Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki and neither do I wish to.
Summary: Goku's first encounter with Valentine's Day and how he interprets it.
Learning About Valentine's
by Lena Claire
"Um, Hakkai?"
"Yes?"
"What's up with this town?"
"What is puzzling you about it, Goku?"
"Um…Well…we've been walking down this street for awhile-" Goku stuttered whist gesturing around him.
"Duh, we're looking for a place to stay." Gojyo stated matter-of-factly whist smacking Goku at the back of his head.
"Shut up! I'm not done yet you ass!"
"What did you call me!"
"If you both don't can it…" Sanzo threatened while pressing his palm into one of his eyes, signaling a growing headache.
"In any case, you were saying Goku?" Hakkai quickly interjected before Sanzo got more agitated.
"The whole town is covered in red and pink! And Hearts! And- and- well," Goku's voice dropped down to a whisper. "I don't think I've ever seen so many people holding hands and kissing in one place before!"
Hakkai gave a soft chuckle before replying.
"Well, it probably is because it's Valentine's Day."
"Valentine's Day? You mean there's a day where everyone has an excuse to act as horny as Gojyo?"
At this Hakkai gave an outright laugh and Sanzo had to suppress the slight upward twitch around his lips.
"What the hell!" Gojyo balked and reached out to give another whack at Goku, who scurried somewhat behind Sanzo.
Hakkai placed a placating hand on Gojyo's shoulder and continued his explanation.
"Well, legend has it that a person named Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. The Emperor at that point of time felt that single men served as better soldiers than those with wives and therefore, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine though, felt that this was unfair and he defied the Emperor and performed secret marriages for young lovers in secret. Valentine's actions were discovered later on and he was put to death."
A moment of silence hung in the air.
"Oh." Goku said, slightly blanked.
Gojyo muttered soon after, "Whoa, that must have really sucked. Who knew it could evolve into just flowers, hearts and sex-"
"Because there are people in the world like you who only think of Sex!" Goku interjected in a matter of fact tone.
"Alright, we're here." Hakkai quickly said, sensing an impending quarrel as he held Gojyo by the shoulder and steered him further front, away from Goku.
Seeing his "nemesis" being taken away from him, his attention was diverted to Sanzo.
"Sanzo?"
"What."
"What do you think of Valentine's Day?"
"It's a damn bloody excuse for shops to swindle cash from idiotic people whom only look forward to bacterial barter between different orifices and sometimes other situations which you are too young to know of. "
"O…kay…" Goku dragged out, obviously confused but sensing Sanzo's bad mood, had decided not to press on a topic that derived his displeasure.
Seeing Hakkai approaching, bearing two keys, Goku bore down on him, knowing he would get a more interesting answer than the one from Sanzo.
"Hakkai! What do you think of Valentine's Day?"
"Well-" Hakkai paused for a moment in thought. "Love appears in various forms. I personally think it is a day to share love. Be it between lovers, family or friends."
Gojyo had just sauntered over, but hearing Hakkai's answer had guessed the question.
"Wanna know what I think monkey?" He said as he gave a trademark smirk over to the lady at the counter who blushed immediately upon seeing it.
"You only think about one thing. That's why you are called a Horn-" Goku didn't manage to finish his sentence before he had a key nudged into his hand.
"Here, you share this room with Sanzo, I'll share the other with Gojyo."
Goku didn't have much of a chance to reply before Sanzo snatched the key out of his hand and started storming his way to it.
"H-hey! Sanzo! Wait up!" Goku yelled after him as he started running.
Goku caught the door just as it was about to slam in his face.
"Jeez, chill will you Sanzo?" Goku muttered as he stepped into the room and shut the door gently behind him.
"Ch." Sanzo uttered and took out a cigarette.
Goku cringed slightly as the smoke drifted towards him. He quickly walked to the window and opened it up, inviting fresh air into the room.
"Hmm-" Goku hummed as he looked out. "Hakkai still didn't explain why there are so many hearts… and flowers too now that I can see more people."
Calmed down somewhat by the nicotine, Sanzo decided to humor Goku this time.
"It's a common practice to give flowers and chocolates. Gives florists reason to jack up their prices ten times more than they originally were."
"Ten Times! Wow. That's a lot." The brunette replied as he leaned further out to get a better view."
"Lean out anymore and you'll fall, idiot. They probably make up a quarter of their revenue in one day of the year."
"You mean this only lasts one day?" Goku said as he spun round to face Sanzo.
"Yes. So?" Sanzo bit out, patience beginning to wane.
"Oh, um, nothing. Gotta go! See you later…"
The line hadn't properly registered in Sanzo's head and Goku was gone.
"Ch." Sanzo breathed out as he lit another stick.
"The damn monkey better appear soon! I'm freaking hungry!" Gojyo proclaimed, emphasizing his point by clutching at his stomach.
"Ah, let's wait a little longer Gojyo, I'm sure he'll be here soon. It was rather uncharacteristic of him to just disappear like that without telling us his whereabouts…" Hakkai replied, trying to placate Gojyo but his worry coming through as well.
Just then, the door to the inn slammed open.
"Oh good! You guys are here already." Goku said as he jogged in.
"We've been waiting for so lon-" Gojyo paused as he noticed what was in Goku's hands.
"Here-" Goku continued, ignoring Gojyo's uncompleted outburst. " I picked this up for you all! Happy Valentine's Day!"
Goku handed each of them a bouquet of wild flowers, baby's breath and lavenders surrounding them and held together by a piece of deep blue ribbon.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment.
"You don't like it." Goku muttered, interpreting the silence into a different meaning and unable to hide his disappointment.
"We do, we do. Thank you Goku" Hakkai was the first to break the silence amongst the three as he voiced out his gratitude.
Gojyo good-naturedly reached over and put Goku into a headlock and ruffed his hair. "That's for making us wait for so long!"
Sanzo laid the flowers gently on his lap. The action itself spoke volumes and Goku was saw it through the mad scramble to get out of Gojyo's reaches and he couldn't help but grin.
"Now…" Sanzo proclaimed all importantly and everyone's attention was turned to him. "…We eat."
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed it. I thought my stories needed a little lightening up, so I wrote this one for Valentine's. Hope you all had a happy one