The Rules of Engagement

The Rules of Engagement AU

Summary: Sword Master K instructs apprentice Hiro in the art of swordplay and ends up giving him a completely different lesson altogether.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gravitation. It’s owned by Maki Murakami. I don’t make any money from this fanfic.

Hiro couldn’t stop yawning. He rubbed his heavy eyes repeatedly.

“Pay attention Hiroshi and prepare yourself!” K’s voice floated back to him from across the courtyard in the half dark of near dawn.

“Master, why must we have these things at this unnatural hour? Even the gods themselves aren’t up yet!”

K melted into view through the shadowy mist of early morning. Tall and sure, he was dressed in snug black breeches that hugged his tautly muscled lower frame and a loose fitting, white cotton day shirt whose long billowing sleeves did nothing to hide the menacing sword that he held out at the ready.

The long, tapering bastard sword gleamed dully in the gray early light as K kicked a rock at Hiro with a highly polished black knee boot.

Hiro made a lazy attempt at a dodge, yawned again and faced him, tugging his own bastard from its scabbard, which he tossed to the side out of the way.

“I’m sorry, Hiroshi,” K said mockingly. “Am I interrupting your beauty sleep?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact you are,” Hiro replied. “If you’re going to insist on having these things at the crack of ungodly dawn, the least you could do is let me get more sleep the night before.”

K glared at him. “Engagements of steel don’t come announced and scheduled, Hiroshi. Fights for your life don’t wait for you to get ready and into a comfortable position before thrusting themselves upon you.”

Hiro yawned again and got into stance. “Funny, I could say the same thing about you!”

K’s eyes widened with unguarded disbelief.

“I can’t believe you—”

Without warning, Hiro struck. He brought down his steel in a quick arc and followed it with a lateral thrust, forcing K backward into a fast reactionary block.

Hiro continued with quick, swinging strikes, alternating their origin from the left to the right, keeping up the momentum that had caught K off guard.

“Dirty pool, Hiroshi!” K smiled, impressed with the deceptive ploy his apprentice had used to gain the upper hand.

“I think not,” said Hiro. He swiped low, causing K to jump out of the way. “Rule of Engagement Number One: There are no rules—be the one that walks away!”

He followed his low swipe with a high strike. K, knowing his apprentice far too well, anticipated just such a maneuver and stood ready with a waiting block. He brought his sword up much more quickly than Hiro had anticipated, effectively cutting the time he needed to launch his next volley in half.

Unprepared, Hiro was forced backward to gain time.

Not waiting for Hiro to regroup, K made several long lunges at his mid-section, forcing Hiro to continue his retreat. He followed the lunges with three quick slices at Hiro’s head, causing him to duck.

Down around K’s knees, Hiro made an attempt to regain the offensive and faked a hard swing at K’s legs. Knowing K would jump out the way, he leapt to his feet the instant the swing was completed and followed through with a hard arc to K’s anticipated headspace.

Seeing Hiro’s body crouch to swing at his knees, K saw his apprentice tense his legs for an immediate leap. Rather than simply jump up to avoid the swing and fall into the headspace trap Hiro was setting for him, K back flipped out the way altogether, putting considerable space between him and his apprentice.

Shit! Hiro frowned at having to cross open space to reach his opponent, knowing full well that K could launch an attack with distance weapons--shuriken, daggers, darts, or what have you while he crossed that unguarded opening. Rather than wait for his master to do any such thing, he did it himself, snatching the needles out of his hair that held his ponytail together. He hurled the razor sharp points at his master. Then he stooped and picked up several rocks and threw them at him for good measure.

K, seeing Hiro reach for his head, readied his blade and CLING, CLANG, deflected the flying needles effortlessly. He wasn’t however anticipating rocks. One struck his leg, one struck his arm and the other, narrowly missed his ducking head.

“Rule of Engagement Number Two: Use whatever is at your disposal to gain the advantage.”

K quickly kicked up one of the fallen rocks with his foot and batted it with the flat of his blade like a baseball. He struck Hiro on point in the middle of his chest. Hiro, who’d been retreating backwards, stumbled with the impact. Occupied with regaining his balance, the next rock, which painfully struck his wrist, caught him totally off guard, causing him to drop his sword.

“Thanks for reminding me Hiroshi!” K grinned behind another rock volley. “You’re right, Rule Number Two works splendidly!”

Shit, shit! Hiro dropped instantly to try to regain his sword, but was forced backwards in a tight roll to miss the sharp dagger that intercepted his reach.

With even more distance between him and his sword, Hiro gave up thoughts of retrieving it and snatched his wakizashi, the short companion blade to his katana, from the back of his waist band. He pulled it from its saya and upon tossing the sheath away, abruptly found his wrist bound up in a sticky, ribbon like material. The tough flat black cord wound itself around Hiro’s free hand and yanked him toward K, who was holding the handle like hilt in his hand, reeling him in like a fish.

Hiro tugged against it, but K wound him back, snapping the ribbon whip taut, whirling him like a top, wrapping him like a mummy and yanking Hiro back toward him. Hiro stumbled and fell near K’s feet. K yanked him up and caught him before he fell again, leaning Hiro over his outstretched, weapon free arm as if he were about to dip him in a dance.

Hiro lay there, in K’s dipped embrace, panting and heaving. His day shirt, which had been open at the throat, had come loose in the fight and now exposed a nice expanse of smooth, muscled chest, which rose and fell with heavy breath.

K, about to come back with a quick retort, stopped short, as he found himself captured by Hiro’s eyes, dark and probing, looking at him with what could only be described as desire.

“Why, Hiro,” he found himself murmuring. “I think the swordplay agrees with you.”

Hiro parted his panting lips and tilted his head back.

K smiled and keeping his eyes on Hiro, slowly leaned in for a kiss. He kept his eyes on Hiro’s eyes and moved in toward Hiro’s mouth, which was open and waiting. K bent his head down and just as their lips were about to make contact, K jerked Hiro’s wrapped body and violently unwound him, causing his apprentice to roll like a log down his body and hit the ground face down with a hard, dusty thump.

“Nice try, but I know all about Rule Number Three: Use your opponent’s weaknesses against him whenever you can.” He looked down at Hiro’s ass, shapely even in his loose practice breeches and yanked Hiro’s still tethered wrist up in the air. “Sorry, I saw it coming a league away. It didn’t stand a chance.”

“No?” Hiro took advantage of his position and kicked out with his legs, scissoring them around. He made contact with K’s legs and kicked them forcefully, bringing K down to one knee. Hiro kicked out again and gracefully straddled the line that bound him and K together. He leaned forward to make the line taut, then snipped himself free with a flick of his short blade, causing K to fall backwards on his ass.

Hiro dove past his fallen master to the weapons rack and snatched his katana from its cradle. Then he quickly rolled away from K, who was reaching for him.

K flung his sword at Hiro abruptly then turned to the rack for another weapon. Hiro, still on the ground, split his legs apart just in time to miss having his “personal sword” heinously impaled. The bastard wobbled point down in the ground, a fraction of an inch away.

Hiro, highly appalled at his close encounter, rolled backward onto his feet with a look of dismay and kicked the sword out of the way. He faced K who was advancing on him with a pair of sai.

“Now aren’t you glad I keep spreading your legs for you, Hiroshi?” K smiled wickedly. “You weren’t nearly that limber when I first met you.”

They circled each other warily.

“That’s NOT why you keep spreading them!” Hiro shot back.

“It’s the result that counts,” K replied flippantly. “Besides, I haven’t heard any complaints so far.”

He made a practice swing toward Hiro who deflected it easily.

“You don’t hear the complaints because you fall asleep right afterwards!”

Hiro made his move, making several sweeping slices with both his katana and wakizashi, alternating from one blade to the other.

CLING, CLING, CLANG, CLING. K met Hiro’s attacks, flick for slice, block for swipe. This continued rapidly, with the sound of fast attacking steel meeting fast attacking steel ringing through the courtyard.

“My katana is so much better than that stupid long sword,” Hiro said. He continued his attack. “I don’t know why you insist on making me use that thing.”

“You never know what type of weapon your opponent will use or can’t use, so it’s best to be prepared.” K continued his blocking, neither advancing nor giving up ground.

“Well, just so you know, I hate bastards.” Hiro continued, trying to hasten his sweeps to get some lead.

“So do I,” replied K. “Nasty, uncultured men!” He continued his blocking.

“Bitches are ok though.” He advanced slowly, keeping his blocking pace steady, patiently wearing Hiro down.

Hiro was beginning to catch on to what K was doing and tried to think of an alternative.

“Just keep your bitches away from our bed and you won’t have to see me be a bastard about it!” His eyes darted to the sword rack behind K.

K snorted. “Aren’t you a cunning linguist!”

“Not since I met you!” Hiro changed his stance and lunged forward without warning.

K reached out and caught Hiro’s katana in one of his sai’s tsuba, the fork like projection on either side of the main blade. He twisted hard and pulled, yanking Hiro’s katana out of his hand.

Seeing his main weapon abandon him, Hiro flipped his short blade in his hand and hurled it like a dagger, taking K’s attention the fraction of a second needed to take a bo from the staff rack behind him. He chose a flexible staff and began sweeping the ground in front of K kicking up a dusty ruckus with the spear tipped end.

From the dust cloud, two thrown sai came flying, one right on the heels of the other. Hiro scrambled to a drop to avoid them, then was immediately forced back up to block one of the machetes that was trying its best to slice him open.

BLOCK! Hiro twisted the other end of the bo up to block the second machete he knew was coming. He wasn’t disappointed.

BLOCK!

He and K continued like that, with K forcing him backward, carving deep chunks out of his bamboo staff with every strike. Wielding the wide staff ends like that in rapid succession began to quickly tire Hiro. His blocks became slower and weaker by the second.

K saw it and smiled.

“You’re falling slow, Apprentice. What’s the matter? The old man too fast for you?”

“Only in bed!” Hiro was breathing his last.

“Hah!” K jumped up and on his last strike came down with both blades simultaneously, neatly severing the staff in half. “You’ll pay for that impertinence!”

Hiro took the ends left to him and continued to block, using the remnants like unchained nunchucks.

K continued to force Hiro backward across the courtyard, driving him into the wall that was the side of the house.

With almost no staff ends left to fight with and almost at the end of his strength, Hiro turned and realized that he’d been backed into a corner with nowhere to go. Making a desperate ploy, he faked a block then fell into a crouch, going for K’s family jewels with a fake lunge. When K aborted his attack and moved to protect himself, Hiro abruptly came up, boxed K on the sides of his head with the bo ends, and then ran like hell into the house.

“Rule of Engagement Number Four: If you’re out matched run like hell! There’s no shame in living to fight another day!”

*** ***

Upstairs, still asleep in his bed, Ryuichi could hear Hiro’s rapid boots flying through the downstairs entry and into the living area. They echoed heavily on the wooden floors.

He stuffed a pillow over his head trying to block out the noise.

“Rule Number Four,” he mumbled sleepily. He made a mental note to pick up more shirt fabric the next time they went to market and turned over, immediately falling back into a deep, sparkly sleep.

*** ***

Hiro raced across the living area with K right on his heels.

THUNK! Umph!

Something heavy hit Hiro in the back. He stumbled forward against the mantle of the fireplace.

He turned and saw one of the ends of broken staff he’d boxed K’s head with. He flung the remaining piece he still carried. K dodged it.

Hiro reached into a bowl on the mantle and began chucking shuriken at K one right after the other.

ZIP, ZIP, ZIP, ZIP!

They whizzed through the air with a sharp hissing sound as their four points rotated rapidly.

K reached onto the other end of the mantle, snatched one of the decorative fans there and snapped it open.

SPING, SPING, SPING, SPING!

He deflected each star easily with the war fan’s metal spines that were hidden beneath the beautifully painted covering. Then he stretched the fan around into a complete circle, locked it into place with a hidden latch and sprang a button on the fan’s handle causing razor sharp blades to eject from the top of each spine, making it a silken covered bladed pinwheel. He frisbeed it across at Hiro who whirled to the side as it whistled past him and sank into the wall behind him.

“Why don’t you just go ahead and yield, Hiroshi?” K asked with his hands on his hips. “You’re outmatched this morning!”

Hiro yanked the fan from the wall and snapped it back; then snatched down one of the rapiers that were hanging crosswise over the fireplace. He charged K with it.

“Never! If I admit defeat, you’ll keep waking me up at this ridiculous hour until you’re satisfied.”

K snatched the matching sword and parried Hiro’s thrust just in time.

“I won’t be satisfied until you can beat me on a consistent basis at any hour of the day or night.” He thrust.

“This isn’t just a game. I need you at your best by my side in a fight, so you can be at your best by my side the rest of the time.”

The two men fought around the living room, back toward the door and around shoji screens, each taking several cutting swipes through the thin material at the other’s shadow. K, getting the upper hand in a several sudden connections, forced his protégé from behind the screen to see his day shirt hanging in several neat ribbons about his chest.

He continued to force Hiro back up the hall and to the stairs, then up the stairs one at a time, each thrust tiring an already exhausted Hiro even more. At the top of the stairs, Hiro slipped and fell through the open door to their bedroom. Grabbing his sword back up, he found it deftly flicked out of his hand. Hiro could feel the wind of K’s point just missing his hand.

Hiro fell back against the bed. K pushed him down, sat on his legs and continued to take slices out of his shirt.

“Yield?”

“No!”

Slice!

“Yield?”

“NO!”

Slice!

“Yield, goddamnit!”

“NO, GODDAMNIT!”

Slice, slice, slice!!!

Hiro didn’t have any shirt left.

K tapped his opponent’s naked chest.

“Yield?”

Hiro lay there, cursing and mentally rolling through Rule of Engagement Number Five : When all else fails, review Rules One through Four.

There weren’t any rules, dirty or otherwise, that would apply to K sitting on top of him with a rapier pointed straight at his sweaty chestal regions. There wasn’t anything around at his disposal that he could use to turn his loss to a win and there wasn’t any way K’d be so easily distracted by his heaving chest, naked or not. And lastly, he couldn’t run. Not with K resting heavily on top of him.

K could see him thinking. He decided to help him along with the process.

Keeping the sword where it was, he bent and began to gently suck Hiro’s navel.

Hiro flinched, feeling K’s tongue flick in and out of the sensitive impression there.

“Yield?” K asked, still lapping at it.

“No!” Hiro closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

K straddled Hiro’s chest and tossed the sword out of reach. He then bent and took a nipple in his mouth, rolling his tongue and then gently scraping his teeth across the traitorous skin there that immediately pulled and went hard.

“Yield?”

Hiro clenched his hands at his sides.

“No!” It was a firm no--breathless, but still firm.

K moved up Hiro’s chest and to his throat, where he kissed Hiro front and sides and lapped his way back again with his tongue. Settling in the hollow of his throat, K began sucking the salty skin there. He came up and looked down at Hiro who wasn’t doing a good job of maintaining beneath him.

“Yield?”

Hiro was panting. “no.”

K shook his head and kissed Hiro. He kissed him deeply, letting his tongue slide between his lips and into his mouth. He pushed himself in as far as he could go, holding Hiro’s head into place with his hands. He could feel Hiro’s hands inching their way up his back, across his neck and finally come to rest, entangling themselves in his hair.

K broke and looked at his apprentice. Hiro panted and looked back.

“Yield to me, Hiroshi.” K kissed him again and began moving himself against Hiro’s body, which was rapidly getting interested in the situation. He heard Hiro moan beneath him.

“I’m going to take that as a yes,” he whispered. He kissed Hiro again and this time Hiro kissed back.

“Bastard!”

K smiled. “That’s Master Bastard to you, Apprentice!” He worked his way back down Hiro and tugged at his practice breeches. Finding what he was looking for he set to work.

Beneath him Hiro writhed and moaned. He wound his fingers through K’s hair.

“Yes…ahhh…yes…”

K quickly pulled Hiro’s breeches the rest of the way down and his boots followed. Just as quickly he parted the remains of Hiro’s tattered shirt from his body.

K crawled his way back up the length of Hiro and hovered over him and held his head less than an inch from Hiro’s.

“Undress me, Apprentice.”

Hiro lay on the bed and reached up for the stays on K’s day shirt. He pulled them loose and slid the shirt up and over K’s head. Then he went to work on K’s breeches, undoing the belt, unfastening them, then slowly tugging them down K’s hips, which K slid forward, making himself—all of himself more accessible to Hiro.

K’s pants were kicked the rest of the way off and his boots followed, heavily clunking to the wood floor. Then he melted down into Hiro and the two lay breathlessly entwined…kissing…moaning…panting…and whispering to each other—each calling the other’s name with soft tenderness that stood in stark contrast to the violent activities which had led them to this place.

After a few moments, K raised himself and withdrew a small pot of sweetly scented oil from a small table beside the bed. He handed it to Hiro who gave a liberal glazing of the perfumed lubricant to his hands. He rubbed them together, warming the solution, then cupped them and held them out for K, who slowly inserted himself between them, letting the velvety slickness play back and forth over his heated skin as he moved himself in and out of the soft opening Hiro was making for him. He slathered himself with the thick, hot coating, enjoying the slippery friction of Hiro’s ever tightening grip.

K continued to thrust himself faster and harder between Hiro’s hands, letting his motions carry him hard against the build up that was threatening to drive him over the edge. With extreme effort, he stopped himself and dropped to his hands and knees and kissed Hiro hotly, hovering over him with his erection, letting it dip and rub against Hiro’s naked body.

K then gently turned his apprentice over and starting with the top, he worked his way down Hiro with a fevered pitch. He held Hiro’s flaming hair and kissed the nape of his neck. He lapped at the smooth space between his shoulder blades with quick flickering flicks. He sent butterfly kisses down Hiro’s spine, causing tingling shivers in the process. He dove into the small of Hiro’s back and ate and teased all that he could find there.

Hiro moaned and writhed beneath him and when K hit the sensitive spot of his entrance with a hot, probing tongue, Hiro cried out loud and gasped for air.

“Ahh!” He couldn’t hold on. “Please, no more…”

K smiled and pulled his protégé’s body up by the hips and took the oil to Hiro, massaging his entrance, gently kneading the area just below and stroking Hiro’s erect length. He was greeted with hot sighs and small whimpers and grinding movements that begged for more.

“Please…” it came out a whisper.

K tugged Hiro up a bit more then positioned himself for entry. And like a sword returning home, he slowly buried himself into the heated sheath that was waiting for him with longing impatience.

Hiro took it in and clutched at the bed, gasping at the long, slow burn of K driving himself inside. He cried out again.

“Oh…yesss—uhh…yes?” Hiro’s head snapped up with a quickness. There was nothing happening. “Hmm…” he did a quick diagnostic check. Yes, everything was still in working order--he was still erect (almost painfully so) and K was still *there*…yet…

He wiggled himself back against K.

“Something wrong?” K’s voice floated up to Hiro with an odd nonchalance.

“Well…” Hiro wiggled again…again, nothing. “Usually there’s a lot of screaming and panting right about now.” He looked around. K was indeed still *there,* however, screaming and panting seemed to be the last thing on his mind. He was busy cleaning his nails.

“Umm…what are you doing?”

“Cleaning my nails, they’re just awful!” K bit at a hangnail. “I really should take better care of my hands. I think I’ll try a nice oatmeal scrub when I go to market later.”

Hiro was perplexed. He backed himself up hard against K and then did it again for good measure. Nothing.

“I hate to interrupt your grooming session, but don’t you have some work to do???” Hiro’s need was starting to drive him mad.

“Well, Apprentice, you did say that I was too fast in bed for you, so I’ve decided to take my time from now on.” K looked at his young lover’s dismayed face with evil delight. “I told you you’d pay for that impertinence.”

Hiro’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe it.

“Please!”

“Please what?”

“Please…you know…finish!” Hiro’s face turned as red as his hair.

“Finish what?”

“OH MY GOD!!”

K turned his full attention to Hiro. “Tell me what you want, Hiroshi.”

“I want you to…to…” Hiro struggled. He wiggled. He blushed. “To…”

“Tooo…” K coaxed.

“TAKE ME, RAVISH ME, HAVE YOUR WAY WITH ME, GRAB ME LIKE STOLEN MONEY, RIDE ME LIKE A PONY, MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY, JUST DO IT!!!!!”

It was all K could do to keep from laughing. He would have too if his own need hadn’t been made so pressing with Hiro wiggling and writhing and thrusting back against his neglected erection.

He flicked his hangnail aside then did as requested. He grabbed Hiro like stolen money, with quick, hard hands then had his way with him, ravishing and taking him, making room for Daddy while riding him like a bad tempered pony. He thrust and thrust and thrust himself into Hiro with a deep speed that sent Hiro screaming to the wall of release.

Then for good measure, K sat back and pulled Hiro down with him, letting him ride the full length of his cock. Hiro took himself in his hands and stroked himself hard and fast, to the rhythm K set. Again and again, he slammed himself down on K, with K meeting him every time with a hard slide of frictioned heat.

Hiro’s moans sounding over and over in K’s ears was like torturous music, turning him on, pressing him further, making his need as great as Hiro’s own. He threw his head back and holding Hiro in place, thrust up into him, throwing Hiro sharply over the edge with a loud cry and then crashed down with his own release, heavily breathing his way through the hard spasms that seized him and wracked his whole being.

They sat there like that with rapid heartbeats and sweaty brows, panting and breathing with sated exertion. K wrapped his lover in his arms and leaned his head against Hiro’s shoulder, resting on the damp curtain of red hair that pooled there.

“Master?” Hiro’s voice had an exhausted huskiness to it that K found very sexy.

“K,” he replied, wrapping his Heart to him tighter.

“Master K?” K could hear the smile in Hiro’s voice. He bit the back of his shoulder teasingly. “K!”

“K?”

“Yes, Apprentice?”

“You owe me another shirt.”

K laughed.

“Hiro?”

“Yes, K?”

“Fine as long as you follow Rule of Engagement Number Six.”

Hiro turned.

“There’s a Rule Number Six?” Hiro closed his eyes and sighed, picturing more torturous pre-dawn practice sessions

He leaned back against his lover. “You’ll have to teach me that one.”

“Love me forever.”

Hiro wrapped his arms around K’s and sighed with relief.

“Finally…an easy lesson.”


End

AN: Thanks for reading my story! Cheers!