Authors note: Hey there Samurai Champloo fans ( I know there aren't a lot out there yet :P ), here is chapter two of my fic. I went and added a bit more history into the place now that I learned a good deal of where episode 11 has taken place. I added a few more characters in to develop the story line. I hope you all don't mind original characters ; Anyway, review and let me know how you guys feel about this so far. Jin is so hard to write for and manage to keep in character :

Chapter: 2

Time flies by when you're terrible at fishing. Regardless of Jin being a decent warrior, he hadn't the faintest on how to dig up clams, set up nets for fish, much let alone to gut them in bulk and set them up for proper seasonings. There was so much to learn, and while the old man often quipped at the boy, he accepted it as a rough form of teaching. He was a good student, when it came to listening and trying his hardest to understand the true meaning of any task.

It had been another month before had gotten the hang of things, setting out lines and nets to catch the current of the fish. Sure, the lake wasn't endless of fish, but they only caught enough to make it by, with enough profit to split between the two. During this time, every morning the young man would catch glimpse of Bashi as he went out beyond the murky horizon to the other end of the water's horizon. He had never once asked to go to the other side, much let alone to the temple. It was blocked of course from normal folk, as the religion it taught prohibited it. The old merchant was lucky enough to be elected to go back and forth there in delivering supplies.

Not once had either of them mentioned the girl that was hidden beneath the walls of the monastery, as the topic seemed taboo for the longest time. Sure, it would only bring a distraction against his catching of the day… and with how badly he fished to begin with, Jin didn't need any more distractions. Though he would often find himself staring off into the mountainous regions of the Hakone, wondering. Was she safe? Was she happy? Did she even know he was there? They were all stupid questions, he knew that.

" What's that blank stare comin' up with now?"

This day hadn't been much different from the rest.

The young samurai had turned his head to catch sight of a large bag being tossed into his direction from another passing boat, and had caught it before his weight decided to tip his boat over, " .. Sorry." He had only cast the bag a sparing look before setting it to the side and had knelt down to pull at the net he had set up.

"Aren't you gonna look what's inside? I swear, you have the brain of the fish that you're rounding up." Bashi had been stationed to his own boat.. dressed in the outfit he normally wore for when he was venturing out to the other ports. Jin hadn't caught glance of what he was wearing and only tugged at the links of rope to pull up a few squirming bits of sea life. There wasn't anything too valuable though, aside from the one koi fish that squirmed from a hole in the web it was stuck in and managed to splash up a good deal of water in the samurai's face before disappearing underneath the water bellow.

"…" He hated koi. Ever since that one day when he had found that satchel of counterfeit money. They always looked like they were up to something, with those big blank eyes. He had wiped the bit of water from his face and had turned to look towards the bag itself and slowly leaned over to open it. The contents however made him blink.

" Food supplies?"

" That's right-I made word of my little fish apprentice.. and now that everyone knows, I'd rather have you go and ship everything. Besides, you'd be better at that then with the algae you got there." The elderly man looked pleased with himself as he caught look of the twitching brow of the samurai. Sure, he wasn't a good fisherman, but the insult wasn't necessary.

"Fine, " Jin had stated while tying the bag back together and stood to swing it over his shoulder. Each of them had hopped to the opposite vessel, though as the black haired young man turned, he found something else tossed at him, the sakkat that Bashi had been wearing a few moments ago.

" Go on and take it, you'll need it more in traveling around out in the sun then I would. Now go and take that package off to the northern coast, you'll find your receiver once you get there. Now don't hang around the port too long, otherwise ye just might miss dinner." It was strange to be treated as a child sometimes, but it was comforting in a while as well. The old man was lonely, and he didn't have anywhere to go, it was a good trade off between the two. Once having plopped the wicker hat up top of his head, he nodded and set the pack down onto the deck of the boat, " Right."

He was obedient as long as he knew what he was doing, which was always nice for the old man. The only time he had to raise his voice is when he did something terribly wrong in regards to the fish, which had lulled down quite a bit, " Alright then, you be good now." The two had parted by that point, leaving Jin pondering a bit more. Why the sudden change?

The dock that he had arrived to didn't look all that different from any other port. People were bustling around, loading crates of supplies up onto the main wooden piers. It made his parcel look rather ridiculous, but that was beside the point. He had something to deliver, and that was what he was going to do. Besides, having not seen the main land was almost refreshing in his mind. The main city of Hakone was well known for it's post between Edo and Takaido, and with it's hot springs, it was a nice place for someone to come and unwind. Not to mention, the lack of the black market around made the village seem a lot cleaner. He didn't mind it at all.

In fact, he had come to like it.

"Oh-are you Bashi's apprentice?" A voice of a tender matured woman caught his attention, and slowly from the brim of his hat, he had seen exactly what he had heard. She was a fairly tall woman, looking to be in her middle-years. Judging by the small thin lines that had built up on her face, she looked to be a mother. Children always brought out wrinkles.

" Yes-am I delivering this to you?" He had set the boat up beside the dock and had taken the sack and plopped it the main deck before hopping onto it himself, taking the time to secure a line around one of the pillars to make sure his 'vessel' didn't decide to go and wander off on him.

" Oh heavens no. I'm just here to guide you to the delivery spot. Bashi said you wouldn't have any idea where to go." Jin couldn't help but give the woman a flat look at that. Sometimes being treated as a child got on his nerves… sometimes.

"Where is it?" There was no use in arguing with her, and after the boat was settled, he had taken the parcel up once again and seemed ready to follow her directions.

"This way, it's a bit of a walk, so keep your feet up."

Instead he was following her heels. Though Jin wasn't sure whether or not he would have located the delivery point on words, but following behind a woman that was fashioning waves to every man they passed had worried him some. What was the old coot up to now?

" So, your name is Jin, huh? Bashi told me all sorts of things about you, I'm Emi." The woman had spoke back behind her after a long moment of silence between them. They had already traveled out from the main bustle of the town and had started on a small dirt path. Where this food was going was beyond him.

" ..Ah." He gave his typical response in concentrating on the area around him, and had noticed a few lingering trees here or there. While it was normal for him to usually stay quiet, the woman had not expected such a short-winded reply.

"You're the strong silent type, aren't you? How boring," She had given a small whine at that, only rose a hand to one of the odd trinkets that held her hair together, " After all that exaggerating, I would have thought that you'd be the most interesting man alive." She sounded disappointed more then anything as she kept her quick pace. The tree's had turned more tense as they seemed to enter what seemed like a small forest. The walk seemed to go on for a few more minutes before they had started up what seemed to be a slope. After an hour or so of walking, the samurai's curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Where is this parcel being delivered to?"

"He didn't tell you? That old geezer-" The woman had rolled her eyes a bit and kept on tugging at the small ornament she had in her hair, and had gotten up to the top of the hill, on looking to a moderate sized establishment, " Well I guess your bound to find out in a minute." The building itself looked like a residence of sorts, with a medium built porch with a few odd wooden protrusions sticking up from the ground. They looked beat up, as if someone had taken a Kendo stick to them several times.

Jin would have taken a closer look at the area around him had he not felt a sudden pain smack the back of his head.. and while acting on reflexes, the bag was dropped and he had whirled around to see nothing, and after being pegged again, his head had jerked upwards to the trees. There was a small boy perched there, tan skinned and producing a large frown down to them both. His hair was short and unkempt like any child would, though before the swordsman could get a better look at him, he had hopped down and ducked into the woods. Needless to say, the matured woman had turned to only coax a small bark off to where the retreating boy was, " Your going to get yourself in big trouble if you keep on throwing rocks at my visitors Keitaro! He's only bringing you all food!"

All?

Jin had turned his head back to the establishment after her had finished rubbing the soft spot of his head, only to see a matter of eight or nine variously aged children on the porch he could have sworn was empty a minute ago. For a moment, he seemed out numbered. He didn't mind children.. but there was a horde of them.

" Well, this is my home, and the home of the children whom Hakone was terrible enough to abandon. You may call me a lunatic, but all these children are well cared for." She had gone to take the bag by that point, dragging it behind her as continued up the path, only to be greeted by a good number of the older children, who had gone to help her carrying the rations back inside. It seemed that his work had been done, though it wasn't long before Jin had gone to following after her.

She took care of them all by herself?

" I didn't know Bashi did charity work." For an old man who lived in a tiny cabin, he didn't think he was wealthy enough to support anyone other them himself. Much let alone ten hungry mouths and a haughty old woman.

" Charity? Oh no, it's not that. I'm paying you for bringing this to me after all. There's no way I could have brought this all by myself, and I need the older kids to keep track of the little ones." She did give a sparing smile back to where he was after she had hopped onto the front deck. Jin had stopped a few feet away from the steps themselves, and took the liberty of watching the children as the picked at what was brought and darted inside to deposit them. Aside for the one that thought pitching rocks was funny, they all seemed well behaved.

" Well just don't stand there, your welcome to come in." She had disappeared inside not long after, and gradually after giving a sparing look back to the woods, he had ascended the steps and slipped inside.

The main hall seemed simple yet clean, and was constructed to inhabit two stories. Mats were placed here or there, though he assumed that most of the children snoozed upstairs for the most part. There wasn't much of a living space aside from all the random objects that were tucked in the corner of the room. The cooking area seemed vast enough as well, considering that most of the children were there now. It took him a moment to locate Emi once more, as she had been in the middle of all the children, taking what seemed like a small infant from one of the other children.

" So how do you like our humble abode? Not too bad for a woman past her prime and a couple of kids." She had turned back to him and stepped to where he was, having pressed the babe against her bosom. Jin had sparred a small nod in agreeing with her before peeking down at the child. It had been so long since he got a good look at one. In the world he grew up in, the young were far and few.

The woman had raised a brow at that and shifted to offer the child out to him, her painted lips curling into a small grin, " Here, hold him while I go get dinner ready. I'm sure Bashi wouldn't mind me making something for the both of you." Before he could protect, the small creation was shoved in his hands and she had turned back to the kids. Wait, hadn't the old man advised for him to come back before then?

" I-" Being interrupted seemed like a way of life for him, as soon as the baby had realized that an unfamiliar being was holding him, the poor thing went to screaming. Maybe this is why he stayed far away from children.. they made that horrible sound whenever they felt it necessary.

" Oh-just rock him. He does that from time to time!" The woman had called out while taking out a small rack of what looked like dry fish and went on to complaining on how it was the wrong type. Between her, the chatter of the children, and the yelling of the baby, Jin's temperament had waned. Rock him, huh? And while he escaped back out onto the porch, he had done just that.

He was about as good as taking care of an infant as he was fishing.

The young man didn't know too much about natural grace, and that of the calm movements a child needed to calm down. In fact, the rocking only seemed to make things worse. He stood there a moment, brows twitching and his face looking sour at the woods around him, he had finally forced a sigh and looked back down to the odd creature. Maybe if he just forced it's mouth closed.. it would shut up. After contemplating this for a short time, he had lifted his hand to loom above the infant, and while he seemed to go and pinch the child's lips shut, he only mouth his index finger gummed at. There was a mix between shock and disgust that crossed his face when this had occurred, but at least the child wasn't screaming anymore.

" What kind of samurai are you? Can't even take care of a –kid-." The same light winded sound of the boy in the trees had appeared once again, and by that point Jin had gotten a better look at him.

" I wasn't aware that I had to have the knowledge of taking care of a child." Well, normally a samurai learned the skills of the sword, not baby-sitting.

" Psh! Shows how much –you- know. Stupid." And the kid had only shoved his rounded nose up into the air before having turned into the house, leaving the swordsman and the infant to themselves.

Thankfully the finger technique worked until it was time for dinner, and while the fish was presented along with a good deal of vegetables, it had turned out to be an actual pleasant night. He had thought time and time again on Bashi sitting in his own cabin roaring up a storm about how he didn't listen, but he figured to deal with that when the time came. Most of the kids had been polite during eating, and often found themselves asking him odd questions. Where he had traveled to, the people that he had seen, how many sword fights he had won. It was strange, he didn't mind answering the questions for once, as it made him feel like an old wise man himself.

Time went by so fast that he had lost track of it, and while the dinner had been over and the day had passed well onto the night, the young man was seated in the middle of the great hall, knelt down by the table he had eaten at, sipping at a dish of alcohol. Sure, the sake wasn't really necessary, but after a long day, Emi had insisted upon it.

"So how was dinner?" She seemed perfectly fine despite having previously chased all the children to bed an hour prior. She had a lot of patience, even more then him.

" Good. I wasn't aware women who worked in a brothel could cook." It was a bold assumption, though as he had most of the day to think, his memories led him to believe that he had seen her somewhere before. Judging by the small grin on the woman's face, he had been right.

" I wasn't born in one, you know. I cooked well in my youth before I was admitted there. Though I'm glad you recognize where I'm from." She had sipped her own small portion of the hot alcohol before setting it aside.. having leaned over the table a bit, " I knew I saw you from somewhere, stealing looks at Kohana."

He hadn't heard that name in so long. Jin's expression sobered a bit as he sat back.. a few strands of ebony had let off a few drastic shadows in the candle light, " .. You were there?"

The woman had chuckled a bit at his own 'innocence', and only curled a small hand underneath her chin, " ..I was there before she showed up, and after she disappeared." She allowed a bit of silence to fall between them, and while the young samurai hadn't jumped to any questions, she raised an inquisitive brow, " You don't have anything to say? How sad."

Jin's expression faltered a bit and for a moment he looked downwards to the wooden table bellow him. What questions did he even have the right to ask? " ..It's in the past. Whatever happened doesn't change the present." It had been an irrelevant statement, but one that was safe to say. Judging by Emi's expression, she didn't seem too enthused by it however, " You're the man that Kohana chatted out for hours on end about, and that's all you have to say? You –are- boring."

The statement made the young man frown a bit.. and gradually the annoyance had gotten to him, " What am I supposed to ask?"

Well, at least that was a response. By that point, the woman eased back and rolled her eyes, having stood up and took the jug between two thin fingers, " .. How would I know? I haven't seen her in months." She had retreated back into the kitchen area to deposit the sake container and went to cork it shut. Her words left Jin blinking however, and he had stood up slowly enough. Alcohol never did sit right with him.

" Months?"

"Yah, that's right. I saw her after you got done with your gallantry act. She was torn up to pieces, and I had to pick up after them." The story that the woman was weaving sounded a lot different from Bashi's version. In his world, she seemed happy and content, and in Emi's…

" What happened?" He didn't move from his spot, yet from the look from his dark pupils, there was a token of concern.

" Oh, now your interested. Listen, I wouldn't try to play hero again. You did enough damage doing that the first time, " She had gone back to the table to pick up the serving dishes, and only paused when she looked up to see a set of furrowed brows and squiggled line for a mouth. She had seen that face before while sitting in the window trying to attract customers. He didn't know it then, but he was showing concern when he returned that old umbrella. " Do you know what's happened since the shogunate have showed up?"

"No."

Well, at least he wasn't rambling at her now. Emi had to thank the heavens for that. She did however return back to the kitchen area once more, depositing the items she had picked up, " .. Now that Hakone is now officially part of Edo, the temples are being urged to change their religion. The Jinja is no different. With shintoism as the new base, women aren't needed as badly in the temple anymore." She did study the young man's features, though they still held that blank force of concern.

" Do you know what happened to her?"

" Not a clue. The last time I spoke with her, she lost what meant most to her. Like I said before, I just picked up the pieces of her life before she went on with it. According to my knowledge, she's still there. Though whether she's going to be married off to an official or try to become a miko, who knows." Emi had sounded casual enough, having only folded her arms over her chest as her around eyes remained pinned onto him.

He didn't get it.

" .. Thank you for your time.. but I should go." To him, what she had said was nothing more then vague information. A few months ago could have meant anywhere from while he was running around in Nagasaki to having just stepped foot out of Hakone. Still, he had turned away from her and had collected up his own weapon by that point and tucked it within his own sash. Though by time he had gotten to the door, the woman had spoken once more, "When you figure when you want to talk, come back and visit us. I'm sure Oshii would like to see you again."

Had the samurai been able to place a name to a face, he would have directed a more forward response, but while he met so many children.. it was hard to configure which she had meant. Jin hadn't hesitated more then that, as he hoped from the porch and back down the path once again. It was already nightfall, and would take long while before he returned back to the docks. Though while Jin had made his own escape, the middle aged woman had expelled a small sigh and had tugged her hair from it's tie, fingers curling around the odd ornament she had been playing with earlier. He would understand, eventually. She just hoped he would pick up the pieces himself before it was too late.

A small wail had pierced the night in Jin's retreat, and while it sounded so deviously familiar, his dash had skidded to a small stop. It was the infant again, and he found himself pivoting on one foot to look back into the building's direction. The child was probably hungry or the banter between him and Emi had forced him to wake up. Either way, there was no reason for him to stay.. and after a lingering look, his footsteps had started back in their run down the forest's path. Bashi had a lot of explaining to do.