A/N: Hnn, I think this might be the first published fanfic in the Kabaneri category on this site. Since I wrote this after watching up to episode 7, it probably makes no sense, but I just... had to write it.

Thank you to Cun for beta!

"Oohh, what does this one do?"

Peering with curious eyes, Mumei pointed to a particular control on the dashboard. She received no answer to the question. Impatient to find out, she poked the round button with a finger and eagerly waited for something exciting to occur. Ten long seconds passed, but nothing happened. She sighed and turned away in disappointment.

"It doesn't do anything," a stoic voice finally said.

Mumei grimaced. "I figured, thanks."

Silence.

Mumei heaved another sigh and looked around. The driver's cab was smaller than the other carriages, the space mostly taken up by bulky engines and other gadgets to steer the Hayajiro. There were so many complex parts to the machinery, it was almost dizzying to look at. There were no labels to what anything was, so one needed actual knowledge to manoeuvre such a locomotive. Mumei wondered how many years of training it took to commandeer a Hayajiro.

She stole a sideways glance at her silent companion. The driver sat at her usual spot, green eyes never leaving the railway ahead. There was an expression of intense concentration on her sharp features, although her hands never moved on the controls. The rail road ahead was straight after all. It had been for a while.

'Does this girl ever take a break?' Mumei pondered. She looked out the front window and glanced up at the pale moon, half hidden by grey clouds. The night was peaceful, with no Kabane in sight.

Now that their ordeal at the Yashiro Station was far behind them, everyone on board the Koutetsujou was more at ease. Their armoured Hayajiro was speeding along the tracks towards the next station, battered in places, yet still moving strong. There was a general feeling of hope emanating from the people of Aragane after having survived yet another huge potential disaster. From the next carriage, voices of some men singing a jovial ditty carried in the night air. Mumei made a face. While it was uplifting to hear such happy sounds, a couple of the men had really horrible and scratchy voices.

She rubbed her throbbing ears with a scowl.

"Jeez, they've been going at this for almost an hour now. Can't they at least sing something else for a change?"

No reply. Mumei figured the question could have been taken rhetorically. She decided to try a more direct approach.

"Do you ever answer to anything?"

Still no reply.

Mumei pouted. She turned to glare at the red-haired engineer, who merely stared straight ahead as if she had not heard. Mumei noticed that a slight frown marred the smooth skin of her forehead below the copper goggles. Was she deaf or something? Or was she simply ignoring her? Her irritation increased.

"I only answer if there's something worthwhile answering to," the girl replied as Mumei opened her mouth to take another jab.

"Huh?" Mumei's eyebrows shot up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What are you doing here?" The deep voice was flat. "This is the engine room; it's not a place to fool around."

"Jeez." Mumei crossed her arms and huffed. "Are you always this frigid?"

The girl's lips thinned but did not move. Mumei let out a silent breath of exasperation and stepped closer to the driver's seat. Even then, the girl's focused eyes never diverted from the front.

"We've never talked much before and I was bored. So I thought we could chat and stuff. The men in the back carriages were being too annoying."

"That's not my problem."

"Hey, come on." Mumei sidled closer with a grin. "You're always stuck in here driving. Don't you wanna have some fun too?"

The sharp green eyes narrowed. "It's my responsibility as the engineer to ensure Koutetsujou's smooth passage. I have no time to fool around on the job."

Mumei groaned. "You're so dull," she complained loudly.

The girl ignored her, but Mumei wasn't about to give up. She pushed on.

"What's your name again?"

"Yukina." The one word response was immediate, almost reflexive.

Mumei grinned and leaned in closer. She sensed Yukina stiffen and felt a jolt of intrigue at the sudden and best reaction she had managed to draw out of the girl so far.

"You volunteered to give me blood, right? I'm hungry."

Yunika's eyes turned to slits.

"Didn't you drink already earlier?"

"Yeah, but they gave me fatso's blood."

"His name is Kibito."

"Yeah, whatever his name is. It wasn't very filling."

"So you're a glutton."

Mumei pouted like a child.

"No, I'm not. I just prefer a girl's blood, that's all. It tastes better."

She leaned in further so that her lips were lingering close to Yukina's ear. The engineer's hands tightened around the controls.

"Come on, Yukina-chan," Mumei whispered. "Isn't Koutetsujou on auto-setting right now? Besides, the railroad in this area stretches on straight for miles. You don't need to be sitting here the whole time."

"…"

"I just want a small sip. Please?"

Yukina looked unimpressed.

"I need my strength if I'm to protect the people on this Hayajiro. Being the bodyguard and fighting those Kabane everyday isn't an easy task, you know. What if I suddenly run out of energy again? Everyone will die if Ikoma fights alone, although I admit he's become a bit better. So I need blood."

Her Kabaneri hunger flared with intensity at the thought of drinking this girl's blood. She hadn't been lying about her preferences in appetite. Her tongue darted out and lightly licked the edges of Yukina's earlobe. Much to her delight, the stoic girl flinched. So she wasn't a complete bore after all. Excitement coursed through her. She wanted crack this mysterious girl's hard shell and discover more trigger buttons. What kind of reactions would she get?

"Mm, you look rather delicious," Mumei murmured. "Even though you're as stiff as a corpse, I bet your blood is plenty sweet."

"Fine."

Yukina suddenly stood up, forcing Mumei to step back in surprise. She blinked in confusion. The red-haired girl turned to face her with a grim expression. The Koutetsujou continued on its smooth travel, now completely on its own without the driver's guidance.

"Since you're so rudely interrupting my job when it's not even meal time, you have to earn the blood though."

"Eh?"

It took about a minute for those words to sink in and take meaning. A slow grin spread across Mumei's face.

"Ah, now this is interesting. You're challenging me when you know I'm a Kabaneri?"

"I may be human, but I'm not exactly a pathetic weakling either."

As the corners of Yukina's lips twitched upwards, Mumei suddenly realised this was the first time she'd ever seen the engineer smile. No, grin. Or was that a confident smirk?

"You think you can take me on then?"

"I'm under no illusions," Yukina replied. "I'm not going to pretend I can win. But I'm also not going to give you what you want, whenever you want it. I hate complainers that whine and expect to get everything."

As she spoke, she shrugged off her cargo jacket. Firm, toned shoulders and arms became exposed, the fine muscles rippling under the taut skin with her movements.

Mumei's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Ehhhh, you've been hiding those the entire time?! Whoah, your arms look so appetising!"

Yukina's eyebrows twitched.

"Like I've said, you've got to fight for it." Her firm voice left no room for argument. "I'm not the meek type of prey, you know." She brought up her fists and grounded herself with a well-balanced stance. "Show me what you've got, Kabaneri."

Hands on hips, Mumei smirked. "You don't have to tell me, human. I want my evening snack soooo badly now."

She lunged forward. Much to her delight, Yukina nimbly dodged to the side, using the spinning momentum to drive a sidekick at Mumei's back. Mumei backflipped over the assault, making it miss by a mere hair width.

"Whoah!"

Yukina rushed up to her in the time it took her to blink. A series of well-aimed, powerful punches flew at Mumei as she avoided each one with quick manoeuvres of her body. She was already impressed. If she was any slower, she was sure all of those would have hit her dead between the eyes.

"Heh~ You're pretty good," Mumei called out between the dodges. "Where did you learn to fight like this?"

A confident smirk played on Yukina's lips. "Keep wondering!"

Mumei laughed as she dodged a powerful arm sweep by ducking under it. "And here I thought you were a bore. I take back what I said earlier."

Yukina suddenly kicked out, the copper-plated boots catching Mumei by surprise on her chest. As she stumbled back, a knife streaked forward towards her neck in a flashing gleam of metal. Mumei swerved at the last moment, leaving the blade to nick off some strands of her brown hair. Using her Kabaneri reflexes, she caught the spinning knife with a quick outstretch of her hand.

"Phew." Breathing out a light sigh, she straightened up and lazily twirled the weapon between her fingers. It was well balanced and made of highly steel, she noted. Possibly of professional quality. This girl was full of surprises.

"That was dangerous, you know." Despite the protest, Mumei flashed her opponent a huge grin. "It got my hair, and I really don't need a haircut right now."

Yukina's lips quirked. "I've seen what you can do, so I knew you'd survive. You could have easily avoided that completely if you'd really wanted to."

"Hmmm." Mumei scratched her head. "That's probably true. But you are skilful. You know how to spin around and boom, boom, bam!" She made vague exploding motions with her arms. "Trust me, I'm not that easily impressed. You should ask Ikoma. But then again, he was absolutely terrible when he first started."

Yukina wiped her brow with the back of a glove. "If that's the case, then you mock me by holding back."

Mumei laughed and punched a fist into a palm. Her eyes glowed with a strange golden tinge as she stared at Yukina hungrily. "Then I won't hold back. You are my prey after all."

She leapt forward so fast, she became a streak of red. Yukina yelped as a hand slammed into her sternum. As she staggered back from the sheer force and pain, something upset her footing, sending her crashing onto the floor. Mumei immediately pinned the fallen girl down with her weight, knees tightly locked around her torso so that she would not be able to escape. The curve of the blade rested lightly on the neck of her defeated prey.

She smirked as Yukina looked up at her stoically.

"There, see? Now I've won!"

A slight hint of a grin slowly curved on Yukina's mouth. "It seems so."

"I can have your blood now, yeah?"

"Go ahead. I keep my promises."

"Mm, I want the blood from your arm…" She dragged the knife in the air so that it dangled over her biceps. She pressed the tip down lightly, breaking the skin there in a teasing manner. Droplets of blood pooled around the blade. Yukina gritted her teeth, but did not make a sound.

"It's gonna hurt, but bear with it, yeah? I'm so hungry…"

The knife slashed through the skin and muscle, forming a thin cut. Blood welled further and began to flow in earnest. Mumei ducked down and started to lap up the crimson liquid. The coppery tang tasted sweet on her tongue, the nourishment renewing her with a fresh glow of energy almost straightaway.

"Mmmm, you're just as delicious as I expected. I want more!"

A gloved hand lightly brushed against her hair.

At the contact, Mumei looked up to see Yukina genuinely smiling.

"See? You are a glutton."

Mumei grinned back sheepishly. She couldn't disagree.

"Next time, I want your other arm!"

"You'll have to fight for it, Kabaneri."

"Bring it on!"

They smirked at each other.

A/N: This work was inspired by how Yukina raised her hand to offer the Kabaneri her blood without saying anything. It was also inspired by her awesome muscles, and my wish that she would interact more with Mumei. Yukina is probably not a fighter, but I don't care. I love her so much already. XD

Hope you enjoyed. Please feel free to leave comments or feedback. I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!