Uesugi Pride -Working Title-

Uesugi Pride

Chapter One: Pain and Provocation

The rain fell heavily that night, a frigid downpour from the murky skies above. The cold wind whipped at the Uesugi possessors as they stood triumphantly on the field of battle, the vengeful spirits finally at peace and their own world once again in a state of fragile balance, all too soon to be shattered by another, more powerful foe. Such was the fate of a man of Uesugi, to toil day after day in a futile attempt to quell the hate of a people long dead.

The group stood now, looking to one another with apparent disbelief etched on the faces of all those present. The battle had been long and arduous, and now that it was over it seemed as though the world had come to a stand still. The only thing to mark the passing of time was the quick hard beat of the rain on the muddy earth below their feet and the hearts beating in their breasts, slowly, as though relishing every moment that they continued to do so.

“Is it over...?” Haruie asked, cautiously. Leave it to him to be the first to speak, he usually was. Excuse me, she. I fear I shall never get used to the change in pronouns. I knew him far too long to quickly accustom myself to her choice of vestal. Though I will admit it suits him well enough until he gets inebriated. Then he quickly becomes the Haruie we all remember. Enough of that, however. I realize you are already well acquainted with him.

“It is.” Kagetora-sama confirmed. His voice alone was enough to calm the nerves of all those present. Even if he had said we were in for another wave I have no doubts that our reactions would have been the same. A sigh of relief passed collectively through our tight knit group at our leader's reassurance. He was not one to lie to us and I, at least, love him for it with my every breath and thought.

Forgive me reader, I am quickly coming to understand that I will not be able to write this from an objective viewpoint, nor will I be able to curb my emotions in prose as I do in life. Please try to understand that there are parts of what I am about to relate to you that I would like to forget, and as such would like to distance myself from. That being said, I may slip into third person from time to time. I am truly sorry if my grammatical ineptitude displeases you, reader, but it is comforting at times to write as though it was not myself who experienced these things.

Keep in your mind, as you read, the fact of my native language being much less... Poetic than your own. I am writing this in English, as it is the only language known by the young man who is now my target audience. I will do what I can to use this language to the best of my abilities, if only to please him. I know how he enjoys a well written piece.

Now, to return to the scene at hand...

“Kagetora-sama!” Naoe nearly ran to his side, only able to hold himself back because he knew his lord, as well as the boy Takaya, would be alienated by any overt show of affection. It was difficult for him. Not doing more for the man he loved hurt dearly, and more so because of the large crimson patch now soaking through the fabric of his thin white shirt.

Naoe moved to lift the shirt and assess how much damage Takaya's body had taken, not trusting the slow spread of blood through the rain soaked fabric as an accurate indicator of blood-loss. Kagetora grasped his wrist, fingers instinctively moving to pressure points and squeezing just hard enough to hurt.

“That will not be necessary, Naoe.” The words in themselves were cold, but the tone was perhaps even colder than the sleet that now fell upon them in sheets. Naoe knew why he had been restrained. Ever since the incident with Takaya in the hotel room he had not been allowed so much as an accidental brush against Takaya's skin. The slight glance of fingertips against Takuya's arm was enough to provoke the intimidating gaze of the Tiger Lord at that time in his life.

“Yes, Kagetora-sama, as you wish.” Defeated again, by no more than a single motion by his master. It was shameful, both his displeasure and the knowledge that he himself had brought this on that day in the hotel room when he had thought to make Kagetora his. The idea was, by it's very nature, a violation of the hierarchy of the Uesugi family.

The air was chill but Naoe burned with shame, with hate, and with passion. He wanted to die, he wanted to murder Takaya and save himself from this lifetime's anguish, more than anything else he wanted to claim him, then and there on the muddy earth. He wanted to take back the power that Kagetora had stripped from him with that most simple of actions and he wanted to reclaim it in the most humiliating and torrid ways he could imagine.

“Come on, we need to get out of this rain before it starts to hail.” It was the last I heard from Kagetora at that time, and one of the last things I heard from Takaya-san that night as well. I loved them both, honestly, but I still maintain that I have never felt a disappointment as sudden and frequent as seeing the fire fade from Kagetora's eyes as Takaya buried his memories again until our next battle.

“Takaya, you're hurt... At least allow me to--” It was worth making the attempt, all to often I found Takaya accepting things that Kagetora would never even consider. It was wrong to use Takaya's duel nature against him, but it was necessary in some cases, such as the circumstance of this wound.

“I said no, Naoe. I'll be alright.” And that was the final word on that. Takaya had no intentions of letting me touch him ever again and I could see that. I believed it, anyway, at the time. I had no reason to think otherwise, as he had given all indication of letting his grudge transcend yet another life time, never letting me forget the things I've done in moments of weakness.

We all walked in silence back to the road where we had left our vehicles. Myself for lack of anything to say, Takaya likely trying to analyze his own actions or else fuming over something he imagined I might have done, the others more than likely able to sense our own frustrations and wise enough to keep out of our affairs.

We got back to my home, the largest and most private of our dwellings and sat down in my kitchen. There was a short discussion about the events of the day, nothing more than an hour or so to conclude the mission and begin moving on with our lives. I believe you would call it a debriefing.

Takaya-san excused us and I offered to look at his wound, again. He accepted now as every one else left us alone together. I was honored that he was allowing me to do this. My mind moved on to what that could mean for us in the future and as I realized I had ruined any chance I'd had this life I could not help but feel very mixed emotions. Anger at myself, and at him for not understanding or caring about what I needed from him, shame at thinking such things about Lord Kagetora when I knew it displeased him, a love so intense it had become a dull ache, and lust, the ever present lust for this man I had served for four hundred years.

I lifted his shirt, peeling the soaked material as gently as I could from his side. It was now caked with blood and when I removed it the bleeding intensified again as the scab was torn away.

“Hold that there.” I said, pressing the shirt against his side. It was ruined now anyway so I assumed he wouldn't mind. As I drew my hand away I let my fingers pass over his as if by accident as he assumed my position holding the cloth at his side. Even a touch as light as that set my blood on fire, I yearned for him. I languish without his touch yet I am loathe to be with him, like a seedling hidden from the light by a huge ceder tree. His power was overwhelming, but his presence brought me nothing but anguish. “I'll return shortly.”

I left long enough to retrieve bandages and disinfectant from my bathroom then returned to find him sitting in one of the wooden chairs at my kitchen table. That was fine, it made access to the gash on his side easier.

As I had expected the injury was much less substantial than I had imagined. I disinfected the area quickly, noting that Takaya seemed to push into the alcohol soaked cloth, relishing the pain. I knew he enjoyed pain at times. It both calmed his mind and heightened his senses to pleasure. Kagetora-sama used pain the same way I use nicotine, to satisfy a nameless hunger and bring about a temporary feeling of completeness while at the same time opening up the senses to something that can not be experienced with such cravings in the way. My sweet complex seme... It made me love him all the more.

I taped the bandage in place and let my hand move to his front, caressing his abdominal muscles, still taught with the stress of physical exertion. I stood then, letting my hand travel up to his chest and stroke softly between his pecs. I looked to his face, expecting to see the Tiger's Gaze at any moment, but his eyes were glazed over, as if staring at something in the distance. I walked behind the chair, still not removing my hand from his chest. I let my fingernails glance softly over one nipple.

“Kagetora-sama...” I purred into his ear and that seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he had been in. His head turned suddenly to meet mine and our eyes met, locking as they often did. My expression, I am sure, softened as I gazed into the eyes of my love, but the moment passed quickly as his eyes slitted and shifted to gold.

“Naoe!” His eyes returned to their normal state and he looked shocked, hurt, and scared, nothing at all like the man I had grown to love, but like the boy I had come to accept in his place.

“Don't you understand yet...” I continued, though I knew it was no use. How could he continue to taunt me like this? To let me lay my hands on his body, to get close enough to take in his scent, the subtle masculine odor that seemed to follow him from life to life, to run my tongue over his soft, pale skin and savor the taste of his sweet, warm body...

Takaya stood then, practically throwing me off of him in the process and we stared with our eyes locked for the second time that night.

“Take me home.” It was an order, and I, forever the loyal lap dog, jumped to obey. Takaya had not brought his motorcycle with him that night, and I was secretly pleased to have the extra time to spend with him in my car even though the trip passed in utter silence.

I let Takaya out in front of the hotel where he'd been staying and just as I was about to leave he turned to me again, the fire in his eyes returning as Kagetora took temporary hold.

“You've done well today, Naoe. I will require your presence tomorrow night. Be here at eight thirty, let yourself in.” Then he turned and left. I made a mental note of the time, drove back home, had a cigarette, and went to bed thinking nothing of it. I assumed he simply wanted a word with me about what had happened, after I'd had time to cool down; how wrong I was...


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Author's Note: Yes, I know it was short. I plan to write more in the very near future. I just wanted to get this up because I for one think it's great and I keep rereading it over and over again since I wrote it last night. xD

Please rate and review as you see fit, I always appreciate it. ^_^

And yes, eventual smut. =P