A/N: Chapter three! Seriously, this is probably more fun for me to write than for you guys to read. But hey, thanks for suffering me n.n To the perceptive one who said "What goes around comes around," well, this is where Gojyo gets his. I try to pick on all the boys equally, but as this progresses I fear I have many ideas for just -one- character. The most un-pick-onnable of them all: Hakkai. But I will try to spread the pain(?) and I think I'm doing okay because the brunette hasn't even been the brunt of anything yet!

Anyway enjoy this little chappie. Poor, poor Gojyo.

...

It was midmorning when Gojyo slouched into the restaurant he'd seen Hakkai enter. He plopped down across from the brunette, rubbing his eyes. He wore his hair strangely, with most of it back in a ponytail. This in itself was not uncommon, but the way he covered his left eye with a thick fall of hair was. Gojyo prided himself on his looks, and to obscure his pretty face with his hair was uncharacteristic. Hakkai decided not to comment.

"Long night?"

Gojyo groaned and rubbed his forehead. "You don't want to know where I woke up. Somebody put something in the booze."

Hakkai smiled. "I think, perhaps, it was the booze being put in you that was the problem. You didn't lose too much money, I hope?"

Gojyo snorted and turned away. "Oi. Coffee," he ordered, waving his finger at the proprietor. Hakkai reached out and patted his shoulder.

"I'll hate to see you when Sanzo learns you lost your allowance."

Gojyo turned and pouted at the brunette. "Aw, come on, Hakkai, cover for me. Just this once. I feel like I got hit by a truck!"

"Which should be a lesson to you not to do this." Hakkai simply smiled at him, rubbing his shoulder. "What you do is your choice."

Gojyo grumbled and put his forehead on the table. "Thanks a bunch, buddy."

"Hey, Hakkai!" Goku greeted, bounding up to them. He wrinkled his nose when he caught sight of Gojyo. "You reek! Take a bath or something." When Gojyo's reply came back as a muffled groan, Goku bent down to the level of the table and lifted the fall of hair that had once obscured the left side of Gojyo's face. "You're in a good mood," Goku remarked. It took him a few more moments to realize it.

Goku snorted loudly enough to garner the attention of a few passersby. His ensuing fit of laughter was cut short by Gojyo's hand shooting out and catching his collar, but Goku's shoulders were still shaking. "Lose a bet?" he sneered. Gojyo shook him and dropped his collar.

"Obviously," Gojyo growled, still not removing his face from the table. Without Goku's hand in the way, his hair fell back and covered his face again. Hakkai raised both his eyebrows.

"Let me see." Gojyo shook his head and put his hands over his face, to Goku's cackling. Hakkai peeled the redhead's hands away with gentle fingers and brushed his hair to the side. And had to work very hard to keep a straight face.

"You bet your eyebrow?" Of all the phrases I thought I'd never say... Hakkai thought.

Gojyo grabbed his hair and ran his hand through it, brushing it back into place. "No, I bet my money. I was drinking. And the fuckers put something in the booze! I told you this."

Hakkai couldn't keep himself from grinning. He surrendered to the hilarity, but tried to soothe his best friend anyway. His nature rebelled against laughing at him without some sort of compensation. "We can...shave the other one off?"

Gojyo glared at Hakkai, icy stare meeting a gleeful countenance. Goku had yet to completely quell his giggles. "How could you even suggest that?"

Hakkai bit his lip. "Well..."

"Shut up, you." Gojyo sat up and ran his hand through his hair, rubbing his forehead where his left eyebrow had been the night before. "So long as nobody," and here he glared at Goku, causing the golden-eyed boy to crack up again, "touches the hair, I should be fine."

"Or a strong wind kicks up. As would happen in, say, an open-roofed car?" Hakkai added, raising his eyebrows. He put his hands up in a sign of surrender when Gojyo again sent an angry look his way.

"At least grant me this," the redhead murmured, his look dissolving when Goku ran off to fetch Sanzo. "I'm still a sexy son of a bitch."

Hakkai laughed openly at that, but before Gojyo could get indignant, he patted the redhead's hand. "Of course you are. And hopefully this will amuse Sanzo enough that he won't kill you for losing all that money." He paused a moment, and rubbed Gojyo's hand with his thumb. "You know..." he began, and stopped himself.

Gojyo didn't move his head, but only his right eye to look over at Hakkai. "What?"

Hakkai grinned a bit. "We still have those markers in back..."

"Hakkai?"

"Yes?"

"No."