This is the first chapter of a looong story, or so I think… As original as usual, you know me ^^o … My imagination has NO limits (this was supposed to say you that is story might not be very original… Sorry, I'm not one to have brilliant ideas ^^o). I hope you'll like it!! The atmosphere should be rather different from CHOY, just a note for the ones who read that story ^^ .
I'm not stopping to write O-miai or something, but I just had to write this prologue to give you a short glimpse of what is waiting for you ^^ . The exact words popped in my mind and I couldn't help but write it.
Have fun and review minna ^^ !!!
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Prologue : What to do
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It was already late and the velvet night had spread its shady wings over the Aoiya for long. Lone, shivering in the darkness, a single flame still enlightened a window with its dim glow, casting somehow frightening shadows on the walls inside the room. Almost about to die in its wobbly dance, cold in its brightness, the young man thought, struck by a sudden access of nostalgia. Everything sounded asleep, but yet as Aoshi silently paded on the cobbled path in from of the inn, that frail candel told him that someone else was awake. No one moved inside the barely lighted room, and the young man wondered what Misao was doing up so late.
Slowly, no noise betraying his presence, Aoshi made his way in the dark corridors of the Aoiya, climbed the stairs. Everything was peacefully silent. He paused in front of Misao's door, the fading light of the candle slightly visible through the thin paper shoji, and as he pricked up his ears, he could hear the faint sound of a pen scratching against paper. He wasn't exactly worrying; Misao was a grown woman now and she knew what she was doing. For nearly a year she had taken over the Oniwabanshuu business and she was doing well, coping with that new world as she dealt with the people around her, that is with her smiles and high spirits. Aoshi was just curious about why she was up so late; being one of her spies now, he was also concerned with the Oniwabanshuu affairs.
Barely audible, his fist rasped at her door. Slow moves were heard inside the room, and Misao opened the shoji with a small smile. Her expression didn't betray any surprise, nor any annoyance for that matter; just those dark blue orbs, that had grown to be so wise despite her youth. He mused quietly that she had probably known about his presence for long. Tilting her head, Misao silently invited him to come in, so that they wouldn't disturb the light sleepers of the Aoiya, and Aoshi complied with a nod. Absent-mindedly he noticed that the candle was nearly entirely consumed, and hot wax pooled on Misao's desk, threatening to soil some paperworks carelessly piled in a corner. Ignoring his presence for a while, Misao picked up some clothes and papers scattered on the floor, before dropping them on a Western-style chair in the corner. Aoshi seized the opportunity to look over her petite figure – how strikingly she had changed over a few months! For someone who wouldn't have known her well, she looked like good old herself; but he wasn't blind and had noticed the transformations occuring in her. It made him uncomfortable, to say the least. At first, she had started to move with the feline grace of a huntress, her not even being aware of it – and then her eyes are turned to undecipherable, bottomless abysses, leaving him clueless. He guessed it was all right: maturing was a part of growing. It just made him feel old and surpassed.
Misao, however, had turned to him; and had she been surprised by the thoughtful glance he casted over her, she didn't let it show. A graceful yet tired smile stretched on her lips, as a silent question about his unexpected presence.
"I saw the light," he merely said, as though the simple assertion was an explanation in itself. Anyway she nodded.
"Is everything alright?", he went on since she didn't speak.
She seemed to be about to say something, and then to change her mind. "Yes. I was doing some paperwork, nothing important, really."
His eyes focused on her exhausted ones, boring holes in her being, but she withstood his gaze without flinching. Hardly did she blush – the adorable, unsure Misao was still lurking just under the self-confident surface yet.
"You should sleep, Misao."
Her pupils narrowed, flickering fiercely, and she pouted. "How could I sleep when there's so much undone work?!", she asked, scowling at him with an expression of feigned offence. "I'm old enough to take care of my sleep needs, Aoshi-sama," she reminded him with a piercing glance. "I still have some work pending."
Aoshi nodded and started to gather some sheets and files lying on her desk. Not quite understanding what he was doing, Misao blinked.
"What are you doin--?"
"I'm taking care of those ones. Deal with whatever is to do left and then go to bed. I don't want to break your neck during training tomorrow because you'll be too slow to dodge my strikes due to lack of sleep," he answered tonelessly, though Misao could catch the hint of humor through his voice.
"But you took all that was left," she pointed out. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"If I tell you so."
"Then you can go to bed."
She blinked again, then grinned in gratefulness. "Arigatou gozaimasu Aoshi-sama!!" And she yawned, tears froming droplets clinging at her eyelashes in the process, betraying how tired she really was. Sheepishly, she blushed slightly and smiled.
"Good night Aoshi-sama!"
"Sleep well Misao."
And the door shut Aoshi out. As soon as the tall man was out, Misao's eyebrows creased, as she dropped on the futon, deep in thoughts, and for once, those thoughts weren't about the one who just left her with her preoccupations. The choice was a headache. What should she do? The others would think that she was worrying about nothing – but she had to be sure. It was a deep, core-striking feeling that dictated her to follow her intuition. She knew. Something was wrong. Maybe she should ask to Aoshi-sama – he would know what to do, surely he would advise her wisely – but no, she couldn't! For God's sake, she couldn't always rely on Aoshi anytime a decision had to be made! She was the Okashira now. It wasn't as much a question of pride as one of confidence. How could the others trust her when she wasn't even able to make her own decisions?
This night, she hardly slept. The terrible sensation of emptiness, the dread left her restless.
She had to be sure.
In his own room, Aoshi had trouble to find peace too. He wasn't taken in by; Misao was tormented. And this bothered him, awakening mild protective feelings, among others that he didn't want to acknowledge.
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Wood hit wood, hard, and Misao's bokken flew off from her hands, thrown out to the other side of the training hall. With a gasp, the kunoichi crouched to the ground to avoid the next strike, but too late.
"Ouch!" She crashed on the floor, taking the blow with full force.
"Too slow!"
"Yes, Aoshi-sama!" Misao jumped on her feet, trying to cast aside the burning pain pulsing in her whole arm from where the wooden sword had hit her. Again, the taller man charged, but this time a lithe yet powerful kick greeted him. He didn't hesitate a second though; and again, the female ninja was hurled to the ground pitilessly.
"You're not concentrating, Misao! Get up!" His voice grew authoritarian.
"Yes!", she forced out, but her throat was too dry to utter an intelligible sound.
Usually she tried to keep unruffled by his purposely severity. Yes, she was the Okashira, but she had grown to be wise enough to acknowledge that being the Okashira meant to use in the best way each one's abilities. Aoshi's was much stronger than her; so she had asked him to teach her, and he had agreed. For a few hours each day, she forgot that she now was his hierarchic superior, she forgot about her rebellious temper, and she became his student. His. Self-abnegation, rigour; he taught her what he had been taught in his youth. She kept quiet and gathered the small pieces of him that he offered. To her he would remain the one that had made her who she was.
He was the one powerful during those short-lived hours, before he drew back into his self-inflicted loneliness and she took back the light to her, that light that she so much wanted to share deep inside.
But today, she couldn't take in anymore. Anyway, her thoughts wouldn't leave her be; what was the use of trying to give in into fight and release the grips her mind held on her body? Misao just couldn't embrace the required attention to tackle with Aoshi. Yet her muscles tightened as she forced her body to get up.
Aoshi, however, seemed to have noticed the concern and self-annoyance in Misao's behavior; as he glanced at her methylene blue eyes, he slightly tilted his head and threw her a towel.
"Sit down against the wall, and rest. Four minutes."
Misao didn't even try to argue, like whenever they were training. Aoshi's admiration was commanded by her mature attitude – who would have guess that the fierce kunoichi could be this controlled? She, however, only acted that way when they were alone; but he thought that she would have blown up her top for long. This was one of the bare, nude signs that let him believe that she had grown.
Sound of water rippling was heard, as Misao drenched the towel and cleaned her neck and face. Nevertheless her brow didn't relax, still clutched into its frown.
"Now tell me what's wrong."
Misao blinked and stared at Aoshi. "What?!"
"Tell me what's wrong", he repeated emotionlessly, though his eyes said differently.
Her eyes darkened. So he knew. She let out a short sigh – she had never been good at hiding matters from him, or maybe it was him who was good at reading her. Whichever, maybe both. Would she tell him, sure he would laugh – well, if he could laugh, that is. Her worries seemed ridiculous to herself, but the burden was too heavy for her to carry it alone.
"Two weeks," she confessed bluntly.
He stared at her without understanding.
"I haven't heard from Amano for two weeks."
Aoshi blinked as he tried to decipher what she was implying.
"You mean, Amano Ryukai, our contact checking the pathway of Torigami?" She nodded.
"For how long have you said?", he inquired.
"Two weeks." She was prepared for him to laugh. She, however, wasn't prepared for him to get up in a jump and take her up with him.
"That's not normal. Amano is a prudent and conscientious man, he wouldn't stop writing without a worthwhile reason. Then, the Torigami pathway is a strategic path to Tokyo through the moutains."
He didn't add anything else, but Misao could read in the tiny wrinkle forming on his forehead that he was worried too now. Her heart tightened in her chest, clutched by an unknown and icy sensation of uneasiness. Something was wrong. She knew it deep inside, and now she was sure of it as Aoshi shared her concern.
"I'm leaving for Torigami." The words had escaped from her lips even before her mind could figure them correctly. But to her greatest surprise, Aoshi curtly nodded. Taken aback, she stared at him, but he wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Aoshi had opened the panel hiding a large cupboard where was stored the ninja gear.
"What are you doing?", Misao asked, clueless, as he grabbed the long saya sheathing the twin kodachis he hadn't used for months.
"I'm coming with you."
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End of Prologue.
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Author's notes : Hey so here is prologue of my new story ^^ . Of course it's a bit short, but it's only the prologue, and anyway I couldn't stop anywhere else ^^ . I'm not wholly satisfied with this part, maybe I'll try to rewrite some parts when I'll have a while…
I have try to write this is in a nice style, I don't really know if I succeeded, but oh well… As I've already said, I'm not a native English speaker and sometimes it shows when I'm trying to write tastefully ^^o . This is going to be a rather sad story, though not devoid of action ^^ … I hope Misao isn't too OOC, she might sound that way in that prologue, but don't worry, she's still good old Misao. I'm trying to explore an other type of AxM relationship… of course there should be a bit of angst in that story, but it won't be 'love-me-love-me-not?' !
Please review and let me know what you thought about this! I need your advice ^^