Ficlet: Boxed In (Saiyuki)

[daegaer]

Hakkai learns something about Kouryuu's past.

Hakkai arrived at nine o'clock on the dot as always, and listened to the sounds of crashes and yells from inside the door, as always. Dear, oh dear. He rang the chime and stepped back. A few seconds late and Citizen Rin flung the door open, his hair wild, his eyes wilder, and no shoes or socks on his feet.

"What? Oh, Cho. Damn. Is it – we're running late."

Hakkai smiled politely and said nothing. There was another crash from within. Citizen Rin took a long, slow breath.

"You'd better come in," he snarled.

Hakkai had only been briefly allowed inside twice before; this time he waited until Citizen Rin had safely stalked away, yelling about putting on shoes and not destroying the entire goddamn cosmos, before he looked around. There was no spouse or partner, and student accommodation had to be at a premium, yet Citizen Rin had somehow managed to acquire such a nice little apartment for himself and his ward. There was presumably at least one bedroom and a bathroom as well as the good sized living area. Surely other single parents with a child of Goku's age were squashed into a small university room and thought themselves lucky?

He drifted around, heading for the shrine, which was pointedly kept above child head height. There was always a scent of incense in the mornings, as if Citizen Rin had just finished saying his prayers. Hakkai found it hard to imagine him praying at all; perhaps he was just trying to set a good example.

There was a simple pale greenish-white statue of the Merciful Goddess – hmm, it looked quite old. Perhaps that wasn't plastic. A rolled up scroll of some kind that Hakkai itched to investigate, and several images in plain frames. A formal – very formal – photo of a man in his forties, with long braided hair as light as Citizen Rin's own. His father, presumably, but – Hakkai peered closer. Those were very definitely monastic robes. Oh, my. Those were a sanzo's robes. Around his shoulders was – his eyes was drawn back to the rolled-up scroll. Oh. No, it wasn't possible that a sanzo's sutra was sitting on a student's shrine. The other photos showed the same man less formally, smiling widely, his eyes almost closed in pleased amusement. Fresh offerings of food and flowers along with the incense were set out before all the images.

"Stop fucking snooping."

Hakkai tried not to leap into the air. He gave Citizen Rin and Goku a bland smile. "You're a devotee of a particular sect?" he said. "Which sanzo do you follow?"

"That's Grandpa!" Goku chirped.

"Shush," Citizen Rin said, giving him a gentle whack on the back of the head. It barely ruffled his hair, but Hakkai did not approve. "There's your answer," he said dryly. "Grandpa Sanzo."

"I didn't mean to pry," Hakkai said. "Goku, you still aren't wearing shoes! Do you need me to help?"

"No! Kouryuu, tell Hakkai I'm not a baby!" Goku skipped away, hopefully looking for his shoes.

"What am I, a relay station?" Citizen Rin called after him before marching up to the shrine and dispensing a good pinch of incense; standing there glaring at the formal photograph. "Koumyou," he said out of nowhere. "Koumyou Sanzo. I'm surprised you hadn't heard it before now. He's my father." He gave Hakkai a bitter smile. "Adopted. Don't go looking for scandal."

Hakkai blinked, wondering why he looked so defensive. Then everything on the vid channels and entertainment apps came flooding up in his mind: all the true crime shows, the documentaries, the sensationalised dramas and the conspiracy theories and he saw Citizen Rin's face change, as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Oh my God," he said. "You're the boy –"

"I swear, you call me the boy in the box and I'll tear your fucking head off," Citizen Rin said in the most vicious tone Hakkai had heard since the day he'd stepped through a doorway on his way to a massacre.

"I apologise, Citizen Rin," Hakkai said in real contrition. He didn't blame the man. Who'd want such a sensationalist name attached to themselves from such a terrible, tragic event? The journalists should have been more sensitive. How thrilling, all the same. Citizen Rin couldn't have been much more than a child cloistered from the world in his father's monastery when he was caught up in the murder – no wonder he was so maladapted to social interactions.

He couldn't wait to tell Gojyo.

Comments

[kirathaune]

OMG. Hakkai, gossip is so déclassé.

(I love how Kouryuu always says "my father", not "my adopted father", even though he has to acknowledge it later.)

[daegaer]

Hakkai feels a guilty thrill! But mostly a thrill!

(Kouryuu is used to this nonsense, and likes to stress that Koumyou was his father, stop with the salivating over his murder please. Gah. He hates the podcasts the most.)