(Author's Note: I had today off from school, so I just wrote this. I think it's pretty good considering my cat was on my case the whole time (see my bio). It's mostly memories about Yukimaru. I've been wondering if I should or shouldn't put him in… but I decided to because I think he and Mugen would make really good foil characters, even though they're not foils in the series. Major huge thanks to Tegan and all the rest who have reviewed. By the way, Far Strider, did you know there's a guy named "Shinji" who was actually a writer for the show? I considered using his name for a guy at the dojo but I already have Shenji… and Shenji and Shinji might get confusing. And as always, apologies to the real Shenji. Love you, Shenj.) (By the way, the fight between Rini and Mugen is an actual argument me and my girlfriend had. "You're a such-and-such." "No, your face is a such-and-such!" "Oh yeah? Well your mom...")

(Author's Note, Pt. 2: Yet again, this is a rewrite… I'm still not too happy with these "road to Kisarazu" bits but I'll get 'em right eventually. Tips appreciated. Most of the memories with our beloved Yukimaru are unchanged, so to all the fangirls who love him, yeah, he's still there.)

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Do you think Jin is sitting somewhere by a fire too?" wondered Mugen, lying on his stomach with his head propped in his hands, staring at the embers floating slowly up toward the dark night sky. His voice sounded very loud, breaking the quiet they'd been resting in for several minutes. Both Fuu and Rini started.

"Maybe," said Fuu quietly, who thought Mugen needed her to assure him Jin wasn't dead. "He might have escaped by himself, for all we know…"

"Why did he come after Miyazaki-san?" asked Rini, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Mugen rolled over to stare at the stars. He groaned softly and brought a hand up to cradle his ribs. "They were at the same dojo. Jin killed Enshido—"

"Enshirou," corrected Fuu. "That was their master."

"So your samurai—"

"Jin."

"—so Jin killed his teacher and now he's coming after the other students?"

"He's not like that!" said Mugen roughly. "Enshido—"

"Enshirou."

"—Enshirou was probably a creep like Shenji, for all we know."

"Miyazaki-san is a good, noble man!"

"He's a perverted butt-wipe."

"You're a perverted butt-wipe!"

"Your mom is a perverted—"

"Both of you stop it!" squeaked Fuu. Mugen and Rini glared at each other. Fuu turned to Rini. "You just have to trust us. Jin had his reasons."

"What possible reason could he have for wanting to kill his master, and then a man like Miyazaki-san?" asked Rini plaintively.

"He just did," said Mugen. "Lay off." He climbed to his feet, slowly and stiffly.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To meditate," snapped Mugen, turning his back on their fire.

Saiyu had been waiting, for years, to sit down and talk to Jin. He couldn't help it. He had a morbid fascination with the man. He was so sure that there were secrets to reveal, things to be learned, a dark past and explanations and motivations, all waiting to be asked about… so much to learn. Ever since he and Shenji had discussed Jin's past at the dojo he'd wondered. And now, finally, he had the chance.

They were taking it in shifts. The samurai sat in a rough circle, backs against trees, chins on their chests, sleeping lightly. Jin looked just like the rest of them, except his hands were tied and his bad leg was stretched out in front of him. Saiyu was standing, one shoulder against a tree, arms crossed, watching Jin. He had just relieved Shamisen from his shift.

Saiyu pushed away from the tree, crossed the camp silently, and sat down a few feet away from him. "Jin?"

An eye opened. He didn't say anything. Saiyu wasn't sure how to start what was sure to be a riveting conversation.

"What are you thinking?" asked Saiyu.

"I wish you hadn't touched my swords," said Jin. His doleful eyes wandered first to Shenji, who was cradling one of Jin's swords, and then to Kohachiro, who held the other.

"You rely on them quite a lot."

"They define me."

"Ever thought of learning hand-to-hand combat?"

"It's not the same as kenjetsu."

There wasn't much more to say to that. "Killed a lot of people?"

"Possibly hundreds. I don't keep track."

"Ever feel bad?"

"Sometimes."

"Really?"

"Most of the fights have nothing to do with… honor, or title, or justice. It's just… circumstance. I can't be proud of that."

"Hmm." Saiyu picked at a nail. "So… what happened?"

"With Master Enshirou-san?"

"Yeah."

Jin stared into the fire for a long time. "He came to kill me."

"But you were his favorite student, Jin…"

"We had some… conflicts. I was against turning over the dojo to Kayira. You know him. Master Enshirou-san was leaning toward turning us from samurai to common assassins, to work for the Shogunate. They killed my family."

Saiyu leaned forward eagerly. "You found them?"

"I saw them," said Jin mildly. He rubbed his hands against his knee; they were numb from the ropes. "I was seven."

Saiyu didn't say anything. Jin's eye studied him. Then he said, "Her face was scratched beyond recognition, and his entrails were lying on my floor. And they killed my dog."

Saiyu was silent again. Uncomfortable with the topic, he asked, "And Master Enshirou-san? How'd you kill him?"

Jin's brow furrowed. "I don't know. I think... maybe… he wanted to die. He slammed my screen and woke me up to give me a fighting chance… and…"

"That was just fairness. He could not have slain you in your sleep. And he wouldn't have let you win," said Saiyu.

"He didn't let me win. But I think, subconsciously, he wasn't fighting as well as he normally did." Jin turned his head to the side to rub his face on his shoulder; it hurt, from being hit by Shenji. "When my sword… went through him… he grabbed it and pulled at it. Like he was killing himself."

Saiyu leaned forward even more. "And afterwards?"

Jin shrugged. "You don't already know the rest of the story?"

Saiyu glanced over his shoulder at Shenji's sleeping form. "Not really. I know we went after you. Shenji disappeared. We found your house. There was… blood…"

"Hm," said Jin neutrally.

"I assume you had a fight. And that's why Shenji left?"

"Yes. I don't think we were ever on the best of terms."

"Understandable." Saiyu crouched, shredding a leaf with his hands and staring at Jin. He didn't feel like he'd learned anything, but was somehow on the verge of learning something. "What about Yuki?"

"What about Yuki?" echoed Jin.

"He was like a shadow to you. He followed you everywhere. You were… his hero."

"And he was like my brother."

"And you just killed him?"

Jin stared for a while into the fire. "Yes," he said finally.

"Why?"

"I tried not to. I… I tried to avoid him. But he came after me." Jin looked confused. Saiyu felt disappointed. He was beginning to wonder if maybe Jin wasn't so great after all. Perhaps he was prone to sudden blind rages where he killed people, fits that had no connection to his normal person. He seemed so soft-spoken, so lost. How could just a puzzled, quiet person kill so many people? Not just any people, either. The people closest to him. "I knew it would happen," said Jin suddenly. "I should have gone back for him. I left him there."

"I'm sorry," said Saiyu, having nothing else to say.

"Anyone else would have. But I couldn't. I had to leave." Jin turned and looked at Saiyu, searching his face in a desperate way. "I don't know why he came for me. He knew… I was better. He knew I'd kill him. Why do people come to me to die? Am I their Reaper? Why did I do to deserve that? Why me?"

"I don't know, Jin-san."

"It's like a finger of death has always been pressed down on me. To kill everyone around me. To force me to kill. Like a universe of life with me at the center, killing everything in an ever-widening circle."

Saiyu was in awe again. This is exactly the kind of conversation he'd wanted to have. Unfortunately, after this grim confession, Jin looked drained.

"Do you think about him?"

"Yes. He was like a friend."

Saiyu felt a pang of pity. He forced it away by lighting a pipe and smoking it. He didn't offer Jin any. He had to remember Jin was the man who'd killed his master, no matter how pathetic he was.

Jin's head dropped and he closed his eyes. Saiyu didn't ask further questions. There would be more night for that. And he'd already gotten what he wanted.

The screen slid aside with a bang so loud it woke not only the room's occupant, but those in the room beside his.

"Jin-san! Jin-san!"

Jin was already up, sitting up in a long night shirt, sword held aloft. He left out a long, shaky sigh and lowered his sword.

Yuki stopped in the middle of the room. "Did I frighten you?"

"No," said Jin, running a hand down his face.

"I'm sorry."

Jin just shook his head. Yuki had—he hated to admit it—terrified him. He had been having a dream with his parents in it. He couldn't remember it now; he just knew he'd woken up with the intent to die fighting. But no one was coming after him; he was safe in the dojo, and the only person who wanted to see him was Yuki. He looked like he'd only gotten up a few minutes ago; his hair wasn't yet in a top-knot, and one side of it was spiked up, making him look like some sort of street urchin. It made Jin smile, a rare occurrence.

"You're a mess."

"Well… so are you."

"I just woke up."

"Me too." Yuki grinned widely. "I thought I'd accompany you, for your morning meditation."

"Let me get dressed first," grumbled Jin. Yuki was younger, over-eager, loud and always cheery. Not exactly violent, but certainly impulsive at times. Jin was never sure how they'd ended up on close terms. It was possible, he thought, that Yuki liked him for no other reason than his help. Jin corrected his kata; practiced with him; played shougi with him; meditated with him. Yuki wanted to learn. Jin was a useful second teacher.

"Hold still," commanded Jin impatiently. Yuki closed his eyes as Jin combed his hair out into a semi-recognizable state and tied it for him. He watched Jin intently as he pull on his kimono and obi, yawning while he grabbed his swords.

"I'm thinking, oysters for breakfast."

"What is it with you and—" Jin gave a massive yawn. "—you and seafood?" he asked blearily. Yuki darted in front of him to open a screen to a courtyard; Jin nodded his thanks, and the two crossed it together, taking a shortcut.

"You know what they say about oysters," chirruped Yuki.

Jin snorted. "Aren't you a bit young for that?"

"There's no girls in this dojo. That's the problem," complained Yuki. He had a loose, cocky strut that made Jin smile.

"Consider this training as an investment to your future abilities to impress and seduce women."

"I bet you know all about seducing women, right, Stud?"

"Oh, yes. I'm devilishly seductive," said Jin sarcastically, pausing over a fountain to splash his face and shake his hair from his eyes. Normally, such a term of blatant disrespect would have been enough to prompt him to pull out his swords; but it was only Yuki-chan, so he let it slide, playing into the joke, just like he knew the younger boy wanted him to. "They can't resist me. I have to carry around my daisho everywhere, in case a mob of them attack me."

Yuki laughed appreciatively. "Bet that's what you're really thinking while you meditate, huh?"

"You caught me."

Yuki opened the screen on the other side of the courtyard for Jin. Jin nodded his thanks again. A pair of passing boys rolled their eyes.

"Little suck-up," muttered one.

"Shh, Shenj!" said the other.

"So, what'd you say, Jin-san? After meditation, want to go outside for a while? Get some grub and maybe practice kata in the square?"

"To impress passing women?" asked Jin sardonically.

"Why else would we do it?"

Jin hid his smile. "If you insist."

"I do. I insist. You show me how to do it, and we'll practice together. I think my form's still bad… but it's getting better."

"It is," agreed Jin. Actually, Yuki's form was just as good as anyone's. But he always wanted Jin to give a demonstration first. Jin didn't mind. It was important to Yuki to use Jin as his model.

Yuki scuttled in front of Jin one last time to pull open another screen. This room was a wide, bare hall. A few students were there, sitting quietly. Most of them were on the left wall, where there were windows. The pale morning sun shone through the wooden bars and warmed their faces.

Jin crossed the room with Yuki and sat in a sunny patch. A few boys cracked open their eyes. One left when he saw it was Jin.

Yuki set his back against Jin's. "Try to reach nirvana fast," he whispered loudly. "I'm starving."

"Gird your loins and bear it."

"I'll gird them after I get my oysters."

Jin snorted, coughed, and closed his eyes. Yuki followed. "Posture," whispered Jin softly. Yuki straightened his back, and the two sat with their top-knots tangled in the other's, both trying to reach nirvana and failing because they had oysters on their brains.

"Mugen, please, if we're going to go all the way to Kisarazu, can't we at least take a road?" asked Fuu, stopping to untangle her hair from a tree branch.

"It's a shortcut," said Mugen, stomping through the forest. Rini darted after him, trying to follow in his wake before the leaves closed up behind him.

"Mugen," wailed Fuu, as a brush snagged her kimono sleeve. Rini helped her untangle it; she cradled her sleeves tightly and protectively toward her body.

"This is so stupid!" grumbled Rini, tripping over a tree root that rose up so suddenly she was sure the tree had done it on purpose. "How well do you even know this guy, if you just found out he was going to kill Miyazaki-san?" The previous night, Fuu and Mugen had filled her in on Jin's attempts to find Shenji, the fight where he lost his eye, the journey to Shenji's home, Shenji's betrayal of Jin. They left out certain parts. At the end of it, Rini looked like she wasn't sure what to think, especially when she was still at a loss to explain why Jin wanted to kill Shenji in the first place.

"I know him fine," said Mugen dismissively. He pulled out his sword to hack away a tangle of brambles in front of him.

"We're going to get lost," said Rini, as a log managed to slide a sandal from her foot. She nearly lost her balance, but righted herself in time and grabbed back her shoe.

"Trust me, okay? It's a shortcut," insisted Mugen.

"How can you know him if he never talks?" asked Rini.

"That's just how he is," said Mugen. "I mean, you can have a pet and know it really well even though it never speaks a word to you, right?"

"Besides, Mugen's really good at picking up subtle, nonverbal clues," said Fuu. Mugen looked pleased; the sarcasm was lost on him. It was just as well; Fuu didn't want to push him too much. Ever since their fight, Mugen had been snapping at her over the smallest things, and no amount of apologies could convince him that she hadn't meant what she said. But Mugen's anger wasn't the worst part; she felt personal disgust at herself for letting her jealousy prompt such an outburst, for calling Jin something she hadn't meant and something she would have hit anyone else for.

"Have you ever been to Kisarazu?" asked Rini, climbing a rock that suddenly jutted up in her path.

"Well… no. But I know it's southish. And we're going southish."

"Southish?" cried Fuu. "There's no such direction as southish! Mugen, we're lost!"

"We're not lost!" said Mugen. "We'll be in Kisarazu by the end of the week!"

"I'm hungry!" whined Fuu.

"And I'm tired!" whined Rini. "And I'm all scratched from these woods."

"Women," muttered Mugen.

Fuu had to bite her tongue. But she might as well not have; Rini spoke up.

"Are you and that Jin guy lovers?"

Mugen replied by tripping over a root and pitching head-first into a pile of undergrowth. "NO!" he yelled, fighting with the vines that held him.

Rini shrugged. "It's okay if you are. I don't care. You seem like it."

"We're not! We're just friends!"

"What about that conversation you were having earlier?"

"Oh… you know… that was nothing," said Mugen uncomfortably. "Really… we're just friends."

"Do either of you like women?"

"Woo, boy," said Fuu, rolling her eyes. "Mugen's the biggest pig in the world, trust me."

"Jin's had girls. Who was that one… you know… the one he nearly got me killed over… skinny sad-looking broad…"

"Shino?"

"Yeah, Shino! See, we're not queer. We're just..." Mugen made a complicated gesture in the air. It was cut short when his hair got tangled in some low-hanging tree limbs. "Gosh darn it to heck!" he swore, fighting with the twigs in his hair. Fuu and Rini both hurried ahead so he wouldn't see them laughing at him.

Everything seemed far less funny by night. The trio all bore scratches all over them from crashing through the forest. Their stomach growled painfully, and they were cold.

"This couldn't get any worse," grumbled Fuu. Thunder rolled above their heads, and the next moment, it began raining.

"You had to do that, didn't you?" asked Mugen, pulling the back of his coat over his head.

"I didn't do anything!"

"You jinxed us…"

Fuu scowled at Mugen. "How much longer before we're out of these woods?"

"How should I know?'"

"You led us into them!" yelled Rini and Fuu together.

"It's a short cut. Just trust me, okay?"

"Admit we're lost!" demanded Rini.

"We're not lost." Mugen got up and stretched, cracking his back, neck, and knuckles. "Let's go. We're not gonna sleep at all in the rain, anyway. We can cover some ground."

"It's pitch-black and raining! Are you crazy?" asked Rini.

"Later!" called Mugen breezily over his shoulder. Fuu and Rini had no choice but to follow, albeit unwillingly. They slid and tripped and stumbled miserably, Mugen zigzagging through the trees and brush.

"Mu-gen!" groaned Fuu after taking a tumble down a steep incline and landing with her butt in a puddle of leaves. (And, from the feel of it, a few slugs as well.)

"Look, neither of you have to come with me! I didn't ask you to!" snapped Mugen, sliding down the muddy embankment after Fuu and helping her to her feet.

"It's nice to know we're able to leave you at any time and wander around by ourselves in the middle of nowhere," said Rini sarcastically, smearing mud on her face as she tried to wipe it off. "I'm not going anywhere until you find me Miyazaki-san!"

"Stop complaining, then. I'm taking you to Kisarazu and I admit it's not the easiest fecking path, but the important thing is to get there early and save Jin."

"Fecking?" asked Fuu.

"So what's the plan?" asked Rini.

"Er," said Mugen, glancing aside. Rain was running down his face and body in streams despite his coat. "I haven't got one yet. But I'll think of one!" he added quickly as Rini started to turn away in disgust. She didn't get far; the mud sucked at her sandals, and she went pitching face-first toward the ground.

Jin opened one eye. Everything was blurry.

Experimentally, he closed his right eye and opened his left eye. Everything was clear.

He opened his right eye again. Blurry.

He reached up to rub it, but his hands were tied and he couldn't reach his face. He blinked rapidly to clear it, but it didn't work. He tried to remember if he'd been hit recently. He ran through every event the previous day in his mind's eye (which was, thankfully, not blurry).

He was sitting with his back against a trunk, chin on his chest, sleeping up until a minute ago. He didn't know what woke him up; it could have been an owl or a strong wind or the fire popping or one of the other samurai murmuring in their sleep or nothing at all. Sometimes Jin just woke up.

"Something wrong with your eye?"

Jin jumped. He had been concentrating so hard he'd forgotten there was someone watching him. His stomach knotted when he recognized the voice.

"I know all about that. Having something wrong with your eye," said Shenji. He was sitting across the fire, cross-legged, feeding it twigs one by one. He looked bored.

He looked up; he and Jin made eye contact. Jin dropped his eyes. Shenji smiled. "That's not necessary, Jin," he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "You don't have to lower your eyes to me. We're equals here."

"Equals?" asked Jin softly. "I must disagree. If we'd been equals, Master Enshirou-san would have favored us equally. But he seemed to have a certain amount of bias, didn't he?"

Shenji's eye narrowed. "True, he did like you better. But only because of your sword-work. Without your swords…" He waved a firefly away from his face.

"So we're equal when I'm unarmed and bound, and you are in the company of four others?" asked Jin. "Fascinating logic."

"There's a lot more to a person than their swords," said Shenji mildly, pulling Jin's wakazashi from his obi and examining it. "Intelligence, for example."

"Or a working set of eyes," added Jin.

Shenji looked up sharply. "I could put both of yours out, right now, if I wanted to."

"You could," agreed Jin. "And it would spare me the torture of looking at you. Truly, you're a good, merciful man, Shenji."

Shenji looked at the ground, probably controlling his impulse to blind Jin right at that moment. Jin stared at the ground, shocked with his own mouth. He couldn't ever recall being so disrespectfully sarcastic to anyone, not even people he'd really disliked. It wasn't his nature. He blamed Mugen.

"These are very fine swords, by the way," said Shenji after a moment.

"They are," agreed Jin softly, watching his wakazashi longingly. Shenji set it across his lap and began shining the blade.

"How did you get these?"

Jin raised his eyebrows. "You weren't there?"

"No. I heard the story from Saiyu. But I'd much rather hear it from you, now."

Jin closed his eyes. He didn't want to meet Shenji's request. But at the same time, he could recall every detail, every word like it was yesterday. It was one of the stepping-stones of his life, one that had never been told before.

In a low voice, Jin began the story, telling it for the benefit of his worst enemy.

"Jin-san! Jin-san!" Three boys came running helter-skelter into the courtyard. Jin was kneeling, head down, seemingly meditating. There was a flash; suddenly his sword was drawn, his body foward, tensed. His face was up, his expression one of intense concentration bordering on rage.

One of the boys automatically put out an arm, breaking the momentum of the other two. "Jin-san!" he called.

Another flash. Jin's body twisted aside; he was gripping his sword with both hands now, to the side, ready to deliver a slashing motion. A third flash and he did, a twisting, circular slash, difficult to block. He froze, half-crouching, one hand on the ground for balance, the other on his sword.

"Jin-san!"

"Yukimaru," said Jin in a deep voice. "How many times have I told you not to bother me while I'm practicing?"

"I'm sorry, Jin-san," said Yuki, bowing his head. "But there's a package here for you."

Jin's expression melted away. He no longer looked angry; he looked mildly interested, slightly puzzled. "A package?" he repeated. "For me?"

"Yes! For you!" Yuki, assured that Jin wouldn't continue his kata, darted forward and grabbed his sleeve. Jin stood up, holding his sword by his side, looking even more confused. He never got packages, letters, or messages of any kind. He had no one to get them from.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! We saw it! Didn't we, Ogura?"

Ogura bowed. "We did. There's a huge box for you."

"Who sent it?" asked Jin.

Ogura, Yuki, and the third boy shrugged. Jin had gone from being puzzled, to confused, to completely lost. He looked like he wouldn't have been able to answer correctly if someone asked for his name.

"Come on!" urged Yuki, tugging his sleeve. "Come open it!"

Jin turned and gave Yuki a withering glare. Yuki added, slightly grudgingly, "Jin-san."

"Fine," growled Jin. He sheathed his sword and let Yuki and the other three boys lead him away.

He regretted it the moment he came to the front hall of the dojo. The mysterious package had drawn a large crowd of people. Jin hated crowds. It wasn't a friendly crowd, either; nearly everyone there had been beaten by Jin, and everyone had a certain amount of loathing for him that came from their jealousy.

The crowd parted. A long box was lying on the floor, with a girl standing next to it. She was part of the reason for the crowd; girls didn't come into the dojo much. Especially not ones this attractive. A few boys were jostling each other to get closer to her. She ignored them.

"Are you Takeda Jin?" she asked, spotting Jin, who was being tugged forward by Yuki and Ogura.

"I am," said Jin, his hand migrating automatically to his sword's hilt.

"Then this is for you," she said, gesturing.

"Do I need to sign for it?"

"No," she said. "I don't even know who it's from. There's no letter or anything. I just have to see that you've gotten it. And now that you have…" She turned away. A few students looked disappointed.

"Open it!" urged Yuki eagerly. "Open it!"

Jin walked around the box liked a cat walking around some potential danger, accessing its size and shape.

"Open it!" hissed Yuki.

Jin knelt by it. Everyone leaned forward with baited breath.

"Jin!"

Everyone jumped. Mariya Enshirou strode into their midst. The crowd parted respectfully for the older man. Jin looked up with an expression of intense guilt.

"What's going on here?" demanded Enshirou.

"I got a box," said Jin, dazed.

"Who's it from?" asked Enshirou suspiciously, crouching on the other side of the box and examining it.

"I don't know," said Jin. "There wasn't a letter or a tag. It just… came."

"No mons?" asked Enshirou sharply. Jin shook his head. They looked at each other. Both were wondering if there was some Takugawa connection. Neither had mentioned it, but Enshirou already knew from speaking with one of his previous students, Seiko, that Jin was a wanted man.

Enshirou studied the box carefully, then he finally stood.

"Master?" asked Jin anxiously.

"Open it, Jin-chan," said Enshirou warmly. A few students exchanged looked. Enshirou never used terms of affection for anyone. In fact, he rarely called anyone by their names; more often, he would bark out things like, "You, in the obi that's tied wrong." There were a few rumors that Jin and Enshirou were distantly related, but no one would confirm them, and frankly, no one cold have disliked Jin any more, even if he was some sort of second-nephew-twice-removed of Enshirou's.

Jin looked distressed. He'd been hoping that Enshirou would tell everyone to clear away and leave Jin alone, or suggest that Jin open it in his room. Jin hated public scenes like this.

Slowly he began prying open the box.

"Jin, just tear it open!" grumbled Yuki. "Do you have to do everything so slowly?"

"Unlike you, Yukimaru, Jin has discipline," said Enshirou in a reprimanding tone. Yuiki bowed his head in apology.

"There's probably been a mistake," mumbled Jin apologetically. "It must be for someone else with the same name."

"There's been no mistake, Jin," said Enshirou.

Jin finally managed to pry open the top of the box. Everyone leaned forward eagerly, trying to see where was there. They were all disappointed to discover it was wrapped in cloth.

Jin picked up the edge of the cloth wrapping and pulling. With a dull thud, a sword fell out of it.

Everyone in the room expect Enshirou gasped.

"Wow!" exclaimed Yuki as Jin lifted the sword. "Someone sent you daisho."

A few people looked at Enshirou, already wondering if he'd sent an anonymous package to Jin. He didn't seem surprised at all. That was evidence enough for them to start up the rumor mill.

But then Jin murmured softly, "These were my uncle's."

A hush fell over the hall while Jin examined the swords. With one finger, he traced the Buddha-eyes on the hilt, ran his hands over the lightning designs, the diamonds on the handle. He slid a finger over the blade and was rewarded by being cut; the blood dropped onto the cloth in the box.

A few people reached out and brushed the swords with their fingers. Aside from Enshirou's, few of them had seen such a pair of swords before.

He looked up. "Master? May I keep these?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"Keep them?" repeated Enshirou. "Of course you can keep them, Jin. They're rightfully yours; all samurai need a pair of their own. Besides, now I can have my swords back."

Jin looked like he didn't know whether to be happy or distressed. He stood up and took the swords he'd been using earlier, handing them to Enshirou. Then he knelt by the box and gathered up its contents (the katana was still wrapped) in his arms.

"Why are you all still standing around here?" barked Enshirou. "Don't any of you have anything to do? Get going! Back to where ever you're supposed to be!"

The students scattered, except Yuki.

"Jin?" asked Enshirou.

"I'm going to take them to my room and… get acquainted with them," said Jin.

Enshirou just nodded. He overlooked Yuki completely.

Jin and Yuki walked to his room in silence. Jin crossed the room and set the swords on his bed. Yuki slid the screen closed before darting to Jin's side. "Can I hold one?" he begged.

Jin handed him the wakazashi and began unwrapping the katana.

"This is amazing!" breathed Yuki, already trying out the sword.

"This means my uncle's dead," said Jin hollowly. "He would never part with his swords. He always said they were his soul."

Yuki's arm dropped. He sat on the bed next to Jin and set the sword aside. "I'm sorry, Jin-san," he said, resting a hand over Jin's.

"At least they went sent to me," said Jin. "At least they got to the next rightful owner. My parents…they took their swords."

Yuki bowed his head. Jin never talked about his parents. He wasn't sure what to say, so instead he rubbed his thumb against the back of Jin's hand comfortingly.

Jin jumped.

"Sorry," said Yuki, getting up to leave.

"No," said Jin quickly. "Please, stay, Yuki-chan."

Yuki dropped back down onto the bed. He took Jin's hand again. He and Jin stared at the swords for a long time.

"It's too bad that girl wasn't included with the package," said Yuki after a moment.

Jin laughed softly. "I think everyone is already jealous enough of me. If I got daisho and a wife in the same day, I'd be murdered in my sleep."

"Who says you'd be sleeping?" asked Yuki.

He and Jin laughed again. "Let's try them out," said Jin, a bit more optimistically, getting up and reaching for the swords.

"Just wait till you see the look on that Shenji guy's face…" said Yuki as they left the room.

"Having a nice trip down memory lane?"

"Huh?" Jin looked up. He'd finished his story with receiving the swords. For several minutes he'd been silent, remembering Yuki.

"So they were your uncle's?" mused Shenji, fingering the diamonds along the hilt.

"And now they're mine," confirmed Jin.

"Correction. Now they belong to me, and to Kohachiro."

Jin looked away. "What are you going to do with only one unmatched sword?"

"Keep it to remember you by," said Shenji dryly. "It's a shame your life has to end so soon." He paused. "Then again, I could try to convince them to spare you…"

"No favors, please."

Shenji set the wakazashi aside and rose. He went to Jin's side and sat beside him. "I don't really want you to die, Jin," he said softly. "It would be such a shame." He reached out and ran a hand over Jin's hair. Jin jerked away.

"Don't touch me," he hissed.

"Who's going to stop me?" replied Shenji.

"The others," said Jin hesitantly.

"You think so? You think the other four would really care what I did to you? And would you really be able to wake them up and tell them all about what happened after your ran away from the dojo? I'm sure everyone would love to hear that story."

Jin clenched his teeth and ground them together. Shenji cupped his cheek and turned Jin's face toward him. "I don't think I'm the only one who's interested in you, Jin. You're a very interesting person, if you catch my drift. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a line of people waiting for you at the dojo."

"I would hope most of Master Enshirou-san's students had more honor than that," said Jin.

"Most of us never completed our training because you killed our Master."

Jin wrenched his head from Shenji's hand and looked away. "You can't intimidate me with your mind games," he said softly.

"No? I guess we'll see," said Shenji. He reached out and attempted to stroke Jin's hair. Jin jerked away again; short of falling over, he was leaning away from Shenji as far as he could. Being tied up, there wasn't much more he could do. Shenji moved over, closing the gap between them, and pulled Jin against him. "Relax," he whispered, petting Jin's hair. Jin struggled at first, but had no where else to go, and couldn't do anything with his hands tied and one leg immobilized. He was still while Shenji straightened locks of his hair in front of his face. "I knew you'd accept it eventually," murmured Shenji into his ear. "It's all about discipline. You're very disciplined, aren't you, Jin?" Jin tried to turn away, but Shenji just reoriented his head and went back to petting him.

"Hey. Shenji."

Shenji let go on Jin in surprise. Jin, who'd been leaning away, toppled over and landed with the side of his face in the mud.

Koto stretched and yawned sleepily. "Shit. At least wait until we get back to Kisarazu, will you?" he grumbled, getting to his feet with more stretching.

"I am waiting," said Shenji.

"Yeah, right. You're telling me that wasn't going to lead up to something?"

"No," said Shenji.

"Raindrops never think they're to blame for the flood," said Koto wisely, with a roll of his eyes. "Anyways, it's my shift. Back off."

Shenji obediently got up, giving Jin one last pat on the head. "Night, Jin," he said sarcastically, going back to his place and picking up Jin's wakazashi. Koto lit a pipe and settled down to smoke and keep watch, while Jin laid on the ground and stared at the fire. It was blurred, but this time, in both eyes.

(Author's Note: PS, would anyone be interested if I set up a link on my bio to a little gallery of random Champloo stuff that totally relates to my story here? Art work (not mine), comics (mine), whatever? Take a look at episode 24, there's a kid in glasses at the dojo watching Jin with this expression of loathing. I swear it's Shenji… he lives!)