Sunflower Fuu

I do not own Samurai Champloo.

Ugh, I noticed soooo many grammatical errors in the last chapter. I'm so sorry. I need to beta-read my stuff more. Gomen! Gomen!

Recap: An unconscious Fuu! And, faintly, he could see the bright dripping of crimson blood flowing forth from her mouth. Anger coloured his canvas white cheeks cherry as he stood…

…And promptly dropped into the middle of the camp.

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"Excuse me, sir," Jin said, ice frosting his unsettlingly polite voice, as he landed in front of the offending man handling Fuu. His hands hovered above his sword, for all it was worth, steady and cool, even though his face was anything but.His normally clear, calm blue eyes were misted over in disgusted rage, and his voice was thick with it. "If you would care to unha- arg!"

Fuu groaned once, and then again; all too aware of the pounding in her head and the fire burning up and down her side as she regained consciousness. In a matter of moments her vision began t o steady; the swimming lines becoming people and the blurry dots the trees and tents. And then, as soon as she could see, and as soon as she regained the ability to speak, she screamed in horror. She screamed hard in horror. She screamed harder then she ever had before in horror because, at that moment, the disgusting, vile, stinking, pile o' shit wolf lunged for her saviour, its gaping maw widening and its spittle flying, murder glinting in its cold, calculating eyes. Shudders racked her body as she felt, once again, that comforting blanket of darkness nestle itself around her trembling frame.

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It was Fuu's scream that saved Jin's hide as he turned a split second before the wolf's claws tried to rip through his abdomen. Abandoning his heroic speech, he regained his footing and launched himself at the furious animal, hoping he could damage the monstrous bulk before it had the time to regain its own footing in the slippery mud.

'It's just a stupid beast,' Jin thought calmly to himself as he launched himself, the tip of the tempered steel blade aligned with the beasts massive barrel-like chest. 'It should be easy enough.'

'Well, apparently not,' Jin thought again, dryly, as the beast jumped at him, pushing his blade down with an abnormally large paw. Drawing his second sword, he slashed at the beast's belly, earning him a liquid red line. Even though the cut had done minimal damage, Jin simply had not had the leverage to split it open, the beast stopped momentarily, its head lowered warily.

Two bright, predatorily yellow eyes fixed on him, and the level of intelligence in the animal's eyes stunned Jin momentarily.

'Obviously this is no ordinary wolf.' The realization caused Jin to roll his eyes inwardly. 'Just perfect. Now it's going to take even longer to get to Fuu…wait! Fuu!'

Jin's eyes widened as he realized that, in the throes of his battle with the animal, he had lost all track of Fuu! 'Shit!'

Almost tearing out his hair in frustration, he kept one carefully alert eye on the wolf as he scanned the clearing with the other. A flash of pink and white caught his eye, and he followed it to see the ugly pervert hauling the object of his mission away sneakily, ducking and weaving through the tents and trees, obviously with the intent of losing him.

'Shit.' Jin thought as he turned to follow, but the wolf was quick. It hurled itself in front of him, the hair of its mane and tail bristling, creating the illusion of something even bigger and fiercer then it originally was. 'Shit shit shit shit shit.'

"Out of my way," Jin stated calmly, for all the good he knew it would do. But he was the kind of man who liked to give warnings, and sighed when the wolf obviously wasn't going to heed his words. "Oh well. You can't say I didn't warn you. Actually, you can't say anything at all, can you?" Jin smiled grimly at his own pathetic joke.

Unfortunatly, the wolf did not approve of the grim humour at his expense and lunged, again. This time, however, Jin side-stepped him swiftly, and with much more grace then before; befitting a man of his rank. Before the wolf even had time to howl, Jin sliced his sword with the precision and power of a swordsman who had dedicated his whole life to his calling.

Hot, stinking blood sprayed Jin as the headless body of the wolf dropped to the ground, the head spinning off into the trees to land with a dull 'thump'. Crimson blood stained his sandals as he turned, the rest of the mess sinking into the mud.

Jin wiped the blood off of his spectacles as best as he could, and took off.

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Mugen cursed himself as he struggled to no obvious avail against his chains.

'Fuu!' His mind screamed pathetically. How could this have happened? Why wasn't he strong enough to save her?

'I have to save her…I have to protect her!' His movements were savage and hard against the chaffing chain. His hot blood spilled onto the freezing metal, staining the previously glossy steel a reddish bronze. 'How could I have been so stupid? How will I live with myself if she dies- or worse?' He felt another animalistic howl building in his throat, and he released with all of his fury, frustration, and remorse that was pent up inside of him.

He had never really known what had drawn him to Fuu. Or even, what had kept them together, even though, to any sane person's eyes, they had hated each other. There was just no denying it; they were polar opposites.

Fuu was day and Mugen was night; Fuu was beautiful, and Mugen was possibly the ugliest thing on the planet. It was difficult to place the feeling that was beginning in his gut and working its way up.

He knew he was mad. Hell, he was pissed. If he ever got his hands on that stupid wolf man, he'd rip his goddamn head off. No doubt about it. But then…

What was this other feeling he had in his gut for Fuu. It reminded him of the feelings he got for the prostitute women…but something more.

He couldn't be falling in love with Fuu. Could he?

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Yes, I know it's short. I'm sorry! Gomen! Gomen! And it's late! Late, late, late, late, late. But I love you! And here it is. Hopefully, only one or more chapters left. And then I'm done. Or do you want more? Or a sequel? I've never written a sequel. It might suck. But I promise, the next chapters will come within a few weeks of each other. Kay, loves. And this one probably isn't as good as the previous. Oh well. Whatever. Ja!