Hachinintai

Band of Eight

By Anonymous Laughter

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Ten

Kagome looked at Gotosai with confusion building inside her. He definately wasn't what she expected. For one, Gotosai was obviously a woman and for another, she looked just as old as her father was. She was thin with snow white hair. She crouched over and had lots of wrinkles and creaky bones. Her eyes were bulbous and large but they sparkled with the light of laughter.

"Excuse me, are you Gotosai? Your father told me to come see you so you would make a weapon for me while he mends my friend Bankotsu's Banryu. Will you make a weapon for me?"

"What were the words my father sent you with?" Gotosai asked in a gavely voice.

"Oh right, they were: naa naa flax meep. You are going to help me, right?"

"Truely?" the light in the old demoness' eyes seemed to increase tenfold, "Oh it is such an honor then. I never thought I'd see the day when those words were spoken. It truely will be an honor to create a weapon for you young Warrior-Protector."

"I'm a what?" Kagome asked with bafflement etched on her face.

"There are warriors who fight to kill and there are warriors who fight to protect. You are a protector. If what my father says is true then you will need a weapon that will be used to protect your warrior friends. Will you use a bow? Or perhaps a holy staff or a katana."

Kagome smiled, "I'd like you to make a bow with sharp edges that can be used as a sword if it is possible for you to make one for me."

"Genius," the woman cackled merrily, "Oh, I shall enjoy seeing the faces of Kaoru and Yota when they meet you. While I create your weapon Kaoru will train you and teach you how to use both a bow and a sword so you can use your weapon effectively. Yota will teach you how to use your miko powers effectively in a fight and on a battlefield. Follow me."

As the days passed Kagome increasingly began to miss Bankotsu and the others, often wondering what they were doing. She came to the past to be with them but it was nice to meet new people. Kaoru was an ancient mantis demoness who was much wiser and tougher than any other bug demons she had encountered thus far. Kaoru showed her how to shoot moving targets, both large and small. She also showed her how to make her own arrows. For hours upon end Kaoru trained Kagome to use a blade with special techniques which required speed since she wasn't a strong person.

Yota was a middle-aged human monk who often gave Kagome sweet riceballs during her lessons with him. He often smiled but you could see how war had nearly crippled his body and outlook on life. He could walk but it was difficult for him. He knew she would be traveling with mercenaries so he showed her how to purify her comrades weapons and explained how she was to bless a battlefield before and after a fight took place. He also taught her first aid so she wouldn't have to stand by helplessly while a friend was wounded badly.

All in all Kagome was having a very enjoyable time dispite missing Bankotsu. She hoped if anyone noticed her meloncholy attitude they wouldn't take offence.

Bankotsu's week wasn't going quite as nicely as Kagome's was. While Totosai was fixing his Banryu and creating a one-of-a-kind sword for Jakotsu he had been ordered to do errands from as mudane as washing dishes to as bizzare as stacking boulders on top of each other. Jakotsu was simply told to sweep his floor and run into town to buy food. The other five of the Hachinintai were simply told they could hone their own skills while waiting for the weapons to be finished.

"Bankotsu! Come over here! I have an errand for you!" Totosai shouted. Bankotsu glowered but walked over to the demon. He was purposely making his life miserable. He just knew it.

"What do you want old timer?"

"Respect your elders boy or I'll find something more grueling for you! Now then, I want you to deliver this eight hundred pounds of grease in a barrel to my daughter. She lives fifty miles west of here and I want it delivered by sundown. Get crackin!"

As Totosai strapped the large barrel onto Bankotsu's back he muttered, "I...hate...you..."

"Well then, get to it lad. And you better return here by sunrise."

Grumbling under his breath, Bankotsu started his trek to the west as the sun rose over the trees.

Kagome was balancing precariously on a six foot pole with weights strapped to her feet. There were a field of various sized poles before her and her assignment was to leap from pole to pole until she reached the end and rang the bell. There were also baseball sized flys that would swarm around her and she was supposed to cut them while avoiding being hit. At least she was improving from the beginning of the week.

As she neared the end of her assignment a sound reached her ears. Someone was crashing noisily through the woods, loudly cursing the existance of everything under the sun. "I hate these birds! I hate these trees! That fuckin' old man should die! That's it! I'm going to kill him when I get back. That bastard will regret the day when he crossed--Kagome? What are you doing up there?"

"Bankotsu? I'm training under Kaoru-sama until my weapon gets made. What are you doing here Bankotsu?"

"...delivering eight hundred pounds of grease to that cursed demon's daughter. I thought you were going to that old geaser's son to get your weapon made."

"Gotosai-sama is Totosai's daughter they haven't seen each other in centuries and Gotosai says that Totosai has totally forgotten her gender so he will call her both his son and his daughter."

"Ah...okay...so what kind of weapon is the geaser's daughter making you? A katana? Ninja stars? Chains? Scyth?"

"A bow blade," a gravely old woman's voice said from behind him, "What have you delivered from my father, young one?"

"sigh...eight hundred pounds of grease. That old coot is insane."

The woman chuckled, "Don't take it personally young one. I imagine these errands he sends you on will be profitable to you sooner than you realize. Now then. You kids may visit for a little while but knowing my father he told you to be back by sunrise so don't dally here for too long boy."

"Man this entire family is on my back," Bankotsu muttered, "How is any of this supposed to be 'profitable'? What good will delivering eight hundred pounds of grease do me?"

"Well look at the bright side, Bankotsu-kun," Kagome said as she rang the bell and jumped down, "We get to see each other for a little while at least. I've missed you very much. It's quiet without you or Jakotsu-kun around. I wanted to teach Renkotsu how to play checkers too. I bet he'd be really good at it."

"Kagome? I've been thinking for awhile now and I've decided that you're just too innocent to ever really want to kill anyone. So why are you still with me? You could leave if you wanted and I wouldn't stop you know if you went back to that strange era of yours and you'd never have to worry about killing again."

Kagome slowly walked over to him and gave him a gentle hug, "Bankotsu. You are my friend. I will stay by your side, not as a fellow mercenary or a partner but as a friend. In good times and bad times, I'll be at your side forever and a day...that's what friends are for Ban-kun."

Bankotsu smiled, "Thank you, Kagome. Without you in the Hachinintai it would probably get dull after a while anyway. So, what do you want to do now?"

Kagome grinned and tapped him on the nose with her finger, "Tag! You're it!"

"Oh, you'll regret tagging me, Kagome," Bankotsu said with a chuckle and proceeded to chase after the clunking, heavy-footed Kagome.

The two spent a few hours just running around under the starlit summer sky but before long Gotosai came outside and told Bankotsu he had to leave but the two friends promised each other they would see each other again soon.

A week later the weapons were declared finished. Kagome's bow was as tall as she was and had a white bone-like grip which was fused to the bluish steel blades that made up the limbs. Kaoru had made her first fifty arrows, which had the same silvery-blue color for the steel tips. With as much excitement as she could muster she strung an arrow and aimed it at a far off target. She pulled back and combined the techniques of both her tangable and dream instructors before releasing the arrow.

There was a flash of bright pinkish-purple light that enveloped the arrow as it flew towards the target. Thanks to Kaoru's training the arrow didn't compleately miss the target but it wasn't exactly a bullseye eather. Not that it mattered when the target incinerated in a flash of pink light.

"Now that's that I call holy power!" Yota cackled, "Man I would love to see what you are like when your powers fully develop when you reach your sixteenth birthday."

"That singed my antanne and I wasn't even in purification range," Kaoru said with an almost sadistic, yet satisfied grin, "Give your enemies hell for us, Kagome, they will deserve it no doubt."

"I wonder if Bankotsu's Banryu is as cool as this is now," Kagome mused as she gave her goodbyes to her friends and mounted Aza to fly off.

"Remember, Kagome," Kaoru intoned, "Wear your leg weights at all time unless you are fighting. I also want you to increase the weight whenever you reach your top speed."

"I'll see you again one day! I'm off to see my friends," Kagome said with a smile. Aza growled contently and dashed off toward's Totosai's home. Bankotsu meanwhile looked at the white sheet that covered Banryu. His hand twitched slightly.

"I don't think Kagome-chan would be offended if you looked at it, Bankotsu-kun," Jakotsu said as he munched a peach.

"I suppose not...alright then. Here goes nothing." He pulled the sheet off the giant weapon and grinned so widely his face looked to be in danger of cracking in half. "So...shiny..."

"Wow, Banryu looks great," Kagome said and Bankotsu looked over to see her climbing off Aza, "It's good to see everyone again!"

While everyone greeted Kagome, Bankotsu griped the handle of Banryu and said, "It's good to have you back." Then with a proud tug, pulled the weapon from the ground. He overcompensated and the heavy weapon went up over his shoulder and back down in a loud crashing thud. Everyone was looking at him now and with a glare he grumbled, "What? This darn thing's heavyer then it looks."

END CHAPTER TEN

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