Chapter 6! :D

Busy, busy, busy. That's all I can say.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha (of course).

~Stars Of The Moon~

Chapter 6

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

Bankotsu's eyes widened. "Hikari!"

Oh, he was in trouble now. He knew it, and he was getting nervous. Maybe meeting Inuyasha would have been better after all. "Hikari! Ummm... I-I didn't notice that you were following me! Now, if you'll let me go, I'll-"

Hikari tightened her grip. "Oh no you don't. Now answer my question. What. Are. You. Doing. Here. You shouldn't even be here in the first place! I thought you and your brothers left somewhere else."

"I'm going to need my arms to explain."

The healer raised a brow. "And... what for? You still have your mouth to talk. I can listen."

"Just let me go, will ya! You're going to cut off my blood circulation!"

Hikari sighed and did as he said. She crossed her arms. "So. Now for my answer."

Bankotsu glared at her and stood up. He brushed off the dust from his clothes. He looked up at her and saw that she wasn't wearing her usual kimono. She was wearing a red one.

"Ah, so that's why..."

"You didn't need to go so hard on me. You could have just showed up, and I could be fine with that."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. If I showed up, you probably would have jumped out of your clothes. It's so quiet here, you'd think that your own thoughts were yelling at you. Also, if I didn't go hard on you, you wouldn't have been shut up properly, and you would've beaten me up. I don't want the villagers to know that you're here."

"And besides," she added in a playful tome. "I like having to spar every once in a while."

Bankotsu snorted and walked over to Banryuu. He picked it up. "Still, just calling to me could have been good."

"Whatever. Now are you going to tell what you're doing here or not?"

"I'm not."

Hikari groaned. "Bankotsu..."

"I said that I'm not going to, so I'm not!"

"You know that I can just look into your memories for that. Would you like me to do that instead?"

Bankotsu stiffened. If she looked into his memories, she'll know exactly what he was feeling. How he felt desperate, and how he felt empty after finding out that she was hanging with Inuyasha. She would know that he was lonely, and that he needed her comfort. He'd sound like a little kid looking for his mother. How pathetic.

His back was to her, but Hikari could tell that he was blushing. "Alright, alright!"

She smiled.

And he blurted everything out. "I was just... I... I just had to see you again, okay? I was getting bored, and I had to do something, so I decided to look for you. I couldn't stand all the stuff going through my head ever since I came back to life, so I need some answers! Since Naraku's dead, maybe I can go after Inuyasha, but... you're with them! And my brothers are going to complain to me if I really don't go after Inuyasha! So-"

He stopped when he felt Hikari's hand on his own. He didn't realise that she was right next to him until then. Her voice was soft. "Bankotsu, calm down. I only needed to hear to first part of your long speech. You can keep the rest in."

Bankotsu took a deep breath and turned to look at her. They both stared at each other's eyes.

Finally, Hikari spoke in a soothing voice. "You said you needed some answers. What did you mean by that?"

Bankotsu looked confused for a moment, until he finally remembered. "Ummm... Not much... It was just... something."

"Okay, fine. So I won't ask you about that. Is there anything else you want to know?"

The young mercenary looked thoughtful. But in the end, he shook his head.

"Then I think you should leave."

His eyes widened and he shook her hand off. "What? Wha-what do you mean I should-"

Hikari's hand clamped his mouth (AN: She does that a lot, doesn't she?). When he seemed to have finally relaxed, she let him go. Her eyes were sad, and she looked away. "You know that we can't see each other the way we used to before. Everything's different now."

Bankotsu retorted, "That's not true. We can still see each other, even if it is different. I'll try to follow you, and we'll meet together some place so that-"

"You know that that won't work either. Even if you do follow me, Inuyasha will smell you, and he'll immediatly go after you. And unlike before, you have to stay with your brothers this time if you don't want to get seperated."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but he thought of what she said and closed it. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he knew that she was right. Now that she's traveling with the Inutachi, and that he doesn't work for Naraku anymore, there's no way they'll ever have time to see each other. The only time they'll actually meet each other is in a battle.

He growled. "Great. So now we can't even talk to each other. I come back to life only to figure out that I'll never be able to see you again."

Hikari tried her best to calm him down. She took his hand again. This time, with a better grip and a warmer touch. "It's not that I don't want to be with you anymore. If things were easier, I'd do anything to be with you and to stay by your side. But if we keep on seeing each other like this, your brothers will be suspicious, and I'll probably get kicked out of Inuyasha's group. Which means that I'll never find out if Naraku's dead or alive."

Bankotsu sighed, knowing that it was useless to argue with her. Neither of them said anything.

"Well, even if we can't be together anymore... can't we just... stay together for tonight?" he suddenly said.

Hikari thought about it for a while, and she finally responded, "I guess... that one night wouldn't hurt anybody... Do your brothers know where you are?"

He shook his head and she smiled. "Then I guess that I'm free to."

He smirked and placed an arm around her shoulder. "That means that we have the whole night... Just the two of us... Alone."

She shook off his arm. "Hey, whoa. Don't get any naughty ideas, there."

Bankotsu laughed and Hikari giggled soon after.

"Oh yeah, by the way..." said Hikari, "You should really practice how to hide your aura - and scent."

He was confused. "Why should I? I'm fine the way I am."

She groaned. She couldn't tell which one was stupider when it came to this kind of stuff. Inuyasha, or Bankotsu? "Are you serious? What if I was Inuyasha instead?"

Banotsu snorted. "Inuyasha wouldn't be able to pin me down the way you did."

"Yes, but he could have slashed your head off instead of having a friendly spar with you."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, the important thing is he didn't. He didn't show up and he's not here. That's that."

"Alright, fine. But I still think that you need training."

There was a gleam in Bankotsu's eyes. "Well, then, why don't we start right now?"

That same gleam was refelcted in hers. She smiled and reached out for one of her blades behind her back. "You wanna take the first move?"

He shrugged and got Banryuu ready. "Since you're a women, I'll let you take the advantage. I've been feeeling a lot stronger recently, even better than the time I had my jewel shards. And Banryuu's a demonic sword now, so I clearly have the upper hand. I'll try to go easy on you."

"That over-confidence of yours still hasn't changed," Hikari sighed. "You might have a demonic blade..." She pulled out her twin swords and continued, "But I have two."

And with that, she jumped back and charged at him. She threw her fire blade at him, and Bankotsu dodged it. He came at her, and their blades clashed.

Hikari lifted her water blade and brought it down, but Bankotsu got out of the way. He tried to deliver a blow at her side, and Hikari blocked it. This went on and on for a while, and neither of them seemed to get tired.

Bankotsu spotted the fire blade coming at him from behind, and jumped out of the way. Hikari caught her blade and fired it at him again. This time, though, Bankotsu didn't dodge it. He stopped the blade with Banryuu and threw it back at Hikari.

"It seems that you've gotten a little better at this kind of stuff," Hikari said with a smile on her face.

Bankotsu smirked. "You know it."

Hikari caught her blade and and Bankotsu got ready for another attack. But she didn't move.

All of a sudden, the ground started to shake furiously. He was shocked, but he didn't stay on the ground too long. He quickly jumped onto a tree branch before the giant spike which emmerged from the earth could pearce him into two.

"Hey!" He yelled, "You never used your powers when we trained!"

Hikari winked, "Oh, come on. I want to see how much you've grown stronger."

Bankotsu blinked. And then, he smirked. "So I'm guessing that you want me to come at you with full force."

The smile she gave him clearly answered his question.

The tree which Bankotsu was on stated moving, and he jumped off. The moment he layed foot on the ground, Hikari's fire blade was going to his neck. It barely missed its target by an inch. Bankotsu froze in complete shock.

"If I didn't miss on purpose, you would've been killed," Hikari sighed. Her fire blade flew at her and she caught it with ease. "You have to concentrate harder."

The young mercenary nodded and went at her again. He brought down his Banryuu and Hikari blocked the attack by placing her two blades in the way of an X (her two blades crossed), with Banryuu falling into the little gap between the blades (AN: Sorry if this might be a little confusing). She pushed him away and went for his right side.

Their weapons clashed, and they stood there, waiting for the other to let go.

In the end, Hikari was weakest in strengh, and she had to give up on staying any longer in that position. She jumped back before Bankotsu could hit her, and threw a blade at him.

Bankotsu was ready and dodged the sword. The ground trembled again. Whenever he jumped off the area he was on, and whenever he looked back, there would be giant mass of earth which tried to crush him from behind.

And all of a sudden, everything stopped. The ground stood still once more and Bankotsu stopped running. He looked at Hikari to make sure that this wasn't a trick to fool him. But she was placing her swords back into their sheathes.

She stretched her arms. "I think that's enough for today."

"What?" Bankotsu exclaimed. "But that was so short!"

"If we make any more noise, we're sure to get attention one way or another. And if either of us get a scar from sparring, our friends will start asking questions in the morning. And Inuyasha can catch your scent any moment."

He snorted and rested Banryuu over his shoulder. "That pathetic excuse of a half demon probably doesn't even remember my scent. I smelled of graveyard dirt before, but now I have a different scent. And I'm sure that he's too busy with those villagers to even notice."

Hikari closed her eyes and he waited for her to open them before asking, "Am I right?"

She giggled and Bankotsu looked confused. "Well, you got a part of it right."

*O*~*O*~*O*

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" Kagome called.

"Where could he have gone?" She looked around only to see villagers and more lights.

And then, she saw a big pack of men in a circle. They seemed like as if they were... cheering someone. Kagome walked over to see what the commotion was about and almost froze there looking like an idiot because of what she saw.

Inuyasha was sitting in the center of the gang. He was chocking down a whole bunch of food. The other villagers were passing him more and more food, and strangely, Inuyasha accepted anything he could get his hands on.

Kagome decided to get serious and pushed through the crowd to get to Inuyasha. "Sorry! Coming through! Excuse me!"

Finally, when she was close enough to her friend, she yelled, "Inuyasha! What do you think you're doing?"

The half demon stopped eating and looked up. "Oh, hey Kagome!"

And then he looked down at what he was eating, and looked back at her. "Want some?"

"Never mind that! What are you doing? We were worried and we looked for you everywhere!"

"Well, you found me now!"

"Inuyasha..."

He shrugged. "It's not my fault if I haven't eaten since forever! Its scent brought me here and I started eating before you."

Kagome groaned. "Yeah, but can't you eat in private or something? You could've at least told us where you were. Anyways, it's just to tell you that we might be staying here a little while longer."

"Huh? Why?"

"Hikari went off somewhere becasue she sensed something. She said that she might come back tomorow, but she doesn't know when. So we're stuck here until she gets back."

"As long as she gets back and doesn't stay away for too long, I'm fine with it. Now if you don't mind, I'll go back to eating."

Kagome sighed. Apparently, it seemed that her friend was too busy stuffing his mouth with food to even think about the situation they were in.

*O*~*O*~*O*

Bankotsu rolled his eyes, "I won't even ask."

There was a deep silence in the air.

"So... what now?" Bankotsu asked after another moment of silence.

Hikari looked up at the sky. "I don't know..."

An idea popped into her head. "We can't spar with swords, but..."

Bankotsu turned to look at her and saw a malicious grin on her face. He narrowed his eyes. "Hey, what's-"

He didn't get a chance to finish because Hikari pinned him down. Bankotsu's eyes widened in shock. Then, he saw her laughing. "Gottcha!"

"Ah, so that's how you want it, huh?" He growled playfuly.

He twined his leg around hers and twisted her body to her side. Hikari yelped as she landed on the rough floor. She was now lying on the ground with Bankotsu above her.

"Hah! Who's 'gottcha' now?"

Hikari smiled challengingly. "You dare challenge me? Who will win, I wonder?"

And now, she entwined both his arms and his legs with hers and turned him around. They continued wrestling and rolling in the grass, and as they went on, they accidentaly tumbled over a little hill. Now they were rolling down uncontrollably, but they laughed all the way through.

And finally, they stopped rolling and landed on the ground with a little thud. Hikari shook her head to jerk off the dust from her hair. When she opened her eyes, she found herself...

... lying on Bankotsu's chest.

At the same time, Bankotsu got his mind back from the dizziness and felt something hot on his upper body. He looked up and saw Hikari's blushing face. Although he didn't see it completly, it was obvious that she was embarassed of the current position they were in.

Hikari didn't move and Bankotsu smirked. He placed his arms behind his head. "You planning on staying there for long? Am I really that comfortable to you?"

She blushed even harder. She jumped off and turned her back to him. "Oh please, I just stayed there because I was shocked. The whole thing was an accident."

The mercenary snickered. "You say that, but you're still blushing."

"Just drop it already!"

Bankotsu laughed. Hikari sighed and gazed at the starry sky. Bankotsu stopped laughing and looked at up at her. She had a soft smile on her face and her eyes reflected the bright light of the stars.

She sat down next to Bankotsu and rested his head on her lap. He didn't complain. Hikari continued looking up. "Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Bankotsu shrugged. "Well, you know me, I've never really been a nature lover."

Hikari giggled. "But I can't help but notice how the stars shine brighter tonight."

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, they 'shine brighter'? They don't like they've changed much, if you ask me."

"Oh, that's right! I haven't told you about it, have I?"

"About what?"

Hikari took a deap breath and started her story. "My mother once told me that when a kind-hearted human passes on, the body is left behind on Earth to rest. And as for the soul, it flies up to the sky, and becomes a star."

He raised a brow. "Is that so?"

She nodded. "But just like humans, they need a place to stay. And that certain place... is the moon. When all stars finally meet, they celebrate the arrival of their new friend and dance around their little home."

"Also," she continued, "Even though they live in the sky, the souls are still looking down on us, and it's told that when they're happy for someone, they shine brighter just for them."

Bankotsu snorted. "That's crazy. Stars can't shine brighter just because they're happy for someone. And how can a star be the soul of a human? That's impossible! Otherwise, there would be thousands of'em!"

Strangely, Hikari didn't protest. In fact, she smiled. "I know, right? But... it's still a nice thing to believe in. Especially if you're a kid. It kinda gives you hope, don't you think?"

"Hope of what?"

"That when someone you truly loves dies, you know that you're not alone. They might not be alive and next to us, but they're still looking over us."

Bankotsu didn't say anything. He understood what she meant. After the massacre of her village, Hikari was still just a kid. And she was left alone. She can't possibly count the many times she looked up to the sky, searching for the right soul. The one which belonged to her mother.

Hikari took out her flute and started playing a song. The sound of her melody echoed in the forest, the grass danced in the wind, and the moon and stars shone through the darkness of the night. The soft whistling of the trees soothened both of their souls.

Bankotsu closed his eyes. His mindd drifted to a far away place. The past.

FLASHBACK

"This place makes me sick," Bankotsu complained.

He and Hikari were walking in the small forest next to Mount Hakurei. Bankotsu had to wait there until Naraku's bugs get to him and inform him about his orders. Hikari rolled her eyes. "Whining about it won't do anything. Mount Hakurei isn't a living thing. It's not its fault if this area is so pure."

Bankotsu snorted, but didn't say anything else. "Besides, it could've worse," Hikari continued.

He didn't disagree with that. "There's tons of other things that could've been worse than this. Like death, for example. That's one."

She laughed. "Good point. But you could be inside of mountain instead of being outside."

"And that's two. Alright, so it can be much worse. But I'd still prefer being as far as possible from here."

"Too bad that's not the case," Bankotsu sighed. "It would have been so much better just to be free and not work for Naraku. But I'm a man of my word. I can't get away unless I kill Inuyasha and avenge my brothers."

"I've been thinking about it for a while now..." Hikari said after a moment.

Bankotsu's confused look made her continue, "When you finally get what you want, what will you do? It's not like you can go back to being a real mercenary and getting jobs from the warlords. Most of them are aware of the existence about the Band of Seven now. There's no way that you'll ever get them to pay you."

He seemed deep in thought. "I haven't thought about it much..." Then, he got an idea. "Maybe you can join the rest of us."

Hikari's eyes widened. "WHAT?"

Bankotsu jumped at her reaction. "Well, yeah. Since you're traveling alone, maybe you can just stay with me, Jakotsu, and Renkotsu. You can help us restore the band."

Hikari shook her head. "You know that's it'll never work. Your brothers don't even know my existence, and when they hear that you've been keeping secrets from them, they'll be shocked. Not only that, but they'll hate me to death. We already know how Renkotsu feels about your power, and who knows how Jakotsu will react to having a woman in his team."

Inwardly, she added, "And you know that Naraku will never let go of you until he has your jewel shards."

He frowned. "But what else can I do? I can't just settle down in some tiny village and live happily ever after. That's pathetic! I need something more than just that. I need some excitement in my life. I became a mercenary for a reason, Hikari. I live to kill, and I fight for pleasure. So tell me, what do you think I should do?"

And then, something complelty unexpected happened.

Hikari pushed him to the ground with her elbow. She laughed.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?"

"Oh, please. Lighten up. I just said that joining you was a bad idea. I didn't ask for others. We'll find something to do somehow."

Bankotsu stood back up, but didn't say anything. And now, it was his turn.

He pushed her the same way she did to him. She fell down and glared at him. Bankotsu laughed at her expression. "That was payback for taking me by surprise."

Hikari stood up and shook off the dust on her clothes. And then, she elbowed his chest. Hard. "Jerk. You're not supposed to get revenge at a woman like that."

Bankotsu dropped Banryuu, clung to his chest and said, "I'm able to get revenge on you. You're not soft and weak like the other woman, so I'm making you an exception."

He expected her to argue, but she didn't answer. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring at Mount Hakurei.

"Searching for auras, I suppose," he guessed.

When she finished her searching, she seemed pretty shocked. She turned to Bankotsu. Somehow, there was regret and sadness in her eyes. Bankotsu prayed that what she saw wasn't what he think she just saw.

"Well? What's going on? What happened?"

Hikari hesitated before telling him. "... It's... Jakotsu... I can't... feel any life in him."

Bankotsu immediatly clenched his fist. He never would've thought that it would happen like this. No- it wasn't supposed to happen. He lost his brothers. And his best friend. Even if one of them is still alive, he knew that he can never call him his brother again. "Damn it! Damn it all!"

Hikari refused to look into his eyes. "I'm sorry."

He did his best to keep himself from killing a tree. Which would probably be useless. He growled, "Was it Renkotsu?"

When Hikari looked away, he already knew his answer. It was so easy to guess what she was going to say. "Is he close?"

She answered, "He's coming down the mountain."

Bankotsu picked up his halberd and started walking away to Mount Hakurei. He didn't look back.

"Where are you going?" Hikari asked from behind.

Bankotsu took a deep breath and explained in a calm voice. "Where else? I'm going to kill Renkotsu. And on my way there, I'll have to kill Inuyasha as well. Once Naraku's insects spot me, there's no way I'm getting back here without acomplishing my goal."

The L. Healer tried to stop him. "You don't have to go."

He whipped around and his eyes went wide. "What? What do you expect me to do? I have to avenge my brothers!"

"Even if you do kill Inuyasha, Naraku will never get you out of there alive. And whether Renkotsu is dead or alive, you won't have any of your brothers left with you. If he's still alive, you might be able to make him give you the jewel shards, and find a way to survive."

Bankotsu snickered in disgust. "That'll never work. Renkotsu is the type who would never let down his guard. And he's so confident that he'll get what he wants. He thinks he's so much more superior to me. He'll never cooperate after I'm done with him."

"And besides," he added, "He isn't my brother anymore. I don't care whether he dies or not. It's just like the death of my other comrades. One more won't kill me."

Hikari'e eyes filled with pity. "You say that, Bankotsu... But your eyes tell me something else."

He expected her to try to hold him back again, but she just sighed. "Then I guess I can't stop you from doing what you want. Even of I do try to stop you, I know that it'll be useless. So I won't hold you back."

She thought that he was going to die. Bankotsu could simply hear it from the sound of her tone.

He walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Look, it's not like I'm going for a suicide mission. I'll be able to kill Inuyasha, and I will get out of there alive. As soon as that's done, I'll try to find you, and we'll try to kill Naraku."

Seeing that Hikari still wans't convinced, he sighed. He looked at her straight in the eyes, and he spoke in a soft and reassuring tone. "I'll come back."

Hikari looked away, but Bankotsu brought her gaze back to him by taking both of her shoulders in his hands. "This is wierd coming from me, and you'll just hear this from me once in your life. I'm making you a promise."

Hikari sighed again. And this time, she smiled. "Then... I guess that... I'll have to wait."

He smiled too. He pulled her closer and Hikari's expression changed from soft to startled. She took a tiny step back, but he followed her movement. His hands came down to her waist and she blushed. His face came closer and closer to hers, and she was completly frozen.

She looked into his eyes. It was that look again. She have seen it far too many times to not recognise it. It was the same look some men would give her before trying to kiss her. And whenever she saw those eyes, she would always push them away.

But somehow, this time, she couldn't move an inch.

She could've sworn that her cheeks were on fire when his lips came in contact with hers. "Bankotsu...!"

She didn't know what to do. Obviously because she never really let a man kiss her before. After losing so many tears to the death of her village, she never wanted to face a broken heart again. No matter what the situation was. A voice kept on ringing in her head not to let go, but a different voice wanted her to run away.

Finally, she gave up. She couldn't escape from what she really wanted. She closed her eyes and placed her arms around his neck. She deepened the kiss and realxed.

Bankotsu was surprised, but he didn't show it. He was just about to open his eyes to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, but he didn't. He expected her to push him away and leave. But she didn't. He didn't know why she stayed, but he didn't really care about that right now. "I'd better make the best of it while it lasts... I never know if I'll have another chance like this." The pain he felt from Mount Hakurei disapeared and was replaced with a warm feeling of comfort.

They wanted to forget everything. Forget that Bankotsu was a mercenary and that he was working for Naraku. Forget that Hikari should be attacking and trying to kill him. Forget that they were supposed to be enemies in the first place.

They wanted to forget everything. For a moment.

Just a moment.

Bankotsu pulled away and looked into her eyes. He smirked. "Is that enough to convince you that I'll be back? If it wasn't, I can always try again, if you want me to."

Hikari blushed, which only made Bankotsu's smirk widenen. "T-that won't be necessary."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded and he took a little step back. He picked up his halberd and spoke to her again. "I'll kill Renkotsu first, and when that's done, I'll go after Inuyasha. Until then, you might want to stay away from here."

"I can take care of myself just fine," she retorted.

"I know that, but you're never too sure if there's trouble."

Hikari sighed and smiled. They jumped as they heard a loud roar from the demons coming out from the mountain. She spoke in a nervous tone, "Well... I guess... that you'd better get going."

Bankotsu nodded. "Right."

He turned around and looked over his shoulder. "I'll see ya later!" She smiled again and waved. With that done, he walked away and left her alone. He couldn't help but think about that smile she gave him.

He knew Hikari fall too well to say that that was a real smile. But he couldn't tell what she was trying to hide behind her expression. Somehow... he thought that he saw guilt and sadness.

Hikari waited for him to disapear from her sight before walking away in the opposite direction. She refused to cry. After her family's death, she swore that she would never cry over anything or anyone. Crying was only a sign of weakness.

"Bankotsu... There was a certain reason why I said 'when you finally get what you want'. I wasn't referring to your vengeance. I hoped that you changed your goal, that you gave up on avenging your fallen brothers."

"Unless you turn back, there's no way you'll survive. You'll be killed like the rest of your brothers, and... I'll never see you again. I... I wish... Bankotsu, please, just please, come back. Don't die. Especially not now. Not when I've finally realized what I feel for you."

She felt something wet slide down her cheek. Her hand came up to her face and touched her cheek. A raindrop? Was it raining? Everything was just fine a moment ago. She looked up to the sky.

But there wasn't a cloud in sight.

END FLASHBACK

"That never gets old," Bankotsu sighed and closed both of his eyes when Hikari finished playing her song. "But why that song? You have tons of others."

"Why not this song?" Hikari replied.

Bankotsu opened one of his eyes. "I'm just curious why you would chose that one out of all the others."

"The title of the song is Stars of The Moon. Now do you see why I chose that specific one?"

And he closed his eyes again. "Ah."

Hikari sounded annoyed. "Ah? I just told you something that meant a lot to me, and all you can say is 'Ah'?"

"It means that much to you?"

"The song does! It's the first song my mother taught me when I was young."

He suddenly a feeling of guilt in his stomach. "Oh. Sorry."

"Sorry? All you can say is-"

That's it. The guilt vanished. "Will you shut up for a moment? I'm trying to sleep down here!"

She laughed and placed her hand on his. "You should've fallen asleep when I was playing. That's one of the main reasons why my flute was made."

He yawned. "Whatever."

Hikari watched him fall asleep soundlessly. He looked so innocent and peaceful. Whenever he selpt, she found it hard to believe that he was a heartless mercenary in his past. This was how she wanted every night to be. The beautiful moon and the peaceful atmosphere was enough to make her happy.

She warmly smiled at Bankotsu's sleeping form. The humming of the forest seemed like as if it was singing her a lullaby, and eventually, she fell fast asleep.

*O*~*O*~*O*

Early next morning...

"Hey."

Bankotsu felt something puching his side and he groaned. He knew what was going on and he didn't want to get up. But Hikari kept on poking him. "Bankotsu, I know you're awake. We need to join our friends if we don't want to get screwed!"

Seeing that he still won't respond, she sighed. "Then I guess I have no choice."

A second later, Bankotsu felt something hot on his lips and his eyes immediatly flew open. Almost as soon as he got up, Hikari's lips got off. He stared at Hikari and pouted. "Why did you stop?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky enough that I didn't push you into the river like I would have done to Inuyasha. Like I said, I don't want to wake up the whole village or it might cause a real pain."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Hikari sighed. This is how he always wanted it. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. It didn't last very long, but it was enough to let Bankotsu kiss her back. When they broke apart, she asked, "Are you satisfied now?"

He smirked. "Maybe... I might want to feel that one more time, just to make sure that I'm fully awake."

She pulled up her sleeves. They didn't have any time for this! "In the river is it, then. Do you want the water to come to you, or do you want me to take you there?"

"N-neither! I'm awake now! I'm awake!"

Hikari smiled. "Good."

He sighed in relief. She never kid about this kind of stuff. Wise of him to not provoke her any further.

Standing up, she said, "Everyone's still asleep. We've got about half and hour before they wake up. If we're lucky, we might actually make it long before they wake up. But I think that my friends will have to wait a while."

"Why is that?" He asked curiously.

"If Inuyasha smells your scent on me, I'm dead. I need to wash your scent away before I go back. In other words, I need to take a bath."

Bankotsu stood up as naughty images appeared in his mind. Hikari didn't dare look into his thoughts to see what he was imagining. The dreamy look he had was enough to send make her look away in disgust. He smirked. "Mind if I join you? You might need help to wash your back or your-"

Before he can say anything else, he found himself with a big bump on his head. "OW! Dammit, that hurt!"

He heard her mumble, "Don't even try to convince me."

Bankotsu grumbled and took his Banryuu which wasn't too far from him. He ran his hand over it and made sure that it wasn't harmed in any way. He couldn't find a scratch on it. "And that's how I love it."

"Daydreaming again I see."

He turned around to see Hikari who was making sure that she didn't forget anything. "How long are you going to stay there, admiring your halberd for probably the hundredth time?"

Bankotsu shrugged. "It's not my fault if it's so beautiful."

She sighed and turned around slightly. "Well, I have to get going. Like I said, there's a river nearby, so I guess I'll use that to wash away the scent. You're going to go off to that direction if you want to meet your brothers," she said as she pointed to her left.

He nodded. "Right. See you later then!"

Hikari inwardly smiled. Wasn't that what the same thing he said on Mount Hakurei, when she would last see him?

The only difference is that, this time, she was sure that they would see each other again.

As he walked away, she called to him, "Oh yeah! Bankotsu!"

He turned around and blinked. "What's up?"

The warm smile she gave him surprised him. "About last night... I really needed a time to relax. And I enjoyed our time together. So... thanks."

He smiled back. "No problem."

"And I'm sure I enjoyed it as much as you did."

*O*~*O*~*O*

"Big Brother! Where were you?"

As soon as his leader entered the clearing, Jakotsu demanded some answers. If his brother left killing Inuyasha without him, he is dead! Not that he can actually kill him, though. Maybe giving him the silent treatment is enough.

"I went out for a little air," Bankotsu said, almost sounding bored. "So! What's for breakfast?"

At that moment, Suikotsu and Renkotsu came in with a few rabbits and more meat. "We've caught a few fishes too," said Suikotsu as he held up his prey in pride.

Renkotsu growled. "The stupid slimy creatures were damn difficult to get, so I hope no one's going to complain about them."

He got the fire ready as Jakotsu and Suikotsu cut most of the food in pieces. The other rabbits weren't cut and were kept whole, since those were reserved for Kyoukotsu, who needed more than just a few slices of meat to be satisfy his huge gut (which might probably be useless by now, since it's almost completly slashed out).

"By the way, have you decided what our next move will be?" Jakotsu asked Bankotsu while he ate.

The leader almost spat out what he was eating in his brother's face. He didn't think about that yet. And when he mentions that he was going out for fresh air before, they probably thought that he was thinking of plans the whole time. If they ever heard that he spent time with Hikari, he can kiss his leader ass goodbye. Worse, Renkotsu might as well take over. Everyone was staring at him intently and he felt the nervousness in him increasing every second.

He tried to make his voice sound steady and thoughtful. "Well..."

Oh, he was in big trouble.

Buddah must have heard his plea, because Kyoukotsu started coughing violently, and everyone turned to look at him. Okay, so Buddah made Bankotsu happy and glad that the attention wasn't on him anymore, but Kyoukotsu surely wasn't.

He got his idea, and he cleared his throat so that the attention went back to him. "We're going to have to move slowly. Since Kyoukotsu's injured, we can't go after Inuyasha immediatly. We'll see what we can do, and when we're okay, we'll go after him."

Most of the band grunted and went back to eating.

When they all finished, they started packing up. Bankotsu was already finished, since he didn't have much to take. Renkotsu walked up to him and whispered, "We need to talk."

Bankotsu was surprised at how serious his voice sounded. And he didn't feel like talking to the traitor of the band right now. But since he had nothing to do, he might as well listen to what his second in command had to say. "Alright, but make it quick. Everyone else is going to be finished soon."

Renkotsu made sure that no one was listening to them and spoke, "We have a big problem."

*O*~*O*~*O*

Hikari streatched her arms as she stepped out of the river. Sure, she was freezing, but the feel of the cold water on her skin comforted her. People would think that she was crazy, going in there in the morning. But she can control water, so it didn't matter to her whether it was hot or cold. It almost felt like air to her.

She wore her kimono and picked up her blades. The kimono wasn't hers, and it wasn't as comfortable as the other one, but it was better than the others she saw. Her other kimono needed to be cleaned, and the woman of the villae volunteered on helping her. It should be dry by now.

She ran to the village and rushed to the little hut her friends were staying, all the while nodding to some villagers who passed by. When she arrived, the tiny temple seemed somewhat different. It looked much better than before, that was for sure. She sensed Kagome's aura and went inside.

"Hey! I'm back!"

When she entered the room, she was greeted with a very strange silence. Everyone was there, it's just that they weren't doing anything. Kagome was thinking of something to do, Sango was waving a little piece of string at Kirara who was playing with it eagerly, Shippou was sleeping and Kohaku was looking out into space. Inuyasha and Miroku were nowhere to be found.

"Umm... Is everything alright?"

Everyone jumped at her voice. "Oh! Hikari! You're back," Sango greeted her.

"So it's now that they notice me..." Hikari thought. "Well, you guys look like you're having fun. Mind if I play with that piece of string with you, Kirara?" she teased.

Kagome smiled. "We're not that desperate, don't worry. We just didn't know what to do while you were gone. The party last night was enough to wipe us all out. Inuyasha had a bellyache, and it took me everything to make him stop whining. 'Sitting' him a few dozen times worked."

Hikari looked around. "Speaking of which, where is he? Did Miroku go with him or something?"

"They went searching for you not long ago," said Kohaku.

"And we lost Myouga yesterday night," said Shippou, who was now awake.

Hikari sighed. "Well, then, I guess I'll go search for them."

She looked for their auras and found them at the entrance of the village. Inuyasha must have followed her scent. Wait until he finds out that he searched for her for nothing. She saw Inuyasha getting back up and running to them and Miroku followed behind him.

"I guess there's no need for me to go." Looking at her friend's confused glances, she smiled. "You'll see soon enough. But right now, let's start getting ready to leave. Inuyasha's already going to be a pissed dog when he finds out that I'm here. Let's try not to make him feel more upset by being too slow."

With that said, everyone hoped onto their feet and got ready. Hikari changed out of the red kimono and wore her blue one.

Inuyasha bursted into the room, panting heavily, annoyance written all over his face. Miroku was behind him, but he was too busy catching his breath to be annoyed at Hikari right now. The half demon yelled, "Hikari! You... You..."

She looked at him with innocent eyes. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"Don't give me that look! What took ya so long? When did you arrive here?"

"A few minutes ago, actually. Not long before you two left, it seems. Didn't you know that I was leaving?" She eyed Kagome and Sango suspiciously. "Did you tell them?"

Kagome and Sango nodded. Kagome said, "Inuyasha was so busy eating food that he probably didn't care about what he heard. Or how important it was." She glanced at Inuyasha. He looked pretty confused.

"You did?"

"Yes, I did! You were just concentrating too much on the food that you ignored what I said!"

Hikari looked at Sango and Miroku, waiting for their answer. She can already guess what the excuse was.

"Miroku was telling all the young woman in the village how wonderful their future looks by asking them if they want to bear their children, of course. Nothing special, really, just the usual, but it looks like he didn't hear me."

"I did hear you, Sango! It's just that I needed to acompany Inuyasha to make sure that he won't be lonely."

"That 'acompanying' cost you half of the breath you needed for today," Shippou mumbled.

Hikari sighed. This is how she found men wierd. They couldn't even take a moment of their time to listen to the nice words their friends had to say! "Never mind that, let's get ready to get out of here before another random demon shows up. Most of us are already ready, so there's only Inuyasha and Miroku who need to pack up."

As soon as they got out of their hut, they were surounded by villagers. Some were crying, and some were just annoying them with questions.

"Where are you going?"

"Please, you can't leave!"

"What if another demon shows up?"

Inuyasha bursted out, "QUIET!"

Everyone immediatly shut their mouthes and froze. In a calmer tone, Inuyasha said, "We can't stay here forever to protect you. There are other people who need help, and we have to find out why the demons are reacting the way they are."

"He's right," said Kagome, "We've done our work here, so we have to leave. We didn't sense any demonic aura for the past few days, so you'll be fine on your own."

The elder stepped foward. "But what if something as great as the water demons come?"

"Do not worry, about that. I am sure that Miroku can place a few sutras around the area so you can be safe," Hikari assured. "Isn't that right, Miroku?" She turned to the monk and gave him a glare that clearly said 'If you turn them down, I'll make sure that you never beautiful girls the same way again'.

Miroku understood the message and gulped. "Of c-course! I will start right away!"

And with that, he ran off with a few villagers at his heels. While he placed the sutras and prayed, the other members of the Inutachi said their goodbyes. Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango spoke with the leader and a few of the other elders. Kohaku and Shippou were talking with a few kids.

"Will you come back to see us?" A little girl asked.

"Sure we will," Kohaku said (lied). "Even though we might come back in ten years or so."

That's how it always ended. Whenever demon slayers visited a small village like this, they can't guarantee that they'll ever come back. And after the other hundred villages they've been in, how can they remember all these faces?

Shippou wasn't paying much attention to the kids. Kohaku noticed this. "Hey, Shippou, what's wrong?"

The fox demon jumped. "Oh! Sorry. I was just... wondering where Myouga went. He shouldn't have gone too far, after only one night."

Kohaku rolled his eyes. "I'm sure that that flea ran away to find some other people to boss around."

A little voice came from Shippou's tail. "Hey! I'm bossing anyone around!"

Shippou shook his tail and Myouga landed on his hand. "So you were here all this time, weren't you?"

"I was sleeping! I needed a place to stay! I couldn't just sleep on the hard floor where anyone can step on me at any moment!"

Hikari was talking with a few children too. But she was a little bit further from her friends, and nobody really seemed to notice her. A little girl was crying. Hikari patted her head and said in a soft tone, "There, there. I may be leaving, but you shouldn't cry over something like that."

The girl started crying even more. "But that's just it! I don't want you to leave! I want you to stay here!"

Hikari brushed away her little tears and gave her a warm smile. "I know that neither of you do. But I have to go and help other people. I can't stay with you forever and abandon my friends. Tell you what, I'll visit you one day and we'll have enough time to play, alright?"

The girl sniffled. "Promise?"

The warm gaze she gave the children never left. "Promise."

Each of the other kids around her gave Hikari a big hug, accompanied with lost of tears and sniffling. Hikari tried to calm them down. "Alright, that's enough crying, now."

By the time Miroku was finished doing his job, the Inutachi was already gathered at the entrance of the village and waiting for him.

"Placing the sutras was going to take more time than I thought," Miroku puffed. "They wanted to be positive that everything was going to be safe."

Inuyasha snorted. "Whatever. Now let's get out of here."

The Inutachi waved the villagers goodbye and continued heading south. The sun was shining and the wind blew softly.

"Ah, what a great day for traveling," said Myouga, who sat on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Trees slowly swaying, not a cloud in the sky and the wind isn't blowing me away. Wonderful whether indeed."

Inuyasha turned to Myouga and exclaimed, eyes wide, "Wha-? When did you get here?"

Alright, Myouga was tired of being ignored now. "I was here ever since the moment you left the village! Is it really that hard to notice me? You can smell me, can't you?"

The half demon rolled his eyes. "You know exactly why we don't notice you." And putting that aside, he turned to Hikari. "By the way, Hikari, you were acting pretty nice with those kids back there. I thought you hated kids."

She looked a little shocked. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you didn't react very nicely to when we said that you'd take care of the eel demon," said Miroku.

Hikari calmed down. "Oh, that. Just because I said that I didn't like the eel doesn't mean that I don't like kids. I just said that it was really annoying."

*O*~*O*~*O*

Later that night...

"We're going to camp out here for tonight!" Inuyasha announced as they came into a halt. Kagome got off his back and started taking out some food from her bag as the others went to her side.

Shippou jumped onto her shoulder. "What did you bring today Kagome?"

Kagome frowned. "There isn't much food left... There's only five bowls of ramen..."

"Say no more," Hikari said before she can continue. "I'll look for my own food. You guys eat up, I'll find something to eat."

The young miko protested, "B-but that not fair! Hikari, you-"

Hikari cut her off again and winked at her. "Hey, I'm survived in the wild for two years without anyone's help or care. Maybe Myouga's, but you know, he's useless. I'll be fine. Besides, I sense some rabbits and a river nearby, so it's shouldn't be long to get some meat. I'll be back before you know it."

She knew that her friends would try to protest again, but she didn't give them a chance. She ran into the forest and followed the aura of her prey.

She really didn't care about going out on her own. It wasn't that she hated Kagome's food - she abosolutely loved it - but the feeling of wind in her face made her feel free and alive. The trees looked like nothing but a distant blur when she was running. It made her feel powerful.

Hikari froze when she saw a swift movement running past her. The moment she stood still, something tackled her from her side and was pulled into a bush. She knew that screaming wouldn't do her any good. All that she could blurt out was a "What the-?"

Her captor held her arms back to that she couldn't use them. She didn't struggle though. She knew who it was just by detecting his aura. She whispered, "What do you want, Bankotsu?"

When he realesed his grip on her, she turned to look at him. "This had better be good. Can't you see that I'm trying to find something to eat? And this really isn't the moment to talk! Especially with Inuyasha and everyone else around!"

He snorted. "Don't worry about that. I hid my scent and my aura to make sure that they won't smell or sense me."

He was right. A few minutes ago, she couldn't feel anything, but when he tackled her, she was able to feel his aura. But just for a few moments. He hid his aura as soon as she reconised him. "What are you doing here? Are you following me around? "

"... Maybe. But that's not what I came here for."

"Then spit it out already!"

He hesitated. He was constantly shifting his eyes from her to some other place. His voice sounded nervous too. "So... um... How's it going?"

Hikari groaned. Is this what this was about? He can't be serious! "If you aren't going to tell me, I'm leaving. I don't feel like looking into your thoughts right now."

She stood up, but he pulled her back down. He said in a an urgent tone, "I'll just get to the point!"

She knew that it was important now. Bankotsu never reacted this way around her. In fact, he never reacted this way. He was always so calm and acted light hearted, no matter what the situation.

When her eyes softened, and Bankotsu continued. He took a deep breath, and Hikari was surprised at how shaky his voice sounded. "It's Kyoukotsu... He's dying."

Does this thing have to many sentence errors? I think so. Well, I work in french most of the time, so it can't be helped.

So, apparently, I'm not that good when it comes to romantic scenes. Or battle scenes. But I'll try to get better. If you have any advice, plz tell me. :)

I've noticed that I use the... umm.. verb 'to sweat drop' most of the time (maybe not in this chapter, but other ones). I know that it sounds wierd, but it's just to show that the caracters get a little drop of sweat coming down their cheek, forehead, etc.

At first, I thought that I'd be able to continue this a little longer and add some more scenes of the Shichinintai, but it seems that I've passed my limit. So, hopefully, there will be more of them in the next chapter. :)

Review plz~! :D

~FoxRain7~