Right! This is my second story, again on Samurai Deeper Kyo. This one is completely about YukimuraxSasuke, so I hope it will be good reading for fans of that pairing! I guess there are some slight, implied KyoxYuya, but I'll work around that for most of the time. This fic is pretty angsty, but that's only because I like to see poor Sasuke hurt himself, such as get into a fight with Yukimura, make up and do some lovey-dovey things (I am so mean…). Hopefully.

Well, for pity's sake, disclaimer. Because if I owned SDK then I would have added MUCH more of YukiSasu moments, and maybe would have gone as far as renaming it Yukimura & Sasuke LOVE or something like that.

Please read on!

The setting sun cast it's brilliant rays down on the wide, yet barren street, shadows casting over less open side paths of the main road. One of them, shrouded completely in the growing darkness between two long, tall walls stretching on into a distance, before curving off to form a corner some way off. There was nothing different about it compared to the other tributaries in the small town – peaceful, quiet, and no lamps out to light the pitch black way. Nothing, except for short, sharp intakes of air emitted from the two people hidden in the deepest gloom.

Yukimura pressed up to Sasuke, sandwiching him with the wall. His arms were wrapped tightly around him. 'Don't you love me, Sasuke?'

'Hell no,' the golden eyed boy said, squirming against the large body and the force applied to it. 'How could I, when I can hardly breathe because of you? You're pressing too hard…'

Yukimura chuckled. 'Oh, don't misunderstand yourself, Sasuke. You can't breathe because the man you love, a. k. a me, is so close to you. Not that you're complaining much, are you? I'm only trying to get as close as possible to you.'

Sasuke blushed, stopping for a moment with his writhing. His hands wormed up from the slight gap between them from his sides, and placed themselves on Yukimura's chest. However, he did not push him away. 'You idiot,' he said softly. 'How could a stupid, annoying, womanizing idiot like you, always manage to know what I want? What I need?'

Yukimura's smile broadened. 'Because you're so easy to read, Sasuke. Oh, don't get all moody- you really are just a kid right now. But that's okay- don't be angry, please- because you're more than a capable bed partner than some of the women I have known. In fact,' he leaned forwards, bending his head. Their foreheads touched; dark blue eyes met the gaze of half lidded golden ones. 'I'm beginning to think that I should reserve my special nights for you, and only you.'

Sasuke stared hard into the other man's face, and began to tilt his head back, straightening his posture to rise a few centimeters, trying to meet the man's lips. 'Then promise me that you won't go after them anymore,' he said quietly. 'Promise me that you won't leave me for any of those women, that I am the only partner for you…whether in bed or not,' he added, as he tried to move in to close the last tiny area of air between their mouths. However, Yukimura, being taller by miles, effortlessly lifted his head a teasing bit, away from the advancing, smooth, pink lips. He looked down proudly at Sasuke's surprised, disappointed face.

'And I told you before, I can't do that,' Yukimura replied gently. 'I need to uphold my image as either the woman loving Genjiro, or even just the woman loving Sanada Yukimura in front of our companions, to prevent any more danger attacking us than you already have to bother yourself with.'

Sasuke's arms slithered up his chest, brushing lightly over the slightly hardened nipples and up and around Yukimura's shoulders and neck. 'Mmm…Yukimura,' he mewled in protest, as the man raised his head even higher, despite the surprising strength of the young boy's arms forcing down on his neck. He sighed, and settled for snuggling up against Yukimura's torso. 'I don't mind, you know,' he answered softly, pushing his face into the larger man's chest. He didn't see the teasing smile, but he did feel the large hand coming down to rest on his crown. 'Protecting you is fun, especially because I get to fight strong guys when I'm around you. It gives me the best satisfaction when I rip them to bits, and then you come and hug me, saying I was so brave and heroic and thanking me…by…' He blushed into the other man's clothes, burying his face further into it. He rarely showed this type of shy affection, and while he was aware of his embarrassed actions, he kept it up knowing that Yukimura could not bear suppress the rising, warm sensation when he saw the child do this. But then, a lone thought crossed his mind, drawing his attention to the previous request.

He turned his head and frowned up at Yukimura from his chest. 'But we've been going on like this for months, now. And I enjoy beating up the guys that come after us. So why, why do we have to keep this all a secret?' The frustration he had kept pent up for a while was coming back up again, filling his mind with questions and doubts.

Yukimura sighed, watching the smaller boy's face carefully. 'Sasuke, for the millionth time, if our enemies knew that we were in love, then they'll never let it rest, will they?'

The creases on his little forehead deepened at this excuse. 'What do you mean by that?'

Yukimura looked taken aback. 'What do I mean by what?'

'That! "If our enemies knew, they'll never let it rest." If Bonbon or Nee-chan knew, then sure, we'll be pestered a lot by them, but we can live through it, right? So what's so difficult about our enemies…'

Yukimura stared at him for a while. 'Sasuke…I didn't mean it like that. Of course, I am aware of the consequences if the news about us being lovers was revealed to the world. It's the more dangerous ones I'm worried about. If anyone who wishes ill of me, or you, and they had the power to do so, they'll know that the thing that will hurt us most is if the other was harmed in anyway. And I don't want that happening to either of us.'

Sasuke could feel the heat now rising to his cheeks. 'What, you were afraid of me getting kidnapped or something? Do I look so vulnerable to you?'

'You shouldn't underestimate our opponents so much like that, Sasuke,' Yukimura said, still looking down at him sternly. 'And what if it wasn't you who got kidnapped? What if it was me? I'm much weaker than you- don't argue, it's the truth- so I could become an easier target to anyone who wishes ill of you.'

'The Jyuuyushi-'

'The Jyuuyushi can only do so much. There have been plenty of times when a monster of some sort, given that it has enough power, to pop up, snap my neck, and be off with my corpse without any of the others noticing during our travels with Kyo-san. Face it, Sasuke, this is the safest way we can keep other people from getting hurt because of the additional...condition.'

Sasuke could have bored holes into Yukimura's skull with his glare. 'You don't trust us. Me.'

'It's not about trust, Sasuke. I'm saying that it will make things much more complicated if everything doesn't turn out well.'

There was a long silence below him. Then, with his lips pursed, Sasuke looked down from Yukimura's face and spoke. 'Then maybe we shouldn't continue this anymore.'

'What?' It was clear from Yukimura's suddenly sharp tone that he had heard, and understood, perfectly well.

'This. Us. It's true that we're only putting more danger on ourselves, and our friends. We should stop this before it gets…worse. I can see…that you care for everyone's safety more than me. I respect that.'

'Sasuke…!'

He had slipped out of Yukimura's arms at the small hesitation he had shown in his lack of strength against the smaller boy's body. As he ran off down the narrow, darkened street, Yukimura watched as he leapt onto a roof of a closed shop, and away into the night, head bowed. He felt a sudden wrench at his heart, and, briefly, a feeling of foreboding entered his mind, a sudden urge to call him back again. He shook his head at the thought of Sasuke leaving him, just like that.

'Sasuke will never…he needs me, he wanted to take me so badly just now, he won't…'

But even his own words gave him no comfort. He knew, in the back of his mind, how stubborn and decisive Sasuke could be. Although he had once counted that as a "cute" point of his little shinobi, it was time to time that he felt it was life costing, and could not count how many orders Sasuke had come close to defy because of that attribute of his.

He would come back in the morning…I might even find him sleeping in my bed when I wake up…

Unfortunately not a fool enough to let his petty words calm him down, Yukimura trudged down the night street of the town, worry growing in his heart with every step.

*****

Yukimura did not find his favourite shinobi in his warm futon the morning after, much to his great disappointment. In fact, he did not see any sign of him the whole of the morning hours, and spent much of his time fretting, tramping around the onsen lodge they were staying at from room to room endlessly, searching for the small, familiar figure while Kyo, Yuya, Benitora and Okuni sat around on the tatami, eating their breakfast of fish, rice, miso soup and so many other things Yuya's (unwillingly "lent") money could buy.

'Yukimura-san seems a lot restless today, doesn't he?' Yuya observed, after Yukimura drew open the sliding door, popped in his head to look around the room, withdrew it and slid the door back close for the fourth time after they had started eating.

'There's even so much of the Izumi sake he likes so much,' Benitora commented, drinking a whole bottle of said sake down in one gulp. 'Something must be really upsetting him to miss this!' He let out a satisfied sigh and wiped some of it dribbling from his mouth with his sleeve- and started giggling.

'Tora-san, you shouldn't get drunk first thing in the morning,' Okuni said, sipping her own Macha tea. 'I, for one, think it's something to do with Sasuke-kun,' she continued, nodding at the empty seat next to Yukimura's also vacant one. 'I haven't seen him since yesterday, and Yukimura-san had been like that ever since I woke up, so that must mean-' A gleam was profound in her eyes. 'Something must have happened between them last night!'

'…Okuni-san, where are you going?'

'Out to investigate further into the matter, of course. An informer's job starts with knowledge of her colleagues!'

'Okuni-san,' Yuya said firmly. 'If it is something between those two, then we should really leave it alone. It's rude to intrude on someone else's personal property, and Sasuke-kun definitely won't let it rest…'

Okuni had been ignoring the former part of Yuya's ridiculing, but stopped short of opening the door at the mention of the young ninja. 'You're right, Yuya-san,' she said, quickly seating herself back to her breakfast. 'That wild child from the forest, he doesn't know enough to control his anger…and I bet he won't go so easily on women too. But, Yuya-san, what if things between them were, like…' She beckoned Yuya closer, and as she curiously leaned in, started whispering things rapidly into her ear.

'…what..? No! He wouldn't…' 'Oh, but it's Yukimura-san we're talking about here, we don't know what he would do…' 'But even he…and with Sasuke-kun…still a child-' 'He's done so many more things, Yuya-san, so he could…' 'OH MY GOD!!! No way!!' 'Yes, yes, and then he must've…' 'No wonder! So then does that mean they….?' 'Ooh, yes, that must be it!'

Listening to the snippets of the girls' conversation, Kyo drew in a deep breath trying to rid himself of this idiocy. However, he wasn't left with the peace for long.

'Kyo-ha~n,' Benitora hiccupped, swinging his arm around the other man's shoulders and draping his drunk self next to him. 'What do you think they did~? I think they did whatever those two are saying they did – hic – so what about you~?'

Kyo glared at him, while taking a cup of sake which smell made Benitora reel back in fits of groans. He was about to get up and leave, when Yuya tore herself away from a smirking Okuni, face a deep shade of red and probably close to a nosebleed. 'Ye-yes, Kyo! What do you think they did??'

'…Whatever happened isn't my business,' Kyo finally grunted. As Yuya looked away in disappointment, though, he continued, 'But, it must have hurt one of them bad. If you must know, I think it must have been from a conversation with words, not from a duel with swords.'

Yuya and Okuni looked at him in puzzlement. 'Swords?' Yuya asked, bemused. 'What on earth are you talking about?'

Now it was Kyo's turn to feel confused, though he didn't really show it. 'What are you talking about, dog-face? Isn't that what you two were…'

'Aren't you the dog-face, no, brain, Kyo?' Yuya snapped, while Okuni smiled. 'Really, Kyo-san, you are the demon eyed, killer of a thousand people. Shouldn't you have a much more heated imagination than that?'

Kyo was unconvinced. 'I don't give a-'

'Think, Kyo, think!' Yuya retorted sharpish, prodding her own temple for emphasis. 'Think of a more,' A smirk identical to Okuni's grew on her face. '…hot, night type of experience.'

Okuni went so far as snickering. 'Who would have thought that you could be so innocent, Kyo-san?'

Kyo's mind froze for about ten seconds. '…But Sarutobi is- never mind,' he growled, kicking aside his bottle, and with it, the rolling Benitora, and stomped out to the morning light. Okuni and Yuya looked at each other and fell about giggling, while Benitora, rocking from side to side on his back, joined in with the laughter without being in the right sense of his mind.

'Still,' Yuya said, a little more worriedly after she had stopped laughing. 'What's really going on with Sasuke-kun, if he hasn't showed up today yet?'

*****

The four of them said their temporary farewells to Yukimura as they set out from the lodge at around midday, Benitora staggering under the weight of the cart and the after effects of the sake.

'Take it easy, Tora-san,' Yukimura advised, patting him on the back. 'Unless you're really used to it like me, you shouldn't go gulping down a strong portion like Izumi sake in one go.'

Benitora grunted painfully. 'I'll keep that in mind. Can you not speak so loudly? My head is killing me…'

'Catch up with us soon, Yukimura-san,' Yuya said, hugging him around the middle quickly. A nerve in Kyo's eye might have twitched. 'I hope you see Sasuke-kun in due time.'

Yukimura gave her a warm smile. 'I'm sure he'll come back very quickly, like when he gets hungry.' He laughed, but Yuya only joined in once she had looked around to check that no shadow of the ken-dama playing boy could be seen nearby. 'He sure picked the perfect time to go off like that…But I'll definitely hurry once I see him back, for I can't keep a pretty girl like Yuya-san waiting for me for so long, can I?' A grateful beam from Yuya, a definite twitch from Kyo. Said demon-eyed samurai turned away gruffly without a greeting, eyes trained stiffly on the dusty road that stretched out in front of them to the distance.

'It must be inconvenient for you, though, Yukimura-san,' Okuni spoke up. 'Not being able to move freely without a Jyuuyushi to watch your back…' She eyed Yukimura shrewdly.

He sighed. 'I like to keep tabs on them the best I can, so that they won't go running off to join some enemy clan and leave me,' His laugh this time was a bitter one. 'But, actually…I'm not waiting just because he's a Jyuuyushi. Frankly, I'm worried about him, and there's some stuff I'd like to smooth over with him as quickly as possible…' He sighed again.

'Well, if that's all, then I hope you enjoy your trip before we find you again!' he chirped, as the cart started to trundle away, Kyo in the lead, Benitora huffing and puffing and pulling the wooden object along, the two women sitting on it in the back. 'Don't have too much fun without me!'

There was a last wave from Yuya, and he went back inside with all intents of walking around the rooms of the inn again, continuing his frantic search for Sasuke.

On the cart, the two females were gossiping again.

'Well? What did I tell you?' Okuni said triumphantly.

'Hey, I never said you were wrong.' (The two quickly glanced behind them to Kyo, and turned back swiftly again, fists stuffed in mouths). 'But, did you hear? He said it wasn't just because Sasuke-kun is a Jyuuyushi!'

'And he said that there were some things they had to smooth over!'

'Ooooh! There really must have been something passionate between them, especially last night…'

Benitora was looking over his shoulders at the two squealing (?) girls on his cart, and mumbled to Kyo, 'What the heck are they talking about, do you know? Kyo-han.'

It took a while before Benitora thought he heard something. 'They're slowly evolving into yaoi fans…' Kyo muttered to himself.

'What was that, Kyo-han?'

'None of your business. Don't lag, keep pulling that cart.'

Kyo did not tell anyone that he had gone off to study a bit after his earlier humiliation.

*****

Yukimura finally sat back in his room, tired after the most vigorous – though completely different - exercise he had had since the last time he and Sasuke spent their night in a bed (or rather, the journey to it- he still had the scratch marks). The sun was already setting, and the bright, crisp morning had quickly turned into the hot, summer afternoon, to now, the evening, when the humidity had decreased a bit to let in the cool, thin breeze in along with the stretching red sky.

And Sasuke was still not back.

Yukimura let out the deepest sigh he had given in the whole day, and he had breathed out a lot- in exasperation, in worry, in loneliness and sadness. Sasuke had never been out this long without telling him, unless something had happened, and if it had…

Yukimura shook his head, as if the gesture would convince him that Sasuke would never let such a thing happen. His shinobi was strong, he told himself, he can take care of himself. He probably needed some time to sort out his feelings from last night, and he'll be back any minute-

He's back!

Out from the corner of his eye, he saw something dark drop into a bush out of nowhere, but the rustling was only momentary. A minute or so later, he saw a small, human like figure step out from the very spot, limping and close to collapsing- Sasuke. His Sasuke, wounded and exhausted and at the verge of falling unconscious. Yukimura jerked up the second he spotted him, and was out of the room the next, trampling down the wooden stairs and floorboards towards the garden.

'Sasuke!'

He did not even pause to put something on his bare feet as he ran out into the garden, ready to take Sasuke into his arms, carry him like that upstairs, and have him take every remedy for the injuries he knew. However, just as he closed in towards the little boy, he leapt back a few meters away, out of reach.

He halted then. 'Sasuke…?'

The child bobbed his head. 'Good evening, Yukimura-sama,' he greeted him in a monotone.

Yukimura blinked. 'Wha-'

'Have the others gone already?' Sasuke turned his unsteady gaze at the onsen inn. 'Yes, I can no longer feel their presence around here. However, if we set out now, and make haste to follow their tracks, we could reach them by tomorrow afternoon. Unless, that's if Yukimura-sama is fine with travelling at night. There are no problems with your health at the moment, yes?'

'I'm fine,' said Yukimura, staring hard at the other boy. 'It's you who I'm worried about.' He shook his head, but with an easy smile. 'Who are you, and what have you done with the real Sasuke?' he asked jokingly, stretching his open arms out at him. 'Come here, Sasuke. You need to get yourself treated. Why did you leave so suddenly? Are you still mad about yesterday? I think you took it the wrong way, I didn't mean-'

Sasuke stepped back as soon as Yukimura came forward. 'I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Yukimura-sama. But I am feeling perfectly well. If we are done here, then I suggest we should go pack our belongings, and hurry to aid the others-'

'Sasuke,' The boy looked up at this sudden change in his master's tone, and found himself staring into the darkened, fierce face of the samurai. He did not show it, but a shiver passed up his spine, rendering him briefly speechless. 'What's wrong? I can't read your mind- you need to tell me.'

Sasuke stared up defiantly. 'Nothing's wrong, my lord,' he said clearly.

'Don't give me that. What have you been doing for the past sixteen hours? How did you end up looking like that?' Yukimura's scrutinizing expression did not leave his demanding face.

Sasuke hesitated, but only for a very short moment. 'I was fighting,' he answered, no hint of the usual, stubbornly defying air about him, and his voice sounded around the garden as a hollow, humble note. 'I was at that town we passed a few days back, the one with lots of bandits terrorizing the outskirts of it. I was fighting them.'

'What on earth possessed you to do that?'

'…I needed something to do,' Sasuke said quietly, now addressing the space next to Yukimura's head. 'They- they tried to hurt you before. As one of your Jyuuyushi, I had to make sure they won't do it again, so I-'

Yukimura was looking absolutely livid now. 'They were no danger to me! We've moved on quite a bit now, there's no way they'll waste their time to come search for us! Tell the truth, Sasuke- you were just using them to relinquish your anger at me.' There was a silence following the words, in which Sasuke gave no reply, and finally turned his eyes to the ground. 'Answer me, Sasuke!' Yukimura practically bellowed in fury.

'I wasn't,' A small voice came from the equally little boy standing in front of him. 'I wasn't,' he started again, his voice slightly stronger this time. 'Angry, at you. I was… just trying to accept what you wanted most, what you thought was best.'

Not quite understanding what his shinobi meant, Yukimura backtracked to the more specific parts of yesterday's events, and his eyes softened when he quickly recalled them. 'Is it about us having to be apart for most of the time we're in front of others?' he asked, in a much calmer voice than before. 'Sasuke, that was not what I meant. I hold you most dear to my heart. I would never force such an option on you if I really had to make a choice-'

'Yet, you are right in doing so,' Sasuke interrupted, his eyes now trained on the grassy patch at his feet. 'My job, the reason I exist as I am now, is to protect you as one of the Sanada Jyuuyushi. I will trade my own life for your safety, no matter how much you oppose to the idea. The fact remains,' Here he plucked up enough courage to look back up, look once again into the other's sad eyes. 'That I am, in all means of the word, your servant. And you are, admittedly, no ordinary master. If I am harmed, then you'll put yourself into greater danger for my sake, and I will be failing my purpose for living. I am only here to obey your every order, and I cannot do anything otherwise to my duty as a protector- I will not allow myself to come any closer to you. This is for your own sake, Yukimura-sama. Please try to understand this.'

'I don't,' Yukimura pressed. 'I have told you, time and again, that I do not wish for you to risk your own life to save my own. Even if it wasn't you who was killed, and it was someone else like Kosuke or Saizo, I will never forgive myself. But Sasuke- I have never thought of you as a simple servant. You are my friend, Sasuke, my lover- my Sasuke. Have I not always told you that you have freedom to do as you wish, while not participating in a mission?'

'Then you must respect my wishes for this, Yukimura-sama,' The other boy replied. 'I have no wish to endanger yourself, or your friends because of my carelessness. You can do anything you want with me- but you can expect nothing from me. I am going to follow my word of keeping to myself, for this is the only way you will accept the undeniable fact. I will say one more thing; at the moment, I do not care if you continue to hurt yourself because I am distancing myself from you, all that I know is that this is for the best.'

A long silence followed those words. A breeze lifted, rushing past the thick leaves of the trees and bushes in the garden, wide ripples appearing in the pond beside them. Sasuke forced himself to look up, once again, and this time was almost tempted to step back at the sight of Yukimura's face. It was cold, hard, and uncaring- if he had been angry before, that would have been a picture of doting compared to this. Though seeming calm in a way, not a trace of the usual friendliness showed through this mask of indifference. Sasuke had only seen these kinds of expressions of Yukimura before when he was extremely agitated, mostly after Sasuke had done another stupid thing, like trying to exchange his own life for his master's. However, the young shinobi knew that the purpose for this time was completely unsimilar, and it made all the difference in the world. It was almost a look of pure hate.

Sasuke felt, for the first time with Yukimura, a thrill of fear, and another unpleasant feeling- one that he felt constantly recently- of deep shame, and a helpless, despairing consciousness.

'Is that all you have to say for yourself, Sasuke?' Even his voice was wintery, catching the addressed boy's breath in his throat. 'I can do nothing to change your mind?'

Sasuke fought to keep his line of sight steady, to keep himself from swaying away at the intensity of his lord's gaze. 'It is my decision,' he answered. Even to his own ears he sounded faint. 'I can only try to persuade you in leaving this matter alone as it is.'

Yukimura closed his eyes, letting all expression wash of his face and reopening them once he had a weary, forced smile on. It looked as though it was taking all of his efforts in keeping it there. 'You know that I won't listen to a pathetic statement like that.'

Sasuke's heart thudded at the word "pathetic"; nevertheless, he ignored it and lifted his chin slightly. 'I would rather you did- this is, no matter to exactly which person the danger signs all point to if the…connection, between us had been discovered and left unsevered, something that consists of both of us. You cannot move on without the other. I am not about to.'

The smile seemed to droop a bit, but the darkened eyes never left his face. 'So all I have to do is to make you see the light, and give in faster than I do, right? Which will be, never.'

Some of the young boy's confidence had come back, now that Yukimura had gotten rid of most of his threatening atmosphere. 'We'll see. In the meantime, Yukimura-sama, why don't we fetch our bags and head off in search of the others? We still have some light, for a few hours at least.'

With surprising speed, Yukimura grabbed the boy's arm before he could flinch away. 'Hold your horses there. You're still injured. We're going to get you bandaged up, and a steaming dinner, and a cosy bed to spend the night in, not running around the town searching for whichever brothel Kyo-san and the rest are staying at tonight. You might have forbid yourself from coming any closer to me, but I'm still on a free rein- I refuse to be restricted in accounts of who I love.' He gave a real, though small smile then, hoping fervently for the usual blush that rose up to Sasuke's cheeks when he said the word. However, much to his chagrin, none showed.

Sasuke smoothly stepped away from him, slipping the clutched arm out of his grasp. 'Thank you for your concern, Yukimura-sama, but I am not that wounded and in need of such aid. I am in good condition, and I will be more than pleased to be of Yukimura-sama's assistance for his later plans in following Onime no Kyo and his companions.' He said all this with absolutely no expression on his face, which was enough to make Yukimura wonder if he had actually meant it. Whatever the answer, it was not important at this time.

Yukimura, now feeling a little desperate to stop Sasuke from leaping off into the unknown blackness of the night, chose another track rather than pursue the previous point. 'But I'm tired Sasuke,' he gave a coy smile. 'I'd rather we wait till tomorrow for following Kyo-san, and we spend the night here, hmm?'

His reply was swift and expected. 'Very well. I hope Yukimura-sama has a good night's sleep, and I presume we will be starting in the morning after brea-'

'Sasuke,' Yukimura quickly took hold of the string of his talk. 'I command you to get your wounds cleaned up.'

'I assure you they are not that serious-'

'Do I need to repeat myself?'

'No, Yukimura-sama.'

'Good. And I also command you to sleep soundly- that means no night strolls.'

'But you need a night watch-'

'Sasuke, it's an order. I order you to sleep with me tonight.'

'…Yes, Yukimura-sama.'

The older man hid his contented twitching at the corner of his lips. Sasuke had, although much to his great displease, pretty much declared himself his servant who would obey any command Yukimura gave. He knew that it was a dirty trick, and that he was taking advantage of a loophole from a vulnerable, yet heavily guarded child, but this was the only way now to get his Sasuke back to him…by slowly making him acknowledge that he was happiest when he was with Yukimura, that his own happiness counted as much as Yukimura's life.

Though not as eager as he could have been if this was a game, like the ones his Jyuuyushi sometimes played amongst themselves by betting their belongings on who would last longest on a case less serious, he felt oddly satisfied in his plan, and wondering very discreetly how Sasuke would cope with his own struggles as he goaded him towards victory. A chortle almost escaped him as he turned to usher the small boy towards the porch, but it faded quickly before he himself had reached it. For as soon as Sasuke had gotten his grubby figure to it, his knees gave out and he collapsed forwards, slumping half onto the raised wooden floor of the inn, half out towards the garden. His turmoil of suppressed emotions, with especially the most negative of his thoughts causing him to bear more weight on it had finally worn him down to the point of crumpling. That, combined with the toll from last night's nonstop hunting of fleeing bandits, and the pressure from his wounds he had sustained throughout the hours there, as well as the simple weariness of staying awake the whole night and day since yesterday, was enough to make his mind black out and his self to go into a natural state of sleep.

However, Yukimura was far too deep in panic to register all that.

'Sasuke? Sasuke!? Wake up! Sasuke!!'

His cries attracted a serving girl in a nearby room, who took one look at the situation and took control at once. She had Yukimura to quieten down enough to have him taken to his room upstairs, while she herself sent for a bucket of clean, cool water and soaking towels.

Sasuke heard all this very dimly, and slowly growing even more muffled as he slipped deeper into his sleep. The last thought that crossed his mind before he was enveloped by darkness was clearly one of regret, and resolute.

Sorry…Yukimura…

And he knew no more.

Aww. Poor Sasuke. You know, I would have felt sorry for him- if I didn't hold the heart of a devil and just think that he is so CUTE. I reckon I messed up the whole part when he left Yuki-chan, maybe should have made it more dramatic, but I guess it's alright like this too. Anyway, I want to hurry up and finish as much as I can off before I'm shipped off to summer vacation. Away from the computer. Will I ever have any peace in my life?

I am a huge supporter of YukiSasu, or any other yaoi pairings I know (funnily enough, a lot of them consist young boys…think Ciel and Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji, or Ritsuka and Soubi from Loveless. Not my fault, is it?). There is rather little of that pairing around here, and even those which are really good don't seem to collect as much popularity as Yuya and Kyo (BOOOOOOORRRIIINNG. Sorry, I don't mean that- AAAAAH!!! *Is overcome by a crowd of enraged fans, all armed with bats with nails stuck on the end, rakes, broomsticks, and anything else that hurts if you are hit by it*). So I am contributing to spread out the lovely goodness!!!

If you are interested, please read my other stories if you find the time (or the patience). More importantly, please review!