A TALE FROM THE PAST
by Kittymui
CHAPTER XIV
The soft melodies of birds filled the forest as the sun shone brightly in the powdery azure sky. Since it was time for the airborne creatures to look for future mates, they were doing their best to sing the most beautiful songs.
Bankotsu woke up as the singing became more crowded and slowly sat up. The faint scent of broth lingered in the house and he vaguely remembered hearing the sound of pots and pans this morning. 'She already left huh...?' he thought as he stood up and disentangled his hair with his hand.
For a short moment, he held in his breath and listened carefully. His body relaxed when he caught the soft breathing near him on the floor.
Days went by, but Kagome still hadn't woken up. In the first couple of days, Sango stayed home to take care of her fractured leg and wounds, but since two days ago, she decided to continue her daily duties as a demon exterminator. Although they could use simple pieces of wood to keep her leg straight, the medicine and herbs weren't things that could be gathered easily from the forest; it had to be bought.
Before the taijiya left, she would always prepare some food that he and Kagome could use later on. It seemed like a kind act at first, but at the end, she just didn't trust him with any other complicated cooking activities than lighting the stove and heating up the food.
The woman would also order her pet to keep a close eye on him, which bothered him a little since the fire cat growled at every activity he attempted to take out. Especially when it concerned Kagome. Until today, the only thing he had to do was to feed Kagome and make sure she stayed alive until Sango returned, but even so, Kirara growled at every contact he inevitable made with the sleeping girl.
Bankotsu sighed and carefully trailed along the wall towards the sink. After washing his tired face with a clean and wet towel, he turned to the spot where Kirara always slept. "Hey Kirara, we are out of wood aren't we?" he asked.
A soft grumble was the fire cat's reply.
"Won't you keep an eye on me while I go outside? I'll surely need some help to find some dry wood for the stove," he said, trying to get the guardian to go with him. "Don't worry about Kagome, her condition has already stabilized for a few days, I'm sure she'll be okay. Besides, we're going to stay in the vicinity so if anything happens, you'll be able to race back here right?"
Bankotsu flung a portable basket over his shoulder and opened the door. "Are you coming or not?"
With an annoyed growl, Kirara transformed into a bigger cat and trailed behind him.
.-.-.
"If you find some dry wood, tell me okay?" he said as they walked over the dirt path. Right after he said that, a growl sounded from behind him and he turned around. "Did you find something?"
He walked back until he kicked up a piece of branch. "All right!" he said with a smile and put it into the basket on his back. "We make a good team, don't we?"
The fire cat didn't respond to this and rudely brushed pass him.
'Still angry at me huh? Oh well, I guess I can't blame her...' he thought to himself as he followed her loud footsteps.
Some time later, the basket was filled with dry twigs and branches. Bankotsu slightly rearranged the ropes around his shoulders and turned to Kirara. "We should be heading back now," he suggested. "Can you lead the way?"
A low growl was the reply, followed by the sound of footsteps going into the direction from whence they came.
While heading back, Bankotsu suddenly caught a familiar and nostalgic scent. 'This smell...' he thought as some long forgotten memories emerged from the deepest corners of his mind.
.-FLASHBACK-.
A familiar room replaced the darkness before his eyes. It was brightly illuminated despite the thin white paper filtering the daylight and beautiful grayscale landscapes were painted on the other screens partitioning the place. It was quite large for a living room and the only furniture standing in it was a low dining table at the center and a classic cabinet in the corner.
And then, a small boy came in view, sitting on the low table with his short legs hanging over the edge. His face was cast downwards and there were traces of tears at the corners of his eyes. His long black hair slightly jolted along with his shoulders as he hiccupped.
He lifted up his face when a woman approached him and stopped before him. She was dressed in a fresh blue kimono with silver birds adorning her legs. Her gray eyes met his blue-gray ones and several silky black locks escaped from behind her ears as she knelt down to the wooden floor until their faces were on the same height.
Nervously, he shifted to look at the dark purple mark on her forehead instead. It had the shape of an upright cross but unlike a regular cross, the four ends were pointy. He remembered she telling him once that it was their family crest and that it would always be passed down no matter what partner you chose.
"Bankotsu," she said to draw his full attention. Her voice sounded stricter than usual.
He cast his gaze downward in submission. "M-mother..." he politely greeted her.
"You fell, didn't you?"
He nodded and looked down at his dark brown pants, which was shredded and slightly red at the height of his knees. "I'm sorry..."
The woman sighed. "Pull up your hakama and let me see."
After doing what he was told, he noticed the change of expression on his mother's face and slightly cringed when she spoke.
"Look what you've done this time..." she complained and put her hand into one of her sleeves.
Out of curiosity, Bankotsu followed the object that she took out. It was a small shell-shaped container made of wood and iron. Although it was obviously an object for girls, he couldn't help but find it pretty. But as soon as his mother opened it with a click, an overwhelming smell of herbs filled his nose and he flinched.
"Hold still!" she ordered as she ran two fingers over the mint green colored substance in the shell.
"It stinks!" he argued with his hand placed over his nose and scooted away on the table.
"Well, I told you not to play there. You just had to disobey me and get yourself hurt," she reasoned and applied the salve on his knees.
"Ack!" he winced in pain as the wounds began to sting like flame burning his skin.
A hand held down his leg and restricted his spastic movements. "Don't move Bankotsu! It will only sting for a short moment!"
Bankotsu calmed down after a couple of seconds. Just like his mother said, the stinging disappeared and gradually turned into a cool feeling. "W-what is that?" he asked, pointing at the salve.
"It's a very effective medicine for open wounds," she explained while applying the second portion on his other knee.
"Is it expensive?"
She nodded. "It's made from a very rare herb that only grows in very dense forests. Only a handful of people know of its existence."
He raised both brows in curiosity. "Then how did you find out about it?"
"My mother, your grandmother, taught me when I was about your age," she told him as she rolled down his pants. "Want me to teach you how to make it? It might come in handy someday."
Bankotsu hesitated and made an ugly face as another wave of its smell filled his nose when she closed the small wooden shell. "You can make the medicine," he said. "Then I won't have to learn it, right?"
His mother placed a hand on his cheek. "I might not be able to be by your side at all times, Bankotsu."
"Well then I'll just have to run back to you, right?" he chuckled.
A warm smile appeared on his mother's graceful face.
"You silly boy."
.-END FLASHBACK-.
Today, he finally understood. She was indeed not able to be by his side forever and he couldn't depend on her anymore. Unconsciously, he began to follow the scent and knelt down where it was strongest. His mother's words replayed in his thoughts as he plucked a branch and held it to his nose.
"It's a very effective medicine for open wounds..."
"...it might come in handy someday..."
Without second thought, he plucked some more and put it into the basket on his back. He got to his feet again and quickly walked back to where he stood before. Fortunately, the fire cat had stopped walking when he strayed from the path.
"Sorry for making you wait," he apologized as he caught up with her.
A growl escaped the big-sized demon and together they made their way back to the house.
.-.-.-.
Upon entering the clearing, Kirara sensed something amiss and quickly ran from his side into the house.
"What's wrong?" Bankotsu asked as he entered and listened carefully. He suddenly heard a very heavy breathing and became alarmed. 'Kagome!' He thought as he put down the basket of wood and carefully walked towards the girl on the floor.
As soon as he reached her, he knelt down. 'Her breathing fastened and is heavier than before...' he analyzed inwardly and moved his hand to where her face should be. 'Damn, she's having a fever!' he realized shocked when his hand found her burning forehead.
Realizing the need to lower her head's temperature, he dashed alongside a wall towards the sink and filled a bucket with cold water. While running back to the girl, he almost tripped over the basket with twigs, but luckily he regained his balance on time. He ignored the pain coming from his foot and began to rinse a towel in the cold water as soon as he knelt down next to Kagome.
'She was fine this morning, what could be wrong...?' he thought as he located her forehead with one hand and placed the cold towel on it with his other. 'It couldn't have been a cold...she was al packed up under the blanket...'
After considering some possible causes for her unexpected fever, he suddenly realized something very important. 'Infections!' Without a moment to hesitate, he immediately ran to one of the walls and searched for the cabinet where the bandages and medicine were stored. As soon as he found what he was desperately looking for, he returned to Kagome's side.
Bankotsu rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands seriously in the bucket of cold water. 'I can do this...' he told himself as he dried his hands with a clean towel.
He walked towards the basket where he had put the herbs he found earlier. While he removed the leaves from the branches, he couldn't help but thank his mother for teaching him back then. With a spoon he began to squish the leaves firmly on a ceramic plate and eventually, the leaves turned into a pulp that was identical to the salve his mother had applied on his knees back then. Gathering the salve into a bowl, he went back to Kagome.
He remembered the taijiya telling him that Kagome had some open wounds on both her arms and her fractured leg and decided to deal with her arms first. He was relieved that he hadn't made contact with places he had no intention of touching before he found her left arm and he placed it carefully on his lap. But as soon as he started to unwrap the bandage, an angry growl from his side halted him.
He turned to the growling demon. "It could be an infection Kirara. She would be in grave danger if it is, so I need to make sure," he told her. But the fire cat didn't stop growling.
'There's no time to waste on explaining...' he thought and continued to untie the bandage. 'There's no mistaking it...it must be an infection.' he concluded when he sensed a higher temperature coming from beneath the thin cloths.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot from his arm that was removing the bandage through his entire body and he stopped the activity. It took him seconds to realize what had happened as he felt something warm running from his limb to his lap.
Kirara had bit him out of anger. He could practically feel the grumbling in her throat on his skin.
He bit his lip to suppress the pain and turned to her calmly. "Kagome couldn't have caught a cold," he reasoned. "I'm positive that it's an infection, Kirara. I know that, because I have been injured countless times before. The temperature of an infected spot is always higher than the rest of the body. Kagome's arms is practically burning, I'm sure you can sense that better than I do."
Bankotsu knew the fire cat was hesitating when the grip on his arm began to loosen a bit. "We can't wait for Sango to stop the infection. If we wait, Kagome will probably die," he added seriously.
Right after he said that, the demon let go of his arm. Bankotsu let out a relieved sigh, he was glad that she listened to him and understood the situation. "Trust me, okay? I won't let her die," he promised. His arm was still bleeding and the stinging pain remained, but he didn't care. He quickly removed the entire bandage of Kagome's arm and began to wash the infected area with a clean cloth. After applying some of the aromatic substance, he immediately covered up the wound with a new bandage and tied up the ends.
Without time to lose, he quickly repeated the process with her other arm and then shifted to check her fractured leg.
.-.
An hour passed and Bankotsu finally finished attaching a straight piece of wood to Kagome's fractured leg, but that was not before he had applied a great deal of the salve on the large gash that ran from her knee to her ankle. He was quite shocked to find out the scale of her injuries. Actually, he had no idea of the severity of her wounds since Sango was always the one doing the bandaging, but now he knew and he couldn't feel any more guilty.
Now that he was done, all he could do was wait. While he continued to lower the temperature of her head, the girl herself had to fight the inner battle against the infection and fever. If possible, he had hoped for her condition to stabilize before the taijiya returned since she would again demand a lot of explanation.
'Something to eat might help...' he thought to himself. But as soon as he stood up, a wave of dizziness caught him off guard. He would surely have fallen to the floor had the fire cat not pulled him back to his feet.
"T-thanks..." he said with a hand on his head. 'I must've lost quite some blood...' he concluded as he placed his other hand on the cat's large back for support. Much to his surprise, Kirara didn't pull away, and she guided him to the stove instead.
"I'm fine now, the dizziness has lessened," he said to her as he shifted to lean on the stone stove. With that said, he threw some dry wood into it and created a fire with some firestones.
The broth was heated up after a while and Bankotsu decided to feed Kagome first before having his own share. With a bowl in his one hand and his other one leaning on Kirara's back, he was guided back to the girl's side. He knelt down and hesitated for a moment before slipping an arm below her shoulders to lift her up. This time, the fire cat didn't interfere, nor did she complain about he touching Kagome, and he was glad about it. He surely wouldn't be able to sit upright anymore if he lost any more blood. With a thumb placed on Kagome's chin to pin down the location of her mouth, he carefully fed her the broth, spoon by spoon.
A couple of spoons later, he paused and turned to the fire cat. "Kirara, I think you should tell Sango to come back. Kagome's body temperature isn't showing any signs of decrease and as her sister, your mistress should be told about this situation." he suggested. "Don't worry about me and Kagome, I can handle things from here on. Trust me."
Kirara remained silent for a moment but eventually growled in acknowledgement and left in a flash.
'Why did I do that?' Bankotsu wondered inwardly as he continued the feeding. 'The taijiya would surely have my head if Kagome dies of this fever...then why am I so eager to bring her back? Why am I helping them instead of running away?' Being deep in thoughts, the spoon bumped against Kagome's lower lip and some of the broth was spilled over her chin and cheeks. "Shit!" he cursed and quickly reached out for a clean piece of cloth.
As he dabbed the cloth alongside her lips, he tried to picture her face in his mind. Mindlessly, he turned over the cloth and moved it over the upper part of her face. Slowly and gently, he traced the contours of her forehead, temples, eyes and nose, but the picture in his mind was merely a blurred image. Like a bubble, the image snapped into nothingness and he broke the contact with her face. 'What am I doing?' he smacked himself mentally as he put away the cloth. Shaking away the irrelevant thoughts, he carried on with what he was doing.
When he was done, he finally had time to bandage his injured arm and feed his empty stomach. The bandaging was done pretty quickly and eating didn't pose any problems either. Then it was time for cleaning up the mess and himself, as he wouldn't want the taijiya to see him or the floor covered with blood.
.-.-.-.
"C-cold..."
The voice startled Bankotsu as he undressed himself of his bloodstained clothes. The weakness of the voice made him realize to whom it belonged and he quickly slipped into a set of new clothes that he had found in one of the cabinets. "Kagome?" he called out worriedly as he knelt down to her side. "Kagome...what's wrong?"
"S-so...cold..." she moaned hoarsely.
'Cold?' he thought and checked the thick blanket that was tightly wrapped around her body. 'The blanket is warm, how could she be cold?' Without second thought, he gathered his own blanket and laid it over Kagome. "Is this better?" he asked.
"Cold..." was her reply.
Bankotsu started to panic a little. 'Still cold? What should I do...?'
His heart twitched when he heard the shifting and squirming sound coming from beneath the blankets. 'Is it only the cold or is she also in pain...?' he thought frustratingly. 'Damn it! If only I could see what was wrong with her!'
"I'm...cold..." she repeated with a trembling voice.
Out of instinct, he removed the blankets and slowly gathered Kagome in his arms while heeding her fractured leg. Not wanting to risk falling while holding her, he sat down on the floor and gently placed her on his lap. With an arm secured around her shoulder, he used his other arm and his legs to scoot backwards until he reached a wall. After settling himself comfortable against it with his back, he carefully placed the girl to lean sideways against his chest. He picked up one of the blankets of the floor and used it to cover up the both of them. Protectively, he wrapped both his arms around her frail body and pulled her closer to him.
To his relief, the girl began to calm down and the trembling started to lessen. As he ran his fingers through her tresses to disentangle them, the dampness of her hair drifted to his nose. 'She smells nice...' he thought dreamily. '...just like spring rain...' At that moment, the exhaustion finally caught up with the assassin and he rested the back of his head against the wall before closing his eyes. 'Kagome...' he called her name in his mind.
'Don't die on me...' After that, he fell into a deep slumber.
.-.-.-.
"What the hell is going on here!"
The fairly loud voice forced Bankotsu out of his dreams. 'W-who...?' he grumbled inwardly, but a name already popped up inside his head before he had finished wondering. 'It's Sango huh...?' Noticing the anger in her voice, he decided to fake sleeping until the taijiya had calmed down. In her current state, she would most likely refuse any explanation and grab her weapons instead, but he couldn't really blame her for misunderstanding since, in her eyes, her sister was sleeping in the arms of an assassin.
"You bastard, I'll kill you!" she cried furiously.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed could be heard and Bankotsu knew he couldn't pretend to sleep any longer. His body became tenser with every step she took towards them, but he realized that whatever should happen, he mustn't involve Kagome.
Just when he was about to jump up in defense, a small draft halted him. 'W-what was that?'
"Kirara, what are you doing!" said the taijiya. She sounded dumbfounded, but she wasn't the only one. Bankotsu was puzzled as well.
"Step aside Kirara, I will not have that bastard touching Kagome!"
The silence that followed indicated that the fire cat hadn't moved an inch.
"Why Kirara? Why are you protecting him? He's an assassin," Sango said, her voice sounding less menacing than before. "Are you saying that he has no intention of hurting Kagome? Look what he had done to her!"
Bankotsu relaxed as he listened to the two. The demon cat was preventing his mistress from killing him. Had she begun to trust him? Nevertheless, he was grateful for it. Not only had the fire cat prevented unnecessary bloodshed, she had also prevented her mistress from being killed. If the taijiya really intended to have his head, he would've killed her without hesitation and then, he would have to kill the cat as well.
"Fine Kirara, if you want to protect him so much...then so be it. I won't raise my weapon against you," she sighed in defeat as she sheathed her sword.
She told the fire cat to guard the house and left, saying that she needed some time alone to cool off. The dispute was laid to rest for now, but the assassin was still deep in thoughts.
After finishing off the taijiya and the fire cat...what would he do about Kagome? She would hate him for the rest for her life for sure and probably try to find ways to avenge her sister. Needless to say, he wouldn't let anyone take his life before he had rescued Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu. Then why was he so doubtful when he thought about having to take Kagome's life as well? An awkward feeling traveled through his chest as he thought about the idea of having her blood all over his hands.
He mentally shook it off before it was beginning to nauseate him. He would definitely carry out the mission and save his companions first, but what would he do after that? Suddenly he began to remember the conversation he once had with Kagome.
"Do you...intend to continue being an assassin after you've recovered?"
"Yes."
"Your wife must be very lonely."
He responded with an amused laughter. "I'm not married Kagome."
"You serious? I mean...don't you feel lonely sometimes? Or are you planning never to bind yourself to someone because you're an assassin?" In an unbroken sentence, her voice was filled with surprise and bewilderment.
"You're quite nosy, did you know that? But the fact that I'm not married right now, doesn't mean I'm never going to get married."
"Even a merciless assassin like me wants to settle down someday with a very special woman whom I shall love with all my heart," he continued. "I just haven't found her yet."
'A very special woman...huh...?' he repeated his own words. Marrying means to give up being an assassin, which was strange, because a couple of months ago, he wouldn't even dream about a future without the Shichinintai. What had changed?
He snapped out of it when the person in his arms suddenly took a deep breath.
'Is it...because of her...?' he wondered as he loosened his embrace a bit to give her more space to breath. Her calming scent filled his nose as he inhaled deeply. 'Even if it is...what's the use...? She wouldn't hold any affections for a cold-blooded assassin like me...'
"Assassins are also humans..."
With these words, Kagome had wanted him to believe that he was just like any other normal human, but he couldn't. With the blood of so many people on his hands, he could never live a 'normal' life again. It was for the best if he just forgot these complicated feelings.
Ultimately, he just didn't want to curse her life with his sins.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Aw that was sweet of Bankotsu don't you agree? Hope you liked this chapter. It took me a while again, sorry. Starting from next week it will take around 2 weeks to update a chapter because of the internship. It's practically a 9 to 5 job so there will be little time left for the story. But don't worry, I won't abandon this story or something. Just be patient (you readers as well as myself :)) and we will reach the end of this story!
Greets,
Kittymui
.-.-.-.
'Italic': thoughts
"...": spoken words
.-.-.: time gap
CAPSLOCKED WORDS: noises
.-.-.-.
Next chapter: Chapter XV
.-.-.
Guess you already saw it coming...Kagome is going to wake up. Bankotsu promised to leave if that happens...but what will Kagome do? What can she do about it?
.-.-.
Vocabulary:
taijiya: exterminator
Shichinintai: seven-man-group
hakama: traditional Japanese pants worn by men
.-.-.-.
REPLIES ON REVIEWS:
Wake-Robin: Thanks!
sakurakitsune14: Glad you liked it!
darkenedmoonlightflame: Thank you! I update as soon as I can!
BelleDayNight: Thanks for telling me what you like about the chapters, it's nice to know that :).
xxprincess-sakuraxx: Well, I'm not really that terrific and I'm sure you can write pretty well too! Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story so far :)!
Olivia: Thank you very much!
sessywuver: Yup it really is, but it will get better, I promise!
Kokoro Mizu no Kaze: Nope, he won't be able to see Kagome at all, because if he does, he wouldn't be killing Kagome in the near future and then the entire history would fall apart. And then this entire story will fall apart as well :). Bankotsu will be able to see someday, but not now, not yet.
shadows-insanity: Thanks! I'll try to update as soon as possible!
Fluffy'sbabe: Glad you liked it!
eMeLyNoOoPeE: Yup, you're totally right!
Skitzoflame: I think so too!
KagomeMiko2: Thank you! I wish I had more time to read stories from other authors besides writing my own story. If time permits, I'll be sure to check out your stories as well!
TamiaEternity: Thanks! I'm so happy to hear that!
sesshomaruobsessed: Hmm, the bandage isn't wrapped around his eyes, but his forehead because he hit a rock. Furthermore, he won't be able to see for a loooong time, because if he does, the dream of the very first chapter won't come true :). Hope that clears up a bit. Thanks for reviewing!
blackrose113: Glad you think that way!
Miry: Thank you very much! But Bankotsu won't be able to see Kagome at all (that bandage was wrapped around his forehead and not his eyes because he hit a rock remember?), because if he does, the dream of the first chapter won't be coming true. It's pretty sad, but that's how I had planned the story :).
Posted: 21 April 2005
Last Edited: 21 April 2005
Spelling check: YES
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters of it. And I do not own whatever elements of this story that seem familiar and had already been used by other creative individuals before. But... I do own the idea of mixing all of these elements together into a new story!