Chapter Six

Fuu had never seen Mugen happy.

She thought she had, but now that she saw him with his mother, she began to realize he really hadn't been happy. He'd been content and satisfied before, usually after either killing or having sex with someone. He'd been lazy and comfortable after a nap or a meal. But she'd never seen Mugen like this: scampering around after Leiko like a puppy, a broad grin on his face, frequently interjecting random questions or comments into the amiable silence that suddenly no longer bothered him.

"Mom! Hey, Mom! Look at me! Mom! You're not looking!" called Mugen, who was teetering on one hand in the road. Leiko and Fuu were sitting in the shade of some eaves; Fuu was combing Leiko's hair. She wasn't sure yet whether she liked Leiko or not; Leiko was likable enough, but had a darker side that lurked just out of sight, always close enough to scare Fuu a little bit. Then again, she had always liked being scared. That's why she liked Mugen. He excited her.

"I'm looking, Mugen," called Leiko, who was pointedly examining her nails.

"No you're not! Mom!"

Leiko sighed luxuriously and held out her hand. "You know, I'm thinking I'd like some of those little pocket things for dinner. You know, the ones with meat inside, but it's wrapped up?"

"Sure," agreed Fuu. "Like, the ones with crabmeat?"

"I don't actually like seafood very much," said Leiko.

Fuu frowned. Leiko's tastes, in the span of only three days, had grown very discriminating. At first she would eat anything. But now she was becoming almost unbearably picky, because she knew Mugen would buy her… well, anything. He had probably mugged every person in town at least once already.

"Moooom!" shouted Mugen. Leiko looked up just in time to see him fall over on top of an unfortunate chicken that was wandering in the street. Leiko snorted and rolled her eyes as Jin came sweeping down the street with an identical look of disgust on his face.

"Is he making a fool of himself again?" he asked peevishly, leaning against the wall with his hands on his swords. Across the street, Mugen and the chicken were clawing at each other and squawking.

"At least he's not a four-eyed dipwad like you," sneered Leiko. Jin cringed noticeably and ground his teeth. He and Leiko had begun to hate each other. In fact, they probably loathed each other. Leiko, after finding Mugen, had completely lost all interest in Jin. And Jin had hated her to begin with.

"Hey… come on, guys," protested Fuu weakly. "Let's not fight, okay? Jin, where have you been?"

"Nowhere," said Jin, scowling.

"Well, Leiko's hungry, so we're going to get something to eat."

"Wonderful. Who will be doing the thievery this time, Mugen or Leiko?"

"Oh, shut up, you're not perfect," snapped Leiko. Her foul expression melted away as Mugen wandered over, hands in his pockets and feathers in his hair. "Mugen, sweetheart, you've got some dirt on your face."

"Stupid chicken."

Leiko stood up and licked her thumb; she began rubbing Mugen's cheek. He protested loudly. "Mom…"

"Hold still!"

"Damn it, stop! I'm not a little kid! Mom!" whined Mugen, twisting uncomfortable as she held his head. If he'd really wanted to get away, he could have; but he seemed to be enjoying the fuss Leiko was making over him.

Fuu giggled and looked at Jin, but he was glaring at the two of them and avoiding Fuu's eyes.

"There." Leiko stood back and admired her handiwork. Mugen wiped off his face with his hands. "Now, how about some lunch?"

"Sure!" said Mugen enthusiastically. "What'd you want?"

"Those little pocket things with meat in them."

"Oh, good, I love crab."

"I don't like seafood," said Leiko, at the same time Fuu said, "She doesn't want seafood."

"Oh. Me neither!" said Mugen quickly. "I hate that stuff! Okay, let's go, c'mon!" He grabbed Leiko's wrist and began hauling her away. "Hurry up, Tubsy!" he called to Fuu over his shoulder. "You snooze, you lose!"

"Coming?" asked Fuu.

Jin twisted his mouth thoughtfully and tapped his chin. "She doesn't like seafood?" he asked.

"I guess not."

"Hmm."

"Jin? Are you coming, or not?"

"I think I will," said Jin, falling into step with Fuu, who was hurrying after Mugen and Leiko. "Don't you think that's odd?"

"What? That you're coming to lunch? I guess so, I mean, lately you've been avoiding us like the plague…"

"No!" snapped Jin. "I meant that Leiko doesn't like seafood!"

"So what?"

"She's from Ryuukuu. An island. Mugen's from there and he loves seafood. He grew up on it."

"Aw, leave her alone, Jin, she's had a hard life."

"It must be terribly hard, taking advantage of people all the time," said Jin sarcastically. Fuu had never seen him so bitter.

"Geez, Jin. You're really being a wet blanket lately. What's your problem, anyways?"

"She's my problem!"

"Well, no one's forcing you to stay with us!"

Jin was silent. He walked along with them the rest of the way in stormy silence.


"Did you think about Mugen a lot?" asked Fuu curiously that night. Mugen had mysteriously come up with a wad of cash that he had used to rent them rooms at an inn. Fuu and Leiko were two rooms down from Mugen and Jin; the rooms weren't dramatically furnished, but Fuu was glad she was sleeping on a futon and not on the cold, hard ground, and that she had the warm, comforting light of a lantern instead of the sparse and cold light of the stars.

"Hmm? Oh. I guess so," said Leiko mildly. She was dressed in one of Fuu's jubans and soothing out her tattered zigzag skirt on the floor. "Probably I thought about him as much as he thought of me. Do you think he'd get me some new clothes? Yours are pretty nice."

"Thanks," said Fuu, blushing and hugging her legs to her chest.

"It'd be nice to have some color again. This used to be a lot brighter." She sighed and held up the skirt. "Not anymore, though. I'd like some yellow, that's what I'd like! Bright yellow! With some lavender flowers. Wouldn't that be pretty?"

"It'd look great," agreed Fuu.

Leiko scowled. "If I asked, I bet that stupid ronin would complain, though. Has he always been such a killjoy?"

"Well… maybe a little, I guess," admitted Fuu. "I don't know why he's making such a big deal out of everything, though."

"Me neither," said Leiko. "He seemed okay until I met Mugen. Then he just went crazy. Well, just goes to show, you can't trust a ronin! I always knew he was probably an asshole, anyways."

"He's okay," said Fuu uncomfortably. "He's just… I don't know."

"Hey, Mom!" The shoji screen slid back with a force so violent it nearly fell off; Mugen stuck his wild head of hair into the room.

"Mugen!" shrieked Fuu, yanking the sheets over her chest.

"Oh, gimme a break, you're flatter than three-day-old sake," said Mugen. "Mom, I found a really hot-looking teahouse! You wanna come?"

"Sure," said Leiko, rising. "Give me ten minutes."

Mugen disappeared. Fuu dropped the sheets with disgust. "I am not flat," she mumbled.

"Well, you're no geisha, either, dear," said Leiko. Fuu scrunched her nose up, feeling hurt. Leiko yanked on her clothes and walked out; Fuu sighed and was just about to lay down when the shoji screen slammed open again and Jin spun in, slamming it behind him.

"Jin!" shrieked Fuu, yanking the sheets over her chest.

"Shh!"

"Doesn't anyone knock anymore?" lamented Fuu. "Turn away!"

"What? No!" snapped Jin. "Stop being so childish! You know I don't have any interest in you!"

"Why not?"

Jin sputtered for a moment before regaining his composure. "Never mind! We have to talk about Leiko!"

"Hmph," said Fuu angrily, lying down and turning her back to Jin. "I don't want to! You're just going to complain about her, aren't you? Can't you just leave her alone? She's a poor old woman!"

"She's not poor, she's a thief! She's not even that old! And… and I'm not just going to complain! I think she's a very shady character!"

"Of course she's shady, Jin! She's Mugen's mom."

"Well, I'm starting to doubt she is!"

"Huh?" Fuu sat up, forgetting to cover herself. "What'd you mean?"

Jin knelt on the floor. "Look at the facts. She and Mugen don't look very similar. She just happened to show up when Mugen just happened to be looking for her. It's very improbable. And she doesn't like seafood."

Fuu sighed. "That's a terrible argument. She and Mugen look plenty alike. They've both got dark hair and dark eyes and dark skin."

"Everyone has dark eyes and dark hair! I do, and you do, and that doesn't make us related! And I think Leiko is only tan because she spends a lot of time in the sun."

"Well, just because she doesn't like seafood doesn't mean anything, either," said Fuu. "Maybe it's all she's been eating since Ryuukuu and that's why she's sick of it."

"I think she's a con artist," said Jin stubbornly. "What about her not knowing it was raining when Mugen was born?"

"She said it was sunny when she left. Not when he was born," corrected Fuu.

Jin was looking increasingly more frustrated as Fuu argued with him. He leaned forward and grabbed her arm just hard enough to make her flinch. "She's taking advantage of him," he said in a low voice. "Of us! It's unacceptable. We have to confront him about it."

Fuu put her hand over Jin's and tried to pry him off her arm. "No, Jin!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!" yelled Jin, just as the shoji screen and Mugen and Leiko came in. They stopped dead in their tracks; Jin and Fuu looked up guiltily. Fuu was still undressed. Jin hastily let go of her arm.

"Ohh, I see how it is," said Mugen wisely. "I knew it. I knew you two were like that! Figures."

"We are not!" said Jin, climbing to his feet. "We were… were discussing… matters!"

"Matters. Yeah. Right." Mugen stomped across the room, still in his geta, managing to tear two of the tatami mats along the way. He stooped down and began pawing through Fuu's things.

"Hey!" she protested weakly.

"We're gonna pick up some clothes," said Mugen. "Mom said you wouldn't mind."

Leiko smiled at Fuu. "Well, my clothes are a little thin," she said humbly, blushing slightly.

"Oh… well…" Fuu looked at Jin. He was giving her a very, very obvious look. "Okay…" mumbled Fuu, while Jin stared at her.

"Yeah, ew. That's gross, man. I thought you had better taste than that," said Mugen, shoving Jin's shoulder as he passed him. Jin grabbed his swords protectively.

"Forget it!" called Mugen over his shoulder. "We'll fight tomorrow, if you're not too tired."

"Now look what you've done!" hissed Jin, turning on Fuu the moment Mugen's footsteps had faded.

"What I've done? Maybe if you two respected my privacy a little more..."

"You see!" said Jin, deciding to ignore Fuu and plow on with his suspicions. "She's taking advantage of us! She just left with all your money!"

"Mugen will get more."

"And she'll take that too!"

"But Jin, her clothes really are gross. And how do you explain what she's wearing? It's that weird zigzag pattern. No one on the mainland wears that. Only people from Ryuukuu."

Jin scowled. He couldn't explain her clothes. "She probably stole them," he mumbled.

"Jin, give her a break, okay? I know you don't like Mugen or Mugen's mom, but just try to be happy for him, will you? And if you don't like it, you can leave. No one's keeping you here."

"Hmph," said Jin angrily, stomping out of the room. Fuu sighed and lay down.

"I am not flat," she said to herself.