AN: Okay, here's another chapter...see I'm trying to do better!:)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha...nope!
Sunrise had arrived much too soon, but he was ready the embrace the new day. The young monk woke up with a stifled yawn as he rubbed his eyes to wipe the sleep from them. He scanned the room and saw that Sango was still sleeping soundly with Shippo and Kirara cuddled against her . He looked over to Inuyasha only to see him in the same position he had last seen him in before he fell asleep. "Inuyasha! Have you not gone to sleep all night?"he gasped.
Inuyasha looked at the monk as if he were crazy. "Of course I went to sleep, you idiot! I just don't need as much sleep as you humans do." he explained.
"Oh, but why have you been posted by the door all night? If you sense danger I'll go scout the area with you. Well?" Miroku said as he walked towards the door.
"Keh, no! Why don't you go wash up? You're starting to smell." the hanyou said bluntly while wrinkling his nose.
Miroku eyes widened at his remark for a moment before he let out a small laugh. "Hm, well I guess an honest friend is a true friend."
"I saw a few villagers go into that shack in the middle of town and returning with buckets of water. I think you can wash up there." Inuyasha pointed out. In the meantime he had to keep his eye on Kagome and those mercenaries.
'You're in way over your head if you think you can win Kagome back like this.'
Inuyasha sneered simply recalling Bankotsu's words. 'Damn it, that bastard is only trying to anger me but…he's right. I do want Kagome back. I could easily take her away, but I want her to forgive me and forget all this mess, especially him. Just forget him, Kagome…' With his prying ears he heard them talking about Kagome wanting to go home and those idiots had no idea how to help her. 'Maybe if she'll agree to let me take her home she'll finally listen to me, when he's around her she seems so different. Kagome what has he done to you?'
He snapped out of his thoughts when the undead killer emerged from his room at the village leader's house. As a reflex his hand automatically flew to the hilt of his Tetsusaiga, but he relaxed his grip and continued to watch. The mercenary laid out on the front porch lazily as if he didn't have a care in the world. 'Smug as usual, the dirty bastard.'
It was the first time in a long time that he actually slept so soundly, but sadly he was beginning to wake up. Soft breezes of warm air repeatedly hit his face rousing him from his slumber even more. His eyes slowly began to flutter open and through his squinted, hazy vision he made out a blurry figure in front of him. He blinked a few times until his vision had cleared up a little more. His mouth fell agape in horror. Only merely a few inches away laid Kagome, who was breathing softly with her small fists curled in front of her.
Jakotsu sat up so fast that it made him dizzy. How dare she invade his space like that? He was sure that he was resting peacefully on the futon before she decided to steal it from him. Jakotsu bit his bottom lip in annoyance as he reached out and pinched the little twit hard on her cheek, causing her to wake up and yelp in pain. "You silly wench! How dare you breathe your dragon breath on me?!" he snapped as he stood up to leave.
Kagome, utterly confused with a sore cheek, gazed at him groggily in anger. "What the hell was that for, jerk!?"
"You two make it hard to sleep peacefully." Suikotsu grunted from the corner he was sleeping in. He preferred sleeping outside, there was so much space and one could seclude themselves from noisy comrades.
Outside, Bankotsu was stretched out on the porch when an angry Jakotsu quickly stepped over him and stormed off. "Hey, Jakotsu, what the-" he was cut short by the sound of the door sliding close behind him. He sat up to see an equally upset Kagome. "What happened in there? Did Jakotsu drool on you or something?" he joked.
Kagome rubbed her cheek. She had no idea what happened, but whatever. She would get him back when he least expected it. "It's nothing." She took a seat next to him on the porch. She blushed lightly when Bankotsu laid back down, this time with his head resting in her lap. She looked down at him and smiled as she idly ran her fingers through his soft bangs.
It seemed like the moment he laid next to her he began to feel better. It seemed as if the taiko drums in his head ceased and the world stopped spinning. Staying up all night drinking always resulted in him feeling like shit the next morning, but he never learned. "So, Kagome, I heard that you miss your homeworld." he stated.
She had recalled Suikotsu telling him so last night. He didn't have to do that, she would've told him…eventually. "Well, it's been a long time since I've been home. Inuyasha…usually takes me back to the well every two months, but with all that has happened…" Kagome said with her voice trailing off.
Why didn't she tell him about her dileema beforehand? She was way too complient and submissive to what others wanted that she ignored herself at times. Something told him that Inuyasha was to blame for that. He looked up at her and stared into her somber chocolate orbs as she gazed down at him. "You don't have to be that way anymore, not with me. I'd rather for you to speak your mind instead of keeping everything bottled in. Stand up for yourself." Bankotsu told her.
Kagome smiled at his words of encouragement. During her last verbal stand off with Inuyasha she completely locked up and let him trample all over her. She let him chip away her confidence, but it wouldn't happen again. "Thank you, Bankotsu." she said with a sincere smile.
Bankotsu smiled in returned. "Now there's the smile I want to see. Don't worry, I'll see to it that you get home." he promised.
Kagome lowered her face to his and captured his lips in a sweet kiss. She was so grateful to have him by her side.
Their moment was ruined by a loud scream…or more like a cry for help. They both snapped their heads up in alarm. Bankotsu sat up, instantly feeling dizzy again. "What the hell is going on?" He definitely wasn't in the mood for any more spider demons.
Kagome heard the loud screaming again and put a finger to her chin. "That voice…it sounds like…"
"Miroku, are you all right?!" A woman's voice yelled.
Kagome stood up from the porch with widened eyes. A woman dressed in a green, pink, and white ensemble came dashing from the stables with an oversized boomerang in her grasp. "Sango!" she called out, jumping from the porch.
The demon slayer nearly fell over as she stopped in her tracks and turned towards the voice. "Kagome? Kagome?!" she yelled out in shock. "What are you doing here?"
Kagome ran towards her dear friend and nearly knocked her down as she hugged her tightly. "I've missed you so much, Sango, but what are 'you' doing here?" she counter-asked.
A man's scream was heard again and Sango remembered that Miroku was in distress. "That's Miroku, I have to see what's wrong!" she said with worry and she turned to run towards the commotion. Before she could get a good sprint off, the aforementioned monk came stumbling out the well house. Kagome and Sango's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Miroku, half-dressed and dripping wet came running over to them while clutching his monk's garb to his body. He stopped before them, hunched over huffing and puffing frantically. He looked up and was extremely relieved to see Sango.
Sango looked down at him with worry. "Are you okay? With the way you were screaming I thought something terrible had happened to you! Put your clothes on, the villagers are beginning to stare!" she snapped.
Kagome stepped forward to greet her old comrade as well, but she blushed as she noticed how he was holding his robes to keep them from falling below his waist. "Uh, hi, Miroku." she said nervously.
Miroku looked over to Kagome in surprise. "K-Kagome!? Then that explains why…"
"Oh come back here my sweet, little monk! I didn't see you clean behind those ears!" a high-pitched, gleeful voice called out from the well house.
A look of horror washed over Miroku's face again. He quickly ran behind Sango and grasped onto her shoulders as if he were using her as a shield from the effeminate mercenary. "I can't believe that sick, twisted deviant was watching me bathe!" he yelled.
Sango's face turned red as the half-naked monk grabbed onto her for his dear life. She snapped out of her stupor and said, "Look at the kettle calling the pot black! Get off of me, the villagers are really staring now!"
Kagome brought a hand up to her mouth to muffle her giggling. It seems like Jakotsu had a habit of terrorizing everyone in the morning. 'Poor Miroku, I'd be mortified if I caught Jakotsu leering at me while I bathed too.'
"Just go back into the stables and get dressed, Miroku!" Sango reiterated. She was beyond embarrassed and now even slightly infuriated. 'All this time we thought we were getting somewhere with Inuyasha and somehow he still led us back to Kagome.' she pondered. Sango looked over to Kagome and smiled. "Hey, I'm going to check on Shippo and Kirara, but we'll catch up later okay?"
Kagome nodded and smiled as she watched Sango push Miroku back into the stables forcibly.
From afar, Bankotsu watched in amusement as the whole mess began to unfold. That Jakotsu, if you didn't keep him on a leash he'd go rampaging through the village harassing every man he saw. A smirk graced his features. The mutt just couldn't stay away, but he was happy that Kagome got to see her friends.
As if conjuring him up, Inuyasha jumped down from the roof of a nearby hut and landed before him. He glared down at the mercenary with his cold, amber eyes. "You bastard." he breathed out.
Bankotsu didn't even bother to sit up to acknowledge the half-demon's presence. "Geez, you really have no manners, Inuyasha, no 'good morning'?" he joked. He feigned a sigh. "People just aren't as friendly as they used to be."
It nearly took all of his willpower to prevent himself from ripping the tongue out of that smart-aleck's head. "Cut the bullshit! I'm here to talk." Inuyasha stated seriously.
"You can talk all you want, but that doesn't mean I'll listen." Bankotsu replied dryly.
"Can't you be serious!?" Inuyasha snapped.
"I am." the mercenary simply stated.
His blood was near boiling now. He clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth together in annoyance. 'What an obnoxious little prick! ' he thought. How could anyone tolerate that cocky bastard's prescence for more than five seconds? He calmed his nerves again. "It's about Kagome, I'm taking her home." he said flat out.
Bankotsu smirked as he stared up at the hanyou. He seemed pretty damned confident in the statement he just made, but if he had the energy to laugh, he would. "Oh really?" was all he said.
Inuyasha scoffed. "Yeah, you don't have the first clue about where the hell her home is or how she gets there for that matter, so I'll be taking her back home!" he declared sternly.
Bankotsu shifted his weight and propped himself up on his elbow. "I see. You know that forest, where you were pinned to a tree for 50 years, it's quite the trek from here. So maybe it will be best if you take her there since you'll get there in half the time running on all fours, but I bet she'll much rather I take her seeing as how you probably want to get her away from me so you can badger and beg her to go back with you." he assumed.
Inuyasha began to scowl, but he slowly let a small smirk tug at the corners of his mouth. "Well, aren't you the sharpest tool in the shed now? I guess a little bit of Renkotsu rubbed off on you, huh?" he cracked.
Bankotsu glared at him coldly for making that remark. Surprisingly, he remained silent.
It was about time he was able to wipe that smug look off of his face. "You can think that if you want, but either way Kagome knows that I'll keep my promise to take her to see her family."
Bankotsu finally sat up from the proch. "Why don't you let Kagome decide for herself?" In the distance he could see Kagome approaching them hesitantly, probably shocked to find them having a conversation and not ripping each other's throats out.
Inuyasha turned to look in the direction Bankotsu was staring in and was surprised to see Kagome standing there quietly. He was silent for a moment as he was at a loss for words.
Kagome gazed at him intently, not really knowing how to react. Bankotsu was right about Inuyasha stalking them or rather her, but why? Why was he still doing this? "What are you doing here, Inuyasha?" she asked calmly.
He was feeling a little uneasy with her looking at him with those gloomy eyes of hers. 'Great, she still looks upset about what happened the other day, of course why wouldn't she be?' "Kagome, listen, I'm sorry about everything and I'm offering to take you home to see your family…if that's what you want."
Kagome stared at the silver-haired half-demon questionably. What was he after? Did he think that by being nice to her for only a moment will make her forgive him for everything he had done wrong to her? She averted her eyes from him for a moment. 'He wants to take me home, but how did he know-…oh wait, of course he's been following us recently and he probably overhead us talking about it. Inuyasha…what do you really want?' She let her gaze meet with his. "Are you serious? How can you even expect me to trust you?" she said flat out.
Inuyasha widened his eyes for a moment. He felt that tinge of pain in his chest again when she had said that. Even with his half-human emotions he felt that to the fullest extent. "Kagome, I don't know what to do." he said under his breath. "I…I'm sorry…"
Sadness glimmered in Kagome's eyes and Bankotsu noticed this. Even still, she couldn't help but to feel sorry for him, after all he had done to hurt her. Was she some type of emotional cutter? 'This is taking too damn long, she already told him no, so why the hell is he trying to convince her to trust him again? Why is she hesitating?'
"Well, half-breed, you heard it for yourself. She doesn't want you to take her home, now get lost."
Kagome sighed softly as she clasped her hands in front of her. She wanted to stand up for herself and send him well on his way, but her sympathy for him always seemed to get the best of her. 'I'm so weak. I must enjoy putting myself through this torment…maybe I deserve it.' she belittled herself mentally. "Inuyasha…I…"
Inuyasha only stared at her in silence, wondering what was going on through her head. 'Is she really thinking about my offer, knowing her she probably does want to come with me, but because of him…' His glare then wondered over to Bankotsu, who seemed slightly peeved. He smirked.
It was painful to watch. Even after their little chat she still had no backbone when she faced the hanyou. "Kagome! Take control!" he grunted in frustration.
Kagome looked up and gazed into Bankotsu's eyes, his words brought her back to reality. She then turned her gaze to the silver-haired dog demon with her fists clenched at her sides. "No, Inuyasha, I'm not going to change my mind. Please, stop following us, have some dignity will you." she said sternly as she strode past Inuyasha with pride to take her stand next to Bankotsu. She exhaled finally.
It was about time. He was beginning to think that she would actually take Inuyasha's offer over his. He was proud of her for not succumbing to his wiles. A smirk tugged at his lips. "Better luck next time."
Inuyasha gritted his teeth in anger and his hand flew to the hilt of his sword and he withdrew his Tetsusaiga and pointed it at the mercenary. "Damn it, Bankotsu! Let's go right now!" he demanded jumping into his battle stance.
Bankotsu grunted in annoyance. "It's bad enough that I have to endure your whelping voice, but now this? You're giving me quite the headache, mongrel." he admitted, cradling his weary head in his palm. He was still a little hung-over, not that it would affect his skills enough for him to falter in battle with the half-demon.
Kagome shook her head at the scene. Inuyasha was becoming such a nuisance lately and it was becoming unbearable. "Inuyasha…sit boy!" she commanded.
Inuyasha's heart skipped a beat as those two cursed words were spoken. The prayer beads around his neck began to glow and before he knew it, he face was forcibly introduced to the ground. "O-owww…" He breathed out in pain, blowing more dust around his aching face.
Bankotsu chuckled lightly. It had been a while since Kagome had done that, but it was worth it. Just when he thought the hanyou couldn't have it any worse…
"Oh…my…Inuyasha!" The scantily clad mercenary squealed with boundless delight as he hurriedly made his way over to him. "I really really really missed you! I knew that making that wish on that shooting star would be bring you to me! Oh how I've missed those fuzzy wuzzy ears of yours!" he rambled on.
Inuyasha peeled himself from the ground just enough to lift his sword up to keep the homicidal homosexual at bay. "Come any closer and I'll slit you from asshole to appetite!" he warned.
Jakotsu's smile fell into a forlorn frown. "Oh, you're so mean to me, Inuyasha!" he whined. "It's so unfair!"
Inuyasha finally regained his composure and exchanged glances between the mercenary leader and Kagome. He just couldn't understand why he couldn't sway her into coming back with him. It infuriated him just thinking about how he lost her so fast and to 'him' of all people. "Well…" he started.
Bankotsu, still cradling his head in his palm, looked at the hanyou through his parted fingers. "Well what? Finally giving up? Please do us both the favor." he said.
Kagome glared at Inuyasha, but remained silent. When would he get the picture and just leave her the hell alone? Even though he angered her, she couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. When he apologized there was a trace of sincerity, something she'd thought she'd never get from him again. Just when she was beginning to trick herself into having sympathy for him again, she tore her eyes from his.
Inuyasha let out a heavy sigh, feeling at his lowest. Could it get any worse?
"Inuyasha!" a woman's voice screamed. Everyone snapped their heads towards the voice.
Kagome looked surprised when a very angry Sango came stomping over to Inuyasha. "So is this what you call making progress? What ever happened to finding Naraku!? Why are you constantly leading us around blindly so that you can stalk Kagome?!" she said, enraged.
Inuyasha just averted his eyes away from the furious demon slayer.
Jakotsu snickered. "Someone's on the rag." he whispered to Bankotsu.
Sango snapped her eyes to the cross-dressed mercenary and gave him a look that could freeze over hell. That shut him up. She turned her attention back to Inuyasha. "Look Inuyasha, you can play these games all you want, but I'm done!" she stated firmly.
Miroku came running over to them. Sango had stormed out on him earlier after she began expressing her disdain for Inuyasha's behavior and he knew that she was on her war path. "Sango, just wait a minute! Remember what we talked about last night?" he reminded.
Sango balled her fists up. "Miroku, this isn't getting us anywhere! Inuyasha's stuck on stupid and if we continue following him around we'll be in the same category as well!" she said crudely.
Inuyasha turned away from them, tired of hearing the insults he was receiving. Usually he would argue with her, but he just wasn't up to it, besides why argue when she was right? "Fine, you guys don't have to follow me if you don't want to, go ahead and leave." he said plainly before leaving.
Everyone stared at Inuyasha as he walked off into the distance. Miroku sighed and shook his head as he glanced over to Sango. He cleared his throat.
Sango gave him a sidelong glare and said, "Don't even think about it, Miroku! I'm not in the mood!" She then stormed off back into the direction of the stables.
There was still a looming silence amongst everyone as the whole scene played out. No one really knew how to react to the situation at the moment. Kagome clasped her hands together and sighed to herself. 'This is terrible…Miroku and the others have split away from Inuyasha as well. He must feel terrible, even if doesn't show it…no I can't feel sorry for him anymore…' She felt a hand resting on her shoulder and she looked back at the person, who was none other than Bankotsu trying to offer her some comfort. She smiled softly.
The silence was broken when a door slid open and close from the guest room. It was none other than Suikotsu finally emerging from the room after what seemed like forever. He said nothing as he glanced around at his comrades, plus the monk who seemed a bit dumfounded at the moment.
Jakotsu stepped towards him. "Geez Suikotsu, you'd probably sleep through a whole war if you could!" he cracked.
Suikotsu grunted to himself. If only he was sleeping through all that noise; the monk screaming, the bickering between Inuyasha and Bankotsu, and the yells from the pissed off demon slayer. He just wasn't meant to sleep peacefully so he figured he would wait until the whole mess subsided before he would try to start his day no matter how sleep depraved he was. He ignored everyone else save for Bankotsu. "I'm going to the well house."
Bankotsu just nodded. He then shifted his gazed over to the monk, who seemed to be standing around awkwardly. He was going to say something until Kagome walked over to him and spoke to him in a hushed voice.
Miroku could tell that Kagome was worried about them, but they would be fine. Even though he was sure that Inuyasha would probably return once everything blew over. He was surprised that Kagome would actually worry about the hanyou considering how horrid he had been to her and her newfound friends. "We're just going through a few rough patches, but once we all talk it through I'm sure we can fix this. " he assured her optimistically as usual. "I'd better go check on Sango…she's probably still upset." With that said he took off in the direction Sango previously stormed off in.
Kagome turned to face Bankotsu and Jakotsu, who were just staring at her. She remained silent.
Jakostu clapped his hands together in excitement. "Now that Inuyasha is free from his pesky friends I can finally have some one on one time with him! Just think, I can finally battle him without one of those annoying wretches interrupting us!" he babbled delusively. His grin grew wider as he wandered off, undoubtedly fantasizing about Inuyasha.
Bankotsu just shook his head at Jakotsu's words. Well, whatever made him happy. His attention was now focused on Kagome. She seemed upset as well. "Are you okay?" he asked. If she were upset or worried he definitely didn't want her to be because of that foolish half breed.
She shook her head. "I'm so worried about Miroku and the others. They're strong on their own, but I hope they don't think they'll be able to make it without Inuyasha for too long. And though I don't want to…I feel sorry for Inuyasha too, only because he's too stupid to realize when he needs to swallow his pride."
Bankotsu walked over to her and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Ha don't worry, that half breed will realize his mistakes soon enough and come running back to his friends, look he always came running back to you, didn't he? Inuyasha just can't stand to be on his own…besides what's a dog without his pack?" he said.
Even though his words were a bit insulting to the hanyou, they were true. It surprised her at how insightful he could be, he barely knew Inuyasha yet that's exactly how his personality was. Maybe Bankotsu and Inuyasha had a little more in common than they'd like to admit. Kagome turned to Bankotsu and placed her hands on his chest as she stared up into his cerulean eyes. "I'm going to go see how they're doing. " she stated.
"Alright," he simply replied. "I'll wait for you."
Kagome smiled and stood on the tips of her toes to give him a chaste kiss on the lips before running off.
AN: I feel bad for Inuyasha, but Kagome and Sango are fed up with him! Hopefully the old Inu-clan can reconcile and regroup! R&R
