Synopsis
At the ikkou's inn of the evening, Gojyo flirts with the waitress, inviting her to drop by their hotel after her shift; but all he gets for his trouble is a smack from Sanzo's harisen. As she hurries off to bring Goku a refill, Gojyo gripes that he can't possibly pick up girls when he's surrounded by these three, and they retort that it's hardly their fault. The guys get downright catty, even Goku, who suggests that he's not nearly as popular with the ladies as he thinks (Hakkai: "Now, now, Goku, let's not tell him the truth."). Gojyo won't hear of it; I'm hot, and that's a fact, he purrs. Sanzo snipes that it'd be interesting to get proof of that 'fact' someday. [...best watch out what you wish for, blondie...]
==Gojyo shrugs them off, drops into his seat and tries to light a smoke, but his lighter's not working...and then a hand reaches in with a match to give him a light. He tracks up the arm and his jaw drops: it's a beautiful redhead in white, a stunner by any standards. [I'd put her at just a little older than Gojyo; early 30s, maybe.] --What, she smiles, you don't like matches? ==The hanyou's literally speechless; even Goku stops eating to stare. And at second look we can all see that both her red hair and her wine-red eyes match Gojyo's.
They have a drink at the bar, Gojyo looking as smug as the proverbial pussycat; she suggests they go somewhere quieter, and off they go, the beauty wrapped around his arm. ==They really left, comments Goku in surprise. 'That woman's hair...' says Hakkai, and Sanzo confirms that, yes, she too is a Taboo Child.
As they walk, we see a youkai duck out of sight. Gojyo remarks that quiet is fine and all, but they're almost to the outskirts of town. She says she prefers places without many people, but Gojyo smells trouble, and scoops the babe over his shoulder. We're surrounded, he tells her, and calls up the shakujou as --you guessed it--armed demons leap in from all directions. Even one-handed, he makes short work of them, and we see the lady's stunned expression as the survivors scatter. Sorry, did that startle you? asks Gojyo, but she runs off without another word. The hanyou heaves a deep sigh and wryly says 'that's why I hate being attacked when there are chicks around.'
We see the youkai gang in their burned-out building hideout, the survivors reporting to their leader that even alone the hanyou is too strong to take in a fair fight. What are they gonna do?-- The red-haired lady bursts in, calling to the scarfaced leader, Bakura. Ah, Kougyoku [it means 'ruby'; a great name for a Taboo daughter], he says, I'm glad you're safe. She's shaken up, but he reassures her, saying she should have no trouble getting close to him again-- and he holds out a sheathed knife. Wait, she protests, I never agreed to that. But he says that she's proven Sha Gojyo's weakness is women, just as they'd heard, and there'll be an amazing reward when they collect Sanzo's sutra. Kougyoku is torn. Bakura smiles persuasively, saying they'll leave this way of life behind and have a great life together; it'll be easy, if they can just take the ikkou out one by one... She reluctantly agrees; he tucks the knife under her arm and says 'now get going'. As she heads for the door he adds a sharper shot: I've looked after you all this time, he says, it's about time you did something in return.
Back at the inn, Hakkai pours coffee and asks, doesn't Gojyo think it might have been a trap? He vehemently disagrees, saying she must have just panicked and run off. But when Hakkai glances out the window, there's the lady in white, standing in the street below. Gojyo goes down to see her, and she tells him she was just scared, and invites him out for another drink-- which he accepts without hesitation. Goku and Hakkai register several degrees of disbelief and dismay as the taboo pair saunter off together. Sanzo snorts and says 'let him go'; but Hakkai hopes there won't be trouble, as Gojyo's soft heart often gets the better of him. [--and no matter what Sanzo says, look at him--he's worried.]
At the bar, Kougyoku is so visibly tense and drinking so much that Gojyo gently asks 'am I that scary?' She denies it, saying with determined cheer 'let's drink to our hearts' content!' What are you going to do when you get me drunk? --teases Gojyo, and she laughs and says that's the woman's line. They banter a little, and she says she always likes the wrong sort of guys-- amd the worse they are, the more they usually say they're nice guys, as he just did. But what's really bad is probably my life, ahe adds sadly. He says that isn't so; they smile at each other; the moment is just right for a kiss, and as he leans toward her you know she's thinking of what she's agreed to do. She suddenly bolts for the bathroom, and Gojyo drops sulkily back onto his seat. He tosses back his drink and orders another, while in the ladies' room, she stares at her reflection in the blade of the dagger.
Back in the bar, very drunk, she urges Gojyo to go on drinking, saying he needs to be so smashed that 'he has no idea what's going on'. The hanyou tosses back another shot, but Kougyoku has hit her limit and passes out--and as he scoops her up, the sheathed knife falls to the floor. Gojyo stares in shock.
We see her waking up on a bed, fully dressed. Across the room is Gojyo, seemingly sound asleep on the sofa. She sees her chance. She draws the knife and walks over to him, swallows hard, raises the blade--and his hand shoots out to grab her wrist. So it was something like this, he says, quiet and resigned. She can't believe it: You knew? Then why-- He smiles. Because you're a beautiful woman, he says. It's all she can bear: she drops the knife, falls to the floor in tears. Don't make fun of me! she sobs, you're still just a kid! But he crouches down and lifts her chin to meet his eyes, and smiles. We should be quieter, he says softly, everyone's probably asleep by now.
[I know I have praised Hirata-san's vocal work as Gojyo before, but my god, wow, I can barely describe the silk-velvet tone of that line. You just want to curl up in it and stay for years.]
She stares at him, touched and amazed; they draw closer, and finally kiss. Fade to black.
Morning: Goku and Hakkai head to breakfast, Goku wondering if Gojyo ever came back. In their hotel room, Gojyo and Kougyoku are talking; presumably she's told him about Bakura. He wonders why she doesn't break up with a guy like that, but says she should do what she really wants to do. She sits pensively on the bed as he leaves. We see him at a table with the ikkou; no one's surprised to learn that she was an assassin, and Goku asks why he let her go. Adults have their reasons, he says. So, you promised her a ride to the next town? asks Hakkai, and Gojyo says 'if that's what she decides she wants.'
And we see her thoughtful, troubled face as she recalls their night together. We see them sitting together in the bed, naked [discreetly, but definitely]; she rests against his back with her arms around his chest as they talk. He should understand, she says, how it is for ones like us, neither demon nor human. There's nowhere a taboo child can go. Even if Bakura's a rotten guy--and, gods love her, her voice is the voice of every woman who's ever settled for what she could get--he's the only one who was ever nice to me. ==You're just telling yourself that, he says. Most people don't know that those with red hair and eyes are taboo; you could do just fine, living in another town. She says she's afraid of being alone, but he gently teases her that that wouldn't last long, with all the guys who'd pay attention to a pretty girl like her. ==We see her standing, overlooking the town. Pretty girl, huh? she thinks, and walks quickly away.
When Gojyo, Hakkai and Goku reach her hotel room to see if she wants that lift out of town, she's gone, and Gojyo briskly says OK then, he's meddled in her affairs enough. (His face does not match his tone.) ==At the gang's hideout, we hear a sharp slap: Bakura's standing over her, furious. Not only did you fail to kill Sha Gojyo, he rails, but now you're telling me not to pursue the Sanzo party? Because we have no chance of beating them! she protests. He yells that all she needs to do is what he tells her to do, and hauls her up by the hair in a jealous rage. I look after you for years, and this is how you repay me? Just what happened on your night alone with Sha Gojyo?! =='Bakura--' she sobs, and he snaps out his youkai claws like switchblades; since you understand, he snarls, be of some use to me.
At the ikkou's hotel, a rock smashes through Gojyo's window. As the rest come running, he's unwrapping the attached note; out of it falls a long tress of ruby-red hair. That bastard, he says quietly as he reads the note; he tells them it says for him to come alone. Sanzo says they don't have time to deal with such petty matters, but Gojyo's already headed for the door, saying he's going to the bathroom and they can surely wait that long. Hakkai asks if he's all right, and he grimly says he's got a bad stomachache--it might take awhile. (Are you sure it's OK to let him go alone? worries Goku as the hanyou strides down the street. Didn't he say he was going to the bathroom?--retorts Sanzo.)
The youkai gang is waiting for Gojyo on a windy hill outside of town, perched on the heads of a cluster of giant, ruined Buddhas from who knows what long-gone temple. Kougyoku angrily tells Bakura that he won't come, and he snaps that if she doesn't shut up he'll make sure she never speaks again. And sure enough, here he comes over the hill. You really are with a worthless bastard, he snarls. [More huge points for Hirata-san; Gojyo's voice now is so fierce and harsh you'd hardly recognize it.] Bakura orders him to raise his hands and come closer, if he cares what happens to this woman. She's supposed to be your woman, grates the hanyou. Then I'll do as I like with her, taunts Bakura, slashing at her clothes with his razor claws; there's enough red to show that he's drawn blood, and Gojyo charges. Kougyoku tries to shout a warning, but Bakura slaps her to the ground, and Gojyo runs straight into the trap--a covered-over stone well. The youkai gang gloats, saying he'll never get out of that, but of course he's out in an instant and kicking furious butt. As Bakura's flunkies drop like flies, Gojyo demands he stand up and fight, but he turns to run and falls right into the same pit. He clings to the edge, begging Kougyoku to save him.
Gojyo asks her what she wants to do, and she sighs painfully. He's not a good person, she says, but he'll stay with me...I'm not strong enough to live on my own. Gojyo closes his eyes for a moment, then fires the shakujou blade down the well, and Bakura grabs the chain and is hauled to safety. As he gasps for breath, huddled in the grass, Gojyo heads off down the hill, and Bakura, grinning viciously, rears to his knees and fires his claws like throwing-knives (???) at the hanyou's undefended back. Kougyoku, horrified, leaps up and throws herself into the blades' path. Gojyo turns too late, crying out her name. Dammit, bitch, you got in my way! yells Bakura, but that's his last word, as the enraged Gojyo comes flying back up the hill to knock him straight to the bottom of the well for good.
Gojyo lifts the dying woman in his arms. Will he do her a favor, she asks, and bury her next to him? --Of course.--My life was worthless, she says; but it's something, at least, to die in the arms of a good man like you. == Stone-faced, he holds her as she draws her last breath.
We see him sitting with a cigarette on one of the Buddha heads as the ikkou drives up the hill; Hakkai honks the horn (five beeps =) to tell him his ride is here. As they ride off, he casually apologizes for taking so long. Goku hopes his stomach feels better; Hakkai advises him to rest for awhile, and of course he says he'd get well in no time if he had a cute girl to nurse him...and of course, they let him say it.
