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"Sake." The loud voice was muffled by the other sounds in the building. The voice came from a man at the bar of a gambling house. He wore a maroon haori and cut off hakama. His hair was untamed and his eyes, even in the dim light, had a certain glint to them. After a moment he payed the man and took up the sake, swallowing almost half the bottle in a single gulp. He glanced around the room, keeping the drink near his lips, until his eyes rested on a certain table. He sat the bottle down after finishing it off and stalked off to the table that had gathered a large crowd. A man cursed him when he found his spot taken by the young pirate, but soon found himself with a fierce glare and decided it best not to push his luck with the young man.

Noticing in a single glance that the table was surrounded solely with males, his interest was stoked. But obviously the dealer was late, for restlessness settled through the mass. His guess was that the dealer had stacked the deck or that the dealer was a hot wench. Either one would work fine with him. He then turned his gaze at the table.

'Dice. Guess the idea of a stacked deck is out. Whatever, I wouldn't mind seein'a sexy dice girl.'

He smirked inwardly and noticed that the crowd was breaking toward where the dealer would stand. He craned his neck but couldn't see around the fat-headed pervs in his way. Patience wasn't his game, so thankfully for the men she made it to the table soon enough. The young woman's attire surprised him. Her hair was up in decorated chopsticks and she wore a purple gambler's kimono, with half of her chest bindings revealed; this was a natural uniform for the dice roller, but there was something else. He quickly stole a glance at other tables, every other girl wore something near the same. The thought confused him--why did this one seem different?, but then he turned back and noticed the girl's face for the first time. His fierce gaze turned weak and his jaw slackened, but he caught himself before anyone noticed and stole a nearby straw hat that covered his face almost entirely. The girl stated the rules, then pulled out a small bag and dumped it's containments on the table; two pure white die with little black dots, save the 'one's that were red. Not all of the men decided to play; only four including the young man. The woman waved the onlookers back so she could have an easier go at the ones actually playing. She dropped the dice in a cup and placed her hand over the opening. Giving a single wild shake to the container, she then released the dice haphazardly and they bounced across the table, one hitting off of a nearby structural beam before it actually landed onto the table. The young pirate watched as a strange feeling seemed to tug at his gut.

Chaper 2: Fear is How I Fall

A sudden light seemed to hit her eyes without warning and she woke up, sleepily squinting her eyes to see. But the light wasn't truly there, in it's stead was a pair of fierce eyes. From habit out of the many perverts that came with her job she jarred him in the jaw with the palm of her hand.

"Mugen?" she yawned to the recoiling victim.

"The hell did'ja do that for?!" his voice was only slightly controlled and she gave a quick glance to her stirring roommates.

She quikly changed her voice to a whisper,"Sorry, habit. What are you doing here?" He also noticed the other two women, but was able to keep his perverted nature under control enough for his gaze to leave them for Fuu. He crouched down beside her mat and shrugged, "So, you didn't notice me at the dice table yesterday."

She drew in a quick breath, "The snake eyes!" She gave a large smile and realized she couldn't hold herself back any longer as her two meager arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Mugen's torso. "I've tried to tell myself I don't need anyone… But it just doesn't work. You don't know how much I missed you-- and Jin."

Mugen had grown less accustomed to Fuu after the past two years, but it was like riding a horse; no matter how long ago it was that you last rode, the first time you get back on it all comes back to you.

He gave her a second to get a grip on her emotions, before he withdrew her arms from their hold. She then noticed with flushed cheeks her attire and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Whatever, I just came to bust you out. You can go find Jin as soon as we leave." His tone came out just as harsh as he wanted.

"Why would I want to find Jin?" She ignored the kimono he was roughly pushing into her hand; she hoped the instinct to cover herself had not somehow offended him.

"Well, you always seemed happiest with his girlie-a**. I just thought you might wanna check on 'im."

"Do you know where he is? And what about Shino? And what have you been up to...?" Fuu was too caught up in the meeting to realize she was rambling.

"I dunno, we just need to get outta here. You're waistin' too much time talkin' about s**t we can discuss later." He stood up and turned his back, expecting something of her. She sat there a moment before noticing the kimono. "Oh, sorry." She quickly pulled back the covers and stood up. After a few moments of listening to her shuffling around, Mugen began getting restless, "Hurry the hell up, would'ya?"

"Okay, let's go." She gave him a smile when he turned around. First he noticed the kimono he had handed her was discarded and on the wooden floor. Mugen was barely able to hold back the urge to ridicule her; only because she almost looked cute--though he would never admit it, even to his own thoughts.

She wore a certain red haori that was open to reveal tight upper bindings and certain black cut off hakama, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a bit of white cloth she had cut from her bindings.

"Where'd you...?"

"Heh, I picked them up in a town near Nagasaki. They, uh-- I thought they might come in handy, but come to find out they look a lot like-- Wait, you're clothes are a little different now..."

"Yeah, they were gettin too tight on me," he lied brushing off his newer, maroon(er) haori. The truth was his old clothes gave him too many memories of the time he had spent with the two people he had referred to as 'distractions', two long years ago. He had sold them off at a town... near Nagasaki.

"Okay, time to go." Without a second thought he roughly grabbed her forearm and found his way to the window.

This had startled Fuu a bit, almost forgetting how forceful Mugen was, but she noticed the forms of her two roomates stirring ever more. Ignoring the nagging feeling to shout at Mugen's forward-ness, she moved her legs to walk so he wouldn't have to drag her. He gave a short glance out the window before removing his shoes and passing them to the questioning Fuu, without telling her more he crawled over the edge.

A shiver racked her boy and her eyes flickered open. 'Just anoher dream. But. . . Why do I keep having them?'

She glanced to the wall where Mugen once was but he wasn't there; she was about to panic until a flash of red appeared at the window. He stood crouched on the seal a moment before he found his feet to the ground and flattened his back against the wall. He peered out the window toward the ground.

"Mu--" his fierce eyes that flickered toward her withdrew the words that she was about to speak, though her face still held the unspoken question. A voice that sounded from outside broke their gaze as they turned to the window once more. Fuu began shuffling around and was about to stand up, but his hand flew up to silent her motion. She paused watching his intense gaze out the window before he stalked across the toward where she sat.

He crouched down near her ear; his voice was low and she could barely hear him, but hear him she did.

"I was spyin' on a little town meeting. The gambling house told the shogunate that you were kidnapped."

She sat expectantly, for she knew that wasn't all of it or else he wouldn't be acting so tense.

So he continued, "They found out early this morning and have been searching everywhere up till now. They suspect we're still here." He paused to allow the news to sink in before finishing, "They've been runnin' around the town the whole time you slept, it's only a matter of time before they check here."

She tugged at the cloth that bound her hair and rubbed her fingers through the silky strands before refixing her hair into a neater ponytail; the whole while he stared at her expectantly. He seemed unnerved, awaiting the usual overreaction that Fuu made about everything.

But she had grown to accept the losses of her past and she had taught herself to be calm in dire situations. She had had to learn some sort of self-consolation in the past two years or else the men who regularly visited her at the gambling house would have brought her to insanity.

"Well, let's get to work. Are we leaving now?" her voice was just below a whisper and she stood just as quietly. A smirk had made it's way across her face. She had changed and she knew it surprised Mugen--this could be fun.

He mentally shook himself awake and stood in suit, "Yup, but we're not doin' anymore fancy moves to escape. If they think you're kidnapped they'll find out the truth when they see you're willingly by my side." He laced his fingers together, palms outward and stretched his arms out in front of him till he heard a satisfying 'pop'. It was obvious he had dropped the silent act, he was back to the same old headstrong Mugen. She watched as he slipped on his geta and bent to his sword, he walked to the door after putting his head through the sling and situated it with the sword on his back.

She flattened out her haori and hakama, then put her own shoes on before following him out the door.

"Get up, b***h," a rough hand slapped her across the cheek and her eyelids flicked open in fear. She shuddered under the massive hands that now held her biceps as the foul odor of a drunken, unbathed man hit her. She cringed as his grip tightened and pulled her to her feet. "Try escapin' like that again, little wretch, and we will have to revert to more 'uncivil' punishment. He gave her a toothy smile that chilled her spine, and let go of her arms. He brushed an ugly hand against her soft cheek and gave her a wink before turning away. He shuffled to the door and left without another word.

Fuu wiped her hand across where he had touched her as if she would get infected by some sort of disease had she left it. She then glanced around the room, noticing only one window. Ecstatically, she bounced to the wall and looked out the window, her heart sunk immediately. She was up about three stories and there was no place for footing if she even had the courage to crawl out of the window. She sighed and continued staring out the window, maybe someone would see her and she would be able to call for help?

Without knocking, another man intruded into the room. He was slightly older than Fuu and had various scars that marred his viewable skin. One in particular graced his left cheek right below the eye. The young man had black hair that hung in a low ponytail, with dark bangs that framed his tanned face. His eyes were such a dark brown they were almost black.

Her gaze instantly averted from the window to look at the new stranger. Though she was still scared of her predicament, she couldn't help her female nature to become attracted to the man. She almost dropped her barrier to smile, but just barely held face.

She turned to him and bowed her head, upon raising it up sh enoticed the distance between the two of the had lessened quite a few feet. Infact he was but inches from her face, only being becuase he was taller than her by almost a head. She noticed his face was tarnished with a cool half-smile and his eyes looked unwavering over her face. "You are quite beautiful. How did you come about being captured by the Yakuza?"

Fuu almost fell backwards in surprise at how forward the man was upon only just meeting. "Umm... Thank-- Wait the Yakuza? I-- I thought it was the Shogunate?"

"And I thought the girl my men caught an ugly wench. So, we all are surprised." She looked wide-eyed at him, unsure if it was a compliment or sarcasm.

"Well, why am I here?" her voice changed slightly a degree colder than it had been. No matter how hot this boy was she was not going to allow men to kidnap her again and let them off with sweet words.

"At first it was because we were doing a favor for the gambling house, since we protect it and all... But now, I believe I shall keep you. You are more than anything I have ever layed eyes on before. We will see how this turns out, I believe."

He looked her straight in the eyes, making her forget her retort, and grazed the side of his hand against the skin of her pale cheek. He quickly withdrew from her gaze and left without a glance back.

Fuu allowed the mark of his hand to linger; she marveled at how the boy had managed to rid her of words, and yet she didn't even know his name. 'How has he done something so horrible as kidnapping me and yet I don't feel angered by it?'

She kneeled on the floor, unsure of her own emotions. When had she really ever understood her emotions? She never knew what love was. She only knew lust, and what she thought was love. But if she labeled everything by what she thought was love, then she could say she loved the young man from just then, she could say she loved Shinsouke, she could say she loved Jin, and she could say she loved... Mugen. So, obviously what she thought was love, truly was not love.

Fuu had been so dispersed in thought that she hadn't noticed a new figure in the room.

"What. Did. You. Say?" Mugen was trying rather hard to control his voice, but it ended up sounding even scarier as each word was emphasized.

"Umm, sorry but the girl--she's not here sir! I swear she's not!"
Mugen seemed only slightly believing, "Then where tha hell is she!" His tone was not questioning, for he knew he was going to get an answer no matter how it was he asked.

"Porbably at the Yakuza base, sir. At the western side of town." The man cringed as he waited for Mugen to strike out with either words or a sword, but instead met his stomach with a slight kick--thankfully for him it was only slight. He was sprawled out on the floor with his legs infront if him as he muttered apologies to the pirate that was already gone.

"Damnit! It better not take too long to get to the west side of town. This girl is such a pain in my a**." Mugen sounded as pissed as he was about how the girl always found herself in bad situations, though he never did question his actions on saving her. He didn't intend to either, he just kept himself believing it was because he still held fealty toward her for saving his life two and a half years ago.

It was an old rundown inn, about four stories high. The old wooden walls were rotten but stable upon inspection. He smiled inwardly, this was going to be fun. Especially if he got to fight all of the Yakuza of this town. He glanced around the exterior of the building, a certain window three stories up caught his attention. He noticed a face appear from the inside and he hid in the shadows of a nearby alley. 'That was her wasn't it.' he didn't even have to question himself.

He waited a few seconds before coming out of hiding, she had left the window, and he sized up the side of the building. Since it was old, the wood had plenty of holds and rough patches to cling to, but he also had to worry about it capsizing under him or a board coming loose. No worries there, with his reflexes any mishaps would easily be overlooked. So, he began his assault up the building. He looked much like a monkey climbing a tree, as much from the eaze as from the scruffy dark hair on his head and his tanned complexion. Though, no one beared to witness, for the only souls who lived in this part of town were the Yakuza.

Finally his hands found their way to the edge of the window, he pulled himself through the opening from sheer upper-body strength. Quieter than any mouse, his bare feet had found their way to the hard wood floor, and he watched Fuu from behind. She was kneeling and seemingly in deep thought. Mugen was about to untie the strap, which he had used to keep his shoes on his person, but decided against it, as he may be in need of getting back out the way he came in.

"Fuu." His voice broke her thoughts like a piece of glass, and she swirled her kneeling body around like a top. "Mu--Mugen! How did you find me? How did you get in? This is three stories high, you could've killed yourself!" Mugen couldn't help but smirk at her sudden change of attitude, remembering when he had told her of the supposed 'shogunate' that were after her, he knew her calm assemblage wouldn't last too long. Not with him around at least.

"Feh, whatever. I just came to bust you out. Again." He looked her over, his old clothes were still in decent condition and her hair was almost as perfect as she had it before, but he noticed a red mark on her right cheek. As if she had been hit. . . though he wasn't going to dote on it like some concerned lover. Yeah right, if anything he would laugh at it and make a derrogative comment. Or he would ignore the fact that he even saw it.

He watched as she sat as if in a stupor. But he was beginning to get restless and moved to lift her from the ground, but she shied away, shaking her head. "Wait, not yet. I think I might be able to get the inside story to this." She lied, there was no inside story, what kinda story would it be if there even was one? 'Yakuza kidnap dice thrower; leader marries and they live happily ever after.' What kind of story is that? Why did she lie; why couldn't she just let him bail her out now? But, she seriously had an idea as to why. 'That man from before, he seemed to really like me. But, Mugen? As if that baka could ever love someone, much less me!' she did't have a chance to wonder why she included Mugen into her thoughts, because a myriad of knocks landed on the door, and she watched as a maroon haori went to the window; it hesitated only a moment before slipping away. 'Mugen. . .'

The door jarred open before she could bid entrance, and another of the gruff men entered, he carried a black obi and a violet kimono adorned with black flowers. He threw both to the ground at Fuu's feet and barked out her orders, "You are to get dressed in that and come downstairs for dinner." She watched as he left the room, sliding the door shut with a hard thud. She didn't even notice that it was getting late, time had passes so fast. She stood and dressed in the kimono, wrapping the obi around her waist and tying it tight. She folded her other clothes neatly in a pile, but not before taking out her trusty tanto and concealing it inside her new attire. She let down her hair tying the cloth band around her wrist for later. She glanced herself over, the kimono was tight fitting and the image of her newly enhanced figure was bestowed to anyone who saw her dressed in it. Fuu almost smiled at how much she had changed in two years, then frowned when she thought about the men who gave her this. 'What perverts!' As she combed her fingers thru her hair she wondered over why in the world she had to dress up to eat food. For her it was eat, eat, eat, get full, then sleep. No need for fancy clothes throughout the whole process, but whatever, these were the Yakuza. Lecherous old men with swords,

She slowly eased her way down the steps, tripping ever so often on the hem of her kimono as she scaled each step. After a bit of shuffling, she had made it to the bottom and was acquainted by more than a pair of taunting eyes. About six men sat around a table playing some sort of game with dice and chips and each had been staring for the past five minutes at the stairs as she slowly had found her way to the bottom. All of the men began as if they were eyeing a girl in the red light district; cat calls, whistles, and disgusting names. One of the men gave a short laugh as he stood from the table and crossed over to her, "We was half thinkin' you was gonna fall down all them stairs, you was makin' so much noise. That woulda' been'a show, huh boys?" They all chuckled almost immediately before getting back to their game. He grabbed her forearm and led her from the room and down a long corridor before she could think of anything to say in return. He pushed her limp body into a large room, the best-looking one she had seen in the whole rundown building.

A long table alotted with two cushions sat in the room. The one farthest away was vacated by none other than the young man from before. She looked like a doe frozen in a meadow with a hunter just feet away, she didn't have a clue what she was supposed to do.

"Oh, do sit down. I didn't set up a table with two of everything just for myself. By the way, my name is Kunomaru," he gave a stirring smile, and she slowly crossed the room to her seat, kneeling at the end of the table. She finally looked up, stealing a glance at the cut below his eye, then looked away as if she had just committed a crime. It was obvious that he had noticed, for he shrugged, "I got it while trying to save one of my men from a double-crossing assassin." He stated it so casually it was almost as if any normal person had a run-in with assassins everyday. She simply nodded and noticed that he hadn't even taken a bite of the food that had been layed out.

His eyes watched her intently, watched her every move. No one was in the room but the two of them, and she began feeling even more like the cornered doe. Though he may not have been as much the hunter as he was the young buck. It was an unnerving feeling, and it bothered her sincerely now. 'Sure he's good-looking but he's making me more and more uncomfortable. He is nothing like Mugen. Wait, why Mu--?!' her thoughts became interrupted as she noticed he was coming toward her, no longer in the seat he had been in just seconds before. A chill froze her spine as she felt a hand touch the side of her face. Her eyes widened, but he couldn't see her shock for he was squatting behind her. 'He doesn't waste any time.' Trying to stall, she reached out for her glass only to have her hand intercepted by the enemy. His scarred hand held her gently, but possessively, as if he would make her if she didn't willingly. But what she was worried about was what it was he would 'make' her do.

"It never fails." The voice threw her off for a moment. The rough voice that at that moment seemed so sweet to her ears."You always seem to find yourself kidnapped some way or other."

"Mugen!" her voice broke through the young man's barrier and he turned to Mugen.

"Leave now or my guards will kill you." His tone dripped with evil, and it scared any good thoughts of the man from Fuu's mind.

But Mugen didn't seem to notice, infact he released a chuckle, "What guards might those be again? Oh right, the dead yakuza in the other room. . ." He scratched a finger against his chin thoughtfully before drawing the European sword from his back.

Fuu felt trapped, beside Kunomaru under the gaze of Mugen. But she knew what she wanted at the moment, and it wasn't some evil man who owned the Yakuza. She wanted her big brother-figure. She wanted Jin to help her out of this mess. But she felt as if she had lost that part of family forever, for it had been two years since she had seen him. But then again, she had met back up with Mugen, right?

A light breeze picked up and caused a small dust-tornado to swivvel about the trail. The sunset truly was all the more beautiful when you were with your two best friends walking on an endless path of fate.

It was getting darker and they were going to have to set up camp soon, so they were just now looking for a good spot. Fuu inhaled deeply and stretched out her arms, making sure to graze each of her comrade's shoulders with her little clamped fists. When she exhaled, a smile played at the corners of her mouth; this was what she had come to love. This was what she felt was her most favorite of her memories; just walking at a steady pace with no known destination with the two best men in the world. Her big brother-figure and, well, Mugen.

After about half an hour of searching they found a clearing surrounded by trees a little off the road. They set up their sleep mats, then each went about readying for the night; Jin stayed to start a fire, Mugen went for food, and Fuu went to look for a bath.

Finally after some searching she heard the sound of trickling water, but she kept a close watch on how far from camp she was at all times. After a quiet cheer of joy, she undressed and submerged in the hot spring so only her eyes and the top of her head were visible. She popped back out of the water to take a breath then dunked her head in and back out. With a sigh of content, she crawled back out and grabbed the linen she had brought to dry herself with, then dressed back in Mugen's old clothes. She said she had decided to bring along the purple kimono on their travels just in case something were to happen to the clothes she wore now, but secretely she had brought it because she actually kind of liked how it fit. It made her feel older and more than just the 'little girl Fuu' that she used to be.

She pocketed her tanto and headed back to camp, but she stopped when she heard the sound of a broken twig. Her hand found its way to the pocket as she waited in full alert. Another sound ocurred and a figure found its way infront of her, but by now it was quite too dark for her to really tell who or what it was. She had unsheathed the tanto and swung it forward, but something caught her hand in a vice grip. She looked up into a pair of fiercely intense eyes.

"Mugen, I'm sorry." She heard a laugh and almost wished she hadn't apologized.

"No problem, not like you could have actually hurt me." She watched as he reached inside his pocket. Being in the dark like this, being alone like this, it almost scared her since she knew what she had in her own pocket. Though she knew in her heart that Mugen would never do anything that would harm her, and so she waited expectantly. She felt the heat of his hand as it still held her wrist, but she didn't pull away. It felt rather consoling in the darkness.

"Here, I found it when I was hunting. Thought you might like it." He pulled out his hand, almost too gently, and he flipped his palm upward. Two small eyes glowed at Fuu, and she almost jumped in surprise.

"What?" She didn't have a clue what it was, for she couldn't see it.

"It's a baby squirrel, like that one you had before. I found this one on the ground, so I guess it woulda' died anyways." In the dark he could see a sudden shine light in her eyes as she carefully picked the small creature from his hand and put it in-between her breasts so his little head could peek over the white bindings. This action caught Mugen's eye and he allowed himself a moment to look at Fuu as she was concerned with other matters, but it was soon broken as she pushed Mugen ahead of her and back toward camp. Before they made it back, he heard a faint 'thank you' as if she were trying to hide her gratitude from him.

She practically bounced toward the fire and kneeled. She was about to pull out the little furball, then seemed to realize an important detail.

"Mugen? Did you find any seeds?" Jin raised an eyebrow, not having a clue what she was talking about, though he wasn't about to ask.

"Yup, actually I did. I found some near the little thing and decided it wouldn't hurt to grab 'em." He walked over to Fuu and sat down, passing a handfull of various seeds to her. He watched as she took a small one up and pressed it to the squirrel's mouth. An alarmed squeak sounded, but not from the squirrel.

"It bit me," she smiled foolishly up at Mugen and stuck the finger to her mouth. She watched as he suddenly got up and walked to sit across the fire from her at his sleeping mat. He casually put his head against the rough surface and closed his eyes. Fuu didn't have a clue why he got up so suddenly, but blamed it on fatigue as she carefully fed the squirrel a larger seed. She whispered just loud enough so Mugen and Jin could hear, "Muko." Mugen then turned over on his side and fell to sleep without another thought.

Jin watched the whole picture as it was painted before him, but it had never ocurred to him until now. He knew, but he wondered if they did too, or if they were as blind-sighted as they acted. He laughed inwardly at this and fell back on his own mat to sleep.