Hero For Hire

cap'n coree

Chapter 7: In The Worst Way

Jin could smell the rain. It hung in the air like a pair of moldy drapes. He wanted to hurry his companions to shelter, but the map said they had several iles to go. They could not beat the rain. It was gathering in dark, ominous clouds above them, and they had no protection against them. It looked like the rain would beat them. Or beat on them.

"Oh nooo," Fuu whinned, looking to the sky. "It looks like rain. Jin, do you think we'll reach the next town before it hits?"

"No." Jin replied, wishing he could protect Fuu from the rain as well as he did thugs.

"Oh drat." Fuu was wearing her yellow kimono, had been for the last several days to try to make it up to Mugen for whatever offense she did to him by letting Raharu put it on. "I'm going to run behind that tree and change really quick." She turned to Mugen, pointing an accusing finger, "NO peeping?"

"Feh, why are you telling me? Not like you have anything to say." Mugen said, glaring. Fuu scowled and stuck her tounge out. She turned, and ran up the slight incline to hide herself behind a large oak. Everyone halted to wait. There was a rustling of clothes and Jin looked up to make sure there was noone around to see when suddenly the sight of creamy skin halted his search. He couldn't see much, but at his angle he could see just the slightest bit of the back of Fuu's leg. Her legs, Jin mused, should be well muscled from all the walking they did. He'd never actually gotten a good look at them. Not that he wanted to or anything. He suppose he might have when they were all in the lake together, but his thoughts were elsewhere. They weren't muscled like he expected them to be. They looked soft, still round with some baby fat that she hadn't grown out of yet, and were not at all undesirable. Jin stiffled the urge to rub, and squeeze them. Such thoughts were fit for people like Mugen. Fuu was still a girl. He owed her his sword. That was his only connection to her. Surely she didn't want anything else. Surely, he should stop thinking like this. Fuu needed someone who would be able to show her the affection she needed, someone she could talk with, and have talk back. Someone who wasn't going to be on the run for the rest of his life. Jin turned away and adjusted his glasses, pretending he had never seen what he had. In a moment, Fuu was running back down the hill, the yellow kimono tucked safely in a bag beneath her arm. It wasn't long after they started again, that the rain began to pour.

You could hear her teeth chatter for a mile. Mugen was half tempted to give her his coat and tell her to shut the fuck up. Alot of good it would do, however. He was as soaked as she was. 'Why even try,' Mugen scowled. 'It always backfires.' Jin was falling back to walk along side of her. Mugen scowled, half tempted to speed up and reach her before he did. Before he could make up his mind however, Jin was beside her and taking off his own coat.

"Here, it might not help much," Jin said, draping it over her shuddering shoulders.

"Thanks," she said meekly, drawing it around her. 'Bastard!' Mugen's mind reeled,'he stole my idea' So he wasn't actually going to do it, but still, it pissed him off. Not only that, but Fuu didn't look half bad dripping wet. The kimono had just started to cling to her body so Mugen's mind could travel down it's worst paths. How dare he not only steal Mugen's idea, but take away his only means of entertainment as well! Raharu was too bust trying to protect her pipe and the last of the tabacco she purchased at the last town to notice. Mugen liked smoking a pipe every now and then, but that girl was obsessed. On one of the rare occassions they actual held a civil conversation, Mugen had asked her what the big deal was with her and her tabacco.

"It keeps me grounded," she replied, taking a drag and exhaling the putrid smoke, "keeps me clam." She had taken to smoking more and more as they went on, to the point where whenever he saw Raharu, it was always with a pipe stuck in her mouth and a sedated look on her face. Sometimes Mugen wondered if it was really tabacco she was smoking or that crazy weed that was popular here and there, and especially in her home town. It was doubtful, however, because she didn't giggle enough, or consume food at the inhuman rate most people on it did.

A sigh of relief ran through them when the town came into few. Jin was afraid they might have to set up camp outside for the night, and was sure atleast Fuu would catch a cold from the results. They found a hotel, and the moment their soggy feet hit its floors, Fuu was rushing to the bath, Raharu on her heel. Mugen snorted. They'd just have to wait their turns to take a bath.

Fuu stripped off her sopping kimono and submerged herself into the warm water. She sighed, her muscles relaxing.

"Theres nothing like a hot bath." Raharu "mmhm"d, slipping in next to her, her pipe protruding from her lips. "Do you have to smoke that thing everywhere you go?" Fuu laughed. Raharu quickly pulled it out of her mouth.

"Does it bother you?" She was ready to put out its contents right then and there.

"No," Fuu replied, "Infact, I kind of like the smell." Raharu sighed, glad that it didn't upset her to have her constantly smoking, and took another drag, not afraid to let the aroma fill the air.

"I just want to make you happy, Fuu," she said, looking into the bath water. She was afraid that her confession had maybe given away too much. Hell, she was tired of hiding it. Fuu just giggled.

"Oh, Raharu. I don't know what I'd do without you. You're my best friend, you know?" The words beat against Raharu painfully. Sometimes Fuu was so oblivious it hurt. Honestly, couldn't she see something so obvious? When it was staring her straight in the face? Maybe Mugen and Jin could stand it but she couldn't. She couldn't just sit back and wait for Fuu to make her move on whoever. Not knowing killed her. She wasn't going to step back and let someone else become the victor. That just wasn't her. Fuck Mugen. Fuck Jin. Fuck anyone else that might come to claim her. Fuck fear. Raharu was going to go for it. She gathered her courage like she was taking an arrow and knotching it. She fixed her aim on Fuu.

"I know," she said in a husky voice that must have come out as something like a growl, "but I could be so much more Fuu." She was moving closer to Fuu, like a preadator approaching it's prey. Fuu squeaked.

"Uh, Raharu, what do you mean?" But it was too late, Raharu was standing right infront of her, so close, thier skin brushed, and still Fuu didn't get it. "Urmm, is there something on my face?" Raharu leaned down, cupping her startled face in her hands, and touched her lips to her own. She was drinking in Fuu's scent like it was water, and it was sweet, like Spring. Sunflowers. Honey. All the things that made Fuu who she was. Her little sunflower. Raharu wasn't bold enough to try and force her tounge into Fuu's mouth, but leaned away slowly to look at her face. When she opened her eyes, Fuu's were wide with fear and confusion.

"Wha-" Fuu started. Raharu had failed. Was it better that she tried? Would it have been better if she had gone on not knowing?

"Fuu, I-I love you," Raharu stuttered. Fuu's brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes were welling with tears. She shook her head meekly.

"Raharu- you're my friend," Fuu mumbled, trying to look away. Raharu felt anger bubble in her stomache. Friend Freind FRIEND. Somewhere the God's were laughing at her expense. She pulled Fuu's face towards her. She'd make her see how much she loved her.

"FUU, you don't understand, I LOVE YOU!" she shouted, "I turned down Yuki for you. I could have had her. I could have even stayed there with her. She was throwing herself at me, and I chose you. I.Chose.You. Can't you see how much I care? I want to be with you in the worst way Fuu. Please. Please don't turn me away-"

"Raharu," Fuu said, a hint of anger in her voice, "Get away from me."

"Fuu, please- I'll take care of you-"

"Raharu I can't, I just don't feel that way about you. Can't we just pretend this never-"

"Who is it?" Raharu demanded, tears forming in her own eyes.

"Wha?"

"Who is it? Who do you love? Mugen? Jin? Neither of them can treat you, care about you like I can!"

"SHUT UP!" Fuu hollared, "You don't know anything! I can't love you because I'm in love with someone else!"

"Then what is it?" Raharu moaned, grabbing hold of Fuu's shoulders, shaking her. She was trembling. Her whole body felt like it was going to cave in on itself. "I can fix it whatever it is." Fuu regarded her sadly, removing her hands from her shoulders.

"No, you can't." Fuu said, placing a hand on Raharu's head, and stroking her hair softly like a mother would. "You're a girl. I'm, I'm just not like that. You're my best friend." Fuu turned and heaved herself out of the bath. Drying and dressing without looking at Raharu.

"I can't," Raharu mumbled, covering her face and seeping into the water, "I can't be your best friend. I CAN'T! It's killing me. If you can't love me-" Raharu sobbed. Fuu left the room. Outside in the hall, Fuu left compouser. It felt like her world was dissolving. Mugen had been right. She could just hear his cocky voice how. 'I told you so.' But what hurt more were Raharu's words. 'I can't! I can't be your best friend.' She was right. They'd never be the same. They'd never be able to talk to one another like they use to. Things all fell into place. How she acted. The things she said. Fuu didn't know how she could ever have been so stupid. Raharu had never been her best friend. Jin and Mugen were walking down the hall, apparently coming to tell them they've spent enough time in the bath, dressed in white bath robes. Their clothes were probablly hanging out to dry somewhere. When they saw Fuu they froze."What the hell is wrong with you?" Mugen asked. Fuu looked up at him pitifully before shaking her head and bowling through them. She couldn't tell them. The only person she could tell had caused it, and had been yanked away from her. 'STUPID STUPID STUPID!' Fuu's mind screamed. She ran out the front doors of the inn. She wanted to yell, scream. Punch something. She had to get out of there- but where? She ran into the only tea house with its lights still on and slumped over a table, sobbing, and dripping wet from the constant down pour of rain. An elderly woman approached her.

"Can I help you-" Fuu looked up at her, "OH, you pour thing. Whats wrong? Boy trouble?" Fuu could do nothing but nod, she didn't feel like explaining the situation to her. "Here, have some tea, on the house." The woman poured her a cup, and Fuu glanced around for a shady man with a bag that might whisk her away to the nearest whore house when she couldn't pay. Seeing she was alone with the old woman, she sipped the tea, letting its warmth overcome her. "Oh, its tough to have a crush. Unrequited love is one of the deepest pain there is. Are you all right alone, hon? Do you need someone to talk to?" Why are old people so nosy? Fuu shook her head and the old woman smilled kindly and returned to her work. "Just call if you need anything." Fuu sipped her tea everynow and then and tried to gather her thoughts, but everytime she thought she was composed, there was a crash of thunder (real, or imaginary?) that sent her thought scattering into the abyss. She only drank half of the tea, before rising to leave. The woman's words stung. She knew they were meant to be comforting, but they hadn't helped at all. She went back outside. Back to the rain, and its constant, steady, reliable beat. Having no where else to go, and not wanting to return to the hotel, she curled up under a tree.

Mugen found her. He was soaked, and still wearing the bathrobe from the hotel. Fuu would have laughed if she were in a better mood.

"I looked all over the place, where the fuck were you?" he snarled, his words almost lost in the pitter patter of rain. Fuu just sniffled and looked up at him.

"You were right." She waited for the laughter. She could tell by the look on his face he knew what she meant. Even Mugen wasn't that dumb. Heck, he had seen it when she hadn't. Maybe she just didn't want to. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. "Aren't you going to laugh." Mugen frowned, and shook his head, his hair splashing their own raindrops. He offered her his hand and she took it.

"Let's go back."

"I'm too tired, I don't want to." Mugen heaved her off the ground and into his arms.

"Too bad, you are. She got her own room, so don't worry about it." Fuu sniffled. He carried her back to the hotel and dumped her in their room. "It looks like you need another bath." Fuu regarded her clothes, shivering. "Well too bad, I got dibs. Had to skip my own too look for you." Mugen snorted and closed the door. Fuu peeled off her wet clothes and found a robe folded on her bed.

"Well, atleast I won't be too wet." She changed, but when she laid down, she couldn't fall asleep. She listened to the beat of the rain outside the walls, and wept into her pillow, mixing her salty tears with the rain water from her hair.

'Nothing hurts like unrequited love.' What about unrequited friendship?

--------------------

A.N. Thanks everyone for the reviews! Hugs! I hope you liked this one. I turned it out pretty quick. Just had to get it out. I'm thinking of a new fic, FuuxMugen, set after the series. I don't know if I'm going to start it till the end of this one, but it involves Mugen finding Fuu living with gypsies. I've got the first chapter or two outlined in my head. I'm just not sure if I want to start it yet, because I'm unsure of the middle and end, which makes me feel queasy about starting it because I don't want to get into something I can't finish.Oh-wait, I think I just got an idea. Well tell me what you think.