My take on the Gojyo-Hakkai relationship comes mostly from the part early on in the Kami-sama arc when Goku and Hakkai are in the desert dreamscape inside the gourd. Hakkai is so clearly in loco parentis, and when he changes back from his youkai form, Goku is hugging him and saying he likes the regular Hakkai better. And in fact, he seems fascinated by Hakkai from the first - by the fact that he can fight more effectively than you'd guess, and that he has such pretty eyes. So I was thinking that this horrific scene would weigh pretty heavily on him, but that he'd be stretching himself to understand as much as he could. And Sanzo has given little indications that he really can be a very effective teacher, when he calms down.

I'm glad you liked it.