A/N: I wasn't planning to update this until the weekend, but...

Yes, so here it is. Chapter three. I swear, Gojyo took over while I was writing this. Really. He wasn't supposed to get about half of the last chapter and a third of this chapter for himself. But he did. And he got a whole one-shot for himself.

Also, the kappa curses in the beginning of this. Just warning you...

Enjoy!

Round 3: Marketplace

"This is idiotic," snarled Sanzo as they left the shop. "Remind me again why I'm out here with you again?"

"Because you needed new shoes, Sanzo," responded Hakkai, holding several packages of clothing and other goods that they had already purchased in his arms. "And I do think that the boots you got are a lot more practical than those sandals."

"Feh."

Sanzo was very irritated with the entire process of going into a shop, trying on shoes, listening to Gojyo hit on a salesgirl, try on more shoes, and watch Gojyo hit on even more girls. At least he had his fan with him, so that he could hit the damned kappa over the head if he got too annoyed. Inwardly, he cursed Kami-sama for this, as it was the whole event involving him that had led to the breaking of his sandals. If it weren't for him he could be back at the inn, smoking and reading the newspaper, instead of out here with these idiots. He glared at the back of Gojyo and Goku's heads; the two were arguing again. His hand twitched, automatically moving towards where his gun hung at his hip. Unfortunately, Hakkai had advised that they not draw any more attention to them, as they would not be as able to fend off youkai attacks if they were to show up. Sanzo had grudgingly agreed, knowing that Hakkai was right.

Sanzo glanced down at his feet. He had finally tossed the sandals, though he had had to wear them until he bought new shoes. A pair of black boots, and he had to admit that they were more practical. And far more comfortable. Hakkai was right, yet again.

Damn it.

Ahead of him the monkey and the kappa were still arguing. And getting louder. He reached towards his gun again.

"Sanzo."

He looked up and saw Hakkai watching him. Damn it. But then…

Hakkai hadn't said anything about not using his fan.

"Shut the hell up! Both of you!"

He hit Goku first, and then, just because he felt like it, he aimed for Gojyo. The kappa, being marginally smarter than the monkey, ducked. Sanzo, being far smarter than either of them, had aimed about a foot below where Gojyo's head had been. Resulting, of course, in the half youkai getting hit fully across the back of his head.

"Damn it, Sanzo! What's your problem?" Gojyo turned around, rubbing a hand over the back of his head, a pissed expression on his face.

"You're my problem, kappa! Now, shut that damned mouth of yours before I hit you again!" He was getting a headache. Another headache. The yelling really wasn't helping it, either, but there was no way that he was going to stop, especially since Gojyo's voice was rising as well.

"I'll shut my mouth when I want to! I don't need a fucking priest telling me what to do!"

Despite Hakkai's words from before, Sanzo whipped out his gun and aimed it at the offending man's head. "How 'bout this, then? Shut the hell up or I'll put a hole through that head of yours!"

Gojyo laughed, causing Sanzo to grow even angrier. "You haven't been able to hit me yet, Sanzo! What makes you think you'll be able to hit me now?"

To the side, Hakkai set a hand to his head, a smile on his face. "Sanzo? You should probably put your gun away. People are starting to stare."

"What do I care about them?" The gun remained pointed at Gojyo. "Now. Shut. The. Hel—"

"Sanzo!"

The incredibly annoying voice cut through his own. He turned his head, looking down at Goku, who was now sitting on the ground, obviously bored with what was going on.

"What?" he snapped, not moving the gun. His finger tightened ever so slightly on the trigger. "If you say that you're hungry, I will shoot both of you."

Goku looked up at him with those annoying golden eyes. "But Sanzo, you can't kill us! You need us for th' mission!"

"Who said anything about killing you?"

Hakkai, who was not able to interfere as his arms were full of bags, began to speak. "If you shoot either of them, Sanzo, we're going to be stuck here for a lot longer. So—"

"Fine." Sanzo lowered the gun, returning it to its holster. "You get to live. For now."

Goku looked at him in confusion. "But you just said that you weren't going to kill—"

"Goku, now would not be the best time for that," said Hakkai. "Now, could you please take some of these bags? You can carry the ones with the food, as long as you don't eat anything."

"All right, Hakkai!" Goku leapt to his feet, taking the bags that Hakkai held out. "Hey, that's not enough food for tonight! We need more!"

Hakkai chuckled. "That will be enough, Goku. Besides—"

"Are planning on cooking?" asked Goku, staring up at him. "That would be—"

"Didn't I just tell you that I'd shoot you if you talked about food?" growled Sanzo, his hand resting on his gun. He really needed to shoot something.

"But Sanzo!"

"Now, now, Goku. I'm sure that Sanzo just doesn't like the noise." Hakkai glanced over at the priest. "Come to think of it, do you have a headache, Sanzo?"

"Yes," muttered the priest, so quietly that only Hakkai could hear him. "And their damned chatter is only making it worse."

Hakkai paused in step, thinking for a moment. Then he handed Sanzo a fair amount of the packages that he had been holding. "Here. Take these."

Sanzo looked down at the bags, tempted to drop them. Then he glared at Hakkai. "What does this have to do with my headache?"

Hakkai gave him one of his smiles. "Ah, Sanzo, it is obvious that you don't want to be out here. You can head back to the inn and have some peace and quiet."

Sanzo blinked. "I'm not carrying these."

"Ack! Don't drop that, Sanzo! It has eggs in it." Hakkai caught the bag before it even left Sanzo's arms. "Look, we are most likely going to buy quiet a bit more stuff, knowing Goku and Gojyo. Besides, taking this stuff back to the inn will give you a reason to get away from here without having to tell them that you have a headache."

"Fine." Sanzo took all the bags, holding them in his arms. He really wanted to drop them. Or shoot them. That would get rid of that urge to shoot something. But he had to admit that, once again, Hakkai was right. If he took the bags then he could head back to the inn and the stupid monkey and kappa didn't have to know that his head hurt. If there was one thing that he really didn't like doing, it was admitting that he was hurt. Hakkai could generally tell, so there was no reason not to tell him. After all, Hakkai rarely got on Sanzo's nerves, so he didn't really mind the black-haired man's concern every once in a while.

And getting away from Goku and Gojyo would be a welcome relief. Even as he began to walk away from them the headache was lessening, making it so that there was less pain wracking his body. He would never admit it, especially around his companions, but his side still hurt like hell. Every time he inhaled there would be sharp pain that lanced through his abdomen. But he had been hurt often enough so that the pain didn't show on his face. It was funny—in an odd, annoying way—how even when he tried to keep all his hurts hidden from the rest of the group, they still worried. Hakkai more so than the others, even if his face didn't show it.

Hakkai wouldn't make a big deal out of it, for which Sanzo was grateful. He would talk to him, ask him what was wrong—which still bothered him to a certain degree—and he would tell him, if it wasn't something too deep in his heart. Minor wounds and pains, yes, he would tell Hakkai about them. About the other things? No, they weren't for anyone but him to know about.

He was also grateful that Hakkai wouldn't tell the others when he was hurting like he was now. Gojyo would make some remark that would piss him off and Goku would worry, which was—in its own way—more annoying than what Gojyo would do.

The streets were fairly crowded and people jostled past him, brushing shoulders with him. Whenever someone touched him his left eye would twitch and if it weren't for the bags in his arms he would have shot someone by now. He was also torn between being glad that he wasn't dressed in his normal fare and being pissed for the same reason. If he were wearing his robes then no one would dare to brush past him in such a way. Of course, then he would have a million people trying to talk to him, to get him to stay and 'bless' their homes and other shit like that.

He couldn't wait until someone got it through their thick head that he had not become a Sanzo priest to help people.

Finally, after trudging through the streets of the town, wading through throngs of people, Sanzo made it back to the inn. He ignored those who sat in the bar, ignored the barkeeper, practically stomped up the stairs and into the room they were staying in. He set the bags down on the table—through 'set' was too gentle a word for it. He simply dropped them on the table, not caring if the eggs cracked. Then he dropped into a waiting chair, crushing his spent cigarette in the ashtray and lighting up another. He put his glasses on and picked up the newspaper.

He still had a headache. It was still there as he scanned over the pages of the paper. Not that reading was the best thing to do when having a headache, but Sanzo really didn't care. In fact, the connection between reading and headaches never even crossed his mind. But then, the biggest cause of headaches for him was his companions, so a minor one caused by reading was nothing.

…

Goku was in a good mood. For him, it was almost a treat to be helping Hakkai with the shopping, especially because he was more likely to buy him food than Sanzo was. Never mind that he was stuck carrying some of the bags; as soon as Sanzo had left they had divided the remaining ones among the three of them, though Gojyo had tried to get out of that. As it was, Gojyo had ended up with the heaviest ones, after some well-chosen words on Hakkai's part about how women liked a stronger man.

They were in the market place, looking for more food and Goku was quite happy to be running from stand to stand, looking at the wide selection of meat and vegetables. There were stands with fresh produce and others that were selling things already cooked, like meat buns.

"Hakkai! Hey, Hakkai!" He tugged on the man's sleeve. "Can I get a beef bun? Can I?"

Hakkai smiled down at the boy. "When we're done, all right?"

"But I'm hungry noooow!"

"Hey, monkey." Gojyo leaned on Goku's shoulders. "Don't you think of anything besides your stomach?"

"Ow! Gojyo, get off, you stupid cockroach! An' stop calling me monkey!" He ducked away, causing Gojyo to lose his balance and making him fall forward until he reached out and steadied himself.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't touch me." The voice was fairly cold but there was a trace of amusement behind it. Goku smirked as Gojyo looked up and found that what he had used to stop his fall was the shoulder of a woman. Gojyo straightened instantly.

"Excuse me about that." He grinned at her, which Goku thought was a mistake, as the woman didn't look particularly happy about him having touched her.

Another woman, one with long white hair and holding the hand of a boy who came up to her waist, turned around, speaking to the first one. "Eshana, what are you stopping for—oh!" She looked fairly surprised as she spotted Gojyo. "Hello, Gojyo-san."

Beside him, Hakkai's eyebrows rose in slight surprise. "Do you know her, Gojyo?" There was a note of reprimand in his voice as he spoke to his friend.

"Yeah," said Gojyo with a grin, ignoring the tone of what Hakkai had just said. "Met her yesterday at the inn. Hakkai, this is Kioko-san. Kioko-san, Hakkai and th-Goku." It seemed as though he was about to call Goku a stupid monkey, but caught himself at the last moment.

"Pleased to meet you." Kioko gave a slight bow, which Hakkai returned. Goku was slightly distracted by the food and so he almost missed what happened next. "This is my friend Eshana," she said, gesturing towards the darker woman who stood beside her. "And this," she reached behind her back, taking the little boy's hand and drawing him forward, "is Vatsa."

The first thing Goku noticed about the boy were his eyes. They were very large as he was obviously amazed by these other people, especially Gojyo, who he was staring at. Goku also noticed that his eyes were a deep red. That in itself was not so odd, as Kougaiji had scarlet eyes. But this boy also had red hair, albeit it was very dark red, but it was still red. But then, Kougaiji had red hair, too…

"Mom?" said Vatsa, still looking up at Gojyo, who was also staring at the boy. "He looks like me. Is he my dad?"

Of all the things Goku liked, including food, one of the top things was seeing people momentarily struck dumb. He just found it amusing. And right now Gojyo was trying to speak but not finding any words. Vatsa's mother was red, though the corners of her mouth were quirking in the semblance of a smile. Hakkai was hiding his own smile behind his hand and Eshana was shaking her head in amusement.

"No, Vatsa," she said, for she was the first to recover, "he isn't."

"Oh." The boy actually seemed disappointed. He cast his eyes to the ground and scuffed his toes in the dirt. "I thought…"

"Ach, you wouldn't want Gojyo as your dad anyway," said Goku, loud enough for everyone to hear him. "He's a jerk an—"

"Oi, Monkey! Shut it!"

"I told you to stop calling me a monkey, you cockroach kappa! Hakkai, didn't I just tell him not to call me a monkey?" Goku turned towards the black haired man, his eyes wide. "Didn't I?"

Gojyo crossed his arms, glaring at the boy. "So you just go to Hakkai about this? Monkey."

"Perverted kappa!"

"Don't mind them," Hakkai said with a smile. "They're always like that."

"Very, ah…hyperactive," commented Eshana, watching the two as they continued to argue, an amused expression on her face.

Kioko was laughing; her hands over Vatsa's ears to keep him from hearing some of the words that Goku and Gojyo were spouting out. "How do you put up with them? I can imagine it would get pretty annoying after a while." She glanced down at Vatsa as she said this and even though the boy couldn't hear everything that she said he turned pink, realizing that said something that involved him.

"Mom…"

Hakkai stooped and picked up one of the bags that Gojyo had dropped when he started beating on Goku. "Yes, it gets slightly annoying. But we do have a mediator—he's just not here currently." He picked up the other bags, holding them all in his arms. Then he glanced over at the two men, who were still bickering, and shook his head. "I tend to just ignore them, to answer your question."

"You ignore us, Hakkai?" asked Goku, bounding away from Gojyo. "Really?"

"Well…"

"Ah, he's kidding, Goku," said Gojyo, coming up behind him and setting an arm around his shoulder. "How can anyone ignore us?"

"Easily, Gojyo-san." Kioko had taken her hands off of Vatsa's ears and the boy was now distracted by a bright stand to the side. "Especially when I have this one to take care of…"

"Mom! Mom, can I have one of those? Can I?" Vatsa asked, bouncing up and down, pulling on his mother's arm.

"Vatsa, stop that. Maybe in a mome—"

"I'll take him, Kioko, if you want to keep talking with these people," said Eshana, taking the boy's free hand. "It was nice meeting you, Hakkai-san." She cast a disapproving glance at the other two and headed off into the crowded street, Vatsa clinging to her hand, her long dark braid swinging behind her as she walked.

"Hey, Hakkai," said Gojyo, moving so that he stood next to Kioko. "Why don't you go get Goku his beef bun now?"

Goku perked up instantly at the mention of food. "Can I get one now? Please, Hakkai?" He sounded almost exactly like Vatsa, even though there was at least a ten-year age difference between the two.

Hakkai sighed, shooting a glance towards Gojyo. "Yes, you can get one. Gojyo…"

"Yeah, I get it. Just go, Hakkai."

Hakkai knew precisely what Gojyo was trying to do. Might as well not argue with him; he doubted that it would work. Never had in the past, after all.

…

"Well, that got rid of everyone," commented Kioko as the other two left to get Goku his food. "I suppose children and friends do have their uses in getting each other out of the way." She grinned at him. "Though I have to say that amusement is also one of those uses."

Gojyo's face became tinged with pink but other than that he didn't seem the least bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that. So, do you want to get something to eat?"

Kioko shrugged. "I suppose so. Everyone else is, as Vatsa will probably drag Eshana off to get him something to eat. And there're plenty of vendors around here…" She glanced around as she spoke, pushing a strand of hair from where it had fallen into her face.

"Well, then, let's get something." Gojyo slipped his arm around Kioko's shoulders. "What do you want?"

"Are you paying?"

"Eh…" He checked the pocket of his jeans for money. "Yeah, guess so."

She shrugged again. "I really have no clue what I want. How 'bout we just walk around, get something if we feel like it?"

Gojyo grinned. "Sure, beautiful. Whatever you want."

"So," she began once they had started walking, "do you want to return to yesterday's conversation? Not that it was very interesting," she continued before he could even open his mouth to respond. "All we talked about was Vatsa."

"It wasn't a bad conversation. After all, it gave me a chance to talk to a beautiful woman." Gojyo slipped his arm from around her shoulders, bringing to down so that it settled around her waist.

"What beautiful woman would that be, Gojyo-san? If I recall, I was the only person talking to you at the time."

Gojyo pulled her closer to him so that their hips touched as they walked. "Hey, haven't you heard me call you beautiful all the time, beautiful?"

"You're just flirting with me, Gojyo-san. But I suppose that I should thank you for the complements. So, thank you." She moved herself far enough away from him that there was no longer any contact between their hips, though she let his arm remain around her waist.

"What's wrong with flirting? Besides, you enjoy it, don't you?"

Kioko laughed for a moment. "I guess so. It's not every day that I get the attention of an attractive man." There was a teasing quality to her voice as she said that, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at him. Then, very suddenly, she sobered, her face and tone becoming more serious, all humor lost in one instant. "Gojyo-san, you know what the red of his eyes and hair mean, don't you?"

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I know what they mean." He ran his free hand through his hair, holding out one of the crimson strands. "Seeing as I'm very similar to that boy. I didn't notice it yesterday; I guess the mud covered it up pretty well." He was trying to make it almost like a joke, but it wasn't working. Kioko's entire demeanor radiated seriousness.

"Gojyo-san," she said, an almost desperate note in her voice. "Gojyo-san, he's…you understand that he's…he's…" Her voice dropped to almost a whisper before she finished what she was saying. "That he's half youkai."

"And so am I," he pointed out in a voice much louder than hers, though not loud enough to draw attention. "You might not have realized it, but so are Hakkai and Goku."

"But…but their hair and eyes aren't—"

"It's complicated. But Kioko-san, it seemed as though there was something you really wanted to say." They paused under the shadow of a building, hiding from the midday sun. "What was it? You can tell me, if you need to."

He had dropped all the joking, flirtatious tones from his voice. It was obvious that Kioko did not want that at the moment.

Kioko swallowed hard, looking out over the crowded streets. "Well…" she began slowly, twisting her hands on the hem of her dress, "Gojyo-san, how did you deal with it? When you were a child?"

He frowned, watching her closely. "Deal with what?"

She took a deep breath before continuing. When she did her words came out quickly, in a long string, as though they had been bottled up inside for so long, pressure building all the while. And now something had created an outlet for those words.

"With the teasing," she began, not stopping to take a breath as the rest of the words poured out. "I mean, I suppose that you weren't necessarily teased. It might just be here. And not many people really know what the hair and eye thing mean, but they do know that it is uncommon and 'weird,' so to speak, and the other children—especially the boy, Goro—tease Vatsa and he sometimes has a hard time dealing with it, and I was just thinking that maybe you would know something, some way that he could deal with it because I really don't want him to grow up thinking that he is a 'freak,' or something, because he isn't, and I really just was—"

"Kioko, stop." He set a hand on either of her shoulders, holding her steady as she gasped for breath. He noticed that there were tears shining in the corners of her eyes. "Just breath."

Kioko closed her eyes, inhaling deeply several times. "I-I'm sorry, Gojyo-san. It's just that I—"

"That you want to protect Vatsa. I understand." But he kind of didn't. Not when his own mother hadn't cared at all about what happened to him. And yet his brother had…so there was a small amount of what Kioko was saying and feeling that he could relate to. "I would say—" He laughed slightly, shaking his head. "I'm not really good at the whole 'advice' thing, Kioko. I guess that all I can say is…" He thought about what he had always hoped his mother would do when he came to her, covered in cuts and bruises, complaining about how the other kids teased him and beat him up. "Is to be there for him. I guess." He shrugged. "I got through everything, but I didn't have my mother there, so…" Gojyo took his hands off her shoulders as she reached up and wiped at her eyes.

"Did your mother die?" she asked, looking up at him with slightly reddened eyes. Gojyo clenched his jaw momentarily, remembering. Painful memories.

"Yeah." And it was the truth. She had died, but Kioko didn't need to know how.

"I'm sorry." She set a hand to his arm and the light pressure was comforting. Then she did something a bit unexpected, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him. Caught off guard, Gojyo hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his own around her. She might not be the most beautiful girl out there, but she was pretty damn nice.

"Hey, beautiful," he said as they pulled apart. "You want to go get a drink?"

Kioko smiled at him, the last traces of what had almost been tears gone from her face. "Yeah. That would be great."

A/N2: So there is it. Were they in character? Was Gojyo not flirting enough with Kioko? For that matter, is Kioko realistic enough?

Till next time,

Raven