A haughty voice that sounded neither feminine nor masculine chuckled to themselves as they placed the baby inside a basket. The baby was sound asleep after being well fed so it shouldn't get hungry again for a while. If there was anything that was regrettable over the situation, was that it would've been nice if the mother had been able to breastfeed the baby at least once before she died. But she couldn't.

Well, there's nothing that could be done against the fates Shakyamuni** had already predetermined.

The deity placed a long rosary bead around the child before smiling. "This should be able to keep you safe until you reach that special person safely. Your mother's prayers... will make sure that the person will come for you."

"So until then, don't be afraid."

Konzen...

The deity then lifted the basket gently before placing it on the river's edge. They then waved their hand over the basket as gentle wind guided the flow of the river that carried the basket downstream.

xxx

Nine years later...

Kouryuu silently slipped into the empty storage room before choosing the furthest corner of the room to sit and curl himself into a ball.

"Have you heard the story of Kouryuu of the flowing river?"

"Drowning Kouryuu, haha!"

"Why did Master Sanzo keep a boy like that around?"

"Stupid people... stupid kids..." the boy muttered softly.

What's with people and their tendency to badmouth others once they feel threatened that someone else was cleverer or stronger or just basically better than them? Why did they have to behave so horridly to others just because they felt insecure about themselves? Kouryuu pouted to himself.

Not his fault if he was more skilful at fighting or in using spells* than the other monks despite his age! That said, what were those monks doing all these times studying at the temple when they can't even win against him? Also, what's with the kids at the nearby village and making fun of people's names? Just because he was an orphan, that doesn't mean that people can just insult him whenever they want!

Kouryuu buried his face in his knees as he tried to convince himself not to cry.

"Kouryuu... how about you take a break from studying and go and make some friends?"

It wasn't as if he didn't want to make friends with anyone. It's more like... people and kids around here were nasty lots. He rather not have any friends than associate himself with those kinds of people.

"Meow..."

Kouryuu froze, before sitting properly and turning his head around to find out where the sound came from. He found the source not far from him as a little orange kitten came out of hiding from one of the boxes piled nearby.

A smile inevitably crept up to his face. "Hey... what're you doing here?" the boy asked as he tried to get the kitten to come to him.

He immediately remembered something his foster father—Master Koumyou Sanzo—used to keep telling him. [Don't play with cats!], that was the warning. Because he was allergic to them. One time when he was much younger, he used to get very sick after playing with some cats he saw at a nearby cottage. That used to scare his master a lot.

Kouryuu eyed the small kitten which has now walked close enough to him for him to reach out to it. But the kitten was too cute, reasoned Kouryuu to himself before running his fingers over the kitten's soft fur.

Besides, his allergy hasn't been triggered yet—Almost immediately after the thought appear inside his mind, Kouryuu started to sneeze. Well, it wasn't THAT bad yet... and so far it's just his nose being itchy and some bouts of sneezing.

Kouryuu continued to stroke the kitten's body as the kitten started purring at him.

At least spending time with this kitten was much more worthwhile than trying to befriend any of the rude monks and nasty kids who kept giving him so many weird nicknames involving rivers and drowning.

xxx

He was a tiny bird... flying across the vast mountainside. The cold air rushing past his small body and wings felt so liberating. He wished he could fly around freely like this all the time. As he was flying across many mountains and forests, something caught his attention at one of the highest cliffs.

It was a cave... and a strange one. Because there were many bars lining up in front of the cave entrance, with many talismans attached to the bars. He flew into the cave regardless, curious as to why the cave existed.

Inside, there was a small boy. That boy seemed very lonely, huddled by himself. He hopped a bit closer and made some sounds to get the boy's attention. The boy slowly moved and gave a cry of wonder when they saw him in front of them. The two of them started to play together—as much as a small yellow bird and a small boy can play with each other—and the boy started to smile and laugh loudly. It made him feel good... to see the boy smile. It was much better than seeing the boy being so sad and lonesome.

He promised himself to keep on visiting the boy. Because the boy was his friend. Yet, as he tried to see the boy in his cave again... something felt very wrong. His wings felt so heavy, his body felt so sluggish. He barely reached the edge of the cave before collapsing to the ground.

He wanted to move his body toward the boy, but he can't. The boy then started to move closer to the cave entrance but they couldn't see him. He wanted to call out to the boy, but his voice couldn't come out. And the boy started to cry by themselves as his own tears started to fall as well...

xxx

Koumyou opened the sliding door to the storage room, before poking his head in.

"Kouryuu? Are you here?" he called out.

There was no answer. Koumyou then started to walk back out before the sound of soft sobbing reached his ears.

"Kouryuu?" he called again, a bit louder this time as Koumyou walked into the storage room to look around for his foster child properly.

And he found the boy right away, lying on the cold floor. A tiny kitten lay curled up not far from where Kouryuu slept. Koumyou just sighed at the boy helplessly before kneeling down to wake his foster son. But the boy didn't wake up immediately when he shook the boy's body. And Kouryuu continued to cry in his sleep.

Koumyou frowned as he immediately gathered the boy into his arms. The boy's body felt limp in his arms as Koumyou placed a hand over his forehead to check his temperature.

Koumyou bit his lips as he glanced back at the sleeping kitten nearby before hurriedly getting up to get his foster son to see a healer.

*this gonna be my personal interpretation. I feel like prior to the attack on Kinzan temple, Kouryuu was actually able to use some spells and youjutsu. But after the injury he got after, he lost the ability to do so. Like he still has the knowledge but that's it. Basing this on the few mentions in the early Saiyuki chapters about how Kouryuu was able to best the other older monks in a test of skill. Or smth.

A/N: Also yes, Kouryuu had a dream about Goku. Can't you tell? I always had this idea ever since I first saw the Burial chapter for Goku and Sanzo.

**Shakyamuni = Shaka Nyorai = basically Buddha.