InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Second Time Around ❯ Chapter 6

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. Pretty obvious. If you took the time to look at the Manga covers and the credits on the anime; you’d see that Rumiko Takahashi is his creator.

Bankotsu wrapped the ripped sleeve around her bleeding torso and cradled her in his arms. She looked up at him with her bright, sapphire eyes that were quickly losing their luster. Her eyes closed as her slight smile faded into a grimace of pain.
“Bankotsu.” She whispered his name as she succumbed to the darkness. Jakotsu and Renkotsu bound over to him, each holding Kagome’s belongings.
“Let’s head to the village! We’ll go to the Inn and fix her up there!” Renkotsu took off as he shouted, Jakotsu hot on his heels. Kagura landed her feather near him.
“Hop on, it’s faster this way!” Nodding, the mercenary kneeled on the feather, holding the unconscious miko tight to his body. The forest was just a green blur beneath them as Kagura let her Youki leak into her feather. Bankotsu pressed his forehead against Kagome’s.
“Damn you, Kagome. You just had to have the biggest heart in the whole damn world. Why’d you have to go and take the hit? Why?” His jaw clenched tight. Kagura looked over her shoulder at them; brow creasing as she saw Kagome was still heavily bleeding.
“Bankotsu.” Her voice was strained. “Wrap her tighter. She’s losing too much blood.” He nodded tensely and did as she said. Clutching the still unconscious girl to his chest, he let out a breath as they landed at the Inn entrance. Jakotsu and Renkotsu were already there with the Inn owner. The old man immediately took Bankotsu to a room on the West wing while his wife herded everyone else to another room on the opposite end.
“Come now,” the owner’s wife urged them. “No need to worry, no need to worry. I’ll take you to your room and everyone can rest.” Kagura stopped and turned on the woman, worry blatant on her face.
“But what of our friends?! Where are they going?”
“Hush now, child. We only have two rooms open. We gave the young couple the one with the private hot springs; it’s much closer to the medicinal supplies. I hope you three don’t mind sharing one room.”
“Young couple?” Kagura allowed herself to be lead by the inn owner’s wife, a bit shocked at the old woman’s words.
“No, no it is quite fine,” Renkotsu reassured the woman as they hurried down a long hall.
“Here you are son, we have hot water and rags set up. Bandages and salves are on the table. There is a private hot springs behind the shoji door. Do you require any assistance?”
“No, thank you very much. Please, can we have some privacy?” Bankotsu choked out, laying Kagome on a futon.
“Of course! Of course!!” The man bowed low before shutting the thick, heavy wood door.
“Do you think we should have made the woman go with the wounded girl? It is indecent for the man to be alone in the room with her!”
“No, Ikumi. Couldn’t you tell? That young man is her husband, or fiancé if they are not yet married.”
“Hmm. Come to think of it, his eyes held a deep love for the woman in his arms. Oh, how he stared so lovingly at his wounded love.” The Inn owner shook his head at his wife. ‘Hopeless romantic to the end.’
Bankotsu held his breath as he gently tore away the bloodied cloth from Kagome’s body and untied her obi. He pulled open her dress, leaving her leggings on for some decency. He was relieved to see she wore a strange contraption that partially covered her breasts, he didn’t want her too be embarrassed when she regained consciousness.
Dipping the rag into the warm water, he wrung it out before bringing it to Kagome’s bloodied abdomen and wiping away the blood tenderly. When he’d rid her skin of blood, he examined her wound. She had a deep, diagonal gash from under her left breast almost to her right hip. He felt like crying. He should have been the one injured, not her. If only he hadn’t been distracted. Closing his eyes and turning away, he left to go empty the bloodied water and get fresh water from the springs. On his way back, he picked a jar of salve and a roll of bandages.
Placing everything down beside the futon, he turned back to Kagome only to freeze. Her eyes were open, and they were looking up at him a bit dazedly. A small smile spread on her lips as she recognized him.
“Bankotsu.” She whispered. He looked away as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. Blinking them away, he turned back to her and inspected her wound again. To his surprise, her flesh was already beginning to knit itself back together. Her sapphire orbs blinked up at him through the pain.
“Damn, Kagome. Are you sure you’re not Youkai?” She smiled wider and shook her head softly. “I’m going to wrap you up, then I’m going to change your clothes okay?” She nodded. She tried to sit up, but cried out in pain. “Do not move, I’ll do everything for you.” Gently, he lifted her to sit up against the wall, and delicately spread some salve over the now-closed wound. He apologized as she winced.
“S’alright. The wound may be closed, but my miko still has to heal my internal organs. It wasn’t you that hurt me, it was my miko.” He didn’t say anything, instead opting to start wrapping her body with the bandages. Kneeling over her legs, he pushed her dress off her shoulders and began to encircle her torso with the linen bandages. When he was done, he tossed off his bloody armor and left it in a pile, grabbing two yukata from a shelf. He quickly shed his clothes behind a screen and slipped into the white robe.
Tossing his bloodied clothes into the pile with his armor, he returned to Kagome. “I’m going to take off the rest of your clothes okay?” She blushed lightly, but nodded nonetheless. He looked at the strange breast binding she wore. “Um, how do I. .?”
“It hooks in the back,” she murmured softly. Nodding, he kneeled over her legs and pulled her forward so that she leaned against his chest. Fumbling with the hook of her bra for a few seconds before it came apart, he pulled the bra down her arms, careful of her wound and sure to keep her chest against his; shielded from his view. As he slipped the yukata up her arms, he couldn’t help but to notice the softness and warmth of her breast against his chest through the thin fabric of the robe.
Pulling her own robe shut, he leaned her against the wall once more and tied her sash loosely, mindful of her injury. Blushing as he did so, he reached beneath her yukata and peeled her black leggings from her hips, pulling the skintight fabric from her legs. He picked her up and padded over to the other futon, piling pillows so that she would be able sit up slightly. She giggled softly before her face contorted in pain.
“Damn, still hurts.” She smiled wryly. “I just,” she swallowed, “wanted to say thanks. You don’t have to do all this for me.” He snorted as he brought her a sake cup. She eyed the wide, shallow object warily.
“It’s water, not sake.” He brought the cup to her lips and she drank the cool liquid down. He repeated this a few more times before he was sure she was hydrated. He brushed her hair away from her face, his hand lingering on her soft cheek longer than it should have. He felt the heat rising in her cheeks and pulled his hand away to look at the pretty pink tint. “You’re a real baka, you know.” her eyes flashed angrily but she remained still, glancing at her abdomen before glaring at him.
“Really, what makes you say that?” His eyes hardened as he looked at her.
“You took that dagger for me. You got hurt. Protecting me.” He looked away. “Why?”
“Why? What do you mean, why?”
“Why did you protect me?” She let out a little sigh that probably would have been a chuckle had she not been in pain.
“Why wouldn’t I protect you? I don’t know about you, but I consider you my friend.” She glanced at him, before directing her gaze at the wall, staring at it without really seeing it. “Besides, I don’t want to lose you.”
“Lose me?” He mumbled to himself.
“I’ve lost a lot of people. Not all of them to death, but in one way or another, I’ve lost them. I I couldn’t risk losing you too.” His startled midnight blue eyes searched her own sapphire spheres. He found pure honesty and raw emotion. Kneeling beside her, he gingerly took her into his arms and held her tight. He felt her arms come up to encircle his waist, her cheek nestled at his throat. Feeling her heartbeat steady after a few minutes; he listened to her even, stable breathing to make sure she’d really fallen asleep. He placed her down on the pillows, but she had him in a death grip. Sighing, he lied down so that she could stretch out comfortably. He ended up on his back with Kagome laying on him, her soft breathing tickling the skin at his collar bone.

“Do you think they did anything?”
“He had better not have tried anything, Kami, she was injured!”
“Big brother is better than that. He wouldn’t take advantage of Kagome while she was wounded.” Bankotsu stirred as the voices of Jakotsu, Kagura and Renkotsu drifted to him. Opening his eyes, he saw that they were sitting around him. He was about to jolt up, but froze when he remembered that Kagome had fallen asleep on him. Glaring at the other three occupants of the room, he maneuvered himself so that he could slide Kagome off of him. Sitting up and rubbing a knot in his neck, he questioned the other three, keeping his voice low.
“What’re you doing in here?” Kagura frowned at him.
“Kagome is our friend too, we have every right to be here.” Renkotsu placed a hand on her arm to calm the wind sorceress down.
“We were worried about Kagome’s health, big brother. And we brought her things,” he said, gesturing to her bag and weapons in a corner. Jakotsu had remained silent the entire time so far, staring at the miko worriedly.
“How’s her injury?” Bankotsu sighed and leaned back on his hands.
“It closed up by itself a little after we got into the room. She said her miko had closed it, and that now it needed to heal her internal organs.” He looked at the sleeping woman beside him. “Almost like a Youkai,” he murmured.
“Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru said she had extraordinary powers that could rival even the strongest of Youkai. No doubt she would have healing properties as well.” Renkotsu nodded thoughtfully after he had shared his information. Jakotsu eyed the leader of the Shichinintai.
“So, how’d you two end up in bed together?” Bankotsu’s cheeks rose a notch in color.
“After I dressed her wound, she fell asleep with a death grip on me.” Kagura gave him a skeptical look, but remained silent. Bankotsu placed the back of his hand against Kagome’s forehead just as a muffled knock came from the door.
“Will someone get that?” He looked down at the miko beside him as Kagura rose to answer the door. “Her fever’s gone down, but she’s still a little hot.” Kagura returned and kneeled beside Kagome, holding a hand between her own two hands. “Who was that?”
“The Inn owner. He said that we should return to our room soon for the evening meal. I told him we’d be back in a short while.” She smirked a little at the man on the other side of Kagome. “He and his wife seem to believe you and Kagome should stay in this room alone.” The mercenary blinked.
“Alone? But why?”
“They think you two are a couple.”
“A . . .A couple?” Bankotsu sputtered, rearing back a little. Kagura nodded while Jakotsu giggled at the slight blush in his big brother’s cheeks.

A/N: Had a bit of trouble with this chapter. Bankotsu’s personality and character isn’t revealed too much in the anime, so it was kinda hard for me to see him worrying over Kagome. But he seems to be very loyal to his band of seven and he did catch that butterfly for Ginkotsu, so I’m assuming he cares enough for the people close to him. You know, he reminds me of Yusuke now that I think about it. . . . . . . . What do you think? I havent watched YuYu Hakusho in a looong ass time.