Vol. 8 Connected Histories

-Fuu-

"You've been following us?" I asked.

"Yes, since before you got to Nagasaki and Ikitsuki Island. I wasn't far behind then. But when you three split up it was harder to track you down. It was way easier finding you three when you were together and getting in trouble. You left a trail of disaster like a tornado."

"Why?" Mugen demanded.

"Because my parents, as well as my master, were friends of Seizou Kasumi."

"Really?" I asked, curious and excited.

"Yes. They knew each other for a long time. My parents were helping get the Christians out before the government found them. They were in England when they fled to Ikitsuki Island and were killed…They were arranging transport to get them out."

"What happened after the massacre?" Jin asked.

"My parents were devastated about that, but they were still determined to help. They were in negotiations when my dad got sick. It was typhoid fever, he died. Mom wasn't the same after that, but she still tried. She didn't come home one night, but they eventually found her floating in the river. She was murdered. My master was the only one I had left after that.

"My mom died from sickness too, and my father would have if Kagetogi hadn't gotten to him," I told her to show I understood.

"I'm sorry for that Fuu. No man survives when the Hand of God comes for them."

"Escept for four-eyes over here," Mugen pointed out.

"Ah yes, I heard it was you who got him. Brilliant technique."

"It was the only way," Jin said.

"I believe it, that man was legendary and now you are even more so."

"Enough with this crap, finish the story," Mugen sighed disgustedly. Tsukiko gave him a piercing glare.

"Anyway," Tsukiko continued. "When all of that happened I was fourteen. I tried to finish my parent's work alongside my master, but no one would listen to a young girl and a foreigner. They said to let them all die, they didn't want war. That was when I disconnected myself from my country and came here. I was determined to fulfill my family's promise to help yours. It took me a long time to get here though, and sadly, not to long ago my master was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. They hung him."

"Whoa," I gasped.

"You said you left your ties to your country?" Jin asked.

"I refused my old name and all that my heritage had given me. I took my mother's family name and my master gave me a new one. He sort of adopted me."

"An English girl wanting to become Japanese, now that's some weird shit."

"You don't really look English," I added.

"My mother was Japanese, which makes me half. I figure I qualify," she argued. Mugen stood up and dusted himself off. He had his uncaring look on his face.

"Whatever. I don't really care. The fact is that you're going to stick out like a sore thumb being a girl dressed like a ninja."

"I think I know how to take care of that," I said slyly.

-Mugen-

"What do you think?" Fuu asked, pushing Tsukiko in front of us.

"Clever," Jin said. "Where did you get the things to do it?"

Tsukiko looked different. She had a kimono on and actually looked like a girl. It was blue and red with white cranes and gray clouds stitched into it. Her hair was up and done kinda like Fuu's. I wouldn't have pegged her for a European if I had just saw her walkin' around. The only thing that threw it off a little was her skin, that was a shade or two off, and her blue eyes.

"Doesn't the color do wonders for her?" Fuu asked. "It was pretty easy, all I had to do was go back to the village and pick up a few things. I had to be sneaky, but I left money. She'll fit right in with us."

Jin and I looked at each other. "One, you ain't sneaky, not if your life depended on it. Trust us, we know. Two, what did you mean by 'us'?"

"She's coming along too."

"No."

"I have to," Tsukiko said. "It's my family's duty."

"Look girlie-" I started.

"Shut it Mugen, she's coming!" Fuu shouted at me.

"Fine!" I yelled back. We started down the path and I noticed something. I fell back to talk to Tsukiko. "Hey, where's your sword?"

"If I showed you, you'd probably blush," she answered with a small smile. I couldn't help but grin too.

"Try me."