Test of Time

Author: Blubelle

Ch.4 Like Father Like Daughter

AN: "Such a softer sin". I'm getting there. A little bit is revealed here, but other than that nothing much happens. Heh, you gotta do what you gotta do. Sorry about last week, I feel really bad about being late, so I updated on Sunday this week instead of Monday (you wouldn't be able to tell though because it was like half an hour from midnight). Busy weekend though. Bleh! Powderpuff Football, my brother's football game, work, mounds of homework, babysitting. All over! Moving on, I hope you enjoy. . . Oh and don't worry about the monks, as much as I love them, they have to get their due eventually. Read 'em, skip 'em, do whatever you like, it's not like I can stop 'ya! Hehe.

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or any of its affiliated divisions, this is mine but the characters and background is not. Except of course Nishi, who is my flesh and blood. . . Ever notice how small the writing on the back of things are getting?

Ch.4 Like Father Like Daughter

"Have you seen them lately?"

"I hear that they're still asleep. Lazy, just as I thought."

"Careful, those hooligans may be asleep, but Master Sanzo wakes quite early as usual."

"Ah, yes, but it isn't as if we are doing anything against him. We are merely commenting on the situation. No harm in that, am I right?"

"Agreed."

"But how I hate them. . ."

"Agreed." The monk shook his head in affirmation for the second time. Both sat stiffly in their chairs, unsure of what to do and whether they should be doing what they were doing.

"Their old companions are coming today, or so I've heard."

"You mean overheard. Heh, I'm sure they will be no easier to handle than the bothersome duo we are currently housing. Such a shame."

"Agreed."

The two of them stayed that way for the rest of the morning not daring to talk further on the subjects. They were both scared out of their wits to continue any more conversation, and so they sat, rigid and silent. It was going to be a long day.

X::X::X

Sanzo sat in a back room of the grounds. It was a place he considered the most peaceful, and really it was a very quiet place out of the way of the commotion of the temple. He quietly read his newspaper, a full ash tray on the table in front of him. It was getting closer to noon and he was getting anxious. The minutes dragged on to excruciating lengths that made the silence unnervingly loud. They were still asleep.

The newspaper articles became rows of nothingness, blending into large black blots all across the page. His mind was drifting, so often now that it was beginning to scare him. His mind always drifted to Goku, no matter how hard he tried not to think about him. He couldn't help wonder about their conditions, it was just too weird. Goku, with a daughter, it didn't seem possible. Sure she wasn't biologically his, but from the looks of it, he raised her, and that alone brought up even more questions.

"I can't take this anymore".

In one swift motion he was out the door and down the hall. Sanzo was on a mission, he ignored every monk that tried to stop him, and stomped in the straightest path he could to their room.

Finally, he'd arrived. He opened the door, without knocking and not even attempting to sneak. And there in front of Sanzo was the sleeping pair.

They lay snuggled together on the small twin sized bed. Goku was closest to the door and took up the most room. He was sprawled out on his back and looking as peaceful as ever; well at least he wasn't drooling. One arm was stuck under his sleeping partner, who was snuggled up to him on her side. Her right arm clung to his loose nightshirt while the other one was snaked up under his shirt and over his chest. Sanzo couldn't help wondering how that was a comfortable sleeping position, but they did look happy.

Sanzo wasn't swayed by the scene in front of him, instead he got even more agitated. He wasn't quite sure why, but he decidedly chocked it up to the fact that they were still in bed.

Taking a deep breath, in a voice just under shouting he announced, "breakfast"!

As soon as the last syllable rolled off his tongue the two had woken up.

"What?"

"Breakfast?" Both were still half asleep and Nishi was now propping herself up on Goku. Her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. Goku's shirt hung off of one of her shoulders as she yawned into her fist. "Hungry." She stated closing her eyes again and leaning heavily on Goku.

"So. . .tired." Goku said, rolling over and almost squishing Nishi who was now completely awake.

"Hey! Go-kuu! I'm hungry, get off! Come on wake up." Nishi shouted trying to drag Goku from bed as she scooted out from under him. She wasn't succeeding. After one last tug she lost her grip of his wrist and fell to the floor, landing hard on her butt. In an instant she was back on her feet, a bright blush tinting her puffy cheeks, her anger rising and also showing on her face.

"Goku. . . you better get up right now or I'll tell Sanzo that yo-" In an instant a hand was over her mouth. She looked to her side at Goku who was squatting behind her. She hadn't even seen him move. He came to her side and made her face him, giving her a sharp glare that told her he was far from happy with her. Her eyes were the only thing that could show her regret.

"Okay Nishi. I'm awake." Goku said, his anger dissipating quickly due to the sadness on her face. It was obviously just a slip of the tongue. He slowly took his hand away, forgetting for a moment that it was even there. This of course gave Nishi permission to talk.

"I'm so sorry Goku, I didn't- I mean I. . ." Nishi mumbled, her eyes beginning to get glossy as she stared up at him.

"It's okay Shi, go ahead and get something to eat. You remember where to go right?" Goku said, tilting her head up to look at him instead of the floor. With a smile he brushed the tears from her eyes. "Don't worry about it." He added sounding almost boyish, reminding Sanzo of all the years he'd spent with him before he'd left.

Nishi nodded her head and walked quickly out of the room and in the direction of the kitchen. She was still wearing nothing more than Goku's over sized shirt, which was swinging around her legs like a dress.

Goku sighed as he moved over to where his jeans lay, still pooled on the ground as if he'd just stepped out of them. "You're getting a kick out of this aren't you?" Goku asked as he pulled his jeans up over his shorts.

Sanzo casually walked over to a nearby chair, watching Goku dress out of the corner of his eye, but failing to make any effort in answering his question.

Goku didn't expect him to answer, nor did he really want him to. "So, you came all the way down here just to wake us up?"

"No one should sleep in that late."

"Yeah, I suppose we should all be good little monks and wake up at daybreak." Goku said languidly, putting his hands on his hips, sarcasm smeared across his face. Afterwards, though, he immediately dropped them, letting out a large sigh as he did so. "I guess it's because I don't have to work right now, we used to have to wake up at all hours in the morning and night just to get to work. I hated dragging Nishi along, but I knew I couldn't leave her alone, she wouldn't let me leave her alone".

"What kind of job?" Sanzo asked leaning back further into the wooden chair.

"Well, I've had a lot of different jobs, but the last one was for this asshole. I was a hired bodyguard. On call all the time. He was paranoid all the time." Goku plopped onto the bed and stared intently at the ground in complete disgust.

"What happened?" Sanzo asked casually pulling out a cigarette while looking as uncaring as usual, but really, he wanted to know what was bothering him.

"He, well- uh, he died in his sleep." Goku said looking up expectantly.

"You mean he died while sleeping? Why? What'd he do?" Sanzo asked, knowing full-well that it wasn't just a man dieing peacefully in his sleep from old age.

"He attacked Nishi, that perverted old jackass. . ." Goku's anger subsided and soon turned to guilt. "I tore him apart. I had never killed someone so brutally, with so much anger. I couldn't control myself." Goku looked down ashamedly.

"Don't be ashamed Goku. People like that deserve to die." Sanzo said nonchalantly.

"I know. It's probably the first thing I've ever kept from Nishi."

"There are probably a lot of things that she doesn't need to know."

"We should go find her, who knows what she could be doing." Goku said putting on a smile as he got up off of the bed.

"If she's anything like you, she'll be running those monks ragged, dirtying the temple, and messing up large stacks of papers." Sanzo said, a small smile creeping through.

Goku smiled at the memories, for once, it felt good to be back. "Heh, I did have some fun in this place." They both stood and began for the door.

"Like father like daughter." Sanzo said calmly without thinking.

At the statement Goku's smile grew ten times. He was grinning like an idiot now. These were the moments that Goku had treasured when he was younger, the instances when Sanzo opened up, even if only a little. Those times when he spoke with his emotions instead of with his head. Preferring self and sensory over rationality and responsibility

The two continued side by side down the hallway towards the kitchen. Both feeling slightly better about where they were at the moment.

"Gojyo and Hakkai aren't really coming are they?" Sanzo asked suddenly, tilting his head ever-so-slightly so that he could see Goku as they walked.

"UNCLE HAKKAI! UNCLE GOJYO!"

"Oh yeah, they're coming."

Okay, maybe I needed two build-up chapters. Oh well, at least you get to see a little bit of what they've been through. It's not exactly pretty. . . I think. We're really getting to the meat of it, next chapter you're going to find out a lot (knowing me it won't). So yeah, it's going to get a lot more fun from here on out, at least for me it will. Hopefully you'll enjoy it too.

Well now that I look at it, it may be two chapters until I get to their background, unless that is, if I make it one huge chapter. Depends on how long it'd be, cause you know I'm all about proportionalism it's a word now. "The Art of Proportioning". Thas right!

Next Chapter: "Oh Nishi I can't believe you think I'd do something like that." Gojyo said in mock-hurt. "So to make up for it, I gotcha these." Gojyo said, winking as he pulled out an assortment of hair-ties. "I figured we could use them tonight."

"I can do your hair? Yea! Thank you Uncle Gojyo."

Oh course as usual, this was much longer, but next chapter might be kinda short so I had to cut this down. Oh and this is all subject to change, just in case you were wondering.

Thanks and please review, only if it's just a few words, let me know you're out there! Flames, corrective criticism, shout outs, anything and everything is accepted so don't hesitate, but please be honest.