(a/n: Okay, sorry for the wait, but I kept changing it around.)

Vol. 18 Splitting Decisions

-Fuu-

"You want to go all the way back to Kyoto?" I asked Jin.

Tsukiko came over to us and kneeled on the sand. "What's in Kyoto?" she asked.

"Shino," Mugen answered, catching up and sitting next to Tsuki. She gave him a questioning gaze. "The girl that Jin almost ran away with a while back."

For an instant I thought I saw a sad look pass over her face, but I must have imagined it. "So then we're going to Kyoto. When are we leaving?"

"We are not going anywhere. I am going to Kyoto on my own," Jin told us sternly. He had his neutral expression on again, hiding whatever emotion he was feeling at the moment. I wondered what had caused this sudden need to go to see Shino. He knew it would be nearly impossible because no one in the safe house was aloud out or to see anyone for three years. Did he plan on sneaking in or something?

"Sorry dude," Mugen shook his head. "No more of this splitting up crap. We're goin' with you. You can go and see Shino by yourself, we'll stay out of your way."

"You are all making this very difficult for me," Jin mumbled stubbornly. Tsukiko gave him a reassuring pat on the leg.

"How about this, we'll go to Kyoto and get a room. Then you can go and see Shino and we will stay completely out of your way. From there, you can make whatever choices or decisions you have to with her. We won't give you any grief about it either." She looked at Mugen and I. "Right?"

I felt my forehead crease involuntarily. I knew the decisions Tsuki was talking about were him leaving with Shino, and that scared me. I didn't want Jin to leave, but I did want him to be happy. I always knew we wouldn't all be together forever and that eventually we'd have to go our separate ways, I just didn't think it'd be this soon. Reluctantly I nodded.

"Whatever dude, it's your life," Mugen agreed.

"Are these terms acceptable?" Tsuki asked him. Jin sighed and looked down at her.

"I suppose."

"Then I guess we're leaving in the morning." Tsuki got up and dusted the sand off of her clothes once more. "I'm going to go and start getting things ready. I should go to the market before we go so that we have some food to eat while we're on the road." She started away, back towards the old woman's house.

"What's up with her lately?" I asked Jin and Mugen. They didn't answer, they just got up and started back as well. I growled, frustrated. These jerks never told me anything. After kicking the sand violently for a few minutes, I headed back to the woman's house.

-Tsukiko-

I lay awake for a long time, not able to fall asleep. It usually took me a while, but it had been hours since I laid down. It was a combination of trauma and having too much on my mind that was preventing me from sleep. Disgruntled at myself, I tossed my covers aside and sat up. The full moon cast its bright blue glow through the window making a column of light across the rough wood floor.

"Can't sleep?" I heard a voice ask me, making me jump. It was Fuu. I put a finger to my lips and shushed her, I didn't want to wake the boys up.

"Let's go for a walk," I suggested. She nodded. We both headed quietly for the door and outside. It was windy but still warm. When we were far enough away from the house I glanced over at Fuu. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Honestly, I'm afraid of us splitting up again," she admitted timidly. Sometimes I forgot how young Fuu really was. "It seems like every time we get back together, something tears us apart again. It's not that I don't want Jin and Shino to be together, it's that I don't want us to be apart."

"Mmm," I agreed thoughtfully.

Fuu giggled a little bit. I arched a brow in confusion as we approached the edge of the village. "You spent too much time with Jin, you're starting to sound like him."

"That's comforting," I grumbled sarcastically. "So this Shino…what's her story?"

"Oh, that's a good one. Let's sit and I'll tell you. Actually, do you feel like a swim?"

"Sure."

We stripped down and got into the water at the natural hot springs. It wasn't deep enough to really swim, but when I stood it went up to my chin. Steam curled off the water in lazy clouds. My hair started to get heavy and stick to my head. It was up, I didn't feel like washing it right this second. Finally when we were settled, I reminded Fuu about the Shino thing.

"So Shino…"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Here's the story…A while back, right near the beginning of our search for the sunflower samurai, we happened to travel through Kyoto. (a/n: I couldn't find out what city Shino was really in, so I made it up. Deal with it.) Jin was walking across this bridge and saw this woman looking down at the water. He figured she was going to jump off to commit suicide, but she denied it. Then Jin went to his part time job at a grilled eel stand, which he was horrible at. Then who else shows up but the mystery lady. She offered him a hand and I guess there were some sparks between them. When they were all done for the night Shino told him that she had to go work at a brothel the next night to pay off her husband's gambling debt. She started the next day and admitted that she really was going to kill herself back on the bridge. So the next day Jin goes back to give Shino her umbrella and gets beat up by the bouncers there. Then he comes and gets all of our money that Mugen had won from beetle wrestling and went to go buy Shino for the night. While he was there I suppose they made a plan to escape and off they went. But right when they were leaving they were spotted. They got chased all over the city until they got to the harbor. Somehow he got Shino on a boat and sent her off to the safe house on the other side of the river. That's when Mugen and I caught up. After that it was the usual; killing, beating, general violence."

I sat there stunned. I had figured out by now that Shino was the woman Jin had told me he cared for, but this sounded like love. I had no idea that they had gone through so much with and for each other. They deserved to be together. My heart throbbed at the thought but I ignored it. I was being sentimental, probably reminded of my own dead love. I missed him, so much that I wouldn't even let myself think his name. I frowned, and cleared my mind. Fuu was staring at the sky.

"Do you think that I will ever get myself a guy who cares about me like Jin cares about Shino?" she asked, a slight hint of wonderment to her voice.

I immediately thought about the conversation Mugen and I had earlier. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you will. Maybe sooner than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh…You know, you're getting older and you are pretty," I said, quickly searching for a cover-up. "Guys will be crawling all over you soon, even more than before."

"You think?" she pressed, excited. I nodded. We sat quietly for a second before she thought of something else to talk about. I wished she would have brought up any other subject than this. "So what about you? What's your love history like?"

"Painful," I told her tersely.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay. I just have a hard time talking about it sometimes. There was a guy once, he was the best. Carefree, wild, adventurous…We were best friends and then eventually it turned into love. Then he died and that was the end of it."

"That's so sad," Fuu whispered.

I patted her arm. "Don't feel sorry for me. I'm used to death now. He's an old friend of mine." she smiled wryly. "So what about you? Anyone special you've met?"

"There were a few guys who have been interested in me, and a couple who were cute. None of them worked out though, not like I had the time to have a boyfriend. That was right in the middle of our search."

"How about now? I mean, you have spent a lot of time with Jin and Mugen, I'm surprised you don't like one of them."

"I don't really know…"

"Ooh, I think I've hit something here," I chuckled. "You have to tell me now."

"You have to swear, swear, swear that you won't say a word about this to anyone," she warned.

"I swear on my life."

She looked around and beckoned me closer. I leaned in, nearly desperate to hear what she had to say. "I sort of have this thing, and I have the impression that he has this thing too."

"Thing?" I questioned. "Who has a thing?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's-"

"What are you guys doing?" Mugen asked, interrupting Fuu and scaring the crap out of us both. "Hey, don't stop on my account. Whatever you two were doing was hott."

"Jeeze Mugen, can't you stop being a jackass for five minutes?" Fuu growled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I agree," said a more quiet voice. It was Jin.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked.

"We woke up and you two were gone. We thought you two idiots got captured again," Mugen said. He started pulling his clothes off. "So we came lookin'. I'm a lot happier that we found you here though. Less work and less clothes."

I shook me head. "Pervert."

He hopped into the water and settled down among the mist. "Yeah, yeah. We all know. You getting in Jin?"

"I suppose if I don't then you all will think me a prude," he sighed.

"Well, we don't have that much time left together…that is, if you go with Shino. It's fine if you choose that though." Fuu was babbling. I had to help her.

"I think what Fuu is trying to say, is that we all want you to choose what you feel is right. However, we would like to spend some time with you just in case you and Shino do make the decision to go your own way," I explained calmly. Inside felt a little more hectic. It was like a subtle franticness mixed with the numbness of depression. I wasn't sure why I felt like that, but maybe it was because they were the only friends that I had since my family had died and one of them might already be leaving. I convinced myself of that fact a couple of times, not letting any other possibilities come to light in my consciousness.

"If I can say, I don't see why you need to go all of the sudden," Fuu began. "I understand that you must miss her, but why the rush?"

"I have my reasons," Jin said, sliding further into the water. It was like he was trying to hide. From us? The questions? Or maybe the truth?

(a/n: That's the end, not THE END...but you know. So what I wanted to say was that this will be the only chapter for the next week or so, I'm going on hiatus. I'm not getting many reviews, except from a few loyal readers (you know who you are, and thank you! I love you guys.) so please, please, PLEASE review! It would mean a lot. You see what you have done to me? You've reduced me to begging...it's disgusting. Please just kill me now...)