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The Seven: Wanted Dead or Alive	By : Hairann Category: InuYasha AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2712 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 131
- 132
- 133
Title: Jakotsu's forgiveness and Suikotsu's troubles

Prompt and Word Count:retreat-1050

Characters: Bankotsu, Jakotsu and Suikotsu

Summary: Part 132 of The Seven: Wanted Dead or Alive.

Prompt Summary: Jakotsu learns the truth about the night during the storm and Suikotsu deals with his own aftermath of the storm.
Won first place for prompt!

“I had originally planned on keeping this from you because I did not want you to worry, but I suppose I can not have it both ways. I can not be happy that you worry about me and try to keep you from worrying about me,” Bankotsu began sounding a bit like he was rambling to himself, but Jakotsu remained silent as he just continued to smile up at him. “One night during the storm when it got really bad outside, I was almost swept away by the water,” he informed him, continuing on even as Jakotsu's gasped at the ramifications of what his words meant; that he had nearly drowned.
“Renkotsu saved my life, nearly losing his own in the process. He has risked his life for my sake just as you have and though it is not the same as my relationship with you, I can no more turn my back on him than I could on you.” Unable to speak for fear of crying, Jakotsu simply nodded his head in understanding before following along behind Bankotsu when he signaled for his horse to start moving again. As they caught up to Renkotsu and began moving as a group once more, Jakotsu couldn't help but stare at the man before him as he realized he now owed the man twice for saving Bankotsu's life.
Only this time, he could not claim he was only a second faster. If it wasn't for him, Bankotsu would have been lost and Jakotsu wouldn't even have learned about it until it was far too late to try to save him. Perhaps it was time for Jakotsu to put the past behind him once more and forget about the fact that he nearly killed him. He would allow this to erase the mistakes of his past, but it would not protect him from any he made in the future; Jakotsu quickly decided. No, that would require a more continuous proof of loyalty and friendship.
…
A few days before, when the cattle drive was still stuck in the valley and waiting out the storm, another was dealing with the drastic change in weather back the way they had come weeks before. Instead of being drenched and nearly drowning from the heavy rain, his homestead was suffering the other effects of the storm; namely lightning strikes. Normally this would not be enough to cause him too much concern, however he was unlucky enough to have not one, but two of the strikes hit his barn; catching it on fire and burning it faster than he and the rain could put it out.
By the time the sun rose the next morning, there was very little left of the barn other than a few still standing posts and a pile of burnt rubble. This normally wouldn't have been such a big deal, barns could be rebuilt and there were no livestock instead of him to mourn the loss of, but it became a problem when he realized that not everything his barn had housed had burned as well. Brands on many of the crates were still visible enough for others to figure out they had come from the stagecoaches that had been getting attacked.
Even with his homestead being as far out from the nearest town as it was, he knew someone would have spotted the fire during the night or the smoke rising up from it this morning and would be sending 'help' out to him. Knowing it would take him far too long to dispose of all of the stolen goods currently sitting on his property, he decided to do the next best thing; he began building a grave mound to the side of his barn.
As he did not bother digging into the dirt to begin with as one normally would, it took him far less time that it usually would to pile dirt high enough on the ground to make it look as though someone was buried underneath. Quickly using a small, leafy branch that had broken off of a tree during the storm, he ran it across the mound until no more signs of his hand prints could be found in the mud. Throwing on top some dead leaves and broken branches, hoping to make it look as though it had been there a while and not recently dug, he made his way inside his home.
Once he was certain he had what few things he wanted to keep, he began smashing everything inside his modest home; unending drawers and turning furniture over on its side. Putting back on his boots, which he took off upon entering his house to make sure there were no new tracks inside, he headed back out into his yard one last time. Giving it a final glance, Suikotsu did the only left for him to do after removing all of his footprints from the yard and any other sign anyone had been there during the storm; he retreated.
Nearly an hour later when the sheriff arrived with others, hoping to help the homesteader, which none of the could actually remember ever meeting, they found the place just as he left it. In their search for survivors or bodies to bury before they continued on to the next house, one of the deputies found the stash of stolen goods and quickly brought the sheriff's attention to it. Moments later, the 'burial' mound was discovered as was the state of the house. It did not take long for the sheriff and his deputies to come to the very conclusion Suikotsu had wanted them to. The robbers had apparently been using the barn to store the goods they had stolen after killing the owner of said barn.
With no signs of tracks to be found in the mud, other than the ones they had just made, it was decided that they must have left before the storm and would be back later for their bounty. Leaving a few men to watch the house so he would know when they returned, the sheriff took the others and headed toward the next homestead after clearing the debris from on top of the mound and adding a crude cross at the top to mark it as a grave.
- 131
- 132
- 133
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The Seven: Wanted Dead or Alive