Hello again! Sorry about the delay in updates. I've started NaNoWriMo this month so that's kind of consuming my life right now.
Sakura02: Well, you know Meika wouldn't have sat very still either. She'd probably pull and James and start throwing a fit.
Thanks: Night-Mare-Crimson, Saiyuri Haruno, H-Dawg-luvs-anime, CBarbie92, KaKashiisWifey, AdaYuki, and Princesa de la Luna for reviewing!
Meika glanced at Sanzo out of the corner of her eye. He was just sitting there, staring absently up into the sky and smoking his cigarette. Surely now she could…
"Don't even think about it." Sanzo said coolly, grabbing Meika by the collar of her dress and pulling her back to sit beside him. "You are not going swimming and that's final."
"But GoGo is swimming." She whined, tugging on Sanzo's sleeve. "Why can't I go swimming?"
Sanzo rolled his eyes and pulled his sleeve from Meika's grasp. "He's not swimming; he's getting the writing off of him."
Meika huffed and crossed her arms. "You never let me have any fun."
"So, Sanzo, why do you think Kami-sama set up this barrier?" Hakkai quickly interjected when he saw Sanzo raising his hand. He didn't think the priest would ever really strike Meika, but he knew that Sanzo was on edge right now and he didn't want to risk it.
Sanzo lowered his hand and shrugged. "Who knows? You can ask him when we find him since I'm sure we'll be seeing that whack job soon enough."
"Hey, look what I found!" Goku called, running over to the group with only his boxers on. He held out snubbed out cigarette proudly. "It's got to be Gojyo's." He handed the cigarette over to Sanzo and began putting his clothes on.
Meika clapped her hands together excitedly. "So, we just have to go that way and we'll find JoJo!" She pointed to a large patch of forest that was completely overgrown and virtually impossible to get through. Though Meika wasn't quite as furious as Sanzo and the others, she did feel a sense of annoyance wash over her. "JoJo is in big trouble when we find him."
"I couldn't agree more." Hakkai said as the group began the slow going through the underbrush. He really hoped Gojyo was alive when they found them. He'd be very upset if he wasn't able to kill him.
"ZoZo, HaHa, keep up!" Meika called excitedly. It had taken them quite a few hours to make their way through the forest and to finally reach the mountain. She wasn't sure how long they'd been walking up the staircase, but she didn't mind. It simply meant they were getting closer and closer to Gojyo and that was all that mattered to her. She didn't even mind the strange fog.
Goku came to an abrupt halt in front of Meika, causing the little girl to slam into him. "Um, is that who I think it is."
Meika's shout of protest died in her throat as she peered around Goku. Her eyes widened in surprise. "JoJo!"
Gojyo stood on the stairway, a few steps above the shocked group. "Hey guys. What's up?"
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Goku shouted. "Where the hell is that freaky god dude?"
Gojyo grinned widely at the group. "I totally just whooped that punk. We should get out of here since there's nothing left for us to do here." He blinked as Meika was suddenly standing before him. He crouched down and grinned at the little girl. "Hey, sweetie. I'm sorry. I made you worry, didn't I?"
"Asshole!" Meika screamed, punching Gojyo right in the nose and knocking him on his back.
Gojyo didn't have time to be shocked as Hakkai was suddenly stepping rather hard on his hand. "Hakkai?"
Hakkai grinned eerily down at him. "I'm actually rather shocked that you have the audacity to come back as though nothing happened."
Sanzo loaded and cocked his gun, pointing it right at Gojyo's head. "Do you really think we came all the way here to get you? Do you realize how much time we wasted on you? You're going to pay."
Gojyo yelped as Sanzo shot multiple rounds at him. He managed to get away and summon his weapon, swinging it menacingly at the group. He glared down at the group that was looking at him in shock and annoyance. "How'd you know I was a fake?"
The group all looked curiously at each other. Meika frowned and cracked her knuckles. "This jerk isn't the real JoJo? GoGo, let's beat him up!" She tried to manipulate the earth beneath the stairs, but found she was unable to. Deciding not to bother with it, she simply summoned a water orb and charged at the fake Gojyo with Goku close behind her.
"Meika, Goku, pretend it's the real Gojyo." Hakkai shouted encouragingly. "It'll make you feel better!"
"All this crap is your fault!" Goku grit out as he locked weapons with the fake. "Sanzo's madder than usual, Hakkai's scary, and MeiMei is crying all the time! To make it all worse, I spent my afternoon getting painted on instead of eating!" He knocked the fake off balance with his weapon and grinned.
Meika managed to finish knocking the fake down by shooting her water orb right in his face. "You're so selfish! How could you leave us like that? How could you leave me?"
Hakkai smiled calmly as he walked over to the fallen fake. He held the fake's arm in both his hands. "The next time you feel the desire to leave, please stop yourself from doing so." His smile widened as he broke the fake's arm with ease.
"This is like a dream come true." Sanzo said, smirking creepily and causing Meika to shudder. "I finally get to shoot your sorry face."
Meika actually winced as the bullet went through the fake's head. She was reminded that it wasn't the real Gojyo, though, when he turned into many beads. "Are we going to find the real JoJo now?"
"Of course." Hakkai said, huffing in annoyance. "That wasn't nearly satisfying enough. The real Gojyo would've put up more of a fight."
Meika and Goku were once again running ahead of Hakkai and Sanzo. She hoped that the others had at least worked off some of their anger. She didn't really want them to kill Gojyo. Horribly maim him, maybe, but not kill him. She looked up and let out a sudden whoop of joy. "I see the top!"
It was a good thing Sanzo was still pretty mad when they reached the top. If he hadn't been, he may not have had his gun already out and loaded. He may not have been able to shoot the beads that were dangling the very real and very injured Gojyo above the ground.
"What are you guys doing…" Gojyo didn't get to say anything else Meika ran over and slugged him square in his face. "Meika, what the hell?" He yelped as the others were suddenly there, all four of them kicking and punching him. "Knock it off!" Gojyo shouted, managing to shove them all away from him. "What the hell is wrong with all of you?" He blinked as Meika latched onto his arm and began crying. "Meika…Baby Girl…don't cry…"
"You're the meanest ever, JoJo." She sniffled out while the others moved in front of Gojyo.
Gojyo hugged Meika tightly and kissed her head. "I'm so sorry. I won't leave you again. I promise."
Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Shut up with the sappy nonsense back there." He glared over at Kami-sama who was grinning widely. "Sorry, but the job of killing this waste of skin is ours. Don't barge in on our territory."
Kami-sama's grin never wavered. "No, that won't do. He's my new toy."
Meika shuddered and prepared to fight. She had a bad feeling about all this, but if they had to fight this creep to get her family back together, then she would fight him to her last dying breath.
