Revised Edition with changed/added footage: 8-8-2006
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Chapter 18: Shattered Hopes
Struggling against the grip on his throat, Jakotsu could hear the man laughing again.
"I guess I could pretend you're female- your pretty face might be enough to satisfy me," The youkai paused, as Jakotsu smirked.
He'd managed to draw his blade and stab his attacker in the side.
"Bastard!" He spat, blood seeping through his dark pink jacket as he flung the injured Shichinin-tai member to the ground.
Jakotsu winced, landing on his bad knee and rubbing at his bruised throat. He tried to stand, but the pain was too much, a trickle of blood running down his leg.
A smug laugh came from the youkai as he picked up a large axe that he'd sat nearby and sauntered forward.
"You'll pay for that human. No one messes with the Great-Youkai Gatenmaru and lives to tell about it," He raised his weapon above his head, posed to strike down at injured man.
Squinting his eyes closed and begging his legs to work, Jakotsu waited for the blade to hit. His mind holding only one thought, "I'm sorry, Bankotsu."
Halfway through the swing downward, Gatenmaru doubled over in pain; the axe landing mere inches from Jakotsu's left side.
"Jakotsu, can you stand?" Suikotsu called over, the youkai's blood dripping off the tips of the steel claws.
Nodding, Jakotsu stabbed the Jakotsutou into the ground and used its leverage to help him stand upright.
When they looked back up, the youkai was gone.
"What was that guy?" The brown-haired man questioned aloud, looking about.
"I don't know, he just…" Jakotsu was cut off as he let forth a cry of pain and fell; his blood staining the edge of the axe-blade as Gatenmaru towered over him.
"Jakotsu!" Suikotsu exclaimed and rushed forward.
The youkai grinned, and smiled- a white silk shooting forth from his mouth like strings and Suikotsu was barely able to block it from his face in time with his claws.
As he struggled to get the sticky strands off his claws, Gatenmaru turned his attention back to the one who lay at his feet, blood pouring out of the wound on his side. With a smirk of satisfaction, he spit forth another type of substance onto the axe-wound.
The bubbling white salvia penetrated into the cut, causing Jakotsu to curse as he winced, the feeling of burning and crackling against his skin. Throwing down his entangled claws, Suikotsu was about to try a simple hand-to-hand attack when a shadow fell upon him.
Atop the neighboring building sat the short figure of Mukotsu silhouetted against the full moon. The youkai turned only to have the black-ink like poison spit into his eyes by the skilled poison user.
"Shit!" Gatenmaru cursed, rubbing it off his face.
"Suikotsu, get Jakotsu out of there!" Mukotsu called down; the brown-haired man nodded and gathered his injured friend into his arms, using his free hand to pick up both of their weapons before running off towards the forest edge.
Once he was certain they were a safe distance away, Mukotsu pulled out another barrel of toxins and released it down onto the youkai.
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The forest seemed so far away, as they made their way over to its edge. Sitting Jakotsu down against the trunk of a tree, Suikotsu knelt down to inspect the wound.
"Oh shit, he's got some type of poison in his spit," He noted seeing how the white substance crackled on the open wound.
"Poison?" Jakotsu managed to ask through ragged breaths.
"I've got to get Mukotsu. I'm not quite sure how to treat this," He stood and looked over towards the village.
A large explosion had just occurred in the main part of town, and Suikotsu felt it was safe to assume that Renkotsu and Ginkotsu had just finished off the rest of the bandits.
About to return in search of Mukotsu, the large form of Kyoukotsu was spotted headed towards them.
"Kyoukotsu! Hey, come over here!" Suikotsu called out, the giant figure beginning to walk towards them.
"Hmm? What happened to Jakotsu?" He asked seeing the situation.
"I'll explain later, look- can you go get Mukotsu for us? It's really important."
Nodding, Kyoukotsu shrugged and headed back towards the village, "Okay."
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Walking amongst the rubble, dead bodies and puddles of blood, the large man finally spotted the short figure of Mukotsu seated on one of the remaining buildings.
"Mukotsu!" He yelled causing him to turn.
"Kyoukotsu? What's wrong?" Mukotsu questioned a barrel of poison still in his hands.
"Suikotsu said you needed to go to where him and Jakotsu were. Said it was important."
A grim expression crossed the poison user's face, "I was hoping this wouldn't be the case, but after seeing that youkai's attacks myself, I guess it should be expected."
"Youkai?" Kyoukotsu questioned.
"Go find the Renkotsu and Ginkotsu and let them know that there's a man around here with long black hair tied up and a large axe for a weapon. I've lost him amongst the wreckage, but he's still around here somewhere. He's a youkai who can spit out toxic salvia, so be very careful and warn them as well."
"Okay, I'll do that," He replied, headed off in the direction of the last heard explosion to seek out the two.
Mukotsu, on the other hand, began to quickly make his way towards the forest edge.
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"Jakotsu, just hang on. Once I have Mukotsu look at this, I can go get some herbs and…"
Holding up a hand to stop him, the black-haired man struggled to talk, "I want to go back."
"Go back?" Suikotsu questioned.
"Just take me back to the base," He said, eyes drifting closed.
"Oh no, Jakotsu- stay awake! You have to stay conscious!" The brown-haired man yelled, shaking him until his eyes opened again.
"Suikotsu?" He asked.
"Just don't close your eyes. You have to stay awake. It could be dangerous if you fall unconscious."
He nodded, then coughed, "Take me back, Suikotsu. Please."
"I will once Mukotsu gets here," He replied, not noticing that the short man now stood behind him.
"I'm right here, Suikotsu. What's wrong?" He inquired, hoping it wasn't what he suspected.
"The wound, it has that strange white substance he spit onto it all over it. It looks toxic so I wasn't sure how to handle it, and I figured since that's your area of expertise, you might have an idea."
Kneeling and looking closely at it, Mukotsu turned sadly to Suikotsu, "Get him something for pain, other than that, all we can do is try some of the herbs you use for other forms of poisoning and hope it works."
"What's wrong with me?" Jakotsu spoke up, eyes heavy as he forced himself to keep awake.
"Well, it appears to be a toxin that eats away at the skin of the wound. Since that's the case…well…" Mukotsu paused.
"It's deadly isn't it?" The black-haired man finished.
"Usually, yes," The short man replied.
"Go tell Renkotsu that I went back to the base," Jakotsu ordered.
"But…" Mukotsu began.
"You'll be needed here to help them. Suikotsu can take me," He explained and Mukotsu nodded.
"If that's what you want."
"It's what I want," Jakotsu stated.
Mukotsu sighed and began his walk back towards the ransacked town.
Gathering him gently into his arms, Suikotsu lifted Jakotsu up, "Hang on, I'm going to move as quickly as I can."
Jakotsu nodded as the brown-haired man began to make his way back through the forest.
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Sleeping lightly, and every little noise causing him to open an eye and inspect the building, it was no surprise that Bankotsu heard the hasty footsteps coming down the halls.
The door slid open and he sat up and rubbed at his eyes, bringing the figure of Suikotsu into focus. "Suikotsu?"
"Oo-aniki, the bandits- they had a youkai with them," He said quickly, head down.
Figuring that it was just Renkotsu having problems, he shrugged, "Keh, that shouldn't be hard. Jakotsu and I used to kill those things for practice. Hell, I've probably killed almost eight hundred of them. Why did you come back? Did Renkotsu get worried?" Pausing he finally noticed the grim look on the young doctor's face, "Did something go wrong?"
"It's…Jakotsu," He said quietly.
The color drained from Bankotsu's face, his eyes wide, "What…what happened?" He brought himself to say, not realizing he'd unconsciously grasped at his heart.
"The youkai attacked with some sort of acid-like poison. It hit Jakotsu on his side in a deep wound." Suikotsu explained sadly.
Bankotsu scrambled to his feet, "Where's Jakotsu?"
"Out on the porch, I couldn't carry him any further," Suikotsu stated simply.
Without a word the young leader ran off down the halls, braid swishing behind him as he turned hastily and flung open the main door.
"Jakotsu…" He breathed, seeing the pale figure propped against one of the porch's beams; the light from the moon allowing him to see the all wounds on his young friend's body.
"Ban…kotsu," He struggled to reply, wincing in pain as he did.
Kneeling beside him, Bankotsu brushed the stray bangs from Jakotsu's face, "What happened?"
"Some moth youkai. Mukotsu would have helped, but he was still fighting when we left. I had Suikotsu bring me back," The injured man responded, breathing heavily.
The braided-man bit his lip, punching his fist into the porch's wooden-plank floor, "Damn youkai. We humans have it bad enough. Can't they just stay the hell out of our lives?"
"Oo-aniki," Suikotsu said from the doorway.
"We will do everything we can to help Jakotsu, then I'm going to go and rip the heart from that youkai's chest for this," Bankotsu continued his train of thought, voice seething in anger.
Nodding, Suikotsu stepped forward, "Can you get him inside all right? I'll go get some herbs for the pain and try and find something to counter the spreading acidic toxins."
"Okay," Bankotsu said softly, lifting Jakotsu carefully into his arms and watching Suikotsu head off into the forests.
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The hallway of the building seemed longer than it usually did, and what little light there was seemed dimmer than usual as well. Bankotsu quietly walked down the hall, the only sound being the soft noises Jakotsu made when wincing due to the injury. Finally arriving at the door to Jakotsu's room, he slid the door open and went in, pulling back the blankets and laying his injured companion down on the futon.
Without a word, he turned and sought out the water basin, getting a cloth and dipping it into the cool water. After ringing out the excess liquid, he returned to Jakotsu's side and sat down, placing the damp cloth on the man's forehead.
He sighed then, hanging his head and fidgeting with his hands.
A shaky voice spoke up, "I'm sorry I keep getting hurt, Bankotsu."
Bankotsu's face still held an edge of panic to it, but it softened a little as he replied, "It's not your fault, Jakotsu. I just want you to get better, that's all."
Averting his gaze back down to his hands, he stood quickly.
"Where are you…" Jakotsu began to question, but he was cut off.
"I think I have a little sake stashed in my room. I'll be right back," He muttered, walking from the room.
Hastily moving down the hallway towards his room, Bankotsu's thoughts bombarded him with questions.
"Why did you let him go? You knew he was hurt. He might have been all right if you'd been there. Jakotsu's a tough guy he'll be fine. You couldn't have stopped him even if you wanted to. He's not a weak warrior. But I want to always be there for him. Why wasn't I there for him? You had to stay and he had to go. Why didn't I stop him? You could never stop him from doing what he wants. Why? You love him too much. I love him?"
He paused as the last of the thoughts rushed through his mind, mumbling to himself, "This is not the time to deal with that. Right now I need to take care of Jakotsu."
Digging through the odds and ends that adorned the simple room, he finally uncovered a very small jug that still had a bit of liquid in it. Taking that and a cup, he practically ran back to Jakotsu's room, afraid even a second longer was too much.
Sitting back down aside Jakotsu, and shakily pouring himself a cup of the sake, he spoke up, "I'm sure everything's going to be just fine, Jakotsu. Don't worry about it."
He felt a light weight on his leg and looked down to see that Jakotsu had reached his hand over and rested on his knee.
"Bankotsu, I don't want to lie to you," Jakotsu said softly, taking a deep breath before he continued, "Mukotsu looked at it before we left and he said it seems to be a poison that eats at the wound until… until…." He bit his lip, "It's fatal, Bankotsu."
The sake cup Bankotsu held shattered to the ground, what liquid remained in it seeping into the wooden floorboards. His distraught face looked to Jakotsu's, searching for any other answer but that one- anything at all.
Jakotsu forced a smile, "But I'm sure Suikotsu can help me before that happens. It's just poison, I can handle it."
"Jakotsu…"
The figure weakly reached over and tugged his yukata closer around him, "It's cold."
Bankotsu blinked, and then touched his hand to Jakotsu's cheek. "Shit. A fever too?"
Struggling once again to keep his eyes open, the poison was slowly taxing his system, Jakotsu's raspy voice managed to stammer out, "Bankotsu?"
The young leader looked over to him, expectantly.
"Could you hold me?" He requested simply, his eyes locking with the wide and innocent gaze of Bankotsu.
"You should tell him. You love him, don't you?" The inner thought berated him, but with nothing but a nod in reply he lifted Jakotsu's upper half into his lap; using the cloth to wipe the sweat from Jakotsu's face.
Bankotsu stared off absently, his mind a mixture of worry and inner argument over his own emotions. Hearing a cough from Jakotsu, he instinctively tightened his hold on him and looked down.
"I'm scared…" The pale figure confessed, clutching at Bankotsu's shirt.
"You should say something," His inner thoughts prodded him, "It's all right Jakotsu, I'm here." A voice he wasn't sure was his own replied.
"Bankotsu, I'm still sorry I rushed into things back when…" Jakotsu stopped as Bankotsu placed a finger to his lips to silence him.
"There's no reason to apologize. I meant it when I said I trusted you," Turning his head to the side he continued, "I was just confused. Still am, you might say, but I've been thinking lately and…" He paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm not sure what, but I feel something…different… when I think about you."
When he didn't get an answer, he began to wonder what he'd said wrong. That's when; he felt the body in his arms fall limp.
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