D: depraved

"Damn! Where's the bloody monk?!" Gojyo cursed, as he helped Hakkai to a tree so he could rest in a sitting position, leaning on the thick trunk.

"Have you healed him, Hakkai?" Goku said, extremely worried.

"No. He went as soon as he could to catch up with you," Hakkai replied. He sighed and looked at the earth below. "I don't know how we can fix this."

"Just take care of yourself first," Gojyo said, in his usual way of speaking when something mattered a lot to him and he pretended it weren't that way. "Jeep looks quite himself already." And true, the little dragon was flapping his wings and perched on Hakkai's shoulder, kyuuing like usual. Hakkai smiled a bit as he took Jeep in his hands.

"I'll go find Sanzo," Goku went ahead. "I hope nothing happens to him."

"I hope nothing happens to you!" Gojyo said. "Watch out for the gun, saru!" Goku was no longer in sight as he said, "Maybe we should just hit Sanzo- sama on the head till he sees stars to fix everything."

'Somehow I agree that he wouldn't let himself be helped if he weren't unconscious,' Hakkai thought and sighed out loud. 'But if there were anyone he can't win over, it would most probably be Goku...'

"Sanzo! Sanzo! Sanzoooo! Where are you?!" Goku yelled. He found a slight golden shimmer among the dark green trees and found Sanzo sitting on the ground, compressing his wound. "It... it looks terrible," Goku said, seeing the cut in his flesh. He knelt beside Sanzo. "Come on, let's get back to Hakkai. He'll be able to do something about it."

"Hmph! He can barely keep himself standing," Sanzo said.

"Well, after some rest I'm sure he'll recover quickly, ne, Sanzo?" Goku helped him up to his feet. "Does it hurt?"

"Urusai, baka saru!" Sanzo said, walking unsteadily. Goku helped steadying him and this time he didn't get a slap. "What were you thinking, packing the kyomon inside a car that could turn into a dragon?!"

"I hadn't thought something like this could happen," Goku said, looking down at his feet. "I'm... Ouch!" Sanzo had hit him with his fan.

"Urusai," Sanzo said before Goku could say another word. Goku looked at his companion while rubbing his head, wondering why the thwack wasn't as fierce as it could be. He supposed he was forgiven, then.

Later that night at the inn. Hakkai had treated Sanzo's foot even if Gojyo and Goku had to use force to make Sanzo let himself be healed. Now all of them were sitting in the terrace, some meters away from each other to make room for Jeep.

"Jeep, please turn yourself into a car," Hakkai said to Jeep for about the 56th time that night.

"Kyuuu?" Jeep only replied innocently and looked as if he had never changed into a car in his life.

Hakkai cast a glance at Sanzo, who sat with arms folded and an expressionless face but nevertheless radiating a feeling of evil. Hakkai shuddered at the thought of Sanzo forcing Jeep's mouth open and putting a fishing rod inside. He quickly concentrated himself on Jeep again.

"Jeep, turn yourself into a car, please," Hakkai said.

"Abracadabra!" Gojyo waved an invisible magic wand at Jeep, who only kyuued with the same cute look.

"I'm going to bed," Sanzo announced as he got up and went inside. The rest stared at his back and then at the closed door for a while. Hakkai leaned back on his chair and Goku took over for a while.

"Come on Jeep, turn yourself into a car," Goku said. "You understand me, don't you?"

"Kyuuu!" Jeep nuzzled Goku and flew around for a few seconds before landing down at Hakkai's arm, looking really kawaii.

"Hey, dragon," Gojyo said, putting his face very close to Jeep's to make sure his words leave an impression. "If you don't turn yourself into a car, I don't know what Sanzo will do with you... Have you seen 'Hannibal'? Ever read 'MPD Psycho'? They all learn from him."

"Kyuu?" Jeep only tilted his head to the side.

Hakkai said, "You two must be tired. Go to sleep, I'll continue."

Gojyo provided a pendulum out of nowhere and swung it in front of Jeep's eyes. "When I count until three, you will be a car. And when I snap my finger, you will wake up. One... two... three!"

At the count of three, Jeep nibbled the pendulum and decided it didn't taste good.

"It didn't work, Gojyo," Goku yawned. "Maybe Jeep doesn't want to turn into a car."

"Maybe he can't turn into a car. Maybe the kyomon prevents him from changing," Gojyo said, looking at his pendulum crossly.

"I've already thought of that, but maybe Jeep only doesn't want to change yet. I'll keep on trying. Good night, Gojyo, Goku," Hakkai said determinedly.

"Oh well, good night," Gojyo said and went inside, followed by Goku.

Until late that night Hakkai stayed awake, asking Jeep to turn himself into a car. It was all useless. Not so long before dawn, both Hakkai and Jeep fell peacefully asleep. The dragon curled himself comfortably in Hakkai's lap, who had one hand clasping his pet.

With the rising of the sun Sanzo appeared. "Hakkai," he said. Hakkai opened his eyes and saw Sanzo holding Jeep in his hand.

Heartlessly, Sanzo said, "I gave him a pill to vomit."

Hakkai was wide awake at once. "Sanzo!" Hakkai started but couldn't find any word to express what he wanted to say. He sprang to his feet, snatching Jeep from Sanzo.

Jeep stretched his long neck and wound it back, as if suppressing something going up his throat. "Jeep, are you all right?" Hakkai said anxiously.

Jeep tried to kyuu and ended with a burp. This happened repeatedly.

Hakkai looked at Sanzo with a very menacing stare and said, "I know you are hurt for having lost the kyomon, but you didn't have to poison Jeep!"

"So I'm the stupid one. Is that it?" Sanzo said coolly.

Hakkai knew his words had touched Sanzo's most vulnerable point and quite regretted having said them, but the sight of Jeep assured him that Sanzo was the guilty one. The poor thing was winding and unwinding his long neck over and over again.

Hakkai was quite dizzy from the scene before him; he hadn't had enough sleep either. 'How could he...' was the only thing Hakkai could think of.

At last Jeep opened his mouth wide and with a cough vomitted the maten kyomon. The role was okay and didn't show any sign of having spent the night inside the stomach of a dragon. Sanzo picked it up while Hakkai checked his pet worriedly, but Jeep seemed quite all right. In fact, he seemed eager to peck at Sanzo, either out of thankfulness or anger. Whichever way, it didn't matter much, for Hakkai and Sanzo didn't give a damn to what happened around him. They were exchanging death glares.

After some minutes of a feeling of electricity in the air, Hakkai decided to be more merciful and said, "If you admit that you were wrong, I'll forgive you, Sanzo."

"Don't make me laugh," Sanzo replied harshly.

(Imagine them chibified! Chibi Hakkai folding his arms: "You're very bad!" and Chibi Sanzo raising the middle finger: "Be thankful nobody's died!")

TBC ...