Gojyo grit his teeth. Man, it was starting to hurt.

Tenpou could only stare dumbly at the scene. Goku had known. But the longer he thought about it, the more he found it less surprising. The boy had always been more perceptive than they all thought and it was a grave miscalculation on his part that he could hide this secret from Goku for very long. And it was more than he deserved from somebody he supposedly abandoned...or will abandon sometime.

While the two grappled, Tenpou briskly got up and went for the door. He needed to feel the wind against his face again. Goku and Gojyo didn't notice the lack of presence until wood slammed against wood. "See what you did!" shouted Goku before he went to follow. The half-breed caught him by the collar.

"Oi. Goku..." he said, thoughtful this time. "How long did you know about him?"

"I guess...I guess I never totally completely forgot." the boy replied, looking at his wrists as if expecting his gauntlets to transform before his eyes.

"And you're not in the least worried about Hakkai?"

"Why should I? Hakkai's the one who always knows his way around. He'll find his way back, but Ten-chan...Ten-chan seems really lost around here."

Why was it so easy for him to grasp the concept of the two of them switching? Gojyo could only wonder.

The reincarnation part...the half-breed could accept, although he preferred not to linger on it. Enemies have called him Kenren Taishou before. Homura did. Those soldiers in the tower did. But he never really accepted the idea. Neither could Sanzo, and he was supposed to be the closest to heaven any mortal could ever be.

But Goku was over five hundred years old. He never died. He knew ALL of them. So could it be that somewhere in that ape brain of his, he never registered the difference between Hakkai and Tenpou, between Sanzo and Konzen, between me and...

"Saru, you stay here and wait for Sanzo." Gojyo got up, headed for the door and left before Goku could argue.

...as if there never really was a difference in the first place.

****