OOC warning


Just a bit further, thought Kotaro as he limped through the dense forest, aiming to arrive quickly at his tree hut. Once he was there, he would be safe and could tend to his wounds at his own leisure.

Kotaro winced as the pain hit him again, hard. He wasn't usually affected by wounds such as this- his strong body would have shrugged it off as if it were nothing. But this particular arrow had been laced with poison, and it was hindering his ability to fight. He was extremely vulnerable- if an enemy found him now, it was uncertain whether he would survive.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling bushes reached his ears, and he immediately whipped his head around. A quiet voice called out in the direction of said bushes. "Kotaro?"

Kotaro immediately recognised the owner's voice, and stopped in his tracks.

He sighed. Of course, it had to be Hanzo , his longtime rival and enemy, who would see him in his one moment of weakness.

"I don't have time to play with you today, little puppy. Now run off before you get hurt," warned Kotaro, turning back around and continuing his slow journey. Hanzo decided to ignore his insulting nickname and followed behind Kotaro.

"But you're the one who's hurt…"

"Thanks for the obvious."

"..."

Suddenly, Kotaro felt his right arm being pulled around someone's shoulders, and another one wrapping around his shoulder.

Kotaro's eyes widened, and he turned to his right to find Hanzo struggling to hold him up. "What are you doing?!" he hissed.

Hanzo continued to pull Kotaro along the path, his eyes directed to the space ahead. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Kotaro found he could not reply, and so he stayed silent, and remained that way for the rest of their journey.


The first thing Kotaro did when they reached his hut was flop down onto his wooden bed. The long journey had tired him out, due to the poison that was slowly spreading throughout his body.

But that (surprisingly) wasn't what he was worried about. Kotaro glanced over at Hanzo, who was searching through the many cupboards trying to find the medical supplies.

Why did Hanzo decide to help him?

That was the question that was running through Kotaro's mind right now. Did he do it so he could secretly assassinate him? No, he would have just left him to succumb to the poison. Did he want to abduct him and try to extract information from him? No, the Hojo and the Tokugawa were not in conflict at the moment.

Suddenly, a thought struck him that caused his heart to beat faster. Could it be that Hanzo… was worried about him? Kotaro immediately dismissed the thought. No, that was impossible. That was just his own wishful thinking…

"Kotaro? Are you okay?" enquired Hanzo, waving a hand in front of the other ninja's face.

Kotaro, taken by surprise, quickly averted his gaze. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had not realised that he had been staring.

"...I'm fine," he murmured. He heard Hanzo sigh (out of relief?) and rifle through the medical kit that he had found.

Not too long after, the rifling sound stopped, and there was silence. Kotaro frowned. Why isn't he doing anything?

Suddenly, he heard Hanzo cough, and finally turned to look at him.

What he saw took him by surprise, and he stared, dumbfounded.

….Was Hanzo blushing?

Hanzo, noticing Kotaro's intense staring, blushed an even deeper red. Kotaro frowned, still confused at what brought about this sudden change in attitude.

Finally, Hanzo decided to say something. "Kotaro…" he trailed off.

"Yes?" replied Kotaro, calmly raising an eyebrow. He really didn't know what to expect.

"...Could you please t-take off your clothes?" stammered Hanzo, avoiding Kotaro's stare.

A few seconds of silence passed.

Kotaro stifled a laugh. That was it? he thought, amused.

Oh, Hanzo could be so cute sometimes…

Without warning, Kotaro shuffled closer to the other ninja, tilting his chin upwards. Hanzo started at the sudden movement, causing Kotaro's smirk to grow even wider.

"Naughty puppy… I didn't realise you wanted to do it so badly," purred Kotaro, leaning in until their faces were only a few centimetres apart. Immediately understanding the inappropriate implications behind his sentence, Hanzo stuttered a quick "N-no!" and pushed Kotaro back until he was a safe distance from him.

Kotaro only chuckled at the other ninja's cute reaction. "I kid, I kid. Just give me a few seconds…" he trailed off as he started to remove his chest armour. He could see Hanzo taking small glances at him out of the corner of his eye.

He chuckled again. "Like what you see?"

He enjoyed the blush that sprang on Hanzo's face as he quickly looked away.

After all his upper garments were removed, Hanzo started to treat his wounded shoulder.

Kotaro flinched.

"Does it hurt?" Hanzo asked immediately.

Kotaro forced out a chuckle. "I hardly felt it."

But they both knew he was lying.


"I'm finished," said Hanzo quietly, sitting back to let Kotaro admire his handiwork. And admire he did- Hanzo had dressed his wound up nicely.

"Hm- it seems a thanks is in order. Here," commented Kotaro, passing some coins over to the other ninja. The other shook his head frantically, pushing the coins back into his hands. "No, there's no need to pay me- I didn't do it for monetary gain," Hanzo said quickly.

Kotaro raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Then why did you decide to help me then?"

Hanzo remained silent. He seemed to be thinking hard about what to say.

Kotaro was beginning to grow bored until the other ninja finally spoke.

"...I don't know."

Kotaro sighed in frustration. Of course Hanzo wouldn't give him a clear answer. But before Kotaro could retort, Hanzo spoke up again.

"Even though I despise you, for some reason, I don't like to see you get hurt."

Kotaro blinked, dumbfounded.

Did Hanzo not realise the huge romantic implications behind his confession?

From his expression, it seemed that he didn't.

Kotaro felt a warm feeling well up in his chest, and the sudden desire to kiss the other ninja.

But he restrained himself.

Instead, he let a small smile creep onto his face.

"Thank you, Hanzo. I hope you'll always treat my wounds from now on," he said warmly. Hanzo looked taken aback by his sudden change in tone. "Huh? Oh, um, yes of course," he mumbled, his blush returning tenfold.

With a sudden movement, he stood up and mumbled "it's late, my lord will be looking for me" and vanished.

Kotaro lay back down on his bed, sighing contentedly. He was looking forward to the days ahead that they would spend together even more now.