A Passion with No Name

by Jun-I

Tomboy mechanic Heihachi falls for femme fatale Kyuuzou. But she might not be the only one with her eye on the lady in red. Yaoi and yuri. Female Heihachi x female Kyuzo, Kambei x Shichiroji, Kanbei x female Kyuzo

3. Shared Understanding

A Passion with No Name
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Author: Jun-I
Chapter 3: Shared Understanding

Warnings:
- characters undergo sex change (Hei and Kyuu are female), yaoi/yuri
- spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.

Pairings: female Heihachi - female Kyuzo, Shichiroji/Kambei (later), Kanbei - female Kyuuzou

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The seven fell quickly into their duties of fortifying the village. Heihachi was busy with creating new weapons, and Kanbei had given Kyuuzou the duty of training the peasants in archery. But during Heihachi's brief breaks, she always sought the other woman out when Kanbei wasn't watching. The samurai maiden brought Kyuuzou rice balls and sometimes wildflowers in between archery sessions. Heihachi did not say anything to the tall, haughty lady beyond everyday talk, but Kyuuzou knew she was being courted. Kyuuzou had never been courted by a woman, and certainly not by a woman as odd as Heihachi. The quiet blonde did not know quite what to make of it, so she tolerated the younger woman with detached amusement. Although the lesbian mechanic was only three years younger than Kyuuzou, she had a kind of childlike innocence that Kyuuzou had never seen before in a war veteran. Maybe it was because Heihachi served in a support unit instead of a combat unit, thought the scarlet warrior. But for once, someone was in love with her without being in lust with her. Kyuuzou could not find it in herself to dislike the girl.

When Kirara and Katsushiro caught the traitor Manzou, Heihachi had been furious. She lifted her sword to execute the man immediately. Shichi had seized her sword arm but she was not about to back down in the face of the blond man. Then Kyuuzou had backed her up, taking her side even when the male samurai spoke against her. With Kyuuzou behind her, Heihachi felt brave and sure. But the women's opinions came to no consequence when the robot Kikuchiyo intervened, pointing out the hypocrisies of both peasants and samurai, and how the samurai class had no right to judge and condemn the class they exploited. As everyone gaped at Kikuchiyo's revelation of his peasant status, Kyuuzou and Heihachi exchanged surprised glances. They had never before realized the complexities of a peasant's soul.

It was from these shared looks that Heihachi imagined an unspoken understanding between the two. Living in the shadow of death, the young veteran walked from day to day cherishing the warmth of their silent female bond.

When Kanbei and Gorobei came up with the plan to infiltrate the Nobuseri mothership by turning Gorobei, Katsushiro and Kyuuzou over to the bandits as captives, Heihachi had been terrified. Terrified that her beloved would come under the bandits' lecherous gaze. Why couldn't their leader hide Kyuuzou in a rice bag like Kikuchiyo, Shichiroji and herself would be hidden? But her worry was for nothing. Kyuuzou was the queen of the battle. She was first to free herself from her bonds and she demolished more mecha than any of the men. Heihachi too, was the hero of the day, in her own quiet way. Having entered the control room of the bandit's ship after jumping through several death traps, she single-handedly brought the great ship to a grinding halt. Heihachi rejoined the rest of the samurai as Kikuchiyo and Shichi held the log bridge between the dying ship and the mountain side. Heihachi and Kyuuzou escaped the doomed vessel together, clambering up to a ledge on the cliff face just before the ship crashed into the chasm below.

But their enemies were not all destroyed in the fall. More mechanized bandits flew up the mountainside to pursue them. The seven fought back desperately. When Kikuchiyo had put his sword through the last Yakan, Heihachi thought their work was finally done for the day. But that was not to be. A bullet grazed Kikuchiyo's head as he kicked the dead robot over the ledge. There were more enemies waiting below in the misty chasm!

Kanbei asked for a scout to check out the strength of their remaining foes. The child Katsushiro volunteered but Kyuuzou overruled him. She stepped towards the chasm. Heihachi saw how Kanbei had looked up gravely into the face of the pale warrior as if he had regretted his request. She saw Kyuuzou smile down at him, a mocking, challenging smile. She did not know what to make of it. Then the red-clad lady was gone, skidding down the side of the mountain as she dodged Nobuseri bullets.

Kanbei stared after her. "She will return. She will return to settle things with me." He said as if trying to reassure himself. Heihachi prayed fervently that what he said would be true, though she would rather not that Kyuuzou returned only for Kanbei's sake.