All the Makings
By Naoko Asakura
Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo!
Chapter One: The Makings of a Beginning
Nothing is without it's own beginning. Things don't just appear out of nowhere… That's impossible, no matter how abrupt things happen or fall into place. Beginnings are vital to any journey, and when I say the word 'journey', I mean just about anything. Literal or figurative, journeys happen. Mine happened… Ours happened.
I remember the surge of relief that flooded my entire being when he pushed through the curtain of my dingy old teahouse… Well, it wasn't mine per say, but I had been working there long enough to call it some kind of home. The customers were terrible, rude bastards that day—never cutting me any kind of break, except for the final straw when they almost 'cut me a break' on my hand. Even in the moments of terror, I could still remember his gravel-textured voice as it whispered to me.
Of course, this wasn't a romantic thought running through my head. Not yet. The matter of a bribe was on his mind—dumplings, he wanted. Lots, too. It had seemed like a ridiculous demand, the number he stated, but I changed my mind when I saw the reflection of my own horror-stricken eyes in a wannabe samurai thug's blade. Closer… Until I screamed: "ONE HUNDRED DUMPLINGS!"
For us, this was how it began: A bandit's price and a damsel's plea. Looking back on it now, I wonder if my employers would pay him up… But then I think of the feral spark in his eyes when he cuts down his enemies. They would have seen it, and would have feared like most other people do. One hundred dumplings and probably some fine sake to top it all off. They would have thanked him for gracing their presence.
That's just the kind of man he is, and even when I grow tired of him and his unsavory habits, I still won't have him any other way.
His stubbornness: it's something I owe my life to on more than just one occasion. Of course, not just my life, but surprisingly enough, my virginity as well. Would you believe it? Him, of all people protecting a girl's virtue? Most people assume, when they see us together, that he keeps me as some kind of prisoner. In a way, he does. It's not really his fault though, since I was the one who fell in love. I imprison myself, and no matter how many times people tell me how unhealthy it is to keep feelings hidden… I mean, I simply can't tell him! What kind of traveling companions would we be then?
How would he react?
This all brings me back to Ikutsuki Island. I was in the most desperate moment of my life, and just when I thought I would never meet my father… There he was, pushing both doors of the church open. In spite of his ragged, sopping appearance, he looked the hero I could possibly have ever wished for. My relief was short-lived though, when he offered up his sword in exchange for my freedom. It was like my heart would explode in my chest right then and there, and part of me wished for it. Anything to spare him from what would probably be the toughest fight of his life. Instead though, he coaxed me to let him alone with my captor, and so it was.
He almost died.
In spite of all my feelings, I force myself to remain as I've always been: the obnoxious brat-traveling companion, unaware of the scenery. I have a habit of getting myself into sticky situations, and he's the one who usually has to pull me out of them.
Does he make it a point to save me all the time? Might he like me too?
Oh, I hope so.
Either way, we had a beginning. I just hope we never have an ending, no matter how far apart we are.
Mugen…