The Easy Way

The Easy Way Part 2



If Masamune had not already been injured, chances were it would have been a much longer struggle, Kanetsugu had realized. But that didn't stop him from taking advantage of that weakness, and he soon had the young man pinned over his knee, bringing his hand repeatedly and mercilessly down on his backside. Masamune's struggles and shouts had given way to flailing and threats first, and finally to squirming and whimpers of pain. Considering how much his hand was stinging, the thought of how sore Masamune would be brought a pang of sympathy he squashed as he thought of how he'd defiantly insisted on riding to battle.



He brought his hand down harder for several blows, and heard a sound almost like a choked back sob of pain come from the younger man. He stopped then, loosening his hold. Masamune seemed to take a moment to realize it, but then he quickly escaped the position, retreating away from the other man. "You...you...how DARE you-!" He snapped. "I have never experienced anything so humiliating in my life, and if you think you're getting away with it-"



"I think you'll find yourself quite incapable of sitting, let alone riding." Kanetsugu interrupted smoothly. "So I'd dare say battling is definitely out of the question."



Masamune intook a shaky breath, single eye widening in realization. "You...how dare you-"



"You left me little choice." Kanetsugu countered. "You wouldn't listen to reason."



"You call this being reasonable!" The Oshu lord raged.



"Mitsunari called it being straight forward and effective."



"I should have known he'd suggest something like this."



"Keiji suggested it actually."



"Keiji did?" Masamune's eyes narrowed dangerously. "The next time I see him, I'm punching him in the face."



"That will be a sight worth seeing." Kanetsugu could actually picture the smaller man walking up to the giant and punching him in the jaw. He didn't imagine his fist would reach his eye, unless he stood on something. "But I suggest waiting."



"Wait, wait, wait! I'm not fragile, curse you! And if I have to walk to the thrice damn battle, I will."



"Will you still insist on being unreasonable?" Kanetsugu snarled. "Have you forgotten your position? You have a responsibility to your men to stay alive and not act recklessly. And you're completely ignoring it."



Masamune grew sullen. When Kanetsugu stood to approach him, he backed away. "You stay away." His cheeks flushed red as he gave the command.



Humorously, Kanetsugu noted, one of his hands drifted protectively down over his backside. A smirk lifted the corners of his mouth. "All the times you've faced me on the battlefield never scared you, but one spanking does?"



"I am not afraid!" The younger man challenged.



"Oh?" Kanetsugu took a step forward, and Date retreated another step. "You were saying?"



"You keep your distance you...you pervert!"



Kanetsugu blinked at the new insult. He arched his eyebrows at the other. "Pervert? I didn't touch you inappropriately."



"Well, I think it was damn inappropriate! And I think you enjoyed it."



That gave Kanetsugu pause. In some way he had felt vindictively triumphant when he'd gotten the smaller man over his knee and started spanking him. But it wasn't as if he'd gotten hard over the actions. Though some of the noises Masamune had made, under other circumstance, could very well have been arousing...



"Just what are you thinking about??" He looked up at the demand, noting that the youth's face had turned red. "Damn it, you are a pervert!"



Kanetsugu felt his own face flush, partly at the accusation, and partly over the realization that his thoughts had definitely been wandering into dangerous territory. "Will you stop calling me that?" He snapped.



"Pervert! Kanetsugu Naoe is a pervert!" Masamune shouted.



Kanetsugu gave a growl and started threateningly toward him. Masamune hastily retreated, cursing his current lack of weapons to use against the towering Kenshin prodigy. He glanced around for where he'd put his weapons earlier, and unfortunately saw them on the other end of the tent.



"Stop calling me that!" Kanetsugu demanded again.



"Stop thinking like one!" The other warrior challenged. There was, unfortunately, precious little room in the tent to maneuver. Masamune realized he was being backed into a corner. He tried to do a roll over to dive out of the way, unfortunately forgetting about his stinging backside. He yelped when it connected hard with the ground, grimacing in pain - his dodge completely ruined by it.



"What were you thinking??" Kanetsugu caught him by the arms, pulling him to his feet quickly.



"Ow...gah, I can't even dodge! Don't you think you went overboard, you overzealous freak!" Masamune looked up, suddenly realizing that he was pretty much in Kanetsugu's arms now. Their faces were inches apart, and the other warrior wasn't responding to his latest insult. Instead he seemed to be staring into his face, lost in thought.



Kanetsugu was thinking he might have been as overzealous as Masamune was accusing, given that the roll had been so painful for him. He'd moved swiftly to prevent him from hurting himself worse, but the action had brought the youth closer to him than he'd intended. They were close enough to feel eachother's body heat, the other warrior's face was mere inches from his own now. Despite the patch covering his lost eye, Masamune was hardly unpleasant to look at, the thought nudged into his mind against his will. The question finally seemed to make itself known to his mind, and he found himself responding honestly despite the insult at the end. "I wanted to force you to stay."



He should have had an insult ready. Should be yanking out of the strange almost-embrace. Instead, Masamune found himself responding as softly as the other had. "Why?"



It was a fair question. Why was he so protective of him? Yes, he'd brought him to the camp, but that didn't make him personally responsible for his safety. Yet, he'd made himself responsible. Had been determined to prevent him from going to the battle, whatever it took to do so. Even acting on Keiji's rather bizarre suggestion on how to do it. "To protect you."



Masamune's jaw tightened. "You think of me as a child who cannot fight then. If that's the case-" He began angrily.



"No!" Kanetsugu all but shouted in his face, stopping his rant. "I've battled you myself, I know you can fight. But your injured, damn it! The cause right now is far from desperate. You don't need to risk your life. What are you trying to prove?"



The question made Masamune pause. He lowered his gave from the other's searching eyes. "I-It's not about proving myself." The words were quiet. "I proved myself to myself long ago. I've never battled for that. Nor for any lord or cause. You never understood that, did you? I battled to protect Oshu. But there is no Oshu here. No homeland to protect. All I worked for is gone. All I have left is the battle."



"What about your men?"



"...They're good men. But they are only soldiers. They can serve and be protected by another. It isn't the same. Oshu...Oshu was a land. There were common people to protect. Fields to cultivate. Cities to develop. It...was something worth fighting for."



"...this is a new land, strange to us all still. But you can find that again here."



"It would never be Oshu."



"Is Oshu the only land worth protecting?" Kanetsugu felt himself grow agitated.



"What do you want? It's my homeland! It's all I've known!" Masamune raised his head to glare at the other man.



"This is our reality now! Give it a chance! Give us a chance!" His grip on his arms tightened, and he was pulling him closer and closer. He paused, as if realizing what he was doing.



"...if you don't kiss me right now. You really are an imbecile..." The invitation was mocking, but another blush was staining the younger warrior's face.



Throwing reason out the window, Kanetsugu let go of his arms, one arm circling Masamune's waist instead and his other hand weaving through rugged blonde locks as he crashed their lips together in a passionate kiss.





To Be Continued...





Id-chan