3A/N: I made some corrections to this one shot thanks to a nice reviewer who noticed there was a lot of typos in it, thank you a lot Onyx Pearl! Sorry if my English is kinda problematic, it's my second langage. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading this!
Vinegar & Lavender
A sunny, warm, beautiful morning. Birds are chirping. Three companions are walking on a dusty road, with no sign of civilization for miles around. No one is talking. Jin walks a bit ahead, mainly because he's the only one blessed with a sense of orientation. It's tiny, but still better than the two other's. It's difficult to guess what he could be thinking about, because his face is kinda bland. His brows occasionally twitch when he doesn't know which road to follow or when the wind carry to him the odor of Mugen's , walks Mugen. His geta are making a thundering noise and he seems somewhat proud about his noisy manners. His hands are in his hair, and he scratches them absently. He has a smile on his face, and you can bet he's thinking about the whore he shagged two nights ago. And, last but not least, comes Fuu. She makes careful, little steps because the strap of her left sandal is getting thinner and should be snapping soon if she lost only a little her balance.
As she walks, she still has an eye on Mugen. She'd say it's only to check on him, to see if he tries to leave them like he claims he would anytime. But, in all honesty, it's because he has grown on her. As rude and disgusting as he is, he's still nice deep down and it's easy to laugh with him, even though he prefers to laugh at her for being a little whiny piggy. Sometimes, she wonders if he really hates her. And then he cracks a joke and pat her on the head, or gently push her shoulder -well, as gently as Mugen can be- and the cloud of sad thoughts disappear.
As she watches him, she notices that he scratches his head a lot more and more vigorously than average. She raises an eyebrow but forget about it when she almost trip on a rock and focus on the road.
The sun is setting down now. Jin is trying to lit a fire while Mugen and Fuu are searching for something to eat because they all now how gifted Jin is for fishing -which means cursed-. Fuu is looking for some berries in a bush to accompany whatever fish Mugen is going to catch but Mugen distracts her. He's sitting on a rock, casting his line out on a peaceful river. Ordinarily, the only moment where he sits almost still is when he's fishing: his whole body seems to relax and if you pay attention you can sometime catch a a glimpse of a soft smile. Fuu has a few theories about this uncharacteristic attitude of him -not that she thinks enough about Mugen to elaborate theory about him!-. Maybe it's because the water makes him think about his past, or a at least a past where not everything is about fighting, killing and being killed. Maybe it's because he's more an introspective guy as he appears. Maybe he just like fishing very much.
Tonight is different. There's no soothed face or any loosen up muscle on this rock. Mugen is still scratching eagerly his scalp, frowning his brows and pinching his mouth. Something must really be bothering him. She raises an eyebrow but forget about it when her berries almost fall out of her hands and focus on the harvest.
It's a quiet supper. The taste of the berry sauce Fuu managed to cook complements the fish nicely. She quite frankly can't remember the last time they managed to eat something this good while traveling on the road. She might get used to their incessants journeys if she learned to cook better, and of course, if a stooge brought her some fish. The next time they have to find work, she could go to a cooking job rather than a waitressing one. In the kitchens she should be sheltered of wandering hands and unpleasant customers. The only thing that restrains her from doing so is just, exactly, how could she manage to not devour everything she cooks?
''So, how do you guys find my sauce?'', she asks, enthusiast.
''Hmmm.''
''Oh come on Jin! You can't just hmmm at everything I say!''
And then, it's quiet again. No mocking remark from Mugen. No imitation of the humming samurai. No « ewwww that shit taste worse than poison and believe me I have some experience ». Fuu turns to face him, and he's distracted, still scratching his head. This time, she doesn't raise an eyebrow nor does she forgets about it.
''What's happening to you Mugen? You've been acting weird all day.''
''Huh?''
''You've got something in your hair? Lemme see.'', she says as she approaches him.
''Go away bitch!'' , he respond as he back up in a defensive position, ''There's nothing wrong with my hair and I don't want your witch hands near it!''
''Well, I'm not doing it cause I like it, but to prevent any disease from contaminating the rest of us! Don't be a baby!''
She grabs his wrist and tries to jerk him next to the fire so she can see better. He relentlessly allow himself to be carried along because he just know that if he want any peace, he'd better cooperate. She carefully touches his hair and honestly, they're kinda soft. It's even almost pleasant to burry her hands in it. However, what she discovers is not that enjoyable.
''Ewwww Mugen gross! Your head is full of lice!''
The paranoia began as soon as she discovered the lice. They would usually sleep all three of them around the fire, a reasonable distance between them. However, Fuu decided to sleep right next to Jin, turning her back to Mugen. ''Better safe than sorry'' she said. ''My pretty princess ass will not rest next to a disgusting hobo like you'' heard Mugen.
In the morning, she decide that they would need to take a detour from their original travel plan and go as fast as possible to the nearest city. The sooner Mugen's hair would be clean the better. Just knowing what was in his mane made her want to furiously scrape her head. Jin approves, since he too is worried about his long ebony hair being parasitized. It isn't a surprising decision coming from him: he does care a lot about his physical appearance, unlike a certain someone.
Mugen plainly notice that Fuu's hair are tied back in a more tighter and higher bun. He knows she's trying to avoid him, just like Four-eyes. And it does not amuse him. Come on, he only has lice, he doesn't deserve to be treated like he's a leper! Who are they for them to act like that? A haughty bitch and a stuck up ronin? Well, anyways, that gives him some sort of leverage on them and he surely can find a way to annoy them.
So, he become ''touchy-feely Mugen'' and it for sure works.
'' So, why do you want me so much to have clean hair? Those tiny beasts ain't gonna eat ya''
''Well, what do you think Mugen?''
''Huh, I dunno, that's why I ask, you dumb bitch''
'' You do know that if you get too much lice on your head, the scratching feeling will become unbearable and you'll have no other choice than to cut all of your hair and look like a bald baboon?''
''Oh'' said Mugen so softly that Fuu does not even hear him as the realization hit him. There is no way he could actually become bald. They could have told him this information earlier! He processes the fact for about two more quiet minutes before running his foul mouth again.
''Maybe you should go bald girlie, you already attracts weird pervs it wouldn't change anything for you''
''YOU-!''
After many ''iiiiirrrrk Mugen! Don't come that close, you're gonna infect me!'' and disapproving frowns from Jin, they finally make it to town. Since they are as rich as ever, they have to find a job before doing anything. Jin finds an old man who is willing to pay for some gardening, Fuu get hired as a waitress -old habits die hard- and Mugen, well… live his life. Fuu does not even scold him. It feels a bit weird. She thought about going on a rant about how it is his fault that they had to go to this town, his fault they have to work to pay for a treatment, his fault that she always have the feeling that some insects are teeming in her hair, his fault for sleeping with a goddam whore with nasty hair, his fault for being so damn careless! But she just stayed quiet: she doesn't want him to stay around her, nor around anyone in fact, because she has an irrational fear that he is going to infect the whole town with his hair and she wants a clear conscience.
So Mugen just finds himself wandering around with nothing to do. He has no money to drink sake, no money to go to the bawdy house. The city seems too small to have any skilled swordsman he could fight, probably no mafia to dismantle either. He just feel like taking a nap, still absent-mindedly scratching his scalp. Maybe this situation isn't so bad after all. No work to do, no nagging bitch. Is this what people call holidays?
The inn is booked for the night and Fuu is readying herself. She broke a tray of dishes at work and got payed way less than expected. Since Jin is the one who paid, she is the one who has to act. She re-ties her bun before spraying some lavender oil in her neck and behind her ears in order to prevent the lice to come near her hair. Then she sprays some more oil on her comb. It is a really fine toothed comb, made of tortoise shell that her mother gave her as a birthday gift for her 10th anniversary. At first, she wasn't willing to use it on Mugen but buying another comb was too expensive for their shoestring budget. She argued that she could use Jin's comb but it wasn't as fine toothed as hers -to the great relief of the takes a deep breath and turns her head to the vagrant who sat in the corner of the room, next to a basin, negligently looking at the dirt beneath his nails.
''Mugen, lower your head down the basin!''
''Alright, alright, just lower your voice too, you're destroying my hearing''
''Well excuse for being a little nervous while I'm trying to help you with your lice!''
She grabs a huge bottle of vinegar and pour it all over his hair. She kinda tries to massage it in to help the product operate but she's obviously disgusted: she cannot help herself but to think about the numbers of lice hidden in this dense mane. So she pours some more vinegar.
''So, you just have to wait like this for 10 minutes in order to let the vinegar to kill the lice and nits''
'' Are you really saying that I have to look at the vinegar dropping down my hair for 10 minutes?''
''Yup! Lemme know if you feel bored so I can remind you why you're in this situation and why you deserve it!''
''C'mon, you couldn't expect me to know that this slut had f'cking lice in her hair!''
''Well, you wouldn't have this problem in the first place if you didn't go to every brothel you see!''
''Maybe I wouldn't have to if I traveled with a real woman instead of stupid girl with no tits!''
''You-!''
She pinch her mouth at this remark and her shoulders falls a little, obviously hurt. The silence between them is now deafening. Mugen knows he went too far. Even if he isn't sure what it means, he has noticed how seriously she seems to take every comments he makes about her. But he doesn't say anything.
Then, she grabs a towel and put it on Mugen's head. She roughly dries his hair - a bit more roughly than she intended to do but he deserves it- and put the towel on her knees.
''Put your head on my knees''
Mugen wisely chose to not comment. She's sitting zazen style, his head on her knees, her comb in her hand and he can observe her disgruntled face slowly relaxing as she concentrates on what she's doing. At first she pull on his hair -because the comb is too fine toothed she says- but slowly it becomes more and more gentle, and it even feels nice, and Mugen feels himself slowly falling asleep.
When Fuu wakes him up, he feels like he slept for hours but she assures him that it has only been a few minutes long slumber. He raises an eyebrow but forget about it when she tells him to go wash his hair one last time in the inn's bath to get rid of the vinegar scent.
The next morning, they're back on the road. A strong smell of lavender envelops them, a preventive measure imposed by Jin. As usual, he's the one walking ahead, leading his companions. He pretends to not perceive the way Mugen walks closer to Fuu, even now that he cannot frighten her with the proximity of lice. He also feign to ignores it when he sees the vagrant grabbing Fuu's wrist, loudly mumbling about how slow she walks and pulling herself a bit. Maybe this is how he envisage to show gratefulness?
Those unusual acts of kindness makes him raises an eyebrow but he forgets about it when the the forest seems strongly familiar, as if they walked numerous time through it.
