"Ow! Hakkai, make him stop!"

"Ouch! Sanzo, make him stop!"

Sanzo stared at the bridge they were fast approaching. "Hakkai, stop the car so I can stop them, permanently."

"Now, now," Hakkai said in a soothing voice, "we need them to shield us from the demons that always attack us, don't we?"

The monk snorted but didn't say more. Hakkai drove like a mad demon up the narrow path, disregarding the bumps and jolts he was inflicting on the rest of the passengers. If the back seat was thrown about extra hard, Hakkai would definitely profess to not knowing a single thing about it.

Somehow wiggling his knee up between them, Gojyo stuck his boot in the monkey's face and heaved him away from himself. Goku landed with a soft thump and growled.

"Idiotic kappa!" he yelled. "Return my onigiri!"

Gojyo opened his mouth and swallowed the rice cake in one big mouthful. "Ftry geddig id oudda by mouf!"

Goku lunged again, this time reaching for Gojyo's throat. Sanzo snapped, whipped out his fan and smacked the two squabbling males in the head.

"SHUT UP!" the blond yelled. "It's fucking onigiri! It's not as if we have no food for lunch!"

"Calm down, calm down, Sanzo." Hakkai braked and all four lurched forward. "We'll need to walk up to the bridge; it's too narrow for Hakuryu."

Goku clambered out first, eager to be away from Sanzo's immediate range, though Gojyo knew from long experience nothing is out of Sanzo's range when the blond monk was pissed off. The redhead slung his bags over his shoulder and stuck his hands in his pockets. Hakkai pulled on his backpack and waited for the other two to grab their own luggage, before calling Hakuryu to return to dragon form.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The bridge was wide enough for only one man and looked rickety; a strong gale would probably cause it to oscillate. Gojyo raised an eyebrow and stared at Hakkai. "Kai, you sure you want us to walk on this contraption?"

Hakkai smiled courteously. "Yes. You and Goku leading, of course."

"We ticked you off again, huh," muttered Gojyo as he passed the brunet.

Hakkai beamed some more.

The hanyou scoffed and hefted his bag. "Fine. Guinea pigs 'R' us, I always say."

Goku had already run headlong into the center of the suspension bridge before any of the other three could stop him.

"Waaaaaaaaah! The view is kickass!" shouted Goku, one hand shading his brow. "And the wind is so strong! Sanzo, Sanzo, you gotta come see this!"

"He's like a kid," grumbled Sanzo as he slouched after Goku. Gojyo shrugged and followed, leaving Hakkai and Hakuryu to bring up the rear.

Gojyo's hair whipped about in the stiff breeze, crimson strands dancing to an unfamiliar rhythm. For his part Hakkai found it much better to stare at Gojyo's hair than to look over the insanely deep valley over which they stood, and much safer not to focus on the wind because then he would get vertigo. Just focus on Gojyo's hair, and neck, and shoulders, relaxed and confident, moving straight ahead.

The wind picked up and the bridge swayed dangerously. All four of the ikkou grabbed the rope handholds and tried to remain steady. Goku inched forward and nearly slipped; Sanzo shouted for him to stand still and not fall.

"Kai, you okay back there?" yelled Gojyo, not quite able to make out Hakkai from where he faced and not really trusting himself to turn without tripping. Damn stupid long hair that flapped into his eyes!

Hakkai's voice was slightly shaky but otherwise all right. "I'm okay, Gojyo, watch out for yourself. We ought to be able to slide our feet forward slowly."

The wind surged in strength abruptly. Goku squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to balance himself in the gale. Gojyo almost stumbled but hooked one arm over the rope handles just in time. Hakkai's fists were white with tension; Hakuryu flapped its wings wildly in an effort to maintain its balance in the powerful air currents.

The wind died down. Suddenly Gojyo shouted, "Hey! Return the fucking monk right the hell now!"

Opening his eyes, Hakkai saw what the redhead had caught. Goku whipped out his staff, ready to attack, but Hakkai barked, "No! Keep the staff! Or we'll all die!"

Sanzo wasn't struggling. Hakkai squinted; he had terrible eyesight, but he thought he could make out the blond's unconscious form held under a slender arm.

"Sanzo!" screamed Goku, looking as if he was about to hurl himself off the bridge and run on air until he got to the monk. "SANZO!!"

"Goku, calm down and follow me across the damn bridge before it breaks!" ordered Hakkai. The brown-haired youth glared at Hakkai. The healer sighed shakily and nodded at Gojyo, who followed Hakkai without a word. Hakkai himself tread carefully, and soon heard Goku's feet behind Gojyo.

When they finally reached the other side of the valley, Goku had planted himself in front of Hakkai. "How are we going to save him?"

"We'll go back to the town earlier, ask around. Maybe they're heard of this particular demon."

Gojyo lit a cigarette and sucked on it deeply. "Hakuryu, you still able to manage?"

The dragon cheeped softly and settled on Hakkai's shoulder, narrow head rubbing along the brunet's cheek to assure him.

"Hakuryu is fine for now, but not on this route," said Hakkai. "We'll walk down the path and take the jeep only when it's smoother going."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sanzo came to. More specifically, he came to a conclusion that whoever had knocked him out and kidnapped him was going to die a slow, painful death by gunshot to every other place but the head.

"Ah, you're awake," a feminine voice said. Sanzo felt his fringe brushed aside by a cool hand. "It's no good pretending, Genjyo Sanzo. Turn around."

"What in the name of fucking Bodhisattva do you want?" he enunciated carefully as he turned around.

The female demon smiled at him. She had a well-proportioned body, her features gentle and welcoming, and lovely pale golden eyes. She was also naked.

Sanzo was no prude, but he hated seeing flesh being paraded about. He snorted. "I've seen better."

"Really?" she asked, sliding a hand sinuously along a smooth thigh and down her calf. An elaborate curved lines looped in an intricate pattern over her leg. "Betcha none of those you saw were able to kill you with a single strike though."

"Who are you?"

"Call me Ame," said the woman.

Sanzo raised an eyebrow. "The rain?"

"Yes."

Another female raised the curtain and stepped into the room. "Sister, that is no way to greet our guest."

Sanzo tilted his head. "And you are?"

"Hari." She smiled thinly, her long hair plaited in two long braids and the ends secured with twine. She sniffed disapprovingly at Ame. "Forgive my sister. She just likes the look of bare skin."

"I like the look of beautiful bare skin," countered Ame. She slipped off Sanzo's pallet and draped a long swath of fabric about herself. "They never have any left after you play with them."

Though he was not shackled, Sanzo nevertheless did not attack either women. It wasn't because of his bleedingly merciful heart; they had taken his sutra and gun, apparently, and he wanted to locate them before he killed them both and returned to the ikkou.

Hari shooed Ame out before she smiled again at Sanzo. "Sit tight," she said. "We'll have everything prepared."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hong brightened up when he saw that Goku and the rest returned. "Goku-nii-san!"

"Hong, what can you tell me about the demon that stole children?" asked Goku immediately after he hopped off the jeep. The young boy tried to think. Goku shifted from foot to foot. "Hong, please hurry! This is important!"

"I know my father said it was a demon which ate children... it was not a strong demon, but was very fast and would be gone before anyone could see it."

Before Goku could lash out at Hong, Gojyo placed a hand on the shorter male's shoulder. "We'll find him. Relax."

"How can I relax?" growled Goku, but at least he stopped fidgeting. "Hakkai, you said we'll find clues. How? Where? When?"

"Like Gojyo said, relax." Hakkai turned to the bewildered Hong. "Could you have a room prepared for us? We've met with some difficulty up near the bridge and will need lodgings while we deal with it."

"Uh, I can ask Mother to get you the same two rooms as the previous night."

"That won't be necessary," Hakkai interrupted pleasantly. "Just one room, and bring in an extra bed."

Gojyo and Hakkai exchanged a look. Goku was in no shape to help them in their inquiries, but there was no possible way that Goku would stay put and wait while the two others went out and scouted for information.

The redheaded hanyou sighed and slung a long arm over Goku's shoulders. "You'll stay with me. Say nothing, just listen. We're gonna hit the bars, the old streets and if you screw this up by speaking out of turn, you can go find that prissy monk all by yourself, monkey."

Goku was tense but he nodded his head. After Hakkai and Hong dragged their luggage upstairs, Gojyo and Goku headed out to the old part of town.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sanzo checked himself for injury. Other than sore joints, there was nothing wrong with him. He scowled darkly, trying to find a place where his sutra or gun could be kept. There was no furnishing in the room he was in other than his bed, a table and a chair, all of which he had already checked.

The stench of the demonesses – Sanzo was certain of that – lingered nauseatingly in his nostrils. He knew them for what they were: flesh-eaters. Despite their perfumes and perfect bodies, nothing could hide the deadened eyes and the cloying smell of their breaths.

"Stupid bastard," he cursed under his breath. He was annoyed at himself for getting caught. That fucking red-haired idiot kappa would never let him live it down, Sanzo was sure of that, and that moronic monkey Goku would probably do something insanely dumb while trying to 'rescue' Sanzo, in the process getting into more trouble himself.

Thank the Buddha for Hakkai.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"The last time was... almost when I was a kid," rasped a wrinkled old woman. She leered at Hakkai, who as politely as possible moved back. "They came, in a great roaring of wind, and grabbed whatever they could. Long shrieks, like knives." Spittle flew out from her gummy mouth.

Hakkai frowned. "You said 'they' came?"

"Yeah," snorted the old woman gleefully, recalling the past with vicious glee. "I hid under the baskets, see? So though the mothers set out their babbies fer the demons, I would be safe, see? And I saw them faces and near peed myself."

"You mean, the families used to put out their children for..."

The old woman was much too cheerful for Hakkai's liking. She cackled. "Yes, and then they brought good rains for the crops, see, an' all in return fer a child or two. It was good times, see, we'd put out the kids that were sickly or, y'know, touched in the head, and then they'd be gone, an' we mourned them like we was supposed to, and we felt less bad about it."

"Thanks, ma'am, you've been a great help." Hakkai bowed and left the old dusty shop. He felt dirty, inside, having heard how the demons used to live off these tonsfolk – and the townsfolk willingly offering their own malnourished babies. He hoped that the ikkou were not dealing with the same demons – flesh-eaters would be more than delighted to feed off Sanzo, and Hakkai rather hoped to get the monk back intact and in one piece.