Chapter 24 - Be There 1

Be There 1 is Saiyuki's twenty-fourth chapter.

Summary
Three years ago:

The Sanbutsushin send Genjo Sanzo on a mission to find the mass murderer Cho Gonou.

Elsewhere, Gojyo is winning at cards at a bar. The women gather around him admiringly. When one of the women compliments the red of Gojyo's hair and eyes, Gojyo gets up and leaves, saying he is done for the night. As Gojyo walks home through the rain, he thinks about how easy it is to get by in life through gambling and picking up women, as long as he avoids eye contact with anyone. In the middle of the road, he comes across a seriously injured man, Cho Gonou, lying on the ground. When the man looks up at him, Gojyo thinks he sees him smile.

A week later, Gonou wakes up from a coma to find himself lying in a strange bed, which turns out to be Gojyo's. Gojyo has had a doctor treat and bandage Gonou's injuries. Gojyo asks Gonou if he was trying to die, and Gonou answers no, that it is better that he lived. Gojyo tells Gonou to take it easy and stay in bed until he recovers, because "this is the first and last time I let some guy into my bed."

Elsewhere, the monks at the temple complain to Sanzo that Goku is making a mess of the place and causing trouble. After Sanzo yells at Goku to go clean up, he overhears some of the monks wondering why he brought Goku back to the temple with him. Sanzo wonders to himself why he did take in Goku, but all he can conclude is that Goku's voice calling to him was so annoying, that he had to go find him to shut him up, and that when he did find him, Goku looked up at him with such a stupid look that he didn't feel like hitting him anymore. He took Goku with him because he had to.

When Goku finds out that Sanzo is leaving to go search for Cho Gonou, he badgers Sanzo into letting him come along.

Meanwhile, at Gojyo's house, Gojyo and Gonou play cards together. Gonou asks if he can stay until he is back on his feet and says that there is still one thing he needs to take care of after he recovers. When Gojyo complains when Gonou keeps beating him at cards, Gonou says that skill won't do any good without luck. Gojyo responds that they are both "jack of all trades, master of none" types.

Later, as Sanzo searches for information about Gonou's whereabouts and wonders why he was sent on this particular mission, he enters a bar and overhears talk about an injured man with green eyes.

Later, as Gonou is about to take his leave of Gojyo's house, he tells Gojyo that he killed many people and that after he finishes what he has left to do, he will accept any punishment. He thanks Gojyo for saving him and tells Gojyo that his red hair and eyes look like blood, and serve as a warning and a reminder that he cannot outrun his crimes. Gojyo asks for Gonou's name, but just before Gonou can answer, there is a knock on the door.

Gojyo opens the door to see Sanzo standing there. Sanzo says he is looking for a mass murderer, a young man with green eyes named Cho Gonou. Gojyo answers that he has never heard of him.