Kinnikinnick: Okay, hey guys. I am rewarding you for being so patient and understanding by doing a double update (and perhaps a triple-update?). Mainly because I cannot stand to look at my books for any longer. I think I'm going cross-eyed.

Technicolor: Well, you've been studying for about four days straight on an overall total of ten hours sleep over those days.

Kinnikinnick: Yeah. Look, bubbles…

Technicolor: Maybe you should take a nap…

Kinnikinnick: No, I just need some coffee. Or Mountain Dew. Or a straight shot of caffeine to my brain. I can't afford to stop studying!

Technicolor: Hoooo-kaaaay… Anyway, in this chapter, the girls realize how much they really love having the guys around. It's sweet moment.

Kinnikinnick: Yeah, and we don't own nuffin'. Not Saiyuki, not Mountain Dew (yet) and not Little Ceasar's, which is the best damn pizza EVER.


Piled back in the car, Miranda sat with her arms crossed. Renate had given Hakkai the front seat, and she told Miranda if she whined she'd give her another nosebleed.

"How do you ruin bowling?" she demanded of the three men squished in next to her.

"Gojyo started it!" Goku pouted.

"I did not, you stupid monkey, you got mad at me for laughing!"

"You were laughing at me and Sanzo 'cause we fell over," Goku shot back.

"No, I was laughing because you and the shitty monk had a make out session!" Gojyo laughed. Silence fell as the group heard a gun cocking. Gojyo tried to wiggle around to the other side of Miranda.

"Don't you dare hide behind me!" Miranda shouted as Gojyo elbowed her in the face.

"If you fire that gun in my car, I will give you a slow and painful death!" Renate shouted into the back.

"Ch," Sanzo said, tucking the gun back into his waistband. Suddenly he had his harisan in his hand.

"Where the hell were you keeping that!?" Gojyo shouted, still hiding behind Miranda.

"I'd… actually like an answer to that, too," Miranda said, looking more perplexed than angry now. Sanzo made no reply.

"Shitty monk," Gojyo said. Sanzo started trying to reach around Miranda to hit the kappa.

"Ow! Goddamn, give me that! I'll do it," she said, jerking the fan away from Sanzo and turning to start beating on Gojyo.

"Ow! Ow! OW! You hit harder than the goddamn monk!" Gojyo shouted, pressing himself into the door.

"Yes, goddamn it, because I have had it!"

"SHUT UP!" Renate bellowed. Everyone in the backseat froze. Hakkai was shaking with silent laughter in the front seat.

"Maybe it was a bad idea to put those four in the back," he chuckled. Renate grunted in agreement.

"Damn if I'm not starting to be fond of this, though."

Back at the dorm room again, Miranda decided that it was time to take a nap, leaving the other five to their own devices. Renate unlocked her laptop and began to tap away at the keys. Goku turned on the TV and began channel surfing. Hakkai was fashioning a sort of scarf for Hakuryu out of Miranda's knitting supplies. Gojyo and Sanzo sat around the bookshelf, paging through various books, each eventually settling on one.

Renate looked up from the computer and she was struck by how right all of this felt. Miranda's arm dangling off the side of the loft bed was almost brushing Hakkai's head as he sat in a chair, knitting away, occasionally stopping to pet Hakuryu, who was curled up in his sash. Hakkai's one outstretched leg was almost touching Goku, who was sprawled in front of the TV, his head propped up on a pillow, already half-asleep. His sprawled position left him very close to Sanzo, hunched over a thick book from Miranda's book shelf. In his position, his feet were almost touching Gojyo, who was lying on his stomach, reading a comic book. Renate smiled as she saw these things, how close all of them were to being interconnected. The snow falling gently outside the window only added a cozy glow to the whole thing. Snapping the laptop shut, she grabbed a blanket and went to sit next to Goku in front of the TV.

As the evening wore on, Miranda eventually awoke, and Goku took over the bed. Hakkai finished the scarf and started working on little ear muffs. Sanzo fell asleep propped up next to the bookshelf, the book falling out of his hands with a muffled bang. Renate pulled over one of Miranda's chairs and perched on it while watching TV, while Miranda settled herself on the floor in front of her. Gojyo started shuffling Miranda's worn pack of playing cards, getting them ready for a good game of solitaire.

Miranda also noticed the little connections, although their positions had changed, and sighed contentedly. She wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. As she and Renate watched TV, surveying the guys from the corners of their eyes, they noticed that Gojyo was soon asleep too. Not long after, Hakkai fell asleep in the chair, his knitting needles still clicking sporadically.

As quietly as she could, Miranda started covering the four with blankets, knowing how cold it would get in the dorm room. Renate joined her, pulling Hakkai off the chair and onto the floor, knowing he would wake up stiff if he slept in the chair.

"What now?" Miranda whispered, turning off the TV.

"Well, they haven't had dinner yet. We could go get them something," Renate said.

"We could go to Little Ceasar's, pick something up," Miranda said.

"Okay," Renate said. The two girls bundled up, locking the door as they stepped out into the hall.

"Let's walk. It's not that far, and it's a good night for it," Miranda suggested. Renate waited until they got outside to reply, weighing how cold it was against the fact that she had been driving a lot lately.

"Okay."

The girls took off down the sidewalk, walking and chatting as if they hadn't been thrown into another world full of demons and danger, as if they were nothing more than two college students going for a stroll.


Kinnikinnick: Aw. Nice, isn't it? Read and review!