Hey all, this is chewbecky here. I just wanted to give a BIG ASS APOLOGY to Cap'n Coree. Chapter four of this story (the part with Shino and blah blah blah) was very similar with Cap'n Coree's Of Silk and Lace story. I just wanted to say that I really am sorry, it was not intended. Cap'n Coree is a great fic writer, and I would never show any disrespect by stealing work. I would never show any disrespect, period. Once again, I really am sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo.

Chapter 7 : Touch.

The ronin stood frozen in time. A mix of emotions flowed beneath the blank surface of his visage. Happiness, then confusion and then...what was this, jealousy? Of what? Mugen? He watched as the ex-pirate cupped Himiko's chin and examined her bruised cheek. His smile had totally faded away and was replaced by the deepest scowl ever seen on Mugen's face. What kind of relationship did the two have? The ronin knew how most relationships with females went for Mugen, but Himiko didn't seem that type. Mugen fussed over the dark girl's cuts and bruises, promising to kill the bastard who caused him. Himiko raised a pointed finger to Jin and explained that he had already done the honors.

"Oi, fish face. That piece of shit is lucky you killed 'em 'n' not me..." Mugen spoke out, his arm draped over Himiko's shoulder.

"Hn.." he repositioned his glasses in frustration.

"I can't believe we're all back together again! This causes for a celebration tonight, lets go to a nice restaurant okay?" Fuu was practically jumping up and down.

"First we should find a doctor for Himiko." Jin said flatly, back to his usual monotone self.

With that the ronin turned and began to walk away, the other's followed. Himiko could sense a change in the samurai's demeanor. Although, for the short period she had known him, he was always quiet he had never been cold like this. She racked her brains trying to figure what could cause such a change from the time they left the woods till the time they entered the town. She sighed, becoming frustrated in her thoughts. She hadn't noticed how close she was walking next to Mugen, his arm still hung on her shoulder. She couldn't really help it, she felt safe when she was next to him. It had been so long since she had seen him last, nearly six years. She honestly thought that she would never see him again.

Fuu seemed to be oblivious to everyone else, and contented herself in babbling about what they would eat and where they would stay the night. The young girl was overly excited about the reunion of her friends. It had been so long since she had seen Himiko, and now she was all grown up with eyes like her father's and a gentle smile like her mother's. Jin, still the same quiet samurai, but he let a little emotion show now and then. She could almost swear that the ronin had something for Himiko. She giggled to herself thinking of her two friends being a couple. And Mugen, he was just like always. Cursing, fighting, drinking, fighting, eating...fighting. The ex-pirate had always had an effect on her. The way she felt around him was different from the way Jin made her feel. With Jin she felt secured, anchored and safe. He was always calm and collected, always had a plan and thought things through. Mugen, however, sent electricity through her veins. He was always unpredictable, never held back and never ever held his tongue for anyone. He always teased her, but somehow she still felt safe with him. He excited and scared her at the same time...maybe that's the reason she always had a crush on him. The poor girl burst in a fit of giggles, thinking of her and Mugen together.

Mugen walked proud like he always did. Today was better than he ever thought it could be. He kicked a lot of ass today, but that wasn't the only thing. He had found Fuu, just like he thought he would...in distress. He never bothered to ask what the hell she did to that yakuza bitch, but something inside him ignited when he saw that bastard toting her around like she was his or something. Not that he was possessive over her or anything, hell no. It was just that had grown attached, and couldn't allow someone to harm her in his presence. Yeah...then Himiko appeared, almost out of thin air. She looked heavenly, like she just floated to earth that very moment. She was all grown up and didn't look half bad really...she had grown a nice set of knockers, the last time he saw her, she was flatter than Fuu. She was still nice, her voice almost always was hardly above a whisper. Seeing her made him happier than he thought he could be, he was even kinda glad that fish face was there. Too bad he still had that stick up his ass.

The dark haired samurai was doing some thinking of his own. He knew that being jealous was just a waste of thought and energy, but somehow he couldn't shake the feeling. He remembered her running towards him, begging for help. Her hair disheveled, her eyes wide, her kimono slightly open allowing one to see her her collar bone. His mind then began to wander into some freaky fantasy, where she was breathless and calling for him with that same disheveled hair...Mugen had really rubbed off on him. He was grateful that he was leading the group, he wasn't sure if he could explain why there was suddenly a touch of pink in his cheeks. It seemed that the relationship between the two Ryuukyuans was platonic, but Jin knew Mugen better than that. The only somewhat platonic relationship the ex-pirate had ever had was with Fuu, and even that had some innuendo and undertones. Jin was grateful to finally reach the doctor's office, at least this could distract his mind from perverted fantasies.

"Oh, welcome. What can I do for you today?" An elderly man greeted Jin as he walked in.

"Ah, Isha-san (doctor)." Jin bowed, he reached a hand out to Himiko, and lead her to the doctor.

"Well, well...what do we have here..?" The old man mumbled to himself, examining Himiko, "Who would want to hurt such a lovely girl? Men these days, no honor..."

He lead Himiko to sit on a bench as he pulled up a stool. Mugen watched intently, caressing the stubble on his chin. Jin stood still, arms limp at his side. Fuu fidgeted, shifting her weight from one side to the other.

Himiko flinched slightly as the doctor touched the bruise lightly, he turned her head side to side searching for any strain in the neck. When he was satisfied he moved on to her ankle, removing her tobi (sock). He turned her foot this way and that, his old gnarled fingers pressing against her ankle, trying to find any sign indicating it was broken.

"Well, your ankle isn't broken. But I still want you to brace it tight with cloth for support. And for that nasty bruise I have some ointment, it should fade in a day or so..."

The old man scurried off to a wall unit housing many glass bottles full of only the gods knew what. He returned with the cloth and the ointment, and took Himiko's ankle into his hands and began wrapping it.

"This is how I want you to wrap it everyday, you should soak in a nice hot spring as well. You'd be surprised by the magical healing of water...One more thing, stay away from those ruffians, you hear?"

Himiko nodded.

"Men these days don't know how to treat a nice young lady like yourself.." He mumbled as he handed her the ointment and her tobi. He stood up, and eyed Mugen and Fuu over.

"You wouldn't happen to be the man who fought that yakuza gangster, would you?"

"Yea, that's me, grandpa. What's it to you?" Mugen replied while digging in his ear.

A smile appeared over the old man's face as he clasped his hands together. He patted Mugen on the back, and the ex-pirate had to keep reminding himself that this was an old man.

"Oh, thanks to you sonny my grand daughter is safe!" His eyes crinkled in merriment,

"You know, the yakuza don't play fair...They came to me a few months ago when I first came to this town with my grand daughter, said I owed some kind of new resident tax...Well, the amount was out of this world. Even with me being a doctor and all I couldn't pay it fast enough...Well, a couple of days ago that yakuza bastard told me I was takin' too long, and to 'help' me out he was gunna take my poor, innocent grand daughter...Then you came along and now my sweet girl is safe!"

The old man had Mugen in a bear hug, the sight was funny enough to earn a low chuckle of humor from the dark haired samurai.

"The visit's on the house! Thank you so much, I know I could never repay you for what you've done for me..."

The old man thanked them again as they all shuffled outside of the office.

"Crazy ass old man..." Mugen murmured under his breath, his ribs aching slightly.

"Oh, Mugen thanks to you my doctor's visit was free!" Himiko commented softly as she pecked his cheek.

If Mugen wasn't the man he was, he might of blushed from the affectionate attention. Jin on the other thanked the gods for his self control. His hand had almost reached for his sword before he could stop himself. He cleared his throat,

"We should find an inn before it gets late..."

"Good idea, Jin. I need to wash up before we eat..." Fuu replied.

The four then made their way through the streets, once again. They debated about what type of inn to stay in. Fuu wanted something extravagant, while both the men didn't mind anything with four walls and a roof. Himiko opted for somewhere with a nice hot spring that wasn't too expensive. In the end, they agreed on a nice, not too expensive inn. Old habits were hard to break, they all shared one room.

"Himi-chan, how much money do we have left?" Fuu asked while settling her things in the room.

The two men froze and went bug-eyed as the grey eyed girl fished around her bosom for the savings Fuu asked her to hold. Mugen was the first to recover, and caught the ronin still staring.

"Oi! What the hell do you think yer looking at?" He yelled as he flew across the room.

"...Hn?" Was all the ronin could barely get out before being punched square in the face.

"You fucking fish face prick! Don't you ever think about looking at her again!"

"What? You. (gasp) Looked. (gasp) Too. (gasp)" Ther ronin struggled to speak, his throat being clenched by the Ryuukyuan's vice grip.

This only seemed to further enrage the ex-pirate. The two men stopped fighting with their hands and pulled out their swords. Both did extravagant dodging and rolling, and every five seconds they engaged in a dead lock of swords.

"Do they always fight like this?" Himiko whispered to Fuu.

"Yeah, must be a guy thing..."

"I thought you said they were friends..." Himiko added.

"They are, this is just how they express their happiness to see one another."

"Oh, well did you decide what restaurant you want to eat at tonight?"

"I think I wanna eat at Misako's, I heard someone say they have the best dumplings in town." Fuu said with stars in her eyes.

The two girls continued to talk about dumplings and tempura, paying no attention to the rumble and tumble of the two men still going on. After about ten minutes, the men were tired out and could only send death glares to one another.

"Are you two done with your staring contest yet?" Fuu interrupted their telepathic onslaught. The two men were on their backs glaring at each other, then they turned their gazes to Fuu.

"Whatever, me and Himiko are gonna go wash up...You two should try to clean up too, seeing how you're all blood splattered now..."

"Bye Mugen, please be nice. Jin-san, you too." Himiko said while she followed Fuu out the door.

"Ha, Jin-san!" Mugen said mockingly after the door shut.

Jin just looked back at him with a blank face. She had always called him that. It did make him feel a little old, but he pushed that to the back of his mind and decided she only did it out of respect. The ronin was the first to sit up, he began smoothing out the wrinkles in his gi. He straightened his glasses and then began to re adjust his ponytail. His midnight hair cascading down his back as he untied it.

"You know, you look like a fucking a girl with all that damn hair..." Mugen commented, still on his back.

"If by that you mean you'd like to fuck me, I'm sorry Mugen but I am only interested in women..."

"You snobby ass prick, you wish I was a fruit cake just so you could get some of this..."

"Actually, no. No, I don't. And I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to say I look like a girl just to justify your inner desires."

"Fuck you, you really are a stuck up prick."

"...Hn..."

Mugen sat indian style, with a scowl on his face. He didn't like being joked about his sexual preference and masculinity. All the girls he'd bedded, there was no damn way he would ever be into men, not in this lifetime or the next five lifetimes for that matter. He sat there and pouted, since when did fish face develop a sense of humor? He had almost thought he was serious, his voice was perfectly even. If he hadn't been listening to the words he had been saying he would've never known that he was kidding, that prick. How dare he look at Himiko that way. What about that one broad from that brothel he saved? Wasn't she waiting for him or something? There was no point in asking him, wasn't like he was known for holding conversation.

By the time the girls came back from the hot springs Jin had straightened up the room. Mugen, however, still laid in the exact same spot he was in when the girls had left.

"Wow Jin, you clean up pretty nicely." Fuu commented while entering the room.

"Mugen...you didn't even try." Himiko added softly, taking a seat next to the messy haired man.

"Pssht. Hell, I ain't no girl. I ain't gonna get all prissy just to eat dinner..."

Jin's eyebrow twitched at the emphasis Mugen put on the word "prissy", other than that he sat unmoved and continued his meditation on 101 ways to murder Mugen.

"Well, I guess this is as cleaned up as he's gonna get. Let's go, then." Fuu said, she stood to leave and handed her purse to Himiko for safe keeping.

"I can hold that..." Jin blurted out before Himiko could adjust her kimono. He held his hand out, and she gave him the purse. Himiko blushed at the split second of contact, his fingertips brushing across her hand as at slid back to her side. Mugen noticed, and wasn't happy about it. He hooked his arm with hers and led her out of the door, leaving behind the pale, smirking samurai.