Chapter One: The Past Four Years
Serei
Standard disclaimers apply. I also made a few changes but nothing significant. Sorry it's taken me so long to update this fanfic but I was suffering from a very bad case of writer's block. Anyhow I've worked out the basic story line and I will be updating frequently. Thank you for reading and now on with the story.
Dear Misao-dono,
It has been a long time since you last came to visit us at the Kamiya Doujou. Kaoru and I would be extremely grateful if you could manage to come to the dojo for a few weeks. She has been wishing to see you for a long time and all of us at the dojo would appreciate your coming back again.
Yours Sincerely,
Himura Kenshin.
Makimachi Misao read the letter before putting it away inside the drawer on top of the growing letters from Philippe. She looked out of the window in her room. She could see the sun disappearing among the trees. It was only a moment later that the sky turned pitch black and the stars began to show.
It had been four years since Aoshi had returned to the Aoiya. Everything had remained the same since he had returned to the Aoiya. Since then till now he practically lived at the temple. Whenever she brought his tea it was she who carried on the conversation. Aoshi hardly ever said a word other than a quiet 'arigatou gozaimasu'. His icy, blue eyes never seemed to be there. They always had a far away look as though he wasn't there or even acknowledging her presence.
He only left the temple to eat breakfast and dinner or to go to sleep in his room. He probably wouldn't even have noticed if she were to be gone forever. She meant nothing to him … not now, the future or even in the past. It was as if her childhood with him hadn't even existed at all.
After his return back to the Aoiya the friendship that was once there seemed to have disappeared. No matter how hard she tried to help him recover from the past he still did not seem to be recovering. After two years of trying non-stop she finally had given up on the hope of him ever recovering. But there was still a small part of her hoping and wishing that he would forget his dark past and join the present which was bright and filled with joy and hope. That maybe if he forgot the past or at least tried to forget it he might notice that she was no longer a child anymore but a woman … a woman in love with him.
Not a childish infatuation like the one she used to have for him when she was a child. She used to idol worship him but as she grew it had changed to love. Love that filled her whole being with joy and happiness as well as pains that would cut through her. Yet there was something in it that made it seem that no matter how much pain she had to experience and suffer in the end it would be worth it.
A lot had changed in her and her life when she had turned eighteen. It was when she stopped being a brat and had met Philippe Robillard.
It was during her visit to the Kamiya Doujou that she had met Philippe. It was an absolutely accidental meeting. But on first sight each knew that they were kindred spirits. A few days later after their first meeting they met again because of Sanosuke.
The famous streetfighter had decided that it was high time that he got himself a job and very soon became the proud of owner a fireworks company that seemed to be growing daily. Philippe was there to set up his own store of Japanese clothing and since Sano had so much of connections he had come to him for help. And Sano who owed him a favour was obliged to do so.
After his talk with Sano Misao had met him in the garden while she was practicing. They had started talking and soon found that they had a lot in common. Before long they became inseparable. If one was looking for Misao all they had to do was look for Philippe and applied for Philippe. One of the main things that had brought them so close in such a short span of time was their luck in love.
Both had terrible luck in love. The ones they loved didn't love them back. Philippe who was France had been trying in vain to make Georgia de Elliote to see him as more than one of her male friends. But in the process of trying to make her fall in love with him she had instead fallen in love with his best friend Michael Buanapart. They were engaged and married the same year that Michael died. Michael's death had left the poor girl absolutely shattered that she wouldn't even consent to have anyone in her house other than the servants and Philippe. She felt that since Philippe was the only one who could understand her pain and suffering.
His time with her alone made him brought back the old feelings he had for her. After her marriage with Michael he felt that it was best to forget whatever he felt for her and considered it to be a childish infatuation. But now seeing her brought back those feelings that he had once felt for her. But he knew that she was better off without him. If they were ever to be together he knew that it would end in tears. They really weren't meant for one another. Even if she did want to marry him he would always in her mind be compared to Michael his best friend. That no matter how much he tried he would always be competing against in everything. He would have live up to the qualification that his best friend had set up for whoever was to marry her.
And to escape her Philippe had come to Japan, a country that was absolutely different from the world in which he had been brought up. Nothing there could remind him of his beloved Georgia.
And now four years later he still led the life of a bachelor, living alone in that big house of his with no life in it. Through the years they had continued to correspond with one another. He kept her updated in whatever happened at the Kamiya Doujou. Everyone there had accepted him as one of their friends. At the moment he was away. He had gone to visit his family members in Paris for a month. He would be back in a few days time.
Misao sighed as she looked away from the window. She began to move away when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in."
Omasu's head popped in followed by her body. "Misao is there any man in your life that we should know about?" Omasu demanded to her.
"But why do you ask when you already know who they are? Shiro, Jiya, Himura, Sano, Yahiko, Yutarou…" her voice trailed off when she saw the look in Omasu's face. "What is it?"
"Don't play dumb with me Misao. You know as well as I do what it is. Now tell me once and for all. Is there any man in your life?" Omasu asked her again.
"Not that I know of Omasu," Misao replied confused.
"Then tell me who in the world is this Philippe Robillard." Omasu asked glaring at her.
"How did you know about Philippe? I don't ever remember mentioning him to you." Misao said in her state of shock and surprise.
"Maybe because he's sitting in the formal living room talking Okina." Omasu replied.
Misao face lit up and her eyes sparkled like the stars that were now shining in the night sky. Before Omasu could even utter another word Misao she had already left the room and running towards the living room as fast as her legs could carry her.
Okina and Philippe were making polite conversation when Misao had burst into the room. "Philippe" Misao said joyfully when she saw her best friend sitting there in the living room right in front of her eyes.
Philippe seeing her enveloped her petite figure in a bear hug. Misao saw Jiya's look of disapproval at the public display of affection before slipping away from the room but Misao couldn't care the less at the moment. It had been months since she last seen him.
When he let go of her his first words were "She's agreed to marry me Misao."
"Really. When? How? Where? And why didn't you mention it in one of your letters." Misao demanded to him.
"Misao I wanted to come up here and tell it to you personally. Otherwise I never would have managed to see your face when I told you the news." Philippe said grinning from ear to ear.
"Yare yare. Now tell me everything. From the top to the bottom and don't live out anything."
From behind the closed doors Shiro, Jiya, Okon and Omasu were trying to hear what they were saying in vain. They caught a few words in Japanese but the rest of their conversation was carried in a language that neither anyone of them spoke. They were trying to understand and hear even more when they heard the word 'marry'. Footsteps of a person approaching were completely unheard until a shadow fell over them. They guiltily turned around to see Shinomori Aoshi.
"Shinomori-san ww..what are you doing here?" Shiro asked nervously looking at the others, begging them to help him out.
"I came back for some papers that I'd left in the living room last night. Now if you will excuse me." With that he moved past them and opened the door only to be greeted by the sight a man tightly hugging HIS Misao. What the hell.
Misao must have heard him entering the room for her shoulders stiffened and she turned around to be greeted by the glaring sight of…"Aoshi-sama!"
Shinomori Aoshi had been a surprised when he had seen everyone crowding at the closed door of the living room until he himself had entered the place. The sight of another man holding Misao had struck him in a way that he never thought possible. A sense of possessiveness filled him. It felt so strange. It had been years since he had last felt any emotions. What made this even more stranger was him claiming Misao as his struck him somewhere that he thought no longer existed.
But it seemed to him as though a dam inside him had broken and a flood of feeling had broken through him. He couldn't understand as to why he felt the way he did. Just seeing someone touch Misao felt as though that man was taking Misao away from him forever. Admit it Aoshi that you are jealous his brain was screaming out at him. But that was impossible. How could he feel jealous about someone touching Misao? She was just a child to whose father he had vowed to protect from any harm. Not to let her have any blood in her hands. But you've already broken your promise to her father his brain taunted to him. His brain flashed back to the day when he had betrayed the Oniwabanshuu and had tried to kill Okina. Even after that Misao and the others had welcomed him back among them. It was an absolute wonder to him how they could have possibly done so.
Misao's surprised "Aoshi-sama" brought him out of his reverie. From her expression he understood that his expression hadn't changed. He had mastered the art of not showing his expression at the age of nine..
"Aoshi-sama," she repeated again shocked.
"I don't think we've met. I'm Philippe Robillard, Misao's friend from France." Philippe said offering his hand only to be politely refused by Aoshi's curt nod making him wonder where Misao's relationship was standing with Aoshi at that moment.
Misao finally found her voice, 'Aoshi-sama I've invited Philippe to stay with
us tonight."
Jiya was really mad at her when he found out that Misao had invited Philippe, an absolute stranger, to stay over with them without even seeking his permission or even consulting him about this. What infuriated him more was the fact that during dinner Misao and Philippe was conversing in a language absolutely unknown to any of the Oniwabanshuu member, maybe with the exception of Aoshi. He was driven nuts with curiosity because Misao and Philippe was at ease with each other so much that made him wonder how long the two had known one another.
Jiya cut in Misao in Misao's conversation asking Philippe the question that was going through everyone's mind, 'So Philippe what do you do for a living?"
"Ano…I have this Japanese clothing store in Tokyo." Jiya glared when he saw that Misao's hand was laced with Philippe's and was resting on her knees. At the same time, Aoshi was thinking of thousands of artful ways to chop off Philippe's hand with his twin kodachi.
Rest of the dinner carried on by Misao and Philippe talking in that bloody
language of theirs while Philippe felt this cold tension around him which was
the biggest understatement of the year because had he known that one of them was
planning to chop of his hand he would never have accepted Misao's invitation to
have dinner with them.
That night Misao couldn't sleep. Something was disturbing her and she had absolutely no idea what it was. Her mind replayed the dinner scene. She felt so embarrassed the way the others had been treating Philippe. And she just couldn't understand Jiya. He was one the friendliest people she knew but why he would not try and make polite conversation with Philippe was beyond her. Something moved in front of her. Her training as a ninja took over her and she drew herself in a fighting stance. She moved in the direction of the sound only to be flipped over by someone. Her attacker had her pinned to the ground when she suddenly kicked him and jumped backwards. Right at that moment the moon came up and she saw her attacker's face. It was none other than Aoshi-sama.
Misao left her fighting stance and grinned to herself.. After so many years of fighting with Aoshi she had finally managed to hit him and it had also hurt him.
As though Aoshi had understood her smile he said, "Congratulation Misao. You have finally managed to hit me after so many years. But you need to improve your hearing skills if you don't want to get attacked by your enemies and also you need to practice you kick. You seem to lack concentration but you must practice more if you want to be truly perfect."
Misao flushed at Aoshi's compliment until he started to comment on her skills. "What the hell! One minute you compliment me and the next minute you are criticizing my skills as a ninja. But what can you except from a man like you." Misao was about to storm off to her room when she heard
"Sumimasen. l didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Please stay. It is a beautiful night out here." Aoshi said so quietly that she would have sworn it was probably the night breeze had she not seen Aoshi's face when he said it.
Suddenly it occurred to her that this was the most words he had said ever
since he had returned to the Aoiya. But somehow at that moment it did not seen
strange to her that he was talking to her all of a sudden, when he had never
uttered a word to her when she had brought his tea to him.