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Chapter 6: Journeys with the Devil

We left Muramasa-san's house after dinner that night. I was given several short kimonos, nothing formal, and a bundle of hair ribbons, all of which were in the limited trunk space of Demon Eyes Kyo's sports car. I was in the passenger's seat, once again, but I wasn't tied up this time. Muramasa-san convinced Kyo that it wasn't necessary. Thank God for Muramasa-san the Saint! What a nice man...

Although, I swear that I saw Kyo tuck a large coil of rope under his seat when he got in.

So here we are... Sitting... in a sports car... driving around in the middle of nowhere... some country area... with nothing to look at... except for rice paddies. Oh, yes. Those lovely rice paddies that I have been staring at for the past three hours. Every once in a while I see a tree. We're so far away from the capital, which is where my cage was. Edo, that is. Noisy, busy, dangerous... Nothing like where I am now.

Everything is silent except for the quiet hum of the car's engine. The slim moon has been creeping upwards for a while now, and is presently the only source of light in the outside world except for the headlights. The little clock on the radio reads sometime past midnight, I don't care to read the minutes. Kyo is staring intently at the road in front of him, effectively ignoring me. Not that I care. Well, if he's going to be an ass and drive all night and not let me sleep in a bed, like people are supposed to!... I'm going to stare at him. So there.

Well, after my few moments of glaring in his direction, I've decided to take this opportunity to study my "owner".

His black hair shines with an unnatural red gleam, and his eyes are constantly narrow, almost like he's always angry... But maybe that's just his concentration? His shoulders aren't bulky and broad or extremely feeble and narrow either... They're just... medium, I guess, but they seem so tense... Like he's waiting for someone to attack him. Or waiting to attack someone. I tensed, hoping that he wasn't going to attack me.

'Don't worry, Yuya-san. Kyo will protect you.' Muramasa-san's words echoed in my head. God, I hope he's right. Back to Kyo. Well, speaking of his back, he's usually sitting propped up against a wall, or, when standing, he has fairly good posture. I guess that comes from his being tense again. His hands are calloused, obviously from swordsmanship, and are loosely draped about the steering wheel, contrasting to his constant look of sulking concentration. His long fingers flexed every now and then, betraying a deadly grace that could only be called Demon Eyes Kyo. He could slice people like carrots for a salad in an instant without breaking a sweat.

He's very thin, so thin that people could easily underestimate him if they didn't see his eyes... or if they just didn't know. I haven't really seen him in action, per say, fighting, that is... but from what I have seen him do, he's very lithe and fast, so quick that my eyes cannot register his movement.

A black sweater clung to his form, stretching across his shoulders and wrapping about his carefully toned torso. Black jeans rode on his hips, secured with a black, studded belt. Black boots covered his feet, but the shoes weren't bulky or thick, they looked like they were made of very soft leather that had been worked to perfection. They weren't boots worn only for show, something one might buy in a store, but they looked like a custom job, suitable for elaborate and fast movement without hindering the wearer.

He could be a model if not for his facial expression. I doubt that he can smile, much less will. That grim scowl is present on his face at all times, well, except for when he's smirking. His nose is straight, almost regal, with a tiny tilt down. Then there's his eyes... oh, those eyes. I don't know whether to love them or fear them. They're so... red, for the lack of a better word. Such demonic eyes, they can strike fear into the hearts of any man with a mere glance. I'm afraid to just look at them. But... then again... They're as red and warm as a fire... a fire on a cold winter's night. Somehow they make me feel... safe...

"If you're all done staring at me, will you please turn around." I jumped. Kyo didn't even look at me. "That's not a request." His tone was harsher this time, and I turned to face the window by reflex.

We continued onward for another hour or so before I really started to drift off into sleep. I leaned my head against the window and shifted around to get comfortable, kicking off my sandals while I did so. My eyes drifted closed slowly, shadowing my view of the thin moon.

"&!()!)&#)!#&()!#&!#(!(!"

Two minutes after I actually fell asleep, I was woken up by blaring heavy metal music that was vibrating the car. After blinking about twenty times and losing my hearing permanently, I turned and glared at Kyo with all the viciousness I could manage.

"Don't sleep. I don't want any dog drool on my car."

"I don't drool!" I yelled back at him.

"My window begs to differ." I glanced at the glass and saw a tiny droplet of moisture on the window. I turned right back around and started yelling at him again. Muramasa told me to speak my mind, so, by God, I was going to let him have it!

About five minutes into my tirade, I stopped and looked at Kyo, only to see that he had plugged in a pair of headphones and attached them to his ears. I almost started screaming at him again, but I just decided that I should preserve my voice and scream later.

I turned away from him again, falling asleep quietly, with no interruptions this time.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I woke to the morning's first soft rays of sunlight that peered in the window of the car. I glanced around, and my eyes caught on Kyo, still driving (did he ever sleep?). "Good Morning..." I said. He didn't even glance in my direction. And he still has his headphones. That would be why. Why bother.

An hour or so later, we pulled up to a huge gate with what looked like two guard towers flanking it. Kyo, gentleman that he was, just honked the horn. A lot.

After roughly three minutes of Kyo pounding on the steering wheel, a black covered head peeked out of one of the towers. The face was covered, looking much like a typical ninja.

"State your name and business here!" He shouted.

Kyo just continued to honk the horn, obviously ignoring the ninja guard. The guard shouted again. "How dare you make such a racket! Speak man! Why are you here!" Kyo continued to honk the horn while the ninja began to shout louder. It became what seemed like a nonchalant contest for Kyo, as he started to honk even more.

After another five minutes of me plugging my ears, the ninja disappeared into the tower. Kyo stopped beating on the steering wheel when a boy with lavender-white hair popped up in the window. The boy glanced down, and then turned around and threw something in the tower, which caused a large "Ow! What was that for!"

The boy answered, "You idiot! It's Kyo! You know damn well that Kyo's not gonna say anything to you!" "But he's got a woman with him," the masked man said. "The real Demon Eyes Kyo rarely associates with women, much less let one travel with him!" "And only the real Demon Eyes would drive that car, up to this gate and expect to be let in! Open the freaking gate, Saizo!" He boy disappeared into the tower again and the gates opened, and Kyo drove right in. We sped up a winding driveway to another huge house. I'm starting to see a trend in Kyo's friends' houses, and it makes me feel really really poor.

Kyo stops the car quite abruptly in front of the house and honks the horn twice before getting out. I did the same, releasing the door handle from my white knuckled grip and unbuckling my seat belt. Upon getting out of the car, I heard something quite frightening...

"Kyoooooooooooooooooo!"

Something's coming... something strange! A person with long black hair that flipped at the ends and a cheerful face came out of the mansion... in a red chinese dress.

It was the happy drunk from the interview... in drag.

End Chapter!

AN: Hey there everybody! Well, as new "tradition" allows, all review replies are on my author profile, so, if you reviewed, go check it out! Oh, and a special present goes to whomsoever can guess exactly where I got one particular scene from this chapter.

Just leave a review, make sure it has your e-mail if it's anonymous, and no, any of my friends that are reading this, you know who you are, and so do I, you do not get to guess, because you all probably know.

Sorry for the shorter chapter, it just took soooo long to get a slight amount of motivation, and I just found a fair enough stopping point that I just decided, "Let's post now and get it over with."

Anywho, Ja ne, minna-san!

Yuffie Kisaragi, materiathief06