King Rat: Our Kingdom

Author Notes: This is late for me- I usually try to post these up in the AM, but I've been so busy at work I've had no time to write! This once-a-week thing is really starting to take it out of me... I apologize if it shows.

Disclaimer: Saiyuki and its characters are not mine.


24: Preschool is a New Kind of Hell- Part 2

"Just like that! Told me to end their family!" Gojyo was struggling to keep his voice down, almost forgetting that on a clear, windless night, he could be heard from the rooftop in the street below. With Sanzo asleep in his bedroom, groping mindlessly at a spot left cold, and Hakkai with eyes and ears open in the basement room, he knew he was taking a risk. However, Jien was the only one he could think to turn to now, and as he sat in one of the two chairs and watched Gojyo pace anxiously in front of them, he wondered when Gojyo had decided he was worth trusting.

"That's not okay," Jien concurred when he was certain Gojyo had finished spilling everything about the boys' experiences at school. "In any other situation, three is too young to tell a kid they're adopted. 'Thicker skin' or no. Thing is, no matter how many times you guys tell that lie, your kids aren't."

"I fucking hate that lie so goddamn much." Gojyo let his knees unlock, and he poured himself into the vacant seat beside Jien, his face falling into his hands. "I can't stand it- every time I have to say it, I feel like I could just puke." He lifted his face, staring despondently at the horizon. "The guys' friend's mom- Nuo- she said Miss Feng was a good teacher. What the hell was she talking about?"

"She might be expecting too much on their behavior- expecting them to ask when they need more to do, punishing them when they're even a little out of line." Jien pulled his legs under him. "But if it didn't work before, she wouldn't still be a teacher, or she would've changed it. If I had to guess, she has her expectations high so the kids can strive to meet them. If you don't expect a lot out of them, then you're not gonna get much out of them." He reached out and lightly punched Gojyo's shoulder. "The trouble is probably just like she said- they don't know to listen to her. They live with four dudes, they've never had a lady in their lives. You might kinda be their Mama, but you're not a lady at all."

"You're agreeing with her?" Gojyo's upper lip and brow wrinkled. Jien shook his head.

"I'm saying they do need to listen to her. She was right about that much." He held one hand up, as if testing a weight. "You gotta get them used to ladies, and more kids than just their one friend."

"Ugh." Gojyo scoffed and looked down and away. "It ain't gonna change that kids are startin' to see Ei as different."

"They got eyes, bro." Jien sighed, setting his hands on his knees. "They were gonna figure it out sooner or later. Try and remember- how'd you deal with it when kids started realizing you were a taboo?"

"Punched 'em in the face."

"Right." Jien lifted a hand to his forehead as he remembered.

"And I didn't see too many other kids myself. Mother..." Gojyo swallowed. "Mother didn't let me go outside much."

The brothers were silent for a moment: Gojyo having a revelation, Jien letting him have it.

"You think they'll like soccer?" Gojyo looked to Jien. "There's a soccer group listed on the bulletin board, ages three to twelve."

"Soccer is awesome." Jien nodded, lips slipping upwards into a smirk.

"And I guess I just gotta tell Ei that if someone calls him a name, he's gotta say 'So what' and tell a teacher." Gojyo folded his arms. "And Yo's gotta learn to help him tell a teacher, and not just react."

"So, they gotta learn to not be you." Jien rose to his feet, still watching the same horizon both men faced.

"Bro-" Gojyo tilted his head back to look up at him.

"I'm serious. Where you think they learned this shit?" Jien's gaze fell. "They get angry because you get angry when they're hurt. I ain't seen you cry over the shit you went through, but I know there's a soft spot in you that hurts whenever you think about it. Kids are raw, so it comes out easier." He looked down into Gojyo's face. "You might be a man now, but you're still raw too."

"Jien-"

"You were raised by a teenager. That's all on me." Jien bent down to his knee, fist planted on the arm of Gojyo's chair. "I mean, where do you think you learned all this shit?" He chuckled, head bowing. "I was still stealing your pocket money while I was teaching you to count it. But you know better. Bro, you gotta start talking and acting like the man you want them to be. Teach 'em to be men. Otherwise, they're gonna end up like you were years ago, and they may not luck into meeting good friends like you have now."

Gojyo realized how close Jien had come, how close their faces were, and his instinct was to shrink back. Instead, he waited, absorbing Jien's words, until Jien stood up and back again, until he could find a response.

"So, what do I do about the teacher's demand I tell 'em 'the truth?'"

"You show her your truth." Jien smiled down at Gojyo. "I better head out; you gotta sleep sometime, bro."

"Don'cha wanna see the kids?" Gojyo jumped to a stand as Jien moved for the fire escape, and Jien chuckled under his breath.

"It's a school night, bro."

"Yohei's suspended anyway."

"Yeah, well, you're gonna wake him up and give him lessons anyway, aren'cha?" Jien smirked. "You think that boy's gonna get himself a week of vacation for fighting? If you ain't puttin' him through the wringer, Uncle's gonna show up and do it himself."

Gojyo laughed, digging his fingers into his bangs. "Fine, fine. He'll do some studying and a shitload of chores."

"Good man." Jien bowed his head, then flipped his leg over the edge and clambered his way down the fire escape. Gojyo lit up a cigarette and inhaled the smoke deep, deep into his lungs. The burning sensation was only a slight relief- it couldn't compare to the knowledge that his brother was backing him up.


Gojyo didn't at all want to send Eiji to the school alone, but Hakkai insisted: "Miss Feng said she was teaching a lesson on inclusiveness, and I would like Eiji to be present." He watched as Gojyo swiped some of the rice out of the pot as he stirred it, scattering it with his frustrated motion. "I'll stay with him for the day to supervise."

"Whatever you say, bro." Gojyo nudged some of the rice back into the pot with the edge of the paddle. "Just watch those little as- jerks." He glanced to the boys at the kitchen table, Eiji drinking his fruit juice, Yohei doodling on the table with his finger. "They were throwing stuff at him yesterday."

"You can trust me." Hakkai tiptoed around the side of the table to smooth down Eiji's hair. "I won't let a single hair out of place."

"Uncle, quit it!" Eiji pushed Hakkai's hand up and off, and Hakkai giggled.

"My, I thought young men didn't start rejecting physical contact until they got to the age of twelve."

Gojyo couldn't help but feel a little heartbreak watching Yohei when Hakkai walked Eiji out, Eiji wearing his summer clothes and carrying his backpack, while Yohei stood at the bay window, palms pressed out, still dressed in his pajama shorts. "Ei!" He tapped on the glass as Eiji and Hakkai turned down the road. "Ei!" Eiji turned over his shoulder and waved to Yohei, and Yohei's hands and head fell. Gojyo gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Come on, Mister Delinquent." Yohei rubbed his eyes and looked up to Gojyo, who smiled wickedly down. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Gojyo only had a few orders to fill, but he set Yohei to work filling some sturdier vases with marbles while he cut and trimmed the flowers and helped the few early morning customers. Yohei pouted through the entire ordeal. Gojyo took Yohei behind the shop counter and taught him letters, numbers, and words for a little while, between helping customers, with Yohei surly and sulky all the while, then taught him how to sweep. Once Yohei had mastered sweeping, as well as he could expect him to for being four-fifths the height of the broom, Gojyo put him to work sweeping up the sidewalk outside of the shop. Yohei did so with his lower lip sticking out and his brow set low against his eyes. By the time Yohei's arms were tired, Eiji and Hakkai were coming back down the sidewalk, hand in hand. Yohei threw the broom down and rushed to meet Eiji. He threw himself onto him, hugging him tight until the pair toppled over. Gojyo dodged outside to watch as the twins, laughing, reunited after their grueling four hour separation. His hands landed on his hips, somewhat proud to see just how attached they were.

Ain't gonna be that way forever, but it's damn nice how much they love each other.

"And how was school?" Gojyo asked as Eiji unpacked his bag and Hakkai started cooking lunch.

"We learned how to put-together!" Eiji smiled, voice sing-song, as he put his snack box in the sink.

"Put-togethers, eh?" Gojyo grinned, but his eyes flashed up to Hakkai a few times. Hakkai, though facing the stove while stirring up some scallion batter, answered.

"Ah, yes, addition. Very nice little skill for any young man looking to do some mathematics." He winked at Gojyo, and Gojyo slowly, slowly nodded.

"Right, put-togethers." He grinned. "Well, those are fun, but just wait 'til you get to the take-aways. Those are a lot harder."

"They won't touch that one at least until next year." Hakkai smiled as he shook the pancake batter around in the pan to thin it out. Gojyo chuckled, but knowing the most exciting thing in Eiji's day was basic math was good to hear. Anything was better than hearing about him being kicked around.

During the boys' nap, Hakkai recounted Miss Feng's class meeting lesson over their mutual work. "It was a very simple address for a complicated problem." He glanced over his shoulder to the door, waiting for the next customer to come in, but they were thankfully alone. "She said that no matter what someone looks like, they all have to be friends. She has said she wants everyone to be friends, and anyone who acts unfriendly towards their classmate will be punished." Hakkai took an envelope from his shirt pocket. "To the same effect, she did send a letter home to all the parents, one which I've already peeked at. It's a simple explanation that Orchid Road is an integrated school, and all students will- and must- be treated equally. Students shown exhibiting racist attitudes would be reprimanded."

Gojyo whistled, then trotted a few steps from the boys' door. "That's pretty extreme."

"It's necessary." Hakkai handed the letter over to Gojyo, and he flipped it open to skim its contents. "There is still bad blood between the communities, which is why schools are integrating-"

"Wait, so this 'integration' thing is new? Youkai and humans went to school separately?"

"Oh, yes." Hakkai chuckled, as he and Gojyo retreated to the kitchen. "Shortly after the end of the Minus Wave, integration was made mandatory by imperial decree. Mending fences and building bridges, so to speak. It's been slow going, but now, most schools have both youkai and human students."

"Where did the hanyou go?" Gojyo folded his arms and stopped at the edge of the kitchen, as Hakkai took up a canister of tea and measured some. His motions slowed as he thought.

"You never did, did you?" His eyes trailed upwards, and he slowly offered an answer; "With the youkai, I suppose." He brought out his tea kettle, put it in the sink, and twisted the tap on, and Gojyo snorted.

"One drop's as good as guilty."

"Beg pardon?" Hakkai turned the water off.

"Just wondering if or when Yohei's youkai blood starts showin' up, how he'll deal with it." Gojyo stepped past the barrier into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. "I'd best go reopen the shop. We'll talk all this out with Sanzo later. Miss Feng's doin' her part, we gotta do ours." Gojyo's nose still wrinkled when he said her name. He sighed, and glanced up to Hakkai. "Bro, I'm gonna need a huge favor from you."


Instead of the usual bedtime story, Sanzo left the door open a crack and Gojyo sat on Eiji's bed with a hand mirror. Sanzo stood between the two, dressed down to his jeans and a white button-down shirt. Hakkai waited in the hallway, bracing his chest and hugging his elbows. Both boys were still sitting up, Eiji hugging onto his elephant, waiting eagerly for their story.

"Daddy, are you gonna read?" Yohei looked at the mirror pressed into Gojyo's leg. "That's a weird book."

"Not a book, kids. Just a different story. Guys," Gojyo paused, glancing between the twins, and took an anxious breath. "Guys, you know you two are a little different, right?"

"Uh-huh." Yohei nodded. Eiji shook his head.

"We're bruvvers, so we're the same."

"Not exactly." Gojyo smiled softly. "Listen- there's three kinds of people in the world. There's humans, youkai, and hanyou."

"Huh?" Both boys frowned curiously.

"Humans," Sanzo repeated the word. "Yohei, you and I are human."

"Yeah, but what's 'at mean?" Yohei looked at himself.

"It's a label. It's a name." Sanzo shrugged his shoulders and sank to a crouch near the twins. "Like dogs are dogs, and cats are cats, except humans and youkai aren't quite so different." He gingerly selected one of their story books, then flipped open a few pages to find a picture of a cat and a dog, and showed it to the children. "Just like cats and dogs have four legs, two ears, two eyes, and fur, humans and youkai have two legs, two arms, two eyes, noses and mouths, and hair on their heads."

"See, you and Papa both have yellow hair and pink skin." Gojyo grabbed another story book and opened to the first picture- a drawing of Momotaro. "But then there's guys like Momotaro here, with black hair and eyes and kind of tan skin. There's also human guys and girls with brown hair, or brown skin, and green or brown eyes."

"Uncle Ha has brown hair and green eyes!" Eiji contributed, as it clicked for him. Gojyo chuckled, and lowered his head.

"That's the thing. Uncle Ha isn't a human." Gojyo glanced to the door. Hakkai started to edge around the door frame, then hesitated. Gojyo held a groan in his throat and crossed his arms. "Come on in." Hakkai slowly entered the room, limiters clutched in his hand, and both boys sat stunned for a moment. They both noticed the sharp canine teeth first, then the longer hair, then the vine tattoos that wrapped his entire body. Eiji noticed that his real eye had turned yellow, but was far too fixated on the teeth and claws.

"Uncle?" Eiji wondered slowly, and Hakkai skidded a step back. With a pleading look from Gojyo, he froze a meter from the door, arms at his sides, fists shaking.

"This is what Uncle looks like without his earrings," Sanzo explained first, and Gojyo nodded. "Uncle is a youkai." Hakkai shivered, clearly feeling his skin crawl. "Just like humans, mostly- but always with yellow eyes, and usually longer teeth and claws, and some sort of marking on their skin." Gojyo half-consciously scratched the back of his neck, as Sanzo glanced to Hakkai's shaking hand, then back to his face. "Youkai can wear special jewelry to look human-"

"Like Tai and Miss Nuo," Gojyo interjected, and Eiji's eyes widened.

"Tai?"

"Didn't know they were youkai, right?" Gojyo grinned slyly. "Yup, Miss Nuo's earrings make her look human, and Tai's got one he uses in his hair. He'll probably get some for his ear when he's older."

"Why'd they do that?" Eiji leered at Hakkai, crumpling Neffy's ear in his hands.

Sanzo bit his lip as Hakkai continued to shiver. "Because... sometimes, youkai look kind of-"

"Scary." Eiji pulled his blanket up to his chest. Yohei had been dumbstruck, but with a grin, he launched from his bed and began to skitter around Hakkai.

"Cool! So cool! Uncle looks so cool!" Hakkai's head sunk as Yohei looked him over, and he stumbled back when Yohei jumped up to his waist and started trying to look into his face. "Uncle, Uncle, why don't you look like this all the time?"

"Er." Hakkai caught Yohei and lifted him up, as Eiji cringed a little less and started to lean forward, curious. "I suppose I'm just used to looking like a human. I prefer it."

"Plus, some people don't like youkai," Gojyo added. Yohei dropped out of Hakkai's arms.

"Why not?"

Sanzo interjected, prepared with an answer. "Because some youkai do bad things." He looked between Eiji and Yohei as Yohei continued to tug on Hakkai's shirt. "It used to be a lot of youkai did bad things, but it's a long story for another night. Some people are scared of youkai, afraid they will do bad things again."

"But don't humans do bad things too?" Gojyo, Sanzo, and Hakkai all looked as Eiji moved his elephant away from his mouth. He looked blankly back. "The other guys in school, they're human, right? And they're mean to me."

"You're exactly right, kiddo." Gojyo smiled, relieved that he didn't have to broach it. "Yeah, humans do bad things too. Everyone does bad things sometimes." His head turned between two pairs of eyes. "Humans and youkai, both of them sometimes rob people or hurt people or say mean things. But both of them do good things too- just, sometimes everyone has trouble seeing the good over the bad."

"So, what's a boo?" The sullenness in Eiji's voice was obvious, and Yohei seemed shocked when Eiji asked.

"Ei-"

"Everyone says I'm a boo, and they laugh!" He pulled his little hands into fists, glaring at Gojyo in a way that would have chilled him were he a meter taller and blonde. "Is a boo like a youkai?"

"Yes and no." Sanzo knelt beside his bed, as Yohei jostled at Gojyo to try and get closer. "When a youkai and a human love each other, they make someone like you. Red hair, red eyes." Gojyo passed him the hand mirror, and Sanzo held it up. Eiji looked in at his own face. "Some people think it's not okay for youkai and humans to love each other. They say it's taboo." Eiji swallowed, eyes starting to moisten. Sanzo put the mirror down. "But the right word-" He licked his lower lip, as Eiji looked to him with soft tears forming in his eyes. "You and Daddy are called hanyou."

"Daddy is a boo too?" Eiji's voice quavered, fingers forcing the blanket into wrinkles.

"Sure am. Hanyou." Gojyo grinned proudly. "We're not too common, which is cool. Folks don't see guys like us too much."

Yohei growled under his breath, then barked, "Ei is not a boo! He's my bruvver!" He vaulted past Gojyo and jumped onto Eiji's bed. "See, we're bruvvers!"

"You're right. You sure are." Gojyo followed Yohei and joined the rest of the family on Eiji's bed. Hakkai stepped back and slipped his limiters back on, as Gojyo fluffed and tousled Eiji's and Yohei's heads in turn. "But some people are gonna wonder, since you're a little different."

"Why're we different?" Yohei cocked his head and clung tight onto Eiji.

"Because the Goddess gave you to us, remember?" Gojyo grinned, and Sanzo inadvertently moved a finger's breadth back. Gojyo grinned, and held a hand up, tilting it back and forth. "Yeah, since Daddy's not a human or a youkai, the Goddess didn't know what to make you guys. Se just kind of split the difference."

"But remember that, above all else, you are brothers." Sanzo held a firm tone, and set one hand on each shoulder. "You came to us from the Goddess together. That's all that matters."

"Yup." Gojyo nodded, hand set on his knee. "You came to us together, and we love you, and you love us." Sanzo nodded as well.

"And when guys call you names, you go to the adults and tell them what they said. Whatever adult is closest." Sanzo placed his face a little nearer to each of the twins. "Whether that's Daddy, Uncle, Cousin Goku, me, or Miss Feng, or the other teachers. The adults will take care of you." He fixed a hard stare on Yohei. "You shouldn't hit when you're angry. You tell an adult, and they'll take care of it."

"And!" At this, Gojyo scooped Yohei up under his arms and placed him back in his bed. "If there are no adults, you leave and walk away until you find an adult you know. Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." Yohei's head bobbed up and down, and Gojyo tossed all the blankets over his head.

"Atta boy." He kissed the top of the blanket where he knew Yohei's forehead was, and Sanzo pulled the sheets up to Eiji's chest and kissed his cheek.

"Good night, gentlemen." Hakkai bowed his head at the door, and strode out, still wiping sweat from his forehead. Sanzo moved to follow, and Gojyo stopped at the door.

"See you two in the morning." He turned out the light, and shut the door. Once the three were safely away from the boys' bedroom, he sighed with relief. "That went over pretty well."

"It did," Hakkai concurred, and traced the outer edge of his ear with his index finger. "You two took a very tactful approach, I'd say. I only wish-" He swallowed, and scrunched his face up. "Well, that you had more photographs or drawings of youkai."

"I think it was good we had a real-life example." Sanzo lowered his head, then took out and lit a cigarette. "The boys do need to know you're not human."

"I think, in a way, I had hoped never to mention it." He smiled wearily, as Gojyo started up a cigarette as well.

"But we did, and it turned out just fine. Yohei thinks you're cooler than Hakuryu now." Gojyo snickered and elbowed him in the ribs, and Hakkai laughed aloud.

"I do doubt that!" He opened a kitchen drawer and dug out the deck of cards. "Gentlemen, I'm not tired. Shall we?"

"I'm too happy to sleep just yet- you, old man?" Gojyo winked at Sanzo, who scoffed.

"Shut up and deal. This floor needs wiping anyway."

In their bedroom, Yohei crawled from his bed and over to Eiji's. Eiji still lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

"So, I am a boo," he whispered, and sat up. "I am..."

"If you're a boo, so am I." Yohei shook his head, then hopped up into Eiji's bed. Eiji lay his head back down. "'Cause we're bruvvers." He slid under the blanket, and folded his hands under the pillow. Eiji mumbled incoherently and turned away. "If anyone calls you a boo, they're callin' me a boo too. So we'll tell the adults they were mean to us. Daddy an' Papa- they're bigger n' stronger. So, they hit harder." Eiji giggled, and Yohei nudged him with his leg. "It's okay."

"Uh huh." Eiji smiled, and he tilted his head towards Yohei, contently cuddled as much as two boys of nearly four would. The twins fell asleep side-by-side, and neither of their fathers knew quite what to make of their two little taboos in the morning.


Miss Feng had watched Eiji very carefully the whole of that day, as he sat quietly beside Tai and did his work with nary a complaint. He even raised his hand when he was finished to tell her so, and to her surprise, he didn't hold out his hand and ask for another toy soldier. On the playground, as she turned the class loose on the jungle gyms and swing sets, she noticed that he stood on the sidewalk beside her legs, twisting the bottom of his shirt in his hands.

"You're not in trouble, Eiji. Go ahead." She tapped his back, but he shook his head.

"Uh-uh. Daddy an' Papa says if anyone calls me names, I need'a tell you, or find a 'dult to tell." He folded his arms. "So, I'ma stay right here, so I don't hafta go lookin' for a 'dult."

"I see." Miss Feng lifted a hand to her lips and giggled. "How about you play around here, and I'll just keep an eye on you." She reached into her jumper pocket and took out a few bars of sidewalk chalk. Eiji took them, and hopped a few sidewalk tiles away to start sketching. Tai ran over and joined him, and she smiled, relieved, as the two started to chatter and draw together.

She could forget, in a snap and with a smile, that Eiji had ever been anything less than sweet, soft-spoken, and submissive. She didn't expect what the afternoon brought.

Behind the lot of mothers coming in to pick up their youngsters from her care, one man in immaculate white robes, wearing a sutra, had clearly been forced into coming to the school. He'd loitered at the back of the line as the rest of the parents came and went, garnering curious gazes all the while, and approached her last. Feng Lan had no idea what to say when Genjo Sanzo looked down his nose into her eyes. He did. "I'm here for Sha Eiji."

"Papa!" She felt Eiji rush past her skirt to jump onto Sanzo's leg, and he picked Eiji up and sat him against his arm and chest. She hadn't expected a man with such sharp features to let a smile slip out when Eiji swung his arms around his neck.

"Papa, is it?" She giggled, and Sanzo's smile vanished when he faced her again. "I suppose they couldn't figure another relation by which to call you."

"Something like that. Didn't Gojyo tell you?" He rose his eyebrow. "The four of us together are in charge of the twins." He put Eiji's backpack on his shoulder. "Gojyo sent me."

"Doesn't want to talk to me, does he?" Miss Feng giggled when Sanzo's left lower eyelid twitched- hit it on the head. "I did want to apologize. I may have been, well, brusque with him during our recent meeting. I was wrong to take my frustrations out on him, and I said some things, well, incorrectly, or been a bit too honest."

"Perhaps." Sanzo's gaze narrowed, fixed on her, and she shivered.

It's like he's staring down a wild animal.

"I was told to invite you to dinner." Sanzo took a small card from his sleeve, and she nearly flinched when he thrust it towards her. Her cheeks turned nearly purple as she reassessed what he'd actually said.

"I- I don't know what your friends told you about me, but I'm not that kind of girl." She put her hands on her hips. "And aren't you a priest?"

Sanzo stared evenly back at her, lips twitching in puzzlement as he decoded what she'd said. His eyes narrowed when he connected all the dots. He pushed the card into her hand. "Hakkai is making roasted pork belly with peppers. If you feel like bringing something, bring dessert, but you'll need enough for ten. Show up around six. Don't bother with perfume." He whipped around on his heel and carried Eiji out, and Eiji waved over his shoulder.

"Bye, Miz Feng!" He jumped from Sanzo's arms and trotted along as his side, and Miss Feng smiled to herself.

"He called me by name." She looked down at the card, and saw it was a business card with an address written on it. "Dinner with the Sha family- did he say ten?" She quietly numbered the known members of the family on her fingers. "Did he miscount?" She looked at the empty classroom, then put the card away in her front pocket. "I suppose there's a few I don't know about. Cheesecake comes sliced into tenths, I'm sure." She smiled to herself, but she had to wonder just what Gojyo intended.


Goku was the one to answer the door when Lan knocked. She had changed from her jumper to a casual pink dress with thin shoulder straps, and carried a white box in her hands. Goku swiped the box from her hands. "Guys, she's here!" He grinned, and bounded up the steps.

Gojyo leaned out of his work room, and yanked his apron off. His languid gaze seemed to brush right off of her. "Glad you made it." He hung his apron on a peg in his work room. She stood firm as he approached, glaring, affixed, past her head. "Boys're upstairs with Hakkai and Sanzo. Ei said you all were doin' put-togethers, so they're catching him up."

"Is that so?" She smiled nervously as he brushed past her. "How is that going?"

"Exactly as well as you'd think." There was a crunching noise from above, and Gojyo rushed past her to the stairwell. He opened the door as some counting tokens flew onto the landing, and Gojyo groaned. "Yohei, no!" Lan followed him up the stairs, only to see Gojyo standing over Yohei while Sanzo distracted Eiji with a new set of addition problems on the big sketchpad. Hakkai didn't turn from the stove, but giggled as Gojyo started to scold. "We don't throw things. Go pick them up." Yohei slid from the kitchen stairs and skulked to the landing, but froze when he saw Lan there in her casual clothes.

"Uhh- Lady- Miss..." He frowned and stalked away to tug on Gojyo's hand. "She's mean."

"She ain't mean, kiddo. She's just got a hard job, that you make harder when you break the rules." Gojyo yanked his hand away and folded his arms.

"But she grabbed!"

"She sure did, kiddo." Gojyo glanced up to Lan, who stood frozen at the door. "But you were hitting, and we told you not to. She stopped you because we told her she could." He patted Yohei's back. "Go wash hands. Dinner's up." Yohei glared up at Lan as he passed her towards the hallway, and Gojyo chuckled softly. "Sulky little brat, ain't he? Come in, make yourself comfortable."

"Oh- oh, yes!" She slipped her shoes off and put them on the carpet beside the door and the six sets of shoes already there. Sanzo folded the sketchpad shut, and Eiji picked up his counting tokens. He threw a cautious glance to Lan as she stepped into the home and took a peek at the den, littered with toys arranged in two armies with a block wall between them, and tiptoed behind her to the bathroom. Sanzo didn't notice Eiji's hesitance as he ran his thumb across the book's exposed pages.

"Seems we're running low on paper."

"I'll get a new one soon." Gojyo shrugged, and wiped the table clean, then set out eight plates and six knives. "Lemme go get Ichi." Lan dodged back as Gojyo whipped around and rushed back for the stairwell, then shouted down: "Ryuichi! How's the homework going?"

There was a near-inaudible reply that sounded like "Boring!" to Lan's ears. Gojyo snorted.

"Grub's up!"

Lan was more than surprised to see the tiny table crowded with eight bodies. She was crammed in between a gangly hanyou teenager in pants a touch too short, and the two mutually knew not what to make of each other, and Goku. Ryuichi had stared, pink-cheeked and nervous, between her shoulders, exposed in her summer dress, and the carpet beneath his feet, and hardly mumbled a 'hello' before taking his seat and pulling his plate in towards himself, wrapping an arm around it. She picked at her pork belly as the two on either side of her devoured it like someone were going to take it, listening to the spirited conversation between the two children and the three mature adults:

"Daddy, Miss said that-" Eiji paused, glancing to Lan, but Gojyo nodded him on.

"What'd Miss say?"

"Um, Miss said that I was doing good at the put-togethers." His cheeks pinked slightly. "Papa, you think I'm good at 'em?"

"You are." Sanzo picked up a slice of pepper, wearing the soft, discreet smile that he'd donned upon seeing Eiji earlier in the day. Lan had noticed that Hakkai had taken care to give him a portion without any pork in it, but his eyes continually darted to the plates that did have pork.

"I wanna be good too!" Yohei kicked his feet around, scowling at his folded arms.

Gojyo clicked his tongue and chuckled. "Takes practice, kiddo. You'll be fine when you get back to school."

"I dunwanna go back. The Lady-" Yohei's gaze flashed to Lan, then back to Gojyo.

"Told you, bud, Miss does what she has to do."

"School's hard." Gojyo grinned. "But you gotta go, otherwise, you're gonna end up a goof like Daddy. You wanna get smart, like Uncle, right?"

"My, my," Hakkai interrupted, leaning between Gojyo and Yohei. "You turned out alright, didn't you? You just want Yohei to get a higher education than you could have."

Lan had to ask. "You never attended school, Gojyo?"

"Wasn't allowed." Gojyo met her eyes from his side of the table, his smile sinking back towards a stoic neutral. "My, uh, stepmom- she just didn't enroll me." Lan noticed Sanzo visibly angry at Gojyo's words, but his eyes turned back to the children and his face relaxed. She put the pieces together:

Something awful happened to this man.

"Yohei, what have you been doing during the day?" Lan looked to him, and his face scrunched up. Gojyo prodded his arm.

"Miss asked you a question. It's polite to answer, see?" Gojyo leaned in closer to him. "Go on."

"Uhm." Yohei chewed his lip, and fidgeted under the table. "Daddy been makin' me do chores, and learn stuff by myself."

"Is it nice or boring to stay at home all day?" Lan pushed her plate back onto the table, and both Goku and Ryuichi went for it. Hakkai cleared his throat from his place, and both stopped and sat back.

Yohei seemed to consider Lan's question, rubbing his chin. "Uhm... I guess it's sorta boring. Daddy can't take me to the liberry or the park when he has'ta work, an' Papa's gotta work now too."

"Ah." Lan giggled into her palm, and Yohei frowned.

"But school's bad too!" He folded his arms. "All th' kids're mean!"

"That's just not true, kiddo." Gojyo moved their arms apart. "Your buddy Tai and Ei are there during the day. Plus, Miss Feng here's gonna teach you cool stuff better than Daddy can."

"Nuh-uh." Yohei's lower lip stuck out a mile.

"You heard Daddy." Gojyo nudged his head with his elbow. "Daddy never went to school, he don't know how to teach stuff like Miss does. Don'cha know?" He leaned closer. "Teachers know everything. Even Daddy doesn't know everything."

"Everything?" Both Yohei and Eiji took this in. Gojyo tugged Hakkai's shirt collar.

"You guys know Uncle used'ta be a teacher, right? Where'd you think he got it?"

Both boys turned to Lan with wide-eyed wonder, and she started to understand why she'd been asked to dinner.

The after-dinner cleanup was handled by the whole of the family, and Lan stepped back and away at Hakkai's insistence as Sanzo took the children to wash their hands again and lead them in cleaning their playroom. She observed Gojyo and Ryuichi having a quiet conversation over the dishes they were washing- Gojyo scrubbing, Ryuichi drying- and caught Hakkai's sleeve as he bustled past her again with a clean dishcloth.

"The young man- he didn't say a word through the entire meal. Who is he?"

"Gojyo's younger brother." Hakkai glanced to the pair, then back to her. Ryuichi seemed to be doing the same- looking between her and the work he was supposed to be doing. "They were raised apart. It's a very, very long story, but they're quite close." His face lit with a soft, proud smile. "It's impressive- he was small and starving when he came to us, but he's started to grow into a man now."

"I see." Lan smiled, and Hakkai returned the gesture and passed her by to continue cleaning. She turned away from Gojyo and Ryuichi's quiet conversation to watch Sanzo leading the boys in picking up their mess. She took a few shy steps towards Sanzo as Eiji gathered up another armful of blocks and Yohei scooped up some toy horses. "Er, Lord Sanzo-" Both boys dropped the toys in their arms and spun around to face her, Eiji drawing his arms into his chest and shuddering, and Yohei wide-mouthed and horrified. Sanzo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke aloud.

"Boys, I thought we talked about this. Lord Sanzo is what everyone else calls me. Proceed." The twins warily continued cleaning, and Sanzo tilted an annoyed look to her. "Yes?"

"I was only wondering how you convinced them to clean up, and stay on task."

"Convinced?" Sanzo's nose wrinkled. "It's a matter of 'they won't do anything else until it's done.' I do praise them when they finish." He held his hands up like a balance scale "If the mess is left out, I scold them."

"Have you considered some sort of reward system?"

"They deserve rewards for doing what they should?" Sanzo snorted, and looked back to the boys. "Their reward is getting to play checkers with P- me." He tilted back at the waist, looking behind the chair, and pointed. "Eiji." Eiji hopped and skipped behind the chair and grabbed a handful of crayons left there. He cocked his head side to side, cracking his neck, and turned his eyes to Lan. "If they're lucky, I'll let them win."

Lan actually laughed aloud. "It's unorthodox, but at least you're not bribing them. Have you considered a chore chart, with weekly special rewards? Things like trips to the zoo, or getting to make cookies with all of you?"

"We have," Hakkai interrupted from behind them. "But they're not yet four, I think they're a bit young to do things like that without being prompted. But you can be promised, once that fourth birthday rolls around-" he snapped his fingers. "Like that!"

"Oh, you're that kind of parent?" She found herself laughing again, and Hakkai giggled as well.

"We're not too strict, but we try." He turned and ran a wet rag over the table. "Why don't we have some of that cheesecake?"

The boys had not seen cheesecake before- they hadn't even had milk since they'd weaned off of it as babies- but the reintroduction of dairy in this sweet, dense, creamy form was a wonder to them. Ryuichi was intrigued as well, and exchanged his first words with Lan when she opened the box in the middle of the table. "Miss, you brought dessert?" He dove onto the table towards it, gawking, jaw open, at the prim white mousse on its dainty graham cracker base. "It smells so good!" He straightened up, bouncing on his heels and looking between Lan and the cake. "Can I have it? How do you eat it?"

"In- in slices." Lan giggled. "It's a cake, you see?" Hakkai passed her a knife, and she lifted a slice out. Ryuichi 'aah'ed as she set the slice on his plate.

"Thank you so much!"

"Ichi, let everyone else have a slice before you have seconds," Gojyo chuckled from his seat, as Lan and Hakkai passed slices around.

Lan now understood why Sanzo had said 'enough for ten-' Ryuichi and Goku both took seconds, though while Ryuichi wolfed his down like it was evaporating, Goku was generous enough to give little pieces of his second slice to the boys.

"You guy have been good today," he whispered as he broke his cake up. "Big cousin is real proud." He looked between Lan and the boys, but the boys didn't notice as they thanked him, and Eiji hugged him. Hakkai set his fork down when he noticed Lan had finished her cheesecake.

"Well, Miss Lan, thank you kindly for joining us tonight." He folded his hands, and the twins both looked up.

"Lan?"

"That's her not-teacher name, guys." Gojyo smirked, in his usual easygoing way, and set his elbows on the table. Lan smiled, relieved that Gojyo had loosened up again. Gojyo continued, shrugging with one hand up. "Like Uncle calls Daddy Gojyo. You still gotta call her Miss Feng, though- since you can't call Daddy Gojyo, ever."

"Okay." Yohei lowered his head, and Lan rose to a stand.

"It was lovely to visit. Thank you for having me. Perhaps again sometimes?" She turned to Ryuichi, and offered a hand. "A pleasure to meet you, young man." She winked, and Ryuichi turned bright pink as he shook it. His eyes darted up and down between her dress and her face.

"Um- uh- 'scuse me." He jumped to his feet and ran out, and Gojyo laughed hard.

"Poor kid." His smile shifted around to her. "Miss Lan, would you like me to walk you home?"

"No, no." She shook her head. "I don't live far from here."

Gojyo got up to his feet anyway. "Then at least to the door."

Though the sun was setting and the sky was purple and streaked with thin, slate-colored clouds, street outside the shop was still warm from the heat of June, but more humid than the comfort of the crowded little home. Gojyo stopped on the stoop, locking the door behind him out of habit. "See, we ain't so bad, right?" He grinned at her as he reached into his back pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes. "You ain't so bad either. I think the kids needed to see that." He held the box out. "You smoke?"

"Used to. Not for me, though." She smiled, shifting her hips uneasily. "You just wanted them to see me in my natural element?"

"And for you to see us in ours." He lit up, and lowered his head. His face was shadowed by the light from the shop behind him, illuminated by the cherry on his Hi-Lite, and she could see his hollow smile in the flame. "You, uh, you told me to tell my babies they weren't really mine."

"I... I didn't think that entirely through." Lan folded her arms nervously, and looked down. There more sidewalk chalk drawings there- some that matched Eiji's, and a sloppier hand beside his. "I was brash, it was wrong of me." Her eyes tipped up towards him. "However, it doesn't make me wrong."

"No." Gojyo shook his head, and his smile dropped again- back to the stern face with which he'd greeted her earlier. "No, you have a point. They, uh, they do need to know the whole truth. And trust me, we'll tell 'em, eventually. But Lan, they're not even four yet, and they've been through more than most." He turned and tilted his eyes up to the second level of the house, dragging on his cigarette. "We've moved, we've had arguments, Yohei and me almost died of the cough from hell- hell, we spent the last winter on a shoestring budget, my babies had to watch me go hungry for nights on end." Gojyo stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So, the troubles they've had, it's cause I didn't prepare them for it. I'm tryin' harder now." He took a slow breath, and turned to meet Lan's eyes. "I know for a fact that I'm not a stable environment for my guys." He slouched forward. "We might be heroes or whatever, but I'm still young and dumb. I make mistakes, the four of us argue, and sometimes, they don't see their Papa for a little while." Lan set her shoulders back as Gojyo lifted his head. "That's why they need the reassurance that we're family on love alone, no matter what." He withdrew the cigarette from his mouth and blew a stream of smoke over his head. "This is just our lives, how we are. Changing that right now will hurt them too much. Even if we don't much look like a family, this is the realest thing they got. So, I can't tell them your truth. They- we- need our truth."

Lan took it in, and nodded. "I understand." She folded her hands in front of her. "And when the truth does come out?"

"It'll hurt, like the truth usually does." Gojyo shrugged, and dropped his finished cigarette. "But delaying it's gonna be kinder in the long run. When they're ready, I'll tell them."

"Alright. As long as you're prepared." She smiled her normal, bright smile, and he relaxed back, hands set in his pockets.

"We will be." Gojyo cocked his head back. "But we did have a little talk, letting 'em know they were different, but they're still family as long as we all love each other."

"Sounds appropriate enough. I would just take off the 'as long as.' Unconditional love, right?" Lan winked at Gojyo, and he laughed.

"It ain't much of a condition! I love my guys. That ain't ever gonna change." Gojyo pressed his fingers down into his hipbones through his pockets, feeling the raised lines where the strain of carrying the two had left its marks, and his eyes softened as they met hers again. "They're mine. That's all it takes to make us family."

"Good. Then I can accept it." She grinned again. "Four more days of suspension for Yohei, but I'll see Eiji tomorrow."

"Yup, one of us will be by!" He lifted a hand to wave as she turned away. "Stay safe, Lan!"

"Have a nice night, Gojyo!" Lan waved back, skipping as she turned the corner.

If she'd ever doubted that the Shas were any less than a real family, that doubt was gone for good.


Eiji showed up at school at Hakkai's side the next morning with a big smile. "Mornin', Miz Feng!" He beamed brightly. "Daddy said he hoped you didn't get mugged walkin' home!"

Feng Lan laughed into her hand as Hakkai wiped his hand over his face. "I'm so sorry-"

"Don't be." She knelt down. "Eiji, do you know what the word 'mugged' means?" He shook his head. "Then you shouldn't use it."

"Ah, that's a good rule!" Hakkai smiled, and snapped his fingers. "We'll try it at home, too. Eiji, have a good day." He bent to his knees, and Eiji kissed his cheek and bounded off to put his things away.

Aside from that, Eiji was nearly a model student that day. He still hung near her during free play, and he still got distracted from his task easily, and he was very withdrawn, but he followed along with the rest of the class. Miss Feng almost wanted to attribute it to Yohei's absence, but she couldn't complain. It was even better that he stayed that way for the rest of the week, with only the occasional slip-up here and there- he talked out of turn sometimes, he would jump out of line, and he got stubborn with other children when they asked him to share his toys, but he only needed a little prodding to fall right back in line.

"He learned my name, learned I was human, and it seems he's learned some respect for me," she reported to Gojyo on Saturday afternoon as Gojyo waited on the outside of her drawing-covered door. She patted Eiji's shoulders with both hands. "He's doing great."

"Alright! Good job, buddy!" Gojyo held his hand low, palm up, and Eiji slapped it. Gojyo beamed at Lan. "Monday morning, we'll be doubling your trouble."

Miss Feng had dreaded it the entire weekend, but Yohei and Eiji arrived, Eiji happy to see her and Yohei more than a little sullen as Gojyo and Hakkai escorted them to her door. Yohei protectively grabbed Eiji's hand as they stopped in front of her, but she put her hands down on her knees and hung her head near his face.

"You remember where your cubby is, Mr. Yohei?" She offered him the most saccharine smile her sarcastic lips could muster, and he wrinkled his nose. He grumbled as he skulked past her, tossing a few mistrusting looks over his shoulder as he dragged his feet into the classroom. Gojyo rolled his eyes and patted Eiji forward.

"Just try and go easy on him." He folded his arms, watching Yohei sulk on the edge of the play carpet. "Nice, low-key day. I think he's bored enough of chores and being at home to tolerate whatever you tell him to do."

"I'll try," Miss Feng agreed with a nod, and waved to the next parents coming down the hall.

Yohei's mood didn't improve much, but to Miss Feng's relief, he was subdued. She even got a "Thank you, Miz Feng" when she showed him how to solve an addition problem with the counting tokens. He hung by Eiji and Tai during recess, resistant to playing, just watching them. She noticed that his gaze lingered on the little gem in the comb in Tai's topknot, then batted away. He didn't follow every direction she gave, but he didn't talk back, or talk much at all. She was even comfortable sending him home with a yellow sticker for his behavior.

"He's been kind of grouchy, but the worst he did was refuse to leave the sandbox when his turn was over." She patted his back as she returned him to Gojyo, and he clung to Gojyo's leg as he rejoined him. Gojyo chuckled low as Eiji bounced to his side.

"Good. We'll keep on him, and hopefully he'll keep it up." He mussed Yohei's hair. "Good job today, guys!" He rested his hands on their backs as he led them away, muttering words of praise that Miss Feng could only just make out.

The next day went better- Yohei had loosened up, and while he was fractionally more rambunctious, he still followed directions (for the most part) and did his work (with the exception of math, which got his clothespin moved down to yellow for throwing his counting tokens.) The real test, however, was recess.

Yohei had dared to venture away from Eiji and Tai to kick a soccer ball at the wall. He was soon joined by some of the other human children, and they were soon kicking the ball back and forth to one another. One of them, however, noticed Yohei watching Eiji over his shoulder, and sneered.

"Why you hang out with that boo, anyway?" He kicked the ball from knee to knee, and Yohei's hands fell to his side. "My mama says boos like him are dirty."

"We took a bath last night!" Yohei clenched his little fists defensively. "We're not dirty! He's my bruvver!"

"You can't be bruvvers with a boo! You're normal!" One of the other human boys snickered. Yohei shivered, then turned his nose up.

"Fff... Jus' cause we look different don't mean anything! If he's a boo, I'm a boo too!" He grabbed the soccer ball and rushed towards Miss Feng, whining the whole way: "Teacher! Tell 'im to stop before I hafta hit 'im!"

Yohei did get scolded for threatening- which Gojyo later explained as "You can want to hit someone, but you can't tell them about it-" but he was praised for seeking help and the two boys who'd taunted him were punished. He seemed to take immense satisfaction in watching the instigators stand on the wall even after he'd taken his rebuke. Miss Feng did share the incident with Gojyo directly when he picked them up.

"I sent home letters to their parents, as well." Miss Feng dusted her skirt with a careless hand, a pleased smile illuminating the fire in her eyes, as Gojyo held Yohei up to his chest and ruffled his hair. "Hopefully, they both recognize the need to adjust their respective child's behaviors."

"Thanks for that." Gojyo smirked, but rubbed his nose in Yohei's shirt collar. "Good job, buddy. You're the best tattletale ever." He set Yohei down and took a hand apiece. "Come on, kids, snitches get ice cream!"

After that, they settled into routine. After only a week back at school, Yohei started to find the energy to bounce down the hall there and back, happy to see Miss Feng, waving at her as they retreated. Gojyo stopped dreading it as well- even happy to leave the boys with her and her assistants for a few hours. It didn't feel like he was stepping through the gates of hell every time they passed the flowering trees into the school doors. They were not perfect, no, but Miss Feng no longer felt the need to send home letters on a nightly, or even weekly, basis. A quick report at the end of the day over the exchange usually covered it:

"Yohei's pretty energetic, jumping out of line whenever we walk to the bathroom, but he got right back into it when I told him so."

"They were sluggish cleaning up, but Tai actually told them they had to and they jumped right on it."

"Eiji had to sit in timeout for swearing, but he knew he'd done wrong, covered his little mouth, and took himself to the corner." Miss Feng had giggled at this one. "Have you been trying to swear less?"

"Tryin', yeah." Gojyo chuckled as Eiji leaned on his leg, face red, thumb in his mouth. "Ain't easy, I ain't some classy prince or whatever."

"Well, they are getting better." She smiled coyly down as Yohei trotted past her, backpack strapped on. "They're not perfect, but if they were, it'd be boring."

Gojyo laughed and corralled Yohei towards him. "You got that one right!"

Perhaps the greatest assurance that all was well arrived in Miss Feng's first letter since Yohei's return to school, just six weeks later. Gojyo resisted the urge to open the thick envelope the entire walk home, but his curiosity got the better of him the second he opened the door to let them in. As the twins took their shoes off and rushed up the stairs, he ripped the top of the envelope open with one finger and unfolded the papers inside. Hakkai was busy waiting on a customer, but he caught a glimpse of what Gojyo discovered during a chance lull in their conversation. Gojyo quickly read the lot:

Miss Feng had enclosed two hand-drawn awards- one bestowed upon each of the twins. There was also a recipe for almond cookies and a note at the bottom:

"I'm not allowed to give out food as rewards, but I thought I'd share my favorite recipe! Keep up the hard work!"

"Oh-ho, check this out, guys!" Gojyo grinned and flipped the papers around. "Sound it out." The twins turned from where they were hanging their backpacks. Eiji squinted, and Yohei cocked his head.

"M... mo..." Yohei tested the next symbol in his mouth a few times.

"Most...?" Eiji squinted harder at the next word.

"Most im... impo..."

"Most improved!" Eiji looked up at Gojyo. "We're most improved?"

"What's improved?" Yohei cocked his head to the other side.

"Means you got better, kiddo!" Gojyo grinned proudly, and the customer Hakkai was talking to giggled. Gojyo started to herd them up the stairs, explaining as they tromped along ahead of them with their shoes in their hands. "Improved means you got better. She's happy because you've both been so good lately. She sent you guys awards!"

"Wow!" Eiji beamed, clasping his little fists in front of his chest and bouncing on his heels.

"Yup, and I'm gonna put 'em on the wall in the shop so everyone can see once we show Papa!" Gojyo unlocked the door. "And the best part is, she told me to make cookies with you guys and gave me her favorite recipe. It's gonna be awesome."

"Cookies!" The twins both thrust their fists into the air.

Gojyo shared the news with Sanzo that night as he looked over the papers laid on the table and nibbled on one of the burnt cookies. (Hakkai had managed to save half of the batch, but those were long gone, as Ryuichi had arrived home an hour prior.) "So, they're fitting in." Sanzo scraped some of the cookie off with his teeth, then set it down and aside with a wrinkle in his lip. "They're not hellions anymore."

Gojyo snickered and shook his head. "You kiddin' me? Of course they're still hellions." Gojyo looked out the window to the little game of blind man's bluff Goku had initiated with the twins in the back yard. "Just... school ain't their hell anymore."

"You did well." Sanzo turned to kiss Gojyo's neck, and Gojyo snickered as he felt teeth on his collarbone. "I'm impressed with what a little esteem and a little support can do."

Gojyo nodded his forehead in towards Sanzo's, rubbing the skin and sharing his warmth for a soothing moment. "Didn't even have to destroy our family to do it."

The change had come, and life went on as content as they could imagine. What they couldn't imagine was what was next to come, what awaited them around the next corner- school was one kind of hell, but there were many, many, many others.


End Notes: Yeah, I'm a mite bit burned out. I know next week is the normal update week, so I'm going to try like mad to get the next chapter done and posted, but after that, I swear I will lose my hair if I don't take a week off. Let's hope I can stand to.

A few review responses:

Airenya- Thanks for your detailed reviews, I love seeing how much critical insight you put into it! Don't worry- I haven't forgotten about the card Gojyo sent, and nor has Gojyo. I make little mistakes sometimes, but I never forget a plot point. You raise an interesting "what-if," one I haven't explored in my own mind (and I do that a lot! What if Sanzo didn't rip the contract during the birth, what if Sanzo had accepted Gojyo at the outset, plot in this story that hasn't happened yet...) I honestly think you're right in that Sanzo wouldn't be nearly so protective if it hadn't happened in that way, and the events of No Mercy wouldn't have come to pass in nearly the same way (if at all)- but I'm not sure Gojyo and Sanzo would have even had the kids if they hadn't started to screw out of Gojyo's desperation during the journey. At the same time, if No Mercy didn't happen, and Ryuji and Aka were never freed from the sealed realm, Yohei and Eiji as we know them wouldn't have survived on the fragments of souls they had. That's only in the context of this story, though- there are dozens of other ways Gojyo and Sanzo could have hooked up! As for Gojyo admitting the night-time visits with Jien to Sanzo- somehow, I don't know if it can happen, if Gojyo can tell the truth now. He might have dug that hole a little too deep by now. But secrets don't stay secret forever... Keep reading and find out!

Charapa- Hehe, would you believe I used to be a substitute teacher? I know how kids are- they can be awesome at home, but dreadful to the teacher. Miss Feng was certainly not in the right in how she wanted to correct it, but teachers make mistakes too. Sometimes kids just take a little longer to adapt to school, or they need a little prodding to accept a new authority. However, I must say that I don't think you can break a person, not permanently anyway. There are ups and downs in life, everyone has to deal with them. Even if a person is broken down to their rawest form, their lives don't stop; they have to fix themselves or at least patch things up. Life goes on, and it will. If and when Gojyo and Sanzo are broken, you can be assured that they will always find a way to put themselves back together again. It won't be easy- never is- but it will happen.

That's about it. Until next week!