What's Best for Fuu

Reunited

Fuu lay on her back in the middle of the room she had been staying in at Hiroshi's family home. Her limbs were sprawled as she glared at the ceiling with furrowed brow, a tight frown on her features. Four weeks. She hadn't been truly alone in four weeks! The time spent in her room couldn't be counted, it wasn't actual freedom if she was cooped up inside. It was feeling more like prison every day. Hiroshi kept insisting it was for her protection. Otou-san tried to keep her from being too antsy, explaining that they still didn't know the purpose for the break in the night she had first come to meet the family. She wanted to scream at the elder male, to tell him she knew exactly who had broken in, even if she didn't know why, and that the idiot was long gone by now! But she couldn't. Even though her future father in law seemed reasonable and accepting, there was no guarantee that he could forgive her willing association with a known criminal and pirate as easily as he had the fact that she was born to a Christian. So she couldn't vent at Otou-san without risking everything.

The same should have been true for Hiroshi, he was the man she intended to marry after all. Unfortunately, he was also the one who had effectively placed her under house arrest. Since that first day that he requested she stay with him and allow him to escort her to and from work, she had been trying to avoid a fight. They never fought as friends, and she really would rather not express that part of herself towards him. After three days of constant chaperoning, it was getting annoying as hell. After the first week that passed with no further sign of Mugen, she tried to calmly reason with her intended, explaining that certainly her former bodyguard had left Edo, since they hadn't seen him. Of course, Hiroshi had calmly replied that it was better to be safe than sorry. By the end of her second week of what amounted to incarceration, she was beginning to get short tempered, often snapping sharp retorts to inquiries and statements that didn't warrant such harshness.

The letter that had arrived from Jin and Shino had eased her ire somewhat, at least for a brief while. Instead of her lack of solitude, she focused instead on the fact that her second, more tolerable, bodyguard and his wife would be arriving soon. And they had a surprise for her! Thinking of the letter eventually brought her back around to the unfinished sentence that Shino had left about Mugen, however. That brought her back to the reason for her continuous entourage, which in turn made her irritated once more. A mere two days of peace, and no alone time, was all the arrival of the letter earned the engaged couple before Fuu's wrath was back worse than ever. So by the middle of the third week, she was having full on shouting matches with Hiroshi regarding her desire to be let out alone, or at least to be accompanied by one of the servants rather than he or his father!

It put a strain on their relationship, certainly. And often Fuu would end up in tears, not because Hiroshi would physically harm her, he would never even think of such a thing, but because she was worried she would destroy everything. Never had a man been in love with her. Sure, she'd been kidnapped, taken to brothels, and even inspired some rather provocative artwork. But that wasn't the same as being genuinely loved. Hiroshi told her he loved her, he wanted to marry her! She couldn't stand the thought of losing that! At the sight of her tears, the samurai's son would inevitably try to comfort her, murmuring soft words. They were never quite apologies, but rather explanations, pleas and offers to teach her to defend herself. The last in that list would intrigue her, of course. If she could defend herself, then she wouldn't need escorted constantly! But whenever she would ask to start learning he would unfortunately be unable to provide a lesson for one reason or another. Eventually she just stopped asking, because that started leading to more fights.

So here she was, in her fourth week of house arrest, because what else could such a living arrangement be called? She'd tried to think of a way to sneak out, really she had. But going out through the hallway on her first night in the house, she'd been caught by her betrothed. Sure, she'd made it onto the streets and had a chance to look for Mugen for awhile. But she'd still be caught. And she obviously couldn't waltz out through the main door during the day without finding an escort by her side. She'd thought about using a servant's entrance...but she was pretty sure that she would be spotted by a maid, who would of course tell Hiroshi or Otou-san. The window in her room wasn't exactly a good option. During the day, she could easily be spotted from the room beneath hers if she dropped down. She'd come to discover that Hiroshi's mother liked to spend time there, and that wouldn't do at all. The vile woman was still looking for a way to sabotage their engagement, even if she didn't actively say anything. Fuu could see the delight on her future mother in law's face whenever a spat broke out between the betrothed pair. Fleeing through the window at night wasn't much better. The design of the house put her room in a position where none of the lights that may have lingered into the darkness from main Edo could reach it. So, she would be dropping from a second story window into darkness, not a thought that appealed to her. Besides, options for activities at night were so limited. It would be rather boring, so she'd much rather have her alone time during the day.