Enjoy!
I was rushing down the road, quite a bit faster than Mukotsu, making sure he was not close enough to touch me.
"Mori-hime, please! Slow down!" He cried.
"NEVER!" I screamed.
I picked up my pace just a bit.
"Please! You must understand my situation!" Mukotsu said. "I am a lonely man, and you are an enticing young woman!"
"SILENCE!" I screamed.
I clutched tightly to my pitiful yukata, somehow still feeling that filthy creature's hands on me.
One of the few times I decide to trust someone from the group called the 'Shichinintai', and he completely violates me! The nerve!
The sound of many swords slashing at something caught a small piece of my attention.
There was an army up ahead, wasn't there?
I quickly ran ahead, soon coming across a ravine.
Down in it, to my dismay, was the womanly man from the Shichinintai, in a circle of dead soldiers, and a small group of people trying to fight him.
His sword was actually a chain of swords. He didn't have to move from his spot as he jerked his swords back, and then forward.
One man with silver hair and dog ears stepped forward, and knocked the feminine man's swords back easily with one swing of his sword.
I lowered my head, and sat down on the edge of the ravine to watch the fight.
Mukotsu was close behind me, running right up next to me.
"Oh, excellent job!" Mukotsu said. "You've found him at last."
He pulled out a couple of his poison jars, opened them, and poured some of the contents into his mouth.
This was not new to me. I knew he could consume poison without worry. He used them as spices for his food many times.
Once his mouth was full, he closed both jars, and put them back.
He took a deep breath, raising his mask, and blew the poison out into the ravine.
The feminine man jumped back out of the poisonous mist, and looked up at us.
The look on his face was that of a child who was interrupted during a thoroughly entertaining game.
I could swear I heard him curse Mukotsu, too.
"There." Mukotsu said. "We have his attention. Let's go find a meeting point."
I jumped up and took off before Mukotsu could rise from his kneeling position. Still don't want to be very close to him.
I ran a short ways into the forest, and found myself a spot to sit.
Mukotsu caught up, and fell to a sit, looking winded.
It didn't take him long to catch his breath, and begin refilling his poison jars.
For some reason, he didn't speak a word to me, or try to explain himself.
He hadn't stopped trying to get me to forgive him since this morning. What happened to make him change his mind?
Soon, the feminine man came walking up behind Mukotsu, picked up his foot, and put it down on Mukotsu's head.
"What's the deal?" He asked. "Unleashing your poison on me like that..."
Mukotsu shook the feminine man's foot off of his head, and looked back at him.
"Relax. I knew you'd get away." Mukotsu said.
The feminine man huffed, and crossed his arms.
"Why'd you cut me off like that?" He asked. "I was enjoying that battle."
"You were about to lose." Mukotsu said, simply. "I stepped in to make sure you'd be around to help wipe them out in another battle."
The feminine man walked around, stopping in front of Mukotsu with his back turned to him, obviously ready to leave.
"That woman in the bunch... Kagome, I believe her name was..." Mukotsu said.
"Hmm? What about her?" The feminine man asked.
Mukotsu began packing up his poisons and such.
"I want her." Mukotsu said.
"If I can have InuYasha." The feminine man said.
"Done." Mukotsu said.
I raised my head in slight irritation. He stopped appologizing because he'd found someone else he wanted more than me. I did not like being ignored. However, I'd excuse it this time. I did not want him to touch me again.
The feminine man started away.
Mukotsu started off in another direction.
With little hesitation, I followed after the feminine man.
He looked back at me, and frowned.
"What do you want?" He asked.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
"I'm just going to follow you." I said. "I won't be any trouble. I just don't want to stay with Mukotsu anymore."
The feminine man scoffed, and turned to look ahead.
His scabbard had scales on it. His sword was long, and serpentine.
I see. He's the one called Jakotsu.
Well, now I know how to address him. But... how does a man get to be so feminine?
I looked him over, letting my gaze rest on his irritated face a moment longer than anything else.
He gave me the nastiest glares of the entire group. I had to be very careful about when and how I asked about his past.
"Oh, yeah!" Jakotsu said, suddenly.
He grabbed the front of his kimono, and began shaking it, as though trying to cool himself down.
I raised an eyebrow at this odd behavior. Today wasn't all that hot at all. The rain had fixed that well.
A dazed look spread across his face. Something was very pleasing about this action, to him.
"W-What... What are you doing?" I asked.
His pleased look faded away as he turned to glare at me.
"Making sure my beloved InuYasha can follow me!" Jakotsu said.
InuYasha? Bizzare name... A dog's arrow duplicate?
"How does that help, exactly?" I asked.
"Baka! InuYasha has a very strong sense of smell!" Jakotsu said. "And he likes to fight... Mmm, he's bound to follow me!"
He? What in heaven's name... ?
"Y-You... love... a man?" I asked, trying to sound calm, wondering if he was joking with me.
"No one asked for your opinion!" Jakotsu snapped.
I jumped back.
A shiver ran up my spine, and a cold tingle crept into my belly.
Many sick images floated through my mind.
I'd never felt more disgusted than I did in that moment... I would say nothing, though. It was obvious that he was protective of this... habit, and he was not one of the more forgiving members of the Shichinintai. Not to mention... I wanted to forget I'd ever learned about this.
I wanted the images in my head to stop, again.
Maybe I can change the subject...
"So... what made you become a killer?" I asked.
He looked back at me, obviously caught off guard by my sudden change in subject.
I lowered my head a bit, slightly embarrassed at my own randomness.
"Hmm. I guess... since you're a woman, I'll tell you." Jakotsu said.
Because I'm a woman? Why?
"I grew up in a house like yours." Jakotsu said. "Really fancy, with all the guards, and maids... I had a lot of sisters, and my old lady adored them. My old man died before I was old enough to remember him. The old lady didn't want anything to do with me. She was too busy spoiling my sisters. For a while, I started dressing up, and behaving like my sisters did, to see if I could get her attention. She and my sisters laughed at me, for it. Then, my mother found a new husband. He was young and handsome... probably after my mother's riches... but, he understood why I dressed up. He understood me. He was the one to teach me how to handle the Jakotsutou. I loved him so..."
More shivers ran up my spine. There would be no avoiding this subject, would there?
"I went to confess to him, one hot summer night..." Jakotsu said. "I poured out my heart to him... In a moment, the man I'd come to love became just the same as my old lady... I wouldn't let her keep him, though. I killed her and my sisters... and then slowly killed him, gently planting a kiss of love and death on his lips as he left this world... "
I've made some revisions to this story. The detail he put into murdering his mother and sisters was too much for me to repeat.
I didn't know how to reply without getting myself killed. I was simply horrified by the stories I'd heard from each member of the Shichinintai. I didn't know whether to feel more scared of them, or, if I should pity them.
I still hadn't heard one story, though...
"Ah! This spot is perfect!" Jakotsu exclaimed.
I jumped, and looked around.
We were standing in a sunny forest clearing.
Jakotsu climbed up on top of the boulder in the middle, and began shaking his kimono more vigorously.
"The wind's good, too! Oh, I can't wait!" Jakotsu cried.
I looked around, as I backed up against a tree.
Jakotsu kept babbling gory fantasies to himself, as we waited on this 'InuYasha' to show up.
For a moment, I felt as though he'd been just a little too full of himself, expecting someone to follow him by a scent trail... until he actually came...
Hime - Princess.
Baka - Stupid / Idiot / Fool.
InuYasha - Dog arrow duplicate. As in, a near perfect duplicate of his father.
Okay, so, I'm not prejudiced against homosexual people! I meant no disrespect with any of this! It was all for the sake of Mori's new 'bratty' character! That in mind, please, review!