It was by chance that he saw them—the unlikely foursome—happily spending time together underneath an eternal cherry blossom tree. A wish had surfaced inside his heart, to want to be able to join those four. He wished—yearned for it—yet did not act on that desire. Because he didn't wish to disturb that particular tranquillity...
Yet... as he nearing his last moments, he wished that he could have acted on that one wish.
"I heard the cherry blossoms in the Lower World were much more beautiful than the ones growing here."
"Is it? I'd like to see them one day."
The cherry blossoms... that man had always been one who loves them too much. He used to catch the man in the past, dangling his long legs while perching on a cherry branch—drinking some wine from his small cask. He often also sees the man's direct superior—someone he himself had respected-hovering around that man. He wondered if those two had passed on their love of cherry blossoms to the other deity and his ward.
He used to hear them talk about it so often, while he was taken hostage. He was never one to be so taken to the blossoms too much, yet after seeing the four of them being so free... he wished that he'd been able to see the cherry blossoms with those four. But unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to see the blossoms anymore in this current life...
...since all of the eternal cherry blossoms have fallen, as if mourning the loss of those three.
"—aah, how I wished I could've seen those flowers... so full of life, even more up close."
xxx
"...ah! Thank goodness! I was so worried that I might be too late. You seemed to be so weak earlier when I first found you!"
The man had spoken immediately the moment he opened his eyes. He blinked as he stared at the man who apparently had saved his life.
"—kyuu?"
Could it be possible? For this man to be the same one as the one he used to remember? How could it be possible for fate to allow him to meet this person again after so long? By instinct, he started to lick the man's cheek as a show of gratitude.
And it appeared that the man had appreciated the way he showed his gratitude.
The man smiled as he lift him into his arms.
"Would you like to come home with me at my place?" the man asked him a question. And then the man shrugged to himself as if as an afterthought. "Though technically it wasn't really my place, but rather it was Gojyo's house."
He's not sure why the man was apologising to him, not that he minded about whose house belonged to who.
"Kyuu kyuu!" he answered, as the man took it as his approval to come home with him as his pet dragon.
.
"Kyuu?!"
What a surprising turn! It turned out that the one called 'Gojyo' was also someone he once knew in his past life. Yet this appearance of his...
"Uwah... Hakkai! Where did you manage to find that tiny friend of yours?"
"I happened to find him by coincidence and I'm glad I did, but Gojyo, please refrain from teasing Hakuryuu too much! Let him eat his meal properly. He needs it to get well!"
Gojyo made a face at Hakkai as he ignored the man. "Gosh, a little bit of teasing won't—Oww! That hurts!"
He couldn't help feeling slightly smug to have slightly bitten the red-haired man's fingers as he tried to snatch the big piece of meat the man was holding over his face. Serve you right!
"A-ah, what did I tell you?" Hakkai scolded the man before picking him up again.
"I guess this means that I'm taking Hakuryuu with me to Keiun temple. I can't trust you to take care of Hakuryuu while I'm away."
Gojyo immediately stood up in protest. "Hey, I'm not that bad!" He was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Now that I think about it, let's go there together! I've been wanting to see that shitty priest's face and that monkey for a while!"
Monkey? Priest? Hakuryuu stared at the two men in surprise. Guess today he'd ended up meeting so many people for the first time!
xxx
"Wah! A tiny dragon!"
It was barely able to react to the small boy's attempt to grab on it before a large paper fan lay smack on the boy's face, throwing the boy off to the side. Hakuryuu turned its head towards the person holding the large paper fan before it squeaked in surprise.
The man in question gave the small kid a stern glare.
"Don't jump on Hakuryuu so suddenly like that! You'll scare the poor thing badly, idiot monkey!"
Hakuryuu continued to stare at the two new people before finding itself picked up and placed on his new 'owner's' lap.
.
Hakkai let out a sigh. "I found this little guy fainted in an alley. There were some naughty kids crowding around the poor thing. So I managed to shoo them off and get this little one to be treated." He shrugged. "Then afterwards I thought, I might as well take him home with me."
Sanzo stared at Hakkai sceptically. "So you brought over this new pet of yours here... just to show it off to us?"
Hakkai shook his head. "Not really, I just don't trust Gojyo to be able to take care of the guy while I'm here tutoring Goku."
Sanzo lifted his head as he turned towards the other corner of his office. "Yet, you brought along the cockroach here nonetheless."
Hakkai chuckled. "Well, he did insist to follow along with—"
"Just a minute there, shitty monk! Who ya calling cockroach you bastard?" shouted Gojyo as Sanzo waved his hand over the man's face.
"Blame yourself for having such long antennae..." said Sanzo as Goku started to giggle behind Gojyo.
"Ah... whatever. Goku, let's resume our last lesson. And Gojyo—" Hakkai turned his attention towards the tallest man inside the office. "—since you're already here, don't be such a nuisance and make yourself useful."
xxx
"Aah... this is hard!" exclaimed the child called Goku as Hakkai tried his best to keep the child focused on his lessons. "Why do I need to learn how to do multiplication and division?"
Hakkai chuckled. "Be patient, Goku. I'm sure these lessons would be useful to you in the future. Since you're already used to learning your numbers, I'd like to raise your mathematical skills even more."
"Unh!
.
A chuckle slipped past Sanzo's lips as he was busy writing his report on one of the tasks that were given to him by Sanbutsushin. Hakuryuu turned to stare at the man as Sanzo reached out to pick up his seal near the edge of his desk. The small dragon picked up the seal with his mouth and passed it to Sanzo.
"Oh... thanks?" said the man in surprise as he took the seal and stamped the seal on the official documents. Hakuryuu shook itself with pride to be able to help the man it just met.
How mysterious, thought the little dragon as it glanced around the office to look at the three occupants, including the one outside who was sweeping up the lawns. How could it be possible for the four to be able to gather together again after hundreds of years? And for itself to also be able to meet them again after being reduced to this small form.
Hakuryuu turned to look at the boy Son Goku. Son Goku had looked no older than the last time it has seen the child five hundred years ago. When it used to have a different form from its current one. Was the child released from his confinement just recently? Because it used to remember the many seals that had been put on the stone prison to protect the child.
The child looked so innocent right now in its eyes and it could see how much the three adults had loved the child. Just like how the Three had done in their previous lives. Hakuryuu squeaked again softly. Perhaps now it could understand better the reason the Three sacrificed so much in order to save the child.
"Aah! No more!" the child suddenly cry out and ran up to the man called Sanzo. Apparently, the man was still the child's guardian in this life. Hakuryuu wondered if it was fate that brought them all together again.
.
"Sanzo!" cried Goku again as the boy latched on the man. "Can you tell Hakkai to be done with his lessons? I'm tired already!"
Goku's stomach suddenly decided to growl louder. "And I'm hungry...", moaned the child again pathetically.
Sanzo shook his head before turning his head at Hakkai. "Guess that's the limit for the day."
Hakkai just shrugged to himself. "Suppose you're right."
And then Gojyo chose that time to barge into the office cheerfully. "So, since everyone's taking a break right now, how about we go down to the town? I heard there's a festival going on there."
"A festival?" exclaimed Goku as the boy turned to Sanzo. "Let's go together now!" said the boy again as Goku pulled on Sanzo's white robes.
Sanzo groaned loudly. "Okay... fine," he said reluctantly before letting himself be dragged out by Goku.
xxx
Sanzo stopped in his steps as he stared at the downward path towards the town. "That looks like it's gonna be a long walk downhill."
Gojyo placed an arm over Sanzo's shoulders. "What? Shitty monk already worn out for the day?" teased the man as Sanzo slapped the arm away.
"No, but it just felt like too much work now..." said Sanzo as he was about to turn around, much to Goku's disappointment.
A thought came to Hakuryuu as it suddenly flew off from Hakkai's hold. The small dragon immediately flew in front of Sanzo to stop him from returning to the temple.
"What?" asked Sanzo as Hakuryuu flew around them and hovered on the empty space in front of the four.
"Kyuu!" it cried again before transforming into a jeep. The four immediately jumped in surprise.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Gojyo as he grabbed Hakkai's arm. "Did you know that little thing could do this?"
Hakkai shook his head. "I had no idea—"
Jeep started revving its engines to urge the four to get in. Sanzo took that cue to drag Goku with him and get on the jeep, with him taking the front seat. Sanzo turned around to stare at Hakkai and Gojyo.
"What're you two still standing for? Let's go!" said the man as Hakkai and Gojyo finally got on the jeep.
"Kyuu—!" Jeep cried again before it start to move downhill. A surge of happiness flowed all over its body.
This is great! Finally, after so long, he'd be able to join the four as they spend precious time together.
And hopefully this time, he'd be able to protect the four better.
