Red-Weasel-Chan: Hello once again~! I have no interesting story to tell just that I hope you enjoy this chapter of Thanks For The Memories~! :D

Love you guys~!

Disclaimer: We do not own Saiyuki!

Chapter 3: Another New Friend?

Goujun was walking down the halls of the Western Army building. It was quiet in the halls besides the sounds of his boots hitting the floor. A few minutes later, he heard another set of footsteps ring in the empty hallway. He looked up to see the General of his unit.

The silver haired continued walking but expected a greeting from the lower ranked man. He was not happy when the General just walked past him like he wasn't even there. "Oi," Goujun called out to halt the retreating male, "Shouldn't you greet your superiors when you see them?"

Kenren faced his superior, his cigarette still burning between his lips, "Ah, sorry." The General bowed and said, "Good afternoon," then turned around to leave with a mumbled, "Goodbye."

"Kenren Taisho," Goujun stopped the man once again.

Kenren glowered at being held up from his own destination, "What do you want? It's so bothersome. I'm not that free, you know?"

The army officer ignored the man's complaints and pointed to the bottle strapped to his belt, "What is the bottle of wine doing dangling there on your back?"

"Ah, that's my fuel," the black haired male simply replied like it wasn't a huge deal.

"Ugh," Goujun groaned out, "If it wasn't for Tenpou, you would have already been fired from your job. You should thank your helpful deputy."

Kenren chuckled but then gave his superior a mischievous look, "You too be careful not to be bitten by the talented dog."

"What?" the silver haired asked in confusion at the General's response. Kenren was already walking away with a teasing, "Well, bye~!" leaving his superior to stare after his retreating form.

The General continued to walk, thinking about his encounter with the silver haired. The West Dragon King was one of the elite soldiers of the fighting God family. He was strict with pale skin and red eyes so of course he was respected and feared automatically…except by the lawless man Kenren.

Even though Goujun was his superior, he still couldn't respect him no matter how hard he tried.

Kenren made a move to turn to his right when he was hit by someone in his way. He looked down after the startled gasp came from below to meet gold eyes.

"Uh, sorry!" the golden eyed kid managed to squeak out. Apparently in a hurry, the child turned and said, "Okay bye!"

Being faster, the General grabbed the kid's long hair to halt him, "Oi, kid."

The boy fell down at the tug to his hair, "Ouch! What are you doing?!"

Kenren ignored the question and squatted down to face the kid more appropriately. "Are you the one that Tenpou is always talking about named 'Goku', who is under the care of Konzen?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Goku stood up, "Eh? Uncle, you're Ten-chan's friend?"

"Don't call me Uncle! I'm still young!" the black haired male growled out. He was not going to let some kid think he was old by calling him 'uncle'.

"Kenren Taisho!" a group of servants yelled as they were running up to the military man and child.

"What do you want?" the General asked, noticing how the kid he was talking to was slowly hiding behind him. Apparently it had something to do with the kid.

"This kid, he was wandering around Tentei's Castle without permission, but we have no idea how he sneaked in though," one of the servants explained.

He was right and this was the perfect opportunity to cause some mayhem. "Hmm, it's okay!"

"Huh? Do you know him?" a servant questioned in confusion.

"Or rather," Kenren got close to the kid and said seriously, "He's my illegitimate child with Amaya."

Poor Goku could just blush and stare wide eyed. He didn't know how to continue as the servants stared at them in a mix of confusion and shock. They could only watch as the General walked away with the child, laughing at the reactions he received.

A stack of papers was dropped on the desk in front of Konzen but it wasn't meant for him. It was meant for his Aunt in front of his desk. "What is this?" the Goddess asked, clearly not understanding.

"The delayed documents," Konzen replied. "Ever since the monkey came along, I can't have any rest. He nags about seeing Yuki all damn day and when she's not around, he finds some way of keeping me away from my work. Let some other people do this job."

Kanzeon smiled, "It looks like you're having fun."

"You're kidding!" the blonde growled out. "I'm having trouble here!"

"But you're being a great dad, aren't you?" Kanzeon retorted which caused her nephew to be quiet. She wanted to say that Yuki was also being a great wife and mother but it wouldn't be the appropriate time to say it now.

Konzen sighed, "Besides that, do you know the guy named Tenpou from the West Army?"

"Known as a weirdo to others, the guy with a cute face," the Merciful Goddess confirmed. "What about him?"

"He expressed his distrust of the movement in the upper levels of Heaven. He's a smart guy. He could be a threat to the upper levels," the male revealed.

"Isn't he your friend? Is it okay to tip him off like that?" Kanzeon asked, slightly shocked the blonde would rat out his own friend.

"I said it only because of you," Konzen replied with an indifferent expression, like it honestly didn't bother him. "I am not alerted of any movements or anything in the upper levels since I have nothing to do with the army, that's why."

"It is true since I can clearly see the disorder of their movements but even I don't know everything. They probably won't say anything about the issue sadly, but then…" the Goddess trailed off.

"But?" her nephew tried to get her to finish what she was saying.

Kanzeon smirked, "It won't turn out good. But, I'm the one in charge here. I know how to train my dogs." The Goddess then noticed something colorful in the corner of her eye. It was a small bouquet of flowers, obviously picked by a child, in a cup of water. "What's this?"

"The monkey put it there. He must have picked it somewhere," Konzen replied, a soft smile barely showing on his features.

"Aren't they beautiful?" the Merciful Goddess asked her nephew.

"Guess so," the blonde grunted out.

Kanzeon looked back to her nephew and then noticed a small basket full of healthy fruits with a note nearby. "Who's that from?"

"Yuki," the male simply replied.

"Oh, where is she?"

"Her and her sister is dealing with family business so she's not here today."

Kanzeon nodded her head. No wonder it's so quiet in the room. Normally the young woman was nearby playing with the child but it was oddly quiet. It almost didn't feel right for both her and her nephew. "What does the note say?"

Konzen grabbed the letter and handed it to his Aunt, "See for yourself."

The Goddess took the paper and read it through. When she was done, her smile hurt a bit too much. Yuki said for her nephew to get enough sleep since the child was keeping him up later than usual, to eat healthy food and not work hard. She also said which files she sent and which ones are already organized. She even told him to watch over Goku, like to feed him and of course for him to sleep well too. At the end, she stated when her and her sister would return and to not leave a mess behind.

Kanzeon's smile widened, "Did you even eat some of that fruit?"

The blonde scoffed, "Of course. I was stuck here all damn day finishing up these documents. I couldn't leave so I ate some of it."

She knew that wasn't the full truth. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have kept the basket of fruit and note. He would've thrown it away or given it to a random servant to get rid of it. The blonde man was changing and she had a sinking feeling it was because of his secretary and the heretic. Kanzeon chuckled, "You really have changed Konzen."

"What are you talking about?! Get lost now!" Konzen growled out, tired of his Aunt's games.

"Isn't this good? Unchanging things are boring," Kanzeon stated before setting the letter back on the desk to leave.

"Hey, why are you here?" Kenren asked the kid he just saved. They were out back under a cherry blossom tree since they were in the clear. "Aren't you supposed to be at Konzen's castle instead?"

"Yeah, but I've met Nataku somewhere around here before. That's why I've come here to try to meet him again," Goku explained with his hands behind his head like it was a simple story.

That caught the General's attention, "Did you just say Nataku? Is it Nataku Taishi?"

"Yeah!" the child beamed. "He's my friend. Before that, when I met him, I didn't have a name. Now that I have one, I really want to tell him."

Kenren just stared at the child as he talked. He honestly considered the God as a person unlike most people in Heaven. He was glad that the heretic and Nataku were becoming friends since the Fighting God was alone most of the time. "Ah, a friend to the 'Killing Puppet'," the tall male muttered out.

"Huh?" the heretic asked in confusion, not quite getting the full thing the man just said.

"Nah, nothing," the General avoided, "Nataku is not here right now."

"What?! He's not here?!" Goku screeched.

"He'll be back either today or tomorrow," Kenren reassured the child, "Then you can go find him at his house when he comes back." The black haired man went up to pick up the brunette but the kid didn't even budge. He gave the kid a narrowed gaze, "Aren't you too heavy?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah. 'Cause these things are on me, that's why," the child gestured to the shackles on his wrists and ankles.

"These shackles…don't one of them weigh around 20 kg?!" Kenren though out loud. He was so surprised that this kid could actually move around so easily with all the stuff on him. Were all golden eyed creatures as dangerous as this fella?

Goku stared at the man staring at him with wide eyes, not understanding why he was looking at him. He then remembered something the General mentioned, "Hey, who's Amaya?"

Kenren was brought out of his shocked state at the question. Once the question registered in his mind, a smile was brought onto his features, "Ah," he leaned against the rock behind him and crossed his arms in front of him, "Amaya is the pain in the ass Admiral in my Squad."

"Why did you say I was your child with her?" Goku asked, not understanding why he said such a thing in the first place.

The General smirked, "Because it was the only thing I could think of at the moment. Plus," the man looked up at the cherry blossoms blowing in the wind above him, surprisingly calm even though he was talking about a 'pain in the ass', "I sort of love her." And she won't hear about it. She rarely listens to rumors going around the castle unless it involves her sister.

"Where is she now?" the child innocently asked, curious of this Amaya girl. She's heard about her from Yuki and he's always wanted to meet her from the stories the kind woman has told him.

"Ah, she's at some meeting about her family. She said she would be back soon though," Kenren tried to sound reassuring to support the kid but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself instead. He honestly missed her but he would never tell her that. Not unless he wanted something thrown at him.

Before they could talk more, a servant ran up to them, yelling, "Kenren Taisho! Master Nataku is back from subduing Gyumao!"

"Oh?" Kenren responded, his calm mood gone now at the news. Even though Goku was happy about the news, he knew something wasn't right. "What happened?"

"Um, the fight was totally successful but…it was quite difficult…"

"Master Nataku! Master Nataku!" was all you heard in the Grand Palace. The Fighting God was covered in blood, holding his left arm in pain, his hair a mess and his breathing labored. A servant was brave enough to go up to the kid but his hand was slapped away.

Nataku glared at the man, "Don't touch me!" The servant backed away in fear. Then, the hall was filled with a loud, "Nataku!"

Goku was running towards his new friend, "Nataku! Are you okay?!"

The Fighting God was shocked to see the child from yesterday. "You…the person from the other day," he managed to grunt out until consciousness left him. He didn't even feel himself falling forward into the heretic's arms.

Goku barely made it to catch his injured friend but did not expect for him to be unconscious.

He screamed in a panicked cry, "NATAKU!"