Sanzo , Goku , Gojyo and Hakkai could not believe their eyes . Standing at the open
door of Otaru 's apartment were Dokugakuji , Yaone and Lirin . An understandably
displeased Sanzo stood up and said , " If the three of you are here to cause trouble . . . "
It was then that Otaru asked , " Do you know those three ? " An irritated Sanzo then said ,
" What a stupid question . "
" Hey ! Don't call Otaru stupid ! " Lime snapped at Sanzo who responded by hitting her
with his fan .
" Ow ! " Lime wailed . " That wasn't nice of you ! "
" Whoever said I was nice ? " Was Sanzo 's reply .
Goku then said , " I guess now you know how THAT feels like . " Meanwhile Hanagata
was at a corner of the room , tryng to stay out of this situation .
" Well , well , " Dokugakuji said , " who would have thought we would run into each other
in this place ? "
" No doubt you three are looking for a fight , " Sanzo said .
" Hold it ! " Otaru exclaimed , not without alarm . " This is no place for fights of any kind ! I
don ' t know what kind of trouble they caused in the past , but this is not the time nor the
place for it ! "
Clearly , Sanzo surmised , Otaru was unaware that the reasons for their rivalry were more ,
for lack of a better word , complicated . But Sanzo was not in the mood to explain every
single detail , so he had no alternative but to agree with his host , at least at this particular
point . Yaone then spoke .
" I can see that a fight here and now may not be to anyone's best interests , so I propose
we may let this go , for the time being . "
Lirin looked on with puzzlement , but chose to follow Yaone 's lead . Dokugakuji decided
to do the same , but still watched at Gojyo , his half-brother .
"Another time , perhaps , " Dokugakuji said . With that the three were preparing to leave
when Otaru asked , " Do you three have any place to stay ? "
No reply .
"If you don 't have a place to stay , I believe I might know of one . "
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In an apartment building , there lived three marionettes .
Only these were no ordinary marionettes . They were Saber Dolls from Gartlant . Their
names were Tiger , Luchs and Panzer . They came to this place not long after moving
from Otaru's home because their beloved Lord Faust wanted them to .
There was a knock at the door . No sooner had Luchs opened than she saw Otaru , his
marionettes and seven strangers there .
" Is there anything I can do for you ? " Luchs asked .
"As a matter of fact , " Otaru said , " we were wondering if you could find a place for
these three . " He was indicating Dokugakuji , Lirin and Yaone .
Tiger and Panzer did not know what to make of this , but Luchs then said , " Well ,
there 's an empty apartment nearby . I guess they can take that as long as they earn their
keep . "
That seemed to settle the matter more or less .
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Elsewhere , Kougaiji watched Faust with some interest .
" What exactly brings you here ? " Kougaiji asked , to which Faust replied , " I could ask
the same thing of you . "
Kougaiji pondered whether or not to say anything . Then Faust said ," If you must know ,
a few hours ago , I had this strange feeling . . . as if something strange had come to our
world . Perhaps you might know something about it . "
There was a tense silence between Faust and Kougaiji.
" Perhaps , but only because I was brought here .Whether it was by accident or for
some purpose I can't say for sure . "
Faust 's reply was , " I see ."
Faust and Kougaiji stared at each other in silence .
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The next day , Sanzo pondered about all that had happened to him and his companions .
He recieved no word from the Merciful Goddess and he began to wonder if she had any
idea where he was and , if so , if she planned to return them home . Soon he wondered
about the plan to revive Gyumao . The plan that he and his companions were supposed
to stop .
Not far away , Lime was walking down when she noticed Goku .
" Hey , Goku ! " She called out . What are you doing here ? "
" Just looking around , " he replied , "hopefully finding some food ."
It was then that the two had noticed a crowd ahead of them .
" What do you think is going on over there ? "Goku asked . Lime then replied , " Let 's
find out ! "
With that , the marionette and the demon dashed towards the crowd . Apparently ,
some sort of contest was about to begin .
" Come one , come all ! The eating contest is about to begin ! " The announcer called
out . Goku and Lime could not believe their ears . An eating contest ? They both decided
to enter on the spot .
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Next Chapter : Who will win this eating contest ? Lime or Goku ?