Note: I am sending out a massive thank you to all my readers and followers! Your patience and loving feedback has been wonderful for me to read and take note of. I will try to extend the length of my chapters from here on out so that way I can pack more drama into each scene. Once again, thank you for sticking around and watching this beloved project of mine take form. I hope you all enjoy!


My eyes could not leave that husky shadow. We were caught. And in my tiresome ecstasy, I felt this moment - above any other from our past - would surely be our untimely end.

"Mugen...who is that?"

My voice trembling with every precious second passing us.

"I don't give a shit who it is..."

I seized his arm in desperation as tears blurred my vision. My naked form curling in his chest, trying to find brief solace in his arms.

"Please, I can't lose you! Go, get out of here...please, my heart can't bear the slightest notion of you..."

"What? Dying...losing? Fuu, don't be stupid. I am not leaving without you."

I felt his moistened lips press against my forehead tenderly, assuring me through his kiss that nothing could stop him once his mind was made up.

"Now, move aside," once I was pushed out of his way, he drew his sword from its holster and aimed it at the static figure.

He continued in a silky, sultry voice, "Daddy needs to take care of business."

"I am coming for you, you perverted son of a bitch!"

Unadulterated bravery swept over Mugen as he charged toward the screen door in a sprint of sound and fury. A swift slice ripped the entrance open and the figure vanished with only the trailing sound of clicking footsteps lingering behind.

A voice rang out in the distance "BOSS, BOSS! WAKE UP! GUARDS, WE HAVE A RAT!"

I quickly wrapped myself in the kimono that laid on the floor and darted into the hallway grabbing hold of Mugen.

"What do we do? Ryuu and his goons are coming for us!"

The handsome fool glazed his eyes over every possible escape route. Rooms would surely have at least a dozen guards waiting eagerly within them, hoping we would storm in. By now, the perimeter of the building would have a decent sized militia barricading us inside this hell hole. We had no visible way of making it out of Ryuu's property alive.

"Follow me!"

Mugen hoisted me up onto his back as he ran down the hall at speeds unbeknownst to me. Being the skilled swordsman he is, every enemy that attempted to rush out at us, perished brutally under his control. His moves always seemed to frighten yet astonish me all in one consuming motion. Untamed and sensuous movements coincided as a beautifully visual masterpiece, hued in gleaming steel, blood, and iridescent beads of sweat was painted before my eyes. Mugen has always been an artist. One I have always feared.

He pushed a small door open near the kitchen once all immediate goons were good and dead. It was a closet.

"Why are we in here? I don't think you fully understood me the first time...WE HAVE TO LEAVE...NOW!"

"I'm not an idiot. Ryuu has an underground tunnel that leads directly out of the city and into the forest. If we stop...oh, I don't know...WASTING TIME SHOOTING THE SHIT WITH ONE ANOTHER, WE CAN MAYBE MAKE IT OUT OF THIS MESS ALIVE."

"Where is this 'tunnel', smart ass?"

Mugen lifted the floor board up from under our feet revealing a small wooden door, locked with a brass bar and latch.

"What do we do now? We don't have a key."

"Ryuu has it."

"THEN HOW THE HELL ARE GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE?!"

"Geez woman! Will you calm down?! None of the other guards know about this tunnel, this is our only chance of ditching lover boy down the hall. The only other person who knew about this route was his wife..."

"Then how do you - above anyone else - know about this little secret?"

"His wife was a fan of pillow talk, but don't worry, that broad is as good as gone now."

"You pig!"

Why does he need to sleep around with every single woman he lays eyes on? And this is the man I lost my virginity to?

"Don't question how I got my information. Let's go now!"

I instantly became so enveloped in rage and jealousy, that I almost questioned leaving with him at that moment. Outside, I looked like any other poised and stoic woman my age would be perceived as; however, inside, I was still that insecure little fifteen year old who wanted attention so badly. Old habits die hard.

Mugen kicked the door open to reveal a dark tunnel that led into an abyssal pit.

Noises beyond the closed closet door began to enclose on us.

"Quick, hand me that candle and those matches. Here, take my hand and lets get out of here, babe."

I handed the requested items to him hesitantly. He began lighting the candle and extended his arm out towards me hoping I would latch on immediately. I didn't.

"WHAT'S WRONG NOW?!" Mugen's brow furrowed deeply as his voice reverberated off the grime infested walls of the small room.

"I just...can't go with you!" My voice rang out in a shrill so loud, it wouldn't have surprised me if this sole utterance was the moment Ryuu and his men finally discovered where we were hid.

"Why not? Don't do this now, for the love of God, you can be so frustrating! Don't you trust me?!"

"I want to, Mugen. I really do. But, knowing my heart and how I am, I need to know you will always put me first..."

"Fuu, I can't tell you what will happen a year from now, a month from now, Hell, not even an hour from now, but I can tell you with wholehearted confidence, I have always been there for you! I have always been truthfully myself around you, even if you despised my actions, I never once pretended to be some knight in shining armor, but you can bet your ass I was always there, by your side, bailing you out of shit like this! I'm going to ask you one last time...do you trust me?"

BOSS, GUARDS! THEY ARE AROUND THE CORNER...THIS WAY!

I grabbed his hand, uncertain of what was to come but trusting of the foundation we built together. I smiled knowing that he may never be that perfect man - he still wanders somewhere out there - and that was ok.

Because, Mugen will always be Mugen, through and through.

Not Jin.

And as much as I tried to imagine Mugen to be like Jin, I would only be kidding myself and ultimately be left with shattered expectations.

Our bodies descended into oblivion at that moment with a shifted perspective of what was real and what wasn't.