If you will leave me, lad, then go
The world is wide, and calling you
You wish to see its charms, I know
I shall not keep them from your view
..................................
The day began as so many others had, and still more would.
"Wake up, you dumb ape."
The only response was a burrowing movement on the part of the person being addressed.
"I SAID, wake UP. Sanzo says we've got to make good time today to hit the next village."
If anything, the breathing grew deeper.
"Fine. Be that way. I'm eating all the meatbuns."
The covers flew off in a flurry of long limbs which immediately tried to choke him.
"You...wouldn't...dare!!"
"OW! Not the hair, NOT the hair, you little brat!! I was just--" a grunt, and furious scrabbling at the death-grip "--trying to--ow, fuck!--get you up!"
"Good." He just had time to visualize the smirk before he was released, and 114 pounds of lean, brown boy hit the floor with a bare-heeled *thump*. Before he could stick out a foot to trip them, Goku had vanished through the door. The whoop trailed behind him on the stairs--
"BREAKFAST!!"
At the table, Gojyo massaged his neck with a scowl. "That's the last time I do alarm duty, thank you very much," he announced to the group. "I don't know what sucks more, being strangled by the monkey or shot awake by the monk."
"Come come, let's not start the day with angry words," Hakkai said cheerfully, sitting down across from him. It was a minor miracle, how he managed to look so neat with only a small jug of water and no mirror. Hakkai, to the eternal bemusement of his companions, was a morning person.
Sanzo, who was not, muttered, "If I hear another word, angry or otherwise, I'll shoot you all," and retreated behind his paper.
The four minutes that ensued were filled with the relatively peaceful sounds of gobbling. Food was squabbled over, inevitably but silently.
Outside, the day looked promising. The air was chill with mist rising from the ground, but already a steady sun promised warmth within the hour. Jeep was waiting by the time they'd paid their tab and gathered outside, Goku having lingered to coax a few more meatbuns.
"Three seconds and we leave him behind."
Hakkai, fingers wrapped gently on the wheel, turned to look curiously at the man beside him in the passenger seat. "Sanzo-san, did you not sleep well?"
"Two seconds," was the only reply. At that moment, Goku burst out of the inn door, a white cloth bundle cradled in his arms. In response, Sanzo stuck out a foot and slammed on the accelerator. With a roar and a startled *kyuu*, the vehicle leaped forward. The boy gaped, then began to run.
"Bouzu, you've gone and left the monkey!" "Please, Sanzo, let me drive!"
The two shouts rang out together as Jeep bounced onto the main road, scattering chickens without mercy. "Sanzo!! Sanzo, wait!!" came from behind, as Goku sprinted madly towards them. Through the dust of their wake, the whites of his eyes showed wide and frightened.
Hakkai tried to pry the intruding foot off of the pedal, but the sandal would not be budged. Gojyo twisted around, gripping the top of the worn leather seat, and grinned around his cigarette at the figure chasing them. "Serves you right for being late, greedy guts!"
"I'll kill you," howled Goku, and ran even faster. But just as he managed to draw close enough to touch the bumper, Jeep's acceleration picked up, and the gap began to widen once again. "WAIT," he cried, and reached out, as Hakkai steered frantically around potholes and the occasional witless sheep.
"Oi, Sanzo, let up, the kid's getting out of breath," Gojyo observed with a note of alarm. The monk said nothing, arms crossed and eyes closed as if completely detached from Jeep as it clattered and bumped along the road. They were now going faster than Goku could run, and the growing desperation in his eyes made the morning's grudge melt away. Getting no response, he grabbed the sutra-draped shoulders before him and gave a shake. "Hey!!"
Giving up on getting a response, he turned to Hakkai. "Slow down a little, will ya? He's going to pull a muscle at this rate!"
"I can't touch the brakes, not while we're still gunning it!" exclaimed the normally unflappable driver. "It'll wreck the gears! Sanzo, please move!"
Goku had evidently given up on their slowing down. Throwing down his bundle, he put on a final burst of speed and drew level with the backseat. Gojyo gritted his teeth, braced his foot against the door, and reached out just as Goku leapt. He hauled on a skinny brown arm, and they tumbled back together. He inhaled sharply as a swerve threw his head against the side, and nearly swallowed the cigarette. Spitting and fuming, he kicked and wriggled into an upright position just as Hakkai finally managed to throw on the brakes. Still tangled, the two in the back were slammed against the front seats with an impact that left them breathless.
He shook his head, shoved the kid off his lap, and stood up. Hakkai's grip on the wheel was white-knuckled, and he stared straight ahead as Jeep adjusted to a slow-rumbling pace. Sanzo took his hands off the frame and looked off to the side, eminently unconcerned. There was a moment of silence.
Then, "What the fuck was that?" Gojyo bellowed. "I nearly broke my nose back there! You gotta problem with the monkey, take it out some other way! Don't frickin' play games while we drive!!" Hakkai said nothing, but the set of his shoulders seemed to agree. The target of their anger gazed at the landscape. In the back, Goku let out a small whimper.
"I dropped the meatbuns." Accusation and anguish mingled in his tone.
For once, Gojyo refrained from insulting the boy's appetite. "We can go back for them," Hakkai suggested gently. Goku shook his head violently, darting a look at the golden head in front. The scholar's lips pressed into a thin line, but he said nothing except, "I'll get you some at the next village."
"Promise?" Goku sat up, looking less shaken.
Hakkai smiled. "Promise."
The rest of the day was tense and unusually quiet, with only cigarette smoke rising from travelers to stain the summer air. They made good time, as Sanzo had intended, and reached the village shortly before sunset. It had been a long drive and there were yawns as they stepped out stiffly to stretch their legs. Goku, uncharacteristically, was the last one out, a fact that Hakkai noted with a slight frown.
"Beer," moaned Gojyo with a mock-stagger. "In the name of Heavenly Mercy, get me somewhere with cold beer."
"I wouldn't rely on the kind of Heavenly Mercy you'd get around here," Sanzo said as he surveyed the streets of the small settlement. It was almost the first thing he'd said all day, and it restored them to a semblance of their usual routine. Gojyo and Goku began to bicker over whose turn it was to sleep on the floor, while Hakkai asked directions from a passer-by. Before the last of the red light sunk below the horizon, they were sitting by a fire, sipping the last of a round of beer to wash down their dinners.
It was still early, but they had started shortly after sunrise, and the group felt drained. Their youngest member had both elbows on the table, and appeared sunk in contemplation of the space between them. A tired silence fell on them once more. Without looking up, Goku broke it. "...m'sorry."
"Eh?" Gojyo took his eyes from the serving-girl's back and fixed them on his short companion. "Wassat?"
"I wasn't talking to you, erogappa," the boy retorted.
"Well, then look at who you're bloody talking to, soup-for-brains." He said the words, grinning, almost glad of the prospect of an exchange. A day without a few insults just didn't seem right, and too much of this one had already gone by. To his surprise, Goku turned to Sanzo, who was sipping steadily and staring at the fire.
"I'm sorry for whatever I did that made you mad, ok? So you can stop being such a jerk about it now." He crossed his arms defiantly, but spoiled it by sneaking a look at Sanzo's face, which markedly failed to register a softer countenance. After a few moments where the tired silence was replaced by an awkward one, he stood and shoved his beer across the table to Gojyo. "Here, you can have it. I'm going to bed," he announced, and headed off. The red-head squinted at him as he left, though he was quick to take up the offering.
"Bloody amazing," he said, and lifted the mug to his lips.
"Not really, he doesn't like beer all that much," Hakkai said absently.
"No, look, he's actually not headed for the kitchen." As he spoke, Goku climbed the stairs and vanished around the bend.
Hakkai closed his eyes and sighed. They were staying in one room tonight, the only one "fit for gentlemen of such quality," the innkeeper had said fawningly. Whatever its quality, he knew better than to expect more than one bed. He also knew better than to expect that bed to be unoccupied when he reached it, although he'd gotten more than his share of the floor recently. He didn't mind; it was more the loss of opportunity to pull Sanzo aside that he regretted. Goku, for all his five hundred years, was still a child, and the glee he felt at successfully stealing the bed could ease the sting of the morning's episode.
He hope it would end there, and that whatever had come over their appointed leader would be quick to go away.
Somehow, he didn't think they would be that lucky.
The world is wide, and calling you
You wish to see its charms, I know
I shall not keep them from your view
..................................
The day began as so many others had, and still more would.
"Wake up, you dumb ape."
The only response was a burrowing movement on the part of the person being addressed.
"I SAID, wake UP. Sanzo says we've got to make good time today to hit the next village."
If anything, the breathing grew deeper.
"Fine. Be that way. I'm eating all the meatbuns."
The covers flew off in a flurry of long limbs which immediately tried to choke him.
"You...wouldn't...dare!!"
"OW! Not the hair, NOT the hair, you little brat!! I was just--" a grunt, and furious scrabbling at the death-grip "--trying to--ow, fuck!--get you up!"
"Good." He just had time to visualize the smirk before he was released, and 114 pounds of lean, brown boy hit the floor with a bare-heeled *thump*. Before he could stick out a foot to trip them, Goku had vanished through the door. The whoop trailed behind him on the stairs--
"BREAKFAST!!"
At the table, Gojyo massaged his neck with a scowl. "That's the last time I do alarm duty, thank you very much," he announced to the group. "I don't know what sucks more, being strangled by the monkey or shot awake by the monk."
"Come come, let's not start the day with angry words," Hakkai said cheerfully, sitting down across from him. It was a minor miracle, how he managed to look so neat with only a small jug of water and no mirror. Hakkai, to the eternal bemusement of his companions, was a morning person.
Sanzo, who was not, muttered, "If I hear another word, angry or otherwise, I'll shoot you all," and retreated behind his paper.
The four minutes that ensued were filled with the relatively peaceful sounds of gobbling. Food was squabbled over, inevitably but silently.
Outside, the day looked promising. The air was chill with mist rising from the ground, but already a steady sun promised warmth within the hour. Jeep was waiting by the time they'd paid their tab and gathered outside, Goku having lingered to coax a few more meatbuns.
"Three seconds and we leave him behind."
Hakkai, fingers wrapped gently on the wheel, turned to look curiously at the man beside him in the passenger seat. "Sanzo-san, did you not sleep well?"
"Two seconds," was the only reply. At that moment, Goku burst out of the inn door, a white cloth bundle cradled in his arms. In response, Sanzo stuck out a foot and slammed on the accelerator. With a roar and a startled *kyuu*, the vehicle leaped forward. The boy gaped, then began to run.
"Bouzu, you've gone and left the monkey!" "Please, Sanzo, let me drive!"
The two shouts rang out together as Jeep bounced onto the main road, scattering chickens without mercy. "Sanzo!! Sanzo, wait!!" came from behind, as Goku sprinted madly towards them. Through the dust of their wake, the whites of his eyes showed wide and frightened.
Hakkai tried to pry the intruding foot off of the pedal, but the sandal would not be budged. Gojyo twisted around, gripping the top of the worn leather seat, and grinned around his cigarette at the figure chasing them. "Serves you right for being late, greedy guts!"
"I'll kill you," howled Goku, and ran even faster. But just as he managed to draw close enough to touch the bumper, Jeep's acceleration picked up, and the gap began to widen once again. "WAIT," he cried, and reached out, as Hakkai steered frantically around potholes and the occasional witless sheep.
"Oi, Sanzo, let up, the kid's getting out of breath," Gojyo observed with a note of alarm. The monk said nothing, arms crossed and eyes closed as if completely detached from Jeep as it clattered and bumped along the road. They were now going faster than Goku could run, and the growing desperation in his eyes made the morning's grudge melt away. Getting no response, he grabbed the sutra-draped shoulders before him and gave a shake. "Hey!!"
Giving up on getting a response, he turned to Hakkai. "Slow down a little, will ya? He's going to pull a muscle at this rate!"
"I can't touch the brakes, not while we're still gunning it!" exclaimed the normally unflappable driver. "It'll wreck the gears! Sanzo, please move!"
Goku had evidently given up on their slowing down. Throwing down his bundle, he put on a final burst of speed and drew level with the backseat. Gojyo gritted his teeth, braced his foot against the door, and reached out just as Goku leapt. He hauled on a skinny brown arm, and they tumbled back together. He inhaled sharply as a swerve threw his head against the side, and nearly swallowed the cigarette. Spitting and fuming, he kicked and wriggled into an upright position just as Hakkai finally managed to throw on the brakes. Still tangled, the two in the back were slammed against the front seats with an impact that left them breathless.
He shook his head, shoved the kid off his lap, and stood up. Hakkai's grip on the wheel was white-knuckled, and he stared straight ahead as Jeep adjusted to a slow-rumbling pace. Sanzo took his hands off the frame and looked off to the side, eminently unconcerned. There was a moment of silence.
Then, "What the fuck was that?" Gojyo bellowed. "I nearly broke my nose back there! You gotta problem with the monkey, take it out some other way! Don't frickin' play games while we drive!!" Hakkai said nothing, but the set of his shoulders seemed to agree. The target of their anger gazed at the landscape. In the back, Goku let out a small whimper.
"I dropped the meatbuns." Accusation and anguish mingled in his tone.
For once, Gojyo refrained from insulting the boy's appetite. "We can go back for them," Hakkai suggested gently. Goku shook his head violently, darting a look at the golden head in front. The scholar's lips pressed into a thin line, but he said nothing except, "I'll get you some at the next village."
"Promise?" Goku sat up, looking less shaken.
Hakkai smiled. "Promise."
The rest of the day was tense and unusually quiet, with only cigarette smoke rising from travelers to stain the summer air. They made good time, as Sanzo had intended, and reached the village shortly before sunset. It had been a long drive and there were yawns as they stepped out stiffly to stretch their legs. Goku, uncharacteristically, was the last one out, a fact that Hakkai noted with a slight frown.
"Beer," moaned Gojyo with a mock-stagger. "In the name of Heavenly Mercy, get me somewhere with cold beer."
"I wouldn't rely on the kind of Heavenly Mercy you'd get around here," Sanzo said as he surveyed the streets of the small settlement. It was almost the first thing he'd said all day, and it restored them to a semblance of their usual routine. Gojyo and Goku began to bicker over whose turn it was to sleep on the floor, while Hakkai asked directions from a passer-by. Before the last of the red light sunk below the horizon, they were sitting by a fire, sipping the last of a round of beer to wash down their dinners.
It was still early, but they had started shortly after sunrise, and the group felt drained. Their youngest member had both elbows on the table, and appeared sunk in contemplation of the space between them. A tired silence fell on them once more. Without looking up, Goku broke it. "...m'sorry."
"Eh?" Gojyo took his eyes from the serving-girl's back and fixed them on his short companion. "Wassat?"
"I wasn't talking to you, erogappa," the boy retorted.
"Well, then look at who you're bloody talking to, soup-for-brains." He said the words, grinning, almost glad of the prospect of an exchange. A day without a few insults just didn't seem right, and too much of this one had already gone by. To his surprise, Goku turned to Sanzo, who was sipping steadily and staring at the fire.
"I'm sorry for whatever I did that made you mad, ok? So you can stop being such a jerk about it now." He crossed his arms defiantly, but spoiled it by sneaking a look at Sanzo's face, which markedly failed to register a softer countenance. After a few moments where the tired silence was replaced by an awkward one, he stood and shoved his beer across the table to Gojyo. "Here, you can have it. I'm going to bed," he announced, and headed off. The red-head squinted at him as he left, though he was quick to take up the offering.
"Bloody amazing," he said, and lifted the mug to his lips.
"Not really, he doesn't like beer all that much," Hakkai said absently.
"No, look, he's actually not headed for the kitchen." As he spoke, Goku climbed the stairs and vanished around the bend.
Hakkai closed his eyes and sighed. They were staying in one room tonight, the only one "fit for gentlemen of such quality," the innkeeper had said fawningly. Whatever its quality, he knew better than to expect more than one bed. He also knew better than to expect that bed to be unoccupied when he reached it, although he'd gotten more than his share of the floor recently. He didn't mind; it was more the loss of opportunity to pull Sanzo aside that he regretted. Goku, for all his five hundred years, was still a child, and the glee he felt at successfully stealing the bed could ease the sting of the morning's episode.
He hope it would end there, and that whatever had come over their appointed leader would be quick to go away.
Somehow, he didn't think they would be that lucky.