FicWad

Notes: This chapter hit major snags when I spent a week writing, re-writing, editing, re-writing, etc. one scene that was bugging the hell out of me. Also, my increased workload in RL is a major factor as well. I couldn't stop writing this chapter until my muse said it was okay, and after 6,000+ words, it said it was time to stop.

Please see Chapter one for full disclaimers and summaries.

THANKS goes to my wicked betas Kat and Mchan for picking up on all the little things that I'd never see in a million years that needed fixing and to for catching all my continuity errors.

/Kotaro's POV/

+++++++++++++++++++++

Enemy of my Enemy - Chapter 10

The door snapped shut behind us and I looked around in the semi-darkness. We seemed to be in some sort of dungeon, if you considered a room without doors and a rock-solid floor a dungeon. "So," I started, turning to Magoichi, "You really don't have any ideas?"

"It's your turn to come up with the ideas," he told me, leaning against he wall and pulling out his pipe.

I sighed and nodded, walking over to inspect one of the walls. I was the ninja after all. There had to be a secret trick or something. There was no way that they'd just drop us into a pit! I checked along the wall every few inches, hearing the solid thunk that told me that the section I was checking was too thick. The smell of tobacco met my nose and I glanced at Magoichi as he leaned against the wall, the ember in his pipe glowing whenever he inhaled. I was admiring the way it lit his face and nearly missed the shallow sound that my fist made as I tapped a section of our prison. "Magoichi!" I tried to hide the excitement from my voice. "This wall is thin. Do you have a bomb or something we could use to break through?" He came up behind me and I stepped aside, watching as he laid his pack down on the ground and opened it up, pushing aside a few books and bottles before pulling out several long tubes. I recognized one of the books, since it had been the one that I'd seen Jubei give to him. "What's this?" I asked, picking up the tome that had caught my attention.

I opened it and squinted my eyes to try and read a page or two. His hands shot out to try and grab it from me, but I was too fast. I twisted out of his reach, trying to read the characters on the page. The section that I was able to see in the dim lighting made me smirk and I wondered why he would have something like this with him. "I didn't know you liked erotic stories," I said, pretending to be shocked. Magoichi didn't seem like he was the type to enjoy those kinds of things.

He grabbed for the book and I let him take it from me. I had no interest in stories about men and women. "Jubei gave it to me," he said, tucking it into his belt before setting aside several tubes and packing everything back into his bag.

He might have thought the discussion was closed when I'd let him take the book back, but I was still curious. "So," I said, crouching next to him as he worked on mixing the contents of the bamboo containers. "Have you read it yet? I didn't know you liked women as well as men."

I was just having fun, since he seemed to be defensive about it. "Whatever," he shrugged. "I was going to trade it away anyways, but you can have it if you want."

He was pretty good at lying, but I knew he was uncomfortable, so I pressed the issue. "I don't like women," I said with a frown. "I don't want to read about what other men do with them."

"Fine," he sighed, pouring some powder from one tube to another. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes at me. "I found some food," he changed the topic. "You might want to eat something." He reached into his pack and handed me a large bundle, tightly bound in leather. My stomach growled at the offer and dropped the topic, tearing into the package and hungrily biting into the dried meat and bread that was inside.

It was just like the last time I'd eaten, only this time I remembered to share. "Here," I said, passing the bundle to Magoichi as he worked on his bomb.

He nodded his thanks, grabbing a piece of meat before waving the rest away. I watched him work, his hands expertly grabbing at his collection of tubes and mixing their contents together in a larger bamboo container in front of him. The smell of gunpowder was in the air, along with a few other smells that I didn't recognize. He packed the various tubes away and capped the larger one that held the mixture. "I'm almost finished here. It should break a hole in the wall..." he trailed off as the room we were in began to shake. "What the-" I grabbed for the bomb before the room lurched to one side, throwing us to the ground.

"What's going on?" I asked, reaching to grab my kunai but at the last second thought better of puling out something sharp when we were on unstable ground.

"The ship!" He shouted as he fell into me. "Didn't Tokichiro say something about Jubei activating the airship? Maybe it's taking off!"

"Yeah," I said before falling against the wall. The room rocked to the side one final time before suddenly stopping. "What now?" I climbed to my feet, holding my back where it had hit the wall.

"Well," he said, "If this is an airship, then maybe we're flying. It would be smoother ride once we're in the air. Which means..."

"We should get out?" We ran back to the spot that I'd decided was thin enough to break through. I passed the bomb to him and watched as his fingers worked quickly to set it up against the wall. His movements were so sure that I felt useless beside him.

"Alright Kotaro," he said, twisting some strings coming out of the tube. "Go to the other side of the room. Once I set the fuse I'll be right behind you..."

I didn't need to be told twice and hurried to the opposite wall and pressed myself against it and prayed that he knew what he was doing. I saw him take a few steps back, turning away from the blast that sent pieces of the wall everywhere.

I rushed over to the opening, peeking my head outside to see if there were any demons waiting for us. It hadn't been a large explosion, but I knew that it wouldn't go unnoticed. We didn't have much time. The air in the hallway had the same feel as the place of the Oni, with a foul mix of demon energy and stale air. I was about to pull my head back to let him know the coast was clear when I felt the energy shift, a warning that a genma was about to appear. I drew my blades, readying them for the upcoming fight. "Magoichi! You might want to get ready!" I jumped through the opening, just as several lower level demons appeared. I took a defensive stance, backing up to put solid wall behind me. Two lunged at me and were blown against the wall by a gunshot from the opening that I'd just climbed through. "Get out here, damnit!" I called to him. I cut into two demons in front of me, turning them both to dust in one hit. "Magoichi!" There were more demons appearing and we had to move. Magoichi climbed gracefully through the opening pointing his weapon at the group of demons appearing to one side of us.

"Seems we hit a hot spot!" Magoichi called to me, his gun glowing red as he powered it up.

"Well," I said, dodging a downward swing of a demon's blade. "I'd love to stay and fight, but we really do have more important things to do." I drove my kunai between its armour, sending it reeling.

"Yeah, I thought you'd say that," he grinned. "I wanted to try out some new firepower on these guys too, but you're probably right. That Tokichiro is more important than a few of these weaklings."

We killed the demons that stood in our way as we ran down the corridor, losing our balance and falling against the walls as the ship changed course suddenly. We tried climbing up the ladders between the levels to reach the main deck, but even with my skills it was difficult. I mean, even the best ninja has trouble finding his way through a flying demon ship! All the corridors started to look the same and I started randomly opening doors to see if there was any ways to get to the main deck that we'd seen when we were in the Oni chamber. The demons had stopped appearing after we'd been running for a while and now it was quiet, with only the hum of some machine deep within the ship softly reverberating through the walls.

I knew we were close. I could feel it when I pushed open a stained red door.

"Kotaro," Magoichi said, stopping as the door swung open to show that this was another empty room. "I hate to ask, but... do you know where we're going?"

"Damn! I was sure that this would be a way up!" I looked around for something to hit; this was so embarrassing! I hated being wrong and looking like an idiot. "This place is a bit tricky. The Oni built this thing with a completely different layout than anything I've seen before. I can't really help it if I can't find the access ports to the upper levels right away."

"Right away?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice that irritated me. "Kotaro, you've been leading us around in circles for half an hour." I glared at him. He didn't have to actually say it. "Your sense of direction sucks."

"If you think you could do better, then let me see you find a way out of here!" I was getting madder than I should have. There was no way he'd be able to get us out of there without my help.

He smirked and walked back out to the hallway. I followed behind as he walked down the corridor, stopping beside a door. When we opened it and walked inside I just wanted to scream.

"Looks like I make a better ninja than you, Kotaro. You might want to find something else to do with your life."

"Shut up." I was sour. "That was just dumb luck." I mumbled, crossing my arms as Magoichi walked over to the stairs that led upwards. I glared at him as he put his foot on the first step, noticing that there was something wrong with them.

"Don't!" I cried all too late as he continued to climb. I began to rush over to pull him away, but an explosion threw him into me and we fell backwards.

Everything happened so quickly, but the moment I could I climbed to my feet and crouched next to him to see how he was doing. "Magoichi! Are you alright?" He mumbled something, but I couldn't understand him. "What? Magoichi?" I rolled him onto his back to see his injuries, expecting the worst, but was surprised when I didn't see any blood.

"It's okay, Kotaro." I looked up to his face, a mixture of seriousness and amusement in his eyes. He began to stand up, but I held him down.

"How the hell did you survive that? That trap should have taken your legs off!" I kept my hands planted firmly against his chest; I wasn't going to move until I got answers.

"Relax, Kotaro. I've had things blow up in my face before. I know how to take the blow so that I don't get injured. Anyways, my armour helped me there too, so I'm fine." He gestured down and I could see the metal that covered his legs and feet was caved and scorched.

Something wasn't right with the situation. Why would he try to climb the steps without checking? He wasn't a ninja, but that didn't mean that he couldn't recognize a trap if he saw it! He'd known I'd been following him in Imasho; he could see things that were out of place. I watched him sit up and dust himself off, my thoughts leading somewhere I didn't want to go. My logic was screaming that he'd known it was there. There was no way that someone who'd seen as much battle as he had would miss a trap like that. Had he seen it but... ignored it? Why the hell would he do something like that? "Magoichi," I started, choosing my words carefully. I'd never had a skill for involved conversation, but I had to ask. The possible reasons for his actions making my blood run cold. "It's incredible that you missed that trap. It was quite obvious, even to someone like you."

"Was it?" he shrugged, and I could tell he was distracted. "I didn't notice. Guess my mind was wandering there." He climbed to his feet. He was completely passing it off as nothing.

"You saw that trap, Magoichi!" My patience sucks, I know. "Why the hell did you walk on it? That was a stupid thing to do! If you're going to keep doing shit like that, then we're going to die the second we run into any demons that can really give us trouble. I'm not strong enough to carry you to safety!"

I jumped to my feet, reaching out to grab his arm and spinning him around to face me. "Kotaro," he started, his voice warning. "I have my reasons, alright. I knew I could survive it. It was just a little thing anyways."

"I could have disarmed it," I saw where this was going. "I am a ninja, you know. Avoiding and disarming traps are one of our specialties."

"So I disarmed it instead. What do you care how it was done?" He shrugged his shoulders, as if to dismiss the discussion. He went over to the stairs again and glanced back over his shoulder, "So, are we going to get going now? Nobunaga's not going to wait for us, you know."

"Whatever." I mumbled, climbing the stairs behind him. He was acting so weird, it was really annoying me. It was really unlike him to be this way. I mean, sure, I'd only known him what, a few days? But I'm a pretty good judge of character, and I knew there was something on his mind. "You know," I said, hurrying so I could walk beside him. "You can tell me if you didn't see that trap. I won't think any less of you."

Nothing.

I was going to find out what was going on. I never knew when to stop prying, "Magoichi are you going to-!" The ship lurched violently to the side, throwing me against the wall and backwards down the stairs. I rolled down the steps and smashed into the floor at the bottom.

I climbed to my feet as fast as I could, grasping at the handrail to pull myself back up as the ship continued to shake around me. I could see Magoichi further up the stairs, carefully climbing back down towards me. What the hell was he doing? "Magoichi! We have to get to the next level!" I redoubled my efforts to pull myself up the stairs so that he would keep moving. It was hard with the floor rocking under my feet, but I managed to climb to the top.

"Kotaro, we have to get out of here," he said, making his way down the hallway and opening random doors. I knew what he was doing and tried a few doors myself, but they were all empty rooms again. "Kotaro! Over here!" The door he'd opened led out onto a balcony that let us see what was going on.

"Where the hell are we?" I don't know if he heard me over all the noise. I could barely hear myself as I followed him outside. The wind was rushing past my ears and the explosions sounded louder here, but I didn't notice them the moment I realized what was going on. The ship was crashing into a building.

"It's Gifu!" I heard him yell as he pressed his mouth to my ear. "We have to get out of here!" I nodded, rushing over to the railing and gripping it for dear life. Everything was shaking around us and there were loud explosions from deeper within the ship. I didn't know how the hell he expected us to get off of the ship but it was up to me and I wouldn't blow it. We were still a long ways from the ground and I looked around, desperate for any ideas.

It was odd, but at that moment everything seemed to slow down. I could think clearly and see the possibilities as the hallway behind us collapsed. My hands instinctively reached for my grappling hook and I looked around for something solid to attach it to. Everything was crumbling. Pieces of wood were flying past me as the hull smashed through a roof. I threw the hook towards a promising target, feeling the tension in the rope as the metal bit into wood... or whatever I'd thrown it at. I didn't have time to care.

My hands were white knuckled as I gripped that rope, feeling Magoichi hold me close as he took hold of the line as well. We leapt together off of that balcony, the rope tightening and pulling us away from the exploding airship as it crashed into the side of Gifu castle.

I ignored the ship and focused on the rooftop that we were approaching fast. We'd have to let go of the rope at the right moment, otherwise we'd miss and hit the wall. There's a talent to landing; it's not so much knowing when to jump, but a feeling you get that tells your hands to let go of the rope at the right moment. I wasn't sure if he'd know when that moment came and I prayed that he would know enough to follow my lead. He was incredible and had probably done this many times before, but I still hoped that everything would work out as I watched the roof approach and readied myself to let go. I didn't notice Magoichi tighten his arm around me until it was too late and he was pulling me with him as he jumped. Too early.

Everything happened so quickly after that. We landed, barely clearing the roof I'd been aiming for. I turned to Magoichi, "What the hell-?!" An explosion above our heads cut me off and I looked to see pieces of the ship falling towards us. My feet froze in place and I couldn't think of what to do. I was hypnotized by the flaming wood and metal as it smashed against the castle towers.

I felt Magoichi pulling on my arm. "Kotaro!" His voice broke through my shocked haze and I turned to him, grabbing his arm. We dove out of the way, narrowly escaping the first pieces of ship that had broken off and crashed into the roof where we'd been standing.

I climbed to my feet as fast as I could and looked over at Magoichi to make sure he was okay. I swear it felt like we shared the same thought when we turned and ran as fast as we could as more wreckage fell around us. The floor was shaking under my feet, sending me falling onto the ground. I climbed to my feet just as Magoichi took hold of me and lifted me over his shoulder. He turned and ran, carrying me away from the flaming wreckage, barely missing being hit by the stone from the collapsing walls. Being carried by Magoichi was just like when Gogandantess had taken me away with him. If I hadn't been wounded then Magoichi wouldn't have had to cut a deal with that demon. I'd been too weak to do anything to save myself, and it was the same when Magoichi carried me away.

I watched the airship crash to the ground behind us with a deafening sound. We would have been dead if we'd let go of the rope any later and it sickened me to think of it. I hadn't even thought of the burning ship falling onto us until Magoichi had pulled me away from it. I'd been too busy thinking about him. I was always thinking about him, always letting myself get distracted as I wondered how he was doing in the same situation. In the end it was just something else that I'd screwed up, but I realized that I couldn't let it happen that way for much longer. I'd been having trouble with regular demons. Nobunaga, or any of his demon knights, wouldn't leave any room for distraction in a fight. I couldn't let myself get killed before I avenged my village.

When Magoichi finally set me down, I couldn't even look at him because I was so ashamed by my latest screw-up.

"Kotaro, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, folding my arms over myself. God, I hated the feeling I got when I realized that I messed up big-time. "Sorry..."

"Sorry?" he looked confused but it still felt like he knew what I was thinking.

"For... that..." I motioned back the way we'd come. I should have anticipated everything. How would I hold my own in a fight if burning wood could kill me? I was a danger to Magoichi as well as to myself.

"The hell you talking about, Kotaro? If it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have gotten away from there in time."

"But I didn't see-"

"Just forget it, alright? We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to get into the castle." He was already adjusting his rifle while looking towards the tower where the ship had crashed. I couldn't just forget it! It proved that I wasn't as great as I thought I was.

"You were right," I mumbled, keeping my eyes turned away from him. "I can be pretty stupid. I'm the chief of the Fuma clan and I'm supposed to be the best, but whenever I try, I just screw it up. If you weren't around, then I'd be dead!" I clenched my jaw out of frustration. Speaking the words was more difficult than just thinking them.

"What are you talking about?"

"Back in Imasho you told me that if you weren't around that I'd be dead. It's not that I can't take care of myself, you know," I looked down at the ground, fixing my gaze on my feet to keep from looking into his eyes. "It's only when you're around that I get distracted. I can't help it. I like you." My heart was beating in my ears, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear what he'd say. I'd been on dozens of successful missions before and I'd never let myself get distracted. Sure, I liked having fun and messing around, but I was all business when the time came. This time was different; I couldn't stop thinking about him. I worried about him because he wasn't a ninja. Could he survive where I knew I needed to go?

"When did I say that?" he grabbed my chin, tilting my gaze up to meet his.

"After you saved me the first time," I said, pushing his hand away. I didn't need his help.

"Is that what you're mad about; because you needed my help a few times? God, Kotaro, I thought we were working together here!"

I'd wanted to work with him. God knew I liked being with him and I didn't want to leave, but I knew that I had to refocus my mind. He was as much of a distraction to me as I was to him. He could find Jubei and help him better if he didn't have to worry about me, and I could sneak in close to sabotage Nobunaga somehow if I didn't have to worry about him either. I wanted to finish this mission before I started thinking about Magoichi too much. I strengthened my resolve and looked up to his eyes, "We need to split up."

"No!" He surprised me with the force he put behind the word. "Absolutely not! Kotaro, I don't..." he trailed off. I looked at him closely. I hadn't expected to see the fire that burned in those dark orbs.

"What? Why not?" I'd thought that he'd agree with me since it would increase the chances of our success. His body language told me that something was on his mind but that he was still serious in staying together.

"If I tell you, it might change the way things happen," he sighed," I don't even understand it, but I have to let things happen the way they were meant to. It's the only way that I know how to stop... it..."

I blinked, "Stop what?" Now I was confused. "Magoichi, what the hell are you talking about?" I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest, waiting for an answer. He could have been poisoned and was hallucinating. I hoped not. There wasn't any time to cure him, even if we did find some medicine in time. In any other situation I would have been bugging him until he told me what he meant, but this time I held my tongue. I didn't know everything, but I knew when listening would get me farther than talking, and I could see that he needed me to listen. Well, either that or to just shut up so he could think.

He took a deep breath and looked back to me, his eyes showing his determination. His voice was so low that it was almost too quiet for me to hear, but the words were too difficult to miss. "You're going to die, Kotaro."

+++

I wanted to laugh. I really did, but I knew that just by the tone of his voice that he believed what he'd said. I took a step closer. "What? Are you sure?" I kept my voice neutral.

"Yes," he turned from me, giving me a bad feeling when I saw how odd he was acting.

I didn't know what to say, it was too weird. He wasn't the type to believe stuff like that. Hell, he wasn't the type to say things like that jokingly. I really didn't know what to say.

I took a calming breath, trying to figure out what he meant. Thinking that maybe he'd been poisoned. I quickly shook my head, nearly smiling at the idea. Jumping to conclusions wouldn't help, but I didn't know why else he would be acting so strangely. He was so quiet as I tried to understand his reasoning and I suddenly felt the weight of the silence between us. I had to say something so I said the first thing that came to mind, "How is it going to happen?" I could have done better question-wise, but it seemed like the least-stupid of the thoughts in my head. 'Are you going crazy because you were poisoned?' wouldn't have helped the situation and we were running out of time.

"I don't know. That's the problem. He never told me that much... just enough to let me know that..." he shook his head, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. He? Could he have meant... oh god, I knew what he was talking about. That demon had probably said something to him. Gogandantess seemed like the type who liked to stir the pot for his own amusement. I took a step forward and put my hand on his arm, feeling the strength underneath quiver as I pressed my fingers against him. Our height difference had me looking up into his eyes, seeing his expression change the longer we stood there. I wanted to know what he'd been told, but waited until he placed his hand over mine and smiled. "Anyways, we should get out of here." He completely dropped the conversation and began to pull me towards the castle.

I dug my feet into the ground and pulled against him. I wasn't ready to move, yet. My curiosity was insisting that I find out if it really was Gogandantess that he'd mentioned before. "When you said 'he', did you mean Gogandantess?" I asked, never letting my gaze waver as I stared at his back. "Magoichi, you've gotta tell me what's going on." If that demon had said I was going to die, then he was lying. How the hell would he know something like that? Even so, there was something about the way that Magoichi said it that had me worried. Why would that demon tell him something like that? How the hell was I supposed to fight with thoughts of death looming over my head? Was that his plan? To distract us?

Magoichi's back stiffened when I spoke but he didn't loosen his grip on my wrist. "You're smart, you can figure it out," he said, looking over his shoulder at me. "I really don't want to have to explain the details or the reasons behind our escape. All you need to know is that we've got to get into Gifu castle to stop Nobunaga, and we have to do it together."

There was something that I saw in his eyes that made my stomach twist into knots. He didn't have to come to my rescue every time I was in trouble, but it seemed as if he'd decided that I was weak and helpless. He could have let me escape on my own. His need to fight for my honour made my blood boil as I pulled my arm away from him. My fists were trembling by my sides as I steadied my breathing to calm down. He really thought that I couldn't have gotten away from Gogandantess on my own. He thought I was weak! It took all of my strength to keep from yelling at him for assuming that I needed his help.

What was happening to me? I was stronger than that! I'd never let myself get mad over something so small before. Why did I care so much about what he did, or if he thought I was weak? I knew I could take care of myself and there were more important things to think about; like planning my mission to get close to Nobunaga. I'd tried to think of a path into Gifu castle, but it was so hard! Whenever I tried to concentrate on my mission my mind would wander back to Magoichi. We made a good team, even though he might not have thought so. I hated being saved just because of how helpless it made me feel. I mean I know that I'm one of the top ninjas from my village, but whenever I ran into Magoichi it seemed as if I always needed his help in one way or another. I vowed to return the favour if I ever thought he needed my help... yeah, like that was going to happen. I blinked as I thought of that, a terrible idea forming in my mind. Had Magoichi had a rematch with Gogandantess? I mean... they wouldn't do something else... right? My mouth was dry when I opened it to ask. I was afraid to hear my question, let alone what the answer was. I just took a deep breath and said the words. I had to know the truth. "What... happened with you and Gogandantess?"

He'd told me to figure it out and I had some ideas, but I wanted to know. I had to hear it from him. I'd never thought he'd do something like what... oh, I prayed that it wasn't what I was thinking.

I could see him taking a deep breath, his shoulders sagging as he forced the words past his lips, "I took your place." The corner of his mouth turned up into a wry smirk as he said it, as if to lighten the weight of his words. He'd offered himself to that demon so that I would be spared the pain? How could he smile while telling me about it? "He would have killed you," he continued, that calm voice driving me crazy and embedding the guilt deeper into my conscience. "I couldn't let him do it so just... don't worry about it..."

"Don't worry?! How can you say that?" I yelled. "I could have handled it!" He'd put himself in my position for what? I wasn't some child!

"You would have died, Kotaro," he said sadly. I took a step back from him, burying my face in my hand to keep myself from screaming. He sounded so sure of himself!

"So..." I was shaking, my anger rising higher than before. "Why didn't you just let me die then?" If I died then I died. I knew it wouldn't matter since there was nobody in my village who really cared if I lived. Really cared. They only worried about Nobunaga. "There are more important things happening than saving me, you know," I bit out. "Aren't you here to kill Nobunaga?" It wasn't his place to throw away his life and dignity just for me. Who did he think he was? I turned away from him, my pride overwhelming the feelings I'd had for him.

"Aren't you here to kill him too?" My feet stopped the moment I heard him. He was right. I had a mission and I was letting myself get distracted from it, again. I couldn't understand why his opinion mattered so much to me. In the end, neither of us mattered, especially if we failed and the demons won. I bowed my head as he approached and put his strong hands on either of my shoulders. "Forget what I did, alright? You can't stop Nobunaga if you're dead." His words were comforting but didn't help to make me feel any less stupid.

"I know that," I bit out, trying to keep the tears from falling from my eyes. Magoichi had taken my place with Gogandantess. A small part of me was grateful. If Magoichi hadn't stopped him, then... I didn't want to think about what would have happened. I knew I wouldn't have survived the rape, even though I had claimed that I would have. Even knowing this, there was another part of me that was angry that I'd needed saving at all. I shouldn't have let myself get into that position in the first place, and it was because of me that it would be even harder to get to Nobunaga. I had to kill him; he'd destroyed my village. I'd never wanted to be the chief of the Fuma clan, but it wasn't something that I could turn away from either. Not with the blood of so many of my friends still fresh on the ground from the massacre by Nobunaga's troops. "He attacked my village..." I whispered, leaning back against Magoichi's chest.

"I know," he breathed in my ear. "He's planning to attack mine as well." I closed my eyes. It was all beginning to make sense. We were there for the same reasons. We could find Jubei... and succeed together.

"Then why aren't we stopping him?" I asked, anxious to get going. I'd do whatever I could to help him save his village. I couldn't do enough to repay him for saving me from Gogandantess. I could sense that he was keeping many of the details to himself but I didn't want to know any more than I did. I'd already experienced enough with that demon to know what he was capable of. The strong arms around me helped to replace the sickening memory of that creature's body pressed against mine. My desire to destroy Nobunaga was renewed. I knew I wouldn't be the one to strike the final blow, but if I could help Jubei do that, then it would avenge my village. "We don't have much time."

"Kotaro," he said, releasing his hold on me, "I'm sorry." I turned to see what he meant, looking up into those eyes that were so close to mine. I'd never heard him apologize for anything before. "You're a strong warrior. I shouldn't have said any different." Why would he say that? He was always saving me! Why did he have to bring that up again?

"But..." I started, "you're always-"

"I can't do this without you, Kotaro," he cut me off. "I helped because it was necessary, but I don't think less of you for it, if that's what was bothering you. Everyone needs help, and I need yours to defeat the demons. Please?" His brown eyes held mine, showing me the sincerity there.

"Alright." I breathed deeply. I was acutely aware of my body still pressed against his and I found myself leaning up to kiss him. I stopped, catching myself before I did; I wouldn't let myself be distracted again. Not while time was short. He knew that I liked him, and if what we'd had in Gogandantess' chambers was any indication then I knew that he liked me too. Well, enough to do something like that. There would be plenty of time for kisses and more after our missions.

I began to pull away from him but he leaned forward, closing the distance between us in one quick movement, placing his lips against mine. Our mouths locked for a quick kiss before it was over and he was pulling away from me. "Let's go."

~End chapter ten~