"hakkai? is sanzo g back now?" the boy was lookg out the gssless aga the direction the surly priest had gone before houra, goku was never this anxio whenever sanzo jt wanted to go off alone to ditate but ever sce hourawelleverythg that had happened with hi jt proved how frail sanzo really was a re huan with the resilience of a ig when pared to a god that's why he hated it whenever sanzo was alone becae that would ake goku feel alone and then there was always that threat that the aloness would st forever if sanzo never ca back

"eh soon after he cals down a bit" tenpou replied, aedly as he sat hiself down by gojyo's feet and leaned his ch upon the other's knee gojyo froze "i thk i angered hi don't you thk so, gojyo?"

the redhead shrugged "how the hell would i know?"

"be it of friend or foe" tenpou recited with a kle his eye "one cannot help but see, a third set of footprts the snow"

"dan you!" he lifted his hand to angrily strike hi away, "aybe one good knock on the head'll send you back!" but it was caught by goku's fierce grip

"s! gojyo don't! not ten-chan!" he held on harder as he repeated the na

he didn't kno he knew he jt did all the estions that were asked of hi

who taught you how to read, goku?

it wasn't sanzo, was it?

then who?

and so he began to thk really hard about it ho? for three nights, he'd been askg hiself, fally resortg to askg the goddess of rcy (wherever shehe was)who?

and so that night he dread about a library, a fortg hand upon his shoulder as another one poted out the siggles id out on the paper before hi "read it out loud with , goku" faceless, but the shy reflection of the book, he saw soone he thought he regnized

"i won't let you hurt ten-chan! it's probably not his fault that he's here i don't knohat happened, but you can't hurt hi! i won't let you! never!" goku was startg to sound like a sall child