Rain, a saiyuki fanfic

Disclaimers: I don't own Gensomaden Saiyuki. No profit was made from this.

Written one rainy stormy afternoon. To give myself a reason to smile.

***

The rains came down and the floods went up

And Genjo Sanzo's temper went from bad to worse.

Of all the worst things to happen to him, Genjo Sanzo could not imagine this. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere, with not a single sight of shelter to be seen. And the sky was becoming dark. If there was one thing Genjo Sanzo despised, it was getting stuck in the rain. Rain was on his top ten list of things to be avoided. (And if this list was scrutinized, one could also make out that mountains with chained monkeys were also to be avoided.)

A reason why he liked the desert was because, it never rained. But now it seems he'd need a cold shower. Because believe it or not, the sky was starting to cloud. And it looked to be a heavy downpour. Unfortunately for Sanzo, even his title could not save him from this ordinary event.

"It's a natural although rare phenomenon." Hakkai's words failed to give comfort. "Happens once in two years or so I've heard."

"Guess we better stop. Hakuryuu's getting wet."

Everyone grudgingly got out of the car.

"But I'm cold. And hungry, and tired, and hungry. Why must we walk?"

"Get moving saru, unless you want to taste the bouzo's fan." Gojyo began to follow Hakkai.

"You mean it's edible?" *Thwack* "Itai!"

Sanzo replaced his fan. He did not know why he bothered. It only made his fan wet and that gave him another reason to grudge the rain.

"Hey, aren't dragons supposed to be guardians of rivers and rain bringers?" Goku asked suddenly.

"Er.." Hakkai was lost for words. Everyone looked accusingly at Hakuryuu, who began to squeak his protest.

"Let's stop here." Hakkai intervened.

They stopped at a place that was not so sandy, but seeing that they were in the desert, sand was unavoidable. Hakkai pulled out a waterproof canvas from nowhere and started to pitch a tent. It was a little difficult with sand as a foundation but sand when wet enough is better than nothing. There were no sticks around so Hakkai borrowed Goku's Nyoibou with much whining from him.

"What's wrong with Gojyo's shakujo?"

"His blade would make a hole in the tent." Hakkai explained calmly, tying the canvas.

After that, they all sat in the temporary shelter sometimes staring into space, or at the rain or at each other. There was nothing but the sound of rain drumming against the roof and the wind howling outside. The weather got worse with the passing time. And so did Goku's hunger and groans. It was only natural for Gojyo to pick a fight with him.

It was also only natural for Sanzo to pull his gun on them. In one swift movement, he thumbed back the hammer and pulled the trigger. The revolver gurgled and water trickled out from the muzzle.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Yelled the pale Gojyo.

"Ch. It's clogged." Sanzo added this to the growing list of reasons why he hated rain.

Other things on this list included, his hair was wet, he was wet, his robes were wet, his cigarettes won't light, there were no change of clothes, they were wasting time, he was wasting time, he was stuck with them for company, Goku was driving him nuts, his socks were wet, and so were his slippers and that meant squeaky slippers, which was irritating and that made the rain irritating, et cetera, et cetera.

That's when they noticed they were sinking. It took awhile for realization to hit.

"Quicksand!"

Everybody jumped out. Only to find themselves sinking further.

"What on earth?!" Gojyo watched his ankles quickly disappear under the sand. It occurred to him that drowning in sand was just as bad as drowning in water. Or maybe worse. Not a comforting thought.

"Stop thrashing. You only make it worse." Hakkai advised. Hakuryuu kyued in unison and landed just in front of Hakkai. He put out a foot tentatively on the ground in front of him. It was solid. He moved his whole weight there. He tested the ground all around. It was firm as well. He offered a hand to Gojyo who was trying to keep as still as possible despite being pulled further into the ground.

"Thanks." Gojyo looked around. He noted that the priest and his ward were safe. But Goku's safety remained debatable. Sanzo looked ready to throw him back into the quicksand. Goku was protesting loudly.

"But my Nyoibou is still in there..."

He looked back at a smiling Hakkai.

"Another rare phenomenon?" Hakkai nodded.

"It usually happens near swampy areas and waterlogged places. Where clay is deposited to the bottom and sand floats to the top.." Gojyo held up his hands.

"Spare me. But we're not near any wetlands are we?"

Hakkai himself found it strange. He reasoned that they were now in another one of those irrational plots of an equally unreasonable author.

Hakuryuu flew Goku's floating Nyoibou back to its owner. Goku's gratefulness was just as audible as his whines.

"Thanks Hakuryuu! You will always remain my favourite dragon!"

Hakkai and Gojyo walked over to them. They joined Sanzo watch the place where they had formerly been. Except for the floating canvas, there were no other traces of a quicksand.

The rain stopped shortly and they continued their journey out of the desert or rather west. Unfortunately, the map was wet and couldn't be unfolded without risking it being torn. So it was more accurate to say that they continued their journey blindly out of the desert. If they had stayed a while longer, they would have been treated to the beautiful sight of blooming desert flowers. A sight to behold! And yes, another rare phenomenon.

Dusk was falling and the four travelers were still in the middle of nowhere. Since Hakuryuu was tired, they began to walk. The walk was accompanied by complains from Goku who was quite safe from Sanzo's paper fan. Sanzo had attempted to whack Goku a few minutes earlier, but due to the rain, the fan was soaked and only made squelching noises. Sanzo threw it away in disgust. He'd have to get a new one in town. But in the mean time, the newspaper would have to do.

"Wait, is that light?" Hakkai paused momentarily. Everyone followed the direction of his gaze. Sure enough, there was a town ahead.

"What are you waiting for? Race you there!" Gojyo gave Goku a playful push before running ahead.

"That's not fair! You got a head start." cried the boy, regaining his composure.

"Kids." Sanzo observed.

"You have to admire their spirit. Yours have been dampened, I think, by the rain." Hakkai smiled leading the way.

Sanzo made no reply.

Half an hour later found them miraculously in town. Town was, actually a small village in the middle of nowhere, which is okay since they just escaped from nowhere to nowhere, it did not make a difference. Though it would have been better to wind up in somewhere but since that's not the point of the story we'll leave them nowhere. They had just secured a place to sleep, when it started to rain again. It did not bother them since they were safely inside the building. Or so they thought.

"Gojyo?" Gojyo pretended to snore. Why on earth did he agree to room with the monkey? Because the great Sanzo-sama's peace must not be disturbed.

"Gojyo?"

Gojyo snored louder. Hopefully Goku would get the hint and leave him alone.

"Gojyo! I know you're awake." Goku shook his shoulder. Sigh. The boy has a stomach for a brain after all.

"Go to sleep will you?" Gojyo opened one sleepy eye. Goku smiled triumphantly. That could not be ignored. Gojyo grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. A muffled 'ouch' came from Goku informing him that he had hit his intended target. Gojyo couldn't help grinning but when no sound came from Goku, he rolled over.

"Goku?" He was rewarded with a pillow in his face.

"Got you!" A pillow fight ensued. But it stopped the instant the door was flung open. Sanzo was in the doorway. And where Sanzo was, his gun was never far behind.

"Must you quarrel every single dam day? Urusai!" He said as he fired into the air.

Having made his point, he returned to his room. But the whispers continued of course.

"Baka saru."

"Ero kappa."

Gojyo could not resist throwing another pillow.

"Hah! You missed!" Goku jeered.

"You're just too short."

"Who you calling short, ero kappa?" Goku started to walk towards Gojyo but slipped on the slippery floor.

"ITAI!"

"Shhh!!" Gojyo's warning came too late. Sanzo was at the door, gun in hand.

"What did I say.." He shot in the air again. That was when he noticed that the floor was wet. He arched his brows and looked at Goku then at Gojyo.

"What?" Gojyo asked.

"Floor's wet." Sanzo looked again. "Correction. Whole floor is wet." He turned his attention to the bullet holes he had just made in the roof. There was water seeping through.

"Oh dam."

There was no doubt about it. The roof was leaking and it was flooding. But the flood wasn't entirely Sanzo's fault. Further inquiries revealed that, it flooded every time it rained due to the village's bad drainage system. Sanzo's party was forced to move to a higher level. They chose to spend the night in the village's school. They practically had to swim there.

This posed a problem for Gojyo couldn't swim and there was no boat available. There was much hesitation on his part which ended with him being forced to have free swimming lessons. And to Sanzo's annoyance, all his possessions and goodness knows what he kept in those robes of his got wet, or tried to float away.

This proved to be a very scary experience for everybody.

"Darn." Sanzo finally voiced his distress.

"What?"

"My credit card. It's missing."

"What?!"

Everyone began to frantically look for it. Sanzo frowned. They hadn't been that helpful when he thought he lost his gun.

Suddenly, Goku cried out excitedly.

"Look! There's a basket of apples floating in the water!"

"Don't you ever think of anything else?" Gojyo dunked him underwater.

"No! It's floating away!"

Besides food, other things drifted by. Chairs, furniture, (No, no refrigerators to Goku's dismay) and other critters fighting against the current. Among this were drowning cockroaches, to which Goku said,

"Look kappa, they can't swim just like you!" And was dunked repeatedly for his observation.

Hakkai caught a floating chair and offered it to Gojyo.

"Hang on to this and you won't end up like them. (cockroaches)"

"You don't have to be mean." Gojyo protested.

They finally reached the school, with gun, credit card and a half drowned Gojyo intact. Cold and shivering, they sat in the middle of the school hall, trying to get some sleep. But even there they did not have peace. Goku caught a cold and started to sneeze violently. No matter how many times Gojyo threatened him, he continued to sneeze. There was good side to it though. He scared off other creatures that survived the flood so they didn't have to share the hall. Hakkai was attending to Hakuryuu when Sanzo leaned forward and said,

"Another one of nature's rare phenomena?"

"No. This one is quite normal." Hakkai smiled and added, "Nature's wonderful isn't she?"