The six members of the Band, along with Ayame, hustled quickly through the forest in the dark, not bothering to attempt to quiet their running footsteps. They ran in the direction of their last battle field, wanting to get to Kyokotsu, rest up a bit, and be on their way to collect money from the Lord in the West.

Hardly panting, Bankotsu cats a quick glance behind his shoulder to make sure Ayame was keeping up. Feeling a slight shove on his arm, his attention was drawn to Jakotsu who was running beside him. "Think the bitch can keep up?"
"Of course I can," Ayame calmly begins, on the other side of Bankotsu now, "I'd go faster, but I don't really know where I'm going, now do I?"

Jakotsu sticks his tongue out at the girl, not quite yet used to her presence. The sven of them ran the rest of the way in silence, only stopping when they saw Kyokotsu sitting in the clearing. Not a single body was left, all had been devoured by the giant and only scattered pieces of armor hinted that this was indeed the same clearing.

"Brothers! You've returned. Took you long enough." Kyokotsu jokes, smiling wide. Then asks, "Who's she?"

"Right, you guys, I want you to meet Ayame." Bankotsu introduces, the Band barely able to see one another, the only light source coming from the moon light and the delicate flares coming from Renkotsu's attempts at starting a fire. Finally the fire was bright enough for everyone to see one anothers face. Ayame had to stifle a gasp at some of their faces. "Ayame," Bankotsu starts, "Here's the entirety of the Band of Seven. You know Jakotsu, Renkotsu, and there's Suikotsu, Ginkotsu, Moukotsu and finally Kyokotsu." Ayame had to force herself not to stare at one specific man for too long, but her attention kept being drawn by Kyokotsu's height and Mukotsu's face. Back in the meat shop, Ayame had glanced over them and had seen Ginkotsu's tragic body, but Mukotsu had been wearing a white cloth over his face, covering his hideous mouth and distracted her from his large, yet beady eyes.

Mouth opening slowly, Ayame had to force herself to look back to Bankotsu before muttering a small "Hello".

"Ayame will be traveling with us from now on."

"What? So now we're the Band of Eight?" Jakotsu asks indignantly.

"Nah, she won't be fighting with us. She'll find work in the villages we visit."

"Then why doesn't she just settle down in one of those villages?"

Bankotsu and Ayame shared a quick look before Bankotsu continued. "Just because, all right?"

Their leader's tone stopped any more questions from the Band, at least for the rest of the night. Bankotsu wasn't too sure if Ayame was all right with letting the rest of the Band know about her situation with her father. Bankotsu and Ayame had both agreed that she'd continue on with the Band with the intent of making her harder to find by the scum Lord.

Shuffling into their own separate sleeping arrangements, Ayame headed over to Bankotsu, who was curled up in between the fire and the edge of the forest. Bankotsu watched as the girl began to lay down next to him. "Thanks again, Bankotsu," she reaches out to touch his hand, then catches herself and retracts her hand, "I really appreciate you helping me." Bankotsu stares at her for a long while before muttering "No problem,". The two stared at each other for a while longer, wondering who will make the next move. Neither do, however, instead they both close their eyes and fall into dreamless slumber.

The next morning, after the Band had woken and breakfasted, the eight of them made their way back towards the west where they would be collecting their dues from the Lord there. The trek was made in comfortable silence with Ayame and Bankotsu walking closely next to one another, accidentally brushing up against one another from time to time. Renkotsu watched with jealous eyes whenever these brushes occurred. He wanted to be the receiving end of a woman's attention for once instead of Bankotsu. Ayame could really like him, if she ever gave him the chance. But no, no one ever thinks of the smart guy, they always go for the leader. Renkotsu grumbles at the thought.

After several more hours, the Band and Ayame arrive at the village gates. Nodding to the guards, Bankotsu motions for his men to walk ahead and pulls Ayame back. Once the rest of the Band is a far enough distance away, Bankotsu asks, "You ready for this?"

Ayame smiles brightly at his questions, on the verge of bouncing up and down, and replies "I honestly can't wait. I've been dreaming about working for myself my entire life."

The Band leader smirks at her before bending down and lightly brushing his lips against her own, not quite a kiss, but definitely more than a friendly hug. Ayame's breath hitches and she can feel herself redden like a tomato. Without pulling away, Bankotsu mumbles onto her lips, "Well then, what's keep'n ya?"

Laughing self-consciously, Ayame pulls away, the opposite of what Bankotsu thought she would do, and begins to walk into the village without looking behind her at the distracting mercenary leader. Bankotsu walked two paces behind her for several steps before easily catching up to her and bumping her shoulder. Bumping him back, the two smiled to themselves, wondering what the future will bring them.

A/N: Yes, it's short. Sorry, but it was a struggle to get just that out. Anyway, comments are always appreciated and I might be interested in a beta reader so if anyone's interested hit me up!

Pastry~