Disclaimer: Saiyuki belongs to Minekura Kazuya.
Sanzo looked carefully towards Goku, not comprehending. Goku was looking into a full-sized mirror with his lips pursed in thought. His brows furrowed as he sized himself up and apparently, judging from the worried expression, Goku didn't like what he was seeing. This had been going on for almost twenty minutes now.
At first, Sanzo reasoned that it was because this was the first time Goku saw himself in a full-sized mirror; after all, there weren't many mirrors in the temple. Still, Sanzo found it odd that Goku would be so mesmerized with his reflection because although Goku liked pretty things, he wasn't really the preening type.
After a few more minutes of observing this unusual behavior, Sanzo motioned for Goku with his hand.
"Mmm? What's wrong Sanzo?"
Sanzo raised an eyebrow and Goku started to look embarrassed.
"Oh… the mirror thing."
Yes the mirror thing. But Sanzo wasn't prepared to hear what Goku said next.
"Sanzo, do you think I'm growing?"
Sanzo looked at Goku and frowned. He thought he could see where this was coming from. At nineteen, Goku still looked more like a kid than anything else. It wasn't just the fact that he was small in size. The way he moved, the way he talked, the way his expression changed in flashes whenever he got excited – you could always see the child in Goku. Sanzo never thought of it as something bad (in fact, he liked it), but judging from the expression on Goku's face, Goku thought otherwise.
"Why does it matter?"
Sanzo was curious, so instead of answering the question, he waited for Goku to explain.
Goku looked confused, and then he let out a smile, the kind that looked more sad than happy – the kind that Sanzo didn't like to see on Goku's face, but the kind that made its appearance more frequently than before. Stupid monkey. Couldn't he see that expression on his own face? He was growing. Too fast, and not in the way Sanzo wanted him to.
"It's nothing."
At this, Sanzo snorted and tugged at Goku's hair. Then, he passed his hands slowly over the tips of Goku's fingers, gently rubbing.
"You need a haircut. You also need to get your nails clipped. …Do you get what I'm saying?"
Goku went silent for a moment. And then he hung his head, so Sanzo couldn't see the expression on his face, but it didn't matter, because he didn't really need to. Goku pressed his hand tightly into Sanzo's, nudged his head forward and mumbled, "Yes. That means yes, right?"
This momentary weakness. It was disconcerting.
Sanzo looked down at the figure clinging on to him. He looked at Goku's back. Sometimes, so many times he would rely on that back to save him and to save the group. He knew he was safe when he could feel Goku's back behind his in battle. So much depended upon that back, yet, it looked so small right now.
He looked so small.
"Your hair grows, and so do your nails. What more evidence do you need? You're not in that stupid cave anymore. Yes. You're growing."
The tension fled as Goku finally relaxed, looked up and attempted another smile.
That stupid sad smile again.
Sanzo could feel his throat closing up, but still, he was able to force it down as he grumbled to Goku, "You're getting too big to cling on me, that's for sure."
When he allowed himself to steal a glance on Goku's face, he was rewarded with shining eyes and a wide, happy grin – the kind he liked.