Kanbei was walking with four other men--Takeshi, Amano, Kyo, and Toya--his boots sticking in the mud with each step.

"That was some storm today, eh? Glad it wasn't our shift,"Kyo said as he streatched.

"Poor Ryuuo...he looked like a drowned cat when he came in," Toya said with sympathy in his voice.

Kanbei listened to the others talk, but spoke minimally. Something had been bothering him the entire day. He wasn' t quite able to name what it was, but it felt itchingly familiar. He placed his hand on the hilt of his borrowed sword, and paid more attention to his surroundings than he usual would have. No one seemed to notice Kanbei's unease, nor did they appear to feel anything was wrong. Kanbei tried to relax, but found that it was nearly impossible. When his patrol returned to HQ, Kanbei thought that he could escape the feeling. It did become muted, but it was still there on the edge of his conciousness.

Kanbei was sitting in the common room, and had just finished sharpening his blade when he felt a presence that he had been waiting for, and was on his feet and walking in a heartbeat, sliding the sheathe and sword into his belt as he did. He followed his instincts, and heard a group of guards discover, and, judging from the thud he heard, were taught to be wary of the crimson warrior. Kanbei turned a corner and was confronted with the sight of two wary guards on either side of the blonde. Kanbei saw Kyuuzou's attention shift from the guards to himself, and he gave the Kyuuzou a small smile. The guards couldn't react quickly enough, so Kanbei found himself confronted with a pair of crimson eyes framed by pleasently messy blonde hair.

"You didn't lose it."

Kanbei gave the man a wry smile. "I don't lose what is leant to me."

There was a pause before Kyuuzou took a sword from his belt and held it out in front of him.

"A trade."

Kanbei recognized the sword and his hands itched to hold it again. He hadn't realized how much he had missed it.

"Very well."

Kanbei held out Kyuuzou's sword and they exchanged them, and gave them a brief looking over. Kyuuzou took his sword and sheathed it on his back,and let the sheathe Kanbei had bought for it fall to the ground. Kanbei unsheathed the sword and tested its edge, and was mildly surprised.

'This is sharper than I've ever managed to get it...' Other things too, were on his mind as he slid his sword intohis belt.

"How'd you get it back?" he asked as Kyuuzou was turning to leave. There was a long pause, before the answer came back.

"Fear and shock."

Kanbei read that there was more than what Kyuuzou said, but before he could ask anything else, Kyuuzou interrupted his train of thought.

"When you're used to that sword again, I'll find you."

And then we'll finish our duel were the unspoken words that hung between them. Kyuuzou seemed to vanish into the shadows, and left an amused Kanbei and two confused guards behind. There was a long, mildly awkward silence as the two guards helped their now regaining concious friend and observed the man standing a few feet away. Kanbei turned to face them, and walked over and helped them with their dazed comrade.

"Yuki-san, take Miura to his quarters and make sure he recovers. It may take time, though. The one who did this isn't gentle in any way. I'll sub for you two until the shift changes."

Yuki nodded slowly and helped his friend onto his feet before starting to stagger towards their quarters. After a moment of silence, the other guard, Ken, looked at Kanbei's sword curiously.

"Who was that, Shimada-san?"

"...an aquaintance."

"Why'd you change swords?"

"I was merely borrowing his. He located my true sword and so he came to return it to me."

"Why didn't you have it?"

"I gave it to someone..."

"And he found that someone and made them give it back?"

"Most likely."

"Why would he do that for you?"

"...we have a score to settle."

"Oh?"

Kanbei's smile was both soft and feral. "We have a duel to finish. It will most likely end in one of us dying...but that's both the fun and the challenge of it."

Ken looked at him skeptically. "He seems...decent enough."

"He is much more than 'decent'. Much more. We'll find out soon, though," he said as he ran a thumb over the hilt of his sword. "It won't take me long to remember how to use this sword, nor will it take him long to readapt to having two swords."

Ken did a double take. "Two swords!"

Kanbei was amused by Ken's shock. "He's the only person I've found who can use them correctly."

"That's unfair, though!"

"I held my own against him before. I can do it again."

Ken didn't believe him, but Kanbei shrugged it off. The two spent the remainder of the shift thinking very different thoughts before they were both relieved of duty. Kanbei walked back to his room to sleep, and a vauge smile hinted on his lips. If he could sleep that night.

Kyuuzou sat on the roof ot the tallest part of the building that Kanbei was in, and thought. Why had he postponed their duel even longer? Hadn't that been one of the reasons he had come back from the dead? He remembered the reason he gave, and was actually proud of his ingenuity. It made sense, because Kanbei knew as well as he did that he wanted a fight where both of them were in top shape. Still...

True, he had said that he would be the only one who would kill Kanbei, and that was still the case. But that wouldn't be happening any time soon.

And it wasn't just because that the demon wanted Kanbei dead.

It was because Kyuuzou wanted...no...needed...Kanbei. He wanted his skills, wanted the challenge, wanted to protect him, wanted to touch him, wanted to know what it would be like to hold him, to be kissed by him, to--

'Stop that!' he snarled at himself,feeling distinctly uncomfortable at such thoughts and feelings.

As he resettled himself on the roof, he was comforted slightly by the weight of both swords on his back again. He would wait a few days, practice with both his swords, and prepare forr the final showdown of skill. He knew he'd figure out by then what was the added motivation as to why he returned to the living, to why he sought out Kanbei. He'd know by then, and he'd act.

The story behind Kanbei's new sword took all of ten minutes to circulate through the ranks. Many were eagre to see the sword that he now had, which amused Kanbei.

"It's not that remarkable," he said once, when Ryuuo was looking it over.

"Not that remarkable? This is some of the finest craftsmanship I've ever seen.'not that remarkable' indeed!"

Kanbei smiled slightly and watched as Ryuuo sheathed the sword and handed it back to Kanbei.

"Who was it that brought this back to you?"

"An aquaintance."

"I've heard that. A name?"

"Why? I doubt that you'd know him."

"Try me. I may know more than you'd think."

Kanbei couldn't see the harm in it. If they didn't know him, they sure as hell wouldn't know Kyuuzou.

"Kyuuzou."

Kanbei was not expecting Ryuuo's reaction.

"Kyuuzou?" he gasped.

'This can't be good...' "Yes."

"THE Kyuuzou?"

"I'm certain that there are more than one person named Kyuuzou in the world, so I can'tbe certain."

"Yes...you're right. The one I'm thinking of is most likely dead. Probably died along with everyone else."

"Oh?" This sounded interesting, and might provide a little background to what little he knew of Kyuuzou.

"You know by now that in this city, there are far too many places to hide. At one point during a past war, a hugely successful assassin ring was based here. Every assassin they had was very good, but I've heard stories that the one who was the best was very different from all the others. He was young, much younger than all of the other highly trained assassins. It's said that he would take, and accomplish, any mission, as long as it was difficult. The war ended, though, and so did the missions,sothere was no more need for assassins. Someone must have discovered where the ring was based, because all I know is that shortly after the war, everyone was found dead that worked for that particular group. I assume that Kyuuzou must have died as well. It's a shame, though. I would have liked to see if rumors of his skill were true."

"Why do you think that the Kyuuzou you speak of might be the same one who gaveme my sword?"

"How many samurai do you know that can handle two swords, as he was rumored to?"

That brough a long, thoughtful pause from Kanbei.

"Perhaps we do speak of the same person. But we can't be sure."

"No, not until I see him. Hey! You said you have a duel with him, right? So you'll be meeting him again, right? I'll make sure I'll go on patrol with you, so that maybe I'll have a chance at seeing him!"

Kanbei nodded. "Very well."

Ryuuo gave him a large smile. "And I get to see how good you are, Commander."