-----8-----

"Mama! Mama! I'm going outside with Kuro, just-" Malachai started to say, looking slightly embarrassed when he noticed that he had just interrupted a conversation going on at the table between his mother and a man he was sure he had never seen before. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to be so rude. I was just letting you know where I was going."

Hanna smiled despite herself, not wanting to the boy to know where their conversation had been going. "Don't apologize, dear. You're just being my good little boy. I'll be out in a bit, and be sure not to get too dirty, since we're going into town today," she replied, watching as his entire face lit up with pleasure. Her eyes followed him as he made his way outside, the distance sound of his laughter fading as he moved further away from the house. Turning to the man, her face grew as serious as her next words. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. They're looking for him as we speak, but I highly doubt that they know where you are or what village you visit during your shopping trips. Just be on the lookout today, all right?" the doctor warned, reaching into his coat pocket. "I also came to give you this."

He handed her a rather small and ordinary looking box, chuckling when her quizzical expression met his own smirking one. "What is it?" she asked, not so sure she wanted to know. However, she trusted this man despite herself, given all that he had done for her.

"Just a little something in case they do find you and give you trouble. Don't open it unless you have no other option, do you understand?" the man's smirk faded at that, leaving his face serious and indicating that there was to be no argument. Hanna nodded obediently, tucking the box away into her apron pocket. The doctor watched as she did, clapping his hands together to regain her attention once more. "Now that that's settled…I suppose I should be on my way. After all, you have such big plans for today. Remember, just keep making him take that medicine, and everything will come in time."

Hanna bowed reverently, escorting the man out of the house. "Of course. I can't thank you enough, doctor. If there is anything, anything I can do-" she started to say, surprised when he gently rested a single finger against her lips.

"I told you, my only reward is seeing you so happy. Think of it as a gift from me to you, all right?" he whispered, bringing a flush to her face as she turned away from him. A smirk crossed his features, tucking his hands into his pockets as he slowly walked down the pathway to the road. "You have fun in town, all right? Enjoy your trip," he called out, meeting eyes with the boy. Another shudder of pleasure coursed down his spine at the very thought of the sort of game he was playing.

The boy shuddered as well, but for a much different reason; the man made him uncomfortable just looking at him. "I-I will, thank you," he answered politely, turning away from those prodding eyes that were trained so intensely on him. What in the world could his mother want with a man like that? His question remained unspoken and unanswered, watching the man walk away until his mother startled him from behind.

"Ready to go?" she asked, anticipating the eager nod that followed. "Let's be off then."

-----

Hakkai grumbled unintelligibly, taking another quick glance or two around for the umpteenth time that morning. Sanzo had insisted that the three of them continue in their search for Goku, even as Yaone continued her close inspection of the room. While things were still fuzzy, hopefully the pieces would begin to fall into place before they all went crazy with not knowing where Goku was. The blonde was growing more and more disagreeable, stretching the brunette's infamous patience to its near limit. If only they could find a lead…

The green-eyed man suddenly found himself violently jolted from his thoughts, the result from a collision with another body in the street. How could he have been so clumsy? "I am so sorry, please…I was not paying attention to where I was going," he offered softly, helping to pick up the scattered goods until a very familiar voice answered him.

"Don't worry about it, sir. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either. I tend to get excited when we come to town," the voice explained sheepishly. Hakkai dared to look up at that, finding himself looking into the eyes of the very boy they were looking for.

"G-Goku? I-Is it really you?" he asked hesitantly, reaching out a shaking hand towards the boy's face. He was torn between the impulse to hug the boy breathless, or smack him for making them worry. But then again, there was something that wasn't quite right.

The boy cocked his head to the side, as though he didn't understand what he was saying. "Excuse me? Are you sure you're all right?" he murmured kindly, politely moving away when Hakkai's hand got too close.

Now Hakkai was sure that something definitely wasn't right. Not only was Goku speaking far too formally, his voice was quiet and entirely too demure. The monkey he knew was anything but formal and demure, added to the fact that the boy didn't seem to remember who he was. "Goku?" he tried again, his heart sinking when the boy shook his head.

"I think you have the wrong person, mister. My name's not Goku," he replied, and Hakkai anticipated his next words with a lump in his throat. "My name's Malachai. Malachai Ishimoto, nice to meet you." He held out his hand, but the older man didn't take it.

If there had been any color left in the brunette's face at that point, it was gone with the utterance of that single statement. "B-B-But…"

"Hey 'Kai, any luck yet?" another familiar voice called, the sound of nearing footsteps growing louder and louder until Hakkai couldn't help but train his eyes on two familiar pairs of shoes. "Holy shit…monkey, is that you? Where the fuck have you been? I swear to God I am going to rip you limb from limb-" Gojyo started to say, but soon his words died in his throat when he noticed that the kid was literally cowering away from him.

"P-Please don't hurt me, mister. I-I d-didn't mean to b-bump into your f-friend like that," the golden-eyed boy stuttered, covering his head with his arms. He was genuinely afraid of Gojyo. Of Gojyo hitting him. What was wrong with the damn monkey?

A plethora of emotions passed through Sanzo's expression before he could stop them, deciding then to put it all into one choice statement. "Stupid monkey," he said softly, softer then either of them had ever heard Sanzo sound in their entire time of knowing him.

Again, the boy cocked his head to the side, indicating that he still did not understand what was going on. "I'm not a monkey, Mr. Priest, sir. My name is Malachai," he intoned again, looking from one face to the next. Was he supposed to know these men? His mother had certainly never mentioned them before.

The air around them went from mildly tense to taut in a manner of seconds, not even Sanzo dared say anything to that. "That's not right…that's not right at all…" Hakkai murmured after a moment, shaking his head to clear it as he turned back toward the boy. "Your name is Goku. Son Goku. We are travelers heading to the West. My name is Cho Hakkai. I have a pet dragon named Hakuryuu that turns into a car," he added in desperation.

"And I'm the stupid kappa that you sit next to in the backseat. We bicker all the time, you're like my little brother. Sha Gojyo, the former-skirt chaser," the redhead commented, his expression betraying his calm tone. He looked just as frantic as Hakkai had sounded.

Sanzo didn't even say anything; he simply grabbed the monkey by the shoulders and forced their eyes to meet. "Who am I?" he asked simply, practically shaking with anger. He knew the boy wasn't clever enough for this to be a practical joke, so it was only logical that the woman had done something to him. "Who am I?"

The boy shrugged in response, chuckling. "I don't know, but you sure are funny guys. Dragons that turn into cars…that's so funny! Are you really a priest? You're a strange priest if you are," he answered, his laughter fading as those intense violet eyes continued to stare at him. Something about those eyes were so familiar that he found himself caught in them. His hand began to move of its own accord, stroking the other man's cheek before he could stop himself. "You're…the sun…?"

The corners of Sanzo's mouth twitched before he could stop it, noticing for the first time how foggy the golden eyes he loved so much were. Some of the fog dissipated as they continued to stare at one another "Yes…like the sun," he replied, drawing the boy closer and closer, until their lips almost touched…

"Malachai! What the devil do you think you're doing!" a voice screeched, causing the boy to jerk almost painfully out of Sanzo's grip. The woman suddenly appeared, grabbing him away and holding his body close to her own. "Didn't I tell you not to talk to strangers?"

The boy looked bewildered, looking from the woman to the three men and back again. "But, Mama…they…you don't know them?" he asked innocently, more than thoroughly confused. Twinges of memory began to flash through his head again, pounding against the inside of his skull as he tried to sort through them. He knew that he knew these three, especially the beautiful blonde, but he couldn't figure out how.

"Well, I know of them. These men are bad…didn't you see what he just tried to do? He tried to kiss you, in front of all of these people! Pervert! Hack! Lech!" she screamed, dragging the boy away as townspeople began to congregate and whisper to one another.

The crowd grew so thick that no matter how many people Sanzo and the others shoved out of the way, they couldn't see where the woman had run to. Almost, I almost had him back, Sanzo thought with a deep grimace, swearing on every god that he didn't believe in that he was going to rip that woman's throat out when he saw her again.

"Fuck! What the shit is going on? Did you see that! The monkey had no fucking clue who we were!" Gojyo yelled, slamming his fist into a nearby post. He swore louder when he felt warm blood slithering between his knuckles, but he didn't care; his anger dulled out the pain so that he didn't even feel it.

"If I didn't know him so well I would say that Goku was playing a joke on us. But…she's made him forget us…" Hakkai added sadly, immediately tending to his lover's hand. He dared not say anything more, sensing the darkness of Sanzo's mood and afraid that his rage could turn murderous.

"Almost. I almost had him. She's got to be drugging him or something. His eyes weren't his own…but for a split second, they were. If I get my hands on her…" Sanzo ground out, visibly shaking with fury. "She's convinced him that he's her dead kid. Somehow…"

Before things could get even worse, Hakkai spotted Yaone running down the street toward them, looking winded but ecstatic. "Sanzo! Hakkai! Gojyo! I have something important to tell you!" she said breathlessly, quickly noting the disparaging looks on their faces as her smile fell. "Goodness…what happened?"

"It doesn't matter. What did you find?" the blonde answered quickly, a well-placed glare keeping his companions silent. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to soothe the rage that was still coursing through his veins. Feeling like killing something was not going to make the situation any better.

The woman looked slightly skeptical, but didn't comment. "Well, I found that an airborne sedative had been used to keep you all deeply asleep. That was how she managed to get Goku out of there without making a sound. Also…there was a drug in the meat buns as well. The results of what exactly it could be are not clear yet, but it should be soon," she explained, folding her arms behind her as she shifted her weight nervously.

"Wonderful. Perhaps it would be wise to head back to the inn to wait. I'm sure Kougaiji will be checking in shortly as well," Hakkai commented, straining to keep his usual smile on his face. It certainly was going to be a very rough wait, though he dared not say it out loud. He helped Gojyo to his feet, looking back towards Sanzo for an answer.

The crowd had dissipated by then, leaving the blonde able to look for any signs of where they had gone. No such luck. "Whatever. Let's go," he deadpanned after a moment, lighting a cigarette and starting to walk back toward then inn. Hakkai couldn't help but sigh at that, knowing exactly how the monk was feeling.

"This is going to be a hell of a night, 'Kai," Gojyo said, wrapping his arm around Hakkai's waist in a rare public display of affection. The brunette accepted it gratefully, throwing their usual discretion to the wind in lieu of comforting one another instead.

"It certainly will be, Gojyo. It certainly will be."