Haru Haru (Bankotsu love story)

Haru Haru ~ Chapter 36

                 

(Lex's POV)

You had followed Kanna from the golden alter through mist filled open passageways granting views of the foothills of Mt. Hakurei and stone corridors carved into the heart of the mountain until you entered a large chamber at its very center. The dank stench of rotting flesh and damp stone permeated the air, only growing stronger as you followed Kanna around an enormous pit in the floor and up the carved steps on the other side.

"I am glad to see that Bankotsu's foolishness has caused you no lasting injury." A deep voice hidden in the dark shadows said.

"I see your eagerness to point out others mistakes has not changed in the short time since I've seen you last." You said.

"Ah, how I've missed your sharp tongue, my dear. How a foolish, bloodthirsty, immature man such as Bankotsu happened to capture such a lovely creature such as you I will never know." Naraku stepped out from the shadows, the firelight of torches mounted on walls caused his raven hair to gleam and his features to sharpen.

"Enough with these stupid pleasantries. What's our next assignment?" A glare darkening Bankotsu's handsome face.

"Lexori will stay within the safety of the mountain and under my watchful eye until I have judged that she has fully recovered her strength." Naraku said, closing the distance between them quickly.

"So were just going to sit here and do nothing of use while the rest of my team is out hunting their targets!" Bankotsu's glare morphed into a scowl.

"Do you not listen, Bankotsu? I said Lexori will stay here until she is recovered from her wounds and regained her strength. You however, will go back to hunting Inuyasha since you failed to eliminate him on Hijiri Island. This will be your first and last second chance. Do not disappoint me again Bankotsu." A small smile tugged at the corners of Naraku's mouth.

"If you think I'm going to leave Lex here alone with you you're duller than Jakotsu! I'm not leaving her side again." Bankotsu's voice echoed off the domed celling.

"You don't have a choice. I can send you back to the grave just as easily as I raised you from it. You'd do well to remember that, specter." Naraku's voice dropped to a gravelly whisper, each word slicing through the heavy air. "Kanna, please show Lexori to the room I prepared for her."

Kanna's small, icy hand took hold of yours and began to pull you across the gloomy chamber to an archway partially hidden by the shadows. You were lead through it and down a door less corridor, the walls smoothing out the farther in you walked. A single door broke the uniform pattern of the wall and you stopped in front of it.

"This is your room. You are not allowed to leave the room under any circumstances until Master decides you are healed." Kanna said as the door swung inward on hidden hinges and you stepped into the bare room. A futon and a small paper lantern were the only objects that occupied the space.

"I don't believe that this is necessary. I appreciate Naraku's concern for my wellbeing but I am well enough to join Bankotsu." You said, turning around to face Kanna.

"You will follow Master's orders." With that Kanna pulled the door closed and plunged the room into near darkness.

(Bankotsu's POV) 

You faced the split gravestone as you took another sip of sake. Eyes wandering over Koykotsu's chest plate and Mukotsu's pack of poisons that sat next to it.

"Koykotsu, Mukotsu... How does it feel to be back in that world again?" You asked the gravestone before hurling your cup at it in anger. Anger that your comrades were already dying again, anger that you had to leave Lex behind in the mountain with Naraku, anger that you had failed to kill Inuyasha on the island. "Ridiculous! Once you're dead, that's it. There's no afterlife!" You turned your back on the gravestone and walked down the unworn path into the dense forest.

You had been walking for hours, searching for any sign of Jakotsu or Suikotsu, but everything looked the same, making it impossible for you to tell what progress you'd made. Everywhere you looked there were the same trees, all blocking the view of anything past them, growing towards the light in a fight for survival, leaving only a narrow strip of blue to let the sunlight stream down and light the dirt path. You hadn't seen another creature since you started your trek, until the sound of soft footsteps and a flash of red, foreign to the green of the forest drew your attention.   

"Are you Kikyo?" You asked the priestess as she fully entered your field of vision.

"And you're one of the Band of Seven." The priestess replied as she walked past you.

Laughing you continued on the path until her clear voice stopped you.

"You there, aren't you supposed to kill me?" Kikyo asked.

"Naraku never told me to. So... I heard the stories. But I never thought you'd be this pretty." You mused. Kikyo quickly knocked an arrow and aimed it at your chest.

"You shouldn't say things like that, stupid man. How would your woman feel, knowing that you call others pretty while she's away?" Kikyo asked and you felt anger burn inside your chest. How dare she bring up Lex and insinuate that he was a cheater.

"Enough priestess. Want to fight? I'll take you on. Well? Aren't you going to shoot?" You asked, pointing Banryu at her, ready to deflect an arrow. 

"What do you intend to do in this world? Why do you continue to kill even after bring resurrected? What reason do you have? You could live a peaceful life with your woman. I've met her before, and a life constantly murdering innocents is not one she was destined to live." Kikyo said.

"Now that's a strange question. I don't need a reason to kill. I've always been this way. Before my death, and now after I was resurrected. That is the life I have chosen and so has my woman." You answered and Kikyo lowered her bow.

"In the world we live in, it's sometimes necessary to kill in order to survive. But you died once. So why not try to change the way you live?" Kikyo asked.

"Hah! I'm a mercenary to the core. And I enjoy it. People talk about heaven and hell. But once you're dead, you're dead. I don't care about the other world. While I live, I'll do as I please." You shifted Banryu onto your shoulder once more.

"You say that to convince yourself, don't you? You're trying to make excuses for what you're doing." Kikyo said.

"Say Kikyo, dead people like us will probably share the same fate. So you should worry about yourself instead of me. Well, whatever... Let us both live as long as we can." You said before turning and continuing down your path.

"You know as well as I that it likely won't be much longer until you and your brothers return from where you came from. How long will it be until you tell your woman the truth so she can stop living in a fantasy? Why are you going to make her suffer again?" Kikyo asked quietly, but you ignored her and disappeared into the forest.

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So I'm back after a year of not writing. I hope you like the chapter and I want you all to know I fully plan on finishing this fanfic by the end of spring. Please comment what you think and what you think is going to happen.