-1Monday (part one)

Fuu sat with both legs tucked underneath of herself as she let her pale forehead rest against the wooden bars that trapped her inside of the so-called "Blossoming Sakura." The humidity made being in the heavy kimono absolute torture, but no one ever said this job would be fun. Lady Osuki, the devil women who owned the house, didn't allow anyone to remove the tiniest piece of clothing. As she liked to say, "Don't show men your goods unless I'm making money for it!" Fuu let out a long breathe she had been holding and picked up her golden fan from the wooden floor. With a flick of her wrist the fan was open and moving up and down in a rapid motion. The art of fans was one of the many tricks Fuu had picked up while at the brothel.

"Lady Osuki," the other women whined, "Please let us take off something!"

"Am I getting paid?" she yelled from her office. The women all sighed , giving up their complaints for a while. It was nearly 5:00 in the after noon, and only a few lowly customers had wandered in and out of the brothel.

"Dammit Mugen, where are you?" Fuu squinted her eyes , looking out into the streets. She couldn't believe herself. For some reason she actually wanted to see that vulgar bandit. There wasn't any reason for it considering the way he spoke to her last night… but there was something about him that made her unremorseful about the challenge she presented. 'I bet he won't even come back.'

'Stupid girl, why am I doing this anyway?' Mugen stared at the seemingly endless dirt road ahead. With both hands in his pockets , he wandered forward toward the red lights. The sun had begun to set , basking the small huts and shops that were on either side of him in a dark glow. The coins jingled in-between is pocketed fingers. It was easily enough money for a bottle of sake, dinner, and maybe a lay… but something about that girl intrigued him. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't throw herself at him. Mugen was the first to admit that he was pretty damn sexy. Obviously all the other whores agreed. But she was playing hard to get ( or so he thought) . And he liked it. Sure, she wasn't the prettiest thing to look at, but she would do. But it was her eyes that really caught his attention. Those dark orbs held a familiar sense of hidden pain…

In no time he reached the brothel. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon and the lanterns now shown brightly like the night before. "Why the hell am I doing this?" he continually muttered to himself. 'Wasting money on some whore who won't even put out… fucking lucky, that's what she is.' He couldn't fathom the fact that he was actually doing this. His brain said no but his legs were still moving. "Maybe it'll be fun………..heh, who the fuck am I kidding?"

Mugen grasped the worn wooden frame of the door and slid it open, not bothering to close it as he stepped in. 'Now where is she…' His fingers smoothed out the stubble on his chin as his eyes glanced back and forth.

"Hey, you," Mugen shot out his arm to grab a hold of a nearby worker. "Where the hell is the bitch"

The man was physically shaking in his grasp. "I II..donn'tt t kkn oww.. who o yourr tall k ing ab out..!

"You work here don't you!" Mugen let the man fall to the ground and strode forward nonchalantly. Things would get done a lot quicker if he just did it himself. He continued o search through the large brothel house. He hastily ripped open each new door he encountered. Now keep in mind, mugen was certainly not doing this to get glimpse of the disgusting couples. Simply put, he hated wasting his time.

By the time he reached the end of the fully occupied hallway of rooms, he had succeeded I seeing some of the most vomit-inducing scenes of his life. Blood and severed body parts he could deal with, crude sexual acts with old men he could not. Staring back at him from within a dimly lit room stood the women who had greeted him the previous night.

"So she's got you begging for more huh?" the smirking women blew the smoke from her mouth, letting the pipe in her hand fall next to her side.

Mugen eyed her suspiciously. Something in the air didn't seem right.

"Well, where's the money kid?" Lady Osuki held out her aged hand, awaiting the few coins that would drop into her hand.

" What the hell makes you so sure I want her again? " Mugen sneered.

"Well dumbass, why else would you be back, threatening our help, ripping open doors like a mad-man?" Her sarcastic tone didn't please Mugen the least bit.

"Whatever wench, just tell me where she is"

Her fingers moved in a beckoning motion. "Money first."

Once again, he asked himself the question that had been running through his mind the whole day. 'WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THIS!' Mugen eyes narrowed until they were mere slits, staring the drugged-up women down. His fingers fumbled around in his shorts until he grasped the number of coins he was willing to pay.

" Here old women, this better get me a decent meal. That shit you send up last night wasn't even fit for pigs."

Five coins dropped into Osuki's hand. Greed got the best of her as she quickly turned and ran into her office. "She's upstairs, first door on your left!"

Mugen simply grunted as he passed by her doorway and started up the stairs. By the looks of it this part of the brothel was only used for the highest paying customers. Something had to be seriously wrong with these women if five coins bought him this type of luxury. He reached the top of the stairway and glanced about. The walls were adorned with ornate ukiyo-e, the types of prints contained in the pillow books of courtesans. It was quite vulgar in Mugen's opinion. But his attention was quickly averted toward the doorway on his left. Pressing his ear against the thin rice paper, he listened to the voices on the opposite side.

"Fuu come on!"

"No, I refuse! This is disgusting Mai… I can't believe y-"

"Fuu please!"

Mugen could hear her struggles. The sound of fabric ripping and Fuu's whimpering. He was pissed. Not because she was being forced to do something, he couldn't care less about that, but because he just paid money fora supposed good timehe obviously wasn't going to get!With angry realization Mugen slammed the door open.

"What th-"

In front of him was quite a scene. Fuu lay in front him under another girl of the same age. She quickly looked up with a look of relief.

"Mugen , help me!"

The girl, who he assumed was Mai, was struggling to pull down the heavy kimono from Fuu's chest. But of course, Fuu wasn't having any of it. Her fingers had practically turned white from the effort of trying to keep her self hidden.

" I don't see anything wrong…" Mugen smirked down at her. She would have screamed had Mai not put her hand over the unwilling girls mouth. "Fuu, we're getting paid good money to do this. Now I suggest you go along with it before he tries to join in!" Mai's eyes moved toward the far right corner of the room.

Under the shadows sat a man in his eighties, who looked and sounded like he would drop dead at any moment. He breathed in heavily, then waited a few seconds, and exhaled in a deep grunt. He was pathetic.

Mugen crouched until he was face to face with Fuu. "I'llget ridof himif she stays." His finger pointed toward the girl straddled on top of her. Fuu's face grew bright with anger. "NO! You pervert!"

"I am in a whore house, what did you expect? I see two…no, one willing girl in front of me. You want my help, I want something in return."

" She can't stay… but I'll reward you ! I promise!" Her eyes stared straight into his.

Damn. That easily she could get her way. And he couldn't even stop himself. Mugen stood straight once again . Stepping over the two women he moved over toward the old man. Picking him up by the collar he effortlessly flung the aged man onto his shoulder without any struggle. Then, just as easily, he grabbed Mai and did the same. With ease he threw both of them out onto the hallway floor. Maybe he killed the old man, who knows, but he didn't give a damn. Mugen slammed the door closed behind him and crashed down onto the floor next to the half-dressed girl in front of him. Fuu stared at him will relief and amazement.

"So where's my reward."

- I know this chapter took me forever but my life has just been SOOOOO busy! After I posted the first chapter I got a new job, which took away my free time after school. So basically my only time to write is at night or weekends, and even then I'm busy… so I'm sorry for the long breaks, but you will get more chapters, I promise!

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