Mugen left the conference and walked softly back to the house Jin and Fuu had taken over, peering in the window and taking care they didn't see him. The samurai was sharpening his sword and the girl was still sitting against the wall, petting that furry little rat thing she carried around in her kimono. She sighed and looked up at the window and Mugen took a step back. "The wind is picking up." Jin checked the edge of his blade and poured a little more oil on the whetstone and Fuu raised her voice. "Do you think Mugen will be okay?"
The samurai moved his blade over the stone with rather more vigor than was called for, but his voice was quiet enough. "He has made his choice."
Mugen's jaw tightened and he backed away. He halfway thought of going inside, but he could tell how it would be if he did. Fuu would whine and nag, and when she got going it was like there was some inexhaustible store of energy fueling her. True, it would only be because she was worried about him, but he couldn't take it. And he knew he wouldn't be able to stand Jin's silence either-the samurai would condemn him without ever saying a word. If they only knew….Once more the thought of just telling them everything recurred to the Ryukyuan, but the habit of relying only on himself was too strong for him and he finally strode off swiftly into the dark.
He found himself on the beach and lay on the sand, linking his hands behind his head and looking up at the stars. It wouldn't be long now anyway-Mukuro wanted to see him in about an hour, and once they got started it would be over pretty quick. Too bad about the crew on the government ship, but Mugen wasn't about to worry about a bunch of strangers when his own life was on the line.
He heard footsteps and glanced in their direction, rolling his eyes as Koza walked up. She sat next to him, her arms around her knees, and looked up at the sky. "Do you remember the night we looked at the stars? You said if we were looking down from there, nobody here would look bigger than a grain of sand."
Mugen remembered that night perfectly. They had been sitting there minding their own business and Mukuro had come up to them with a plan to pirate a Satsuma ship carrying raw sugar. Much though Mugen hated Mukuro, the promise of easy money with so much excitement had lured him in. They were supposed to take the ship and get off the island, but Mugen had been caught. Caught and taken to the cliff to be shot. He didn't think he would forget that night in the unlikely event that he lived to be a hundred, but it was an ugly memory and now he growled, "It's not ringing any bells."
Koza's eyes filled with tears. "I wonder what our lives would have been like if we had been born someplace else. Someplace normal." Mugen remained stubbornly silent and she whispered, "Are you happy?"
He closed his eyes. "I can't say I've given it much thought."
"Fuu is lucky." That did get his attention and he stared at her as she went on in her soft voice. "She gets to be with you." He averted his eyes as she bent over him, running her hands over his chest. "I want to be with you too, Mugen. I want to get away from this place-I want to leave with you."
The Ryukyuan was at a loss. He didn't care about Koza, but he did have a vague sense of kinship with her. She had grown up with him on that prison island, and she had not been an enemy like her brother. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he didn't want her to be confused either. One annoying girl was Mugen's limit, and he had never felt protective of Koza like he did with Fuu. The conflict between his usual wild impulses and that small still voice telling him to keep Fuu safe might make him irritable around the girl, and gripe and curse at her, and tease her to tears, but when all was said and done, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to Fuu and he didn't really care what happened to Koza. She had Mukuro, and no right to try and force her way into his life.
He sat up, pushing her off, then got to his feet. "Sorry, but if you want to get out of here, I'm the wrong guy for that job." He walked away, the rain starting, and Koza watched him go, thinking of Mukuro earlier that evening….
"I'm taking everybody out when the job is done-it'll be you and me, just like it's always been."
Koza stared at him, hating everything about him. "What about Mugen?"
He put his hand under her chin, turning her face up and looking deeply in her eyes, and she nodded slowly. Mukuro walked away and Koza watched him go, already thinking of what she could do to win her freedom….
Koza got to her feet and headed for the little house Mugen's companions were staying at.
