Samurai Champloo Fan Fiction ❯ Because You Need Me ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: LilyMoonsAlias 
Anime/Manga: Samurai Champloo Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai / Romance / Samurai / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.12.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 807 | Visits: 691 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Samurai Champloo Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai / Romance / Samurai / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.12.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 807 | Visits: 691 | Status: Work In Progress
The young woman, Fuu, pushed open the door of the small room and paused to lean heavily against it, panting a bit from her pain. Her face throbbed, and she couldn't see very well from one eye that was swollen. The misery extended to her chest and abdomen. Breathing was not easy due to the sharp jabs she felt and the constriction of the extremely tight wrapping the elder had insisted upon. The desire to just collapse face down on the floor was almost overwhelming, and Fuu fought against it. She was hurt, true, but the abuse inflicted on her was nothing compared to what her two companions had endured to help her. Fuu owed them her very life, and she couldn't leave them to the ministrations of another.
Taking a gasping, shaky breath Fuu bent over to pick up her basket of supplies and sat next to the first, more severely injured man. Mugen. She remembered the hard and unflinching stare he had raked over the two madmen when he had miraculously appeared in the ruined church and calmly stated he was taking her back. At the time, even with blood dripping from his right cheek from three long gashes and wet hair plastered to his head, Mugen had been her beautiful deliverance from torture. Now, slashed and gashed, broken and bruised, injured in a dozen ways including a gun shot wound, it seemed impossible that he still lived.
'Have some faith in me, will ya. I'm not gonna die.'
Mugen had said those words to her when she refused to leave him behind. Tears welled in her eyes, and Fuu leaned close to whisper to the unconcious man.
"I believe in you. Please....please wake up again and come back."
Fuu lifted Mugen's head into her lap and briefly stroked delicate fingers over his unhurt left cheek before picking a small bowl of tea from her basket. The elder had said it contained ginseng and other herbs to help strengthen the man and ease some of his pain. Fuu placed the edge of the bowl to Mugen's mouth and tried to coax his lips into opening by parting them gently with her fingers. It seemed to work, and Fuu poured in a little of the tea. Even in his comatose state Mugen's body responded to the offering and he swallowed. Fuu was patient and kept up the process until all the tea was consumed. After it was gone she tried to lift Mugen's head from her lap to tend the other man, Jin, but a low moan stopped her. Mugen twisted on the floor, turning his face into the thighs pillowing his head and tangled his right hand in her kimono to keep her close.
Fuu pressed her lips together to stifle a cry and stroked his face to soothe. For several long minutes she let Mugen hold her there while she caressed him and threaded slender fingers through his spiky, black hair to rub his neck. He unconsciously accepted the comfort the young woman tried to give and gradually became still. Fuu watched his chest rise and fall in an easier rhythm and her eyes burned. She knew without a doubt that had Mugen been awake he would never have shown this kind of vulnerability or need to anyone.
Fuu managed to disentangle herself from the tanned hand to care for her other companion. She looked into the pale face of the ronin while feeding him some of the same tea. Jin was cooperative but frowned often in his deep sleep. Fuu also ran her hands down his face and long hair, but stopped as soon as his frown smoothed into a more peaceful expression. It didn't seem right to her to continue touching the stoic, intensely private man when he wasn't awake to permit it.
Fuu's gaze flicked back and forth between her two friends and clasped her hands tightly in prayer.
'Please,' she pleaded silently. 'Let them live, let them stay.' She focused her eyes on Mugen's scarred face. 'Please, let me....' And stopped. They had fulfilled their promise to her. They had saved her life. She couldn't ask them for anything more...but she could wish.
"Fuu-chan," the elder's voice came to her from the doorway. "It is time."
Fuu hesitated a moment more to reassure herself that each man appeared only to be sleeping before getting to her feet. She held her arm over her sore ribs and acknowledged the elder with a nod. There were other things required of her this day before rest. The living had been tended. It was time to bury the dead.
To be continued?
Taking a gasping, shaky breath Fuu bent over to pick up her basket of supplies and sat next to the first, more severely injured man. Mugen. She remembered the hard and unflinching stare he had raked over the two madmen when he had miraculously appeared in the ruined church and calmly stated he was taking her back. At the time, even with blood dripping from his right cheek from three long gashes and wet hair plastered to his head, Mugen had been her beautiful deliverance from torture. Now, slashed and gashed, broken and bruised, injured in a dozen ways including a gun shot wound, it seemed impossible that he still lived.
'Have some faith in me, will ya. I'm not gonna die.'
Mugen had said those words to her when she refused to leave him behind. Tears welled in her eyes, and Fuu leaned close to whisper to the unconcious man.
"I believe in you. Please....please wake up again and come back."
Fuu lifted Mugen's head into her lap and briefly stroked delicate fingers over his unhurt left cheek before picking a small bowl of tea from her basket. The elder had said it contained ginseng and other herbs to help strengthen the man and ease some of his pain. Fuu placed the edge of the bowl to Mugen's mouth and tried to coax his lips into opening by parting them gently with her fingers. It seemed to work, and Fuu poured in a little of the tea. Even in his comatose state Mugen's body responded to the offering and he swallowed. Fuu was patient and kept up the process until all the tea was consumed. After it was gone she tried to lift Mugen's head from her lap to tend the other man, Jin, but a low moan stopped her. Mugen twisted on the floor, turning his face into the thighs pillowing his head and tangled his right hand in her kimono to keep her close.
Fuu pressed her lips together to stifle a cry and stroked his face to soothe. For several long minutes she let Mugen hold her there while she caressed him and threaded slender fingers through his spiky, black hair to rub his neck. He unconsciously accepted the comfort the young woman tried to give and gradually became still. Fuu watched his chest rise and fall in an easier rhythm and her eyes burned. She knew without a doubt that had Mugen been awake he would never have shown this kind of vulnerability or need to anyone.
Fuu managed to disentangle herself from the tanned hand to care for her other companion. She looked into the pale face of the ronin while feeding him some of the same tea. Jin was cooperative but frowned often in his deep sleep. Fuu also ran her hands down his face and long hair, but stopped as soon as his frown smoothed into a more peaceful expression. It didn't seem right to her to continue touching the stoic, intensely private man when he wasn't awake to permit it.
Fuu's gaze flicked back and forth between her two friends and clasped her hands tightly in prayer.
'Please,' she pleaded silently. 'Let them live, let them stay.' She focused her eyes on Mugen's scarred face. 'Please, let me....' And stopped. They had fulfilled their promise to her. They had saved her life. She couldn't ask them for anything more...but she could wish.
"Fuu-chan," the elder's voice came to her from the doorway. "It is time."
Fuu hesitated a moment more to reassure herself that each man appeared only to be sleeping before getting to her feet. She held her arm over her sore ribs and acknowledged the elder with a nod. There were other things required of her this day before rest. The living had been tended. It was time to bury the dead.
To be continued?