Chapter Four: Bargaining Chip

Rattling came from the darkness and engulfed Ayumi. She groaned in pain and turned on her sides. Her battered brain struggled to regain composer and control of the rest of her limbs. She faintly heard voices swimming in her head but tried to block them out. Some were laughing while some were snapping.

It felt like an eternity had passed before she could even find the strength in her to open her eyes. She faced a metal wall. Mustering up any energy that was left, Ayumi frowned and tried to shift her arms. Memories of what happened before this slowly crept back into her mind. At the thought of the glassy eyes of the dead man, Ayumi shuddered.

She was still alive, though. It didn't feel like heaven to her at the moment. The soreness in her legs and waist prevented her from making a full turn to face her other surroundings. Tears spilled from her eyes and onto her uniform. She just wanted Kagome to come and take her home.

"Ow…" She mumbled quietly as her upper body finally regained the ability to move despite the soreness in them.

Turning, she prepared herself to face another horrendous sight. Squinting at the piercing sunlight, she shielded her face from the surprise assault. As her pupils adjusted to the change in light, she saw a person sitting just a mere few feet away from her.

Her brain took its time to register the face and the clothes before coming to the conclusion that it was not her Kagome, but the damn man who wiped out almost an entire village just to seek a person out. He was just sitting there, with a jug of liquid in his hand, while gazing at her with a bored look on his face.

She stared at Bankotsu indignantly, trying to muster the courage to give him the death glare.

Upon noticing her expression , the mercenary smirked.

"It's about damn time you woke up. I was gonna have Jakotsu throttle you awake if you weren't gonna come to your senses soon." He threw out the scenario like it was just another task he had to accomplish. "Huh, if it weren't for Naraku's stupid plan, I wouldn't even have to spare a second glance before ending your pathetic life. So be thankful and save the hate until you actually die after this is over, aight?"

Ayumi couldn't choke on herself even if she wanted to. This man, no, creature, was the worst of the worst criminals she had ever even heard off. She couldn't fathom what was going on inside his sadistic head as he swung his blade across his shoulders once more.

Turning, Bankotsu gave her a grin and said, "Don't fret too much. You still have some time left before Naraku is done with you." If it weren't for his reputation and actions, Ayumi would've thought of him as cute. Those ideas were out the window as soon she realized that she was dealing with a psychotic mercenary.

The man hopped down onto the ground and waved. "Let's head back to Mt. Hakurei, guys!"

In a second's notice, Ayumi noticed two more men coming into Bankotsu's presence. Each were more terrifying than the other; she noticed the bald man who went out of his way to capture her and shivered. The very giant man with lethal claws sneered in her direction, and licked his lips. Everything was hopeless now, the only way for her to escape was to either divert their attention or wait for Kagome to save her. Ayumi trembled underneath their gaze.

"So you're that filthy wench we were sent to find." A distatefull feminine tone rang in Ayumi's ears. She jumped in surprise as she finally noticed another figure standing right next to her on the huge cyborg. It was a woman, or was that a man...? Dazed, Ayumi stared at the lean-muscled individual in confusion.

When her rude stares were caught, the person snapped. "Never seen a man with makeup? You stupid bitch!"

Ayumi hiccuped. So it was a man.

After further inspection of her, he leaned closer to her and grabbed her uniform so roughly that her collar choked her. Fight or flight instinct overcame her as she tried to raise her arm and pry him away, only to find her hands bound by ropes.

She tried to find her voice to scream, but her throat was raw after a night without any water and hoarse yelling.

"Listen here, wench," The man barked into her face. "If it weren't for big brother's orders, I wouldn't even have to see such a disgusting creature like you. Behave now and maybe you'll receive a painless death." With a last snort, he shoved her back with so much force it caused her to tumble like a ball. Feeling the familiar feeling of hotness in her eyes, Ayumi looked to the floor, and tried to keep herself from sobbing.

Out of the corners of her gaze, she could see Bankotsu giving her a sly smile. He sighed mockingly and called out to the man who assaulted her, tone saccharine.

"Oi Jakotsu! Please be careful with our bargaining chip!" He laughed heartily and the rest of the band joined in with him. Ayumi felt sick to her core as anger radiated from her body. She clenched her fist and tried to stay as polite as possible by not retorting.

The man's despicable behavior revolted her, and she prayed that she would soon be rescued from their disgusting grips.

A distraction soon came to her aid as she heard faint footsteps in the distance. Everyone turned their heads towards the sound, Ayumi included. Amongst the mist on the road, two figures approached them. Bankotsu's demeanor quickly turned sour as he turned to face the newcomers.

It was a boy around the age of thirteen or so, dressed in similar garments as Ayumi saw Sango had. His gaze was soulless and stoic, sending shivers down her spine. She frowned; was he also a demon slayer? Another child was standing by him, though. The girl couldn't be any older than ten as she looked so infantile. What scared Ayumi the most was her pure white appearance. Everything on this girl was white: her skin, hair, clothes,and accessories were as blinding as the winter snow in Japan. Only her eyes weren't, instead, they were the color of charcoal black. The pair of empty eyes drew to Ayumi's form and she involuntarily backed away as much as she could.

"Why didn't you let me kill that Inuyasha?" Bankotsu hissed into the girl's face. Ayumi stared in wonder; faced with the world's most deadliest human, the girl didn't even as much as blink an eye.

The girl only gave a ghostly sigh and whispered so quietly that everyone but Bankotsu had to strain to hear. "You would've been killed in that battle." At this, the mercenary went deadly quiet. His hand on the handle of his blade clenched tightly. The older boy behind her spoke up, "Inuyasha may not come for you after your escape as he is still bent on Naraku. That's why we need the woman to lure him and the others in." His words lisped through her mouth and sent a spark of realization in Ayumi.

So Kagome had confronted Bankotsu already. The thought ran through her mind. And the good news was that she was still alive. At this, Ayumi smiled to herself; there was a chance to escape.

It didn't seem like a good thing to the young mercenary, however. He crashed his halberd in front of the girl's face and leaned in menacingly.

Bankotsu sneered, "You think it's because of this scratch?" Don't underestimate me, Kanna. This is nothing. I don't need some pathetic woman as bait!" His nostrils flared as he challenged the young girl before him. Kanna didn't flinch, she just tilted her head higher to stare eye to eye with him.

Kanna whispered again. "It could be much stronger." And stroked the cracked blade lovingly, as if cooing at a baby. Ayumi wondered what Kanna had meant by stronger. Bankotsu's blade looked like it could wipe out a quarter of an army in one swipe, how could it get any stronger than that?

Bankotsu looked at her looking at Renkotsu and then looked back at his "Banryu", and then his face lit up. With a smirk, he turned around. Ayumi shuddered and shrank back, fearing that he would use her or something to test out his weapon. But his gaze went past her and fell onto the bald man standing up high on the metal man.

"Renkotsu," his voice was a deadly slur. "Give me them, now."

Hearing the command, the usually silent Renkotsu balked. "What do you mean brother?" No sooner did he finish his statement when in a blur, Bankotsu had his long Banry pointed at his neck.

The leader of the Band of Seven cracked an ugly smile. "I mean your shards, Renkotsu. Don't make me repeat it again."

Ayumi looked on as Renkotsu relented and took out a small glass bottle. She gasped; those were Kagome's. She had shown them to her the first night she had come to this world. He stole shards from Kagome? Fresh anger boiled in her as she seethed at him. Bankotsu noticed her distress and grinned.

"Don't hide things from me from now on, Renkotsu. I see that you've learned your lesson this time around." He took the bottle, crushed it deliberately in front of Ayumi's own eyes, and merged the shards into his halberd.

She could only stare in horror as the jewel shards pulsed within his blade and closed up the cracks. A darker feeling radiated from him and she whimpered.

Bankotsu stood proudly with his fixed blade and beamed. His eyes darkened with glee. "Now that's more like it!"

Kanna seemingly agreed and took a step back. "You are now to go to the base of Mt. Hakurei to await further orders." She turned, and with the boy, vanished into the mist.

At her abrupt ending of the conversation, Ayumi could see the path that the band was going to take was going to lead her to shit. She subconsciously looked around for a gap to slip through and noticed that everyone was looking at where the two children had been.

Scooting towards the edge of the machine, she attempted to struggle to swing her legs over when her collar was yanked back. She yelped as she was thrown back onto the metal man.

"Nice try, wench." Bankotsu snapped. Ayumi inched away from him and squeezed her eyes shut. Visibly fuming, he stalked forwards. Crushing her wrists in his large hands, he leaned in. "A few rules here: you try to escape, we cut off your legs, you wanna insult us, we pull out your tongue, and if you ever dare to do something stupid like attack us, we'll have fun hacking you from limb to limb. You got that, woman?"

Sounds of jeering came from the others as Bankotsu listed all the gruesome ways for her life to end. Ayumi couldn't focus on anything he had said other than she would be torn apart. Her lips trembled and she nodded frantically.

Releasing her, Bankotsu stormed back to the ground.

"Let's go, now!" His barks sent the band into action. As he hoisted his Banryu onto his shoulders, he turned his head back towards Ayumi and hissed. "Suikotsu, make sure she stays quiet throughout whole journey, I don't want any stupid tricks or I won't be able to control myself much longer."

The man with clawed hands grinned eagerly and sauntered her way. Sudden fear spread through Ayumi as she opened her mouth to protest. She shielded her head with her face but it made no difference. She was engulfed in darkness before she even had the time to scream or curse Bankotsu's name.

Hope ya'll enjoyed everything so far. If you have any criticism or comments for me, you are welcome to review! :)