*A shamshir is simply a curved Persian blade. I wanted to give the bandit's boss a maquahuitl because that's basically a bad ass club with sharp rocks in it... But its North American so I can't really do that logically. Plus, a shamshir is at least an Asian blade.

:

::

:::

::::

:::::

"Why do you have to follow me?" Ikkaku asked annoyed at Yumichika, who wouldn't stay behind no matter how much he was asked to do so. He even brought his katana, saying there were plenty of others in the compound who he wanted to repay for all they'd done during his involuntary stay.

"Because I'm not letting you go in and be caught by the guards before you even reach their boss."

"And what are you going to do about something like that?"

Yumichika tried to smile, but it looked forced. He was so tired, he didn't even seem to be able to keep up at a normal walking pace easily. "Well, when I escaped the first time I found a break in the walls that let me run away from them easily. Most of them can't even fit through it, but I'm sure you could if you tried. The guards won't be able to stop us if we use it, and they aren't good enough with tools to have done a decent repair."

Ikkaku was quiet for a minute, he didn't even mean to bring up anything that would bother Yumichika, but it happened none the less. "You know, I never thought someone as beautiful as you would ever care about someone like me."

"Don't call me beautiful when I look so bad, Ikkaku."

"But, you still look beautiful. Why can't I say it?" Ikkaku asked with a goofy grin, trying his best to lighten the mood and make Yumichika smile. Him being so sad would soon become contagious.

"Ikkaku, I don't look beautiful. I saw myself in the mirror, I look ugly," Yumichika replied and looked down. "I don't understand how you could say I even look pretty when I'm like this."

Pulling Yumichika into a hug, Ikkaku whispered in his ear; "You always look beautiful. It doesn't matter if you're tired or not, now stop frowning. I'm killing the guy that made you upset, I'm making sure to tell everyone that if they so much as touch you, and you don't kill them, I will. I don't care if I have to put some bastard's head on a pole in the middle of town to get the message across."

The crude humor made Yumichika smile at least. He pulled away from the hug and the continued to the forest, finding a well-traveled path to lead them. He walked in front of Ikkaku, apparently knowing where he was going much more than the other did. The woods had many trees with blossoming flowers, and the effeminate man seemed to belong on the beaten dirt path surrounded by the white petals. It was breath-taking to see his lithe frame move effortlessly over the bumps and over the fallen branches.

"Ikkaku?" Yumichika asked after what seemed like an eternal silence. They were nearing the compound though, that was rather obvious.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to lead us around to the main building, to their boss. Don't make a sound anymore, I don't want to attract a bunch of weaklings who we didn't come here for, they'll just be a headache."

"Alright, not another sound," Ikkaku agreed. His skin was crawling in his anticipation. Some of the excitement was for helping Yumichika, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't just itching to fight because he loved to carve people up. It was just who he was, and he couldn't be bothered to change the way he turned out to please some idealists.

Following Yumichika, they slide through the badly constructed walls around the conglomeration of unstable buildings being "protected" by them, Ikkaku getting several splinters lodged in his arm from the poorly cut wood as he trailed after the graceful man. Of course, Yumichika hardly touched the sides of the crack in the walls and wasn't harmed in the least. He moved effortlessly between buildings, keeping low to the ground and close to rough cabins, staying out of sight as if he were an expert on creeping about. Ikkaku, not the polished thief that his love was, nearly got them caught four or five times, being spared only by some generous succession of miracles and the residential thug's stupidity.

The largest building, set in what seemed to be the exact center of the compound, was their goal. Yumichika led them to a side which had no one around to witness their break in, and lifted a window. He climbed through and waited for Ikkaku, who was getting visibly anxious now that they were so close. Yumichika had obviously been hoping that there would have been some change in heart or a blow to Ikkaku's resolution. Turning to Ikkaku, Yumichika frowned a bit. "We should be near the boss of these morons, so be extra careful now that it really counts."

Ikkaku shrugged, he didn't mind if he attracted all the attention in the entire place, it would just be all the more fun for him. But keeping Yumichika calm was more important than fun at the moment, so he nodded his head in agreement and they moved even more quietly than before, taking care not to let the poorly constructed doors to creak so loud as to attract unwanted bodies.

The lay out of the building must have not changed at all since Yumichika moved with complete confidence, knowing exactly where everything was. He led them to the boss's bedchamber first. No one. The kitchen. Nothing. The meeting hall, one worthless pawn whom was dispatched before he could make a single sound. Before they were able to leave the room, though, they heard loud footsteps making the floorboards creak. A familiar deep and threatening voice said; "He has to be somewhere in town. He'd hiding. Find him."

Ikkaku grinned wider than human mouths should be capable of, the feral smile going past his cheeks. He put his hand on the katana and counted all the smaller footsteps. Four, including the boss were stomping about outside. "I'll go alone."

"No," Yumichika said firmly. He didn't want to stop Ikkaku at this point, but he didn't want to miss out on a single second of what happened between the two. Ikkaku couldn't argue, being as excited as he was for a serious fight, and some real bloodshed.

Walking over to the door, while dragging the corpse of the lackey he had dispatched only moments before, he went out into the hallway that his opponent was walking down with a loud slamming to attract attention to himself. He held up the dead body for a moment as if to provoke who he wanted to challenge before throwing the literal deadweight to the side and unsheathing his sword.

"Who the hell 're you?" The largest man, standing amongst the other three as a giant must around dwarfs, asked loudly.

"I guess it's only fair to know who ended your afterlife. Ikkaku Madarame."

Yumichika walked to the door, fighting an internal war on whether or not he wanted to look at the oaf who had caused him so much pain or not. He stepped out reluctantly, keeping a decent amount of space between himself and Ikkaku so he wouldn't be hindering the fight. Shooting a glare that could have stopped a weary life from continuing, he tightened his fists. "I may not be able to kill you for what you did, but someone has offered to take care of you in the way I took care of your unappealing servants yesterday."

"You?" The large man spat out. "Damn you to hell, running around here like a fucking idiot and-"

"Don't dig yourself a deeper grave," Ikkaku stopped him. "I'm going to kill you, there's no reason for a dead man to talk so big," Ikkaku paused for a moment. "Where do you think you go after this life? Is there anywhere after you die for a second time?"

"What the-"

"Send me a postcard or something if it's a nice place," Ikkaku grinned his impossibly wide grin and pointed his sword at the smaller thugs around his target. "Get lost, I'm not interested in fighting bloodless ninnies."

Anyone else threatening their boss and themselves so haphazardly without anything to show would have been laughed at. After the heartless display of throwing a recently deceased, and looking into the man's cold eyes to affirm the suspicion of his insanity, group was afraid, laughing being the furthest thing from their mind at the moment. The took a few steps back, before someone whom they feared more than the mentally unwell visitor barked at them. "Stop being afraid of a big talker. Kill him, and the pretty boy who's been causing me so much trouble."

Ikkaku's grin diminished, now annoyed. "I said-"

"Don't worry, Ikkaku. I wouldn't mind stepping in here," Yumichika said firmly, unsheathing his katana and walking in front of his protector. "You shouldn't fight these weaklings anyways, after we made so much effort to avoid them in the first place."

"Yumichika, three at a time-"

"Won't be a problem with you standing right there to protect me in case I slip," Yumichika smiled for the first time that day a real smile, looking back into Ikkaku's eyes to assure him. With the prospect of fighting someone they felt they could handle, the thugs who were accompanying their boss smiled. Their new-found confidence led them to rush forward.

Ikkaku felt his heart skip a beat when Yumichika took out one masterfully, a quick slice across the throat of the one who lead the charge wielding a chain mace. The man wasn't even able to swing his weapon before he was dispatched. The next, holding a katana similar to Yumichika's took a swing, using the brute techniques Ikkaku was fond of. While blocking that attack Yumichika was nearly hit by the third combatant using a wide swing with his club. It was maybe his years of training as a thief that made him think to use a devious strategy, or maybe just fighting a brute like Ikkaku before gave him an idea of how the two of his enemies mind's worked, but he knocked the man with the katana slightly off-balance and ducked.

The man using a club hit his friend hard enough to cause a large indent in the skull. In the moment he was stunned by his own action, Yumichika pierced through his chest, stopping his heart in an instant, and all three of his opponents laid scattered on the floor around him. Grossly excessive bleeding made a dark red pool around Yumichika's feet, although a large portion of the blood absorbed into the unpolished floors. Turning to their boss, Yumichika smiled. "I never thought you'd harbor such weak fighters, to lose to a 'pretty boy' must be shameful."

Their boss' face went red in anger, as well as embarrassment. Ikkaku wanted to laugh now that Yumichika was so confident he managed to make a joke. The bandit's boss pulled an oversized shamshir-like blade that had been strapped to his back out and pointed it at Yumichika. "You shouldn't talk big. I'll slice you up till even your mother couldn't tell the difference between your face or your foot."

The raven haired beauty, although not wishing to fight the larger man, didn't shrink away. He was confident. "Your blade won't touch me," he turned back to Ikkaku and began walking away from the angry man. "It's your turn."

Laughing and setting the blunt side of his blade on his shoulder, Ikkaku stepped in front of Yumichika. "He's right, you know."

"What the hell are you gaining from protecting this whore?" The large man asked, still holding his finely crafted blade at the ready. His comment immediately caused Ikkaku to stop laughing and frown.

"You locking him up and using him any time you wanted doesn't make him a whore, it makes him a victim. I don't know how you get off calling someone you raped a fucking whore, but I'm going to teach you a simple lesson in logic before slice you like deli meat," Ikkaku's eyes narrowed.

"The man was a whore anyways, 'fore he tried to steal from me. 'Sides, I don't see why you care about someone like him."

Yumichika glared again. "Ikkaku, I've heard enough from him. If you don't kill him soon, I will."

"Don't worry, I was just starting to think that talking to someone like him isn't even fun."

"Oh, you don't like hearing about how he whored himself out for as much as it costs to buy a few drinks? He doesn't give a shit about his body, so why should anyone else?"

"Shut up," Ikkaku hissed. He knew what Yumichika did out of necessity to pay for food. He hated the fact that it had to be brought up by someone who hurt Yumichika so many times. There really was no point in exchanging another word. He wanted to ask the name of the man, but now he didn't even care. No matter what happened, this guy would be killed at Ikkaku's leisure and then he'd go home to comfort Yumichika. The only gray area was if he should make the man suffer, or end it before the idiot could say anything else.

Ikkaku saw his opponent get ready to speak again, even after the threat that told him to stop talking. It was obvious that the least painful way to handle the situation would be to end the fight as quickly as possible, despite Ikkaku's love for taking his battles slow and enjoying every cut across flesh. If he said anything more to upset the raven haired beauty, Ikkaku was sure he'd lose control over his temper. Before another stupid sentence could pass the man's lips, Ikkaku clashed his katana against the curved blade of the shamshir. Sparks flew from the hard collision of metal blades, sending the larger man into a daze while Ikkaku slide his blade onto his opponent's, the thin guards cutting beneath Ikkaku's forceful push and taking out three fingers.

Barely able to hold his sword now, the boss of the bandits proved himself to be a versatile fighter, using his less adept left hand only to wield his oversized weapon, landing a hit on Ikkaku's shoulder to counter what just befell him. Ikkaku wasn't about to miss a beat, sidestepping the worst of the counter attack and trying to land a piercing blow to the bulky chest of his opposition. The would-be fatal blow was easily blocked as the broadside of the shamshir was used to hit Ikkaku and send him flying into the wall.

Yumichika bit his lip, knowing how mad Ikkaku would be if he stepped in at this point, but wanting to protect the man who was fighting for him more than anything. Ikkaku stood up in an instant, surprising Yumichika immensely. Ikkaku wasn't letting a blow like that be one to do him in, he retaliated while his opponent was looking at Yumichika, who he thought was the only one he'd have to deal with after he put so much effort in the hit. Anti-climatic as it was, Ikkaku killed the man while he wasn't even paying attention with a strike across the throat, effectively beheading his opponent in a neat stroke.

He sheathed his blade and looked back at Yumichika with a goofy grin, and blood splattered on his face. Never was he one to have any finesse.

:

::

:::

::::

:::::