Sanzo drifted from his dreamless sleep to the hazy semi-conscious state where the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred, before fully stirring from his deep slumber. He sat up in bed blinking in surprise at the sight of the sun high in the sky and noted with wonder that it was almost 8am in the morning. He had missed the early rooster crows, the stamps of determined morning joggers, even the loud praying from the nearby temple. This was the very first time he had slept so soundly without being haunted by nightmares since that day his master….. Damn. Damn. Damn. Why did he have to go stir up painful memories like that??

He stumbled out of bed for the bathroom and noticed with even more surprise the unmoving lump in the room's other bed. Hakkai's still in bed??? At this hour??? Was the first incredulous thought which fleeted through his mind. Now THAT was strange. Hakkai was usually up and about at 6am, cheerfully preparing breakfast for the other 3 later waker-ups. The idea of a drunk Hakkai suffering from a hangover was preposterous, and so was the possibility of a suddenly bed-ridden, sick Hakkai. Could it be…… Hakkai had been drugged? Poisoned?? Attacked??? Beaten into unconsciousness???? DEAD?????

In two quick steps, Sanzo was within reach of Hakkai and shaking him by the shoulder none too gently. To say he was concerned over Hakkai's wellbeing would be putting it too lightly. He was almost out of him mind with worry…… at the thought of having to cope with the two noisy brats alone throughout the rest of the journey. Getting no response except a muffled groan, he shook harder and Hakkai finally opened puffy eyes to stare uncomprehendingly at Sanzo. "Sanzo." Was the only acknowledgement he received before Hakkai buried himself deeper into the pillows.

"Do you have any idea what time it is??"

"Huh? Time?" Hakkai suddenly shot upright in bed, noticing for the first time the brightness of the room and the absence of the birds' early morning chirping. Not to mention Sanzo staring straight at him, as if demanding an explanation for this totally out-of-character behavior.

"Ahahaha….. looks like I overslept…" And before Sanzo could even say anything, he had bolted for the bathroom and locked himself in. Phew…. that was too close for words. He didn't even have time to observe Sanzo's reaction. Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, Hakkai silently reprimanded himself for acting so rashly and making things look even more suspicious than they already do. He stared at the reflection of himself, noting the tell-tale dark circles under his eyes and groaned inwardly. 3-hour's sleep was certainly taking a toll on him. But wait a minute… where was that….his arm already digging ferociously in his backpack, it was a matter of seconds before his fingers closed around the familiar compact case. And Hakkai beamed as he drew out a…… make-up kit. Just what he needed. Quickly dabbing huge puffs of powder over those darkened rings, he was rewarded with the sight of a much more presentable-looking Hakkai betraying no signs of a disturbed good night's sleep. Ahhh… the power of make-up…. Now the only remaining issue was to act as if nothing amiss had happened the night before. That should be easy. After all, he was an expert when it comes to acting and fake smiles, wasn't he?

Hakkai gazed at Gojyo and Goku seated at the breakfast table in dismay. The thought of THEM having to put up a good act to fool Sanzo as well had completely slipped his mind. Goku was nodding off in his seat every other minute with a half-eaten meatbun still clutched tightly in each hand while Gojyo has just set off on perhaps his 33rd yawn. And his usual big gaping ones too, with no attempt whatsoever to keep them concealed. Half-afraid, Hakkai tilted his head a little to observe the effect of this spectacle on Sanzo. The said person was staring at the two VERY suspiciously indeed, narrowed eyes and all, and it was with restraint that he kept his itching finger far away from the very appealing harisan. But this simply could not go on. He would most certainly not tolerate two drooping-off fatheads at the table, and with all eyes on them too.

He calmly produced his gun from under the folds of his robe and Hakkai raised a single eyebrow in silent amazement. Surely Sanzo wasn't planning on firing at them right now when they were half-asleep and groggy?? It just wasn't like Sanzo. After all, it kinda kills his morbid satisfaction of seeing the fear and terror in one's eyes when facing the muzzle of his gun. But no, instead of firing it, Sanzo slammed the gun down full force on the table with a bang loud enough to send roosting birds in the trees squawking and screeching into the air. And Goku, Gojyo, plus the rest of the restaurant's patrons, nearly had a heart attack.

"What the hell??!?!?!" The suddenly awake Gojyo looked pissed to no end, the effect of which was rather spoiled by the feeble massaging of his heart. "Do you want to kill us or something, you senseless monk???"

"I was rather hoping for that."

"WHY YOU……!"

"Ahh, Gojyo? Your heart is supposed to be on your LEFT side on the chest, if I'm not mistaken."

"…………. I knew that of course!"

Goku merely stared mournfully at the meatbuns scattered on the floor, which he himself had deposited in a hurry at the sound of the sky about to fall in. All that good food gone to waste! He opened his mouth and was about to whine over such a drastic loss when he perceived Sanzo glaring at him, Gojyo staring at him bemusedly, and Hakkai gazing at him imploringly. It was as if he was expected to say something. But what?

"Uhhh…. I'm hungry?" WHAM! Without a word of warning, a harisan went whizzing in the air and found its target with remarkable ease, leaving poor Goku with a considerably bruised head.

"Dumb ape," Sanzo growled with annoyance then gave each of them a second, more intense glare. "What the hell is with you people anyway? Snoring your heads off at the table, oversleeping till heaven knows what time," The last was sarcastically directed at Hakkai. "Gods."

"Well, we DID turn in late last night," Hakkai mused thoughtfully. "Anyway, isn't this for the better, Sanzo? I promise you that the noise level would be much more tolerable today." A light chuckle, followed by one of his trademark smiles.

"Hnn."

Half an hour and a few gunshots later, the four of them were safely on their way once again. But it was a very quiet jeep this time, with Gojyo's thoughts safely in dreamland, his long legs dangling dangerously over the side of the jeep, and Goku drooling away as he dreamt on about gigantic dumplings and 3-inch-broad ramen. And so, it wasn't long before Hakkai felt his eyelids starting to droop as the jeep sped on mile after mile across the monotonous plains with its never-changing scenery, despite his supernatural efforts to keep them open. I HAVE to keep myself awake, HAVE to….have tooo….zzzzzzz…. The jeep continued on straight with Hakkai's foot on the pedal, leaving behind the correct path to travel across rocky terrain. The suddenly bumpy ride grated on Sanzo's nerves until he finally opened his eyes reluctantly to see for himself the condition of the road which threatened to send them all flying through the roof of the car. But what he saw was a huge ravine rushing up to them and a sleeping Hakkai at the wheel.

"SHIT!!!" Making a wild grab for the wheel with an air that could almost be described as frantic, Sanzo spun it hard to the left, not bothering to check if the coast was clear. Anything, he thought, would be better than the ravine, anything at all. Having cleared the edge of the ravine with about a couple of inches to spare, Sanzo sank back into his seat with relief only to spring forward again in disbelief at the sight of what they're heading for now.

'A goddamned river!!!" But before Sanzo could jerk the wheel towards another random direction again, Hakruyuu suddenly decided that enough was enough and that he wasn't gonna tolerate anymore of this crazy driving. Ant that was how the whole Sanzo party suddenly found themselves very unceremoniously sprawled in the dust, swallowing mouthfuls of sand.

"$(&$)$?!!??!!?"

"Huh? Where are we? Ne, Sanzo, why are we all playing with sand?"

'Ahahaha… I seem to recall all this being my fault…."

Sanzo merely glowered at Hakkai, imagining all the nasty things he could and would do to him if he only had the chance. But revengeful thoughts weren't going to get his butt of the sand and set the jeep moving on the road once again. He picked himself up from the hard, unyielding ground haughtily, dusted his robes down with a few well-placed slaps, and gave Hakkai a look which clearly said "Get that ass moving. Fast.", to which he replied with that oh-so-irritating smile.

"Why of course, Sanzo. Whenever you're ready."