[Fic] Saiyuki: Dark Horse

[springgreen]

Spoilers: Up to vol. 2 of Gaiden
Disclaimer: They're all Minekura's!
Notes: for miyukis_4, who requested Konzen&Goku, with the prompt "impervious." This has a little less Goku than I anticipated, but he's still in there!



Some of the more bored officials in Heaven had an ongoing bet — whoever could catch Konzen Douji with an expression on his face would win the pool. They didn't particularly care about the money, but it was something to do.

For weeks and weeks, Konzen had a number of badly disguised shadows. They watched as he picked up his paperwork and organized the files by date, type of issue, status, and assorted other measures that the men couldn't quite make out. Konzen went through each stack methodically, carefully pressing his seal in red ink and stamping it, always a finger's width from the edge of the page.

Some of the men were impressed by the mathematical precision. Others simply assumed that being the nephew of Kanzeon Bosatsu would be enough to drive anyone crazy.

Word of the pool got around, as things were wont to do in Heaven, and even Tenpou Gensui ended up chipping in. No one quite dared to accuse him of attempts to cheat, given his rank, but there were a few suspicions when the new general was seen delivering assorted papers and forms to Konzen.

Though the new general caused a bit of a ruckus, the fuss died down in time, which no one in Heaven was short on. Gradually, the contributions to the pool dwindled, despite the hefty amount in there. People grew distracted, moved on, gossiped about other things instead.

Popular topics were Nataku Taishi, Li Touten, and Kanzeon's latest joke, which no one understood. By the time sie brought the strange monkey creature to the palace, the grapevine was already humming with rumors.

There were a few snickers when Konzen was appointed as the animal's caretaker. There were even more as people caught sight of him chasing the animal everywhere and as the faint strains of Konzen's yelling echoed through the halls.

No one was there when Konzen cracked a smile for the first time, but if they had been, there would have been guffaws of laughter.

The day Nataku Taishi ran a sword through himself was the day Konzen punched Kanzeon Bosatsu in the face. Sie watched as he knelt protectively over the fallen demon child of his, and sie walked off with all the money in the pool.

***

Sanzo looked up in confusion and annoyance as Kanzeon chucked a small plastic card at his head.

"What the fuck is this?"

Sie shrugged. "You should feed that monkey of yours."

"The Sanbutsushin have a credit line?" Sanzo asked in disbelief.

"Never question where money comes from" was all he got in reply.

Comments

[rilina-fic.livejournal.com]

I love the explanation for the Sanbutsushin's credit line. Hee.

Just one note: Sie watched as he knelt protectively over the fallen demon child of his and walked off with all the money in the pool.

You can sort of read this sentence with either of them walking off with the money.

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the catch, will fix later.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oooooo, I really like that. And hee, it's such a neat explanation for the credit card.

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

*snork* I figure Kanzeon would do something like that.

Thanks!

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Ah! I love this. Very clever. A really unique idea. Very, very nice!

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Oh, wonderful!

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[miyukis-4.livejournal.com]

...
Hahaha. Marry me?
So many lovely details. Awww, it's his shumi. Heee, heavenly pool. XD Guess Konzen weren't the only bored person in Heaven. Tenpou win for creative use of his husband general.
This really made for a delightful reading after a hectic final week. Thank you~!

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it! I felt bad that Goku wasn't in it more; I meant for him to be, but he ended up being more an influence than anything else.

[trensaddiction.livejournal.com]

Neat! That's simply delightful. =)

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

What a fantastic little piece! I love the peek into the pre-Gaiden world, where Konzen does paperwork and the gods are bored and Tenpou schemes (using Kenren!), and the contrast to the violence and Sanzo is so clear and painful. The ending is beautiful. Both the delivery, which had be laughing out loud, and the idea, which is a great explanation, and a lovely look at Kanzeon's way of caring. Violent and rude, but then again, I doubt Konzen would have it any other way, in any of his incarnations.

Thank you for sharing! ♥

[springgreen.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you! Hee, I figured Tenpou would totally be using Kenren in his amoral schemes to make money and piss off Konzen ;).

And I just love Kanzeon. So much.