Disclaimers: I don't own anyone, except for the two extras that briefly appear in this fic… and since I kinda named one of them in revenge (see author's notes), I can't even claim full ownerage of him any longer… not that I would want to anyway, that guy would get off on the idea… (creep…) Please worship Kazuya Minekura for her wonderful characters (grins) I do!

Rating: PG 13

Warnings: Violence, language, small amount of 5 x 8. EXTREME irritation….

The Day That Sanzo Lost His Twitch

Pt 2

"What are we going to do? That damn monk is getting worse, next time he might actually kill Goku or even one of us!" Gojyo asked Hakkai, taking a drag on his cigarette immediately afterwards.

Hakkai sighed, placing down his drink. "I don't know, we are just going to have to bide our time." Hakkai looked down at his beverage, "But, if Sanzo gets much worse before the curse wears off, we may have to consider restraining him."

"He won't appreciate that," Gojyo said and then he smirked, "but since it would be for his own good let's hurry up and do it now, before something else happens."

Hakkai gave a small chuckle, "lets save that for a last minute option. Besides, you seem to be getting a little too excited about the idea. If I didn't know better, I would have to worry."

Gojyo grinned at Hakkai, "Ahh, there's nothing to worry about, you're the only one in my thoughts."

Hakkai shook his head, amused. "That's just as well, otherwise…" The green-eyed healer's words cut off as suddenly Sanzo's furious, screaming voice could be clearly heard from upstairs.

"IF YOU WANT TO DO THAT, THEN DO IT IN YOUR OWN HOME, NOT IN THE ROOM NEXT TO ME! AND IF YOU REALLY HAVE TO FUCK EACH OTHER SENSELESS, DO IT WITHOUT THE ANIMAL NOISES!" The sound of a door slamming open against a wall followed those words.

Hakkai and Gojyo had begun running very quickly after hearing the monk's voice screaming out. They reached the top of the stairs only to hear a "Baa…" and see a wooly creature run panicking from the doorway on the other side of Sanzo's room. "Baa!" It ran down the stairs and out the building, terrified for its life.

Goku stood in the doorway of his shared room blinking, "Was that… a sheep, I just saw? Why was there a sheep? Are the people in that room hungry?"

Gojyo stopped and stared at Goku, marveling at the boy's innocence. "You…"

"GOJYO!" Hakkai yelled, "Come on!"

Gojyo stared for a moment longer before running after Hakkai, Goku followed not very far behind. They ran into the room that Sanzo's voice could be heard coming from and then saw the insanely smiling monk trying to strangle someone on the bed.

"San… zo." Goku said softly at first, then louder, "Sanzo!"

Sanzo ignored the saru, even as Hakkai and Gojyo tried to pry the cursed monk away from the choking man on the bed.

Goku jumped onto the bed, pulling at Sanzo's hands. "Stop it, Sanzo. Please!"

Sanzo's eyes glared irrationally at his charge, not even recognizing him, he was so deep within his anger. The bright smile completed the effect as Sanzo shifted his hands onto Goku's throat.

"Sanzo." Goku whispered, feeling cold all over as he refused to fight back, staring directly into his keeper's eyes.

Hakkai and Gojyo continued frantically trying to get the monk away from the saru with no success. When Goku's eyes began to glaze over, the kappa swore.

"Kuso! That's it, I've had enough of this!" He reached his hand out and summoned shakujou. Gojyo used the weapon to hit the monk over the head, hard enough to knock him unconscious without causing permanent damage.

The monk fell and the other three collapsed, Hakkai and Gojyo from both relief and exhaustion and Goku due to losing his strength from almost being strangled to death. After a couple of minutes of just resting, Hakkai managed to pull himself to his feet and checked on the boy. Silent tears were running down Goku's face and he refused to look away from his fallen sun. Hakkai gave another sigh, he had been doing that a lot on this Friday the thirteenth.

"Gojyo, can you please keep an eye on things here, I will return in a few minutes."

Gojyo nodded, "Where are you going?"

Hakkai smiled tiredly but didn't answer as he left the room. A few minutes later, the healer returned carrying some kind of beverage. Sanzo was just beginning to stir and Hakkai helped the groggy monk sit up. The monk's smile was already back in place, from the pain of being hit over the head obviously.

"Here Sanzo," Hakkai said gently, "Please drink this, it will help you feel better." He helped the barely resisting monk drink the liquid and Gojyo protested.

"What the hell are you doing helping that kuso-yaro for? It's Goku that you should be trying to help! That bouzu can rot in hell for all I care!" he exploded.

"This is helping Goku, along with us and everyone else within this inn." Hakkai explained smoothly. "It's a little something to put Sanzo to sleep for the night." And it was true, Sanzo was already falling asleep once more. Hakkai stood up, placing the glass down onto a nearby tabletop. He turned to the occupant of the room and bowed.

"I am very sorry for this disturbance. We will make sure that it doesn't happen again. Gojyo?" Hakkai turned, "Could you please help me carry Sanzo back to his room?"

"Yeah, sure." Gojyo answered a little distantly. Together, they picked up the blonde and carried him back to his room. "How long will he be out?"

"At least twelve hours, I hope."

"Then what, we drug him again and again?" Gojyo asked sarcastically.

"It's either that," Hakkai replied "or we tie him up. That or, we find someplace in town more equipped to handle him until the curse wears off."

"Neither Goku or Sanzo will like that. Sanzo, I don't give a damn about but the kid has been hurt enough by all this as it is."

"Yes." The healer agreed dispiritedly. "Speaking of Goku, did he come out of that room?"

Gojyo stared at his partner. "I don't know, I didn't see him leave."

"We had better go back and check."

"What about…" Gojyo pointed at the sleeping monk.

"He'll be fine on his own over night."

"Just as well." Gojyo muttered, sparing Sanzo a glare as he followed Hakkai from the room.

They discovered Goku still on the bed in the room that Sanzo had intruded into, unmoving and unresponsive.

"Goku. Are you alright?"

Nothing.

"Come on Goku, let's go back to our room."

There was still no response. The two friends looked at each other and then together, they pulled Goku to his feet and half carried, half dragged the boy back to their room.

Hakkai checked Goku over for new injuries and other than more bruising, this time around his neck, he seemed to be physically okay. The healer sighed yet again, he had no idea how to get thorough to the boy when he was depressed over Sanzo. However, he and Gojyo tried for quite some time before deciding to give up for the night and going to bed. They let Goku keep the bed, while they spread out the futon on the floor and lay silently, wrapped in each other's arms.

- . - . -

The next morning it was about nine am before anyone stirred, they had been thoroughly tired out by the events of the previous day. Hakkai sat up slowly, smiled down at the still sleeping Gojyo and pressed a light kiss on the red head's forehead, Gojyo woke and smiled sleepily up at Hakkai.

"Please tell me that yesterday was a bad nightmare."

"I would love to, but…" Hakkai smiled and then stood. He went over to the bed and walked around it to crouch in front of Goku. Goku's eyes were still open. He looked as though he hadn't even moved, let alone slept. "Goku, how are you this morning?"

The teenager kept staring for several seconds then slowly shifted his gaze to the concerned healer before returning his focus back into the distance.

Hakkai fought a sigh. He just didn't know how to snap Goku out of this. "I'm just going to check on Sanzo," he said looking at Gojyo after a moment. "I shouldn't be long."

Gojyo nodded and Goku still didn't move. A few minutes later, Hakkai returned to their room. He flashed a brief smile and said, "Sanzo is still asleep but will probably start to wake in the next hour or so. In the meantime, Goku, why don't we go and get some breakfast?"

Hakkai was rewarded with still more silence. Hakkai frowned, "Goku, aren't you hungry?" After a few moments more of silence, the healer turned to the kappa. "You go down to breakfast, I'll stay with Goku. I would rather not leave him alone right now."

Gojyo nodded and stubbed out the remains of his cigarette. He had lit it a few short minutes ago but he hadn't even had a single drag on it. "I'll order and bring breakfast up to our room." He left, casting a worried glance at the silent Goku on the way out. Gojyo hoped that by bringing the food up, the smell of it and the fact that the saru must be half starved by now, might snap him out of his funk.

A little under half an hour later, Gojyo returned with enough food for five people. Hakkai gave him a welcoming smile as he helped the kappa bring the food into their room. They deliberately placed it in front of Goku's field of vision and started eating. Hakkai tried several times to pass food up to Goku but after a while, the boy closed his eyes, shutting the pair out as best he could. Hakkai and Gojyo felt frustrated by this simple action so Gojyo decided to bring out the heavy guns.

"Omoi!" Gojyo gushed, "This spring roll tastes so delicious! Isn't the flavour one of the best you have ever tasted, Hakkai? At least, the best after your cooking!" Gojyo grinned at Hakkai.

"It is quite delicious." Hakkai agreed.

"Oh! And this meat bun! Oishii! I haven't had food this good for a long time." Gojyo continued on like this for several minutes, continuously watching the saru, hoping for some response. He even went so far as to place a meat bun directly under Goku's nose but to no avail.

"This is pointless!" Gojyo muttered in defeat trying not to explode. "Nothing is working!" Hakkai stood and the kappa asked, "Where are you going?"

"To check on Sanzo and then if I have time, I will be going to a hardware store."

The kappa's eyebrows rose in question. "Hardware store?"

"Just in case Sanzo needs to be restrained."

"If he does, please let me do it?" Gojyo asked with a vindictive grin.

Hakkai just looked at him for a moment before leaving the room.

- . - . -

Sanzo had just woken up and considering how much his head was hurting and how queasy he felt, he was not in a good mood. He made his way to the small bathroom and looked in the mirror. He growled furiously to himself. That damn smile was still on his face. He heard a gentle knock on his door and then a slight creak as it opened. From the bathroom, he saw Hakkai walk in and hesitate.

"Sanzo? Are you here?" The brunette healer called cautiously.

Sanzo fought back a scathing reply and stayed quiet. He had a vague memory of the healer forcing him to drink something the previous night, of drugging him and that would explain or at least partially explain the damned queasy feeling.

Hakkai ventured further into the room. He made his way towards the open bathroom door and called again. "Sanzo? Are you alright?"

'Just keep away from me, get out of my room!' The monk thought as he tried to fight back the urge to kill the brunette youkai for what he had done the previous night, but it was a losing battle. As Hakkai began to poke his head into the bathroom, the monk slammed the door forward, crashing it into the healer's head. Hard! Hakkai fell and Sanzo jumped out from behind the door and began pummeling the healer.

Hakkai fought back his pain and shock from the sudden attack as he tried to hold the monk back. After a few moments he started yelling for help. "GOJYO! Come here and help me. Now!" It wasn't so much that he needed help defending himself as he needed help subduing Sanzo without killing the man.

Moments later, the kappa burst into the room, "Shimata!" he swore, rushing to Hakkai's rescue.

"Don't worry about me, just grab the sheet off the bed or a curtain or something!" Hakkai said urgently. "Sanzo is beyond reason!"

Gojyo looked around, the bed was closest and he ripped the sheet from it. Hakkai managed to kick the smiling Sanzo away from him. Sanzo flew back, flailing as he crashed into the bathroom sink. The brunette youkai hurriedly got to his feet as Gojyo reached his side with the sheet. Together they jumped Sanzo, who fought like a wounded wild cat, screaming abuse at them continuously until they managed, finally, to wrap the sheet around the monk, effectively tying him up.

Both youkai were breathing hard from their workout when Hakkai heard a sound from behind them. He turned, Goku was standing, staring into the room from the doorway.

"Goku!" Hakkai puffed, the boy continued to stare at the wild, smiling, struggling Sanzo, then he turned on his heel and ran.

Gojyo swore, "I'll go after him. You stay here and look after that damn, homicidal monk."

Hakkai nodded as Gojyo ran off.

- . - . -

It was a couple of hours later before Gojyo finally returned, Goku-less. He shrugged with a worried expression. "I lost him, the damn saru is too fast when he wants to be. I spent ages looking for him, but…"

"It's okay Gojyo, you tried your best. Hopefully he will come back soon." Gojyo looked doubtfully at Hakkai. "If you can watch Sanzo for a while, I will take a look and ask at the sheriff's office."

Gojyo nodded, "Alright, but don't leave me here too long with him. If he pisses me off much more, I might end up doing to him what he tried to do to Goku last night." He scowled.

Hakkai smiled softly, "You have more self control than that. If I can't find any sign of him in an hour or so, I will be back."

"I'll try to hold out that long." Gojyo grumbled, glaring at the still smiling, cursing monk with the crazed, furious eyes as Hakkai left.

- . - . -

A little over half an hour later, Gojyo finally snapped at Sanzo, "If you don't shut the hell up, I'll knock you unconscious with shakujou again. I can't take it anymore!"

Little did the kappa realize but the clock chimed 1 pm (or thirteen hundred hours) as he spoke. Sanzo was suddenly quiet and Gojyo closed his eyes in vast relief. The smile on the monk's face slowly faded and before too long, the familiar scowl and twitch had made their grand re-appearance.

Sanzo finally spoke up, in a cold, angry, low voice. "So, I have you to thank for this current headache, do I cockroach?"

Gojyo didn't even notice the change of tone, "Yeah, so what do you think you're gonna do about it, bouzu?"

"Well, that depends on how quickly you untie me." He answered nastily. "I can either beat you senseless once I get my harisen back if you untie me right away. I can shoot you quickly and cleanly if you delay untying me or if you don't untie me, I will fucking kill you slowly, after beating you senseless." The smile that covered his face was not like those beautiful smiles of the last twenty-four hours. It was the twisted, unpleasant smile that he normally had a tendency to show to the world, if he smiled at all.

Gojyo laughed as Sanzo's scowl returned, "Yeah, right! Like you're in any shape to threaten me and after what you did to the saru, I'm more than willing to give you a taste of what you deserve, you crappy monk, so don't push it!"

There was silence for a few seconds as Gojyo's words hit. Then, "What… did I do to him? Most of the past however long is a blur."

Gojyo snapped his eyes open and glared at the monk. "Don't pull this 'I don't remember' crap! First of all, you beat him, several times just for worrying about you, then you damn well tried to kill the kid. You have the nerve…" he stopped suddenly as he noticed the expression on Sanzo's face and that the crazed look had left his eyes.

"Sanzo," he asked slowly, "are you back to normal now?"

"Just untie me now, you moron!" Sanzo seethed. Gojyo quickly did as he was told, only to have Sanzo punch him with a good right hook for the delay.

"What the hell was that for, you damn bouzu?"

"You had it coming, kappa! Now where is the saru?"

Gojyo glared, "I don't know. He suddenly ran away a few hours ago. He hasn't been eating or sleeping. After you tried to strangle him, he wouldn't even speak, he just went off into his own little world. Why the hell he cares about you is beyond me!" he snapped. "You treat him like shit most of the time and then you try to kill him, you should see all of the bruises you fucking gave him yesterday."

"Enough!" Sanzo said coldly, "Where is my gun and harisen?"

"In our room." Gojyo replied sullenly.

"Get them!"

"Hai, hai ohime-sama!"

Sanzo glared at him with a look that could almost kill on its own as Gojyo went and fetched the monk's weaponry. Sanzo followed Gojyo into the hall and waited while the kappa entered the other room and returned. Then they went downstairs and made to exit the inn.

There was a sudden shriek of fear. Gojyo glanced at the source and smirked at Sanzo as the shrieker ran away as fast as his two little legs could carry him. "There goes yet another of your victims, Sanzo-sama!"

The monk ignored him and stalked out the door.

"Sanzo!" A voice said in surprise, "You are… looking much more like yourself now."

"Brilliant deduction, Hakkai! Have you found that baka saru?"

"No, I haven't. I'm very worried about him."

Sanzo scowled and turned left. Hakkai and Gojyo looked at each other. "What happened?" Hakkai asked curiously.

Gojyo scowled and brought him up to date as they followed the monk at a brisk pace.

- . - . -

Quite sometime later, Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai had been walking through densely growing woods when they came to a cliff face. There were many boulders along the ground against it. Sanzo looked around briefly before making a decision and actually beginning to run. He had spotted a splash of red curled up against a couple of the rocks. It was Goku's shirt. Hakkai realized what Sanzo had and held Gojyo back.

"But, I really don't think we should leave them alone. Who knows what will happen." Gojyo complained unhappily to the healer.

"If something goes wrong, we are close enough to go to their aide."

"Fine, but we keep them in sight!" Gojyo said in his full big brother mode.

Hakkai smiled at his lover, then the two just watched from the distance.

- . - . -

Sanzo reached where Goku was lying curled up. The monk went to reach a hand out to him touch him and hesitated. What if Goku no longer wanted to know him, he thought as Gojyo's earlier words came rushing back to him. He wasn't sure how to put things right between them, but he had to try.

"Goku," he said in as gentle a voice as he could manage. "I'm very sorry about what happened while I was cursed." He knelt down beside the boy and reached his hand over, placing it on the boy's shoulder. Goku stiffened at the touch.

"I don't remember a lot of what happened. I remember some, but… well the kappa told me what I did to you. I never would have meant to hurt you like that, no matter what I have said in the past and I certainly didn't mean to try to kill you."

Goku rolled over to face the monk and Sanzo was shocked to see the evidence of the tears that Goku had been shedding. He had a very lost, lonely look on his face and the monk swore at himself for having hurt the saru the way he so obviously had. He hesitated for only a moment and then drew the boy into his arms to try and give him the comfort he needed.

While Goku didn't resist the embrace, nor did he relax into it and this time, it was the monk who felt lost. Goku had always been bright and cheerful and he almost always had a smile ready. To see him like this, well his self-loathing shot through him. "I'm so sorry, Goku. If you don't forgive me, then I understand."

Goku finally relaxed into Sanzo's arms, "I… I thought I had lost you." He sobbed. "I know the Merciful Goddess said that it was only temporary, but… you didn't even recognize us anymore. I thought my sun would never return."

"It's okay now. The curse has worn off and I'm okay." Sanzo comforted and they stayed in each other's arms for quite some time afterwards. Eventually, Goku's stomach growled, spoiling the moment and reminding Goku of the fact that he hadn't eaten since early the previous night.

Goku looked up at Sanzo, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he laughed weakly, "but, harahetta!"

Sanzo did not twitch, nor did he smile. His expression remained soft as he spoke. "Well let's go back to town and eat. I'm hungry too." He hadn't eaten since the previous night either.

They stood, pulled away from each other and headed over to where Hakkai and Gojyo stood waiting for them. As they walked, they kept their usual amount of distance from each other. The healer and the kappa looked questioningly at the pair and Goku gave them both a bright if slightly watery smile.

"Are you alright now, Goku?"

Goku nodded happily and the other two looked immensely relieved.

"Lets go." Sanzo said gruffly, "I want to make it back to the inn before it gets dark, otherwise we may lose our fingers due to Goku's hunger."

Goku grinned up at his scowling sun, "I wouldn't try to do that, but you never know what else I might try eating." He laughed.

The kappa stared at the saru while the healer laughed and the pissy blonde grunted. "Tch!" And they all walked, back to where their dinner awaited them.

- . - . -

Epilogue

The next morning Goku awoke with a start. He had had the strangest dream, or so he thought. His upper body and face hurt so much. He got up and went into the bathroom, looking into the mirror. He stared at his reflection, seeing all the bruising and cuts and his heart fell. It hadn't been a dream. It had been real! Goku suddenly felt terrified and hoped that Sanzo returning to normal had not been a dream since the rest of it also hadn't been. He looked over to the bed where Sanzo lay and slowly walked over to it. Once he reached the bedside, he looked down. "Arrggh!" he screamed.

Sanzo awoke at Goku's scream and growled irritably. "Why the hell are you making all that noise, damn baka saru?" He scowled at Goku.

"I'm sorry!" Goku said a little shakily. "I woke up thinking that the last couple of days were a nightmare until my bruises made me remember and then I thought that maybe the real nightmare was that the curse hadn't worn off."

"Baka! So why did you yell?" Sanzo scowled.

"I walked over to…" Goku paused, suddenly a little embarrassed, "to check on you and I, I saw you smiling again." he finished off in a small voice.

Sanzo stared up at Goku and smiled in amusement, "What like this?"

Goku yelped again and backed away.

Sanzo shook his head and the smile dropped off his face as though it had never been there, his customary scowl back in place. "Relax baka saru. I was only smiling because… Never mind, I'm not telling you my dream."

Goku's eyes widened, "You were having a good dream?" he asked.

The blonde nodded.

"What was it about?" Goku asked curiously.

"I already said I wasn't going to tell you."

"But!"

"Don't spoil the moment. Now go wake up Hakkai and Gojyo, we're leaving soon."

"Alright." Goku left and went to the room he had shared with the other two until the previous night. They had kicked him out since Sanzo was no longer under the influence of that curse.

Goku knocked on the door and let himself right in, without waiting for an answer. "Hey Sanzo says to get…" he stopped dead. Hakkai and Gojyo were already awake and they were doing… something…

They smiled brightly at him, but their eyes showed a different emotion. They were extremely annoyed to have been interrupted but… they smiled. Goku ran and swore to never walk into a room uninvited ever again.

Owari

AN:

(grins) Ok, though it was never mentioned in the fic, I thought of a name for the character that Sanzo tries to strangle, his name is Mark, though he is still not important enough to name in the story itself, just consider him to be the new ass manager at my work. Revenge can be sweet :-P Heh heh!
Anyway, I did have fun with this fic, even though Sanzo cursed me in return (grumbles…)

Thank you to those who have reviewed :-)