Goku jerked his gaze up to the man who had knocked him down, pausing just long enough to reign in his temper before it got the better of him, then getting to his feet and landing a solid smack with his staff across the guy's head.
As his opponent fell to the ground, unconcious, Goku took a quick look around. His own side was winning so far. Goku had done his best to make certain those with firearms were knocked unconcious first, to help keep those weapons from being used, but he could still see a few in the crowd. Gojyo himself had disappeared, although Goku knew he was somewhere, fighting to keep his people alive.
Gojyo had been right about the lack of honor. Akari hadn't bothered to tell his people not to kill anyone. Goku had done his best to make sure his own vicitms ended up unconcious instead of dead, but he could see that some others hadn't been as lucky. Gojyo had wanted to avoid as much death as possible, but it seemed unavoidable. As many people as he knocked to the ground, three more would join in. People were pouring in from the park and the streets, joining one side or another in a bedlem of kicking and punching. Neither side could remain ahead for long.
"GOKU!"
He heard it from two sides at once, but pure habit had him turn toward Sanzo. He was shocked to see the blond approaching, a horrified feeling pinching his stomach at the sight of the other. What the hell was Sanzo doing here? His mind screamed at him to join the other, to make sure that Sanzo came to no harm.
But he was unable to make even one step before a sharp pain snapped through his skull and, dazed, he fell to his knees.
"So, you're this 'secret weapon' that I've heard rumors about," a cool voice stated.
Things were happening so quickly, Goku's mind was spinning. In one moment, Sanzo was in front of him, standing between himself and Akari. Gojyo appeared seemly out of nowhere, having been the other person to yell Goku's name. Obviously calling a warning, although it had been pointless.
"I don't know what the fuck you are, but you better be prepared to die, you little shit. I'm not going to let you help Gojyo win this war," Akari continued, his gun poised in Goku's direction.
"Knock it off, Akari. Your fight is with me," Gojyo stated darkly.
Goku pushed himself to his feet, the pain from Akari's punch to the side of his head already fading as he attempted to move forward. He was shocked when Sanzo's elbow nudged him back, forcing him behind the other man.
"My fight is with all of you," Akari snarled. "You, sitting on your high horse all of these years. You never even though that anyone in your little troop could go against you. Well, I hate to break it to you, Gojyo, but I knew long ago that you had a little friend with some kind of abnormal ability. Really, you should check what you say."
"You aren't going to hurt him," Sanzo growled before Gojyo could reply.
Akari raised his eyebrows at the blond, and shifted his gun to point at Sanzo's chest. "Do you really think I won't shoot you? That freak isn't going to take down anymore of my guys. I'll kill you, if you don't get out of the way."
The tense silence seemed to stretch forever, no one moving. Goku's eyes were trained on the gun, still pointed at his love's chest, and the rest of the world seemed to slip away. Sanzo had planted his feet firmly, obviously not going to move, but Goku could see Akari's finger tightening around the trigger.
The sound of the gun was nearly deafening, and too late Goku realized his mistake. Never would he take it back, but the consequence was more than he'd thought it would be. He would do anything, anything at all, when it came to protecting those he loved.
He'd always been shorter than Sanzo. He just hadn't realized until this exact moment that his head came up to about the same place as Sanzo's heart. It seemed as though he could hear it, the throbbing pounding overtaking everything else until it was all he could hear, almost soothing in it's regularity.
He had only a short moment, his thoughts spiraling through his mind in random whirls, before blackness came over him and the sound of that heart stopped.