A/N: Yay! Here's another chapter for all you faithful readers out there. (Do I even have faithful readers at this early point in the story? O.o; ) Personally, I'm a little disappointed with this chapter. It isn't written as well as it should be and it feels more like a filler chapter. Or maybe it just seems blah to me because there is way less action than the first chapter. Oh well, I hope you enjoy it anyway. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: Nope! I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin. When I do I'll be sure to tell you all and then you can call the reporters, lawyers, and TV crews so we can all have a party.
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Not My Cup of Tea
Chapter 2: Stone Thoughts
Written by: Hoshiko Shinomori
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When someone you hold dear disappears
What do you do?
Do you pray to god they come back?
Or leave them and try to forget?
Do you hold on to the past?
Or like me…
Do you turn to the darkness in your heart
And ask for guidance
Trying once again to find the light
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Aoshi sat contentedly in the temple observing the dawn of a new day. He was currently kneeling on a cushion in his plain cotton yukata listening to the birds chirping. Everything seemed right in the world, except for a growing uneasiness in his stomach. It was too quiet, especially for the Aoiya; like the calm before a storm. He needed to meditate more to calm his mind, or perhaps he needed some tea to settle his nerves.
Speaking of tea, where was Misao? Normally she'd already be up here serving him some in her usual overboard and happy way.
This thought brought a slight smile to his face. Believe it or not, Aoshi actually looked forward to Misao's daily visits. Her presence was a great distraction for his troubled mind. With her around, he almost forgot all the horrible things he had done. Aoshi, not the kind to brood on a subject, merely pushed the thoughts of Misao and her apparent absence to the back of his mind.
Aoshi shut his eyes and began to meditate. Not even half an hour later the surrounding area exploded with sudden noise. Birds flew away, animals ran for safety, and loud yelling erupted not far off. In other words, it was a typical day at the Aoiya. Quick footsteps hurried toward him. Aoshi stood up to meet his guests and mentally braced himself. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't be as bad as they made it out to be.
It's probably Okon or Omasu with a half-baked scheme or Misao with some tea.
Sure enough, up came the faces of Okon quickly followed by Omasu. They had extremely worried looks on their faces and they seemed frantic and out of breath. Okon was the first to speak.
"Aoshi, it's about Misao. Yesterday, that perverted idiot tried to pull something on Misao while she had her hands full carrying the tea tray up to the temple. She of course overreacted and Okina ended up with a kettle full of scorching hot tea on his head."
"This was of course the last of the green tea so Misao ran to the market to get some more and she hasn't returned since!" finished Omasu, gesturing wildly with her arms for emphasis.
Hmm…so that's where she's been all this time. I wondered why it was so quiet. Aoshi quickly thought. Then the impact of Omasu's words finally sank in. Wait a minute…Misao's missing!
Aoshi, being the stone he was, merely raised BOTH his eyebrows. This was news to him. Misao, the okashira, was missing!
Okon and Omasu gave a double gasp. This was the biggest reaction they EVER got out of him.
"I knew he secretly loved Misao!" whispered Okon.
"I know! Why didn't we think of having Misao go missing! They might have been together already!" whispered Omasu back. Aoshi's one eyebrow twitched.
"I hope you know I can hear you," he calmly replied. After all, who wouldn't be able to? They're the loudest women on the face of the earth,he mentally added to himself.
Okon and Omasu were too surprised at being caught to say anything. Aoshi sighed inwardly. It would seem he'd have to pry the information out of them himself.
"So what is being done about Misao's disappearance?"
"Well, we believe that this is an Oniwaban problem and so we will keep it known only between members of the Oniwaban-shuu." Omasu was the first to recover and had therefore answered the question.
"We already sent Shiro and Kuro to the market to go search for her, but your help would be greatly appreciated and is requested by Okina," continued Okon.
Aoshi merely stood stock-still and replied coolly, "Misao is old enough to take care of herself. I'm sure she will be fine. Now if you will excuse me I have my daily training routine to go through."
"WHAT!" yelled both kunoichi. "How can you say that! Misao looks up to you! Are you just going to abandon her in a time of need?" questioned Okon.
"I am not abandoning her. I am merely putting my trust in her abilities. In case you haven't noticed, Misao is no longer a child. I am positive she will return safely to us." With those final words he left, leaving a speechless Okon and Omasu behind.
Now if only Aoshi himself could believe those words.
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"Hah!" With a loud tearing, the cloth dummy ripped apart in a diagonal slightly above the stomach area.
Hmm. No good, thought Aoshi as he came closer to inspect his work. That blow should have been deeper and should have started lower and ended higher. I'll have to try that maneuver once more, Aoshi thought as he retrieved his kodachi from the dummy and moved back to the start position.
To say Aoshi was distracted would be an understatement. It had already been three days since Misao's disappearance and even though he didn't show it, he was in fact the most worried. In an attempt to clear his thoughts, Aoshi had thrown himself into training and meditation. Of course that didn't work, which brings us to the present.
"Hugh," Aoshi ran full speed towards the training dummy dodging side to side as if avoiding invisible flying shuriken or perhaps flying kunai, Misao's weapon of choice. Right before he reached the dummy he ducked and rolled sideways as if quickly evading a sword slice to the side that quickly swept downwards. Then all in one motion he rolled onto his feet and flipped over his stationary opponent while at the same time slashing. With a soft thud he landed behind the imaginary enemy with his back facing his opponent. Silently he went around to the front of the practice dummy to scrutinize his work. Then his one eyebrow shot up in surprise. He had managed to completely miss ALL vital spots! If this was a real battle with a real opponent and he landed exactly like he had then he wouldn't have enough time to react to a counterattack. In other words, right now he would be dead.
"Hmm, that was a sloppy attack. In battle the price for such an error would be your life. Perhaps you have something troubling your mind?" came an arrogant voice from the doorway of the dojo.
Suddenly there was a flash of steel and the sharp edge of a kodachi was pressed close to the man's throat. He merely smirked in response.
"Hmm, a bit touchy I see. This wouldn't by any chance be because of a certain weasel girl, now would it?"
Aoshi just stared coldly at the intruder. It bothered him immensely that someone had managed to enter the dojo without him first sensing their ki. This was a true sign of just how worked up he had been over Misao.
Finally Aoshi lowered the weapon and said coldly, "What do you want Saitou?"
Slowly after taking a puff of his cigarette he began. "Well as you know, missing person's cases are part of police jurisdiction, so I was hired by Okina to see what I could do about locating Misao."
Hn. Foolish old man. This is an Oniwaban matter. How could he hire an outsider, especially Saitou to solve this problem? If anyone should find her it should be a member of the Oniwaban-shuu, like me.
Saitou was carefully watching Aoshi as he had told him why he was there. Aoshi's face of course betrayed nothing of his thoughts so Saitou continued.
"Anyways, I believe I have information that would be of use to you. Although, judging by your reaction, or lack of one, someone could almost say you didn't care. Maybe it's better if I just keep this information to myself."
Just as he turned to exit he was blocked by the cold steel of a blade. Saitou merely smirked knowingly to himself. It was so fun to push people's buttons.
"Of course I care about Misao. She is the okashira, the singular most important person in the Oniwaban-shuu. If anything were to happen to her I could never forgive myself. Now tell me what you know before I slice you in two," he said in a low threatening voice.
Saitou merely brushed the threat off as he closely watched Aoshi. "Hmm. Your okashira you say? But I wonder…is that the only reason why you're so desperate to find Misao?" he asked, taking another puff of his cigarette.
He noticed a small change in Aoshi's face and it was gone just as quickly as it came, but it told him exactly what he needed to know. His words had struck a nerve.
"No, that is the only reason," Aoshi ground out, "Now tell me the information you have." Aoshi was quickly losing his patience with this man, which is no small feat.
No wonder Misao hates him. I can barely tolerate Saitou as it is.
"Very well. We have reason to believe that Misao has been kidnapped by a notorious underground gang known for selling off pretty young girls on the black market. Earlier today, a witness was found who claims to have been present during the abduction of a young female closely matching Misao's descriptions. I was on my way to interrogate the witness before I saw your pathetic excuse for training and felt compelled to say something. Before, I was going to ask if you would like to accompany me while I question the subject, but if you're going to fight like that then maybe it's better if you just stayed here and didn't get yourself killed."
He turned only to find that his path was now blocked by both kodachi. Turning his head back he simply asked, "Well, are you coming or not?"
Aoshi simply stared back, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards, before making a quick motion with his arm. Suddenly there was a loud ripping noise and the head of the training dummy was swept clean off of its shoulders.
Saitou gave a satisfied smirk. Good, it seems he has regained his concentration and deadly skill. He'll be needing that where we're going.
While Aoshi went to retrieve his kodachi and resheath it, Saitou was sizing up the other man. "Hmph. Well if you're done playing now, let's get going. …Unless you've changed your mind about finding your precious okashira?" Saitou threw challengingly over his shoulder as he walked out the door.
"Hn. My mind has not changed. Just be glad you aren't the one at the receiving end of my twin kodachi," replied Aoshi as he calmly followed Saitou out the door.
Be brave Misao. Your captors don't know who they're messing with.-o-o-o-o-o-
Definitions:
okashira: Basically this is what they call the leader of a ninja clan.
shuriken: These are ninja throwing stars.
kunai: These are ninja throwing knives.
kodachi: These are short daggers/swords that are mainly used for defense. Aoshi, however, uses them together with his kempo style of fighting to attack and defend.
kunoichi: This is what they call female ninjas.
yukata: This is a thin robe similar to a kimono. It is usually worn either to sleep or during the summer because of the extreme heat.
(If there are any other words that you are unfamiliar with, just tell me and I will be sure to include a definition in my next chapter.)
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Reviewer Responses:
Before I start, I would like to thank all the people who took the time to review my fic. You don't know how much that means to me. And for all you people who read the first chapter and didn't review, shame on you, review now! j/k Anyways, I'm just grateful people are reading this, although feedback is even more appreciated. (hint hint)
MmindloveM: Wow, you're a person of few words! Thanks for being my first reviewer and I'm glad you like my story so far.
Love-lee Light Maiden: Hey there USAGI! Even though you weren't my first reviewer I still love you. However, I don't love you enough to spill the beans on my story. Hee hee, evil I know. By the way, DON'T CALL ME POOKIE…OR POOKA!
darksaphire: Yeah, I know the people are obvious. (sigh) And I tried so hard to not give too much away. Oh well, I won't tell our dear imouto if you won't. We'll be evil together. Mwah ha ha ha ha…
gabyhyatt: I'm glad you liked my fic. I also noticed that you added me to your author's alert list. Thank you so much! I am truly honored.
Starlightz6: Oh my! (faints from all the praise) Thank you for all the generous compliments. I'm not sure I'm worthy of them though. .; One of the best Aoshi and Misao fics? (blushes) I wouldn't go that far… You think my story has a plot? I'm basically just making it up as I go although I do have a basic outline. Anyways, your review made me all giddy inside. You are now officially on my list of favorite reviewers. Again, thanks. By the way, I love your penname. I always did have a thing for stars. (They're my favorite shape, hence my penname Hoshiko, which translates to star child.)
TheRurouniCritic: (Or is it GreenKnight-Warrior now?) Geez Dillon, thank you for gracing me with your presence. (rolls eyes) My fic was only good? lol. What do you mean a bigger cliffhanger? I'm not your sister, ya know. Hee hee. Well thanks for the review anyway.
LuvHaru7: My chapter made you want to laugh? As an authoress, this comment makes me want to cry my eyes out. However, as myself, I'm laughing right along with you. I agree that this situation is amusing and seemingly obvious. Also, that idea has crossed my mind and originally my story was going to be very similar to that. However, I can assure you that there is more going on than anyone realizes. This story is much bigger than just "Let's get Aoshi and Misao together by kidnapping her." As for who the people are, you'll just have to keep reading to find out.
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A/N: EEP! Don't kill me! (dodges flying fruit) Sorry for not including Misao in this chapter. I know you guys are all probably wondering about her, but never fear, she will make an appearance in the next chapter. Anyways, I want to know what you guys think so far. You know what to do, just click on that little button down there and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome and words of encouragement make me very happy. A happy authoress means faster updates. You know what they say, reviews make the world go round, or at least the fanfiction world that is.
Well, it seems Aoshi finally got his act together and is going to go after Misao. Honestly, that man is in serious denial. So, while things on the home front seem to be moving into place, how are things doing in the shadows? How will our heroine fare? What tortures have Misao's captors done? Who knows, you just have to stick around until the next chapter to find out.
Again, special thanks go out to my two best friends, bunny and darksaphire. You guys really are a big help when it comes to my stories. I don't know what I would do without you.