Chapter 12 : Major thoughts and minor irritations
Fuu had woken when he got up and left. She pretended to sleep, not knowing if he was going to relieve himself or was leaving her for good. After a very long time of waiting, she knew without a doubt that he had left her. It was what she had feared. She cried silent tears into her arm, feeling more alone than when her mother had died. This was why she didn't want to tell him the truth. Finally, she wiped her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. At least she had a job. That was better than having nothing. She touched her stomach and then closed her eyes.
After a few hours, Mugen stopped in his tracks as a thought struck him in the swirling mess of what he was feeling. What the fuck was wrong with him? Him leaving wouldn't make the government stop hunting her, even if she was pregnant. They made it clear they were determined to clean house. These bastards didn't give a shit about stuff like they quarry being pregnant. There was no way she could defend herself against government assassins, never mind with a baby to watch out for. "Motherfucker!" He swore loudly, knowing that whatever he felt about her pregnancy was irrelevant compared to that, and turned around; heading back the way he came.
Fuu was starting to nod off, when she heard a familiar clacking sound on the wood floor of the shrine. She opened an eye slightly and saw Mugen come behind the altar and lay down next to her. Shutting her eye sleepily, she grinned stupidly. He came back! He had decided not to leave her after all. She felt his arm snake around her waist. "I love you." She murmured, her eyes still closed. "I think that makes you stupid." He said into her ear as he closed his eyes with a small grin, surprised that she had forgiven him so easily when it was clear she knew he had left. "Hmm." She agreed peacefully.
As Mugen woke up slowly, his eyes adjusted to the light while the sun rose. The colors played on the back wall of the shrine, chasing the shadows away.
He knew he was in trouble. He was in territory so far off the map for him that he could only fumble and hope he got things right. He could never have imagined in his wildest dreams that he'd ever stay with a woman long enough to have a kid, never mind actually having the kid with that woman. Or have one at all. Being a dad sounded like something Jin might be able to pull off, not him. He had no patience for brats. And now he had to keep not just Fuu alive from those government bastards, but some squalling, smelly mess who'd slow them down considerably.
Oh shit. What the fuck was a dad anyway? He fought panic with an iron fist. It was winning. His mind suddenly flashed an image of the man in his dreams swinging from a noose. He shook his head to get rid of it. It had just been a dream. He didn't know that man. He didn't remember his parents.
But it was too late. He had returned. He had to deal with this hot mess, ready or not. 'Fuck.' He should have kept away from her. It would have been better for all of them if he'd kept pretending he didn't like her. Now there was nothing he could do.
Thinking like that wasn't going to help him. Or them. 'Eugh.' He flipped over to face Fuu. Her peaceful face calmed him somewhat. He gingerly put a hand on her stomach. It felt the same. But there was life in there. He was both freaked out and awed by that fact; not that he wanted to admit it. If it was anyone else's kid he probably would care at all. But his kid was growing in her. His kid. He was finding it hard to breathe. He moved his hand away as if burned. Then he held her tightly, careful not to crush her stomach; unable to speak and barely able to think.
He thought back to their earlier conversation. ' "Why do you want to keep it so bad?" "Because it's a part of you." '
Never had anyone belonged to him. He had never belonged to anyone.
He was very worried. If Fuu left him, if she died, he didn't know what he would do. He didn't know if he could survive it. He hated that fear. He had too much to lose now. Too much.
God damn it! He was turning into a pansy. What the fuck was wrong with him? Any asshole could slice him up in seconds if he acted like this in a fight. Fuck!
Mugen shook his head and looked at Fuu's stomach. He couldn't help but wonder if it was a boy or a girl.
Sitting up, he groaned and raked his hand through his hair. "Whatever." He murmured before getting up and putting on his shirt, haori and slung his sword strap over his shoulder. They would need to get a room for their stay. Now that he'd set his mind to keeping the thing in Fuu's stomach alive long enough to become a kid, not just keep her alive, he was set to do just that, whatever he felt about the… kid.
He had known from the moment she had firmly set her mind about keeping this kid, he had no say in it. He couldn't really force her to lose it or give it up. She was too stubborn. The him who had just met her would have just said 'screw it.' And leave. But he couldn't. He was realizing now, the morning after deciding to stay, that he hadn't just decided to stay because the government were set to kill her as well as him and Jin. If they weren't after her, it might have taken him longer to return; perhaps he'd have left for a day or even a few, but he was realizing that he still would have returned. He rolled his eyes and rubbed a temple.
"Girly. Wake up already." He shook her gently. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him sleepily when she saw his face. "Eugh. Just get up." He muttered, looking away. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes.
He helped her stand and then hugged her tightly. Fuu squeaked at the sudden action. She looked up into his eyes. Although his tan face was devoid of obvious emotion, she could tell he was afraid by the tension he exuded. She hugged him. "It will be okay." She tried to reassure him. He looked down at her sharply. "Don't lie to me." He growled softly. "Lie to yourself if you have to, but not to me." He stroked her cheek with the rough pad of his thumb absentmindedly, looking into the space past her head without seeing. Fuu's eyes widened at his words. They made her suddenly afraid. She liked to believe they would come out of this thing with the shogunate okay. She was a realist and knew their odds, but she had always preferred optimism. But Mugen's words had betrayed an uncertainty at their chances for survival that frightened her. He knew his own fighting skill level better than anyone and she knew he was extremely skilled; virtually undefeatable. So far. To be saying what he was implying meant he believed there was far worse coming for them than the ninjas, or the brothers, or Sara, or Kariya. And he was uncertain he could handle it. She hugged him tighter and buried her face into his shirt. This snapped him out of his thoughts.
She looked up into his face anxiously. "Promise me you won't die!" "Fuu…" "Promise me!" He looked away from her penetrating gaze. "You know I can't promise something like that. I already said I'd do my best not to. That's all I can do." She shoved away from him, hiding her face with her hair.
"Fuu?" He reached out for her instinctively, but she surprised the shit out of him by beaming up at him suddenly and jumping into his arms. She kissed him. "Then we just have to make the most of our time." She whispered into his mouth. He grinned. Nothing seemed to stop her long. "I always do." As if to prove it, he thrust his tongue in her mouth and corkscrewed her tongue with his. Her eyes popped open wide. When she broke away for air, gasping, she grinned widely. "We're going to have to practice that one." "Not now. One thing will lead to other things…" He smirked suggestively at her. "And then we'll both be fired for being late for work. Not that it bothers me much, but we gotta keep you fed." He put his hand on her stomach meaningfully.
Fuu stared at him, caught between the need to cry in happiness and confusion at his change in attitude. She opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. Clearing her throat, she waited until she could speak calmly. "You confuse me. …I don't think I'll ever understand you." "Don't try." He leaned back and crossed his arms. She rolled her eyes at this. "What confuses you?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear what it was. "You were never this kind before." "What do ya mean?" He bristled. "I thought you hated the baby." "Oh." Relaxing, he stared at her stomach for a moment. Finally, he shrugged. "I don't know." After eyeing her stomach he flicked his eyes up to linger on her face meaningfully. "But I protect what's mine." He stated simply.
Fuu blushed. After kissing him sweetly, she asked "You sure you don't have a fever?" She felt his forehead. "Whatever. Off to work with you already." He smacked her ass. She glared at him for a moment, and then grinned. "You're such a pervert." He shrugged, smugly grinning back at her. They left the shrine hand in hand.
A few days later, Fuu was returning from her job and heading for the inn they were staying at when a group of young men started harassing her. It started when they cat-called her, and she walked on by, ignoring them. They had gotten up from where they had been sitting and eating, and started following her, jeering. "Hey, why are you ignoring us?" "We're just being friendly." "Come on hang with us." On it went. Finally she got annoyed and whirled around to face them. "Leave me alone! I'm not interested! Geez!" She turned to go, but one of them grabbed her wrist and she couldn't pull free. Getting mad she turned to face him and raised her free arm to hit him. "Now that's not very friendly, is it boys?" A tall, dark haired young man in the group said as he grabbed her free arm and tapped the hilt of a katana hanging at his waist with his other hand as he tugged her away from the street. "Let go!" She tossed insults out at them. It didn't escape her notice that they had surrounded her and were slowly herding her towards an alley. She looked around for help but the people nearby were either pretending not to notice and looking away, really didn't notice, or didn't care. She struggled against her captors, but was afraid that if she fought too hard, something might go wrong with the baby in her. She was contemplating screaming for Mugen, when she actually heard screaming and felt a wind whip past her. In a flash, the guys were gone, and the pressure was eased off her wrists. She rubbed them, looking around.
Mugen was standing facing the guy with a katana, his eyes cold, his mouth curved in a dangerous grin. His sword dripped red. Fuu looked around and saw her tormentors dead on the ground. She sighed, more in annoyance than relief. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful. But Mugen had gone a little overboard. And now they'd probably have to leave town.
"You don't get to touch her." He was telling the guy quietly, leering at him quite darkly. The young man held his unsheathed katana in front of him like he expected an attack. He was watching Mugen warily, his eyes occasionally flicking back to his dead comrades. "I didn't know she had a boyfriend alright! Particularly a psycho killer for a boyfriend." He muttered this last.
Mugen suddenly moved in a blur, and was behind him before the guy could blink, his sword at the young man's throat. He moved it away from the man's throat and shoved him. He fell and then hastily turned; looking for the katana he dropped. Seeing that this was going to end messily, Fuu grabbed his sword arm as he was about go in for the kill and hung on with all her strength. "No, Mugen!" He nearly flung her off his arm until he realized it was her, and narrowly avoided cutting her with his sword.
He swore. "Why the hell did you do that, you stupid bitch? I could have cut you up by mistake!" He growled, turning to her as he sheathed his sword. The young man took the opportunity to get up and flee. Mugen turned to see him go and spat. "Pansy fucker." A small crowd of people had gathered to look at what was going on. "What are you looking at?" The crowd quickly dispersed; inspired by his threatening tone and scene of the carnage he had created.
"I'm sorry. I am. But you didn't need to kill them. I was just trying to stop you." "What the fuck for? Those fuckers didn't want to go for tea with you, you know that, right?" He glared. "Yeah, that didn't exactly escape me. But you could have just beat them up, not kill them. It was a bit overkill." She informed him. "Oh, well I will try to remember the next time I save your ass." "Please do." She sniped back.
He sighed and crossed his arms. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She blinked. "Except for a bruise on each of my wrists where they grabbed me, I'm fine." Mugen frowned. "And junior?" Fuu looked at his expression and couldn't help herself. She began to giggle. "The baby's fine." She finally got out. "So glad I amuse." He grumbled, but took her hand.
When they got up into the room at the inn they were staying at, Fuu shut the door. "We're going to have to leave you know." "You mean, like now? Why?" Mugen eyed her. "No. But soon. I think it's safe to assume killing locals will make someone who we don't want to to notice eventually." "I want to say you're being paranoid, but I guess we gotta step extra careful now, just in case. What a drag." He flopped down on his futon. Carefully, Fuu dropped beside him. She opened he mouth to speak, but her stomach rumbled loudly before she could get a word out. "Seriously Fuu?" He teased. She shoved him. Grinning, he grabbed her. Before she could protest his mouth was on hers, soft and warm. Then he was pulling away and standing. "Okay fatty, I'll find us some grub." "Mugen, you jerk!" He laughed and shut the door as she was yelling "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant! And I don't even show yet!"
When he returned, he found her leafing through a book. "What'cha readin'?" He set down the food on the table. She handed it to him and began to open the packages of food. "Mmm." She inhaled, searching for chopsticks.
When he opened the book, he looked at in surprise. Instead of kanji characters, there were pictures. "I thought these porno books burned in the old lady's house." "They did burn." Fuu said with her mouth full. He saw her devouring the food and sat down next to the table, helping himself before she ate it all. "Ease up porky." Mugen began jamming food down his gullet. She just glared and kept eating.
After a few minutes of silence except for the sound of two people enjoying their food, Mugen choked. Fuu handed him a cup of water, which he took and drained greedily between hacking coughs. "You okay?" She asked in concern.
Once he could breathe and speak properly, Mugen ogled Fuu. "If you didn't save them porno books, it means you bought new ones." She glared at him, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. "They are not porn books, they are erotic art! The sales woman called them Shunga." "Same difference." "No way! Erotic art is art." She spluttered. "Pfft."He rolled his eyes. "If you like getting off on it." He gave her the eye. "You know, I particularly found the one with the squid fucking the woman moving. Seriously. I nearly cried." He grinned at how worked up she was getting in defense. "What are you talking about?" He flipped through the book and found the print in question, grinning as he watched her eyes bulge. Turning red, she crossed her arms. "Yeah right. I can't see you being moved. More like it made your nose bleed or turned you on." "I knew you were smart." "But it's still erotic art. Its…its…educational." "You bet it is." He drawled. "How come you bought new ones anyway?" It was not something he would have imagined Fuu doing on her own.
"I told you before: I'm studying them." "Are you now?" He crawled around the table so he was next to her and leaned over her. "And have you learned anything….useful…yet?" "Maybe." Fuu was dizzy with the sexual tension he was giving off. She barely knew what he asked her. "Why don't you find out." She finally responded. "As long as junior will be okay." She grinned. "You keep asking, and I keep telling you; it won't hurt her." She pulled him down and kissed him. "Well then." He said into her mouth. "How are you sure it's a girl? It could be a boy." "Mugen! Shut up and kiss me!" She said in frustration. First he wanted to have sex and now he wanted to talk? Mugen grinned and took her mouth in his. "As you wish."
guest: You're right. Its a rule I've never liked because it usually kills anything I want to delineate. I will try to master it, but it might be slow, so I'm sorry about that.
isolarza90: I'm glad you like it. He's returned, but he still has his issues with it though. :)
To all the readers: I'm sorry the update was so late. I've been having trouble with my computer where it turns off or freezes at random. Then It might not turn back on for up to a day. Twice it shut off while I was in the middle of writing, and couldn't save those parts. But I finally managed to finish it. This means my chapters will be coming out slower now (I'm not sure 'till when though), but I will get the chapters out. I already have part of chapter 13 done.
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