A TALE FROM THE PAST
by Kittymui
CHAPTER XXII
"Hey."
"Bankotsu perked up his head, but refused to turn to the voice, which belonged to Jakotsu. "How are they?" he inquired his approaching companion, who sat down on the grass beside him.
"Stupefied, frustrated and confused," was Jakotsu's reply.
"Can't really blame them, can I?" Bankotsu grimaced.
His rhetorical question remained unanswered as the soft noises of the night accompanied the awkward silence.
"You're not really going to disband the group because of a bad joke...right?" Jakotsu asked after a while.
A soft breeze made the trees sigh along with Bankotsu as he turned around. "Tell me Jakotsu, am I really that cruel?"
"No...I believe that you have yet to tell us your true reasons."
Bankotsu became silent for a moment, but eventually decided to tell his friend. "The girl and her sister...I didn't kill them..."
"Huh...? But aren't you afraid that they'll betray you and turn you in?" Jakotsu asked surprised. "We're unwanted guests here and with a deadly motive."
"They won't. I can guarantee it with my life." Bankotsu reassured him. "Besides, they only know that I'm the leader of an assassin group."
"Look, I don't know what happened in the past three months that made you make such a radical decision, but you shouldn't forget about Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu," his friend argued.
Bankotsu scowled. "I haven't," he grumbled. "I may have decided to quit, but that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu. I will carry out this last mission with full responsibility."
"If you don't mind me asking, why have you made such a decision?" Jakotsu asked.
Silence.
"It's the girl...isn't it?"
Bankotsu turned to him. "Remember that I once told about leading a peaceful life?"
"Yeah, you also said it was just a silly dream," Jakotsu reminded him.
He smiled. "Yes, but now I realize that it can also come true," he told him.
"Call me selfish or whatever you like for thinking that way, but I can tell you that I've never been so sure in my life before about a decision," he continued. "The girl nursed me and supported me while knowing what kind of person I was. I never thought I would be able to meet a girl who would care for me despite of my sins, but there she was. It was like a gift from heaven."
Another hush fell between them as Bankotsu thought about the memories he shared with Kagome, but he was interrupted when Jakotsu suddenly spoke again.
"You know," he began sadly. "For a moment back there, I had hoped you were just joking. But now, I realize that nothing I or the others say would change your mind."
"I'm sorry..." was the only thing Bankotsu could say.
"Don't be," said his friend. "Just because you are an assassin doesn't mean you don't have the right to lead a normal life."
Bankotsu raised his brows. "You aren't angry?" He was surprised to feel his friend's hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be silly," he heard him say. "I'm happy for you that you've actually found a goal in life."
Bankotsu gave him a puzzled look. "Goal?"
"Of course! You're not thinking of staying an assassin for the rest of your life, are you? We're humans, not demons. We're pretty useless once we've reached the age of sixty," Jakotsu reasoned. "Except for Ginkotsu and Kyoukotsu of course."
"I guess you're right," Bankotsu agreed. "I'm glad you understand. I just hope the rest w-"
"Don't worry about it," his friend reassured him. "The rest might be confused at the moment, but I'm sure they'll understand someday."
"Thanks," he smiled gratefully.
"You've changed," said Jakotsu, sounding a bit disappointed. "Where's the confident Bankotsu I used to know? Has these three months time really changed your personality? We still need our leader to guide us to victory for this one last mission."
"Probably..." Bankotsu started laughing and Jakotsu joined shortly.
When their laughter faltered, Jakotsu turned to Bankotsu again. "What if this mission takes too long? Have you thought about that? Won't the girl just forget about you?"
"She won't," Bankotsu responded with a determined smile. Shortly after that, his expression became serious. "To save time, I'll have you and Suikotsu gather some information for me while I'm recovering."
"Will do," Jakotsu acknowledged and stood up again. "I'm going back inside, are you coming too?"
Bankotsu shook his head. "I'm going to stay outside for a little while longer."
"Okay." With that, Jakotsu left his company and went back inside.
After the sound of the door closing, Bankotsu inhaled a breath of fresh forest air and exhaled deeply. 'I just wish it would be over soon...' he thought to himself. 'I wonder what Kagome is doing right now...'
A couple of minutes later, he decided to go back inside as well.
.-.-. one week later .-.-.
He waited patiently as Mukotsu carefully removed the bandage around his eyes.
When the last bit of fabric left his skin, a sudden chill ran down his spine. 'What if the antidote didn't work? What if everything's just as pitch black as before...? What would I do?' he thought nervously.
"Try opening your eyes," he heard Mukotsu say.
Reluctantly, Bankotsu slowly lifted his eyelids. He blinked several times and rolled his eyes in all directions.
"I've covered the window with a blanket, so you shouldn't have to worry about the bright sunlight."
"Everything's so blurry," Bankotsu said annoyed.
"It's normal," Mukotsu told him. "After all, you haven't used your eyes for more than three months, so it's natural that they have to get used to it again."
Renkotsu, who was cleaning Bankotsu's halberd, put down the weapon and sat down on the floor next to him. "Hey, can you see what I'm doing?" he asked as he waved his hand.
Bankotsu scowled at the moving object in front of his eyes and slapped it away. "Cut it out!" he snapped angrily. "I'm already pissed because of my blurred vision. One more bad joke from you and I'll make you regret it!"
Renkotsu immediately retracted his hand again.
Mukotsu placed a hand on Bankotsu shoulder to calm him down. "Don't worry leader, your vision won't stay blurred for long. Give it a couple of days and you'll be able to see just like every other normal person."
Bankotsu's eyes softened as he subdued his temper. 'Mukotsu's right...I should be relieved that his medicine actually worked...' he thought and turned to his companion. "Thank you Mukotsu," he said with a smile. "I cannot imagine what I would do without you."
"Don't say that," Mukotsu responded. "It's nothing compared to what you've done for us."
"Yeah," Renkotsu agreed.
"Aren't you angry at me? I'm going to disband the group after this mission," Bankotsu reminded them.
Renkotsu chuckled. "Not that I like it, but I respect your decision. You're a great leader and a reliable friend. I have never doubted any of your decisions, so this time won't be an exception."
"Besides," Mukotsu added. "It's not like we're never going to see each other again, so there's no reason to stay depressed or angry."
"Thanks guys, I really don't know what to say..." Bankotsu smiled awkwardly. 'So Jakotsu didn't tell the rest my true reasons...' he concluded inwardly.
"You don't have to," the poison user said. "You've already done a lot for us, you know. Had it not been for you, I would probably have died a long time ago."
"But Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu...because of my decision they-" Bankotsu argued, but was cut off by Renkotsu.
"You don't sound like your usual self Bankotsu," he grumbled annoyed. "You're our leader until the mission's over remember? Now act like one! The Bankotsu I know does not ever regret the decisions he makes for the rest of the group!"
Bankotsu dropped his face and smirked. 'He's right. Kagome may have softened my heart, but that's the last thing I need right now if I want to complete this mission quickly and efficiently. Kyoukotsu and Ginkotsu are also waiting for me...' he told himself inwardly.
Just when he was about to say something in respond, the sound of the door opening interrupted him.
"We're back!" Jakotsu and Suikotsu's voice echoed through the house.
"How did it go?" Bankotsu asked.
"More importantly, how are your eyes leader?" It was Jakotsu who asked. Both Jakotsu and Suikotsu settled down, forming a circle with the rest of the group.
"I can't see well, but it's only a matter of time according to Mukotsu," he replied.
"That's good to hear," Suikotsu said relieved.
"That aside, have you gathered the information I asked for?" Bankotsu asked with a serious face.
"It took us some time, but we got the information you wanted," Suikotsu replied.
Bankotsu raised a brow. "Without any bloodshed I hope?"
"Of course not!" Jakotsu cried. "We did it just like you told us to."
Bankotsu relaxed a bit after hearing this and continued the questioning. "So? What did you find out?"
Suikotsu cleared his throat. "We found out that the princess of the West is celebrating her birthday in mid-autumn. The villagers told us that a lot of people would gather at the fortress to give their thanks to her on that day."
"We figured it would be a great opportunity for us to intermingle with the crowd and sneak into the place," Jakotsu added. "So we decided to return as soon as we got this piece of information."
"Good job," Bankotsu complimented satisfied. "How long does it take us to arrive at the fortress?"
"When we explored the Northern region during our search for you, we had coincidentally discovered the location of the fortress," Jakotsu explained. "Considering the time it took us to get here from there, we will be able to arrive at our destination a little bit before our target's birthday if we leave in a week."
"A week huh?" Bankotsu thought for a moment. "All right! It's decided then. We'll set off as soon as I've completely recovered, and we'll start making preparations for the assassination once we've arrived at the fortress."
"Understood!" the rest nodded in harmony.
.-.-. a couple of days later .-.-.
Bankotsu took one last look at the house. The walls, the floor and even the furniture were just like he had imagined them to be. It was small, but it had everything you needed to call it a home.
He could still remember the time, three months ago, when he woke up and found out that his eyes were malfunctioning. That was how he first met Kagome. He had totally surprised her when he suddenly pinned her down to the floor and demanded some answers. A small smile formed on his lips as he imagined how the look on her face would be at that moment.
He sighed. There it was again, the desire to hold her close to him and to inhale her sweet scent of spring rain. He longed for the last day of autumn, but more than anything else, he wanted to see the girl who conquered his heart and moved his soul. But the happy thoughts faded away as soon as they came as he reminded himself of the duty that awaited him.
"Bankotsu?"
Bankotsu turned to his side, only to find Jakotsu standing next to him. "What is it?"
Jakotsu pulled a small pile of paper, which was bound together with a small rope along one edge, from behind his haori and handed over to him. "I meant to give it to you as soon as I find you, but I guess it kind of slipped my mind," he said. "I found it near the cave where we were ambushed, you probably dropped it before falling off of the cliff."
Bankotsu recognized his journal and took it with gratitude. "Thanks."
With the journal in his hand, he walked over one of the cabinets.
"What are you doing?" his companion asked curiously.
"I'm going to leave this journal here and start a new one on the way," he replied as he searched the shelves for a suitable place.
Immediately, his eyes caught a small brown box at one of the lower shelves and he knelt down to examine it. After removing the slightly dusted lid, he found a pile of booklets inside. Each booklet was protected by a front and back cover made of leather and bound alongside the left edge with a thin leather rope.
'Is this...?' he thought as he picked up the top booklet, but suddenly stopped halfway and smiled. 'I won't read it Kagome. I want you to tell me yourself when we meet again...' he said in his thoughts as he put the booklet back. After a moment of thinking, he put his journal in the box too before moving back the lid. 'I'm sure you'll agree with me...won't you?'
That decided, Bankotsu stood up and turned to Jakotsu again. "Are we all set?"
"Yeah," Jakotsu nodded.
"Then let's go."
Once outside, Bankotsu closed the door behind him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Mukotsu's questioning look and turned to him. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"What do we do about the house?" the poison user asked as he slightly adjusted the straps on his shoulders, which belonged to the small wooden box he carried on his back.
"We'll leave it like this," he said coolly as he walked away from the house.
The rest moved with him, except for Renkotsu, who refused to look away from the fragile dwelling. "But why? I could burn it to the ground with one blow. It's not like the owners would be coming back or something," he pouted as he held onto his gourd that hung around his waist.
This definitely hit a nerve and before he could raise the gourd to his mouth, it split in two and fell to the grass.
"What the-!" he cried shocked, but when he turned to look aside, he found a halberd's blade only a breath away from his neck. At the other end of the weapon, he found Bankotsu looking at him with a very annoyed expression.
"Keep the destructive ideas to yourself or I'll remove you from the group in advance," he snarled.
Jakotsu separated the two as he pulled Renkotsu away from the blade. "Use your head Renkotsu! If you set a fire here, it'll draw unnecessary attention!" he scolded his fellow group member.
"G-got that," Renkotsu gulped and turned to Bankotsu. "S-sorry about that, I guess the excitement just took over."
Bankotsu placed his halberd back onto his shoulder and turned his back to him. "Keep your emotions at bay until we've arrived at the fortress. I don't want any stupid mistakes ruining the mission, so I make myself clear?"
"Y-yessir!"
And so, under the supervision of Bankotsu, the group began to leave the house and move towards the North.
'Wait for me Kagome, I'll end this as soon as possible and return to your side...'
.-.-.-.
"Here you go."
Kagome looked up, only to find her guardian standing beside her with a flask made of bamboo shoot in her hand.
"Thanks," she smiled, taking the container into her hand.
It's been about two weeks since they left their hiding spot and they were already running low on money. Her guardian told her that they still had a long way to travel. If they kept this pace, they would surely arrive a week or two before her birthday.
'We should have travelled a quarter of the journey by now...' she reasoned inwardly a she counted the days.
"What are you doing?" Sango asked curiously, pointing at the long leaves of grass that lay on the ground next to Kagome.
Kagome handed over the bamboo shoot and wiped the water from corners of her lips. "I'm making a grasshopper," she replied.
The taijiya looked at her with widened eyes as she knelt down to her. "You can make a grasshopper from a piece of grass?"
She nodded. "My father taught me when I was little. I was much faster back then. I guess these things really slip away with time."
"But why are you suddenly making them again?" Sango asked.
"I can sell them when we cross a village. It won't be much but it'll be able to solve our money problem a little," she told her while working with the long green leaf in her hands.
With her delicate fingers, she carefully tore apart the wide leaf along its nerves, but stopped before it was completely torn. After looping some of the thinner strands through specific holes and folding some parts, she created the head and the body of the insect.
Sango dropped her jaw. "Sugoi..." she gasped astonished.
A couple of minutes later, the feelers and legs were added to the small grasshopper.
"Done!" Kagome smiled as she held up the small green insect.
"Unbelievable!" the taijiya said while examining the fragile handicraft. "I bet the children would love this!"
Kagome stretched her arms and fingers and stood up again. "All right! We've rested enough!" she said as she beat the dirt from her blue yukata. "Kirara?"
In respond to her calling, the fire cat jumped out of the bushes and landed before her in her transformed version. "I'll make some more on the way. Hop on Sango!" she said as she ascended Kirara's back.
"Whatever you say princess," Sango smiled and hopped on behind with her large boomerang on her back.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It took me a while to get this posted. I'm terribly sorry about that! Anyway, I do have some good news :). My supervisor gave me a 8.5 for my research project (on a scale of 1 to 10)! He told me that there was no need for a presentation since he already viewed my system and read my report so we only had an evaluative talk on wednesday. Anyway, now I have enough study points to get my Bachelor degree and I will continue with a master program in September. When school starts, I'll travel a lot by train (four days in a week) and since my muses only cooperate with me during trips by train, I'll be able to update the story more frequently. Good news right?
Greets,
Kittymui
.-.-.-.
'Italic': thoughts
"...": spoken words
.-.-.-.-.: time gap
-CAPSLOCKED WORDS-: noises
.-.-.-.
Next chapter: Chapter XXIII
.-.-.
Hope you liked this chapter :). We'll make a huge time jump between this and the next chapter since I've got nothing special planned during the journey towards the fortress. The next chapter will start with Kagome and Sango arriving at their destination. How will Sesshoumaru react to this? Will he recognize Kagome? Please look forward to the next chapter!
.-.-.
Vocabulary:
haori: traditional Japanese robe worn by men (upper body)
taijiya: (demon) exterminator
sugoi: amazing
yukata: a traditional Japanese garment worn by women during summer
.-.-.-.
REPLIES TO REVIEWS:
Shortie630: Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it!
Gray Hoody: I'm glad you loved it! HongKong was very hot (as usual during summer) but it was great to see the rest of the family again after 3 years. The food and clothes are cheap compared to Holland :). Haha, in the normal series, Jakotsu would probably have gotten angry, but in this Alternate Universe and with most characters Out of Character, I just made Jakotsu the most compassionate person of the group because of his friendship with Bankotsu. This would make things less complicated, so I thought.
Schwarz Stein: Thanks!
thunder sister: Oops, it seems that you're expectation is going to come true :).
aNiMaAyAnGeL: Thanks a lot! I'm so happy to hear that! Hope you liked this chapter as well! Be sure to tell me if you find any good Bankotsu stories (I'm searching for them too actually haha).
Kitsune6: Inuyasha respects his brother and sister very much in this story yes. In the anime series I watched where royalty is concerned, siblings refer to each other this way, that's why I used that here. Thanks for reviewing.
Ele Goddess of Elements: Thank you! Don't worry, no matter how long or short the review, I appreciate them all. Except for flames that are not grounded of course :).
SusArackAhack: Thanks!
Inoure: Wow! It's been a while since I've received cookies from readers, thanks! munch munch...
queen mwa: Thank you!
sesshomaruobsessed: I'll try to update as soon as possible! Thanks for reviewing! Haha my mother once said that I should become an author in the future. But I think it's hard to come up with original characters.
AnimeSiren: I made them slightly nicer than you expected hehehe, hope you didn't mind :). I wouldn't want the whole group to be against or angry at Bankotsu, they still need to accomplish the mission, that's why. Thanks for reviewing!
kitsune-cub: I'll do my best!
gurlhushere13: Thanks! I'll try!
miss lady death: Thank you very much! I tend to let readers hang quite a lot...sorry about that :) hehehe. I'll try to update as soon as possible!
xBankotsu's Girlx: Thanks!
TamiaEternity: Don't worry about that! I'm glad you review once in a while to let me know you're still following the story!
sangotaku6: It's nice to hear that hehe. I hope I'm inspiring readers to write more Ban/Kag stories because there are so little of them right now.
Cacading Fates: Thanks for reviewing!
LadyRedEyes: Yup, here it is! Thanks for reviewing! The next chapter will be posted a bit quicker than this one hopefully, be sure to read it ne?
DarkAngelsFaith: Thank you!
Thistle Galena: I'm glad you love it! Thanks for reviewing!
sesshieobsessed: It's okay! Glad you reviewed :)! Review once in a while to let me know that you're still following the story ne? Thanks!
Dark Neko17: Hahaha, I never abandon my stories before they're finished. Unless I have something urgent to attend to or holiday, I update every 1 or 2 weeks. Thanks for reviewing!
Inukamisashi: I will!
Skitzoflame: Nope, he sure didn't :)!
Kuroe: Haha yup, he sure is awesome! I'll try to update ASAP!
Schwarz Stein: I'm honored that you're asking me, thanks! I'll email you once I've finished some administrative work for school!
DanniMarie: Wow, thanks! I'm so happy to hear that! I got some important things to attend to last week so this chapter came a bit later than usual, but I'll update quicker next time!
Sirayme: Thanks! I really enjoyed the time I spent in Hong Kong and although there was no presentation, the evaluative talk was great :)!
tidusXyuna637: Thank you!
Murasaki White Flame Fox: I didn't know that actually. Yup, we're getting near the end of the book indeed hehehe, but the story won't end there :)!
BelleDayNight: There was no presentation actually, but thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I like it when you describe it that way...the end of the beginning hahaha. Just wait and see ne?
Azn-grl-kagome12: Thanks!
Mis0ka: I'm happy to hear that! Thanks for reviewing!
Yokogirl15: Thanks!
Posted: 28 August 2005
Last Edited: 28 August 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!