Disclaimer: Saiyuki and the Sanzo party are not owned by me and no profit has been made, this ficlet was purely written for pleasure ^_~!

Title: Red

Author: Tai

Pairing: Gojyo/Sanzo

Fandom: Saiyuki

Theme: #19 Red / 赤

Warnings: Shounen-ai

Spoilers: None

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The jeep jerked to a halt outside an inn, raising a cloud of dust behind as the tyres bit into the road. Goku jumped out as soon as the vehicle was stationary shouting that it was time for dinner. Hakkai shared a knowing look with Gojyo before going after the monkey to make sure he didn’t cause too much trouble in his search for food, and to book them rooms for the night. Gojyo stretched, it sure was gonna be nice to sleep in a bed after sleeping on the ground for the last three nights. A hot bath was also high on his agenda.

Sanzo hadn’t moved from his slumped position so Gojyo poked him with his toe.

“C’mon, you lazy monk, we’re here, you can wake up now.”

Sanzo swayed slightly but made no sign of moving. Gojyo gave an exasperated huff and jumped out the jeep to wake Sanzo up.

“Sanzo, come on, this is getting old. You coming, or not?”

The monk still looked to be asleep.

“Oh, I get it! Sleeping Beauty needs a kiss from her Prince Charming. Well, you asked for this so don’t hit me too hard with that bloody fan of yours.”

Gojyo leaned in towards Sanzo expecting to be thwacked any moment for invading the testy monk’s personal space. Nothing. So Gojyo did what he had wanted to try for a while, he kissed Sanzo… and realised what was wrong at once. The lips his met were velvety soft as he expected, but also feverishly hot. Sanzo started to come to, trying to bat away Gojyo’s hand, which was now on the monk’s forehead confirming his suspicions.

“How dare you do that?” Sanzo mumbled, fighting to try and stand up.

“Sanzo, you idiot, it was a joke. Calm down, you’re sick. Let me help you…”

“No!” Sanzo pushed Gojyo away and got up, took two steps and passed out again.

Gojyo recovered his own balance just in time to catch Sanzo before he smacked into the hard, compacted dirt of the road.

“You goddamned stubborn asshole!” Gojyo shouted at the oblivious monk, as they both crashed to the ground, Gojyo acting as a cushion against Sanzo’s fall.

A shadow blocked the sun. Gojyo shook tendrils of his long red hair out of his eyes and looked up to find himself staring at Hakkai’s smiling face.

“Something wrong?” he asked calmly.

“Yeah, ‘sweetness and light’ here is sick and it hasn’t improved his temperament one bit.”

“Oh my, he does look red in the face. Maybe he has sunstroke?”

“Personally, I don’t give a shit what he has, just get him off me, he’s heavy.”

Hakkai scooped the unconscious man up into his arms and started to make his way back to the inn when Goku appeared polishing off a meat bun, another two in his other hand.

“What’s wrong with Sanzo, Hakkai?”

“He’s not very well, Goku, so I’m going to take him up to our rooms so that he can sleep and get better.”

“Is he gonna be okay?” Goku’s voice had a tremor of concern in it.

“Of course he is.” Gojyo reassured Goku having picked himself up and dusted himself down. “Knowing Sanzo-sama, he won’t let this slow him down for long, plus Hakkai’ll help him get better.”

Hakkai nodded, as he made his way to the stairs, Goku close behind. Gojyo watched them go.

“Do you think Sanzo would like a meat bun, Hakkai? He can have one of mine.”

“That’s very generous of you, Goku, but I doubt that Sanzo will want anything to eat for a while.”

“Oh.” Goku’s shoulders slumped slightly.

“You could get him some water though.”

“Okay!” Gojyo could see that the fire was back in the monkey’s step as he bounded up the stairs ahead of Hakkai and Sanzo to carry out his task.

Gojyo lingered for a moment before heading after his companions; he smiled as he brushed his lips with his fingertips.

“I think I’m going to find the taste of you addictive, Sanzo-sama,” he whispered to the now empty lobby.

~owari~