Title: Ordinary World

Series: Saiyuki AU

Pairing: 58 & a tiny bit of 39; Rating: M

AN: Written on the plane from SF-NY. :) Listen to The Lucky One by Allison Krauss.

Hakkai stared out the airplane's small window, watching as the blue-gray of pre-dawn rolled out around him, the clouds dark smudges against the white light of morning. His stomach gave a little flip as the plane took off and somewhere in the back of his mind he felt a little shudder work its way through his thin frame. As the cityscape came under-wing he sighed softly, the curtain of twinkling lights glittering below him, and he realized he was both terrified and excited about the journey ahead.

He'd gotten the call Thursday evening and had booked the flight in the same hour. Only a handful of his friends and ex-coworkers knew his plans, the rest he still debated between telling and letting them find out on their own; this was a last ditch effort on his part after all. He turned back to the sight below him, smiling sadly as he watched San Francisco, Treasure Island, Oakland, and Berkeley fall away, the once tall buildings that seemed to dwarf him were now mere stepping stones to something greater, or so he desperately prayed.

With the economy in a downward spiral he'd found himself like so many others, laid-off and looking to start over. That same day he'd received a call from an old school friend telling him about a position in New York. He could have it if he could be there the following Monday first thing. He'd packed his bag that same night. He'd let the lease run out on his small studio, there was only another month left any ways, in the meantime everything he had was left in the care of a close friend with the only request being to sell everything, but keep the car just in case. He was literally starting over from scratch. A few of his favorite books, computer, clothes, and every ounce of self-confidence he could muster up were stuffed into his duffel bag and backpack in the overhead compartment above his head.

Except for two or three people, he knew no one in the Big Apple. He'd house sit a friend's apartment for the first month while he got use to the new job, but after that he was on his own. Quite frankly it terrified him. His friend, Goku, had gotten him a teaching job at his middle/high school in Flushing. Their Chinese language teacher had decided not to come back after her maternity leave suddenly, leaving the classes and school in a lurch.

That's where Goku had stepped in. As a PE teacher he normally abstained from commenting during staff meetings, but he had been one of the few people Hakkai had kept in contact with after University, so when he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of local cut-backs, he'd tossed out his resume to a few key contacts, the spunky brunette amongst them, and Goku had come through for him. Not only that, but he'd even set up Hakkai's new living arrangements for the next month.

His long-time boyfriend, Sanzo, apparently had to go to India for business for a month, instead of leaving the apartment sitting empty, Goku had convinced him to let Hakkai house sit for the time. It appeared to be a dual strategy for the blond economist, the apartment would be watched over and Goku wouldn't be alone for the entire month, something the normally happy-go-lucky young man never could handle. So in exchange for the occasional dinner and hanging out with an old friend Hakkai got a place to live. Not too bad a deal actually.

Leaning back in his seat Hakkai took a moment to glance surreptitiously at the other man in his row. They had a seat open between the two of them on the early flight out, and the extra room to stretch was a welcomed treat considering he'd been too excited to sleep properly the night before. Dark sunglasses and a black and red leather racing jacket obscured most of the man from Hakkai's vision, but the nimble looking hands tapping out a staccato on the blanket covered armrest were a light honey color. The long fingers ended in perfectly manicured nails, an even rim of white topping each one perfectly.

Hakkai glanced up the length of apparently well defined arms and over the soft expanse of slender neck and high cheekbones, the man's face appeared to be slightly angular in its planes, but most of it was covered by a shimmering halo of dark auburn hair that sparkled in the morning sunlight, its deep ruby coloring flashing brilliantly. Hakkai had never seen hair that color naturally, but he had no doubt that the quiet stranger beside him had never once touched a hair dye in his life, though he had no idea why he was so sure.

He glanced back out the planes' window and sighed again, snow covered peaks rose out of the brown earth below and he figured they should be somewhere over Utah by now.

"Hey, how many times you gonna do that?"

The sleep riddled voice startled him out of his reverie, snapping his head back towards the sound he came face to face with the mysterious man beside him.

"Excuse...me?" he stuttered softly.

"The sighing, that's like the fifth or sixth time and we're not even halfway there. You okay?" Hakkai tried not to stare, he really did, but the man was leaning in closer to him with a slightly concerned look across handsome features and his eyes...his eyes were so coppery brown they were almost red in their intensity. He'd never met anyone more striking.

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Nah, don't worry about it, just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna lose it or anything. You sure you're alright?" the stranger leaned in suddenly and pressed the back of his palm against Hakkai's forehead, startling him severely, "Hmmm...doesn't look like you're sick, you sure you don't want me to call the stewardess?"

Hakkai smiled shakily and shook his head, "No, thank you and I don't think they call them that anymore."

"Call who, what?" the man blinked confused.

"The flight attendants. They don't call them stewardesses anymore." he smiled a bit brighter this time at the man, pleasantly surprised when he received a friendly chuckle in return.

"Name's Gojyo, New York your final stop or you going on farther?" a long slender hand reached out and Hakkai beamed as he shook it, surprised by how cool it was even though the other was bundled up tightly.

"Hakkai and yes, you?"

Gojyo leaned back in his chair and cracked his knuckles loudly, "Yep, finally headed home, you?"

"I guess so."

"Guess so? You don't know?"

"Eh, sort of. I'll be living there from today onward, so I guess it'll be home, but it still doesn't feel real yet."

"Ah, now I get it. So that's why the long face and all the sighs, huh? You're leaving your home for a new one."

"Not really. San Francisco wasn't really home to me. I knew people, had friends, but my only family died a year ago, so it hasn't really been 'home' for a while now. To be perfectly honest I'm looking forward to starting over." Hakkai glanced at his hands, noticing for the first time the bit ends of his thumbnail, a bad habit he'd had since childhood.

"That sucks, man, sorry."

"Ah, no, it happened a while ago, so..."

"Hey...It still sucks." Gojyo pinned him with a concerned look and lightly placed one of his hands across Hakkai's clenched ones and though the next several minutes was quiet between the two of them, it wasn't strained at all. Hakkai smiled softly and turned back to the window to watch the clouds roll by, completely at ease with the weight of cool fingers tangled lightly in his own.

Gojyo finally broke the silence between them, "So Hakkai, what is it that you'll be doing in New York?"

"Teaching. I'll be teaching Chinese at a Middle/High School in Queens."

Gojyo's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Really?! That's pretty intense, isn't it?"

"Ah, not really. I've been teaching for a few years now actually."

"Seriously? You don't seem old enough."

"Haha, yes, I get that a lot, I'm actually twenty-five though, you?"

"Just turned twenty-six last month."

"Ah, happy birthday then."

"Heh, thanks man. So do you like it, teaching I mean?"

"Most of the time it is quite rewarding watching the students struggle and finally grasp a topic, especially a language like Chinese."

"I can imagine; I had a hard enough time with English." Gojyo reached back and ran a hand through his hair, rakish grin plastered across his face.

"What about you, Gojyo? What is it you do?"

"I design and build motorcycles. My brother and I have a small Research and Design firm in Brooklyn. You ride?"

Hakkai held his hands up laughing, "Ah no, no. I'm more of a Jeep person myself."

"Too bad, you'd probably love it. You should stop by the shop someday, just to try it out. The feeling you get while riding is something completely amazing. It's like you're flying down the road. Even our shitty traffic doesn't get as annoying on the back of one."

"You sound like you really love your job."

"Yeah well, we've been messing around with bikes since we were little, one of those bonding things, you know?"

"I suppose."

"You got any brothers?"

"No, I had a twin sister. We were separated when we were young, but we found each other a few years ago."

"That's great man."

"Yes." Hakkai glanced back out the window.

"I take it something happened between you?"

Hakkai looked back at Gojyo, a twisted smiled tugging on the corners of thin lips, "She was raped a year ago and committed suicide to kill the man's baby."

"Fuck, I'm so sorry."

"Yes, it was a rather difficult time for me."

"What about your family, they weren't able to help at all?"

"We were orphans, so no. A friend or two tried but, well, it is a rather personal tragedy, yes?" Hakkai took a shaky breath, even after a year talking about Kanan's death was still a ragged wound in his heart.

"Hey, you mind if I change seats?"

"Ah, no. I understand if you might be uncomfortable after hearing something so dark."

"What? No, that's not what I meant." Gojyo unhooked his belt and pushed the armrests between them up, sliding over next to Hakkai, their legs brushing lightly against each other as he draped a long, lean arm over his shoulder and pulled the startled brunette in against his leather clad chest, fingers lightly brushing through the small tuft of hair at the nape of his neck.

It was an oddly comforting gesture that belied their just meeting and Hakkai was extremely grateful for the sudden support. He tried vainly to keep his emotions under wrap, bawling like a child on a plane was not his preferred way to end living in San Francisco. Gojyo seemed to understand his unspoken dilemma perfectly, shifting closer he buried Hakkai's head in his chest and slipped his headphones over Hakkai's ears, allowing the pulsing trance music to wash over the other and help drown out the sound of his own labored breathing and sadness.

***

Hakkai wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but several hours later he was awoken to a soft voice in his ear and shaking of his shoulder.

"Hey, Hakkai, we're almost there man." Hakkai rubbed the back of his hand across his sleep blurred eyes, sitting up sharply as he noticed he'd fallen asleep with his head cushioned on Gojyo's thigh.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!"

A soft laugh bubbled up from Gojyo as the other leaned in and carefully slipped Hakkai's glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, "No worries, if I didn't want you to I would have stopped you. How are you feeling?"

Adjusting his glasses Hakkai smiled shyly, "Much better, thank you."

"Half of it was probably exhaustion. You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

"No, I had too many things running through my head I guess."

"Yeah, I figured as much. You seem like the type to keep everything in until it explodes or your body shuts down on its own. You should try and get more sleep; we wouldn't want you conking out on just anyone, now would we?" Gojyo laughed openly as Hakkai's face burned fuchsia in embarrassment.

"Relax, man, I'm just messing with you, it's totally cool. But seriously, try and take better care of yourself." Leaning in he gently rubbed the side of Hakkai's mouth with the pad of his thumb, grinning when Hakkai pulled back and scrubbed at the little rivulet of sleep induced drool wetting the skin.

"Thanks, I think." he mumbled sheepishly.

"I mean it, only half of that was exhaustion, but if you ever need to talk, or just have someone to listen to you, stop by the shop; here, take my card and give me a call or email if you ever need anything, okay?" Gojyo pulled a slim metal case from one of the many pockets and popped it open, lightly wetting the tip of his thumb with his tongue he slipped out a black card and handed it to Hakkai.

There was an intricately designed embossed blood red butterfly stamped on the front, while the back was the exact opposite with their contact information written across the deep crimson background in scrawling black cursive. It was a mini work of art. Hakkai let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding and gingerly placed it in his bag.

"It's beautiful. 'Scarlet Grace R&D,' what's it mean?"

Gojyo leaned back and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from another pocket, tapping one out he fingered it lightly and then slipped it behind his ear, the movement exposing two thin red lines across his upper cheek. He tapped the scars softly and locked eyes with Hakkai.

"SG are my initials, Sha Gojyo. Scarlet for the hair and Grace for the woman who put these here, my step mother. I didn't know what 'bastard' meant back then. My brother saved me from the assault, but not before she'd had a chance to make these with her nails. It's a reminder of what we've been through; every time someone takes a card it's like they take a little bit of the pain too. One of these days I hope to be completely free of the cards, but it's slow going. Man, I'd kill for a cigarette, how long you think they'll keep us taxiing out here?"

Hakkai shook his head and shifted close enough to reach out a velvety touch and gently trace the smooth lines. "It's harder, when the world can see your scars. Mine are all hidden under fake smiles and polite laughs, I can walk through a crowd and no one blinks an eye, how do you deal with it?" He looked up questioningly into red-gold eyes.

"Eh, a bad attitude and constant smoking keep most people away," he laughed sarcastically, "but mostly I just try not to let it get to me. I figure if people want to stare that's their business, it ain't got nothing to do with me." He shrugged, the sound of crinkling leather heavy in the air between them.

The pinging of the intercom telling them to put everything in order jolted them out of the funk that had settled in heavily against them. As they stood and gathered their belongings Hakkai grabbed Gojyo's wrist loosely and smiled softly at the red-head.

"Hey, thank you for everything. I'll definitely stop by the shop one day."

Gojyo twisted his wrist until he was able to tangle their fingers together and gave them a light squeeze, "I look forward to it. Take care of yourself Hakkai."

"You too Gojyo." Then he was gone, swallowed up in the crowd of bodies running through the airport leaving Hakkai glancing around vainly trying to find his way home.

***