Standard disclaimer applies.
Ratings: Ratings will vary from one chapter to the other, so on the safe side, I'll keep it at "T"
Spoilers: Some chapters will contain spoilers for the manga and/or anime. Be warned.
Chapter Spoiler: None.
Timeline: Pre journey. Takes place after Sanzo picks up Goku.
Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews Sarah, and BlackWolfHowling, I enjoy reading them !
I hope you both like this chapter .
Chapter 10 will be the last chapter for this story.
Chapter Nine: Food and Prizes
He never thought it possible. An idiot monkey wouldn't get sick, but an idiot monkey with an appetite for anything edible, no wait, everything that looks edible.
Now he's sitting here, and keeping an eye on said monkey. His thoughts drifted to the events that occurred earlier today.
There was a festival of some sort in town, and Goku was pestering him to take him there. Seeing it as a reason to escape some paper work, and the only way to shut the persistent whining of his charge, he agreed. Anyway, he wouldn't take 'No' for an answer. And so they were there. Walking amongst the crowds and different stalls. Goku was mesmerized by his surroundings, he was never around this many people, and his eyes were flying from one stall to the other.
"Sanzo! Let's play this one! It looks fun!" His charge held his hand and pulled him toward a stall where a man in his late thirties was handing some kids their prize.
"Hey Mister! I wanna play, too!" Goku said as he reached the stand. The man turned to him, and leaned forward.
"You wanna play, eh? Well, got some money?"
"Here," Sanzo threw a couple of coins in front of the man, who quickly collected them in his hand. And then he handed Goku three soft balls.
"See those cans over there? You get three tries to hit'em over, can you do it?"
"Of course I can!" he quickly grabbed the first ball, and aimed at his target of cans, and threw the ball. His aim was slightly off, and he only managed to make one can fall
"Don't worry kid, you still got two tries left" The man encouraged him to try again. And he did, but unfortunately, both tries failed like the first one. And Goku's enthusiasm faded, and he became disappointed, and was about to walk away, but felt a tug on the back of his shirt.
"Huh?" he turned to find Sanzo holding him, and threw the man another couple of coins.
"We'll give it another go," he said, and handed Goku two of the three balls.
"But it's hard, Sanzo!" He protested.
"Just try,"
Just like his previous try, Goku managed to hit only a single can. And now two remained. Before Goku got a chance to turn around, he saw a ball hit the two remaining cans. He looked beside him, and found out who threw that ball.
"Practice," Sanzo said to Goku, who was now awed by Sanzo's throw.
"You won! That's great Sanzo! Can you teach me how to throw like that!"
"Here you go, sir." The man handed Sanzo a little stuffed monkey, "Your prize!"
"Wow, Sanzo! You got a cool prize!" Goku was jumping up and down.
"Keep it," Sanzo placed the stuffed animal on top of his charge's head.
"Huh? Sanzo?"
"I already have one, you take care of this one." And walked ahead of him.
"Thanks, Sanzo!" he hurriedly ran after the priest. "You already have a monkey? But I haven't seen it before! Where do you keep it Sanzo?"
Sanzo can feel the headache starting. Even if he can escape work, there are things he can't escape.
"Hey, Sanzo!" He held the priest's robes, and dragged him toward another stall. This one was a food stand. It was selling different kinds of sweets.
"They look yummy!" Goku let go of the robe, and was now looking at the colorful sweets that were in different jars in front of him.
Sanzo was surprised how his attention was always diverted with food and games.
"Can we get some Sanzo?" Golden eyes looked at him, and awaiting approval.
"Tch, fine, get whatever you want," The day was only starting. Going from one food stand to the other, and then trying all types of food. Sanzo has grown tired from following him around and decided to sit in one place, while the monkey did his own food sampling.
Finally after a couple of hours passed, a tired monkey walked toward him, "Sanzo," he sat on a chair across him.
"What's wrong?" Sanzo asked, as he watched Goku cross his arms on the table, and lean his head forward over them.
"I don't feel so good, Sanzo."
"You probably ate too much, even though I warned you not to try everything you see,"
"I'm sorry,"
"Come on, we're leaving." Sanzo took a few steps, when he noticed that the monkey wasn't following behind. Turning around he found the monkey still in his chair, "Hell, no."
Eventually, Sanzo had to carry the sick monkey back to the temple. And once Goku was placed in his bed, Sanzo ordered for a doctor. And now, here he was, watching over a sick monkey.
He didn't care much about the delayed paper work, it was hard to concentrate with an idiot monkey calling out your name, anyway, but what he cared about was to get some rest, he had one busy day.
"-zo…" Goku murmured in his sleep.
Where are you? he heard him calling again.
"I'm here," he repeated for the ith time.
Sanzo remained seated by his side until the calling stopped, and the rays of sun found their way in through the window.
Deciding that the worst was probably over, he retreated to his room to get the rest he needed. After hours of rest, he woke up surprised to find out that the monkey hasn't called out to him, nor the monks knocked on his door reminding him of any meetings or important scripts that needed his attention.
He first chose to check on Goku, and he found his room surprisingly empty. He decided to search for him on the temple grounds, and finally, he found him sitting by the peach tree. And his monkey sitting beside him.
When golden eyes saw him, a smile was drawn upon the kid's face, and he ran toward him, "Sanzo!"
He was bombard by questions, "Sanzo? Are you feeling okay? Do you still need some sleep? Did someone wake you up? Are you hungry? Want me to get you something to eat?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Are you hungry?"
"No,"
"Did someone wake you up? 'Cause I told them you were tired."
"And they listened to you?" Surprised by his gesture.
"Uh-huh. You didn't sleep 'cause you were takin' care of me, and now, I'm takin' care of you!" A huge grin found a place on his face.
"Great, I'm being looked after by a monkey." he said to himself as he walked back to his office.
"Sanzo! Wait for me!"
As he walked, Sanzo can hear the footsteps coming closer, to finally walking beside him. And for once in a very long time, Goku was quiet. But, unfortunately for Sanzo, that only lasted a couple of hours.
08.26.2007
