Pairings: Kirara x Kanbei, Kanbei x Kyuzo
Warning: Mild non-con
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It was a strange dream. One he neither sought nor wanted.
In the haze of that bizarre dreamscape, the water witch had entered the room in which he lay. The injured man watched as the unbidden vision silently slipped her clothes off under the moonlight. This must be the product of his fevered mind, Shimada decided. Perhaps the infection of that wound on his arm was worse than he first thought.
The unwanted image turned to face him in her full nakedness. What was she doing here in his dream? He wondered. The seasoned samurai had never before looked upon her with desire, had always seen her as a daughter. But in this uninvited dream, as he rested his eyes on the fullness of her breasts and the roundness of her hips, he felt himself harden. But stranger things have happened in dreams.
In his other dreams it was always Kyuuzou writhing under him, sometimes warm and wanton, sometimes cold and unyielding. But willing or unwilling, Kanbei had taken the scarlet warrior anyway, plundering Kyuuzou's mouth with his tongue and claiming that lithe, slender body until they both lay breathless and sweating beneath the sheets. Those were the dreams he wanted. The dreams he looked forward to having each time he lay himself down to sleep.
Even so, they were just dreams. In waking life he would never consider taking the enigmatic androgyne against his will.
"Does Kyuuzou know of my dreams?" He had sometimes asked himself. The silent samurai always kept his back to him, refusing to look him in the face even while they were speaking. Perhaps the proud loner feared to read the thick desire in his dark eyes?
"Am I that transparent?" wondered the veteran of many wars.
The peasant priestess had uncovered his nakedness and was lowering herself to sit astride him.
"Why?" he asked. He was not addressing the question to the dream woman but to himself. Why was he having this dream?
So he was mildly surprised when the apparition answered, "I want to give you a gift. But I do not expect anything in return."
"You don't have to give me anything," he responded.
"But I want to," was the witch's answer.
In waking life he would have rebuked her. But in that hazy moment, he did not. He felt strangely indifferent. After all, it was just a dream. He would let it run its course.
The next morning he washed himself of all bodily traces of that strange dream. But the memories lingered a little longer. He vaguely recalled that youthful body moving above him in a sinuous rhythm, bringing him waves of uninvited pleasure. After having caused him to spend himself within her, the witch had collapsed onto his chest. The dark warrior thought he heard the young enchantress whisper the words "I love you" just before he drifted back into the unconsciousness of deeper slumber. But then stranger things have happened in dreams.
Still, the memory of her soft breasts pressed against his scarred chest was a little too uncomfortably real. The samurai felt a twinge of guilt for having such a dream about an innocent maiden who trusted him to protect her. Yet a man could not be held accountable for a dream he did not desire. He dismissed the visions from his mind.
When he saw her again, he greeted her as he always did, and went about his duties as usual. He did not see the furtive guilt in her eyes, nor did he notice that she had become more shy and withdrawn in his presence. There were other matters occupying his mind.
The water witch never returned to haunt his sleep again. The next night, the dark samurai went back to his usual dreams. Dreams of the enticing androgyne, slender yet strong, resisting even as he yielded. The masterful commander wondered what it would be like to possess Kyuuzou in waking life. Would the scarlet-eyed samurai feel the way he did in those pleasing dreams – like fire wrapped in ice? Kanbei's lips curved into a small, bitter smile. He would probably never know. He had never been so lucky as to have a dream come true.