Chapter Eight

The Fall

The office needed cleaning. At least, so said Kenren. Tenpou watched with unabashed smugness as Kenren bullied Konzen into a pink bandana. It had been too long. He looked about the room with its mountains of books and forests and scrolls.

…Much too long.

His eyes strayed about, and came to rest of Goku. It was so strange… he looked so adult. "You seem preoccupied," Tenpou mildly said to the young man standing at his shoulder, as Goku stared fixated on the fighting pair in front of him.

"…It's just weird to see Sanzo getting all the flack and not giving any of it. Just doing piss all about it."

Tenpou looked to Goku and away from the scene at hand, where Kenren was giving Konzen knuckles to the head through the bandana. Tenpou glazed over the new range of Goku's vocabulary. "Sanzo?" The name sounded familiar. "Isn't Sanzo the title given to each of the five priests charged with protecting the Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth?" That was odd. Why would Goku know about something like that? Then again, Tenpou supposed that he ought to get used to the idea of not being Goku's only source of information now. Odd.

"Uh, yeah," Goku turned to beam up at him. There was something in his eyes that seemed to glow. It took Tenpou aback. The Goku he'd known had been interested in games and laughs. He had never shown any interest in something as buttoned down as religion. Goku had himself been called 'heathen' when in Heaven. And yet this… Sanzo… was clearly a much beloved topic of conversation. Curious.

"Sanzo's one of those guys, with the title! That's how I got here. I used his Scripture." For a moment, something akin to guilt flickered in Goku's eyes, but it passes quickly. "Thing is, you guys look a lot like some of my friends back home, and he," Goku nodded at Konzen, "looks a lot like Sanzo. Sanzo– he's the one that pulled me out of the cage!"

Tenpou frowned at Goku. That was strange. A monk looked like Konzen? That, and…"You say we look like people you know back–?"

"What cage?" Konzen had finally disentangled himself from Kenren – more quickly than Tenpou would have believed possible – and was now before them, hair amuck, pink bandana askew, glaring at Goku. He was panting rather heavily. Behind him Kenren, not a hair out of place, was leaning against an empty book shelf. Relaxed, but attentive.

"Oh…" Goku suddenly looked very sheepish where he stood. "Yeah… I guess you wouldn't know about that. The gods put me in a cage. Well, a cave, really. With bars on it. The cave is as far back as I can remember."

A chill set into the pit of Tenpou's stomach, crystallizing the smile on his face. Kenren shifted a little in pace. "Bars?" Tenpou followed Kenren's example, and leaned back, resting himself on the back of one of the couches. He could use the support. Of course. The gods did not kill their enemies. The only person in Heaven permitted to take a life was the War Prince, and Nataku had been unavailable at the time of the Rebels' fall and Goku's capture.

No, the gods had a much 'cleaner' way of dealing with things, so that no blood would be left on their hands. Rather than ending a heathen's misery with a quick death, they sealed him away. A jar. A volt. A cave. Somehow Tenpou unstuck his voice. Goku, our little Goku. Sealed away for all time. All time. "For how long were you in the cave?" Even through his smile he could feel the weight of that question. He sensed Konzen and Kenren hold their breaths.

The mute silence was cut to shreds with one loud snort from Goku. "'Come on!? Think about it! How old was I when I knew you guys?"

Konzen's eyes were fixed on his old charge. "You were brought here when you were twelve. You lived one year in Heaven, under my care. So, thirteen." A year that had been more full for the three gods than decades spanned across the rest of eternity.

"Right," Goku shrugged nonchalantly. "And I'm twenty now. And I started on this whole Journey with Sanzo about two years ago. Eighteen!" Goku grinned up at them. "So, you see? Just five years! No big deal." He smiled at them with those all too shining eyes.

Tenpou let his shoulders slack a little. Thank goodness.

Kenren whistled. "Remind me to thank this Sanzo dude when I see him."

Konzen didn't say anything. He just stared at Goku. Tenpou couldn't blame him. Five years or five centuries, the fact remained: they had failed Goku. They had failed to protect him. Damn.

"You can count now, I see," Tenpou spoke again, still smiling. He had been planning to teach Goku. They had just never gotten around to it. However, it seemed as if someone had done his job for him. Just for good measure Tenpou shot Konzen and Kenren a glare – You might as well get back to cleaning now that you have disturbed my beautiful chaos.

"Yeah." The two-man performance in front of Goku and Tenpou recommenced. Kenren was hauling Konzen back to the pile they had been stacking. "One of my other friends, Hakkai, taught me–" Suddenly his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Tenpou blinked at him. What did I do now?

"Did you… teach me how to read?" The suspicious glare was replaced with something more apologetic. "Sorry, it's just… I could already read when I got out of the cave and–"

"Yes."

Goku blinked.

A smile, a real smile, touched Tenpou's mouth now. Goku laughed. It was so good, so very good, to have their tiny monkey back once more.

"So," Tenpou asked a quarter of an hour later. Konzen and Kenren had moved on to the documents, scrolls and files, and had left Tenpou to touch up the bookshelves to his liking. He was now deliberating over a book on German fairytales. Should it be filed under fairytales, or under horror? Kenren was so much better at making these decisions than he was. He read books. He didn't organize them! "Do you have any particular favorites in literature, Goku?" He turned a little to look at the shelf Goku was organizing. The monkey was much farther along than he was.

"Hm? Oh, I don't know." He muttered under his breath, counting the number of spines, and recounting them once more. "And twenty-two. I guess I like books on…food."

Tenpou nodded, hiding a little smile. He turned back to his shelf with its measly four books. "Thank makes sense." Goku had learned how to read from a kid's book on food. Tenpou could still remember the look of horror-filled resignation that came over Konzen's face when Goku had offered to read him a bed time story about Mega Meat Bun.

Tenpou opened his mouth, but couldn't voice the memory. He shut it, the smile turned to one of resignation. It was only to be expected. He couldn't voice memories that Goku didn't have.

"Any particular type of–" A loud groan interrupted him. He snapped around again to see Goku bent over double, clutching at one of the shelves.

"Goku!" He grabbed hold of Goku's shoulders. "Goku! Goku, what is it?!" Had he been wrong? Was this Goku's physical form as well as his mental being? Was he in pain?

"…ng…"

"What?" Tenpou leaned in closer, until his ear was flush against Goku's mouth. "…so… hungry…" An earthquake-instilling rumbled echoed through the room, followed by the relieved laugh of the Marshal.

…

"Down the hall, and to your left," Konzen watched out of the corner of his eye as a still chuckling Tenpou gave Goku directions to the Kitchens of the Goddess's Palace. He seemed to be overestimating Goku's 'adulthood.' "…Then take a right and another right and you can't miss it. It's the small door in the wall that's–"

"Tenpou. Just shut up," Konzen shoved the three scrolls he had been holding into Kenren's arms. Enough was enough. "The pipsqueak's going to die of hunger by the time he figures out the way!"

"I'm not a pipsqueak! And the hell I will! I can always smell my way there!"

Konzen gave him a cool once over. No, he was not a pipsqueak. But it was still a relief to know that, twenty years old or not, Goku still hadn't outgrown him yet. That would have been traumatizing in the case of a reunion like this one. "And what are you gonna do when some random dick of a god says your breathing to loud? You'll just be shipped back here and it'll cause problems." He nodded at Kenren and Tenpou. "I'll just walk him."

"Aw, come off it! I'll kick his ass! I only went along with that first jerk because he was talking about some goddess-master!"

Kenren snorted.

…Any chance Goku had of being the 'big kid' and crossing the street by himself just got shot. Konzen was accompanying him now out of spite if nothing else. Little bastard.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" Konzen froze in mid step at Kenren's voice. "No matter how fast they grow they'll always be our widdle children! Don't forget to hold his hand while crossing the street to the big bad kitchen, Konzen!" I swear, you're damned if you do and your damned if you don't. With infinite grace of movement, Tenpou caught a very heavy and very old edition of the Heavenly Phone Book before it lobed Kenren in the eye.

Clapping one hand a little too tightly on Goku's shoulder – were those real claws on his armor? – he steered him out of the office. The last thing he heard on his way out was the Marshal's mutter of, "Now Kenren, it's just his way of avoiding cleaning up."

Konzen smirked. Damn straight. At least someone around here had a clue.

He closed the door behind him and turned to face a ridiculously tall, gangly Goku. Ah. There was a moment of silence, before the corners of Goku's mouth started to curl upwards. "You fuss like an old man. Just like–"

Slam. With lightning speed Konzen drew a few useless documents from his robes, and felled Goku down. "Idiot. Don't call me old."

"Ow! Seriously! OW!" Konzen smirked. Music to my ears. In all sincerity… it had begun to piss him off, just how much Goku had changed. This, however, would always stay the same. "What'd you do that for, you jerk?" Goku mumbled, rubbing the top of his head as he fell into stride next to Sanzo.

"…You're chains. What happened to them?"

"Huh?" Goku let go of his head and looked at the spot where Konzen's gaze was directed. His wrist. There was nothing there now except a leather brace. "Oh. You remember those? Sanzo pried them off me."

"The guy who got you out of the cage?"

"Yeah!" Goku twisting his wrist around a little.

They walked in silence a few more minutes. The truth was, from what he knew, Konzen felt a very deep gratitude to this man. This… Sanzo. As Kenren had said, if there was a way to thank him, Konzen would have liked to find it. It was odd, actually. He'd never felt indebted to anyone.

But that was a part of dealing with Goku that he'd gotten used to – strange and unfamiliar emotions often crept their way into his life. Had crept into his life.

"So, tell me about him." The two of them turned the corner as they wandered the nie-deserted halls of Heaven. "This Sanzo guy. What's he like?" He looked at Goku on the sly.

The moment the question was out of his mouth he felt something heavy settle on the air. Goku kept his gaze carefully directed to the floor. Almost as if he was… uncertain.

"It's lame."

"I'm not prying it out of you," Konzen said flatly, yanking open the door at the end of a hallway. The smell of food assailed his nostrils. If anything, Goku's vivid memories of food made this kitchen smell even better than any real kitchen could. Truth be told, Konzen didn't think he could pry anything out of Goku, even if he wanted to. Konzen had to keep reminding himself that Goku and he did not have the same relationship as before. That Goku had spent the last five years of his life away from him and not running to him, not telling him all about the things he had eaten– broken– poked-in-the-eye.

Who would have thought the day would come that I was trying to pry information out of him? Still, on some level, Konzen was alright with it. He didn't mind the idea that Goku didn't remember him. Didn't remember the pain of losing him…

No. That was a lie. A bitter lie. He minded that Goku didn't remember him. He minded it a lot. More than he cared to think about, at the moment. What he did not mind was that Goku didn't remember how he had lost him. How he, Konzen, had died. That… kind of… made up for it.

As they stepped into the kitchen his desire to know about this man named 'Sanzo' grew just a little more acute. Was this priest alright for Goku? It was stupid and embarrassing to worry about it now, given that he really could do nothing about it. But still…

A thought, a guilt, very much like Tenpou's, reverberated through his head. It was his fault if Goku was, or had been, unhappy. He had to believe that this monk wasn't a total bastard. That he was one in a million. After all, it was his, Konzen's, fault for dying and leaving Goku alone… for this arbitrary wandering priest to find.

"Look, I'm telling you, it's nothing to write home ab–" Goku's eyes glazed over. "FOOD!"

As discreetly as he could, Konzen tucked himself into a corner as he unleashed the fiend upon its prey. All thoughts of the Sanzo's credentials as replacement-owner were blown from his mind. Just watching Goku made Konzen's mouth go a little dry. The monkey had always had a ridicules appetite, but this? Konzen watched in mild revulsion as a whole string of sausages vanished down the ape's gullet.

Out of sheer desperation to preserve himself from mental scaring, Konzen toned out the horror flashing before his eyes. If he paid too much attention he would feel physically sick for the next week every time he smelled sausages.

He supposed Goku had his reasons for not telling him everything. …Maybe… Whatever. I'll figure it out. Konzen smirked, kicking his legs back as forth as he sat himself up on the kitchen counter top. And it doesn't look like Goku's leaving any time soon.

And that was a slight relief. But only very slight. Very, very slight.

Sure enough, after consuming what ought to have been food enough for the entire palace, Goku slumped onto the floor and smiled up at Konzen from across the kitchen. Konzen looked about at the wreckage of ripped plastic and dented containers.

"…I'm not covering for you."

Goku just continued to grin contentedly up at him, his eyelids heavy with an oncoming nap. "Don' worry. I've had practice with getting away. Monks and stuff."

Again, a touch of worry grazed Konzen's stomach. Did the Sanzo refuse to feed him?

…Well, given the state of the kitchen… he supposed he could understand that.

Konzen thought back to the stampede of gods that would always be running after the monkey whenever he 'did something wrong.' … like this. Years ago, a sight like this really would have given Konzen a heart attack, because he would have been the one who would have to deal with all the enraged cooks and hungry gods, being the monkey's keeper as he was. However, if what Tenpou had said was true, then he really didn't care. Goku could stuff his face till he was sick. Konzen wasn't going to sweat over a few conjured ass-whips expressing their dissatisfaction. That, and Konzen really had not counted on this big of a mess. He might have tried to do something if he had anticipated it. Though it did prickle a little to know that he was one of those gods himself. …Conjured… A figment.

"You ready to head back, tiny monkey?"

A sign of bliss was the only response that came from across the kitchen.

"Idiot."

…

Kenren had a book half way on the shelf when another earthquake inducing rumbled echoed through the room. "…You've got to be shitting me." He turned around and looked incredulously at the monkey, innocently sprawled across one of the couches, legs kicked over the back, staring back at him. Well… clearly not too innocently, as his own stomach rumble had been the thing to wake him up from his nap.

Goku threw him glare. "Stuff it."

"Konzen just brought you back from the kitchen an hour ago! And you're already hungry again!?"

"Shuuut uuup!" Goku curled his arms around his belly as it howled out again. "You think it's annoying for you? Try traveling for three days straight without anyone to fight except idiot Gojyo, without even a youkai in sight! And being hungry then! That is just agony."

Kenren quirked an eyebrow at him. He supposed Gojyo was another of these friends Goku kept mentioning. "You fight?"

Goku smirked a little too smugly for Kenren's taste. He looked off into the random wall, almost nonchalantly. "Yeah, sure. I fight."

"Ooh. Well excuse me, monkey brains!" Kenren turned pushed another three books on the shelf. Goku stretched out luxuriously, one hand still on his stomach as he tried to push out the knots. "Oy! Stop playing with yourself and come help me over here. Do you see where Tenpou tucked away the philosophy section?"

"Wanna spar?"

Kenren looked over at him again. "…Spar?" He tried to take a more critical look at the monkey. It was hard to see past the chubby cheeks and the sticky fingers that Goku had obviously long outgrown. Right, as a soldier…

As a soldier, Kenren wasn't exactly sure he liked what he saw. Gangly limbs, a definite sheen of muscle, a face that wasn't so much pouty as honed. No. He wasn't sure he liked it… but that didn't mean he couldn't come to like it.

Still, General Kenren wasn't one to just click his heels and jump to some sparring match. Not unless it was a free-for-all brawl on his terms. No one summoned him. Even Goku wasn't changing that about him. Besides… he seemed to remember that there was cake stashed under one of these books. He just had to find it. It would be awesome with the tea!

"Give me one good reason–" he cut himself off as he bent over to the lower shelves to find the illusive philosophy section, "–for me to waste my time." And to pass up the cake. All he had to do was get to it before Tenpou did. Strategically, he ought to succeed. He was clearing out a much larger space than the Marshal… But then, the Marshal had the most pain-in-the-ass amazing luck of anyone Kenren knew, and it could really bite.

"Yeah? You sure you're not just scared."

Kenren chuckled. Kid knew how to play. But not well enough. "A reason, monkey."

"Aw, come-on."

"I ain't hearing it."

"Ken-niiiiiiii-chaaaaaan!"

His hand froze half way to the bookshelf. Shit.

Silence rained supreme.

"…Hell, if you're not going to do any work around here, I don't see why I should get stuck with your share." He set the books down on an obliging chair, and righted his jacket. …The cake was probably stale by now anyway. "Take this outside?"

The look on Goku's face was something between incredulous and very, very amused and Kenren was sure he caught something that sounded dreadfully like 'pushover' as the not so little monkey brushed by him.

Little manipulative asshat.

"So," Goku's voice was all too causal, as if any more emotion would send him into waives of hysterical laugher. "Where to, er, Ken-nii-chan?"

I should never have told him to call me that. Never! Kenren turned back to the general room and called out, "Oy! Tenpou! Konzen! We're headed to the Sakura grove!"

Prompt as could be, Tenpou's voice came back at them from behind a filing cabinet. "Don't worry, we'll be right behind you~" Bastards. They must have been eavesdropping on the whole conversation.

"Right," he said a little too huskily. "Follow me."

His 'dark military aura of hotness' was slightly undermined by Goku, who was skipping down the hall next to him as if he had springs on his feet and the smuggest of smug looks on his face.

…

Sanzo lit another cigarette. No, not just 'another' cigarette. His last cigarette. At a different time, Hakkai would have made a quip about 'not appreciating something till it's gone.' At another time. "Hakkai, when are we getting to the next town? I'm almost out," he said, before taking a drag from this last of last cigarettes.

"Not for another four days, Sanzo. At best."

He nearly bit down through the cigarette with his teeth at that one. Ah. Of course. The mountain ranges. They had become more and more prevalent as the Sanzo Party drove further into Western Shangri-La. The mountains would take some getting though. That could take up to a week. More. They had already been driving for half a day. Hell, couldn't Hakkai at least break the news a little more gently. Polite and to the point bastard.

The Jeep rumbled underneath them

"…Tish. You know you could have warned me before we set out," Sanzo broke the silence again. "A heads up would have been appreciated." Another drag.

"My apologies," was the terse reply.

That just annoyed Sanzo even more. Hakkai wasn't even making an effort to pretend that he wasn't brushing him off. "Yeah? Well you can go stick your apologies right up your ass."

"Hm. About the same time as you stick the last of your cigarettes the same way."

…Sanzo extracted his gun from his robes.

Something obstructed the sun. Sanzo looked up. A bolder. A gigantic bolder was hurtling down upon them.

"Holy shit, Hakkai! Drive!" Gojyo gripped his hands onto Hakkai's shoulders, as if pushing their driver forward would be enough to get the Jeep out of harm's way.

"I'm on it! I'm on it! Let go of me Gojyo!" It was in moments like this that Hakkai's skills as a driver really shone through. He went from fifty miles an hour to one hundred miles an hour in the breath of a second, leaving the better part of Sanzo's innards behind to get smooshed by the bolder, along with the distinct smell of burnt rubber. Hakuryuu whimpered. Hakkai apologized profusely, petting the dashboard.

Dust, grime, mud and more dust. As the debris cleared away, Sanzo had to cough the remainder out of his lungs… only to find that he'd lost his cigarette.

Someone was going to die.

Sanzo, his lips now tightly pressed together, as if hoping to somehow discover the missing cigarette in some unsought corner of his mouth, turned his head up to squint into the sun and the top of the bolder. There was only one midget he knew who threw boulders around the same way an ordinary person would throw greetings and she, her big brother, his Apothecary and his Sword Master, were all now silhouetted against the sun, atop their boulder.

Goku had been right. Kougaiji really did have a thing for entrances from high places. It seemed that even here, where there were natural mountains aplenty, he had to make high ground from which to enter.

Goku…damn.

Without a word, Sanzo aimed his already drawn gun at the smallest of the silhouettes, and fired off two shots. The entire group scattered.

"Oy! What was that for, you big baldy!"

Almost lazily, Sanzo brought his eyes back down to the earth in front of the bolder. There stood Kougaiji, Prince of the youkai and son of the Demon King Gyumaoh, his red hair pulled back into a tail and billowing in the wind. As usual. Ever by his side was the dark-haired woman who was his Apothecary, Yaone, and flanking the Prince was his Sword Master and, curiously, Gojyo's older brother, Dokugakuji. Cropped black hair and stupid expression. Nothing new there. Finally, and the reason for his lost cigarette, was Kougaiji's little brat of a sister. The Goku of their group. Well, almost…

Lirin waived her small fist at him furiously. She was very much alive. She wasn't quiet. She was annoying the very life out of him with every sound she made.

Drop. Dead.

Please.

"Well! Talk! You could have hit us."

"Funny. I'm afraid I can't say the same for you," Sanzo replied acidly.

"Huh?" Lirin unclenched her fist and, even though Sanzo couldn't be sure of it from this distance, her attention was drawn to something behind him. Just behind him. In the back seat.

"What's up with him?"

Sanzo redirected his gun and fired another shot. There was a burst of fire, and Kougaiji stood in front of his sister, the heat from his spell shaking the air. The molten scrap-of-a-bullet clattered into the no-man's land between the Jeep and the bolder. "I believe my sister asked you a question."

Before he could shoot again, Hakkai's hand clamped down on his wrist. He shot a glare at the driver now leaning over him, about to tell him to back off and get out of his personal space. And then he saw Hakkai's smile. …It hadn't gotten that unnerving in a long time.

"He's not altogether there," Hakkai said coolly, fixing his smile now on Kougaiji's party. "So, we were wondering if you could give us something of a freebee today."

Kougaiji lowered his arms. "Oh?" He was cocky, but no one could be too cocky with Hakkai looking at him like that. Still cocky though.

"Don't get any fancy ideas!" Gojyo slurred from the backseat. "It's for your own safety!" Sanzo didn't need a youkai's keen eyesight to know that the back of his head was now getting a meaningful red-eyed glance.

Kougaiji gave Sanzo one contemptible once-over, which only made his wrist twitch. "I'll repeat my sister's question– What happened to Son Goku?"

"Your guess is actually about as good as ours," Hakkai said casually; as casually as one could say, leaning over a trigger-happy monk to keep him from firing in all directions. Still, for Hakkai, that was rather casual.

"Aw, come on! What's up with monkey boy?" Lirin leaned back against the bolder and slid down into a squat in the shade. Dokugakuji was already leaning nonchalantly against the rock. Gently, Hakkai eased Sanzo's hand back into his lap, and allowed himself to cave back into his own seat. With the band of youkai perched in the shadow of the bolder, escaping the sun's heat, and with the four men leaning over the side of the Jeep just some twenty feet away from them, it would have been impossible for an observe to know that these two groups were violent enemies.

But Sanzo didn't want to be friendly today. He didn't want to respect Kougaiji. He didn't want to deal with Lirin's more than usually intolerable vivacity. The only thing he wanted in the world right now was for a whole army of demons to come at him so that he could brutally massacre the lot. As it was, it looked like Kougaiji's party would have to play substitute.

"It would seem," Hakkai said, choosing his words carefully, "that Goku has decided to go in search of his memories."

Oh, Sanzo did not want to get stuck here while explanations were just casually flying over his head. "…Eh?" Lirin cocked her head to the side. But it seemed that was exactly what was happening.

"Um, you see, Goku's memories were never exactly intact." Hakkai ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "And, well, he apparently decided that enough was enough and–"

"–And shit happened, and enough is enough! Drive, Hakkai." What was this? A tea party? They had four days of driving ahead of them, at least till the next Marlboro Pack, and Hakkai wanted to exchange life stories. "And that's an order."

Sanzo often pushed Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo around to do the unpleasant odd-jobs. That was normal. He did not, however, normally make outright orders. Of course, it was the Sanzo Party, and of course he was the official leader. But he wasn't. Not really. The best way of describing Sanzo's position would have been to borrow the words of that Western poet, Homer, whom the Bishop Hazel Grouse had sometimes quoted –Sanzo was 'first among peers.' That was why, when Sanzo gave an order, a real order, it was either rejected outright, as had once happened when Gojyo chose to abandon the group to face off against Kami-sama, or it was followed in totality. That was Sanzo's position and that was his right.

Hakkai blinked, and then nodded, turning his eyes back onto the road. "Yes, sir."

Sanzo settled back in his seat.

"Hold on a minute." Sanzo bristled. He didn't like the tone in Kougaiji voice. "I've let you lot slide more than once." Sanzo didn't turn his gaze from the road, willing Hakkai to turn the engine back on. "Why? Because I never wanted to beat you when you weren't at the top of your game and were handicapped by some random prick."

What is this? Do I want to run away?

"But I'm afraid that I can't let this one go."

No… I'm not running way.

"Because, you see, while I can empathize with a crippled team…"

I'm just pissed off at that damn monkey. Fighting this pansy Princeling without his pep is like taking a shower without any damn towels. A strange allusion, but oddly appropriate.

"…your abandonment issues really aren't my problem. I'm sure you understand."

I just feel so damn exposed.

Maybe they had all gotten lazy. Maybe none of them had actually expected Kougaiji to attack them while Goku, his greatest rival, was down. Whatever the problem was, Sanzo dragged his eyes away from the road too little too late. Kougaiji was already hovering above him, his claws drawn, ready to gut him open, too close for Gojyo's staff-and-sickle Shakujō, and too close for Hakkai to throw up a chi barrier.

Damn. We're all so pathetic. Sanzo blinked up at him. And, being only human, he was the most pathetic of the lot.

A screeching clatter erupted, like nails scraping down a blackboard, and for the second time that day, someone blotted out the sun over Sanzo's head.

He blinked. And blinked again. And blinked a third time at the yellow cape and tattered trousers hovering just above him. For a moment longer, Goku bracketed himself against the rim of the Jeep door, Nyoi-Bo braced against Kougaiji's claws. His legs shook. He teetered. His footing slipped. The staff-like weapon grated along Kougaiji's claws again as it spilled from his fingers to dissolve into nothing before it hit the ground, and the force of the attack finally overbalanced him as his knees buckled.

Sanzo shot up in his seat to catch him. "Goku," he shook his charge by the shoulder. "Goku!" Goku's head lolled back onto Sanzo's shoulder, and Sanzo found himself fixed down by two golden eyes. Lightless. Completely lightless. Goku was still unconscious. Then… how?

"I think…" Sanzo snapped up from Goku's face to look over the side of the Jeep again. Kougaiji was standing there, massaging his fingers. His three subordinates were at his side now, "…despite however much both of us might have wanted for this to remain uncomplicated, you really are going to have to explain a few things, Sanzo." He flexed his hand.

Sanzo didn't say anything. He looked back down at Goku. The boy's eyes had begun to slide shut again. He was losing him…again. Goku, what the hell is going on in there?

…

Goku smirked as he tapped his heal out of the ground. It was hard. That was good. "I hope ya know I ain't going easy on you, nii-chan."

"Tish. You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Kenren cracked his knuckles. "Who would have thought you'd grow up to be such an asshole."

Goku's smirk just widened. "Weapons or no weapons?" Kenren quirked an eyebrow. He reached both hands into his coat and extracted a pair of dueling pistols. They were the same that he had pulled on Goku when Goku had taken Konzen 'hostage' –an event that would never be Goku's proudest moment. The pistols were exquisite. Lined with gold-leaf, they were encased in beautiful ebony grips. Sanzo would have traded three packs of smokes to have five minutes alone with one of those. And for Sanzo, who didn't fork anything over easily, that was a lot. "What? Keep those handy for every time a husband challenges you to a duel over a new lady friend?"

It was Kenren's time to smirk. "It's that obvious that I'm a stud, is it?"

Goku snorted. "Don't kid yourself." Strange as it had been at first, he was beginning to accept that those whom he met in his mind's eye were like mirror reflections of those whom he knew in the real world, as Kenren was of Gojyo. It should have been disconcerting. But it wasn't. Not at all.

"Aw, Tiny Monkey's feeling the pressure? Anyway, these aren't for sharing. They're both mine." With one easy swing of the wrists both pistols were comfortably nestled in his hands, ready for use and looking as if they'd been molded into his palms.

"Man. That's just greedy." Well, here goes nothing. Goku still wasn't sure whether or not his Nyoi-Bo would materialize in this world but… Goku reached out his hand, concentrated and… amidst a cloud of sparks the demonic staff laid itself out along his two outstretched hands.

Kenren's eyes widened. "Now that's new. Where'd you get it?"

Goku grinned, relieved. He supposed that, following Ten-chan's logic – the nickname was actually growing on him – his Nyoi-Bo was also 'part of him.' After all, it had bailed him out of many a tight spot. "Out of a jar." And the best part was he wasn't even lying.

"Ooh! What's the wager?"

Kenren and Goku both turned toward the sound of Tenpou's voice. The Marshal and Konzen were happily – at least, in Tenpou's case – nestled under one of the pink sakura trees, sitting on a suspiciously-home-knit-looking quilt. They had a whole spread of fruits and bottles in front of them. Tenpou waived at them.

"What is this, a goddamn picnic?" Kenren, still holding his guns, put his hands on his hips.

Konzen eyed the guns wearily. "Don't shoot him." It was weird. He had a ponytail. He wore a dress– robe. And he sported high-heel sandals. And yet, at the same time, his glare was just as scary as Sanzo's. …It just didn't produce the same effect.

Kenren waived a hand in his general direction, but before he could gush out a laid back 'yeah, yeah,' Goku snorted.

"As if he could. I've got a history of dodging bullets." He got into an offensive position. "Weapons are so on."

Everyone blinked at him for a moment. Then Kenren lowered his arms to hang loose by his side, and smirked. "You know you are going to have to explain that one later. Alright tough guy, let's see what your made of."

No one moved for a moment.

"I'm betting against Kenren!" Tenpou sang.

Kenren smirked, not tearing his eyes away from Goku. "Jerk."

Goku's joints eased up, and he shot off. It was fantastic. It was like fighting Gojyo – who was his usual sparing partner – only with a completely different weapon which he, Ken-nii-chan, handled completely flawlessly. Goku saw him raise his gun, faltered, and stopped short. One of the bullets punctured his cloak, his had whipped out in front of him. I wonder if Ten-chan's as good at darning as Hakkai? Judging from the state of his office, probably not.

My turn. Goku pelted forward and eased into a slide. Kenren saw it coming, and had his right hand well out of the way before Goku tried to kick the gun out of his grip. Goku smirked. Got him. "Nyoi-Bo, extend!" The staff in his hand shot out of proportion and, angled as it was, its tip crashed right into Kenren's left wrist. With a curse of pain, he dropped one of the pistols.

"HA!" Goku pivoted on his free hand and kicked the gun into the oblivion of sakura trees. …And now he had to get out fast.

"Don't get to cocky, kid! You know what they say pride goeth before!" Kenren was already aiming his other pistol at Goku's arm. A flesh wound. But it would declare him the winner. Fat chance. Nothing for it. Goku punched the ground.

Kenren lost his footing amidst the upheavals of earth, and toppled over. A victory cry gushing up through his throat, Goku scrambled up to straddle Kenren and pin him to the ground. It was in that moment, as he got up and above the spirals of dust and saw everyone, exactly where they were, that he felt a jolt of terror course through him. There was Kenren, sprawled out in front of him, there was Tenpou under the sakura tree, his attention completely held by the fight and there, sitting next to him, was Sanzo.

Kougaiji was shooting across the – fantastically – hard ground, right at him. And Tenpou was too wrapped up in the fight to notice. None of them… noticed.

Goku kicked up a storm behind him. He had to make it. He had to get there in time. He did. Goku threw up his Nyoi-Bo just in the nick of time. What kind of cheep move was Kougaiji trying to pull! He braced himself against the force of the hit, and the scraping clatter of nails on staff ripped through his ears. Good god. And that could have been Sanzo's scalp…

He blinked up at Kougaiji and saw the confusion there. What's…happening to me? In the next moment however, his old rival's face vanished. He saw standing with his Nyoi-Bo raised against thin air. The pink cherry blossom petals were falling around him. Kenren had propped himself up on his elbows and was now staring at him in shock. Goku blinked again. His knees gave in, and his fell back.

You know what they say pride goeth before.

"Goku!" A pair of white gloved hands, not black, caught him before could fall too far and hit his head. His concentration slackened. The Nyoi-Bo disintegrated in his fingers. "Tenpou! What's happening to him?!" he could hear the raw alarm in Konzen's voice. He doubted if Sanzo would ever let concern shine through that unabashedly. "Goku?! Can you hear me!?" Goku nodded.

If… if he was honest with himself, and he usually was …He liked it here. He liked calling Kenren, 'Ken-nii-chan.' He liked that Tenpou was actually impressed by how much he'd grown up. He liked the unconstrained emotions that Konzen gave off, even if he still wasn't certain how to respond. He liked all of it.

And yet… and yet, for a moment back there, he had thought that it was Gojyo, not Kenren, sprawled out… in the back seat of the Jeep. That it had been Hakkai, not Tenpou, sitting next to Sanzo. Sanzo… not Konzen. And, more certainly than anything… he had thought… had been sure… that, for a moment, Sanzo had been in danger. Out of the entire Sanzo Party he was the only one who could have caught that attack in time. He had. He did. Didn't he? He had been so stupid. Had he really thought that messing with god-sealed memories wouldn't have its cost? Why? Because he was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and Earth? Because he was 'Goku?'

Goku felt himself blacking out. The voices were becoming muggy. Hakkai's. Kenren's. Sanzo's.

Tenpou's. Gojyo's. Konzen's. All of them.

You know what they say pride goeth before.

"…Goku. Goku!..."

"…Easy Konzen. He's not in danger…."

The fall.