"Big Brother!" An effeminate man cried, jogging towards the castle. Behind him, a young girl practically floated across the ground, her bare feet barely touching the blood stained grass as she kept her emerald eyes trained on the man leading her. "Big Brother Bankotsu!"
"Took you long enough." The teen snapped, his eyes stormy and dark as they searched his companions for any injuries. Finding none, his glare softened and he opened his arms. Without a moment of hesitation, the girl settled on the step in front of him, leaning her head against his chest where his haori had fluttered open in the wind.
She whispered, "We found a village not far from here." Letting out a purr of contentment as his hands massaged her lower back, she traced her claws along his arm that held her against him. "It's not a large one, but there were a couple promising shops."
His hands dipped lower, caressing the silky soft skin of her hip and resting just below the hem of her kimono. He smirked, knowing she wore nothing underneath the indecently short purple material. "You think it'd be advantageous to raid it?" He gazed down at her, lifting the hand that wasn't on her hip to run his calloused fingers along the blue stripes on her cheek bones.
"Maybe." She nearly moaned, her glossy pink lips parted ever so slightly. "I could use some new clothes, and my knives have dulled since our last battle. I know Jakotsu was eyeing some of the kimonos too."
He nuzzled his face against her inky black hair, not noticing when Jakotsu slunk away to give them privacy. "If I had my way, you'd never wear a kimono again."
She chuckled sultrily, loosening her obi and allowing the fine silk to slide down her arms enough to show the curve of her full breasts and the tattoo etched over her heart. "Ah, yes, but then we'd never get anything done." She slid up his body, straddling his lap. The position thrust her chest into his face.
Bankotsu chuckled, burying his face between the two pale mounds. "I'd die happy though." He whispered.
He stood up, holding her with one hand cupping her bottom. With his free hand, he picked up Banryu.
"You know," She whispered against his neck, sucking lightly before continuing. "There is a lovely garden just outside the grounds."
He headed off towards the vines that he knew covered the wall surrounding the garden. "Then that's where we'll go. Jakotsu!"
The cross-dresser peered around the corner at his best friends. "Yes, Big Brother?"
"Find out the best way into the village you saw." A smirk covered his face when his girls thighs tightened around his waist. "We'll be back later."
"Damn it!" He snarled, crumpling up the paper he had been writing on. The breeze blew it away to join the other rejected notes that littered the clearing. "She's gone, the sooner I realize that, the sooner things will get back to normal."
'Things will never be normal without her.' The thought lasted only a second but he knew it to be true.
"Master Bankotsu." Kohaku's voice cut through the teen's daydreams like a knife. "I have brought you your friends."
'Maybe I can't have her, but I still have my friends.' Throwing up the hand that held his brush, he greeted the band of men coming towards him. "Yo!" He laughed, waving at them.