A/N: :gets down on knees: I'm SOOOO sorry this took like… forever to post up! All in honesty, I've been trying my best to come up with a good part 2, since I plan to make it only up to 3 parts. And so… I came up with this! Ahh… and also, I edited Part 1 so, please go and read that soz you won't be confused in this part. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Saiyuki doesn't belong to me… only Minekura Kazuya-san owns them…

One Special Promise
Part 2

What Lies Ahead

It had been several hours since the Sanzo party met Arisa in front of her village. They had left the area a while ago and found an open area somewhere deep in the forest to camp out. They were trying to come up with a plan to convince the villagers that Arisa is just a normal human and that she just wants to help them out. So far, no one had agreed on each other's plan… especially Gojyo, since he kept coming up with weird things for Arisa to do.

Arisa sat on the ground and watched Gojyo walk back and forth in front of her with her eyebrows lifted and her eyes fixed upon the bottom of his chin. She sighed to herself and bowed her head down, thinking that it was pointless to do anything. Gojyo stomped his foot really hard against the ground, which made the girl's head jerk back up with widened eyes.

"How about… we all dress up in robes… and they wouldn't know what hit them!"

"How about… not?"

The red head grunted at Sanzo who stuck a cigarette in his mouth. Goku rocked back and forth and sighed.

"You said that already anyway."

"Be quiet! That's the best idea I can come up with!"

"Yeah, and the only idea you have."

"SAY THAT AGAIN, MONKEY!"

As the two couple commenced their ever-so long-lasting fight, Hakkai chuckled and kneeled down next to Arisa, who didn't bother to look at him. She was starting to lose hope, even though she appreciated all the help she was getting from them. Hakkai leaned forward, trying to get a better view of the girl's face.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way," he whispered in her ear.

Arisa sighed and brought her knees up to her chest. "Thanks… for helping me…"

Hakkai smiled softy. "No trouble at all."

"I just… really want to help all the sick people in that village with the meal we were suppose to make. When I went inside the village… I noticed a lot of sick and weak people… some that were under these terrible conditions for a very long time… and they're slowly dying away…"

"… Arisa…"

"I tried to tell them about my special meal, but they thought I would just poison them. I guess, ever since they banished me from the village, they got into the habit of thinking I was youkai… just because I had youkai parents I didn't know I had."

Hakkai narrowed his eyes and turned towards Sanzo who noticed his determined face. He shrugged and puffed out a smoke of his cigarette.

"Are you just going to sit there and let your mind fill with shit?"

Arisa gasped and looked at the monk who stared into her eyes with those shimmering purple eyes.

"Is this a person that's determined to do anything to fulfill such a promise?

"..."

Arisa stood up and smiled as she looked up into the bright moon. She turned around and clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. Goku and Gojyo noticed this and finally stopped their hair-pulling fight. The moon's glare brought out such an innocent picture of Arisa as it seemed to make her whole figure glow. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and faced Sanzo.

"… hand me some of those matches… I have an idea."

The crowd of people suddenly formed outside of the village, holding up lit torches and various sharp objects in the air. They observed the area and signaled the others to retreat inside the village for the night.

A young man entered his home and sighed as he sadly looked at his very sick child that was wrapped around in his wool blanket. He stroked the child's pale cheek.

"It has been months and he's not getting better, Kio."

Kio turned around and spotted his wife kneeling behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He then resumed his watch on the boy.

"… the virus has been spreading rapidly all of a sudden." He narrowed and closed his eyes with a serious look on his face. "… and why hasn't anyone been doing anything about it?"

"It's those youkai! Everyone is frightened by them!"

"But, there hasn't been any attacks since then! We're located deep inside the forest where no one is able to find us!"

"But… what about that girl! She's a youkai! She can attack us anytime!"

'… but she hasn't…' Kio said to himself.

Just then, slashing noises sounded off right outside of the village. The man quickly got up to his feet and headed straight into the crowd that was forming once again. A youkai fell down in front of him, gushing out green liquid from its sides. The man widened his eyes and looked up at one of the men from the crowd who twirled his spear around.

"Damn! Youkai have invaded our village!"

'What!'

The tops of the trees rustled in unison, creating an ear-splitting noise as many youkai jumped towards the ground. The villagers backed away and drew out their weapons while the youkai moved closer to them.

"How did you find us?" one of the villagers roared loudly.

"We haven't been sighted from any youkai since!" another yelled out.

A tall youkai with short dark hair made his way through his cronies and grinned. "But, thanks to the Sanzo group… it was easy to find this place. And… I heard you guys had a lot of food… and humans worth eating."

The villagers growled at that and aimed their weapons at the youkai, who didn't seem worried about their actions. They looked at each other and grinned victoriously.

"You humans… are finished."

"Waaahh-! It smells so gooood!"

Goku leaned forward and sniffed the steamy food that was letting out such a delicious aroma. Arisa sniffed it as well and stirred the various mushrooms around, making a sizzling noise that made Goku create a puddle of drool on the ground in front of him. Gojyo pushed him aside and took in the delicious aroma.

"Mmm… smells really good."

Arisa smiled. "Thanks. This… is actually the first time I ever cooked it."

"Eeehh? So… how do you know if it works?"

"Don't worry… my parents thought of the formula for a while, so, I trust that it will work."

Goku sat on top of Gojyo's shoulders and knocked on his head like two bongos. "So? When can we eat!"

The girl scooped up a little sample for the over excited boy and stuck the spoon in his mouth. He fell over and waved his arms around with red cheeks.

"Wow, wow! It tastes so good! And I feel refreshed!"

"You guys deserve to try some if you'd like!"

"Thank you very much!" Hakkai smiled as he helped himself to some food.

Sanzo remained in his spot and turned his head slightly to the right and sniffed the air. He narrowed his eyes and quickly sat up. Arisa noticed this and brought out a bowl for him to eat out of.

"Sanzo? Would you like to tr-"

"… I smell blood."

That made Goku and company pause and look to where Sanzo was looking. Gojyo helped Arisa up as they made their way through the forest.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked, quite worried at the moment.

Everyone remained silent until they made it to the village. They backed away from the powerful aroma of human blood that was heading their direction. Arisa's eyes widened as she stepped inside the village. She looked around and spotted all the dead corpses of the mob that was abusing her earlier that day.

"What… happened…"

"Y-Youkai!"

Arisa gasped and looked around, finally spotting a young man. She kneeled down next to him, but the man slowly moved away from her. Arisa made a sad face and asked,

"What happened?"

"…y-youkai!" he repeated again, coughing up blood.

"… youkai… did this?"

The man nodded and slowly sat up. "T-They attacked our village… killed all the weak people… and left, taking our food with them…"

Arisa narrowed her eyes and stood up, making the man look at her and wonder where she was going. She turned around and gave out a soft smile.

"I'll be back… please… trust me."

'… I believe in her…' he said to himself. '… everyone fears this girl for no reason… she hasn't done anything to us… even after…'

His thoughts were cut short as he gazed at the girl who turned around and headed outside of the village, where the Sanzo team followed her to where they had camped out.

Several hours have passed by since Arisa came back to the village to help heal those who were slightly injured and for the ones who were really sick. Soon, the whole village was filled with the delicious aroma of Arisa's special meal. The boy who used to be sick for several months, was outside, frolicking with his other friends. His parent's hugged Arisa and thanked her for all the help. She smiled and turned to the Sanzo team who nodded at her.

The man from the mob appeared in front of the girl and patted her head.

"Thank you…"

"After I heard about your little problem, I had this meal prepared just for this village. That's why… I wanted to come back."

The man stepped back and gave her a serious face. "We thank you… but… we feel you don't belong here."

Arisa widened her eyes and stepped away. Gojyo snorted in the back and grabbed the man's shirt collar, practically lifting him above the ground.

"What the heck do you intend to do! She helped your damn village! Why can't you accept her?"

"Youkai is youkai. For all we know, she could change into one any time now!"

"B-Bastards…"

"It's okay, Gojyo…"

He turned around and spotted Arisa with a slight smile on her face. She turned her head away and clasped her hands together in front of her.

"I finally got to fulfill my promise to my parents. Now, my job is now complete."

"B-But… what about… what about the rest of the people who still need your medicine? There are still hundreds more villages who need your-"

"Besides! Your food tastes good!" Goku interrupted, clenching his tiny fists in front of him. "Before, your village loved your cooking! You should bring that back!"

"…"

"I would really like to try more of your delicious food!"

"Let's go."

The monk turned and walked out of the village. Goku bowed his head and finally followed Sanzo out of the village. Hakkai hesitated and bowed down slowly then followed Goku, knowing that, whatever decision she made, he and his friends couldn't stop it. But, deep inside, he felt that she should do something more. Gojyo remained in front of Arisa who stood there for a few seconds before departing from the village. He grabbed her arm and turned her around, so that she was face to face with a really pissed off looking Gojyo.

"Listen! It's great that you finally accomplished something that seemed impossible, but I know you still want to help this village! And… maybe other villages as well who are under the same conditions as this one! Think about it! This place doesn't have anymore food… you're the only one who can help them!"

"… but I'm not needed."

"Who gives a DAMN! It's about time you start taking some risks! Quit giving up so easily! That's not how you acted before!"

Before she could give out her answer, the trees rustled as youkai jumped out from hiding and landed right behind of Arisa and Gojyo. The red head stepped in front of Arisa and called out his weapon. The villagers gasped and retreated inside their homes.

"Aw, crap. And to think this was the first day youkai wouldn't attack us." Gojyo sighed and twirled his weapon around.

"We were coming after you, but you led us to something even better," a random youkai said in front of the crowd.

"What do you want this time!" a villager said in the back.

The tall youkai made his appearance and grinned, looking down at the puny and helpless weaklings. "It seems that we are hungry again… and we were wondering if you had any good humans for us to eat."

The chains of Gojyo's weapon wrapped around the tall youkai's hands as Gojyo began tightening his grip on them.

"That's just gross, eh? Eating humans…"

Arisa's eyes widened as she stepped back in horror.

"…d-dad?"

A/N: End of Part 2! Ah! I feel like I just accomplished like… some huge essay that's due the next day. :jumps around: I feel happy finally making a Part 2! Once again, I'm sooo sorry for the long wait. :begs for forgiveness: Anyways! Hope you enjoyed this part and please tell me how you thought of it!