Hello again! So I don't really have much to say other than I'm gosh dang excited about this chapter! Sorry about the late post! I was very busy yesterday!
Song Inspiration for the chapter was Why Can't I? by Liz Phair
Chapter 4. Find Someone Else You Can't Get Enough Of
Bankotsu found Kagome not too far off, collapsed to the ground and sobbing her eyes out. He paused in his approach, not really sure how to go about this. He'd never dealt with crying women, unless you counted killing them. He looked around and then sighed when he realized he wasn't going to be able to conjure answers from the surround trees. Swallowing he approached and sat down so that they were face to face.
"Uh-"
"I can't believe him! He acts like he really cares for me! Then goes and runs off with Kikiyo!" she practically spat the other woman's name, "Argh- EVERY DAMN TIME!" she pounded her fist on the ground in rage. Bankotsu thought for a moment that she was done being sad and was no just pissed off, but a split second later she fell back into sobs.
"I fall for it every time!" she sobbed, burying her hands in her face.
"STUPID INUYASHA!" she screamed, falling back into a rage. Bankotsu blinked, he'd never seen someone fly through emotions so quickly.
"Who am I kidding? I'm the stupid one! Of course hes going to pick Kikiyo! He been in love with her for forever! Besides, shes a stronger priestess, a better marksman, so much more knowledgeable and way more beautiful than me." She was tugging at her hair as she shouted. "Why did I ever think that I even hold a candle to her?!"
Bankotsu frowned and gently gripped her wrists, she looked up at him for the first time, she'd barely even realized that he was there, "Stop…." he mental groped for something more to say, "Inuyasha isn't worth all this." he finally said.
Kagome looked down letting her bangs fall into her face, "I can't help it. I can't compete with her, shes too perfect." she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Hey! Don't- You're- He- you shouldn't have to compete with her… and… hes… hes an asshole for making you think you do." he stumbled over his words for the first time in a long time.
"But-"
"Hey, c'mon!" he pulled her to her feet, and headed off into the forest, pulling her after him. He kept pulling her until they reached a river, where he finally paused.
"Where are we going?" she asked, still teary eyed as she caught her breath. He looked at the river for a moment and then set off, following it's current downstream. Kagome hustled after him as he pulled her arm, she soon heard the rumble of a waterfall and soon enough they were standing on the ridge of one.
"Why did we come here?" she asked, mind still on Inuyasha for the most part.
"Have you ever jumped off one of these?" he asked, looking down the waterfall at the large pool below excitedly.
"What?!"
"It's fun, c'mon!"
"You're insane!" Kagome jerked her arm out of his grip and took a step back.
"C'mon, I promise you'll feel better." he said, digging Banryu into the ground.
"Yeah because I'll be dead!" she snapped, crossing her arms.
"Noooo, because the rush will take your mind off of it. Here I'll go first." Without a second thought he swan dived off the edge.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!" she yelled after him and ran to the edge. She watched him be swallowed up by the water and waited anxiously for him to resurface. She was about to freak out when he finally did, wiping water from his eyes he looked up at her.
"Come on! I won't let you drown!" he called.
"I can swim just fine, thanks!" she called back.
"Just jump Kagome!" he yelled, and shot her a grin.
She felt a flutter, and took a few steps back, "I can't believe I'm doing this…" she said to herself. With a deep breath she ran forward and leapt off the ledge, shrieking as she plummeted into the water. She accidentally breathed in water as she went down and began to cough as Bankotsu hauled her to the surface.
"Yes!" he laughed gleefully throwing his hands in the air, and then giving her a smack on the back smacking the on the back, "I'd give it an eight, you know you're not supposed to breathe in under water right?" he teased.
"Shut up!" she yelled, splashing him. He laughed and splashed her back. She couldn't help but laugh too, his laughter was contagious. They had a mini splash fight before Kagome yielded to ask him a question.
"What made you think of this of all things?" she asked.
"You mean to take your mind off it? Well, way back, even before the Band of Seven. When it was just me and Ja, we hung around in this one village for a while because Ja had this thing with the village head's son. Eventually they guy broke it off with Ja though, he said he didn't want to further shame him family. Ja was crushed, and this is the first thing we did after leaving town, it really took him mind off of it." Bankotsu explained.
"You guys just went and decided to jumped off of a waterfall?" Kagome questioned, giving him a look.
"We may or may not have been really fuckin drunk and someone may or may not have been give just a tiny shove." he admitted with a grin, scratching the back of his head.
"Bankotsu…" she said, her voice serious.
Bankotsu's demeanor sobered up as well, "Yeah?"
"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, looking him dead in the eye.
He blinked, "Well… the truth is…" he averted his gaze, "you see, I'm not a barbarian!" he looked at with smirk.
"I didn't mean that! I was mad okay?" she said, his playful attitude was to catchy and she couldn't resist being pulled back in.
"Uh huh, uh huh," he said, mock brushing her off, crossing his arms and turning his head as if he didn't want to hear anymore.
"Hey don't ignore me!" she feigned anger and splashed him. He cracked up laughing despite his efforts not to and the two of them went on like this for a while.
"Bankotsu…" Kagome said, remembering something.
"Yeah?" he answered lazily as he back floated around.
"Renkotsu has been hiding Jewel Shards from you…" she said. Bankotsu stopped floating and began to tread water again.
"I know." He said after a pause, "I've been hoping I wouldn't have to call him out on it, but its starting to look like I will." He said, disappointment in her expression.
"How'd you know?" Kagome asked.
"Kanna told me. She said that there was a way to make Banryu stronger, and I just figured it out from there." He said, "Renkotsu is damn sneaky, but he only tries to deceive me when he thinks we're really back against a wall." He said as they swam to the shore.
"Naraku has really thrown you guys for a loop…" Kagome said, he nodded in agreement as she rung out her hair.
"Aww man we're all wet… should have jumped naked." he said casually, shooting her a sly look.
"Pervert!" she accused, laughing a little.
"I'm just saying, would have worked out better for us." He said shrugging and trying to not smile.
Kagome looked up the cliff the where Banryu stuck out at the top, "Suikotsu probably fell asleep. I need to get back and keep watch…" he said, the both of them finally plummeting back down to reality.
"We have to climb all the way back up there…" Kagome said, dreading the hard work and wishing she or Bankotsu had the ability to jump like Inuyasha could. "Inuyasha…" she mentally said his name, a frown crawling over her face.
"Well…come on!" he said walking over and crouching down at the base of the ledge. He gesture for her to come over with a jerk of his head, "I'll boost you up." he said. She walked over and placed her foot in his hands.
"Do not look up my skirt!" she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. The cloth itself was cold but she could feel his warm skin just under it.
He looked up at her, a smirk growing on his face, "Hadn't even thought of it, but now that you mention it, not a bad idea." he responded mischievously.
"I'm serious! Don't!" she snapped.
Bankotsu laughed, "I'm not gonna do it, calm down." he said, and started lifting her. She looked down to make sure he was behaving and sure enough he was looking off in another direction. She pulled herself up onto the cliff side and started climbing. Bankotsu made it to the top before her and hauled her up.
He sat on the ground and rubbed his ankle that he had been favoring since after the fight with Sesshomaru. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah," he rotated it slowly, wincing. "Just twisted it." he stood and pulled Banryu from the ground, and they headed back to the rest of the band.
Bankotsu glanced at Kagome as they walked, "What are you going to do now?" he asked.
"What do you mean? I'm still your captive." She shrugged, bitterness in her words.
"Are you?" he questioned.
"What do you mean?" she countered, pulling her wet hair over one shoulder.
"You had plenty of opportunity to run away from me tonight, and you didn't." he clarified, focusing his gaze ahead of him.
"I mean… I don't have anywhere to go. I don't know how to get home from here, and I mean I could find Sango and Miroku and Shippo, but I couldn't stand to be around Inuyasha right now." she explained, swallowing hard to hold in her tears.
"Stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh?" he said, that seemed to be the story lately.
"I mean your situation amounts to a lot more than just not being beautiful enough, or whatever. Your's is life or death." She said, belittling her situation as well as herself to a degree.
"Hey, how about we make a deal? You don't have to be our captive anymore, if you swear to hang around keep us from Naraku's influence, you can have all our jewel shards, and we'll help you get home." he proposed.
Kagome looked at him and thought for a moment, "Alright…" she said, taken a bit off guard by this new proposition.
"Nice! No more babysitting!" he said jokingly, flashing a grin her way. Even in her depressed mood she couldn't help but crack a smile at his contagious positivity.
Dashtai ran his fingers over the marks that were pressed into the forest soil by Ginkotsu's tires, "They're sure not difficult to follow…" he muttered, standing to his full height. He'd changed from traditional Japanese lord clothing to tighter, demon slayer like garb. He still wore his haori, which was a pale blue with a black and dark blue zigzag down one side. On the back it bore the insignia of the So'uma family, his family who have held power over these lands since coming to them.
He looked up at the sky, judging the time of day. It was midmorning, and was looking to be a beautiful sunny day; he should be able to catch up to them today. Then it was a matter of observation and plan the best way to go about retrieving the shards. In theory it should be easy, but the damn Shikon Jewel would protect them from a great deal of his magic. He would have to find another way to go about this.
"So much work… I wish I could just lay in the sun all day instead." he muttered to himself, sparing a longing glance at the bright sky. He focused back into the world around him as he hear foot fall behind him.
"Hello there! Good morning to you!" Dashtai turned to face the voice and two of Inuyasha's friends, the slayer woman and the man who was most likely a monk. No Inuyasha or strangely dressed woman though.
"Good morning to you as well, Sir monk. M'lady." he responded, nodding respectfully.
"Would that happened to be the insignia of lord of these lands?" he asked.
"Yes." he nodded. The cat demon of the demon slayer let out a call and scampered to his feet, nuzzling his ankles.
"Kirara! I'm sorry! I don't know whats gotten into her!" the slayer woman said, trying to call the small demon back.
Dashtai smiled and crouched down, stroking the small feline, "Its alright, felines are often quite fond of me." he said, lifting the small demon up and handing her back to her.
"Are you one of the lord's guards, then?" the slayer woman asked, cradling Kirara in her arms.
Dashtai almost revealed himself as thee lord So'uma but decided it was better remain anonymous for the moment. "Something like that." he confirmed.
"I see. Sorry to trouble you, you probably have very important work to complete, but could you possibly direct us to the nearest village." The monk inquired politely.
"Perfect, this will make them easier to find after. Hopefully Inuyasha will be with them." he thought, holding in a smirk and instead giving a nod. "Just beyond those trees there a river. Follow it until you get to the village. If you reach the base of a waterfall, you've gone too far." he instructed, gesturing to the trees over their shoulders.
"Right then. Thank you very much." the monk said gratefully, and with a brief goodbye they headed their own way and he continued to follow the tracks.
You should have killed them! Dashtai rolled his eyes. He had declined Naraku's offer to take one of his servants with him, preferring to work in solitude. Naraku had insisted that he wear a string of beads at the least, so that contact could be maintained between the two of them. He was already regretting this agreement, and decided to instead ignore the voice as he continued on his way.
Chapter four down, and it feels like a pretty damn successful one! Oh and I just wanna clarify that the So'umas were not one of the lords that had the Band of Seven killed, we're just going to say that they are now out of that area. Just so you guys know, in case that occurred to anyone but me! I've started Chapter 5 and I'm not quite sure at this point, but I do know that somewhere between chapters 5 and 6, the band will finally come face to face with Dashtai. Hope thats as exciting for you as it is for me. By the way how you guys feeling about Dashtai, I know you guys only just met, but I'm very cautious about OCs, and I just wanted to get some feed back on him. Let me know!
-Syeil