4/5/10*

Samurai Champloo: Volume 7

Episode 24: Interstitial Interchange (Part 1)

Sometimes, Fuu wondered if all Mugen amounted to was being an out and out thug. She quickly pushed it aside, knowing (hoping) it wasn't true. After all the time they had spent traveling together, she had certainly seen him act on the basest impulse of his depravity. But there were also those few moments that allowed a quick glimpse into his humanity. Most important was that he had some humanity left to glimpse, much to her relief. She wanted to hang onto those memories only and let the other disappointments be blown away like so much dander in the mid-day breeze; especially now, when there was little time left between them. She let out a sigh and looked at Jin whose usual stoic expression toward his warrior companion couldn't wholly veil the wonder…nor the smidgen of disgust. She almost chuckled but caught herself. She needed to focus…to really listen…to remember every word and the smoothness of their faces that was captured in the flickering of the campfire while they spoke.

"Okay, Jin, you go next. So…what were you doing before you met the two of us?" she prompted.

Jin turned his attention to Fuu. That steady, calm gaze often disarmed her. She never knew what he was thinking at any given moment. His tone of voice hardly wavered let alone his expression and the stillness belied the explosive power that was just under the surface but he was the master of it. The only thing she could be sure of was that Jin would likely be thinking the opposite of whatever Mugen was about to fire off. But tonight was something new. They'd never just sat around and talked about themselves or their past. It found ways to come back and find them, to be sure, sometimes with tragic results, but they were now actively making that connection of their own will. Jin took an almost imperceptible intake of air.

"I had been traveling a long time. I lost my parents while I was still a child and was left in the care of the Muju Shin kenjutsu dojo."

Jin's attention slid to the campfire, watching as the fire popped and snapped while it devoured the wood and cooked the fish. It brought the distant sound and memory of bokutos clacking together during practices to the forefront of his mind.

"However," Jin continued, "ever since I was a child, I did nothing but train in kenjutsu day in and day out. I had always been alone. And soon, none of the other children were a match for me. They all feared me, were jealous of me, and did their best to shun me."

Jin closed his eyes then and his mouth became set in a thin, grim line. This was as much information as Fuu and Mugen had ever heard about Jin from Jin himself. They weren't sure if he was going to continue talking or if that was all he was going to share, but neither interjected. They waited. The fire's crackle and the cricket's song seemed to be taking over where his words had trailed off. Jin heard the voice of his master, the man who had cared for him as a father would, and in the end, the man he had swiftly driven his katana blade through.

"Jin. Your eyes see too much. Your strength has no grounding. That means your strength is strength that exists for no one but yourself."

For whom should that strength exist, if not for myself? He had often wondered after that night. He still did not know the answer. And his master was now dead and could not teach him more upon the matter.

Jin opened his eyes again, focusing on the dancing flames, unable to look directly upon his companions at that moment. They waited.

"Eventually, I was made to bear the shame of killing my master…and was driven from the dojo. I was on the road ever since that day, traveling in search of something. But even I had no idea what it was that I was searching for. It may be that I was simply…running away."

Mugen turned his gaze toward the fire knowing Jin would say no more. He knew Jin was a lot of things – a smug pain in the ass, for one – but a coward he was not. There weren't many men or women he considered his equal, or better, in skill and he never believed in his recent travels that he would meet one, let alone two such people. Sara was like no one he'd ever met and doubted he ever would again. The only reason he was still alive was because she'd held back. He'd be rotting as two separate pieces of Mugen filet if she hadn't pulled her killing blow. She'd still be alive as well. She wanted to die and he gave her what she desired, unwittingly. What a waste of a great fighter…and a great bod, he thought. Jin may not have been a match for her either but at least he survived her attack using his wits or whatever people wanted to call it. Mugen would have eaten it big time had Fuu not thrown herself over him at his first encounter, begging Sara for his life. Humiliating. Whatever. Only Fuu was stupid enough to want to save his hide.

So Sara was one. Mugen was quickly realizing that Jin was the other one – his equal…maybe even his better.

Nah.

But the guy knew how to use a sword, that was for sure. It wasn't anything like his own style but then again, maybe that's why Jin was able to counter him at every pass. He glanced at Fuu. She looked as if she wanted to ask Jin the same question that was forming in his own mind, now that he felt like giving a crap about it. Why the hell did Jin kill his own master? He didn't seem the type. It was the million-ryo question. Hell, even Jin seemed confused about it. But now was not the time.

Mugen turned to Fuu. "Now it's your turn."

"Mm," she replied with a nod and began to speak of her mother's brief life and how she had told Fuu that her father was actually alive.

Jin watched Fuu as she recounted the last moments of her mother's life and her promise to make sure her father would be on the receiving end of a good slugging for making her mother suffer. For making her suffer. Jin was trained daily since he was a child, in focus and in discipline. But Fuu had no formal training, no instruction, no master to guide her. She made a promise and she meant to keep it, no matter the obstacles. It is what made her throw her lot in with two complete strangers and travel such a great distance on the slim chance of finding a man who, until recently, had no name. Jin had noted her sense of duty before. It had almost gotten her killed on several occasions. It surprised him to find this quality, almost to a fault, in someone so young and without formal tutelage. He had been taught the meaning and honor in duty and he believed in it. But Fuu seemed instilled with it. Her mother would be proud, he thought. He hoped, in some way, her father would be as well.

As she spoke, the weight of her choices continued to press down on her. Mugen and Jin were the only family she'd had in some time. And by the light of day, she would have to say goodbye to the little sense of security that had been cultivating inside of her. They had been strangers…killers, even…but she trusted them with her life and with the promise she'd made to her mother. They, in their own way, rewarded her trust tenfold. She was alive and she had made it this far because of them. Only them. And they had faced death and so much pain along the way. And for what? For her?

The weight of it was crushing her, almost drilling her into the ground now. She had asked Jin to escort Sara and he almost lost his life because of her foolish gamble. He nearly died because of her ill-conceived presumption that he would stay whereas Mugen would bail. Why had she expected Jin to stay? She asked him to go with Sara and he respected her wishes. Of course he would. But it had hurt terribly even if she could bring herself to accept it. The moments when she couldn't find any sign of Jin were unbearable. Then Mugen. She had only just made it in time to stave Sara off. She was so confused. She didn't understand why they were fighting each other at the time. Why was Sara so determined to rip away the only two people that mattered to Fuu? Weren't they all friends?

No. They weren't all friends. She had thrown Jin to the wolves. In this case, a highly trained government assassin she-wolf. Mugen wasn't about to let her just walk away either and he paid dearly for it. For the first time he faced an opponent that was beyond him and that idea alone was almost too much to accept. The time to forfeit his life came swiftly after that but at least Fuu was there to stop it in time, which was the least she could do after she had failed Jin so miserably. Sure, she had saved them from being executed that fateful day they first met. At least she thought so. But how many times had she put them on the chopping block thereafter, all so she could do the big "shame on you" at her long-lost father; a man she wasn't even sure she'd ever find. It was all of a sudden so unfair. She had asked for too much. And it was going to stop.

"Thank you. Thank you both for coming all this way with me."

If Jin had ever heard resignation in someone's voice, this was it.

To Be Continued…