Hakkai and the others didn't want to stay away from the inn too long and the day was starting to get cooler so they hurried with their shopping and returned. They walked into the room to find Sanzo sitting on the bed with the now-conscious girl. She looked up at the group in confusion but calmed when Sanzo shook his head.

"Speaking of which. These are the idiots I was talking about."

"OI OI! Who you calling an idiot you ass?" Gojyo growled.

"You, obviously." Sanzo replied.

"Well surely I'm exempt from that category at least." Hakkai said calmly.

"Hahaha! Gojyo's an idiot!" Goku laughed.

"Yeah well you're just a stupid monkey who's dumbr than a box of rocks!"

"Say that again you son of a—"

A few gunshots were enough to silence the quarrels.

Hakkai shook his head and laughed before pulling up a chair in front of the girl.

"I apologize for them. They're loud but ultimately harmless. I'm Hakkai, that's Gojyo and Goku over there." Hakkai said, introducing the others. "Anyway, I'm relieved to see that you're awake. You came in with some pretty serious injuries."

The girl eyes Hakkai curiously before nodding her head. Hakkai then started to check over her injuries, finding that most of them had already healed up.

"How do you feel? Does anything in particular hurt?"

The girl opened her mouth to answer but promptly rethought her response. "I'm fine."

"That's relief! We were worried about you."

"Worried and curious…" Gojyo said, sitting on the bed across the room.

"Well yes…" Hakkai said, trying not to appear suspicious. "We were hoping you'd be able to answer some questions. Maybe tell us who you are and how you got here. And how you got injured in the first place."

"Her name is Koume." Sanzo said without skipping a beat. Gojyo rose a brow at him.

"Oh? Did you guys already have a heart to heart without us?"

"Idiot." Sanzo said, glaring. "I know because we've met before."

"You have? You didn't mention it before, Sanzo."

"I didn't recognize her at first. After all she looks different than she did then. It was about six months before we started this messed up road trip. She helped us out of a tough spot and then suddenly… disappeared." Sanzo replied, pulling the necklace from his pocket- which she quickly took and slipped back around her neck.

"It was the bullet that gave you away. I can't believe you actually kept that defective thing."

"I told you I would." She said, tucking it away in her shirt.

Goku smiled, starting to remember the events of that day. "I thought you looked familiar! It's cool to see you again!"

"You missed me?"

"Surprising, isn't it? Especially since he tried to kill you the first time you met."

"Goku tried to kill you? Why?" Hakkai asked, getting even more confused. He looked at Goku, hoping for more information.

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

Goku explained what he could remember of that day. It was raining heavily and he was stuck at some lousy temple. He'd gotten bored- more like kicked out of everywhere he tried to go- and was searching for Sanzo. Their bag was still in their room as was Sanzo's spare ammunition, but Sanzo was surprisingly missing. Goku found this to be strange because Sanzo would be practically catatonic when it rained and hardly moved from one spot. He wandered around the temple again, calling Sanzo's name but he received no answer. One of the monks had the nerve to comment about Sanzo abandoning Goku but he didn't believe it. Sanzo would never!

After several minutes Goku heard some distant sounds on the wind and stopped on the deck, staring out into the rain. It almost… sounded like Sanzo. Goku listened for the unique sound of the banishing gun but didn't hear it. For reasons he couldn't explain Goku's heart began to race and without hesitation he leapt out and started running through the woods, calling Sanzo's name. The yells he'd heard before had died down and though there was a faint smell of blood in the air the scent was hard to follow through the pounding rain.

Goku called out once more as he approached a clearing but his words died in his throat as he came across a bloody scene. Demon bodies were piled up everywhere and blood mixed with the mud turning the scene black. It wasn't Sanzo's doing for sure as his gun would have disintegrated the demon's bodies so then who was responsible? And why could he still smell Sanzo? Goku slowly wandered through he scene hoping against hope until he came across a large blood pool and in it were torn bits of cloth. Goku slowly knelt by the pool and picked up the cloth. Tears formed in his eyes as he stared a it…

"S-Sanzo…" Goku then pressed the fabric to his face and let out a heartbroken wail that echoed for miles. Sanzo… was Sanzo really dead?! For some time Goku was either unable or unwilling to move. He stayed there until the rain finally stopped, unsure of what to do next. He'd all but given up the will to move. That is until he caught whiff of something… More of Sanzo's scent. It was leading away from the scene. Could Sano still be alive, he wondered? Slowly Goku rose, Sanzo's blood smeared across his cheek and a murderous look in his eyes. He followed the scent trail. If Sanzo was alive then he'd rescue him. If he was dead… then Goku swore to kill whoever was responsible.

Goku had followed the smell of Sanzo's blood through the woods and into a small clearing hidden behind thick brush. In the clearing he saw a small house that looked normal enough but what caught his eye was the sight of a very familiar robe hanging from a clothesline. There was no doubt about it- it was Sanzo's! Goku hid beside a large boulder as the door opened and someone walked out wearing a cloak- something Goku thought was suspicious. The figure looked around before moving to the robes, taking them down.

Was this the one that hurt Sanzo? His blood was leading right up to that place and he could smell a lot of other things, too. There was no doubt in his mind! Anger was filling him up and when the figure turned around Goku jumped out from behind the rock and charged at them. The figure turned and just barely dodged the attack of Goku's staff.

"You!" Goku growled, moving in to attack again. "I'll kill you for what you did! I'll kill you for taking him away from me!" This opponent was amazingly fast, dodging the attacks left and right but they accidentally stepped into a hole in the ground. Now stuck they couldn't move away as Goku approached once more. They lay on the ground watching as the boy jumped up, the end of his staff aimed right for her head.

That's when they heard it- the sound of Sanzo's gun. The sound distracted Goku just enough so that his staff missed, only grazing the cheek of his opponent. It also managed to clear his blind rage so he was actually able to see who he was fighting- a young girl about his age with eyes that mirrored his own. It was another moment before Goku was able to lift his head towards the source of the sound, seeing Sanzo leaning heavily on the door frame of the house. He was covered in bandages and was glaring at him, gun pointed right at him.

"Goku. Get off."

"Wh…what?" Goku blinked and looked between Sanzo and the girl before jumping off her, immediately running towards Sanzo just as he started to slip down.

"Sanzo! Sanzo, you're alive!"

"Stupid.. monkey."

The girl also got up and moved to Sanzo's other side, helping Sanzo back into the house.

"Sanzo, what the hell! I thought.. I thought you were dead!" Goku whined as Sanzo sat down on the bed.

"Idiot. As if I'd die that easily…" Even so, Sanzo looked awful. "Koume was taking care of me, anyway."

"Koume?"

Goku turned to look at the girl as she walked in, handing Sanzo a damp washcloth and a tray of tea- which she'd been brewing before the attack.

"Anyway what the hell is with this?" Sanzo said with some annoyance, grabbing Goku's chin roughly. He proceeded to wash the blood off his face. "Who the hell taught you to walk around looking like that, huh?"

"I just… Sanzo, I thought…"

"Didn't look like you were thinking at all just now. If you hadn't snapped out of it after he first shot I would have aimed for you with the second. Don't do anything to make me waste a bullet on you, you got it?"

"Yeah…"

Sanzo's harsh words were actually a relief to Goku and he finally felt relaxed. It was just what he needed to convince him that Sanzo was really okay. Once Goku was cleaned up, Sanzo waved Koume over- who had been waiting off to the side to be safe and he checked her for wounds.

"Did he get you?"

"I'm alright." She replied softly, appearing more or less unharmed.

"Good." Sanzo sighed and leaned back.

Goku eyed the girl with some interest.

"So you saved Sanzo?"

"I did. Then you must be Goku… And here I thought that was your name." She said, looking at Sanzo.

"The hell would make you think that."

"Who knows." She smiled and served the tea, keeping it to herself that Sanzo had said the name repeatedly while unconscious. Sanzo was clearly exhausted from moving around so he laid back down to rest while Goku sat watching him. He also looked back at Koume who was sitting on the floor repairing Sanzo's robes to the best of her abilities. He ended up replacing the whole thing but it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

Goku paused in his storytelling as he remembered what happened next.

"What's wrong, Goku?" Hakkai asked, frowning.

"Yeah Monkey, finish the story. What happened next?"

"….We were attacked."

He remembered waking up at Sanzo's bedside to the sound demons approaching. Koume was in the room within moments, looking worried.

"What's going on…?"

"They're here! You two need to leave, fast!" Sanzo groaned as he sat up and let Koume drape his robes over him.

"Who's here?"

"Demons!"

Goku assumed that they were the same ones who kept coming after Sanzo and rolled up his sleeves.

"I'll take care of them!"

"No-" Koume said, grabbing his arm. "They aren't here for you."

He didn't understand her words at first but followed her as she helped Sanzo to a back door.

"They haven't seen you yet so you can still get away. There's a path just behind the brush that should get you back to your temple unseen!"

"We're just gonna run away? I'm not afraid of some demons!"

"Maybe not, but Sanzo can't get involved in this. He needs you go get him back behind the barrier. Can you do that?"

"I…." Goku frowned but nodded, bracing Sanzo. But the priest looked at Koume confusedly.

"Why don't you come with us?"

"I… can't. There's something I have to do here."

Neither understood what she was talking about and they both left that area with feelings of regret. They made it back to the temple safely and Sanzo stayed there until he was well enough to move on his own steam. The two of them took that same path back towards the cottage but they didn't find Koume.

"We looked for you, ya know." Goku said softly. "The place was all burnt up, though. We were worried you had died."

Koume looked down to the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you came back for me. By then I was already… taken back to that place."

"That place?"

Now everyone was interested. The room fell silent but Koume seemed reluctant to say more. So, the group was already forming their own conclusions.

"Let me guess." Gojyo said finally. "You were a demon's prisoner? If they didn't kill you, then they took you for other some reason, right?"

"You could say that."

Hakkai wanted to ask for what reason but he already knew one answer and he didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to think about Kanan and what happened to her, but this girl looked so much like her he couldn't help it.

"Why did they keep you alive?" Sanzo asked much to Hakkai's displeasure.

"To use me." Her answer was one that no one expected.

"Come again?"

Taking a deep breath, Koume pushed up her sleeve and pressed her nails to her skin, pressing deep enough to draw blood. Hakkai looked horrified but she didn't make a pained sound in the least.

"What are you doing? You're hurting yourself!" He grabbed her arm and covered the wound.

"It doesn't hurt. It never hurts."

"What…?" He looked up and saw a troubled expression.

"I don't know why I'm like this, but for as long as I can remember I've been unable to feel pain. This was apparently interesting to them. They would cut me, burn me, but I wouldn't feel anything. I was the perfect weapon..."

"No way…" When Hakkai looked down again he saw her wounds already starting to close. He could only assume that whatever was done to her affected her body's ability to heal as well. She was basically a mad scientist's experiment. The room was unsettlingly quiet at this point and that simply wouldn't do, so Koume put her hands together and smiled, speaking in a pleasantly calm voice.

"Now now, there's no need for those sad looks! I'm okay, really!" She tilted her head slightly and put on a sweet smile. "I've been like this for a long time now so it doesn't bother me at all!"

If that didn't break the tension then the sudden growling of her stomach did. She blinked and looked down before rubbing her head.

"Oh, I guess I'm hungry."

Gojyo couldn't help but laugh at that and shake his head.

"Well no shit Sherlock! But we haven't exactly had dinner yet either. So how about we figure out if this dust bowl's got any decent food?"

"Yeah! FOOD! FOOD!" Goku leaped up and started rushing for the door before the others even got to their feet.

"Goku, don't run ahead or we'll make you pay for dinner." Sanzo scolded, standing. He turned his head to see Koume getting up but she stumbled after putting pressure on her injured leg. Hakkai was quick to catch her.

"Here, let me help you." He helped to support her as they headed for the door. "You may not feel the pain but you're still hurt."

"Thank you. You're very kind." She smiled up at him again and it made Hakkai's heart ache for some reason. There was something to this girl that he just couldn't figure out. Something painful… As he touched her he even felt his old scar ache but he opted to ignore it. Sanzo and Gojyo were he last to leave and they hung back behind the others to talk.

"You believe that story she told about being taken?" Gojyo asked.

"Yeah. And I only know of one group messed up enough to experiment on people like that." Sanzo replied.

"You really think Kougaiji's involved?"

"If he is we'll find out sooner or later. They wouldn't just let an asset like that wander off for good."

"Guess not… But that means…"

"She must have killed those demons."

Sanzo didn't want to believe she was capable of that kind of brutality but it suddenly made sense. She had done it once before, after all, slaughtering the demons who attacked him in the forest.

"The real question now is whether or not we can trust her." And more than that, if she proved to be an enemy, would they be able to kill her? Would Sanzo even want to?