I seriously need to start paying attention to my other fics…heh. Ah well, at least you all are enjoying this one! Sorry this chapter's a bit short, it was slow in coming so you're lucky you got what you got. But, I must give thanks again for the comments and reviews! I really love your input!

Chapter 8. Two Down.

Ow! That hurts you bastard!

"I am sorry Sanzo, but this mud just refuses to come out of your fur." Hakkai laughed as he rubbed the soap into the muddy patches littering Sanzo's coat.

If I didn't know better I'd say you were doing it on purpose. Sanzo winced when Hakkai yanked particularly roughly on a section of his fur.

"Whatever gives you that idea?" Hakkai smiled sweetly and pushed Sanzo under the shower faucet. "I'm just getting the mud off, we don't want to be bad guests, now do we?"

You were covered in as much mud as me. Sanzo scowled.

"Ah, but it was all on my clothes so it was easily taken care of." Sanzo's scowl was surprisingly adorable on the dog now that Hakkai knew what he was looking for. Hakkai continued to scrub at Sanzo's blonde fur and added a bit more soap, he hadn't been completely lying after all. He rather found this entire situation wholly amusing and he felt just a tad guilty over it. Well, not enough to stop feeling that way in any case.

I think you're holding a grudge because you're still pissed off about not knowing earlier. Sanzo yelped when Hakkai stepped on his tail when he stood up. Now that was on purpose.

"Maybe." Hakkai smiled. "I still stand with what I said earlier, despite the circumstances you were the source of quite a lot of grief. I can't but find the trauma unnecessary since you're alive."

Still no reason to let your personality get worse than it already was. Sanzo moved back a bit when Hakkai put his own hair under the stream of hot water. He tried to dodge the streams of water as they fell over his head and onto the shower floor.

"Ah, but you always say things like that." Hakkai smiled and rinsed out the rain water from his hair. He'd continue to pick on Sanzo just for a bit longer while he could still justify it. But to be honest, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. As cliché as that thought may be, he laughed to himself, it was still quite appropriate. He looked down at the dog, Sanzo, sitting in the corner of the stall, fur plastered flat against his skin and revealing his ribcage, and couldn't help but smile. Odd as it was, they were a family again.

"Hakkai, why the hell are you taking a shower with the dog at three in the morning?"

"Oh, Gojyo." Hakkai looked up to see Gojyo leaning on the doorframe, cigarette in hand. "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, the building creaks like an old man's bones, and you can hear the running water in the entire place." Gojyo checked his pants for a lighter.

"Oh, well I'm sorry. I didn't wake Goku did I?" Hakkai finished rinsing himself while Gojyo searched for a lighter. As an afterthought he turned the spray on Sanzo to finish him up. His smile increased by about ten percent when the dog yelped from the unexpected blast of water.

"No, monkey's still out. But seriously man, this is kinky, even for you." Gojyo snickered. "Never knew you had a thing for mongrels."

"I moved in with you, didn't I? But really, don't be silly, Gojyo. Sanzo and I just had to wash off a little mud from outside." Hakkai smiled and grabbed a towel from the side rack. He tried to ignore the rust stains creeping from the metal.

"I take offense to that, and what were you doing outside?" Gojyo stopped in mid-light of his cigarette. "Wait, did you say 'Sanzo?'"

What? Are you deaf and dumb, cockroach? Sanzo jumped from the shower stall onto the tiled floor and proceeded to shake the water off of himself. He smiled contently at Gojyo's protests to being added to those who fell under the 'wet' category.

"Stupid mutt, but hey that went faster than I thought." Gojyo smirked. "Only a week and some after I figured it out."

"So I've heard." Hakkai stepped from the shower himself and headed out into the hall to go back to his room. A clean set of clothes were waiting for him in his pack and he knew that Gojyo would follow him; the man was horribly predictable.

"Isn't that fun, Sanzo?" Gojyo chuckled as the wet dog followed beside him. "That just means the monkey's left and we can go pose you as a zombie and scare everyone."

You've been pondering that idea for a while, haven't you? Sanzo sighed.

"Maybe the idea of dunking you in flour and then shoving you at Kougaiji crossed my mind." Gojyo snickered and waited for Hakkai to finish dressing. "But yeah, once Goku gets it, we'll find out if that old hag lied to you or not."

I doubt it. Sanzo lifted an eyebrow and choose to ignore Gojyo's earlier comments. I don't think she can go back on a deal to be honest.

"We shouldn't worry about it really," Hakkai interjected. "All that matters is Sanzo is well, no matter what form he's in."

"Oh, sorry, Jeep." Gojyo got up quickly after falling onto the bed. He had nearly crushed the small dragon when he wasn't looking. "You're a tiny thing you know that?"

"So, who's up for a drink?" Hakkai held up a bottle of sake. "I know that I won't be able to sleep tonight."

"You mean what's left of tonight." Gojyo leaned out on the bed and held his hand up and waited for a cup and liquor.

"True," Hakkai poured a generous amount into a cup and handed it to Gojyo. He then poured himself a double. "Cheers."

Oi. Sanzo glared. You're forgetting someone.

"I don't believe dogs should have liquor." Hakkai smiled. "It's bad for them."

You are holding a grudge. Sanzo snorted. Damn demon bastard.

"Ah, it's so nice to have you back, Sanzo."

Whatever.

Gojyo just laughed into his drink.

Something was very wrong with the picture before him, but Goku couldn't quite put his finger on it. Hakkai was serving breakfast on the rickety table, Gojyo was smoking, and Sable was sitting in a chair at the table, with a newspaper. Ah, that was it. "Why's Sable at the table?"

Hakkai looked up. "He just invited himself up, no harm in it really. I doubt the host will mind, do you sir?"

At Hakkai's address, said inn keep turned a pale shade of white and quickly shook his head. "Nope! A-ok with me!"

"See, no problems, eh?" Hakkai smiled sweetly.

"Whatever you say, Hakkai." Goku sat down in the chair next to the dog and pat it on the head. "Did you have a good night?"

Considering I didn't get any sleep even if I did escape being a pillow, 'bout the same. Sanzo yawned and just let Goku scratch his ears.

"Wow, you sure made a lot for breakfast, Hakkai." Goku stared down at the table. There was bacon, eggs, muffins, oatmeal, rice, pot stickers, and vegetables with other stuff. He'd never seen such a spread when Hakkai was cooking.

"I was up pretty early this morning so I didn't have much else to do." Hakkai smiled. "But I have no worry that you'll help clear the table, no?"

"Ha! This'll be easy." Goku dived right in and Sanzo rolled his eyes. He snitched a piece of bacon and jumped down to the floor to curl up and take a nap. These people were cutting into his precious sleep time.

Hakkai laughed as Goku and Gojyo fell into their bout of fighting for food. He snuck a peak at Sanzo who looked like he was trying to ignore them but failing. It was such a normal atmosphere he laughed harder before taking a sip of water to calm himself down. He ignored the slight ache that was still pawing at his chest. Though, the sight of the inn keep sneaking out the back door improved his mood a little, the man was quite annoying.

"Hey, Hakkai." Goku looked up. "You okay?"

"See Hakkai? You act normal for five minutes and the monkey thinks there's a problem." Gojyo smirked. "I'm telling you, brain damage."

"Shut the hell up!" Goku smacked Gojyo upside the head. "I didn't ask you. Hakkai looks better that's all, and he does that thing where he forces it and I can't tell which one it is!"

Hakkai smiled. "He does have a point, but in any case I'm fine, Goku."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, now since you're all done eating, why don't you go play while I clean up?" Hakkai reached over to start stacking dishes."

"Well, are you, ah whatever. Come on Sable, let's go play fetch again!" Goku smiled and headed towards the door quickly. Playing with his dog should lift his mood a bit, and maybe by the time they got back Hakkai and Gojyo wouldn't be acting so weird.

I knew I was driving myself into the grave with that one. Sanzo sighed and dropped his head. That one moment of kindness was going to make him miserable for a long time, he just knew it!

"Coming from you, that statement isn't quite appropriate." Hakkai whispered.

Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Sanzo yawned and tried to perk up his mood. If he didn't play, the monkey would think something was wrong and then they'd never hear the end of his pampering. The boy was so damn clingy.

Gojyo watched Sanzo and Goku head outside and smiled a bit at the teasing this would bring for later. But for the moment, he had other concerns. "Hey, Hakkai."

"Yes, Gojyo?" He paused in stacking dishes.

"How are you really?" Gojyo lit his third cigarette for the morning. "Monkey's got a point, you do that smile thing quite a bit."

Hakkai sighed and took a seat back at the table. He knew this was coming. "I'm just a little surprised is all, it hasn't quite sunk in yet."

"Yeah, took me a while to think of Sanzo as a dog, too." Gojyo smirked. "But once you know man, there's no mistaking it, you know?"

"I guess, but I still but can't feel hurt and angry about the whole thing." Hakkai fiddled with a fork on the table. "This is real, isn't it Gojyo? This isn't some cruel trick or prank?"

"If it is, I'm first in line to slaughter the guy behind it." Gojyo drew in a breath, exhaled the smoke. "You're not the only one who missed the guy."

"Of course, I would never assume, Gojyo." Hakkai smiled. "It was still mean of him to be alive this whole time and watch us suffer."

"We can't give him too hard a time about that," Gojyo took a puff off his Hi-Lite. He watched Hakkai finish stacking plates from his seat and noticed still that bare trace of doubt lacing his eyes. Well doubt or he was thinking too hard, either case didn't sit well with this water sprite. Gojyo sighed and leaned back onto his chair and draped his arms over the sides. "He's been doing his best to cheer us all up."

Hakkai sat and thought for a moment, he hadn't considered that. "I guess he has, he kept me company, played with Goku, and he even shared a friendly moment with Lirin."

Gojyo laughed. "He hasn't been happy about the whole idea, mind you. I've been hearing him complain for a week straight now."

"He wouldn't be Sanzo if he didn't." Hakkai smiled. "Still, this is an odd way to go about things, don't you think? It still feels like some sort of cruel game."

"Trust me, I doubt this was his idea." Gojyo snickered. "And we can get revenge for all the trouble by never letting him live this down."

"That's true." Hakkai chuckled. "I think 'Sable' is quite the nice nick name."

"Better than 'baldy' at any rate."

"He'll kill us for sure."

"Bastard'd miss us too damn much to actually do it and he knows it."

"Exactly." Hakkai smiled and stood up again. "How do you think we'd get away with it otherwise?"

"Damn, I love you." Gojyo smirked and stood dramatically sweeping Hakkai into his arms and then into a dip. "Where have you been all my life?"

"At an orphanage, marrying my sister, and slaughtering over a thousand people." Hakkai smiled sweetly.

"It's seriously creepy when you say stuff like that with a straight face." Gojyo pondered. "And that smile doesn't help much either."

"Would you have it any other way, my friend?" Hakkai pulled out of his redheaded friend's arms to return to his dishes.

"Not in a million years." Gojyo smiled. "Hey, what do you think about 'spot?' I'm sure his holiness would get a kick out of that one."

"I think Goku's original 'Goldie' would be more appropriate." Hakkai held back a yawn. He really needed to do something about these late nights.

"Yeah, perfect for that mop of blonde hair." Gojyo's eyes lit up. "We should make him wear the bandana."

Hakkai laughed over his dishes.

Sanzo sneezed abruptly during the game of fetch. They're talking about me, the bastards.

"You tired?" Goku's breaths were coming in heavy bursts. They had been running about for at least ten minutes already and he was tired. It was quite a work out playing fetch with Sable, and the dog was doing all the running! He laughed when the dog barked in reply. "How about one more throw and then we'll go back in?"

Sanzo barked in reply and kept his eyes trained on the stick. His tail was wagging, his heart was beating and everything smelled really good! But the stick was all that's important right now, that's right. Back and forth, up down. There! Watch the stick, watching the stick, stick's going back and stick is off! Go! Go get the stick, getting the stick, caught the stick in the air! Go Sable go! Sanzo stopped dead in his tracks and felt a chill. Merciful Buddha did I just think that?

"Good job, boy." Goku ran over to where Sable had stopped. He tackled it into a tight hug and rubbed him down furiously. "Let's go back in now."

"Welcome back, Goku." Hakkai smiled after finally finishing packing everything up. He was just laying out the map to plan a route. "We'll be leaving in a bit, so please go pack your things now."

"Sure Hakkai! No problem." Goku grinned and charged up the stairs and out of sight.

"You look awful, monk." Gojyo leant over the side of the table. "Like you saw a ghost or something."

Worse. Sanzo shivered. I was completely a dog for about three minutes during that game.

"What do you mean, Sanzo?" Hakkai paused and knelt down next to his friend.

I lost myself, I mean, that for three minutes my mind was completely taken over by those dog instincts that I've been telling you about. Sanzo shivered. The same ones that make the water sprite's scratching sessions feel so damn good.

"Oh my," Hakkai stood. "And this scared you?"

I wasn't me, Hakkai. Sanzo stood up. I don't like this, not at all.

"You might just be overreacting. You probably really got into the game, that's all." Gojyo stabbed out his cigarette butt into the ashtray.

I hope that's all it is. Sanzo sat down and shook himself off. He could still feel that other mindset pulling at the back of his head. It was keeping low, but he knew something bad was coming. Her merciful hag didn't say a damn thing about this part.

"She did say you'd be a dog, Sanzo." Hakkai stood and returned to the chair. "Maybe the longer you stay like that, the more like a dog you'll be."

"That would really suck." Gojyo stood up. "Monkey's barely taking a hint as it is now, let alone how hard it'll be to convince him you're Sanzo if you're a complete dog."

Sanzo growled. You don't have to tell me, I know!

"Geez, calm down." Gojyo pat him on the head. "Don't worry so much, Goku'll figure it out soon enough."

"Yes Sanzo, until then we just have to trust Goku." Hakkai smiled but could feel a cold sensation nagging at his spinal cord. This did not seem like a good development, and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Trust me with what, Hakkai?" Goku stood in the doorway with the packs in hand and a biscuit from his secret stash in his mouth. He knew that Gojyo and Hakkai had been having a conversation, but he only caught the last bit of it.

"Trust you to be your very strongest as we keep going of course." Hakkai smiled. "We've been worried about you as well."

"Hakkai ain't the only one who hides everything with a smile, now is he, monkey?" Gojyo added. Thank heavens Hakkai was a quick thinker.

"Don't worry." Goku smiled softly and set the bags down. "I still miss Sanzo a lot, but that's okay. I've still got you two, and now I've got Sable. I'm not alone, and I have Sanzo to thank for that because he introduced us all."

"That's a good way to think about it." Hakkai added.

"Besides, I was thinking." Goku walked over to the table. "I was being selfish by thinking I was the only one who missed him. It wasn't 'til I saw Lirin the other day that I realized that you guys missed him a bunch too."

"Goku."

"I haven't been a very good friend, I've ignored the fact that you guys were hurting. I'm sorry."

"Don't even think about it again, Goku." Hakkai stood up and put a hand on the boy's shoulders. "We were just as guilty in that regard."

"Yeah, no sweat squirt." Gojyo looked down at Sanzo. "And you'd be surprised at how things work themselves out in the end."

Goku nodded before running over to Sable to sit next to him. "Yeah! So, now that the mushy stuff's out of the way, where're we going?"

"If we head out now, we should be at the next town a little after dark." Hakkai folded the map up neatly. "Shall we go then?"

Hakkai watched Sanzo as he slept in the foot well of the front seat. He must have been exhausted after staying up all night in the rain and then playing tag no less. Hakkai sighed to himself as he realized the man needed as much taking care of as a dog as he did a human. It couldn't be helped he assumed, the sight still brought a smile to his face. Hakkai didn't mind playing the mother for these three, but he wished the father would hurry and come back. A single parent could only do so much with two rowdy boys. Hakkai chuckled at the imagery.

"You look really happy Hakkai!"

Hakkai broke from his thoughts to turn to the head suddenly next to his. Goku was smiling very brightly like he'd got away with pinching cookies from the jar. "That's because I am for a change."

"That's good." Goku flopped back down in his seat and tried not to hit Gojyo. He really wasn't in the mood to fight with him today. The water sprite was sleeping more soundly than the dog, but at least Sable didn't talk in his sleep.

"It's going to be a good day, isn't it Hakkai?"

Hakkai smiled and looked at his three, no four if he included Jeep, companions thoughtfully. "Yes Goku, I do believe you're right."