Title: Defending Otsu
by: Ame no Chikara
Rating: PG
Pairing: Kensei/Hiro
Summary: Kensei decides to deal with White Beard's Army
Hiro Nakamura opened his eyes to the sun-stained morning, nothing but the bright blue sky stretched over him. He smiled gently as birds chirped and the wind tussled his hair. It was perfect. Yawning, he sat up and stretched towards the flawless sky. “Kensei...” He mumbled, his eyes closing yet again, “Today, White Beard's army will be coming into Otsu and we...” He trailed off as he opened his eyes and caught sight of two figures in heated battle on the hill, the one finally stabbing the other through the chest. As the taller man fell, Hiro began to run frantically up the hill.
“Kensei!” Hiro yelled as he rushed to the scene. Kensei simply looked up and spread his arms out, a large smile sprawling across his lips. He laughed and placed his foot on the chest of the man underneath him. His armor was cut so many times that it was useless and blood stained the kimono underneath. Hiro wondered how many wounds he had endured in this battle.
“Victory, little carp!” The immortal continued to beam as Hiro reached the scene and leaned over, gripping his knees and panting gingerly. Hiro was unnerved slightly by Kensei's laughter as he knelt down and began to unfasten the mask over the man's mouth. “Are you sure you can handle it? I think I may have even surprised myself this time.”
Hiro's heart thudded out of control- who could Kensei have killed? He wasn't supposed to kill anybody now. There was no legend telling of a great feat like this- none like the other man's smile seemed to claim. “Kensei... who did you kill? You might have changed history. This is-”
“Well, you're still here, now aren't you? I couldn't have changed it too much. ” The samurai combatted, staring disinterestedly at his fingernails and sighing gingerly. He cast his eyes over at Hiro again and studied the look on his face. Secretly, Kensei tucked away mental photographs of each of Hiro's expressions and made sure to flawlessly memorize every detail. Hiro shot up a dazed look and Kensei smirked, noting it was one look that Hiro seemed to reserve only for him.
Hiro's hands were shaking as he pulled the face mask away from the dead man, his heart beating out of control as he realized who it was. “Wh-White Beard...” He whispered in awe, almost hyperventilating from the surprise. “K-Kensei... you killed...”
Kensei laughed and nodded, his wide smile almost brighter than the dazzling sun in the azure sky. He lifted his hand in response and pointed down at Otsu. Hiro's eyes expanded to the size of saucers as he caught sight of the bodies of White Beard's army piled up, discarded by the sword of Takezo Kensei, the sword saint. “I thought I'd get it out of the way when I was in the mood.” Kensei muttered, brushing the whole scene off as if killing a large army single-handedly in a night was nothing.
Hiro jumped up and, in the heat of the moment, embraced Kensei The other man froze in his grip before hugging Hiro with a faint smile. To Hiro's surprise, he felt the other lean in closer and ghost his lip over his ear. “K-Kensei...” He stuttered out. Suddenly, it felt like everything around them had froze, but this time he wasn't the one in control. There was something there, some weird tension that he had only felt twice before in his life- with Charlie, Yaeko, and now...
Kensei's hot breath poured into his ear and he could feel the other man's heart beating with a steady, soothing rhythm. “Hiro....” The samurai whispered. His stomach lunged in response. He could have sworn that Kensei's grip was tightening, ensuring that they never separated.
I'll just stay like this until he lets go... I...Hiro stood still, not dropping his arms but leaving them fastened around the other.There are too many places where this could go- so, why is it that I want it to-
“We don't want to change history, now do we, carp?” Kensei whispered playfully, interrupting the other's thoughts. Hiro turned bright red as the other pulled away and began to walk back down the hill whistling an English song that he had never heard before.
What came over me...? He was about to pull his eyes away from Kensei when the man cast a look over his shoulder and captured him with his eyes yet again.
“Of course, carp, that's your obsession and not mine. I wouldn't have much of a problem keeping you with me and letting you never see such a future.”
Hiro's heart lurched forward as Kensei began to walk down the hill again, just as calmly as before.
Hiro couldn't help but wonder- why did that sound so enticing?
-*-
A/N: Ahaha. I'm taking a break from doing my portfolio for Ameri*Corps as well as from the NC-17 fic I'm writing for these two. I thought they needed a bit of fluff so I can be forgiven when I put out my next warped piece of fiction.
I'm putting together a fanmix for them too, you see, and the one song in it is called "A Walk Through Hell" by Say Anything. The lyrics that inspired this fic were "And I'd slay the horrible beast they commisioned/To steer me away from the mission to your eyes/And I'd stand there, like a soldier with my foot upon his chest/ With my grin spread and my arms out in my bloodstained Sunday's best/And you'd hold me/I'd remind you who you are..."
The lyric wouldn't get out of my head, so I needed to write this. My first entry in the Kiro fic-a-thon at sword_mates. Haha.
Enough with my rant!