[Generic Disclaimer: Saiyuki and all the affiliated characters are copyright to Kazuya Minekura. No profit has or will be made off of this fiction.]

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~ The Trouble With H ~

Summary: Gojyo and Goku are having trouble. And it usually springs from things that begin with the letter H.

Warnings: PG-13

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"Does this ever seem to get tiring to anyone else?" Gojyo asked annoyed, swinging his shakoujou almost lazily into another attacking youkai.

"I'm inclined to agree," Hakkai responded, dodging a rather slow attack in his own opinion, before giving the attacker a green blast in retribution. "It's quite bothersome."

Goku twirled around, catching two advancing enemies with either end of Noi-bou. "You guys are no fun!"

"Don't think just because you fight, we'll feed you earlier," Sanzo piped in cooly, firing off a few rounds with no visable recoil.

"Saaaaaaaanzo..."

"Stop whining monkey," the monk replied, "or I might confuse you with some of these youkai."

Gojyo took down the final enemy, striking a heroic pose mockingly. "I've always hated routines."

Hakkai sighed, making his way to where the others were standing. "Perhaps they should take 'quality over quantity' into consideration."

"I'm hungry..."

WHACK!

---

They reached the next town shortly after the battle, eager for anything to relieve the boredom of the day. The journey had started as spontanious and random, but had now faded to a monotonous drive-fight-eat-and-sleep occurance. And it was beginning to take its toll on the travellers.

Fortuneately, the town they entered offered a break from this routine. It was late afternoon when they drove in, and the lamps were just beginning to be lit. The entire village seemed to be decorated with festive items. Streamers, banners, flags and coloured lights dazzled them as the ikkou made their way to the inn.

"What's going on?" Goku wondered aloud. "Is there some kind of festival? Is there food?"

"Orange and black..." Hakkai mused, lookng around. "Do you suppose...?"

They hit the inn before the brunette could continue his train of thought. Immediately a boy, about twelve or so, jumped from his place behind the counter. He was a bit tall for twelve, rivaling Goku in height, with brown-blond hair and bright brown eyes. A pair of cat ears perched atop his head, a matching tail pinned to the back waistband of his pants, he ran over to the four new entrants.

"Hi!"

"Hey kid," Gojyo grinned. "Nice ears."

"Thanks! Are you guys here for rooms?"

"Yes please," Hakkai nodded, smiling at the boy.

"And food too!" Goku offered as a way of help. Sanzo offered his own unique brand of help, backhanding the monkey lightly as he walked past. Goku pouted, but said nothing else.

The boy frowned slightly. "I'm afraid we don't have very many right now. Everyone's in town for the Halloween festival."

"Halloween?" Gojyo looked shocked.

Hakkai nodded. "I hadn't realized it was that late in the year..."

"Haven't been aware of passing days so much," Sanzo said simply. "We'll take what you've got."

The boy nodded, looking to the registry book in front of him. "I can get two doubles, but you have to leave my tomorrow noon."

"That's perfectly fine," Hakkai smiled. "We tend to leave quite early."

"As for food, you've got a whole town full of vendors waiting. I'm Haisui, if you need anything."

The rooms were secured, and keys handed out. They ikkou left Haisui to unpack there things. It wasn't long before an impatient Goku, followed lazily by Sanzo, came to stand in front of Hakkai and Gojyo's room. The brunette answered the door afer a few rapid-fire knocks.

"Hakkaaaaaai! Let's go already! I wanna see the festival and EAT! Get Gojyo and c'mon!"

Hakkai smiled at his young friend's restlessness. "I'm afraid Gojyo's already left."

"What?" Goku put his hands on his hips. "That stupid kappa left without us? He's got some nerve!"

"He certainly does," Gojyo quipped, walking down the hall carrying a paper bag under one arm. "What's up monkey?"

"You bastard, you left without us!" Goku snapped, shaking a fist at him.

The redhead shrugged. "I figured I'd get you all some presents before we go walking around at a Halloween festival."

Hakkai and Sanzo exchanged looks. "This does not bode well."

The monk narrowed his eyes. "It shouldn't."

Gojyo walked past them, into his shared room. Goku, interested by the promise of a present, followed. Throwing his bag on the bed, he turned to grin at his companions, which worried at least two of them more than anything else they'd seen so far.

"It's a Halloween party, right?" he explained. "So what good's a Halloween party without costumes?!" He tipped the bag over, spilling its contents onto the bed.

"Awesome!" Goku cheered, investigating the new treasure.

"Slight problem though," the redhead continued, "We got them kinda last minute, so I'm not completey sure what all's in there. The lady said I was lucky there was anything left at all. Guess these people really like Halloween."

"I really don't think--" Hakkai began.

"There's no way I'm gonna--" Sanzo said at the same time.

Gojyo didn't let them continue. Scooping up an armful of costume and handing one to each of them in turn, he smirked. "Just think of it as undercover! You'll look awfully suspicious at this thing without a costume!"

Hakkai frowned in thought, turnig to Sanzo. "He does have a point. You're always telling us not to make ourselves noticable..."

Sanzo glared, caught with his own logic. "That was for you all, not me."

Goku grabbed his arm. "C'mon Sanzo, please? It's just for a few hours!"

The blond closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of frustration.

---

Gojyo grinned, looking at his reflection. He knew it wasn't really fair to have taken the best costume before giving the others a chance, but he had gone and gotten them. That counted for something at least. He wasn't really sure what the other costumes were, but he certainly liked the one he got. He tipped his cowboy hat, saluting the mirror before exiting the bathroom.

"Gojyo, I believe there's a small problem here..." Hakkai was sitting on the bed.

"Hmm?" Gojyo looked him over curiously. "It's one of those Shakephere poet-type things. What's the problem?"

Hakkai stood up. "I'm not a woman." Once he was standing, Gojyo could see that the costume was a skirt instead of pants.

Gojyo bit his lip, forcing a serious expression. "Um...my bad?"

The brunette sighed, sitting back down and drawing his legs up to his chest. "So now what?"

He shrugged. "We go out."

"Gojyo..."

"Hey, it's Halloween. Who's gonna care? And besides..." he broke his serious face in favour of a smirk, "I think it looks cute."

Hakkai's face flushed bright pink. Before he could comment on this, Goku burst through the door, once again forgetting to knock.

"Look guys, I'm an axe murderer!" He ran over to them, brandishing his fake axe.

"Blood..." Gojyo nodded, "Looks like Sanzo roughed you up."

The boy rolled his eyes. "It's -fake- you moron."

"Pity..."

Sanzo walked in at that moment, looking slightly more annoyed than usual and sporting a pair of cat ears (which would later be viewed as ironic). Gojyo turned his attention to the monk.

"So what happened to the rest of the costume?"

"This is the best you're getting," he replied, crossing his arms.

Goku, meanwhile, had sat next to Hakkai. He looked questionably at the older brunette. "Why are you wearing a dress?"

Hakkai sighed again.

---

While it had been almost empty when they had arrived, the village was now bursting with activity. Everyone was in costume, ranging from simple to extravagant. The four walked through the crowd, looking around.

Goku, being happily satisfied with the armful of food he now carried, laughed a little in delight. "I love Halloween!"

"Let's find something to do," Hakkai suggested. "Something that doesn't involve food."

Gojyo pointed ahead a bit. "Look, they've got a haunted house. Wanna go?"

"Cool!" Goku jumped up. "Let's go Sanzo!"

"Why are you dragging me into this?" Sanzo growled, although he didn't refuse.

"That might be fun," Hakkai nodded.

The four made their way to the booth for the house's entry. It seemed they had decided to use one of the town's older buildings for their house, rather than make a set. They paid their admission, and then started up the walkway into the house.

The house itself looked a bit intimidating, and the inside of it looked slightly worse. Usually haunted houses were made up cheesily, but this was an exception. There was nothing fake looking about this house, even down to the cobwebs that hung from the corners of the walls. The group walked slowly through the front hall, taking in the details of the place.

"Sweet..." Gojyo grinned.

"It's awfully realistic for a festival attraction," Hakkai blinked, narrowly avoiding a low hanging cobweb.

"So let's get this over with," Sanzo muttered, moving ahead. Goku bounded after him quickly, looking at the walls a bit nervously.

Hakkai moved to follow, but was stopped by Gojyo's arm on his shoulder. He gave the redhead a questioning glance.

"Let the monk and his pet go on ahead. It'll be a lot more fun without Goku annoying us."

The green-eyed youkai offered a wise smile. "Meaning you want some alone time?"

He shook his head. "You've gotta stop with the mind reading thing 'Kai."

The front hall led them into the living room, where the pathways split. There was a hall leading further into the house, and there waas a stairway leading upstairs. They decided to take the stairs, the logic being that Goku would want to see the dining room. While Gojyo had meant it as a joke, Hakkai couldn't deny the truthfulness of the statement. So up the stairs they went.

"So where's the cheesy special effects?" Gojyo remarked offhand, scanning the portraits on the walls as they past.

"Maybe it's a bit low-budget?" Hakkai shrugged. He pointed to a door. "Do you think we're allowed to go inside?"

Gojyo turned the knob. "I don't see why not. That's probably where all the good stuff is anyway."

The two entered the first room in the hall. Gojyo shut the door behind them.

Hakkai tilted his head. "What was that for?"

He grinned. "In case they kill us, the blood won't splatter into the hallway. Then they only hafta clean this room."

"Once again, I'm forced to wonder just what goes on in your head."

"You don't wanna know."

"I'll believe that."

"You people talk too much."

"Hey, you're talking too 'Kai."

A pause. "I didn't say anything Gojyo."

"Ahh...so that was...?"

"I believe so."

The two turned around slowly. A black-haired man stood there, leaning against the doorframe. He looked at the pair with a bored expression on his face.

Gojyo raised an eyebrow. "This takes low-budget to a new level."

The man rolled his eyes. "Well obviously you're not in the right part of the house for the spook show."

"Oh," Hakkai smiled. "I'm sorry. We didn't know we weren't allowed up here."

"I didn't say that."

Gojyo was getting annoyed. "Then what -are- you saying? Should we leave or not?"

He shrugged. "That's entirely up to you. It'd be nice to have some company, even if it's not the most pleasant."

The redhead returned his comment with a well-known hand gesture. Hakkai batted at his hand. "Gojyo, be nice," he turned to the man, "Are you part of the attraction crew, or do you live here?"

The man crossed his arms. "I've got nothing to do with that stupid haunted house crap. That's why I'm up here right now. They've practically taken over the entire downstairs for their moronic little show."

Gojyo laughed a little. "It's the dark-haired version of Sanzo."

Hakkai looked at him admonishingly, effectively shutting him up for at least a few minutes. "If it's your house, why did you let them do this?"

"Well, I'm not exactly in any position to stop them."

"I don't understand..."

Before the man could reply, a muffled thump came from the hall. Two sets of eyes looked to the door, and then to the person leaning against it.

"Shit..." he moved from the door, backing away and nearly into Hakkai and Gojyo. "You guys have to go."

Gojyo narrowed his eyes. "If you're scared of whatever's in the hallway, how would sending us out there be any safer for us?"

He cursed again. "Then get in the corner. Make yourselves as small as possible." He spoke fearfully, never taking his eyes from the door. "And cover the lady's eyes if she's squeamish."

Even in the tense situation, Hakkai frowned at Gojyo.

The man pushed them toward the back of the room urgently. Too confsused to disobey, they crouched in the corner, watching the house owner walk back to stand in front of the door. Another thump sounded from behind it, and then it swung open so hard it hit the wall beside it.

There was nothing in the hallway. The man stood completely still. Gojyo and Hakkai watched, still as confused as ever. They waited for someone to enter, but nothing happened.

"Your time has come," a deep voice boomed, seeming to come from right in front of the man. Suddenly a form appeared where the voice had spoken, a tall man with long orange hair.

"The fuck...?" Gojyo whispered. Hakkai quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

The tall man turned his gaze to the two huddled in the corner. "A new element."

The black-haired man spoke sharply. "They are of no concern. You know you can't hurt them, so don't even try."

"You've added a new element to the arrangement. It is forbidden, and you know this."

"I added nothing. They came here without my consent."

He shook his head. "It matters not. The punishment for interlopers is merciless."

He reached to grab the shorter man. The victim did not try to escape or dodge, mearly resigned to his fate. A large hand grabbed him roughly by the collar, and the tall man began to pull him out the door.

The shakujou chain wrapped around his arm, halting them.They both turned to the two youkai, who had taken advantage of the blind eye cast upon them to prepare an attack.

"I don't know what the hell's goin' on here," Gojyo snapped, "but no one's going -anywhere- until I'm sure it's safe."

"It's not your place," the tall man growled.

"I suppose not," Hakkai said calmly, hands held ready to call ki, "and I apologize. But we can't have you mistreating people here, despite this."

"You can't hurt him," the black-haired man said sadly.

"Bullshit," Gojyo yanked the pole of the shakoujou, attempting to pull the man's arm away from his intended victim.

Instead of pulling his arm, however, the chain simply passed through him, not injuring him in the slightest. The half-breed stepped back in shock. The tall man raised his other hand, swishing it through the air quickly. The small desk sitting against the wall lurched forward as if he had tossed it. The desk flew toward them, catching Hakkai offguard. Gojyo dove at him, pushing them both out of the way just in time. The desk sailed above them and into the wall, breaking into pieces.

With both of his enemies sprawled on the floor, the tall man continued to drag his victim toward the door. The two moved to get up and attack again, but the black-haired man stopped them.

"Please, don't continue. This happens every year, so don't worry. There's nothing you can do, trust me. What you're seeing is not of this world."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gojyo pushed himself up. Hakkai stood, but tripped on his hem and fell back.

Before anymore could be said, the victim and his attacker disappeared, leaving the two alone in the room.

"It's an unbroken chain that has gone on for centuries. Do not concern yourselves. I wasn't alive to be saved anyway."

Gojyo helped Hakkai to his feet. "What...the fuck...was that?"

"What did he mean by 'wasn't alive'?"

The two looked at each other for a moment, and then ran to the door without a word.

To be Continued...

[~:.:~]

[~end of chapter~]

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