Hello! Sorry for the month(s) long hiatus. I have been struggling with this story simply because this isn't going to be a lovely dovely romance like I originally thought it would be and I'm struggling on how to make the attraction to Bankotsu work with Yaruki's current frame of mind in a believable way. Plus, the change that I want Yaruki to go through is also giving me some problems simply because I want to make sure she changes at a believable pace. I feel like I'm doing that well right now, but that is something I'm constantly worried about. So if you have any suggestions feel free to share them. Otherwise, enjoy and I apologize if not much happened after this long break.

~Stay Caffeinated :)

++++++Chapter 6+++++++

My stomach churns slightly as we watch the small squadron go about their day shouting incomprehensible orders to one another. Our position is just far enough that the guards keeping watch in this direction could not trace our presence.

The early afternoon was quickly giving way to the late evening and by now Jakotsu and Renkotsu should have completed their half of the mission. Hopefully without unnecessary casualties, but I doubt it.

"What do you see?"

Bankotsu's voice is oddly gentle as he keeps his eyes on makeshift base. He had insisted we rest here before starting, and that has done nothing but cause the unease within me to grow in to full blow anxiety.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you see?" he repeats still not bothering to look at me.

I squint my eyes as I watch the soldiers once more, "I…..s….soldiers?"

He looks over at me face unreadable, "What kind?"

"…soldiery soldiers?"

He breathes a short laugh, "Do you know what I see?" he keeps his eyes on me waiting until certain that my attention is fully on him, "I see men who will kill us and have no remorse for it. I don't see villagers or the innocent. Just targets. Targets that will kill me if I do not kill them first."

I look back to the base the anxiety continuing to grow, "….I'll do it." I mutter watching the men move about. Pushing back the voice telling me they were, in fact, innocent. Pleading with me to remember that they too had families and loved ones somewhere.

"You don't have an option. They will kill you just like they will me, and I need to know that I can trust you to do your job."

I smirk in an attempt to hide my hesitation," Afraid to die, are we?"

He returns it with an arrogant snort, "Hardly. No one here is strong enough." His eyes take on a darker look to them as he continues to appraise me, "But if I am going to do all the work, then I'll kill everyone here. And I do mean everyone."

I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes, "So this is why you brought me along. It had nothing to do with stealth."

He shakes his head and stands," No, I actually do think you can handle yourself against the general."

I stand suddenly outraged by the casual dismissal of my fears, "He's an ex-general for crying out loud! I don't stand a chance."

"Well not with that attitude you won't." He says simply resting his halberd on his shoulder. "Look, your dad didn't do half bad when training you. Yeah you're a bit shaky, but for a girl you're skills are solid."

"Geez, Thanks"

"And your fear is because you've never had a real reason to use those skills he taught you. If you can get the upper hand on him and strike first, then it won't matter how many years of training he has over you. No man is immortal, no matter how much experience he has. A single shot to the forehead will fix mortality real quick."

We begin our journey towards the base, and I chew on my lower lip still unsure.

Bankotsu looks back at me, "I'll create a diversion for you to slip in. Try to avoid being seen by the guards inside."

"I'm not cutting off his head."

Bankotsu smiles, "I'll do that part. You just kill him."

I press my back against the wall as another pair of guards rush pass. I close my eyes trying to steady my breathing as I wait. The building shakes as I could hear the screams and shouts of the valiant men outside racing to their deaths.

Who was I kidding?

Bankotsu managed to take out a good chunk of those men with one powerful swing of his halberd. Even surrounded, he stood his ground, locking blades with one man and pushing him back before cutting another clean in half.

He made it look so easy. How could I ever get to that level to challenge him? Could I even kill him?

Another tremor snaps me from my thoughts as I push off the wall and continue at a quick pace down the empty hall. I string my bow as I hear rushed footsteps coming from the corner. My arrow embeds itself deep in to the man's exposed throat.

Carefully, I drag him out of sight and take back my arrow as well as taking a long dagger from his person. I wasn't going to lie to myself by thinking I could handle his sword, but for some reason having some sort of blade on me just felt right.

My mind drifts back to that night. To the feeling of the knife cutting through flesh and organs. To the delicious rush that coursed through me.

I exhale as I wait for it to happen again, but neither the numbness nor the adrenaline came. Leaving me with nothing but the cold hard lump of fear at the pit of my stomach.

I make my way quickly down the rest of the hall where the guard had come from in the hopes that this path will lead me to the general.

"ITS JUST ONE MAN!"

My pace slows as I approach a door.

"My apologies sir, but he….he's too strong."

"WE OUTNUMBER HIM! It shouldn't matter how strong he is!"

Gently, I slide the door open and peek through. The armor coated general is gripping the window as he watches his men die below. His body trembling from rage, "The nerve of this arrogant bastard."

"We have sent word for the others to return as quickly as possible, but we have yet to hear anything back. What is our next move?"

I shift out of the way as I see the general spin around, "THE NEXT MOVE IS TO GO OUT THERE AND BRING ME HIS DAMNED HEAD!"

"Aye!"

I shift over more as the commander approaches the door. I swallow as I string my bow once more. Pulling it back, I wait fully aware at how at peace I am with this.

My arrow penetrates the commander's temple as he steps out, burying itself feather deep. He collapses, and I hear the general unsheathe his sword.

"Show yourself, coward!"

I remain silent setting my bow down and pulling the long dagger from its hiding place. I lick my lips as I inch closer to the door. Come on out and let's get this over with.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" He charges out, his right side facing me. He turns his head at the sound of me shifting as I swing at him.

My blade bites across his shoulder. He is far taller than I originally believed. He roars swinging his blade down on me.

I shift quickly to the side and swing at him again cutting a chunk of his long black hair. I barely manage to doge the quick strikes and swings of his sword before finally seeing an opening. I duck underneath another swing of his before stepping closer and rocketing upwards to ram the long blade underneath his mask and in to the center of his throat.

His sword falls from his hand as he stumbled back a bit from shock. I watch him, surprised as well that my move actually worked. Suddenly his fist connects to side of my jaw with such power that is slams me in to the wall across the hall. I can hear him sputtering as I try to shake away the dizziness.

With my vision clearing, I see him rise with his sword in one hand while the other clutches the hilt of the knife embedded in his throat. I quickly crawl towards my bow and twist my seated self towards the general as he pulls the sword from the wall were I once was.

Loading the arrow, I wait till he turns towards me. He charges, I release. My arrow punctures his eye as the blade he ripped out of himself lodges itself into the forearm that I threw up at the last second to shield my face. I sharply suck in air as my bow falls from my hand, and I clutch my arm; the shock silencing my voice.

The general collapses face first pushing the arrow further in his head.

I pant as I continue to stare at the blade in my arm. With shaking fingers, I grab the hilt and scream as I snatch the knife out. I toss the knife to my side as I double over in pain, but also to try to stop the bleeding.

I stay in this position for quite some time before I hear footsteps. Quickly, I lift the knife up certain that it would do nothing for me against an arrow, but willing to see what I can do with it.

My body relaxes a bit as I see winded Bankotsu slow to a stop. His frenzied eyes bounce from me to the general's body as his brain sorts through the adrenaline and bloodlust coursing through him.

He pierces his halberd in to the floor splintering the wood and approaches me, roughly grabbing my arm in the process. I gasp causing him to freeze. He takes a minute to steady his breathing before continuing to examine my arm in a gentler manner.

"It's not too deep. It should heal within a week or so." His voice is coarse and hollow, and he releases my arm to walk over to the general. Ripping a piece of his clothing, he shakes it out before walking back to me. I wince as he tightens the knot around my wound. He looks up at me, face freckled with blood, and smiles, "You'll live."

"Here"

I blink suddenly seeing a cup of swirling water next to me. My eyes trace up the arm holding the small ceramic piece to land on Bankotsu who is resting his cheek in the palm of his hand that was propped on his knee. His face is blank, but his eyes hold a level of patience that I never knew a person like him could possess.

I take the cup and nod a thank you. The water has a strange smell, but I pay no attention to it as I toss it back. Regret follows immediately as the liquid burns down my throat.

I gag, choke, and spit while he laughs.

He catches the cup before it hits his face, and I glare as I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, "THAT'S NOT WATER!"

He chuckles pouring more in to the cup from the vile he hid behind him, "Never said it was."

I continue to cough up the burning liquid as he watches with a smile on his lips, "Light weight." He mutters behind the cup.

"I've never drank before!" I snap.

His eyes widen in shock, "Never?!"

"NO!"

He chuckles again as he watches me struggle, and I place my forehead on my knees. After a few moments of catching my breath, I sit up and wipe the water from my eyes. I lean back and sigh as he places another vile next to me.

"That's water."

I glare over at him before eyeing the little vile next to me. Quickly, I grab it and chug the water down. "You. Are. An. Ass." I say relishing the cool liquid coating my throat.

"How was I supposed to know you never drank?"

I reach out to hit him, but wince at the sudden pain in my forearm. Looking down, I see the bandages becoming red with fresh blood from my sudden and quick movements. I press my arm to me as I stand. "I'm going to go change these." I mutter and enter the building.

I enter the small room where we had left the spare bandages after our first mending session, swipe them up, and storm back outside tossing the poor bandages on the floor before flopping back down decidedly.

Bankotsu silently watches as I struggle to undo his infuriating tight knot with one hand while gently calling it every vile name I could think of.

"Having a bit of a struggle there are we?"

"Shut-up."

I resort to gnawing on the knot, but it still does not budge.

"I mean…..I could help."

"Or you could just go to Hell."

"Words hurt, Yaruki."

I close my eyes trying hard to fight back a laugh with pursed lips. After a minute, I decide to approach my problem in a different way by just digging under the layers as I try to pull them up and over my hand.

"You're going to cause more damage that way."

I ignore him and the growing pain as I feel the tight bandages rub across the open wound causing it to bleed more.

"Really? You would rather go through all that than just ask me for help?!"

I angle my fingernails around my forearm and away from the cut as I continue to pull the old bandages off.

"Dear god, you're stubborn."

With one final pained groan, the bandages slip off, and I grit my teeth as I wait for the pain to subside.

"I'm proud of you."

I lean back for a minute as my forearm continues to tremble from the pain, "Will you shut-up?!" I bundle the old bandages and press them firmly on my wound waiting for the blood to slow once more.

Bankotsu slides closer to me once the bleeding slows and takes my arm before I knew what was happening. I try to snatch my arm back, but wince at the pop in my wrist that his firm grip caused, "I don't need your help."

"As much fun as it is to watch you suffer and struggle, you are going to be no use to me if you can't grip your bow properly because of your pride."

I glare at him as he as he dabs my cut to get the excess blood off. He reaches behind him and picks up the vile of alcohol and my eyes go wide, "You wouldn't dare."

He looks up at me confused, "It will help clean it."

"No!" I say firmly, but he keeps his eyes locked on me as he begins to hover the vile over my cut.

"So help me, Bankotsu-" My body jerks as the burn hits every nerve in the wound, and I scream. "

"Calm down it's not that bad."

"FUCK YOU!"

"Maybe later, if you're good."

"HEY! BANKTOSU!"

We both look up to finally see Jakotsu and Renkotsu approach. His smile covers his entire face as he quickly begins to wrap my arm in fresh bandages.

"Hey! How'd it go?"

Jakotsu flops down next to him and pouts, "Boring! Those guys were pathetic!" he suddenly grabs the sack that Bankotsu had set off to the side and examines it.

It had stopped bleeding a while back ago. I turn my head away as Jakotsu lifts the bodiless head out. "Please tell me this guy was more of a challenge than his men."

Bankotsu shrugs as he tightens the knot on my bandages, "I wouldn't know. You would have to ask Yaruki."

"No Way! She killed him?!" Jakotsu eyes me suspiciously before examining the head more closely. "How?"

"I could demonstrate if you're truly curious." I say lowly and Jakotsu glares.

"Don't mind her." Banktosu says with a laugh, "Someone's just a bit cranky." He pinches my cheek as if he were speaking to a small child.

My eyes narrow, "Just so you know," I begin flatly making no other movements, "when I kill you, I'll use your blood to sweeten my tea."

Bankotsu's eye go wide for a second before narrowing seductively as he pulls me closer, "You know just what to say to get me going, huh?"

At the risk of my arm, I shove him away from me, "Pig."

"Bankotsu, Sir?"

He turns away from me still chuckling and looks to Renkotsu.

"What are we to do next?"

I keep my eyes on my tender arm examining his work as my full attention falls on his reply.

"We'll rest here for the night, then head back to the lord who hired us to collect the other half of our dues."

I hear the sound of coins and suddenly something thumps and slides in to my hip. I glance down to see a healthy sized bag before looking over to Bankotsu who's attention is back to his cup. Lifting the bag, I pour some of the coins out to examine them. Each was cold and heavy, and not worth the lives lost for them.

"Your cut from the village is also in there. Just in case you were wondering." He says casually, and I dump the coins back in before shoving them in a pocket.

I wasn't proud to take the money, but I have to eat.