Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Familiar Bonds ❯ Part 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: Gensomaden Saiyuki and the characters belong to their rightful owner. Yes, yes, nothing belonged to me, except the twisted, dirty scenario I had planned for them * grin *.

Familiar Bonds

Part 4

A fanfiction by Sumeragi Sakura

Nothing beat the serene hour of the early morning. The peaceful time when I should had been lying on the bed, sipping my first smoke of cigarette. When I should had been reading the morning gazette and eating my breakfast alone. When I should had been staying in bed with Goku and demanded my morning dose of good sex from him.

But, no, no……

Far from it. I woke up this morning with a leaden head and a throbbing heart. I felt something wrong. Something bad. Like the way I felt when I went out of the temple to visit the villages. But this time, it was much stronger. Much more evil. I felt it the next second after I opened my eyes this morning. And it had grown stronger every passing minute.

So I got dressed, passed all of the free-hour luxuries in the morning, kissed the sleeping Goku on the forehead and went straight into the Three Buddhas room. I spent the whole hour meditating there, expecting the Three Aspects of the Buddha to appear before my eyes, telling me what happened with the world outside.

But I meditated in silence and in vain.

They didn't come. I irritatedly meditated some more, deliberately being late for the morning service, but they still didn't come. I gave up on them, thinking that I might call them again later tonight.

The morning service went rigid and silent. The tension from the Lotus room was still lingering in the air above our heads. They were all just doing their jobs. As I did mine. During the service, I could feel Wang Zhou's eyes plastered on my back most of the time. I could smell his guilt. I could. But I didn't say anything about forgiving him. Nor the rest of the other monks.

I wasn't angry with them for complaining about Goku's mischiefs.

I was angry because they didn't give Goku any chance to correct his misdoings. They just sentenced him banishment. As if they wanted to run away from the misfortune that came upon them and to banish it was the quickest and easiest way to do. Instead of fixing the problem, they ran away from it and turned blind eyes.

Exactly like the way it had happened to me before. When the late Sanzo-sama took me into his temple for the first time, not one person there approved his decision. They saw me as a dingy, ragged boy whose background was so unclear that they feared I was born in some criminal family. They thought, only those kinds of families threw their babies into the river. They avoided me. They, who didn't do anything more than mocked and sneered and used me as a scapegoat for their own mischiefs.

The only person who really regarded me with respect, as a fellow human being, was the late Sanzo-sama, a person whom I thought was more than just a human being. He was a demi-God. Yet, he treated me with kindness beyond others and taught me everything.

Did I take Goku in as a compensation for what the late Sanzo-sama had done for me? Did I do it for my own conscience, as a way to repay all the kindness and teachings Sanzo-sama had given me?

A gentle smile sneaked across my lips.

That was it. So now I knew. I saw Goku as I saw myself, my own reflection as an abandoned child. I didn't have the chance to show the late Sanzo-sama my gratitude for all the things he had done for me, so the only way for me to do it was to treat Goku the same way Sanzo-sama had treated me.

Well, not exactly the same……

I made love with the boy. As his protector, his claimer, his master, I made love with him. It was not a rape, for the boy willingly served me back, also for his own pleasure.

I made love with him. That I must admit. Not just having sex, not only about lust and release. It also involved love.

Ch', what had gotten into me lately? The old me wouldn't be feeling this way with anyone. Ever. Even the love I had for the late Sanzo-sama wasn't like this. It was more like a son loving his father.

Ch', I was weak, too weak for my own good. But I wouldn't ever throw Goku away, just like the late Sanzo-sama had never thrown me away. Once I claimed myself as his master, forever I become his master. And everything he'd done was my responsibility and mine only.

Casting him away from the temple meant casting me away too.

They would surely miss a Sanzo like me.

Or perhaps, they wouldn't.

I didn't really care.

But I must find a way. I was not going to let Goku live somewhere else without me. But I, bound with my duty to the Three Buddhas, couldn't leave the temple just like that.

I should do something. I should figure out something.

He said he wasn't entirely responsible for the mess in the temple kitchen. We would see about that.

Right after the morning service was over, I retreated myself. I declined the request for doing some visits to other villages today. Out of reluctance for the dispute in the Lotus room, not one monk in the room asked me the reason why I declined a duty. Which was a good thing, as I could easily escape the room and started my own investigation of the kitchen incident.

Something I should had done by myself from the beginning.

I knew I would have if I had known that things would get this serious.

I visited the kitchen, which was now already been cleaned and functioned as usual. The kitchen monk, who claimed himself as a Xao Yin, immediately scurried to my service, almost knocking a wok off the stove and killed himself with the hot oil boiled in it.

"Sa…Sa….Sanzo-sama…..what an honor. This is quite sudden…. What can I do for you, My Lord?" he practically bowed to the floor and kissed my feet.

It was good to see there was still someone in this temple who respected my title.

"Where's your chief, Xao Yin? The monk who's in charge of this kitchen?"

"He's out at the warehouse, Sanzo-sama, checking the new shipment of ingredients from the villages."

"When will he return?"

"That, I'm not certain, Sanzo-sama. Would you let me go to the warehouse and call him?"

"No, that's all right. I don't want to keep him from his job."

"Then, may I be of service to you?"

I really did raise an eyebrow. This monk was being over-polite. Was he hiding something from me, something he didn't wish me to find out?

"Were you one of the monks who cleaned up this kitchen after the incidents a few days ago?" I asked him.

His eyes bulged. "Oh, THAT incident, Sir? Yes, I did. I cleaned the mess along with Go Bao and Jin Tan."

"Was there anything strange you found while cleaning?"

He froze and stared at me for a while. I stared intently at him in return.

"Was there anything?"

He quickly shook his head. "No, Sir."

"Are you sure?" I took a step closer to him. "Son Goku was blamed for this, Xao Yin. Surely, you know I won't let an innocent be blamed for a crime he didn't commit. And I'm sure you won't either, if you're a good monk."

He bowed low to me, knee shaking with obvious nervousness.

"Oh, Sir, oh, Sir…," he stuttered with a pale face.

"Do you know something, Xao Yin?"

"It was my fault, Sir. It was my fault!" he shook his head frightfully. "I was the one responsible for locking the kitchen door that night, Sir. But I forgot. I was already in my quarter when I remembered. I almost fell asleep. I jumped off the bed and ran to the kitchen, Sir. I was scared the chief would find out and scold me. He already scolded me about breaking one of the water jar the morning before, Sir, so I was really, really scared. And I mean really, really scared, Sir."

I sighed deeply, trying to fight an urge to smack him with my holy fan. "Go, on, Xao Yin."

"Yes, Sir. So I returned to the kitchen to lock the door. But a monk whose rank's higher than mine was already there. He asked me what I was doing there. I told him that I was going to lock the kitchen door. He told me to go back to my quarter because he already did it. Sir. He scolded me, threatening to tell the chief about my sloppiness. I begged for forgiveness, Sir, for I was scared to be thrown out of the temple. I was really, really, really scared. Sir."

"Yes, Xao Yin, I think both of us have established that quite clearly," I gritted my teeth in exasperation.

"But he said he forgave me, thank the Buddha, and told me to go back to my quarter. He said he would lock the door himself."

"Who was the monk's name?"

"It's monk Yu Men, Sir. He was really, really a kind person."

I frowned. Yu Men? Yu Men was there the night of the incident? He didn't say anything about it to me. Was it because he didn't think it was necessary? Or was it because something else?

I should ask him about this.

But before doing that, I wanted to check the kitchen first. It was busy with monks preparing the meal for the lunch. They were all surprised to see me snooping here and there in their kitchen, but didn't say anything in fear of my rank.

The incident happened a few days ago. The kitchen was already cleaned. The trace was already cold. I had to imagine the situation of the kitchen the morning after the incident. Empty pots were topsy-turvy on the cooking tables. Some food leftover were scattered on the table, as well as on the floor. I remembered some green vegetables with soy sauce dressing. But I couldn't remember the main meal.

"Xao Yin," I asked the monk, who was following me around the kitchen, ready for any tasks I would give him. "Can you tell me what food was going to be served the morning after the incident?"

"Oh, do you mean the food that was all eaten, Sir?" Xao Yin responded helpfully. "It was Monday, Sir, so the meal schedule for the day was a bowl of mixed Soy Sauce Green with cucumber pickles and Mushroom-Radish sauté mixed with slices of cucumber."

I snapped my head toward him. "Cucumber?"

"Yes, Sir. We're having a large shipment of cucumber from the villages as a tribute for the temple's service this week. So we're cooking a lot of meal with cucumber. Even today's breakfast was cucumber salad with peanut dressing."

"The meal that was eaten in the incidents, was the cucumber separated from the sauté?"

"No, Sir. It was mixed to give the fresh taste in the sauté."

I smiled gleefully. "Thank you, Xao Yin. You've been a great help."

I quickly left the kitchen, leaving the blissfully grinning Xao Yin without any other words.

+ + + + +

I entered my chamber in haste. In haste and in vain, for the one I was looking for was not there. I approached my bed and felt it with my hand. It was already cold. Goku had left it a long time ago. And knowing Goku, he could be anywhere by now.

Ch', that baka saru really couldn't keep his hot ass still in one seating.

I planned to go to him directly from the kitchen. But in the way back to my chamber, I was stopped by a monk telling me to come to the Dharma room. He said a couple of villagers were waiting for me to bless their newborn child. It was a duty I couldn't ignore, so I went to fulfill my service.

It took me a few of hours before I could finally find a free time. I went directly to my chamber only to find it Goku-less.

Damn it! I told Yu Men yesterday to take care of Goku while I was gone, to make sure he didn't put himself in trouble again. But not even Yu Men was here in the room.

I should look for them somewhere else.

I turned my body to the door and almost ran into Yu Men.

"Yu Men," I was startled.

"Sanzo-sama, I have some bad news," he said with a worried look on his face. "They imprisoned Goku. They're waiting for you in Elder's Wang Zhou's chamber to discuss this, Sir."

I frowned. "What?"

"Monk Ho Tze imprisoned Goku, Sir. He accused Goku of stealing some ceremonial wine from the warehouse last night."

"But Goku was with me all night!" I shouted angrily. "That's a lie."

"I don't think it'll be a good idea to tell the others that you spend a whole night with the boy, Sir," Yu Men winced a little.

Screw what others would think! This had gone far enough. I would not let them accused baseless crime on Goku, when he was obviously innocent. I strode out of my chamber and into Wang Zhou's personal one.

It felt like a dejavouz. There was the same tension like the one in the Lotus Room. Only this time, there were only Elder Wang Zhou, Ho Tze and the monk who was in charge of the temple's storehouse. I couldn't remember who his name was and couldn't quite bring myself to try to. I was too furious.

"What the hell's going on?" I went for the direct approach.

Ho Tze coughed his disagreement of my chosen language.

"You came at such a perfect time, Sanzo-sama. I was about to have you called here….," he said with his naggingly dragged voice.

"Why are you locking Goku away? He didn't do anything wrong, " I cut his words, regardless of all good courtesies.

"How can you be so sure, Sanzo-sama. I wouldn't be, if I were you."

"You can't prove it. You don't just blame someone over something and have him locked away if you don't have any proof."

"Oh, I believe, this time we do. We DO have the proof."

I shot an angry look at the proud monk. Gritting my teeth, I tried to digest the words Ho Tze just said. He had the proof? That Goku did it?

"I am afraid that this time, Monk Ho Tze is right, Sanzo," Elder Wang Zhou interrupted gently, walking forward to my direction.

I stared at him gingerly, now being very cautious of the old man. I had never been like this to him. I used to trust him. But now, after he betrayed me in the Lotus Room yesterday, I was not so sure of how I should take his words.

He came to me, looking at me with his beady eyes. Those beady eyes that looked sullen and grave right now.

I didn't like how those eyes shone so dimly.

"Po Han, the monk who's in charge of the temple's storehouse here, found that the storehouse had been broken into last night. Po Han, do repeat your story again," the Elder turned to the confused-looking monk standing near Ho Tze.

"Well…I…," he started with a quivering voice, perhaps nervous for being in the same room with so many high ranked monks. "I went to the storehouse an hour ago, because the chief of the kitchen asked me to take out the rice supply for the week. So I went there, and found that the door leading to the wine storing room had been broken into. Looking from the condition of the door, I'd say that whoever broke in, trashed it with some kind of a weapon. I checked inside cautiously, for I feared that the breaker…or perhaps breakers, were still in there. But I found no one. Nothing. Nothing, except for the broken wine pots on the floor, Sire. A lot of the pots were gone and some, that were left behind, scattered on the floor, broken to pieces.

"I have the other monks to come and clean the place up, before I come here to report. But then, one of the other monks found something, Sire, something that might lead to the person or persons who broke into the storehouse. I gave the thing to Lord Ho Tze."

"What's the thing?" Sanzo shot Ho Tze another glare.

Ho Tze stuck his hand out and opened his palm. A piece of claw-like animal fang laid on the middle of his palm. With only one quick glance, I knew what it was.

It was the saber fang that accessorised Goku's clothes on the shoulder part. It looked broken, with ragged rim and little fissures on the side of the fang. I gritted my teeth. That was definitely Goku's. No other person in this temple could have the exact same fang. And besides, what would a monk do with that kind of vicious thing.

It was Goku's all right.

Ch', this wouldn't do him any good….

"I have that brat's clothes checked and this piece of fang matches with the one he was wearing. His clothes lost one of the fangs and this was it. He must've ruined his clothes somehow and dropped this at the storehouse when he stole the wine last night," Ho Tze was eyeing me with wicked satisfaction glowing in his eyes.

I snorted. "That's too obvious. Someone used Goku and stole the wine to besmirch him. Goku couldn't be the one who did this last night."

Ho Tze raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what makes you so sure? Were you watching him slept all night last night?"

I turned my gaze to the window, trying to keep my voice to sounded flat and normal. "He slept in my room. I was with him the whole night."

Ho Tze gasped loudly. If that would pass as a gasp. To me, it sounded like awfully loud sucking of air, dramatically exaggerated, whether from shock or from anger. I couldn't tell. I was being very suspicious that he knew all of this already.

Elder Wang Zhou didn't say anything, but I caught a little spark of relief aflamed in his eyes. I couldn't look at him for too long, in fear his knowing gaze would make my cheek blushed uncontrollably.

And to have anyone to see me….blushing…..would be a humiliation beyond repair.

So I hid it under the depth of my anger.

"You….you were….sleeping…with the boy?" Ho Tze sounded very shocked.

"Yes, " I answered it, flat and dry.

"Sleeping? With the boy? Did you two…"

"What I do in my personal time is my own personal business, Monk Ho Tze, " I cut him in the middle of his question. "What matters now is that I know Goku wasn't the one who did it because he was with me the whole night."

Recovering from his shock quickly, Ho Tze began to attack me again. "But you did sleep last night, didn't you? If you did, how can you be so sure that he didn't slip out of your chamber and broke into the storehouse?"

"Why would he bother so much to do all of that thing? Goku doesn't even drink any wine!"

"Perhaps, you just don't know that he has this habit."

I growled inwardly. This stupid, hard-headed, pathetic excuse of a man wouldn't even listen to what I was saying. To talk more about this matter would be an act of wasting my time and energy. The same time and energy I could use to find the proof that will help Goku.

Damn it!

Why did everything turn out this way?

This wasn't the kind of thing I plan to happen when I took him into the temple for the first time. By Buddha, if I had known that all of this would happen, I wouldn't take him into the temple after all.

This wasn't helping, these kinds of grimy thoughts.

And to let myself be swallowed by the maddening urge to blast Ho Tze's bald head with my gun wouldn't solve anything either.

"We have to lock him away, Sanzo. It's the rule," said Elder Wang Zhou. "We can't allow the boy to wander freely inside the temple complex until this matter is settled."

Ignoring his words, I turned to the confused Po Han. The poor monk looked restless, as if he'd rather be in his storehouse than being in the middle of this tension-filled room. He blinked in surprise at me before he addressed me with a polite nod.

"Are you the only one who has the key to the storehouse, Monk Po Han?" I asked roughly.

"Uh..no, Sanzo-sama. There's another one being kept by Lord Ho Tze, as the person who's in charge of the whole temple ground, Sir."

I turned again to Ho Tze, only to find him raising a bunch of keys hanging from a big iron ring. He pointed to one of the key with a challenging look on his face.

"Is that the correct key, Po Han?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Did you lent your key, and this goes for you too, Ho Tze, to anyone else?"

Ho Tze snorted. "Do you really think I would do something that careless? And what is the point of your question? Do you think that Goku broke into the storehouse with a key? The door was trashed. He obviously didn't have the key!"

Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him, ignore him….

I mentally chanted these words in my head to keep my mind focused on the matter, not on smashing my holy fan on his smug face.

Po Han shook his head. "No, Sir. Never."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Was there anything strange happening yesterday that involved the storehouse?"

Po Han wrinkled his eyebrow, staring at the ceiling, as if he was thinking hard. "No, there's nothing strange at all happened yesterday, Sir."

I gritted my teeth in desperation. All roads to a solution that would prove Goku's innocence had somehow blocked. I must find another way. Something else..

But what?

Sighing, I decided to go to the storehouse myself, to take a look at the site of the crime. Perhaps, I would find a lead there, like the one I found in the kitchen.

I turned around and head for the door, rudely ignoring the Elder's calling for me. At that time, I heard Po Han was speaking, addressing his words to Ho Tze.

"Sir, I have something I forgot to report to you this morning. Yesterday afternoon, there was a request from the Kaijin temple for some supplies of salt. A messenger from Kaijin arrived with a large cart. I checked his permission paper and found everything legal. But since I was busy taking the rice supplies to the kitchen, I asked another monk to supervise the shipment. I was lucky that monk Yu Men was around at that time, so I asked him to help me. And I just forgot about the shipment until now. Please, forgive my negligence, Sire."

Ho Tze went about scolding the storehouse's monk.

I gripped the handle of the door leading to the hallway outside with bulging eyes.

And a smirk that slowly crept its way to my lips.

I got it now.

+ + + + +

Everything let down to one thing.

I used other methods of investigation, other theories to test, but somehow, I always came up with one solution. One answer. It couldn't go wrong.

But I needed a proof.

And I wasn't planning to exercise more energy and time to find it.

I would lure it to come to me.

+ + + + +

Under the dark shades of the night, I hid myself. Behind the cover of the trees, I let the shadows to swallow my whole existence. In the stinging silent hung in the cold, damp air, I waited alone.

For my prey.

For him to come and surrendered himself to my victory.

But before I do that, I must wait patiently. Something I had never liked to do. All of this was for Goku. No, it was also for me, for the sake of my weak heart, the same weak heart that had let itself be captured by some insolent, little prick. An insolent, little prick whom happened to be the very object of my compassion right now, if I could ever feel such a thing. So I would wait. In the dark, behind the trees, I would wait patiently, counting the hours to pass and the moon to rise.

The tall walls of the temple complex ground added the shadow, protecting me from the exposition to the night. If my plan would work, the one I had been waiting for would show up any minute now.

And then everything would be all right.

I heard some soft sounds coming from the small door on the temple yard's wall. A dark figure slipped outside, cautiously turning to all side around him, making sure the coast was clear. Then he closed the door behind him and started to sneak his way into the woods outside the temple.

"Zhi Yi….," the figure whispered into the night, blowing clouds of warm breath to the cold air. "Zhi Yi…"

I stepped out of the shadow carefully. The figure turned to see me and I stopped in my track. The figure threw its hand on the air in an exasperated gesture.

"There you are," said the figure. "Why do you call me out here? We had a deal. I'm the one who's supposed to send you the signals. Not you. I told you I'll give you the money tomorrow. You did your job well today. They really believed that the monkey brat stole the wine. Hah! If only they know that we have their wine, not the brat."

Under the veil of hood I was wearing, I cracked a grin, hidden from the figure's sight by the darkness.

"I told you, you can keep the wine for yourself. And I will give you the payment tomorrow. So, why do you want to see me tonight?" the figure continued.

I unveiled my hood and reveal my face. I couldn't help but let a smirk to be cast on my lips. The figure froze in his spot. His eyes went large and his face went pale, for a fraction of second, before he shifted his pose. He was now looking much calmer, and very much cautious.

"I don't need the payment, Yu Men, " said I. "I am not your petty subordinate in your petty, little crime. I just need your admission for your own crime. And I just got it."

Yu Men pierced a blade-sharp stare into my eyes, as if he wanted to stab through my skull with it. I wasn't impressed at all. I folded my arms across my chest and joined his game in this staring contest.

"Well, this is quite unexpected, Sanzo-sama," he said with a voice that was not of his own. It was cold and wary.

"That was not very smart of you to leave your traces all over the temple, Yu Men. If you want to get away with this, you should plan your scheme more carefully."

I could see his fists clenching by the side of his body. His jaw tightened and he obviously restrained himself from launching an attack at me. I glared at him, at the face of the person who wanted to hurt Goku. My Goku. And I trusted him to be near Goku, to take care of him, all this time, without any single suspicion.

I couldn't believe this.

I was supposed to protect Goku. But I was too busy with my own reveries, of how I feel toward the boy, had I forgot to take care of his well being. I should've been more careful. I shouldn't have been too trusting.

This was a punishment for me, really.

Yet, the awful result fell on Goku as the victim.

As much as I hated to admit it, but I thought I owed him an apology.

But right now, all I could do was to help him, by nailing this scheming bastard who had dared to challenge me, Genjo Sanzo. Oh how he would regret this for the rest of his miserable life….

I would make sure that he would….

"How did you find out, Sanzo-sama?" he asked in a bitter voice. "Only Zhi Yi knows how to call me out here."

"Oh, I snooped around. It was not difficult to trace down your henchman once I know where to look. I caught him getting wasted in the village's tavern. Just by a promise of a feast of ale for him, he was more than willing to reveal your little deal with him. Really, Yu Men, if you want to commit a crime, don't pick the cheapest henchman you can get. Sometimes, their cheap payment won't cover enough of their loyalty."

At first, I thought he would plunge himself toward me. I was more than ready to anticipate his sudden attack. But that attack never came. He just stood there, eyeing me with eyes full of hatred. He knew, he knew that he would never win against me. So he didn't even bother to waste his energy. Like a captivated animal, he wasn't so stupid as to risk his life to try his strength against a stronger creature.

A stronger and more vicious creature.

"You're right, Sanzo-sama. I should've picked a smarter subordinate for my own good. It's just that, I couldn't really afford to pay the better henchmen. Surely, you know how much wealth can a monk have in this place," he smiled casually.

I smiled along with him, with a smile that was grimmer and colder than his. "That's right, the job just doesn't pay well, does it, Yu Men? And beside, I could see that this was not something you've planned well for a long time, was it?"

He laughed. It didn't seem like a laugh at first, for the only indication was his shaking shoulder. But then his soft, cold laugh tingled in the cold air, telling me that it was not a laugh of joy he let out, but of bitterness, really.

"Oh, I did plan it, Sanzo-sama. I did have a perfect, flawless plan all figured out in my head. I've waited so long, too long, for the perfect moment to pull it out. I should've succeeded. I shouldn't have been the one who stood here feeling like a moron."

"And why didn't it succeed if you've planned it that well?"

He smiled a bitter smile. "Because you took that monkey brat into the temple…."

I froze in a stupefied silent.

What did he say?

Why the hell did Goku have anything to do with ruining his plan?

"You see, Sanzo-sama, " he continued. "I didn't enter this temple to be some low-level servant monk. I have higher aims. I'm tired of always being the common person. A common peasant boy from a random inland village in the country from a common farmer family. And when I become a monk, I'm only a common rank monk, nothing more than just another one in this temple. But then I saw you. You, a random abandoned child drifted in the river, your lucky star shone and you were found by the late Sanzo-Houshi. Just like that. In a blink of an eye, your life had changed. All of the things that common people like me would never ever experience, you can have them without even trying.

"I'm sick of that. I want to be a Sanzo too. If some abandoned child like you could be one, why can't I? I have a plan all figured out, on how I could take you down. How I would have you to make me your apprentice. How I would steal all of your knowledge and power, and someday trick you out of the temple wall and return to the temple again alone. As the new successor of Genjo Sanzo.

"But no, you have to take the boy into the temple. You have to teach him everything and spend all of your time with him, instead of me. Hah! And look at the brat! With one look, one can easily tell that he won't ever turn out to be your successor. So you're wasting your time. Then I've decided that if I want to have my plan to happen to me, I have to get rid of him. Of that stupid. Annoying. Monkey. Brat."

There he stood, a man tortured by his own ambition of glory. An ambition triggered by the degrading judgement from the society that made him felt more worthless than dirt. I found myself staring at him with an empty void in my chest filled with pity. The anger I once felt for him had diffused itself into the darkness of the night, leaving no trail except a stab of disgusted pity. Not to him only, but to the world that had turned him into this greedy worshipper of greatness.

Pathetic.

It was so pathetic how jealousy and greed could take such a control over a man. And oh, the irony. Here was a man, who could even kill if he wanted to, who wished to be a Sanzo, while I, the Sanzo, would give anything in the world to escape myself from being one. The only reason why I was willing to do it was because I have to honor and succeed the late Sanzo-Houshi's goodwill and trust in me. He was the one who wanted me to be a Sanzo, not me. I just wanted to please him.

And this was what I got for it.

What a funny world we're living in,,,,

"So, what will you say about that, oh Mighty Sanzo-sama?" Yu Men sneered, still standing at his initial spot. Submissively, yet still bearing that challenging air of a proud loser.

I chuckled, not in amusement, but in bitterness. "I wish I can just give you the title you yearn so much. Then it will be much easier on both of us, won't it?"

He frowned, uncertain of what I just said. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. I don't know about you, but I don't think the job of being a Sanzo is that amusing. But still, sorry," I took my gun from under the folds of my robe and pointed at it. "I kinda need you to tell the truth. So I can free that stupid monkey brat and clear my head from all of these nagging problems."

He raised his hands and laughed. "I see. Perhaps, I should've asked you first, whether you would give me your fancy title or not, before actually pulling the scheme. It would save the time."

I laughed with him, without moving my gun even an inch from the perfect aim to his heart. "Yeah, you should. But I'm not so sure I can just pass the title to you anyway, despite of what we both want."

He cracked a smile, a genuine smile this time. Somehow, all of his hatred I felt he was having for me had also disappeared. The bitterness of losing was still there, though, obviously shown in the tone of his words. Oh, he still hated my guts all right. He was just the kind of man who could take his lost quite well.

Or perhaps, he was pretending….. Perhaps he had another scheme in mind, ready to unleash whenever I lost my wariness. I smiled inwardly. Ch', you thought you would knew when trouble would hit you before it did. But then again, perhaps you knew nothing.

I wasn't suspecting troubles when I first took Goku into the temple.

And look at me now.

Look at him now.

"You have me surrounded by guards already, haven't you?" Yu Men asked again. This time there was a strong hint of cynical amusement in his questions.

"Yup, That's right."

He snorted a laugh and raised his hands higher in the air. "Then you'd better tell them to take me quickly, because it's getting very cold out here."

Without tearing my sight off him, I raised my voice. "You heard him, Ho Tze."

Ho Tze, all proud and glorious, wrapped up under his thick layers of robes, stepped out off the shadow under the temple wall. He was shaking with cold, but he tried to keep his dignified composure with all of his might. His red, frozen nose gave away his weakness of cold, though. But at least he was still as stiff and as rigid as he was in his office in the temple.

"Take him, Guards!" he shouted at once and some temple guards, martial-art student monks, leaped out of their hiding place in the wood.

Those dark-clad guard monks easily seized the passive villain and took him inside the temple. He would be temporarily detained inside the temple wall before he would be transferred to the hands of the authority force from the big city. He surrendered submissively, although I was wondering, what other schemes he was thinking in his head, right the moment he was being dragged into custody.

You could never really trust anyone.

And this wasn't even the paranoia side of me who was speaking.

I approached Ho Tze with a victorious smile on my face. "So, is the board of monks going to grant the release permit now?"

Ho Tze snorted, looking away from me, pretending not to see me. "Hah! Not too soon, I supposed. You might have proven his innocence in this case. But we all know that your boy is far from being a saint. There are other mischieful acts that he really, actually did. So I will let him be locked away for tonight."

"That is too what I have in mind," I walked past him, into the temple ground.

I could sense Ho Tze was gaping in disbelief behind me. I was certain that he expected me to burst with anger and to demand Goku's release right away. That was exactly what I wanted to do.

But I couldn't.

Even though all I needed now was to hold him in my arms, to feel the warmth of his body dispersing with mine, I couldn't immediately go to him. I had this throbbing headache since the afternoon. The awful sense of darkness, strange kind of darkness, had been enveloping me for hours. I knew I should've gone to the Meditation Room again and try to call upon The Three Aspects of the Buddha again. But I was being caught up in this matter, I haven't had the time to do so. But I couldn't delay this anymore, for I felt something really terrible was happening.

So, I had to go to the Meditation Room tonight,

It would be hard, to leave him in the cell room all alone, in cold and in dark. And for Buddha's sake, even though I knew I needed the rest from all the good sex he had been giving me, I still felt I couldn't ever get enough of him. But everything was all right now. A little more hours thinking about mending his mischiefs would probably do him good. After this, after all of this, I could live my life peacefully again. I could enjoy my free time in the morning again. And hell, I might even enjoy all of the little troubles Goku would surely cost me.

But right now, I had to go to the Meditation Room. Quickly.

+ + + + +

Sumeragi Sakura's Little Scribbling: Hey, is this fic over yet? Is that the final end for Sanzo and Goku? 0__o! Apparently not, 'cause I have other plans in my head and I will do it in the next chapter. Oh, wait the minute, didn't I say before that this fic would be finished in chapter 4? And isn't this the chapter 4?

*laughs* I thought so too! But it turned out to be longer than I expected. Ugh…

Oh, by the way, if you think that the little "detective-like investigative" thingies was too simple/easy, oh well, forgive me, but I didn't want to write a mistery fic in the first place. This is a drama/romance kind of fic. The investigating stuffs was just a supplement, a method to show how much Sanzo would do to protect his Goku. ^____^; I'm sorry if I wasn't being too serious about it. (and it's kinda predictable too, wasn't it? About who the bad guy is……)

By the way, OH MY GOD, it was difficult to think up of Chinese names for the monks! Why did I create so many back-up monks in this fic? I mean, all of them only showed up, like, ONCE in this fic, and the hardest part was not to write about them, but to name them! ^_________^;;

Okay, if you still love this fic, or at least…me…, please read on 'till the next chapter! ^___~

THAT will be the last, I swear! No more cliff-hangers…..