Clack, clack, clack the sound of wood clashing echoed in Kikyo's ear as she swung her bokken at the boy before her. Clack, clack, clack! Left. Right. Right again. She watched the pale boy stab at her, getting more and more frustrated with each unsuccessful strike. The brunette saw an opening and lunged, ignoring the pain as her muscles seared from the movement, and stabbed him in the center of his belly.

"Dead," she stated as he fell backwards onto his back.

"Grah!" He leapt back up to his feet and swung at her furiously.

Kikyo ducked and her body screamed for her to cease, but she couldn't. There was no way in hell she would stop just because of some pain. She spun after the duck, getting a full view of his entire back that Law had left unprotected, but did not attack. It was the one rule she had set up for their duels, so she waited for the boy to spin before she jabbed her bokken in his chest, landing him on his scrawny ass once more. "Dead," she said once more.

"No I'm not!" Law began to pull himself up when her foot came down on his chest and the end of her wooden sword was in his white splotched face.

"Be glad for that." She was tired and her nerves were spasming from the workout. "We're done." She sighed. Kikyo didn't know whether she was glad that she could actually beat someone in basic combat, or ashamed that the only person she could beat was a terminally ill midget. Most likely the latter.

"You snarky little—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a bitch." She waved, uninterested in any of his pathetic insults. She tossed the bokken aside and laid on her stomach next to where Tomoe was sitting and writing. "What are you doing?" she asked, laying her head on top of her folded arms. Kikyo almost sighed in relief as her muscles loosened.

"It's classified."

The girl scowled. "Is it classified from me or the Outsiders?"

"Both." She didn't look up as her pen stoked across the scroll.

"Why is it classified from me?"

"Because I said so."

"That's a stupid reason."

"Only because you're a stupid little runt that doesn't understand what it means to be a ninja."

Her eyebrow twitched. "Maybe if someone would spend more time teaching me instead of making up excuses then I could understand more." She'd been so busy with her classified shit the last few days that she hadn't taught Kikyo anything! Her only source of training came from the new punching bag that was still muttering curses towards her under his breath.

Tomoe rolled her eyes and put down the pen before reaching to her side and pulling out a bottle and a small cup. "Here." She filled the small, plastic cup with dark liquid. "You're bitchy when you're in pain."

"I'm always in pain." She glowered at the older brunette.

"My point exactly." She scooted the cup in front of her face, letting her take in the chemical smells that rose from the liquid.

For a second she hesitated before taking the cup, scotch left a bad taste in her mouth, but it dulled the sharp, burning pain that shot through her body. Kikyo downed the liquor quickly in one shot, shaking her head reflexively from the strong taste.

"Can I have some?" Law sat cross legged across from Tomoe and began to build a fire for their dinner.

"Sorry, Kid. This is too strong for you and I don't carry any lightweight shit." Tomoe took a swig straight from the bottle.

"What makes you think it's too strong for me?" He furrowed his brow.

"Because it was strong for me when I was her age." Tomoe jabbed her thumb at Kikyo. "If you're so curious then have Cora-kun bring you something lighter."

"He doesn't want me to, but…" He did a quick scan to make sure the clown man was still away from their camp before raiding his bag for a bottle. "That's never stopped me before." He smirked as he popped the bottle open. "Are you gonna snitch?" he asked.

"Snitches get stitches," the girls recited together.

"Nice." Law took a swig before attempted, and fail, not to shudder from the taste.

"You got nothing to worry about, Kid." Tomoe took another gulp. "There's a saying in the Tadashi clan 'Live while you're young cause you won't have a chance to get old'. And considering your circumstances, that saying applies to you too."

"At least someone can get it in their head," he scoffed. "If only you could convince Corazon of the truth."

"I'm working on it, Kid. I'm still decoding the components within the toxin." Tomoe wore a hard frown as she said this.

"Doesn't matter." He sounded bored. The boy decided he didn't want to drink after all and laid down on his sleeping bag. "The best doctors have tried, but they all failed. I'm gonna die soon."

Kikyo's eyebrow twitched right before she decided to chunk her empty cup at the boy. "Dumbass!"

"What was that for?!" He clutched the bump it left.

"Those doctors didn't look like they were trying to help you at all!" The images flashed through the nine-year-old's head. In the three days they had spent with the Outsiders, the four had visited two hospitals, the first was bad was bad considering there was panic caused by the little boy and his clown set a room on fire, but the second was by far much worse considering they called soldiers to come and kill the poisoned boy. All those doctors and nurses were superstitious cowards! She wondered if they avoided the glances of crows and refused to cut their nails at night. "All of them are cowardly dumbasses and Tomoe could outdo them any day of the week!"

"Aw, I'm touched."

"SHUT UP, TOMOE!" she snapped back.

"Ooh, angry little drunk, aren't we?" The bitch seemed to be amused by the intoxication that she brought about.

"I AM ALWAYS ANGRY!"

"And if you don't pipe down I'm going to hit you."

"I DON—" Fwak. Tomoe swatted the back of her head with the girl's bokken. "TOMOE, YOU—" Fwak.

"Keep going, Runt. I can I can play Whack the Bitch all day."

"WHY YOU—" Fwak. DAMMIT TOMOE!

"Hahaha!" Law pointed. "That's what you get for being haughty, Cripple!"

"I'm still better than you, Terminal Midget!" Sad fact, but true. He should be ashamed. Lightning struck between the two as they grabbed more weapons and went at it once more.

"Damn, they're both angry little drunks." Tomoe wore a sweatdrop on her head.

"Good evening!" Clown Man waved happily as he approached the campsite, supplies and maps filled his arms. "I've returned with dinner!" He smiled and sat down next to Tomoe. "Were they too much trouble, Tomoe-san?" His eyes glanced to the two.

"Nah." Tomoe waved off the scuffling children. "A bit loud, but that's just how kids are, what did you bring back, Cora-kun?"

"Well," He unrolled the map. "I've considered a few new possibilities for hospitals to take the children to, the trail will lead even farther north."

"I hope these are better than the last ones." Tomoe gave him a bland look. It was just flat out weird to see Tomoe preventing violence and destruction whenever the man lost his temper with a craven doctor.

"They definitely will be! I'm sure of it! Did you hear that, Law? Kikyo-chan—" The kunoichi-to-be's bokken swung at the blonde man's head.

"Watch your fucking tongue, Clown!" she snapped. She tolerated it when older shinobi and the doctors called her that, but Corazon was stupid and had no right to address her as though she were a child!

A large bump swelled on his head, but the man did not seem to care as his jaw hit the ground and his hand went over his mouth as he gasped. "H-how could such a little gir—" Fwap, her bokken swung through the air, giving him another bump on top of the first.

"Keep going. I dare you." Her eyes narrowed as she pointed her bokken at his head.

Meanwhile, the ever supportive Tomoe, was cackling her ass off.

"Come on, Corazon! Don't let this little cripple beat you!" Law shook his fist.

"You looking to find someone to kick my ass because you can't, Terminal Midget?!" She spun back on him.

"Why would I have to look? Tomoe's right there."

"Cocky little bitch, aren't you? So cocky that you try and get a woman to fight the battles you can't win!"

"You just got lucky!"

"Every time we fought?! That ain't luck, dumbass!"

"You're the dumbass!"

"Really?! Cause last time I checked you're the idiot that thought poison was contagious!"

"I. DID. NOT!" The bokken made contact, shattering upon impact. There was only a second of hesitation before a scuffle cloud surrounded the two as they went at it again.

"So this is what happens when you put two rude, antisocial children together. Pretty entertaining." Tomoe nodded.

"Law, she's four years younger than you…" Corazon pinched the bridge of his nose. "They shouldn't be fighting like this, one of them is going to get hurt."

"Alright, alright. I'll fix it." Tomoe promptly stood up and walked over to the scuffle cloud. Kikyo had just landed her elbow in Law's chest as he pulled at her hair and he bit down on her wrist as she pinched his cheek. "Okay, kids." She plucked both of them up by the scruff of their necks. "Play time is over, now kiss and make up." And in one swift movement their skulls were crashed together before she released and sent them both tumbling to the ground. "Good." She smiled that horrible fake smile of hers.

"Tomoe, you unimaginable bitch!" Kikyo could hear pounding in her ears from the blow and her hands clutched the already swelling bruise.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." She waved.

Kikyo ground her teeth, thinking of every curse she had ever learned, wishing so badly she could get payback for every time Tomoe did something like that!

"Why did you hit me?!" Law shouted angrily.

"What? Are you saying I should punish one of you for misbehaving and not the other? What kind of example is that setting?" Tomoe used her 'innocent' voice.

"But she started it!"

"And now I'm ending it. Kikyo, go work on your kunai."

"But…" How dare she send her off like some being put in the corner?!

"Not buts, unless you want me to kick yours."

Her eyebrow twitched. "One day, you just wait, Tomoe." Kikyo pointed a menacing finger at the kunoichi.

"Yes, but until that day…" Tomoe ruffled the girl's messy hair playfully. "I can still kick your little ass."

Kikyo smacked her hand away before scowling and marching away from the three into the wooded area. The girl was still grumbling curses at the older Tadashi as she plopped down on a rock and pulled a whetstone to sharpen her kunai.

"Tomoe's pretty tough." A voice sounded from behind her after a while.

"Why the fuck else do you think she trains me?" Kikyo scoffed back at the splotched boy.

"It must have sucked growing up with a sister like that. Knowing she was so much better than you at everything, smarter too, and knowing you'd never be able to catch up," he snarked.

Something snapped, she wasn't sure what, but something definitely snapped because she was on the boy in a split second, the shiny kunai Tomoe had given her nearly pressed to his head. "Don't you ever fucking talk about my sister, you got that?" her voice was low, but she fit venom in every letter. "She's a piece of shit and I'll make her pay the price for what she did. Even if I fucking kill myself doing so. I'll make her fucking regret not killing me then. So say something about her again. I fucking dare you." She'd do it, she'd cut him. If he said one more thing about that bitch she would stain him red on top of all that white.

This… took the boy by complete and utter surprise. His mouth was ajar as he stared, completely dumbfounded at the sudden aggressiveness. "I didn't know you and Tomoe had problems that ran that deep."

"Tomoe?" What did Tomoe have to do with—fuck! The fucking cover story. She slowly pulled the kunai away and got off of him. "Right…"

"What the hell are you trying to pull?!" he barked.

"Doesn't matter." She picked up the whetstone once more. "Just don't refer to Tomoe as my sister." Tomoe was too good to compared to that bitch.

"Touchy, touchy." He rubbed the back of his head and scowled. "Didn't think your issues with Tomoe were so serious."

"I didn't know you could think."

"That's rich coming from a hot headed bitch like you."

"You're just jealous because I can kick your ass. Maybe you should be the one referred to as a cripple."

"No, terminally ill fits me just fine." He sat and crossed his arms.

"It's no fun if you admit it." Kikyo furrowed her brow.

"I know." He smirked and leaned back.

"Are you still drunk?"

"Quite possibly."

"I hope you have a hell of a hangover."

"Right back at you, bitch." He showed her his middle finger before sitting and watching her a while longer as she polished and sharpened Tomoe's kunai. "Why are you taking so much time for that one?"

"Because, this is my Throat Slitting kunai. I have to take extra measures to ensure that it's taken care of."

"Couldn't any kunai slit a throat?"

"No, this one is special. It was a gift and I intend to hold on to it for as long as I can." If she ever went over the edge again, she would keep her word to Tomoe and use it just like she told her to.

"Who gives a throat slitting kunai as a gift?"

"Ninja."

He furrowed his brow. "I suppose." He paused for another moment, deciding whether to say something or not before finally opening his mouth. "Do you know how to do a clone jutsu?"

"…. Yeah… it's a D rank jutsu. Anyone can do one." As long as anyone wasn't Naruto.

"… Would you show me?" Curiosity sparked in his normally bland face.

He wanted her to show him a jutsu? Interesting~. Kikyo looked him dead in the eye and ushered for him to come closer. "Go fuck yourself, I'm not doing you any favors."

And there was the face fault she was hoping to see. Ah, sweet vengeance. "You bitch!" He swung at her.

"Awww, poor widdle Law won't get to see the jutsu~."

"Why don't you go somewhere and kill yourself?!" he barked at her, face reddening.

"Been there, tried that. Got caught halfway through."

"Well I—" His flame got put out by the reply and his fist lowered. "You tried to… ?"

Well, looky looky, she caught him off guard. She supposed that she didn't look like the type, but people were never really what they appear, were they? The nine-year old pulled her right arm out in front of her and rolled up the sleeve to reveal a white scar stretching across her pale wrist. "Tomoe stopped it, now I gotta look at this thing every day and be reminded of what I almost did." She wasn't necessarily grateful for what Tomoe did, but for the time being she was still trying her best.

Law stared at it for a long second before finally speaking up. "And you call me the stupid one."

"EXCUSE THE FUCK OUT OF YOU?!" she roared back at him. "HOW DARE YOU FUCKING ACT ALL HIGH AND FUCKING MIGHTY YOU FUCKING BASTARD!?" Her elbow found his face and knocked him to the ground. An enraged Kikyo climbed over him and began shaking the boy by the collar of his shirt. "You think you have any right to judge me?! What makes you so much fucking better, huh?!" Her muscles were enflamed and begged her to stop through tiny spasms brought about by the harsh movement, but her temper would allow her to. "Your family's dead, your country is gone, people look at you like you're some kind of monster or freak, and you say your life expectancy is about three more months! I would much rather do it by my own hand than watch my health spiral into nothingness! So why didn't you?!" She had finally had her fill of abuse for the time being and released him, letting his head hit the dirt beneath him. Spasms shot through her legs as she hobbled back to her seat and pulled her knees to her chest, blinking back annoyed tears.

"I want to live.," he said after a second of silence. His yellow eyes glared back at her. "You think I would give up on living after seeing what I've seen? I escaped my doomed country by hiding under a pile of dead bodies. There's no way in hell I was just going to let those assholes win. Yeah, I'm going to most likely die soon, but I don't want to." His glare shifted down to the ground. "Corazon told me that there might be something out here that can save me."

"Well aren't you fan-fucking-tastic?" she barked back. "What a great will to live, too bad it's not gonna do jack shit." She clapped sarcastically. "If the poison doesn't get you, something else will. Even if we try, weaklings like us don't get to choose how we go." Her fingers traced the scar on her wrist.

"Don't you sound bitter."

"I am."

"I hate bitter things."

"Oh boo the fuck hoo. Get the fuck over it."

"Law! Kikyo!" The clown waved and ran towards them as if he couldn't be seen. "The food is re—" In the blink of an eye, the large man fell flat on his face.

"He fell."

"Did he trip over something?"

"Yes, the air."

"Aaaand now he's on fire." Both children wore sweatdrops as he suddenly burst into flames.

"How did he do that?"

"Who the hell knows. I personally think he spontaneously combusts."

And just like that, the tension that they two had built up was destroyed by this ridiculous fool.

"Who's gonna put him out."

"I don't know."

"Maybe we should throw him in the ocean."

"Can't, he can't swim."

"Damn." Kikyo cupped her hands around her mouth. "Tomoe! Come put out a fire!"

"A fi—oh son of a bitch!" The ever helpful kunoichi stomped over and kicked dirt on the idiot to smother the flames, all the while muttering something about not being meant to put out fires.

"Thank you," he replied, halfway out of breath.

Those were the oddest first few weeks Kikyo had ever experienced. These people, these Outsiders, they were all so fucking weird. The clown man, Corazon, he was some kind of walking accident just waiting to happen. He would simply be walking or talking and he would stumble over air or catch fire spontaneously, or both, like he was cursed to be this horrendous klutz for the frustration (Tomoe) and amusement (Kikyo) of those around him. Law on the other hand was dark, gloomy, and dry in comparison to his traveling companion, personally he got on her fucking nerves. The boy had told her that he had spent three years as a pirate, stealing treasure, taking down other pirates, and learning to fight with guns and swords, but he still always came up short in their little matches.

Kikyo tossed the bokken in her right hand over to Law. "Try not to die too quickly this time. I need a training partner, not a punching bag."

"Stupid, I don't die."

"If they were real swords you would." Damn you Tomoe and your 'let's not kill the terminally ill kid'.

"Fine then." He pointed the wooden blade. "I'll treat it like one and cut you in half." A mean smirk spread across his face.

"Oh yeah, because this will end so differently than it normally does."

"I know it will because I'm older, smarter, and I had Tomoe show me few new things."

"How stupid are you?" Kikyo threw her head back and laughed. "You're one cocky bastard, aren't you? Tomoe's been training me since I was six, you really think one little lesson on how to properly hold a sword compares to three years of hard training?!" Granted the majority of those three years were basically Kikyo showing up at Tomoe's house and getting her ass kicked, but Law didn't know that.

Kikyo swung her bokken at the boy, hoping maybe to get a splinter stuck in his head. Unfortunately, though, Law ducked and weaved just out of the reach of her next blow. "You know what the difference in that is?" He jabbed his sword out and Kikyo bent backwards to avoid its edge. She felt the irritated nerves in her back pop and sharp pain begin to spread from the hyperextended muscles to the rest of her back. "I can actually listen to her." He gripped it with both hands and swung down. Kikyo rolled and bit down on her tongue when the rough surface skidded against the angry scar.

God fucking fuck ass shit damn! He never fucking hurt her before! Never fucking ever! "Doesn't matter," she growled through clenched teeth as a spasm jerked her back. Fucking midget, she'd end this fast. "I'm still going to kick your scrawny ass." She swung, smacking the wooden sword into his arm.

"You damn bitch!" He brought his weapon around only this time Kikyo pared it, much to her muscles' dismay.

No, she wouldn't call the match. Her fucking body would just have to suck it up!

The wooden edges slid and separated. Kikyo went low and Law leapt out of the way before rolling and lashing out at her ankles. She thrust her bokken down to block his assault on her legs.

Crack, crack, crack! The sound of the smacking weapons became harsher and louder as each one became more and more frustrated.

Kikyo lunged and swung the sword with as much strength as she could muster. The wooden sword made another crack sound, but it wasn't the other bokken it had smacked, it was Law's head. She landed just past the boy, her fake sword nearly broken in two.

"Why you..?!"

"There, that should end—

Something hard and sharp crashed into the center of her back. It wasn't wood, or at least it didn't feel like it. It felt like she was beaten with a white hot metal rod with nails coming out the end. The blow never left the surface of her skin, but she felt as though it cut straight through her like butter.

The pain spread like the lightning that the pain mimicked. Sharp, hot, and electric. Her entire body was an exposed nerve and even the wind felt like cauterized needles digging under her skin.

Kikyo didn't remember screaming, she didn't remember seeing Tomoe or Law, she didn't even remember seizing before hitting the ground. It was like in that instant the entire world blacked out and all that was left was her agony.

A/N: Happy birthday to Kikyo