Gather

Shiina Yuya binds them.

~x~

Bontenmaru has always had a soft spot for children; he was the one who showed Akira the ropes when the boy first joined the Shiseiten, whereas Kyo and Hotaru largely ignored him until he was strong enough to be interesting. That is probably why, when Kyo is fighting, Bontenmaru becomes Yuya's primary caretaker.

Part of him resents Kyo for dragging Yuya, so sweet and innocent a girl (a child, he marvels – sixteen, only sixteen), into such a life of danger and bloodshed. Still, he realizes that Kyo is doing everything in his power to keep her safe.

He is also gratified that Kyo so frequently entrusts Yuya's safety to him.

~x~

Hotaru doesn't have much of an opinion of Yuya. She is Kyo's woman, he knows, and addresses her as such. She does not fight and is therefore not worth much of his attention, yet…there is something about her that he feels drawn to.

Perhaps it is because he has never been around a person so genuinely free of malicious intent. Perhaps it is because he figures there must be something truly special about her if Kyo holds her so dear (and in Kyo's way, 'holding her dear' means protecting her, allowing her to be around him, and talking to her once in a while).

~x~

Akira regards Yuya with something he wishes was hate but knows is not. He desperately, desperately wants to hate her because she changed Kyo – Kyo, who had been so perfect; a cruel, beautiful demon without a care for anyone. The Kyo that Akira idolizes, worships.

She made him human. She made him feel, made him care – about her. Akira cannot condone such an act of blasphemy, of sacrilege, but he cannot hate her either.

He cannot hate Yuya, who is simply so unfailingly kind. Every time he double-crossed her, betrayed her and used her against Kyo, she forgave him. Forgave him and continued to care for him. She can aggravate him, anger him, bewilder him – but she cannot make him hate her.

~x~

Akari does not want to like Yuya, who is clearly the object of Kyo's affections (if Kyo even has such things) – affections that should be directed at Akari. The problem is that Yuya is just so annoyingly likable. Her friendliness knows no bounds as she continues to accept person after person, Akari being no exception, into the group that has formed around Kyo.

Akari, who has grown up to harsh, hateful words like monster and freak and degenerate, finds Yuya to be a welcome reprieve from the entirely set-in-their-ways people of Japan, people that criticize her for her powers and her sexual orientation. Yuya, Akari thinks, might be the future of Japan.

~x~

Benitora has often been on the receiving end of Yuya's punches and rages. He earns them all, of course, and it is always worth it if he can get one peek at her in the bath. He loves her – he has been in love before, he acknowledges, but this is different, he is sure. Yuya is the most wonderful, beautiful girl he has ever met – she is quick-tempered, it's true, but she's just as quick to forgive. One day he will marry her.

If he can find a way to get Kyo out of the picture, that is.

~x~

Sasuke is very protective of his nee-san, be it from enemies or Benitora's lecherous ways. When she finishes bandaging his arm and smiles at him warmly, saying, I'm glad you're okay, Sasuke-kun, he thinks that maybe this is what it is like to have a mother, sort of.

(The closest thing he has ever had to a mother is Kosuke, but she does not count because she is Yukimura except not really.)

He remembers when he first met her, and how she was afraid of him. He remembers the first time she ruffled his hair and called him a "cutiepie." He can't remember the last time he was so embarrassed.

~x~

Yukimura had at first pegged Yuya as being not very bright – not stupid, certainly not stupid, but not particularly intelligent, either. He realizes now that the case is not such; Yuya shows frightening insight at times, into the mind of Kyo and the minds of others.

Yuya understands people. Yukimura admires that, as well as her bravery and conviction and loyalty and compassion. Had she and Sasuke not already formed a sibling-like relationship, Yukimura would have very much liked to set them up.

~x~

Okuni is irritated by Yuya – Yuya, who is but a child, a child who has wormed herself into the hearts of some of the most ruthless, bloodthirsty men of their time. Yuya, who is so naïve, so completely uneducated in the ways of being a woman.

Okuni wants to bid her be a good girl, run along and play while the adults talk, yes? Still, Okuni respects Yuya, for her character and resilience, but most of all, for how she has captured Kyo's heart.

~x~

Kyo thinks that Yuya is the stupidest, ugliest, most annoying woman he has ever met. She does not respect his personal space, talks far too much and far too loudly, constantly worries about him (have some faith, would you, Dogface?), and does not do as she is told.

She means everything to him.

Because Sasuke is a cutiepie, man. I'm gonna marry that kid, you wait. Anyway, this was just a little experiment into the minds of a few SDK characters and their thoughts on Yuya. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Deeper Kyo. Alas.