(Author's Note: The last three chapters are very short. But I sorta split them to make the story an even thirty. By the way, the total word count, excluding author's notes, is roughly 90,000. That's nearly 400 pages in a book. Proof that I have no life!)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

"What now?" grumbled Mugen as Fuu came scurrying down the path towards him. She had wandered ahead for no other reason than to see the sights. Even though the country was bare and unpromising, there was something beautiful about it. North of Kisarazu was an endless expanse of golden fields of tall grass, thick lush forests, and an occasional, stunning green rice paddy with a charming house nestled in its folds. The sky was clear and it was a warm day with a slight breeze. The clouds were just beginning to take on tints of pink and gold. Fuu felt like she'd never had such a long day in her life: first she'd snuck into the dojo with a piglet, then been held hostage, and then spent all afternoon walking. And now... now this.

"Mugen!" gasped Fuu. "Mugen—you have to see this! Come here! Come on! Hurry! You won't believe it!"

"What is it?" demanded Mugen, not budging as Fuu tugged frantically on his arm.

"Just come on!" she begged. "Please! Mugen—it's incredible!"

Grudgingly, Mugen let Fuu lead him off the path. Rini and Jin Junior followed. Off the dirt trail, they pushed through a sparse forest which had probably been planted as a windbreak. On the other side was a field that stretched on forever, giving rise to hazy purple mountains and forests in the distance.

"Look!" Fuu pointed to a low hill. Mugen squinted, and then the color drained from his face.

"Holy… heck," he said. His eyes were fixed on the hill that rose from the field, and on it, a small house nestled comfortably, with a tree sticking out of its based, tilted severely.

"Heck?" repeated Fuu. Mugen was already wading through the grass toward the house.

"What? What is it?" asked Rini.

"It's Jin's house!" exclaimed Fuu. "It's got to be—look at that tree!"

Rini looked doubtful. She gathered up her kimono and leapt through the overgrown pastures after Fuu. "It could be anyone's house," she grumbled. "All the houses around here look the same. What are the chances we'd come across Jin's house?"

"Really good!" answered Mugen. "We already knew he lived north of the dojo, right? And he went back there after he left, right? We've probably been following the same road he did when he left without even knowing!" Eagerly, he climbed up the hill, Fuu and Rini puffing after him.

At the top he froze, like he was suddenly too apprehensive to approach the house. It certainly didn't look very inviting. The roof had fallen in on the side with the peach tree. Overgrown, the tree was reaching into that half of the house. The windows were like wide, gaping eyes, staring blankly out. Only one still had a screen over it, and the screen was ripped clear through the middle, separating the picture into two parts; one showed misty mountains nestled with temples and waterfalls, the other half showing a lone figure in a forest, looking longing across the rip toward them.

Slowly, Mugen walked around the house. On the side opposite to the tree was what remained of a garden. Grass was growing into it, and leaves had covered its once-mossy expanse. There was a crumbled stone lantern and a broken fountain; one spot was a haphazard spreading of sand and rock, like a seashore that had been misplaced and scattered. A stone Buddha smiled at them as moss grew up his weather-worn, shapeless face.

"Mugen… let's go," said Fuu nervously. "This place is creepy. And Rini's right, it could be someone else's house."

"No. It's his," said Mugen confidently. "I know it is. Come on." Fuu and Rini protested as Mugen poked his head inside. "It's not like anyone lives here," he said, edging into the house. Inside, it was as empty as a cave. Leaves had blown in the open windows and gathered in the corners. There was some furniture, but most of it was overturned or broken, and large portions of the house had only ripped cushions and low wooden tables, feeding the empty feeling.

"I don't like this place," whined Rini as Mugen cautiously edged into the main room. The branches of the peach tree hung over the portion of missing roof, sunlight streaming down into the house.

"Whoa…" whispered Mugen reverently, examining a tattered tapestry on the wall. "Look at this. It's like being inside Jin…"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" whispered Rini. Fuu clamped her hands over her mouth in horror.

"Rini!"

"What? You didn't think that?"

"Look! Look at this!" cried Mugen, oblivious to the two of them. He indicated a broken statue on the floor; it was a cat, gesturing and smiling widely.

"That's a Maneki Neko," said Rini. "It's supposed to be good luck. My mom had one too."

"And look at this!" cried Mugen, running up the stairs to the loft. "This is where Jin slept!" he yelled down at them. His voiced echoed and then fell flat.

"Assuming this is really Jin's house…" mumbled Rini doubtfully.

"It is," said Fuu softly. She pointed at the floor. It was covered with tatami mats, many of which had been displaced to reveal the wood beneath. Ugly stains and splatters had soaked through and dried dark brown.

"Oh, my," said Rini. She shivered again. "Let's go."

"Yeah, I'm getting kind of creeped out," agreed Fuu. She paused to glance into a tokonoma. The alcove's scrolls were torn, tilted, and one was on the floor, along with a cracked vase and a pile of dried flowers. Fuu touched a petal tentatively, and it crumbled into dust. Most of the scrolls weren't anything too interesting—most were religious, detailing the Noble Eightfold, or elaborate drawings of the path to nirvana. But others were a testament to the family's samurai roots—one was a list of the bushido code, with a tanto hanging beside it. Fuu took the sword delicately and unsheathed it; it was completely rusted, probably the reason no one had taken it.

"Look! Here's his kitchen!" yelled Mugen from another part of the house. His call was followed by a crash.

"That was probably the last unbroken dish, too," muttered Rini, picking up a scroll facing down on the floor. "Oh… look at this."

Fuu peered over her shoulder. The paper was torn and frayed, but the faded painting on it was the same; a little boy, glancing over his shoulder, holding a fluffy dog.

"Michi…" read Fuu, pointing to the signature. "Oh, God, this is weird. MUGEN! WE WANT TO LEAVE!"

"But Fuu! This is so cool! Look!" Mugen strode into the room with a spring in his step. "That's the spot where they probably meditated! And here's the floor where they probably practiced their sword thing! And that's that spot where—"

He stopped suddenly.

"Yeah, that's the spot where Jin's parents were killed. And that's the spot where Jin was raped. Are you happy now?" demanded Fuu angrily.

"Jin was raped?" gasped Rini.

Fuu clamped her hands over her mouth. "Oh," she squeaked.

"Fuu!" yelled Mugen.

"No… wait," demanded Rini. "He was raped?"

Fuu and Mugen stared at each other in silence. Fuu looked down and rubbed one arm with her hand. Mugen crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling (and the sky).

"Yeah. Well. Even if he was… it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with him," said Mugen.

Rini blinked, stunned. Slowly, things were clicking into place, leaving a pit in her stomach, a sickness that came from her years of devotion of Shenji and her casual comments about Jin and Mugen.

"Oh…" she said softly. Then she sat down in the middle of the floor, entirely too shocked to continue standing.

"He told us not to say anything," added Fuu, hands still over her mouth.

Rini nodded numbly, staring at a rotten peach that had fallen through the roof and, after being eaten by mice, rotted into a shapeless pulp.

"Let's go," muttered Mugen, stalking out of the house. Neither Rini nor Fuu moved. Rini's eyes never wavered from the fallen peaches on the floor.

"I… I can't believe it," she said finally. She looked up, the pain written clearly across her face. "I can… I can understand if Miyazaki-san thinks our town is beneath him. He's a powerful man. But he wouldn't… he'd never…"

"Okay, Rini," said Fuu gently. "Come on… Mugen will leave without us." She took Rini's arm and tried to heave her up, but she refused.

"I don't care about Mugen!" she cried angrily. "All he's done is come and—and ruin my life—and make false accusations! All three of you have been trouble and you've taken me from home and chased away Miyazaki-san and—and you're traitors to the Shogunate, too! I ought to have you all arrested!"

"You chose to come with us!" snapped Fuu. Jin Junior trotted over and rested his head on Rini's knee, looking up at her with a questioning look similar to a dog's. Rini burst into tears.

"This is all that samurai's fault!" she cried.

Fuu sat down next to her, feeling awful. Somehow she felt like it was all her fault. Sure, Jin had been looking for Shenji before she'd ever met him. But he had joined her, and she'd been leading him. If it wasn't for her quest, perhaps things would have worked out differently. Perhaps he'd have taken a different path, and never found Shenji at all, and none of this would have happened. Rini would be home, blissfully ignorant, and all those samurai at the dojo would still be alive.

"I'm sorry," said Fuu softly. She picked up Jin Junior and deposited him on Rini's lap. Rini cried and hugged him.

"He can't be a bad person," she said, hiccupping and snuffling and breathing in fast, shaky bursts. "He can't! He's been so good to us… to all of us. What did your samurai ever do? He's just a trouble-making ronin! Miyazaki-san is a good person, even if—" She broke off with a sob before she was able to resume. "—even if he doesn't even know who I am or care about the town, he's still everything your stupid ronin isn't! What did you samurai ever do for anyone other than himself, huh? What?"

"His name," came a soft voice from the doorway, "is Jin."

Fuu and Rini turned. Mugen had come back and was leaning with his shoulder against the doorframe, looking annoyed but also slightly—was Fuu imagining it?—sympathetic.

He looked down at his nails. "And he… he did things for me. A lot of things. Maybe I'm not a whole town. But…" Mugen shrugged. "If you ask me… someone who has nothing gives a lot more than someone who has everything. Shenji fed you scraps from the table. Jin gave me everything he had to offer. And maybe it wasn't gold or anything like that, but… I think it was a lot more than Shenji ever gave anyone." He shrugged again.

"Mugen," said Fuu in surprise. "Are you saying you think friendship is more important than money?"

"Ah… Sam Hill, I don't know," mumbled Mugen, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can we just go?"

"Yeah," said Fuu quietly, not bothering to repeat "Sam Hill." She helped Rini up; Rini was still sniffling and cradling Jin Junior. The three left the house silently, pausing by the sand and the stone Buddha before going around the back of the house, the way they'd came.

Mugen paused to examine the peach tree reverently. He shook his head at it, like he was trying to figure something out.

Behind him, Fuu and Rini stood tentatively, looking at the neglected house. "Maybe we should wait here," said Fuu doubtfully. "What if Jin comes back like he did last time?"

"Why would he do that?" asked Rini, shifting Jin Junior so she could wipe her eyes.

"I don't know. He did last time. I don't know," repeated Fuu, wringing her hands.

"Hey, Fuu. C'mere. What's this say?" demanded Mugen, who was examining the trunk of the slanting tree so closely his nose nearly touched the bark.

Fuu sidled up beside him and observed the characters carved clumsily into the trunk of the tree. "Jin and Yori Were Here," she read.

"Who's Yori?" asked Rini quietly. "His brother?"

"Naw, his dog," said Mugen. "C'mon… if we're gonna rest, let's do it… you know… away from the house."

They walked down the hill and sat down in the shadow of the hill, watching twilight's fingers extend slowly over the sky, going from gold to pink to purple to a soft, velvety blue.

Jin Junior wandered away to root around the field for food. Fuu and Rini watched the little cottage on the hill fall into darkness. It loomed over them, its windows like lidless, dark eyes, a crippled monster. Fuu tried to imagine it, fifteen years ago, when it was an inviting home, perhaps with smoke rising from the chimney and a small, fluffy dog sniffing around the base of the peach tree. But her imagination was unable to make it look like anything other than a crumbling, eerie monument to tragedy.

After a while, Rini stood up with a snuffle and meandered away, rubbing her arms with her hands. Fuu sighed and flopped back. She turned her head to make a casual remark to Mugen, but his eyes were closed and he was fingering the beads on his wrist. Fuu sighed again, wishing for everything to be as it was weeks ago.

Rini cried out from another past of the field. Fuu sat bolt upright. "What is it?" she cried.

Mugen opened an eye lazily.

"I tripped over something!" called Rini.

Fuu stood up and scurried over. Mugen heaved himself to his feet sleepily and ambled after her.

"What's a rock doing in the middle of a field, anyway?" mumbled Rini, who was picking herself up and wiping her eyes miserably.

Fuu bent down. "This isn't a rock." She worked the object from the ground—it was half-buried and overgrown with grass. But even covered with dirt, when she held it up, they all saw what it was: a dog's skull.

"Oh, God, put it away!" cried Rini, shielding her eyes.

Mugen took it from Fuu's hands and turned it over. "Hey… it could just be some stray mutt that wandered over here and died," he said doubtfully. "Might not even be a dog… could be a… a demented badger skull. Look, I'm just saying, it might not be Jin's dog."

"Put it away!" wailed Rini.

"That dog died, what, thirteen years ago or something? These are probably something else's bones…"

"Please!"

Unwillingly, Mugen stopped and set the skull back into its place in the hollow of the ground.

"Please—" begged Rini. "Please, can we camp on the other side of the house? Please, I don't want to be near… it."

Fuu expected Mugen to retort with some snappish remark. But instead, staring at the ground, he muttered, "Yeah. Let's do that."

They did.

Jin and Kumi stood facing each other for the last time, in the entrance of the teahouse. It was dark outside, and the wind had picked up, setting the wind chimes tinkling angrily.

Jin examined her face; plumper, softer, less girlish and more maternal. She studied his; sallow, worn, more melancholy.

"I wish you'd stay," she said softly.

Jin shook his head. "I can't."

"You know, moving around a lot is just going to hurt you more…"

Jin smiled slightly. "Can I be hurt any worse than I am now?"

"Things can always get worse."

Jin bowed his head with a conceding "hmm."

"Any idea where you're going this time?"

Jin moved his shoulders. "Somewhere," he said quietly.

"Yori." Kumi moved toward him and took him gently by the shoulders, staring directly into his eyes. She noticed he angled his head slightly so he was looking at her through his glasses. "I know you'll think I'm being repetitive and naïve for saying this. But what happened wasn't your fault. I know how big you samurai are on honor. So please… remember that honor is like karma. You get it for things you do. That Miyazaki's actions were his own. He's the one who was dishonored. Not you."

"Hmm," said Jin.

Kumi laughed softly and shook her head. "That's what you're going to leave me with? Just 'hmm?'"

"How about… thank you?"

Kumi smiled sadly. "That's better. And you're welcome," she added as an afterthought. "Good-bye, Yori."

He nodded his head, turned, and began walking. She watched his figure get smaller and smaller down the road; he limped purposefully along, slouched, older than his years.

She sighed and turned back to her teahouse, crossing the room to kneel beside one of her regular customers.

"Old love?" he guessed.

"Sort of," said Kumi.

"Why'd you let him go?"

"He has to find… someone," said Kumi. The man raised an eyebrow at her, so she said, "He's from that dojo down south. He's on the trail of the Thousand Man Killer."

"Ahh," said the man.

Kumi shivered and rubbed her arms. "It makes me nervous. That Jin guy, on the loose again. Maybe even right here in this village." She shuddered. "Isn't it awful? I don't feel safe…"

"Dreadful," agreed the man, downing the last swigs on tea in his cup. "He'd sooner kill you than look at you, I've heard."

"Murderers and rapists roaming around…" sighed Kumi. "What's the world coming to?"

"I'd sooner give away everything I own than meet that guy…" said her customer thoughtfully.

Less than an hour later, two samurai came in from the street, raggled and furious. "Jin," they said shortly. "Blue kimono. Glasses."

Kumi went white and fainted.

Jin limped down the dirt path he'd walked many times before. He had no real direction, yet. He was going back. He didn't know to whom—Mugen and Fuu, Shenji, the dojo. Did it matter? No matter where he went, he'd lose control again, returned to a tempest-tossed life of meekly following the direction of others. It made his stomach clench.

It was a cool night, which was nice. The cold drew his mind from his pain, and kept his mind from becoming sleepy and wandering.

Brittle leaves rattle behind me in the darkness. I walk faster to get where I'm going… somewhere, he thought. A smile touched his lips. I'll have to write that down… oh… He'd left his journal at the dojo. Everyone had probably already read it. His stomach clenched again. He suddenly felt overcome with a wave of depression. He wanted to lie down in the middle of the road and just… stop.

Instead, he paused and took a few steadying breaths. What he needed was to think. He wasn't going to get anywhere by just wandering. He had to consider which path to take. He could probably just leave right now—turn off the road and leave everyone and everything, try to start over.

What he really needed was to meditate. A few peaceful hours of thoughtlessness, then that calm wakefulness that followed. He'd never make a good decision standing in the middle of the road, cold and pained and panicking. But this wasn't an ideal place to meditate…

With a small jolt, Jin realized there was a place nearby where he could recuperate. An isolated place, one unknown to most, one that the others would never expect him to go to a second time. One with a garden and a piece of seashore next to it.

Jin turned off the path and began to limp home.

"Do you hear that?" asked Fuu nervously.

"Fuu… that's the ninth time you've said that. If you ask one more time, I'll knock your block off," said Mugen calmly.

It was probably past midnight, but the field was magnificently lit with silver moonlight. It stretched and warped shadows, giving everything—especially the decrepit house—a dreamlike quality. Fuu and Rini couldn't sleep. Mugen had been stroking his beads the entire time, oblivious to the cold wind and the eerie landscape. Fuu and Rini had proposed lighting a fire, but Mugen had refused no the grounds that the dry grass might catch and create a brushfire. Personally, Fuu wouldn't have cared if the creepy house was burned to a crisp.

"I really heard something this time," whispered Fuu anxiously, scooting closer to Mugen.

"You heard the wind rustling the grass," said Mugen in annoyance.

"No, Mugen, I really heard something!"

"Me too!" whispered Rini anxiously.

Mugen opened his eyes to glare at the two girls clinging to his arms. "It's nothing."

Across from him, Jin Junior came hurrying up with a few anxious snorts. He sat down in Mugen's lap.

With a grunt of irritation, Mugen rose. The pig slid off him and the two girls were torn away from his sleeves. "I'll show all of you, it's nothing!" he snapped to the three, who were huddled together, shivering with cold and worry. He reached behind his back and tugged his sword out, muttering, "This is so stupid."

Mugen waded confidentially across the field towards the trees and the road beyond them. Rini and Fuu scuttled after him, glancing around like frightened deer.

Mugen yelped and jumped back when a figure emerged from the trees. He stepped on Fuu's foot; she squealed and pulled away, accidentally knocking over Rini, who fell on Jin Junior.

"JIN!" yelled Mugen. He dropped his sword and lunged at Jin, while Rini picked herself up and Jin Junior squealed with rage.

"I knew we'd find you!" said Mugen gleefully as the two fell to the ground in a heap. Without thinking, he pecked Jin on the lips. Then, horribly embarrassed, he untangled himself from Jin and jumped back back, assuming a nonchalant pose while looking steadfastedly away. "I mean… I knew you were alive," he said coolly, "because, you know, you never die. Not that I care…"

"Hmm," said Jin in annoyance, climbing painfully to his feet and brushing the sleeves of his kimono. He looked from Mugen to Fuu with a hawklike stare, then finally said, "Why are you here?"

"We knew you'd come here," said Fuu. "And… we wanted to wait for you." Feeling that she wasn't being quite fair, she reprimanded herself, "Mugen did."

"No I didn't!" said Mugen in alarm, casting an anxious glance at Rini.

Jin's face, lit with moonlight, twisted into a smile. Fuu knew he understood.

"I came to meditate," he said softly, "before I start my journey."

"Journey?" demanded Fuu. "What journey? To where?"

Jin shrugged. "I'm about to find out."