Previously posted as part of a Multifandom Drabble Collection.
Requester: samuraiko
Fandom: Samurai 7
Pairing: Kambei & Kyuzo (non-romantic)
Word/Situation: "Regrets"
Mood/Theme: Somber
Approximate Timeline: Episode 22 (Firefly House. Post Kyuzo joining, secret plot revealed)
Other: hint of AU with mild allusions of Nasami
Title: Regrets
Author: Winter Ashby (rosweldrmr)
Disclaimer: Samurai 7 © GONZO (based on Seven Samurai © Akira Kurosawa)
Rating: K
Word Count: 500 - exactly!
Summary: (NOT YAOI) Kyuzo and Kambei have a short conversation before they set off. (Kyuzo & Kambei) Platonic
Authors Notes: I tried to get a tiny reference in about Nasami (this is samuraiko's OC from her fic The Sword of the Soul). I don't know if you'll catch it or not. Oh well, I hope you like it Michelle!
The enduring scent of tea and sweet bean curd swirled through the flowers in the small courtyard and wound its way up the small stream. Beneath the floorboards Kyuzo's feet rested on, he could hear the faint slashing of the coy that circled endlessly, restlessly.
Everyone had gone to bed. He could hear low, rhythmic breathing from behind the thin screen and smooth wooden sliders. In the relative silence, soft footfalls echoed from the other side of the teahouse.
"What do you want?" Kyuzo didn't turn around. He stood with his back to the main hall, facing the courtyard. The lanterns set at the four corners of the outdoor space cast long, angled shadows over his face.
"We leave at sunrise." Kambei's deep, even voice rumbled in the darkness. Dawn was still a few hours off, but the warm scent of rice patties to the east drifted through the open courtyard.
"Hn." Kyuzo nodded once, his eyes closed.
"Will you follow this through, to the end?" Kambei lowered his hand from the hilt of his sword, where habit predicted it would be, to lay flat against the white fabric of his scarf. His white gloves caught on the silk as it rustled in the midnight breeze.
"Of course." Kyuzo opened his eyes, at last, the red and hinting at anger as he glanced over his shoulder, his face still hidden. He had no regrets when it came to this.
"You would follow us, even though it meant being hunted?" Kambei crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against one of the wooden railings. His long, dark hair fell like curtains, framing his face against the flickering lantern light to his left. "For her?"
"No." Kyuzo pushed off, away from Kambei's overbearing white cloak and insights. "For a chance to kill you."
"I won't die so easily." It was an open-ended challenge, a threat that would stand as long as it needed to. Kambei turned his face away from the light, the ghost of a smiled quirked at the corners of his lips.
"Nor will I." Kyuzo remarked coolly before he vanished around the far end of the courtyard wall, back away from the dawning day and the journey that lay ahead of them. His long bangs fell to cover his eyes, where the remnants of a promise lingered in his gaze.
It was an invitation, an extension of the sword, to fight, side by side. Kyuzo would earn his chance for a rematch, evenly pitted, to the death. And every time Kambei asked 'why' and Kyuzo responded 'so I can be the one to kill you' a pact was formed, shaped, molded into the trappings of a great alliance. It was a samurai treaty, to fight and win so he could live to fight another day. Not for rice, or glory, but for the ultimate challenge.
Kyuzo clenched his twin swords and greeted the new day slicing sky and wind, trying to convince himself that he wasn't having fun.