Hey ya'll! Here's another chapter! But because it's 11:22 and tomorrow is the 4 of July, woohoo, fire! ((ahem)) Anyways, I do not have time to respond to everyone. Lo siento... But whatever. Anyways, enjoy!

Key: "Convo" thought flashback

Warnings: OOC (maybe)

Disclaimer: "I obviously do not own anything of which I am writing and am actually using this text to further my progress in gaining better skills for being the author of which I dream of soon becoming." -Me

Alliance

CHAPTER THREE: Never act on an impluse

"I can't believe this!" Kagome cried in anguish as she threw herself down onto a large comfy bed in the middle of a small room. "You lied to me!"

Bankotsu stood in the doorway, staring at the young priestess with a raised eyebrow, watching as she threw herself onto the bed while began moaning in distress, kicking her feet and tossing her hair about dramatically. "Are you trying to embarrass me?" he asked, glancing at the woman beside him.

"Uhhh…Sir, is the room to your satisfaction?" asked the woman uneasily, worried by Kagome's initial reaction. She knew that Bankotsu was a good customer and she didn't want to upset him at all. "I can find another one if you'd like."

"Yes! A bigger one! In fact, I want my own room!" Kagome cried loudly, looking up for a moment to glare at Bankotsu and to give the woman a sorrowful stare.

"No, that won't be necessary," Bankotsu answered, rubbing his head in embarrassment. "This room will do just fine."

"NO IT WON'T!"

"Thank you! You can leave us now!" he laughed, pushing the woman into the hall and quickly closing the door. "Did…you HAVE to make a scene?" he cried in annoyance as he quickly turned around to find Kagome looking at him with teary eyes. "My gosh! How does that Inuyasha handle you?"

"Bankotsu!" she growled, standing up and using the bed to make herself appear taller than the Shichinintai leader. "I refuse to sleep in the same bed as you!"

"Then sleep on the floor," he replied casually. "I'm not going to move for you." He gently sat on the bed and looked up to see her looking down upon him, her eyes burning with angry. "And don't stand on the bed." He quickly grabbed hold of her ankles and pulled, making her fall onto the floor.

"Ouch!" she cried when she hit the ground, "you're mean!"

"And?"

"I didn't HAVE to come with you!"

"No you didn't."

Kagome silently fumed at his response, his cocky smile and casual way about doing things was starting to get on her nerves. She didn't even know where they were going or how long she'd be stuck depending on him. She decided to sit on the ground and think about a plan, some way to get rid of him in the future. If it wasn't for the fact there were so many scary men in the village, she'd gladly try and steal his jewel shards that night, knowing she'd probably fail.

When she stood up and glanced out the window, she noticed that it was still light outside and the sun wouldn't be setting for a couple more hours. She let out distressed sigh and leaned against the glass, wishing she had something to release her anger on. She was so angry with herself; any other woman would have realized that taking the offer to go on a field trip with the leader of the Shichinintai was a bad idea, but not her.

"Why don't you take a nap or something?" suggested Bankotsu from where he was laying comfortably on the bed. "We did walk a lot, aren't you a bit tired?"

"Not really," she replied simply, sitting on the ground once more. Oh Inuyasha! Hurry up and realize I'm missing! Hurry up and save me! She looked over at the door where his Banryuu was lying against the wall and studied it carefully. She began to wonder how such a small man could carry with one arm, how he could toss it around so easily without breaking a sweat.

"If you promise to settle down, I'll take you out tonight and let you see the town," the Shichinintai leader mumbled sleepily.

"The town? What's so see?"

"This place gets crazy at night," he answered. "All the shops get out in the open and it's like a miniature festival."

"M'kay," she replied, letting out a tired yawn. "I guess I could take a small nap." After a few moments, she lowered herself to the floor and fell asleep, hoping that when she awoke her situation would be better.

When Kagome opened her eyes, she was surrounded by darkness. She sat up slowly and immediately rubbed her sore back, knowing that if she slept on the floor again she would begin ache even more. "Bankotsu?" she called out into the darkness, hoping to receive a reply.

"Awake huh? I thought you said you weren't tired," a voice replied. Bankotsu's figure came into view as her eyes began to adjust to the light, and she smiled softly. "I know it is dark, but I'll get us some light when we come back. Come on, you wanted to see the town right?"

"Uh huh," she answered sleepily, slowly climbing to feet. "I'm coming." At first she found it quite difficult to lift herself from the floor, but when two strong arms came to aid her, she was ready to go.

Once the two were outside and walking down the busy street, Kagome had no time to worry about Bankotsu's evil plots as she was amazed by the sight of the festival and her thoughts were all on how amazing it was. "They do this every night?" she asked in awe, trying to take in everything at once.

"Yep," he replied, smiling at her surprised expression. "Every night."

The entire street was lined up with little booths, each one with flashy signs and people dressed in fancy outfits. They were selling all kinds of things, big and small, safe and dangerous. The sound of laughter and music filled the night along with the strong scents of cooking meat, vegetables, and sweets.

"So what exactly are we going to do?"

"How'd you like to go find a nice place to sit and talk?"

"Sit and talk?" she asked as he took hold of her arm and dragged her towards the mountains where it was quiet. When they stopped, Bankotsu sat on a large rock and stared down at the town, watching all the small people running around in the festival. "But up here…aren't we out of the barrier?"

"Nah," he answered casually, "we're still safe. Besides, you're with me. Nothing can happen."

"Oh okay…" Kagome sat down beside him and looked up at the sky. She was always so amazed when she looked up at the stars, they had changed so much in her own time. Kagome wasn't much for star gazing, but she wasn't oblivious to it either.

"So you like stars?"

"Oh? They're okay…they just always look different than where I come from."

"Where do you come from? You were oddly dressed…"

"Uhhh…" She suddenly found herself stumped by the older teen's question. How on earth would she answer it?

"Okay…How about a new one?"

"Uhmm…sure!"

"Tell me about Inuyasha."

Kagome suddenly felt her blood boil as all the pieces feel into place in her mind. This whole trip was about Inuyasha. Bankotsu planned to use her for information from the beginning. Though she shouldn't have been surprised, she knew he'd been up to something, she just didn't know what it was until now. "So that's how it is?" she finally managed to say in a low voice.

"How what is?" Bankotsu asked, not realizing that she'd finally caught onto him.

"You brought me along so you could get information."

"Oh? You mean you finally caught on?" he laughed, sounding slightly surprised. "Why else would I want you to come with me?"

Kagome lowered her head and thought about his words. Why did it make her so mad? This has been a stupid thing I've gotten myself into…She stood up quickly and turned away from Bankotsu, too angry to look him in the face. "I'm leaving," she said angrily and bluntly.

"I wouldn't just run off if I were you. It's not safe."

"What do you care?"

"I don't."

"Then I guess we don't have any problems. Goodbye Bankotsu." Without another word, Kagome stomped off down the hill and into town. She thought about just leaving the town as fast as she could, but realized that she'd left her clothes in the room. Angrily, she looked down at her outfit remembering that she had to thank that same man who was using her. "Oh well, I'll just leave it on the bed."

As she entered the festival area again, many eyes fell upon her and she started to wish that the Shichinintai leader was with her again. Knowing that he wasn't and that if all went well he'd never be again, she summoned all the courage she had and continued forward bravely.

Upon reaching the Inn safely, she found the same rowdy group of men from before hanging out in front of it, no doubt waiting for the older teen to return. They appeared to be twice as drunk as before, making them twice as threatening and Kagome knew she was in over her head when they all turned their eyes towards her.

"Hey! It's the girl!" one of them yelled happily. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Kagome shot back in anger, disgusted that anyone would ever imply such a thing.

"We don't care if he is or not. Where is he?"

"I don't know!"

"Stop lying to us," he yelled. Kagome's heart began to race when the men started toward her. She quickly decided that her clothes were of no importance and began running toward the towns exit, hoping that along that she would be able to find some sort of weapon.

"This is pointless," she told herself after awhile, stopping and turning toward the men as they ran forward. She looked around frantically and found a small board lying on the ground near a building. Quickly and swiftly, she grabbed the plank of wood, hoping that it would save her.

"She's got a big stick!" the men all laughed when they closed in on her and circled around her.

"I know how to use it too!" she quickly threatened, showing that she was seriously considering hitting on of them. One of the men ran toward her and in her frenzy of fear, she thwacked him on the head, knocking him out. The other men stared at her in awe as she looked down at the beaten man, wondering why he'd been so easy to take out. "Anyone else?" she finally asked, becoming more confident in herself. Of course, a few seconds later she wished she'd kept her mouth shut, and soon found herself running away again.

The farther she got from the festival, the darker the world around her became until she was finally running blinding through the dark streets. Her feet were becoming sore from the sandals and the men behind her were quickly closing in. She knew that it would be over if they caught her and there was no way she was going to let her one mistake be the death of her.

As she ran, one of her sandals became caught on a rock, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the cool grass. When she looked up, she was startled to see the shadow of a man standing before her. "G-get away!" she cried in horror, pushing herself backwards. "I don't know where he is!"

The man grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her up off the ground, without a word. Kagome soon heard voices and looked to see the drunken men running toward her and then returned her gaze to the strange man, her eyes shinning with happiness. "No, I'm not Inuyasha," the man replied, his voice painfully resembling Bankotsu. Kagome's happiness soon faded away as she stared at him, and a frown formed on her face.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm saving your butt, why else?"

"W-Why would you do that?" she asked in surprised, confused at why the Shichinintai leader would take the time to rescue her.

"Never mind, just stay behind me," he mumbled as he pushed her behind him, guarding her with his body.

"We finally found you!" the drunken men laughed when they approached Bankotsu and Kagome, slightly out of breath. "We knew you'd come if we chased your woman."

"Smart aren't you?" Bankotsu laughed casually, irritating the men with his calm appearance. "I beat you last time, who's to say it won't happen again?"

"We were being reckless, don't get a big head just because of one win. What's your name boy? So we know what to write on your grave."

"Bankotsu."

Kagome couldn't help but crack a smile when she caught a glimpse of the expression the men had on their faces, a mix of horror and embarrassment. She'd be embarrassed too if she'd been picking a fight with the leader of the Shichinintai and insulting him blindly. She turned around quickly, making sure she didn't witness the horrible pain the Shichinintai leader was about to put the drunken men through. When the noises stopped she turned outside to see what had happened and found Bankotsu's face dangerous close to her own.

"Ahhh!" she screamed, slightly startled by his sudden behavior. She felt her heart begin to race when he took hold of her shoulders and looked into her brown eyes.

"Don't ever leave my side again," he said sternly, with that he swiftly lifted her into his arms and stared toward the town again.

While he carried her, Kagome found herself once again wondering why he had saved her. Was it because he really wanted some information from her? Was he planning to force her to tell him what he wanted to know? After a few moments, she finally decided to ask, figuring that she had nothing to lose while in his grasp. "Bankotsu?" she asked, soundly frightened.

"Yes?"

"Why did you save me?"

"Because I promised that you wouldn't get hurt."

"When did you make that promise?"

"…Go to sleep."

What a chapter! Wow! Nah, I'm just messing around. And I'm very very sorry for any errors or mistakes... -.- Very very sorry. Please find it in your reviewing like hearts to forgive me. But I'm sure you will. Cuz you're all super awesome...Okay...I'll go to bed now...I promise.