Vacations are finally here! YES! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
~Stars Of The Moon~
Chapter 11
"Who wants to go first?"
"Hikari, I'm not sure if your cheek is any better than it was before," said Bankotsu.
"I know, but it's just to decide earlier, that's all," Hikari replied. "So? Who should it be?"
The members of the Band of Seven glanced at each other. Neither of them wanted to go first.
"I think that we sould start with the weakest and get to the strongest of us all afterwards, " Renkotsu suggested. "It's no use to go against someone strong and right after that, against someone weaker. That wouldn't be fair, would it?"
Everyone turned to look at Mukotsu. He froze. "Are you saying that I am the weakest of us all?"
"Well, now that Kyoukotsu's dead, you should be the first one to go," Jakotsu pointed out.
Mukotsu looked like he was about to argue, but Renkotsu cut him off. "You're the weakest when it comes to physics. In this case, all weaknesses count and for both humans and demons, you need physics if you want to survive."
The old man was starting to get furious. "I am not weak in any case. Why can't someone else go?"
Hikari sighed.
They all stared at her.
She took out her water blade and rested it on her shoulder. "Look, strength isn't the one thing you need in a battle. You need strategy. And everything depends on the weapons you have. For example, you, Mukotsu, have different types of poison you can use. They can be strong once you use them at the right timing and place. But even without timing, they can still be pretty useful.
"In fact, they're stong enough to make even me feel dizzy. If you chose what type of poison you're going to use wisely, you might actually be able to do some damage."
She streatched her arms out and yawned. "Well? Are you going to be first or not?"
Mukotsu still seemed unsure, but the anger in his eyes disappeared. He nodded. "Very well. I'll do it."
She smiled. "Good."
She started walking to the clearing. It was the perfect place to have a battle. Mukotsu followed very slowly, taking his time to look at his bottles of posion and choosing which ones would be good for a match like this.
Bankotsu would never accept any killing today, so poisons which can easily kill someone was out of the league. Perhaps a few that affect the skin or eyes. Or maybe some who suffocate, like the one he used before.
Hikari stood there waiting for him to make the first move. His brothers stared at them and waited for some action. And suddenly, Mukotsu grew nervous. He never really liked being the center of attention of anything. Unless, of course, if it were women.
"Are you going to take the first move or not?" Hikari asked impatiently.
Mukotsu could only stutter a 'Er...'
She sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll start."
A split second later, Hikari wasn't where she was standing. She was by Mukotsu's right side.
The old man was shocked, but he still had enough time to take a bottle of poison and shoot it at her. The smoke was gone in a few seconds, and Hikari wasn't there. The Shichinintai wasn't surprised, though.
A moment later, she reappeared, but above Mukotsu's head. Both of her swords were out now and she was about to attack. Mukotsu wan't going to let that happen. He shot another one of his poisons at her.
And again, Hikari dogged it succesfully.
This went on and on a few more times, until Hikari had had enough. It was time to put an end to this.
Mukotsu knew very well that she was getting tired of this. He thought carefully, "She was only playing with until just now. She'll give me the finishing blow if we go one like this. That is, unless, I get her first. What should I use...?"
Before he had the chance to take anything, Hikari disappeared completly from his sight. No matter where he looked, she just wasn't there. "Where... did she go?"
He heard Jakotsu's alearted voice yelling out to him, "Mukotsu, behind you!"
But the old man couldn't turn around. He was too slow. Before he knew it, a tiny gust of wind blew at the back of his head, and something cold and sharp was pressed agaisnt his neck. He froze.
"There. It's over."
Mukotsu closed his eyes and waited for the impact to come. His heart beat at an incredible speed. He was going to be killed by this girl? He never thought that he would die like this. He thought that his life would end by an illness or his old age, but by a girl like this?
The impact never came, and he heard Hikari say, "Haha. Very funny. We were sparring, remember? That means that we don't kill. And besides, I'm a legendary healer. I would never kill humans unless it's really necessary."
She removed her blade from his neck and rested it on her shoulder. When she saw that he didn't move, she asked. "You aren't dead. You can still move, in case you haven't noticed. Your turn's over."
He still didn't move. Hikari wondered what happened to him. She made her way to his face, and waved her hand at his eyes. "Hey, you okay?"
He was still alive, she was sure of that. His aura was still alive, and he was fine. He was just... a little too shocked. She poked him gently, and then...
Mukotsu fainted.
He fell to the floor, his face white with fear. The Band of Seven stared in shock. "You killed him!" Jakotsu yelled in horror.
Hikari rolled her eyes. "Yes, and it was a very peaceful and merciful death. Just look at how peaceful he looks. Geez. He's just very shocked. Look, he's still breathing."
She pointed at his chest and poked him lightly. His chest slowly heaved up and down. With a satisfied look on her face, Hikari said, "See? He'll be fine."
They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, who's next?" Hikari asked.
"That would be Ginkotsu," said Renkotsu. "But I don't see any possible way you can get pass his defences. If you try to kill him, you may be able to do a little bit of damage. But you can't possibly get through him."
"Gersh!" Ginkotsu agreed.
She snorted. "Don't be so cocky. If Koga was able to defeat him, I'll be capable of doing something too. Ginkotsu still survived, even after Koga planted his head to the ground. If his jewel shard wasn't shot out, he would have had a chance to survive back then."
Renkotsu and Ginkotsu flinched. Just... how did she know all that? They both glanced at their leader. Did he give everything away?
Bankotsu caught them looking at him, and he shrugged. "Don't ask me how she knows all that. She has her own ways to gather useful information. I didn't know how Ginkotsu died either."
Hikari had a malicious look in her eye. "So, shall we begin?"
*O*~*O*~*O*
"That's that... and that is... that..." Kagome mumbled to herself. "And that is... ARGH, I don't understand anything of this!"
"I don't blame you," Yuka said as she passed on to another page of her notebook. "It's complicated at first, but once you do a little reaserach, it gets easy to understand."
"But I don't have any time to reasearch information!" Kagome complained. "I only have a few hours to study!"
"That's why we're here," said Ayumi with a smile. "Ask us anything you want to know about."
"How about this?" She asked as she pointed to something in her notebook.
"Oh, that..." said Eri. "It takes some time to understand, and a lot of questions, but you should be able to get it right."
Kagome groaned and sloped onto her bed. "I'm never going to finsh this."
"Oh, come on," Yuka encouraged. "You want to get a good score, right? Then you should stop whining and start studying!"
"But just to calm you down a little bit..." Eri smiled maliciously. "Why don't you tell us more about your boyfriend?"
She sighed. "Fine. But right after this, we're getting back to work."
All three girls nodded viciously and stared at her with wide unblinking eyes. They absolutely wanted to know more about him. And when he was going to come back. He seemed like a pretty interesting guy, especially with those little white ears of his and his golden eyes.
"Tell us more about how he is," said Yuka. "Other than the fact that he's over protective and all."
Kagome looked deep in thought. "I already told you everything about him. What else do you want me to say?"
"How about... you tell us how he's like with other people?" Eri asked.
Oh, this was easy. "He's pretty nice with some people he doesn't know well, but most of the time, he's arrogant, selfish and a real pain in my butt. Whenever he shows his soft side, he instantly tries to hide it by saying something stupid."
"We already know that he's selfish and all, but what about his attitude with friends?" Ayumi asked, eyes glowing.
"Oh, well..." Kagome thought about it. "It takes a while to gain his trust and to become good friends with him. But once you are good friends with him, he'll do anything to protect you, and he'll never betray you."
"That's kinda hard to believe. Especially after you said that he still chases his ex," Yuka mumbled.
Kagome froze. She looked down and tried to hide her sadness. "He... he doesn't chase her anymore..."
"Really?" Eri's eyes widened in joy. "That's great! What happened?"
She shouldn't have said that Inuyasha would never betray anyone. Kagome knew that it would only bring pain to her. And what could she say right now? 'Oh, his girlfriend died, that's all'? Kikyo wasn't Kagome's best friend, but it still hurt to mention her.
"She... um... left," she mumbled.
"Okay, enough with his girlfriend," Ayumi interrupted. "I asked about his friends."
Kagome inwardly sighed in relief, thankful for the chage of subject. "Oh, right. Well, like I said, he doesn't betray anyone so easily, as long as they don't betray him. He cooperates really well with people when it comes to thinking, and... well... I can't think of anything else..."
"Oh, come on, there's got to be more," Eri urged.
"I think that's enough talking for now," Yuka smiled. "We should probably get back to work if we want Kagome to pass."
Kagome smiled. "Then, back to work!"
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Ugh... where am I?" Mukotsu groaned.
"So you're finally awake, eh, Mukotsu?" Jakotsu glanced at the old man from the corner of his eye. "Kinda late, though. You already missed Ginkotsu's match."
Mukotsu blinked. "Ginkotsu? Was he after me?"
"Yes," Renkotsu said as he walked up to them. "And she's against Suikotsu right now."
They all looked over to Hikari and Suikotsu's round. The healer was blocking the doctor's claws with her sword, and it didn't take long before her other sword came up from behind Suikotsu's shoulder to get him. He dodged it swiftly and went at her again.
"Tell me..." Mukotsu started. "How did Ginkotsu's turn end?"
Ginkotsu, who was sitting right next to the group this whole time, grunted.
"It was a surprise for all of us," Renkotsu said without looking at his (literally) old brother. "Ever since the begining of the match, the girl's been avoiding everthing Ginkotsu threw at her. As she dodged the attacks, she got closer and closer to Ginkotsu, and just as they were face to face, she was able to point her blade at Ginkotsu's eye. If she had continued to force her blade down, Ginkotsu would have lost his one good eye, and perhaps even his life."
Bankotsu rested his hands on the back of his head. "That's what we call strategy. She saw Ginkotsu's only weak spot and concentrated on attacking his eye."
"I wonder, though..." Jakotsu lifted his gaze up to the sky. "Why doesn't she use her powers to control things? She could easily kill us and win."
The leader answered with a smile, "Hikari loves to spar, and since she doens't get to spar much with other people, she likes to make the matches last as long as she wants. When it gets really boring, she gives up and goes right at her opponent for the final blow."
Just then, Hikari sweeped Suikotsu off his feet. The doctor fell, and just as he was about to get up, he found Hikari's blade at his neck. She winked and stood triumphly at him. "Gotcha."
Suikotu blushed and growled to hide his embarrassment. He mumbled, "Dammit."
She gently lifted her sword up at looked at the rest of the band. "Who's next?" Then, her gaze fell onto Mukotsu. She smiled. "Well, what do ya know! You're awake!"
The old man blushed lightly and looked away. Her eyes filled with amusement. Then, she looked back at the rest of the group. "So? Who am I going against?"
Jakotsu sighed and stood up. "I guess that's me..." He pulled out his sword and walked towards the girl.
Without warning, his Jakotsuto shot out a her. Hikari expected this, and with a swift movement, she avoided the attack. Jakotsu's sword went at her again like a snake, and she blocked this one with her water blade.
Bankotsu grinned. It was nice to see Hikari's beautiful smile again.
He glanced at his brothers who seemed completly hypnotized. It was their first time they actually saw Hikari in a good mood. And for the very first time, they noticed how beautiful she looked when she was happy.
It wasn't long before Jakotsu was defeated as well. Her fire blade was stuck in Jakotsuto, and during the time he took care of it, Hikari went at him with her other sword and got him from behind.
Jakostu scowled as he felt the blade gently poke his back. If it had continued going straight, it would have pierced his heart. "Damn."
Hikari grinned and pulled away her sword. As Jakotsu stood up, he growled at her, but she was already lookng over to the rest of the Band of Seven, waiting for Renkotsu to stand up.
The gay man snorted and took his place next to Bankotsu. "That wasn't very long," his leader commented.
"I have nothing to say but that this doesn't change the fact that I think girls are weak," he growled.
Hikari heard that, but decided to push it aside, and rolled her eyes. It's not like one match agaisnt that guy is going to change his mind. It's going to take a lot more than this for her to gain his respect. She knew that very well.
The second in command got up and inspected his weapons for the last time. This wasn't going to be easy. It was already hard to believe that this woman could take down all of the Band of Seven one by one.
When she was in a match, he took care to watch all of her moves.
He took in every detail he possibly could.
As he walked towards her, he planned out his moves. "She fast. Almost as fast as that wolf," he noticed, referring to Koga. "She'll be able to dodge most of my attacks, so I'll go for her legs first. But she's smart too. She can see through most of our attacks, so I shouldn't be surprised if she knows that I'm for her lower body part.
"The only weak spot I've spotted so far was her strength, but apparently, I don't work with that either. She can't endure much damage, so I guess I'll have to go with that. One direct shot at her should do the trick. And even if it isn't a direct shot..."
He couldn't think of anything else. Hikari's blade shot out of nowhere and almost got him from behind, just as it did to Jakotsu. Renkotsu ducked down got out of the way and rolled to another side.
"There's a time where you can think, and a time when you should fight," he heard her say. "If you keep on planning your stradegy when you're wide open, there's a chance you can get killed."
And as she charged at him, she added, "The best time to plan something is when you're being attacked, or when you know that your opponent can't hit you!"
Renkotsu's eyes widened in shock. He took a quick sip from his gourd and breathed out a wave of fire at her, hoping that it would do some effect. He spotted her rolling to his left side, and he took this chance to launch his canon.
He aimed for her legs and fired. The canon landed with a great 'BOOM' and smoke covered the air once again. He desperatly looked around to see if it hit her. Taking the girl's advice from earlier, he thought carefully, "She's close. It's either that I go to her, or that she comes to me."
He got another one of his canons ready. "I'll go after her first."
He knew that there was a chance that she was ahead of him, so he started walking that way. When he saw something flash suddenly, he fired at it immediatly. The only thing he got was more and more smoke.
For just a moment, everything was quiet. Tiny camp fires were spread everywhere. And nobody could see anything because of the heavy gray clouds. Renkotsu, however, could see through the smoke due to the many times he had to deal with it.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," he chanted. And he growled, "Or I'll blast you out!"
"You asked for it!"
And before he could make another move, Hikari's water blade shot out from his right side. Renkotsu ducked, but just then, the fire blade came from his left side and went for his head.
His eyes widened in shock as he felt the wind from the blade pass right below to his head. "If I had moved just an inch more, I would have been a gonner. Or... is it just that she missed on purpose?"
The blades disappeared from his sight, and soon enough, Hikari's from appeared.
He jumped back and braced himself for another attack. Just as his feet came in contact with the ground, it started trrembling. And he knew why. He leaped back again, and when he looked up, he saw spikes rising from the place he was standing.
He growled. "Damn. She's only playing with me. Like Big Brother said, she likes making her battles last as long as she could. Only right now, she's using her powers to get me moving."
Renkotsu reached for the box in which he kept all his canons and picked one randomly. He pointed it to where he had last seen Hikari. "Then I guess that I should put on a good show for her!"
The rest of the Band of Seven heard the loud boom, but didn't take any notice to it. Smoke covered their air once again.
Bankotsu yawned. "When is he going to stop firing his damn canons? I can't get any fresh air with all of this, or even get a good view of the battle. Hey, Jakotsu! You still there?"
"Yeah," a voice next to him responded. "Still here. So are the others."
"What do you want us to do?" Suikotsu's voice was heard. "Do you want to leave it this way, or should we find a way to get rid of all this?"
Before the leader could answer, a giant gust of wind flew by them, and instantly, the smoke disappeared. Intead, the band members were able to see Hikari running at their second in command with one of her blades, and soon, she caught her other sword which flew over her head.
Bankotsu smiled and laid his arms behind his head. "Ah, I guess we didn't need to do any work after all."
Hikari kept on going at Renkotsu with her blades, and he had a hard time to dodge her attacks. Her timing to attack was almost perfect, and her blades would only miss his head by an inch.
"I'm only wasting my energy on this!" Renkotsu thought carefully. "I should probably just jump back and use my fire threads on her again before she really does hit me."
He concentrated hard on analysing her movements, but she was too fast. He glared at her.
And behind all her attacks, she smiled at him.
Not warmly. Just in a malicious way.
Renkotsu's eyes widened as he spotted one of her blades going for his legs. "Damn!"
He moved his legs out of the way, but tripped as a result. Hikari flung her sword near his neck, but he jumped up to his feet and shot out his fire thread at her before she could get a good hit. She was engulfed in flammed in a matter of seconds.
He snickered. "Hah! How do you like that?"
Everyone heard Bankotsu sigh.
They all turned their gaze to him. He shook his head disapprovingly. Was he upset at Hikari? Or was it something else? "What? Renkotsu won, didn't he?" Ginkotsu asked.
"No, of course he didn't," a voice said behind the second in command.
Renkotsu's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't turn back to see what happened. The same expression was on his brothers faces, all except Bankotsu.
Hikari shook her head the same way their leader did. "Tsk, tsk. Apparently, you haven't been listening to what your leader told you. You've seen my power to control elements. You've seen it when I used earth..."
And her fire blade pointed at her opponent's head. "But you haven't seen me with fire or water."
Renkotsu's breath was stuck in his lungs as she continued explaining, "Apparently, I'm not a regular human. I can control fire and water if I come in contact with them. But also... when fire touches me, I don't feel a thing. It's just like plain air to me. Same thing with water. You can try to droun me, but it just won't work the way you planned. I can breathe in water like fresh air."
She moved her blade away from his head and rested it on her shoulder, just as she did before.
She smiled. "I'll admit it, though. You moved pretty quick. Actually, quicker than I expected. I didn't think that taking care of you would've taken this long."
"And I was really surprised at how calm you looked when I attacked you," she added with a hint of suspition. "When he fought Bankotsu way back then, he panicked at every step Bakotsu was taking. He knows that I'm almost as strong as his leader, and yet, he remained calm. Does this mean that the Band of Seven has become much stronger than they were before? Or is it just that Renkotsu gained more confidence?"
She turned away from him and walked towards Bankotsu. She stopped a meter away from him. "I'm guessing that you don't want to spar right now?"
He shook his head. "Not now. We still have to get going. We might find something up ahead. And besides," he added as he gazed at her face carefully. "You look kinda... tired."
She narrowed her eyes. "Tired?"
"You had to jump around a lot, and you've wasted a lot of energy. You'll be travelling on Ginkotsu from now on."
"What? I've still got my two own legs, in case you haven't noticed."
"Yeah, I know, but they're exausted too. Some rest will do you good, so I don't want to hear any complaining. You've moved enough for one day."
Hikari was about to protest again, but the stern look Bankotsu gave her shut her up. She sighed. Apparently, she seemed to have forgotten that she was their captive. She could feel free sometimes, but of course, nothing lasted forever.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"I'm home!"
Sota stopped playing with his cat Buyo and yelled from upstairs, "Hey, Sis! What's up?"
As Kagome took her shoes off, her mother came to greet her. "Welcome home, dear. How was your test? Not too hard, I hope? With all that studying the other night, you should have passed."
She sighed in defeat. "I don't know if I passed, but I know that I at least got half of it right... But I also know that I probably lost around twenty points or so..."
Her little brother finally showed up with the cat in his hands. "Ouch. That means that your score is between fifty and eighty percent. And if you don't get over sixty, you failed."
"I know that!" she snapped. And more calmly, she added. "As long as I know that I have a chance of passing, I'll be fine."
Buyo jumped out of Sota's arms and walked away to the living room. Everyone stared at him leaving. And an akward slience filled the air.
Finally, Kagome yawned and stretched her arms out. "Well, I'll be in my room if you need me. I have some homeword to do, and it'll take me forever to understand it. Call me down when supper's ready."
Two days later...
"Sooo... How are your results?"
Kagome groaned. "Don't ask, Sota. I'm only telling Mom. This has nothing to do with you."
Sota pouted. "Aw, come on! I'm curious too."
"If I give you a hint, will you go away?" The boy nodded and she answered, "I barely passed."
And before her brother could add anything, she walked away to the kitchen where her mother was. Kagome gave her mother a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, Mom. How's it going?"
The older woman smiled. "I've heard your small conversation with Sota. So... How is it really?"
Her mother was asking the same question her brother asked her. Oh boy. Kagome looked down and played with her fingers. "Well... I have to be honest don't I...? I got..." And very quickly, she answered, "Sixty-five percent!"
Her Mom blinked. "Oh my."
She groaned. "Mom, please don't look at me like that. Anyway, if you have to tell me something, tell it to me later, because I have to study for another test that's coming up soon."
She started walking up the stairs, and when she was going to open the door knob, Sota yelled from the bottom of the stairs, "Uh, hey! W-wait, sis! Don't open-"
Too late.
Kagome already opened the door to her room.
And what she found on her bed was a snoring Inuyasha.
She was completly frozen, and could only stutter a "... Eh...?"
Her little brother showed up behind her puffing, and he groaned. "I forgot to tell you... Inuyasha came just an hour ago because he thought that you were taking too long. And when I told him that you were going to arrive from school soon, he decided to stay for a while... And then, he fell asleep."
"Yeah, he fell asleep, but in MY bed?"
"Well... I couldn't move him from there since he's too heavy... And even if I could, where could I put him?"
Kagome sighed. "I guess you do have a point there. I'll just let him sleep a little longer. After all, I don't feel like yelling or being yelled at right now."
Apparently, it seemed that Inuyasha was sleeping a little too well, and a few minutes later, that snoring of his was becoming annoying. Kagome could barely concentrate on her homework. And when she could't take it anymore, she stood up and walked to her bed.
She bent down next to Inuyasha's ear and whispered, "Oh, Inuyashaaa..."
And then...
"WAKE UP!"
His eyes immediatly flung open, and he jumped up so high that he banged his head on the ceiling. And he landed on the hard, cold floor.
Sota jumped as he heard a loud BOOM followed by a "OWWWW!"
He mumbled, "Ouch. Looks like sis ended up waking him up."
Kagome's voice could be heard all over the house. "Do you have to snore that much when I'm studying? Why did you have to come and get me so early? It's only been like, what, three days? I've got a few things to do here too, you know!"
A sleepy Inuyasha snapped out of his dreams and barked back, "First of all, I can't control the way I snore, so don't yell at me about it! And second, you know that searching for information and saving Hikari is more important! You can't spend too much time on 'tests' and stuff! What if Hikari is already dead right now?"
"How can you doubt her so easily? She's strong enough to take care of herself! I have a family here, and it's already bad enough that I'm not spending a little bit of my time with them! Couldn't you just give me some more privacy?"
"Privacy? This isn't called privacy, it's called spending time with others! After defeating the guy who ressurected the Band of Seven, you can spend all the time you want here!"
"Are you saying that I don't need to go to your time anymore after this? After taking care of Naraku, I could still travel, couldn't I? It's my decision to go wherever I like!"
"Well, for the next few months, you can't go wherever you like! We've got a job to do, and that's more important! Next time, the longest time you can stay here is five days."
"Excuse me? What happened to the women's rights? My rights? You- you... SIT!"
"Oh my, there they go again," Kagome's mother sighed as she heard the two bickering again.
"How long will they go this time?" The grandfather wondered out loud.
"Not too long, I hope. Supper's almost ready and the food might get cold."
Kagome's granfather's eyes gleamed. He pulled out an old pouch and held it up proudly. "Perhaps I should put him back to sleep with my special powder. And I'll even stick some sutras on his mouth so that he stops snoring."
The mother laughed nervously. "Father, you will do no such thing... The extra serving I made for Inuyasha will all go to waste."
Sota came rushing down the stairs. "Hey, I smell something good!"
His mom smiled at him. "It's almost ready, so you can just wait a little longer. In the meantime... why don't you try to make them stop fighting?"
"What? Me? No way. You know how sis is when she's when and who knows how Inuyasha is. I'm going to die up there."
"Oh, come now, darling, it shouldn't take too much. Just say one word and if they don't listen, come back down. I'm sure that'll be more than enough to stop them."
He narrowed his eyes. "Okay... if you say so..."
Sota stood in front of the door to his sister's room and he felt like he was about to die of all the noise those two were making.
"My studies are important too! If I don't pass, my life, my future here is ruined!"
"That's the future! You have to focus on the present! After all, you can catch up on your studies if you work hard enough."
"What do you think I am, a working machine? I have a life too! I can't spend all my days studying!"
Sota took a deep breath. "Here I go..."
He slowly opened the door and poked his little head out. Kagome and Inuyasha were facing each other, both staring straight at the other's eye. Sota noticed that their faces were a little to close than they were supposed to be. "Ummm... Hey..."
Kagome and Inuyasha swung their towards him. "What?"
He didn't know what else to say. "Er... well..." He pointed to them both.
Their eyes were confused for a moment, and they looked at each other again. Then, they noticed it. Kagome and Inuyasha's faces both went red. They instantly backed away from each other and looked at a different direction.
It was suddenly very quiet.
"Supper's almost ready," the boy said nervously. "You can come down any moment."
His older sister stuttered, "Oh... right... Thanks."
"His face was so close..." was all that she could think of.
Not wanting to have to do anything more in this mess, Sota nodded and left. He was impressed by how fast it was handled. "Mom was right... One word really did stop them completly. Wow."
*O*~*O*~*O*
The day after the sparring with Hikari, Mukotsu started coughing. Nobody but the L. Healer seemed to have noticed, and when she asked the old man if he was feeling okay, he denied the fact that he was feeling rather ill.
"It happens sometimes," he had said, "But I will be fine in day or so."
Yeah, well, 'in a day or so' had passed, and he only seemed to be getting worse. Of course, by then, even the Shichinintai had noticed how he looked, and the leader asked Hikari to check on him real quick, just to see what was wrong.
Mukotsu kept on saying that he felt perfectly fine, but everyone could clearly see that his temperature was getting higher by all the sweat on his face, and by how slow he was walking. So, one night, while everyone was asleep, she took a quick look at the man.
He hand went to his forehead. "His tempearature's hot, alright," she noticed. She placed two fingers at his throat. "And his throat's a little sore, too. His breathing isn't very steady either..." Then, she looked up to his face. He was covered in sweat, and he kept on shuffling in his sleep. "And what makes it worse is that he's having a nightmare. This won't get him any rest..."
"So even mercenaries can have nightmares, huh..." The thought suddenly came to her.
And she sighed in relief. "Well, at least he isn't as sick as I thought."
"So? How is it?" Bankotsu asked out of the blue.
Hikari knew very well that he was watching her. Every night, it was the same thing. He couldn't keep an eye off her, wether it be because she was beautiful in the moonlight or because he didn't want her to escape from them.
She turned to him and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's nothing but a small fever. I'll give him a few herbs to ease his breathing and to cool his fever tomorow. We'll see what happens then. But first, he needs some good night sleep."
Bankotsu then smiled. "You're going to...?"
She smiled too. Hikari took her flute out and wrapped her fingers around it. "What else can I do to help someone get to sleep?"
He grinned and lied down in the soft grass. He laid his hands behind his head, closed his eyes, and said, "Perfect. Then I can have a good sleep too."
She giggled softly, and took a quick look around her. The rest of the memebers were either snoring peacefully or half asleep. She yawned and smiled. "I guess playing a little bit of music would do everyone some good."
"Oh yeah, and you'd better not try to get away or anything," Bankotsu warned. "Even when I'm asleep, my senses are alert."
"What are you, a demon?" She teased. "And why would I try to run away? I can't leave a sick man behind, remember?"
Not waiting for a response, she brought her flute up to her lips and she blew.
Renkotsu was one of the men who were only half asleep. When he heard a soft melody playing, he told himself that it was nothing, until he saw Hikari playing the flute. "What is she..." And before he knew it, his eyes flickered closed to sleep.
The atmosphere changed. Hikari's song echoed through the forest, and the trees seemed to dance along with the melody. The wind blew softly against her skin and soothed her soul. But she noticed that it wasn't only hers - she spotted Mukotsu's expression relax.
She also felt everyone's aura slowly fall asleep.
"That's odd... And here I thought that I was supposed to be the captive... and yet, nobody is watching over me..."
She looked at Bankotsu who was now sleeping as peacefully as everyone else. And she giggled. "You said that your mind's always alert, but it seems to me that even you can resist letting your guard down when you listen to my song."
*O*~*O*~*O*
The next morning...
"I'm telling you, it's going to help you!"
"I do not need it!"
"The hell you do! Do you want that fever to get worse?"
The Shichinintai all watched from behind as Hikari tried to convince Mukotsu to take the medicine she prepared. That morning, Bankotsu was the first one to wake up, and when he didn't see Hikari anywhere, he had thought that she really did escape.
That was, until he saw her walking back to them with a handful of herbs she found in the forest.
"She really did stay after all..." They all thought.
"I have no fever at all!" the old man protested "I am perfectly healthy. I may be old, but I still have strong bones."
And he coughed right after.
How ironic
"Strong bones, but good health, my ass." She sighed. "Look, can't you just suck up your pride and take it? I've been kidnapped for a reason, and I'm not letting myself get taken away from my friends for nothing!"
Mukostu still wasn't listening.
Hikari started getting frustrated. Just when she was about to snap, she took a few deep breaths. "Fine then. I guess I've got no choice."
The Band of Seven stared at her with interested eyes. What was she going to do?
She moved her hair to the front and let it flow in the wind. He lifted her chest a little higher, and she beat her eyelashes. She made her eyes look real flirty and pouted her lips very slightly. She suddenly looked very beautiful... or rather very sexy.
The men's jaws dropped a little at her appearance.
Then, in a seductive tone, she said to Mukotsu, "If you take the medicine... I'll. Kiss. You."
Cricket.
Cricket.
Now everyone's - not only Bankotsu's - mouthes fell to the floor with a loud Bang! The leader's voice could be heard miles away as he yelled in disbelief, "WHAT?"
But he wasn't the only one thinking that. Jakotsu was the only one with a horrified expression on his face which clearlyyelled how disgusted he was.
However, something else was going through Hikari's mind at that moment. Just as Mukotsu's mouth was kept wide open, she found out what she was looking for. Her eye gleamed. "Yes!"
And in one swift movement, she stuffed all the medicine in his mouth.
Everyone stared in shock, eyes wide like a fish and jaws as wide as melons.
When Mukotsu realised what happened, he tried to struggle out of her grasp, but couldn't break free. Hikari held on tight. She yelled, "Oh no you don't! I'm going to make you swallow the whole thing!"
And after a few more struggles, the old man laid completly still.
Hikari sighed in relief. "Finally. It's over."
She stood up and looked back at the men. They still seemed to be under shock. She blinked. "Hey... You guys okay back there?"
Jakotsu snapped out of it first and tried to wake the others up. After inspecting all of them, he yelled, "Of course they're not! They just saw something completly disgusting!"
She narrowed her eyes. "How can forcing someone into eating medicine be disgusting?"
Renkotsu was the next one to regain consiousness. He shook his head to remove all the weird thoughts that have been going throgh his head and shivered. "That was... how should I say this... rather...er... akward and... nevermind."
Jakotsu looked at his unconsious brother behind the woman. "You didn't... kill him, did you?"
She placed her right hand on her hip as if insulted. "Why is that your every thought every time something happens to Mukotsu? Of course I didn't kill him. It's not like I mixed the herbs up with something poisonous. That's his job. And besides, even if I did add something, he'd survive."
Suikotsu woke up. He too shook his head to clear his mind. "Seriously... Ugh... Don't... do anything... like that... ever... again."
She shrugged. "Hey, when you're trying to help someone, you have to do anything to make them do it. Even if it means that you have to do something dirty."
Ginkotsu blinked his one eye. "So... you might try that again?"
Hikari had a thoughtful look in her eye. "Hmmm... maybe..."
The men stiffened.
She smiled, her eyes filled with amusement. "That is... Unless you actually listen to me when these sort of situations happen."
The Band of Seven continued staring at her, not believing what had happened when Mukotsu didn't do as she said.
Hikari knew every well that they were uncomfortable with this. "What? Did you honestly think that I'd kiss him? I wouldn't even give him a peck on his cheek. I still have my pride. He'd be the last man I'd ever kiss among you... No - nevermind - Jakotsu would be the last one."
The gay man scowled at her. "Same here, wench."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course."
Suddenly, she felt a chill run down her spine.
She slowly turned around, but didn't dare look into Bankotsu's eyes. It was already enough that his aura felt so cold. She could just tell that he was glaring at her, teeth clenched, and trying hard not to run to her and demand her what she was thinking.
Hikari groaned. "I... am sooo getting it later."
Honestly , I've had a lot of fun writing this :)
Hope you all have a great summer! ^^
~FoxRain7~