Okay. ( It seems lik I always start with okay...) But back to this, I want to thank all the people who reviewed my last chappie. Tho it wasn't the best chappie, I still appreiciate all the people who left me a review. PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPPIE

I also need to thank my editor/beta reader Bankotsu'sAngel. (Bunchies of thnx 2 u)

And I also thank all the people who have read my story so far.

Waterfall

I could stay lost in this moment forever

For the four members of the band of seven in the cave, night turned to dawn and the sun peaked up from in between the snowy mountains in the east casting a gold light on the land. A rustle from outside proved that the daytime animals were waking up and hunting for their breakfast, while the nocturnal ones scurry back to their home until was time to run the over land again.

Suikotsu slowly opened his eyes. He saw his leader sitting facing the long burnt out fire with his head slightly lowered. Renkotsu was the only one still sleeping, and the fact that there was no sign of their two missing members put a slight chill in his heart. He too, sat up and joined his leader in sitting and staring into the ashes.

The sun rose to mid mountain height. The cave lit up with golden light that shed a beam on Renkotsu's face waking him up to the sight of his brothers sitting and staring at what looked like nothing to him. What the hell were they doing?

Now that everyone was awake, they decided silently, with no words spoken, only looks and nods to get breakfast. No one was mentioning what they heard their leader admit last night; the fact that he loved the missing priestess. Renkotsu wasn't even sure if it was real; it felt inconceivable.

Sitting around the fire that had been burnt out last night, re-lit by Bankotsu, died out again and now finally re-lit to make their morning meal; they sat around waiting, for their food to cook and for Jakotsu and Kagome to return.

Breakfast was soon finished as well, and still no sign of them. It had been just about a full day since they went missing. They were pretty sure it didn't take the slasher one day to find the miko.

No.

But say that he did find her. What if...what if he killed her? What if something happened to both of them?

Bankotsu was on the verge of jumping up and running out to find her. He couldn't sit around while his best friend and love's lives could possibly be in danger. Voicing his opinion, thus making him the first person to speak of the day.

"Do you think we should go and find them? Or not and wait a while longer and see if they come?"

Suikotsu looked up with his eyes showing relief that he wasn't the one to start the conversation. "I vote for going to find them." The others, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu, nodded in solemn agreement with their eyes slowly straying back to Bankotsu. The flame off the group was seriously tempted to ask him if he really did love Kagome or if he imagined it now that the heavy mood was gone from the place.

But before he could open his mouth to ask, the guy in question said "Then let's move out right now."

Renkotsu growled in annoyance.

...But after the whole morning and most of the afternoon of searching, he wasn't the only one growling with annoyance. Suikotsu was, and Bankotsu five minutes ago, even Ginkotsu was getting annoyed at the time they already spent finding next to nothing.

The "next to nothing" was the fact that their only clue so far was a scrap of Jakotsu's yukata on a piece of wood that was sticking out of a hut in a town that was surprisingly, people-less. No one ran the shops, No one worked the fields, not one child played outside and all the huts were empty.

"What the hell happened here?" wondered Bankotsu walking among the deserted streets holding his friend's kimono scrap in one hand and gripping Banryuu with his other. He was finding the eerie silence rather nerve wrecking

Beside said leader Renkotsu too was feeling it.

"Well put it this way. If they had been murdered, we have to at least expect some bodies lying around right?"

"But I don't see any." which made Renkotsu roll his eyes at his leader's naïve personality.

"No shit." How is it that a person with a pile of shit for brains can be leading a skilled band of mercenaries like us? We would be so much better off if he would just quit being an idiot. Or is that possible?

So they weren't murdered. Hm...what else could've happened to a village of people like this and most importantly what is a piece of Jakotsu's clothing doing here?"

"Maybe they passed through this way and it got caught on the piece of wood and tore off?" suggested Suikotsu pointing out the most logical explanation to their issue.

"Okay. But then where are they now?"

No one answered their leader's question as they were all wondering the same thing. Looking off into the distance, they saw the sun slowly sinking down into the mountain tops disappearing from their sight. Great. A whole day of searching was gone. Night was going to fall soon and they would have to set camp up or be forced to sleep in the cold with no fire to warm them up.

"Looks like there's a waterfall on that mountain. Do you want to camp at the base of it? I mean, at the very least we'll be sure that we have water for the night right?" said Renkotsu pointing at the said mountain which was maybe a thirty minute walk away from where they were right now.

It was unanimous since they had no better idea and so, the four people set off for their camp that night, the only addition for the day being the little scrap of pink and green cloth.

But little did they know just who else was camping there tonight. The only difference was that they were halfway up the mountain behind the very waterfall they were camping beside.

Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

"Imouto"

Kagome stared.

Imouto.

Little sister.

So if she was his little sister...then she was part of his family right? His family, the shichinintai? Or was her brain just playing tricks on her, seeing if she had been affected by her earlier poison?

Jakotsu smiled at the miko's opened mouth wonder and decided to answer before she asked; to save her the effort of asking. "No I'm not bullshitting you and no your brain's not screwed up. I'll think of you as my imouto and you can call me your aniki if you agree."

She smiled as he answered her unasked question. "Domo arigatou and…hai I'll be your imouto." she said as she gave him a nice hug with her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulders. "Jakotsu no aniki."

The slasher looked surprised at her actions for a second, but then forgot about it as he slid his arms around her waist. Wow...my first time hugging any girl willingly or not...This actually isn't that bad...except, for the fact that this is my brand new imouto.

After a while of staying like that, Kagome slowly slid her arms off of her new aniki's shoulders and dropped them back to her side, but leaving her head where it was. He too loosened his grip on her but still with her sitting in his arms and leaned against the side of the cave.

"Hey, I'm sorry for pissing you off and calling you a bitch so many times before. And I'm sorry I made you so mad that you left and got attacked." Jakotsu apologized quietly with such a cute expression on his face that his imouto couldn't help but forget all her previous anger towards his actions and forgive him on the spot.

"And I'm betting that it wasn't just coincidence that you happened to be there when I needed help."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean! You know I would help my little sister anytime!" he protested back. But seeing the look on her face he hastily added "But if you must know, then Bankotsu no o aniki sent me to get you."

"Bankotsu? And why did he send you of all people?"

"Yes Bankotsu. He sent me because I was being rude to you." He had half expected her to get angry and yell but on the contrary, she laughed which surprised him.

"You're- You're not mad?"

"No. I guess I should get used to you if I'm going to be your imouto and I'm traveling with you guys. Well that's if you let me." she looked up at him hopefully.

He grinned back at her. "Sure. But you'll be treated like one of us, like with the same responsibilities and stuff."

With a determined look on her face and a nod she said "Got it."

"And you'll be under Bankotsu no o aniki's command as well."

Kagome groaned. "Under command?..."

"Yeah. Whatever he says goes okay? You can't argue with him"

"But what if I don't agree with him?"

"Listening to him is how we survived together okay Kagome? If we didn't listen to him, then we would've been killed a long, long time ago."

Kagome sighed and shut it. She knew that there wasn't any way she could get around the fact that she was now under Bankotsu's command and had to listen to everything he said. "Fine."

"Good imouto. And by the way, your hairs a mess. You should fix it up and wash the dirt off your face."

The modern miko scowled and rubbed her face with her hands and running her fingers through her hair in a feeble attempt to look better, but then she noticed something on her brother.

"By the way back to you, Jakotsu no aniki, you're missing a piece of your yukata."

Don't want to close my eyes

The night passed slowly for both parties up on the heart of the mountain and at the base. The two groups sat, the two groups argued, the two groups worried. None slept.

Jakotsu and Kagome, at the heart contemplated the fact that if they were trapped in the cave for any longer, they were going to die. Of thirst, or of hunger, whichever one came to take them first. That put the two of them into a nervous silence, neither one of them saying what was obviously going to come, preferring to keep quiet about it.

The single words they spoke to each other soon became fewer and fewer and less and less to do with anything important and they were doing less and less to help lighten the dark mood that hung heavily above them like a rain cloud.

The fire that had been left by the being that put them in the cave was still going and the two were surprised that they hadn't already died from the smoke, but then again, there was that little hole at the top of the rock that blocked their escape... they suppose that's where all the smoke had gone, thank goodness.

But on the contrary, that stupid little hole didn't increase their chances of escaping which was hitting at flat line zero right now...or that's what they think, so the two had been sitting in silence for the better part of the last two hours, watching as the smoke drifted lazily out the hole.

Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Renkotsu, and Ginkotsu at the base, too were all thinking as well. But what they were thinking about couldn't be more different than the two above them. Strange how a rock and height puts a person into a whole different mind set.

None were thinking about dying, none were thinking on food and water, only wasting their time thinking of things that weren't important or vital and slowly, once by one, they dropped off to sleep, even Bankotsu.

In the early morning, Renkotsu woke up and thought he saw smoke flying horizontally out of the waterfall that was beside them. Rubbing his eyes and blinking them twice, he looked again only to find that the smoke was still there. He groaned. What the hell was he imagining this time? First his leader's confession and now horizontal smoke coming from a waterfall?

But...it looked so real that he couldn't pass it up for imagination...It was like it was actually there. He was sure of it...

Ah! Suikotsu! He thought. The doctor was next in line for smartness, after him of course, with Bankotsu and Kyokotsu coming close in the race for last.

Reaching out his arm, and sticking his index finger out, he poked the sleeping doctor's arm. Tap, tap...nothing happened. Poke, Poke...nothing again. Jab, Jab Suikotsu jumped up and produced a dagger from his form, pointing it to Renkotsu.

"What the fuck! It's me! Renkotsu!" hissed the pyromaniac with a blade a hair's width away from his neck.

"Huh? Renkotsu?"

"Yes it's me. Now drop the damn knife!"

Suikotsu did just that, and then looked around only to see that all his other brothers were sleeping. Turning his gaze to the brother that just poked him away he asked "What the hell? I see it's not time to go yet. So why did y-"

"Sh! Don't wake the others up. Now look over there at the waterfall and tell me if you see smoke coming out of it. I needed to check. I've been imagining a lot of things lately...like I imagined that last night, o aniki-never mind."

The doctor swung his head up and looked. Then he lowered his gaze and gave Renkotsu a smile. "You're not imagining things. I see the smoke too. And as for last night, Bankotsu did admit that he loved Kagome."

The other man smiled back. "I'll make a point to bug him about that later. As for now, since it's real, let's check out the smoke shall we?"

"We shall." answered Suikotsu with a nod.

The two shichinintai climbed up the rocky path all the way to the middle of the mountain. The journey up was not exactly what you call "keep your sleeping comrades asleep" material. Suikotsu managed to grab onto a rock and then cause a miniature avalanche of rocks to pour down onto the landscape below. The two men just managed to escape the falling rocks by running their asses up the steep path and causing a pebble rock slide beneath their feet in their wake.

Higher up the mountain path, they found out that the rocky landscape was replaced by forests and the path was even narrower then it had been before not to mention that there were weird plants growing along the side of the trail.

Great.

Renkotsu managed to cut his hand on one of these weird plants, which turned out to be...poison ivy. He started screaming out curses at the top of his lungs as the effects of the plant started to kick in and he began to itch uncontrollably, so loud that people at the base of the next mountain could've heard it while Suikotsu dashed around trying to find the right plants to put on his cut and stop the itching.

Half an hour later, Renkotsu was walking and grumbling about stupid useless plants as he walked as fast as he could, his cut hand in bandages with herb paste and Suikotsu walking behind him, trying to keep up, mumbling about how the pyromaniac should be more careful.

The smoky waterfall section was soon coming into view. Carefully picking their way to the waterfall, they managed to get right beside it. Perhaps it was lucky that the waterfall wasn't big or strong or they would've been blown right off their feet.

"Okay. Here's where the smoke is coming from. I don't see anything that would help us get rid of the water though, unless you got a bucket?" Sarcasm dripped off of Suikotsu's words as he turned to his brother. Maybe a little too quickly since a second later, the doctor slipped and fell out of sight.

Taking a few rocks with him.

Renkotsu gasped as he ran to the edge where the doctor had just stood a few seconds ago. A huge sweatdrop ran down the side of his face when he saw said man looking up at him with a smile on his face and pointing at the waterfall. "This rock," he said gesturing to a rock that shattered on impact with the ground "must be a switch of some sort. See look here. Words are carved into this rock beside it and now, the water's disappearing."

"Huh. I guess that's that." said Renkotsu "Now the water's gone and- hey! The smoke's coming out of a hole in the rocks!"

And so it was.

And it was also the very hole that was left to keep Jakotsu and Kagome alive. A path of narrow ledges suddenly appeared and led to about 10 feet below the hole. But there was nothing there as far as they could see.

"Do you think I should like…blow it up or something to see what's behind it? I mean, the path must lead somewhere right?" he continued which got a nod for an answer, so he took explosives out of his haori and lit them on fire. Chucking with all his strength, it hurled straight into the rocky face, just missing the hole and blew up the moment it hit.

"Hah! I knew it!" shouted Renkotsu as an entrance of what looked like to a cave appeared when the dust settled. Suikotsu nodded again and pointed to the narrow ledge.

"Let's go."

The two men walked across the narrow edges, slowly to cave entrance to avoid slipping and falling down the now non existent waterfall, which would probably mean their death.

When they reached the cave entrance finally after fifteen minutes of slipping and sliding, their eyes went wide at the sight of the two people sitting huddled together beside the fire that was the source of the smoke they saw earlier.

I don't want to fall asleep

Jakotsu and Kagome had just about given up hope of getting out of there alive. They tried everything, Kagome's purifying energy, Jakotsu's jakotsutou, and still, the stupid rock would break. They resorted to chucking little pebbles at it, knowing that it won't shatter the larger rock but still, as to vent their anger.

"That's it. Were doomed to die in here." grumbled Kagome throwing another pebble at their blocked entrance.

"No kidding." groaned back her brother as he too chucked a rock at the same destination. But as if by magic, the moment it touched the huge boulder, it blew up, blowing all the pebbles they chucked before back to them to add to dust and smoke. Also, it effectively put out their fire.

Jakotsu jumped up and threw his arms around a shocked and screaming Kagome, shielding her from everything that was coming at them.

When the smoke cleared, they blinked. Jakotsu lifted his head from Kagome's and turned it around, while Kagome peaked up from behind his shoulder. What stood there surprised them, but at the same time, relief washed over both of them.

The boulder was gone. Renkotsu and Suikotsu were standing there, looking just as shocked to see them as they were to see them.

"S-suikotsu! Renkotsu!" screamed Jakotsu and Kagome at the same time as Suikotsu and Renkotsu yelled "Jakotsu! Kagome!"

Kagome ran out of her brother's arms and into Suikotsu's. "Suikotsu! How did you ever find us? I thought we were doomed to die in there forever!"

"Long story Kagome-sama. But how did you guys end up stuck in this cave? We were so worried about you. I mean we spent the whole of yesterday looking for you and the only thing we found was a piece of Jakotsu's haori. I think o aniki hadn't stopped holding it since we found it. I think he even slept with it…"

That last comment made Kagome start to giggle uncontrollably and Renkotsu give a slight sinister smile.

"So you sure you're okay Kagome? You sure you don't need anything?" asked Renkotsu when her laughter had died down. "Sure you're not missing lover boy?" The addition to the sentence earned him a bonk to the head from Suikotsu.

"Huh? Who's lover boy?"

Suikotsu shot the guy that let it slip a death glare. "Oh...n-no one. Just that guy you remember him? From the last village we went to and didn't destroy?"

"We didn't go to a village that you didn't destroy, so no I don't remember him."

"Uh...maybe you just forgot. Yeah. You forgot."

Kagome rolled her eyes and Jakotsu put his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah...whatever. Now how did you find us and where's everyone else?"

Suikotsu and Renkotsu's eyes were popped open at the sight of Kagome and Jakotsu being so friendly with each other, and more surprisingly was the fact that the usually gay guy liked the company of a girl!

"Hello? Earth to Suikotsu!"

The doctor stared at the hand waving in front of his face for a while before snapping out of it. "Oh! Uh…Bankotsu and Ginkotsu were still sleeping when we left. And we thought we saw smoke coming out of the waterfall that you guys were behind so we decided to come and check it out. And then there was this weird switch and -"

His explanation was interrupted by a voice from behind them, sounding slightly angry at first, and then changing into surprise. "Oi! Why didn't you tell us you guys were leaving and why the hell is Jakotsu's arm around Kagome?

The four of them whipped around to find Bankotsu standing there with his halberd on the usual place on his shoulder and Jakotsu's haori scrap in his other hand. That piece of haori instantly brought back the conversation of just two seconds ago and the one last night, so instead of answering like she should've, she cracked up and began her laughing fit again.

Jakotsu was smiling beside her, he too was remembering...

"What the hell?" said Bankotsu as his eyebrow started twitching. " Renkotsu, you were here first, what happened here?"

"I have no idea. But it seems that Kagome and Jakotsu are no longer arguing or fighting every second they're together. I swear, if I heard them screaming at each other one more time I was going to blow up."

"No worries then. We don't scream at each other anymore! I mean why would I scream at my lovely imouto. I think she could help me with getting a hottie too, since she's so pretty. Right?"

Everyone else fell to the floor. Imouto? Since when? Since when has Jakotsu taken a liking to girls?

"Huh use me to get a guy will ya? I love you too Jakotsu no aniki." she said as she slid herself back into his arms and hugged him.

Renkotsu raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. Boy those two had a lot of explaining to do. Granted they were never going to become a couple since Jakotsu's gay and Kagome likes Inuyasha...or so he thinks but seeing them hugging each other was just downright weird.

Suikotsu smiled slightly. The girl he had thought his sister from when she had first joined them was finally getting along with his whole family now. His brother had accepted her, and with Bankotsu, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu's agreement, she would officially become all of their sisters. But his slight smile turned into an even bigger smile as he spotted his leader's face off to his right.

Bankotsu, hearing that his gay brother had finally accepted Kagome, his secret love, into their family, he was happy, but when he heard her say that she loved him and hugged him along with it, his jealousy instantly grew and threatened, like always, to blow up out of him even though he knew Jakotsu was gay.

He was gripping his Banryuu handle so tightly his knuckles were turning white and was looking at the ground, not the two hugging in front of his face. Not to mention he was replaying what Jakotsu had said inside his head. "I mean why I would scream at my lovely imouto is beyond me. I think she could help me with getting a hottie too, since she's so pretty. Right?" Of course she was, meaning that a lot of guys wanted her as well and he wasn't the only one.

Competition.

"Ahem!" coughed Renkotsu finally noticing his leader's discomfort and causing the two of them to break apart. "Let's go stay here and camp here for the rest of today. I mean, unless you guys want to go all the way back down there."

"Nope, I'd much rather stay here!" said Kagome with a smile. Jakotsu and Suikotsu nodded. Bankotsu said nothing.

"Then I say we set up camp?"

Another nod of agreement from the others.

So the Shichinintai plus Kagome split up in pairs to go off into a different direction and do a different task. Renkotsu went off to find some firewood; enough to keep the fire burning for the whole night. And he also had to go get Ginkotsu too.

He sighed. Kagome was Jakotsu's imouto now, meaning that she was most likely the whole Shichinintai's imouto. I mean, he had no objections to that. That would just make his plan a whole lot easier...

Maybe I'll get her a gift…Yes a gift...to show her that I accept her into our family, and hopefully, it will gain me some more trust. Yes. That's a good idea.

Jakotsu kept Kagome with him and went down to the river whose water used to be from the waterfall and collected a few buckets of water. That left Bankotsu and Suikotsu to look for food to feed them for the next little while.

"So no aniki. When are you going to tell her?" the doctor said.

"Shut up. And I don't know."

"Still scared of rejection huh?"

"Yeah...I think...It feels like I'm not worth her."

"Don't worry o aniki. If someone can see the true worth of you, it's Kagome. And also...I was thinking...I want to bring her back a gift. Anything to show her that I accept her into our family. Do you think I should?"

The young leader looked up. Why didn't he think of that himself! "Hey. Go look for the food Suikotsu, I have to go do something. I'll meet you back at the cave. See ya!" and with that, the dark haired teen took off into the night leaving the doctor standing there alone.

"Well that was interesting...guess it's urgent if he has to run off like that...not to mention it probably has something to do with Kagome..."

Jakotsu and Kagome sat together on the side of the stream holding two ahem stolen ahem buckets into the water to fill it up.

Suddenly, the slasher had an idea. Taking one hand off of the bucket, he reached into his pink yukata and drew out a hairpin, identical to the one he was wearing in his hair.

"Here. This is for you imouto. And-" He lifted the bucket back onto the shore and reached into his yukata again. "This is a copy of my outfit. It's the exact same as the yukata and hairpin I wear so when you wear it, everyone will know that you're my imouto!"

Kagome looked at the little ornate accessory and the clothing in her brother's hands and reached out for it, feeling the smooth blue ball and the shiny silver metal that ended in a sharp point, the soft silky pink fabric with its green decorations and smiled. "Domo arigatou Jakotsu no aniki, I will wear them with you always in my mind."

He smiled. "Hey. No need to get so serious. Now go put it on. I want to see what you look like in them!"

And I don't wanna miss a thing

Bankotsu had been searching for a perfect present for his Kagome. It took forever to think of an idea that would be suitable for her, to represent her courage, her power, her beauty.

But in the end, it came to him. She only had her backpack when they took her from the Inu-tachi therefore, no weapon. Since she was a priestess, a bow for her would be perfect. And it would be even more perfect if he made it for her himself.

So he did. Sitting on a rock, he had shaped the bow himself, fitted the string and added the decorations. The arrows, he just made them simply, because he knew that if he made it too nice, Kagome wouldn't use them in fear of breaking them or not getting them back.

The wood he used was the best and the strongest he could find. The strings were the best quality. But the crowning beauty on the bow was what was carved into the wood. Bankotsu had carved a rose into the wood, to represent her beauty. The stem with the thorns were also there, to represent that even the most perfect person has flaws and that he hoped that she could forgive his. That he was a mercenary.

And the last touch was that he had carved Kagome's name where she could see it when she used this weapon. He was going to show her that.

He had thought on the next one on how he should represent this. He had already finished the bow and the arrows. So what now?

Her courage and her power.

No other woman that he had met had as much courage as she did. When they first captured her, she had the courage to keep living her life and not break down and surrender to them, as he had half expected her to. Her power.

The fight with Inuyasha. She purified his demon side and she had stopped his Banryuu from hitting said dog demon's neck.

It finally came to him.

The quiver. He could carve the character for courage on it.

Then it would be truly perfect. This bow would be Kagome's and Kagome's only.

ANNDDDD... That's the chappie. Jakotsu and Kagome are found by Suikotsu and Renkotsu and they all seem to accept Kagome into their family. Talking about family, they all decide to give Kagome a special present to show their affections to her. So far, Jakotsu's the only one that's given her something, a copy of his yukata and hair accesory and Bankotsu makes his own special present to give to Kagome.

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NEXT CHAPPIE: Renkotsu's plan is gonna start becoming a bigger part of the story as Bankotsu ponders on the best way to tell Kagome that he loves her. But of course, not all things go that smoothly. With a little help and nudges from the dead...

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