Chapter 6: Nagasaki Drag

Fuu was a bit embarrassed as she walked so close to Jin down one of the avenues in Nagsaki. Her red-faced countenance didn't stem from the fact that he was dressed like a woman. In fact, in his dark blue kimono and coral pink obi, he made a very elegant—albeit somewhat tall—woman. Primarily she was still feeing shy about the night before.

Without words they embraced each other until one nearby shopkeeper shooed them away indicating that if they weren't going to buy something, they should get a room. She wondered over and over in her head if they had exchanged a silent understanding, or an affirmation of their mutual affection. Had they in effect declared themselves to one another? With no words, let alone promises, uttered between them Jin acted as he usually did when Mugen showed up smelling of liquor with a giant grin on his face. As they all slept in the same room at the inn, Fuu didn't recall ever falling asleep because her head was still in a whirl.

Fuu couldn't help but feel a little unresolved; especially about that woman he was with when she first ran into him again. She didn't have the courage to ask him what that woman meant to him now, for fear of any clarification leading to the conclusion that she had somehow misunderstood their moment the night before. She continued to be silent and deep in thought as she walked in between him and Mugen.

"Ah," grumbled Mugen, stretching out his arms. "Why do I have to dress like an old lady?"

"We're in disguise, idiot," retorted Fuu. "I thought we explained this to you last night."

"Yeah, but why an old lady?" he insisted.

"Because you make a very ugly woman," responded Jin tersely.

"Exactly," added Fuu, adjusting the cloak they had thrown over Mugen to cover his head. "We're investigating the whereabouts of Inuyaka and his cronies. Our innkeeper indicated that some Shogunate higher up was in town, remember?" said Fuu. "Who else could be in Nagasaki this time of year except maybe the person who's still out to get me?" She adjusted her hair tied in the unfamiliar knot style of a young man. She acquired the look after Mugen had knocked out an unfortunate delivery guy that morning. Though the sleeves were a little long Fuu actually passed as a guy with small effort—much to her dismay. Mugen's attire was the most simple, as he only needed to wear a simple woman's yukata and cover up the rest, including his sword. Jin's was the most complex, as he had used some of Fuu's left over make-up from her prior employment to refine his complexion, and the three had stolen a koto case from one of the inn's performers to hide his weapons.

"Yeah, yeah," groaned Mugen. "Man, I'm hungry."

"So am I," chimed Fuu. All three of their bellies started to growl. "Let's check out that really popular shabu-shabu restaurant in town. I'm sure it'll be full of useful gossip. Maybe we'll get the lowdown on where these Shogunate people are staying," she suggested. The other two agreed heartily, hoping that since she suggested it, she'd foot the bill.

"Name, please," said the door greeter in front of the popular restaurant Suehiro's in a rather gruff manner when they asked for a table for three. He glared at her with his bamboo ink brush, tip about to drip onto an already ink-stained sleeve, waiting to write her name on a folded up piece of paper. Fuu could tell from her own experience in the food industry that he was overworked and underpaid and she silently extended her sympathy.

"Uh, Fu--," she caught herself, "Jin." It was the first male name to pop in mind. Mugen looked a little amused, while Jin's expression became wary of the havoc these two could wreak in his name. Fuu only shrugged as they waited for a table.

ONE HOUR LATER

"Man, I thought we'd never get in," sighed Fuu, settling into her seating cushion by the low wooden table. Their booth was elevated to accommodate the stone and wood mini fire pit over which their pot of boiling water hung.

Mugen cursed. "I was about ready to tear this place down and eat the people, I'm so hungry," was his response.

"Mm," said Jin.

"Hi, I'm Shizuku! I'll be your server today. What can I get you ladies and gentleman?" asked a petite and pretty little waitress in a perky manner.

"Maybe this place isn't so bad after all," smiled Mugen, his interest suddenly piqued. Fuu rolled her eyes.

"I'll have a lunch special, with lean meat and extra tofu," said Fuu.

"I'll have the extra large order of the special with tripe, with a side order of extra meat," said Mugen.

"The same but without the tripe," said Jin.

"Easy, guys," frowned Fuu. "We've barely started traveling so maybe we should budget a little?"

"I can't protect you on an empty stomach," answered Mugen.

"Hm," agreed Jin.

"Geez," sighed Fuu, propping her chin in one hand. Her purse was going to suffer with these two by her side. Why did she even bother taking it back from the thief?

"Coming right up," said the waitress cheerily. Mugen moved to spank her bottom as she walked away but Fuu dug her pair of chopsticks into his hand before he could lift it off the table. Mugen glared at her.

"What?" he asked.

"You're an OLD WOMAN, remember? Postpone your mayhem until AFTER we've eaten," she demanded.

"She's right," agreed Jin. "We've starved too many times in the past because of you."

Before Mugen could retort, a pair of uniformed samurai walked into the restaurant right past them and headed for the second floor. Fuu and the others silently watched them go upstairs.

"Eat first, then investigate," said Fuu, desperately wanting her shabu-shabu at this point. As she said it, the waitress brought their platters, two on each arm and one balanced on her head.

"Let's eat!" declared Mugen, drooling into the bowl in front of him, dropping in a piece of meat into the pot. Jin followed suit.

A pair of waitresses hurried past their table and up the stairs, expressing their desire to not displease members of the Shogunate by offering any kind of inferior service, even if it was a full house below. They were hopeful that he would be a big tipper. Her companions were oblivious to these concerns as they were busy dropping pieces of raw meat and vegetables into the boiling pot. Fuu on the other hand paused a moment to wonder who was upstairs. Was Inuyaka or Gouroujuu here? She started to get a little nervous. Fuu moved to drop some tofu and meat into the pot only to find Jin and Mugen dueling with their chopsticks over the pot. Before either of them could do anything about it Fuu reached in and ate the piece of disputed food. They both looked at her in disbelief.

"What?" asked Fuu, innocently chewing.

After their meal Jin and Mugen volunteered to take a look upstairs while Fuu paid the bill. Just as Fuu was about to count out her coins there was a commotion coming from the staircase. Suddenly, a Tokugawa samurai tumbled down the stairs, arms and legs flailing about him. He was followed by another who was hurled down. Both did not even have time to draw their weapons before they were out for the count.

"Whatever happened to laying low?" grimaced Fuu. She then heard the sound of steel on steel. Panicked, the restaurant patrons were slowly but surely starting to exit, knowing that a brawl was at hand. The poor waitresses were unsuccessfully trying to get them to pay first. Fuu got up and ran to the staircase.

"Well, well," said a low, raspy voice from upstairs. "If you two are here, that means the Kasumi girl isn't far behind." Before she could get a better look, someone placed a hand on her shoulder. To her horror, she turned to see Inuyaka behind her.

"We meet again, musume-san," he smiled. "I thought you might still be alive." Without even thinking about it she made a dead run up the staircase knowing he was close behind.

Fuu ran right into Jin's back as she was blindly trying to move away from the assassin. He turned around and noted the extremely frightened look on her face. Jin looked up and met Inuyaka's eyes. So much for being subtle. With Mugen at his back, he knew he didn't have to worry about the Shogunate stooges. Fighting with Inuyaka took all his concentration however, which left the problem of protecting Fuu.

"Stay behind me," he ordered, taking his weapons from the koto case and handing it to Fuu.

"Okay," she said nervously, shielding herself behind the case. Fuu turned toward Mugen's side of the floor and noticed an old man sitting leisurely behind a row of uniformed samurai like a mob boss. She concluded that it was Gouroujuu. All at once the samurai charged him. Fuu turned to see Jin an Inuyaka rush each other, swords drawn and death in their eyes. She stepped back until she was up against one of the walls. Peering outside the nearest window, she noted there was a tarp awning stretched out below her. It looked like a fruit stand. She almost sighed with yearning. A cold watermelon after hot shabu-shabu would have been ideal. That may have been her last meal.

Jin and Inuyaka swung simultaneously, blade pushing against blade at an even draw, and they pushed each other back. Then again, with full force they slashed and swung at one another, too fast for Fuu's eyes to follow but she saw the glints and flashes of steel against the light of the windows in cold and exact blue arcs that reminded her of the colors of a lightning storm.

Mugen's more improvised style of fighting, as usual, took his dojo-trained attackers by surprise. He blocked with wooden benches, the wooden sandals on his feet, all the while tossing cups, plates and dishes at them. Some were hit in the face by flying saucers, others managed to dodge only to have the samurai behind him go down from the flying serving ware. Mugen then started using the support pillars to block the swings of his opponents in such close quarters. Some of the swords nearly cut right through a foot and a half of sturdy cedar. The ceiling of the two-story building started to crack and complain.

One samurai, Keiichi, noticed Fuu standing unguarded and slipped passed Mugen's whirling legs and sandals to attack her. Fuu noticed him just in time and blocked his swing with the koto case and a little shriek. The case was thick enough to hold his katana, though he almost cut it in half and Fuu pushed hard to shove her attacker off balance.

"Damn it," said Keiichi under his breath as he tried to release his blade from its stuck position. When he wrought his blade free, Momo took that opportunity to jump from Fuu's shoulder and onto his face, scratching and biting to distract him. Fuu took that opportunity to kick a boiling pot of water off a nearby table at him. Momo leaped back onto Fuu and the entire pot landed on his head and the water made him scream and fall to the ground.

The commotion caught both Mugen and Jin's attention as they looked behind them to check to see if she was still in one piece.

"Oi, try to stay alive back here," said Mugen before he took another seating bench and used it lengthwise to push his attackers back. Some of them stumbled backwards, nearly falling on top of Gouroujuu.

"Idiots!" he yelled. "It's only an Okinawan monkey! Take him down!" Another samurai, Sei, took that as his initiative to slice the bench in half with his katana, and charge Mugen. Mugen dodged the attack by a fraction of an inch as he moved to the right, and in one motion took the teapot he picked up from a nearby table and smashed it into the samurai's head.

Inuyaka swung at Jin again, who jumped over the arc that tried to cut him down, and used a nearby stool as leverage to get higher. Tucking both his feet in to obtain the maximum air and distance, he made a swing at Inuyaka's head aiming to slice it in half. The other samurai leaned back as far as he could, but Jin's blade nicked his chin and drew blood. Inuyaka paused a moment to apply pressure to the wound.

"They don't teach that in a dojo. Have you been taking lessons from your monkey friend? You seem to be fighting with a spirit you did not show me last time," he mused. "I can only guess its source. I would be most pleased if you continued to fight me, even after she's dead." With that, Inuyaka gave a crooked smile and from his sleeve drew forth a kunai. He aimed it at Jin, but with a small movement of his katana and his head, he managed to dodge. Unpredictably, however, Inuyaka dropped his sword and flung a second kunai from his other sleeve aiming for his intended target a split second later. Before Jin could think, the kunai was whizzing past his ear and heading straight for Fuu.

In that split second between life and death, Fuu watched as the kunai headed straight for her. In that second, Johnny's words came back to her like an epiphany.

"Speed and motion is relative. If you see the blade coming for you, focus and slow it with your mind with extreme concentration. Prove that you are a samurai's daughter. Instinctively you will move aside, because if you do not, you will die. Think of everything that is precious to you in life: dango, green bean paste, European sponge cake, and live to see another day."

At the last moment, she twisted her torso moving a few centimeters to the side, and the blade whizzed through a chunk of her hair, past her neck and sink into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Fuu felt a hot trickle of blood run down her cheek and without thinking, drew her tonto.

"Focus when throwing a blade in an immediate counterattack when your opponent is still open as you may not have the same chance again," echoed Johnny's words in her head as she released it in a circular outward motion. "It's much like throwing a baseball, and if you actually do damage with it, come back and see me and I will treat you to lunch."

If she lived through today, she was going to hold him to that.

Much surprised, Jin watched her pink handled tonto fly past his face and into Inuyaka's left arm with a small "thwup." Her attacker was much more astonished than either of them.

Before she had time to congratulate herself, the fallen Keiichi, now up again, charged Fuu head first. He had been blinded by the boiling water and his face was a mess, and therefore, Fuu assessed, he was really mad at her. She had no time to move as he winded her in the gut and both of them went tumbling out the window.

They fell onto the tarp below but their weight almost immediately tore a hole into it. To the horror of the fruit stand owner Fuu and her attacker landed in a soggy mess of melon and straw, breaking his cart. People screamed to move away. Her assailant was unfortunate enough to be impaled by a shard of wood from the landing. He would not be getting up ever again. Fuu rolled away upon impact onto the avenue and coughed out the dust and debris in her mouth. She looked up and saw the sign of the store opposite the restaurant. "Fireworks Wholesale."

Without even thinking she rushed into the store. An old man smoking a long pipe eyed her curiously.

"Mister, I'm going to take these," said Fuu hastily grabbing a very large set of

wari-mono balls with extended fuses in a sack and a keg of powder. She grabbed the pipe from his lips and disappeared back into the restaurant. "You shouldn't be smoking in there anyway!" she called out over her shoulder.

Ignoring the blood dripping from her leg, Fuu ran upstairs again, screaming at the owner and the waitresses to clear the building. When they saw what she was holding in her arms, they immediately complied.

She lit the fuses as she neared the top and just as she had a clear view of Gouroujuu, she set the keg aside hurled the balls at him. One went awry and bounced off the head of a samurai, while the other fell into the intended target's lap as its fuse had just run out. Gouroujuu just stared at it dumbly before uttering a single word. "Shit."

"Run!" was the last thing they heard Fuu screaming to her counterparts as the fireworks exploded in scatter of garishly glaring pops. The fire licked the barrel of gunpowder and when it ignited, the whole second story was washed in a wave of smoke and flame. With the weakened state of its pillars the entire restaurant came tumbling down with a great groan.

Author's notes: Please read and review!

1. I think Jin (and Mugen's) coolness factor come out better in fight scenes and non-slapstick humor. Fuu does a lot of falling in this story, doesn't she?

2. "Wari-mono" fireworks are the type that explode into huge chrysanthemum-like shapes. They have three layers of fireworks pellets and are packed with explosive powder for the biggest boom. They have long fuses because they are supposed to be launched high into the air for the best effect.

3. I always knew that Johnny would teach something to Fuu to help her survive. I imagine Musashi would have been that type of person.

-Kero (8/1/08)