Episode II – Philisophy class
Gojyo wandered into the classroom. One of the first people he noticed was Sanzo in the back row, with a slightly pissed off expression. Well, slightly more pissed-off than normal expression.
"Eh? Wrong classroom?" he glanced up. #01-04. He looked back. Sanzo hadn't disappeared. In fact, he was pointedly staring in the opposite direction. I'm sure I don't share classes with that bad-tempered monk!
"You would be Sha Gojyo?" the teacher walked over.
"Er... yes..."
"You're late. Find a seat and sit down."
"Wait, what class is this?" Gojyo said frantically.
A hush fell over the class. The teacher looked... well... annoyed is milder version of it. "Philosophy," he ground out. "You signed up for it."
"I sure as hell didn't."
The silence was deafening.
The teacher's face was an interesting shade of purple. He took a deep breath. "Yes you did. Now sit down."
Gojyo heard muttered conversation near the back of the classroom as he found a seat.
"No, I don't know him!" That would be Sanzo.
"But you guys came together—"
"Urusai!"
Smirking, Gojyo sauntered over and sat down on the empty seat beside the monk. "Iie. On the contrary, Sanzo and I know each other really well. We could even be called best friends, ya know?"
There was a click. Gojyo looked down. There was a deadly pistol aimed at his ...family jewels.
Gojyo sweatdropped. "Heh heh. That was just a joke. Right, Sanzo?" When Sanzo didn't respond, cold sweat started to break out on his forehead.
"Err... I think I'll sit over there." He inched away.
The teacher was attempting to teach.
"So, what does everyone think of the 'Sanctity of Life'?"
He received a lot of blank stares in return.
"Well?"
"..."
The teacher's veins were starting to pop out. Gojyo watched in fascination as they started to twitch. Funny how a philosophy teacher could get so worked up. He decided to take pity on the poor man.
"People who kill for a living have to be prepared to be killed too. It's called the Cycle of Karma. That's something I picked up from this worldly monk somewhere." Gojyo glanced back at Sanzo.
Sanzo's head was buried in his hands.
The teacher stared.
Gojyo gave a weak grin.
The seconds ticked away.
"Ask him," Gojyo said. He could feel Sanzo's glare.
The teacher cleared his throat. "So, Sanzo, could you ... elaborate?"
"..."
"Well?"
"Killing isn't necessarily evil. Just look at this world we live in. There's enough people who need killing to fill a whole garbage dump." Sanzo's last comment was pointedly directed towards Gojyo.
This whole discussion was taking a very unexpected turn...
Someone piped up. "But killing goes against the teachings of Buddha!"
"When someone's coming after you, it's kill or be killed," Gojyo shrugged.
"But it's not right!" the unfortunate soul insisted.
"Are you serious? If you want to get that close to the gods, then just drop dead," Sanzo growled.
The whole class sweatdropped.
Crickets chirped.
The teacher opened his mouth. "..—"
The bell rang.
Sanzo dragged Gojyo out of the classroom. "Do that again and..." there was an ominous click. Gojyo glanced at the pistol and raised his hands in mock surrender.
Sanzo dumped him on the floor and stalked off in disgust. "To think that I have live with this for a whole year..."
"I heard that!" Gojyo yelled back.
Sanzo gave him the finger.
***
"HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!"
"Nani?" Hakkai looked up as Gojyo stormed in.
"What the hell am I doing in philosophy? With Mister Worldly Monk?"
Hakkai smiled. "You did ask me to choose your subjects."
"But..." Gojyo spluttered.
"I take it that your first class went badly?"
Gojyo sank into a chair and groaned. "That's one way of putting it."
***
Copyright 2001 – sf and toes
