A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. There's been a lot going on in real life, and this story got pushed to the back burner for a while. Also, the characters weren't really behaving as I wanted them to...

This chapter is also pretty short, compared to the last chapter. It is a bit of a transitional chapter. I wasn't quite sure how to start it, either, so it took a while to write. It also starts a bit of time after the end of the last chapter; Eshana is no longer in the room. I'll explain a what happened in the next chapter, though not in any great detail.

Sorry, for the wait. Thank you to all who reviewed, and all who read.

Round 8: Run

"Gojyo, hold still. This wound is pretty deep, and I need to disinfect it first, before I heal it. The gods only know how much we need another person to fall ill." Hakkai dabbed at the gash in Gojyo back with a piece of fabric that had been saturated with alcohol. The kappa winced, grinding his teeth together.

"Damn it, Hakkai. Why the hell—" His words cut off as he let his head drop, resting it in his hands. "Shit, you leave that damn priest alone for five minutes and he gets in a crap load of trouble!"

There was a clicking sound beside his head and Gojyo glanced to the side, not surprised to find Sanzo's revolver aimed at his skull.

"You want another injury?" The priest was moving surprisingly fast for someone who had just been…poisoned? Gojyo still wasn't quite getting it, but that was all right. He supposed.

Gojyo attempted to smirk, though the expression turned to a grimace as Hakkai attacked his back with the alcohol again. "What, is there some other youkai who wants to kill me?"

Hakkai sighed, corking the bottle of alcohol and setting it to the side. "Sanzo, please put your gun away. After all, it would be a waste to kill him after I've worked so hard to patch him up."

Sanzo glanced at the green-eyed man, gun still aimed at Gojyo. "You haven't healed him yet, Hakkai."

"Yeah, all you've done is waste precious alcohol—wait. Why am I agreeing with you?" Gojyo frowned, then winced again.

"Blood loss," Hakkai said, almost pleasantly. Far too calmly, especially for someone who was patching up his friends back. "And most likely a sleepless night. I am assuming you were with that woman—Kioko-san?"

Gojyo nodded. "Yeah, I was. But nothing happened."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Sanzo returned his gun to its holster, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He was still glaring in Gojyo's general direction. Doubtless the damned priest thought that shooting him would just be a waste of bullets, or something else like that. "Now, Hakkai? Will you explain what happened, as I am sure this idiot needs to hear again."

Gojyo almost jumped up at that. As it was, he merely narrowed his eyes and curled his hands into fists. "You fucking priest. Why don't you just admit that you don't understand what Hakkai said?"

"Gojyo, I told you to hold still." Hakkai held his hands over the lower portion of Gojyo's back, where a red slash seemed to divide him in half. He was still bleeding, the blood running down his sides to pool on the floor.

He supposed that Hakkai was right when he mentioned blood loss might be clouding his judgment.

Then he felt something along that part of his back. He supposed that Hakkai had begun using his chi to heal the wound; his skin heated slightly, as though a candle was being held several inches from it. After a moment, however, the temperature dropped, and then it felt like thousands of needles--or some other sharp pointed thing like that—were being driven through his skin and deep into his flesh. The pain, which had dulled since the wound was originally inflicted, came flaring back as the muscles knit themselves back together and the blood vessels repaired themselves. He inhaled sharply, his face paling. He'd had no idea that it hurt this much to be healed. The last time Hakkai had healed him he'd been unconscious.

Crap, that hurt.

There was one last bit of searing pain, as though fire had been set upon his skin, and then it was gone. Gojyo uncurled one hand, just now realizing how tensed he had become. His nails had dug into his palms to deeply that they had left small crescent shaped indents.

In place of the pain, however, was a feeling of extreme weakness, as though he had been sick and out of it for weeks. He hated the feeling.

"Holy…hell," he gasped out, setting his forehead against the table.

"Indeed. Now, please try not to do anything to reopen that wound." Gojyo turned his head just in time to see Hakkai take one shaking step, then the man practically collapsed into a chair.

"Believe me, I won't." Gojyo reached his arm around, running a hand over his back. Skin; smooth except for a ridge of scar tissue. Hakkai's healing wasn't perfect, by any means. Left a scar, was easily reopened—unless it was something small and insignificant, and in that case Hakkai had no reason to heal it—took a ton of energy out of Hakkai, and hurt like hell to go through. "You all right?"

Hakkai nodded, though Gojyo noticed that his face seemed paler. The dark haired man raised a hand to his head, massaging his temples. "Yes. It might have been better to wait until I was fully recovered from our last—well, I suppose it can no longer be considered our last incident. However, waiting any longer would have resulted in you being dead."

"You should have waited, Hakkai," growled Sanzo, withdrawing a package of cigarettes from his robes. "Would have saved me the trouble of killing him."

Hakkai gazed at the priest, a wry smile on his lips. "Oh, and Sanzo? It would be best if you were to not smoke for a few days. Or drink any alcoholic beverages. Depending on what poison was used—or what drug, as that is what I am guessing that it was—mixing any of them could produce some…unwanted results."

Sanzo paused, an unlit cigarette between his fingers. "Like hell, Hakkai."

Hakkai swallowed, his eyes squeezing shut. "I'd think that you wouldn't want to risk holding up this mission any longer, Sanzo. If you do end up causing something that is possibly even fatal by ignoring my words we may end up stalling for quite a long time."

Gojyo managed a smirk, though he still felt feverish and weak. "Can't argue with that logic, boyo. Might want to put those things away."

Hakkai stepped in before Sanzo could say anything or do anything, setting a hand on Gojyo's shoulder. "I would also suggest that you give up the cigarettes for a few days; at least until you've had some time to recover."

"You were saying, kappa?" Despite Hakkai's words, Sanzo had the cigarette in his mouth and was lighting it. Seeing the look on the man's face, Sanzo stopped for a moment. "I'm not giving these up."

Hakkai glanced at Gojyo. "I suppose that you won't be taking my advice either?"

"Damn straight," said Gojyo with a strained grin. "Hell, I'll probably be half-dead next week, whether I smoke or not. Knowing our luck, I'll end up with some knife in my gut. After all, that fucking youkai got away."

"Speaking of that youkai, I believe we should discuss what we are going to do next." Hakkai sat back down, though the color was slowly returning to his face.

"What is there to discuss?" asked Sanzo, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "We get out of this damned town. We've been sidetracked for far too long, and we can't afford it. From what you've explained to me, Hakkai, those youkai attacks all happened when we were separated. It seems to well coordinated to be just chance."

Hakkai nodded. "I agree. In fact, I don't think that you being drugged was simply chance either. All of this points to someone behind it."

Gojyo raised his eyebrows. "Our wonderful friend Kougaiji?" The pain in his back was fading by the moment, making him feel much more comfortable.

Hakkai shrugged, leaning back against the wall. "It could be. He hasn't been around for a while; you never know if he's come up with some better way to kill us, or to get the sutra, whichever is his aim."

Gojyo shot Hakkai a sharp look. "You all right?"

The man sighed. "I already answered that, Gojyo."

Gojyo sat up a bit straighter, feeling the scar on his back stretch painfully with his movement. "You look like shit."

"Why, thank you."

"What he means is that you'd better quite healing people when you, yourself, are injured. You'll kill yourself one of these days."

Hakkai smiled weakly. "I thank you for your concern, Sanzo. But please, don't worry about me. I know when it is too much."

Gojyo snorted. "Yes, of course you do. That's why you have a habit of passing out after healing." A shadow passed over Hakkai's face, and Gojyo decided that he had better let the topic drop. "So. Where's the monkey?"

Hakkai seemed relieved that the conversation had moved away from his healing abilities. "I sent Goku to pick up our things. As it is, he is in the best condition."

Gojyo stifled a laugh. "You sure that's smart? The idiot'll end up blowing all our money on food. Wait," his eyes grew wide, "you didn't give him the credit card, did you?"

Hakkai dipped his head. "Yes, I did. Goku isn't that irresponsible, Gojyo. He knows what to do, and he will do it."

Sanzo tapped the ash off of the end of his cigarette. "Are you sure this is the same Goku that we all know?"

Gojyo grinned, rubbing a hand over the scar. Damn, it still hurt. "The brat doesn't even know how to buy something! He'll try to eat the card, Hakkai! Crap, he'd probably do that, too!"

Hakkai folded his hands in his lap, the smile gone from his face. "I think that you underestimate him, Gojyo. You as well, Sanzo." He leaned forward slightly, as though that would get his point across better. "Food isn't all that makes up Goku."

"Could have fooled me."

Hakkai sighed, rising from his seat. "I can see that you don't believe me. I told him to be back by lunch, then I would buy him something to eat. Does that make you feel better, Gojyo?"

Gojyo was shocked. There was almost a bitter quality to Hakkai's voice, something that Gojyo hadn't heard for quite some time. There wasn't that much to the monkey, was there? Granted, Hakkai had a way of seeing more to someone than what met the eye, but still. Goku wasn't that hard to figure out. Was he?

…

At that moment, in the middle of town, Goku was sitting on the bench where he and Hakkai had waited for Gojyo the night before. There were several packages lying next to him, containing the clothing and supplies that Hakkai had asked him to pick up. He'd had a small amount of trouble getting and paying for them, as his looks and mannerisms marked him as someone too young to have money. It took him quite a while to convince the salesperson that he did indeed have the money and that he was also the person who needed the stuff.

And stuff was really what he could call it, as he hadn't been paying attention when Hakkai had ordered it the day before. He didn't know what was in the packages, though he was pretty sure that Sanzo's robes were in one of them…

His stomach was rumbling, but he had promised Hakkai that he wouldn't buy anything to eat until he returned to the room. He wasn't particularly happy about that promise, but he had give Hakkai his word, and he wouldn't break it. No matter how good the smells from the food booths around the market were.

He kicked his foot idly before him. There weren't a lot of people out, and those that were talked only about the youkai attacks from earlier. There was also some talk about a red haired guy who had taken out more than a dozen of them; Goku was sure they were talking about Gojyo. After all, there weren't many red haired people around, and who else would go after that many youkai? Or be attacked by that many?

He should probably head back to the room. It was getting close to lunch time, he had all the stuff, and he really had no reason to be sitting here.

Then, from the corner of his eye, Goku saw something that had him tense and sit up straight.

A man was limping along, walking near to the walls of the buildings so that he could use them for support. He appeared to be completely human, but Goku had fought with that man long enough to recognize the short hair and the angular features of his face. Also, he remembered Gojyo slicing that man across the leg, and this guy was limping.

There was no doubt in his mind; this was the youkai that had attacked him.

Goku held one of the packages in front of his face as the man passed. Good, he didn't appear to have noticed him, just continued on his way…out of town? The street that he had turned onto seemed to lead out towards the forest.

Goku gathered up the bags and packages in his arms, silently cursing himself for having them. He should have just left them behind on the bench, but he carried them with him. If he needed to fight, he could just drop them.

Staying at a distance behind the man, Goku followed him down the street. No one spoke to him at all; it was as though no one knew him. Then, from one of the alleyways, stepped another man, this time one with longer black hair. He approached the first man and set his hand on his shoulder. The two stood there for a moment, speaking, then moved off again, the second man supporting the first.

Goku's blood ran cold. He knew that second man. It was the guy who had shown up the night before, who had looked at Sanzo's wound. The guy who had poisoned him! He was sure of it, especially now that he saw those two together.

He didn't bother to follow the two the rest of the way to forest; he turned tail and began to sprint back the way he had come, his grip tightening on the packages. He needed to tell the others what he had just seen. He knew it was important, and he knew that they would want to hear about it.

He wasn't paying so much attention to where he was running, so it was inevitable what happened. He ran headlong into someone, knocking them over, and sending his packages flying.

"I'm sorry," he said breathlessly, scrambling to retrieve them. "I-I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That's all right." One of the packages was handed to him, and Goku looked up. It was a young woman who held it, her skin darker than most of the other people around. She didn't look incredibly out of place, just…different. "You seem to be in a hurry."

Goku took the bundle, tucking it under his arm. "Yeah. Um, I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what else to say, and he really needed to get going. It felt strange to be apologizing, as he didn't do that very often. Of course, he didn't run into people that often, either, unless he did it on purpose. If that were the case it was typically during a fight. Therefore, he wouldn't apologize. But right now… "Sorry, but I have to go."

He took off at a run, just barely catching her laugh and the words, "watch where you're going!"

The inn was still pretty much in shambles, one wall caving inward. The bottom floor seemed all right, and Goku hoped that they would be able to rebuild. Not that he had any attachment to the inn or anything; he just didn't like the idea that they were leaving someone without their business.

As he raced into the inn, he saw the innkeeper—he still didn't know his name—cleaning something up. There were other people helping, but he was the only one that he recognized, even if he didn't know his name.

He passed him, feet pounding on the stairs as he hurried up to the second floor. There was no one else in the hall, so he didn't have to worry about running into anyone.

Their room was easy to find. The door was torn of its hinges.

"Guys!" he practically yelled as he entered the room, dropping all of the packages to the ground. "Guys, I just saw something that I really need to tell you about!"

Gojyo, who was leaning on the table, smoking, looked up. "Would you look at that. Hakkai was right. Monkey actually did the shopping."

Goku decided to ignore the comment. After all, what he had to say was far more important, and he didn't want to get into a fight with Gojyo before he said it. "Yeah, I did. But guys, I just saw that youkai from earlier. Th' one who beat up Gojyo." He couldn't help but taunt the kappa. After all, he had just insulted him with the whole monkey line.

"What do you mean, beat me up?"

Hakkai rose from where he was sitting, coming and picking up the bags and packages. "Where did you see him, Goku?" He set about inspecting the bundles, passing one of them over to Sanzo.

"In th' market. And before you ask, I'm sure it was him. He was limping, an' I know that Gojyo got him across the legs." Goku paused, sitting down on the ground, resting his head in his hands. "Are you guys even listening to me?"

He saw Sanzo nod very slightly. "Continue, Goku."

"Well, I followed him. An' he started heading out towards the forest, an' met up with this other guy. I'm pretty sure it was th' same one that came in place of th' doctor the other night, Hakkai!"

Hakkai nodded slowly. "That makes sense, from what we know. Sanzo." He turned his head so that he could see the priest. "We need to get out of this town."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Sanzo leaned forward and crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. Goku wrinkled his nose at the smell of smoke, though he was used to it by now. "I've asked around, as to how close the next village is. Unfortunately, it is at least two days drive away. However, we need to leave today. Before dark."

"That final?" asked Gojyo, looking up. Sanzo responded with a curt nod of his head. "Well, then, I'm off!" He rose, stretching. As he turned to pull his shirt back on, Goku caught sight of a new scar marring his back. He guessed that Hakkai had healed him.

"To where, kappa? I thought I kept telling you not to run off and get yourself into trouble," growled Sanzo, lighting himself a new cigarette. Gojyo shrugged, a cocky smile on his face.

"Got a girl I'm not going to keep waiting. See you all!"

"Don't do anything to reopen your wound, Gojyo," called Hakkai as the kappa walked out the door.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you."

Then he was gone.

"Damn kappa." Sanzo was scowling, opening up the package. Sure enough, inside were his robes, repaired and without the bloodstains covering them. "Should've shot him."

"Now, now, Sanzo. We need him for this journey." Hakkai was moving around the room, gathering the few things that they had brought with them. "Well, we have enough food to last a few days. I'd say we are ready to leave. When Gojyo gets back, that is."

"Hakkai?" Goku looked up, his stomach rumbling. "You said that you'd get me lunch."

Hakkai turned and smile. "That I did. Coming, Sanzo?"

Sanzo snorted. "No."

"Come on, Sanzo!" pleaded Goku, jumping up. "It'll be fun."

Hakkai seemed to decide to join Goku. "Besides, Sanzo, you do need the food."

Sanzo looked up, his eyes narrowed. "Feh," he said, standing up. "Fine. But get everything ready so that we can leave from where ever you two drag me."

Hakkai inclined his head. "All right. You might want to change then, Sanzo. Goku, please help me get things together."

Goku wilted visibly. "We aren't going to get th' food now?"

Hakkai smiled pleasantly, carefully folding things and placing them in bags, setting all of the finished things by the door. "The faster we get this done, the faster we can get the food, all right?"

Goku nodded. "All right, Hakkai."

A/N2: I was debating whether or not to have the Gojyo/Kioko part in this chapter or not. I decided it was going to be in the next one, as it fit better there.

Until next time,

Raven