Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Deeper Kyo and the characters in it.

A/N: I've been sooooo busy lately. Sorry for the long wait. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Company

Yuya found herself standing in front of Mibu Tower. She didn't feel like going in with what she was wearing, not to mention she had no undergarment on. She let out yet another long sigh. She walked directly to the lift but the guards stopped her from proceeding. "Surely they don't recognize me, especially when I look like someone who was just released from the prison." Frustrated, she carried her ash-covered bags and headed towards the receptionist.

"Hi. I'm Shiina Yuya. I'm Mibu Kyo's personal assistant. Erm.. Could you please lend me a visitor's pass – "

"Yuya-han?" a voice greeted her from the back. She turned and found Benitora walking towards her.

"Benitora-san. Good morning," she greeted.

"What are you doing here so early? What's with the bags?" Benitora asked her.

"I just got discharged from the hospital. I'm supposed to meet Yukimura-san but the guards won't let me in. I lost my pass," she replied while they walk towards the lift.

"You were in the hospital?" asked Benitora.

Yuya didn't want to tell him everything since she herself is having a hard time trying to digest the whole thing. After enough pestering from Benitora, she finally told him.

"Owhh… Yuya-han. Cheer up. Shit happens you know. If there is anything you need, just tell me okay?," he told her.

"Thanks, Benitora-san," she managed to fixed a smile. Telling Benitora didn't exactly make her feel any better. Instead she could feel that he took pity on her. Something she had long forgotten after years of living on her own.

"Please. Just Tora," said Benitora. "Anyway, how many days were you in the hospital?"

"I think it – " before she could start, they arrived at the top floor. Yukimura and Saizo were standing in front of the door.

"Ah!" said Yukimura smiling. "You're here. I was about to go and pick you up from the hospital. How did you get here?"

"I… I took the cab," she told him while adjusting her bagpack. She didn't want to tell him that she actually walked from the hospital.

"Now that Yukimura-han is here, I'm gonna go back to Mahiro. Er.. I mean, work. Later Yuya-han," Benitora strolled to the opposite way.

"Bye," Yuya replied.

"Anyway, regarding the room, I tried to ask Muramasa-san about it. He wants to talk to you about it himself," said Yukimura.

"Mura.. Muramasa-san wants to meet me? But I'm not wearing anything decent, Yukimura-san," Yuya stopped abruptly.

"Don't worry. Muramasa-san would understand," he took her hand and practically dragged her to Muramasa's room.

Yukimura knocked on the door and opened it, pushing Yuya in before he entered himself. In the room, Yuya saw Kyo, Kyoshiro, Kosuke and Muramasa. She hadn't thanked him from saving her life for the second time. As always, Kyo had that cold look fixated on his face as if everything in the world annoyed him. She didn't dare say a word, but she thought she should wait until they are alone.

"Yuya-san, I'm sorry to hear about what happened. Have a sit," Muramasa ushered her to sit next to Kyoshiro. "Kosuke, please get us some tea," he continued.

"Yes, Muramasa-sama," replied Kosuke and made her way out to the pantry.

"How are you feeling Yuya-san?" asked Kyoshiro.

"Much better. Thank you," Yuya replied.

Muramasa walked to his sit and everyone turned to him. "We were discussing about where Yuya-san can stay for the time being. Mibu's trainees' hostels are not available at the moment so Yukimura had requested a room for you here at the tower, but I couldn't agree with his idea. It would be dangerous for a girl like you to stay alone in this building."

"Owh, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Really. I can find a place on my own. "

"No, Yuya-san. You are our employee. We have to help you do something about it. I've also asked the others, Mahiro and Kosuke. It seems like their place are unavailable too. BUT! – ," Muramasa was finally going to reveal his 'awesome' idea when Yukimura interrupted.

"You asked them already? And they said their places aren't available? That's weird," Yukimura creased his forehead.

"Of course I have, and yes, they saidtheir places are unavailable," emphasizing the word, he smiled to Yukimura. Obviously, Yukimura didn't get it. "We have to have a place for Yuya-san as soon as possible," Muramasa continued.

"Er… Actually, I can manage on my own. Please, don't worry about it," Yuya had to say something. She really didn't want them to be worried about her and she didn't want to be a burden to anyone. Kyo who found this pretty annoying, stood up and walked to the door.

"Kyo, we're not done here," his father told him.

"Why do I have to be here? It's not even related to me. I'm sure she can manage. She said it herself," he retorted. Muramasa sighed.

Kyo looked at his father and walked back to his seat. He cannot stand it when his father started to give him that look. Muramasa was well aware of his reaction but somehow, Kyo got a little better at controlling his temper. "So? What do you have in mind?" Kyo finally asked.

"Well, I've thought about this the whole night. Maybe Yuya-san can stay with you for the time being," he continued.

"WHAT?" all four of them exclaimed.

"Are you serious, Father?" Kyoshiro found it amusing.

"Shachou! That's a great idea!" Yukimura agreed on it.

"Right? " said Muramasa with a smile on his face. He couldn't help but chuckled. Yuya looked like she had been electrocuted so Muramasa tried to calm her down. "Don't worry Yuya-san, it's going to be temporary and I can assure you my son is not as bad as how he might appear to be."

"Not as bad as I appear to be?" Kyo was pretty pissed with the statement but kept his cool. "What makes you think that I'll let her stay with me? Why don't you just take her in yourself? That house is bigger and there are plenty of extra rooms."

"Take me in? I'm not some domestic cat that you can keep as a pet," Yuya was pretty mad herself.

"Well, you're dogface. 'Nuff said," he smirked.

"Kyo," Muramasa looked at him seriously. Kyo couldn't say no to his father when he was in serious mode. He tried to look at it in a positive way. It's not like it's the first time he had a girl in his apartment. Well, not this kind of reason of course. He came up with a better idea.

"I have some terms," he tried to negotiate with his father.

Muramasa put his hands on the table. "Let's hear it."

Kyo then turned to Yuya, "I'm sure you can't afford to pay rent. So, I'm offering you a job. Another part-time job or maybe a full time job."

Yuya blinked in surprise. "A job? Wh.. What kind of job?" She was already having all sort of ridiculous thoughts. "I will refuse anything that is morally wrong," she blurted.

"Huh? What do you mean 'morally wrong'? What makes you think that I would do anything to a flat-chested, dogface like you? You watched too much TV," he replied in disbelief. "This woman really works her imagination to the max" he thought. "Hmm… here's my condition. I will make you my servant. You will do chores for me, cook, clean, do things that I ask you to do. I will pay you in return as it is a job that I'm offering," he said it straight to the point.

"Your what?," Yuya exclaimed.

"Do you really want me to say it twice?"

Yuya sighed quietly and buried her face in her hands. Now she felt worse than domestic cats. "Why did it come to this? I did not beg for sympathy. In fact – Wait. Did he say he will pay me? This might not be so bad. He can't do weird things to me too. There are many witnesses here who will guarantee my safety. I hope…"

"Take it or leave it, woman," Kyo looked at her and stood up.

Muramasa couldn't stop himself from laughing quietly at them both going at each other. He knew this would be something good for Kyo. Yukimura didn't expect it to turn out to be this interesting and Kyoshiro thought that Kyo would be really happy to have someone who could replace Shima-bachan. Yuya on the other hand needed a place to stay, so it did turn out pretty well.

"Fine but I have my own terms and conditions too," Yuya finally voiced out. "The pay… How much are we talking?" her cheeks were red when this one came out. She just couldn't say no to money. Kyo grinned.

The cloudy weather reflected Shinrei's mood. The news he received from one of the Mibu servants two days ago was really unpleasant. It's more disturbing when he couldn't call her. His mind was shadowed by many horrible thoughts. He couldn't move a muscle and was crippled in bed because his heart was ripped apart. While Shinrei fought with his disastrous emotion, Fubuki's day was filled with pleasure despite the gloomy day.

"Another living clue incinerated," he said to himself.

"Don't be too please about it. We know she's still alive. We still don't know who did it. As far as I know, we didn't send those servants to burn the whole building. I specifically told them to kidnap her and then we would interrogate her and find out how much she knew about 'it'," said Hishigi.

"You just ruined my castle in the sky. We'll thank that person later, whoever that is. Even if she survives, we'll just send some servants to abduct her. But for now, she must be suffering alone out there and vulnerable," Fubuki smiled. "How's Shinrei doing?" he continued.

"He still locked himself in his room. We need him to go out and find her sooner or later. It's his 'job'," Hishigi replied.

"You're as mean as ever, Hishigi. Give him a break will ya," Yuan, another one of the Mibu kin entered the room.

Settling himself with a cup of tea Hishigi turned to Yuan. "Are you here looking for Keikoku?"

"Ah, well. That's part of it. He didn't return to the dojo since 2 days ago. I assumed he was here," replied Yuan.

"He is not here. You should really take care of your apprentice Yuan," Fubuki told him. "Now, putting that aside. What are we going to do with Muramasa and that 'child'? Sooner or later, the seal will wear off," he continued.

Kyo parked his car and turned off the engine. He got out of the car and walked to the elevator. There were another black four wheel drive and a white SLK parked next to Kyo's Bentley.

"This place is too classy, I'm about to hurl." Yuya looked at Kyo's back and frowned. "He could at least help us with the bags!" she thought to herself. Kyoshiro unloaded her luggage from Kyo's car and they both tagged along behind Kyo to the elevator. Kyo swiped a black card over a sensor and entered a few numbers before they could enter the elevator. They arrived in his apartment a few seconds later. "WOW. So this elevator only goes to his apartment. What complex security they got there."

"This is the access card for this elevator which only goes here. I'll let you know the password," Kyo told her and gave her a black access card.

"Is this mine?" she asked.

"Of course it's yours now that you're gonna live here. It is the universal card. This access card has your name on it. You can use it to open any door in the house. It keeps a log of which door you have accessed," Kyoshiro told her. "Each door in Kyo's house is locked unless the central reader detects his card, it will all be accessible. So you might want to bring this everywhere in the house if he is not around. This guy is very complicated," he continued with a smile.

Kyoshiro and Yuya put the bags down. "Do you have one too, Kyoshiro?" Yuya asked him.

"I only have the guest access card. Oh, Here," he handed her another card. "This one will be for the public elevator. You know, the one in the lobby. You can also use the universal key, the black card, for the public elevator and also to open the front door but you can't use this white one to open the front door. If you forgot to bring the universal key, then you'll have to wait for Kyo to come home to get in," he gave out a small laugh.

"Ah… all these security talk is giving me so much pressure," she told him. "Where is Kyo?" she asked.

"He's probably in his room already. I'm sorry you have to go through all these Yuya-san but this is only going to be temporary," he looked at her. "Let's go to your room." Kyoshiro grabbed her hands and walked up the stairs. Yuya followed his lead. She was blushing all the way up. "Shinrei hasn't held my hand yet… Oh gosh, snap out of it Yuya!" She grunted. "I haven't contacted him since the incident. He must be worried."

"Yu.. Yuya-san, are you okay?"

"Huh? Ah.. ahahhaha.. yeah.. yeah…" Yuya replied.

Yuya was amazed at how huge Kyo's place was. It was a gorgeous 2-storey unit which Yuya thought might be too big for a guy to live in all by himself but she also thought that this place really suits him. Kyoshiro led her to her room. The room was bigger than her old apartment. The bed was huge, there was another room attached to it in which Yuya thought must be the wardrobe, even the bathroom was bigger than her old room. She sat down on the bed and ran her fingers on the silky sheet.

"This is it Yuya-san. Is it too small for you? I told Kyo to let you use the other bigger room but he thinks you should stay next to his room so it's easier for him to call you when he needs you. That Kyo…" Kyoshiro sighed.

"K… Kyo's room is next door?" Yuya exclaimed.

"Why are you so excited? Do you plan to sneak in my bed at night?" Kyo was standing at her door.

"Wh… what are you talking about? There is no way on earth I will ever do that," Yuya shrieked. She cleared her throat, "Is.. is there any manual lock from the inside of this room that can prevent you from coming in?"

"Why should there be any? This is my house. I can go in and out of any room as I like. Now, put away all your things and prepare some dinner. I'm already starving," he walked out.

"Can you at least let me arrange my – "

"Now."

Yuya sighed.

Kyo went back to his room. His life should be getting a bit better now with the new helper. He hadn't received any crazy messages lately. The person who had been screwing up with him must be bored already. He opened his drawer and took out the last message he received. "Nero" was the clue. He gave it a deep thought. "The fire... Were they after Yuya? Fire is definitely associated to Nero. If this one was settled, then I should be getting a new message. Or maybe, it's over. But why her?" There was a knock on the door.

"What is it?" he said.

"Umm… there is nothing in the fridge except beer or rather, there is nothing in the kitchen. What do you want for dinner? I'll go out and do some groceries." It was Yuya. Kyo definitely had an 'empty' kitchen. Since Shima-bachan quit, the fridge was only filled with beer.

"I'll go with you. I'll be downstairs in a minute," he told her.

Muramasa wasn't expecting any guest that night but when Shihoudo came, he was more than happy to see her. Even though sometimes she would annoy him by telling him unnecessary things like 'Get a wife already' or 'Aren't you lonely' or 'You and Julian should go out 'fishing' at bars' or things like that. Nevertheless, he enjoyed her company most of the time.

"Here's something for you," she handed him a bag.

"It's not Christmas yet. But thank you," Muramasa smiled.

Shihoudo strode slowly towards the living room. "So I only give you presents during Christmas? Where are the kids?"

"Well yes, you only give me presents during Christmas. Kyo is at his own place. Kyoshiro was there to help him out with the new helper but I guess he should be home soon," he replied.

"New helper?"

Muramasa poured some hot tea in a cup and handed it to Shihoudo, "Yes. Shiina Yuya."

"Muramasa. You've planned this all along didn't you?"

"It just came falling in place. Did you know that she is currently working part-time as Kyo's personal assistant? Hmm.. I guess I forgot to tell you that bit. Do you believe in fate and karma Shihoudo?" Muramasa told her. Shihoudo didn't say a word.

"A few days ago, her apartment caught fire. The fire incident was just a mere warning from them. They have made their move, Shihoudo. It is better we keep her safe," Muramasa put a hand on his chin. "It is best for her to live with Kyo"

Shihoudo frowned, "You should also be reminded that sooner or later Kyo's memory will come back. If it happens, what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? I'm just his guardian," he replied solemnly. "But you know, I do love him like my own son. Both of them. Sooner or later they need to know the truth and return to where they really belong."

"Ah… all these talk is making me hungry. Anything good for dinner? Oh… did I tell you about Julian's new song?" Shihoudo changed the subject. They both sensed a present. Kyoshiro was behind the door listening to their conversation. His heart was beating so fast after hearing most of it. What were they talking about? He needed to know more. He considered about telling Kyo about it, but he realized he should find out more before telling his brother especially about the sealed memories.

The fish looked too big for Yuya to handle and she was actually not good with the seafood department. She walked towards the meat section instead. She looked around for Kyo who wandered off to get some wine. "Guess I should just get the meat to make some stew and maybe roast for the next couple of days. Which means, I also need to get some potatoes and carrots and –"

"Are you done?" Kyo asked carrying a few packs of beer with him.

"I'm going to make beef stew and I'll get some other ingredients for the rest of the week. Are you okay with that?"

"Whatever. Just hurry up," he replied stashing the packs in the cart.

"O..Okay," Yuya rushed towards the veggie section, grabbed some other things she needed and then headed towards the counter. Kyo was there holding a couple of French breads with him.

"Kyo. I'm done," Yuya told him.

"Well, go get in line woman. Here," Kyo passed the bread to her.

"It's YU-YA," she scowled and then pushed her cart to an empty lane.

"Good evening," said the lady behind the counter.

"Good evening," replied Yuya while getting her things out from the cart. The lady behind the counter kept on staring at Kyo.

"Is that your husband?" she suddenly asked Yuya.

"WHO? No!" she exclaimed. "Why?"

"He's a fine looking man," the lady told Yuya and smiled at Kyo.

Yuya rolled her eyes while putting the things in the eco bag. "He only LOOKS fine. Not until you know the REAL him." Kyo paid for the groceries and then left Yuya carrying all the things. "Again, he only looks fine but he's a real demon" Yuya kept telling herself. She wished she could announce it to the whole world.

When Kyo reached the car, he saw a blue envelope with his name written on it left on the wiper of his car. His annoyance was back. He took it and quickly slipped it in his pocket. He turned around and saw Yuya struggling with the groceries. He walked back and helped her with the groceries.

"Hurry up, woman," he told her.

"If you were to help me from the beginning I would have reached the car in seconds," she retorted.

Akari was muttering curses under his breath when the boys asked his to cook them dinner. He was taking out some vegetables and meat from the fridge when he heard a knocking on the door. It was Bontenmaru.

"Bon! You saved me! Did you bring any dinner?" he asked rapidly.

"No. Why?"

"Akira and Hotaru wanted me to cook nabe!" he exclaimed. He leaned closer to Bontenmaru and whispered, "To tell you the truth, I know nothing about making nabe. Hotaru said, if I don't know how to make nabe, that means, I can't be a woman!"

Bontenmaru looked at him, "Akari… You can't be a woman even if you know how to make nabe. You're born a man…. Tokichiro"

Akari threw a bowl at his direction and it crashed on the wall. "Say that again and I'll kill you!"

"Okay… Okay… I get it. Let's go to Kyo's. I heard he got a new helper. Maybe she can help us with the nabe."

"A new helper? A woman? We should go now! I must see this new helper," said Akari. "Akira! Hotaru! We're going to have nabe at Kyo's house!"

"Kyo?" said both.

The doorbell rang a few times. Yuya took off her apron and opened the door. There were three men and a woman standing in front of her. She only recognized Bontenmaru. The tall pinked haired woman walked closer to her and bent down.

"Is Kyo home?" said Akari

"Yes. Please come in," Yuya moved aside to let them through.

"I'm Akari. This is Akira and Hotaru and –"

"Hello. I'm Shiina Yuya. I'll get Kyo," she told them.

"Don't bother. Anyway, Yuya-chan. Can you help me with something?" Akari dragged her to the kitchen. "Do you know how to make…. Nabe?"

"Chan? She's being so familiar with me," Yuya thought. "Na… nabe…? Yes. I know how to make nabe," Yuya replied.

"Ahh… That's good. Make us nabe for dinner!" Akari pat her back.

Hotaru suddenly appeared behind them. "Akari-chan, you have to do it yourself or else you won't be a full –"

"What are you guys doing here?" Kyo came down the stairs with a towel on his head.

"Kyo darling!" Akari ran towards him. "Haven't seen you in like… forever! How's my baby doing?"

"Akari! Please behave yourself! Kyo, how are you? Sorry to barge in like this. It was Bon's idea," Akira finally spoke.

"What? All of you wanted to eat nabe. I just stated my idea," Bon defended himself.

"Is dinner ready?" Kyo walked to the kitchen.

Yuya was stirring something in the pot. "I made stew, but they wanted nabe."

"Stew is fine," said Hotaru.

"It's… It's okay, Yuya-san. Stew is just fine," said Akira.

"Okay… I didn't know Kyo was having guests tonight. I'll get things ready so, please wait in the living room. I'll serve some drinks," said Yuya.

"I'll help her," Hotaru pushed the others out of the kitchen.

Please read and review. It's a bit shorter than usual. I'll try my best for the next chapter.