A good gambler knows everyone else as well.

Hakkai picked a tile. Eased it out and placed it next to his lonely line of discards. Goku started, then stared closely at it, then subsided.

That was the kid. A skilled player, but an unguarded one. Hakkai nodded as Goku discarded a tile. "Ron," he announced softly, taking the tile and tipping his hand over to display a complete set.

"Ahhh," Goku tipped his head back for a moment, ruing the momentary carelessness. "Hunger’s making me lose concentration. I need something to eat." He glanced at Sanzo, who was calmly tipping his tiles over and pushing them to the center of the table. "Do you want something to eat, Sanzo?"

"No," the priest replied.

"You sure?" Goku persisted. Sanzo shot him a look.

A gambler measures the odds. Hakkai began turning his tiles over. For some reason... it’s simple for Goku. He doesn’t have anything to hold him back. He has instincts that say ‘go’. He doesn’t seem to have instincts that say ‘hold’. He wouldn’t care if he got smacked over the head -- ah, it just happened again.

"I’ll go with you," Hakkai announced. "I need a bite too."

"Great!" Goku exclaimed, leaping up. "You want a beer, Sanzo?"

"Anything for you, Gojyo?" Hakkai asked.

"Naw," Gojyo replied, lighting a cigarette. "Who needs food when you have a fag..."

"True," Hakkai laughed. "Come on, Goku."

"Mahjong was a good idea," he told Goku, when they were out of the room.

"You think so?" Goku replied. "It always seems to get Sanzo’s mind off problems. And he’s been upset of late."

"He’s irked at the delay," Hakkai nodded.

"That and he’s worried," Goku frowned. Hakkai glanced at him. "I think he’s worried that we might be attacked again or something... maybe he knows something about who’s behind these attacks."

A door slammed open. They spun, saw Gojyo standing in the doorway and waving frantically. Don’t tell me... Hakkai ran, spared one look at the worry on Gojyo’s face, then pushed past him.

"He just slumped over," Gojyo was babbling behind him. "He was fine one moment, then he started coughing and swearing then--"

Hakkai turned, plucked the cigarette from Gojyo’s lips, and ground it out in the ashtray. He shoved it at Goku. "Take this out."

They’d moved the table to the side of the bed, Sanzo had shifted somewhat to face it and the rest of them had drawn up chairs. Now Sanzo was slumped over the table, the tiles scattered where he’d pushed them aside. As Hakkai approached, the priest clawed his way upright, spitting blood. A string of curses somehow managed to wind its way through the coughing fit.

"...Get that... kappa...bloody noxious..."

"Already done," Hakkai assured him, helping him to sit up and lean back.

Sanzo rolled his eyes. "...This sucks..." He raised a hand to wipe away the blood seeping out of his mouth, and only succeeded in smudging it.

"Gojyo -- a towel, please," Hakkai called.

"Er... yeah, right." Gojyo vanished as Goku reappeared.

"What happened? I thought you were fine!" Goku demanded. "I thought you were recovering!"

"Dumb ape," Sanzo muttered.

"It’s possible that we underestimated the extent of the internal damage," Hakkai said, brushing a hand against Sanzo’s forehead. Sanzo pushed him away. "I’m fine."

"You’re pale," Goku said accusingly. "And you’re sweating."

"Do you know how much it hurts, coughing with bloody torso wounds?" Sanzo snapped. Gojyo returned with the requested towel, and Hakkai passed it over. Sanzo scrubbed at the blood and stared at it in disgust.

Coughing up blood, Hakkai thought. But there wasn’t any lung damage. He glanced at the window, where the trees were swaying as the wind gusted through them. Several leaves came loose, some already curled and brown. They were whisked away and vanished, specks against a clouded sky.

Winter, he realized. Always a bad time to take ill...

Sanzo was watching him. Hakkai returned a bright, sunny smile. "I’ll just consult the doctor, shall I? Gojyo... Goku, why don’t you guys think about getting dinner?"

It wasn’t really a suggestion. The aforenamed stood, one with considerably less enthusiasm than the other.

"And Sanzo? No cigarettes for the time being."

Sanzo shot him a glare. "It’s not as if I have any at the moment."

"Oh yes," Hakkai said, feeling the weight in his pocket where a box had been newly added. And he bade a hasty retreat.

***

"Pneumonia?" the physician frowned. "It’s possible. And the coughing might have further aggravated his injuries. Were there any other symptoms? Pain during breathing?"

"He had a fever," Hakkai added.

"But it’s rather sudden, for an onset..."

"...I doubt it was sudden," Hakkai said. "Sanzo has a bad tendency to conceal his ailments. Chances are, we simply failed to notice it before." He was rather quiet today...

"There’s not much we can do, besides relieve the symptoms," the physician said. "If he were in perfect health, I’d say that he would make a full recovery." But...

"I understand."

"Give him this, twice a day."

"Thank you."

Hakkai trudged back to the inn. Night was coming early, the sky darkening to the color of lead and looking just as heavy. The wind cut past, doing little to stir the laden clouds.

Rain or snow, he wondered.

Sanzo wasn’t a rain person. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. But neither was he a bright sunshine person. I’d venture to say that it doesn’t fit your personality.

But there was something to be sad about windy days -- where it wasn’t raining. There was something to be said about fighting their way through the gusts, screaming to be heard above the wail of the wind. Gojyo would be cursing, trying to tie his hair back to keep it out of his eyes. Goku would be struggling with his cape. Sanzo would -- billowing robes and all, push on ahead through sheer determination, the muttered curses just barely audible, followed by frenzied activity when some part of his robe was caught on a branch. And Hakkai would lead or follow, Hakuryuu a warm bundle against his chest.

If they were lucky, there would be one of those moments where the wind dropped just as they crested a bend. Most times, it would just be more forest and wasteland lying ahead, and Sanzo would sigh and trudge on, but some times, just sometimes there would be lights shimmering ahead, lights that promised warmth, shelter, and food. And as Gojyo and Goku whooped and ran on ahead, Sanzo would raise an eyebrow and give him an amused look. And Hakuryuu would pop his head out and squeak in delight, and all would be right with the world.

***

"Hakkai!" a voice called to him, as he stepped into the inn.

"Goku?"

"Guess what," Goku said, running up, breathless. "There’s a rumor that another youkai was seen at the edge of the forest. Big guy. Think we missed one? Or is this another group that’s come in?"

"I’d bank on the latter," Hakkai said grimly. Big guy? But Zakuro’s not big... "Anything more than that?"

"Nothing so far, but everyone’s saying that he might attack at night."

"We’d better be vigilant, then."

"Yeah, and we got lots of stuff for dinner! Everyone was so eager to sell off their goods and hurry home, so we bought tons! Besides, it’s just one youkai... we can beat him up anytime. I wanted to go after him, but Gojyo said that it wasn’t our problem."

"Given the circumstances, he might be right. It might not even be a hostile youkai. Is Sanzo okay?"

"He was sleeping the last time I checked on him. What did the doctor say?"

"It might be a lung disease, but he should be fine." Hakkai placed the medication on the table. "By the way, where’s Gojyo?"

***

Gojyo wasn’t quite sure why he was now trudging through the failing light, headed for the part of town where they’d reportedly seen a large and dangerous youkai. It was practical -- he’d dropped the kid off so there was someone to look after the priest if anyone happened... and Hakkai would be back soon. So they didn’t need three people tripping over themselves in their haste to look after one person -- not that Sanzo wanted looking after, anyway.

Besides, he wanted time out and fresh air. Where he could smoke in peace.

He paused. The wind was dying down a little, whispering around the edges, stirring the leaves and grit on the ground. A piece of crumpled paper rolled down the street, a lonely little tumbleweed.

Gojyo could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing. It was just too... bloody quiet.

He’d reached the outskirts. There was a fence here, a miserable attempt to keep the wilderness at bay. It wouldn’t work against youkai.

"Well," he said to himself, and jumped over the fence.

The ground was scuffed. It could have been anything -- kids jumping over the fence to sneak out to play... people passing by... or youkai. He wanted to believe that it was youkai, some big bad one...

...oh, but Goku and Hakkai had been the ones who went out after the last bunch. Granted, he didn’t like to get his hands dirty on anyone else’s behalf, but, well... sometimes one just needed a punching bag, you know?

He couldn’t sense any youryoku, though, which implied that the youkai might have gone. Of course, youryoku wasn’t like a smell that lingered. And it could be masked, or hidden. Or whatever.

Super detective Gojyo, he mused. Out here skulking on a youkai’s trail because he’s bored and can’t stand another evening of Hakkai fussing over the damn monk and the kid looking so depressed.

Speaking of cigarettes...

He fished his pack out. The lighter flared brightly, reminding him of just how dark it was becoming. But that was largely irrelevant after the first breath.

He followed the fence. Here and there -- he thought he saw a slight mark in the dirt, or a depression in the scant grass. Someone with a heavy tread had passed by. Paused for a moment, where there was a break in the houses. Staring down the lane. Watching. Observing.

"Hell, this isn’t any dumb youkai," Gojyo muttered.

"Of course not," a voice said out of the darkness.

And Gojyo had the short lived sensation of the world going very, very wrong indeed.

***

"He’s probably out drinking," Goku said. He was seated by Sanzo’s beside, watching the priest in some concern. "Gojyo, I mean. I didn’t see him go."

"Perhaps," Hakkai said, staring out of the window. He couldn’t see anything; it was as dark as pitch with the sky overcast. I don’t need a second member of our group running into trouble just now... And Sanzo was definitely running up a fever.

"Don’t let him catch pnemonia," Hakkai whispered out into the dark, to whatever gods were listening. "Not here... and not now..."

If it were any other member of the group, he might have worried less. Gojyo brushed off illness like one might brush off a fly, and he hadn’t seen Goku fall sick once.

But humans could and would die from pnemonia, year after year, the young and the frail, the old and weak...

...he glanced at Sanzo, noticing the slight laboring with each breath.

Be strong, he wished the priest.

"Say... it’s awfully late. Do you think Sanzo should wake up and have dinner?" Goku asked. "And Gojyo’s dinner too... just looking at it makes me hungry."

Hakkai frowned. It was awfully late. "Goku..." he said slowly. "I think you’d better go and look for Gojyo."

"Look for Gojyo? Huh?" Goku asked. "You think he’s in trouble?"

"I’d like to be sure that he isn’t," Hakkai replied, keeping his tone light. "I’ll stay; I need change the bandages, anyway."

"Oh. Right. Sure you don’t need any help?" Goku asked.

"No, I’ll manage. Please, Goku -- go find Gojyo and drag him back."

"And if he doesn’t come back, do I get his dinner?" Goku said, his eyes gleaming.

"Of course."

***
TBC
***

A/N : Ah, I had entirely too much fun reading up about fractures and the different kinds of pneumonia for this chapter. (Funny, reading thousands of words in order to write a few lines...) Say, Sanzo, which one do you want? The viral one with minimal sputum but which affects the throat and bronchus as well, or the bacterial one that will have you coughing your lungs out? ...Don’t worry, both hurt. I made sure of that. ^_^.

This fic is written purely to amuse myself. Which means that I've gotten tired of evading cliches and will proceed to hash them out in a very melodramatic and overdone plot. Yeah. XP

More inanity :

Take #5 :
If they were lucky, there would be one of those moments where the wind dropped just as they crested a bend. Most times, it would just be more forest and wasteland lying ahead, and Sanzo would sigh and trudge on, but some times, just sometimes there would be lights shimmering ahead, lights that promised warmth, shelter, and food. And as Gojyo and Goku whooped and ran on ahead, Sanzo would raise an eyebrow and give him an amused look.

"I’ll bet you ten to one that’s a youkai encampment."

Take #6 :
Sanzo would -- billowing robes and all, push on ahead through sheer determination, the muttered curses just barely audible, followed by frenzied activity when some part of his robe was caught on a branch. And if Hakkai had bribed the Muse enough, the rest of the robe would get horribly entangled, and Hakkai would have the perfect excuse to drag the priest behind the nearest bush.

Take #7 :
"There’s not much we can do, besides relieve the symptoms," the physician said. "If he were in perfect health, I’d say that he would make a full recovery." But...

"I understand."

"Give him this, twice a day."

"Thank you.... wait, nicotine flavored condoms?"

(See, if not for the outtakes, this would be a perfectly normal ficcie. Since when did throwing two guys in to the same room mean anything, anyway? ...Right?)