On a quiet day among the wars in Ushitora, Jakotsu reflects on his 'family' and how they came to be.

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Family's Piece of Mind

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Looking up at the sky he smiled. It had been nearly 4 years since the Shichinin-tai had been fully formed. Five years since he had met Bankotsu, and by the end of that year, their hardest winter to date, recruited and named Suikotsu.

He remembered clearly how they had found Kyoukotsu, hiding in the mountains, eating wandering youkai and sometimes human travelers, remembering fondly the look on Mukotsu's face when Kyoukotsu said he'd make a great midday snack.

Mukotsu had been terrorizing a village, raping and poisoning people as he went along, then leaving when he was finished. Catching him in the act, Suikotsu and Renkotsu examined the poisons and concoctions he carried with him. They asked him if he'd like to join them, his skill might be needed.

Skill, Mukotsu had skill…Renkotsu had skill, and even he, as Bankotsu said, had a skill.

Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Ginkotsu, and Kyoukotsu he guessed were brute strength.

Renkotsu and Ginkotsu had been an interesting find, for them, while searching for a place to settle down, they heard rumors of pirates sabotaging ships coming in from the mainland, and even the Western countries.

Jakotsu looked at the men surrounding him. He smiled lopsidedly; Renkotsu looked so much younger then. Yet, he looked the same, and acted the same.

Suikotsu…he barely remembered when they had met first…slaughtering anything he could get those damned claws through, nearly ran him through. It took days to do but they convinced them to be the third traveling partner.

And there was he and Bankotsu, he didn't even remember. He didn't remember it a bit, had he become that familiar with being around Bankotsu in all these years?

"Bankotsu no-oo-aniki?" Jakotsu asked, snapping from his thoughtful daze and glancing at the young man. "How did we meet?" he finished.

Bankotsu looked thoughtful, then smiled, "it was a summer a lot like this, hot and rainy, I was traveling alone and at 12 years old, most people thought it was insane of me. So I decided to get a traveling partner, because I hate being alone, and I met you, standing out there in the rain, your makeup was running and your yukata was soaked through. You were lost, your father had thrown you out of your home. And you were alone, just like me." He told the older man smiling.

Jakotsu smiled. "Now we are not alone anymore, Bankotsu no-oo-aniki, we have a big…a big…what is the word I am looking for?" he started.

Bankotsu blinked. "Family?"

Jakotsu nodded enthusiastically. "That is the word I was looking for. Family, we are a big family, do you not agree Mukotsu?" he asked.

Mukotsu nodded. "A family if there ever was one, right Kyoukotsu?"

Kyoukotsu looked up from his 'meal' and nodded. "I think so, ne Suikotsu-aniki?"

Suikotsu smirked. "I wouldn't know what we were if we weren't one, what do you think, Renkotsu-aniki?"

Renkotsu rolled his eyes. "Family, right."

Jakotsu sighed. "What do YOU think Ginkotsu?"

Ginkotsu looked from Renkotsu to the rest of the group. "Maybe." He replied.

Renkotsu narrowed his eyes. "I don't know your definition of family, Jakotsu, so I wouldn't know it we were one or not."

Jakotsu looked up at his superior and thought for a moment, thinking of a definition that would make Renkotsu understand what he was trying to convey. "A group of people…that…well, live and work and love and laugh together. That understand each other and maybe fight, but through it all, stick together." He explained.

Renkotsu blinked, and didn't answer, just went back to whatever he was doing.