Hey Readers! Welcome to our collaborative fanfic featuring the daughter of your favorite tea-house worker!

This story is brought to you by HeartbrokenCandyHearts and KindredVeggies.

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Posts may be sporadic as it's difficult enough to juggle writing with school and work, but imagine how much harder it is when you have to co-write a story with someone else who ALSO has school and a job? I know. Pretty damn difficult.

Don't let this discourage you though! We both love Samurai Champloo and we promise to do it's dedicated fans justice.

Disclaimer: We don't own Samurai Champloo :(

Min shuffled down the dirt path leading to the tiny shop that housed her late mother. She slid the paper door open and rubbed her puffy, red eyes.

"Where are they?" She muttered to herself. She opened drawers and slammed them impatiently, shuffling through various knick knacks her mother had collected over the years.

"She said they were in here…" she growled, "The right corner of the shop." She looked to the corner of the room where a small table resided, "The right corner…." She strode forwards and knelt down, the smooth fabric of her dark brown kimono sliding under her knees. She pushed the table aside and shoved her small fingers in between two creaky floorboards.

"Of course she did," Min said to herself, a small smirk on her lips. Her mother was always like that, a woman who hid her emotions well and kept her past locked away in the recessed of her mind. Min pulled back with all her might, popping her elbow. "OW! DAMNIT!" She shook out her arm and glared at the floorboard. She sat back and crossed her legs, the light pink flowers across her kimono widenening.

After a minute of brainstorming, she finally pulled a small pink katana from her waist line and wedged it in between the boards, then leaned on it with all of her weight. The floorboard suddenly popped up, a few splinters of wood flying outwards. "YESSS!" She cheered, throwing her hands up in the air, exposing her tan forearms. She leaned over and peeked beneath the rickety wood, spotting a small wooden box. Min shoved her arm beneath the floor and eagerly felt the tips of her fingers graze the dusty surface. She grunted and wiggled her butt to shove her arm and shoulder further into the small slot, finally wrapping her fingers around the corner then pulling it little by little into her palm. Gripping the box, she wriggled backwards pulling the box to the surface.

The box was dark, about the size of her thigh, and had a small sunflower painted on the lid. Min slid her finger into the thin crevice and lifted the top, setting it back on its squeaky hinges. Inside were folded sheets of paper, yellow with age. "Mom, I will fulfill your wish." Min whispered to the box, closing the top and hugging it tightly to her chest, "I promise."

Min stood tall, a new fire burning in her eyes. She tucked the box beneath her arms and strutted out of the store, her wooden sandals tapping the floor like small hooves. The sun had already started to set, but Min was set on finding the samurai master her mother had spoken about in the last moments of her life.

Min sighed and slumped over as she walked, "I'm so hungry." She whined, her stomach growled in agreement. Her hand clenched her midsection as she stood up straight and looked around the small village she had called home since she was born. A store stood on the corner of a crossroads in the center of town, this was the dumpling shop. Min had frequented the shop regularly with her mother, who used to reminisce about how it reminded her a lot of home and her childhood friends. Min pushed the high-set curtain aside and walked in, sitting down at a table on the floor. She fished around her pocket for all the money she had left, only two gold pieces. "Shit." She let out a sigh and put one gold piece in the box and left the other out for dinner.

An old woman plodded up to her table, "What is it you want?" She asked apathetically.

"One plate of dumplings and tea-."

"Okay." The old woman cut her off and shuffled to the back.

"Tsch." Min clicked her teeth, "Old hag." She hissed under her breath. Looking down at her gold piece, she felt eyes burning into the top of her head. She glanced at the door, to the kitchen, then up at a boy that was about her age, sixteen, sitting at a table in the other corner of the restaurant, he glanced up from his tea and gave her a hard glare.

"What?" He snapped.

"What?" She retorted. She glared back at him, looking him up and down, "You have an issue?"

"No." He said quietly, sipping his tea and looking back down at his food, then ahead, avoiding eye contact.

'"Hmph…. Good." She sneered, as the old woman set down her food. She gave the woman the gold piece, "I'm expecting change back." She said.

"Yeah, yeah." The woman waved her off, heading to the back once again.

Silence engulfed the shop, Min munched on her dumplings and so did the boy. She glanced over and saw him staring at her, "STOP LOOKING AT ME!" Min exploded, standing up with the slam of her hands on the table.

The boy's eyebrow twitched, "You're making a scene." He said calmly setting both his hands down on the table.

"Good!" She spat. "Now where's that old hag with my change?" She slinked towards the entrance to the back.

The boy stood up quickly then blocked her from entering, he put a hand on her forehead, "That's for employees only. Have respect." He said sternly.

"Respect this." Min snapped, swinging her leg up, kicking him where it hurts. The boy squeaked and fell to his knees, "Now, I'm gonna go get my money. Watch." She gave him a firm kick to the side, sending him flying into a table. She grinned and pushed the long curtain aside that led to the back.

A few minutes later she came out with three gold pieces, the boy stood tall at the exit, his sword unsheathed, "Woman, I am Ryuu Hachiro eighth son of the Ryuu Clan, apprentice at the most prestigious dojo in Japan, master swordsmen, aspiring samura-."

Min let out a loud yawn and walked calmly past him, "Whatever, Rio Hakito."

Hachiro's eyes widened, "H-Hey! Wait!"

Min took off into a sprint, "Later Habiko!"

"Hey! HEY! WOMAN!" He felt his cheeks turn red with anger and embarrassment as he saw his fellow villagers stare at him, he rarely spoke let alone yelled. This woman… She turned me into someone I'm not… Calm down. He thought, taking in a deep breath and sheathing his sword. He looked down the path with his deep brown eyes and began to walk away from the shop.

Min cackled as she sprinted down a wooded path, "Too easy! Underestimate me because I'm a woman, tsch. Try again!" She mused to herself. She skidded to a stop as a small traditional style building came into sight. There was a wrap around walkway riddled with bridges. Small streams and waterfalls intertwined below the bridges and platforms. Min slowly walked up the wooden stairs, her sandals clicking against the wood, echoing off the dark blue walls on the outside of the small building. She reached the sliding paper door, a wooden sign hung neatly next to it, "Dojo." Min read out loud to herself. "Public domain." She said shrugging. She slid the door open with a loud CLACK.

"So what brings you to my dojo?" The elderly man with glasses greeted, sipping at a steaming cup of tea. He gestured at the small mat across from him for Min to take a seat.

As she plopped down she immediately got to the point, "I'm looking for a samurai, supposedly he is one of the best masters in Japan, his name is Jin. Do you know him?" Min asked bluntly, not bothering with manners.

Something sparked in the old samurai's eye, "And where exactly did you hear a rumor like that? If you are looking for a master, you should know I refuse to teach women, it is a man's duty to fight, and a woman's to raise the children."

"Tsch," Min rolled her eyes, "S o you're the infamous Jin, she told me you would be like that."

He raised an eyebrow, "She?"

"My mother, Fuu."

Jin set down his teacup with a loud clink.

Min continued, "She said you were traditional up the ass and—"

"Where is she now?" He interrupted, ignoring the insult. He looked Min straight in the eye.

She wondered what kind of relationship her mother could have possibly have with a man like this. "Dead." She finally answered, sighing, "She's dead."

There was an awkward pause as Jin looked at the ceiling.

"Oh hello there!" A woman entered the room carrying a new pot of tea. "Who is this lovely little sunflower?" She asked, her eyes crinkling as she smiled in Min's direction.

Min sneered and Jin winced.

"I am going out to meditate," Jin stated, his voice suddenly much quieter than before, but still firm enough to indicate that he did not want to be followed. He left the room through the back door, sliding the paper screen shut behind him.

"Don't take it personally," the woman reassured Min, "sometimes he just gets grumpy."

Min made a move for the door but was quickly blocked. "I just finished making dinner, you should join me.

Understanding how stubborn a woman could be when protecting something, Min backed down and agreed to dinner with a small nod of her head.

"Perfect!" The woman clapped her hands, "Just sit anywhere you like, I'll be right back after I go fetch my son from his crib."

Min hesitantly looked around the kitchen, pausing by the portrait depicting a young woman stuffing her face with rice, countless empty bowls surrounded her. She doesn't look ladylike at all, my kind of woman. What she didn't notice was the girl's familiar pink kimono decorated with yellow flowers. Then the aroma of perfectly grilled eel hit her nose and Min's mouth began to water.

"I hope you like eel, it's my husband's favorite dish."

Min spun around, "You made this wonderful smell!?" Her eyes grew wide in appreciation of the woman's cooking skills.

"I will take that as a yes." The woman chuckled.

Wait a minute…

"I'm sorry…Ma'am, but I don't think I ever learned your name. I'm Min." She bowed.

"Well it has been lovely to meet you Min, my name is Shino and this is my son Juyuu. Now that introductions are out of the way, let's eat." Shino sat her little boy in her lap and began to feed him small bites of white rice topped with an unidentifiable mush.

Min scrunched her nose slightly at the color; it's probably something specifically for babies, I shouldn't make a big deal out of it, after all Shino is being kind enough to feed me.

The dinner started off as slightly awkward, with neither of the participants, besides Juyuu making much of any noise. Desperate to get her mind off of Jin and his strange behavior, Min created and kept the conversation going with small talk. Despite trying to concentrate on what a good meal Shino had prepared, as well as appearing interested in Shino's stories from the old days, Min kept focusing on when she would be able to speak with Jin. By the time Min had managed to get Jin off of her mind, she realized she had already four bowls of eel and rice.

"Shino-san," Min began, crafting an idea in her head, "You said this was your husband's favorite meal right?"

"That's right; we actually met at an eel stand, so it's a sentimental meal…" Shino drifted off, no doubt reliving her memories. Taking advantage of her host's momentary distraction, Min offered to take Jin a bowl before it grew cold. "Of course dear, thank you for being so considerate" Shino excused her from the table, still caught up in her nostalgia.

Min grabbed a bowl, sloppily filled it with rice, and headed out of the same door Jin left an hour earlier. Searching the small garden for Jin's dark blue kimono, Min stumbled upon a stone path. She followed the winding stones until she reached a tree a few yards back from the top of the hill where Jin sat, meditating as he faced the ocean below a sharp, and sudden drop off.

"You look so much like your mother, yet you act so much like your father." He sighed, making Min jump with his sudden declaration.

She stepped forward, sitting next to him and roughly thrusting the bowl into his lap along with a pair of chopsticks, not offering any explanation. "You knew my father?"

"I did," he admitted, "although it has been a lifetime since I saw either of them. We were once traveling companions."

"Traveling companions?" Min asked, intrigued by the notion that her mother and father had once been close enough with Jin for him to accompany them on a journey.

"It started in a small tea shop," he began, "that was actually the first time any of us had met. Your mother Fuu was a waitress back in those days, and your father and I happened upon the same location by pure coincidence. I don't know exactly what happened between your parents before I arrived, but by that point your father had already beaten up several samurai and was looking to fight the local yakuza."

"Then where do you come in?" Min interrupted.

"He fought me instead." Jin said simply.

"But why?"

"Because he couldn't have fought the yakuza then, I had already killed them all."

Min went silent, finally realizing the extent of Jin's skill. "Then what happened? If you were trying to kill each other, then how in the world did you end up traveling together?"

"Well in our scuffle we ended up burning down the tea house and getting imprisoned by the governor, the same governor whose son your father beat up, and the same governor who yakuza I had killed."

"You two beat up the governor's son and killed his best samurai in a single afternoon?"

Jin continued this time, ignoring Min's comment. "Your mother ended up helping us escape before we could be executed, and that's when she made us a bet, a bet that would change all of our lives."

Min raised her eyebrow, skeptical of his severity, "What kind of bet could be that drastic?"

"Because she helped us escape, she felt she deserved something in return. Fuu told us that if she flipped a coin and it landed heads up then she would leave us alone to kill each other in battle, but if it landed on tails, then we would be her bodyguards as long as she was searching for the samurai who smells of sunflowers."

Min gasped, "You are one of the bodyguards?! She told me that story countless times, I can't believe you were really one of the men that went with her." Min sat in mother always spoke so highly of her bodyguards, calling them the most precious friends she had ever met.

She pulled out a letter from inside her kimono, looking at the name written on the front in her mom's delicate handwriting. She took a deep breath and gazed at the waves crashing into the rocks, clutching the thick envelope one last time before holding it out to Jin. He slowly reached out and took it from her shaking fingers, opening it with one swift motion. The ocean continued to flow back and forth, sending a salty spray into the air.

Jin's eyebrows furrowed, and then raised; his emotions showing clearly on his face for the first time in years. He removed another smaller envelope, setting it aside as he finished reading Fuu's letter.

Reaching up a taking Min's hand he finally spoke, "Take this envelope," He insisted, placing the paper in Min's hand. "Mugen lives over the mountains by the sea, you must travel and deliver this to him."

"Mugen? Whose Mugen?" Min asked, intrigued by the name written on the second letter

"A friend of your mother's," Jin explained, "someone very close to her, hence it is extremely important that you deliver this."

Min felt taken aback, she thought her journey ended when she entered this dojo, but apparently not. "Well where am I supposed to find this Mugen? Why do I have to deliver this anyway? I don't even know the guy!"

Jin pursed his lips, "Do it for your mother."

Min's protests fell silent. For my mother, I'd do anything for you, mom...

"Fine, I'll do it," she relented, pocketing the letter, "But you still haven't told me where I am supposed to find him."

"Over the mountains there is a small fishing village, there you will find an blind woman named Sarah. She will direct you the rest of the way."

"A blind woman? Really?"

Min's sarcasm fell on deaf ears, "Come on," beckoned Jin, motioning for her to stand. "Before you go, I have an idea."

Hachiro pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against, beginning to make his way up the steep incline.

Jin put his hand on his knees and slowly stood, his joints cracking with age. "Hachiro." He said, not even sparing a glance towards his pupil.

Hachiro stopped and bowed, "Master, I-."

"Was eavesdropping." Jin finished. He turned and put his arms behind his body, the long sleeves of his kimono draping to the ground. "Tell me, are you interested in this story enough to do me a favor? Like accompanying this young woman on during her travels?"

Hachiro looked up, surprised, "Master… Of course! Anything." He said standing up quickly, his head still bowed. He was a young man, about nineteen years old, who had been training with Jin since he was a young boy; Jin was his idol. Hachiro always did his best to please his master and, ultimately, to become his master.

Min stood up and crossed her arms across her chest, "Oh what a noble samurai." She mocked, her grin revealing a chipped bottom tooth.

Hachiro felt his body go rigid, realizing Min's identity for the first time, his head snapped up, "Y-You." He stammered. "Master, this girl is a thief, an inappropriate, improper woman. You can't expect me to soil my reputation accompanying such a-a-..."

"A what?" Jin asked, taking a step forwards, gripping the hilt of his sword.

Hachiro flinched, "M-Master…" He dropped to one knee.

Min stepped forward and put her hands on her hips, "Back off, I don't need some guy protecting my honor or some foolishness like that." She said looking between Hachiro's face of shock and Jin's resting face of disapproval.

Jin slid his hand off on the hilt and let it fall to his side, "Very well, then." A small smirk spread across his lips, "You really are a lot like him." A sigh escaped his lungs before he nodded to the both of them, "I expect you both to depart tomorrow morning. Good luck on your journey, I hope you find him without difficulty." He bowed to Min, who awkwardly bowed back.

Hachiro's jaw dropped, Master bowing to a vagabond like her? What the hell? He thought, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

Min walked past Hachiro, setting her hand under his chin, closing his mouth for him, "See you tomorrow morning, partner." She said, the last word stinging like a slap to the face.

Hachiro stood on the cliff by himself, looking over the village into the sky, "Why me?" He complained, rubbing his temples before turning his back and making his way to the dojo.

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