xikuxs.cc 
Jiroshin seemed ready to ask for a clarification, but Kanzeon immediately stuck the cup in his face and demanded, "Please change it. The drink is tepid. And boil the water well this time."
"You'll burn your tongue Kanzeon-sama!"
"But I like tea. Those who like tea shouldn't mind the heat, wouldn't you say? And those who do mind it, shouldn't drink it."
***
Life was strange. First you start hearing things while driving. Then you start seeing things. Yes, and then you wake up and you're naked in a room that you are dead sure is not your hotel room.
Kinda makes you want to think things through a bit, but Hakkai wasn't even given that luxury when he heard a bellowing voice he could have sworn was Gojyo's yelling out, "Tenpouuuuu! Rise n' shine!"
Then said voice was proceeded by a sturdy kick to the door and a raven-haired man garbed all in black pranced into the room, throwing a heap of freshly smelling clothes in his face. That's. Not. Gojyo.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? If you were gonna sleep in oh great, almighty, Tenpou Gensui, then you shoulda told me. I would've stayed instead of going to that boring ass military briefing!"
Tenpou...Gensui...
So Hakkai, being the highly self-conscious and highly courteous man that he was, immediately pulled the covers higher around him and asked the question of the millennium, "And you are?"
There was no way in hiding the fact that he sounded completely scandalized.
"Deserving of more compensation in the future, dammit." the man retorted, his anger only half hearted as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and proceeded to light it. "That is...after your meeting with Kanzeon-sama."
"Kanzeon..." The pieces of the puzzle were slowly...and painstakingly being put together. Kanzeon. was here, which meant that there wasn't any immediate danger. That was a good thing, he hoped. But back to more pressing matters:
1. He was naked.
2. In a room not his.
3. With a man he didn't know.
4. Who obviously didn't know the rules of propriety.
People leave rooms when other people get dressed. Unless they were lovers, which most certainly they were not. Question number two. In Gojyo's style: Where in the fucking hell was he?
"Where am I?" Hakkai fidgeted nervously under the other man's piercing gaze which seemed too roam over too much over his body for comfort.
"In a heluva lotta trouble if you don't quit playing around." he took a drag. "But damn, we must have fucked pretty well last night for you to /still/ be out of your senses. Come on. Can't keep the Goddess of Mercy waiting , you know." He paused, then stalked forward with nothing less than a near possessive smirk curving the corners of his lips. "Or are you waiting for me give you a good morning kiss? Hey, I thought we didn't have that type of relationship."
"Um..." But what else could he say with that man's forehead pressed against his? He smelled incredibly good. With fresh cologne.
What else was he supposed to do? When their lips lightly met in a kiss that kept soft and only soft. Such things happen at times...when your mind draws a complete blank for a good eternity. That's when your body starts to do the thinking. And now, it was thinking.../nice...very nice.../
A bit how he imagined Gojyo would kiss him, though he never had. They weren't like that...or like this...
But then his mind woke up. Finally. /Gojyo.../ Breaking the contact, Hakkai shrunk back and covered his slightly swollen lips. "That's...enough."
"Yeah, you've had enough, Marshal, even though last night you kept asking."
"What are you taking about?" the poor healer demanded, his mind whirling in the possibilities of that statement. Who in the world was this? "Excuse me for being rude, but I believe you are deluded. In any case, an introduction would be appreciated..."
"Okay. Fine. Have it your way. Play stupid." And with that, the man walked out the door, most likely waiting for him on the other side.
Okay. He could handle this, Hakkai repeated to himself. WORSE THINGS have happened.(Not that this was anything too bad...) THIS was just an oddity borne of consequence. Deja vu in the eyes of a stranger... And he didn't like it, bodily pleasure or not.
Wrapping the sheets around him and padding to the door, he said through the cracks, "Just let me shower, okay?" he said with as much composure as he could muster up.
He felt like he hadn't showered in days...even though he distinctly remembered going to the bath house last night and having a nice long and well deserved soak.
From the other sound came a choke as if the other had swallowed the smoke of his cigarette. "Geeze, don't /do/ that without warning me first! It's, like, really freaky."
"What? Surprising you like this?"
"No, saying that you're gonna take a shower."
"So are you saying that I shouldn't? Is that how things are done here? What strange customs...And while you're at it, could you please tell me where I-"
"Take the damn shower, Tenpou. Even I won't let you see Kanzeon-sama smelling like sex."
Like...sex? But he didn't even...what was...and why was...
Hakkai had a vague idea, and the only piece of solid ground in the whole thought was the fact that he was absolutely positive that Tenpou Gensui was dead. As surely as Hakkai breathed, he knew that Tenpou Gensui was a pile of five hundred year old ash.
And then he found a mirror...
***
Chapter 4: Without A Trace
Author's note: I'm going to have to raise the rating on this fic to 'R' sometime in the future. Kinda gives a hint as to where this thing is going...
Chapter 4: Without a Trace
It could be the coldest sight in the world, looking in the mirror and looking straight into the eyes of a stranger. Worse, when it was a dead stranger. Then, not so strange. Long dead. May he rest in peace beside...
He saw Cho Gonou. In the mirror. Staring back. /That/ dead past. With the longer hair and two good eyes. Without the scar. Just smooth, sweat drenched skin. No blood. Pristine.
Without the traces of murder...
"You never die, do you?" asked Hakkai dumbly to the looking glass before turning on the water and getting in the shower.
It felt different, to wake up and have all your sins washed away with the body that committed them...
***
"You're going to die, Tenpou. Accept at least that much."
"Doom-sayer." snapped Tenpou back at the Goddess of Mercy as her image wavered in the inn's bedroom mirror.
