Their lives had just been ordinary, all this time. They were a family of four: a father, a mother... him and his older brother. They were a pair of twins, his brother and him. His older brother had golden-coloured hair so his brother was called Kinkaku. He had silver-coloured hair... so he was called Ginkaku.

Their family lived in a small village, consisting of humans and demons. They themselves were a small family of demons... living in the village in a small community. Ever since he was born, he never cared about the distinction between humans and demons. Or whether someone had pointy ears or rounded ears. He never cared about those things... until that fateful day.

.

He didn't know what happened or how it started... but suddenly, all of the adults have gone crazy. The humans living in the village started to run around for their lives, while the demons started to attack the ones that couldn't escape fast enough. The humans that couldn't escape were killed. Eaten. He even bore witness to his parents attacking their human neighbours, tearing apart their flesh... spraying fresh blood around. It was like the adults have become wild animals overnight.

It scared him, these weird phenomena. If this was what going to happen when they grew older... he didn't want to grow up.

Their home was no longer safe for them. So they ran away. But then they got lost in a forest. Though back then they wouldn't have known that the reason they couldn't escape the forest was that there was an enchantment put on the place to prevent people from getting out of it.

.

"Oh? I didn't think I'd find children in this part of the forest."

That person really had such a deceiving appearance. Rather than 'Kami-sama'... that person should have been referred to as the 'Akuma'.

If only the two of them had recognised the danger earlier, perhaps they wouldn't have ended up in such a bad fate.

xxx

Goku frowned as Ginkaku finished telling them about how his twin brother Kinkaku ended up attacking 'bad people' on the false assumption that doing so would save Ginkaku and turn him back to normal. That didn't sound right. How could Kinkaku believe what that guy said? Even if that guy was supposed to be 'Kami-sama', even if they were just targetting bad guys... how could that kid—

"In the end, it's still murder. Why did he believe anything that Kami-sama said—It's just wrong. This is wrong!"

Hakkai turned towards Goku. "Goku... everyone had something or someone that he or she would believe in or rely on. Goku, don't you have someone like that yourself? An absolute existence..."

Goku blinked at Hakkai, and then turned his head to Ginkaku before staring at Hakkai again. Someone in whom he had absolute faith...

He gasped.

Sanzo? Was Hakkai referring to Sanzo?

Goku bit his lips. Now that Hakkai pointed it out, Sanzo did have that kind of presence to him... the same way it could have been for Kinkaku and this so-called Kami-sama. If Sanzo had told him to do anything... he wouldn't think twice to—

No. Goku shook his head. Sanzo was different from this Kami-sama. For one thing, Sanzo wouldn't tell him to murder anyone without any reason. Not like this.

If it was Sanzo...

"—if it was Sanzo..."

Hakkai glanced at Goku as the boy look up towards Ginkaku.

"...he wouldn't think of making me do anything as horrid as this. Even if it was to save someone. Because Sanzo knew that he himself wouldn't want to be saved if it meant that someone dear to him had to commit murder for his sake."

Ginkaku made a painful expression on his face before nodding his head.

"You're right... I wouldn't like it if my older brother had to kill people for my sake."

.

Goku flinched as he felt another bad intuition again. "I got a bad feeling."

Hakkai stared at him with concern. "Again? Is it about Sanzo and Gojyo... or about us?"

Goku shook his head. "Dunno..."

Just as he said it, a big portal suddenly opened up near them.

"Wha—?" Goku gasped as Ginkaku spoke again.

"Go on. You should be able to return to your real bodies once you go through that."

"Yes!" cried Goku as he started to run towards the exit. But then when he noticed that Ginkaku didn't move, he turned around.

"Are you not leaving this place?"

Ginkaku shook his head.

"I can't leave. Because my real body was already—"

xxx

"—I wonder who's that annoying guy actually..."

Sanzo stared at Goku sideways. "Who knows..."

In the end, they just ended up being sidetracked again. While he and Gojyo tried to go after that Kinkaku kid, things ended up going in an unexpected way as they somehow 'saved' Goku and Hakkai by some accidental blunder. The kid Kinkaku ended up being killed by some weird guy—whom he really can't be bothered to care about.

"I really didn't want to be compared to you. Sorry. Because I'm stronger than you."

Sanzo just brushed the memory aside as he pressed his cigarette onto the ashtray.

"...we don't even know what's his purpose or even if he's a real Sanzo priest," he said as Sanzo continued to smoke. "While it's true that there are other Sanzo priests other than me; whether that guy was the real deal or a dressed-up idiot... that guy had nothing to do with us unless he's one of Gyumaoh's assassins."

Goku suddenly got up from his seat and turned towards Sanzo.

"You mean we're gonna continue our journey and ignore that guy?"

"Of course. I'm tired of being forced to stop and be involved in matters that didn't concern us—"

"But—!"

Sanzo turned his head to Goku. "We're not heroes or allies of justice or anything. If I say we're going—we ARE going!"

Goku just stared at him without a word before sitting down again.

"I know that..."

He sighed. Glad that Goku gets it in his head. While that guy did bother him a lot, that was nothing compared to the task that they'd been entrusted to. It's better that they focus on their main mission.

.

"Sanzo! Gojyo had disappeared!"

But apparently, there's another annoying bastard that didn't seem to get the memo. Dammit!