Author's Note

Youkai Hime90: My muse just wouldn't leave me the hell alone, and as they say just go with the flow…as a result this was created. Yep. Another Bankotsu x Sango fic. Yeah, there aren't that many out there and Youkai no Yume is known for her SessKag fics and Rose and Riomi is famous for writing her awesome KurKei fics (which I highly recommend by the way). I, Youkai Hime90 aspire to become famous too! Well, at least in the IY Fandom…(coughs). Also, this pairing is often overlooked and neglected and I often enjoy a good challenge so I decided to take it on. I plan on it being as long as three chapters, a far cry from my signature one-shots. With that said, enjoy the fic!

Disclaimer: There's no way I own Inuyasha. I do not make any profit from this. I'm simply using them for my own sick and twisted purposes.

'thought'

flashbacks

Beautiful

Prologue: Distant Memories

By: Youkai Hime90

Bankotsu had been called a lot of things; monster, murderer, evil…but never beautiful. So, to be called that, by someone other than Jakotsu, a child no less, bewildered and for some reason irked the normally smug mercenary to no end.

"Eh? What'd you say?" he demanded critically, almost disbelievingly, whipping around and gazing back down at the spirited, young girl, beaming up at him. He donned an annoyed expression, which wasn't a far cry from the usual cocky personage he always seemed to project.

The child in question looked no older than five or six. Judging by her sense of fashion and the way she looked, it was probably safe to say she was simply a child of one of the village women he'd spotted earlier. She donned a rose and white colored kimono, secured with a light green obi. Her long black hair fell loosely around her thin shoulders.

Bankotsu wondered what such a small child was doing in the middle of nowhere and without parent supervision, talking to a stranger such as himself. Was she lost? Had she been abandoned? It wasn't totally uncommon in the Feudal Era for parents to give up their children and leave them to fend for themselves. Mother nature had been far from cooperative this year.

"Ne, why are you carrying such a large sword?" the young girl asked in all her innocence, her large, brown eyes staring up at him inquisitively. Her gaze shifted between him and his Banryuu. Unconsciously, as a mother would surge forward to protect her child, Bankotsu shifted his sword up higher on his back and out of the child's reach.

She looked…familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place it. He pushed that thought to the farthest corner of his mind and frowned expectantly down at her.

Not that he was obligated in anyway to answer her, Bankotsu simply offered, "It's not just any sword." As if his head could get any bigger, he smirked down at the young girl who looked up at him curiously. "It's my Banryuu, so keep your paws off it!"

The tanned child, with a small, pink mouth pouted up at him, arms dropping to her sides, before brightening instantly as she gushed up at him.

Bankotsu frowned, unnerved by her eyes, which held too much innocence that would not be condoned in this cruel, unforgiving world. Perhaps, he decided, her behavior was only to be expected in simple village children in their early years. Pure. Untainted. That is until the day that they're eyes were unveiled, when they were forced to face the harsh reality that life was far from rainbows and butterflies, as he was sure her bed time stories depicted.

"Oh wow…you have such pretty hair!"

Bankotsu's eye twitched. He smacked the young girl's hands and took a couple of steps back, staring at her warily. He usually didn't have the patience required for handling children, and this girl was no exception. Normally, he was heartless and condescending. If he were in his right mind he would have left her already, without so much as a glance back. After all, the only way to truly live was without regret.

But…what was it about this girl-child? She wasn't like any other children. She was…different somehow. This girl hadn't run away in fear at the mere sight of him and his large sword. In fact, she'd taken the initiative and had approached him, smiling happily as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"You're beautiful."

"You're funny, I like you!" the girl laughed to herself and plopped her bottom on the ground, giggling. She picked some wild flowers and offered them to him. He declined.

"I don't have time for this," he growled to himself.

Bankotsu watched the young girl roll around and play in the grass. She clapped her hands and giggled gaily, listening to the symphony of bird-song, calling for lovers and defending territory. A butterfly, drifting gently almost without purpose came into her line of sight and she held out her hand to it. Without hesitation, it alighted on her outstretched palm and closed it's delicate wings, sensing no threat.

"Pretty butterfly…"

'Kill her…'

He was ten feet behind her.

Bankotsu crouched, hand poised on his Banryuu. Unaware of the dark look in his eyes as he approached her slowly from behind.

He was five feet behind her.

His eyes had hardened with resolve then, and he raised his halberd and pointed it at her. The blade itself shined, glowing with a ghostly inner light even as the sunlight filtered through the tree tops.

He was right behind her.

His grip on his halberd slacked slightly and his arms shook as he watched her. Why was he hesitating?

'Damn it!'

He couldn't do it.

'Damn her, she-she musta put a spell on me or sumthin!'

He lowered his sword with a sigh just as she whipped her head around to stare at him with her large brown eyes. His eyes…were darker somehow as he stared blankly at the ground as if in a daze of some sorts. He remained silent all the while as she took a step closer to where he had sunken to his knees. A curious expression marred her girlish features and she bit her bottom lip.

"Why is the pretty man sad?" she asked quietly.

'Sad?'

Sad wasn't quite the word to describe how he felt. Shocked at his own weakness? Yes. Confused? Hell yeah! Ashamed that he had even considered taking her life?

…Yes.

But why in the seven hells had it bothered him? What was this feeling..?

He felt a strange sensation, one that he wasn't often given to experiencing. It was a twinge at the back of his mind, a prickle like an unwelcome claw on his neck. Bankotsu sighed quietly, his face expressionless as he raised his eyes to meet hers.

"The name's Bankotsu."

The feeling was guilt.

The girl-child instantly brightened. "My name's Sango!"

'Sango?'

That was a pretty name. Didn't it mean coral or something? Well she was pretty so he supposed it suited her.

Bankotsu had no clue of the tangled web he would get himself into because of this mere child.

And as he allowed her to braid his lovely hair, weaving and threading her small fingers through his silky ebony tresses he is taken aback by the startling familiarity yet foreign softness of her touch, and he at last remembers. A smiling face comes to the surface of his mind, not yet tarnished and corroded by the haze of time like he had feared so long ago.

"Onee-chan your so beautiful!"