Author's Notes: Thanks sleg for reviewing. Even though, you're the only one who does... And to those guys who read & don't review (if there is) thanks a thousand times!

Disclaimer: Saiyuki is created by some Japanese Guy/Gal, i don't know...And I ain't japanese. Never was & never will be.

eleezyienne: Hey sleg, I wonder where would I put you in?

made-up sleg: ......

eleezyienne: er, right. Oh well, here's the 3rd chapter!

Chapter 3: Genjo

Genjo.

Eli woke up with a start. She held her hands to her chest until her breath evened. Where was she again? Oh right, she doesn't know. She looked around the room & observed everything. She was in a small but nice looking room. There was an end table beside her & the closet was located at the other side of the room.

She tried to stand up but the pain she felt was excruciating. Frustrated, she laid still & decided to think for a while instead. How did she arrived in here? What happened to Kamatayan? Just as she was about to ask some more of her unanswerable questions, she heard a knock.

"May I?" A man's voice. Eli gulped & blurted, "You may... I mean, yeah."

The door opened & a blue-eyed guy appeared. He smiled at her & she smiled back. "I brought you something to eat." Eli sat up & thanked him. He put the food on the table & looked at Eli cheerfully. "I'm glad you're awake."

Eli smiled, "gee- I, wait, where did you find me?"

The guy opened the curtains & answered, "My brother found you in the forest unconscious. We thought you were attacked by youkais but..."

"Youkais?"

"Demons. But then, you weren't bruised or anything."

Eli sipped the tea slowly, "Your brother. Where is he?"

He grinned & pointed behind the door, "He's probably there. Listening."

She tilted her head to take a better look & sure enough, there was a small kid w/ blue eyes & shining black hair peeping behind it. Eli smiled at him sweetly & reached out her hands, "Come, I want to thank you."

The boy slowly emerged from the door & walked towards his brother. Eli just smiled.

"So what's your name?" the guy started.

"It's Eleezyienne, but you can call me Eli."

"Eli... I like your name." The guy commented, "Oh by the way, my name is Kazuka. But I'm called Kazu."

Then the boy tugged at Kazu's sleeves. Kaze smiled & introduced, "Oh, Eli this is my brother, Genjo."

Genjo?

***

"Sanzo!!! I'm hungry... We haven't eaten a single proper meal for 1 day! We'll starve to death! I don't want to die so miserably...Sanzo!" Goku was a whining machine. It's amazing how irritating his voice is. The very sound of him is enough to make an adult's head burst into flames! Goku looked at Sanzo desparately, "Oy Sanzo!"

"Uraseii!" Sanzo whacked the hell out of Goku with his trusty fan, THE fan. And that's the only thing that could shut him up.

Gojyo chuckled & turned to Hakkai, "Hakkai, where are we going now? I have to ask since we don't know much about this PLAN of yours." Hakkai smiled (what did you expect?), "Maa... Gojyo. Don't have some hard feelings, you'll know it eventually."

Gojyo smirked, "Yeah...BUT WHEN?!"

Sanzo whacked Gojyo hard, "Damn it, I said soon!!! Which word didn't you God-damn understand?" Gojyo & Goku gulped hard.

Eventually, Sanzo settled down & the usual atmosphere was back. Goku asked, "Hakkai, where are we going?"

Hakkai, unconsciously smiling again, replied, "To the town of Sakura (Obviously made-up). I think we need to spend some time there. Our supplies are close to nothing & we really need to refill it more." He glimpsed to the sun & continued, "But I think it'll be really hard for us to get some spare rooms."

"Why's that?"

"Well, It's the time of the year when all the Sakura are fully blooming. I think they're holding some kind of a festival there."

Gojyo butted in, "Ooh... that would mean endless supplies of women, babes, & the likes! I'm going to enjoy this stay." Hakkai shook his head. Goku moved away from Gojyo a little bit. It's very dangerous to sit beside a very horny man.

Sanzo sighed, "baka."

***

Eli looked at Genjo picked some cherry blossoms. Was this her guide? The one who would lead her to her destiny of saving the world? He noticed how the boy reached w/ all his might but in vain. How, er,young.

"Here you go." Eli picked the cherry blossoms & gave it to Genjo. "You must like them very much." The boy looked at her & nodded. He smiled at her & added, "It's the festival of the Cherry Blossoms. The festival ends this midnight with a Town Ball."

Eli smiled, "Town Ball? That sounds nice." They both sat down under the cherry tree, "So who's your partner for the dance?" It was noticeable that the boy was surprised, "P-Partner?" Eli nodded, "Well yeah. You know, like a date." Genjo looked away & bowed low. "Ano...I don't have any?"

"No partner? That's surprising. With such a handsome face like that, I bet it'll just take you 5 seconds to turn a girl's world upside down."

Genjo smiled sadly, "Nobody would want to dance with me. I'm very sickly. Beside, I'll just hurt girls with my stinky dance."

Eli patted him & assured, "Don't worry. I would love to dance with you."

Genjo was taken aback. The beautiful lady would dance with him? "Ano...are you sure of that?"

"I would be glad to do so, Genjo." Eli squeezed his hand reassuringly. With that, he gave the freshly picked Cherry Blossoms to her & said shyly, "Eli-san, please accept this flowers. Thank you for being my partner." Eli looked at him & took the flowers. She hugged & thanked him.

Behind a tree, a man grinned menacingly, "Just the way as I planned, Eli."

***

"Tell me again why I have to be your shopping partner." Sanzo sighed as he lighted a cigarette. He hated to walk. He hated it more to walk beside Gojyo, of all people. He can't exactly describe what he felt about the guy, disgust perhaps? It's not really because he's so horny all the time...OK, maybe it was because the guy IS horny all the time, too horny sometimes. But really, being with Gojyo, is kind of awkward.

Gojyo grinned, "Hakkai wanted to settle some things with the inn keeper remember?"

Sanzo sighed annoyed, "Oh yeah, well, you better hurry up 'cause I don't want to wait that long."

"You're going to leave ME, JUST me, to do all the shopping?" Gojyo asked surprisingly. Then he smiled, "Great!"

"Er, I changed my mind. I'll go with you." He forgot one of the basic rules of survival, NEVER LEAVE A HORNY GUY TO DO THE SHOPPING. What you'll probably get are liters of beers, some food & a whole lot of boxes filled with good 'ol condoms. Not to mention occasional b***h visits. Very dangerous.

Gojyo snapped his fingers really frustrated, "kuso..."

***

Kazu looked at his day planner & motioned to Genjo, "Genjo, we're out of bread. Could you get something down the street?" He turned to Eli, "Eli-san, you could accompany him if you want. That way, you could have a short tour of the city. What do you say?"

Eli offered a thumbs-up, "Sure thing, Kazu!" She looked at Genjo, "So, shall we go?"

Genjo nodded & they went away.

"Genjo, do you have any idea how this festival originated?" Eli started as they walked passed by the stalls & beautiful displays of colored cherry blossoms.

Genjo pointed to a hill not far away, "You see that great big Cherry tree? The great goddess of Love & Hope was rumored to have planted that. It was said that the cherry tree held some sort of a mysterious power. It was believed to be the source of love in this city. That's why this city is called Sakura. Recently, youkais started to loot other nearby cities & towns but they never tried to attack this city. Now, we believe that the great big Cherry Tree protects us." Eli nodded thoughtfully. She tried to remember who that goddess of love and beauty was. She's sure the name started w/ an 'R' but she couldn't quite get it. After a lot of thinking, she sighed & dismissed the subject. She was pulled away from her own thoughts when she heard Genjo asking.

"So Eli-san, where are you from?"

Eli shook her head briefly, "Huh? me? I'm from a place called Bacolod."

Genjo scratched his head, "You must really come from far away. I've never heard that plaec before."

"Of course." Eli answered softly. Genjo proceeded, "Ano...when I found you in the forest, you were unconscious. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" She immediately looked in his eyes. She asked silently, "Weren't you supposed to know?" Then she figured out that he must be trying to make it sure that she was the right one. Yeah, maybe some kind of a 'spy-thing'. However, when she looked in his eyes, she wondered why they looked so sincere. Must be one of his 'spy-things' too.

"Here we are Eli-san. Jumabe's Store of Everything!" Genjo announced as he excitedly pulled Eli to the entrance. Eli giggled. This world was not THAT different. It has stores w/ icky names too.

***

"Jumabe's Store Of Everything?" Gojyo read the big red sign on top of a medium sized store, "That sucks ."

Finally, after walking in what seemed to be forever, Sanzo & Gojyo arrived at a shop. Although it looked more like a minimized Disney Land, people assured them that this place was actually a shop. Sanzo added sarcastically, "Ooh looky looky, I'm Jumabe & guess what? I got everything."

Gojyo just snickered a bit. he wasn't sure if he's supposed to laugh. I mean, come on, the guy maybe corrupt but he's still a monk. And everybody knows that monks make the most lamest joke ever. Well yeah, there were some jokes that were actually worth laughing for but he observed that those were mostly about the monkey, a.k.a. Son Goku, & his amazingly pea-sized brain.

Just when Sanzo turned left to get a basket, he suddenly felt someone bumping him really hard. Reacting the way he usually does, he pointed the gun to the guy only to find that it was a kid. He then said coldly, "Watch it kid. You don't want to mess with me." He could see the kid gulp really hard. Good for him.

Eli couldn't believe her eyes. Was that guy pointing a gun at Genjo? She dashed to the kid's side & cried, "Genjo!"

Instantly, Sanzo looked at the source of the voice. He saw a dark-haired woman reach for the kid. She had just called his name.

"Genjo! Are you all right?" Eli asked the shaken boy worriedly. He faced a gun so close, of course, he must be dead scared. If she was at his place, she was sure she could have fainted. How could somebody do that to a child? He looked directly at the guy & shouted, "How could you?!"

Violet Eyes. That was the first thing Sanzo noticed. Oh yeah, ANGRY violet eyes. He eyed her & said coldly, "He bumped me." She looked at him in disbelief. She blurted, "So? Does that give you the right to point at him with - with you're gun?"

By now, they already have attracted a good number of curious shoppers. But that didn't stop Eli from blowing up, "He's a child for God's sake!"

Sanzo looked around & looked at her coldly. Fortunately, Gojyo arrived thus stopping Sanzo from saying a conniving word or two. Gojyo cleared his throat aloud & informed Sanzo, "Uh, we're here to shop." Sanzo shrugged.

Genjo blushed & pulled Eli's long sleeves, "Eli-san, I think you should forget about that."

Eli shook her head stubbornly & explained, "Not until he apologizes to you, Genjo."

And that caught the two guys. Eli could see they were surprised...or something like that. Sanzo looked at the boy.

Gojyo scratched his head, & looked at the kid amusingly, "Eh?"

***

eleezyienne: *sighs* Finally, this chapter took a while. Oh well. Hope you'll like it. Oh, and to those guys who reviewed, Arigato, Sye sye ni, salamat, and thanks! (^^,)