Hakkai sighed, letting the breath rush out between his teeth. Another whole week had passed, and nothing had changed, except that he knew, he knew, he knew...

He really hated the knowing.

And he thought maybe his facade of blissful ignorance was starting to crack. Not that anyone had called him on it, or even seemed to notice yet, but inside he knew it was all he could do to not confront Sanzo about his utterly inappropriate behavior — and then duck and cover when the bullets started flying.

But confrontation was never his way, not in situations such as these (has there ever been another situation like this, Gonou? he thought to himself. In your entire lifetime?), and anyway Sanzo hadn’t actually done anything worthy of a confrontation yet. Looking was not the same as touching. Lord knew that if looking counted as sex, Gojyo would’ve been intimate with them all at least thirty times by now — and with Sanzo, probably even more than that.

So he did nothing, and Sanzo did nothing, and as far as Hakkai could tell Goku did nothing but eat, sleep, eat some more, argue with Gojyo, and pester Sanzo for whatever reason occurred to him until he got hit with the paper fan or shot at — and Gojyo seemed content doing basically the same things, only with a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your point of view) helping of sex and flirting added in to the mix.

It was all driving Hakkai just the slightest bit mad.

But now here was the perfect opportunity to express himself, to tell Sanzo what he felt Sanzo needed to know without actually ‘telling’ Sanzo anything (since that would probably — no, definitely — get him shot). He was better at doing things this way anyway, better at talking around pertinent points rather than address them directly...

So as Sanzo sat very still in his seat and tried not to twitch listening to Goku and Gojyo bicker over a certain meat bun even though a platter of them sat not far away from both of their overstuffed plates, Hakkai decided to broach the subject as delicately as he possibly could.

He kept half his gaze leisurely trained on Sanzo’s hands the whole time, waiting for a sign that either one was going for his gun. He wasn’t stupid.

“It’s kind of funny, isn’t it, Sanzo,” he said pleasantly, “how no matter what happens, Goku and Gojyo remain the same? It’s quite refreshing, actually.”

Sanzo gave him a look that could only be described as funny. Hakkai smiled, even though the expression was among the last his face wanted to make.

“They never change,” he went on, glancing pointedly at Goku. Sanzo followed his gaze and frowned darkly. Maybe I’m getting through, Hakkai thought. He spoke again, this time feeling much more hopeful about Sanzo actually getting — and conceding — his point...

“Let’s hope they never do, yes?”

Violet eyes narrowed suspiciously. Hakkai knew, then, that he’d won, because Sanzo knew precisely what he meant and even Sanzo must agree that Goku-

“Everything changes, idiot,” Sanzo said, gruff voice unusually low and harsh — Sanzo could play this game, too, that was obvious, though Hakkai could tell from the pinched set of his lips that it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Or maybe that was just from the nature of their discussion. He certainly felt a little sick again...

“Besides,” Sanzo said as he reached for the newspaper Hakkai had had the serving girl bring him just before dinner (a calming tactic, one that had the added bonus of being just obvious enough that Sanzo would know Hakkai wanted something from him), “things that never change are so lame.”

Sanzo froze, hand outstretched. He appeared startled by his own words, though Hakkai didn’t know why. Sure it was strange to hear Sanzo call anything ‘lame’ (usually he used much harsher words), but it wasn’t as though he couldn’t understand what the monk was telling him...

Sanzo sat back, the newspaper abandoned, and glared at Hakkai as though he was the source of all of his problems. Hakkai smiled genially in return.

Goku and Gojyo were getting progressively louder. Hakkai could see Sanzo notice this, watch the emotions play over the unchanging face Sanzo showed him. He could read Sanzo so well, no matter how hard the blonde tried to hide...

Which was why he knew, immediately, that his words were going to be ignored.

Before he could say anything more, Sanzo stood up from the table, fan immediately in hand and descending upon the heads of two people who really shouldn’t have been surprised by it. As Gojyo swore and Goku whined, Sanzo snarled at them to shut up, and exited the bar without a word of explanation.

Goku stared. Gojyo stared. Hakkai put his head in his hands while both of them weren’t looking at him.

He has to see what this is. He’s not stupid, or naive in any sense of the word. He has to know. He has to know this is wrong.

Hakkai looked up just in time to see Goku willingly abandon his meal in favor of running after Sanzo. Gojyo, obviously floored by this turn of events, was left staring after him.

And Hakkai was left with that same dull nausea roiling around in his gut, wanting to choke him.

Goku and Sanzo finally returned two hours later, just when Hakkai was about to start truly freaking out and go after them. He really, really wasn’t comfortable with the idea of the two of them alone together right now...

But they walked into his room at the inn they’d be staying at easily enough, nothing strange in either the priest or the boy’s demeanor. The only odd thing was that Sanzo actually came into his room; the monk obviously had yet to realize it (or just didn’t want to acknowledge it), but the reason they often met in his room was because he flatly refused to set foot in any of theirs’, even when the situation warranted a group meeting of sorts...

But Sanzo was here, and glaring, and so normal Hakkai could actually imagine, for a moment, that things were still alright between them.

But then Goku grabbed Sanzo’s hand to pull him further into the room and get him sitting on the good chair by the window (having summarily kicked Gojyo out of it first, leaving the redhead grumbling goodnaturedly on the floor), and Sanzo allowed it. Didn’t do more than roll his eyes. Was as passive as Genjo Sanzo ever allowed himself to be.

It was... unsettling. Unnerving.

Sanzo suddenly looked at him, looked with a gaze only he could pull off that was wise and young and angry and understanding and knowing all at once, and Hakkai blanched. He hurriedly dismissed himself, rushing from the room even as Gojyo called after him, “hey! This is your room, y’know!”

He knew. But he suddenly couldn’t be in it any longer.