R&R

So I know I told one of you one time that I don't like writing AU's but recently I was inspired to write one. The title literally tells you what kind of AU this will be so know this DOES NOT take place in the Edo period. Also AU means Alternate Universe for those who don't know.

Enjoy my luvs!

Oneshot 34: Present Day AU

by AshAnime

Fuu dropped her book bag at the front door and shrugged off her coat. Kicking off her shoes, she peered around the eerily silent house, realizing no one else was home yet. Sighing, she headed into the kitchen and rummaged around for an after school snack, finally coming up with a bag of potato chips. So what if it was family size?

Rolling her shoulders, she headed back to where she dropped her book bag and grabbed what she would need to complete her homework. Finals were coming up and it was crunch time. She couldn't afford slipping in something as easy as homework, because she wasn't so sure she would be acing the tests.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she hauled books, folders and a large bag of potato chips up the stairs and turned left down the hall. Her eyebrows furrowed at the site of her room door standing ajar. The yellow glow of her lamp spilled out into the hallway but she shrugged it off.

Fuu had a habit of turning off her lamp and closing the door when she left for school. Maybe she had forgotten this time?

Her sock clad feet carried on anyway and she turned into her pink room only to let out a blood curdling scream that sent books, folders and family-sized potato chips flying.

"Mugen, what the hell?!" she shrieked, clutching her chest. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as they adjusted to the sight of none other then the rebel, Mugen, propped up against her silk pillows with his boot clad feet up in her bed. He held one of her favorite books in his grubby hands, unknowingly holding it upside down.

Couldn't he read?

"Why are you in my room?!" she demanded after a whole minute of him simply staring at her. She slowly knelt down to pick up everything she had dropped as he scratched his stubble in thought.

"Geez is this how you treat all your guests? Can't I pay you a visit every once in a while?"

Fuu shook her head in exasperation and eyed the open window by her desk. "Usually when people pay each other a visit they use the door!" Her sharp glare landed on him as she rose to a stand and plopped her stuff unto the bed. "You know you can't be here. My parents are going to be home any second."

Mugen simply graced her with one of his slow smirks, the kind that drove her absolutely crazy.

Fuu growled under her breath. "What do you want?"

"Why do ya always gotta assume I want something from ya?" Mugen sat up and swung his feet unto the floor before placed her book on the bed-side table. "And why do you keep calling those folks your parents? They aren't you kn-"

"They are now," Fuu stated firmly. "Legally and permanently. They adopted me."

A tan hand waved away her statement. "Yeah, yeah whatever." Mugen stood and tugged on his tattered leather jacket to hug his lean frame closer. He turned to stare at her admiring his back and only let the grin on his face grow at her blush.

"I didn't come for anything, necessarily," he said, "but if you'd be willing to make a generous donation…"

Fuu rolled her eyes. "There's leftover pizza in the fridge and I think I have five dollars left from my allowance."

Mugen placed his hands behind his head, his grin reaching from ear to ear. "Thanks, girly."

"But if you spend any of the money on liquor I swear this is the last time I help you, Mugen!" Fuu warned him, turning on her heels. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go heat you up a couple of slices."

"Make it the whole box!"

Fuu rubbed her temples as she descended the stairs, marveling at her stupidity. She was caterings to a homeless delinquent who thought he could just waltz into her bedroom whenever he pleased.

What was the world coming to?

It seemed like she was moving on auto-pilot as she rummaged through the fridge, found the last four slices of pizza, and quickly popped them into the microwave. It droned on in the background as her thoughts contemplated every moment she had spent with the infamous Mugen.

For some reason her thoughts stumbled back to the very first time she met him. It was two years ago and she had been shuffling back and forth between foster homes. Her social worker, Mrs. Yuki, had told her to wait in the car while she grabbed some papers from her office. Fuu had picked at her nails and waited patiently, already expecting to have to wait an hour or more. Mrs. Yuki wasn't a very punctual woman.

And that's when she saw him…

At first glance he oozed danger. From the tattooed blue bands on his wrists and leather jacket on his back to the tough boots on his feet and wicked sneer he wore on his mouth. Anyone who saw Mugen or simply passed him on the street, would cower in fear or simply walk the other way. But, for some odd reason, the more Fuu observed him walk down the street - stop - and then turn back the same way, the more she saw him as a normal person.

His dark brown eyes didn't scream "trouble!", they whispered… "lost."

"Are you looking for something?" she finally called out as he passed the car for the hundredth time.

For a second Fuu thought Mugen hadn't heard her, but then he was halting his languid steps and turning to get a better look at her.

No, his eyes weren't scary, just his eyebrows.

"What'd you want brat?!" he blurted, chin jutting out defiantly.

Fuu glared back at him and crossed her arms. "I'm just wondering why you keep walking up and down the same street. You look lost."

He studied her for a second before coming closer. "Didn't your parents ever tell you not to talk to strangers?" he sneered, even going as far as to lean against the car door.

Fuu tilted her head to the side in mock thought. "I guess not. Seeing as how I don't have any parents."

She could have sworn she saw something flash across Mugen's hard irises, but then his steely glare was back and he was leaning down to get a better look at her. "Weird," he muttered. "Neither do I."

At that time, she had been fifteen and he had been nineteen.

After the incident, Mugen would pop in and out of Fuu's life at the most random times. When a group of girls were bullying her. When a couple of boys decided to get a little too grabby. When she was crying and shaking because another family had yet again thrown her out, not even giving an explanation as to why they didn't want her.

Ok, so maybe his visits weren't that random. They seemed to have a purpose when she thought long and hard about it, but what impressed her the most was how easy it was for Mugen to find her.

He always found her.

"Oi! Girly! What's taking so long?!" the very ruffian she'd been pondering about called form upstairs.

Fuu jolted out of her haze and stared dumbly at the microwave, realizing it had stopped ages ago. "Quit yelling!" she barked back. "Or the nosey neighbors will hear you!"

"Never liked the bastards anyway!"

Fuu dragged a single hand down her face before retrieving the pizza and heading upstairs quickly. She did not need her new parents coming home and wondering why she was taking four slices of pizza to her room.

"Finally!"

Before Fuu could even say "Bon appetite" Mugen was taking the pizza out of her hands and stuffing his face. What a pig.

"So fucking good!" he cheered, miraculously swallowing the large amount of dough and cheese in his mouth. "Forget girls who can cook. I want a chic who knows how to order pizza!"

Fuu smiled sheepishly at the round-a-bout compliment and grabbed her work books off her bed. "How charming," she muttered, heading over to her desk and plopping unto her squeaky computer chair. For now school was more important then a bag of potato chips she could have sworn were calling her name.

"So where's the bitch and her husband?" Mugen asked suddenly.

Fuu gasped. "Mugen! Don't call her that! Ayane has been nothing but nice to me. She's an awesome mom."

Mugen shrugged and stuffed an entire crust into his mouth. "Whatever you say, girly, but I see the way she stares at ya sometimes. Like you're a fucking burden or something."

Fuu's brows furrowed. "No she doesn't. When- How do you know that?"

"I've got eyes," the crass free-loader stated bluntly. "All she cares about is money. It's written all over her fucking face. Wake up will ya? I can't keep watching your back forever."

Fuu snorted. "No one told you to look out for me. You can stop stalking me at any time, you're the one who chooses to hang around and show up unexpectedly."

"Why you little flat as a board-"

"I'M HOME!"

Fuu's eyes widened. She scrambled out of her chair and lunged for Mugen's frozen form. "You have to leave, now! This is the first home I've ever felt welcomed in and you are not ruining this for me!" she whispered harshly, tugging on his worn jacket and dragging him towards the window.

"Alright, alright I'm going." He glanced back at her and ruffled her hair before placing a sloppy pizza kiss on her cheek.

"Ew Mugen! Cut it out!" Her face blushed as red as a pepperoni.

Mugen placed one foot out on to the slope of the roof as Fuu's small hands pushed him from behind. "Girly I'm going to fucking fall if you keep pushing me like that."

She huffed. "Just hurry up! I think Mr. Yato's coming up the stairs!"

"Then let me go dammit! You're still holding my jacket!"

Fuu abruptly let the fabric fall from her fingers before Mugen could get a good footing. She held her breath as he went skidding down the slope before latching unto the gutter. "Shit!" he breathed, his jacket halfway off his spindly form. His chest heaved beneath a red t-shirt as he stared up at Fuu and flashed her a devilish smile.

"See you around girly!" he hollered, ignoring her pleas for him to be quiet. "I'll be back when you start crying over these idiots!"

"There wont be any crying this time," she hissed back. "This family loves me, I can tell."

For a split second Fuu thought she saw Mugen's eyes soften, but then he was jumping the rest of the way down to the lawn below. She held back a shriek until he gracefully landed. For someone so rough Mugen had a surprisingly fluid way in which he held his body.

He dusted off his jacket and shrugged it unto his shoulders. Right where it belonged.

"Don't get your hopes up. They always come crashing down and then I'm left to pick shit up again."

Fuu couldn't hear him. She leaned out the window a little. "What was that?"

Mugen waved away her questions and placed his hands in his pockets. "Nothing, girly. Now get inside before you fall out the goddamn window."

"Fuu?!"

She had been ready to call Mugen a worry-wart when she heard her name being called and footsteps heading up the stairs. She hardly had time for a quick wave goodbye down to the surly idiot before turning and fixing her ruffled hair.

"Fuu-" The door opened and her new father stepped inside, thick brows furrowed in confusion. "You know the house rules young lady. Were you talking to someone up here? Did you bring someone from school home with you?"

Fuu used the most confused expression she could recall. "No. I'm sorry if I was being really loud Mr. Yato. I was practicing for a… speech I have to give in class."

Yato Mitsuko eyed his new daughter suspiciously before sighing. "Alright then. And remember what I've told you numerous times before. It's dad, father or even just Mitsuko. Mr. Yato isn't necessary."

Fuu nodded quickly.

"Ok then… good luck on your speech. Study hard."

"I will."

Finally, the door closed behind him and the stressed teen could breathe. She wiped her forehead and peeked a glance out the window just in time to see Mugen disappear around a corner. His little visits were always stressful, but even she couldn't deny how much she had grown to depend on them.

Even though she complained Fuu liked the idea of someone always watching over her. In a world where family after family gave her up and she found herself transferring from one school to the next, Mugen was her only constant.

If only he knew how much she loved that.

I didn't proof read the second half of this OS so sorry for any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. I just wanted you guys to really read this one. I'm actually proud of it.

Also, if you would like me to write a continuation of this OS I will gladly do so.

THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING!