Not only is it very late but it is also very short.... PLEASE DONT KILL ME!! *runs and hides from angry readers* you guys are great! Such loyal readers waiting so long for me to upload, I dont deserve you1 *bows repeatedly* thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! The shortness of this chapter is just due to it's plot relevance, it was always going to be a short chapter and if I tried to make it longer it would not really work and it would take me EVEN LONGER to update!

But! Enough excuses! Here is Chapter 6, as usual I disclaim everything, characters not mine etc etc, four chapters to go folks!!!

Chapter 6

– "but I cannot see you exposed to the horrors behind some of those"

Hakkai had remained on the landing for a few minutes after Gojyo left for the room he was now sharing with Goku before turning and entering his own. The smell of cigarette smoke hit his sensitive nostrils cause him to wrinkle his nose. Despite having lived with a redheaded chimney of his own, he couldn't stand the smell of Sanzo's brand. Somehow Gojyo's high lites weren't so bad… in fact their smell was somehow… comforting. Shaking his head he moved towards the window, hoping to get some fresh air into the room to take the smell away. Upon reaching the window he found it already open with a small pile of ashes and smoky remains left upon the sill, from the looks of things, Sanzo had finished off his whole supply. Sighing, Hakkai pushed the window open wider and swept out the ashen pile, hoping that this would make some difference. If anything the smell got stronger. Resigning himself to the fact he wasn't going to win, Hakkai took a seat by the window and decided to wait until the room had aired a little before heading to bed. Sanzo was already asleep and as Hakkai glanced over to the gently moving pile of covers, he felt a shot of anger flash through him. Gojyo had told Hakkai what happened with Goku at breakfast, which had confirmed Hakkai's already well backed suspicions of the boy's feelings towards the monk. How could Sanzo let this happen? Even though Goku's feelings weren't caused through direct fault of the monk's, Sanzo wasn't helping matters; his actions were making things a hundred times worse. Hakkai knew heartbreak, and he couldn't bare to see Goku suffer it. Goku seemed to represent a childlike innocence, which their travelling group desperately needed; they experienced so much death, bloodshed, pain and suffering, that they needed to cling onto something to keep them together, to keep them in mind that there was still some good left in the world. If Goku fell into the same emotional snares they all had, the Sanzo Ikkou would be doomed. Hakkai wasn't sure what his personal connection to the young boy was, it wasn't a fatherly love, or a brotherly one, he didn't feel too much like he needed to protect the boy as he was certain Goku could manage on his own, the closest one could possibly get to how Hakkai felt was possibly something akin to motherly love… but even that wasn't quite right. He watched Sanzo's sleeping figure a little longer.

Tomorrow, he thought to himself, I'll talk to Sanzo tomorrow.

Hakkai shifted to look outside, but not really seeing anything. In his mind he was watching as the edges of those little memories tried to push their way in. This whole situation brought too many things to light that he would prefer left in the dark, long suppressed memories and newly formed doubts swirling around just beyond his conscious mind. He absentmindedly brought one hand up to touch the cold metal bands around his ear while the other rested on his abdomen.

Kannan.

They'd all lost so much. He didn't want to lose more now.

Shaking his head, Hakkai got up and shut the window. Whether the room had aired or he'd just gotten used to the smell of cigarettes he didn't know, but it didn't matter. He started to get ready for bed. I should be grateful he thought quietly, looking back at the window,

"At least it's not raining."

Hope you liked! (Told you it was short) Thanks for reading!!! *throws cookies to loyal readers* I love you all!