8th Chapter

"Then you can go."

He did not look up from his coffee instead he glared at it the moment he heard his voice. It was Jin.

Mugen was in no mood to deal with him. He heard the bespectacled man shuffle his feet from where he was and saw him moved towards Fuu. Curious as he is, he took a peek but all he could see is Jin's back (not to mention his ass).

Jin bent over to check on the sleeping girl and stared at her face. It didn't change. It was the same as before. The corner of his lips lift up slightly and disappeared not long after he forgot that there's someone else with them in the room, boring holes on he doesn't know where if it is on his back or on his ass. He stood straight and turned his attention to the man who is begrudgingly returned his gaze as he drank his morning coffee.

"What? Job's all done now?" Mugen asked with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

The bespectacled just rolled his eyes and looked at him straight again, "Do you know why was Fuu targeted?" he questioned the rogue then added details such as the suspect they have apprehended was still unconscious because of massive blood loss, "No thanks to you." he said.

Mugen emptied his mug and placed it on the table. "No. We already had this conversation at the police box. Your guess is as good as mine. But there is one thing I can be sure of." he told Jin with a serious tone. The policeman raised an eyebrow at his sudden change of tone. "That that man is not after her body."

Jin's eye just twitched and he fought the urge to kill the man he's talking with. "Why the hell did I expect something useful from you?" he said, rubbing his temple. The rouge just shrugged.

"The fuck I know about that. I was just passing by and then I heard flatty screamed. I'm pretty sure yah know the rest." he informed Jin while picking his ear with his pinky. The bespectacled man just replied with a 'hnn' and Mugen narrowed his eyes as he gaze on him then let out a snort. "I swear that flat-chested girl only brings nothing but trouble."

"And yet you still saved her." Jin replied in a flat tone, his eyes focusing on the girl. "It was never in your nature to save anyone in trouble, no matter who and what they are. You never give a shit to whatever is going to happen to them, even if it leads to their own demise."

The atmosphere in the room shifted. Mugen didn't reply to what the other man told him. What he just said was true anyway. He can't retort back any words. Having to live in the dark and brutal side of the city has thought him to only care for himself and his problems. Never did it occur in his mind to lend a helping to other people. The world is cruel place and it will be always, he always says in his mind.

"Shut up you queer." he hissed, "I only did that because I know how valuable and precious is flatty to you."

Silent like he always is, Jin did not let out any comment or any denials what Mugen has stated. His gaze drifted to Mugen and to Fuu, he narrowed his eyes. "It's none of your business."

Seconds later, the manager of the bar showed up with a surprise evident on her face upon seeing Jin and she can't help but to let out a gasp, both of them looked at her. "Didn't expect you to come here that soon mister." she said directly to the bespectacled man, a hint of pink on her cheeks. "Let me prepare a breakfast for you."

She quickly stepped out the room but not without excusing herself from the two.

Cheh! The moment she saw pretty boy here, she turned into a wolf in a sheep's clothing. He complained in his mind. Mugen's gaze landed to Fuu again. Probably she's the same as her manager.

"'Ya know, being her guardian, you're not doing a great job." the rouge said, insulting Jin. "You just let her do what she wants and let her roam free." he sneered, "Not that I have a problem with that." he then added.

Jin, not wanting to stoop low like the person he's talking with just fixed his glasses sliding off the trail of his nose and gave him a deadpanned look. "Even if I prohibit her from doing things she want, she'll do it anyways regardless of the words I told her." he explained calmly.

Mugen just arched an eyebrow and looked at Fuu's sleeping figure. In his mind, he thinks of her as a teenage girl rebelling against her father. Not listening to whatever he says and does what she wants, not caring what will happen to her. But in her case, she's not obliged to listen to Jin, he's not her father in any way. "Typical." he said under his breath. "You have to deal with that every day? What a pain."

'Hnn' was all could Jin reply to Mugen, agreeing with him half-heartedly before pulling a chair to sit near Fuu. It was indeed a pain for him. Because of her stubborness, she always gets into all sorts of trouble ever since he took her under his wing. Now that she and Mugen have crossed paths, all of the mishaps that she gets into seemed to have increased more and got into a dangerous level. He rubbed his temples.

Such a troublesome girl.

"Some freshly-brewed coffee and light breakfast, Mr. Policeman."

Just few minutes has passed, the manager entered the room with a tray with a plate and two mugs of hot-steaming coffee on it. Jin silently thanked her and proceeded to eat the breakfast that were given to him, not bothering to tell her his name for future conversations (which he feels that is going to happen later). The manager then skillfully slided to Mugen, giving him a new mug of coffee.

"What?! Still coffee?!" he complained.

Her eye twitched, "Take it or leave it." she said commanded him.

"Tch." he swiped the mug off the tray and sulked like a child who did not get his candy (in Mugen's case, a child who did not get his booze). "For a girl, 'yah sure have guts to be acting like that. Most girls like you cower in fear whenever they see me."

She gave him a funny look, "That doesn't seem to be the case with Fuu." she humored then waltz her way out of the room, leaving Jin to eat in peace and Mugen scowling about drinking coffee for the second time.

It wasn't that bad in all honesty, the coffee helped him to dissolve the alcohol left in his system, he managed to empty 10 bottles of sake from the brothel afterall. But he still wants to down more booze in his throat though.

An hour ticked by and Mugen managed to sleep on the floor after finishing his coffee. It wasn't a pleasant place to sleep but it was convenient since that bed is occupied and the manager gave him an extra pillow and a thick blanket for him to lie on while Jin read a book he found on top of a closet. The book was nothing but a sappy romance one but with an interesting plot. He heard a snicker coming from beside him.

"I didn't know you were in that kind of novel."

Jin immediately placed down the book on his lap and turned all his attention to Fuu who is smiling at him. She looked okay. He took a mental note to what the girl's current feeling. Although she looked pale, she managed to give her guardian a smile. It was all he needs, a smile from her to confirm that she's faring fine.

"I have nothing else to do."

Fuu raised an eyebrow, "What about your work?"

"I finished it already."

The girl gave him a small smile again then let out a sigh. "I gave you another trouble again." Jin did not answer, "Mugen was right. I'm just a pain in the ass. A burden. I have nothing with me except bring trouble to the people around me."

"That might be the case however,-"

"You must be getting tired of it Jin. Tired of dealing with those troubles."

There were no words that came out from her guardian, he was loss for words and cannot think of the right ones to tell her. Jin knows that she doesn't need any speeches that will comfort her whenever she loathes herself. He even can't tell Fuu that she's wrong. However she got one thing that is wrong, he wasn't tired of all. He will never get tired of taking care of the girl.

Instead of words, he put everything in his action. He pat her head. That is all she needs to know that whatever she'll do in the future, he will still care about her and will never get tired of her blunders.

She felt it. She got his telepathic message to her. For the first time today, she smiled widely and immediately went back to sleep, exhaustion taking over her again.

"39 degrees. She still has a fever."

It was already 5 in afternoon when Fuu's manager checked her body temperature. Jin already left the club an hour ago but Mugen stayed behind. Like before, the policeman ordered him but mostly, he stayed because he's still hoping that the manager of the bar will give him free booze.

Seated on his wooden chair again, he observed Fuu as her manager wiped her face with a damp towel. He asked her why she caught a fever. "Probable because of fatigue." she replied, "You know that she has multiple jobs and a student at the same time."

"The hell does she have to work that much? She wants to get off of that queer's hair?"

"I don't think so. Maybe she does so much work so she won't feel useless nor she doesn't want to depend so much to Mr. Policeman." she answered, not sure of what she said. "I don't want to make any assumptions. Anyway. Could you look out for Fuu? I have to make preparations for the opening of the bar. If you do that, I'll surely give you 3 bottles of beer, free of charge."

His eyes shone for a second and agreed to her demands subtly. The manager frowned and rolled her eyes before walking out of the room.

When she left the room, his eyes drifted to the girl again.

'Mugen was right. I'm just a pain in the ass. A burden. I have nothing with me except bring trouble to the people around me.'

She was awake that time he had a talk with Jin. He kind of had a feeling that she is and if she really did hear him, Mugen expected her to be mad at him, the moment she wake up. He expected to be bad mouthed by her but instead she admitted it herself.

"Damn broad." he combed his wild hair with his fingers.

Bored, he looked around the room, looking for something to relieve the boredom he's feeling.

While searching for a thing to entertain him, he duly took note of the room. The room appeared more of someone's bedroom than of a resting area for the employees. Aside from the bed, there is also a small wooden dresser with different kinds of bottle on top of it. Mugen guessed that it might be perfume. On the floor near the dresser, he found pieces of paper and a book sprawled out on the floor. Curious, he looked at it.

Her handwriting, though it was numbers, is certainly beautiful. What was written on the paper he picked up was some complicated math equation. The rogue guessed it was for her school.

Mugen had almost forgot that she's still attending school and not like him. The girl was eager to finish her studies, get into a good college or university and find a more stable job where she can get loads of cash. He have forgotten all of the intellectual stuff and regarded it as useless for him. He believed that not everything is thought in school. Besides, studying is the most boring thing to do, at least for him.

He looked around again and just noticed that not only her math paper is on the floor, so are numerous pen and pencils. The rouge found multiple books under her bed and saw it was for academic purposes, unlike the sappy book Jin's been reading earlier.

His train of thoughts were interrupted when the manager of bar went inside the room, carrying a tray along with Jin following behind her. He deduced that it was already dinner time.

Both the manager and Jin paid no heed to whatever Mugen was doing and ignored his presence, as if he never existed at all. The bespectacled man went over to Fuu and checked her temperature again while the manager walked to the table, putting down the tray she was carrying. She let out a sigh of relief when Jin told her that the sleeping girl's fever has subsided.

Noting his existence, he looked at the rogue and quite puzzled as to what he was doing. Mugen lifted his eyes from the paper with complicating numbers and hand it over him. Jin could only raise an eyebrow before looking at the paper that he was given with. It was her unfinished math homework and she's answering some weird logarithm equations. It confounded him why Mugen given him the paper. He looked at rogue and told him to look under the bed which he did.

Jin was taken aback. Sure he knew how much Fuu loved books. He saw the amount of books she possessed however all he ever saw were novels that decorated the shelves in her room. He rarely see any academic materials with her and never saw one mixed with the ones in her room. All of them were in here, a room within the establishment were she works all-night.

He hadn't noticed it all of the things that the girl needed for her school scattered on the floor before until Mugen pointed it out. He was busy waiting for Fuu to wake to take note of his surroundings. He found the book lying on top of the bed just next to the girl's feet.

Now they've fully notice her school stuff, both of the men looked around the room and by the very corner, her uniform was hanged along with some of her underwear.

The manager eyed the two of them in confusion. She looked at Jin when she felt her eyes on her. "Is this somehow Fuu's room?" The manager nod.

They both have a questioning look on their face. The manager huffed and told them the answer even before they had the chance to ask her. She told them that she allowed the girl to use the extra room for one simple reason, convenience. The manager saw how much it hassles Fuu on getting back from her job to her home to prepare for her day to school, so to solve that she told the the girl that she can make use of the spare room.

"I can see that look on your face. She's using this for free, okay?" she reassure Jin and let out a sigh, "Whatever. I'm going now to open the bar now. Ciao."

The two men's eyes followed her as she exit the room.

"I don't know if she the same girl or it was her twin that we were talking to." Mugen said, voicing his thoughts.

He shook his head and walked to the table and ate the food that the manager gave to him.