Finally! Chapter 5! :D
Yes, I got my chapter 1 fixed. I tried to do my best from memory, but if you noticed that there's anything missing, plz let me know. Because I'm sure that I missed something.
Disclaimer: Yet again, no, I do not own Inuyasha.
~Stars of The Moon~
Chapter 5
"What's taking them so long?" Inuyasha's leg kept twitching. After Hikari left with Bankotsu, the two groups of enemies felt rather ucomfortable.
They seperated into two groups, and they kept their a very faaaarrrr distance between them.
"Stop complaining, Hikari's going to come back sooner or later, and then you could whine about it. She's going to tell us everything." Kagome sighed. She didn't want to admit it, but Inuyasha was right. Those two were taking longer than she thought. And she wondered what they were doing (A/N: No, not that way, you perverts :P).
Kagome shivered as she felt someone's gaze on her. She already knew who it was, and she didn't want to turn around. She wispered to Sango, "Is he still staring at me?"
Sango looked behind Kagome's shoulder, and wispered back, "Yes, he is. And I'm sure glad that I'm not you."
"Well that's encouraging!" She shivered again. Ever since Hikari left, and ever since they've divided to groups, Kagome knew that Mukotsu was watching her. But she could tell that he wasn't staring at her with lust - in was with fury.
The one time she turned to look at the old man, his eyes were cold and full of hatred. She decided to never look his way again. "Come on, I know that I refused to marry him and that I tried to kill him, but what else did he expect? He's my enemy! He could at least stop staring at me for one minute!"
"Kagome, can you help me with this?" Sango asked when she tried to treat Miroku's wounds. They figured that instead of staying there like idiots, they'd actually do something useful.
"Oh, right." She decided to start a conversation, since she felt that everyone was getting bored. Well, bored in a way. They were all worried about Hikari, and they couldn't stand all the confusion that was going on.
"So... Ummm..." Everyone's heads were turned to her. She was suddenly getting very nervous. And she got an idea. She wispered so only her friends can hear. "Did you notice how large that umm... what's his name?"
"Who?" Kohaku blinked. He knew all their names, and of course, he would be able to answer Kagome's question. "Are you talking about Kyoukotsu?"
"Yeah! That's him!" She said a little too loud. And, she felt that same shiver coming up her spine. "He's still looking at me, isn't he?"
Her friends all looked at the Band of Seven, then came back to Kagome. "Yes, but not only him, the rest of them as well," said Miroku.
"Aw, crap. Just when I was about to cheer people up, I have to get myself all the attention."
"So, what about Kyoukotsu?" Inuyasha asked after a long pause.
"Oh, well..." Kagome almost for got what she was about to say, until she remembered, "Did you notice how big he is? I mean, I know that we've heard that he was large, but honestly, that much? No wonder people can't tell if he's a demon or human."
Sango smiled, "Well, I was pretty surprised myself."
Kagome inwardly sighed in relief, thinking that she finally said something that wouldn't fail. But after that, everyone remained silent.
Then, from the Band of Seven, they heard Jakotsu's voice. "Hey, Bankotsu's back!"
The Inutachi whipped to the little forest, where Bankotsu walked into the clearing. "Hey, sorry I took a while." His brothers narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't say anything.
Inuyasha immediatly jumped and grabbed Tetsusaiga. "You bastard, what the hell did you do with her?" And before Inuyasha could start attacking Bankotsu (again), the rest of the group squashed him to the ground.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"What is Big Brother doing with that woman?" Ever since his best friend left, Jakotsu's been complaining about how long those two are taking.
"Maybe Big Brother decided to trick the woman, and might be trying to kill her...?" Suikotsu sugested.
Renkotsu raised a brow. "If that was the case, wouldn't we hear them fighting?"
"Well, maybe he's trying to kill her from behind."
Renkotsu shook his head, "That's impossible. Big Brother only kills after frightening his victim. He would never try to come from behind someone's back and kill. And besides, by the looks he gave to that woman, I'm sure that there's some connection between them."
"Well, that can be, I guess," Jakotsu frowned. "If there's only one reason he actually likes that woman, it's because he thinks that she's beautiful."
"I wouldn't surprised if he thought that," Mukotsu said without looking at his brothers. He was staring at Kagome, of course. "That woman - I believe her name is Hikari. She's probably the most beautiful young thing you'll ever see. And by the looks of her face, she looks like the loyal and honest type."
The others didn't want to admit it, but Mukotsu could have been right. Of course, she didn't look like any of the other woman they've ever seen. But how could their fearless and proud leader possibly fall for a woman? The Band of Seven felt pretty discouraged.
Kyoukotsu winced for probably the thirtieth time today. The injuries Kohaku gave him were pretty bad, and they were probably getting infected by now. He didn't say anything for the whole time.
"I think we should ask him some questions."
Everyone turned to look at their second-in-command. Yes, even Mukotsu.
"You know how Big Brother hates having to be questioned. You're going to have your life at risk, there." Suikotsu warned.
Renkostu flinched, remembering the last time he was alive and how Bankotsu had killed him. He shivered at the memory. He never wanted to go through that again. "But if we don't have enough information, we'll end up going through hell a third time."
"I'm going to take my chances. If Big Brother doesn't tell us anything anymore, like last time, we'll be killed again."
And suddenly, they heard from the other side, "Yeah, that's him!" and they all turned to see who it was. Kagome did it, of course. They all looked at her as if she was crazy.
"Mukotsu, I think she's talking about you." Ginkotsu snickered. The rest of them chuckled, and Mukotsu gave them a dirty glare. He pouted in his little private corner.
"Aw, come on, old man, we were just kidding, that's all," Suikotsu teased.
The poison master flinched, "Don't you ever call me that, or I'll-"
"If you're going to say 'blast you with my poison', you know that that's not going to work." said Renkotsu.
"Hey, Bankotsu's back!"
Their leader appeared from the little forest. He grinned at his comrades. "Hey, sorry I took a while."
Everyone noticed that he didn't come back with the girl. "Does that mean that he killed her? No - there's no blood on his halberd. So where is she?" Renkotsu narrowed his eyes. The only one who looked actually really happy to see him was Jakotsu.
"You bastard, what the hell did you do with her?"
The Band of Seven turned to see Inuyasha getting squashed by his friends. "Are these really the enemies we once knew?" Suikotsu sweat dropped.
"What do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha yelled to his friends.
"Are you seriously going to try to attack him again?" Miroku grunted as he almost recieved a punch from his half-demon friend.
"Hikari isn't with him!"
"Inuyasha, calm down already! I'm over here!"
Hikari came out of the forest and went to Bankotsu's side. He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Always in such a rush."
She glanced at the Band of Seven and quickly looked away when she realised that they were staring at her all wierdly. She felt their suspicious aura, and before she left Bankotsu's side, she wispered, "If your brothers ever ask you about me, tell them the truth."
Bankotsu sounded surprised, but he wispered back, "What? But why?"
"Because, if you don't tell them, they'll suspect your leadership! How would someone like it if their leader looked nice and soft all of a sudden because of a girl! And what happened because of that? You ended up killed yourselves!" She almost hissed it out.
Before Bankotsu could say anything else, she left him there, and she walked over to her friends. Bankotsu shrugged, and he turned to his brothers.
They never knew that they were going to live a nightmare after that. A very annoying nightmare.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Alright, start explaining." Inuyasha said when all the Inutachi gathered around.
After the Band of Seven left the village, Inuyasha immediatly started questioning her. But, of course, they couldn't do anything out there, so they went into a hut, where nobody could find them. Kohaku left to get Shippou and all the villagers, and the Inutachi knew that the moment the townspeople would see them, they'd probably start asking for another celebration. They didn't want to go through that again.
"How do you know Bankotsu, and why are you acting so nice around him?" Inuyasha almost growled.
"Inuyasha, how many times do I have to say it? Calm. Down. I said I was going to explain everything, didn't I?" Hikari sighed. "If I'm going to have to explain you everything, it's probably going to take all night."
"Well, that's fine. We have all the time we have."
"... Alright, I'll start from the beginning." Hikari looked up to the ceiling. "The day the Band of Seven was resurrected, I was in the village closeby from their shrine. When I heard that the monument split into two, I knew I had to do something about it. So I went after the closest aura I could find."
She paused, and looked at her friends. "You could already guess that it was Bankotsu. When I first met him, he was injured by a demon snake."
"So why didn't you take advantage from that?" Sango asked.
"First, I would never take advantage of a weak person or demon, since that might make me look like a coward, or something. And second, there's a L. Healer rule. Healers like me are never supposed to take advantage of an injured human. Instead, you have to treat his or her wounds."
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, "And you followed that rule. Why couldn't you just ignore it? Bankotsu is a mercenary. Doens't that make an exception?"
Hikari's eyes saddened. "Inuyasha, fit it into your tiny head, because I'm not answering that."
Since Inuyasha still looked completly cluless, Miroku explained into his ear. "Hikari is the only survivor of the L. Healers, may I remind you. Wouldn't you want to continue your tradition if all of your kind was gone?"
"Oh. Good point."
"May I continue?" Hikari asked the two men. "So anyways, I helped him take care of the pain. For the next few days, we've ran into each other a few times. Eventually, he told me who resurrected him, what he's supposed to do, and bla bla bla. And when we really started to see each other almost every day, we just decided to train together for a while."
She waited for Inuyasha to burst out again. "3... 2... 1..."
"WHAT? You TRAINED with him?"
Hikari sighed. "They'll never forgive me."
"Yeah, I guess I did. Look, before you start yelling again, just listen to me till I finish my story." She made sure that Inuyasha wasn't about to do something again. "So after training for a while, that last day came. Bankotsu lost all his brothers, and he had to leave for Mt, Hakurei. I knew that there was a big chance that he might die, so I let him go anyways."
Hikari closed her eyes, and waited for everyone to scream at her. The yelling never came. When she opened her eyes, her friends weren't looking at her. They were looking away, and the L. Healer could tell that their eyes were full of pity and regret.
The young healer couldn't stand watching them like this. "Look, I won't blame you if you kick me out. I understand, so just say it. It's making me feel worse just looking at you all like this."
Kohaku barged into the room with Shippou at his tail. They were both panting. "Boy, was that close! Those villagers are crazier than I thought!" said Shippou.
The two noticed how uncomfortable the air felt. Kohaku looked at his sister, "Hey, what's going on?"
No one answered. Myouga, who was on Shippou shoulder now, looked at everyone. His gaze went to Hikari. "Hikari, my girl, what's the matter, you look pretty down!" He jumped onto her hand. Now, everyone was shocked.
"How does he know...?" Inuyasha blinked.
She gave the flea a sad smile, and lifted her hand to her face. "Hey, Myouga. Long time no see, huh?" She looked at her friends, and sighed (again), "This.. isn't the right time to celebrate, okay?"
"Great." Inuyasha growled. "So you're keeping more secrets? At this rate, we will go all night just talking about this!"
Hikari lowered her head, and looked away. Myouga turned his head to Inuyasha, and to Hikari, and back. "Did I miss something?"
Inuyasha snarled and talked to Myouga. "Look, since she's not explaining, you say everything you know! And while you're at it, tell us if you knew that Hikari helped Bankotsu!"
Shippou's eyes widened. "What? Hikari? Help Bankotsu? But that can't be right!"
Myouga started getting nervous. "Umm... well... I... uh..."
"Talk, flea!"
The rest of the Inutachi didn't say anything.
Kagome tried to look as if she was suddenly very interested into the wall, Sango was polishing Hiraikotsu, even though it was already sparkling, and Miroku was just examinating his sutras, even though he knew every single one of them by heart. Shippou didn't understand a thing of what was going on, and Kohaku was frowning, trying to figure out what happened.
Inuyasha was desperate to know if Hikari was hiding any other secrets. "If she's working with the Band of Seven, then, she's working with the one's who resurrected them. And if it's Naraku, that just means that she's the enemy. It's a simple link! Why can't the others see it? For crying out loud, she's nice with a zombie!"
Hikari flinched. She lifted her head to glare at Inuyasha. Her eyes weren't sad anymore; they were cold.
She stood up, and walked out of the room. Before leaving, she gave the hanyou a final glance and snarled, "Inuyasha, I want to talk with you outside. Alone. And I don't want anyone to disturbe us."
The Inutachi was shocked. Even though Hikari didn't say much, they never heard her voice sounding so cold and full of hatred. Inuyasha sat there, stunned.
"Uh... Master Inuyasha..."
The hanyou looked down at Myouga. "What?" He snapped.
"Um... I'm not trying to be rude or anything... But I think you should go now."
Inuyasha blinked. He stood up and walked out, "Alright, fine. But I'm blaming you for this if I die."
When he got out, there weren't any villagers around. "Probably all out getting some sleep soon. With all the drama, I wouldn't be surprised if they're tired." He sniffed the air, looking for Hikari. Finally, he caught a wiff of her scent, and he ran off to her direction.
He found her sitting on a boulder not far from the entrance of the village, and he suddenly got this very guilty feeling in his stomach. Seeing at how she was looking at him made him sick. Scared sick.
"Did she come to the enterance because she might want to leave? She can't do that! She said that she'd help us on this! Even if she is a traitor, she can't go. We made a deal."
And then he saw her eyes grow colder. They shone in the moonlight, and anyone could see them clearly. "Oh shit, I forgot!" Of course, Hikari could tell everything he was thinking about, she could read his mind.
Her voice sounded normal again. "So, Inuyasha. Why don't you tell me the last thing you thought about before I left the hut? I want to hear it out loud."
Inuyasha blinked and stood still for a moment. He tried to remember. "What's her point with all this?"
"I just want you to say it out loud. Without looking into your thoughts. I want to hear how you'll say it."
He almost growled. "You're nice with a zombie."
She snickered. "Ah, that's what I wanted to hear. Now, why don't you explain your theory?"
"It's exactly what it means. You're being all kind and gentle to some undead mercenary. I thought you were smarter than that, Hikari. You knew that the seven of them were working with Naraku, and you knew that they would cause trouble to everyone. Yet because of your healer rules, you had to help him."
Hikari stayed silent.
"I understand why you did it, and it's to keep your honor, I know. But honestly, when it comes to killing one person to save thousands of lives, wasn't the answer obvious? I mean, Bankotsu was from the undead! And-"
All that time, Hikari had listened to what he had to say. But this time, she spoke. "And Kikyou wasn't?"
Inuyasha was completly shocked. "Wha-what...?"
"You heard me. You say that Bankotsu was undead, yes it's true. But so was Kikyou. Wasn't she one of your enemies, at first?"
Inuyasha felt furious. His eyes burned with rage. "Don't you dare bring Kikyou into this! You have no buisness her!"
"The hell I don't!"
Hikati was standing up now. The hanyou was taken aback. He couldn't do anything but listen to what she had to say.
"I have no buisness with her. But the Band of Seven and Kikyou are alike in many ways. And I have buisness with Bankotsu. They've died in tragic ways, they came back to life only to suffer more, they basically died by Naraku's hands, and I can't tell what else they have in common, 'cause you'll probably fall asleep before I finish. Bankotsu was your enemy, that's true. But didn't Kikyou try to kill you once, too? The Band of Seven had orders to take, yet Kikyou wanted to kill you by her own will."
Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore. "What the hell do you have against Kikyou? Leave her out of this!"
"I don't have anything against her, I'm saying that I'm against you!" She yelled to his face.
Hikari's eyes were now burning with blue fury. Her lips pulled back into a snarl, and Inuyasha braced himself in case she attacked him.
Her voice tone just got higher and higher, "You're judging me about what I've done. I've trained with Bankotsu, and I admit it, I liked being with him. But even with all the training, you've killed him anyways!"
Inuyasha could have sworn that she would burst at him that time, but she didn't. She continued, "When I trained with him, I enjoyed my thime with him. In fact, it might have been one of the greatest times I've had in my life. He looked at who I really was, and I so became good friends with him. A mercenary." Hikari started growling at him.
"And then, there's you." At that moment, Inuyasha saw a dark energy flowing around her. Not only that, but Hikari started to look different, too. It was very faint, but he was able to see the difference.
She kept on going, "The hanyou who fell in love with a miko. And even after her death, you kept on loving her. You were so stuck in the past, you probably could have been completly blind to what was in front of you. You knew how Kagome felt about you, and yet you still continued hurting her. You fucking idiot!"
Inuyasha winced.
"You should have noticed by then that Kikyou didn't give a damn about how you were! Alright, so she liked you, and she surely didn't want to see you dead. But at least she moved on! She was a great ally, even I have to admit that! But all that she was! An ally and a friend, but you kept on seeing her as your lover!"
The hanyou looked away, and decided to hold all his anger for the end.
"You are such a backstabber! You should have known how Kikyou felt. You should have known how Kagome felt! You broke her heart everytime you left her! She was so close to leaving you, you were probably lucky that she forgave you everytime! I know the truth. The first things that made you fall in love with Kagome was that she had the almost exact same things as Kikyou!"
Inuyasha had enough, "Mind your own buiness! This has nothing to do with Bankotsu! If you brought me here to lecture me about all I've did, I learned my lesson! I regret what I did to Kagome, okay! If you're not finished, I'll probably start leaving now, thanks." He turned around to walk away.
The healer snickered, and Inuyasha flinched. She sounded so much more different, and somehow... evil. He looked at the girl, and his eyes widened. "That dark energy... Why does it feel so uncomfortable? It's so much more powerful than I've felt before!"
He took a step back. "W-why is it creating a demonic aura? Hikari's human, isn't she? Then why do I feel like I'm in some sort of huge danger?" He saw her dragon necklace shaking, and not because of Hikari's movements.
It looked like as if it was reacting to the dark aura.
Hikari probably didn't listen to his thoughts, because she spoke in an icy voice that made Inuyasha's blood freeze. She growled, "Oh, don't worry. I'm finished. But you know what the link is?"
She paused. And in a low tone, she wispered, only for Inuyasha to hear. "We're different, Inuyasha. Think about what I've done, and think about what you've done. Who was the one who made people suffer? Who did the most damage to the ones around him? If you think carefuly, half breed," -She snarled the word out- "you'd find the real answer. And you'll see that helping a zombie wasn't as bad as you think it was."
Inuyasha was so caught up in what she was saying that he didn't realise that she had left. Her words rang in his ears, and he knew what she meant. He didn't know what he'd tell her when she comes back. That is, if she comes back.
He walked back to the others, and there were two things on his mind the whole time.
First, what Hikari told him, and the truth of everything she felt when he blamed her for being Bankotsu's friend.
And second, what traumatised him the most, the sinister dark aura he felt around Hikari when she spoke with such hatred.
*O*~*O*~*O*
Bankotsu sighed after explaining his story to his brothers. They took it better than he thought. In fact, they seemed like they were interested in his story. But still, that didn't stop them from asking questions about Hikari. They were still suspicious.
"So you hung out with her, trained with her, and talked to her."
"If I trained with her, Jakotsu, doesn't that logically mean that I talked to her and hung out with her?"
Jakotsu snorted. He mumbled, "You know how I find women disgusting. It's normal that I ask things like this."
Renkotsu asked, "So if she trained with you, that must mean that she was strong, wasn't she?"
Bankotsi smirked. "Oh, she's strong, all right. She started beating me up at first, but then, I just got stronger."
The bald man inwardly growled, "That's because you had the all the jewel shards."
Bankotsu yawned. "Look, it's getting dark. We'd better rest. And if we ever come across Inuyasha, we'd better get ready to win that time."
He heard Renkotsu mumble to Suikotsu, "That is, if he has the guts to try and kill the girl."
Bankotsu kept his temper and spoke to his brothers in his light-hearted voice, "Look, just because Hikari was a... friend... ish, that doesn't mean that I'll go easy and be soft. Meeting Hikari with Inuyasha was a shock, yes. But doesn't mean I'm going to go nice on that half demon. Understand?"
The others flinched and immediatly started getting ready for the night. They knew that when Bankotsu used that tone, they'd better shut up and do want he wants.
"Now then..." He looked at his brothers one by one. "Who's going to keep guard tonight, I wonder? I don't trust Renkotsu enough. After all, he might run off any moment. Mukotsu's probably getting too old to even try stay awake. Kyoukotsu needs some rest to recover from that cut in his gut, so I'll let him pass. Jakotsu'll only whine about my orders, and I've already got a headache. So I guess that leaves me Ginkotsu and Suikotsu."
He made a quick decision and called to his metal friend. "Ginkotsu, you're staying up for the night shift! In two hours, Suikotsu's going to take your place."
Suikotsu grunted. He leaned against a tree, not far from Ginkotsu, and closed his eyes. Bankotsu watched his brothers settle down.
"Tonight's gonna be a little tense. Let's hope that tomorow's going to be better."
*O*~*O*~*O*
The next morning...
"What? She ran off?" Kagome asked when she woke up.
Last night, she fell asleep before Inuyasha came back. She asked Miroku what happened, and was shocked when she heard the news.
"Inuyasha didn't explain what she had said or what they talked about last night," said the monk. "But he did seem awfully shocked when he came back. When I saw that Hikari wasn't with him, I guessed that something happened. I asked him where she was, but he didn't answer."
"Maybe I'll try to ask him." Kagome said as she stood up and left the little house. "Now where could he have gone to?"
She searched for Inuyasha for a long while. She looked in the huts, in the forests, and even asked the villagers a few questions. Too bad that that only got the villagers panicking for the disappearance of a friend. Eventually, Kagome got tired. "I think I looked everywhere, but I can't find him! What did he run off too? Maybe he left to get Hikari? Naw, Inuyasha doesn't do that without telling anybody. So then he must be here somewhere... Wait! I've got it!"
She went back to the hut where the rest of her friends were. But she didn't go in. "Knowing Inuyasha, he wouldn't go running around in the village. So maybe he's here..."
She took a deep breath, and yelled a certain word. "SIT!"
A split second later, Kagome heard a loud 'BOOM'. She turned her head to her right to see Inuyasha flat on the ground.
Kagome heard him mumble, "Damn beads, why can't she just take'em off already?"
She rolled her eyes and walked to him, "Because, you still need to learn how to behave, like a good dog."
Inuyasha stood up and shook the dust off his clothes. "I'm a dog demon, not just some ordinary pet. If any other demon sees me treated this way, I swear, I'll stay hidden for the rest of my life. It's already bad enough that Kouga laughs when this happens, and I can't stand it. "
"Oh, don't worry, I'll take the beads off... some day. But nevermind that, what happened to Hikari?"
Inuyasha looked away in shame. He didn't answer.
"Look, all I'm asking is why Hikari left. Leave out the details, and just tell me what happened basically." Kagome repeated.
"... Fine." He sighed. "She told me... about a few things. She told me how she doesn't deserve to be blamed, but not in a bad way. She looked like she was suffering a little too. Then, when I pushed her too far, she just... ran off to some place. I went back to the hut after that."
Kagome blinked. "So she ran off on her own? She left by her own will?"
Inuyasha nodded and the young miko's eyes widened.
"But... do you think she'll come back? We still need her, to find out who-"
"I know. I tried to follow her scent, but she must have somehow masked it or something." Inwardly, he added, "And with the things I've said, I doubt she'll ever come back."
Kagome looked down. "I see. And I guess she won't come back. I mean, none of us said anything to her after she finished her story. All we did was look away or give her glares. I can't imagine how she must feel right now."
They were both deep in thought, until they heard Sango's voice calling to them. "Hey you two! Hikari's back!"
Inuyasha and Kagome whipped around to look at their friend. "What? She's here?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Hikari, where were you?" Miroku asked when everyone arrived.
The healer shrugged. "Just taking a little fresh air. I needed to cool myself off." She glanced at Inuyasha, who quickly looked away.
Sango narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, but why stay out so late? You could have come back to sleep here, at least."
"I... just wanted to rest somewhere where I would feel comfortable, that's all."
The others knew exactly what she meant. There was an akward silence in the air.
Kagome sighed. "Look, Hikari, about last night... We've thought about what we're going to do."
Inuyasha wispered in her ear, "We did?" And Kagome elbowed him, which made the hanyou wince.
Sango continued for her. "We've decided to keep you with us. Even though you've helped Bankotsu before, and you probably helped him get stronger, we're still keeping you in because we need you. You might have helped the enemy once, but we figured that that won't change a thing about how we should feel about you, and... we're sorry about how we treated you the other day. So... are you going to stay?"
Hikari closed her eyes, deep in thought, and it seemed like forever had passed when she opened her eyes. She smiled at them. "I'll stay. But don't blame me if you regret the choice soon."
"LADY HIKARI!" A villager burst into the room. "We've finally found you!"
The healer inwardly groaned. "Oh, God. Talk about ruining the moment" "What is it now? Another demon?"
The man sook his head and smiled. "Oh, no. That's not it, we're just going to make another celebration. Since we couldn't find you last night, we decided that we're going to do it tonight."
Everyone sweat dropped. "Please, God, not again."
Hikari assured him, "That really isn't necessary, and we all need some rest anyways, so please-"
"Oh, no. Our ancestors would forbid it. As soon as anyone helps us out, we have to celebrate. To be honest, even I'm getting tired, but you know, tradition is tradition." And with that, the villager left them.
Everyone sighed. Myouga was just confused. "Umm... can anyone tell me what's going on?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
That night...
"I never would have expected this to get any worse." Hikari said when the elder finished his hour-long speech. This time though, the villagers didn't start suffocating them. Hikari looked at her friends. "I think I'll skip this one. Anyone wanna take a bath before they catch us?"
Kagome and Sango nodded. They ran off to the hot springs. Kirara and Shippou went after them.
Myouga had a malicious grin on his tiny face. "Well, I guess I'll have to go too. After all, they need to have someone to look after them and all, so I'll just get going..."
Before the flea could have a chance to go after the girls, Inuyasha caught him. "And just where do you think you're going? Let me remind you, they all brought their weapons with them. They'll be fine. And besides, I'm pretty sure that Hikari will sense you before you even get there. Then, you're dead."
Myouga flinched and shivered. He never wanted to face a pissed-off Hikari. He was lucky to have lived the last time he saw her mad. "How did she get such temper? I know it's not from her mother, that's for sure."
As if he read the flea's mind, Inuyasha asked him, "By the way, you never told us how you knew Hikari. And how come you never talked about her to us?"
Myouga looked thoughtful for a moment, until he finally spoke, "It's a very long story, but I'll try to make it short."
He took a deep breath and started his story. "It all started a long time ago. Just like you, Master Inuyasha, I knew Hikari since birth. Well, first, I knew her mother. I met Lady Michiko one day when she was in a poor village, helping the villagers and bringing hope in their hearts. Then, Lady Michiko let me tag along with her. She was a very kind woman, and very beautiful, of course. And when she had Hikari, I taught the young girl a few things, along with the help of her mother, father and... brothers."
Everyone noticed how uncomfortable the flea looked when he said 'brothers'. There was hesitation and disgust in his voice... Or was that hatred?
"Well, then, I guess that explains why seemed so comfortable with her," said Miroku. "But why didn't you tell us what you knew her?"
Myouga shrugged. "Well, the subject never really was brought up. Besides, Hikari always did like keeping her identity a secret. With her being the last of her kind, and all."
"But you told her about us, didn't you?" Inuyasha asked.
"Oh, come on! It couldn't be helped! She can read minds and look into someone's memories, or have you forgotten? Even if I didn't talk about you to her, she would have known everything about you just by looking into my memories!"
"Still, you should've said something about her," said Kohaku. "I'm pretty sure that Sango would have liked to know that she still had some connection with Hikari. They were close friends when they were kids, remember?"
"Okay, okay, but still! It's not my fault I never thought about that! I didn't think of anything like that!"
Miroku sighed. "Well, that doesn't change anything now." He stopped when he heard someone laughing. They turned their heads to find a few girls giggling at them.
The perverted monk cleared his throat and started walking away to the girls. "Well, while we wait, we should relax and enjoy ourselves. Who knows how long Sango will take in there. So If you need me, I'll be over with the distressed ladies."
Inuyasha, Kohaku and Shippou all sighed.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"So that's basically how I know Myouga. I also know Toutousai, and maybe a few other people you met," Hikari said when she finished her story. "Any questions?"
"Myouga never talked about you to us. Why didn't he?" Kagome asked.
"Don't blame him, I told him not to. You see, I've always liked keeping low profile, and if Myouga told you that he knew about me, how would the rest of you react? I mean, I know that Inuyasha, Shippou and you wouldn't know a lot about me," she said to Kagome, and then, she turned to Sango. "But you and Miroku, you'd probably freak and ask Myouga tons of other questions. You know what I mean?"
"That does make sense..."
"Anything else you'd like to know?"
Sango and Kagome looked at each other, and turned back to Hikari. "Well, not really..."
Hikari sighed and layed back. "In that case, let's relax. After all this fighting, I'm pretty sure I could use a nap. And I don't have any intention to go out there and get myself suffocated by party-loving villagers. I've already had enough trouble for one day."
Kagome and Sango laughed and Hikari smiled. "I'm glad things turned out right. I was sure that they weren't going to accept me after what I did to them."
For the next few minutes, the girls remained silent. That is, until they heard Inuyasha's loud scream. "MIROKU! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE! DON'T YOU DARE ABANDON ME WITH THESE PEOPLE!"
The girls all started giggling, and Shippou sighed. "Inuyasha can't ever stay quiet without Kagome around. But I understand why he doesn't want to be left alone."
"Anyone can understand if they've stayed in this village for too long," said Hikari. "Which reminds me, shouldn't we get going soon? We've already delt with the problem here, and there's other demons to take care of. Not to mention that we have to know who resurrected your enemies. And the only thing we found here is more trouble from the Band of Seven. Which doesn't get us any closer to our goal."
Sango blinked. "By the way, Hikari, if it doesn't bother you... Can we know what you were doing with Bankotsu back there?"
"Alright, before you ask any other questions, I'll tell you everything I did. No, I did not do anything perverted with him. And yes, Sango, I asked him questions. And only that. I tried to get more info on who resurrected him and some other stuff."
Kagome urged her to continue. "And...? What else did you find out?"
After a short moment of silence, Hikari continued, "He doesn't know who resurrected him or why. He just found himself with his brothers. And whoever brought him back to life must have been real sweet, 'cause Banryuu was in one piece again."
When she saw that her friends didn't understand the last part, she quickly explained, "In Bankotsu's last battle, Banryuu became a demonic sword, which helped Inuyasha use his Backlash Wave. Banryuu then shattered into millions of pieces, so... yeah, you know what I mean. But when Bankotsu woke up, his halberd was alright."
"Is that all you know about him?" Sango asked.
Hikari nodded. "Apparently, yes. But I do have one theory. This is just like something Naraku would do."
Kagome agreed. "That's right. Naraku knows that if he showed up to Bankotsu again, the Band of Seven wouldn't help him this time. So he might as well bring them back, and when the time comes, he'll make the Band of Seven obey him."
Shippou tilted his head. "What do you mean the right time?"
Sango explained. "Without Naraku, the Band of Seven is almost completly useless at searching for Inuyasha. They're going to need his help when they really get desperate."
"I see sense in that... But how did he find all their remains and bring them again without the jewel shards?"
"Remember, this is Naraku we're talking about," said Hikari. "If he found out a way to make his body into an overgrown spider and make incarnations of himself, which is physically impossible because he made girls, he can do anything."
Everyone nodded. "Very good point."
Kirara was getting bored, so she splashed some water onto Shippou, which made Shippou jump out of the pool and run for cover. Kirara mewled in amusement, and Shippou glared at her playfully.
"I'm going to get you for that, Kirara!"
He started chasing her around the pool. He slipped once or twice, but he quickly got up and continued his chase. Sango and Kagome giggled, and Hikari smiled again.
The young healer sighed. "Ah, youth. You have to make the best of it while it lasts."
Sango rolled her eyes. "Well, Shippou has all the time in the world to have fun. He's a fox demon, remember? And as for Kirara, she's just in her kitten form for the moment. That doesn't mean that any of them are young."
"True. But Shippou won't stay young forever. He is going to grow up one day. And by then, it'll be too late."
"Oh quit complaining," said Kagome. "Besides, we're all still young. And we have enough working bones in our body to run."
"Okay, okay. But we don't always have the same energy that they do!"
They didn't realise that Shippou and Kirara had stopped running. The two demons were listening to their conversation with interest.
There was another short moment of silence.
The demon slayer sighed, "Just a while ago, we were talking about Naraku, and now, here we are complaining about how old we are. We must be really pathetic."
Everyone bursted out laughing.
"Don't blame it on us, Shippou started it!" Kagome said when she calmed down.
Shippou defended himself, "Hey! It's not my fault! Kirara splashed me first!"
"I was just joking Shippou, don't worry. However..." The miko turned to Kirara, "He does have a point."
All eyes were on Kirara now. The demon cat was getting nervous, and before she knew it, she fell into the water. She started struggling like crazy.
Sango took her out. She teased, "You needed to feel the water someday!"
Kirara pouted and everyone laughed.
It didn't last long, though. They all stopped when they saw that Hikari wasn't listening. She was staring straight in front of her, as if there was something there.
"Hikari?"
She didn't react immediatly. She slowly turned to her friends. "I... Umm... I need to go for a moment. There's something out there that I want to see."
Kagome gasped. "Another demon? If it's another one, I swear, this village is cursed!"
Hikari shook her head. "No, don't worry. It's not much of a threat. And even if it is, I'll take care of it easily."
"But what's out there? You still haven't told us yet." Sango asked.
"I'll tell you later. Meanwhile, you should think about getting out yourselves," she said in an amused tone. "Inuyasha's getting pissed off, and it won't be long before he starts attacking Miroku."
Kagome and Sango sighed in relief. They knew that Hikari was going to be okay. When she assures people by teasing them, they knew that they could trust her.
"Don't be out too long," said Kagome when Hikari got out of the pool and started changing.
"No need to think about that. I'll be here by dusk or so. Maybe even earlier. Or maybe even later. To be honest, I don't know how long it'll take. But I will come back, that's for sure."
Sango bowed her head. "Great. Another excuse to stay here. I'm sure that Inuyasha will love this."
Hikari giggled. "Oh, it'll be fine. Look, I'll put a time limit; I'll be here tomorrow. Tomorrow, day or night. That good?"
When her friends nodded, she took her weapons and ran off.
*O*~*O*~*O*
Inuyasha sniffed the air and froze.
"Inuyasha? What's wrong?" Shippou asked when he realized that his friend wasn't doing anything.
The hanyou didn't answer. He ran off without another word and left a gust of wind behind him, which made Shippou nearly fly off. Kohaku caught him just in time.
"HEY! Watch who's behind you before you run off, you jerk!" Shippou yelled after him.
"What's up with him?" Kohaku wondered.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Stupid branches. If there's one thing I don't like about the forest, it's this." Bankotsu thought as he struggled through the tree branches. He left his brothers back at the camp.
Ever since he met Hikari, which was yesterday, he couldn't think straight. First of all, his brothers never left him alone, since they've always had questions for him.
"What are her abilities?"
"Is she smart?"
"Is she evil?"
"How many men could she fight at once?"
"How old is she?"
Mukotsu asked that last one. He just couldn't give up on finding a bride, could he?
Just thinking about the day he had made his head spin and ache. No matter how many times he told his brothers to leave him alone, they kept on coming back. The only one who actually asked realistic questions was Renkotsu.
"So... what are we going to do know?"
"That's true... what are going to do know?" he thought, "We know that Naraku's dead... and we still have Inuyasha to think about. Except without someone to track him down for us, we'll never find him. I wonder if we should really go after him... I mean, according to Hikari, Naraku might still be alive, and he's the real one we have to go against. After all, he was the one who used us, and we only ended up dying in the end."
And when it wasn't the questions who were bothering him, it was Hikari.
Her face never left his mind. It's been six months since he didn't see her, and after all that time, he had to admit that she did get more beautiful. And he couldn't help but notice how her body changed. She had perfect curves now, and her chest grew a little bigger. Her hair grew longer, and her skin looked softer.
And her eyes. They were warmer and shone brighter than ever.
Bankotsu was completly lost in his thoughts. Whenever he thought about her, it would always be the same feeling rising up in him. He felt so much more comfortable around Hikari. Maye it was that feeling of peace when she looked at him. He was a mercenary, so of course, he was never looked at that way.
Six months...
He placed his hand on where his heart should be.
"Yup, still there."
He expected this to all just be a dream. Then again, how could you dream in hell?
He felt that if he did one wrong move, he'll wake up in the burnng flames again. He didn't start thinking that until he saw Hikari.
Bankotsu decided to clear his mind. He decided that he was going to take the night watch, but when his brothers were all asleep, he left them and went into the forest for some fresh air.
Well, that was just one reason.
He had to see Hikari again.
Although, he didn't quite know where he was going. Instead, he felt completly lost.
He froze when he saw something red flash from the corner of his eye. He quickly turned around, only to find himself staring into the trees. There was another quick flash of red, and Bankotsu turned around again.
That flash of red made Inuyasha's face come into his mind almost instantly.
He got into a defensive stance and got his weapon ready.
"I just had to leave and try to find her, didn't I? TRY. There's your problem. Well trying doesn't help! And... "
He looked from side to side, analysing the area for a long moment. "Damn. If that thing wants me, why can't it just come over already? I feel like having a good fight right now."
Like if it was on queue, that 'thing' bursted out of the trees and hit Bankotsu's right hand, where he was holding Banryuu. He was completly shocked, and lost his grip on the halberd. It fell on the floor, and before Bankotsu had a chance to grab it, the quick shadow wacked on his left side. "Damn!"
It was quiet again. Bankotsu knew that if he made one step to his Banryuu, the shadow would attack again. He waited for his opponent to appear. Just when he was about to get impatient, he spotted the coming at him form his right.
He was ready this time.
Before his enemy had another chance to attack, he came at it first. Bankotsu was able to deliver a blow at his opponent's right arm, just the way it did to him. He smirked, and prepared himself to hit it again.
Then, something caught him off guard.
When Bankotsu tried to hit it, the shadow dodged the attack, and punched him on his shoulder, wich made Bankotsu lose balance and fall down.
"What the-?"
Before he even had time to fininsh his sentence, he found himself looking at the dirt and pinned to the ground with his hands tied behind his back.
His opponent kept a firm grip. The mercenary couldn't even break free.
"He didn't even give me a chance to attack!"
The stranger hissed in his ear, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"
Well, this took long to finish.
So, if you've noticed, this took longer to update since I wanted to fix my Chap 1 first.
And when I wrote the scene of where the Inutachi is supposed to forgive Hikari, I tried not to make it sound so... Stupid and akward... But as you can see, I failed.
I've already started with Chap 6... Speaking of which, Bankotsu and his brothers should be showing up a lot more often after that chapter ;)
~FoxRain7~