Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Deeper Kyo or any of its characters…

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Author’s notes:

Greetings everyone, this is a one-shot story which I hope you all enjoy! I thank all who read and review!

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Summary:

When Yuya asks Kyo to teach her his specialty will he, in turn, learn hers? YuyaxKyo . One-shot.

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Key:

“Talking”

“Thinking”

“SHOUTING”

‘Emphasis’

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“Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, ‘Did you bring joy?’ The second was, ‘Did you find joy?’”

-Leo Buscaglia -

“Teaching the Art”

By: FenixPhoenix (Giselle González)

One-shot

Onime no Kyo’s hand shot towards his face. He promptly began to massage his temples with his right middle finger and thumb as he felt the beginning of a headache making its way to descend upon his mind.

He was sitting below the shade of a Sakura tree in full blossom with his feet crossed below him, Indian style. The demon braced his ‘muramasa’ and closed his eyes as he tried to block away the sound of his servant’s tired but eager voice whenever she uttered her ‘hyas’.

Oh, how had he gotten himself into this situation? How had he let her ‘played’ him so…easily? Before the scarlet eyed warrior knew it his mind began to relieve the events that had taken place not too long ago…

-o0o-

“Kyo,” he heard her calling from somewhere behind him but decided to flatly ignore her as he kept on walking through the dusty path towards their next destination.

Yuya’s emerald eyes became slits behind him as she tried to keep up with the deft man. Why was he ignoring her? More importantly, why would he not teach her what she had asked him to?

“Kyo,” she voiced, this time her tone louder and stronger, “why don’t you-”

“Forget it!” he snapped back interrupting her in mid-sentence.

“Why not?!” she pressed her pace. In seconds she was obstructing his path, her hands upon her hips and her eyebrows knitted together in an exasperated frown. He knew she was not going to move until he gave her a satisfying excuse, hence he improvised.

“Because I have no time and you do not need those skills,” he replied coolly, moving towards her until mere inches separated their bodies. “End of discussion,” he finished using his piercing gaze to intimidate her.

Whether his glare worked or not, he was not sure. But at least she turned around and reassumed their travel without emitting another sound.

A day ago, Yuya had ‘almost’ been mugged by two masterless samurais, also known as ronins. Ronins were now common these days. With wars having been replaced by the civilians’ yearned peace and no other sign of a mad-man wanting to take over the world, many warriors, whose only objective in life was to live by the sword, had cast away all honor to become thieves or mercenaries. Thus, it was with great fear and uncertainty that people who knew nothing of fighting whatsoever often live through this restless times.

Anyhow, Yuya had been assaulted the moment she had walked out of the hot springs of the village they had been staying at. Luckily for her Onime no Kyo had gone searching for his servant when he realized she had taken too long to return to the Inn. Although, it is important to note, his real reason had been that he had no money to buy his precious sake. Thus, one could only imagine his surprise when he saw two bull-like men, not only trying to rob the money he needed for ‘his’ drink, but who had also the nerve to grope his servant.

Kyo had strolled menacingly towards them with eyes full of rage and, before either man had adverted his presence, they were cut down with a lethal slice as rapid as lightning itself.

The ‘real’ problem, however, had strived from the fact that he had not asked Yuya if she was alright. Truth was, she had him worried for a while but after his eyes scanned her body professionally in search for injuries, he had moved on to the next important thing in his life… the money for his sake.

From that moment on, nevertheless, the idea of learning some kind of self-defense techniques, which involved leaning how to use a weapon (she had lost her gun a week by and she had neither the time nor the money to replace it. Not to mention that, frankly, the piece of weaponry couldn’t helped her with samurais who could, for some unknown reason, dodge the bullets as if they were not fast at all), had gotten hold of his servant’s mind. And, of course, having no one else to turn to she had asked ‘him’ to teach her the art of the sword.

Yet, Kyo failed to see how a girl like her would be able to learn how to handle a katana. Plus, what was the point? He could certainly fight for both of them! He would always be there to protect ‘her’ and ‘her money’! So then why was she giving him such a hard time?!

“I could have died, you know?” she said after a while breaking, thankfully, his former train of thought.

“They only wanted money… and possibly to grope you a little,” he replied and, being who he was, he could not help adding, “Although, honestly, I have no idea why they would want to grab the non voluptuous body of an ugly girl like you.”

Yuya turned around with flushed cheeks and sent dagger at him when he finished his sentence. She was tempted to slap him across the face but knew better than to give him the satisfaction to realize that his words had stung like venom.

“You just don’t want me to be able to defend myself! That’s it, isn’t it?” she hissed.

“I don’t care if you learn how to use a sword,” he replied laconically, “Just don’t ask me to teach you because I won’t.”

“Why not?!”

“It will be a waste of ‘my’ time,” he said, smirking amusingly when she clutched her hands into fists in feral madness. He simply enjoyed making her angry. There was something about the rage in those green eyes that kind of ‘turn’ him on, in a way.

“Fine! I will find ‘someone’ else to teach me!” she announced as they reached the town they would be staying in for the next week or so. Her mind filled with unyielding determination to prove to the heartless demon she traveled with that she would become a force to be reckoned with.

-o0o-

That same night Kyo had feigned being sleep when Yuya had returned to the Inn. He had been wondering where she had been and had to fight the urge to look for her and dragged her back with him. He had been, nonetheless, in the brink of submitting to the desire of starting his quest to find her when quite suddenly the sound of her sandals upon the wooden floor outside the room reached him.

Onime no Kyo moved silently towards one of the darkest corners of the room and rested his back upon the wall; his sword near hand reach just in case the paces outside were those of an attacker. He opened his eyes a bit and waited in a seemingly relaxed fashion for the figure to walk through the threshold.

As he had originally guessed, it was the blonde bounty hunter who appeared behind the sliding door. Her face was decorated by a wide, toothy grin and her cheeks were flushed with a pinkish shade that could only be achieved by an exciting evening, a hot bath or a work out. Kyo found himself seriously hoping it was either of the last two and not the first one.

He had not seen her during the entire day until tonight, for right after they had entered town and booked a room, she had left him to linger in his alcohol as she, on the other hand, went for a stroll through town.

Sheer pride made him hold his tongue before he could demand her to tell him where she had been and, more importantly, with whom. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused on the sound of her body lying down on her futon. In a moment, he realized she was already asleep with exhaustion and before he knew it, the peaceful sound of her nose breathing in and out lulled him to sleep.

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Onime no Kyo woke up lazily the next morning. He scanned the space around him and, to his increasing annoyance, he found himself completely alone.

“Where the heck has that idiotic girl gone to so early?” he mumbled angrily and, being too proud to simply go looking for her, he stood up and went to the garden of the Inn. Once there he began to practice with his katana, intent on keep his mind off the blond bounty hunter for the day.

The hours swarm by as slow as a snail would cross a wooden table. He had had lunch by himself, had gone to buy his sake because Yuya had, for some reason, left money for him behind, and had had dinner by himself and still there was no sign of her.

Again he waited patiently, growing worried by the minute, for her to return; the fear of her never coming back assaulting him from time to time. When she finally did come back, though, it was later than usual and her cheeks, one more time, were flushed. This time, however, the girl sported a black bruise on the inner side of her forearm and he wondered how she had gotten it, but, as he had before, he faked being asleep so as to avoid talking to her. For, he was certain, talking to her would only drive him to question what she had been doing.

A week went by with the same routine. Yuya would wake up before he did and return late at night, exhausted but happy; in pain but excited. And every time he saw her Kyo fought the urge to remind her she was ‘his’.

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That seventh night Kyo did not sleep as he waited patiently to watch her wake up so that, this time, he could follow her. Not long passed by. Yuya must have slept five mere hours before she woke up. Kyo saw, through the slits that were his eyes, the girl hazarding a look his way, as if to be sure he was sleeping, before she turned her back to him and stripped off her clothes.

Kyo felt himself becoming excited as his eyes traveled up and down her milky body. Oh, her skin seemed as soft as velvet and her hair as beautiful as silk. And then, he noticed… Her arms and back were covered with bruises and even her legs had a mark or two here and there. Who, he wondered, would have had the nerve to touch his ‘woman’ in such a way!

His mind, thus, was made. Someone would pay for his (or her) insolence, he decided with an unyielding determination that would have scared the hell out the very own devil.

Yuya changed her clothes and wrapped, again, new bandages around her hands and forearms, biting her lips to muffle the pain all the while. When she was ready to leave, she turned towards the ‘supposedly’ sleeping figure of Kyo and smiled lovingly. How innocent and peaceful he looked. Oh, but alas! If she knew what was going through his mind she would have probably ran away in fright.

Yuya opened the sliding rice door, close it behind her and went off her way, not hearing the door opening and closing behind her right after she had departed.

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He followed her through the early rising town, keeping his distance in order maintain himself hidden from her sight if she chose to look over her shoulder. He watched her turned to a strange alley and walk right into an eerie looking house.

She opened the door, which was apparently unlocked, and closed it quietly behind her. Kyo, determined to find out what was happening, followed her without hesitation.

“Ohayogozaimasu(1), Tatsu-sama!” greeted Yuya as a man in his mid-twenties waited for her in the middle of his garden.

“Oh, ohayogozaimasu, Yuya-san,” he replied sending, in accordance to an angry Kyo, a wolfish smile. “Should we being then?”

“Hai,” she replied excitedly while Kyo’s mind could only tried to figure out what it was they were going to being.

And then he understood… and in a way he hated it.

The man gave Yuya a kendo sword, which is a kind of katana made of bamboo. Immediately after he attacked her while Yuya tried to parry as many attacks as possible.

Thus he learned that that was how she was getting the bruises and yet, he could not help but noticed how the man’s eyes traveled up and down the body of his woman every time she backed away. And he watched with increase rage as his body sometimes ‘bumped’ into hers by ‘supposed’ accidents, which he knew, a man of his caliber could only do on purpose. But when the man tripped with a non-existent rock, his hands coming to rest on the small lumps on Yuya’s chest and his mouth coming awfully close to hers, he had had enough.

Tatsu felt someone gripping his gi violently and pulling him to his feet. In a moment he found himself face to face with a red-eyed man, whose aura was enough to make him shiver with dread.

“You dared touch my woman like that,” hissed the red-headed daemon and, against his rage, cracked a wicked smile when the man fell to his knees before him.

“I-I didn’t know she was taken,” he stammered, backing away until he was almost inside his house.

Kyo’s eyes, however, became slits of distrust as he saw the man’s defeated demeanor changing to one of confidence when his hands got hold of a cold steel katana.

“I’ll show you what I do to those who touch her,” Kyo threatened presenting his naked Muramasa to his opponent in a dangerous fashion.

Tatsu’s leaned and tall body took in a fighting stance as his dark eyes locked with the scarlet ones of his new opponent. He was glad he had tied a bandana around his head to avoid the interruption of having to brush his brown bangs away from his eyes during battle.

“Ha! You think you can fight in those clothes,” pointed out Tatsu, feeling his confidence rising when he inspected the dark robe of his opponent. It would be hard for him to move out of his way when they engaged, whereas he, with his blue hakamas and white gi, would have the advantage of greater movement.

In a second Kyo launched himself forward, on one hand his katana and on the other one the sheath of his sword. Tatsu smiled when he parried his opponent’s weapon and yet, even though he knew his sword had met something, he still felt an incredible ache on his stomach. He looked down only to watch his, once white gi, slowly becoming cherry as blood drained out of his body. His eyes, then, took in the sight of what his sword had truly parried.

Kyo’s sheath had a mild mark which had been left by the blade of his adversary’s katana, but nothing else.

The last thing Tatsu saw was the eyes of a true master of the art.

“KYO!” the mention man turned around surprised by Yuya’s tone of voice. When his eyes came to rest on her petite and battered body he noticed she was shaking with fury, “You killed my master! How could you? Now how am I supposed to learn how to use a katana! It will take me a while to find someone else to teach me!”

Kyo thought about having to go through all he had been through all over again. Wondering were she was and with whom; wondering if the man was really teaching her or only taking advantage of her stupidity; having to stay alone when she was training and everything it included; and finally, living with the fear that she may never come back one of those days. No, he decided, he couldn’t live like that…

Hence, here he was. Training her; teaching her the art of the sword as if she was his pupil instead of his servant. And all of this because he couldn’t take thinking someone else would touch her every time she grabbed the sword wrong or stood in an awkward position. To think that another man would see her clothes tightening around her body when the rain poured down on them in the middle of a training session. Days, which he noted, he was beginning to like and wish for now-a-days.

No, he could not take it. ‘She’ was his and that was it.

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“KYO!” Onime no Kyo opened his eyes to find her face awfully closed to his. Her cheeks flushed as beads of sweat ran between her breast, which he could faintly see through the cleave of her gi; all of it exciting him.

“What,” he forced himself to sound annoyed when all he wanted was to pull her down with him.

“I did it!” she beamed and he tried to remember what it was he had asked her to do in the first place.

“You did what?” he asked, giving up on trying to think on anything else than her body under his.

Her expression changed from a happy one to a confused frown before she opened her fist to show him a sliced Sakura petal, “I sliced it in half when it was falling! Am I good or what!”

Kyo had told Yuya that once she was able to slice a Sakura petal in half when it was falling off its branch, he would agree that she had skill. Yuya had, since hearing that, given all her effort to cut the petal when it fell.

They had been staying in the same village for about a month now, in which Yuya had been practicing and working every day without a rest on the challenging task.

Thus, if Kyo had been anyone else, he would have probably congratulated her right on the stop and take her somewhere to celebrate. However, being who he was he said, “Do it again.”

Yuya’s face paled an inch and her eyes widened in shock, “WHAT?!”

“Do it again,” he repeated obstinately, amused by her reaction.

“WHY!”

“Because I didn’t saw you do it,” he replied laconically.

“You…” She came to her knees in front of him with exhaustion and disappointment. All she wanted was to hear him say she was good! This entire episode she had done for him! “You are a ba-”

Before she could finish her statement she felt the warm lips of Kyo upon hers and felt his hands snaking up her back and pressing her against him. Before long she was left with ragged breathing and ‘very’ blushed cheeks when he parted to take a breath.

“That was good,” he said, as if he had read her mind, and then he simply walked away, back to the Inn, leaving an abysmally surprised Yuya behind.

“If that was good,” she mumbled to herself when she had cached her breath, “then wait until I show you what else I can do.”

With that she laughed and headed back to the Inn, where she was sure, he would be waiting. Perhaps he was passing on the art of the sword but she could certainly teach him the art of something known as love. Which, let’s face it, was sometimes a lot more dangerous than any blade could ever be.

.:.FIN.:..

Story Written by: Giselle González

© Samurai Deeper Kyo is property of Akimine Kamijyo; is directed by Junji Nishimura and is distributed by Studio Deen.

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Story’s Notes:

Ohayogozaimasu: Means good morning in Japanese.

Hai: Yes.

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:…:Other Samurai Deeper Kyo Stories:…:

-- Third Desire --

“If she is only your servant… then why don’t you sell her to me?” Will Kyo finally let Yuya know his feelings for her...or not? A Yuya x Kyo. Prequel to “Serpent's Curse”. Complete.

-- Serpent’s Curse --

“I will strike were it will hurt the most and you will not see it coming.” There is no stronger pain than the one inflicted to the heart. KyoxYuya. Sequel to “Third Desire”.