SLEEPLESS NIGHT
(side story to Forbidden)
Disclaimer: Do I look like owning Saiyuki?
Summary: The night before the fateful day, a sleepless heretic was thinking about the turn of events that concerned his other self. Side story to Forbidden. For Animeskid. Slight ST9.
Author's Note: This fic is dedicated for Animeskid, a big fan of SeitenXGokuu. Written as a respond to her fic "Separated" (though I'm not writing volumes like her)
Credit goes to Animeskid for giving me the idea and song inspiration, and my kind schoolmate Angel Renoir for editing this for me. Oh, and there'll be spoilers from future chapters of Forbidden. Hope you'll enjoy it!!
P.S: Well… I agree that people should write SeitenXGokuu more… don't you agree, Animeskid?
A gentle breeze swept over the silent place softly, bringing cold chill along within every blow. A pair of golden eyes blinked for a few times before opening completely only to stare at the darkness. A deep sigh could be heard as the golden-eyed boy tried to drift back to sleep. When it proved futile, the boy stood and walked towards the window, staring at the black sky above him. It was a chilly night, with pale moon staring coldly among the countless stars.
Can't sleep?
The boy jerked in surprise. His head turned to seek the one who called him.
Stop doing such a useless thing, Goku. It's me.
Goku sighed in relief. It was the very familiar voice of a very close person to him. Very close indeed.
"Oh, it's you, Seiten. Sorry… am I disturbing you?"
He could almost feel Seiten Taisei's proud and cold presence within his mind. It took a whole minute for his alter ego to answer back.
Yes, you are. Why are you so tense, anyway?
Seiten Taisei asked calmly and confidently, being the Great Sage that he is. But still, Goku could feel worry in that cold tone. Seiten was worried about him. The brunette smiled a little and tried to sound casually.
"Nah, it's nothing. It's just… Sanzo spoke a few things to me earlier. And I also had a… uhm… meeting with Kougaiji and the others. Nothing important, really," the latter forced a smile.
Goku could feel Seiten snorted in disbelief inside his mind, as the Great Sage filled his mind with his cold voice,
I'm telling you, Goku, you're a terrible liar.
Goku swallowed hard. He knew it was useless to hide anything from his own counterpart, who is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven himself. His mind raced as he finally decided to speak,
"It's just…" he paused, thinking of the right way to express it.
Go on, Seiten pushed him.
Goku closed his eyes as he whispered, "Those guys… they want you, Seiten."
There was a long silence before Seiten Taisei decided to break the tension,
Soo… what's the big deal?
The long haired heretic asked as if nothing happened. This instantly raged his twin.
"What's the big deal?? They after you, Seiten! You're in danger!!" Goku almost shouted, forgetting the fact that Seiten was inside his own mind and could hear his voice even if he whispered.
Don't raise your voice like that, Goku, unless you want to wake everybody here. You're inside that demon king's castle, remember?
Goku's bright golden eyes widened, "How'd you…"
He could feel Seiten chuckled inside his mind,
Baka. Do you think I am asleep all day inside your mind and do nothing? Whose body do you think this is? It's ours, my little Goku. I could see through our eyes, hear everything through our ears, just like you.
Goku widened his eyes at Seiten's word. So, it means that Seiten has already known it…?
And as if reading his mind, Seiten spoke again,
Yes. I know about it all. I know that you're engaged to the demon king's daughter. And I also know that it was only because they after my power… The heretic spoke matter-of-factly.
Goku felt a mix of rage and worry within his mind. He was angry because his alter-ego didn't care of his own safety. Angry for not telling him that he knew everything. Angry for not paying attention of what happened, or might happened, to him. And he's worried about his other self for that.
"They after your power, Seiten!! They'll do anything to get your power, even if it kills you!!" the latter finally voiced it, his voice trembled, "I… I don't want to lose you… I've just met you as a part of me… I really don't want to lose you…"
Seiten could feel warmth radiating from his other self as it reached his icy heart. The wild heretic felt his face form\ a faint smile. An expression he never knew he has.
Goku… no need to worry about me. I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, remember? As a matter of fact, the one we must worry about is actually YOU, who share the same body with me, Seiten spoke slowly. Goku could feel the cruel split-pupil eyes pierced him from inside his mind.
"But… their objection is your power! They'll do anything to get your power!!" Goku said stubbornly, once again forgetting the fact that Seiten was inside his mind.
Seiten almost smiled at the sight of the over-worried teen,
Yes. They'll do anything, even if it is to kill you, my other self,
Goku swore that he felt Seiten's voice grew colder and filled with somewhat hatred as the disembodied heretic continued to speak,
I'm afraid that I have put you in the same danger as I am, Goku. Or maybe worse. They don't need you as they need me. They could easily throw you away if you get in their way towards the power they want. Accept it, I'm worried about you.
Silence fell between the two souls; trapped in a same body, yet two different beings, different personalities.
"I'll protect you," Goku suddenly spoke. His voice hung both in the air and in his alter-ego's mind. Seiten couldn't believe his ears. He just stared at his alter-ego with wide eyes.
"I will protect you," Goku repeated, unusual determination filled his usual innocent eyes, "I will make sure that those bastards won't get a chance to lay their damn hands on you, Seiten. I might be weaker than you but I swear I'll kick their ass hard enough if they dare to disturb our peace here. I will protect you, I promise," Goku spoke solemnly and determinedly. For the first time in years, he looked like his true age as an over-500-years old being instead of a childish teen he usually appeared as.
Seiten just stared at his grown up other half unbelievingly, eyes wide. Slowly, a true smile replaced his usual smirk. He knew that Goku is serious. Dead serious. He never expected his younger self to be so determined like this, let alone vow to protect a certain somebody. Well, except of a certain pissy monk he found his other self so attached to.
...Damn it…
Goku's head jerked a bit as Seiten's voice reached his mind. He frowned, "Nanit?? What was that supposed to mean??"
Seiten could help but chuckled at Goku's reaction,
No, it's not you. I'm referring to this situation. You have no idea how desperately I wish to have my own body for times like this…
Goku's frown grew deeper as he titled his head, "……I don't get it…"
Seiten just smiled tenderly, a smile that was never expected from the supposed-to-be-ruthless Sage Equaling Heaven.
Meaning… if only I had my body right now, I could hug a certain somebody who is in certain need to be hugged… Seiten spoke softly, almost lovingly.
Goku could feel heat rose within his cheeks as he turned his blushing face away,
"I… I don't know what you're talking about…"
Then, to his surprise, Goku could feel as if Seiten stood behind him. The smaller brunette shivered as he felt his other self's presence, as a bodyless soul. He could almost feel Seiten closed the distance between them and wrap invisible hands around his body.
Suddenly, the night didn't seem as chilly as it was before.
"S…Seiten…" the younger heretic stirred uncomfortably, "Wh…what are you…?"
Ssh… Stop doing that. I know you're enjoying it, Seiten purred as he leaned closer to Goku's back. Goku tensed as he felt his counterpart's warm breath tickling the back of his neck.
"Stop… it…"
The arms refused to let go. Slowly, Goku closed his eyes as he finally surrendered to the embrace of his other half.
You are not alone…
I am here with you…
Though we're far away…
I am here to stay…
You are not alone…
Goku could no longer feel the chill brought by the night. In fact, he could not feel anything except his other self who pressed so close with him. So warm, so… calming. He wished they could stay in this position forever. His hands unconsciously reached to touch his other self's when…
"Goku? Are you awake?"
Goku inhaled sharply as he turned abruptly to face a slender figure stood by the door. He felt slight disappointment as he felt Seiten retreated back to his mind.
"Sa…Sanzo? What are you doing in this late hour?" the young heretic tried to sound casually.
The blonde monk just stared at him with his narrowing cold amethyst eyes as he spoke sharply, "That was supposed to be my line. What are YOU doing? I'm sure that I heard your voice earlier. To whom were you speaking to?"
The teen swallowed hard as he tried to avoid Sanzo's cold glare,
"Nothing. I… I was just speaking to myself… really…"
Sanzo narrowed his eyes, "You're having a nightmare?"
Goku shook his head, "No! I'm not having nightmares, don't worry," he smiled, tried to look as innocent as usual. And as usual, Sanzo can't be fooled.
"I'm telling you, saru, you're a terrible liar."
Goku almost smiled at the feeling of déjà vu, "Yeah, I know that."
Sanzo's expression unexpectedly softened, "You're not going to tell me?"
Goku stared at Sanzo, unbelieving at what he has just heard. Did Sanzo just speak so softly with him? Did Sanzo just give him a… choice?
"…No. I'm sorry," He felt rather guilty though, keeping a secret with his companion. He didn't like secrets, but now he's keeping one. What an irony. But he wasn't ready to share his other self with anyone, even with Sanzo. Not now. Too much grudges.
"Hmph. It's ok if you don't wanna tell me. Just don't keep it too much for yourself till you blow up whatever exists inside that small brain of yours," the monk spoke sarcastically, as usual.
Goku could feel anger rise, "Hey!! What's that supposed to mean??"
"That means you're a brainless monkey, idiot!!" the monk replied as sarcastic as his previous statement.
"What!!" Goku was ready to yell back when Sanzo's sudden serious expression shut him up.
"Urusai, saru! I'm not coming all the way here to tell how small your brain is. I'm coming to tell you something. Kougaiji expects you to meet him. In my room. Right now. It's about the plan." He fixed his eyes on Goku's meaningfully before he grunted and turned his back, "And I mean right NOW. Get your lazy ass up and move. We don't have much time." With that he proceeded to leave the room.
"Hey Sanzo!! Wait up! You come here to pick me up, right?? Don't leave me behind!!" Goku bounced as he followed his master.
THWACK!!
The mighty harisen finally made its appearance.
"Itai--" Goku winced both in pain on his head and the sight of the super-duper-pissed-off Sanzo covered with pulsing veins.
"Baka.Saru.This.Is.Midnight.And.We.Are.Inside.An.Enemy.Fortress!!" Sanzo hissed right to Gokuu's face while grabbing the teen's collar. Goku sweatdropped.
"Go…Gomen…" he bowed his head. Sanzo just snorted.
"Hmph. Bakasaru. Hurry up, Kougaiji's waiting." The monk then walked along the corridor followed by his faithful charge.
"You mean 'a plan is waiting'?" Goku snickered as he walked happily beside his master.
Well, it seemed that he won't be able to get some sleep this night, but that doesn't matter. One thing he knew for sure is that tomorrow will be great; he'd love to tell Seiten that.
OWARI
Author's Note: Soo… what do you think? The ending is totally in ruins, that's for sure . I'm suck at making endings… Uh well… I know that Seiten is very out of character here… and so is Goku… can't help it… And I think that I've somehow turned the pairing into SanzoXGoku... whatever…
I can't blame you if you get confused with this story. After all, this is a side story. I highly advise you to read "Forbidden" before you read this. Furthermore it contains spoilers from future chapters so... well... please forgive me for the confusion!! TTTT
I know I'm repeating, but I dedicated this fic for Animeskid! She's the one who er… indirectly triggered some NASTY idea into my bloody head with her SeitenXGoku fic! And she's also the one who suggested me to use songs as source of inspiration! You see, this fic uses the song "You're not Alone". Don't ask me why, I just happen to like it!
I know I'm left this story with a rather cliffy ending. If you're curious about what will happen next, you can read the rest in Forbidden once I updated it. I will tell the details there. Thanks for reading. Any comments will be appreciated. Ja ne!!
-ry0kiku