AUTHOR'S NOTES: One-shot dedicated to my favorite pairing, though there really isn't a lot of romance to it. It's more like a shared moment between them. Here's to hoping that more people add their fics to this lonely looking category! Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!

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What would happen to him when she was gone?

For some reason, that question had been plaguing him constantly lately. Ever since he overheard the others talking about her returning to her own world once her duties to protect the city were fulfilled, Yasuaki was not able to shake the odd foreboding feeling that filled him. It was a feeling he could not attribute a specific name to, a feeling he had never experienced before until she had come into his shadow of a life.

He had been created for her.

Would his existence cease once she was gone?

The purpose of his existence, the reason he had been born, he felt, was for her sake. It made sense that he ceased to be in that world once hers did as well. It was a fate that he should accept for his birth was an unnatural one and the laws of nature could not remain unbroken for long or else the balance of the world would shift.

He should accept it, accept what was meant to be. He should but...

Why, then, was some part of him resistant?

"Yasuaki-san!"

The call of his name was familiar, as was the voice that called it. Turning in the direction from which it came, unknown to him was the faintest gentling of expression on his features as he beheld the figure racing over grass towards him. And when the figure nearly stumbled several times over various tree roots on her journey over, he was also unaware of the slight frown that made its home upon his lips.

It was that with which Akane was greeted when she came to a clumsy stop before him, barely managing to stay upright when her foot somehow found yet another erstwhile tree root that threatened to send her toppling into silently stoic form of but one of her Hachiyou. Undaunted by the slightly disapproving features of her companion, Akane smiled brightly up at him.

"Yasuaki-san!" she exclaimed. "Why are you just standing here? A passing guard told me that he'd seen you around so I waited for a while. But when you didn't come for a visit, I decided to come looking for you."

Yasuaki's frown deepened. "Miko. It's dangerous to wander around without someone with you. Where is Yorihisa?"

"Right behind me, of course." She glanced behind her and her expression turned baffled. "At least, he was. I must have lost him." She looked suddenly troubled. "Oh, no. I'll have to apologize to him again. Yorihisa-san always blames himself when something like this happens."

"As he should. Responsibility should be taken for the failure of one's duties."

"You really shouldn't be so strict," Akane chided. "It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't heard you were around and wanted to find you. So you might even say that it was your fault!"

"I see. Then I apologize."

"Yasuaki-san!" she huffed. "Goodness, I can't even tease you without it being misconstrued!"

"Tease?"

"Of course!"

"I see."

Pink locks bounced around her face as she shook her head. "You have to learn not to take everything I say literally. I would never blame either you or Yorihisa-san, or anyone else for that matter, for anything that was my fault to begin with. And the one who decided to chase after you and leave everything else behind happened to be me, so the only person who can be blamed is...well, me."

"Then, if you know you are at fault, why do you continue to do such things?"

She blushed. "Impulse - it comes naturally. Unfortunately. Haven't you ever done anything on impulse?"

"No."

"Oh." She blinked, for a moment at a loss for words. "Well, I don't think that's very good either. Yasuaki-san, I think you need to give in to your impulses every once in a while, too. Not as much as I do," she said in a tone similar to that of a teacher instructing a child. "Sometimes it's hard to figure out which impulses to ignore and which ones to listen to."

"Not a problem. I do not have impulses."

"Really?" She frowned. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why?"

"Well...just because. Impulses are natural things to have."

"Perhaps. However, Miko, you forget that I am not natural."

"Yasuaki-san, you're still bothered by that?"

"Bothered? I do not believe so."

"Hmm." She eyed him skeptically. "That's not how it appears to me."

Yasuaki just stared back at her, silent.

"I don't care how you came into the world but, to me, you're no different from anyone else. I've seen you annoyed - usually at me - and I've seen you cry and even smile, though it was a small one. You're as human as anyone else and that's the most important thing that should matter, in my opinion."

It was uncertain how he would have responded for, as she spoke, she stepped toward him and tripped over the same root that had given her trouble earlier. Only this time she was not able to catch herself from falling, her body slamming hard into Yasuaki and knocking him into the tree he stood by. But Yasuaki was nothing if not quick and he caught her before she hit the ground, one strong arm wrapping around her waist while his other braced himself against the tree, helping him steady both of their combined weights.

"I'm so sorry!" Akane apologized profusely as she righted herself. "I don't know why I'm always so clumsy. Yasuaki-san, you're always having to rescue me."

"Not a problem. As Hachiyou, it's my duty."

"Maybe, but- Oh, no! You're hurt!"

"It's nothing."

"Don't say that! It's my fault you were injured and it's not 'nothing' to me."

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself over."

"I think I'll be the judge of that. Here, let me have a look."

Despite his reluctance, Akane gently took one of his hands in hers. Her features crinkled with the intensity of her examination as she studied the injured hand, happy to see that it really wasn't all that serious. Though there were visible scrapes from when the friction of his hand had slid across the rougher tree bark in his attempt to catch his balance with her additional weight, the skin was not broken and there were no signs of bleeding. In relief, she involuntarily squeezed his hand and only the slightest flinching of his flesh told her that something was wrong.

"Yasuaki-san, what is it?"

"It's nothing."

Akane gave an exasperated sigh. She was getting tired of hearing that same answer of his for everything. Refusing to release his hand when he gave a light tug, she forced her eyes to take a closer look and find what her stoic Hachiyou was trying to keep from her. And the answer was there, quite visible upon a second look and she wondered how she could have missed it before – a spot of darkness buried in pale flesh.

Her dear Hachiyou was in possession of a splinter.

"Don't move," she instructed firmly. "I'll get it out."

Taking his silence for assent, she poured all her concentration and concern towards removing that offending bit of wood from where it should not be. Fortunately, the sliver was long enough to grasp without the need of tweezers and had not embedded itself too deep in the pale palm. Still, she took the greatest of care with him though he showed not a bit of discomfort over the matter, one way or the other.

"It's out!" she proclaimed victoriously, flicking the bit of wood aside. "Now, about those scrapes…it's not serious but maybe some ointment would be good. Or even lotion? Wait, does lotion even exist here?"

"The term is unfamiliar, but it's not necessary."

He once again attempted to withdraw his hand but Akane resisted. Not only that, but her head was tilted at a stubborn angle and she was frowning at him. Clutching his hand, she straightened her back until she was at her fullest height.

"Yasuaki-san, I wish you wouldn't be like that," she chided. "You always act as if nothing's really important – even yourself. And that's not right." Sadness flickered in her clear-eyed gaze. "I want you to take better care of yourself, to think of yourself as important. Because even if you don't think you are," unconsciously she closed her eyes and brought his hand to her cheek, nuzzling against it, "to me, you're very important. That's why…that's why I want you to take more care of yourself."

Some unnamed feeling jolted through him at her words, her soft tone, the earnest warmth blanketing her innocent features. He didn't know what it was, exactly, but it wasn't unpleasant.

He stared down at her quiet beauty and, as if imbued with a will of its own, the hand she cradled between her smaller ones unfurled within her gentle grasp. Without conscious thought, it moved and molded itself until the warmth and softness of her cheek was flush against his flesh. He hadn't even realized what was done until her eyes flew open with a gasp, revealing their pure emerald green color and her obvious surprise over his actions.

Startled himself, his reaction was to jerk away immediately and, perhaps too overcome with surprise, she let him go. For a moment, he stared at the offending hand as if regarding it a dangerous and unpredictable enemy. It was so unusual to seem at such a loss that Akane was struck by the humor of the situation and couldn't hold back a small laugh.

"Sorry," she said when he looked at her. "I'm not really laughing at you. It's just…you look so troubled."

"Forgive me, Miko," was all he said in response.

"For what?"

Yasuaki avoided her gaze. "It was rude of me to take such liberties."

"Oh, Yasuaki-san," she sighed. "Sometimes you remind me too much of Yorihisa-san."

The comparison raised disquiet within him. He couldn't see how anyone could make such a remark about him and his fellow Hachiyou, especially when the differences between them were so vast and glaring. Yasuaki was far from being in the same caliber of Yorihisa.

After all, unlike him, Yorihisa was human.

"The two of you take more care of me than I deserve," Akane continued on, unheeding of Yasuaki's state of mind. "You're always looking out for me and unbelievably sweet-"

Sweet? Him? No one had ever called him such before.

"-but you really needn't coddle me so much. It makes me feel like such a burden to the two of you."

"It's our duty."

"I know," she said sadly. "And you wouldn't have to take such a heavy responsibility if it weren't for me."

He was puzzled over why she appeared so troubled by it. It was the duty, the honor, of the Hachiyou to protect the Ryuujin no Miko who, in turn, protected the city of Kyo. It gave his life purpose, meaning, where there'd been none before her and the only thing he felt confusion over was what his purpose would be once she was gone. He just wanted to hold onto that truth of his life until the time came when it was no more.

Why did she seem to not understand that?

Unsure of how to rid his miko of her uneasy feelings, he repeated again, "It's our duty. The purpose of a Hachiyou is to serve the Ryuujin no Miko with respect." He recalled his most recent action of disrespect. "And that is why I apologize for my failure in that regard."

"What are you talking about?" Confusion stared back at him. "What failure?"

He'd never before imagined such difficulty in finding words. "My rudeness when I….Forgive me. My hand seemed to move on its own."

"Oh." Realization dawned. "That."

"Yes. I should not have touched you in such a way."

She cocked her head, thinking. "You said it moved on it's own."

"So it appeared." As with most things concerning her, he didn't understand why she suddenly looked so happy. "Miko?"

"That's it!" she exclaimed excitedly, almost triumphantly. "And you were making such a big deal over it."

The meaning of her words was lost to him.

"See, Yasuaki-san? You have them too. There's nothing to worry about."

"Miko…I do not understand."

"Impulses, remember? I asked you earlier but you said you never had them. But, right now, you said your hand seemed to just move on it's own. That's what we call an impulse." She smiled at him. "You see? It doesn't matter how you were born, you're just as human as everyone else – right down to those pesky impulses!"

For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt…he wasn't sure what it was he felt. But it was warm and he knew he liked it. This feeling, it was one he wanted to hold onto and he knew it was owed to her. There were no words he could form to express what he felt, and the need for it took the shape in another impulse that overtook him before his mind even realized what he was doing.

"Yasuaki-san!"

The surprised cry his ears heard clearly and, though the shock of his actions caused her to stiffen, he was reassured that she made no real attempt to move away. His embrace on her tightened, arms crossing over her back to draw her closer and pressing against him as his cheek rested against the silky strands of her hair. He basked in the warmth of her form, her presence, her caring, and finally the words rose from his heart and to his lips in a low and grateful whisper that he wasn't sure she even heard until her body relaxed into his.

Thank you.

The emotion in those words lingered between them, as did the feelings that flowed through him. No matter what the future may hold – for him, for her, for their world – there was, at least, that moment. As long as he lived, he would never forget it for in that fragment of time everything in his world was made clear to him, no regrets.

She existed in this world.

And, for now, so did he.