A/N: I apologize, because this chapter is a lot shorter than the rest of them. I kind of did myself in during my notes, by not putting my locations nearly far enough away from each other. In case the 53 fans are wondering when they're going to get some more action, hopefully you can wait until the next chapter. It gets good, I swear. In the meantime, the 8Y fans continue to get more development thrown their way. :-)

Glossary: "Takku" -- exasperated interjection; "man..."

Six: Longing

The door closed softly behind Gojyo as he followed Sanzo back into their bedroom. Breakfast had been a relatively normal ordeal and Gojyo was still high off of the incident in the shower. Feeling particularly amorous, he walked up to where Sanzo was packing his things and attempted to embrace him from the back.

Instead, he felt the priest immediately tense in his arms. "Sanzo, somethin' wrong?"

Sanzo shrugged out of the hug. "Is it too much to be left alone for one minute?"

"Well, damn," Gojyo said, stepping back and eyeing Sanzo. "Sorry for trying to be affectionate." He concluded that the priest must be in one of his trademark moods, but wasn't about to let him wallow.

Before Gojyo could try and mend the situation, Sanzo snapped back angrily, "Oh, cut the crap. Wasn't this morning enough for you?"

Gojyo's eyes widened. Unless he'd been mistaken, it was Sanzo who had taken the sex further that time. Now, to him, it sounded like he was the one at fault.

"I'm trying to hug you," he explained. "Not have sex. Takku… Why can't you just tell me what's going on?" Gojyo figured that something else must have triggered Sanzo's ire – something he would need to find out about and fix fast.

"Since when do I have to tell you every little thing that goes through my head?"

Gojyo shifted back, putting a hand on his hip. He found himself growing tired of having to constantly reassure Sanzo on all of the relationship issues. "Uh… it would be nice, considering we're together and all. That's kind of what people in relationships do…"

Sanzo gave a dismissive snort. "And you tell me I act like a woman. What, we're supposed to sit down and discuss our feelings all the time? Give me a fucking break."

"It's not a woman thing for two people to talk," Gojyo attempted. He and Sanzo were now facing each other – the priest had his back to the bed and the redhead had his to the door. Gojyo knew that, soon, Hakkai and Goku were going to come looking for them and he had to defuse the fight as quickly as possible. "If there's a problem, we should get it out in the open right away. I don't think it's right for you to close me out like this—"

He was cut off from saying any more when Sanzo shot him one of his trademark glares. "What you fail to understand is that I need some personal space and you are constantly hovering in it twenty-four hours a day. I can't live with you breathing down my neck every second."

Gojyo swallowed. His good intentions had backfired and now Sanzo looked even more pissed than before they'd started. "I'm not with you every second…"

"Oh, sorry." Sanzo said sarcastically. "Every other second. The point is, back off right now, got it?"

-+-

Gojyo's stomach growled once again, bringing him out of his daydreams. He had moved from being paranoid to outright bored. Seiran hadn't returned in at least a few hours and the kappa was feeling more drained than ever. Despite the fact that Shou had given him water the night before, his throat was as dry as ever and it was incredibly hard to focus. Dehydration was an extremely unpleasant way to go, he thought to himself with a snort.

Somehow, the fact that he could feel his will to live floating away with each second he went without liquid paled in comparison to his craving for nicotine. Gojyo was about ready to murder someone for a cigarette.

A wry smirk crossed his lips. 'That Seiran bastard would do nicely.'

He raised his head and leaned back against the stone wall, exhaling loudly. He had lost all feeling in his arms and legs, he was fairly sure he smelled terrible, and worst of all, he was having the most inconvenient memories coming back to him.

'It's Sanzo's fault,' he reasoned with himself. 'That asshole just got all uptight for no reason. After he seduced me that morning, he had no right to push me away. Sometimes, I don't even know why I bother.'

It was a lie. Gojyo knew exactly why he bothered. There was some unnatural force that pulled him closer to the priest, something that made him flirt involuntarily, that enjoyed seeing how flustered Sanzo would get, that enjoyed a good battle of wits every once in a while. Somehow, this gravity that kept him coming back paid off and the powerful lust that brewed between them for years became something more.

Gojyo didn't want to change Sanzo – most of the time – but he was determined to show the other man just how good a loving relationship could be. All that Sanzo saw it as was "hovering." It felt like a dismal situation all over.

The redhead's brain was conveniently ignoring the huge fight that had resulted out of that morning's spat, but something still tugged at his thoughts. Gojyo glanced once more at the heavy wooden door, subconsciously willing it to open.

As if on cue, he heard footsteps approaching down the hall. Holding his breath, Gojyo waited until the footsteps stopped in front of the door. 'Please be Shou, please be Shou,' he found himself chanting in his head.

Kannon was finally smiling on him for once, he thought, as the door swung open and revealed the pale youkai. Shou was carrying a covered tray and Gojyo could pick up something wonderful smelling underneath it.

Trying to keep from salivating, he waited until Shou closed the door. "Hey there, pal, been a while."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," Shou replied, setting down the tray and digging out his lighter. "I figured the important stuff should come first."

Gojyo smiled. "A man after my own heart."

They both lit up again and Gojyo breathed out a cloud of smoke, already feeling calm. He tried to savor it as long as he could, but his stomach rumbled loud enough for Shou to hear and he decided to take care of some other basic needs.

'Speaking of basic needs…'

"Oi, Shou."

"Yeah?" The other youkai had already uncovered the tray and revealed some meat and vegetables. "Did I forget something?"

"Uh…" Gojyo pulled his arms away from the wall and let the manacles clank against the stone. "There any way you can get me outta these for two seconds? I gotta piss somethin' fierce."

Shou shook his head remorsefully. "The keys to the door and to your chains are on different sets, unfortunately. I think Seiran has those babies under his control alone."

Gojyo grimaced. "Great, just fuckin' great." He shook his head. "Eatin' will make it worse, but damn, I'm starving."

He tried to concentrate on the taste of the food and how good it was despite the fact that he was being spoon-fed like a child. All too soon, the plate was empty and Shou was packing up.

As he stood up, Shou leaned forward to whisper in Gojyo's ear. "I'll see what I can do about those keys."

"Tell you what, buddy,"Gojyo said. "I'll buy ya a drink if you can get me outta this place."

"You're on." Still smiling, he left the cell, deliberately leaving it unlocked.

-+-

Goku's neck was starting to hurt. He couldn't stop himself from craning up to look at the Hiryu flying overhead and there were no other distractions. Sanzo and Hakkai were both riding along in silence, making the teen wonder if they still hadn't forgiven each other for their outburst the other day.

'S'not like I like 'im or anythin',' Goku considered. 'But havin' Gojyo here would definitely solve the boredom problem.'

They had been traveling for roughly an hour at this point. Goku knew that, soon, they would be at the prison where Gojyo was being held. He was a bit amazed that Kougaiji's group was flying so slowly; if Hiryu could get all the way from Houtou Castle to the middle of China in half a day, the current pace must've been really boring.

Sanzo tossed another cigarette out of Jeep and Goku wrinkled his nose. Sanzo's smoking didn't bother him most of the time, but he always hated to see the priest distressed. Knowing that most of that was due to Gojyo frustrated the teen even more.

Whenever the other three members of the Ikkou got depressed, Goku wanted to cheer them up; he wanted to get to the bottom of the situation and get his friends back to normal as quickly as possible. Gojyo often told him that they had "adult problems" and that a "kid" like Goku would never understand.

'Dammit,' Goku thought, curling his left hand into a fist as he stared at his lap. 'I want to understand. I don't want to be a stupid kid who doesn't 'get' it.

'Does 'getting it' mean I gotta fall in love?' Goku had never been in love before – at least, he didn't remember such a thing occurring. When he tried to think of someone to be in love with, he drew a blank. He had met a few cute girls before in the towns they went through, but nothing worked out in the end and the Ikkou continued on their way.

'But maybe, jus' maybe,' he pondered, 'If I fell in love with a girl, then I'd understand what everyone else is talkin' about. Then, they won't treat me like a kid!'

"You're awfully quiet back there, Goku," Hakkai commented, breaking the shorter brunet from his thoughts.

"And this is a bad thing because?" Sanzo asked, flicking his lighter a few times. An unlit cigarette dangled from his mouth. "The one thing I actually appreciate about this crappy detour is the silence."

Goku barely paid them any attention. As soon as they reached the next town, he decided, he was going to try and find a girl to fall in love with. 'It can't be that hard. After all, Gojyo always could find girls and fall in love with them, even in one night. 'S'all there is to it.'

With Goku still remaining silent in the backseat, Hakkai paused in his attempt at conversation and returned to the task at hand. He forced himself to concentrate on driving Jeep in the direction Kougaiji had indicated; otherwise, he started staring up at the undersides of the Hiryu. He had to watch not to swerve, lest anyone notice that something else was occupying his mind.

He had been hoping for a chance to talk with Yaone again in private; unfortunately, their respective forms of transportation didn't exactly allow for such a thing to take place. More than anything, he wanted to apologize for being too forward the night before. Hakkai kept replaying the conversation over and over in his head, wondering where it would have been best to shut up or change his words.

It also didn't help that the last night had been a sleepless one as well. In addition to being worried about Gojyo and upset at scaring off Yaone, Hakkai had once again been haunted by recurring nightmares. It didn't matter how many times he woke up, as soon as he went back to sleep, he found himself back in Hyakugan Maou's palace, surrounded by blood, dead youkai, and Kanan whispering her goodbyes.

'I'm still a fool, after all these years,' he thought ruefully. 'My indecision and actions are hurting Yaone-san. It must be so frustrating to be receiving so many mixed signals. It's not fair of me to give off any kind of ideas. Maybe it's best if I didn't talk to her alone anymore. She deserves someone who can be straightforward with her.'

The only thing he could figure out to do was to make a quick apology and slink away with at least a small piece of his dignity intact. He was debating internally on how to do such a thing when suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed the steering wheel.

Instinctively, he braked, jerking forward at the sudden motion. He looked over at Sanzo and hoped he didn't sound too alarmed. "What's the matter?"

The priest stared pointedly at him. "Unless you're planning to charge the gate like we did with Homura, you need to stop."

Hakkai could even hear Goku shifting around in the back, clamping a hand to his chest. "You were floorin' it, Hakkai! You outran Kougaiji an' them!"

"Oh." Hakkai looked up to see the dragons that were now circling for a landing. He gave a short laugh. "I suppose I did."

A "kyuu" issued from the engine. Hakkai immediately felt guilty for having undoubtedly run Jeep too far and too hard. "I'm sorry," he whispered, stroking the dashboard and hoping for no hard feelings from his pet and companion.

Kougaiji and his group dismounted the Hiryu with relative ease and the youkai prince strode up next to the Ikkou's vehicle. "From here, we part ways. Understood?"

"Clear." Sanzo slid from the seat and removed the shoureiju from the robes. "All we need to do is kill that youkai bastard and get on our way."

Kou immediately whirled on him. "You'll do no such thing. Seiran is my responsibility and I am in charge of his punishment. You don't need to get involved."

"It feels a little hollow without any sort of revenge," Hakkai admitted, climbing out of Jeep and waiting for it to resume dragon form. His eyes caught Yaone's briefly, but he focused his attention on the looming prison.

The structure stood out from its desert surroundings – there was almost no way to miss it. Made of stone with steel doors, it looked quite imposing. An outdoor walkway surrounded the top floor, but there were no lookout guards. Just looking at the prison, the healer guessed that it was about four or five stories tall.

Sanzo was still glaring at Kougaiji. "I'd rather see him with a few bullet holes in him than just getting a slap on the wrist from you."

"Trust me," the youkai prince growled in return. "His punishment will be far worse than a simple warning."

"Guys!" Goku now positioned himself between his rival and Sanzo. "We can fight more later once we get the stupid kappa!"

"The kid's got a point," Doku said, resting his sword against his shoulder. "Why don't we just see who gets to Seiran first? Whoever wins gets to deal with him the way they want."

"A surprisingly good idea," Sanzo replied, checking the gun's chamber for the tenth time. "I've been itching to shoot something for a while now."

"What about Gojyo?" Laughing, Goku sprinted towards the gates of the prison. Indignant, Lirin shouted and took off after him. Sanzo and Kougaiji exchanged one more look, each trying to calculate what the other would do, before following. Doku brought up the rear.

Hakkai waited for Hakuryu to settle comfortably on his shoulder and started to follow the group. He stopped upon hearing Yaone clear her throat and turned towards her very slightly.

"Before we go in, Hakkai-san – might I talk with you about something?"

-+-

"The point is, back off right now, got it?"

"What the hell?" Gojyo mumbled, stepping back a few feet and giving Sanzo a rather puzzled look.

It wasn't like the blond was falling for Gojyo's pitiful puppy act. He'd give the kappa a couple gentle reminders about what exactly he was screwing up. "What was all that a long time ago about respecting me? Everything I do now has to be run by you first, while you get to go out and do whatever you desire—"

"Now wait a second!" Gojyo cut him off, waving a hand at him. "I went out last night because you 'didn't want to see my face.'" He made the appropriate air quotes as he repeated Sanzo's words back to him.

Sanzo sighed. "Not talking about that, dumbass. When you left later… after that." He wondered if it was really so hard for the other man to understand – after all, it seemed like sex was constantly number one on Gojyo's list. Sanzo just hoped that the kappa would realize the kinds of double standards he'd been unwittingly following.

He could almost see the wheels turning in the redhead's skull when Gojyo spoke next. "Wait, this is about something else, isn't it?"

"Brilliant deduction," Sanzo said dryly. "You force me to share everything with you, but you can't even tell me why you went out to see Dokugakuji last night!"

"You… saw that?" Gojyo couldn't help gaping at him.

Sanzo wasn't about to let the subject change, at any rate. "What did he want?" The priest wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.

Gojyo gave a haughty laugh of his own. "Oh, I see how it is. I have to tell you everything, but you're allowed to make a stink about your little privacy bubble. Sorry, babe, but it's none of your business. He just wanted to talk… nothin' important."

"It's my business when one of our enemies," Sanzo emphasized, "comes to the place where we're staying and 'wants to talk.'" He made his own quotes this time.

The kappa rolled his eyes. "Enemies… gimme a break, Sanzo."

"Gojyo, it's all well and good that you get to have your little family reunions, but if he was here, that means something important is going on and you need to tell me. That's the kind of thing we need to discuss." Sanzo normally didn't feel this talkative, but when it came to the mission, he always felt himself becoming oddly focused. "Ever think he could've been a distraction for you while the rest of Kougaiji's people attacked us?"

"They wouldn't—"

"How do you know?" Sanzo interjected. His voice was rising dangerously and he knew he'd be yelling at the kappa before the dispute was through.

Gojyo tried again. "I don't think—"

"Exactly."

"Sanzo, this is ridiculous." Gojyo made a few tentative steps towards him.

"What is?" Sanzo hated having to explain the obvious. "Their mission is to get the sutra, just like any other youkai!"

"Okay, okay," Gojyo mumbled. "Sorry..."

Sanzo wasn't buying the forced apology. He knew it was just Gojyo's attempt to get him to drop the point. Not quite yet. "But apparently, that's not important enough. Opening up is much more worthy of your attention. You just have to know what's going on in everyone else's lives."

Gojyo was back in the argument at that comment. "If you'd just say more in the first place, I wouldn't have to keep asking! I want to know things about you, talk to you."

"Why?"

"Because I love you." Gojyo sighed, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Sanzo could tell he was growing tired of the situation and was looking for an escape.

"Here we go again." Sanzo could be just as snide if he so chose. He rolled his eyes in addition to the sarcastic remark.

"What's that s'posed t' mean? I'm telling you the truth."

Sanzo shook his head. He was finally getting to discuss the thing that had bothered him most about this whole 'relationship' mess. "'I love you' just solves all of your problems, doesn't it? It's your excuse for prying, for invading my space, whatever – a nice convenient little blanket statement."

Gojyo balled his hands into fists, stepping ever closer. "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Sanzo, I never say things I don't mean. I would never use that for any hidden motives."

"No, you don't lie," Sanzo agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "But it just glosses over any imperfections, any argument to the contrary. You say 'I love you' like it's the ultimate answer to any question. You think it's the end to any argument—"

"Stop." Gojyo's voice sounded strained. "Just… You know what? We should just go find Hakkai and—"

"No," Sanzo interrupted, narrowing his eyes further at the kappa. "I told you last night. I don't want someone else solving all my problems for me. That's your way of fighting. When your little magic phrase doesn't work, you run off and get Hakkai."

-+-

Momentarily breaking out of his thoughts, the priest noticed that there was no resistance at the entrance to the prison, further proving to him that this Seiran youkai was working alone. That fact would make this whole ordeal a lot easier.

Goku and Lirin had burst through the doors in their usual way, while Kougaiji and Sanzo followed in an uncomfortable silence. The priest had already had enough of the prince for the time being and had the distinct feeling Kougaiji felt the same way regarding him.

Sanzo could hear Gojyo's brother clomping behind them at an irritatingly steady pace reminiscent of the younger Sha – just another thing he was planning on whacking the kappa for once he finally found him. 'Walking too goddamn loudly.'

There was a distinct lack of Hakkai and his dragon, which was another factor that had caused Sanzo to push aside more thoughts about the fight he'd had with Gojyo going on two days now. He was surprised the healer had been as quiet as he was, but on second thought wasn't surprised at all. Sanzo would just as soon have nothing to do with the human-turned-youkai, but it worried him just as much when he was receiving the silent treatment.

'The calculating ones are always worse the more they clam up.'

In reality, Hakkai was still near the entrance and had been waiting for Yaone to continue. He figured that she was going to say something along the same lines that he had been planning to, that they were getting too confused over exactly how they viewed each other, and that the mistaken view would soon be corrected.

"Forgive me for distracting you right before you rescue your friend," she started gently; halfway through her sentence he was already opening his mouth to say that it was no trouble at all. "I wanted to—"

"—Apologize for last night," Hakkai finished, nodding his head. "I as well."

"For what?" Yaone looked confused. "After all, I am the one who keeps leading you on despite the fact that we are supposed to be enemies."

"I can't be helping either," Hakkai admitted. "I'm not to quick to remind you of that fact, am I?"

"It does not matter; it is my fault for disclosing forbidden information, as well as imposing myself upon your company."

"You're not imposing at all." In the back of his mind, he was well aware they'd been left behind. The voices of their other companions had disappeared completely. "In fact, I appreciate the time you've been spending with me, instead of trying to murder me each time we meet."

"I find you too worthy of an opponent to just kill in one scuffle." Yaone hid her smile behind her hand but Hakkai saw it anyway. "I fear that there has been a misunderstanding."

"That seems to be the case, doesn't it?"

"I was afraid that I might be holding you back, in case you were expecting something…"

Hakkai had to admit to himself that she was cute, blushing and trying to explain herself. At the same time, he had expected all along that she was trying to apologize for the same thing he was. "I was about to offer my apologies as well, were it the case that I was being overly friendly or…" He tried to smooth it over with a smile. "Flirting, as my friend might call it."

She paused, biting her lip slightly. "Speaking of which… This is definitely not the time to talk about it."

"It?" Hakkai stepped backwards towards the prison, hoping that he could still catch up. He wanted a piece of Seiran quite badly at the moment, especially if Gojyo was injured or traumatized in any fashion.

"It," Yaone emphasized, walking up to and past him on his right, "can wait."

Hakkai felt pressure on his right hand and it took a few seconds to process that Yaone had squeezed it. A conflicting mess of feelings swelled from this action, but he forced himself to shove it aside and followed her into the prison.

As she said, such things could wait.

-+-

"Nyaah! Gonna beat ya, ya stupid monkey!"

"Don't call me a monkey!"

"Aww… you sayin' yer stupid then?"

Goku was going to kill her. He didn't care that Lirin was a girl and that he wasn't supposed to hit her. He got enough of that 'stupid monkey' stuff from Gojyo! He wasn't about to let someone else start in on him. Lirin definitely wasn't going to beat him to whichever room the kappa was being held in, either. He was about to start running through the prison at random, but something was holding him back by the shirt collar.

"Calm your ass down," Sanzo muttered, letting out a sigh as Goku continued to run in place rather uselessly. "Don't make me hit you."

They had all assembled in the entrance hall of the prison, which looked very dusty and abandoned. It was a bit difficult for any of them to believe that the building was still operational. Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were already positioned towards the hallway leading off to the right, seemingly disregarding Lirin's teasing of Goku.

Yaone and Hakkai arrived through the entryway last, earning a few raised eyebrows but no questions. Everyone in the room knew that there was a more important task at hand, though the level of importance varied. Sanzo found himself closest to a hallway that diverged to the right.

Goku finally freed himself and stuck his tongue out at the princess. She responded in kind.

"We'll take this way," Kougaiji announced, pointing towards the left hall in a sweeping gesture. "I'd prefer to look over the floor plans of this prison before starting a search, but we unfortunately lack that option."

Doku smirked. "But you guys are used t' runnin' around aimlessly, right?"

Goku clenched his fists, but didn't move more than a few steps in the Kou-tachi's direction. "We'll find Gojyo an' that youkai way faster 'n you--!"

"Don't bait him," Sanzo said to Doku with a sigh. "It just makes him more excitable."

Kougaiji turned, fully intending to make his way down the left hallway when the group heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching. Doku, Yaone, and Goku all summoned their weapons, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Sanzo's grip tightened around the shoureiju and he could tell both Hakkai and Kougaiji were channeling their power in preparation as well.

The footsteps drew closer and, finally, a figure emerged from the darkened hallway. It was a youkai carrying an empty food tray. He blinked at the group standing there and scanned them over for a moment.

"Seiran?" Goku asked, making the youkai turn in his direction.

"Don't insult me." It was then that they noticed the youkai had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "I've had enough of that guy to tide me over for a long time."

"Is he here?" Kougaiji demanded. Sanzo also stepped forward, contemplating the best way to beat the prince to wherever the youkai spy was hiding.

The cigarette bobbed up and down as the pale youkai chuckled. "Why should I—" Then, he paused, taking a long look at the group standing in front of him. "Ah! Kougaiji-sama, please forgive my rudeness." He pointed down the long hallway from where he'd just come. "He's down in his room, that way."

"Is there another man here also?" Hakkai asked. "He has long red hair, also a smoker."

The youkai smirked again. "And you must be Gojyo's buddies, come to get him. Go down that same way, but there's a hallway to the right. Down the hall, up the stairs, there he is. Been wonderin' 'bout you guys, too."

"Right." Sanzo immediately pushed past the youkai, down the hallway, not bothering to fight back a sudden intense need to find Gojyo and beat him senseless with the harisen. He could faintly hear the others following after him, but at this point, he ceased to care.

Hakkai thanked the youkai, despite being rather confused. "It's not that we don't appreciate it, but why exactly are you helping us out?"

Shou put his cigarette out with his heel as he watched the rest of the group recede down the hallway. "Gojyo said he'd buy me a drink if I helped him out. Jus' tell him I'll be waitin' for him at the nearest bar." With a wave of his hand, he turned and continued walking towards the exit. He planned to leave Seiran and the castle far, far behind.