Walking to his job, Jin passes a gloomy woman standing on the bridge. He stops and tells her that the water is shallow. She would do better to jump off somewhere else. She laughs his comments off, and she heads the other way.

Mugen is attending a "kabuto sumo", or beetle wrestling. One beetle knocks another off the pedistal. Mugen loses and is angered.

Jin heads to a shop for a "cutting" job. The shop is for cutting eels and serving kayamaki. This was not the cutting that Jin intended. Nonetheless, a job is a job and Jin takes it. The woman from before stops by and wishes to buy some eel.

Jin is very brute when it comes to eels. The woman shows that you must be delicate with them, like women. Customers begin to arrive. So, the woman helps Jin cook and sell the eel. After the costomers leave, the woman remembers that she didn't come to work, and Jin makes her her own.

Jin does a poor job of cooking the eel, but the woman is polite and accepts the eel as a Jin delicacy. As she is leaving, she mentions that today is her last day of freedom. Her husband fell in debt, and she must work in a brothel. She parts as Jin looks concerned.

Back at the lodge, Mugen is training his kabuto to fight in the sumo matches. Fuu bitches at him for quitting his bodyguarding job to play with bugs. So, Mugen brings Fuu to the kabuto sumo. She looks very bored, but Mugen has a great passion. His kabuto tosses the other out, and he wins.

Jin goes to the brothel where the woman is now working. He returns her parasol, but she says she no longer has a need for it just like her name. But it is Shino.

Jin returns, but Shino asks him not to come around anymore. It is bad for business. The owner tells his men to get rid of the "poor" samurai, who has no money to buy. They surround him and Jin secures his swords. They knock him down and he takes the beating without a struggle. When all is done, he walks back alone, thinking of the life that Shino will have to endure.

At the lodge, Mugen won enough money to pay for the lodge and have leftovers. Jin returns beaten, but sees the money Mugen has earned. He asks to borrow the money to buy a woman! They all look shocked. Jin returns to the brothel and shows the owner that he has money. They take his swords, and he heads to a room.

Fuu and Mugen discuss Jin's motive. Mugen doesn't care, but he is glad that Jin is not gay. Fuu says that she should be all that Jin needs.

In the brothel, Jin tells her that he is a traveler and not an eel merchant. When the rain stops, he will leave. However, we wishes that he never leaves the town. She laughs, but only because she is sad and kisses Jin.

Fuu is waitressing and overhears the brothel owner talk about Jin. He mentions that Shino's husband is a bad man. For these times, a woman can not divorce her husband, but the husband can.

Jin asks Shino to leave with him, but she is faithfull to her husband. He was rich, but lost it all by gambling. She says this is now the end of Jin and her, and she leaves to talk with the owner.

Her husband is there and he asks for the tips she is making. She tells him to stop gambling and he hits her. Jin arrives, and holds him down. The husband says he can do as he wants, because she is married to him. He says he will contine to have her make him money. Shino asks Jin to leave.

In the lodge, Jin tries to sleep, but heads out again. Fuu stops him and says that she understands his feelings of pity. Jin says it's not pity. He says he is going to leave. If he doesn't come back, Fuu should travel with Mugen. She reminds him of her promise, but he leaves anyways.

Jin pays again to see Shino, He says that if they run away, there is a temple across the river where they can find sanctuary. She says that she could never live like that. But, Jin reminds her of the bridge and how she comptemplated dying. She remembers and decides to leave.

The owner says that time is up or Jin needs to pay an extension fee. He barges in as Shino is climbing out the window. He grabs her, but she drops down in time. Jin catches her. They run to an alley but are cornered.

Jin reaches for his swords, but he gave them up at the brothel. He makes due with hand to hand combay. Fast approaching, Fuu and Mugen are on their way. Mugen returns and says, "I want my money back." Jin and Shino leave as Mugen takes care of the men.

As they are at the river, Shino's husband arrives. He asks her not to leave him. She says that she is taking her life back and throws her tips in his face. That is the price he valued of his wife. Jin places her in the boat and pushes her off. She reaches to grab him, but she is out of reach. She says thanks and floats away.

Notes:
As Mugen and Fuu bicker about which team Jin plays for, Mugen makes a comment that Fuu is flat chested. She says she'll show that she is not, but changes her mind.

Mugen asks if Fuu is jealous of Jin's love. She says Jin is not her type, but Mugen falls asleep.

It's presumed that Jin sleeps with Shino.

When Jin tells Fuu that he may not return, Mugen pretends to be asleep, but is listening to Jin leave.

Jin has never parted with his katanas except, now, to run off with Shino.

It rains during the entirety of the episode, except at the end. The clouds break and the sun shines over the bridge.