Chapter Twelve: Shooting Stars and the Shirokiri Waterfalls.

"Hurry! We have to get there before it turns to dawn," Bankotsu said still grabbing Akiko's wrist and dragging her along with him.

"Bankotsu, will you please tell me where we are going?" she panted while running to keep up with him.

Bankotsu never said another word until he stopped so abruptly that Akiko ran into him.

"Sorry," she said with a blush. "So, is this it?" She looked at their surroundings. All it was was a forest. There was nothing particularly interesting about it.

"Yeah. But you might want to get out of this forest so you can see it." He said pulling her through the trees until they were in a clearing.

Akiko gasped at how beautiful the sight was. There were a series of small waterfalls that poured over heaps mossy rocks. They emptied into a clear, shimmering lake. The moon was very bright and it gave the lake and the waterfalls a bright silvery pigment.

"It's so pretty…" she whispered.

Bankotsu smiled. "You know, you're the first person who I have ever showed this to? No one else really likes these kind of things."

"Well I think it is wonderful! Thank you so much for bringing me here," she said in a somewhat sad tone. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason, Akiko found Bankotsu's kindness to her depressing.

"There's something else too. Look up." He pointed to the sky.

She stared at the sky but didn't see anything. "Huh?"

"You need to wait for a little bit."

Bankotsu plopped down on the ground and fell backwards so he was lying down. "Don't worry. Soon you'll see them frequently, but it usually doesn't start for a little while longer."

Akiko assumed she knew what he was talking about and lied down next to him. The soft, thick, green grass was cool from the mist of the waterfalls that blew over them. The two mercenaries silently watched the dark blue sky. There were hardly any clouds and all of the stars were shining brilliantly.

"Look!" Akiko said as she saw a bright flash of light quickly dart across the endless reaches of the night sky.

"There's some more too," Bankotsu said watching three more stars zoomed through the sky for a second and then disappeared.

Bankotsu and Akiko watched the shooting stars for what seemed like hours. The stars were being seen less and less now. Akiko saw the soft, dark red shade of the sun beginning to rise over the horizon. She didn't want to return to the castle-like building. When she was there she was reminded of all the wretched things that had happened to her so far. But, as she watched the stars, she felt happy. She had forgotten that she was dead, that Kageyu probably hated her, that Naraku had wanted her dead, that she was supposed to kill the people that she now liked.

Akiko absentmindedly brought her hand to her neck and felt where the Shikon no Tama jewel shard was. True, she couldn't see it, but she could feel the presence of it. She could sense that it was black and tainted with evil. 'Is it evil because I'm the one using it, or was it evil to begin with? Am I really that horrible of a person that I turned a pure jewel shard into one completely overtaken by darkness? I heard that when a person's heart is filled with malice, the jewel would turn black. Could it be because of Bankotsu?' she thought, unsure of her own feelings for him.

Akiko turned her head so she could see Bankotsu. He was still laying there, his arms behind his head, looking up at the last few stars. The look on his face made her think that maybe the reason he liked to go there was the same reason she did. Bankotsu looked relaxed and calm. Even more so than usual. Akiko felt that familiar feeling of her heart beating faster. Trying not to be noticed, she inched closer to Bankotsu. She was lying closer to Shirokiri Lake where the mist hit her and it was causing her to grow cold.

Akiko didn't even notice that she had stopped watching the sky and was now watching the calm expression on Bankotsu's face until he said, "is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," she told him, turning her head back to the sky.

"Cold?" he asked, sitting up.

"Kind of," she said with a shrug, sitting up as well.

Akiko watched as the waterfall still streamed the silver water. 'I'm surprised I don't find that disturbing. Since I just drowned in water yesterday,' she laughed bitterly in her mind. Her dark-humored joke was forgotten though when she felt Bankotsu wrap his arms around her and pull her to him.

Akiko was so surprised that she couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, she just rested her head against Bankotsu's chest. He rested his arms on her shoulders the long sleeves of his haori warmed her bare arms. (Does Bankotsu wear a haori? Or is it a kimono? Idunno, I'll just say haori)

"Akiko," he said eventually. "I was worried that you were gone forever."

Akiko knew he meant when she had died. This remark caught her off guard and she still couldn't think of anything to say to him. "Bankotsu," she said quietly after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "When I thought that you were dead, I was just as worried."

He didn't say anything. Akiko turned her head so she could see the expression on his face. She couldn't tell what it was. He wasn't smiling, he didn't look happy, and he didn't look angry or upset either. She stared into his midnight blue eyes. They were so deep that she got lost in them. He returned the gaze she gave him just as intently.

Bankotsu lifted his arm off of her shoulder and used it to stroke her right cheek. Before she had a chance to think about it, she leaned in closer to him. He moved his other arm and wrapped it around her waist. The hand that was stroking her cheek, he moved under her chin and tilted her head up slightly.

A rush of nervousness went through Akiko as she closed her eyes. Bankotsu's warm lips brushed against hers. She froze for a second, but then relaxed and returned the kiss. Bankotsu pulled away with a smirk on his face. Akiko blushed and tried to pull away, but he kept his arm around her waist.

He let her rest against his chest again. She felt kind of awkward not though. But, Bankotsu didn't seem to feel the same so she gave in and rested her head on his shoulder. It suddenly hit her that she hadn't slept in ages. At least not since before she died. The quiet and tranquility of it all made her fall asleep in a matter of minutes.

After a while Bankotsu sighed and said, "Akiko, I think we should be getting back. It will be morning soon and everyone will wonder where we are."

There was no answer. He saw the peaceful look on her face as she slept. 'Probably best not to wake her up,' he thought and picked her up. He carried her all the way back to the strange castle. When he got there, he put her in her bed and decided that he could use some sleep himself.

Bankotsu trekked his way through the building getting more and more tired with each step. Right before he got to the door to his room he felt and icy cold presence go though his body and heard a voice say, "So, you're Bankotsu?"

Author's Note: Dreadfully sorry that it took so long. It could have been finished by maybe Wednesday, but when I was typing this Tuesday my power went out because of Hurricane Katrina and since I didn't save, it got erased. And I didn't get a chance to write it after that because my teachers have been giving me a butt-load of homework lately. I maybe could have finished it on Thursday, but I was eating a piece of cake when I was typing it and because of the way I was sitting, I fell off of the computer chair and dropped my cake on the floor. My mom was kinda mad so I had to get off the computer.:( One more thing, hope you liked this chapter. I bet you were wondering, "What mushy bullshit is this?" :cracks up at own joke but then notices no one else is laughing and the only sounds to be heard are crickets chirping: Ahem, yeah… Well, quit making fun of my cornball Bankotsu joke and go review!