Jin gives up on trying to get Mugen to tell him where he lives and has the taxi driver take them to his apartment instead. He's not thrilled with the idea of Mugen as a houseguest, but leaving him on the street is out of the question. Mugen's head rolls back, snoring loudly in the back of the cab, his head lolling onto Jin's shoulder. He shoves him off with a long-suffering sigh.
"When you're sober." he huffs, helping him from the vehicle. "You'll need to explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to get drunk tonight."
"Was freeeee." Mugen slurs, nearly stumbling out into the street until Jin grabs him by his collar, jerking him back. "Can't turn down freeee..."
Jin rolls his eyes, grabbing one of Mugen's arms to throw over his shoulder to pull him along towards his apartment.
It's a struggle to get him inside. He fumbles with holding him upright and digging into his pocket for his keys. When he finally gets him through the door, he lets him drop onto his couch with an undignified thump. Mugen lets out a muffled groan when he lands face down onto the cushions. Not long after he hears the tell-tale sounds of him snoring.
Jin stares down at him, resisting the petty urge to kick him. If Mugen hadn't acted like an idiot they might have been able to go out and get information from Shino's husband tonight.
His conversation with Fuu all but confirms his suspicions about Shino. This leaves him with what to do exactly after they get a hold of her husband. Threaten him? Harm him? He has no problem with that, but that still leaves the source: Umanosuke. It's not just Shino now, but Fuu too. How long until she's forced to sleep with random patrons of the club for extra money? He can't leave her in that situation either. He has a feeling the unconscious heap on his couch will agree.
Fuu alluded to Umanosuke having dirt on Mugen. He too mentioned something like that to him, that at one point he did owe him something. He wonders how that'll affect their plans, but if he was willing to go against him before Fuu was involved, nothing will stop him now. Mugen reached out to him for help after all. He almost admires his headstrong nature. Almost. What is it like to just act without thinking?
Mugen gives a loud snort before turning to his back, mumbling incoherently in his sleep.
Hmm, that's right it leaves you with the consequences.
Jin feels the weight of his sleepless nights taking their toll. Mugen will be out for the rest of the night. No doubt well into the afternoon by the state of him. He stares down at the awkward position he's laying in, his ridiculous sword digging into his back, and takes some pleasure in knowing he's going to wake up both hung over and very sore.
He gets undressed wearily and throws himself into his bed in the corner. Just as sleep begins to take him, he marvels again at just how very familiar this all feels.
Mugen often dies in his dreams. Since childhood he's rotated through the same handful of scenarios; graphic splices of scenes that replay each night. The crushing weight of a building crumbling on top of him. His bleeding body taking shallow breaths beneath frigid sheets of rain. He sinks beneath the waves countless times. Through the murky water he watches the dark sky above erupt in fire. He's heard it said that you can't die in dreams; you'll wake up before it actually happens. It's true for him too. Every time he's about to be swallowed by the black, he hears the same voice calling his name and he wakes up.
Tonight is different. He hears the voice first, only now he can recognize that it's Fuu. Has it always been her? He sees the blurry outline of her, her warm eyes wide in fear. He tries to reach for her, but the ground falls away from beneath him and for a few moments he's terrifyingly weightless, falling through bleak emptiness.
His body jerks violently upon waking, as if he's landed face down. His eyes open wide and then wince shut in the bright light. His mouth tastes rancid and the hard cushions beneath his face are damp from his drool. He's not dying now, but God does it feel like he is.
Awareness begins to trickle in and he sits up slowly with a pained groan, removing his sword which has lodged itself under him and wipes the dried spit from his face. He's inside someone's apartment, not one he's familiar with. It's clean, almost clinically so. Definitely not anyone he knows.
He looks to the other side of the room and sees a bed in the far corner. Long dark hair peeks out from beneath white covers. His stomach plummets faster than he fell in his dream; he went home with someone last night.
Fuck fuck fuck.
He wracks his brain trying to remember exactly what happened the night before. He remembers drinking. A lot. On an empty stomach too, like a fucking moron. The dry mouth and pounding head are enough evidence to that. He must have gone home with the woman he drank with all night. He puts his head in his hands, trying to hold his pounding head because it feels like it's about to explode.
More pieces from the night before start coming back to him. Fuu. The look on her face. Was it disgust? Disappointment? So much for thinking she belonged to him. Laughably stupid now; she'll want nothing to do with his dumbass after this. When has he ever taken care of his belongings? He's fucked it up before he even had a chance to make something of it. All his stupid confidence…
He groans again, his aching head throbbing. He deserves the pain, the disgusting taste in his mouth.
The covers stir in the bed. He jumps up, swaying on his feet, but ready to make a quick exit. No way in hell does he want to confront this bitch. That whore probably took advantage of him, he can't even remember coming back here last night. She works with Fuu, what if she tries to blackmail him?
His panic is interrupted, however, when the figure sits up in bed. Mugen sinks to his knees in sweet relief.
"Oh thank fuck." he croaks.
It's Jin, sitting up, squinting at him through bleary eyes and reaching for his glasses on a night stand. He's never been more relieved in his life to be in another man's apartment. No way in hell I'd ever be drunk enough to bone him.
It's at this moment that the liquor from the night before decides to make its reappearance, burning up to his throat. He looks around before stumbling off, banging into the nearest door which he can only hope is a bathroom because if not he's about to hurl into Jin's closet. Luckily for the both of them, it is.
After emptying every ounce of liquor from his stomach, he cups his hands under the tap to fill his palms with cold water, gulping some down and splashing his face. Despite feeling like absolute shit there's still relief that he isn't that much of a fuck up to mess around on her.
When he returns Jin is already dressed, making coffee in his kitchen.
Authority figures have been nonexistent in his life. At least none worth a damn, but the look Jin throws his way is nearly as stern and paternal as one. Reminds him of that crotchety Kagetoki. He expects a boring lecture but instead Jin just levels him with a look of disdain.
"You're an idiot." he says simply.
"No shit." Mugen agrees, his voice still hoarse from throwing up.
It occurs to him, probably too late seeing as how he's just hugged the guy's toilet, that four-eyes could have just left him to sleep off his hangover in a gutter somewhere. He slumps down onto the couch, feeling awkward. He's never been good at 'thank you'. Part of why he never likes to be in debt to anyone. They always hold that shit over his head. He rubs his bleary eyes with a grunt.
"Guess I'll be knockin' more of my fee for helping you with your chick," he mutters.
"I have a feeling you'll be doing it for free, actually." Jin says cooly, taking a sip of coffee.
"Oh yeah?" Mugen challenges, "Why's that?"
Jin explains it to him; her fathers old debt. This causes a guilty squirm to his stomach because he remembers mentioning her father in passing to Umanosuke. Is that how he made the connection? Would he have made it regardless? His hands tighten into fists.
"He threatened her." Jin adds hesitantly, "I believe he threatened you as well."
Jin's voice fades away into static because right now he's not in four-eyes apartment, he's choking the life from Umanosuke, getting savage enjoyment imagining his one good eye popping and bursting from the pressure he puts on his neck. Or maybe he'll leave it intact so he can watch as he guts him slowly. There's a lot of ways you can cut a man before he'll actually die. He's pushed the boundaries before. Been a while since he's caused any real harm. He's gone soft.
Either way he's going to beat the ever loving fuck out of the bastard. That's why she's been avoiding him?
"That dumb bitch." he says under his breath.
Of course she did. Of course she put herself last, and worse in danger just so he wouldn't be? He's the one that can actually handle that shit. He looks around, head whipping to the side for his sword before snapping up to look at Jin.
"Where is it?" he says flatly.
Jin takes an unconcerned sip from his mug.
"I'm not going to let you rush into this."
"Oh yeah? What're you gonna do to stop me?"
He gets to his feet, but his attempt to look menacing is hindered by the way he hobbles, nearly stumbling over his own feet. Jin nods.
"That's what I thought. You're still hungover and frankly that makes you useless."
Mugen privately agrees with this point but still glowers at him, contemplating smacking the mug from his smug hands.
"We'll go tomorrow night. We'll find her husband and see what we can do from there. He may have some insight we can use against Umanosuke. If you go now you'll just kill him or end up dead yourself. Neither is helpful. There must be another way."
Only, Mugen knows there isn't.
Kagetoki's words come back to him; something about blood on his hands. He does have blood on his hands. He'd have even more by now if no one stopped him. The people he's hurt deserved it and he'll stand by that. Every mouthful of teeth he knocks out, fingers getting lobbed off or broken nose is nothing compared to what they actually deserve, but he doesn't like the idea of spending the rest of his life in prison so he's kept his cool. It doesn't make him a good person; doesn't even make him much better than them. Not from the outside. When you're in the dump all the trash looks the same.
Maybe the more honorable route involves turning him in, reporting it to the police. Honorable for regular people anyway, but he's not just anybody.
He knows the justice system doesn't give a shit either way. Men like that will always get away with it. He knows Umanosuke's connections; the same ones that kept him from jail will keep him from serving time too and he'll be marked as a rat. He'd rather be shut away in prison than live like that. There is only one way to stop him from hurting her, even if four-eyes won't like it.
"Make a plan then," he says grimly, mentally preparing another for the moment he gets Umanosuke alone. He's repaid his debt to him by now, it's time to end it.
Fuu's walk from the station has turned into a long, depressing slog home. She had a few glorious weeks of having more money than she's ever had in her life. Not rich, just not worried for once. For the first time in her life she wasn't concerned about keeping the roof over her head or the food in her fridge. No avoiding her landlord, no digging in cushions for spare change. Those days are done. After Umanosuke's cut she's left with even less money than she earned at the restaurant.
Jin knows now and she appreciated his offer of help. It sounds like his hostess is dealing with the same problem. She wonders how many other girls she works with who have to deal with it. Yuuka doesn't know, she wouldn't have been so enthusiastic about working there if she did.
She steels herself against self pity; she's been hungry before, she can handle it again. She can handle anything.
Almost anything. She doesn't know if she can handle another encounter with Mugen. Seeing him come out of Yatsuha's room the night before was another hit to her morale. She knew eventually he'd get tired of waiting around for her.
She pulls her keys out of her purse but pauses. Something feels off. It's the lights in her apartment, they're on. She never leaves them on; it's a waste of electricity. Her heart thuds in her chest as she sees a shadow moving behind the curtains inside. She thinks about calling Jin, she has his number, but it's late. She gets close to the door, pressing her ear against it to listen to the sounds inside. There's muffled rustling and moving around. No voices. Is she being robbed? Tough for them because she's broke now too. She doesn't have anything worth taking.
There's also Umanosuke's previous threat about someone sneaking into her apartment if she disobeyed him. She swallows. She hasn't though. She's done everything she can to keep Mugen away. If he saw the two of them together last night, or if someone told him they did…
Simultaneously she flips her phone open, ready to call Jin, and removes one of her shoes. They're another new, very sharp red pair she received from foot-guy. Thank goodness for his taste in dangerous foot-wear. She holds the handle of her door slowly pushing it open, shoe held aloft.
She raises it to strike when Mugen appears in front of her and holds his hands up to block her, easily snatching the heel from her hands.
"You really think you're gonna' do damage with a damn shoe?"
"Yeah!" she says furiously, hopping on one foot trying to reach for it. "Now give it back so I can beat you with it!"
He actually has the audacity to look mystified by her outrage.
"Why?"
"You broke into my freaking apartment!" she cries. "What are you doing?"
"Thought you might be hungry." he says casually, holding her shoe out for him and she snatches it back.
He leaves her in the doorway to return to her stove. He's cooking for her again. Despite her frustration with him, it smells amazing. Her stomach growls. Her countertops are littered with empty grocery bags and packages of food, spices, and oil. He went shopping? Does he seriously think he can do whatever he wants? She throws her purse on a hook by the door where she sees his red jacket hanging. He really made himself at home, didn't he? She tosses her shoes to the side, marching over to him.
"You do realize what a huge invasion of privacy this is right?" she says exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you that you can't be here! I seriously can't see you, I–"
He turns and shoves an enormous spoonful of food into her open mouth. She glares at him before chewing grudgingly. It's some sort of stir fry with veggies and uhg— It's really good of course. Damn him.
"That shuts ya' up doesn't it?" he says with a triumphant grin.
He's acting so adorably easy-going that it disarms her. She can almost forget that he's breaking all the rules right now. He's wearing a dark sleeveless shirt that shows off the tattoos along his arms. Under the warm kitchen lighting his skin looks just as delicious as the food, with just a touch of sheen from being in front of the hot stove. She feels her own skin heat. She could easily get used to that sight, especially if he's cooking for her.
Though, the next words out of his mouth dampen some of those affectionate feelings
"Know how I know you're dumb as rocks?" he asks, screwing the cap back on a bottle of sauce and searching around one of her cabinets. "You thought someone broke into your apartment–"
She swallows her mouthful and bursts out indignantly: "Someone did!"
"-and your first instinct was to waltz right in with a shoe to attack em'?" he shakes his head, stepping around her to pull down some of her pink bowls and plates. "You're somethin' else girly I'll give you that."
I had Jin on speed dial she thinks sullenly. But he's right. She's not going to admit that out loud of course.
"Don't worry your flying rat ambushed me the second I got in here."
He lifts up a hand to show her his finger which has two small, perfectly placed puncture marks.
"Oh Momo!" Fuu says brightly, looking around. "Where is he?"
"Whadya' think I'm stir-frying?"
She grabs one of her slippers and smacks him repeatedly over the head.
He holds up his arms from the attack, pointing behind her.
"AHG-I'm–I'm kiddin'! I locked him in there."
Serves you right. She thinks, opening her closet to peek inside. She sees a pair of bright eyes watching her from beneath a pile of fluffy towels. She murmurs to him, praising him for being a good boy and attacking the big hairy idiot who broke in, running a finger over his nose. She hears Mugen grumble under his breath behind her but she ignores him.
She shuts it gently. He likes to hide in there anyway. Mugen's lucky that all he suffered was one bite. The maintenance man came by unexpectedly when Fuu was at the restaurant one day and left with bites all over his face and neck. She lied to the landlord after that and said she got rid of him. Momo is vicious to strangers, maybe he sensed Mugen wasn't all bad.
"I know by the way. About Umanosuke" He says, his back still to her while he stirs. "Four-eyes told me everything."
She gasps.
"What a jerk! He promised he wouldn't say anything!" she exclaims before frowning. "Hey, wait, are you guys friends now or something?"
"Hell no." he snorts, sounding offended, "We just got 'common shared interests'...his words."
He turns off the stove and slides the stirfry onto plates, heaping two generous portions of rice into her pink bowls. He balances them on his arms to carry to her table and settles himself down on the floor in front of it before digging in.
"I'll eat yours too." he threatens through a mouthful.
So this is the reality she lives in now. She sits down across from him reluctantly, staring down at the meal. It looks good, really good. Which means it'll get in the way of everything she needs to say. She sets her chopsticks down, ready to argue with him when he points at her warningly.
"Eat first. You can bitch at me all you want after."
She pouts at this, but shovels the meal back as quickly as possible. She nearly moans around the first mouthful. Damn him for being so good at cooking. And for being so casual about all of this. Doesn't he care that he could get in trouble too? That he could lose the protection that might be keeping him from jail? He acts like she's the stupid one but it's him too.
She finishes her meal in record time, and he almost seems to be racing her, shoveling back and keeping up with her. She pushes her bowls aside and opens her mouth to talk but he cuts across her first.
"I'm not gonna let him hurt you."
"That isn't comforting at all because I don't want you to get hurt either! Especially because he said—" She pauses.
"What did he say?" he asks darkly.
She looks away, focusing on straightening her chopsticks against the grain on the table.
"He told me he kept you from going to jail after you did something…violent. He didn't say what it was."
"Yeah. I beat a guy to death couple' years back."
She gives a tiny intake of breath. It's stunning how easily he says it to her. His expression is careful on her though, dark eyes measuring her response. She does her best to keep her expression neutral.
"Well then." she says finally, "that explains it."
"That make you nervous to be around me?"
"No!" She says and means it. "I told you: I know you're not a bad person. That doesn't change anything. I just don't want to mess anything up for you. Especially if his protection is keeping you from getting in more trouble."
"I can handle him." he says dismissively. "Let me worry about the rest."
"But I don't want you to—"
He slams a fist down on the table, rattling the bowls, sending her chopsticks rolling across the floor. She jumps.
"Let me take care of you goddamnit."
She bites her lip, looking up at him. He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Just—have a little faith in me." He mumbles, sounding apologetic. "I won't let him hurt you and I'm not gonna go to jail either okay?"
She nods, still fighting the desire to argue with him. Her heart clenches in her chest. She wonders if it's too much to hope…
"But, why?" she whispers.
"Why what?"
She lowers her head, feeling a burn in her cheeks. Just lay everything out on the table already!
"Why do all of this for me? You could just walk away if you wanted. You don't have to help me at all."
"What can I say?" He says dryly, spreading his arms wide. "I'm a good guy. The best there is. A goddamn hero some would say."
She snorts at this, glad that some of the tension has lifted.
"Who says that?"
"You could." he mumbles.
She purses her lips, getting the distinct feeling that he didn't mean to say that out loud. Even through his dark complexion his face colors red and he clears his throat. She smiles softly, untucking her legs from under the table and scoots around towards him.
"Do you want me to call you my hero?" she asks innocently.
He rolls his eyes and grumbles, leaning back against her bed and determinedly looking away from her.
"Forget it."
"Do you?" she repeats coyly, enjoying the way he looks almost shy for once. She leans in to him, trailing a hand up his thigh, letting it rest there, her other hand moves up his chest with a feather-light touch. She feels a flutter of delight when his dark eyes begin to close, leaning down towards her. Instead of kissing him she whispers into his ear.
"Sorry, but my hero doesn't go see other hostesses."
She pulls black, sticking out her tongue at him as his eyes snap open. He glowers at her.
"Don't think I forgot you spent the night drinking with Yatsuha, you jerk—"
"You fuckin' tease," he growls.
She yelps as he hauls her into his lap and turns her over, yanking her frilly lavender dress up her hips and spanks her. She cries out indignantly, trying to wriggle away. It doesn't hurt exactly, in fact she mostly feels out of breath and embarrassed.
"What're you doi—"
He does it again, and she cries out. This time the stinging feeling is chased with a delirious surge of arousal as his warm hand rests on her, squeezing her.
"I didn't bang that bitch, didn't even want to. I haven't gotten laid in weeks and I fuckin' hate bein' teased." he growls at her. "Sorry I'm not your weak boring vanilla ass 9-5 salaryman you drool over but—"
She turns to frown at him, swiping her hair out of her face.
"Jin? Why are you bringing him up?"
"You're the one who likes him," he mutters.
"Oh, but I thought—I thought he told you everything?"
He stares at her questioningly, scarred brows furrowing. She really wishes she wasn't in such a compromising position, but when she tries to reach back and pull her dress down he smacks her hand away. She sighs and faces away from him again.
"I—I only said I liked him to keep you away. I…like you, Mugen."
There's several beats of silence.
"You like me?"
"Yes." she hisses.
His grip on her loosens, allowing her to shimmy out of his lap and she tugs her dress back into place. He just blinks at her confused, like he's struggling with doing the math in his head.
"Like, besides wantin' to fuck?"
She covers her face, letting out an embarrassed whine.
"Yes okay! I have feelings for you. That—that includes physical stuff too, but I thought that was obvious since the beginning. Please don't make me say it again."
She peeks out through her fingers at him and her breath catches in her throat at the look on his face. The way it melts from stunned to warm to greedy.
He pulls her back to him and hoists her onto her bed, covering her body with his. He assaults her with hot kisses, tugging at her dress, practically trying to tear it from her body. She hears the stress of the stitches as he yanks on it. She whines at this-it's a new dress after all- but he ignores her.
"You're tellin' me—" he says, between furious kisses, "I coulda' had you—" he reaches between her legs, roughly pulling her panties aside causing her gasp, "this whole damn time and you—"
He cuts this thought off as she arches against his rough fingers. He grins down at her.
"Already wet. Tell me the truth: ya' liked it when I spanked you huh? Knew you were into the kinky shit."
Her face burns and she tries squirming away again. He strokes her, parting her folds with an upward swipe.
"M-Mugen!"
"Get used to sayin' that because I ain't leavin' until I hear you scream it. Don't need to be quiet now baby."
She moans, trying to regain her senses as he uses his knee to spread her legs further apart. He kisses her again, sucking and biting her bottom lip. She presses his chest, pushing him back.
"Wait wait wait—you haven't said it back!" she squeaks.
"Said what?"
"If you—if—oh my god can you give it a rest for a second! I can't think when you do that!"
He gives her a wicked smirk, pausing the ministrations of his hands which are currently crawling up under her dress to fondle her chest.
"If you like me back." she continues in a small voice. "I admitted it to you, but you haven't said it…"
He freezes, staring down at her dumbstruck.
"If I…Why the fuck else would I be—" he shakes his head like he's trying to get water out of it, staring at her amazed. "Did you not hear me say I haven't gotten laid in weeks? All I fuckin' do these days is think about you. Worry about you because you're so goddamn stupid when you coulda' been depending on me this whole time and you—"
He sits back with an annoyed groan, sliding away from her.
Oh. She isn't even offended by the insult because it's true; no one's ever cared for her like this. It's no wonder that her first instinct is to rally against it. Her mother tried before she passed away, but there was only so much she could do. She even said it herself; he could have easily forgotten about her, moved on to a girl who is half as much trouble as she's been. But he stayed; even when it's not safe. Even when he didn't have to.
Maybe some of his methods of showing affection are a little…brash. Breaking into her apartment? Not so romantic. Cooking for her though? Maybe the breaking and entering is worth it in that case. Plus the way he's pouting right now is so endearing, all she wants to do is kiss the grumpy expression from his face. To make him happy. Suddenly, she finds she doesn't need him to say it after all, he's been showing her this whole time.
She crawls across the bed towards him again and he watches her, his shoulders tensing.
"Mugen." she says softly.
"Yeah, what?" he says defensively, flinching when her hands brush his. Is he worried she's going to just tease him again? She blushes, gazing up into his stormy eyes through her lashes, trying to summon her courage.
"Can you…show me how you like to be touched now?"
