InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Alphabet soup ❯ W is for Wobbly ( Chapter 23 )

Alphabet Soup

 

By kira

 

 

Author's note: The following is a series of Jakotsu-centric challenge fics written from a list my dear friend and writing partner, Vega-chan, came up with for me. It's based on Killa Kay's awesome collection of Gravitation short stories called “A to Z.” (You can find them in my favorite stories section over at ff.net.) Due to the nature of the word given, they can either be what I call “canon timeline” which is set before their first deaths or AU which is set in modern times and will be set in the “world” I created in my story, “Homecoming.”

 

 

FYI: Geta are wooden sandals.

 

Thanks go out to notoes for betaing the entire series for me! *glomps you*

 

In case you're wondering...I don't own them; Takahashi-sensei does!

 

 

“W” is for Wobbly

 

 

888

 

 

 

“Jak, watch out!” Suikotsu called out just as the cross-dresser turned around. They had been walking single file through a small thicket and, as Jakotsu had been listening intently to the story the claw-bearer was telling, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

 

 

WHACK!! The tree branch, that Bankotsu had pushed out of the way with the end of the Banryuu, came flying back to its original position, hitting the cross-dresser in the head.

 

 

“OWWWIIEE!!!” Jakotsu grabbed his head and spun around, taking a few wobbly steps towards the claw-bearer and back. He let out a torrent of curse when he walked into the tree branch again.

 

 

“Sweetness!” Bankotsu ducked under the branch and hurried over to him. “What happened?”

Jakotsu staggered around in a small circle. Finally facing Bankotsu, the cross-dresser headed towards him, wobbling from side to side. “Fucking stupid tree whacked me in the head! Damn it!! It hurts like hell!!”

 

 

“Let me see, Jak,” Suikotsu said while he removed his claws and handed them to Renkotsu.

 

 

“No!”

 

 

“Sweetness, listen to Sui,” Bankotsu soothed. He had managed to pry the cross-dresser's hands away from his head long enough to push his bangs away and see the beginnings of lump forming. “You've got a nasty looking bump there...”

 

 

“Yeah...?” Jakotsu giggled.

 

 

Bankotsu nodded. “Turn around, slowly.”

 

 

Jakotsu giggled as his lover helped him to turn around. “Hey, Sui.”

 

 

“Jak.” Suikotsu nodded. He carefully brushed the cross-dresser's bangs out of the way and gently probed the lump on his forehead.

 

 

“Hey! That hurts, Sui!!”

 

 

“Stop whining, Jak,” Renkotsu said. “If you had been paying attention, you would have seen the branch.”

 

 

“But Sui was telling such a funny story, Ren. Ow!! Stop it, Sui!”

 

 

“I'm sorry, but I have to do it, Jak. I just want to make sure this isn't serious.” Suikotsu tilted the cross-dresser's head. “Does your head hurt when I do this?”

 

 

“A little bit...”

 

 

“And that...?” Suikotsu murmured. He tilted Jakotsu's head the other way. “Look down for me... and up...” He trailed off softly as he continued his impromptu examination. “Aside from the headache, how do you feel?”

 

 

“A lil tired, Sui...” Jakotsu's gaze shifted to the side. “Aniki-chan, can we stop for a while? I want to lie down...” he trailed off softly, and wobbled away from them, before collapsing.

 

 

“Jak!” Suikotsu cried, hurrying towards him.

 

 

“Sweetness! What's wrong with him, Sui?”

 

 

“He must have hit his head harder than I thought. Let's get out of here so I can get a better look at him.” Suikotsu knelt and scooped the cross-dresser up in both arms.

 

 

“Right!” Bankotsu turned and walked over to the offending tree branch. Wedging himself in the tangled underbrush alongside the deer path they were traveling on, he pulled the branch out the way. “Let's go!”

 

 

They moved quickly past him and it was not long before they came to a clearing. Setting Jakotsu down in the grass, Suikotsu gently slapped his face, trying to rouse him.

 

 

“Is he going to be okay, Sui?” Bankotsu said softly.

 

 

The claw-bearer looked up at him. “I think so. He's got a pretty hard head, Oo-Aniki. Remember that inn we stayed in last week?”

 

 

“Yeah?”

 

 

“Remember that guy that was mad Jak wasn't a girl and started that fight?”

 

 

“I do.” Renkotsu laughed. “I overheard him telling his friends about it. He apparently saw Jak taking a piss out back and they talked him into beating the shit out of Jak for making a fool out of the idiot.”

 

 

“Oh yeah! I had so much fun returning the favor.” Bankotsu grinned and cracked his knuckles.

 

 

Suikotsu nodded. “He had hit Jak in the head with a sake jug. I think maybe he's not fully recovered from that and that's why he passed out.” He smacked the cross-dresser's cheek again. “Come on, Jak, wake up!”

 

 

“Hunh...?” Jakotsu said sleepily.

 

 

“Yeah. You hit your head, Sweetness, and passed out,” Bankotsu said.

 

 

“I did...?” the cross-dresser said as they helped him sit up. “Oh...” He winced.

 

 

“What?” Suikotsu said.

 

 

Jakotsu closed his eyes. “Everything's spinning...I want to lie down again.”

 

 

“I think it's better if we keep moving,” Suikotsu said.

 

 

“I want to lie down... I think had too much sake, Sui.”

 

 

“No. You're going to stand up and keep moving along with the rest of us.”

 

 

“I don't want to, Sui,” Jakotsu whined.

 

 

“Come on, Sweetness, we have to go.”

 

 

“Yeah, Oo-Aniki and Sui are right; we can't stay here, Jak,” Renkotsu added.

 

 

“Come on,” Suikotsu said, pulling the cross-dresser to his feet.

 

 

Jakotsu groaned petulantly and when it looked like even Bankotsu was willing to leave him behind, he took a few wobbly steps after them. He kept up his annoyed tirade most of the way to the next village, stopping only when Suikotsu offered to carry him. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when he eagerly accepted, although the claw-bearer was not happy at how quickly Jakotsu fell asleep.

 

 

888

 

 

“Wake up, Jak, we're here,” Suikotsu said when they approached an inn. He jiggled the cross-dresser, whom he had been carrying on his back, trying to wake him up so that he could set him down.

 

 

“Hunh...?”

 

 

“We're here, Jak, so wake up. You're scaring Oo-Aniki with all the sleeping,” Suikotsu said softly. And me too... If you're hurt worse than I thought, I may not be able to help you.

 

 

“I'm awake, Sui... Sui?”

 

 

Suikotsu chuckled. He was very relieved to hear the cross-dresser was sounding more like himself. “Yeah?”

 

 

Jakotsu took a few wobbly steps. “Ooh... That must have been some sake, eh? My legs feel like they belong to someone else.” He giggled.

 

 

“You weren't drinking, Jak.”

 

 

“No? Then why do I feel like I was?” He paused and slowly turned to face the claw-bearer.

 

 

Suikotsu frowned. “Don't you remember getting hit in the head?”

 

 

“No.” The cross-dresser blinked.

 

 

“That's why you feel like you're drunk and why you passed out.”

 

 

“I passed out?” Jakotsu frowned and rubbed his temples. “That explains the headache, but why can't I walk straight?”

 

 

Suikotsu sighed. “I think it has something to do with your injury. The head's a funny thing, Jak. You can get a nasty bump with no more ill effects that a mild headache or you can get hit in such a way that you die in an instant. I wish I knew more.”

 

 

“I'm not going to die, am I?”

 

 

“I don't think so,” the claw-bearer soothed.

 

 

“Oh good,” Jakotsu said, relief clearly heard in his voice.

 

 

“Yeah. I think getting hit in the head again so soon after that fight must have addled something. That's why you're wobbling like Oo-Aniki did when he had that earache.”

 

 

Jakotsu sighed. “Poor Aniki-chan! He was so miserable and nothing I did helped.”

 

 

“I know and I'm very proud of how well you did in keeping his fever down. Fortunately it cleared up soon after that and he seems fine now. So I have reason to believe you will be too.”

 

 

The cross-dresser smiled. “Yeah? Then it's alright if I go lie down again? I feel so tired, Sui.”

 

“Okay. As soon as Oo-Aniki and Ren come back to tell us where our room is, you can sleep until dinner.”

 

 

“Thanks.”

 

 

“You're welcome and here they come.”

 

 

“Good...”

 

 

888

 

 

They spent several days at the inn, giving Jakotsu a chance to recover before moving on. As they neared home, they stopped to pick up some supplies in a large village on the way.

 

 

Passing the various stalls in the marketplace, Jakotsu spotted a geta-maker whose sandals caught his eye. He picked up a pair and looked at them.

 

 

“Ah... those are very special sandals,” the geta-maker said.

 

 

“Yeah?” Jakotsu asked his curiosity piqued.

 

 

“Yes. When you wear a pair of those, they'll make the lady sway in a most alluring manner.”

 

 

“Really?”

 

 

The geta-maker nodded. “Try them on.”

 

 

“I would but they're not big enough.”

 

 

“Aah... Well, the lady is rather tall, so let me see your feet.”

 

 

Jakotsu giggled “Okay.” He stuck his left foot out and the geta-maker sighed as his gaze traveled up the length of the cross-dresser's bare leg.

 

 

“I think I have something I can adapt to fit you.”

 

 

“Oh good!”

 

 

A half an hour later, Jakotsu was happily swaying, and wobbling, through the marketplace in search of his friends. In order to keep his balance, the cross-dresser found he had to take small mincing steps, further increasing the illusion he was a woman much to his delight. He reveled in the appreciative glances thrown his way by the men he had walked past.

 

 

“Oh Sweet Kami-sama! Now what're you wobbling for?” Renkotsu swore when the cross-dresser tottered over to them.

 

 

“No reason,” Jakotsu said sweetly. He giggled and headed over to his lover.

 

 

“Turn around and go way and come back.” Bankotsu motioned with his hand and Jakotsu happily complied. “Damn, you look good...” The young leader of the Shichinintai grinned appreciatively.

 

 

“Thank you.” Jakotsu, smiling sweetly, tottered back over to him.

 

 

“You're welcome.”

 

 

“Jak, are you sure you didn't hurt your foot?” Suikotsu asked, looking down at the younger man's feet.

 

 

“Nope. I just got a new pair of sandals. The man who made them said I would sway in a luring manner,” he said smugly.

 

 

“You certainly are,” Bankotsu said.

 

 

“Yeah, I hope you kept your old sandals as I don't think these new ones are that good for long distance traveling.”

 

 

“I did,” Jakotsu said as he removed them from inside his kimono.

 

 

“Good. Then put them on so we can go,” Renkotsu said impatiently, earning an annoyed look from the cross-dresser and his lover. Sighing softly, the fire-breather added, “This way you won't hurt yourself again and we can make it home by nightfall. Then you can parade around all you want in them at home, which I'm sure Oo-Aniki'll enjoy.”

 

 

Suikotsu nodded. “Ren has a point.”

 

 

“Maybe you should listen to them, Sweetness,” Bankotsu said. “If you wear them for me at home, they won't get ruined like they could on the way home.”

 

 

Jakotsu sighed. “Okay... Ummm,” he said as he turned to look at Renkotsu. Smiling sweetly, he added, “Ren, can you put them in your backpack and carry them for me, please?”

 

 

Before Renkotsu could say a word, Suikotsu said, “He'd be happy to carry them for you.” Taking the sandals, he walked around behind Renkotsu and carefully laid them on top of the ammo he carried in his pack. “There. We're ready to go when you are, Oo-Aniki.”

 

 

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Bankotsu replied. “Let's go!”

 

 

888

 

 

“Now what is he wobbling around for?” Renkotsu hissed at Suikotsu.

 

 

“I have no idea,” the claw-bearer said calmly. “Jak, is something wrong?”

 

 

“No, I just have a blister. Aniki-chan said to ignore it until we get home.”

 

“You sure you don't want me to look at it?”

 

 

“Ummm...”

 

 

“You can look at it when we get home, Sui,” Bankotsu said, picking up the pace.

 

 

“Okay.”

 

 

“Yeah, we'll be there soon,” their leader added.

 

 

Not soon enough, Jakotsu thought miserably as he wobbled off after them...

 

 

888

 

 

 

Author's end note: Next up is “X”is for X-ray.