A Passion with No Name
Chapter 6: When One Follows the Other
-----------------------------------------
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 x female Kyuuzou, Kanbei x female Kyuuzou (implied)

Kanbei left Kanna the same evening they buried Gorobei. Heihachi did not know he was gone until Shichiroji told her the next day. He said that their commander was on his way to the Capital to rescue Rikichi's wife, and that he had left orders for Shichiroji and Heihachi to work on the reconstruction of the village until he returned.

The samurai maiden felt a sudden rush of wicked joy. That man was gone! Out of the picture, even if only temporarily. Then she felt horribly guilty. Kanbei had been good to her. A fair and forgiving leader. He had gone on this risky mission alone because he did not want any more of the seven samurai to die. Yet the redhead could not help hating him.

Now that the village was no longer under immediate threat, Heihachi actually had time to think. For a while, she struggled between guilt and resentment until she became somewhat reconciled to the idea that while her head may never see eye-to-eye with her heart, it was not necessary to force the two to agree. She was a soldier, and she would do her duty regardless of what she felt.

Devoting her energies to construction instead of destruction also mellowed her mood somewhat. On looking back, Heihachi decided that she had judged Kyuuzou unfairly. The crimson warrior had done her no wrong. She had never made any promises to the dykey mechanic or even encouraged Heihachi's attentions. If anything, the younger woman was the one who conducted herself poorly. She had reacted as if Kyuuzou belonged to her because she so badly wanted that to be true.

Heihachi wondered if she should apologize to the other woman, but she did not know what she should say. She would have spent sometime considering the matter if not for the fact that Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo were now clamoring to follow after Kanbei. Shichiroji and Heihachi had endless discussions on what to do with the two hotheads. Finally, the two older samurai decided that it would be pointless to restrain them. And if Heihachi and Shichiroji did not have to waste their time 'managing' Katsu and Kiku, they would be able to get their reconstruction work done much more quickly. So they sent the two rookies off with enough rice balls to last their journey.

It was then that Heihachi finally had the time to muster up her resolve to apologize to Kyuuzou. She went to look for the crimson warrior but the lady in red was nowhere to be found. Heihachi even dropped by the Water Temple although she knew that Kyuuzou almost never went there. Komachi was there, playing with her young friend Okara. The girls gave her a curious look, so Heihachi asked them if they had seen Kyuuzou. The children said, "Oh, she left sometime ago. After Kanbei-sama left." Komachi added, "She came here because of Kanbei-sama anyway. Now that he's not here, there's no reason for her to stay."

At this, Heihachi felt all the anger she had held towards Kanbei and Kyuuzou come rushing back. The very same anger she had worked for days to resolve. But apparently it had not been resolved.

Then Okara chipped in, "Kyuuzou-dono probably went to follow after Kanbei-sama, just like Kirara-dono."

The female samurai's vision flooded with an angry white light. Why was it that Kanbei could have two women chasing him when Heihachi could not even have one?

"If she says she doesn't love him, then why does she keep following after him?" The question loomed larger and larger in Heihachi's mind until she forced it away and returned to her work. But she could not help wondering what else the children could have seen that she herself had failed to see.

From that day on, Shichiroji noticed that his partner was not quite as focused on 'his' work as before. "Maybe he is itching to go where our leader is now that everyone else is heading in that direction," thought Shichiroji, "It's just my luck that I got stuck with a bunch of irresponsible samurai who cast aside their duties when the next 'fun' mission comes along. If anyone has the right to follow after Kanbei, it is me. But I'm here doing the right thing. Why can't the rest of them do the same?" the blond warrior sighed.

Then Shichiroji received a letter from Yukino telling him that Sanae had been freed and that Kanbei and the rest were in Kougakyo. He said to Heihachi, "Well, the day we finish our reconstruction project is the day we go to Kougakyo to join the rest of the team."

That had the desired effect. Heihachi's efficiency doubled. She finished the reconstruction in two days. Not only that, she had brought a damaged Yakan back to working order. The Yakan would take her, Rikichi and Shichiroji back to Shikimori territory, where they could ride the boat back to Kougakyo. Shichiroji was pleased. Riding the Yakan would be much faster than walking.