Boom! Chapter four! I'm not gonna waste time with a lame ass introduction, so here's the disclaimer and we're diving right in!
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, all rights are reserved for Rumiko Takahashi and affiliates.
Chapter four: Seven, Eight, and Nine, Ain't Life Fine?
Even at just seven years old, Aikotsu is a remarkably powerful priestess. Her barriers are strong and cover a wide area of land without strain. Her archery aim is spot on. She can summon barriers both consciously and subconsiously, almost instantaneously. She's one of the best students in Lady Sakura's class, other than her own daughters Kikyo and Kaede. Although for some reason, Kikyo doesn't like Aikotsu. Truthfully, she's been nothing but polite, but the young Aikotsu can tell that she isn't liked by the eldest daughter of Lady Sakura. She tries to not let it bother her, because she gets along with Kaede just fine, but it always nags at the back of her mind. It's just something she'll have to live with. In life, there's always going to be at least one person who doesn't like you.
Naturally, when seven year old Aikotsu comes back into camp with a cream colored nekomatta, giving her brothers those big puppy-dog eyes of hers, it isn't a surprise that she ends up with another pet. The little girl names the neko Junko, and she integrates herself into the group easily, even Buyo taking a liking to her almost immediately.
At age eight, she proves her incredible strength when she drags a dead boar demon over to Kyokotsu for him to enjoy. Due to her constant training both with her brothers and the demon slayers, her strength has improved exponentially, and she can lift a demon carcass with little effort on her part.
And thankfully by eight-and-a-half, the frequency of her getting kidnapped in the middle of the night had dropped exponentially. Perhaps whoever was behind it had finally given up, because she hasn't had an attempt made on her since she was seven. All of the boys were glad for this, Suikotsu especially, as he hated when Aikotsu nearly got kidnapped, both because she was his sister and because it always woke him up.
...
"Go on ahead, Ai. We'll be over there in a few minutes." Bankotsu instructs the girl and she nods, rocketing off towards the tall front gate of the demon slayer village, beaming as the guards open the gate for her. As she walks in, she sees two familiar figures clothed in a pink kimono and a red haori set.
"Sango-chan! Inu-chan!" Aikotsu calls happily as she races through the center of the village, screeching to a halt in front of her friends.
"Aikotsu!" Sango calls back, reaching over to hug the girl. Inuyasha lingers just a few steps behind, not wanting to interrupt. He thinks Aikotsu is nice, but he's still shy around her, just a bit. "So, your brothers are heading on another mission?" Sango asks, eyeing the pack on Aikotsu's back.
Aikotsu nods, her smile falling just a tad. "Yeah, we're still running low on money, so they're going to work for a Lord up North. Hopefully it'll bring in enough to cover us this winter." Unfortunately for their little rag-tag family, the last client they'd had stiffed them quite a bit, and the funds were tight. In hopes of fixing this, her brothers accepted a dangerous job up North, which entailed dropping her off at Sango's village due to her dislike of violence.
"Oh," The girls are interrupted when a beautiful woman with long black hair and a butterfly printed kimono walks through, smiling as Inuyasha latches a hand onto her kimono sleeve. "You're back, Aikotsu. It's good to see you again."
"Hello, Izayoi-sama! Yes, my brothers are going on another job, so I'll be spending the next few days here with Sango." As Aikotsu says this, Bankotsu finally stops behind her.
"Good day, Izayoi-sama," He greets her with a smile. "How are you doing today?" He doesn't react when Aikotsu grabs his hand as she bounces up and down. He knows she just has a lot of energy and needs to let it go.
"I'm doing well, thank you. And you and your brothers? I overheard young Aikotsu here say you were headed off on another mission." He nods at her words, his jovial demeanor dropping for just a second.
"Yes, you heard right. My brothers and I are otherwise alright, other than the fact that the last client we had stiffed us about half the payment. We're hoping that this one will be enough to cover us for the winter. Aikotsu's getting bigger, we need to start getting her new winter kimonos, after all." Izayoi nods gracefully.
"Well I hope you'll be careful, yes? Try not to make your sister worry any more than usual." Bankotsu nods and dips into a playful bow.
"Yes, Izayoi-sama." He grins. Then he turns to Aikotsu. "We've gotta get going now, Ai. We should be back in four days time, five or six at the latest. Be good, do what you're told, and try not to worry too much." He tickles his nose against hers and she giggles.
"I'll try, Ban-nii. Now go before Sui-nii threatens to carve out your innards. He already looks like he wants to." Bankotsu lets out a loud laugh from the pit of his stomach, ruffling her hair with a smile. He gathers her in a quick hug before rocketing off toward the gate, disregarding as Suikotsu seems to berate him. Aikotsu waves as they disappear through the gate, and she takes in a deep breath as soon as she can't see them anymore. Then, she turns to Sango immediately.
"Wanna go mess with Kohaku-chan?" She asks the older girl, hoping to find a way to distract herself. They've only just left and she already misses them. Sango seems to understand and nods, and the girls bid Inuyasha and his mother goodbye before racing for Sango's family's hut to bother Kohaku.
A little later in the day, Aikotsu is left alone again, and she stares up at the sky, lost in thought. Her fingers trace the bracelet on her wrist idly, only just barely noticing as someone else joins her. "So where's your father?" Aikotsu frowns, looking down from the sky and turning her attention to the kid next to her. It's Kenji, Toshiro-san's son. She tilts her head at the question, confused. Kenji is a bit of a battle-nut, in her eyes, but he's nice enough. He's one of the younger kids in Sango's village, about two years younger than her. He's got this fascination with both her brothers and Sango's family because of how strong they are. She bets her next meal that if he were allowed, he'd follow her brothers to the ends of the land.
"What's a father?" She asks innocently. While she doesn't like sounding stupid, she genuinely doesn't know what this mysterious 'father' is. And she wants to know. She's gotten much more curious outwardly, especially since Ja-nii had stopped calling her stupid when she was six-and-a-half. Recently, he even took her into the market to go kimono shopping! She'd nearly stopped breathing that day, and her cheeks had hurt for days after from smiling the entire time.
"You mean you don't have one?" The boy asks back, as if baffled. Aikotsu hesitantly nods, still not knowing what a father is. She's feeling dumber already. "A father is the greatest person in the world!" He gushes excitedly. "They're a guy that is married to your mother and who helped her give birth to you and he takes care of you and plays with you and always makes sure you're safe!"
Finally seeming to understand, Aikotsu grins. "That sounds like my brothers! Minus the whole married to my mother thing. I don't have one of those either."
"What do you mean?" Kenji asks her, as if dumbstruck by the fact that she doesn't have a mother.
"Ban-nii said he found me one day and just brought me back with him. I've been with Ban-nii and my other brothers ever since I was two." She explains, smiling softly as she recalls the first memory she could retain; Bankotsu's brightly smiling face as he lifts her off the ground. Personally, she thinks she's very lucky that Bankotsu had picked her up that day.
"That's kinda...weird." He says bluntly, apparently oblivious to how she recoils in shock. Her eyebrows furrow, mood souring. She's just about to put the little brat in his place when his father calls him over and scolds the boy himself, having overheard the conversation. She's just able to pick up Toshiro-san berating Kenji and telling him that saying that was rude and he needs to apologize because it was wrong to do and could have hurt her feelings. To be honest, it kind of did.
But she wasn't about to let either of them know that. Ja-nii always told her that a good person has a thick skin, and that you can't let words get to you. So that's what she's gonna do. Who cares what that kid thinks? She has her brothers and her friends and that's all she needs. A shout of her name has her head snapping over to where the Headman is, and she runs towards him. Forget Kenji, he's just some rude brat. Still though, in the back of her mind, she can't help but wonder what having a father is like. Sango has a father, and everyone else seems to, or have at least had one in the past. But not her.
A tight feeling settles itself deep in her heart, an unexplainable desire for a father, and she just can't shake it. And then another thought hits her. What's a mother? Maybe she should ask Sango...She'd know. Sango's very smart. Her head hurts. Idly she wonders if her brothers are having an easier time than she is. She hopes so.
...
Far up North and a day later, the brothers aren't having a fun time. "Goddamnit! Why won't these stubborn mules just die?!" Jakotsu shouts as he wrenches his Jakotsuto from the body of a soldier to whip the many blades into four more victims. Suikotsu is halfway across the makeshift battlefield, dealing with his own opponents, as the other five of their brothers make quick work of their job. They're all eager to get back to Aikotsu. Being completely candid, none of them really like doing these assassination jobs anymore, but money is money. They don't have the room to complain about what jobs come their way. Renkotsu had counted their funds the night before they left, and had told them all point blank that if they didn't do this job, they would never survive the winter with as many people they have in their group. They have no choice but to do this.
"Because they're afraid of death?" Suikotsu wonders aloud as he slices the arm off of a soldier. Beside him, Ginkotsu releases his many saw blades to slice easily through his opponents. On the other end of the field, Mukotsu is releasing his third most potent poison into the air, hoping to rid himself and his brothers of these bothersome warriors. Bankotsu snarls, whipping two across the face with Banryu and effectively ending their miserable lives, looking around for Renkotsu and finding him up in a tree. Their bald brother is setting fire to as many as he can see, while Kyokotsu just keeps swooping them up and gobbling them down.
Bankotsu grunts as an arrow lands in his stomach, hissing with pain. He barely pauses, cutting the shaft of the arrow off and yanking the tip out of his flesh. He can deal with the wound when these idiots are done for. They have to make it back. Aikotsu is waiting for them.
...
By day five, Aikotsu is nearly catatonic she's so worried. She just keeps pacing and looking up at the gate with wide eyes before pouting and looking away, only to repeat the cycle every five minutes, as if hoping something would change in those few minutes. "Aikotsu!" Her head shoots up, immediately looking over to the gate to see the seven figures she's been missing for five days. But something's wrong. She takes a closer look, and then-
Aikotsu gasps, running for the village entrance at full tilt. "Ban-nii! Ren-nii!" She shouts in worry as she stares at their torn clothes and bandages dark with blood. She screeches to a stop just a hair from knocking into them and her lip trembles as her dark eyes finally take in the full extent of her brothers' injuries. "You're all so hurt…" She whispers morosely, looking ready to cry.
Bankotsu scoffs good-naturedly, "Relax, little sister, it's okay. This is nothing," He says arrogantly. Renkotsu, on the other hand, stays quiet, knowing better than to argue with his sister, well aware that he can't say he's fine when Ginkotsu is holding him up. When angry enough, Aikotsu is a force to be reckoned with. He'd rather not trifle with her temper while he's so hurt. Bankotsu apparently has no such reservations, or he's just too oblivious to notice when his sister is a ticking time bomb.
"It is not okay!" Aikotsu counters, nearly roaring in her fury. "Being 'okay' is you coming back unharmed and not being supported by Ja-nii and Sui-nii because you can't walk on your own! Don't think I can't see that limp!" Large crocodile tears pool up in her eyes, stunning each and every one of the boys into silence. It isn't often that their sister cries, but it's absolutely jarring whenever she does. "What am I supposed to do all by myself? What am I to do if you-" Her lip trembles and she shakes her head resolutely, turning tail and running off to the far end of the village.
"Ai!" Bankotsu calls after her, but gets no answer. He sighs, letting his head sag against his collarbone.
"I told you not to provoke her." Renkotsu deadpans, biting back a hiss as Ginkotsu adjusts his placement.
By the end of the day, the spat between Bankotsu and Aikotsu still hasn't been solved. Bankotsu doesn't even try to talk to her this time around, recognizing that he was too arrogant to admit that he is hurt. Aikotsu is right. They need to be more careful. Sure, she's been training with the demon slayers, and she has extensive knowledge of defensive and evasive maneuvers, but what good will that do her in case the unthinkable happens? What if something does happen to them? Who is she to rely on if something happens to them?
Her fears are warranted, as much as he hates to admit it. They're playing a dangerous game, but they have no choice in the matter. When low on money, you take whatever job comes your way, no questions asked.
So instead of provoking her further, he quietly observes from a safe distance, watching as she gazes up at the starry sky with a forlorn expression. He hears footsteps, and then he notices Sango, the daughter of the Headman, sit down beside his sister. She's a good friend of Aikotsu's, a headstrong girl of nine years, who is dedicated and hardworking, but also loyal and kind. Bankotsu had been beginning to get worried for his sister, having no female friends as she grew up.
"Are you okay, Ai?" He hears Sango ask as they kick their feet languidly off the edge of the porch.
Aikotsu is silent, still staring up at the inky expanse above. Her voice is a hoarse whisper when she finally does speak. "Sango-chan, are you ever worried when your father goes on missions?" Sango frowns, turning to look at her friend.
"Of course I get worried. He's my only father, and I love him very much. I would be very sad if he got hurt or didn't come home."
"...Would he play it off? Like pretend it wasn't a serious injury?" Sango pauses at the question, staring down thoughtfully at her toes.
"I think he would," She says amicably. "But I know he only has my best interest at heart if and when he would do it." Sango's hand strokes Kirara's back absently as she stares up at the sky.
"Why do they do that? Pretend to not be as hurt as they are?" Bankotsu can hear his sister's frustration, her anger in her words. It hurts him. Why does he keep managing to hurt her? He isn't trying to.
"To keep their loved ones from worrying too much? Ego? It's hard to say. It's probably different for every man. For my father, it's most likely because he's the Headman, he's seen as the strongest person in this village, and he has an 'image' to keep up. For your brothers, it's probably from not wanting to worry you too much." And Sango hit the nail on the head. He'd played it off because he was trying to make Aikotsu not worry as much. If he appeared stronger than the injury, she wouldn't worry...right?
"They can't stop me from worrying," Aikotsu argues petulantly, puffing her cheeks out cutely in a pout. Sango nodded, a small smile on her lips.
"True, but they can certainly try. Either way, please try not to blame them. Don't stay mad at them for too long. Sometimes, they're gone before you know it." And with this parting gift of advice, Sango gets up and leaves Aikotsu to her own thoughts. Bankotsu too was left to ponder silently, wondering just how a nine-year-old could be so wise. That girl is something else. In the end, he silently crawls back to his room and drifts off to sleep, hoping for a better day come morning.
The next day, Bankotsu is blocked from moving down the hall by Aikotsu's Hiraikotsu, with his eight-year-old sister holding it in a way meant to keep him from passing. "We need to talk." She declares stoically, staring up at him with fire in her big brown eyes. He says nothing, not wanting to piss her off further, and follows dumbly as she grabs his wrist and yanks him into a spare room with a strength he knows she has but rarely uses. "No more pretending you aren't as hurt as you are." She orders as soon as the door is shut. He blinks down at her.
"I-" She cuts him off before he can get a word in edgewise.
"I don't care about your dumb reasons for making it seem like you aren't hurt. Okay? You seven are all I have in this world. You're my only family. If something happens to you and you keep it a secret or downplay it, how am I to trust you? What if you got an infection? Would you hide that from me too? How about if you were slowly dying from that infection? I don't care if it's your ego or not wanting to make me worry, I will always worry. It's what I do. You're my brothers. I'm supposed to worry, just like you worry about me. I don't try to stop that." She sighs, shifting from one foot to the next. "There. That's what I wanted to say. Now you can say your piece."
Bankotsu sighs, taking several seconds to round up his thoughts. "I'm sorry that I hurt you, Ai. It wasn't my intention. I just-" He rakes a hand through his messy bangs. "You get so worried whenever we come back even the least bit hurt, I was just trying to keep you from dying of worry. Maybe I'm just dumb. You're certainly smarter than me." He grins as Aikotsu lightly chuckles, a hint of a smile on her lips. "I promise I'll try to stop doing that in the future, okay? No more pretending." He promises.
"Pinky promise?" Aikotsu asks, holding out her pinky. Bankotsu smiles warmly and nods.
"Pinky promise." He agrees, locking his finger with hers and shaking.
Awkward silence reigns. And then their stomachs rumble in unison. The brother and sister look at each other, and laugh. "Let's get some food, yeah?" Bankotsu asks, opening the door for her.
So I lost my library card on the 6th, like maybe barely twenty minutes after getting it. Genius, right? I got a new new card, didn't lose the second one, and chapter four is now finished. Join me in chapter five. I honestly don't know what else to say. Blah. Blah.
-FH19