Gojyo glanced up as the blonde monk once again descended the stairs alone. He stood from his seat beside Hakkai as Sanzo approached. It wasn't hard to see the young blonde was distracted and tense.

"Hey man, where's Rayne?"

Sanzo turned his attention to lighting a cigarette before answering him. "She's checking on her sisters. Are they packing?"

Gojyo nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Hakkai beat him to it. Standing beside his crimson haired friend, he asked a question that both of them were dying to know the answer to.

"Yes, they are. Sanzo, what exactly are you planning to do?"

The monk paced the length of the room a few times silently. It occurred to Gojyo that he had never seen the man this troubled over something, save for the incident with Kami-sama. It was disturbing, to say the least. Finally, he stopped his infernal pacing and spoke.

"We're taking them with us."

Silence followed.

"What the hell? Dude, you can't do that!"

Gojyo had to restrain from saying anything else. It didn't make any sense, what Sanzo was saying. This wasn't like the priest at all! He realized that Sanzo might for once be acting on emotional instinct rather than logic, and he couldn't blame him completely. After all, it was taking all his will power to keep from running upstairs and demanding that Enoki come with him to someplace safe, someplace away from her mother. But he knew it was impossible to do. Going with them certainly wouldn't be any safer for the girls. He wanted to tell the blonde this, but couldn't find the words to explain. Thankfully, Hakkai took over speaking from there.

"I understand how you feel Sanzo; but really, do you honestly think that traveling with us is the best solution? We're being pursued ruthlessly by demons every day, and the danger increases the closer we get to India. That's not the best environment to take four young women into. They are certainly at risk staying here, but being with us won't be any safer. I not even sure that we would be able to protect them…."

"That's not true!"

Both men were shocked as the monk slammed his palms down on the table. Never before had they seen him so livid about something. A muscle in his jaw twitched as his eyes glinted angrily in the light.

"I could protect her if I just tried! Don't you people get it? I can't leave her again; not after what Anni did. I've got to take her with me, not matter what!" He gripped the table so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"She's not going to die because of me…."

Hakkai stared at his friend in earnest, finding the fact that Sanzo was obviously talking about Rayne rather than all girls. "I will admit that Anni is not the model for a mother, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't kill her daughters. She isn't evil, just misguided."

"……….That's not it."

'I am gravely serious, Sanzo; if you do not do this, if you do not go to the inn and complete my request, the person in question could be killed.'

The two of them watched as he took a seat and lit another cigarette. Both remained silent, waiting for Sanzo to elaborate. Finally, after a few puffs of the cancer stick, he spoke again.

"The hag told me that if I left her here, she'd die. So leaving without them is not an option."

He reached for the cigarette pack, only to have it pulled away by a certain scarlet-haired pervert. Gojyo grinned over the table at him. "You're in danger of sounding attached, Master Sanzo."

His comment was met by the barrel of a Smith & Wesson.

"Shut up or piss lead. Your choice."

"All right, all right, just stop pointing that thing at me, ya frigging priest!"

Once the gun had been put away, Sanzo took a sweeping survey of the room; he realized one of their party was gone. "Where's Goku?"

"He's upstairs with the sisters. He mentioned something about helping Janachi pack." Hakkai smiled knowingly, which caused Gojyo to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"The monkey's got a crush!"


Ina became aware of footsteps outside the room about five seconds before the door slammed open, revealing Rayne's figure. She smiled and began to greet the older girl when she noticed her friend's facial expression.

Rayne had been crying. Again.

Jana, however, had not noticed and at once flounced over to her sister. Once there she tugged playfully on Rayne's dress and began to chatter away.

"Guess what, guess what Raynie, betcha can't guess! Guess what, huh! Sanzo told all of us to pack and I don't know all of it but I think, I think he's going to take us aways! Isn't that the neatest! Huh, huh, huh! Rayne? Dontcha think it's great?...Rayne?"

The youngest Shuichi sister was overcome by confusion as her older sister pushed past her to collapse at the vanity. Looking over her sister's shoulder at her face in the mirror, Jana saw what Ina meant when she said Rayne looked older. Her eldest sibling was only 21, but the lines in her face caused by worry and stress made her look at least 10 years older. Not to mention her entire figure and posture was that of a woman defeated. Even now she sat slumped forward in the chair, her head hung.

"Rayne? Did you hear me?"

The woman stirred and nodded wearily. She tried to give the girl behind her in the mirror a smile, only to look like she was grimacing. "I heard, Jana. It's a good thing that…you guys found a way out of this place. I'm happy." With that, she closed her tired eyes.

"What do you mean 'you guys'? You make it sound like you're planning on sitting around here, waving us off."

Enoki emerged from the closet, carrying a stack of clothes. She sat them on the bed and began to pack them into the suitcase, glancing at her sister's reflection in the mirror. Like Rayne would really give up a chance to get out of here!

"That's just it. I am going to sit here and wave you off. I'm not going."

"…………………………………………………………………"

"What the hell did you just say!"

"You couldn't possibly be serious, Rayne!"

"Raynie!"

The raven-haired girl opened her eyes and glared at the three women behind her in the mirror. "I didn't stutter, so unless you three have developed hearing problems, you heard me correctly. I'm not going with you and the others. I'm staying here."

The emerald haired woman stalked over and spun Rayne's chair so that she was facing the rest of them. "Sorry for being rude, but why in the hell would you want to stay in this hellhole with our drunk of a mother! We've got a chance to get out, a chance to make it. Why won't you take it!"

Rayne stood, now face to face with her sibling, but instead of confronting Enoki, she diverted her gaze to Ina. After a few moments, the younger woman understood exactly what the reason for Rayne's refusal was.

"I see. This has something to do with the blonde priest, am I right? Something to do with your shared past."

The eldest girl nodded and dropped back down to the chair. Her entire personality seemed wilted, to the point of overwhelming despair. Ina suspected her pain originated from old wounds that had been reopened due to Sanzo's reappearance. Rayne had never talked about her past, nor had the other two sisters mentioned anything about the years that Rayne had lived away from home. However, it was obvious that something had happened during that time that caused Rayne anguish even now. It gave Ina pains to see her friend suffering so much.

"……..It's not that I don't want to leave. I cannot go. I'm just too tired to keep up hope that there's something else for me. And….I'm afraid. I cared too much one time, and it's haunted my life ever since. You're right to suspect that Sanzo plays a critical part in my refusal. I'm afraid of what might happen if I choose to follow him again. Can't you see I'm afraid of change! I'm afraid of starting over, of finding a new reason to live besides routine! I'm scared of my own heart starting to beat again! I won't go, not if I'm uncertain. I'm no longer someone who rejoices in adventure and the unknown, but rather someone who lives in fear of it. I'm afraid that if things don't work out, I won't have the heart to continue. Can't you see th…."

Slap

Ina and Jana stared in amazement as Enoki's hand collided with Rayne's face. The raven-haired woman held a hand to her bruised cheek and gawked silently at her sister. Contempt flashed across her younger sibling's face as she backed towards the door.

"Coward. You little, whining coward. You disgust me with your god damned self pity rant! You're not my sister…." Unable to speak any longer, she turned on her heel and fled the room as Goku returned from Jana's room carrying her suitcase. Silence settled over the remaining girls, the only sound was Jana sniffling quietly. Ina glanced away from the door to Rayne only to find that the other woman was scrutinizing her hands as though they were covered in dirt.

'Or blood.'

Ina had a suspicion that Rayne was dealing with some mighty strong inner demons at the moment. And more than likely, at least one of them had blonde hair.


(Meanwhile, downstairs……)

The three had argued the point to death, but that wasn't stopping them from continuing in a tiring debate. Both Hakkai and Gojyo were having trouble convincing Sanzo to leave Rayne while they themselves had misgivings about their own feelings in the matter. And Sanzo was still adamant about taking the four women with them. Gojyo thought it was all a little weird, what with him arguing against taking four gorgeous chicks with them.

'But Enoki's not just another chick, and you know that.'

Stupid voice in his head. But it was right, after all. For some reason that he couldn't quite put a finger on, he knew that Enoki was much more than the average girl he picked up of the streets. She was unique.

She was also headed down the stairs and out the back door.

Before he even gave it a thought, he was through the kitchen and out the back door behind her. He found her sitting by the wall, in what appeared to be several inches of snow. Apparently, it hadn't been rain he had seen falling earlier. He silently knelt down in front of her and took her hand.

"Hey, what's up gorgeous?"

The girl in front of him gestured angrily with her hands. "It's my damned sister! She won't go with us because, because….I don't know why! She says she's afraid, but that's bullshit! My sister wouldn't give up like that. It's that damned priest. Ever since you guys showed up, she's been moping around in her own self pity." She gave a frustrated sigh and leaned back against the building. The red head took a seat beside her and gave an amused chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, the monk has that affect on people. He's like a frigging black cloud or something, I swear."

They lapsed into silence, unable to find anything else to rant about. Gojyo's thoughts drifted to a daydream in which he had met Enoki under different circumstances. He sat there for a few moments, pondering the scenario playing through his mind, until her voice broke his reverie.

"You're not going to take us, are you?"

There was no malice or resentment in her voice. Simply a quiet resignation of the fact. But that resignation alone gave Gojyo more pain than malice would have. Mostly because she was completely right; they wouldn't take them. It was exactly what he had been trying to get through Sanzo's head for the past half hour. But now, face to face with Enoki, he was starting to see why Sanzo was unwilling to accept the fact that they would have to leave them behind.

"I won't lie to you, Noki. It's…..just not possible. You wouldn't be any safer with us than with your mom. In fact, it'd probably be worse. At least here you're not in danger of dying every day."

She simply stared at a spot on the ground in front of her. He could see the tautness of her jaw, the tears threatening to spill.

"You don't….You don't know that. Every day I wish…something would happen to me that would take me away…." The words gave through to tears and she began sobbing uncontrollably. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to his chest, feeling a flutter of relief as she wrapped her slender arms around his neck. Silently he held her in the snow, her own grief reawakening his old scars from childhood once again.


Author's Note: I updated! I'm not dead, people, so please R&R. Happy Valentine's Day you guys!

Sanzo: What she said, Happy whatever Day...:adjusts his glasses: She made me say that.

BH: Be silent, slave!

Sanzo: Somebody, shoot me...