Chapter 4 - Beginning of a Deadly Battle

"Bankotsu ... dead?"

Kagome suddenly snatched the paper from InuYasha, who had snatched it from an old traveler in passing. The traveler had been too frightened to try to get his paper back from a "demon" so InuYasha happily kept it. She read the Kanji letters for herself, 'Bankotsu of the Band of Seven Dead!' read the headline, then down below, 'The ruthless leader of the band of seven assassins – deceased!' was the subtitle.

Kagome's eyes widened. How could this be possible? None of the other Shichinintai was dead, but the leader was. That was very unlikely. If this were true, InuYasha wouldn't be very happy, because for one reason, he wanted to kill him on his own.

InuYasha ran back to Kagome, trying to snatch the paper like she did from him, but Kagome held it high in the air, looking down at InuYasha with a cocky grin.

"I'm still reading it! Ugh ... SIT BOY!" POW!

After minutes, InuYasha helped himself out of the crater he created in the ground, glaring at the miko who was still reading the feudal era newspaper. She then turned around while reading the paper, facing her back to InuYasha.

InuYasha grinned and slowly began to tip toe up behind her.

"Uh ... InuYasha ... I don't think that's wise," Miroku said, knowing what was coming for him.

"I don't let no woman control me."

SIT, SIT, SIT!

POW!

After a few moments, Kagome turned around, stepping over the InuYasha in the crater and walked to Miroku and Sango. "It says here that he just disappeared from existence. There hasn't even been attacks by the others, but people have seen them walking, but even then, they didn't kill them."

"Maybe they went from bad to good," Sango added, a confused expression on her face.

Miroku shook his head, "Once the leader is dead the whole team changes, especially when they're as close as they are."

Sango and Kagome nodded in agreement to Miroku's words. Even though they were assassins who not only killed men but women and children heartlessly, they were still people just like them. And losing Bankotsu is losing a brother for them.

"Keh! He gets what he deserves! But it was I who was suppose to kill him!"

They all turned around as InuYasha slowly began to emerge himself from the crater, dirt allover his face. But by now, this was nothing new to them all so it was as if he was there all along.

"Maybe so, InuYasha, but still..." Kagome replied.

"Why me?" Bankotsu said aloud, sitting on Kagome's bed, looking around.

This all sucked, first he comes to this awful, stinky era, and then runs into InuYasha's wench, goes to her place and realizes he is actually a chick. What made his day worse is that she took him to 'school' or so she and her mother called it, and now they went back to his home place in Japan and he couldn't even go. He missed his brothers so much, and wondered how they were doing.

Jakotsu sat alone on the deck outside Bankotsu's room, staring into the distance, a piece of paper held limp in his hand by his legs. Another tear strolled down his face, running over his makeup and hitting the ground.

His glassy eyes looked to his left. Renkotsu was in the grassy field training. Renkotsu took the news very well, or so it seemed to Jakotsu, a little too well. While all the others had sorrow and tears forming in their eyes, Renkotsu didn't, Jakotsu even swore he saw a grin on his face from the corner of his eye. But Jakotsu wasn't about to accuse Renkotsu of something he wasn't completely sure of.

Jakotsu dropped the paper and walked into Bankotsu's room. Just standing there and looking around. He remembered all those days that they joked and played games in this room. The days they drank sake together and got drunk. All those memories flashed back into his head. He would never see the body form of Bankotsu in this room again. In this lonely, empty room.

Jakotsu walked over to Bankotsu's bed and sat on it, and then broke down in tears, putting his head into his hands, he cried for a few minutes, until he was interrupted.

"Jakotsu?"

Jakotsu looked up to see Suikotsu standing in the doorway. A sad expression on his face, his long hair was not brushed and was cascading down his back and over his shoulders.

"I'm ... sorry, Jakotsu. I know you guys were ... close."

Jakotsu looked at the floor and nodded. His eyes were still glassy but no tears fell.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"How do you think I'm doing?" Suikotsu asked with a small smile. Jakotsu could tell he had been crying just a little.

"Yeah," Jakotsu replied, once again looking at the floor.

"Though," Suikotsu began, looking to where Renkotsu was training, "he had his different ways of being sad."

Jakotsu shook his head, "I don't think he is sad at all."

Suikotsu was slightly surprised. He never heard Jakotsu say something to question Renkotsu's loyalty. He wondered why. Suikotsu knew that when sad Renkotsu liked to do something time consuming and something to take his mind off the matter.

"How so?" Suikotsu asked.

"Not a bit of remorse in him," Jakotsu answered. He didn't want to make waves but he trusted Suikotsu, so he told him. "I'm not sure, but I thought I saw Renkotsu ... grin."

Suikotsu frowned, it was true, Renkotsu could be rather ... heartless towards his companions. "Doesn't surprise me, what with him taking Jewel Shards without Bankotsu knowing."

Jakotsu's eyes went larger. "What!"

"Yes, it is true he DID do that." Suikotsu replied with a sad expression.

Jakotsu looked to the floor. This didn't really surprise him much. Renkotsu was always the one to sway, so to speak, and go against rules. He hated going with Bankotsu's and was so to himself. The only one he showed like to was Genkotsu. This made Jakotsu angry. But surprisingly not angry with Renkotsu, angry with Bankotsu's killer. He looked at Suikotsu; the want for blood in his eyes and Suikotsu shook his head.

"Do we have to?"

Jakotsu nodded, standing up and walking out of the house. "Meet you in a few moments."

InuYasha walked through the green grass, feeling the breeze go through his hair and against his clothes, giving him the refreshing coolness he needed. The blades of grass rubbed against his bare feet as he kept walking, sometimes snapping his leg up and slapping his foot or scratching it. He looked up, the branches of the numerous trees hovering over them, swaying in the wind. A few leaves would fall and some sunlight would seep through the cracks of the leaves and branches, creating a beautiful roof above them. A few Sakura trees would pass by; their cherry blossoms flying off the tree, making a beautiful pink gush of wind go by them.

Kagome smiled the whole time, watching all the little animals go by, and some sunlight go dim for moments due to clouds. She loved it there, and would never leave this place for anything, not even the world. But then it hit her, now that Kagura was living with her, she might not be able to go back much, maybe even at all. What if this was her last trip to the beautiful feudal era? A frown reached her face as she tried her best to shove that thought to the side.

Sango and Miroku walked in the back. Usually it was InuYasha and Kagome in the front and them in the back or all of them together. But this time Kagome fell behind and it was now InuYasha, Kagome, then they. Sango wondered what was on Kagome's mind. Sango even got stuck with carrying Shippou AND Kirara, but Miroku, to Sango's relieve, offered to hold Shippou, and now the little fox demon was sleeping peacefully in his arms.

And then, suddenly, InuYasha spoke up.

"I swear if it was that Wolf "Prince" who killed Bankotsu I am going to wring his neck and mop the hard ground with his face."

"He probably didn't, InuYasha. I mean if you couldn't how could he possibly-"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't 'The InuYasha Gang'."

All four of them spun around, recognizing the feminine voice. And there stood Jakotsu and Suikotsu. Jakotsu had a devilish grin on his face, his sword in its sheath on his back as he held the end of it. Suikotsu's hair was now short and spiky with green tips. He held his left hand up by his face, his claws sending a glare from the sun, grinning cockily.

"We recently suffered a great loss. I'm sure you know who." Jakotsu said, glaring at InuYasha. "InuYasha, honey, how could you?"

Suikotsu looked at Jakotsu, telling him to shut up with his eyes and then looked at InuYasha. "We know you did it, half-breed. I just hoped that aniki would have been killed by a more honorable opponent."

InuYasha, shocked for a moment like all the others, quickly gathered his barrens and glared at them both. He raised a clawed hand, "I AM honorable, BUT ... I did NOT kill your "aniki"," InuYasha replied, making sure to make his voice deeper in a mocking way when saying 'aniki'.

"Curse you!" Jakotsu said, whipping his sword out, flinging it towards InuYasha, but InuYasha easily dodged, once landed, he unsheathed Tetsusaiga.

Kagome watched, hoping InuYasha wouldn't get hurt, but then her thoughts went back to Kagura. 'I think we're gonna be here a lot longer then planned,' she thought, watching as a battle was about to unravel.

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Well, there it is, chapter 4. I hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews! You guys rock!