Fuu had imagined that it would go different. He would be shocked at her 'blossoming' figure, and she would chuckle darkly say something sophisticated. Instead, he was covered in blood and silent as she led him through the town and to the outskirts of the woods to meet his daughter.

What more could a girl ask for?

As they approached the house, he scoffed. She turned around and raised an eyebrow, and he pointed at the house. "So you married." She glared at him, and spun on her heel. "No, I'm not married you ass! I just get paid more than your lazy ass ever has. Geez, you're so clueless!"

They got to the door, and she put her hand on the handle and stopped. "Wait right here… I need to talk to Aki for a second." She looked over her shoulder as if daring him to argue, and almost laughed at his startled expression. "Wha-"

"She was born during the fall?" She nodded, and slid the door open. The living room was empty, so she walked into her room and found Aki and Jurrien sitting on her futon. "Fuu? What's the matter?" Jurrien got up and eyed her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

She chuckled and shook her head. "Well, I kinda have." She pointed over her shoulder. "Daddy's here."

Jurrien raised his eyebrows appraisingly. "I thought you said he was dead?" She smiled a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah, I figured he was, since I hadn't seen him in so long." She put her head in her hands and moaned.

Aki slid off the futon and walked over to her with questions in her dark brown eyes. Fuu let her hands fall and picked her up. As soon as she slid the door shut, she was face-to-face with Mugen. He stopped walking towards her, and stared at Aki wide-eyed.

He lifted his hand and pointed to her. "That's you… and me?" He whispered. Fuu swallowed and nodded. He regained his composure and smirked. "See, I knew being a sexy motherfucker ran in the family."

Fuu threw him a dirty look, and mentally reminded herself to yell at him about the language. She was about to get down to business whenever his face grew defensive and he snarled.

"Who. The. FUCK. Is. That?

She turned around to see Jurrien shocked, and felt her stomach drop whenever his face fell into a smirk to rival Mugen's. "I'm nothing but an ex-mercenary who decided to retire early and help a poor little bar maid."

Mugen's hand was a flash, and she barely realized that he was drawing his sword. "Mugen, he's just a friend." Mugen stopped, and looked at him, then Fuu. "Bullshit." Fuu let out an exasperated sigh and threw her hands up. "Shouldn't we be- oh I don't know- getting the fuck outta here?" She cringed at her cursing and looked over at Mugen, who had the decency to look a little crestfallen. "We'll do introductions later… but now, let's focus on getting ready to leave."

…..

"Master Atiyoshi."

He listened as his ward slid the dojo door closed. He opened his eyes and looked at his disheveled hair, usually wild and curly, but now wet with sweat from training. He sighed, stood up, and faced her. She was very tiny, being only 14, and had long brown hair that was put back into a braid that swung at her waist. Her hazel eyes sparkled with unshed tears. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Maiyuu, what's the matter?' He let his tan, lanky arm pull her shaking form, and she buried her face in his black hoari. "I- Your father…" She trailed off and pulled back, her eyes darting to the floor. He felt her hand, and jumped, feeling her clammy fingers guide his hand to her collarbone. His eyes widened in shock and anger, as he watched her kimono slide down her shoulder to reveal bruises dusting across her neck, then going down her chest…

She sobbed as he clinched his eyes closed. He crushed her to him, and smoothed her braid down. "Mai, he didn't… touch you, did he?" At her hesitation, he growled and stood abruptly. She fell to the ground and bowed, her voice muffled by the floor. "Yoshi- I-I mean, Master Ati-"

He picked her up and stood her on shaky legs. She stared at her pale hands, and grabbed his sleeve. "Don't do anything rash-"

"WHAT? Don't do anything rash?" He snarled the words at her, and she cringed at his tone. His eyes softened, and he leaned down. "Mai, we're going to leave tonight." Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "But who'll take the thrown? He's already killed your half-brother-"

"Do you really think that? Cause last time I heard, he killed the men who were supposed to kill the child and the mother." He smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. "All we have to do is travel east. That's probably their plan of action. My dad's power doesn't extend that far." He gave her an encouraging smile. "…And after I find Mugen, I'll be able to take down that bastard once and for all.

…..

Fuu sighed as the ship rocked to the right, and looked at Aki and Jurrien out of the corner of her eye. The small cabin had two futons, both of which here on one side of the room, and Mugen was sitting to Fuu's left, eyes closed. She turned shook him awake. His bloodshot eyes flung open, and she saw him relax whenever his eyes landed on her face.

"What… Are we there?" She shook her head and offered him a smile. "It's just… you promised me an explanation as to why all of a sudden, Aki's Japan's most wanted little girl." Mugen's fists visibly clinched, and he turned to her. "It's my dad."

Fuu was expecting something way different, and was momentarily shocked at the mention of his father. He smiled down at her, and then leaned against the wall. "According to my mom, he raped her when she was a little younger than me, which is probably why she was such a whore. He thought if he were to lock me up and kill any 'potential heirs', then the child he actually wanted could inherit the throne. As if I would even want to." He spit out the last part and turned to her. "Three years I was locked up, and the whole time I thought I was gonna be the cause of your death…" He looked away, and put back on his cracked mask of indifference. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to get you in a safe place, then go and kill him." He looked back at Fuu, only to recoil at the anger in her face. "You… You bastard!" She stood up and grabbed him by his shirt, dragging him into the hallway.

"What- Alright, you crazy bitch, let me go!" He threw her off of him, and she stumbled backwards into the wall across from him. She was panting, and was surprised to see him breathing hard as well. "How dare you! You come back, expecting for everything to be all fine, like 'Oh, the all Great and Powerful Mugen has returned.' Well listen here," she spat, poking him in the chest, "I'm going with you. You're not going to leave me and her, unprotected, or so help me if anything happens… to her…" she trailed off as his face became contorted with anger.

"You think that I WANT to leave you? Are you stupid?" He roared, causing her to flinch. He slammed his hands onto the wall, and all she could see out of the corners of her eyes were tan and blue. Leaning his face down so he was inches away from her. "I would be no better than my father. Do you honestly think that I'm that…?" He paused, and then backed away, looking at her as if daring her to question him. "I'm not always a piece of shit, alright?" He shook his head and started to walk away, only to feel a small hand on his wrist, bringing him back to the night before they parted ways, the night Aki-

"…Did you hear me? I asked where you're going." She realized that his eyes had gone dark, and she shook under his gaze. Her heart racing, she almost felt like she knew what he was thinking about, and it only made her tremble. He leaned down, as if contemplating on doing something, before breaking away.

He walked down the hallway, waving to Fuu. "Ima go find something to drink on this crummy ship."

…

"Yoshi…"

Mai shifted on his back, and then settled back into her original position. Atiyoshi was beginning to regret insisting on 'traveling lightly'. All they had was money, which was no good in the middle of the woods. He gently sat her onto a pile of leaves and leaned against a tree trunk. Closing his eyes, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

"Master Atiyoshi, your father is going to be very mad," a younger Maiyuu wined. He shushed her and turned down the spiral staircase, leading him deeper and deeper into the dungeon. As he reached the door, he almost felt like something was pulling him back. Shaking it off, he opened the door.

He instantly felt himself choke; It smelled so bad, he almost wanted to turn around and run, but he had to do something first…

"Mai, stay here," he whispered. She blinked back tears, her lips trembling and her face flushed. Atiyoshi slowly walked towards the man with hair like his, like his fathers. He stopped whenever his face shot up. His eyes were red and puffy; his arms thin and circled with blue cuffs. He offered him a weak smile. "Oi, kid, you should really give me that bread your holding."

Atiyoshi nodded, then kneeled next to him, holding the bread out to him. He snatched it from him and swallowed it in one bite. Coughing, he fell to his side, and Atiyoshi listened as his breathing slowed, and he took this opportunity to talk to him.

"Is your- is your name Mugen?" he asked quietly. He heard his breathing stutter, before returning to its regular pace. He waited anxiously until Mugen sighed a yes. Atiyoshi felt himself break out into a cold sweat. "M- Mugen, my name is Atiyoshi, but you can call me Yoshi." He swallowed, then continued. "According to my father's concubine… Well, s-she said that we share the same father."

He heard Mugen stop breathing, then a dark chuckle. "Really now?" he rasped out. Yoshi felt a hand feebly clutch at his throat, and he stumbled backwards out of his skeletal grip. Panting slightly, he stood up and heard Mugen force one more thing out.

"Your dad's gonna pay for this one day, just you wait."

…..