No promises, but I'm going to try and make it so that this story is posted and finished before the end of the month. I'm off to college ;) So I wouldn't really know when I'd be able to pick up this story again if left unfinished, or if I'd bother going back to finish it. I'm really bad at that.

Kyuzo-dono, there you are." Katsushiro smiled, coming across the warrior on the edge of the forest, sitting peacefully in a tree.

Glancing down at him, Kyuzo took a moment before leaping down in front of him.

"You weren't where you usually are when I went to go look for you."

"I slept in the village last night."

"Really?" Katsushiro seemed surprised. "But I guess it makes sense that I couldn't find you then...anyway, I--"

"You have a threat." Kyuzo interrupted, and Katsushiro blinked, startled.

"Threat? What threat?"

Kyuzo pursed her lips. She was not sure how much of a favor she was doing Katsushiro, if any at all. Perhaps ignorance was bliss. But maybe she had already been too blunt, said too much, because the young man was now giving her a concerned look.

"'Threat' how?"

"The girl. Kirara." Kyuzo narrowed her eyes. "You are not the one whom she watches most."

Katsushiro blushed, and struggled to appear indifferent. Clearly, he was miffed, but he insisted, "I don't care about that. I don't-"

The no-nonsense look from the woman forced him into quiet. Of course, Kyuzo had never been one for games, and he blushed deeper under those hard eyes. Somehow, the awkward bond between them had proved effective. To Kyuzo, Katsushiro had proven himself trustworthy, honest, and in her own way, she felt it was her time to reciprocate. She hated leaving a debt. Even though she was sure Katsushiro didn't think of it in that way, to her she was doing what was fair. However, she was aware it was something that would hurt him. At the same time, she felt more that it was something he needed to know.

"Is it....that obvious?" Katsushiro mumbled, kicking a pebble at the ground and watching it skid a few feet with interest.

Kyuzo nodded, and their endeared novice flinched, turning a deeper shade of red.

"So then...." Katsushiro looked helplessly at her. "What threat do you mean? Someone else...?"

Kyuzo nodded, and at the begging look she received, she only told him, "Watch her."

Troubled, Katsushiro struggled to think of who he could possibly be losing his chances with Kirara to.

Normally, Kyuzo was the last person one should look for if seeking comfort. Yet she carefully put her arm around his young shoulders and drew him to her. It was not really a hug, little more than a 'hold'.

Startled, Katsushiro flushed again in Kyuzo's sisterly embrace. He looked up at her curiously, again a green-eyed kitten to her.

Kyuzo stared off into the distance, lost in her own thoughts before driving them away. Looking down at Katsushiro's youthful face, hers was, as always, calm and collected.

"Give it your best." She told him and released him from her one-armed hug, before striding past him, down the path back to the village. Behind her, Katsushiro watched, incredulous and his head suddenly full of thoughts. He had never expected Kyuzo's assurance, less than that her encouragement. But he dared not mention it again, as he came to his senses long enough to run and catch up with her.

"Ah, there you two are." Shichiroji looked up at Katsushiro and Kyuzo walked toward the group. He noticed, but did not comment, on Katsushiro's flushed cheeks. "We were about to go over our next strategy, as devised by our ever-brilliant leader here...."

All the samurai stood or sat around, listening to Shichiroji's explanations, as he detailed their coming infiltration into the nobuseri's remaining ship.

Kyuzo gratefully took the opportunity to put the previous night behind her, willing to focus on the plan coming into finer detail. Every now and then a question would be raised and appropriately dealt with.

However, she had been perhaps a little careless about her placement, having thought nothing of it. The only thing that mattered was keeping her back to their 'ever-brilliant' leader.

Unfortunately, that proved to be a foolish move. While Shichiroji talked, she felt something on her back. At first nonchalant, believing it someone's accidental movement, she couldn't ignore it as it lingered. Then she identified it as someone's hand.

It seemed the very second she made that realization, it removed itself, and instead of her back...

Struggling to keep a straight face, Kyuzo turned her head to see, indeed, Kambei slide his hand over her rear.

With a look of fury, she glared openly at him, aware that she could not make any noticeable movement that could attract unwanted attention. At her glower, he only gave a smile.

Turning back to look at the map Heihachi was pointing to at the moment, Kyuzo discreetly reached her hand behind and snatched Kambei's wrist, forcibly removing the offending hand off her backside. But as she released his wrist, safely away from her, he perhaps accidentally, probably intentionally, ran his hand over hers as he drew his own back.

Aside from the infuriating look of casualness on Kambei's face, Kyuzo did her best to ignore the offense until an appropriate time. She turned back to the group, and shoved her rage for the moment aside. But brewing in her mind was a plan for revenge.

This train of thought was broken by that hand. Only minutes after she had, in her opinion, given a blatant no, it was there again, caressing her backside.

As it happened, Kambei was standing close enough behind Kyuzo that no one could actually see his arm, and her rear was, as Kambei later put it, conveniently there. To the rest of the samurai, it seemed that Kambei's arm was just hanging at his side.

So if Kyuzo were to reach again behind her, it would seem suspicious, especially for a second time. She had been lucky that no one saw her the first, and she was about to risk it again, when Shichiroji looked over, asking, "Kyuzo-dono, is something wrong? You have an odd look on your face."

Automatically, all eyes were on her. She was aware she was probably scowling very darkly.

"Yes, Kyuzo-dono," Kambei asked. "Something the matter?"

I'll kill him.

"Nothing."

This unwanted touching went on all day. At any point, if Kyuzo got close enough, and no one was paying attention, there was bound to be that hand, brushing over her hand, her leg, her shoulder, her side, her back. Once he daringly brushed his hand across her cheek when no one was looking, and she slapped it away.

By the end of the day, Kyuzo was quite ready to murder someone. She had never faced so much unwanted contact in her entire life than she had this one day.

Since when did she lose so much control of herself!? It bothered her. There had been times, of course, in the past where some idiot grabbed at her. Occasionally, there were some lords that needed to remember to act "appropriately". Hell, once Kyuzo had to ward off a noblewoman who was interested in the handsome blond samurai with the "lady's face". But never had any of these irritating encounters irked her so badly...it was probably because they had all, or at least most, thought her a male.

Despite her struggle to contain her anger and shame, the only thought that kept her in check was that the day was coming to an end, and she could soon safely seek Kambei out to give him some well deserved pain.

Waiting for everyone to disperse, she strode throughout the village, seeking out that arrogant man for whom she now had nothing but contempt for.

She finally found him along the road leading to the outskirts of Kanna village. Having spotted him from a ridge overlooking the fields, she quickly caught up to him.

"Kambei." She growled from behind, and he turned to coolly look at her.

"No title?" He asked. "Does that mean you think of us as close?"

I'll kill him.

"What would possess you to..." Kyuzo snarled under her breath, her upper lip curling in her rage.

"To....what?"

"You know."

"Do I?" Kambei turned and continued walking along the path. She had no choice but to follow him, now even more agitated that he was neglecting her, denying his wrongdoings.

"Yes." Kyuzo skipped straight to the point. "Do not put your hands on me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I'll kill him.

Seeing that this frontal tactic was not going to work, Kyuzo simply walked beside him, silently regrouping for her next plan of attack. She was going to get him for this. Now.

They made their way past the trees, Kyuzo paying little attention to where they were actually going. Some time ago they had walked in a different direction than the one to the main road, the one that led out of Kanna village, where beyond the next stretch was the bridge.

Instead, they were walking down a lesser used path, a narrow road that led to a small gathering of houses. Two or three were decrepit, beyond use. Another two were still useful. They had recently been abandoned, the residents fleeing to the safer, more populated section of the village. And, of course, that's where the samurai were.

"I'll only say it once more." Kyuzo told him sternly, her eyes trained on him as he stopped and glanced around. "Keep your hands off me. You think you're being funny, but actually-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, because Kambei's large hand dove out, snatched her roughly by the collar, and yanked her with such force, she nearly stumbled. When she was stilled, she had been shoved with her back to the wooden wall of the crumbling house.

Angered, she began to protest. "Kambei, this game-"

"I agree." He murmured, fisting the black fabric of her shirt, "The game should be stopped altogether."

And she tried to avoid it, pulling her face back until her head struck the wall, but still Kambei pressed his lips to her mouth.

His hands were able to easily overpower hers, and he held them against the wall. She tried to kick him, nearly able to do so, if he hadn't caught on and pressed his entire body into her, causing her to jump in protest. It was to no avail, as she more or less threw herself back into the wall.

Behind her, their combined weight caused the cracked wood to creak. She tried to move against him, trying to find some sort of leverage to get him away from her, until she heard a soft groan accidentally escape his lips. She froze, having not anticipated that particular problem.

Did he think she was doing that intentionally?

If he did, he was sorrily mistaken.

In a way, it astounded her. Since when did she make such blunders so as to fall into this situation in the first place?

So she soon gave up that, doubting she would be able to physically shove him off anyway. It hadn't quite registered to her that through his slow, deep kisses, she had been sometimes returning them, unintentionally, subconsciously. Her wrists, pinned to the wall beside her shoulders, were being constricted much less, barely held in place by his hands, which she hadn't yet noticed were not gloved.

Eventually, his mouth left her face, and wandered down to her jaw, then coming lower onto her neck. Her eyes half-closed in a sultry daze, she did not think about turning her face so he could reach better, did not think about the deepening, quickening of her breaths, drawn in and out through parted lips.

Through his attentions, her mind seemed to dissolve into a new creature, not the defenses of a wild animal with life-saving logic, but a thoughtless creature of primal instinct. Although he was pressed close to her, she was not being pinned. She was forcing her legs to brace herself against the wall behind her, somewhat unable to trust her own two feet. Her boots ground into the earth beneath them.

Her fingers twitched, flexed, and impatiently opened and clenched, helpless to make any other sort of movement. She did not, after all, want to-

Eyes snapping wide open, she suddenly began struggling anew. Damn it all, who cared what sort of sick satisfaction it would give him, she was not about to be his plaything.

Surprised, Kambei did nothing to stop her as she wrenched her hands free of his weakened grip and shove him away. Very nearly he dodged another punch to the face, secretly impressed at the wind that came off her fist as it swiped empty air.

Angry, Kyuzo glared at him as he obediently stepped back from her, one arm thrown back against the wall to support her, as she could not yet rely on her secretly weak knees. Her other hand wiped vigorously at her mouth and then her neck, looking like she was ready to snap at him, an animal faced with her hunter.

"So is this it?" She panted, ignoring his confused expression to hiss, "The payment for your silence?"

"What?" He frowned. "'Payment for silence'?"

"Blackmailing me?" She snapped. "Is this what you're demanding in order for your secrecy?"

"Kyuzo-dono," He told her quietly, feeling a pang of hurt he did not show in his face. "It is nothing like that."

Testing her legs, Kyuzo slowly stood up, and was forced to quickly lean back again. The slits in her coat fell around her legs, exposing them. Kambei was given the rare chance to examine them, and did not miss it: the opportunity to run his eyes up and down the long, slender, yet shapely female legs. But he pulled his gaze from them, being that Kyuzo would probably listen to him better when he wasn't leering at her.

She apparently hadn't noticed, as flustered as she was. Finally able to stand fully upright again, with some effort she would never admit to having needed. Spiteful, she muttered skeptically, "Isn't it?"

"No."

Seemingly, she was not about to believe him, at least not easily. Accusingly, she pointed out, "You show no interest until you find out I'm a woman."

"Again, Kyuzo-dono?" He furrowed his brows, but not out of anger. "You think that this is all there is to it?"

"What else could it be?" Kambei couldn't even be sure how rightfully Kyuzo was speaking. She was so flustered, her cheeks were stained red, which showed even brighter on her pale face, she ground her teeth. "There are only so many samurai around. We all have our mission. There is no woman for you, no wife or lover, and you know better than to lay hand on one of the village girls."

Village girls? Was that a deliberate jab?

"Kyuzo-dono." Trying again, Kambei sighed. "I promise, I would never blackmail you into doing something you didn't want. I would never force you into this for the sake of keeping your secret."

Once again, the mood between them seemed to have been disrupted, but it had not evaporated in the cooling air of the evening. Between them, the air was thick and heavy with instinct, with emotion, with denial and with longing.

Biting her bottom lip, Kyuzo gave him one more furious look before quickly making her way past him, ignoring the potent air around them both. "Do not touch me again."

Just before she was out of earshot, Kambei audibly promised, "Very well. No more."

If you notice, Roji still was thinking "....hm..."...because of course, Katsu and Kyuzo came back together. Alone. And Katsu was blushing. I'm sure he wasn't the only one who thought that way ;)

There's this pattern going on of Kambei's reoccurring physical dominance over Kyuzo. I'm using it as more or less a metaphor for his increasing control/influence on her. Of course...he still needs to learn to keep his hands to himself in the meantime.

I'll be honest, I was a little hesitant about posting this one as is. First it's plain silly, then it's...er...-turns red- I was a little embarrassed, okay? But I better get used to it sooner or later. If that's what I want to happen to progress the story, then I have to get used to people reading it.