"Soon I'll be meeting with the Sanbutsushin to discuss where you'll be staying. Then you won't have to stay at a place like this once we find you a place that will take you in... or a foster family—"

Sanzo just shook his head as he kept seeing the sad look on Goku's face in his mind when he said those words to the kid. Times he wondered which was worse, seeing those puppy eyes staring at him, or acting as if he didn't want Goku to stay with him.

But what else he could do? Sooner or later he should finally get some clues as to the whereabouts of the Seiten scripture, and then he would have to set out to retrieve it. And when he does that, he can't take the kid with him on his travels! It'll be too dangerous, and he couldn't put the kid in that kind of situation.

Then again, the kid had been capable of protecting himself like how it happened with the thugs last time.

He shook his head again. No, monster or not, Goku was too young —ignoring the fact that the kid had been sealed in a stone prison for 500 years!—he can't let the boy stay with him and live the kind of life he's been living when the boy could live a better life elsewhere. And with the kind of danger he's faced—Sanzo thought about the rough four years he's been through and the fact that once in a while, some group of demons would appear and try to attack him—he rather leave Goku elsewhere that was safer and stable, instead of being with him. He thought about his old life, back in Kinzan temple...

He didn't have the confidence that he could take care of and protect Goku when he failed to do so for his master!

Sanzo bit his lips as his heart felt like breaking.

But what if he was told that he have to send Goku back to Mount Gogyo? What'll he do then?

xxx

"—it might just be a thief or perhaps a monkey had sneaked in."

Guess he could no longer delay this anymore since the monks had started to notice. While he had been able to curb their suspicions when they started noticing his strange behaviours—he started to take more food than he usually does and he's been sneaking out to the backyard more often—this incident with the missing food and Goku had caused the monks to be more alert. And with those guys starting to patrol the area more strictly to look for the supposed thief that's been hiding in the temple, sooner or later they might end up finding Goku.

He got up early that morning since he was planning to head to Shayouden before anyone else could notice him gone.

"—it's been five days since I brought that shrimp here, huh?"

He sighed. He had chosen the shed to hide Goku because the shed was no longer being used. The shed used to be an old storage room to keep some tools and equipment, but with the temple being so big and the shed located very far from the main temple... people tend to forget that it even exists. He thought that it was a good place to hide Goku there before but...

...even if the shed was in a secluded area, he might not be able to hide the kid there for long.

Sanzo opened the shed's door before calling out to Goku. "Goku! I'm going out to see the Sanbutsushin now so you should also come with—" He stopped himself in mid-sentence as he saw the boy sleeping peacefully at the corner of the shed.

Sanzo found himself smiling despite himself. It was an adorable sight, Goku looked so tiny and cute... huddled up by himself like that. The tiny limbs and the boy's baby cheeks looked so fluffy that it almost looked like—!

"—it's like a fluffy sweet rice cake," he muttered softly.

He quietly walked in to grab a blanket to cover the little boy's body properly and saw the folded clothes that he had left behind before, untouched. He shook his head before running a hand over Goku's head.

"Well, guess he wouldn't mind if it's just for one night."

.

Sanzo? Where are you?

He was wrong, he was so very, very wrong. He was hoping that since the boy had been sleeping so deeply, he didn't have to be worried about the boy sneaking out to find some food again. Plus, he had left behind some food for Goku to eat so that should keep the boy occupied for a while. He didn't expect the boy to still want to look for him regardless!

He wondered if this uneasy feeling he felt in the pit of his stomach was just his own feelings and worries about that boy's safety and not also the fear and loneliness that Goku must've been feeling right now—

He almost missed hearing Sanbutsushin's explanations as they told him about Goku's true identity. "What? Is that true?"

"Yes, the child you have brought back from Mount Gogyo is just as the local legends say," said the first deity before the one in the middle spoke out.

"There was no mistake. That child was the monster who had committed a great sin against Heaven and was exiled and sealed on earth for 500 years—"

Sanzo stared back at them sceptically. "You say that he's a monster but—"

He rolled his eyes as the image of Goku sleeping and whining for food popped up inside his mind while he continued to hear Goku's voice calling for him.

"That brat is just a shrimp with a really dumb-looking face and really huge appetite."

The third deity was quick to correct him on that opinion. "That was not his true form, Genjo Sanzo. The golden coronet the child was wearing was a demon power limiter that has been custom-made to seal even his true appearance. Neither human nor demon, but not quite a god. He's a unique existence born from the will of the earth itself. He was referred to as a symbol of chaos and has become a legend. A soul that had been granted power equal to the Heavens..."

"...for he was given the name 'Seiten Taisei Son Goku'"

Sanzo felt a sudden surge of ice-cold fear inside his heart as he excused himself and got up to leave. But before he could do that the Sanbutsushin called out to him again.

"We do not know what this meeting may signify, between you who holds the scripture that governs both good and evil... and that child who holds the power of demons and gods. But if you are sure you have accepted that voice, then that is the truth."

.

"B-but... I thought that I was being abandoned..."

"Idiot. There's no way I could ever abandon you..."

Sanzo let out a long sigh as he looked up towards the hole in the wall behind him. And just his luck, it was a full moon tonight. Looking at the full moon, Sanzo couldn't help thinking about his old master and foster father.

"Perhaps you'll be able to hear it someday. Someone's voice..."

Sanzo just snorted to himself. Perhaps if his foster father could see him now, that old man would find this situation between him and Goku to be quite amusing.

Well, he ended up keeping the boy in the end...

He sat back up again as he glanced down to stare at Goku's sleeping face.

"—the golden coronet the child was wearing was a demon power limiter that has been custom-made to seal even his true appearance."

So this kid had that much power locked up inside him, huh?

Sanzo tried to gently lift up Goku's body without waking the kid up, before noticing something crucial. Even though the chains binding Goku to that prison disappeared after he took the kid out of the stone prison, the cuffs around Goku's neck, wrists and legs still remained. And they were quite heavy too, isn't that too harsh for the kid?

He sighed. He might as well just treat this as training for his body—Sanzo thought to himself before lifting the sleeping boy up and carrying Goku to his own room.

.

Sanzo sighed to himself as he placed a small bowl of water and a towel beside his bed. Earlier, he went back to the shed to retrieve the clothes he left for Goku as well as the buns and fruits that the boy hadn't finished. It surprised him to see that, to be honest, since the kid used to whine about being hungry all the time. But then he recalled how Goku seemed more devastated at the idea that he might abandon the boy—he thought perhaps Goku hadn't just felt hungry because he hadn't eaten for 500 years. Perhaps, Goku's heart had been hungry as well. Hungry to be loved and cherished.

He sighed again before slowly taking off Goku's old shirt and pants and silently pressing a wet cloth all over the kid's body. After that, he slowly put on some fresh clothes for the boy so that Goku would feel a lot more comfortable. He couldn't do anything about the weighted cuffs, but at least he could change the worn-out clothes. And maybe later he could get the boy more new clothes to wear.

Sanzo placed a hand over Goku's cheek to caress it. The boy looked slightly better now. It bothered him to see Goku's face wet with tears. This silly dumb face looked better with smiles anyway.

He ran a finger over Goku's new coronet. How did he manage to restore this power limiter earlier? That time, all that he was thinking in his head was how much he wanted to reassure the kid that he wasn't going anywhere.

And then a golden light appeared around Goku's head as a new coronet materialized. How did that happen?

Without warning, Sanzo let out a big yawn as he realised how late the time was already. And tonight, his bed had an extra occupant. Sanzo shrugged to no one in particular.

Well, it's not like it's really a big deal.

He pushed Goku slightly to the right side of the bed before lying down on the left side. And just as he thought he wouldn't be able to fall asleep immediately with someone else sleeping beside him, he was already deep inside his own dreams...

xxx

A small spark of light suddenly appeared inside the room, unnoticed by the two sleeping occupants. And then a set of dainty legs stepped out from the light as a beautiful deity approached the bed with the two sleeping occupants.

Kanzeon Bosatsu smiled as she looked down to see Genjo Sanzo and Son Goku sleeping together and holding on to each other like a pair of long-lost siblings. The two really do still look good together, Konzen and this little squirt. Oh no, he's Genjo Sanzo now.

She chuckled.

Kanzeon reached her hand down to touch the weighted cuffs on Goku's neck, wrists and legs one by one as the old metal cuffs and chains disintegrated into nothing. She then lovingly ran her hand over the two sleeping heads.

"The two of you are finally together now. Cherish these moments always."

The deity turned back towards the bright lights as her body started to vanish into thin air.

"Sweet dreams..."

A/N: We start with Kanzeon and end with Kanzeon, isn't it poetic? And I started with Koumyou finding Kouryuu and end it with Sanzo finding Goku, so that should be a great spot to conclude this tale.