Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo

"She said no?" The young man speaking set his cup down lightly on the ornate table that stood before him in a way that made him look much older than he really was. His emotionless line of mouth curved into a smile.

One of his henchmen, more than just slightly less bright than the others, raised an eyebrow at the rare smile. "Why you smilin, sir? Is dat a good thing?"

The smile faded. "Wouldn't you want to work for something you really rather than have it just come to you, Yazi?"

Yazi shrugged. "Yea I guess so." he responded.

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Masuku asked. Even though he was younger than most of the others by quite a bit, his mind and his skill surpassed them. Yamamoto, the one they worked for, had noticed this right away and advanced him to leader.

Yamamoto rested his chin in his palm. "Stop at nothing to capture her. I need to speak to her in person." With a nod of his head they were out the door to find this girl their boss so badly wanted.

Fuu drug herself through town aimlessly and bored out of her mind. It was her day off, but she'd much rather be working. Over and over again she'd been through town looking for something exciting. The only thing that came close to being interesting was an old man chasing after his cat and waving his cane around like a crazy person. It wasn't very long until some selfless youth helped him and ruined all the fun though.

Just when she began to think that maybe knocking her head against a wall would relieve some of the boredom she heard something out of the ordinary. It was a man yelling, but not just normal yelling, it was different. It was the kind of shouting that people would actually stop and listen to. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but could tell that it was coming from behind a nearby hurried over to the edge with the hope of excitement quickening her pace. When she poked her head around the bend to see what was going on it was pretty startling. Many people, travelers and natives of the town alike, were crowded around a crate on which a man stood. He was waving around a hand drawn picture.

"Has anyone seen a girl who looks like this?" He held out the picture for everyone to get a good look at. "We must find her as quickly as possible." His loud voice could be heard by Fuu even over the noisy chattering of the squinted at it. Her eyes widened at what she thought she's seen. She blinked and looked at it again. It was still the same; her eyes had not lied the first time. It was her face he was showing everyone.

Almost at exactly the same time Fuu had realized that those guys were looking for her and that she better start running, they noticed her. "That's the girl!" the man bellowed loud enough for people across town to hear. Sudden heat turned her cheeks pink as every member of the audience turned their heads to stare at them. She smiled weakly at them.

Out of thin air a group of men, all bearing swords on their belts, appeared. They charged directly at her. A look of disbelief spread across her face. All these guys after her… What the hell could she possible have done? She ignored their constants shouts of, "Don't move!" and ran as fast as she could in the other direction.

Fuu rushed through the busy streets dodging around and slipping past all the people. Her mob of followers couldn't do that as easily. Their numbers dwindled lower and lower as many got caught up in the people and left behind.

She spotted an apple stand coming up and an idea popped into her head. As she ran past she stole two apples and threw them back at her pursuers. The first hit a guy directly in the forehead, knocking him to the ground. A victory smile spread across her lips. The second was aimed at an authoritative, strict looking guy wearing glasses. He dodged it easily and scowled at her, erasing the smile she wore instantly.

It was time to lose them. Fuu quickly ducked into an alley hoping it would lead her way from them. To her misfortune it ended in a wall. Her eyes searched for an escape, anything would work. They landed on a tall ladder that led all the way up a building's roof.

She scrambled up it without a second thought. She's just reached the top when the men finally reached the alley and began to crowd around the bottom. One brave soul began to climb the ladder. Man, they won't stop at anything. Fuu frowned down at them and rested her foot on the top rung. She pushed it forward easily. The man who had seemed to be brave screamed like a little girl as the ladder balanced straight up and down. It stayed like that for only a second before his weight tipped it backwards. He screamed even louder as it fell back onto the group.

Fuu stuck her tongue out in triumph and yelled "Take that idiots!" down at them. She turned away from them and their sissy screaming to look over the roof she stood on. The whole thing was covered in bright red tiles and sloped downward. One wrong step and you'd slide right off it. Most of the windows that led to the roof were closed except one. If she could make it there then she's be home free.

To better get a grip on the roof Fuu slipped off her wooden sandals and held them in one hand. She took a deep breath and stood carefully. So far so good. She took one small step forward. Three tiles fell. They smashed and cracked as the hit the hard ground far below. Fuu gulped. If she fell that would be her head cracking, she'd be dead for sure. Even after that thought she pushed on, taking another larger step forward. The curved edges of the tiles pressed into her bare feet uncomfortably. Her breath was shaky as she prepared for the next step. She stepped forward again, but this time she picked the wrong tile.

It slid down the roof along with her foot and her balance. Fuu fell onto her side and tried to grip the tiles with her feet and her hand, but to no avail. The sound of them shattering filled the air.

The window got further and further away and the end of the roof got closer as Fuu helplessly slid. Pain suddenly stuck her as the sharp edge of a tile cut a deep gash up her thigh. She gritted her teeth against the new pain.

Just when it looked like this was the end for Fuu sudden adrenaline slowed everything down. She wasn't going to give up. On hands and knees she scrambled up the roof and threw herself into the open window. She landed panting on the hard wood floor inside. As quickly as it had come the adrenaline left her and returned the pain. Not only did her leg hurt, but her palms stung and her knees felt bruised now.

Fuu pulled herself into a semi-sitting position so she could better view the room she's just intruded in. It was dim; she had to squint to see anything but blackness. Even then she still couldn't make out what she was looking at. Once her eyes finally adjusted to the lack of light on the other side of the room she could barely make out two figures. It seemed to be a man, laying on top a woman. Thankfully they were both clothed.

"Fuu?" a rough voice asked. She was sure she knew that voice. It was so familiar. It felt like it had been ages since she'd last heard it.

"Mugen?" she asked in disbelief.

"You know her?" The girl under Mugen shot Fuu a jealous frown.

Mugen ignored her and stood. He stared down at Fuu, still trying to figure out what had just happened. "Why the hell were you on the roof of a brothel?" Fuu's mouth twisted in disgust. The first time she's seen Mugen in two years and he was in a brothel. Sometimes she hated men.

The door suddenly burst open, momentarily directing their attention from Fuu. The man who had dodged the apple before stepped in with a dozen or so swordsmen at his heels.

I wonder if he's still mad about that apple. His sharp feature made it look like he always wore a scowl, so it was hard to tell whatever emotion he was feeling by just looking at him.

He pointed his drawn sword at Mugen. "Hand over the girl." he demanded.

"Which one?" Mugen asked with one raised eyebrow. "The whore," He pointed to the prostitute still lying on the floor. "or the flat chested one." He pointed not at Fuu, but at her chest. Her face reddened with rage and embarrassment.

The man paused for a moment to try and figure out a way to ask for the flat chested one without calling her flat chested. He had no idea what her name was, so that wasn't an option. "The one that's not the whore." he finally said. The girl they kept referring to as a whore looked like she could have just died of embarrassment right there.

A grin slid across Mugen's mouth. A few of the swordsmen exchanged puzzled looks with each other. "Sorry, but I can't do that." Mugen turned and darted straight for Fuu. She yelled out in protest as he hoisted her up in his arms and threw her across his shoulder.

The men charged after them with swords drawn, but Mugen was too fast for them. He ignored Fuu's angry fisted pounding on his back and jumped out the window onto the roof she had just gotten off of.

The scowling man's face was visible in the window still scowling as they slid down the roof. By now half the roofs tiles lay broken on the ground.

When they reached the end of the roof Mugen didn't stop, he kept going right off of it. They were dead. Fuu squeezed her eyes shut and gripped his shirt in her fist. To her surprise he landed firmly on his feet and kept on running. Fuu's eyes opened in disbelief and she released his shirt. Mugen was the only person in the world who had enough courage to jump off a roof and enough luck to not be harmed in anyway.

After it was clear that no one was following them Mugen set her down on the ground. She sent him a quick glare before directing her attention to her injured leg. Blood from the wound had stained a long crimson line into her kimono. It didn't seem all that bad and she really didn't want to lift her skirt up so high in public, so she left it for her to examine later.

Her eyes returned to Mugen where she continued her glare. He gave her a half confused half angry look.

"What the hell are you glaring at me for? I just saved your fucking life." he growled.

"I would have been just fine without you." Fuu said with crossed arms. She should have been thanking him, but her mouth wouldn't let her.

Mugen scoffed at her comment. "Whatever, you still owe me for this. I didn't get my money's worth out of that damn whore."

Fuu's eyes narrowed. "What do you want me to do about that?"

"Well you could pay be back."

Fuu let out an aggravated breath. "How much?" she asked reluctantly.

"200."

"200!" she asked. "Who spends that damn much on a prostitute?"

"She was highly recommended." he said with a laugh.

Fuu groaned and retrieved a small pink bag from her kimono. She thrust it into his hands without a word.

Mugen tucked it into his pocket with another laugh before saying, "What kind of shit did you do to get 'em after you, anyway?" His tone was playful like that of a bad child bragging about what they've done.

Fuu's brow furrowed. "I don't remember doing anything." She truly hadn't done anything out of the ordinary for the past few days.

"That prissy dude looked pretty pissed at you. Are you sure you didn't turn him down a date or something?" Mugen suggested half kidding. What he had said suddenly triggered a memory.

Fuu gasped. "I do know why they're chasing me!" She stared at the ground, but she wasn't really looking at it. She was replaying everything that happened a few days in her head. "That prissy guy came to me yesterday. He asked me if I'd marry his lord. He even offered me a lot of money if I would say yes. I wasn't going to let any rich dude buy my love though, so I said no." When Fuu finished and looked up Mugen was already half way around the corner.

"Well, I hope that works out for you." Mugen yelled back at her.

"Wait Mugen!" Fuu called after him. Mugen stopped mid-step. "If you stay and help me… I promise I'll repay you."

That piqued Mugen's interest. He turned to look at her. "With what?"

Her throat suddenly felt dry. She swallowed. "Anything you want."

He smirked and closed the distance between them easily. He leaned into her until their faces almost touched. His eyes stared into hers for a moment, making her purposely as uncomfortable as possible. "It's a deal."

Author's Notes: Hey this my first fanfiction, so if you review it would be much appreciated! Thanks for reading!