Behind the Glass

Hit, Miss and Run

"Jin!" Fuu got up and threw her arms around him as he slightly hugged her back.

"Well well, look who finally decided to show up. Fuu here thought you were eaten by a bear or something," Mugen said as he stuffed the food that had just arrived into his mouth.

"No I didn't, liar!" Fuu yelled as she whacked Mugen in the head. She turned back and smiled to Jin. He, in return, made as little of an expression as he could manage while still looking happy to see her. "Its so good to see you again, Jin. You look exactly the same."

"You look older." He said. She smiled as they both took their seats.

"Sometimes that happens when people age. So tell me what you've been up to these past years!" She said excitedly as she reached across the table for some dumplings.

"Yeah, this I actually want to know. I've been hearing things, you know. Things about a dashing Samurai traveling around Japan looking for something. When I heard 'dashing Samurai' you weren't exactly the person that came to mind. But when those swooning lunies who like to call themselves women mentioned glasses and pale skin I knew it was you. Ha! Who else would wear glasses they don't need for fashion! So stupid..." Mugen said each word with some kind of food dripping from his mouth.

He was once again whacked in the head, courtesy of Fuu.

"Ow! Stupid bitch."

"Serves you right, jerk. Anyway Jin, what were you looking for all of those years?"

"Shino."

"The girl from the brothel? You're still bent over for that broad?"

"Mugen! Don't be so rude."

"Then don't be so ugly." He retorted. Mugen thought it was sort of funny how it only took one person who hasn't said more than three sentences since his arrival to get him and Fuu fighting again.

"I've gotten leads. I follow them. When I get there, she's always gone. She's like an enemy two steps ahead and years wiser than I."

"So you've been tracking her down all this time and you haven't even seen her? Jin, but why? Are you in love with Shino still?"

A nod from a pale Samurai confirmed the question and a girl's heart tightened not two feet away.

Maybe it was because she was more mature, but Fuu didn't feel that odd pang of jealousy she felt a long time before when Jin would talk about other women. As of now, she felt sad for him. It was like his love was sitting right out of reach just taunting him. A cookie jar full and a child a half of a foot too short. If that was her situation, Fuu thought she would loose it. Then again, there are worse situations to be in.

"And you, Fuu? What have you been doing besides growing up?"

"Yeah, what have you been doing? I've been here since yesterday and you haven't said anything yet."

"Well... I've been, uh... traveling. Like you two, I still don't have a home. So I just wander from town to town, meet new people, make some money and move on."

"No one special in your life, ugly?" Mugen asked pretending not to care and shoveling rice down his throat.

"I didn't say that. There was someone..." Fuu faded out and looked down to her lap. After a few moments, she looked up again and smiled. "It doesn't matter, though." She helped herself to more food.

"Now I'm curious. Jin is too. Look, he has his curious face on. It looks the same as his other faces but anyway, Fuu, who was he?" Mugen stopped eating. He must have be really curious. Jin leaned forward a little, also interested.

"He was... a wealthy man actually. Handsome, smart, charming... He was the son of a man who owned a gambling house. He was to inherit it when his father passed on. We were engaged to be married and right now as we speak, I would have been someone's wife. If that incident didn't happen..."

"What happened?" Mugen asked as nicely as he could manage while still looking rugged in public. He noticed her sad face. She looked lost in her own world as she sat and silently thought. Finally looking up at her two friends, Fuu had blurry eyes. She held back any tears that were pushing their way out and asked to be excused. She ran out of the restaurant and left two curious Samurai sitting just as curious as ever.

"What was that about?" Mugen asked.

"Love." Jin said and left some money although he hadn't eaten anything. He walked out of the restaurant to find Fuu.

"Great. An emotional reunion isn't what I signed up for. Not like this, anywa--HEY! YOU EXPECT ME TO PAY FOR ALL THIS FOOD, YOU WALKING WHALE!" Mugen screamed and ran out of the door while grabbing Jin's money on his way. He was chased around town for a while, but thankfully Fuu and Jin were already out of sight. Good, they didn't need a repeat of what happened five years ago when Mugen surprised the idea on them to leave without paying and they were all caught.

When night fell, Mugen snuck back to the inn. Fuu was curled up in her futon sleeping and Jin was resting in the corner, hand on his sword. Mugen sighed. Still curious and exhausted from running around town and pissed that Jin probably heard about Fuu's past before him, he fell half on the floor and half on his futon from the night before and tried to sleep.

To be continued...

Thank you everyone who has reviewed this story so far! I'm glad to hear that you like it. Please keep the comments and criticism coming. Was Jin a little OOC there? I can't tell. Quiet people are either really easy or really hard to write and Jin is hard. Oh well. Until next time. :D