Author's Notes: Normal length chapter for once, and I'm recovering from the writer's block quite nicely.

Story should be finished soon and that frustrating question that begins with 'What' shall be answered… next chapter.

Life Exchange

Chapter 20

Persuasion

"Get up."

"Can't." Kagome didn't move an inch from her position on the ground. Her head was swimming and she couldn't tell where his voice was coming from anymore. "Go figure."

She heard him shift above her, seconds before his hands grabbed her upper arms and forced her into a sitting position. Her head rolled with pain and her ribs screamed in agony… but she only grimaced slightly at his rough handling. "Now look here Kagome, I gave you the nice stuff – it shouldn't be causing you any pain."

"Well here's a shock – broken ribs hurt just as much as burning holes in the stomach." Purely a wild speculation since she didn't have first hand experience of burning holes in the stomach… there was still time though.

"Give me a vision, Kagome." He instructed firmly. "And I swear on my honour as a member of the Shichinin-tai that if you do as I ask then I will spare your life."

"Your honour…?" she murmured. "Your honour means nothing. Your honour is worthless, you'd kill me when its over, no matter what you promised on your honour."

"You can see I married you for your brains, didn't I?" he remarked dryly. "Now open your eyes."

They'd slid open before she could even think about disobeying. She tried to shut them again tightly, but all she managed was a feeble blink. How was it that her own body obeyed Bankotsu… and not herself.

"Now have a vision." He said evenly.

Kagome opened her mouth to try and speak, but no words came out. Her eyes slid close and for a split second she faded into darkness. But she was just as quickly slipping back into consciousness, finding herself being pulled along the ground by Bankotsu. "Fancy taking a swim?" he asked with a humoured laugh.

Kagome didn't get a chance to answer when she found herself on the bank of the reservoir. Her eyes only relayed fleeting images to her brain. The cracked golden earth of the bank next to her head. The sensation of her hair being pulled roughly once more, as though threatening to scalp her. The blurred surface of the water getting too close. Then all she saw was the murky green as her head was shoved under the water.

She nearly sucked in a lung full of water, and felt her panic rise. She was yanked up quickly and took in a screaming breath of air. No sooner had she recovered than she was pushed back under. She caught snippets of Bankotsu talking to her.

"I'll give you more time." He said, in-between dunking her head. "Maybe the serum hasn't taken affect yet. But it will. You won't resist this."

Kagome was too weak to physically resist anything right then. She grew limp as time went on. Her head hurt badly… like her brain had been knocked loose and was rattling around with each thrust under the water's surface.

He laughed at you because you didn't understand…

She spluttered and gasped as she surfaced again, beginning to feel the sting of the salty water against her split lip and numerous cuts across her face.

He told you because he knew you wouldn't understand…

Bankotsu finally grew bored with the head dunking and pulled her back onto the bank where she sprawled out on her side, cold wet and shivering intensely. His voice was too distant and muffled to make any sense of. All she heard was a dull roaring noise in her ears that thudded in time to her heart beat. It seemed a bit slow…

That's why it was funny to him. He made fun of your blindness.

"I don't… I don't understand…" she rasped. Clumps of hair were plastered across her face and sticking to her neck. She curled herself up into a ball, wrapping her arms tightly over her bare chest in an attempt to conserve some heat… her sense of modesty had become irrelevant a long time ago.

You'll know what it meant.

"What…" Kagome frowned slightly, in a mixture of pain and confusion. "What does it… mean?"

"Perhaps now you'll be more co-operative." Bankotsu's hands clasped around her cold, wet shoulders and pulled her upright. Her head lolled for a moment until she forced herself to gain some control and wearily open her eyes to fix a blurred gaze on him. "Give me a vision Kagome. Tell me the curse… tell me the verses."

Even if he didn't…

She looked to the side for a moment, listlessly staring at a green blur in the distance. A tree maybe. She swung her head back lethargically to face Bankotsu again. "I'll die first."

Her mind went blank for a moment as her senses completely scattered when she felt his heavy blow to her head. Her neck snapped backwards with whiplash from the impact and she lost consciousness again for perhaps three seconds. Somehow she reeled herself back in and lifted her head to look at him again. All she saw was a flesh coloured blur with some black fuzz that was probably hair. Who was he again?

Her strength failed her and she slumped forward against him, coughing and staining his pristine white kimono a dirty blood red. He sighed near her ear and suddenly she found herself shoved back to the ground. "If you want a shoulder to cry on you should go to Inuyasha, not me."

Ah… Inuyasha… now she remembered the reason why she was being awkward with Bankotsu. It gave her some more resolve, strengthened her will to resist and made her heart swell with pain and love. She'd do anything for him… anything to make him happy, at peace, complete… et cetera. Perhaps she'd been a little selfish that morning… she'd taken him completely and fooled herself into thinking he was offering her love.

What was the difference between lust and love anyway? It felt the same… so what did it matter? He didn't treat her any differently for it… he still cared about her, with the love of a friend if nothing else. It felt like love… so she'd pretended it was.

And now she'd pretend that he'd gone insane afterwards. His harsh rejection had been the result of some curse set by that Renkotsu… even though that person was supposedly dead or missing now.

Perhaps she was the only fool here. Maybe she'd give in to Bankotsu and tell him what he wanted to know.

"Now will you do as I say now?" The leader of the one man band asked from somewhere above her.

Kagome chuckled to herself. One man band… did that make him the only member of the new Ichinin-tai?

"Kagome." He said warningly.

Kagome's expression fell and she snapped a remarkably focused gaze on him. "I'll never help you. I'm sick of people like you trying to use me and my powers to help yourself and harm Inuyasha! I will not betray him! I will not! You can kill me and I will never tell you anything! You can torture me for eternity but I will never hurt him again! I won't help you revive six murdering lunatics just because they're your friends! I'LL NEVER HELP YOU! I WON'T BETRAY HIM! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEV-"

"Shut up already!" Bankotsu clapped a hand over her mouth to get her to quieten down. It seemed he'd underestimated how much fire she still had left within her. She bit down hard on his hand, hard enough to draw blood despite her fangless mouth.

"Bitch." He griped, drawing his hand back and shaking away the pain. Kagome's head fell back against the ground, her sudden outburst beginning to take its toll on her energy reserves.

"I don't get it…" Bankotsu stood and paced some more. "You should be obeying me… that's one of the most powerful truth serums in the land… how are you resisting?"

Kagome's eyes closed gently. She just wanted to sleep.

"Perhaps because you have miko powers… it's resisting the drug." He finally concluded.

Kagome's face twisted slightly. "Don't insult me. That's as good as saying Kikyo is protecting me… no… this is all me. This is my will…"

"And there you go with the righteous blah, blah, blah… whatever." He rolled his eyes and crouched down to somewhat gently pull her upright again. "Now Kagome, you know I won't kill you. All I want you to do is help my men… the miko preyed on them and killed them. An abominable act. She killed my men. She killed Inuyasha's father. Shouldn't we both get our vengeance and do this together? Haven't you ever heard that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

Kagome sighed and patted a hand clumsily against his face. "I don't believe in that. I think any enemy of my enemy is lower down on the evil scale than my first enemy."

"You what?"

"I didn't marry you for your brains obviously." She retorted.

His hands tightened against her shoulders and she thought for a moment he'd rip her apart with his bare hands that very moment. But instead he jerked her around to face away from him. "Give me a vision! Or perhaps I will not kill you at all – but your friends instead! The little human boy you seem fond of! The mother of the boy – the father of the boy! I'll kill each of them if you do not obey me!"

Kagome swallowed hard. "Empty threats." She whispered quietly. But she was nervous now.

"I don't need them, so they're disposable." He replied tersely.

"I won't help you." But even as she said it she felt hot lights flash behind her closed eyes. "I won't help you! No!"

When she opened her eyes again it was all in black and white blurs. No colour. The trees and vegetation looked younger. The tide was higher in the reservoir and the leaves were beginning to flutter off the trees… she was watching the Canyon as it was ten years ago, some time at the beginning of autumn.

Bankotsu seemed to have stopped bugging her. It was as though he could sense her attention was suddenly consumed elsewhere. With a vision perhaps?

Well that was exactly the case.

Kagome's eyes were drawn to a moving dark blur a few metres away. She squinted and tried to focus, eventually succeeding.

She recognised the woman. She'd already had two visions of her in the past – and knew this was the same woman who had helped capture Lord Inu and entrap him. Young looking. Beautiful. Definitely a miko – though a miko who wore black robes to honour her ally… darkness and evil.

The woman moved towards the bank of the reservoir only scant feet away from where Kagome sat propped upright by Bankotsu. She could feel his hands continuing to hold her up, but when she glanced down she couldn't see any sign of him… but she still felt him.

Meanwhile the miko had closed her eyes as she knelt down at the waters edge. She leaned forward and dipped the tip of her fingers into the water, barely creating any ripples in the process. Kagome heard her take a deep breath and released it in a sigh.

"Caedo… oro… occidere… manesium… ossis…"

Kagome nearly laughed. She didn't understand! The woman was speaking another language, disjointed, but lyrical to the ear. Bankotsu expected her to recite it all backwards? Hah! She couldn't even say it forwards! She didn't even remember the first line of her verses.

"What's so funny?" Bankotsu said somewhere behind her, and she realised she must have sniggered at least.

"You're a dead man… I can't help you…" she said bluntly. "Nevermind huh?"

"What do you see?" he shook her roughly.

"A woman speaking something strange! I don't even know if its of this world – I don't understand what she's saying!" Kagome cried out, her voice still hoarse and rough. "You obviously haven't thought this through."

"Fucking bitch!" Bankotsu shoved her to the ground and kicked her soundly in the stomach.

Kagome grunted and curled in on herself, attempting to block his kicks, but failed somewhat. Eventually he gave up and let her be, stomping off to let off some steam if any of the crashing and smashing sounds she heard were any indication. Yet the miko a few feet away was still reciting her incantation, eyes closed and a look of deep concentration on her face.

Kagome focused on her face and stared at her shamelessly. Well why not? It was only rude unless they noticed. And as Kagome watched… the miko seemed to age. Lines appeared around her mouth and forehead, and crows feet appeared at the corner of her eyes. It became more pronounced as the minutes wore on. Her cheeks sagged with age, and with it, her posture sagged – her shoulders becoming hunched the way very elderly people held themselves.

She was twenty going on seventy.

Kagome had a feeling this woman wasn't as young as she supposedly seemed. She was sucking energy and raw power out of the very earth… though the water and into her fingers to roll up her arms to her core. Yet even nature's power wasn't enough to cast the incantation… since the woman seemed to be using her own life force to cast the spell as well. That was one hell of a tiring curse to place…

"Neque post id tempus umquam summis nobiscum copiis hostes contendum."

After a few moments, the miko sagged and her hands moved from the water to brace against the bank. The elderly woman seemed to heave for air as her eyes remained closed. The curse was laid and someplace, somewhere, seven Shichinin-tai were losing strength and dropping dead… or had been ten years earlier. As Kagome continued to watch, the woman's youth slowly began to return, though Kagome realised it was just an illusion… this woman was old.

The miko turned and looked at Kagome. Her blood froze in her veins.

The woman dressed in full black slowly rose to her feet, her eyes not moving from where Kagome lay staring back at her in horror. Kagome suddenly felt that this woman was not only in the past… but there in the present with her as well. How was that possible? She was watching something that had happened in the past – interaction wasn't possible! Besides – the woman was dead now – Inuyasha had killed her!

Kagome found herself unable to move, barely allowing herself to breathe as her blood pounded in her ears and her heart thumped against her ribs. The miko crouched down before Kagome and closed her eyes, reaching out to her. Kagome felt a ghost like touch, like the breeze tickling her arm in the same place the miko touched her.

"So much power… so much youth…" Kagome heard her say in her distorted voice. She'd never been very good at hearing things said in these visions. "I think you shall suffice."

"Suffice…?" Kagome echoed.

The mikos hand sunk into her arm and pain suddenly shot up Kagome's limb. She screamed, loudly and without care of who heard – she tried to scrambled away but she was frozen to the spot. The woman seemed to smile slightly and darkly to herself before falling against Kagome and completely disappearing within her.

Kagome's world turned black. Then it was white. And then it was nothing.

^_^

Inuyasha struggled to comprehend what on earth had happened whilst he'd been… away… sort of. The last thing he really remembered was being with Kagome… he remembered how complete he'd felt, being able to hold her at last without worrying if it was wrong or not. She'd told him she didn't care what he felt for her… as long as they could be together like they both wanted. He trusted her judgement, she wasn't a little girl anymore, she didn't need to be coddled.

It was like he'd found the missing piece of his soul this morning. Had he lost it already?

He'd been struck with a headache and he vaguely remembered leaving Kagome… and then the next thing he knew, he'd been standing in the Northern throne room with a knife poised against his neck.

Whatever had happened, it meant Kagome was alone – and the best place to start looking for her was to go back to the place he'd last seen her. Where was she? What was she thinking? Was she safe?

He could dwell on nothing as he sped towards the border. Being on one of the fastest horses got him there quickly – but no way near quick enough in his book. He dropped off the animal before it had even stopped moving and ran to the river bank where he'd last seen Kagome sitting – dipping her toes in the water like the care-free little spirit she was.

Not surprisingly, she wasn't there – but at least now he had a scent trail. The wind had changed direction a few times since he'd last been there, but the trail was still prominent. He pulled himself back onto his mount and followed, pushing the horse to its limits. He needed to find Kagome – his sanity depended on it.

Which was why he wasn't completely pleased when Bankotsu's scent soon joined Kagome's.

^_^

"Dropped dead already huh?" Bankotsu blew out a disheartened sigh as he approached Kagome's limp form. He gave her a light nudge with his foot, but she made no reaction other than to… loll, was the word he though appropriate. He frowned and crouched down beside her. "Stop playing games, Kagome." He passed a hand over her mouth and paused to see if she was breathing. He couldn't really tell…

"You still have to tell me what I want to know." He slapped her cheek, none too gently. "Get up already."

He was rewarded with a soft groan as her head turned away from him. "…Hurts…" she mumbled thickly.

"There's a good girl. Hang in there." He decided to give her a moment to collect herself and stood.

"What have you done to her?" Someone said quietly behind him.

He recognised that voice. He stiffened somewhat, staring straight ahead to the other side of the Canyon. The tone had sounded slightly bewildered, but far off… though Bankotsu didn't for a second underestimate his chances.

There was a tell tale scraping sound of metal being drawn from its sheath, and in a split second, Bankotsu turned and with a loud resounding crack, blocked a devastating blow from Tessaiga. The impact made him stumble slightly, nearly falling back onto Kagome from the force behind the other sword. He found himself locking glares with a livid Hanyou.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!" Inuyasha all but screamed at him, giving their locked blades an extra shove that had Bankotsu, taking one step back to avoid falling.

"I don't have time for this!" Bankotsu hissed and pulled his weapon back, ducking quickly to avoid a horizontal slash of Inuyasha's sword. He brought Banryuu up once more to block another strike, staggering yet again. Inuyasha was angry. Very angry actually and this was putting the Hanyou at an unfair advantage. His strength was feeding off his anger and Bankotsu was struggling to block his weapon, let alone take any offence.

"You'll pay for this, you treacherous bastard!" Inuyasha yelled as he aimed a low slash at Bankotsu's legs. The human jumped easily and tried striking down on Inuyasha's head with his sword – Inuyasha was having none of that. He simply grabbed Banryuu between his two hands and twisted it out of Bankotsu's grip. The leader of the Shichinin-tai's expression went momentarily blank as his weapon was flung out of his hands, and flung far. He watched as it flipped through the air to lodge in the earth a few metres away. He turned back to Inuyasha, about to scold him for that move – when Inuyasha's fist connected with his face and he fell, his senses momentarily reeling.

Inuyasha wasted no time on the fallen man. He dropped Tessaiga and ran to Kagome. She seemed to have already slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Kagome? Kagome?!" He didn't know what to do with her. He didn't want to move her or lift her in case he broke something… she looked so pale and broken already, he didn't want to make it worse. He settled for shrugging out of his haori at least and wrapping it around her top half in an effort to cover he. He gently eased her up to do this and cradled her as gently as possible. "It's ok, Kagome, it's ok. You're safe now, I'm here."

God… what had that bastard done to precious, tiny, frail little Kagome?! She was pale… too pale… and it reminded him starkly of what he had seen in the throne room… her massacred body dripping in her own blood… she was even wearing the same yukata.

"Shit…" he whispered with feeling and held her closer, feeling his hands tremble in an unnerving way. How had he let this happen?

She stirred gently in his arms and he all but held his breath until the moment Kagome opened her eyes and focused on his face, it took her a few moments but her recognition was instant when she saw him. "Inu…"

"It's ok now, I'm here – I promise I'll never leave you again!" he wanted to touch her cheek, but the bruises looked painful.

"Never in my life… have I ever wanted you beside me." She responded quietly.

He stared at her in confusion, not understanding the impassive expression on her face. "What?"

Her hands came up to press against his chest. He didn't even know what hit him, but the next moment he felt like he'd been smacked by a runaway carriage driven by two armoured dragons or something. He went sailing back through the air and cracked back against the wall of the Canyon. He slid to the ground quickly and looked over to where Kagome was beginning to sit up… his gaze was getting even more unfocused as the seconds slipped by and the darkness on the edge of his vision began clouding over his mind.

He remembered thinking one last thing before he totally slipped away. 'I must have made her really mad…'

Bankotsu was carefully beginning to stand up, having just witnessed the exchange between Inuyasha and Kagome… and witnessing Kagome KO Inuyasha with one blast of that miko magic she refused to acknowledge as her own. It was a pity she hadn't purified him completely…

"A lover's tiff?" He dusted down his clothes and kept a wary eye on Kagome as he went to go pull Banryuu out of the ground. He was pretty sure he wasn't in any danger with this girl… since as far as he knew, mikos' powers only affected those of the Youkai variety. He was safe, being human as he was.

Kagome didn't seem to take any notice of him as she steadied her hands against the ground and closed her eyes tightly as if trying to catch her breath. "Bastard."

"I'll take that as a yes shall I?" he smirked and hit the tip of his sword against the ground a few times to make sure it was still completely intact.

As he went to retrieve Tessaiga for examination, Kagome gave a dry, humourless laugh. "A lover's tiff – we are mortal enemies, Lord Inu and I – he's been plaguing my-" she cut off abruptly as she looked up and saw Bankotsu for the first time.

"Lord Inu?" Bankotsu shot her an odd look with a scoff. He hefted Tessaiga against his shoulder. "Maybe I hit you too hard Kagome, but that isn't Lord Inu. That's his son? Remember? That one you've been bonking."

She narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Lord Inu's son is ten years old – and you! You should be dead! I cursed you – you and all your little companions!"

Bankotsu's expression was unreadable, but after a moment he dropped Tessaiga on the ground and walked towards her. He crouched beside her once more and grabbed her chin. "You aren't Kagome."

"I am Tsubaki." She muttered spitefully. "Though I wouldn't expect you to recognise me."

"I'd recognise that conceited little expression anywhere." He snapped. "What happened to the other girl?"

"Her soul has fled this vessel." She jerked her chin out of his grip. "Good thing too… she was wasting all this potential power…"

"Yeah, whatever." Bankotsu brought his sword out and levelled it at her throat. The girl froze and eyed the weapon warily, scarcely breathing let alone moving. "I was having a bit of trouble getting Kagome to co-operate, so I suppose it's your turn for interrogation. I don't know how the hell you've managed to possess her – but now you work for me."

She laughed harshly. "As if I would ever lower myself to-"

He pushed the blade against her throat and she fell silent rather quickly. "If you don't perform the counter curse for the one you laid ten years ago in this valley – then your head will be rolling into that pond over there before you know what's happening."

She regarded him stonily.

"It's up to you." He continued. "Do you want to lose that body you've just taken so soon? Or will you do what I say and run the chance of surviving?"

She continued to watch him stonily before turning a glare to the ground. "I will help you. As long as you let me live."

Probably not, but who needed to tell her that. "Of course." He smiled pleasantly for all appearances and helped her to her feet.

~_~

One staggering step at a time. The road was long, but the end was visible – that white shining light at the end of the straight white road…

It felt as if that was where she belonged, where she would be happy. She could finally rest and take a break from a tiresome existence. That's what she wanted. She was tired… she needed sleep, and she felt, with every fibre of her being that where the road ended, her peace would be found.

Behind her she was leaving a smeared trail of bloody footprints. She was tightly pressing one hand against a gash on the right, upper arm, but still the blood trickled down freely between her fingers, down her arm and dripped off her fingertips to splatter occasionally on the pristine white road.

She knew she was tired, badly injured and should probably sit down and take a breather, but she felt numb to the pain and exhaustion – all her attention was focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. That's where she wanted to be – once there, she wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

"You don't want to go there."

She slowed and paused a few moments before turning in a circle to look behind her. Her arm and ribs gave a sudden jolt of pain as the focus on her destination was disrupted and her mind brought back to present matters… sort of. She was looking at a man. He was tall, wearing the clothes of a lord and had long, ebony hair that ran in waves around his shoulders. He had a good face… though he looked pale and slightly sickly… but maybe that was just the lighting.

"If you go there you'll never be able to come back. You'll be really dead then." He told her. "The only way to return would be if you were reincarnated… and that could take centuries."

Kagome stared at him, trying to comprehend his words. "What…?"

"Or you could wander around this road for eternity… a lost spirit with no goal in mind. But that isn't much of a life either." He continued. There was something familiar about his voice… more like his tone actually. Polite, smooth, yet an underlying sense of mockery and unkindness that was unmistakable. "It's all going to hell down there, you know. He tried to save you… but… well, he was too late. Now the bad guys are going to win. Nevermind, eh?"

Kagome continued to stare at him. What was he talking about? "What…?"

"Is that still the only intelligent thing you have to say?" he gave her a disgusted look. "Still stupid. You can dress up a peasant to make her look like a princess, the same way you can stick a peacock feather on a sparrow and pretend it's special. But in the end it's still just a scrawny, dim, uninteresting, dirty little sparrow."

"What?"

He sighed and folded his arms, walking towards her until he stood before her and leaned in close. "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

"A wood could chuck ch… dammit…" she bit her lip. "That's not funny!"

"You always lost our little games." He said lightly.

Kagome narrowed her eyes slightly. "Who are you… I think I know you… but I don't recognise you."

"I'm hurt, Baby. You could at least try to remember your mentor, your saviour – the man who ripped you from the evil clutches of your family and delivered you into the oh so peaceful life you have now… sort of."

Kagome's eyes widened and feeling returned to her legs as she crumbled to her knees, staring blankly ahead. She remembered now… she remembered everything… disturbed that only a few moments ago she hadn't known who she was… that she hadn't even cared. "No… Naraku's dead… you can't be him."

"Well… you're dead too. We meet again." He looked down his nose at her, a slightly conceited smile curving on his lips. "It must be fate… but I have a deal I think you'll like."

AN: Told you he'd be back. Anyway, next chapter – 'What Does it Mean?' Which of course means that the unanswerable question shall be answered!