Chapter 8

Fuu woke up with a groan as the aches from her twisted sleeping position made themselves known. Her right shoulder felt like it had been hit with a bat since she had lain on the point of her shoulder all night. When her eyes opened, she was staring at something blurry and peach colored. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to a surface so close, then she realized she was looking at Jin's naked chest!

With a gasp she reared up to a sitting position. In that instant, her ribs protested, her arm screamed at being moved, and her face blushed a violent shade of red. It was a good thing that neither man was awake, as the sudden air movement alerted Fuu to the gapping of her borrowed kimono. It seemed that the scrap of fabric that she had wound about her waist was not a suitable substitute for a proper obi.

With a huff of irritation, she readjusted the overly large, scratchy, top to cover her unbound assets and scanned the area listening for strangers. She had no idea what had happened with the sudden appearance of men in the town. All she could do was wait for Kato to return, or not. If the little man didn't make an appearance by night fall, she knew she would have to find a way to evacuate the guys without drawing any attention.

She groaned and rubbed all the sore spots on her aching body as her mind came awake and remembered the past days. With renewed concern, she turned in the half light of their hiding place and checked on Jin and Mugen. Maybe Jin would talk some more today? Maybe Mugen would open his eyes and say something annoying. She smiled at the thought.

Jin had turned slightly onto his side in an unconscious recognition of the space she had needed while sleeping against him. As such, she needed to roll him back so he wasn't scrunched up against Mugen. Because if Mugen woke up to feel Jin against him, he would probably throw a tantrum, and try to kill the samurai.

In working Jin's body around to get him situated, she must have jostled him a bit too much, because she noticed his beautiful eyes open. She gasped in a breath in anticipation, but he seemed to not be aware of his surroundings. She had seen this before, so she wasn't too surprised. It was like his brain was still asleep, but his eyes were open and void. It was a strange look on his usually controlled, thoughtful face.

Jin's blank eyes tracked her movements, and she almost felt like he was looking at her. Her heart skipped a beat and a jolt of adrenaline coursed through her body. She had to consciously tamp down her reactions because she knew she wasn't what he needed. She had convinced herself after the Shino incident that what Fuu felt for the quiet, thoughtful samurai was only a childish crush. He was a grown man, with needs and expectations. She figured he would find a good woman of standing and start his family in a quiet town somewhere back east. A sad smile graced her face as she pictured Jin training his sons, who would be miniatures Jins, with Shino and miniature Shinos standing off to the side watching.

It was hard backing away from the guys when her heart told her to cling to them and keep them with her. But she knew what she was and what they were. She couldn't allow herself to continue being dependent on them. She would need to stand on her own again, like she had for the year after her Mom died.

Still, at times when she was tired, or her resolve was fading, she would imagine what life would be like if the three stayed together forever. It was always the same, they would find some quiet, out of the way town that the Shogun did not control. Then, they would work together to raise money like they always did, and buy a small house. From there, the dream was rather vague, but Jin and Mugen always had stable jobs like teaching martial arts, being bodyguards, bouncers, bounty hunters or police officers. And she got to stay home with the kids, some of whom looked like Jin and some like Mugen. Even in her daydreams, she couldn't choose between the two, and subconsciously decided to keep both. Was it acceptable to have two husbands? Would the two men willingly share a wife or would they become jealous and try to kill each other? She didn't think she could love the survivor if he killed the other. It would be like a betrayal to the one who died.

But then reality would rear its ugly head and her little daydream would crash to the ground and shatter. There was no way she could keep them both. They didn't feel about her the same way she felt about them. Neither man was interested in a deep relationship. They only wanted quick, unattached meaningless gratification. Or worse, they wanted the unrealistic fantasy of something they could not have, like Shino for Jin, and that ninja woman from the brothel for Mugen.

Fuu knew she was neither of those types of woman. She was too familiar, too plain, too needy, too unfeminine. It would be unfair to tie the guys to her for any longer period of time because they all needed to find a way to live their short lives to the fullest. Still, in quiet moments, like now, her daydream called to her to make it a reality.

She quietly chewed on her lower lip as she tried to stifle her stomach from making noises. It had missed a few meals, and was not above making a protest. The last thing they needed was for some snoop to hear her stomach and discover them huddled behind the wagon in the shed. She silently cursed her luck, "Why me? Why now? Why can't life just be simple for once? No threats, no attacks, no kidnappings, no vendettas, no assassins, no Shogun. Just a simple day to lie in the sun and be thankful for being alive another day.

She closed her eyes and leaned her weary head against the wood wall behind her. All this waiting and anxiety was giving her a headache, and making her stomach hurt. Still, what else could she do in broad daylight?

Beside her, she felt a stirring of one of the bodies on the floor. Her eyes popped open, expecting to see Jin attempting to rise. Instead, Mugen was shifting about as if he were trying to get comfortable. Maybe he had noticed his close proximity to Jin and was trying to move away. Just the thought made Fuu grin. She whispered, "Mugen, stay still or you'll give our position away." As she suspected, the self-preservation part of Mugen's mind understood this threat and he stilled instantly. He didn't need to be conscious to know they were in a precarious position. Both men instinctively seemed to know that they were vulnerable when asleep or injured.

At her whisper, she noticed a gleam of recognition enter Jin's blank, unfocused eyes as they turned to look up at her face. Was he conscious of their surroundings? She smiled her best reassuring smile at her Ronin friend and hoped he would relax. He didn't need to start trying to move around and reopen his wounds. It would still be a good week or so before he would be able to move without consequences. She reached out and gently stroked his long flowing hair that surrounded his head in a tangled waterfall of black. It was enough to ease the sudden stiffness in his frame, but not enough to cause his eyes to close.

As she watched the guys rest, a nagging sensation assaulted her mind. She wasn't quite sure what she was hearing, but it was rhythmic and out of place. She tried to turn her head and catch the sound, but it was still quiet and vague. A cold stab of fear coursed through her body when she realized it was footsteps.

She heard the shuffling getting closer and clutched the fallen short sword from her father's daisho. She saw Jin's eyes focus on her movements and seem to understand what was going on. Even though she was trembling with the idea of defending them, she accepted that she was the only one who could. So, when Jin's hand reached up for the hilt of the sword she clutched to her chest, she reflexively slapped his hand away. It was almost comical the size his eyes grew to in his shock. Fuu used her best stern glance and pointed a finger accusingly at Jin's nose in a gesture that communicated, "Hey you! Don't do that again!"

Then, there was a loud bang as the door of the shed was roughly thrown open. She knew without looking that it was not Kato. The old retainer was gentle and kind, and would never have done anything like that to frighten her. A squeak was wrenched from her throat at the sudden noise, and she silently cursed herself and prayed that she had not just given their position away.

Sweat rolled down her face, neck and back as she sat in a rigid position and waited for the heavy footfalls to go away. Surely their hidden area would not be discovered. They were so well concealed. No one would think to look there. Holding her breath, she strained to hear any further sounds. Nothing reached her ears but the sounds of outside and the distant ocean. Could the owner of those shuffling feet have merely opened the door and looked in?

After an eternity of waiting and straining to hear, she decided to venture a peak out of the stack of supplies beside her. In her quietest manner, which for Fuu was not very quiet, she placed the hand holding the short sword down on the floor and shifted her legs up under her so she could raise her head even with a tiny opening between the cemetery supplies and the side of the wagon. She only saw the open door with the slant of sunlight streaming in to splash the wall. She shifted her head around so she could see different parts of the shed and saw no indication of anyone entering their sanctuary. She released the captive breath and began to relax.

So, it was no wonder that she gasped when a hideous, dark face moved into her line of sight and stared back at her through the opening in their camouflage. This face was so close that she could smell his rancid breath as he chortled, "Gotcha!" and reached a big, beefy hand through the barrels and painfully grabbed her left arm. With an inhuman jerk, the terrifying man yanked her forward through the barrels and wood and into the open. The force of her frame hitting the heavy objects drove her breath from her body, and added new aches overlaid on top of her old ones.

It was only a moment before she found herself hauled roughly outside, into the blinding morning sun. All the while this huge man was laughing to himself, "What a great find! I'm going to enjoy spending the bounty for this one. Not to mention the fun I've had burning and terrorizing a town. And I won't even get in trouble for it this time." His deep chuckling brought her back to reality as she tried to pull her arm out of his grasp.

Out in the sunlight, she could smell the sickening scent of burning wood and other things and realized that this man must have torched part of the town for information. Had the townspeople turned them in? Fuu's brain started churning with ideas and plans. At this rate, at least big and ugly was getting away from the guys. She didn't think he had even seen Jin and Mugen in their hideout. Maybe she could lead him away and find some way to escape.

The dark, grinning face with broken teeth and shaggy facial hair suddenly turned to her. The hand that was not gripping her left arm tight enough to snap flew towards her face before she realized what was happening. Pain exploded through her right cheek as the back of his fist made contact with her face and sent her sprawling down into the dirt. By the time the stars had cleared from her vision, the evil man had turned away from her and was fiddling with something at the front corner of the shed.

His distorted voice carried over his shoulder as he ordered, "Now you just stay right there miss paycheck while I make sure your bodyguards don't ever follow us. I'd hate to lose my meal ticket to some pansy Ronin or some lame criminal." As she spit the blood out of her mouth from where the inside of her check had been cut against her teeth, she realized what was going on. This man was striking a flint against some material and wood that was piled up against the shed. Her mind screamed with realization. "HE'S GOING TO BURN JIN AND MUGEN ALIVE!"

Desperation and panic suddenly swelled up in her and she leapt to her feet, ignoring the protests of pain echoing throughout her body. She had to stop him. She had to save them. She shouted, "NOOOOOO!"

Her fingers clenched suddenly around the hilt of the wakizashi that she had not realized she had been clutching beside her. In a flash of insight, she knew that the man had not noticed the sword dangling from her right hand, hidden in the folds of the massive kimono. He had hauled her around by her left arm and she had been too shocked to bring up her right arm to defend herself. She glanced down surprised to see that the scabbard must have become dislodged when she was yanked out of her hiding place, because she was staring at an impossibly sharp, glittering blade.

There was no time to think or stop or argue. The tinder against the shed was beginning to smoke as the giant man huddled over his work, nurturing the spark that would become a funeral pyre if she did nothing. She launched herself at the man and screamed, "I won't let you!" Which was enough to cause the smirking man to turn his upper body towards her. He looked over his shoulder, no doubt to threaten her to be quiet or else.

With every bit of strength, love and fear that she held within her small body, Fuu grasped the hilt of the short sword with both hands and swung towards the rising form of her captor. His face registered surprise as he noticed the sword whistling towards him and his right hand automatically reached for his own sword. But, he was a moment too late.

Not taking her eyes off the face of this evil man, Fuu didn't even realize what she was doing. She felt the reverberating vibrations as the sword struck a solid object, slowed its progress, then continued on through. The sudden lack of resistance caused her to lose her balance and pitch to the ground between the man and the doorway.

She scrambled on her hands and knees a few paces away from the man out of fear that he was going to bring his sword down on her back. Then she spun over to a sitting position to look back in fear that the fire would now be raging and enveloping the shed that protected her friends.

Instead, she saw the big man kneeling with a shocked look on his face as both hands seemed to be holding his neck. She looked back at the smoldering pile of kindling and noticed it had not erupted into a fire yet. Maybe, she could distract the man long enough to extinguish that spark.

It was only then that her eyes returned to the face of the killer that she realized that copious amounts of blood were draining from around his fingers like water. His mouth was open and his eyes rolled back into his head as a strange sound escaped him. Suddenly, he pitched backwards, right on top of the smoking pile. Then all was silent.

Fuu had no idea what had happened and her body still hummed with the adrenaline of fear and protectiveness. This could be a trick. So, she slowly scanned the surrounding area for any accomplices, and then tried to rise from her awkward sprawled sitting position. As she placed her hands on the ground to assist her in rising, she noticed the blood dripping off her father's sword that was in her hands. She blinked her huge owlish eyes and all her mind could muster was a confused, "What?"

Her body began shaking as she gained her feet and slowly crept closer to the body by the shed. She kept expecting it to reach out and grab her, so it was hard to get too close. With a wide circle, she approached from the side so she couldn't be pinned against the shed if she had to run. She kept the short sword out in front of her like a dousing rod even though her arms were shaking so violently that it traveled all over the place.

The big man was still lying on his back with his hands to his neck. When she got close enough to see his face, she recognized the look of death. She had seen it enough times traveling with Jin and Mugen. But she had never actually caused that look on another human being herself. She could barely kill animals for food. To fish, she had to get Mugen to put the worm in the hook because she couldn't even cause injury to a simple thing like a worm. And here she had killed a man.

Her mind still didn't believe what her eyes were telling her. So, she approached a little closer and poked the man with the tip of the bloody wakizashi. When that got no response, she inched even nearer still and kicked his leg fairly hard. At least, it was hard enough to make her bare toes hurt. Still nothing. Then she looked to his chest for any telltale signs of respiration. She had gotten good at watching the guys breath to reassure her of their presence in the living world. This felt so wrong to be doing the same thing to reassure herself of this man's death. Nothing. His chest was as still as a statue. It was then that reality sunk in.

She shrank back from the corpse… the corpse that she had created. Her whole body began shaking as her brain could only form one phrase that slipped repeatedly from her lips, "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" Her legs stopped cooperating and buckled, sending her once again sprawling to the dirt on her rump. But all her eyes could see was that horrible, still face and the dripping blood. She had to get away from it.

Her hand released the hilt of the short sword as she shifted over to crawl away on her hands and knees. In that position, her stomach finally made itself known as she heaved up the bile that had settled in her stomach. As she crawled, her stomach continued to dry heave long after it was completely empty. The tears coursed down her face as the suppressed fear began eating away at her composure as it surfaced and took control of her body. Her thoughts finally turned to the guys. They would know what to do. They would help her. She had done this to keep them safe. She needed to see them.

Slowly, she crawled into the shed, keeping her face turned so that she couldn't even see the corpse in her peripheral vision. The cold shivers continued to race down her spine but at least she had stopped dry heaving. It was not hard to make her way towards the upturned wagon, because the man had essentially used her exiting body to knock the boxes and barrels out of the way. There was practically a cleared path back to where she had been sitting not so long ago.

Fuu's hair hung lifelessly around her face and hid her eyes from seeing anything around her but the floor. Her brain had shut down, and her body was moving only on instinct right now. So, she was almost to her best friends when she dazedly realized that Jin was looking at her with shock on his face. He had rolled up onto his left side, with his left arm supporting his semi-upright position. She noticed he wasn't really sitting up, more like barely higher than if he had just been lying on his side. In his right hand was the scabbard for her father's wakizashi, held so tightly that his knuckles were white from the strain. It only took a moment for her dazed mind to realize that he had intended to use that sheath as a weapon, and had tried to drag himself out from behind the wagon to help her.

As he struggled to sit up, she shushed him and cooed, "It's okay. Everything's fine. Don't get up or you will hurt yourself worse. Please. We're safe for now." She continued to crawl over until she reached him and then heavily sat herself back in her previous position. Jin's eyes were still clouded with concern and his brows were knit together in a frown. In a stern, raspy whisper Jin demanded, "Fuu, tell me where you are hurt. You are covered with blood!"

Fuu looked down at herself for the first time. It was true; she was covered with splattered blood all down the front of the gray kimono. Her dazed mind noticed that at least the substitute obi had kept the kimono from gapping open and showing her assets. In an attempt to look unconcerned, Fuu forced a smile and waved her hand dismissively, "Oh this. Don't worry. It's not my blood." Still, she could not stop the shakes that continued to wrack her body as she tried not to think about what had happened. Every time the image of the still face entered her mind, she had to close her eyes and fight off another attack of dry heaves.

Jin's mind tried to fight off the effects of his injuries and recovery and piece together all that he could remember of what might have happened to result in Fuu being in this state. Exhaustion kept dragging on his recovering body, and he knew he would not be awake for much longer. He had experienced this deep healing too many times over his life to not know the symptoms and process. Finally, in frustration, he demanded again, "Fuu, tell me what happened."

Fuu shuddered and looked back at Jin. His eyes were becoming unfocused and she knew he would not remember this later. He was not in that stage of healing where his brain would retain memories. He was only temporarily awake. So, she smiled at him and reached out with a gentle touch, ignoring that blood was drying on her hand, and reassured him, "It's fine. Nothing happened. This is all just a bad dream you had while you were recovering. You need to hurry up and get better, because I miss talking to you. You know you are my hero, and you need to get better so you can keep me out of trouble. Who knows what might happen while you sleep?"

She watched as his forehead relaxed and the frown faded. His face returned to a peaceful meditative look, and she helped him slide back down to rest on the floor without straining his injuries. In moments, his eyes gracefully fluttered closed, and she breathed a sigh of relief and released the fake smile. The shock and revulsion in her mind over what she had done finally slipped as she thought, "I did it to protect them. He was going to burn them alive! I couldn't let him do that." And she realized that she would do the same thing over again if she had to.

A strange sense of calm settled over her as she watched her two best friends sleep unaware of how close they came to death again. She leaned over each and placed a gentle kiss on each sleeping forehead. They were her whole world right now, and she would fight to keep them as long as she could. She shifted her tired eyes to look at the little piece of blue, sun lit, morning sky she could see out the doorway and thought to herself, "What a great day to be alive."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

AN: As you can tell, I'M BACK!!!

Yes, I survived the 3 days of Bar Exam Hell. No, I don't think I passed. No, I don't really care at this point. I'm just happy to be able to read manga, fanfiction and watch anime without guilt! My first night back, I read 4 manga books I had pre-ordered. Ah, what bliss. Still, it rots that we won't know the results of this exam for 2 months. The joys of beauracracy!

So, review if you want to