"Happy New Year!" The Sanzo-ikkou clinked four glasses together at a circular table in a small smoky bar as the clock chimed 12. A cloud of cigarette smoke enveloped their group, a direct result of Sanzo and Gojyo's chimeny-esque smoking for the past 5 hours. Hakkai smiled serenely before he downed his Sake in a few sips, his brain formulating a new plan that would bring an interesting twist to the New Year.

…

"So, any of you guys got a New Year's resolution?" asked the waitress as she brought over yet more alcohol to their table and 2 replacement ashtrays. Sanzo sniffed unappreciatively, he hated being asked stupid questions. Fortunately, the waitress had left before Gojyo had time to lift his head up from the table, which had fallen there a few minutes ago, so he hadn't had a chance to have his usual stab at flirting with the waitress.

"What she say?" Gojyo slurred

"You weren't listening? Gee, Gojyo, that's a great way to get a girl's attention, but you sure suck at that anyway, you dumb kappa."

"Stupid monke…." His head had fallen and hit the table with a loud bang that resounded over the general chatter of the pub.

"Oh dear," Hakkai said with a pained expression, "We'd better all get some sleep now."

At breakfast….

"G'morning Sanzo!" Goku had bounded into the dining room of the hotel, all smiles. Due to him being younger than the rest of them, Sanzo had forbidden him to drink much alcohol, so he was in a chipper mood. However, different things could be said about the rest of the group.

Sanzo was sitting at the table, newspaper in hand with a splitting headache, Hakkai was over at the buffet table, smiling as usual, but this time to hide a hangover and Gojyo was still asleep.

"Shut it, Monkey."

"Aaaaw, Sanzo. Don't be so mean ya know." Goku grinned, but Sanzo stared back at him with such murderous anger in his eyes that Goku backed off to the buffet table in order to avoid the fan and to pile a plate with lots of food.

30 minutes later, the hotel staff were frantically cooking food for the rest of the guests as Goku had managed to eat his way through the entire buffet table. At a similar time, Gojyo stumbled in with his hair sticking up on end.

"Morning." Hakkai smiled at Gojyo over a cup of tea, Sanzo grunted and turned a page of his paper and Goku continued eating. And breakfast continued in this fashion.

After a while, Hakkai decided to voice his proposition.

"Well everyone," he explained "I was thinking about what the waitress said yesterday and I thought that it would be a good idea for us all to have New Year's resolutions." The group still hadn't moved from their individual activities "However, I thought it would be more fun if we wrote them for each other."

Silence descended over the Sanzo-ikkou. Sanzo stared at Hakkai as if he was mad, Goku actually stopped eating and Gojyo lifted his head up from the table…

"That's a great idea Hakkai!" Goku grinned madly, thinking about how he could demand Sanzo to stop hitting him with the fan.

"Interesting…" Gojyo thought about how he could force Sanzo to stop hitting him with the fan.

"…" Sanzo thought about how he could hit them all even more with the fan when they broke the resolutions.

"So it's settled then?" Hakkai asked and three nods confirmed the agreement from all parties. "Ok, first we have to choose who writes resolutions for who."

He tore up a napkin into 4 equal pieces, writing each of their names on each piece, folding them over and putting them into an empty bowl on their table.

"But before we pick, we all have to agree about the resolutions. You can only write a resolution for the person you pick out of the bowl and it has to be one thing, not a whole list of things they have to stop doing and you can't make anyone your slave. Agreed?" Three slow nods agreed to this once they had taken it in.

"Now, if you get yourself, you have to put it back, ok?" Hakkai looked round the group, who looked slightly insane at the idea of being able to control an aspect of their comrade's lives. "Goku?"

"Woohoo! I get to pick first." Goku dipped his had into the bowl and fished a piece of napkin out.

"Who'd you get, monkey?"

"I'm not a monkey! And I haven't looked yet." Goku slowly opened his piece of napkin and looked at the name.

A manic grin spread across his face.

"No-one, Gojyo, no-one at all."

"Oh great, the monkey picked me."

"Shame, Gojyo. It's the luck of the draw."

"Shut it, droopy eyes."

"Now, now guys. Sanzo, you pick next." Hakkai intervened and tried to maintain calm long enough for them to still remember what they were doing. They're like a bunch of kids, he told himself.

Sanzo slowly reached into the bowl, his face looking blank and sulky, as usual, but inside he was rather excited.

He folded the piece of paper and put it back

"Hey! That's not fair, Sanzo gets to choose!" Goku shouted in indignation

"Shut up, I picked myself." He put his hand back in the bowl after it had been shaken vigorously to mix the pieces of napkin up and picked out a name.

Heh heh, Sanzo was plotting his revenge.

"My turn," Hakkai smiled and put his hand into the bowl after shaking it up

"Why do I have to go last?" Gojyo indignantly

"You were last down to breakfast, kappa." Sanzo shook his head at Gojyo's stupidity. Gojyo then went into a very decided sulk until he took the last piece of napkin out of the bowl and read it.

"So, now we all have the names, we should go back to our rooms and meet down here at lunch to deliver the 'good news'." Hakkai said, getting up from his chair with ease. "But first, write your resolution on a piece of paper, put it in a named envelope and then put it through the person's door. Read your one and then go down to lunch. Remember- No peeking! It's supposed to be a secret who wrote which resolution."

Sanzo's thoughts that would have normally told him this was unnecessary time wasting were silenced by the sudden power he held in his hands. So, without a fuss, they all retired to their separate rooms, each thinking hard.

Hakkai…

Hakkai's room was a pleasant one on the second floor, overlooking a nearby forest. The walls were painted a mellow green with a darker green ivy pattern sprawling across the borders. The various lampshades and accompanying accessories were in matching colours and patterns too.

His room was quite quaint and Hakkai liked it very much. There was no rubbish strewn over the floor and there were definitely no overspilling ashtrays like at Gojyo's house, this was serene and he liked it. It wasn't too hard to come up with a New Year's resolution whilst sitting in a squashy green armchair, stroking Jeep on the neck. In fact, he mused; they should do this resolution lark more often.

Goku…

Goku's room was a lot smaller than Hakkai's and was a lot nearer the kitchen, due to his constant need for food. The room was cosy enough, but something didn't seem quite right to Goku, the walls were a little too orange and the chairs were a little too comfortable. The elegantly looping borders were lost on Goku, as was the central piece of artwork. A modern piece in orange, red and yellow. Goku reckoned it was supposed to be a boat, but then again it could have been a tree. In fact, it was a person, but he didn't know that.

In a bid to get out of his creepy room and into the kitchen faster, Goku had already decided what the resolution was going to be before even setting foot in his room. Soon after writing it, he ran off towards the kitchens to beg for a mid morning snack after posting the envelope.

Sanzo…

Sanzo, who had suggested that they got individual rooms in opposite ends of the hotel in the first place, was feeling quite lonely in his room, but would never had admitted it. The room was white and grey. Dull, boring and completely uninspiring. Even the view from the windows was boring, a brick wall. The room was perhaps the largest individual room in the hotel, but it was definitely not the most homely. The sheets were stiff, the chairs straight backed and the carpet scratchy. No good for Sanzo.

He was spending a long time on thinking of the resolution, trying to make it very worthwhile and very evil. He pondered this whilst sitting on the door matt with his back against the door, smoking a cigarette. He hoped this wasn't going to be his last, as Sanzo knew that he could be told to do anything. He sighed, as he put the stub out and lit a new cigarette, now…what was a suitable punishment?

Gojyo…

Gojyo's room was perhaps the worst. He knew it was Sanzo's fault, as he had picked the rooms. It was a pink room for starters, which Gojyo didn't find amusing. What he found less amusing was the teddy bears placed strategically around the room. Their shiny black eyes seemed to follow him around the room wherever he went and freaked him out. The room was small, pink, frilly and meant for 6-year-old girls with a fetish for stuffed animals. Gojyo wished he had Sanzo for the resolution, so he could really make him suffer, but it wasn't to be.

Gojyo was the member of the group who had the hardest time deciding on the resolution. He thought about it long and hard, whilst nursing his pounding head. He still had a hangover, which was wrecking his brain very very quickly. He had trouble thinking straight which probably didn't help the situation. After a long debate with himself, he had written down the resolution down and put it in an envelope, as suggested and was walking towards a room with it in his pocket.