Disclaimer: I do not ooooowwwwwnnnn Saiyuki! So get off my BAAAAAAKK!

Ahh… nothing like a good song! Hee hee

- Ready or not… -

They thought they were ready for anything their pursuers could dish out. They thought they were ready, but they weren't. They had no frigging idea…

It started out as normal. They were driving, trying to reach a destination that seemed so far away. One was complaining of food, another was yelling at the hungry kid; the third was yelling at the other two, and the forth was sitting in the driver's seat, laughing at them all. Then, as the small jeep rolled over the hill, they stopped talking, and the vehicle stopped. About two dozen demos lay in their path.

Goku and Gojyo were sent to extinguish the demons, as Sanzo felt he and Hakkai weren't needed out there. He sat safely in his seat and sipped some tea, instead, and Hakkai watched the fight. They were winning, as usual.

"Sanzo?"

"What is it? I'm busy drinking, here."

"Well… Goku seems to be moving a lot slower today."

"Well, he was complaining about behind hungrier than usual today. In the end, I bet he is just putting on a show so we'll hurry to the next town and feed him."

"Yes, probably!"

They were winning. The last demon fell at the hand of Gojyo, as Goku had set himself down on the ground halfway through the battle. Something was wrong. He sensed danger, but he couldn't make the uneasy feeling go away. He had never been afraid like that before. He felt almost sick, and grabbed his stomach. Gojyo walked over to him and put one of his big feet on his back. When he didn't respond, Gojyo quickly removed his foot and knelt next to the boy.

"Hey, Goku… What's wrong with you today? You're way off your game."

"I got a bad feeling…"

"A bad feeling? What do you mean?"

"It's like… usually, I can guess what I'm going to do tomorrow, but now…"

"You're not making any sense."

"Heh heh heh heh heh. Actually… he's making perfect sense!"

Gojyo and Goku looked over by them. The ringleader of the demon squad lay bleeding, dying. He was almost gone, but he was smiling. Gojyo rose his weapon defensively, but the demon was not afraid.

"What do you mean?"

"I know the feeling you speak of…"

"You do? Then please… tell me what it means!"

"I had… the very same feeling this morning…Yes… that's what it is…"

"Huh?"

"It is a natural sense… of one's mortality. You will die today…!"

Goku gasped. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Gojyo, sensing his friend's fear, took care of the cause. With a flick of his wrist, what remained of the demon was gone. Goku sat on the ground a moment longer, too shocked to move, and then Gojyo grabbed his arm to pull him to his feet.

"C'mon, monkey. Don't listen to what that lunatic said. You're going to be fine."

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah… right."

Goku stood back up, but just second after he did, he caught the sound of an incoming object, and right before his eyes, a rocket flew past him and Gojyo and hit the spot where the jeep, Hakkai and Sanzo had been. Goku wanted to scream, but he was frozen again. Apparently, there were more of those things than they had seen, and one of them was heavily armed. Once the smoke cleared a little, Goku saw Gojyo run into the smoke, and followed him.

It was hard to see anything, but Goku's eyes soon adjusted to the cloudy air, and he searched around for his friends. Gojyo had found Hakkai and Hakuryuu; both appeared to be fine. Sanzo still hadn't been found.

"Sanzo? Sanzo? Answer me, Sanzo!"

Goku heard coughing nearby, and then he saw the glint off of a familiar gun. He landed hard on his knees and helped Sanzo into a sitting position. Running on automatic, Goku began to check Sanzo over. His robes were dirty, but at least he hadn't been hurt badly by that explosion.

"Sanzo, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine…"

Sanzo tried to stand up, but he found it difficult when a worried monkey latched onto his waist. Glaring, Sanzo looked down.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Goku couldn't answer. Honestly, he hadn't thought about hugging Sanzo, he just did it. Something inside told him to do it, and fearing what he thought would happen, he just let it out. He didn't even move when Sanzo was pushing and pulling on him. He barely moved when he was hit with the fan, and that usually worked. Sanzo would normally reach for his gun in that situation, since nothing else worked, but the way Goku clung to him sent a warning through his mind, and he glared up at Gojyo and Hakkai as they walked over.

"What the hell did you do to him?"

"Don't look at me!"

"Yeah, me neither!"

Hakkai knelt down and tried to pry the boy off his keeper, but he didn't get very far. He pulled Goku only a little bit away before the child fought back, only to end up latched onto the monk's neck, instead of his waist. All other efforts were useless.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Goku… Get… off!"

Sanzo stood up and pushed Goku away. The boy landed on the ground with a fearful look on his face. Sanzo tried not to appear worried, but Hakkai was, and he lightly touched Goku's cheek.

"Goku?"

"It's coming…"

"What?"

"Everyone, look out!"

The others gasped, as a barrage of arrows appeared above them. Each of them managed to jump away in time to avoid being skewered, but weren't allowed a lot of time to think before another group descended on them. Hakkai protected himself and Sanzo with a shield, and Goku and Gojyo spun their weapons in the air.

The situation was very unusual and frightening to Goku, somehow, he knew those arrows were coming, and he could see the demons coming over the next hill before they did. He was seeing what would happen next, and he fought using that knowledge. He saw things that prevented the others from getting hurt, and that made him happy. However, once the arrows silenced, and he though it was over, the visions stopped coming.

Goku could no longer tell what was going to happen. There was nothing but blankness in his mind. He looked around at the others. Hakkai was a little banged up, and so Goku was happy. Though Sanzo was loading his gun again. But why? There must have been more enemies, but Goku couldn't see them in his mind.

A ways away, Gojyo stood upright, looking around worriedly. Sanzo was also alert. They all knew there were more demons around, and they had to be ready for them.

"Guys, keep on your toes. We're not out of the woods yet."

"Right."

"I wont let them get ME…"

"Goku, be ready. Goku. Goku?"

They heard a gurgled noise to the left, and following his ears, Sanzo automatically regretted it. Goku was standing up straighter than he ever had before, and with the most shocked look on his face. Looking down, Sanzo saw why. Bursting out of his midsection was a long, sharp, bloodstained sword. The demon was about Goku's height, and so he didn't become visible until the sword was removed, and Goku hit the cold earth.

"Goku!"

Goku was down, lying with his face to the dirt, and not moving, and the fiendish demon that had struck him down was laughing. Gojyo cursed and gathered his weapon again as half a dozen more demons came out to play. He ran out alone to take care of them, and Hakkai readied the jeep. Sanzo's only thought was getting to his motionless companion. He didn't care that he had to blast through a few demons to get there, and once he did, he knelt down.

At first, Sanzo could barely stand to look at the sight, let alone touch him, but he needed to turn the boy over to asses the damage. From the back, there was the wound, which had gotten him, and once he finally turned him over, he saw that it had, indeed, gone all the way through to the front. Sanzo let out his held breath as he laid a badly bleeding Goku over onto his lap, and the boy took in a harsh breath, himself.

Goku was still alive, but his abdomen was bleeding, and blood was even starting to come from his mouth. He coughed and choked, but at least he was alive. Slowly, Sanzo shook the boy, seeing as Gojyo wasn't ready to go, and they had to finish off the enemy. Hearing Sanzo's voice, Goku's eyes automatically opened partway.

"Goku, thank god… say something!"

He didn't speak, and Sanzo shook him a little harder. The movement made him wince, and so Sanzo stopped.

"Goku, it's me! Damn it, Goku, speak to me!"

"S-San…zo…"

"Yes, it's me… Goku, hold on!"

"Sanzo…"

"Yes…"

"I see… a light, Sanzo… so pretty… pretty… do you see?"

"No… God, no! Goku, the light is bad!"

"Pretty… wanna… go touch it…"

"No! Listen to me, the light is bad! Stay away from it!"

Not listening to Sanzo, Goku's hand rose up into the sky, and it was shocking to see the boy reach for Sanzo's hair. He let the boy, but his hand never made it all the way. It dropped before it got there.

Ten minutes later, the group was back on the road, and Gojyo was blazing down the road. Up in the front passenger seat, Hakkai was trying to quickly patch himself up. Behind him, Sanzo was holding tightly onto a still bleeding Goku. The boy looked so much thinner and paler than he ever had before, and the grip Sanzo had on his hand started to draw more of the boy's blood. Hakkai looked back.

"Hold on, guys! I'll come back there soon and heal him!"

"No you wont! You're too injured, yourself! You'd put yourself into a deep sleep before you could even get started!"

Gojyo yelled at him from the front seat, and Hakkai winced as they went over a bump. Goku more than winced, and let out a yell. The bumpy rise was not helping his condition. He was worried they wouldn't make it, so he couldn't very well slow down. In the back, Sanzo became aware of his death grip, and loosened his hold only a little, and drew the boy closer.

"Don't die… damn you, don't die… Goku… I'm not ready… to lose you, or anyone! Please…"

Sometime just before reaching the next town, Goku went still.