Author's note: Onto the next chapter of might adventures of Jin ( No, not really). Another character was introduced, and I think this is going to be it for all the 'main' characters. I know how people are about there being too many pieces to the puzzle, and I want to keep it minimal. I was going to make this chapter a bit more dramatic, but I felt to leave it half hearted until the next few. There's always a calm right before the storm . Anyway, Antares, Bashi and all them are my characters, people like Jin and Shino are apart of the Samurai Champloo team. I hope you guys enjoy this, and comment all you want. I really should get to editing these and proof reading them XD

Chapter: 3

The trip back across the lake had taken longer then he has expected. While it was easy to see the way during the day, the night provided nothing more then a frustrating guessing game. He hadn't been supplied with a lamp or any form of oil, and the thought hadn't crossed his mind while he had darted through town. Everyone was fast asleep anyway. After a few tries in passing what seemed like an arch through the lake itself, he had noticed a few dim specks of light that echoed out by the mountains. The sight had been enough to take his notice of where it came from.

The temple.

The question of why it was up and running this late at night had added to the young samurai's worry. He hadn't the faintest of what was going on, and whether or not a certain someone was safe. He hadn't mind being denied of her life, or even seeing her again, as long as he knew she was safe and content, he had no reason to quell on her activities. Until he was assured of this, he would worry to no end. At least from the fog he had caught sight of a familiar dockside. He had steered the small boat to the shore's end, and having a careless job of securing it, his footsteps brought him back to the small cabin, which oddly enough, gave off a small omni of candlelight as well.

"Bashi-" Jin hadn't wasted much time in slipping in through the doorway of the small cabin, his head hung low and the sakkat laid to his back, a small sullen thread was tied at the center of his collar bone. The old man wasn't anywhere in sight, and while that had added to the young man's annoyance, he only came to approach the small oil lamp that had been set up. If he wasn't here, there was the possibility that he was somewhere else.

Come to think of it, his boat wasn't by the dock either.

While there was the question of where the old man was, the swordsman had retired to the small bed mat that he had been snoozing on for the past month. While he had no real desire to sleep, he would wait for him to return. Or so he thought, as his back had touched the soft surface of the cloth underneath him. The adrenaline rush had begun to fade and the underlying affect of the alcohol had gradually reminded him of why he didn't like drinking. It took a long while, but Jin had fallen into an uncanny sleep, waiting for answers that just weren't coming.

The morning was loud and filled with the scent of burning breads. There were yells echoing here or they're to interrupt soft-spoken dreams, and after the third spell of curses, tired dark brown eyes had cracked open to see a smoke filled ceiling. What the-

"Gah- If only I had a wench to cook bread for me-then I wouldn't have to deal with this damn job!"

That was the old man all right.

Jin's thin figure had rolled over from his curled up position and gave a groggy look into the direction of where the thin elderly man was fussing over a pan of burnt bread. He had been waving it off with a wooden cutting board, and only stopped when he realized the sleeping attendant was awake.

"Bout' time you got your rump out of bed. With you being gone all night. Pfft." Bashi had sounded gruff at that, " Let me tell you- you missed the best darn dinner I ever made. And here you are coming back reeking of sake."

He only had one, maybe two full cups of it, and Jin's eyes remained flat. That is, until he remembered why he had rushed home to begin with, " Where were you? I lost track of time and your boat was gone."

"Oh, sure. Ask the geezer where –he's- been all night. Would it kill you if I said it was none of yer business?" He had tossed the wooden board to the side before taking the cooled bread off from the still smoking pan. His answer didn't help with the young man's annoyance, and by that point a frown had built up onto his features.

" Emi told me things about the temple. What's going on there?"

"Now you're changing the topic. I knew that hussy would go and say things she wasn't meant to say. I told ya not to stay there long, didn't I? Your lucky she didn't try to get you to stay the night." Well, despite on how the fisherman avoided the question, a shadow drifted from the side where Jin had been, his expression still holding the same deadened look of determination. It was enough to make him pause in his actions.

" Look I warned ya, didn't I? If you go looking for trouble, your bound to find it. So congratulations, you found a mess load of it. Let me just say that whatever she said didn't mean much." He had gone and ripped off a piece of the charred loaf and offered it out to the swordsman, " It's the best I can do with breakfast."

Jin hadn't taken the bread and only eased in his aggravation of the situation, and only shook his head slowly. This wasn't making any sense, " Why didn't you tell me that the temple changed it's beliefs?" He figured to start bit by bit; it would only make the situation worse if he asked a million things of the old man.

" It hasn't changed yet, that's why. Emi's too much of a chatterbox for her own good. Sure, it's under reconditioning, though as long as the Gongen are still there, I don't see anything happening any time soon." Sure, there was word of the well-trained warriors in the temple, though with the recent decline in schools, there had never been a consideration that one was still in practice.

" Then why did she say she saw her a few months ago?"

Bashi's aged face came into a mass of wrinkles at that question and only forced the bit of bread into other man's hand before walking past him, " I told you, boy, she's a bright girl. So bright that she's going places. The shogunates aren't completely blind to something like that. She might not have finished her cleansing period yet, but I'm sure they were willing to over look a few things."

The information had been so vague that it was painful. The young man's pale face contorted a bit as he looked at the bread, and slowly set it back onto the countertop. He couldn't have eaten even if it was the best loaf ever made, " They want to make her a miko?"

"Does it look like she could? Only if she was born with the right blood, could she have become a miko, " He noticed Jin in neglecting the food and only forced a short breath before turning back to the far end of the hall, small thin hands having taken hold of what looked like a crate of sorts, " I told you when you first came in here that I wanted you to get back what you lost. Now might not seem the time to go and do that, but you can find out the situation for yourself before judging what you should do." That statement had left a rather rough pit in the boy's stomach by then. Something was beyond wrong.

Figures, these sort of scenarios never did work out well.

"…" By then, the black haired samurai had fallen silent, his gaze critical to the older mentor and the crate that he held. Was he being allowed to go there finally? Only to find out information that he didn't want to know? It seemed hardly pleasant. Then again, staying here waiting for an explanation wouldn't help him either.

" Go on and bring it there, but I would act as normal as possible. I don't want yer death on my conscience because you went around swinging a sword and throwing a hissy fit." The crate was nudged forward a bit before the small brittle man had returned to his bread, ripping off a piece of his own and gone to nibbling.

There was only one place to go, and now that he had permission, he wasn't sure if he wanted to venture onwards to the Jinja or not. Though it wasn't like he had much of a choice, regardless of his thoughts on this situation, the supplies had to be delivered. The crate took enough time to shift onto the boat, but once it had settled, the young man had ventured out to cross the lake. Now that it was daylight, it was easy to see where he was going despite the small fog line that drifted in the distance.

The trip wasn't very long, as it had only taken something less of a quarter of an hour to cross. The tree's had gotten larger and the path that led up to the temple had finally become visible. Docking wasn't the hard part, though it did concern the swordsman that no one was there on the receiving end for his crate. While he didn't mind carrying it up all that way, he really preferred not to.

From looking underneath the wicker sakkat, he could see the built mountain range that made Hakone such a secure place, he had been surprised that anyone would have crossed through here, much let alone to use it was a cross way between Tokaido and Edo. The shogunate had a word in that, he knew that much. While drifting along the water's shallow edge and having reached his rendezvous point, his head tilted up a bit more past the mountains and up through the tree's. There was the temple itself, still set in it's traditional scheme of colors, though it depended on what time of the day you saw it. Sometimes it was red and golden and others it had a dim violet hue. It was a nice place, regardless of him never being close to it before.

It still didn't help that no one was here to pick up his crate.

A small huff passed the young man as he had hopped up off from the boat and onto the shore, having taken the snout of the boat and pulled it up onto the rocky sand that was there. He would just have to climb his way up the mountain pass and find the nearest temple monk. Though once he had the vessel secured, he tipped his head back up to the large building, only to notice the make-shift fence that was constructed to keep people from tumbling over to their doom. His eyes had followed the dark horizontal lines until something conflicted against the dark color scheme. There was something of a light cherry hue there, and as his eyes perked up a bit more, he realized it was an outfit of a woman. It was too far away to see the facial features, though something from the stature of the girl that stood there that made him gawk for a moment.

Could it be?

His lips parted slowly in wanting to yell out, but before he could, the female figure had turned away and disappeared back behind the shade of the complex once again. While he watched a moment longer, a voice sounded from the side of the path where he was about to head up, " You must be Bashi's fish-boy." The tone from the voice was enough to make Jin stand rigid. It was strong and bellowing, as if from a warrior that had cast men away with just his roar. The voice had met the face, as from the dimly lit path emerged a large man. For a moment, it could have been questioned on the man's ethnicity, though it was clear that he was some part of Asian.

"..Ah." A tilt of Jin's head had left him to that form of reply, and slowly he had drifted back from he boat itself, sakkat primarily hiding his features. The man from what he could see from the slits of the rice hat had tall and broad, his features chiseled despite the large curves that made up his cheekbones. His hair was erratic, though due to the pitch-black hue, it was hard to determine his age. Either way, he had already gone and passed over the hilltop, not that it mattered. He didn't seem armed for the moment, which was rather peculiar to the samurai. No solider goes around without any weapons at all times.

" Ah? That's all? Look at me, boy. I don't care if you've become a lowly fisherman, you still should hold respect for your government's protectors." Not only was he boisterous, he was arrogant too.

Jin's head had slowly tipped upwards to look at from underneath the rim of his hat, though it wasn't long before the larger warrior had flicked it to the side with a large finger. That was enough to make the young man's eyes narrow a degree, but he hadn't changed his expression too much. He had never liked the government much, not ever since they held their hand in destroying the dojo he had grew to love.

For a moment, the two kept in silence in studying one another, and the larger man had pulled back a small smile, " You are no fisherman, though I will not ask why you fish. I am Antares, the emperor's military aid, and you?" He had slowly offered out one of the massive hands, only to have it looked at.

"Oshii."

He had been studied for a reason, and for precaution, the name had rolled off his tongue. There was the realization that he had used the name of the infant that had been biting his finger, though he wasn't about to spout his real name.

Once the elder warrior had realized there was to be no formalities, he had drawn his hand back, eyes growing flat and precautious, "A ronin then. Let me ask you something, 'Oshii', have you or has a man that looked like you ever worn glasses before?" The question had sent out a warning by that point, and while Jin hadn't set his hand to his weapon, he had only tilted his head to the side and regarded the cargo, " I'm delivering this for Bashi. Do you want me to carry it up?"

Ignoring the question wasn't probably the brightest thing to do, as the man's voice rose and his nose poked high into the air, like he was to be looked upon, " Did you or did you not carry glasses at one point?"

Pushy, wasn't he?

Instead of butting heads for the rest of the day, the young man had shifted his gaze to adjust back to the warrior, and regarded him carefully, " I did, at one point." There had been no reason to lie, as this was the answer he had been seeking.

" I see." It seemed that was it really, as Antares had turned away from the samurai and had gone to the crate. After a moment's pause, he had hoisted it up into the air and settled it onto his shoulder, heading back where he had come from. It seemed like that was the end of the conversation, and for a moment, Jin's gaze had moved back to the mountain pass. No woman in a pink tinted kimono.

" What is happening with the temple's restructuring?" He had slowly given glance to the boat and went to drifting behind him, having tugged the sakkat back over his gaze for the most part. The titan of a man had adjusted his gaze back as he realized he was being followed, and the round curve of his cheek tightened.

" That, is not a ronin's or a fisherman's concern. You have completed your task, and are not welcome past this point." The comment had only drifted past the samurai's ear, and slowly his footsteps had come to a stop. He had wanted to inquire on much more, but the boding of not being wanted only left him stuck with a frown on his face and a troubled thought. He had only one question to ask, and while it was a bold one, that too decided to roll off his tongue,

"Is Shino still there?"

The question did seem to jolt through the man carrying the cargo like an arrow had just pegged him in the back. He turned slowly, and black eyes pinned on the smaller samurai figure. Oddly enough, Jin's face remained passive despite the affect it had on Antares, " ..Yes, she is. How do you know her?"

The confirmation was enough relief for him, and slowly the swordsman's eyes eased. The worry that had engulfed him for the past few hours finally waned overhead. Though when the topic of how he knew the girl arrived, his head canted up the path once more to regard him slowly. Dealing with this man was like handling an over grown arachnid, " From a long time ago. Thank you." He had bowed his head faintly before he turned back down the path, figuring there was no more to be spoken of.

" You're the one who saved her, aren't you?"

Well, that was the question that hit him in the back of the head, though unlike reacting like the behemoth, he only kept walking. " Yes." There was the simple confirmation once again, and while his walk was short back to the boat, when he had turned to look back down the path, the boisterous warrior was no longer within sight. Strange, something that heavy would have taken a short while to get up onto the stone climb to the temple.