Ah.. I don't really have the courage to come out -hiding behind a wall- ^^'' Well, I'm still alive, as you can see. I didn't forget you were all waiting and I DO have a bad conscience because I have kept you waiting for so long, so I'm really really really (…) terribly sorry. It's just that university isn't exactly a piece of cake. But now all the exams are over (thank goodness, there wasn't time for anything but studying) and I decided it was time to update.

So, as always, they swear a lot, Nii is still a creep and Dokugakuji is still bleeding while Kougaiji is a tiny little bit desperate :)

Oh, and please don't hate me but accept my apology 0=)

Kougaiji was desperate. He had absolutely no idea where to find Yaone. All he could hope for was that Lirin had found the Sanzo Group and that their healer was capable enough.

Kou was about to climb on his flying dragon's back when he felt someone approaching from behind. His body tensed up but he only needed to sniff the air once to know who was behind him.

He spun around, his eyes wide and staring. He took in the person standing in front of him, the slender figure with long purple hair and eyes of which he hadn't known how much he would miss them. When he realized that he could not help doing something very untypical. He rushed forward and pulled Yaone to his body, holding her closer than he had ever held someone.

"Yaone," he mumbled. He didn't know if he had ever felt so relieved. She was here, right in his arms and unharmed.

While he pressed her against his body her lips stretched into a hollow smile. It never reached her eyes but Kougaiji couldn't see. He didn't realize it when she lifted her hand either. There was only a short glimmer to warn him as something reflected the last sunbeams the sun threw at them before it disappeared behind the horizon. He wasn't fast enough, though. Before he could jump back the blade had already pierced his shoulder. The prince hissed when breathtaking agony spread through his whole body. His fingers buried themselves in Yaone's shoulders as he slowly slid to the ground. He breathed with great difficulty, every time his lungs tried to expand the pain forced them back.

"W..why?" he panted. His body started to tremble and made it hard for him to lift his head to look in her eyes. There was nothing in them, black holes without a single spark of light.

She just looked back at him, no, looked through him as he fell on his knees. His eyes were at one level with her hands and so he was able to see the dagger she held in her hand. Something black dribbled from the blade, together with his own blood. Poison? He then caught the image of her other hand. A bracelet? His heart missed a beat when he recognized it as one of those things that Nii had given to him.

"So you realized, huh?"

He didn't need to turn his head to be sure the 'doctor' was right behind him. He could smell the cigarette.

"So I see your hand is better? I am so relieved, it must have hurt when I stepped on it." Kougaiji saw the man's feet when he approached them. The demon needed all his strength to just move his head so that he could look at Nii who stepped behind Yaone, provocatively trailing his index finger over the delicate skin of her shoulder. She didn't flinch or shy away from his touch.

"She is cute, isn't she?" the doctor sighed. "What a waste... Follow me, Yaone." Nii turned around, followed by Yaone who was totally oblivious to the agony her prince was in.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Nii half turned again, a mild smile on his thin lips. "That dagger she attacked you with has poison on it. In a few minutes the pain will ease off, but you're dead in two days time if you don't get the antidote. Which is by the way Yaone's blood. Directly from her heart, to be exact. Have a nice day, my Prince."

Kougaiji watched them disappear until his sight got blurry and his body was consumed by blazing heat. He screamed, the poison was eating him alive, made him collapse on the ground. He coughed up some blood but after the pain had reached its peak it suddenly disappeared all together. There was a dull throbbing in his shoulder where the dagger had been but that was all. Slowly he got up, his legs were still trembling.

Yaone. She was under his control. Then he remembered what Nii had said. How the antidote to this poison was blood from Yaone's heart. He shook his head, tried to think of anything he could do and gave up. Dokugaku was probably already dead. He was going to die for there was no way he'd sacrifice Yaone's life for his own. He needed to free her, then send her out to find Lirin. When he died she would be the only one to look after his sister. Gyokumen Koushu would never lay hands on her again. But first he had to find Yaone.

Sanzo leaned against the jeep, cigarette in mouth. It didn't matter to him whether Kougaiji's swordsman died or not. Everyone had to face death at the end, some sooner, some later. All he cared about was their mission which seemed to be delayed again and again because some stupids pricks didn't know how to look after themselves. Fuck. He'd just finished his last cigarette. He looked in the back of the jeep if the kappa had left his pack there, but count on that moron to always have his smokes with him. With a pissed "Ts" he walked over to the others who were desperately trying to keep that bloody mess on the ground alive. He threw a quick glance at Goku who had the girl in his arms. Huh, one pet comforting the other. He stopped right next to the kappa who was constantly yelling at his brother or whatever the other man was and kicked him to gain his attention. "Oi, kappa. Hand me your smokes. And stop yelling, you get on my nerves."

Gojyo turned so fast that Sanzo didn't have time to react. The kappa had seized him by the collar in no time, lifting him in the air, staining his robe with blood from his hands. "You fucking monk! Shut the hell up or I'm gonna shove your goddamn gun up your ass! That's my brother dying there, you..." He stopped when he felt the gun barrel being pressed at his temple.

"Let me down you fucking prick before I blow you're head away." Sanzo's voice was dangerously cold, one word from Gojyo and he would carry out his threat.

Gojyo's head turned red with fury when he let Sanzo down and reluctantly got his hands off the man. The gun was still aimed at him.

"Your smokes, kappa," hissed the monk. The redhead pulled the pack out of his pocket and threw it on the ground in front of the monk. "Fuck you," he growled before he turned to kneel down next to Jien again. The shot missed him by an inch but he didn't bother to yell at the monk again.

All that blood... "Hakkai," he whispered, "will he make it?" He saw Lirin stir in Goku's arms when she heard his question and felt that she feared the answer as much as he did.

Beads of sweat ran down the healer's face who was panting with the effort he put into keeping Dokugakuji alive. It was a stroke of luck that they hadn't been assaulted by any youkai today or he wouldn't have had enough chi to treat these terrible wounds. "I don't know," he answered and was careful to avoid his best friend's eyes.

Behind him Sanzo snorted. "Don't waste your time, then. It won't help when our driver passes out behind the wheel." He hadn't taken Hakkai's reaction into account, though. The healer slowly turned his head towards the monk, his eyes were cold as ice though his words remained rather polite. "I suggest you stop to hurt Gojyo and go back to the jeep unless you want to help. I'll make perfectly sure that I do not overexert myself." This was enough to make even Sanzo back off. When Hakkai was in that kind of mood one shouldn't give him any reason to be angry.

"Ts." The monk bent down to pick up the cigarettes before he went over to Lirin and Goku. They both threw angry glances at him, so he rolled his eyes and went back to the jeep. But when he wanted to open the door to sit down Hakuryu chirped and transformed. The little dragon hissed angrily at him before he flew over to Hakkai.

"Idiots."