-----12-----
Sanzo had just about had it with the dense forest that surrounded them, following closely behind the redhead who was hacking and slashing a path through the overgrowth. "This is getting fucking ridiculous," he griped, lighting his fourth cigarette in the past half hour.
"I quite agree. Even the forest on the way to Kami-sama's palace wasn't nearly as dense as this," Hakkai added patiently, doing his best to aid his companion in making a way through the trees. What made the situation worse was that they had only been given a general direction, and there had been no sign of…well, anything, other than trees and brush.
Gojyo continued forging a path for them, grunting with exertion as sweat poured down his face. "This place has got to be around here somewhere. This is where the bitch ran off to with Goku," he grit out, flopping onto the ground when they reached a small clearing. The other two seated themselves as well, taking advantage of the chance for a small break before Sanzo's impatience forced them onward. The kappa lit a cigarette of his own, inhaling deeply as though it were going to be his very last breath. "So…" he began after a while of contemplative silence. "What do you guys think of what Kougaiji told us?"
Hakkai took his own moment to answer, releasing a long sigh at the very thought. "It means that the stakes are only getting higher the closer we are getting to India. Goku is the most impressionable of us all, I think. He's innocent still, no matter what happens to him and how many horrors we face. Perhaps it is a lesson to us," he mused speaking more to himself towards the latter part of his statement. He hadn't meant to be so thought-provoking.
"Whatever. I don't give a shit about what this means, or what this whack-job is trying to tell us. This doctor apparently is the one behind the experiments, so we actually got something out this whole fucking mess," Sanzo remarked, noticing the smirks on the faces of his companions. "What the hell is your problem?"
"Oh, nothing, Sanzo. Just thinking to myself that it may not be just that information that we got out of this ordeal," Hakkai commented rather vaguely, his eyes sparkling with mischievous knowledge. His lover nodded in agreement, shoulders shaking in a silent giggle.
It took Sanzo a few minutes to realize what he was talking about, his cheeks reddening before he could even think of stopping it. Soon, he had his swell of emotions under control, offering his best glare at the other two. "I have no idea what you are talking about," he murmured, unconvincing to even his own ears. His stomach flip-flopped at the memory of he and Goku's almost kiss, realizing that it was rather useless to lie about it anymore. "If either of you say anything, anything at all…I will kill you and leave your corpses to rot in this god-forsaken forest, you understand?"
The two companions shared conspiratorial smiles, deciding it best to drop the subject for the time being. "Well, what do you think we should do?" Gojyo asked, stubbing out his cigarette on the tree root behind him.
He didn't receive an answer, the sound of leaves crunching and branches rustling catching their attention. All of them tensed, preparing for a coming battle, climaxing when a figure appeared through the brush. However, the demons that they were expecting turned out to be a cloaked figure hobbling lamely across the ground. "Oh goodness…you startled me," the figure said, bowing politely to the three of them when it had startled suddenly. The voice was hoarse, clearly aged and musty from disuse.
"We weren't expecting anyone else to be in a place like this, so allow us to apologize as well," Hakkai offered cordially, bowing as well and keeping himself from rolling his eyes when his companions did not follow suit.
The figure straightened a bit, the hood of the cloak falling back to reveal a rather wizened face that belonged to an old man. "No need, my boy. Tell me, what are such fine looking gentlemen like yourselves doing in a place like this? Are you lost?" the man asked kindly, leaning on a knobby-walking stick.
At first, not a single one of them knew what to say, dumbfounded by the compliment. It had certainly been a while since they had been referred to as "gentlemen". Finally, Hakkai cleared his throat and took it upon himself to answer. "Actually, yes, silly as it sounds. We're looking for a…friend's house. Her name is Hanna Ishimoto…we came to visit her and her son," he lied easily, trying to hide the tinge of guilt he felt behind his usual warm smile.
The old man scratched his stubbly chin, as though thinking deeply about the inquiry. "Ah yes…the little cottage down the way. Strange place for a house, if you ask me. The lady of the house is always so nice to me, though," the old man replied with a chuckle, not noticing the looks of disbelief that passed between the three before him.
"So, where exactly is this place? Down the way isn't the most descriptive of directions, mister," Gojyo asked, looking at the man a bit warily. Something was a tad bit off about him, getting the same feeling that he had the afternoon before Goku had disappeared.
The man blinked for a second, before breaking down into cackling laughter. "You are a fiery one, aren't you? Does this old man's heart good to know there are still firecrackers like you wandering around. If you keep heading that direction, you'll come to a path. The road leads deeper into the forest, and that's where you'll find Hanna's house. Mostly likely you'll see her son playing in the yard. Good kid that one," the man replied, wiping a tear from his eye. Gojyo said nothing in reply to such a strange statement, settling on cocking his eyebrow and leaving it alone.
"Thank you, old man," Sanzo replied gruffly in an unusual show of some likeness of manners, dipping his head in a semblance of a nod before motioning for the others to do the same. The other two bowed as well, hurrying after the determined blonde.
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Dr. Huang was not happy. Not only had the doctor gone off on another unscheduled "field trip", it looked as though the newest experiment was at a stand-still. No progress had been made on the part of the Sanzo party, bringing a deep frown to her face.
"Still toiling away at that data, Dr. Huang? My, how do you find the time to do anything other than work?" a familiar breathy voice asked coolly, emphasized by the sound of something solid hitting the floor.
"And where exactly do you find the time to work? All you do these days is leave the lab," she retorted crossly, ignoring the posed question and getting up to examine the pack that he had thrown so carelessly aside. Without bothering to ask, she rifled through the bag, bewildered when she came across a burlap cloak stuffed in the bottom amongst other random items. "What in the world is this?"
Nii simply smiled in that pristine way of his, eyes glinting ominously as he turned to face the computer screen. He watched in amusement at the three familiar figures reflected back at him, disregarding her question entirely. "My pleasure, Genjyo Sanzo. I would so hate to see this little farce end anticlimactically. Please make this as interesting as you can."
(A/N: -eerie music plays in background- Oh no! Well, sorry if this part was rather short. College's seriously cutting into my writing time, but alas! Hopefully things will continue to run smoothly for me, eh? Until next time!)