A Goku and Sanzo One Shot

Common Sense

It was misting outside, not quite hard enough to bother him, but still enough to put Sanzo in a contemplative mood. It made the priest think of death, and the consequences of that death on the people it leaves behind. The worst part of being attached to something, was losing it. So it would make sense not to get attached to something that would disappear soon, wouldn't it? But common sense just didn't apply to some people, or stupid monkeys for that matter. Sanzo turned his head slowly from the window to look at the other occupant who had just entered the small bedroom. "What do you want, Goku?"

"It's not raining yet, and you're not smoking. I can still come see how your doing, can't I?" Goku closed the door behind him and walked the five feet over to Sanzo sitting on the bed. The room he was sharing with Hakkai was really tiny. The two beds flush against the walls had barely four feet in between them. Goku pulled a pack of Marlboros out of a pocket and a lighter he had snitched off of Gojyo and handed them over to the priest. "Well, you're not smoking, yet."

Sanzo smirked and took the package and lighter and tapped it against his leg before ripping off the plastic. He lit up a stick before turning back to the window. "For someone who hates my smoking, you don't hesitate to bring me a pack when I'm out."

Goku shrugged. "Only because it's raining, and Hakkai can't get any."

"That so."

"I don't mind it when you smoke when it rains." Goku sat down on the bed next to the other man. "It just doesn't seem right when you don't."

"Start making sense or I'm throwing you out." Sanzo fingered the pack of cigarettes slowly.

"I just mean, that you smoking in the rain seems like its meant to be, or something." Goku stretched his arms out and over his head before relaxing his posture.

"What do you want? If it was just the cigarettes you would have left already." Sanzo took a slow drag as the rain puttered. He tried to ignore Goku's presence so close to his own, but it was hard with the boy's body heat raising the room temperature.

"I can't just sit with you?" Goku huffed and leaned onto his back. "It's not like we ever get to be by ourselves any more."

"Where are the other two idiots, anyway?" Sanzo watched Goku from his peripheral. "Usually Hakkai's in here bothering me, too."

"Gojyo dragged him out to a bar." Goku snickered. "Something about a drinking contest. Hakkai went for the free wine."

"Figures." Sanzo watched the rain speed up for a moment before slowing down again. He really wished it would make up its mind and let his mood settle into one thing. "You can go now."

"And if I don't want to?"

"I'll beat you senseless."

"You'd do that anyway." Goku rolled over onto his side away from Sanzo. It was nice just sitting here with Sanzo. It was relaxing and Goku felt like he could just drift off to sleep. "I already told you, I just want to sit."

"I don't think it's possible for you to just sit and be quiet." Sanzo shifted his shoulder a little to pop a joint.

Goku chuckled. "That might be true, but I know you like it a little when I pester you. Otherwise you would have actually shot me."

"Are you ever going to grow up?" Sanzo blew a breath of smoke and watched it rise. He studied the small ringlets of smoke coming from the end of his cigarette. They didn't hold in the air long, just enough to be noticed before puffing out of existence. Life is like a cigarette, indeed. That old monk knew what he was talking about, just like he knew the good brands of smokes.

"I'm not a child, Sanzo." Goku sat up so he could look at Sanzo better. The man wasn't looking at him, but the candle on the small end table lit up the contours of his face. His eyes seemed to shine on their own in the limited lighting. "I'm nineteen."

"Adults leave home when they grow up." Sanzo tilted his head slightly to consider his charge. "You're still following me around, aren't you?"

"It's not the same thing." Goku pulled a leg up onto the bed and turned to watch the rain with Sanzo. He wasn't sure what the priest saw out there, but Goku could see the drops sparkling with the little bits of light still out in the sunset. It was really beautiful when it wasn't drenching the ground.

"So you're going to follow me around for the rest of my life, then?" Sanzo reached back to stick the cigarette into an empty beer can. "What a waste."

"The 'rest of my life?'" Goku fell back against the bed again and stretched. "I thought the saying went 'the rest of your life.'"

"It's just a hunch, and while I'll try to spite you, I think you're going to outlive us all by a few hundred years." Sanzo turned away from the window and stood up off of the bed. The topic was making him uncomfortable, as well as Goku's proximity. The boy was always so close, always touching him. Not even Master was that close. "Isn't it a waste of your time getting to know something that won't be there very long."

"If I'm going by that standard I might as well not get to know anybody." Goku huffed. Sometimes the heretic couldn't understand what went on in the other man's head.

"Exactly."

"I don't think I like that idea very much."

Sanzo walked around the bed to lean against a wall and searched for another cigarette to light up. "Even if you weren't going to outlive me, you'd think you would want to go out and see other things than the stuffy temple. Which is where I'm going when this damn mission is over, so don't get your hopes up."

Goku propped himself up again and stared at Sanzo. He could hear the rain outside the window as it poured more steadily now. That explained why the man's mood was deteriorating so quickly, but that was okay. "I don't plan to. I've lived there all these years, so a few more won't kill me."

Sanzo became uncomfortable as Goku watched him. The boy had a mischievous look on his face and an amused grin had just stretched across it. "What the hell just made you so happy?"

"I just thought of something." Goku grinned. "I think I just will follow you around for the rest of your life."

"And why is that?"

"It's just common sense." Goku jumped of the bed to stand up straight. He held a finger up like a teacher and leaned foreword just a little. "It would make sense, that if I'm going to outlive you for a few hundred years, than I'll have plenty of time later to meet other people. And, if I have plenty of time to meet others, than wouldn't it make sense that I spend as much time with you as possible because you're important to me and I don't want to miss a minute? So therefore, it makes sense that I would follow you for the rest of your life and protect you to make sure it is as long as possible, even if I am bored at the stuffy old temple. Right?"

Sanzo kept his hair over his eyes and smirked. So the monkey really did grow up at some point along this little journey. He took a slow drag on the new cigarette and pushed off the wall to head out of the room. A cup of coffee was sounding good right about now. Sanzo let the breath of smoke out slowly and let it linger. "You're an idiot."

Goku sighed just a little as Sanzo walked over to the door. He had hoped to get a bit more of a reaction and cheer him up just a little. It was an odd feeling knowing that there is no way the man in front of him couldn't be precious, while trying to figure out just why it was true. There really wasn't much reason to follow around this cranky monk for another eighty years or so, but Goku couldn't see himself doing anything else. "Maybe I am just an idiot."

Sanzo paused at the door handle as he felt Goku's mood drop with the rain pouring down. The last thing Sanzo needed was a depressed monkey following him around all day and night. He shook his head and cursed himself for his own stupidity when he answered. "But you can do whatever the hell you want. You're an adult, aren't you?"

The boy let out a breath of laughter and shook his head a little to clear it. Leave it to Sanzo to crush down any little bit of melancholy Goku might be feeling. "You better believe it."

"When I see it." Sanzo finally opened the door but stopped as that brown mop of hair jumped in front of him. That boy moved much too quickly for his own good sometimes. "What now?"

"Let's get something to eat!" Goku shot a fist into the air. "I'm starving!"

"You're always hungry you stupid ape." Sanzo shook his head as he followed the boy out of the doorway. He truly was a fool for ever letting that animal out of its cage. But sometimes, it was just common sense to be a fool.