(Author's Note: This chapter may seem like a lot of pointless dialogue, but to the shrewd reader, if you look deep enough, you'll realize it's actually a lot of pointless dialogue. No, seriously, it is. But I included it anyway because it helps highlight Mugen's subtle cunning, which is usually overlooked in fanfics, as well as his sensitive romantic side. I don't know if he actually has a sensitive side, but I like to think he does. Also, the part with the riddles was actually where I drew inspiration for "Cure for the Hiccups." Go read that... it's funny and far better than this.)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Hey, Jin?" Mugen nudged Jin's shoulder.

Jin yawned and looked around blearily. "What time is it?"

"Oh… you know, dawn." Mugen smiled.

"You didn't sleep at all, did you?"

"No."

Jin looked at the sky. "Dawn" was an exaggeration. There were still stars out; the sky was tinted a magnificent blue, the kind one only sees an hour before sunrise. The trees whispered as a wind blew through them.

"Why did you wake me up?"

"I wanted to…" Mugen hesitated.

"You want to cuddle," said Jin, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mugen looked horrified. "No I don't!"

"Admit it. You woke me up so we can cuddle before Fuu wakes up. Say it."

"I do not want to… to cuddle!"

"In that case, I'll just go back to sleep." Jin took his hand away from Mugen, folded his arms, and settled back down. Mugen twisted his hands together anxiously.

"Jin, knock it off!"

"Shh, Mugen. Let me sleep," said Jin without opening his eyes.

"Jin!"

Jin ignored him.

"Okay! Okay, I'll say it if you stop ignoring me."

Jin opened one eye and his face twisted into a slow smile. "Go ahead."

"I woke you up… because… so that we can… cuddle." His eyes flashed. "I swear, if you ever tell anyone…"

"I won't," said Jin lazily, rolling over and wrapping his arms around Mugen. "That would be self-incriminating." Mugen was lying with his back against his tree, legs stretched out in front of him; Jin had curled up next to him and put his arms around him. Mugen reached up and absent-mindedly ran a hand over Jin's hair. Jin jerked back.

"Sorry," said Mugen quickly. "You don't…?"

"No, it's okay. I'm sorry. I'm not used to…" Jin laid his head down on Mugen's chest. "Go ahead."

Mugen tentatively began stroking Jin's hair. Jin closed his eyes.

"Can I untie it?"

Jin looked torn. He nodded finally, looking a bit apprehensive; he clung to Mugen as he slowly undid Jin's hair, letting it fall down over his back. He gently combed it with his fingers. "If you feel uncomfortable, I'll stop."

"I'm fine," replied Jin, eyes squeezed tightly shut. The truth was, it did feel nice, but it reminded him so strongly of Shenji. Mugen's hands had a very different feel, but it took a lot of getting used to; he never untied his hair, not while bathing, not even while having sex. The only time it ever came untied was to be retied, and a few times on accident in battle. He tried to focus on the differences between the ways they stroked his hair, but it took a long time for him to slow his heartbeat and relax his grip on Mugen.

"How's that?" murmured Mugen, petting Jin.

"Good," purred Jin. "No one would believe this if they saw it."

"Yeah, and if they ever asked me, I'd tell them I had a twin."

"If you want my opinion—"

"I don't."

"One Mugen is too many, let alone two."

"Thanks a lot, Jin."

They fell silent and for a long time just listened to the soft waking of birds. Both fell into a kind of stupor, Mugen thinking furiously about everything he'd learned and experienced and… felt. He hated to admit it but he felt a lot. And Jin—stoic, collected, focused Jin—felt all of it too. Maybe even more. Jin's story had said something that Mugen couldn't quite point to, but something deeply, deeply significant. They were both vulnerable; they were both deeply wounded by their pasts, even if neither would ever admit it. And their stories were so deeply intertwined… well. It practically made them brothers. Mugen had never felt bonded to anyone before. It scared him, but also gave him an odd sense of power, like he might have felt if he acquired a solid gold brick. Or that swimming pool of gold.

"What are you two doing?"

"Huh?"

Both started; Mugen practically threw Jin off of him. Fuu sat up blearily, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear! I was half-asleep, I didn't even realize what I was doing! I don't even like him, he was just there, it was all his fault!" cried Mugen, dancing on the spot like some sort of deranged, irate farm bird. Fuu stared at him blankly.

"Sheesh, you two are hopeless," she said, deciding that this was one of those situations she should just not touch. She stretched again with a groan and a yawn.

Jin touched his hair self-consciously, tried to rise, and fell back onto the ground with a cringe of pain. Fuu went to help him; Mugen was too self-conscious to touch him.

The fight the previous day and Jin's story had changed everything. Jin let himself lean on Fuu; they made much better time once he finally agreed to let her help him walk. But though they were traveling better, the atmosphere had never been more awkward. It was as if a thick, tangible blanket had been laid over their mouths. Fuu and Mugen couldn't speak without wondering if it would sound wrong; and Jin, as usual, didn't speak at all.

Finally, Mugen said, "Hey. So. Know what I could really go for?"

There was a pause.

"Women?" guessed Jin finally.

"Uh, yeah. But I was thinking something I could eat."

"You could eat—"

"Ew, gross, stop it!" Fuu stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her face. Just once, she'd have liked to go a few hours without any sick little comments from the "guys."

"Good point. But still, know what I could go for? Some sashimi. Doesn't sashimi sound good?"

"What is it with you and seafood?"

"Well, you know what they say about fish…" said Jin. He and Mugen laughed; Fuu looked confused for a moment, then went back to looking grossed out.

"I'd like some domburi," said Jin after they'd finished snickering at Fuu.

"Ohh, don't talk about food… please," she begged.

"Okay… so… if you were a tree… what kind of tree would you be?"

"Are you retarded or something?" demanded Fuu.

"I'm trying to be social!"

"Well… I'd be a cherry tree. But I still think that's the dumbest thing you've ever said."

Mugen frowned and rubbed his chin irritably, then cracked his neck just to get on Fuu's nerves.

"You could have asked what animal we'd be," she suggested after a moment.

"Yeah. I'd be… an eagle."

"I'd be a squirrel."

"I'd be a fish."

Fuu stopped dead in her tracks. Jin's arm was slung around her; he had to stop too, since he was relying on her for support. She turned to him and stared with a cocked eyebrow.

"A fish?"

"A koi fish," confirmed Jin.

"You know what they say about fish," said Mugen. He fell to the ground laughing.

Jin looked peeved. "Fish are just as good as eagles."

"This is a stupid conversation, anyways," said Fuu quickly. "We might as well be talking in riddles or something."

"Oo! Oo! I got one!"

"I wasn't inviting you, Mugen…"

"Shut up! The faster you work, the longer it takes before you're done, but the slower you work, the faster you're finished."

"Roasting meat on a spit," said Jin immediately. "You use a knife to slice my head, then weep beside me when I am dead."

"Onion."

"I thought we agreed no more talking about food?"

"What's black and white and red all over?" asked Mugen.

"A zebra driving a fire truck? A penguin holding an apple? A nun with her head chopped off?" guessed Jin.

"Let's play something else…"

"I spy with my eye…"

"Just stop talking, okay?"

They spent the rest of the day in silence, but a less uncomfortable one than before. It was best that they didn't talk, anyways; by the time the day was over, Jin was soaked in sweat from the effort of walking, and Fuu with the effort of helping support him. They passed the night without saying a single word about food; Jin and Fuu went immediately to sleep, leaving Mugen to think softly to himself, and stalk off to practice with his sword when his thoughts became too threatening.

They reached the town the third day. It was a little less than half the size of the other one. Mugen looked crest-fallen by its size; larger cities meant more people, more money to be had, and, of course, more girls.

Jin breathed a sigh of relief. Over the top of his glasses, he scanned the city.

"Let's get to it!" said Mugen happily. "Look! There's a temple over there." He rubbed his hands together. Already, he'd gotten a glint in his eye, the kind he got whenever he was thinking about how to get his hands on money. Mugen may not have been able to write, or to meditate, or to speak in a terribly sophisticated way, but Fuu had to give him credit where credit was due: he was the most street-smart person she'd ever met.

"Hmm," said Jin. He tugged at Fuu, nearly lost his balance, and the two went stumbling into town with Mugen practically skipping ahead of them.

"Hel-lo!" He stopped, walked back several steps, and staring hungrily at a poster of a half-naked girl in the window of a shop.

"Mugen!" Fuu let go to Jin to go and try to tug Mugen away. His face was pressed against the glass like he was glued. "You... pervert… pig… jerk!" she grunted as she yanked on his arm. "We'll… never… get… anywhere… if… you… keep… being… so… stupid!" She stomped on his foot. He howled and jumped up and down for a moment, then made a violent lunge at her. She squealed and scurried away; they had chased each other several buildings down before they realized they'd lost track of Jin again.

"I might as well just put you both on leashes like dogs!" griped Fuu as they began backtracking, poking their heads into shops and restaurants along the way.

"I'd like that," said Mugen.

"Yeah, you would… Jin!"

Jin was leaning heavily against the wall of a building, talking with a fruit vendor, a man with a scruffy mustache and rather foolish look under his wide-brim straw hat.

"Hey, look, melons," joked Mugen, nudging Fuu. She ignored him and stomped up to Jin. He held a single finger up to silence her protests.

"…on the other side of town," finished the vendor, giving Fuu and Mugen a sideways look.

"And does he go to temple?"

"Hmm." The fruit vendor scratched his head. "Not often, I don't think. My wife goes and she's only seen him a few times."

"Thank you," said Jin, bowing his head in gratitude.

"You're asking about Shenji!" Fuu accused him. (Of course, Jin had asked in every town they'd ever come to, but now that they were so close, it was all so much more apparent.)

"Of course I am," said Jin peevishly. "He comes down the road to the city every week. He must live here."

"And you're gonna find him, again? And take him on? With that leg?"

"Yes."

Mugen let out a long, low whistle. "Having delusions of grandeur again?"

Jin's eyes narrowed. "You, Mugen, cannot possibly understand what it means to have a purpose in life, and be willing to follow that purpose and die for that purpose, and to have any failure concerning that purpose feel worse than the most painful… stop it!"

Mugen had begun mimicking Jin while he was talking. Fuu wasn't sure if it was funny or not; thought distasteful, Mugen's impression of Jin had always made her laugh. He pulled his face long and closed his eyes and managed to put on airs that, although slightly exaggerated, were 100 identifiable as Jin.

"I do not look like that!"

"I do not look like that!" mimicked Mugen back.

"Stop imitating me or I'll—"

"Stop imitating me or I'll—!"

"You're acting like a child!"

"You're acting like a child!"

Jin shut his mouth firmly and glared. Mugen pulled the same face. Fuu snorted, coughed, and then pointed out quickly like it looked like it would rain again and they should find a room to stay. As if waiting for her command, the sky opened up, drenching them immediately and thundering so loud that it was impossible to hear anything.

"COME ON!" yelled Fuu, grabbing one of Jin's arms and heaving him down the flooding street. It was only after they had gone inside a small inn and paid for a room for the night that she realized what Mugen had done—he'd distracted both her and Jin from Jin's bizarre quest, and they had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.