Hello, hello!

Rating: T+ (for blood. WARNED YOU)

Theme: It's sorta sadish. Defiantly suspenseful. There's some blood but not too much.

Description: A man comes to Yuya's house and threatens her. Will Kyo make it in time? Or will he be much too late?

Trepidation

Yuya shook out the wet clothing with a quick flick of her wrist, flinching when it made a crisp snap. She reached up the line strung out between two posts and pulled taunt and hung the last pair of pants up. She sighed and walked backwards, popping her back. Her eyes slid shut languidly. The smell of fresh food wafted from the kitchen telling Yuya that her food was ready.

She hummed a made up tune as she walked over to the rice pot and removed the top, leaning back sharply when the steam blasted up into her face. Yuya bent over to look at the rice and, deciding it was good enough, placed the lid off to the side. She reached up into the cabinet above her head and stood on her tip toes to find bowls. She made a clucking noise with her tongue while she grabbed onto two bowls and set them down side by side.

The food was dished up and set out when Yuya heard a noise coming from the front yard. She moved slower and turned her head to the side, eyebrows furrowing slightly. Kyo doesn't usually make that much noise…

It could just be Kenji…

As if to purposely prove her wrong, her son walked out of his room and walked over to his mom, holding a ratty looking stuffed animal in his arms. He looked up at her worriedly. "Mama, there's a weird man in our yard." Yuya inhaled quickly and took Kenji by his arm, leading him quickly over to his room and sat him in a corner farthest away from the door. She knelt down in front of him and took his cheek in her hand.

"If something bad happens, go out the window and look for your dad. Do you understand, Kenji?" Yuya told her son in quick and clipped tones. Kenji looked close to tears as he nodded quickly, squeezing the rabbit tighter. Yuya kissed his forehead and then turned and quickly left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

Her eyes flicked over to look at the front door when the man outside banged on it and hollered for them to open up. Fear worked its way up to Yuya's throat, constricting it and making it feel hard to swallow. She knew that she should wait for Kyo to come home but for all she knew, she could be over reacting. Perhaps the man was just here to ask for directions.

Yuya took a few deep breaths, fighting off panic, and slid open the door a crack.

The man was tall, broad, and mean looking. He carried swords at his waist. A long scar cut through one of his eyes that looked down at her like she was a bug under his foot, or dog crap he just stepped in. Yuya could tell that he wasn't here to collect charity.

"Did Demon Eyes Kyo send you to fight me? The coward." He snorted, pulling his sword out with a metallic hiss. "Go get him." He ordered. Yuya couldn't stop the flare of indignation at being treated like crap.

"He's not available at the moment. Could I take a message?" She asked with a bit of sarcasm, which was, admittedly, not smart.

At all.

Yuya didn't even really think about it until the man snarled at her and wrenched her out of her house by her neck. He slammed her roughly against the wall and leaned close. "Listen well, bitch," He said, breathing his nasty breath all over her. Yuya grimaced and turned away while her fingers scratched at the hand encircling her throat. "You had better pray to whoever it is you pray to that Demon Eyes comes soon, or I'll leave your corpse as a fighting invitation."

Yuya scowled at him and worked up a good spit, which she spat into his eye. "Release me." She hissed at him. The man grunted when it hit his face and wiped it away with his free hand. He dropped her and Yuya was surprised that he had listened to her for a total of three seconds, during which he was winding up to smack her across the face with a blow that knocked her sideways.

Yuya cried out in surprise as she hit the grass and bounced slightly from the impact. She held a hand to her cheek and began to turn to glare at the man when one of his swords slammed into the ground inches from her nose. Yuya froze.

A few pieces of her hair fell from where the sword had cut them on the way down and blew away in the breeze. Trepidation once again rose up into Yuya's throat. The man seemed to sense her fear and laughed cruelly as he kicked her in the gut. Yuya let out a word-less exclamation and curled up, more from surprise than pain. Not that it didn't hurt, cause it did, it just the shock that he had dared to kick her outweighed the pain for a few milliseconds.

He continued to kick her and hit her with his sheath. The surprise was gone. The anger and pain remained. Yuya couldn't do anything, though. His relentless blows struck her simultaneously and quickly, not even letting her rise. She was so mad that she had to be subjected to this humiliation.

The vague thought that she would die crossed her mind. That thought was quickly dismissed by her, as she lifted a hand to ward off a blow to her face. Kyo wouldn't let her die.

He might be too far away…

Not get here on time.

And so on did her inner worries and voices plague her, too?

"Mama?" a voice quavered. Yuya thought it was her imagination.

Suddenly, the blows stopped. Yuya stayed in her curled up position and looked up at the man curiously. He was squinting at something off in front of Yuya and him. Yuya looked over to what had caught his attention, praying that Kyo had just emerged and was going to kill the guy. Her blood turned to ice when she realized that he had spotted Kenji, who was staring at the spectacle. He was frozen on the spot, hugging his rabbit and crying.

Yuya gasped and looked up at the man who smirked. He stepped over Yuya who yelled for him to stop and grabbed onto his leg. He smacked her again. Yuya recoiled and hugged her hand to her chest. Kenji was still standing there looking at his mom. Yuya dug her fingers into the grass and pulled herself towards the man who was slowly walking towards her son, like a wolf cornering it's pray.

"Kenji, run!"

He took a few steps backwards at looked at his mom hesitantly. The man laughed heartily.

"Run!"

Kenji looked from his mother to the man a few times; backing up still, then turned and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. He wouldn't get very far, Yuya knew, but if he could get to the forest and hide then the man would probably never find him. Yuya turned her head to the side and saw a bucket. She grit her teeth and grabbed onto it. She stood shakily and ran towards the man, swinging the bucket towards his head.

He turned and caught her wrist, proving that he was a samurai and not just some wannabe hard-ass. He sneered at her. "You can't hit me." He told her in a mocking tone. Yuya scowled at him and swung her foot up. She caught him in the balls before he could react.

He went down with a strangled noise, grasping his lower regions. Yuya ran past him towards the forest, where her son was not a few inches away from the shelter of the trees. She bent and scooped him up, still running. He grasped onto her around the neck and whimpered into her shirt. Yuya hugged him tighter as she twisted and maneuvered around the trees, looking for a big enough place for her and Kenji to hide.

She could hear the man lumbering after them and knew she didn't have much time.

Yuya looked back and forth desperately. Her hair got caught on a low branch and Yuya let out a frustrated growl as she pulled. Her hair cam lose from its bun and tumbled around her face, bouncing as she ran. Kenji was breathing quickly. Yuya thought that she needed to, at least, find a place for her son to hide.

She saw a dark spot out of the corner of her eye and did a double take, skidding to a stop when she realized that it was a small hole. She ran towards it and placed Kenji at the base. "Go in there and don't move." She whispered, pushing him along. Kenji scrambled in and curled up. Yuya shot up to her feet again and ran.

She got a few steps before she was yanked back and off of her feet. The man had a good grip on her hair and was panting while he looked down at her angrily. Yuya glared right back at him, eyes watering from the pressure that was on her scalp as he kept a firm grip on her hair. Defiance reared up and Yuya clawed at his hand, cursing him.

"Kyo will kill you." She hissed at him through clenched teeth. He scowled at her and threw her against a tree. Yuya's head cracked back against its trunk and she grunted, slumping to the forest floor. A cold, then hot feeling spread like someone was pouring water on the back of her head where the tree had hit her. Her fingers felt numb, but that might have been from the crisp autumn air. She was tired.

So tired…

The man had drawn his sword and was advancing on Yuya again. She pulled herself to her feet and leaned against the tree she had hit, leaning her head back and waiting for him to strike the final blow. The man made a noise that sounded oddly like a gurgle and Yuya looked back over at him again.

There was a sword point right through his neck, it gleamed in the sparse sunlight and blood dripped off of it like a crimson rain. Yuya watched as it retracted with a wet sound and the man stood there, wobbling for a bit, before he crashed to the ground and lay still. Behind him was Kyo, standing over his dead figure. His eyes gleamed dangerously and he looked angrier than Yuya had ever seen him.

He swung his sword through the air quickly, flicking the blood off, and sheathed it in one fluid movement. Yuya felt her legs shaking. "Kyo…" she whispered through numb lips as she sank to her knees and felt herself falling to the side. Tired…

Her face hit cloth and she knew that Kyo had her in his arms. He ran a hand over her face and brushed her wild hair out of her face, pulling dry leaves out. Kyo lifted her up and Yuya felt herself starting to go under. Then she remember Kenji, and she struggled weakly. Kyo told her to stop moving, but it was fuzzy.

"No… Kenji!" she said in a stronger voice than she thought she was capable of at the moment. Kyo stopped moving and followed where she was looking. Kenji poked his head out of the hole and saw his dad. He ran towards him and grabbed onto his leg. Yuya sighed in relief when she saw he son was safe.

She let herself sleep.

--

Kyo had been hovering over her for three days. He wouldn't let her get out of bed, even though the most she suffered from was a bit of shock and bruises.

But, no…

Yuya has to be treated like someone chopped her legs off.

Though, she had to admit, it was sort of fun to be waited on. Yuya smiled as Kyo and Kenji walked into the room. Kyo was carrying a tray of food and Kenji was bringing her more flowers.

Kenji had also seemed to stick to her like glue, crying whenever someone tried to take him away. He had given her his rabbit to hold and been bringing her loads of flowers. Her bedside table looked more like a florist's shop than a table.

She smiled at them as Kyo set the tray down on her lap and Kenji happily babbled to her while he handed her the flower. She took it and said thank you. He nodded and left the room quickly, taking his mother's invalidsy to heart and trying to do most of her work, which, Yuya thought, was adorable.

Kyo stood there quietly, watching her eat. Yuya did, but thoughtfully and awkwardly.

He hadn't said much of anything to her over the past day. The only thing he had really said to her was that she had been asleep for two days and that she was an idiot for taking that guy on. Other than that, zip.

"Don't do that again."

Yuya stopped, chopsticks inches from her wide-open trap. She lowered them and looked over at Kyo. "You already said that." She told him carefully, watching him for any sudden movements. Kyo swooped over and knelt beside her so that his red eyes looked into hers.

Yuya felt her breath catch in her throat when she saw the emotion laced in them.

"I'm not kidding. You scared the living shit out of me. If that ever happens again, you hide. Understood?" Kyo told her gruffly while his hands cupped her cheeks and his thumbs stroked her cheeks feverishly. Yuya could see the fear in his eyes. She could also see the anger and the relief.

"I won't."

"Damn straight you won't. Now eat your food."

When you say "Goodbye!" I say "Hello!"

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