Never No Answer

Disclaimer: Saiyuki and characters belong to Kazuya
Minekura and whoever started the Gay Pride movement. Shout out to the readers
in Brazil!

Goku woke
up some time later in a room with no windows, and it wasn’t like he could tell
the time from the round device on the wall with the little sticks inside that
moved around. It still felt dark, so he just assumed that it was night. He felt
vaguely sick, dizzy even gh hgh he had yet to move. He decided that he was
thirsty, moving slowly out of the bed, not to keep himself from getting sick.
He wasn’t even really sure how he had gotten in the bed, just mbermbered
talking with Gojyo and eventually going back inside to the bar…he had taken a
few sips of beer and suddenly felt all the exhaustion that had building up over
the past couple of days slam down on top of him. It was either take a nap or
give into the tears that had been threatening to spill out yet again. It didn’t
take Goku very long to make a decision.

Gojyo
must have been the one to carry him up here. He really ought to thank the
redhead, but first he needed to check on Sanzo…actually, it would be going the
bathroom, Goku decided when he finally managed to stand up, biting his lower
lip as he tried to hold it in long enough to get to the bathroom. He attempted
to make a straight line to bathroom but just couldn’t manage it for some
reason. He was strangely off-balance, something that had never happened before.
Goku just always knew where his body was, even if he did end up tripping and
falling down a lot. The floor refused to stay still and Goku ended up having to
throw a hand up against the wall before he could make it through the door. He
managed to find the light switch inside the bathroom, turning it on and
stumbling toward the toilet. He barely remembered to pull the seat up before
finally relieving himself.

When he
was done, Goku stood there and stared down at his crotch. He distantly
remembered what Gojyo had said he had done to Sanzo, and tried to imagine a
mouth down there. He shifted from foot to foot, watching his penis sway and
scratched at his face in confusion, wondering if that would really feel
good…maybe it depended on what the person had eaten before. But, had Gojyo
eaten anything particularly special that day? Besides, Sanzo wasn’t the type to
care about food. Goku couldn’t really understand it, and didn’t really want to.
Just what had been Sanzo and Gojyo been thinking? He could understand Sanzo
being messed up and crazy enough to try something completely out of character
like that, but he had a damn good excuse. Sanzo didn’t let youkai usually get
the best of him, and had definitely been acting strange lately. At least
Goku could depend on Hakkai to be responsible, except for that one night he had
spent drinking. That had been a little wild, but Hakkai’s face when he saw
Sanzo laid out in the bed again was enough to let Goku know that man felt
guilty. Hakkai had the decency to feel bad afterward, but Gojyo was…Gojyo.

The
half-youkai had always been a bit hard to predict, but the talk they had last
night had straightened a few things out for Goku. If Gojyo hadn’t finally
decided on just being honest, Goku probably would have never talked to the man
again. It was hard to accept that Sanzo had ‘needed’ it like Gojyo had
said, even harder still to not picture the redhead touching the High Priest in
any way that was remotely loving. Goku knew he had a jealous streak, but Sanzo
had been the one to save him from that cave. When he had first come to the
monastery, Goku had shoved several monks through the walls because they had
come running up to Sanzo too fast. Sanzo had finally managed to explain that
some people were going to get close to him and even touch him because he
was the High Priest, even though Goku had just assumed that Sanzo was his. It
hadn’t taken long to learn that the situation was the complete reverse. There
was no way Sanzo could ever belong to another living being, but he did allow
people to follow him. Hakkai, Gojyo, and he were the only people Sanzo
somewhat tolerated, and they were all youkai in some shape or form.

Goku
finally tied his pants back up and went to the sink to wash his hands, running
the water for a while and just staring before he finally mad the connection
that he was thirsty. He cupped his hand underneath the faucet and took several
deep sips, drinking enough water until his stomach hurt. He scrubbed at his
face then, not really wanting to wake up yet but trying to push out these
troubling thoughts. Sanzo was strong enough to take care of himself as
he had proved time and time again…he had just been surprised on that riverbank,
letting a youkai take him into the water and start this whole mess. Sanzo was
going to be fine, just like Hakkai said. Feeling slightly better, Goku made his
way back to bed and collapsed back down on top of the sheets. Simply having a
mattress instead of the backseat of the jeep was the most comfortable thing
Goku had been on in weeks. He closed his eyes, content to lie there until
someone came along and woke him up.

* * *

Sanzo
blinked up at the ceiling with the worst case of dry mouth in his life and a
skull full of nails.

Another
blackout.

He almost
wanted to stay in bed, fake sleep until it all came back to him for better or
for worse. At least he could feel a full set of clothes underneath too-hot
blankets, though they were sticky and felt dirty against his skin. He was so
damned sick and tired of wandering around without a single clue to what had
been going on. Sanzo much preferred to lie there, quite still with eyes and
lips closed again as he concentrated inward. He remembered walking down to meet
a group of panicked idiots, as was typical in towns like this, all hysterical
and screaming about ghosts. Sanzo hadn’t really cared, not his problem to solve
their latest problem with disgruntled spirits. He was a High Priest, not some
fucking hermit that came out of the woods to miraculous solve all their
problems. Sanzo had been about ready to tell them so too, when-

Sanzo
remembered then. He’d been filled with awareness, though it hadn’t been of his
body. Some wandering spirit that didn’t have the common decency to pass on had
brushed up against him, triggering Sanzo’s spiritual insight whether he wanted
it or not. And he had fucking hated it. The ghost had been one of that
youkai’s victims, same as Sanzo. Brutally raped and beaten to death, the
torture only pausing when that crazy fucker had needed to gather up blood or
liked a particular part about the pose. It had been a woman, younger and
smaller than Sanzo…and had literally been torn in two at the end of it from the
force of one of those larger, stronger youkai in the middle of its passion. Her
terror still crawled over his skin, coiling up in his stomach and thickening in
his throat over that last moment before death. He’d been saved from it many
times before, had almost gotten jaded to it after all these years in fact, but
now he was fucking trembling under the sheets because of some dead girl.

Sanzo had
already been through one torture of his own. He didn’t need someone else’s. He
had expelled her easily once he’d managed to get over the shock of being
possessed, having the stronger will by far- but it pissed him off to no ends
that it had happened in the first place! It was all because of Gojyo, because
he’d allowed himself that one brief moment of mindless bliss, and now some
fucking ghost had a foothold to crawl up inside him. Something was going wish
that it had gone up to heaven immediately after death instead of hanging around
here to irritate him. Sanzo was very good at hunting such things down,
damned determined to put an end to this business once and for all. He was quiet
rightly furious that they were still in this village instead of even one
damn mile closer to their final destination in the West. He just wanted to
start moving again and put this all behind him, but another little problem just
had to pop up. ‘Overkill or nothing at all’ was swiftly becoming an inner
mantra for Sanzo as he decided it might be time to wake up.

Hakkai
made a little groan and rubbed his face further into the cushion he had made
with his arms on top of Sanzo’s stomach. Sanzo stared down at himself being
made out into nothing more than a fucking pillow! Hakkai’s hair was
messy and his clothing looked ruffled, speaking of how exhausted the man must
be. He didn’t care if Hakkai had just passed out five bloody minutes ago after
standing a long vigil at his bedside-he was going to kill the bastard!
Why did these idiots suddenly think that it was okay to take such allowances
with him? He struggled to get his hands out by found them trapped underneath
the sheets and Hakkai’s weight.

“Get…off
of me!” Sanzo ground out between his teeth, beyond furious. He rolled and
struggled with more violence as blood started circulating back through
awakening limbs. Hakkai finally started moaning at that, before Sanzo made him
fall all the way off the bed and chair he’d been partially resting on. Sanzo
managed to haul himself out from the cumbersome sheets and quickly climbed to
his feet, almost stepping on Hakkai’s head as the brunette flopped around and
tried to gain his bearings before avoiding it at the last minute- and
regretting it the next. Hakkai fucking deserved it for daring to think that
High Priest Genjo Sanzo was something to cuddle up to in the middle of the
night! Why did Gojyo seem to share the same opinion; had they had a damn
meeting on it? Sanzo wasn’t sure where he was going, but hopefully at the end
of it he’d find a shower, his gun, sutra, and a pack of cigarettes.

“Sanzo!
Wait,” Hakkai shouted far too loud as he realized he was on the floor and Sanzo
was leaving right fucking now. A hand grabbed his wrist to physically
restrain him, fingers wrapping around his arm and tightening like rope;
something Sanzo couldn’t struggle out of no matter how much he twisted, how
much blood slicked the way, even if he ripped skin down to the bone to make the
limb smaller. Sanzo tore his arm away, staggering feeling the blood leave his face-
it was all just freezing around his heart at that one little jolt of panic…and
Sanzo wasn’t even sure if it was his own memory anymore. As if he needed one
more night of a youkai gang-bang. As much as he hated the thought, Sanzo might
have to meditate and center himself again just banish every trace of that dead
bitch. He at least found his feet again and swirled around to glare at Hakkai
just sitting there on his knees.

“For…?”
Sanzo hated it when his voice cracked, trying to cover it up with a fierce
question and failing miserably. Hakkai was the one on the floor, so why did he
feel so damn vulnerable right now? It was Gojyo’s fault, every little bit,
because Sanzo would never normally act like this. Hakkai wouldn’t have even
dreamed of pulling a stunt like this, even worse than being called ‘San-chan.’
That reminded Sanzo he had yet to punish the man for that, enough anger
bubbling up for him to stay in case he got the chance to take Hakkai down a
notch or two…or maybe he’d just make it himself. Sanzo wasn’t above being
childish, not at this point. He was hurt, and sick, and so fucking tired
of being taken advantage of.

“We
should talk,” Hakkai started, turning his gaze up to meet Sanzo’s own full
of…something. Sanzo didn’t recognize it, didn’t care to analyze it, just
repressed the urge to strike Hakkai down for taking such a tone with him. He
had nothing to speak about, wasn’t going to share his inner thoughts- and
Hakkai damn well knew that! This was like Gojyo trying to pick his brain, the
youkai bastard unable to comprehend that Sanzo loathed his very existence. He
hated Hakkai for trying to get to know him, to ease in and become privy to
Sanzo’s fears and doubts --if he had any-- like he could fill in the
hole that Komyou’s death had left inside him. Oh, nothing was quite like a
morning started with a fresh reminder of the night Sanzo’s whole world had
ended. Komyou had been it, the one last person he had trusted before his Master
had been murdered, and Sanzo wasn’t going to open himself up for that sort of
loss a second time.

“About…?”
Sanzo was proud of how icy-cold his voice came out on the second time, already
irritated with having to pry every sentence of the man. He crossed his arms and
glared down haughtily like any king, damn well used to being treated like
royalty. It was about time he reminded these three idiots of that fact. Genjo
Sanzo didn’t sleep in the front seat of a jeep in the middle of fucking nowhere
to be awakened by midnight attacks, with no hot water or warm meals…just absolute
fucking misery.

“Last
night,” Hakkai answered back as if he had expected more. Sanzo increased his
glare until his forehead ached, thankful that he hadn’t woken up with nausea on
top of everything else. He wouldn’t have been able to remain sane otherwise. It
was questionable as is, anger from being forced to experience that girl’s death
and rage that Hakkai had touched him in such a manner…twice! Two fucking times
in the same morning! Someone was going to pay for making him suffer so, and he
didn’t care if it was living or dead. Hakkai was making himself such a nice
victim too, digging himself deeper with every second that the silence stretched
out between them.

“I don’t
have time to talk about your petty problems,” Sanzo finally snapped, novingving
a damn about Hakkai’s current issues. He ignored the surprised look that
crossed over the man’s face, like Hakkai couldn’t believe that he was
the one acting so out of character right now. Sanzo wished the fucking idiot
would just stand up instead of sitting there on the floor, staring up at him
like a God come down to earth. Sanzo already got enough that shit from those
idiot villagers, he didn’t need it from the people he had considered his
comrades. Even if he dropped everyone down to subordinates, it wouldn’t be low
enough for Gojyo and Hakkai. S whe when had they both become such disgusting,
shameless pieces of crap? Goku was the only one he’d even call a servant right
now, and that wasn’t saying very much. Sanzo wished this mission was just over
instead of having to wake up covered in one of his traveling companion’s
embrace.

“So, you
don’t remember?” Sanzo did not like the relief that was in Hakkai’s
voice. Sanzo shifted his weight, realized it was a nervous habit, and suddenly
just couldn’t be there one second longer. Sanzo would admit to a slight panic,
to being at a complete and utter loss and wanting to leave before he was
embarrassed any further. It was just as uncomfortable as it had been lying
there with Gojyo after the man had ejaculated inside him, skin cooling
and nothing to say. He couldn’t care less to what Gojyo thought about him, he
just didn’t want it to be some gross misunderstanding of his character. This
had just been a particularly bad couple of days, which shouldn’t be used to form
any sort of opinion about him at all. That would be like judging Goku on his
table manners alone. Things didn’t improve much, but the point was still there.

“If you
know what’s good for you, you’re going to leave me the fuck alone.” Sanzo
didn’t make it a suggestion. He was sick of being underestimated, of everyone
walking around him like they were expecting an explosion…and were all too eager
to pick up the pieces. Sanzo wasn’t going to fall apart, not in front of
anyone, not until he finished this fucking mission and could do it back in a
secluded monastery where no one would know. It damn well wasn’t going to happen
while Hakkai was watching his back, his eyes feeling like hands on his
shoulders. Sanzo walked out of the room then, pretty sure that he had said
nothing else. He couldn’t really be sure these days, what little control he had
over his temper completely gone now. He didn’t know how he was going to gain it
back, but…damn it to the blackest hell, he’d do it himself! Next time
someone offered their shoulder, he was going to put a bullet in it.

The
second he was out in the hallway by himself, no one else around, he could hear them.
Like the sound of rain on the roof, except more annoying, a constant murmur
in the back of his head. It was quiet now; soft with distance and the sunlight
drowning out the power of the moon, but Sanzo could tell it was those damn
ghosts the villagers had been talking about. The youkai had painted his
victim’s blood into his works, somehow managing to make a crude, childish but
strong bond to the physical realm. That fucking crazy youkai had managed to
keep his dead victims as slaves to simply wander around his forest and clean it
in their passing. Most of them were still trapped in the last moment of their
death, screaming and wailing for eternity. They had been silenced even though
Sanzo had sensed them before, controlled by the youkai’s spell and at least had
been keeping to themselves. Now, after the mansion had been burned, they were
free to go where they wished…except to an actual eternal rest, no burial rights
or blessings to send them on their way. They might be subdued right now, but
they’d be coming for him soon enough. Sanzo’s own spiritual awareness and power
drew them in like moths, instinctively seeking out someone that would give them
final rights. Being sent straight to hell would be a kinder fate than to have
to roam around the earth as a spirit, barely substantial enough to realize what
horrible limbo they’d been stuck in.

Sanzo
wasn’t going to pray for them, but he’d send them to the afterlife.

He was
going to need supplies, if he judged the numbers correctly by that spiritual
clamor going on right now. It would be futile to pray over each and every soul
when there were easily over hundreds, a mix of young men and women just like
him, that had somewhat above average looks than the rest of the humans that
youkai clan had slaughd fod for wandering into their woods. Because of a pretty
face or well-kept hair, they had all been tortured and raped to death instead.
What a fucking advantage to being beautiful. Sanzo could understand the
deceased victim’s bitterness, felt it himself as the only living being that
could honestly sympathize with their murders. It didn’t mean Sanzo was
going to forgive them for trying to get his attention and demand that he send
them on to the spiritual realms. He was a fucking High Priest, commandeered by
the Three Aspects! He wasn’t there to exorcise every ghost leftover from a
mass-murderer, but it was also the perfect chance to show those idiots once
again just who they were traveling with. Nobody else had the slightest fucking
clue to what was causing these hauntings otherwise. Fucking idiots.

Sanzo
would have usually sent Hakkai down to do his errands, but the man just couldn’t
be trusted anymore. In fact, the only one Sanzo could be somewhat sure of was
Goku, and that was only because the dumbass ape was so predictable that you
could set time by the space in between his ‘I’m hungry’ and whining
‘Sanzo’s…He’d almost hate his name because of it, if it wasn’t such a gross
improvement from Koryuu. So, thinking bitter thoughts and focusing on ignoring
the distant wailing from the ghosts, Sanzo stalked down the stairs and into the
common room. It looked like it was still morning from the mess people were
calling food on the plates in front of them and the smell of coffee being
burned. At least the crowd had thinned out, only a scattered handful of people
sitting around the tables right now; but they all turned around and started staring
at Sanzo nonetheless. And it wasn't the respectful, god-fea gaz gaze either, it
was a frightened but anticipative look, as if Sanzo was about to strip and bend
over the counter for them all or something equally horrifying. Gojyo had
probably boasted to every single one of these fuckers about what he’d done to
Genjo Sanzo, how he had squirmed and tried to muffle himself; because to let
Gojyo know that he’d pushed Sanzo past the point of coherent conversation and
into helpless grunting and moaning…Sanzo just wouldn’t be able to live with
himself any more. He could barely do it now, skin crawlingh evh everyone’s gaze
upon him and Gojyo’s phantom memory. Sanzo quickly went to the bar and sat down
on a stool, not going to examine the tang of loneliness he felt when he
realized he wasn’t being beset on all sides by three damn irritating retards.

“High
Priest Sanzo, how are you feeling today?” asked a cheery, robust voice that
just hadn’t learned yet. It seemed like everyone else had gotten the
right idea by just simply staring instead of going up and begging for him to
bless them or some bullshit like that. The fat innkeeper was waddling over from
one end of the bar, nodding politely in a painfully calm manner to him - like
Sanzo was going to pounce any minute. He almost felt like it, but certainly not
on this mediocre fool who was doing his damnedest to make nice. The big, honest
smile contrasted with the way the obese fucker tried to quickly pass him behind
the counter, obviously not wanting to get caught up in whatever Sanzo did next.
Stupid maggot. He would rather save it all for someone who deserved it, like
Gojyo. Maybe Hakkai too, with the strange way the man had been acting this
morning.

“Do you
have a shotgun?” Sanzo demanded of the overweight innkeeper, pinning him with a
glare before he even dared tried to tromp off and serve other customers. The
innkeeper paused and came to a stop, turning around with beady little pig eyes
blinking at him in confusion as if he had never realized Sanzo was familiar with
firearms. Hadn’t he fired off the Smith and Wesson enough inside to make
everyone know they should just leave him the fuck alone! He was a damn High
Priest, and he just knew that this inn was going to blast the fact that
he had stayed here for years afterward. For some reason

“Excuse
me?” Either he was stupid or deaf, and Sanzo was still annoyed. His pet peeves
were repeating himself, Gojyo thinking he could fuck Sanzo and not have to pay
for it, and Hakkai sleeping on him. Andthinthink he would have never found out
those last two if they hadn’t stayed here. Absolutely fucking wonderful.

“A
shotgun. The big one, makes loud noise? Magic fucking fire-stick?” Sanzo
elaborated for the idiot, surprising himself wiow mow many words he wasted on
the asshole. He was suddenly very, very
tired, exhausted from dealing with imbeciles. It was hard just to remain
sitting while the innkeeper started to nod in slow realization that Sanzo was
expecting an answer.

“Well,
yes…” He trailed off, eyeing Sanzo and obviously not seeing someone he should
hand firearms over to. Sanzo sighed, not believing that he had to all but beg
for things when he was going to get rid of the ghosts closing in on their town.

“Bring it
to me, and all the spare bullets you have,” Sanzo demanded immediately, his
patience gone days ago. He didn’t want to sit here and explain his motive for
living to this slow-witted excuse for a human being with everyone watching. He
wasn’t some damn circus attraction, and he certainly wasn’t standing
there for someone to paint a fucking picture of. Nausea hit hard then, twisting
up in his gut and trying to claw up his throat, but Sanzo ignored it in favor
of glaring at the pig of an innkeeper. He didn’t have to think about that when
he could be standing here haggling with an idiot.

“Why?” It
was like trying to explain something to a monkey. Sanzo wondered if he should
try writing it all out on a piece of paper-if the man could even read in the
first place. Why did the people only seem to get stupider as they moved west?

“I’m
going to exorcise some ghosts. Now, fucking bring it to me with some damn
coffee,” Sanzo commanded, not even batting an eye at the few hushed cheers that
passed around the room at his announcement. The innkeeper suddenly broke out
into a huge smile, turning around to snap to his demand now that Sanzo was
doing something for the selfish, fat piece of shit. Just like everyone else in
this damn village was now turning smiles his way and clasping their hands
together to prn a n a religion they otherwise didn’t likely follow. So much for
the small hope of being able to pass under everyone’s attention and just go
about his business. Sanzo could expect a fucking parade in the streets the next
time he came down here. Ignorant little maggots. Sanzo hated the fact that they
were going to read deeper into it, immediately assume that he was going to save
them all because that was just what High Priests did. Listened to the Three
Aspects and Goddess of Mercy like a good monk and let Gojyo in between his
thighs whenever the bastard pleased.

Yeah.
Fucking. Right.

“A pretty
little thing like you shouldn’t be asking for something that dangerous,” a
gruff voice sneered behind him, as if he obviously thought that was the best
line Sanzo had heard in his life. As much as he hated to use it as a
comparison, Gojyo said wittier things without even trying.

“Excuse
me?” Sanzo echoed, nearly laughing at the absurdity of it. He ha sta stand up
at that and turned around on a man that was all of two inches taller than him,
a tangled and messy beard to match the dark mop growing on his head. It
reminded Sanzo of those hairier youkai they had found in the woods, an
unpleasant memory that made him frown even harder at the man in front of him.
He didn’t know how much trouble he was asking upon himself by taunting Sanzo this
morning.

“You’re
that priest-…” the man started as he took in Sanzo’s whole appearance,
obviously the talk of the town.

“High Priest
Genjo Sanzo,” Sanzo snapped at the man, pointing at his chakra before he was
even asked for proof. The man’s eyes widened further before he started grinning
predatorily, just like Gojyo. He had a dirty little thought in his simple head,
and Sanzo despised it. And to think the man had this much courage when he
didn’t even smell drunk.

“A
Buddhist monk, eh? That means you’re still a virgin.” The man didn’t whisper
it, the closest people that had been pretending not to see this little case of
harassment snapping their heads around to watch. Sanzo took one step forward before
slamming his knee up hard, the man avoiding it at the last moment to get it
more on the inside of his thigh instead of square in the groin. He still
staggered and gasped for air in a much higher pitch, giving Sanzo the time to
wind back for a punch-…

…and have
his elbow caught by another man, yanked backward and off balance by a friend
that Sanzo should have known was behind him. He couldn’t even make the figure
of the man through the red he was seeing. Of fucking course there would be two
of them. Even more amazing than that fact was that no one seemed to be
interested in helping him, watching in mild curiosity as Sanzo was sandwiched
between to brutes that were taller and thicker than him. They pressed close
enough to smash skin against skin, so that Sanzo could smell unwashed flesh and
feel their body heat radiating around him like he was in the middle of a
fucking swamp. It was too much either way, Sanzo trying to breathe deeply to
calm himself and choking on the stink of these men. He didn’t have the room to
fight, and if he struggled it would only send him further up against either one
of them. Eyes gleamed demonically as they watched him, painfully aware
of their attention.

Sanzo
completely panicked for the first time in his life.

* * *

Goku was
being shaken awake by Hakkai, groaning and trying to hit his hand away but too
tired to even properly lift his arms. Goku dug himself further into the
pillows, hoping they might hide him. The sheets were yanked off, but Goku
wasn’t really bothered. He just snuggled up against the mattress and closed his
eyes, already starting to drift back to sleep. He heard Hakkai sigh, the hour
obviously later in the day than the man usually liked to wake up at.

“And
Sanzo was walking down to the bar all by himself,” Hakkai mentioned aloud,
somehow knowing just how to get Goku rolling out of the bed and scrambling for
his clothes. Sanzo was awake and going downstairs for a drink?! This didn’t
mean good things at all. Priests didn’t go straight for harquorquor in the
morning when they had a good night. He should have known better than to
trust Gojyo. Why did it take him so long to learn his lesson? Goku could have
hit himself for being so stupid, since Sanzo had yet to replace the paper fan
that he usually had to smack Goku with during times like these.

“Did he
say anything? Is Sanzo okay?”

“Oh, you
know how Sanzo is,” he laughed with a wave of his hand. That was Hakkai-talk
for the Priest was in the middle of one of his rages. Goku shook his head,
figuring that Sanzo had probably chewed Hakkai out earlier. It was kind of
obvious that Hakkai was trying to be polite about it instead of his natural
nice, a little angry himself underneath that smile. Goku could tell. He frowned
and tried to smile between zipping up his pants, deciding to voice what Hakkai
wasn’t saying.

“He’s
pissed? Did he yell?” Goku asked as he took off the shirt he’d been using for
pajamas and pulled on a blue one with a string laced through to tie up the
collar. Clothing never really mattered to him except everyone started yelling
and making a fuss whenever he ran around naked. It had really been a big
deal at the monastery, so many grown men outright screaming when Goku had
walked past. Sanzo had laughed about it when the monks complained, smoked a
cigarette, and then gave Goku several good smacks until he learned to go about
the place decent.

“Well,
no, but he’s not very… agreeable this morning,” Hakkai sighed at last. Ah.
The silent angry and probably disappointed mood, Goku nodded as he
identified exactly how pissy Sanzo was going to be this morning. The man’s foul
temper had several layers and many different degrees of furious, kind of like a
cake. A really…really sour and bitter cake. Goku was sure that the
youkai were crazy when they screamed about eating a High Priest alive to gain
eternal youth. Sanzo wouldn’t taste good no matter what kind of dressing you
tried; his meat would probably rot just to spite anyone who tried. Sanzo was
stubborn like that, so why were things getting so messed up between him and
Gojyo? Goku scratched at the side of his face, wondering just what he should
do. He didn’t really like the thought of Gojyo being with Sanzo…but he
would probably hate anyone who did. He just couldn’t ever imagine the blonde
submitting to another person, to even bend so far as to that equal and caring
relationship that Hakkai kept insisting on preaching. Gojyo had never been one
to take orders either.

“But he’s
feeling all better now, right? That medicine must have worked,” Goku said aloud,
smiling at Hakkai. The brunette looked half-frightened, his usual grin gone as
stared down at Goku in something that resembled complete horror. Goku frowned,
wondering why Hakkai was acting so upset right now. So far, the only one that
really had a good reason was Sanzo, as far as Goku was concerned. Gojyo was
made of tougher stuff than Sanzo, even though the blonde seemed to waver on
indestructible…except that wasn’t quite the right word. Sanzo got hurt far too
often, but he just survived through it. He barely smiled and was always smoking
or drinking, but he was alive. Goku realized than that small little fact was
all he cared about in the end.

“Uh…yes.
I’ll have to have a talk with that doctor when he comes back,” Hakkai finally
answered back, taking longer than necessary. Goku didn’t like the way that the
brunette suddenly had become so nervous, feeling like…he should go check up on
Sanzo. Goku remi him himself that he didn’t have the time to stand around here
and try to figure out what was bothering Hakkai. He needed to stop Sanzo from
getting himself drunk all over again. They needed to get out of this town
before any more bad stuff happened to him! Goku looked down at himself,
checking once to make sure that he was appropriately dressed before heading out
the door.

“Come on,
Hakkai, let’s go get Sanzo,” Goku yelled at the man when he wasn’t immediately
followed. Hakkai just stood inside the room for a minute, seeming nervous and
hesitant and that wasn’t something that Hakkai usually did. Goku frowned in
concerned, able to tell that something was bothering the man and Hakkai wasn’t
talking about it. He was just as bad as Sanzo when it came time to actually
talk about him. Hakkai could be just as silent and stubborn as the blonde, the
only difference being that Hakkai smiled more.

“I don’t
know if he’ll be happy to see us,” Hakkai sighed, putting a hand to his face in
obvious concern. Goku didn’t really care, since the man wasn’t moving his feet
while talking and only becoming one big delay. Maybe just you, Goku
thought quietly in a rash honesty, but it would be mean to say such aloud. Even
Goku knew that Sanzo was soft on him, though it did sound cruel. He still
didn’t get cursed out or hit as much as Gojyo and Hakkai, but Sanzo yelled at
him a lot.

“I just
want to get headed west again,” Goku announced finally, hoping that it would
hide his real concern for the monk. “Do you think Sanzo-…”

He was
cut off by the sound of a High Priest crying out.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

* * *

Gojyo
heard the scream and just stared forward dumbly at the road starting to busy up
with morning traffic before it finally dawned on him that it was Sanzo’s voice
crying out. The long-since empty bottle of whiskey hit the floor and shattered
behind him as he rushed back inside, ignoring the head rush that threatened to
take his vision as he moved for the first time since hauling his sorry ass
outside to brood. He got inside, taking in a crowd of people that were
watching, a few men standing up as if wavering between action or going back to eating.
Their attention being focused on one man, a thin line of white and blonde
between two larger, greasy bastards that were obviously crowding Sanzo. He
couldn’t see much more of Sanzo around the pair, and that fact alone pissed him
off. Even worse than Hakkai taking advantage of Sanzo were two complete
strangers.

Gojyo n’t n’t ask a single question.

Didn’t
need to.

Just saw
what was happening and got behind one of the guys, grabbed him by the shoulder,
and turned the fuck right around into his fist. He felt the satisfying grind of
the man’s nose breaking, blood splattering down his chin like a popped balloon.
The asshole fell down toward the floor and Gojyo followed, catching a glimpse
of violet eyes wide with shock before slamming down into a landing, his knee
driving into the man’s gut. Half-straddling the man, forgetting that there was
still another one, Gojyo just let loose. It was almost like hitting a wall,
except it was much more malleable and made nice choking noises each time Gojyo
struck him. Left, right, one after another against the man’s face as it already
started to swell. It stopped being for Sanzo and turned into simple joy of
finally beating someone else, hurting another human being just as badly as he
was aching on the inside. Their audience was numb all over again, not moving to
help Sanzo before Gojyo had showed up and certainly not about to stop him now.
It was for the better anyway, since Gojyo wouldn’t have taken kindly to any
interruptions again.

Except,
perhaps, Sanzo crying out again, though this time it had more rage than fear in
it. He looked up from the moaning mess he had made out of the first one to see
the other man twisting Sanzo’s arm up behind his back. That alone spoke
volumes, for Sanzo to be outmaneuvered by some no name peasant that liked to
pick on monks, who shouldn’t be violent in the first place. Except Sanzo
didn’t really follow the scriptures, much less anything, and was so damn
alone because of it. The blonde looked like he was going to explode with his eyes
nothing but pinpoint dots of terror in that pretty face- and it had nothing to
do with the man on his back. Gojyo could easily guess that Sanzo wasn’t scared
of what was at his back as what was in his memory. He still hadn’t managed to
get a good night’s sleep since seeing that painting, and Sanzo had been the one
to suffer through it. Their usual hostile and antisocial monk was even worse
about touching these days, so Gojyo could only imagine what it must be like for
Sanzo to have some stranger breathing down his neck. Gojyo could barely keep
sane enough to register the fact, wanting to launch up off the floor regardless
of if the man would break Sanzo’s arm or not…he just couldn’t have
someone else laying their hands on his shitty, foul-mouthed monk.

“Sanzo!”
Gojyo cried out at last, finding himself echoed by a much more nasally voice.
The man holding onto Sanzo suddenly staggered, his eyes bugging out before
tilting forward. Sanzo struggled to get out of the way but was brought down to
the floor along side the man anyway, rolling a bit from the force of the fall.
Goku landed gracefully in contrast to the smoking, bloody footprint he’d made
in the back of the man’s head. Hakkai was standing behind him, an expression no
less fierce for having yet to do anything. Gojyo almost regretted there not
being a third for Hakkai to deal with, forgetting that he was supposed to be
pissed off at the brunette. Their eyes met and Hakkai just jerked chi chin
toward Sanzo meaningfully as he stepped forward into the mess.

“Just
what is going on here, gentlemen? How could you all have let this go so far?”
Hakkai started berating the lot of them, distracting the people from the monk
almost lying still on the floor, if he wasn’t shaking so badly. Even Gojyo
suddenly felt like he was in trouble, looking down at the disfigured face he’d
given the second bastard. Still, he just ignored it all in favor of scrambling
over to Sanzo’s side, not even bothering to stand up, walk over, and get back
down by the blonde. He just got there quickly as possible, Goku’s feet coming
into the corner of his vision to watch as Gojyo put a hand on Sanzo’s shoulder.
For some reason he felt strangely relieved that the shitty priest had only
seemed to pass out this time instead of having a seizure.

Immediately
the man shook him off, jerking up to his knees and wavering there, obviously
trying to take his feet and failing. Gojyo could catch a small ‘fuck’ med
ed
over and over again as Sanzo’s hands wiped at his eyes underneath the fall of
his bangs. Both he and Goku said nothing, pretending not to see the dampness on
the back his knuckles as Sanzo sniffed and attempted to compose himself. It was
better just to ignore it all at this point, because to offer Sanzo a helping
hand was like slapping him in the face. Gojyo and Goku waited for the priest to
recover while Hakkai inched his way in between them and the crowd, the two
victims no longer even moaning as they passed into unconsciousness.

“Did no
one think to help him? Are these the morals you’re teaching your children?”
Hakkai started out a nice, eloquent speech that had some grown men sitting back
down in their sits and staring down at their laps like chastened children.
Hakkai had that way with people, making the room feel bad about themselves instead
of staring at the monk. Gojyo wasn’t sure if it was completely working or not,
Sanzo’s legs twitching as he went to stand and fell back down again. It was
like watching a newborn animal learn how to walk…there was really nothing Gojyo
could do but sit back and watch until Sanzo either managed to get up on his own
or died from shame, because there wasn’t anything in between. Sanzo wouldn’t
allow them to help him, wouldn’t admit that he needed it even if he was sitting
on the floor right now. Hakkai ranted on, managing to somehow not sound like a
complete fool as he lectured the room about restraining from violence and
helping out your fellow man

“Do you
need help?” Gojyo couldn’t help himself when Sanzo failed yet again. Goku
winced, taking a step back in seresereservation as he waited for the monk to
explode. Sanzo froze up and Gojyo wondered if he really had overstepped his
bounds this time. And then there was a slight nod that Gojyo would have missed
completely if he hadn’t been staring at Sanzo, head still dipped down to hide
his eyes from their sight. He could guess that Sanzo had finally seen the
futility of trying to stand up on his own right now, clearly shaken to the core
even if Sanzo would never admit so himself. Gojyo couldn’t help but be stunned
nonetheless, not really expecting his offer to be taken up. Goku made a
surprised noise behind him that Gojyo wished he could make as well, if he
didn’t think that Sanzo would take offense to it. Who knew what could piss the
blonde off these days.

He
decided it would be best not to ask anymore questions or waste more time before
either Hakkai or Sanzo got fed up with him. Gojyo got his own feet under
himself before he put two hands underneath the blonde and lifted with his
knees, rather used to this by now. Sanzo was as light as ever and Gojyo could
feel the monk shaking in his arms as the monk rolled up against his chest,
hiding himself from Gojyo’s immediate vision as well as inadvertently making
him tremendously pleased. A man could forgive a great many of things when
Sanzo’s hair was tickling the underside of his chin. Goku didn’t even frown at
the smile that must be inching across his face right now, just quickly swirled
around to shoo off a woman that was in the way of the stairs. Gojyo followed along
after, Sanzo nothing but a trembling deadweight as he started climbing the
steps yet again.

“You
should all be ashamed, and next time-…” Hakkai trailed off before turning right
back around and bringing up the rear behind Goku, leaving the rest of the room
in anticipation as they quickly went to seeing about their leader’s latest
breakdown. Gojyo made a quick hustle up the stairs before letting Goku get
ahead of him, the dumbass ape running forward and opening up the door to his
room for Gojyo without even having to be asked. Hakkai apologized politely to
someone screaming about their wife being possessed before going up the rest of
the stairs and easily slamming the door behind them. Gojyo went to the bed
Sanzo had been in only moments before, hoisting the man up a bit in his arms to
lie the monk down.

A death
grip on finefiner hair at the nape of his neck drew Gojyo up short, fingernails
digging into his arm as Sanzo suddenly clamped down on him. Hakkai and Gojyo
probably couldn’t even see it with his back to them and his hair mostly
covering up Sanzo’s hand…but it didn’t hurt less for it. Still, Sanzo was
halfway onto a bed and holding onto him, so things were looking up for Gojyo at
least. Once again, he hated himself for thinking like this, wishing that he’d
stop being so honest and start thinking about someone else’s feelings for once.
Sanzo was certainly due some consideration these days, even if he was a
temperamental bastard that seemed to be intent on ripping all of Gojyo’s hair
out.

“Hey, uh,
something wrong?” Gojyo asked, feeling like an idiot the second the question
left his mouth. He might as well ask if the sun rose in the morning as well.

“Nothing!”
was the very cold hiss against his ear, but Sanzo didn’t move any more that
that. He could hear Goku ask a question but was distracted by the warm dampness
smeared against his neck as Sanzo rubbed his nose on Gojyo’s collarbone. He
didn’t even care that the shitty priest was using him for a human handkerchief,
suddenly realizing that he was trying to hide his face from all of them right
now because High Priest Genjo Sanzo was crying over being hassled by two horny
bastards. Gojyo didn’t blame him in the slightest, actually glad that Sanzo had
screamed and gotten his attention before anything worse could have happened,
but he could see how Sanzo was thinking. He was ashamed to be so upset over
what seemed like a simple matter, and it would have been- if Sanzo’s hadn’t
been so badly taken advantage of by a clan of youkai earlier. Sanzo had probably
had a flashback, just as Gojyo did in the middle of the night when he couldn’t
get to sleep, when something made a noise that he just hadn’t been expecting,
and suddenly he was back there, his back against the wall as his mother
advanced on him one step at a time, an axe shining in her hands.

But for
right now, Gojyo had a Sanzo forcing himself into his arms, weeping and
vehemently denying it at the same time. He couldn’t even twist his head around
to look to Hakkai for an answer- not that he would have asked the bastard after
what he’d done last night! So, Gojyo just sat all the way down, one leg half on
the bed and the other hanging over the side, since Sanzo didn’t seem inclined
to scoot over. That was quite all right, since the monk didn’t hit him or start
yelling when Gojyo experimentally put one hand a bony white shoulder. Since
that was about as good of an ‘okay’ as he was going to get right now, Gojyo
took it and but both hands on the monk’s back in an attempt to comfort him…not
that he’d dare call it that aloud to Sanzo. He wasn’t sure how much this had to
do with saving face versus an actual need to be held by someone else, to be
assured that everything was okay now.

Sanzo
really could make people crazy.

“Goku,
let’s go get Sanzo something to eat, okay?” Hakkai suggested, recognizing the
scene in front of him. Gojyo could almost forgive the man for thinking that he
would ever force Sanzo to do anything he didn’t want to; if Gojyo could even
try to dominate Sanzo with getting his ass kicked into next week. Things had
just obviously been rough for the blonde lately, enough to wear him down into
this stressed-out and ever so slightly emotional priest. Gojyo wouldn’t go so
far as to say sensitive, but Sanzo was definitely edging toward human instead
of the usual stony saint.

“But…”
Goku started to argue, and Gojyo could hear his argument already. We can’t
leave him alone with Sanzo. Well, Gojyo didn’t even have a choice in
the matter with Sanzo an inch away from breaking his arm. If anyone was getting
taken advantage of, it was him!

“We’ll be
gone a while,” Hakkai hinted without changing his tone of voice in the
slest.est. Gojyo had to turn his head around at that, hissing in pain when he
felt a few hairs rip, but he had to check to look on Hakkai’s face. It
was that damn poker smile again as the brunette gently tugged a confused and
protesting Goku out of the room, just nodding as he noticed Gojyo watching him.
He was as graceful loser as Gojyo had ever seen, so damn gracious that Gojyo
could feel himself staring to forgive the man whether he wanted to or not. The
door closed softly and Gojyo was left in complete silence with only Sanzo’s
agonizingly even breathing filling the room afterward.

Sanzo’s
hands finally relaxed, letting Gojyo go with a few strands of hair falling from
his fingers. He pushed back slightly, stretching out his legs to move away and
put distance between the two of them. Gojyo sighed and wiped at the moistness
Sanzo had left behind on his chest while the monk scrubbed at his own face with
his palms. He was pretty sure that if he said anything right now, it
would be taken as an insult. There was more silence while Sanzo ran fingers
through his hair agitatedly before finally dropping his hands away from his
face. Gojyo was treated to a sideways profile; eyes rubbed red and clearly
avoiding contact with him as Sanzo visibly swallowed. He couldn’t help a
little huff at watching Sanzo’s neck, by far of of his favorite spots on the
shitty monk; he’dhe’d probably never get to touch it again as long as Sanzo was
sober and had all his wits about him.

“So…are
you okay?” Gojyo asked at last when he could no longer stand the silence.
Sanzo’s eyes narrowed on the closed door, but he didn’t look back at Gojyo. Not
yet. He wondered if they were even on a speaking level again as Sanzo stayed
silent longer than necessary. Everything aside, he had been the one to carry
Sanzo up here and had made damn sure at least one of those fuckers had
learned their lesson about messing around with his priest. Gojyo knew not to
expect ‘thank you’s from Sanzo, but even a nod or shrug would have done instead
of Sanzo’s icy silence. At least he still had something pretty to look at as he
openly stared at the blonde’s pretty face while Sanzo glared at the wall
obliviously. How he managed to look so damn beautiful and be such a pain in the
ass at the same time was beyond him.

“Why do you
care?” Sanzo snapped out at last, proving Gojyo’s point once again. He
coughed and shifted his gaze around the room while he felt two eyes trying to
burn a whole through his head. Why did Sanzo have to be so damn intense,
obviously so fucking stubborn and arrogant that he couldn’t understand why
Gojyo would have the slightest interest in him? He would try explaining it to Sanzo,
if he had believed for one damn second that Sanzo would understand what he
meant if Gojyo had honestly spoken his mind about honest attraction. Just
something about the man drew Gojyo, beyond that fucking attitude that no one
could bear with and the good looks that barely made up for it- something kind
of magnetic. They just clicked.

“Well,
you know, considering the fact we slept together-…” Gojyo started humorously,
figuring that might be the best choice for now when the monk was acting so
serious about this.

“Shut up!
Don’t you fucking dare try to use that against me!” Sanzo barked
immediately, cutting Gojyo off before he could say more. He looked back at
Sanzo, flushed from anger, and decided that Sanzo really was crazy. Sadly
enough, Gojyo was pathetically relieved at the color in the man’s face instead
of the pale blue-grey it had been lately while Sanzo was bedridden. Sanzo
always ran cold until he was finally pissed off- then it was like a whole
different person, screaming and throwing things around like any sort of spoiled
prince. He didn’t want to be the focus of Sanzo’s temper this time. He was the
one who had carried Sanzo back up to the room, for crying out loud!

“I’m not using
it against you, I’m saying that’s why I care.” Gojyo held out his hands,
trying to convince Sanzo to just listen to him for once. How had he gotten
caught up in such a selfish, inconsiderate bastard? Gojyo couldn’t even
understand why Sanzo was still a High Priest after the way he treated them, the
townsfolk, and humanity in general. He was looking down on Gojyo right now
despite the fact he had a significantly longer torso right now, taller on the
bed and Sanzo somehow still managing to look down his nose at him. They all
might as well be cockroaches to the great High and oh-so-fucking-mighty Priest
Genjo Sanzo.

“Just
because you shot a load up my ass? Fuck off. I loathe you,” Sanzo
snarled, so damn harsh that it was incredible. Sanzo might as well have slammed
his hand into Gojyo’s chest, ripped out his heart, and used it for an ashtray
right in front of him. It was worthless to explain anything to a fucking
emotionless statue like Sanzo. As much as he hated it, it was even deeper than
that, because after firsfirst or second time in bed, Gojyo quickly lost
interest. Except now it was somehow all he could think about. He was ready to
fight with Hakkai at any given second because he was still so pissed off and
jealous. Gojyo usually didn’t even care enough to get jealous, but he couldn’t
stand the thought of Sanzo doing anything remotely sexual with someone other
than him.

“Listen,
I don’t know what the hell you have going on inside that fucked-up head of
yours, but don’t try to twist my words,” Gojyo did his best to order Sanzo, but
a sharp, disbelieving snort took all the force out of his words. His hands came
into view, shaking hard as Gojyo realized he was halfway to choking the life
out the miserable bastard. Sanzo had this so damn knowing, superior little grin
on his face as if he had expected Gojyo to break down into fighting all along.
The monk was just waiting for him lay hands on him, to start something;
though Gojyo wasn’t sure if it was sex or violence at this point. It was a
battle to calm down, to force himself to simply sit back and take a deep
th. th. He licked his lips, brushed his hair back from his face, and tried to
think of what to say next. Only Genjo Sanzo would be able to make him
speechless, confounded and at a complete loss of what to do. They both went
silent again, pointedly not looking at each other as the silence stretched.
There was a small ripping noise and Gojyo looked up to see Sanzo finish tearing
out a nice chunk of his own hair from the back of his head, little short
strands of gold dropped down carelessly.

Gojyo did
slap Sanzo then, hard across one sharp, bony cheek. Sanzo’s face snapped to the
side, the man frozen for a moment as if the heavens themselves had ripped
apart. Immediately Gojyo was rewarded with the most livid glare he’d ever seen
on Sanzo as one tentative hand pressed again what must be a stinging blow; a
nice cherry red mark glowing as it came to life. Despite the bright mark coming
in on Sanzo’s face, Gojyo had still restrained himself and they both knew it. A
vein twitched in Sanzo’s temple, like he had any right to be upset after
tearing out his hair! Did the stupid monk really hate himself that much? Did
sitting there with Gojyo cause him that much pain?

“You stop
that shit. Right now,” Gojyo commanded in a voice that was amazingly
calm for the anger he was feeling. He was fucking shaking with rage,
something that had only happened a few times before in his life. Damn that pain
in the ass of a priest! He just couldn’t believe that Sanzo would even dare to
hurt himself right in front of him, as if Gojyo would simply watch while the
shitty monk did violence unto himself. Sanzo opened his mouth to say something
more and Gojyo moved again, ignoring the flinch Sanzo made before he grabbed
the man by his shoulders and shook him hard.

“Don’t do
that. If you try to hurt yourself again, I swear I’ll fucking do it for
you. Cut-this-shit-out,” Gojyo demanded coldly, each word clear and precise to
drive the point home, so damn pissed that he could barely keep from slapping
Sanzo again. He wouldn’t really try to hit Sanzo to cause any lasting damage,
not just because of personal disgust, but because he knew it would probably
make the crazy priest happy. The crazy, masochistic bastard would probably get
some kind of sick joy out of Gojyo kicking in his holy ass. He really didn’t
know why Sanzo would need to hurt himself, just couldn’t imagine it when such a
haughty son of a bitch was tearing his hair out like it was nothing. He met
Sanzo’s glare head-on, much more enraged than the monk could ever believe and
ignoring the little bit of fear that was in Sanzo’s eyes. Surprisingly en,
i,
it was lavender eyes that blinked and looked away from their staring match
first.

“Get…Get
away from me!” Sanzo half-heartedly yelled, rather delayed when he finally
started to push at Gojyo with a slight color to his cheeks that didn’t have
anything to do with tears or the slap he’d just given the monk. It was like
Sanzo didn’t know how to do something beyond angry, certainly not about to be
chastened by someone like Gojyo. Except here they were with Gojyo digging his
fingers harder into the blonde’s shoulders when Sanzo tried to peel them off.
Something was telling him not to let go, because it would give Sanzo the
distance he needed to get a proper punch in. Or, if he was lucky, the damn
stubborn fool would realize just how ridiculous he was acting.

“Let go
of me right fucking now,” Sanzo demanded again, much more in control of
his voice the second time. Except the shoulders underneath his hands were
shaking and Sanzo’s eyes were fixed on the spot between Gojyo’s eyebrows. He
hadn’t seen Sanzo act nervous before, not like this, and it gave him a sense of
relief that the monk felt just as awkward as he did. Funny how Gojyo had slept
with countless people but one night with Sanzo and he suddenly felt like he
didn’t have the slightest fucking clue to how to charm this man. Sanzo didn’t
take well to flattery, answered most propositions with death threats, and was
an absolute fucking terror to have a conversation with.

Gojyo really
knew how to pick them.

“Are you
scared?” he asked at last, and the start Sanzo gave was answer enough. The
monk’s head bowed down, the fringe of his bangs hiding his eyes as the shaking
stopped, replaced with a limp sort of surrender. Gojyo moved in, pressing his
forehead up against Sanzo’s and forcing the monk’s face to roll up, that
strangely unique and hard chakra digging into his skin. Sanzo had his eyes
clenched closed, dark and fine lashes speckled light gold at the ends, a little
fact Gojyo hadn’t noticed before until he was this close with the sunlight
coming in through the window.

“I hate
you so much,” Sanzo growled out, as close to romantic as the monk ever got.
Gojyo just smirked at that, somehow finding it so reassuring to hear. He’d be
sure Sanzo was back to normal whe sta started shooting off ‘youkai bastard’ and
aimed for his head like usual. Until then, Gojyo couldn’t deny that it was much
easier to deal with Sanzo when the man was off-balanced and hushed like this.

“I know,”
Gojyo whispered against Sanzo’s mouth, his lips catching on Sanzo’s own before
he finally moved forward and really kissed the man like he’d been wanting to do
since the last time he had a taste.

* * *

Hakkai
hated himself for having the decency to grab Goku and back out of the room. Why
did he always end up being the nice one, the considerate one, when everyone
else was acting like selfish children? Maybe it was because Sanzo had been
clinging to Gojyo, sober and needy for something that Hakkai hadn’t been able
to provide. Why Kanzeon Bosatsu had chosen Gojyo as the partner for Sanzo was
still beyond him. What was even more incomprehensible was the silent way Sanzo
had allowed the taller half-breed to handle him. The monk had managed to
suddenly look very small next to Gojyo, those shoulders almost wide enough to
completely block Sanzo from view. Maybe it had been that body language, that
subtle motion that meant Gojyo was getting protective and possessive all in one
that had made him back out of the room. Hakkai was very good at telling when he
wasn’t needed in a room.

He had
gotten Goku to leave as well, seeing that this might need moment. He knew that
Sanzo had to be upset, more than unbalanced if he let those two ruffians get
the best of him. Even though his wounds were healed, it was clear that there
were still some emotional and mental issues to deal with. Sanzo would never be
hanging off Gojyo otherwise. Hakkai had to laugh at himself, wondering just why
he was getting so jealous. It wasn’t even like he existed to Sanzo- the monk had
blacked out last night, or at least was being so obstinate as to avoid the
topic entirely. And that would be very un-Sanzo-like. He had never known
the priest to do anything other than tackle a problem head on.

Hakkai
sighed heavily, not really sure if he had it in him to go downstairs.

“Hey, are
you okay?” Goku finally asked at his side, the first concerned voice Hakkai had
heard in a while. He couldn’t help but glance down at the boy, big wide golden
eyes almost as curious and innocent as a cat’s. Goku really didn’t know how to
doubt people, couldn’t see past the surface of things. He just thought that
Hakkai might have a stomachache, something physically wrong to make him sad.
Goku didn’t really know what it was like to get his heart literally ripped up
into small pieces and thrown around like confetti. He couldn’t really blame
Sanzo, since the blonde was simply ignorant of the finer points of
socialization; but he couldn’t explain how Gojyo had been acting lately. They
were friends and Gojyo usually talked to him first before deciding to go around
and do things that were obviously so stupid. Now they were stuck in this huge
mess with no clear solution in sight. Hakkai didn’t know why he even bothered
to play nice anymore.

“I’m just
fine, Goku,” Hakkai lied through his teeth as he smiled down at the boy. The
act was good enough to fool the shorter brunette, who started jogging ahead to
go down the stairs before he even realized that he was starting to leave Hakkai
behind. Goku waited for him to catch up, clearly not seeing that Hakkai was
trying to take up as much time as possible right now. He hated being so damn
considerate of Sanzo’s feelings, knowing that the monk had been crying and
trying desperately to hide it from them- against Gojyo’s chest. Hadn’t they
always hated each other before? Hakkai had felt like he had woken up in some
sort of strange parallel universe when he had closed the door on Gojyo’s back
as the redhead had comforted the priest. Damn Gojyo for acting so tough when he
was really weak against people with dark pasts, regrets, trauma, issues, and
whatever else Sanzo might have accumulated lately. Gods knew that it was hard
to get a decent conversation out of the blonde lately, which was probably Gojyo’s
fault in the first place. Hakkai felt like his head was going to burst with all
these thoughts as they marched down the hallway.

“So what
are we going to get Sanzo to eat?” Goku asked finally with a smile when Hakkai
reached the stairs, always ready to talk about food. It forced Hakkai to try
and think about a proper answer instead of whatever might be happening between
Gojyo and Sanzo. He had never seen such a case of opposites attract before, and
the mere thought of the two of them together left a foul taste in Hakkai’s
mouth. It had already obviously become a problem, Gojyo having to give Goku the
talk after he had overheard their argument…which still wasn’t finished.
Hakkai couldn’t just stand back and not say anything while he watched Gojyo and
Sanzo run off the side of a cliff. Them being romantically involved equated to
just that.

“I don’t
know. How about we just snack for a bit while Gojyo and Sanzo talk,” Hakkai
tried to distract the boy, wanting to get downstairs and involved in something
that would take a good couple of hours before they started hearing any noises.
Hakkai most certainly didn’t want to be stuck there explaining why Sanzo and
Gojyo were groaning like animals in heat. He could barely believe it himself,
much less try to comprehend it. Goku only paused in mid-step, tuning around to
face Hakkai before they went any further down the stairs.

“Are you
sure they’re just going to talk?” Goku asked with a frown, amazingly astute.
Hakkai wondered just what kind of discussion Gojyo had with the boy last night.
Hakkai had honestly thought that Goku would just be too innocent to understand
anything that Gojyo said, not that it was any fault on the boy. Goku’s naivety
was probably one of his strong points in the end. Why did that have to get
ruined too, along with Sanzo’s heart and Gojyo’s moral fiber? Hakkai wasn’t
going to last very long at this rate either, sick with the possible
consequences that still had yet to occur.

“Goku,
you-…” Hakkai trailed off, not really sure if he should discuss this after all.
Not when Goku was blinking up at him, gold eyes wide and holding all the
suspicion of a hungry puppy waiting for someone to pay attention to him. Just
what kind of talk did Gojyo have with the boy after all? Hakkai hoped that the redhead
still had the decency to not explain every nasty little detail to the boy, sure
that it would ruin Goku’s innocence forever; not to mention that he didn’t
think Sanzo would appreciate Gojyo sharing just what had happened between them.
Hakkai wasn’t going to divulge such to Goku or Gojyo, whichever one of them had
opened that door last night. He could guess who it was though, by the way Gojyo
had been acting at the table. It was amazing how the man could manage to
deceive Sanzo into the same bed and then act indignant about Hakkai simply helping
the priest last night. Nobody had any right to complain right now; Sanzo
was the only one who had yet to lie or trick any of them, remarkably enough. He
had just been the victim of horrible, terrible circumstances lately, and
somehow attached to Gojyo at the end of it.

“Why
don’t we play cards? I’ll show you how to beat Gojyo,” Hakkai suggested at
last, wondering why he wasn’t going in there and breaking up whatever the
half-youkai had planned. He would be doing it too, if Sanzo hadn’t been holding
onto Gojyo for dear life, afraid to even lift his head. He had been pushed too
far in the last few days, obviously at the end of his rope when Hakkai thought
it had run out years ago. He would really have to talk to Sanzo soon,
without Gojyo or Goku ad tod to interrupt or influence things. But, until then,
the best he could do was just make sure that Sanzo was alive, healthy, and kept
somewhat content- and right now, that meant not being in the same room with the
priest.

“Really?
Yeah, let’s go!” Goku agreed, skipping along to the next door for their own
hotel room.

* * *

Sanzo
managed not to shake, didn’t bite into his lip, or dig his nails into his
palms. He was suddenly so aware of small habits he had that actually hurt, left
marks and small bruises, but he had never really felt pain before. Now the spot
where he’d torn out hair tingled worse than the smarting echo of Gojyo’s hand
on his cheek. He had to keep his eyes closed, because if he opened them he just
fucking knew tears would come out, and he wasn’t going to cry again in
front of Gojyo. He didn’t have the damn right to make Sanzo feel so ashamed; to
suddenly call him on the little things Sanzo did to keep sane. Sometimes that
little shock of physical pain was enough let him focus in. It hadn’t even been
noticeable to these oblivious fools, but lately the need had been greater,
things had gotten a whole hell of a lot worse. Sanzo didn’t know what to do,
what to think, who to hate beyond his own pathetic self- and below it all was
that damn weak wailing of the ghosts wandering around town.

It had
been easier to sit there and argue with Gojyo, able to ignore those things when
he was in the middle of a fight, and then the asshole had to get so damn close.
Just his body was overpowering, another human being that was warm and touching
him when Sanzo tried so hard not to feel anything at all. He didn’t even know
how to protest anymore when Gojyo pressed his lips up against Sanzo’s. It
wasn’t invasive or dominating, but soft and somehow coaxing as well. Sanzo
wouldn’t have been so swayed by it if he hadn’t thought that Gojyo could be
anything other than overpowering and demanding. He wasn’t prepared for
gentleness, couldn’t exactly scream or strike out at him since Gojyo wasn’t
really doing anything bad right now. He tightened his lips, pressed his eyelids
together harder, and did his best to just be silent. He didn’t enjoy things
like this. He was a Buddhist monk!

A
Buddhist monk that couldn’t help from gasping when Gojyo parted his shirt and
pulled it off his shoulders, Sanzo not even sure when Gojyo had managed to
unbutton it. The long sleeves caught around his elbows and his skin pimpled at
the sudden bite of cold air while Gojyo put two hands underneath Sanzo’s jaw,
thumbs brushing his earlobes, and the redhead kissed him again. He should have
bitten down on Gojyo’s lip, not have opened his mouth and let Gojyo’s tongue
slide in. His body was refusing to listen to his brain, little jolts of
electricity snapping thr him him as Sanzo vaguely thought he should be trying
to struggle instead of allowing Gojyo to lie him down all the way on his back.
His arms were suddenly restrained by the shirt caught underneath his back, and
Sanzo pulled himself out of the sleeves in a bit of panic. He hated himself for
being scared, for tensing up when Gojyo straddled one leg and put a hand on the
fly of his pants.

“Stop
it,” he demanded in a shaky voice that could barely be recognized as his own.
Sanzo wasn’t even sure why he protested, but he wasn’t ready to be naked yet.
Gojyo immediately backed up, not moving all the way off of Sanzo but allowing
him the room to breathe. He couldn’t stand how Gojyo looked at him, a little
bit of concern and too much fucking pity in those deep red eyes. Sanzo was
suddenly jerked back to the reality of Gojyo being everything he hated, a
half-youkai as well as a miserable excuse for a human. Just what would the
world think when they heard High Priest Genjo Sanzo had taken a youkai to bed?

“Are you
okay? Do you really want me to stop?” Gojyo asked in a voice that was a little
breathless, a little husky. It was then that Sanzo noticed the considerable
bulge straining at the front of Gojyo’s pants, struck dumb by the fact that
their little group’s repudiated slut was turned on. By him, no less.
Sanzo wasn’t sure what he should think of this, didn’t want his chest to be
clenching up with a sudden warmth. He chewed on his lip, confused with the
immediate ‘fuck off’ didn’t spring from his mouth. Gojyo’s hand brushed against
the side of his face and Sanzo realized the man was wiping away tears; he had
opened his eyes like a fool. Just why the hell would he even want to look at
Gojyo, why was he still on this bed and not saying anything at all? Even he wasn’t
saying ‘yes, now get the fuck off,’ then just was his answer? It certainly
couldn’t be that he actually wanted Gojyo, not this loudmouthed, rude,
irritating fuck-off.

So, why
was his hand on Gojyo’s knee, looking down at the man’s bellybutton and noticing
the slight bit of hair underneath it that went down to his groin? He couldn’t
very well tell Gojyo what he was thinking, not when he was so unsure himself.
Thankfully, Gojyo didn’t need him to say anything, somehow able to read enough
out of Sanzo’s body language to lean in and start kissing him on the throat. He
clenched his teeth together, determined not to make a sound as Gojyo suckled at
the curve of his neck before licking a trail down his chest, his tongue swiping
a wet path through the dried sweat on Sanzo’s skin. Gojyo mouth finally stopped
on top of Sanzo’s nipple, his fingers moving up to tease the unattended one.
Gojyo used his teeth to pinch that nub of flesh, but it wasn’t hard or long
with sharp youkai fangs, and Sanzo found it feeling strangely good. He had to
dig his hands into the sheets to keep from moving, because he didn’t want to
prove Gojyo right by biting through his lip or cutting his palms with his nails
like he usually would. Still, without the little bit of pain to help, it was
hard to lie still and mute. Sanzo didn’t want to be a part of this, didn’t want
to enjoy it, and would kill Gojyo if the idiot stopped again. If given a
moment, Sanzo knew that all he’d be able to think about would be Gojyo shaking
him, telling him to ‘knock that shit off’ like a parent yelling at a child that
had drawn all over the walls. It wasn’t fair that Gojyo could just put things
so simply like that, as if he could understand what Sanzo went through
everyday. It was because of him, along with the other two dumbasses wearing him
down bit by bit, that Sanzo had been reduced to t So So damn confused and
stupid; but when he was with Gojyo, Sanzo somehow just got caught up in the
moment and forgot about all that.

Gojyo pulling
his mouth away and tweaking the wet little nub he’d made had a way of snapping
Sanzo into the now. Gojyo put one hand on the front of Sanzo’s pants, but this
time he started stroking him through the fabric instead of working at his fly.
He had to twist around at that, feeling more sensitive than usual and not
knowing why. His knees were twitching out of his control and Sanzo was
struggled very hard not to bit his lip. He wanted to so badly, but if Gojyo
slapped him again he wouldn’t have been able to bear it. So, instead, Sanzo
finally opened his mouth and let out a loud moan that embarrassed him horribly.
He almost wanted to be gagged when Gojyo glanced up from over his bellybutton,
a small smirk dancing across his lips that Sanzo wanted to punch off…if he
could had gotten his body out from Gojyo’s weight.

“Do you
still wthesthese on?” Gojyo asked with a little bit of humor and superiority
that Sanzo hated. He pressed a palm over the hardening mound, jeans rapidly
becoming too tight as Gojyo outlined it with his fingers. Sanzo said ‘yes’
while his head shook negatively, little blossoming colors of light behind his
eyes. Sanzo wasn’t sure what he wanted, what he was supposed to do, his
resolute purpose gone as the blood rushed to his groin. Gojyo kissed the bottom
of his ribs, swirled his tongue around and inside his naval, and on top
of heated erection Sanzo was trying desperately to ignore. He became aware of a
strange, stilted humming and realized it was his own voice, trying not to moan
and failing miserably. Sanzo was horribly, miserably turned on.

Gojyo
chuckled when Sanzo started working at his own fly, both of their jeans gone
before Sanzo realized he’d taken his pants off willingly, with his own two
hands that were starting to shake now. But it was too late then, already naked
in front of Gojyo when he wouldn’t even let Goku see anything below the waist.
Sanzo’s breathing sped up, lungs seeming to shrink when Gojyo braced two hands
against the bed on either side of his head and loomed over him, long hair
scratching his nose and lips. Sanzo almost felt sorry for ripping it out
earlier, but he wanted to do it again now after being forbidden to do it to
himself. What was even worse was that he was actually listening to Gojyo, that
the redhead could make him feel disgraced and unbalanced.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Sanzo wasn’t about to be readable, someone
that Gojyo could get to know… and also because he didn’t want the man to see
him naked, Sanzo did the most crazy thing he could think of, sitting up on his
elbows to kiss Gojyo full on the mouth.

There was
a muffled choke of surprise that made Sanzo grin triumphantly before Gojyo was
suddenly returning the favor with much more vigor than necessary. Sanzo found
himself on his back again, being kissed heavily into the mattress and not
having the sense of mind to protest. No when Gojyo put his hand around his own
twitching cock, skin shrinking with sensation that was just too much. Or, not
enough when Gojyo rubbed his thumb across the head, brushing aside pre-cum that
had been gathering to dig into the pisshole. Sanzo cried out, right into
Gojyo’s mouth as his stomach arched up against the man’s chest. He couldn’t
even look at what face Gojyo must be making right now, not when the man was
pumping his dick with tight, warm fingers. Sanzo bit down on the redhead’s
lower lip since he couldn’t do it to his own, that tang of blood making him
lose all coherent thought.

Gojyo
moved his hand, letting go to spit onto fingers already coated with Sanzo’s own
sperm. His head bent back when Gojyo rested the tip of his nail against
oversensitive skin before sliding the digit in, unable to keep kissing,
unable to do much more than lie there and try not to break into a thousand
pieces. His knees were twitching helplessly, Sanzo skewered on top of Gojyo’s
finger and actually liking it as the redhead twisted and felt along soft inner
walls. Sanzo suckled at the little divot he had made inside Gojyo’s mouth, at
some point burying his hands in that long red hair. Another finger was added
and Sanzo exchanged the hurt with his tongue, determined to be just as
aggressive as Gojyo.

Even with
that resolve, feeling the warm, wet tip of Gojyo’s own dick touching the empty
spot where his fingers had been only moments ago was quite a different thing.
There was panic welling up in his throat and passion heating up his groin, up
to his stomach and making Sanzo’s insides ache with want. He should have tried
to run away then, but he so desperately needed this now, brought up to the cusp
of something Sanzo was completely unfamiliar with, youkai gang bangs and
drunken mistakes not exactly the times he tried to recall every delicious
detail of. He knew why he must have tried to forget last night when Gojyo
thrust up into him.

Sanzo
started crying out then, but this time it was in pain. Not ripping, burning
violation but just too much, too fucking big. He hated thinking such of
Gojyo, but it hard to deny when he had every inch of that organ buried up
inside him. He held onto Gojyo’s shoulders for dear life, helpless pain tears
burning at the corner of his eyes as he regretted ever going through with this
in the first place. He tried to scream at Gojyo, to tell the damn horny idiot
to pull out before he exploded, but found his mouth covered once again with
Gojyo’s own. The man started moving slightly at first, a mere gentle rocking as
muscles were forced to adjust and part. And even though Sanzo had sincerely
believed that there was no way to have sex with mind-numbing pain, it slowly
stopped hurting and started feeling good. Gojyo was close to something, a
smooth motion that felt quite nice…

Then, so
fucking good, explosion of every nerve in his body when Gojyo thrust in hard,
hitting up against a spot inside of him that made Sanzo see nothing but white.
Sanzo was sobbing openly for breath, his own hand wrapping around his leaking
erection and starting to work it. He knew how to that much at least, needing
something to thrust up into when he was being pounded from behind. Gojyo had
all the power of a rabid bulldog in heat, and they both knew he was holding
back. Sanzo didn’t care, was too lost in the sensations of his body to be
offended or pissed, to be anything but there. He might have been moaning
or screaming, underneath Gojyo or floating somewhere near the ceiling-
shuddering long before he came, warm ejaculation splattering his lower chest
and onto Gojyo. Sanzo became remotely aware of cooling drool on his cheek, of
the fact that he had come to a climax long before Gojyo. Of finally having no
thoughts other than just simply existed.

The
redhead actually picked up speed after that, rasping along hypersensitive skin
and nerves. He grabbed Sanzo by the arms, pulling them both up into an awkward
sitting position, Sanzo’s knees trembling on either side of Gojyo’s thighs. He
wanted to pass out, was already past his limit long ago, nothing more than a
limp mess of flesh and bones. But Gojyo just tossed Sanzo’s arms over his
shoulders, managing to hook his body into staying upright by his armpits and a
hand clasping each buttock. The sound of flesh hitting flesh was impossible to
escape, even though Sanzo was filling up the air with his own helpless cries.
It didn’t hurt so much then, it just went numb as Sanzo saw grey and heard it
echo in his ears and into his brain…

And for
one blissful second there was absolutely nothing.

Sanzo
came back to himself with Gojyo’s sweaty, heavy body collapsed on top of his,
flaccid dick still up to the hilt inside Sanzo. It was fucking disgusting
and sticky, so warm that Sanzo felt like he was burning alive. For some reason
their breathing matched right now, Gojyo exhaling and inhaling in perfect
synchronicity with him. Things were cooling and getting dangerous, but Sanzo
was too damn tired to run right now. He didn’t care if Gojyo was there right
now when he felt so completely open, still awash in what had just happened. For
some reason, it was comforting this time- perhaps because Gojyo was passed out
right now. It was safe then, just to have someone else there, to take relief in
contact with another human being. Sanzo didn’t feel the need to go scrambling
after Goku just to keep himself from breaking down. The emotional turmoil was
gone right now, Sanzo unable to remember what had upset him so much, but he was
as close to being happy as he could remember. Gojyo’s hand patted the side of
his flank like Sanzo was a prize racehorse that had come in first... and for
some reason his arms tightened around the redhead instead of pushing him away
like usual.

His
stomach growled and Sanzo frowned, his eyes rolling around as he tried to
remember when he had last eaten…when he had last had a drink of water instead
of cheap beer or hard liquor.

“I’m
hungry,” Sanzo said aloud to his bedmate, a little bit of numb surprise
creeping in on the edges of exhaustion as Gojyo chuckled against him. Now that
he had said such aloud, it felt like his stomach was trying to eat through his
spine. Maybe that was half the reason why he was so damn tired all the time,
why he had lacked the energy to fight and panicked instead with those damn
brutes downstairs. What a poor fucking excuse of a joke, Sanzo gritting his
teeth hard as he tried not to think about it. He wasn’t about to go back
downstairs though, not ready to be among the common idiots yet.

“You say
that again to Goku and I think everything just might be alright,” Gojyo
murmured against his ear, gathering up the fleshing lobe and nibbling on it
encouragingly. His hand slid down the side of Sanzo’s stomach, fluttering over
his hip to reach for something that Sanzo didn’t want touched right now…but he
twisted out of it in a sudden flinch that had nothing to do with flashbacks,
followed by a sharp bit of laughter that Sanzo didn’t even know he had left in
him. He gasped, freezing up and wanting to die as Gojyo stared back at him in
utter horror. Sanzo didn’t even know what his laugh sounded like until this
just now, never showing any humor beyond a sarcastic smirk or the irritated
knowledge that he had been right once again.

“Are
you…?” Gojyo started.

“Shut
up!” Sanzo shot out before the question could even be asked. He glared back at
the tanned, naked man that was grinning like a retard, wishing that he had
thought to put the Smith and Wesson underneath his pillow like usual. Gojyo
leaned toward him and Sanzo backed up along the mattress instinctively, not
wanting the man to close the distance between them. It was then that Sanzo
realized he was also naked, not sure just when Gojyo had exactly managed
that one but not about to bitch about modesty. He wasn’t going to be labeled a
prude on top of everything else, but Sanzo still reached down to grab some of
the sheets and pull them up to his waist.

“Oh, I
don’t fucking believe this. Genjo Sanzo is ticklish,” Gojyo laughed
aloud, holding in his sides as he howled and kicked his feet in humor. Sanzo
couldn’t even say anything for a moment, his teeth grinding together in
homicidal frustration and knuckles cracking as they dug into the sheet clenched
in his hand.

“I am
not, you-…” Sanzo started, but was tackled before the insult part could come
out.

Suddenly,
he was in a life-or-death fight, scrabbling for purchase on top of the sheets
while Gojyo mimicked the path he had already made before. The damn, selfish
prick found that one spot on Sanzo’s hip that nobody had ever dared
played with before and began to tickle him. Sanzo bit his lip, trying to just
lay still and ignore everything until he couldn’t bare it anymore. He tried to
squirm away and for some reason just ended pressed up against Gojyo and
laughing his head off. Sanzo had never laughed aloud before, not like this. He
felt sick, twisting back against Gojyo’s own sticky flesh and trying to get
away the next before the man redoubled his efforts to make Sanzo laugh.

“Stop!”
One word was all he could really manage between desperate gasps for air and
giggles. Giggles! Sanzo could
admit now that he was more than a bit frightened for some reason, starting to
really try and fight his way out of this. He wasn’t going to get stuck fucking laughing
while Gojyo molested him, finding his arms trapped between the bed and the
shithead on top of him. The sheets were catching about his legs and Gojyo had
one arm firmly looped around his waist while the other kept on fucking tickling
him! He hadn’t ever been this humiliated before, couldn’t get his eyes to
focus between the murderous rage and lightheaded giddiness

“Stop…it…now!”
Sanzo finally managed to yell through the laughter, rolling over to punch Gojyo
hard in the side. There was a moment’s pause as Gojyo loosened his hold before
Sanzo kept up the momentum and shoved the man hard, having the satisfaction of
seeing the redhead fall out of the bed this time. There was a loud thud as
Gojyo hit the floor, ankles still caught on the edge of the mattress as the
rest of that long body sprawled out. Sanzo did nothing more than try to catch
his breath as he grabbed all the loose bedding and quickly got it around his
shoulders. When he finally managed to calm down that strange fluttering in his
stomach, Sanzo slowly came to realize that Gojyo still hadn’t moved. Now that
he was properly armored in the white cotton, he tentatively looked over the
edge of the mattress, quite ready to kick Gojyo in the face if he dared to try
touching him again.

Gojyo
just snapped his gaze up to Sanzo’s face, a stupid smile on his face that made
Sanzo want to slap him…if he wasn’t naked on the floor, arms splayed out on
either side of his head and long, red hair curling all around. Sanzo felt his
lip lifting in disgust at the scene, keeping his vision above the muscles on
Gojyo’s stomach instead of anything that might be between those spread legs. No
common decency, whatsoever. Sanzo should really do the world a favor and get
rid of Gojyo now with a single bullet…or maybe a whole round as the just
wiggled his hips suggestively when he noticed how hard Sanzo was trying not to
look.

“What the
hell are you doing?” Sanzo growled out irritably, hating the fthatthat he had
been forced to speak first. His own bangs were starting to get in the way of his
eyesight, but he didn’t dare lift a hand up to brush them away. That might
bring Gojyo’s attention to parts of his body that didn’t really need to be
seen. He would most fucking definitely murder Gojyo in the messiest way
possible if the prick tried jumping on him again. Sanzo did not do well with
tackling, not now, not from Gojyo. He sighed, wishing he had a cigarette as he
waited out Gojyo’s answer while the redhead just tilted his head to one side on
the floor.

“Shit,
Sanzo, you are so fucking beautiful,” Gojyo finally whispered out, eyes locked
on his own. His jaw dropped, his breath stopped, and Sanzo couldn’t look away
without seeming embarrassed or actually complimented. He just stared, caught
dumb by that simple, stupid adjective that Gojyo chose to use. Today just
seemed to be fucking full of first-times as Sanzo was left completely
speechless, the heated burn of a blush coming in all over his face.

* * *

Gojyo
nursed the underside of his jaw; still a bit sore but feeling better if he massaged
it. He wished he could do the same for his pride. He had never seen anyone flip
out over a compliment before, Sanzo’s eyes going as wide as possible before
Gojyo found himself getting kicked under the chin by one pale, bare foot. While
he had coughed and cursed on the floor, Sanzo had gathered up his discarded
clothes covered in everything except the fitted sheet on the mattress. The monk
was damn lucky that Gojyo liked that pissy shyness; otherwise he’d have slapped
Sanzo again, and would actually be trying to hurt the conceited bitch. Sanzo
escaped to the bathroom before he could recover his wits, starting what had
turned into a ridiculously, insanely long shower; as if Sanzo could somehow
manage to wait Gojyo out. So, of course, he stayed there until Sanzo finally
came out in his old monk robe and dripping wet hair. Gojyo would have told
Sanzo again just how mind-numbingly gorgeous he was, if he didn’t
suspect that the blonde would beat the shit out of him for it. Just sitting
there on the stripped bed in jeans and a tank top seemed to be enough to have
an effect on Sanzo, lips tightening and eyes narrowing dangerously; but
bizarrely enough, Gojyo didn’t end up being the focus of Sanzo’s rage.

The
little shit preferred to throw open the door and start outright screaming in
the halls for ‘a little fucking service;’ because the blonde wasn’t about to
walk down the stairs to grab one of the inn’s staff. Goku, Hakkai, and even
Hakuryuu were soon scrambling in as well with Mei Li not far behind after there
were more than a few extremely detailed death threats. Sanzo kept up his
sudden momentum, astounding them all once again by ordering dinner in the
middle of the afternoon; a mix of favorite foods that he had never mentioned
before and obviously expecting Mei Li to get it right the first time. Along
with the shotgun, bullets, and coffee he had asked for earlier. The girl looked
on the verge of outright panicking with her face almost as pale as the
priest’s, not daring to ask Sanzo to repeat himself but obviously too scared to
have possibly gotten that all correctly. She left the room in a dead run before
Sanzo could demand anything else.

“Sanzo,
are you feeling okay?” Hakkai asked politely, gaining two glares in the
process: one from Sanzo and the other from Gojyo. Just because Hakkai had been
considerate enough to back off to give them enough time to talk things out-
well, physically work it out at least- didn’t mean that he was forgiven. Gojyo
would lie money down that Hakkai had been hoping that Sanzo would just tear him
a new one like usual instead of looking for a bit of comfort. Sanzo was in need
of it right now, and Gojyo was going to provide the blonde with more
than enough. There wasn’t room for a third wheel in this already fucked-up
relationship.

text-autospace:none'> “Fine,
no thanks to you idiots,” Sanzo snapped at the all of them, his bad temper back
in full strength as he crossed his arms and glared at Hakkai.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The man just smiled like Sanzo had something
about how nice the weather was, raising his arm for Hakuryuu to come land on.
The white dragon immediately scrambled up to Hakkai’s collarbone and wrapped
around the back of his master’s head, obviously still frightened of Sanzo. The
little creature was probably the smartest one out of the all, outright cowering
in front of the priest and making itself too pitiful of a target as Sanzo’s
mouth twisted up in contempt.

Goku
started crying. He was smiling and laughing in relief, but there were tears on
the boy’s face, glistening like little diamonds. Even Gojyo found himself
feeling sorry for the Goku all over again, so clearly relieved that Sanzo
didn’t even yell at him for shedding tears…just growled in some sort of
monotone disapproval before throwing himself down into the a chair at the
table; and even that turned out to be a controlled slide into the chair
followed by a lot of wincing, but Sanzo wasn’t going to complain aloud. There
was a definite death wish sent in his direction, the glare the priest
sent Gojyo’s way enough to cut the air. Sanzo was doing a good job of acting
right now, but Gojyo could tell he had managed to worm past the priest’s
defenses, could see little twitches of real emotion underneath that angry and
sullen line of his lips.

Gojyo
only had to turn around and grin triumphantly at Hakkai, sure it was just as
obvious to the other man even if he one had one good eye. The brunette had to
be able to clearly see that he had screwed Sanzo, that he could try and
seduce the shitty monk into a blowjob any day of the week, but Gojyo was damned
sure he was the only one Sanzo had allowed to actually touch him so
intimately. Hakkai didn’t really frown, but the joker’s smile suddenly became
cemented into place, Hakuryuu chirping lightly in concern. Gojyo damn well hoped
the man could still smell it, could just know that Sanzo had been
moaning underneath Gojyo only moments ago. The change of sheets on the bed
would be evidence, Gojyo more than happy to be ordered around like a bizarre
housewife. He was still caught up in the nice after-sex glow, ready to just
laugh and dance triumphantly in front Hakkai.

“Oh, for
fuck’s sake, Goku, stop sniveling,” Sanzo finally snapped, pointing at the
table like a master calling his dog. Hakkai and Gojyo both broke eye contact to
glare at the boy who got the sole shred of Sanzo’s lighter affections. Both
Sanzo and the ape immediately eyed them both in confusion, the room split off
into pairs despite it all. Gojyo shook his head tiredly; about to wonder how
Sanzo could be so damn oblivious to everything that was going on right in front
of him before he recalled that the shitty monk had just never been in a
relationship before. Sanzo didn’t have the slightest clue that he was supposed
to be doing anything at all, but Gojyo had the sneaking suspicion that the
blonde would act the same even if he were an old hand at socializing. Which the
miserable little fuck-off most definitely was not, usually managing to
scare off small children within a few minutes without even really trying. Gojyo
didn’t know why he even liked that part of Sanzo, suddenly ready to forgive the
monk of a great many things…now that he had gotten between those milky white
legs that had just seemed to stretch to forever.

“Do you
want a beer?” Goku asked softly, showing a strange amount of consideration for Sanzo.
Hakkai opened his mouth to protest, but that snapped Gojyo’s attention back on
the brunette and their staring match continued in earnest. Goku raised an
eyebrow up at the both of them before finally deciding to just ignore it all
and looked back at Sanzo intently.

“Just get
me some water,” Sanzo demanded tiredly, even though it was the first time Gojyo
had ever heard the priest ask for anything that didn’t have at least
some alcohol percentage. Goku ran to the bathroom, practically left
streak marks in the floor with how fast he took off for the glass of water from
the sink. Gojyo didn’t doubt it was because the boy was afraid that Sanzo might
soon change his mind. Hakkai looked like he wanted to frown, but there was a
slight light to his smile that told Gojyo it wasn’t so forced anymore. It was
pretty ridiculous to see how damn happy they were that their pain-in-the-ass of
a priest was eating and drinking healthily for once. Gojyo rather thought he
was in line for some thanks, all but grabbing the monk by the back of the neck
and shaking him out of his depression, mood, whatever funk was eating at Sanzo
now.

“how how
do you feel now, Sanzo?”

“What the
fuck is that supposed to mean?” Gojyo and Sanzo both snapped out at the
same moment, the same infliction in their voice. Immediately, a pair of violet
eyes narrowed on him, utter hate being sent out through those eyes. Gojyo just
smiled back, knowing that Hakkai had been completely forgotten once again. He
liked the thought of Sanzo being consumed with rage, as long as it kept that
stubboonk’onk’s head full of him. Gojyo tried to make it look cool and slow,
but he easily fell into the chair next to Sanzo before Hakkai had the chance.
Goku was already back with a glass almost-full of water, obviously taking care
to watch his steps and not drop it before setting it down on the table in front
of Sanzo. He took his own seat at Sanzo’s left, elbows on the table and hands
cupping his chin as he absolutely beamed at the shitty monk. Sanzo
tisked before being forced to break his glaring at Gojyo and take a sip of
water…which turned into a long, eager swallow…which made Gojyo wonder if he
could ever trick Sanzo into putting those foul lips somewhere below the waist.

Hakkai
took a rather loud seat, clearing his throat as the brunette recognized
whatever expression had taken over his face. The effect was quite ruined by a
light knocking on the door. Sanzo, Goku, and Gojyo all looked over at Hakkai
expectantly, Sanzo tapping one finger irritably on the table in a silent order
for the man to get the door. Hakkai’s smile had a bit of an edge to it now,
Hakuryuu squeaking as the man stood up out of the seat and revealed the dragon
perched on the back of the chair. It had clearly been trying to hide, twisting
that long, serpentine neck around to hide its head behind its own wings. At
least Hakuryuu had the sense to notice the mood in the room. Goku was oblivious
to it in his delirious relief and general stupidity; and Sanzo outright fucking
ignored it as the blonde took another long, indifferent drink of water.

“I
brought some of the things you asked for and…um,” Mei Li trailed off from the
doorway, clearly losing whatever confidence she had gained back when Sanzo
glared at the poor girl yet again. She looked absolutely pitiful with a tray
full of mixed items and a heavy shotgun in her other hand. The priest really
had no sense when it came to the fairer sex…any sex for that matter,
Gojyo corrected himself with a little more humor than was necessary. It seemed
that all he could do was laugh, because he couldn’t get the image of the way
Sanzo’s lips had pursed together in a vain attempt to hold it all in before
gasping loudly out of his head. Sanzo would probably kill him if he knew half
of the thoughts running through Gojyo’s head right now.

“I was
wondering if you were…um…sure about your choice for your meal,” she tapered off
into a mere whisper as she inched closer and hefted the shotgun up with a weak
arm to slam it onto the table in front of Sanzo. Gojyo was glad the thing
wasn’t loaded as she sighed and adjusted the tray while Sanzo sneered down at
the firearm he had requested himself. Several boxes of bullets were set down
afterward, along with a closed pot of ink and a calligraphy brush. Then, two
mugs that were poured full of steaming hot, black coffee, all while Sanzo
crossed his arms and sniffed in disdain. Hakkai took his seat yet again,
another little darted glare sent over in Gojyo direction. I swear, the next
time he does that, I’m just going to punch him, Gojyo whispered to himself.

“Yes, I’m
sure. Why don’t you run along and actually bring it up here next time?”
Sanzo snapped out, dismissing her like she was one of those idiots that could
be impressed by the title of a High Priest. Gojyo didn’t like how much it
burned when Mei Li just paled, nodded, and took it like a mute fool. She left
again while Sanzo ran a hand through his hair and sighed as if that had been
troublesome for him. Sanzo probably fucking enjoyed making women cry,
the sadistic bastard. Gojyo decided to take one cup of coffee while Hakkai
reached for the other, both of them sharing brief eye contact before snapping
their gazes away. Gojyo blew on the surface of the coffee, nursing it for a bit
while Hakkai simply started drinking the hot liquid like he didn’t feel the
heat at all. Goku finally noticed that something was wrong at that point,
giving them both a slightly suspicious look, as if he couldn’t decide which one
to be mad with but wasn’t going to settle on both. The poor, stupid ape didn’t
deserve to be caught up in the middle of this; a nice and safe virgin, at least
as far as Gojyo knew. He didn’t want to learn about any more surprises anyway.

“Did
either of you think that I might have wanted some coffee, or did the youkai
madness finally eat away your small little brains?” Oh, Sanzo was feeling
defensive, all but baring teeth and hissing at them as his fur stood up on end.
All of them raised an eyebrow at that, Hakkai immediately lowering his cup
while Gojyo watched Sanzo over the brim of his own. He wasn’t about to cowed by
that mouthy monk, wasn’t going to lose the ground he had made by letting Sanzo
get his way. It was like dealing with a spoiled child that was far too
used to everyone doing what he said because they were afraid of the temper
tantrum that might follow if he wasn’t kept happy and satisfied. Sanzo was a
miserable person in the end anyway, and Gojyo wasn’t the least bit frightened
of the words that came out from Sanzo’s mouth. He could just always ignore what
the monk was saying and simply remember the noises he had made in bed and play
it over the usual insults.

“Well,
you can have the rest of mine, Sanzo. I can wait for Mei Li to come back,”
Hakkai offered with a significant glance in Gojyo’s direction, as if that small
gesture was what was going to make the difference in the end. As if Sanzo was even
the type of person to be impressed by the nice gestures people made to him.
Half of them went right over that pretty, blonde head. Gojyo still didn’t like
the way Hakkai had said it, how he was already holding the cup up over the
table like he expected Sanzo to take it. He wasn’t drugged up again like last
night, and could make decisions of his own now! Gojyo conveniently forgot the
fact that Sanzo had been rather trashed the first time he had taken the monk as
well…Hakkai was the one who had cheated on Sanzo and betrayed Gojyo in the same
hand.

“I don’t
fucking want yours,” Sanzo hissed, reading deeper into that line than
Gojyo had given the monk credit for. He snickered into his own coffee while
Hakkai sat back down in his seat, Goku watching in confused silence. He could
almost envy the boy’s ability to not piss Sanzo off, but the again, where was
the fun in that? Sanzo did look his best when he was enraged past all reason,
flustered and blushing because of that delicate skin of his. Of course, nobody
had told Sanzo of this fact yet, all of them mutually agreeing it would be the
quickest way to get that demon-exorcising gun trained on the back of their
skull. Goku scratched loudly at his hair, frowning and closing his eyes as he
thought long and hard about what could possibly be going on. Gojyo could see
the dumb ass ape’s thought process right now: Sanzo all better = no more
problems. If anything, things were only getting more complicated…and a good lot
of that was Hakkai’s own damn fault!

“Sanzo,
you can have-…” Gojyo started when he felt that enough silence had passed,
wanting to make sure that he was given consideration of his own.

“Go to
hell along with your damn coffee, you filthy half-breed,” Sanzo had started out
yelling that sentence, but for some reason it filtered down into conversational
tone at the end before Sanzo just looked down at the spread in front of him.
Gojyo really should have just backhanded the monk for that little comment, but
he knew it had been spat out just to piss Gojyo off in particular. The small
graces that went along with being the bastard son of youkai. Gojyo just went
back to sipping on the too-hot coffee while Sanzo furiously opened up on of the
packs of bullets, almost shredding the poor cardboard completely. He could see
it in every line of Sanzo’s body, just how pissed the man was that he couldn’t
get Gojyo angry as well. The ink was next, and then Sanzo was irritably grumbling
while he wet the pen and angrily began writing on the shell of one bullet.

“What’cha
doing, Sanzo?” Goku finally asked when Sanzo finished a large, single character
that Gojyo doubted any of them could read. He already knew he didn’t like it,
and neither would any full-blooded youkai or spiritual being out there- not to
mention it was still a bullet. Sanzo meant business, was on the extreme defensive
now that he was all healed up and there were no hordes of youkai to defeat
immediately.

“I’m not
wasting any more of my ammunition on whatever is left in those woods. I’m
fucking exorcizing those ghosts and then we’re getting the hell out of here,”
Sanzo laid out the plan, pure and simple. He was definitely not a very happy
High Priest right now, more time wasted in this backwater village than Sanzo
have ever spent before. It was most certainly not his choice either, but Sanzo
wasn’t going to admit that they had been stuck here because the shitty monk had
been in a bed half the time.

“Wow,
really? Then…what are you doing?” Goku asked again, clearly not making the
connection. Hakkai’s smile winced as the man waited for the monk to explode,
picking up the coffee and Sanzo sighed and ground his teeth loudly in the
silence that followed. Gojyo had learned firsthand how much the blonde hated
having to explain things twice, frowning as he readied for the tongue-lashing
Goku was going to get. The poor kid just waited, not knowing what he was doing
that was so wrong- just like last night when he had asked about the finer
points of a blowjob.

“This is
for a ghost,” Sanzo spoke each word clearly, the fury at having to repeat
himself starting to color the priest’s cheeks. He held up the large shell an
inch away from Goku’s nose, forcing the monkey to read the Buddhist nonsense
Sanzo had painted on. The boy’s expression of complete befuddlement made the
man’s left eye twitch while Gojyo outright laughed. Sanzo looked like he was
about ready to lay eggs, spinning back on them as Hakkai made the fatal mistake
of snickering and drawing his hand up to hide it.

text-autospace:none'> Gojyo’s
eyes rolled around to Hakkai, blaming the man for Sanzo’s foul mood this
morning. Anyone would be pissed when they found their friend face-first
in their crotch. Gojyo really should have beaten Hakkai up right then,
but he had been too pissed to even think straight. He had forgotten to ask
Sanzo about it as well, wondering if Hakkai had done something to the High
Priest without his consent; the same ridiculous bullshit that Hakkai had been
accusing Gojyo of before. Well, Gojyo wasn’t the type of person who just ran
around thinking righteousness was a good enough excuse for saying your friend
was a rapist. He wished he could tell just what the man might be thinking right
now, but he could never read past that stupid, mysterious smile that he always
wore just like now. He was staying silent like a good boy for Sanzo, trying to
please the hardhearted monk in any way possible.

pan>pan>Goku, of
course, was blissfully unaware of this awkward triangle in the least. He got
out of his chair when he figured it was safe to move again, grabbing the stray
bullet and bringing it back to the table without a word. Sanzo wasn’t really
yelling at him, hadn’t hit him, and wasn’t falling out of his chair. The High
Priest actually wanted to eat solid foods for once. As far as Goku was
concerned, things were only bound to improve from here on. Goku could stare at
Sanzo all he wanted with big, shining golden eyes and not get yelled at for it.
Sanzo almost forgave everything the boy did, even sitting there, half-perched
on top of the table as he awaited Sanzo next words eagerly. Gojyo wasn’t
jealous of that relationship at all, much preferring what strange, fucked-up
pairing he had managed to develop with the blonde all on his own.

“What?”
Sanzo snapped out when Gojyo’s eyes hit on him again. His words were almost
like Sanzo had fired off his gun in the quiet silence he had made. The blonde
was looking up from starting to write on a new shell, a considerable pile
already in front of him and a cross expression on his face. Gojyo could tell
that the man was waiting for explanation to why they had all suddenly gone
quiet out of pure self-preservation.

“You told
us to shut up,” Gojyo reiterated while Goku nodded enthusiastically across from
him.

“Well,
fucking stop it. You three are even worse when you’re miserable,” Sanzo growled,
lifting up the pen and scribbling out another character. As if he hadn’t been
in the biggest flunk of his own life; and pulling himself out of it by biting
everyone else’s head off. As if High Priest Genjo goddamn Sanzo hadn’t been
shedding temoremore often in the past few nights than he ever had before,
finally reaching the end of his rope. Just where did he get off talking about
other people’s misery when he was the source of it?! There was no way
Sanzo could be just that dumb, even if he was a blonde. Gojyo decided that the
biggest hypocrite in the group was Sanzo himself, not Hakkai.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There was silence again after that, and not
because Sanzo had ordered it. They all just didn’t know what to say to each
other any more. Goku was off in his own happy little world now that Sanzo was
fit to murder the next person that pissed him off for whatever reason. Gojyo
tried to think of something to say to Hakkai that wouldn’t start out with
something about his mouth going where it didn’t belong and failed. He wanted to
hit the man, and was sure that Hakkai felt exactly the same. He may have given
the priest head, but Gojyo had done that and then some. Sanzo had practically begged
for it, if the man had been in the state of mind to put together two
syllables. It had been amazing to see the blonde become so utterly human, open,
vulnerable, everything he was feeling clear on those pretty features that
usually seemed made out of stone. Gojyo sighed, not really knowing what to make
out of Genjo Sanzo.

He
wondered just how sacrilegious it was to see Sanzo praying over the finished
pile of bullets.

Sanzo’s
low voice was almost hypnotic as it filled up the room, strange chanting that
Gojyo couldn’t pick out a single word from. It was just a never-ending line of
spiritual words, making Gojyo wonder how the priest could manage to go on for
so long when he chain-smoked cigarettes worse than Gojyo and the general
populace combined. His hands were pressed together, fingers flat against the
opposite, red chakra standing out through the bangs as Sanzo dipped his head
forward. He was suddenly reminded that Sanzo was the High Priest Sanzo,
not just a title. The man was such an outright sinful, bad-behaving religious
man that Gojyo still hadn’t been able to grasp the reality of Sanzo being the
highest-ranking monk in the Buddhist order. Sanzo didn’t have the patience for
masses of followers or religious extremists that thought he was a heavenly
vessel, but was more than used to being a cold-hearted bitch and snapping out
orders. The Three Aspects could barely even reign in the priest themselves.
Sanzo finished up, opening up his eyes to frown at them all again as he lowered
his hands, clearly not ready to repeat himself but uncomfortable in the
silence. It was almost funny to see Sanzo pissed off, if it wasn’t so damn
dangerous to laugh at the man right now. Gojyo could foretell a wonderful night
of pleasantries up ahead.

There was
a knock and Mei Li came in with two overladen trays balancing on each arm. She
smiled warmly as if she was welcomed in their room, setting down four plates
for them all. Sanzo clearly wasn’t pleased with that, as if he had expected
them to just sit there and watch him eat alone. He sighed at the poor girl as
she started laying down plates and round, bamboo baskets for steamed food. Mei
Li had probably gotten the order wrong; or Sanzo had changed his mind just to
be a prick. The blonde was certainly in the mood to make everyone else’s lives
miserable, even if they were just simple village girls that worked at the
town’s main inn.

“Sanzo,
are you sure you want to be eating like this?” Hakkai asked as the blonde
picked up a plate of sweet and sour something, all golden and fried. Gojyo
couldn’t help smirking at the death wish the blonde sent in the man’s
direction; damn sure that Sanzo wasn’t going to eat plain rice like some
invalid. Mei Li nodded weakly and left without another word before she could be
yelled at again. She was probably the luckiest of them all.

“Next
time any of you ask a question, I’m going to test one of these out,”
Sanzo snapped as he nodded a silent order to Goku. Gojyo didn’t know how the
ape had the ability to read enough into that small motion to gather up the
bullets the shitty monk had just blessed and clear them out of the way. What
was more impressive was that Goku did it all before even looking at the
nice spread in front of them. As if to contradict anything that Hakkai had said
before, most of it was glistening and greasy Chinese food, each meal featuring
a different sort of meat. Gojyo knew that the damn monk was no
vegetarian!

“Yeah,
Hakkai, let the man eat what he damn well wants to,” Gojyo’s e mae may have
been light, but the meaning behind it wasn’t. Sanzo could make his own choice,
and it had been him. Hakkai was trying to force that issue, and if Gojyo
caught him doing it one more time there really were going to be blows
exchanged. Sanzo looked up at that, those droopy eyes narrowing in suspicion
but staying silent. Gojyo didn’t know if that was necessarily a good thing, but
it was far better than ‘fucking youkai half-breed’ any day. He grabbed a set of
chopsticks for himself and picked up one egg roll from the plate Sanzo had
ordered, wondering just how much of this had been for Sanzo himself…or ordered
on their behalf.

“Well,
just because it tastes good doesn’t mean that it digests well. Some people just
rush their meals,” Hakkai was just as subtle, the grinning bastard. Gojyo shot
the brunette a glare of his own as Hakuryuu just chirped happily while its
master took some breaded meat in a brown sauce. Nobody was rushing anything if
not Hakkai! Gojyo had been the one to actually bother with foreplay before
swallowing Sanzo whole! He hadn’t needed the priest all hot from a
mis-medication...though it could have been interesting.

“So-wwie,”
Goku mouthed out around the meat bun he had plugging up his jaw. Sanzo groaned
as he finished serving himself and moved on to grab a few meat buns for himself
before Goku finished them off. The conversation wasn’t meant for Goku, but it
was probably better if the boy thought so.

“Well,
High Priest Sanzo, it sure is damn nice of you to share this meal with
us. Some people might just take advantage of your generosity,” Gojyo smiled
widely at the blonde as one fine eyebrow shot up, eyes going a little bit wide
as the priest froze in the middle of taking an egg roll himself. Gojyo looked
over at Hakkai pointedly once he was done pretending to be grateful to the
temperamental priest. Hakkai’s eye twitched even though it was shut closed in
his usual, grinning expression. There was just enough tension to his jaw that
let Gojyo knew the man knew what he meant.

“Yes,
some people are a little too generous at times, wouldn’t you agree,
Gojyo?” Hakkai returned, as if this was a pleasant, philosophical debate. Goku
paused in the middle of trying to shove a meat bun down his throat without
actually swallowing, tilted his head as he recognized the little bit of heat to
Hakkai’s voice. You have to be as obstinate as, well…Sanzo not to get it. The blonde
was just picking out another dish to take a little bit from, as if he wasn’t
concerned at all about the argument going on in front of him.

“Certainly.
Some people just smile and play nice while they take whatever they want
when no one is looking,” Gojyo sneered back, gaining everyone’s attention.
Hakkai’s smile finallltered aed and fell all the way off, his eyes opening to
finally glare at Gojyo openly. Sanzo was definitely staring now, starting to
gain some sort of clue that their little spat had a thicker meaning underneath
it all. Goku coughed weakly as he choked and finally managed to swallow the
rest of his meat bun before ducking his head and trying to draw less attention himshimself.

“You-…”
Hakkai started, no longer about to bother with polite conversation to cover
anything up.

“Goku, I
might need a beer soon,” Sanzo threatened loudly with a large, disgusted curl
to his lip as he stared at the two of them in utter revulsion. He was looking
back and forth between the two of them as if he was witnessing rats fight over
a piece of decaying flesh. Sanzo didn’t catch onto the finer facts of this
being for his sake, that Gojyo was only trying to protect him from a smiling
pervert like Hakkai; just got pissed that they were fighting over him. Sanzo
had to realize at least that much.

“But,
Sanzo…” Goku whined, trailing off without any real reason behind his own
argument. The poor ape just didn’t want Sanzo to start drinking yet, pleading
with his eyes and making loud sniffing noises. Goku was treading a dangerous
line if he was going to dare try crying again. It was almost as irritating as
Sanzo himself. Well, he wasn’t going to get anything to drink if Gojyo had his
way, not until he crammed some food down that thin little throat of his.

“Hey, there’s
tea, let me pour you some,” Gojyo offered as he picked up the pot and one of
the empty cups thoughtfully left behind. Sanzo’s lips pursed but he didn’t
actually refuse it, so Gojyo took that as much of a ‘yes’ as he would ever get
out of the priest. Goku smiled at Gojyo’s motion, obviously agreeing with that
choice instead of a beer right now. At least someone was still on his side.

“It’s
just like you to make decisions for him,” Hakkai sneered out, remarkably
bitter and overt. Gojyo shook his head at Hakkai, wishing that the man would
just give it up already. Gojyo hadn’t been able to get Sanzo to listen to his
opinion, note. Ge. Gojyo would like to see the man that could. Hakkai
had been the one making decisions of his own last night, without a care for the
consequences. Gojyo had never imagined that the man had it in him to be so damn
insensitive. He managed to finish pouring a cupful and put the tea down without
breaking anything, though his hands were starting to shake with the desperate
desire to do violence.

text-autospace:none'> “I’m just
fucking offering. You’re the one that wanted him to stick to plain white rice,”
Gojyo growled back, insinuating a little more than a simple remark about
Hakkai’s choice in Sanzo’s cuisine. It was franklyter ter to see the monk eating
something like meat covered in oil and fried. The shitty monk needed to gain
back a few pounds to try and at least round out his face and hips. Gojyo rubbed
at his own chin in consideration, ignoring Hakkai while the man silently fumed.
Hakuryuu whistled worried behind him before the brunette reached back and
absently scratched the dragon’s head. Goku coughed and began working on some
fried rice of his own, noisily chewing with his mouth open while Sanzo watched
his charge in quiet disappointment.

“It’s
better for him!” Hakkai finally shot back, clearly not talking about food any
more. The only one eating at the table was Goku now, Sanzo’s eyes definitely
twitchas has he picked up chopsticks and simply held them. The priest obviously
didn’t want to start eating until this little spat came to boil, frowning with
his lower lip sticking out more than usual. If only Hakkai knew how little he
really mattered when Gojyo had been so fucking close to getting Sanzo to eat.
Was he really trying to ruin everything now? It was like getting sabotaged from
the inside as Gojyo went around behind his back and sucked his priest
off. Gojyo groaned again as he realized what he had had to explain that Goku
last night.

“Some
times people like a little flavor to their meal. He needs some fucking fat on
him!” Gojyo yelled, not meaning to raise his voice but too angry now to stop.
He was quite ready to do violence now, sick and tired to talking about food.
Hakkai was ready to say more, and Gojyo doubted that he would try to use pretty
words this time. The expression on the usually smiling man’s face was
muous,ous, and it only made Gojyo grin wider like and idiot that enjoyed
taunting death.

“That’s it!
I’m trying to eat, damn it!” Sanzo roared loud enough to shake the silverware
on the table.

“Neither
of you are in any place to talk about my welfare!” Sanzo shut them both
out harshly, crossing his arms and waiting for them both to cease this useless
argument. It made Gojyo very, very glad that the Smith and Wesson wasn’t on the
priest’s immediate person. He let out a breath, closing his eyes and sat back
heavily in his chair, taking a long sip of coffee instead of dragging Hakkai
outside for a fight like he wanted to.

Neither of them had the guts to openly brawl over Sanzo in
front of him, the second meaning behind their fight a little too personal.
Until Gojyo could speak clearly about the real matter at hand, things just
weren’t going to be the same between him and Hakkai. The brunette gave him one
final, little glare the promised more later before resuming his seat as well.
Goku just slowly swallowed yet another meat bun, glancing back at Sanzo
worriedly before snapping his head around at Gojyo and Hakkai like an attack
dog barely kept at bay. All it would take was one word, one final outburst from
the priest and Goku would probably tear off both their arms.

Sanzo
sighed angrily and tapped his chopsticks out evenly on his plate before finally
picking up a small piece of the sweet and sour, popping the whole thing in his
mouth. Immediately the monk opened his lips back up, breathing out rapidly
around the too-hot item in his mouth. It was by far one of the most awkward
things Gojyo had ever seen Sanzo try to do. It took a few murmured curses and
some more huffing, making Gojyo think of other things that really didn’t belong
at the dinner table, but the blonde eventually got it down. Gojyo tore his eyes
away from the priest’s throat as the muscles contracted to swallow, hoping that
the shitty monk’s sharp eyes hadn’t noticed him staring. He finally picked up
his own chopsticks, having nothing left to do but eat in this gloomy silence.
Hakkai was apparently having the same thoughts, even though he was feeding
Hakuryuu instead of eating himself.

The meal
would have been carried on in complete silence, if Goku didn’t insist on
moaning and loudly exclaiming how good every single bite was. It almost was
enough to make the food turn to ash inside Gojyo’s mouth. How was he supposed
to enjoy a meal when Goku sounded like he was about to orgasm? Gojyo caught
himself in the middle of thinking about Goku and sex together in the same
sentence, suddenly horrified with himself. It was that damn talk he had with
the ape last night; certain now that the idiot at least had some clue as to what
was going on in the bedroom. Gojyo shook his head, but unfortunately the
movement brought him back to staring Sanzo. It was turning into a very
dangerous habit, considering how badly Sanzo had reacted to just being called
beautiful. As if there was a better word Gojyo could have picked out to
describe the man, beyond egocentric prick. He was just absolutely fascinating
with hair that was starting to dry back into its usual order, somehow managing
to serve himself up a bowl of plain rice as well and was consuming it.
Gojyo had never seen Sanzo put any relish into a meal, but right now the priest
was hoisting up the bowl and shoveling it into his face, close to resembling
Goku if he wasn’t so damn elegant about it.

“Sanzo,
you’ve got to try the meat buns!” Goku demanded at last, actually having
the generosity to share food as he hoisted a meat bun up to Sanzo’s face. Gojyo
sighed and started pushing his food around on the plate, knowing that the pissy
blonde was the only person in the whole world that Goku would ever spare food
for. There were just too many fucking people interested in the shitty monk:
Hakkai and Gojyo now officially sexual with the man, Goku just had always been
like this, and every other human being Sanzo walked past struck blind with adoration
for his not-so-holy visage. Gojyo couldn’t understand why the man was so damn
sour about life, but he found it a little bit endearing. Still, Sanzo could be
fucking harsh at times and Gojyo waited for the man to explode on poor, dumbass
ape.

Instead,
Sanzo gave the kid a narrow-eyed glance over the of of the bowl, silent as
all hell. He lowered the rice and Gojyo had to suddenly bite his teeth together
and simply make a somewhat pained noise since he didn’t dare laugh aloud at the
few grains stuck around the man’s mouth. Hakkai was clamping his lips together
too, obviously humored and doing his best to hide it. It was certainle
me
messiest he had ever seen the priest, minus when he was splattered in blood or
dirt from the latest youkai fight. Gojyo had to hook his legs around the chair
to keep from punching Hakkai out, because he wanted to be the only one that was
thinking of what else Sanzo could do with that mouth. At least Goku was still
young enough to have complete abhorrence for the act, judging from last night.
Even still, poor Goku could be so frustratingly innocent and simplemi,
s,
shaking the meat bun in front of Sanzo’s nose as if trying to make it look
enticing for a house cat. But Sanzo was no pend lnd looked fit to kill Goku
with his own bare hands as the violet glare hardened even further.

Sanzo
proved yet again just how damn unpredictable he was when he just leaned to the
side and took a rather large bite out of the meat bun Goku was holding. Thin
lips softened for a moment, there was the slight flash of white teeth, and tore
out a mouthful neatly. Gojyo and Hakkai both managed to drop their chopsticks
at the same time while Goku just blinked at them in confusion as the High
Priest ate out of his hand. Gojyo and Hakkai both looked on in utter loathing,
jealousy palpable in the air when Sanzo grunted a noise that wasn’t completely
disgusted and went back to his rice. Goku left the meat bun on Sanzo’s plate,
going back to his own meal rather messily without any concern for the heated glares
Hakkai and Gojyo were directing at the ape. Gojyo realized then that there was
simply no point in getting mad at Goku; the stupid kid didn’t even know how
incredibly erotic it could be to be fed by another person…and Sanzo was
outright fucking oblivious. Hakkai wasn’t though, his pet dragon chirping
softly in concern at its master’s dumbfounded expression. It was hard not to
reach across the table and start ing ing the man as Gojyo vaguely remembered
that he was ignoring Hakkai.

text-autospace:none'> “Hey,
Sanzo, this is really good,” Gojyo tried himself, picking out a piece of
meat and lifting it up to the priest. The blonde didn’t answer immediately;
just tilted his head all the way back so he could scrape out whatever was left
of the rice. Hakkai frowned at Gojyo’s daring, but remained silent. The
brunette was probably waiting for him to get reamed by the shitty priest for
talking in the first place, but Gojyo was confident that he had gotten on the
monk’s good side. Sanzo wasn’t the type to let just anyone stit tot to him.

“I don’t
want it,” Sanzo sna out out at last without even looking up at what Gojyo was
offering him. The monk just slammed the empty bowl down on the table and paused
for one moment to wipe his face with a napkin…and then was already back to his
own plate, lifting it up off the table and outright devouring a serving
of beef and broccoli. Gojyo couldn’t eat, could only watch in amazement as
Sanzo eagerly wolfed down the food; the skinny blonde polished off that and
start serving himself up more, probably the most animated that Gojyo had ever
seen the priest be. Well, beyond being the middle of the throes of passion, but
yet again, that wasn’t really something to be thinking about over eating
surfaces; not that he didn’t want to try it anyway. He was probably going to go
straight to hell for having such dirty thoughts about a monk, but Sanzo was
likely headed to the same place simply because of how he acted every damn day.
They were turning out to be quite the pair…

“Well, I
think I see where the ape learned his table manners,” Gojyo said at last when
Sanzo picked up the meat bun with a bite already in it, stuffing that down his
throat in between yet morees oes of the sweet and sour. Sanzo was putting down
everything on the table like a starving man that hadn’t had decent food in
years; Gojyo wondered how far from the truth that might really be. Cigarettes
and vodka didn’t make a full and complete meal, no matter how many times Sanzo
trit. Gt. Good luck to the fool who attempted to force Genjo Sanzo to eat three
square meals a day, though.

“Shouldn’t
you be messing around with some bitch downstairs?” Sanzo snapped when he had
finally swallowed what was in his mouth. It came out with such good timing to
prove his point that Gojyo wondered if Sanzo was able to read minds. Sometimes
the arrogant bastard acted like it; other times it was hard to tell if Sanzo
was aware that there was another intelligent human being beyond himself. Gojyo
hated how Sanzo thought he could say what he pleased just to piss people off,
such as he was doing to Gojyo right fucking now! Well, he wasn’t going
to let this go one for very much longer.

“I
wouldn’t have to if you would just play nice,” Gojyo returned, making his voice
go just low enough to border on husky.

“Gojyo!”
Hakkai and Goku both shouted out indignantly, though the kid ruined it by
spitting out a mouthful of half-chewed food in order to screech at him. Sanzo
just smirked, a goddamn smirk all to himself, before he started sipping
on the water Goku had brought him earlier. Gojyo glared at everyone else
sitting at the table as one, not about ready to believe that his friends were
treating him this badly…at least Goku was the only one that Gojyo could
consider his friend anymore, since the dumbass ape went right back to his food
after yelling once. Apparently that was punishment enough for Gojyo when there
was still something edible in front of the short idiot. Hakkai had pretty much
managed to lose all the respect Gojyo had held for him the second he had
accused him of taking Sanzo against his will, and then turning around and doing
nearly the same damn thing. Not only would Gojyo never do such a thing, it made
him sick to know that Hakkai thought he was capable of it.

He had
seen that fucking painting, too.

Gojyo’s
appetite was completely gone after he remembered that, frowning and trying very
hard not to just grab Sanzo in a hug and tell him yet again that all those
youkai were dead. Sanzo didn’t need that comfort, didn’t want it either. In
fact, it seemed like the only thing he wanted was the grease left on his
fingers after devouring that meat bun, popping a thumb in his mouth…and sucking
hard before moving on to his pointer finger. Gojyo could only watch with his
mouth hanging open like an idiot as Sanzo methodically cleaned every single
finger, as if the irate prude knew it was making the blood rush to his groin
faster than any woman. He was ready to die when Sanzo paused on his pinky,
holding it in his mouth for a moment while his eyes unfocused and the blonde’s attention
was directed elsewhere.

Sanzo was
out of his seat and started walking te bae bathroom- then flat out running for
it, not even bothering to close the door as he was suddenly and very loudly sick.
Goku paused with an egg roll hanging out of his mouth, his eyes going wide as
he half-stood in his seat; obviously not sure if he should go to help Sanzo or
just follow along with the blonde’s favorite plan of action: ignore everything.
Hakkai slapped a hand to his face, clenching his eyes shut and looking fit to
explode at this newest development. As much as Gojyo wanted to be angry with
Hakkai, he could understand that their healer was more than a little bit
stressed out. The first meal Sanzo had eaten in days was already making a
second appearance as the monk vomited in the bathroom, none of them quite sure
if they should see if the blonde was all right or not. Showing concern was the
best way to get a new bruise when it came to dealing Sanzo.

In the
end, it was Hakkai that stood up first and went to the bathroom door to
politely ask if Sanzo needed anything…and was cut off with a merciless ‘get
out!’ before he could even finish the question. Hakuryuu winced along with
Goku, the two of them hunching down and waiting for a fight to break out.
Surprisingly enough though, Hakkai just returned to the main room with that
damn unreadable smile still pasted all over his face. It made Gojyo’s teeth
hurt to see the man acting so damn calm about Sanzo loudly puking into the
toilet. Not even on the mornings with the worst hangovers did Gojyo get as sick
as Sanzo sounded now, a loud curse before more explosive expulsion.

“It’s
probably best if we just leave him alone right now,” Hakkai gently suggested to
the whole room as Gojyo and Goku stared at the bathroom in horror. Goku just
bit down hard on the egg roll, one half falling out of his mouth and hitting
the table as he ran for the bathroom. Gojyo sighed, looking around longing on
the table and only finding tea when he wanted hard liquor. He had just finished
up his pack of cigarettes too, and would have bummed one off of the selfish
monk if the man wasn't still violently ill in the bathroom. Hakkai just
shook his head as Goku disappeared into the bathroom, waiting for the poor kid
to be shoved right back out.

“You
o…uh-huh…anzo,” came Goku’s soft and concerned voice, too quiet for Gojyo
to catch for once. Gojyo waited for it, leaning on his elbows in anticipation
of Sanzo’s legendary temper, and Hakkai was glancing out of the corner of his
eyes as well. They both knew what to expect, hoping that Goku was going to get
clobbered for trying to do something as fucking stupid as help Sanzo.
Gojyo had gotten worse this morning just for telling Sanzo the damn truth about
how pretty he was. He hoped Goku found himself with a new hole to breathe out
of for getting to feed the monk earlier. Sanzo was throwing it all right back
up, so why the hell wouldn’t he be pissed at the ape? The silence just
seemed to stretch though as Hakkai and Gojyo were sorely disappointed by Goku
remaining in the bathroom much longer than Hakkai had managed. Gojyo didn’t
even dare try.

“But,
Sanzo!” Came a whiny protest followed by more mumbling…and then another gagging
noise, the toilet flushing, and running water before there was more murmuring.
Whatever Sanzo said, Goku was finally backing out the bathroom with hands
raised in surrender. He turned on them with a half-grin and sweating face,
obviously nervous about whatever Sanzo had just said. But, he was still in one
piece, not bruised, and not crying. Gojyo couldn’t lie to himself any more- he
was horribly, terribly jealous of Goku. He would have a split lip for daring to
do half the things Goku got to do with Sanzo. Oblivious, happy bastard.

“Uh, hey,
Hakkai, Sanzo wants us to go fuc…I mean, leave,” Goku tried to paraphrase,
grinning weakly and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Gojyo
decided that was cue enough, determined to go downstairs and find a stiff
drink. He still was way too sober to deal with Sanzo, vomiting and bitching
like usual. Was it possible to get a vacation from this damn mission, beyond
when Sanzo was on his deathbed and looking no better than a five-day-old
corpse? He pushed out of his own chair while Hakkai extended an arm out to his
pet and let Hakuryuu crawl up onto his shoulder. Goku was already trotting to
the door, almost skipping in his eagerness to leave Sanzo alone to lick his
wounds.

“Gojyo,
bring me a damn cigarette,” Sanzo’s voice demanded loudly when they all try to
simply escape without further incident. It was like being called in by his
mother, Gojyo unable to keep from flinching and ducking his head in a habit he
hadn’t used in years. He didn’t have any, was going to snitch one of the
monk’s for himself when the blonde wasn’t looking, but faked it anyway as he
shrugged nonchalantly at Sanzo’s annoyed order. He wasn’t about to shuffle out
behind Hakkai and Goku like some servant when it was yet another perfect chance
to be alone with the man. So, he started walking toward the bathroom, doing his
best not to swagger and laugh aloud.

“We won’t
be far,” Hakkai announced loudly as if it was for Sanzo’s benefit when he
obviously meant it for Gojyo. That simple sentence was damn effective in
efficiently popping the good mood Gojyo had almost been in; the door shutting
softly behind as he was left alone. He rubbed at a forehead that was suddenly
very tight, slowly turning into the bathroom and throwing an arm up against the
doorway to lean against as he looked down at Sanzo. The monk was still on his knees,
legs and arms wrapped around the toilet as he stared into the bowl like he was
having a deep conversation with the porcelain circle…and then was curled right
back over the toilet, sick as a dog. Gojyo shook his head, unable to believe
that the monk still had anything left inside, the thin back shaking as
Sanzo gagged and spat into the toilet.

“I was
going to ask you for a stick, actually,” Gojyo admitted in soft voice,
honestly able to feel sorry for the poor bastard when he seemed so miserable
with that blonde head bent down low. As much as he would like to pretend like
nothing was wrong; just wanted a damn smoke for himself instead a physically
ill priest. Vomit wasn’t really a turn on, even if it was Sanzo. Even so,
the shaded glare Sanzo shot at him underneath the fringe of his so very fine
bangs was simply breathtaking. Even kneeling in front of the shitter the priest
somehow managed to look down at whatever face Gojyo was making at the moment
before the blonde wiped at his mouth with a wet towel that he must have made
Goku prepare for him. Gojyo watched silently as the man pushed himself up from
the floor, regaining his usual height but having to put a hand on the counter
to keep it. Of course, Gojyo was glared at since he was the only other person
in the room at the time. What fine fucking luck of the draw.

“Idiot.
Just go warm up the bed, you fucking youkai half-breed,” Sanzo demanded in such
a monotonous voice that it was almost like he just didn’t care enough to insult
him but was doing it on pure reflex. It only took one sentence from the man to
make Gojyo stall and sputter, not sure if his ears were working properly. Sanzo
just flushed the toilet one last time while Gojyo tried to gain his wits back.

“W…hat?”
He couldn’t even piece together a full word, practically going into a seizure
at the absurdity of the request. Sanzo sniffed and shook out his hair, just the
slightest tint of pink on his cheeks.

“I just
want to lie down and don’t want to freeze my ass off. Go make yourself fucking
useful for once,” Sanzo snapped angrily, what little patience he had gone years
agojyoojyo opened his mouth to argue, audibly clapped his teeth together,
and stood there a little bit longer just in case the monk was going to change
his mind. The High Priest was even less predictable than a woman, blowing up
and then asking Gojyo to lie in the same bed as him. How the hell was he
supposed to keep up with this crazy act? Feeling more than slightly stunned,
Gojyo turned right around and went to warming up the sheets while Sanzo washed
his mouth out with water from the sink.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:
It’s been so long I don’t know what to say anymore. I just hope you
enjoyed the reading so far and will stick around for Hakkai and Gojyo showdown
along with Sanzo being his ultimate kick-ass self. As usual. If only all
blondes were as cool as Sanzo…

BETA-RIFIC HELPERS:
Give credit where credit is do. Grammatical and punctuation correctness
is brought to you by:

Ce'>Catilina

Iie nome

ALPHABETICAL REASON TO KEEP WRITING:

Arren- Yes, Sanzo/Goku is
just as perverted as finding slash your grandmother wrote. I promise more
Hakkai next chapter, I feel that he’s been sorely neglected of late. Thank you
for the review!

Buenagirl13- Sorry about the abruptness of the last
chapter. I guess this wasn’t any better, but it was longer! Don’t worry;
everything will be dealt with in good time. Please read more, I love it when
you comment! Thank you for reviewing.

Cupnjava c[~]~~~*sip*- Thank you for reviewing once
again. I’m honored that you don’t want to read my stuff while you’re writing
something of your own. Thank you for the individual impressions of each
character portrayal, that makes me feel really special. I live for the nice
long reviews like yours and appreciate the safe travel wishes. New chapter for
a dedicated fan? I think so.

Demon45- Thank you for reviewing again! You always
leave nice long juicy comments too, which I totally appreciate.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’m so excited to hear your response…and
relieved you think everyone is still in character. Lol, please don’t die; I
need you to review more!

Dutch-Girl- Yet another Deviantart/mediaminer fan!
Thank you so much for commenting on either/or websites.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Goku’s first hangover wasn’t as bad as we all
remember ours being (tried to make him drink water because…well, simply, POOR
GOKU! Cuddle) I hope this update can tide you over for a while! No need to
worship when you review, that’s enough for me any day!style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

style='color:windowtext'>Evilkat- (Winner for first to review!
Hooray and confetti for our reigning champion) I don’t have to tell you
anything, you already know what I have planned. Pervvy minds think alike. Gojyo
and Hakkai confrontation is… soon. I didn’t want to shove it in this chapter
and not give it justice. You always get a shout out since you always comment,
andprompromptly too! Thank you again!

Flamingolo- Yes, HOLY shit! Thank you for writing
down your reaction, that really gives me the inspiration to crank out some
more. Hakkai needed some High Priest booty after everything he’s had to deal
with! Lol. I’m so glad you’re enjoying these new chapters, as crazy as they’re
getting. You do a great job with reviewing me too, so thank you!

FogWolf- Once again, I’m choosing crazy fan girl
speed to make up for the dragged out Act I. Good thing you prefer long
chapters, because this one was a doozy. I hope I can give more good scenes to
compare to Gojyo and Goku having a heart to heart. Giggle. Thank you reviewing!

Jukebox- Thank you for the art link, I’ve seen this
one before… so good (openly drooling). Not to be a sad, self-promoting feeb,
but check out my deviant art page too if you have the time: http://animegher.deviantart.com/
what? It needs to stand out. It’s a link…weak cough. Thank you for reviewing me
always, and following me in both main fandoms!

Jenna Muff- It’s so nice to gain a new fan! Such an
enthusiastic one too! (Grabs Kleenex) I promise fun, tear-free smut soon,
really! In fact, I think it’s already there. Maybe we just need more. Thank you
so much for reviewing everything on all the sites I’ve posted!!!

Kuroi Gitaa- Ah, Thank you for finally reviewing!
Good Kou, you get a biscuit! …of yaoi… I’m so happy that my fic could touch you
in any manner whatsoever! Thank you for commenting and reading along so far!

Lychee- Well, Hakkai can be understanding, s tim times (all the time. Weak cough. I’ve butchered him, haven’t I?). Here is yet
another insanely long chapter; I hope that you enjoyed it. I got a new keyboard
and gave it up because I just type faster with the old one! Thank you so much
for reviewing!!

Neuroticsquirrel- Well, I do have that obsessive
fear that I’ll get hit by a car or something and die, and since nobody knows I
write this stuff in real life, it’ll just stop and I’ll have a whole bunch of
angry fan girls over my grave. But I’m paranoid too.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Besides, I’m never going to stop in my
mission to make the world a dirtier place! Thank you for commenting!

Ryushin- Conscious Sanzo! Err; hope I’m not giving
the wrong impression of our favorite hard-boiled priest. If nothing else, I can
promise Sanzo kicking ass very soon. At the end of the day, it is all about the
Gojyo/Sanzo. Let’s return to our roots. ‘Fucked sideways’= brilliant phrase
that makes me giggle. Thank you for the long review, it was gr~reat!

style='color:windowtext'>Thandie-(FIRST PERSON TO EMAIL ME WITH FAN
ART!!!) yay! I should probably make a different shout-out box to all the
deviant art friends, but this chapter was already long enough. Thank you for
complimenting me on the second half, I’m worried that the gratuitous fan
service is making me lose my touch on the characters. Thank you for reviewing
and… I LOVE YOUR SAIYUKI ART! (Heavy panting)