Chapter rating: K
Pairings: None (Kan/female Kyuu later)
Characters: Kyuzo, Tessai, Ukyo, Hook

Under the harsh florescent lighting within Kougakyo's 7th Level City Morgue, Ukyo held his nose daintily while nervously pacing up and down the white-washed hallway in the company of his solidly stocky bodyguard.

"When are they going to be done?" The young merchant prince asked impatiently. "This place is giving me the creeps!"

"You really didn't have to come here, young master," Tessai's voice held the subtlest hint of weary longsuffering. "You could have waited in the palace for Hook and Kyuuzou to bring you a report."

"But I want my answer NOW..." A drawn-out whine disturbed the silence that permeated the sterile building.

Tessai secretly envied the majority of occupants of this building who, in the sleep of death, no longer had their eardrums subjected to Ukyo's annoyingly deliberate nasal tone. Fortunately, respite came for the short-haired blond at that very moment.

The wide double doors at the end of the hallway swung open and Kyuuzou emerged, followed by the balding Hook. "Well?" Ukyo asked eagerly as the two blonds strode up to him.

"Judging from their wounds, both Mono-Eye Dude and Nose-Band Guy were most likely finished off with a defanging move followed by a fatal strike," Kyuuzou pronounced her evaluation rather coolly. "The space between the grooves etched into the links of Mono-Eye Dude's arms seem to indicate that they had been twisted around a single edged blade about the width of a standard katana. The width and shape of the stab wound in his mono-eye lens corroborates this. It appears that Mono-Eye Dude was incapacitated before his opponent terminated him with a thrust through the eye. The blade passed through his skull. According to the autopsy, the cause of death was brain hemorrhage. I see no reason to disagree with the forensic doctor's evaluation."

"Yes, yes, Young Master, it is as Kyuuzou-dono says," Hook chipped in obsequiously as he bowed towards Ukyo. "I saw the tall dark samurai with silver hair stab Mono-Eye Dude in the eye. His weapon was a katana."

Ukyo appeared bored at this 'technical' dialog. He didn't give a hoot about how Mono-Eye Dude met his end. All he wanted was for Kyuuzou to agree to get rid of those troublesome samurai and bring Kirara to him.

"Well?" The young lord asked again, this time in a more impatient tone.

If Kyuuzou received the hint, she ignored it. "Nose Band Guy, I believe, was first defanged by a reverse slash that removed the barrel of his arm gun, and then killed when the blade on its return path cut him diagonally across the thoracic cavity. The angle of the cuts seems to indicate that his opponent was a right-hander." The woman's low, cool voice echoed softly in unadorned but clean corridor.

Ukyo rolled his eyes. "Who cares about this worthless information?" He wondered. "Did Kyuuzou come here just to play 'forensic detective'?" Tessai, however, seemed to be nodding away with keen interest at Kyuuzou's evaluation.

"Yes, yes, it is indeed as Kyuuzou-dono says," Hook piped up once more. "The dark-haired ronin wielded an uchigatana in his right hand."

"Uchigatana?" Kyuuzou kept her slight surprise out of her voice. The force of the sword strike that went into Nose Band Guy's wounds led her to guess that the murder weapon was a large heavy nodachi typically wielded with both hands.

"Well, as I said, the murderer is a big tall fellow," the blond with the ever-expanding bald spot turned towards Ayamaro's bodyguard. "So maybe an uchigatana forged for him would have to be used like a nodachi when placed in your hands."

No sooner than those words had left his lips did Hook realize his mistake. Kyuuzou's proud face had turned whiter with quiet anger; her impassive expression took on an additional layer of iciness. Hook blanched. He had the bad feeling that he should probably watch his back around the crimson-clad blonde from now on.

Taking in the situation with his sly red eyes, Ukyo smirked. Things were taking a slight turn for the better, as far as his plans were concerned.

Kyuuzou gave Hook a long, cold stare. Yes, she would show him and that "big fellow" that Hook seemed so impressed with that size was NOT everything, that muscle strength alone did not determine the outcome of a duel. She was fast, she was precise, she knew how to channel the power of ki to make up for her lack of brute strength relative to men and mecha. Maybe she was not as physically strong as that long-haired warrior, but she bet that she was faster and her iaijutsu was deadlier. Many big men and bigger mecha had died under her swords during the war.

Now Hook was desperately trying to distract his audience by chattering on, dispelling the deathly silence of the morgue corridor by describing details of yesterday's fight. "... And both those cursed samurai seemed to have the uncanny ability to dodge Nose Band Guy's flying skewers and Mono Eye Dude's extendable arms. They were extremely quick for big men, and in fact for humans. Would you believe, the long-haired one dissected Nose Band Guy's first volley with the draw of his sword! I've never seen iaijutsu being used against ammunition from mechanized weapons in such a manner..."

At this, prideful Kyuuzou felt her resentment burn even deeper like a festering sore. Now she wanted to defeat that nameless ronin, if only just to prove to Ukyo's foolish servant that he haven't yet seen the best in the world of swordfighters.

Ukyo's slick voice interrupted Hook's ramblings. "Well, Kyuuzou-dono, my ignorant servant here has not seen much beyond the boundaries of Kougakyo. To an experienced Great War veteran like you, those filthy ronin are small fry. I'm sure that they pose absolutely no challenge for a warrior of your caliber."

"I am not at liberty to act without the governor's permission," Kyuuzou replied with cool aloofness.

"I'm sure that my lord and father will allow you to lend your assistance to a brief mission that only you and you alone can accomplish." Young Master flashed a dazzling white smile with nearly convincing sincerity. Though in truth, he did not believe that Kyuuzou was the only fighter in the Governor's employ who could exterminate those pesky ronin. Tessai was a possible choice, but the conniving prince would rather put his father's bodyguard in harm's way than risk losing his own bodyguard. Hyogo was also fit for that purpose. Since the black-haired samurai was probably easier to manipulate emotionally than Kyuuzou, Ukyo had considered him as the #1 choice. But the prince hadn't seen the flamboyant bodyguard since Ukyo returned to the palace last afternoon. That was hardly surprising, considering that Hyogo was on duty guarding Ayamaro who, together with his cabinet officials, had been holed up all afternoon and all night in the Executive Wing, busily reviewing data and conducting 'research' in response to issues raised by the visiting Imperial Envoy. Kougakyo's governor was trying to put together with a coherent report before his morning meeting with the envoy. Hyogo's unavailability left Ukyo with only one choice - Kyuuzou.

Now that this 'chess piece' had been moved into place with some unintended manipulation from the helpful Hook, all that remained for the prince to do was to secure his father's approval. Ukyo smiled. Kirara seemed well within his grasp.