Retribution
Chapter 14: The Battle for Kanna
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Author: Jun-I

Pairing: Kambei/Kyuzo
Warnings and Disclaimers: See Chapter 1

Synopsis: Kyuuzou's POV on the battle for Kanna

Acknowledgments: Thanks to elfjune for pointing out that the cannon used by the peasants was the one taken from the mecha Kyuuzou killed earlier in the rice fields.

Kyuuzou's POV:

The Nobuseri attacked a little earlier than I anticipated. They came before dawn, with the pouring rain as their cover. Darn, I haven't quite gotten my 8 hours of beauty sleep yet. I faced a Red Spider in the rice fields. Cut it down before it could cross over into the village. But the Mimizuku warriors had already gotten in and were doing their best to bring down the resale values of Kanna's real estate properties. I ran back to join the other samurai who were fighting the Mimizukus off. We managed to finish them all after a long hard fight.

Katsu did well. He got to take out his first Raiden. Maybe there's hope for that kid after all. But really, it's not as difficult to take out one of those giant mecha as you might think. They don't move that quickly. All you have to do is stay calm, keep your focus, and target their joints. Mechanization made my second sister Mizuho much slower than she was when she was human. Sometimes I wonder, rather pointlessly, that perhaps if Mizu did not mechanize she would have survived the war. But then, Second Sister, ever the humble woman, had never dared to hope for a happy life. All she wanted was a tolerable life and an acceptable death. And she had her wish. She was lucky, I guess. Many had less.

Anyway, killing the Raiden wasn't the end of the battle for Kanna. Our second course of action was served up by the tea kettles. We took out the Yakans, every one of them. Finally the last bandit, a Red Spider, arrived. The thing fired its cannon at Kanbei; Gorobei intercepted that shot with his sword and was wounded by the explosion.

Then Kanbei persuaded the Red Spider to put aside its cannon for one-on-one sword combat. How that man manages to sucker people into settling for second best choices is beyond me. But I guess the Nobuseri didn't fully buy into the deal. Not long into the match, he used his cannon again. Now the rest of the samurai were yelling, "That's despicable!" But I was going to do more than just talk. Jumped in there and sliced the robot's cannon arm off. Kanbei was not the least appreciative. He said, "I did not ask you to help me."

Told him it would have annoyed me if the thing killed him. And yes, a "thank you" would be nice too. But I never had high expectations of this man's manners anyway. I left him to finish the fight on his own as he wanted. Sure enough, the Red Spider knocked the sword out of his hand and closed in for the kill. Katsu was going to intervene, but Goro stopped him. What's with samurai men anyway? That whole "No, you have to let them fight one-on-one, even if it means that your friend gets killed" thing. Well, Kanbei was not my friend, but I wasn't going to stand by and watch the Red Spider exterminate the man who is mine alone to kill. Was about to make my move but the farmers beat me to it. Downed the thing with the cannon they took from the Red Spider I killed earlier. Go peasants!

Kanbei then finished the Red Spider off with a showy beheading. So I guess our fearless leader got to salvage his ego. But by then it was too late for Gorobei-dono. I used to find Gorobei annoying because he would sometimes look from Kanbei to me, and then from me to back to Kanbei, and then he would burst out giggling. What was his problem? I don't see what's so funny. That samurai could never stay serious about anything. But now that we had to bury him, I could not be annoyed at him anymore. In the brief time we had worked with Gorobei, he earned the team's respect. Whether I liked him or not, I had to admit the man had sharp instincts.

End Kyuzo's POV

Kanbei had left Kanna. Kirara was not planning on confessing her feelings for him to her grandmother. But now that she had done so, her mind was clearer. At the same time, the pain in her heart felt a little sharper too.

On looking back, she had been in love with the dark samurai ever since the time he saved her from her fall. But she did not know her own heart then. She had never imagined she could be drawn to a man so much older than she was. Besides, Katsushiro had been trying so hard. She felt obligated to 'like' the boy in return. Now she regretted having encouraged his attentions. It was pity and a sense of guilt which inspired her affection for him. She mistook it for the beginnings of love, but later realized that it was Kanbei that her eyes sought on their own accord, and not Katsushiro.

Someone who could so easily sense the watchful presence of a hidden enemy could not have failed to detect the longing gaze of a secret admirer. Yet the peasant priestess was sure Kanbei did not know of her feelings. The only reason he had not discovered her adoration was because while Kirara's eyes were following hopelessly after Kanbei, Kanbei's eyes were desperately following someone else. Kirara saw that a long time ago, when Kyuuzou first appeared to challenge Kanbei. The handsome ronin had gazed upon the androgynous samurai with a strange light in his eyes but at that time, the peasant priestess did not recognize the look in Kanbei's eyes for what it was.

Had Kyuuzou noticed how Kanbei looked at him? The priestess was certain he had. She observed the crimson samurai almost never looked Kanbei in the eye, and usually kept his back to the older man when he had to talk to Kanbei. Strange for someone who met his enemies head on and stared death in the face.

Did Kyuuzou return Kanbei's feelings? Kirara guessed he was probably too proud to do so. But she saw that the silent samurai always kept close to the white-clad warrior. Speaking of the silent samurai, where was he now?