Since I did a female Kyuzo story, I'm doing a quick one on the female Heihachi idea. Less convincing than a f. Kyuu, but...could be fun. :] I'm technically done with What the Rain Said, just a matter of posting it...but until it's ALL DONE I'm holding off on another multi-chapter project I have in mind. It can also be considered a gift or sorts to Jun-I. I keep harassing the poor author. I'm sorry, thanks for being so nice, lol.
Warning: Female Heihachi, ShichixHeihachi-ish.
With a heavy sigh, Heihachi stepped into to the house reserved for the samurai by the villagers. Sliding the door closed behind him until he heard its satisfying wooden clack, Heihachi quickly began figuring exactly how much privacy he had.
Pausing in the doorway, Heihachi's eyes rolled up to stare at the ceiling, calculating. Most of the others were helping to rebuild this or that. For sure, none of the villagers would walk into the samurais' quarters unannounced, they would at least knock and wait for an answer.
Assured of the security, Heihachi kicked off his boots and stepped onto the wooden floor, creaking slightly under the weight. Pulling off first his hat and goggles, Heihachi yawned as he walked. Exhausted, he tossed them both onto a low table set against the wall. Next he pulled off his gloves.
Maintaining the disguise as a man was difficult. Heihachi examined her bare hands. Despite being calloused and scarred here and there, they were still hands far too womanly to be convincingly male. Those thick gloves were indeed important for a mechanic's safety, but they also were a good cover up. Still, it was tiring wearing them so often.
Tossing them onto the table along with her hat, Heihachi gratefully shook out her hair with her hands.
The thick and heavy vest came off next. People underestimated exactly how thick it was. It was also shaped to be bulky and linear. If one was paying extremely close attention, they could distinguish the space between body and vest, but no one was going to be that diligent in watching her. Besides, the pockets distorted the senses more. Even if someone happened to think something odd, they wouldn't dwell on it.
Heihachi smiled widely and stretched her arms straight up over her head, flexing her back and her sides. It was such a relief to be rid of that weight now and then.
If someone were to ask why Heihachi hid her gender, she'd say she preferred being without the complications, the assumptions. Simplicity was a concept Heihachi admired. If pressed, she'd be forced to admit that it had caused her some pain here and there. But she got over it. Overall, it had been very much worth it. She was sure she hadn't missed out on much.
Rare was the chance that Heihachi had time to enjoy being without her disguise, convinced no one was going to come barging in without notice.
Of course, that was exactly what happened, and Heihachi, horrified, looked up at the sound of the door opening.
"Hei-san, someone told me you came in here." Shichiroji first noted the hat, goggles, and gloves on the table. He didn't think much of it until he turned his head.
First was the petrified look on Heihachi's face, both eyes wide open. Then, his eyes traveled downward, to the contour of a woman's unmistakable figure. Without the vest, it was quite clear.
Heihachi gulped. The two stared at each other. A very long, very tense, very awkward silence weighted the air.
Shichiroji lifted an eyebrow. "Interesting."
Was that all he was going to say? Heihachi blinked several times, in disbelief, as Shichiroji pulled off his own shoes so as to come into the house. She watched as he nonchalantly leaned his sheathed weapon against the wall.
Waiting with what could only be called a mixture of impatience and nervousness, she finally asked, "So....um....you aren't surprised?"
"Oh, no, I'm verysurprised." Shichiroji did not disguise his curiosity, and ran his eyes over the clothes form of a rather well-endowed woman. "How did you manage to hide yourself so well?"
"Uh...well...you know." Heihachi's nervous reaction was a sheepish smile. Her rounded cheeks were beginning to turn very pink, not accustomed to having a man actually look at her as a woman. "The vest works...."
"You don't bind your breasts?" Shichiroji asked blatantly. "I've only seen a handful of disguised female samurai, and that's what they usually did."
"Um...." Heihachi's face turned redder. As if the situation couldn't have become more awkward....it suddenly did. And this man was taking absolutely no notice of it. He was adding to it, actually. And it made it even more embarrassing to admit the following.
"For women with smaller chests, it works..." Heihachi began awkwardly. Shichiroji was standing several feet in front of her, arms crossed over his chest, eyes dead set on her face, head tilted as he listened. "But....."
She trailed off, hoping he would interpret the rest. Dropping her eyes off his face, Shichiroji instead prompted her to continue, "But what?"
Oh, why? Why did he ask?
"They're....too big." Heihachi's face was set aflame. "To bind myself that tightly is uncomfortable. Especially when I'm dealing with machines all the time and have to keep bending or leaning this way and that. The vest works fine."
Shichiroji nodded, not at all put off by Heihachi's sensitive confession. She was trying to seem casual. If Shichiroji had been paying closer attention, he would have noticed how bad of an actress she really was.
Another long silence took over. The poor little redhead was trying to keep the miserable look off her face. Shichrioji, meanwhile, made note of the pure embarrassment written all over said face.
He inquired as to why she seemed so, and she looked up at him, mild surprise on her face. Heihachi didn't quite know why he was asking something like that, and with a weak smile, she rubbed the back of her head. "Wouldn't you be embarrassed too?"
"Hm....I dunno." Shichiroji tapped his chin with his index finger. "There are a lot of girls who'd be grateful for that 'problem'."
Maybe Shichiroji knew it, maybe he didn't, but he was mounting more humiliation onto Heihachi's shoulders. She sighed, and he frowned slightly, curious.
The two stood there for another length of time. The sounds of life outside seemed more and more distant, as if a little world was closing in around them.
With some more thinking on Shichiroji's part, deciphered the reason for the short woman's discomfort. She was just a tomboy, embarrassed by her femininity and all signs of. He groaned and slapped the heel of his palm to his forehead, upon realizing that he had been making the situation worse. He sincerely hadn't meant to.
Surprised again, Heihachi's face lifted to stare into the man's face. "What is it?"
"Sorry. That's all." Shichiroji smiled.
Somehow, it assured her. A small, genuine smile crept back to her lips, and instantly, she exaggerated it to her normal wide grin. "No problems."
The tension, and some of the awkwardness, deflated from the air, and the two smiled, just as friendly as ever, at each other.
"So....uh...." Heihachi sheepishly chuckled. "Can you...not tell anyone?"
"Oh....I don't know about thatone." Shichiroji mused, rubbing his chin. The comfort, and the color, drained from Heihachi's face. "I don't think I can keep this from everyone."
"W....what? Why?" The smile dropped from her mouth.
"Kind of...how do you put it...unfair?" Shichiroji stared into the distance, in thought.
Dismayed, Heihachi stared at the floor. "Well.....I can't force you..."
Casting a teasing smile on the poor thing, Shichiroji pretended to consider, "Hmmmm.....I might consider keeping it quiet...."
"Really?" Heihachi allowed a little smile back onto her face as she looked up. It faltered somewhat, however, at the calculating look on the man's face. From experience, she knew that was never a good sign.
"If you can pay the price...." Shichiroji grinned.
The breath caught in Heihachi's throat. Oh no.....
Cautiously, she asked, "....What's the price?"
After brief delay, Shichiroji suddenly began walking towards her. Heihachi's eyes widened, and accordingly, she backed up. Suddenly nervous, she tried to maintain the distance between them, but Shichiroji wasn't relenting as he continued to head straight for her.
Eventually, her back hit the wall. Taking a furtive glance at the wall, she quickly looked back to Shichiroji, creeping ever closer. "W...wait, wait a second..."
Her hands braced themselves at her sides, and looked up helplessly as the much taller man stopped barely a foot away from her. In this position, he practically towered over her, staring down at her face, a playful but calm smile on his all the same. It was the expression of someone who had leverage and knew it.
"U-uh, w-wait a se-second..." Heihachi stammered, and her companion seemed to take no notice.
Her shoulders jerked when his hand suddenly came up to cup her chin between his fingers, and direct her face upwards.
She swallowed hard, and he could feel it against his knuckles, brushing ever so slightly against her throat.
Heihachi's fingertips pressed into the wall, in surprise and some sense of fright when Shichiroji began to bring his face down, closer, and closer, feeling the adrenaline pulse through her veins.
Shichiroji's half-open eyes took in Heihachi's barely parted, trembling lips, the reddened flush on her cheeks, her rapidly blinking eyes. His mouth was less than two inches away from hers, and he closed his eyes. He hovered there, sensing her near panic. After several seconds ticked by on a clock so far away, he opened his eyes just enough to see her eyes were closed.
Finally, though, he closed the space, and brushed his lips against hers. The ghost of a touch was enough to let Shichiroji feel her trembling and sense her awkwardness, and again that persistant hint of fear.
Pressing his mouth closer to hers, he was able to understand more. The shyness, the charming girlishness of a young maiden, a little tomboy who didn't know how to kiss a man. To the right person, it was perfect.
It was one single kiss that lingered. And against what Heihachi had immediately feared, Shichiroji's hands didn't move, his body close but not dangerously so. After those precious few seconds, Shichiroji pulled his mouth away and opened his eyes as she did. Sliding his fingers out from under her chin, Shichiroji stepped away and smiled.
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" He put a good distance between them, eyes trained on Heihachi's disbelieving face.
Her cheeks were still bright red, and she stared at him. "T....That's it?"
"That's it." Shichiroji laughed and took his weapon in hand from against the wall.
Heihachi could hardly believe it. Her red eyes watched his shoulders as he stooped down to pull his shoes back on.
"That's all." She felt the need to confirm.
Standing straight up, Shichiroji shrugged. "Yep. That's all there is to it."
"....Oh...." A short sigh of relief was released as she pressed a hand to her chest.
"Your secret is safe." He assured Heihachi, and glanced over his shoulder. "Unless, of course, you'd like to give something more, which is another case entirely-"
"NO!" Heihachi yelled, turning beet-red, frantically waving her hands. "Nonononono, that's okay, really!"
Shichiroji chuckled again. "Better pull your disguise back on. The others will be in shortly to rest before dinner."
And with that said, he opened the door just big enough for him to slide through, so no one could see in, and shut it behind him as he left. Heihachi watched his shadowed silhouette through the paper sliding doors until it disappeared behind the wall.
Standing, still somewhat in shock, Heihachi felt herself unable to move. The entire intimate encounter could have only lasted a minute, and happened less than two minutes ago. Yet still, it felt so distant, somehow surreal, as if she had daydreamed the whole thing.
With a sigh, she reached for her gloves and pulled them on.
The blush on her face had barely begun to fade, and her heart ached after pounding so fast for so long, and she reached for her vest.
In the privacy of this house, she didn't need to wear a mask on her melancholy face.
Heihachi was not going to fool herself. She knew.
Yes, here and there, keeping the guise of a man did cause her some hurt.
Nonetheless, a small smile made its way onto her face.
This kind of pain wasn't so bad, anyway.
At least, for now.
Someone have a little crush? Methinks so, too. Oh, poor Hei-san. Is it unrequited maybe? Methinks maybe, maybe not. -wink-
Yukino was not mentioned for the sake of convenience....
Heihachi being "embarrassed" by her femininity comes from personal sentiment. I used to be quite the tomboy as a youngster, and I did not like to be thought of very much as a "little girl". I'm not nearly the tomboy anymore, but I still don't like to be thought of as "a girl", I like to be thought of as "a person". Some of this sentiment rubbed off onto the girl Heihachi's personality.
Also, I read a comic where a female character with "large breasts and...and the body of a model", was "embarrassed by her physical richness". In my interpretation, the female Heihachi is indeed insecure about a larger chest and very rounded hips. Whereas I depict/describe Kyuzo with very long and thin proportions, I imagined Heihachi to be more of the "voluptuous" type. Her awkwardness is partially out of shyness and also because she's not used to being viewed on "as a woman". Shichiroji had to figure this out, but he should have had the decency to not say some things he did anyway.
Anyhow, I think this is a stand-alone one-shot, so I'm listing it as "complete". No promises, but maybe I'll eventually be intriguied to go further with this story -smile- Who knows.