Title: Gone Astray

Author: annadiel

Disclaimer: Saiyuki and all of its characters are not my property. The only thing I can call my own is the story of this fic. And if this fic resembles anything you've read before, then it's purely coincidental.

Synopsis: Goku gets separated from Sanzo and the others in a big bazaar. Homura seizes this opportunity to persuade Goku once more to come with him. And this time, Goku seems to agree with him. Will Goku leave his mission and come with the god?

Hello again! If you are reading this now, then, thanks for believing in me. Okay, chapter two will focus first on Sanzo and Homura talking, and then it's Goku's turn to meet with Homura. Happy reading!

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II. Capture

"Good evening, Konzen Douji. Or rather, Genjou Sanzo."

The man before the monk gazed at him enigmatically; his green and yellow eyes seemed to pierce inside of him.

"H-Homura!"

Sanzo got his gun and pointed it at Homura.

Homura smiled. "Still haven't learned your lesson, huh? You already shot me before, and you saw there was no effect. Put that thing down."

Sanzo did not listen to him, and with his gun still aimed at the god, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Homura went inside the room and sat on the bed, making Sanzo even more pissed off.

"Who told you that you can enter this room?"

"I'm a guest, don't you know? I may be uninvited, but I'm a guest nonetheless," answered Homura. Then he asked, "Where's Goku?"

"That's none of your business!" yelled the monk.

"None of my business? Oh, it sounds like you do care for Goku, now don't you?"

"Like the hell I care about that little brat! He's nothing more than a servant!"

"Well if that's what you think, then give him to me."

Sanzo did not say anything. But his face was livid and his eyes flaming with anger. Homura finally stood up and faced the blonde monk. "You still have two 'servants' anyway. Don't you think going with three servants at the same time is a pain in the ass? Why not let me have the kid? He won't be of any use to you anyway. But I need him. I have many plans for him. If he stays with you, he won't be able to discover his true self…"

"But if I do give Goku to you, that would be a hard part on you. It's very hard to take care of a stupid monkey like him. And I do not own him! It's his decision if he wants to go with you!"

"Ooh, how thoughtful of you, Genjou Sanzo. You're right about that. But I can take care of him just fine…"

"…besides, I know more about him than anyone of you do. I know him more than he himself knows. That seems clear to him as well."

"Well, you can see he's not here! Now get lost!" Sanzo's temper reached its limit.

Homura smiled at the monk again and started to walk out of the room. "Okay, okay. I'll go. But remember this: one day you will not see him anymore. At that time, he himself will choose to come to me. So be happy until then." And as he walked out the door, he disappeared.

After Homura was gone, Sanzo put his gun down and collapsed on the chair. "Goku will leave us? What is he thinking? Don't make me laugh..."

--0—

Goku and Hakkai were still touring the bazaar. The teen was still going to various shops, while Hakkai carried most of what they bought that it had almost blocked his sight. The number of people by that time had doubled, and it was hard to walk without bumping to each other. It was also getting noisier. Goku, too excited, walked so fast, leaving Hakkai rushing after him.

"Hey Goku, wait for me!" yelled Hakkai. But the noise drowned Hakkai's voice. Goku walked fast, and since Hakkai had too many to carry, he lost Goku in the sea of people.

After some time, Goku found another shop that he liked: a takoyaki stand. His eyes lit in delight, and he stood before the stall.

"Irasshai, irasshai!" called the owner, "Well, it seems that you like to buy takoyaki, eh, son?"

"Yup, yup! How much for one order, ojisan?"

"I'll give it to you for 70 bucks. That would be eight pieces per order."

"Oh! Ne, Hakkai, did you hear that? Let's buy four orders! One for each of us! Hakkai—"

But when he looked back, he did not see Hakkai. "Eh? Hakkai? Hakkai! Where are you? Hakkai!" No response. Hakkai was nowhere near him. So he turned to the owner and said, "Ojisan, I'll come back later, okay?"

--0—

Homura was walking in the busy streets of the town. He noticed that the townspeople were so happy about the whole event.

"So, is this how humans celebrate something? Interesting."

Just then, he heard a familiar voice.

"Ojisan, I'll come back later, okay?"

He turned to where the voice came from. There, standing before the takoyaki stand just a few steps before him, was Goku. The teen was talking to the stall owner.

"I lost my friend Hakkai in the bazaar. He's the one who has money, and I don't. I'll search for him first okay?" said Goku.

The owner replied, "Okay, son. I'll wait for you." He then noticed a man walking towards them. "Say, son, is that man your friend? He's looking at you and is coming here."

"Who?" said Goku as he turned back. To his surprise, he saw the god who was after him this whole time. He froze at the sight of him.

"H-Homura…?"

"Hello, Goku," greeted the god, "All alone, are you?"

Goku regained his senses as he heard Homura speak. He just told the owner, "No, he's not. But I'll be back with him later. Thanks!" He then attempted to rush away from the scene. Homura, however, got hold of Goku's wrist. "Wait."

"What? What do you want?" Goku suddenly shouted. He felt a mixture of anger and fear; he thought he was sure of Homura's answer.

And, expectedly, Homura replied, "You."

He then punched Goku in the abdomen, causing the latter to twist in pain. Another punch landed in the same portion, this time knocking him unconscious. Homura then carried Goku. No one but the stall owner saw what happened, and the god turned to him and smiled. The owner was aghast and could only say, "M-monster!"

"Monster?" replied Homura, "I'm no monster. I'm a god." He then disappeared with Goku. The owner stood there, speechless and afraid.

--0—

Sanzo was still seated on the chair, motionless and thinking deeply. After a while, Hakkai came, carrying lots of paper bags full of food and other stuff that only Goku would buy. "Hi, Sanzo. Seems like you're really at it being alone all this time." Sanzo said nothing. He just puffed his cigarette as he always did. Once he put the last bag on the floor, Hakkai said, "So Goku's not here yet. I thought so…"

Hearing Goku's name, Sanzo quickly turned to Hakkai and asked in a sort of angry way, "Goku? How come he's not here? I thought he was with you!"

Hakkai was a bit surprised at Sanzo's reaction, and he answered, "I lost him in the bazaar. There were lots of people outside, and with these entire luggage, I couldn't keep up with him, Goku being excited like that and all. So I decided to come back here first and put these down, then find him after to make things easier."

Sanzo quickly got up on his feet and told Hakkai, "Let's go, now! You just made things more complicated!"

"O-okay. Why are you like that tonight? You seem a bit strange…"

Sanzo, while getting his gun, replied, "…Homura. He's here. He's still after him. You understand now, then?"

Hearing that made Hakkai upset. Homura was there. What if the god found Goku before they did? It would really be hard if that happened. "Let's go."

As they were going down, they met Gojyo at the stairs. Gojyo asked, "Hey, hey! What's up? Why are you in a hurry?"

"Goku's lost," Hakkai replied.

"Ah? That baka-saru's what? What a pain in the ass! So what's the big deal?"

"…Homura's in town as well."

"Homura? Are you telling me Goku's caught again?"

"We're not sure yet. That's why we're going to find him."

"Will you two quit it?" said Sanzo, "You're wasting time. Oi Gojyo, you come with us."

"Of course, I will! Once I find Goku, I'll kick his sorry butt!"

--0—

"Uhnn," muttered Goku. He woke up in complete darkness, with only the moon lighting the place. He tried to stand up, but the pain in his abdomen went back. "Itai…"

"Looks like you're already awake, Seiten Taisei Son Goku."

Goku looked at the direction from where the voice came.

"Homura…"

Homura was smiling at him. And then he saw where they were: in the forest just outside of town.

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Well, that ends this chapter! I don't really know how they price food, so I made that price for the takoyaki up. Is it okay, or do I need to change the price? hehe...And yeah, poor Goku… And Sanzo seems to be worried about Goku, after all. Hee-hee! After reading this, you may think there's some kind of pairing, but no, your mind is just fooling with you. I won't make any pairings here, just to make things clear. I swear! So for those who anticipated for such, sorry for disappointing you. Next chapter will be entitled "Persuasion". That, I think, gives the whole plot of the next chapter. See you then! Thanks again!