(a/n: This is the real title, I had to shorten it for the space)

Vol. 09 A Lesson, Suspicions, and A New Dimension

-Jin-

We were still walking down the same road two days later. The days were getting colder, reminding us that winter was on our heels. Soon it would be harder to travel with all of the rain. I had no idea of what we were going to do; we didn't have enough money to get a room, and it would be foolish to hope that there were going to be abandoned places along the way. I suppose that we'd do what we had always done before. Get jobs.

Fuu and Tsukiko seemed to be bonding quite well. It was probably for the best that she had another woman to confide in. I looked back at the new addition to our group. She was walking gracefully next to Fuu. Her eyes were roaming the scenery, drinking it in. after a long blink she stared suddenly up at me. She smiled coyly and I turned away quickly, somehow embarrassed that I had been looking at her.

"So you said that your parents died and you started to Japan when you were fourteen?" Mugen asked suddenly. My eyes slid to look at them. What was he up to now?

"Yeah," she said with a nod. She kept staring straight ahead, her expression bland.

"How old are you now? 'Cause you don't look like a kid."

"I'm eighteen."

"What took you four years to get to Japan?"

"Oh, you know walking across Europe and Asia most of the way takes up a little time. I can't blame the terrain though, we did stroll sometimes too," she replied sarcastically. "What took me so long was two continents and a fair bit of ocean, idiot."

Fuu giggled, putting her hand over her mouth. A smile forced it's way onto my lips. Mugen glared at her malevolently. "I know that. I just didn't think that it would take a whole four years."

"Have you ever seen a map of the world Mugen?" she asked. I tilted my head, not quite sure where she was going with this.

"No."

Tsukiko pulled a folded up parchment out of her kimono. "Come here." Mugen came to her side. Fuu and I approached her as well. She pointed a finger at the small landmass that I recognized as my country. "This little island over here is Japan, and way over here is England." She slid her finger westward until she reached another island.

"All of that in the middle-" Mugen started, but was cut off.

"-Is Europe and Asia," Tsukiko finished.

"Wow," he said with a nod. We all started walking again and Tsukiko put the map away. She adjusted her kimono and shivered.

"How old are you Fuu?" she asked, continuing the earlier theme of the conversation.

"Sixteen since over a week ago," Fuu answered. "I can't wait to be eighteen."

"Maybe you'll grow some decent boobs by then," Mugen teased.

"Like you have room to talk," Tsukiko scoffed. "I'll bet the reason you act all bad is because you want to make up for other shortcomings."

I knew right then that that Mugen and Tsukiko were not going to get along very well.

"Don't go there bitch."

"Fine," she sighed. "How old are you though?"

"Twenty," he said grudgingly.

"Jin?"

"Twenty one," I replied.

"We're all pretty close in age, aren't we?"

"Why do you ask Tsukiko?"

"No reason, and call me Tsuki."

I stared at her in confusion. Why had she gone through the trouble to ask us about all of our ages? Maybe she just wanted to know or maybe she was using it for something else. I kept my eyes on her for a while longer, a big part of me didn't want to trust this stranger.

Later…

(a/n: still in Jin's POV)

I didn't know if I should trust Tsukiko. She seemed harmless, but those were sometimes the most dangerous kind of people. I had caught a glimpse of what she had done with Mugen in town. She was a fairly skilled fighter. Her story about her family and Seizou Kasumi seemed feasible. There was always the possibility that it could have been made up though. I supposed that only time would tell. The truth would eventually surface.

"You look like you're thinkin' about the same thing I am." It was Mugen. "There's sumthin' about her."

"We do not know if she's lying."

"We don't know if she's telling the truth either. She's not a bad fighter too, she might sneak up on us."

"How good is she?" I asked. He had gone head to head with her.

"I'm stronger than her, and faster on foot. But she's fast with her movements and has a different style. She's good, I don't know exactly how good. I'd need to fight her some more. That one back at the village was a game."

-Fuu-

"Did you ever meet my father?" I asked.

"When I was very young," she said with a nod. "I don't remember much. Just what he looked like and a few other little things."

We were exploring a campsite that we stumbled upon during a walk. It was weeks old, but there was still stuff everywhere. There had to have been a fight or something. I saw a bow and quiver of arrows next to a bush. Tsukiko came to stand next to me. She looked at the bow and took out one of the arrows. She poked the tip with her finger.

"Do you know how to shoot?" she asked me.

"No, do you?" I questioned.

"Yeah." I handed her the bow and she tried the string. "Still good. This will come in handy later."

"What was he like when he was strong? I only met him when I was sick."

"Like I said, I met Seizou- your father- when I was young."

"Oh." I was a little disappointed.

"I remembered that he was brave and caring. He had this laugh that stuck in my head forever."

I smiled. I remembered his laugh too. That was about the only good thing that I remembered. I dreamt about it sometimes.

"I heard that you were really mad at him when you met him. I understand, but he did a lot of good for other people. I don't think that he would have left if he didn't have to."

"Yeah, I know," I sighed.

"I'm still mad at my parents too," Tsuki said as she passed me to head back.

"What?" I asked, a little confused.

"They knew how dangerous what they were doing was, and they didn't choose us first and we suffered for it. I know what they believed in was right, and they are heroes for what they did," she laughed a little. "I would have done the same thing, but I'm still mad at them.