Author's Notes: I suppose we're nearing the climax of the story now and the end as well, I'm afraid. You have to forgive the corny title of this chapter (sorry)
And the chapters are getting shorter – mostly because I'm still wrestling with this writer's block – but it means that there will be a few more chapters than expected. I originally predicted 21 chapters… but I think it'll be more like 22 or 23.
Sorry (again) about the shortness, but I decided it was best to give you what I'd already written, instead of making you wait around for ages for a slightly longer chapter.
Now when I said this was going to have a 'bitter' ending – remember that bitter isn't necessary a sad ending. I'm not saying it's going to smiles and laughter all round… I'm just saying it's not going to end happily for everyone.
(And special thanks to starhealer – that's the longest review I've had! It took a while to read – but I was smiling the whole time and now my cheeks hurt… anyway… better get back to the fic)
Life Exchange
Chapter 19
A Curse in Reverse
"Let go of me! Bastard!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs and she struggled valiantly. But with Bankotsu's arm clamped tightly around her slight form, trapping her own arms against her as he carried her on his shoulder, she wasn't succeeding in breaking free any time soon.
"Who knew you were this much of a wild cat?" Bankotsu taunted slightly as he jostled her easily to his other shoulder. Kagome didn't like struggling so much on this new shoulder, as it put her face dangerously close to the shiny blade edge of his oversized sword.
"I know who you are!" she yelled, kneeing him periodically in the chest and sometimes getting an elbow in his ear. He ignored her surprisingly well. "I know what you are! You're one of these Shichinin-tai! Inuyasha told me about you guys! How you set up the old Lord Inu against the dark miko so that they killed each other!"
"You've been doing your homework." He grinned and patted her on the behind, much to her chagrin. "There's a good girl."
"You're sick – a-and you're a zombie!" she tried to twist off his shoulder. "Where the hell are you taking me?!"
"Down to the Canyon." He replied smoothly.
"Why?!"
"Do I have to explain everything?" he growled suddenly, and Kagome yelped as she found herself slipping from his shoulder… and over the cliff above the canyon – until she felt Bankotsu's solid hand catch her ankle to keep her from descending any further.
It took all her courage not to scream… but then again, she probably couldn't manage it. There was a lump so big in her throat that she had trouble breathing enough as it was. Looking up… or rather, down, she could see the dizzying drop below… all the way down to the wide valley with the calm green waters that had spilled into it. Along the cliff faces she saw the vegetation and the plant life, and swarms of butterflies that looked like slow moving locusts from this height.
"Do you want to take the short cut down?" Bankotsu asked reasonably. "Or will you behave and let me carry you down like two civilised people."
"Except you're a civilised person who probably… plans to murder me horribly at the bottom…" she swallowed with difficulty, the blood rushing straight to her head as she closed her eyes tightly.
"Don't be so hasty." He lifted her away from the edge, to her intense relief, and pulled her back over his shoulder.
She resumed struggling regardless of what he'd said. He wouldn't drop her if he wasn't planning to kill her. So she could kick and punch him as much as she damn well liked!
"You must be crazy if you think you can get away with this!" she hissed angrily at him, pulling on his braid mercilessly. "Soon everyone will discover you for the fraud you are and you won't have a leg to stand on! They'll find out that it was you who made Inuyasha go insane – when in actual fact he's perfectly fine! They'll all seek vengeance for him when they discover you framed his death!"
"Nag, nag, nag, that's all you wives do isn't it?"
"You must have been one hell of a deluded fool if you thought that it would be a piece of cake!" She began plucking individual hairs from the back of his neck. He ground his teeth but ignored it. "A human – taking over an island full of Inu Youkai! Just so you could have your own band of powerful minions! You're crazy!"
Suddenly he laughed, distracting her from her work on creating a bald spot. "You think that's been my goal all along? To conquer this island and force the people into slavery?" He laughed again.
"Well… I did… until you laughed evilly like that." She said timidly.
"No, that was just fun and games. My real business is elsewhere."
"F-fun and games?!" she stammered. "You mean you ruined our lives just for your amusement?!"
"Well. Yes."
"I hate you."
"I guess now would be a good time to file for that divorce, huh?" he chuckled.
Kagome steamed quietly to herself for a few minutes as they started to descend down a winding path in the cliff face itself. Eventually she plucked up her courage to go with her curiosity. "So… what is your real business then?" she asked curtly.
"Well, seeing as you asked so politely," he hefted her slightly, "I'll tell you. You've heard of the dark miko Tsubaki, right?"
"The one who captured Lord Inu." Kagome said darkly. "The one who put him in a cage for six months before he finally died. The one Inuyasha killed. Yes, I've heard of her."
"Good. Then you know half the story already." He said breezily. "In this very valley, a decade ago, she put a curse on the Shichinin-tai. She removed half our strength and ultimately the curse killed each of us simultaneously."
"Oh, boo hoo."
"Quiet!" Bankotsu jolted her painfully. "As you probably know, we were revived by Lord Inu… but not entirely grateful. But now our numbers our dwindling again… as we are still only at half strength."
"How many of you is left then?" Kagome asked seriously.
Bankotsu didn't speak for a while. Until eventually he gave a thin-lipped smile. "Just me, I think. Renkotsu seems to have disappeared. I can't feel his presence on this island anymore. Coward probably ran away though."
Kagome gave a short, humourless laugh. "You're alone – you'll die alone for what you've done!"
"If you speak out of turn one more time, Kagome, I'll slam you so hard against this rock wall beside us you'll get cranial damage. Now shut up." Kagome fell silent, because she didn't doubt for a minute that he wouldn't at least use an excuse to hurt her. "Now where was I…?" he started again. "Oh yes. There is a way to revive all the dead members of my band, and restore them all to full strength – no – twice their original strength! And that is to reverse the curse."
"So why haven't you done that already?" a reasonable question, and not out of turn in the least. But he still brought her before him for a moment to smack her around the head for speaking. She bit down on her lip to keep the pain from being voiced, and dizzily closed her eyes when she was placed back on his shoulder. Bankotsu, the ever smooth business man.
"The curse was never written down, and I have never personally heard the incantation. So the only way to learn the verses… would be to go back in time." He told her calmly. "That's where you come in, Kagome dear. You shall hear the curse spoken and then you will perform the counter curse – since you are the only one with miko powers I believe."
"I don't have miko powers…" Kagome said somewhat bitterly. "Only greenfingers."
"Yeah, I know all about how you can stick your finger tips into the ground and make grass spring out across barren earth. But you must have some sort of power… or else, how would you be able to do these things?" he pointed out. "You'll perform the counter curse and the Shichinin-tai will once more be the formidable band it used to be…"
"I'll never help you…" Kagome hissed quietly. "Inuyasha will come for me – and then you'll pay."
"He's not coming. He's probably dead by now." Bankotsu snorted contemptuously.
"What?" Kagome squirmed restlessly. "He's fine! He's safe in the Northern Kingdom – and when he comes looking for me he'll get you good!" Hopefully… that was only if he cared enough to help her out.
"Whatever. In the long run, he's just one little Hanyou trying too hard to compensate for his father's life work." The Shichinin-tai leader scoffed. "He can't stop me – because in all likeliness, he's been dead for a good half hour now."
(Like that would ever happen)
^_^
Mikato was lost. Well… at least very confused. He'd been out of the loop for quite some time seeing as how Inuyasha had sent him months ago to the Northern Kingdom to act as a spy for the South – worming his way into position of captain of the guard again, this time for Sesshomaru.
But then the new guy, Suikotsu, had arrived and suddenly the whole operation had been blown to bits. All messages and links to the Southern Kingdom had been severed and poor Mikato had been stranded in the North, surrounded by Sesshomaru's men and working for a human King. All the other spies had been discovered and thrown out, or killed. Mikato had escaped both fates… seeing as Inuyasha was the only person in the world who knew who he was, and where he was.
It had been one very happy day when Inuyasha had marched through those throne room doors and sliced off the hard head of Suikotsu. Finally! A King he liked! A few things had been explained, but he'd understood that Inuyasha was very pressured at the time, and so many things had been left unsaid.
The King had disappeared for a short while, only to return now.
He hadn't said a word. He'd just ignored the servants and guards as he'd strode through the gates to the throne. He'd taken the knife off one of the guards and brought it to his own throat. Suicide?
But then at the last moment he seemed to have awoken out of his trance and dropped the knife rather hurriedly. He'd said one thing.
"Kagome…"
Then he'd ran away again, stealing one of the fastest horses from the stables and ignored everyone's pleas that he stay and explain.
So Mikato was, once more, feeling as though he was being kept in the dark all over again. What the hell was going on?
^_^
"How do we explain this all to her?" Sango asked Miroku outside Lady Inu's door. They'd left her alone to get some rest after that initial awakening, but now they were fretting over how to break the news to her that her son was no longer King, Inuyasha may have killed Kagome, Bankotsu was a traitor… and worst of all… Kagome hadn't married Inuyasha – she'd married Bankotsu (a man the queen didn't remember and knew nothing of).
The Queen was not going to be very happy to learn that.
"Just start from the beginning." Miroku said calmly. "She doesn't remember anything unusual. She thinks Inuyasha is still the King and that Kagome is still ordinary little Kagome. She doesn't remember Bankotsu arriving… a lot of her memory is gone, so we have to break it all gently."
"How do we break it gently that her insane son may have killed Kagome?" Sango frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe that's jumping too far ahead though…?"
"Let's not tell her that bit." Miroku said quickly. "Just tell her… Kagome was taken away by Inuyasha – don't say the words 'insane', 'kidnap', 'marriage' or 'dead' in the same sentence. We'll just confuse her."
"Maybe you should go explain?" Sango nudged him towards the door.
"She knows you better – you go." Miroku opened the door and by pure slight of hand managed to nudge Sango in before him. "Lady Inu – Sango has something to tell you… oh… who's this?"
Lady Inu was already sitting up in bed, wide awake and as healthy looking as she normally was. Sitting on her legs over the blankets was a small boy, with a rather plush, fluffy tail.
"A… a squirrel got in?" Sango guessed.
The kid's expression suddenly took a downfall. "I'm a Kitsune!"
Lady Inu smiled at the couple as she continued to pet the boy's tail. "Shippo's been filling me in on the details… unlike some people who tend to beat around the bush." She gave them both a pointed look. "So… Inuyasha was insane. Kagome's married to Bankotsu and Sesshomaru has gone and an even worse enemy has arrived. Hm. Well, I think I understand…"
^_^
"Now… once again…" Bankotsu released Kagome's hair, allowing her to slump forward against the dry earth, small splatters of her own blood changed speckles of sandy golden ground to damp crimson. She coughed again, raising a shaky hand to her mouth to clear the blood away that was dribbling down her chin.
"Do the vision." He said evenly.
"I-I told you… I can't force it." Her voice came out with a slight lisp. It was hard to talk when you couldn't feel your tongue anymore. "It happens on its own."
"That's not what I wanted to hear, wifey." His leant down to fist his hand back in her hair, dragging her back up to her knees despite her screamed protests. They were quickly cut short when he smacked her hard across the face, adding bruise on top of bruise.
He released her again and Kagome draped herself forward, unable to make another sound. It seemed oddly peaceful. The water that consumed most of the base of the valley lapped gently against the banks a few metres away. She could hear the birds singing their high pitched, sweet sounding melodies in the trees around the edge of the valley. Maybe if she could open her eyes she'd see how tranquil it all looked with the butterflies fluttering between the trees and the sunlight streaming in separate shafts and rays from the vaguely visible sky above them.
Her peace was shattered when Bankotsu's hand gripped the back of her yukata and dragged her once more to her knees. Her head lolled forward uselessly as her dirty, scratched hands clasped tightly at the front of her clothes, trying desperately to hold the folds together… any more of this rough treatment and they'd just slide off her shoulders. Being pulled up and down, then kicked back and forth had loosened her obi dramatically… and that was the only thing holding her yukata together beside her hands.
"Now I'll try again." Bankotsu said calmly, a touch of amusement in his tone. "Hurry up and have a vision… or unfortunately I'll be forced to hit you again."
Forced? That was a laugh! He was enjoying this…
"No?" he asked, before sighing. "Then I have no choice."
She was dropped back down to the ground and kicked in the head. Not a very hard blow, considering a real kick would probably shatter her skull – and that would do Bankotsu no good. But it still hurt… though not enough to knock her unconscious. Pain shot through her entire body and she curled in on herself, cradling her head with her arms against her knees. She'd already pleaded with him to stop… it hadn't worked. So she didn't bother crying or begging more than once. In her experience with bad guys, she knew that her petty human tears would no sooner move them than a little puff of a breeze. Unlike Inuyasha.
A foot pushed her forcefully in the side, rolling her onto her back. For a second she thought he might be getting ideas as he crouched down beside her. She could hear him fiddling with something. After a moment, something incredibly strong and fowl smelling was pushed under her nose. She gave a startled cry and rolled away from him, clamping a hand over her nose and mouth to escape that noxious smell.
"This is poison Kagome." He told her conversationally. "About two hours after you eat this, you will die a rather horrible death. It will burn a hole through your stomach, and your own digestive acids will burn out your insides. It'll be like… eating yourself, I suppose. Not a pleasant way to die, I assure you."
"You can't threaten me…" she rasped. "If I die, you're stuck."
"Yet it has an interesting side affect." He continued. "About five or six minutes after you eat this, you will tell me anything I want to know. You will do anything I ask and just to make me extra happy, you'll die at the end of it."
Kagome stiffened.
"Now that's the nasty way." Bankotsu told her. "However, if I give you this substance here," she didn't see what he held since she couldn't open her eyes. "You will still obey me, slightly more effectively than the nasty way, but you won't die through it. This is the pleasant way."
"You hate me… you choose." She choked out.
"I don't hate you." A lot of people told her that, but it always seemed otherwise. "I just see you as a means to an end. Really, I will just as happily give you the pleasant way. Besides, if I give you the bad stuff and you don't tell me what I want to know within two hours, I'll be back to square one with a dead you on my hands."
"Why didn't you feed it to me earlier?" Though she knew why. Any excuse to use her as a punching bag.
"I have my reasons," he responded, before grabbing the back of her yukata and dragging her back towards him.
But for once she resisted him.
"Son of a bitch!" she yelled and aimed a kicked for his head. Her body twisted, even as he held the back of clothes… the result was that he blocked her kick with his arm, and her clothing ripped. It had been her favourite yukata as well, she thought with dismay.
This, she had hoped at least would cause Bankotsu to blush and fumble like a clumsy teenage boy who'd seen a bit too much cleavage… but unfortunately Bankotsu was a full grown man, a trained killer and… well… probably gay. In a rather business like manner he grabbed her bare arm and dragged her up again, pushing something dry, but less strong smelling against her lips. "Swallow." He instructed shortly.
Kagome jerked her head to the side, dislodging whatever it was against her mouth. Before he had a chance to persist in giving her the truth serum of sorts, she hocked back all the blood and saliva that had crowded her mouth and spat it in his face.
For a moment he did nothing until she felt his fist thud against her ribs. A few gave way to him, and she felt the solid, painful cracks as a few bones rearranged themselves. It was suddenly that much harder to breathe and she could literally taste the metallic feeling of blood rising up her throat from her lungs.
She cried out, but it was broken, and more of a groan. But she was determined to live… she wouldn't let the pain get the better of her. She coughed and it nearly brought her down… but she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her cry in pain like a baby.
She couldn't stop him when he pushed something that felt like an acorn rapped in dry, prickly cloth between her parted lips and into her bloodstained mouth. He forced it shut and pinched her nose. He was going to suffocate her if she didn't swallow. She didn't care, she would not swallow it.
"If you don't do it, you'll die." He said briskly. "Are you willing to test that claim?"
She opened her eyes for a fraction of a moment. He was smiling. The blood she'd spat at him had splattered across his cheek and mouth. He hadn't even bothered to wipe it away, as if he didn't notice it. Her eyes slid close again and she tried to fight the automatic swallowing reflex.
But in the end her own body betrayed her, and she inwardly screamed in pure anger as… whatever it was… slid down her throat after one big gulp. He released her and she hastily dragged in as much air as possible.
"Five minutes." He said simply and turned his back on her. "Then you'll do all I ask."
Maybe she could deliberately cause herself to wretch… bring up the stupid acorn and keep on eluding him. But she could barely summon the energy to sit up. She just continued to lay sprawled on her back, trying hard not to even twitch a muscle in case it aggravated a broken rib. She tried to feel around to count the broken bones in her chest… only two. That was good news at least.
Kagome let her hand drop back to her side and let the peacefulness of the Butterfly Canyon wash over her. The sounds of Bankotsu's distant pacing was getting even more distant. The birds seemed to be getting further away, the same way the lapping waters on the banks of the reservoir seemed to be retreating.
What does it mean?
"I don't know…" she said thickly, her voice sounding strange to her own ears.
They'll kill you if you don't understand.
Kagome's head moved from side to side weakly. The curse. He had to be talking about the curse. She had to understand the curse otherwise Bankotsu would kill her… But she wouldn't understand. She couldn't… even if it were possible she'd refuse to help that murderer.
You'll die.
"I don't care." Kagome scowled deeply. She'd never help Bankotsu… even if it meant her life.
You don't understand. You'll die now… but you won't understand. He tried to tell you… you just weren't listening.
Tell her what? Kagome opened her eyes slightly to stare upwards into the deep blue sky way above her. But all she saw was Inuyasha's room as though she were standing up and looking straight at said boy in his hastily assembled cage. That felt weird, considering she was lying down.
"…It's like you think love is some highly sought after level of ascension or higher emotion when in fact it's just liking someone in friendship and in the romantic way…"
Kagome frowned and quickly closed her eyes, banishing the image from her eyes and Inuyasha's cruel voice from her ears. She didn't want to hear that again… hear him brand love as some rudimentary emotion that anyone was capable of feeling. That it wasn't special. That she was a fool to believe in it.
Well she doubted if Bankotsu ever felt love. She doubted that if love didn't exist than she wouldn't be fighting this hard to keep from helping the Shichinin-tai. She'd die first. For Inuyasha. If this wasn't true love then so be it… Kagome was a fool. But she knew her heart and she knew that the only fool here was Inuyasha…
Sweet, stupid Inuyasha…
"Time's up." Bankotsu stalked back towards her until his shadow fell over her. She felt the heat of the sun escape and cringed away. "Now let's talk."
AN: Climax definitely approaching now – stay tuned!