Chapter 2

Fear is How I Fall

A fire surrounded her, her on the cross. Her arms and legs felt numb tied to the cross. And she was there, feeling as if she was to die there. The doors had flung open then, and he stood there bleeding; bleeding for her. He was half-dead and he was there-- for her. Her heart had felt like it was breaking. Like she was breaking, though it was with half joy. Joy to see him there to save her, yet hate. Hating herself for getting him wrapped up in all of this; almost getting him killed for her stupid whim. But, he was there and that was all that mattered now. . .

A sudden light seemed to hit her eyes without warning and she woke up, sleepily squinting her eyes to see. But the light wasn't truly there, in it's stead was a pair of fierce eyes. From habit out of the many perverts that came with her job she jarred him in the jaw with the palm of her hand.

"Mugen?" she yawned to the recoiling victim.

"The hell did'ja do that for?!" his voice was only slightly controlled and she gave a quick glance to her stirring roommates.

She quikly changed her voice to a whisper,"Sorry, habit. What are you doing here?" He also noticed the other two women, but was able to keep his perverted nature under control enough for his gaze to leave them for Fuu. He crouched down beside her and shrugged, "So, you didn't notice me at the dice table yesterday."

She drew in a quick breath, "The snake eyes!" She gave a large smile and realized she couldn't hold herself back any longer as her two meager arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Mugen's torso. "I've tried to tell myself I don't need anyone… But it just doesn't work. You don't know how much I missed you-- and Jin."

Mugen had grown less accustomed to Fuu after the past three years, but it was like riding a horse; no matter how long ago it was that you last rode, the first time you get back on it all comes back to you.

He gave her a second to get a grip on her emotions, before he withdrew her arms from their hold. She then noticed with flushed cheeks her attire and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Whatever, I just came to bust you out. You can go find Jin as soon as we leave." His tone came out just as harsh as he wanted.

"Why would I want to find Jin?" She ignored the kimono he was roughly pushing into her hand; she hoped the instinct to cover herself had not somehow offended him.

"Well, you always seemed happiest with his girlie-ass. I just thought you might wanna check on 'im."

"Do you know where he is? And what about Shino? And what have you been up to...?" Fuu was too caught up in the meeting to realize she was rambling.

"I dunno, we just need to get outta here. You're waistin' too much time talkin' about shit we can discuss later." He stood up and turned his back, expecting something of her. She sat there a moment before noticing the kimono. "Oh, sorry." She quickly pulled back the covers and stood up. After a few moments of listening to her shuffling around, Mugen began getting restless, "Hurry the hell up, would'ya?"

"Okay, let's go." She gave him a smile when he turned around. First he noticed the kimono he had handed her was discarded and on the wooden floor. Mugen was barely able to hold back the urge to ridicule her; only because she almost looked cute--though he would never admit it, even to his own thoughts.

She wore a certain red haori open to reveal tight upper and lower bindings and certain black cut off hakama, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a bit of white cloth she had cut from her bindings.

"Where'd you...?"

"Heh, I picked them up in a town near Nagasaki. They, uh-- I thought they might come in handy, but come to find out they look a lot like-- Wait, you're clothes are a little different now..."

"Yeah, they were gettin too tight on me," he lied. The truth was his old clothes gave him too many memories of the time he had spent with the two people he had referred to as 'distractions', three long years ago. He had sold them off at a town... near Nagasaki.

"Okay, time to go." Without a second thought he roughly grabbed her forearm and found his way to the window.

This had startled Fuu a bit, almost forgetting how forceful Mugen was, but she noticed the forms of her two roomates stirring ever more. Ignoring the nagging feeling to shout at Mugen's forward-ness, she moved her legs to walk so he wouldn't have to drag her. He gave a short glance out the window before removing his shoes and passing them to the questioning Fuu, without telling her more he crawled over the edge.

------------------------------------------------

Fuu gently lifted a leg over the side, she was too short to make it over without some sort of help; Mugen instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, still keeping the other arm grappled to the side of the roof above, and lifted her through the window. He kept a stable arm around her as his lithe feet found small holds to help with the weight. He watched as Fuu followed suit; her left hand was holding the shoes while her right arm was wrapped around Mugen's torso again-- this time with a death-grip-- and her small feet stuck to the hold. He noticed her look down and he felt her small fingers dig into his shirt with a certain fearfulness of the three-story drop. "Just follow me," he stated clearly, the endeavor had yet to take any exertion out on his part. Yet.

He threw a glance to his right and began stepping lightly toward the edge of the building, another window lay a few feet below them on an opposite building thats upper stories hung slightly over the alley. This was his only chance of getting them down without any real pain. He looked at Fuu and she saw what he was meaning to do, fear had rested in her eyes. "Hold on to the edge for a sec," he told her, letting go of her waist. He flipped himself around so his back was against the building, he latched his left hand to where his right had been on the roof and quickly grabbed her up with the newly freed arm. He tightened his hold on her ever more and measured the distance for a split second. "Fear is how I fall," he whispered. Mugen let his arm drop and kicked off the building with his legs; it didn't take an elder of the High Council to notice that they were falling. Though this was what he wanted. Before they had passed their destination by completely his arm jolted to the window's side and his fingers clamped on. He somehow had managed to rebound air-bourne and do a backflip. As his body bent backwards in a supple movement, his feet slid through the open box-shape of the window.

All of the while carrying the ever strange-situation-finding-Fuu.

They landed with a hard 'knock' on the hard wooden floor of a vacant room in an inn. How coincidental. Mugen released the breath he had been holding in to his surprise and sat up from the position he had found himself in on the floor. Fuu was laying across Mugen's legs, bewilderment marred her face and she stayed where she had fallen.

"Umm, Fuu?"

His voice obviously breaking her trance, she pushed herself off of his legs. Her eyebrows were raised in a comical manner and her wide-eyes stared at the window through which they had entered.

"Wow." Her voice sounded a little hoarse. He watched as she put her small hands to her cheeks and she closed her eyes trying to settle her nerves.

"Hehe, betcha' never knew I was that--" His cocky tone was cut off as his senses alerted him to approaching footsteps. He lurched forward to place himself between Fuu and the door. Though this show of courage was sent down the drain as the elderly voice of a woman wafted through the paper screen,"Could you two dearies try and be a bit quieter, please? The other guests are complaining."

Her sweet voice ended as her feet left the doorway before Mugen or Fuu could reply.

"Looks like we have a room for the night. They(referring to anyone who would might want to look for the mysteriously-disappeared Dice Roller)'d never guess we would be staying in the inn right next door," Fuu's face flowered into a large grin and she looked around the dark room for the bed.

Mugen gave a smirk and found his way to the wall across from the bed. He removed his sword and placed it in his lap as he rested his back against the hard wood of one of the walls; for only the screen used the paper, the walls were all made of a polished dark-colored wood.

Mugen stayed awake to watch the sleeping form of Fuu. "Damn, she goes to sleep fast. . ."

His eyes drifted closed before he had a chance to curse himself for falling alseep just as quick.

5s)

Five Sided Dice