AN: Chapter three is out! Yay! I'm surprised at how quickly I'm updating this thing. I guess I'm enjoying now (for the time being anyways…) Sorry if there are any mistakes/inconsistencies. I'm sort of deprived of sleep and whatnot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo.

On the Edge of All Reason

Chapter Three: The Healing Touch

Fuu tossed and turned on her side all night, unable to let sleep guide her. Her mind kept showing distorted images of what she presumed was her father and mother. They looked happy…genuinely happy. And as they laughed together while they were in some sort of park, she kept gazing at her father's kind face. How could he even bother to toy with the idea of killing someone? She felt her heart constrict and before she knew it, she jolted up from the bed, her chest heaving with pain.

It's just a dream…It's just a dream…She repeated the mantra over and over to herself while walking downstairs. The apartment was dark, showing no signs of Mugen having returned. She settled for a glass of water before sitting at the table. Looking out the window, she noted the skies were a beautiful dark blue, with the shimmering of thousands of stars to light it up. A wistful smile came upon her face, remembering the times she'd stay up late just to look outside.

Fuu let out a tremulous sigh before she heard a knock come at the door. She froze in her spot on the chair, hoping that whoever it was would go away. It couldn't be Mugen…He had his own key, and there's no way he'd knock to enter his own apartment. It's not like she could answer the door either, considering Mugen had specifically kept her here to lock her in.

The jangling of keys was heard though, and Fuu looked curiously at the door. The idea to hide quickly entered her mind, however she soon pushed it out. It wouldn't do any good anyways.

The metal door soon enough opened, and a young man stepped in with a bored (and somewhat annoyed) expression on his handsome face. Fuu started from the table, suddenly alert of what was going on. Instead though, he simply gave her an uninterested glance before slapping down a manila folder on the countertop.

"Make sure Mugen gets that," he drawled before heading towards the door once more.

Fuu stood there, a dumbfounded look on her face. She wanted to ask him several questions, like how he knew Mugen, what was in that folder, and other things, but instead, she merely asked him who he was.

The young man turned to look at her, grasping the doorknob with his hand. It was as if he just noticed her for the first time since entering, a mild look of surprise on his face.

"You can talk? I thought you were one of those mute girls…" He mumbled. "The name's Shinsuke." He smiled before slamming the door shut and locking it behind him.

What felt like hours before she moved, Fuu stood there feeling warmth run up to her cheeks. Was she blushing? No way! That was just plain crazy…Although he was kind of cute. Her mind felt giddy with girly joy, before she darted up the stairs and to the bedroom. Holding a pillow close to her chest, she sighed, enjoying the feeling of being purely happy. Suddenly her elated mood shifted to a lower key, thinking of how pathetic she was acting. He was just a guy that she had seen for what, two minutes? Her eyebrows furrowed together, thinking being locked up in this place was doing a number on her mentality.

She turned over on her side, willing her mind to shut down and fall asleep.

--

The sound of something crashing awoke Fuu with a start. She shoved the covers aside as she got out of bed, worry in her eyes. As she lightly ran down the stairs, chestnut hair trailing behind her like waves, she paused. The lights were still off with only the moon shining from the windows to guide her. She could barely make out a figure staggering over to the countertop which she realized was Mugen.

She sighed before gliding over to him, softly placing one hand on his back, and the other on his chest as if to steady him. She would've turned on the light, but she figured sudden brightness would give him a painful headache…It was no doubt he was drunk, or at least close to it.

However, a gasp suddenly let out as she felt liquid seep into the palm of her hand that lay on his chest.

"Mugen…" She whispered softly. "What happened?"

He let out a grunt in response, shoving her away quickly. Fuu stumbled back, too terrified to move. He was wounded…But what happened? She didn't even know where he had gone earlier. Curiosity motivated her to move forward and try again, however he was stumbling over to sit down on a chair. Instead, she went over to the chair beside him, watching him carefully under the pale moonlight that made small streams of light.

"You're hurt…" She whispered again, a soothing edge in her tone. "Let me look at it."

It was odd, she thought, how willing she was to help him. Even though he had kidnapped her, threatened her life, and locked her up in this dingy apartment, she still felt that compelling need to help. From the sharp intakes of breath he'd take every few minutes, she knew he was in major pain. It was a known fact for her that compassion overrode her anger.

When he made no move to acknowledge her, she got up to turn on the lights. His eyes immediately squinted in pain from the level of brightness. When Fuu neared him again, she gasped seeing how bad it actually was. All of what was left of his white shirt was soaked in blood—and it was still flowing freely out of his wound.

"Do you have any bandages anywhere?" She asked, scanning the kitchen.

"Under the sink…" He mumbled, rolling his eyes at her eagerness to help.

She quickly retrieved the bandages and first aid kit before tugging up his shirt. Her brown eyes were overtaken by shock at the wound. It was a large gash that went from his right, lower side, up to the left side of his chest. Quickly setting to work, she grabbed a large cotton swab and soaked it with alcohol, grimacing inwardly at the stinging sensation it would cause.

"This'll sting a lot, but I'm sure you can handle it," she smiled teasingly. She was rewarded by another eye roll, however she set to work. He grimaced and fought urges to yell from the stinging.

"Goddamn it! How much of that alcohol did you pour?!" He yelled, raking a hand through his hair.

"Oh hush. You're strong enough to live through it."

He mumbled obscenities before quieting down and watching her work. She seemed pretty skilled in what she was doing, though he wasn't too surprised. Girls always seemed to have this inherited ability to heal people. Soon enough, he found himself relaxing under her gentle, sure hands. The girl seemed to take great care in making sure the bandages were tight enough before snipping off the excess part.

"You should be fine now…What happened anyways?" She asked, tucking the bandages and small pair of scissors back in the first aid kit.

"Bar," he shrugged.

"You picked a fight with someone?! Mugen! That's just stupid," she chided, walking over to the cabinet to place the first aid kit away. She quickly washed her hands before patting them dry on her skirt. "One of these days you could get killed, you know. Or even worse—get hurt badly enough to want to die."

"Oh, so you care about what happens?" He sneered, looking away.

"Well, sure. I mean, I can't say I like you much, but you have kept me alive so far…And in good condition I suppose. So I can't hate you too much." She reasoned, picking up his bloody, torn shirt. "Mind if I throw this away?"

He shrugged in response, drumming his fingers on the table.

"By the way, some guy named Shinsuke stopped by. He dropped off that folder on the counter."

"Ah…Forgot all about him stopping by." He mused, scratching his chin.

"Yeah. Thanks for warning me by the way," she replied sarcastically.

"Don't flatter yourself too much. He's not going to kidnap you, seeing as I already did the job."

"Whatever," Fuu said, feeling that irritating edge get back in her mood. "I'm going back to bed. Next time you come home filled with booze and bleeding to death, I'm not gonna help you." She warned before stalking up the stairs.

"Hn." He snorted, before turning to look at her retreating figure. He contemplated something for a moment before looking back up at her. "Thanks by the way. For all this."

She paused for a mere second, before retreating into the room.

"No problem…" She whispered behind the door.

--

Mugen lay on the couch, watching the light drizzle as the moon continued to shine on. He looked at the bandages that wrapped and twined around his torso, noting how professional they looked. A faint blotch of blood was beginning to show, though for the most part it was healing.

He wondered why she even bothered to help him. He expected the most he'd get out of her was a cheap lecture about how stupid he was to get in a drunken bar fight. However, she calmly helped him out, not really caring about his previous actions that got him into this mess. Mugen let out a sigh, suddenly craving a cigarette. He wasn't a smoker, though at times—when his head really hurt, or there was a lot of tension built up inside him—he smoked the occasional cigarette.

Slowly rising to his feet, he fished out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket before heading outside. As he pounded down the steps to the outdoors, he decided he really needed this smoke. His thoughts were going crazy, bizarre thoughts flying in and out. He fumbled with the lighter before finally lighting the cigarette in the light drizzle that was beginning to come to a close. With an inhale of breath, and an exhale, he slowly went into the calming rhythm, letting his thoughts flow back into one, straight line.

For some reason, he kept thinking back to the way she skillfully glided the cotton swab against his wound, wrapped the bandages…He saw her in a new light. No longer did he envision some annoying, weak brat, but a semi-mature, smarter girl.

No, he didn't think of her as a woman like he did Yatsuha—she wasn't quite like that. She was more…Innocent. Naïve was it? Although he wouldn't underestimate the girl, he knew she wasn't that powerful or anything. She was simply a girl…A kid.

Grumbling, he flicked the cigarette to the ground, grounding it out though the rain had already taken care of that. He stalked indoors and plopped himself on the couch, shutting his eyes. He hated thinking about things that would get him nowhere.

--

"Who's Shinsuke?" Fuu asked the next morning, swirling her spoon around the soggy cereal.

Mugen looked up slowly, an eyebrow raised carefully. "Why?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "Just wanted to know why he had a key to your apartment. Kind of scared me," she smiled weakly.

Mugen shrugged. "He's a part of the organization. Great in tracking down people and getting various information. Kind of full of himself but, you get past it…"

Fuu made a face of disbelief in his direction. "Isn't that a bit hypocritical of you to sa—"

"Shut up."

As she sat there putting spoonfuls of cereal into her mouth, Mugen couldn't help but fight down a surge of annoyance at her questions of the boy. He didn't know why it irritated him so much, then again Shinsuke was never really his favorite person to talk about or converse with, so it must've been natural instinct.

Plus, he just thought it a bad idea for Fuu to get interested in the members of this group. Danger was literally waiting at every corner and someone like her made an easy target. Although his reasoning was somewhat…Bad for lack of better word, it satisfied him enough.

What he said next, he didn't know why, but it all came out so quickly he couldn't stop it.

"He's a jackass, so don't even think about him."

Fuu paused midway of entering another spoonful of cereal into her mouth, her eyes meeting his.

"You're the jackass." She then resumed eating her breakfast as if nothing had happened.

"Jackass?" He sputtered as if this was news to him. "I think I'm quite amazing. You just don't know it yet," he bantered, in a slightly, overly-done chipper mood.

She raised a brow, wondering what brought on this turn of attitude. "Are you high and just not telling me?" She asked in a dull monotone. "Because if you are, I'll just go back to bed."

"Hell no. I swear you live in that bed. And thanks to you, my back is swelling up from those springs."

She smirked in triumph. "Serves you right! You kidnap and kill people, so you better pay a small price for it."

Mugen gave her an odd look before stretching and rising to his feet. "I'll just be going out now."

"To where?"

He cocked a brow over in her direction, not willing to say his outing events which usually consisted of useless meandering through the streets. The scenery sucked anyways, what with dying plant life and decaying buildings on every side of the street. Although these days he found himself going into the city more often, exploring the shops and such. Most people gave him odd looks and shuffled away from him. He even heard a mother once tell her son to not go near him, or else he'd end up in jail.

What a bitch, he had thought.

"I dunno. The shopping center not too far from here…Maybe."

Fuu's eyes suddenly lit up. "Shopping?! I've got to come! Please?" She begged, clasping her hands together with a hopeful look in her eyes. Mugen felt his face freeze up, suddenly uncomfortable at her insistent begging and doe-eyed look. He scratched the back of his head, deep in thought. Millions of things could go wrong…Someone might recognize her, should the police figure out she's missing, or someone she might happen to know could see her, wondering why she was out shopping (with a strange man to boot) instead of being in school. And if Nagatomi found out, he was screwed and more.

However, something must've possessed him when he merely shrugged and told her to tag along, provided she'd do anything he told her if he sensed danger.

--

Jin sat at his desk, rubbing his temples in constant, circular motions. It was frustrating to see that not one of these murders could be traced back to Retrogression like he assumed. The worst part was, he was almost sure of it that they were responsible—so were the citizens. It's not like people didn't know the group existed. In fact, they were well-known to the public…Just too crafty to be proven guilty. Only a few times in the past decade had some information leaked out that traced back to them, like the time spies were caught in the police force, or the government.

However, under the power of the law, none of them could be proven guilty merely under some strong assumptions. It'd be an understatement to say Jin was pissed.

And now, information had been leaked that a young girl was missing. He had received a call from an elderly lady who apparently was the landlord of the apartment complex that the girl lived in. The lady had said that the girl hadn't been showing up at all…She claimed she first noticed this morning when she came to collect the monthly rent. The girl, Fuu, was apparently always on time with the rent.

"And come to think of it…" The old lady trailed off. "I don't remember her coming home from school on Friday afternoon like she usually does. Plus, she didn't leave for school this morning either. Strange really," she said, continuing to babble on and on…

Jin leaned back in his seat, checking his watch. He really needed a break. A nice walk to the shopping center might do him some good…Fresh air sounded good right about now after being in this stuffy office.

--

"Ohhh! Look at this shirt!" Fuu exclaimed, holding it up to Mugen with vivid excitement on her face. Mugen barely spared it a glance, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He needed to be alert right now…Not jumping up and down with some teenager who found her soul mate in the form of a piece of fabric.

The tingling feeling of paranoia crawling up and down his spine made him want to hurl. Every time he thought he turned to look out the window, he thought a police squad would be making way towards him. He hated the police that much he knew.

Mugen quickly averted his attention back to the ecstatic girl, eyes bulging at the heap of clothes she had gathered in the crook of her arm all in that small amount of time he spent looking out the window.

"What the hell?! Who's going to pay for all that?!" He sputtered, well aware that a few people near them were casting odd looks.

Fuu looked up, a pointedly blank stare on her face. "You."

"Why?!"

"Maybe if somebody hadn't intercepted my way to my home, I would've had some money handy. Maybe if you hadn't have kidnapped me, you wouldn't be paying. Maybe—"

"Okay, okay!" Mugen exclaimed, holding his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "I swear to god I'd wring your little neck if it weren't for the fact that you're important right now to the boss."

Fuu smiled sweetly. "I think this is going to be about five hundred dollars…"

Breathe in…Breathe out…Breathe in…Breathe out…Mugen quickly threw that method out the window, grabbing the pile of clothes out of her arm.

"Hey!" She yelped, attempting to snatch them back. "What are you doing?"

"Too skanky…Too bright…Too…Ugly…Too weird…" He muttered, dropping various clothes back on the rack. "Honestly, I don't get why you teenage girls are so into this stuff." He looked up at her, a small hint of annoyance evident in his features.

Fuu quickly snatched back the pile of clothes he had rejected, bustling over to the cashier. "Because I like them. You're not a girl, nor are you a teenager." She quickly turned back to him, extending her open hand. "Wallet please."

He grumbled before slapping it in her hand. As she walked over to the cashier, her back to him, he pretended he had laser vision and everytime he blinked, a zapping beam was going through her.

As Fuu meandered her way back to the waiting man, she quickly stole a glance at him to make sure he wasn't watching before flipping through his wallet. She smirked when she found his driver's license. Suddenly her face fell. Why the hell is his name Tasuki Fushikawa? Thirty years old?! What the hell?!

Before she knew it, a hand snatched the wallet and license away, before stuffing it back in his pocket. "Don't think I didn't notice you snooping. Fake I.D. by the way," he said, lowering his voice.

"Are you really thirty?" She asked in disbelief.

"Erm, no. More like twenty four. Not that you need to know." He bristled, leading her out of the shop, anxious to get out of the public eye.

Meanwhile, a certain cop off duty bumped into the pair. He quickly mumbled apologies before walking away. That girl looked strangely familiar…

--

AN: Boring chapter? Somewhat. Hey, the two need to develop some sort of relationship, right? Please share your thoughts with me! Thank you to the people who have given such rewarding compliments! I'm grateful for you guys!