1Author's Note: You know... I may have to quit my job and be a bum so I can finish this story, I try to get these chapters out I really do, but I have to go to work at three in the evening and I go to bed at three in the morning... and sleep...a lot... Heh, well this chapter will be longer than the others, but there shouldn't be anything naughty going on... -grin-

Disclaimer: Saiyuki is owned my Kazuya Minekura! However, it's up to the fans to torture Minekura-sensei's characters. Not that it isn't done enough to them already... but come on... it's better this way.

Chapter Seven

The sun shone brightly overhead; birds were singing happily in the trees and Sanzo was enjoying a leisurely drive alone in the forest. Okay Sanzo was rising passenger side with Hakkai driving and Riku still wigging out in the backseat. And it wasn't really a leisurely drive, since Hakkai was driving fairly quickly and serving to avoid obstacle in the road. That is, if you wanted to call the rock and dirt path they were on a road..

"I'm so sorry this is all my fault! If only I hadn't convinced Zima to escape with me then Goku-san and Gojyo-san would be alright!" Riku sobbed from the backseat. Her words were almost indistinguishable. "Zima warned me but I didn't listen, she said she had seen something but I ignored her and now they could all be dead!"

"Oh don't worry about Goku and Gojyo, they can take care of themselves," Hakkai said and jerked the wheel so hard that Hakuryu squeaked in protest as they went around a root protruding out of the ground. "At least we're headed West, though, you could have mentioned that we were headed straight towards the town you had escaped from. I'm sure we could have found a way around it so you girls wouldn't have been in harms way."

"No, that was the way Sanzo-san wanted to go, it wasn't our place to tell him not to," Riku said. She hung her head. "Even at this speed, the town is all the way at the edge of the forest. Its overrun by youkai and nearly two days away. The forest itself isn't even safe anymore, youkai live all over we could be attacked any time and there's no guarantee that Goku-san and Gojyo-san are still alive."

Sanzo grunted as they hit a rather nasty bump and he was jolted over against the door. Riku grabbed Hakkai's seat to keep from being tossed out and Hakkai said something about Hakuryu needing seatbelts. The monk was not amused, he felt tense and his stomach was twisting into knots, ever since he had seen that Goku was gone he felt sick inside. The only thing that kept him calm was that he knew Goku was alright, not that he knew how, it was just a feeling that he had, stronger than even the nausea that was threatening him.

"Sanzo I don't think that Hakuryu can take much more of this," Hakkai warned the monk, he was slowing down to give the dragon a little relief but the road only looked worse up ahead.

"Alright, we'll stop here," Sanzo said. Hakkai pulled over and they all climbed out, grabbing what supplies they had bagged up and unloading it so Hakuryu could transform. Sanzo hoisted the strap of one back onto his shoulder and started walking down the path while Riku pulled the other pack onto her back and found herself being pulled down to the dirt road under it's weight. Hakkai grabbed the pack and effortly pulled her back up.

"Perhaps I could trouble you to carry Hakuryu instead?" he asked. Riku blushed, embarrassed that she wasn't strong enough to carry the pack but nodded. She let Hakkai take the pack in exchange for Hakuryu. She cradled the little dragon in her arms and he stretched his neck so his head was laying on her shoulder.

She watched him pull the straps over his shoulders and smile politely at her before going on ahead, walking as though the pack weighted only a few pounds. Riku paused, admiring him for a moment before she started after him, carefully picking her way across the debris in the road.

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

Goku sighed as he came to, reaching to wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth. He blinked as his arm didn't move, or rather something kept it from moving. His eyes snapped open and he yelled loudly, surprised that Zima's face was mere inches away from his own. He quickly sat up and shoved her, making the girl roll off the arm that had been trapped under her.

"Goku-san! Are you alright?" Zima asked as she snapped awake and sat up. She hissed and placed a hand over her right temple, it hurt. Goku glared at her. He was starving and she had been trying to cuddle him in his sleep.

"I'm starving to death! Where are we?" he asked, while he looked around the room. It was simple, four walls, a large metal door, a cot, and a barred window. "Where's Sanzo?"

"I think I might know," Zima said. She slowly climbed to her feet, and, very slowly, walked over to the cot. She climbed onto it and stood on the small bed, while she looked out the barred window. "Yes, we're in the village at the edge of the forest. This is where Riku and I used to live before we ran away and Sanzo-sama found us. I... I don't understand though. Riku killed the leader of the youkai who live here, why would they come after us?"

"So this is your fault! They went after you and you refused to leave after Sanzo said he didn't want you around so they attacked us!" Goku yelled, bawling his hands into fists. "Well I'm not gonna wait around here to see what's gonna happen to us, they must have Sanzo somewhere and I'm gonna find him!" Goku turned from her, summoning his Nyoi-Bo.

"Goku don't!" Zima yelled as Goku hit the metal door. Goku blinked as electricity raced up his weapon and hit him. He screamed as the door electrocuted his and sent him flying back against the wall opposite of the door. "Goku-san! Goku-san, are you alright?" Zima frantically asked, leaping from the bed to where he laid in a crumpled heap on the floor. No sooner than she had placed a hand on his shoulder the door slid open behind her.

"Is the runt dead?" a cold, male voice asked from the door way. Zima trembled, she clutched Goku's shirt and turned her head to look back over her shoulder. "You'd better answer me." his eyes were narrowed and dangerous, an icy blue color that sent a shiver to her very core as he glared at her.

"N...No Toshiro-dono." She said, her heart pounding in her chest. She stared at him, tensing as he stepped into the room and a pair of youkai came in dragging Gojyo between them. Zima gripped Goku's shirt as they hauled Gojyo over to the wall and sat him down.

"Do as you'd like with that half-breed, I'll be back for you later." The man she had called Toshiro said before turning and walking through the doorway, followed by the two youkai who had carried in Gojyo. Zima stayed still until the door had slid closed and then rushed over to Gojyo.

"Gojyo-san..." She dropped to her knees beside him. His breathing was labored, there was a gash on one side of his face as well as over the bridge of his nose, one of his eyes was swollen shut but the other was still partially open. Zima was almost relived to see him still conscious.

He winced with his good eye as she touched the gash on the side of his face, jerking slightly as the wound pained him. Gojyo gasped and cringed as he moved, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. Zima dropped the cloth and carefully pulled Gojyo's shirt up. His chest was covered in cuts and burn marks, on his left side was a large bruise and she frowned deeply.

"Some of your ribs are broken. I can fix them, if you'll let me," she said, looking back to his face for permission. Gojyo nodded his head slightly, he tried to speak but she cut him off, cupping his face in her hands as she turned his head slightly so she could kiss him. He nearly jerked away, a pain worse than the one he was already feeling shot into him and made his body tense up. It soon began to fade away though and as it did he felt his body relax. The pain melted away and she pulled away. Gojyo blinked, able to see with both eyes.

"Oh man," Goku groaned from across the room. Zima turned and ran over to him.

"Goku, do you feel alright?" she asked, taking hold of his arm to pull him up.

"I'm so hungry..." Goku whined as she helped him over to the cot. She helped him sit down and then looked back to Gojyo. "When did you get here?" Goku asked, noticing Gojyo for the first time. "Is Sanzo here?"

"They dragged me in here while your monkey ass was sleeping you little punk," Gojyo snapped.

"I wasn't sleeping! That door shocked me!" Goku yelled back at him. Zima looked back and forth at them worriedly. Gojyo grunted and climbed to his feet, his legs felt a little weak at first but he managed to make his way over to the cot and sank down beside Goku.

"Well Sanzo isn't here, neither is Hakkai or Riku, at least I don't think they are. I don't really remember much except for waking up with that jackass and his goons ready to gang up on me."

"I could fit between the bars of the window, and I think I could get back into the building. If I could take out some of the guards then maybe I can-"

"No, these guys mean business. You could get seriously hurt if you made even one wrong move," Gojyo said.

"You don't have to worry about me. They wouldn't kill me unless Toshiro-dono told them to. You see, I used to live here before, with Riku and her master. I belonged to Toshiro-dono, who was Riku's master's younger brother. I guess when we escaped and Riku killed her master in the forest Toshiro-dono took over their gang. Though, I don't know why he had the two of you kidnaped, or why he let Sanzo, Hakkai, and Riku alone." Zima raised her hands to her face and sighed into them. She should have convinced Riku to leave when she saw the shadow on the night Goku went missing, then maybe Goku and Gojyo wouldn't have been dragged into their mess.

"So it is your fault," Goku shot at her. Gojyo smacked him in the back of the head.

"Look you ape-"

"No, he's right. I've been nothing but trouble for you, It is my fault."

Saiyuki-Sanzo's Favorite-Saiyuki

"Are you hungry?" Hakkai asked, arranging a few logs in the fire. Across from him, sitting rather stiffly and staring into the flames was a clearly troubled monk. Sanzo grunted in response and puffed at his cigarette. He'd been smoking so heavily since they made camp that Hakkai had lost count, well, at least the smoke would keep the bugs away.

Hakkai sighed and turned his face upwards to look at the darkened sky overhead. It was cloudy, barely any stars could be seen and the moon was almost completely obscured overhead. "It looks like it might rain."

Sanzo grunted again and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the fire. Hakkai watched him take out his pack of cigarettes then throw it into the fire. Sanzo gritted his teeth as he walked over to one of the bags to dig through it. However, he wasn't able to find what he was looking for and looked around for the smaller bag they had brought with them.

"Did she take the other bag with her?" he asked Hakkai.

"Yes, did you need something?" Hakkai stood, intending to go and retrieve the item for Sanzo.

"Cigarettes." Sanzo stared at him rather blankly, as though Hakkai should have already known what he wanted.

"Of course." Hakkai turned away from Sanzo and the fire and walked into the dark, looming forest. He had known Sanzo's cigarettes were in the bag. After seeing him take out a brand new pack and start smoking away at it as though he was striving for first place in a lung cancer competition he was almost relived when Riku said she was going to go and check the area. He'd given her the pack while Sanzo wasn't looking and told her to take it along, there were some first aid supplies in it in case she ran into trouble and he sent Hakuryu with her as back up.

He hadn't gone very far into the forest before he heard the distant sound of Hakuryu's squeaking. Alarmed, he rushed forwards towards the sound, ignoring the branches of the trees as they caught him, scrapping his face. There was a sound like the splashing of water and then laughing, accompanied by a round noisy squeaks from Hakuryu. He slowed, coming to a complete stop when he found a small clearing.

Riku was kneeling at the edge of a river, splashing water at Hakuryu who was playing in the river, using his wings to beat at the water and splash her back. Hakkai relaxed and stepped out from the forest.

"Riku, Hakuryu," he called over to them. Riku stood and brushed the dirt away from her legs before she walked over to him with Hakuryu trailing behind.

"Sorry, we didn't see anything and Hakuryu sort of wanted to play." Riku adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder. Hakkai smiled and nodded as Hakuryu flew in a circle around the two of them before heading off towards camp.

"It's fine, Sanzo just sent me to fetch something from the bag I gave you. Though, we should get back-" Hakkai stopped, taken by surprise when Riku placed a hand on the side of his face, her fingers tracing something on his cheek.

"You're hurt. Did something happen?"

"No," Hakkai said. His cheek did sting slightly though, now that he thought about it. "A tree branch must have caught me while I was running-"

"Running? Why were you running?" Riku asked, dropping the bag and kneeling down to open it and look for the first aid kit inside.

"I heard the commotion Hakuryu was making and thought that you might have been ambushed." He stood still as she used a cotton swob and some antiseptic to clean the scratch on the side of his face.

"My healing skills aren't quite as strong as Zima's. I'm more of a hypnotist."

"Do mind if I asked you something?" He tried to hold still as she placed a band aid over the scratch.

"You may ask whatever you like Hakkai-san." She noticed that his hands had a few scratches and wordlessly went to work cleaning those as well.

"Ah, first you can call me Hakkai. You don't need to be so formal, and the same goes for the others," he said, watching her clean his scratches.

"Alright," she said, looking up at him while holding his hand in hers. "Hakkai." She smiled softly; her fingers gently caressing his hand. He felt a strange sensation come over him as he looked down into her eyes, almost like a warm blanket was being wrapped around his stiff, cold frame. Hakkai was startled to find himself thinking that he might fall into the pools of sapphire and jade and drown in the ebony depths of her eyes if he stayed there for too long. "What would you like to know?"

He blinked, her voice snapping him back to reality. She looked back to his hand and put a band aid around one finger. "When Goku, Gojyo, and Zima were abducted you told us that the youkai who took them was one of those who lived in the village at the edge of the forest. And that you used to live there, but you've never told us why it was that the two of you had to escape from there-" Hakkai's words caught in his throat when he noticed that Riku had stopped cleaning his scratches.

She was tense, as though the very thought had frightened her. Her head raised and Hakkai felt his chest tighten, his throat went dry and he could find the words to say that he hadn't meant to pry, or that he shouldn't have brought it up.

"When Zima and I were there we belonged to the head of the village and his younger brother. They treated us like property, and used us however they wanted, even lent us to the other youkai as rewards. I couldn't stand living like that, but Zima was too frightened to do anything about it. They often treated her worse because she is only half youkai, so it was difficult to convince her to disobey her master and run away with me. The first time we waited until our masters had both sent us to another youkai for the day and decided to escape. But he caught us before we could even get out of the forest and gave us back to our masters. They were so furious-" Riku's voice broke and she looked away from Hakkai.

"Riku..." He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't sure what to expect, if he should have even touched her. It seemed like forever ago since he last held a woman in his arms or held someone close to comfort them. He wasn't even sure if he knew how to anymore. Her arms encircling his waist reassured him, and the warmth of her breath through his shirt as she buried her face in it let him know it was okay.

She was trembling and seemed so fragile that he was afraid to hold her tightly least he hurt her. But she was also warm and soft; and she was holding onto him so desperately that he didn't notice his hands sliding up her back, over her shoulders and to the sides of her face. Hakkai felt himself weaken as her eyes met his again and he fell into them, damning himself as he watched his image obscure in twin pools of ebony.

Hakkai ached when he raised his head, he had to blink his eyes to clear his vision of her. Riku's face was flushed red, her lips were swollen red and slightly parted as she drew in air. He didn't dare look at her eyes, feeling that he might loose his control again if he did. Gods help him, he wanted to.