This is my first fanfic. I don't expect this story to be too long, but I am going to update it in short chapters. I'm a long time fan of the story and hope that you enjoy the read.

I own nothing having to do with Samurai Deeper Kyo.

Little birds were singing happily, the morning sun was drifting lazily higher into the sky, and the young Shiina Yuya was starting to wonder if the luggage cart she was pulling along had gained a little too much dead weight overnight. An overly cheerful Yukimura had perched himself on the cart and was humming some happy little tone that grated at Yuya's nerves. Helping pull the cart, Benitora was rambling on about good deeds and several long strides in front of her The Thousand Man Slayer silently marched along.

From the moment she had woken up that morning Yuya had known it was going to be a long hard day. They were traveling once again from Edo to some remote little place that was supposed to hold some great clue to the whereabouts of Kyo's body. Or was it information on something else? Yuya was having a hard time keeping it all straight.

Ahead of her, Kyo suddenly stopped. As Yuya and the others neared him, she saw the old fork in the road. Her heart skipped a beat at the familiar sight. Even as Kyo's eyes searched one path and then the other, Yuya was remembering the village she had left years before. Without thinking she said, "The road to the left will get us there faster."

All eyes turned to Yuya in wonder. All except Kyo's. Letting out a long sigh, she explained, "The village down this path is smaller, but it will remove a day or two from our journey."

"Smaller? That means the women will be smaller," Yukimura commented idly as he lifted a jug of sake to his mouth.

"The village is known to the local area for having the best sake and the biggest breasted women," Yuya whispered. She could feel a slight blush tracing across her cheeks. Was that really all these men cared about?

Behind her Yukimura let out a chiming laugh. "Then let's go there, Kyo. It'll cut a day off our trip, has good sake and big breasted women, what more could we ask for?" The cart suddenly became lighter, and Yuya spotted Yukimura making his way ahead of them. With sake jug in hand, he stepped up to Kyo, inspecting the two forks.

In the back of her mind, Yuya hoped that Kyo wouldn't take this as a chance to question her motives. She ground her teeth a little in frustration when the tall man just stood there thinking. Yuya was about to explode when he finally said, "Sake and women. They better be the best, dogface." After his comment, Kyo turned down the left path and started towards the small village.

Yuya let out a relieved sigh as she and Benitora started down the path behind the samurai. Beside her, Tora had a silly smile on his face. "So, Miss Yuya, you've been to this area before?"

Without looking over at him, she tried to pass off the best uncaring look she could. "I had a few bounties around here," she answered. As Tora started rambling on about his disappointment that they would not be visiting her home village, Yuya let her thoughts run over all of the things that had happened in the last few years.

After her brother's death, Yuya had no family she could rely on. She had instead relied on friends for support while she trained herself for the moment she found her brother's killer. After just a few short years, at fourteen, Yuya had left in the middle of the night. In her defense she had left a note and wrote when she could. She had worked hard to avoid her home village except for that one time of year. The anniversary of her brother's death. Twice now she had returned to her village to visit with her brother in the dead of night.

Each time she had stayed in the small village they were now traveling towards. Thankfully Kyo had taken her word and she was able to avoid her village along with anyone who may disagree with her traveling companions.

It took less time than Yuya remembered to reach the village. Just an hour or so after they had turned down the path they were within sight of the buildings. When they reached the bustling village Kyo stopped and looked back at her. "Dogface, find lodging and the best sake shop."

Letting go of the cart, Yuya put her hands on her hips. "And I suppose I'm the one paying for the rooms and sake?"

"Of course," the killer's deep voice said idly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to pay for everything.

"Fine," she declared in a huff and stomped off. The guys were probably going to look for food while she went out searching for a place to rest and of course their nightly consumption of sake. At least in this village, Yuya knew where the inn was and was pretty sure the best sake shop was still just a few shops down from it.

Heading into the crowd, Yuya heard a familiar voice call out. "Yuya!"

And that's the first chapter. Come back to find out who in Yuya's past has found her!

Sneak Peek of later:

Yuya leveled Yukimura with a hard glare. "You paid for a fourteen year old kidnapped shrine maiden."

"14?" Yukimura said at the same time that Sizo proclaimed, "Maiden?"