for doors. She approached the neatly stacked pile of belongings that lay on the ground next to the priest. The red cords of the sutras peeked out from under the vestments of the order. She closed her eyes and calmly gathered her strength. She had to be faster than a human could be to escape the spell the priest would send after her.Concentration, she thought, concentration. She clenched her fists and looked young Sanzo in the face. He couldn't be much older than she was, maybe in her mid-twenties. It was unusual for young monks to be called to the office of sanzos so quickly. This one had to be exceptionally good. Her gaze wandered from his wounds to his face. Pretty, she thought, really good-looking ... but after she'd stolen from him, he probably wouldn't care much about getting to know her. She shook off those thoughts, took one last scrutinizing look at the handsome priest, and snapped at the sutras with the speed of lightning. As expected, this tore the Sanzo out of his dreams, but Rieko was out of the room faster than he could reach for his pistol.
"Hakkai !! Gojo !!", he shouted after her, but before the called ones could appear, Rieko was long back in the back room, through the window and thus over the mountains."Yeah !!", both shouted enthusiastically and many around the neck.
"Yeah, damn it, we did it !!"
"We are the best!", Rieko jubilated.
"And? Whose idea was it ?? Well ??"
"Yes. Yours.", Rieko rolled his eyes annoyed. Sometimes she felt like she was in kindergarten. Both leaned back and let the merchant caravan comfortably carry them east. Suki was so quick-witted that, through clever barter deals, the sake dealer could get her to take her with him in his off-road vehicle. The car was quite fast and moved easily through the sand thanks to a new Z 5 engine. The desert was almost behind them, although they had only been on the road for half a day.
"Once we are in Yakone, nothing can go wrong. Ko is expecting us there tomorrow evening.", Suki informed her best friend, pulled the hood lower over her face and fell asleep shortly afterwards. Rieko watched the area morosely.It was all too easy. A Sanzo was not so easily tricked, not even by her, not even if he was closer to death than life. Something was completely wrong here, and what was worst: she had no idea what it was.
"Can we make it to Yakone by dusk, master?" She asked the driver. "Not until Yakone, but we'll leave the desert behind us soon."
She leaned back again. If only they got rid of those damn sutras.

Sanzo had managed to straighten up and stagger to the door.
"Hakkai!", He groaned when he came towards him, supported him and put him back in bed.
"What's going on here ??" Goku called, who had also appeared in the door.
"The sutras ...", Sanzo mumbled, "She took them with her. Damn bitch!"
"WHAT ???", Goku shouted, "The sutras ??? Both ???"
"Where's Gojo?" Asked Hakkai seriously. Goku looked at him faithfully and Sanzo didn't answer either.“I'm going to look for him.” Hakkai turned to the door.
"Forget the damn cockroach and help me into the car! We have to chase you!" Sanzo pressed his lips. Hakkai smiled mildly.
"Neither you nor I would survive the next pothole, Sanzo, you know that. We can still pursue them tomorrow. I'm too weak to heal you, we have no choice but to wait."
"Then I'll go alone! Get out of the way!" He hissed at him, but Hakkai was not deterred and brought him back to the camp a second time.
"Wasn going on here ?!" someone mumbled from the door.
"Gojo! Where are you? Somebody stole the sutras!"
"One of the nurses.", Sanzo gritted wearily. Gojo staggered to the bed and plopped down next to Sanzo.
"Damn buckle, she gave me narcotics!" He swore softly to himself as he tried to shake off the sleepiness.
"What ?! She was with you too?", Sanzo asked incredulously."And you didn't notice that she gave you sleeping pills ?!" Hakkai asked.
"Idiot." Sanzo remarked.
"Shut up, stupid parson! Who can steal the sutras from under their ass here?" There was silence.
"I was too distracted by her green hair." Gojo mumbled.
"Green?", Sanzo perked up, "Then there were two, mine had brown hair."
"So it was a team. I wonder who put them on us again. How do they know we have two sutras?"
"They are definitely one of Kogaiji's people. If she had green hair, then she was a demon, like us.", Goku stated.
"No", Sanzo shook his head, "the other one was human. Quite sure."
"At the moment we can't do anything but wait.", Gojo grumbled, rummaging in his vest pocket.
"That pisses me off!" Sanzo snapped.
"And me first, the buckle stole my cigarettes !!", Gojo yelled.
"You know what?" Goku asked weakly."Sure.", Sanzo groaned, "We're going to have something to eat. Maybe the landlord can tell us something about the two of them."

"One green, the other brown hair? Yes, that was Okijin Suki and Tan Rieko. This morning the police issued a warning that there had been looting in the neighboring town. Before that I didn't know them either. There is a wanted poster over there the innkeeper asked, pointing with a fat hand at a poster next to the counter. Gojo and Sanzo nodded silently.
"What kind of women are they?"
The landlord made a dismissive gesture. "Ready for anything, of no use," he said, "con artists and thieves."
"Thank you very much.", Hakkai said politely and bowed.
"Never mind."
The four invalids sat down in a corner of the almost empty tavern without knowing that the two women had already sat here the previous evening, about whom they were now raving to their hearts' content.
"What should two con artists want with a sutra?", Gojo asked gloomily. Nobody answered.
"Well, they seem to be very plausible thieves, don't they?" Hakkai asked lovingly.
"The question is more: Who is your client?"
"I don't give a shit. If I get them I'll pop them off." Sanzo growled and reloaded his pistol.
"As always," grinned Hakkai.
"When you get them, pfff, how about you stinking big puke ?! Do you want to lag behind them and then throw them to death with pressure compresses?"
"Shut up and take care of your dirt." Sanzo hissed back vigorously. "We'll continue tomorrow morning. The vendors have said that they have moved on to Yakone with the sake seller. We'll grab them there."
"WHERE'S MY SOUP?", Goku screeched, who had been staring at the ceiling until now, in between.
"I DIDN'T EAT THEM; DON'T GLOW THAT STUPID; STUPID MONKEY !!", Gojo screeched back after Goku had already pulled his hair preventively.
"They really puke me a lot.", Sanzo growled, got up and left the bar.