Conflicts by Charlene

Part One: At the Beginning

Standard disclaimers apply

I watch you growing/sometimes I see myself in you/it can be scary sometimes/but kinda funny too/I hear you talking /a lot of similarities/your choice of words/and all the fantasies/just the way we are/I guess you've seen it now/a mirror of ourselves sure makes us weird falling down/from a mountain of frights/what's there to hold on to?/the way you make us all smile/and the despair when you just won't go to sleep/you could have me walking a mile/to make you smile/still it's not really a weep/I know you fooled me a million times/I just can't help it/don't know just the way we are/I know you hate it/but they really have to do what they do/you're crying out your wishes/I understand/yet they don't have a clue—Lene Marlin's "The Way We Are"

Aoshi sat quietly in his meditating position. The air around him was cool, calm, soothing. It was a perfect morning to rest his soul and gain inner peace. As he clasped his hands loosely on his crossed legs, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

The colours began to swim slowly…then all was black. His mind was blank, emptied of everything. Nothingness surrounded him protectively and a sense of calm security washed over him as he began to relax in his tranquility.

"Aoshi-sama!" Aoshi's eyes flew open. He glanced around but there was no one in sight. What was wrong with him? He shook his head as if to clear it of all distractions and inhaled again, ready to resume his meditation. But peace did not come to him. The colours did not meld together in a soft myriad as before.

Instead, an image of Misao appeared before him, smiling, happy as always. Aoshi frowned. Why couldn't he concentrate? He had done this a million times before. He knew that each time was different, refreshing and unique in its own way. He managed to find peace with himself and his heart each time in a different way.

But today…Aoshi let out an annoyed grunt and glanced quickly around as if to assure himself that there was no one watching him. He closed his eyes and tried again…but it was too late. His concentration was completely shattered, his mind filled with perturbing thoughts that needled him.

Exasperated with himself, Aoshi finally got up, knowing it was hopeless to keep trying. One could not practice Zen when one was not at ease with himself, his surroundings or his mind. Misao…you distract me even when you're not around…he thought bemusedly. Yet through the seeming normality of the situation, he felt strongly that something was amiss. Ever since he had turned to meditation for comfort and protection from the harsh realities of the truths Battousai put up to him, he had not once been unable to concentrate.

Enough of this nonsense, he commanded himself. So what? For one day meditation is unable to offer the protection that you seek and something's wrong?! Aoshi rolled his eyes. He was going crazy.

And yet he couldn't shake the feeling of unease and uncertainty. Gathering his kodachi and heading out of the temple to the Aoiya, he knew, somehow, whether it be through swordsman intuition or plain instinct, that something was out of place and that, even though he hadn't yet seen it, he wouldn't like it one bit.

Misao muttered curses under her breath as she worked furiously away at the front porch with a worn-out broom. Clouds of dust shot up in the air, making Misao cough angrily. "Who does that Okina think he is? Ordering me around and saying things about Aoshi… he's such a rotten old geezer! Only gets meaner as he gets older!"

Her mind wandered back to the scene between him, her, Okon and Omasu in the kitchen. "Misao-chan…why don't you help out more around here? In case you haven't noticed, we've been short-handed for a while now," Okon began, trying to sound tactful. She knew how dangerous Misao could be when provoked.

"Yeah," put in Omasu quickly. "You've just been dreaming and practicing your kunai tossing ever since Kenshin and the others left for Tokyo!" Misao just gaped, completely caught off guard. "Misao! Stop all this nonsense! He's too old, and besides, he can't even feel!" Okina's deep voice rang out. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he wanted to take them back. But it was too late.

After keicho kicking all of them, Misao (feeling a little guilty) grabbed a broom and set to work on the front porch. What needled her wasn't that they were right about her laziness, but that they were right about Aoshi. He was too old, and he could hardly even feel. Why was she then so obsessed over a person who didn't even seem human?

Gritting her teeth, Misao vented her frustrations on the poor broom which swept across the floors with a resounding crack. "Misao-chan! You'll wear the floors down smooth soon!" a polite masculine voice interrupted her.

Misao snapped her head up and was greeted by a remarkably handsome and well-dressed young man with strangely familiar green eyes. Immediately self-conscious, Misao cursed inwardly that her hair was stuck to her forehead in sweaty clumps and that her home clothes were dusty, dishevelled and hardly presentable.

"H-how did you know my name?" she asked quickly, trying to cover her embarrassment. The man smiled faintly, seemingly disappointed. "Don't you remember me, Misao-chan? I mean, I know it's been what—eight, nine years, but I was sure you would recognize me…" Misao frowned, racking her brain for an answer. How could she have known such a good-looking and so obviously well off youth at eight?

She glanced up into his sea green eyes, meaning to apologize for her sudden loss of memory, but the answer came to her suddenly. "Kami-sama! Shinji! Takeshi Shinji! Is that—really you?"

The man sighed in apparent relief and gave her a warm smile. "Finally! After all, we all but bathed in the same bath water!" "You—are you truly—but you can't—" Misao could not stop sputtering in her shock and incredulity. Shinji kindly gave her time to regain her composure, and when she did, Misao threw him a coy glance and, whipping out some kunai, proceeded to accurately pin them onto a nearby pillar in a fluid, practiced motion.

"See! I told you I would eventually get it right!" she crowed triumphantly. Shinji laughed at her and taunted, "But you still can't do it as well as I could!" A brief scuffle ensued, but was halted when the main doors of the Aoiya were pushed open by a curious and impatient Okina. "Misao, aren't you going to invite—kisama! Shinji? Is that you?" Shinji smiled once again, in his politely pleasant way.

"Ho! I knew it was you! There's no mistaking those green eyes!" Okina roared joyously, and, in a moment of impulse, reached out and grabbed the young man into one of his signature rib-cracking hugs. Misao, with a squeal of delight, stepped forward and enveloped both men in her own bear hug.

It was this moment that Aoshi chose to arrive home. "Who's this," he said quietly, inclining his head slightly in Shinji's direction. Misao stepped back from both men and shrieked happily, "It's Shinji, Aoshi-sama! Don't you remember—" "I do," he cut her off coldly with a wave of his hand. Once again, as always, his expression showed no surprise, shock or even slight interest.

Misao's face fell. With a sudden flash of memory, she remembered that Aoshi-sama never did like Shinji for some reason or other. Although Shinji had been but two years older than her, and Aoshi much older than the both of them, they had somehow never gotten along, much less become as good friends as Misao was with Shinji. Aoshi had never tried to hide his apparent dislike for the boy.

"So you finally decided to come back?" Aoshi, still expressionless, addressed the tall good-looking fellow before him. Both men exchanged icy looks. "I did," Shinji returned the greeting coolly. Aoshi, throwing him a final withering glance, strode past the three of them into the Aoiya.

Misao laughed nervously, to break the tension. "C'mon, Shinji! Let's go inside! Okon and Omasu have probably created a huge feast! Let me assure you—Aoiya's food are delicious and we have many specialties! You must be starving!" As she rambled on, Okina shook his head and ushered the both of them inside.

"So what have you been doing with yourself the past few years?" Okina asked conversationally, as he reached for his chopsticks. A wide spread of "Aoiya's specialties" lay before them and everyone, even Aoshi, was at the table. "I thought you'd never ask!" Shinji replied laughingly.

"After I returned from Switzerland, I went to Aizu to study medicine and am now assigned to a small clinic here as an assistant!" "Honto?" Misao questioned incredulously. "Somehow, I never really thought you would actually make something of yourself—" The table rocked with merry laughter.

"A clinic here? There's only one and it belongs to Oshima Sensei, but has been taken over by his daughter Tomiko. Is that the one you're talking about?" asked Okon curiously.

Shinji nodded, somewhat surprised. "You're gonna be assistant to Tomiko?!" Misao exclaimed, wrinkling her nose. Shinji nodded again, puzzled by her outburst. A scene of Shinji and Tomiko treating a patient's wounds together flashed into Misao's mind. "You stitch wounds up so good, Shin-san!" "Ano…" "Ohohohoho!" (Typical Megumi laugh).

Misao grimaced in distaste. Was it just her, or were all female doctors notorious boyfriend-stealers and flirts with freaky laughs?

Misao face-faulted. "Don't mind her. Let's eat," urged Okina. Everyone dug into the feast hungrily, except Aoshi. He seldom ate together with the rest, and when he did, he rarely touched the food. Sometimes though, Misao would notice and urge him to eat. But not today…it was Shinji's fault.

His appetite gone, Aoshi got up and mumbled, "Sumimasen." He left the room abruptly, and for once, nobody seemed to notice.

The next morning, Misao went along with Shinji to Tomiko's clinic. She didn't trust the notorious young lady so like the fox-lady in Aizu and besides, she wanted to cheer her bestfriend on for his first job. As they walked along in companionable silence, Misao's thoughts wandered to back when Shinji and her were the best of friends.

"Betcha can't toss the kunai even three feet!" mocked Shinji with an idiotic smirk on his face. Misao scrunched up her face and grabbed the kunai to take him up on the dare. It had always been a thing with her and him and kunai. He had just learnt a few basic skills from the Oniwabanshuu and had just about bragged his head off ever since.

She did toss the kunai, and she couldn't toss it more than three feet, and she did try millions of times after, but she had only succeeded learning how to throw kunai without unintentionally hurting herself and others, after Shinji had left.

Why had he left anyway? Oh yes, Misao remembered. There was that challenge another member of the Oniwabanshuu—a big tall fellow named Tanaka, put up to him. Her heart contracted painfully as she remembered how Tanaka had dared Shinji to run on top of the roofs of all the houses in the entire neighbourhood during a thunderstorm. It was a silly dare, but Shinji had never turned down a dare before, and he wasn't about to.

On a particularly slippery roof, Shinji slipped and fell three stories down. Misao's eyes misted as she remembered how she had tearfully called out his name for fear that he would never wake up. But he did, and that was the most frightening thing of all. His face was contorted with pain, his mouth open in speechless agony, and although he never said a word, Misao would always remember, from then on, what hurt and sorrow the rain brought whenever a storm approached. Dark, fear, the unknown, these were things that she had always shied away from because she knew they would hurt her.

When Okina rushed him to the nearby clinic, the doctor said that he had severely broken his femur bone and would never walk again. However, he also added that medical research was very advanced in Switzerland, and so Shinji's father decided to take his son there in the hope that Shinji would be able to walk again.

The years passed after Shinji's departure, and Misao pined for his companionship. She missed his fun-loving ways and boyish daring ideas. He always had a new game to play every day of the year and she loved being his playmate. Of course, being his companion had several other advantages too…like protection from Tanaka the bully, free stolen food from the kitchen, and…and…

Misao smiled secretly. She had loved Shinji in a quiet way at that time too. Not the way she loved Aoshi-sama, of course. Nothing like that. The love she felt for Aoshi-sama was…in a class of its own. But she had felt…she didn't know, something for him each time she looked at him. A yearning tug of her heart strings. A dull hopeless throb. Misao sighed. She still loved him now, of course, but it was different.

After the years he had spent at the school, Shinji was now a perfect gentleman with dignified manners and politeness way beyond the Shinji she had once known. He had lost his youthful boyishness and daring and everything that she had once so secretly admired in him was gone. He was a completely new person, and, of course, she had already devoted her life to Aoshi-sama and would never look twice at another man. "Why're you so quiet today, Misao-chan?" came Shinji's gentle voice. Misao quickly snapped out of her reverie and shook her head. "Daijoubu."

They were reaching the clinic already, and Misao could just about imagine Tomiko's warm welcome. "Misao-chan, why, what're you doing here?" Misao mumbled something about knowing Shinji since he was ten, and Tomiko went on in her bright, squealing tone, "What a coincidence! Shin-san! You must come in and let me give you a tour of the clinic!" Misao cringed at the other woman's voice, which grated on her nerves.

Shinji shrugged and followed Tomiko as she led the way. "Wait here for me," he whispered. "I'll get back soon and we'll have lunch at that restaurant…the Shirobeko, ne?" Misao brightened at her bestfriend's words and smiled appreciatively.

Aoshi sighed as he strolled along one of the Aoiya's numerous flower gardens. He had become increasingly distracted over the past few days and had not been able to meditate for a while. Thus he had turned to taking strolls as an alternative in calming his soul. But the brilliant vibrancy of the flowers was lost on him as he strolled on, deep in thought. Aoshi was not one who had backed down from any challenge, especially one that he put up to himself and now he had to find out why he hadn't been able to meditate for so long.

Was it his surroundings? Perhaps he needed to find a new place in which to acquire inner peace. The temple was getting old and maybe there were spirits lurking around to distract him. No…impossible. Aoshi knew that no matter how many senseless and groundless excuses he thought up, it would all be far from the truth.

Takeshi Shinji. His long time nemesis. Why? No, he never did know why. He had hated him, detested his very existence the first time he saw him, as did Shinji. He recalled the first time he met him.

That was when Misao was six, and still living with the Oniwabanshuu in the Aoiya. There was Shiro, at thirteen, whose father one day waltzed in with a man claiming to be his distant relative and his son, to be Shiro's distant cousin. Since the then okashira permitted it, Shinji was allowed to take lessons in training with Misao and a few of the younger bunch.

When Shiro's father introduced them, Aoshi saw immediately that he would hate the lad and his eyes burned with cold arrogance and contempt. Shinji gave him a long appraising stare, then a final condescending glance before he pranced off to play with his new playmates. Misao…

From then on, Misao had just about forgotten about her hero. Yes, he had to admit, he was bitter and green with envy that Shinji had all her attention and that they were closer in age than he was with her. But the fact that needled him right to the core was that Misao deserved a playmate like him. Adventurous, spunky, dare-devilish. Just like her. Aoshi had never made a good playmate. He only knew how to tell stories when she couldn't sleep and how to calm her during a thunderstorm. Little things like that he could do, but not running with her, laughing with her, like Shinji did just about everyday. It was just destined that they should be together. After all, they were closer in age and they had been so close when they were younger. Why not now?

Aoshi ground his feet into the ground as he walked now, and it made a strange shuffling noise. He could just almost picture Misao's and Shinji's wedding…

Suddenly he realized what he was doing and stopped. He mentally kicked himself for letting such a trivial matter affect him so much. After all, Misao wasn't anything to him. Just a sister and a loyal member of the Oniwabanshuu. Even if she was something more…she was still too young, and just a child.

But one does not remain a child forever…a nagging voice whispered at the back of his mind. Yare, yare, Aoshi brushed it aside. I'll think about how to deal with that when the time comes. But he felt a chill of unease sweep over him even as he thought the thought. Perhaps…that time was now?

"What would you like to order today?" Sae asked, smiling politely. Misao grinned and said quickly, "Sukiyaki for me!" Tomiko tut-tutted. "Maa, maa, Misao-chan. You have to wait for the man to give his order before you give yours. It is a basic act of courtesy," she reminded in her absolutely-dripping-with-syrup tone. Misao glowered at her, trying to tell her that she knew what the older lady was doing and that if she didn't stop it now, she would get it later.

Misao sighed as she remembered how they came to be in the Shirobeko all together. She should never have agreed to it.

"Misao-chan, I told Tomiko-san about the lunch and she would like to come along. Would that be okay?" Shinji asked softly, his gentle green eyes smiling down upon her. Misao felt her heart melt. Oh, whatever. After all, what harm could that lady do in one lunch at the Shirobeko?

She nodded amiably but her face hardened as soon as she saw that Tomiko had changed into a richly designed kimono and that Misao was still in her home clothes. Gotta get some new clothes…she thought numbly as she followed the pair.

Snapping back to the present, Misao mumbled a barely audible apology and concentrated hard on the design of the table. "So, Shin-san. Tell me more about yourself," suggested Tomiko, batting her eyelids coquettishly and giving Shinji what she knew to be her most engaging smile. Shinji looked slightly taken aback, but answered calmly, "There's not much to tell. I was Shiro's distant cousin and part of the Oniwabanshuu. I grew up with Misao but left for Switzerland because I had broken my leg from a fall. Then I came back recovered and went to Aizu to study medicine."

Tomiko hung on "Shin-san's" every word as if it were the most interesting speech she'd ever heard. Misao rolled her eyes. Sheesh, how desperate can she get? But she felt a chill of unease when she saw that Shinji's eyes grew more animated as Tomiko engaged him in more serious conversation. Tomiko was one irritating little pest to be sure, but she was also very beautiful and intelligent.

Misao watched on helplessly as the pair chattered on, completely engrossed in their conversation and too interested to notice that she was seated there quietly like a mouse with no one to talk to.

She let her mind wander idly to her Aoshi-sama and she wondered what he would be doing now. Meditating, she thought with a knowing smile. She had never understood why he had turned to meditation after that fight with Shishio. After all, it wasn't anything that interesting…was it? When she spied on him, all she saw was him seated cross-legged on the mat, his eyes closed and face serene. Sometimes, he even sat on for an hour without moving and Misao soon grew tired of watching him. She adored him with every living cell in her body, but there were limits to her patience too.

Her heart warmed as she was once again reminded of the love she held so dear for him. Always for him. He would never know, and right now, she was content just staying like that forever. Her waiting on him, and him lost in Zen teachings, but would it be this way forever? Most probably. Did she want it to?

Misao closed her eyes, confused. Did she want to have the same groundless, purely platonic on the surface relationship with him forever? Sure, she was content most of the time just to watch him from afar and admire him with her whole body emanating adoration. But, there had to be something more in life and, after all, weren't relationships meant to reach higher levels all the time instead of stabilizing?

"Misao-chan," Shinji's deep unruffled voice brought her back to the present. "N-nani?" she started. "You've been so quiet. Is there something wrong?" Misao quickly shook her head. "I'm alright. You two go on talking," she added, a tinge of bitterness unconsciously staining what she intended to be a bright and happy tone.

Shinji shook his head. "I know better. After lunch let's go take a walk. Just you and me?" he lowered his voice so that Tomiko wouldn't hear. Misao put on her brightest smile and nodded enthusiastically. She had forgotten how sensitive and tactful Shinji was. Looks like he hadn't lost all of him over the years, she thought wryly.

Shinji watched in admiration as the beautiful girl pranced through the streets with life and exuberance beyond any girl her age. She skipped like a happy lamb over to a stallholder who she apparently knew and laughingly greeted her.

Misao was still the same after so many years. She hadn't changed a bit. "She is too active and tomboyish for her own good, isn't she?" remarked a sly Tomiko, thinking that she was voicing his sentiments. Shinji, not wanting to appear rude, replied in a hushed whisper, "No, I think it's good for her. She has always been this way." It would be a shame if the bright sunny Misao I used to know had dimmed into a fading light, an artificial mask with paint and ornaments adorning her hair.

Sure, she was a beautiful thing, but she didn't flaunt it or try to even emphasize it. In fact, he would almost say she was unaware of her own femininity. Shinji smiled in a somewhat pleased manner. Then I will be the one to remind her…

Omasu was not stupid. She had seen all that was going on lately in the Aoiya and she knew exactly what was happening. She couldn't be absolutely sure about it, and so she was going to prove that her premonitions were not entirely groundless.

She cared about Misao deeply, in a motherly way. And, like every caring mother, she didn't want Misao to get hurt. Her womanly intuition had told her things Misao was still too innocent to perceive and she wanted to warn Misao before anything happened. She sighed. She knew, ultimately, that it would be Misao's choice, and yet…

Was Misao strong enough, old enough, to make such a choice? Did she have any idea what the consequences would be? Omasu knew the answer was no. Misao was still too young and ignorant of the matters of love, and although it was well known that she loved Aoshi with all her heart, somehow, Omasu knew Misao had not fully learnt how to love yet. She had not grasped the full meaning of what it was to desire, to want to make sacrifices and to…love.

But then again, had anybody ever fully comprehended love? Omasu shook her head. Stop confusing yourself! The only thing you must focus on now is to try and find out Shinji's real reasons for coming back to the Aoiya!

Evenings at the Aoiya were always quiet and peaceful. The magnificent gardens constructed especially for the customers to relax and draw comfort from, were always there to attract the fresh cool breeze and the monotonous drones of the crickets. Somehow the song of the crickets had always comforted her at night. It didn't now… Omasu sighed for the task that lay before her.

Padding quickly across the floors, Omasu reached Shinji's room and knocked softly on the door with one hand. The other hand supported a small tea tray laden with five small cups and a porcelain teapot stewing with fragrant green tea.

"Yes?" She heard Shinji's muffled answer. Omasu gently slid open the door and stepped inside. "The night is cold, Shinji-san, and I thought you might like some tea," she offered softly, kneeling to set out the tea.

Shinji watched as the older woman lay out the tea tray with her practiced movements. "Arigatou, Omasu-san," he thanked her. There was no need for both of them to behave so politely to each other—they had known each other a long way back, but Shinji felt that there was something more to this visit than just tea.

He waited patiently for her to take the initiative and tell him what she was really here for. "Shinji-san…" He waited. "I've noticed that you and Misao have gotten really close…" Omasu began hesitantly. She still wasn't sure how to approach the subject tactfully, and she was doing it the safest way she knew—with patience, tact and lots of careful inch-by-inch probing. "We have always been close, Omasu-san," Shinji interjected quickly.

"Yes, yes, I know that," Omasu answered quickly. "But it's different now. You two are adults now, and you know I am like family to her, and I am concerned that the things that are happening now…well, that Misao may not be able to handle them as she should. I'm sure you know what I mean…" she faltered.

Shinji shook his head, puzzled. What was she getting at? "I don't understand." Omasu paused, lifting the teapot to pour the steaming green liquid into the small cup. For a moment, there was just silence in the room, broken only by the soft silky murmur of liquid against the cup.

"Why did you come back to the Aoiya, Shinji?" she asked finally. Shinji's gaze faltered, but then he looked back into her eyes with quiet confidence. "To see all of you again, Omasu-san. If you don't like me being here, I could always…"

Omasu shook her head vigorously, scared that Shinji was taking it the wrong way. "No! I only meant…I just wanted to know the real reason why you came back. It can't be just to see all of us. I know there is something more…because I can see it in the way you look at her, the way you talk with her and laugh with her. A woman would be blind not to notice these things." Shinji made to protest, but she barrelled on, afraid that her courage would leave her if she stopped. She had to finish what she'd started.

"Shinji, I noticed all these things right from the start, even back to when you and her were just children! I know you love her, Shinji, I just don't want her—or anyone to get hurt! Misao is but a child…she has yet to understand all the complexities of so delicate a matter! It would be hard, even cruel, to force something on her if she is not ready. She is but a child…"

Shinji listened to Omasu unburden herself, warily. The truth of her words bore down on him hard. She was right, so completely and absolutely right. Misao would never be able to face much less make the decision he himself had so long ago made. She was still the happy, carefree spirit he always knew. She could not be tied down cruelly. And yet he had harboured the hope that she would accept for so long in his heart.

All through the years he spent in Switzerland, wishing that he would die because of the endless torment the doctors inflicted on him, all through the sleepless nights, painful therapy and experiments the doctors practiced on him, his love for Misao had fueled him like oil fueled fire. He had realized just then, that he loved her so entirely and that one day, no matter what, he would have her. And she would have him.

Omasu watched Shinji's expression change gradually from genuine puzzlement, to one of a man broken down by the harsh truth her words carried. He glanced up at her dully, when he realized that she had stopped talking.

"You're right." Omasu was unprepared for his answer. "I'm—but—" She had at least expected him to put up a fight, the way men always did when notions they had carried around in their minds were being challenged by a mere woman.

"About both things. It's true that I came back for Misao, and it's also true that she would never be able to stand up to what I was thinking of putting up to her. She is brave and by nature a fighter, but some things she could never understand…" he went on tonelessly, deadly. Omasu searched his face for any sign, any sign of emotion at all, but it was closed, just like Aoshi's.

"I'm not trying to cause a rift, or anything. I just needed you to know that…" Omasu said dubiously. "It is still ultimately Misao's choice—we have no right to make it for her. I just felt that you had forgotten what a free spirit she is. It would be impossible to tie her down unless she wanted to be. And even if you did, she would be miserable. And a miserable Misao is not anything you would want in the household…" she added, trying to keep her tone light.

Suddenly Shinji started, as if he had been tapped awake from a dream. "That…Aoshi, is there—anything between him and Misao?"

Omasu seemed surprised that he knew about Misao and Aoshi. He had only been here two days…but of course! Misao had worshipped Aoshi since the day she breathed her first breath. Shinji would be stupid not to notice that she still worshipped her Aoshi-sama. Worshipped…or loved? Omasu didn't know which, but she was sure she would find out soon. "Aoshi-sama is forever her hero. You know that."

"Yes…but is there anything—else?" Shinji struggled to find the right words, but Omasu understood. "Nobody knows. But to have worshipped someone for so long, to have adored and idolized a man for her whole life, wouldn't you think all that would have blossomed into something more by now?"

Shinji looked up sharply. Omasu's polite tone was unchanged, but her words had been cutting, to his ears at least.

Omasu mentally reproached herself. She had hurt Shinji unintentionally. She didn't want to hurt him, she loved him like a mother, almost as much as she loved Misao. But she needed to protect Misao's and Aoshi's relationship, or what was left of it anyway. After Aoshi had come back from Mount Hiei, interaction between him and anyone else was cut off. Especially with him and Misao. Their relationship had deteriorated so quickly, they were almost like strangers to each other.

And that pained her. She couldn't bear to pass Misao's room in the night and hear her quiet sobs, she couldn't bear to see Misao cringe in hurt when Aoshi rebuffed her, or had turned away her good intentions. Although Misao had tried to be the brave soul she had always been about everything, she was but a sixteen year old. Sixteen year old girls could only stand so much and sooner or later, Misao would eventually break down, and probably give herself up to any man available at the moment. And Shinji would be there waiting. Omasu drew a heavy sigh.

It wasn't that Shinji was a bad person…he was the perfect husband, to be precise. Rich, steady job, handsome, educated and loving, he would give Misao everything she needed. But everything she wanted? Shinji was not for Misao—Aoshi was, and that Omasu could be certain of. She was about to voice her thoughts, when—

"Thank you…for the tea, Omasu-san. I think I'd better retire," Shinji said wearily. He had had enough of Omasu and her hard troubling truths. He needed to rest. "Alright, Shinji-san. Oyasumi nasai," she retreated with the hardly touched tea tray.

Notes: Okay, first I want to make this clear: Shinji IS a nice person. He's really really nice, and he really really loves Misao and wants to show it besides, which is more than I can say for a certain skulking silent freak. Next, I think Omasu is pretty much like a mother to Misao so don't be surprised if she wants to do something about Aoshi. Lastly, I sorta changed the Oniwabanshuu history a bit but that's okay, right? RIGHT?