CHAPTER ONE
Part 2"Shut the hell up!"
"Shut the hell up !"
Two voices rang out from the Jeep that was travelling along the narrow riverbank, though both speaking the same words, their tones couldn't have been more different.
"Damn it! You're really pissing me off now!"
With his fists clenched, and his eyes ablaze, Son Goku screamed with uncontainable fury.
"Damn it! You're really pissing me off now !"
Gojyo, who sat beside Goku, mocked with little grace as he carelessly exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke.
"Can't you hear me you jerk? I told you to quit copying what I'm saying!"
"Can't you hear me you jerk? Isn't it you who's copying what I'm saying?"
Though it did not seem that this fight was going to escalate to the point of physical aggression, to Cho Hakkai, who sat at the wheel, it was still very much a cause for concern.
Taking a cautious sideways glance at Sanzo, Hakkai could immediately sense that beneath his expression of serenity, Sanzo's patience has already been stretched to its very limit.
"Sanzo? Are we just going to let them go on like that?"
"Ch'! If they don't shut up within the next five minutes, I'll sure as hell take care of them!"
His tone was steady, as was his right hand that gripped his gun.
The response made Hakkai cringe, and he asked tentatively:
"You mean, you're going to put and end to their quarrel?"
"When you want to solve a problem, you've got to eliminated it at it's roots...isn't that right?"
Hakkai's fears proved true, though not unexpectedly. What Sanzo was planning to put an end to was hardly just that petty little argument, but more likely Goku and Gojyo's petty little lives.
To anyone else, perhaps that would've sounded like a mere outburst of frustration, but Hakkai knew that it was no idle threat, nor should it be taken as a joke. This guy was more than capable of actually carrying it out! He who carries the highest-ranking title of all priests – Sanzo!
"Oh Sanzo... that's not what I meant..."
As anxious as Hakkai may be, the two troublemakers in the backseat were hardly showing any signs of letting up, if anything the volume of their fight was intensifying. The way things were going, there was no way they'd stop arguing within the five-minute deadline Sanzo had specified.
Ah well...Hakkai decided...I'm sure this'll work out somehow...
He reasoned: if Gojyo and Goku had such simple minds, it must mean they must have heads so thick there'd be no way they'd perish from a couple of bullets. With that thought for comfort, he turned his attention back to the road.
They had been driving on in that manner for less than a minute when, by some miracle, Goku suddenly stopped short in the middle of his tantrum.
"Wait! Hang on a second!" He urged.
"Wait! Hang on a second !"
"Oh come on Gojyo stop it! I'm not kidding! I think I heard something just now..."
Sensing from Goku's tone that this was no joke, Gojyo shut his mouth and resisted the urge to retaliate.
In a moment Goku was on his feet, standing against the edge of the Jeep, straining his neck towards the direction from which the sound had come from.
"Oi! I can't hear a damn thing!"
Gojyo's words fell on ignorant ears as Goku stood still, gazing around with widened-eyes, searching...
To their right was a high bush of unnatural thickness, to their left was a river.
On any normal day, this river was relatively small, no more than twenty meters across. However, due to the severe amounts of rain that had fallen the night before, the water level had risen and the current was far more rapid than usual. Stray rocks and broken branches could be seen aplenty as they were washed swiftly downstream.
Goku's eyes remained fixed on the river's surface, examining every object upon it.
"There it is!"
Triumphantly, Goku pointed upstream towards what must've been his target, his excitement irrepressible. The other three followed his gaze in curiosity.
From their distance, they could only make out what seemed to be a black, boulder-like object among the other debris. None of them could understand why Goku was getting so worked up over it.
"What's so special about that?" Gojyo demanded.
"Have you all gone deaf? Can't you hear it?!" Goku roared, frustrated at the others' lack of interest.
Gojyo sighed "Sorry kid, but I'll have you know my hearing's a-hundred-percent perfect!" He tapped the seat in front "Oi! Sanzo, you think this idiot's got a hearing problem or something?"
"He's got the ears of a monkey doesn't he?"
"Forget I asked..."
"I don't care!" Goku cut loudly in to prevent the conversation from straying "If we can get a bit closer to the river we'd know for sure! Right, Hakkai?"
"...I guess that's true, but...what do you think, Sanzo?"
Due to the heavy rain, the road was slippery and unleveled, Sanzo had originally instructed that Jeep stay as far away from the river's edge as possible. Up till then they had been travelling so close to the bush, they were practically rubbing up against it.
Now that Goku was begging Hakkai to disobey those instructions, he had no choice but to turn to Sanzo – the sole decision-maker of the group – for directions.
To everyone's surprise, the request was granted rather easily.
"Just don't get too close"
Goku's face broke into a huge grin, but Gojyo was far from happy.
"Hey, I object! Don't you think that's too much trouble?"
"Too much trouble?" Goku scoffed "You're not even the one driving!"
"That's got nothing to do with it! Don't you know that Hakkai's pain is my pain? Any trouble you cause him is trouble for me as well!"
As Goku was left gagging at this sudden 'revelation', Sanzo commented apathetically:
"Well that's the first time I've ever heard of such a thing"
And then, much to Gojyo's dismay, Hakkai chuckled:
"That's actually the first time I've ever heard of it as well"
So much for sharing the pain, it was clear to Gojyo that Hakkai wasn't going to be of any help to him then.
"Oi, Sanzo!" Gojyo leaned forward and groaned into Sanzo's ear "You can't go on spoiling a kid like that! You've gotta make him understand that he can't always get his way!"
Goku was quick to protest, though missing the point entirely:
"Who're you calling a kid?!"
Ignoring Goku, Sanzo turned and met Gojyo's eyes. (1)
"You've got a point there..."
As he uttered those words, Sanzo impatiently pushed Gojyo back into his seat.
"But Sanzo!" Goku hastily cut in, worried that the miraculous consent was going to be withdrawn "Didn't you just say we could? You can't go back on what you said!"
A brief moment of silence later, Sanzo spoke up again.
"Hakkai, that way, drive" He pointed to the left.
The sudden command, which seemed to so sharply contradict what he had just said, left all three of them in shock.
"You mean...towards the river?"
"Well we can't very well go anymore to the right now, can we?"
It was true that there were only inches away from crashing into the bushes, but Hakkai still took a moment to confirm what Sanzo actually meant. It seemed like a good idea however, and, convinced that the decision made sense, he started to steer Jeep. But before the wheels could even turn, a hand landed on his shoulder and rendered him unable to move.
"Gojyo! That was dangerous!"
"Yeah, yeah, sorry..." Gojyo waved it off "Hey, Sanzo, didn't you just say that I had a point there?"
Still pinning Hakkai down by the shoulder, Gojyo again turned to Sanzo, his face the picture of annoyance.
"What about you? Have you forgotten what you said yourself?" Sanzo retorted, glaring at him "Didn't you say 'you shouldn't go on spoiling kids'?"
"Yeah...""And that 'Sometimes, you gotta make them understand they can't always get their own way'?"
"Something like that..."
"Well then get back in your seat and shut up!"
It took all of but five seconds for Gojyo to chew the meaning out of Sanzo's words.
"Why...why are you referring to me as a kid?"
Defeated and dejected, Gojyo took his hand off Hakkai's shoulder and reluctantly sat back in his position, fists clenched.
Sanzo didn't bother to pay the least bit of attention to Gojyo and his complaints, he merely looked at Hakkai, and said:
"Be careful, don't let Jeep fall into the water okay?"
"Yes, understood!"
Hakkai smiled, and replied courteously. He gently stepped on the accelerator, and steered Jeep in the direction that Goku so fiercely wished to go.
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Following Sanzo's orders, Hakkai cautiously inched along the riverbank, trying to stay as close to the edge as he possibly could without incurring the risk of falling in.
Suddenly he gasped, and stopped the Jeep.
"What the..."
Almost in the exact same moment, Sanzo and Gojyo also came to realize what the matter was.
The flow of the river was even more rapid than they had first estimated, and the 'object' of Goku's attention approached them with astonishing speed. That sound which only Goku could make out before has now become obvious to the rest of them as well.
But that makes no sense..."Is that...is that a baby...?!"
It turned out the 'object' was actually a large, open, wooden box. Quite evidently that was the source of the sound.
But..."No doubt about it, that's the sound of a crying baby!" Hakkai muttered in disbelief.
"We'll find out in a minute!" said Goku, all his senses focusing solely on the approaching box.
Though it was only for a split second, all four of them saw clearly what was in the box when it passed by them. A white towel, bundled tightly around a small figure – there was no mistaking it, there was a baby in that wooden box.
And now that they've seen it, the burden has been laid on their conscience.
"Sanzo? What do you suggest we do?"
In the same instant that Hakkai turned to Sanzo for a suggestion, Gojyo gasped:
"Oi! Where's Goku?!"
Before any of them could react, a huge splash came from the river. By the time the three of them looked in that direction, Goku was already making his way across the current with powerful strokes, heading straight for the box.
Despite the fact his agility was unmatched, swimming in such rapid waters was no easy task even for Goku. The box always seemed just that little bit out of reach, a few times he even managed to touch it, but it still kept getting away from him. Still he persisted, trying with all his might to get closer.
Watching Goku's tiring efforts, Hakkai could only commented absently:
"My, Sanzo...you sure have a way with discipline..."
With his index finger against this temple in the vain attempt to subdue an oncoming headache, Sanzo begrudgingly asked:
"Was that meant to be a compliment? Or an insult?"
"Why, the former of course!" Hakkai replied innocently.
Gojyo was feeling no better than Sanzo, after watching Goku's frustrating struggle against the stream for a minute or so, he suggested only half-jokingly:
"Hey Sanzo! Why don't we just leave them there?"
"Now there's the most innovative thing I've ever heard out of you"
"Thank you for the praise"
"Oi, you two..." Hakkai wasn't keen for their discussion to continue, for all he knew it was quite possible they actually would decide to just abandon Goku on this river "If you're really planning to do that, please be prepared to walk the rest of the journey"
Accompanying that announcement was a smile warmer than the brightest ray of sunshine, but the threat was quite clear – If they wanted to leave Goku behind, then there's no way Jeep was going anywhere.
Talk about meeting your match..."Drive, Hakkai"
"This way, of course?"
The route in which Hakkai was intending to take was that in the way of the river flow, where Goku had been carried by the drift, back where they had just come from – that is, towards the east.
Going down a backward road was the last thing Sanzo wanted to do, but with things as they were, he had no choice whatsoever.
"Do whatever you want" Sanzo sighed, giving up.
Wasting no time, Hakkai quickly spun Jeep around in a hundred-and-eighty degree turn, and speedily made the way down the river after their lost companion.
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Note (1): This line, literally translated would've read "firey red eyes met deep violet ones". No kidding! It actually says that! !
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Comments welcome. Very welcome.