Their army of men soon grew. They had suikotsu, with his sharp, deadly claws, Renkotsu, able to attack with fire, Mukotsu, the poison user, Kyoukotsu, with his extreme strength, and finally Ginkotsu, the human tank. They were called the Shichinintai, the seven-man army, whose strength rivaled an army of one thousand, soldiers. They had made quite a reputation of themselves.

Jakotsu yawned and stretched backwards. "I'm bored." He said. "What are we going to do, today, Bankotsu?"

Bankotsu had become the leader of the Shichinintai. He was, their fearless leader, knowing exactly what to do, under any circumstance. Jakotsu had come to adore him. It was true, that Bankotsu was very good looking, but what Jakotsu felt for him, was mostly loyalty. He was still hot, though.

"Lets take a break today, and relax." Bankotsu took a sip of sake, from his cup.

"We did that yesterday too…" Renkotsu murmured.

Out of all the members of the Shichinintai, Renkotsu was the one who Jakotsu worried about the most. All the other members seemed to be quite loyal to Bankotsu, and were perfectly happy to follow under his leadership. But, there was something about Renkotsu…he seemed unhappy about Bankotsu being the leader. Jakotsu knew, that Bankotsu was aware of this, but didn't seem overly concerned about it.

"Hey, Jakotsu, it's a shame you cant tolerate woman." Bankotsu said, ignoring Renkotsu's comment. "I could use a pretty lady here, right now."

Jakotsu pouted. "What do you mean Bankotsu?" He asked, teasingly. "I thought that, I Jakotsu was all you ever needed." He slid over to Bankotsu, and put his arms around him.

Bankotsu sighed, his face exasperated. "You need to find a boyfriend, Jakotsu." He patted Jakotsu's head.

"But you're so cute Ba-kun!" Jakotsu felt Bankotsu stiffen. He was no longer listening to Jakotsu's flirtatious words. Curious, Jakotsu turned his head to face the direction Bankotsu was looking.

Standing a few meters away from them, were a group of men. They wore heavy armor, and the sheath of swords, hung from their sides.

Bankotsu slowly stood, an amused smile on his face. "You must want to die, pretty badly, coming here." He rested his fingers on the handle of his banryuu, the gigantic sword that he affectionately called his "baby."

Suddenly, the men all bowed, bending onto one knee. Jakotsu felt baffled, and probably looked it, too. What were these people doing here?

"We are very sorry to have disturbed you." Said one man, in the front.

"What do you want, here?" asked Bankotsu.

"The daimyo sent us." The man said. Jakotsu's eyes widened in surprise. The daimyo? What did the daimyo, want with the Shichinintai?

The man shuffled, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

"The daimyo have heard of you, and are very interested. You call yourselves the seven man army, do you not?"

Bankotsu nodded.

"Your strength would be very valuable to the daimyo…and of course you would be very handsomely paid, if you were to work under them…"

Jakotsu felt totally shocked for a second. Then a thrill of curiosity ran through him. This was just what the Shichintai had been looking for! A job! He looked at Bankotsu.

For a moment Jakotsu saw a flash of interest in Bankotsu's eyes, before he concealed it.

"We'll think about it." Said Bankotsu, his voice cool and in command. "Now will you please leave us for a while?"

"We'll come back in 2 days, to see if you have made your decision." The group of men bowed again, and disappeared into the forest where they had came from.

As soon as they had left, Mukotsu spoke. "This is perfect, leader! The reason we traveled into this direction was because we were looking for a job…"

Chatter broke out among the Shichinintai, Bankotsu and Jakotsu not included.

"Hey! Quiet down!" Bankotsu ordered. "Me and Jakotsu are going to be gone for a while. Renkotsu, you be in charge until I'm gone."

Bankotsu turned, and began quickly walking away. Jakotsu blinked. "Ah, wait, Bankotsu!" Jakotsu ran to catch up. He caught Bankotsu's arm.

"Um…do you really think its safe to leave Renkotsu in charge?" Jakotsu asked Bankotsu, as soon as they were out of earshot.

Bankotsu laughed. "Renkotsu is certainly very annoying, but I don't think he can cause any real trouble. The other members wouldn't listen to him if he tried to plan anything treacherous."

They continued walking in silence for a while. Jakotsu liked the feeling of walking beside Bankotsu but was a bit puzzled as well. The idea that Bankotsu had asked Jakotsu to walk with him was a slightly baffling. I certainly don't mind though…Jakotsu thought. A smile drifted across his lips.

Jakotsu looked up at his leader. He seemed to be in deep thought, with his eyes on the ground, while he walked. He suddenly looked up at Jakotsu.

"Jakotsu, what do you think of working for the daimyo?" Bankotsu stared at Jakotsu intently.

"Um…well…I…" Jakotsu paused. "Why are you asking me, Bankotsu-aniki?"

"Because I trust your judgment, Jakotsu." Said Bankotsu. His voice was matter-of-fact.

For the third time of the day Jakotsu was surprised.

"Oh…thanks." Warmth spread through Jakotsu's chest.

"So…?" Bankotsu asked inquiringly.

Jakotsu flushed "Oh…well what do you think?" Bankotsu was quiet for a moment.

"I think it would be a good opportunity…we would be able to live comfortably under the pay of the daimyo. But I'm curious to see what you think." He looked at Jakotsu.

"Well…I think it would be interesting to work under them…however…"

"Yes?" Bankotsu asked.

"The daimyo do seem slightly untrustworthy…." Jakotsu shook his head. "That might not be true though. I'm not always right about people…" An image of Hikaru smiling at him suddenly flashed through his mind. Even after all these years, Jakotsu still had trouble forgetting his first love. He pushed the image from his head, with an angry shove, and focused back onto Bankotsu.

"Besides we'll be able to take care of ourselves, if anything bad should happen right?" Jakotsu tilted his head, looking up at Bankotsu.

Bankotsu nodded. "Yeah…thanks Jakotsu. Sometimes I feel like you're the only one I can trust."

Jakotsu laughed. "Thanks, but that's not true, Bankotsu-kun. All the Shichinintai are very loyal to you." He paused. "Well except maybe Renkotsu, but don't let him bother you!"

Bankotsu chuckled. "I shouldn't should I?" He smiled at Jakotsu. "It's a shame you weren't a woman, Jakotsu, you would make some guy very happy."

Jakotsu made a face. "Yuck, then I'd be a gross woman filth. Don't worry, I'm lucky to have you, aniki-kun!"