Ren swallowed. "You don't want to do this."

Kijima tightened the grip on the knife. "I didn't want any of this. I wanted a warm bed and some drunk people who'd smile nice at my charming party."

"And you don't want Hikaru to marry Kyoko." The words fell like stones.

Kijima gritted his teeth. "I want him to wed someone he knows and loves, not just thinks he does."

Ren tilted his head to Kijima, the blade close enough to shave him. Kijima could feel Ren's breath on his skin. "Then our interests are aligned. I was hired to prevent Kyoko Mogami wedding anyone before my employer spoke to her. That's it. We get Hikaru to leave her alone, I send Kyoko's location along, and my job's done."

It felt too good to be true. "Why should I believe you?"

Ren shook his head. The blade ghosted against his skin without cutting him. "Believe it or not, I'm a man just trying to pay a debt to a widow. That's all. But my employer's son's a prick. And through all of this, I've found myself fond of you two fools."

Kijima remained silent. His hand was shaking too much to be considered a proper threat, but he had to stick his ground. He didn't before and that's how Hikaru got in this mess in the first place. "How'd you keep us warm?" he asked. "There's no way the fire lasted long enough."

A slow hand tapped the medallion on Ren. "Magic. It's costly, though. Life gives life. Life takes life."

Kijima peeled the blade away. He slumped against the cave wall. Ren turned and cocked his head to Kijima. "I will get Hikaru back. But first, there's a fox that died to keep us alive. Shouldn't be left to rot."

Kijima could hear a bird chirping in the distance. He nodded and handed the knife over, in a haze. Ren took with a small smile. Then, he tapped Kijima's forehead. "Sorry."

Kijima's world went black.

Kijima woke up, propped against a hard tree and the icy, snow-coated ground. The scene in front of him is chaos: blood-sprayed snow, bodies scattered in unnatural angles, carts splintered, and a fire in the middle of it all between him and the living.

Ren was dabbing the cut on Hikaru's forehead as Hikaru drank from a flask. Kijima braced himself against the tree and tried to shove himself upward. He failed. Ren huffed. Hikaru called out, "Kijima! Are you okay?"

"Just waking up," he grumbled. Then, before he could realize it, Ren was in front of him, helping him up. Kijiima gave him a bewildered look that seemed to genuinely sting Ren. They made their way back to Hikaru.

"What happened?" Hikaru asked warily, staring Ren down. "Why was Kijima unconscious?"

Ren sneered. "Because Kijima putting a knife to my neck every time I closed my eyes would have hindered my rescue efforts."

Hikaru gave Kijima a wild look. "Come on, Hikaru, wasn't it just a little too convenient to find a bodyguard right when you were ready to go back to her? He's muscle looking to keep Kyoko unwed. You're not the only one looking for her hand and they're apparently a dangerous lot."

Ren snagged the flask from Hikaru and took a hearty drink. "Killing is not stated in the contract, not that dangerous."

Kijima gestured to the carnage surrounding them. "What's all this then?"

Ren smirked. "The effects of a self-imposed quest to keep you both alive."

A quest that worked contrary to him trying to pay back the widow, Kijima realized. Out of a self-proclaimed fondness for them.

Fondness couldn't possibly be the right word, but perhaps it was the one most available to him. Kijima found a smugness in Ren's eyes as if he were waiting for Kijima to thank him profusely for his selflessness, to beg for forgiveness for mistrusting him. But Kijima just studied him to the point Ren's gaze had to find the flask and drink once again.

"Kyoko would be safer if I didn't go to her, correct?" Hikaru asked, voice hollow. The two looked at him. "I could go to her, lay my intentions bare and my knowledge of you, but when it came down to it, I'm not a swordsman. I've not enough coin to pay you off, or any other agents that come for Kyoko. I could be bringing all kinds of chaos to her adoptive family's home because of my impetuousness." His head hung low. "Worst of all, I put my childhood best friend in danger at the same time. Left at the mercy of an assassin."

"I'm not an assassin," Ren spat. "I -"

Kijima put a hand on his shoulder, urging patience. Ren exhaled slowly.

"I need to write to Lord Takarada," he continued. "Tell him the truth, everything I've done, and about whoever hired you, Ren. Kyoko may hate me for it, may never speak to me again, but…" He shook his head. "A man deals with the consequences of his action."

On shaky legs he made his way to one of the corpses, turning pale as he looked at the gore. "I… I don't have a shovel. How - how do I -"

"Ground's frozen solid," Ren said. "You won't get the bodies buried even if you did. Best thing is to cover them with snow and mark the locations. Tell the priest in the next town where they are. He'll see to it they are handled correctly. Tell any family if they recognize them."

So they did. Even as Kijima's fingers went numb, he didn't complain, as he wasn't inclined to break Hikaru's concentration. He recognized that face - he wore it when he was deep in thought, composing his words before they ever hit paper. This composition wouldn't be in song, however.

Ren was silent as they buried, and even more silent as they made their way to the next town. When they arrived at the tavern, Hikaru got himself a room and went to locking himself away in it. Kijima ordered him and Ren ales. Only when they were seated did Kijima speak. "Don't hold his words too harshly against him. It was a rough draft is all."

Ren scowled. "Rough draft?"

"Yeah, it's a first attempt," Kijima explained. "Practice at trying to capture everything in your head and laying it out logically. So calling you an -"

Ren shot a glare at him. Kijima held a hand up. "Calling you that was the only thing close to describing how he felt at the moment. He took a stab at organizing the chaos in his mind, that's all. And what he was trying to say was that he was dead lucky that you actually ended up being a softie."

Ren rolled his eyes and took a drink. "Sometimes your judgement lapses when you spoon someone all night."

Kijima smiled. "Messes you up a bit inside if you think too hard about it. 'Specially considering that I almost slit your throat afterward."

Ren barked a laugh. "No you didn't. You were shaking like a leaf in a gale."

"I didn't see you trying to escape," Kijima teased.

"I wouldn't have had to try if I wanted to. I just didn't."

"Why didn't you? Too cold outside the cave, just a few more moments in bed, darling?"

"Close enough." Ren took a drink.

Kijima cocked an eyebrow at him. "See? First draft. You want to take a shot at revising?"

Ren shook his head. "You're a clever boy. Do it yourself." He looked in the direction of the rooms. "What's Hikaru going to do?"

Kijima ran his finger around the edge of the tankard. "Likely wait in this village until he either gets a summons to the estate or banned from his lands. That'll take a few weeks, maybe a month, which means impending poverty will leave me to seek work in the nearby areas. All I really know is Takarada won't take well to you being hired to prevent two young people from being silly and enamored with each other, so your employer will be confronted about it, I know for sure. Who knows? He might want to pay you off. Might be worth you sticking nearby if that's the case."

"Hmm." Ren looked into his beer. "And do what?"

Kijima started ticking off fingers. "General bandit removal, finding lost children, manual labor - I mean, look at you, you're huge, you can lift things - or you could be my bodyguard."

Ren snorted.

"I mean it! The roads are clearly not safe. Plus, bringing a bit of muscle with me gives me a bit more clout. Better rates, more interesting requests." Kijima tilted his head to the side. "I'm no fool. I'm not asking for forever. Just awhile. See how this story ends if you're truly fond of these characters."

Ren shook his head. "Why did I use that word?"

"Care to revise?"

"No," he said. "But, I will stay. Just for awhile."

END

BROMANCE BY THE EXPERT AT BROMANCE, AKISMUSICBOX! Love you birb