Samurai Champloo Fan Fiction ❯ Dancing Cherry Blossoms ❯ Sakura ( Chapter 1 )

Sakura

 

Chapter 1: Get Out

 

 

 

“MUGEN! You asshole!” Fuu yelled. Mugen licked his fingers as he looked over at Fuu. The brunette was standing there with her arms crossed and she was tapping her foot. Jin sat across from him, looking down and sipping his tea quietly.

 

“What the hell is your problem?” Mugen asked.

 

“You just ate all the food I made in a matter of seconds! What the hell are Jin and I supposed to eat now?” Fuu yelled at him. Mugen waved his hand.

 

“Get your ass back in there and make some more. You're making this way harder than it needs to be.” Mugen said lackadaisically. “Plus, it really wasn't all that good to begin with.” Mugen said. Fuu's eyes widened and Jin just shook his head. Mugen looked at him. “What's your problem?”

 

“That was definitely the wrong thing to say.” Jin said quietly. Before Mugen could finish talking, a tanto went flying past his head. A bit of his hair fell to the floor. Jin shook his head. Mugen looked at the small sword in the wall and then looked from where it had come from. Fuu stood in the doorway, holding three more of them.

 

“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to kill me?” Mugen asked. Fuu nodded.

 

“I'm sorry I missed. I can fix that for you, though.” Fuu threw another. Mugen dodged it.

 

“Stop it!” He yelled back at her. Fuu unsheathed another one of them. Mugen looked down at Jin, who had not moved yet. “Where did she get all of those?” He asked.

 

“Training present from me. She's becoming such a good student.” Jin said. Mugen's eye twitched angrily. Fuu threw another one at him.

 

“Get the hell out!” She yelled.

 

“No! I live here too!” Mugen screamed back at her. Fuu threw another. This one nearly got Mugen in the cheek. He stumbled backwards. Jin moved his head to the side to avoid being hit with it.

 

“I think you should leave.” Jin said. Mugen growled something illegible and stood up.

 

“Fine! I'm going. This isn't over, Fuu!” He said, grabbing his sword and walking towards the sliding door. Fuu resisted the urge to throw one in his back and watched him leave. She sat down on the floor.

 

“What an asshole!” She yelled. Jin nodded, still quietly sipping his tea.

 

Mugen walked around the village of Sugiyama. The sun was setting and the village was starting to shut down. Mugen walked over to the tea house and went inside. Kyoko, the girl that worked there, immediately walked over to him.

 

“Mugen! What a surprise!” Kyoko said mockingly. Mugen sat down and pretended to ignore the girl. He crossed his arms. “Let me guess. Fuu's mad at you.” She said. Mugen nodded.

 

“Yeah. She's pissed about me eating her food. Isn't that what she wants us to do?” Mugen asked. Kyoko nodded.

 

“You ate all of it by yourself, leaving none for Fuu and Jin, didn't you?” She asked, crossing her arms. Mugen looked at her.

 

“Shut up and get me my food.” He said, looking away from her. Kyoko laughed and nodded.

 

“But didn't you just eat?” Kyoko asked. Mugen merely stared blankly at her. “Fifteen dumplings and warm sake coming right up.” She said, giggling maniacally. Before she turned to walk away, some noise was heard from across the room. Mugen and Kyoko looked over and saw some thugs harassing a stranger.

 

“Who are they?” Mugen asked. Kyoko shrugged.

 

“I don't know. They've been messing with that poor girl since she got in here. She seems to just keep ignoring them. Maybe you should go help her.” Kyoko said. Mugen shook his head.

 

“I think I'll just stay here. I don't feel like being heroic today.” He said, relaxing back. Kyoko frowned and walked away from him to retrieve his food. Mugen opened one eye and looked over at the girl and the three thugs.

 

The girl was pretty cute. She wore her long black hair in two braids that fell over her shoulders. She didn't look much older than Fuu. She sipped her tea quietly as the thugs jeered and gestured at her. One of them pulled at her braid. Mugen saw her pause, but she made no move to hurt or reprimand them.

 

`She has more control than I do,' Mugen thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when Kyoko came back with his order. She noticed him looking over at the girl.

 

“I don't understand why you just don't go over there and help her.” Kyoko said, sitting down across from Mugen. Mugen ignored her and stuffed three dumplings in his mouth, trying not to look at the girl. Kyoko watched Mugen eat and realized he was trying to not let his conscience get the best of him. She smirked and looked back towards the girl. She was reaching for something at her side when Mugen stood up. Kyoko looked up at him.

 

“Well, since you're begging me to help her...” Mugen said dryly. Kyoko smiled.

 

The girl dropped some money on the table and stood up to leave. She walked out. She turned and started to walk out, the thugs following her. Mugen looked at Kyoko. She pushed him gently.

 

“Well, go and be her savior.” She said jokingly. Mugen mumbled a few choice words and walked outside. He looked around the village. Mugen heard the laughing and jeering of the thugs. He followed the noise and found them circling the girl.

 

The girl stood in the center of the circle of thugs and she looked around at them.

 

“What do you want from me?” She asked. One of the men stepped forward.

 

“You are such a pretty girl.” Another grabbed the girl from behind.

 

Mugen watched this scene from a distance. The girl did not seem to be too afraid of what was about to happen to her. She did not even struggle or cry for help. She just stared blankly at the men. Mugen sighed and decided to make his presence known.

 

“I don't think the lady likes being touched.” He said. Everyone turned to look at him. The girl raised an eyebrow at him. Mugen had the ever-present smug look on his face and he stood with his arms crossed.

 

“Go away! This doesn't concern you, boy.” One of the thugs said to him. Mugen shook his head and started to walk forward. He looked at the girl. She was starting to look a little irritated with him.

 

“I don't need your help.” She said. Mugen stopped walking and faltered for a moment. Had he heard her correctly? Did she just say that she did not need his help when she so obviously does?

 

“You don't look like you're doing too well on your own.” Mugen said. The girl smirked and threw her head back, breaking her captor's nose in the process. He released her. The girl reached behind her and pulled out a pair of sai. Mugen raised an eyebrow.

 

“Like I said, I don't need your help.” She said. In seconds, everyone had drawn a weapon and was now looking around. Mugen made short work of the three who came after him. He watched the girl.

 

She stabbed one of the men in the hand and scratched the other in the face. He ran forward and she ducked and spun on one foot. The man went flying forward onto his face. She stepped on his head and held the tip of one of her sai to his head.

 

“Leave or I'll put a hole in his head.” She said. The thugs nodded and started to run off, battered and beaten. She let the one she was stepping on up and he followed after his scared comrades. She then faced Mugen. “I had it under control.” She said.

 

“You sure are a thankful one, aren't you?” Mugen said sarcastically. The girl put her weapons away. She picked up her bag and unsheathed a small, thin sword. She pointed it at the unsuspecting Mugen.

 

“Why are you still here?” She asked. Mugen raised an eyebrow.

 

“You ungrateful bitch! I just tried to the right thing and help you out and this is the fucking thanks I get?” Mugen threw his arms up. The girl sighed. She lowered her weapon.

 

“What do you want? Compensation or something? A medal, perhaps?” She said sarcastically. Mugen smirked.

 

“Your name will suffice.” He said. The girl raised her weapon again.

 

“If you can disarm me, I'll let you know my name. If I disarm you, you have to help me find a place to stay. Deal?” She said. Mugen raised an eyebrow. Either way it went, he would eventually have to find out her name. Still, there was no way he was going to let her disarm him.

 

“Sure.” He raised his sword. The girl smirked. Mugen stared at her intensely and then came after her. She was fast and twirled, grabbing his arm. Mugen caught a whiff of cherry blossoms as his sword went flying from the way she twisted his wrist. He heard the girl laugh. Mugen stumbled forward as she released him. She caught his airborne sword and pointed both at him.

 

“It looks as though I have won this. You're faster than I thought, though.” She said. She flipped his sword around, pointing the hilt at him. Mugen, frowning and rubbing his sore wrist, snatched it from her. He sheathed it on his back and looked away from her. “You're not used to losing, are you?” She asked.

 

“I guess not. It doesn't happen very often.” He said through grit teeth.

 

“Well, a deal is a deal. Are you going to give me some place to stay for the night?” She asked. Mugen looked down at the short girl.

 

“Tell me your name.”

 

“I will when you show me where to stay.” She countered. Mugen sighed and started walking. The girl picked up her bag and started to follow after him.

 

Fuu was sweeping the floor when Mugen slid the door open loudly. She looked up at him and frowned.

 

“You're back.” She said in a low tone. Mugen seemed to ignore her. He stepped to the side, revealing the girl. She smiled and looked at Fuu. Fuu stared at her for a moment then looked at Mugen. He had gone straight for the leftovers. Fuu sighed and looked back at the girl. “I'm Fuu.” She said. The girl nodded.

 

“My name is Sakura.” She said. Mugen looked up at the sound of the girl's name. She was smiling over at him. Fuu nodded.

 

“Tell me, Sakura. How did you come to meet that arrogant bastard over there?” Fuu asked. Mugen, again, ignored Fuu's profanity against him. Sakura laughed lightly.

 

“Well, he attempted to rescue me from some thugs. I told him I didn't need his help, but he helped anyway. After we disposed of those guys, he wanted to know my name. I said that I would only tell him if he could disarm me.”

 

“Well, I guess since you're standing there, that means that he succeeded in disarming you.” Another voice said from across the room. Sakura turned her head and saw Jin standing there. He was leaning up against the wall. Mugen had turned his back on everyone. Sakura tried not to laugh.

 

“No. Actually, the deal was that if I disarmed him, he would give me a place to stay. If he disarmed me, I would tell him my name. Mugen just found out my name when I told Fuu.” She said. Fuu and Jin looked at each other. The silence was deafening in the room.

 

“You disarmed Mugen?” Fuu asked. Sakura nodded. The next thing she knew, Fuu was on the ground, banging her fist against it. She was laughing so hard she had tears coming from her eyes. Jin stood on the wall, trying desperately to conceal his laughter. It was not working.

 

Mugen sat across the room, brooding and pretending he didn't hear them laughing at him. Sakura walked over to him. She kneeled down next to him. Fuu and Jin were still laughing.

 

“Why are you so quiet over here?” She asked. Mugen looked at her in his peripheral vision.

 

“You're a bitch, did you know that?” Mugen asked. Sakura smacked him on the back of his head.

 

“Yeah, well. It comes with the territory of being the superior fighter between us.” She said. Mugen looked at her.

 

“We will see who the superior fighter is tomorrow.” Mugen stood up and walked over to Fuu. He kicked her and she looked up at him, wiping the tears away. Jin straightened his glasses and cleared his throat.

 

“Why'd you kick me?” Fuu asked loudly.

 

“Stop your screeching. Give her a place to sleep. I've got to take care of some business.” He left the house. Fuu stood up and looked over at Sakura.

 

“That's Jin, by the way.” She said, pointing to him. Sakura nodded. “Well, Sakura. Let's find you some place to sleep. I guess you can sleep in Mugen's room. He won't be back until late tonight anyway.” Fuu said. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

 

“Why not?”

 

“He's probably going to either get drunk or over to Ai's.” Jin said.

 

“Ai? Who's Ai?”

 

“She's the lady who runs the...” Fuu elbowed Jin. He looked down at her.

 

“Ai runs a bookstore down the street.” Fuu lied. Jin rolled his eyes. He worked at the bookstore and Ai was the one person he could say had never set foot in a bookstore in her life. Sakura nodded. “Follow me.” Fuu said. Sakura grabbed her bag and followed Fuu.