Chapter #5
"We should descend," Yosei had warned.
And just the same Bankotsu had urged, "No. Keep going!"
In a tug of words they battled while the squall raged around them, Storm barely able to hang on. Rain and wind and wet hair slapped Yosei across the face, making it nearly impossible to view the stormy skies ahead. In front of her Bankotsu reigned Storm forward, this time taking control of the mount and forcing him to fly through the cursed rain.
They flew in a fool's journey, following the lead of the legendary demon blacksmith Totosai, who had allegedly taken asylum in a human's castle, pretending to be a human. Such were the rumors, which Yosei had heard more than once. Of course she refused to believe them. A demon blacksmith would never pass off as a human. And what means would he have to hide in a human's castle, the least protected of kinds? Only when Bankotsu heard the rumors, straight out of a courier's mouth while they rested at a roadside inn, he was possessed with the idea of finding the demon forger as soon as possible and at any costs.
Of course Yosei fought him, and of course Bankotsu fought back. She agreed in the end, tired of hearing him complain of how he needed a proper weapon forged by the incomparable Totosai. Bankotsu had crowed and fought and moaned, even saying how he needed his Banryu back if he was ever to stand a chance against the Man of Many Faces. (That card he played quite cunningly, for Yosei would agree to anything as long as it kept her safe and away from Ichiroumaru's clutches).
So they took flight as the sun descended to the west, and in their haste foolishly entered a mountain's storm.
Bankotsu was leading this time. He reigned Storm onwards while Yosei clutch his waist from behind. The rain was so thick Storm was barely able to cut through it like a wretched, ambivalent fly.
Again, Yosei screamed at Bankotsu to descend, but she was sure her words were lost in the turbulence. She couldn't see a thing. How could Bankotsu hope to fly this way?
Yosei released one hand to wipe the wet hair from her eyes. She swiped the water away, making way for more rain. Suddenly Storm quivered in the wind and wrenched them forward. The movement yanked Yosei away from Bankotsu, her other hand losing grip of Bankotsu's slippery clothes.
Screaming, she was hurled out of the mount and into the raging skies.
Bankotsu noticed her falling but it was too late. Storm continued flapping ahead while Bankotsu reigned him to slow, and Yosei screeched and flailed, propelling into the fog of rain.
~~~00000~~~
The life went back into Yosei at the feel of a warm cloth against her temple. She took a deep breath, smelling lavender and bamboo and the distant scent of an earthy stew. Yosei heard voices around her; two females, two males, a child.
Yosei moved the wet cloth from her temples and opened her eyes.
"She's awake!" a feminine, melodious voice cooed.
"What a fall," the second female said.
One of the deeper voices grunted. "It was nothing for her. Told you she ain't human. Should let her loose before she turns on you."
Yosei inched away from them, realizing her clothes weren't thick and sticky and wet with rain anymore. She was wearing a yukata of soft, white linens. She sat up and noticed her wavy hair dried in curls. Wincing, she asked, "Did you groom me?"
The feminine woman, the one who had been swiping at her forehead with the cloth, offered her a warm smile. "We were worried you had broken a bone or something. You fell from the sky and right onto our porch!" She wore revealing clothes, the sort one would see at a brothel, but her face screamed of naïve innocence.
"Like quite an angel," the monk sitting at the corner chuckled warmly.
"Or a demon—more likely," the second male said. His golden eyes watched her with distrust, and at once Yosei understood why. He wasn't just human. He had demon blood.
"You all… are a weird a bunch," Yosei said. Under their stares she felt naked. She was so used to her thick, blue robes and her grime that without them she was entirely exposed. "So I fell," she began, trying to replay the events in her mind, "And you found me, just like that?"
"Yeah. We sort of freaked. Thought you died," said the second female. She wore a high ponytail and the tight outfit of a warrior. "I'm Sango. This is Kagome," she pointed at the trusting female, then at the monk, "That's Miroku," then at the demon-child, "Shippo, and mister scruff over there is Inuyasha."
"Inuyasha," Yosei repeated. "I've heard of you."
That didn't seem to surprise him. "Yeah, so what? Everyone in the region's been wanting a piece of me. And I'll gladly give it. With my Tessaiga." He flexed his fist threateningly, which only fed Yosei with curiosity. It was Bankotsu who had talked of him.
Yosei sat up. She used the inner workings of her necromancy to summon Bankotsu to her location. The bastard better come and find her, and quick. If he dared going to Totosai on his own, without her, there would be hell to pay.
"And you're not afraid of me? You'd just help a stranger?" she asked. She didn't trust their story. Humans didn't just help strangers. That was, unless they had a hefty bounty to collect from the Man of Many Faces...
Kagome shook her head and said, "We'd help anyone. Really."
Yosei swallowed hard. "What have you got to gain?"
"Look, lady, if you wanna be out there in the rain, be our guest!" Inuyasha said as he got up. He headed toward the wooden door and slammed it open, allowing the angled raindrops to sprinkle the entrance. "You can take your filthy clothes, put 'em back on, and be on your merry way!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome protested.
"No, I'm serious. You and I both know that anytime anybody decides to just "fall" on us, it ends up having something to do with Naraku, and we end up having to pay for it one way or another—"
Kagome shot back, and just like how it was with Yosei and Bankotsu, Inuyasha and Kagome and even their other companions burst into a war of words about "hospitality" and "imminent danger."
Yosei muted them out, watching how the heavens outside continued to rage on. The rain season was in the midst of unleashing one of its nasty moods. If it weren't for her necromancy tying her to Bankotsu, there would be no way he would find her in this weather. She tried calling for him again, her innards screaming at him of her location.
"So what are you?" Sango asked. "Sorry if it sounds rude, but you know, can't ever be too careful these days."
"I'm a demon," Yosei told her.
"Bullshit," Inuyasha spat. "You reek of dirt. You're a full-blooded conjurer if I've ever seen one."
"No!" Miroku gasped. "Seriously? I've only heard of your kind in legend."
Yosei only watched them with distrust. Conjurers were few and far in-between. Anyone who knew of conjurers also knew of… "So you've heard of Ichiroumaru?" she asked them.
"The strongest of them all," Miroku said, "I mean—that's still alive. Why? You work for him?"
A sudden pull in her gut sprung Yosei to her feet. Her abrupt movements startled them, but she ignored them. Yosei stared out at the stormy night outside, squinting while her stomach fluttered in relief. She felt Bankotsu near!
"Is everything alright?" Kagome asked.
"I knew it! She only means trouble for us!" Inuyasha said with his hand on his scabbard.
"My thrall," Yosei said in a whisper, her lips opening in a smile as the light of the hearth reached just far enough for Bankotsu's drenched image to be seen from the darkness.
The humans and the demons also watched him with stupefied expressions as he stepped onto the porch and into the roofed entrance.
"Bankotsu!" Yosei said.
"My most precious Mistress."
"Bankotsu of the Band of Seven‽"
"He's alive?"
"What?"
"Impossible!"
"I watched you die!" Inuyasha growled, pulling his sword from its scabbard. The flimsy katana transformed with his movements, turning into something the shape of a demon's fang.
Bankotsu stilled at the entryway, blue eyes going from Yosei to Inuyasha, his expression descending into a scowl. "Inuyasha."
Inuyasha pointed the sword at Bankotsu, but Yosei would have none of it. She stepped in-between them, snapping, "Put your sword down, halfbreed."
"Oh, now you calling me halfbreed? You better know I ain't got no problems about killing you with him."
"You're working for Naraku?" Kagome asked Yosei with those innocent eyes rounding in disbelief.
"Who the fuck is Naraku‽" For the millionth time now, the mention of him made Yosei's blood boil. "And why are you threatening my thrall? I swear if you harm him, I will—I will—"
Bankotsu placed an arm on her shoulder. "Yosei. This is the man who killed me last time I was resurrected."
"Killed you?" Inuyasha bellowed. "You killed yourself, you greedy bastard! What're you here for now? Did Naraku bring you back?"
Bankotsu pulled Yosei beside him, away from Tessaiga. "Fool! You saw me die! You saw how that bastard betrayed me! Naraku and I have no ties anymore. In fact, if I do run into him, I'm going to make sure he rues the day he decided to bring me back from the dead."
A tense silence fell in the room. Yosei and Bankotsu stared at the group, who stared back, both parties at a stalemate.
It was Kagome's naiveté that pulled them out of it. "So you're not working for Naraku?" she asked.
"Never again."
"And you're not here to harm us?"
"I came for my most precious Mistress."
Yosei blushed quite noticeably.
"This conjurer?" Inuyasha asked with an amused scoff. He lowered his sword at the realization.
Miroku and the rest exchanged amused glances.
"I own Bankotsu," Yosei explained, "And we're only here because I fell off our mount." She turned to him, asking, "What happened to Storm?"
"He ditched me. The beast has no loyalty for me! Tossed me to the storm and took off looking for you. Why don't you summon him already?"
Yosei hugged herself as she stared out at the rain. "Even if I did. We shouldn't fly in this weather." She used her magic again, only this time on her chimera.
Bankotsu scoffed at that.
After fetching linens from a chest, Kagome approached Bankotsu, gingerly offering them. "Here, you probably want to dry up. You'll catch a cold."
Amused, Bankotsu accepted the towels. "Thanks. Not that corpses get sick, now can we?"
"Fucking necromancy," Inuyasha muttered.
Yosei watched the group curiously. "Are we still allowed to stay, or are we not welcomed anymore because of this Naraku person and whatever history you might have with him?"
Kagome exchanged glances with Sango and Miroku before nodding. "Stay."
"Really?" Inuyasha protested.
"Don't make me make you sit," Kagome warned and the rest, with the exception of Yosei and Bankotsu, chuckled.
The invitation was enough to put them at ease. Yosei discovered the room opened up to a spacious outhouse, probably left abandoned by the war. Kagome and Sango had a stew going in an adjacent room, which was packed with game and herbs and roots and medical supplies. "We're staying a couple of days here before heading out," Kagome explained as she handed Yosei a bowl of the hot grub. Yosei thanked her and eagerly took the bowl.
Storm joined them while Yosei sat crossed legged near the wet entryway, slurping the stew. The chimera startled them all again, and after explaining what it was Yosei herded him toward a back room, where a cat demon lay curled up in a ball. Her name was Kirara.
"So tell me Yosei, what's the life like, of a conjurer?" Miroku asked her, taking her by surprise, when Yosei was putting Storm to sleep near Kirara.
"Um—" It sucks? Should she admit it? "It's not the best life for a woman."
"Why? What life isn't the best when you're female?"
"Hey monk, lay off, will you? The only one that's allowed to lay with her is me," Bankotsu drawled while standing by the doorway.
Miroku made a face of disgust at the thought, matching Yosei's expression.
"Is it okay to ask where you were flying to, when the storm hit?" Sango asked from the other room.
"This fool here thinks he can find Totosai in a daimyo's castle," Yosei said as she walked back to the populated room, the one with the warm hearth.
"What you gonna see Totosai for?" Inuyasha asked.
"That's interesting… we're looking for him, too," Kagome said.
"To get him to forge me another Banryu—"
"Like I'd let that happen!" Inuyasha blurted. "Over my dead body I'll let you get that halberd again! What you need it for, huh?"
"I'm a thrall, remember? Fucking idiot," Bankotsu shot back. "You got a problem with that? You better take it up to her." He pointed at Yosei and asked her, "Tell me you got some curse in that bag of yours to put on him."
"I'll be damned—you wanna fight, corpse?"
"Gladly, halfbreed."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, "Sit, boy!"
Inuyasha hit the floor, headfirst, like a boulder had rolled onto him. Yosei gawked while their party chuckled at the power Kagome had over him. She exchange a glance with Bankotsu, who motioned toward an adjacent room and pulled her away.
He walked her from sliding door to sliding door until they reached the back of the house. In their silence Yosei heard the distant sound of thunder and the not-so-distant rain on tarp.
With curious eyes, she asked him, "What is it?"
"I need you to feed me."
Something in her stomach flipped at that. Even if it shouldn't. She was used to this. He was her thrall. "And you had to pull me away to tell me that? What, didn't want your old friends seeing how you feed off your "most precious Mistress"?" The thought made Yosei feel inappropriate. In comparison to Kagome and Sango, she sure felt ugly.
"What? Where is this coming from? What's the matter?"
Normally Yosei was never rendered speechless. Never by a human. And never by a dead human at that.
He waited for her with a raised eyebrow.
"Well—are you ashamed of how you're fed? I hope you know it's not by choice—"
Her words stopped when he took a step to her and his fingers grazed her jaw. The feel of his skin was cold. "No. I just want to be fed. In private. Away from them." His head shook in the slightest movement. "I don't want them to know I rely on you this much. I don't want anyone to try to target me through you."
Bankotsu licked his lips and decreased the distance between them. "Besides. This is our moment. It's what we do."
Yosei welcomed the feel of cold lips while her breath was taken away. Yes. It was what they did. But she was beginning to treasure it more than she ought to. She was beginning to look forward to it. He was a corpse, and she was a wed conjurer. And that was the matter.
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