It was almost a perfect evening as the Sanzo-ikkou pulled into the next town on their journey. They had been driving since early that morning and all four were looking forward to a reprieve.

They pulled up to the inn and stepped out of the jeep; then, getting their bags out of the back so Hakuryuu could transform and curl up on Hakkai's shoulder, they headed towards the inn.

It all happened faster than anyone could blink. As soon as the door openned, and they were assaulted by the smell of food and by the laughter of women, Sanzo and Hakkai found themselves lacking two companions and gaining two bags. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Gojyo and Goku had gone.

"Yare Yare." Hakkai mumbled with a chuckle as he noticed the monk reaching towards his gun, finger twitching. Sanzo just growled and sent a glare that could easily kill, towards the abandoned bags, there was no way in hell he was carrying the Saru and Kappa's luggage.

"Ne, Sanzo?" He turned to face the grinning youkai and grunted to let the brunette know that he had his attention. As usual Hakkai amazed him by practically reading his mind, but of course he didn't let his face show any emotion. "We don't have to carry them. The bags should be there when their owners return."

Sanzo smirked, from the actions of the villagers he had seen on the way in, that wasn't likely.

Hakkai's smile grew, "Shall we get rooms?" Sanzo nodded slightly and they headed towards the front desk.

= = = =

-Later that night-

Sanzo leaned on the windowsill, a cigarette hanging from his lips. He stared out at the sun that was slowing sinking beyond the horizon; it was lighting the town, and Sanzo himself, with a deep hue of red. Neither Goku nor Gojyo had returned since their 'disappearance' that evening. Sanzo welcomed the quiet.

A soft click of the door alerted him to his 'roommate's' presence. He heard the springs of one of the twin beds creak when Hakkai's weight settled upon it. He continued to stare into the distance. It was little surprise that Hakkai planned on going to sleep early since he had driven since very early that morning.

Sanzo began to relax as silence once again filled the room; that was one reason he preferred Hakkai's company to the company of the other two. Hakkai had the ability to be quite. Just as Sanzo was beginning to really feel calm it happened.

-Hic-

Silence once again filled the room, except this time it was an awkward one. For a minute Sanzo thought he had been hearing things, but it wasn't long until it came again.

-Hic-

"Yare Yare." Well, it would seem Hakkai either wasn't as asleep as Sanzo had assumed, or the tremors that ran through his body had easily woken up the light sleeper.

-Hic-

"Stop that." That was definitely an order, as it seemed Sanzo's reason for enjoying Hakkai's company was gone. The monk had tensed up considerably.

Hakkai sat up on the bed and turned to face Sanzo."I..... -Hic-..... can't."

Sanzo glanced towards the brunette and noticed the light blush across Hakkai's cheeks, along with his usual smile. He dismissed it and turned back towards the window.

"Well find a way." Sanzo glanced back towards the youkai and had to stop himself from laughing. Hakkai had his eyes closed tightly, and was using one hand to prop himself on the sheets while the other hand was pinching his nose and making his cheeks puff out. It was kind of cute.

Sanzo's eyes opened wide as that thought registered in his mind, o-ok maybe c-cute wasn't a good word.

Hakkai's eyes opened and he removed his hand to wait and see if the hiccups returned. After waiting about a minute and having nothing happen he smiled cheerfully at the blonde monk.

"There, that's b- -Hic-"

The departure of the Saru and Kappa must have put Sanzo in a better mood than he had thought, because it took a large amount of will power not to smile at the half frustrated and half embarrassed look on the brunette's face. Instead he put on a scowl and turned to face the twin beds, "I thought I said to get rid of them."

Hakkai just chuckled, "I'm open for suggestions, if you -Hic- have any."

Sanzo glared at the man but was silently thinking back to what they had done the time Goku had gotten the hiccups. Come to think of it, he didn't remember how Goku had gotten rid of them. He certainly didn't remember giving any suggestions; the hiccups were just there in one memory and not in another.

-Hic-

Oh, now he remembered. They had tried for two hours to get Goku's hiccups to go away, and when the sound had finally grated down Sanzo's last nerve he had just kicked the boy out of the room and made him find his own cure. But he didn't like the way that idea felt when he put Hakkai into Goku's position.

"Ne, Sanzo?" Oh right Hakkai was waiting for an answer.

-Hic-

"Go get a drink of water." The brunette chuckled again as he rose and headed towards the table where a pitcher of water and four plastic cups waited. After Hakkai took a slow drink of the water the pair waited, but they didn't have to wait long.

-Hic-

"Would you stop that?" A vein was practically throbbing in the blonde's forehead, but Hakkai just shrugged, "I can't help it."

After several failed attempts of standing on his head using the wall as a prop Sanzo growled, he was loosing his patience, "That's not going to work, try something else."

-Hic-

Hakkai nodded slightly and got another drink.

-Hic-

By now Sanzo was getting frustrated. As Hakkai starting to hold his breath again Sanzo reached over and fisted his hand in the youkai's hair and smashed their lips together. He felt the other gasp against his lips and was wondering why he was kissing Hakkai when he felt the youkai lean into the kiss. Sanzo's mind went completely blank as the kiss progressed. He had no idea when Hakkai's arms had found their way around his neck, or when his had dropped to the brunette's waist, but sometime during the kiss that's where they had wandered to.

Somehow the kiss had deepened without their knowledge but neither of them backed away until their lungs were completely empty and they had to break apart to breathe.

When they finally broke apart the only thing that broke the awkward silence was the sound of the two men gasping for breath. There was a light blush covering both of their cheeks as they tried their best to avoid eye contact. After about three minutes of strained silence, in which both were hoping the other would talk first, the silence was broken.

"N-ne, Sanzo?" How many times had the brunette uttered those two words tonight? Sanzo had no idea but he was secretly thankful that the other had spoken first.

"Hn?"

"My hiccups are gone."