A/N - Still no reviews! Shame on ya'll! Well, this is the next chapter. Please : ) tell me what you think!

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They were dueling, swords clashing together, stepping in time to each other's movements. It was almost like dancing.

Izumi loved it. The exertion, the intensity. He could loose himself in it for hours and, contradictory to what that first night had suggested, he and Koji were pretty evenly matched.

Koji just seemed elated he had found something that made Izumi happy. He would spend hours practicing with his fierce-eyed captive, to the seeming dereliction of all his other duties as dictator of the machine empire.

When Izumi had asked how all their time together was affecting the empire, Koji had just smiled. He'd admitted to being a devoted leader and tactician before Izumi had appeared.

'But now, you're more important to me than anything. The entire city could fall and I wouldn't care,' he'd said matter-of-factly. Izumi had stared at him incredulously and then spent the better part of the following hour avoiding direct eye contact.

Their swords crossed again with a metallic clang. They called out almost friendly jibes and taunts to each other as they moved.

Izumi was sweating in his workout clothes, a pair of slacks and a loose, short-sleeved shirt. Apparently, machines liked their environments on the cool side, encouraging Izumi to wear as much clothing as possible when indoors.

"Point," Izumi breathed, a wide smile on his face as his blunted rapier tip pressed into Koji's chest, right above where his heart was, or would be, if cyborgs had the same organs as humans.

Koji smiled up at Izumi from where he was kneeling on the floor, having been tripped by Izumi just before the rebel struck.

"Your round," Koji conceded, ridiculously happy for someone who'd just lost.

He rose smoothly to his feet.

Izumi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Koji. If he thought for one moment that Koji was throwing the matches… The man was half-machine, after all. Shouldn't he be stronger than a flesh and blood human?

He was about to voice his concerns on this matter when a green-uniformed cyborg appeared in the doorway of the sparring room. He did not glance at Izumi. Most of the upper-level cyborgs in Central preferred to pretend that Koji's new 'pet' simply didn't exist. Koji, fearful of Izumi receiving negative attention, encouraged this behavior.

"What is it?" Koji asked imperiously. It was fascinating to Izumi how the ruler's attitude differed from when he was talking to his subjects and when he was speaking to Izumi. It was almost like he was a different person… er, cyborg.

The new cyborg bowed.

"The humans, my Lord," he started, still not looking at Izumi. "There's been an attack on the New-Oita industrial zone. We've received reports of an entire oil storehouse on fire," he added.

Izumi's eyes flew to the genuflecting cyborg.

Storehouses could be miles long, filled with barrel after barrel of precious oil and plane fuel. Notoriously hard to break into due to their value. If the rebel's had indeed destroyed the stores, even one store, it was a great victory. Izumi felt a surge of pride. He realized he was smiling.

Koji didn't seem pleased, but he didn't look particularly distressed either.

"Seal off the other storehouses. Code Five authorization. Keep a look out for stragglers. They're not above suicide missions," he rattled off. The cyborg straightened up from his bow, nodded, and backed out of the room. Koji turned back to Izumi.

And stopped mid turn.

Any trace of smile was gone from the bronze face. Izumi was glaring at him with all the hate and loathing of the world reflected in his dark eyes. It seemed the interaction between master and servant had reminded Izumi of just who he had been grinning and having fun with not five minutes before.

"Izumi…" The rebel cast down the sword and made to storm from the room.

"Izumi, wait!" Koji's arm caught him around the middle. Izumi whirled on him, pulling back his fist and letting it fly at Koji's face. Koji caught it easily with his other hand, firmly lowering the trembling fist until it was lying restrained back at its owner's side.

"Let me go, you thing. You've no right to touch me," Izumi snapped pitilessly. It worked. Koji instantly released Izumi, who turned and fled the room.

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TBC...