A TALE FROM THE PAST

-by Kittymui-

A tale retold

"Ngh..."

Bankotsu's eyes fluttered open and slowly regained focus on the white ceiling above him. "W-where am I?" he croaked hoarsely.

"You're in the hospital," a voice replied dryly.

He rolled his head to the side and found Sesshoumaru sitting on a chair next to his bed. "Hospital?"

"That's right," said Sesshoumaru as he stood up. "After that rash action of yours, you suddenly fainted."

Confusion must have registered on his face as Sesshoumaru's expression changed from a stoic to an impatient one. "Don't tell me you've forgotten," he grumbled.

Bankotsu took his time to refresh his memories. Eventually, it all came back to him and he turned to Sesshoumaru. "What happened after I fainted?" he asked.

"After you fainted, we had to carry you to this ward. I asked some doctors to check on your health, Kaede and I thought you fainted due to low blood pressure, but the doctors didn't find anything so I just had them patch you up while you were sleeping," he told him. "After that, we had to change the sheets and clothes of my sister since they were soaked with your blood."

"I see..." Bankotsu mumbled inattentive as it wasn't really the information he asked for.

"But the strange thing was," Sesshoumaru continued. "When we were changing her clothes, we found that the huge scar on her abdomen was gone."

"Gone?" he eyed him quizzically.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Even Kaede was amazed, but she said that she couldn't feel the craving anymore coming from Kagome's abdomen."

"Heh, I guess my rash action was useful after all huh?" Bankotsu retorted as slowly pushed himself up. "How long have I slept?" he asked, scanning his surroundings. His bed was located in a small ward with white walls and soft yellow carpeting.

Sesshoumaru looked at his watch. "You've slept for approximately eight hours, it's 10 pm right now," he replied. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, just a little bit dizzy." Bankotsu's head perked up when he remembered something and he turned to Sesshoumaru. "More importantly, how is she? Did it work?"

When he asked that, a strange expression appeared on Sesshoumaru's face, one Bankotsu had never seen before. But before an answer was given, another voice entered the room through the door near them that was slightly ajar.

"Sesshoumaru nii-sama? Who are you talking to?"

Bankotsu's eyes widened as he recognized the voice and shifted to look at Sesshoumaru, who said nothing and walking out of the room.

"I was talking to the person I told you about earlier, he just woke up." He heard him reply.

"He did? That's good to hear!"

A bit flabbergasted, Bankotsu climbed out of his bed and slowly made his way towards the door. The moment he walked through the opening, he realized he had been hospitalized in a room right next to the large one of Sesshoumaru's sister.

"Hello," a voice greeted him. His eyes darted to the canopy bed to his left and met a pair of chestnut orbs.

The raven-haired girl who had been sleeping like a rose before was now fully awake and sitting upright on her bed with a large pillow behind her. Next to her on the edge of the bed sat Sesshoumaru. "Kagome, meet Bankotsu. Bankotsu, this is Kagome," he said as he stood up.

"Nice you meet you," smiled the girl beside him.

"Pleasure's all mine," Bankotsu nodded nervously. Just when he thought how sweet her smile actually was, he felt daggers flying from Sesshoumaru's direction and immediately brushed off the thought. It wasn't until his sister called out to him, that he stopped glaring. "Sesshoumaru nii-sama? I'm a bit thirsty, can I have a glass of water?" she asked.

Without saying anything, Sesshoumaru walked out of the room and into the hallway.

Bankotsu let out a relieved sigh when the door clicked close but quickly held his hand before his mouth as he realized he wasn't alone. He slowly turned to the girl on the bed, who merely smiled at him. "Please forgive my brother, his over-protectiveness tends to clouds his mind sometimes," she said. "Bankotsu...right?"

"Yes?"

She slightly tilted her head as she looked at his face. "Have we...met?"

"I'm studying history in the same class as you, but I've only recently transferred here," he told her.

She raised her brows. "Really? No wonder I thought I'd seen you before..."

"By the way, do you remember why you are in a hospital?" he asked her after a while.

The girl thought for a moment. "Well, the last thing I remember was blowing the candles on my birthday cake," she recalled. "My mind's completely blanc after that."

'So she doesn't remember anything...' he realized inwardly. 'I guess that's logical...reincarnations are not supposed to remember anything of their pasts...' If it wasn't for the book, he wouldn't have known about his previous life either. He stole a glance at her. 'Now that she has awoken, does that mean the link to the past has been severed?' he mused. 'Even the scar on her abdomen is gone, does that mean everything has resolved?'

"My brother did tell me that I fell in a sudden coma on my birthday, but to me it was like I had just woke up from a long dream," she continued and turned to him. "Can you tell me how long I have been sleeping?"

"It's July now, so you've been sleeping for about 8 to 9 months now," he calculated. When he saw her widen her eyes, he began to wonder if he shouldn't have told her.

"I did? Aw man, I hope I can still catch up with the rest..." she pouted to herself. "Did I miss out a lot?"

He was rather surprised at her reaction and it took him a moment to realize that she was asking him something. "Huh? Oh...we had some mid-term exams, but I'm sure they'll let you retake them after you've completely recovered."

But the sad expression remained as she glanced down at her outstretched legs beneath the blanket. "I've been sleeping for so long...do you think I'll be able to recover before school starts again?"

"Don't worry, I'll help," Bankotsu blurted out before he knew it. Surprised by his own words, he averted his gaze to hide a blush. "Uh, I mean...I can help you with history while you're in rehabilitation...if you want..." he quickly added.

An awkward silence fell between them after he said that.

"I heard from my brother..." she suddenly began. "...that you're the one responsible for my recovery. Why did you help me? We barely know each other."

The question startled Bankotsu and he didn't know how to respond. Should he tell her the truth? He mentally shook his head. 'Some things are better left unsaid...' he thought to himself. Memories of the past life weren't erased for no reason. "Knowing a person isn't a prerequisite for helping that person. You of all people should agree with that right?" he asked her back.

She smiled at that and nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

"Ahum..."

Both Bankotsu and Kagome turned to the voice, only to see Sesshoumaru standing in the doorway with a glass of water in his hand. He walked over to Kagome's side and placed the glass of water in her hands before turning to Bankotsu again. With his back to his sister, he gestured to him to go outside the room and Bankotsu did as he was told.

"Did you tell her the truth?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

He shook his head. "No, I figured that the past should remain the past. Some things are better left unsaid," he told him. "But she asked me how long she had been sleeping so I told her the truth, I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay, it's not like I was planning to hide it from her. She'll found out sooner or later," Sesshoumaru reasoned.

Bankotsu leaned against the wall with his back. "So what do you intend to do now? Announce to the world that she has awoken?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "All the doctors we know have signed a silence-treaty about this matter, so not many people know about Kagome's strange coma. Thus, her awakening won't attract much attention fortunately."

"How about people at school?" he asked.

Sesshoumaru cocked a brow. "If your friend hadn't told you about Kagome and if you didn't have such a strange past, you wouldn't have known about her coma and that she was absent for the past 8 to 9 months, did you?"

Bankotsu fell silent. He did have a point there.

"Didn't think so," he said. "So there's no need to worry about the other students."

A moment of silence passed and he couldn't help but wonder about something strange. "By the way, now that your sister's awake, I had expected the rest of your family to be here as well. Why haven't they come?" he finally asked.

Sesshoumaru casually flung some strands over his shoulder. "They're busy people, but I made a phone call earlier. They said they would fly over here as soon as time permits."

"As soon as time permits?" Bankotsu widened his eyes in surprise. "Shouldn't visiting their daughter be a top priority?"

"If they're delayed arrival benefits people, Kagome wouldn't mind."

Bankotsu raised a brow in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"

"Both our parents are doctors. Currently, they're in Europe to attend a conference where doctors worldwide gather around to share knowledge."

"Aha...so that's why..." Bankotsu nodded understandingly. "Then how about you?"

"What about me?"

"Doing anything that contributes to the society?"

Sesshoumaru's expression remained stoic. "I was writing my thesis, but with my parents abroad and sister in coma, I had to put my work aside to look after her."

"But now that she's awake, you can continue with your thesis, right?" Bankotsu reasoned.

"Not quite right. Kagome needs to rehabilitate after having slept for so long, so someone still has to look after her."

"How about Sango? Kagome's her patient right? Now that I think about it, she wasn't here when we came here this afternoon."

"That's right," nodded Sesshoumaru. "She asked for a holiday right after I promised not to fire her. I guess I put too much pressure on her all this time..."

"You sure did." Bankotsu grinned. "So...do you need some help?"

Sesshoumaru immediately flashed him an annoyed look with narrowed eyes. And Bankotsu scowled in return. "Geez...why are you always looking at me like that when I'm only trying to be nice?"

To his surprise, the cold gold-amber eyes softened in an instant and looked away. "You're right, I'm sorry..."

"Huh...w-what?" The apology came rather expected and left Bankotsu dumbfounded.

Sesshoumaru rubbed his forehead and revealed some exhaustion that he had been keeping hidden before. "It's just...there have been so many people claiming that they could cure her while they were actually after our family assets. I just didn't know whom to trust anymore."

Hearing that, Bankotsu suddenly recalled Suikotsu telling him that Sesshoumaru was a different person before.

"In time, I realized I've been looking at others with distrust and prejudice," Sesshoumaru continued. "You've actually done a lot for us and yet I haven't properly thanked you for that."

Bankotsu waved with his hand. "Don't worry about it," he said, but realized that Sesshoumaru had already offered him a hand and took it without hesitation. "In that case, I'm glad I could help." And they shook their hands with acceptance.

"So how do you plan to help me?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Bankotsu retracted his hand and pushed back his braid. "Just like you said, she needs rehabilitation right? How about I look after her in your stead? In the meantime, you can visit her anytime you want."

Sesshoumaru cocked a wary brow. "Just as long as you don't hold any ulterior motives towards my sister, I will approve of your idea."

Bankotsu's eyes widened. "Ulterior...what? No of course not!"

Sesshoumaru's face became slightly serious. "You study history, don't you? I'm sure you must have learned something about customs in the past," he said. "Several centuries ago, I would have surely forced you to take Kagome's hand in marriage. After seeing her abdomen like that, she definitely would've been declared tainted for the rest of her life and then nobody would want to have her anymore."

Aside from being surprised, Bankotsu had to agree with him. While studying the past, he did come across such a custom before, and he never really liked it. It never was the woman's fault when such tragedy takes place and yet, the woman is the one to suffer.

"But luckily, we're finding ourselves in the 21st century," Sesshoumaru sighed in relief. "Judging from your reaction earlier, you would probably not have the slightest intention to marry my sister."

Bankotsu's eyes grew wide. "That's not true!" He placed a hand over his lips. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he realized what he had just said. "W-wait, I didn't mean-"

He was cut off when he saw the smirk on Sesshoumaru's face. "What are you so nervous about?"

"I'm not nervous!" growled Bankotsu embarrassed.

Half-seriously, Sesshoumaru added. "In any case, if you intend to ask for my sister's hand in marriage, you'll have to convince me of your sincerity first."

Bankotsu almost choked at his words. "What the...why are we even talking about this!" he coughed.

"Hmm, you're right." He smirked as he adjusted some misplaced strands of his silvery hair. "You two aren't even lovers yet."

"Why you-!" Bankotsu's cheeks became burning red as Sesshoumaru's laughter echoed in the hallway. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he scowled.

"I'm loving it." Sesshoumaru flashed him an evil smile. "You're just too amusing for me not to enjoy it."

Bankotsu rolled his eyes at his arrogance.

"...but you're also the first one to help me that unconditionally...and that's very admirable."

He raised his brows at the sudden commend and shifted to look at Sesshoumaru, who was bowing deeply to him. "I am very grateful." He heard him say.

Not knowing how to deal with such a situation, Bankotsu quickly looked up at the ceiling and snorted. "Feh! Who said there were no conditions? I just hadn't thought about it yet." He stole a glance at a surprised pair of gold-amber eyes and smirked. "But I'll inform you once I've come up with an appropriate restitution."

Saying nothing, Sesshoumaru placed a hand on his shoulder and moved closer to his ear. "Anyway, I'll be placing Kagome in your care for now. I trust you that you won't let anything happen to her in the meantime, or else I'll make sure that you'll spend the rest of your life in this hospital," he whispered.

"We'll see about that," he grinned in respond. 'I guess that part of his character will never change...' He thought as he watched Sesshoumaru enter Kagome's room again.

"No, it's okay. I'm twenty now remember? I've burdened you for too long now, it's time for you to concentrate on your thesis." He heard Kagome's voice from the half-open door.

"You were never a burden to me Kagome," Sesshoumaru stated. "I will come to visit you once in a while. In the meantime, I have asked Bankotsu to look after you for me. I hope you don't mind me making decisions for you."

To this, Kagome giggled. "It's for my own good right? I don't mind. Besides, I don't even remember once being able to defy the decisions you made for me."

Silence.

"Is...he a friend of yours?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

Sesshoumaru took his time to answer, but when he did, it surprised both Kagome and Bankotsu, who was leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Yes, he is."

The truth was, Bankotsu never thought Sesshoumaru would consider him a friend. Was he accepting him? Just when he moved closer to the door to peek inside, it suddenly opened completely with Sesshoumaru in the opening. "Eavesdropping is not a very nice trait," he frowned as he gazed down at Bankotsu.

Bankotsu merely grinned. "Whatever. You're on your way out right? I'll be seeing you around then."

"Later," Sesshoumaru nodded and proceeded past him to the elevator.

Bankotsu watched him disappear to the lower floors and turned to the door opening behind him. He entered the room and closed the door behind him before making his way towards the bed.

"I heard Sesshoumaru nii-sama laugh earlier, what were you two talking about?" Kagome asked as soon as he stood beside her.

He suppressed a blush. "Nothing special."

"So...you're going to look after me now, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah," he nodded awkwardly.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"No need to thank me," he returned a smile. "Your brother is just too persuasive."

Kagome chuckled. "He is, isn't he? I'm surprised you could bear with him for more than 5 minutes in the hallway. Not many can actually."

He grinned. "His pride is a pain, but once you're able to tackle that, he'll just be like any other normal person."

"Just like you did huh?" she laughed.

"That's right," he laughed along.

"It's so strange," she said after the laughter ended. "This is the first time we actually had a conversation, and yet I feel like I've known you for a very long time...is that...weird?"

"Not at all," he told her with a warm smile. "Because I share the same feeling too."

He was puzzled when the girl suddenly offered him her hand. "My brother didn't really introduce us properly," she explained to him. "I'm Kagome Asahara, and ehm...thanks again for helping me and me brother."

Bankotsu smiled as he took her hand and shook it politely. "My name's Bankotsu Yukimori and you're very welcome Kagome."

"So what do we do now?" she asked as their hands parted.

Bankotsu gazed at the dark starry sky outside the window. "It's pretty late now so talking a walk is out of the question," he reasoned. "Why don't you get some sleep? We'll think of something to do tomorrow when you wake up."

Kagome responded with a rather disappointed expression. "But I'm not sleepy..." she said. "If you've been sleeping for more than 8 months, I bet the last thing you'd want to do is sleep."

"Hmm, then we'll need to think of something else, won't we?" He placed a hand under his chin. Suddenly, he reminded himself of something and turned to Kagome again. "You like history, right?" he asked.

She nodded.

He quickly went to his room next door and came back with a wooden chair in one hand and the scarlet book in his other. "Then how about I read you a tale from the past?" he suggested as he placed the chair next to her bed.

"A tale from the past?" She looked at him rather quizzically, but he swore he could see some sparkles of excitement in her eyes. "Is it nice?" she asked.

He smirked. "You bet!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
There! I finally got to update again! I hope you like this chapter, though it's a bit on the short side. Please tell me per review what you think okay? For those who sent in unsigned reviews: thank you all very much for reviewing! I appreciate all your lovely reviews!

I've got a Finance exam coming Thursday so I'll be doing a lot of studying the coming days. I'll try to update before New Year's Day, if I cannot manage, I will wish you all (in advance) a very nice christmas and a wonderful 2006!

Lots of greets,

Kittymui

'Italic': thoughts
"...": spoken words
-.-.-.-: time gap
-CAPSLOCKED WORDS-: noises

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Next FINAL chapter: A forgiven soul

No spoilers this time :)! Just wait and see!

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Vocabulary:

nii-sama: a respectful way to refer to an older brother

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Posted: 17 December 2005
Last Edited: 17 December 2005
Spelling check: YES

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters of this story. 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, I own the idea for the main plot of this story.