sanzo’s left shoulder; his long tail wrapped behind the priest’s neck, over his right shoulder, and came to an end in front of his throat almost like a strange, fluffy necklace. 

The dragon’s wings were tucked over his own back.  His two clawed hands gripped the black fabric of the leather top that Sanzo wore; the tan robe had been taken off in an attempt to shoo the dragon away as Hakuryu had previously nestled into Sanzo’s robe sleeve and refused to move. Dislodging the garment had only encouraged the creature to find a new perch on the human.  So Sanzo sipped his tea and read the paper, occasionally lifting a hand to scratch the white dragon’s head to silence the mournful croons of their transportation.

***

            Nii entered the kitchen, running a hand through his damp hair.  Hakkai had already set the table for the pair of them, and a number of near-foreign smells lurked about the stove and small table.  The green-eyed male brought forth a false smile in greeting as Nii took a seat, still buttoning up his shirt front.  The lab coat he typically wore was absent from his attire.

            “I really am sorry for earlier.  You startled me out of my thoughts and I hadn’t been expecting you to come in like that,” Hakkai took the seat opposite Jienyi and to the right of the stuffed rabbit as he spoke, offering Nii the plate of bacon and ignoring the fact that Nii had just poured the toy a cup of coffee.

            Nii took a few pieces from the plate before setting it back down on the table with a nod, “It’s perfectly fine.  I didn’t think too much of it, but now I suppose that I should have considered a few things before acting as I did.”

            “No, it was nice of you to be worried about me.  I’m afraid I came off too cold in my response though,” he looked up from his eggs, fork in hand as there hadn’t been any other utensils to be found in the drawers, as he finished his statement.

            Nii looked up as well, stopping with a piece of bacon halfway to his mouth, and offered a genuine smile.  Hakkai looked down quickly, coughing around his forkful of scrambled eggs to cover the light stain of red that had spread across his cheeks.

            Hakkai interested himself greatly in salting his eggs, keeping his eyes off of the other and letting the meal continue in silence.  It gave him time to mull over how he was to approach the subject of his injuries.

            “Perhaps I should just ask him outright.  I have nothing to hide from him, or him from me.  …  Unless, unless there’s something he doesn’t want me to know.”

            Hakkai sighed and shook his head, quickly glancing up afterwards to see if the other had noticed the movement.  To his relief Nii was absorbed in getting the ketchup out of its bottle and onto his plate.

            “I am having trouble remembering things.  I can’t simply ignore that issue.  What if that’s his goal, to make me forget?  But it could simply be the result of the drugs.  What if it’s a side-effect that could point to an underlying issue?  He could need to know to fix things.”  Hakkai mentally groaned; his inner self wrapping its arms around his knees.  He felt so misplaced at the moment, as if there was somewhere else he could be to feel more secure. 

            On a subconscious level he knew that he did not know Nii Jienyi very well, nor could he have known him for a long period of time.  He was a doctor, and therefore Hakkai probably hadn’t met him until he fell ill. 

            He wanted to scream, to reach out and tackle the wisps of memories and past dreams that existed within his mind.

            “Past?  Or future?  But then, what -”

            “- kai?  Hakkai?”

            The confused healer looked up abruptly, shaken from his muddied train of thought to stare into the teal eyes that reminded him of the sea.  Not for the first time this morning did color rise into his face under the intense scrutiny of Jienyi, and he flicked his own gaze away.

            “Are you sure you’re alright?  You can tell me if there’s something bothering you Hakkai,” Jienyi continued to probe the other with his eyes as he spoke. 

            “I think there’s something wrong with me, Jienyi,” Hakkai met the other’s gaze as he spoke, feeling as if he was skydiving without a parachute and having to rely entirely on someone else’s integrity to save him.

            “It feels like I’m missing things… like memories.  There are pieces that don’t fit, and that I think should fit.  And things that I think are real, but I don’t know.  Things –recent events- aren’t clear.  Everything from a few weeks ago and before is fuzzy.  I… Am I going crazy?”

            Jienyi looked at Hakkai for the span of a few long breaths, having set aside his fork and rested his head on his hands with his elbows propped up on the table.  He looked more curious than threatening in that action.  Younger, too, Hakkai realized.

            “No.  It is simply your body recovering from your illness.  It should all, with time, come back to you of course.”  Although Nii spoke evenly and with a calm tone, Hakkai couldn’t help but feel his stomach twist as doubt rose through him again.  It just didn’t sound truthful. 

“How could everything be stress from recovery?”

Hakkai set his fork down, bowing his head politely as he spoke, “Excuse me, please.  I’m not very hungry anymore.”

Jienyi stared on, once more his fork trapped halfway between his mouth and his plate, as Hakkai rose and headed down the hallway instead of back into the main room.

Past the bathroom door and further down the hall, Hakkai found the door to the house.  He grabbed a keychain off the end table beside the door, the set of keys clattering against the bunny keychain they resided on as they were moved.  He jammed the piece of metal into the lock and tried to turn it.  It failing to be the correct key, he tried a second and got the knob to turn.

Hakkai dropped the keys into his pocket, took an unsteady breath, and opened the door in a swift movement.  The early morning air hit him in the face as he stepped outside, and he smiled truthfully at the welcome bite it had.  He paused to revel in the feel of it before turning to shut the door on the small house.  He took the steps down from the front porch two at a time, the smile not leaving his face.  But a few paces out into the dew-covered grass and the smile had fallen; this place was not familiar either. 

“What else had I expected?” 

Hakkai wandered towards the large tree in the front yard, his breath catching as he saw someone sitting in the hand-made swing that hung from one of the branches.  A small, uncalled-for sound passed his lips, pupils expanding and then contracting at the sight.

It was a boy that sat on the wooden plank, the breeze stirring it restlessly beneath him.  He was grinning from ear-to-ear, and waved merrily at Hakkai.  Brown hair, tied back with a red ribbon, trailed down his back.  His bare feet didn’t quite reach the ground.  The boy was wearing a traditional Chinese shirt and pants with gold trim, dyed bright red.

Hakkai stared at the boy, taking a few steps forward and reaching out for him.  He knew this child before him, and yet he didn’t.  A name escaped him, but the familiarity of the face burrowed itself into him in search of a memory – in vain. 

“Wh- who are you?”  His voice was shallow, shaking in his own fear of what he couldn’t remember.  The boy smiled back at him and kept waving, as if beckoning him forward. 

Then the wind ripped across the lawn, tossing leaves down from the giant tree, and rocking the empty wooden plank of the swing.  Hakkai stared at the empty seat, shocked, before collapsing to his knees.  His insides twisted around each other, threatening to cut circulation off from first one organ then the next.  His mind reeled from the unexpected blow, and scrambled for an explanation that simply wasn’t there.

“What…What’s wrong with me?”  His question sat unanswered in the confines of his own mind, ringing between his two ears as if screaming it inwardly could satisfy his request.

“Am I going crazy?  This can’t be…  But it was there, just as I sit here now.  Was it a dream?  Am I dreaming?”  Still scrambling for an excuse – a foot-hold – on the apparition he’d viewed and couldn’t place.  Was the boy an old acquaintance, the ghost of some old friend?

“I remember my friends.” 

His mind froze in place, pupils in his eyes expanding a fraction. 

“No.  No I don’t.”  The realization wasn’t a pleasant one.  In fact, it was leaning far more towards the morbid side of the path.  His heart was still pounding sporadically as he rose to his feet. 

He brushed the pieces of grass and dirt off of his pants before walking over and taking a seat on the old swing.  The board was beginning to rot; its old plank grey with time.  A little green lichen was growing on the seat as well, but Hakkai didn’t pay it heed.  He backed the swing up with his feet, and then picked them up off the ground and let the board wobble back and forth on its string.  He rocked slightly with the motion, letting the rush of chilled morning air tangle in his hair and relax his mind.

***

            Jienyi wrapped up the excess food in plastic and Tupperware, sealing it into the fridge to keep its freshness.  He took care of the dishes, scrubbing and drying them by hand without hesitation or complaint.  He then left the kitchen and headed into the dual living-and-bedroom to work on his laptop.

***

            In the darkened laboratory throne room of Houtou castle, with the undead carcass of the reviving Gyumao towering behind the scaffolding, a peon was delivering news from one of the outer laboratories.  The poor creature was bowed at the waist, speaking in quick, hushed tones.

            “The eastern lab was attacked four weeks ago.  It-It’s been confirmed that there were one-hundred and twenty-nine casualties out of a standard crew of one hundred and twenty-seven.  The lab is completely destroyed, and all the research is unreachable until the rubble can be cleared, Lady.” 

            Gyokumen Koushu glanced up from inspecting her nails, a scowl of confusion on her face.  “And how do you get more casualties than are stationed there?”

            “Th-there was a data-collection team, inspections too, assigned for that day, ma’am.”

            “Send in Doctor Nii.  I want his report on this set-back.”  The Lady looked up again when the peon did not leave.

            “What’s your problem, I told you to do something?”

            The servant shifted uncomfortably before replying, “I’m afraid I can’t do that, m’ lady.  Doctor Nii was on the visiting party, in charge of data collection, and has been reported dead.”

***

AN:  Wow… sorry about this taking so long.  I hope this puts a little more into perspective concerning the outside world, and makes a darker Hakkai.  Finally, it’s looking like it could hit the rating eventually.  ^.^;  Anyways, the scene with Hakuryu on Sanzo’s shoulder makes me smile.  Promo art of Saiyuki suggests that Minekura even wanted Hakuryu to be Sanzo’s, so it’s a little tribute to her.  XP