Author: I do not own anything of Saiyuki or its characters...except for their manga. I want to become a better writer therefore, criticism is welcome!

Sanzo: Now read.

Author: Don't speak to our readers like that!

Sanzo: *ignores*

Hakkai: ...And please review ^.^

~Chapter 5, Affirm; Goku's POV~

I watched as Gota zipped around from one place to another. Everything catches her eye! Since we got to the town's market place, she wouldn't stay still for more than three seconds!

"Oi, Gota! C'mere!"

I heard her gasp a bit and she ran off to the next little shop that caught her eye.

"Gota!" I whined. "Slow down!"

Before she could run off again, I grabbed the back of her shirt.

"Where ya goin'?"

"I saw something pretty over there!" she pointed north of her and pouted when I wouldn't let her go.

"You can go look, but quit runnin' around like that, I can't keep up with you!"

"Ok, ok!" she cried, puling away from me.

Once I let go, it was like she teleported she ran so fast! I sighed and shook my head a bit and then she started calling me over.

"Look, look!" she pointed jumping a bit.

"What is it?"

Behind a display window was an adorable, chocolate-brown puppy with a cute red ribbon gently tied around its neck, the big bow resting on the back of its neck. Its paws, stomach and tip of its tail was white. Gota giggled as the puppy's tiny tail waged happily when it saw her near the window. Then, she ran into the shop.

"Gota, wait up!" I cried, running after her.

When I reached her, she was already carrying the puppy.

"Ooh Nii-chan, look at how cute it is!"

"Yeah it is, isn't it…" I said patting its head.

A pause.

"Nii-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we keep him…please?" she put on her cutest begging face.

It seemed to work.

"Uh…I really don't mind…"

"Really?" she got excited.

"But I don't think Sanzo would like it." I replied quickly.

Her smile dropped a bit.

"He doesn't like dogs." I continued.

Her overjoyed smile returned.

"In that case, we have to get him!" she cuddled it.

I got a bit nervous.

"Sanzo won't like this at all. He won't even have to see the puppy before he brings out th' fan!" I cringed a little as I thought about it.

Gota's whole smile dropped like a rock, before a sign of anger bubbled into her eyes. Her hair shadowed her eyes from view.

"If he hits you…"

I stared at her as she stated to quiver with anger. The puppy tried to unnerve her by licking her fingers.

"I'll buy him…and I'll tell Sanzo it's not your fault…"

"Gota…?"

With that, she turned and carried the puppy to the caretaker behind the counter, who had a look surprise on his face for some reason.

"I want to get this puppy, please…" she said with a shy smile.

"Ah, that one's one of our best! He's very well behaved." he smiled.

Gota's overjoyed smile started to return.

"But I'll have to say, this one's a strange one…" the caretaker said taking out a carrier.

"No need." I replied when he took it out.

"What do you mean?" Gota asked.

"I'm not sure actually…"

The caretaker went and got some puppy food, bottled water, leash, 2 toys, a food and water tray, and a blanket, then put everything in the carrier.

"This little one just showed up one day in the display window. It looked to be a stray, so we gave him a well deserved bath and my sister put that ribbon on him. Said it was cute." he continued.

"It is!" Gota smiled, excitedly.

The caretaker chuckled softly and pushed the carrier towards us.

"I don't think we need that big thing." Gota said.

"You're travelers, aren't you?"

We nodded.

"Then this carrier is very much needed. Besides, I think this is much better than carrying a bunch of bags, don't you think?"

We looked at each other, then we looked at him again and nodded.

"Take good care of him, ok?"

As we walked back to the inn, I carried the carrier and Gota carried the pup. When we arrived to our temporary home, it was near 6:30 pm.

~End Goku's POV~

"Welcome home!" Hakkai greeted.

The twins froze.

'If Hakkai is near, so is Sanzo…' they thought.

When they looked around, Hakkai was smiling at them and Gojyo was in the other room, flirting with four women at once, one of them the woman that signed them into the inn, earlier. Goku breathed a sigh of relief, when he saw that Sanzo wasn't around. Hakkai caught that and frowned.

"Is there something you need to tell me?"

"Uhm…" Goku hesitated.

Gota jogged over to her master.

"Look!" she said, holding up the pup.

"He's adorable…" he replied, petting him, then still smiling he looked down at the holder. "Now put him back."

"Huh?"

"I can see how adorable he is, but we can't afford to take care of a puppy, we have other things to worry about."

"But, Hakkai-sama—"

"I'm sorry, Gota-chan, but you have to put him back now." Hakkai turned and walked towards the inn's kitchen.

Gota dropped her head and held the pup close, tears showing up in her eyes.

'I just got you and now I have to abandon you…'

"Guess this means we have to bring 'im back to the pet store…" Goku stated, disappointment in his voice.

'Pet store?' Hakkai thought as he stopped walking.

Hakkai turned around and saw Gota holding the pup protectively, her eyes hidden. Goku was next to her trying to comfort her, holding a sympathetic expression on his face.

"You bought this pup?" Hakkai asking them.

Gota shook her head, her eyes still hidden.

"We went to give 'im the money, but…" Goku explained.

"No, no…" the caretaker said, when Goku searched his pockets for money. "This little one, you can take home for free."

"Really?" Gota cried overjoyed.

"My gift to you. Besides you've made someone very happy…"

Gota gave him a confused expression.

"I have? Who?"

"Oh!" the care taker jumped. "Uh…"

The twins stared, waiting for an answer.

"The puppy, of course! Especially now, since you're giving him a new home." he laughed nervously.

"Well, thanks mister!" Gota smiled widely.

'She got him for free?' Hakkai thought.

Gota looked up at him and gave him a small smile. Then, he sighed in defeat.

"You take good care of him…alright?"

She gave him an overjoyed smile, gave the pup to Goku and hugged her master, catching him by surprise.

"Thank you, Hakkai-sama, thank you!" she laughed.

"My, you're very welcome. But you have to take great care of him, ok? He's your responsibility."

Gota nodded excitedly. Then she took the pup back from Goku, held his hand and led him to the waiting room.

"Gojyo-san, Gojyo-san look!" she started running taking Goku with her.

Hakkai watched her go, a caring smile appearing on his face. Hearing his name, Gojyo paused his flirting and looked over to see an overjoyed Gota running towards him, holding a bundle of fur and dragging her twin brother with her.

"Look, Gojyo-san, I got a new puppy!" she showed him. "Isn't he cute?"

She giggled as the pup licked her cheek, happily waging its tail. The ladies around Gojyo giggled at the adorable scene.

"Yeah it's cute." he said quickly, then he mentioned over to the kitchen. "Look, I'm busy, why don't you go and bother Hakkai?"

"But I already showed Hakkai-sama." Gota explained as Goku turned his head and froze.

"Yeah, then go show Sanzo."

"I don't know who you're talkin' about." Gota snapped turning her head stubbornly.

Goku started to panic and tugged on Gota's sleeves.

"Look, just go do something else besides bothering me."

Goku panicked a bit more.

"But I'm not botherin' you…" Gota whined, then she faced her brother. "What is it, Nii-chan?"

"Uhh…" Goku continued to nervously stare towards a window to his far left where a figure sat, reading a newspaper. "Why don' we go someplace else? Like th' kitchen…yeah! Th' kitchen! C'mon let's go, I'm getting hungry." he suggested nervously.

"Yeah, go to the kitchen and stop bothering me." Gojyo snapped.

Gota gave a small growl and got close to Gojyo's face.

"But I'm not botherin' you." a sign of annoyance showing in her voice.

"C'mon Gota, let Gojyo do his flirtin' in peace." Goku said with the same kind of annoyance in his voice.

'Flirtin'?' Gota thought, but followed her twin anyway.

"Gojyo-kun, those twins were adorable!" one of the women to the left complimented.

"Are they related to you?" another of the women asked.

"They're just my nephew and his twin sister…" he sighed, pulling the two women on his sides closer to him by their waists. "…But y'know ladies, you're cuter than those two can ever be."

The twins heard the women Gojyo was flirting with giggle. He must've given them a compliment…Gota watched as her master cooked dinner. Earlier, Goku explained that Hakkai takes care of the whole group.

'Does that mean that Hakkai-sama does all the chores?' she thought.

That evening, dinner was ready and the group had started eating. The twins had already eaten quite a lot. Gota was just about finished with her fifteenth plate and after that was dessert, while Goku continued to pile up more plates. Gojyo reached out for some sushi. Unfortunately for him, another set of chopsticks had taken hold of the other end.

"Let go, I had it first." Goku said.

"Yeah right, my chopsticks got to it before yours did." Gojyo stated.

"Let go, Water Kappa, I had my eye on this piece of sushi…" Goku pulled the piece of food toward him.

"Too bad, Monkey, I got to it first…" Gojyo pulled it back toward him.

"Give me th' sushi."

"No."

"Give it, it's mine!"

"I got it first!"

"I had my eye on this sushi!"

"Bad luck!"

"It was on my plate!"

"No, it wasn't!"

"Yes, it was!"

"Let go, Monkey!"

"You let go, it's mine!"

"I don't see your name on it!"

"Here we go…" Hakkai sighed, with his usual smile.

"Uhm, guys…we can order more sushi…" Gota suggested a small sweat drop on the side of her head.

A vein visibly showed up on Sanzo's temple. The two continued to argue, now throwing insults at each other and fighting over other pieces of food. Gota's sweat drop doubled in size and slid down the side of her head, watching the two fight, then she turned her attention to Hakkai. Sanzo abruptly stood up, his paper fan in hand and opened his mouth to yell at the two arguers.

"Hakkai-sama, what does 'flirtin'' mean?"

Everyone froze and stared at Gota. Uncomfortable with the sudden stares, she stared back at the group, asking,

"Was it somethin' I said?"

"Um…" Hakkai scratched the back of his head. "…where did you hear that word from?"

"From Nii-chan," Gota answered, Hakkai stared at Goku. "Gojyo-san was talkin' to a bunch of girls earlier, and Nii-chan called it 'flirtin''…does that mean that 'flirtin'' means to talk to a bunch of people at once?" Gota put a finger to her chin, thinking.

"Um, no…"

Still confused, she cutely cocked her head to the side.

"…Flirting is when you want to get the attention of someone of the opposite sex."

"Is that why Gojyo-san had so many girls around him?"

"Probably…"

"So let me get this straight, if Nii-chan is ignorin' me, should I 'flirt' with him?"

Answering to that, Sanzo stiffened, Goku tensed and made like he almost choked on his food, Gojyo split out a bit of his drink and snickered, and Hakkai laughed uncomfortably.

"No, that's not it…" Hakkai answered laughing a bit, with Gojyo struggling to keep from laughing hysterically.

"Then what is it?" Gota continued asking.

"It's when you want to get the attention of someone of the opposite sex, someone whom you are attracted to, you like or whom you care about very much." Hakkai attempted to explain once more.

Again, she glance at Goku. Gojyo suddenly burst out laughing, still holding some in.

"You don't flirt with your brother!" Sanzo coldly rose his voice, a major annoyance showing itself in his voice.

At first, Gota started at him still confused, then she glared, giving him a small snarl.

"First of all, I wasn' askin' you!" she said a hand pressed firmly against the table. "Second, I still don' understand what 'flirtin'' means!" she pouted, crossing her arms as she slumped in her chair.

She then got a piece of cheesecake on a plate and walked away from the table.

"Gota-chan…?" Hakkai called.

"I'm finished." she plainly said looking over her shoulder, glaring at the monk, after that she continued and went up the stairs to her room.

The table was quiet now, Goku grabbed a bread stick and stood up.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," he ran up the stairs.

Gojyo sighed, Sanzo took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Looks like dinner's over…" Hakkai sadly said.

Sanzo blew out a puff of smoke. Goku opened the door to the room to find Gota crossed-legged on the bed and hugging her puppy, with a stern look on her face. The pup sensed something wrong and tried calming its new master down by licking her face and fingers.

"Gota-chan…"

"I don' understand what you see in that guy!" she cried.

Goku walked up to the bed, standing in front of his twin.

"He-He's just—Argh!"

She let herself fall onto her side. The pup whined a bit and cuddled up against her.

"Sanzo's not that bad…" Goku sat on the bed beside her.

"He's the worst!"

They fell silent. All that was heard was the pup whining because of the negative energy around him.

"Gota-chan?"

She didn't answer but he knew she was listening.

"Why do you hate Sanzo so much?"

"Because of what he did long ago."

Goku stared at her, confusingly.

"Figures you don' remember…he must have somethin' to do with that too."

"What did he do?" he asked, disregarding that last comment.

She hugged her pup for support, who shyly licked her cheek.

"He put me back." she answered bitterly.

"What?" Goku stared at her.