An Offer He Can't Refuse...

Fuu hummed brightly as she re-scrubbed the clean wood floor around the irori. Her face was pale with a carefree smile under wide, fever bright eyes. She kept her mind a careful blank. Mugen had spent the morning sprawled in the futon snoring, then left for town later in the afternoon. She didn’t expect him back till tomorrow.



When she had scoured the floor within an inch of its life, she went around the house and opened all the shoji screens to take advantage of the hot wind blowing through the trees. When the house was open, she stood facing into it. She was still until the first strands of pink stained the sky; she shuddered and went inside to re-light the fire as well as a few of the lanterns. Fuu looked to the irori then away, uninterested in food. Suddenly a noise from the entryway startled her. Mugen stood there toeing out of his geta swinging his long sword from over his shoulder. He had something small cradled in his arm.



“Oi. Why ain’t you cookin’ somethin?”



She smiled dryly at him, reaching up to the fish shaped lever that lowered the iron pot hooks.



“I thought you’d be… busy tonight. It’ll only take a minute.”



He stood there in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot, the bundle still held to him. Fuu looked at him over her shoulder and creased her eyebrows wondering what on earth he was doing. Steadying himself, he crossed the room with his arm held out in front of him.



“Oi, I uh, found this. Thought you’d want it.”



She reached out for the bundle, and no sooner was it in her hands but a tiny nose bumped aside the edge of the hanky covering it.



Mugen stood facing away from her, scratching the back of his neck.



“I remembered that dumb rat you used to keep in your kimono. I know it’s a cat, but I figured…”



He blinked and trailed off when he looked around and saw her face. The tight expression of shrill cheeriness was gone, and the color had returned to her cheeks. He sagged with a relief he refused to acknowledge. Dropping cross-legged beside her, he reached for the steeping teapot and took a swig straight from it, enduring the scald to allow her a spluttered condemnation of his awful manners. Yelling with a furious blush was better than singing without it. Fuu relaxed and pulled aside the napkin to see the black, white and yellow splotched kitten.



“Thank you, Mugen. That was really sweet of you.”



“Yeah yeah, you freakin bleeding heart. It’ll keep the rats outta my food, that’s all I care about.”



“What’ll we name it?”



“Name it? Just call it Neko. It’s not a baby.”



Fuu ignored him and held the miniature furry body up before her, examining her tiny belly and toes before she seized her nose between them and attacked. Mugen’s heart surged to hear her bright laughter, and he lay back onto the floor with his hands behind his head, eyes closed.



“We’ll name you… Takara.”



She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the check before tucking the baby into her collar and going back to their dinner. When she wasn’t looking he opened an eye to watch her, the ghost of a smile hovering on his lips.



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Mugen ran his hands over the smooth flesh of Fuu’s hip, enjoying the soft sigh that came from her mouth. Opening his mouth on her neck, he slid his hand down to roll a finger over her clit.



“Ooh…”



Her skin tasted fresh and clean, like the smell of grass in summer.



“I want you so bad, Mugen…”



That was all the encouragement he needed. He rolled his body over her and in a fluid motion pulled his shirt off and his shorts down; Fuu already lay with her kimono open and her legs spread. He took her jaw in his hand and pulled her mouth to his as he angled his hips to her, the head of his penis sliding against the slick folds of her pussy.



“Oh baby, I’ve wanted you so damn long…”



With a quick jerk of his hips he slid into her, a strangled moan coming from his lips. Fuu threw her head back against the futon, raking her nails pleasurably down his back and keening. She was so tight around him; slick, hot flesh gripped his cock sucking against him as he pulled away and engulfing him as he returned. He couldn’t choose between watching her face and looking down at where their bodies joined together. It was so hot to see her beautiful face gazing up at him, her cheeks pink and her full lips parted as she cooed his name. As he got closer to cumming, he felt this feeling of intense love filling him, so bittersweet it hurt. In a completely un-Mugen gesture he cupped a hand to the side of her face, his thumb skimming gently over her cheek bone. But then all thought was gone, he slammed himself deeper into her, and yelled out,



“Fuu, oh Kami I love you Fuu!”



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He opened his eyes to find Fuu sleeping curled around Takara beside him with her hair fanned across the makura. A tell tale moisture was dripping down his thighs. He reached for her but pulled back at the last second. She’s so pure and I… I don’t deserve to touch her. He rolled quietly out the futon and went to the bath, staying there until Fuu left for work. He rested his head against the lip of the tub then cursed and slammed a fist into the now cold water.



“I can’t love her. She’s so fuckin’ dumb she’d prolly think she was in love with me. I can just see that-‘Oh Mugen, I was so dumb! I love you, not fish face!’ Cha right. I’d fuck it up in a week.”



He climbed out of the tub and walked into the house not bothering to dress. She’d left half a pot of rice and some tea and, as it turned out, the cat. Said cat was butting its little head against Mugen’s knee and knocking itself over in the process.



“Oi! Knock it off, flea bag!”



He pushed the kitten away-gently, to his credit-and returned to his meager breakfast. Takara came back and latched onto his hand, her little tail whipping as she struggled for balance.



“Oi! Quit!”



In spite of himself, he smirked at her antics.



“Guess you’re hungry, huh pip squeak? What the Hell do you eat?”



After a bit of thought, Mugen came up with the idea of fish. A good hour was spent in the river trying to catch one, and when he returned he was in somewhat of a bad mood.



“Here’s your stinkin’ fish!”



Takara looked at the shiny silver thing then back at Mugen, as if to say- ‘And you expect me to do what with this?’



He sighed got to work cleaning the fish. As a last minute inspiration he mixed the bits of fish into a bowl with some of the rice and handed it to the cat before returning to his own meal. With his belly full, he made his way back to where he had left the futon and sprawled across it with a jaw cracking yawn. A small fuzzy ball deposited itself beside his face. He opened one eye and pushed her off the futon only to watch her march back to him and plop down closer than she was before. He pushed her away again and this time she grabbed to his hand. Mugen sat up and grabbed her by the nape of the neck taking her out of the bedroom. He held the tiny bundle up to his face and sneered threateningly at the interruption to his nap.



“You stay in here. I go in there. You got that, flea bag?”



Takara gazed at him solemnly, then promptly grabbed his nose between her paws and bit him.



“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”



Fuu-the teahouse having closed early that day so her boss could attend a wedding-heard Mugen scream and ran the rest of the way to the house. Wrenching open the entry door she surged breathlessly into the house ready to-well she didn’t know what exactly, but her half baked plans for heroism were put on hold when she saw the scene awaiting her. Mugen was completely nude with the kitten clinging to his face and was running around in circles trying to pull her off. When he noticed Fuu, his feet tangled beneath him and he fell to the floor. Takara took this opportunity to prance away and greet Fuu. Mugen looked up at her from the floor, his bronze face getting redder and redder. Laughter bubbled up her throat and she doubled over, dropping her satchel to the ground.



“You just shut up, you stupid bitch!”



She straightened and wiped her eyes, gazing at him with affection in her eyes.



“Calm down, Mugen! Here, I’ll help you up.”



She bent and held out her hand, which Mugen-being Mugen-ignored.



“I can get up myself!”



She giggled and raised an eyebrow at him.



“Is there something between you and Takara I should know about?”



He sneered at her, then smiled and grabbed her to him.



“Jealous are ya? Don’t worry. Even you have bigger tits.”



Fuu’s eyes widened, then she returned his smile rolling her eyes at his stupidity.



Her lips looked so soft, he remembered the dream and on impulse bent to kiss her. Their lips touched gently, then Mugen pulled back looking at the surprised expression on her face. He was about to let her go when she put her arms around his neck and pulled him back down to her, pressing her mouth securely to his. He growled in his throat and gathered her closer, sliding his tongue into her mouth. She tasted just like his dream, fresh and clean, and slightly sweet. Fuu wasn’t quite sure what to do, tentatively touching her tongue to his and rubbing it lightly. He broke the kiss after what seemed like an eternity and angled his head to suck on the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She pressed herself to him and could feel how hard he was, a little breathless at the realization that she had done that, but then something in her mind clicked and she was back there, back in that field with HIM over her sweating and grunting in his throat as he thrust into her, she could smell his breath and sweat and blood and somewhere above her she was watching the whole thing and it wasn’t happening, couldn’t be happening and he slammed into her, hurting her and he was talking, saying her name but it wasn’t him it was Mugen-oh god don’t let him see this-and she was back. It was gone but then, for a horrible moment he wasn’t Mugen, he was him and when he reached up to touch her face she screamed,



“DON’T TOUCH ME!”



Mugen dropped his hands as if he’d been burnt. Turning on his heel he left her there trembling beside the hearth alone, his own heart breaking in his chest.



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A/N irori is a traditional sunken hearth



Makura traditional chaff pillow



Neko cat



Takara treasure



so... reviews?



Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH, MissB!!!! your review was greatly appreciated!



as for the other 160 odd peeps? shame on you! lol, please review, takes a second and makes my day, and any advice would be greatly appreciated!



PEACE! anna