Okay, I looked it up. Sanzo's old name is Kouryuu. So that's what I'm gonna write it as from now on. Please pardon my previous dyslexia. (I don't get to name him, by the way, because Saiyuki and characters belong to Kazuya Minekura and not me. I also stole food names from the anime. I hope I spelled em right.)

"See. I told you he'd show up."

"You think we should go talk to him?"

"Do you think he still has that gun?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Okay. So what do we do?"

Gojyo considered. Goku watched Kouryuu. He was Sanzo, definitely. He even walked with Sanzo's arrogant strut. Right now he was talking to a man Goku had never seen before. Confirming Goku's assumptions, Kouryuu pulled out the Smith and Wesson, handing it to the man. The man looked over it for a second, then gave a thumbs- up sign. This seemed to please Kouryuu and they left together, walking off down one of the castle's passageways.

"Hey, they're moving. Let's go."

Weaving their way through the light crowd, they followed after the two men.

"These ought to do it for you."

A handful of shells were deposited into Kouryuu's hands. He expertly loaded a clip into the handgun, smirking as he slid them into place. They fit. Good.

"How many have you got?"

"As many as you want."

"What do you want for them?"

"Rough estimate, about fifty cents."

Kouryuu froze.

"That's some sort of catch, right?"

"Fifty cents would buy you one bullet. I just need you to use that one, for a specific purpose."

"So you need someone killed."

"Bingo."

"Who, and where can I find him?"

"Cho Hakkai. A real prettyboy. He's currently confined to the infirmatory."

Hakkai. Why does that ring a bell? Lots of stuff rung bells lately… something to do with that bakasaru.

"He got hurt real bad in the invasion, he's in the informatory, now. Easy kill for all of this, eh?"

"Do I want to know why you want him dead?"

"He's a murderer."

Ah, the cycle of revenge. No doubt this Hakkai had had his reason, but hell,Kouryuu had his reasons, too.

"Fine. You got a photo?"

"You'll know him. Brown hair, dark green eyes. He's got a huge gash across his stomach."

"Show me."

The man sighed.

"Fine."

Goku just stared. He hadn't meant to be eavesdropping… he really hadn't…

"What's he got against Hakkai?"

"You know Hakkai? Since when?"

"What's he got to do with anything?"

"There were four of us! Don't you remember? You, me Sanzo, and Hakkai. Plus Jiipu… he's probably with Hakkai."

"Look. I just saw Hakkai two hours ago and he didn't have any Jeep. We weren't even sure if he was gonna wake up. He's really fucked up."

What would happen if one of them died? They were all mortal… Goku knew that. Heroes or not, they could still be killed. And a lot easier than he would have liked to have thought.

"We have to stop Sanzo. If he kills Hakkai then…"

Then what? He wasn't sure, but it wouldn't be good.

I'm turning onto a freaking mercenary.

This isn't anything permanent. Just this one time. And then I go back to being-

Being what? A hermit. Fine. Good. Better than being surrounded by idiots twenty- four seven. Like this loser. Who the hell gives away ammo to somebody who'll kill for him?

Especially to kill… this.

The man Kouryuu saw on the makeshift bed wasn't even coherent. The man had been right, there was a huge gash across his stomach: It would be the easiest kill ever made in this castle.

And, for some reason, it just seemed wrong. Why did this guy need someone else to do his killing for him? The brunette was half dead already, not to mention sky- high.

And he had that déjà vu again. Maybe he had hit his head? There's no way he should feel this much déjà vu at once. He racked his memories trying to bring up anything he could on the monkey, the kappa, or this guy here.

Nothing. He hadn't known many people in his life, since his surrogate parents had passed away. There weren't that many faces to go through.

"Fine. I'll do it when there's less people here."

At the moment, feverish women and children were searching through the rows of cots and makeshift beds, searching for friends and family. It wouldn't do to pullout a gun and shoot someone in front of them.

"Take your time. He has no one left. He'll be here until he's well enough to move on his own."

"So I've got time."

"Plenty."

"When do I get the rounds?"

"As soon as he's dead."

As a guarantee, the man dropped a fistful of cartages into Kouryuu's hand.

"Come find me when it's done."

"What name do I look for?"

The man grinned a little.

"Call me Chin Yisou."

"Where the heck 'd they go?"

"Beats me. Probably to find Hakkai."

"We gotta stop Sanzo-"

"Yeah, yeah, monkey, we've been through this."

"Don't you care about him at all? After all, he was your-"

Goku froze. Maybe he shouldn't tell everything just yet. There were some things the womanizing kappa wasn't ready for yet. Last time it had taken the two of them three years together to figure it out.

Before that… he couldn't remember. Not much of his time in heaven stayed with him. It came and went, usually in flashes when horrid things happened to Sanzo or his limiter broke.

"It'll be fine."

"How," Goku asked slowly, "will this be fine?"

"If you remember Kouryuu, he was an awful jerk, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"But he wasn't evil."

"Not really."

"Then Hakkai's safe for now."

"Are you sure?"

"Would the Kouryuu you knew shoot an injured guy in front of a bunch of orphans?"

"… not unless he was provoked."

"So there you have it."

So then what are we gonna do?"

"If we move Hakkai, how long do you think it'll take Kouryuu to find him?"

"Considering the size of this castle…"

"Yeah?"

"And the fact thathe doesn't know many people…"

"Uh- huh?"

"I'd say about two weeks."

"Shit, that fast?"

"He doesn't mess around. It only took us two months last time, and we had most of China to look through."

"We'll just have to take a chance."

No problem.

Problem.

I'll just come back at night. There won't be anyone around.

This's wrong.

He'll probably be asleep anyway.

There's more happening here.

People who kill can't expect to be spared.

Karma sees to that. The endless cycle.

Endless cycle. Ironic. Heh.

There's more going on here.

Cho Gonou-

No, it's Cho Hakkai now.

Of course. It's always been Hakkai.

Must have been someone I used to know.

A long time ago…

This ceiling's different. The other one was higher.

So… I guess I'm somewhere else?

Damn, my head hurts…

"'bout time you woke up."

Huh? Oh, wait, I know that voice… Gojyo?

Let's see if we can't manage a few words. Few sentences, even.

If I'm feeling industrious.

"Where…?"

I guess that'll do.

"This little patch of heaven-" there was a pause, and I imagine that the speaker was gesturing to his surroundings, "Is where I've been camping out for the last two weeks. You've been asleep most of that time. The drugs probably have something to do with that."

"Drugs?"

"Painkillers, mostly. You're almost off them by now though. You're lucky; you were unconscious through most of the withdrawal. You'll probably have a killer headache for a while, though."

Oh, good. I was worried for a minute there.

My stomach still burns a bit. There's a reason for that…

I run through a list of my memories. There was the invasion… that went well, didn't it? We seem to have won.

I wave the invisible flag again.

I get a glimpse of my hand, and I half- expect it to be covered in blood. It isn't.

Why? It should be. My hands had too much blood on them to ever be washed away.

Satoshi… even the blood I didn't spill I couldn't save, either. He was depending on me to keep him safe.

And I didn't.

Why not? There weren't even that many demons… why couldn't I have killed just that one? The one that killed by brother.

Memories of blood pour over my mind… I can even see it, still.

Blood, pouring over-

SMACK!

My eyes focus.

My face hurts. It didn't before.

It doesn't look like liquid anymore.

"Sorry. But you need to quit screaming."

It's… hair? Hair and eyes, the color of blood.

That's right. Gojyo has red hair. The color of taboo.

… screaming?

"You really need not to do that."

Oh. I didn't even realize I was making a sound.

"Sorry."

"Bad memories?"

I nod.

"Join the club."

I wonder if I can sit up. Maybe I should try.

God, does that sting.

But… at least I can do that little bit. Karma seems to have taken a break.

I should be dead.

And I'm not.

I should be.

I lean back against the headboard. Form here I can actually look at the man who appears to be my savior. His hair is obviously his most striking feature. It's closely followed by his eyes. I don't think I've ever seen eyes that beautiful on a man.

The chair he's sitting on is turned around backwards, making it hard to tell how tall he is. He looks like the kind of man who's grown up winning fights and probably expects to die losing one.

"You know how to play poker?"

For the first time I notice that there's at least three packs of cards scattered around the room, and at least as many cigarettes.

"Barely. I never was any good."

"I'll go easy on you. Since you're hurt and all."

The grin on his face tells me he won't at all. Doesn't matter. It's not like I have any money anyway.

Goku, figuring Hakkai and Gojyo would need time to find each other again, had opted to evacuate the room for a while. It's not like there wasn't anywhere else to stay. The castle was big, and pretty empty for the number of humans that were currently inhabiting it.

He made a bit of money doing the odd job, but basically he watched his old friends, made sure they didn't kill each other, and waited for something else to happen.

And it did.

"What the hell keeps calling me?"

Kouryuu slid into the seat opposite him. This was a bit unexpected. As far as Goku had known, the man had forgotten he existed.

"What are you doing here?"

The 'here' in question was a tavern operated in one of the basements. It was called 'under the table' both for it's location and for… various other reasons.

"I'm here because you're here."

The old Sanzo would never have said that. Not in the context Goku wanted it, anyway.

"Ever since you showed up and started yammering about our pasts, I've been hearing a weird voice. It sounds like you. And so I came to tell you to shut up."

"The voice again, huh?"

"What do you mean-"

"What can I getcha?"

The waitress snapped her bubble gum impatiently. Kouryuu leaned away from her, almost imperceptibly.

"Sukiyaki!" Goku said, with a bit more fervor than was appropriate. "And spring rolls."

"And you?" She gestured at Kouryuu with her pen, and he avoided it's threatening point.

"I'm not getting anything from this-"

"He wants shabu- shabu."

"Right."

And she was gone. Kouryuu glared at him.

"You're paying."

"I know."

"So what about this voice?"

"You always said it's how I told you how to find me. And how your master found you."

"Yeah, but how do I get it to stop?"

"I… do not know."

Kouryuu threw up his arms in frustration.

"Then what good are you?"

"I sort of tag along and do your fighting for you. Also, I'm stress relief."

"Stress relief?"

"Yeah. When you're pissed off you would generally smack me over the head with the harisen. I guess it made you feel better."

Kouryuu had to admit, that did sound nice.

"So what do you want from me now?"

Well, if that wasn't the question of the hour. The sutras were apparently missing. If not missing, they were at least safe enough not to cause any damage for a while.

The journey west was no longer necessary. They couldn't get much further west without learning to speak a new language. Not to mention that Gyumaoh was long dead.

So… what DID he want?

He could think of a few things he wanted from Kouryuu, but he didn't think he was likely ever to get them. He'd spent years with Sanzo and never quite gotten the courage to ask.

So he'd sat… waited… watched, quite a lot. He never got tired of watching his sun.

He probably never would.

"I want to stay with you."

Kouryuu said nothing, and Goku watched a tiny bit of realization dawn on his face.

"I loved you."

Wow, that was long. Alright, the next chapter's gonna have more Hakkai/Gojyo. I'd put it here, but this is too long already.

I switched POV's and tenses a lot in this chapter. I'm not sure if this is gonna work or not. I think maybe it'll get a better feel of what's going on... yes? No?