Chapter 6
Fuu just sat staring at the twin swords that were resting on her lap amid the folds of the navy silk that had been bound around them. A swirl of confusing thoughts and memories swarmed her mind like angry wasps. She could barely remember staring in awestruck wonder at the great swords when she was a tiny child. How could they still look so new?
A sense of anger swelled within her as she brusquely rewrapped the beautiful swords in their silk prison and stuffed them back behind the box. She was angry at herself for getting sidetracked and chided herself, "No, I won't think about that right now. There is too much to do to get ready to leave this awful place. I won't let my friends down. I'll do what I have to do to protect them." And she turned away from that box of forlorn possessions and moved back over to her place between Jin and Mugen.
With purpose in her movements, Fuu crawled over to Jin's sleeping form and started to work on removing the tattered remains of his Kimono. With an almost angry jerk, she pulled the torn end out of his hakamas, but the other side was not so easy. A blush stained her face as she felt guilty for undressing the silent ronin. Still, it wasn't like she was making him any more naked than he already was. Seriously, most of his torso was covered in bandages anyway. He wouldn't miss this slip of fabric that was bunched around his waist.
Yet, the fact that she had to loosen the ties of his hakamas to get the fabric out was rather embarrassing. At least she had the good fortune to be able to accomplish her task while he was still out of it. It would have been awful for him to be awake while she was trying to 'undress' him.
Her girlish sense of embarrassment caused her to giggle uncontrollably as she struggled with the kimono. It shouldn't be this hard! All she wanted to do was make him another outfit! She wasn't a pervert or anything. She wasn't getting a cheap thrill out of this! Finally, she just had to stop, and let herself giggle at the strange situation. She tried to cover her mouth to restrain the sound, but it just felt too good to let loose. In her laughter, she thought maybe it would be wiser to just use the scrap of torn kimono to make something else, but then she would be admitting defeat. And she was NOT a quitter. No matter how embarrassed she might be.
So, with her giggles mostly under control, she set about trying to pull that ornery fabric out of his pants! As she grunted and struggled she complained, "What! Do you have it tied around your legs or something?! I know you're modest, Jin, but come on. This is ridiculous! Shino probably spent most of her time that you bought with her trying to untie you!"
Just the thoughts of Shino caused a jealous anger to replace the previous giggles, and she pulled with a strength she didn't know she had. She finally pushed Jin over onto his side in case his body was trapping the kimono under him, and managed to pull out the remains of the once proud kimono. She felt just the least bit guilty for the rough treatment of her injured friend, but it soon passed. There was no additional blood on his bandages, so she moved back to her self-appointed task of tailor.
With several curses about horny samurai and buying women, Fuu spread out the gray kimono and placed Jin's tattered kimono on top of it to mark where she would need to make alterations. It would be no big task to sew in a few darts to make this large gray kimono more form fitting. For that matter, Jin's regular kimono swallowed him like a tent. Maybe she needed to take this one in even more? Nah. He could use this one while he was healing, so it would need to be looser. Maybe she would make the navy replacement tighter so it would fit him better.
In her mind's eye, she was picturing Jin in a form fitting navy kimono. Although she thought he would look stunning, it might not be such a good idea. After all, the last thing she needed was more competition! She didn't want more women throwing themselves at him.
In disgust, Fuu exclaimed, "What am I thinking? How can I have competition when I'm not even in the running? I don't care how many women throw themselves at these guys. It's none of my business. Besides, they'll be leaving as soon as they are able." Her mood dropped a little at that thought, and she tried to shrug off the melancholy by deciding to make both Jin's kimonos just as baggy as his old one. If he wanted something better, than he could just pay for it himself!
Fuu's stitches were not fancy, but they were sturdy, and could handle the wear and tear that the men subjected their clothing to. She had found this out over their journey as she had repaired both sets of clothing, and her own also. Her mother had tried to teach her the fine art of women's sewing, but it didn't really stick in her head. She remembered the pretty, delicate stitches her mother made in the elegant silk they had used, but she herself could never replicate those stitches. After many months of trying, her mother had finally given up and moved on to the next item of importance in her tutoring.
Fuu never had the heart to tell her loving mother that none of that really mattered. There was no way she would ever end up the cultured wife of a wealthy or powerful man. They had nothing to recommend them to the match maker other than her father's station. And even that had been tarnished and stripped from them. Her lovely, gentle mother had been forced to work as a geisha after their savings had run out. They had even been forced to sell their land and live in the home of friends. So, there was nothing left to be used as a dowry for Fuu's future husband. But, in the end, her mother's grasp on reality had slipped, and Fuu just didn't have the heart to tell her that playing "lady" would never amount to anything.
"Ouch! Damn that hurts!" Fuu yelled as she lanced her index finger again. Who didn't use thimbles? Apparently, whoever had been in charge of repairing her father's things. He must have had leather for skin on his fingers! She had only found needles and thread in the parcel and had to make due. Unfortunately, she was about to throw all of it away because she kept poking herself!
Her grumbling continued, "Jin, I swear. You better appreciate this when you wake up. Cause if you don't I'm gonna stick you with this damn needle! You guys just don't know how much I do for you!" She had completed one whole side when she poked herself again and screamed, "Gah! I hate sewing! I should have just let you wear this too big! No one would know. Maybe it would make you look more intimidating?" She wadded up the gray fabric and tossed it across the room in a fit on frustration, needle, thread and all.
To cool off, Fuu stood and huffed over to the door. The drizzle was still falling and had even begun to fall harder as a steady rain. She looked around, trying to spy where the village men might be burying those crazy men that attacked them. She looked to the cliff where she and Jin had almost died. There was nothing there. Not even the body of the assassin. Had they dragged him down to the beach? She tried to crane her neck around to see if she could see down the path that leads to the beach. Even with stepping out under the little awning at the doorway, she could not see the beach, only the never-ceasing ocean and sea birds.
She again thought about the broken swords that she had left on the beach. In all truthfulness, she felt like she should be the one to retrieve something so important to both men. With a sense of urgency, she quickly found her sandals, grabbed the torn half of Jin's old kimono, and stepped out of the shed for the first time in what seemed like forever.
The rain was light, but still cold. She knew this might be a stupid thing to do, but it was important to her. She wouldn't let just anyone handle the souls of her two best friends. And she knew that the retainer could not have possibly finished the task of burying the dead to then go looking for the swords.
The path was still right where she knew it would be from the other night. At least this time, she wasn't dragging a half dead Jin down the cliff face. The dread she had felt just a few days earlier still hung in the back of her mind, even though she knew she would not find Mugen at the end of this trek.
Her mind wandered back to the times those swords had defended her. And even the time or two that they had fed her. Who needed to work when you had such skilled swordsmen to perform on the street for tips. But, if they ever did it again, she was going to make sure they were as sober as babies!
The beach rose up to meet her and she couldn't help but notice the enormous black crater where the explosion had tried to snuff out Mugen's life. There was blood still showing, black and crusty in places, which made her heart ache. Why couldn't they live without being pursued? Did the guys ever dream of a life like that? Quiet and peaceful? But then, what kind of life would that be for these highly competitive, swordsmen? It would probably kill their souls to not ever get to test their skills against other, possibly better, swordsmen.
She smiled at the thought of Mugen and Jin being bored and looking for a fight. Of course, they could always take a run at each other. Of all the times she had seen them fight, she wondered if either man noticed how they had adapted the other man's style to their own. Mugen had imitated some of Jin's quick strike techniques, and Jin had added some of Mugen's complete unpredictability to his perfected style. If they kept hanging around each other much longer, they would be identical in fighting styles. Of course, she didn't honestly ever think Jin would lower himself to slinging his body around like Mugen did. And she didn't honestly think Mugen would ever lower himself to develop as much quiet poise as Jin possessed. Still, it was a funny picture to imagine.
She finally realized that she was standing on the beach where her friends had their final battle to decide who the best was. There, next to the charred remains of the little fire she had started, to shed light on their injuries, were the remains of the two proud swords. She lowered herself down on her knees next to the hilts and broken blades. With reverence, she spread the tattered cloth out and carefully placed the two sword remains on the navy silk. She realized that the blades had broken half way down the length, which meant she had some pieces to find.
She stood and tried to remember where the men were standing and in which direction the tips of the blades might have traveled. The rain began to let up a bit as she puttered around the beach. Close to the high tide mark of the breaking waves, she found the shattered end of what she assumed was Jin's sword. She had been lucky that it had not flown farther, or it might have been carried out or buried by the tide.
After carefully placing that piece of the sword on the silk, she turned in the opposite direction to search for Mugen's sword. About the same distance from the fire, she found the broken tip of Mugen's proud sword shattered into three pieces against a large boulder. The gouge in the rock indicated where the blade had hit with such force that it broke apart. How hard had they struck at each other to cause such damage to these ancient blades?
She moved back to the scrap of silk which would serve to carry back the souls of her friends, and placed the parts of the blades together like a puzzle to make sure there were no missing pieces. Both blades seemed to be whole when they were pieced together, so she knew she had them all. With a bit of rearranging, she tied up the ends of the silk into a bag, and raised herself to carry back her precious cargo.
The trek back up the beach to the head of the trail, took her past the remains of the burned out church where so much of her life had changed. There wasn't much left standing of the former structure. She huffed, "Leave it to Mugen to destroy even ruins!" But, for some reason, she was pulled towards the terrible place.
She swallowed past a suddenly dry throat and felt the memories resurface that she had been avoiding for the past few days. This place which had once been a holy sanctuary had become a place of pain and torture. Still, the leaning, red cross could be seen amid the broken beams and shattered walls. Somehow, even through the pain, this place still offered hope.
She picked her way gently through the shattered wood, not really knowing what she was looking for, or hoping to find. It was all really surreal. Here she was, carrying the symbol of her friends' broken souls, and treading over the place where she had been so badly hurt in more ways than one. Still, they had come to save her. Was she supposed to find a way here to save them? She wiped at the nervous sweat that was building on her brow and wondered if she was suffering from too many blows to her head.
In the middle of the carnage, she noticed a spot of red. Was it a piece of the cross? No, it was a different color. With curiosity overpowering her sense of dread, she stepped closer to find she was standing on the remains of Mugen's red overshirt. She carefully pulled at the strip of cloth to free it from the debris. She was shocked to find it mostly intact, although quite stained with blood. She almost laughed at her find, since she had meant to locate the shirt to use as a template for a new one.
Slowly, she turned about in a circle to study the rest of the ruined building. Standing out straight up from a shattered beam, was another odd object. It was the little dagger that Mugen kept hidden in the end of his sword sheathe. At this find, she truly did laugh. How in the world had this object ended up surviving? With as much damage as was done to this building, it was a wonder everything wasn't turned to powder. Such was the destructive force of a Mugen unleashed.
It took most of her strength, and both hands to dislodge the dagger from the beam. "Boy, he must have thrown it really hard to bury it that deeply." As she leaned down to retrieve her bundle of sword pieces, she noticed a gleam of something over by the cross. What in the world could be left here to find? Mugen's sheath?
She carefully picked her way through the dangerous debris and noticed that parts of the floor had buckled and shattered with the force of the falling structure. But, over by the cross, the roof had already been destroyed. Perhaps, there had not been anything left to crush this part of the original church.
As she neared the cross, she could see that the cross itself must have been hit by something heavy, because the base of it had been driven into the wood of the floor by several feet. The gleam she had seen was being reflected by some metal surface showing through the pealed up floor beams around the base of the cross.
With caution, she kneeled beside the base of the cross and peered in under the exposed flooring. Her breath sucked in as she found a cache of what seemed to be weapons. Using Mugen's little dagger, she pried up one of the floor boards to get a better look. Sure enough, there were dozens of swords, daggers, scabbards and even a few guns. There were foreign weapons the likes she had never seen before, and larger weapons like pikes and lances. What in the world were all these doing in a church?
With a thought to keep this find hidden, she carefully replaced the board she had pried up, and pulled some of the debris close by to cover up the exposed gleam that had drawn her attention. Who knew, if no one claimed these weapons, maybe she could take them and sell them for traveling money? I mean, surely there would be some market for such exotic items. As she returned to her bundle of silk she got excited about something else. "Oh! Oh! This would be perfect! Mugen and Jin could see if there was anything in this pile that they might want to replace their broken swords! Oh, this will make them so happy!"
And with that she bounced all the way back up the cliff side path with her bundle of broken swords and a plan to replace their souls. She giggled at this thought. "So, if I'm replacing their souls, does that make them reincarnations? Lost souls? Undead?" She giggled even more thinking about them being undead and stuck digging in that stupid quarry with that druggy Shige guy who played the Biwa and thought he was going to find the lost Heike family treasure. That had been one really weird psychedelic mushroom trip.
Once she reached the top of the cliff, and had the little shack in sight, she noticed three men working farther down the hillside, away from the cliff. This must have been where Kato and the villagers had drug the bodies. She noticed it looked like a little family cemetery. Well, as much as she didn't like her assailants, she guessed she couldn't deny them a proper burial. I mean, they were someone's sons, at some point. Still, if it weren't for the fact that they needed graves to throw the Shogun off their trail, she would have agreed to just have them dumped into the ocean!
Just as she was stopping to watch the men work, a squall came up and the drizzle turned into a full blown driving rain. She squealed and dashed to the protection of the little shed. Once she made the cover of the awning, she couldn't help but laugh at her predicament. She looked like a drowned rat! Lucky for her Momo had stayed in the woods during their recovery, otherwise, she would have been a drowned rat wearing an angry, soaked squirrel.
As she stood there dripping, she wasn't exactly sure what she should do about it. She knew she needed to get out of her wet clothes, but she didn't have anything to change into. Everything she owned was currently on her back, literally. She searched around the room and her eyes fell on the heap of gray kimono that had landed in the corner when she got frustrated. She smiled with a devious thought about wearing something that would some day grace Jin's body. It was a rather childish pleasure, but she was still a child after all. Besides, she had been meaning to wash her kimono and under kimono for days now. This would be the perfect excuse.
So, with a renewed purpose, she retrieved the gray kimono and sewing supplies and made short work of finishing the alteration. Then, with a quick peak out the door to make sure no one was coming, she moved to the darkest corner of the shed and started unwrapped her obi. She kept glancing over her shoulder at the sleeping men, half afraid that one of them was just faking sleep, and would be watching her undress under half closed eyes.
When she had the soggy pink kimono removed, she dropped it and quickly removed the white under kimono. When it was also discarded, she carefully draped the huge gray kimono over her shoulders. Now, what was she supposed to do with her soaked bindings? She really didn't think it was proper to parade around unmarried men without any underthings on. Still, when had she stood on propriety. These guys were unconscious, and Kato was so old his eyesight probably couldn't tell the difference. So, with a hasty decision, she unwrapped her breasts and lower half. She would make sure ALL her clothing was clean and then she would ask for another bath! This time, though, she was going to use some of the cloth to create a curtain so she could bathe in private.
Having donned the altered gray kimono with nothing under it, Fuu felt down right wicked. She found a scrap of material that worked to wind around her waist in place of a proper obi. But she still felt like this kimono would gap open at any moment. It was so huge it swallowed her little frame. Though, she was glad Mugen was still out of it. Otherwise she knew he would make some comment about her lack of bosom and how it didn't matter if the thing did gap open, there wouldn't be anything to see. Normally, his comments would make her mad, but seeing as she was just imagining him saying that, and actually, wishing he was awake to say that, it just made her smile.
It was still fresh in her mind that she had almost lost her two best friends to death just days ago. She knew they were not totally out of the woods yet, not until they woke up. But they seemed so much better. So much like they were just sleeping after a really exhausting trip.
So, now that she was unbound under a new kimono, she wasn't sure exactly what she should do for the rest of the afternoon. She knew Kato would return close to sunset with some type of food and a report on what had been accomplished today. Hopefully, the graves had been erected and she could begin working on grave markers tomorrow. The sooner that was done, the safer she would feel.
She drug out the bundle of swords, dagger and shirt, and set the shirt before her as she drew out the brown material. If nothing else, she would start ripping apart the worn brown kimono to lay out the good sections to use for a shirt. She found that Mugen's dagger was perfect for cutting the fabric. It was super sharp. Of course, she knew that he was going to probably kill her for misusing his precious weapon when he woke up. She looked over at the sleeping pirate, "Mugen, you better wake up and stop me from using your dagger to cut fabric!" Her voice was almost singing, she was to happy to tease the sleeping man. She turned her face back to her work, so she missed the slight smile that tweaked Jin's lips at her taunting of the pirate.