Mugen strolled down the beach, looking at the boats pulled up on the sand. To a casual observer he would have seemed totally relaxed, but there was an unbearable tension in his body and he couldn't stop thinking of the last time he had seen Mukuro and Koza, just before the attack on the Satsuma ship. Just before he had been caught….

He was standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, sharks circling below as the soldiers pointed their guns. Did he have any last words? He poured out his scorn on them, amused at the look of shock on their faces. What did they expect him to say? Should he apologize? Beg for mercy? No one had ever done anything for him his whole life-he'd had to take care of himself for as long as he could remember. With that thought in his mind he leaped from the cliff, plunging to his death….

Mugen shook his head, trying to dispel the memory. He wasn't usually haunted by his past, but seeing the brother and sister brought it back with a painful clarity. He thought he had left it all behind when he left the island-not that he'd had a change of heart about how he wanted to live his life. He was still a thief and had no qualms about killing someone if he thought they were a threat. It was just that being part of a group didn't appeal to him, especially after the way he'd been abandoned to be executed. He hadn't really expected Mukuro to do anything when he was caught, but if the tables had been turned, Mugen would have tried to help him even if it was just to make the authorities madder than they already were. And Koza-she had saved his life, treating the wounds he received in that suicidal leap, but she'd had her reasons. She only got him back on his feet because she wanted him to take her away from her brother. Well, he'd gotten away all right, but on his own terms. Better to just leave everybody he knew behind and live a solitary friendless existence-if there was nobody around, there was nobody to let you down.

The Ryukyuan sighed. He'd had a good workable system until that day in the tea house when he saw Fuu for the first time. It wasn't that he actually cared about Fuu, Mugen reassured himself. It was just that he didn't want anything bad to happen to her. That in itself was beyond strange to him, but it was true. From the first moment he saw her, waiting on obnoxious jerks and avoiding their roving hands, he had felt an urge to protect her. He hadn't been able to admit it even to himself-he had demanded fifty dumplings to get rid of her rough customers, but somewhere in the back of his mind where he was unwilling to look, Mugen felt a need to watch over Fuu. It was the real reason he had gone with her and Jin in the first place. Pretty boy might be all about keeping promises, but Mugen had grown up in a place where a promise wasn't even a word. He knew nothing about making a promise, or keeping one. He only knew what he felt, and somehow that skinny annoying girl made him feel of value. When Fuu looked at him with those shining brown eyes, he felt just as good as everybody else. And that was enough for him to be willing to do anything to keep her safe.

What he had to do now was find a boat, grab Jin and Fuu, and get the hell out of here. He frowned as he examined the small crafts-they were in poor shape and would need to be repaired before he would even think of taking his companions out in one of them.

"Now that's the face I remember." Mugen jumped, startled. Mukuro was leaning against one of the boats, laughing. "You're not foolin' anyone, Mugen. Your soul is as dark as ever."

The Ryukyuan's fists clenched, then relaxed. No way was he going to let Mukuro bait him. "Say what you want, Mukuro-soon as I find something that'll hold us, I'm out of here."

"Us?" Mukuro seemed to roll the word around in his mouth. "Oh, you mean that pasty-faced samurai and his woman." A muscle jerked in Mugen's cheek and Mukuro raised his eyebrows. "Or did I get that wrong? Is she your woman?"

"She doesn't belong to anybody," said Mugen levelly, his heart beating so fast his chest hurt.

"Free and unattached, huh? Maybe I should try her out." Mukuro laughed louder at the look on Mugen's face. "Relax, will you? She'll still be good for something when I'm done with her."

Mugen thought of Mukuro's hands on Fuu and for a moment it seemed as if a red haze descended over his vision. The need to see Mukuro's blood almost overpowered him and he struggled to control himself. If he attacked the man now, even if he won, there was still Mukuro's gang to contend with. And if he lost….

Mugen forced his anger down. "How about a race instead? Winner gets the girl, loser goes to hell."

Mukuro eyed him thoughtfully. "What do you say to teaming up if you lose?"

The Ryukyuan thought frantically. It would take time to repair one of these boats, time to gather provisions….time they would never have with Mukuro breathing down his neck. They could try just walking away, but they'd never make it. Not with all the men Mukuro had with him. Even if Jin and Mugen could fight them all off, Fuu would be in the middle of a battle. The chances of her coming through unscathed were practically nonexistent.

Mugen briefly considered a trade-he would stay and work for Mukuro if Jin and Fuu went free, but he knew that would never work either. The only way they'd get away safely is if they left by boat, and he didn't trust either of them to take a boat out a hundred feet without drowning themselves. He nodded slowly. "I'll team up with you, Mukuro, but you leave those two out of it. You understand?"

"You're goin' soft, Mugen."

The Ryukyuan grinned unpleasantly. "Get the horses and you'll see how soft I am."