Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
~Stars Of The Moon~
Chapter 15
"I can walk on my own just fine!"
"No, you can't! Kaede said that if you keep moving, the poison will spread all over again! You should be grateful that Kagome can't 'sit' you for three more days!" Shippou yelled at his half demon friend.
"Who said that I needed healing? I'm a half demon, damn it! I can heal faster than humans!"
Miroku snook up behind him and wacked his friend's head with his staff. "You can heal faster than us, but you're still a half demon. And even if you were a full demon, it would take time for you to get rid of the poison. Listen to us for once and get some rest."
Inuyasha glared at the monk and started to protest. "But-"
"No 'buts'," Kagome said as she appeared next to Miroku. "After that fight, you should get some good rest before we start heading out again."
The dog laid his ears on his head and growled, "Fine."
But even if he said that, he jumped up a tree, laid down on his favorite branch and sulked. Miroku and Kagome sighed.
"I can't say I blame him for being so mad." Sango appeared from Kaede's hut and was followed by Kohaku. "No one can stand being useless to a team. And slowing down the team is even worse."
"It's true, we need to move as quick as possible," Miroku commented. "But we can wait as well. The Resurrector doesn't work as fast as we think. The only resurrected people we met so far were Yura of the Hair, the Band of Seven, and Mistress Centipede.
He drew a few heads on the ground with his staff. "Three weeks after we've encountered Yura," he circled one of the heads and drew tons of lines on it, "... we met the Band of Seven." He took circled seven of the heads, "... And after a perhaps a month and a week, Mistress Centipede appeared." He drew a huge oval. "Notice anything?"
"I see," Kohaku whispered.
"What? What is it?" Shippou asked as he jumped on Miroku's shoulder.
"Does the Resurrector need to do preparations before bringing someone to life?" Kagome asked, not too sure of herself.
"Something like that," Miroku answered. "I'm guessing that during the three weeks after Yura, the Resurrector needed to recuperate his energy and find the remains of the Band of Seven before bringing them back.
"Then, since he resurrected seven people, he needed more time to recover, and since Mistress Centipede, his next victim, was so big, he also needed more time for preparations. Think about it, Naraku needed a second to bring people back, but now that the Shikon Jewel doesn't exist, it takes the Resurrector weeks."
"But if that's the case, he must have really good timing," Shippou noticed. "If he knew that Kagome and Inuyasha were going to pass through the well at that exact moment, then not only will he be able to go through time, but he might also be able to see the future!"
Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, and Kagome stared at him.
"W-what? D-did I say something wrong?" The little fox stuttered.
"No, Shippou," Miroku shook his head, frowing. "What you said actually makes sense."
"But what kind of person would have that sort of power?" Kagome asked, her voice shaking slightly.
"It doesn't matter who it is," Sango said. "What we have to keep in mind is that this isn't some ordinary person we're up against. This time, our enemy is putting both the future and our era in terrible danger."
"In that case," Kohaku spoke, "What do you think we should do?"
Inuyasha jumpd down from his tree and said, "What else? We train until our arms fall out! And while we're at it, we should start looking for Hikari!"
"Hikari's help won't be enough," Sango shook her head sadly. "She may be a legendary healer, but she isn't invincible. She has a few demonic abilities, but she's still human. Nobody in this world is immortal. And usually, the legendary healer's training finishes at the age of fourteen. But... her village was destroyed when she was ten."
Inuyasha growled. "Then when we get her back, we'll kill the Band of Seven first as training, and then, we'll train even harder!"
Kagome and Sango froze at 'kill the Band of Seven'. Did Inuyasha really mean it when he said that? And what about Hikari? What if Bankotsu died again? How would she feel? And what if... it's been a month and a week since she left with the band of mercenaries. That must have been enough to make her comfortable with the men.
What if her feelings grew warmer towards them?
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
They all looked at Miroku. "What do you mean a 'good idea'?" Inuyasha demanded.
"I mean about killing the Band of Seven," he said calmly. "If the Resurrector is as strong as we think he is, then we need all the help we can get. Koga and Sesshomaru must be having troubles as well, I'm sure they would like to form an alliance until this is all over.
"Koga had the birds of paradise as enemies, and we killed their leader. Also, there were the panther demons who held a grudge agaisnt you and Sesshomaru. That giant cat may come back, even if there is a small truce between you two."
Inuyasha growled. "We don't need their help. And you know that I can't stand either of their presences. Or their smells."
"That's not much of a bad idea." Sango took Miroku's side.
"Same here," Kagome and Kohaku said.
Miroku spoke again, "I said 'until this is over', Inuyasha, not 'for the rest of your days'. Now, if I may continue-"
"I know what you're going to say," the dog interupted. "You're going to ask the Band of Seven to help us too, aren't you?"
The rest of the Inutachi except Miroku's eyes widened in shock, and they all stared at the monk. He looked completly calm and sure of his plan. Sango and Kagome wondered if he had read their minds like Hikari would.
The monk sighed. "I'm sure none of you like this idea at all. Neither do I. But like I said, we need all the help we can get. And the Band of Seven are six strong men brought back from the Resurrector. Plus, if we have some people who have been brought back not once, but twice, we may be able to get some sort of clues.
"And-" he added before Inuyasha could say anything else, "-This is an alliance. As soon as this is all over, you can kill them if you want."
The dog demon growled at Miroku and looked like he was about to pounce on him and slap some sense out of him. But then, he turned his back to them all and said, "Feh. I'll give it some thought. But in the end, I decide if we form an alliance or not."
And he went back to sulking in his tree.
"Miroku..." Sango started.
"I know," the monk sighed again. "It's a crazy idea."
"No, I don't mean that...You're idea's fine... In fact, I think it's great... But..."
"Hm? Then what is it?"
"What if... the Band of Seven doesn't want to join us? You're seen them the last time we met. They were ready to attack us if we ever took a step closer to them," she reminded him of the night they gave in Hikari.
"Something tells me they won't do that," Kagome spoke.
She continued, "They might also want to know who brought them back from Hell. Maybe that's why they took Hikari. And, if we work together, we have more chances to find him together. I'm sure that by now, the Band of Seven and Hikari know things that we don't, and we know things that they don't. We have to work together."
"Kagome's right," Kohaku said. "But the Band of Seven is greedy for power. They might be trying to find the Resurrector to gain more power, or just to know if that person should be killed for bringing them here. But either way, they want to find him right?"
Miroku nodded. "Yes, that's true. And they aren't idiots, they can't refuse an offer like this."
"They can," Sango corrected. "If they're full of pride. And if they think that this is a plan for us to get Hikari back."
"It's true, they'll get suspicious," Shippou added.
Everyone sighed.
"Thinking about this won't help much, will it?" Kagome asked. "We should focus on getting someone we can actually go after."
"Yes, like Koga," Sango agreed. "He lives near the mountains, and we haven't seen him in a while. No doubt he'll be overjoyed when he hears that you need his help," she said to Kagome.
"Me? Don't you mean 'we'?"
"When 'we' pass by his mind, you and Inuyasha are the ones that comes into his mind first," Shippou said.
"Ugh... Right."
"And what about Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked.
Everbody imagines the great dog demon walking along side them, with Rin singing happily, non aware of the dark and ugly atmosphere around her. They all sighed again.
"He's going to be a little harder to convince," said Kohaku.
"Yup," they all said together.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Why, Lady Hikari, where are you going with all those baskets? Are you leaving already? And at a time this late?" an old man in the fields asked.
Hikari smiled. "Oh, no. We're going to be back soon, please don't worry about us! We will be fine!"
And she and Bankotsu continued walking with giant baskets above their heads. Actually, Hikari had two baskets above her head. Bankotsu held three under his arms and held Banryuu in his free hand.
"'We'll be fine'?" he asked. "Look at you! You're sweating after holding two of these things for ten minutes!"
Yes, she was sweating. And she was starting to pant too. She tried to grumble, "Well... excuse me... for not having... the super strength of... a man like you."
Bankotsu sighed and smiled. "Why don't you let me hold one?"
Hikari huffed, walked faster and ahead of him, and yelled, "I'm fine!"
But then, of course, ten seconds later, she started to fall back again and panted even more. Bankotsu rolled his eyes, walked to her and teased her as he started trowing the baskets up and down on his hands, "You sure can take care of this well."
"Shut... up..."
"Look, let me take one. It'll make things a lot easier, you know. For one, it'll get us faster to the others, and for two, you'll probably still be breathing by the time we get there."
Hikari shot him a dirty look. "I might not be able to endure much in anything, but I have enough guts to continue and not die from something so stupid."
"And you also have enough guts to refuse such a generous offer from the leader of the Band of Seven, the most feared man of all history," he put a lot of emphasis on the words 'generous' and 'feared'.
She rolled her eyes. "Most feared man, my ass. You didn't scare me at all the first time we met, and never did. And I'm sure that there are demons scarier than you."
He frowned. "Alright, so most feared human man of all history."
She groaned and he smirked. "Never mind. Let's just get going."
As she walked on, she tripped over a rock. That's right, a tiny rock made her fall.
What did you expect, she was holding over thirty kilograms above her head, and even if she tried to stop the fall with her over free leg (which she did), the weight would have been too much, and she would have slipped anyways (which she did).
Bankotsu got under her just in time to stop her. He held all three of his baskets in one hand, planted Banryuu in the ground, and used his other free arm to hold her. Hikari's basket opened slightly, and fruits rolled out.
Her bue eyes met Bankotsu's. And for a moment, she didn't give a damn about the fruits getting dirty on the floor or the fact that she made herself look like a real idiot. She was lost in those beautiful sky blue eyes of his shining in the dark...
He smirked. "Someone needs to listen more to her 'husband' and watch her steps."
She blinked, and reality sunck in. She shook her head and tried to stand back up, but he stopped her. "Hey, aren't I getting anything special for this?" he asked with a malicious grin on his face.
Hikari blushed very slightly. She looked down. It was in situation like this that she couldn't think straight. "Um... Er..."
He chuckled and went in for the kill. He quikly made sure that nobody was looking before he placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Oh, how he missed this feeling. Even though the last time they were like this was back when she wasn't a captive, when she was still with Inuyasha, it was long enough to feel like an eternity to him.
The main reason why they couldn't be alone like this together was because of his brothers.
So it appears that coming to this village wasn't so bad after all.
Hikari relaxed and closed her eyes. She forgot about the basket full of food on her head and let the world melt around her. She missed the touch of his lips on hers too. And now there wasn't a sight his brothers anywhere, they're alone, and finally...
An apple landed on Bankotsu's head and made him yell, "OUCH!"
Hikari took a step back in shock. The fruit must have dropped from the basket when she was feeling her arms go numb.
The apple dropped down from his head onto his hand and he glared at it hard as if he were going to kill it with his best attack. He growled, "Damn fruit."
She couldn't help it. She bursted into laughter, and the last basket she was holding fell. Bankotsu glared at her too, then smiled, and then he couldn't keep his laughter in anymore.
They were both laughing there like a bunch of children when at any time, one of Bankotsu's brothers could come in and interupt their fun.
But they didn't care at all. It didn't matter.
To Bankotsu, Hikari's beautiful laughter was worth all of it.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Jakotsu. You and Suikotsu will go hunting tonight," Renkotsu ordered.
"What? But why?" the cross-dresser whined.
"Because Suikotsu and I did it this afternoon. And since Big Brother isn't here, you're going to have to go with Suikotsu instead."
"I'm not talking about that!" Jakotsu snorted. "I'm saying why I have to go! Nobody's really hungry right now, so we don't need to go and find something to eat!"
Then, Mukotsu's stomac grumbled. They all stared at the old man. "Actually, I may need something..."
"You can endure it till morning," Jakotsu insisted.
"But... Hikari said that I should continue eating to stay healthy," he said.
"Listen to you! You sound like a kid following his mother's orders! And how old are you now, like seventy? You don't need to listen to everything she has to say!"
"Jakotsu, what's going on with you today?" Suikotsu asked. "You've been a real pain in the ass ever since Bankotsu left."
The gay man looked like he was about to yell again, but he sighed. "I guess I'm feeling a little ticked off that Big Brother left with the woman."
"We all are," Renkotsu said. "But this is to find who resurrected us. A single day waiting for Big Brother to arrive is fine. Somethings are worth the wait and you have to learn to be patient."
"That's not what's bothering me! I just hate it how this girl is almost becoming a part of our life! She almost has as much as authority as Bankotsu, even though she doesn't order us around, and she's doing everything she wants, like one of us!"
"She not like one of us..." said Suikotsu.
"This is what I'm talking about!" Jakotsu ut him off. "Look at you, Suikotsu, you've already grown a soft side for her! And you," he added to Mukotsu, "You're nicer to her not because she's just a woman, but because she holds an importance in your life! You could have died without her so you think she's important! But what about Kyoukotsu? She couldn't save him and she let him die!"
Suikotsu and Mukotsu bristled with fury. Treating his brothers with such weaknesses, oh, he's going to pay.
Renkotsu knew that this wasn't going end well and intervened, "Jakotsu, that's enough. Don't try to pick a fight with such ridiculous things."
Jakotsu swung his head at him and yelled even more. "Even you, Renkotsu! You've all started calling our captive by her name. I hate it! This is a sign of weakness for the Band of Seven! And look at Big Brother! The girl's literally captured his heart even before we met her!
"What will happen to us if we keep her here? We'll have to go from village to village like this and waste our time when we can go on with our lives and live like before! This stupid girl swisted our life and turned it upside down!"
"And what would this stupid girl think if she ever heard you say all that?"
Everyone froze.
Hikari and Bankotsu stood behind them, Hikari holding one basket, and Bankotsu holding the rest.
Their leader looked furious. His blue eyes flared in the darkness of the forest, and he looked like he would jump on Jakotsu's throat any second. His grip and Banryuu tightened and his knuckles were growing pale. But Hikari looked completly emotionless. There wasn't any sadness or any fury in her eyes.
The memebers of the Shichinintai didn't know what to do. They stared in shock and waited for the next move. But the only words they were able to stutter was, "Big Brother and... Hikari..."
They expected something horrible to happen. Like Bankotsu slashing Jakotsu's head off with his sword. But no, nothing happened.
Hikar only shrugged and said, "It's not like I expected any less than that."
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Master Jaken! We need fire now!" Rin called.
The little green demon waddled up to the pile of branches Rin prepared and used his staff to make the fire. When it was all done, he sat down and sighed. "Traveling is getting harder and harder these days. Because of all those demons..."
"I know what you mean," Rin said. The girl looked up at the moon. "Recently the demons have been getting stronger and stronger. Right, Lord Sesshomaru?"
Sesshomaru was sitting down further away from the fire than Rin and Jaken. He had his back turned to them and seemed deep in thought. A trickle of blood was sliding down from his arm.
"Hush, Rin!" Jaken ordered. "Lord Sesshomaru is very tired after saving from that demon! The least you can do is keep quiet and let him rest. He doesn't need your worthless babling to-"
"Jaken," Sesshomaru's cool voice sounded.
"Erm, yes?"
"Go find Rin something to eat. It's getting dark and it will be dangerous for her to go out on her own."
"Oh, um, yes, my Lord!" Jaken stood up and ran off to the forest.
Rin watched him leave. "It's getting so dangerous that we can't even travel during the night anymore." She looked at Sesshomaru and felt a pang of guilt. "Its my fault Lord Sesshomaru is like this. I was in trouble and now his arm is hurt. If there was only something I could do...
"I'm not a weak little girl anymore," she told herself. "I'm stronger than three months ago, aren't I? I survived Naraku's battle, and I'm still alive now. That prooves that I'm strong. But..." As she looked at Sesshomaru again, she felt even more pain. "Yes, I can survive... But what can I do to help my friends?"
Ah-Un sensed her sadness and shook shoved her gently with his two heads. Rin pet him and sighed. Things weren't getting any better. Naraku was finally gone, so what happenning to them?
"Rin," Sesshomaru suddenly said.
"Oh, yes?"
"I'm going to bring you to the girl Kagome's village tomorrow. And you're going to stay there."
Rin's eyes widened and she jumped up to her feet. "What? But why? I don't want to leave!"
What was all this about? This couldn't be because she was getting in the way, would it? Was this problem getting so big that Sesshomaru needed to get rid of her? This couldn't be happening. Whta about all those times they traveled together? Why did he let her tag along then?
"You're going to be safer."
"But I want to stay here!" Tears were appearing in her eyes. "I promise I'll be good! I won't get into trouble! I'll take good care of Ah-Un! Just let me stay here..." Life without Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't be the same. Even if she was safer, the only thing she would go through everyday was pain from missing her very first friends.
Sesshomaru remained silent. And the silence was killing her. Was he going to change his mind? Or will he scold her for not listening to him?
And he spoke again. "Very well. But we're going to that village to see what we can do anyways. Now dry those tears. You need to get to sleep soon."
Rin smiled and brushed away the water in her eyes. "Okay." She felt so relieved. But she knew that he might change his mind once they get to the village. Despite that, she still felt happy. If she was going stay in the village for the rest of her life, then she might as well have the rest of the time tomorrow with her friends.
*O*~*O*~*O*
"Give it a rest, Bankotsu," Hikari sighed. "You're scaring the villagers."
The leader of the Band of Seven was surrounded by his aura of fury. And everyone could see it. So nobody dared approach Hikari or her 'husband'.
After that nasty tantrum Jakotsu threw, Bankosu and him had a little talk in the forest to themselves. Meanwhile, Hikari gave the baskets of food to the other members of the band. though the aura felt inceredibly uncomfortable, the men forgot immediatly about what happened as soon as they started eating.
When Bankotus came back, he still looked mad and Jakotsu looked guilty. The gay man grumled an appology to her and she replied, "I don't need an apology if you don't mean it. And start eating. You must be hungry."
She and Bankotsu were coming back to the village, when almost everyone was asleep. Those who were awake kept their distances and started hiding in their homes.
"This isn't going to make them like you anymore, you know."
"I don't give a damn whether they like me or not," he mumbled. "Let's get back to the temple."
And when they got into their room, Hikari started to take out the beds. Suddenly, she frowned. "That's odd..."
"What?"
"There's only one sheet we can use to make a bed... The other is to cover ourselves up, but..."
Bankotsu's bad mood vanished instantly. It seemed like the only person he actually liked in this village was the old woman who owned the place. He smirked. "Then I guess we'll have to share it."
She blushed. "U-umm... You know what? I'll go ask someone for an extra sheet."
He snook up behind her and wrapped his arms around her body. He whispered into her ear in a husky tone, "But you'll wake someone up. You don't want that do you?"
He grinned as her face went even redder. "T-then I-I'll sleep on the floor. T-that's fine with you, right?"
"Ah, ah, ah. It's going to be rather cold tonight. And besides, if anyone should sleep on the floor, it should be me. And I don't plan on sleeping on such a hard and cold thing when I could be in bed with my beautiful 'wife'."
Hikari hid her face from him. She couldn't imagine how she looked. She knew that she wasn't going to get anywhere with this so she gave in. "F-fine! We'll sleep in the same bed. BUT," she added as she faced him. "No touching."
Bankotsu seemed disappointed, and asked, "No touching where?"
"Anywhere. Not my chest, not my face, and not under the waist!"
"Why? This is the perfect time to-"
"Perfect time to what? What if I fall pregnant?" she interrupted. "And at a time like this! We're going to need to fight the demons, and what will I be able to do? Stand in the middle of nowhere and wait for my death because I won't be able to fight!"
He sighed. When she put it that way, she did have a point. "Can I at least have the face?"
She looked like she was going to decline, but she knew that resisting was going to be hard for him and that he wouldn't even last long so she mumbled, "Alright. But only the face."
He smiled. As long as he had that, he was going to live.
She escaped from his arms. Her red face was still visible. "I'm going to set these up," she said, trying hard not to sound too embarassed. She took the sheets out of the closet and already spread one of them on the floor.
She looked at Bankotsu who was staring at her doing the work. "Well? Don't just stand there, take out the other one and help me out! If you're planning on becoming my 'husband', then at least act like one!"
He chuckled as the word 'husband' finally came out of her mouth. He took the last cover from the closet and had it over the first in a few seconds. As soon as that was done, he let himself fall onto the soft sheets and sighed.
"It's been a while sine I've felt something this soft."
"A while? More like, what, 17 years ago?"
"Hey, I've been dead for fifteen years, but it feels like three years to me."
Hikari rolled her eyes. "You're such an old man, and yet you feel young. That's nice to know."
"Hey, I've been born a very long time ago, but I'm not old. I'm still young in mind, body and soul, and the only one you should consider old is Mukotsu. Because no matter how long he's been dead, he's still be the oldest guy I've ever seen."
"So you're young in mind, body, and soul, but sometimes, you have to consider age too. So not only am I dating a zombie, but also dating an old, wrinkly smelly zombie."
He grinned and shook his finger as if to say she was making an obvious mistake. "You're dating not an old wrinkly zombie, but a HOT zombie. That changes everything."
"Hmph. You've got a point there," she said, and Bankotsi smirked. And she wrinkled her nose. "But that still doesn't change the fact that you stink like you've come back from Hell. Which is exactly the case here."
"What do you mean?" he took a good sniff at himself, and realised that he did smell a LITTLE odd. "My odor is perfectly fine."
She raised a brow. "How many times have you taken a bath since you came back from the dead?"
He opened his mouth to answer, then thought back. "Does being pushed into the water and coming back out to kill Jakotsu count as a bath?"
She groaned in desperation and facepalmed. "I knew it."
"Alright, so what if I smell bad? It's not like it's going to do much around me."
She stared at him with a 'Are you serious?' look on her face.
"What?"
"There was another certain reason the villagers kept away from you, you know. Other than Banryuu and the fact that you were giving everyone death glares."
He snorted. "Like I said, I don't care about them. Besides, it's not like we're going to stay here much longer."
"No, you shouldn't care about them much, but I do," she said as she emphasized on the 'I'.
She continued, "Plus, you aren't the only one who stinks. If I spend another week with six men stinking like a dead demons, and if I can't get all of you in the water, I'll make the water come to you."
He froze. No, he wasn't afraid of the water. He was afraid of how Hikari was going to make it rain down on them. And how much water she was going to bring. He could imagine him and his brothers talking innocently (A/N: *cough* mercenaries is not equal to innocent *cough*), until a sudden burst of water rained down on them, washing them away from everything and...
He shivered.
"That means," she continued.
"Oh great. There's more?"
"You're going to need to take a bath as soon as I find a river. Or a hot spring. Yeah, that would be better. For me and for you," she said as she smiled.
"If you want to take a bath, then why not do it now?" he asked. Then, naughty thoughts came into his mind.
"Are you kidding me?" She pointed to the window. "It's dark out and everyone's asleep."
Bankotsu shrugged. "So? You've already bathed in the dark," he said as he smirked.
Hikari's face went red and she looked away in embarassment and fury. She didn't seem to want to say anything, until she finally spoke. "You still haven't forgotten about that night?"
He grinned. "How can I?" And he said with a chuckle. "It was one of the most beautiful days of my life."
FLASHBACK
"Damn trees," Bankotsu mumbled as he pushed away from branches in his face. He was lucky that the moon was bright enough to at least let him see where he was walking.
But sight wasn't the problem right now. The problem right now was the trees in his way.
If he had Banryuu with him, he would have sliced every single branch in this forest.
Apparently, his companion was still in that damned castle. And there wasn't a single sign of Naraku's insects ever since the day he was resurrected, which was about three days ago.
He thought back to that day. The day he met that woman. Hi... what was her name again? He couldn't remember.
"Ah well," he thought as he shooed a bush off of his arm. "It's not like I'm going to see her again. And even if I do, I'm going to have to kill her for knowing about my resurrection."
But that woman seemed strange. Not in the physical way, though. She looked absolutely beautiful in that moonlight. Okay, so Bankotsu couldn't see much of her face in the darkness, but her voice was so soothing, he wouldn't be surprised if it was she was a true beauty.
Now for the strange part.
He wasn't stupid. She held demonic blades.
He remembered his own wish upon his halberd, that it would become demonic if it sliced the heads of 2000 beings. He wondered if she did the same thing as him.
But then again, she might have just gotten them from someone. But if she did, how was she able to wield them?
She didn't seem that strong. So she knew a thing or two about healing. But he was sure she wasn't a priestess, after all, she didn't have a bow. A regular healer? But healers didn't wield any weapons...
He groaned. "Why do I even care? First things first, I have to find shelter for the night!"
That's when he heard the sound of a waterfall. "Ah, water. This might be a good place. I might need to drink some water in the morning."
He got closer and cloer to the sound, until the waterfall was finally visible. But then, he only saw the falls. When he looked into the small lake, that's when he saw her.
It was the woman from two days ago. The same one who healed him. He knew by her long dark hair and her curves. But that was it. And thank the good Buddah she couldn't see him. But if he just saw her face, he would be able to tell who it was.
Why couldn't he tell it was her?
Well, first, it was dark out.
Second...
She was bathing.
Okay, and third, her clothes were lying a few meters away from him.
"Get out of here," one part of him said. "God knows the fury of women when it comes to peeping toms. Get out of here alive, and pretend that nothing ever happened."
But his other part said, "Come on, we can stay here for a while... This is like a once in a lifetime chance! Who knows when you'll be able to see a hot girl like this bathing right in front of you!"
Alright... that was his lust talking.
Bankotsu stared as she finally turned her head to one side. She was smiling. And damn, she looked gorgeous. The reflection of the moon on the water shone on her face.
He stared even harder as she started to move her body to the side. Turning it towards him. The movement was so slow it seemed that it moved a centimeter every minute.
He could see her chest rising up and down. As if she were sleeping. She was rinsing her hair in the water and she sighed.
God, that sigh sounded so sexy.
And he couldn't help it. He moaned. Luckily, she didn't seem to hear over the roar of the waterfall.
After what seemed like an eternity, he could finally see all of her chest. His eyes ran over her body like a predator's staring at its prey. They were big. That all he was able to think about.
And when he looked a little lower...
He noticed that she stopped moving.
He looked at her face, and she was staring right back.
He looked at where he was at. He was a meter away from the trees. Not hidden. Completly exposed.
Bankotsu noticed that there wasn't much expression on her face. So maybe, just maybe, they could...? Maybe? Just tonight?
He sounded completly calm, in fact, a little cocky when he said, "Well, hi. Nice to see you again."
Then, he saw a wave of emotions on her face. Embarassment, fury, shame, and others.
And before he knew it, he heard a loud scream, the kind women would normally scream out, a loud 'PERVERT!', and a huge wave washed over him, and he lost conciousness.
When he woke up, sunlight was shininng on his face. He could tell he was still near the waterfall. That roaring woke him up. He groaned as he felt his neck ache as well as his head. "What... happened?"
"Finally woke up, huh?"
Bankotsu stood up and saw the girl who healed him the other day. She was looking away, clearly having no intention to talk to him. But even though she was hiding her face, he knew he was blushing.
And then, everything hit him.
So she was the one who knocked him out... But how did she do that? Alright, that didn't matter right now, the real question was why she was still here! Usually, a woman would run off screaming if she was seen... Especially if that man was the leader of a band of mercenaries.
"Why are you still here? I thought you would have ran off."
She huffed. "I'm not a fragile woman. I can take care of myself. Even though you're the leader of the Band Of Seven, I'm not afraid of you."
He raised a brow. He was still impressed by how much she knew about him. "Oh? Was that a challenge?"
She replied calmly, "Even if we fight right here and now, it wouldn't be much of a challenge. You don't have your sword yet, in case you haven't noticed."
Bankotsu felt his anger rising up to his face. How dare she...
She started walking away. "I've already done what I needed to do here. You're lucky your head and neck only ache. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to even lift it up."
So she healed him. Even when he looked at her bathing. Huh. She sure was compassionate. But why, just WHY, would anyone help a killer? Twice, even! This woman didn't even make sense!
Bankotsu watched her walking away, until his eyes landed on her bottom. He smirked at what happened last night. "You know, you had a pretty nice ass back there. And you still do with clothes on."
He saw her face get red from the same emotions of last night. She stopped walking, and her fists were clenched. He wouldn't be surprised if she slapped him anytime now...
She swung her head at him, finally revealing her face in broad daylight. And wow, she looked great, even when she was flustered. He noticed for the first time that she had the same blue eyes as his. "Nothing happened last night, you hear me!"
He chuckled. "Sure, sure. But just to let you know, I think your body's going to haunt my dreams for a very long time."
Yet again, she was speachless, and in the end, she ran off.
Bankotsu spotted something blue on the floor. It was a small bag with golden dragons on it. "It must belong to her."
He picked it up. Should he look at what was inside it? Nah. After all, it could have been some stupid herbs.
He looked at the sun. And then, at the waterfall. He thought gratefully, "Thank you, God, for the wonderful thing you gave me last night!
END FLASHBACK
Hikari shook her head and said, "Never mind. I'm going to change. AND UNTIL THEN..."
She shot him a death glare and Bankotsu looked back innocently. "I DON'T want you to peek!"
"Now, now, Hikari, why would I peek at your beautiful body?"
"Because you've already gotten a peek at it once, and ever since, you couldn't get it out of your head."
He laughed and she rolled her eyes.
When she came back, instead of the blue clothes she always used to wear, she was wearing a white kimono. It was so white that it was almost see-through. Bankotsu thanked yet again the old woman for letting this nightmare turn into a dream.
Hikari looked uncomfortable. She kept on turning around to see which part was visible. "... I wonder... if that lady... has anything else... for me to wear..."
"Oh, that one's just fine," Bankotsi reassured. She was NOT going to change into something else. That one was PERFECT. Well, for him, at least.
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," he smiled. And he moved over to one side of the bed ot let her lie down. "Come on. It's already late."
Hikari didn't move, unsure if she should lie there with him. But then, she could feel the wind going almost through her clothes, and she changed her mind. "It's only for one night... That's it... After this, we're going back to sleeping under the starry sky, right?"
Her body was under the sheets, but her head was out. She tried to keep as much distance fom him as possible. "Well... umm... good night..."
And she shivered because it was still cold.
Then, she felt Bankotsu's arms wrap around her body. "Wha-what are you doing?"
She could feel his hot breath on her neck as he spoke. "You're cold, aren't you? I can't have that happening to my dear wife, now can I?"
Hikari looked like she was about to object, but she didn't. It really did feel much warmer in his arms... She could hear his heart beating against hers. And his heat was overwelming.
She felt so warm...
Bankotsu felt her relax and he smiled.
And he feel asleep too.
YES! Finally, I'm finished! :D
And I'm guessing that this story's going to go on for like 30 more chapters... Yeah, I know, it's going to be long, but please, bear with me here.
Well, until this story ends, plz continue to read it! Or if you lost interest, then... don't worry, I won't get mad... Or will I...?
Just kidding :P
~FoxRain7~