That last chapter was just painful. I always hate doing bad things to Goku. It's like kicking a puppy.

Disclaimer: Saiyuki is the property of a lot of big, important people who are not me.

Sound of the Night

Chapter 7: Change

"Get out."

Hakkai gave a smile that was completely devoid of humor and left.

Hearing the soft click of the door – fucking never slams it even when he's pissed – Sanzo fell back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He wanted a cigarette but he was all out, and he really didn't want to go out and get more.

It would be a long time before he got any sleep.

The next day in the jeep made the tension of the last few weeks look like a farce. The longest sentence said during the entire trip was, "Pass me my smokes."

Even Hakkai couldn't pretend that nothing was going on. His smiles were even more empty than usual and he made no attempt at conversation. Sanzo chain-smoked in silence while Gojyo seemed to have made a sort of apathetic truce with Goku and spent an extrordinary amount of time cleaning the bottom of his boots with a pocket-knife.

Goku, for his part, seemed to be inwardly absorbed in an entirely un-Goku like manner, concentrating on something unknown to the others with a minimum of twitching and shuffling. He didn't whine for food once during the entire day, which lit off silent alarms in the heads of the other three.

It was an unspoken agreement that they would all have separate rooms that night and leave each other well alone.

It was an agreement that Goku completely ignored.

Sanzo was readying for bed when Goku came in without knocking. "Sanzo?"

"Fuck off." Not something he normally would have said to Goku, but he was really not in the mood right now. What he was in the mood for was a stiff drink, a cigarette and sleep, in that order.

When Goku didn't budge, he repeated himself. "I said, fuck off."

"Sanzo." Goku stepped forward. It was becoming a battle of wills, and it didn't look as if either would be backing down any time soon. "I'm not leaving."

"Yes, you are." Sanzo drew out his gun and pointed it at Goku. "Now."

Goku didn't budge. Sanzo cocked back the hammer.

Silence.

Sanzo cursed and flipped the hammer forward again before dropping the gun at his feet. "Fine. Do what you want." He got into his bed and lay facing towards the wall.

Goku relaxed a bit and sat on the floor near the bed. "Sanzo? Do you..." His fingers curled into the fuzz of the carpet. "Do you love Hakkai?"

Sanzo tensed. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but that hadn't been it. "No."

Of course Sanzo would say that. His first instinct was denial.

"Then don't sleep with him anymore." Goku's statement was simple and forthright.

"You don't have the right to say that to me."

Goku leaned forward. "It doesn't matter. Just don't do it. Promise me."

Sanzo wanted to ask why Goku demanded this of him, but some deep, smothered part of him was scared shitless that he already knew the reason. He didn't want to hear it. He wanted to keep it as far as possible from himself.

Sanzo's mouth was dry. He didn't know what to say. If he agreed, then he'd be surrendering part of his freedom, his self, to Goku. It would be one more chain wrapped around him, and he knew Goku would pull it tighter. When it came to Goku, everything was more difficult.

If he said no... he would be lying. The sitiuation with the four of them was royally fucked up now, and screwing Hakkai would only make it worse... that is, if Hakkai was still willing, which Sanzowould bet that he wasn't.

Normally Sanzo would insist to himself that he didn't care about all that bullshit, but there's only a certain amount of tension and hostility that you can take before you crack.

Goku waited for Sanzo's response. In any other situation he would have lost his patience. It unnerved Sanzo.

Finally Sanzo spoke. "I won't touch him. But my decision has nothing to do with you."

If Sanzo had been facing Goku, he would have seen a weak smile on the monkey's face. "That's okay. That's enough."

Sanzo could hear Goku getting to his feet and his feet padding towards the door, where the footsteps paused. "Thanks, Sanzo." The door closed.

Sanzo closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply and not think about the implications of what had just happened.

It wasn't working.

Thanks to my reviewers!

iceblitz – I'm hoping to get some sympathy for Sanzo and Hakkai in there, too. They won't be too bad. I think.

altered carbon – We all want to do Hakkai. :P Your compliments are making me blush. :)

SanzoxGoku Lover – I update frequently because the chapters are short. -.-;

jarmets – Thanks for the encouragement!

ObsidianSpires – Nope, not the end, far from it. I hope this chapter satisfies a bit of the desire for dialogue.