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Description
Chapter Five: Auction House

Inuyasha had disappeared again. Jakotsu and Bankotsu had noticed his absence at night one every month. As first they had thought nothing of it, but then they decided that it was starting to look a little suspicious. And that was why Jakotsu and Bankotsu followed Inuyasha into the woods this month. The tracked him to a moonlit glade.

There they saw something unusual. The half-demon was human. His white hair had become black as night, and he was completely mortal. He looked up at them and flinched in surprise. 'What… I… when did you get here?'

'Normally you'd have caught our scent long before we got here.' noted Bankotsu. 'So that different form of yours isn't as powerful.' He glanced at Jakotsu.

Jakotsu stared at Inuyasha unblinking. He was completely human. 'Your as cute a human as you are a half demon! Although the lack of dog ears is kind of weird.'

'Yeah, I should have been expecting a response like that.' muttered Inuyasha.

'So how did this happen exactly?' asked Bankotsu. 'And how do you change back?'

'I'll change back as soon as the sun rises.' said Inuyasha in irritation. 'It only happens once a month, on the night of the new moon, but I need you to keep this to yourselves.'

'Sure,' said Bankotsu, 'we can keep a secret. Right Jakotsu?' Jakotsu was licking his lips and reaching for her sword. 'Jakotsu, you can't kill Inuyasha.'

'I wasn't going to kill him.' Jakotsu pouted. 'Just bleed him a little.'

'I can tell we're never going to have a normal conversation.' deadpanned Inuyasha.

It had been a year since Inuyasha had joined the Band of Seven, and things had become somewhat routine. They would travel from castle to castle, village to village looking for work. Sometimes they would fight it out with demons who were causing trouble for the locals. Other times they would help wipe out one army for another army. It was the former today.

'Iron reaper soul stealer!'

Inuyasha descended upon the snake demon and tore through the demon with ease. At the same time, Bankotsu slashed through another. Jakotsu hacked and slashed through swaths of smaller ones. Renkotsu incinerated several of them with his fire breath. Meanwhile, Ginkotsu tore through a host of the beasts with his buzz saws. Quite a few trees fell to bits in the process.

Finally, all the Demons lay dead, and they met up in the aftermath. 'Well that's done with.' said Bankotsu. 'Nice job everyone.'

'Bankotsu,' said Jakotsu, 'killing demons is no fun. They never scream for mercy, or bleed like humans do.'

'Personally, I appreciate the variety.' said Renkotsu. 'What about you Inuyasha?'

'It makes no difference to me.' said Inuyasha. 'Let's get our reward and get out of this place.' They made their way to the castle to get their reward. When they had received it, the group made their way into a forest and dug a deep hole. From there they set their treasure into it. They marked the trees near it with a special mark which only they knew the meaning of.

'You know,' said Jakatso, 'we're building up a very large war chest.'

'Maybe we can retire early.' suggested Inuyasha. 'Find a distant island to build a castle on.'

'Yeah, but then who would we kill?' asked Jakotsu.

Nobody had an answer and they pressed onward.

Bankotsu led them through a forest, looking for work when quite abruptly it found him. A bald messenger clad in red rushed forward up the road, legs pumping with exertion as he approached them. 'Lord Bankotsu of the Band of Seven! I bear a message from my Lord!' He fell to his knees and offered a parchment.

Bankotsu blinked, before taking it up and reading it. 'It says here we're wanted for another battle. This one is a three way,' he said, 'sounds fun. Alright, we're in.'

'Thank you my Lord!' said the messenger, before rushing off. As he did so Jakotsu slashed outward with her sword and hacked him in twain.

Bakotsu gave her a glare.

'What? He was annoying me.' said Jakotsu.

'Jakotsu,' said Bankotsu, 'I told you before you aren't supposed to kill messengers. It makes people think we're unstable or something.'

'Look can we just move on?' asked Inuyasha, long since apathetic to Jakotsu's murders. 'The daylight is dying.'

'Fine, fine.'

It would have been an unmemorable scene was it not for the events that transpired afterward. They left the forest and began making their way towards the battle. For a black-haired messenger, clad in yellow, approached them carrying a parchment. 'Lord Bankotsu of the band of seven, I bear a message from my Lord.'

'I have the strangest feeling of deja vu.' said Inuyasha as Bankotsu took up the parchment.

'It says here we're wanted for another battle.' said Bankotsu. 'This one is a three-way. Sounds fun. Alright, we're in.'

'Thank you my Lord!' said the messenger, before rushing off only to be cut in half by Jakotsu again.

'You know that is really getting annoying!' said Inuyasha.

'What?' said Jakotsu. 'I haven't carved anyone to bloody shreds in weeks. Demons don't count.'

'You carved up that guy five minutes ago!' stated Inuyasha.

'Aside from him,' said Jakotsu.

'Perhaps you should wait a bit, Jakotsu.' suggested Renkotsu.

They were getting into a hilly region when yet another messenger, this one clad in blue, rushed up to them. 'Lord Bankotsu of the Band of Seven! I bear a message from my Lord!' Once again he offered Bankotsu a scroll, and once again Bankotsu took it.

'This is getting familiar…' said Inuyasha.

'It says here that we're wanted for another battle.' said Bankotsu. 'This one's a three-way,' He looked up, 'sounds fun, alright we're in.'

'Thank you my Lord!' said the messenger, before rushing off and being cut into thirds by Jakotsu as he was about to get out of range.

'Jakotsu…' growled Inuyasha, clenching a fist.

'I did wait a while before that one, didn't I?' asked Jakotsu. 'What more do you want?'

'Knock it off!' said the Band of Seven leadership to Jakotsu as one.

'Anyways what the hell is going on here anyway?' asked Inuyasha. 'Have we entered a time loop or something?'

'Nothing so elaborate,' said Renkotsu, 'sieges are common, battles are not.'

'What the hell does that even mean?' asked Inuyasha,

'Just what I said.' said Renkotsu. 'When one is besieging a castle the defenders have a severe advantage. When one is fighting a battle, the defenders are not so lucky. It's even ground, meaning that battles tend to be very costly and smart Lords try to avoid them. The thing is, every battle we've fought we've outright won with no casualties.

'As such any side that has us on their side is more or less invincible.'

'So all three sides want us to work for them?' asked Inuyasha. 'Well who are we going to pick?'

'Bankotsu,' whined Jakotsu, 'couldn't we kill everyone on all the sides?'

'Nah, we can have some fun with this.' said Bankotsu. 'Alright the battle is scheduled to take place around two days from now in a field some ways away. We'll double-time it and get there on time. Then we'll start negotiating. Jakotsu, go find Mukotsu, him hunting girls can wait.'

'Fine,' said Jakotsu, running away.

A few moments later, Jakotsu returned with the dwarf in tow. The dwarf looked depressed. That meant he had committed a few more murders while he was gone. 'How many was it this time Mukotsu?' asked Inuyasha, voice cold.

'Just one…' said Mukotsu, 'a beautiful beautiful girl, like all the others she rejected me, however. Will, I ever find love?'

'I don't really care,' snapped Inuyasha, 'as long you didn't kill her entire village.'

'Of course, I didn't destroy the village!' snapped Mukotsu. 'Even if they all deserved it! If follow Big Brother's directives, unlike you!'

'Keep it up Mukotsu,' snapped Inuyasha, 'and one of these days you'll find yourself six feet under and in pieces.'

A reassuring but firm hand came to Inuyasha's shoulder. 'Easy, Inuyasha,' said Bankotsu, 'personal vendettas shouldn't get in the way of business.' There was a warning in his tone.

'Fair enough,' said Inuyasha, 'let's go.'

As they walked, Jakotsu fell to the rear of the line to walk alongside Mukotsu. 'So I've been meaning to ask Mukotsu, why are you into woman anyway?'

'It's only normal for men to be interested in woman Jakotsu,' replied Mukotsu, ' you are the eccentric. Alas, my foul looks have caused me to be rejected by every woman I've ever met. You cannot understand the anguish which besets my very being.'

'Actually, I'm pretty sure they reject you because you are a mass murdering psychopath.' muttered Inuyasha.

'Aren't we all?' asked Jakotsu.

'I've never had any problems picking up girls.' said Bankotsu. 'So the mass murderer aspect isn't a problem. It might even be a feature. So he might be more right then you give him credit for.'

'Okay, how about the fact that he approaches them out of the blue.' snapped Inuyasha. 'He can't have had preexisting relationships with every girl he has approached. Also, you do realize that if Mukotsu keeps up like this, he's going to ruin our reputation.'

'Inuyasha may be right.' said Renkotsu. 'We want to be perceived as professional soldiers, not butchers. If we become viewed as a menace, people may begin to target us.'

'If they send armies after us, we'll destroy them.' snapped Bankotsu. 'Besides, samurai and their soldiers murder woman all the time. What so when a feudal Lord decides to butcher an entire village over a woman who spurned him he's a saint. But when Mukotsu does it its pure evil?'

'All we're trying to say is that we should keep our reputation in mind in the future.' Renkotsu stated.

'Why?' asked Bankotsu quickly. 'You planning to become a feudal Lord yourself?'

Renkotsu was silent.

The sight of the battle was what might have otherwise been a peaceful and beautiful meadow. Yet it was marred by the vast forces arrayed upon it, each facing the other down. Red, yellow and blue were all garbed for war. Their spears and swords were pointed at each other as challenges were made. Bankotsu led the group straight into the middle of the three armies, and as he walked the calls fell silent.

The three Lords came forward. 'Ah, so at last the Band of Seven have arrived! Now victory is as good as ours!'

'You are a fool, they are working for me!' said the Second.

'You are both doomed,' cackled the Third. 'Soon victory will be mine!'

'Actually, I'm not working for anyone just yet.' stated Bankotsu with a shrug. 'See, we got three messages from all three of you, all requesting I take your side in this little war. And, funny thing, you all offered exactly the same price.

'Now, to be honest, I couldn't care less about your causes, or petty infighting, this is a job for me. The thing is, I figure I'll give you a couple of options. In the first option, we side with the person whose messenger got here first. But, I won't tell you whose messenger got here first until after you make a decision.'

There was absolute silence as the Lords eyed each other suspiciously.

'No?' asked Bankotsu. 'Don't like having a three in one chance. Alright, I'll give you an option less luck based. Start the auction.'

'What?' said a Lord.

'Well we provide a very valuable service.' said Bankots. And whoever has us on their side will end up winning this fight. Seems to me like its a seller's market right now, so I want you to start a bidding war for our support. Whoever can offer us the best deal, wins.

'Oh, and we're not interested in land and position, just blood and money.'

'And what if we decide we don't need you?' asked a Lord, affronted. 'What if we take offense at your blatant disrespect and choose to carve you to pieces?'

'In that case,' said Bankotsu with a sigh, 'in five minutes we'll be the only people still breathing on this field.' He looked around him with a level gaze. 'That's option C. Care to test my predictions?'

There was a terrible deadly silence. Fear was in the air. Then the blue Lord motioned with his sword. 'Forward men! Cut them to pieces!'

The blue army charged, and the other two followed suit, as the Band of Seven sprang to action. Renkotsu and Mukotsu unleashed poison gas and flames upon two of the armies. It consumed their front ranks in moments. At the same time, Jakotsu set about him with his sword, slashing everything in sight with lethal skill. The cavalry on one side was carved down by Bankotsu. Ginkotsu unleashed his buzz saws to tear through the enemy ranks.

Inuyasha threw himself into the fray, allowing all conscious thought to pass away. He tore, maimed and slashed without relent, mercy or pity. In the past year, he'd had plenty of time to drop his restraints. Now he took delight in letting everything about him pass away into a red haze. He bit, slashed, and kicked his way through things.

He was aware that Jakotsu was nearby, slashing through things. Bankotsu was on his other side, and the sound of explosions could be heard, consuming whole lives. Finally what remained of the armies took to flight, their leaders killed. It had been so easy.

Inuyasha restrained himself from pursuing them. It had become a habit of the Band of Seven that they did not chase fleeing opponents. Though some among them broke that unspoken rule with frequency. He watched them flee in terror from them. He reflected that by the end of today their names and deeds would have been spread to a dozen more villages.

'What did I tell them.' said Bankotsu, spinning Banryu over his head before planting it in the ground. 'Five minutes.'

'Yes,' said Renkotsu, voice annoyed, 'but now we have no one left to pay us.'

'Big deal,' said Bankotsu, 'we've got plenty of money leftover in our caches. We've got time to find another job.'

This marked the conclusion of the week's events. And in retrospect, it would foreshadow things to come.

Description
Chapter Five: Auction House

Inuyasha had disappeared again. Jakotsu and Bankotsu had noticed his absence at night one every month. As first they had thought nothing of it, but then they decided that it was starting to look a little suspicious. And that was why Jakotsu and Bankotsu followed Inuyasha into the woods this month. The tracked him to a moonlit glade.

There they saw something unusual. The half-demon was human. His white hair had become black as night, and he was completely mortal. He looked up at them and flinched in surprise. 'What… I… when did you get here?'

'Normally you'd have caught our scent long before we got here.' noted Bankotsu. 'So that different form of yours isn't as powerful.' He glanced at Jakotsu.

Jakotsu stared at Inuyasha unblinking. He was completely human. 'Your as cute a human as you are a half demon! Although the lack of dog ears is kind of weird.'

'Yeah, I should have been expecting a response like that.' muttered Inuyasha.

'So how did this happen exactly?' asked Bankotsu. 'And how do you change back?'

'I'll change back as soon as the sun rises.' said Inuyasha in irritation. 'It only happens once a month, on the night of the new moon, but I need you to keep this to yourselves.'

'Sure,' said Bankotsu, 'we can keep a secret. Right Jakotsu?' Jakotsu was licking his lips and reaching for her sword. 'Jakotsu, you can't kill Inuyasha.'

'I wasn't going to kill him.' Jakotsu pouted. 'Just bleed him a little.'

'I can tell we're never going to have a normal conversation.' deadpanned Inuyasha.

It had been a year since Inuyasha had joined the Band of Seven, and things had become somewhat routine. They would travel from castle to castle, village to village looking for work. Sometimes they would fight it out with demons who were causing trouble for the locals. Other times they would help wipe out one army for another army. It was the former today.

'Iron reaper soul stealer!'

Inuyasha descended upon the snake demon and tore through the demon with ease. At the same time, Bankotsu slashed through another. Jakotsu hacked and slashed through swaths of smaller ones. Renkotsu incinerated several of them with his fire breath. Meanwhile, Ginkotsu tore through a host of the beasts with his buzz saws. Quite a few trees fell to bits in the process.

Finally, all the Demons lay dead, and they met up in the aftermath. 'Well that's done with.' said Bankotsu. 'Nice job everyone.'

'Bankotsu,' said Jakotsu, 'killing demons is no fun. They never scream for mercy, or bleed like humans do.'

'Personally, I appreciate the variety.' said Renkotsu. 'What about you Inuyasha?'

'It makes no difference to me.' said Inuyasha. 'Let's get our reward and get out of this place.' They made their way to the castle to get their reward. When they had received it, the group made their way into a forest and dug a deep hole. From there they set their treasure into it. They marked the trees near it with a special mark which only they knew the meaning of.

'You know,' said Jakatso, 'we're building up a very large war chest.'

'Maybe we can retire early.' suggested Inuyasha. 'Find a distant island to build a castle on.'

'Yeah, but then who would we kill?' asked Jakotsu.

Nobody had an answer and they pressed onward.

Bankotsu led them through a forest, looking for work when quite abruptly it found him. A bald messenger clad in red rushed forward up the road, legs pumping with exertion as he approached them. 'Lord Bankotsu of the Band of Seven! I bear a message from my Lord!' He fell to his knees and offered a parchment.

Bankotsu blinked, before taking it up and reading it. 'It says here we're wanted for another battle. This one is a three way,' he said, 'sounds fun. Alright, we're in.'

'Thank you my Lord!' said the messenger, before rushing off. As he did so Jakotsu slashed outward with her sword and hacked him in twain.

Bakotsu gave her a glare.

'What? He was annoying me.' said Jakotsu.

'Jakotsu,' said Bankotsu, 'I told you before you aren't supposed to kill messengers. It makes people think we're unstable or something.'

'Look can we just move on?' asked Inuyasha, long since apathetic to Jakotsu's murders. 'The daylight is dying.'

'Fine, fine.'

It would have been an unmemorable scene was it not for the events that transpired afterward. They left the forest and began making their way towards the battle. For a black-haired messenger, clad in yellow, approached them carrying a parchment. 'Lord Bankotsu of the band of seven, I bear a message from my Lord.'

'I have the strangest feeling of deja vu.' said Inuyasha as Bankotsu took up the parchment.

'It says here we're wanted for another battle.' said Bankotsu. 'This one is a three-way. Sounds fun. Alright, we're in.'

'Thank you my Lord!' said the messenger, before rushing off only to be cut in half by Jakotsu again.

'You know that is really getting annoying!' said Inuyasha.

'What?' said Jakotsu. 'I haven't carved anyone to bloody shreds in weeks. Demons don't count.'

'You carved up that guy five minutes ago!' stated Inuyasha.

'Aside from him,' said Jakotsu.

'Perhaps you should wait a bit, Jakotsu.' suggested Renkotsu.

They were getting into a hilly region when yet another messenger, this one clad in blue, rushed up to them. 'Lord Bankotsu of the Band of Seven! I bear a message from my Lord!' Once again he offered Bankotsu a scroll, and once again Bankotsu took it.

'This is getting familiar…' said Inuyasha.

'It says here that we're wanted for another battle.' said Bankotsu. 'This one's a three-way,' He looked up, 'sounds fun, alright we're in.'

'Thank you my Lord!' said the messenger, before rushing off and being cut into thirds by Jakotsu as he was about to get out of range.

'Jakotsu…' growled Inuyasha, clenching a fist.

'I did wait a while before that one, didn't I?' asked Jakotsu. 'What more do you want?'

'Knock it off!' said the Band of Seven leadership to Jakotsu as one.

'Anyways what the hell is going on here anyway?' asked Inuyasha. 'Have we entered a time loop or something?'

'Nothing so elaborate,' said Renkotsu, 'sieges are common, battles are not.'

'What the hell does that even mean?' asked Inuyasha,

'Just what I said.' said Renkotsu. 'When one is besieging a castle the defenders have a severe advantage. When one is fighting a battle, the defenders are not so lucky. It's even ground, meaning that battles tend to be very costly and smart Lords try to avoid them. The thing is, every battle we've fought we've outright won with no casualties.

'As such any side that has us on their side is more or less invincible.'

'So all three sides want us to work for them?' asked Inuyasha. 'Well who are we going to pick?'

'Bankotsu,' whined Jakotsu, 'couldn't we kill everyone on all the sides?'

'Nah, we can have some fun with this.' said Bankotsu. 'Alright the battle is scheduled to take place around two days from now in a field some ways away. We'll double-time it and get there on time. Then we'll start negotiating. Jakotsu, go find Mukotsu, him hunting girls can wait.'

'Fine,' said Jakotsu, running away.

A few moments later, Jakotsu returned with the dwarf in tow. The dwarf looked depressed. That meant he had committed a few more murders while he was gone. 'How many was it this time Mukotsu?' asked Inuyasha, voice cold.

'Just one…' said Mukotsu, 'a beautiful beautiful girl, like all the others she rejected me, however. Will, I ever find love?'

'I don't really care,' snapped Inuyasha, 'as long you didn't kill her entire village.'

'Of course, I didn't destroy the village!' snapped Mukotsu. 'Even if they all deserved it! If follow Big Brother's directives, unlike you!'

'Keep it up Mukotsu,' snapped Inuyasha, 'and one of these days you'll find yourself six feet under and in pieces.'

A reassuring but firm hand came to Inuyasha's shoulder. 'Easy, Inuyasha,' said Bankotsu, 'personal vendettas shouldn't get in the way of business.' There was a warning in his tone.

'Fair enough,' said Inuyasha, 'let's go.'

As they walked, Jakotsu fell to the rear of the line to walk alongside Mukotsu. 'So I've been meaning to ask Mukotsu, why are you into woman anyway?'

'It's only normal for men to be interested in woman Jakotsu,' replied Mukotsu, ' you are the eccentric. Alas, my foul looks have caused me to be rejected by every woman I've ever met. You cannot understand the anguish which besets my very being.'

'Actually, I'm pretty sure they reject you because you are a mass murdering psychopath.' muttered Inuyasha.

'Aren't we all?' asked Jakotsu.

'I've never had any problems picking up girls.' said Bankotsu. 'So the mass murderer aspect isn't a problem. It might even be a feature. So he might be more right then you give him credit for.'

'Okay, how about the fact that he approaches them out of the blue.' snapped Inuyasha. 'He can't have had preexisting relationships with every girl he has approached. Also, you do realize that if Mukotsu keeps up like this, he's going to ruin our reputation.'

'Inuyasha may be right.' said Renkotsu. 'We want to be perceived as professional soldiers, not butchers. If we become viewed as a menace, people may begin to target us.'

'If they send armies after us, we'll destroy them.' snapped Bankotsu. 'Besides, samurai and their soldiers murder woman all the time. What so when a feudal Lord decides to butcher an entire village over a woman who spurned him he's a saint. But when Mukotsu does it its pure evil?'

'All we're trying to say is that we should keep our reputation in mind in the future.' Renkotsu stated.

'Why?' asked Bankotsu quickly. 'You planning to become a feudal Lord yourself?'

Renkotsu was silent.

The sight of the battle was what might have otherwise been a peaceful and beautiful meadow. Yet it was marred by the vast forces arrayed upon it, each facing the other down. Red, yellow and blue were all garbed for war. Their spears and swords were pointed at each other as challenges were made. Bankotsu led the group straight into the middle of the three armies, and as he walked the calls fell silent.

The three Lords came forward. 'Ah, so at last the Band of Seven have arrived! Now victory is as good as ours!'

'You are a fool, they are working for me!' said the Second.

'You are both doomed,' cackled the Third. 'Soon victory will be mine!'

'Actually, I'm not working for anyone just yet.' stated Bankotsu with a shrug. 'See, we got three messages from all three of you, all requesting I take your side in this little war. And, funny thing, you all offered exactly the same price.

'Now, to be honest, I couldn't care less about your causes, or petty infighting, this is a job for me. The thing is, I figure I'll give you a couple of options. In the first option, we side with the person whose messenger got here first. But, I won't tell you whose messenger got here first until after you make a decision.'

There was absolute silence as the Lords eyed each other suspiciously.

'No?' asked Bankotsu. 'Don't like having a three in one chance. Alright, I'll give you an option less luck based. Start the auction.'

'What?' said a Lord.

'Well we provide a very valuable service.' said Bankots. And whoever has us on their side will end up winning this fight. Seems to me like its a seller's market right now, so I want you to start a bidding war for our support. Whoever can offer us the best deal, wins.

'Oh, and we're not interested in land and position, just blood and money.'

'And what if we decide we don't need you?' asked a Lord, affronted. 'What if we take offense at your blatant disrespect and choose to carve you to pieces?'

'In that case,' said Bankotsu with a sigh, 'in five minutes we'll be the only people still breathing on this field.' He looked around him with a level gaze. 'That's option C. Care to test my predictions?'

There was a terrible deadly silence. Fear was in the air. Then the blue Lord motioned with his sword. 'Forward men! Cut them to pieces!'

The blue army charged, and the other two followed suit, as the Band of Seven sprang to action. Renkotsu and Mukotsu unleashed poison gas and flames upon two of the armies. It consumed their front ranks in moments. At the same time, Jakotsu set about him with his sword, slashing everything in sight with lethal skill. The cavalry on one side was carved down by Bankotsu. Ginkotsu unleashed his buzz saws to tear through the enemy ranks.

Inuyasha threw himself into the fray, allowing all conscious thought to pass away. He tore, maimed and slashed without relent, mercy or pity. In the past year, he'd had plenty of time to drop his restraints. Now he took delight in letting everything about him pass away into a red haze. He bit, slashed, and kicked his way through things.

He was aware that Jakotsu was nearby, slashing through things. Bankotsu was on his other side, and the sound of explosions could be heard, consuming whole lives. Finally what remained of the armies took to flight, their leaders killed. It had been so easy.

Inuyasha restrained himself from pursuing them. It had become a habit of the Band of Seven that they did not chase fleeing opponents. Though some among them broke that unspoken rule with frequency. He watched them flee in terror from them. He reflected that by the end of today their names and deeds would have been spread to a dozen more villages.

'What did I tell them.' said Bankotsu, spinning Banryu over his head before planting it in the ground. 'Five minutes.'

'Yes,' said Renkotsu, voice annoyed, 'but now we have no one left to pay us.'

'Big deal,' said Bankotsu, 'we've got plenty of money leftover in our caches. We've got time to find another job.'

This marked the conclusion of the week's events. And in retrospect, it would foreshadow things to come.