Mugen knew he was a lot of things. He knew that 'stupid' was one of those things. So was 'asshole', 'jerk', and 'creep'.

But so was 'fighter' and he knew that he would have to be really stupid to let Fuu get away and not fight for her. If he let her go now, he was sure that he would never see her again.

So, using this logic, he tried to ignore the pain in his balls and he struggled to his knees. As he shifted, he felt a spike of pain lace through him and he braced himself on his arms as he dry heaved violently.

When the spasm of pain passed he groaned and pushed himself to his feet, straightening up slowly. He let out a soft whimper as he took a wobbly step. 'Damn. I can take bein blown up, shot at, and stabbed, but apparently having my nuts kicked turns me into a quivering 4 year old.'

This was enough to motivate him to ignore the pain. Or at least ignore some of it. Enough to find Fuu. Then he's gonna find himself an ice-cold lake and sit in it till his nuts stopped throbbing.

Wincing with each step, he started to run down the hill, trying to think where she would have gone in those brief moments of his...impairment.

As he made it to the street where he and Fuu had walked earlier he was surprised to realize that he wasn't mad at Fuu. He wasn't even upset. In fact, he felt like he deserved this pain. For the first time in his life, he had behaved badly and gotten punished for it. And he felt better because of it.

Coming around a corner, he caught sight of a shoe laying on the ground. He rushed over to it, as fast as he could and saw that it was indeed Fuu's. He sighed. 'Who else but Fuu loses a damn shoe and just continues walking?' He shook his head and suddenly saw that he was in front of the Inn where they were staying.

Somehow, he didn't think it would be that easy, but headed up to their room anyway in the hopes of finding her there.

He paused outside the door and heard Fuu's soft cries from within. Letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding he slowly slid open the door, so as not to startle her. Then he saw what she was doing and froze.

She was putting on that damn scarlet silk kimono. She heard him and froze as well.

"What are you doing?" Mugen couldn't keep the whine out of his voice and he cringed inwardly at his tone.

"Stop!" She fastened her sash and then strode purposefully towards the door. "Excuse me." She said politely, and he stepped to the side to let her pass.

She was out the door before he even realized how truly stupid that was. He was just so surprised to have found her in the room.

'Idiot!' He mentally attacked himself, then whipped around to her but the doorway was already empty. He swore and rushed out to the hall, but that was also deserted.

She was probably already outside, so he reacted without quite thinking and dashed over to the window. Not even pausing to see what lay below, he swung his legs over the ledge and dropped down into the alley, wincing as he landed.

Before he could even stand up, he heard light footsteps quickly approaching.

He knew those footsteps, so he slide sideways to hide in the shadowed edge of the building and sure enough, Fuu was running as fast as she could manage with no shoes and that damn kimono billowing around her. She was looking behind her and didn't notice Mugen against the wall.

She raced by, but he snagged her around the waist as she passed him. She squealed when she felt his arm catch her. He quickly pulled her backwards against him, and he buried his nose in her hair, reassuring himself that he had indeed caught her.

"Let go of me you brute!"

"Shut up Fuu!" he whispered fiercely. "It's only me."

She twisted her head back to him and glared. "I know!"

She struggled violently, and he pressed her into the wall, pinning her wrists above her head and effectively trapping her with his hard body. She began to kick her legs when she felt him behind her, and he was getting a little nervous at those flailing limbs.

He planted both his legs against hers. Now she was completely pinned. He would make her listen to him.

She was panting from the exertion and suddenly thrust her backside against his groin. For a split second, he thought she was trying to entice him, but then he felt the pain and realized she knew he was still sore. He gave a harsh cry of pain, and she seemed to a little hesitant upon hearing him so weak. She didn't move her hips, but she stopped pressing so painfully against him.

"Please Fuu..." He let his head fall forward onto her exposed shoulder as he softly pleaded with her. "Just hear me out."

He felt her tense when he used such a soft tone, and she shifted away from him, relieving the pressure on his groin. He shuddered with relief.

"Mugen...?"

"Shut up." He released her wrists and let his hands fall down to her waist, where he wrapped them around her, coming to rest on her stomach. "I'm sorry." He nuzzled her shoulder and she gasped softly at his feather-light touch. "I only said that shit because you pissed me off." She was about to protest, but he silenced her by bringing a hand up to her mouth. He lightly caressed her lips with his fingertips. "I didn't mean any of it."

She was still. He barely heard her breathing. But he could feel her heart thundering against his chest.

"I don't like that Jin knew you were pregnant before I did. I don't like that you always went to him when I was the one who always came after you when you were in trouble." He paused for moment.

"I don't like that he didn't tell me either. It makes me feel left out." He pouted slightly against her skin.

"And I hate that you're still fightin me. All I'm trying to do is save you. Like I always did...do." When she didn't say anything, he moved his hand away from her mouth and wrapped it around her chest. He denied his urge to fondle her breast.

"Mugen." She seemed to relax completely against him, so he gave in and pressed his hand into the soft mound beneath her sparse clothing. He felt her nipple harden against his palm.

Fuu trembled and her head dropped back against his shoulder with a sigh. He took the opportunity to fasten his mouth to the soft skin of her neck. He kissed her, then lightly sucked on her pulse point. It beat a wild tempo against his mouth.

She moaned and tilted her head allowing him even more access to her neck. Mugen didn't want to disappoint, so he nipped her with his teeth. She unconsciously lifted one of her free arms behind her to tangle her fingers in his hair.

Mugen loved that. He loved being pet and stroked. So, when she started to caress his scalp with her fingers, he growled and flipped her around so she was facing him. She blinked up at him, shocked at how fast he had moved her.

He didn't even pause before he crashed his lips down on hers. She didn't react till he slid his hands down her sides to slits in her robe. He slid his hands inside the offending fabric and caressed the backs of her thighs.

He boldly cupped her ass and she shivered excitedly, moaning breathlessly. When her lips parted, he slid his tongue past her teeth and licked at the inside of her mouth.

Unlike the last time he tried, this time, she did not pull away.

Instead, she only gasped once in surprise then tilted her head back as he devoured her from the inside-out, her hands going up to stroke his hair again. Mugen had never kissed lips so soft, or a mouth so hot. He felt like he was falling and grunted in satisfaction, causing pleasant vibrations to run through them.

He probed every inch of her, and when he finally caressed her tongue with his own, she jerked in his grasp. He paused, then without moving his head away, asked her, "What's wrong?"

Fuu giggled. It felt weird to have someone speak into your mouth, he knew, but he was too determined not to let her go.

Unfortunately, she didn't possess the same talent. She had to disengage from him to form coherent words.

"Sorry, that was the first time someone's done that to me."

"What? Kiss you?" He quirked an eyebrow at her. It was pretty hard to be a whore and not be kissed. "Are you sure you were really working at a brothel? How is that the first time someone's stuck their tongue down your throat?"

Fuu furrowed her brow and seemed to think about it for a moment. "I didn't let anyone do that. I refused." She paused again, and Mugen could see she was debating telling him something.

"Spit it out."

"I...I would get whipped a lot because of that." She looked at him and waited to see his reaction.

He flushed angrily, then without warning, he tore open her robe, exposing the naked skin beneath it to the night air, and slid his hands inside and around to the soft skin on her back. He let his fingers travel up her spine as he searched. He found the first scar quickly, and the second right above it.

All together, she had four scars marring her otherwise perfect form. He unconsciously dug his fingers into the skin, as if he was trying to pull them off. She grunted slightly in pain, but didn't move him away.

"Mugen. It's nothing really. I got them because I made the choice to keep a part of myself away from the life I chose." She blushed. He loved seeing her blush.

"Besides, I would think that someone as egotistical as you, would have liked being my first kiss."

"What? Just now?"

"No, in the Inn the other night."

He shook his head. "Well, that's not a very good first kiss." He leaned down to her again, bringing his body flush against hers. "Let me make it up to you." Then he captured her lips again and kissed her hungrily. He shoved his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back as he nibbled on her lower lip.

Fuu moaned against him and pressed her still naked form more firmly into his. When she took the initiative to grab his hand and place it on her breast, he felt heat flood through him.

Suddenly, he hissed through his teeth and pushed away from her. She stared at him dazedly.

It had been a bad idea to kiss her. He felt himself getting hard, and the still-sore flesh wasn't reacting well to this at all. In fact, he felt like he was going to burst, and not in the way he wanted.

"Oh shit." He leaned against the wall opposite Fuu, gently cupping himself, and tried to think of unsexy things. 'Jin touching Fuu...Really old prostitutes...Priests...uh...Fuu after she gorges on food...That bastard who raped her!' That did it, he gave a relieved breath as his manhood calmed down.

He took a shaky breath and suddenly realized that Fuu had crossed over to him and was lightly caressing his cheek. He looked up to her. She met his eyes sympathetically.

"I'm sorry for kicking you. I didn't realize that you'd be needing that later." She pursed her lips at him prettily.

He started to laugh, but she cut him off when the hand that wasn't innocently stroking his face, suddenly appeared down near his stomach. She winked at him, and reached down to cup his wounded bits in a warm palm.

His eyebrows shot up. "Fuu? Uh-?"

"Shhhhh..." She gave him a gentle squeeze and he didn't know whether to moan in pleasure or pain.

"Your words were so cruel, but I think this might have been a punishment for both of us. I'm sorry I kicked you." She stepped closer, still not releasing him from her magnificent death-grip, and he realized that she had retied her sash at some point.

"I'm not gonna lie, Mugen. I've never enjoyed it." He didn't have to ask what 'it' was. "When all those men did those horrible things to me, I would just faze out and pretend I wasn't there. Sometimes it hurt though, and I couldn't ignore that. But usually, it was just happening and I didn't particularly care."

He was at odds with himself as she spoke. He was sickened at what she was saying, but he was also almost in Heaven because she hadn't stopped gently caressing his bruised flesh. She leaned closer to him and he caught the glint in her eye.

"But you were my first kiss, and I liked it. I liked when you put your tongue in my mouth. I liked it when you touched me. I like it." He was panting roughly, trying to control himself so as not to have another spasm of pain. "And I think, that if I do more with you, I'll like that too."

He couldn't take it anymore. He reached down to snag her wrist loosely. "Fuu...oh gods, please. I can't take it. Ya gotta stop." He was almost begging and she snickered. But she did let go.

"Alright. I'll stop." She didn't step back though, she just took a step closer and leaned against him. He wrapped a shaky arm around her and just held her.

"Since I'm not running away anymore, why don't we go back to our room. All that took a lot out of me and I'm exhausted."

He scowled. "You're tired?"

He just rolled his eyes and stood up, dislodging her from his hold. "I don't suppose we can go back through the window. Come on then."

She fell into step beside him and slipped her hand into his. He didn't say anything, just held her hand back.