The next chapter has come much sooner than expected thanks to nimblnymph. I'm actually really happy with this chapter and from hear the plot is really going to pick up. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 5: Rainy Weather

"Can you believe our luck?" Gojyo groaned as the group stood huddled beneath the hotel overhead. The rain was falling in sheets and the dragon had gone on strike on them. To make things worse, Gojyo had to wait for his cigarettes to dry out since his jacket failed to keep out the water.

"Be thankful we reached an inn." Hakkai replied. He huffed a little to himself while petting Jeep's neck from his shoulder. "Even if it is in the middle of no where."

"Well, I just hope this place serves food." Goku held his stomach and fell on his butt to the porch floor. "I'm starving."

"You're always hungry." Kouryuu sighed and pat Goku on the head. Kouryuu watched the rain falling in the bigger drops from the roof and smack onto the porch. If you watched them long enough they fell in a little pattern.

"Looks like the kid's learning." Gojyo snickered and ruffled his hair. Gojyo never in his life would imagine Sanzo could be so cute. "Alright, enough enjoying the scenery, it's just rain. Let's get inside."

"I agree with Gojyo." Hakkai turned and headed into the main door of the inn and looked around for the main desk. A drop of water hit him in the nose and he looked up to see a rather large water spot. The demon sighed and hoped the leaks were constrained to the main office. "Excuse me? Is anyone here?"

Kouryuu followed into the room with the others and looked around the inn lobby. There were dust coated webs and small spiders running around most of the corners. However, the furnishings were rather rich looking and well kept, as the colors hadn't faded in the slightest. "It doesn't look like there's anyone here."

"I think you're right, Kouryuu." Hakkai picked up the guest list on the front desk and noticed that it was empty.

"Hey, I found a sign." Gojyo reached farther back onto the desk. "Says 'Sign in, pick a room, host will be back tomorrow.' He's got a lot of faith in the goodness of people, doesn't he?"

"Even if it is naïve, it is a bit of an admirable trait." Hakkai walked behind the counter and picked up three keys. "Or it just means he won't be back for a while and doesn't care. Anyway, Goku, you bunk with Kouryuu and here's your key Gojyo."

"You bunking by your lonesome, Hakkai?" Gojyo snuck a candy from the dish on the table.

"Yes," Hakkai fingered the key in his hand and looked at the hotel log to see if there was a kitchen. "Well, I'm turning in for the night."

"It's only five." Kouryuu followed in Mr. Gojyo's footsteps and also took a piece of candy out of the dish, though he had to reach and stand on his tip-toes to get to it. Kouryuu couldn't wait until he got taller.

"I'm not feeling too well, so I'm turning in early." Hakkai forced a smile and tried to ignore the sound of the rain pounding on the roof. "Goodnight if I don't see you later."

"Is he alright?" Kouryuu stopped fiddling with the candy wrapper long enough to watch Mr. Hakkai walk off towards a room at the end of the hallway.

"He's fine, kiddo." Gojyo traded the candy for a semi-dried cigarette. "His moods tend to match the weather, that's all."

"Oh." Kouryuu was about to pop the caramel drop into his mouth when he realized it wasn't in his hand anymore. "Hey! Goku that was mine!"

Goku snickered and stuck his tongue out with the treat on the end. After he had pulled the tongue back in and settled the candy in his cheek Goku answered the angry pout on Sanzo's face. "Too slow."

"I think you need a feed bag like they have for horses." Kouryuu shifted his weight. "That way you can just eat constantly and not steal other people's food."

"Ah, but that's no fun." Goku grabbed Kouryuu's hand and started pulling towards the bedroom. "Let's go in the back and play a game."

"Alright." Kouryuu smiled a little. Maybe Goku would show him a new card game they could play.

Gojyo savored his cigarette as he watched Goku drag Kouryuu towards one of the free rooms. He shook his head and stared at his own key before following them. When he passed a window he noticed that the rain hadn't let up at all and blew the hair out of his eyes. It was going to be a long night.

Kouryuu woke up in the middle of the night, when Goku let out a particularly loud snore. He knew it was later because it was still pitch black outside. He looked over to the other side of the room to see Goku snoring upside down on the bed and he could feel Jeep's small warmer body next to his own. The stars and the moonlight would have been filtering into the room, but the rain was blocking the light. Instead there was a steady stream of water flooding down the windowpane.

He stared at the water for a little bit before feeling his throat and coughing lightly. Hopping out of bed with every intention of getting a drink, Kouryuu pat Jeep on the head and made sure he was still asleep. It was interesting how little they were keeping track of him lately. It was almost as if the others had even forgotten they had kidnapped him, though considering their maturity level they might have actually forgotten. Kouryuu pushed the door open slowly and peaked out into the hallway. He checked both ways before noticing the light peaking from the other end.

Kouryuu walked as quietly as he could on the plush carpet before stopping just outside the door. He peaked in through the crack and could see Mr. Hakkai awake and sitting at the window. He had one of the lamps lit and was staring at the water like Kouryuu had been just a moment ago. The difference was Mr. Hakkai was frowning and had his shoulders slightly hunched. Kouryuu watched for a moment longer before turning and running down the hallway.

Hakkai continued sitting and watching the rain while trying to suppress bad memories. He ignored the feeling of blood spattering on his face and the screaming in the back of his head. The demon sighed and put his hand up to the window and trailed his finger down with the water. One would think that after four years he would have been able to get over this rain induced depression and semi-hallucinations. However, despite what should be amble time to get over the worst of trauma, Hakkai was still sitting and watching blood on the walls and falling in tune with the rain. The blood was starting to run down his arm and onto his hands when he heard the door creak open.

Kouryuu jerked and almost dropped his tray when Hakkai flung around to face him. The man's breathing was heavy and he was sweating a little. Kouryuu swallowed before calming his own breathing. "Sorry."

Hakkai ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. It was just Sanzo and there was nothing to worry about. Though, he really should have guess that Sanzo would still be awake as well. "Kouryuu. What are you doing up?"

"I thought you'd want some tea." Kouryuu held up the tray with the little cup and kettle. "It always makes Master feel better when it rains."

Hakkai's lips curved up just the slightest seeing Sanzo standing there with a little tray with green tea. "Thank-you, that's very thoughtful."

Kouryuu smiled and finally walked fully into the room and stopped at the window. He sat down on the floor and poured a cup of tea neatly just like he had been shown. After setting the kettle back down, Kouryuu gently picked up the cup to hand it to Mr. Hakkai. "It might taste a little funny."

Hakkai took a little sip from the cup and smiled. Kouryuu must have made the tea from scratch and let it steep too long. "A little strong, but I like it."

"Yeah, I don't usually make the tea. I just serve it." Kouryuu stood up to look out the window.

"May I ask why you're still up and making me tea?" Hakkai chuckled a little bit at the thought of an adult Sanzo doing the same thing. Even if the man did get the sudden urge to be kind, he probably would have ordered Hakkai to make his own tea.

"I woke up and wanted a glass of water." Kouryuu yawned a litte. "When I saw you were still up I decided to make some."

"Because it made your Master feel better when it rains?" Hakkai took another drink from the cup. "Did he get depressed when it rains?"

"A little." Kouryuu shrugged. "I don't understand why though, it's just rain. It always goes away in a little bit and always leaves everything pretty when it's done. Whenever I ask why though, he just says it puts him in a bad mood."

"It does have that effect sometimes." Hakkai sighed and stared at the little cup in his hands.

"Do you not like the rain either?" Kouryuu leaned on his elbows. "I kinda' like it sometimes."

"It brings back bad memories," Hakkai set the cup down and his smile grew a little when Sanzo automatically refilled the cup. "So you'll forgive me if I'm not too fond of it showing up."

"I guess that can make you depressed." Kouryuu stood up and looked out the window again. He pressed his face against the glass when he saw the light from the lightning reflect off of something. "What's that?"

Hakkai took another quick sip from the cup before following Sanzo's pointing finger. "What's what?"

"That." Kouryuu tapped the glass. "Right there."

Hakkai sighed and set the cup down and hopped off the window ledge to kneel on the floor so he could see eye level with what Sanzo was pointing at. He squinted and adjusted his monocle and finally found what the kid was pointing at. "The bug on the window or the flower on the ledge?"

"The thing in between them out in the yard." Kouryuu huffed. He wasn't stupid; he knew what a bug and a flower were.

Hakkai sighed and looked harder, it was hard to see what he was pointing at with the rain falling down. "I'm sorry, I just don't see what you're pointing to. The rain is in the way anyway, I doubt we could get a clear look at it anyway."

"Then we'll just have to go out and look closer." Kouryuu stood up and started walking out of the room.

"It's pouring rain." Hakkai stood up and took hold of the boy's wrist. This was ridiculous and making his head hurt, but he forced a smile on his face anyway. "You'll get soaked. We can look in the morning."

"But I might forget about it by then." Kouryuu shifted his wrist so he was holding onto Hakkai's. He gave it a tug and started to pull the man after him. "Let's go look now. It's just a little water."

Hakkai let himself be led by the hand as they left the room, but that didn't mean he had given in to the child. "You'll catch cold out there. Why don't you just go to bed and I'll remember."

"You don't even know what I'm pointing to." Kouryuu pulled harder. "It'll take two minutes."

"Kouryuu, please listen to me." Hakkai stopped and pulled his wrist back, dragging Sanzo a few steps foreword with him. "We are not going outside, I have a headache and I'm going back to the room. Go to bed."

Kouryuu pulled his hand back and let it fall to his side. He looked down at the floor and huffed. So much for getting the man's mind off of the rain. "Okay, I'll go put the tea tray up."

"Thank-you." Hakkai followed Kouryuu back and waited for him to pick up all of the things he had brought and then watched him go back to his room. Once the door was shut, Hakkai took his place back at the window and sighed. Much to his displeasure, he found himself staring at the area Sanzo had been pointing earlier. "What could he have possibly seen?"

Hakkai looked at everything he could see from the window and tried to figure out what Sanzo had been stumped by. The boy should know what insects, flora and stonework would be. He doubted it would be the garden figurines; they should have those at the temple. Hakkai smacked his head and stood up with a laugh. "I can not believe I'm going to do this."

"What is that for?" Wang adjusted his goggles as he looked at the notes Dr. Nii was typing. "It looks like an adjustment for the minus wave."

"If it looks like a duck." Nii drawled and adjusted a few numbers. He needed to be careful of his modifications of he'd destroy the final product. He looked at his other monitor and laughed at the sight. Things were going as planned and he made a note to send word of the latest location of the Sanzo party.

"Then it must be a duck." Wang laughed and set a clawed hand down on the desk and shifted his weight. He was getting a little older than he would have liked. "Trying to get the last of the strong willed ones?"

"No, that's a task for another day." Dr. Nii smiled at his bunny. He was just in a good mood today.

"I take it you won't be sharing, then?" The old demon laughed. "A personal experiment then?"

"I have to have some hobbies."

"Your hobbies are frightening, but for what I really came here for." Old Man Wang reached into his pocket to pull out a small note. "From the lovely Lady Koushuu."

"A summons?" Dr. Nii stood. "What wonderful timing."

"Have fun," Wang snickered. "The medicinal cream is in the cabinet if she leaves more little red marks."

"I am quite aware of where it is." Dr. Nii sighed, that woman always wanted to play at the worst times. "Keep Hwang out of my notes until I get back."

"I doubt she'd touch your notes with a ten foot pole."

"This time," Dr. Nii pushed his glasses up. "I think she might risk catching whatever sickness it is she accuses me of having."

"A good one then?"

"It should be the best." Nii smiled to himself. "But then again, what else would you expect?"

Kouryuu wandered into the main hotel dining room rubbing his eyes. He hadn't been able to go back to sleep after his little bout with Mr. Hakkai earlier. Speaking of said man, Mr. Hakkai was sitting at the table with a fresh cup of tea. "You're up early, or did you never go to bed?"

"The latter, unfortunately." Hakkai chuckled and rubbed his shoulder a bit. He had strained it a bit while digging.

Kouryuu got closer to the table and noticed something funny with the man sitting in front of him. "Why is your hair wet? And your clothes look damp, too."

"I had a little adventure last night looking for this." Hakkai sighed and placed a rather heavy object on the table. "It took me a while, but is this what you were pointing at last night?"

Kouryuu stared at the table, and then turned up to Hakkai. "Yeah, it is, but you said you weren't going outside."

"I couldn't stop thinking about it after you pointed it out." Hakkai chuckled and rubbed his eye a bit. He took his monocle off to polish it with his shirt. "Got my mind off of those bad memories though, so I guess I should thank you a little."

"You're the one who's going to catch a cold." Kouryuu sighed and poked the thing on the table. He smiled though, and looked back up to Hakkai to ask his question again. "So, what is it?"

"That, is a zodiacal armillary." Hakkai grinned a bit and scratched Jeep under the chin. The little dragon cooed happily and turned it's little red eyes over to Sanzo as he poked the instrument.

"And what the hell is that?" Gojyo yawned over Kouryuu's shoulder. "Looks like a bunch of circles."

"It looks neat though." Goku stretched and sat down to eat some of the fruit laid out on the table."

Hakkai smiled as all four of them were around the table. "It's an instrument for studying the stars. It measures celestial latitudes and longitudes so you can locate stars."

"That's really cool." Kouryuu picked it up and watched the rings rotate. "Can we use it?"

"It's a little small, but I can show you how its supposed to work at least when it gets darker." Hakkai spun one of the inner rings.

"Is the owner back yet, Hakkai?" Goku poked the empty fruit bowl. "I want to see if they have food."

"We'll go out to eat, how about that?" Hakkai stood up from his chair. "I'm sure there's a tavern or something close by."

"Sounds good to me." Gojyo pat Kouryuu on the back. "Go pack up the stuff so we can get out of this stuffy place."

"Why should I do it?" Kouryuu glared. "It's not like any of it is mine."

Goku looked at the instrument on the table and looked up at Hakkai. "Hey, is it okay if we take that armadillo thing? It probably belongs to someone."

"It's an armillary, but don't worry, Goku." Hakkai picked it up and handed it off the table to Sanzo. "It was half buried and in the back. Even if it does belong to someone, I really doubt if they notice it's missing."

Goku grinned a little as Sanzo struggled to hold the armillary and walked over to grab it. It was so much fun playing the big brother during the past week. "Hey, I got it."

"No." Kouryuu turned away and tossed it a bit to get a better grip on the thing. He turned away from Goku and took a few steps towards the door. "I can carry it."

Goku laughed and put his hands on his hips. Sanzo looked so cute holding the thing and struggling just the tiniest bit. "Okay, you got it. I'll go get the rest of the stuff."

Hakkai had Jeep transformed and ready to go by the time Goku, Gojyo and Sanzo made it outside with the bags. The first thing Sanzo did was secure the armillary under the back seat and take his place next to Goku, who was predictably munching on some more candy from the table. Hakkai wasn't sure how much they owed the Inn for the nights stay, but he didn't question it much. He was sure, however, to leave an I.O.U. for the next time they were in this town.

The drive was surprisingly pleasant for such a dusty road, even a few hours into the trip. The air was still damp and held the dust in clumps to keep it from flying everywhere, but it was dry enough to not be considered mud. There was a clean breeze, slight flower petals flying in the air from the trees that carried a sweet scent, and the swarm of demons with pitchforks that were stationed at the edge of the road.

"Kouryuu, stay in the Jeep." Hakkai slowly pressed on the brakes and gently stopped the Jeep. Hakkai watched the back mirror to make sure that Sanzo did indeed stay in the car.

Kouryuu stood up to look over the seat and past the other two. There was a huge group of demons and they were all screaming and waving knives and torches. "What's going on?"

"Just listen to Hakkai and stay in the Jeep, kiddo." Gojyo summoned his Shakujou and got out of the Jeep. "Goku, stay here."

"Got it." Goku summoned his Nyoiboh and stood on the back seat. "Kouryuu, stay down. This could get ugly."

"Sanzo party!" The head demon shouted. "Be prepared for your demise!"

"We should deal with this quickly, Gojyo." Hakkai summoned a chi ball and got things started by decimating about five demons. "The longer it goes on, the harder it will be to keep Sanzo out of it."

"I agree!"

"Sanzo party?" Despite being told to stay down, Kouryuu was still standing and watching what was going on. "What are they talking about? What are Mr. Hakkai and Mr. Gojyo doing?"

"Don't worry about it." Goku tried to push Sanzo down into the seat but was distracted. "Shit!"

"Goku?" Kouryuu looked up to see Goku tackled by a demon that had broke from the group. Goku bounced up quickly and rammed the staff he had summoned into the demon's chest. There was so much blood and Kouryuu could feel it splattering on his face. "You killed it."

"This isn't the time!" Goku turned back in time to see Sanzo freeze up. "Stay down and don't let anyone see you! I'd like to stay but I'm just attracting attention over here."

Goku ran off a few feet so that he was close enough to watch Sanzo, but far enough away that the demons stayed away from the Jeep. He prayed to the heavens that they didn't notice Sanzo. There was no way he could defend himself in this state. "Alright! Come and get it! I can take all of you!"

There was so much blood. Kouryuu's breathing was increasing and he could still feel the warm blood dripping on his skin and soaking his hair. There were guts too, from Mr. Gojyo cutting people in half with the scythe thing. Others were just dissolving in mid air, like salt in water, from Mr. Hakkai's blasts. Kouryuu reached a shaky hand up to his face and rubbed his fingers in the blood. He felt like vomiting.

"I got ten Hakkai!" Gojyo laughed and sliced through another four in one flick of the wrist. "Better make that fourteen. What's your count?"

Hakkai chuckled and fired another blast into a large group. They all scattered into bits from the explosion. "Somewhere around twenty-three, but I lost count. We'll be all done with this little thing soon."

"Yeah, hey monkey how are you doing?" Gojyo called over his shoulders to look back. Goku was killing anything that came within a foot of Jeep. Looked like Sanzo wasn't having too good of a time though. He was pretty far away, but he looked really pale.

"Great!" Goku flipped over a demon and bashed it hard in the back of the head. He slammed the staff into the ground and swung around it to land a few well placed kicks to the surrounding attackers. "Be done in a jiffy."

Another few flicks of blood hit Kouryuu in the shoulder as Goku smashed another head into the side of the Jeep. He was very close to hyperventilating but he kept his breathing as calm as he could. He heard a bit of a scraping sound behind him and Kouryuu turned to see a demon climbing over the side of the Jeep. "Get away!"

"What do we have here?" The demon chuckled. "A little one, I bet you taste good."

"What is wrong with you?" Kouryuu backed up as far as he could until he hit the opposite side door. He scrunched down in the seat and clamped his eyes closed as tight as they could go. Throwing his hands over his head he shouted, "Leave me alone!"

Kouryuu waited for the demon to hit him but it never came. He felt the Jeep jerk to the side with an impact and opened his eyes to see Goku standing over him, staff out front and a demon flying away from the Jeep. Goku then hit two more and he saw a chain and a blade fly overhead and chop them in half. Kouryuu rubbed at the blood furiously when it landed on his cheeks, but he was sure he had only smeared it.

"Is that all?" Goku shouted and looked around Sanzo seemed like he was unhurt and it seemed calm.

"That was all." Hakkai laughed as he trotted over to catch up to the other three.

"Ha, I think I got close to beating you guys this time." Gojyo smirked and lit a fresh cigarette.

"Not a chance you cockroach!" Goku laughed, but stopped when he felt a slight shaking near his feet. "Hey, Kouryuu are you alright?"

Kouryuu groped for the top of the door and pulled himself up to stand. He saw carnage and blood and guts and body parts littering the street and the grasses surrounding it. His eyes might have been seeing more blood than there actually was, but that didn't change the fact he was still seeing it. And that's not what scared him the most.

"Kouryuu?" Hakkai swallowed a little and leaned over the door. It was highly possible Sanzo could be suffering from shock after an attack like that at such a young age.

"They're dead."

Gojyo blew a little smoke out of his cigarette and sighed. "Yeah, kid. And we're not, so be grateful."

"You killed them." Kouryuu's breathing had calmed. He wasn't scared anymore and he could feel the anger building. "You killed them!"

"Hey, calm down." Goku reached out to hold Sanzo's shoulder but the kid pushed back against him and fumbled with the lock of the door until it opened. Goku looked at his hand and back up. Sanzo had never looked at him like that before, it was almost as if he was scared of him. Goku didn't like that feeling.

Kouryuu hit the ground as he scrambled away from the Jeep. It wasn't possible, they couldn't be that bad of people. "Don't touch me!"

Hakkai had a feeling that something like this was going to happen and there was no reason to beat around the bush. The demon grabbed Sanzo by the arms just below the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Kouryuu, if we didn't kill them, they would have killed us. That includes you and we don't want that. Do you understand?"

"I understand self defense just fine." Kouryuu struggled a bit but couldn't push away. Mr. Hakkai's grip was too tight. "You enjoyed it."

"What?" Hakkai paused and looked closely at Sanzo. He could feel Goku and Gojyo hovering behind him.

"You enjoyed it!" Kouryuu screamed and fought the tears building up. He had thought they were okay people despite everything. But it's clear that he was wrong. "You made it into a game! Those were people, not game pieces. You counted how many you killed, you laughed, you smiled. It, it, it was cruel."

"Hey, we get attacked a lot." Gojyo put his weapon away. "When things get tedious and annoying you try and make them entertaining."

"Why would this happen all the time?" Kouryuu grimaced a little when Mr. Hakkai's grip tightened. "And even if it happens all the time they're still people!"

"The demons are all crazy. They've been attacking at random and are totally vicious." Goku put his own staff away and kept his eyes on the ground. "They're uncontrollable and it's the only way to stop them."

"So they don't know what they're doing? Doesn't that make killing them even worse?" Kouryuu could feel a tear or two mixing with the blood on his cheeks.

"Kouryuu." Hakkai couldn't even begin to think of how to explain this. It never occurred to him that Sanzo would be so objective to their actions as a child. He didn't think values could change that much in a lifetime. Hakkai swallowed and pulled Sanzo a little closer. "I'm sorry if we scared you, but…"

"Shut up!" Kouryuu yelled and yanked back. "Let go, you're hurting me."

Hakkai released his hands instantly and Kouryuu fell down on the ground. Hakkai kept his eyes off to the side after seeing the slight bruising on Sanzo's arms. He hadn't meant to be gripping him so tightly. "I'm sorry, but that's how things are."

Goku and Gojyo kept their mouths shut for the time and just let the silence hang in the air. Goku couldn't believe that this was happening and tried to figure out how to fix the situation in his head. Gojyo ground out his cigarette with his foot and watched the ashes smoke. Hakkai's frown was on his face and the smile long gone. Sanzo just sat in the dirt and breathed heavily, fighting tears.

"Let's go, Kouryuu." Goku reached down to pull Sanzo up but his hand was smacked away.

"I'm not going." Kouryuu growled. "I want to go home. Now."

"We can't do that, kiddo." Gojyo reached down for the arm. "Get in the Jeep."

"I said no!" Kouryuu shoved off the ground and pushed Mr. Gojyo's chest as hard as he could. As soon as the man was out of the way, Kouryuu ran.

"Kouryuu!" Hakkai shouted. This was not good, where there was one demon army there was sure to be another around close by. "It's not safe!"

"Shit." Goku and Gojyo both cursed as the boy shot off towards the woods. Gojyo started running after the kid. "Come back you little idiot!"

Kouryuu could hear the others trailing behind him, but that didn't matter. He had to get away from them before he was fooled any further. If he could get into the woods he could hide from them and then find his way back to the temple. Back to Master Sanzo. He rubbed at his face with his wrist when the blood and tears blocked his vision.

"Where are you going?" Wang looked up as Nii popped up from his chair with a near sadistic glee and started strutting towards the door.

"It's time to start stage two." Nii chuckled as he thrust his rabbit under his arm. Things had worked perfectly and for once those idiot demons had done exactly what they were supposed to do. It couldn't have worked out better for him. His coat billowed behind as he walked and he tilted his head up to the ceiling. He had been waiting for this moment, and he would not let it go to waste. "Now, time for the fun to really begin."