A/N: IMPORTANT!! REGARDING THAT STATEMENT ABOVE, IT'S NOT ON MY DOCUMENT… AND I CAN'T GET RID OF IT. SO PLEASE DISREGARD IT BECAUSE IT IS FALSE AND UNTRUE!!
OK, so this is my first Champloo fic… ever. I recently became re-obsessed with the show, so I figured it might be fun to bang one out. As with anything else I have written, reviews and comments are ALWAYS more than welcome. So, without further ado…
…Sorry, I lied. DISCLAIMER: I do not own any SC characters etc…
CH1: ONE SCENARIO AFTER THE OTHER
It had been nearly four years since the infamous group had left each other and all gone their separate ways. Fuu was hoping that destiny would once again bring the threesome back together, but there was no sight of either of her two comrades since the split. "Maybe it was just coincidence all along" she sighed while clearing another table on her endless list.
Fuu found herself working at yet another tea shop, much like the one she had started out in before the journey. It was really no big surprise to her, after all, this is what she felt comfortable with. In fact, everything about this teahouse made her feel as though her embarking on that journey had never occurred at all.
Customers trickled in and out at a steady rate, and none of them ever offered her reason for excitement or even entertainment, for that matter. There had been so many times where she found herself nearly praying that either Mugen or Jin would barge in and bring adventure back into her life. But that really didn't seem to be the case anymore. Perhaps a while back, when the journey was still fresh in her mind, she would have had more hope, but she knew that by now the three of them were probably scattered so far apart it would only be lunacy to think there was a chance.
Another customer drifted in, sat down, and ordered some bland food. Honestly, that was the epitome of this who village lifestyle she had grown used to; bland. By the end of her hard day of work, she had come to the resolve that she needed to do something for herself to put a little spice back into her life. Perhaps she would go and get herself a nice spa treatment for the evening and go out on the town. Fuu had begun to feel a little better about her life but when the realization that she was all alone in this town reared its ugly head, her mood was shot right back to crap.
Fuu waved goodbye to her elderly boss as she hung up her apron and left work for the day. The sun was just beginning to set on the streets of Edo, which meant that the night life was just beginning to come out to play. She hastily made her way back to her small rented out cottage, deciding that tonight would be a fine night to stay in just as well.
-MEANWHILE-
At the other end of Edo, a ragged looking man had just snuck his way through his third checkpoint of the week. He hadn't been to Edo in a great while now… in fact, it was almost three years since he had been here last. Or maybe it was two, but honestly, how the hell was he supposed to know? He was still in the process of learning to read, and now he was supposed to know how to do math too? Pfft, yeh right, maybe when warrior priests fly.
It was true, Mugen's math was almost as atrocious as his hair was unruly, but he never saw any real advantage to being able to count beyond 100.
But honestly, all this was beside the point. Here was the true fact of the matter. Mugen, the vagabond piratical killer, was ravaged with hunger, and would just about kill anything that got in between him and a full meal. The clomp of his geta could be heard from all the people in the small shops. They looked out the windows in curiosity, laid eyes on the unruly man, and shut the blinds in an instant. The old folk of this small village wanted nothing to do with the traveler, as it would appear.
"Pfft… buttheads", Mugen hissed beneath his breath. Buttheads?! Holy cow, he was hungrier than he thought. Only on a purely deprived stomach do you come out with a second grade insult such as that. It didn't matter though, because he would soon be happy as a lark with an overly stuffed belly.
But first, he needed some quick cash. Pick pocketing was beneath him at this stage of his criminal career, but a good mugging now and again was always fun. Sadly, ever since his split from his friends, Mugen's much improved moral had dwindled back down to its previous state.
He strode sluggishly down the street, hands up behind his head, with one eye closed and the other lazily looking about for a good target. And then, without much effort at all, he spotted it.
The guy must have been in his late thirties, and from the looks of it, done very well in money making department thus far. "Now, this guy can spare some cash", he nearly growled. In one swift pounce, he had the man pinned up against the side of a building.
"Wha- what are you doing?!" the man croaked, obviously taken aback by the swiftness of his attacker.
Mugen scoffed. "Uhh… mugging you, duh". He sniggered at the stupid question, and proceeded with his dirty little deed.
-BACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN-
After spending an extensive amount of time arguing with herself over what should be done with her night off, Fuu finally resolved on freshening up and going for a nice stroll.
She had already had a nice long soak in the bath, so now, all that was left for her to do was to dress for the night. She had long since thrown out her pink little kimono in exchange for a few nicer ones that fit her newly developed body. Tonight she would wear her midnight blue one with white the little decorative lilies embroidered into its surface. Her hair, which was much longer by now, was t be pulled up into an elaborate updo atop her head.
Once her makeup and everything else was complete, Fuu eyed herself in the one loan mirror in her house. She looked good, she knew it and tonight, she decided, other people would know it too.
The lanterns on the main strip glowed red in the early night. People wandered up and down the street with drunken lazy smiles scribbled across their faces. They clung to one another for support, sang merrily, and stumbled this way and that. After seeing these happy souls, Fuu knew where she wanted to visit.
The bar at the center of town was teaming with customers. The hustle and bustle certainly provided Fuu with the sought after excitement for the night. She walked in with pride, knowing that tonight she would be the sexy woman that all the men couldn't stop drooling over. With her head held high, she made her way to the front of the bar and sat down on an empty stool.
Almost instantly, the bartender was standing up in front of her. "What'll ya have, Miss?" He slyly took a half second to look down the open collar of her kimono with half lidded eyes.
A shy giggle pushed out between her slightly upturned lips. Honestly, what else was there to drink in Japan?
"Sake" she said simply, trying her best to follow what ever seductive instincts she had. This was truly out of character for Fuu, what with her actually being a bit of a ditz at times, and a klutz 'round the clock. But tonight was going to be her night to let loose, let it all out, and go buck wild… if the chance arose.
The bartender disappeared beneath the counter for a second, and resurfaced with little cup and jug absolutely filled to the brim with steaming hot sake. "This stuff is always on the house for sexy little ladies such as yourself." The man cooed.
"Wow, really?! Thanks mister", she nearly hollered. Realizing this was not the way for a sophisticated young woman to be acting, she quickly regained her composure and replied in a far more seductive voice. "Thank you, but I'd feel badly drinking all this and not repaying you."
You could practically see the man's hair stand on end at this comment. From his point of view, she was telling him that if he got her cocked enough on booze he would end up in the sack with her tonight, but from poor Fuu's objective, she was merely saying that she didn't feel comfortable taking free drinks. Sometimes Fuu just begs to get into foul situations.
So there sat little Fuu, with the alcohol tolerance of an emaciated five year old, little knowledge of how much she could handle, and all the free booze she could ever ask for. This did not bode well in the least.
The drinks kept coming even though the poor girl was past the point of drunken slurring, also making it past the point of no return. In fact, she was so gone she didn't even realize the new presence to the right of her. She was too entwined in her little conversations with the bartender to realize any of the sideways glances she had been receiving for the past few minutes now.
As Fuu drawled on and on about how much she loved to travel the man beside her slumped over the table and silently beckoned the bartender away from her. "You got any food in this joint. Or is it just booze?" his voice sounded absolutely venomous, even at a low level.
"Sorry buddy, just booze."
"That's ok. I'll just drink until I forget how hungry I am." With that bit being said, he slapped a massive handful of coins on the table with a loud bang and simply stated, "Sake".
Fuu's ears perked up at the word, and turned to the newcomer for the first time that night. "Want some 'a mine?" She giggled, "Mines free so here." She forcefully shoved the little cup into the man's hands even though he would have taken the offer willingly.
"I like you girly. What's yer name?" The man's lips were upturned just the slightest bit as he downed the cup of sake and awaited her reply. But the answer never came. When he took the cup away from his face he came to find her passed out completely while being dragged off by the bartender.
"Hey pal, what gives?" Mugen could feel his temper rising, but he could stand to suppress it for just a few more moments while the man gave him his answer.
"You gotta be kidding me. This little chicky drank for free all night on a promise that she would repay me at the end of it all, and I'm prepared to help her keep that promise, passed out or not." By the end of his statement he was so heated over the topic he was spitting everywhere as he spoke.
This didn't sit well with Mugen one bit. Maybe it was because he had wanted to fuck her, maybe it was because this woman had reminded him of someone, or maybe it was just because he was in the mood for a good fight. Whatever the reason, this was not going to fly.
He sat up from his chair and cracked his neck to either side, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the bartender and the woman. "Sorry, that's not gonna happen". An evil smirk or sorts grew on his face as he waited for the pervert to react.
"The hell it's not!" He spat dropping Fuu to the floor and pulling a katana from his sleeve.
Seeing the small blade pointing in his direction, a full blown grin exploded onto his face, accompanied by fierce eyes as he reached his hand behind him and pulled his sward out of its sheath. Yes, his old sward had been destroyed during his final bout with Jin, but it's been years from then and getting a new blade was the first thing on his priority list.
The bartender charged, screaming what Mugen thought to be a pathetic attempt of a battle cry. "Let's show this fucker how it's done", he growled beneath his breath.
Within an instant Mugen was up on the rafters leaving the bartender bewildered, to say the least. He stared down, arms crossed at his chest, and then leapt with a grunt landing square on the guys face with his iron clad geta. With the momentum he had left Mugen pushed himself off the guy and landed directly in front of him. Mugen was just beginning to get excited for a big showdown when the man cried out while holding his broken nose.
"Stop!! STOP!! You can have her! Just please, please don't kill me!!" The guy's whimpering made Mugen sick. Not really knowing what else to do, he spat on the ground for dramatic effect.
"Well, get outta here already," he said evenly, his controlled voice being even more terrifying than a frantic one. The bartender didn't have to be told twice, with the blink of an eye he had scampered off into the back room leaving Mugen alone with the passed out girl.
"Damn broad don't even know what just happened," he spat while kneeling down beside her. Mugen poked at her with his index finger, hoping that the sharp jabs would startle her out of her coma. After all, not even he was rotten enough to leave her passed out on the floor of a bar. It would be nice to think that he was just being a nice guy and wanting to get her home safely, but this was Mugen we are talking about and he ALWAYS had ulterior motives.
Finally, at long last, Fuu stirred from what actually looked to be a pretty peaceful sleep. "Wha… huh?" her words were still scrambled, however, as she was still piss drunk.
"Hey, I'm bringing ya home and crashing there for the night as payment for saving your pretty little ass." When it came right down to it, Mugen wasn't one to mince words. "If ya can't walk, I'll carry ya. Just tell me how to get to yer place."
Fuu was baffled. He saved her ass? From what? But the questions soon left her drunken head as she smiled up at him. "you know…" she trailed off for a moment and them came back to finish her dribble of a sentence. "You look a lot like this one guy I knew this one time. But he was ugly and you look more like a smudge."
Mugen couldn't be sure what the hell this girl was talking about, she was so drunk it wasn't even funny. She probably wasn't seeing strait any longer, so that's what he chalked up his smudgey appearance to… but she still wasn't making too much sense.
But even still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her from some where too. If he was crazy he might have even thought she was Fuu. But she was WAY too sexy to be that little twig of a brat he had once known. But still, he was intrigued. I mean, it had been a few years since he last saw her… he supposed there was always the chance, but the doubt in his mind was so high he pushed the notion right out of his head the instance it had entered.
Fuu giggled haphazardly at the sensation of the man's hands inching their way beneath her laying body. In one fluid motion Mugen had her up off of the floor and into his arms bridal style. But honestly, she was more like a giant sack of rice than anything else; hardly fitting for a bride in her inebriated state. "Ok girly, point the way home."
A/N: So? How did you like the first of many chapters? Again, reviews are always welcome. And don't worry, I update regularly so it won't end here.
