Paper Planes and Soup

Chapter I - What a Beautiful Man

"It's so close!" she whispered to herself. Growls from demons could be heard in the near distance. "Aww, why do I always end up alone in the middle of a forest?" she huffed, walking over the uprooted trees. Her foot snagged under one of the roots, and her body went forward. She hit the ground with a slight "oomph!" and a wince.

"Great!" she yelled to herself, standing to her feet and dusting her skirt and hands off. "Stupid trees!" she mumbled, kicking one. Kagome regained focus on the pressure she felt in the innermost layer of her soul. A jewel shard was close. Very close.

Why was she alone? In the midst of arguing with Inuyasha about how he only ever wanted her instant noodles, she decided to clear her mind and cool off with a stroll in the forest. Shocking, right?

She peeked through some bushes that lead to separate clearings, trying to see if anyone was around. "Jeeze, how come it got quiet all the sudden?" she asked herself, continuing to walk. Miss Uncoordinated tripped yet again, this time a tumble ensuing. She landed in a small field that had muddied water surrounding it. She put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the blinding Sun.

There was a guy, simply sitting against a tree trunk with his eyes closed and a humongous halberd next to him. The blood-stained blade did not go unnoticed to her. He looked...So peaceful in his sleep. "What a beautiful man." she whispered, a gust of wind carrying her words away. She then had a flashback. This is just like the time I first met Inuyasha, she thought. She stepped closer, and when she was only a mere foot away, she knelt down. She noticed his abdomen had a dark, crimson spot which surrounded a mildly deep gash. She lent in closer.

A hand shot forward and gripped her by her shirt. Light blue eyes glared into hers. "Who the Hell are you?" he asked coldly.

Kagome jumped and her heart quickened. "I-I'm Kagome, and I--"

"How did you find me and what were you doing?" asked the man with nicely tanned skin.

"I sensed you had a jewel shard, so I came over and then noticed your injury. You really should let me treat it, it could get get infected." she said with a soft expression, worry lacing her voice.

"Eh? You can sense the shards of the Shikon Jewel? I see." he replied, letting go of her shirt. When he saw her not leaving, he raised a curious eyebrow. "You can leave now." he remarked icily.

"But you're injury..."

"Heh, this?" he asked, looking down. "This is nothing. Some rest and I'll be back to normal..." he trailed off when he saw her flop down next to him. Who the Hell does she think she is?

Kagome sighed dramatically, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them. She stared into space as she started thinking about her fight with Inuyasha. Maybe I overreacted... she thought.

Bankotsu shifted his eyes toward her with suspicion. Why was she just sitting there...Next to him, of all people? Did she not see his Banryuu next to him, or the armor around his shoulders and upper torso? Did he look like the type of guy who would just sit there and not kill her?

"So!" she clapped her hands together. "What's your name?"

"Bankotsu."

Silence passed. The kind that was awkward for Kagome, but enjoyable by Bankotsu. "So, will you let me check your wound?"

Bankotsu smirked toward her. "Is this your way of asking me to take my clothes off?"

"No!" she blushed. "J-Just your shirt...I mean, not like that! But...Argh, just let me look!" she exclaimed with a widened pink tint to her cheeks.

"No thanks."

Kagome was about to speak when she heard someone calling her name.

"Kagome! Kagooooommeeeeee! Where the Hell did you go?!" yelled and angry Inuyasha.

Kagome smiled and stood to her feet. "Well, I should go. Knowing Inuyasha, if he sees you, he'll start a fight." she sighed.

Bankotsu's full attention zapped to her. "Did you say Inuyasha?"

"Yeah...Why?"

"No reason." he smirked once more. Oh what luck he had run into. His target found him, instead of the other way around.

"Alright, well...See you later!" she said with a smile and waved, then ran off into the forest again.

"Keh, sooner than you think." he muttered and closed his eyes, resuming his earlier state - asleep.

The campfire crackled and snapped as the flames flickered about. Golden orbs stared into it with a clear memorization from the very fire itself. His thoughts wandered to who-knows-what. People could only assume. Kagome would assume it was about Kikyo or of the likes. Sango would assume it was about Naraku. Miroku would assume it was something dirty involving either Kagome, Kikyo, or both. And Shippo would assume it was about hitting him. What a jerk.

But what really went through his mind was none of said assumptions. Tonight's topic was his mother. His father. And even his brother. He snapped from his daydream as he heard a slight moan from one of the sleeping forms. He looked over and saw Kagome rolling over, hugging Shippo close like a stuffed animal. He smiled slightly.

When the Sun began to rise only a few moments later, Miroku awoke. He sat up and caught sight of a deep-in-thought Inuyasha. "Why're you up so early?" he asked groggily.

"Didn't sleep." Inuyasha shrugged in reply. "Wake up the girls and Shippo, we're leaving as soon as they're up.

About an hour later, the group was already walking down the road, in hopes of finding clues of the where-a-bouts of Naraku.

Kagome froze mid-step and sensed a shard of the Shikon Jewel nearing. It's that guy from yesterday! Kagome thought. I totally forgot to tell them about the jewel shard yesterday, oops, she mused and then spoke aloud. "I sense a sacred jewel shard and it's coming toward us!"

"What? A sacred jewel shard?" Inuyasha turned around and unsheathed his Tetsusaiga, pointing it down and in front of him in preparation for attack.

"Inuyasha, at last I have found you." called the calm voice of Bankotsu.

"And just who the Hell are you?"

"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Bankotsu, leader of the Band of Seven." he said with a smug smirk. He pointed Banryuu toward him. "Prepare to meet your demise."

"Be careful Inuyasha! He's injured!" Kagome yelled from behind him.

The half-demon whipped around. "Say what?! And why should I care!"

"He's only human Inuyasha!"

"Keh, whatever. If this bastard wants to fight me, then it'd be rude of me to turn him down." Inuyasha replied and turned back around.

Kagome sighed. She'd never be able to stop Inuyasha from getting into a senseless battle no matter how hard she tried.

Inuyasha froze as he went to strike Bankotsu, causing him to be hit in the process. He was flung back, but shot right back up. "I smell Naraku!" he shouted and instantly ran in the opposite direction.

"Oh no you don't!" Bankotsu shouted and ran after him, however was stopped by the ricochet of a sacred arrow off his Banryuu. "What the--" he looked in the direction from whence it came and saw Kagome standing there with her arms in position to shoot another arrow, one already notched in the bow.

"You may be injured, but I won't let you just attack someone from behind!" she shouted with anger apparent in her tone.

"Heh, you must think you're tough shit, eh girl?" he scoffed and walked toward her. He hesitated and then fell to a knee, gripping his side as his wound reopened and blood oozed out.

Kagome's features softened and she walked over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked. She glanced over in the directions she last saw her friends running to and noticed they were gone. "Where did everyone go?"

"Inuyasha, slow down!" Miroku yelled, running behind him. "I want to kill Naraku as much as you do, but you must not rush into anything."

"Why not! It's Naraku, and in case you haven't noticed, he's the enemy!"

"For one, Kagome is back at the road with that creep!" Sango shouted from above, riding on Kirara.

Inuyasha halted. "Why didn't you stay with her?!" he yelled and started running back, however was blocked by the appearance of Naraku. Inuyasha growled. "Naraku...I knew I smelled you."

The former Onigumo chuckled. "Congratulations, you have a nose." he replied sardonically.

"Prepare to die Naraku, be sucked into the curse you have cast upon me!" Miroku shouted and opened his Wind Tunnel. Within seconds, Saimyosho appeared and headed toward his black void.

"Miroku, you'll get poisoned if you don't close it now!" Sango yelled with concern.

He nodded and wrapped the beads around his wrist with a slight grunt of disappointment.

"Don't worry you two, I've got him. Naraku, prepare to die!" Inuyasha yelled and commenced in attacking him relentlessly.

And suddenly, Kagome was forgotten and not top priority anymore.

"I'm fine." the mercenary snorted. He didn't accept help from anyone, let alone a broad.

Kagome laid down her bow and arrows and knelt beside him. "Lay down, keep moving and you'll just open your wound even further." she commanded.

Bankotsu grumbled and laid back against a tree. He stared down at her nonchalantly as she pulled weird items from her bag and used them on his injury. Is she a priestess of some sort? No, impossible. Her clothes are so revealing, so strange.

After a while, she finished bandaging him up and smiled proudly down at her work. "Not bad if I do say so myself." she said with a mock-snob attitude.

The young mercenary folded his arms behind his head and rested against the trunk of the tall oak tree. "So it looks like you're friends have abandoned you."

Kagome shot him a glare. "They did not abandon me! It's just, Naraku has hurt them all so much, and he always seems to get away. But he'll probably escape again and then they'll come back."

Bankotsu closed his eyes, drowning out her relentless babbling. He didn't care, nor would he ever. Besides, she'd shut up in a few minutes anyway, right?

Oh boy, this fellow was in for a surprise.

About half an hour passed and she was still talking! Going on about some 'test' she had to get ready for.

After a few more moments, she stopped talking and dug in her yellow bag. She pulled out a piece of paper and scanned it. "Awe, I'll never be ready!" she commented as she gaped at all the formulas. She subconsciously started folding the paper as she leaned against the tree as well, staring into the setting Sun. She looked down at the paper plane she folded and threw it, watching as it glided through the air, then going straight into the ground.

Bankotsu, for one, was fascinated by this. "What was that?" he asked curiously.

Kagome smiled. "It's called a paper airplane, wanna know how to make one?"

Bankotsu sat up straight and looked to her expectantly with raised eyebrows.

"Alright," she dug out a piece of paper and handed it to him, "fold the top corners into the middle first..."

After a few more folds, a mediocre paper plane was produced. "Now, just gently flick your wrist forward and let the paper slip out of your grip.

He did, and in doing so, the plane went forward about a foot, then straight down.

Kagome giggled. "You'll get better, it took me a while to learn how to throw them right, too. Actually, the first time..."

Oh God, she was talking about senseless shit again. For the love of God, make it stop!

Kagome sighed as the night turned dark and stars littered the midnight sky. "Where are they?" she whispered.

Author's Note: Well, as promised, a new Bankotsu/Kagome story! It's not as tragic and angsty (yet p) as my others. Oh, and don't worry, Naraku didn't capture her friends like he does in the majority of my stories. Nor did they die ;D

I'm looking for someone to beta this story for me, someone willing to use DocX, and do a thorough job! The next update to this story will be much faster if I have a beta, however, it may be a while if I don't.

As always, I suck at introductory chapters. They bore me. I like the middle stuff where all the drama happens. Oh how I love angst. Oh, and random comment. Anyone notice how I seem to make most people say "Prepare to..." before a sight starts. I did, lawl.

Also, my other stories will be updated soon, loves (: Meanwhile, review? -Ami