Author's note:

All the standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Samurai Champloo, its characters, its music, or plots. Neither do I own the rights to Depeche Mode's "Halo", which ran through my head along with this story's bouncy plot bunny.

My scene breaks keep disappearing! So I'm resorting to a Cheerios chain. If anyone has any clues for me, please let me know how to fix them...darn html!

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Chapter 3: Fall into my arms

Mugen's head snapped back in shock. What the fffuh…"Fuu?"

He thought he'd whispered it, but considering many people surrounding him had suddenly turned to him, he realized that he'd probably squeaked it out, voice cracking as it tended to do (annoyingly) when he was truly surprised. It was also clear that she had heard him too, as within seconds her face went from pitiful to stunned to triumphant, transformed by a wild and glowing smile. She didn't lose the smile, but her twinkling eyes (how in the hell they could sparkle from yards and yards away, Mugen didn't know) narrowed a bit as she raised the tone and volume of her voice.

Pitched to carry over the milling crowd, she spoke. "Hey, isn't there anyone in this herd of village idiots man enough to explain to these guys why we should be let go?" The sassy wench locked her eyes with Mugen's throughout this little speech. That would've been a whine years ago. When did she learn to stop whining and sound so…sexy? Crap, thought Mugen and he found himself rolling forward onto the balls of his feet as his buttocks tensed up.

Accompanying this request was a shift in the crowd's mood, too, as people shifted nervously and more than a few appreciative men started to bounce in anticipation, clearly debating whether they should attempt a rescue and thus have a chance with that amazingly hot girl. Mugen snorted derisively at the wimps surrounding him and thrashed his head in a quick and crackling roll from shoulder to shoulder. He glanced back at Fuu, who was still smiling but those eyes were starting to burn holes into Mugen's forehead with impatience. She twisted slightly to force her breasts into their best angle for viewing from Mugen's perspective, and rubbed her bum a bit against the post to which she was bound. Shit, I'm a sucker for luscious near-naked women, even if it is Fuu.

It was going to be a very interesting day for Mugen. After all, he had wanted to find some fun. Now I was clear he was going to get a handful. Or two. Mugen eyed her again, trying to superimpose the image of the scrawny kid on the curves of the woman mounted on the post ahead of him like a tasty snack. He snapped out of his reverie when his attention was diverted from the disturbing double image to the movement of a couple of the soldiers towards Fuu. As one raised his sword edge towards Fuu's downshifting smile, Mugen pounced forward, releasing the coiling energy that had been building in his wirier-than-ever frame. Quickly and silently, he sped through the crowd releasing his katana without pause or care for the close-quartered crowd. Lips peeled back from his gnashing teeth and his fighting glare, once wild, feral, had been honed to that of a flashing-eyed falcon. Upon reaching the clearing surrounding the prisoners, Mugen twisted in a blur of brown and gold and steel that became crimson-tinged as one, two, three soldiers crumpled without sound to the dusty ground.

In the cloud of settling dust Mugen backed towards the post bearing Fuu, who had thankfully gone very still. Glaring at the confused remaining soldiers, and sweeping his gaze across the surprised crowd, Mugen slashed his blade backward, a move that drew a startled collective gasp from everyone, including the bound Fuu. Mugen emitted a sound somewhere between a growl and a chuckle and stepped backwards even as the ropes that had bound her dropped to the ground, and instead of releasing her to the mercy of gravity Mugen caught Fuu over his shoulder. Her shriek was cut off by the intrusion of a well-muscled shoulder into her diaphragm. Mugen bounced up in an effort to get a firmer grip on her (backside), growled again, and darted back the way he'd come, before any one got any ideas to fight him, Fuu's nose bouncing against his abdomen with every step.

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As he ran, he used his nose to calculate how far they'd have to go to reach his ship. Damn, this girl got heavy, he thought, or I've gotten soft at sea. Didn't realize I'd wandered into town this far. As Mugen scampered down alleys and through back streets, his thoughts were interrupted by a pounding attack on his balls. "Eh? Haaaayy!" he shouted as he dumped his burden none too gently on the ground in the dark shade behind what smelled like an eel stall. "Don't bust my nards, lady, I just saved yer ass!" he hissed as he took in the feminine form balled up on the ground, gasping for breath. Lady? Where'd that come from? And damn all that heaving, it makes her barely-bound chest look better than breakfast.

"I couldn't breathe, you dipshit!" Fuu rasped out between gasps. Still panting, she thrust up her roughly bound wrists towards his waist, and Mugen involuntarily jumped backwards, his balls apparently not wanting to risk another assault. Now that he was looking at her properly, he could see bruises all along her brown arms, and some fresh blood streaked the skin beneath the rough ropes. His stomach churned unexpectedly, and he glanced to see her legs had suffered the same treatment.

He gulped past the growing lump in his throat. His irritation dissipated as he shifted his sword hilt in his hand and quickly slashed through the ropes that bound Fuu's ankles and hands. He appraised her form again, this time ignoring the bruises and instead focusing on the complex concavities and convexities that blended together to form the hottest stems he'd seen in a long time, except for that one girl in…. "You, uh, are Fuu, aren't you?"

The eye-roll response was as much as an affirmative as what came out of her mouth next, following an appreciative sigh as the girl rubbed at her angry-looking ankles. "Gimme a break! Do you mean you weren't sure? That you would've grabbed anyone in that position? Crap, I mean, I know it's been a few years but surely you still…" Fuu's chatter died off as they heard in the same instant the shouts and clatter of what was surely an approaching effort to recapture the prisoner.

"C'mon," Mugen grunted as he grabbed at Fuu's nearest hand and hauled her to her feet. "We're gonna have to run for it," he declared as he swung his head from left to right again, trying to recapture the scent of the sea. He made his decision and headed towards it, only to be stopped by the pull of dead weight behind him. Fuu had crumpled to her knees in the middle of the path, a steely look of grim resolve on her face.

"I can't run, I think an ankle's broken," she said, voice flat between her clenched teeth. "You'd better go, I'll make my own way, thanks," Fuu said without looking at him.

Mugen spluttered, then wordlessly dropped to a crouch in front of her, presenting his back. "Climb on." He glanced back at her face, her hard eyes widening into surprise. He extended his arms behind him, waving his free hand with impatience as he switched his grip on his sword. "I'll get you to my ship, then drop you off at the next harbor, okay? Just get the hell on, before I decide to go have some fun elsewhere." Her eyes narrowed again in disgust, but Fuu scooted forward to wrap her arms and legs around him, and Mugen leapt up like a track runner off the starting blocks, and ran out into the busy street. As he nimbly flew through the stream of bodies, carts, and assorted animals, he slowly ran his sword-free hand up the back of Fuu's thigh to her backside. At her squeal of protest, Mugen grunted, "Need a better grip."

"Hmph, yeah, I bet," Fuu growled, hot breath in his ear.

Mugen adjusted his grip and plunged ahead, the sound of shouting not far behind.

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With great relief Mugen rounded a corner and caught sight of the masts of the boats in the harbor. He thought he might make it aboard his own ship before the idiots pursuing them could see them running up the plank, but there was no point in taking any chances. "What are we…" Fuu hissed as Mugen's geta thudded against the transition from the dirt of the city road to the wooden boards of the docks.

"We're headed to that black one out there," he replied, nodding his head out towards the water.

"Hmm. It's so…big," Fuu laughed against his shoulder.

"Wait 'til you see it up close," Mugen quipped, and was rewarded with a deep chuckle that made Fuu's breasts vibrate against his shoulder blades.

They approached a long pier with a pile of barrels and bags piled high at its edge. The bodies sprawled atop these goods jumped to their feet as Mugen approached. "You lazy shits, go take care of our friends – they're not too far behind," he barked in Cantonese as he passed. His men rushed past them without even an eyebrow wiggle at their captain's cargo. Mugen skidded to a halt when they reached the skiff, already partially loaded with a barrel of fish and some bundles of cloth. "Easy now," he muttered with unexpected gentleness as he crouched to let Fuu down on the dock, remembering how he'd dumped her on her butt before. She held herself stiffly, balancing mostly on one foot as she looked warily from down at the little boat to out at the ship. Mugen leapt down into the boat and rapidly unwound the heavy rope from its tethering hitch. He glared up at the troublesome wench. "Do you want me to take you back, or d'ya wanna get out of here," he asked in irritation.

Fuu's slight frown cleared and she managed to sit on the dock's edge without a sound. Mugen reached up for her, clutching her pleasantly curved waist to pull her down into the boat. "What's wrong?"

Fuu's mouth pursed into a little bud before she spoke. "I don't want to be any trouble. I…" she faltered a bit, "I think you must be sick of coming to my rescue by now."

"Well that hardly seemed to matter back there, did it? Didn't you want to keep your head?" he fumed. What in the fuck is this moody cow's issue? "Now let's get the hell outta here. We'll worry 'bout your trouble later, ok?" She nodded, not looking him in the face, and sat against one of the sacks of cloth. "Keep your head down," he grunted as Mugen grabbed the oars and began efficiently slicing through the lapping waves.

Fuu slid down further until she was lying on the bottom of the boat. She winced as she bumped her visibly purple ankle against the boat's side. It's funny, thought Mugen as he rowed effortlessly, all that exposed skin and I can't keep from staring at her ankle. Her voice returned his attention to her face.

"This is…your ship we're headed to?" Mugen winced at the skepticism in her voice, but with his newfound introspection, was mature enough to see the reason for it.

He puffed his chest out in exaggerated manly pride. "Yeah, I'm her captain." Mugen glanced behind him to gauge the remaining distance to the ship, then returned his attention back to his passenger. "Actually, she's not my only one, just the biggest. This is our first trip back from the continent in a couple of years."

"So you're a trader, now? Totally legit?"

"Well, what's 'legit'? No one's ever totally legit, nowadays." Mugen scowled back over his shoulder again as the side of his ship loomed near. He twisted the oars in the water to slow down the little craft and let out an ear-shattering whistle, which was answered by the popping of heads over the side rail and a series of whoops and whistles from above. Mugen grinned widely, his glance shifted back and forth between his crew and Fuu. As she sat up in the boat, the whistles got significantly louder. "They're gonna love having you aboard."

The hesitation Fuu showed earlier abruptly vanished, and she flashed a bright smile that Mugen was sure caught the attention of every one of the men aboard ship. That would get any man's attention, and then some, Mugen thought. He stood to catch one of the lines and hollered up to his men as he lashed the skiff to the side of the ship. "Oi, we need a net to pull this," he paused with a smirk, "special cargo aboard. Move yer asses!" The faces at the rail disappeared in a flurry of activity.

Mugen fixed his gaze on his old…companion? Pain in the ass is more like it…who was glowing as she surveyed the impressive size and condition of the pride of Pao-Tien's "trading" fleet, and Mugen felt unreasonably proud of himself. It was not a feeling with which he'd had much experience, for he'd never cared about anyone's opinion of his finer qualities (apart from his fighting skills) until he'd fallen in with Pao-Tien. Or so he'd told himself. But looking at the woman he'd known as a scrawny kid, he realized that somehow, they'd both grown up. And now he cared.

"So, you still want to come aboard? Or are you worried for your honor with so many sailors around?" Mugen gave her a half-hearted impression of a boozy leer.

Surprisingly, Fuu brightened even more at this question. "If you're willing to take aboard a criminal, how can I object?" She glanced down at her barely-covered body, then glanced up at him through her curly lashes. "Besides, who says I have any honor to worry about anymore?" She reached up a hand towards the pirate.

Wrong wrong wrong screamed Mugen's brain, even as his balls suddenly tightened. Why the idea of her being without honor both repelled and ignited him, he didn't know, but he ignored his turbulent feelings and grabbed her delicate forearm to pull her to her feet. The squealing of the pulley overhead told him the net was being dropped down to them. He scooped her into his arms and turned to place her in the cargo net. "So…you gonna tell me what happened to you before, or after we…play?" As the pulley began to squeak again, Fuu's laughter fell down to him. Mugen craned his neck to watch the dimples of her lower spine peeking out from between the knots in the net.

"Actually, Captain, I think I've got a business proposition for you first." Fuu rolled over in the net so her breasts strained against the ropes, and her head and arm swung free. "I think you might be just what I've been looking for. How'd you like to work for me…again?" She waved her hand and something glistened as it fell, catching the light of the setting sun until it landed at Mugen's feet.

He bent down to pick it up: a coin.

Tails-side-up.

"Hell-o, Boys!" Fuu cried to the cheering men as they hoisted her aboard. Mugen cluched the coin for a moment, then grinning ear-to-ear, began climbing the rope up to the deck.

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Author's note: I had to end it here because I dislike reading long chappies. It's more entertaining to break up the fun! Chapter 4 should be out fairly soon, and we'll finally get some of Fuu's story. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to keep this story going, and please let me know what you think. If you want more, or want something different, I want to know!!