Okay, drama-fest! My word, I love writing stories like this! Enjoy!
I gathered up the bowls and pots, after everyone'd finished their meal, and stood up, waiting to see who would follow me tonight.
They were huddled up, and whispering amongst each other.
They'd all been more hesitant to approach me over the last two days.
I've almost been left to myself a bunch of times.
I still can't be sure what I did. But, I wanted to do it again, and see if I could have some time to myself.
"Alright, you go." Bankotsu said. "She's scared of you. You can keep her in line without much trouble."
I heard someone groan.
To my dismay, their most barbaric member came walking around toward me.
I hated him. He looked at me with the most horrifying look... like he wanted some kind of awful torture to befall me. Like he wanted to make some awful torture befall me.
He stopped in front of me.
"Well? Get moving!" He said.
I jumped, and quickly started toward the river.
Once we were at the river, I knelt down, and began scrubbing the dishes.
With my eyes turned away from him, and my hands occupied, I didn't feel so uncomfortable.
Perhaps, if I just don't look at him...
"N-Ne." I said.
"What now?" The man asked.
I could feel my pulse beginning to speed up a bit. He was still scary. But, it was a bit late to take it back.
"H-How... H-How did the giant come to be?" I asked.
There was a brief silence, only filled by the light splashing sounds made by the bowls as I washed them.
"What's it to you?" The man asked.
I scowled at his impudence. I wasn't going to do anything about it, though.
"Knowledge." I said. "Bankotsu said that all of you were human... yet, he doesn't look human."
I put the bowls aside, and began scrubbing at one of the pots.
The man chuckled, quietly.
"Kyoukotsu is just what his name is." The man said. "He's had bad luck from the very start. Born ugly, and cursed with stupid parents. They didn't know how to deal with all the villagers picking on him, so, they took him to the mountains during the winter. They died out there. He ate them so that he could survive."
My stomach clenched.
He... ate his own parents? And this man just said it like it was nothing?
Had they done worse? How could it possibly get worse than this?
"While he was wandering those mountains, he came across a youkai battle field." The man went on. "With all of them dead, he didn't have much trouble eating them, either. The youkai flesh was what made him grow like that. His stupid parents brought about his hatred for humans."
My whole body was stiff, but for my shaking hands.
How awful... These men... did they all have such awful backgrounds?
"Hurry up, already." The man said. "Aniki's waiting on us!"
Very slowly, I processed the images before me, and started scrubbing the pot, again.
"That's awful." I said. "Eating his own parents?"
"They were dead, they were no good to him any other way." The man said. "Besides... what're you gonna do in a situation like that? Starving, with no way to find food, and little chance of someone finding you before you died..."
I couldn't imagine it. And I didn't want to.
I shook my head, and began scrubbing like mad.
Once I had the dishes clean, and gathered up, and we were on our way back, I found myself thinking about something other than the blisters on my hands.
Ginkotsu had bones of silver, and was skilled with machines.
Renkotsu was normal, but, he, too, was skilled with machines.
Bankotsu was absolutely barbaric.
Kyoukotsu was, in a way, terribly unlucky.
So... which one was this one?
Hmmm... snakes... sleeping... misty... none of these really suited him... but, if I had to pick one...
"Jakotsu, right?" I asked.
"I'm Suikotsu, baka." He said.
"Eh? That's strange. You don't sleep that much..." I said.
He leered back at me.
I held a little tighter to the pots in my arms, feeling a bit uneasy now.
"My name refers to my old self." Suikotsu said. "He's asleep inside me... for good this time."
The unease slowly settled back down.
"Old self?" I asked.
He was silent for a moment.
"He was a doctor." Suikotsu said.
This is an odd way to refer to one's self. As though you have a second being...
"You mean 'you' were a doctor." I corrected him.
"Whatever shuts you up." Suikotsu said.
My back stiffened. So, he did have a second being? Or, was he simply mad?
I shook my head, keeping all comments on his sanity to myself, as I began walking a little faster.
I walked right next to him all the way back to the group, still curious about his 'old self', but not saying anything... yet...
Bankotsu's POV:
Finally, they were back.
Shockingly, the brat was walking right next to Suikotsu, looking more thoughtful than fearful.
She set the pots and bowls down beside Renkotsu, and went to her decided tree to sit.
"Suikotsu, what did you do?" I asked as he sat down with us.
He sighed in irritation, scratching his head.
"Nothing." Suikotsu said. "That wench asked questions about Kyoukotsu's past, and then about mine. I didn't give her anything useful, though."
Renkotsu cast his eyes over at the brat.
"She asked about Ginkotsu, too." He said. "Whatever she's trying to figure out, she's trying to gain trust first. She hasn't asked about anything that could lead to our un-doing."
I narrowed my eyes at that brat, as she closed her eyes, and settled down against her tree.
"Alright." I said. "If she wants to know about our pasts', that's fine. She'll get nothing else, though."
We all spread out to settle in for the night.
They all fell asleep slowly.
Before I could follow them, I heard a buzzing sound.
"Geez, what do you want now?" I asked.
I got up, and went to find the source of the buzzing...
Ne - Hey (call for attention).
Baka - Stupid / Idiot / Fool.
I got name translations off of the InuYasha Wikia, and they seem to be accurate. I'm making up the stories behind the Shichinintai. They're not real, nor are they in any fan fictions I know of. Please, review!