Hm, well—I'm sort of waiting for my muse for the third chapter of 'Blood Lust'. While that happens, think of the waiting as…'FILLER TIME!' Until third chapter is finished, I shall supply you with one shots of the beautiful couple—Sango and Bankotsu.
-Enjoy
WARNING: Contains violence-related topics, children! Bloody-ness, sorry.
UPDATE: April 30, 2006: I JUST ADDED A FOUR-PAGE HISTORY ON WHY THIS HAPPENED TO SANGO. PLEASE RE-READ THE ONE-SHOT TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED. Give thanks to Raven-Shinobi, who I wrote this because of.
It was a mistake.
What had she done? What was happening? Why was she so…red?
With her yukata in sheers and strips across her body, her back and limbs were cold from the afternoon gust. Drips and drips of red liquid made her skin shiver, goosebumps rising off her once smooth skin.
Her hair was sticky and dry at the same time, and the stench was unbelievable. Dark wide eyes slowly glances down at her body, revealing blood-dipped legs that went all the way to her exposed thigh. Her hands were shaking as she stared at them—also blood drenched. It was everywhere; there wasn't one little bump of a fingerprint that didn't have blood on it. It was under her nails, it coated the webbing of her fingers (she realized, as she wearily widened her fingers), it even painted her nails crimson.
Hiraikotsu had been dropped on the ground, forgotten and deserted beside her. Her katana seemed to be missing, but that didn't even begin to help her with an explanation.
The sky seemed almost dark, as if the sun was still barely hanging on to the edge of the horizon. The top of trees swayed in the wind, with the leaves rustling. It gave her a similar feeling of comfort, for she had always lived by a forest.
Now that she thought about it, where was she? All she could see was trees, the sky, and her shadow infront of her.
She glanced at her shadow like she had glanced at everything else—as if it was about to strike her. Her pupils seemed permanently small and frightened within her widened eyes.
The woman, finally recognizing the cackling of fire behind her, turned. It was a slow and tedious move, but it did still seemed like an obscure task to even lift a toe. Everything in her body felt heavy.
Her mouth slacked slightly as she stared at the scene playing before her eyes…
Fire.
"Sango…no…PLEASE!"
People.
She grinned, "Hiraikotsu!"
Screams…
Houses…collapsed.
The village was gone. All of it.
Her village was gone.
Sango collapsed onto her knees, cradling her head as she screamed.
--
He watched her collapse and scream, freaking out as she realized what she had just done.
For the last few minutes, he was harmlessly cleaning his halberd atop the one remaining roof left in the destroyed village. He had been drawn to the wild smoke that filtered the air, as well as the screams that infiltrated his concentration. His team camped out for the night just a mile or two away from here, so he decided he'd go check out the ruckus himself.
It was an amazing show at first, watching this single-bodied army in the shape of woman massacre this village. From the screams of people against her, he learned her name to be Sango.
The woman was young, probably around his age or younger. She wielded a rather scary looking youkai bone that mimicked a boomerang quite nicely and not only that, but she had a katana. It was a simple katana, but she had used it fairly well. The mercenary had taken residence above the house that she had unconsciously left unscathed. He watched her with amused cobalt eyes. Seeing her slice up those innocent people aroused his blood—almost to the point of making him jump down and join the woman. But he held back, this was her fight—she'd probably get mad at him for interfering.
That was what he had thought before, for she seemed to enjoy herself; grinning and laughing like a mad woman. Although now as she sits on her knees, bent over and screaming, maybe she had no conscious of it.
Suddenly her small figure shook with sobs and her wails could be heard from where he was sitting.
"Heh…" The man smiled, albeit ruefully. He remembered the first time he had killed…
Barely graceful, the man intentionally slipped off the roof and landed in a crouched position as a small cloud of dust wavered around his feet due to the sudden force. Standing up, the man let his halberd rest with its long hilt on his shoulder. He decided he'd make his entrance now.
But before he made himself heard, Bankotsu noticed the katana that remained impaled inside the chest of an old woman. He grabbed the hilt and pulled, freeing it from the fate of rusting inside the belly of the old lady. Drops of blood dripped off the sword and in random spots as he walked towards the maiden of blood.
-5 Days Ago-
"So? What shall we do, sir?"
The older man sighed, "This has gone so far out of hand. I'm afraid the only choice is to take her away from here before it happens."
The rest of the council sat quietly, downcast at the final decision. But they knew there wasn't any other way.
It was either her, or the village.
"Sir?" Someone on the other side had raised her hand in question.
"Yes? What is it?"
"...I was wondering...what is happening with her? What makes her so different than all the other girls?"
The man stood, signaling the end of the conference. "I'm afraid that is classified information, and should only be kept within the Main House."
The other member of the council left the room, going to their homes for the night, only to return in the morning to discuss the appropriate timing of the spoken girl's demise.
Yet, the woman stayed, watching the head councilmen and leader of the village dust his robes, ready to leave. She followed him.
"Please sir, I...I don't know much. Please just explain what will happen to her, and why? That is all. This isn't for the sake of myself, sir, it is for my daughter who is desperately trying to find out why her best friend is being locked in a dungeon!" The woman cried, almost taunted with pulling on is sleeve.
The man gripped the bridge of his nose as he walked; his glasses being pushed up slightly.
"Woman, I understand how hard it must be to see the girl locked up. But do you not think it wouldn't be harder on my family and me? We were the ones who had found the young girl at the age of 3 within the forest that surrounds this village. She was the true reason my wife and I began this village. She was the true founder." He let go of his nose and studied the ground solemnly.
"So...she was never a pure blood of you?" 'That must be why she had never adorned a single freckle on her body, even though both parents had multiple.' The woman looked up to the chief's nose for reference, indeed finding many freckles perched on the bridge. 'Even Kohaku had freckles, but Sango did not. And everyone knows the child of a freckled parent never left the womb without atleast one freckle; whether the parent had only one freckle or a million.'
"No. She was left behind by a traveling caravan. A few years later, we had found out why they had left her there. Which is the same reason she has been recently locked up."
"...What is that reason, sir? Please..."
The woman stopped walking after he had halted. He grabbed her arm, bringing her to an alley.
"You mustn't repeat what I tell you, or the village will be in chaos. Not even to your daughter, woman, I give you permission to make up whatever lie you feel need be."
The woman looked up, her eyes frozen with his as he stared down at her strictly. "Y-yes, sir."
Letting go of the woman's arm, the Chief straightened his posture. "We had searched far and wide for information about her. She was...a strange child. She was never scared of blood, even at such a young age. Once we had finally found an old Miko to tell us of her; we knew she would have to be temporary. 'Her blood is that of a Shichinintai.' The woman had said."
"Shi-Shichinintai? But I had heard from the legends that they were all only men who never aged after reaching a certain age." The woman muttered.
"True."
"But...how could all men make a girl..."
"Oh no, no. The Shichinintai were never related; not even by blood. But there are people who are specially born with a certain blood that makes them lust for it. It's rare, you should know, we only know of the 7 men. No one knows much about their past, or how they got to be. But that's how it is."
"I see... But why must we keep her jailed?"
"Ever since a young age, after the incident where she had accidentally fell and cut her knee open, my wife and I had never exposed her to blood, from the Miko's orders. But she said once she reaches a certain age in her teens, the smallest sight of blood would change her forever. We hadn't known what that meant, but we agree that once she reached 16, she would be monitored closely. After 17, she would be jailed, then..." The man looked down at his own robes, as if in shame.
"Then...?"
"Then we would have to...eliminate her. B-before she does any harm."
The silence between the two adults stretched after that comment. The woman just couldn't believe her ears. The chief's daughter was such a beautiful and kind girl. Her own daughter had been a best friend to her ever since they were 10, and over the years the woman had seen the young girl as another daughter. It was just so hard to comprehend...but she couldn't imagine what it was like for Kohaku, or the chief and his wife right now.
"But...she was such a wonderful and perfect girl."
"I know." The man began to leave the alley. "But she was doomed from the start. All we could do was make her life enjoyable until the day came."
"It's either the village, or her. We had decided on her fate already."
5 Days later, Morning.
The door creaked open, making Sango cringe and squint her eyes.
"...Sango. You...you're being let free."
With the help of the guard, Sango stood to her feet.
"Why was I put in such a place? Had I done something wrong?" She wondered aloud, once she was outside the dungeon door. "Is father...upset with me?"
The two guards exchanged looks, remembering the lie they were told to tell if she had asked.
"...There...was a disturbance. You weren't the only one being locked up, you're father wanted to protect the woman and children."
Somehow, Sango didn't feel like paying attention. She started to make her way up the long corridor to the living world, but was stopped.
"Sango, we were told to tell you that you and two other Taijiyas will be accompanying eachother to another village to help with their demon problem later today."
'I don't even get to rest with my family yet?' But Sango was never one to complain outloud. "I got it. Will I be able to say goodbye before I leave?" Sango smiled at the two guards. "It's tradition."
The lovely smile left the two guards downcast, even as she strode up the corridor alone.
Sango rose a dubious brow at the crowd that had gathered at the gates, saying their good-byes to Sango.
She looked to her fellow companions, "Why is everyone so...sad? I'll be back soon."
Sango wasn't given an answer. When she was about to re-ask, her family came up to her and gave her the millionth Family-hug that day. She had already forgiven her father for making her stay in that dungeon, but it only seemed to make him sadder. Kohaku always has tears, as well as her mother.
"Please, Sango. Be safe there." Her mother held her daughter's cheek.
"Aren't I always, Okaa-chan?" Sango laughed, trying to raise her mother's spirits. When that didn't work, her father brought his wife to his chest and hugged her.
"It's alright Sango, she's just a but moody today. You know how she is." Her father laughed, waving it off.
Next Kohaku stepped up to his sister, rather timidly. She laughed, ruffling his hair. "Don't you worry Kohaku, I'll be back soon. Don't turn into a bubbling mess like our mother, ok?" She joked. Of course, Kohaku ignored every word and just hugged her, tighter and tighter.
By the time she had finally left the village, she heard everyone's cries. Her friend had told her to keep walking, but Sango couldn't help but walk just a bit slower. Once they were fully in the forest, she walked normally--only to find out her two companions were staying quietly behind her.
She looked to the male. "Oi, Akira-kun?" She smiled. "Why are you so quiet today? Usually you're bragging about this and that. What's wrong?"
Sango then looked to the female, "And you too Misaki-chan. What's up?"
The two glanced at eachother, before looking back to the ground, quietly. Sango just turned back around and sighed audibly.
Akira, the man who had claimed to love Sango, and Misaki, Sango's best friend since the age of ten, were both shaking. They couldn't do it. They just...how? The two just couldn't imagine.
It was a while later when Akira finally stopped walking.
"Akira?" Misaki wondered. Sango also turned around.
Before any of them knew it, he had taken Sango in his arms, giving her a last kiss.
Everything else was a blur to Sango. She felt a sudden danger in her gut as Akira accidentally bit her lip too hard. She felt herself lift the katana from her obi and meet it with Akira's as they split.
She asked what he was doing, and when he advanced, she tried to back up--but found Misaki blocking her path.
"Please," She had said to Sango, "Just...let us do this..."
Once again Akira brought his sword down on Sango, and the next thing had happened to fast she hadn't registered what happened until it was too late.
With the sword coming down on her, it was an instinct to capture the attacker the moment he lifted his sword, even if it meant she would also be striked--it was something her father had taught her in the case of emergence. Her mind no longer recognized Akira and her sword plunged his heart as she awaited his sword to come down on her as well. But it didn't. He had hesitated--pulled back for some reason, and before Sango could stop herself she had already killed him.
Both women screamed. With his blood on her hands, Sango began to get dizzy, and she didn't recognize the pounding of Misaki's feet as she ran away from Sango. She wondered why. After she felt his blood squirting on herself, everything turned red and she couldn't account for her actions any longer. Infact, she couldn't remember much anymore.
There were only visions of images she had probably seen in a red haze. Misaki was in her view again--which probably meant Sango had caught up with her. Then a flash, or maybe it was a blink. Misaki was on the ground, and Sango seemed to feel more soaked of blood than before, but she just couldn't comprehend why.
Hiraikotsu was suddenly taken off her shoulder by her own hand once the village came into view again. After that, all she remembered were screaming and reddish work being done.
Present
'My mother…my father…my brother…my friends…my kin…'
Visions of their blood seeping between her fingers and her high-pitched laughter etched into her mind…it was so…traumatic for her.
Another scream erupted out of her throat—only to be silence as the sound of a sword impaling the ground infront of her was heard.
She hadn't moved at first, sitting cradled into the ground and hadn't planned on moving. But curiosity got the best of her and Sango found herself slowly raising her head.
The first thing she saw was the tip of a katana lodged into the ground, and as she trailed up the sword with her eyes, memories and visions of death soaked her mind and dirtied her thoughts of the previous events. The katana a few feet infront of her belonged to her.
Slowly enough, Sango pushed off the ground with her palms, staring at the katana with…fear.
It was then that Bankotsu got a close and perfect view of her face. Random spots of blood that varied all sizes and shapes were marked on her face. There were a couple of drops still dripping—from her mouth.
He unintentionally licked his own lips, wishing he could have just a little taste.
Even so, her eyes now held perfect innocence as he stared down at her. She was shaking, and it wasn't cold out here at all.
The woman's eyes suddenly shifted to him, as if just noticing the man standing behind her crimson katana.
Her eyes widened remarkably.
"So I see you recognize me." Bankotsu grinned, impaling the ground to the side of him with his Banryuu to have both of his hands free.
Indeed she did. "B-Bankotsu…leader of the Sh-Shichinintai…" He was in all her frightening daydreams. Or, what she thought looked like him. He seemed too young to be a leader of anything, at all. The mercenary had rich-looking clothing, perfectly cleaned and steamed while his armor was spotless of any blood and shined from the now protruding Moon in the sky. His face didn't hold much emotion besides the permanent scowl his face probably always maintained over the years.
Noticing her stammer, Bankotsu crossed his arms over his chest plate. 'She's still shaken up?'
"Stand up, woman."
It had taken her a while to even stop staring, but Sango had managed to stand by herself—contradicting to the aching muscles and screaming memories that she thought would keep her immobile for a long while.
Timidly, Sango rose her head from looking at the ground, meeting with amused and vigorous dark blue irises.
"I'm guessing this was your own village."
Her eyes almost immediately averted to the discarded boomerang to the side of them. Anywhere but those ridiculing eyes of the mass murderer. But who was she to talk?
"You're shaking."
Sango's eyebrows narrowed together, just slightly.
"And you're scared." His head tilted to the side, mockingly. "Of what?"
"…"
The silence spread between them as she refused to answer the mercenary's question.
"…Yourself, right?"
Sango's heart began to churn; he was right after all. Long lashes fluttered, sweeping upward as she looked to him. Did…did he have answers?
The look she gave him made him smirk. Sango didn't distinguish him moving until he had fully sidestepped the katana and moved directly infront of her.
Grabbing her chin with a steady hand, Bankotsu guided her face to tilt up and to the left as he seemed to glance at the blood that roamed all over her neck.
"Blood, blood, blood." He murmured entertainingly under his breath before shifting her head to the right. Surprisingly, she did nothing but look up at the tall mercenary. He easily towered over her small and brittle form.
Bankotsu moved her head to look at him fully, undenyingly tilted upwards. His thumb roamed up to the corner of her mouth, wiping the drop of blood that lingered.
It surprised her to see him pull back his hand, blood swiped on his thumb. Had she really…drank blood?
Instantly, her small hand touched her mouth, as if trying to feel any more blood. She looked utterly flustered.
Bankotsu chortled as he grabbed her hand in his large fist and held it away from her mouth, replacing it with a rough kiss to the lips. Sango's eyes widened, her eyebrows had shot up in surprise before lowering and narrowing in a regretful manner. She looked resistant, and was unwilling to open up emotionally to the mercenary's brutal kiss. Her head moved back subtly from the force he was pushing into her mouth with as his head leaned forward with hers. Their lips were pressed together, both open and accessible. She felt a strange arousal tingle up her spine...
It had seemed to last for minutes to Sango, when it had only abided a few seconds. Bankotsu leaned back normally after breaking off, licking his lips of the blood he had managed to salvage from her mouth. If anything, Sango seemed confused about what to feel. Scared…violated… chaotic. Yet she felt her cheeks burn.
"Your blood no longer holds the innocence of a human, Sango." Bankotsu spoke suddenly, picking up his Banryuu and lifting it to his shoulder. She tasted of the blood of others, the blood of recklessness and lack of hope, contrary to her eyes. His eyes averted to her now swollen red lips, enjoyed.
Everything had happened so fast, Sango couldn't even think on her own. She collapsed to her knees.
"I-it was all so…so quick. I can't even remember what had happened specifically…just…blood." She whispered. "I was so…blood lusting, I just couldn't hold myself back. I perceived with my mind but my body spoke on it's own." Sango admitted.
Bankotsu was watching her, listening patiently. She seemed to be so interested with looking at the floor…
"It was just all…a mistake."
Bankotsu sighed, scratching behind his ear. "Well, it definitely wasn't intentional. You're such a broken mess. Look at you." He mentioned, tapping her chin just once to tell her to look up.
"You've changed. You'll never be able to go back to the way things were…ever."
The man saw her suck in her bottom lip, her eyes looked wet as if she was about to cry. He was never really comfortable with wailing women, so Bankotsu turned to the side slightly, glancing at the forest he had gone through to get here from his camp.
"But you have two choices, Sango. I will leave you alone and never come back to this village to bother you, if you wish it so." He had said evenly, looking at her form the corner of his eye.
She glanced up at him with a shy yet bewildered look. Bankotsu was quiet, letting her think into it for a second. Sango looked down once again, wondering.
"Or, —" He then crouched low infront of her, looking into her russet orbs. "You can follow me." His grin manifested out of no where.
The idea had sprung into his mind the moment she had killed many on her own before his very eyes. Her strong demeanor and powerful attacks on the innocent seemed almost too good for him to watch. She was a fighter, a deadly one—and he would need her. Plus, truth be known, he was atracted to her the moment he saw her with blood innocently on her face.
Standing up to his full height, Bankotsu languidly ruffled his bangs. "Listen, you've got no where else to go. Whether or not you've chosen to be a stealthily good killer doesn't seem like it was up to you. The blood running in your veins has the killer extinct that I need." Bankotsu tried to explain.
He…he was right. Where would she go? To another village? What if she couldn't control herself again? She'd be killed in the most painful way known to human kind, though—she knew she deserved it.
Bankotsu's tanned hand made it's way infront of her face, offering her a hand to stand from her knees. "We are the same, trust me." He snickered, charmingly. Reassuringly. Trustingly.
The only sound heard from the scene was the dying fire and the ruffling leaves. Everything else was still. She couldn't stand it.
Sango took his hand—hers seemed to fit perfectly within his.
She was lifted up suddenly and almost toppled into him due to his brute pull before collecting herself. Bankotsu smiled widely at her.
The close encounter didn't conclude as he suddenly swiped two of his fingers on her blood-drenched thigh, causing her to fluster and her cheeks to brighten--but he hadn't seemed to think the move as embarrassing.
The blood on his fingers, used as paint, was wiped on her face. The shape he drew greatly resembled a boomerang that started on both side of her lower cheek and went up to meet eachother on the bridge of her nose.
His large calloused hand grabbed the back of her neck gently and pulled her to him as he leaned down—making their foreheads touch. The indigo insignia on his forehead brightened for a moment before he let go of her, leaving the once blood-painted boomerang a permanent reddish tattoo.
"Welcome, Sango, to the Shichinintai."
It had been a while since she had first joined the Band of Seven. The other men had been resistant of her at first, but she told herself she'd eventually earn their trust. Eventually.
Bankotsu had served to be a great leader. He was trustworthy and loyal, and he always seemed to keep a smile on her face. For some reason...(That thought made her blush.)
Sango remembered that day a few years ago. The day when he first came to her.
She had learned the easy way, thanks to him, that no one can defeat loneliness. The mercenary woman couldn't imagine having chosen to be left alone. Even though she knew Bankotsu as a cruel man from the stories and murder legends, she would have chosen to be with him than being alone.
Together, they helped eachother defeat the solitude they secretly feared.
But she wouldn't have had it any other way—for he was the man that got her off her knees.
Eh. Random. Please review!
-M