40The Blue Yonder: My Home Is Here and With You
A/N: First, thank you to everyone who has reviewed. You are all so kind. Second, this is when I reveal to you what a lazy scum I am and do a convenient ~*timeskip*~.
3 years later…
When she leaves the wedding celebration, Hayate is well on his way to being drunk. He begs her to stay, but she has been away from Granny and Jin for too long, so she begs his forgiveness and departs. Despite the warmth of summer, there is a crispness in the night air that sends little thrills of excitement through her body. Maybe it is the lingering revelry of the party or the sake in her own blood stream, but Fuu feels inexplicably giddy.
At home, Granny sits awake sorting medicines. With Fuu's arrival, the wrinkled little woman begins to pack her work and prepare to sleep. Even though the old woman never says as much, Fuu knows that Granny worries about her safety. It is clear that the old woman waited up to confirm Fuu's return before retiring to her futon. After a few brief words about the beauty of the bride and cheerfulness of the celebration, both women make their way to their respective beds.
At the sight of Jin dozing peacefully, Fuu makes a detour to run a maternal hand through the boy's hair. While she cannot help but be proud of his development, she feels a bittersweet tug at the reality of his rapid growth. With a melancholy little smile, Fuu snuggles beneath her covers and wills away the excitement of her walk.
0.0
It is quite late when a knock rattles Fuu from her fitful slumber. Both Granny and Jin remain soundly asleep, so Fuu goes quietly to the door. Hayate smiles good-naturedly and apologizes for his untimely arrival. A small mishap amongst drunken friends has left him with a sizable cut on his right bicep. He explains he had planned to leave it until morning, but he's a bit concerned about its size and severity. The blood that slides through the fingers of his left hand as they grip the wound has her ignoring his words and ushering him inside.
To avoid disturbing the sleeping inhabitants, she brings light to the house's entry and sits her patient on the rise of the doorstep. She gives Hayate water to wash the blood from his hands and the wound while she gathers the supplies she'll need to stitch the cut. When she sits and faces him to begin her work, she feels their knees brush. The angle is awkward, but she is too focused on her task to notice the slight reddening of Hayate's cheeks or the way he parts his legs to allow her to come closer. Without realizing it, Fuu has settled herself quite intimately between the injured man's thighs.
As she finishes her task, Fuu is confused by the slide of Hayate's hand up her arm. She watches as his hand comes to hold her at the inner curve of her elbow. She doesn't have time to process the move before the feel of his left hand running across her jaw and cupping her cheek distracts her. This is the first time a man has ever touched her like this, but Fuu finds she is more surprised than seduced.
When he kisses her it is gentle, but his hands on her body still make her feel trapped. She is not sure how to answer his advance. He tastes like sake and he feels too close. When he pulls back, she sees the smile she knows, but in her cloud of confusion she can still see that it is sad. Her lack of response has hurt him, and so she feels a strange urge to comfort him.
"Ah, sorry. You didn't like that."
"No, no. I was just surprised. That's all."
"Now that you are ready, can I try again?"
She nods and prepares herself, and he kisses again. Hayate seems happy, but she finds it a little disappointing. He must read her lack of response as shyness because he grasps her hands before ending their kiss and standing quickly. His look is full of affection and contentedness, and Fuu feels horrible for her complete lack of romantic feelings for the man before her.
"I'll come see you tomorrow."
She says nothing, and he passes a thumb over her bottom lip before turning to make his exit.
As she watches him leave, Fuu touches her own fingers to her lips. There must be something wrong with her. She is comfortable with Hayate and he is attractive; there is no reason for her not to return his affections. But she cannot deny that she was not moved by the kiss, and she cannot help but think that there should have been more passion in such a kiss, stolen and in the dark. Then, absurdly, she thinks of Mugen.
0.0
It is not the soft flow of nearby water or the warm caress of the summer sun that wakes him. It is a stick poked repeatedly into his cheek that pulls him from the fog of restless sleep. The persistent stabbing pauses, but Mugen still cannot bring himself to open his eyes.
"Jin, don't! I think he's waking up."
Mugen has a second to contemplate the whisper before the stick returns. Jin, he knows that name…
The stick probes around his mouth in an apparent attempt to lift his lips and expose his teeth. Tired of the inspection, he snaps open his eyes and grabs the stick before his assailant can retreat.
"Jin!"
The cry comes from a little girl. She is clearly concerned about the safety of her playmate now that the corpse has come to life. Mugen can't help but smirk; the girl's concern seems to have no influence on this little Jin. The boy's expression is relaxed as he stares down at Mugen and surveys his waking face. Looking up at the boy with the kid's name running through his mind, it occurs to Mugen that the twerp, with his tanned skin and sea-salt hair, is more a likeness of himself than the four-eyed Jin of his acquaintance.
The boy stands his ground as Mugen makes his way to the nearby river. The three other children keep their distance, but are clearly impressed by their friend's bravery. Without pause, Mugen wades into the river in an attempt to fully wake himself and dull the throb of the wound on his side. The boy follows, but perches on a jutting rock rather than stand in the water.
Mugen is a bit unnerved by the kid's silent scrutiny.
"Didn't your mom ever teach you not to stare?"
Rather than answer Mugen's question, the boy responds with one of his own.
"What are those blue lines?"
Mugen has very little experience with kids, but he knows this one is on the young side. Again, he's tempted to smirk at the kid's lack of self-preservation. He's not sure what kind of response would satisfy the child, but Mugen is saved from making one when the kid interrupts with another question.
"What happened to your side?"
This time the little Jin accompanies his question with a quick nod towards the blood and puss that marks his shirt where his newest wound aches below. Before he can formulate a response, the kid is off his roost and splashing in his direction. A dirt-caked little hand tugs the ruined shirt up as much as the short child arm will allow.
"I've seen worse, but you better come see my mom."
Mugen quirks his eyebrow at the child's boldness, but makes no comment. The promise of the grotesque has garnered an audience, and Mugen looks up to see the other children have ventured closer. From their spot on the shore, they nod their agreement.
0.0
Somehow, on the advice of mini-miscreants, Mugen finds himself following small Jin down a dirt path that is spotted with the occasional home. He can smell the nearness of the sea and guesses this fishing town is not too far from Osaka. Without meaning to, Mugen reaches up and clenches at the wound. He really hopes this kid isn't full of shit because he's ready to admit he needs help.
"Yo, kid. How much farther?"
"Only a little bit."
"You sure your mom can help with this?"
"Yea, I'm sure."
They continue walking in a companionable silence. A sort of seriousness has settled on the boy's face that evokes memories of a different, more austere Jin. Despite outward appearances, maybe there is something like the other Jin in this boy after all.
They crest over a little hill and something strange settles in Mugen's chest. Now viewable from the slope of the knoll are more little houses and, in the distance, a town. However, what draws his eye most insistently is one shack in particular. It is like the others they have passed, simple with a modest vegetable garden, except for the fact that starting from the side closest to them and trailing to the back of the house are a riot of sunflowers. Jin has increased his pace and Mugen feels the thing in his chest tighten. As they keep walking, it becomes increasingly obvious that the sunflower house is their destination.
He's not sure he believes in fate, but he cannot deny that his heartbeat is rapidly increasing with each step.
He doesn't have the chance to voice the question forming on his lips before Jin goes bounding and shouting towards the house, but it doesn't matter because he already has his answer. Stepping out of the flowers, like something out of a goddamn fairytale, is Fuu.
A/N: Speak of the devil, and he appears! Or in this case, think of him…
So, so here's my lazy timeskip explanation: I wanted Jin to be older and I wanted Fuu to be older, too; still our lovable Fuu, but world-weary. I want you to learn some things about Fuu as Mugen learns them, so I needed to maintain some mystery.
Series Fuu is 15, meaning my early chapters Fuu is around 16, so post-skip Fuu is 19. Let's say chapter 5 Jin is nearing 2 based on the developmental steps I faked, so post-skip Jin should be approaching 5. None of this matters, I just wanted Mugen to encounter Jin before reuniting with Fuu, and I feel the need to justify Jin running with the neighborhood kids sans supervision. I also feel like the five year olds of Samurai Champloo Japan would be rough and tumble enough for the contents of this chapter.
