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Watching from Above

Destination 37: Neko Sanzo

Sanzo slowly opened his eyes after being unconscious for several hours. The previous battle had been fierce like never before, not because the enemy was particularly strong, but because the enemy was a cat youkai. The creature might have been defeated, but at the last second it casted a spell on Sanzo that knocked him out cold. Now he woke up to find Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo staring at him. He was used to waking up to find one or more of his companions watching over him, but in the rare occasions when instead of taking turns all three of them watched over him together, he had never woken up to find them staring right at him with such intense expressions.

Usually, Sanzo would wake up to sounds of their conversation. Hakkai would be complaining about Gojyo using a can as an ash tray, Gojyo ignoring him and focusing his attention on his cigarette and Goku complaining about hunger. This time all three of his friends were standing beside his bed, bent over in his direction, looming over him, staring as if he had something very comical on his face. "What are you looking at?" Sanzo was very annoyed. He backed away and sat down in the opposite side of the bed.

Goku, who was smiling as happily as Hakkai and Gojyo, was the first to speak. "Can I pet him?" Goku pointed at Sanzo.

Sanzo blinked in confusion and wondered what in the world Goku was taking about. The eternally hungry boy extended his hand aimed at Sanzo's head, causing the blond to back away. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Leave him be, Goku. It's best if we don't try to pet him right now," Hakkai spoke calmly. Sanzo continued drowning in his confusion.

Gojyo's smile continued to grow. No doubt he had something up his sleeve. "I brought you a present, Sanzo." Sanzo noticed that the red head was hiding something behind his back. He revealed the hidden item to be a little mouse toy tied to a string which was tied to a stick. Gojyo held the stick, moving it up and down, making the mouse on the string bounce.

As if moving by itself, Sanzo's hand reached out for the mouse but he didn't grab it, he hit it with the tip of his fingers making the toy bounce around some more. He repeated the action with his other hand and continued in a rhythmic pattern. He lay down on his bed again so that the mouse was hanging over his head. He kept hitting it over and over, watching it bounce around. This was so much fun, until he realized what he was doing and stood up in a hurry.

Sanzo glared at his three traveling companions from the corner of the room that he had scurried to. "What's going on?" He felt strange. He covered his face with his hands and pushed back his hair as if the gesture would help him clear his mind and figure out what was going on. Then he noticed something, his ears felt very different. "A mirror, I need a mirror!"

"That might not be such a good idea," Hakkai warned, but Sanzo paid no attention and scrambled to search for a mirror.

Sanzo spotted a hand mirror innocently sitting on the nightstand next to the bed, as if someone had placed it there knowing he would ask for it. He picked it up and stared at his reflection. He felt as if the young man staring back at him was mocking him. "That can't be me," the words were filled with denial, but Sanzo knew it was true. His ears were like the ears of a cat, covered in soft golden fur. "Aaaaahhh!" The scream of agony and terror echoed and it was heard all over the town, as Sanzo tossed the mirror into the air and panicked.

Hakkai was quick to react and caught the mirror before it hit the floor and shattered. "Don't forget, if you break a mirror, it will bring you seven years of bad luck." His usual smile did not change, in fact he looked quite amused, as did Goku and Gojyo. Hakkai gently placed the mirror back on the nightstand, as Sanzo continued to rant and panic in a fury of colorful curses.

As he paced back and forth filled with panic and fear, Sanzo noticed that his three traveling companions were staring at him, or more specifically at his behind which, he found extremely creepy. Almost afraid to look he glanced at the reason for their stares. He had a tail, a long fluffy blond tail. "Aaaaahhh!" Once again, another scream of agony and terror echoed and once again it was heard all over town.

While Sanzo ran around in circles screaming and sneezing, the allergies being caused by himself; Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku could no longer hold their laugher. They laughed harder than ever before, they laughed so hard they nearly chocked. They rolled around the floor and kicked into the air while holding their stomachs. They laughed and laughed, until their lungs were begging for oxygen.

Finally, Hakkai composed himself, took a deep breath, cleared his throat and stood in Sanzo's circular path. "Please try to calm down."

Sanzo got a hold of Hakkai's shoulders and shook him violently. "Change me back! I'm a human being not some cat youkai! Change me back!" Sanzo was completely panicked. His voice was a mixture of a deep nasal tone due to his allergies and rage.

"You see, that's the problem, we don't know how to change you back," Hakkai admitted and at Sanzo's panicked glare he added, "yet." With a calm expression, Hakkai continued the explanation. "We know that this was cased by that cat youkai we fought. He has left this world so we cannot get him to undo this. I've been conducting some research to find a cure for this curse. There are very little clues and the information I've found wasn't very revealing, more like a riddle, a contradictive riddle." Hakkai realized that what he was saying was definitely not helping Sanzo calm down.

"I don't want to be a cat!" Sanzo screamed and once more went on a panicked rampage around the small inn room, sneezing all the way. "This is your fault! It's all of your fault and I'll kill you for this!" He searched for his revolver and as soon as he found it, he pointed it at Hakkai, since he was standing the closest.

"Now Sanzo, you know we're trying our best to be supportive. You too need to cooperate," Hakkai completely ignored the shiny metal weapon aimed directly at him.

"Yeah, think of this as the perfect chance to get over your fear of cats, Mr. scardy cat!" Gojyo laughed energetically at his own lame joke.

"Besides, the cat ears are adorable," Goku was amused.

"Oh yes, try to look on the bright side, you look so cute and cuddly now," Hakkai tried encourage. "I do apologize for cutting a hole in your pants, but I imagine that the tail would be most uncomfortable if-"

"Shut up!" Sanzo yelled as pink tint covered his cheeks. Click! Click! Click! His revolver was out of bullets but as soon as he reloaded it those three would be dead. If only he could find some bullets. "What did you do with the bullets?"

"We hid them," Hakkai calmly informed.

"Yup, it was Hakkai's idea," Goku announced.

"By the looks of it was a good idea," Gojyo added.

Feeling angry, frustrated and allergic all at once, Sanzo lifted his revolver and swung it down at Hakkai. Realizing his intention the second Sanzo lifted the ammunition-less weapon, Hakkai jumped out of the way.

"You're all going to pay for this!" Sanzo knew it wasn't their fault, but instead of concentrating all their energy in finding a cure as if their very lives depended on it, and they did, they had laughed at him. Sanzo had to take it out on someone. He kept trying to hit them with the handle of the revolver, coming quite close several times. He occasionally hit the walls and floor, slightly denting the wood of the structure and causing splinters to fly.

In the chaos, Sanzo knocked over a vase which was innocently sitting on a small table on the corner of the room, causing it to shatter to pieces. It seemed that that vase was the only thing besides the mirror left to be knocked over in the entire room. The place looked like a disaster zone, victim of hurricane Sanzo.

Then there was a knock on the door. "Keep it down in there, you're making too much noise!" The voice belonged to the owner of the inn.

"Go to hell!" Sanzo hissed in anger. He tossed his revolver at the closed door. The wood dented and splintered upon receiving the harsh impact of the flying metal object thrown with inhuman strength, fueled by the mixed emotions of frustration and anger.

"Sanzo, if you would just calm down, we could continue our research, but we cannot leave you in such a frenzy," Hakkai voiced, ever so calmly.

That was enough. Sanzo was angry and Hakkai insisted that he calmed down. In his panicked state, suggesting that he calmed down was like a terrible insult. In a split second, Sanzo pounced on Hakkai scratching him with his newly acquired cat claws. Goku and Gojyo jumped in to get the rabid cat off Hakkai and they two received many scratches courtesy of the wrath of Neko Sanzo.

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About an hour later, Sanzo was locked in his room, curled into a ball of sneezing self pity, while Hakkai treated his and the others' wounds. "It is best if we do not anger Sanzo further," Hakkai stated the obvious.

Once they were all finished treating the wounds, Goku continued his usual complaints about hunger, except that time Hakkai and Gojyo agreed. They decided that Sanzo must be hungry too and Gojyo volunteered to venture into his room and bring him some food.

The red haired man stood in front of Sanzo's door with a dish in his hands. Smiling mischievously he knocked. "Are you hungry Sanzo?" A hiss came as a reply. "I'll take that as a yes." Gojyo opened the door and placed the cat dish, filled with cat food on the floor. "Here kitty, kitty, here boy, come get your food!" With a high pitch hiss for a war cry, Sanzo pounced on Gojyo clawing and scratching. "Ah! Get him off! Help! He's gone insane! Get him off!" Gojyo screamed.

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About another hour later, Hakkai was almost done treating Gojyo's injuries. "You really shouldn't have played that joke on him."

"I couldn't resist," Gojyo was in pain, excruciating pain, but the look on Sanzo's face when he saw the cat food was priceless and he would forever treasure it in his memories.

Goku had been sent to take some real food to Sanzo. He stood at the door and considered eating the food himself and telling Hakkai that Sanzo ate it, but he would surely be caught in the lie. He gulped and knocked on the door while holding the tray of food with his other hand. "Sanzo, I brought you some food, human food," Goku specified.

"Come in," came Sanzo's feline sounding voice ending with a sneeze.

Goku entered the room to find Sanzo curled up in an odd cat like position on his bed. His sheets were shredded as if he had scratched. He was still wearing his black pants and shirt and had not bothered to put on his white robe, which Hakkai had previously neatly folded and placed in a drawer. His tail moved from side to side as his feline looking violet eyes focused on the food Goku had brought.

Suddenly, Sanzo didn't appear as cuddly as he did before, although he was still cute. "Um... I'll just leave your food here," Goku placed the tray containing a roasted fish and a glass of milk on the table and promptly left.

Sanzo hopped out of bed with the grace of a feline and sat down in front of his meal. The scent was mouth watering and the food looked absolutely delicious. Then he noticed something that bothered him, something that could not be a mere coincidence. Fish and milk... "I'll kill you for this! Just you wait until I find my bullets!" Sanzo considered running off to hunt him down, but the hunger was just too much. It had been a long day and being cursed, comatose, humiliated and allergic to himself zapped the energy right out of him, plus the food was too good to resist.

Fortunately for Goku and the others, Sanzo could not resist the urge to take a nap after finishing his meal. Unfortunately, he soon discovered that cats were nocturnal and spent the entire night awake, playing cards with Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku. In fear of his feline wrath, they dared not deny him game after game as they made sure to lay off he cat jokes.

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When the next day, shortly after breakfast, Gojyo and Goku were off to buy groceries and supplies for their approaching departure and some cat food for Hakuryu, despite being tired from the lack of sleep. Sanzo had refused to eat the cat food Gojyo brought for him and it was left out on the floor. Hakuryu, who had been brave enough to enter Sanzo's room, assumed that the food left on the dish on the floor was for him so he ate it. It turned out the little dragon loved the cat food.

While Gojyo and Goku were gone, Hakkai occupied his time reading an old book that may contain clues on how to reverse the spell on Sanzo. He sat on the couch silently reading, while Sanzo sat beside him glaring at the opposing wall. The blond could not go out since his cat youkai appearance would surely draw too much unwanted attention.

As Hakkai continued his quiet interpretation of the written word, Sanzo yawned. He wished he had a newspaper to read. All that sitting around doing nothing was making him bored and sleepy. He could smoke, but he just didn't feel like it. It was odd, but ever since he was turned into a cat youkai, he hasn't smoked at all.

Sleep continued its silent battle to dominate Sanzo. Soon he was defeated by the need to take a nap and fell to the side consumed in a peaceful slumber.

Hakkai observed Sanzo's peaceful breathing and the angelical expression in his relaxed face. He got a clear view of that, since his head had fallen on his lap. Holding his book with one hand Hakkai used his free hand to pet Sanzo's golden hair and scratched him gently behind the ears. Sanzo purred in delight in his sleep, unaware of what was going on in the world of the conscious.

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Over two hours passed, before Sanzo began to stir and wake up. Hakkai, knowing that he would not appreciate his current position, slipped away and left a pillow in his place. Sanzo woke up fully and realized that he had been sleeping on the couch. Hakkai was there earlier reading, but now the couch only carried Sanzo and a pillow. He did not remember watching him leave, but he wasn't there anymore. He scanned the room and spotted Hakkai sitting across from him with a different book in his hand.

Hakkai looked up after turning a page. "I think I got a good lead with this book."

"Good, because I don't want to be a cat," Sanzo's allergy for him self had slowly faded away, but he still felt odd.

"Sanzo, have you ever considered a mustache?" Hakkai randomly inquired.

Sanzo gave him a look as if he had grown a second head, "no."

"What about whiskers?" Hakkai asked.

Sanzo didn't like were the conversation was going. He touched his face and found that he in fact had cat whiskers. "I'm turning more and more into a cat with each passing second!"

"Do calm down, I didn't say it to alarm you. I'm certain I will have a cure figured out very soon," Hakkai assured.

Sanzo paced around impatiently. "You better!" He let himself fall back into a sitting position on the couch and a few minutes passed in silence.

Soon the door burst open and there stood Goku and Gojyo with several bags of groceries. "Hey Sanzo, we went to a really cool crafts store and since you can't go out as a cat youkai, we bought something for you to pass the time," Goku announced happily with genuine innocence.

"We were thinking you could use a new hobby," Gojyo spoke with a tone of voice that made it obvious another cat joke was coming Sanzo's way. He paused, noticing the whiskers on Sanzo's face. "Nice mustache," he commented before exploding in a fit of laughter.

Hakkai gave Sanzo a look as if silently begging for him to stay calm, while Goku stepped in to give Sanzo a wrapped package. "I think the whiskers look cool."

Sanzo tried to hold down his temper. He stared suspiciously at the box Goku was holding out for him, which was wrapped in golden paper with a red ribbon tied around it. "What's in it?" Sanzo took the box and held it up to his ear. He shook it trying to make out what the sounds of the moving items inside meant.

"You're making it sound as if we're going to give you a bomb or something," Gojyo joked. "Relax, it's nothing harmful go ahead and open it."

There was no way to find out what was going on unless he opened the box. Sanzo cut the ribbon with his cat claws and lifted the lid off the box. Inside he found knitting supplies. "What is the meaning of this?" Sanzo was annoyed and also puzzled.

"We thought you might enjoy knitting," Goku cheerfully replied.

"Yeah, we got you plenty of yarn. Winter's right around the corner maybe, you can make a scarf or something," Gojyo added.

Hakkai immediately made the connection and quietly got up to fetch the first aid kit. Sanzo picked up a ball of royal blue yarn. It was so soft and it felt so good to hold it. He moved his ears and tail while fingering the ball of yarn, then he made the connection that Hakkai had already made. With a murderous look, he grabbed the knitting needles holding them like a knife and chanced after Goku and Gojyo, with full intentions of stabbing them to death.

"Sanzo what's wrong? I thought you would love the gift!" Goku yelled while running for dear life out of the inn.

"Stop playing dumb monkey, you did it on purpose!" Sanzo screamed in anger.

Gojyo ran and laughed at the same time. "Can't you take a joke?"

"What's going on Gojyo? Why does Sanzo hate the gift? I don't understand and I'm hungry!" Goku complained.

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Hakkai waited patiently at the inn for Sanzo to return, stomping his feet angrily and hissing every step of the way. Hopefully he wouldn't attract too much attention or if he did, people would opt for the wise decision to ignore him. He certainly wished people had enough sense not to let their curiosity take over and get too close to Sanzo in his angry feline state.

Hakkai waited and waited for Goku and Gojyo to arrive dragging each other while leaving a trail of blood in their path, but that was not what happened. Goku and Gojyo returned exhausted and out of breath, but otherwise alright. "Where's Sanzo?" Hakkai had a bad feeling about this.

"I don't know," Gojyo answered. "We somehow lost him."

"I'm hungry!" Goku dragged himself to the couch and collapsed on it.

Hakkai walked toward the window and looked outside. He saw no signs of Sanzo in the street, but he thought he heard something in the distance like a terrified scream and lustful meows. "Oh, oh..."

"Hakuryu!" Sanzo's voice echoed. The cute little dragon flew out the window searching for the one who called him. He still recognized Sanzo, even as a cat youkai and had no problems with him. To Hakuryu no real difference was present. "Transform quick!" Sanzo screamed. Hakuryu transformed into a jeep and Sanzo jumped in.

"Time to move on!" Hakkai announced, grabbing their luggage, which was thankfully light, and jumping out the window, followed by Goku and Gojyo, so Sanzo wouldn't leave them behind. They ran as fast as they could and jumped in the back of the jeep, while Sanzo drove like a crazy maniac.

The people in the streets scrambled and ran out of their way as the crazy cat man drove away with his seemingly human companions on a jeep, being chanced by a herd of rabid female cats.

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By the time they reached the next town, they had lost sigh of the love crazy cats. Sanzo breathed in relief. "Those stupid cats! Why must cats exist in this world and why must they hate me?!" He asked no one in particular as he got off the jeep. Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo were melted together into a group hug, still trembling from Sanzo's suicidal driving.

Getting himself untangled from Goku and Gojyo's arms, Hakkai made an interesting statement that Sanzo did not need to hear. "They don't hate you; they are in love with you. Apparently your um... male cat scent is strong."

Sanzo looked horrified. "I'm going to find a room in the nearest inn and I'm not coming out until I'm human!" He rushed towards the inn. Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo quickly followed.

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After convincing the inn keeper that having a cat youkai in one of the rooms would not be any trouble, Sanzo went to his room and made sure all the doors and windows were closed. Goku went straight to the buffet and Gojyo went to talk to a pretty maid.

Hakkai was thankful that he had taken some notes, since he left the books he borrowed behind in his haste to jump on the jeep. He found it very impolite the way they left the inn like that and that he didn't have the chance to return the books to the library, but there was nothing to be done about it now. At least he had his notes.

Time by uneventfully, with Sanzo staying in the room the entire time. Since the groceries they had purchased for the trip were left behind at the previous town's inn and Sanzo absolutely refused to go back for them, Gojyo was forced to leave the maid alone and go grocery shopping, while Hakkai made analysis and calculations and Goku stayed at the buffet, eating to his heart's content.

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Upon his return, Gojyo found Hakkai, Sanzo and Goku sitting in relative silence at the inn room. The only sounds heard were Hakkai's pencil upon paper and Goku's chewing. Sanzo had found a newspaper and was currently reading it. Gojyo put the grocery bags away and started searching for something in them. "I kind of felt sorry for you attracting all that unwanted feline attention so I brought you a real gift."

Sanzo glared, "I don't want it."

Goku paused his eating. "What was wrong with our last gift? I thought it was nice."

Sanzo mercifully choose to ignore Goku's comment and continued glaring at Gojyo. The red head shook his head. "Are you sure you don't want these?" He said holding out a pack of cigarettes.

Sanzo eyed the cigarettes suspiciously. No matter how hard he tried to make a connection between the cigarettes and cats he couldn't. He reluctantly took the pack looked back and forth between the cigarettes and Gojyo.

"I'll take your silence as a thank you," Gojyo concluded.

Hakkai looked displeased. "Just when it looked like he was going to quit."

"Yeah you're right. Sanzo hasn't smoked since he turned into a cat youkai. Is it that you prefer cat nip now?" That comment was Gojyo's mistake, it caused Sanzo to angrily shove the cigarettes into his mouth.

"I know you like to smoke and all, but to smoke an entire pack all at once, including the box, is a bit too much, don't you think Gojyo?" Goku joked.

Gojyo spat out the cigarettes. "You ungrateful brat! Can't you take a joke?"

"Meow!" Sanzo immediately covered his mouth horrified. He paused and tried once again to speak, but all that came out were meows. He directed a desperate look at Hakkai.

"Don't worry, I've got all the calculations done and finally figured out a list of ingredients for an antidote," Hakkai proudly announced. "Fortunately, these ingredients are not too rare. I've separated them into three lists. Goku, Gojyo, I'll need your help collecting all the ingredients as soon as possible." Hakkai handed them each their list and they were on their way, while Sanzo stayed hidden in the room.

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Finding all the necessary ingredients wasn't too hard and soon Hakkai, Goku and Gojyo returned to the inn. They hastily went inside, making sure not to give the stray cats a chance to get in. Many female cats helplessly in love with Sanzo had gathered all around the inn.

"Fluffy, what are you doing? Stay still!" A woman's voice was heard. A beautiful young lady was struggling to keep her cat in her arms as the snow colored feline squirmed to get away from her owner. She noticed the three young men heading towards the door her cat was so attracted to. "Excuse me; by any chance do you have a male cat in your room? My Fluffy only acts like this when she's attracted to another cat. I don't want her having kittens with a stray; you never know where a stray cat has been. But I wouldn't mind if she had some adorable little kittens with another properly cared for house cat. What do you think of playing matchmaker for out cats? By the way mister, my face is up here."

Gojyo pulled his gaze away from the woman's chest and smiled sheepishly. He considered attempting to convince Sanzo to go on a date with the lovely young lady's cat, so he could go on a date with the lovely young lady, but he knew that was a guaranteed death wish. "I'm sorry miss, we don't have a cat."

"Really? That's too bad. I wonder why Fluffy is acting this way though. Oh well, have a nice day." The lady walked away with the squirming white cat in her arms.

Gojyo glanced sadly at Goku and Hakkai, who simultaneously shook their heads. The trio headed inside the room to find Sanzo curled up under the blankets. While Hakkai worked on mixing the ingredients to create an antidote, Gojyo and Goku stood guard just in case.

When the antidote was ready, Hakkai made the announcement. "Everything is ready now."

Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku approached the sleeping Sanzo cautiously and removed the blanket that covered him. They noticed that golden blond fur had appeared all over him. He was running out of time, but it didn't matter because the antidote was ready. "Aw! He's so cute and soft and cuddly!" Goku petted Sanzo gently.

"He is rather cute isn't he?" Hakkai agreed and joined in petting Sanzo.

"I hate to admit it but you guys are right. Wouldn't it be nice if we could keep him all cute and cuddly like his?" Gojyo also petted the sleeping neko.

Sanzo happily purred in his sleep. After a while of cooing and gigging at him, he woke up. "Cooshi, cooshi!" "So cute!" "Kitty cat!" "So soft and cuddly!" "Don't you just want to hug him?" "Aw!" When the words registered in his brain, Sanzo let out a high pitched angry hiss and went on the rampage.

"He's crazy!" Gojyo yelled.

"Sanzo stop, we were only petting you because you're cute! Hakkai stop him, he's scary, still cute, but scary!" Goku complained.

"Quick, grab him and take him to the bathroom!" Hakkai yelled.

Enduring multiple cuts and scratches from the angry feline Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku dragged him to the bathroom. "That's the antidote?" Goku looked at the tub, which was filled with a shiny color changing liquid.

"There's no way he's going to drink all that," Gojyo stared wide eyed.

"He doesn't have to drink it, we just need to throw him in," Hakkai explained. After a few moments of struggling with Sanzo, they finally managed to throw him in the tub and hold him in it long enough for the antidote to have its effect.

Sanzo emerged as a completely normal human being. "I'm cured!"

"Ah!" Goku screamed startling everyone. "What's in this antidote? It stings when it touches the scratches!"

"Don't worry, its harmless" Hakkai assured.

"It's not harmless, it's painful and all that fighting with Sanzo made me hungry!" Goku yelled.

Sanzo stepped out of the tub. "Let's never speak of this again. As he strolled out of the bathroom, he could feel the odd looks the other three were giving him until the burst out in an explosion of laughter that brought Sanzo a feeling of deja vu. He then remembered that he still had a hole in his pants, but no cat tail to occupy it. This time however, instead of using cat claws he no longer had, Sanzo used his paper fan.

End of Destination 37

Disclaimer, I do not own Saiyuki.