-Dystopia-

"If there is nothing else...?" The words were carefully clipped. The sun beat down on the broad shoulders of the other yet nothing could thaw the coldness he felt inside.

"Your orders?" he prompted, sure he had missed something. Any movement by their enemies especially that of the Oda of Etchu would've warranted immediate action in days past. A lifetime ago, Naoe thought bitterly, gazing upon the indolent man sprawled on the loosely woven blanket on the grass. Consternation creased the smooth brow,.

For a moment, illusion reigned.

Master and vassal, alone as it had been.

Then with the abruptness of a dream world shattered, a slim woman's hands slid into sight, gently massaging Kagetora's wearied shoulders.

"Kitazato-san." Politely as always. He prayed nothing had slipped past his impenetrable mask.

The woman smiled vaguely, never noticing the lack of friendliness always prevalent in Kasahara-san's addresses to her. It burned somewhere deep inside like a wound that could never heal as Kagetora covered one of her smaller hands with his own.

"My orders..."

Like an obedient dog, he waited for that was all he was ever capable of doing.

Waiting.

Waiting for the hour, day, moment when Kagetora would finally see him.

"There are none at present."

He inclined his head in a slight bow. This is a mistake- his instincts warned. While his mind fixated on only one image.

"Leave us."

The customary- as you wish. Would not fall from his lips. His fists clenched at his sides, tightly, the blood draining from the whitened knuckles.

"Oh! Kasahara-san!" The rustle of a long skirt, Minako's soft voice raised in calling him back. "Wouldn't you like to enjoy this beautiful summer's day with us?"

Us.

Kagetora's cold tone bereft of anything familiar or once known, sliced through the woman's kind offer. "Let him go, Minako. There is nothing left in the man to understand such simple pleasures."

He walked on, leaving his master to the false utopia he had found in Kitazato Minako.

-Fin-

Disclaimer: do not own MOB. Rather I only play in Kuwabara-sensei's sandbox on occasion.

AN: This was meant to be a two-shot originally. Naoe and Kagetora's p. on the same memory, hence the two titles I had chosen before; Dystopia and Utopia. This is Naoe's version. :) Thanks for reading. No flames.

Reviews always loved ^-^