Author: -cries tears of joy- I love all of you guys. So much. I'm really happy you enjoy my writing; that's the best comment I can get. I wish there was something I could do to thank you for all your kindness, but I guess just writing more will be enough,ne?

'So, why do you want me to give Kyuuzou to you once I'm finished with him?'

He and I have a score to settle as well. And it'll be much easier once you have weakend him for me.

'Heh. He certianly makes a lot of enemies.' Toshiyo paused as he thought, and he felt the presence of whatever had marked him fade,becoming disinterested in him. 'First, I will get rid of the person he holds the most dear. But who could that be? He's not an emotional person. I suppose this will require some spying.' With that, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the symbol on his hand, and winced as a small, shapeless thing sprung out of the portal that hovered above his hand.

Yes, Master?

"I have an assignment for you. Go to the Lord's castle in the nearby city and search it high and low. Bring me all the information you can gather on the man named Kyuuzou."

The thing appeared to hesitate. Lord, he is a half-demon. He could send me to the final death, and no information would get to you. it said, obviosuly trying to get out of the assignment.

"Do it!" Toshiyo hissed in anger.

The thing wobbled,gave a sullen, As you wish, and then turned into a small cloud of smoke, and wafted out of the cave that Toshiyo had found to set up a base in.

"Now, Kyuuzou, we find your weakness."

---

Kyuuzou sat calmly behind the Lord's chair, and listened with half an ear to the conversation while observing the surroundings. He felt the marks on his body flare, and he was surprised. It had been quite a few days since they had hurt. He concentrated with the newest sense that had been woken in him since he became a demon, and his eyes became a slightly brighter crimson. There was another demon here, and that boded ill. He pretended to ignore it, as it watched him the entire time he was guarding the Lord, but once he had left the Lord behind, he took out his sword and cut into the air, making the out-of-place smoke that he had passed the steel through quiver and dissapear. He waited for a few minutes until he felt it completly outside the castle. He sighed inwardly and went to his room, and his step faltered as he reached the door.

No, I mustn't see Kanbei. Not when demon spies are now being sent here.

He subconciously knew that it was also to avoid the questions that Kanbei might ask, but didn't allow those thoughts to surface.

Kanbei felt Kyuuzou leave and sighed faintly. It was bad that they could both sense each other long before they saw them physically; it allowed Kyuuzou to avoid him. But that couldn't go on for long; Kyuuzou would have to see him in order to take some ki. He turned and was starting to leave when his foot caught on a very loose tatami mat, pulling it away from the floor, and exposing a hole. He knew he shouldn't look, but his curiosity was too strong to resist. He pulled the mat off the rest of the way, and looked into the hole.

There were the clothes that Kyuuzou had worn to show him how he had killed Ryuu, and...some make-up next to them...and some papers. He delicatly took them out, and spread them before him. Some were notes about the layout of the castle, which impressed Kanbei with how detailed they were. Some were one-sided conversations, which made Kanbei wondered who he had talked to,and what it must have been like to pretend to be something that you were not. Some were notes that would have been passed back and forth as requests from Kyuuzou to either servants or guards,and one or two were notes to spies and contacts that would give what Kyuuzou was reporting to the head of their clan. The last paper he found though, was written in Kyuuzou's hand, but it was so meticulously neat that Kanbei wonderd what it could possibly be. He knew he probably shouldn't be reading it, but he started to anyway...

And was unable to finish it.

He put it down and placed it beneath everything else that was in the hole, beneath clothes, papers, books, make-up, knick-knacks, and accumulated detritus. He gently placed the mat over it, and made it seem as if he had never been there. He stood and looked over at the door, and was surprised to see Kyuuzou frozen in the doorway.

He knows, he knows, oh, noooo...get a hold of yourself Kyuuzou!...he knows, look at the pity in his eyes...it's in the past! you're stronger than you were then...NO!

Kyuuzou's eyes became cold, distant, blank, and he regarded Kanbei with an almost deadly calm.

"Why are you here?"

Kanbei had heard Kyuuzou's normal voice, had heard it when he was angry, when he was in pain, when he was absorbed in the information he was reporting. But this was...different.

"I was waiting for you."

"Why?"

"I was concerned about you...and thought that you might need some ki."

"...I do."

Kyuuzou entered the room, then reached out and took Kanbei's hand, and pressed his lips to it. Kanbei felt the tug again, but not quite so strongly.

"My oath to you still stands," Kyuuzou said as he drew away,his eyes still dead. "I need sleep."

Kanbei was not used to being dismissed, but he knew Kyuuozu was doing just that...and in Kyuuzou's current state, Kanbei thought that leaving might be the best idea. He walked past Kyuuzou, and left quietly, his last image of Kyuuzou one of him standing in the middle of the room, a darker shadow within the dark interior.

Kyuuzou stood over the tatami mat that Kanbei had found his belonging under, and closed his eyes. He was surprised when he felt something trailing down his face and opened his eyes, and touched his cheek with his fingers.

What?

He felt a strange sensation in his chest, and immediatly clamped down on it. No. He had promised, while standing right here, that he would feel as little as possible, and never strongly about a person. He had succedded for many years, and had only opened the shell enough to be able to interact with people. Somehow, though, Kanbei had managed to worm his way beneath everything, and had woken things in Kyuuzou that he never thought he had, and uncovered things that Kyuuzou had kept carefully sealed away. And now...

He has found that which I thought was gone forever.

He drew in a series of deep breaths, and then wound his way over to his futon, took off his swords and placed them by his side, took off his boots, laid down and resolutely closed his eyes as he pulled the covers around him.

---

Kanbei was in a vaugely similar position, lying down on his futon as well, staring up at the ceiling as the moonlight played tag with the shadows, chasing them across the room.

'Kyuuzou...'

That paper explained quite explicitly to Kanbei why Kyuuzou has the personality he does. Why he's withdrawn, why you can never guess what he's thinking, and his reticence to speak.

'any way you look at it, though, from his reaction I've set him back 10 paces from his ability to express emotions at all...for now, though, I think it may be best to leave him alone...'

Kanbei closed his eyes and tried to block out how Kyuuzou's eyes had changed from surprised to blank, cold, and unfeeling.

---

Kyuuzou felt himself being watched by various other demons, but he had neither the motivation nor reason to actively search them out and destroy them. After all, he hadn't visited Kanbei in a while, and the only things he did with his time is guard, eat, and sleep. None of which could be helpful to whomever was sending these spies. Eventually, though, he felt a weariness and sloth begin to descend on him, andhe figured that now might be a good time to force himself to visit Kanbei. Because of a caution that was inherint in everything he did, he sought out all the spies and killed them all, removing their annoying presence from his mind, and let none escape. He then felt safe enough to go to Kanbei.

Kanbei was dozing lightly in his room, slumped over a desk littered with papers, some having blown onto the floor from the wind from the open window that let in brief summer winds. Kyuuzou slowly,quietly entered the room, and kept his aura from alerting the other man that he was in the same room. He walked over, feet making no sound as they crossed the floor, and knealt next to the unconcious man. He brushed a stray strand of hair from the older man's face and merely looked at him for a while as Kanbei drifted into a deeper sleep.

Why is just being in his presence soothing? he asked himself,but shrugged off the question.

He leaned in and gently kissed Kanbei's forehead, and stayed there until he felt awake and alert again. He pulled back and let Kanbei's hair fall across his face again before standing and leaving the room, never once having woken Kanbei from his exhausted sleep.

---

Toshiyo sighed and tapped his fingers on the table in a house that he had...convinced...a family to vacate for his use. His information sources in the castle had dissapeared, but he felt that he had watched Kyuuzou for long enough,and needed to conserve his energy if he was going to strike, for he'd have to use a Greater Demon, one that could not be killed with simply one cut from Kyuuzou's swords, which seemed to have taken on some of his own demonic energy.

'For only another demon can kill a demon,' he thought wryly to himself. 'And since Kyuuzou is apparently only a half-demon, he won't be able to win against a Greater Demon.'

This thought made Toshiyo smile. 'He'll be powerless to protect the new Lord...oh, I can't wait to see the frustration. I know what I'll do, now. Lesser Demons to distract and tire him, then I will unleash the Greater Demon, and he won't be able tostop it!' Toshiyo chuckled and then settled back to sleep, and dreamt pleasent dreams of a powerless Kyuuzou succumbing to Toshiyo's new powers.