Chapter 4
They were on the road again. Two days in the previous village and they were back, riding the jeep to the friggin' west. Sadly during those two days, Son Goku did not get any better.
"Are you sure it's safe to travel with him still sick?" Gojyo asked, doubtfully eyeing the boy next to him. "Youkai might attack."
"We have to go to the west," Sanzo replied.
The redhead glared at him. "We can go to the west when he's well. The saru's never been sick before. I'm sure he'll be fine after a few more days."
"A few more days might mean the revival of Gyumao," the monk said stubbornly. "We can't risk his revival just because of a common cold."
"It's not a common cold," Gojyo argued. "He's been dreaming about some three men and I don't think that a common cold is the reason. Besides, whenever it rains, you get to be all dramatic and we stop until you decide to be logical again or until the rain stops. Your pet is SICK. And here I am, thinking that you might care even slightly for your pet."
Sanzo shot his gun in the air. "Urusai. I don't care for anyone."
Goku retained his fetal position, pretending to be asleep. The others would think that his shoulders were shaking because of some dream again. It was a good thing too that he covered his head for he wouldn't be able to explain the stream of tears pouring from his eyes. Oddly, his weak state also weakened his hold on his emotions.
"Youkai!" announced Hakkai, quickly halting the jeep in front of the multitude of demons. The demons looked stronger than usual and he was worried, with Goku sick and all.
Gojyo groaned, making his weapon appear out of nowhere. There were tons of them. Tons! Furthermore, Kougaiji's group was there as well, watching them from a cliff. Did they have bad luck or what?
He noticed that Goku was no longer asleep but was clutching his nyoibo, ready for battle. What was the saru thinking? Goku wasn't strong enough to fight.
"Sit down Goku," Sanzo told the boy to Gojyo's relief.
Goku shook his head. "You won't be able to finish them off by yourselves," he said. "I'll help."
Gojyo grinned at Goku. "Give us a little credit. We'll be able to kill them!"
Goku still refused to sit down and when it was Hakkai's turn to try and convince him, the youkai attacked, forcing them to forego trying to make Goku back down.
"Kou," Doku said, looking at he the battle between the Sanzo-ikkou and their demons. "Something's wrong with Son Goku."
The demon prince squinted his eyes to look at the boy and saw that Doku was right. Something was wrong with Goku. The boy was remarkably slower and his movements seemed to be slightly sloppy. Also, Goku was panting although the fighting had just started. Homura did that, Kougaiji thought ruefully. Of course we wouldn't be able to take advantage of Goku if he was in his full strength.
"They're done killing off the demons," Yaone informed them a few minutes later. "Is it our turn yet Kougaiji-sama?"
Kou nodded.
"Goku daijoubu?" Hakkai asked the youngest member of their party. The boy looked pale and faint. "You shouldn't have tried to help us."
"I'm fine," Goku said, trying to stand up on his own without the help of his companions. He wasn't weak. He would never be weak.
"Bakasaru," Sanzo murmured, helping the boy up contrary to Goku's wishes. "Sit back in the car and sleep. You aren't any help to us like that."
Goku had had enough. His pent-up emotions, which were strengthened by his illness, got the better of him. He pushed Sanzo away and glared at the monk. "Why should you care? You don't care for anyone, much less me."
Sanzo stared. "What are you talking about?"
Gojyo, as Sanzo did, stared. Was the saru listening to their conversation? "Oi Goku, what's the matter with you?" he asked but Goku's attention was fixated on the monk. Everything around them was non-existent at that time to Goku.
"Goku, stop it," Hakkai tried but it was no use, Goku's character at that moment was simply too uncontrollable, just as it was when his diadem was removed.
Sanzo looked at his "pet" and sighed. Why was it that everything he owned needed taking care of? Particularly the ones he particularly cared for. Take Komyo Sanzo and Goku for example. "Saru, who told you that I didn't care for you?"
Goku glared at him. "You."
The monk couldn't hide the surprise on his face. When had he said that?
"Ah. Sanzo-sama did say that. I asked him about it earlier today, do you remember Hakkai?" Gojyo said from the side, in a voice loud and obvious enough for Sanzo to hear.
"Aa. Sanzo was a bit dishonest there wasn't he Gojyo?" Hakkai replied in the same volume.
A vein started throbbing on Sanzo's forehead. He realized that, yes, he had said something that he regretted but it wasn't enough for the two to simply tell him so. Oh no, they had to rub it in his face and it didn't help that Goku's golden eyes were on him, shiny with unshed tears.
"Oi Goku," the monk said as he took several long strides to reach the boy. He rested a hand on Goku's head. "I only say that to people I feel particularly irritated at," he looked pointedly at Gojyo, who grinned at him sheepishly. "I didn't say it to you."
Goku, by that time, was already slightly calmer and was also much weaker. He just nodded, not knowing what to say, but he knew what he heard and he knew that Sanzo was lying to get him to shut up. But despite all that he knew, he obeyed his master. It wasn't unusual for him to do so, having done the same thing over and over again just so Sanzo would not hate him. Sanzo wanted strong people to be with him and Goku would prove that he was strong.
"Good," Sanzo said, removing his hand from Goku's head and turning around to face his only sane companion, Hakkai. "Let's go before Kougaiji comes. They weren't there on the cliff for nothing."
"Too late," said Kougaiji, appearing in front of them together with Doku, Yaone, and Lillin. "You missed your chance to escape, now it's our turn."
Kougaiji glanced at Son Goku, who was leaning heavily on his nyoibo as if it were a walking stick. What did Homura do to cause such a change in Goku?
"Go away. I'm not in the mood for you," Sanzo's voice brought back Kougaiji's attention to the monk. "Come back later."
"It seems as if we have an advantage," Doku said, gesturing to Goku. "Why would we run away from that?"
Gojyo sneered. "Since when have you waited for luck Dokugakuji?"
"We don't wait. We seize it," the older man shot back.
Kougaiji didn't bother to stop the conversation of the siblings. He knew that Doku loved every opportunity he got to talk to his younger brother. Instead, he focused on Sanzo and Goku. Yaone would keep Hakkai in check.
"Ne ne Baldie Sanzo! Let's play!" the young girl jumped at Sanzo as Sanzo evaded her. She kicked but he evaded it again. She punched. Sanzo evaded. This happened again and again until Sanzo produced a meat bun out of nowhere and gave it to Lillin. "Oishii!" Lillin cried, settling herself on Sanzo's shoulders and taking a bite from the bun.
Sanzo sighed and sat down on the ground, irritated at the pest eating on top of him. Ignoring Lillin, he took the chance to look at how Goku was doing but he realized that his charge was gone and so was Kougaiji. "Shit."
"Goku, shall we have our fight somewhere else?" Kougaiji asked his adversary, aware that Goku was growing slightly stronger and was already able to stand up steadily.
Goku looked around and saw that his friends were already busy. He took a look at Sanzo, who was also occupied with getting away from Lillin, and felt an ache in his heart. He would definitely prefer the fight to be somewhere else. "Hai."
With that, Kougaiji ran to the forest, leaving Goku to chase him.
Kougaiji looked back and was surprised at how quick Goku still was despite the obvious weakening of the boy's spirit. Goku was that strong. It wasn't a wonder that Homura kept on trying to get the boy to join them.
The demon prince eyed a clearing, his eyes catching the glitter of blue and gold from some part of the place. He glared at it and then stood at the center, waiting for his Goku to appear.
Inside Goku's brain, he could hear Sanzo yelling "bakasaru" and hitting him with a fan. And why wouldn't he? Even he realized how dumb it was, chasing Kougaiji and all in his weakened state. But then, there was the fact that his rivalry with Kougaiji had been going on for a long time and that he actually enjoyed those fights. Also, most importantly, a fight would take his whole attention, allowing him to forget Sanzo. He couldn't understand what the matter with him was when Sanzo had said and done much worse to him.
He finally caught up with Kougaji. The demon prince was smirking at him in the middle of some clearing. He was obviously waiting for him. But he isn't attacking. Why?
And that was when something grabbed him from behind. "You're mine Son Goku."
A/N: I'm prolonging this as much as I possibly could. I mean, we wouldn't want this to finish right away, would we? Also, this will give me a chance to warn you that, yes, my fun part will be in the next chapter, so you'll find this fic among the R rated ones. So, yippee to the HomuraXGoku and KougaijiXGoku fans out there who are relying on this sad fic for amusement. It will be your time to SHINE! And beam and go gaga over the hentai. Oh joy!
Ooh . . . there will be Sanzo angst and Sanzo getting beaten up. I mean, really, doesn't it piss you off the way Sanzo keeps on angsting over Komyo Sanzo, leaving poor Goku to deal with a monk with a bad case of PMS? Sanzo is way over dramatic over some dead guy. That is the reason that I like Konzen so much more. Also, don't you like Tenpou and Kenren more than their reincarnates? Tenpou is bad-assed, unlike Hakkai who either keeps on smiling and angsting over his dead cousin-girlfriend (incest). And Kenren! The cool dude who freaks his fellow soldiers out and who's extremely nice to Goku like a big brother should. Gojyo is too sulky over his being taboo and his late stepmom. What is it with these guys and dead people?
Unlike Goku . . .
Of course, this is all my opinion. If yours contradicts mine, don't get mad. I'm entitled to mine and you to yours so if you like the dead-loving reincarnates, goody for you.