Okay, I know it's a little late, but I didn't type anything for two days. I was watching fireworks and I had to pack for Carowinds on Monday, and I didn't have time to type anything because I had to get up at five in the morning, and I wanted to sleep. Then on Tuesday I went to Carowinds and my friend (who doesn't approve of this kind of stuff) spent the night, so I couldn't type any then. I did type a page on Wednesday, and a page a day from then on, but still…
Disclaimer: Me no own Inuyasha. This is the last time I'm going to say it.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
Alike Opposites
Chapter 3: The wonders of Jakotsutou
Bankotsu's POV
Click. Click. Snort. Click. I groggily opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Jakotsu's sleeping face, inches from my own. My eyes widened at the close proximity and I tried to scoot backwards to no avail. I heard another snort of laughter, and craned my neck to look at my door.
Renkotsu was standing just inside the doorway, camera in hand, and trying to suppress his laughter. I quickly realized the position Jakotsu and I were in, (My arm was still around his waist while the other one was under his head, and his arms were slung across my waist) and what it must look like to Renkotsu.
I swiftly untangled myself from Jakotsu and got out of bed, heading towards my brother. Renkotsu took one last picture and turned around, racing down the hall- probably heading outside to develop the film. I scowled and walked back to my bed after taking a look at my alarm clock. It was only 9 o' clock, and Jakotsu was still asleep, so I crawled back into bed and fell asleep once again.
"Bankotsu? Hey, Bankotsu, wake up!"
"Huh?" I said blearily. I opened my eyes and sat up, yawning. Jakotsu was sitting at the foot of the bed, grinning. I raised an eyebrow at his expression, wondering how he could be cheerful this early in the morning. (It was actually more around eleven o' clock, but I considered that early in the morning.)
"I'm hungry. Has your brother made breakfast? Well, actually, lunch would be more accurate. Anyway, has he?" Jakotsu asked eagerly. The encounter with Renkotsu earlier came rushing back to me, making me groan.
"Uhh…was that a no?" Jakotsu questioned.
"I have no idea if Renkotsu made anything. I don't even know if he's gotten back from developing the film yet." I answered.
"Film?" Jakotsu wondered. I forgot that he wasn't awake to know what had happened.
"Yeah, Renkotsu took pictures of us while we were sleeping. I think he thought that something was going on. He went to get them developed, and now he'll probably use them for blackmail or something." I groaned.
"Oh. Sorry about that- I should have just stayed in my room." Jakotsu said, looking forlorn. I scooted over to him, slinging an arm around his shoulders and giving him a hug.
"I don't mind a bit." I said. "I have some really good blackmail on him anyway, so even if he does use it for that I can just blackmail him back. We'll cancel out each other's threats. It's no big deal."
"Thanks." Jakotsu said. We sat in silence for awhile until Jakotsu said,
"I'm still hungry."
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
After filling Jakotsu's suprisingly big stomach and getting dressed, (I lent Jakotsu some of my clothes) we headed outside. I asked Jakotsu what he wanted to do, and he replied,
"Can you ice skate?"
This question was followed by a sense of dread- I had never even been on ice, much less skate on it.
"Umm…not that I know of…" I answered. Jakotsu smiled and grabbed my hand, leading me to an ice skating rink.
The rink was occupied by a few kids, but they were removing their skates and getting ready to leave.
Jakotsu picked up two pairs of ice skates, handing one pair to me and sitting down to put on his own pair. I swallowed nervously and sat down beside him, pulling on the skates.
Once I laced them up, I attempted to stand. I succeeded, but when I tried to walk in them I stumbled and would have fallen had it not been for Jakotsu's quick reflexes. He set me back on my feet and held my arm, guiding me to the entrance to the rink.
I gulped, but stepped on the ice tentatively. I immediately fell down. Jakotsu, having gotten on right after me, laughed and helped me back up. I scowled at him, but ended up laughing, also.
Jakotsu held my hand and started skating, leaving me no choice but to follow. At first I tried to walk instead of skate, making my movements choppy, but then I started to get the hang of it and was actually skating. I was still using Jakotsu's hand as a lifesaver, though. I think that I might have cut off the blood circulation to his hand, but I didn't dare to let go, in fear of falling again. It isn't pleasant when you sit on freezing ice wearing only thin pants, and I didn't want to experience that again. Can you say 'frozen butt cheeks'?
Soon I was keeping up with Jakotsu, though I still held his hand. I had relaxed my grip, so I wasn't killing it, but I didn't want to let go of it just yet.
"Bankotsu? I'm going to let go now. Try to keep skating but if you can't, then go over to the side of the rink. I'm going to practice my jumps and stuff. Okay?" Jakotsu said.
"O-Okay." I replied. Jakotsu smiled at me and released his grip on my hand. I had to regain my balance at the loss of his guiding touch, but I didn't fall.
Jakotsu took off to the center of the rink, skating faster than I could ever hope to. He swerved around suddenly and jumped into the air in a spin. My breath caught in my chest as I watched him. Jakotsu landed on one foot, the other stretched out behind him. He twirled again, this time landing with one foot bent in front of him. He kept twirling after he landed and went down to the ground, then up once again in a perfect movement.
Jakotsu looked so peaceful on the ice that I almost forgot that I was skating. I soon remembered, however, when I stumbled and fell flat on my backside. I was stunned, but snapped out of it when I heard Jakotsu asking,
"Bankotsu? Bankotsu, are you alright?"
I blinked and started laughing. Jakotsu was startled by my reaction, and the confused look on his face made me laugh even harder. I managed to choke out between bouts of laughter,
"S-Sorry…I just…I just…can't help it…the look…on your f-face…priceless!"
Jakotsu raised an eyebrow, but let out a snicker. We were both soon laughing our ears off.
After we recovered from our little hilarity fest, we skated for a few more minutes, then changed back into our regular shoes and headed home. Or rather, to my house.
"Bankotsu, can we stop by my place so I can feed my cat? I never fed her yesterday, and she's probably starving by now."
"Sure. Lead the way." I answered. Jakotsu grinned and took the lead.
We took a different road than I was used to. Jakotsu said that this is the way to his house, though, and I trusted him. Awhile later we came upon an apartment complex, with a sign that read 'Kaijou Apartments'. We walked up to the second floor, continuing down the hall until we reached a door that had the numbers 234 on it.
Jakotsu fished in his pocket for a moment, his hand soon emerging with a key. He inserted it into the lock and opened the door.
I stepped into the room. I had walked into the living room, which was painted dark purple and was decorated with a coffee table, a black couch with light purple pillows on it, and matching drapes covering the window.
"Homey." I commented. Jakotsu smirked and said,
"Well, it ain't the best, but it's good enough for me. Hope you don't mind the purpleness."
"Not at all. Purple is actually one of my favorite colors. Just don't tell anybody I said that." I replied.
"Of course not. Then people would want to know how I knew, and they would find out that I like it, too." He said with a shrug.
"True." I said.
I sat down on the couch while Jakotsu opened a door on the right. He soon emerged holding a fat calico cat.
"Bankotsu," he said, "This is my cat, Paki. She's a pig, but really sweet."
Jakotsu held out Paki to me, and I complied with his silent request, taking the cat into my arms. Jakotsu went into the kitchen, presumably to get some food for Paki.
I sat, holding Paki in one arm and stroking her with the other. She started purring, rubbing her head against my hand.
This was the scene that Jakotsu came back to. He snickered, and said,
"Looks like you two like each other."
I scowled at him in reply. Jakotsu laughed and called,
"Paki, sweetheart, time to eat!"
The cat perked up, jumped out of my arms, and scampered into the kitchen to get her dinner. Jakotsu and I laughed at her antics.
We waited a little while for Paki to finish eating, after which Jakotsu placed her in his room again. He gathered up a few things, including an extra change of clothes, ("Just in case," he said) pajamas, and a few odd video games. He stuffed all of this in a spare backpack, seeing as he had left his school one at my house, and we were heading out the door and towards my house shortly.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
The rest of the day past swiftly, and soon it was dark once again. Jakotsu and I had spent hours playing video games and we hadn't even noticed.
As we crept to the kitchen, intent on getting food for our growling stomachs, I happened to glance at the time on the microwave. It flashed 10:24. I stopped and gaped at it- I hadn't even realized that it was dark outside, much less that late! Jakotsu noticed my pause and looked back at me.
"What's wrong?" he asked. I just pointed at the time. Jakotsu took a look at it, whistling softly at the time portrayed.
"Man, I knew it was late, but not that late! Do you think that I could stay over here again tonight?" he asked.
"Sure," I replied.
We grabbed some Oreo's and milk before heading back to my room. Once arriving back at the room, we promptly stuffed our faces with the cookies, drank all the milk, and started up another round of Mario Kart.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
I yawned as I glanced at the clock in my bedroom. No wonder I was tired- it was 1 o' clock in the morning! The last game Jakotsu and I played was only one player, so I had waited for Jakotsu to finish, then I started my round. It looked like Jakotsu had fallen asleep while I was playing, judging from the soft snores coming from his mouth.
I smiled at his sleeping face, inwardly cooing at the sight. It truly amazed me how in the short time I had known Jakotsu I had come to care for the dark haired teen so much. I felt like I had always known him, and I didn't want to go back to the way it was before I met him.
Jakotsu shifted in his sleep, turning to rest his head on my nearby shoulder. The weight was oddly comforting, and I put an arm around his slim shoulders to hold him in place. My eyelids became heavier and heavier as I sat holding on to Jakotsu. Soon I was fast asleep.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
The next day was spent solely on planning different pranks to carry out on people. Jakotsu and I sat facing each other around the kitchen table, papers strewn all around us. We had been trying to come up with the perfect trick to play on the teachers, and so far we had nothing.
"How about this?" Jakotsu asked, sliding a piece of paper across the table. I picked it up and scrutinized it, looking for flaws.
The picture Jakotsu had drawn on the paper (he was an amazing artist, I found out) was a diagram of the teachers' lounge. It showed a box of donuts on the table, placed just so that any teachers coming through the door would spot them immediately. A string was tied somehow to the back of the box, connected to an airhorn hidden beneath the table. The diagram stated that when the box was opened the string would pull tight, making the airhorn go off and scare the unsuspecting teacher. Everyone knew that teachers secretly lived for donuts, so it had a good possibility of working. After all, who checks to see if a donut box is rigged?
I looked all this over and handed it back to Jakotsu.
"Good, but let's save that for a backup plan. I think we can do better." I said. Jakotsu nodded and we got back to work.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
Two hours and many, many sheets of paper later, we had finally come up with the perfect plan. It involved green hair dye, empty shampoo bottles, and the girls' locker room. I grinned just thinking about the many girls who would soon learn to love the color green. They would have to, seeing as it was going to be their new hair color.
After a quick trip to the store, Jakotsu and I sat down to prepare our master plan. Jakotsu pulled out the hair dye, mixing it up while I unscrewed the caps of all the empty shampoo bottles.
Jakotsu poured the hair dye into the bottles and I screwed them back up. We each took half of the total amount of bottles and wrote in the fanciest handwriting we could muster, 'Finesse Shampoo' on them. We also applied a label on the back stating the directions and properties of the 'shampoo' to make them look authentic. We were of course laughing the whole time.
Once finished preparing the prank, Jakotsu and I sat down on the living room couch to watch TV.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
The next day dawned bright and early. Too early, in fact for me. I moaned at the shaft of sunlight peeking in through the curtains, landing right between my eyes.
I heard Renkotsu moving down the hall, heading towards my room.
"Bankotsu, Jakotsu is here! Get out of bed and hurry up or you'll both be late!" he called through the door.
I gasped- I had totally forgotten that Jakotsu was coming over this morning to plant the fake shampoo in the girls' locker room before class! I scrambled to get ready, trying to pull on my shirt while brushing my teeth and my hair. After a few bumps and bruises, I was dressed, my hair was in its customary braid, and I was racing to the kitchen, where Jakotsu was. I had showered the night before, so I didn't need to worry about that.
I slid into the kitchen, almost falling but catching myself on a chair just in time. Jakotsu was seated in the chair next to my armrest, a slice of toast halfway to his mouth. He looked at me oddly, setting down the toast and folding his hands under his chin.
"So tell me, Bankotsu," he said with a smirk, "Is it normal for you to go to school wearing only boxers, or is it a new fad?"
I quickly glanced down at my pant-less legs before answering,
"I don't have a problem with it, but I should probably put on some pants, huh? I don't want to give the guys at school nosebleeds." Jakotsu rolled his eyes and retorted,
"A little full of ourselves, are we? Might want to watch that head, if it inflates too much you won't be able to fit through the door." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly before going back to my room to put on the much-needed pants.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
Despite my late start, Jakotsu and I made it to school ten minutes early. We stuck an out-of-order sign on the girls' locker room, waited for the girls in there to come out, then entered phase one of our plan. There was only one phase, but still…
Once placing the 'shampoo' bottles on the shelves in the showers, we snuck out and took down the out-of-order sign. The girls wouldn't be showering until after gym, which was at least four periods away. Jakotsu and I had plenty of time to get away from the scene of the soon to be crime. We did just that, acting casual when we passed another student and snickering when we were alone. The time left till our first class was spent like this, and when the bell rang we raced inside to make it.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
"You have a monomial, binomial, together you get a trinomial. Any questions? Let's move on." My math teacher, Babinski-sensei, droned on. A few students in the class had already fallen asleep thanks to his lecture, and I was about to join them. My eyelids were dropping lower and lower, and they had just closed when the bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch for the tenth and eleventh graders.
I jerked awake and quickly placed my books into my overstuffed backpack, yawning all the while. I slung it over one shoulder, making my way out the door and to the lunchroom.
I took a peek at today's lunch- supposedly it was curry, but it didn't look like any curry I've ever seen. I could have sworn I saw something swimming around in there. Thankfully Jakotsu interrupted my disgusted staring contest with the mystery food by calling out my name.
I turned and spotted him walking over to me, waving. I grinned at him and waved back, moving towards him. He met up with me halfway across the cafeteria, greeting me before warning,
"Whatever you do, don't eat the curry. We've had someone throw it up, faint from the sight of it, and I think some girl started screaming because she found a dead roach in hers. All of them have been taken to the nurse's office."
I made a face. "Thanks for warning me, but I've never trusted cafeteria food. I stick with soda and chips. Much safer."
Jakotsu grinned. "Want to go find a seat? There might be some benches outside left."
"Sure," I replied. We stopped by the snack and drink machines before going outside. We found an unoccupied bench slightly hidden from view by two trees and sat down to eat.
I opened my bag of chips while Jakotsu brought out a honey bun. We ate silently for a while, until I stared eyeing his food. I hadn't had enough money to get a honey bun and a drink, but apparently Jakotsu did. He must have noticed me staring at his lunch, because after a few moments of my hungry stare he tore off a piece and offered it to me.
I grinned and took it from his hand, offering some of my chips in return. He reached into my bag and brought out a few, placing his honey bun on his lap while he ate the chips. We traded some more, and together we soon finished off both lunches.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
The bell rang once again, signaling that the last class of the day was about to begin. I trudged to gym class, looking forward to seeing Jakotsu again but not in the slightest wanting to fight him like last time.
I immediately noticed that the straw mats and the wooden swords were there again, but there seemed to be a lack of both the padding and the coach. However, Jakotsu was waiting for me by a mat, so I walked over to him, intending to ask him about it.
His answer was that we were supposed to practice over the weekend (I didn't) and shouldn't need the padding. (I didn't) The coach had a doctor's appointment, which he should be getting back from soon, and he hoped that we wouldn't miss him too much. (I didn't)
I shrugged at Jakotsu's answer and sat down on one of the bleachers. Jakotsu sat down next to me and reclined against the bleacher above us. We stayed like that for awhile, or at least I realized that bleachers, when leaned against or sat on, made your butt flat and gave you a crick in the neck.
I said as much to Jakotsu. He thought it was just the funniest thing, hearing those words coming out of my mouth. He was holding his sides from the laughter, and tears threatened to fall out of his eyes. I scowled at him and said,
"I don't see how it was that funny."
Jakotsu tried to get his laughter under control, but failed. "I'm…sorry. It's just that…when you said that…you sounded all… serious and…sincere! I couldn't help it!"
I tried to keep scowling at him, but soon I was laughing along with him. We stopped, however, when the coach finally arrived.
"Now, now, kids, time to get serious." He said. Jakotsu and I snorted under our breath at his words. That class would never get serious, judging from the bimbos that were in it.
After a few more tries, (about 12, actually) Ayuda-sensei finally managed to make the class listen to him. He quickly explained what we were going to do today.
"Now, since you all should have practiced over the weekend, we are going to move on to more advanced techniques. I want everyone to find their previous partner, and they will show you how to them. Disperse!"
We did just that, going over to a mat and getting warmed up.
"I don't really know any of the school's advanced techniques, so I'm going to teach you some of my original ones, okay?" Jakotsu asked.
"Sure! I don't want to be like everyone else, anyway." I replied enthusiastically. Jakotsu grinned and moved into the stance that he used last time-one of his hands level with his shoulder, his other arm by his side, and his knees slightly bent.
"I use this stance to put whoever I'm fighting off guard. It's an original stance, so no one ever recognizes it, and with my hand just hanging beside me, they think that my guard is down when it's really not. It's suprisingly helpful in a real fight. Try to do the same."
I copied his stance, feeling a bit awkward with my hand by my shoulder. I asked Jakotsu why he did it.
The feminine boy laughed and said,
"That's right- you haven't seen Jakotsutou!" I raised an eyebrow at the name. Jakotsu answered my unasked question.
"Jakotsutou is my sword. It's an extending sword, or snake sword. It has blades attached to one another at the tips, and if you slash it the right way it extends and the blades hit anything in their way. It's practically impossible to figure out where it's going next if you're on the receiving end of it. I keep its sheath strapped across my back, so when I reach for it my hand is by my shoulder. Hence the stance. Jakotsutou has saved me many a time."
This time I graced Jakotsu with the raising of both eyebrows. I had never heard of such a sword. Jakotsu laughed at my expression.
"I'll show it to you sometime. Just hope that I never fight you with it."
I grinned cockily and replied,
"Don't say that, now. I know a thing or two, and just so you know, I have my own special sword, too. Its name is Banryuu. It's a giant two-edged sword, and I have to have my own fighting style to use it. Basically I swing it around and move with it. It's actually pretty hard to fight if you haven't mastered it. Which I have, by the way. I just can't fight anybody with it unless I want to kill them. I guess we won't be trying out our swords against each other, then."
Jakotsu gave a 'too true, too true' and we laughed together. We spent the rest of the period reminiscing on the prank that had worked wonderfully. Almost every girl had green as her new hair color. Seeing as we could just do the work later, when Jakotsu had his Jakotsutou to fight with, we spent the rest of the period laughing about the new shade of the girls' hair.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O
The rest of the week was spent in the same fashion. I met up with Jakotsu to walk to school with him, then suffered through the first half of classes until lunch, when I met up with Jakotsu again to eat at the same bench, then I suffered through the rest of classes until gym, when Jakotsu and I would pretend that we were working when we were actually laughing at the idiots who still couldn't hold a sword right, and then we would either go over to Jakotsu's house or my house to hang out after school.
And that was the longest run-on sentence I've ever seen.
Anyway, the point is that before I knew it Saturday had arrived and Jakotsu and I had agreed to spend the day at his house. I hoped that Jakotsu would show me his beloved Jakotsutou while I was over there.
I lounged on Jakotsu's couch as he went into the kitchen to get us drinks. He entered the living room once again with two sodas in his hand and he handed one to me before sitting down next to me. We sat in silence until I decided that it was too quiet.
"Hey Jakotsu, you still haven't shown me your room. Can I see it?" It was true- I had been over to his house a lot the past week, but I had yet to see the inside of his room.
Jakotsu sighed, but stood and motioned for me to follow him. I grinned and did so.
My bare feet sank into soft carpet as I stepped into the room. It could only be described in one word-amazing. There was a queen-sized sleigh bed situated in the middle of the room, on which there were mounds and mounds of fluffy pillows. The room was painted a light green, almost aqua color, and the bedspread was cream colored. The pillows on it matched the walls, but the drapes matched the bedspread. A dresser with a mirror above it was sitting in one corner, and a nightstand was beside the bed.
All of one wall was filled with different swords, both wooden and metal, knives, kunai, shuriken, and daggers. They seemed to be surrounding one particular sword- from what I could see of it, (it was in it's sheath) it seemed to get slightly bigger towards the middle, then come back to a point. I walked over to it and asked Jakotsu over my shoulder,
"Is this Jakotsutou? It's impressive."
Jakotsu nodded and came over to where I was standing. He reached out to grab the sword, taking it off the wall. He took it out of its sheath and showed it to me.
It was a magnificent sword, although I still preferred my Banryuu. It had a golden handle on it, and the blade was in good condition. Jakotsu clearly cared for it. Jakotsu led me out to the backyard, where he could show me it in action.
Jakotsu stood in his normal stance, although this time the hand by his shoulder held Jakotsutou. Jakotsu took a deep breath, letting it out before going into a series of complicated moves.
First, Jakotsu moved a bit to the left, away from me, and flicked his wrist. Jakotsutou appeared to extend, and only flashes of light showed where it hit. That and the small crater that appeared in the ground. My eyes widened at the sheer power of it. Jakotsu retracted his weapon, then slashed a downward stroke. An even bigger crater appeared next to the first one. Jakotsu continued to do this for a few more minutes, and each time he attacked the poor ground I tried to figure out where he would attack next. Each time I failed miserably.
Finally Jakotsu stopped, but not before reducing most of the yard to rubble.
"Err…maybe I should have gone a bit easier…" he commented unnecessarily. I nodded mutely. Jakotsu shrugged and turned around, leading the way back into the house.
"So, now that I showed you Jakotsutou, you have to show my Banryuu." He said.
"Sure, but not until tomorrow. It's stored at a dojo by my house, and I don't feel like getting it today." I replied. Jakotsu pouted, but agreed.
O:O:O:O:O:O:O
Okay, one more chapter done- the longest yet! I wanted to let Jakotsu and Bankotsu have their swords, and this was the only way I could think of.
I'm going to be leaving for camp on Sunday, so I won't be able to write anymore of this story for about two weeks. It'll be awhile before the next chapter is done, but I will do it. You just have to wait awhile. I'll try to get it up as fast as I can, in the meantime.
I hope you liked this chapter! I'm running out of ideas, so if you would like to share any, feel free to do so! I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far! This story has become more popular than I thought it would! Ever grateful for your support! Cookies and cream for you all!
