Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Watching from Above ❯ Chapter 6

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Watching from Above: Journey VI

Destination 37: Neko Sanzo

Sanzo slowly opened his eyes after being unconscious for several hours. The previous battle had been fierce like never before, not because the enemy was particularly strong, but because the enemy was a cat youkai. The creature might have been defeated, but at the last second it casted a spell on Sanzo that knocked him out cold. Now he woke up to find Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo staring at him. He was used to waking up to find one or more of his companions watching over him, but in the rare occasions when instead of taking turns all three of them watched over him together, he had never woken up to find them staring right at him with such intense expressions.

Usually, Sanzo would wake up to sounds of their conversation. Hakkai would be complaining about Gojyo using a can as an ash tray, Gojyo ignoring him and focusing his attention on his cigarette and Goku complaining about hunger. This time all three of his friends were standing beside his bed, bent over in his direction, looming over him, staring as if he had something very comical on his face. "What are you looking at?" Sanzo was very annoyed. He backed away and sat down in the opposite side of the bed.

Goku, who was smiling as happily as Hakkai and Gojyo, was the first to speak. "Can I pet him?" Goku pointed at Sanzo.

Sanzo blinked in confusion and wondered what in the world Goku was taking about. The eternally hungry boy extended his hand aimed at Sanzo's head, causing the blond to back away. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Leave him be, Goku. It's best if we don't try to pet him right now," Hakkai spoke calmly. Sanzo continued drowning in his confusion.

Gojyo's smile continued to grow. No doubt he had something up his sleeve. "I brought you a present, Sanzo." Sanzo noticed that the red head was hiding something behind his back. He revealed the hidden item to be a little mouse toy tied to a string which was tied to a stick. Gojyo held the stick, moving it up and down, making the mouse on the string bounce.

As if moving by itself, Sanzo's hand reached out for the mouse but he didn't grab it, he hit it with the tip of his fingers making the toy bounce around some more. He repeated the action with his other hand and continued in a rhythmic pattern. He lay down on his bed again so that the mouse was hanging over his head. He kept hitting it over and over, watching it bounce around. This was so much fun, until he realized what he was doing and stood up in a hurry.

Sanzo glared at his three traveling companions from the corner of the room that he had scurried to. "What's going on?" He felt strange. He covered his face with his hands and pushed back his hair as if the gesture would help him clear his mind and figure out what was going on. Then he noticed something, his ears felt very different. "A mirror, I need a mirror!"

"That might not be such a good idea," Hakkai warned, but Sanzo paid no attention and scrambled to search for a mirror.

Sanzo spotted a hand mirror innocently sitting on the nightstand next to the bed, as if someone had placed it there knowing he would ask for it. He picked it up and stared at his reflection. He felt as if the young man staring back at him was mocking him. "That can't be me," the words were filled with denial, but Sanzo knew it was true. His ears were like the ears of a cat, covered in soft golden fur. "Aaaaahhh!" The scream of agony and terror echoed and it was heard all over the town, as Sanzo tossed the mirror into the air and panicked.

Hakkai was quick to react and caught the mirror before it hit the floor and shattered. "Don't forget, if you break a mirror, it will bring you seven years of bad luck." His usual smile did not change, in fact he looked quite amused, as did Goku and Gojyo. Hakkai gently placed the mirror back on the nightstand, as Sanzo continued to rant and panic in a fury of colorful curses.

As he paced back and forth filled with panic and fear, Sanzo noticed that his three traveling companions were staring at him, or more specifically at his behind which, he found extremely creepy. Almost afraid to look he glanced at the reason for their stares. He had a tail, a long fluffy blond tail. "Aaaaahhh!" Once again, another scream of agony and terror echoed and once again it was heard all over town.

While Sanzo ran around in circles screaming and sneezing, the allergies being caused by himself; Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku could no longer hold their laugher. They laughed harder than ever before, they laughed so hard they nearly chocked. They rolled around the floor and kicked into the air while holding their stomachs. They laughed and laughed, until their lungs were begging for oxygen.

Finally, Hakkai composed himself, took a deep breath, cleared his throat and stood in Sanzo's circular path. "Please try to calm down."

Sanzo got a hold of Hakkai's shoulders and shook him violently. "Change me back! I'm a human being not some cat youkai! Change me back!" Sanzo was completely panicked. His voice was a mixture of a deep nasal tone due to his allergies and rage.

"You see, that's the problem, we don't know how to change you back," Hakkai admitted and at Sanzo's panicked glare he added, "yet." With a calm expression, Hakkai continued the explanation. "We know that this was cased by that cat youkai we fought. He has left this world so we cannot get him to undo this. I've been conducting some research to find a cure for this curse. There are very little clues and the information I've found wasn't very revealing, more like a riddle, a contradictive riddle." Hakkai realized that what he was saying was definitely not helping Sanzo calm down.

"I don't want to be a cat!" Sanzo screamed and once more went on a panicked rampage around the small inn room, sneezing all the way. "This is your fault! It's all of your fault and I'll kill you for this!" He searched for his revolver and as soon as he found it, he pointed it at Hakkai, since he was standing the closest.

"Now Sanzo, you know we're trying our best to be supportive. You too need to cooperate," Hakkai completely ignored the shiny metal weapon aimed directly at him.

"Yeah, think of this as the perfect chance to get over your fear of cats, Mr. scardy cat!" Gojyo laughed energetically at his own lame joke.

"Besides, the cat ears are adorable," Goku was amused.

"Oh yes, try to look on the bright side, you look so cute and cuddly now," Hakkai tried encourage. "I do apologize for cutting a hole in your pants, but I imagine that the tail would be most uncomfortable if-"

"Shut up!" Sanzo yelled as pink tint covered his cheeks. Click! Click! Click! His revolver was out of bullets but as soon as he reloaded it those three would be dead. If only he could find some bullets. "What did you do with the bullets?"

"We hid them," Hakkai calmly informed.

"Yup, it was Hakkai's idea," Goku announced.

"By the looks of it was a good idea," Gojyo added.

Feeling angry, frustrated and allergic all at once, Sanzo lifted his revolver and swung it down at Hakkai. Realizing his intention the second Sanzo lifted the ammunition-less weapon, Hakkai jumped out of the way.

"You're all going to pay for this!" Sanzo knew it wasn't their fault, but instead of concentrating all their energy in finding a cure as if their very lives depended on it, and they did, they had laughed at him. Sanzo had to take it out on someone. He kept trying to hit them with the handle of the revolver, coming quite close several times. He occasionally hit the walls and floor, slightly denting the wood of the structure and causing splinters to fly.

In the chaos, Sanzo knocked over a vase which was innocently sitting on a small table on the corner of the room, causing it to shatter to pieces. It seemed that that vase was the only thing besides the mirror left to be knocked over in the entire room. The place looked like a disaster zone, victim of hurricane Sanzo.

Then there was a knock on the door. "Keep it down in there, you're making too much noise!" The voice belonged to the owner of the inn.

"Go to hell!" Sanzo hissed in anger. He tossed his revolver at the closed door. The wood dented and splintered upon receiving the harsh impact of the flying metal object thrown with inhuman strength, fueled by the mixed emotions of frustration and anger.

"Sanzo, if you would just calm down, we could continue our research, but we cannot leave you in such a frenzy," Hakkai voiced, ever so calmly.

That was enough. Sanzo was angry and Hakkai insisted that he calmed down. In his panicked state, suggesting that he calmed down was like a terrible insult. In a split second, Sanzo pounced on Hakkai scratching him with his newly acquired cat claws. Goku and Gojyo jumped in to get the rabid cat off Hakkai and they two received many scratches courtesy of the wrath of Neko Sanzo.

xoxox xox xoxox

About an hour later, Sanzo was locked in his room, curled into a ball of sneezing self pity, while Hakkai treated his and the others' wounds. "It is best if we do not anger Sanzo further," Hakkai stated the obvious.

Once they were all finished treating the wounds, Goku continued his usual complaints about hunger, except that time Hakkai and Gojyo agreed. They decided that Sanzo must be hungry too and Gojyo volunteered to venture into his room and bring him some food.

The red haired man stood in front of Sanzo's door with a dish in his hands. Smiling mischievously he knocked. "Are you hungry Sanzo?" A hiss came as a reply. "I'll take that as a yes." Gojyo opened the door and placed the cat dish, filled with cat food on the floor. "Here kitty, kitty, here boy, come get your food!" With a high pitch hiss for a war cry, Sanzo pounced on Gojyo clawing and scratching. "Ah! Get him off! Help! He's gone insane! Get him off!" Gojyo screamed.

xoxox xox xoxox

About another hour later, Hakkai was almost done treating Gojyo's injuries. "You really shouldn't have played that joke on him."

"I couldn't resist," Gojyo was in pain, excruciating pain, but the look on Sanzo's face when he saw the cat food was priceless and he would forever treasure it in his memories.

Goku had been sent to take some real food to Sanzo. He stood at the door and considered eating the food himself and telling Hakkai that Sanzo ate it, but he would surely be caught in the lie. He gulped and knocked on the door while holding the tray of food with his other hand. "Sanzo, I brought you some food, human food," Goku specified.

"Come in," came Sanzo's feline sounding voice ending with a sneeze.

Goku entered the room to find Sanzo curled up in an odd cat like position on his bed. His sheets were shredded as if he had scratched. He was still wearing his black pants and shirt and had not bothered to put on his white robe, which Hakkai had previously neatly folded and placed in a drawer. His tail moved from side to side as his feline looking violet eyes focused on the food Goku had brought.

Suddenly, Sanzo didn't appear as cuddly as he did before, although he was still cute. "Um... I'll just leave your food here," Goku placed the tray containing a roasted fish and a glass of milk on the table and promptly left.

Sanzo hopped out of bed with the grace of a feline and sat down in front of his meal. The scent was mouth watering and the food looked absolutely delicious. Then he noticed something that bothered him, something that could not be a mere coincidence. Fish and milk... "I'll kill you for this! Just you wait until I find my bullets!" Sanzo considered running off to hunt him down, but the hunger was just too much. It had been a long day and being cursed, comatose, humiliated and allergic to himself zapped the energy right out of him, plus the food was too good to resist.

Fortunately for Goku and the others, Sanzo could not resist the urge to take a nap after finishing his meal. Unfortunately, he soon discovered that cats were nocturnal and spent the entire night awake, playing cards with Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku. In fear of his feline wrath, they dared not deny him game after game as they made sure to lay off he cat jokes.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the next day, shortly after breakfast, Gojyo and Goku were off to buy groceries and supplies for their approaching departure and some cat food for Hakuryu, despite being tired from the lack of sleep. Sanzo had refused to eat the cat food Gojyo brought for him and it was left out on the floor. Hakuryu, who had been brave enough to enter Sanzo's room, assumed that the food left on the dish on the floor was for him so he ate it. It turned out the little dragon loved the cat food.

While Gojyo and Goku were gone, Hakkai occupied his time reading an old book that may contain clues on how to reverse the spell on Sanzo. He sat on the couch silently reading, while Sanzo sat beside him glaring at the opposing wall. The blond could not go out since his cat youkai appearance would surely draw too much unwanted attention.

As Hakkai continued his quiet interpretation of the written word, Sanzo yawned. He wished he had a newspaper to read. All that sitting around doing nothing was making him bored and sleepy. He could smoke, but he just didn't feel like it. It was odd, but ever since he was turned into a cat youkai, he hasn't smoked at all.

Sleep continued its silent battle to dominate Sanzo. Soon he was defeated by the need to take a nap and fell to the side consumed in a peaceful slumber.

Hakkai observed Sanzo's peaceful breathing and the angelical expression in his relaxed face. He got a clear view of that, since his head had fallen on his lap. Holding his book with one hand Hakkai used his free hand to pet Sanzo's golden hair and scratched him gently behind the ears. Sanzo purred in delight in his sleep, unaware of what was going on in the world of the conscious.

xoxox xox xoxox

Over two hours passed, before Sanzo began to stir and wake up. Hakkai, knowing that he would not appreciate his current position, slipped away and left a pillow in his place. Sanzo woke up fully and realized that he had been sleeping on the couch. Hakkai was there earlier reading, but now the couch only carried Sanzo and a pillow. He did not remember watching him leave, but he wasn't there anymore. He scanned the room and spotted Hakkai sitting across from him with a different book in his hand.

Hakkai looked up after turning a page. "I think I got a good lead with this book."

"Good, because I don't want to be a cat," Sanzo's allergy for him self had slowly faded away, but he still felt odd.

"Sanzo, have you ever considered a mustache?" Hakkai randomly inquired.

Sanzo gave him a look as if he had grown a second head, "no."

"What about whiskers?" Hakkai asked.

Sanzo didn't like were the conversation was going. He touched his face and found that he in fact had cat whiskers. "I'm turning more and more into a cat with each passing second!"

"Do calm down, I didn't say it to alarm you. I'm certain I will have a cure figured out very soon," Hakkai assured.

Sanzo paced around impatiently. "You better!" He let himself fall back into a sitting position on the couch and a few minutes passed in silence.

Soon the door burst open and there stood Goku and Gojyo with several bags of groceries. "Hey Sanzo, we went to a really cool crafts store and since you can't go out as a cat youkai, we bought something for you to pass the time," Goku announced happily with genuine innocence.

"We were thinking you could use a new hobby," Gojyo spoke with a tone of voice that made it obvious another cat joke was coming Sanzo's way. He paused, noticing the whiskers on Sanzo's face. "Nice mustache," he commented before exploding in a fit of laughter.

Hakkai gave Sanzo a look as if silently begging for him to stay calm, while Goku stepped in to give Sanzo a wrapped package. "I think the whiskers look cool."

Sanzo tried to hold down his temper. He stared suspiciously at the box Goku was holding out for him, which was wrapped in golden paper with a red ribbon tied around it. "What's in it?" Sanzo took the box and held it up to his ear. He shook it trying to make out what the sounds of the moving items inside meant.

"You're making it sound as if we're going to give you a bomb or something," Gojyo joked. "Relax, it's nothing harmful go ahead and open it."

There was no way to find out what was going on unless he opened the box. Sanzo cut the ribbon with his cat claws and lifted the lid off the box. Inside he found knitting supplies. "What is the meaning of this?" Sanzo was annoyed and also puzzled.

"We thought you might enjoy knitting," Goku cheerfully replied.

"Yeah, we got you plenty of yarn. Winter's right around the corner maybe, you can make a scarf or something," Gojyo added.

Hakkai immediately made the connection and quietly got up to fetch the first aid kit. Sanzo picked up a ball of royal blue yarn. It was so soft and it felt so good to hold it. He moved his ears and tail while fingering the ball of yarn, then he made the connection that Hakkai had already made. With a murderous look, he grabbed the knitting needles holding them like a knife and chanced after Goku and Gojyo, with full intentions of stabbing them to death.

"Sanzo what's wrong? I thought you would love the gift!" Goku yelled while running for dear life out of the inn.

"Stop playing dumb monkey, you did it on purpose!" Sanzo screamed in anger.

Gojyo ran and laughed at the same time. "Can't you take a joke?"

"What's going on Gojyo? Why does Sanzo hate the gift? I don't understand and I'm hungry!" Goku complained.

xoxox xox xoxox

Hakkai waited patiently at the inn for Sanzo to return, stomping his feet angrily and hissing every step of the way. Hopefully he wouldn't attract too much attention or if he did, people would opt for the wise decision to ignore him. He certainly wished people had enough sense not to let their curiosity take over and get too close to Sanzo in his angry feline state.

Hakkai waited and waited for Goku and Gojyo to arrive dragging each other while leaving a trail of blood in their path, but that was not what happened. Goku and Gojyo returned exhausted and out of breath, but otherwise alright. "Where's Sanzo?" Hakkai had a bad feeling about this.

"I don't know," Gojyo answered. "We somehow lost him."

"I'm hungry!" Goku dragged himself to the couch and collapsed on it.

Hakkai walked toward the window and looked outside. He saw no signs of Sanzo in the street, but he thought he heard something in the distance like a terrified scream and lustful meows. "Oh, oh..."

"Hakuryu!" Sanzo's voice echoed. The cute little dragon flew out the window searching for the one who called him. He still recognized Sanzo, even as a cat youkai and had no problems with him. To Hakuryu no real difference was present. "Transform quick!" Sanzo screamed. Hakuryu transformed into a jeep and Sanzo jumped in.

"Time to move on!" Hakkai announced, grabbing their luggage, which was thankfully light, and jumping out the window, followed by Goku and Gojyo, so Sanzo wouldn't leave them behind. They ran as fast as they could and jumped in the back of the jeep, while Sanzo drove like a crazy maniac.

The people in the streets scrambled and ran out of their way as the crazy cat man drove away with his seemingly human companions on a jeep, being chanced by a herd of rabid female cats.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time they reached the next town, they had lost sigh of the love crazy cats. Sanzo breathed in relief. "Those stupid cats! Why must cats exist in this world and why must they hate me?!" He asked no one in particular as he got off the jeep. Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo were melted together into a group hug, still trembling from Sanzo's suicidal driving.

Getting himself untangled from Goku and Gojyo's arms, Hakkai made an interesting statement that Sanzo did not need to hear. "They don't hate you; they are in love with you. Apparently your um... male cat scent is strong."

Sanzo looked horrified. "I'm going to find a room in the nearest inn and I'm not coming out until I'm human!" He rushed towards the inn. Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo quickly followed.

xoxox xox xoxox

After convincing the inn keeper that having a cat youkai in one of the rooms would not be any trouble, Sanzo went to his room and made sure all the doors and windows were closed. Goku went straight to the buffet and Gojyo went to talk to a pretty maid.

Hakkai was thankful that he had taken some notes, since he left the books he borrowed behind in his haste to jump on the jeep. He found it very impolite the way they left the inn like that and that he didn't have the chance to return the books to the library, but there was nothing to be done about it now. At least he had his notes.

Time by uneventfully, with Sanzo staying in the room the entire time. Since the groceries they had purchased for the trip were left behind at the previous town's inn and Sanzo absolutely refused to go back for them, Gojyo was forced to leave the maid alone and go grocery shopping, while Hakkai made analysis and calculations and Goku stayed at the buffet, eating to his heart's content.

xoxox xox xoxox

Upon his return, Gojyo found Hakkai, Sanzo and Goku sitting in relative silence at the inn room. The only sounds heard were Hakkai's pencil upon paper and Goku's chewing. Sanzo had found a newspaper and was currently reading it. Gojyo put the grocery bags away and started searching for something in them. "I kind of felt sorry for you attracting all that unwanted feline attention so I brought you a real gift."

Sanzo glared, "I don't want it."

Goku paused his eating. "What was wrong with our last gift? I thought it was nice."

Sanzo mercifully choose to ignore Goku's comment and continued glaring at Gojyo. The red head shook his head. "Are you sure you don't want these?" He said holding out a pack of cigarettes.

Sanzo eyed the cigarettes suspiciously. No matter how hard he tried to make a connection between the cigarettes and cats he couldn't. He reluctantly took the pack looked back and forth between the cigarettes and Gojyo.

"I'll take your silence as a thank you," Gojyo concluded.

Hakkai looked displeased. "Just when it looked like he was going to quit."

"Yeah you're right. Sanzo hasn't smoked since he turned into a cat youkai. Is it that you prefer cat nip now?" That comment was Gojyo's mistake, it caused Sanzo to angrily shove the cigarettes into his mouth.

"I know you like to smoke and all, but to smoke an entire pack all at once, including the box, is a bit too much, don't you think Gojyo?" Goku joked.

Gojyo spat out the cigarettes. "You ungrateful brat! Can't you take a joke?"

"Meow!" Sanzo immediately covered his mouth horrified. He paused and tried once again to speak, but all that came out were meows. He directed a desperate look at Hakkai.

"Don't worry, I've got all the calculations done and finally figured out a list of ingredients for an antidote," Hakkai proudly announced. "Fortunately, these ingredients are not too rare. I've separated them into three lists. Goku, Gojyo, I'll need your help collecting all the ingredients as soon as possible." Hakkai handed them each their list and they were on their way, while Sanzo stayed hidden in the room.

xoxox xox xoxox

Finding all the necessary ingredients wasn't too hard and soon Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo returned to the inn. They hastily went inside, making sure not to give the stray cats a chance to get in. Many female cats helplessly in love with Sanzo had gathered all around the inn.

"Fluffy, what are you doing? Stay still!" A woman's voice was heard. A beautiful young lady was struggling to keep her cat in her arms as the snow colored feline squirmed to get away from her owner. She noticed the three young men heading towards the door her cat was so attracted to. "Excuse me; by any chance do you have a male cat in your room? My Fluffy only acts like this when she's attracted to another cat. I don't want her having kittens with a stray; you never know where a stray cat has been. But I wouldn't mind if she had some adorable little kittens with another properly cared for house cat. What do you think of playing matchmaker for out cats? By the way mister, my face is up here."

Gojyo pulled his gaze away from the woman's chest and smiled sheepishly. He considered attempting to convince Sanzo to go on a date with the lovely young lady's cat, so he could go on a date with the lovely young lady, but he knew that was a guaranteed death wish. "I'm sorry miss, we don't have a cat."

"Really? That's too bad. I wonder why Fluffy is acting this way though. Oh well, have a nice day." The lady walked away with the squirming white cat in her arms.

Gojyo glanced sadly at Goku and Hakkai, who simultaneously shook their heads. The trio headed inside the room to find Sanzo curled up under the blankets. While Hakkai worked on mixing the ingredients to create an antidote, Gojyo and Goku stood guard just in case.

When the antidote was ready, Hakkai made the announcement. "Everything is ready now."

Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku approached the sleeping Sanzo cautiously and removed the blanket that covered him. They noticed that golden blond fur had appeared all over him. He was running out of time, but it didn't matter because the antidote was ready. "Aw! He's so cute and soft and cuddly!" Goku petted Sanzo gently.

"He is rather cute isn't he?" Hakkai agreed and joined in petting Sanzo.

"I hate to admit it but you guys are right. Wouldn't it be nice if we could keep him all cute and cuddly like his?" Gojyo also petted the sleeping neko.

Sanzo happily purred in his sleep. After a while of cooing and gigging at him, he woke up. "Cooshi, cooshi!" "So cute!" "Kitty cat!" "So soft and cuddly!" "Don't you just want to hug him?" "Aw!" When the words registered in his brain, Sanzo let out a high pitched angry hiss and went on the rampage.

"He's crazy!" Gojyo yelled.

"Sanzo stop, we were only petting you because you're cute! Hakkai stop him, he's scary, still cute, but scary!" Goku complained.

"Quick, grab him and take him to the bathroom!" Hakkai yelled.

Enduring multiple cuts and scratches from the angry feline Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku dragged him to the bathroom. "That's the antidote?" Goku looked at the tub, which was filled with a shiny color changing liquid.

"There's no way he's going to drink all that," Gojyo stared wide eyed.

"He doesn't have to drink it, we just need to throw him in," Hakkai explained. After a few moments of struggling with Sanzo, they finally managed to throw him in the tub and hold him in it long enough for the antidote to have its effect.

Sanzo emerged as a completely normal human being. "I'm cured!"

"Ah!" Goku screamed startling everyone. "What's in this antidote? It stings when it touches the scratches!"

"Don't worry, its harmless" Hakkai assured.

"It's not harmless, it's painful and all that fighting with Sanzo made me hungry!" Goku yelled.

Sanzo stepped out of the tub. "Let's never speak of this again. As he strolled out of the bathroom, he could feel the odd looks the other three were giving him until the burst out in an explosion of laughter that brought Sanzo a feeling of deja vu. He then remembered that he still had a hole in his pants, but no cat tail to occupy it. This time however, instead of using cat claws he no longer had, Sanzo used his paper fan.

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

Destination 38: Little Baby

Punch... Kick... Dodge... Jump... Attack... Block... Again... Punch... Kick... Pause...

"You're getting stronger," Dokugakuji truthfully admitted.

He and Kougaiji had been training none stop lately. The down side was that the new strict training imposed upon himself by Kougaiji, left him with little time to spend with his sister.

Visibly more tired than his sparring partner, Dokugakuji changed his battle stance to a more relaxed one. "We should take a break, it's meal time and Lady Lirin will worry if you don't arrive."

Kougaiji was about to protest when he remembered his sister's words the previous day. "You hardly spend time with me anymore big brother." He remembered the sadness in her voice as she spoke those words. He knew that Yaone was trying her best to keep Lirin entertained, but if she missed her brother, then the only one who could fix that was the one she missed.

"Alright, let's go back to the camp," Kougaiji agreed.

As they walked back to their campsite in silence, a little voice reached their pointy ears. Dokugakuji stopped and looked at Kougaiji, as if silently asking if he was going to see what that was. Kougaiji gave in and followed the sound. They found a little kitten abandoned in the forest, a very young one by the looks of it.

Dokugakuji examined the baby animal. "Looks like he was abandoned, but he's not hurt or anything. I can't say he will be safe for long if he stays here."

Kougaiji knew where this was going, "Leave him, he reminds me of Sanzo."

"I suppose the colors are similar, but is that so bad? It's just a kitten and people shouldn't be judged by their colors, blonde hair, blond fur, violet eyes, or blood red hair and eyes," Dokugakuji couldn't help it but to find a connection between the kitten and his brother.

"You're right," Kougaiji admitted. He gently took the small kitten in his arms. It wasn't the kitten's fault he looked like Sanzo. "I'll give him to Lirin. She would probably like having a pet."

xoxox xox xoxox

"No one can resist the cuteness of a kitten."

"Kanzeon Bosatsu? You're watching them too?"

"Well of course, it's not as fun if I don't watch both sides of the story..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Hakuryu came to a stop in the middle of a thick forest and Hakkai took out a map. Much to his traveling companions' exasperation, he examined the map with the outmost patience. "We're lost aren't we?" Gojyo's voice that reflected annoyance without the slightest hint of surprise, after all, they had been driving for a long time and the scenery had not changed from the infinite green of the trees surrounding them.

"I don't think we're lost. I'm just not certain where we are on this map. We should have arrived here about an hour go," Hakkai pointed to a location in the map where a town should be. They were planning to restock on supplies there before moving on. "We must be close," he concluded and closed the map.

Gojyo didn't look too satisfied with the simple conclusion. Sanzo was as irritated as ever, but Goku was the most upset of all. "I'm hungry!" Goku screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the thick forest. His head soon received a visit from Sanzo's paper fan, the infamous Harisen. The very annoyed blond did not say a word, but simply held his fan out in plain view, to indicate that he would not think twice before using it again on the next person who dared to speak.

Since the jeep had stopped, Gojyo jumped off. He made sure that he was at a good distance from Sanzo before announcing his reasons for getting off the jeep. "I'm going to climb a tree and see if I can find the town we were supposed to be in an hour ago from up there," his resolution was met with confused blinks from Goku and a slightly surprised look from Hakkai. Sanzo was indifferent.

"Very well, I suppose we should all stretch our legs," Hakkai exited the jeep and prompted Sanzo to do so, but he simply sat there scowling.

Goku eagerly jumped out of the jeep. "I think I hear a river. Maybe I can catch some fish," he bolted towards the direction he heard the running water. Gojyo moved in the opposite direction, examining the trees, trying to decide which one to climb.

Hakkai waited for Sanzo to move with a smile on his face as always. "Aren't you coming Sanzo?"

"No," Sanzo waved his fan threateningly. He didn't use it on Hakkai often, but he would start using it if necessary.

"It's just that I thought Hakuryu could use a break too. Let me take him to the river so he can drink some water. He has been carrying us around for a long time and it would be most inconsiderate to deny him a drink of water," Hakkai calmly explained.

Growling in discomfort, Sanzo got off the jeep before it changed back and caused him to fall on the ground. That would no doubt ignite the full rage of the annoyance he had been holding back for the past few hours.

"Thank you," Hakkai held his ever present smile, which was beginning to get on Sanzo's nerves. Hakuryu changed back to his dragon form and flew towards Hakkai, perching on his shoulder. Hakkai then began to walk towards the river while petting the cute little dragon.

Sanzo stood still for a moment, wondering if he should simply wait there or move. He wasn't feeling up to watching Gojyo climb a tree, unless he fell, it was no fun to watch. He could go to the river and watch Goku make a fool of himself while trying to catch fish and fail miserably. Maybe that would take away at least a little of his sour mood. So it was decided, Sanzo hid his paper fan on his sleeve again and headed towards the river.

xoxox xox xoxox

Upon his arrival at the river, he saw Hakkai calmly sitting at the edge. Hakuryu was drinking some water and Goku had his head entirely in the river. He pulled his head up and shook the water out of his hair, splashing Hakkai and Hakuryu a little. At least Sanzo wasn't close enough for the water to reach him or is paper fan would get a lot of exercise. "There are no fish here" Goku was greatly disappointed.

Sanzo ignored his complaints and approached the river's edge. The water was clear and crystalline. It was easy to see to the bottom of the river, which wasn't too deep. If he got in, which he wasn't planning to do, the water would only reach his waist. Then he saw it, a basket floating down the river. At first he assumed some poor easily distracted fool tried to watch clothes in the river and the laundry floated away despite the river looking so calm. For such a calm river to steal someone's laundry so easily, they would have to be a real idiot. Then he heard a sound like a cry and he stared at the floating basket. Could it be that there was actually a baby in there? Was it an abandoned child thrown in a river? Sanzo had his eyes opened wide and his mouth nearly reaching the ground, despite the lack of sound coming from it, as he pointed at the floating object.

Goku was the first to notice. "Sanzo are you alright?"

It as was if something snapped and Sanzo was quick to react. Hakkai was focused on Hakuryu's cuteness while he drank water, but even so he couldn't ignore the fact that Sanzo just ran into the river. The water reached up to his waist, so it wasn't too hard to take the floating basket from the calm river. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with the creature in the basket that he assumed to be a human baby. No way was he going to let some poor abandoned child float away at the mercy of the river and whatever wild animals may find it. He simply couldn't allow it.

As Sanzo left the river and paused to look at the basket, Goku, Hakkai and Hakuryu surrounded him. Goku and Hakkai stood left and right from the Sanzo and Hakuryu sat on Sanzo's head instead of Hakkai's shoulder as he usually did. However, Sanzo was too focused on the contents of the basket to say anything to the little dragon. He held the basket with one arm and lifted the blanket covering it with the other hand. Inside the basket there was not a human baby as Sanzo had thought; there was instead a kitten.

"Aw!" Goku and Hakkai exclaimed at the same time. Hakuryu added his equivalent "kyu!" for even the dragon thought kittens were cute.

That time not too long ago when they found a lost kitten, Sanzo had refused to take part in spoiling her, but in the end he couldn't help it but to end up caring about her too. They kitten protected him against the youkais that brought that surprise attack. She was injured, but she lived. That's why they couldn't have a pet like that. Hakuryu was used to the youkai attacks and could keep himself safe but a kitten couldn't. "Don't get any ideas, we're not keeping him," Sanzo sourly informed his companions. It seemed that his experience with the previous kitten had improved his resistance to allergies, but it wasn't his allergy that Sanzo was worried about, he was really worried about the kitten getting hurt.

"We can't just abandon the little guy," Hakkai protested. This kitten was a boy, a little baby boy with golden blond fur and cute violet yes.

"Can't we keep him? We'll guard him better this time. We'll take good care of him. We'll protect him!" Goku insisted over and over to no avail.

"It's better off staying here," Sanzo put the basket on the ground and proceeded to push his complaining companions away. "Not another word of this!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Hakkai, Goku and Hakuryu fell silent as they made their way back to the main road where Gojyo was waiting. "Good news, the town is just ahead," Gojyo informed, though his news did not bring the pleasant reaction he expected.

"Hakuryu please transform," Hakkai requested sadly.

"Kyu..." Hakuryu turned back into his jeep form and waited for everyone to get on.

"Let's hurry and go eat..." Goku spoke with an unbelievable lack of excitement. It was almost as if he didn't really care.

"What happened to you guys and where's the Sanzo?" Gojyo asked. "Nothing," Hakkai and Goku said at the same time. It was best to drop the subject rather than being sad over the kitten they couldn't keep or more specifically the kitten Sanzo wouldn't let them keep.

Sanzo who had been lagging behind, arrived with a peculiar expression on his face as if he was holding back laughter. He sat down and received glares from Hakkai and Goku. "Let's go," Sanzo was impatient.

Gojyo was very confused. "What's going on, did I miss something?" His reply from Sanzo was a hit to the head with the Harisen. A few curses later, Gojyo fell silent and Hakkai and Goku's glares continued.

xoxox xox xoxox

They arrived at the town and went to the inn as they usually did. Gojyo, who was still feeling confused from the bad mood that reigned over Hakkai, Goku and Hakuryu and Sanzo's strange expressions, volunteered to go buy the supplies. The half youkai needed some time away from the others until they decided to stop being random.

After Gojyo left, Hakkai sat in their room petting Hakuryu. He wanted to go make sure Gojyo bought all the proper products with the best possible quality and price, but he wasn't in the mood to go shopping. Goku had ordered some food to the room service and was currently eating it, while occasionally giving Sanzo sat kitten looks, in a hopeless effort to remind him of the kitten and convince him to go back for it.

"Aren't you two leaving?" Sanzo's face was half covered by the newspaper, but they could see his eyes twitching a little.

"This is our room too," Hakkai reminded him.

"I'm busy eating," Goku then turned his attention back to the food. Sanzo glared at them, but didn't insist on the matter anymore. He continued reading the newspaper until he could no longer hold in the laughter. First it came out quietly, slipping out against his resistance, then it was loud laughter that rung out full force.

Hakkai, Goku and Hakuryu stared at Sanzo as if he grew a second head. "What the..." "kyu?" The three asked in a chorus.

As soon as Sanzo was calm enough to move, he pulled out a kitten from his robes. "I told you to stay still," he told the yellow fur ball, but of course the cute little kitten did not understand. He was just happy that someone was playing with him.

"Aw, how cute!" "Kyu!" Hakkai, Goku and Hakuryu surrounded Sanzo, making little baby sounds at the adorable kitten.

"I knew that you couldn't leave him behind," Hakkai commented and Sanzo was not too happy about it.

"Can I hold him?" Goku extended his arms.

Sanzo knew he had no excuse. He couldn't simply say the kitten jumped on him and hid without him noticing, no one would believe that. There was no way to avoid it, he was caught in the act of being a softie. On the bright side, at least Gojyo wasn't there to witness it. He would just have to make up for it with a little help from Harisen. "Stop annoying me!" Sanzo guided the Harisen to collide with Goku's head then surprisingly with Hakkai's.

Hakkai stared at Sanzo in disbelief. It seemed that the only one who was spared was Hakuryu because he was too cute to feel the wrath of the Harisen. "You hit me," Hakkai was incredulous while rubbing the sore spot on his head.

Goku stared at Hakkai then at Sanzo, then he continued looking back and forth between the two. He feared what would happen next. Would Hakkai be angry? Would they never be friends again?

Hakkai paused looking thoughtful. The tension in the air could be clearly felt. "I see..." He had apparently come to a conclusion. Sanzo, Goku and Hakuryu looked at him waiting for him to continue. "So you are a protective father. There's no need to worry, uncle Hakkai just wanted to say hello to his little nephew." The smile once again returned to Hakkai's face and the tension faded away.

"What did you say?" Sanzo wasn't happy with that comment either.

"No, no you're holding him wrong. It must be done like this," Hakkai took Hakuryu in his arms and held him like a baby. "See? Now you try it."

Sanzo blinked, "c'mon Sanzo, hold him right or let me do it!" Goku insisted.

"This kitten is younger than the one we took care of before. He probably can't drink milk on his own yet. Well have to feed him with a bottle. He's only a little baby," Hakkai explained.

"Then someone should make sure Gojyo brings enough milk for the baby kitten," Goku pointed out. Both Hakkai and Sanzo looked at him as if saying with their eyes what should be done. "Me? Why do I have to be the one to go?"

xoxox xox xoxox

A few minutes later, Goku was out of the inn and on his way to the grocery store. Finding Gojyo wasn't too hard after he managed to stop himself from being distracted by all the food. "So the monkey decided to help out after all," Gojyo was slightly surprised.

"I'm here to make sure you bring enough milk. Well I gave you the message, so I'll be gong now." Goku wanted to return to the inn and play with the cute little kitten.

"Hold on a minute there monkey," Gojyo stopped Goku from leaving. "What do you mean by enough milk? I have a feeling there's something you're not telling me."

"I mean milk for the baby. I came here to tell you to bring enough. I want to go back and play with him now," Goku was hoping to get away from the task of helping with the groceries so he could go pester Sanzo about allowing him to hold the kitten.

Gojyo paused, Goku's words echoed in his head as he tried to make some sense out of them. "Did you say baby? There's a baby?"

"Yeah he's Sanzo's little baby and he looks just like him too!" There were some similarities between Sanzo and the kitten, such as hair and eye color, but the way Goku worded it, made Gojyo come to the wrong conclusions.

The water sprite turned ghostly pale in total shook. "You're kidding." Any second now the monkey would burst out laughing and Hakkai and Sanzo would pop out from behind the unstable soup can pyramid and make fun of him for falling for such an obvious trick. Any second... Goku looked totally serious. "Sanzo's... baby?"

"Yeah!" Goku nodded. "He's really young and should still be with the mother, but the poor little guy was left all alone. What's wrong?"

Gojyo took deep even breaths. 'Sanzo has a child? The mother abandoned their kid with him? But when did this happen? When? Where? How?' He paused in his thoughts. "Well, not how, that part is obvious, but when? Isn't that obvious too? At least nine months ago. But in what precise moment in time, if Sanzo was with us all the time? Maybe he snuck out at night while we were all asleep at an inn. To think he absolutely refused that time when I invited him to come drinking when I was trying to lighten the mood. I thought he was hopeless but all along...'

"Gojyo," Goku's voice made Gojyo snap out of his thoughts.

"You're serious," Gojyo stammered.

"Yes," Goku didn't understand why this was so hard to believe. It wasn't the first time they found a kitten and took care of it.

"Right, then I'll get the supplies and you can go on back to the inn," Gojyo agreed.

Goku seemed quite happy with the way things went. "Great! I'll see you later," the boy ran off, back to the inn.

Gojyo continued placing items in the grocery cart. He needed a moment alone to think. The news still hasn't sunk in, but Goku didn't look like he was lying. To picture Sanzo with a child of his own, the image just didn't fit.

xoxox xox xoxox

As Goku returned to the inn, he saw Lirin walking down the street and called out to her. "Lirin!" He saw that she was crying. "Lirin, what's wrong?"

She looked at him with the saddest expression he had ever seen on the girl's face. "I lost..." she sobbed and the rest was impossible to understand.

"You got lost?" Goku was surprised. It wouldn't be the first time Lirin arrived on her own, but she had never complained about being lost. "But you're in town and you found me, the others are in town too."

Lirin shook her head. "I lost..." She started crying loudly, causing Goku to panic. He didn't know how to handle the situation.

"Don't cry, Lirin! Everything will be okay. Whatever's wrong, I'll help you, I promise!" He hugged her until she finally started to calm down.

She sniffled and tried to speak clearly so that Goku would understand. "I lost my kitten."

"You have a kitten?" Goku did not make the connection right away.

Lirin nodded. "My big brother has been spending a lot of time away training with Dokugakuji lately. The entire time I've been staying with Yaone. It's been fun, but I missed my brother. I told him that and he said he was sorry for not spending a lot of time with me lately. Then the next day, he gave me a kitten as a present. I was playing with him near a river and I thought he needed to take a break, so I put him in a basket to nap. Yaone was cooking, I went to help her for a second and we got kind of distracted. I got some milk in case the kitten was thirsty, but he was gone, the basket too. That's why I don't think he wandered off. He was too small to carry the basket. Somebody kidnapped my kitten!"

"Who would do such a terrible thing?" Goku was too upset to realize that no kidnapping ever took place.

"If I find my kitten, I'll never let him get taken ever again and his kidnapper will be sorry!" Lirin vowed.

"I'll help you look for your kitten and beat up the kidnapper!" Goku offered.

xoxox xox xoxox

Gojyo purchased all the necessary items, including baby supplies which weren't really needed for a kitten, and retuned to the inn. Hakkai seemed as cheerful as ever, humming along with Hakuryu, what was that song? Gojyo couldn't guess. "Welcome back Gojyo," Hakkai had seen Goku outside the inn by the window talking to Lirin and hugging her, but couldn't hear what they were saying from inside and didn't realize he was consoling her. "I saw Goku not too long ago with Lirin, young love is so cute."

Gojyo was rather quiet. It was the moment of truth, he was so focused on finding out if the story about Sanzo's child was true, that he completely missed the part about Goku and Lirin. He put the grocery bags on the table and asked. "Where's the baby?"

"He's taking a nap with his daddy, they're really adorable together. I knit that little blanket myself," Hakkai replied.

Gojyo stared at him, how could Hakkai take this so naturally? He was knitting blankets and everything. Sanzo appeared to be fast asleep. He held back the need to make a comment about old people and their need for naps. There was someone next to him. Gojyo quietly picked up the 'baby' who was wrapped in the blanket his uncle Hakkai knit. He took a look at the kitten's face and gasped. 'A neko youkai? He had a romance with a neko youkai?' He suddenly felt identified with the child. He had been abandoned by his mother in the care of his eternally annoyed father. That child was a half blood like Gojyo, though he was a different and rare type of youkai, he was a half youkai none the less. Maybe his hair wasn't red because that rule didn't apply to neko half bloods, only regular half youkais. He imagined that as the child grew, he would look more like a neko and less like a kitten. No doubt this was Sanzo's kid, he would recognize the golden hair and violet eyes anywhere. "Don't worry little guy, your uncle Gojyo will always be here for you!"

"What are you doing water sprite?" Sanzo woke up and realized his kitten wasn't next to him.

"Nothing to worry about I was just saying hi to your son. Have you thought of a name for him yet? I will not allow you to call him Sanzo Jr., have some originality," Gojyo insisted.

Sanzo looked confused, "what are you rambling about?"

"Goku told me all about it. Why didn't you tell us about your secret romance? Where's the mother? Neko-youkais are very rare, I thought they were extinct, does she have a sister?" Gojyo didn't know that with every word, he was a step closer to his doom.

Sanzo deeply analyzed Gojyo's every word. "You're saying that this is my child, the child of a neko youkai and me?"

"Yes, Goku told me. You really didn't need to keep it all a secret, I'm of mixed blood myself, Hakkai is always understanding and Goku won't even know what's going on. Why didn't you tell us?" As Gojyo dug his own grave, Hakkai was coming over with a bottle of milk.

"I think there has been a little misunderstanding," Hakkai made an understatement and Hakuryu made his cute little 'kyu' sounds as if he was laughing.

"Right," Sanzo calmly took the kitten from Gojyo and gently gave him to Hakkai.

"Come on little one, uncle Hakkai will give you your milk over there," Hakkai waked away before the hurricane of bullets began.

xoxox xox xoxox

Goku and Lirin spent the day searching for the lost kitten and his apparent kidnapper. By nightfall, Yaone who was also out searching, caught up to them and insisted that Lirin returned to their camp to get some sleep and Goku should go back to Sanzo's group, as they must be worried. So they ended the fruitless search. Poor Lirin was still very sad and Goku was yet to make the connection between Sanzo's new kitten and Lirin's missing kitten.

As Goku entered the inn room, he heard a sneeze. "Did you catch a cold Sanzo?"

"No, my allergies came back." Even so he held the kitten, ignoring the sneezes.

"Did you have fun on your date with Lirin?" Hakkai inquired.

Goku's face turned red. "I wasn't on a date, I was..." That's when something suddenly snapped in Goku's mind. An imaginary light bulb lit up above his head and all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "That must be the kitten Lirin lost! I was out helping her look for him!"

"This is Lirin's kitten?" Sanzo ended the statement with a sneeze. "Give it back to her and tell her to watch him more carefully from now on." Sanzo gave the kitten to Goku. Hakkai, Hakuryu and Gojyo, who miraculously survived, looked at him with surprise. "We can't keep him, I said it from the beginning. With all the youkai attacks we can't travel with a kitten. Besides," he sneezed, "it was only a matter of time before my allergies came back."

"It's hard to let another kitten go. It's especially hard for you, isn't it Sanzo?" Hakkai said too much.

"We'll miss the little guy, but it'll be best this way," Gojyo agreed.

"Kyu, kyu," even Hakuryu gave his goodbyes.

Hakuryu flew into Sanzo's arms, while Hakkai and Gojyo stood left and right, patting his shoulders in s supportive way. "Who said I need any of this? Go on, get out of here, monkey. Take the fur ball back to his owner," Sanzo insisted.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Lirin will never leave him alone again, so we'll see him again when we see her," Goku hurried out of the inn and into the forest surrounding the town.

xoxox xox xoxox

Lirin and Yaone were most likely camping in the cover of the forest since they were youkai and wouldn't want to scare the town's people. He searched around for them and found them downstream near the river.

Lirin sat near the river's edge looking very sad. It was too dark to find the kitten, but she couldn't sleep. A fire burned dimly behind her and Yaone patiently waited for Lirin to go into her sleeping bag and fall asleep before getting some rest herself. She looked towards Goku when she heard someone approaching. As he came closer she recognized him, he was holding something. "Goku... is that?"

"I think it is. Is it your kitten?" Goku gave Lirin the kitten.

The feline appeared to recognize Lirin and was happy to see her. "My kitten, you found him!"

"He wasn't kidnapped after all. Sanzo found a basket floating in the river and that's where he found the kitten. We've been taking care of him, but I didn't know he was your kitten at first," Goku explained.

Lirin hugged her kitten and petted him gently. "I'll cake much better care of him from now on. Thank you for taking care of him," Lirin gave Goku a kiss on the cheek, which made his face turn red as he smiled sheepishly.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days later... "Cute little Sanzo," Lirin sweetly voiced.

The actual Genjo Sanzo was asleep near by, at least until recently.

"Sanzo is really cute," Goku agreed.

It was a strange way to say it, but the boy did admire him very much so Sanzo disregarded the comment, and Lirin's presence, to opt for a trip back to dream land.

"Hey certainly is," Gojyo spoke in a baby voice. "Cute little Sanzo, I stare at him forever, but why just stare? It makes me want to pet him. Cute little baby!"

If the merciful goddess's nephew wasn't worried before, he was certainly weirded out then. He assumed that Gojyo was drunk, very drunk and silently prayed that he didn't come near him, because then he would have to shoot, and as much as he wanted to shoot at Gojyo sometimes, he certainly didn't want the reason to be that weird. Then there was the fact that he was still exhausted from their previous encounter with a group youkais.

"Aw look at him sleeping. How adorable, I want to hug him when he wakes up," Hakkai expressed.

Hakkai didn't sound drunk, he never got drunk, even if he had plenty of sake. He was the mother hen of the group so it shouldn't be too strange that he was like that. But who was Sanzo trying to fool, convincing himself that such words were normal? No one but himself. Hakkai was kind and even affectionate to the group in a brotherly-fatherly way, but this was too much.

"Big brother I'm really glad Sanzo is part of the family," Lirin announced. Part of the family? What in the world was she talking about?

"Yes, you're doing very well taking care of San... him." The name would take some getting used to for Kougaiji.

"It's nice sitting here with all of us together, watching Sanzo sleep, isn't it?" That comment came from Yaone.

"Yes, it's great," Dokugakuji agreed.

What? Them too? What was wrong with the world that day? Genjo Sanzo did not open his eyes. He was too weirded out to face anyone at the moment, but he didn't want to continue pretending to be asleep and listening to the conversation about him, or at least he thought it was about him. Genjo Sanzo tried to fall asleep, he desperately wanted to wake up to a world where everything was as it always had been. Maybe it was all just a strange delusional dream. Then again, the attention wasn't so bad. As long as no one tried to hug him, or worse yet pet him, it honestly wasn't so bad. Feeling slightly better about the situation, Genjo Sanzo got up.

He was greeted with a friendly "kyu," from Hakuryu who changed from jeep form to dragon form as son as Sanzo got off. Hakkai, Gojyo, Goku, Lirin, Kougaiji, Yaone and Dokugakuji were sitting forming a circle. Hakuryu soon joined them, landing in the center of their circle.

A chorus of "aw" was heard. Genjo Sanzo approached to see what it was all about. Hakuryu had his wings over the little blond kitten, keeping him warn in his basket.

Genjo Sanzo stood there for a few moments until the group realized that Hakuryu's presence there as a dragon meant that he was no longer resting in the jeep. "I see you're awake, how are you feeling?" Hakkai inquired.

"Fine," Sanzo directed suspicious looks at everyone. They acted as if they haven't been talking about him at all. Did they have some sort of secret fan club? It was strange and awkward, but somehow flattering.

"Hey Sanzo, do you know what Lirin named the kitten?" Goku asked.

"No, I don't know," Sanzo was still feeling slightly weirded out. He decided it was best to play along and pretend he didn't hear their conversation from before.

"Sanzo, because you two look so much alike."

Sanzo, the human one, started making connections in his mind and suddenly it all made sense. They were talking about the kitten all along. He was relieved that the compliments weren't for him after all, because it would have been weird, yet he couldn't help it but to wish that at least some of the compliments were directed at him. It didn't really matter because even if he would never admit it, he was happy that the cute little kitten was named after him. He was in fact so happy about it, that it didn't even bother him that much when Goku and Lirin started drawing a miniature paper replica of the sultra for the kitten.

End of Journey VI

Disclaimer, I do not own Saiyuki. Special thanks to Kenihiko and Sarah for ideas used in Destination 38.