But he couldn't figure out why Sanzo was so rattled. Maybe there were two of him, but it was another one of him, not an imposter, so what was the problem? Sanzo was Sanzo, and if another Sanzo showed up, he was still Sanzo. Goku would have known if he weren't.
He'd asked Gojyo about it and Gojyo had said it was good for Sanzo to see what he looked like to other people. But that didn't make sense, because Sanzo was bright and strong, and why would seeing that make him jumpy?
So he'd asked Hakkai, but Hakkai had just hidden his mouth and turned away so if Sanzo saw his shoulders shaking at least he would know Hakkai wasn't laughing at him on purpose to piss him off.
But even if Sanzo was being hyper-mega-beyond weird and trying to act like--well, it was like he was trying to act like Hakkai, only he was doing it like Gojyo would do it, only badly in a pissy kind of way because no matter how hard he was trying, Sanzo could never get away from being Sanzo because he was Sanzo, and--
"Oi, saru," Gojyo drolled out. "You sick or something?"
"Huh?" he blinked, and looked down at his plate automatically.
It was EMPTY!!!!!!
"Hey!" he yelled, looking wildly around. The girl who smelled like nothing at all whatsoever looked as shocked as he felt, and her plate was empty, too. The enemy-brat that Sanzo was way too nice to was happily digging her fangs into--
"My buns!" he and no-scent howled as one, and lunged at the Enemy as the kappa girl who was just as sick as Gojyo threw back her head and howled. They would have gotten her, too, except that Sanzo smacked him in the face with his fan and her with her chopsticks.
"No fair, Sanzo!" they said indignantly, and pointed at the Enemy accusingly. "She stole them!"
"That's what you get for not paying attention," the Enemy said, sticking out her tongue.
"Lilin," Goku's sparring partner groaned. And that was it. What was that supposed to do? No wonder the Enemy was spoiled!
"If you can't teach your sister manners, dead man," Sanzo--not Goku's Sanzo, the other one--droned.
"Ahaha," Hakkai cut her off, looking alarmed. "Now, now, there's no need for fighting over dinner, Sanzo-san, is there? If Lilin-chan and Goku and Kaikara-san would rather play than help us think of a way to return your party, I'm sure we could take a moment to set up a small amount of food on a blanket for them outside. They can have a nice little picnic," he said pointedly coming down hard on the littles.
"Oh, a children's table! What a good idea!" the Kanan lady agreed, grinding the salt in hard.
Goku and no-scent slumped back into their chairs and the Enemy scowled. Hakkai really wasn't fair sometimes.
"But Hakkai-dono," Yaone said earnestly, after a grateful smile for the subduers of her charge, "I still don't know how you knew to expect us."
"Oh, well, as to that, Yaone-san," Hakkai smiled back at her with his bashful talking-to-Yaone face, making the lady's green eyes narrow. "With no offense to you, Kougaiji-san, it seemed unlikely that--that is to say, after today's events, I would have been most disappointed in Yaone-san's abilities as an apothecary if she had permitted... Er, well, perhaps not her abilities, but it would in any case have been most inadvisable--"
"Goku didn't leave you in any shape to teleport," Sanzo said bluntly.
"Or fly. No reflection on you," Gojyo said easily, reaching over to ruffle Goku's hair over his new limiter. "Going up against the howling hell-monkey's like trying to fight a volcano in a cyclone."
Goku glared. It hadn't been his fault he'd lost his limiter. This time. "Just 'cause you can't take me, you stupid sea-cucumber..."
"In any case," Hakkai said firmly, fending off a speculating look from Honshin that came out of nowhere, as far as Goku could see, and turned Hakkai faintly pink, "since you were in the area, given Lilin-chan's inexhastable energies--"
"And since Hakkai was cooking," Gojyo smirked. Actually, Goku felt sorry for the Enemy--about food, anyway. It wasn't just that she didn't have Hakkai to cook for her. He'd heard her ask Hakkai if the tea was poisoned. It must be awful not to know if the food you were going to eat was going to be your enemy.
"--I thought she might show up. And of course we knew you'd come after her in that case."
"This," Kougaiji said stonily, turning to glare down at the Enemy, "is why I ask y ou not to run off. Not only our honorable enemies know I'll follow."
Goku felt even sorrier for her, now. Sanzo would never have insulted him like that. Sanzo knew he could take care of himself. Not that Sanzo wouldn't follow, of course, but it would only be to smack him one for slowing the journey down.
Omake!
The SEME at the End of This Fic
starring lovable, placid old HAKKAI
And adorably vague but considerably older TENPOU
Hakkai: Well, perhaps Goku is a bit distractible. I have another idea.
Tenpou: Oh?
Hakkai: Jiipu, would you be so good as to guard this link and stop it from being clicked, please?
Jiipu: Kyuuu!
Hakkai: Thank you, my frien--
Tenpou: GOUJUN???!
Goujun: Marshal, you have an annoying habit of addressing your superiors--- o.O ????! [Is that... me?!]
Jiipu: KYUU???! [Is that... me?!]
(Goujun has heart attack from shock)
(From Goujun's body, a small white dragon rises)
Jiipu: Kyukyu. [You have -got- to be kidding.]
Hakuryuu-chan: K'kyu. [I agree entirely.]
(Hakuryuu-chan disappears in a puff of paradox and emerges at some point during RELOAD.)
Jiipu: (sweatdrops)
Hakkai: A--anou...
Kanzeon Bosatsu: So that's what happened to him! ^_^
[end part nine]
Go on to part ten: Kanan