Disclaimer: Don't own Samurai Champloo. Wish I did, but I don't, so that's why I have to write stories about them.
Oh, thank you, the-everglow, for helping me! It helped a lot, really.
Mistakes, But Good Ones
Fuu sighed. How long had it been? One hour, maybe two or more? It didn't matter. She was alone in a room, longing for company, Mugen's company. But they were all gone, Jin and Michiko out on a walk together and who in the hell knew where Mugen was.
Sitting by a small fire, the flames danced across her face and the walls creating illusions of battles and wars. She glanced around the room, empty, other than a couple of sheets and a bag in the corner Mugen had left behind. She tried to ignore it, Mugen said for no one to open it. She didn't want to make him angry. She shook her head and looked away. And though she tried not to think about it, the thought of the bag crept its way back into her sight and her mind.
"Well... he wouldn't know if I just took a peak at what it was..." she glanced around the room, making sure Mugen wouldn't suddenly appear from nowhere and demand an explanation as to why she was digging through his things. She began to inch her way toward the cloth bag until she eventually was sitting next to it.
She examined it over before touching it, and then picked it up and out it hin her lap. It made a clinking sound and she brought up enough courage to open it all at once. When she did, she frowned at what she saw. In the bag lay two unlabeled bottles, each filled to the brim with liquid of some sort. She was disappointed, thinking that maybe it would have been filled with something she had never seen before.
But now lay more curiosity. What was in the bottles? She took one out and opened it, smelling what was inside. It smelled sweet, like some sort on nectar. She put it to her lips and took a drink, and immediately wished she hadn't. It tasted horrible, whatever it was, but it made her feel a little bit better. She took another drink, and this time it didn't taste so bad. She kept taking more and more drinks until finally the first bottle was finished. When she went for the second bottle, the door slid open and there stood Mugen, watching her with his narrow eyes the way a mother watches a child in trouble.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Michiko walked with Jin in silence. She just enjoyed being with him, really. She stole a look at him, but he didn't seem to notice. She returned her eyes back to where they were before.
"... Jin?" she looked up at him.
"Yes?" his voice was emotionless, but yet still filled with gentleness at the same time.
"... N-Nevermind..." she almost said it! She was kicking herself mentally. For a few more minutes they walked in thick silence. "Jin?"
"Yes?"
"... What would you say if I told you that for a while now I've been hiding some things that I should have said earlier?"
"I would say that you need to tell them now, or forever remain quiet about it."
"What if I were to say to you that I've been sick from something I inherited from my mother and there is no known cure?"
"I would say that you should find a cure, or live your life to the fullest until you die."
"... Oh... Would you call.. What I'm doing now... with you, Fuu and Mugen... Would you say this is living life to the fullest?"
"No, I would not."
She stopped for a second. "Oh... I see." she remained quiet through the rest of the walk, until Jin spoke up and said something.
"What is it exactly that you have?" Michiko was set back by this. She blinked, trying to comprehend what he had said.
"What? Oh, no, I'm not sick.. I was just asking – "
"I found your note you had written and then attempted to get rid of."
"You found that?" she blushed a little. The moon above made her eyes seem to water, like she was about to cry. "How much of it did you read?"
"Enough of it to know that you planned on running away and killing yourself because of your illness."
"..." she didn't know what exactly to say to him. What could she say? ".. I... don't know, exactly. But it killed my mother young and I know it will kill me young, if not younger than she."
Jin just listened. She liked him for that. He didn't pity her, like most people would. But being so caught up in thought she didn't notice that Jin had turned around. "Jin? Where are you going?" she heard him answer back, but the words were blurry and she could only make out 'Fuu', 'Mugen' and 'alone.'
She guessed he was going back to the inn. She still wanted to walk, not completely done thinking things over. She hadn't told him about the shadow, her stalker. But she should perhaps wait for a later time for that.
She rested against a tree. She had been walking by herself for at least an hour now. She closed her eyes and started to drift off into a peaceful slumber.
Michiko
She opened her eyes. She looked around, seeing no one. She closed her eyes again, her nerves a bit uneasy now.
Michiko
This time she jumped to her feet. "Who's there! Come out, now!" she heard noises all around her, small ones, like the beats of hundreds of tiny little drums. She started to run back to the inn. She stopped suddenly. She went into a coughing fit and caught her balance against a tree. The noises had left. She slid down to the ground against the rough bark, breathing heavily. Her heart felt as if it would burst out of her chest. She let a long breath go and smiled. She had gotten away.
A cloth was placed quickly over her mouth. Gasping, things began to go dark. Her eyes closed, and she was absorbed away into the darkness,
"I told you I would have you, Princess."
Mugen trudged through the thick grass, making his way back to the inn. He hoped Fuu had taken his bait. He had left behind a bag with two bottles in it, filled with a substance much like alcohol, only it worked much faster without having the person pass out as in a matter of seconds. He approached the door and could see a figure throwing her head back, bottle in hand. He smiled. It had worked after all.
He pulled back the screen door and there was Fuu, in a drunken stupor staring back at him. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, his voice full of harsh fake anger. She only smiled and stood. She took a couple of steps, lost her balance and fell, catching herself by wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Mugen... what.. are... you doing... back... so early?" her words were slurred and a bit slow in coming. He pushed her off of him and sat down on the floor.
"Tell me what you and Michiko were talking about the other night."
"Huh?" her smile faded and was replaced with a dazed look. She hooked her arms back around his neck and put her head on his chest.
"I saw you and Michiko sneakin' around the other night. Tell me what she told you."
"Oh, that!" her eyes got wide. "She told... me that she... was sick..." he frowned at this. This was not something he liked to hear. "... and she is possibly going to die of it..." his frown deepened. "... and..." she ducked her head and laughed. He waited in a somewhat patient matter, patient for him anyway, for her to continue. When she didn't, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.
"And what!" she laughed again and brought her face inches from his own. She kissed him, on the lips, and this caught him off guard at first, but then he found himself liking it. He didn't push her away, but instead leaned back so now they were both laying down. Then he rolled over and pinned her arms down to the ground, sitting on top of. "Now, tell me what you were going to say."
She giggled. "... What was I talking about?"
"Michiko. You said she's sick and what else?"
"Oh yeah... She's... sick and she has a stalker... nothing serious though... But shh! It's a secret!" she wriggled one of her arms out of his loosened grasp and put a finger over her mouth. "You're a good... kisser..." Mugen got off of her and sat with his legs crossed, thinking.
Fuu grabbed the bottle that she hadn't opened yet and opened it, then drank a little. "Ooooooh, Muuuggeeen..." her voice was a singsong as she crawled over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind.
"Get off of me, you – " she shoved the bottle in his mouth and pulled his head back with a surprisingly firm grasp. When she did pull the bottle away, it only had a little bit left sloshing around at the very bottom. Now he too was drunk.
When Mugen woke, he felt the warmth of another body next to him. Automatically assuming it was a hooker, he rolled over and wrapped his arm around her. "Hey, baby, you were good." he smiled, kissing her on the neck.
Fuu was awakened by Mugen's voice. It seemed awfully close, not to mention it was awfully warm. And what was he talking about? Then she realized what he was doing, and her face turned a bright red color.
"M-Mugen..." she turned her head to look at him, and when he opened his eyes, they turned into saucers and he pushed away from her.
"What the hell!" they were both still not in the right state of mind, but they could comprehend things much better than before. "What happened?"
"I.. I don't remember! The last thing I can recall is drinking whatever it was in that bottle of your's."
"Bottle?"
"In the bag. There were two, I think."
"Oh, yeah, right. And then I walked in on you and you kissed me. Hey, wait!" he smiled. He had dirt on her now. "You like me, don't you?"
Fuu's blush deepened. "Um... n-no..." his smile turned into a smirk. "Yes you do. Why else would you have hung on me like that?"
"Because I was under the influence of alcohol?"
"I don't believe it."
"But you saw me drinking it..."
"No, I mean that you were drunk but you liked me before that and that's why you acted like that while you were drunk."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?"
"What you're talking about? Repeat it slower."
"No. You heard me plain and clear the first time!"
The sound of the door sliding stopped their fighting. Jin looked at them, surprised. "What exactly happened while I was gone?" he raised a brow.
They were about to answer, but the sound of something penetrating the wood doorframe cut them off. It was an arrow, and attached to it was a note. Jin pulled off the body of the arrow and read it.
When he finished, he didn't seem too pleased. "What did it say?" Fuu stood, wrapped up in the blanket as clothing for the time being.
"They have Michiko."
Michiko woke up, dazed, and still half drugged. "What the...? Where am I?" she was tied to a pole, her head left to dangle. Everything was covered in shadows, and it was hard to see anything, though she could make out a couple of swords and knives of some sort. She heard the voice, one she dreaded, and knew exactly what had happened.
"Princess, it seems you have finally woke up..."
She spat at him. "Let me go!" she growled at him, trying to pry herself free. He only chuckled, his teeth shining in the vague moonlight.
"Now, now. I sent a letter to your friends. They'll be coming for you. And you know what? When they do, I'm going to kill them all... And then you won't love them more than me and I'll be all you have... Then you must stay with me... Because I'll be all you have..." he was inches away from her face, holding her chin. She snapped at him like a dog and bit his lip, causing it to bleed. He jerked back, blood dripping down onto his chin.
"Why you little..." his voice became suddenly deep and full of venom, but then he stopped himself and took a couple of deep breaths. "Princess, you see what happens when you're bad? You upset me.. And you don't want to do that..." he tied a blindfold around her eyes, careful to stay a good distance so she couldn't bite him again. Then he tied one around her mouth. "Now, don't worry... I'll be sure to let you watch me kill them... But they aren't here yet..."
The time passed slowly, and the more he rambled on about how life would be so much better after he had killed her friends. She tried to ignore him for the most part, but couldn't. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. The thought of them dead destroyed her. But then she heard distant footsteps. She looked up, though she couldn't see, to try and hear it better. She doubted if he had heard, he was still rambling. She could hear them talking... They did care... They wouldn't leave her...
"Hey, bastard, whatcha doin' with my little sister!" Mugen's voice interrupted the shadow's. He only chuckled and stood.
"Your little sister? You haven't been there for her like I have."
She tried to speak, but when she did, it came out as a bunch of noises. She felt someone begin to untie her blindfold. It was only he.
"Face me like a man, you son of a bitch!" Mugen and Jin were ready to fight. But he didn't seem to be making any progress with fighting. Mugen didn't waste any time.
He pulled his sword out and jumped forward, aiming for the man. He only dodged it though, and stabbed Mugen in the side with the swift use of a dagger. Jin, however, knew better than to attack right off. And if Mugen became injured, he would have to fight as well. He waited for a time that he would be needed. With Mugen's anger, he could finish this guy off in no time, or with his anger could be his death.
They fought, going for each other, stabbing, cutting, but not killing. Mugen was too quick in his attacks for him and he was too swift with his movements for Mugen.
Every time Mugen would get hurt, and Michiko would almost begin to cry. But every time Mugen hurt him, she would smile and rejoice in her own little way. But then suddenly, they came at each other and pushed each other away from themselves. Then they stood, unmoving, about ten or twelve feet apart. She stared on, anxious to see what would happen.
"You bastard! I'll kill you before the sun sets." Mugen spat out blood.
"If it wasn't for those weapons, you would be nothing." his voice was calm, and he didn't seem to be heaving any at all.
"Really? Let's find out." Mugen through his sword down and lifted his hands up. The other did as well, throwing down his dagger.
For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. Time sat still along with the hearts and hopeful eyes of Fuu and Michiko. But then the stillness broke and Mugen went to get a first punch. But Mugen wouldn't get the pleasure of feeling his bones break, however, since as he went to strike a knife went through his back. He missed his face, catching him in an almost hugging position. But then he fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
'My... my dream... it's... it's like it really is happening...' and for a second, Mugen's heart stopped. No, not because he had been stabbed, but because he couldn't save his little sister. As things started to go black, he could hear his last words of a victory ring throughout the forest.
"It seems you have brought upon yourself your own death! How foolish of you! Any wise man knows that his opponents cannot be trusted!" he began to chuckle, which turned out into a ful blown laugh. But then it ceased, and everything went black for Mugen.
"You should listen to your own words, you dick suck!" tears ran from Michiko's face as she stabbed him with one of his own swords. He fell to the ground, almost on top of Mugen, but she shoved him out off to the side. She hadn't taken the sword out, so it left a deep gash from the middle of his back to his side. Even with this, he wasn't completely dead yet. He chuckled softly.
"Princess, why would you do such a thing...? I thought you loved me..." he reached up, grasping for something. It was almost hard not to feel sorry for him.
"I never loved you, you bastard!" her last words were hard to make out through her sobs.
"At least I will die by your hand..." he smiled, knowing he had the last word.
"Actually, no." Jin appeared behind Michiko, wielding his sword. He pointed it at his heart and thrust it down, as far as it would go, then twist it until the man was dead.
"Mugen!" Michiko placed her head softly on his chest. "Mugen... Mugen, please, don't die..." she buried her face in his shirt. She felt a hand being placed on her back. She looked up, her tear-stained face now splattered with speckles of crimson red.
"Get your bony ass off me..." he had become conscience again. Michiko's face brightened up very much and she hugged him around his neck. He smiled, like in his dream. So, this is what it had meant. Now he understood everything.
"Oh, but we need to get you to a doctor!" Michiko's happy eyes turned to worry. "It could get infected!"
"Nah. We don't need to. Just pour some alcohol on it." he shrugged, half sitting up. Michiko laughed and hugged him again.
Now, everyone would be happy once more, and she could live out the rest of her life in peace.
Did you like it? I hope you did! And the reason Mugen was out of character when he and Fuu had woken up was because he still had the side effects from the liquor on him. If you ask me, it makes him a bit smarter, which is what I hope it came off as. And I don't know if even such a drink exists, either, lol. And I know the fight scene sucked because I'm not that good with those yet. But don't fret, this isn't the last chapter. There is still one more to go! And I'm thinking about including what happened between Fuu and Mugen while they were alone, but nothing that will go beyond the rating I have. Just a bunch of fuzzy-ness and I'll leave the rest up to you and your imagination .
