++++++Chapter 5+++++++

"Renkotsu is a man of few words and an extremely short fuse. A fact that Jakotsu and I quickly learned as we made our way to the town of Yabiro. The man absolutely refused to acknowledge my existence let alone my inquiries about him, and the questions he did answer from Jakotsu were either very vague or completely dismissive.

Jakotsu huffs as he travels alongside me glaring at the back of Renkotsu's head, "Not with us thirty whole minutes and already bossing us around like we're common lackeys." He directs his glare towards me, "and who gave you the right to label him second in command. Did you ever even think for once that maybe that position was already taken since I was with Bankotsu the longest?"

I shrug my shoulders, "I figured since there was only two of you to begin with, there would be no need for a second in command. I mean really, if something were to happen to Bankotsu, who would you be in charge of….yourself?"

"You of course, stupid!"

I give him an exasperated look, "I am not a murderer; therefore, I cannot be a part of your group."

"It's not murdering if you get paid to do it."

"YES IT IS!"

"No, it's called a job."

"A job where you murder people."

"Which is completely legit."

I stare at him dumbfounded, "Legit or not, murder is still murder, and I am not a murderer."

"That's not what Bankotsu said." I freeze as Jakotsu continues to walk, "he told me how you got those villagers to trust you enough to go in to the woods." He suddenly turns on his heels to reveal his pout, "That was quite mean of you two to keep me out of the loop like that. I would have enjoyed terrorizing some villagers too."

I remain silent as I try to focus on something other than Jakotsu's irritating form. My eyes flick over to Renkotsu who had stopped walking to studying my face. Our eyes meet for a second before I look away and storm past Jakotsu, purposefully running in to him. "I am not a murderer." I mutter unsure of who I was trying to convince.

The remainder of our trek was silent mostly because I refuse to speak to Jakotsu after his murder comment, and Renkotsu just refused to speak to anyone at all. We reach Yabiro right as dawn broke out across the sky, and the town began to stir with life.

We search through the relatively large town for the better half of the morning with no success in finding Bankotsu. "Are you even sure it's this town?" I ask Jakotsu as he leaves the fourth inn we came to.

"Maybe." Renkostu and I scowl at him, and he smiles as he waves a dismissive hand at us, "Calm down. Renkotsu said this was the closest village, so he's got to be here somewhere."

I continue to glower at the back of his head as we follow him to the next inn. "You should have slit his throat like I told you too when you had the chance." I murmur to Renkotsu. I see the corner of his mouth twitch slightly in what looked like a smile.

We each take turns checking inn after inn as the morning rolls by. "You would think people would remember a man carrying a huge halberd." I sigh impatiently as Renkotsu and I wait for Jakotsu to check with this current inn keeper.

"You would be surprised at what people can ignore in this age of war." Renkotsu notes with dark amusement, but the suddenness of his response catches me off guard. We focus on one another for a moment before he directs his attention back out to the street. I keep my eyes trained on him for a minute longer, "Are you really a monk?" As expected, he ignores me.

I close my eyes and lean against the wall no longer having the will to support myself. Immediately my eyes grow heavy as I being to feel my head droop. When was the last time I actually got a good night's sleep? A sudden and powerful yawn shakes me awake for a moment, and I readjust myself trying to occupy my mind so that I wouldn't doze off again, but also to shake of Renkotsu's silent stares.

I shoot him an annoyed, wary look, "What?" He says nothing as he continues to assess me. Eyes traveling from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes before returning back to my flustered glowering face, "You are not allowed to do that!" I hiss.

His head tilts slightly to the side, and I step towards him.

"If you have something to say, then say it, if not keep your eyes on something else."

A short clipped laugh escapes him as he watches me a moment longer before turning away. "Insolent, yujo."

My body trembles as my knuckles go white around my bow.

"E-excuse me?"

"What!?" I bark glaring at the small form next to me. The little girl stumbles back from surprise as her eyes fill with tears.

I flinch at my own actions as I kneel down in front of her, "I'm sorry." I draw my hand back noticing her hesitation.

"A-are you Ya…..ya…."

"Yaruki?" I prompt and she nods. "Yes, I am."

The little girl swallows as she stands making it a point to keep some distance between us.

"Well, he's not here either." Jakotsu sighs as he steps back out to the street.

The little girl's eyes widen once more as he eyes land on Jakotsu as if fully convinced of something, "The Samurai man is looking for you and your companion." She quickly jerks her head towards Jakotsu.

I glance over to Jakotsu who looks just as confused as I am, "Samurai?"

The maid slides open the door for us, and Bankotsu looks up from his cup. He takes in our exhausted expressions, dingy clothing, and the third extra person before sighing. "Is it too much to ask for you two to stay out of trouble whenever I leave?"

I jerk my thumb at Jakotsu, "We would have been here sooner if this idiot didn't forget the name of the village."

Jakotsu glares at me, "Oh, but the fact that you had us stay with a fake monk who tried to burn us alive had absolutely no effect on our travel time, huh?"

"It wouldn't if you had just remember where the hell we were going." Our bickering ceases as Renkotsu steps forwards. The two men lock eyes, analyzing each other, and I watch as Renkotsu tries to process how one as young as Bankotsu could be considered a leader. His eyes flicker over to the massive halberd that is leaning against the wall before looking back to Bankotsu.

"And you are?"

Renkostu suddenly kneels and keeps his head low, "My name is Renkotsu. I would like to join your group, if you would have me."

"And what is it that you can do that would make you of any use to me?"

Renkotsu looks up, "I am well versed in the machinery and mechanics of this land, and I pride myself in my studies of flames and explosives."

Bankotsu's eyes widen a bit, "Explosives, huh?" He closes his eyes contemplating. "Who told you that I was even looking for people?"

"The yujo."

"I SWEAR to god, Renkotsu…."

Bankotsu lets out a hearty laugh, "Unfortunately, she's not a whore."

"Unfortunately!?"

"She is just as much a part of my group as Jakotsu is."

Renkotsu glances over to my direction, "She did not seem so willing to admit that on our way here."

Bankotsu nods as he pours himself another cup, "Well, that's because the process to how she came under my command is questionable, but she gets the job done anyway, so you will respect her."

Renkotsu's eyes drop low as mine widen from the shock of Bankotsu's casual order. Bankotsu throws back his drink and wipes his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt, "I suppose you can stick around so I can see if you're worth anything. Honestly, it wouldn't hurt to have one more set of hands for this next job."

Jakotsu's gasps in excitement as I feel my stomach knot up. Please not another village. "We have another job so quickly!"

Bankotsu nods slowly catching Jakotsu's enthusiasm, "It's more like part two of the past job, but pretty much. Apparently, the lord of this land is struggling with a growing rebel group led by his previous general. The village we attacked is supposed to send a message to all the neighboring villages not to join this growing army, and now we all we have to do is take out the little 30 or so man group and bring the lord back the head of his general."

I begin to feel nauseous as I rest my forehead in the palm of my hand and slowly lower myself to the floor. 30 men against 4, what the hell is he thinking? I hear Jakotsu give off an excited squeal, "Finally, a real challenge."

"The army managed to take hold of some land to the north of here, but at the risk of their supplies. The general is sending some men back through here to restock. I planned on having Jakotsu and Yaruki stay behind and take care of the group, but having an extra set of hands works out to our favor. Now Renkotsu and Jakotsu and stay behind while Yaruki and I head towards the General."

"And what if I wanted to stay in town versus going with you?"

A look of deep concentration crosses his face as if the idea never once occurred to him, "Well…..I guess you could stay here, but as soon as the general hears his men being attacked, he might run away to regroup at a later time. I'm going to need someone of stealth and to be honest Jakotsu nor I qualify for the job."

"And I do?"

"You killed the other lord without much noise didn't you?"

"That was completely different."

Bankotsu raises an eyebrow, "Oh? How so?"

"I…..um…." My brows furrow as I stare at the floor not fully sure myself on what I meant, "…I….what I mean is that….I don't think I can do it again."

"Of course you can." Bankotsu beams brightly reminding me of how young he really is. "That's the best thing about killing. It gets easier the more you do it. You just need a little more confidence in yourself."

"I doubt it's the confidence that she is lacking." Renkotsu says as his glare digs in to the side of my head. I bite down on my lower lip trying to focus on anything other than the three men in front of me.

I see Bankotsu nod from my peripheral, "I guess I should teach her some hand to hand skills just in case. I mean there is only so much you can do with a bow, plus it's pretty obvious what your intentions are if you are carrying around a large yumi."

I straighten my back a bit before looking over to Bankotsu, "I don't think I even agreed to come with you in the first place."

Bankotsu blinks at me confused for a minute, "Didn't you hear what I said? You're the only one stealthy enough to kill the general while I take care of the men outside. I mean yeah, I could take Jakotsu with me, but I think it would go a lot smoother if you came or at least the general wouldn't get very far with you around."

My face becomes hard as I bore in to his skull, "I know what you said. I am saying I never agreed to coming with you. Maybe I wanted to stay here and take care of the groups that is coming through here."

Bankotsu begins to laugh as he pours himself another drink. "It's cute that you still think you have a choice in these matters."

Bankotsu's punch rockets through my jaw causing my teeth to rattle. I stumble back clutching my face as a warm metallic taste fills my mouth. I spit.

The rules to sparring with Bankotsu seemed simple enough, at first. Hit him three times, and we call it a day. With only one good hit to my name, the afternoon had the nerve to pass and the late evening was setting in. I wipe the side of my mouth and sigh.

He warned he wouldn't go easy, and he wasn't kidding. Training under him was nothing like training under my father. If I needed to block, dad would tell me. Hinting with his words of an opening that I had left unguarded.

With Bankotsu, he would simply continue to strike, and not gently, that opening until I started to guard it more carefully.

If I needed more force behind my punches or if there was a move that could benefit me in battle, dad would tell me; Bankotsu would demonstrate.

Bankotsu dodges my kick with ease and slams the base of his palm to my throat, knocking me clean on my butt. I gasp as I struggle through the pain, "Come on, Yaruki. I'm starting to feel kinda bad about this."

"S-s-shut-up. I'm trying."

"Well, try harder." I rise glaring at him, "As intimidating as those are, glaring won't get you far in an actual fight."

I charge at him again, and he dodges my swing with annoying ease. He grips my arm and connects a strong punch to my abdomen knocking the wind out of me.

I double over.

"Are you even trying?" he squats down in front of me and lifts my chin up to examine my face. I manage to crack an eye open through the pain as his cobalt blues study me silently.

As much as I hate to admit it, he has very beautiful eyes. How could someone as vile and as wicked as him be blessed to have those looks too. You'd think karma would have kicked in by now and given him a grotesque scar or blinded him.

He sits back and rests his forearms on his knees waiting patiently for me to recover. That ass-hat wasn't even winded.

"W-why are you d-doing this." I stammer propping back on my elbows in an attempt to stretch out my cramping diaphragm.

"You're apart of my team. I want to make sure you can do your job and do it well. Isn't that what a leader is supposed to do?"

I angle my chin down to look at him, "Whoever said I saw you as my leader?"

He smiles choosing to take my questions seriously rather than blatant disrespect, "You did. When you agreed to follow my sword rather than to die by it." He makes his way towards me and settles next to me. I place a bit more space between us, "You agreed to follow me when you killed those villagers."

My body stiffens as I watch him casually place a blade of grass in his mouth. "That's how you get worms." I mutter and he looks over at me.

"Huh?"

"I said, you are the one who killed those villagers. Don't push your sins on to me."

He chuckles as he leans back tucking his arms behind his head and crossing his feet at the ankles, "I don't know if you've figured this out yet, Yaruki, but I thoroughly enjoy killing. Just as a singer loves to sing, a dancer loves to dance, a merchant loves to sell….I love to kill. It's a hobby, hell a passion if you will." He looks over to me, "A passion that I have perfected over the years and am very proud of." He props himself up on an elbow so that he can face me head on, "So when I tell you those villagers were dead way before they got to me, you can believe it. They died as soon as they trusted the beautiful death angel that stood before them. Promising them life and freedom…promising them an escape."

He is closer to me now, studying my face as he speaks, "I've looked in to the eyes of dead men, Yaruki. I've seen life drain from them, and I know death when I see it. When they reached me, they were already gone. Yes, their bodies were moving, but that is natural. It's instinctive. Why do you think an animal with a fatal wound continues to run? The brain has given up when the body still tries."

"I was saving them." I say firmly never breaking eye contact, "If you weren't there…..they would be saved…they would still be alive."

"But you knew I was there."

"How could I have known that?!"

"There is no way you couldn't."

"It was a careless mistake."

"But was it? Was stabbing the Lord 25 times a careless mistake? Was running an arrow through your friend's head a careless mistake."

I feel my lips tremble in rage. How dare he! HOW FUCKING DARE HE!

"Do you not see the growth? Three times you have killed and each time you're getting more…..comfortable with it."

I close my eyes no longer able to look at him and wishing desperately that I could shut my ears to his lies as well. I feel the cheek where he had punched me earlier begin to throb.

"I keep you around, because you have a mark on you. The same mark that rests with me and Jakotsu. You're just as blood thirsty as we are, and every day I see it banging against that strong moral compass of yours. Screaming to be let out."

My eyes snap open, "What you see," I begin in a clear strong voice, "is my father…..my friends…..my village fighting, screaming, and clawing their way out to rip you to shreds. That cage is not my moral compass, but merely my weakness, my lack of strength and knowledge to overtake you." I stand brushing myself off, "But that cage is temporary, so I will admit that I have chosen to follow you, but not as a disciple follows a master or a lackey trailing behind its leader, but as a predator following its prey."

This brings a smile to his irritating face as he rises.

"I will make this no secret." I state firmly as I take on a defensive stance, "I will kill you, Bankotsu. It will be slow. It will be painful. This is not the rantings of an angry child, but a promise from one mercenary to another."

Bankotsu charges at me. I block his kick with my forearm and spin out of his punching range.

"And if you so desire to train me to be a more effective killer, than I will happily accept without complaint."

I charge at him, and he knocks my hand away before swinging. I duck and strike back connecting the base of my palm to his throat. There was no true power behind the hit, but it catches him slightly off guard just the same.

"But for your sake," I say getting ready to play offensive once more, "you better be a damn poor teacher."

Sorry for the late update. I was sick all day yesterday with a severe migraine and could not bring myself to edit this chapter. I have done the best I can, but there may be some mistakes still. I'll most likely read through it over the week and make some edits, but I didn't want to keep ya'll waiting any longer. Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment.