Series: Saiyuki

Title: The Debt

Author: cesmith

Beta: narrizan and Me-Nuriko

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Saiyuki and all of its characters were created by Kazuya Minekura. They belong to her and were used without prior permission. No profit is made through this story.

Summery: Another senseless youkai attack on a village has dire consequences for the Sanzo party.

Warnings: Violence, bad language, Non shounen ai.

Hakkai paused in mid-step, a perplexed expression on his face as he looked around.

If it hadn't been for the annoying buzz of the insects and the occasional scurrying of small animals through the underbrush, Hakkai could have believed he and his companions were the last living beings on the planet. All around Hakkai were trees; even the sky was nearly blocked by the leaves overhead. This combined with a cloud covered sky was making travel difficult. Though it was only mid-afternoon, the forest was nearly night-dark, making it almost impossible to see the compass needed to keep them on course.

Taking advantage of the pause, Gojyo slid down a tree trunk with a groan and settled himself as comfortably as he could on the moss covered ground. Pulling out a cigarette, he lit it and breathing in the smoke he exhaled with a contented sigh, grateful for the rest from walking. He was hot, tired and hungry. He closed his eyes and just listened to Sanzo and Hakkai's conversation.

"Well?" Sanzo asked. His annoyance at the delay was obvious in his voice.

"As far as I can tell, we're heading the right way," Hakkai answered, "but soon it will be getting too dark for us to safely continue. The ground is too uneven and I don't know if there are any large predators around that might come out at night. I would recommend that we set up camp here while we can still see to clear the area and to collect firewood. If we're lucky tomorrow will be sunny and we will have better light to see by."

With a tired sigh, Hakkai continued, "Since we don't have a map of the forest, we can only hope that we will be out soon and there will be a village when we do. We are dangerously low on supplies."

Gojyo shuddered. It's hard to get a map of the area when the only village around has been decimated by a youkai attack, he thought. Try as he might, Gojyo couldn't get the sight of the burning buildings out of his mind. The dead bodies of men, women and children lying everywhere. The four of them had searched the entire town, what was left of it, for survivors, but they had found none. The villagers had fought back, occasionally a youkai's body was found among the humans, but Gojyo could tell they had been overtaken quickly.

There had been too many dead for them to bury by themselves so they had had the grim task of turning one of the few untouched buildings into a funeral pyre for humans and youkai alike.

We were just so overwhelmed by the brutality and completeness of the attack, Gojyo thought, taking another draw on his cigarette, trying hard to keep his hands from shaking at the memory of the bodies of the small innocent children. Gojyo looked over at Goku who was still standing. The monkey had barely said a word since they had left the town and entered the forest, nearly seven hours ago.

"Goku," Gojyo called out.

Goku jumped at the unexpected sound of his name, turning weary eyes toward Gojyo.

"Sit down and relax monkey while these two figure out what's going on. No sense wasting your energy."

Goku sat down without a return comment about the monkey nickname, and closed his eyes

Sanzo and Hakkai looked over at the other two. Their eyes were as haunted by the past events as Gojyo and Goku's.

"Well, Sanzo?" Hakkai asked, his voice barely concealing the weariness he felt. "It's your call but I think we need to stop and rest."

"Alright, alright, you win. We stop." Sanzo agreed as he too sat down and lit up a cigarette.

"Do be careful, you two, with your cigarette ashes," Hakkai warned. "The forest floor is dry and the last thing we need is a forest fire."

"Yes Mother," Gojyo quipped back, a large part of him grateful for the normalcy Hakkai could bring to nearly any situation.

Sanzo just grumbled, "Whatever." Then he deeply inhaled the cigarette smoke and leisurely exhaled. The nicotine slowly entered his system, helping him to relax.

The four of them sat in this way for a few minutes in companionable silence, and then Goku stood and told them he was going to look for firewood.

"Just be careful, Goku," Hakkai warned, "We don't know if any of the youkai that raided the village are still around."

"I will Hakkai," Goku said as he headed out to search.

Gojyo and Hakkai set about clearing the area of leaves and twigs and then they set up camp. Sanzo sat watching and smoking. Gojyo was too weary in body and soul to even bother to argue with the monk but he did mumble a few choice words about Sanzo's parentage and lack of masculinity whenever Sanzo was in hearing distance.

Dinner that night was a dismal affair. No one was in much of a mood to talk and their remaining supplies were meager. With the town destroyed they hadn't been able to replenish their already depleted provisions. All they could hope for was for the forest to end soon, and that there would be a town shortly after they did exit.

After dinner Goku offered to take the first watch. When Hakkai argued against it,insisting that Goku should get some sleep and that he would take the first watch instead,Goku persisted saying that he would not be able to sleep anyway. The bodies of the children haunted him.

"Wake me up for the second watch," Gojyo offered before Hakkai could. Gojyo knew that Hakkai had been pushing himself too much the last few days, even before they had entered the village.

"Wake me for the third watch then," Hakkai said. He unrolled his bed roll and shook it a few times before spreading it out on the ground.

"What, not planning on taking a watch Sanzo-sama?" Gojyo asked condescendingly. "Too important are you?

"You're not worth arguing with," Sanzo grunted, "and I'm too tired to care what you think."

"Why you arrogant bastard," Gojyo shot back.

"Gojyo," Hakkai cautioned, "If you're going to relieve Goku, I'd advise you to get some rest."

Gojyo looked at Hakkai and saw the minute movement of his head as he watched him shake his head 'no' in warning.

Continuing to grumble to himself, Gojyo laid his bedroll out next to the fire. Looking up, he spotted Goku sitting on a rock a short distance away, just far enough that the rapidly dimming firelight wouldn't interfere with his night vision.

"Just remember to wake me up, Goku."

Goku flashed a half-hearted smile. "I won't forget."

Gojyo lay down on the ground, hoping in vain to get comfortable.

"Hakkai," Gojyo whispered suddenly.

"Yes Gojyo," he replied, his voice groggy with his need for sleep.

"Do you think the youkai were ones that went mad with the minus wave? Or were they part of Kougaiji's army?"

Hakkai paused a moment before answering. "I don't know Gojyo. I guess we will find out if we come into contact with them. Either way, they are extremely dangerous."

"Will you two idiots just shut up and let me get some sleep."

Kneeling down to crawl into his sleeping roll, Hakkai smiled tolerantly at the back of Sanzo's head. "Goodnight Sanzo, Gojyo," Hakkai said, a yawn escaping him.

And raising his voice a little he added, "Goodnight Goku.".

"Goodnight Hakkai," Gojyo whispered back, making it a point to ignore Sanzo. Tossing around a few more times, Gojyo finally found a comfortable spot to allow him to sleep. Closing his eyes he opened them almost immediately. The broken bodies of the children were too engraved in his memory to allow a restful sleep. Gojyo lay there listening to Hakkai's breathing as it evened out. Without realizing it Gojyo drifted off to sleep.

The weak rays of the morning sun woke Gojyo. Keeping his eyes closed against the light, Gojyo rolled onto his back, trying not to groan as he stretched, and worked out the stiffness from sleeping on the too hard ground. When he finally opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that Hakkai wasn't in his bedroll. Sitting up, Gojyo looked around and saw Hakkai sitting on the edge of camp. Hakuryuu was in his lap gently kyuuing as Hakkai absent-mindedly stroked his head.

On the fire was the coffee pot. Pouring two cups of coffee, Gojyo carefully and quietly walked over to Hakkai.

"You didn't wake me," Gojyo whispered as he handed Hakkai one of the cups.

"I just couldn't sleep and you looked too comfortable to wake."

"I gather it's been quiet," Gojyo said, then took a sip of the too hot coffee. "Shit," he gasped, quickly spitting the hot liquid onto the ground.

"Are you OK?" Hakkai asked, sipping his coffee, seemingly unaffected by the beverages temperature.

"Yeah," Gojyo grumbled, then took a more cautious sip. "When should we wake sleeping beauty?"

"I'm awake. How could anyone sleep with all the noise you are making?"

With a smile, Hakkai and Gojyo looked over at Goku who was still wrapped up in his bedroll, snoring mightily.

Moving over to the campfire, Hakkai added some tinder and then poked the embers with a stick producing a few small flames.

"Breakfast will be ready shortly," he said, "and I would suggest an early start. Hopefully we will get through the forest today."

Soon the smell of breakfast had the still sleeping Goku awake, hungry and in a much better mood.

Little was said as the four of them ate and clean-up was just as quiet. They wanted to make sure there was no trace left behind, just in case they were being followed.

Setting their direction once again by the compass, they started off.

As the day went on, their moods improved. The sunlight that filtered through the leaves gave enough light they could easily see the unevenness of the ground, but not too much to allow the day's heat to penetrate the forest.

Around mid-afternoon the forest had started to thin out, forming a small clearing. Sitting in the sun, baking in its warmth, they took a much needed break. Gojyo and Sanzo enjoyed one of their last cigarettes, Goku and Hakkai discussed a healing technique. Suddenly Goku went silent, his body alert.

"Hakkai?" he whispered questioningly.

Putting his finger to his lips, Hakkai nodded his head slightly and looked at Sanzo, who was already reaching for his gun. Gojyo stood up on the pretext of stretching and threw in a loud yawn for good measure.

They didn't have to wait long until the youkai made their presence known.

"Sanzo-ikkou," a voice bellowed from out of the trees. "We want the Maten Sutra. Give it to us and we will let you die quickly."

"You mean unlike the villagers in the last town?" Gojyo yelled out furiously.

"It was just a little distraction for us while we waited for you to cross our paths. It was pleasant but much too short."

"Why you." Gojyo growled. "Show yourselves."

"Where would the sport for us be in that?" With that, a bolt from a crossbow whizzed through the air, narrowly missing Gojyo and impaling the ground at Sanzo's feet. Hakkai shot off a blast of ki in the direction the bolt had come from and gave a satisfied smile as they heard the sound of something heavy crashing though the branches and leaves and landing with a wet thud.

Then all hell broke loose.

A barrage of arrows came flying from several different directions at once. Hakkai threw up a barrier using his ki, the arrows harmlessly bouncing off.

Dropping the shield Hakkai moved forward. Drawing on his ki he shot several blasts quickly into the trees. Behind him, Sanzo was rapidly firing his gun.

Goku and Gojyo moved apart to give themselves fighting room just as the first of several youkai armed with swords rushed at them. The battle was on.

Time and motion blended together for Gojyo after that.

There were so many that Gojyo didn't have time to worry about much other than the constant repetitive motion of flailing out his blade and drawing it back and flinging it out once more. A multitude of small, deep, bloody cuts told him he hadn't been successful in evading all the attacks sent his way but judging from the dead, wounded and deserting youkai, he knew it was only a matter of time before the battle was over in their favor.

Glancing over his shoulder, Gojyo saw that Goku had moved closer to Sanzo, providing him with some cover each time Sanzo needed to reload. Nyoi-sansekkonwas in three parts for closer combat.

Gojyo panicked for a minute when he couldn't find Hakkai but then his ears picked up the sounds of ki exploding in the trees.

Sanzo yelled Hakkai's name in warning as a youkai brandishing a huge blade lunged out at him from behind the trees. With not enough time to use his ki, Hakkai backed up to give himself room to fight but tripped over the body of a fallen youkai. The blade swung, slashing the air where Hakkai's head had been seconds before, narrowly missing him as he fell backward, his breath knocked out of him as he landed on the solid, rocky ground.

Gasping for breath, Hakkai rolled quickly, moving out of the way as the point of the blade stabbed the ground in the exact spot he had just moved from.

Hakkai was on his knees now, his hands locked on the youkai's hands, both holding the sword. Strength against strength. When the youkai's body jerked and collapsed, a bullet hole was the obvious reason. Hakkai dropped to his hands and knees, breathing hard.

Gojyo, distracted by his friends' struggle, missed blocking an attack by the last youkai. He hissed in pain as the blade sliced a ragged gash down his right arm. He nearly dropped shakujou as his fingers went numb. A blast of ki passed so close to his own body that Gojyo could feel his skin tingle as it slammed into the youkai, killing him.

Finished with his opponents, Gojyo turned to look at his friends.

Sanzo and Goku were standing together in the center of the clearing, searching for any youkai they might have missed. Hakkai was walking over to join them.

A glint of sunshine on metal was the only warning Gojyo had.

"Hakkai," Gojyo yelled, "look out…behind you…in the trees."

Hakkai turned instantly and started to gather some ki as he scanned the trees behind him. There was the sound of something flying through the air before the bolt hit its mark. With a surprised expression, Hakkai looked down at the shaft sticking out of his abdomen, his mouth open, trying to take in enough air to breathe. And then he collapsed to his knees.

Goku ran straight for the trees, using Nyoibou to deflect several more crossbow bolts shot in his direction. Then he called on Nyoibou to grow and it crashed into the youkai, knocking him to the ground. Sanzo took aim and shot him between the eyes.

Gojyo ran over and grabbed Hakkai before he could fall forward onto the bolt, pushing it further into his stomach.

Gojyo held Hakkai, frantically trying to think. What should they do? Hakkai was the healer, how were they going to keep him alive?

"Gojyo," Hakkai whispered, his eyes locked onto Gojyo's face.

"Hakkai…how? What do we do?"

"You're going too have to pull it out."