Death of an Anime

A/N- And here it is...the last one...the king of them all. It's also the one that hurt me the MOST to write. Bankotsu's death. Courtesy of Jakotsu, who was the overall winner of the contest. I freaked trying to write this because, as any of you who have read my other stuff know...I love these boys! And they love each other! Why would one kill the other?! Because it had to happen, is why. So...here it is....

Warnings: Blood play and imagery. Torture. Sadism. Overt yaoi implications. Two boys kissing, but that's all. Much sadness and angst. Jakotsu doing what he does best. I think that's all....
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'Bankotsu....you idiot. You stupid, stupid idiot.'

Waking up with a very sharp swordblade at his throat, and his best friend straddling his stomach was not Bankotsu's idea of a good morning. Although from the amount of moonlight pouring in through the one window of the room he had been sharing with Jakotsu, it didn't look to be morning yet. It looked like it should be very, very late at night. Blinking sleep out of his eyes, the braided man looked up at his inky-eyed friend.

"Jakotsu...what the f--" He trailed off, eyes widening as Jakotsu's gaze bored into his own eyes, and he licked his lips. 'You STUPID idiot!' Jakotsu had told him, had warned him, many times over their multiple tries at life, ever since they met.

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"Aniki."
"Aa? Nan da, Jakotsu?" He watched as his still relatively new friend shifted the unwieldy sheath across his back, a blush spreading itself over his pale face. "Jakotsu? What is it?"

"If...if it should ever...come up..I don't think..I should share a room with you, aniki." Bankotsu peered at him closely. When the fifteen year old blushed like this, and got all shy, it always meant they were talking about something he didn't like about himself. Something Important. Something the almost thirteen year old Bankotsu knew better than to ignore.

"Why would you say that? It'd save us money, Jakotsu, not having to always rent two rooms." He blinked as his older friend blushed again.

"Aniki...you know...howIlikeboys?" It came out all in a rush, and if Bankotsu hadn't already known, he might have had to ask his companion to repeat it.

"Hai. I've already told you. It's okay, Jakotsu. All of it." He let Banryuu slip off his shoulders and rested the blade on the ground, leaning back and stretching his lower back. "Even the part where you slice them up."

"Demo...Bankotsu." Ooh...his real name. One blue eye cracked open. "I don't want to ever slice YOU up." Sapphire eyes blinked.

"Why would you ever do that? We'd never be fighting." Jakotsu stared at him as if he had grown horns. "What??"

"Bankotsu...you're a cute guy." Jakotsu blushed almost a furiously as Bankotsu himself did, and tilted his face up to look at the cloudy sky. "I don't want to take the risk that...even without fighting you...I mean...you really are cute..." he trailed off lamely. Bankotsu laughed, the happy loudness of it startling his friend, and waved his warnings aside.

"Jakotsu, don't worry about it. I think we'll be fine. Besides...I highly doubt that you could sneak up and get the better of me." Jakotsu didn't look convinced, but he smiled and laughed along with his young, longhaired friend anyway.
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Why, oh why hadn't he listened? They had shared a room for years since that day. Jakotsu had been jumpy at first, and rarely seemed to have gotten a good night's sleep, but eventually he had relaxed. They had even shared a futon on occassion, when all of the Shichinintai had to share a single room. Nothing had ever happened. Apparently today was the day that luck decided to run out.

"What's wrong, cutie?" That satiny, melodic voice smoothed its way through his senses. Jakotsu only talked like that, so...seductive, when someone's death was imminent. Bankotsu certainly knew what happened to any boy unlucky enough to be called "cutie". He also knew that struggling would only inflame his friend's lust further, and so he kept still. He had to bide his time, and wait for the right moment.

"Jakotsu." The owner of that name shivered at the sound of that wonderful, deep voice whispering it. "Why are you doing this?" Bankotsu's eyes scanned the area. Banryuu was leaned against the wall behind Jakotsu, so that was out; at least until he got Jakotsu off of him, and his sword away from his throat. Frantically, he looked for anything sharp or heavy within arm's reach, but the only thing close enough was his haori. His eyes widened. 'Why...oh WHY did I sleep half-naked?' He didn't feel a draft, so he figured he must still be covered.

"I loooove your voice, Ban-chaaan...it'd sound even better in pain though..." Jakotsutou's edge dug just a little harder against Bankotsu's adam's apple. Yes...this...he knew this about Jakotsu. He knew how to react.
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Bankotsu hid behind a tree and watched his eighteen year old friend with his new playtoy. He had no clue what the boy had ever done to Jakotsu, but whatever it was, Jakotsu was sure taking it personal. He had the other boy on the ground, straddling his hips. Bankotsu's eyes widened as the boy screamed, and Jakotsu laughed, his eyes bright.

"That was sexy...do it again." He put the point of his bloody blade to his prey's chest and pressed, sliding it down towards himself. Cloth and skin parted, blood welling out of the wound as the boy screamed again, his back arching in pain. Jakotsu giggled and leaned down, licking up the bloody line of the deep slash. He smacked his lips. "Your blood is so sweet. Just like your face." He reached up and caressed the other boy's already soiled cheek, leaning down to press scarlet lips to those paling from blood loss. The boy struggled, then sceamed again in agony as the sword was dragged down his side.

Bankotsu turned and fled, Jakotsu's maniacal laughter harmonizing with the boy's screams echoing behind him.
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And now Bankotsu was screaming. Jakotsu hadn't wasted any time in stripping the sheet off of his half-naked body. He had never had any problems with his companion's preference before this, even when Jakotsu would sometimes make comments about how cute he himself was. But the way Jakotsu had looked at him, poised over his bare chest, had caused a violent shudder the likes of which no amount of blood had ever raised.

He had made another mistake when, after Jakotsu scored him the first time, he had tried to fight back. The man was deceptively strong. Bankotsu had forgotten just how much. But the fact that his own hands were now bound together behind his back at an awkward angle served a painful reminder. Jakotsu was panting heavily, staring down at him with half-lidded eyes, blade poised over his already sore and bloody skin.

"Jakotsu..." His voice was rough with pain, and tears were pricking at his eyes. Jakotsu let out a small gasp of pleasure and grinned down at him, eyes sparkling.

"Say my name again...just like that." He put pressure to the swordpoint that rested on Bankotsu's collarbone, and the point dug into the soft skin, grinding against bone.

"Jakotsu!!" It was a cry now, and tears squeezed from the corners of Bankotsu's eyes. "Stop it, Jakotsu, please!" He hissed breath in through clenched teeth as his tormentor began to drag the sword down, slicing through skin. "You don't...have...to do... this." That caused a halt in the sword's movement. Suddenly Jakotsu's face was close to his He was frowning fiercely.

"Who are you to tell me what I do or do not have to do?" The sword dropped to the floor as Jakotsu took a hold of his shoulders, pushing him further back against the futon's bloodsoaked mattress. He loomed above him, a desperate look in his eyes.

"Jakotsu...you know who I am." Bankotsu's arms felt like they were about to break. "I'm your friend. I'm Bankotsu. You know me. I accept you. Everything about you. Always have. You know that!" He was babbling, and he knew it. But snapping Jakotsu out of this fit might be the only thing that could save him now. He was cut off by a derogatory snort from the man above him.

"Accept me?" The inky eyes got suddenly very serious, and hearbreakingly sad as he stared down at his victim's bloody shoulder. "Nobody accepts me, Ban-chan. Not even you." He looked back into sapphire eyes again, and Bankotsu's heart went out to his own torturer. Jakotsu looked so hurt. So broken. It was like he always used to look before he was about to tell Bankotsu about an important part of his horrendously painful past that the braided man didn't know yet.

"Ban-chan...you wouldn't accept me if you knew...how I had always felt about you." He fought to keep himself from tensing up, but he couldn't stop his eyes from widening. Jakotsu, luckily, didn't notice his reaction. He was still talking. "Almost since the day I met you, cutie. I knew you were different. That you didn't look down on me. You accepted me. Then. But you won't now." A tear slipped down his cheek, turning pink as it ran through a bloody smear. Bankotsu thought fast. Jakotsu obviously had some sort of feelings for him. Bankotsu, as far as he knew...didn't have romantic feelings for anyone. He'd never had the chance to form that kind of attachment. But...and this could have just been the threat of imminent demise talking...if he could feel that way towards anyone, the person he felt closest to in all the world, was Jakotsu.

Grunting in pain and exertion, Bankotsu fought against Jakotsu's weight on his shoulders, fought to stretch the few inches between them. Jakotsu's eyes went very, very wide as he succeeded, and pressed a clumsy kiss against his scarlet lips.

For the briefest of seconds, just the barest moment in time, he was Jakotsu again. The man who had traveled all these years by Bankotsu's side, the man who had fought and died with him repeated times, the protective, carefree and slightly perverted boy that Bankotsu realized, in that second, that he had fallen in love with. Those soft lips moved against his, and Bankotsu gasped, pulling slightly away. Jakotsu let out a soft, desperate noise and his arms went around his back, pulling him close again. Their lips pressed together again, and the taste of salt was in the kiss. Bankotsu opened his eyes and realized Jakotsu was crying.

That's when he made his final mistake.

Jakotsu was kneeling between his legs. Jakotsutou lay discarded on the floor by his right foot. If he could just kick it out of the way...he might have a chance. Despite the blood loss.

Reflexes heightened with adrenaline and the desire to live, Bankotsu did just that. He delivered a powerful kick to the bloody sword and his arms gave a mighty tug at the bonds that held his hands behind his back. His sudden movements startled Jakotsu, who pulled back in surprise. Jakotsu stared at him, and Bankotsu immediately regretted his rash decision.

He watched, his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. Jakotsu's eyes filled with tears, and his face went from confused, to suspicious, to hurt, to furious. His eyes dilated, and those soft lips curled in a snarl. When he spoke, his tone was poisonous, and he lurched forward, knocking Bankotsu back down onto the futon.

"You're no different. Just like the others. You don't want me. You don't love me. You only used me. To try and get away." Tears spilled down bloody cheeks. "You used me! Just like everybody else!"

"Jakotsu, wait...I didn't...don't--" he was cut off as Jakotsu leaned down and caught his lips in a brutal kiss. It was bruising and possessive, and Jakotsu bit down hard on his bottom lip, drawing blood and making him cry out. When he pulled back, he was crying again.

"Bankotsu...I would have loved it...if we could have..." he choked on his final words. His eyes became determined and a spark of insanity ignited deep inside the charcoal orbs. One hand reached up and smoothed through Bankotsu's tousled bangs, before the other moved up and joined the first at his throat. Bankotsu's eyes went wide as his friend, and might-have-been-lover began to squeeze, crushing his trachea and cutting off his air.

"Just like the others," Jakotsu whispered as he slowly killed him. "Just like the others." But Bankotsu had never seen Jakotsu cry when he killed victims before, and he had watched every single time. He felt dizzy now, and his vision was going fuzzy. Through the haze he saw Jakotsu still crying, felt the tears hitting his skin, and felt Jakotsu's sword-strong hands tighten even more about his throat. He thrashed underneath his murderer-friend's body, and Jakotsu laughed.

Jakotsu laughed. It was a chilling sound, half his normal cackle, and half a sob. It kept up as Bankotsu's mouth worked soundlessly, begging for air, for release. It kept up as his body spasmed and bucked, deperate for lifegiving oxygen. It kept up as his vision blacked out and his mind reeled. Thoughts and images of all things past, and all things that might have been flitted before his darkened eyes, and still Jakotsu laughed.

'Jakotsu..I would have loved you--' the bloody braided man's thoughts were severed like a thin cord. His body finally gave up the fight, succumbing to the familiar, comforting thick darkness that came with death. He wasn't scared. As the leader of the Shichinintai died for the third time, he knew only regret and sadness.

Jakotsu kept on laughing.


Owari.

**Cries** See? See?? Sad!!!! Cheer me up...leave a review...