^*A/N: Yes I realize that I haven't finished any of my other stories, but this one was just begging to be written. I have to give all props to Tempest78, for letting me use the idea (which they completely came up with btw) behind this story. I read their story A Miko's Love Story, and fell in love with this one concept that was presented, so I asked and bam, I give you this story!
THANK YOU SO MUCH TEMPEST 78! You're a freaking awesome person.
Enjoy!
**MonsterlyFiction :)
Warnings: Possible OOC, and that's it.
Disclaimer: … really? Do they expect people to actually claim that they own Inuyasha? I am CLEARLY not Rumiko Takahashi. She's the one that owns this series. Get over it.
Chapter 1:
Kagome heaved another heavy sigh, continuing on her path. Why did everything for her have to be so complicated? All she wanted to do was stay in the feudal era, loving and fighting alongside Inuyasha, but of course there was always something in the way of that goal. Whether it be her own weaknesses or her love's other true love.
She could never get a break on anything, but then again, maybe she deserved it? Trying to love someone from five hundred years in the past just isn't supposed to happen; maybe the universe is retaliating against this lapse in time.
She just sighed again, trying to forget what Inuyasha had told her earlier. He had said that he loved Kikyo and was going to be with her. Now he would still search for the shards with Kagome and the others, but Kikyo would be joining them as the final battle drew nearer.
After hearing this news Kagome was thoroughly heart broken, but she hid the pain and nodded with a smile, saying how happy she was for him. Within a few minutes Kagome had excused herself for a walk. She just had to clear her head of this situation.
'I spent two years chasing that baka, and he still loves Kikyo.' Kagome downcast her eyes, watching the stones she stepped over. 'Oh well, I guess I'm the true baka here. I should have seen this coming. Inuyasha would never stop loving Kikyo and I was just dumb to think otherwise. Oh man, it's going to be truly hard to fight off Kouga now.' Kagome giggled with that last thought, not paying attention to where she was walking.
She came to a stop and found herself standing in front of a modest temple. She furrowed her eyebrows. Since when had this temple been so close to Inuyasha's forest? Her curiosity got the better of her and she stepped through the threshold into the temple grounds.
The temple, though on the smaller size, was ornately decorated. Quite honestly it took her breath away. She approached the building, grazing the delicate carvings with her fingers, smiling as she recognized the engraved kanji's. She could have stayed there all day, just reading the intricate carvings and designs, if someone had intruded.
Her ears pricked when the sound of a branch snapping brought her out of her stupor. The young priestess quickly notched an arrow, aiming in the direction of the sound.
"Show yourself." She barked, pulling the arrow tighter. Kagome watched as a young man stepped from the foliage, a smirk etched on his face and a giant weapon slung over his shoulder.
"Do you really think that you can hurt me with that arrow?" Kagome gulped slightly, but refused to show her fear.
"Bankotsu, w-what do you want?" Bankotsu eyed her form, holding in a laugh.
"Relax priestess. I'm not here to harm you. I just wanted some peace and quiet. So leave." Kagome relaxed her bow a bit, but still kept it ready just in case.
"You're not going to attack me?" His face fell into a small frown.
"Why would I attack you, Naraku only named Inuyasha? Just be happy that I don't really feel like killing right now." Kagome let her bow down, eyeing him warily.
"Where are the rest of your lackeys?" Bankotsu's scowl deepened.
"Damn, you ask a lot of questions. You're starting to make me rethink my decision." Kagome sent him a glare of her own.
"Well sorry for not wanting to be cut up, burned, or blown up by one of your group members." She said bitterly. He rolled his eyes at her and stabbed his Banryu into the dirt, swiftly sitting on the ground against it. Kagome stood there for a moment, and then looked back to the temple that she wasn't done exploring.
Glancing back to Bankotsu, she saw that his eyes were closed so she turned towards the temple, keeping her bow out the whole time. She continued on her search, nervously stealing looks over to Bankotsu to make sure he didn't try anything.
It was odd seeing him not attacking something; he just sat there peacefully, inhaling steady breaths of air. Kagome blushed a bit as she watched his face; she had to admit that he was pretty handsome for a murderer.
Kagome read over the next set of words etched onto the wall out loud, they seemed to be getting weirder and more riddle- like as she read on. Her eyes moved to look over at Bankotsu again. She gasped, blushing madly when she saw his eyes open and watching her.
Kagome was about to say something when she felt Inuyasha's aura heading for them, and fast. She groaned.
"It looks like Inuyasha finally caught your scent Bankotsu." He growled and stood, freeing his Banryu.
"That mutt is going down today." Bankotsu went to walk away, but was stopped when he heard the sound of a bow being strung. With a smirk he turned to face the miko.
She had a glare plastered on her face. "I don't think so, bub."
"What did I tell you, do you really think that you can harm me?" Kagome launched her arrow and before she could blink, Bankotsu had somehow knocked her weapon away and was now brandishing his halberd against her neck.
She stared at the weapon with wide eyes, afraid to move an inch. It pressed forward, slicing into her neck some. She watched as a blood drop rolled down the blade.
"There. The blood of his wench will make the Inutrasha get here faster." Bankotsu said with a smile. Kagome was now fully against the wall, there was no escape. She settled for yelling at him.
"First off, his name isn't Inutrasha, its Inuyasha. And second, I am not his wench! I'm not even a wench. Really, what is with you feudal era people calling all girls wenches? It's just pointless and it gets on my-" She stopped short when he pushed his halberd deeper into her skin. She let out a strained whimper.
"You really get on my nerves, wench." He enjoyed the way her frown deepened. Kagome was surprised that he hadn't cut her jugular yet, but she could still see her blood flowing down the blade and knew that he was close to it.
"Ban-Bankotsu, please le-let up." He just went on, slicing a little harder. Kagome resisted the urge to cry out. It was to the point where she refused to breath for the fear of decapitation.
"The more blood, the faster he will come." She forced her energy into her hand and struggled to place her hand on the halberd without making it cut deeper. Her pink energy eagerly flowed down the weapon; shocking Bankotsu and making him pull back.
Once she was free she grasped her neck and sucked in air as she fell to her knees. Kagome pulled her hand away and saw the crimson liquid that had thoroughly covered the appendage, filling the creases of her skin.
She scrambled her feet, brandishing her bow. While Bankotsu was examining his burns she released an arrow, groaning quietly when it grazed his forearm. He narrowed his eyes at her and she soon found herself pinned to the wall of the building, struggling to get air once more. She felt Inuyasha's aura getting close, but he was still too far away, Bankotsu would probably snap her neck by then.
"I was going to spare you, but then you actually harmed me," His grip tightened to almost unbearable standards. "And that is unforgivable." Kagome hand weakly held his injured forearm, desperately trying to get him to release his hold.
Her vision started to fade and she absently heard Inuyasha yelling in the background. Her bloodied hands fell limp to her sides, inadvertently pressing on the wall. Just as she was about to fade into unconsciousness there was a blinding light, then there was only Bankotsu and Kagome, standing in empty space. He still had her by the neck, but dropped her free, whipping around trying to locate where they were.
Bankotsu could absently hear Kagome's choked coughs and gasps. "Oi, wench, where the hell are we?" Kagome sputtered a few more times before she could answer.
"Li-like I have any… idea… geeze." She said, taking in deep breaths. She also stood, searching around.
Bankotsu was about to blow a gasket until a strange figure appeared before them.
"Calm children." Bankotsu growled at the man.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Where the hell are we?" The man laughed.
"You have quite the temper, don't you?" Bankotsu just narrowed his eyes.
"I apologize for his rudeness, monk, would you mind telling us where we are?" The man in the monk garb smiled at the priestess.
"You are in the spiritual plane of your combined minds, my dear miko." Kagome gasped and Bankotsu huffed in frustration.
"What are you talking about, old man?" The elderly monk laughed again.
"You two have been bound to each other by the spell on the temple." This time Kagome was the rude one. She read the inscriptions, she knew what it entitled.
"What the… No this can't happen! Monk, reverse this, please." She pleaded. The monk shook his head.
"I cannot, I'm not the one who did this if you remember correctly." Kagome clenched her hands.
"Well, I didn't do this!"
"Actually," the monk went on, "you did do this, at least not consciously though." Kagome groaned and by now Bankotsu was fuming.
"What the hell is going on here?" He demanded, stomping his foot much like a child would do.
"You and Lady Kagome are bound together. You cannot go ten feet from each other. Well you can, but it will have dire consequences. And those you can find out for yourselves. Oh and another thing, if one of you dies, the other will follow, if one gets injured, the other one will get the same injury, and so on."
"What do you mean, 'and so on'?" Kagome said, she couldn't believe this was happening, and with a murderer no less.
"Those are all things that you have to find out on your own." The monk smiled and waved as the scenery changed back to the temple, where Bankotsu still had a hold on Kagome's neck.
Bankotsu's airway was constricted painfully and he quickly released Kagome, they were both gasping for air on the ground. He felt something slice his neck and Kagome felt the same with her arm.
"Kagome!" They both looked up at Inuyasha's yell. He had just stormed in and had his sword. He jumped in front of Kagome and started to push her back. Kagome panicked. The elderly monk had been right about everything so far. There was tugging on her soul and dread filled her.
"Inuyasha, stop!" He didn't hear her as he walked her back, taking a fighting stance against a bleeding Bankotsu. "No!" Sure, everyone was startled at Kagome's scream, but what really made everyone surprised was the fact that Bankotsu had yelled out as well, taking a few steps forward.
"Kagome, what the hell…" Kagome shoved Inuyasha away, taking a few steps closer to Bankotsu, which he accepted, neither of them really wanted to know what happened when they get too far apart. "Kagome! Get the hell away from him!" By now, all of the Inutachi was by Inuyasha, all brandishing their weapons.
"I can't." She said quietly. Suddenly she felt a severe burning on her hand. She clutched her hand to her chest, gasping slightly. Out the corner of her eye, she could see Bankotsu's face contorted with a mixture of pain and thought as he gently rubbed his hand.
She held her hand out in front of her, watching with horror as a design began to form. She could feel the black ink running through her skin, leaving a burning path where ever it went on her hand as it traced the pattern. Kagome's hand twitched as the pattern finished out.
She almost cried when she realized what it said. On her hand, written in what seemed to be permanent (but beautiful) hand writing, was Bankotsu name.
"What the…" She looked over to Bankotsu, who had peeled off his hand wraps and saw what was on his hand. It was Kagome's name in the same ornate handwriting that adorned her hand, and the temple walls.
Kagome clenched her eyes as her hand flared up again, but this time, it just made the words glow in a faint dark blue. She glanced over to Bankotsu, whose tattoo was glowing in a dark red. They exchanged looks, and Kagome's heart fell, she could clearly see that Bankotsu wasn't one bit amused by this, in fact, he looked positively livid.
^*A/N: Once again, thank you to Tempest78 for allowing me to borrow the binding idea! Keep on writing your awesome stories!
REEEVVIEEW! Me thinks you should!
**MonsterlyFiction :)