Big Top Blues

capn coree

Al had a vision. That vision spread like wild fire from Fuu and Mugen performing with one another on the trapeze to the rest of the circus. Al dreamed of presenting the greatest show ever preformed by a circus before. A love story. The entire circus was in on it now, and no one would stand in the way. Not even Isabella, who threw a hissy fit when she realized she would be playing one of smallest roles avaliable.

Practice took up most of the day, and they only paused to travel and put on small shows for small villages, where money was so scarce they stayed for merely a day, or two at most. This, coupled with practicing for the big show, which Al wanted mastered before reaching the next large city, was maddening. They had three weeks, Al figured. There were hardly any lines what so ever, the story was mainly expressed by actions, music, and Al's narration. Since Fuu and Mugen had the biggest parts, they were the most worked, and often didn't leave the tent till late in the night, only to return to it at dawn. Fuu, though caked in sweat, and exhausted, always managed to avoid bathing with Mugen, slipping out an hour early to bathe in the morning.

It was obvious to Mugen that Fuu was giving him the cold shoulder. He only saw her at practice, and after his bath when he slipped into the tent and she was already asleep, only waking to find her already gone.

"Remember everyone, it's a love story!" Al barked, waving his arms, "We have the moves down, but now we need to EMOTE. Fuu, you need to show your emotion better. Mugen is the man you love, a thief, a bandit, and you, a prince, bound by your father to marry Valjean, the prince. You two," he pointed up the ladder to Fuu and Mugen, "need to make us believe your really in love." Fuu rolled her eyes.

"They can't really see my face all the way up here," she complained, "so why does it really matter?"

"You have to show it through the way you move." Al said, as if it made perfect sense. Fuu sighed, patting her face with a towel and watched Mugen out of the corner of her eye as he practiced on the bar.

Tonight was the first big show. Fuu was anxious to get it over with, she just didn't know if she could make a crowd of people believe she was in love with Mugen. Ever since the night at the lake she could barely look at Mugen. Her head hurt just thinking about it. Could Mugen really think of her- No, it must have been the sake.

Fuu focused on Mugen's skill on the trapeze, assuring herself that Mugen could never feel that way for her, after all, he was always teasing her. 'He really has gotten better,' she thought, 'He'll do well tonight. It doesn't matter, it's not like I loved him or anything anyway, I mean, maybe I had a crush on him for a bit, but it's nothing really.'

'He's a dirty pig anyhow.'

"Fuu, FUU," Al shouted, "It's time to take a break and loosen up before the show. You and Mugen can come down now. Oh, and Fuu, how you held yourself just then, it was perfect, you looked truly torn."

"Uh.. Thanks Al?" Fuu called down while exiting the platform.

----

Mugen caught up to Fuu. For the first time in weeks, he had decided to hunt her down.

"'Ey Fuu, what are you doing before the show?"

"I- I dunno." She was going to head to the bath, but she was afraid to tell Mugen that incase he may follow. "I think I might visit with Valjean and Sophie. Sophie is nervous, its her first show."

Mugen flinched slightly, and Fuu laughed, "It's your first show tonight too, isn't it Mugen?" As if she forgot.

Mugen nodded, making a disqusted face.

"Don't worry, it isn't that bad. Infact, you'll probablly like it. Well, good luck tonight," Fuu said, before disappearing in the crowd.

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

Mugen walked aimlessly through the camp, watching all the unfamilliar faces pass in a blur when suddenly he noticed Valjean in a crowd of men, including those two dumb bruts he saw with the boxes, talking excitedly.

"Oh, I just can't wait to see Lady Fuu acting tonight." A thin, shifty looking man said, "It's just too bad she'll be doing it with that dumb bru-"

"Yo." Mugen said, approaching him from behind. "Whats up?"

The thin man jumped, looking over his shoulder to see Mugen.

"Just discussing the show tonight."

"You mean Fuu."

The thin man and several others attempted a laugh, looking rather nervous.

"Well, can ye really blame us?" One of the large man asked sheepishly, Mugen, upon closer inspection of the pair, realized they were twins, and the only way you could tell the diffrence between them, was to memorize which one was missing what teeth. "I mean, she really is rather charming, ain't she?" Mugen could hardly recall a moment where he found Fuu charming, but then again, there was rarely a moment where Fuu wasn't yelling or cursing at him.

"You know here well, I mean, seeing as ye been friends fer several years," the other said, "I've always been too shy to approach her personally, I was wonderin', could I ask ye to listen to this poem I wrote fer her?"

Mugen snorted, which he took for a yes, and he began to recite it from memory.

"Oh, beautiful Goddess far above-

Of honey hair and eyes-"

Mugen let out a crude laugh and spit on the ground.

"I think I heard enough. Beautiful Goddess, honey hair." Mugen rolled his eyes, "You guys sure you're talking about Fuu." Everyone in the circle shot Mugen a dirty look, and Mugen shrugged, "What is this, some sort of sick Fuu-fan club?"

"So what if we are?" The thin man growled, tossing his head to get the thick oilly black hair off his face. "You got a problem with it?"

"S'not my buisness, just seems pathetic."

"Pathetic, whats pathetic is the fact that every night Fuu has to sleep with a dirty slob like you," The thin man shouted, earning several nods from the others.

"Micheal.." Valjean warned.

Micheal snorted and looked away from Mugen, muttering curses under his breath.

"Well, hello boys," a nasal voice shouted, and immediatley Isabella emerged next to Mugen, latching on to his arm, "How are you all doing today, have any more poetry to read?"

The glares redirected themselves to Isabella, and it was evident that amoung this circle she was as well liked as Mugen. She laughed and waved at a few, then began to drag Mugen away.

"Oh, don't you worry about those nutcases," Isabella said as they walked off, rubbing herself suggestively against Mugen with every step. "How about you and I go back to my tent-"

Mugen looked over his shoulder at the group, who were talking as they were before.

"Yeah, sure, I don't see why not."

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A.N. Been working on an original story, and some fanart. I drew my first doodles on opencanvas:

I have them on the champloo livejournal community, under headvrsheart, or the link to them directly will be on my profile.

that said, Enjoy!