Most of the time, Goku was a very deep sleeper. It was near impossible to wake him up, unless you knew the certain "golden rules" to waking him. While bright lights, yelling and poking did little to help wake him, scents did wonders. Every morning on the way to the west, a fresh pork bun was used to wake Goku and often times Sanzo still used that method to waken Goku. The smell of food was pretty much the fastest way to wake him up, although there was one which could do it faster – smoke. Not cigarette smoke, he'd become too accustomed to it after living with Sanzo so long, but smoke from a fire could rouse the monkey youkai faster then anything else on Tougenkyou.

            And at this very moment, Goku was sprinting down the halls of Chouan Temple following the more than subtle smell of smoke.

            In his many years of being alive, Goku had learned to differentiate between the different kinds of smoke you could find, and right now, he was following the kind of smoke that belonged to fire. Goku could imagine great flames leaping over roofs of town and threatening the temple. The monks would run around like fools a while until he and Sanzo stepped up and took control  of the situation and…..    

            And to avoid running into said Sanzo, Goku was forced to throw himself over the rails and into the bushes of Chouan Temple. After pulling himself from the prickly bush, Goku tried to act cool but the cold glares of Sanzo and two of the temple elders really didn't help his act. Sanzo didn't really looked like he cared – actions like these were regular and excepted when you knew the monkey youkai – but the temple elders were furious.

"Goku!" the first yelled. He looked like he could kill Goku, which made the youkai relieved that he wasn't Sanzo.

"You can't run in the temple! How many times must we tell you this?!" the second screamed.

            Goku was considering running away. Angered monks were generally not good things. And if these two were this mad, then Sanzo would have his gun out and pointed at Goku's forehead already, safety off. Goku took a chance and looked at Sanzo.

            "He'll either help me or kill me…" Goku muttered.

            Sanzo was holding a small cup of tea, which he occasionally took sips from, and just looked back at the youkai. His face was blank and his posture normal.

            "Sanzo…. Are you going to kill me?"

            Sanzo snorted, "Where's the fire, Goku?"

Goku had been ready to run – very far and very fast – once he heard Sanzo's answer. But Sanzo, being the great monk that he his, answer a question, with a question. Instead of taking this chance to run away, Goku opted to answer his master's question. He pointed towards the main gate of Chouan Temple – where most of the smoke was coming from.

            "And do you know why there is so much smoke today, Goku?"

He shook his head.

Sanzo rubbed the bridge of his nose and motioned for Goku to follow as he started walking down the halls towards the main gate. As Sanzo walked down the halls, other monks instinctively got out of his way. And as Goku walked along a parallel path on the grounds of the temple, he had to dodge monks and try not to get his head cut off by trimming shears.

            That morning (it was now afternoon) the Chouan Temple had finally released the news that Sanzo had been a victim of an "attack" as they put it. The details of the monk's sickness were not told to the public, but nonetheless, the townspeople showed up in hordes to pray for the health and long life of Genjo Sanzo. Masses of incense and candles were being burned.

            Once Sanzo showed Goku the sight of the hordes of prayers, the youkai felt foolish. While there were a lot of candles and flames, he felt childish for causing such a ruckus over a few hundred small, burning candles and incense sticks. Goku looked up at Sanzo, planning to apologize. But he couldn't – not after seeing that pensive and confused face.

"Goku,"

"Ah, yeah?"

Sanzo handed his now cold tea cup to another monk, who was clueless what to do with the it, "Do you know why they're here?"

Goku sighed, "They're praying for your health." Goku was getting ready for one of those 'importance of life' talks Sanzo had started to like giving.

"Why?"

Goku was caught off guard by the simple question, "Why?... Why?! Cause you're Genjo Sanzo, that's why! What kind of a question is that!?"

            Sanzo once again rubbed the bridge of his nose and pulled Goku away from the gate and the startled monks. Goku, still fuming, was pulled down the halls by the elderly Sanzo, all the way to the kitchen, which was deserted this time of the day.

"Sit down, Goku."

"Sit down, Goku." The youkai repeated quickly as he and Sanzo both sat down.

Sanzo pulled out a cigarette and held it between his teeth, "I'm not that mean to you, so shut up."

Goku sighed and turned his head, "Aren't you going to light that."

Sanzo chewed on the filter, "You know just as well as I do, there's no smoking in the temple. But, there is no rule about having them."

            Goku glanced back at Sanzo, but returned his gaze to the wall after a few seconds.

"You're going to leave the temple after I die, aren't you?"

Goku quickly turned back to the monk, "Stop talking like you're going to die any minute now!"

"Why shouldn't I? And are you?"

"It's creepy, Sanzo! Don't talk like that any more." Goku turned away from Sanzo again, "…. And I was planning on leaving. It's not I'll have a reason to stay after you… you… ya know…."

Sanzo shook his head and snorted again, "Can't say it, Goku? Die. After I die…"

"Shut up, Sanzo!"

            Goku abruptly stood up and left the kitchen. Sanzo continued to sit there, laughing inside himself over the silliness of Goku.

            The said youkai was, by now, back in his own room, laying on his stomach staring at the "sell" pile which still had yet to be sold. Goku hated feeling like this – weak, powerless and depressed. He knew that there was nothing he could do about Sanzo's condition and even though he knew that Sanzo had accepted his fate, Goku could not accept it. Goku felt foolish for running around like an idiot these past few days, ignoring Sanzo at all costs, but maybe if he was ignored, then he wouldn't die and problem would go away. Goku rolled over onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes.

"Why are you being so strange, Sanzo?"

"Because I can be."

            Goku was startled at the answer of his question and nearly summoned Nyoibou before he realized it was Sanzo standing in the doorway to his room.

"You're supposed to knock before you come into some one's room."

"Goku, I'm being strange because I can be."

            Goku just laid back down on the floor and pretended to ignore the monk.

"When people get old, they get strange. And when people are on the verge of death they get even stranger."

            Goku grabbed something off the floor, probably from the "sell" pile and threw it in the direction of Sanzo.

"Shit, Goku, your aim is really off."

"Go. Away."

Sanzo sat down next to Goku, "Can't an old monk spend time with one of his disciples? And don't say that you're not my disciple – I taught you, I fed you, I nearly raised you too."

            The pair sat in silence for more than 10 minutes.

"Goku, am I a mean person?"

"Yes. Most definitely."

"Seriously. I want you to think about it for a minute."

            Another 10 minutes of silence passed.

"You aren't… so much mean as you are… cold. Rude. Anti-social. Unfeeling. Overly aggressive…"

"I get the point, Goku. But… When I'm gone… please don't hold all this animosity against me."

            It took Goku a few seconds to remember the meaning of 'animosity' from his lessons all those years ago and when he sat up to respond, Sanzo was gone. Goku looked around his room and his eyes fell upon the bag he had been packing. He crawled over to the bag and pulled out the old diadem. Goku traced the lines on the design with his finger.

"I could never feel that way, Sanzo…. Never. If I hated you, I wouldn't wait for you."

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a/n: wow.. can we say OOC?

I'm sorry. Please forgive me.