Some major re-writing in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki, Mara, however, is mine.

Chapter 3: The Journey Continues

"Remind me again why is she coming along with us?" Asked Sanzo as he pointed his thumb towards Mara, who was sitting beside Goku. She was talking quietly with the two creatures sitting on the back side of the jeep.

"It's the Kanzeon Bosatsu's order." Replied Hakkai, a smile crept on his face.

"You want us to what?" Asked Sanzo loudly to Kanzeon, she managed to get Sanzo's attention off the newspaper after she told him why she was there.

"I want you to take this girl with you. She will be very useful in this mission." Repeated Kanzeon with her hands on her hips and a very mysterious smile on her face.

"No, I will not take her" Said Sanzo, he got to his feet and made his way out from the room.

"Ah, come on Sanzo. It's not like she's a trouble to us." Said Gojyo with a cigarette hanging loosely between his lips, his remarks received nods from Goku and a 'kyuu' from Hakuryuu. Sanzo stayed quiet.

"Fine, I'll just have to make the Three Aspects discharge your credit card." Kanzeon let out a grin at the uproar that was ready to break in the room.

"I hope I'm not troubling you guys." Mara said apologetically to the Sanzo-ikkou, hearing what Sanzo asked just now.

"No, not at all. Hakkai will have an extra help on cooking and having a lady to travel with is a very nice addition." Said Gojyo with a wink.

Mara chuckled and winked back at the red-headed smoker before having another giggle. "Nah, I'm not into cooking. I can cook but I don't like to. It's too troublesome."

"By the way Mara, is it alright for you to left that house? I mean you were living there with some friends, right?" Asked Hakkai, not taking his eyes off the road before him.

"I already left a note in the house, and I told the villagers to tell my friends about me leaving the village. If they ever return, that is." Said Mara calmly.

"Hakkai, how much longer until we reach the next town? I'm starving." Whined Goku, flashing Mara his cute puppy-eyed face.

Mara laughed and ruffled Goku's hair. The siblingly gesture made Gojyo jealous, thoughts started running around in his mind.

"Two more hours perhaps." Replied Hakkai.

Mara noticed that a pair of crimson eyes was watching her, she turned only to find Gojyo frowning. "Gojyo?"

"Nothing." Replied Gojyo. He smiled and turned to face his right.

Mara wasn't the only one who noticed Gojyo's sudden change of mood, Sanzo stole glances from the rear view mirror and saw everything. Not even a day after she joined us, already there's a storm brewing. Thought Sanzo to himself.

Mara started chatting with Goku after deciding that it was best to let it rest. She would talk to Gojyo if more more similar problems started to show.

Gojyo didn't know where the jealousy was coming from, he wasn't even serious when he thought to himself about Mara as a potential date, she was just... too hard to reach. He didn't know why, but he felt that way towards her. Maybe it's that invisible wall that she build around her, thought Gojyo. If that is the case, why is he very annoyed to see Goku and Mara bonding like this? Why did he feel a longing towards her, to be the one that she was joking around with? Gojyo sighed, he didn't like complicated things and yet he was the one complicating things.

They arrived at another village earlier than they expected, it was somewhere in the late afternoon when they were already settled in their own private rooms after enjoying a delicious lunch. During lunch Gojyo was acting normally, though dark looks would popped up in his eyes from time to time, those looks were gone as quickly as it showed up. Hakkai happened to catch a few of those looks, Mara and Sanzo caught Hakkai staring at Gojyo but when they turned to look at him, those looks were already gone. Mara turned to Sanzo just in time to met his eyes. They stared at each other, as if they were discussing about it silently through their eyes. Mara sighed and continued eating, Sanzo turned to Gojyo and saw him talking quietly with Hakkai, Goku oblivious to all of the activity around him as he gulped down an insane amount of food. Sanzo looked down at his food. He had to do something quickly, before any big trouble arise.

That afternoon, Sanzo was sitting alone in his room, trying to solve this matter alone but alas he had no idea of what to do. He had the upper half of his robe dangling from his waist, his gun tucked safely somewhere beneath the robe. Sanzo rubbed his temples to try and stop the migraine from getting worse. He then decided that he should probably go and talk to Hakkai about this. He got up, pocketing a pack of cigarette and a lighter with him, and reached for the door only to hear a few knocks on it. He opened the door and found Mara standing before him, startled.

"That was fast." Said her.

"What do you want?" Asked Sanzo monotonously.

"I'm worried about Gojyo." Replied Mara. "We should do something about it before something happen."

"It's already happening." He took a step forward, forcing Mara to step back. He closed the door and headed for Hakkai's room, Mara walking by his side silently.

The two walked into Hakkai's room, they found the monocled man sitting on his bed, knees drawn to his chest as he stared off into the wall in front of him, head leaning against the window beside the bed. Hakuryuu was at his side, curling up into a ball as it took a nap. It woke up at the sound of the door opening, it 'kyuu'ed when it saw Mara and Sanzo but stayed at it's master's side.

"Hakkai?" Called Mara, not moving from the doorway.

"Yes?" Replied Hakkai, he snapped out from his thoughts, looked around and smiled at them. "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, it's that red-headed kappa. Something is obviously wrong with him." Sanzo sat himself on a chair, placing his cigarette and lighter on the desk before him.

Mara closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed. "He's acting weird today. Yesterday he was all fun and flirtatious, today he's quite stiff and somehow distant. I happened to notice that you were staring at him several times during lunch time. Do you know anything that might be related to this?"

Hakkai sighed, running a hand over his hair. "Yes, I was, I was staring at him, I noticed his weird behavior too. I saw him staring at you Mara, he seemed bothered but I'm not sure why."

Mara and Sanzo exchanged glances. "I also saw you talking to him during lunch." Sanzo paused and waited for some reaction from Hakkai, when none came he proceed this almost investigation kind of talk. " Did he tell you anything?"

Hakkai shook his head. "No, I asked him what's wrong with him and he said nothing. He only told me that he was not really feeling well, that's all."

Again, Mara and Sanzo looked at each other. "Perhaps I should go and talk to him." She said not taking his eyes off Sanzo, seeking for some kind of approval from the priest.

Sanzo broke off the eye contact and snort, reaching for the box of cigarette on the desk. Placing it between his lips, he managed to mumbled out a few words. "Who are you kidding?" He lit it and took a long drag. He didn't realized that his previous remark caused Mara to frown at him. His remark also caused a spark of amusement in Hakkai's eyes, the ends of his lips were threatening to draw up in an amused smile. "He told Hakkai nothing and you expect him to tell you something?" Asked him after blowing out the smoke that he was holding inside his lungs.

Mara growled and got up. She walked towards Sanzo and looked down at him. "I have no doubt in my mind that I can get him to spill it, some of it at the very least. You'll see."

Sanzo looked at her and snorted again. "We'll see."

Mara smiled cynically at him and walked out from the room without another word, slamming the door behind her.

Sanzo snorted and massaged his temples. The migraine was getting worse with the way everything turned out.

"That was rare." Said Hakkai, he was no longer holding back the amusement that he felt, for it now showed in his eyes and smile.

"Shut up." Snarled Sanzo, not really liking the direction of the conversation.

"You were trying to protect her from getting hurt."

"No, I was being logical."

Hakkai chuckled at the flustered smoker. "Telling her that all of this mess was her doing and force her to clean it up is also a logical way of thinking. And yet you chose to discuss this matter with me and her."

"Another word about this and you're dead."

"Hai, hai."

"Kyuu."

Mara knocked on Gojyo's door and waited for him to answer. When only silence came, she let herself in after excusing herself. She found Gojyo seemingly asleep on his bed, she closed the door quietly and walked towards the bed. She sat at the edge of the bed and smiled. "I know you're awake, Gojyo."

Gojyo opened an eye and raised a brow. "How did you know I was pretending to sleep?" Asked Gojyo, he sat up and reached for the cigarette on the small table beside the bed. He lit it and took a drag, holding the smokes in as he enjoyed the aftermath of the nicotine entering his system.

"I didn't, I was just bluffing." Said Mara with a grin.

Gojyo choked on his smoke. He coughed like crazy, Mara had the decency to pat his back while laughing her head off. After getting rid of his coughing fit, he looked at Mara disbelievingly. "You sounded so sure, I thought you knew because I was too still or whatever."

"I was bluffing. But I do know that you are somewhat bothered by my presence."

Gojyo, was silent, he said nothing and continued smoking.

After a while of not hearing a word, Mara decided that she had to push him. "Did I offend you or something? Did I said something that hurt your feeling?" When Gojyo wasn't answering her, she felt the urge to slap him hard, real hard. "Gojyo?" Gojyo still remain silent, Mara had only two more tricks up her sleeve and using one of them would be really embarrassing for her. "If you are troubled by me being here, then I would gladly leave, Gojyo."

"It's not that." Said Gojyo, his tone a little too harsh than he liked it to be.

Mara wanted to say something but she kept silent, giving Gojyo more time to formulate his answer. After a few moment, Mara called him again to make sure that he wasn't lost in his own mind.

"I don't know why, but every time I see you and the others joking and laughing just made me feel angry."

Mara frowned, she had a hunch that this was the cause of Gojyo's weird behavior. She sighed and place a hand on her forehead. "I thought you were only joking when you were flirting with me. "

"It's not that I want you to be my girlfriend or whatever, but... Argh, I don't know."

The two fell silent, Gojyo carried on smoking, devouring one cigarette after another. That was until Mara asked Gojyo something that he never thought of for quite sometime now. "Did you have a good relationship with your mother? Or perhaps you have a sister that you... I don't know... hate?"

Gojyo was caught off guard, his eyes widen at the thought of his mother. Her tear-filled eyes and the beating that she gave him flashing before him. The pain and longing that she made him suffer.

"Gojyo?"

Gojyo turned and face her. "I have no sister." The understanding was dawning in on him, he now understood why he was angry and jealous to see Mara and Goku bonding so easily. He was afraid that he might be pushed to the side again, like how his mother pushed him aside and cling to his older brother for dear life. Gojyo smiled, hating himself for being so weak.

"Gojyo?"

"I was afraid that you might push me aside, like my mother did." He paused and laughed bitterly. "I was stupid for thinking that, right?"

"Aww." Mara cuffed Gojyo's face in her palms and looked at him sympathetically. "You are as stupid as you look." She slapped both of her palms to Gojyo's cheeks, her faced annoyed and harsh. "I would never push you aside for nothing, baka."

Gojyo groaned, rubbing his cheeks as soon as Mara let go of them. He saw Mara getting up and grab a hold of her hand.

"What?" Asked her maintaining the angry act for fun.

"You're not mad are you?"

Mara intentionally lengthened her silence, enjoying the guilty look on Gojyo's face. "No, I'm not." Said her with a grin.

Gojyo let go of her hand and watched her walked out from his room in silence. A small smile gracing his feature. He placed the cigarette that he was smoking on an ashtray placed on the little desk by his bed, leaned back to the wall behind him.

"Kyuu."

"How did it go?" Asked Hakkai as soon as Mara entered the room. Sanzo was still there, reading a newspaper, and Goku was present too.

With a triumphant smile on her face, she raised her hand to form a 'V' sign. "I told you I can managed this."

"Managed what?" Asked Goku, clearly no one had told him of Mara's quest.

"Nothing that you need to know Goku." Said Mara, sticking her tongue out. She walked to Sanzo, all the while ignoring the protest that the young brunet was giving her, and kneeled before Sanzo.

Sanzo stopped reading his newspaper and turned his eyes to met hers. "What?"

With a big grin upon her face, she giggled and smiled. "I told you so."

Sanzo snorted and continued reading, ignoring the girl kneeling before him.

Mara pouted and stood up. Goku had calmed down after Hakkai explained to him what they were talking about. He smiled at Mara and raised a thumb. Mara grinned again, stuck her tongue out to Sanzo, and walked to sit beside Goku on the bed.

Not long after, Gojyo walked into the room, crowding the room and noising it up.

This is going to be a very long and exhausting journey. Thought Sanzo to himself while reading the newspaper. With one hand, he pulled the gun out and released a shot aimed at no one in particular. "Shut up!"

A/N: I re-read everything and I realized that I was a very bad writer. I think I've made a tad bit of improvement in my writing skill and will continue to edit this story. I don't know if I'll be able to have a real update for the next two months. Exams, exams, exams. _

Thanks for reading