A/N : Hello!!! I see that some are actually reading my story, that makes me smile. ;D Obviously I've brought some sort of joy to some sorts of people. And also, I'd love to get some constructive criticisms. Yup. And now I'll shut up so you can continue the story.

Five Sided Dice

Memory of Destruction

Chapter II: Almost Like Sweet

Fuu stopped at her door, the robe slightly dragging against the floor behind her. Her dark blue-black hair fell to her waist and part of her bangs fell over one eye. She slid open the door and took half a step in before she noticed the figure sitting in the corner, head leaning against the wall. Inside her head she pictured herself falling over her feet with eyes wide, though she completed the step and slid the door shut without hesitation.

"Umm..."

"I hope you don't mind but I told the old man that we were going to be staying here another night. I already paid for the room."

She just stood there looking at him. 'Once again he has surprised me, plus I can't even think. Somehow I will have to get over this.'

"Uh, yeah. You paid for the 'room'?"

This question he knew she was going to ask, so he told her truthfully," I only had enough for one room."

"Oh," an intruding feeling of confusion arose in her chest," I have money if you need me to get another room...?"

He gave her a strange look," Why would we need another room when we already have one? I think the bed'll be big enough. Unless you get bloated during the night or somethin'."

"Hah! I think not. If you think I get bloated, then you should look at your face after I'm through with you," she threatened, then the reality of what he said hit her. 'A single bed? One for us to share? Me and him? This guy who just got up and left without answering me? This guy who I don't even know

"Well, if you're through with the threats, could we figure out what we're gonna do today? We might as well take it easy since tomorrow we're headin' out."

She looked at him as if he were neurotic, 'He must expect a LOT to become of this day for him to think we'd be sharing a room. Sharing a bed. I'll play his game, until I get tired of it.'

"Um, yes. How about... Hmmm... Ask the owners of this inn for a reference?"

He nodded in solemn agreement as he stood up and went to the door," By the time I get back, please have some clothes on. It's hard to keep myself under control with you looking like that."

Her eyes widened as she heard the door shut. In a short sigh she quickly dropped the robe--then heard the door open.

"Ooh, never thought a samurai would listen so well to a vagrant," he smirked and shut the door back. "Pervert!" she steamed, but didn't expect the door to open for a third time.

"Mugen! What is your poblem!?" her hands were in fists as she had her back to him.

"You," his voice was in a low whisper and right at her ear. A shiver struck her spine as she felt a hand touch the center of her back.

"...Mugen!"

"Hmm?" his voice was already drawing away from her ear, as was the lingering warmth from his hand. "N-nothing." She heard the door shut a third time. She mentally slapped herself back to life, then pulled on her clothes, making sure her haori for once completely covered her skin underneath. She didn't want to have to kick his pathetic ass in public.

Nodding to the old woman, Fuu walked out the door. From the corner of her eye she noticed Mugen leaning against the building, his eyes were closed but they opened as soon as she turned away from him and toward the market. "C'mon now. Don't be cold," his voice came from beside her, and she threw him a glance, but her walking continued without hesitation.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm just going to look around."

"Hmm... Maybe I'll just go to the brothel, then, if I'm not needed," his tone was serious, and Fuu noticed something rising in her stomach. It wasn't anger-- it was jealousy. Yet another new feeling to her. What was this guy doing to her?

"Oh really. And how will you afford the brothel if you 'only had enough for one room'?" her tone fell a few degrees after each word.

"I might just have to take down another yakuza, but I can manage."

She stopped abruptly, her katana had been drawn and her steely eyes seemed to burn through him," I don't know what you think this is, but I'm not playing a game. Obviously all that back there was you agreeing on us becoming a team. And if it wasn't that then you can just go to your brothel and I'll never bother you again. I still don't regret any of it."

For once in his life he truly hesitated. He had never felt anything for any female before; not even his own mother. His rule was always to use them then discard them.

'She's not winning this duel,' his thoughts rang out inside of his head as he turned away from her. His black haori disappeared as he entered an alleyway.

After he had disappeared, she sheathed her sword. Fuu turned back toward the market, her eyes blazing like the blue of a fire. 'He's NOT going to ruin my day.'

Kioko was busier during the noon hours as compared to yesterday's evening. People of all shapes bustled by her, each one obviously being in a big hurry. But then, she noticed they were all trying to move away from something. She pushed through the crowd until she broke thru. A man was on the ground with a pool of rice surrounding him, two yakuza stood above him as they prodded him with their swords. A ring of people had stayed to see the outcome, making sure to stay far back from the scene. Her sword was drawn before she even noticed that the man on the ground was the nice old inn keeper. Today is not your lucky day, Yakuza.' She stepped closer, the 'click-clack-click' her geta made on the rough terrain rang out in the market. One looked up for a second and noticed her; he whispered something to his friend, then they both turned on Fuu.

"A girl... You that samurai from yesterday?" the one that had first seen her spoke up.

"What is your business with him?" she pointed her sword to the old man on the ground, ignoring the yakuza's question.

"We got a line that you were staying at his inn, so we decided to pay him a visit. Lucky for us you decided to give yourself in."

"Oh, so that's what you call it?" it was a rhetorical question at best.

"Lower your weapon samurai, your demise can be quick-- unless you want to kill yourself to save your honor and all. Is that not the way of bushido?" his smirk left his face when he noticed the samurai had not made any move of giving up.

"Who said I was a traditional samurai? As if I really have that much honor left to save anyway," her voice was strong and unwavering as she stepped closer. The men whispered again and left the man on the ground. They parted ways to circle around Fuu. She let out a brief sigh, 'When am I ever gonna have a break from fighting. Not that I don't enjoy it, but...'

She closed her eyes and put her sword away. She listened for the foot steps and breathing from all around. Painstakingly, she drowned out the crowd to listen to only the two men. It wasn't long before they came at her from either side. She leapt in the air landing a foot on each of their faces, then jumped off onto her hands kicking out with her geta like a mule. She heard a satisfying bellow of breath, but her other foot was left feeling air. She swung her feet around until they were back underneath her and she was sitting in a squatting position. No sounds came to her ears. Confused, she looked over her shoulder and only saw the one man that had been jarred in the ribs. She stood up and slowly pivotted around, searching the faces of the crowd--each one as confused as herself, though she didn't show her disposition. Feeling the need to finish off the one still gasping like a fish, she removed her sword and punctured him in the gut. She easily pulled it back out, then rubbed it off against his black haori. 'I wonder what that damned vagabond's doing right now... Actually I'd rather not know if he really is at that brothel.'

Fuu ignored the crowd and continued forward to nowhere in particular. The crowd parted for her as she left the scene behind, and soon enough everything was molding back to normal. Going over things of the past in her mind, she had found herself at a dirt path heading into the woods. Coming out of her memories, she tilted her head to the side only slightly before glancing around. "Hmm," she muttered before walking through the parted trees. Once again another day had been wasted as the sun was half-way through with its long venture down the sky. She followed the path as it swerved around trees and thru light brush, but all the time, she noticed, it continued heading west.

Whichever hit her first she wasn't sure, but the smell of salt and the sound of waves hitting against rock brought her senses to full force. She slowed her pace when she got to where the path ended. Fuu saw a rock ledge overlooking the ocean, maybe about 20 feet above the water. The beautiful sky made the whole thing effect her as if she were in a fantasy. Two vivid white gulls courted above the water ducking, spinning, and all the rest. She smiled to herself as she exited the trees and walked to the edge of the cliff. Stretching out her arms and closing her eyes, she breathed in the smell of memories. Her ears perked at the sudden sound of movement behind her and she opened an eye. She opened the other eye and looked over her shoulder. He was laying a few feet away from her, his arms underneath his head as he just watched her. All he wore were his short hakama and his dark hair was still dripping wet. They held each other's gaze for a moment before she looked back to the ocean and the sky and fell to her knees," How do you always do that? How can I never tell when you're here or not?" She made sure to not say anything about brothels or fighting the yakuza. He smirked at her back," I guess you're just not as good as you thought you were." She tried to ignore the way he said it but it made her wonder, 'Why is he suddenly being so cold to me?'

"Oh," she decided to keep it simple.

There was a long pause before she gave a sigh and stood up.

"Where you goin'?" he made sure boredom showed through his actual interest.

She removed her haori," Does it really matter? Since you don't care anyway."

Fuu removed her swords and hakama, then carefully placed them in a pile a little ways from the edge of the overhang. She turned and walked back toward the forest, but before she went in, she turned back and sprinted to the cliff edge. She jumped into as perfect a dive as an unskilled swimmer could, then dove in like a gull.

Mugen had watched the whole thing with bated breath. He had seen her in the water and he had seen her back from when he was at the door, but he hadn't seen a full frontal(even if she was still wearing her wraps). He watched as she jumped and he had even gone as far as go to the edge to watch her hit the water. 'What', he wondered, 'is this girl doing to me? I didn't even go to the brothel 'cause that damned girl actually made me feel bad about it.' She wasn't anything too special, just like any normal girl her age... But she was a samurai. He had never met or seen a female samurai before. And, he hated to admit, she was beautiful. Her long hair almost the color of his, and her skin was darker than any of the girls at the brothel, but definitely not the tanned bronze of his skin. As if she were a female him but also the opposite of him. He felt as if this was the girl he had been too ignorant to look for, too caught up in the half-pleasures of brothels, gambling, stealing, and drinking. 'Damnit! What the fuck am I thinking of!? I'm not gonna change over some dumb broad. I've gotta get over this.' He physically shook his head trying to remove his thoughts, then decided to go back to where he was earlier resting.

He put his head back on his arms and shut his eyes, hoping in the process to shut off his mind. He couldn't sleep though. The splashing of Fuu about twenty or so feet below kept him wide awake. After a while he had gotten used to the splashing and was almost asleep until the splashing stopped. He gave it a second before opening an eye. He waited a second more before he jumped up and went to the cliff's edge. He didn't see anything. 'Damnit!' He didn't give it another thought. He leapt down into the water and as soon as he was submerged he swam back to the surface and glanced around him, waiting for the bubbles to clear. Suddenly the top of a head broke the surface a few feet away.

She popped her head out of the water, with eyes still closed she took a deep breath and stretched out her arms, basking in the joy of the cold ocean. She opened her eyes and lost the footing she had on a rock, slipping back under. A hand roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her back up.

"You okay?"

Fuu gave the pirate a strange smile," I was until you came up outta nowhere and scared me half to death."

"Hn. No more saving your ass then."

"What's your problem?" her tone came off a little harsher than she wanted.

"Haven't we already been through this? Anyway, I thought you had drowned or some shit and I got my ass up to jump off a fuckin' cliff to save you. Come to find out you're mad at me for it," he looked away from her, his glance averted toward the vivid skyscape. A scowl ravished his face.

"It's strange. I'd always thought the sunset was beautiful on the beach, but I never thought about swimming in the ocean at sunset," she gave a half-hearted laugh, quickly moving to conceal it with her hand-- but noticed her forearm was still trapped within Mugen's iron grip. He then looked back at her, loosening his grip, and drew nearer to her. Without thinking she stepped backwards on the rock she had regained her balance on," I think we should start getting back to the inn. Before it gets too cold. It would suck to catch a cold... With the yakuza still after me..."

Mugen understood her reasons but decided to counter; for fun," Oh, so I'm not useful enough to protect you? Not like I didn't just save your ass a second ago."

She raised an eyebrow but decided to play along; for fun," Oh, that's right. I guess we're even now, since you were the reason I went under in the first place." Before giving him a chance to reply she dove back under and headed toward shore.

He watched for a split second before swimming to the beach on the opposite side of the cliff. After scaling the steep side, he saw she had yet to reach the top. From whim he stalked over to her clothes and slyly wrung his short hakama out. After the job was done, he inconspicuously found his way back to his sword and haori; though he held off before putting his sword on, taking special care to put every second into putting the piece of clothing on right. By this time she had appeared and went to put on her newly-wet clothes, giving him a sideways glance she held up her soaked garments," I wonder, how in kami did these get wet? --And for what reason?"

"Ionno."

"Hmm. I'll never make it back before it gets dark. I'm going to freeze out here, now. If I find out which of the yakuza did this, I'm gonna stick a tanto up his ass," her veiled threat was obviously quite humorous to the vagrant-- especially since this was the first he had heard her curse.

He gave a short laugh," And have more of 'em after you? It's already a hard enough job watchin' out for your ass."

She laughed in return, then decided to defend her independence," Well, within less than two days I've already taken on 4 yakuza all by myself over an idiotic matter, thank you. I'd say you've been quite helpful in standing around." Fuu comically rolled her eyes. An uncontrollable shiver racked her body as a breeze suddenly picked up; she hugged her bare arms toherself to help conceal heat.

Mugen smiled on the inside of his hard features; he knew this was going to happen, actually he had planned for it to happen in his way of only half-thinking-through things. The good: she would be wearing his haori without any refusal; the bad (which he didn't think anything about): she could catch cold in the process.

He quickly removed his haori and approached her. As gently as his pirate nature could conjure he wrapped the dry shirt around her shoulders. Mugen gave her a once-over. The haori seemed to swallow her figure, which he had never noticed as being small in comparison to his lean muscle, as it reached down almost to her knees and the sleeves went past her hands. He had almost humored a thought of her looking like a little girl, that is until she gave him a smile. One of her true down-to-earth smiles that he had never seen before; that she had probably not even known she had. That smile, he realized, was worth more than any brothel girl he could ever think of, more than any bottle of sake he could ever want, more than any job he could ever acquire. And he gave in-- if only for a moment-- to the feeling he felt in his chest; then it was all gone. 'Time to end this 'female' shit.' He dropped her hand and retrieved his sword from the ground. "C'mon, we better get back now." He easily found the path in the darkness, for his senses had become acute from his time being a vagabond pirate. After picking up her wet clothes she fell into step behind him, her face seemed puzzled.

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A/N : Hmm... This is getting quite interesting, eh? Except that Mugen is becoming a stick in the mud for a bit. XX Anyways, don't expect a lemon from me or anything, but there will be lovey, fluffy scenes, I think. Will there? But, as you can see, the real stuff will be later. When the pirate gets it straight. ;p Remember!!! R & R. And no, that does NOT mean rest and reconcillation(or whatever you think it means...), it means REVIEW & READ & REVIEW & READ... yeah... I adore all of you who are actually liking this! The rest can--! Go read another story? Yup. Ex-actalllyyy!