Chapter 9: Winning Bankotsu Over
"We're back," Miroku announced, having fetched a grumpy Jaken and Kagura all the way to Kyoto.
Sesshoumaru looked up, next set of instructions ready. "Meet Sango in the next room; you'll be paying a visit to one of the Higurashis' top men, Bankotsu. Jaken, go with them."
"Yes, my lord!" Jaken said, marching briskly out of the room, Miroku following.
When the room was cleared, Sesshoumaru turned to Kagura. "Sit down."
She did so, a little uneasily. Kagura had entertained in parties where Lord Sesshoumaru had attended in the past, and he was always civil, but she didn't have him wrapped around her finger unlike the rest of her customer base. "What do you want with me?"
"Tell me all you know about Naraku," Sesshoumaru said.
Kagura's eyes widened. The shogun had once been her patron… but that was a long, long time ago.
I am NOT gay, Inuyasha told himself for the thousandth time.
"Inuyasha, see this!" Kagome exclaimed, picking up a traditional wooden block doll. It was made of a cylinder of wood, with a head on top.
"What about it?" he asked, trying not to look bored. After all, it was a doll – girl's toys.
"This is such a fun game," Kagome said, paying for the doll. She led Inuyasha to the street corner. "Here, watch."
The doll was segmented into horizontal blocks, stacked up each other to form the body. The doll's head perched on top.
"First you straighten the doll," Kagome said, patted the blocks making sure it was lined up. "Then…" She used a wooden hammer and whacked the bottom block away. The rest of the top blocks fell perfectly onto the ground, still stacked.
"What?" Inuyasha asked, grabbing the hammer. "That's impossible!"
"Try it," Kagome said.
He aimed his hammer for the bottom block…
It flew away, but the rest of the blocks collapsed down after it.
"You have to practice; do it fast and hard," Kagome explained. She restacked the doll, and took the hammer.
In quick succession, she hammered all the blocks away, each time, the rest falling perfectly in a neat stack. When only the doll head was left, she pushed everything towards Inuyasha.
"Here, you try again," she said.
"Ok, here goes," he said. He whacked the block hard. The rest, again, collapsed into a messy pile.
"You broke the block!" accused Kagome, picking up the block he'd hit. It was in two halves, chipped and cracked everywhere.
Inuyasha looked sheepish. "Sorry… but you told me to hit hard."
"Yeah, but not crack the block," Kagome said, rolling her eyes. "Now we'll have to go buy another one."
"Another one?" Inuyasha asked, stifling a groan.
"You need to stop ripping the beanbags!" Kagome said, exasperated. She held the door open for him to walk through. Neither of them noticed Inuyasha's brother.
"Not my fault!" grumbled Inuyasha, his arm full of toys. "Anyways, I hope lunch is ready. I'm so hungry – maybe we should've eaten a few rice cakes…"
"No! No more rice cakes! If I see another rice cake I will officially throw up!"
"You two, stop that racket," Sesshoumaru said. "This is the Emperor's palace."
"Hey, what's Kagura doing here?" asked Inuyasha. The geisha ignored him coldly.
"Discussing strategies," replied Sesshoumaru in a tone that invited no further questioning.
"Yeah right," snorted Inuyasha to Kagome under his breath. "Discussing strategies, my ass. Does discussing strategies include paying lip service?"
"Inuyasha, don't be jealous that I wouldn't pay lip service to you even for a thousand gold pieces," Kagura said, ears picking up every word.
"Oooo… and if I paid you a thousand and one pieces?"
She squared her shoulders. "Sure, show me the money."
"Shut up," Inuyasha said, knowing he'd lost. "It's not like I would've paid all that money, anyways."
Kagura shot him a withering look.
"You do know if we get found out, we'll get killed," Bankotsu said warily.
Worse than killed, probably tortured and then killed, knowing the shogun's tendencies. Not that Bankotsu feared death, but he couldn't put the lives of innocent soldiers at risk.
"Afraid?" snorted Jaken. Higurashi servants were so useless, unlike Taisho servants.
"I don't want to risk necessary lives," Bankotsu retorted. "And if the threat of Naraku is as real as you make it out to be, if we fail, he will immediately take throne on account of Sesshoumaru's 'foul play'. In that case, we will all be slaughtered."
"This is absurd," complained Jaken. "Are you saying Sesshoumaru-sama will lose?"
"Ok, this is a battle not for the throne. It's a battle for the slaying of Naraku," Miroku interrupted.
Bankotsu stared. "Who happens to be the person Lady Higurashi trusts most at the moment."
"Naraku," Sango said scornfully. "He has subtly terrified her into doing his will. You know Lady Higurashi will back him no matter what, and when it comes down to battle unless you pull out your troops at the last minute and help us, we won't survive."
"You're on Sesshoumaru's side?" asked Bankotsu suspiciously. "Aren't you -"
"Talk to me later," Sango said, interrupting him. He had been about to ask about her Higurashi loyalties, of course, but Miroku didn't need to know of Kagome's secret, not yet.
A silence filled the room. "I want to meet with Lord Sesshoumaru," Bankotsu said finally.
"Sama, you idiot, sama! Sesshoumaru-sama, what's so hard about saying that?" Jaken hopped up and down, waving his staff indignantly.
"I will inform you of a meeting date," Miroku said. "Jaken, let's go, before you hurt someone."
Bankotsu grabbed Sango and held her behind while the other two left.
"Whose side are you on?" he demanded.
She stiffened. "It's… complicated. Only a few people know Kei is Kagome."
"Why hide it? She only did it to run away. Now, that Kikyou is playing at being Kagome, Kagome has to reveal who she is before it's too late," Bankotsu said.
Sango agreed with Bankotsu, but he needed to see the bigger picture. "The geisha house she was sold to suffered losses! They paid lots of money for her, and then she went missing." As if that weren't bad enough, Naraku and Lady Higurashi went back to the same okiya, demanding Kikyou as replacement. They okiya had had no choice but to hand her over, but if they heard Kagome was back, they would probably kidnap her to try and offset their losses.
Bankotsu tapped his foot impatiently. "But if she's under Sesshoumaru's protection…"
"And it's not that simple. Do you know that the Higurashi line did have a male heir?" Sango asked.
"I heard… rumours…" Bankotsu sounded slightly sceptical.
"Well, it's true. Kagome's stepmother abandoned a baby boy named Miroku Higurashi away to a monastery and claimed Lord Higurashi's heir was dead. At that time, she didn't think of Kagome as a threat; Kagome was only a girl. But later, when Lord Higurashi died and the second Lady Higurashi had no children, she sold Kagome to take control."
Bankotsu halted, his grip tightening. "What do you mean… brother?" Kagome had a brother? It was impossible. There was no way the woman, Lady Higurashi, could have pulled off such a vindictive plan… actually, the more Bankotsu thought about it, the more it seemed in keeping with her character.
"It's true, we checked," Sango informed Bankotsu. "He has a glowing purple character for 'intelligence' on his arm. And he keeps saying he's searching for his sister, except he has no clue his sister is Kagome. Who is Kei now, really."
"And you're not telling him? Miroku could come back and take over if he really was heir!" A male heir to the household. This was something that would sit well with servants and other lords alike. Bankotsu himself would not really have approved of his dear Kagome taking the reins. "If what you say about Miroku is true, the tattoo is proof enough he is the Higurashi heir. With Kagome's word, he would be accepted immediately."
Sango rolled her eyes. "You think I don't want to tell him? But those two siblings are hopeless! Miroku hasn't figured out who Higurashi Kei is and you know what a terrible man Kagome makes? And to think he has the character for 'intelligence' on his arm. Kagome is worse, she won't tell him 'until the time is right!'"
"Listen, I think we need to teach those two a few things about each other," Bankotsu said.
"Yeah, and Kagome would kill me," complained Sango. "I'm only her maid."
Bankotsu snorted. They both knew Sango was more than just a maid.
"Well, we'll be extra-careful and make it look like an accident so that Miroku finds out Kagome is not Kei."
"Like what, him walking in on her bathing? You know what sort of pervert that priest is? He'll be screwing his own sister before he knows it!" Horrified, Sango tried not to think about it.
"Oh… so what do we do? Who knows, asides from you and I?" asked Bankotsu.
Sango bit her lip. "Well, the current Lady Higurashi does, along with Kikyou. According to Kagome, she and Sesshoumaru paid you all a visit the other day."
"They did," confirmed Bankotsu, "and they sent Kikyou and the lady into a flurry of anxiety."
"Lord Sesshoumaru knows, of course. And Kagura. Kagura knew from the beginning."
If Bankotsu remembered correctly, Kagura was the famous ex-mistress of Naraku. Their relationship and subsequent break-up had been the talk of the geisha world. "How do we know the secret's safe, then?"
Sango remembered Sesshoumaru saying something about it, and she repeated this to Bankotsu. "Kagura's a geisha; their rule is silence. As for Lady Higurashi and Kikyou, they are too cowed to tell – impersonating a lord's daughter is a crime punishable by death and Kikyou could never tell without revealing Lady Higurashi's role as well."
"You sure?" asked Bankotsu worriedly. "If someone paid Kagura off…"
Sango didn't see the problem – a geisha's career and success depended on her taciturnity. A geisha didn't get far blurting which lord decided to have a midnight fling with which girl. If Kagura ever told, her career would be over. Besides, Kagura was not that sort of person, and Sango knew she admired Kagome for escaping her okiya.
Of course, Inuyasha would love to find out the true identity of Higurashi Kei as well. Sango smiled secretly to herself. She could always try and extort the hanyou.
Inuyasha knew there was something different about Kei. But for the thousandth time, he couldn't figure out what.
He tried to sound casual, and approached Kagome over dinner with the rest of the group. "Kei, are you keeping something from me?"
"What – no," Kagome said, hastily drinking some soup from her bowl before Inuyasha could see her flaming red face.
Kagura, the geisha she was, automatically moved to patch up the awkward moment. "So, Inuyasha, what did you two do today?"
"Oh, we played with toys…"
This seemed to pique Kagura's interest. "Toys? Like the kind you play during New Year's? Oh, by the way, it's very nearly winter already, isn't it? Gosh it was so cold this morning I could barely get dressed."
"Umm… yes…" stammered Inuyasha. He didn't have much experience with being attended to by pretty women, Sesshoumaru noted.
"Speaking of bad weather, the priests think it will rain tomorrow," Kagome said, taking pity on Inuyasha and rescuing him from Kagura, giving the other woman a sly grin.
"Really? I don't remember predicting as such," Miroku said casually, entering the room, Sango and Jaken in tow.
Kagura grinned. "Well, if it isn't our brave gallant Miroku-sama. Here, sit besides me."
"Thank you, Kagura," Miroku said, flopping over on the tatami besides her. "I've had such a tiring day, you can't begin to imagine…"
"Um, Miroku, we were eating, maybe you should lay off the sick stuff for later," Inuyasha said.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, Bankotsu says he wants to meet with you to discuss things further," Sango said.
"Jaken can go arrange a time with Bankotsu." Casually, Sesshoumaru met Inuyasha's amused face. Kagome could swear it was a rare in-joke.
"Sesshoumaru-sama? N-now?" asked Jaken, a piece of sushi halfway in his mouth.
"Oh, go on, Jaken," grinned Inuyasha. "You wouldn't dream of disobeying your lord, would you?"
"Of course not," Jaken huffed, abandoning the sushi. He got up slowly… But not before reaching over and grabbing two rice balls that each fitted in the palm of his hand.
"Pig," Inuyasha grumbled. "You had to take the last pork one, did you?"
"Mine," called Kagome, scooping up the last two.
"Oi! I didn't even get one!" Miroku cried. "You've had, what, seven?"
"Eight," Kagome said, biting into a teriyaki chicken rice ball.
"Unfair! You'd better give me that last one on your plate!"
"Who cares?" Kagome put down the chicken rice ball and took a bite out of the other. "You still want it?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
"Alright, that was not fair," Miroku grumbled. "You just wait, I'll… I'll take the last prawn tempura!"
"What?" shouted Sango, banging down her rice bowl. "I said I wanted that!"
"Well, blame your friend Kei for stuffing himself with eight rice balls."
"Hey, I've had just rice balls and soup," Kagome complained. "I'd better take some more food now in case all the good stuff's gone." She picked up the last few pieces of sashimi and placed them on her plate.
"Keep your chopsticks OFF!" roared Inuyasha.
"What?" Kagome yelled, defiantly eating a piece of salmon.
"If none of you shut up," warned Sesshoumaru, "you are all leaving the palace and going to a cheap inn."
A hush fell immediately on the room.
"Excellent job," Sesshoumaru said sarcastically. "Well, Kagura, if it's not too much trouble, go ask the kitchens for more rice balls and sashimi."
"And you wonder why I hate my brother's guts," Inuyasha whispered loudly to Miroku.
He'd prepared long statements and a whole list of questions, but all Bankotsu's grand speeches dissipated as he sat in front of Lord Sesshoumaru. The inu demon had somehow mastered the art of looking politely interested yet unimpressed at the same time.
"My retainer says you want to speak to me," Sesshoumaru stated.
"Ah, yes. I - I am pleased to stand up against evil like Naraku," Bankotsu said hesitantly, "but not at the expense of thousands of lives. I would like to know your plan, and your retreat route."
Sesshoumaru glared. "I don't retreat. But as for a plan, the grounds are already set nicely for that."
"Which is?"
"Naraku has laid so many traps; he's bound to get tangled in one. Like the Kikyou-Kagome trap. If Kagome really wanted to stand up and fight for her rights, Kikyou would be sentenced to death. And Kikyou, being the selfish coward she is, will tell on Lady Higurashi's side of the story. And Lady Higurashi will then reveal Naraku's hand in the plot."
"So why not do that? Why engage in battle?"
Sesshoumaru looked dismissive. "Don't be so full of yourself. That plan is unstable as of yet. Kagome is a woman, and a runaway geisha at that. Runaway geishas don't get their stories heard easily."
"My concern is not who will be Emperor. I want to restore the rightful leader of the clan I serve," Bankotsu said, clenching his jaw. "But if this whole event jeopardizes the safety of Miroku and Kagome... I won't go along."
"Either way you cannot guarantee their safety for much longer," Sesshoumaru said bluntly. "Considering that you failed to protect Kagome Higurashi from her stepmother to begin with."
There had never been a more dismissive statement, and Bankotsu rose silently and made his way out of the room.
Sliding open the door, Bankotsu bumped straight into Kagome, who was slightly bent over as though her ear had been stuck to the door a few moments ago.
"This way," she whispered, dragging him into an empty room.
"Alright, what's up with you and Sesshoumaru?" demanded Kagome, shutting the door. "You don't seem to like taking orders from him."
Bankotsu shifted. "It's… complicated."
"How so?"
He shrugged, looking at his feet. "Ancient family feud…. One of my ancestors, Genkotsu, was a demon-slayer a few hundred years ago. He fell in love with the most beautiful woman of those days."
This sounded like a good story. Kagome smiled a little. "Let me guess. She was youkai."
"Not just that. She was youkai, and she was the Lady of the Western Lands."
Not a good idea, mused Kagome. "And so the Western taiyoukai didn't like it and killed Genkotsu?"
"Not really, no. Rather, Genkotsu was shocked that he was lusting after a youkai, the very beings he killed for a living. The shock was too much for him to bear. So while the lady was strolling in her garden, he killed her. He hoped that by bringing about her death his love would disappear."
"Did it?"
"No. He was tormented by guilt and longing. Naturally, the Lord of the Western Lands flew into a rage, and decided to kill Genkotsu."
"Serves him right," scoffed Kagome, "lusting after someone else's wife."
"So that's how it began. Genkotsu's son then went on to avenge his father. He failed, and got killed. This has gone on for generations," he added bitterly.
"Your two families are still fighting?" asked Kagome incredulously. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Bankotsu begged to differ. "We aren't fighting per se. My uncle Suikotsu made a shaky peace with Sesshoumaru's father so we don't try to kill each other the moment we see each other, but we aren't exactly the best of allies, either."
Kagome bit her lip. If Bankotsu didn't help them against Naraku, they would not be in a good position.
"So, what's up with you and Miroku, anyways?" Bankotsu asked. "Why don't you tell him about your relationship with him? He's waiting for you to tell him."
She shook her head. "It isn't the right time yet. Who told you about his identity?"
"Sango – and only because she cared for you."
"I understand. But I forbid you to tell anyone," ordered Kagome. "When the time is right, I will let Miroku know."