Kyo and Hotaru kept their backs to each other as they took off their clothes. It hadn't been like that when they were children. They'd strip down to their underwear in front of each other comparing bruises and war injuries with smiles and happy chatter before Kazuma would tell them to hop in the tub where he was already lounging. But, like everyone's lives before them, they had grown apart.

The Cat snuck a glance and looked at her back. A gash spanned over the ends of her shoulder blades with a burn around the edges. It looked like she had been struck with a leather whip set on fire. Kyo wanted to hug her, to hold her and tell her he was sorry that she had to suffer that much pain. She saw more scars-fainter than the scar on her forearm-as if she had been at the business end of a fencing rapier.

"I've had them for a while." She told him as if she had seen him watch her. "None of them hurt anymore."

"Not even that whip mark that made you wince when your sweatshirt brushed it?" Kyo glanced back as she stiffened at his question. "How long have you had it? Who gave it to you?"

Hotaru tossed her shirts and jacket aside, into the dirty clothes' hamper. "It's almost been a year now…since I got it…it's the only one that still hurts…" She jumped when Kyo's hands touched her bare shoulders. "..don't, Kyo…you'll get in trouble with Shishou…"

"It didn't matter when we were kids." He reminded her. "Why are you so jumpy about that now? Did the guy who gave you this…" Kyo's left thumb brushed her skin, 3 finger widths from the top of the diagonal scar. "…was he that dear to you?"

He tightened his grip on her slender shoulders when she tried to move. She didn't look up nor did she try to flip him.

Kyo put his forehead against the back of her head. "What was his name? What happened to him?"

"I killed him, that's what happened to him." She answered softly. "He was going to burn everything when he was done with me…I couldn't let him do that…not when I felt you were still alive…I spilled his blood so he wouldn't spill yours…"

"You put blood on your hands for me?" That surprised the Cat. He wanted to hold her and tell her she didn't have to fight anymore but it wouldn't do any good. It was like telling Kyo to eat nothing but leeks for the rest of his life. She was made for the battlefield like the warriors who came before her. "Come on, Shishou will douse us in a bucket of tea if we don't get in the tub before he gets up here."

She pulled out her hair tie as he finished undressing. Her black hair fell in loose curls to her waist as Kyo got into the tub. He kept his back to her, letting her undress in private. Kyo didn't even glance back until he felt her slip in to the water.

"Hey, Hotaru?"

"Yeah, Kyo?"

"Why do you wear that black star charm if you have it under control?"

"That's like asking why did your mother religiously check that your beads were still on."

"Like the day we met? You remember that right?" Kyo asked with a smile.

She laughed a little. "The time we both showed courage where the sane would flee? Yeah, I remember that. You were the first friend I ever had."

Kyo glanced back at her. "Your first? Really?"

"Yeah…before I met you I was the local outcast…no one would even speak my name for fear they'd be cursed." Hotaru gave a dry laugh. "No one but the teachers, mind you. And even they were jumpy. That's why I only left home while it was raining…it was the only time I could safely play…it was at that little park where we met…my father bought it and the surrounding land so I could be safe from all of the other kids."

Hotaru felt shock overtake her as Kyo leaned back, his head resting on one of her shoulders. He was carefully avoiding her painful scar.

"I remember that. You found my beads before you found me." The Cat smiled, closing his eyes. "And I had found your necklace before you heard my heart."

The Silent Warrior closed her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest. "Kyo? Do you remember my first night here?"

"Hard to forget someone who would sit on the veranda and wait for her father to come get her after a self defense lesson." Kyo told her, proving he remembered. "I was in karate at the time, being taught by Shishou and I saw you wait for the entire time I was doing katas with Haru. You waited the entire four and a half hours before Shishou told you he couldn't come back for you. You cried into his pants since we were both only as tall as his thighs. He picked you up and let you cry as he sat in your place. He wanted me to wait until you calmed down before I came out to see you."

"I remember that…you grabbed me by the back of my gi and told me to stop crying before I got you started." She felt Kyo laugh at the memory. "I ran to Shishou, calling 'hide the catnip before Kyo-kun gets it!' You remember that?"

"Yeah, I remember." Kyo reached back and gently pulled at her bangs. "Now quit dragging me down Memory Lane before Shishou has to break out the osake to knock us out again."

Hotaru started laughing at that. "We had such a hang over! You couldn't keep anything down!"

"Hey! You're the one who couldn't walk straight! AND you kept complaining of loud noises and bright lights." Kyo sat up and looked at her as she turned half way around.

"But I'm not the one who got a headache and was dizzy." Hotaru faced him, grabbing his beads as he grabbed her necklace. Their eyes glared at each other until they put their foreheads together and started laughing like the old friends they truly were.

Unknown to them, Kazuma stood outside the bathroom with a soft smile on his face. He knew all they needed was to reconnect again to truly remember they weren't ever alone.