Title: To Love Again -Chapter 4 -- An Ambush

Disclaimers: Again I dun own Saiyuki, just "renting" them for a little fun ^^

Author's note: Initially i wanted things to go really haywire, like involving Hakkai and Sanzo having a fight, but.... after some thinking, I guess that's out of the question since I love the 4 of them, i want them to always continuing to have a good relationship and friendship, so I have decided to change my initial storyline. Apologies to those who are looking forward to a Hakkai and Sanzo fight..... and no....i dun think Homura will appear either gomen.....

An Ambush

Everything happen too fast. Goku wanted to fight back, but he was too weak to do so. And the look from his capturer face made him froze with fear, he didn't dare move a muscle.

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Goku couldn't sleep. From all the panting, moaning and screaming from the other room, it was way impossible to sleep in the first place. *Goan* "Why can't Gojyo just find some other places for his activities...?" Goku mumbled his complains under his breathe. The rain had stopped and he could see the stars clearly through the window. He sighed, he was glad it stopped raining, a rainy night always frightened him a little, because this was when Sanzo would be at his most unpredictable self, but then when was he predictable? His stomach grumbled a little and knowing it was way impossible to sleep with all the noise in the other room, he decided to go to the kitchen to see if there was anything he could snack on.

He was disappointed, there wasn't much in the kitchen that could offer any relief to his grumbling stomach, how he wished Hakkai could cook something for him now. His face fell, he didn't know what he had done wrong, Hakkai was avoiding him. And the pain in his chest returned. Hakkai had always been the one who comforted him when he was sad, when Sanzo pushed him away, and it hurts now that the one man he loved talking to was avoiding him. Swallowing down the urge to cry, Goku scolded himself silly, why was there an urge to cry? He shook his head and decided to return to his room.

He was half-way up the stairs when he noticed something strange downstairs. He slowly made his way back down, there was scratching sound. He summoned his staff and walked toward the door cautiously. He opened it with a flash hoping to surprise whoever it was outside.

Goku almost fell down. It was only a small kitten, wet and shivering from the rain. He carried the poor creature in his arms. He was going to close the door when the kitten eyes flew open and jumped from Goku's arm and started running off.

When Goku regained his senses, he was already in the middle of a forest, panting. He tried to recall what had happen in the past few minutes. All he remembered was chasing after the kitten without thinking. It was strange, why had he chased after it. Then he heard it, soft whines coming from a nearby bushes, he went over it and found the earlier kitten, one of its limbs, pierced by a branch and was bleeding. Immediately he felt sorry for it and quickly picked it up. But that move he made was fatal, because the moment the kitten was in his arms, it transform to a strange monster-like huge cat and bite on Goku's neck hard, sending its venom into Goku's blood stream.

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Gojyo was woken by the rude banging on his door. But before he could get up and opened it, a gun shot was heard and Sanzo burst through the door. "Get up kappa, we have a problem!" Sanzo shouted, and without giving a second look at the naked form lying beside Gojyo he slammed the door shut and stormed downstairs.

Gojyo wasn't going to like this, by the time he reached downstairs, he was greeted by a fretting monk and a worrying friend, the saru was nowhere to be seen. "W...what happen...?" Gojyo cried out when he saw the blood stained shirt that unmistakably belong to Goku. There were claw like scratches on it. Hakkai was holding on to the shirt with both his hands, his eyes shut tight, as if he was imagining the pain Goku must have gone through when he was clawed repeatedly. Sanzo snorted as he passed a note apparently written with blood to Gojyo.

"Th.....this is outrageous!!!! " Gojyo shouted in anger. The note had said if they wanted Goku back, they must hand over the sutra of Evil to them by sunset today, if not the kidnappers would start chopping Goku up limp by limp. "Bu....but how can this be...? Goku is so strong!! How did this happen ?!!" Gojyo shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. He looked at Hakkai, and saw him agonizing over the blooded shirt, he never seen Hakkai looked so agonizing.

"We'll give them what they want." Hakkai looked up, his eyes widen in disbelief. "But Sanzo we can't just give up the sutra......" Gojyo said, he was surprised Sanzo would say such a thing. "We don't have a choice." Sanzo answered calmly as he light his cigarette, "Unless you want to see a piece of that saru tomorrow morning." Gojyo couldn't debate on this anymore, he couldn't imagine the scene, having to see a piece of ear or arm that belong to Goku lying at the door tomorrow morning. "And besides, who say I'm going t give them the sutra...." Both Gojyo and Hakkai's eyes widened as they saw the way Sanzo smiled. A very evil smile.