Three Times

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gensomaden Saiyuki Franchise.

Enjoy the story, minna-san! Flames and water waves welcomed.

The three men surrounded the panting, labouring blond anxiously, as another contraction hit the latter hard.

Sanzo gritted his teeth as pain wracked his back and his abdomen turned rock hard. Damn, why had he agreed to let all three men bed him that fateful night? And this was the consequence he had to bear – three babies in his belly. One each belonging to the redhead, the brunette and… the saru.

"You can do it, Sanzo!" Goku cheered him on enthusiastically. Sanzo fiercely wished that he had the hiiruzen so he could slap it hard, so hard, on the baka monkey's head. This wasn't some basketball match which needed enthusiastic cheerleaders, waving their aqua blue pom-poms. This was all their fault!

Another wave of pain lanced through him and he promptly forgot that train of thought. He pushed, obediently, as obediently as he could while the pain wreaked havoc on his human body. Goku held onto his hand tightly as he pushed with all the strength he had. And seconds later, a loud and strong wailing cry tore through the air, announcing the arrival of Goku's baby boy.

Hakkai gently wiped down the baby, wiping away the blood and other gooey substances from the little body. He wrapped the brown-haired baby in a thick baby blue towel and cooed at its golden eyes. Goku fidgeted excitedly at his side, itching to carry his baby with Sanzo.

Sanzo looked over at the new infant with half-lidded eyes, his breathing still shallow and ragged. Gojyo took a washcloth and mopped it over the blond's forehead, brushing away sweat-dampened flaxen locks away from it. He looked concernedly at the blond.

Still two more to go… Wonder how he will hold up...

Sanzo was pretty sure he would have another few more minutes' respite. He tried to breathe easier, when suddenly, another contraction hit.

He groaned. Not so soon… He had barely rested…

Hakkai was beside him in a flash. He held the blond's right hand supportively, coaxing Sanzo to relax as the second contraction hit him.

Sanzo instinctively gripped that comforting hand tightly as he strained against the contraction. He didn't have the strength to push. He had been having contractions since fourteen hours ago, before he was fully dilated. He had not had any food since then, since he did not have the mood for it, only drinking sips of water as he did not feel thirsty either.

His head fell backwards against the pillow in fatigue, breathing harshly.

Hakkai observed this with a calm yet concerned expression. It was a good thing he knew what to do with this situation. He summoned a small greenish-yellow hued ki flame in his right hand and imbued the healing energy into Sanzo's body, manipulating its path from Sanzo's belly, to his lower abdomen, towards the birth canal. It worked, for Sanzo relaxed visibly, and some colour returned to his previously pale cheeks.

"Push, Sanzo. Relax and push." The brunette healer commanded calmly yet firmly. He counted down the seconds…

The monk did as he was commanded, and pushed hard.

"I can see her head. Continue pushing with the next contraction." Came the brunette healer's calm and strong command.

It is a girl? Sanzo thought dizzily through the haze of pain. That would be a welcomed change to the all-male Sanzo-ikkou…

Another contraction hit and he didn't know what else to do but to push with all his might.

Another welcomed wailing cry rang loudly in the inn's room and Hakkai smiled proudly, cutting the umbilical cord and wiped his blond-haired and green-eyed daughter down, before wrapping her in a pink terrycloth.

"You did well, Sanzo." He smiled beamingly at the blond.

Sanzo did not care to reply that well-intentioned comment. His head fell backwards against Gojyo's chest as he drew ragged breaths. His lower back, upper arms and shoulders shuddered with exhaustion and his eyes yearned so much to close. A comforting static invaded his vision and mind, crackling insidiously. He could only give in to it. His eyelids fluttered, finally sliding shut.

Gojyo regarded this with huge alarm.

"Oi, bouzu! Wake up! Our child is still within you!" He shook the monk hard, yet trying to be gentle.

Sanzo's brow furrowed deeply. Sweat beaded on his pale forehead, cheeks and poured down his tensed neck. He groaned in the back of his throat.

He was so tired… Why couldn't they just let him be? They were all so noisy and demanding of his attention…

Gojyo knew the blond was beyond exhausted. It was just his luck that his child was third in line. He bit his lip and thought hard.

What would help Sanzo most at this moment? The hanyou worried his bottom lip, racking his brains. Which were not that often racked, anyway.

The proverbial lightbulb lighted up in his head, his face brightened, and he set about putting it into action.

He braced the blond monk's upper body against his chest instead of against the fluffy white pillows. Sanzo was more than compliant, feeling the warmth of the hanyou's chest through the white wife-beater he wore. It made things that bit more comfortable. He unconsciously burrowed his head into that warm chest, finding some much-needed comfort in the skin and cloth contact. The blond's hands fisted loosely in the sheets covering his pale body.

Sanzo swallowed thickly. There seemed to be a huge lump in his throat, preventing him from breathing normally. He was feverishly hot, yet he felt terribly cold.

"Samui desu…" Came the half-hearted murmur from the still unconscious monk. He shivered, the trembling, vulnerable movements invoking a deep feeling of protectiveness in the redhead. Gojyo immediately reached for his brown leather jacket, wrapping it around Sanzo's trembling shoulders. He exhaled hot breath on his hands and rubbed them up and down on Sanzo's biceps, warming them the primal way.

It seemed to work, for Sanzo's long eyelashes fluttered and he tiredly opened his eyes again. He gazed upwards at the hanyou who was trying his best to afford him with warmth and relief, and couldn't help the small smile playing across his lips.

He reached a tired hand out to grasp onto the tanned one rubbing his upper arms and held on, silently expressing his gratitude. He breathed in the hanyou's woody, cigarette-accentuated scent and was about to enjoy the moment, when…

A contraction from the final child in his body threatened to tear his lower back apart.

"Ahhh! …. Gn… Gojyo!" He couldn't resist the scream that tore from his throat this time. His hand's grip on the redhead's one became deathly strong, and the hanyou felt his own pain threshold being pushed near the limit. Yet he knew that he was not the one suffering most – the blond was.

Sanzo heaved as he rode out the agony of the contraction for Gojyo's child. He trembled violently as he almost fainted again against Gojyo.

Why was the third child taking so much effort to be birthed? Was it because he was as troublesome as his father?

As Sanzo panted, he mused darkly over the situation at hand. Another contraction struck, and he did his best not to voice his intense misery this time round. A wave of dizziness assaulted him and he could not find the strength to fully carry out the pushing action required. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to bring the world back into focus, but could not succeed. Unholy fire gushed through his uterus and birth canal, and he choked back the bile rising rapidly in his throat. Struggling against the unprecedented level of giddiness, Sanzo blindly grasped onto Gojyo's forearms, his breathing coming in harsh gasps.

There was so much blood this third time round…

Gojyo's brow knitted itself tightly together as he watched the sheer amount of crimson liquid leaking out from beneath Sanzo's pure white hospital-like gown. It was evident that this was going to be a difficult birth. Worry filled every pore of his being. He bit the inside of his cheek hard. He wanted to help Sanzo, but it was beyond him. This was Sanzo's battle alone.

It was only when Sanzo clutched hard at his forearms and he heard that unnaturally harsh gasping sounds that he realised the extent of Sanzo's pain. He looked into the blond's eyes and almost recoiled at the sheer misery bleeding from those purple depths. Hot tears begged for mercy and release. Sanzo never cried. He sweated, he bled, but he never cried. The newly formed tears were testament to the brutal extent of Sanzo's pure agony.

"Go…j-yo… Pl-ease… I…" The blond breathed, trying to enunciate his lover's name through the throes of anguish. His breath hitched and his back arched at an almost abnormal angle as the third contraction wracked through his being. His scream was silent but the three men's hair stood up on the back of their necks as they heard the monk's deep-seated pain loud and clear.

Sanzo's body fell back against the bed, heavy and limp this time. His eyes were closed and his chest no longer seemed to have the natural rise and fall that came automatically to all living beings. A peaceful pall came over his face, his lips falling open slightly.

No, no, nooo… This wasn't happening, Gojyo thought. As did Hakkai and Goku, who rushed to their leader's side.

Hakkai immediately used his gift to outline the biological map in the blond's body, which lit up in a greenish-yellow glow. He frowned at the monk's unusually low vital signs.

Almost nothing… He thought grimly. He is truly almost over Death's doors…

Well, here goes nothing. He has to come through this. We are all here waiting for him, guarding him and our kids. He is much stronger than this…

Hakkai sent three waves of ki through Sanzo's arteries, the flow slow but steady. After a long minute, the blond's fingers finally twitched, and he drew a long, shuddering breath. Amethyst eyes snapped open. The best part was, they were focused, though still filled with pain. The short blackout seemed to have ironically done wonder for him. Of course, his own ki reserves had been topped up by Hakkai as well.

"Sanzo!" All three voices called his name in relief and joy.

"Ch. What's with those faces of yours? People might think I had died or something." The blond managed a scowl through the pain and light-headedness.

You don't know how close you came to Death's doors… Hakkai mused, a morbid smile ghosting over his lips before he settled his features into one of calmness and determination.

"Okay, Sanzo. Rest up for a minute or two. The contractions will be back soon. The sooner you can birth Gojyo's child, the faster you can be free of all this pain. Wouldn't that be nice?"

The healer had the balls to smile cheerfully. Sanzo felt like firing his Smith & Wesson at him for once.

Knowing that words were futile against the healer, Sanzo settled back against Gojyo and tried to regulate his breathing. Gojyo massaged his shoulders and head dutifully, knowing for once to shut the fuck up. Goku went to fetch more water and towels from the inn keeper lady.

The contractions came back in about two minutes, like Hakkai had predicted.

With newfound determination and fortitude, Sanzo pushed on with a steel will, his jaw set, and after seven harrowing contractions later, the final baby arrived to the world, screaming her lungs out for all she was worth.

"She... is as …n-noisy as you, kap-pa…" The blond panted, his energy thoroughly spent. Gojyo snorted, then his face broke into a rogue-ish grin.

"She has my eyes and your hair, bouzo. So this is what you would look like as a girl."

"Shut… up." The blond coughed weakly and Hakkai poured a glass of warm water for him.

"Maa maa, don't tease him, Gojyo. He doesn't have the strength to bicker with you right now. Giving birth to three babies in a row is no mean feat; he needs his rest."

"Hai, hai, hai! We shall leave him in your capable hands then!" Gojyo slid himself off from Sanzo, then gently laid him down on the bed, propping several down pillows under his head. Sanzo blacked out instantly, his face pale but tranquil. His breath evened out, and he fell into a deep, healing sleep.

"Ehhh… Doesn't Sanzo need to change his attire? There is an awful lot of blood and placenta on it…" Goku wondered out loud. He did not find the gore repulsive; he was merely concerned that his guardian should slept in a more comfortable manner.

"Maa… Actually he ought to have changed his attire… But I think the higher priority now is to allow him to sleep. Hygiene can wait, for once." The healer smiled benignly, stroking the blond's head tenderly.

Yeah… Other things could wait.

The three infants chose that moment to wail together simultaneously, and the three new dads hurried over to their respective babies, hushing them lest their mother… (father?) woke up from his hard-earned rest.

The afternoon sun shone in shafts of golden light through the large windows, and a peaceful serenity settled upon the room.