（最游记同人）镜里镜外(9)

"Uh..."

But Sanzo interrupted him, glaring at Gojyo over the newspaper. "No, that was you."

Truth be told, Tenpou *was* having a nice long night until he woke up to a damn nightmare. He yawned just as the elderly innkeeper lady walked to their table. She smiled heartily at all of them and ruffled Tenpou's hair as if she were his mother or something so crazy like that. "Poor young man." she sympathized after asking them if they enjoyed their meal. "Must have been kept up by the ghosts around this place."

"Ghosts?" The word was enough to draw Sanzo's attention from today's paper. "Is that why you have six bolts on the door?"

The woman nodded gravely. "Yes, but they don't hurt anybody. The bolts are just to be sure it stays that way."

What an odd village this one was. "They why don't all of you leave and set up a home somewhere else?" inquired Goku, making a face. "I wouldn't want to share a town with a bunch of freaky dead guys."

Gojyo waved his cigarette in agreement. "The saru's got a point, lady. Besides, I'm sure there are nicer places than this frozen wasteland."

"Oh no!" the inn keeper. "We can't just do that! If anything, they scare raiders away. Who would want to ransack a haunted village? But most importantly, we wouldn't want to disrespect the gods. No sir."

"The gods?" Now it was Tenpou's turn to sound skeptical. "The gods have nothing to do with this place." The statement was turned into a bleeding pulp with one sharp comment from a certain priest.

"And you know this how?" Sanzo turned to him, raising a slim brow and shooting a critical glance.

"I don't. I only assume. Their business is among themselves and heaven. Not with humans." Which left another loophole for the a similar question. 'And you know this how?' It could have gone on for days, but Sanzo dropped the third degree before it could get bad.

"Ch,"

"Then there's the legend..." she continued, as if this story was repeated to a thousand different guests on a thousand different days. "...about the lake on the other side of the foothill. A lake of holy water, frozen to create a mirror half a mile wide. A mirror to heaven..."

A mirror to heaven...

"...and that is why those spirits are here, to protect that mirror..."

Those spirits...

"...and the ancient tale also talks about their arrival! Here you shall see how the gods truly do care about us..."

Their arrival...

"It has been passed down by word of mouth, since few of our ancestors could write (after all, this is a rural area filled with farmers) that heaven's army sent its finest warriors to protect that holy water."

Finest warriors...

And then she bent down, lowering her voice to a mere whisper.

"We tell the children never to leave when the ghosts are out, for fear that their souls may be stolen if they anger the gods...but one time...I did go out. I must have been twelve or eleven at that time. I snuck out of my home and went to the lake even though the warning bell had already sounded and I saw them! I swear to it on my own life. I saw them. With the marks in the middle of their foreheads. They lingered on the lake like mist, but I could see them! And count them! Thirty. I saw with my own young eyes. Thirty."

Thirty of heaven's finest warriors...

Chopsticks fell to the wooden floor.

"Hakkai, what's wrong with you today?"

...who disappeared without a trace.

Chapter 5: Bitter sweet

Author's note: I think I indulged a bit. Anyway, it's been a rough week ^_^ I deserve a bit of indulgence.

Saiyuki: Through The Looking Glass

Chapter 5

Rating: PG13...still...

****

A pointless sunset, Hakkai thought as he paused in his shelving in order to gaze outside Tenpou's library window. But beautiful nonetheless. As beautiful as a porcelain doll. Again, a meaningless image without even a shadow of a soul.

Yes, but beautiful still...eternally so.

Shafts of wine-red light streamed into the study, warming the ever aging yet never rotting wood. It shined on rich mahogany, making it glow like dying embers in the red twilight. His body liked it. Felt at home, though the mind did not- despite the pang of bittersweet amusement that played upon his memory.

/We always wanted a library. Just like this one. Sort of. Less war literature for the sake of the kids. It wasn't really something for them to think about. To keep in the back of their minds, yes. A constant preoccupation, no. /

Flipping through pages, opening books where bookmarks were left, organizing papers. A cup of wine on his desk. Very good. Very sweet. The ashtray put aside never to be used. /As long as I'm here/. Pulling out and skimming texts, re-rolling undone scrolls. A life he was supposed to have lived as Cho Gonou. Teacher. He figured, also, that as long as he kept himself shut in Tenpou's study, he could keep fantasizing about it. Keep some veil of normalcy over his two good eyes. This was safe.