WOW
Its been such a long time since I updated this story . i guess the first thing i should do is APOLOGIZE! im so srry that i havent writtten for so long but i did have lotsa issues that include but are not limited to:
my pet dying.
my computer breaking down and having 2 b reformatted and me losing everything saved. TWICE (shouldve learnt from the first time...but NOOO...)
major exams
etc.
So once again, Im sry 4 not writting for so long.
Now. I will say my usual thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted or fav-ed this story so far, and an especially big thnx 2 my beta/editor InfinniteAffinity. Thnx. .
REVIEWS NEEDED 4 THE NEXT CHAPPIE ARE...lets say...235-240 ish.
Happy reading!.
Rain
沒有風雨躲得過
No wind or rain can be avoided
"Bankotsu?" she whispered looking at what was laying before her very eyes, not believing it.
"Bankotsu!"
Kagome stared
She was in total shock. There was no way this way happening. There was no way that Bankotsu would be dead. It took the region's ruling lords their very best armies to take him and the rest of the Shichinintai down, so it was impossible that he would die just sitting here like this. There was no way that he wouldn't die standing up on his feet.
This all had to be a joke. Yes, a joke. she thought as she smiled and let a little laugh escape her lips. "Very funny Bankotsu." The young miko said while giving his shoulder a little shake. "But get up right now because I need to talk to you."
When she called him, Kagome was sure that he was going to wake up and flash his infamous smirk at her. He was going to ask her if she missed him. He was going to laugh at her worried face while telling her she was an idiot for doubting him.
But he didn't.
He didn't wake up.
He didn't smile at her.
He didn't even move.
So of course, as anyone would've been, the young miko was a bit surprised.
"Hey Bankotsu, what are you doing out here anyways and why is there black stuff on your chin, hm?" she asked again. "I mean, I know you're a messy eater and all, but..."
And still, she received no answer from the mercenary.
"Bankotsu, this really isn't funny anymore." She whispered to him as she reached her hand down to touch his wrist. Maybe she just got the spot wrong when she checked to see if there was a pulse in his neck.
Maybe he did have a pulse after all.
Maybe his wrist would have one and prove all her suspicions wrong. So, Kagome closed her eyes and hoped with all her heart once again.
But...5 seconds passed and there wasn't a pulse.
10 seconds
20 seconds, and still, nothing.
The miko slipped her arms around his shoulders. "Bankotsu? Please… Wake up" she pleaded with him. "Wake up…Please….Bankotsu…"
However, it was no use, as no matter how she pleaded him, she could not get him to open his eyes. Tears started to run down her cheeks, of frustration and sadness. It was still too much to believe that this was really true. Her Bankotsu couldn't really be dead.
But why? Why is he dead? Kagome thought with a little sigh of fustration as she got up and touched the rock he was leaning against. It wasn't actually that big, now that she was up against it. She trailed her hand along the rock, she found that the other side had an opening in it, just big enough for a person to go through.
She was curious, a rock with a hole in it? So, she stuck her head into the hole only to find that it was not a rock at all, but a small cave of some sort with a single futon in it. And on top of the futon was the most beautiful bow and quiver she had ever seen in her life, carved with great skill.
The miko looked at the weapon more closely. With what Kaede had taught her, she knew that it was made with the best wood around in this part of Japan during the feudal era...and carved onto the wood was a single rose and….her name.
She gasped, then Quickly scrambling into the cave, she picked the bow up, and then turned her attention to examine the quiver. It too, had something carved on it: the character for courage and inside of it was a little roll of paper. Kagome reached in, took it out, and unrolled it. It was written in loose, messy writing that she had never seen before, but from the fact that her name was written inside a heart and that the whole note was filled with grammar and punctuation mistakes, she could guess that Bankotsu wrote it.
She never knew that he could write albiet the mistakes…And she also didn't know he was so romantic…
Feeling as if she would rather not read what he wrote just yet, she pocketed it and left the cave still hanging onto the bow and quiver. Then, Kagome dropped back down in front of him and stared into his relaxed face as she took his hand in hers. Her fingers ran along his strong, calloused hands and felt every bump and scar that had been put there by his years of being a mercenary. She kept this motion in a pattern; more bumps, more calluses, more blisters, more-...What was that smooth feeling? She bent her head down to look.
It was a glass bottle. Not only that, but half filled with some black liquid, the exact same black liquid that was on Bankotsu's chin.
Once again, her curiosity took over. She wanted to know what that black stuff was, so Kagome opened the bottle and sniffed at it. Almost instantly, she pulled back her head in disgust; this was a smell that she would know anywhere. It was the smell of the poison Mukotsu had used on her a couple months back.
This liquid was poison; and if there was poison on Bankotsu's chin……The young priestess's eyes slowly widened in horror as she realized the truth of what had happened. She opened her mouth and let out a scream.
Kagome was in total shock. Thoughts were racing through her head so quickly she barely had time to register what any of them meant. I-I never thought- that Jakotsu was actually serious last night when he said he might do something drastic! Oh no…What should I do now? What should I do? What should-wait…Jakotsu! I have to get him! I have…I have to…
She slowly got back up to her feet as she realized what she had to do. Get Jakotsu here. And fast. Nothing else matters. Not herself right then, not the bow that she still had slung over her shoulders, not even the flicker of a jewel shard that she seemed to be sensing nearby. She had to do it. Turning around and backing away slowly, she started to run.
Run. The forest passes by her so quickly. Her mind was blank.
Run, but why does the hideout seem no closer? Why couldn't she concentrate on anything else?
Run, to make it to where she needed to be. Her legs could go no faster; they were screaming in pain already.
Run, right into-
沒有坎坷不必走
No ill fate can be passed by
Renkotsu was watching her.
The instant Kagome had left earlier that morning, he had made up some bullshit excuse about going to the hot springs and had followed her.
Why? Because the pyromaniac knew that Bankotsu had taken the poison from him last night. When the Shichinintai's second in command woke up and found out that said leader and the bottle were gone, he couldn't help but smirk. Bankotsu drinking the poison himself played right into his plan. Lastly, he knew why Kagome was going out for a 'walk' and why she end up here in this clearing. She too, had fallen for their o aniki and was about to go confess.
Only to find him dead.
Poor Imouto, getting all worked up about o aniki. Here I was worrying about how I could give the poison to that idiot without making it look suspicious and he actually goes and gets it himself and even drinks it down willingly. This is awesome. This is just too perfect! This is-
Wait! Bankotsu…He…he was-
No! But it couldn't be!
The pyromaniac's eyes widened a little in confusion as he brought his head forwards and looked carefully at his leader, whom his imouto was currently trying to wake up. A disbelieving gasp slipped out of his lips. This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out! He had asked Mukotsu to make this poison especially for him and because he had, it should work perfectly. But why didn't it? Why?
Suddenly, he felt the presence of another person in the clearing other than Kagome and Bankotsu. He could no longer stay here in fear of being discovered, then questioned if the person coming was one of the Shichinintai. And as he had no wish of being interrogated right then about what he was doing, he turned swiftly without any sound and left his hiding spot.
While Renkotsu was running back to the cave to join the others, he narrowed his eyes in thought as he searched through his brain for answers. He was at a loss, until he was just a few hundred meters away from the hideout. Then all of a sudden, his eyes widened in total horror as he thought back to just last night when he went to get the poison from Mukotsu.
"Um, aniki I made this in a rush so-"
The pyromaniac turned to face the other man "It matters not. I have the poison and that is what I wanted."
The poison master had said that he had made this poison in a rush. That's why it didn't work the way it was supposed to.
That's why.
所以安心的牽你的手
So I take your hand with no worries
It was a bright and sunny morning, but unfortunately, it didn't match anyone in the Inu-Tachi's mood. Also, where they were right then really was not helping to lighten the mood either. They were walking along a narrow mountain path where weird plants, which Kikyou had defined as poison ivy, grew in abundance.
There was no sign of animal life, yet the trail looked as if it had been used recently. The bottom of that mountain looked as if there used to be water flowing down and over it very recently, but had somehow dried up almost instantly. There was a cave halfway up on a sheer face of the mountain that had bits of debris and small rocks littered all around the entrance, as if they had been blown up by something explosive.
In short, it was a strange place.
So far in the past month, they had found only one more shard to add to their collection, but it had cost them a few major injuries to obtain, not to mention some minor cuts and bruises. Of course, finding the shard was great, but still, they had not found what was really important.
Kagome.
She had left them a month ago with quite a lot of problems on their hands. The first, and maybe the source of most arguments these days, was the fact that she had purified Inuyasha's demon side with no telling when he would return back to normal.
Nothing they tried worked, not even Kikyou had been able to reverse her reincarnation's spell. So, the poor hanyou was stuck in human form.
"I wonder when we're going to find Kagome," said a sad little Shippo, rubbing his eyes."I miss her and Inuyasha's complaining is getting annoying." He was very lucky for the fact that said half demon turned human was currently deep in conversation with Kikyou, so he didn't hear the fox's comment and come give him a few good punches.
Sango smiled a small smile "Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine"
"But it's been such a long time since we've last seen her. And she's with the Shichinintai too! How do we know that they're not gonna do anything to her?"
"We don't Shippo," said Miroku, seemingly coming out of some kind of deep thought. "But we can hope at the very least, that she is safe."
"Mew" Kirara added her input.
A few meters in front of them, Inuyasha suddenly shouted out to them that there was a nice clearing right up ahead and that they should take a rest. Normally, it wouldn't be Inuyasha who called for rest stops, but as mentioned just before, the hanyou was no longer a hanyou, but a mere human now. Also, even though the others didn't know it, Inuyasha and Kikyou had thought they sensed human presence in the clearing.
"Damn Inuyasha. He's taking more rests now than we used to ask him for," muttered an annoyed demon slayer as she, the monk, Kirara and the kitsune broke into a run to catch up with the priestess and the hanyou.
The monk nodded in agreement while looking down, counting on his fingers. "I'd have to say that it's the third time already and it's not even mid morning yet."
"We're never gonna find Kagome at this rate" whined Shippo.
"Unbelievable. And he was the one that was going on and on about how humans are pathetic and slow, and here he is taking rests and forcing us to take them along with him."
"Oi! I can hear you guys!" shouted a pissed to the high heavens Inuyasha, having just overheard the last bit of their conversation. "Even though I'm human I'm still not as pathetic as you idiots are! I can last plenty longer than you!"
"Sure Inuyasha, Whatever you say," said Miroku, a huge sweat drop slowly making its way down the monk's head. Then all of a sudden, said monk stiffened and held his weapon at the ready.
"Miroku?"
"Hush Shippo. Can you feel that?"
Inuyasha stood still for a second, and then he too, stiffened. "Yeah, that bastard Naraku's aura."
There wasn't alot of time to spare, so the once upon a time hanyou hurridly told Miroku, Sango, and Shippo about the presence that he and Kikyou had sensed earlier in the clearing. Then, I think it would be safe to say it was quickly decided that Inuyasha and Kikyou were going to go off and check out the 'bastard Naraku's' presence, while the others went to check the clearing. It would have been the other way around, but Inuyasha had constantly argued that he was stronger and could last longer than any of them. Too tired and annoyed to argue back, they agreed, although reluctant.
It turned out to be the right decision, for not even 5 minuets after Inuyasha and Kikyou left, a big black, green and white blur ran right into Miroku.
And knocked him down, much to the monk's embarrassment.
It was Kagome.
不去想該不該回頭
Without a thought of whether or not I should turn back
Jakotsu slowly walked out of the cave that they had been staying in the previous night. After his imouto had left to go on her walk, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep properly, in fear of her being kidnapped or ambushed or any other number of things that could happen to a girl walking alone in the forests. So, might as well not sleep and go for a walk of his own to clear his head of bad thoughts that were beginning to worry him until Kagome came back.
The slasher was walking with his eyes closed and head thrown back slightly in what people would see as a lazy, relaxed way not much different from his o aniki. His Jakotsutou was slung carelessly over his shoulder and his pink and green kimono flowed calmly around his legs in the cool breeze.
As a way to help clear his head of his imouto, he was currently thinking about none other than Inuyasha. Puppy ears hey?..They look so soft and fuzzy. How I long to just take a nibble, a taste of them! I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I see him then, to make sure I don't damage those precious ears or get any blood on them, though I do wonder what colour Inuyasha's is. They're probably a nice deep shade of rich-
Smack!
Jakotsu's eyes flew open. His hand flew to his Jakotsutou. He was ready to kill whatever had ran into him on the spot. A look of close inspection revealed that the person was only-
"Calm down Jakotsu. It's only me." growled Renkotsu while rolling his eyes.
Said slasher's eyes widened in surprise at running smack into his brother. "Renkotsu no aniki! You're back! Was the hot springs nice?" Are you sure a bath would take that long?
"Yeah I'm back. But no the hot springs weren't that nice in my opinion." Of course, my bath wouldn't have been that long. If Jakotsu asks me where the springs were, I'm screwed.
"Oh really?" Huh. Wonder what springs you went to if it took you that long and you still aren't clean. There's bits of dirt on your hands and leaves in your head cloth Renkotsu no aniki…
"Yes." This doesn't look suspicious does it Jakotsu?
A short moment of silence followed this short exchange of words as the two brothers walked side by side back to the cave. But then, all of a sudden when he spotted a small book that was lying by a big yellow backpack just in front of the cave, all the worry for his imouto came back to Jakotsu.
"Hey Renkotsu? Have you seen imouto?" This feels suspicious.
"Kagome? Oh no I haven't seen her at all since this morning." Of course it feels suspicious! I should've thought of a better thing to say then going to the hot springs And to add to that, my plan backfired on me!
"Aw…What about Bankotsu no o aniki? Have you seen him?" Where did you go last night Renkotsu? You weren't the only one that was awake!
"Oh..um no! I haven't seen him either." Shit! Since when did you get so smart Jakotsu! This sucks big time! My plan is not going at all well and to make it all worse, the poison didn't work out either! Damn it! I should've listened to Mukotsu when he said that he made it in a rush! Looks like I have to go back to that fat ass and teach him a lesson.
Why you ask, did he need to go teach Mukotsu a lesson? Simple.
The poison hadn't worked; Bankotsu was alive.
But…Kagome didn't know that
And Renkotsu wasn't about to tell her or Jakotsu anything.
Time to think of another not suspicious way of getting rid of that idiotic asshole Bankotsu.
也許牽了手的手
If the hand that I hold yours with
Kagome was reunited with Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara after running smack into said monk. Of course they had been extremely surprised, and of course they had accepted her back, but they had totally bombarded her with questions of if she was okay, or if the shichinintai did anything bad to her, and such.
And it was then, during the piles of questions and answers that the modern miko had found out that Inuyasha and Kikyou had gone off after Naraku. Alone.
But to everyone's utter surprise, she didn't even seem to care. She didn't seem hurt, she didn't seem betrayed at all. Sango could only come up with one answer to this: Kagome had fallen in love with another person already. However, the question now that the taijiya had realized that the miko was yet again in love, the question always on her mind was: who was there to fall in love with? Certainly not one of the band of seven; and Kagome had not said a word about anything that had happened while she was with them yet, despite their frequent questioning.
They would question her.
She would stay quiet, or change the topic.
They would question her again.
She would smile and turn away.
Things continued on in this fashion for a while longer until eventually, they gave up. They decided to just let her tell them when she was ready, since they weren't getting any answers at all this way. Also, there was another thing. Although Miroku, Sango, and Shippo didn't let her know, they were secretly very worried about Kagome.
She was not the once cheerful and positive girl that they had once knew. Instead, in her place was now a quiet woman with a figure that increasingly got thinner, as she started to refuse food, as her love had when she rejected him. Her big brown eyes had most of it's warmth and emotion, those factors now rarely showing up for the briefest of a second, and only when someone mentioned the shichinintai.
But none of them had picked that major hint up.
The five of them had been camping out in a small clearing near the one that meant so much to Kagome and Bankotsu for a day and a night, deciding that they would wait for Inuyasha to return. But the time ran out, and they had not returned yet, so the remaining of the InuTachi decided to set out. In search of them.
So, currently, the five of them that were there were on the road again, walking down a light brown dusty path.
Kagome, like her favourite Jakotsu no aniki and her love, Bankotsu was walking down the road with her eyes closed and her head thrown slightly back. However, unlike her brothers, she had none of the casual swagger, the laid back feeling that they had.
It was only sadness, exhaustion and despair around her.
Why was she exhausted you ask? Kagome's thoughts were swimming around in her head as she walked alongside her friends. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is him. Kind of makes it difficult to get any quality sleep around here. Thought Kagome with a small sigh, for try as she might, she could not forget about her Bankotsu and everything that he had been to her. I feel so bad I wasn't able to tell any of the other Shichinintai about him before I left. I wanted so much to go back, I tried so hard to go back, but I was always stopped by one of my friends questioning where I was going, or by my own stupidity as I don't know where they are now.
The dirt floor under her suddenly shifted. Then it sank back to its original place.
True, Kagome was feeling slightly nauseous and her head did feel a bit heavy, but she only thought that it was due to the heat, and nothing more. Therefore, she had rejected all of Miroku's suggestions that they should stop and let her rest.
The modern miko sighed again and returned to her thoughts. I guess I should feel bad, I mean, the people that my friends are set out to find and destroy at the moment are my friends as well. Not only that, they even accepted me as their imouto. And to top it all off, they're the most feared band of mercenaries in a few good decades!
The floor under her all of a sudden shifted again and she swayed slightly, trying to keep her balance.
"Kagome-sama?" asked a slightly concerned Miroku once again, who had seen her sway slightly on the spot. "Are you sure you're okay? We can stop and take a break if you want."
"Oh. No. It's fine Miroku-sama. It's probably just the heat getting to me."
The monk accepted this as an answer, and they were off in silence again.
A few minutes later, she was beginning to think that this was a little more than just the heat. But even as she tried to deny it to herself, she couldn't shake the feeling of sickness that was tearing through her body. It was just getting worse and worse.
The sound of Miroku and Sango talking. The sound Kirara's paws made on the dirt floor. The sound of Shippo's toy snake as he fumbled around with it. To Kagome, it had all been maginified.
"Kagome-sama. I think we better take you to a healer." Miroku's voice rang out to her even though he was standing a few good feet away from her.
"Its alright Miroku-sama. It's just the heat and nothing more. It should be gone by-" But what she was just about to say about when it should be gone by, they never found out. For suddenly, a feeling of déjà vu crept over Kagome as a familiar darkness surrounded her mind, and as strong arms surrounded her body.
Once again.
前生不一定好走
Our last life might not have been good
The sound of a bird's call.
A feeling of cool mountain wind gently blowing against his face.
The feeling of soft blossoms and grass under him; the feeling of a solid, warm rock behind him.
Where am I? he thought, The first time around, I never got to a place like this when I died.
Bankotsu, leader of the band of seven slowly opened his eyes. He was in a clearing, surrounded by flowers and trees and the smells of a normal fresh morning. The teenager blinked. Why did this seem so familiar to him.
He racked his brains in search of an answer, which was hard as his brain seemed to have turned into mush. What am I doing out here? Why does this place seem so familiar to me? Why does this- his train of thought stopped right there.
His eyes widened.
This was the clearing. The clearing that meant so much to him and Kagome. It was where he confessed, where he was rejected, where he drank the poison, where he..died?
Wasn't I supposed to be returned to the grave a second time? Thougt Bankotsu as he looked around. Everything felt the same, everything looked the same. The little glass bottle half filled with poison was still lying beside him. The little cave in which he put a futon earlier on was still behind him.
Speaking of the cave, the shichinintai leader slowly got up and walked around to the opening of the small cave. He looked inside. For the second time in a minute, his eyes widened. Again.
"What the hell? Where did the bow go?" he questioned angrily with a hint of confusion. This was the special bow he had made Kagome!…Kagome…
Although when he asked that question he expected no answer to be given but to his utter surprise, he heard a voice so familiar to him that he could recognize it anywhere give him an answer, surprising him right out of his wits.
"What bow Bankotsu no o aniki?"
也許有了伴的路
And if I have a companion to walk this road with
It was so warm, so comfortable.
Kagome sat up slowly and looked around. She was feeling quite a bit better than the last time she was conscious and now, she realized that the small wooden room she was in was totally empty except for an old woman, who she did not recognized. "Who-who are you?" she asked quietly.
The woman heard her and turned around. "My name is Aneko." She said with a wrinkled old smile. "And who might you be?"
"My name is Kagome. I'm pleased to meet you, Aneko-obasan."
"Well than Kagome child, how are you feeling?"
"I feel much better now" said Kagome with a small smile. "How long have I been out for?"
Before answering, the older woman handed the younger a small cuup. " Drink this Kagome. You have been overtired, without proper rest for a while. And as for your question, about three days."
The miko looked a bit surprised, but then, she looked around and realized that there was something missing from the picture. "Where are my friends?"
"Why child, they went off to chase a rumor that the Shichinintai were near. They left the little cat here to keep you safe. But surely, you do not intend to go out after them now in your weakened state?" asked the old lady with a sincere look of concern on her old, wrinkled face as she saw the younger priestess kick the blankets away and sit up.
Kagome nodded as she picked up all her stuff in a rush and called Kirara. "Thank you for everything you have done for me so far and for healing me, Aneko-obasan, but they're both my friends and I have to stop them!"
Aneko made a movement with her mouth as to ask what she meant by they're both her friends, but halfway through, she decided against it and nodded. "Then fare thee well, Kagome-chan, for I do not have doubts that you will be safe."
The miko bowed to the older lady, then turned to the fire cat. "Come on, Kirara. I've got to stop them from fighting!"
In no time, they had arrived at the site of where they were supposedly fighting. Kagome hopped off the twin tail and ran in through the gates of the castle, only to see that her friends were, sure enough, faced off against the Shichinintai. Also, she was just in time to see Koga getting blasted by one of Ginkotsu's cannons and thrown to the ground.
"Koga!" the miko shouted as she ran to him. "Koga! Are you alright?"
He looked up and when he realized it was her, he broke into a wide smile. "Kagome, it's you! And of course I'm okay, now that you're here."
"Oi wolf! Cut the crap and come here right now! Stop chickening out on the battle you useless flea bag!" yelled a voice she knew very well from across the castle grounds.
Inuyasha.
Of course, Kagome was not happy with the hanyou for calling her friend a useless flea bag, and also for not even asking if she was okay or not, after not seeing her for well over a month, so she looked up to yell at him.
But it just so happened that she saw the person Inuyasha was standing in front of. Her brown eyes met his. His cerulean eyes met hers.
Hers widened. There was no way. There was no way this could be him.
"Bankotsu..?…" she whispered.
Then he was gone.
"Bankotsu!"
AND this chappie is over. IF ANYONES CONFUSED PLEASE LET ME KNOW! Kagome thinks that the poison really worked and that Bankotsu's dead. BUt hes really not since Mukotsu made the poison in a hurry and most likely did something wrong, causing Bankotsu to live on instead of die. Renkotsu meanwhile, is trying to think of another plan to get rid of his leader. Finally, when Kagome runs in on the InuTachi and Shichinintai fighitng each other, she thinks she sees Bankotsu, even though she still believes him dead. As a side note, ANEKO means "elder sister"
THE NEXT CHAPPIE: The next chappie is gonna focus totally on Bankotsu and Kagome's love. Also, Kagome finds out for sure if her love is still alive and well. But then again, the course of true love never did run smooth. Another one of the trails is over, but will another one be placed in their way?
THE REVIEWS NEEDED FOR NEXT CHAPPIE, ONCE AGAIN IS 235-240 ish. You wanna know what happens rite? .
And thanks to everyone who alerted or fav and especially reviewed this story:
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