"Ryu pass me the salt," Gojyo ordered around the bath house table.

"Get it your fucking self,"

"Pass me the salt," he repeated and jerked his chin at Sanzo whom happened to be looking away at the time. Ryu glared menacingly, stood and seized a salt from a nearby bench, stepped on Gojyo's foot and poured the contents into his hollering mouth.

"Anything else hun?" Gojyo coughed "Thought so…" and she turned to leave.

"Oh Sanzo-sama!"

"What?"

"N-O-T-H-I-N-G!" Ryu cried with a forced grin that looked almost painful clasping a hand over Gojyo's mouth. She looked at him square in the eye "Water to wash down your bullshit?"

As she ducked up several times to grab Gojyo stuff, Goku watched in awe, poor Ryu hadn't even eaten yet.

"Perverted Kappa, what've you got on Ryu?" he shot; Hakkai nudged him under the table, motioning to shut it. Sanzo across the table peered over his newspaper briefly. Goku frowned, and cursed under his breath.

Ryu scrambled back and meeting Hakkai alone where Gojyo should've been for his beer, she swore loudly and knelt down at Hakkai's feet.

"He's driving me crazy!" she pulled at her hair. Hakkai tutted, truly he felt sorry but in a way it was like administering punishment to a misbehaved child, Ryu was actually doing WORK, she'd never otherwise. A lesson's a lesson, Hakkai knew with experience as a teacher.

"You're persistent I give you that," Hakkai grinned; Ryu hated him for it or was it just the growing hatred for Gojyo blowing out.

"It hurts…" she moaned.

"Where?" Hakkai turned concerned.

"My pride,"

"Took you long enough…" Gojyo sneered coming up behind Hakkai, a towel slung over his shoulder, Ryu pegged his beer can at him, and unfortunately he caught it.

"Bastard—,"

"Hey…" Ryu's hunched back sudden stiffened, Sanzo was behind her.

"Y-yeah?" he'd his eyes trained on her, cold, calculating and for a sense she gathered pity. Great pity from the world's largest A-hole…joy.

"If you let him push you around you'll end up like a moron too," Sanzo advised unkindly and walked past. Ryu felt as if she'd just got a dumping or something because her whole world shattered.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Gojyo roared, following Sanzo to rant at him

'THANK GOD!'

"Sanzo, wait!" Ryu saw Goku's feet stop beside her "Hey Ryu wanna get Sanzo with a water pistol?"

"Can't," she heard Goku's disappointment, he was trying so hard to make her day better.

"Goku let's go to the baths," Hakkai cut in intent not to put Ryu into a situation "Ryu, you should've a shower as well,"

"Y-yeah…" Ryu stumbled to her feet, whipping out the sunglasses.

Ryu timed herself right and cantered out of the individual showers before any of the group had finished bathing. Thankfully no one else was in the men's locker rooms. She found the guys lockers soon enough, it wasn't hard; Goku had half his shirt hanging out. With a paper pin she'd stolen she picked the lock and sorted through there stuff. Characteristically Hakkai had his folded neatly, Sanzo's dragged messily on the hooks and Gojyo and Goku's were meshed into a stinking pile.

"This'll teach those pricks," she threw out Gojyo's clothes with a happy grin, thought for a moment and pulled out Sanzo's as well. Goku and Hakkai were relatively nice so she'd let them be. Cackling she dragged them back to her locker, hey they were messy already so who cares?

Along the way however something small and wooden fell out of Sanzo's clothing. Ryu stopped; it was only a tiny very-old makeshift-whistle with a red string strung threw one end.

"Cool," childishly she blew it "Wait…I know this sound,"

Goku heard his bedroom door open for Gojyo and Hakkai to walk in. He was pleasantly surprised seeing as it was already really late.

"The accommodations cheap," Gojyo complained a flared cig between his teeth.

"At least we have the privacy of our own rooms," Hakkai perked and greeted Goku "Goku we're going out for some ice-cream. Wanna come?"

"Yeah! Where's Ryu?" Goku leaped from his bed eager to have an eating contest with Ryu again. Hakkai pursed his lips, folding his arms.

"Now that I think of it I believe he left the bath house early…" Hakkai muttered giving Gojyo a suspicious sideways glance.

"Ay, I had nothing to do with it,"

"Oh well, he knows we're staying here…" seeing the disappointment on Goku's face he added "We might catch him around town,"

"YEAH!" Goku speed past and shoved his head into Sanzo's room briefly, the monk had his back to him, already laying in bed "Hey Sanzo we're goin' out for ice-cream k?"

"Good, I'll finally get some sleep," he grunted.

"Take care of the house honey," Gojyo sneered he dodged a bullet and ran off sniggering with Goku.

"Morons," Sanzo sniffed curling under his blanket comfortably. He felt the alluring tug of sleep but something bugged him and kept him from doing so. He was left to listening to the hotel floors creak and the chatter of other people, it was eerily quiet without the goons, and he liked it. Sanzo just managed to keep his eyes from snapping opened hearing the ever so slight groan of the ceiling panels above him. Under his pillow he reached for his gun, feeling the heat in his body creep over him alert when a warm breath brushed his neck.

Opening his left eye just managed to see a blur of twisted black cloth dangling from the ceiling, a white mask with crimson hair sprayed over the front. His heart leapt 'Shit, the Monster!'. A cold hand suddenly clasped his bare shoulder and he jerked at his gun hand but discovered they'd been pinned by his own bed-sheets coiling around them.

"When'd—,"

"Don't move," the voice was distinctly different to the Monster and almost child-like; Sanzo opened his eyes fully and saw the bright red orbs staring inches at him from under the distorted mask. Sanzo was relieved but didn't show it, this wasn't the Monster; the mask had large eyes holes and was otherwise entirely blank, a head full of red hair was behind it. "I'm sorry if I startled you, they call me the Saint but my name's Nataku,"

This was obviously a motion of peace from the boy without the broken voice, some peace to restrain him like this.

"What the fuck do you want?" Sanzo growled, he realised that this creature was in fact a half-demon. Nataku's eyes looked just that little bit hurt, as innocent and wholesome as a child would being told off.

"I want you to tell me where Komyou Sanzo is," Sanzo narrowed his eyes deadly, venomously till this Nataku person showed a hint of recoiling.

"Like hell dipshit," Sanzo spat fingering his trigger. The Saint's eyes widen disbelievingly.

"He's dead…?" he hit the point dead on, this guy knew too much for Sanzo's liking "But then you're Konzen Kouryuu?"

The whine of the room door cut threw the conversation.

"Sanzo, I'm sorry to bother you but—," Hakkai stopped dead at the door handle and instantly stiffened. Distracted Nataku missed noticing Sanzo free himself from his restraints and spiked him across the face with the handle of his gun. Nataku fell back onto Sanzo's bed holding his cheek as his mask clattered across the room.

"Sanzo!" Hakkai rushed up but Sanzo's blankets suddenly danced to life and rapped over the healer like a net.

Clink!

"Who the hell are you," Sanzo growled, daring, wanting any such movements from Nataku to shot him before he saw a face to fit the trespasser. Nataku looked up, innocent wide-eyed beyond a black muffler, an extension of his cape that hid his nose down. Sanzo felt an icy chill flow over him and still his trigger finger, he swallowed but it choked at his gullet, he knew this face.

"Sorry Konzen," he apologised before his cape swooped up and swallowed Sanzo. Sanzo slashed at the material, he surfaced in time with Hakkai but the boy and the cape had gone.

Author: NATAKU! He he, weird ha? God to half-demon, wonder how that happened? And just why was he looking for Komyou, they nevere met right? PLEASE REVIEW XD