The Lucky Seven Chapter 1, an inuyasha fanfic

So, I got this idea from seeing a fanart drawn by someone, and just suddenly got a lightbulb.

Also, this thing here (...) will indicate a line break or scene change of some kind. It may also be used as a time skip indicator. Just letting you guys know ahead of time. I post updates and progress reports on Tumblr, my handle is therebelachemist, no spaces and no capitals. Anyone familiar with the Vampire Academy/Bloodlines franchise will understand the name.

And now, without further a-doo-doo, I give you, The Lucky Seven.

Chapter one: The Child

Sometimes, Jakotsu wonders what opiates Bankotsu manages to get himself into when he's out. "Bankotsu?" Maybe he hit his head or something; himself or Bankotsu, he wasn't quite sure at this point anymore. There's no other possible explanation for what the seven-and-a-half year old has come across just now.

"Yep?"

"What is this?"

"Oh. It's a baby."

"I know that," Jakotsu retorts, sitting down to stare at the odd child. She appears to be human, about two years old most likely, with short black hair and chocolate brown eyes. The small human stares up at him before grinning a gap-toothed smile and reaching up for him with her pudgy hands. His face wrinkles in disgust. "But what is it doing here, with us? Where are its parents?"

The black-haired boy shrugged, giving the little girl one of his fingers to play with. "Dunno. Just found the kid on the side of the road, all alone." Either oblivious to or ignoring the hidden meaning in his brother's words, Jakotsu continues to inspect the child. The baby is a girl, he wants to shudder in revulsion, wearing only a dirty yellow kimono stained with blood and soot and a child-sized loincloth. Jakotsu held in a sigh. Why did this useless brat have to be a girl? Holding back a scoff, the young boy turns away, finding it easier to ignore the child than trying to convince Bankotsu why killing the kid is a much better idea. Perhaps Suikotsu will be the voice of reason once again and force Bankotsu to get rid of it. A figure in the distance makes Jakotsu smile savagely. Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear.

"Suikotsu! You won't believe what Bankotsu's done this time!" Jakotsu sang merrily, dancing around the thirteen year old.

"I think I have an idea," The boy says, watching as their leader plays with the two-year-old girl. 'Of course,' He sighs to himself. 'This is just like last time.'

Suikotsu sighs, crouching down and staring at the child with gentle, but stern, eyes. "Bankotsu, the duck was one thing. This is taking it a bit far." He could still very clearly remember the day Bankotsu had come back to camp with a duck trailing faithfully after him, giving the older boy one of the brightest smiles ever.

Bankotsu gave his brother a wide grin, holding up the giggling child. "But you didn't complain about the duck! Come on, look at how adorable she is!" He countered. As if to confirm the 'I'm cute!' claim, the toddler gurgles happily and stretches out her arms to the spiky-haired boy.

"That's because a pack of wolves ended up eating the duck within hours of you bringing it back." The boy sighed. "Look, you should put the child back where you found it. I bet the mother is looking for it."

"But it's not an it, it's a she. And I found the kid on the side of the road, no parent in sight. Come on, let's just give her a trial run. If she doesn't end up being useful, then we can kill her." Bankotsu propositions. He holds the little girl up so he and the child are side by side, giving Suikotsu nearly matching puppy-dog eyes. Jakotsu looks thrilled by the possibility of killing the child. "Don't you feel a connection? I found her all by herself, with no one to turn to. She has no one left, if she had any to begin with, and we didn't have anyone until we found each other."

Staring into the hopeful eyes of his brother and the innocent, expressive orbs of the child, Suikotsu sighs. 'Bankotsu is going to be the death of me; I'm sure.' Stifling a sigh, Suikotsu wonders if going gray early is serious. "Hurry up, we're leaving now."

Of course, this statement brought on a whole new predicament, when Bankotsu paused to think of how he'd carry both Banryu and the child. Jakotsu refused to touch the infant even with a fifty foot pole if it didn't involve killing the poor orphan. Suikotsu, while having a fair degree of knowledge regarding children, couldn't very much hold the child without harming her, due to his clawed weapons that adorned his hands. And so, using the most rudimentary of his skills and his weapons, he rips and tears his suikan until it resembles a very tattered version of a baby sling. For the sake of simplicity and also a lesson to Bankotsu, the long-haired leader of the group is forced to carry the baby in the sling, while Jakotsu and Suikotsu argue quietly in the front of their trio, the doctor calmly refuting every attempt of an argument Jakotsu has to just kill the child.

On the road, they are confronted by a scorpion demon, which they engage in battle with immediately. Jakotsu is tasked with holding the baby, to his utter disgust, while his brothers get to have fun tearing that scorpion limb from limb. He stares down at the child with contempt. "I hope you die here." He whispers to the child. She blinks up at him with wide brown eyes.

Just then, he looks up and notices the scorpion's stinger headed straight for them. He doesn't have time to run. No time to dodge. No time to grab Jakotsuto. 'I always knew kids would kill me. Maybe I can kill this one in the afterlife..' The mercenary thinks bitterly to himself. "Jakotsu!" Bankotsu shouts in worry, seeing the stinger headed straight for his friend.

Just as the stinger is within striking range, a bright flash of light surrounds the mercenary and the child, purifying the stinger within seconds. As the flash dies down, it reveals a pinkish-purple barrier surrounding an unharmed Jakotsu and the child.

Bankotsu blinks in shock, before rage takes over at the close-call his friend had, rushing at the demon and slicing its head off with Banryu with ease. Despite being only four-and-a-half years old, he is immensely strong, and killing such a creature is child's play for him. The demon stands for several seconds, before toppling over with an earth-rattling thump.

"How in the hell did that happen?" The leader asks, coming over to his friend.

"I think it was the kid?" Jakotsu responds, seeming unsure of himself as he watches the little girl giggle and reach out for Bankotsu with a half-formed exclamation of his name. Suikotsu, ever the watchful eye, decides to speak up.

"I believe the child has spiritual powers of some sort." He stalks up to Bankotsu, who, despite being covered in blood, cradles the child to his chest.

"We can find out another time. Right now, we have a job to do." Bankotsu says, letting the child shove his finger in her mouth as she grins. Jakotsu looks vaguely sick at the sight.

Only, the unmistakable scent of feces makes all three boys pause, as the toddler whines in discomfort. "Did she just.." Jakotsu trails off, turning his nose up and stalking off, absolutely refusing to deal with it. Suikotsu wrinkles his nose, but doesn't offer to help his brother just yet. This is a lesson better learned first-hand, he decides.

"I'll see what I can do.." Bankotsu says, although he looks like he'd rather do anything but change a diaper. Resolutely, he stalks off with the toddler into the brush.

Two minutes later

"OH GOD!"

Suikotsu stifles a snicker, his dark eyes sparkling with mirth. "Bankotsu, would you like me to take over?" He suggested calmly. Unlike his brothers, he had grown up taking care of other children in his previous village, a job which also entailed the occasional diaper change.

"Yeah…" Bankotsu says in resignation from deeper in the forest. Suikotsu takes over, and Bankotsu takes a long, long bath.

One diaper change and a bath later, the brothers reconvene for dinner. Only, they're all stumped on what to feed the child. "None of us can feed her like a woman would." Jakotsu sneers, wondering why they couldn't just leave the kid at a random village or kill her. The look on Suikotsu's face says he knows exactly what is on Jakotsu's mind, and that he doesn't approve. Jakotsu sneers once more and turns his head away, refusing to look at the kid.

At his words, and a sharp look from both Bankotsu and Suikotsu, the leader of the three turns to the actually practical one in their group. While marred by a blood-thirsty double personality, his main frame of mind is that of a peaceful doctor, they know. Which, at this moment, would be fairly helpful. "What?" The doctor asked.

"What's a good substitute for breast milk?" Bankotsu asked, point-blank.

After staring at the boy for several long seconds, Suikotsu scratched the back of his neck. "Well, rice milk is a good substitute for breast milk if the mother is unable to feed or there are no other females able to feed."

"How do you make it?" Bankotsu asked, looking all too ready to find the ingredients.

"Well you take a handful of rice, put it in a mortar and rind the rice into a powder, add water and that will turn it into a milk for the child to drink."

"And that's good? For her to drink?" Bankotsu probes further, holding the little girl in his arms as she shoves her fist in her tiny mouth.

"Assuming she's still young enough to be drinking milk. It may be a lot more difficult if she's outgrown milk, because she still won't be ready for solid food like we can eat. She'd have to have hers crushed or ground into chunks." Inwardly, Bankotsu was absolutely SHOCKED that toddlers didn't drink milk as they grew up, but he refused to show it, so he just nodded. Suikotsu ran into the nearest village and purchased a small canteen of rice milk and heated it up over the fire for the little girl to drink, which she heartily shoved in her mouth and drank away. And that settles that.

After meeting with their client, who was fairly skeptical of the boys' prowess given their young age, the boys decide to use the toddler as a distraction. Bankotsu is elected to act as the child's older brother, searching for a doctor for his sick baby sister. Surprisingly, he's fine with the decision, even giving the little girl a hug and saying that they're brother and sister.

A day and a lot of preparation later, Bankotsu, now disguised as an impoverished village youth in a torn haori and hakama set, staggers up to the castle guards. "Who goes there? Halt!" The guards command as Bankotsu forces tears in his eyes as he takes on the appearance of a distraught child. Playing the victim was never hard for him growing up, and he never had a hard time making himself cry when he needed to. While he preferred a more...physical approach, sometimes the emotional one worked wonders, tugging on the heartstrings. It wasn't his favorite method, but damn was it efficient.

"I need help! Please! My sister is very sick, and my village's healer is several villages away!" He turned the toddler in his arms around, to demonstrate how sick she really was. The child had been carefully dusted with rouge on her cheeks and forehead to give the appearance of a fever, courtesy of Jakotsu's makeup, and she had just been fed recently, leaving her tired, lethargic, and dazed-looking.

"Kid, I don't think your sister is gonna make it…" One guard said with uncertainty, eyeing the drowsy toddler with a critical look. He felt for the kid, he really did, but the outcome didn't look very good for his sister. Sickness or injury was a death sentence in this era, no matter how old you were. Sadly, even this little girl wasn't exempt from the possibility of death.

Bankotsu's face pinched tighter with pain, tears beading up in his eyes. "No, please! I can't lose another sibling! My eldest brother died in the last war, and my older sister was killed by a tiger demon! I can't lose any other siblings, Aiko is all I have left!" He pleads, desperation woven thick in his words. Inwardly, the boy gives himself a pat on the back for making up a name for the girl on the fly. He lets himself fall silent, appearing to wind down from his outburst in exhaustion and lost hope as he holds the child close. Though sleepy, the girl's small hand latches onto his haori in a light grip.

Giving his colleague a look, the first guard shifts uneasily. He truly feels for the poor kid, but he doubts that even their healer could help the little girl. Although, one look into the child's bleary chocolate gaze, tired but full of trust, and he is almost instantly reminded of his own daughter. He swallows thickly, hoping he isn't making a rash and stupid decision. And then, his gaze drifts down to the little girl's wrist, where a bracelet rests. The bracelet is made up of black beads with the centerpiece being a pale pink bauble that could fit in the palm of his hand.

"What's with the bracelet on her wrist?" He asks, eyeing the strange accessory. Although this is the first time he's ever even noticed it, Bankotsu is just as quick to come up with a solid excuse.

"It's a gift from our village's headman and his daughter. We found out about a month ago that Aiko has spiritual powers, but they're new and untrained so she has to keep them sealed until she can train them." He says with a defeated air about him. If he wants to complete this job, he has to sell the idea that his sister could die but he doesn't want her to.

The guards gave each other another look. Individuals with innate spiritual power are always needed with as many demons as there are. Losing one, especially if she has potential, is a waste. "Alright.." The first guard concedes begrudgingly, "We'll see what our healer can do for her."

As the guard led Bankotsu inside, he couldn't help but wonder if the others were having such an easy time.

Across the complex, Jakotsu was most definitely having the time of his life. Suikotsu, however, was more cautious in how he got rid of his opponents. Not all missions were about going in guns blazing and taking out whoever you saw first. Some were carefully calculated hits meant to take out only specific people, and one day Jakotsu was just going to have to learn that he couldn't just kill whoever his eyes caught sight of first. "Focus!" He shouted harshly, yanking his claws out of someone's back to give Jakotsu a stern glare. "Stop slicing up everyone in sight and focus on the ones targeted!"

Sticking his tongue out at his brother, Jakotsu beheads one more poor sap before actually putting his mind to the mission. He was allowed a little fun, right? Seeing their pained faces made him so excited. He loved the feel of the blood soaking into his sandals and squishing between his toes. Toying with his victims always brought him such pleasure. But, Suikotsu is right, he knows. They can't afford to fail this mission; literally. They're nearly broke. While Jakotsu deals with the targets outside, Suikotsu leaps into the inner castle to wipe out the target there.

He finds the cowardly sap curled up in a shivering ball in a spare closet, eyes wide and terrified. "Well hello there," He greets the man amicably. "I hate to end this so soon, but I'll give your regards to Toshiro. No hard feelings, yes? After all, money is money." Just then, the amiable and serene disposition the boy had gave off disappeared and a bloodthirsty aura overcame him. He raised his claws, and the man never even got the chance to scream before he was dead, crimson liquid spattered against the wall behind him. Suikotsu sighs, shaking the blood off of his claws, wondering if Bankotsu and Jakotsu are done with their parts yet.

Meanwhile, Bankotsu had managed to knock both guards unconscious as soon as they had turned their backs to him, and had been raiding the treasury of the castle while blissfully listening to the echoed screams of agony that surrounded him. With his travel pack now comfortably full of gold and other pricey valuables, the four year old leaves, paying no mind to the hallway that is soaked with the blood of his victims. He makes his way outside to see Jakotsu just wrapping things up, yanking one of the many blades of his Jakotsuto from a corpse. "You both done?" He asks, receiving nods from his brothers. "Cool. I raided the treasury and scored some stuff. Let's head back now."

The boys, blood-soaked and thoroughly pleased, make their way back to their contractor and receive payment now that their job is complete. To celebrate, they stop at a village and Jakotsu swindles a jug of sake. "Great mission!" Bankotsu loudly praises as he raises his cup. His cheeks are just beginning to pinken, and Suikotsu has the good sense to take the jug out of his reach now. "Ya know what? I'm re-really proud of lil' Aiko here. She played her p-part greatly."

"Wonderfully, Bankotsu." The thirteen-year-old corrects.

"So you think so, too!"

"I don't know about tha-" Bankotsu cuts his brother off.

"Ya know, I really think we should adopt her! But what would her name be? Miki? Naw, that's stupid. Harumi? Nah, too bland." Watching the boy violently shake his head in a negative and almost fall down as a result, Suikotsu idly wonders just how tipsy their leader is as he babbles to himself. "Wait!" He suddenly cries out, making Jakotsu jump, "I got it! Aikotsu! It makes sense, right, since all our names end with 'kotsu'? Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Jakotsu, and Aikotsu!"

As Bankotsu cuddles the toddler with a sickeningly happy smile, Suikotsu sighs heavily while Jakotsu pretends to vomit in a bush. Pausing, Suikotsu studies his effeminate brother. Huh. Or maybe he isn't pretending. He isn't quite sure, but he knows Jakotsu can take care of himself. Combat aside, Bankotsu hatches the worst plans.

The four-year-old holds the girl up so he is eye-level with her. "Well, baby, I don't know what you were named before, if you had one, but you are now Aikotsu, the baby of the Band of Seven!"

Hearing Bankotsu's enthusiastic declaration, Jakotsu pauses, replayed the words in his mind, and counted his fingers. "Uh, Big Brother? I don't think we can call ourselves the Band of Seven if there are four of us." He reminds the younger boy.

Bankotsu shrugged, bouncing a giggling Aikotsu in his arms, ignoring her attempts to grab his nose. "Does it matter? She's one of us; that's all that's important." And on that note, Aikotsu is henceforth given a family she'll never forget.

"Ba..." Aikotsu babbles, concentration contorting her face cutely. "Ba...Ban! Ban!" Then she looked up at the boy holding her with a big grin, proud of herself. Bankotsu smiles widely again, pressing a loud kiss to her forehead.

"That's right, I'm Bankotsu! You're so smart!" He praises his new little sister as she giggles and repeats her favorite new word. Though they don't know it, the cold barriers they've put up around their hearts are already beginning to crumble. It won't be long before this sweet child completely tears those walls down. Unseen, a woman in the forest smiles, a bittersweet quality to it as tears fall down her cheeks. And just like that, she disappears, the small group none the wiser.

...

Miles away, unbeknownst to the four, a man returns home to find a massacre, and his worst nightmare. He takes in the scent of death that permeates the grounds, and lifts his head to roar his agony to the stars as tears stream down his face in an unrelenting river of pain. In the fading light of the sun, he clutches a stuffed toy like a lifeline in a white-knuckled grip.

WELL THEN

1) This seems like it took way too long to write. (I wonder how many pages this is...) Oh, and tell me what you think of The Lucky Seven now that it has finally been uploaded after like several posts on Tumblr teasing it. Lol, sorry guys..!

2) Technically, this first chapter was finished on 11/21/19 at about 5:03 AM. (With edits here and there in the following weeks, teehee! I'm lookin' at you, 12/30/19, you bitch. Catching my dumb ass at 2:50 AM.) Yikes. I need sleep.

3) CUT IT UP by PKCZ(R) featuring CL is the BOMB and I'm so mad I didn't find it earlier. Seriously guys, listen to it. Actually, listen to 2NE1's albums (CL was the leader, it sadly disbanded in 2016. Still mad at YG for that, the prick.). And listen to Minzy's music. And Park Bom's (she features Dara on a lot of her music). And CL's new mini-album called In The Name Of Love. I love the songs. Pretty sure 'DONE' is her sticking it to YG (screw that company, and it's former CEO. *insert shrug emoji*)

See you next chapter!

-FH19