InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bankotsu's Greatest Challenge ❯ Cliffs Of Worth ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Inuyasha and its characters are copyrighted to the amazing Rumiko Takahashi!

Bankotsu's Greatest Challenge.

Chapter 10: Cliffs of Worth

Kagome panted heavily after Bankotsu pulled her onto the bottom layer of the cliffs. She fell to her knees. Her hair was blown every which way and down in her mouth. She scowled and spat it out. She pulled out a rubber band tying the hair into a high ponytail. 'My legs burn and I have scratches from my knees down. This is even worse than the time I went rock climbing with Hojo.'

"Are you okay, Kagome?" Bankotsu knelt beside the girl. Her face was red and she was panting heavily. "Do you want to rest for a bit?"

"Yes, please." Her breathing slowly returned to normal as she rubbed her aching calves and feet.

Bankotsu sat down on the rocks. "Um, Kagome…?" His eyes stayed glued to the rocks and he swallowed.

"Hm?"

"When I was about to kiss you earlier…?"

She blushed. "What about it?"

Bankotsu turned to face her. "I'd like to finish were we left off."

Kagome eyes widened and her breath hitched. 'He still wants to kiss me?' She blushed deeper and whispered. "Really?"

Bankotsu scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm gently around her waist. He leaned forward and planted licked Kagome's bottom lip. 'She tastes sweet.'

Kagome gasped at the tingles running through her lips. He slipped his tongue inside and slowly licked her tongue and cheeks. Her heartbeat sped up and she felt a little dizzy. Tentively her tongue touched his. His tongue wrapped around hers and he slanted his mouth over hers deepening the kiss. The dizzy feeling in her head increased and her hands clung to his biceps. When he pulled away they were both breathless.

'Wow,' Kagome smiled slightly dazed and her fingers pressed against her lips.

'Yup, definitely sweet,' Bankotsu slowly licked his lips to savor the lingering taste of her kiss. He noticed her dazed expression and inwardly smirked as he lifted Banryu to his shoulder.

He waited until she blinked and blushed before holding his hand out to her. "We should try and get past these cliffs before nightfall."

Kagome stared at the narrow path. 'Kind of reminds me of one of Souta's video games. We're on the second layer. Only one more layer to go.' She stood to her feet.

"We should be able to walk along the ledges for now."

"Bankotsu, didn't Midoriko say there was only one way out?"

"I can find it no problem."

'He sure sounds confident.' She placed her hand in his and they started along the path

Bankotsu's eyes scanned their surroundings taking in everything around them. 'A cave eh? Kind of small but it would do in a pinch.' He turned his attention to the path before them and continued leading her up the path.

When they got to the edge of the cliff they came upon their first demon. It resembled a large coyote with its back standing about five foot tall. It had pinchers protruding from its chest, below the neck but above the legs. They extended one and a half feet past its nose. It raised its head up to howl, before locking its eyes on Bankotsu like he was its prey.

"Kagome take cover!" He charged at the demon with Banryu poised to strike.

Kagome stumbled back a step with wide eyes as she saw something waving behind it. 'Is that a scorpion's tail?'

Oblivious of the tail Bankotsu jumped on top of the demon's head. Before he could drive his Banryu into its skull he found himself on the ground with a massive paw on his chest. His weapon holding hand was caught in its pincher and pinned above his head.

'Sonuva bitch is so heavy I can barely breathe.' His eyes widened as he felt something pierce his shoulder. "Ah!" Bankotsu grit his teeth against the burning in his chest and shoulder. 'How did I miss that?'

"Bankotsu!" Kagome notched an arrow into her bow and drew the string back.

The coyote hybrid averted its attention to the girl. It bared its large, sharp fangs dripping saliva as it snarled.

'Whatever that thing is I have to destroy it.' Kagome took aim ready to release her arrow.

The demon's sudden howl of pain and the appearance of a large gash in its stomach caused her to flinch and step back to avoid the spewing blood and chunks of flesh. The demon disintegrated into a pile of ashes which were carried away by the wind.

Bankotsu's smirk was the first thing she saw as the dust cleared. "You didn't really think I'd let that beast hurt you, did you?"

"Bankotsu, you're wounded!" Kagome shouted, pointing to his shoulder. Blood and something green was seeping through to his haori.

She ran over to him. "We have to find a place so I can tend to your wound."

He scoffed. "It's just a scratch. Besides it'd be better to get off these cliffs first."

"I'm not taking any chances," Kagome's eyes darted around looking for a semi clear spot. He noticed her eyes looking unusually watery.

'Are those tears?' He grabbed her chin and made her stare into his eyes. His thumb stroked her cheek."Don't cry it's just a scratch." He watched her lower lip and chin quiver. "I saw a cave a little ways back. We can go there."

Kagome looked up and smiled. "Okay, I want to look at the wound as soon as we get there."

He nodded. The couple made their way back down the cliff to a small cave that was dug into the side of the cliff wall. Kagome gently shoved Bankotsu inside.

Once inside Bankotsu removed his armor and set Banryu up against the back wall. He made himself comfortable against the wall tilting his head back and closing his eyes.

"Bankotsu?"

"Hm?" He felt her pulling open his haori.

"How do you carry around that big halberd? I t looks really heavy and you swing it like it's as light as a feather."

Bankotsu's eyes snapped open and he grinned. "I'm the only one who can pick it up."

Kagome blinked. "Really?" Overcome with the urge to test it she reached down and with little to no effort picked the giant halberd up with one hand. "It doesn't seem all that heavy to me." She shrugged.

Bankotsu's eyes widened like saucers and his jaw moved like a fish out of water. "How did you do that?" His eyes locked to hers.

Kagome gently replaced the sword down and scratched her head. "Just lucky, I guess."

She knelt beside him and went to cleanse his wound when she noticed sweat all over his shivering body. Her eyes widened and her hand flew to his forehead. She yanked it back and shook it. 'Why does he suddenly have a fever?' She stared at him and noticed his face was pale. Her breath hitched. "Oh no! You must have been poisoned!"

He blinked. "Eh?" A wave of dizziness filled him and his eyes rolled shut. His chest rose and fell slowly.

The cave filled with a bright blue light and the priestess Midoriko was before them once again.

"Kagome, time is short and I see the young warrior has been poisoned."

Kagome was digging through her bag pulling out herbs and bandages. "Midoriko, I've never seen any poisons work this fast. What do I do?"

Midoriko spoke calmly. "You must find the way out of these cliffs before nightfall."

Kagome's head shook side to side. "He's hurt too badly to be moving."

"Use your purifying powers to heal him. The sacred jewel in his neck keeps him alive, but your touch will heal him."

Kagome bit her lip. "I've never tried to heal anyone with my powers before." Her heart hammered inside her chest. "Please there has to be something that can save him."

Midoriko kissed her forehead and mentally whispered an ancient healing chant into to her.

"You two must get off these cliffs before nightfall." With that final warning the ghost vanished as if she had never been there.

Bankotsu groaned as pain shot through his fevered body. His lips moved and he whispered with a croaky voice. "You can do it Kagome."

Kagome blinked. 'Kami please let this work.' Kagome placed her hands on Bankotsu's shoulder. A pink light surrounded her hands. She closed her eyes and repeated the healing words automatically. She opened her eyes watching the pink light penetrate the wound forcing the poison to bleed out and soak into the herbal cloth. She took a deep breath and repeated the words again making the wound itself glow pink and watched it closed without even leaving a scar.

Kagome's jaw dropped. "It healed!" She quickly wrapped the cloth up and tossed it to the back of the cave watching black bubble up around and absorb the cloth. The smell of burning feces assaulted her nostrils.

Bankotsu opened his eyes and smiled at her. "I knew you could do it."

Kagome smiled brightly making his heart skip a beat. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an embrace. "Thank you Kagome." He kissed the top of her head.

Blushing Kagome pulled away and stood up, looking out the cave entrance. "I'm just glad that it worked." A deep sense of foreboding filled her to the core. "Let's get off these forsaken rocks." She picked up her bag and slung it over her back no longer feeling like resting.

She chewed on one of her finger nails and felt an icy claw running up and down her spine. 'As much as I hate the thought of continuing we've gone this far so we might as well see it through. Either way we need to leave these cliffs. And the sooner, the better.' She frowned shifting her weight from foot to foot while she waited for him to collect his stuff.

Bankotsu frowned. 'If I don't find a way to calm her down she's going to have a panic attack on me.' Bankotsu calmly stood to his feet and donned his armor. He picked up Banryu. He walked over and kissed her cheek. "Hell ya, let's get out of here."

Kagome started at the unexpected kiss. Before she could blush he was already leading her from the cave and over to the edge of the cliff they were on. She blinked. 'Is it my imagination or is he walking faster than normal?'

XOXOXO:

Sango and Miroku informed the rest of Kikyo's death as soon as they returned to the village.

Shippo teared up.

Kaede vanished inside her hut shutting the others out.

"Inuyasha has killed lady Kikyo?" Suikotsu leaned against a random hut.

"Hai and with lady Kikyo gone Naraku will become even more powerful."

"Do you guys know of a place we can stay?" Sango sighed. "Kikyo warned us that Inuyasha would keep coming after us if we didn't get away from here."

"Our castle." Renkotsu jumped onto Ginkotsu's platform.

The rest followed Renkotsu and soon they we're riding off away from the village.

Shippo was sitting atop Jakotsu's sword. "Renkotsu, where exactly is this castle of yours?"

"A couple of hours away. We should be there before sundown." He replied.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Sango stared at the members.

"It's in the middle of a dense forest." Suikotsu nodded. "The lord of the castle had it built so they could take over the land without being discovered by some other lord. But we took care of that."

Miroku sighed. 'What a lousy situation for us to be in.'

XOXOXO:

A/N: Okay everyone that's it for the tenth installment. Will Kagome and Bankotsu find their way out before nightfall? You'll have to wait and see. XD