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Chapter 9: Awkwardness
Author: Jun-I
Pairings: female Kyuuzou/female Heihachi
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After that evening, things were awkward between Kyuuzou and Heihachi. In fact, Heihachi felt so embarrassed at herself she avoided the company of everyone, peasants or samurai. Kanbei must have noticed her discomfort. On the day before their scheduled departure, the commander asked the mechanic if she would stay on to see them through the mission. Heihachi assured him she would do so. She had never considered otherwise.
The tomboy samurai thought was just as well that she had to pilot the Yakan while the rest of the team rode in the boat. At least this meant she would not have to face Kyuuzou for a while. Still, they were forced to share the same space when they transferred to the land speeder in Shikimori territory. The two women made sure they stood on opposite sides of the vessel.
The band stopped for food in the desert (or at least Kiku's version of food). Heihachi was the only samurai open-minded enough to try the stink buns. The elegant blonde turned up her nose. Then all of a sudden, Kyuuzou turned and sprinted away.
"Is the smell that revolting?" Heihachi wondered, thinking the tall woman was probably trying to find a place to gag. Then she noticed that Kanbei was already running after the lady in red. Shichiroji and Heihachi immediately followed. They soon came upon the reason for Kyuuzou's odd behavior. The giant pieces of a wrecked Nobuseri were lying in a nearby crater.
The mechanic examined at the debris. "This damage was done by main artillery."
Kanbei asked her if she could salvage anything useful. That was when Kikuchiyo dragged the Nobuseri's pilotable flying sword out of the sand. The blade did not seem to be running too smoothly though. But after a cursory inspection, Heihachi declared she could get the thing to fly again. Kanbei said they would use this craft to go the rest of the way to the Capital.
As the mechanic worked, she threw occasional glances at the other female samurai. Kyuuzou was standing alone with her back to the group, watching the sunset. Was it because of her that the blonde was keeping her distance from the group? Heihachi chided herself for wasting her mind on 'pointless questions'. The samurai focused once again on her work. She needed to get as much done as possible before dark.
Then the sound of Komachi crying interrupted her concentration.
"Kikuchiyo is going to die!" the child sobbed.
Heihachi heard the robot promise that the girl he would never leave her. At that, Komachi declared that she would marry him when she grew up. The amused robot laughed and warned the child, "My appetite is very good."
"I like you very much. I'll feed you."
Heihachi peered down at the mismatched couple from her perch on the giant sword. She smiled a small, bitter smile. The odd exchange enfolding before her eyes was almost a comic echo of her rash proposal to Kyuuzou a few days earlier.
"I'm so touched." Kikuchiyo wept his robot tears, "Am I such a good person?"
"Yes you are." The little girl declared without hesitation.
"I'm the happiest person in the world!" The new fiancé declared as he put Komachi on his shoulders and spun around with joy.
The samurai maiden winced inwardly. "The happiest person in the world." Unwittingly, Kikuchiyo had borrowed the very words Heihachi had said to Kyuuzou, but with very different results. "Well, at least someone will have a happy ending," Hitomi thought as she smiled sadly to herself.