Chapter 3

Sanzo took the boy's body into his arms and carried him back to the camp where Hakkai and Gojyo were waiting for them. He was in rush to get to Hakkai so that the man could heal Goku's wound. He simply hoped that he didn't injure the boy too badly.

But then again, he was sure that he did hurt the boy a little too much. It was something that he couldn't change anymore.

Why are those goddamned branches in the way?

The monk trekked (or ran) through the deep foliage of the forest, trying his best not to hit Goku nor himself with the pesky branches that seemed to be there simply to spite him. He didn't want the young boy to get hurt anymore than he already was and he didn't care to get hurt either.

Finally, he saw the faint light of the camp in front of him, causing him to hurry up on the way there.

Gojyo gaped as a disheveled Sanzo burst through the bush, carrying a naked and injured Goku. Really, he couldn't do anything other than gape. That and say "what the fuck?"

The monk didn't listen to him, making his way instead to the other man, who was preparing a sleeping bag to lay Goku on. Unlike Gojyo, he moved, doing something of sense rather than staring.

When Hakkai finished fixing the sleeping bag, he took the boy from Sanzo and laid him on it, taking good care not to hurt his head even more. He wrapped Goku up with blankets, took out some bandages, and slowly healed the boy's head, a gentle blue light emanating from his hand, fixing up the wound. It would take a long time and a lot of energy in Hakkai's part to save Goku since there was some internal brain damage that he would have to try to fix. The damage might not be remedied completely.

He wanted to inform Sanzo all that but he had to concentrate. Hopefully, Gojyo would be sensible enough to interrogate the monk and beat the man up if possible. But they were talking about Sanzo; it was impossible to beat the man up. Focusing on his patient rather than his thoughts, he blanked out the entire world.

Gojyo was still gaping, watching Sanzo walk away. It was the monk's fault. He was sure of it.

"Stop looking at me and help me here," Sanzo snapped harshly. Now, where was that bag? "Kappa. Where's the fucking bag?"

It was only then that Gojyo gathered his wits about him enough to growl at the blonde. Of all the people he knew and met, Sanzo was probably the most infuriating. He purposely ignored the monk's question and glared instead. Unfortunately, it didn't bother Sanzo much. Sanzo was much too busy looking for the goddamned bag.

When Sanzo upturned Gojyo's tent however, the red head didn't have any choice but to help.

"What the hell do you need the stupid bag for?" Gojyo asked, messing up Sanzo's own tent just to vex the man—it didn't work. "Running away?"

"Aa."

If Gojyo had been expecting an answer like that, he seemed very surprised. Actually, he really didn't expect a simple "aa" from Sanzo. What he expected was a gunshot.

"You're seriously running away?"

"Aa."

"Why?"

Sanzo turned to him sharply. "It's none of your business."

This enraged the already irritated red head even more. What did he mean not his business? Of course it was his business! He was there wasn't he, watching Sanzo hurt the poor boy? He'd be damned if it weren't his business. Spitefully, he asked, "feeling guilty now aren't you?"

"Urusai."

"Hakkai and I never said anything but you're hurting him, you know. It's not fair that you should get away with this."

Sanzo closed his eyes and sighed. "It didn't get away. I caught it."

"Nani?!"

"Urusai. Just keep Goku away from me," Sanzo told the man sharply, not really in the mood for explanations. He looked at Gojyo and said "Sayonara." He threw the gold credit card at him. "Use it to feed the saru."

Gojyo caught the card but his face was nothing but confusion. Wasn't he supposed to be beating Sanzo up instead of helping him look for a bag to run away? Wasn't he supposed to be the one who makes Sanzo realize what he did and make the corrupted monk feel shame? He wasn't supposed to be the one confused and gaping; that was supposed to be Sanzo! Shit.

"Why does this happen to me?" he asked himself silently, watching Sanzo knock over Hakkai's tent in search of the sought after bag.

Apparently, Sanzo found it since he stood up, looked at Gojyo contemplatively, looked at Hakkai with Goku with an impassive face, and turned to the dark of the forest. He did not move forward though. He just stood there, deciding on something. Gojyo stared at his back for what seemed like eternity until the monk called out his name. "Gojyo."

"Hai?"

"Tell the saru that I never hated him," he paused and then continued, "I'll go to the west alone. I want you to bring Goku back to your place and keep him there. Understood?"

Gojyo couldn't say anything else but "Aa."

"Good," Sanzo started walking into the darkness and melding with it.

Suddenly, something occurred to Gojyo. Before Sanzo completely disappeared, he asked, "What's in the bag?"

"Clothes," Sanzo replied and then seemingly disappeared into the dark.

When Gojyo realized what Sanzo said, he cursed. That bag was where they kept all their clothes. He had an expensive silk shirt in there too. He looked at the card he was holding. It seemed as if he just had to buy a new silk shirt. The last one had been blue; he'd buy a black one this time.

~0~

Hakkai sighed, opening his eyes and checking Goku's head for anything that he had missed. Nothing. Good. He didn't think that he had enough strength to fix anything else. He was exhausted in every sense of the word and he simply wanted to sleep.

Looking around, he found that Sanzo was no where to be seen and that Gojyo was asleep in one of the bedrolls near them since their tents were mysteriously upturned. Gojyo was clutching something gold but Hakkai didn't mind it for he had more important things to do like change his filthy clothes, bloodied by Goku's wound. Unfortunately, he couldn't find their bag anywhere.

Irritated, he kicked Gojyo awake.

The man didn't move a muscle.

He kicked him again: unsuccessful. Another kick proved to him that he would never be able to kick the man awake and that he had to take drastic measures. But what?

And then he remembered a day long ago . . .

"Hakkai, could you wake me up early?" asked a sleepy Gojyo as he lay sprawled on his less than comfortable bed. Unfortunately, the inn that they had to stay in that night was one of those cheap pigsties. "I have to get my shirt from that girl I met in the bar before we leave. It's my nice silk one. I wouldn't have minded if she took some other. I love that shirt."

"Fine," Hakkai assented. "How would I wake you up? You're impossible to awaken when you're tired from something."

The red head smirked. "Kiss me awake." With that, Gojyo slumbered.

Fortunately for Hakkai, he didn't have to kiss Gojyo awake then. Before Hakkai even woke up, Goku came jumping into their room, announcing that Sanzo agreed to buy them a grand breakfast—which Sanzo denied doing—and jumping on Gojyo's stomach, rousing the man even better than a kiss. Gojyo was not very happy about it.

Thinking about the past experience made Hakkai nostalgic for the good old days when Sanzo was still normal and Goku wasn't being hurt. Thinking of it made him wonder too if Gojyo was kidding about Hakkai kissing him or not.

Finally, he decided the best course of action, which he learned from the flashback. Drawing nearer to Gojyo, he watched the man sleep for a while and then leaned over, punching the man on his stomach.

As Hakkai presumed, Gojyo woke up with a start, cursing Hakkai, Sanzo, and the fucking spirits that caused him to lose his wondrous blue silk shirt. He had such a nice dream too about the first time he saw that shirt on the store and decided that it would be his. It was such a hard path to get the blue silk shirt. He had to bribe, threaten, and hoodwink a lot of people just so he would be able to attain it.

Now it was gone and he had a golden credit card and a stomachache instead. He wasn't sure if it was a fair exchange.

Looking up, he found that he sun wasn't up yet and that Hakkai was glaring at him in an unpleasant manner, something that Gojyo found hard to understand. He was the one punched in the stomach, wasn't he? "What do you want?" he asked his monocled companion.

"The bag."

"The bag? What bag?" And then Gojyo blinked in realization. "Oh. That bag. Well, you see, some corrupt monk decided to take it with him and leave. Now, we don't have any clothes." The expression on Hakkai's face told Gojyo that his friend didn't take the news that he gave very well. "Oi Hakkai," he said warily, "it's not too bad. The monk left the card with us, see?" he waved the small golden object in front of Hakkai's face.

Hakkai wasn't pacified. "Gojyo, look at me," he said sweetly—dangerously.

Gojyo looked and found that although Hakkai was tired, he was still beautiful, and that the smudge of dark blood on his cheek made his pale face stand out more. He also noticed that Hakkai's usually obsessively neat hair was a mess and that the wind ruffled it even more, giving Hakkai a nice just woke up look.

Grinning, Gojyo informed Hakkai that he looked fantastic.

Apparently, that wasn't what the man wanted to hear. "I do not look fantastic. I want to change my clothes. Where is the bag?"

"I told you. It's with the monk."

"And where is Sanzo?"

"Left."

Hakkai's eyes widened. "He left?"

Gojyo's nod confirmed it. "Aa. Didn't you hear me say it? I said Sanzo-sama left with our bag of clothes and left us the card. Told me that we should keep Goku away from him, bring Goku to our place and make him stay there. I couldn't get anything out of him—not that I actually asked much. He kept messing the place up looking for the goddamned bag."

Hakkai clenched his fists. "The bastard . . ."

Gojyo wasn't sure if Hakkai was cursing Sanzo for getting the bag or because of something else. "Oi Hakkai. How's the saru?"

At the question, Hakkai's anger seemed to lessen and his expression softened. "He's okay now but I think he won't wake up for the next few days."

~0~

Sanzo cursed as he realized the con of allowing the idiots to have his credit card. He had money enough for a week of travelling but nothing much after that. He cursed again. He needed to get to a temple so that he could request the fucking lazy gods in heaven for a new card. If they didn't want to give him a card, they could just kiss their fucking mission goodbye.

The monk rummaged through the bag and found the blue silk shirt that he saw Gojyo wear on more than one occasion. He wondered how much money he would be able to get for it.

Brother, why didn't you bring Goku for us?

Sanzo cursed the damned voice in his head. "I'll exorcise you out of my body as soon as I can and I'll make it bloody hurt," he told the voice.

You won't be able to exorcise me brother. Are you mad at me for using your pet? Your body had a good time.

"Urusai."

A/N: For anyone who read the latest chapter of "Lust," I'm so sorry. That chapter just sucked. I'm removing that chapter and replacing it with another one. Just wait.

This chapter took a lot of time to write simply because I was too lazy to write it. Gomen.

Reviews are much appreciated.