Notes: I actually had gotten well into this chapter when sadly, my old laptop died on me after failing to install a Windows 10 update x_x I did not backup my files because I didn't foresee something like that happening so I've been forced to write this from scratch. I had to get over grieving and working on recovering more important information first. Oh well. Here it is! Chapter 17!
Bankotsu and the Kiss of Life!
A Battle for her Hand?!
[Part One]
The Usui siblings blinked in confusion while the Tao cousins raised curious eyebrows as they watched Kagome dramatically sunk to her hands and knees, as if she were feeling defeated, after hearing that Ren would be fighting Bankotsu. "Kagome-chan..." Sango began softly while kneeling down next to her best friend and placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's the matter? You're looking a little pale."
Kagome replied in a voice that was just audible for her companions to hear, "Don't worry about me... It's just..."
Ren then knelt down to other side of Kagome, but instead of placing a comforting hand on her shoulder to express concern the way that Sango did, he reached over and squeezed a glob of Kagome's soft and squishy cheek between his fingers. "Oi," He began. "If you have something to say then say it," he told her in a casual, cool tone as he continued pinching her cheek until he finished speaking.
"Ow!" The young priestess whined in protest as her own hand instantly shot up to nurse her stinging, red face. "What's the big idea, buddy boy?!" She nearly shouted while reaching over to pinch both of Ren's cheeks in retaliation. This instantly started a small scuffle between the two of them with both of them childishly screaming at each other and pulling on each other's faces and hair.
Sango merely sighed aloud and shook her head, but with a smile on her face nonetheless, at their antics," Those two are impossible."
HoroHoro smirked as he crossed his arms, a smug look on his face, as he bragged, "That cousin of yours is such a child. He doesn't know how to treat a woman, like I do~" He gave Sango his most dashing grin and a thumbs up, which earned him a sharp look of disapproval from the Tao.
This time it was Pirika's turn to sigh and shake her head, "My dummy brother just doesn't get."
"Hey, you two," Sango sighed with a smile again. "It's about time that we got a move on. If Ren is late, he'll be disqualified," she pointed out. On cue, the bickering duo shot one last glare at each other before Kagome giggled and Ren huffed and looked away.
"So..." he mumbled as he got his feet and dusted himself off. "What's the deal with you and that Bankotsu guy?" He asked once again. When it came to Kagome, he could not help but to be curious and persistent...especially when it came to competition with other guys. His golden eyes narrowed as they picked up the subtle flush to her cheeks and the way that her body went timid and skittish.
"Errr...well... " She gave an embarrassed smile as she scratched her cheek, "We used to be classmates before I moved to Tokyo. He used to make fun of me a lot, and..." she unconsciously placed a hand to her bosom and she flashbacked to her times with Bankotsu. "He used to grope my chest pretty often," she admitted.
Everyone except Ren and Kagome's jaws nearly dropped to the ground as they collectively screamed, "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"
Kagome merely sighed and closed to her eyes to take a breath for a moment.
Meanwhile Ren's cheeks were deep red as he imagined the scandalous image of pair of gropey hands pawed at a frightened, shaking Kagome who was trapped in a corner. He quickly shook those images away but his eyes couldn't help but wander down to her budding breasts, which her skin-tight qipao hugged every curve ever so nicely. 'Damn it...' He could feel his face heating up even more as mental images of his own hands pawing at a shy but smiling Kagome flooded his mind.
[SLAP!]
Ren was snapped from his daydream from an intense stinging sensation across his cheek. He blinked for a moment then glared at Kagome who glaring at him with reddened cheeks and her arms covering her chest defensively. "What the hell was that for, Kagome?!"
"You were totally just staring right at my chest just now!" She retorted. "I bet you were imagining fondling me too!"
Ren opened his mouth to rebuttal but found no words were able to come out, as he realized that she actually hit the nail on the head. He blushed immensely and looked away with a grunt, "I...was not..." he grumbled out.
'He totally was...' The other teenagers thought to themselves as they sweatdropped.
S.H.A.M.A.N.K.I.N.G.
"Hmph," Ren huffed for the umpteenth time as the group of young shamans traveled off-road towards the site of Ren's fight against Bankotsu, which was an isolate clearing in a nearby natural park area. His intense gaze nearly burned holes in Kagome's back as she walked a few meters ahead of him, next to Pirika as the two young girls happily chatted with each other. His eyes narrowed when he noticed Kagome's shoulders tremble as they usually did when she giggled.
The rear of the group was taken up by the Sango, who stood in the middle, and HoroHoro to her left and Ren to her right. Sango looked away from HoroHoro, who talking her head off much like his younger sister was with Kagome, and at her younger cousin. Although the redness to his cheek had healed already, he was obviously still sulking about being caught ogling the young priestess. After the spat, the two of them had no said a word to each other, and it obviously bothered Ren greatly.
Sango reached over and tapped Ren on the shoulder, causing him to snap his head over to look at her.
"What?"
"I know that you're still upset, but still, maybe you should apologize to her."
Ren scowled and replied, "It's not like I meant to..."
"I know, I know...but you should tell her that."
HoroHoro chimed in, "What's the big deal? It shouldn't be difficult-" he cut his statement off as a light bulb turned on inside of his head. "Know what? I'll do it for you!" He offered with a grin.
"Wha- No!" Ren tried to stop him but it was too late as HoroHoro called over to Kagome.
"Oi, Kagome-chan!" The blunette called, earning a quick halt and inquisitive look from Kagome and his younger sister. He grinned as he declared, "The chibi over here is super sorry for sexually harassing you! He said that he couldn't help it but you're so beautiful!"
The last part caused Ren's jaw to drop and he visibly twitched with red-stained cheeks as he fought to find the words to recover from the complete embarrassment that he was facing.
Sango smiled and sweat dropped as she thought to herself, 'He didn't say that...but it's pretty accurate."
Ren completely avoided Kagome's gaze as he immediately went to wrap his hands around HoroHoro's neck as he shouted many insults and obscenities. Meanwhile the anger that the Tao used to hide his embarrassment resulted in him missing the deep red blush on Kagome's cheek and the genuinely surprised look on her face. Between his own shouting and HoroHoro's struggling to half-heartedly apologize between cackles, Ren did not notice Kagome walk over to him with her hands cupped behind her back and a smile on her face...that was, until he felt a distinctly soft and warm touch on his bare shoulder. "What do you want, bak-?!" He began to shout at her for interrupting his revenge on HoroHoro but instantly, the world seemed to melt away when he saw Kagome's face, smiling at fondly at him and her body in such a cutesy pose.
"Listen..." She began in a soft voice. "Let's not fight anymore," She said as she grabbed his hands away from HoroHoro's neck and held them in her own. "I want us to be..." She missed how his eyes widened at her words, almost full of hope. "...friends again," she finished, her smile widening into her usual friendly smile and brought Ren back to reality. This was the reality that Kagome was in love with Asakura Yoh, and he himself, was just a friend in her eyes.
"Fine," He replied in a defeated tone that inwardly left Kagome baffled. "Not that we weren't anyway..." He added as he rolled his eyes.
Kagome then smiled as they continued to walk toward their destination, this time, she was at Ren's right side and Pirika took a spot to Kagome's own right side. The priestess looked at Ren with a somewhat cheeky smile and asked teasingly, "So...you think I'm beautiful?"
Ren scoffed and crossed his arms, "I never said that."
She gave a small chuckle before admitting, "Honestly, I already knew that HoroHoro-kun embellished your apology. It made me happy nonetheless."
Unable to meet her gaze once again, in fear of being reduced to another blushing mess, he looked away as he asked curiously, "...which part?"
Kagome merely giggled again and ended the conversation with a simple, "You have to guess~"
S.H.A.M.A.N.K.I.N.G.
"So if I followed your story correctly..." Bankotsu said through clenched teeth as he toyed with a single blade of grass between his pearly whites. "One... Higurashi Kagome is even more scorching than ever. Two... She beat you in your first Shaman fight so you have to win your next two... Three..." His sapphire eyes hardened a bit at his third conclusion, "Her new boyfriend is my first opponent."
Mukotsu gave a serious of rapid head nods as he looked up at his younger brother, "That's right! Not only do they seem close but he seems rather strong. I can sense lots of Furyoku from him!" He announced with a worried expression. He knew that despite how superficial it seemed to a lot of people, his younger brother truly had liked the Higurashi girl for a long time...longer than he even had.
"So?" Bankotsu asked as he continued leaning against a tree trunk with his arms crossed. "What's your point?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not saying that you should forfeit your fight or anything!" Mukotu threw his hands up defensively, afraid to insult his younger but tremendously stronger brother. "I was just thinking that maybe you should just give up on Kagome-chan!"
"Heh," Bankotsu closed his eyes while spitting out the blade of grass to smirk. "I figured that's what you were getting at...but I refuse to back down."
Mukotsu's eyebrows furrowed with concern, "It's been two and a half years though..."
"Yeah, I know," was Bankotsu's half heartedly reply as he closed his eyes to reflect on the past...
[Over Two Years Ago...]
Shichinin Bankotsu, age 11, stared into the sole body mirror in his new home. Just last night he, his father, and six half brothers just moved into a medium-sized apartment in a suburb that lied in the outskirts of Tokyo. Once again, they moved from one district to another, uprooting them from lives that they had just gotten accustomed to and forcing them to start their reputations from zero. Bankotsu scoffed at his appearance of his reflection. He loathed school uniforms, especially ones with neckties like the crinkled and scrunched up, lopsided one that tried its best to cling to his neck. His father never taught him or his brothers how to tie a tie...and frankly, they were not interested enough to find out themselves. So his uniform always looked particularly sloppy thrown together.
Aside from his black neck tie, his uniform consisted of a short-sleeved white dress shirt, black dress pants, and brown leather shoes. He ran his hand through his excessively long, black hair that trailed down to his calves. A long time ago he and his brothers surmised that he inherited a trait for fast growing hair from his mother's side of the family. A year ago, his father stopped cutting it for him and demanded that he began to cut his own hair. Bankotsu rebelliously and lazily did not oblige and simply let it continue to grow. The only reason why his locks were so smooth, silky, and well-managed is because his brother Jakotsu was so in love with taking care of it now that their father stepped down from that responsibility.
"Well..." He turned around to look at his brothers who were waiting for him near the door. "Let's do this, boys!" He commanded while swinging his black messenger bag over his shoulder and heading towards them...
S.H.A.M.A.N.K.I.N.G.
It was time for the usual, lame self-introduction to his new classmates.
"Shichinin Bankotsu," He announced nonchalantly as he shoved his hands into his pockets. With a smirk he added a cool, "Nice to meet you." It had the usual effect of making most of female classmates swoon with heart-filled eyes and coos of admiration. Though he had no real interest in girls yet, it was definitely satisfying to feel wanted and desirable. Having girls fall at your feet was definitely a much-needed ego-stroke after feeling unloved by having no mother and the father that he was "blessed" with.
"Shichinin Jakotsu~!" His brother announced in a more preppy tone while raising his hand excitedly. "Let's all get along~!" He added with a giggle and a cute wink that earned mixed reactions from his classmates.
After their introductions, they took their designated seats at the back of the classroom. Bankotsu was grateful that he was lucky enough to get his favorite seat: the one in one of the furthest corners of the room, right next to the window. Jakotsu was to his immediate right and a large glass window was his seatmate on the left. Directly in front of him sat a girl with rather long jet-black hair, but not as long as his.
"Alright, let's start with math. Take out your pencils and open your notebooks-"
Bankotsu and Jakotsu simultaneously paled as they reached into their bags and realized that they both had forgotten to pack writing utensils...or even grab their lunches or money. Bankotsu's bag was full of notebooks, manga, and a pencil sharpener. Meanwhile Jakotsu filled his back with makeup, accessories, and notebooks.
Despite his troubled past and family issues, Bankotsu and most of his brothers grew up to be quite charismatic and extroverted people. He was not ashamed to poke the girl in front of him and casually greet her with a small wave and grin, "Yo, sorry to disturb but it's my first day here and I forgot my pencils. Could you spare one for me and my brother here?"
The girl immediately turned around, revealing a large pair of blue-gray eyes that sparkled with a youthful innocence and warmth. The girl smiled brightly at him and nodded, "Mmhm~" She replied as she reached into her yellow, floral pencil-case and handed a pencil and Black ink-pen to both him and Jakotsu, who gave her a suspicious look at her act of kindness.
Bankotsu gave her a grin and a quick "Thanks, babe~" before she merely nodded again and turned back around before they got into trouble. With two pieces of writing utensils, it felt like the rest of the day would go without a hitch...
...that was...until lunchtime hit.
"Uwaaaaah! Ban!" Jakotsu whined as he dramatically flopped his head onto his desk. "I'm starving and we have no food, or no money! I won't make it through the rest of the day!"
Bankotsu, although he was quite hungry too, merely shrugged it off, "It is what is it, Jak."
"Oh," the girl sitting in front of Bankotsu said as she turned around in her seat to look at them. "You forgot your lunches too?" She asked curiously. "Did your mother forget to check your bags?" Her question earned a hearty laugh from the brothers, causing her to blink in confusion. She tilted her head to the side, "What's so funny?"
After he recovered from his laughter, Jakotsu was quick and almost proud to announce, "We don't have a mother! It's just us, our brothers, and our dad! We don't need a woma-!"
"Awww!" The girl's eyebrows and mouth instantly turned upside down, "You don't have a mom? How sad!" Bankotsu noticed how her fists were balled up, as if she were genuinely feeling sympathy for them.
"Don't worry about it," he said while waving it off. "It doesn't bother us one bit."
"Still... Just looking at you...I can kind of tell that you need to take better care of yourselves," she replied with the honesty and bluntness of a true child. She looked the two brothers over. Their bags did not seem to have all of the necessary school supplies; they had no lunch; and their uniforms were a mess. "Here," she said as she stood up. "Just for today...I'll be your mother~" She told them with a smile, causing Bankotsu to raise an eyebrow and Jakotsu to almost wretch.
The girl stood up on her chair and cleared her throat to get the rest of the class' attention, "Listen up, everyone! Poor Shichinin-kun and Shichinin-kun don't have anything to eat today!"
"What's your point?" A bratty boy named Daisuke asked with a smirk.
"Don't you feel bad for them?" The girl asked back in a hot tone as she placed her hands on her hips. "If you have any sort of heart, please help us out by offering one piece of your lunch to them! Just one piece will be enough to get them through the day!" She concluded her miniature speech with a, "I'll be the first volunteer" before climbing off of her chair and opening her lunch box. Inside of it was a fruit salad, a rice ball, and two pieces of pork cutlet. The girl took some napkins that was packed along with her food, unfolded them, and placed one each on Bankotsu's and Jakotsu's desk. She then took her chopsticks and placed one of her cutlets on each of the napkins. "See? It's just that easy~" She gestured towards the napkins as if she were putting on a show. "Who's next?"
"Ooh, me!" A girl with shoulder length black hair stood up and volunteered.
"What a good idea, Kagome-chan~" Another girl with wavy black hair complimented her as she stood up.
As human beings usually did, one act of kindness inspired many others to follow suit and began piling pieces of their lunch onto the brothers' napkins, which were slowly but surely began to be filled from one side to the other. Surprisingly, every member of their class donated some of their lunch to them, even some of the jealous and begrudging boys.
"Wow, look at all of this food!" Jakotsu's eyes sparkled in delight. "Thanks for the food~!" he gave a quick prayer before hastily reaching for the pile of goods. But before he could partake into his meal, Bankotsu gave his hand a slap that caused him to whelp and recoil before sending watery eyes his brother's way. "What was that for, Ban?!" He asked with a quivering lip.
"You're not allowed to wolf all of this down," Bankotsu said in a stern voice. "Our brothers must be just as hungry as we are. And who knows if they have people like that girl in their classes?" He did his best to wrap the food up after getting to his feet. "Let's deliver some to our bros, kay?"
Jakotsu pouted and crossed his arms but followed his brother's lead nonetheless. Bankotsu stole a last glance at the girl who seemed to be known as Kagome. She was eating on her riceball while talking to some other classmates. She seemed to have sensed his gaze as she looked over and meet his gaze before offering a smile. Bankotsu gave her a head nod and smiled back before heading off to deliver some lunch to his other hungry brothers.
Since then, Bankotsu was unaware that he was unable to take his eyes of the Kagome girl. Whether it was out of boredom or wondering what she would pull next, he was interested in being around her. The next few hours of the school day flew by within the blink of an eye and Bankotsu was still watching the back of Kagome as she stood up and packed up her school supplies. The sapphire eyed boy quickly stood up and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to get her attention.
She blinked and asked curiously, "Is something wrong, Shichinin-kun?"
"Your name is Kagome, right?" He asked. "You can just call me Ban," he offered, causing Jakotsu to nearly fall over in shock in the background. Bankotsu, despite being outgoing, was never quick to let anyone besides his brothers call him 'Ban'.
"Yeah," Kagome gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, even after all of that." Bankotsu was pleased to see her sit her bag on top of her desk, as if she was prepared to stick around to talk to him for a bit. "I'm Higurashi Kagome," she said while extending her hand. "Nice to meet you, Ban-kun~"
"Likewise, Higurashi," He replied with a toothy grin. He ignored the deadpanned look on her face at the sound of him calling her by her family name after telling her to call him by his given name. "So...are you finished mom-ing me?" He asked light-heartedly.
"Actually," She replied as took a few steps toward him, which landed her directly in front of him. "I'm not," she said while looking him up and down. "Where on Earth did you learn to tie a tie?" She asked teasingly as her hands reached up and began to work on straightening his sad excuse for a neck tie. Meanwhile Bankotsu stared down at her with slightly widened eyes and lips ajar. Once she made his tie presentable, she popped and fixed his collar and smiled up at him while taking a step back to take a look at her handiwork. She nodded, looking rather proud of the result, "Mmhm~ My boy looks like more like a gentleman now~"
Jakotsu pouted and headed towards the door, unable to stomach the chummy scene unfolding between his brother and their new classmate. Never before had any of them got along so well with someone outside of their family so quickly. He was sure that Bankotsu picked up on his face paced attachment to the girl so he recovered by calling her by her last name, despite wanting to be on a first-name basis with her.
"Your boy, eh?" He asked, his eyes dancing with mirth and his lips forming into a smirk. "Are you sure that's how you want to describe me?"
Kagome paused for a moment and thought back to how her own mother would stroke her younger brother's hair as he napped on her lap, smiling down at him while whispering, "Souta, you're my special boy."
She then smiled as she replied, "you're right..." She reached up to pat his head and corrected herself, "you're my special boy~."
Bankotsu blinked at the strange girl in front of him before removing her hand and shaking his head while grabbing his bag. "You're something special, Higurashi," he told her. "Let's get out of here."
She nodded, grabbed her own bag, and happily ran after the two brothers, making Bankotsu smile and Jakotsu watch her wearily.
S.H.A.M.A.N.K.I.N.G.
Time had flown by. And the more time had gone by, the more Bankotsu hoped that he and his brothers would not be uprooted from their new home and school again. It was here that they had all found something new and special. As usual, he, Suikotsu, Renkotsu, and Jakotsu made the usual fangirls. But besides that, they all made a couple of genuine friends outside of their group of half-blood brothers. It was a rare occurence for them to loose up enough to befriend anyone. Inwardly, Suikotsu, Bankotsu's older brother thanked a girl named Higurashi Kagome for that. Her kindness on their first day at the school put in crack in Bankotsu's usual barrier that he used to keep people away.
Bankotsu was obviously smitten with the girl, even if he was not completely aware of it yet. Never before had he left his home ahead of his brothers to meet with someone else. It turned out that Higurashi Kagome was a member of the girl's track-and-field club and arrived to school early to participate in morning practice. When Bankotsu found out this little piece of information, he actually set his alarm an hour and a half earlier to be able to intercept her at school gates. One day, she blinked when he called out to her as he arrived a few moments after she did. "Oh, Ban-kun, good morning~" She smiled politely at him. "I've been wondering something." She began to say as he took a spot beside her, walking towards the shoe lockers.
"Shoot."
"Well...you don't have any club activities so why do you come to school so early?"
And Bankotsu, as open and straightforward as ever, grinned and ruffled her hair, "I come here for you, Higurashi!"
"Eh? For me? And don't ruin my hair! I just brushed it before I got here!" She protested while batting his offending hand away. While Bankotsu grinned playfully and continued to ruffle her hair up.
"Yup, all for you, Higurashi!" He admitted easily; he knew that she would not understand the ramifications of his actions and words so flirting with her came all the more easy.
"Hm," She thought as she smoothed out her bangs and the top of her head for the fifth time. "Maybe you should join the boy's track team if you're going to keep coming so early," She suggested.
"Heh," He chuckled as he placed his outside shoes into his locker. "Maybe I will."
"But you'd have to do something about all of that hair of yours though," She pointed at out while openly eying his long, flowing locks that trailed down to his ankles.
That was when Bankotsu crossed his arms in the form of an "X" across his chest as he refuted her statement, "No way, lady! I'm not cutting it after how long it's gotten!"
"That's not what I mean!" She walked over to a staircase that led from the first floor to the second. She climbed a few steps, then turned around, and sat down on one. "Here, come sit in front of me," she said while spreading spread her legs a bit, her navy, gym shorts reserving her modesty.
Bankotsu gave her a look of uncertainty as he was unable to predict her next move. "O...kaaaaay," he obliged her and sat down on a step further down from hers so that his back was situated between her legs.
"Luckily for you, I always bring a spare comb and brush to fix up my hair after practice," She told him as she pulled out her styling tools and began gently combing a small section of his hair. She smiled when he only hummed in response. She could not see it but his eyes slowly closed and his shoulders released some tension.
For a few minutes, the two of them were in pure bliss. The school was quiet and nearly empty. Kagome hugged a soft tune as she worked on Bankotsu's long tresses, inwardly admiring its length and sheen. And Bankotsu found himself feeling oddly relaxed to the point of drowiness at the soft feeling of Kagome's tools and fingers in his hair. "Alright, it's done~" She happily chirped while lightly slapping his back, bringing him out of his daze.
"Eh? What the hell?" He muttered at the change in weight on his head as he looked over his shoulder and saw his hair no longer loose and free, but constricted and twisted into a single, long braid.
"See? Now we're a set~" Kagome smiled as she gestured to her own braid that she put her hair into for tracking that morning. Bankotsu pursed his lips together, for once, he was speechless as he stared at her.
[In the Present]
Bankotsu thought about how he and Kagome used to be pretty good friends for a while. Or at least, he felt like they were. She always seemed to be smiling and laughing when he sought her out for whatever random reason that he came up with. There were even plenty of times when she went to him to share a joke or ask him and Jakotsu to join her and her friends for lunch. Of course, he was always silently disappointed on Valentine's Day when he got so much chocolate, cards, and letters from so many girls...except for the one who he actually would accept them from. He was already considerably popular with the girls but he noticed how his populatity with the girls shot up immensely since he continued to spot the braid that Kagome bestowed upon him that morning.
But he secretly kept the hairstyle going not for the popularity but rather partly because Kagome was right in that the braid made moving around with his long hair easier, and also partly because she told him that he looked a lot cuter with his hair styled that way. "I'm not giving up on her that easily," He told Mukotsu with conviction in his voice. "We owe so much to her. And even if I have to wait, I'll wait all of my life to repay her."
[Over a Year Ago]
It was an accident really. And it happened so quickly. Renkotsu, a slightly disturbed young boy, was partaking his favorite past-time: pyromania, playing with fire. He used a single finger to apply pressure down onto the small head of a can of aerosol hairspray and delighted in the vapors spread into a stream of flames as they made contact with the flame of a lighter in his other hand. Walking around their place of living with a homemade blow torch in his hand was nothing new to Renkotsu, even his brothers and father were used to it by now. They never expected for him to stumble over a box of cola that was left in the middle of the floor as he blew out another spew of flames. This time, the flames eagerly leaped out and licked the soft fabric of some nearby curtains.
The flames spread quicker than he expected and he yelled out obscenities that the sleeping members of the household probably tuned out in their sleep because they were used to him shouting curses at the smallest, most random nuisances that he stumbled upon. He began to sweat from fear and anxiety at the sight of the flames quickly spreading and consuming everything in their path. As soon as he gathered his bearings, he made a mad dash for a bucket, in an attempt to solve the problem quickly and quietly. But it would all be for naught...
S.H.A.M.A.N.K.I.N.G.
Most of the Shichinin family died quickly and peacefully died in their sleep from smoke inhalation. Bankotsu watched the horror and sorrow of flames consuming his family's apartment from a plane in between life and death. It was a cold place, a silent place that was devoid of color. It was the exact opposite of the scene that played out before him. He was sure the inferno of his apartment was blazing hot, alive with colors, and loud from the roaring flames. "Damn it..." He cursed to deaf ears as he watched firefighters bursts through the door to rescue him and his family much too late. Their bodies had yet to be consumed by the fire but they were beginning to become blotched here and there with the blackest of soot.
He was only twelve years ago. There were so many things that he wanted to do with his life that he would not get to do now. He couldn't graduate and go to high school. He couldn't start the rock band that he and his brothers talked about starting when they became adults. He couldn't ask Kagome out...
'Kagome...' He thought to himself, his heart full of longing to see her once more. 'I should have told you directly, instead of teasing you all of the time... Kagome...' His memories of her flashed through his mind, from the first time that she turned around and looked at him, to the time that she braided his hair, to all of the times that she happily straightened his tie and got teased by classmates for acting like his wife... 'Kagome, just once more...'
"Ugh!" Suddenly Bankotsu had to shield his eyes from a blast of white light that seemed to appear out of no where. Once the light dimmed down, he slowly lowered his arms to look out ahead of him. He blinked and gasped, he was no longer inside of his apartment or the space in-between! He was floating in what seemed to be pure darkness. The only thing that he could see astounded him-. "H-Higurashi?!" He asked, unable to hide his shock at the being that float a few meters away from him. It certainly looked like her, but there noticable differences.
The Kagome before him was dressed in a spaghetti-strap, pure white dress with a sweetheart shaped bust line. The front of the skirt cut was higher than the back so that her lightly tanned legs were exposed in the front. Her hair was unbelievable long, the dark locks spread far and wide, it was so much that it would drag long behind her like a wedding veil if she were walk across a room. Her blue eyes were literally glowing with power; they reflected a heart full of compassion, sorrow, and a mixture of mature emotions that he never seen in his Kagome's eyes.
"Shichinin Bankotsu...you poor, miserable child..." She spoke to him in a voice that sounded much like the Kagome who he was used to, but slightly different. This voice was a bit older and much more soothing. "It is a shame how easily life can be snuffed out..." She said while looking him directly in the eye. "Much like a small flame."
"...who...are you?" Was the only thing Bankotsu could ask the being who resembled Kagome and seemed to know him. It was magnificent, yet horrifying. His soul could sense the overwhelming spiritual power that this being possessed. It was unfathomable how it felt like his soul could easily be swallowed up by this presence, and yet...he felt like he actually wanted to be consumed by the purity that radiated from the form before him.
"You know me...I am Higurashi Kagome."
"Don't mess with me! My Higurashi isn't...!" He couldn't find the words to describe it.
"The Kagome that you know and the Kagome that is I are one and the same soul," Kagome informed him as she slowly began to float towards him. "It is true that we are not the same level of consciousness but we are one in the same. Do not fear me," she urged him as she got closer and closer. Bankotsu found himself unable to break her gaze or move away as she floated towards him with her arms stretched out towards him.
"Okay... Higurashi, what are you doing here? What do you want?" He asked of her.
"Dear child, call me Kagome," she softly commanded as her hands finally landed on his cheeks. She held his face in her hands. His sapphire met her pools of storming sea. "I came, because you called to me."
"What?! You mean...?" Bankotsu's eyes widened.
"That is correct..." She nodded and smiled. "Your desire to see Higurashi Kagome once again summoned me here to you. You are someone who the Kagome who you love cares about. Therefore, I am obliged to grant you a single wish. Tell me..." This Kagome closed even more distance between them as they were nearly eye to eye. "What is your wish?"
"I wish..." Bankotsu closed his eyes for a moment as he thought about how to phrase his desire. "That me and my brothers..." His body trembled at his incomplete thought.
"I understand," She replied in a whisper. "I will grant you a second chance at this life. But do know that being kissed by this form will bring you all back with a small portion of my power. Can you accept no longer being an ordinary human?"
"Humph," Bankotsu. "So I get to die and come back as a super hero? That's pretty badass! Bring it on!" He encouraged her with a balled up fist.
This Kagome smiled and chuckled a bit at his antics. "I see..." She looked him in the eye once more before asking, "Are you ready?"
"Let's do it!" He nodded with a smirk, excited to feel the warmth of life again.
"Very well..." She moved in closer and Bankotsu blinked when she pressed her lips against his. He was expecting for them to be cold, like the rest of the afterlife. But instead, they were softer and warmer than anything that he had ever felt. The warmth of that kiss quickly spread throughout his entire being and then...
There was light.
Bankotsu blinked when he realized that he was lying on the ground, flat on his back, with a crowd of people surrounding him.
"H-He's alive! He's suddenly come back to life!"
"This one is coming back too!"
"This one too! I-it's a miracle!"
[Present Day]
It was the oddest experience that he had ever had. He and his brothers came back to life when he was sure that they were dead. Bankotsu did some asking around and he realized a few things: 1) He did not desire his father to come back to life, so he did not. He perished in the fire. 2) His brothers had no idea that they had been given a second chance at life by Higurashi Kagome. Upon his release from the hospital, he had sought out Kagome as he usually did. He was greeted with a huge hug and worried eyes. He thanked her for saving his life but she seemed to have no idea what he was talking about. Thus he concluded that the Kagome that he knew was just as unaware of what she was as he was.
It did not take long for him to discover the new power that his new life gave him and his brothers. Suddenly, they could see and speak to the spirits of the departed. Not soon afterwards, they discovered that they could merge with those spirits to harness their power. It was thanks to Kagome that they got a second chance at life, not that his brothers knew that. Bankotsu could not help but feel that he owed his life to her, and he wanted more than nothing than to dedicate it to returning the favor. His inward reminiscing was cut off by a sudden sharp gasp from across the clearing of the foresty area. "It really is him!" A familiar voice that he longed to hear again said.
Bankotsu looked across the way and spotted a group of teenagers around his age standing at the opposite end of the flat, grassy area. In the middle and front stood a boy who appeared to be the leader of the group, he had dark hair, usual golden eyes, and dressed in Chinese fighting clothing. To his immediate left was a girl who looked slightly older with long dark brown hair pulled into a high ponytail, her eyes were unusual as well, being the color of ripened blueberries. Next to her were a pair who were obviously related with their cotton candy blue hair and dark brown eyes. And to the right was the object of Bankotsu's desires... Higurashi Kagome.
This was the not the Kagome who bestowed the kiss of life upon him. No, this was the one who he fell in love with. However, she had obviously grown and toned out more. Bankotsu let his eyes travel up and down her body a couple of times, drinking in her new appearance. Her hair was pulled into a rather adorable twin pair of intricate buns. She sported a qipao similar to the other girls. Her curves were coming in quite nicely and her dress showed it proudly. Bankotsu let out a slow, appreciative whistle at her new look. "Damn, Higurashi... You just get finer and finer every time we meet," He told her as he moved away from his giant sword and older brother.
Bankotsu could easily ignore everyone else around him when Kagome was around, and he did just that. He casually strutted up to the girl and gave her a grin as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, earning him a pointed look of annoyance from her. "Ban-kun... Long time no see," She said in an unamused, deadpanned tone.
"Awww, come on!" He grinned even more as he pulled her closer. "Look, I'm sorry about the way I starting groping for a while. I know now that it was wrong."
Kagome then blinked a few times, "Eh? What?" She asked. "Are you...actually apologizing?"
Bankotsu nodded and added, "I know, I know. I don't usually apologize about things. But I really want you to forgive me, okay?" He looked down at her and flashed her his best grin like he used to before he ruined their friendship with his groping.
Before Kagome could open her mouth to speak again, Bankotsu was annoyed to feel her being pulled away from his side. He glared at the much shorter boy who openly glared at him back as he gripped Kagome's forearm and pulled her to his side instead. "If you're done, I think it's time for us to fight, Shichinin Bankotsu," the shorty told in a rather serious voice, as if he were irritated by something.
Bankotsu continued to glare at the other boy and stated, "Tao Ren, I presume? Our match doesn't start for another three minutes or so. Be a good boy and stay out of my way." He said dismissively as he looked at Kagome once again. "Higurashi, what do you s-"
"Hn." Ren stood in front of Kagome to try to block Bankotsu's view of her. However, it was for naught since he stood a full head's height over both of them. "She doesn't want to talk to you."
Bankotsu merely cackled aloud while picking Ren up and placing him down in another spot. "Kagome~" The Shichinin looked down at her, calling her by her first name for the first time ever. "I'm sorry," he apologized again. For once, he had no smirk or grin on his face. He only gave her one of the most intense looks that she had ever gotten, causing her to swallow a nervous lump in her throat. "I only did it because I liked you, and I still do."
Kagome twitched as her cheeks instantly caught fire from the sudden confession in front of all of her friends, including Mukotsu who watched from a small distance away. "B-B-Ban-kun!" She held up her hands and flailed them a bit nervously, taking a step back as he took another step towards her. "What are you talking about?! We were just-!"
In the background, HoroHoro covered Pirika's eyes as she and the others gawked at the scene unfolding in front of them in shock and awe. Meanwhile Sango held Ren back from pouncing on Bankotsu before their alotted match time began. "Let me go! I'll kill him!" He protested.
"-friends," Bankotsu cut in as he wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist and surprisingly gently pulled her closer to him. "I know. But I liked you." He insisted. "I like-like you," he added, just in case she did not get the message as she was notorious for doing. Kagome felt her heart beating in her chest a mile a minute at the situation that she suddenly found herself in. She was not expecting for Bankotsu to confession romantic feelings to her! "Honestly, I want to kiss you, right here and now," he told her, causing her eyes to widen.
That was when he relinquished his hold on her and turned to glare at Ren, "But I have to defeat this guy before I can, right?" He asked of her. "If I prove that I'm stronger than your boyfriend, will you go out with me?" His dark blue eyes hardened as he stared Ren down with an expression of pure disdain.
Kagome finally covered from her daze as she balled up her fist and tried to tell him, "Wait a minute! You can't-!"
"I accept," Ren suddenly cut in as he pulled out his kwandao and summoned Bason to show himself. The Chinese warrior's spirits eyes glowed deep red with the passion that he felt from his partner's very soul. "If you win, you can ask her out, but I wouldn't get my hopes up," the Tao told Bankotsu as he watched his opponent beckon his giant sword to his hand.
"If I were you, I would turn tail and run right now. You're about to lose your girlfriend if you agree to this wager," Bankotsu told him with a cocky smirk.
"I have nothing to fear. I won't lose to a small fry like you," Ren retorted while staring Bankotsu down.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," Kagome suddenly cut in with a scarily sweet tone in her voice. The two boys looked at her dangerously blue aura flaring up as she tried to maintain a friendly smile. "Don't act as if I don't get a say in this wager of yours!" She shouted at them. "I'm a person, not some prize to be won!" She explained while placing a hand to her chest.
Ren huffed and rolled his eyes, 'This is what I get for trying to defend her honor?'
"You're right," Bankotsu mused with a nod. "Hurry up and tell us what you want."
Kagome nodded and raised a single finger," First off, Ren is not my boyfriend. Let's make that clear." The girl did not notice how Ren pale and he was shot through the chest by an imaginary arrow of rejection. "Secondly, ask about my feelings before deciding things like this!"
Bankotsu nodded again and straightforwardly asked, "Okay. Between us two, who would you rather go out with?"
Kagome anime fell at the bluntness of his question. "Ban-kun, that's not what I meant!" She refuted to dodge the overly embarrasing question.
"It's a simple question though," Bankotsu replied while shrugging. "Your answer won't change how I feel, I just want to know."
Pirika then piped in from the sidelines, "I want to know too! Two boys are fighting over you! If you pick one, then you'll resolve the conflict!"
Kagome blushed again before yelling back at Pirika, "Oh be quiet, you! Besides..." She twiddled her fingers together, looking ridiculously shy and cute. "There's no way that Ren is actually fighting over me...it's just a coincidence that he's fighting Ban-kun."
Bankotsu then blinked at Kagome's response. He then looked over at Ren who was facepalming and trying his best to hide his blush, "Oh, I get it... You haven't told her yet," he said to Ren with a smirk. "That explains a lot..." he then gestured Kagome over to him, "Oi, come here for a sec."
Kagome wordlessly followed his command and walked over to Bankotsu, who cupped a hand over her ear to whisper something in her ear. Ren watched suspiciously as her eyes widened as she looked over at him and her face turned completely red. She wordlessly threw her hands over her face before she ran over to the sidelines to join Sango and the Usui siblings. Ren noticed how she purposely dodged touching him and saying another word to him as she ran past him.
"Damn you..." Ren growled as he glared at Bankotsu with clenched teeth, who was smirking rather proudly at him. "What did you just tell her?" He demanded an answer. 'He better not have told her that I...' A bead of sweat ran down his forehead at the thought of someone else telling Kagome how he felt about her.
"Heh," Bankotsu replied. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He asked, purposely being an annoying to get under Ren's skin. "Let me introduce my guardian ghost to you... Banryuu!" He called out. As commanded, the spirit of green dragon appeared behind Bankotsu. Ren maintain his hardened expression as the spectators look at up the enormous spirit in awe. "Banryuu and I will bring you to your knees."
"Tch," it was Ren's turn to smirk as he replied, "Your pet lizard doesn't scare me."
And the fight began...
[To Be Continued...]
Notes: Yikes... This was supposed to be a more action-packed chapter but somehow, that part got away from me. The next chapter will feature Ren and Bankotsu's fight and maybe a little more fluff, depending on how the chapter flows. I absolutely had no intention of making Bankotsu the star of this chapter but it just kind of happened... eh... Oh well. Look forward to battles and maybe more blushy moments in part two! A certain brunette shaman has a good chance of being featured in the next chapter as well so look forward to it~ RnR!