Sorry for the long delay, my dears. I hope this makes up for it somewhat. There's plenty of Kyo/Yuya goodness here by way of apology for taking so long. Also, I finally read volume 30 and I just sighed, Kyo seriously has a thing for Yuya and Kyoushiro is really pissing me off right now.

As usual, thanks to:

confused404angel, s, Crimson, dementia, Face, The Violet Muffin, Doctor Delirium, FlowerGirl, Simonkal of Inuy, Derra, Vampy-Bitch, Crimson Eyed Angel
2008-08-23, lisa,
November Raine, insaneteacup, , CouchPotato121, phoenixkid, christyalex, May, Eve, soubifan700, Bethany Shiver, LavenderSkies, Dawn, SSJ04 Mewtwo, Biminigirl15, dragon girl, Shelly, OnimeKyo-Kyuubi, DarknessFlameWolf, SolarGuardianChick, Syolen, battenburg, Fayesiirinoa, dmg, Sagitarious Devil, ThunderxShadow, Remember the Dead, Jennipher-willbedeleted-, Serena530, peckforever, Atradis, inxcharacterx, fan girl 666, Yoru, midnight blue08, MaraSeti, shadow of the lost

::Hugs::

Midori no Me

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Ice Prince and The Oni

Kyo's ire grew with every step he took towards the brothel/inn where they were staying. He went over a multitude of scenarios wherein he taught Yuya the importance of exercising just a bit of common sense and doing what she was told, for once.

What he needed was a stronger punishment. Something she wouldn't forget for a very long time. If he were to utilize the same "punishment" he had delivered to his wayward companion, he doubted it would stick in that thick brain of hers. It obviously hadn't been effective enough since she'd disappeared on him again so soon.

The legendary manslayer vaguely noticed the crowd parting for him like he was some sort of wild beast on the prowl and, if he wasn't so pissed, he might have smirked. He knew his face must have been thunderous and, too, there weren't that many red-eyed men walking around with a sword as long at his Tenryo. Obviously, his reputation preceded him and he was actually grateful for that fact since it made his trip quicker.

Kyo made it to the place where they were staying in record time and, entering, breezed past the startled man who checked the guests in. Both men and women - most of them whores - scrambled out of his way as he swiftly navigated his way through the hallways before throwing the door to their room open.

It took only a few moments for keen red eyes to scan the room - taking in the undisturbed bag where they kept their belongings - and for their owner to deduce that Yuya had never made it back to the room. He felt a sharp pain in his chest at the thought of something happening to the girl while he wasn't around. Even though he'd made good time, his female companion should have arrived before him, at the very least. And the fact that she hadn't made it back to the room told him that she had almost certainly been stopped by someone...or worse.

He tightened the grip on his sword and whirled about, slamming the door shut behind him as he marched back towards the entrance of the "inn". If his mood had been black before, it had since taken a turn and was on a collision course with murderous. He was torn between coming up with new ways to drill into Yuya's skull that she needed to do as she was told in the future if she wanted to stay alive and imagining what he would do to her assailant if anything happened to his woman.

Kyo contemplated the many ways he could torture her without hurting her physically or making her hate him. Punishing her via sex was out of the question at this time since: 1) He was unwilling to do anything to break her trust, 2) He wanted her first time to be special, and 3) Such methods were rarely effective.

There was also the additional reason that he'd be lying if he said he didn't find her headstrong personality appealing on some level. If it weren't for the fact that there were too many people who wanted him dead, he might have been tempted to let her do her own thing - provided she didn't go to another man. He was fully prepared to run the next man through who tried anything with Yuya, no questions asked - Benitora had no idea how fortunate he was.

Kyo was possessive by nature and the things he considered to be his, unquestionably, were narrowed down to two things: his sword and a certain troublesome girl named Yuya. Hence, when he exited the building, only to come face-to-face with Yuya with a man's arm wrapped around her waist, his response was automatic.

Tenryo seemed to leap into his hand and he aimed a deadly swing towards the offending limb - there was just enough space between Yuya's body and the owner of the arm to pull it off.

Yuya yelped as the man holding onto her jerked her to the side in order to dodge Kyo's swing. The Thousand Slayer tracked the movement with narrowed eyes and just as he was about to ready a second strike he heard a pained sound come out of Yuya as her left foot came down on the ground. It was a tiny groan that he could only just make out but it was more than enough to stop him cold and bring him back to his senses. He wasn't acting like himself and he hadn't survived as long as he had by allowing his emotions to rule him. The legend took a deep breath and told his self that he could dismember the man touching his woman after he made sure that she was alright.

Twisting his head, Kyo sought and found Yuya's eyes with his own, doing his best to ignore the man holding her as he searched the vivid green orbs staring back at him.

There was a curious feeling of déjà vu as he asked quietly, "You are well, Yuya?"

She nodded softly and replied, "I'm mostly fine. I just twisted my ankle, that's all." He held her gaze for a few moments more, trying to locate traces of fear or anything else that might indicate that she was being held against her will.

His search turned up nothing more than mild curiosity and he gritted his teeth, almost wishing that the man holding onto her were some sort of idiot who wanted to use her against him. It would certainly give him an excuse to work off some of his frustration.

Speaking of the man...he hadn't really taken the time to examine the person who was behaving so familiarly with Yuya and he slowly raised his eyes to peruse the perpetrator.

Red irises moved upwards, taking in a masculine chin with just a tiny hint of roundness and thin lips that were curled into a faintly amused smile. Distant alarms bells rang in his head as he stared, not so much at the lips but at the way they were arranged.

His mind told him that he knew the smile currently twisting the man's mouth - a sort of half-smirk that wasn't unlike his own. However, he couldn't place it and so he continued to take in the rest of the man's face. Whoever he was, the man before him was young, nineteen at the latest and as he appraised the face before him - noting the closed eyes and the pale golden hair - he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

He couldn't understand where it came from or why it was so intense but one moment he was staring at the man and the next moment his entire being was telling him, no, screaming at him to take Yuya and get her as far away from the man holding her as possible. The fingers of his left hand twitched with the need to reach out and pluck his companion from the other man's grasp but he held back, sensing that it would be especially unwise to reveal just how important the girl was to him in front of this particular man.

He could feel Yuya's eyes on his face and whatever she read there caused her to sigh and bring hand up to lay on the arm around her waist.

Her voice was soft but firm a she asked softly, "Please let me go."

Kyo swore that he saw the man tighten his arm just a bit before he did as she asked and his fingers clenched even harder around the hilt of his sword. He reigned in his temper, however, and watched as she half-hopped over to him - noticeably keeping her weight off of her left foot.

Keeping an eye on the other man, he moved forward to shorten the distance between himself and Yuya and gently caught hold of her around the waist.

Looking up at him with her gloriously guileless eyes, she flashed him a somewhat pained smile as she gripped his arm for support before saying, "I'm in trouble, aren't I, Kyo?"

It was a statement more than a question and he smirked, nearly tempted to forget her disobedience when she looked at him the way she was. He really did like her eyes, they were uniquely hers, and he liked it even more when she focused them only on him.

"How touching," a smooth voice broke him out of his Yuya-induced musings and the warm feelings his woman produced in him quickly dissipated.

The entire time they'd been standing there, the man hadn't said a thing but the moment Kyo heard that voice, he realized that he knew the owner of it.

Looking over at the young man once more, he scrutinized his face and allowed his mind to fill in the blanks, wondering why he hadn't recognized him sooner.

While Kyo busied himself trying to place the man, Yuya addressed the person in question directly, gently gripping his arm as she twisted around to face him.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me make it back here," she said and, though Kyo could no longer see her face, he knew that she was giving the semi-stranger that sweet smile of hers that made most men turn to give her a second look. He liked it when she directed that smile at him but hated it when she used it in public since a "second look" meant a second chance to figure out that she was no ordinary woman. What made it even more devastating was that her smile carried into her voice so that even a blind person - which he was beginning to suspect the other man was judging by the closed eyes and odd turn of his head - could pick up on it.

The legendary killer carefully observed the man's reaction, watching as he slowly folded his arms, bringing a finger up to rest beneath his bottom lip. Tilting his golden head, the young man curled his mouth into a tiny smile that was, somehow, both amused and un-amused at the same time.

It was enough, more than enough, to give him a name to go along with his face.

"Akira," Kyo said softly and the young man's smile widened even more.

Yuya, on the other hand, gasped and her entire body tensed up. He barely registered her unusual behavior before the youngest of the Four Emperors grabbed his attention once more with his next words.

"Ah, so he can speak. I was wondering if you had forgotten who I was and if I needed to give you a little reminder," Akira said, his tone amused.

As Kyo listened to him, he found himself wondering when his pupil's voice had gotten so deep and it occurred to him he hadn't recognized the young man as quickly as he had Bon and Okuni.

"You've grown," he commented, half to himself.

The Akira he remembered might as well have been a different person. As a boy of fourteen, his appearance had often been unkempt due to long periods away from civilization and his face was rounded out with youth. Also, he'd been hot-tempered, stubborn, and there had been nothing wrong with his eyes. The Akira he remembered and the immaculately dressed, cool, calm, and collected young man standing before him were as different as night and day.

The situation was surreal. However, such observations were quickly forgotten as he recalled Akira's words.

Narrowing his eyes in thought, he said in deadpan voice, "Last I saw, you were a brat so I'll admit it took me a minute to figure you out. I think seeing you with a girl on your arm threw me off. "

There was something knowing about Akira's demeanor as he replied just as evenly, "And last I saw, you had a rule against travelling with women. Tell me Kyo, have you forgotten yourself so much that you've tied yourself down? Weren't you the one who told me that there's nothing else, save the sword for men like us? Don't tell me you've grown attached to that girl."

There it was again, that word, "forgotten". Kyo had thought it odd that Akira used it before and here he'd used it again in a matter of minutes.

If he was paranoid enough - and he was - he might have believed that his former companion knew about his missing memories, but logic told him that there was no way the young man could know. Still, the fact that two people from his past had shown up in the exact same city as him on the exact same day was no coincidence. And, too, there was the fact that Akira had been the most upset when he decided to leave.

"Curiously enough," Akira continued and the smile he'd been maintaining up to that point took on a definite unpleasant twist, "according to Yuya-San, she's been targeted almost constantly because of one man. Why is that? What man could possibly inspire such hatred that the Shogun's men would go out of their way to hunt down a simple girl, just because she was connected to him?"

It was a purely rhetorical question. Kyo didn't doubt for a second that Akira knew that Yuya was connected to him since, as far as he could remember, his student had always ignored members of the opposite sex in favor of training. The Akira of his memories was a boy driven by a complex set of issues that were unlikely to have been resolved in a mere four year's time. Too, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on with his former companion's eyes and why his entire demeanor seemed so different.

The Thousand Slayer's senses were still on full alert and his need to hide Yuya away was every bit as great. And just as he was about to maneuver Yuya to the side so that he could swing his sword freely, should the need arise, Akira did something completely unexpected.

The blonde man gave him a slight bow and turned to leave. Kyo was dumbfounded, to say the least, and he was further confused when, instead of letting him walk off in peace, Yuya actually spoke.

If he thought the situation was surreal it got even worse when the girl called out a soft "wait" and Akira actually heeded her.

There was a long pause and he sensed Yuya gathering up her nerve before she spoke again.

"Akira-San...I just wanted to know. Did you...help me because you wanted to use me against Kyo?"

Kyo would have thought that - even though he didn't know the entire story behind their meeting - the answer to that question was obvious but Akira threw him for a loop yet again.

Turning his head so that his profile was visible, Akira allowed his hard smile to mellow into something soft and genuine - something Kyo'd never seen before in all his years travelling with him - and replied in a quiet tone, "I wonder about that..."

And then he melted away into the crowd of people who had gathered around to see if a fight was going to break out. There was a chorus of complaints that broke out when it became apparent that they weren't going to see Demon Eyes Kyo fight, but he silenced them with a cold glare.

Somehow, after watching that entire exchange, the pleasure he had felt at seeing Yuya alive was dampened. And she didn't help matters when he caught sight of her face and realized that Akira's words had made her blush. He curbed the flash of temper that rose up and silently gathered her into his arms instead to shorten the trip he had to make to their quarters.

What he was about to do and say was best left between himself and Yuya - an audience was the last thing he needed.

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Yuya knew that Kyo was upset and she wasn't so dense that she didn't realize, at least in part, why he was so mad at her. Hence, she did nothing save bury her nose in the crook of his neck and breathe deeply of his scent as he carried her to their room. The familiarity of his warmth and the smell of pine mixed with the faint copper taint of blood made her relax somewhat.

It felt like forever since he'd allowed her to be so close to him even though it had only been a matter of days. Yuya figured that she should take comfort in his presence while she could before he got on her for wandering off. She also figured that if she reminded herself why she liked Kyo so much, it would erase the weirdness of Akira's earlier words.

Really, though, it was just plain weird how the younger man could maintain such a lying smile on his face while he spoke to Kyo. Chills had crept down her spine as she watched the two of them and she couldn't forget the fact that her companion hadn't hesitated to swing on Akira the moment he saw them together. Of course, she knew that he wasn't going to hurt her but it was so out of character for Kyo to swing his sword without first exchanging words with his opponent to see where they stood.

If she had to put a word to it, she might have said he was acting jealous but such thoughts were much more than she could bear at the moment. The implications were too great. Instead, she reveled in the strength of his arms and enjoyed the way he unconsciously tightened his grip on her every time she shifted - it made her feel as if he would never let go of her.

All too soon, he was entering their room and she childishly considered clinging to him as he set her down because she wanted to prolong the time spent in his arms. She resisted the urge however, since he seemed to have used up all of his humor during his exchange with Akira and, in hindsight, she really hadn't helped matters by asking Akira about his motives for saving her. Truth be told, even though her gut instinct had told her that she wasn't remarkable enough to warrant a warrior of Akira's caliber going out of his way to help her, she could still tell, after talking with him that he had been sincere in his own way when he rescued her.

For once, she had dared to entertain the thought that a new person had entered her life because they wanted to know more about Yuya Shiina instead of using her to get to Kyo. It had actually hurt when it became apparent in Akira's conversation with Kyo that, not only did the young man have a grudge against Kyo but, their relationship apparently went way back to a time when Akira wouldn't have been considered a man yet. Hence, to say she was shocked when Akira replied the way he had to her half-baked question was an understatement and she wasn't quite sure what to make of him anymore. One half of her was flattered and the other half was apprehensive.

Yuya bit her lip in consternation and then sucked in a hard breath as a light flick on the large bruise on her left ankle sent pain shooting up her leg. Her eyes scrunched shut and she immediately tried to draw the injured limb in towards her body but strong fingers stopped the movement of her leg and lifted it, forcing her to lean back on her elbows. She grit her teeth to keep herself from cursing in a most unladylike manner as she opened her eyes again and sent a glare towards Kyo that would have sent a lesser man running for his life.

Briefly, she entertained the thought of reaching for the knives strapped to her thigh and playing a quick round of "Turn Demon Eyes Kyo Into a Pincushion". Kyo, as usual, diverted her ire, with the precise timing of a man who knew her moods far too well, by doing the unexpected. Just when she had decided that a swift kick to the side of his head wouldn't hurt him too badly, he lightly ran his fingers up the side of her calf, rendering her speechless.

Red eyes bored into her own and she silently cursed the way her brain shut down whenever he stepped outside of his role of her, sometimes, aloof protector and turned into "Kyo the Man". When he came to her as he was now, a man who knew what he wanted and who had laid claim to her, she didn't know what to do except hang on for the ride.

The memory of how he'd punished her before was still fresh in her mind. And, even though the sane part of her brain told her that she was her own woman and far too old to be punished when she hadn't broken any laws, she was acutely aware of the fact that Kyo considered her his property and she didn't dislike him enough to dispute his claim. It was quite the opposite actually.

However, now was hardly the time and place to be holding an inner monologue with herself because Kyo began to speak then and she knew she was in trouble.

"Tell me, Yuya," and her name came out in a purr that sent a shiver down her spine, "what was the gist of what I told you last time about wandering off and dealing with strangers?"

He slowly rubbed a circle in the skin of her calf with his thumb and she suddenly found it infinitely harder to answer his question without stuttering like a fool.

"I...you told me not to...w...wander off and to...avoid str...strangers." She wanted to sink through the floor in mortification at how idiotic she sounded.

Kyo merely gave her that secretive smile - the one with just a hint of fang - and bent down so that his hot breath caressed her leg as he spoke again.

"Care to elaborate on why you disobeyed me, woman? Bon told me you came back here and, knowing you, it was probably for something foolish that could have waited until after the tournament."

Yuya stiffened at the implication that her concerns had been foolish but wisely held her tongue, knowing that Kyo really wasn't in the mood to listen, despite his genial façade.

"And I suppose you got injured during a run-in with the Shogun's soldiers. At least, I assume that's where you got hurt since I've spent my precious time insuring that you haven't been injured and you seemed to be fine..." until you disobeyed me - she heard the rest of his unuttered sentence and felt her face heat up.

"If that wasn't bad enough...," he continued and he rotated her leg ever so slightly so that her knee was pointing away from the center of her body, "...you somehow meet one of the deadliest men I've ever known, who is also the one person most likely holding a grudge against me that far surpasses anyone we've come across so far. What in the world am I supposed to do with someone as senseless as you?"

''Well I never...!'' Yuya was incensed. She might do some foolish things but she had actually left the tournament because she wanted to help, not because she wanted to go lollygagging about. She'd had every intention of returning as quickly as possible and here Kyo was acting like she was some sort of self-centered child with a brain the size of an acorn. The young woman was so angry that her next words came out in rush.

"Don't you dare accuse me of being some sort of selfish brat who never thinks before she acts! I know that some people would target you through me but, at the same time, I am my own woman and I refuse to let you lock me up in some sort of invisible box where you can order me about and talk to me as if I am incapable of thinking for myself. I follow you because I trust you Kyo and you...you're acting like..." she paused as a thought occurred to her. If she put the pieces of the puzzle together, starting from the time Kyo caught sight of her with Akira's arm about her waist and started swinging to his words of a few moments ago, the reason for his overbearing attitude about the entire situation became clear. She'd ignored it earlier but she was angry enough now that she didn't care about the consequences or implications of what she was about to say.

Narrowing her eyes at him she said in a knowing voice, "You're acting like you're jeal...AHH!" her words ended in a shriek since Kyo chose that moment to nip the sensitive skin on the back of her knee.

Yuya tried to jerk her leg away but he held it fast and she glared at him as she said, "What do you think you're doing? Just because I said you're jealo...AHH!" he made her cut herself off yet again with another well placed bite and she got the hint that he wasn't going to allow her to voice her epiphany about him out loud.

She stared at him and felt her irritation melting away now that she knew there was a method to his madness. In fact, she felt a little elated at the realization that he cared about her a great deal more than she had previously believed and, if she thought about it, his childish ploy to keep her from uttering her observations was sort of cute. Naturally, she wasn't foolish enough to let on that she was amused so she demurely lowered her lashes, bit back a smile and said, "I understand, I'll try to be a little more cautious in the future."

He let out a satisfied grunt and finally set her leg down before moving away. She was just about to turn and attempt to crawl over to their belongings to see if she could find something for her foot when he told her quietly, "Sit still woman, I'm not done with you yet."

She lifted her eyes and gave a start when she realized that his face was right next to hers. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in even closer, bringing his left hand up in order to stroke his knuckles, feather light, over her cheek.

"Kyo," his name exited her mouth on the back of a half-sigh and he smirked as he rotated his wrist and cupped her cheek.

She wanted nothing more than to kiss that wicked grin of his right off his face but he teased her, letting her feel the warmth of his breath against her lips and making no move to close the distance between them.

"Woman," he murmured as he ghosted his fingers over the side of her neck, "who do you belong to?"

Logic told her that belonged to no one but herself since her only male relative was dead and she was unmarried. But emotion whispered the sinful thought that, if she told him what he wanted to hear, he would kiss her at last and appease her fickle heart, which beat wildly whenever she was in his presence.

Honestly, all it took was one look into those beautiful red eyes of his and her lips formed the words before she knew it.

"You," it was no more than an exhalation but he apparently heard it because he brought his other hand up - so that he was cupping both her cheeks - tilted her head down gently, and placed a soft kiss on her brow.

"Again," he ordered her quietly and she was so drunk on his very presence that she complied and earned a kiss on her right eyelid.

It became a game then. Every time his quiet demand came, she acquiesced and earned a kiss for her efforts, all in the hopes that he would claim her lips next.

"You."

He kissed her left eyelid.

"You."

He kissed her right cheek, followed by the left.

"You."

The right corner of her mouth.

"You."

The underside of her jaw.

"Y...you," it came out wobbly as he blew a gust of air over her throat.

Calloused fingers gently hooked onto the collar of her kimono and pulled it a few inches to the side to give him room. And then she felt the moist, hot caress of what could only be his tongue at the base of her neck and her mind when blank.

She didn't have the strength to be outraged at how brazen Kyo was being, it felt far too nice. She could feel the soft brush of his hair on her cheek - surely it was sin for a man to have such fine hair - and his arm slid down to her waist to brace her, comforting her with its solid warmth.

The young woman lost all track of time and barely noticed that his lips had replaced his tongue for quite a long while before he finally backed off from her neck.

Yuya was infinitely grateful for the arm propping her up since she was positive that it was keeping her from melting into a puddle on the floor.

Looking at Kyo, she noticed that he was smirking again and it took her moment to register that Kyo only had that look when he was either about to fight or had done something that was going to make her temper explode.

With great caution, she slowly brought her hand up to touch the spot on her neck where his mouth had been but he quickly reached out to brush her hand aside and touch the spot himself. He caressed it with the pad of his thumb in an unmistakably proprietary gesture and she began to put the pieces together.

He only confirmed her budding realization when he said, in a tone with more than a hint of smugness, "Now there's no mistaking that you belong to me."

''He didn't...!' her overworked mind tried to deny the truth of the situation but, since she was neither stupid nor unrealistic, she couldn't deny that Kyo had most definitely left a kiss mark on the side of her neck. And it wasn't in a spot that she could easily cover up either, unless she wrapped a scarf around her neck.

She grit her teeth for the third time that day and turned her glare on full force, itching to scratch that self-satisfied smirk off of Kyo's face.

"Kyo....," she spat out, determined to ignore the way his eyes softened when she made her irritation clear.

He gradually brought the hand touching her neck up until he was cupping the back of her head and she was determined to tamp down the subconscious thrill she got - no matter how angry she was - whenever he touched her.

The force of her anger was no match, though, for his secret weapon. His smirk morphed into an actual smile and he gave her "that" look - the one where he stared at her as if no one else existed in the world and she could tell that he was seeing something in her that no one else could see.

And then he lowered his face and kissed her softly on the lips.

Her tension scattered away like dust in the wind and she kissed him back, putting all of her frustration of the past few days into it. He lightly threaded his fingers through her hair and reciprocated in kind.

They both breathed a sigh of relief when they parted and Yuya actually mustered up the boldness to press an additional kiss on the side of his mouth that earned her a tiny smirk.

"Woman," he said, "do you understand what I want from you?"

She controlled the temptation to roll her eyes and smiled instead as she replied, "Yes, Kyo. Since you can't live without me, I won't wander off and come back with a strange man's hand wrapped around my waist."

He quirked an eyebrow at her but made no comment about her teasing tone and choice of words.

"You also understand that Akira is off-limits to you," he reminded her.

"Yes. He's dangerous as you've done your best to impress on me."

"And..." he began, but she stopped him.

"Kyo, I don't think you've picked up on it yet but I honestly don't want anyone else but you."

There was long, pregnant pause after that and she was quite certain that she had rendered him speechless. Yuya knew her face was bright red but it was worth it to shut him up so he would stop acting like she was some sort of floozy. Even if it was his jealousy speaking, he needed to realize that she stayed with him because she wanted to. Also, because she genuinely liked him as a person and darned if she wasn't falling in love with him, though she doubted he could handle that particular confession at this point in time.

Kyo was still sitting there when another matter came to mind. Letting out a sigh at the inability of men to multi-task, she offered him a smile and asked sweetly, "Would you mind helping me to do something about this injured foot of mine? I'm pretty sure it's sprained."

And Kyo, the darling man, actually did as he was asked, for once.

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Again, sorry for the long delay and I hope this made up for it, somewhat. Next chapter we get back to the rest of the crew and the tournament.