It was with no little horror and a faint twinge of panic that Katsu realized he'd rather spend time with Kijou than spend time alone. Usually, the only cure for this insanity was the presence of Kijou herself, which quickly reminded Katsu exactly why he'd spent so many years alone after he left Kijou.

And there was a tricky question. Why on earth was he developing an aversion to his own company now, after so many years? He couldn't explain it, other than maybe recent weeks had gotten him accustomed to the presence of other people. He couldn't understand it. He –

"Katsu!"

He cringed at the voice, and at the spark of relief that rose in him at the sound of the voice – relief from boredom, he was sure, and it warred equally with disgust. It did. Now if only he could convince him-Kijou of it, as he himself obviously needed no convincing at all . . .

Kijou swayed closer to him, invading close enough that it distracted him from all other thoughts. He leaned away as much as he could, but he was somewhat limited by the ropes binding his hands and ankles together . . .

"Silly Katsu," Kijou purred, leaning close enough that all conflicting feelings in Katsu unified into a single thought of get away from me, bitch, which he would have vocalized if he thought it would have done anything other than get her angry, and if she hadn't continued on at that moment. "Don't you think it's past the time for playing hard-to-get yet?"

At that remark, Katsu felt compelled to answer – he even opened his mouth angrily to do so, but was effectively silenced.

By Kijou's mouth.

On his.

Kissing him.

All things aside (such as his current feelings and bound state), it wasn't even an enjoyable kiss for the few seconds it lasted. Her lips were far too full and soft, squashing unpleasantly against his, and the cosmetic she used to tint them that eye-watering red was thick and waxy and not at all pleasant-tasting. Her hand on his chin was too grasping and greedy, and her long, sharp nails dug into his skin hard enough that he wouldn't be surprised if they drew blood as she forced his mouth to stay open. Her tongue, which she forced in as soon as she could, was slimy and unpleasantly moist, and ancestors, did the woman even know how to kiss?

Katsu didn't think, he just reacted. Had his hands been unbound, or even if they had been tied in front of him, he likely would have hit her. Had his legs been free, he likely would have scrambled away. Had she not had such a death-grip on his jaw, he would have at least wrenched his head free. However, none of these were options, so Katsu did the one thing that was.

He bit down on her tongue.

Hard.

And, well, damn him if he didn't feel a rush of joy when she scrambled away with a pained yelp. A coppery taste filled his mouth, letting him know he had drawn blood, if the red leaking out of Kijou's mouth was not enough proof. For a frozen minute they stood there, Kijou standing, hand over her mouth, breathing hard and bleeding, her eyes burning cold with anger, and Katsu, kneeling, adrenaline making his breath equally labored, his teeth stained with blood that wasn't his and bared into a defiant snarl. He spoke first.

"I hate you, you fucking cunt."

In retrospect, that wasn't the best thing to say, but Katsu was beyond caring. The pure wrath that rushed into Kijou's eyes told him that he was not about to pull something like that off without any retaliation, but he didn't care about that, either. If asked, he would have said that he would have preferred another way to be rid of the conflicting feelings he had, but there was something to be said for efficiency.

"Oh really." Kijou's voice was tight with fury, and her posture was the image of enraged affront. "You would do well to change your mind."

She swept out of the room dramatically, but she didn't close the door. Katsu may have wondered why she did that, but before he could, two of her muscled, granite-faced "guards" stepped in, and he knew. These men were professionals – they didn't waste time on taunts or threats, not did they pause to let the knowledge of what was to come sink into Katsu (they didn't need to, but that was beside the point) – no, they went straight for the pain.

As blow after blow slammed into his body with cruel accuracy, Katsu could only curl up into a ball and try (unsuccessfully) to avoid the worst of them. Briefly, he wondered if Kijou had given them any orders about how far to go, but soon the sheer blinding agony erased all coherent thought. He thought he heard something break with a dry snap, but the pain was quickly (blissfully) overriding his senses, and it wasn't very long at all before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Argh. That was a very long time between chapters, especially since my computer was working. . Feel free to cause me all the mental and/or physical pain you wish. And you think there are 11 chapters left, but there's really only 10, because I've decided to cut the cheesy "last"-chapter-that-is-really-just-a-setup-for-the-sequel. So you're all one chapter closer to finishing it, and you didn't need to do anything! Everyone go YAY!

And, to the TWO WHOLE PEOPLE who reviewed, even though it took me FOREVER to get around to writting this chapter (and maybe an hour to actually write it): I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1one. :D

Kuroiyousei: Have I mentioned to you how glad I am that someone agrees with me in thinking that 75 is one of the coolest chapters ever? I mean, I've got a chapter with the single purpose of getting rid of Misao ('cause she's annoying and she'd want to go, and I can't think of what she could do), Kaoru ('cause she's totally extraneous, and at least this way she gets to be cool) and Kenshin ('cause he'd totally FUCK EVERYTHING SIDEWAYS if he went), and I go and churn out that. That is some totally awesome shit, there, man. . I love it so much. (And I hate the damn "new and improved" ff.net, for not letting me use underscores or asteriks .)

blah: HAH. It's not 11. I FOOLED YOU. Now you have to skip a number. :P