13. A Bringer of New Things

'This,' Kikyou said softly, 'was a mistake.'

Bankotsu made a face. 'If they come back and try to kill me, I'll kill them first.'

She groaned and threw her hands in the air. 'Idiot! If they both come back, you will kill the man who wants you dead and the one who tries to protect you.'

'She's right.' Jakotsu reached out and took Bankotsu's shoulders. 'Aniki, I think she's right. Not that you're an idiot, but the rest. He brought me my kanzashi.' He had swapped the pin he'd been using for his old one at once.

'Forget the bloody kanzashi, Jakotsu.'

'Listen to me! Why would he do that for me if he plans to kill you?' He shook his head. 'Renkotsu was here to make sure you come out of this alive. You, woman! You tried to get all of us to murder our Aniki, didn't you? You were testing us and they failed. Except Renkotsu wasn't going to do it. He wanted to stop you.'

Kikyou nodded. 'My initial assessment of him was right, Bankotsu: He was sincere when he talked to you. And he played along with my plot and had me fooled.'

'You wouldn't be the first, if it's true,' Suikotsu said.

Jakotsu ignored him. 'Why, though? Why did you play games with us?'

'Because I asked her.' Bankotsu would have given his right hand in that moment to turn back time. He should have used his head, not a middlewoman. It hadn't been hard to see that Mukotsu was going to rebel against him, and he could have just taken him out. Instead, he'd loosened him on the city and driven away a man who had tried to win him back. But he owed the others an explanation, no matter how much regretted his choices. 'Someone wanted to kill me and I had no idea who. I was so sure it was Renkotsu, but I had some doubt left. Kikyou would try to enlist all of you, one by one. Two of you agreed. And apparently only Mukotsu meant it.' He looked at Jakotsu. 'I'm sorry.'

The other man waved him away. 'You were just trying to stay alive.' He was visibly hurt, but his devotion and affection were stronger. As always.

'He told me it wasn't you,' Kikyou answered quietly. 'He said there's no need to try you.'

'Really?'

'Really,' the dejected young warrior said. 'I'm still sorry about the rest of you.'

'I think we understand,' Suikotsu offered. 'Let's face it, Jakotsu was the only absolute impossibility. He loves you more than his own life.'

Bankotsu wanted to contemplate this, but he had no time for self-pity. Not now, not if Renkotsu had never tried to hurt him. 'But if you're right … then I need to fix this. Now! He can't be far yet, I'm going to look for him.'

'Before anyone looks for anyone,' Riku said, coming up in long strides, 'I'd like to hear why there is a smouldering hole in the floor.'

'Ah. That was an accident.' Jakotsu grinned, but it died on his face when he saw who was following the Daiyoukai: Expectedly, the three women. Much less so, a gigantic cat and a young man with a very hostile expression.

'Riku,' that man said, 'do you have any idea who they are?'

'Absolutely. They are travellers, who …'

'Ah, cut it out, he knows us.' It had taken a moment to recognise him because the last time Bankotsu had seen this man, he'd been a child. 'None of us tried to harm you, so you could just, you know, leave us alone.' The huge cat gave a growl that made his hackles rise. 'I remember you, too,' he said, worrying how sentient that creature was. 'It wasn't personal. We were hired to kill all of you. The reward was to be our lives. I understand that we've been had, now. I like to think the shards weren't exactly doing wonders for us. Aside from turning us into an undead weapon, obviously. Maybe this isn't the best excuse, but it might explain a few severe errors of judgement.' The worst of which was not attacking as a group but allowing them to be split up. He was not going to say that, however.

'I am feeling a little ignored, here,' Riku said. 'Personal disputes will not be settled on my ship, for one. But first, the hole in the floor. What happened?'

'I restrained Renkotsu and … something fell out of his robes?' Jakotsu said tentatively. 'I don't know more than that.'

'Have any of you tried using your words at some point of your lives?' When no-one answered that, Riku sighed. 'Apparently not. No matter, I'll have it fixed. Now, you're looking for someone?'

Bankotsu's expression slipped, revealing his hurt. 'Yes. Renkotsu. He has quite a head start by now.'

Riku folded his arms, his entire stance wary. 'And what do you want, exactly?'

'I want him found. I want him … found.' His lips twitched. 'Whacking him on the head and dragging him back here seems too drastic, I guess.'

The Youkai sighed. 'I see. Moroha-sama, could you, please?'

'Drag him here?' the young woman asked eagerly.

'I think finding will do. Let us know where he is.' Riku frowned. 'I brought Kohaku because I wondered if you might offer those considerable skills to him. I have overheard a few things you said during your stay. Clearly, you're best on a battlefield. It doesn't look like that's going to happen, though.'

The demon hunter snorted. 'They tried to murder my sister!'

'Do you trust me, Kohaku?' Kikyou asked, and he blinked. 'I think you do. Let them be and don't dismiss the idea outright. What you met was the worst version of a group of hardened fighters that had already been depraved in life. Add a potential curse, the jewel shards, and being undead. I'm not saying they were good people before, but what you encountered, what we all encountered, was corrupted beyond human evil. Tainted by Naraku like so much else was.'

'Potential curse?'

Kikyou exchanged a brief look with Suikotsu. 'Apparently, things have been said at their execution that should never have been uttered.'

'Do you know the words?' The young demon hunter watched the Shichinintai, for the first time with a hint of intrigue. 'Any of you?'

'The only one with a chance in hell,' Bankotsu said slowly, 'is currently missing and generally uncooperative. And even if Moroha throws him over her shoulders and carries him here, it won't make him any chattier.'

'Probably not.'

'Kohaku.' The young demon hunter looked at Jakotsu and nodded. 'You were used the same way we were, but you were a child, a pure soul, not a bunch of broken men.' He was uncharacteristically serious and unobtrusive. 'Maybe you can find a bit of understanding in that.'

'Moroha's coming,' Towa said quietly. She closed her eyes briefly as if to listen–or sniff. Her gaze met Bankotsu's. 'Alone. I'm sorry.'

'I did just ask her to find him,' Riku allowed, but the tension was palpable, the short time until the young woman alighted on the deck drawing out into an eternity.

'No good,' she said. 'I found the old man. Mukotsu. He's been killed and badly hidden. No sign of the slaphead. Renkotsu, that is?'

Jakotsu was bending over with laughter, and Suikotsu rolled his eyes at him. 'Can you keep it together for ten minutes?' he asked.

Bankotsu ignored both of them. 'Any idea where he went?'

'Into the city. That's why I lost him. Too many different scents mixing. It's impossible to follow anything.'

He sighed. 'Fine. Take me to Mukotsu's body.'

'Can't. I tossed him in the sea. He'd just attract rats.'

'Well, to where it was, then! I don't care about him, I have to see if I can … read Renkotsu's mind or something.' He turned to the others with a stern expression. 'The rest of you stay here and if by some miracle he shows up, ask him to wait for me. Ask, not demand, not sit on him. Use your words, like Riku suggested. But if he refuses, shadow him. I want to talk to him.'

'I … I'm coming with you, Aniki,' Jakotsu said quickly.

'Actually, you'd be best at tailing him.'

'Maybe, but I …' Jakotsu faltered briefly, one hand fumbling with the sleeve of his yukata. 'Look, I know you were still mad at him for killing me, but I wasn't. When I tried to tell him that, he wouldn't listen because he can't forgive himself. Maybe he'll listen to me now?'

'If you think that helps, I'd love to have you with me,' Bankotsu said. 'But none of the others can tail him without him wising up.' He tilted his head. 'Maybe the ninja can go after him?'

'This again?' Kohaku groaned. 'I'm not a ninja.'

'I can follow him, if he shows up and walks away,' Kikyou offered. 'Is that acceptable?'

Bankotsu thought about her suggestion for a moment. 'What do you want in return? I already said Suikotsu is safe.'

'I want to know why I'm alive. I've told you this before, and it wasn't a lie. You think he has answers. I need them.'

'Fine.' Bankotsu sighed. 'Come on then, Jakotsu, let's find the idiot.'

((The line, 'I want him found. I want him … found,' is a direct loan (*cough*) from Vampire: The Masquerade–Bloodlines. I know it's a quote from Sebastian LaCroix and I thinkhe says that regarding the Nosferatu primogen, but that last bit I'm not sure about. His implied meaning, is, of course, quite a different one than Bankotsu's.))