A/N 1: A HUGE thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed. This
fic was originally meant to be a one chapter one-shot, but with everyone
being so encouraging, it got my brain thinking again and I wondered, "Hmm,
maybe I should do a 'morning after' type chapter." I dunno if I succeeded
or not, but I hope ya'll enjoy.
Chapter Two
Yuya looked up from her three barreled pistol at the sound of a distant door sliding open and closed. Her brow furrowed with worry when she wondered what Kyo was doing up and about. It had only been several hours since he had returned carrying an unconscious Muramasa, only to then be attacked by Hotaru. Kyo had defeated the fire user easily, but then that tall, lanky guy with the strange glasses had showed up and taken Hotaru away, but not before blasting everyone with some strange power that had caused everyone but Kyo to be forced to the ground. (a)
Yuya sighed as she continued to meticulously clean her pistol, the repetitive task serving as a balm to nerves that were still jumpy from Kyo's sudden reappearance in her life. Sudden reappearance, hah, she snorted to herself. That sounds like I wasn't expecting him to come back at all, which couldn't be any further from the truth. She had known that Muramasa's training was dangerous, the man himself had said that Kyo might not even survive, but nothing could shake her faith that Onime no Kyo would over come all obstacles to obtain what he wanted.
And what exactly did he want? Yuya found herself thinking. Sure, Kyo often said that he wanted to kill Kyoshiro and claim the title of Strongest, but she couldn't help but feel that there was more to it than that. Of course, having Muramasa give her a rather knowing grin before he and Kyo set off for their training session only reinforced that feeling. She had been unable to ask him about it, though, because the kind hearted blond man had been in a much weaker condition than Kyo when they returned, and had taken to his futon instantly. Yuya paused in her meticulous motions, her brow furrowing in thought. Muramasa had assured her that he was just tired from the training, but she sensed a deeper undercurrent to his words, and she couldn't help but worry.
Her mind was quickly brought back to her current task by an odd swishing sound. When she looked down at the small pile of bullets that were waiting to be assembled, she found that Muramasa's cat was, once again, playing with several of the small round iron balls she had gathered close to her. Her left eyebrow began to twitch as several veins popped out on her forehead.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Her roar of rage had been accompanied by the cat's horrified screech as she had reached out and tried to grasp the cat around its neck. She received several scratches for her efforts, and before she could get to her feet the cat had shot through the door and she could hear its claws as it ran down the hallway.
"Oh no you don't!" she muttered as she gained her feet and ran out of her room. She took a quick second to locate the cat further down the hall. The evil beast had slowed down to a walk, obviously not expecting the blond bounty huntress to come after it. Therefore, its screech of surprise was well founded when it casually glanced over its shoulder to see said bounty huntress bearing down on it at full speed with an expression on her face that said she fully intended to kill her prey. Not wasting any time, the cat dug its claws into the smooth wood of the hallway, and shot off again, quickly rounding the corner and vanishing from sight.
"COME BACK HERE!" Yuya yelled, grabbing the edge of the corner to keep from running into the wall as she propelled herself around and down the hallway after the fleeing cat.
"Yuya-chan?" Bontenmaru asked as he came out of a room, obviously attracted by her screams of rage. He glanced in the direction her footfalls were coming from, and promptly received a face full of fur as Muramasa's cat leapt onto him, and then used him as a spring board to launch itself further down the hallway away from the enraged girl. He then found himself on the receiving end of an elbow to the stomach as Yuya shoved him out of her way. It wasn't enough to really hurt him, but it was enough to cause him to let his breath out with a slight whoosh. Blinking, he turned a shot a bemused look at the back of the angry bounty huntress. "Huh."
Yuya made a quick mental note to apologize to Bon the moment she caught her prey, but until then, she wasn't about to let her target out of her sight. The last time Muramasa's cat had played with the bullets to her gun, she had lost three of them to parts unknown in the home. The cat was going to pay for that dearly.
She was so focused on her furry quarry that she didn't notice the tall, rather imposing figure that deliberately stepped into her path. She collided with the unexpected obstacle at full speed, and promptly lost her balance when it barely moved as she bounced off it. Staggering, Yuya got tangled in her own feet, and would have fallen over backwards if strong hands hadn't reached out and grasped her shoulders to steady her. She blinked, confused and not sure of what exactly happened until she felt a single, strong hand invade the depths of her kimono and rub against her right breast.
"WHAT THE HELL?! KYO!" she yelled, jerking away from the crimson eyed man who eyed her with his usual smug amusement. She flushed, but she couldn't be sure if it was from anger, embarrassment, or the sudden strange awareness that had invaded her body the moment his fingers had touched her bare skin.
That single brief contact had brought all the strange dreams she had been having lately back to the forefront of her mind. Most of them had been vague, but they all had centered around Kyo, and they all had caused her to wake up with a strange ache in her lower belly that she didn't completely understand. The strangest thing of all, to her, was that while most of the dreams had been vague and shadowy, the first dream had been extremely vivid and detailed. There were times when she wasn't completely convinced that it actually had been a dream, but the thought of Onime no Kyo kissing her in such a way made no sense when she examined the dream logically. She wasn't even sure why she had started to dream of him in the first place, though she wasn't about to wish for the nightmares of Shinrei's attack to start up again on a regular basis. She was still plagued by the occasional nightmare, such as the one that had driven her out of the house once again, but unlike her Kyo centered dream it had been Bontenmaru who had approached her as she had stood by the old well.
She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and once again Kyo's hand plunged into her upper kimono as his other hand reached beneath the hem of the lower portion. Yuya let loose with a stream of swear words as she twisted away from him yet again and whirled to face him, several veins pulsing on her forehead as he stood there and gave her a very wicked grin. A quick search served to remind her that she had left her pistol in the room she had been using during her stay with Muramasa. So she settled for giving Kyo a look she hoped would wither him on the spot (but failed due to her blushing all the way to her hairline) as she stalked around him, returning to her search for Muramasa's cat.
Kyo smiled to himself when he heard her mutter, "Damn cat doesn't know how much a bullet costs" as she stalked around him and down the hallway. He wouldn't say it out loud, but it was good to see her in better spirits than she had been when he and Muramasa had left for the training session. And judging from the way she had turned red after his little, erhm, greeting, she had been dreaming about him like he had planned. All he needed to do now was remove all the obstacles were in the way of him reclaiming his original body, and then he could take what he wanted most.
Should he fail . . . Kyo growled and stalked off at that thought. He refused to allow his mind to go down that trail, because the mere thought that Yuya's life would be forfeit if he was unable to defeat Shinrei sent an unfamiliar sensation of icy dread down his spine, which was quickly followed by a surge of rage so strong the very air around him seemed to turn as red as his eyes. With an effort, he brought himself back under control when he found himself outside of Muramasa's room. He knew the older man would easily sense the true source of his suddenly agitated thoughts, and that knowledge made him scowl. The last thing he needed was to be smirked at in that knowing way Muramasa tended to use whenever he sensed that Kyo's thoughts had wandered in the direction of a certain blond bounty huntress.
Composing his features into his usual stoic mask, Kyo slid open the door to Muramasa's room and stepped inside, leaving all thoughts for a single girl behind for the time being. Muramasa was his teacher, and as such all of Kyo's attention needed to be focused on him. Even though he had already completed the training, there were still a few tips and questions that the older man could give, and Kyo fully intended to make use of the time he had before they set out towards the Mibu Castle. As he stepped inside the older man's room, Muramasa gave him that knowing smile, and Kyo found himself grinding his teeth. The old man really needs another hobby aside from trying to meddle in my life, Kyo thought as he settled himself on the floor next to his teacher's futon. He could already tell from the way Muramasa was grinning at him that it was going to be another long and frustrating conversation.
Voices filtered in through the walls, giving knowledge that Yuya was no longer chasing the cat and had caught up with Bontenmaru to apologize for nearly running the larger man older. Her soft words acted like an instant balm on Kyo's irritated nerves, and he found himself relaxing slightly for the first time since Shinrei had made his unwelcome appearance. He decided to ignore Muramasa's smirk and let the older man guide the conversation in whatever direction he wished. There wasn't all that much time left before he and the others set out again, and he wanted to make damn sure he was fully prepared for the battles ahead, once again refusing to think about the consequences should he fail.
A/N 2: A) This is a reference to an incident that happens in volume 14 of the manga. To put it briefly, the Mibu has a guy who can control gravity. He kind of freaks me out.
I know this chapter probably ended rather suddenly, but this chapter was meant to take place during volume 14, with the original story picking up again after this chapter ended. I'm not sure if this chapter fits into the manga continuity seamlessly, since I can't read any Japanese and I have NO idea what's going on aside from looking at the pictures, so I apologize if it's a tad rough. Thanks for reading, everyone! Huzzah for SDK! And HUZZAH FOR KYOXYUYA!
Chapter Two
Yuya looked up from her three barreled pistol at the sound of a distant door sliding open and closed. Her brow furrowed with worry when she wondered what Kyo was doing up and about. It had only been several hours since he had returned carrying an unconscious Muramasa, only to then be attacked by Hotaru. Kyo had defeated the fire user easily, but then that tall, lanky guy with the strange glasses had showed up and taken Hotaru away, but not before blasting everyone with some strange power that had caused everyone but Kyo to be forced to the ground. (a)
Yuya sighed as she continued to meticulously clean her pistol, the repetitive task serving as a balm to nerves that were still jumpy from Kyo's sudden reappearance in her life. Sudden reappearance, hah, she snorted to herself. That sounds like I wasn't expecting him to come back at all, which couldn't be any further from the truth. She had known that Muramasa's training was dangerous, the man himself had said that Kyo might not even survive, but nothing could shake her faith that Onime no Kyo would over come all obstacles to obtain what he wanted.
And what exactly did he want? Yuya found herself thinking. Sure, Kyo often said that he wanted to kill Kyoshiro and claim the title of Strongest, but she couldn't help but feel that there was more to it than that. Of course, having Muramasa give her a rather knowing grin before he and Kyo set off for their training session only reinforced that feeling. She had been unable to ask him about it, though, because the kind hearted blond man had been in a much weaker condition than Kyo when they returned, and had taken to his futon instantly. Yuya paused in her meticulous motions, her brow furrowing in thought. Muramasa had assured her that he was just tired from the training, but she sensed a deeper undercurrent to his words, and she couldn't help but worry.
Her mind was quickly brought back to her current task by an odd swishing sound. When she looked down at the small pile of bullets that were waiting to be assembled, she found that Muramasa's cat was, once again, playing with several of the small round iron balls she had gathered close to her. Her left eyebrow began to twitch as several veins popped out on her forehead.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Her roar of rage had been accompanied by the cat's horrified screech as she had reached out and tried to grasp the cat around its neck. She received several scratches for her efforts, and before she could get to her feet the cat had shot through the door and she could hear its claws as it ran down the hallway.
"Oh no you don't!" she muttered as she gained her feet and ran out of her room. She took a quick second to locate the cat further down the hall. The evil beast had slowed down to a walk, obviously not expecting the blond bounty huntress to come after it. Therefore, its screech of surprise was well founded when it casually glanced over its shoulder to see said bounty huntress bearing down on it at full speed with an expression on her face that said she fully intended to kill her prey. Not wasting any time, the cat dug its claws into the smooth wood of the hallway, and shot off again, quickly rounding the corner and vanishing from sight.
"COME BACK HERE!" Yuya yelled, grabbing the edge of the corner to keep from running into the wall as she propelled herself around and down the hallway after the fleeing cat.
"Yuya-chan?" Bontenmaru asked as he came out of a room, obviously attracted by her screams of rage. He glanced in the direction her footfalls were coming from, and promptly received a face full of fur as Muramasa's cat leapt onto him, and then used him as a spring board to launch itself further down the hallway away from the enraged girl. He then found himself on the receiving end of an elbow to the stomach as Yuya shoved him out of her way. It wasn't enough to really hurt him, but it was enough to cause him to let his breath out with a slight whoosh. Blinking, he turned a shot a bemused look at the back of the angry bounty huntress. "Huh."
Yuya made a quick mental note to apologize to Bon the moment she caught her prey, but until then, she wasn't about to let her target out of her sight. The last time Muramasa's cat had played with the bullets to her gun, she had lost three of them to parts unknown in the home. The cat was going to pay for that dearly.
She was so focused on her furry quarry that she didn't notice the tall, rather imposing figure that deliberately stepped into her path. She collided with the unexpected obstacle at full speed, and promptly lost her balance when it barely moved as she bounced off it. Staggering, Yuya got tangled in her own feet, and would have fallen over backwards if strong hands hadn't reached out and grasped her shoulders to steady her. She blinked, confused and not sure of what exactly happened until she felt a single, strong hand invade the depths of her kimono and rub against her right breast.
"WHAT THE HELL?! KYO!" she yelled, jerking away from the crimson eyed man who eyed her with his usual smug amusement. She flushed, but she couldn't be sure if it was from anger, embarrassment, or the sudden strange awareness that had invaded her body the moment his fingers had touched her bare skin.
That single brief contact had brought all the strange dreams she had been having lately back to the forefront of her mind. Most of them had been vague, but they all had centered around Kyo, and they all had caused her to wake up with a strange ache in her lower belly that she didn't completely understand. The strangest thing of all, to her, was that while most of the dreams had been vague and shadowy, the first dream had been extremely vivid and detailed. There were times when she wasn't completely convinced that it actually had been a dream, but the thought of Onime no Kyo kissing her in such a way made no sense when she examined the dream logically. She wasn't even sure why she had started to dream of him in the first place, though she wasn't about to wish for the nightmares of Shinrei's attack to start up again on a regular basis. She was still plagued by the occasional nightmare, such as the one that had driven her out of the house once again, but unlike her Kyo centered dream it had been Bontenmaru who had approached her as she had stood by the old well.
She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and once again Kyo's hand plunged into her upper kimono as his other hand reached beneath the hem of the lower portion. Yuya let loose with a stream of swear words as she twisted away from him yet again and whirled to face him, several veins pulsing on her forehead as he stood there and gave her a very wicked grin. A quick search served to remind her that she had left her pistol in the room she had been using during her stay with Muramasa. So she settled for giving Kyo a look she hoped would wither him on the spot (but failed due to her blushing all the way to her hairline) as she stalked around him, returning to her search for Muramasa's cat.
Kyo smiled to himself when he heard her mutter, "Damn cat doesn't know how much a bullet costs" as she stalked around him and down the hallway. He wouldn't say it out loud, but it was good to see her in better spirits than she had been when he and Muramasa had left for the training session. And judging from the way she had turned red after his little, erhm, greeting, she had been dreaming about him like he had planned. All he needed to do now was remove all the obstacles were in the way of him reclaiming his original body, and then he could take what he wanted most.
Should he fail . . . Kyo growled and stalked off at that thought. He refused to allow his mind to go down that trail, because the mere thought that Yuya's life would be forfeit if he was unable to defeat Shinrei sent an unfamiliar sensation of icy dread down his spine, which was quickly followed by a surge of rage so strong the very air around him seemed to turn as red as his eyes. With an effort, he brought himself back under control when he found himself outside of Muramasa's room. He knew the older man would easily sense the true source of his suddenly agitated thoughts, and that knowledge made him scowl. The last thing he needed was to be smirked at in that knowing way Muramasa tended to use whenever he sensed that Kyo's thoughts had wandered in the direction of a certain blond bounty huntress.
Composing his features into his usual stoic mask, Kyo slid open the door to Muramasa's room and stepped inside, leaving all thoughts for a single girl behind for the time being. Muramasa was his teacher, and as such all of Kyo's attention needed to be focused on him. Even though he had already completed the training, there were still a few tips and questions that the older man could give, and Kyo fully intended to make use of the time he had before they set out towards the Mibu Castle. As he stepped inside the older man's room, Muramasa gave him that knowing smile, and Kyo found himself grinding his teeth. The old man really needs another hobby aside from trying to meddle in my life, Kyo thought as he settled himself on the floor next to his teacher's futon. He could already tell from the way Muramasa was grinning at him that it was going to be another long and frustrating conversation.
Voices filtered in through the walls, giving knowledge that Yuya was no longer chasing the cat and had caught up with Bontenmaru to apologize for nearly running the larger man older. Her soft words acted like an instant balm on Kyo's irritated nerves, and he found himself relaxing slightly for the first time since Shinrei had made his unwelcome appearance. He decided to ignore Muramasa's smirk and let the older man guide the conversation in whatever direction he wished. There wasn't all that much time left before he and the others set out again, and he wanted to make damn sure he was fully prepared for the battles ahead, once again refusing to think about the consequences should he fail.
A/N 2: A) This is a reference to an incident that happens in volume 14 of the manga. To put it briefly, the Mibu has a guy who can control gravity. He kind of freaks me out.
I know this chapter probably ended rather suddenly, but this chapter was meant to take place during volume 14, with the original story picking up again after this chapter ended. I'm not sure if this chapter fits into the manga continuity seamlessly, since I can't read any Japanese and I have NO idea what's going on aside from looking at the pictures, so I apologize if it's a tad rough. Thanks for reading, everyone! Huzzah for SDK! And HUZZAH FOR KYOXYUYA!