Sanzo stared at the ceiling. They had been at this stupid inn for an hour already, but nothing had given him the slightest clue as to what he was supposed to find here. Idly, he turned his head to gaze out the window beside his bed; but of course there was nothing to look at but clear night sky. Presently, he heard the door creak open and, hoping it wasn't Goku coming to complain about being hungry, he slowly rolled over; relieved to find it was Hakkai. He sat up on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. Stupid hag.
Hakkai sat down on the bed opposite him.
"I see you're awake. Goku and Gojyo went for supplies; and I found out that there's a restaurant in the inn, so feeding Goku shouldn't be a problem."
He frowned as Sanzo continued to stare at the floorboards.
"Is something bothering you? Sanzo?"
The monk sighed and lit a cigarette. He told only Hakkai about his little chat with the goddess, figuring Goku and Gojyo were too incompetent to offer any advice on the situation and to be honest, Sanzo was close to admitting he needed help on this one.
"It's that damn hag. I can't……what does she want me to do? I haven't found a single damn thing that would give me a clue was to whom I'm supposed to find and we've been here for an hour!"
Hakkai smiled his normal smile and raised a finger as if making a point.
"Well, it might help………if you actually left room for a while. You've been in here since we arrived; I'm pretty sure the goddess isn't going to make it that easy for you to find what she's talking about."
Sanzo simply grumbled and stood up, making his way to the door.
"Oh Sanzo, if you see Gojyo, please tell him not to use all the money at the casino."
The response he received was the door slamming shut.
Gojyo sighed. The stupid monkey had seen the noodle stand and gone absolutely bonkers. Thankfully Sanzo had agreed to Hakkai's idea of giving Goku a moderate allowance, because he was definitely NOT going to pay for the chimp's food bill. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued walking away. Goku could find his way back to the inn by himself; and they had already taken the groceries back to the room. Hakkai was there taking a nap but Sanzo was gone, which Gojyo found mildly weird. The monk usually moped around the room the entire time they stayed in a town. He shrugged; he wasn't going to worry about what Droopy-eyes was doing, he was going to the casino to make some pocket change. With some luck, of course. And as he rounded the corner, it seemed his luck had just picked up considerably. The cute receptionist from the inn was walking down the street towards him. He smiled; he had liked her from the minute he saw her; although he had to admit he had never seen anyone like her. Her hair, which was a strangely exotic emerald green color, was cut right above her shoulder blades. The front of it was tucked behind her ear on one side while the other side hung in a fringe. She wore a white tank top that barely skimmed her midriff and jeans that were worn in the knees and low-slung. But what really added to her certain style was the chocolate trench coat she wore over everything else. As he remembered from catching her eye at the inn that evening, her eye color was a beautiful brown; almost the color of her coat. She glanced up from the ground as she approached and, catching his eye again, she waved and broke into a smile.
"Hey there, cutie!"
Hearing the strange salutation coming from the girl, he let out a short laugh. Soon, they reached each other and he noticed she was a couple inches shorted than him. He smiled and winked.
"Cutie, huh? What's your name gorgeous?"
She laughed, not giggled as he would of thought.
"I'm Enoki, Shuichi Enoki. And you are? Not cutie, I take it."
He laughed again and shook his head.
"I'm Gojyo. Sha Gojyo. Can I ask what a pretty lady like is doing out all alone on a night like this?"
She put her hands behind her head and seemed to be lost in thought.
"Weeell, I was finished with my shift at the inn, so I figured I'd mosey down to the casino and mooch some money off the tourists."
He raised an eyebrow and snickered.
"My kind of woman. As a matter of fact, I was just about to do the exact same thing." He held out his arm for hers. "Could I interest a beautiful woman in an escort to the casino?"
She giggled this time and put her arm through his.
"I would love it, darling."
A . N Oooooooh...Gojyo's got a girl. Maybe next chappie we'll find the wandering monk...
BO: gets down on her knees This is my first story! Please RR!
