Sanzo could practically feel a migraine begin to gnaw at the back of his head. From the first day they arrived in this village the townspeople had been showing up at their hotel and even their tables when they were eating dinner. They were giving him and the others praise for their fine job of protecting the village from youkai attacks and now they were asking him for solutions to the simplest problems. One elderly woman even came to him pleading for him to use his 'priestly powers' to cure her of arthritis. There was only so much he could take, but now an even bigger irritation stood in his way, and it was as big as a mountain. Literally. He scanned the map laid out before him and desperately tried to find another pathway to get around the mountain that was blocking their path but with no avail. He twisted and desperately turned the map in his hands before placing it back in the hands of Hakkai and turning to his cigarettes. He sighed in irritation and glanced at Hakkai who scrutinized the map once more. Meanwhile a small argument was breaking out between Goku and Gojyo over the last plate of yakisoba. He resisted the urge to whip out his pistol as Hakkai hushed them and their volume to a minimum.
"Quiet you two, let me here myself think for a moment." He urged, while tracing his finger on the routes surrounding the village and their destination.
"Give it a rest Hakkai, there is no way around that mountain. Even if we used these two idiots as a battering ram to break it down it would still propose a problem." Sanzo lit a cigarette and closed his eyes before taking a long drag. It would take days to actually find a route to get around that massive landmass, and time was something they didn't have. Not to mention the complaining and bickering that would follow.
"Well maybe a certain monkey shouldn't have whined Hakkai into turning into the village for some food." Sanzo felt an eyebrow twitch, as Gojyo instigated the problem once again. Goku was quick to react and then began to shout at him.
"Me? What about you?" He paused and then mimicked the kappa in an annoying tone. "Oh Hakkai my chicken legs, they're too long and l can't sit in this seat for two days!" Sanzo flicked some ash off of his cigarette and began to inch his hand for his Smith and Wesson. Resist the urge to kill. The two then began to get in each other's faces and throw insults back in forth, with Hakkai politely and failing to quiet them down. Sanzo had enough; he snatched his gun out of his robes and brandished it at Goku and Gojyo, an itchy trigger finger ready to pull.
"Seriously you three, we have a bigger problem here. Sanzo put away your weapon before everyone else has a heart attack!" Hakkai shouted his usually leveled calm voice breaking through the noise.
A brief cough caused the four to turn their attention to two men, aged and clearly a little buzzed. Sanzo silently concealed his weapon and turned away to smoke in solitude while Gojyo and Goku both returned to their seats. Hakkai simply smiled in greeting, "Um, sorry about the noise—"
One of the men held up their hands in defense, "No that's not it. You see we overheard your problem…"
Sanzo drowned out the conversation and concentrated on consuming his nicotine faster to ease his stress, he stared out the window and glanced over at the two villagers a couple of times during their dialogue. A woman passed the window, and met eye contact with him for a moment with her grey eyes before shuffling her groceries in her arms and quickly moving on. He narrowed his eyes and stared after her for a moment before an important piece of the conversation met his ears.
"You could go up the mountain, there is a path but it is a journey that would take at least two days and a half. However, many of the villagers haven't traveled up it since the youkai have been going berserk. The only escort I could recommend is one person, Nao. Nao has a certain type of background that would make the task of taking you four up the mountain a breeze."
Sanzo turned to the two and stubbed his cigarette out in the nearby ashtray, "Their residence. Where is it?"
"Well hold on priest, Nao is a possibility for you but I'm not too sure you want to bother someone like that. I mean, Nao has been a little bit of a loner since the recent attacks. Before the roommate died we used to let anyone escort others up the mountain, but now we have to keep our eyes open for any… madness."
"Please if you would just hear us out and tell us where this Nao is, we would be extremely grateful." Hakkai asked.
"Alright if you insist." The other man said, "Nao lives at the edge of town a few houses down pass the medical clinic. The house is so small you can't miss it." With that the two turned and made their way back to the bar.
Goku turned to Sanzo, "Why are they so cautious about this Nao guy?"
Sanzo shrugged and handed his credit card to the waitress, "Who cares."
"I care. Would if we have a serial killer leading us the damn mountain?" Gojyo asked, picturing one of those monolith guys with a hockey mask. "Leave it to Sanzo to pick a psycho." Before Sanzo could even think about shooting a bullet through Gojyo's skull Hakkai intervened.
"Come on now, do we have a choice? Would you rather have a two day trip or a five day one? Tomorrow we will set out early and get some supplies before dropping by to the house. Everyone be ready by morning."
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience dear; I couldn't make it to the clinic with this leg…" The elderly woman said, pleading for forgiveness and watching the young woman before her gently wrap her sprained ankle. She had been taking a stroll in the forest just beyond the village when she took a nasty fall, and seeing how she had terrible joint pain already she couldn't even find the energy to stand up. "You even carried me to your home, such a sweet child."
The young woman she was speaking to stopped supporting the ankle and looked up at her with a smile, then pushed a lock of dusty pink hair behind her ear before looking back down to her handy work. "Not a problem, but you do need to be more careful out in the forest with the youkai attacks and all. What were you even doing out there?"
The elderly woman took a moment to recollect and then pounded her fist in her other open hand, "I was trying to find some nice fresh medical herbs to give to the Sanzo party. They're here you know, I would have never thought that a priest as great as the priest Sanzo would make a stop in our town during my lifetime. The villagers and I are ecstatic. Have you heard about them Urasaki-chan?" Urasaki nodded in reply and finished the wrapping before standing and heading to the cabinets to find some soothing ointment. "You should stop by to see them sometime dear, they really are something. Such young boys doing something so noble. If only my son could do something that great with his life."
"I think I'll be fine whether I meet them or not, but yes, they are doing something… worthwhile." Urasaki responded while reaching in the back of the cabinet to retrieve the medicine, she took out the small container and checked the expiration date before going to hand it to the elderly woman. "Whenever you go to bed rub this on your ankle, it will ease the pain until it is properly healed."
"And so handsome too!" Urasaki exhaled a short breath and shook her head in amusement, pressing the container into her hands. She would be rambling for a few minutes and Urasaki was just fine with the little company. She rarely got any these days; she glanced around her small home and noticed how small it was with the added person in the room. The kitchen and living room were compact, a small kotatsu table in the middle of the room. The bedroom and bathroom were in two separate rooms but both equally small in measure as well. She was knocked out of her thoughts from a small knock at the door.
"Excuse me." She said, oblivious to the fact that the elderly woman didn't hear a word. She cautiously walked over to the door and cracked it, seeing four young men on her doorstep. "Can I help you?" she asked her tone low.
"Hakkai." The blonde said simply before taking a drag out of his cigarette.
"Certainly. Hello, we were wondering if we could speak to Nao. We were told that he lives here." A dark brunette man asked while stepping forward. She stared at them blankly and examined them all while processing his remark. He lives here?
"But we wouldn't mind speaking with you either doll face." Said a man, almost equal in height with the brunette and an uncommon crimson shade of eyes and hair to match his strange group. She opened the door a little bit more.
"Well you're going to have to anyway, I'm Nao. Now what do you four want?