Hurrah for the new chapter!
Disclaimer (this is getting annoying...) : I do not on Inuyasha.
~Stars Of The Moon~
Chapter 7
Hikari's eyes widened. She knew that Kyoukotsu was injured badly, but she never would have thought that he might be dying. His wound wasn't that bad, was it? She searched for Kyoukotsu's aura to make sure.
She gasped at what she felt.
Bankotsu was right. Kyoukotsu was dying. His breathing was getting shallow, and his body tempature was burning up. It won't be long before his body freezes completly.
The enormous gash on his chest muct have been infected for days now. It was one of the worse infections Hikari had ever felt coming from a human body. The blood stopped pouring from his wound, but his face was pale with the loss of a huge amount of blood.
The pain was too great. Hikari refused to search any more and opened her eyes. She understood why Bankotsu felt so troubled now. Last time he was alive, he never met all of his brothers in person. They just kept in touch by Naraku's insects. But now, they're traveling in a group.
He can't lose them all so all, there's a reason why he called them his 'brothers'.
Hikari shook her head to clear her mind. It was already enought that the wound felt horrible. She can't imagine how it looks like right now. When she calmed down, she said, "I see what you mean. What do you want me to do then?"
Bankotsu gave her a 'Are you serious?' look. "I want you to heal him, of course!"
"You might be asking too much," she warned. "I can treat the infection and give him some medicine, but there's no guarantee that he might be able to fight again."
"I know that he'll be able to fight again. We chose him to join us because he's strong! If you heal him, he'll be fine."
She shook her head. "You're putting too much confidence in me. What if I fail? He isn't a demon, so he can't heal super quick. Yes, you chose him because he was strong, but you know that he was the first one to die because he was the weakest in your group."
He didn't protest beacause he knew that she was right. But he didn't give up. He knew that she would succeed. After everything he's seen her do, he didn't believe that she can fail. "Okay, so that's true. But remember, we're stronger now. If you help him, he's sure to survive. I know that you can heal him."
Hikari frowned and looked down. She wasn't sure of what to do. How can she possibly help a member of the Band of Seven? She could heal Bankotsu since he was lying right in front of her and alone, but... Kyoukotsu took different to a whole new level for her. First of all, he was huge, so the wound will be difficult to reach. Second, she was going to be surrounded by all the members of the Shichinnintai. Surrounded by their glares.
"I don't know if it's going to work, though..." she said in a hesitating voice. "Just think about it. How will your brothers react when they see me? And I can't just leave Inuyasha and the others saying that 'I've felt something nearby' again!"
When she meant his brothers, she meant Jakotsu and Mukotsu, of course.
"Oh, come on! I'm on my knees, here!" He begged, which was very unlike him.
She hesitated again. Finally, she made up her mind. "Fine," she said softly.
Bankotsu's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"
She repeated, a little louder, "Fine. But I'm not going to enjoy this. You're going to owe me big time when this is over."
He fought the urge to give her a giant bear hug. If he did hug her, she'd surely think that he'd lost his mind and gone crazy. So instead, he smiled gratefully. "Thanks."
"I'm not going with you right now, though. Inuyasha might suspect something if I don't go soon. I'll look for your aura and I'll meet you a little south from here tomorow, since that's the way we're moving. We're going to have to hunt tomorow, so we'll probably need to split up too. That might be when I'll meet up with you. If that doesn't work, I'll have to find some other way to get to you."
He nodded and said, "That's fine. Thanks again."
Before standing up to leave, he asked, "Should I tell them that's you're coming over to help Kyoukotsu?"
She flinched. She hadn't thought of that yet, but maybe the choise was for the best. "You're probably going to have to let them know. When they see me, they have to know that it's not because Inuyasha is close, and it's not to kill me either."
"Good point."
She stood up. "I have to get going. I'm going to have to find something to eat and get back to the others. I'll see you tomorow."
Bankotsu smiled. "Right."
"Bankotsu?"
"What?"
"You owe me big time."
He smiled. "I know."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Hey! Hihari!" Inuyasha yelled with his mouth full of ramen noodles. "Wha' da hatch?"
The L. Healer emerged from the trees and raised a brow and smiled. "Excuse me? I didn't hatch anything, Inuyasha. I don't speak 'mouth full' language, so I can't understand you very well."
Inuyasha gulped everything down and repeated, "What did you catch?"
She help up six slimy fishes proudly in the air and winked at Kagome. "Told ya I can take care of myself."
The miko stuttered, "I-I n-never said that you wouldn't be okay! I-I just said that it wasn't fair that..."
"Anyways, it doesn't matter right now," said Hikari. She looked over to the tiny circle of rocks to from the camp fire. "I'm guessing you guys already finished eating?"
The others nodded and Sango said, "The fire didn't last very long, though, so the water was a little cold."
"I see," said Hikari, "Well then, I'll just need to make the fire again for my fish. And yes, Kagome, I know that you have a 'ligh-ter', but I'm saving you some trouble here, so please don't complain. Besides, the only thing we need to do is make it bigger, right?"
Kagome nodded. "Okay, then."
The healer smiled. She streached her arm towards the little sparks of fire and, as expected, the little source of warmth grew to a flamme. It started getting bigger and bigger, before it completly stopped growing.
Hikari grabbed a stick lying beside her and picerced a fish with it. "So who wants fish with their noodles?"
Shippou raised his hand and exclaimed, "Ooh, me! I want some!"
Kirara mewled in agreement and Hikari smiled. "That's two. Anyone else?"
"I'll share mine with Kirara," Myouga said as he jumped off Shippou's tail.
Hikari nodded and glaced at Inuyasha and felt his aura. He was hesitating. She smiled maliciously and waved a fish-on-a-stick at him. In a teasong tone, she said, "Come on, doggy. You know you want it."
Inuyasha flinched. He could've spilled his bowl of ramen if he weren't clinging on it so tightly. His eye twitched. He had a 'what the hell?' look on his face. "D... D... Doggy?"
Everyone laughed. Oh, how they loved the expression on his face. The healer calmed down and said, "So I'm taking that as a 'no'?"
The half demon quickly shook his head. "That's not what I said! I'm just asking why you gave me such a pathetic nickname!" And under his breath, he mumbled, "And yes, I wanted a fish. 'Doggy' just caught me off guard."
Hikari heard him clearly and grinned. "Okay, so that's four people sharing three fishes. I'm guessing that none of you want any?" she asked her three human friends. They shook their heads as Hikari stuck the rest of the fishes on other sticks.
After a while, Hikari announced, "It's ready!"
Shippou jumped onto her shoulder, and then, next to a fish. "Oh, boy! Doesn't it look yummy, Kirara?"
Kirara hopped to his side and sniffed at the food curiously. She pulled away from it and mewled happily. Shippou reached out for one fo the fishes and handed it to the cat demon. She took a bite out of it and mewled again.
"It is good, isn't it?" Shippou asked. "Let's see..."
He streatched his tiny arm towards a fish, but Inuyasha was faster. He got it before him and took a bite out of it. The little fox demon yelled at him, "Hey! That's mine!"
Inuyasha snorted. "There's three more, so what does this make a difference?"
"I was going to get it first! You knew that it was mine, and you took it! There's a word called respect, you know!"
"I know that. But when was the last time you ever showed me respect?"
"But I'm still a little kid! I can still do whatever I want!"
"What was that?" Inuyasha punched the kid's head. "I'd like to hear you say that one more time!"
"Kagome! Inuyasha hit me again!"
"Inuyasha..."
He froze. "Uh oh."
"SIT!"
*O*~*O*~*O*
The next morning...
Hikari woke up faster than the others. Their auras told her that they were still asleep, and since she didn't have anything else to do, she decided to get breakfeast. She tiptoed her way away from her friends and made sure that she didn't wake anybody up.
It took her a while to get some food since nothing was really out yet. The rabbits were all in their holes, the fish all hid in the shadows and the edible demons were kept out of sight. Hikari could sense every single one of them, but she couldn't go too far away.
She tried to keep focus on searching for her prey, but there was one thing on her mind that kept distracting her.
Kyoukotsu and his wounds.
She couldn't help but smile lightly at the fact that Kohaku could damage someone as huge as Kyoukotsu so easily. But as soon as she thought of that injury, her smile fadded like it came.
Today was the day that she'd meet the other memebers of the Band of Seven face to face. The last time she saw them, they were glaring at her, so she didn't consider that 'face to face'. In fact, she was pretty sure that the meeting coming up later in the day wasn't going to be any different than from before.
Those injuries...
Why did it bother her so much?
Kyoukotsu was human. If he survived out of this, he was lucky. That gash was already infected, and the infection was spreading through the man's body. She had never seen anything this horrible.
Sure, there were a few times that she'd seen worse, like heads slashed off and arms cut to pieces, but... The feeling of Kyoukotsu's sick aura was killing her.
She hated to see people suffer. She couldn't stand it. Hearing the cries of agony was enough to make her close her eyes and prey for everything to all just be a dream. Seeing people die in front of her made her suffer even more.
She was a legendary healer. She was made to heal and protect all those who are weak and who neeed help. Except... If they just let a person die without going to their maximum, there's no way that they're going to forgive themsleves.
So what if Kyoukotsu died? What would she do then? The Shichinintai would only hate her even more, and they wouldn't hesitate to try to kill her. They would blame his death on her. And...
"Bankotsu..."
What about him? How will he react when Kyoukotsu dies? Will he ever speak to her again? Will she be considered as an enemy? She imagined his pained expression once he finds out that his brother died. So many emotions were writen in his eyes: regret, sadness, fury, hatred...
She could never bear the thought of that. So...
What if she really did fail?
"I know that you can heal him."
His words suddenly rang into her head. She inwardly smiled. "That's right. He trusts me."
"I can't let him down after telling him that I'll heal him. He's counting on me..."
She looked into the trees and spotted when she saw a few particular leaves. She walked over to them and picked them up. "These leaves are nice and fresh... which means that there should be some other herbs nearby..."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"We're going to rest here for a while," Bankotsu announced to his brothers.
"Huh? But we already took a break a two hours ago," said Jakotsu.
"Yes, I know, but there's something that we need to talk about," the leader replied as he sat down on the grass. The others followed him and sat down as well.
"So, what do you want to tell us?" Renkotsu asked when they were settled down.
Bankotsu took a deep breath. He knew that this was going to be hard, but it was for the best... right? He wasn't too sure. Maybe he could tell Kyoukotsu of Hikari's arrival and leave the rest of his brothers out of this.
But it was too late now. They were all looking at him questioningly. Ever since the day they discovered that he had a close relationship with that woman, they kept their distances from their leader. Even Jakotsu, who was Bankotsu's closest friend, never talked to him the way they used to before.
If Bankotsu turned away now, he'll just look like a freak. He thought about the words he was going to use wisely before saying, "You all know that we can't go into battle with Kyoukotsu injured like this."
Kyoukotsu opened his mouth to object, but all that came out was a whimper of pain. He said almost immediatly after, "I'm fine."
The leader raised a brow. "You think so? Don't try to deny it. That cut is getting uglier and uglier every day."
The giant snorted and looked away. After a moment, Suikotsu asked, "So what are we going to do about it? If this goes on, he'll never be able to fight again. Did you decide how we should deal with him?"
Bankotsu shook his head. When Suikotsu meant 'deal with him' he really meant 'DEAL WITH HIM'. It's either kill him for being such a weakling, or abandon him. But Bankotsu would never do that, of course. As long as his comrades were loyal to him, he was going to take care of them.
"This is it," he thought, "I'm going to have to blurt out the truth sooner or later."
"No, we won't deal anything with him. But there might be a way for him to recover."
They all stared at him wide-eyed. But Kyoukotsu's eyes were the biggest. They could have shot right out of his head.
Renkotsu still had his suspicions, and he wasn't sure if the answer he was going to get was going to be good. "And what may that be?"
Bankotsu knew that he was going to be the first one to question him. Questioning his judgement was a perfect way to steal his leadership. He smirked, trying his best to seal away the look of panic that might come up any minute. "We're going to take Hikari and she's going to heal him. It's as simple as that."
Long moment of silence.
And then Jakotsu yelled, "WHAT? That woman? You can't possibly be serious?"
Suikotsu frowned. "Big Brother, just wondering, what makes you think that she might be usefull?"
"Oh, yes, that's right, I haven't told you that she was a legendary healer, have I?" he replied, always trying to keep his calm.
"No, but I don't see why that would make much difference. Even if she was a legendary healer, wouldn't it be best to find some other healer? Or maybe a priestess?"
Bankotsu shook his head in disappointement. "A priestess won't be able to do a thing on him. Besides, they'll know immediatly that there's something wrong with us. What we really need is a legendary healer. But apparently, Hikari is the last of her kind. She's the only chance we've got."
The Shichinintai's eyes widened slightly. Ginkotsu, who stayed silent this whole time, asked, "Last of her kind?"
"Yes. The legendary healers have all been killed by demons six years ago. She's the only one who survived and who lived to tell about it. If you ask me, she's the only one who has to right skills to heal Kyoukotsu."
Renkotsu frowned and placed his hand on his chin to concentrate. "In that case, we've really got no choice, do we? It's either Kyoukotsu dies and we go on, or we let the girl try to heal him."
"The first option won't be tolerated," Bankotsu swore. "It's already bad enough that we've all died twice. Dying a third time after living for a few days won't happen."
There was another long moment of silence, until Renkotsu said, "So... are we going to capture the girl?"
Bankotsu was a little shocked that his second in command, out of all the other members of the band, took it so easily. He decided to put his suspicions aside... for the moment. "No. She decided to come herself. I had a talk with her last night. She said that she'd come today. The sooner, the better."
"If the girl is coming, then that means that Inuyasha might be nearby, does it not?" Mukotsu asked.
Everyone saw Jakotsu's eyes light up for a moment. But Bankotsu ruined his moment. "Yes, it means that he's close, but we aren't going to kill him," he said, putting emphesis on the 'aren't' and 'kill'. "Is that understood, Jakotsu?"
The cross dresser frowned and pouted. "Fine."
"Anyway, she's coming sometime in the day. And she's coming alone. I don't want to see anyone trying to kill her, and even if you try to, you won't stand a chance. No one goes near her without my permission. Is that clear?"
The rest of the members all nodded.
*O*~*O*~*O*
Hikari observed the sky. The sun was right above the Inutachi's heads.
"It's noon..." she noticed.
She'll have to get going soon. She doesn't know how long the Shichinintai members can wait for her, but she can guess that their patience won't last longer than three hours. She looked over to her friends walking in front of her. They were all chatting happily, talking about the times they had when they were in different villages and places.
Hikari smiled. "If only I can have times like that... Being careless and free..."
She was a little furter than the others. She didn't want to bother anyone by searching for auras every ten minutes or so. She made sure that the Band of Seven was keeping their distances and that they were far enough so that Inuyasha couldn't catch their scents. They were doing a good job so far.
"Hey, Hikari!"
She jumped when she heard Kagome's voice. Her friends were all staring at her. "Why are you so behind? Come on, the next village is only a few more kilometers away!"
The L. Healer smiled. "Sorry. I was just a little distracted."
Then, looking behind her and before turning to them again, she added, "You guys go on ahead, I'm just going to take a walk for a while."
Sango looked worried. "Are you sure?"
"Don't worry about me. I can easily follow your auras to find you. I'll join you in a few hours. No- maybe minutes."
She ran into the forest, leaving the Inutachi behind her. She was heading straight for the Shichinintai.
"Why does she always leave like that?" asked Miroku.
"Hikari's never been very comfortable around so many people for such a long time," Myouga explained. "She needs a little bit of space from time to time. I think we should leave her be. Trust me, she can react very badly when she isn't alone for some time."
"Well, she should get used to it," Inuyasha grumbled. "She's part of the team now, and she's going to have to stay with us, even if she doesn't feel comfortable with the idea."
*O*~*O*~*O*
Hikari ran, but not too quickly. She thought about how she was going to show up in front of the Band of Seven. She couldn't just go up to them and say, "Hey! I'm here help you!" or "How's it going? Things getting any better?"
Ha ha ha. No.
She wasn't eager with the idea of having to be surrounded by the Shichinintai or having to meet them. When she looked into Bankotsu's memories, sure, his brothers were pretty nice with him, but she knew how they really were.
She doesn't know how they're going to react when they see her, but she can tell that they won't apreciate her presence one bit. Especially Jakotsu. She just hoped that they would ignore her and forget about her while she was there.
Jakotsu would probably do a good job at doing that, but she wasn't sure.
She stopped running and looked at the sky. The sun that was once there disapperared and was replaced by grey clouds. It was going to rain. That just made her worry even more. "Let's hope that they also have shelter. Otherwise, I'll have to make a giant roof of earth while I treat Kyoukotsu."
But the rain also gave her an advantage. "At least the dry herbs will get wet and they'll clean Kyoukotsu's wound. That way, I can treat it properly."
She started walking and she mumbled, "As long as he doesn't move around like an idiot like Bankotsu does when I try to help him."
The first time she treated Bankotsu (and the first time she met him), he was fine. But after that, when they started training, and when he got a few cuts or bruises, he refused to be healed because of his strong belief on the Shikon jewel shards.
"'I'll be perfectly fine as long as I have the jewel shards!' he says," she said, ironicly immitating his voice. And then, she spoke with her own voice, "Jewel shards, my ass!"
She never really liked or was interested in the jewel shards. It brought nothing but sadness and trouble, and whenever she found a jewel shard, she'd give it to someone she deeply trusted. But somehow, in the end, all the jewel shards were found in Naraku's hands.
Hikari stopped on her tracks. The Shichinintai was only a few meters in front of her. She heard Suikotsu's voice, "Dammit. There's nothing to do!"
"And there won't be anything to do until the girl gets here," Ginkotsu boomed.
"Actually, there still won't be anything to do when she gets here," said Mukotsu. "Except maybe admire her looks from certain angles."
Hikari stiffened. She wanted to burst out of there and slap the old man for having such a perverted idea. But she knew better than that. And judging by Bankotsu's aura, he also felt like slapping him for trying to touch his woman.
"Don't even try," Bankotsu warned. He was doing his best to control his voice and to not make it sound too posessif. "She'll won't hesitate to kill you if she spots you looking at her chest or any other parts of other body." And he smirked, "I would know."
She blushed furiously. She was surprised that the band members didn't spot her red figure in the trees. "No... He wouldn't dare..."
Renkotsu raised a brow. "Oh? Have you already tried?"
The leader's smirk widened. "Oh, yeah. Of course I did. Tons of times."
His brothers (execpt Jakotsu) suddenly got very interested in the conversation. "Since we won't have a chance to take a peek, may we have some details?" Mukotsu asked in a malicious tone. Just because they were all mercenaries didn't mean that they weren't curious of women's bodies.
Bankots chuckled. "Ah, where should I start? The curves first? Or maybe her slender arms? Should I leave her beautiful chest for last?" His brothers were chuckling.
Hikari couldn't stay hidden any longer. Within two fast jumps, she knocked Bankotsu on his head before he can add anything to the humiliating conversation.
It took him a while to register what was going on, and the next thing he knew, Hikari was grabbing him by his collar and was shaking him violently. "What the hell do you think you're telling them?" she yelled.
Bankotsu blinked a few times and pulled himself together. He stopped her from shaking him any longer, and yelled back, "Is that your way to greet someone?"
"It's the way I greet someone when they're talking about my body!"
"They were interested, so I was going to tell them! Does it really matter that much if I told them how beautiful you are?"
"It's called 'privacy'! What, just beacuse I'm your woman, you can tell your brothers every single detail of my chest? Go on ahead and tell them how my lips feel when I kiss you while you're at it!"
"When I said that you were beautiful, it's supposed to be a compliment!"
"Then couldn't you keep all that 'beautiful' thing inside for yourself?"
"Look, like I said, they were curious, and I'm being honest with them! Besides, it's okay to talk about women's bodies once in a while when men are bored."
"What was that? I dare you to say that again, you pervert!"
All that time, the Shichinintai brothers stared in shock. They were surprised about the girl's sudden appearance and of course, her outburst. She was yelling at their leader without getting killed. And the worst part is that Bankotsu didn't look like he wanted to kill her.
They didn't know what to do.
"Umm... uhhh... hey," Ginkotsu mumbled as the their leader and the girl continued bickering. "Should we... I don't know... Stop them from fighting?"
"They're going to have to stop one day or another," said Suikotsu. "So... Who wants to step in front of them?"
Nobody answered. None of them dared to go near them and interupt them. One of the two might as well kill them if they interupted.
Finally, being the good second in command he is, Renkotsu decided to intervene and called, "Big Brother!"
"What?" his leader snapped.
Hikari whipped around to face the Band of Seven with the same gleam of annoyance in her eyes, but then, she remembered who she was dealing with. All the irritation in her gaze vanished and her face turned red. "Oh, shit."
Bankotsu seemed to have remebered what was happening too. He looked at Hikari, and then back to his brothers. "Oh... Oops."
"I guess I'll start the introductions, then," he said after a moment of silence. He cleared his throat. He adressed to his brothers and said, "Everyone, this is Hikari." And then, turning to the women, he said, "Hikari, this is Renkotsu, Suikotsu, Ginkotsu, Mukotsu-"
"Ha ha. Very funny," Hikari said as she rolled her eyes. "You don't need to go on with the list. I already know their names."
"Alright, so since the introdution is already done, let's get to work, shall we?"
About two minutes later, Hikari was looking at Kyoukotsu's wounds. The others were either looking at her doing her work or doing nothing at all. Nobody wanted to go near Hikari or bother her in fear of having to be yelled at like the way she cussed at Bankotsu.
Bankotsu and his other five brothers sat a few meters away from Hikari and Kyoukotsu.
"So," Bankotsu started a conversation. "What do you think of her so far?"
Jakotsu snorted. "She's just like any other women. I don't see what's so special about her."
"I agree," said Renkotsu. "Aside from the fact that she's a legendary healer, there isn't much that we can say. She also wields demonic swords, but I don't see how that's interesting. You yourself have a demonic sword about double your size, Big Brother!"
"Oh, you'll see how special she is soon," his leader smirked. "But really, what do you think of her?"
Everyone stayed quiet. Mukotsu's lustfilled eyes already told what he was going to say. "She's very attractive, that I can assure you."
The leader inwardly goraned. "Yes, but other than that."
Jakotsu crossed his arms. "Well, what do you want us to say? We've only known her for like three minutes, and nobody talked to her. And nobody wants to talk to her! And what makes you ask that question in particular?"
Bankotsu didn't argue with that. They were finally getting on to him. He's been waiting for his brothers to meet Hikari ever since she came back to his life again, and he's been wondering of what they would think of her. From the very beginning, he wanted Hikari to join the Band of Seven. But so far, it seems that his plan of 'getting along' isn't going well.
"She's got some guts in her to yell at you, I'll give her that much," Suikotsu said since nobody added anything. "That's one thing you don't see every day in a woman."
Bankotsu inwardly sighed in relief. There's still hope. "Oh, she's like that sometimes when people annoy her."
None of them added anything else. Bankotsu decided to add something to the conversation. "Have I ever told you about her abilities?"
All eyes were on him now. Their curious looks answered his question. This is just what he wanted. "There is a certain why I trained with her."
He continued, "As you know, she has demonic swords, and she can use demonic attacks that can blow you away. And she can control water, fire, and earth just by touching them. But there's something else about her... something inhumanly possible. She can sense human and demonic auras from miles away and know what they're feeling. She can read anyone's mind and look into their memories and soul."
Renkotsu's eyes widened and he jumped up. "That can't be possible! She surely couldn't get that ability from her demonic blades, so where could she have gotten it from?"
Bankotsu shrugged. "Hikari herself doesn't know. She said that she was born with that power and that neither of her parents had such a power either."
The second in command sat back down and calmed down. He was worried. If Hikari could really tell their pasts and what they're thinking, he could say goodbye to all his plans. "She's an interesting one... But I'd better keep my eyes on her, just to be on the safe side..."
Now, let's get back to Hikari, shall we?
During that time, Hikari was observing Kyoutsu's wound. Her eyes widened when she saw the gash in his chest from close. The flesh around the cut looked as if it was spreading wider and wider, and the dry blood around it wasn't helping it recover either. She should have expected this, so why was she so shocked?
She frowned and bit her bottom lip. "This may take a little longer than I thought," she said more to herself than to the others around her.
She ran her hands over the giant chest, feeling the damage's aura from close. She almost jerked her hands off when she felt it. "This is bad... Kohaku's weapon slashed out a few things fom the inside... If this keeps up any longer, the other parts of his body will be affected from this too... Well, first things first..."
She pulled out her water blade and placed it horizontaly next to the wound. It lightly brushed against Kyoukotsu's chest, but she didn't cut him.
Jakotsu saw this sudden act and his eyes widened. He jumped to his feet and yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"
His brothers turned around to see what he was raging at and they saw Hikari armed with her blade near Kyoukotsu. Most of the brothers looked at their older brother to see if he looked perfectly calm or if he was going to say that everything was fine, but he seemed just as surprised and shocked as they were.
Hikari didn't pay attention to them. She focused on what she had to do and closed her eyes. "Dragon's Cry."
As she spoke those words, she slashed off a few pieces of skin from Kyoukotsu's wound. Everyone expected the giant to roar in pain, but nothing happened. They suspected that Kyoukotsu was dead, but then they saw him lift his head and look around, wondering of what happened.
"Wha... what did you... do?" Bankotsu stuttered.
Hikari slowly turned around. "It's something I've been doing for only a while now. Dragon's Cry isn't a battle technique, but a healing technique. It can purify any poison or infection in a body. My water blade may be a demonic sword, but Dragon's Cry is made from the healing powers of a demon." And looking at her blade, she added, "I haven't completly mastered it yet, so I couldn't purify the infection completly."
Everyone relaxed and sat back down.
The L. Healer continued, "And even if a little bit of the infection is gone, I still have to treat the wound so that it recovers to its natural state." She sheathed her sword back and looked over the injury again. She pulled out a piece of cloth and some herbs.
She took the leaves and squeezed them until lqiuid came out. She made sure that the liquid landed on the cloth and when it was all used up, she held the towel over the giant's chest. She warned, "This might sting a little."
When she pressed the towel on his chest, Kyoukotsu's eyes shot open and he yelled out in pain. His large hand tried to swat Hikari away, but he missed since Hikari jumped out of the way as soon as he started yelling. The Shichinintai memebers stared in shock.
"What is that thing?" Kyoukotsu roared.
"This 'thing' is going to help you get better," Hikari said as if it was obvious. "Just endure the pain."
"Don't even come near me!"
"Kyoukotsu..." Bankotsu groaned. "Do as she says. Trust me, she knows what's best for you."
The giant growled but didn't argue. "Just make it quick."
Hikari sighed and walked to him again. She did the same thing as she did before and she saw Kyoukotsu wince once or twice, but that was it. "It's amazing how Bankotsu can control bloodthristy people so easily," she thought. "Then again, there's a reason why he became their leader, isn't there?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
Hikari wiped the sweat off her forehead. The sky was getting darker and the sun was slowly disappearing from the horizon. "Turns out that it didn't rain after all... Too bad, though. I can use a little rain to cool me down. I'm pooped... I can't wait 'till I get to the village Inuyasha and the others are staying in. I reall need some girls to talk to."
When she was working, she felt the men's eyes on her back the whole time. But their looks weren't filled with hostility, but with curiousity. But that didn't stop them from being a little suspicious of what she really was inside. "Sure, they weren't glaring at me," she thought, "But I would have appreciated that they stopped looking at me!"
One time, she caught Mukotsu staring at her. His gaze was running over her body like a hungry predator stalking his prey. It made her shiver in disgust and want to run away. His eyes went down from her shoulders to her graceful back and to her-
"Excuse me." The old man jumped when he heard her annoyed voice.
Hikari slowly, very slowly, turned around to give him a death look accompanied by a scary smile. "I'd like it if you stopped staring at my body now, if you don't mind."
Mukotsu froze and nodded so fast that he thought that his head was going to fall off. "How can a woman have such a hostile look towards someone!"
The L. Healer sighed. "Well, at least I'll be leaving soon."
She looked at the slepping giant next to her. "Thank Buddah he finally got to sleep. I don't know what I would have done if he continued complaining and screeching any longer."
The other memebers of the Shichinintai left to get some food or water. They were going to eat soon, and Hikari wanted to leave as soon as possible if she didn't want to eat with them. She looked around her quickly before walking away to the forest without a sound. And then...
"And just where do you think you're going?"
Hikari jumped. She whipped aroun to face the leader of the band of mercenaries. "Don't sneak up on me like that! I know that I can try to sense you, but seriously! You know how I look when I'm sensing someone or not!"
Bankotsu raised a brow. He sighed. "Just tell me where you're going."
"You already know. I'm leaving. I've finished my job here."
He walked up to her side. "Let me walk you back."
The girl glared at him. "Not a chance."
"Just for a little while?"
His pleading eyes made her give in. She sighed. "Fine. But just for a while."
He grinned at his easy victory. Hikari started walking away and he followed. They didn't say anything, until Bankotsu broke the silence. "So... How's Kyoukotsu doing?"
The girl sighed. Somehow, she knew that he was going to ask that. And she knew that she shouldn't lie to him. "I'll tell you the truth... He isn't going well. I checked everything, and trust me, you only see those kind of signs when someone is going to die."
Bankotsu hid his surprise well. Hikari might have sensed it, but it didn't seem that she had noticed. "You're saying that he might die?"
She shook her head, eyes filling with sadness and doubt. Sadness for failing him, and doubt for her abilities. "This is what I've been trying to warn you about. And even if Kyoukotsu survives this, that scar will never leave him and stay that way for the rest of his life."
"Having a tiny scar is better than losing the life of a human."
"True. But that's not what's bothering me," she stopped walking, turned around and looked straight into his eyes. "Bankotsu," she explained slowly, "I'm not the one who's going to save Kyoukotsu's life. I'm only here to help him to survive the hard times. But he makes the final decision. There are two things that he needs if he wants to live."
"First," she continued, "The will of his body and soul is important. I'm talking about how strong he is, on the outside and the inside. If he doesn't have the will to continued any further, he's done for, and I can't do anything about it."
"I'm sure that he wants to live as much as everyone else does," Bankotsu said without any doubt in his voice.
"I know that. But it's the second thing that might cause a problem." She paused. "He needs to trust me. If he doesn't trust me, he'll think that what I'm doing is useless. He thinks that my work will kill him instead of heal him. If he doesn't have any confidence in me, he'll lose all hope of living, resulting to the downfall of the first point."
Bankotsu frowned. What she said was true. Kyoukotsu wasn't the type to trust people so easily, he knew that more than anyone. "Then what can we do?"
Hikari shook her head again. "I can't do anything, and neither can you. Kyoukotsu is the only onw who can decide if he trusts me or not."
After a small moment of silence, the mercenary said, "Other than that, is there anything else I should know?"
She didn't answer immediatly. "I think that's about it. I might need to come back tomorow to check if he got better, though. Judging by the damage that has been caused, it's going to take more than three days for him to get better."
Bankotsu grinned when she said that she needed to come back. Hikari noticed it, and, trying to wipe that stupid smile off his face, she added, "But I might be too far to get to you. And I might need to stay with Inuyasha. Who knows, maybe a demon would appear and attack us, or we might find some clue of what's making the demons so much stronger..."
His expression still didn't fall. He knew that it was all an act. "I knew that I could count on you."
He ran off with the same grin and Hikari sighed. But soon after, she smiled. "Bankotsu... You're always so sure that what I do is right... And you're always looking on the bright side of things... I think that's what I like most about you... But..."
Her smiled vanished. She followed her friends' auras and took off. "What happens... if everything I do... is useless?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
As 'promised', Hikari visited the Band of Seven the day after that, and the day after that, until she ended up visiting them every day. However, the relationship between the Shichinintai and Hikari hasn't much changed than from the first day they met. They kept staring at her or ignoring her, and they never talked to her.
The Inutachi didn't bother asking her where she went, because she'd always come back to them. She made up for the time she was gone by doing them a favor or making them diner, and nobody suspected her of anything. They continued chasing after demons and looking for other demons who might give them some information about what's making them stronger. All tey got as an answer was a fight and cuts.
Hikari and the Band of Seven were never too far from each other. The Inutachi would move to the south, and they'd move to the south too. Only the Band of Seven were keeping a far enough distance between the two groups so that Inuyasha couldn't smell them.
Hikari kept doing the same things every day. But even with all her efforts, Kyoukotsu didn't get any better. In fact, he just got worse. And Hikari couldn't do anything about it.
And then came that day...
It was early in the morning when Hikari woke up. She just couldn't get to sleep. Nobody else in the tiny village was awake. She smiled when she saw all her friends sleeping peacefully next to her. The day before, they got into a pretty nasty fight, and everyone was tired.
She closed her eyes and explored the auras around her. The children were sleeping soundlesslly next to their siblings and some men were already outside harvesting some vegetables. "Everything looks fine. Let's see if there are any demons nearby."
She went further and further until she got into the forest. Everything looked quiet and calm there too.
Her mind suddenly drifted to the Shichinintai. She tried to go to the place she last visited them. Luckily, they weren't too far for her to not feel them. "Looks like they're sleeping too. Maybe I just woke up a little too early."
The auras were all asleep. She recognised each one of them; Renkotsu's aura was 'sharp', Jakotsu's was soft yet 'spiky' of some sort, Mukotsu's was easy to know since he was old, Suikotsu's was dark and somewhat light at the same time, Ginkotsus' was the most wierdest, Bankotsu was... Well, Hikari was just too familiar with his to say that it's unknown. And Kyoukotsu's was...
...
...
Hikari's eyes shot open in shock.
"No."
"Oh, no."
In a split second she was outside and running as fast as she could to the mercenaries. Some men asked her where she was going, but they were almost blown away by the wind Hikari left behind her when she ran. She knew that she was being rude, but her mind was somewhere else.
"Please, for once, just tell me that my sensing was wrong..."
This may be the second time she's ever felt this afraid in her life. She didn't understand why she was so shocked. She should've known that this would happen.
She got to the group faster than she thought. When she spotted them, she rushed to Kyoukots's side and ran her fingers over his body. As soon as she felt the contact on her skin, her hand bolted off him.
His body was freezing cold.
Hikari stood frozen in shock. Her breath was caught in her throat. Her heart didn't feel like it was beating. And yet, it shouldn't be hers that felt that way. She placed her hand on his large chest and felt for any pulsation.
There were none.
She looked up to the giant's face. It was as white as snow. She felt his aura, searching in vain for any sign of life that might remain. But she couldn't sense any.
Bankotsu groaned as he felt a gust of wind passing by him. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the sun wasn't completly up in the sky. "Damn. If it isn't time to wake up, then don't wake me up at all!"
He looked around. Then, he saw Hikari. "Wait. What's she doing here?"
If he didn't know better, he would have said that she was visiting him just to see him. He streatched his arms, stood up and walked to her side. He may have had enough energy to stand up and talk to her, but he was still drowsy with sleep. "Hey, Hikari! Whatcha doin' here?"
Hikari didn't say anything. She didn't pay any attention to him and stared at Kyoukotsu's unmoving body. She knew that she had to get out of there before his other brothers wake up, but her feet were stuck to the ground. Her mind swirled with so many things that it made her dizzy. What should she do now? Run away? Stay and tell the truth when everyone wakes up?
Even when Bankotsu placed his hand on her shoulder, she didn't react. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Hikari? Hello? Hey!"
This time, Hikari responded. The voice she used didn't sound like her at all. Her usual calm and soft tone was quiet and shaking. He could bearly make out what she was saying. "Bankotsu..."
Her voice surprised him. He knew that this was urgent, and that was enough to make him snap out of his dream world. "What? What's the matter?"
She looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, and yet there were no tears. She glanced back at Kyoukotsu and Bankotsu followed her gaze. Suddenly, his heart was pounding faster in his chest. Ìn fear. It couldn't be...
Hikari shook her head. She looked down and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Bankotsu clentched his fists. That feeling. Is was that same feeling rising up in him. Why did it come up so often? Back in his first life, he never really felt this way, but ever since the first time he's been ressurected, it's been bothering him like a fly that won't go away.
"Kyoukotsu is dead."
Those words repeated themselves in his head. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths and calm down. When he turned around to face Hikari, she was walking away.
She must have guessed that he was going to say something, so she truned around and said, "I'm pretty sure that you want to be alone with your brothers right now. If I stay here any longer, your brothers may wake up and throw a tantrum."
She paused, and continued, "You're going to have to tell them that I wasn't here in the first place. I know that they'll going to hate me as much as you hate Inuyasha. If you say that I just left you like this, they'll surely think that I'm a coward and pathetic.
"I really don't care about what they think of me. But what I'm concerned about is what you feel about what they think of me." And with that, she walked back to the village.
*O*~*O*~*O*
She never visited the Shichinintai ever since. Even if she did see them, they'd only try to kill her and make her pay for killing Kyoukotsu. Hikari did her best to keep a good distance between them, but somehow, they always got closer. She'd try to convince the others to move a little faster, but all they would ask is "Why?" And she wouldn't answer.
Hikari never knew if Bankotsu forgave her or not. She wanted to see him again, just to ask him if he was okay, or if he forgot everything that happened. But she knew that it would be useless.
Bankotsu hated her. That was that. That was enough to make her stay away.
She knew that she had to do the same. Hate him. Hate him for being a mercenary. Hate him for hurting her friends. But she couldn't. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't pass a single day without having to think of him and regret not seeing him.
A week after Kyoukotsu's death, the Inutachi was on their way back to Kaede's village. They've gone far enough into the south, and now they decided to head towards the north. And of course, Kagome had to stock up and see her family again. Myouga ditched them at their visit to a village, but the Inutachi didn't really care about that.
The night they were a day away from the village, they stayed up a little earlier than usual.
Sango sat down and closed her eyes as she felt the cool air on her face. "The breeze feels really nice tonight."
Miroku sat by her side. "Indeed, it does."
Little kitten Kirara rolled in the fresh grass and lied down next to Kohaku. The boy patted her head and layed her on his lap. Kagome was getting her sleaping bag ready and Inuyasha and Shippou were arguing, as usual.
"My weapons are not junk!" Shippou exclaimed.
"They look like junk, they smell like junk, they are junk!" Inyasha retorted.
"How do you know how junk smells like? I bet you don't even know the meaning of the word!"
"I know how it smells like 'cause I have a huge pack of it right in front of me!"
"Inuyasha! SIT!"
The half demon crumbled to the ground and whimpered.
"That was rougher than what you usually argue about! Show a little bit of kindness sometimes! Shippou's objects can be useful, so don't say anything about it!" Kagome yelled.
Hikari stared at her friends who continued arguing and yelling at each other. But she could see the amusement in most of their eyes. She smiled sadly and looked up at the moon. "Are you looking at it now, Bankotsu? Tonight, no one should really feel upset. But... if there really was one person who feels sadness in their heart, it might be me."
*O*~*O*~*O*
The next morning...
Hikari was the last to wake up. Since she didn't want to see the sunlight so soon, she decided to keep her eyes closed for a little while longer. All her friends were wide awake. She could tell from the way their auras felt. They were working. "Probably to pact things up," she thought.
That night she decided to sleep in a tree. When the others asked why, she said that it was to look at the sky from closer. Even if it was just a few meters higher, it was close enough. Then, when she was seattled, she started playing her flute. And everyone went to sleep.
And when she wakes up, she finds out that all her friends woke up before her.
When she felt heir auras, it seemed somewhat different. It felt more urgent, more desperate to find something. And something didn't exactly feel right. She just couldn't tell what was bothering her. Her aura sensing never really worked well in the morning, only if she was fully awake. That was when she decided to open her eyes. She found Miroku, Sango and Shippou looking around and calling out to...
Kagome.
Hikari hoped off her tree. That was the one thing she couldn't get. Kagome's aura has dissapeared. But it seemed that her presence was replaced by another. An aura that she didn't want to feel unless it was far away.
As soon as she got down, Hikari fell to Shippou's side. He looked like as if he was going to burst with tears any moment know. He looked up at his friend and whimpered, "H... Hikari..."
She tried to calm him down with a soothing voice. "I know. Tell me what happened."
The little fox demon sniffed and said, "Last night, I slept next to Kagome. I decided to wait until she was completly asleep before I go to sleep too, to protect her, and to make sure that she was going to be okay."
Hikari smiled softly and spoke, "That's very brave of you Shippou, and I'm sure you did a great job."
His eyes filled with tears when she said that. But he continued, "So just when I decided to get to sleep, I smelled something really odd, and before I knew it, I was asleep. The last thing I remeber about it was that there was some sort of fog, and that I couldn't see anything."
"And then," his voce cracked, "when I woke up..."
Hikari didn't rush him. She didn't want to force the truth out of him, even if she couldn't wait until he says everything.
Shippou sniffed again and sucked his tears up. "When I woke up... Kagome wasn't there! She was gone!" He bursted into tears.
Hikari inwardly growled. "Damn it... Bankotsu... What are you planning to do?"
I've got to say, I'm pretty proud of this one ^^
This took a lot shorter than I thought it would.
Not a lot of romance in this one, but, hey, there will be a little bit more soon :)
Okay, so maybe there will be more emotions and hurt in the next chapter, but don't worry, it won't last long.
~FoxRain7~