A Passion with No Name
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Chapter 5: Aftermath
Author: Jun-I
Warnings:
- characters undergo sex change (Heihachi and Kyuuzou are women), yaoi/yuri
- spoilers within.Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.
Pairings: female Heihachi -> female Kyuuzou, Kanbei x female Kyuuzou (implied)
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They buried Gorobei after the battle. Heihachi fought back her tears. Her only friend was dead. There was no one left who cared about her. No one. But the mechanic turned her back on the funeral proceedings and made her way back to the samurai's quarters. This was the rare moment of privacy she needed to change her bandages.
The tomboy samurai slid the door shut and removed her clothes. She began fumbling with the long bloody strip of cloth wound around her body. Usually, it would have been easy. But with her injuries, she couldn't turn her torso without pain.
"You should just let everyone know you're a female," a low voice cut in. "It's better than sneaking around like this."
Heihachi jumped. She turned and glared at the intruder. It was the other woman. The redhead couldn't decide whether to be relieved or angry.
"I should tell everyone that I'm a woman, so that Kanbei can banish me to the Temple with the rest of the womenfolk whenever the fighting starts?"
"You misjudge him. He would never do that to you."
Once, such words might have comforted Heihachi, but hearing them come from Kyuuzou only angered her further.
Seeing Heihachi wince as she awkwardly removed the blood soaked bandage, Kyuuzou cut in. "Let me do it." When Heihachi ignored her, she added, "Or do you want me to ask one of the men to help you?
Heihachi felt a fury rise within her. How dare Kyuuzou say that to her when she was the one who… ? The redhead's lips quivered but she did not answer the blonde. She reached for the roll of clean bandages on the table but the scarlet samurai leaned over and picked it up first.
Heihachi glared at the pale haired woman. Kyuuzou looked back at her with unreadable red eyes. When Kyuuzou unwound the strip of clean cloth and tried to pass it around Heihachi's body, the mechanic batted her hands away. "Don't – touch – me. Not with his scent on you." The voice was bitter, hard.
Kyuuzou bit her lip. She had never thought the cheerful tomboy to be capable of speaking in such scathing tones. The scarlet warrior spoke slowly. "I don't love him. I just needed … to release tension between battles. He was ready and willing. There was nothing more to it."
"Why not use me then?" Heihachi asked almost plaintively.
"I respect you too much for that." Kyuuzou quietly replied.
The tomboy was angry. Why couldn't Kyuuzou just be honest enough to admit that she didn't have any interest in her because she lacked the "proper equipment"?
"Give me the bandage," Heihachi said, looking away from the blonde. Kyuuzou sighed. She placed the partially unwound roll in Heihachi's open palm. Then the crimson warrior turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Tears stung Heihachi's eyes as she wrapped the clean bandage around the searing wound on her midriff. The injury must be worse than she first thought.