Vol. 7 Filching From Mugen

-Mugen-

It was a nice day to take a stroll, so I was checkin' out a town near camp. We could afford to stay somewhere, but we were laying low. I said to let 'em come for us. Jin said it would be a bad idea with Fuu injured. I guess I agreed. He didn't say nothin' about getting some food though.

"Give me two orders of grilled squid," I said to a vendor. Some kid bumped into me and then ran off. That was way too familiar. I checked my gi and sure enough, my money was gone. That little bastard. "Hold those for me," I told the guy. I ran off to catch the punk.

I caught him around the corner and picked him up by the front of his clothes. "Where's my money?" The kid handed me the sack and I let him go. I was about to say to not do it again, but I had done it a million times and I hated bein' a hypocrite. I tossed the sack back, happy to have it again. A hand reached down from the roof and snatched it.

"Thanks."

"Get back here!" I yelled, chasing after whoever it was. They were fast, but not as fast as me. I was there when he jumped off the roof. He was dressed up like a ninja. "I'll give you two seconds to give me what's mine."

"I would, but I don't have the time to kill you right now."

"Then let me see your face then coward," I sneered.

"No can do."

"Then I guess I'm going to have to take my money from you."

"Try me."

I pulled out my sword and ran at him. He rolled out of the way and drew out his own katana. It reminded me of a move I would do. God I missed fighting all of the time like this. Our swords met and we both fought for the upper-hand. I won in the end. I tried one of my best moves to trip him, but he flipped backwards. Nimble bastard. I came at him and we locked up again. Then he kicked me and I landed against the wall with a thud. A second later a sai stuck into the wall nest to my head.

"That was tricky, I growled. "But you missed."

"Ninjas are all about tricky," he replied. "And I didn't miss." Cocky. I grabbed the sai and threw it back at him. He caught it and put it in his belt. "Thank you."

He took off running at full-speed. He was almost to the woods when Jin stepped in front of him. Jin did some tricky move that knocked the guy out cold.

"Why were you chasing him?" he asked.

"He stole my money.

-Fuu-

"What's going on!?!" I cried as Mugen and Jin brought in a tied up man. He was struggling a lot but not getting anywhere. They tossed him on the floor and pointed their sword at him. "Are you going to kill him!?!"

"I was thinkin' about it," Mugen answered. Jin cut the ropes tying the man's hands. His feet were still bound. "Who do you work for?"

"The Shogun?" Jin asked.

"I work for myself," the guy said. There was something odd about that guy's voice. It was just off.

"I'll just kill you then," Mugen sneered.

"Wait Mugen," Jin said. "We should ask more questions."

"Mugen?" the man asked, trying to get up. "Mugen of the Ryukyu Islands?" We all stopped and stared at the man.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"And you're Jin," he said, turning to my other friend. "I should have noticed from the glasses. Are you Fuu Kasumi?

"Take off that damn mask," Mugen ordered. He reached behind his head and pulled the strings that held his mask on. It fell to the ground and we all stood there, shocked.

It was a young woman, only a little older than me. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail that fell nearly to her waist. Her skin was sort of weird color. I wondered why. It was her eyes that were the most odd though, they were big and blue…really blue.

"You're a chick!" Mugan cried.

"Last time I checked," she said.

"Who are you and how do you know us?" Jin commanded.

"My name is Tsukiko Hashinaka, and I've been following you for a very long time." She was looking at me.