Until Death Do You Not Part

Chapter 1

Oh, This Year…

Epilouge

His warm breath spread across her neck, sending peaceful chills up and down her spine. She placed her lips against his. Their lives connected for one last time. A single tear slid down her cheek as his lips became cold and released. The blood that covered his clothing shone into her eyes as he slid to the ground. Life left his body, turning his tanned skin a ghostly pale.
She buried her face into her hands, tears running through her fingers like a river. Her heart now in two, she placed her hand onto his, before she began to cry again.
Footsteps pounded across the hallway just outside the room and then the door flew open, revealing a young man. His face completely reddened and panting, as if he ran a ten kilometer dash.
After seeing the dead body of his youngest brother, the man's eyes widened and then directed his attention to the girl. She quickly looked away, not wanting to see the anger in his face.
But anger was the opposite of what he felt. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, in a gentle hug. Like a signal, tears sprung into her eyes and she buried her face into his chest.
"It's OK, Sango. This was just his time." The man's words were shocking in a way because of his usual attitude of cheeriness. But even now, who in the right mind could be cheery?
The girl named Sango, nodded, agreeing with his words.
"Jakotsu…Why does death always come to those you love?" She asked, trying her best to dry her tears. Instead of answering, Jakotsu just gave her another comforting hug.

The volleyball soared through the air. As it came flying down, Sango placed her arms into position and bumped the ball back over the net. Bankotsu practically dove into the sand to hit it. With the ball back into the air, Bankotsu scurried to his feet and smashed it to the ground on Sango's side.
She laughed at her defeat.
 "2/3. That makes me the winner." Bankotsu shouted out proudly as he ducked under the net.
 "Yeah, I guess. But I don't want to swim." Sango pouted and Bankotsu smirked.
"Too bad for you. That was the deal. Whoever wins gets to pick whether you go swimming or not."
Sango gave out a long, fake sigh and smiled.
"Fine. I'll race you." She quickly said before she sped off across the white sand. Bankotsu shook his head in dismay and rushed after her.

Blaring rang throughout her head as Sango's eyes snapped open from the screeching alarm clock. The beeping seemed to get louder and louder with every passing second. Sango finally slammed her fist against the off button and stretched out her arms, before leaving her warm and comfortable bed.

Even so, there was no reason for her to even get out of bed. Ever since Bankotsu's death exactly a year ago, Sango had been so depressed that she got fired from three jobs in that year. The one good thing that happened was that Sango had gotten back together with her old boyfriend from high school, Miroku. He had come to her six months ago, also six moths after Bankotsu's tragic murder.

Yes, he was murdered. But no one saw anything or heard anything in the hotel room. Sango had just come back from the lobby to find him down on the ground, blood smeared all over the carpet. Even after countless searches, the police weren't able to find any evidence.

With a yawn escaping from her mouth, Sango poured the steamy coffee into her mug and then taking a careful sip of the liquid. Now out of job, Sango would have nothing to do. Soon she would not be able to pay rent or she could just move in with Miroku.

Sango sighed.

She was supposed to marry Bankotsu two months after he died and they would live together and have a happy life. But life isn't always fair either. Sango wished that she could turn back time and be there with Bankotsu when the attacker came and maybe even be able to save him from the terrible fate.

That thought kept running through her head, until Sango decided to call Miroku. Quickly taking the phone and dialing his number, Sango waited for him to answer, the seconds dragged until a tired voice was heard on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Miroku, it's me, Sango."

"Why are you calling this early? It's like 6:30 in the morning."

"I need to go somewhere and I need a ride. My car got stolen last night."

"What??!! Your car got stolen, but we have to call-"

"Miroku. Please. Just give me a ride."

"OK." He answered, giving in. "Where to?"

Sango was silent as they drove along the barren road, even though Tokyo was one of the busiest cities in the world, it was sure calm in the morning. The snow had just began to fall earlier this morning. It's whiteness had already made about a foot layer as it had come down heavy. Now, it just sprinkled lightly, just like Christmas, but it was only December 2nd.

The iron gates came into view, standing out against the white powder. Miroku placed his foot on the brakes just as they reached the entrance. Sango looked up at the eerie sign, now covered with snow, but she could still make it out.

Tokyo Cemetery.

Her shoes crunched through the snow and Miroku's followed as they made their way through the gates and to the far corner on the graveyard. Miroku stopped suddenly and let Sango go ahead, wanting to give her space.

The words in the snow, covering gravestone, came closer and closer with every step Sango took. Once reaching the stone, she carefully brushed off the snow.

Bankotsu Kobayashi

June 27th 1983- December 2nd 2006

Beloved Son, Brother, Friend, and Love.

"Life is too short for one to live, to breath, and to love. And with this, nothing says we can't make the best of it."

A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and splattered onto the cold snow. Sango kneeled in front of the grave and dug her hands through the snow. With fingers almost frozen, she found at she was looking for.

A beautiful bouquet of flowers, all different kinds and colors. Of course, it had been completely frost bitten, but the colors still stood out brilliantly.

Sango placed the flowers on top of the snow. As she began to pray, Miroku walked up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon Sango, it's getting cold."

Her mind snapped back to reality and she began to feel her now numb knees, from the snow. Nodding slowly, Sango stood up and took one last glance at the gravestone, before leaving the cemetery with Miroku's hand gripping hers.

Miroku gave Sango a quick peck on the lips. Waving her goodbyes, Sango shut the door of her apartment, the silence of the room welcomed her. But living in such silence was lonely, even if Sango had Miroku, but Bankotsu was her life and she could never let go of that.

After cleaning up a little, Sango placed herself on the couch and flicked on the T.V. Of course, there was the same boring commercials that she saw everyday.

"All commercials are the same." Sango spoke, loudly, to herself. "They give you this crappy slogan and make you fork out the money to by the product. All the same damn thing." She paused for a moment.

"Great, now I'm talking to myself. I guess I am going crazy." Sango muttered. Then, just as she changed to a different channel, the T.V. flicked out, along with the rest of the power.

So, here's Sango was sitting in a dark room with no power and in the middle of winter.

"Perfect." She mumbled.

Stumbling around in the dark, Sango finally made it to the kitchen and felt around for the flashlight in the drawers. Reaching for the light, she slid the tip of her finger across a sharp edge. Sango cursed silently and gripped the flashlight. Immediately, she turned the light on and shone it on her wound. The cut was only minor and would only need a bandage.

But she would have to get one after because now she had to get to the power box and turned the power all back on, if it worked even. Just as Sango reached the door leading to the power box, all the electricity flickered back on.

This is messed.

Sango made her way back to the couch, but something stopped her. A force was gripping her shoulders and she wasn't able to move. Sango froze, thinking someone was in her house, but when she turned her head to look around, no one was there. Jerking her shoulders back forth, Sango tried to pull away, but nothing happened.

Now she was starting to get scared. Using, all her strength Sango gave one final jerk, but just as she did, the force loosened and she went flying forwards, almost falling flat on her face, but she turned her body and landed on her side.

Everything was silent and nothing moved as Sango sat up and cornered herself up against the wall. The clatter was heard and a bandage was there in front of her, just floating, in mid air. Sango's body tensed as it came closer to her. She didn't even know what to think, all she knew was that she was scared out of her mind.

The bandage unpeeled itself and another force was felt on her wrist. Her wrist was pulled up, slightly, so that the bleeding finger was visible. The bandage quickly wrapped around her finger and then a voice was heard.

"You should learn to be more careful, Sango."

Now it hit her. Sango practically went pale with fear and screamed.

Her scream continued until the lights went out again. Then the scream was quickly followed by cursing and Sango almost began to cry. But she held it back as she stood up, her legs shaking.

"I swear If I was alive I would be deaf right now." That voice spoke again. Sango whipped around to see where it came from, but in the dark, nothing could be seen.

"W-who are you?" She stuttered.

A sigh was heard.

"I though for sure you would recognized my voice, but I guess it's been a whole year."

Sango blinked. Now this voice. It sounded almost like…

The lights flashed on and Sango squinted through the new found brightness. Once her eyes got used to the light, she almost had a heart attack from who now faced her.

There he was, standing there, like he used too. That brilliant, yet handsome, smirk upon his face and those soft toned aqua eyes. The bronzed skin that he had once possessed had dimmed down, but still a little bit dark. Raven hair tied loosely into a long braid, that slung down his back. The features on his body were so real, so alive. He was here. In this room. Back from the dead.

"B-Bankotsu." Sango managed to spit out and the young man that stood before her nodded, slowly. Her finger inched slightly towards his face. Sango wanted to make sure he was there, that it wasn't just her imagination. As the tip of her finger connected with his face, Sango felt a cold shiver run down her spine and back up again, in a tingly sensation.

"Are you really here?" Sango whispered and Bankotsu nodded again. With that, tears sprung from Sango's eyes and she embraced Bankotsu tightly.

"I can't believe it! You're really here!" She cried out, spilling tears onto his shirt. Bankotsu tried his best to smile, but he didn't want to ruin this moment for Sango.

But it was too late when she looked up at him and saw the frown.

"Bankotsu, what's wrong?"

"I'm…well, Sango…I'm not alive…I'm still dead, let's just say I'm a ghost…" He spoke quietly and almost scared.

Sango tried to take it all in. Bankotsu's here and he's a ghost, but he's still here right?

"A ghost…?"

Now this is something she would need to get used to.

The noon light shone brightly into Sango's room as she awoke, eyes drooping slightly. After slowly rubbing her eyes, Sango stretched and yawned slightly. As she sat up in bed, a face was right to hers and peering down at her.

Sango let out a shrill scream and grabbed what ever was close to her, which was ironically her annoying as hell alarm clock, and chucked it at the man. But of course, the alarm clock went straight through his body and smashed against the wall on the other side of the room.

"What the hell?! Were you trying to kill me or something?! Wait… I can't die again, but were you trying to kill me anyways if I could be killed?! If that made any sense!" Bankotsu cried out, even confused by his own words.

Sango blinked. She had completely forgotten that Bankotsu had come back.

"Sorry, Bankotsu, I'm just to get used to the fact of having a ghost in my apartment." Sango said, raising her voice a bit at the end.

"Speaking about this apartment, what ever happened to your old house? The one we lived in together."

Sango smiled at the thought. Their days of just being around each made her feel all warm inside, but that soon faded when she remembered the loss of the house.

"I got fired from all my jobs and lost the house. Simple as that." She muttered as she made the bed, not neatly though.

"Sango, what happened to you? You had everything going good for you." His voice was silent, yet concerned.

Sango narrowed her eyes.

"When you died Bankotsu, you might as well called me dead! That's what happened to me!" She shouted. Sango was fuming as she stormed out of the apartment, Bankotsu following, quickly, behind her.

"But Sango, why are you getting mad at-" His voice cut off as Sango slammed the door in his face, but came back as he went through the door. "At me? It's not my fault that I died!"

Sango knew it to be true, but she just couldn't stand the way his attitude was. Finally, she jerked to a stop in the middle of the hallway and whipped around to face Bankotsu, who now had gone even whiter than he already was, when he saw her angry face.

"Please, Bankotsu! Don't do this to me! This whole year I've been trying to get back on my feet, but without you, I'm hopeless. I had nothing after you died! Nothing!" She almost burst into tears, until a small click was heard. Sango turned her head to see an elderly woman standing just outside her door, stunned.

But what the woman saw was Sango arguing with herself. Sango looked over at Bankotsu and he smirked, holding in his laughter. Glancing back at the woman, Sango smiled.

"I was…um… just practicing for a play that I'm in…it's called "I'm Hopeless." It's going to be a great hit." A fake smile was placed on her lips as the woman cautiously walked away, glancing back at Sango every so often, to make sure she didn't do anything else crazy. Which she probably thought Sango was.

As soon as the elderly lady was out of sight, Sango turned her attention back to Bankotsu, who had a smirk on his face.

"Now look what you did! People are going to think I'm crazy!" She spat and Bankotsu shrugged.

"Not my fault I'm dead."

Sango paused and her anger sunk into a frown.

"You're right…It's my fault…" Her voice toned down into almost a whisper.

Bankotsu followed her with a frown and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault. I died because someone chose the wrong path, nothing to do with you. You made my passing graceful with that last kiss. I went happy, knowing that you loved me."

Sango tried to hold back her tears, but they just came leaking from her eyes, naturally.

"But if I would've been there with you, I could've done something. I could've-" Sango began to blurt out, but Bankotsu interrupted her.

"Then you would've died also."

They were silent for a moment before Sango spoke again.

"I would rather be dead, than live without you, Bankotsu!"

Bankotsu blinked. He had no idea that she missed him this much, even though they were supposed to be married soon, but they got into a fight the night Bankotsu was murdered…

FLASHBACK

"This is a big deal for me, Bankotsu! Don't you get that!?"

"It is for me too, but you just keep thinking that money's just gonna fall off freakin' trees!"

"I do not! I just want this to be perfect! Is that a crime!?"

"Well, if going bankrupt is a crime…but it isn't… but if it was, then yes, it is a crime!"

"I know it's expensive, but this is our only chance and it's never going to happen again!"

"It might if you divorce me and go with that bastard, Miroku."

"How dare you! How could you think that I would go with him, when I have you? That says a lot about this relationship, Bankotsu. Maybe it's just not meant to be."

"Wait, Sango, I'm sorry!"

But Sango couldn't hear him because she had already slammed the hotel door and was heading down to the lobby to clear her head.

Bankotsu sighed, cursing at himself for saying those things. He plopped onto the bed and placed his head in his hands, rubbing his forehead.

The sound of the door opening was heard and Bankotsu looked up.

"Oh Sango there you are, I-"

Bang!

The bullet jabbed into his chest and he collapsed to the ground, fighting for breath. His attacker quickly ran away, before Bankotsu could see their face. Fear now hit him as his body became cold and he prayed that some how he would be able to see Sango once more.

His wish was granted. Tears poured from her eyes as she saw the sight of him, on the ground, covered by a pool of blood.

All she was saying was, "I'm sorry" over and over, Bankotsu wasn't able to talk by then, but Sango placed one last kiss on his lips before his world went black.

awwww poor bankie :( and poor sango :( but please R&R believe this story won't be that depressing anymore...well in some aprts but here's a little hint, jakotsu's comin :P R&R!!!!