Petal Dance
Note: Just have faith that this fic won't bore the hell out of you people lol, a nice little story that I want to try out. Very fluffy ya, forgive me people I do not really know about the group of seven that much, so I must ask you to forgive my errors and flaws.
Warning: Very OOC in people parts namely Kagome and Bankotsu, quite violent if ya ask me.
Summary: With his friends dead, and him placed under a curse, Bankotsu struggles to find a woman that would love him purely in order to lift his curse.
Chapter 1: The curse
Having to relay his day as a bandit, a group of friends, well family really trudged up a small hillside, they enjoyed the peace that surrounded their area and in taking the scenery like a photograph. Though they had slain numerous of villagers and demons in their past life, one cannot hope that someday all will end. Though not everyone shared the idea of that, a lonesome bandit of eyes the colour of grayish blue, wearing a white haori clad in silverish armor walked mutely up ahead in the group.
This renowned person name was Bankotsu; the leader of the group of seven, a famous notorious mercenary group that killed as payment and feared by most. However, really, his past life that he resourcefully thought about grew quite dull every now and then. Bankotsu was never the one to reside in help, but his group of men were all bounty hunters, great killers and skilled with the most unique weapons that he had seen. Overall, everything must end.
His many years as an assassin have ended, for now it was time for him to disband the group. Clearing his throat signaling for attention Bankotsu whirled around to face his group, which now consisted of only three-members left. Jakotsu, the infamous fighter who uses a sword that he can manipulate with many silver blades that moved and writhed like a snake, Suikotsu with hands that wielded metal claws, though deceiving as a mere human, his quick manipulation of looks can even charm the most beautiful maiden. Lastly the rocket wielder with no hair at all is Renkotsu, his nasty attitude smirks his own leader as well as others. The three companions all turned towards his direction.
"You guys, as much as I love you and all, I must tell all of you an important update in our groups' progress." With the attention he was receiving Bankotsu cleared his throat again and continued. "As you may know, this battle, the one which involves killing a demoness whom I don't know since Kagura never specifically told us will also be my last." Bankotsu said with renewed strength, the many looks and shocks was easy enough to tell that his friends had not fully registered what he had just pronounced. "It's true you guys, I need to move on, so here I am declaring early as possible about my future. I am going to search around and make a new life as a common person. You guys may do whatever it is you please." Bankotsu said lightly turning from person to person rooted to their spot near the base of the hill in which they had quickly descended. After a few moments of quiet, no words were muttered between the groups. Jakotsu finally inhaled a sharp breath before sighing,
"If that is what you wish leader, then I shall listen, though I will definitely miss all you guys. Jakotsu sighed before turning to Renkotsu and smiled mischievously. "Oh I wanted to do this for so long." Jakotsu chided before planting a firm kiss on Renkotsu's cheek before doing the same thing to Suikotsu and Bankotsu causing them all to blush. "Well that will be my farewell present to ya all, think of me will ya?" Jakotsu giggled before winking. Bankotsu coughed a bit before turning around once more.
"I agree with Jakotsu, we will obey your orders commander." Suikotsu added in as he fiddled with the blades on his arm. Renkotsu merely nodded his head stiffly. Bankotsu's hunched shoulder immediately sagged with relief.
"I thank you guys, you truly are my family." Bankotsu quietly murmured as he fixed the sky before him a thoughtful glance. "Well let us finish this off. Kagura said this demoness is quite a sight to behold." Bankotsu said loudly so the three can hear him. Jakotsu immediately frowned pursing his lips at the disgusting word that Bankotsu had just said. Renkotsu and Suikotsu merely grinned widely before they nodded their heads. Jakotsu pouted dejectedly before he too nodded his head.
"Might as well take my anger out on something," Jakotsu huffed as he readied his sword on his shoulder.
Bankotsu grinned inwardly at his friend's behaviour before taking a step towards their destination.
"It says that this demoness possesses the beauty and lures lost strugglers into her lair before turning them into her slaves." Kagura said as she eyed Bankotsu and his group with a reproachful look.
"So you want us to kill her?" Bankotsu nonchalantly asked. Kagura merely nodded her head before taking a feather from her left ear and tossed it into the air where it became a gigantic sized feather. She hopped onto it; Kagura cast one look at the group.
"You may find this demoness to the south of here, a forest known as the Forest of Sakura Petal will cross path with you, there, deep in the forest is where the demoness is resided. There you must slay her and collect her prized jewel, around her neck, she wears this flower with power far greater than the Shikon jewel. You must take this task.
Bankotsu replayed their conversation repeatedly remembering every single word that he had with Kagura; the wind demoness.
"Wow! That is so pretty." Jakotsu cooed as he gazed in front of their path. Bankotsu blinked once before he adjusted his gaze to see what Jakotsu was staring at.
He blinked his eyes once again in order for them to fully comprehend the image that was before them. A field that was supposedly clear abruptly ended. In front stood the thick trees; leaves of pink and red blossoms that littered every branch, some even skewed-leaves gently fluttered to the ground like fallen feathers.
What irked Bankotsu even more was the fragrance aroma that littered the trees giving it off a strawberry scent. The trees were so dense with sakura and cherry blossoms it proved to the group that they couldn't see no more then a few metres in front of them.
"Look sharp, this forest may have the look, but it involves danger" Bankotsu muttered before he trudged into the entry of the forest closely followed by his companions. Bankotsu readied his Banryuu (A: N sorry if this is not the spelling or the name) while his companions readied their respectable weapons. "Be ready for anything, who knows what creatures inhabit this area." Bankotsu cautioned as he waved a hand back towards his companions. Eyes alert, Bankotsu took into their surroundings. Jakotsu eyed around with his sword out, poised and ready for an attack. Renkotsu readied his canon while Suikotsu unsheathed his metal claws from his hand.
They trudged for a bit nothing but sakura and cherry blossoms surrounding them, the beautiful scenery never leaving its perch. They all cannot help but wonder how a simple flower demoness can have so much power. Bankotsu's senses immediately flared when they hit dead centre of the forest. In the middle, they had expected more flower trees but they were sadly mistaken, a tall tree lay in the centre in the open with the other smaller trees surrounding the centre like a wall. They left the holds of the forest and made their way into the clearing, they crept closer to the large sakura tree that had bloomed blossoms, and most they had ever laid their eyes on.
"You three surround the tree; take position near the woods while I take my position at the base of the tree." Bankotsu explained as he made his way towards the base. Tilting his head forward up he let his eyes peer beyond the flocks of red and pink leaves to find the jewel.
"Come out flower demoness, we'll make your death quick and painless, so don't hesitate." Bankotsu hollered up into the tree. Nothing but the rustling of the tree being swayed by the wind was heard. Bankotsu pursed his lips before he swung his gigantic sword into the base of the tree, it embedded with the tree bark- as a few splinters erupted and showered the earth's floor with wood chips.
Bankotsu merely sneered at the sight of fractured bark, but his keen sense had noticed a large amount of energy that formed suddenly. Jakotsu and the other two merely glanced around as the trees rustled violently; the hairs on their head began to beat against the wind's force.
Everybody's head immediately whipped to the sky as a shower of sakura and cherry blossoms erupted poured down upon them like raindrops; leaves all fluttered to the ground as the tree before them bloomed ten fold. The flowers continued to shower upon them; it coated the floor with pink and red blossoms. Bankotsu immediately prepared his Banryuu while his group ran to his sides all in their fighting stance. They watched as some of the blossoms spiraled down the tree in front of them before it shaped itself into a figure near the base of the tree.
They all watched as the figure's body appeared. A female no taller than Jakotsu wearing a pink and red dress that made it all the way to the ground sprawled like a small carpet, her long bell liked sleeves were coated in real flower petals as they glistened in the sun, her hair were long as well, but they were done up in three ponytails that fell to the floor while her remaining hair covered her head revealing a soft smooth face with rosy cheeks with matching pink lipstick.
Her eyes held grace within them, narrowed as well as her body gracefully stepped out of the spiraling flowers. Her dress gave the impression that she was a flower princess with her multi blossoms that adorned her dress. A green bow set on top of her head with the final addition of a red scarf circled around her shoulder boa style. To Bankotsu, she looked no more than an ordinary human. However, that would only be a reason to hold back, he knew for sure that this female was definitely a demon. Right around her neck, as Kagura had said, a green grass chain held up a single sakura petal leaf with a green gem emplaced in the centre of it.
Jakotsu merely growled at the imagery before him, this female only showed her face, which were the only skin exposed, the rest where hidden underneath her thickly flowered dress.
"Why have you rudely disrupted my place, what business of are you seeking?" The flowered demoness asked in her smooth delicate voice.
"Well your highness, we came here to kill you and get that flower necklace of yours as a reward." Bankotsu smirked as he extended a diligent finger forward to point at her neck.
"I am afraid that won't be easy, you see, greedy people like you don't deserve something pure as this. As for killing me, I want to see you try doing that." The demoness chuckled smoothly. "I am Princess Asakura ruler of this area and wielder of all plants." Asakura introduced.
"We don't care, to us you are a worthless wench, we want that jewel you have, and we aren't planning to leave until we have it." Jakotsu sneered before he released his sword on the princess. The single blade multiplied into many hundreds and they hurled their way towards the standing Princess.
"Fool." Asakura chided before she calmly raised her hand to her hair and plucked off a single sakura blossom. She held it to her lips and blew gently. They watched as the blossom darted forward towards the many blades. Jakotsu gasped as the single petal grew to an enormous rate-it sucked the blades within its folds. Bankotsu and the others watched with intensity. Asakura smiled lightly before she snapped her fingers. Jakotsu dodged quickly as the blossom that held his blade released sending them back towards him.
Renkotsu aimed his rocket at Asakura and fired two rounds of rockets at her.
The demoness placed two digits to her mouth and began to chant a soft yet beautiful melody, they all gasped as the chant stopped the rockets in mid air causing them to dissolve into sakura petals.
"I think I should end this pretty little match now." Princess Asakura sighed lightly as she snapped her fingers. "Bankotsu is it?" Asakura smirked lightly at the dumbfounded expression on Bankotsu's face. "How'd I know? Quite easy really." Asakura said softly as the trees around them sprouted roots from the ground. "Bankotsu, I want you to have the honour of watching your friends die, be lucky that you have the front row seat to such an event." Asakura lightly laughed as the roots wrapped themselves around the three individuals. It hoisted them high into the sky that leveled with the tall tree.
"I can plainly see that all four of you live off of the Shikon jewel, so if I were to remove them, then they will just become nothing more than mere bones." Princess Asakura explained. Bankotsu stared horror-struck at his friends' predicament.
"No! Leave them alone, take me instead!" Bankotsu desperately cried as he tried to hack away the roots with his Banryuu.
"They will have a big impact on your heart, I know, since you treat them like your second family Bankotsu." Asakura explained softly. "I will liberate you from your problems since they are such a burden to you."
"Wrong! They are not a burden they are my friends and I am their leader, I don't care if my usual exterior is blown away, I am not going to let you kill them off." Bankotsu raged as he clenched his fingers into a tight fist drawing blood from his own skin.
"Bankotsu…" Jakotsu murmured weakly from his position. Renkotsu and Suikotsu stared down at their leader with mixed emotions that convulsed within their body.
Jakotsu and the other two let their eyes close as a single droplet of tears escaped their shuteyes; it gently drip downwards. Bankotsu helplessly jumped into the air bringing his Banryuu in a horizontal arch sending a few burst of stripping wind at the solid roots; to no avail, the roots remained intact.
"Foolish child, your futile attempts are wasted, time for your friends to die." Asakura hissed before waving her right arms in a diagonal sweep. The slight movement caused a purple coloured blade to appear and it hurled its way towards the centre of the wrapped individuals. As it reached its peak, it split into three parts. Bankotsu could only watch in a helpless daze as the three purple blades embed itself into his friends' neck beheading them, the purple blades veered around and they zoomed back down towards their owner. Princess Asakura chuckled as she held her palm out to reveal the three Shikon shards to Bankotsu. Bankotsu choked as the roots around him dispersed and three skeletal figures fell and splattered into fragments as they collided with the ground.
Bankotsu stood; rage filled the pits of his. "You'll pay you insolent wench." Bankotsu yelled as he ran towards the Princess who eyed him through masked facial expression.
"Poor child, let me end you of your misery." Asakura said whimsically. Placing two digits to her mouth once again, she began her same chant. Bankotsu gasped as an invisible force stopped him. "I am not going to kill you, for now you will be placed under a curse. You are to remain as a child with your current memories, but every time you speak your memories out, a part of your memory will be wiped away, to find a way to lift the curse..." Asakura said as she made her way back to the spiraling blossoms. "The woman with the true intention of loving you may break it through a single kiss to your lips."
Princess Asakura explained before stepping within the spiraling vortex of flowers. "You must decide, remain as a child or lose all your memories of your friends and families. You have one year to make the choice, after, you are to remain as a child and become an empty void. Remember, only the woman with true intentions of love may break this curse. I leave you for now; we will meet again someday Bankotsu." Princess Asakura finished as she disappeared in a flurry of sakura and cherry blossoms.
To match the same exterior scenery around them immediately shifted. What was once a beautiful colourful forest was now rendered to a normal forest with no flowers, just mere green leaves with dead branches. Bankotsu remained in his frozen immobile position. He felt ill, and then he gasped. His body began to shrink; his hand became child like, his feet growing smaller with his body along with it. His head was burning as if they were on fire as his head grew smaller and smaller.
Before long, a lone little boy barely the age of five-laid crumple on the ground wrapped in a small bundle of green blankets. He slept on contently with his head rested lightly on the edge of the only thing that remained unchanged; his Banryuu.
Many metres away a lone girl walked through the green forest taking in the scenery through blue aqua eyes. Her green skirt blew gently against the wind as she trudged along the earthy path; her white school uniform was the only thing that she ever wore to the fudural era. This specific girl's name was Kagome Higurashi, a fifteen-year-old girl who had mistakenly stumbled across an ancient well while looking for her family's cat.
She was taken by a demon named mistress centipede. Here, she met her friends; Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Shippo along with many others. Her day had started slow, it was the usual as like the other days, the usual shard hunting, and it bored her so much. Yes, she was the reason why the Shikon jewel was shattered, and it was her responsibility to retrieve them, but all work and no relaxation can really have a big impact on you.
She finally convinced the half-demon Inuyasha to allow them a daybreak off from their little hunting trip. Her friends; Miroku and Sango where clearly off to gods know where, while Shippo and Kirara played near the pond that they had stopped to rest. Inuyasha the white head who wore a red kimono slept in a tree, not that she cared. She wandered off to do a little sight seeing.
It had only occurred to her that she would have to stay for a while in the fudural era with her friends to complete her mission. She already had most of the Shikon jewel completed; just a few more piece left was all that remained. She trudged for what seemed like an eternity in the forest, she minded her own business, just walking, when her foot connected with something that tripped her causing her to stumble to the ground where she laid sprawled. She pouted and massaged her injured foot.
"Ouch, that seriously hurt, what the heck did I trip over? It was way to sharp to be an ordinary tree root." Kagome grumbled as she stared back to the location of where she had tripped over. Kagome inwardly groaned as she saw the hilt of an all too familiar weapon. "Damn that is the same weapon that Bankotsu uses." She cursed, as she remembered the raven-head that caused her friends a lot of trouble. She sighed, she had forgotten her bow and arrows back at their camp, all she was left was a useless minimum amount of priestess power she had. Though she had to agree that it had grown quite powerful, it was still not as powerful as the one Kikyo possessed.
Kikyo, the priestess who had stole Inuyasha's heart fifty years ago, the very same priestess who had pinned Inuyasha to the tree when Naraku manipulated them both disguised as one another. Kikyo the now lone walking dead priestess walked the earth with her many soul collectors. Revived once again through the dark witch Urasuea, Kikyo now lived only in a pottery body with souls from other dead people. Kagome never liked her; but, didn't hate her as well. However, back to the main topic, Kagome pursed her lips when she ran her hand near the hilt of Bankotsu's sword feeling the metallic softness that touched her skin.
"Where is Bankotsu? He never goes anywhere without his prized weapon." Kagome said to no one in particular. However, she could not help but follow the weapon's trail to the very tip. It was the last thing she had expect, near the tip of Bankotsu's sword laid a small child with his head cushioned under the soft material that lightly touched the weapon; bundled up in green blankets. Kagome blanched when she recognized the marking on the little kid's forehead, the very same one that she had saw on Bankotsu himself.
This couldn't be Bankotsu, he is older than this. Kagome thought as she crawled towards the sleeping little boy. Kagome sighed heavily when she saw the faint pink glow of the Shikon jewel that emitted from the boy's neck. "This has to be Bankotsu, the shards tell it all." Kagome exhaled.
"I wonder how this happened, how he got himself turned into a child." Kagome wondered as she sat beside the little bundle. As much as she hated the person, the little innocence of a child can never be forgotten, she sighed heavily; taking note that she did nothing but that almost the whole day. Kagome gently closed her eyes before she used her two arms to scoop the bundle; she cradled the bundle against her breasts. She cradled the boy in one arm while she tried to lift the sword as well.
"Damn, this thing is heavy." Kagome whined as she merely dragged instead of lifting the sword with her.
"Where the hell is that girl?" Inuyasha growled as he crossed his arms across his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. Miroku merely sighed while Sango tweaked Kirara's nose.
"Let her be Inuyasha, she needs a break and you promised her and us that we can have one." Shippo chided as he bobbed up and down on Kagome's bicycle. Inuyasha growled and leapt into a tree. Miroku sighed with annoyance before he plopped himself next to Sango.
"Ah Sango, you look lovely as always." Miroku grinned as he feigned a yawn, he stretched his arms wide as one of his limb wrapped itself around Sango's shoulder, he drawed her in.
"Houshi-sama will you ever grow up?" Sango wearily sighed before she grabbed her Hirakotsu from her side and brought it down upon Miroku. Miroku gave a goofy lopsided grin as he clutched his head that supported a large bump. "What's wrong Kirara?" Sango asked worriedly as her yellow fire cat began to hiss, eventually transforming itself into the larger fire-feline version. Miroku readied his staff; eyes clouded with alert.
"I sense Bankotsu's aura near." Miroku warned as he slipped his hand into the back robes drawing out two sutras.
"Bankotsu… I will kill that bastard." Inuyasha growled from the treetop. He unsheathed his tetsaiga; he jumped and landed skillfully on his feet before preparing himself.
"Stop" Inuyasha and the others stuttered when they heard Kagome's lone weak voice, the voice that held the comforts of a young mother. "Please don't kill him."
"Why on earth are you trying to protect him?" Inuyasha snarled through the thick trees. They all heard the shuffling of grass before a body emerged with a little boy in one arm while holding Banryuu in the other.
"Because, he is no longer the person we used fight with; he's now a child." Kagome said matter-of-factly before she held her arm out that showed the little boy who slept with his head cushioned on Kagome's arm.
Chapter 1 finished.
I will definitely continue with this fic, even if it is a little bad. Do not mind the grammar mistakes or the errors. I just plain suck. LMAO.