Warnings: Gender change. No yaoi or yuri, but some references to gay humor
This is the 2006 b.d. present for zan :-)
For a lone woman living and working as a samurai in Kougakyo, Kyuuzou felt safer posing as a man. Her disguise eliminated sexual harassment from the 90 percent of the male population who were oriented mostly towards women. Unfortunately, that 90 percent did not include Shimada Kanbei. During the one match they had, the skilled swordswoman was not at all happy with the old guy's creepy techniques. They bordered on sexual molestation. That rude ronin should die for that. But Kyuuzou would have to wait a little longer to kill him.
Fortunately, Kanbei had kept his hands to himself after Kyuuzou joined the team. But even if he did not, the silent samurai had no plans for letting Kanbei or anyone else know that she was female. Fending off the advances of 10 percent of the male population was still preferable to dealing with the other 90 percent.
It was evening when Kyuuzou made her way to the spring outside Kanna Village. The air was already cooling down rapidly. The blonde hated bathing in the cold, but she had no choice. There were always other people at the spring during the warmer hours.
The red-clad warrior removed her long dress, followed by her halter and her knitted black top. Then she loosened the laces on the corset bound tightly around her chest. Kyuuzou breathed freely at last. "Posing as a man can be downright uncomfortable," she said to herself. "People are always wondering why I'm perpetually scowling. Well, they should try wearing a corset!"
The samurai stepped into the pool of bubbling spring water. The water reached up to her waist. Kyuuzou sat down and let the water cover her head for a moment. This was bliss. The woman had not had even one bath during the long journey from Kougakyo to Kanna. But still, she could not afford to indulge herself for too long. After scrubbing herself into an acceptable state of cleanliness, she stood up and started wringing the water out of her thick blond hair.
It was then the woman heard the twig snapped. She whirled around sharply. Heihachi had just stepped out of the trees. He was standing about 20 feet away. She would have detected his approach earlier if not for the sound of the bubbling spring.
The mechanic was staring at her. Or staring at her naked torso, Kyuuzou thought as she burned crimson with shame.
"Don't be alarmed." Heihachi said. Then he started removing his vest.
Kyuuzou jumped out of the water without any regard for her own nakedness and reached for her swords. She had them drawn and pointed at Heihachi in the time it took to blink.
"Stop moving right now, you short pervert!" she shrieked, "Do you want to die?"
Then the scarlet samurai realized that she had forgotten to put on her best 'manly' voice – the deep speaking voice she usually used with others.
Heihachi had already dropped his vest to the ground and was about to pull his turtleneck up when he heard Kyuuzou's command. The mechanic raised his hands above his head in a gesture of surrender. Then he declared in an offended tone, "I'm NOT a short pervert. I am a woman of average height. Kirara is short. I'm not."
Kyuuzou stared at 'him'. Even with Heihachi's loose turtleneck on, one could see that the samurai mechanic's bosom and hips were just a little rounder than expected, if one really paid attention.
"You see," Heihachi continued. "If you wear my kind of clothes instead of that tight-fitting gown of yours, you would not need to bother with that uncomfortable thing."
The warrior mechanic jerked her chin towards the corset that lay next to Kyuuzou's neatly folded red gown. "But I know high maintenance femmes like you want to look good, even when they're pretending to be men." Heihachi added with a grin.
Kyuuzou lowered her swords. Then the two women both burst out laughing as if on cue. Heihachi never thought she would live to see Kyuuzou laugh.
"Well, how is the temperature of the water?" the flame-headed young woman chuckled as she picked up her vest and approached the edge of the spring.
"The spring is still warm, but it is the cold air which is bothering me." Kyuuzou replied.
The blond samurai quickly dried herself off with a towel while the other woman undressed. "Brrr…" the redhead said as goose bumps formed on her skin in the nippy evening air.
The mechanic stepped into the warm water. "Ahhh…" she said, "This is bliss."
Kyuuzou noticed that Heihachi's voice had risen by half an octave from her usual speaking voice. And it had lost its 'normal' gravelly quality. So, she was not the only one putting on a show for the rest. The quiet loner smiled to herself. All of a sudden, she did not feel so alone and cut off from the world anymore. There was at least one more person like her."I'll keep watch while you bathe," Kyuuzou offered as she put her clothes back on.
"Thank you," replied the flame-haired girl. "I would appreciate that very much."
Kyuuzou kept her back to Heihachi while the younger woman bathed. Then she heard the mechanic's high, girlish voice pipe up again behind her. "Kyuuzou-dono, if you don't mind, maybe we could bathe together from now on."
The red-clad samurai turned her head and looked at Heihachi with raised eyebrows. The mechanic blushed and said, "I mean, we can come here together whenever we need a bath. One of us can keep watch while the other one is in the water. Think about it."
Kyuuzou did not need to think about it. It was a very good idea. "Well, why not?" she responded in her own true voice.
Heihachi breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I don't know how often you want to bathe," she chattered on. "I would love to bathe everyday, but I guess I can tolerate skipping two or three days, or even more at a time. After all, we are facing a coming battle. It's not like we haven't lived without regular showers during the Great War."
Kyuuzou spoke. "Let's make it everyday for now. I suspect that soon enough, we will not have the chance to bathe even if we want to."
Next to a bubbling spring, two women shared a smile as the moon rose over Kanna.