Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Deeper Kyo… if I did, I would be much too rich to be sitting on a computer right now.

Love or pride?
Author: Mickey Sin

"Talking"
"Thinking"
Flashbacks, ect.
(123456789) Separates certain parts of the story.

Chapter 3:
Akira made his way along the brush and weeds of the forest. The whole time, Yuya was following him. "Is there something wrong, Yuya-san?"

"No no, not at all!"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure go ahead!"

He paused a moment while clearing some vines aside for her. "Tell me...what is it that you plan on doing now?"

Yuya stopped for a minute with that question. She had never given that much thought; what was she going to do now? "I... I don't know."

"Don't get me wrong. You are most welcome to come with me for as long as you like. Once we are out of these woods, we may even be able to get directions back to town."

Yuya smiled at that thought; he was kinder than Kyo she'd give him that. Of course, she still felt bad... but why? "Thank you." She knew she probably should say something more, but 'thank you' should explain her thoughts well enough right?

Akira smiled. "You're welcome, but don't worry so much. Try to relax and enjoy a break from the rest of your group. It seems like you might need it...especially if all you've told me of Kyo is true."

"It's not that they're all that bad don't get me wrong..." Yuya held up her hands defensively even though Akira couldn't see it; it was just simply a force of habit. "It's just that... it's just... Kyo..." Yuya fell silent. What about Kyo? Why couldn't she word it? Shaking the thoughts from her head she simple smiled. "Yeah... a break might be good... but do you know what else would be good?... A bath!"

"A bath, huh?" He brought a hand up to his chin. "Maybe we should look for one then? Let's try going slightly towards the left. Perhaps we'll find something..."

"To the left?" Yuya got that well known look of confusion in her face, and she knew that Akira would know she was confused by the tone of her voice. "Why the left?"

He ignored her question for now and took the lead. It wasn't long before they came upon a clearing. And right there, smack dab in the center, was a beautiful spring. Steam lifted from the surface of the water, casting a fog around the trees. "…call it a hunch."

"Wow, it's beautiful!" Yuya wanted to strip where she stood and run into the water at full speed, but then she remember who was with her; and even though he was blind, she was uneasy about taking her clothes off in front of him.

"Well then, I think I'll leave you to enjoy your bath." He turned to walk off and give her some privacy. Yuya felt kind of bad for Akira having to delay whatever journey he may have been on, but wasn't it him who had told her to relax? What better way to do that than a bath?

Yuya stared at Akira's retreating back a few seconds longer. Part of her wanted to ask him to stay, what if he left her out here alone? Then the other part of her didn't want any guy, blind or not, around her when she bathed. Shrugging it off she quickly moved towards the water, taking off her clothes as fast as humanly possible; of course trying to move so fast has consequences, and that vine she failed to notice was the reminder of that. Before she even realized it she was falling into the water, still half way dressed.

Akira stopped midway into leaving. He had heard a light shriek, so without turning around, he called out. "Are you alright, Yuya-san?"

She splashed around a few seconds longer before spitting out some water and mentally cursing both the spring and the vine. "Yes... yes I'm fine! I just felt like splashing that's all!" A lame excuse for the commotion, but she didn't want to admit that she had been that clumsy, of course her wet clothes were a dead give away that she had been.

"Okay, if you say so. I'll be a little further off if you need anything."

"Alright! Thank you!" Yuya had to blush at her stupidity. Maybe Kyo was right she was a clumsy idiot, but none of that mattered right now; what was she supposed to do about her wet clothes! She cursed the water once more for good measure before peeling her wet clothes from her skin and ringing them out the best she could. Then she sank into the water and tried to get back to the original plan of relaxing, but that was easier said than done.

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To say Kyo was irritated was an understatement. Because of Dog-face they had been waiting and waiting; and the longer she's gone, the more annoying his servants got. They were all so worried about her; ever since she had left it had been Yuya this and Yuya that… why did they care about her so much? She was annoying, useless, and only got in the way… so why was he still waiting?

Okuni had asked him that once or twice, but he honestly didn't know the answer to that question. So he did what he always did, he didn't say a word. Benitora was the worst one about this whole Yuya missing thing… he was actually dumb enough to go searching the village for her. But just like the other 6 times he had gone to look, he came back empty handed.

Kyo stood up and walked outside, he was getting tired of all the stupid talk about that damn woman. Maybe he could get some peace and quiet if he took a walk.

"Kyo, where are you going? You're gonna miss out on the sake if you leave now!" Yukimura came bouncing up behind Kyo ruining his plans for peace and quiet. "Don't tell me you're going to look for Yuya! Hic!"

"…"

Kyo just kept walking, but Yukimura chose not to follow him anymore. Instead he called out to him, "She's with Akira if you are going to look for her! Tee hee!"

Well that comment had cause the samurai to stop dead in his tracks. Yukimura gulped down some more sake in celebration of getting Kyo's full attention that easily.

(123456789)

Yuya had enjoyed the bath while it lasted but now she really hated the fact that her clothes were wet because as the warmth of the spring water wore off she got colder and colder, and eventually started shivering. Hugging herself in a failed attempt to keep warm she came up behind Akira. "I'm finished, so we can go now." She didn't really have the ability to think well enough for a better statement, but at least he knew that she was ready... well, ready enough.

He lifted his head. "Alright. We'll walk as far as we can today, and then make camp. Hopefully we can leave this forest before nightfall." Akira then stood up and they began their trek once again.

Yuya was shivering so bad that she hoped more than anything in the world that they found a town before night fell. Then she could get some dry clothes and a warm place to sleep. Hell she'd be lucky if she didn't catch a cold or something. "Do you think we'll get out of here before nightfall?" She knew that he probably didn't have an answer, but some kind of reassurance would be good right about now.

"To be honest, I can't quite tell. I haven't been here in a long time. I'm pretty unfamiliar with this area." He tried to explain. "But it might have been better for you not to have gotten your clothes wet, especially when it gets so cold at night."

"How did you... wait who said my clothes were wet?" Yuya was still clinging to the hope that he didn't know she had tripped and fallen, the last thing she needed was that embarrassment.

He stifled a laugh. "Would you like to borrow my clothes? They're dry."

Yuya blushed at that comment, there went the embarrassment she was trying to spare along with more added on. She hesitated to answer that question hoping he would take the hint.

Instead of replying, he kept quiet once again. It had only been a short while that they'd known each other, but already Akira felt that he knew Yuya quite well. He grinned at the thought. He then spoke. "Oh, how very forward of me. I'm so sorry, Yuya-san. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

Uncomfortable, ha! Benitora snuck around to try to take baths with her and Kyo groped her and called her breast small and Akira thought he made her uncomfortable. "No, you just surprised me that's all."

A breeze blew through the trees, causing their clothes to ripple with the passing wind. "It's getting colder out, I'm afraid."

Yuya tried to hug herself harder, if that was possible, as she continued to shiver. "Yeah, you... you could say that again." Now she knew that she would definitely catch a cold if they didn't find someplace warm to stay.

"With you being soaked like you are, I think it would be wise to just set up camp here. We can build a fire to help you dry off. I don't want you getting sick." Akira offered.

As high as Yuya had her hopes set on staying at an inn, that idea didn't sound half bad. "Ye...yeah that would be nice."

As was discussed, they both stopped in their traveling to get a fire started. Neither had blankets though, so the wind still felt bitter. Despite it all, it was better than nothing.

Akira set himself down next to the bounty huntress. "Better?"

"A little." She was truthful with that; she was still hugging herself for warmth, but the shivering had stopped somewhat. Suddenly, something was draped over her shoulders. Yuya jumped slightly with surprise and instantly made the stupid mistake of asking even with already knowing the answer. "What is this?"

"I gave you my gi, I hope you don't mind." Came his reply. "You are still cold, are you not? Please take it. I'll be alright without it."

"But...but..." Yuya was a little reluctant about this; she really wanted the warmth, but she didn't want him to jeopardize his own in process.

"It's alright. I'm...used to the cold." He assured her the best he could. As guilty as she felt for this, she wrapped herself in Akira's gi without farther argument.

The rest of the night was filled with silence. Neither of them said much, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence like last time. It was peaceful. Akira had even let his head rest against a tree in order to doze. Yuya found herself leaning her head against Akira's shoulder, and slowly drifting into a light slumber.

(123456789)

"Damn, damn, damn! Where is that sneaky little blonde girl?" Kaynoyukioh came upon a village and instantly began asking people the stupid question of… "Have you seen a blonde girl around here?" Most people just walked away laughing to themselves while others laughed at him openly. He scratched his head in confusion, "What's so funny?" No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out why people could possibly be laughing at him.

But either way, he moved on to more people to ask the same stupid question. (A/N: I feel bad for my pathetic villain)

(123456789)

It must have been early in the morning when Akira first had that feeling...it was a feeling that they were being watched. He cursed himself for having fallen asleep. He tried to figure a way to get up without disturbing Yuya...but that would no doubt be hard. A twig snapped nearby and Akira grasped one of the swords lying by his side. So much for not having any problems along their 'peaceful' trip. Yuya had felt his slight movements a stirred slightly, but did not wake. She was a hard sleeper for such an active young girl.

The moment the stranger had stepped one foot in their camp, Akira knew. He could hear the man's breathing; he could sense his cold aura. It would only be a matter of time...

"What's this?" Some one snorted from the shadows of the firelight. "Two lovers stuck out in the woods? And sleeping too...how unfortunate."

Hard sleeper or not Yuya jolted awake at the sound of the man's voice. "Wha...who...huh?" She blinked and sat up quickly in her surprise. After several seconds of blinking, Yuya finally gained enough consciousness to spring into her normal self, literally. She jumped up and pointed at the stranger, "Who the hell are you!"

Akira mentally slapped himself. Why in the world did she do that?

The gruff man snickered at the girl before him. "My my, you're awful pretty. Want to come back to my place? I'll show you a good time."

"Wha... you sick bastard!" Yuya tried her hardest to intimidate the man, but she just ended up getting as close to Akira as humanly possible. Akira, in return, stood in front of Yuya defensively.

"I suggest you leave. That is...unless you want to die."

"Ha! Big talk for such a puny little man. And blind too...tsk tsk. I'd like to see you try to defeat me." The man paused to scratch his chin in thought. "Hey I'll make you a deal, if you win... I'll leave you in peace, but if I win... I get that pretty girl all to myself."

"Hey! Don't I have a say in this!" Yuya just couldn't sit down and shut up. Nope because that would be the smart, safe thing to do...and since when had Yuya gone the safe way?

Akira's face grew evil. "I've got a better idea. How about when I win, I cut your throat out and use your body to fuel our fire."

"Oh a smart ass, huh? Come on, little man! Enough talk...let's see what you're made of!" He immediately began to charge for them. Yuya took a few steps back; she could talk big sure, but let's face the facts, she was pretty damn useless without her gun... of course when it came to fighting, she was pretty useless anyways.

With agility clearly mastered by the double-headed dragon, Akira grabbed a hold of Yuya's waist and jumped out of the man's path. He landed a few feet away and set the girl back on her own two feet. "You should stay back, Yuya-san. I'll take care of this." Yuya had no objections to this of course. She had no problem just watching Akira kick someone's ass for her. Kyo always did that, maybe not exactly for her, but at the time it seemed like it was for her. She stupidly just nodded her head and backed away from the attacker a few more feet.

Akira, without any further hesitation, stepped up. They had no time to dally in such a place. He would make sure this ended quickly. Ice began to form around his feet, freezing the grass and weeds that grew nearby. "Come." It was simple challenge; But simple or not, it only caused to infuriate the man more. In less than a blink of an eye, the enemy had proceeded at a run, his weapon extended. The moment he had moved, though, he had already lost.

Akira sneered as ice started to form around his foe. That was it...it was over before the fight had even started.

Yuya watched as the black haired man fell to the ground. Yuya took a few steps forward, but stopped. She was almost completely sure that the fight was over, but she still didn't want to get in the line of fire.

"Let's move on. We can rest further up." Akira sheathed his sword and cast one final glance back over his shoulder before trudging off.

Yuya watched him walk ahead a little ways before jogging to catch up. "Hey wait for me!"

(123456789)

"Here we go." Akira and Yuya broke away from the forest's edge. "Look over there, do you see that town? Maybe that's the one you were looking for."

Yuya looked from side to side and then blinked. Damn, all the towns looked the same, but it didn't seem right. They had walked quite a long ways to get here, and she hadn't remembered running that far into the forest. But she honestly didn't know the answer to that question. She didn't even know the name of the town she had been in before. After much debate with herself she reached a decision, "I don't think so, but..." Her words were cut off by the abrupt growl of her hungry stomach. "But some food would be good." She finished.

"There's probably a restaurant down there. How about we go get something to eat?"

"Yeah...well um I... well Kyo... I don't have any money." Yuya dropped her head in shame.

"Ah, that's right. Kyo took your money, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that jerks always stealing my money" Yuya clenched her fist remembering all of the times he had made her buy him sake or pay for the room at the inn. But if he was such a jerk, then why did she feel like she had abandoned him?

He could sense the deep feelings that were pouring out of the girl. She was obviously torn about what happened between her and Kyo. Despite all that, there was nothing he could do to console her. Akira was well aware of how Kyo could be, and yet...and yet it seemed as though Kyo had truly changed. He was no longer the hard-hearted fighter of long ago. The Thousand Man Slayer had changed.

And in his opinion, it was a change that needed to be undone.

Yuya didn't expect Akira to show her any pity; she hadn't even known why she had brought it up in the first place. When Akira started walking ahead Yuya was quick to catch up. There were quite a few villagers in town and Yuya was struggling to shove through some of them while Akira seemed to get through them with ease. "It's because he's a man with two swords, sexist jerks!" Yuya cursed the crowd as she searched the heads of people to find try to keep Akira in sight.

She finally spotted him already stopped and patiently waiting in front of the town's restaurant. Well with that crowd behind her she was just happy she made it to the restaurant in one piece.

"This place seems to be the only restaurant around here. It's a bar as well."

The two of them entered and were ushered politely to a table at the far corner. There, they sat patiently in wait for their waitress. Not much time passed before a woman suddenly came bouncing up to the table. "Hello and welcome to...THE BROTHEL BAR!" (A/N: The restaurant name, 'The Brothel Bar', was not my idea. The name was given to me by foxmagic… so don't sue me, Elli! Besides me and you both know that I'm dirt poor.)

"THE WHAT!" Yuya looked around; skimpy waitresses, drunken idiots... "What the hell!"

"The Brothel Bar!" One of the other skimpily dressed waitresses walked up behind the other one. Her short fiery red hair bounced with her every step, her bright green eyes were filled with happiness, and her bust size had to be close to Okuni's...Oh yeah, Yuya could already tell she was going to be annoyed.

The first waitress was clad in a uniform similar to the red head. Only her eyes were deep magenta, and her hair a dark blue. She looked the two customers over and automatically took a liking to the young swordsman.

"Hey, you're kinda cute." She bent over, getting extremely close. "Wanna have some fun? We could go back to my room if you want to..."

"Heh heh..." He laughed nervously.

Yuya clenched her fist. She had to put up with this when she was traveling was Kyo; she didn't want to see it now. "Hey, back off!"

"What, are you two a couple?" The red head glanced from Yuya to Akira with a look of pure shock.

"No…no! It's not like that!"

"Oh, but of course not, a strong samurai like him could do much better than you." The red head winked.

Yuya grit her teeth and tried not to leave this waitress with a few new bruises. "What did you say!" Yuya glared at the girl dangerously.

Akira wisely interrupted before a fight broke out. "We're just looking for something to eat, if you don't mind."

The first waitress seemed disappointed. "Humph...no fun. Oh well, I guess that means I have to take your order. What would you like?"

Yuya crossed her arms and continued to glare at the red headed waitress who also seemed disappointed, but spoke her order. The red head mumbled something about how Yuya hadn't even looked at the waitress who was actually taking the order then turned and bounced off to greet a new customer.

"Sorry about that, Yuya-san. I had no idea this was a brothel as well as a restaurant."

Yuya chose to ignore Akira; the faster they ate the faster they would be able to leave this place. So when the food came, the two of them pretty much ate in silence. Akira had ignored all of Yuya's protest and paid for her meal as well, and then they left The Brothel Bar to find an inn somewhere.

"Is there any place in this damn town that doesn't have whores!" Yuya yelled her complaint to no one in particular and the inn keeper could do nothing but blink. Yuya and Akira had gone to 3 shops and 2 inns and there had been whores at each place who were more than happy to offer their services to Akira.

The young man pulled himself away from the gaggle of giddy girls and followed an irritated Yuya out the front door. "According to what the last shop owner said, there are three inns in this town. Let's try and find the last one."

Taking Akira's advice, both he and Yuya searched the town and finally found the last one on the far side of the village. "This town is too big!" Yuya was once again shouting to no one in particular as they approached the inn keeper. "We want two rooms." The shop keeper jerked his head up from the table. "Sleeping on the job? That's not very appropriate." Yuya just had to open her big mouth with her opinions every where she went. The poor girl really needed to learn to shut up.

The man glared at her for a second before he put on an evil smile. "Sorry, but we only have one room with one bed." He said slyly looking from Akira to Yuya.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Yuya was mad at this comment for two reasons. The first being that she would either have to share a bed with Akira, or go to the inn/whore house on the other end of town. The second reason being what the tone of his voice suggested. "Pervert!" Yuya had, for once, chosen to keep her mouth shut about that particular opinion.

Well, she had fallen asleep on Akira's shoulder last night, she could manage sharing a bed with him. Besides, from what she knew of him he was trust worthy; and if all else fails one of them could sleep on the floor right? With that decided she went ahead and accepted the room; which only cause the inn keeper to grin more. But he said nothing more about that particular subject as he gave them directions to their room.

"Don't have too much fun now." Damn, and just when Yuya had thought that pervert was off of that subject. This town was just full of perverts; every where they had gone that day had either whores or pervert idiots. Resisting the urge to do or say something that may get them kicked out, Yuya stomped off to the room they were directed to, Akira following close behind.

It was getting darker outside, so both agreed to try and get to sleep soon. They would need the rest for the journey ahead.

Akira stepped into the room and stood for a moment at the doorway. He wasn't stupid. He knew what the inn keeper had done, just for a laugh. But there weren't many options available for them. And since this was the last motel in the entire village...

He sighed. The whole thing was becoming one big mess. Nevertheless, Akira decided on simply going to sleep. It had been a long day, anyways. "You can have the bed, Yuya-san. I'll sleep on the floor." He graciously offered.

Yuya would've loved to accept this offer, but she had put Akira through a lot of stress that day so, the poor guy deserved the bed. "No no, I'll sleep on the floor." She walked over and sat down on the hard wood floor to prove her point.

"It's not right for me to make a woman take the floor over the bed." His gentlemanly charm was almost too good to be true. He was a lot different than Kyo.

"Well it's not right for me to make you sleep on the floor!" Yuya already had enough guilt built up in her mind, she didn't need this too. So with that guilt in mind she decided that she would not lose this argument; as uncomfortable as it was, she would be the one to sleep on the floor.

The retort that the girl had expected, never came. Instead, Akira walked over to Yuya. Before she realized what was going on, he had picked her up and deposited her body on the futon.

"Please. I insist."

Yuya was a little more than surprised that Akira had actually picked her up and put her on the futon. Of course, she was not done with this argument, though Akira obviously thought it was over. Yuya reached up and grabbed the front of Akira's gi and pulled him down towards the futon while saying, "No really I insist!"

He was caught off guard with that one. "Y-Yuya-san!" Akira cried out in surprise as he fell over top of her. After the initial shock of her actions wore off, Akira sat up slightly.

"Eh..." He couldn't see, but Akira could sure as hell sense where he was. His body had fallen in a very inappropriate manner, poised between her legs, arms resting on each side of her head.

Yuya blushed as she looked from side to side as if some one would pop in at the wrong moment and get the wrong idea. She didn't know what to say; her damn stubbornness had gotten her in to quite the awkward situation this time. She could not do anything but lay there, after all Akira had to move first. Or at least…that's what she was telling herself.

"I'm so sorry, Yuya-san!" He immediately got up and apologized, bowing over and over again. It was, after all, partially his fault.

"No no, don't be. It was really sort of my fault. If I hadn't pulled you then..." Yuya scratched the back of her neck nervously and looked down at the ground. "Well, you can have the futon if you want, you deserve it." At the start of the argument she was just joking; she would've loved to have the futon, but now she felt really guilty for causing such an embarrassing scene for both of them.

"That's okay, don't worry about it." He smiled and sat down against the wall, his swords propped up next to him. "Just get a good night's sleep. And try not to feel guilty about it. After all, it was I who invited you to come with me in the first place. Besides, I enjoy your company."

Yuya had to smile at that; at least someone enjoyed her company, unlike some people who would remain nameless at this moment in time. She decided to go ahead and take the futon. She had wanted it from the beginning anyway, she just liked to argue. But Kyo always ended every argument before it even began, damn jerk was just such a... well...jerk! "I enjoy your company as well." With that all said and done Yuya laid down and started to drift into a much needed slumber.

She didn't know if Akira was asleep or not, who could tell with him? Awake or not she had one more thing to add, "Thank you Akira-san." With that said she finally fell completely asleep, not even waiting to see if she got a response or not. She didn't really want one anyway; just knowing she had said it made her feel better. And it's the thought that counts right?

As the young girl drifted off, Akira couldn't help the rare expression that crossed his face. "Sleep well...Yuya."

(End of Chapter 3)

Mickey Sin: Well, there was chapter 3 for you. I hope you enjoyed it. I made it a little longer than the last chapter; and, as you can see, I put in more about Akira and Yuya's traveling stuff. Well, hopefully I will have chapter 4 done sometime soon. Anyways, if you have any questions, comments, worries, wonders, or complaints just review! Bye!

Editor's note: What? Stop looking at me that way. I'm a ham, so I wanted to add my own thing in here. You're doing great with this story, mickey-sin. It's progressing quite smoothly. And I hope my beta-ing helps you!

Reviewer Responses:

foxmagic: Yeah (scratches head) sods… I couldn't think of anything else that rhymed with gods. Heh heh hee… Anyways! You better love my story woman! I don't worry; I will keep on going, because I fear you will brutally kill me if I give up. Thank you so much for all of your help and support, I LOVE YOU! Buh-bye! P.S. Yes, your beta-ing helps a lot… thanks for ALL your help.

The Muses Tk and Zv: Thank you so much for all your help. As you can see I have planned things out a little more, so now I won't be so stuck and the chapters will be a little longer and I will be following Akira and Yuya a little more now. So thanks again, bye!

yami1: Thank you so much for your review. I'm glad you think my story is great so far; and I took your advice and made this chapter a little longer. Thanks again, bye!

KaraQ: Thanks so much! I'm glad none of the characters seem OOC. Its still a mystery as to what the pairing really is, but things just seem to be flowing in the way of Akira/Yuya lately! lol. I won't tell you his exact feelings concerning my story (you'll find out soon enough), but in the manga it does seem like he cares for her (whether romantic or not). And as the group heads farther into the SDK storyline, he reveals that aspect of his feelings more and more. And Benitora is as funny as hell. I mean, you have to put him in there if only to add laughs. lmao. I have seen one or two fics on this site that are Benitora/Yuya, but it's not all that popular. Well thanks again for the review, more will be up soon!

Thanks again to all of my reviewers!
Foxmagic

ravenfett
LadyWater
yami1
Ginny-cry
Violetjewelz
The Muses Tk and Zv
KaraQ