Note: I doubt I really need to say this, but I don't own any characters from Saiyuki. Only Elena and Drak who isn't really going to show up any more. He might be mentioned every once in a while, though. Anyway, please enjoy the new chapter and sorry it took me so long to update. Work is wearing me down.
Riding in the jeep with the four men, Elena had no idea of how she had ended up with them. What she had remembered was Drak's hard hits that had knocked her out. Everything else was darkness.
Sanzo was the only one who knew everything that had happened, though he wouldn't say anything. Why should it matter to the others that he had brought her in? After seeing what had happened to her, he was sure the others would have done the same. Then again, it was natural for them. For him, on the other hand, there always had to be some reason for it.
Gojyo thought of how surprising it was to see Sanzo walk into their hotel room (there having been only one available) with a girl in his arms. And not just any girl, but the one he had helped earlier that day. Why would the "almighty Sanzo" be doing something that appeared to be out of compassion for her? What was in his head? He wondered. Oh well, it at least brought them a female companion that happened to be riding in the back of the jeep right next to him. All he had to do was put his arm around her and he'd be even closer to her.
THE NIGHT BEFORE
Hakkai looked up when he heard the door open, only to look at Sanzo with surprise when he saw her carrying the girl they had seen earlier. "What happened?" He asked, checking the girl for any serious wounds. "Put her on the bed. I'll heal her." He directed, walking with Sanzo as he carried her to the bed.
"I found her outside." Was all Sanzo would say.
Gojyo looked at him curiously, pausing to ask a question and to make a comment, which was going to come first anyway. "Looks like I wasn't the only one who felt something when I saw the bruises. What made you bring her in?" It wasn't like him to do such a thing. He walked over to see how the girl was doing before making another comment, "She looks pretty bad." It was meant to get Sanzo to explain his reason for helping her, only to be ignored as Sanzo sat down and started reading the newspaper.
Gojyo sighed. "Well, I'm sure that leaving her here would mean death for her." It was obviously a hint, though he doubted Sanzo would pay attention. He had ignored the last one.
"She's coming with us." Sanzo said calmly, almost as if it was something he thought should have been known to all of them. What it turned into though, was an argument.
"We can't take her with us." Gojyo said withough thinking, then realized what he had said. To try covering up that little fact, he added, "There isn't enough room. Hakuryu can't carry five people in his other form."
"He's carried six." Sanzo reminded him without so much as a glance from the paper, thinking back on a certain incident that involved a man nicknamed the "blue-eyed angel." "She's coming with us as long as she can handle being around you three idiots."
Before Gojyo could say anything, Hakkai broke in. "How do you know if she'll want to come with us? Or take our help?" He asked. "We don't even know her name."
Sanzo sighed and put down the paper. "She was leaving her boyfriend, I saw her carrying a bag. She wouldn't have gotten very far on her own." Of course he would know since he was the one who had brought her in after seeing her get beat by the guy.
Through all of this, Goku was fast asleep, having no idea of what was going on. At least he wouldn't know until the morning. In a way, Sanzo was glad he wouldn't be hearing his input. He didn't need his support or objections.
"Besides," Sanzo continued, "I seem to remember a certain perverted Kappa offering a rid to another child of taboo who was in the same situation. Am I wrong?"
Gojyo glared at him. "That was different." He nearly roared.
"Oh really? How?" Sanzo answered, pleased that he had drawn the conversation away from him and what he had decided, for the time being.
"She… uhh…." Gojyo stammered, trying to think of a reason he could give to explain how that had been different. Little did he know Sanzo had his own to suggest.
"Because it was your decision?"
"Yeah." Gojyo quickly answered, then caught what Sanzo had said. "I mean, no." He corrected, now shooting a venomous glare at Sanzo.
Hakkai shook his head. "I don't think she'll be able to handle this for long." He muttered under his breath while the two continued their fighting. Maybe she would be with them long enough to find her way back on her feet, at least he hoped that was what would happen. They were still attacked pretty often, but he was sure they could protect her. All he had to do was make sure she stayed with Hakuryu while he was in his jeep form.
Elena had no idea about any of this. She had been unconscious through the whole conversation, even though they had been kind of loud. All she had known was that when she had woken up, she was being watched over by four men that happened to tell her she could travel with them as long as she needed, which led to her sitting silently and watching everything go by. It was almost as though she was watching her past zoom past her to nothing but a dust cloud behind them, and what was ahead was something she didn't recognize in any way.
She wondered why they were doing this. They had no idea of who she was. That was something that didn't even seeom to matter to them. At least until Gojyo put his arm around her and smugly asked, "So, what made you decide to leave your boyfriend?"
Looking to Gojyo, Elena thought for a moment before answering him. "It was what Sanzo had said." She said calmly. "I wanted to prove that I could go on without Drak after hearing Sanzo say he would never change." She looked into Gojyo's crimson eyes for a moment before adding, "Or maybe it was because you had come and showed that there was someone willing to stop him, someone I could trust." She looked away to hide the fact she was blushing.
Giving a smirk that showed just what Gojyo was thinking, he gently put a hand on her other cheek and turned her head toward him before whispering, "You can trust me with anything."
She looked into his eyes for a moment before looking away, her eyes stopping a moment to look at Sanzo who was sitting in front of her. He hadn't said anything through out the trip. It was something that was making her curious about what he might be thinking, but then he was a monk. She had never really met a monk that would even look at her, let alone say anything to her. Her father had always told her it was because of the temptation she reflected. They were men who had pledged their lives to Buddha and to give into such temptation would put them out of Buddha's light. No wonder she had never really followed any religion. Instead she followed what she thought was right, and it had brought her here.
She looked back to everything they passed. The silence was almost disturbing. At least until she started to hear the two sitting next to her arguing. It was all something she didn't really understand. It didn't seem all that important, anyways.
Sanzo, not really being one to tolerate such noise, slowly started reaching for his gun. He started cussing Gojyo and Goku out in his mind, along with putting a bullet in each of their heads. Yet when it came to him telling them to shut-up, he quickly turned and aimed the pistol at them, yelling, "Say one more word and I'm killing you."
He didn't notice the shocked look on Elena's face as she just sat there, frozen. She had never seen a monk with any type of weapon before. Let alone a Sanzo monk with a weapon, though this was her first time even seeing a monk of such a high station.
"You're scaring Elena." Gojyo yelled at him. "Ass-hole monk." He added almost under his breath as he put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
Sanzo rolled his eyes and turned back around. Maybe taking the girl with them was a bad idea after all.
Houtou Castle
"Baldy Sanzo has a girl with him." Lirin exclaimed as she looked at Nii Jianyi, thinking he might have some answers as to why there would actually be a girl traveling with the Sanzo party.
Nii only nodded as he thought of how this might be able to be turned to his advantage. Of course it would probably depend on how close she could get to the guys. How much she could matter to them, if at all. Maybe she would be their downfall for once. If he could get a hold of the girl after she gained their trust, he could have an even better weapon in his hands than Kougaiji. All she would need is the training. "Shouldn't you be in your room like Prince Kougaiji had said?" He asked, looking at her with those eerie eyes of his.
Lirin shrugged and trotted off, not really caring about what Nii might be thinking, only that there was something she might be able to get to eat. Maybe some meat-buns if she could find any.
Watching her run off for a moment, Nii looked down the other hall and started thinking of what he might be able to do to turn this into an advantage for him. This game was one he wanted to win. She just might be the key to his win.
