~~Hakkai~~
I am, as usual, the first to awaken. Carefully, so as not to awaken my companions, I roll my sleeping bag neatly, then exit the tent to begin breakfast. Goku will, undoubtedly, want to eat first.
I hear a rustling behind me and turn around to see Sanzo up and about.
"Ohayo, Sanzo," I say quietly.
"He tried to talk to you, didn't he?"
I nod, turning my attention back to the breakfast before me. "He started to tell me that you and he had a conversation yesterday concerning it," I reply.
Sanzo sighs. "He's worried about you, Hakkai. You have been acting differently, though yesterday after we stopped for lunch you were more like your usual self. But he's noticed that something has changed."
I sigh. I know Gojyo's worried, but…how could I tell him? I know I should...and I know why I've lied to him all these times, but that doesn't make it any easier. "I know."
"Sanzo…harahetta…" Goku whines as he rubs his eyes sleepily and steps out of the tent.
"Breakfast will be ready soon, Goku. Please wake Gojyo so he can eat as well," I tell him with a smile.
The boy nods and disappears into the tent. "C'mon, get up," his voice calls.
"OW! That hurt, bakasaru!" Gojyo moans grumpily.
"Then get up, ero kappa!"
"Leave me alone, monkey boy!"
"Yare-yare," I laugh softly. It's a genuine laugh, and it would almost seem it catches Sanzo by surprise.
"So you don't always fake it," he concludes with a whisper.
"No, not always," I whisper in reply, just before Gojyo and Goku emerge from the tent, still throwing insults at each other.
"Another small meal to start the day. Touch my food and die, saru," Gojyo threatens.
I hand them each their breakfast and smile as Goku and Gojyo waste no time in beginning.
Sanzo and I eat more slowly, and I make sure to feed Hakuryuu. When we've finished eating, Goku and Gojyo head toward the stream to wash the dishes, leaving myself and Sanzo to clean up camp.
~~Gojyo~~
When the saru and I return to the campsite, we find Hakkai and Sanzo ready to roll, with Hakuryuu's engine already started.
"Hurry up. It's a long drive today," Sanzo states, sounding a bit more tired than he should. Did he not sleep much last night either?
Goku and I both whine at the thought of being cooped up in the small space that is Hakuryuu's back seat for the day…hmm…I'm going to have to think of some really good ways to annoy him… mwahahahaha…
.
But Sanzo is no fun. Here it is, about noon, and he's already whapped us ten times and shot at us six. Why the hell's he so testy today? Weirder yet, Hakkai's not said a damn word to him about the way he shuts us up. In fact, I haven't heard him say a word at all today. He's being way too quiet again…but at least he seems like he's focusing on his driving today…
Dammit what's wrong with him lately? Everything he does seems so strained…so…fake… And that smile of his is worse than usual. Larger and more fake, if that's possible.
I open my mouth to ask if he's alright, but before I can make a sound, Sanzo lets a bullet fly at my head. "Hey! What the fuck was that for?!?"
"Don't even think about it, kappa," is all he says before turning around and putting his eyes back on the road.
"Don't even think about what, bouzo?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Just don't," he replies, with a tone that demands dropping the topic.
I sigh. This group is just getting more and more impossible. I pull a cigarette from my pack and put it to my lips.
Dammit. Sanzo won't even let me talk to Hakkai. It's not like I'm a stranger to the guy; hell, he lived with me for three years. I'd be willing to say I know him better than anyone. And yet, here I am, totally clueless. And Sanzo knows what I don't. That pisses me off more than anything.
This is going to be a looooooong day…
~~Hakkai~~
I know Sanzo is trying to help me, by keeping Gojyo's questioning at bay, and I am truly grateful for it, for now. It's been a long drive, and I've kept those nagging thoughts in the back of my mind, where they belong until we stop. I haven't, however, had much time to think on them. Trying to keep myself as focused on the journey as I can, and knowing that night is not the time for the thoughts that would undoubtedly keep me awake, I've had very little time to myself. But every so often, Sanzo's words continue to echo in my mind, my heart breaking each time.
Gojyo means so much more to me than I know how to say. He's been my best friend, since before I acquired my name. Even then, when I was nameless to him, I knew that his concern for me was genuine, that I could trust him with everything.
Yet I haven't trusted him with everything. There are still many things I keep to myself, that I refuse to tell him. I should tell him, someday.
Goku's stomach rumbles loudly in the uncomfortable silence, and I know exactly what's coming next.
"Sanzo…harahetta…" he whines.
"Urusai," Sanzo replies firmly, though not angrily.
"Yeah, Sanzo. Harahetta," Gojyo adds, imitating Goku's whine rather well.
"URUsai…" Sanzo replies more firmly, reaching into the depth of his robes.
I turn towards the river I've been following and stop.
"What the fuck are you stopping for?" He asks me, apparently urgent to get to the small town that awaits us at the end of this day.
I smile and laugh, for real, as I reply. "But Sanzo… Harahetta."
He rolls his eyes. "Not you, too," he moans. But surely enough, his own stomach betrays him and growls quite loudly. He sighs.
"C'mon, Sanzo. Say it! Admit you're hungry!" Gojyo prods. He doesn't back down when the Smith & Wesson is aimed at him. "You know you want to…"
Goku joins into the teasing. "Say it, Sanzo!" he whines. "Or I'll say it all the way to the next town."
"And I'll be saying it with him," Gojyo adds with a grin.
They're both like children, sometimes. It's easy to forget Goku's truly the eldest of us all.
I smile.
~~Gojyo~~
Hot damn. He's smiling! For real! This must be some kind of record…twice, not only in one day, but in the course of a few minutes!
Maybe all this Sanzo-teasing is what Hakkai needs. A change of pace.
I look at Goku, and he nods. With evil grins on both our faces, we begin chanting. "Harahetta, harahetta, harahetta." Even when Sanzo fires a few rounds in our direction, we don't stop. "Harahetta, harahetta…"
Sanzo glares at us, and I have to try not to laugh. I think the fact that we're not getting scared of him irritates him more than our chanting.
"Hakkai, can't you make them shut up?" he growls.
Hakkai just smiles, and I can't quite tell if this one's real or not…until the smile reaches his eyes and he joins the chant.
Sanzo groans. "Not you, too."
~~Hakkai~~
Gojyo smiles when my voice joins theirs, causing Sanzo to groan.
"Not you, too."
Despite his groan, Sanzo almost seems glad to see me enjoying myself. And I truly am. It's just the mood I'm in today, I suppose. I have to find some way of keeping those haunting thoughts from my mind, and if that means I help the pair in the back seat in their task of annoying Sanzo, I suppose that's what I'll do.
"Come on, Sanzo-sama. It's the only way we'll stop," I say to him. "And the sooner we stop, the sooner we eat, and the sooner we're back on our way…"
I pushed him over the edge, I could tell by his face.
"…harahetta…" he mumbles, barely audible above Goku and Gojyo's voices.
"I don't think they heard you, Sanzo," I inform him, as Goku and Gojyo chant louder and louder.
Obviously annoyed, Sanzo growls at me. "HARAHETTA!" he yells, scattering the birds in the nearby trees.
Silence falls over the jeep as Goku and Gojyo stop their chant mid-word.
"Wow. He really did it…" Gojyo mutters, his red eyes wide with surprise.
Sanzo climbs out of the jeep, his irritation not fading slightly. "Well? Are we going to eat or what?"
He needn't say more. We climb out of the jeep and prepare for our little picnic.