The next installment for your reading pleasure is here! I wasn't too happy with where this story was going for a while, but now I've got the entire thing planned out in my head from build up to climax to the ending and it should be a fun ride. Thanks so much for reading with me so far and for your reviews! Enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 4: Curiosity

"Nii!"

A sly smile stretched across a stubble-laden chin as the man heard the shriek echo down his laboratory halls. He leaned on his elbows as the images on his screens clicked by and he watched a pair of well-formed legs in his peripheral. "It seems the prince has confirmed a few well leaked rumors, wouldn't you say?"

"You sound so proud of that." Hwang crossed her ankles as she sat on the desk and stared at the monitors. She pulled her dress down a bit farther when she felt his eyes crawling on her legs. It was bad enough he was with Lady Koushuu, did he have to be such a pervert in the lab as well? "Granted, after this little trick its no wonder you want to show it off."

"I can still give you a shot if you want it." Nii chuckled. "I think you'd be an adorable little girl."

"I'll pass." The doctor watched the car with the test subject travel across the monitor. The little blonde boy was pestering the red-head in the front seat. Hwang hadn't bothered to remember their names. She only watched the progress of the experiment periodically, but seeing the grown man turn into a small child was truly a remarkable feat. "Unless of course you care to share how you did it so I could modify it to my tastes."

"A good magician never reveals his secrets." Nii looked up when he felt the heavy breathing of a certain royal down his neck. Seems someone had broken down the door in his lab. "What can I do for you my ex-bunny prince?"

"What the hell did you do to Sanzo?" Kougaiji slammed a fist down on the counter. "And who gave you the authorization! Dealing with the Sanzo party is my job!"

Nii turned just enough so that the hand flicking off the computer monitor was hidden from the young prince's view. No reason for the young prince to know he had such excellent surveillance floating around the continents. Nii then propped his bunny up into a sitting position on the desk so it could also have a good view of the action. "Finding the scriptures is your job. Dealing with the Sanzo party is a job currently up for whoever Lady Koushuu sends after them."

"That's bull and you know it." This man thought he could do anything that he wanted just because he was the head of the revival project. But Kougaji was determined to put a leash on him and tighten the chokehold. "Now what did you do to him?"

"Could you excuse us, Dr. Hwang?" Nii slowly pushed himself from his chair. "This may lead to conversations that a lady shouldn't be present for."

"Like it's any of my business anyway." Hwang hopped off the counter and grabbed her papers and pens before leaving. That prince had a lot to learn if he intended on deterring Dr. Nii from his plans. When that man set his mind to something, nothing got in his way. And the things that tried, disappeared. Hwang's heels clicked loudly as she crossed the spacious room.

"Now that the lady has departed, start talking. Right now." Kougaiji slammed a fist down for emphasis. Everything on the desk rattled and jumped about an inch, but the human didn't flinch. "And don't you dare lie, because I will find out."

"I'm performing a little experiment because I was bored. Scout's honor." Nii stated calmly. Playing with people's minds was such fun. The good doctor licked his lips and brushed imaginary dust off of his coat. "Would you like to play, too?"

"I already gave you the answer for that." Kougaiji made sure to keep watch on the doors and what the man was doing. Nii remained calm and staring at him with those cold eyes through the glass lenses. They were calculating and Kougaiji had his doubts the monster in front of him was even human. That smug look was making the prince consider ripping out its throat.

"Then stay out of my business."

Kougaiji forced his fist to loosen. Things would go badly with his step-mother if he attacked her little pet. As much as he hated her, she was the only way he could resurrect his mother. And as much as he loathed it, this was the only man that could do the job. "It became my business when you messed with the Sanzo party."

"You should be careful, little prince." Dr. Nii had decided this conversation had ended. The only way to keep it going without lying would ruin his plans and that just wasn't acceptable. Nii adjusted his lab coat and straightened it before making sure to pick up his precious stuffed rabbit. The man started walking away in the same direction as Dr. Hwang earlier and ignored the demon's calls behind him. Just before he reached the door to the back laboratory, he turned to give his last parting advice in a high pitched bunny voice, of course. "Someone might think you cared about them."

Kougaiji stood in his place and controlled his breathing. He would find up what that man was doing if it killed him. That man was dangerous and he would be stopped.

"Okay kiddo, put down the cards and you, monkey, get out." Gojyo grumbled as he burst into the back bedroom. They'd reached a very roomy inn, but still got stuck bunking in doubles. Thankfully, he got to room with Hakkai for a change and Goku was stuck with the mini priest. Unfortunately, spending quality time with Hakkai led to conversations that led to the current predicament Gojyo found himself standing in. If only he could learn to say no to that dumb smiling face. Then again, if he ever learned to say 'no,' Gojyo was sure he'd be without a few vital body parts.

"Why do I have to leave?" Goku sighed. Sanzo had sat in the corner without saying a word for nearly an hour when they had first gotten into the hotel room. It took a meat bun and some careful wording to get the kid to open up enough to play a game of cards. This whole not trusting him thing was really starting to get on Goku's nerves. "I was teaching Kouryuu how to play cards."

"Because Hakkai ordered me to settle my differences with the hostage and reduce the tension in the Jeep during drives." The water sprite clicked his lighter until the necessary flame turned on. Gojyo required nicotine for serious conversations and this one would be a doozie. After taking his time to light the cigarette and take a puff, he continued. "Would you turn down a request from Hakkai?"

Goku pondered this statement for all of a second before standing up. "Sorry Kouryuu, but if Hakkai says to do it, then we do it."

Kouryuu started stacking the cards as Goku went to the door. "Okay, I'll see you later then."

Gojyo closed the door after Goku had left and waited for the sounds of the kid bothering Hakkai next door before heading towards blondie sitting at the table. He sat down on the bed and took a deep drag on his cigarette. The kid was staring at him again.

"You shouldn't smoke so much."

Gojyo turned up to the bright, and too big for the boy's face now that he was really looking, violet eyes. "Excuse me?"

"It's bad for you." Kouryuu huffed and put the cards neatly back into their box. "It hurts your lungs and it smells bad."

"It's none of your business if I smoke or not." Gojyo nearly chuckled. Hearing those words from Sanzo should signal the end of the world or something. "Like I'm going to stop just because you told me to."

"I try to tell Master the same thing, but he still smokes his pipe, too." After the cards were neatly put away and shoved to the far end of the table, Kouryuu turned his attention back to Mr. Gojyo. "I don't understand why people do it when you know its bad for you."

"You'll understand when you get older." Gojyo had to smile after that statement. It was all just so ironic. "It's just something kids don't understand. Sometimes, it just feels better to do something bad for you then to not do it at all."

"I guess that makes some sort of sense." Kouryuu yawned a little bit. The plan was to go to bed after Goku finished the card game with him. "So what did Hakkai want us to talk about?"

Gojyo looked at those big eyes completely focused on him and then turned to his cigarette. He watched the little orange glow for a minute before taking a deep breath. "My hair and eyes are red because I'm a half-breed."

"Half-breed? Like one parent is a human and the other is a demon?" Kouryuu stood up from the chair to sit next to Mr. Gojyo on the bed. "I think we heard about that in a lecture once."

"Yeah, my dad's a demon and my mom, well, my birth mom, was a human." Gojyo kept his eyes on the cigarette. "Though, the mom I grew up with was a demon, even if she didn't like me very much."

"How come?"

"I wasn't her son." Gojyo stretched his arm out so he could stab out the cigarette in an ashtray sitting on the table. "And I'm born of a forbidden birth. What else does she need to not like me?"

"So you have red hair and red eyes because you're a half-breed and you had mixed parents?" Kouryuu sat up a little straighter so he could hear better.

"Yup, you got it." Gojyo leaned back a bit to finally look at the kid. His own breathing stopped for a moment when he saw something in the kid's eyes that looked an awful lot like empathy. "All half-breeds share the red hair and the red eyes. It's how people know on sight what we are, well if they know about it."

Kouryuu slumped his shoulders slightly and swallowed. "Did you get made fun of as a kid? For being different?"

Ah, so that's where this was going. The kid gets picked on at the temple and tries to find someone who has the same situation and get some advice. Gojyo wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, but it was nice to talk about it with someone. "Yeah, I did. Though, mom beating me bothered me a bit more than what local kids said."

"Your mother beat you?" Kouryuu's eyes widened. That was horrible! Kouryuu never had a mother, but he was pretty sure that it would be the same as Master hitting him.

"Yeah, but my big bro stood up for me and I still loved her something awful, so it turned out alright." It probably wasn't the best idea for Gojyo to mention how that story ended. "In a way. So what about you? You get beat up or something?"

"Well, not that bad. If they did, it was just the other acolytes pushing me around. The older monks knew better than to actually hit someone because Master would give them much worse in a punsihment." Kouryuu felt a little bad now about bringing the topic up. Mr. Gojyo had it much worse than he did. "But all of that is mostly because I'm an orphan, so the others make fun of me and it doesn't help that Master Sanzo is taking care of me. They think I'm getting special treatment."

"Are you?" Ah, he made the kid embarrassed to talk about his problems. Gojyo chuckled as he pulled out another cigarette. "I'd think getting info from the top monk would count."

"No. He's basically my dad, but he doesn't do any more than that. I get advice on life more than for my studies." Kouryuu sighed. "I think it's a little worse than the others because I'm always worried I'll disappoint him. I think he really wants me to go as far as I can, but I'm not sure if I can do it like he wants."

"Boy, do I know that feeling." Gojyo pat the kid on the back. "Is that the worst of it? If so then I think you'll be fine."

"Well, they also make fun of me because of my eyes, but that's more the adults. Otherwise, it usually doesn't bother me because Master doesn't care about any of the things that they say either."

"Your eyes?"

"Everyone says they make me look like a demon and sometimes I think they're scared of me." Kouryuu looked up at the older man. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, that is an unnatural shade for a human." Gojyo sighed. "But that's not a bad thing. Just means you're unique, though I'm sure you could be pretty scary looking if you wanted too."

Kouryuu smiled. "Thanks!"

"No problem." Gojyo smiled and ruffled the kids hair. Sanzo was pretty cute as a kid, shame he grew up into such a tight ass. "One thing's still bothering me though."

"What?"

"Why would they make fun of you for being an orphan?" Gojyo finally lit his new cigarette and made sure to keep the smoke away from Sanzo. "I can understand being made fun of for blonde hair and purple eyes, or being favored by the head guy in lessons but that one doesn't make much sense."

"Because I don't know who my parents are it's almost like I'm not wanted, or don't belong anywhere." Kouryuu shuffled a bit. "But more specifically how I was found."

"How you were found?"

"My full name means 'swept in by the river.' Apparently my parents didn't want me and threw me in a river, which is where Master Sanzo found me." Kouryuu huffed. "It's why everyone calls me the 'river rat.'"

"River rat?" Gojyo chuckled. "I think we picked up the right kid."

"Why?"

"Didn't you catch the nick names? Monkey for Goku, Hakkai doesn't have one because we all like living, and I get two: Cockroach and water sprite."

Kouryuu chuckled. "It's good to not be the only one with an unwanted nickname."

"Yeah, well you go to bed and I'm going to go bother the monkey." Gojyo pushed off from the bed with his arms and headed towards the door. "Night, kiddo."

"Mr. Gojyo?" Kouryuu asked tentatively.

The man turned from the door to face the kid. "Yeah?"

"Thanks." Kouryuu pulled the blankets over him. "You're okay for a kidnapping gambler who smokes too much."

Gojyo laughed. "Yeah, and you're not so bad for a spoiled temple brat. Night."

The taboo brat waited for the temple brat to get completely under the covers before he shut the door and headed down the hallway. For something that he figured would keep him in a bad mood for weeks, it turned out to be rather satisfying. He made a mental note to make sure Sanzo remembered their little heart to heart. It would be great teasing ammo for years to come. Gojyo chuckled to himself as he opened the door to the other bedroom. "Monkey drive you crazy yet, Hakkai?"

"Don't be silly, I always enjoy my time with Goku." Hakkai chuckled and put down his book.

"It looks like he's been talking and you've been reading to me." Gojyo walked over to the bed and shoved Goku over. He ignored the very loud 'hey!' that came from the boy suddenly removed.

"I have very good multitasking abilities, Gojyo." Hakkai yawned. "But for now, I'm rather tired. Goku, it looks like Gojyo's done with his work so why don't you head off to bed?"

"Fine." Goku stood up from the floor and kicked Gojyo for good measure. "Night Hakkai, night pervert water sprite."

"Yeah, yeah." Gojyo waved as Goku headed out the door and down the hallway. "Well, that was an interesting talk."

"Did you find you two had more in common than you thought?"

"Something like that, but I think you knew that already." Gojyo threw a pillow at Hakkai. "We compared sob stories."

"Did he have any problems with your parentage?"

"Not a one, so shut up and stop looking so damn smug."

Hakkai sat up from the chair and walked over to turn the bed down. It really was getting late and around time for bed. "I think I always look smug according to you and Sanzo."

"Because you're always right." Gojyo laughed. "Makes me sick sometimes."

"You're right a good deal of the time, too." Hakkai turned to head back to the sink in the bathroom after having forgotten to brush his teeth. He had gotten distracted from his nightly routine when Goku had come over to kill time. "Just not at the moment."

"At least Goku seems to be taking this whole thing fairly well." Gojyo rolled onto the bed and sprawled out.

"He finally gets to protect Sanzo and get him to open up a little without getting smacked." Hakkai spoke after spitting the toothpaste out of his mouth. He gurgled a little water before heading back to the bed. "Now that he knows Sanzo's essentially alright, of course he's a little happy to get to know him better."

"I wonder if he even knows that's what he's doing. Knowing the monkey he probably doesn't." Hakkai merely grunted in response, the other man must have been pretty tired. Gojyo flipped himself upright before waving a final goodnight to Hakkai. As long as there wasn't any more problems things would be all right. "Night, 'kai."

"Good night, Gojyo."

In the room next-door Goku had already settled into bed and was watching Sanzo sleep across the room. Jeep had decided to bunk with Sanzo again to make sure that he slept soundly through the night. Goku snuggled into his blankets and smiled just a bit. Sanzo had told him 'good night' before he got into bed. That meant Sanzo was beginning to open up to him and that was a good thing in Goku's book.

"I said I was full." Kouryuu huffed. "I really don't want any more."

"You had two bites, I insist that you finish the plate."

"Hakkai, leave the kid alone so we can go shopping." Gojyo yawned. He hadn't realized he had gotten used to all the noise Goku made at night and couldn't get to sleep. The quiet had kept him up instead of made it easier to sleep. Go figure.

"But he's so thin." Hakkai hovered over Sanzo at the table. This was his one chance to introduce better eating habits into the man. "I don't want him to be underweight."

"I'm just eating as much as I normally do." Kouryuu watched Goku continue eating. "Besides, Goku can eat the rest so it's not a waste."

"Yeah, Hakkai." Goku happily accepted the breakfast plate from Sanzo. "If he doesn't want to eat it then don't make him."

"Well, alright. For now anyway." Hakkai cleared his own plates from the small table and walked over to Jeep to make sure that he had eaten enough as well. After a pat on the little white dragon's head, Hakkai opened a window to let him out for a bit. "Since everyone's done, why don't we head out and do the shopping? Come Goku, Kouryuu."

"What about the cockroach?" Goku tried to sneak a few extra bites off the plate as Hakkai grabbed it.

"He's going to stay here and pack up our things." Hakkai chuckled. "Besides, he hates shopping and now I've got an extra hand to help."

Kouryuu hopped off the chair and reached under the bed to grab his shoes. After placing them on his feet he followed a yet again smiling Hakkai and an excited Goku shouting something about buying peaches. Kouryuu made a note to himself to find out what was so special about peaches. He made sure to wave goodbye to Mr. Gojyo on his way out the door.

Shopping was a fairly normal affair for the group. The town's market was well stocked, not very busy and clean. They even had some lovely flower baskets hanging from poles that Goku had stopped to sniff while walking. At one point he even held up Sanzo so he could get a whiff of the flowers as well. Hakkai picked up the required cigarettes, extra food and snacks and a few cases of wine in the meantime. Kouryuu ended up carrying a few light bags because Goku insisted on carrying most of it when the man returned.

Kouryuu shifted the bags he was holding before trotting up behind Mr. Hakkai. "So, why did you guys need to kidnap me again?"

"Hm?" Hakkai turned away from a stand selling noodles. He was thinking of making stir fry with the new wok he had bought the other day. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like you guys are short on money." Kouryuu shifted a bag from one arm to the other. He used his free hand to rub at his nose. "And I can't think of any reason that you'd need Master's scripture unless you're going to sell it."

"Oh, well." Hakkai paused. That was a good question and Hakkai wasn't sure how to answer right away. He hadn't expected the kid to be so observant.

"We wanted a thrill." Goku grinned and threw a couple bags over his shoulder and held his hand out. "And I'll get that bag."

"I can carry it." Kouryuu frowned. "I'm not a weakling."

"Yeah, but Hakkai's not done shopping and I'm sure he'll give you more than that to carry." Goku took the bag from the kid anyway. There was just something off about Sanzo doing any sort of chore.

"Fine." Kouryuu crossed his arms and watched Hakkai pay for noodles. "But that was it? A thrill?"

"Something like that." Goku put a bag on the ground so he could ruffle Sanzo's hair again. Just because he wouldn't let him do chores, doesn't mean that he couldn't take advantage of the fact Sanzo was now two feet shorter than him. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I feel like more thought should have gone into a decision like that." Kouryuu pulled his shirt down a bit.

"Yeah well, we tend to act before thinking." Goku snuck into a bag to grab a peach. "Except for Hakkai, though we tend to act before he can tell us to stop. Want one?"

Kouryuu took the peach that was handed to him and took a bite. It was pretty good and a little of the juice dribbled down his chin; no wonder the temple was always offering them up to the gods. He looked to the side when he heard a small puppy barking off to the side under a cart. Kouryuu smiled and bent down to get a better look at the small thing.

"See something, Kouryuu?" Goku paused behind Hakkai to see what Sanzo was up to. It was so cute watching him down on his knees looking under a fruit cart.

"It's a puppy." Kouryuu kept his hands to himself. "They don't let us keep pets at the temple. They cause too much of a ruckus."

Goku chuckled. "You've never snuck one in?"

"I fed a mouse for a few weeks once." Kouryuu stood up and brushed off his pants. "I think a cat ate it though. I hate cats."

"Oh, looks like Hakkai's moved on to the next shop." Goku waited for Sanzo to finish before they started walking. "So, what's your Master like anyway? Can't be too nice if he makes you call him Master."

Kouryuu pouted. "He doesn't make me call him that, I do it out of respect. He's the highest ranking monk in the faith, but more important he saved my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Goku smiled. He had a feeling him and Sanzo had something like that in common. They were both saved by someone and given a second chance. "So, what is this highest ranking monk like?"

Kouryuu smiled softly as he tagged along with the other two. "To be honest, he's a bit of a flake."

"A flake?" Goku stopped.

"Yeah, he's always talking about being groovy and keeping up with the younger generation. He sneaks away from lessons, he drinks, he smokes and he's always folding paper airplanes. And he does it all with a big goofy smile on his face that almost never goes away." Kouryuu sighed. "I tell him not to smoke and drink but he does it anyway. At least he's getting a little better about not doing it where people can see him."

"Well, you just can't talk some people out of doing some things." Goku laughed to himself. "But, he doesn't sound much like a flake to me. He sounds pretty fun actually."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool for someone in his forties. There's just something great about him. I don't think I've met anybody who dildn't like him and respect him the moment they saw him." Kouryuu looked up to Goku with eyes full of adoration. "And despite all that stuff I just said, he's the wisest person I've ever met. He definitely deserves the position."

"Well, it's good that you like him so much." Goku looked down the street. "But for right now, we really need to find Hakkai."

"We lost him?" Kouryuu looked up at Goku. "Should we just go back to the hotel, or look for him?"

"We better find him or he'll be looking for us." Goku started walking and looked back a bit to make sure Sanzo was still tagging along. He seemed more comfortable around everyone, but he was smart and there was still a chance he might run off. "Let's get going."

"Okay!"

"Isn't that adorable, Ms. Hwang?"

"You're a sick man." Hwang was starting to get frustrated with Dr. Nii. The man had been watching the screen and every move that boy had made since the prince left the lab. "Are you ever going to do your job?"

"I am." Nii tilted his head a bit to look at the second monitor. Kouryuu was tagging along behind the demon child much like the puppy he had seen under the stand. "I'm getting rid of obstacles."

"It looks like you're stalking a ten year old."

"Eight." Nii held up Bunny to the monitor and mimed his little fluffy paws. "Isn't that right?"

"Why don't you just get his plan over with?" Hwang adjusted her glasses down her nose.

"Patience, just because you don't know what I'm going to do, doesn't mean that you should rush me."

"I just want you to get this over with and get back to the work Lady Koushuu is paying you to do!"

Nii swiveled in his chair to turn to his assistance. "Do you have regrets, Ms. Hwang?"

"Other than working for you?"

"I don't have regrets." He leaned his head back to look at the monitor. "But I do have failed experiments. What type of genius lets them sit in failure?"

"One with common sense who knows when to give up and get back to work?" Hwang tapped her nails on the counter.

"Cute." Nii pet his rabbit. "But you're right, which is why I modified the experiment to make it work. Don't you want to see the results?"

"I almost liked it better when you wasted your time playing chess." Hwang rolled her eyes and strut towards the door. "Call me if you're ever doing any real work."

"You know I always do." Nii chuckled as Hwang slammed the door and he tapped a finger on the monitor right next to a close up on the boy's face. It looked like they had relocated the demon murderer and were headed back to the hotel. The focus was a little fuzzy and Nii made a mental note to adjust the camera on his little spy bug. A small beeping noise started on the monitor to his left and Nii sighed as he swiveled over to it. He clicked up the screen to look at the weather forecasts. He laughed to himself as he watched a dark cloud hover over the area little Kouryuu and his friends were in. Dr. Nii held his rabbit up to the light and chuckled. "Looks like rain."