Ambiguity
Chapter 11: Kyuuzou Returns
---------------------------------
Author: Jun-I
Pairings: Kanbei x female Kyuzo

Notes:
- Kyuzo is a woman disguised as a man. At this point, all the samurai assume that Kyuzo is male, with the exception of Kanbei, who is not sure of Kyuzo's gender.
- Since Kanbei at this point isn't sure if Kyuuzou is male or female, I'm using s/he and his/her to refer to Kyuuzou when taking Kanbei's point of view. When taking Kyuuzou's point of view, I use 'she' since she knows she is female.

Warnings: See Chapter 1
Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

The six samurai and one peasant slowly scaled the steep mountain face and made their way back to the village. The hours seemed to pass interminably for Kanbei as he waited for Kyuuzou's return. Night came. He could not sleep. Each time he closed his eyes he wondered where s/he was. Day came. There was still no sign of him/her.

"Kyuuzou is too strong to die," the dark warrior told himself. But he was beginning to be more than a little worried. Still, Shimada Kanbei had never been one to let emotions rule him. The commander went about his duties, checking on each of the work teams to make sure they were prepared and vigilant. The samurai were not sure how many Nobuseri they had to worry about, but one thing was for sure - the Nobuseri could launch their second attack at any moment.

Evening came upon the second day. Kanbei and Shichiroji descended the slope down to the cliff-side barricade where Heihachi and Katsushiro were standing guard with the peasants. Shichiroji had brought the two younger samurai their humble evening meal – a few grains of rice boiled with grasses. But before they could partake of their dinner, they heard the sound of small rocks cascading down the steep rock face below the barricade. Something was moving up the cliff wall. All the peasants and samurai prepared to attack, except for Kanbei. "Could it be Kyuuzou?" he wondered.

"Don't do anything!" the leader said in a low voice. He approached the edge of the cliff cautiously and peered down into the misty depths below.

"There's only one person," Shichiroji whispered as he came up behind Kanbei. "We can take him out."

"Yes, but…" Kanbei answered. Just then, the crimson samurai came into sight. S/he was scaling the steep cliff face with remarkable ease, considering the fact that s/he was bearing a Nobuseri cannon across his/her slim shoulders. One would think s/he was carrying a sheet of paper instead of a huge chunk of metal, seeing how s/he leaped lightly over the defense barrier, coming to rest at the top of one of the logs forming the barricade.

Kanbei stared up at Kyuuzou. S/he drew herself/himself up to his/her full height even as s/he stood poised delicately at the tip of the sharpened log.

"Kyuuzou-dono!" Kanbei heard Katsushiro exclaim with undisguised admiration.

The scarlet samurai looked down at them but said nothing. S/he held one sword between her/his teeth. Then Kyuuzou dropped the cannon into Heihachi's arms before flying off the top of the barricade to land lightly in front of the mechanic. "Would this be of help to you?" s/he asked her/his colleague as s/he removed her/his blade from between her/his teeth and sheathed it gracefully. Heihachi replied delightedly, "I'll look into it!"

Kanbei said to the red samurai in a neutral voice, "Thank you for your hard work."

Kyuuzou's back was to the leader but s/he did not even turn around to face him as s/he launched right into her/his report, "I killed a Raiden. As for the Yakans and Tobitos, there are about 30 remaining, as well as a good number of armored foot soldiers."

"What is your assessment of the situation?" Kanbei crossed his arms as he spoke to the cold warrior's back.

"If they are coming, it should be tomorrow." Kyuuzou replied. Then, without waiting for Kanbei to respond, s/he added, "I'm going to sleep."

S/he climbed up the hill without a backward glance at him. Katsushiro stood gazing after the red figure with admiring eyes. Kanbei interrupted the child's reverie. "Katsushiro," he said, "I expect that we will win tomorrow. Tell the sentries to rotate every hour."

"Yes, sir," the child declared eagerly, then he ran off to carry out his orders. If Katsushiro had looked back just a moment later, he would have seen a dark frown come upon his commander's face. Judging by Kyuuzou's numbers, the odds were still against Kanna. Victory was not completely out of reach, but more than likely, a high price would have to be paid for it. Kanbei would never tell this to Katsushiro. The commander could not afford to have the child or the peasants paralyzed by fear and despair even before their first battle.

"We need to finalize our battle plan based on the statistics Kyuuzou has reported." Kanbei said to Shichiroji. They headed back towards the village.

It seemed the samurai were not the only ones glad to see Kyuuzou back. On their way to Rikichi's house, the two warriors came upon a group of peasants joking with Shino.

"Now that Kyuuzou-dono has returned safe and sound, your plans to marry a samurai are back on track," Yohei laughed.

Kanbei felt a dull pain creep up on the edge of his consciousness. "Yes, if anyone could melt the heart of that icy warrior, it would be Manzou's fiery daughter," he thought. Kyuuzou and Shino did seem to get along. At least better than Kyuuzou and the commander were getting along.

Another village girl would have blushed at Yohei's teasing. Kirara certainly would have. But Shino did not. "Shut up, fools!" the firebrand snapped. "Do not dishonor the samurai with your silly jokes. Kyuuzou and I are like sisters!"

Then she added quickly, "I mean, like sister and brother."

Kyuemon's old granny approached the group of peasants, moving slowly with the aid of a walking stick.

"He's a good boy, that red samurai," the old woman said to Shino in a cracked, raspy voice, "He treats you like an equal. When the fighting is over, you should make him stay."

It was clear to all what the old lady meant by those words. "So, everyone thinks Kyuuzou belongs with Shino." Shimada thought. "Perhaps it is better that way. They seem well-matched as far as their personalities are concerned."

Yet the dark samurai could not help feeling slightly dejected. Then he heard Shino answer the old woman in a clear, calm voice, "You're right, granny. Kyuuzou is a good person. But we are from different worlds. He will not be happy in my world, nor will I be happy in his. And he is doing well enough on his own. He needs no one."

Kanbei went his way, mulling the odd conversation he overheard.