Chapter 4: His God, My God

"Rock, paper, scissors—go!" the group of five said, each throwing their hands to form a symbol. Goku had 'scissors', but Hakkai, Gojyo, Myoko, and Sanzo all had 'rock'.

"You've got to be kidding me! I've lost ten times in a row!" Goku cried, staring at his defective hand with a look of shocked betrayal.

"Hehe, he still hasn't caught on," Gojyo snickered under his breath.

"His habit of throwing a scissors first is quite damning," Hakkai agreed quietly.

"He is a monkey after all," Sanzo said lowly with the hint of a smirk, while Myoko gave poor Goku a lopsided smile.

She thought he would have at least figured it out by the fifth turn, but it seemed Goku had become too upset to think straight. She briefly considered tell him, but decided it would be better for him to learn how to figure this sort of thing out on his own… Plus, she didn't want to end up getting stuck with the bag either.

"Hey! How far are we gonna walk?" Goku whined, dragging the large, heavy bag along. The others paused and glanced back at him.

"Well, with this kind of rocky terrain, we can't use the Jeep to cross through…" Hakkai reminded him.

Goku frowned and stared hard at the little white dragon, who was riding comfortably on Myoko's shoulder to take advantage of the shade her umbrella offered to escape the desert sun. "Hakuryuu! Can't you change into anything other than a Jeep?!" he demanded, shaking his fists at the startled creature.

"Hey, Goku…" Myoko scolded him with a frown. "Don't take it out on him just because you keep losing."

"Sensei! An animal's abusing another animal!" Gojyo droned drolly.

"Who is this 'sensei'?" Myoko asked with a wry smile, sweat-dropping.

"You, if you want. Being scolded by a pretty teacher like you wouldn't be half bad," he teased with a cheeky smirk.

Myoko laughed. "Pfft! What the heck? Not even in your dreams," she told him, shaking her head in somewhat amused disbelief.

"Yeah, it'd be more like a nightmare!" Goku cut in. "You know how scary Myoko-nee is when she's angry!"

"Are you trying to make me angry…?" she asked, sweat-dropping again. True, she wasn't above ruling by fear in some emergencies, but they didn't have to treat her like some kind of monster. She thought Hakkai was much scarier.

"… With this pace, the sun's going to set before we can cross the mountain…" Sanzo said, doing his best to ignore the idiocy behind him.

"In that case, shall we ask them for a night's lodgings?" Hakkai suggested as they came upon a great edifice built into the mountainside.

"Ge! Such a grand temple!" Gojyo said, sweat-dropping, while Goku stared up at it, amazed to find something like that out there.

"You can find these things in the most surprising places, huh?" Myoko commented wryly.

"Excuse me!!!" Hakkai called out as they drew closer.

"Do you need something?!" one of two monks called back as they came out on the balcony above to see what they wanted.

"We are travelers! Could kindly you let us stay a night?" Hakkai asked politely.

"Hmph!" the monk huffed, and Myoko could already tell what his answer would be from the amount of scorn mixed with self-importance that it carried. It wasn't her first time encountering a place like this. "Because this is a holy temple… we cannot allow strangers within its walls!"

"What the hell's up with that?!" Goku said incredulously.

"Ah, as I thought… it's that kind of place…" Myoko said with a sigh.

"Has something like this happened to you before?" Hakkai asked her.

"From time to time," she replied. "Some people think just being a woman is sinful, even though anyone worth their salt knows Buddha himself had nothing against women and those extra precepts and stories about us being trouble were added in after his death."

"Shit! This is why I hate monks!" Gojyo scoffed disdainfully with a vein throbbing on his forehead, giving the temple and everyone in it the finger.

"Oh, really? That's the first time I've heard about it," Sanzo said coolly, standing right behind him.

"What should we do?" Hakkai hummed, holding his chin while he tried to think of a solution.

"Hey! I'm hungry!!!" Goku complained. "Sanzo!!"

"Sa… Sanzo?!?" the monk who turned them away cried, gripping the railing as he leaned over to get a better look. A bead of nervous sweat formed on his bald brow. "Now that you mention it… That guy's attire is the same as that of the late Priest Koumyou Sanzo… the Tenchi Kaigen Kyoumon lies draped about his shoulders… and… the crimson chakra upon his brow is the mark of one close to the gods… could it be… Priest Genjo Sanzo?!" he gasped, reeling back in shock.

"What?!" the other monk with him exclaimed in shock.

"P… Please forgive us for our rudeness!!!" they begged anxiously. "We'll let you pass now!!"

"Eh?" Goku said, surprised when the giant doors opened as promised to let them in.

"…" Sanzo had a bad feeling about this. He could sense a heavy dose of annoyance in his future.

"… Guess we said the magic word…" Myoko said, sweat-dropping again, taking note of the sign over their heads that denoted the place as the Iwayama Temple as they stepped inside.

Gojyo whistled as they walked through the magnificent interior, its echo bouncing off the high ceilings. And this was just the entrance.

"Hmm…" Hakkai said, also surveying their surroundings as they went. Myoko's eyes wandered naturally in search of any and all possible exits out of habit. She didn't feel comfortable in these closed-off halls with their pretentious atmosphere. It made her feel too caged in.

"Please step inside!" their guide said, opening the door to the next room for them, where they were greeted by two rows of monks lined up to flank the raised platform where the abbot sat with two other highly-ranked monks in front of a large icon of Buddha seated on a lotus. Judging by the size of the room and the altar, they appeared to have entered the main hall.

"Priest Sanzo-sama… how good of you to visit this old temple! You honor us with your presence," the abbot greeted him with a smile.

"I am grateful for your welcome," Sanzo replied calmly.

"Hey! Are you telling me that Sanzo's really that great?" Gojyo asked incredulously with blatant disbelief.

"Actually, it's not so much that, but the power of the title of 'Sanzo'," Hakkai said. "I'm sure Myoko-san can explain it better than I could," he added, passing the buck.

"I guess," Myoko said with a small shrug. "It's said that this world has five holy scriptures called 'Tenchi Kaigen Kyoumon', which are said to have been used in the founding of heaven and earth, and it seems the title of 'Sanzo' is given to the guardians of each of these scriptures. Among Buddhists, they're revered as the highest-ranking monks. It's said that this is proof the owner is the most holiest of monks… usually."

"How'd that godless bastard get to be one of the highest-ranking monks?" Gojyo demanded as he pointed at their Sanzo, chagrined.

"That is beyond my scope," Hakkai said with a small smile, sweat-dropping.

"Even I can't answer that for sure…" Myoko agreed wryly, also sweat-dropping. "That's why I said 'usually'. But I'm sure it's because his predecessor saw something in him." She remembered Koumyou-sensei being a really sharp judge of character, even if he did act a little spacey from time to time. "He was a lot cuter when he was younger."

"Ehh?!" Goku exclaimed as they stared at her in shock over that seemingly impossible statement, making them all quickly clap their hands over his mouth to silence him so Sanzo wouldn't hear them and turn around. None of the guys could ever imagine that Sanzo being anything even remotely resembling 'cute'.

"Ah, that's right. You guys were childhood friends, right? But I'm finding it really hard to imagine a time when that guy wasn't a difficult bastard…" Gojyo admitted, sweat-dropping, while Goku nodded firmly in agreement. The eyes of a maiden in love are scary… the perverted kappa thought.

"Oh, no," Myoko said, quickly correcting him. "He's always been difficult, it's just that he used to be cuter while doing it."

"Ah, now that I can see…" Hakkai said with a smile as they all sweat-dropped again, picturing a midget Sanzo with the usual scowl on his face.

"No… Something still isn't quite right with that image…" Gojyo said a little awkwardly, sweat-dropping yet again.

"But, in all seriousness," Myoko continued with a more solemn expression, "I remember hearing from my sensei that the Maten Sutra requires a guardian with a strong sense of belief in themselves. I believe that's why."

"Ahh… I see…" the other three said with straight faces, nodding in understanding. The only thing their Sanzo-sama believed in was Sanzo-sama.

"To tell the truth…" the abbot continued with most of the monks still none the wiser to their little side conversation about their revered idol. "Priest Koumyou Sanzo also stopped by to grace this temple with his presence ten or so years ago…"

"…" Sanzo was quiet.

Ten or so years ago…? Myoko thought with a small frown, glancing at his back with concern. That would have been not too long before he died in front of… Though Sanzo looked calm on the outside, she was sure that simple statement was bound to have stirred up some really cruel memories for him.

"?" Goku said, tilting his head a little when he saw the way she was looking at Sanzo, wondering what was wrong.

"Ah, don't worry about," she said quietly with a small smile when she noticed, hoping he would leave it at that for Sanzo's sake. Even now it was still too difficult for him to talk about it. Something she could fully understand and relate to.

"After Koumyou Sanzo-sama had passed away, I heard that you, his favorite disciple, had inherited his title as 'Genjo Sanzo'…" the abbot continued. "The orderly and majestic appearance of Koumyou-sama is still fresh in my memory. If I may say so, Genjo-sama, you greatly resemble Koumyou-sama."

Only in so far as they're both blonde, Myoko thought. If they were going by appearances, that is. For any further resemblances, you had to swim across a moat of alligators and scale several high walls topped with barbed wire before you could find the soft, caring side he kept hidden deep, deep, deep down inside himself.

"Anyways… Enough of such things," Sanzo said, choosing to ignore that touchy subject and get straight to the point. "Because it will be too difficult to cross the mountains in one day… I was hoping to borrow a room for a night."

"Of course! We would be happy to!" one of the head monks said quickly, sparring a furtive glance at his odd traveling companions. "It's just that…" he added a little awkwardly.

Here it comes… Myoko thought, deadpanning.

"Yes?" Hakkai asked.

"This is the inside of the holy temple, and properly speaking, we can't allow outsiders to pass through. Even taking in a nun would be difficult since we don't ordinarily allow any women in here, and there is no separate facility for them." They knew enough to be able to tell she was simply an albino human… but many of them felt her smooth, lily-white skin and sparkling smile were too dangerous. "And from the looks of it, the rest of you do not seem to be converted to the road of Buddhism…"

That is such a load of crap, Myoko thought with a straight face.

"A monk is okay, but a civilian or even a nun can't enter?! Is this an expensive restaurant or something!! Don't you guys have any sense of chivalry?!" Gojyo demanded indignantly with an incredulous expression, getting angry on Myoko's behalf, too, since she was now clearly in the same boat as them. What kind of men would turn a lone woman out into the cold? He found himself wishing they had gotten there a week earlier so he would get to see her slaughter them all after hearing them spout that bullshit. "Don't mess with us!"

"Now, now…" Hakkai said calmly, trying to keep things from escalating.

"That's fine with me," Sanzo answered the other monks, completely indifferent. The expression on his face made it fairly obvious that he couldn't care less what happened to the others. Unfortunately for Myoko, he had overheard that 'cute' comment, so she was going to be doing time on his shit-list for a while. Those guys were the last people he wanted her mouthing off to about stuff like that.

"Uwa~, I knew he was gonna say that!" Goku said, while Myoko smiled wryly and sweat-dropped. Yeah, they had both seen that response coming from miles away.

"Oi, I can understand us, but are you really gonna let them kick Myoko to the curb?" Gojyo asked sharply.

"They seem to be extremely devout people," Hakkai whispered, trying to calm him down.

"Don't you mean suspicious?" Gojyo retorted as Myoko stepped forward.

"Oh, but surely someone as insignificant as a lowly nun, like me, couldn't cause much trouble here? I find it hard to believe the monks of such a disciplined and austere temple could ever possibly be tempted by the mere presence of a woman," she said with an excessively polite tone and sickeningly sweet smile, hitting them right in their pride. "After all, Sanzo-sama here doesn't see me as one at all. Also, every revered monk I've ever met knows it is perfectly acceptable for a nun to spend the night in the same room as a monk or a male layman, and vice versa, as long as they aren't alone and have at least one other person present as a chaperone. After all, Buddha himself said that there was nothing wrong with a nun or a woman's body, but with the monks and men who couldn't control their impure thoughts of them. Ah, but if you're afraid your training here has not been adequate enough to withstand such a minor worldly desire, though I suppose it's easy to claim immunity to temptation when you are never exposed to it, perhaps for your sakes I should just…"

"Ah! That… That won't be necessary…" the monks said quickly. "Of course, you are correct in saying that none of us would be tempted! We have trained in this temple, after all. There should be no problem with you staying for one night."

"I see. Thank you very much!" she said with a radiant shit-eating grin, complete with sparkles. She very subtly shot her companions a 'V' for victory behind her back. The more stuck up these groups were, the greater their pride. She knew there was no way they would kick her out if she made it seem like it would be an admission of weakness or lack of virtue on their part.

"S… Scary…" Goku said a little nervously as he, Gojyo, and Hakkai sweat-dropped, while Sanzo was completely unsurprised.

She hit them right where it hurts, the priest thought. Well, he had a feeling she would do something like that. Ever since she was a child, Myoko had spent so much time traveling, it was only natural that she would have picked up how to deal with certain types.

"She handled them quite nicely, didn't she?" Hakkai remarked, impressed by the wily display of cunning manipulation. If only they could get away with something like that. He was glad Myoko chose to use her powers for good rather than evil. These monks didn't know how lucky they were that they hadn't come here a week ago when she was in the 'Red Zone'.

"Then, these people are… acting as chaperones? Are they your disciples?" the other monk asked Sanzo next.

"No. They're my servants," Sanzo replied bluntly with a straight face.

"Ah… I knew it!" the monk said, while Myoko sweat-dropped as Hakkai immediately grabbed Goku and Gojyo to hold them back when they tried to lunge at Sanzo in anger.

"Who's your servant?! Hey! You're dead meat!" the monkey and kappa fumed angrily.

"Ok, ok! Calm down! Now, what does it matter? There, there, whoa, whoa," Hakkai told them with wry smile over their furious rants about wanting to kill the monk while veins throbbed on their heads.

"You guys do want to stay here, don't you? Does it really matter what they think anyway?" Myoko asked.

"Oh, come on! You'd be totally pissed if it was you! You trying to tell me you wouldn't be mad after that kind of treatment?!" Gojyo asked incredulously.

"Of course I would, but pride won't fill your stomach or keep the sky from raining on you in your sleep," she replied seriously wth a perfectly straight face, making Goku and Gojyo stop their rant as beads of sweat ran down the sides of their faces.

"Ahh… That's right, you've been through a lot of hardships, huh? Sorry for acting so spoiled…" Gojyo said a bit tentatively, while Goku finally went quiet.

She handled them nicely, too, Hakkai thought, glad they had finally calmed down enough to behave themselves.

"So, just swallow your pride for now and wait to pay them back until tomorrow, when we leave," she added quietly with a sly gleam in her eyes, making Goku and Gojyo smirk and Hakkai nearly face-fault.

I don't know what she's saying over there, but she had better not be stirring up trouble… Sanzo thought sternly with a frown when he sensed her mischievous streak kicking in.

"Well, in this case, for the sake of Sanzo-sama, we will serve these people the best as well!" the monks decided, wanting to get on his good side.

Sanzo sighed. He had a feeling it would turn out like this. Their type were always so eager to suck up.

—∞—

Without further ado, they were served a modest feast, where Goku and Gojyo disgraced themselves with their usual arguing, and were then shown to a room large enough for all of them to stay in together comfortably. The monks had very thoughtfully included a privacy screen for Myoko so she wouldn't be able to tempt anyone else or lead any of them astray, though it made her wonder why they even had one in a temple that was supposed to be full of only men.

"Ah! I finally feel alive again!" Goku sighed as he plopped himself down on one of the beds.

"Mm, the fried tofu was good~ !" Myoko agreed brightly with a smile, flopping onto another.

"It's a good room, isn't it?" Hakkai remarked, letting Hakuryuu choose which of the remaining beds seemed the most comfortable. They had even placed a vase of flowers on the table in that was in the center of the room for them.

"Well, I guess it's all thanks to the great Sanzo-sama~ !" Gojyo teased glibly.

"I'm going to kill you," Sanzo retorted coldly.

"Please relax! Have you found the room to your liking?" a young boy said pleasantly as he entered the room and set a tray of teacups down on the table for them. "I'm the one who has been given the honor of serving you, called 'Yo'. Pleased to meet you!" he introduced himself politely with a bright, innocent smile.

"Tsk! They could have at least gotten a beautiful woman to serve us," Gojyo said grumpily. His disappointment could not be clearer.

"What an impure thing to…!!" Yo said, appalled. "Women are forbidden in this temple! Myoko-san is only an exception because she is a nun!" he scolded the older man strictly before turning to Sanzo with a smile. "Isn't that right, Sanzo-sama!?"

"… Why are you asking me?" Sanzo asked, sweat-dropping. Why did he have to try to drag him into this? Besides, Myoko's inclusion in the group should make it pretty obvious he didn't give a damn about that gender-related crap.

"I never thought I would ever meet you in person, Sanzo-sama! I'm so happy!" Yo gushed excitedly with starry eyes. "Sanzo-sama is an honorable holy man who was chosen by the gods. You are an absolute presence to those of us of the Buddhist faith!!"

"Is that so?" Sanzo said boredly, cleaning his ear with his little finger.

"Ha! Honorable? Holy man?" Goku snickered, covering his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Well then, please get comfortable! If you have any problems, just send for me!" Yo said cheerfully, excusing himself from the room.

Gojyo and Goku couldn't believe it. They busted their guts laughing. "I wish he could see Sanzo with his gun blazing!" they said with crooked smiles.

"Pfft! That poor kid has no idea…" Myoko said, shaking with silent laughter. Sanzo was amazing, but not quite in the way they were all thinking!

"This is truly…" Hakkai remarked with a facetious grin.

"Ignorance is bliss!" they all finished together with straight faces before bursting into laughter again.

Sanzo just ignored them and put on his glasses to read the newspaper.

"Oh, well," Gojyo said, starting to calm down. "I guess I'll just have to make do with having Myoko serve me tea," he said with a smirk.

"How many books is that worth to you?" she asked.

"Uh… five… maybe ten?" he suggested, upping the ante when she didn't budge right away.

"Well, then…" Myoko started to agree, sitting up.

"There's no room," Sanzo interjected bluntly. "Limit it to one."

"… I guess I'm out," she amended laying back down to pick up where she left off in her current read, deciding one book alone wasn't worth the hassle.

"Che! You totally did that on purpose!" Gojyo said, annoyed at his interference. "Stinking monk…" Why couldn't he just do them all a favor and admit he was jealous and get laid already? That uptight hard-ass could use some loosening up.

—∞—

"What a faithful coincidence!" the abbot said with his hands pressed together in prayer. "Two generations of Priest Sanzo-samas have come visited us! This must be the Buddha's will! What a thankful thing!"

—∞—

Meanwhile, that most holy monk was engaged in the vices of drinking, smoking, and gambling with three youkais, while Myoko sat aside sipping a beer and reading a book while she waited for her turn to replace the first person to lose five rounds in a row, pretending she wasn't counting and keeping track of tiles so she would know who had what when she entered the game.

"Aw, shoot! I'm starting to get hungry again!" Goku complained. "It's because the food here's all beans and vegetables!"

"It can't be helped. It's vegetarian cooking," Hakkai reminded him, selecting another tile.

"Unlike Keiun, this remote place isn't likely to get many edible donations, so they only have what they can safely provide for themselves," Myoko added. Normal monks and nuns tried to actively avoid killing other sentient lifeforms.

"We're all gonna start stinking of incense pretty soon!" Gojyo complained. "Riichi!" he called after adding another tile to his set to declare a ready hand.

"You'll just have to tolerate it until tomorrow," Sanzo said, turning over his tiles to reveal a winning hand. "Ron!"

BAMM!

"What in the world do you people think you're doing!?!" Yo demanded incredulously when he threw open the door and caught them redhanded.

"Mahjong!" they replied without remorse. Poor Yo nearly face-faulted.

"Damn it!" Gojyo cursed, turning his attention back to the game.

"So you were waiting for the 'five of wan' tile after all," Hakkai remarked.

Thought as much, Myoko mused, turning to the next page in her book.

"Ah! You can't smoke a cigarette, Sanzo-sama!" Yo cried when he noticed the offending item in the revered monk's mouth.

"What?" said Sanzo, so used to the habit that he had almost forgotten it was there.

"Come on and drink some!" Gojyo encouraged the boy.

"Ahhh! He's brought a can of beer!" Yo cried again as an empty one hit the half youkai's head lightly with a hollow clunk.

"Hey! Who threw that?" Gojyo asked, annoyed, holding his head even thought it didn't really hurt.

"Don't give alcohol to an underaged kid! You know the younger they start, the more likely they are to become alcoholics, right?" Myoko scolded him with her hand still extended from throwing her own beer can after she drained it. She and Sanzo didn't let Goku drink either for the same reason.

"Gaahh! Not you, too!" Yo yelled at her. "Why in Buddha's name is a nun drinking beer?!"

"Well, nuns get thirsty too, you know," she replied calmly. It's not like she was drinking to get drunk.

"I'll confiscate it!!" Yo shouted indignantly as he grabbed their bag, feeling it was his duty to remove all temptations from Sanzo's immediate vicinity. He was completely unprepared for what fell out of it—more beers, books, and Gojyo's skin 'adult entertainment'. The poor kid blushed so hard it made him dizzy.

—∞—

After reinforcements were called in, the wall was plastered with written signs prohibiting virtually all of their group of five's usual behavior and activities, and every trace of vice and evidence of sin was confiscated and removed from the room, which was to say they took away everything fun. Including Myoko's book, which was only a short novel about a time traveling ninja who got caught up in the paradox of causing his own death.

"Tch!" Gojyo and Myoko clicked their tongues in annoyance.

Just when the story was getting good… she thought grudgingly. She really wanted to know what happened to the poor dog that got strapped to the rocket.

"… You people!" the more senior monk in charge muttered with a vein pulsing on his angry forehead. "Why does a person such as Sanzo-sama travel with such a disreputable woman and lowlife scum like…"

BAM.

"Ugh…!" the monk flinched when Sanzo slammed his hand against the wall next to his head.

"My throat is dry… I'm thirsty!" he said sternly with a tone and a look that were not to be argued with.

"I'll bring some tea right now!" the other monk said nervously, immediately dashing off to do as he was told, trying to shake the unnerving feeling that his life may have been in danger.

Sanzo clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"What? What's the matter?" Goku asked Gojyo, wondering what had brought that reaction on.

"Who knows…" Gojyo said, reading the newspaper.

It's most likely because they keep bringing up touchy subjects he doesn't want to talk about, and he hates having to justify himself… Myoko thought. Sanzo was so stubborn he would probably rather bite his own tongue off than admit they were all friends. "I call dibs on the paper next."

"… By the way, hasn't this temple ever suffered at the hands of youkais?" Hakkai asked Yo.

"No, of course not!" Yo answered happily. "It is said that by the Lord Buddha's protection, this temple is warded from such worldly things. I guess it's due to our strong faith! Our deep devotion has been communicated to the Lord Buddha."

"What are you gonna do if they attack, monk lackey?" Gojyo asked.

"If such a thing should happen, the Merciful Goddess will surely protect us," Yo said determinedly with a frown and absolute zero doubt.

These guys sure are dependent. Heaven's farther away than they think, and I'm pretty sure the gods have better things to do than worrying about some random temple in the middle of nowhere… Myoko thought, sweat-dropping.

"Then you don't have any weapons here at all?" Goku asked, concerned.

"Of course not, killing goes against the way of the Buddha," Yo replied, as if that much should be obvious before turning and leaving with their empty cups.

Geez, that's like thinking the bull won't chase them just because they don't eat cows… Myoko thought with a frown, concerned.

"Tsk. Talk about naive. What joyful, simple minded people," Gojyo remarked cynically. These monks were sitting ducks. They might as well lay themselves out on a silver platter for the youkais.

"In which case… there is all the more reason for us to make our stay short," Hakkai said.

"Yeah, let's hope their luck holds," Myoko agreed grimly.

—∞—

"Beef… Pork… Chicken… Fish…" Goku mumbled.

"Women… Liquor… Smokes…" Gojyo groaned.

"It's a pack of unholy desires, isn't it?" Hakkai said with a wry smile.

"A mantra of worldly temptations…" Myoko agreed, sweat-dropping. Goku was starting to make her hungry, too.

"… Hey, where's Sanzo?" Goku asked, realizing he had disappeared somewhere.

"The abbot called for him, so he left," Hakkai answered.

"This late?" Goku asked, surprised.

Myoko could hazard a guess as to what it might be about. "I have a feeling some people are about to be very disappointed when they discover they aren't the center of the universe," she predicted knowingly.

"Pii—Pii—!" Hakuryuu cried in warning, suddenly on alert.

Myoko frowned and furrowed her brow when the malice hit her next. "He's right! Something's coming." Gojyo frowned and furrowed his brow, too.

"Whoa!" Goku exclaimed when they heard an explosion and sensed a spike in negative energy. "What is it?!" he asked, rushing over to the window to look out with Hakkai.

This youkai energy is… Hakkai and Myoko thought grimly, quickly assessing the danger. This wasn't the usual small-fry.

"What's with this youki?" Gojyo said with a frown.

"No way! Another assassin?" Goku asked.

"Unfortunately… it seems to be that way!" Hakkai replied.

—∞—

The youkai assassin, a tall burly guy armed with an axe, stepped forward to stand poised at the huge hole he had just blown through the wall of the temple's meditation hall. "Hehe! You're here aren't you, Genjo Sanzo!" he called with a smirk. "By Kougaiji-sama's orders, I've come to take your life!!!"

"Youkai?! It's a youkai!!" the frightened monks cried, reeling back in fear and alarm.

"Ahhhh!"

"Ruuun!"

Yo stared in shock while his seniors panicked, too stunned to move. How could there be a youkai in this temple?! Why was he there?

"Ooh… There's a lot of delicious looking monks here!" the youkai said, licking his lips.

"Hy…Gyaahhhhh!" one of the monks screamed as he tried to flee, when a clawed hand grasped his head and crushed it with one squeeze.

Yo fell back against the wall as his legs gave out, too terrified to run. He watched, eyes wide with horror, as the youkai continued to slaughter the others right in front of him. Please help… Bosatsu-sama… he prayed desperately. Anyone…

—∞—

"—And… What is it you wanted to talk about?" Sanzo asked the abbot as he stood before the old man and his two helpers with a hand on his hip in another part of the temple.

"The truth is, Sanzo-sama… we wish to ask you to prolong your stay here at our temple," the abbot said.

"My journey is urgent," Sanzo stated firmly, starting to get annoyed.

"One month! No, even for just one week! Sanzo-sama, your visit to our temple was the Lord Buddha's will. There is surely no mistaking that!" the monk who confiscated their belongings earlier tried to bargain.

"We would all very much like you to favor us with your preaching," the abbot's other stooge added.

Sanzo smirked. So, that's what these fools wanted had to say. How stupid. "You guys… I bet you people asked Koumyou Sanzo the same thing, didn't you?"

"Yes… Well, we did, though he very respectfully declined," the abbot admitted a bit awkwardly.

Sanzo sighed. He thought as much. "That master of mine sure was a lenient man," he said, turning to leave.

"Sa… Sanzo-sama?!" they exclaimed, confused and upset by the obvious refusal to do as they asked.

Sanzo stopped and turned to look back at them. "Do you want me to tell you… what Priest Koumyou Sanzo wouldn't say to you?" He finished turning to face them fully and crossed his arms as he gave them a hard stare of disapproval. "Quit acting like spoiled brats, you old farts?!?" he scolded them with disdain.

"Wha… What did you…?!" the abbot said incredulously, completely taken aback.

"That's going too far, Sanzo-sama!" his subordinate shouted indignantly.

"You're too loud," Sanzo muttered, cleaning his ear with his little finger, too fed up to really give a damn about what these bald idiots thought.

BANN.

"Trouble!!" another monk yelled anxiously as he rushed into the room.

"What's wrong, being so loud!! Don't forget to always be calm!" the abbot scolded him.

"That's not the problem!" the monk cried. "A youkai has snuck in!!"

"What?!" the head abbot gasped in shock and alarm, while Sanzo furrowed his brow, equally troubled by the disturbing news. He knew it was too much to be a mere coincidence. To think they would even send an assassin to a place like this…

"He's been screaming 'bring out Sanzo'… all while killing those within the temple one after another!!!" the frightened monk continued, so panicked and frightened that he was on the verge of tears.

—∞—

In the Upper World, Kanzeon Bosatsu was reading Heaven's newspaper when Jiroushin posed a question that had been bothering him for some time. "Bosatsu-sama! Why did you send those five along an earthbound path? Going to India would have been much quicker by a path through the Heavens."

"If all they needed was to get to India, yes," she replied while keeping her eyes on the paper as she turned to the next page. "Currently, they are extremely lacking in both the ability and solidarity that will be necessary in order to accomplish our true goal. If you think of it as a trial to hone those aspects, a somewhat difficult journey should be good for them!"

"So you were thinking that much!" Jiroushin said, sighing with relief.

"Ju—st kidding!" she said. "It's because it's more fun this way, of course!" she admitted looking up at him with a sly smirk on her face.

Jiroushin immediately felt huge load of stress hit him along with a familiar sense of doom. "Ka… Kanzeon Bosatsu…" he said, sweat-dropping. She really knew how to make him worry for the future.

—∞—

The face of the giant statue of Buddha in the meditation hall was cracked and broken. The blood of many monks smeared the floors and splattered the walls.

"Hyahaha!" the youkai assassin laughed obnoxiously. "Hey! Come out, Priest Sanzo!! Traitors!" he called to party of five that he had been sent to hunt, while poor Yo cowered in the shadows, praying he wouldn't be noticed. "If you don't hurry up, I'm gonna finish eating all the monks here!"

It was a challenge they were more than happy to answer.

"You rang?" Myoko asked with her hand on her umbrella's handle, standing on one of the knees of the broken Buddha statue, while Hakkai stood on the other, and Goku sat on the head of the smaller holy statue next to it.

"Tsk, how boring! We only get one filthy bastard this time?" Gojyo said from his perch on what was left of the large Buddha's head, disappointed. "I was looking forward to more beauties like last time!"

"!" Yo gasped, surprised and relieved to see them.

"Hmph, so you guys are the four youkai traitors? You've got some guts to come out here instead of running!" the assassin said with a smirk. He was going to enjoy killing them.

"Three. There are only three youkais here!" Myoko said sternly, frowning in annoyance. "I'm a human, dumbass."

"Heh! Doesn't matter!" he scoffed. "By the order of Kougaiji-sama, I'll finish you all off!! Hey! Come at me all together! You won't stand a chance against me!!"

"Hey, what do you think?" Gojyo asked the others.

"His intelligence stats are low, and his information is faulty. Minus 30 points!" Myoko replied strictly.

"His attitude's too big! He irritates me!" Goku said. "Minus 20 points!"

"His laughter is vulgar. Minus 15 points!" Hakkai added.

The youkai's cocky grin froze on his face as he stared at them in astonishment, dumbfounded by their odd response. "Wha… Are you guys making fun of me?!" he demanded furiously, glowering at them with a vein throbbing on his head as he sweat-dropped, feeling chagrined.

"Oh!" Goku gasped, pointing at him. "His teeth are yellow! Minus 5 points!"

"That lame fashion sense deserves another minus 5," Myoko added, referring to his odd choice to wear a shirt with only one sleeve. She wondered if it was for a practical reason or if he really did just have bad taste.

"Sh… Shut the hell up!! I'll butcher you!" the youkai roared ferociously with multiple veins pulsing on his head, snapping under their verbal abuse, and hurled his axe through the air.

"!" Gojyo said when it embedded itself in the wall a few inches away from his head. Even his aim was off. "Though he gets full marks for having guts," he decided with a smirk. The half youkai jumped down and charged straight toward the enemy, grabbing the youkai's head as he sprang forward to knee him in the face before he had the chance to react.

"Gyaaah!" the youkai screamed in pain, pulling away with blood gushing from his broken nose. "!" he gasped, eyes widening in alarm as Goku came flying at him next.

Goku hit him square in the jaw with a powerful kick. "Hya!"

I… I can't see them at all… These bastards are fast! the assassin thought anxiously, starting to panic as he was sent flying back into the rubble he had created with his dramatic entrance.

"Aww, you're weak after all!" Goku complained, completely disappointed.

"Surely, you didn't declare all of those things with these kinds of powers, did you? Don't tell me this is all you have to back up your big talk," Hakkai asked with a brilliant shit-eating grin that made Gojyo's skin crawl. "You have a nice personality, don't you?"

Myoko sighed. There isn't anything left for me to do here.

These guys aren't normal…!! the enemy youkai cried internally. "Shit!" he cursed, quickly swiping some rocks from the rubble behind him to fling at them like a small meteor shower.

"Wah! That's cheap!" Goku exclaimed, sweat-dropping.

Myoko gripped her sword, ready to spring forward and cut them into harmless bits, when Hakkai placed himself protectively in front of the whole group.

"Please stay back for a second," he said, thrusting his hand out in front of him as he muttered a quick concentration chant to focus his chi. A great spherical barrier formed between their group and the rocks, which obliterated the dangerous projectiles the moment they came into contact with it.

Wha… a barrier?! the assassin thought, startled.

Seriously, what am I even doing here? Myoko wondered, sweat-dropping, a little chagrined. They didn't need her at all. She wasn't a big fan of unnecessary violence, but she disliked feeling so uselessly redundant even more.

"I came up with the idea when we fought that spider woman the other day," Hakkai said with a smile, holding a hand to his head in a mock salute. "I thought maybe I could make a barrier by materializing and hardening my chi!"

Their enemy was stunned. … He turned that huge amount of chi into a barrier in an instant…!

"That's cool Hakkai! I wanna try it, too!" Goku cheered excitedly.

"Um… Well, without the ability to concentrate, it's a little…" Hakkai replied with a wry smile, sweat-dropping as he rubbed the back of his neck. Goku probably had enough energy for it, but his attention span was a little too short… "Ah, but Myoko-san might be able to…" She sometimes channeled her chi into her attacks when she fought barehanded, though she never seemed to use it quite to the same extent he did.

"Maybe, in theory, but as I'm still just a normal human… performing a flashy attack like that would probably leave me totally drained after," she replied with a shrug. Hakkai's chi was so massive that it barely made a difference to him, but a normal human would collapse from exhaustion, if not something worse, if they tried expending that much chi all at once.

And plus those two… have still got their youkai power limiters on to maintain their human forms…! What the hell would happen if they took those limiters off?! the youkai assassin wondered, dreading the answer. "In that case, the first strike wins!" he said, quickly jumping to his feet again, deciding he'd better pull out his trump card before they could finish him. "I'll show you my true powers!!!" he raised his bare arm and concentrated to form a blade-like protrusion on its forearm.

"Oh! That's why he didn't have the right sleeve!" Hakkai said.

"I see, so it was functional, after all," Myoko remarked calmly.

"I was thinking it looked pretty dorky!" Gojyo said.

"Shut up! No one gets away with making fun of my fashion sense!" the enemy youkai shouted furiously.

Goku smirked. Things were finally starting to get a little interesting. He raised his hand and summoned his own weapon. "Nyoi-bou!"

SWISH. WOOSH. CLANG!

Before Goku could attack, the assassin struck first.

Goku gritted his teeth at the force behind the enemy's blow as he blocked the strange blade. "!!" he gasped, sliding back in a hurry when the blade began to slice through his staff. "Wow! What unbelievable stupid strength!!" he shouted in astonishment.

Gojyo sweat-dropped and grinned ruefully. "It'll be the end if you're the one to say that!"

The assassin laughed. "I'll dispose of you all—!?!" he gasped as his gloating was cut short when Myoko suddenly appeared before him with incredible speed, ducking past his blade as she close the gap between them in an instant, and drove her own into his flesh to slice the dangerous weaponized arm clean off just above the elbow. "Gyaaaaahh!! You b—!?!" he screamed as he fell to his knees, quickly staggering back to his feet as he reached desperately for her head to crush it. He flinched, startled when another figure appeared from the opposite side and grabbed his wrist before he could touch a hair on Myoko's head. "What the…?!" the youkai said, paling as he recognized the newcomer.

Sanzo smirked deviously and wasted no time in punching his lights out.

"Gya!" the youkai grunted in pain as he crashed to the floor.

"Your fall's clumsy… Minus 40 points!" Sanzo told him sternly while Myoko straightened up and flicked the blood from her blade.

"Sanzo!!" Goku said, happy to see him.

"The sum is minus 115 points in total!" Hakkai announced with a smile. "My, it seems you're already in the red, huh?"

"Ha! Why do you always have to take the good part to yourself?!" Gojyo asked the monk, leaning on his shoulder. "I could have finished him off easily by myself."

"So it seems," Sanzo remarked with a small frown of annoyance, shrugging him off.

"Excuse you, but who was it that just literally 'disarmed' him?" Myoko questioned with a straight face, raising an eyebrow. She would have had him pinned to the floor herself with her next move if Sanzo hadn't appeared when he did.

"Yeah! That was really cool, too, Myoko-nee! He almost broke my Nyoi-bou, but you sliced right through him!!"

"Look that way!" Sanzo scolded them, reminding them that enemy wasn't actually dead yet. Sanzo took a step forward and placed his foot under the assassin's chin to force his head up to look at them while he questioned him. "If he's sending assassins of your caliber after us, this Kougaiji-sama of yours must not think much of us. What is the purpose of the experiments to revive Gymaoh? What's behind all this?"

"… Heh," the youkai smirked. "You stink of blood… how many people's blood have you been splattered with? It's disappointing to hear such a person is a 'Sanzo'…"

"Minus 85 points… Game over!" Sanzo sneered at him in return, ready to finish him off.

"Idiot! You don't have to tell me to kill myself… the one whose game is over is you!" the assassin said with a dark smirk.

"!!" Myoko furrowed her brow when she sensed a sharp spike in his killing intent.

"Please dodge, Sanzo, Myoko!!!" Hakkai shouted urgently, also sensing the danger.

"!!" Sanzo said, instinctively raising an arm to shield his face as the youkai's body began to glow and give off a strange energy. Myoko quickly yanked the rest of her umbrella from the holster on her back and slid it open, holding it out in front of her, as she slid in front of Sanzo just in time to block the massive burst of energy that came blasting toward them.

BOOM!!

"What? Did he actually self-explode?!" Goku asked, startled.

"… For real?" Gojyo said, disturbed.

"Are you all right, Sanzo?!?! Myoko-nee?!?" Goku asked anxiously, hurrying over to them.

"Yep! We're totally fine," Myoko reassured him with a smile. "Good thing I patched the holes in my umbrella with some protective talismans." Thanks to that, it was able to act as shield when they activated to create a barrier against the evil youkai energy.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal," Sanzo agreed. "Though I'm pretty sure I would have been fine even without your interference."

"You're welcome, by the way," she told him tight smile and small vein throbbing on her temple. She had been seriously worried, there.

"Heh. Typical!" Gojyo scoffed. "As usual he sucks at showing his gratitude."

"I'm glad you're all right," Hakkai told her with a smile.

He took death before giving us information… Sanzo thought, staring at what was left of the assassin's remains scattered around the room, too busy thinking to worry about what the others might be saying about him. Even a low level youkai carries this much trust in that guy… Who is Kougaiji?

"Still, for him to commit suicide rather than rat out his employer… looks like this Kougaiji is someone with a lot of respect to inspire such loyalty…" Myoko mused out loud, echoing the monk's thoughts.

"Unlike a certain someone…" Gojyo added, earning himself a sharp look from Sanzo since he knew exactly who he was talking about.

"So there you are! Are you hurt?" Hakkai asked Yo, taking the time check on him now that the danger had passed.

"…" Yo stared at them with wide eyes. "You all… what kind of people are you?!"

The group of five stared back at him.

"It said you've been splattered by the blood of many… Have you killed in this way time and again?!" Yo yelled incredulously as he stared up at them with an accusing look, appalled.

"…!! Hey! We can't help it! If we don't kill them, they'll kill us!" Goku retorted defensively.

"We don't think that it's a good thing either, but…" Hakkai said carefully, standing up.

"Of course it's not good!" Yo snapped. "It doesn't matter who it is! To take away a life is an act of blasphemy defying the gods!"

"Hey," Sanzo said sternly. "Are you saying that for real? After so many of your fellow monks were killed, you can still say that?" he asked, looking at him. "If you wanna become that close to the gods, then just die instead!"

"Ah…" Yo gasped.

"Anyone can become closer to the Buddha if they die… like those monks over there."

"Dying is easy, it's living that's hard. Otherwise, everyone would attain Nirvana," Myoko added while Gojyo took out a hidden cigarette to smoke. "In this mixed up world, deciding what's right and wrong isn't easy. Everyone is fighting their own battle. What's 'right' for you may not be what's 'right' for someone else. You have to live by your own rules."

But… Yo thought, feeling a heavy sense of defeat.

"It may be a disappointment, but…" Gojyo said as the sun began to rise, illuminating all five of them in a golden light. "It just so happens we're still alive."

"Well, this world may harsh… but it's also very beautiful, don't you think?" Myoko asked, her expression softening with a kind smile as her white hair glowed while she watched the new dawn grow on the horizon.

Yo stared at them in awe as the terror of the night seemed to fade in the strength of their presence.

—∞—

"… If you go to the northwest, you can come out to the level land by sunset! If it is by Jeep, the town shouldn't be that far away!" one of the abbot's subordinates advised them.

"We're sorry for all of the mess," Hakkai apologized politely.

"No! No! That's absurd!" the monks said.

"This incident showed us how loose our security is!" the abbot said. "We won't let the souls of the dead monks go to waste!"

Myoko smiled wryly and sweat-dropped at the look of complete indifference on Sanzo's face. She was pretty sure he wasn't even listening.

"We're very sorry for our disrespect!" the monk who has tried to confiscate their things said nervously, bowing deeply in apology.

"Ah! Please don't worry about it!" Hakkai said with a smile. "These people need to live a cleansing life sometimes."

"You think we're dirty…" Sanzo said with a small vein throbbing on the side of his face, sweat-dropping.

Myoko laughed wryly with a skewed smile. No comment…

"Yo?" the abbot said, surprised when the young boy stepped forward.

"Sanzo-sama, when everything is over, won't you come visit our temple again?" Yo asked. "When that time comes… please teach me how to play mahjong… Myoko-san, too!" he added with a shy smile.

Sanzo gave the kid a small smile. "I'll remember to do that."

"It's a date!" Myoko agreed with a sunny smile, making the little monk blush.

"Oh! That's not a good idea! Sanzo and Gojyo play it dirty, and Myoko's ability to count tiles is scary!!" Goku said with a grin.

"Hey, watch what you say!!" Gojyo told him with a vein pulsing on his head, chagrined.

"Counting tiles isn't exactly cheating, you know…" Myoko added. It's not like she was keeping them up her sleeve.

"Though your accuracy when doing so is kind of scary," Hakkai agreed with a brilliant shit-eating grin.

"You're the last person I want to hear that from," Myoko retorted, sweat-dropping. "Your never-ending luck is what's scary, you unnatural high-roller!"

"Yeah! And I don't want it to be said by a monkey who can't even remember his part!" Gojyo told Goku.

"I'm saying the truth, you bogus kappa!" Goku retorted.

"Will you guys shut up!?" Sanzo snapped impatiently with a vein throbbing on his forehead, already getting fed up with them.

—∞—

Hakkai and Myoko looked back and gave Yo a smile and a wave as they left.

Sanzo-sama… Myoko-san… Thank you… Yo thought as he watched them leave.

"Heh, you're such a sinful woman~ " Gojyo told her as they walked away.

"What are you talking about?" she asked with a confused frown.

"Huh? Don't play dumb," he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "You saw the way that mini monk was looking at you, right? And then you went and made a date with him…"

"You realize that's just an expression, right?" she responded with a look that suggested she was questioning his intelligence, which really pissed him off. "And he was just nervous talking to us after how he reacted before, right Sanzo?"

"Why do people keep dragging me into their shit?" he grumbled with a sigh. "Though you do need to be more careful with how you talk to people…"

"Hmm?" she said, tilting her head innocently.

"Haha, see? Even Sanzo agrees with me!" Gojyo said with a smirk.

"On second thought, you're fine as you are," Sanzo amended quickly with a perfectly straight face.

"What?!" Gojyo said incredulously, taken aback.

"Haha… I guess Sanzo's dislike for agreeing with you is greater than his disapproval of Myoko-san's behavior!" Hakkai laughed.

"Che! Stinking monk!!" Gojyo cursed, feeling disgruntled.

"Seriously, what are you people even talking about?" Myoko asked, sweat-dropping. They didn't seriously think she would ever flirt with a kid, did they? "You're really starting to piss me off."

"Hey, hey! Nevermind that. Is anyone else hungry yet?" Goku asked.

—∞—

Meanwhile, in India, at Houtou Castle…

"… The combination of science and youkai magic creates hyperscience. I don't care what kind of effect this experiment would have on this world… as long as the one I love, my Gyumaoh, revives, it'll be ok!" a pale female youkai with turquoise hair said, gazing up at the body of a giant youkai that was connected and hooked up to various machines. "What do you think? Isn't it a small desire?" she asked Kougaiji, turning to face him, looking down at him from above. "But if some people get in my way… I won't forgive them even if they're gods… Understand? Kougaiji?"

"…" Kougaiji furrowed his brow slightly and tried not to betray too much emotion as he stared up at her.

"Oh, yeah! Those five people, Sanzo's group—they're annoying! Hurry up and destroy them!!" she ordered rather high-handedly.

"… I understand, your beautiful highness," Kougaiji answered as he turned away from her and left, swallowing the words he really wanted to say.

"Oh! You can call me 'Mother' if you want to!" she called after him a lofty laugh. "Hehe. You are this man's son… after all~"

That Hussy!! Kougaiji thought angrily, gritting his teeth as he punched the wall. Acting like a legal wife! "Shit!" he cursed, glaring at the hole he made.

"… Kougaiji-sama."

"Oh, it's you guys," he said when he looked up and saw Yaone, Dokugakuji, Baiyu, and Lirin approaching him.

"Are you planning to fight Sanzo's group very soon?" Yaone asked.

"Yeah, but it's not for that bitch! It's all for Mother," he said, gazing up at the stone pillar she was sealed in. Someday I'll free mother from that repugnant curse… For her sake I'll…

"Kougaiji-sama… I, Yaone will accompany you too," the tall, female youkai with purple hair pledged seriously.

"I'll go too!" Dokugakuji said with a playful grin, leaning with his arm on the prince's head. "Since I am your 'guardian'."

"You know I'm up for anything!" the skinny albino youkai with pale blue eyes declared with another grin, holding up a three-pronged spear for emphasis. "True love conquers all~ " the eccentric youkai added, hugging his arm with with her freehand, making him sweat-drop.

"Lirin will go too—cuz I'm stronger than you~!" his cheeky little sister added brightly, hugging his other arm affectionately.

Kougaiji sighed. "Do as you like." He looked up, feeling more focused with their support. "Let's go! I, Kougaiji, will terminate the Sanzo's group."