Way of the Sword

Chapter 11

Upon entering Shuichi’s room, Yuki skillfully slid the door closed with his foot since his hands were occupied holding Shuichi. As if he was wielding his katana, Yuki carefully carried Shuichi all the way back. He now kneeled down on one knee and lowered his newly found cargo. As soon Shuichi was seated on the ground, the pink haired boy eagerly started kissing Yuki and the blond returned the kisses, resting his weight on his knees.

Still wrapped in a towel, Shuichi rose to his knees to meet Yuki’s face. Shuichi could not help but giggle as Yuki’s mouth traveled towards the hollow part of his neck, causing blond strands to tickle Shuichi near the chin. “That tickles, Yuki,” Shuichi said, still giggling.

“Hmm. So we are ticklish, I see,” replied Yuki. One of his hands wandered towards Shuichi’s side, tickling the area lightly. The gesture brought on a burst of giggling and a swat on Yuki’s hand.

“Hee.. stop it Yuki! Hee hee hee,” commanded Shuichi between his giggling.

Yuki complied with Shuichi’s request and the found a new activity instead. He placed light kisses along Shuichi’s jaw and made his way up toward the ear, where he proceeded to blow softly into it.

“Eeek!” shrieked Shuichi. He tried to tear himself away from Yuki but due to the strong hands holding him place and the loss of coordination brought on by his fit of laughter, Shuichi remained to be a victim of Yuki’s onslaughter. Yuki continued to blow softly into the ear and also started to tickle Shuichi’s flat stomach through the towel. Laughing uncontrollably, Shuichi gasped for breath. “Yuki,” he gasped, “.. can’t breath... hahaha... stop... hehehe... onegai ... hehehe...”

“Hmm...” Yuki continued to ignore Shuichi’s gasping pleas and continued to torture the boy slowly. In a final desperate attempt, Shuichi once again tried to tear himself away from Yuki, only managing to stumble backwards, landing on his butt. The sudden movement caused the towel to fall, the material pooling around Shuichi’s waist, exposing the boy’s lean chest.

Yuki finally stopped his ministrations and sat back on his heels to soak in the view. The sight of the almost naked boy still giggling and gasping for breath made Yuki unbearably hard. Before Shuichi could fully recover from his laughter, Yuki crawled towards Shuichi and kissed the boy on the lips.

Moaning softly, Shuichi wrapped his arms around Yuki’s neck and opened his mouth, inviting Yuki’s tongue to enter. Tongues swirled slowly around each other, almost lazily. Soft pants could be heard from both, accompanied by an occasional sigh. Yuki slowly lowered himself and Shuichi to the ground and their slow kisses continued as Yuki positioned himself comfortably on top of Shuichi, careful not put too much weight on the boy.

Needing more contact, Shuichi proceeded to untie the string holding Yuki’s pants up, thankful that the blond had already shed his shirt awhile ago. Nimble fingers quickly unknot the string and with a swift tug, the waist was loosened. Shuichi slid his hands beneath the pants and kneaded the tight ass cheeks underneath. As he continued to mold the firm muscles, Shuichi drew Yuki closer, grinding his blazing yearning against the older man’s.

“Ugh...” moaned Yuki. He rocked against Shuichi’s groin and sighed in frustration from the lack of skin contact. He slowly moved downwards from Shuichi’s body, leaving a trail of kisses from Shuichi’s mouth to southward.

“Hey!” protested Shuichi, no longer able to knead Yuki’s behind. “Where did you go-oh... ah..”

Shuichi’s words were cut off as Yuki moved the towel that still covered the boy and began to lick lightly on the erection that was revealed to him.

“Lost for words?” asked Yuki, taking slow sweeps with his tongue. His hands fondled the balls, caressing and squeezing them lightly.

“Ah... hmmm...” replied Shuichi. He wanted to reply back with a smart remark but all he could think about was the growing tension in his groin. “Arngh.. more...”

Yuki looked up to see Shuichi with his eyes closed, his chest falling and rising fast. His own erection twitched from the beautiful sight of Shuichi’s flushed face. The blond breathed in a shaky breath, using all his composure not to touch himself.

Feeling the sudden absence of Yuki’s talented mouth, Shuichi opened his eyes and propped himself on his elbows. “Yuki...,” Shuichi said slowly. “Um...why did you stop?”

Showing the faintest hint of a smile, Yuki answered, “To take my pants off.” Having said that, with a swift movement, Yuki shed his loosened pants. A gentle chuckle rose out of Yuki at the sight of Shuichi’s widened look of surprise.

“Something wrong, Shuichi?” teased Yuki.

Shuichi gulped. “Uhm, you are very well endowed,” was all he could reply.

That brought on another laughter from Yuki. “Well I’m glad you think so.”

He leaned over Shuichi, causing the smaller boy to lay down once again, and kissed him on the mouth. Yuki rubbed his erection against Shuichi’s, causing both of them moan. The blond replaced his tongue with his middle three fingers in Shuichi’s mouth. Shuichi alternated between sucking on the digits and biting them gently. Yuki’s other hand grasped Shuichi’s penis and slowly pumped it.

“Ahh.,” moaned Shuichi, feeling Yuki’s hand. He sucked harder on the fingers as he felt the hold on his erection tightened. He was so very close to releasing. “More... faster.... please Yuki..” he gasped.

Yuki pumped harder in response, while sucking on Shuichi’s hard, pink nipples. The boy withered underneath the touch, climaxing to his orgasm. With a harsh shudder, Shuichi reached his release, spilling into Yuki’s hand. Shuichi sucked the fingers in his mouth slowly, riding the last wave of his orgasm. With a happy sigh, Shuichi relaxed, as if he turned into a mochi that sat out in the sun too long.

“Did you enjoyed that?” asked Yuki, with a raised eyebrow. This was the first time he had seen someone look so peaceful after sex.

“Hmrhbop,” Shuichi nodded happily, his words made incoherent thanks to Yuki’s fingers that were still occupied in his mouth.

Yuki leaned over and whispered into Shuichi’s ear, “Well, don’t relax quite yet.”

Shuichi’s eyes widened and he felt Yuki’s fingers being pulled away. A long, thin trail of saliva formed from the slender fingertips to Shuichi’s slightly bruised lips. The connection severed as the coated fingers made their way southward, towards Shuichi’s opening.

A warm tongue slowly licked the side of Shuichi’s face and the boy shuddered underneath the touch. Yuki smiled at the response, content that Shuichi was so easy to satisfy. The blond slowly pushed one finger into Shuichi’s entrance and felt the muscles surrounding his finger tighten. He looked down to see whether Shuichi was in pain and saw no sign of such. So Yuki sat up on his knees, seating himself between Shuichi’s spread legs. With his free hand, Yuki hoisted one of Shuichi’s legs around his waist to have better access. The other hand slowly circled around the cavern, loosening the muscles. Another slick finger was added the first and Shuichi’s eyes widen slightly.

Noticing the widening of the violet orbs, Yuki questioned, “Am I hurting you?”

“No,” replied Shuichi. He paused and added, “It’s just that this is my first time and it feels a little weird, you know?” A blush spread across as his cheeks as he mentally hit himself for admitting his lack of sexual experience.

The moving fingers paused as Yuki soaked in what he just heard. All he could to do was stare down at Shuichi and wonder why in the world anyone would want to lose their virginity to someone like himself, an assassin. He also wondered why this boy, who dropped into his life so unexpectedly, put so much trust in him. He was pulled out of his little world of wonderments when he felt a warm hand on his cheek. Hazel eyes looked to find Shuichi sitting up in a rather awkward position with an embarrassed smile on his face.

“I don’t know if I can please you cause I’ve never done this before... but it would make me really happy if you didn’t stop right now,” said Shuichi shyly.
“Are you sure?” asked Yuki hoarsely.

“Umm,” nodded Shuichi. “I’ll just make sure I’m better next time,” he added with a smile.

“No.” Yuki shook his head. “I don’t care about that. I mean, are you sure you want be with me? You don’t even know what I’m really like. I’m not a good human being you know. What about if I hurt you? What about if I leave you tomorrow? Are you sure you want to take a chance with me?”

“Wow, that’s the most I’ve heard you say all at once,” breathed in Shuichi. He leaned in and kissed Yuki lightly on the lips, almost losing his balance in the act. “Of course I want to take the chance with you. What are you talking about? Even if it’s only for today, it is worth it. And to me, you are a good person and no matter what I find out about you, that’s not going to change, cause I will always remember you as you are now.” Shuichi paused and added with a smile, “So can we continue now? I’m getting kinda cold just sitting here naked.”

Feeling shocked and for the first time in his life, relieved, Yuki kissed Shuichi on the lips before lowering the boy to the ground once again. He still did not feel that he deserved Shuichi but he knew that what he heard was the answer that he wanted. His fingers continued to prepare Shuichi and a third finger, dry now, was added. Noticing a slight wince on Shuichi’s face, Yuki grabbed hold of Shuichi’s penis, quickly working the organ into a semi-hard state. His fingers continue to stretch as he probed around, looking for the sweet spot.

Shuichi tried to ignore the fingers occupying inside him, preparing himself not feel any pleasure for the next few minutes. Remember, he told himself, you already came and Yuki should too. He breathed in sharply as he felt Yuki grasp his penis. Even though he came only a few moments ago, Shuichi could feel himself hardening under Yuki’s touch. Then he felt a sudden jolt of pleasure as Yuki’s fingers brushed up against something and Shuichi let out a tiny scream.

“Oh?” Yuki almost fell over from the sudden noise and was pleased to feel that Shuichi was hard once again. His fingers touched the spot again, issuing another scream from Shuichi. Feeling that Shuichi’s was already, he pulled his fingers out.

In a pant, Shuichi laid on the ground, wondering what that was and why Yuki stopped doing what he was doing. Words of protest were stopped in his tracks as he felt something else enter him, something big. “Ung,” winced Shuichi.

Yuki slowly seated himself slowly into Shuichi. “Shh. I know it hurts, just try relaxing. I promise it will feel better soon. Trust me on this.”

Shuichi locked eyes with Yuki and gave a sure nod. He breathed in deeply, trying to relax as Yuki said. In order to become accustomed to the feeling of Yuki’s penis, Shuichi wiggled around slightly, trying to feel more comfortable, totally unaware that his hip movements were torturing Yuki.

“Ung,” moaned Yuki, through clenched teeth. He was trying not to just slam into Shuichi but it was getting really difficult with the boy rolling his hips, almost causing Yuki to just spill right then. Instead, Yuki slowly pulled out just a little and went back in. “Feeling alright Shuichi?”

“Yes,” responded Shuichi. He no longer felt any pain. Instead he wanted to feel what Yuki fingers were doing just before.

“I’m going to try to go slow, but if it hurts, just let me know,” warned Yuki. After receiving a nod, Yuki slowly slid himself in and out, pulling out a little more each time, going in a little harder after each one. But he was still careful and no where near the speed in which he craved to thrust into Shuichi. Instead, he bid himself to ride the boy slowly. At last, Yuki pulled almost all the way out and entered in deeply, hitting Shuichi’s sweet spot.

“Ahh!” yelled Shuichi. There it was again. “More!”

Yuki complied, hitting the spot again and again, still slowly in the fear of hurting Shuichi.

Shuichi gasped, almost shaking from the intense flow of pleasure going through his body. “Faster Yuki... more...”

All coherent thought flew out Yuki’s head as his hands grasped Shuichi’s hips and slammed into him harder than ever. He was rewarded with a delightful shriek from Shuichi and Yuki rode Shuichi fast, his balls hitting against Shuichi’s open flesh with each swift thrust.

Instinctively, Shuichi moved with Yuki’s thrusts, meeting each hit in an effort to increase his own pleasure. His hand wandered towards his neglected hard on and he started to jerk the erection. “Mm... more.. more...,” Shuichi gasped.

Seeing Shuichi touch himself, Yuki moved even faster, needing to find his own release. He folded one of his hands over Shuichi’s, the hands now jerking the erection together.

With the added pressure of Yuki’s hand, Shuichi came with a yell. He felt warm liquid filling him, knowing Yuki came to his own release. Panting, Yuki collapsed next to Shuichi.

The two just laid there, not saying anything. In the quiet room, only slow and heavy breathing could be heard as the two tried to catch their breaths. The silence was broken as Shuichi turned to face Yuki and stated, “Uhm, Yuki? I think I need another bath.”

Yuki just stared at Shuichi, wondering how someone could lose their virginity and then want a bath. It was too comical for the ex-assassin and he laughed deeply, surprising himself. “Well, come on then,” Yuki said, getting up. “Let’s get cleaned up before Kaoru-san gets back. I don’t want her to get mad at me. After all, I was suppose to make sure you were resting.”

“Yay! A bath with Yuki!” shouted Shuichi happily. Before even Yuki could move, the boy was up and headed for the door. “Race you to the bath house!”

Still laughing, Yuki chased Shuichi towards the bath house.

***
(Flashback:

“Guess what! I’m getting married to Ikuko!”

He felt his throat close up upon hearing the last sentence. The feeling that settled in him was exactly that time when he fell from a tree as young boy and he could not breath. The same feeling of panic settled in. He forced himself to face a smiling Junichiro, whose face was flushed from excitement. He placed a fake smile, the facial expression far from revealing how he really felt. “Congradulations.”

“Thank you! I wanted to tell you first since you are my closest friend. I need to go see Otosan and Okasan. Bye now!” Junichiro waved excitedly and ran off towards the direction of his house.

As he watched Junichiro fade away from view, his smile quickly disappeared. Instead, clenched teeth took place, just one hint of the anger he was feeling right now. He clenched his hands and drove one of them into a stone outer wall next to him. Looking down, he could see tiny rivers blood escaping from a red gap, but he could not feel any pain. All he felt was how Junichiro stole the woman he loved.

“Ikuko was suppose to be mine, dammit!” he cursed silently underneath his breath. He ran his still bloody fist once more into the wall, seeing more rivers of red flowing. What he would not give to see such red on Junichiro....

End Flashback)

***

It was well after dark when dinner was over in the Kammiya dojo. Everyone had all returned just as the sun was setting and Kenshin, thankfully, had cooked dinner for all. It was the first time Shuichi was taking a meal with them, since before, he had always eaten in bed. He found it to be a fun experience, enjoying Kaoru and Yahiko’s teasing arguments and Kenshin’s efforts to play peacemaker. And even though he was new to sex, he had not missed the sexual tension between Hiro and Sano. And although Yuki was quiet throughout the whole meal, Shuichi did not mind because sitting next to the taller man was enough for him. It was hard for Shuichi to realize that just a few days ago, he was close to dying. Losing himself in the laughter and the talking of the dinner table, any worries that built up from the past few days slowly vanished away, like steam disappearing as it climbs higher into the air.

***

Two pairs of eyes could barely be made out from the tree leaves. The tree’s branches and leaves provided an excellent cover for K and Ryuichi, hiding away from any prying eyes that might be wandering. K continued to stare intently at the far away figures eating dinner. Now and then, the American could pick out laughter and undistinguisable shrieks and yelling.

“K....,” whined Ryuichi, tugging at K’s sleeve.

“What?” K replied, his eyes still focused on the dinner scene displayed before him.

“I’m tired, na no da. Can’t we go to home now? Even Kumagorou is tired and he said he will not come out and play tonight,” Ryuchi whined, gesturing to the katana resting at his side.

K shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Ryuichi, we are here on a job. We JUST got here. We need to stake this place out tonight to see what we are up against. If possible, I would like to finish the job tonight. And as for Kumagorou, I pray that he won’t need to come out and play. But if you need him, he better be there.” K continued to stare at the people below him. Faintly, he could make out Shindou Shuichi, thanks to his pink hair.

“But... Kumagorou doesn’t want to come out if he is tired because he can’t play with fun when he tired, na no da,” Ryuichi solemnly explained.

K sighed and chose to ignore the last comment. If he learned anything from spending all these years with Ryuichi was how to ignore the whines coming from the dark head. So with the ease of years of practice, K concentrated on the scene before him. A stone wall ran around the whole area. Inside the wall there were two distinct buildings, one which he was sure that it held the bedrooms and kitchens, the other the training room he had seen earlier that day. Presently, he counted seven people, including the target of his attack. He was positive that the kid and the girl would provide no problems for him. However, the remaining four guys were still questionable. The bright red head looked small and weak enough to assure K somewhat, but K knew looks were deceiving. The rest of the men were tall and the brown haired men looked well built. K knew that one of them sure practiced some martial arts form, thanks to the bandaged fists and ankles. But then again, K wondered what kind of idiot wanted to give off vibes of being a fighter to others. His keen assassin mind made a note to be careful of the boy. His keen eyes glanced over once again towards the bright red head. For some reason, that slight, short man brought on a slightly anxious feeling in K. Needing to take a closer look, K was about to hop off the tree when something grabbed his wrist. He turned around and stared furiously down at Ryuichi whose hand was currently enclosed around K’s wrist.

“What!?” yelled K exasperately. He could feel his patience growing thin, almost like a piece of rubber band pulled too tight and Ryuichi was holding the ends of the band.

“Ah! K-kun, you aren’t mad are you?” Ryuichi asked, blinking his eyes.

“Well, if being mad means how I feel about you not doing our job and how you preventing me from doing it too, yes, I am mad.”

“Yada! I don’t want K-kun to be mad me!” Ryuichi sniffed. “K, don’t be mad at me! I just wanted to sleep and so did Kumagorou. I promise I’ll try to stay up as late as I can.”

K sighed for the umteeth time that night and ran his hand trough his blond tresses. “Alright. I promise you, if we can get this done tonight, I’ll buy you some more mochi and you can sleep as much as you want, okay?”

In response, K was enveloped in a death gripping hug. “K-kun, you’re the best! I love mochi!” yelled Ryuichi.

“Baka!” yelled K, trying to pry off his attacker. “If you make too much noise, they’ll hear you!”

In the moment where they were both preoccupied, the two assassins missed Kenshin turing his head, displaying his infamous cross scar in the bright light of the lanterns and the moon.

***

Yawning loudly, Sano trailed after Hiro into their room, his eyes barely staying open. One eye closed and the other lid was dangerously close to following its twin’s example. A light tug on the hair caused both eyes to open fully once more, just in time for Sano to avoid running into their room’s door.

“Pull yourself together, man!” chided Hiro. He slid the door open and walked past Sano into the room. Sano stumbled in after, falling promptly on the floor in a boneless heap.

“I am together, thank you very much,” retorted Sano. Another yawn escaped from him. “It’s just that I didn’t get much sleep the night before, thanks to all that drinking and training this morning. And helping out my friend didn’t help restore my energy either.”

Walking right over Sano as if he was a fallen branch on a road, Hiro proceeded to lay out the futon and blankets. “At least sleep properly,” said Hiro. After making the bed, he went over to Sano and shook him. “Here. Sleep on the bed.”

“Hai...” Sano dragged his body and rolled over onto the bed. He could feel Hiro taking off his shirt and the brunetted helped out by sitting up, just to lie back down with a crash as soon as the task was done.

“Ma, that’s too bad,” said Hiro, as he settled in next to Sano.

“What is it?” asked Sano sleepily.

Hiro turned and planted a soft kiss on Sano’s lips. “I was going to make up for waking you up early, but since you are tired, I guess I can’t,” Hiro answered with a teasing remorse.

At those words, Sano’s eyes flew wide open. “I’m not tired, who said I was tired? Come on, make it up to me!”

“No,” answered Hiro, also yawning. “Look, I just yawned. I guess I’m tired too. Too bad. Night, Sano.”

“Dang it,” murmmured Sano. Still, despite feeling bummed out, his body still complained about the lack of sleep with another yawn. “Goodnight, Hiro-chan.”

***

“Dang that Yahiko!” grumbled Kaoru. She could hear the boy’s snoring through the walls. In fact, she could swear that she could actually see the wall vibrate from the loudness of the snores. Thank the gods that Kenshin did not snore like the kid, though Kaoru. She turned in her futon so the she faced the wall separating her room from Kenshin. Goodnight, Kenshin. With a happy sigh, Kaoru fell asleep to the melodious snoring of Yahiko.

***

Kenshin laid down on his futon with his reversed blade katana next to him. Even after all this time, the ex-manslayer could not sleep without knowing that his trusty weapon was near him. Still, there has been a improvement as he no longer needed to sleep with the sword actually in his hands as he did before. He silently thanked Kaoru, as he did every night, for giving him the strength to come to peace with himself. And tonight, he added a special wish after his thanks, for he hoped that Yuki had found his source of peace as well.

***

Yuki laid down on the futon, his left arm around Shuichi’s shoulder. The assassin listened carefully to the gentle breathing coming from the sleeping boy. With each breath, Shuichi sent a light tickle along Yuki’s chest, which had become Shuichi’s new pillow. Still smelling the soap from the Shuichi’s hair, Yuki breathed in deeply and fell asleep, for the first time since the war, into a peaceful sleep.


***

As the last light disappeared at the Kammiya dojo, K hopped over the wall easily, landing softly on the ground. Another silent shadow landed next to him in a crouching position. The latter figure rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked up towards K.

“Ne,” whispered Ryuichi in a sleepy voice, “is it time, K-kun?”

“Hai.”

“Good.” The once round eyes took on a sharp shape and the playful expression was replaced with one of seriousness. With a slightly twisted smile, Ryuichi licked his lips. “Kumagorou is itching to come out and play now.” His hand eagerly fingered the handle of his katana, his fingers trembling from the anticipation of what is to come.