Two Swords (2)
The Sword and the Sheath

Despite never getting his wish of earning an official position from Zero, Tamaki relished his unofficial duty as the manager of finance. When the Black Knights had dispersed throughout the world to carry out the liberation agenda, they incurred numerous bills from all over. Tamaki perused through them with great interest.

"Good thing we're famous and powerful now, otherwise we'd never be able to pay all this off," he remarked.

Various members of the Black Knights relaxed in the conference room with him. Rakshata lounged across a couch with a pipe in hand, as always. Xingke looked uncharacteristically tired as he slumped in a chair across from her, exhausted from his trip to Italy and Poland. Lieutenant Colonel Tohdoh and his subordinate Chiba sat in a table for two, finishing up their lunch. Tohdoh absentmindedly ate the last tempura shrimp as he read his favorite book on the chronicle of samurai battles. Chiba could tell by the faded cover and yellowed pages that the beat-up book held sentimental value to Tohdoh. She reckoned that he had kept it since he first joined the Japanese military. Maybe even before that.

"Hey, when did we have a party for 780 liters of sake?" Tamaki asked.

Rakshata rolled her eyes. "You hosted that party in the first place, silly."

Tamaki blanked out for a few seconds, then the lightbulb seemed to flicker over his head, and he chuckled as he remembered. "Oh, right. Of course I'd forget." He leaned back in his chair until he looked dangerously close to falling over. "Hey Xingke, how were the noodles in Italy? Are they as good as the lo mein you got in China?" Tamaki got no answer, and he turned to see the Chinese Federation warrior dozing off. He chuckled and turned back to leafing through the bills. His eyebrows perked with interest as he pulled one out to examine.

"Ooh, this sounds hot. Luxury double room, single bed at Black Stallion Hotel. Fancy."

"That was our mission in Saudi Arabia," Tohdoh said in an offhand reply. His eyes never left the book. Chiba smiled to herself as she sipped at a bottle of ramune. It had been a surprisingly pleasant trip.

Tamaki looked slyly between Tohdoh and Chiba. "So...did you two do it?"

That made Tohdoh turn. He looked up and narrowed his eyes. "Do what? What do you mean?"

Chiba froze and felt an intense heat engulf her body. 'Oh no...is he going to say what I think he's going to say...?'

Tamaki leaned forward and waggled his eyebrows. "Did you...how shall I say it...'put the sword in the sheath?'"

Tohdoh's eyes flew wide and Chiba snorted soda from her nose. She flushed with embarrassment as she threw a napkin to her face and clutched her burning nose. Thankfully Tohdoh had all his attention on Tamaki, who leaned back in his chair laughing his head off. The resident clown of the Black Knights slapped his knee.

"Sword in the sheath...whoo, that's a good one!"

"That's ridiculous!" Tohdoh snapped.

"Ooooh, so defensive. That's only further proof that you two got it on. Hey Chiba...did he work miracles on you?"

She answered Tamaki with a wordless, seething glare. If one could die from embarrassment, she'd be well on her way to the afterlife right now.

Tamaki would not relent. "I heard that the Miracle of Itsukushima involved Tohdoh setting off Sakuradite bombs to bring down Britannian forces. Did he 'set off bombs' in you too?" Tamaki doubled over from his own joke. He clutched his stomach and laughed hysterically as tears streamed down his eyes.

Chiba lowered the napkin to say in a dangerous growl, "Tamaki, I swear...karma will take its course and someday you're going to burn."

"Not as much as your face!"

Tamaki was clearly having too much fun marveling at what he deemed his own comedic genius. Rakshata merely looked on with amusement and Xingke continued to nap as Tamaki kept laughing.

Chiba's cheeks felt like they equaled the temperature of a volcanic eruption. Before she knew it, Tamaki's suggestive language triggered images that flitted through her mind. She and Tohdoh, sharing a bed without clothes, waking up feeling pleasurably sore all over...It was utterly, completely slanderous. A wave of shame swept over her for thinking such thoughts.

Tohdoh was not amused by Tamaki's humor. His scowl deepened. "We had no choice but to share a room, nothing more. Do you really think we'd indulge in such a frivolous pursuit on an important mission?"

Tamaki looked as if Tohdoh just asked the most obvious question in the world. "Well, yeah! Don't you guys have a thing for each other?"

Tohdoh's reply was quick and firm. "There is nothing between us."

Chiba flinched and lowered her eyes. It both relieved and pained her to hear that from him. She knew he said that to refute Tamaki's imbecilic claim, but still...the sting of unrequited love had never hurt so much until now.

Tamaki made a dramatic forlorn sigh. "Seriously, cool guys always get the girls. Zero's got C.C, and you got Chiba. Lucky sons of-"

Tohdoh leapt to his feet. "Enough!" He loomed threateningly over Tamaki. "I will not have you disrespect my subordinate like this. Any more from you and I'll take it up to Zero."

At the dreadful prospect of being severely chastised by his idol, Tamaki threw up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, I'll stop. I was just kidding around and trying to lighten up the place."

Tohdoh's intense glare subdued him to meek silence. He let out a resigned sigh and returned to his seat across from Chiba. He looked disgruntled and a bit miffed, but said nothing more on the matter.

After hearing what he had said, Chiba couldn't bear to sit with him any longer. Keeping the napkin to her face, Chiba bit her lip and got up. She left in a hurry, choking back tears. Tohdoh looked up and stared after her in confusion. He threw a look of disgust at Tamaki before rising and going after her.

Chiba made a beeline for the women's bathroom. It wasn't until she stopped at the farthest sink that she was unable to hold back a small sob. Grabbing new tissue paper, she furiously dabbed at her eyes, cursing herself for feeling this way and getting this upset.

'I'm overreacting...' She glared at her reflection in the mirror. 'Pull yourself together, Nagisa Chiba. You're a Holy Sword, damn it.'

When she felt she had successfully stifled the emotional turmoil within her, Chiba went back outside. She took only a few steps down the hallway and rounded a corner before she abruptly stopped. She sucked in a sharp breath of surprise. Tohdoh was headed right her way, and he stopped once he saw his subordinate.

Finally Tohdoh was able to muster a gruff inquiry. "Has Tamaki upset you? I'll take a complaint up to Zero as soon as I see him."

Chiba was surprised, and a bit touched, to hear a trace of concern in his voice. She looked away. "No sir, that won't be necessary." 'Tamaki isn't the one who hurt me. It's you.' With that thought, Chiba couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, otherwise she might start crying again like some pathetic, heartbroken high schooler. She wanted to shut her eyes and for Tohdoh to somehow magically disappear, so she wouldn't have to be stuck in such an awkward and undesirable situation.

Fortunately enough for her, Ohgi walked into the hallway. "Commander Tohdoh, Rakshata wants to do a test run of the Zangetsu. She can't do it without you, of course."

"Right. I'll be on my way." Tohdoh walked past Chiba to get to the hanger. She kept her gaze low all the while. Tohdoh threw one last glance over his shoulder, his usual intense scowl softened for an instant by confusion. Something upset her, and instead of not particularly caring, he wanted to know why. He supposed it would have to wait.

Glad that Rakshata didn't demand a test run for the Akatsuki model as well, Chiba headed off to her room for a much needed nap. "There's nothing between us..." She said that as if to console herself, instead of acknowledging what could very well be the sad truth.