:Simulated Guilt: Enter the Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki. Enough said.

Warnings: Nothing much, really. Language and angst is just about it.
There are also spoilers for the Burial arc and there will be a few references to Saiyuki Vol. 8 and Saiyuki Reload Vol.2, but it's mainly for the Burial arc.

Pairings: Mainly 39, hinted 89(Hakkai-seme! Can't resist. XD) and another special pairing, but I will not point it out now. It isn't a very popular pairing, but I'm sure there are some people will like it. If you've read the burial arc, you will know.

And while all this happened, a smile formed slowly.

"Ah, Koumyou. Was my reaction like this when you died?"

He giggled slightly.

"Alike, indeed."

Meanwhile…

Silence.

Shifting.

Silence.

"Oi, bouzu!"

Silence.

"If the monkey's not the monkey, then where's the monkey?"

Silence. And bad aura.

"Er…"

Very, very bad aura.

Eep! Hakkai, save me!

"Sanzo, Goku's head is in bad shape. I am sure he is Goku, right down to his terrible table manners and his concern for you. How can you say that this is not Goku?"

"Fuck off."

"Well, not the answer I was expecting, but a slight improvement from the previous repetitive answers. But will you care to explain why he is not Goku?"

"Because he is not."

"Did you not hear me, Sanzo? The question was why."

Bad aura. Much, much bad aura.

From both sides.

This thus encouraged Gojyo to retreat from the two currently livid men towards the safety of Goku's room. No sooner had he put one foot outside the door that the voice of the Great Judge echoed throughout his head.

"I would like it very much if you stayed here to talk some sense into Sanzo, Gojyo-san."

This caused Gojyo to yelp not very quietly. He had heard this tone of voice before which immediately meant that what Hakkai had really said was:

"Get your ass here and pummel the sense into Sanzo or I will take the pleasure of killing you, my dearest Gojyo."

Gojyo pondered whether to make the dash for Goku's room and have his death delayed, or stay and suffer in a room with two men with murderous intent,one of them his extremely irked lover, who was about to explode with all that smiling.

Gojyo whimpered and resumed his seat beside Hakkai.

"Why, thank you, Gojyo." Hakkai said, his deadly, interrogative smile slipping into place as he turned towards Sanzo.

"Blood… so much blood…"

Sanzo seemed to enter a trance, "blood" and "could not protect" being the most often said words. Hakkai and Gojyo started to get worried, remembering the time when the monk was thrashing about after the fight with Kami-sama.

"Do you think he could be talking about his master, Hakkai?"

"Most probably, but what has not protecting his master have to do with Goku? I think--"

Hakkai hadn't even finished his last sentence when he was sent sprawling over the floor. Sanzo stood over him, staring at him with the same dulled eyes.

"I haven't buried him. Not yet. I have to."

Gojyo was shocked and seriously irritated. First Goku, and now Hakkai. Not only that, Sanzo was murmuring on how he hadn't buried what's-his-name. He had enough.

"Are you out of your damned mind, Mr. Fuck-Off-Angst-is-my-Lover? First Goku, now Hakkai. And all you can think about is burying-- to heck with his name, but wake up, damn it!"

Hakkai moved slightly, two of his ribs broken. Something wasn't right about that punch. It reminded of the berserk prince when he was brainwashed by Zakuro. Just like a puppet.

"Sanzo, if you're talking about your late master, don't you think it is a little too late now to bury him? And after all, weren't you the one who told me about Muichimotsu and to be bound by nothing when I remembered Kanan's death? Don't you think you should do that for your master?" Hakkai felt a pang when he brought up the name of his past lover, but stared steadily at Sanzo. Sanzo jerked his head towards Hakkai.

"No, not Oshou-sama. Goku. I cannot leave him to rot like Oshou-sama, I cannot…"

Gojyo and Hakkai stared at Sanzo in disbelief.

"What? Goku…?"

"Killed him with my own hands…don't know how, but I did. I saw. His blood was all over me. Goku's blood."

Gojyo and Hakkai could barely grasp what Sanzo had said, and what they did grasp they did not want to grasp. They allowed Sanzo to walk out and stumble to goodness-knows-where, when Goku stumbled out of his room at the same time.

"Sanzo? Sanzo! Are you alright? Where're you going? Sanzo…?"

Goku was shoved away without a second glance. Sanzo barely made it to the door of the inn when he collapsed, his hand reaching to grasp thin air.

Goku's mind had apparently finally hit rock bottom, considering that his head had been rammed against the floor and he had just woken up from a very hazy sleep. So what his mind could not accomplish his lungs and diaphragm did for him. He screamed. On and on, whether from shock, worry or just plain confusion on how to react, he screamed.

"Hakkai! Gojyo! Why did he collapse? He wasn't really sick or anything, was he? Gojyo? Hakkai? Say something!"

At that moment a dark shadowy figure stepped in, his hair as shiny and black like a crow's feathers, and the black robes similar to that of a crow's jet black coat.

"Oh my. I guess the drug was a little too much, hmmm?" The same twisted, manipulative smile forming on his face, the same façade he had kept up for a long, long time.

A/N: Apologies for the long, long wait. Especially Aina and Andrea (sankyuu for waiting!). Not much Sanzo/Goku here, and am very sorry. I'm sure you've guessed who the character is, the "crow" and the "manipulative smile" being a dead giveaway. Let's just say I was concentrating on him and Hakkai while I was writing this chapter, so if Sanzo and Goku seem OOC, please forgive me.