Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha Characters, they belong to Rumiko Takahasi. I'm merely using them for my own twisted enjoyment. I do however, own all Original Characters, this plot line, and all the fan fics referenced in this story. :D
Chapter Eight:
The next morning Naien lay flat on her back and Bankotsu's face rested on her warm, soft chest, with his body half way pinning hers to the floor. His arms had managed to drape around her waist sometime during the night.
Feeling an unusually heavy weight on her Naien opened her eyes as her chest heaved, and she blinked at the sight. She inhaled a shocked breath and froze trying to figure things out. She remembered scrubbing floors and eating. Then she remembered taking a drink of Saki and her throat feeling like it was on fire. Squinting she remembered laying down on the floor beside him and falling asleep, everything else was blank. Her eyes flew wide and her breath hitched nervously.
She was unsure what to do at this point. The last thing she wanted was him waking up and knowing where his head lay. She didn't need the added frustration of him or the others teasing her about it. Lifting a slender hand and running it through her hair in frustration, she looked down at his sleeping face. The thought of how he looked like a sleeping child fluttered across her mind, before she sternly reminded herself he was no child. He was a man and men were trouble with a capitol T, she'd learned that lesson the hard way her whole life.
First her father was never even around; her mother had raised her on her own. After her mother died and she was alone two other guys had ended up hurting her. The first was her only boy friend. He'd been the football captain and had one night decided that he was going to have her - with or without her consent. He'd held her down and raped her right there in the middle of the party. It was the only party she'd ever gone to.
The second: was six months later when a drunkard had followed her home one night and held her down. He'd even used his knife to cut off her slacks leaving ugly scars on her inner and outer thighs. Then when he was finished raping her he'd busted her lip with a brutal backhand and decided that since she'd fought him the whole time he was gonna teach her a lesson by using her chest as a means of crushing out his cigar. Each breast held two of those nasty burns, vivid reminders of the nightmare that had replayed in her mind for close to two years. Tears leaked from her eyes as she recalled how her boss had come over the next morning when she hadn't show up for work and found her crying. They'd called the cops and reported the incident, then went to the hospital. After being released she and her boss had called and had all of the locks changed, the door replaced with a steel door, and all the windows barred. Just so that Naien would at least feel safe in her own home.
She'd decided then and there that men were nothing but trouble and she never wanted anything to do with them ever again. She'd spent four long weeks crying her heart out and moaning over everything before she realized life had to go on and sitting at home wasn't paying her bills, nor was it gonna allow her to graduate. Having promised her mother who was on her death bed, to graduate, she focused on that for her driving force, and it fueled her not only to venture out of the house, but to return to school and work. Eventually she took some woman's self defense classes and a few martial arts classes, vowing never again to be a victim.
Angrily swiping away the tears Naien shoved Bankotsu off her chest, not caring if it woke him up or not.
Bankotsu rolled over onto the floor groaning from discomfort and then went back to sleep.
Naien sat there hugging her knees to her chest fighting back the tears. 'I've cried enough already and refuse to waste anymore tears over a past I will never be able to change.'
A couple hours later she stood to her feet and began rummaging for something to eat.
Bankotsu rolled over holding his head as he heard some banging across the room. Groaning he hissed, "Can't you be quiet?" He rubbed his aching temples.
Naien snorted. "If you hadn't gotten yourself a damned hangover, you'd realize I'm barely making any noise. Besides I'm hungry," She pulled out the remaining cheese and bread. She boiled some water for tea.
Bankotsu glared at her and then over to the now empty and toppled over Saki half jug. Sighing he rubbed his temples and waited for the room to stop spinning before her tried to sit up.
She walked over handing him a fresh cup of tea. "Here, this should help." She walked back across the room and got her own cup of tea and the tray of bread and cheese, carrying it back over to where he was sitting.
Taking a seat beside him Indian style, she passed him a hunk of bread and a chunk of cheese, before biting into her own meal. A few minutes later the others woke up and she got up to serve their food and tea as well, before taking her seat beside Bankotsu once again.
Once everyone finished eating and Bankotsu was feeling all better, he decided it was time to start training her. Standing to his feet he ordered, "Jakotsu and Renkotsu, I want you both to stock up on wood, fresh water, and food. I expect to see plenty of fruit and nuts in this pantry by the end of the day, as well as some meat for tonight's dinner."
Nodding that they understood the men set to work, knowing that if they didn't he'd hand them their asses personally.
Turning to Naien Bankotsu ordered, "You're coming with me. It's high time I started training you." Holding up a hand to stop her protest, Bankotsu informed her, "My life depends on your safety as well and I refuse to have to coddle a weak wench who can't even defend herself in battle! Now let's go."
Leading her by the elbow he walked outside into the castle gardens and facing her. "For starters, we'll work on improving your stamina. I expect you to run around the entire outside of this castle five times in two hours."
Naien scoffed. "You're crazy! That castle is huge! There's no way I can do that." She shook her head in disbelief.
Bankotsu's face slid into a devious smirk. "Sure you can, because every time you try to stop I'm going to be right behind you and keep you going."
Not liking the look in his eyes she swallowed nervously. "How?"
Bankotsu simply smirked wider. "You'll see, now let's start."
Not wanting to test him she began running and he gave chase.
After the first lap around the castle she stopped and tried to catch her breath.
Bankotsu reached over and roughly slapped her butt cheek.
She yelped as her hands flew to her stinging backside.
He reached out and slapped her ass again. "Keep moving."
Eyes wide she immediately began running again.
He grinned and jogged after her. 'I knew that would get her going.'
She continued running and glared ahead of her. 'How dare he? Who does this bastard think he is just touching me wherever the hell he wants to?' She grit her teeth.
When she was around the second time she tried again to take a minute to catch her breath. When his hand moved towards her butt again she spun around and caught his hand, growling at him."Don't even think about it."
He smirked and reached out grasping a handful of one of her breast as his other hand pinched her butt.
Her eyes flew wide as electric zaps shot through her nipple making her breast tingle and a sharp pain run through her wasn't sure which hurt more at the moment her nipple or her ass.
"Keep it moving girl or I'll do it again."
She spun around and tried to run away from him.
Laughing he jogged up so that he was just behind her.
She panted heavily as she continued running. After making it around a third time she forced herself to keep going for fear of being groped again.
Bankotsu released a deep-throated laugh as he easily kept pace with her.
Her legs and lungs were burning by the time she finished the fourth lap and she bent over panting, before falling onto her butt, in order to protect it from his lecherous hands. He moved to grab her breast again and she captured his hand still panting while sending him a deadly glare.
Smirking Bankotsu dipped his head and bit earlobe while squeezing her thigh. She jumped back up and tried hard as hell to run away from him as she completed her final lap. She fell to her knees and then to her face, panting rapidly as she tried to regain her breath.
Bankotsu stood over her not even winded and grinned like a child who'd just pulled a girl's pony tail. "I told you that you could do it." His eyes dancing with laughter.
Pushing to her knees she sent him a chilling glare. "Groping m, is not funny you damned lecherous Neijin!" Anger flared in her eyes, while the sun shined in her hair accentuating the red highlights.
Bankotsu chuckled. "It kept you moving didn't it?" He moved to sit beside her.
She scooted out of his reach not trusting him not to grope her again.
Bankotsu sat there laughing a good three minutes.
She continued panting until she finally regained her breath. Every muscle in her body ached and she was too damn sore to move, so she scooted away some more and lay on her back.
Bankotsu stretched out on his side and watched her. "We'll do the same thing again tomorrow and then after a few days we'll add sit-ups and push-ups to the regiment."
She groaned. "He's trying to kill me," She closed eyes and laying her arm over her eyes to block out the bright sun.
Bankotsu laughed boisterously, before correcting, "No, actually I'm trying to keep your cute little ass alive, so that neither of us dies." Turning serious he sat up. "Once your stamina is up to par, we'll move to hand to hand combat, and than after that I'll teach you some different weapons that girls can use easy enough."
Naien sat up heaving a heavy sigh. "I have my daggers or have you forgotten that?" She stared at him unable to believe he'd have forgotten that particular incident and her warning.
Bankotsu smirked and tossed a few blades of grass at her. "I haven't forgotten that." Turning serious he added," but daggers won't do shit for protecting your life here. A bow and arrows or some katanas maybe - but not daggers."
He snorted derisively. "That little toothpick you pulled on me the other day was a surprise, but if I'd really wanted to I could have disarmed you in an instant." He snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.
Naien's jaw clenched. She hated to admit it but he had a valid point. Maybe him training her wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. She had no real knowledge of what the people of this time were like and she sure as hell didn't intend to fall victim to another man - least of all a man from these times. To top that off there were demons, real live demons in this world. 'How the hell am I ever going to handle herself against them?' She nodded. "Thank you, I hadn't thought of that."
Bankotsu carelessly shrugged. "By the time I'm done teaching you, you'll be able to protect yourself from most situations. Not that I intend on letting you out of my sight, but in case anything did happen you have to know how to protect yourself. So that I don't die either." Standing up he walked over to her. His eyes narrowed. "I'm not doing this just for you, mainly it's to protect my own neck."
'How the hell could I even for a second think that he'd actually do anything that didn't benefit him?' Naien's fist tightened on the ground and she clenched her jaw, before giving him a curt nod that she understood. Moving to her feet she stared at the castle.
A/N That's Chapter Eight, Enjoy :D
