Title: Cool as Ice Author: Shiva Darkwater Rating: PG Summary: After it's all over and done with, Sanzo ponders the past while confronted with his future with Goku. Disclaimer: I love Minekura-sensei! She's one of my manga-ka goddesses. So you all know I'd have to write a fic with her characters. Notes: Now. Let's all say WTF!
Now that we've got that covered… cough I thought my first Minekura fic would be a Stigma one, as I read Stigma before I ever read (or watched) Saiyuki. But I'm glad that my first fic is STILL a huge OTP of mine.
And this fic makes no sense, okay? I've never watched all of Saiyuki, I've never read all of it, and I have no idea what happens (except that it goes on into Reloaded and then Gunlock and then 503847284 other seasons, because it takes THAT long to get from China to India. Of course. Okay, so this is really really REALLY AU, and because their relationship sounded a lot like Yuki and Shuichi's of Gravitation, they could both be OOC as well (I enjoy comparing them to Yuki and Shu, maybe that's why I love Sanzo/Goku so much…)
So just… yeah. I'm on crack. And I write strange things when I'm hungry and then don't EAT the food I made and let it sit out while I write. Food inspired fics make no sense. Like the Bunta one, and this one. Okay. tries to reheat her instant shrimp ramen now

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The door clicked shut, feet shuffling to remove shoes and set them in an organized mess with the other set in the doorway. A black blazer was tossed onto a black leather couch, and a sigh was heard from the entryway.

Goku glanced up from his precarious seat as he was seating on the back of a kitchen chair while gazing and poking longingly at the instant ramen that was cooking away on the stove. "Genjo? Are you home?"

Loosening the tie from around his neck, Sanzo raised his eyes to meet the brown ones that were looking right at him, bright and innocent. He sighed again. "Stop sitting like that. You look like a monkey like that." As an afterthought he added, "and you're going to fall off."

Blinking, Goku, grinned. "I'm not going to fall off. See?" He proceeded to raise one leg in the air and over his head, before ungracefully, yet safely, tumbling down to sit in the high backed chair like a normal human. Looking smug for a moment, Goku pouted as he realized his next predicament. "But I can't reach the stove properly sitting like this!"

"Is this seriously what you do all day when I'm at work?" There was an exasperated strain to Sanzo's voice as he picked up the afternoon newspaper and sat in the other seat at the kitchen table.

"Not always" he whined, and then smiled once more. "Yay! It's done!"

Sanzo watched the other man scramble off of the chair to find the bowls and chopsticks, a slight smile forming on his lips. He had come to grow fond of Goku's antics, when years before the boy had driven him nearly insane. Maybe it was the new domesticated lifestyle. Maybe it was because he had realized how nice it felt to go home to someone being there. Maybe it was because of how innocent Goku seemed, when taken away from the atmosphere that had surrounded all of them years ago.

But that time was gone.

They still kept in touch, in as makeshift a way that they could. Hakkai had moved further north, a doctor with his own small clinic. Gojyo had, of course, gone with him, and continued to do whatever it was that Gojyo seemed to do best. Sanzo rolled his eyes, lighting up a cigarette. How Hakkai managed to control him, he would never know.

Sanzo himself however had left the life of priesthood not too long after it had all finished. It had come as a shock to everyone but Goku; it had even shocked himself. But that was the way life was.

Sometimes they would call each other. Sometimes they would take trips to see each other. They never talked about the past. It was best left behind them. It was better to move on and grow. Better to see where a new life would take them and not hang onto the old.

They especially never talked about the past with Goku.

"…jo… Hey Genjo"

Sanzo raised his eyes from the newspaper that he wasn't really reading, his reading glasses slipped down his nose. His violet eyes focused on the boy before him who was currently balancing a bowl on the back of one hand. "Did you say something?"

With a smirk, Goku licked his lips. "I said 'did you want some Mr. Professor?' But I guess you don't."

Quirking a pale golden eyebrow, Sanzo returned, "if I knew what 'some' you were currently referring to."

"The ramen, the ramen," and he pointed to the bowl on the counter. "It's shrimp. I know you like shrimp."

"I hate shrimp."

Now it was Goku's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You're being difficult on purpose."

"So?"

"Don't stop, it's sexy."

Moments later, Sanzo found himself with a lap full of an overgrown kid, bare feet cold against his ankles, and the newspaper was pushed away and forgotten. "I think you're the only one I have ever met to find stubbornness a turn-on. Your feet are cold."

A smile was pressed against the pulse at Sanzo's neck. "I also love how you always completely try and change the subject."

"Your ramen's going to get cold."

Goku chuckled. "Just like that, see? It's so cute." Tanned fingers tried to gently slip the glasses off of Sanzo's nose before giving it a light kiss.

Violet eyes focused on the playful boy straddled across his thighs. "Before you never would have called me 'cute'."

The comment caused Goku to falter, brown eyes widening as he focused in, caught by Sanzo's seriousness. "Genjo… wha…?"

That's right… The reason none of them talked about the past in Goku's presence… Goku had forgotten it all. At the end of their journey, Goku had blanked out. When he came to… it was all gone. His entire memory of what had happened was gone. Their entire journey was a blank.

That's why Sanzo had taken him in, he told them that he'd keep Goku safe. Goku didn't go outside much, which was easier for Sanzo to keep an eye on him, especially if his powers were to awaken and Goku wouldn't even be able to know what was going on.

He saw the lost look in Goku's eyes, could feel the boy trembling against him. Even the coldest man would feel sympathy, and Sanzo had come to realize that he could never be as cold as others seemed to think he was.

"Goku…"

Looking shaken, brown eyes looked up into violet. Sanzo let a hand rest on the side of the boy's cheek, and Goku visibly relaxed. "Genjo…"

"Get off of me, you're too old for this. You're going to crush me."

One could never expect comforting words to come out of Genjo Sanzo's mouth, yet Goku just smiled, resting his head on the blond's shoulder. He knew it was in the callus words that the true concern was. If Sanzo started to spout off poetry, the poor boy would probably run off wailing.

"Ah… okay then. Let's go somewhere more comfortable."

Itching for another cigarette, Sanzo sighed. "What about your ramen?"

"It's already cold now. It can wait until later." With a cheeky grin, Goku added, "I'll feed you some in bed too!"

"Just get off of me!"

"Hee Okay!"