They were moving again. They heard that some demons were having too much fun killing in the villages nearby, that's why as soon as the got the news they jumped into jeep.
"Hakkai…I see black smoke over there…"
"Yeah, Sanzo…me too…"
They got to the small village too late: there were open-up corpses laying here and there, blood and fire and death everywhere.
"We should run after them…" Gojyo said.
"Goku, can you smell them?"
Goku did what he was told, he focused his demoniac powers and tried his best to find even the smallest trail that could lead them to…somewhere. He wandered in the whole village and then to the borders of it.
"It's like they vanished in this place, Sanzo."
"What the heck do you mean by 'vanished', monkey?"
"You, stupid water-sprite, I mean vanished, vanished! Like puff and then you're gone!"
Gojyo looked at Goku with wide eyes, then turning to face the village, and then he turned again, just to look at the priest and Hakkai.
"They even killed kids and woman…" he whispered.
Sanzo's party reached a small pond nearby the village, where they took the time to dig graves for the dead villagers and to beg the priest to say a small prayer for them: they needed to take a bath and get rid of the blood they got on them dragging the bodies into the graves.
They were all quietly bathing, none really wanted to say a thing, but then Hakkai looked at Gojyo expression: he swore he had never seen him more shocked.
"Hey, Goku…"
"What Hakkai?"
"Do you want to go and look for some food now? We can go now…Sanzo and Gojyo will light up a fire while we are away…"
"Yup! Let's go…"
The brunette gave a meaningful look at Sanzo, as usual, and left with the half naked monkey to get some food. Why the hell Hakkai always leaves to him to talk to the redhead when he was like this? The brunette was his best friend after all. But suddenly he remembered something Gojyo said to a young and attractive lady who was openly flirting with him one night at a bar "Sorry, beauty. I don't want to cheat on my boyfriend…". Sanzo had just got into the bar when he heard it, and Gojyo didn't even notice him, maybe because the blonde got out of the place as soon as he heard these words: shocked by their meaning.
Boyfriend. Gods, he really was his boyfriend: the person he have sex and liked to share things with, the person he had neglected his needs-for-women for, the person he…loved. Sanzo approached the standing and naked form of Gojyo in the pond, stopping next to him and staring at the same spot placed nowhere in particular in front of them. The redhead, after a long moment of silence, was the first to speak.
"I really am like Hakkai…"
"Why?" the priest asked softly, surprising himself.
"I've seen loads and loads of dead people but…" he stopped and took a deep breath.
"It's normal you're afraid of death: it's a common human feeling…"
"I'm not afraid. I'm shocked…you've seen the corpses too, the expression of fear was still on their faces… death shouldn't be like this for anyone…and surely shouldn't be like this for kids, actually there shouldn't be death for them at all…"
The priest was silent as he slowly turned to look at his lover. Gojyo turned too and their eyes locked.
"Once, Sanzo, you said that there are a lots of people who deserve to die, I agreed and still agree completely, but I don't really think that the ones who are innocent deserve such a horrible thing…" Gojyo said.
"I agree with the fact that such a cruel death is not deserved by kids, who hadn't done anything so horrible in their life to die devoured by demons, but people and kids still die and no one can help it, neither you, nor me…we just have to accept it since death follows us since the day we born to the one we don't have the strength to wake up next morning. It's all a matter of strength physical or mental…"
Gojyo let a sad smile turn his lips upwards and then spoke.
"Stoic as usual, Sanzo-sama…"
The blonde didn't looked away, just stared in the red orbs of the taller man; and then, his right hand moved on its own, deciding to rest on the redhead left forearm, rubbing it gently with the thumb, as Gojyo's hand reached for the back of Sanzo's neck, pulling him forwards. He lowered his head resting his forehead against Sanzo's one while his arms wrapped around the smaller frame.
"Sanzo…"
"What?"
"If I tell you something you promise not to shot me?"
"I don't have my gun in my hand right now anyway…"
"I really, really, really love you"
Sanzo just nodded slightly as he slowly reached for Gojyo's half open mouth, locking their lips in the heated kiss they both needed to share.