Hi guys! This is my second fanfiction about SeiGou—I'm sorry for not finishing the first one. I ended up losing the interest and inspiration to finish it…. Also, after rereading through the five chapters, I felt that it was written very sloppily. Hopefully I'll stick through with this story. I plan on trying my best to make this story more intriguing and to improve on my writing skills. Please leave reviews—even critiques are welcomed! It lets me know that there are people out there willing to read my story and to watch and help me grow as a better writer =)

Also, this fanfiction takes place in an AU. Some of the things in this story are inspired by other animes, for example: Attack on Titan (well, specifically the 3DMG). If I must, I will reference anything else that is inspired by other animes to avoid upsetting any of you readers that are fans of them. Other than that, every thing else is original work.

Well, without further ado…

Chapter 1:

Faster….. faster…—tch. They'll catch up to me if things stay this way. Think Kou, think!

Kou dispatched the wires from her boots and aimed at the farthest tree possible.

The maximum length of my wires is 720 feet. If I could increase the distance between us by at least 160 feet, I'd be able to throw them off my trail.

She carelessly latched onto a feeble branch of a General Sherman, which gave out under the pressure of her weight. Fortunately, she had built up enough swinging momentum to throw herself onto the next nearest tree; the impact of the large branch knocked her breath out of her. She clung on despite the pain slowly spreading and increasing. If it weren't for her intense daily training regimen, the chances of her holding onto her consciousness would've been very slim. Not caring to wipe the blood from her lips, Kou hastily maneuvered her lower body onto the branch. She scrambled into the leaves and balanced herself on all fours. Aware of the pain throbbing in her right side, she crawled towards the tree's trunk. Kou leaned her back on it for support, giving herself some time to catch her breath and plan an alternate escape route.

Augh, and the whole point of taking this trip was to bring my boots for maintenance at old-man Goro's. I don't know how much more they can take before I'm totally screwed…

Kou lifted her right arm and gently caressed her right side in attempt alleviate the pain underneath. Curious as to how badly she butchered her ribs, she prodded at one of them.

"Ack!" She spat out more blood and found herself in a coughing fit. This isn't good, if they hear me, they'll be able to pinpoint exactly where I am. Those damn dogs—*cough cough*

Taking out the piece of cloth that tied her hair messily in a ponytail, she let loose her red locks and gagged herself with the salty material. The unyielding pain became so overbearing to the point where her entire right side was numbed. She felt herself teetering and used her left hand to balance herself to the best of her abilities. Her energy was almost completely depleted and was left at the mercy of the wind—one gust could send her tumbling towards the ground. Just as her eyes began closing against her will, she looked down to see the three men who were in pursuit of her, attempting to climb the tree she took refuge in.

Hah, like you pesky.. "urgh,"… dogs could ever reach.. me.. Sweat dripped past her temple, mixed with the blood dripping from her gag, dangled for dear life on her chin, and fell towards the forest floor. The biggest of the three beasts below lapped at the droplet and began attacking the tree with more vigor, encouraging the other two to mirror his actions.

Damn beasts! Taking down an 80 meter tree with only three guys is no joke! The tree shook harder.

Heh, I guess you won't have to try reaching for me after all… since I'll end up being the one meeting you guys…

"Rin….. nii-san… Rin! Oi Rin!" Kou ran with all the power she had in her short, 7 year old legs.

"Whewe awe you going nii-san? Didn't you pwomise we'd wait fow Daddy to come home togedew? You pwomised!" Her face roughly met the back of her older, irritated brother who stopped abruptly in his tracks.

"Gou. Don't you understand? The entire clan already considers Father as one of deceased and has moved on to find a new leader, which means that I'll end up being the one to take his place. Hah! Like I'll ever take over that wretched seat; doing that would only mean admitting that Father truly is dead. No, I'm leaving. I'm going to search for Father." Rin looked down at his little sister. The fear apparent in her widening eyes made him realize what he was about to put his sister through. Kneeling down to level their eyesight, he rested his left hand on top of Kou's head and spoke in a softer tone to let her know he was not angry with her.

"In the meantime, you stay here Gou. I don't want them hating the Matsuoka name. If anything, just let them hate the men of our family. Protect Mother... and protect our rightful place as leader. Dad had big plans for the future—plans that would lead us to peace with the other clans; there were probably men lurking about that opposed Father's ideals. And they're more than likely still here today, ready to take over the role as our clan's head. Too bad for them, we still have the right to rule—male or female. Mother does not have the qualities of being good leader besides knowledge; you on the other hand have potential. We can only rely on you little sister; take the position as leader and wait for me and Father to come back. You can do that for me.. for us.. right?"

Rin gently stroked Kou's head as he spoke. So gently, making Kou feel as if he wasn't really touching her. As if his existence was merely just an illusion. His warmth wasn't there, but she could feel the cluster of hair moving in unison with the motion of her brother's hands. Lifting her tiny hands to meet his larger, rougher ones, she pulled them down in front of her.

"You pwomise? You will be back? With Daddy?"

"Do you promise to keep Mother safe and to become the next leader of the Gin Clan?" his eyes focused on maintaining eye contact with Kou's.

"Mmm!" Kou wrapped her arms around Rin's neck.

Warm… Nii-san really is in fwont of me aftew all.. Kou thought to herself. She was reluctant to let go of her dear brother, knowing that once she did, she wouldn't be seeing him until years later. She breathed in his scent and nuzzled her face into the side of his head. His warm, soft hair tickled her face and she giggled.

"Gou…. Thank you…. And sorry…"

"Mmmm.." Kou could feel a light breeze thread through her hair strands. The sun brightly shone on her face, enveloping her in warmth. She felt like she was being rocked back to sleep and could feel the darkness tugging at her consciousness once again. The thought of getting more rest was tempting—however, the forgotten pain on her side reminded her that it was still there.

"Ugh…" Kou found it hard to roll towards her right side. There was a large rock blocking her way.

"Oi, you awake miss?"

Her eyes immediately opened up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Unused to the sun's bright rays, she squinted and glance upwards towards the owner of it.

Red… red hair? Her left arm rose to stroke the cheek of the man. Reaching higher, she entwined her fingers in his fiery, red hair.

Soft… Warm… almost like.. like nii-san's. It couldn't be, could it? I was just dreaming about him. Haha, I must be delusional. She could feel the mysterious man lower themselves down to the ground. There, after covering the radiant light with the back of his head, she could clearly see his features.

Golden eyes. And tanned skin. It's not Rin. A tear threatened to escape her eye; her words, although seemingly convinced that it wasn't her brother, had no affect on her heart. Kou's hopes were already raised—she wanted it to be her brother, who she hadn't seen for the past 10 years. However, she gave herself no time to wallow in loneliness. The man in front of her was a stranger, and she was injured. If anything, all odds were in his favor. Given that the Gin Clan currently had no allies that it could trust, whatever clan that this man was from meant nothing—anyone not of Kou's clan was seen as an enemy.

Pulling away from the young man's gentle embrace, she focused her energy into her legs and leapt a good 5 meters away from him. Staggering on her right side, she fell onto her left knee and heaved in a large breath.

Shit! My back is turne—

Upon turning her head around to locate where he was, he somehow managed to position himself standing right behind her.

What the, how'd he manage to sneak up behind me so fast?

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. Especially since you're already injured enough as is. Plus… You're a girl. There's definitely no way I'd lay my hands on a—" his words were cut short as girl he assumed to be weak and feeble pounced on him with the strength of a wildebeest.

Oi, oi, oi! If she's strong enough to pin me down with an injury, then she must be fucking strong when recovered at full health!

He analyzed the situation. The slim woman's left arm held his right arm down firmly as she used her legs to straddle his abdomen, pressing her feet down to pin his ankles.

Long legs… he observed. Moving his gaze up along her body, taking in the curves of her hips and how it dipped in towards her waist, she gave him a clear view of her cleavage. Her deep, red hair was messily tossed around her sides, giving off a sweaty, yet sweet fragrance. The girl's lips were slightly bruised and purpled after constantly biting them in order to prevent her self from coughing too loudly. Her stained-red gag was still in place, between her luscious lips.

Uwahhh, she's a total babe! Lifting his golden eyes to meet her red ones, he felt himself shiver. Her glare was intense and fierce—it was almost as if she was violating his body and mind with that one look.

Hahaha… Am I really shaken up from just one girl? Me? Of all people of the Aka Clan, me? Scared? He took another glance down their bodies.

Oh. Shit... I'm just turned on.

"Okay. You've got me held down in place. I could easily flip you over, but I won't. See? I'm nice aren't I? Now will you please—guhh!"

Kou pressed her womanhood into the man's stiffening friend. She wasn't clueless of the current situation. If using her sex to her advantage in taking control of the situation and escaping safely was one of her best options, she was going to use it to the best of her abilities. She lifted her right arm—ignoring the pain that began to throb once more on her side—and pulled out the gag from the mouth.

"Ah, much better," she spat off some blood to the side. Directing her gaze once more at the shaken up man beneath her, she noticed that his tanned face had a shade of pink mixed in his complexion.

"You… where were you headed to? Why were you carrying me? How did you find me? Why didn't you wake me up earlier? What clan are you from? What's your name? Do you happen to know where Goro's Pizza Shack is?" exchanging a few silent blinks with the man beneath her, she began to grow impatient and pressed harder down on his manhood.

"Nghhh—! Too many questionsss—uhh!" he began panting ever so slightly, trying not to give away his growing frustration.

"Ah. Sorry. Well then, do you know where Goro's Pizza Shack is?"

"I do…"

"Where were you planning on taking me?"

"To a doctor I know in the North."

"Oh good! Old-man… I mean, Goro's Pizza Shack is in the same direction. Hey, do you think you'll be able to bring me there?"

"Nnnnn… maybe if you rest your weight somewhere else, then maybe I'll.. mmmph, consider—it—!"

"Oh. Sorry. Again.." Kou rolled over onto her left side and crawled upwards until her face was next to the man's face. He laid there, happy to be freed from the teasing but a bit disappointed that they didn't take it any further. He flopped his right arm over his eyes and slowed his panting down.

"So will you take me there?" Kou questioned him again, this time, with a more cute appeal. He—to his mistake—turned his face to meet hers. Their faces were only a centimeter apart and her eyes locked onto his. The blush began creeping its way back onto his face.

"Mm…mhmm! Sure. I mean, I was heading to the North anyways. That same doctor I was telling you about asked for me to deliver something to him. Hahah, what a coincidence!" He gave Kou a broad, goofy smile. Lowering her guard down, she decided to ask him another question.

"Thanks! I really appreciate it—I busted my right side while in the forest.. not like you couldn't tell or anything. But anyways, may I ask…. For your name sir?"

He looked at her eyes again. This time, her eyes were a lighter shade of red, showing hints of genuine curiosity; he was so used to people asking for his name in suspicion of him being a man with status and power far beyond those around him. Her eyes change colors according to her emotions, I guess….

"You know.. You're pretty cute…" …What the fuck did I just say?

Kou blinked at the sudden compliment. It's either he's really honest and being polite, or he's just trying to pick up from where we left off earlier….

Seeing as how she was unfazed by his sudden remark, he sat up cross legged and scratched the back of his head.

"Ehehehe...," he held out his right hand.

"Nice to meet you. The name's Seijuurou!"

AND that is chapter one! Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this! I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know, the plot is probably really confusing right now… or maybe it's not and I'm just feeling unconfident LOL. But anyways! I hope that you all will stick through with me; hopefully things will make more sense as the story progresses. Until next time =)

~HitoriOkami