Dog May Cry

Bandit of love

"What is a…Youkai Ketto?" Kagome asked feeling slightly dumb and left out. Part of her didn't want to know if it scared them all so bad. They all seemed shocked and fearful of the situation. By the way Kouga was glaring at Dante and positioned for attack made Kagome guess there was about to be a fight. But they couldn't fight! Kouga was her friend, as annoying as he could be. And Dante was…Dante. Sango snapped out of her fear trance and explained

"A Youkai Ketto is something demons declare to fight over a mate. If a male demon sees a female it wants but she is already taken, he can challenge the other male to a duel for the mate. If the other accepts then the winner gets the mate and the loser dies…it's a duel to the death, and it's already started! There is no way to stop it!"

"WHAT! What do you mean there is no way to stop it! Just get in there and break it up!" Kagome yelled frantically; what had Dante gotten himself into? Did he even realize it?

"We can't do that. Right now, Kouga is running on instincts alone. If we interrupt in anyway he will try and kill us all"

"Then Dante has to back out! They can't kill each other!" Kagome was getting more worried by the second.

"He can't do that either. Kouga will just keep attacking until one of them is dead." Miroku was the one that spoke up this time. Great, how the hell were they going to get out of this one without someone dying? It seemed hopeless, all loopholes covered. Kouga kneeled into an attack stance while Dante stayed very much stationary as was his traditional fighting stance. Before anymore could be said, Kouga leaped at Dante with a incredible speed but Dante was just as quick to dodge slightly to the left and give Kouga a round-house kick to the back, sending him flying.

Kouga leapt to his feet and rushed Dante again only this time when Dante dodged, Kouga was ready and with great agility, turned on a dime and got a cheap shot in on Dante's kidneys. When Dante doubled over in pain, his chin was met with Kouga's fist for a swift uppercut. Dante hit the ground only to twirl on his hands and kick the feet right out from Kouga. This was obviously a no holds brawl. When Kouga got to the ground, he promptly leapt on Dante, intent on crushing his windpipe in a few inches, and he was promptly kicked off. Both aggravated demons were at there feet, and were quick to attack simultaneously.

They engaged in a bout of quick punches and jabs, all above the belt. This lasted for who knows how long because know one could stop watching long enough to calculate time. With a hard punch to the left cheek from Kouga, Dante was sent to the right, scraping across the dirt and ground. Kouga didn't even give him enough time to get up or react because Kouga was right there. Kouga picked Dante up by the coat collar and kneed him in the gut just to throw him to the ground and stomp on him a few times. When he was done with that, Dante was picked up again flipped over to his back and brought down for a bone crushing back breaker over Kouga's thigh. Kouga spun on his heel for momentum and tossed Dante into a patch of trees like a rag doll, a rag doll able to bring down trees.

For a moment Kouga stayed perfectly still, sniffing every so often, then he straightened up and looked towards Ayame and said "You're mine now". With one swift movement, he jumped at Ayame, lifted her in his arms and took off, leaving the rest to look at the fallen trees in the clearing…waiting for something to emerge…

"Dante…?" Kagome whispered in a choked tone. She ran to the pile of fallen trees and started moving them with demon and desperate strength. It took her several minutes to uncover his body but when she did, she didn't like the sight. His eyes were closed and he had blood all over him, a branch had got him right through his stomach. Her eyes burned at the sight of her new friend. Before she knew what she was doing, she had her arms wrapped around his neck, sobbing into his chest. She felt like a leg had been pulled from under her and she had landed on glass. She was so caught in her sadness, she didn't notice the arms wrap around her waist.

"Come on Kagome, I can't look that bad" a voice said from just above the top of her head. A voice that calmed her for several seconds, then her angered flared. 'SLAP'

Dante had a red handprint on the side of his face as he saw a blushing Kagome walk away.

"What the hell was that for?" He asked.

"For scaring me, for startling me, and for ruining my favorite kimono!" Kagome addressed her white with light green striped travel kimono. Under was a fighting suit much like Sango's. Dante laid his head against one of the trees and laughed.

"Fuck, is that all? I'll buy you a new one when we get to the next town. Now could you help me up? I am a bit stuck at the moment". He was of coarse referring to the painfully placed branch in his stomach area.

"Get up yourself!" Kagome yelled as she stormed away.

"Ahh, come' on babe, that's cold."

"And don't call me babe!" Kagome added. Dante just kept his smug smile and twisted himself off the branch, wincing whenever he got s splinter caught.

The rest of the group had gone through an array of emotion, from Shippo crying over Dante, to Sango's humorous tone over the trick, to Miroku being slightly jealous about Dante's cunning. But at the same time, confusion ran over all of them. Why wasn't Dante dead? Sango and Shippo went off after Kagome while Miroku stayed to help Dante un-impale himself.

"Well that was…a bit spontaneous of you" Miroku said, "What was the big show about."

"Going any other way wouldn't be part of my style." Dante completely unstuck himself, "Besides, now is not the time for some horny wolf hanging off of Kagome. It was trouble brewing." Dante and Miroku started to follow the girls down the road but kept their distance.

"I'm not sure; maybe the love of the right man might help Kagome in these difficult times." Miroku said.

"I never said that, someone Kagome could trust and lean on couldn't hurt her. But right now, she is too bent on revenge to get anything like that going. Speaking of love and horny things, when are you going to make a move on Sango up there? She's a bit rash but she looks like she is waiting on somebody." Dante said in a sly tone. Miroku was a bit taken back by the change in subject but answer none the less.

"I have been trying to romance Lady Sango for sometime now, but everything I try seems to anger her." Miroku answered in a knowing tone.

"Yea, women are weird, huh? You touch there ass one time and they get all 'slappy slappy'." Miroku caught the sarcasm in Dante's remark but let it slide

"Yes well, I suppose I could use a few tips in seducing a woman. Just to compare to my own of course" Miroku said

"Oh sure, whatever you say Romeo" Dante said.

"Romeo? My name is Miroku…"

"Just shut up and listen…" Dante said, irritated at the general lack of symbolism in the country. However, Dante did tell all he knew about the female kind while Miroku listened intently.


"Wow Dante…I don't know what to say." Kagome exclaimed as she looked around her surroundings yet again. After Dante had ruined her Kimono, he lived up to his promise of buying her a new one. Better yet, he bought her one that must have cost a fortune. Headmen's daughters probably couldn't dream of wearing this. It was made from imported silk from the main lands, split in two from her shoulders all the way down the bottom of it between a deep crimson red and a rich blue with green flowers decorating it in various places. As they were buying it, ladies were watching them with a bit of envy and amazement. On top of that, Dante paid for the entire group to stay in a very luxurious inn.

Currently they had sat down to dinner, Shippo was on her left eating happily while scribbling on a notepad every once in awhile. Dante sat on her right trying to pick at his food with his finger because he hadn't exactly mastered the chopsticks. He kept grumbling stuff like "how the fuck do you miss a spoon? It's a miniature shovel god damn it" But other than that seemed to be in his usual good mood. Miroku and Sango sat a few feet across. Miroku hadn't grabbed Sango's ass all day and Kagome knew something was up. Sango seemed to be on edge about. Suddenly Miroku leaned over to Sango and whispered something quick in her ear then stood up and offered Sango a hand. The older girl looked confused but took it out of curiosity if nothing else. Kagome glanced at Dante to find him watching the scene, and Kagome just scarcely detected the hint of a devious smile. She wanted to ask what was going on but let it go for now, seemed worthless now that the plan was going on.

Several minutes went by as Kagome engaged with her friends in various conversations and still no sight of Miroku or Sango. Kagome started to prepare to leave her dinner and go to bed when an ear piercing scream came from outside the building. By the time she had grabbed rebellion from against the wall, Shippo was already clinging to Dante's jacket. She swore he was becoming like Myoga everyday. Dante on the other hand made no immediate response to answer the call of terror or even grab a weapon, he just kept picking at the raw fish.

"Dante! Come on, someone is in trouble and I smell blood!" Kagome exclaimed. Dante sighed.

"Damn it, and I was really starting to enjoy the toxic crap too." Dante reluctantly got to his feet and slung Force Edge over his back, almost hitting Shippo.

"Alright, lets go see what the disturbance is," So together they went to the front entrance of the hotel, where the answer was revealed to tem in the form of several dozen halberds and other long weapons in their faces.

"God damn bandits…"

Finally I get this thing out. Took me long enough I know. Major brain fizzle in the idea apartment, but I got inspiration now and hope to get the next one out quicker. Oh and not to shamelessly use my most popular story to advertise another less popular one, It would be really awesome if you checked out my story "Darkness Fades" You don't really even have to understand Jak and Daxter that well. Well Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good review or two.