Food and Friends

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

The seemingly pre-pubescent cry echoed throughout the temple walls.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

Many of the monks he passed looked at him, severely irritated as he continued to call for his sun. Right at the moment, Goku had two problems.

One being...He was hungry.

The second being...He wanted to hang out with Hakkai and Gojyo.

He knew Sanzo had no actual issues with Hakkai, the two seemed to get along pretty well and Goku was glad that the grumpy monk had someone besides him to call a friend. Well, Sanzo never really used that term...He said something about it being guilt by association and nothing more. It totally flew over the hyper monkey's head. Gojyo on the other hand...Goku knew Sanzo probably just flat out hated the kappa. They were always fighting. Sometimes it was funny, but there were times when it got pretty bad...Like cutting the tension in the air with a knife bad. Goku hoped that didn't happen when they went to visit this time.

"I think Hakkai's right when he says they...Uh, what did he call it?" Such matters were beyond his understanding...He couldn't remember how Hakkai had said it or why, but something about maybe they just need to share the bed and get it over with? Goku stopped in the midst of his hall charging to scratch his cheek in confusion, "Why would Sanzo and Gojyo share a bed? And how would that fix anything? Wouldn't Sanzo get even madder?"

Since no one was around to answer, he resumed his running along down the halls, looking everywhere on the temple grounds for Sanzo. He could have checked the blond's room, but he wasn't exactly thinking straight. All he was thinking, in a never ending mantra was 'food, friends, food, friends, food, friends'...

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

A monk yelped as he jumped back out of Goku's path.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

[Genjo Sanzo]

"Why do I feel like my day's just about to get better?"

The blonde man muttered to himself as his violet-gaze travelled along the neatly printed words of the newspaper, a cigarettes between his lips. The hazy smoke that rose from the stick caused him no end of grief with the other monks, though a flash of the 'dead eyes' and the feel of doom and despair in the pit of their stomache often convinced the idiots to stop whining about Buddhist ideals and not smoking. Of course, that didn't stop some of the more fanatical...

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

One. He read another article.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

Two. He exhaled, the smoke passing from his lips.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

Three. A vein began to throb in his forhead.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAANZO!"

Rising to his feet, the priest with a bad reputation threw the paper aside, taking off his glasses and tossing them onto the small table that held a half-empty bottle of beer. Storming to the door, he threw it open, looking up and down the corridor. The sound of running feet were farther then closer... Waiting, he leaned against the doorframe, the vein throbbing even worse. Then-

His hand launched out, grabbing the little runt by the back of his shirt.

"What the hell do you want, you stupid monkey?! I've been right here the entire time, you don't need to run around like a fucking spaz!" Sanzo snarled.

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAN-"

Goku grunted, the friction of his running clashing with the sudden stop as Sanzo grabbing his collar caused the spastic, desparate monkey to jerk forward before falling down. The brunette crashed down and rubbed his backside, then the now sore nape of his neck where some of the yanked cloth had burned. It was a belated realization that he really could have just gone to the monk's room...But where was the fun in that actually?

"ACH!"

Now that they had found each other, or rather he found Sanzo, he got up and brushed himself off. For a brief moment, he seemed calm and collected, entirely the opposite of what he was just a second ago...

"WHAT THE HELL, YA MEAN BALDY?! THAT HURT!!" Goku exploded, clearly irrate now on top of his hunger and loneliness. "I just wanted to find ya so we could go eat and see Gojyo and Hakkai! You sit on your fat butt here enough with the rest of these stupid monks...So let's go! Come on! Come on! Come on!"

Goku half expected Sanzo to shoot him down. One being, the monk had been extremely withdrawn and had seemed more inclined to simply stay in the temple. That sometimes backfired on Goku, cause he wasn't trusted much to go running loose in the streets unless one of the others were keeping an eye on him. He had a tendency to either get in trouble with some locals or he went nuts on Sanzo's card. Or he tried to bring stray animals home. The second being...Well, Sanzo might tolerate Hakkai well, but with his current weird mood, the blond probably wanted to keep the several mile distance between him and the kappa for good measure. But Goku didn't care about their issues, he wanted food. Good food. Food Hakkai cooks. Yeah, so they were going. "You can get real drunk, yanno..." It wasn't like the stock of booze in Orin all that great afterall.

[Genjo Sanzo]

It was so fucking tempting to shoot the screaming chimp in the face.

For just the briefest of moments, the kid had been quiet, calm, and collected. But like every other damn time, he went off into a screaming little bitch fit. The vein already throbbing in the monk's forehead was now accompanied by a full eye twitch as he watched the spastic little shit.

God, couldn't he even have just some time to himself, time that wasn't interrupted by the energetic monkey, or the monks who had to come to him for every little thing... Or hell, even just a bit of time from the pressure of the whole business apparently coming up..

The twitching grew worse until the blonde monk finally snapped, whipping out the paper fan and bringing it down with a resounding thunk on the brat's head. "Will you shut up already?!" He snapped, holding the fan tightly in one hand, the cigarette still in the corner of his mouth.

All right, so his temper wasn't the best right now. Maybe he was being a bit hard on the kid. After all, he had pretty much secluded himself in the temple ever since his talk with the Three Aspects. It... bothered him that the Three Aspects didn't even know when this was coming, or what was going to happen. While he never put too much faith in one source, it still seemed strange that the so-called great Aspects were blind to this as well. It was making him pissier then normal, and he was pretty sure he had just taken it out on Goku.

Or the kid deserved it. He couldn't tell.

Either way, the kid looked up at him with those hurt eyes, and Sanzo was a damn fool who fell for them again. Those damned eyes, so annoying...

He turned and started down the hall, the fan already disappearing. After a second, he paused, looking back.

"Will you hurry up? I want a fuckin' drink."

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

Goku squawked indignantly when the hammer, or rather the fan, came down. He winced, buckling slightly under the blow and he straightened up, rubbing his now sore head. That had almost felt harder than normal. The monkey knew something was bothering Sanzo, but the man had yet to fully divulge the problem to his charge. With most people, Goku poked and prodded till he got some answers, but Sanzo was not most people and he had to be dealt with carefully. Too much prying and he'd see Mr. Harisen more than he cared to.

So he'd wait in between inquiries till Sanzo decided to finally enlighten him.

All he knew was that after some big, high and mighty meeting...His sun was broodier than normal. His fuse almost seemed shorter sometimes. He wondered if maybe some stupid new task had been tossed their way. But usually Sanzo called Hakkai and Gojyo in and made them do it...Provided it was mundane enough that the monk didn't feel he himself could be bothered to do it. Goku often acted the fool, but he knew enough about the blond that maybe this was something a little more serious. So either it was a daunting, pain in the ass task or he got some kind of scolding. Maybe he had been a mean baldy one too many times?

In the meantime though, Goku wasn't going to take being a rage magnet lying down for no good reason. "That hurt, ya butthead. If you're gonna be madder than normal, at least tell me why." At least there was some improvement in comparison to the last few days...Sanzo hadn't put up much argument in going to Shangri-La. It was probably because he mentioned alcohol.

"Whoo!" The brunette cheered as he followed behind the monk before he fell in step with him. He was already reciting what he was going to order; from a ton of meatbun appetizers to udon noodles and yakitori and fried rice and then some. Then to top it off, lots and lots of banana tempura. There were stars in his eyes as he thought of all the good, meaty food that would be at his disposal. Vegetables and beans, blech, he couldn't stand the temple diet day in and day out. He still didn't understand how anyone could actually.

As they made their way down the hall for the front gates, Goku decided to start his poke and wait tactic. "So...What's up? What happened with the three heads?" He folded his arms behind his head as he walked along with the taller man. His loose fitting t-shirt, jeans and boots would do for a simple outing.

[Sha Gojyo]

After the incident in Satan City, Gojyo managed to get back to East City in relatively good time. The restaurant was in meager walking distance of home, so he wasn't concerned over Hakkai walking. He figured the quiet man would like a nice, relaxing walk before he wound up busting his chops in the kitchen anyway.

Entering the dark wood, oriental styled structure from the back entrance, the redhead strolled in through the kitchen and deposited the large bag of select herbs and Gods knew what else his friend preferred to cook with. He left it on the counter and after greeting Wu Tai, the other cook who was as wide as he was tall, he maneuvered around to disappear into the employee restroom to make sure he wasn't looking dirty and windswept. Huffing, Gojyo eyed himself critically in the mirror before he adjusted the locks framing his face and cleaned his face with a moistened paper towel. He had looked worse.

Gojyo huffed. He wasn't sure whether he should haul off and tell the others about the encounter in Satan City. He already knew he would have to explain the dent in the bank account. But Sanzo might want to know about the unusual demon.

After another glance at himself and confident that he looked as good as when he had left for his little trip, he left the restroom and made his way over to the bar. Halfway there, he paused and blinked around. Where was Yanma? The hostess/waitress for the evening, since this tended to be one of their slow nights, was no where in sight. 'That flaky bitch didn't call in sick again, did she?' The bubble headed, big chested blondie always did that on nights she knew were slow. It was like being bored and sitting on her butt while getting paid for it was not something she could tolerate. So instead, she called in, and Gojyo tended to wind up on double duty. Thank the Gods that East City was not nearly as packed as it had been some twenty years ago. Most of the customers they got were travelers who wanted to see the newly build and illustrious temple, the monks, or even some people from Satan City and nearby villages.

"Well, that's just peachy...Next you'll be telling me that the monkey will be coming in, bellowing orders while that asshole monk treats me like his personal servant." Technically, he was serving, but still...

With a resigned shake of his head, he went over to the host podium after checking over the bar. He squinted his crimson eyes at the feminine, swirly writing that was...all over the fucking place. There was a name, repeatedly scribbled on there and it took him a moment to discern her cursive before he guffawed.

Sanzo's name.

Ha, he knew she made eyes at the man whenever he stopped by and it was hilarious. He just hadn't thought that she was that enamored. "Mrs. Genjo Sanzo? Doesn't she know monk's don't marry?" He rolled his eyes, closing the booklet that was really meant for appointments rather than her day dreaming. After making sure the doors were unlocked for dinner and that the pleasantly soft music was playing overhead, he went back to wait for some patrons to turn up. The momentarily entertained grin over the missing hostess and her nonsense soon faded quickly once he glanced at the closed book, turning into a sour frown as he stared off in space. 'I wonder how fast I can get that skank fired...'

[Cho Hakkai]

It was relaxing to have the entire house to himself, with no one messing up things right after he finished cleaning them. Hakkai started his shift somewhat later than his housemate did today, and so he took advantage of it by cleaning up all the little messes that the redhead caused. He had finally finished and settled down to read a good book for a good hour and a half before getting back up.

The brunette checked the sky for his beloved little white dragon, Hakuryu, to no avail. Gojyo had borrowed him earlier, promising to take good care of the little being. Hakkai was perfectly fine with walking to work however, and turned to lock the door as he exited. He pocketed the key in one pant pocket before setting down to road to Shangri-La.

Halfway to his destination, a familiar cry sounded out from the sky and caused him to look up with a smile. One hand rested over the top of his eyes to block out the sun as he spotted a sleek white being flying towards him. His free arm outstretched to provide a temporary perch for Hakuryu before the dragon pawed his way up to his normal curled up position behind Hakkai's neck and shoulder.

"How was your trip, Hakuryu?"

The gentle demon questioned his friend, providing a soft pet on the top of his head while he started to walk once more. A happy cooing noise was released from Hakuryu and Hakkai nodded to himself. He hummed quietly while gently stroking the scales of the small dragon.

They arrived at Shangri-La in no time at all and he entered from the back, gently setting Hakuryu down in the small round bed tucked away in the corner of his kitchen. He had made an arrangement for the dragon when he had started the job in the first place, due to the fact that he really didn't feel like walking home after work. Plus, there was always the chance that he had to leave for an emergency, although it was a super rare thing to happen. Hakkai slipped on a white apron and spotted a bored Gojyo not too far away.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Hakkai called, smiling as he put away the supplies that his friend had brought from Satan City. He moved gracefully out of Wu Tai's way to work around him and made sure that his own area was set up the way he liked. The man greeted his fellow cook shortly after acknowledging Gojyo, then returned to setting up for the night. Thankfully they had enough supplies to feed an army twice over, especially if their small golden eyed friend visited.

[Sha Gojyo]

And it begins...

While he had sat at the podium, he found an ungodly assortment of nonsense that Yanma seemed to fancy having on hand at the joint...Perfume, make-up, nail polish, assorted girly magazines...There was more play than work going on in there. Gojyo fought the urge to simply throw it all into the trash. When she came in the next day, she would be in a rage and he didn't want her using her bosom as a weapon on him, especially after tonight.

As he had been waiting, he had deliberated as to whether he was to tell Hakkai everything before the shift really got underway or afterwards. Even though the quiet, smiling man always appeared to be in the best of moods, Gojyo didn't want to ruin his night for him for the small chunk of time they would be there. But the sooner he got it all out in the open, the better. That was usually how it went.

The larger cook nodded, not being much of a talker as he took a seat on a sturdy counter. Gojyo came up to the order window so he could share words with his housemate.

"Yeah...Mm, Hakkai...I might have made a little bit of a dent in our joint checking account." A sweatdrop appeared on the side of his face as he smiled at the disguised demon. He then went on to explain that when he had gone to give Banri a piece of his mind, he had wound up meeting this oddball demon Keishoumaru with her kid and how he had not only paid for the food she had tried to pilfer but had given her some to help a little. The redhead chuckled, "She wanted me to lead her here to East City but there was no way I was having a part in that...It was weird though, she was asking me about some weird shit about the Demon Realm. And whether there were more of us."

As far as Gojyo had known, demons had always been around. Well, the minor ones anyway. The woman he met felt like she had a more significant aura to her. If there was some place more could be filtering out through, especially those like her, that was an unpleasant thought. "I was gonna let Sanzo know about her next time we see him too..." Except he would exclude the fact that he had helped her more than he should have. Disappointing or pissing Hakkai off with that was bad enough so he would have to start working on making it up to him. The redhead moved away in a flash, rummaging behind the bar before he came back with a bottle of sake and a glass, trying to look apologetic, "But yeah...Sorry, man. You know how I get with chicks in distress..."

[Cho Hakkai]

The monocle wearing man had much more patience than his redheaded friend, even when it came to their slacker of a hostess. Hakkai lightly smiled as he continued placing things where they belonged while keeping an ear ready for any lamenting of Gojyo's that was bound to occur. He stepped back to make sure everything was present before folding the bags that the items were in and placing them beneath the counter.

He had just picked up his set of knives to make sure that they were well sharpened, carefully running the edge of the blade along the whetstone when the blade proved to be a little dull, when Gojyo began to speak. Hakkai's smile never faltered, even as the knife slipped on the whetstone. Instead the man turned around to look at his friend with the continous smile.

"I might have to make a dent in your head."

He retaliated lightly before returning to his task. The green-eyed demon was beyond used to the antics of the entire group and even more so Gojyo whom he actually lived with. Hakkai was a patient man, everyone knew this but there was only so far that even the goddess of Mercy could go. As he was about to tune the other man out for the night in annoyance, Gojyo redeemed himself by producing a bottle of sake for his housemate.

"Yes, I know exactly how you are."

Hakkai gave a slight chuckle, though he was still annoyed. Nonetheless he accepted the peace offering and sipped at the alcohol before returning to his knives. After all, people were bound to be arriving soon for dinner.

[Genjo Sanzo]

He knew he was being just a bit too hard on the kid. Unfortunately, he couldn't help it. It was so easy to just snap when the kid started going on and on and on about whatever the hell was going through his empty space of a head. He inhaled deeply on the cigarette, bringing up his hand to pull it out of his mouth as he blew the acrid smoke in the air. Violet eyes watched the grey clouds of cancer float into the sky, dissipating the further they got.

Merciful Goddess, how he wished he could just throw this task at someone and be done with it. But the Three Aspects... He lifted the cigarette back to his lips, inhaling deeply and leaving it there in the corner of his mouth. Hell, if these were demons, how bad could they be? The others had fought demons before, after all.

But apparently whatever was about to come out of Hell was bad enough that a Sanzo priest and his little band of demonic, headstrong puppies was needed.

One of the monks tried to capture his attention, but he just lifted a hand, flapping him away. "Whatever it is, I'll take care of it later. I'm going out." Completely blowing off the monk, he stepped out into the sunlight, moving easily, and yet quickly, out of the Temple. The fresh air felt good, as did the sunlight. His sour mood began to lighten a bit as he glanced up at the azure sky.

Good day to fly paper airplanes... He thought to himself before glancing to Goku. Maybe he did owe the kid a bit of an explanation. He sure as hell dealt with Sanzo's pissiness better then Gojyo would. Shrugging a bit, he lifted his hands to tuck his arms in the sleeves of his robe as he closed his eyes, walking with a calm surety.

"They don't know." Came Sanzo's response, finally. It had taken him a moment to respond. Not only did he hate saying it, but he also didn't want any monks to accidentally overhear him, and had waited until they were well out of earshot. "There's... Something coming."

His violet eyes opened to gaze ahead of them, though it was doubtful that he saw the path in front of them. The look on his face said quite clearly that his thoughts were far away, seeing something from a memory.

"Something is stirring in the West. Once they divine what and where... We go."

At least that was familiar territory... Hunting demons together.

[Son Goku {Saiyuki}]

One thing he relished a great deal was when he had his sun all to himself, so he grinned like a comical fool when an intruding monk was waved away dismissively. If Sanzo hadn't sent the man along his way, Goku would have been partially inclined to give the other monk some grief of his own. But since the man didn't persist, no scene erupted. Sometimes he had the urge to cling to Sanzo's arm like some territorial monkey but he managed to suppress the urge. He wondered if it was a thing demon's did out of instinct or something, or maybe it was part of his childish nature.

Even though he could tell Sanzo was off in space, he seemed to welcome the bout of fresh air. The monkey usually got plenty for himself, as he preferred spending his time outside as opposed inside. The weather was great at the moment, it wasn't too hot or humid and the skies were amazingly clear. Eating outside sounded real good, but then he wouldn't be able to talk to Hakkai in between bites. Maybe the water sprite could seat them at an open window or something.

His wide, gold eyes looked up at the blond as he listened to the very brief and somewhat uninformative explanation. So Sanzo was probably on edge about the lack of details. None of them really liked walking into anything without having a head's up.

"Wow, that's pretty vague. 'Oh, somethin's comin' but sorry, you're in the dark'. Yeesh..." Goku grunted, dropping his arms. He looked disgruntled for only a moment before he grinned up at his caretaker, "Whatever...I'm sure we'll kick anyone's ass. Is it just you and me goin'?"

Goku wasn't sure how far west they were talking actually. If it was pretty far, they'd need transport. Neither of them owned any of those crazy fancy machines that flew...It was debatable if Sanzo was even liscensed to fly one. But Hakkai had Hakuryuu, did that mean they would be traveling with the others? That would be awesome, but..."Blech, if we're stuck with Gojyo for days on end, you might need to do that bed sharing thing and get it out of the way before we go." Not knowing he said something utterly assinine and potentially dangerous, he made a face at the idea of being in the backseat of the jeep with the kappa for long periods of time.

[Sha Gojyo]

Leaving the bottle in the corner of the window, Gojyo made sure to open a few of the other windows to let some natural light into the joint. It was a nice day and it would feel good to have some fresh air circulating through. As he systematically opened one window after another, he chuckled to himself.

"No worries, man, I'll put in some overtime to make up for the damage." That would mean coming in a little earlier or staying a bit late but he wouldn't mind. He liked to rectify his mistakes, though he was torn between referring to the encounter as a mistake or not. On another bright side, it would give Hakkai a little extra time to himself, though Gojyo wasn't sure what he could possibly get into while he wasn't around. Maybe reading.

"Mm, I forgot...I'mma designate this Sake Week. Cause I was checking some shit out, and I found like...Nine different mixes using sake." Once the windows were open, he went over to the bar with a piece of paper in hand and cleaned off his little blackboard. He then scribbled the list down. Gojyo had always pondered a bartending job but he had never really landed one. This wasn't half-bad really. At least he could experiment in a way. "There's a weird one where it's a sake and soy sauce shot. Supposed to make you feel like a samuari stabbed you in the gut or something like that..."

As he was finishing up the list, a pair came in. They looked to be a couple that had been before and Gojyo, with his face turned away so they would not see his rolling eyes, turned back to them and put the act on. He smiled in a welcoming fashion before he led them over to one of the smaller booths, leaving them with a set of menus while he went to get their drinks. This couple made him nauseous, they were so lovey dovey. When he returned with their green tea, they placed their order and the redhead made his way over to the window, the congenial mask off as he looked quite grossed out. Sweet nothings and kisses, in a restaurant no less. It boggled him somehow. They were so not normal.

"An order of Edamame, they don't mind before the dinners. Then one Shrimp Yaki Soba and a Chicken Bento Box, Hakkai." Gojyo leaned on the sill of the kitchen window, occassionally glancing back in case they got low on their drinks. He didn't like hovering over customers like Yanma tended to.

[Cho Hakkai]

Hakkai inspected his knives one last time before finding them satisfactory. He placed them in a neat order within easy reach, then set about to having the more popular ingredients arranged. His neatness and organizing tended to be a bit OCD at times, but it was just so much easier when he knew where everything was when a rush hit the kitchens. The window that Gojyo placed the sake was not too far from his station, so he wouldn't have to leave everything unattended when he wanted a drink.

"Thank you, my friend."

He smiled, knowing that Gojyo would remain true to his word. Although he could be lazy, his housemate did know how to fix things properly. On the plus side, the house would stay cleaner for a longer period of time with Gojyo working more and it would give him plenty of time to himself to spend as he wished.

"That sounds nice."

What he meant to say, was 'Wow, Gojyo you really suck at hiding the fact you're being a kiss ass.', but he didn't. Hakkai made a noise of agreement as he wiped down the counter the food would be prepared on. When the other man's attention strayed, he realized that customers had begun to arrive and set about to putting his apron on.

Hearing a soft coo from a tucked away corner, Hakkai produced food for his small dragon to snack on and remain entertained with. He gently stroked Hakuryu's head before going to wash his hands at the sink. The orders were brought by Gojyo not too much later and he laughed, hearing undisguised disgust in his friend's voice.

"What's wrong with them this time?"

He chuckled again with a smile while passing Wu Tai the bento box order and put a small pot on to boil with salt to make the Edamame. At the same time Hakkai worked on the Shrimp Yaki Soba. Everything was fairly easy to make and was done quickly with two efficient cooks. He was after all used to cooking for Goku of all people.

[Sha Gojyo]

If Hakkai was thinking the stuff about the sake week was his way of kissing ass, that was actually a bit off. He had done the homework several days ago. It was just being started ahead of time so he could see how well it was received. The overtime...Now that was the somewhat indirect ass kissing. Not only was he aiming to fix the problem, but it was giving Hakkai plenty of perks on the side. Besides, the only person Gojyo ever went out of his way to please was mostly Hakkai...Due to the fact the quiet man could get quite scary when he was pissed and he knew what devious tricks the man could pull, like stuffing chocolate in his cigarettes or swapping the coffee grounds for dirt.

"This time? Try everytime." Gojyo puckered out his lips and made obnoxious kissing noises, to which Wu Tai simply arched a brow before he continued his work on the bento box meal. He was fairly used to his strange coworkers and their habits. Usually ignoring it all and keeping to himself made the night easier for him. Gojyo shook his head, "And she looks like she's getting a bump...Can you imagine them bringing a kid in here at some point? And then that kid will be bringing their dates here...And why the fuck am I talking like we're going to be here for the next twenty whole years?"

The redhead grunted, glancing back to check before turning back to the kitchen. He wasn't very sure. Then again, he never figured he would start living a somewhat button-downed life. He had always assumed he would live the punk life and eventually die young like one. Now he was being more behaved and even working an honest job, well, as honest as sneaking drinks from the bar got but yeah. Not to mention, he never thought he would have actual friends around while starting off such a lifestyle.

"Huh..." Hakkai had to be wearing off on him or something. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. When he glanced back over, seeing the couple exchange...Oh geez, eskimo kisses of all things! Gojyo looked like he wanted to fall over and turned away. The kappa scowled, speaking of Yanma in a manner he never had in front of his friend, "It's like watching the skank make eyes at Sanzo...Puke-a-rama."

[Cho Hakkai]

No matter how annoying his friends got, Hakkai never really stayed upset with any of them. It just wasn't apart of his nature to hold grudges or allow his temper to get the best of him. At least not anymore. Sure he had his own ways of reminding his housemate not to make him mad but it was all in good fun, for him anyway. He took a small drink from his cup before replacing it back at the window with the bottle of sake and returning to his cooking.

The orders were simple enough, and only took very little time to finish making them. Hakkai prepared the noodles and turned off the heat on the Edamane to place it on a plate to let it cool off for a few minutes before forcing his friend to return to the table. He looked up at Gojyo making kissing faces and chuckled.

"C'mon, it can't be that bad. I think it's quite sweet."

Hakkai listened politely while continuing to make the yakisoba. They were living a comfortable life and had stayed relatively routine for quite sometime. It was always hard for him to hear about kids on the way, but he ignored where that train of thought was heading and paid close attention to his cooking.

"I don't know if I like the idea of being fourty and still working here, no offence Wu Tai."

He laughed lightly as the other cook shook his head with a smile. It was a nice thought to think that he would even live that long. Hakkai had never thought that his live expectency was that good. He had already found good friends and a comfortable life, so who was to say that it wouldn't remain good? Hakkai set the Edamane on the window sill between the kitchen and the restaurant for Gojyo to take.

"Yanma? I admit she's got an unhealthy admiration of Sanzo, but I wouldn't call her a skank. She's just a little deluded, so maybe clueless is the better word."

A head shake accompanied his smile this time, wondering how bad she actually was. Hakkai really only had to deal with her on a rare basis and she tended to be a bit spoiled, if not a little excessive in her fascination with Sanzo.