***The other day when I was cleaning up, I saw my copy of volume 3 of the original Saiyuki manga sitting next to my 'Appetite for Destruction' CD, and I had the weirdest thought: physically, Gojyo strongly reminds me of a young Axl Rose (with a bit more muscle). Now I just can't shake the image.

Well, Axl was sexy as fuck back in the day.***

Sanzo stormed towards the hospital exit, nurses and doctors staring nervously at him as he walked directly down the middle of the hallways, forcing everyone else to move out of his way or be shoved over.

From the corner of his eye he saw Professor Hwang, but he paid her no heed and she returned the favour. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, Sanzo dialled the number for his no-questions-asked information source.

"Yeah."

"Call me back with the location of a bastard named Zakuro. He's one of Kougaiji's pimps."

"Got it."

Sanzo was pissed at Gojyo for not answering his simple question. His gut told him that the redhead actually did remember who'd tried to kill him; and being lied to was something that Sanzo just couldn't tolerate.

Killing the call connection, Sanzo then ordered a cab to the hospital. If Gojyo was going to be an uncooperative prick, then he wasn't going back inside to see him. Rather, he was going to track down Zakuro, because the man had obviously known where Gojyo was all that time.

And if he had to beat the information out of the pimp, well, that's what he was going to do.

As the time passed, Gojyo found himself becoming more and more worried. He had no idea how long it would take Sanzo to find out that Hazel was the man he was looking for; and then how long it would take the blonde to find the loanshark.

For all he knew, Sanzo was already dead.

Stuck in his hospital bed, Gojyo felt worse than useless. He couldn't stop Sanzo by himself, and he didn't know any way to contact someone who could. The blonde was walking into the lion's den…and it was all Gojyo's fault.

The redhead felt sick to his stomach, and it threw him more than any of the physical pains he was feeling.

Shifting uncomfortably on the bed, Gojyo sighed. He wasn't used to being so alone and helpless, unable to do a single thing for himself. Fucking Hazel, fucking Zakuro, fucking Banri, even…

His still-usable hand clenched in the bed sheets as he practically growled like an animal, deep and long.

He had no one to blame for all this shit except himself. It went back to his 'great' idea about ripping off a loanshark; and now an innocent was, for some reason that Gojyo decided he'd figure out later, completely and totally involved.

The redhead couldn't stop the laugh that escaped from his mouth as he realised what he'd thought. Sanzo? An innocent? Holy shit, but that was a good one.

From what Gojyo had seen, Sanzo was far from innocent. The man was violently impulsive, with a nasty temper and an itchy trigger finger. His conscience also seemed to be a little on the skewed side.

But…there was something else there. Something that didn't appear very often.

Gojyo had once screwed a female client who then paid him to stay the night. When he'd woken up in her bed, she had been simply sitting there, staring at him. A little unnerved, he'd tried to calmly ask her what she was doing.

She'd announced- with a slightly stoned-looking smile on her face- that, "A person's true nature comes out when they're in a deep sleep."

Gojyo had gotten out of there as quickly as possible.

And now he found himself remembering the woman's words, and comparing them to the few moments worth of memories that he had of Sanzo's sleeping face.

When he was awake, the blonde man was almost like a spitting cobra: deadly and venom-spraying, yet also an oddly graceful and beautiful creature.

When he was asleep, though, Sanzo was…

He was…

…Gojyo had no idea how to describe a dead-to-the-world Sanzo. But he knew that it certainly kept his mean, merciless side balanced.

Suddenly, the redhead burst out laughing, though it soon dissolved into a painful, hacking cough. Never mind having the doctor up his dosage of painkillers: he should definitely look into having her lower it.

What was all this sentimental shit he was suddenly coming up with? Sanzo was an evil bastard, and he probably only looked so relaxed while asleep because he was dreaming about burning down orphanages.

The corner of Gojyo's mouth lifted up, the closest he could come to a proper smile without ripping his lip apart. He wasn't entirely sure what his face looked like at the moment, because he wasn't game to face a mirror, but he could feel butterfly tape and bruises all over the area.

And, at one point, he'd discovered a massive band-aid type deal on the back of his head…he was fairly certain that he was missing a bit of hair, thanks to that one.

Gojyo's half-assed smile disappeared. At least last time, Hazel had stayed away from the face…even if that was just because Banri had forced his hand. This time, though, his features felt pretty much fucked.

Even if there was nothing too permanent, the bruises and cuts wouldn't just disappear overnight. Every time he looked in a mirror, he was going to see Hazel's handiwork staring back at him…and Gojyo liked looking in mirrors. Mostly.

Hopefully, this time it wouldn't be as bad as the two years, at least, it had taken him to get over seeing his mother's face whenever he caught sight of the scars running parallel across his cheek.

Her glazed-over eyes as she struck out with the knife…her tackily painted lips curled up in a vicious snarl…

The horrible cracking sound as her skull collapsed.

Gojyo shivered a little. He hated thinking about that day, and yet…he just couldn't stop.

"Are you cold, Gojyo?" A polite, quiet voice nearly made the redhead sit up in shock- until he recalled Sanzo's insistence that he stay on his back.

"Hakkai? Is that you?"

Soft footsteps, and then: "Good afternoon. You're looking better today, I must say. But I saw you shivering; are you cold?"

Relief suddenly flooded Gojyo's body. He might not have been able to get up and stop Sanzo…but Hakkai probably could.

"Shit, Hakkai, I need another favour." Gojyo awkwardly lifted his neck, trying to get a good look at the brunette. Hakkai obviously noticed his discomfort, coming to stand by the side of the bed.

"I can certainly try. What do you need done?"

Taking a deep breath, Gojyo tried to keep it short and sweet. "I don't know why, but Sanzo's gone after the guy who did…this."

He vaguely gestured to himself with his good hand, and Hakkai's eyes widened behind his glasses. "You actually told him who assaulted you? Oh, Gojyo…"

For a split second, Gojyo felt like he was being reprimanded by Jien over something idiotic that he'd done. It passed quickly, though, and he returned to the main point.

"No, I never told him, but I don't know how long it's gonna take until he finds out who it was. You've gotta find him before he gets his ass killed! The guy's a total motherfucking psycho!" Gojyo heard his voice getting a little higher in pitch, but he couldn't help it.

Goddammit, he was worried.

Hakkai held his hands out, obviously trying for a calming attitude. It didn't work.

"Gojyo, Sanzo can handle himself. I'm sure you've noticed that he's actually quite strong."

"You don't understand, Hakkai. He's going after Hazel Grosse!"

The brunette visibly stiffened, his eyes going wide enough to look almost comical. "What? Oh, dear…I can assure you that Sanzo will probably be fine, but if anyone- even a civilian- gets in his way…they're going to die."

The feeling of utter uselessness reappeared, and Gojyo's good hand rubbed over his eyes. "I don't give a shit what happens to Hazel, but please, Hakkai…don't let Sanzo do anything stupid."

"Of course, Gojyo." Hakkai flashed a smile in the redhead's direction, but it was tight and didn't reach his eyes. The brunette turned on his heel and swiftly walked away, immediately leaving the room in silence. Sinking back into the uncomfortable mattress, Gojyo couldn't stop the fingers of his right hand from drumming quickly against the bed.

He had no idea if Hakkai could find Sanzo at all, but having him out there looking was better than nothing…right?

Gojyo knew that Sanzo was going to be furious when he found out that the redhead had sent Hakkai after him. But he'd deal with that when he knew if the man was still alive.

Sanzo slammed open the back alley door of some pretentious 'Gentleman's Club', lock-picking tool promptly returning to the pocket of his worn jeans. In the few minutes that he'd spared at home before driving off to await his source's call closer to the city, he'd changed out of his suit into an outfit that allowed for more movement.

It was hard to execute a decent high kick in dress pants, after all. Not to mention the bloodstains…

An unlucky minion who came out of a door just feet ahead of Sanzo, presumably alerted by the sound of the outer door crashing into the wall, found himself face-down on the floor after his skull left a rather nice dent in the hallway's plaster.

He wasn't dead; just unconscious. Sanzo didn't feel the need to kill anyone just yet.

As it was still mid-afternoon, the club wasn't well-guarded; the place wasn't actually open yet. But Sanzo's source assured him that Zakuro was in an office behind the main club, dealing with some irrelevant issue about uncooperative strippers or the like.

Sanzo wasn't going to be happy if it turned out that the pimp wasn't here. As it was, it had taken over two hours for the information to come to him in the first place.

Due to the time, the blonde's walk to the main office was uninterrupted. He soon came to a fairly uninteresting door, with only one defining feature to tell him that this was the office he wanted: the tall, suited-up man standing with his arms crossed before it.

Feeling typically arrogant, Sanzo walked directly up at the man, unconcerned by the height difference of several inches and weight difference of a hundred pounds or so.

"Let me through."

The man looked down, one eyebrow raised and an amused smirk on his face. "I don't think so. Move along before you get hurt, pretty boy."

Sanzo's eye twitched at the insulting nickname. This one was going to pay for underestimating him.

"One last chance. I want to see your boss."

This time, the guard laughed. "What are you going to do about it? Use your womanly charms on me?"

The steadily-boiling rage that had been building up inside Sanzo for the better part of the day suddenly overflowed, and he saw red.

"Son of a whoring bitch," he hissed, hand sliding into his waistband to grab the revolver tucked there. The guard saw his movement and reached for his own gun, but Sanzo was faster.

The guard's hands immediately came back into the open, the barrel of Sanzo's gun in his face enough to bring about obedience.

"Let me the fuck inside."

The taller man's eyes were riveted on the gun, but he made no move to step out of the way. Sanzo let out a sound of disgust and, taking advantage of the fact that the guard's attention was elsewhere, sharply kicked the man in the groin.

With an odd groaning noise, the goon fell to his knees, keeling over sideways once he hit the ground. Sanzo relaxed his gun arm, but didn't put the weapon away as he placed a second kick, this time to the man's temple.

Now that the obstacles between him and Zakuro were removed, Sanzo made to open the door. Before he could get to it, though, the wood swung open.

"What the fuck is going on out here? I thought I told you to keep the noise down, because I'm dealing with important fucking business!"

Sanzo had to resist the urge to pinch the bridge of his noise. The pimp just couldn't yell like a normal person, could he? No, he had to make his voice as dramatic as possible, posing in the doorway like some sort of retarded fashion model.

The utter ridiculousness of the man made some of Sanzo's anger taper off into frustration, but he pointed his revolver directly at Zakuro nevertheless.

The weedy little pimp made a bizarre squeaking noise, and he attempted to close the door again. Taking a single step forward, Sanzo grabbed the edge of it and prevented that from happening.

"I have a question for you. Answer properly and you just might live."

Zakuro opened his mouth as if to make a snide comment, but he froze when he caught sight of the guard slumped unconscious on the floor. "C-…come in then."

Nodding slightly, as if to say 'that's right', Sanzo pushed past the idiot pimp before lowering his gun to point towards the floor. He would be able to see if Zakuro went for a weapon, and he had found that people often gave better answers when not faced with imminent death.

"What would you like to know fr-…"

"Who the fuck beat Gojyo half to death?" Sanzo couldn't stand listening to Zakuro any further. The man's voice alone almost gave him a migraine, and he'd barely even heard it.

Zakuro's face twisted with confusion, and he tilted his head to the side. "…The whore? Why do you care about what happened to one of my boys?"

"I have my reasons." Sanzo wasn't about to explain himself to the idiot in front of him. Zakuro's eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward.

"Dokugakuji isn't getting my biggest seller. Don't think that getting rid of his debt will take away my hold on him."

Zakuro's movement made it easy for Sanzo to reach out and grab the pimp by the front of his ugly shirt. Pulling the man towards him, he placed the end of his revolver against Zakuro's throat.

"Debt? Explain."

The pimp audibly swallowed, and he raised his hands in submission. "Kappa owes money…a lot of money. He wasn't working enough to pay it back properly, and…"

Sanzo used his hold to throw the man to the floor, and he loomed over the cowering figure. Zakuro talked a big game, but when it came to action…

"Who? Who did he borrow it off, and who took him?"

The pimp opened his mouth, but immediately shut it again. He shook his head a little and Sanzo growled. Kicking the man in the side, he thumbed back the hammer on his revolver and pointed it directly at Zakuro's heart.

"Fucking answer me, or I'll fuck you up."

"It's…it was Hazel…Hazel Grosse."

Sanzo thought he'd been angry before.

Now, he was positively furious.

"I'll fucking kill him!"

Zakuro cowered further for a moment, but then he burst out laughing. "This isn't business, is it! You've fallen for a whore!"

Snarling, Sanzo stopped in his tracks from where he'd started walking back to the door. "Never in a million fucking years!"

Whipping around, he blindly fired off a bullet. He didn't stop to see if and where it connected, taking satisfaction from the pained scream he heard.

Hazel Grosse…Gojyo owed that loanshark money? The redhead had lied to him: he'd said that Hazel was just a customer. But for the moment, that wasn't his main concern.

Right now, he was going to find Grosse and shoot him down like the dog he was.

Sanzo stormed back towards his car, mind running through all the places that the loanshark could possibly be. He didn't have the time or the patience to wait for his source to find the information for him; he'd visit them all if he had to.

"What the fuck…?" Swinging around a corner, Sanzo's fists clenched when he noticed that the hood of his car was open, and some filthy punk seemed to be messing around with the engine.

Drawing his gun again, Sanzo ran towards the vehicle. "The fuck are you doing, asshole? Don't touch my c-…"

The blonde's tirade ran off when the figure turned and straightened up, allowing him to see the man's face.

"What the fuck are you playing at, Hakkai? Get the Hell away from my car!"

Hakkai simply stood there, a pleasant smile on his face. "Well, fancy seeing you here, Sanzo. If you wouldn't mind, could you please lower your weapon?"

"No," Sanzo snarled. The man's usual polite manner infuriated him even further. "What the fuck did you do to my engine?"

Hakkai looked pointedly at the gun, but Sanzo made no move to put it away. The brunette sighed. "If you don't want to be arrested, you might want to put that away. Your engine is currently fine; I haven't done a thing yet."

A slight bit of reason made it through the haze of Sanzo's mind, and he reluctantly tucked the revolver away again. "What are you doing, Hakkai?"

"I'm here to stop you from doing something immensely ridiculous."

"Killing Grosse isn't ridiculous! It's fucking community service- the man's a plague!" Sanzo felt no weaker for being divested of his weapon, and he stepped right up to Hakkai. The brunette's façade didn't change at all.

"I certainly agree, but this isn't the right way to go about it."

"Yes, it is!" Sanzo felt the seconds passing, seconds that he could have used to be getting closer to Hazel. He wasn't far away from simply shooting Hakkai and stepping around his corpse.

"Gojyo is terrified that you're going in with a clouded head, and that you will get yourself killed. Besides, don't you believe that he should be given the chance to gain his own vengeance?"

Sanzo paused for a moment, but Hakkai's words did little to change his mind. "No! The idiot deserved what happened to him; he borrowed money from that fucker, Hakkai. I've put up with a lot from Hazel, and it's time for my revenge."

Hakkai swiftly moved forward, grabbing Sanzo by the shoulders. The blonde was too shocked at his presumptuousness to react, and Hakkai took the opportunity to speak.

"Hazel is out of state right now. He won't be back until tomorrow, so you won't be able to do a thing yet. I think that you should go and see Gojyo, to show him that you're still alive."

The blonde finally moved to take Hakkai's hands from his shoulders, and he stepped back. "You're lying. Just like he did."

"No. I'm not lying." Sanzo wasn't sure if the brunette actually was lying or not; the man's poker face was impeccable. After a minute of silence, Sanzo found no beneficial reason for Hakkai to have lied in the first place.

"Fine. I'll go see that whoring bastard; I need to rip him a new one for fucking lying to me. And then I'm slaughtering Hazel for everything that he's ever done to me."

Moving forward to slam the hood of his car shut, Sanzo paused only when he was about to sit in the driver's seat. "Are you coming, asshole, or are you staying?"

Hakkai's smile was somewhat unnerving this time, with a harsh smugness behind it as he slipped in beside the blonde. Sanzo gritted his teeth; as much as he didn't want to listen to Hakkai, he knew the man had a point.

If Hazel wasn't around, then there was nothing he could currently do. He might as well use the time to…straighten things out with the redhead.

It wasn't like the whore could get away from Sanzo's wrath in his current state.