Disclaimer: No, I still don't own any of the Shichinintai except for Akiko… and Kageyu.

Chapter Four: Meeting New Allies

After walking for a few about fifteen minutes, Akiko and Bankotsu reached Jakotsu. He was sitting on a rock, daydreaming about something.

"Aniki!" he called as Bankotsu approached. "What took you so long?" he gave Bankotsu a slightly bitter look.

Bankotsu glanced over at Akiko. "I was warning her about some of things not to do to the rest of our brothers."

Jakotsu gave her a dirty glare, and continued walking next to Bankotsu. He kept looking over at Akiko like he expected she was up to something.

'Why does he keep looking over at me?' Akiko thought. 'He couldn't possibly know my plan…'

As the three walked, there was an uncomfortable silence between them. Jakotsu kept glaring, and Bankotsu seemed amused by it. "Hey!" Bankotsu suddenly shouted as his pace quickened. Jakotsu didn't say anything, but followed.

Akiko saw a group of people sitting in the forest. The first one she spotted looked like a giant. He had gray-ish-green skin and his eyes were bloodshot. The next one she spotted was also pretty big. He looked like he was half man and half machine. One side of his face, his mouth, and parts of his body were metal. He had some weird type of weapons attached to himself that Akiko didn't recognize. There was another man with a similar weapon. He didn't look too odd. He had purple markings on his face. The next person she saw was a short old man. He wore a white veil over his mouth and one over his head. Last, there was a man with hair down to his shoulders. Unlike the others, he did not have markings on his face. He didn't really look mean like the rest either. However, judging by the metal claws in his gloves and the armor he wore, she figured he must have been Suikotsu. All of these people looked just the same as they did the last time she saw them. It brought back such painful memories to see them. By Bankotsu's description, she could tell who was who.

"Who the Hell's she?" Renkotsu asked when he caught sight of Akiko.

"Aniki says that she is the new member of the Shichinintai," Jakotsu said with disgust, emphasizing "she".

Everyone looked to Bankotsu. "What?" he asked. "I think she'll be really useful. I just fought her. She's pretty good. Her name is Akiko," he added on the end.

Mukotsu laughed which caused everyone to bring their attention to him. "I think that she'll be a wonderful addition to the Shichinintai. Just think of what she can do for us," he said leering at her. Akiko wasn't entirely thrilled by this comment.

"Mukotsu," Bankotsu interrupted him, "she's here for fighting reasons only."

Mukotsu looked up at him saddened. "I wasn't suggesting that she be here for any other reason," he said innocently with a smirk. Akiko decided that it would probably be best to keep a far distance from him.

Renkotsu spoke again, this time angrier. "God damn it, Bankotsu. We don't need any new members!"

"Like I said, she'll come in handy for when we need her," Bankotsu said not really talking to anyone in particular. They all seemed to understand what he meant tough. Everyone except Akiko that is.

The rest of the day went very long. All of the Shichinintai except Bankotsu kept staring at her like they didn't want her there. Mukotsu however didn't seem quite as upset as the others.

Akiko walked up to Bankotsu when he had gotten away from the rest of the Shichinintai. "A friend of mine is probably wondering where I am…" she began.

"The dragon?" Bankotsu asked to Akiko's surprise.

"Yeah. How did you know?" she asked him.

"He's been following us for a long time now. I was just going to kill him, but I thought he might be a friend of yours."

Akiko nodded. "Yes. His name is Kageyu."

"I suppose he can stay with us too. I have a feeling he's not going to be too welcomed in though. Oh well. They'll probably like him more than they like you."

Akiko glared at him. 'I wonder how long it will take before I will be able to kill them…?' she thought. 'Although, it is nice of him to let me stay with them. And he so far is the only one who's been nice to me.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by Kageyu jumping out and pouncing on her. "You're okay, Akiko! I wouldn't have followed, but I wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to you."

"It's okay, Kageyu. I am a member of the Shichinintai. Do you want to stay with me?"

"Like you had to ask!" he said happily and licked Bankotsu's face. Bankotsu laughed.

As Bankotsu walked back ahead of them Akiko whispered sarcastically, "Geez, Kageyu. Don't be too sad about it."

"I thought that you'd be happy. You'll be able to get revenge now."

"I am. But don't get too friendly with them. You never know if they're up to the same thing. What if they're letting me join because they want to kill me because they didn't ten years ago?"

Kageyu sighed. "I doubt that that'stheir biggest concern at the moment. They still haven't even gotten revenge upon the people who killed them yet."

Akiko considered this. 'I suppose they wouldn't go through all that for some girl they left alive a decade ago.'

By the time Akiko and Kageyu reached back to where the Shichinintai were, Bankotsu had sat down overlooking a cliff. He sat with a piece of paper in his lap. He was about to write a letter. He seemed to be in deep thought. "Hmmm…" he muttered as he began to write. Akiko couldn't see what it said, but he crumpled it up and threw it on the ground next to him.

"He's writing a threatening letter to those bastards who executed us," Suikotsu explained.

"Oh yeah!" Bankotsu said suddenly looking up. "Naraku said to attack InuYasha and his group again. I'll be here writing my letter. You don't need me right now…"

"INUYASHA?" Jakotsu asked, his face lighting up. "What are we waiting for? Aniki said to get going!" Jakotsu had already started out after this "InuYasha" guy.

"Who is InuYasha?" Akiko asked Suikotsu as they started out after Jakotsu.

"InuYasha is some stupid hanyou who Naraku hates. He's been sending us to attack him ever since we were resurrected. …And Jakotsu is in love with him…"

Akiko recalled hearing that the son of InuTaisho was a hanyou and the name seemed befitting. "Is InuYasha half dog demon?"

"Yeah. Have you ever heard of him?"

Akiko shook her head. "No, I just sort of guessed…" 'Because of InuYasha's father, Ryuukotsusei couldn't protect my village and so the Shichinintai could attack. How better for me to get revenge than for my father's daughter to take the life of the son of the person whose father led to the death of him. Wait. What? Oh well. I'll take my anger out on InuYasha anyways. I do need practice killing.'

"What's with you? Not scared are you?" Renkotsu asked, noticing the serious look on Akiko's face. "You better not get in the way or slow us down." He added.

Akiko didn't like his attitude toward her, but didn't say anything. 'Just remember that I need their trust,' she thought to keep herself from telling Renkotsu what she really thought.

Akiko wasn't really paying attention to where they were going. She didn't even realize that they had approached InuYasha until Jakotsu called out to him.

Author's Note: Thanks to those who rated. I would have updated sooner, but no one even rated until not too long ago. I'd have finished this long before, but I wasn't in a writing mood. By the way, I've changed my plot ideas quite a few times so if I write something you don't get or if I repeated something, let me know so I can fix it. I know that I'm not following the chain of events exactly how they happened, but just try to keep up where I'm at in the story.  Prepare for a really violent InuYasha vs. Shichinitnai battle next chapter.