A/N: Sorry for yet another delay, but the beta and I finally got together and fine-tuned this chapter this week. We're almost done. Next chapter, everything will be wrapped up, but it's most definitely not the end for any of these guys. Thanks to everyone for their nice reviews... even the anonymous person! I wish that you had signed your name to that wonderful review, because I really wanted to reply. In any case, thanks for all the support.

Seven: Opposite

Kougaiji tore down the hallway with little regard as to whether or not anyone was following him. He now had a single determined goal in mind – Seiran's apprehension – and focused on it intently as he stalked towards the place where the other youkai had told him to go.

Lirin bounded along eagerly behind, but Dokugakuji and Yaone looked a little more hesitant. They knew that they were supposed to be splitting up from the Sanzo-Ikkou, but the priest was long gone and the remaining two members hadn't moved from their spot nearby.

"Isn't one of you gonna go after the guy, too?" Doku asked, once again making sure his sword was ready. "It's not gonna be much competition if Kou gets there first."

"Gah!" Goku immediately sprinted off after the prince, determined not to lose. He steadily increased his speed until he overtook Kougaiji. He ran all the way up to a door at the end of the hallway and slammed his palm against it. Looking back at Kougaiji, he gloated, "Ha! Beat ya! I win!"

From the way the auburn-haired youkai stared blankly at him, Goku then realized that the object had not been a race, but to take out Seiran. He grinned sheepishly and then dove for the doorknob.

"Move." Kougaiji knew that his words meant nothing to the boy, but his tone was stern nonetheless. When his warning was ignored, he instantly conjured a small fireball and sent it directly at the wooden door.

"Ah!" Goku leapt to the side as the door burst into flames, crouching to regain his stability with one hand on the ground.

The prince kicked the door in the rest of the way and started to walk through.

As a last ditch effort, Goku dove towards Kougaiji's legs, taking him down in one of the most ungraceful manners possible.

Doku had just been starting down the hall himself when he saw the scuffle. He darted down the rest of the way just in time to see Lirin whacking Goku on the head with her fists, yelling quite loudly about how no one was going to "hurt Oniichan!"

Yaone could only sputter nervously as she debated between staying out of the way and rushing to her prince's aid. It was at that moment that she realized that she and Hakkai had been left alone once again.

"It appears as though the universe is conspiring to continually leave us by ourselves."

After a slight pause, Yaone decided to run down the hallway, calling out her prince's name in worry.

Kougaiji hated being embarrassed more than anything in the world, next to being manipulated and being dishonored. Public humiliation fell somewhere in the "dishonor" category and he had every intention of making Goku pay for his foolish mistake.

The prince struggled to his feet once again, noticing that Lirin was landing a flurry of punches on the teen, who had taken to shielding his head with his upper arms. Dokugakuji arrived at last and helped haul Kougaiji up the rest of the way, even though it was obvious the prince didn't need the assistance. Yaone reached them seconds later, followed by Hakkai.

Kougaiji had a faint thought regarding Yaone and the driver cross his mind, but it was pushed away when Goku finally managed to get Lirin off of him. The prince flexed his claws and started to advance towards his rival.

"Kougaiji-sama, look!" Yaone called out, distracting him from his plans for revenge.

Beyond the smoldering remains of the wooden door, everyone could see that the room was unoccupied. There was an open window and the place looked to be cleared out.

To Hakkai, it was obvious that Seiran had escaped during all of the arguing and fighting right outside his door. The spy would have had to be deaf not to know what was going on.

"Dammit, did he run?" Dokugakuji rested his sword on his shoulder and did another scan of the room.

Goku was ignoring the fact that Kougaiji was still seething next to him. "That coward! We gotta go get 'im!"

"Kyuu!"

Everyone looked up to see Hakuryu circling above their heads, chirping and trying to get them to follow. He must have been able to track Seiran's scent, Hakkai decided, so he quickly took off after his pet.

Seiran hadn't gone far, the group discovered; he was out in the main hall of the prison, frantically trying to collect the various poisons and bombs he'd fled with. The spy blanched when he saw the approaching group and fumbled, dropping a vial on the ground. It broke open and a purple liquid started to eat away at the floor.

"Goku!" Hakkai warned, even as the teen made steps towards the enemy youkai. "It's acidic! Please be careful!"

"Seiran!" Kougaiji barked from across the room. The spy started at his name. "You deliberately went against my orders. What is the meaning of this?"

Seiran took a few more steps back. "I apologize, My Lord… I'm only doing as you requested."

"Using a method that I oppose." Kougaiji was readying another fireball in his hand in case Seiran moved to escape. "It's not my intention to hurt you, but I will not hesitate to act if it ensures that you will return to the palace with us."

Seiran opened his mouth to speak, but at that very moment, he became distracted by something flying overhead.

Glancing upward ever so slightly, Goku could see that it was a beetle of some sort.

Seiran smiled for the first time since he'd been confronted and disappeared, this time by throwing down a smoke bomb in front of the group. They were momentarily blinded and by the time the smoke cleared, he had vanished.

Hakkai noticed Yaone looking even more distressed and found himself asking her what was wrong. From the faint blush and scowl on her face, he could tell that she was fighting back anger.

She clenched her spear tighter between her hands. "Seiran has…" She paused, shaking her head. "Those are my bombs. That potion he spilled was still in development!"

Hakkai closed his eyes, smiling genuinely this time. "Well, then, we can add to his list of crimes that of copyright infringement and intellectual property theft."

-+-

To say the least, it had been a rather eventful morning for Seiran. The spy had only just digested what little information the scientist had given him, checked in on his prisoner, and spent a little more time worrying, when some movement outside the window caught his eye. It was far off in the distance and, upon closer inspection, he made it out to be the Sanzo-Ikkou's vehicle.

It figured that they wouldn't waste any time going to find their missing member; how they knew which building in which the hanyou was being held, Seiran had yet to figure out. It occurred to him only after watching the vehicle for another minute or so that it didn't matter how they had discovered his hideout, only that they were fast approaching and he needed to prepare.

He gathered up everything in the room that he could carry, which mostly included weapons, bombs, and potions. He hoped that it would be enough to at least fend them off for several minutes, allowing him ample time to escape.

Or so he had planned.

Seiran had never lost his calm this quickly before. Not only had the Sanzo-Ikkou shown up, which he could've handled under normal circumstances, now they had teamed up with the prince and his group. As much as Seiran personally disagreed with Kougaiji-sama's lack of action when it came to sutra collecting, he still respected the prince as his leader. It would be nothing short of treason to fight against him.

He had regained a spark of hope, however, when he saw one of Ni's mechanical insects flying above the group. Perhaps this was the information he had been seeking after all this time!

As he darted off in a flash of smoke, he could hear indignant cries, but assumed that no one had been injured. If Seiran became the one responsible for causing Prince Kougaiji any harm, he would be even more severely punished, not to mention feeling horribly guilty about the entire thing.

The tiny gold bug fluttered before him again and he snatched it out of mid-air, never slowing his pace while he raced to another end of the prison. The building had once housed hundreds of inmates, so there were plenty of rooms and levels to hide out in.

Seiran ripped the wings off of the beetle to get to the note inside. The writing on it blurred, though he couldn't tell if it was the note itself or just his vision that was to blame.

'Things are holding up on my end. Excellent work. Wait a little longer for assistance.'

'Assistance?' Seiran thought. 'Does that mean he's sending help? If I can just hold them off… or better yet, escape without their knowledge, there's a possibility of reinforcements!'

He skidded around a corner and down a flight of stairs. He hoped that the prison's labyrinth of a basement would prove too cumbersome for the ones pursuing him.

-+-

"When your magical little phrase doesn't work, you run off and get Hakkai!"

"No, I don't!" Gojyo cried, but Sanzo didn't allow him to get any further.

"Do you even listen to yourself?" the priest asked mockingly, raising and lowering his voice to mock Gojyo's inflections. "'Let's get Hakkai,' 'Hakkai can fix this,' or 'Hakkai will tell us what to do.' He has to sign off on every important decision in your life."

Gojyo wanted to hit something. Sanzo was pushing every button of his at the moment, but he was trying hard to reason with the blond and not snap. "He's my friend, Sanzo," he said through gritted teeth. "That's what friends do."

"You always tell him every tiny detail of your life and when things aren't working out, you get him to make it all better. You can't even accept responsibility for your own actions. I can and you hate that."

One thing that irked Gojyo beyond belief was hypocrisy – Sanzo was a constant offender in that regard. He had to laugh, but he wasn't amused. "You? Accept responsibility? That's a good one from the guy who blames other people for his own insecurities!"

Sanzo huffed and Gojyo could only recall a few times in his life when he'd seen those violet eyes so enraged and… hurt? No, that didn't seem right. "Well, if I'm insecure and 'closed-off,' then maybe you want to find someone who likes to talk about how everything makes him feel. Hakkai would probably love talking about that shit; you go to him for everything else, sex can't be that much of a leap."

"Are you shitting me? You can't seriously be suggesting that I'd ever be with him like that." Sanzo opened his mouth to speak once more, but Gojyo stopped him. "No, you're not just after me anymore. You dragged someone else into this – I can't just let that slide.

"Hakkai is like family to me. I could never think of him that way; it hasn't crossed my mind once since I met the guy. I want to be with you."

"Couldn't tell from the glowing way you always talk about him. He's obviously perfect in every single way—"

That was the point where Gojyo had begun screaming and things got really out of control.

-+-

Slowly returning to reality, Gojyo could hear a ton of commotion going on somewhere beneath him. Shaking, yelling, and explosions were only a few of the things he could pick out. Either there was a prison-break or the cavalry had arrived.

He couldn't quite fully suppress a shiver. 'If they really are comin' after my sorry ass…' he thought. 'I don't know if I should be glad to see Sanzo or terrified.'

The redhead noticed that the sounds were quieter now, after a few more loud interjections. He could also faintly pick up the sounds of footsteps echoing in the hallway. They sounded like they were heading straight for his cell.

'Maybe Shou'll tell me what's goin' on,' Gojyo thought, sitting up straight and moving around as much as he possibly could. It didn't seem like the pale youkai would get involved in the action, so it made sense that he might have come up to check on Gojyo.

The door opened slowly and Gojyo couldn't stop himself from calling out, "Shou, what's goin' on down there?"

He swore that his heart skipped a few beats when he caught the flash of white robes and suddenly saw Sanzo leaning against the doorframe. "Who's Shou? Your boyfriend?"

"Ah…" Gojyo's mouth became dry once again. "Hey, there… sweetheart."

Sanzo removed his cigarettes from his robes and proceeded to light up, deliberately taking his time. "Or maybe Shou's the guy you're promised to buy a beer for?"

"How do you—" Gojyo decided that asking was only going to get him in deeper, so he wisely closed his mouth and tried again. "Where're the others?"

Sanzo shrugged. "Off somewhere with Kougaiji's group, pissing around for all I know." He exhaled and looked at the chains keeping Gojyo tied up. "That's quite a setup you've got there."

Gojyo tugged a bit at the manacles, trying not to twitch. "Yeah, designed it myself. Now, can you get me outta here, maybe?"

Sanzo pushed up from the door, walking over to where Gojyo was and inspecting the chains more closely. After a few seconds, he crouched down so that he was at Gojyo's level. "I don't know. I'm tempted to leave you like this, after all the trouble you've caused me."

"What I—!"

Gojyo stopped as Sanzo's weight settled on his legs. The kappa's heart was beating wildly and his breath hitched as he felt Sanzo's arms running up his sides. His wound ached a little at the pressure that was being upon it, but he tried his best to push it aside.

All bets were off, however, when he distinctly noticed Sanzo's ass pressing into his lap. Two spikes shot through his nerves and one of them was not good.

"Mmm…" Gojyo moaned, frustrated, before sighing. "To be honest, love… We can try the bondage kink thing once we get to the next hotel, but I really, and I mean really, gotta go."

Sanzo backed off with a snort. "That's attractive," he muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey!" Gojyo said defensively. "You give me three seconds and I promise I will be right back to sex you up."

There was a pause as the blond considered it; then, he pushed himself to his feet and withdrew the shoureiju. "Don't flinch."

Gojyo knew that he should have been extremely used to having a gun pointed directly in his face. That didn't change the little twinge of fear upon seeing it once again. He closed his eyes when Sanzo fired off two shots and his arms fell down from their shackles.

Not really minding the fact that the appendages felt like rubber after hanging for so long, Gojyo tried to lean forward to undo the chains around his legs. Before he even got that far, Sanzo shot another bullet at the lock, destroying it and completely freeing him.

"Goddammit," Gojyo swore, slowly attempting to get to his feet. "Tell me when you're gonna do that shit!"

"Apparently, 'don't flinch' is too complicated for you to understand." Sanzo sounded as condescending as ever, but he still extended a hand to help pull Gojyo up the rest of the way. The priest then exited the room to give the kappa a few seconds of privacy.

Much more refreshed and getting the feeling back in his limbs, Gojyo joined Sanzo in the hallway, purposefully trapping the priest between his body and the wall. "Now, where were we?"

"I was about to kill your ass for getting captured like this and making me go to all this work for you." Sanzo didn't bat an eye at the fact that Gojyo was pressed up against him. "Honestly, do you really suck that much?"

"Now hold on a damn minute," Gojyo said, putting up a hand to stop Sanzo from berating him any more. "I think there's some things we need to discuss before we do anythin' else."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

He leaned in as close as he could and whispered it against Sanzo's lips. "I need you to believe what I say; I need you to trust me."

Gojyo could hear Sanzo's heartbeat speed up. "I… trust you."

"Really now? Because the last time you and I spoke, I distinctly got the feeling that you didn't – you still don't from the way you're gettin' all tense."

Sanzo looked away. "There are more important things going on right now."

"Don't think so." Gojyo's hands cupped Sanzo's face, forcing him to look the redhead straight in the eye. "We both said things we regret, so I think we need to get it cleared up."

"I don't regret—"

"Why are you jealous of Hakkai?"

That stopped Sanzo from trying to move.

Gojyo noticed that same hurt was back in Sanzo's eyes and knew the priest wanted to shut him out. "You tell me that you don't want my affection," he continued, "when I know for a fact you enjoy it. You keep trying to act like you don't want anything to do with me, but you get jealous when I go to someone else, even just to talk. What do you really want, Sanzo?"

Sanzo jerked, trying to slide out from between Gojyo and the wall, but it was only a weak attempt, mostly to see if Gojyo would let him go.

Instead, Gojyo kept Sanzo pinned in place and asked another question. "Are you afraid I don't trust you?"

From the slight widening of eyes he received, Gojyo took that as a 'yes'. 'He only acts insecure when I talk about another person close t' me – he actually gets angry with me when I force him t' tell me stuff, but I never say anything back… 'S gotta be it.'

"You always choose him," Sanzo mumbled, finally looking down towards Gojyo's chest. "You didn't tell me that your brother was in town that night; I had to see it. But you probably told Hakkai, right?"

Gojyo snorted. "He found out on his own, too. Maybe you forgot, but nothing gets past that guy. But that's beside the point." His expression softened and he reached up a hand to delicately stroke blond hair. "You want me to open up, too, right? It's only fair, after all, since I asked the same of you."

"You make it sound like I'm completely heartless," Sanzo said, lips turning up in a self-deprecating smile. "It's your fault I've become this way; it's your fault I've turned into a mushy—"

"It's normal," Gojyo said, grinning himself. "Well, sort of. In little amounts. If that's how you feel though, just say it. Don't get all pissed. It's not like I can read your mind, you know." He backed off, feeling just a little lighter. "I'm an open book. Just tell me what you want to know."

"Maybe later." Sanzo still looked hesitant, like there was something else he wanted to say, but was unsure of how to voice.

Gojyo rested a hand on Sanzo's hip. "Go ahead, say it."

Sanzo squeezed his eyes shut, took a breath and then looked away. He whispered, "I… want to be the one."

"Sorry, gotta be less cryptic than that, Sanzo-sama."

The blond gritted his teeth; Gojyo was supposed to understand. "The one-" Sanzo cut himself off to lean forward and speak in Gojyo's ear. Barely audibly, he said, "The one… you trust."

Gojyo wanted to say that he did, but the words wouldn't come out. It wasn't exactly easy to go to Sanzo when something was wrong. "Sorry, I know it's gotta be rough – I'm just always thinkin' that you're gonna whack me one with the harisen or tell me I'm stupid."

He heard a 'ch' in response and could feel a soft smile against his neck. "You're not stupid… all of the time."

"Well, gee, thanks." Gojyo couldn't help smiling back. "Now, as much as I'd love to ravish you right in this hallway, I think we need to have a talk with that Seiran guy and thank him for putting us through all this."

"For once, I agree."

-+-

After the smoke finally cleared, Kougaiji gave a snarl. "Traitor…"

"Kougaiji-sama," Yaone said, rushing to his side. "Are you injured at all?"

"I'm fine," he replied, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Seiran, however…"

"It's looking like a more severe punishment is in order," Doku put in.

"What are we waitin' for?" Goku batted away the last remains of the smoke with his hand and looked at Hakkai impatiently. "C'mon, let's go get 'im!"

Hakkai gave one last look back to the Kou-tachi and then turned back to Goku with a nod. "Right. Where should we start looking?"

"He ran off that way!" Goku immediately darted off back through the main entrance to the right hallway. Hakkai had no choice but to follow. With a rallying "kyuu" of his own, Hakuryu took off over the heads of his group.

Yaone took another look over her prince, but he seemed as fine as he claimed. "Where should we look for him, my Lord?" she asked.

"Seiran is a highly trained spy," Kougaiji admitted. "Even when he's been taken by surprise, he's not going to forget the basics. I'd say he's still within the prison walls, most likely hiding out somewhere until things settle down."

"Where's that?" Lirin piped up, edging closer to her older brother. She looked impatient, most likely upset that Goku had gotten a head start on the search.

Kou's eyes narrowed. "We search the cells themselves. Yaone, Lirin – I want you to check the cells upstairs, at least the next floor. Dokugaku and I will take the lowest level. If you don't find anything, head upstairs and search the upper floors; we'll meet there. Understood?"

Elsewhere, Goku was on a mission to search the entire main level before heading anywhere else. He hadn't been able to get a definite scent on the Seiran guy, mostly due to the smoke bomb messing with his senses. He'd taken off rather blindly, but was now searching for clues.

"Kyuu!" Hakuryu had spotted something shiny crumpled on the ground near the top of a staircase. He picked it up in his mouth and settled on Hakkai's shoulders, dropping the object into his master's hand.

"What's this?"

"Ah! It's that bug thing that Seiran saw!" Goku recognized the mechanical insect, but it looked to be in much worse condition now. It was almost flattened.

Hakkai inspected it closer, noticing that a compartment on its back opened up with a slight push. "This must have been a way for Seiran to communicate with someone else… perhaps there is an accomplice after all."

Goku looked down the staircase. "It was on the top step here." He pointed towards the steps. "You think he went down t' the basement?"

"It's worth a shot," Hakkai said, walking past Goku down the stairs. Hakuryu cheeped encouragingly and Goku immediately followed.

-+-

The plan to go get Seiran was becoming increasingly further from Sanzo and Gojyo's minds. First, the kappa had decided to 'accidentally' lose his balance 'due to the injury' and slump over on Sanzo's shoulder, leading to a few kisses. Then, Sanzo complained that supporting Gojyo on one arm was too tiring and they'd have to stop for a minute… and kiss a little more.

Soon, they abandoned the pretense of getting downstairs altogether and were content to duck into the nearest empty cell.

"Stupid… perverted… kappa," Sanzo managed to gasp between pecks. Gojyo once again had him up against the wall, the one furthest from the door this time, even though Sanzo was sitting with the redhead kneeling between his bent, spread legs. Gojyo braced himself with hands on either side of Sanzo's head and kept leaning in to steal more kisses.

"Not my fault," Gojyo said, satisfied half-smile settled on his face. "We have a lot of catching up to do." The kappa leaned forward again.

"Mmm…" It was hard to think when Gojyo kissed him that powerfully. Sanzo instinctively combed his hands through Gojyo's hair, moaning appreciatively. They still had things to work out, but for the moment, it didn't matter.

The kappa's lips trailed down Sanzo's jaw line to nip at his ear, tongue darting out to lick the earlobe as well.

The two were already shrugging out of their clothes, despite the fact that Sanzo really didn't want to become so vulnerable in a prison, of all places. However, he couldn't deny that he'd missed Gojyo's affections, no matter how hard he tried. Gojyo was now kissing the side of his neck, strong hands pushing Sanzo's legs further apart. Even through the fabric of the jeans, Sanzo could feel the burning heat between their bodies.

"We… we have to-" he tried again, cutting himself off with a gasp this time. There was no getting around it; there Sanzo was, hands cupping the back of Gojyo's head, with the redhead's hands wandering inside his robes. He was fighting desperately against the wave of arousal that was threatening to overtake him. He squeezed his eyes shut when Gojyo undid the clasp on the blond's jeans, and moaned into yet another kiss.

'I must have gone crazy,' Sanzo told himself. 'There's no way I could miss this that much in just two days.'

"I'm still… mad at you, you know," Gojyo continued, moving his hand into Sanzo's pants and stroking softly. "You're still a repressed bastard." He betrayed the retort with a deep kiss before latching onto Sanzo's neck again.

"You still have… no respect for other people," Sanzo shot back, though it was hard to think up a witty response this far along. "Apparently, what I think means noth-ING!" His back arched on a stroke that felt particularly good and Sanzo struggled to keep himself from thrusting his hips upwards toward Gojyo's skilled hand.

"You're wrong," Gojyo said, staring him straight in the eye and wrapping his fingers delicately around Sanzo's erection. "You mean a lot to me. In every way. I want to trust you, too."

Sanzo just panted, unable to form words at the moment.

Gojyo took a last look into lustful, half-closed violet eyes and made his decision: he would be the one to give in. "I'm sorry." He leaned down, planting kiss after kiss on the blond's lips. He kept up the pace, stroking lovingly until Sanzo couldn't stand it any more.

The priest closed his eyes before his vision went white. He shuddered and slumped against the wall, still feeling Gojyo's warmth. He appreciated the heat compared to the cold wall, even though it was such an inappropriate time and place for what they had been doing.

Gojyo whispered against his lips once again. "Should we continue?" Instead of a sarcastic answer like he'd been expecting, Sanzo pushed up to kiss him. Just as Gojyo was about to start touching elsewhere, he sensed a presence coming towards them.

"Oi, kappa!" A high-pitched female voice echoed in the cell and Sanzo jerked in surprise. "What are you doin' t' Baldy?!"

Both redhead and blond looked toward the door where Lirin stood, hands on hips and looking indignant. "The monkey was right – you are a perv!"

Gojyo twitched; at least his back was to the door, so the girl couldn't see exactly what had just happened. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Looking back, he saw that Sanzo was rapidly pulling his robes back on and making sure everything was in place. He was also quite red.

Yaone appeared in the doorway next, panting. "Lirin-sama! Please do not run off when… I…" She trailed off and stared at the two men on the floor of the cell.

Before Gojyo could say anything, Yaone had turned redder than Sanzo and immediately ran from the room, grabbing Lirin by the hand and dragging her along. "I'm terribly sorry! I didn't see anything! Forgive my intrusion!"

Sanzo pushed Gojyo away, making the kappa bite back a cry of pain. During that whole interlude, he'd completely forgotten about being injured. Sanzo scrambled to his feet, obsessively adjusting his robes and still blushing uncontrollably.

Gojyo rubbed his abdomen gently, disappointed that the wound hadn't healed as fast as he was expecting it to. He looked up just in time to see the familiar white paper fan being brought down on his head.

THWACK!

"What. The. Hell!" Gojyo whined. Sanzo tucked the fan back into his robes and turned away from the redhead.

"You have no sense of decency."

"Says the guy who just enjoyed a complimentary handjob while the door was open."

Sanzo pulled the harisen out again.

"OI!"