Title: Back to Start
Author: Resident-Bishounen
Series: Gensoumaden Saiyuki
Timeline: Any.
Pairings: Mainly 5/8 with light hinting at 3/9. Shounen-ai at best.
Spoilers: Hakkai's past. Gojyo's past as it ties into Hakkai's.

Well crap. Gojyo'd handled that just brilliantly, hadn't he? He knew Gonou wasn't going to take the news well, but Gojyo had not expected him to run. Swear at him, punch him and even try to rip his lungs out, but not run away! Man, if only he had some sort of clue as to what had happened, he might be able to actually do something to help. Instead, all he could do was stay with him and hope that he remembered. Or, watch him storm off angrily, as things had turned out. Gojyo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Staying here wouldn't do any good after all. He had to go find Gonou, and try to explain things again. He headed for the door, which opened by itself just before he got there. Sanzo and the monkey had returned. Of course, it didn't take Sanzo long to notice that Gonou was missing.

"Where's Hakkai?" He asked, in that it's-not-my-problem way of his.

"I ... don't know." Gojyo admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know? You were supposed to be watching him!" Sanzo shouted angrily, giving Gojyo a whack with his fan for good measure.

"I was tryin' to tell him why he was here with us, but he got pissed an' stormed off!" Gojyo said. Sanzo only glared at him in reply, so he continued. "I was going to go after him when somebody interrupted." he walked around Sanzo and tried to leave again when Sanzo grabbed Gojyo's arm, stopping him. Gojyo looked back and opened his mouth to complain, but stopped when he saw what he had in his other hand. A pack of cigarettes, but not Sanzo's usual Marlboros. They were Gojyo's brand.

"Here." Sanzo said. "The last thing I need is to have to listen to you bitching about being out of cigarettes on top of everything else."

"Thaaaank you." Gojyo said, accepting the pack and pulling one out almost immediately. As Gojyo smoked, Sanzo complained.

"I'm fed up with these constant delays. If that amnesiac wants to take off, we'll just leave without him." Gojyo tried to ignore Sanzo's ranting. He always said this sort of thing whenever anything happened to break up the 'drive. sleep. kill assassins' routine. It was tough, though. How could he be willing to dismiss them at times like this?

"But Sanzo, Hakuryuu belongs to Hakkai. He won't leave him behind." Goku pointed out. At least the monkey was on Gojyo's side.

"So we'll walk." Sanzo was undeterred.

"He didn't say he wanted to ditch us." Gojyo tried again. "He just doesn't know who he is."

"Exactly. He's nothing but a liability this way."

"We can't just leave him here!"

"Yeah! Can't we try and help Hakkai? Please?" Even with Goku supporting Gojyo, Sanzo sat and fumed for a moment before finally caving.

"You have until tomorrow morning." He conceded. "If he's not back by then, I'm leaving." Gojyo extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray and made a third attempt for the door.

"I'll definitely bring him back." He said, finally making it to the door, rushing through before Sanzo had a chance to change his mind.

Gonou wandered around the strange town as he tried to clear his head and make sense of things. When he came across an empty bench in a public park, he sat down. It was a decent-sized park, considering the size of the town. A few paths lead around it towards the sports field lined in trees and bushes at the south end of the park, then back again to the small playground to the north. The playground was covered in sand, and contained a set of three swings, and arched monkey bars that connected to a platform. The platform connected to a slide on the other end. There were scattered groups of children playing in the sand and on various pieces of equipment, and watching them made Gonou feel more at peace.

Gojyo-san had sounded like he as being honest when he spoke of the horrible things that had happened. It just sounded so ridiculous. It couldn't possibly be true, could it? But how could Gojyo-san be telling the truth and lying? There wasn't much he could use to verify the story. Except he'd said Gonou'd sustained great injuries that were supposed to have left him with a large scar across his stomach. If the scar truly was there, then Gojyo's story was true. Perhaps he should find a restroom and check. That would answer the question, but… he was reluctant. What would he do if it were there? He wasn't ready to face up to the implications just yet.

Just then, someone sat down on the bench beside Gonou. He looked up at the newcomer. It was a youkai of average height and build, with purplish skin and white, chin-length hair.

"What's wrong?" the youkai asked, leaning forward. "You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders." Gonou noticed an odd look in his eye, but the youkai didn't seem out of the ordinary. "Hey, I don't mind if you'd rather keep it to yourself. You look like your world has come crashing down around you." Gonou forced a smile. He certainly had a lot to think about, but he must be looking worse than he thought, to warrant that many clichés.

"I'd say that's about accurate," he said.

"Care to talk about it?" the youkai asked, sounding not entirely unlike a school guidance counselor

"Well, I'm not sure why, but it seems I've lost some of my memory. My friends have been trying to fill me in, but it's very hard to believe." Gonou explained, still thinking of the argument with Gojyo. If someone had lied to him about what had happened and he was just repeating it, he could be telling an incorrect story and still believe it to be true. It was Gonou's only hope.

"Are you sure they're your friends?" asked the youkai, interrupting Gonou's thoughts. Gojyo was surprised. That possibility hadn't even crossed his mind.

"What do you mean?" he replied. The youkai took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully before speaking.

"Well, this must be convenient for them, with your memory gone. They can tell you whatever they want and have you believe it. They could be lying to you to try and turn you to their side," he suggested. Gonou hadn't expected someone he didn't know (or didn't seem to know) to be too sympathetic, but it was unnerving for something like this to be suggested so suddenly. Gojyo-san wasn't that kind of person, was he?

Gojyo wandered around the town, searching for his friend, with no luck. Dammit, this was all Sanzo's fault. Everything was fine before the youkai attack. Why'd he have to go and provoke them? Gojyo stopped, and leaned against a building. This was useless. He was going to have to get smarter with his searching or he'd never find Hakkai. So, if he were Hakkai, where would he go? The market was out, since Sanzo had his credit card. A library maybe? Was this town even big enough to have one? A schoolyard or park maybe? That seemed to be the most likely candidates. He stopped the nearest person to ask where the parks were.

"A park? There's one down that street there, to the left," the woman answered. Calling a thanks over his shoulder, Gojyo hurried down the street towards the park. By the time he arrived he was a little out of breath, but it was worth it; he'd hit pay dirt. On a bench beside the playground sat Hakkai. Next to him was someone that seemed oddly familiar. It was a youkai of average height and build, with purplish skin and white, chin-length hair. Recognition hit him. That's where he'd seen that guy before! He was the leader of the band of youkai who'd attacked earlier! It was his fault that Hakkai's memory was gone!