-112/07/2005
Nowhere But Up
By FireoftheSoul
:Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Champloo or any of it related media. I am merely a fan and a writer wishing to share ideas and hopefully interesting stories with the populace of said fandom.
!Caution:
This story may contain violence, lime (hint of sex or sexual situations), lemon (vivid description of act or acts of sex and acts associate with sex, etc.) and sever use of a wide variety of swearing, slang and even improper grammar (for characterization only, lol). Minors, the easily offended and grammatically correct have been warned, Turn away now if any of this does not appeal to you. If not, then read on my fellow Champloos.
xXx
Prelude:
" Look you repugnant troll" She glowered and jammed her finger in the general direction of his chest " I don't know who's bridge you crawled out from under but you should go back!" She huffed and turned her back to the man she'd insulted, obviously adding further injury to the insult.
"Now just wait a damn minute you snotty self righteous little bitch. I fuckin' paid for you and you're gonna put out, got it!" He grabbed for her arm and spun her around into the dirty mass of rags that served as clothing covering his chest.
"The fuck I will, you paid the brothel not me!" she brought her knee soundly into the "customer's" groin, turned and fled while he groveled on the ground trying to learn to breath again.
"Sayonara Fucker!" she jeered as she darted down an alley and just out of his sight.
"You stupid bitch, you'll pay for this!" he could barely manage the words or the vulgar hand gesture that followed. Kumiko ran head first into the men she hadn't wanted to see ever again.
xXx
12 Hours Earlier:
Chiyo smiled gently at her customer, a rather handsome man, a little too tall with sharp but elegant features, he possessed an air of dignity and grace to really be here in a place like this. Had she been her own woman, she'd have sighed dreamily over such a man, now she was only curious as to why he was here. Surely he had a good woman who wanted him. His piercing eyes too intense to refuse. The only thing he asked. Which seemed odd.
"Do you know massage?" That was all? She was shocked and hoped her little sister had fared so well with her customer.
xXx
Kumiko sized up the man before her, he was rough and dirty. But he didn't strike her as cruel like some of them, currently a playfulness to rival a puppy's danced in his eyes, his hands lightly kneading the legs of his cutoff pants. How odd his clothes, a bandit or seaman maybe? The vagabond boy eyed her, intensely wanting her.
"So you just gonna look at me all night beautiful or do I get what I paid for?" Okay he is still a pig, just a happy one.
"Look you paid the house for my time, not to do anything to you. If you want something you have to pay extra buddy." She griped and folded her arms across her chest. This was usually the part where she got hit, either by the john or one of the house guys that checked on the girls when they were "occupied". He grinned, cheeks flushed from a deadly amount of sake.
"You know you're damn lucky I feel generous tonight honey, that and you are too cute to turn away. Maybe it's that defiant streak but here. Is this worth your attentions?" He extended a gold Ryu. She matched his grin.
"Absolutely dearest. Tell me what you want.."
xXx
The girl before him, trying not to gag as she went down on him was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Her eyes beckoned with secrets no man would ever know, her breast stood high and firm and were easily a handful. The curve of her hips a delight. He'd never enjoyed the company of a working girl so much. Mugen couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous consort for the night, and her personality had enough fire to it to turn him on even without her looks. He settled back into the cushions and enjoyed her touch, he had paid the house and the girl handsomely and knew a long night was ahead of him. He couldn't help but wonder is Jin was having this much fun.
xXx
Jin watched the doe-eyed woman pour his tea, her movement soft and careful, always conscience of what she was doing. She's guarded. Her eyes were the oddest shade of grey he'd ever seen. Hard dark edges to light to silver and then melted into black as the iris met the cornea. Her almost black hair wisped forward over her shoulder to fall in her eyes, hiding her features from him. Instinctively, he reached out and swept the hair back. The girl cringed slightly under his touch, figuring she'd be struck. Jin couldn't hide the shocked look or the following scowl.
"I would never harm you, you've done nothing wrong." she returned his scowl, deciding if his words rang true.
"You're both a samurai and a Buddhist, how does that work when Buddha respects all life?" She would use his answer to determine his honesty.
"If I have killed someone, It is only in the defense of my own life." He looked at her and continued "Do you seek to kill me?" She stifled the startled laugh.
"Surely not, I have no need to kill you.."
"Very well."
"But what about Buddha?"
"And what about it?" She blinked realizing the conversation had come to a quick end.
"I'm sorry if I have offended you." She whispered quietly, unsure of how to proceed with him further, beyond the requested massage that is.
"As am I" He lowered his head, his eyes closed while the young woman started on his back.
48 hours further back
Chiyo stared at the ropes binding her and her sister's hands. She worked at the knot on Kumiko's wrist as her little sister did the same for hers.
"Hurry Chiyo, they said they'd be stopping soon and you know what'll happen then." Her little sister hissed, trying to urge her on and still be quiet. Kumiko peeked between the shade and the sill of the palanquin they rode in. No one stopped the slave traders in disguise, most thought they were hauling around some important official instead of orphaned girls being sold to a brothel.
Chiyo knew she needed to hurry, but her fingers were sweaty from nerve and they slipped and slide without her permission. They needed to hurry, as one of the traders paid a reasonable sum for her virginity and aimed to collect his prize when next the traveling party rested.
The girls' heart launched into their throats as the devise lurched to a halt. Kumiko turned wide pleading and panicked eyes to her older sister, the one person she had left and had always been strong for her. Chiyo collected herself and nodded to her sister as the side panel opened. As one the girls forced their bound hands into the man's chest, caught off-guard, Kane fell with ease.
The two young women bolted past him and into the surrounding forest. They ran till their lungs burned, when one stumbled the other helped her up again. They kept running till the men disappeared and could no longer be seen. By the time they stopped, they were completely lost not that they knew where they were to start with aside from a long ways from home.
xXx
That night was spent in the trees, their bonds gone, their stomachs empty, Kumiko turned to her sister honestly wondering.
"Just what are we supposed to do now sis, chances are those men are in the next village waiting for us to turn up there, so we can't go there, We don't know where else to go, and we can't go home for lack of know which way and those bastards that sold us out will just do it again if they see us, what are we gonna do Chiyo?" Kumiko's voice near hysteria, Chiyo reached out and soundly slapped the girl across from her in the tree. She grimaced at the action taken but spoke anyways.
"Chances are the Wadas' are dead you fool, and we can skirt the edge of a village or two, maybe steal what we need and keep moving. What we need is a big city, like Edo or Kyoto, somewhere where nobody's like us can easily disappear and those people will never find us." Kumiko recovering from being slapped blinked then nodded in agreement with Chiyo's words.
"Yeah easily said sis, but question is, Where the hell's Edo?"
Chiyo sighed and was tempted to shove her little sister of their high sleeping branch in the arms of the obviously odd oak they currently occupied. She stared off in the distance, watching night transform the forest from hues of red and orange into an inky blue/black so consuming except for the stars, set like diamonds against the sky. We'll find out in the morning.
xXx
"Sis we're going the wrong way!" Kumiko couldn't take anymore, they'd been walking for days and forest food was scarce with less forest to be in. I hate her, smug self-righteous cow! Kumiko was busy glaring at a stream of fish as Chiyo dragged her away. "We have to keep going Kumiko, if we stop now.."
Kumiko tugged out of her sister's grip.
"If we don't stop now and eat ,…I am so roasting you tonight when you're asleep!" Chiyo gave her little sister the look that said she was being dramatic.
"Alright you brat, go catch yourself something to eat"
Catching lunch was harder than trying to convince her sister to stop for it, but Kumiko knew there wasn't anything her sister wouldn't do for her. Chiyo was sitting on the rocky banks grinning maniacally at her attempts to catch fish, Frankly it was pissing her off. "Alright smartass, tell me how?"
Chiyo pretended to not hear her "What?"
"help me damnit!"
Chiyo's grin widened if possible as she waded out to greet her sister in the stream. "You pain in the….., you just wanted to hear me say it." Kumiko glowered at her sister's head. "Yes I did and now the fish." Bending in the stream, Chiyo watched the direction and adjusted her stance accordingly while Kumiko waded out and stood on the bank being grouchy and scoffing her efforts with things like
"You'll never catch anything but a cold like that!" earning the finger from her sister. Soon Chiyo came up with fish in hand, wading ashore with the small offering of two decent pike.
"Here" she tossed the fish at the sulking girl on the banks. Chiyo smothered the laugh as her sister bitched and complained about her. She could only shake her head and hide her amusement.
After the fish, the walking continued. "Sis we're so lost. Maybe we shouldn't have run away?" "Are you kidding me Kumiko, do you realize where we'd be right now?" "Dry, warm, fed, with a roof and a warm mat to sleep on, and nice clothes on our backs…" The complaints continued as Chiyo stopped short and stared at Kumiko in disbelief. "NOT TO MENTION SOME GUY TRYING TO SHOVE HIS" she hadn't realized she was shouting until the word popped into mind. Kumiko blinked and then blushed, she wasn't used to Chiyo shouting for any reason even when she was mad, but she realized what she was saying. Being a whore is preferable to where we are now. She shook her head hard and offered an apologetic glance to her sister. Chiyo nodded and continued walking, her ears burning from raising her voice and what she almost said.
She knew what men were, not from experience but just seeing their behavior around the village they grew up in, she wasn't fooled or impressed easily because of her ability to observe. She was told when she was still small of how odd she was for her water/metal personality, those two where the dominant elements over shadowing the others, the soothsayer her mother had taken them to used it as the reason to explain her eye color. While Kumiko was a fire dominant personality, it meant Chiyo would always be rescuing her brash little sister from herself and others for as long as humanly possible, she glanced back and smiled sweetly at the strong but naive girl she'd always saved. And so it'll always be.
Kumiko sighed and stared at the ground, her head hurt and she was heartsick over her actions and her ungrateful attitude towards her sister. Right now I'd give anything to be home and hear mom scolding me for acting like a guy, and dad taking me out fishing, I'd disguised myself as a boy but he didn't mind, he thought I was always the wrong sex anyways. Chiyo had to be the girl in the family, even though she's a worse tomboy than me, she schooled herself to be what mom expected. Kumiko gazed on her elder sister with respect for once, on how much Chiyo gave up for her own well being. Grinning wickedly, trying to find a way to support her sister's decision
" I hope the hell Edo swallows us whole" She glance up into Chiyo's face to be rewarded with a small smile, meant just for her.
"Damn straight" Kumiko blinked at her sister before bursting out laughing.