(Author's Note: Sorry my updates take so long… but I'm really busy right now… stupid SAT… anyways. Thanks to Far Strider and Brittany for the hours of time they wasted by listening to me develop my characters.)

CHAPTER TWENTY

(Chapter Twenty, again; I skipped nineteen, but who really likes nineteen, anyway?)

"Ta-da!" shouted Mugen.

After an hour of tramping through a seemingly endless patch of tall bamboo, Mugen, Fuu, and Rini found themselves standing on the side of a hill, looking down over a vast expanse of fields. In the distance were some mountains and a bay. "See? That's where Kisarazu is!" exclaimed Mugen happily, gesturing vaguely toward the distant, hazy water.

"Great," said Fuu sarcastically.

"Great!" agreed Mugen happily. He flopped down on a nearby log to take a well-deserved break. "So, we need a plan," said Mugen slowly and thoughtfully. He began ripping pieces of cloth from the bottom of his shirt and winding them around his hands; he'd taken a nasty fall the other night and scrapped them raw. The cold had further chapped them; he fumbled with the cloth awkwardly as he struggled to tie the knots at his palms. "We can't take them on, obviously…"

"Obviously," agreed Rini and Fuu together.

"So I guess we got to start thinking of other options."

Fuu rolled her eyes. Everything Mugen did—everything—was fast, loud, and violent. He wasn't a person who made plans. He was a person who followed any whim that entered his head and dealt with the aftermath later.

"Such as…?" she prompted.

"Geez, I don't know. I thought you would think of something for me."

Fuu snorted. "That's so like you! Expecting me to do everything!"

"What about Miyazaki-san?" asked Rini.

"Never mind Shenji! They're gonna kill Jin! We need a plan." Mugen looked pointedly at Fuu. Fuu sighed.

"Oh… I don't know. Here." She sat next to Mugen and began wrapped his hands for him. He sighed gratefully. Rini stood over their shoulders, arms crossed, watching Fuu. "Okay," said Fuu. "We need to get to Jin without having to fight our way through eight million ticked off samurai. So... I think there's a few options. We're assuming they're at the dojo, where ever that is, if it even still exists…"

"You're so optimistic," said Rini.

"…so here's what we can do. We could sneak in, but that would be hard. We can go in in plain view, using an alibi or a disguise, but that might be dangerous. Or we can create a distraction and draw the samurai away. But we have no guarantee they'd fall for it."

"Fuu? How'd you get so smart?" asked Mugen wonderingly.

Fuu blushed. "It's called thinking," she said, giving the bandage around his hand a final tug. She stood and brushed bark from the seat of her kimono. Mugen followed suit. The three began picking their way across the wilderness again. There were less trees now, more fields and flowers and underbrush and occasional sprigs of new bamboo. It was easier to navigate and smelled earthy and fresh after the rain. Everyone felt a little better, although they were still hungry and damp.

"What do you know about this dojo?" asked Rini.

"Next to nothing," admitted Fuu. "Jin never told us anything."

"Yeah he did! We know plenty!" disagreed Mugen. "We know they're big on honor and revenge, and had a lot of respect for Enshido or Enshini or whatever his name was."

"Enshirou," said Fuu, rolling her eyes.

"Those generalizations could apply to any dojo in the world," said Rini.

"Yeah but… we can still use them," said Mugen lamely.

"Actually, I think he's right," said Fuu slowly. "If we're going to do any sneaking around, we need to appeal to what already attracts them."

"Huh?" said Rini.

"Fuu means, we'll probably get into the dojo better if we're disguised as Buddha, as opposed to a disgruntled okiyo-e painter," explained Mugen.

"So, I'm thinking…" said Fuu slowly. "If we wanted to get in somewhere… and I don't, personally… we know the number one thing on all their minds is revenge and honor and stuff. No one would question, say, another samurai who was there to see Jin to spit in his face. Right?"

"Right," chimed Mugen and Rini.

"Where are we going to get the samurai?" asked Mugen.

"Yeah, and how will he smuggle Jin out?" asked Rini.

Fu dragged her hand down her face and went "ai-yi-yi." "You don't get it," she said. "I mean, if we're going to disguise ourselves, which is a really stupid and suicidal thing to do…"

"Oh!" blurted Mugen. "I get it now! That's a great idea!"

"Are you berserk? That's a terrible idea," said Rini. "No one is going to think any of us are samurai. Not for a second. We don't have clothes or swords or anything. We don't walk or talk or think like samurai. It takes years of training—"

"Hey, you see Shenji every day," interrupted Mugen. "You know how he walks. Just pretend you're him."

"What makes you think I'm going with you?" asked Rini.

"Because I don't think anyone's going to let you in to talk to Shenji, dressed like you are now."

"What's wrong with how I'm dressed?" asked Rini anxiously, looking down at her kimono.

"Nothing. Just that you look like some small-town maid—"

"I am a small-town maid!"

"Yeah, well, there you go." Mugen shrugged. Rini looked infuriated. Fuu had forgotten that Mugen's personality took some getting used to—even she, who liked Mugen (though she'd never, ever admit it) sometimes thought he was a little frustrating. (However, nine times out of ten, when she called him annoying, it was only for nostalgia's sake. She harbored a lot more respect for him now than when she'd first met him.)

"It's not use trying to sneak somewhere if we don't even know where it is, though," she said, while Mugen and Rini ignored each other.

"We'll find it," said Mugen confidently.

"How?" pressed Fuu.

"Oh… you know," said Mugen, shrugging. "We can just go into the city and find some samurai and tail them. It can't be that hard."

"Yeah, right, Mugen. Like Kisarazu is just going to be swarming with samurai who all happen to be going to the same dojo," said Fuu. She rolled her eyes yet again, and said, "Well, at least we can get some food."

"I'm starving!" exclaimed Rini. "Who's got money?"

Fuu and Mugen stared at each other blankly, and repeated, "Money…?"

"Watch the master," murmured Mugen with his usual suave, street-smart manner. Fuu and Rini scoffed together and watched Mugen darted out of the alleyway, tailing a samurai.

"He's going to get killed," said Rini, peering around the building to watch Mugen heading down the crowded street.

"Naw. He's been doing this since he was five," Fuu assured her. "Come on, let's wait for him over there." She pointed to a small, long garden that ran alongside the seashore. The two of them crossed the road and knelt on the grass beneath a cherry tree, both looking around and taking in their new surroundings. Fuu had assumed it would be a huge, busy city like Edo, but it was actually rather quaint. The buildings were packed tightly in, but the streets were wide and not very crowded. There weren't as many vendors shoving wares in their faces, and being by the bay gave it an open feel. Fuu and Rini watched a boat move lazily past.

"Are you ever going to tell me what wrong Miyazaki-san has done to your samurai?" asked Rini after a moment.

"We swore to him we wouldn't talk about it," answered Fuu apologetically. "Shenji… dishonored him, I guess you could say."

"Can't you at least give me a hint?" pleaded Rini, turning her big, shining doe-eyes on Fuu.

"We-ell… no! No, I can't. I promised Jin. I'm sorry."

Rini pouted.

"Hey, ladies!"

Rini and Fuu looked up. At first they didn't recognize him.

"Mugen?" gasped Fuu.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" asked Mugen, turning for her. He had not only robbed the samurai of every coin in his possession, but knocked him out and taken his clothes. He was wearing full-length hakama, a light gray kimono, and a bright blue obi. And—even stranger—he had a pair of daisho. "Did I fool you?"

"You look ridiculous," said Rini.

"Shut up! I wasn't asking you!" snapped Mugen. "Fuu?"

Fuu shook her head to show she couldn't speak. Her hands were clamped over her mouth and her eyes were bulging from her contained laughter.

"You suck," said Mugen grudgingly. He shoved his old clothes and old sword into Fuu's arms. "Carry these, will you?"

"Did you just leave that samurai naked in some alleyway?" asked Rini, horrified.

"Yeah. Why?"

"How would you feel if someone took your money and clothes and swords and left you in an alleyway?"

Mugen looked startled. "No one did that to me."

"But if it happened, how would you feel?"

"Naked? Unconscious?" guessed Mugen. He reached behind his head and scratched his back. "Why do I care what that guy feels, anyway?" He shook himself out, a bit like a dog. "I don't know how Jin moves in these things. I feel like I'm wearing sails on my legs."

Rini sighed. Teaching Mugen empathy wasn't something she would be accomplishing in a day, that was for sure.

"What about us? How are we supposed to sneak in?" asked Fuu.

"How are we supposed to find this dojo?" added Rini.

"Don't worry! I have a plan, sort of… kind of. I do!" insisted Mugen, as Rini and Fuu exchanged looks. "I got to thinking about those guys in the dojo. They probably don't get much… um…" He drew in the air.

"Ass," said Fuu.

"Yeah," said Mugen.

"Why is it you can knock people out and take their things, but can't swear?" asked Rini curiously.

"It's my precept," said Mugen. Rini looked blank. "It's like a promise I made because… it's a Buddhist thing. I'm on the path to Enlightenment."

Rini fell over laughing. She's forgotten all about Fuu telling her Mugen was on the path to Enlightenment. And it seemed immensely funnier when Mugen said it.

He glared at her.

"Shut up!" he commanded. "We have to take this seriously! Jin's going to die." Rini's laughter died out quickly; she felt guilty for laughing in such a serious situation.

"So could we."

"Quiet, you. Jin's risked his life to save you before. It's about time we returned the favor."

"Returned the favor?" asked Fuu cynically. "Since when did you care about returning—"

"Hey. Didn't I say shut up? Yeah. I thought so. Now listen." He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I'll find the dojo and go in as one of Enshido—"

"Enshirou."

"—Mariya Enshirou's old students. You guys can come in as geisha. Between the three of us, one of us can probably find Jin. And then we bust him out. Simple."

"How are we busting him out?" asked Fuu in an exaggerated whisper.

"What?"

"How, Mugen? Are we just taking him?"

"You could hide him in your sails," said Rini, pointing to Mugen's hakama. She and Fuu both giggled, quickly and guiltily.

Mugen turned away, muttering, "Darn you guys."