Different

Ikoma was different. (Set between end of tv series and Battle of Unato) Mumei x Ikoma. -Oneshot-

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction using the world and characters from Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress produced by Wit Studio. No infringement is intended in any way and this story is not for profit.

Japanese language notes:

Koutetsujyo- iron fortress

Mou- expression of annoyance roughly translated as jeez/geez

Hayajiro- trains built to protect people and goods, as well as providing mobility

Dodge. Block. Backflip. Mumei moved through the motions effortlessly as she sparred with Ikoma under a tall ginkgo tree. Its green, fan-like leaves fluttered in the wind. The sunlight flickered through, casting quivering shadows over the pair of Kabaneri.

A single leaf, carried on the gentle breeze, blew in front of her opponent's face. Ikoma's gaze turned to follow it for half a second and he became distracted, not noticing Mumei's strong left hook as it approached his face. The young woman, realizing her friend had lost his focus, tried to pull back but it was too late. Her momentum carried her forward and landed her a solid hit right to the underside of his jaw.

"Owww," Ikoma groaned and rubbed his face.

"Ikoma, I'm sorry!" Mumei cried. "Are you alright?" She hurried over to check on her friend. Taking his face gently in her hands, she examined her handiwork, frowning.

"It's alright Mumei, I was distracted." He sighed, feeling annoyed with himself. "And here I thought I was starting to improve."

"You're getting better," Mumei assured him. "I wouldn't have been going so hard if I thought you couldn't block it."

He smiled at her and Mumei suddenly felt a wave of heat rush through her. Realizing that she was still holding his face in her hands, she dropped them as if scalded and turned away. Rubbing one arm, she kicked at a clump of grass in front of her. "It was the leaf, wasn't it?"

"You noticed it too?"

She could tell by his voice that he was still smiling.

Turning his gaze upward to admire the towering ginkgo, Ikoma continued, "It was my sister's favorite tree. She used to tuck a leaf behind her ear for good luck. Like this." He reached up to pluck a leaf from a low hanging branch and tucked it behind Mumei's left ear.

Only years of hard training with her brother kept her from emitting a loud squeal. It feels so hot where he touched me. Maybe I'm coming down with something, she wondered. Not that Kabaneri usually get sick but… She tested her forehead with the back of her right hand. Feels normal though.

"Mumei, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" Ikoma leaned in close, eyes searching her face.

"Ahh, I'm fine, fine." She sputtered, waving her hands in front of her. Her friend stepped back, and raised an eyebrow. Trying to distract him from her odd behavior, Mumei steered the conversation towards a topic that was sure to take his intense focus off of her.

"So, your sister liked this kind of tree?" She stepped forward to run her hand along the bark. "A gin-?"

"A ginkgo." He stepped beside her and placed his hand on the trunk as well and patted the tree fondly. Mumei swallowed as his skin brushed lightly against hers. What is wrong with me?

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Ikoma nudged her with his shoulder. Mumei's gaze darted up to see that he was no longer staring at the tree but at her.

"Yes!" She nodded vigorously, turning her gaze upward. "I've never seen leaves like this before."

"In autumn, they'll all turn a beautiful golden yellow."

"Ahh!" Mumei's eyes widened as she tried to imagine it. "I'd like to see that."

The young man beside her chuckled.

Mumei put a hand on her hip, facing him. "What?" she demanded.

"It's nothing." At her steely-eyed stare, he cleared his throat. "It's just, you're so strong, you've seen so much. Sometimes I forget how young you are."

Puffing out her cheeks, Mumei huffed loudly and tossed her head. Sensing her annoyance, Ikoma cringed and tried to backpedal. "Wait, that came out wrong! I meant, it's good to see you unguarded, that's all. Like a kid again-"

With a loud "tsk", Mumei turned on her heel and stomped back towards the Koutetsujyo, eyes blazing.

"Mumei, wait!" Ikoma called after her. But the petite young woman continued to storm away. Groaning with frustration, he fisted the hand that had been resting on the trunk of the tree. "You're just proving my point, you know!" He shouted after her, knowing her Kabaneri-enhanced hearing would pick up the words. As her figure retreated into the distance, Ikoma let out a sigh and ran a hand through his green hair. Now who's being childish? He thought to himself wryly.

"And then, after I clobbered him in sparing- again- then he had the nerve to tell me I'm just a child!" Mumei was sitting beside Kajika on an upper bunk in the Koutetsujyo, dangling her legs off the edge of the bed.

"Ikoma did?" The female steam smith turned to her friend, frowning. "That doesn't sound like him." Her knitting needles clacked as she worked another row of loops through the children's blanket she was making.

"Mou, he's so irritating sometimes!" Mumei threw herself backwards on the bed with a plop and scrunched up her face in pout. With a dramatic sigh, she threw an arm up over her face, closing her eyes.

Kajika surveyed her friend with a devious smile before turning an appraising eye on her last row of loops. "Maybe. But I think he's kind of cute."

"Ikoma? Cute?!" Mumei's eyes snapped back open. She raised herself up onto her elbows to stare at her friend. "There's something wrong with him. He makes me feel sick."

"Mumei!" Kajika said sternly. "That isn't nice."

"No, really." Mumei sat back up again and hugged her knees to her chest. "Whenever he touches me, it feels like I'm going to burst into flames. One moment I'm perfectly fine and then the next minute, just standing next to him, my throat feels dry and my head feels heavy, like I have a fever." The Kabaneri pressed a hand over her heart. "It's such a strange feeling," she murmured.

So that's it, Kajika realized, relieved. She laid her knitting to the side and hugged her friend close. Mumei's in love, she just doesn't know it yet. Having sneaking suspicious about Ikoma's feelings as well, Kajika decided to try her best to smooth things over.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it that way," Kajika rubbed Mumei's back consolingly. "Sometimes, when he gets excited, he lets his mouth run away with him."

"That's for sure," the Kabaneri muttered.

"But," Kajika squeezed her friend tightly for a moment, "he's a precious friend who would do anything to protect you." You owe me one Ikoma, the brunette thought to herself.

Mumei leaned her head against her friend's shoulder with a sigh. "Is there something wrong with me, Kajika? I don't feel sick when you touch me, or when Ayame-sama brushes my hair or when Kibito pats me on the head or even when Sukari pinched my cheek-though I did give him a black eye for it."

Kajika turned her head to the side and let out a big belly laugh. "HA HA! I remember that! You nearly knocked him to the floor."

Mumei's cheeks turned a slight pink. "Well, he was teasing me."

"And he never did again," the brunette replied solemnly, though her shoulders were shaking with mirth. Seeing that her friend was still troubled, Kajika said soothingly, "There's nothing wrong with you Mumei. You and Ikoma have a special bond. It's only natural that things would feel a little different with him than with anyone else. That just goes to show how close you two are." There, she thought to herself, let her think about that for a little while. There's no need to rush things.

"Hmm," Mumei mused to herself, snuggling closer to Kajika. Feeling something catch in her hair, she sat up and realized that the ginkgo leaf Ikoma had given her was still tucked behind her ear. Carefully, she extracted it and twirled it gently between her finger tips. "Ikoma…"

Like a flash, Mumei remembered when Ikoma had pulled her aside in the koutesujyo's pressure room. Pipes hissed with steam and needles clicked in their glass cases, measuring all manner of information about the hayajiro.

"Mumei you hold onto this," Ikoma said softly, holding out his precious green stone to her. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

That's when it started! Mumei realized, blinking. That's when my heart started to beat faster whenever I'm near him. When I touched his hand to take the stone, it felt like flames were running through me. I thought it was just my Kabaneri blood but Ikoma is…

"Different." The Kabaneri whispered out loud. "For me, Ikoma is different." He gave me the thing that was most precious to him. Mumei's eyes widened at the thought. And to me-

"I'm going to turn you back into a human." The memory of his voice sent a shiver up her spine. To me, Ikoma's promise is my most precious thing.

More of the memory flooded into her mind unbidden.

"Maybe my sister, Hatsune, and Takumi live inside this stone," Ikoma had said it lightly, but Mumei could tell how important it was to him. "Maybe they'll protect us from in there. So Mumei, you hold onto this."

She stopped turning the leaf and stared at it sadly. "Ikoma must be feeling lonely. First his sister and now Takumi, gone."

Kajika nudged her friend with her shoulder. "Then maybe there's something you can do to cheer him up?"

"Hmm." Mumei tapped the ginkgo leaf gently to her lips. Then like a flash, she had an idea. "Thank you Kajika! You're a genius!" She hugged her friend in a bone-crunching grip. At Kajika's groan, Mumei released the steam smith and patted her arm sheepishly. "Sorry! Sometimes I forget how fragile you guys are."

Leaping up from the bed and landing with cat-like grace, the Kabaneri turned to grin at her friend. "I've got an idea," she gushed, before racing out of the room.

Kajika rubbed her arm gingerly. Those two will be the death of me.

"Have any of you seen Mumei?" Ikoma poked his head in the train's main control room. "I've barely caught a glimpse of her these last couple of days."

The Koutetsujyo had rumbled to a stop about 30 minutes before and scouts were reporting no signs of kabane activity in the area.

Ayame shook her head at the young man sympathetically. "I'm sorry Ikoma, I haven't seen her lately." At the young man's downcast expression, she added. "But when I do, I'll be sure to tell her you're looking for her."

"Thank you, Ayame-sama," he said half-heartedly.

"Have you tried by the river, Ikoma?" Sukari turned from adjusting the dials in front of him to meet the young man's puzzled stare. "Lately, every time we stop even remotely near any type of water, she's off like a flash as soon as she knows we're all safe."

"Mumei does?" Ikoma raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You didn't know?" Now Yukina had turned back to stare at him as well. "I assumed it was some sort of game the two of you were playing."

Ikoma shook his head, frowning. "We had, well not really an argument, but I think she's upset with me." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I just wanted to make sure she's ok."

"She seemed fine the last time I saw her," Sukari replied. "Humming and splashing around in the water like a little red duck." Ayame glared at the blonde steam smith as Ikoma's face fell.

"Oh," The kabaneri said quietly. Maybe she doesn't miss me as much as I miss her, he thought.

"Now that I think of it," Ayame clapped her hands and gave the green-haired man a dazzling smile. "Mumei forgot to bring her lunch. Perhaps you could bring it to her, Ikoma."

"Ah, sure Ayame-sama. I'll do that." The kabaneri turned to go, still wearing a melancholy expression.

After he was out of ear-shot, the Yomogawa heir sighed. "Poor Ikoma. Did you have to be so blunt, Sukari?"

"What?" Sukari shrugged his shoulders, confused.

The gurgling water, which would have felt frigid to any normal human only felt pleasingly cool as it swirled around Mumei's feet. Humming to herself, she picked up another pebble from the stream bed and held it up to the light.

"This one's close, but not good enough," she muttered to herself, tossing the stone back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flash in the water a little to her right. "Ah ha! Let me check that one." Slowly, she waded over towards the glittering stone, careful not to kick up the mud which would obscure her view. The small, egg-shaped rock felt smooth and cool in her palm. When she held it up to a shaft of sunlight, it shimmered a pretty golden yellow color. "Just like a ginkgo!" Mumei exclaimed in delight. This is perfect! She sighed with contentment and stretched her arms over her head with a grin. Ikoma will love my present.

Just then, he stepped out of the brush as though summoned by her thoughts. "I-Ikoma!" She stammered, flustered, and quickly hid her hands behind her back. "What are you doing here?"

"Mumei, I just… I wanted to…." He held up the two bamboo containers with their lunch. "Ayame-sama said you forgot this," he said looking down.

Mumei quirked an eyebrow at him. "You didn't have to come all this way just for that."

The young man sighed, still not meeting her gaze. "I know, I just-" Steeling his resolve, he looked up at her. "I missed you."

Heat flooded through her veins and Mumei could swear her heart missed a beat at the tender expression on her friend's face. "Oh," she said softly and then before she could take it back, "I missed you too." It came out in a rush. So embarrassing, her inner thoughts cried, but seeing the smile break out over his face a moment later chased all thoughts of embarrassment away. She beamed back at him and Ikoma's breath hitched.

"So, what are you doing out here?" He asked her curiously.

Crap! Mumei thought furiously. I've got to distract him, but how? Then it came to her.

"Me? Oh, I was just," she bent down to trail her finger tips in the water. Ikoma swallowed as his gaze tracked a single droplet of water making a tantalizing trail down her slim thigh to the back of her calf.

Mumei cupped her left hand and aimed a targeted splash directly at Ikoma's face. As he spluttered in indignation, she slipped her right hand with the stone into the drawstring pouch at her waist and dropped it in, cinching it tightly closed. Too easy, she grinned.

"What was that for?" he yelped.

"Oh, I don't know," she smirked at him. "I'm just a child after all."

"You know that's not what I-" another wave of water cut Ikoma off mid-speech. He wasn't quite as off-guard the second time and was able to partially protect his face by crossing his arms. "I swear Mumei, if you don't-" Another wave of water roared towards him but this time he was able to dodge out of the way, mostly.

"That's it! I'm coming down there." He shucked off his shirt and placed the two thermoses of blood carefully behind a rock. Mumei yelped and tried to get away as Ikoma barreled into the water with a gigantic splash. What followed was an epic water fight of monumental proportions. Torrents of water were thrown amid laughter and teasing banter.

After giving a particularly vicious onslaught, Mumei noticed the water suddenly got eerily quiet. "Ikoma?" she whirled around questioningly. "Where'd you go?"

Something tickled her ankle and suddenly he burst up out of the water, sweeping her off her feet and into his arms. "I've caught you at last," he said satisfied, holding her tightly against him.

"Help! I've been caught by the river monster!" Mumei laughed playfully, reaching up to tweak his nose and brush a strand of hair from his eyes. "Your hair even looks like seaweed," she teased, letting her hands rest around his neck, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. But it's not an unpleasant feeling, she thought.

He smiled down at her, blushing slightly and Mumei thought her heart might just stop. "Ikoma, I-" It was just as well that a loud growl from her stomach cut her off. Mumei had no idea what she had been about to say.

"You're hungry." He looked at her with concern and started wading back toward the riverbank. "Let's eat. All that splashing made me hungry too."

"Ok," she agreed, snuggling into his chest. You're so warm."

"Are you cold?" He carried her up the hill and sat her gently on the rock next to where he had placed their lunch. At her nod, he draped his shirt over her. "Here."

"But what about you?" She made a move to pull it off and hand the shirt back to him, but he covered her hand firmly with his own.

"I'm alright, I promise."

After her eyes searched his for a moment, Mumei acquiesced. "Ok."

They drank their lunch quietly and stood to head back. But Ikoma stopped as Mumei put a hand on his arm. "Can I hold your hand," she asked, looking away.

Ikoma felt a flush creeping up the back of his neck. "Sure." He held out his hand to her and she laced her fingers through it as they walked back.

"Well, all's well that ends well," Ayame said, snapping her spyglass shut.

"Ayame-sama, you shouldn't spy on people like that," Kurusu said, exasperated.

"Nonsense Kurusu," her eyes sparkled with joy and the tall swordsman looked away blushing. "Sometimes people need a little push in the right direction."

Later that night, Kajika had the scare of her life as Mumei swung upside down from the top of the train car and called her name loudly. "Kajika!"

"Mumei! What in the name of the gods! You can't just hang upside down and scare people like that!" Kajika pressed her hands over her heart disapprovingly. "You nearly scared me half to death!"

"Sorry." Mumei flipped over and landed neatly on her feet in front of her friend. Then she reached out to clasp the steam smith's hands desperately. "It's just, I need your help!" Her voice was urgent.

"Of course, I'll try," Kajika replied.

Mumei grinned up at her and held out a glittering yellow stone. "I need you to help me make Ikoma a present!"

-End-