So I realized it says this fic is complete. Idk what I was thinking. There will be several chapters following this one… Sorry about the confusion, guys!

Pt. 2

The night was young yet, but Gojyo and I talked very little. Typically, sharing an apartment with my official room mate provided us with an opportunity to catch up and show each other complete emotional honestly, especially when a crisis had evolved.

Tonight though, Gojyo refused to open up to me, and I assumed that only proved how close this wound was to his heart, so I let him be and retired early. I tossed and turned for hours, my restless body preventing me from sleep, but in time I did manage to clear my mind and relax myself enough to slip into dreams.

It seemed that I didn't sleep very long before a noise roused me, and I found myself again staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling of the inn room. Somewhere in the distance, I heard the clamor of angry voices, so I sat up, groping around for my glasses. The room was dark, except for an orange glow filtering in through the window, and as I stared around, still blinking out of sleep, I saw Gojyo standing there, gazing out, his face illuminated by warm light.

"What's happening?" I hissed.

Gojyo merely jerked his head, so I climbed out of bed and glided up beside him, feet chilled by the bare floorboards.

In the streets below, a small crowd of people had cobbled together in front of the inn, holding up torches and brandishing pitch forks. It was so cliché, I had to blink and pinch myself to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Who are they?" I wondered, heart beginning to drum faster.

Gojyo didn't answer.

I took a long look at his face, but his expression was one of resignation.

At the front of the crowd, a tall man paced back and forth, shouting, "There's no sense in hiding! We know you're in there—you may as well come down and face justice like a man!"

"What do they want?" I didn't need to ask that question—I knew already—but I had to ask it anyway, because there were aspects of the answer I didn't know for certain.

Behind us, the door burst open. I jumped and spun around, fists clenched, ready to ward off enemies, but it was only Sanzo and Goku, already dressed and looking grim.

"Who're those guys?" Goku demanded, rushing to the window and jostling against Gojyo. "Not assassins, right?"

"They're humans," Sanzo pointed out. His face bore a look of utmost seriousness.

He and I exchanged looks. "Well then, they can't be after us…"

The posse leader went on shouting, voice ringing with violence as it echoed through the streets. "I'm warning you! Come out now, hanyou! Or we'll torch the inn with you inside!"

Goku turned a wide-eyed gaze on Gojyo. "What the heck do they want you for?"

Gojyo still hadn't said a word. He didn't appear to be blinking or even breathing.

Outside, the man roared, "I'm giving you to the count of ten! One!"

"They can't wanna hurt ya just 'cause…"

Finally, Gojyo heaved a shallow sigh. "No? Plenty of other people have." And then he turned away, crossing the room to the door.

"Two!" the posse leader boomed.

"Gojyo!" I grabbed his arm. "Let's discuss this!"

He wouldn't look at me.

Goku shouldered up beside us, looking much angrier than usual. He already had his bo. "We don't need ta talk about it. There's only like twenty of 'em—let's go kick their butts!"

"Three!"

Sanzo grumbled, "We're not out to fight with humans." He sounded outraged as well though.

I felt a scalding fire of rage burning inside my heart, but I struggled to keep a level head. "No, we don't want to fight if we don't have to, but…"

But what? Goku was right. There couldn't be more than two dozen men down there, and as humans they'd be easily dispatched. Still, I didn't want Gojyo to face them. Even though he could easily win against them, I didn't want to watch them mistreat him and insult him and act like he was garbage over his blood. I wanted to shield him from that. Was that so wrong?

"Four!"

"We can't let that asshole burn the building down," Gojyo murmured. "We're not the only ones in here." He pulled out of my hand and left the room, with Goku right on his heels.

I took a deep breath, scooped up my shoes, and started after them, but Sanzo detained me.

"Don't lose your head down there," he said, looking gravely into my eyes.

"Five!"

"I think I'm in as much danger of that as anyone, Sanzo," I replied coolly.

He hissed impatiently and allowed, "I guess."

With that, we hurried after the other two, and Jeep flew to my shoulder.

By the time we reached the bottom of the staircase, the posse leader had gotten to eight, but the countdown stopped there, so Gojyo and Goku must have arrived at the porch.

I all but ran across the lobby and threw the front door open. The crowd had grown some, but most of the people I saw were onlookers, unarmed and dressed in sleepwear. Others looked down from their windows. The mob itself was grotesque, each face gleamed in the light of the fire, brimming with wrath, and I didn't see a single sympathetic expression among them.

Gojyo and Goku stood there together, Goku half a step ahead, his bo in hand.

At the base of the porch, the posse leader held his torch dangerously close to the wood, and he kept his hate-filled eyes fixed on Gojyo.

I hurriedly shoved my shoes on, trying not to take my eyes off the crowd for more than a second at a time.

"What do you want?" my room mate asked with a blend of utter calm and acceptance.

"You need to ask?" the posse leader demanded. He was a heavily bearded man, somewhere in his late forties. He had remarkably pale eyes. "You really don't know?"

Gojyo shrugged lamely.

"You never were very bright."

"Neither were you, Tanda."

Sanzo and I glanced questioningly at each other.

Tanda growled. "Don't you dare mock me, boy. You've done enough damage."

"So what're you telling me? You're here to make me pay?"

I clenched my fists again, watching the crowd warily. I saw the man Gojyo had punched out in the bar earlier, standing near the front of the mob. The others all appeared to be able-bodied men as well, eager to fight.

Another man stepped up beside Tanda. He was tall but some twenty years younger, and he had a laughing tone in his voice and a glint of mockery in his eyes. "You were stupid to come back here, Gojyo-chan. You did nothing but cause trouble from the very beginning."

Gojyo cocked his head very slightly. "Samuiko?"

This was beginning to really upset me. How did he know these people by name?

Samuiko flashed a heartless sort of smile and went on speaking. "Honestly, what did you think would happen if you tried to come back?"

Back… That explains everything. Ah, but perhaps I should have known from the very beginning that he'd been here before. Terrible guilt struck me, but so did further confusion. Why didn't he tell me he'd been in this town before and made enemies?

Gojyo sounded tired as he responded. "Don't know. I never thought I'd be back in this dump."

A murmur of annoyance rippled through the crowd. Evidently, they didn't appreciate having their town insulted.

"Well," Tanda moved forward, his movements tense with a thirst for violence. Beneath his garments I detected tell-tale signs of bulky muscle, and his voice was lined with threats. "I'll tell you what happens now, boy."

Goku shifted his weight and switched his bo from one hand back to the other.

"Justice. Pure, sweet justice for all the evil things you did in this town."

I watched my room mate, but so far he'd given no sign that he had any intentions of defending himself or even so much as arguing. Surely he must be biding his time. If they attacked him, he wouldn't just stand there. I knew better than that.

So why was my heart beating so fast and what was this fear that ate through me?

"I didn't come here to fight with you guys," Gojyo said. "I won't even be here in the morning."

"That's right, Gojyo-chan," Samuiko chuckled. "You won't."

They both mounted the first step, and my heart leapt. I edged forward.

Goku swung his bo suddenly, and it swept past the end of their noses. He crouched, obviously ready for a battle. "Stay back, butthead."

Gojyo touched his shoulder, murmuring, "It's okay, Goku. Look, Tanda," he said a little more loudly, but there was still a subdued tone to his voice. "Whatever you think I did…I'm not here to hurt anything. It's just a mistake. I'm not trying to cause trouble."

Samuiko laughed, and some of the others in the crowd joined him, jeering and mocking. "That's just the problem though, kiddo—you don't have to try to cause trouble, you just bring it with you. Do you think we're going to risk letting your curse foul up the place again? We all tolerated you before, but we won't make the same mistake twice."

"Tolerated me?" Gojyo demanded bitterly. "You didn't tolerate me. You all treated me like shit—always."

"What do you expect? You are shit, hanyou."

I'd heard enough. I stepped to Gojyo's side, shuddering with anger. "I suggest you all reconsider your position on the matter. At once."

They eyed me venomously. "You're defending this freak?" Tanda demanded, sounding perfectly outraged. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious. I'm issuing a warning to each and every one of you. If you don't back off now, I will personally see to it that you regret this."

Sanzo counseled, "I told you not to lose your head, Hakkai."

What did he expect? For me to stand by and watch this mob antagonize my best friend? That was something I could never do.

I ignored him.

"If any of you want to walk out of here tonight, I recommend you do it now, while your legs are still intact."

Another murmur sped through them. Someone in the back cried, "We're not afraid of you!"

And another shouted, "Give us the hanyou and go about your business!"

"I dare you," I spat, furious. "I dare any of you to come an inch closer."

Gojyo looked at me. "Hakkai—"

Sanzo stepped out in front of all of us. I didn't see his gun, but I recognized the loose readiness of his posture and knew he'd draw it in a blink if he had to. His voice lifted over the din of the angry crowd. "In a backwater place like this, I wouldn't expect any of you cretins to know better, but you've been warned—twice now—get the fuck out of here while you still can."

The whispers continued. Some demanded, "Is that a priest?" Others shook their heads angrily. The mob squirmed with brutal desires. My own heartbeat was beginning to hurt it slammed so hard and fast. As each second ticked by, I cared less and less that they were humans.

Suddenly, a woman pushed to the front of the crowd. She was aged close to Tanda, but she retained much of her beauty. She had an elegant neck, and though her face had lines of age creasing them, it glowed with ferocity. People stepped out of the way as she came through, skirt hiked up from the ground, long braid trailing over her shoulder. She stopped abruptly at the front of the mob and stared at Gojyo, eyes going wide, mouth dropping open, as if seeing someone she'd thought was long-since dead.

Next to me, Gojyo's breath hitched and his body spasmed as if he'd been struck. I heard him whisper, "Oba-san…"

The woman's shock passed quickly and her black eyes flashed. She pursed her lips and ordered, "Kill him."

As soon as the words were spoken, a roar erupted from the crowd, and they surged forward, waving their torches, pitch forks, knives, and clubs.

"So much for diplomacy," Sanzo complained, throwing his cigarette down.

There were so few of them, it wouldn't take us more than a handful of minutes to wipe them all out. Goku could do it on his own. Still, even though we weren't supposed to be fighting and killing innocent humans, I would relish the feeling of shutting them up. They had such appalling audacity.

Gojyo turned away before the first man could even reach for him, pushed past me, ran to the other edge of the porch, and sprang over the railing. He landed lithely, and sprinted into the darkness.

The screams of the mob died off at once, and everybody froze in place, watching him go, all of us astonished by how quickly and easily he'd fled. I'd never seen him run from a fight before, and I could only wonder at it.

"Gojyo!" Goku yelled, leaping after him, but Gojyo had already vanished into the night, and even the sounds of his footfalls were lost, and soon Goku also disappeared.

Unfortunately, the confusion only lasted a few seconds, and then the black-eyed woman shrieked, "What are you doing? Go after him! Now! We can't let him escape justice!"

Stumbling and bumping into one another, the crowd scrambled after Gojyo, shouting for blood, but I doubted they'd catch up to him. I'd never realized Gojyo could run so quickly.

Sanzo and I looked at each other.

"What the fuck's going on?" he hissed.

"I wish I knew."

"He didn't tell you?"

"No…I thought it would be rude to push him."

From the scowl he gave me, I knew he disapproved of that excuse, but there was nothing any of us could do about it now. "Let's go," he huffed.

Side by side, we raced after the mob, where their torches flickered up the road.

It seemed like the hunt went on all night. The posse split up into groups of two or three and spread out to search the town, and the surrounding areas, for any sign of Gojyo, and Tanda gave the order to bring him back alive, and then they all dispersed, and the town fell freakishly quiet.

Sanzo and I hunted around together, exchanging different theories, but there simply wasn't enough to go off of. Obviously Gojyo had been in this town before, and obviously he'd stirred up trouble here, but it was impossible to tell what sort of trouble. They wanted him dead. Was it possible he'd killed someone?

In a little while, we found Goku wandering the streets and calling Gojyo's name. He told us he'd lost sight of him almost immediately after he ran away.

"I don't understand," Sanzo said irritably. "Gojyo outran you?"

Goku shook his head. His eyes gleamed with concern in the warm light from a nearby street lamp, and his eyebrows were arched in the faintest suggestion of anger. "Nah, it's more like he disappeared. He went around a corner, and when I went after him he was gone."

I nodded, scanning the darkened streets with the utmost intensity. "If Gojyo's spent time in this town in the past, he'd obviously know his way around."

"How come those people wanna kill him?" Goku demanded as the three of us began to walk again.

I thought once more of my theory that Gojyo may have wronged these people in the most terrible way, but knowing my room mate the way I did, it was hard to know for certain. He never had been, and never could be, murderous.

But things happen, don't they? Unexpected things. Things outside of anyone's control. I looked down at my own hands, remembering the blood that had once drenched them.

Instead of sharing my fears, I simply said, "Hopefully, when we find Gojyo, he'll be willing to tell us."

"Ya mean he didn't tell ya? I thought that's why you guys're sharin' a room."

I smiled my brightest at him, choking back all the sarcastic things I wanted to say. "As a matter of fact, he lied to my face about it."

Goku turned away, looking somewhat disturbed.

We wound our way through the streets, hissing his name and checking into every corner, but there wasn't any sign of him. Every now and then, we'd cross paths with a group from the mob, so at least we knew they hadn't found him either.

On one such occasion, we encountered the man named Samuiko, accompanied by another man of approximately the same age. As they approached, Samuiko called out, "Where's your friend?"

"Why the heck should we tell you?" Goku growled. "You wanna kill him."

Samuiko flashed his mocking smile. "You'd thank us if we did. That freak is nothing but trouble."

I forced myself to swallow the urge to snap both his arms, and Sanzo must have noticed my expression, because he murmured, "Cool it, Hakkai."

"May I ask what it is he did you're all so determined to punish him for?" I grated out.

Samuiko shook his head, still smiling derisively. "It's a long story, and at the moment we don't have time to tell it."

His companion finally spoke, "All that matters it that Tanda ordered us to catch him so he can be punished."

"Well, what's his problem?" Goku asked. "How come he can't just leave Goj alone—he didn't come ta this town on purpose, we got lost."

"Tanda's in charge around here; he's responsible for this town and its people, and he's responsible for making sure justice is done."

"The justice system in this shit hole is up to that son of a bitch?" Sanzo sneered.

"Partially at least. Most people might get a hearing with our town elders, but your friend is exempt from that privilege."

I clenched my fists at my sides, fighting to hold my tongue.

"You should help us," Samuiko added. "I don't know what you're traveling with that monster, but you'll be much better off without him."

"Tanda might even give you some kind of reward for it. Who knows?"

"We don't want your crummy reward," Goku snapped, but the two of them just laughed and shrugged.

"Well, good luck to you then," Samuiko said, moving around us, and they went off together, still laughing and making jokes about our misplaced loyalty.

I glared after them, and my blood boiled.

Sanzo snorted, "Let it go, Hakkai. We don't have time to mess with those pricks—we have to find Gojyo."

Reluctantly, I faced the two of them again, and they both shifted and exchanged looks, apparently unnerved by my expression. I struggled to keep an even tone. "Yes, of course. You're right, Sanzo."

I promised myself I'd bust Samuiko's face in later. Maybe I'd burn this entire town to the ground.

Goku lowered his voice, "What'dya think Goj did? They make it sound like it was really bad."

"With that dumb ass? Who knows?" Sanzo took a few puffs on his cigarette, staring into the distance and thinking. "We should split up. These people aren't interested in fighting with us, and Gojyo could be anywhere by now. Meanwhile, we're getting nowhere."

We broke off into different directions after that, agreeing we'd meet back at the inn after an hour and a half, more than enough time to turn the entire town upside down, but not being able to find him when I knew he was in trouble distressed me, and in a while I asked Jeep to fly around, hoping he'd spot him from the sky and be able to lead me to him. I watched my dragon vanish into the night, and then continued my search. As I stalked through the shadows, probing every corner for my best friend, it occurred to me that Gojyo likely wasn't in town anymore. He'd been so insistent about staying the night outside of town earlier I had no doubt that's what he'd do now. I didn't know how far away he'd go, or which direction he'd take, but it would be just a matter of time before the others hunting for him realized he must have left town as well. Were they so set on vengeance that they'd comb the countryside for him?

I remembered the vicious bite of the woman's words as she gave the order to kill him, and the way he'd stared at her, expression so pained and sorry. Who was she? An old lover? She was quite a lot older than him, but she was beautiful so that hardly mattered.

When I found him, I'd have to try to coax him into explaining this fiasco to me.

If I found him…

I mustn't think that way, I thought as I walked out of town. Of course I'm going to find him. He wouldn't leave us over this…

A chill sped down my spine as I entered the darkness of the woods. Normally, Gojyo wouldn't abandon us for anything, but I wondered if this might be serious enough that he'd just keep running and never look back.

I'd like to think you wouldn't run out on me that easily, Goj…

Determined to give him the benefit of the doubt, I scoured the woods. Fortunately, it was a clear night. A cool breeze blew, whipping through the trees, but a half moon rose high toward its midnight position, providing more than enough light for me to see. I called for him as I went along, and kept my eyes open for any spot that seemed like it might make a good site to bed down for the night.

Less than half a mile from the town, I came across a misshapen tree, standing out alone in a clearing. It had grown tall, but gnarled, and most of the branches along the bottom half of its trunk had been sawn off, and small outcroppings of rocks were clustered around it. A platform had been built up in its branches, like the beginnings of a tree house no one had bothered to complete.

Gojyo sat up there, his legs dangling over the edge, cigarette glowing in his mouth, and stared up at the moon, still as a statue.

I hissed at him, but he didn't even look down at me, and so I resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to climb up. A series of wooden planks had been nailed into the tree's trunk to form a shabby ladder, but they were sturdy enough, and in a matter of moments, I found myself standing beside my friend, glancing around. I could see the lights of the town over the trees before us, and the tree house itself held some interest. The northern wall of it had been completed, giving some shelter from the wind, and a few objects were littered around its creaky floor. A rusty hammer sat with a coffee can full of nails and a pile of now rotted lumber. There were a few interestingly shaped sticks, a small pocketknife, and a pornographic magazine warped and faded by ages of rain and sunshine, a box of playing cards—equally damaged—and I saw a tiny, heart-shaped necklace tangled around the stubby end of a branch. It was as if the children who'd been working on the tree house had simply abandoned it one day, years ago, leaving all their childhood treasures behind.

My room mate kept his eyes fixed on the moon as I sat down beside him, and for a long time we sat there in complete silence. I kept hoping he'd just tell me what was going on in his own time, because I wasn't sure how to press him over such a delicate matter. For instance, I couldn't imagine coming right out and saying, "what did you do to these people, Gojyo".

When ample time had passed, I finally asked softly, "Are you all right?"

Gojyo nodded slowly, like he was experiencing an odd dream.

"Can I…I don't know…help you somehow?"

His blank expression flickered at that, and his frown deepened.

"I feel somewhat responsible. You didn't want to enter this town for a reason, but I made you." I remembered the way he'd urgently told me to stop the car, and how flimsy his excuses for wanting to camp had been, and I added, "I wish you would have been more direct about that reason though."

Gojyo sighed, and it was an unexpectedly poignant sound.

"Those people really want to hurt you, Goj," I said delicately, feeling sick at the thought. "At first, I thought it was because of your blood, but obviously there's more to it. I'd like it if you could tell me what happened here."

He scraped his cigarette across the floorboards of the platform and wasted no time lighting a new one. "I didn't do anything to any of them…" he said at last.

I raised an eyebrow. "How can that be? They put together a mob to come after you, Gojyo. I'm having a hard time believing they'd do that without some sort of provocation."

Gojyo glared at me, and I thought I saw traces of hurt behind his eyes. "What would I do, Hakkai? I mean, what do you think I did?"

I leaned back, pondering that a while and watching wisps of clouds pass over the moon like scraps of silk. "I'm not sure. They're out for your blood… That woman wants you dead. I suppose, at the moment, my best guess is that you may have killed someone in this town."

Shaking his head, he lowered his eyes again. "I didn't. I never did anything to anyone in this town."

I lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "As I said, I'm not sure how that's possible."

"Look." He raked his fingers through his hair suddenly. "They just…always hated me here. Is that so hard to believe? That they just hated me for no reason?"

"Gojyo," I admonished, losing some patience, "if you had been honest with me hours ago, it's possible none of this would be happening."

He paused, and then he sounded a bit angry. "I told you I wanted to leave. If you'd let me, I know it wouldn't be happening. Why don't you ever just listen to me?"

His annoyance surprised me, and it took me several moments to respond. "You don't really listen to me that often either."

"I do. I listen to you all the time. I always do whatever you say."

"That's an exaggeration, don't you think?"

"Yeah, well I do what you say a helluva lot more often than you do what I say."

"You're not really the type to give orders."

"That's not the point!" he snapped. "You're so hung up on always being smart, and always being right, and thinking you know best you don't even think about the fact that you could be wrong! I shouldn't have had to explain why I didn't want to be here, you should have just heard me say I wanted to go and let me go!"

I shot him a sharp look. "You're angry that I didn't want to let you stay out here alone all night? I thought you deserved more than that."

"I was willing to take it though. I didn't want to have to put up with this shit."

"Yes, but I—"

"Hakkai," he exhaled my name, sounding all the more frustrated. "Just take off, okay? I'm not in the mood to try to argue with you when I know you're just going to win, so go back to Sanzo, and I'll find you guys tomorrow."

"That mob is looking for you," I objected. "By all appearances, you have no intentions of fighting them or defending yourself. You expect me to leave you in such a predicament?"

"See? See how you don't listen? I'm not asking you to protect my ass, Hakkai, I'm asking you to leave me the fuck alone for once."

"I don't want to," I snarled. "I don't want to wonder for the rest of my life what this was about, and I know you'll never tell me."

He shrugged. "I shouldn't have to. If you're not going to leave at least shut the fuck up. You're pissing me off."

Several minutes passed in silence, and I tried to decide what I should do. I wasn't getting anything out of him, but I couldn't imagine leaving him either. Distractedly, I fidgeted with some of the objects lying nearby. I found a die, scored and dirty, lying right beside me, and with it what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes. At first, I assumed they were his, but when I picked the package up I found it as old and weather worn as everything else. A handful of cigarettes were still inside, water damaged like everything else. I turned the pack over in my hands, realizing they were Hi-Lites.

I stared disbelievingly at them, and then I turned slowly to him, studying his unyielding expression in a new light.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I hissed. "Why didn't you say something?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked half-heartedly.

I put the old package in his hands, and he barely glanced at it.

"This is where you grew up. Isn't it?"

Gojyo cocked his mouth in a wry but contrite smile. "There we go, smart guy. See, I don't really have to tell you anything, huh?"

"Gojyo…" I faltered. Words failed me. The full shape of how painful all this must be to him hit me like a tidal wave. "Goj…" I gripped his arm automatically, desperately looking for some way to console him. "You could have said something… You didn't have to…"

He shook his head. "I didn't really know what to say…"

"Yes, but you could have said something."

"I told you I'd rather sleep under a tree than shack up with a hooker."

"And I was just supposed to understand that meant "this is my childhood town, and I don't want to set foot in it"?"

He scowled. "Like I said." He took an agitated drag off his cigarette. "I shouldn't have had to tell you. You should have just listened to me instead of always trying to have your way."

Utterly defeated by that circular logic, I flopped back on the platform of the tree house. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize." I stared at the starry canopy, waiting for him to answer, but he sat there quietly.

In a while, I asked, "Did you build this?"

"Jien did."

"For you though?"

"For me."

"He must have been quite a prolific young man."

"He was a lazy fuck," Gojyo muttered.

I smiled sadly at the sullen sound of his voice, and I tried to picture a young Dokugakuji coming out here every day, walking half a mile with piles of discarded scraps of wood on his shoulders, building a tree fort for his downtrodden little brother. A safe haven of sorts. "He loved you," I said gently.

Gojyo seemed to shudder. He sounded all the more distressed as he said, "I used to come here when he was in school, on days when she was acting nuts. I think he had this idea that, if he got it right, I could just live here, away from everyone."

"That's a cynical idea."

He scoffed. "What would you do? He wasn't anywhere close to being an adult."

I sat up again. "Well, no, but it would be difficult. I'm sure you understand that. Protecting you from something so unfair and finite wouldn't have been easy even if he had been an adult. I'm sure he was just doing the best he could."

Tiredly, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and murmured, "Yeah, I know."

"I feel much the same about it, you know," I went on carefully. "I find it much simpler to maul my personal enemies than to try to ward off the injustices in your life."

"I'm not asking you to."

I clenched his wrist, saying emphatically, "I want to though. I doubt you have any idea how I wish I could."

Finally, he turned to me again, eyes clearer than before, and I could see my words had affected him. "Sorry, 'Kai," he said quietly. "Sorry for being mad at you."

Smiling, I laid my hand on the back of his neck. "Never mind. I regret that this happened, that's all. You're right, I suppose. I should have listened to you."

He hooked his arm around my shoulders. "Forget it. I meant what I said at the inn, man. I'm glad you're with me for this suckfest."

"Of course." Out of a profound sense of compassion, I added, "I would never let these people hurt you, Gojyo. Physically, or otherwise."

It took him so long to reply, I assumed he didn't intend to, but finally he whispered, "I know. But…they don't deserve to get annihilated either."

"I'm not sure I agree, considering how old you were the last time they saw you."

He snorted. "Just promise you won't lose your shit on them, okay?"

"I can't promise that, Gojyo. You know better."

"C'mon, dude. For me."

"I don't see why you should care about what happens to them, especially when their fate will be dictated by their own actions."

"If you wipe a bunch of them out, that'll be just one more thing they'll chalk up to something that happened because I was born."

"On the contrary. They ought to see that some people actually place value on your life. Perhaps they'd learn something from that."

"Hakkai," he said all the more quietly. "C'mon. Please?"

I heaved a sigh. "Oh, very well. In any case, we're getting out of here first thing in the morning, so it likely won't come to that."

He nodded. "You're right. Tomorrow can't come soon enough." And then he slumped back on the platform. "Night, man."

"Good night," I whispered, watching him close his eyes and waiting until he'd started breathing deeply.

For a little while, I considered climbing down and going to find Sanzo. I knew where Gojyo was, and with any luck no one else would find him. The hour and a half Sanzo had mandated had already passed, and the other two would be wondering what happened to me. Still, I didn't think I could leave my room mate. For all I knew, Tanda and his men would find him here, and Gojyo still didn't seem interested in fighting with them. I decided it was best to stay with him, and then I lay down as well, shutting my eyes to the cold stars, just as anxious as Gojyo to reach the sunrise.