Chapter 7

Jin felt it was best to divide our problems up into tiny bite sized chunks, much the way a squirrel carries one nut at a time back to his nest for the winter. Mugen and I went along with this metaphor, as we knew that whenever Jin got folksy, it meant he was on a roll.

Problem 1: The Mugang

"The Mugang?" Mugen raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I like it. Plus it's easier than saying, 'Those poor misguided souls who inexplicably worship you.'"

We had skulked away into the night, huddled conspiratorially in the crook of an enormous elm tree. Mugen had muttered something about supplies. "He fishes," Mugen replied, when asked what he needed us for. "I guess."

This seemed to placate the troops, if not convince them. We were proving very unpopular in this Danborushi.

The "troops" were, in fact, first on our list of things we needed to take care of, and they were the trickiest. Mugen just couldn't go missing. If there was ever any possibility that their hero had been captured or killed, it would only give him more street cred. And as long as deeds were getting carried out in his name, then the government would never let up.

No, it wasn't enough to just ditch them. They had to be disillusioned. And in spite of it all, it wasn't something Mugen was particularly comfortable with.

"Well, its not like this a good idea," I reasoned. "Joining a terrorist group. If these kids were your friends, you wouldn't, like, recommend that. Right?"

Mugen made a snorting sound as he reached around for another twig to gnaw on. "No, man. I mean...duh."

"So?" Jin asked. It was a simple, honest question, but there were times that a single syllable from Jin could feel like the interrogation room of the Russian military.

"So," Mugen snapped, squirming under all this introspection. "So, it still sucks. That's all. It sucks if something you believe in turns out to be bullshit. No matter how stupid. Like, when I heard that you took that government mon..."

He didn't trail off as much as he stopped short. He clearly just took an unexpected left turn into intimacy and decided to bang a U-ie. Feelings were always his very least favorite topic of conversation.

"Well, they think you stand for something," I said, allowing him to back out of any potential male bonding. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Stand for something? Because if you don't, then it's all bullshit anyway. And then all you're doing is telling them the truth."

Mugen paused. He looked at me strangely for a second, and then averted his gaze to the sky. It was barely visible among the think canopy of trees, but you could catch glimpses. Little picture windows carved through the leaves, giving you a peek at nothingness. We all looked, the three of us, composing our own private thesis. The whys and wherefores of who we are.

Then Mugen blinked as if coming out of a trance. "Freedom," he said, answering the question. No further analysis needed.

"Is any of this freedom?" I asked, once again gesturing at the whole situation. The running, the hiding, these kids who are too wrapped up in a fabricated crusade to figure out what they're truly missing themselves.

"No."

"Then we're not letting anyone down," I said. "We're setting them free."