As always, thanks to Tawnybmw, fabulous Beta!
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
When Jin arrived home to find that Fuu and Mugen had moved in, he had only one question: "Was it difficult to find us?"
"Nah, I just asked a cute little piece of ass if she's seen you," said Mugen.
Jin frowned. "When Shino's condition is less delicate, we will be able to move on."
"Yeah, I heard you knocked up your bird," Mugen nodded. "That's rough."
"It is good news," said Jin, with dignity.
"We can move on if we're going to be in the way," offered Fuu shyly. "You don't have to ask us to stay."
Jin was circumspect. "I am glad you are here," he answered, but Fuu wondered if he was evading the question.
They quickly settled into a routine at the little house. Jin's success with fishing increased slowly over time – at first he brought in more sea-weed than fish, which Shino would cook cheerfully and praise for its healthfulness, but in time he could bring in a respectable catch of fish.
True to her word, Fuu fell to work doing everything she could to help the newly-forming family that clung to the rocks like a barnacle. She planted a garden full of seeds she procured in the marketplace, striking shrewd bargains for Jin's sometimes measly catch. She was also quite clever at collecting the creatures that came close to shore, including – ironically – eel. She learned from the old women how to make the delicate eel traps, woven like baskets into long cones. The eels could get in, but they could not get out. Fuu was familiar with the situation.
She became a familiar figure at the market square in Shimonseki, since of all of them, she was the least likely to be recognized. There was really no way to identify her now as Kasumi's daughter; she only another oddity in an odd town, since Tairyō attracted many strange people. She quickly came to know everyone, and everyone knew her as the girl who lived with her sister and her brothers-in-law, even though Fuu and Shino could not look less alike. Shino was tall and gentle and Jin was obviously in love with her – Fuu spent her days on hands and knees scooping slimy sea creatures out of rock pools.
At first Shino was a lot of help, but as time went on she became tired quickly and was soon relegated to sitting on the shady porch of the house, making baby clothes out of the cloth that Fuu would rustle up in exchange for seafood. She was also the chief cook – she was clever at making something tasty out of very little and, fortunately for Fuu, she made large portions.
Nonetheless, the real reason they prospered was not because of Jin's increasing success, but from Mugen's mysterious contributions – he always seemed to be able to afford anything, from nice clothes for himself, to cooking and fishing supplies for the household.
In the first week he disappeared for a long spell, and Fuu was almost convinced he was not coming back. Then he showed up one day, whistling merrily and seeming very pleased with himself. After that he was gone frequently and Fuu had no idea where he went.
"Where are you getting all this stuff?" asked Fuu suspiciously, when he came strolling down the town road with a big slab of meat over his shoulder. She had been in the market all afternoon, selling anemones she had gathered from the rocks, but she hadn't seen him.
"Some thanks I get," Mugen retorted. "I guess you don't want any, huh?"
"No! I do! It's just weird, that's all."
"Hey, I got skills," said Mugen. "Ain't never gonna find me starving."
"Oh jeez, you're working at a brothel or something, aren't you?" said Fuu, narrowing her eyes.
"Well no, but it's funny that's the first skill you think of," Mugen leered at her.
"Is it a woman? Someone in town?" asked Fuu. Of course she didn't care even if it was, she was just curious.
Mugen smirked. "Maybe."
Frowning, Fuu let it go, but when Mugen negotiated the purchase of Jin's boat – and paid for it in gold coins – her suspicions were renewed.
"I'm a pirate, this is a coastal town," said Mugen defensively. "They need good sailors around here."
"Yeah but you're never gone very long," said Fuu. "You can't be running cargo, and you don't even have a boat!"
"Now I do," said Mugen. "Even though it's just this tub."
Jin was suspicious of Mugen's help as well, although he had no choice but to accept it. "We would have been able to pay for the boat ourselves by the end of the year," he pointed out.
"Ah, you're just jealous because you know I could kick your ass in a fight these days," said Mugen smugly. "I bet it killing you to be getting rusty."
"Not at all," responded Jin. "While I am out in my boat, I meditate on the strategies and techniques that allow me to truly master the art of battle."
"Oh yeah?" Mugen hefted the weight of his sword speculatively. "How about you get your swords off the wall and we test that theory?"
"Hey hey hey," Fuu interjected, "No fighting. You'll bother Shino, and she's in bed with a terrible headache."
"She is often unwell," observed Jin, eyeing the door of the bedroom with obviously concern.
"Yeah, well, that's the way it is with pregnancy," Fuu assured him. "It's basically like coming down with the flu for nine months, as far as I can tell."
Fuu had thought she was pregnant once – about five months after they were first married, when she missed a period and began to feel strange. She had held off telling Heideki, wanting to be sure; then one day she got a heavy flow, about six weeks late, and that was it. No more baby. Then Heideki's mother got sick, and he was so worried about her . . . and then he was sick himself, and then they were both dead, six months later. She hadn't thought too much about the almost-baby, but now her mind kept going back to it. She knew it was a blessing not to have been left a widow and the mother of a young child – it would have been too hard to travel, too hard to take care of them both. Did she want to end up like her mother, sick and overworked with her kid child working in a teahouse just to pay for her medicine? No, she was lucky.
The truth was, Fuu was often jealous of Shino, even though she didn't want to be. Looking at her own reflection in a tide pool, she was – well, cute, she supposed. Little and plucky. But not elegant, not a real woman like Shino. She had been married, she had been pregnant, but she was still just a little girl.
Fuu kicked the water and her reflection shattered into refracted triangles.
