Tangled.

Chapter Two: The Knot Grows Hot.

By Naoko Asakura.

Disclaimer: I don't own Samurai Champloo… Waaah!

Author's Note: Go me! X3 Yeah.

The old age of the building paired with neglect made kicking down the front door all too easy for Mugen as he stepped inside. His sharp eyes pierced the darkness as he looked around, and he almost forgot about the small girl in his arms. It wasn't until Fuu spoke that he looked down at her.

"…Mugen?" She murmured, her tears long dried from before. Mugen frowned down at her, and felt heat coil in his chest at the sight of her uneasy face. He'd always considered her to be rather cute, but now wasn't the time to reflect on such a thought process. Instead, he looked ahead again and grunted in acknowledgement. He felt Fuu shift in his arms, but he pressed on, continuing down a hallway and kicking open doors in search for a sufficient bedroom.

"What?" He said finally, gently hoisting her up so that he could kick down another door. He glared at the room. The floor was caved in like all the other ones. He continued on while Fuu chewed her bottom lip in thought.

"I'm hungry." She said flatly. To punctuate her remark, a low whine sounded from her abdomen. Mugen scowled irritably as he finally found a good room.

"We'll worry about that as soon as we get settled. Be quiet, woman!" He said as he set her on the floor. "We don't have any food anyways, unless you want to go out and hunt for some." He said, raising a thick eyebrow at her. Fuu puffed out her cheeks and moved to rise from the ground, but instead yelped in pain and fell back on her rear end.

"It huuuurts!" She groaned, her eyes filled with tears again. Mugen sighed in exasperation and shook his head.

"If you keep on crying like that, you're going to get dehydrated, idiot!" He exclaimed as he sat cross legged at her feet. His eyelids drooped as he inspected her injury, and seconds passed before he looked back up at her again with a diagnosis in his mind. "…Twisted ankle." He surmised, leaning back until his head knocked against the floor with a dull thud. "Nothing more, nothing less. Just chill out for a while or something." He said, waving a slim-fingered hand through the air. Fuu sighed anxiously and fell on her back as well.

"Well this really bites. I thought we were only going to stay here for a night." She complained. Mugen rolled his eyes and stretched.

"Whatever. We can just wait here until Jin finds us again. Your ankle will be healed by then, I bet." He muttered before rolling onto his side. His tattered red jacket lay on the ground next to him, so he grabbed it in his fist and pulled it over his eyes. "I'm going to bed, so if you try and whine your little ass off, I won't be listening."

The same old anger welled up in Fuu, but she too rolled onto her side and curled into a ball. "Fine! Goodnight!" She ground out, closing her eyes. She received no answer though… With the exception of a nasally snore that she was all too familiar with. Usually, she would have told the unorthodox samurai to shut the hell up, but tonight with her injury, she didn't want to make a fuss.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she remembered the gentleness and care he'd taken when he carried her. Sure, there was that stumble followed up by a tiring screaming match, but the rest of the way was quiet. She might have even fallen asleep in those strong arms had it not been for Mugen's loud announcement of their arrival at the building.

She stared at the part of the room where the floor met the wall and sighed heavily.

This is too much for me to think about right now… I'm in an onsen, and for once, it's free! She reasoned with herself. Well, maybe there are a few strings attached here and there, but at least this time, I only have to work with one of the destructive duo.

"Ah… Too much to think about." She repeated, this time aloud. She closed her eyes again and slowly drifted off into a silent and dreamless sleep.

Mugen awoke before Fuu did, his eyes opening to the sight of the girl's back. He had probably rolled around a lot in his sleep in order to flip in the complete other direction. He didn't care about that though. The first think he thought of when he woke up was how the sunlight that streamed in from the grimy window in the room lit up Fuu's sleeping face. Her brown hair seemed a shade lighter with the halo of reflected light atop her head. Her cheeks were warmed by the summer heat, and her lips were parted in soft breaths.

He didn't like to think about how it might feel if that soft breath of hers were tickling bare chest. In fact, he loathed the very action of thinking about her in that vein. It made him wonder why he did it so often.

Its just reverse psychology! He tried to reason with himself as he rested an elbow on one of his knees. He continued to squint at her face with the same irritation he felt when she was awake and talking. If I tell myself no, of course I'm going to do the exact opposite!

"Mugen…"

He could barely see her lips move, but his heart leapt in his chest when he heard his name uttered. On any other occasion, he would have just woken her up with one of his insults he specially reserved for her, but Jin wasn't there. Even more importantly, Fuu was fast asleep.

She stretched out, and he could see her pale neck lead down to the collar of her kimono, which was askew in such a way, he could see just above the hill of her breasts. He felt his gut lurch and his body move almost instantaneously.

Why are you moving forward! She's a stupid bitch who tries to keep you in line like that pansy Jin! What the fuck! His mind screamed as he moved closer still. His eyes clouded when he felt her exhale against his forehead, and he watched her shift again fearlessly. Supporting himself with his arms, he dipped his head to…

"Iii want my foooood…"

Like magic words, he was released. He pulled back, blinking in confusion at her sleeping form. Her mouth hung wide open, drool escaping at the corner of her mouth. She shifted again and with a limp wrist, hit Mugen in the face. Frustration filled him as he rose. He stomped out of the room away and out of the hearing proximity of Fuu, and bellowed.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!"