The Band of Seven, Part 3: Conclusion

The crimson vigilante could be seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards Tokyo Tower, towards Bankotsu. His movements did not appear to be that of a human, but something more powerful. Anyone observing with a keen eye could pick out the blood stains on his clothing, although they likely wouldn't realize those wounds were self inflicted for victory.

I'm not going to let you hurt anyone Bankotsu. He was getting close. His weapon is the halberd, and it'll be reinforced with spiritual energy like Jakotsu's weapon. But if it's just a normal weapon, then this won't be too different from a sword fight. He claimed to know that I'm a youkai, but as a human, his sword swing won't stand up to mine even if the weapon can. What's the trick?

Once he got close, he stopped and observed from above. There was a police perimeter around the tower, but none of them were taking action. That made sense with the threat of the other members attacking, but they were ready to act as soon as they got an all-clear. The police were likely active across the whole city, hopefully somehow coordinating with the youkai and spiritualists. Sitting peacefully at the middle of the police force was a young man, Bankotsu, who had an enormous halberd casually leaning across his shoulder. The blade alone looked to be the same size as the man, how was he holding it so easily? The man looked up and locked eyes with the vigilante. There was nothing but calm in those eyes, and a smile even appeared on his face. Completely ignoring the police, Bankostu got up, his eyes still locked on the vigilante. That made the police react and they followed the man's gaze.

With all eyes on him, Inuyasha swallowed nervously before steeling himself and jumping down from the top of the building. He landed effortlessly, and could vaguely hear the chatter of surprise from the gathered police. But this wasn't a time to hold back. This was the leader of a band of criminals, murderers, who had taken a whole city hostage just for a chance to face him. As loath as he was to admit it, Inuyasha almost wished Kagome was there to be a calming voice in his head. Putting one foot in front of the other, he approached Bankotsu. The police let him pass and even seemed to make some room.

Letting none of his nervousness show, he addressed the criminal, "So, you're the one in charge?"

The man's smile grew. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation." The man looked him up and down. "It's good to see you're living up to my expectations. You're getting stronger, or at least smarter, defeating the other members a lot easier now. You should provide a real challenge."

"You did that to test me?" Inuyasha scoffed. "I don't know, seems more like you had to weaken me before I reached you. You scared or something?" he teased and drew Tessaiga. Seeing the enormous blade in person seemed to do nothing to worry the man.

Bankotsu also switched to a fighting stance. "Actually, that was Jakotsu's idea. He really wanted to face you again, and who was I to deny him? If you lost a second time against the same person, it would've just been proof that fighting you would be a waste of my time."

"Oh yah, and how about Renkotsu?" He was surprised Bankotsu was so willing to talk, but at least it was buying time for the others and the man couldn't accuse him of avoiding the fight anymore.

"He can't always be trusted to not go rogue. It's smarter to keep him close." Bankotsu hummed. "I'd say it's time to start, wouldn't you?" So much for stalling.

But he did take a fighting stance. "It's your funeral."

"Ha! I thought the hero doesn't kill." He raised his halberd. "Or are you just a monstrous youkai?" He swung the halberd.

"It's just an expression! Besides- " He's swinging? The distance between us is too great to even touch me. What does he think he's doing? He put Tessaiga in front of him protectively anyways. "I'm a vigilante!" Something pressed against the Tessaiga. A blast of heat? The force against the Tessaiga grew stronger. It threatened to knock him over, he could barely hold the power at bay. Finally it subsided. The hell?

Banktosu just stood there smug. "What do you think of my Banryu? Since a normal human can't hope to face a youkai in a fair fight, a benefactor helped reinforce it."

Inuyasha just growled. With the police witness, and likely some camera, if he said anything to confirm Bankotsu's claims, then it would be almost undeniable proof that youkai really existed. They were already somewhat screwed by the fighting, but advanced weaponry could be blamed, right? But something was wrong, this power, it wasn't spiritual energy. "So what if you've got a big blade, I can still take you down!" Tessaiga raised, he rushed Bankotsu.

"Don't even bother, I'm way too powerful for you!" Without hesitation, Bankotsu swung Banryu against Tessaiga. It stopped the vigilante's attack completely.

The two warriors continued to push against each other. What? I can't overpower him. How can a human be as strong as a hanyou? Not having an answer, but realizing he needed a new strategy, Inuyasha pulled back his strength on the Tessaiga causing Bankotsu to fall forward. Releasing one hand from the blade, he tried to punch Bankotsu, who promptly dodged.

Catching the vigilante mid-punch, Bankotsu delivered a kick towards his exposed sword side. He wasn't able to dodge and the force of the blow caused the vigilante to fall and skid back several feet. "Is that really the best you can do?" Refusing to back down, the vigilante got back up and charged Bankotsu again. Their blades clashed until Bankotsu effortlessly jumped over the vigilante and struck at his back. Inuyasha managed to block it. The two were locked in a seemingly normal sword fight for several minutes, with Bankotsu never breaking a sweat. The two had nearly equal strength, but Bankotsu was faster, being the more experienced swordsman. Finally, he managed to kick Inuyasha right in the stomach, knocking him down again.

Inuyasha coughed once. Wiping some of the sweat off his face, Inuyasha couldn't help but ask, "how?"

"I told you, a benefactor helped reinforce my blade," he answered smugly.

He growled, "that ain't an answer! There's no way you should be able to wield it so easily, reinforced or not!"

Proving his point, Bankotsu took Banryu's hilt and tossed the blade in the air and caught it like it weighed nothing more than a tennis ball. "You mean that. That's cause of the Shikon jewel shard in my arm."

"Wha- what?"

"How else was I supposed to take on a youkai? The power your kind possesses, it's so unfair to human fighters like me." Seemingly getting bored of talking again, Bankotsu swung his blade through the air in front of the vigilante, once again making a huge blast. Inuyasha jumped out of the way in time, only to hear the shouts of surprise from the police standing way behind him. Fortunately, they got out of the way in time, but Banktosu obviously didn't care as he swung again. "Years ago I could call myself completely undefeated in battle. And then, this man, this youkai," he spat the word, "got in my way. He beat me. He almost killed me." Choosing not to dodge as to not put the police in danger, Inuyasha blocked the blow with Tessaiga, managing to stay on his feet. "He plans to rid the world of all youkai." They both knew who he was. "And I agreed to help him in his goal as long as I would have the chance to completely destroy one of you monsters first."

Monster? He couldn't help but think of his father. The Inu no Taisho who ruled over youkai. He used to roll his eyes at the sappy look his father would share with his mother and the human company he ran had a great reputation with helping people. How could he be a monster? Even his asshole brother who could be patient with a deaf orphaned girl or the little kit who could befriend a spiritualist family. They weren't monsters. Hell, even the youkai who apparently nearly killed Bankotsu might've had good intentions. He was half youkai, his friends knew, and they accepted him freely. "Youkai are not monsters! We are people, the same as you!" He raised Tessaiga, he was going to win!

"Inushinku, stand down!" He stumbled. The voice came from behind him, but he didn't look. "Bankotsu Shichinintai, you are under arrest. Your conspirators, Suikotsu, Ginkotsu, Renkotsu, and Jakotsu Shichinintai have all been arrested." They were? He dared a glance. One of the police officers had stepped forward. He then noticed another thing: it was invisible, but he sensed that the man was releasing a ton of spiritual energy. He glanced back at Bankotsu's now angry expression. This spiritualist was a member of the police, he was the vigilante. Reluctantly, he lowered his sword, but kept an eye on Bankotsu.

Bankotsu began to shake from rage. "I told you not to interfere!" He raised his halberd straight up and storm clouds instantly grew over the group. "You'll die for this!" Lightning began to rain down on the group. "Good luck dodging, even I can't predict where the lightning will strike!" It continued to rain down and several of the police officers were getting knocked down. Even the spiritualist's barrier wasn't strong enough. "And you!" Bankotsu pointed the Banryu straight at Inuyasha. "Humans aren't born with power. All my life I had to work to become the strongest. And then your kind came along. A youkai like you can never understand!" The Banryu began to glow red.

Bankotsu charged at Inuyasha with the blade, which was countered with the Tessaiga. "I do understand! I'm only half youkai, I've lived in both worlds!"

Bankotsu jumped back. "And you chose to flaunt your power. Does it give you satisfaction helping people all while knowing that humans are ants to your strength?" He raised Banryu once again. A glowing ball of energy began to form above it. It has an aura? "With this power, I will never lose again! Your kind will be destroyed!" Swinging his blade, Bankotsu launched the ball of energy towards Inuyasha.

Bankotsu isn't a youkai, but if the Shikon jewel is helping him produce this aura, then- He allowed the sphere of energy to approach and raised Tessaiga. "Backlash Wave!"

"What?" Bankotsu questioned as he watched the attack be swallowed up by the Tessaiga until it was launched back at him. Banryu glowed red and he tried to block, but it wasn't enough. The blade broke and the attack continued until it hit Bankotsu. The lightning pelting the police officers also stopped. He walked over to Bankotsu's downed body, surprised to see him still conscious, although barely. The Shikon shard had likely protected him. He had tried to hold back as much as possible, but he had let loose that attack knowing there was a chance it would kill Banktosu. However, if the lightning went on any longer, then it risked the police's life. In the end, he hadn't wanted to kill him, but he had to be stopped, and no one could deny Bankotsu was using non-human power. Still, despite Bankotsu's crimes, he was glad his attack hadn't decided the man's fate. "I don't understand."

"You were way too greedy, Bankotsu. If you had faced me with just your blade, you might've won. You are an amazing fighter. But you chose to rely on the jewel's power directly." The aura he felt, it hadn't been reiki or youki, but a sort of malevolent dark energy. "You fought with a youkai's power, when you could've won as a human." He bent over and grabbed Bankotsu's wrist. Pulling back the cloth, he found a small object embedded in the skin and removed it. He felt one of the policemen come up behind him, he was holding handcuffs. Pocketing the jewel, he began to leave.

"Hey!" Bankotsu called out weakly. The vigilante turned to him. "When I get out of prison, I want a rematch."

His ear twitched. He rather hoped Bankotsu wouldn't be getting out of prison anytime soon, but that wasn't his job anymore. "Sure, just ask me next time. You don't need to threaten anyone."

As he went to leave, he thought he heard a laugh.


"Youkai are not monsters! We are people, the same as you!"

Sesshomaru listened to the line over and over again, trying to formulate a plan. But he had none. That declaration along with the battle recorded for all the world to see, and the extensive leftover destruction from the fight, left no room for lies. This truth could not be spun. There was a limit to how much supernatural the humans could rationally deny. That limit had been surpassed.

Youkai were exposed to humans.


AN: If anyone has any ideas for heroics they want to see, please share them. There is a little time left to weave some classic hero action into the story as we head into the final story arc. Till next time!