Black On Black

Author's Note: After a bit of pondering, I decided to get a bit more... daring than usual. So, uh, lemons. And stuff. This ficlet didn't have a name before, so I made up a ridiculously blarghy one.

Also, crack. Because really, is there anything about this ship that isn't crack?

Disclaimer: I. OWN. NOTHING. D:

Due to his status as a wanted criminal, Katsura was used to having no permanent home; there were places that he stayed in for a while, but more often that not, those were ratted out by the Shinsengumi. The closest he'd had to a place to live in a very long time - since he was a child, really - was the shop owned by the ramen lady Ikumatsu... and even then, that was more of a hiding place than a house.

Katsura's luck was always a fickle thing, though, and the highest point in his life since the days before the Joui Wars earned him a semi-permanent residence as well; after a run-in with a more extreme faction of the Joui that left him badly injured and unconscious, Katsura was taken in by a person that he had long considered his greatest rival.

And while he admittedly spent more time hiding from the other residents of the Yagyu estate than anything else, Katsura was grateful for the aid of his rival; it had been some three months since then, and his lingering feelings of resentment from before the rescue had vanished altogether.

Of course, it was still out of the question to call it 'love' - though Kyubei didn't much care for her family's status, they did have ties to the government, and it was hard enough keeping their friendship a secret. And there was still the issue of Ikumatsu, which Katsura agonized over on an almost daily basis... there were times when he felt as if he was the protagonist in one of those silly dating sims, and the only thing that kept the illusion from becoming reality was the fact that there were only two candidates to choose from.

But at this point, those thoughts were insignificant in Katsura's mind. There was something he wanted to speak with the Yagyu heir about, and it was far more important than some silly notions of romance or intimacy - after all, he was a samurai, and despite his often questionable actions, he always made sure to uphold the code of honor.

He stepped up to the door of Kyubei's room, glanced around to make sure that no one could see him, and then slid the door open and peered inside... and in a matter of seconds, the Joui leader's thought processes were reduced to a smoldering pile of rubble.

It should not have been unexpected that Kyubei was changing her clothes at around this time; it was late in the evening, after all, and her normal bedtime was coming up soon. Still, Katsura found himself frozen in place by a mixture of abject horror and embarrassed interest - he had never seen Kyubei's body before, and her unbound hair only added to her rather striking image.

The moment didn't last long, however - just as Katsura realized that he was staring, Kyubei caught notice of him as well, and she gave him a single terrified glance before she darted off and proceeded to hide in her closet.

Katsura did admit to himself that Kyubei's reaction was rather odd; judging from her past behavior, he'd expected to end up in excruciating pain, perhaps thrown out the window on instinct. But he didn't have time to ponder it... another problem presented itself, and with a deep breath, the black-haired Joui leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

So long as he kept his focus, it would be a simple matter to resist the temptation and to calm his male instincts. It was bad enough that he had inadvertently seen Kyubei naked, but this reaction to the fact unnerved Katsura; the desire to reproduce, spurred on by the visage of someone he'd considered nothing more than a friend, and someone that he knew had problems dealing with the opposite gender... so he did not give in to his urges, and instead kept taking deep breaths and averting his thought processes in an attempt to distract himself.

It didn't work; no matter how hard Katsura tried to wipe the image of Kyubei naked from his brain, it was imprinted in his mind, and his body still reacted to it. But he could control himself - he would not allow himself to give in to this temptation, as there were far more important things to consider-

"...Ah, Katsura. I-I'm... sorry."

Though the voice from the closet was quiet, Katsura could still hear it; why was she apologizing when he was the one who walked in on her changing? He waited, anxious, to see if Kyubei would leave the closet... hopefully, seeing her clothed again would help with that horrid image.

"N-no, it isn't your fault... I-I should apologize..." Despite himself, Katsura stuttered a bit; there was one downside to Kyubei leaving right now, and that was the fact that she would, without a doubt, notice his problem. "Ah, we can... wait until later to talk... if that's what you'd-"

And before Katsura could finish his sentence, Kyubei slid the closet door open and peeked out; her hair was still down, and as far as he could tell, she was still naked.

"...um, no, it's..." With a small sigh, the Yagyu heir stuck her head fully outside the closet; then, she stepped out and looked away, a profuse blush on her face. Katsura's assumption was correct - she still wore nothing, not even the eyepatch that normally covered her damaged left eye.

"...I, ah, I'll leave you be now," Katsura said, his voice hurried; then, he turned to the door and prepared to leave, fully aware that no amount of excuses would make up for what he'd done. He wasn't the most well-educated when it came to women, but he did know that, for the most part, what he'd done counted as an unpardonable offense.

"W-wait...!" Kyubei grabbed Katsura's arm and tugged him closer, her grip tight. "Um... you... ah, have a... problem... don't you...?"

Katsura stiffened as he heard those words; just as he thought, she had caught on to his issue right away. He wanted to deny it... he wanted to run off somewhere else, somewhere far away from her, and just calm himself down thinking of something else. But it was already too late... the looming cloud of impending doom hung over him, and the only thing that kept him from wrenching his arm out of her grasp was the fact that, in the off-chance that she didn't mind, doing so would have painful consequences.

"...It is improper for a samurai to indulge in such behavior," the Joui murmured with a frown. "I... have done both you and I a great injustice. I-"

"N-no." Kyubei cut him off with a stutter of her own, an anxious smile on her face. "...I, ah... if... um, if you... n-need help, I-I..."

Once again, Katsura froze. As simple an offer as it was, he could sense her sincerity... perhaps she intended to make up for putting him in this position in the first place, even though it was him who started it? And while it was the last thing a true samurai would do, this was the first time since he knew her that Kyubei willingly offered to touch a man... and the gentle rubbing of her thumb on his forearm was more than a little reassuring.

"...I-I suppose you can... ah, help me..." As Katsura spoke, he averted his gaze; the thought of the Yagyu heir's hands on his body snapped his last thread of restraint, and he decided that, for the time being, restraint was unnecessary. One of the people he cared about most was offering herself to him, and he had almost turned her down because of tradition... and as much as it pained him to admit it, the tradition he followed was rather outdated.

Kyubei's hand shifted, and she linked her fingers with Katsura's for a moment or two; a small, hesitant smile crossed her face, and then she leaned in and pinned him against the wall as her lips met his in a chaste kiss.

For once, Katsura had nothing to say; the heat pooling in his groin only intensified with Kyubei's bold actions, and there was no way he could take back his consent now. He breathed a small sigh and peered at Kyubei with one eye, his previous humiliation and internal conflict all but gone - she was so soft and so beautiful that his logical thought burned away with just a single touch.

"So... ah... like this...?" Kyubei, for her part, still seemed hesitant; however, she understood her partner's urgency, and her hand rested at the collar of his clothing as she gave him a questioning glance. "I... I'm not good at..."

Katsura gave a small nod, still unable to speak; it wasn't like him to give in to the instincts of his gender, and such a thing was something he normally prohibited among the Joui, but he really had no choice in the matter this time... Kyubei had saved his life, and he did care for her, so the conclusion was only natural-

"...ah?" Kyubei peeled away the cloth covering Katsura's shoulder, then leaned her head against it; her breath tickled his neck for a moment before she tasted him, a small lick that, just as quickly, changed into a gentle nibble.

"S-Sir Kyubei..." Katsura addressed her in a soft tone, his vocal cords still a bit tangled; every one of her actions, from the simple brush of skin against skin to the pressure she applied to him with her mouth, made him shiver in delight, and he began to consider the possibility that perhaps he would finish before she even really touched him. However, Kyubei's ministrations stopped as she lifted her head to meet his gaze again... and this time, he felt a bit nervous under her penetrating, one-eyed stare.

"...just Kyubei, please," she murmured, then planted another light kiss on Katsura's lips; before he could even react, she had moved down again, her fingers dancing across his chest as she worked to remove even more of his clothing. She paused to rest a finger atop his nipple, then gave it a gentle, brief rub before she proceeded down to his abdomen.

Another sigh escaped Katsura's throat as Kyubei rested her head against his stomach; his mind was distracted from the sensual air of the situation as he realized that she was nuzzling him, her eye closed in delight as she basked in the feeling of being close to him. It was unusual for Kyubei to be affectionate toward anyone, and for her to behave like this with a man was something that most who knew her would've deemed impossible... after all, the only other person that had received such gestures from her was Tae.

And then, the Joui leader's mind snapped back to reality - Kyubei had exposed his groin, and as he watched, her fingers slid around his hardened shaft and she began to rub him. Her touch was tentative and light, but it was enough to spark a reaction from Katsura; he had almost no experience with this, and his body was almost unbearably sensitive from her prior teasing.

Still, Kyubei watched Katsura with an apprehensive, concerned look in her eye; her own lack of knowledge on the subject meant that she couldn't tell whether or not he enjoyed it, and although she was careful, she knew that her skill likely left a lot to be desired. But if nothing else, he didn't protest, and she took this as incentive to pick up the pace a bit... absently, Kyubei wondered if Katsura would enjoy a little massage for his lower parts.

And, sure enough, when Kyubei started to massage him, Katsura leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes; he preferred not to moan, in case someone was nearby, but the sensation was so intense that he almost couldn't keep quiet. Already, his skin was flushed and damp with sweat... every stroke sent a twinge of pleasure up his spine, and he had to resist the urge to move along with her hand.

"...faster?" Kyubei offered, as she gave him a lick. "Um... h-how does this... feel...?"

Katsura gave a small groan in response and shifted his hips forward; the addition of her tongue shattered his remaining self-control, and his voice was low and quiet as he answered her. "...good... it feels good... ah, y-your tongue..."

Kyubei took the hint right away; she picked up the pace of her rubbing a bit more, then captured the head of his manhood with her mouth, no longer hesitant. She indulged herself in his taste, sucking a bit as her tongue traced circles on him... while she wasn't that experienced with this sort of thing, she knew a little bit, and his hums of pleasure indicated that she'd done the right thing.

It didn't take long for Katsura to climax from there - Kyubei's mouth blurred his mind more than anything she'd done, and only a few seconds passed before he arched back and let go, his restraint snapping as he let out a loud moan and peered down at her with one eye. As he rode down, still gasping for breath, he saw her smiling, undaunted by his release and very happy that she could help him.

Some time passed before Katsura got up the willpower to talk to Kyubei; he hadn't expected her to do something like that, and he still didn't know if there was any particular reason for it. His original reason for visiting had been all but forgotten... it was a moot point now, and the only thing that mattered to him was finding out more about Kyubei's feelings regarding him.

"So... ah, um. About... that."

Kyubei lifted her head at the voice, then blinked twice. "I... felt like it. I know it... wasn't the right thing to do... I'm sorry. I..."

"No." Katsura nestled himself behind her, then slid his arms around her neck and rested his chin on the top of her head; even though he was well aware of her reflexive reaction to being touched by a man, she didn't seem to mind if it was him. "That was fine... it didn't bother me. Ah... thank you."

Kyubei peered up at Katsura, a bit surprised. "...S-so... does this mean...?"

"...Yes," Katsura replied with a hum. "I am hardly the best man for the job, but I can't back out at this stage. You... ah, I suppose I was mistaken, calling you my rival. Sorry."

"All's well that ends well." Kyubei smiled, then leaned against Katsura. "Let's... do a bit more next time, okay?"

Author's Notes: I SHIP THIS. As weird as it is, I totally ship it.

And I am sorely tempted to write a sequel in which Ikumatsu finds out. Only problem is that it'd probably involve bondage...