As I have nothing better to do this afternoon, here the second chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Saiyuki is not mine. I don't make any money off of this. Please don't sue.

CHAPTER 2

Later, none of them would remember how they got back into the jeep and on their way to the nearest town; the things that had happened only minutes before still had all of them in a state of shock.

None of them dared to say anything; Sanzo's facial expression had slowly changed back to his usual scowling mask, but Hakkai, who sat next to him on the driver's seat, could tell that the former monk's eyes shone with desperation. He kept staring at his wrists, where the two tight bracelets reminded him of his new state.

'It must be hell for him', the healer thought. 'Not only to lose his humanity, but to also lose his rank... He defined himself through his title, although he never followed the actual teachings that came with it...'

They rode on quietly for a while longer, until Goku couldn't stand the silence anymore.

Hesitatingly, he pulled on the sleeve of the monk's robe that his guardian still wore.

"Sanzo...?"

No reaction – no answer, not even a harisen to the head.

The boy waited for a good minute, then he tried again.

"Sanzo!"

This time, he got a reaction. Fast as a snake, the blond man turned around and grabbed his shirt to shake him while he hissed at him in barely suppressed rage.

"Do... not... call... me... that!"

When Gojyo's hand grabbed his arm, he stopped shaking his charge. Goku's eyes shone with uncried tears. Still in a rather angry tone, but without the malice that his words had dripped with before, he explained:

"'Sanzo' was my title, not my name, idiot. I don't deserve it anymore. No Genjo Sanzo here anymore..."

'But what should they call me now?', he thought when he turned to sit back down.

'Who am I? What is my name? Kouryuu? I always HATED that name... but it is the only one I have left to give them. And do I really deserve a name that is to my liking, after I have failed my comrades, my title, my assignment?"

He stared down at his limiters again, fighting with himself, then finally made a decision. If they wanted to mock him with the name the people in his childhood had made fun of him with, so be it.

"My name is Kouryuu. You will call me that from now on. If you call me Sanzo once more, I'll sh..."

'Shoot them?', a voice in his head started giggling. 'With what?'

'...I'll make sure you regret it', he finished lamely and without the necessary anger to back it up. Instead, he sounded incredibly tired.

Goku, however, was oblivious to his master's tone. In his endless optimism, he was sure that Sanzo – no, Kouryuu! – would be okay now, after dinner, a hot bath and a good night's sleep. He was too naive to realize that the use of his old name was only one more reason for his companion to be depressed.

"Okay, got it! Kouryuu, Kouryuu, Kouryuu, Kouryuu, Kouryuu..."

His chant of the name was stopped when Gojyo smacked him upside the head.

"Stupid monkey, that's enough! Now be quiet, or there won't be any food for you when we reach town!"

"As if you had anything to say about that, horny kappa!"

"WHAT did you call me?"

"HORNY KAPPA!"

And thus, at least in the back of the car, everything was back to normal again. What was not normal was that the former Sanzo did not put a stop to it, and that it did not make Hakkai laugh, as it usually did. Instead, green eyes kept wandering back to the former monk, watching him as he kept staring at his limiters, deep in thought. The brunette youkai understood at least partly what Sanzo... no, Kouryuu... must feel like, and he hoped that the man next to him would manage to get out of his depression in the end.

Not long afterwards, they finally reached a small town. As Hakkai held all the money the group currently had, he took care of getting them four rooms for the night and then led them into the restaurant part of the inn. Before Goku could order anything from the waitress, Hakkai shook his head.

"I am sorry, Goku, but our resources are limited right now. I cannot allow you to eat all our money away. You will have to settle for a smaller portion from now on."

The boy's face fell at the thought of this prospect.

"I will staaaaarve...", he whined.

"Ch, you would even say that while still eating more than Hakkai, San.. uh, Kouryuu, and me together", Gojyo grinned at him.

That was all it took to start the regular fight between the two, and while they exchanged rude names and blows over the table, Hakkai managed to order a meal for all of them.

And Sanzo – 'Kouryuu, Gods be damned, his name is Kouryuu now', the healer thought – just sat there and did nothing to stop the fight. Eventually, even Gojyo and Goku realized that they would not be stopped by him in their favorite pastime, and ceased the hostilities on their own.

"Uh, Kouryuu, you okay?", the red-headed halfbreed had the courage to inquire.

"Leave me alone, dumbass", the quiet response came almost immediately.

Afterwards, there was no conversation anymore, not until the food arrived, and not even while they ate. Obviously, Goku and Gojyo had decided that it was no fun to start another fight if their blond companion did not get irritated enough to put a stop to it.

The man formerly known as Sanzo did not eat very much, and headed for his room rather quickly. When Goku wanted to get up and follow him, Hakkai held him back.

"Let him be, Goku", he quietly told the boy. "He has a lot to sort out with himself, and any one of us going after him would only disturb him. Why don't we three go out and take a look around this place? After all, we lost our assignment – no need to hurry on from here anymore. We have decisions to make as well; do we go back from where we came, or do we choose to stay somewhere else?"

The three companions left the building, none of them realizing that the worst was yet to come...

And here's Chapter 2! Might write another chapter tonight, am nice and inspired right now!

Next chapter will be OVERFLOWING with Sanzo introspective and angst! And yup, outside of the story, I will still call him Sanzo!

For the people who read my shounen-ai warning and are waiting for something to start, this will not happen until at least chapter 8 (other than some hints), and I haven't even decided yet whether I will actually grant them a few moments together or leave it at "admiration from afar"... so I guess you'll just have to bear with me (grins evilly)...

Please leave a review – thanks in advance!