The large woman who ran the inn sat quietly, her dog in her lap. She was trying to keep from fidgeting, due to the stress of waiting.
Shimuo, where are you?
He was three days late. The shipment would be ready tonight, and by no means could she do this herself. She needed him and his men, much to her chagrin. He never paid her the percentage he claimed, that was for certain. But there was nothing she could do about it - after all, the strong were strong and the weak were weak. At least she was getting by.
She was surprised to hear the sudden sound of tears. She discreetly looked through a small, intentional tear in the rice-paper window. That small, wiry one was blubbering like a baby. How shameful, she thought. She was even more disgusted when she noticed that the other women were comforting her. In my day and age, she thought, the other women would have slapped me and told me to bear myself like a woman, not a child. The way young people behaved nowadays was revolting.
Good thing I won't have to deal with this much longer, she thought. As long as he actually shows up.
As if on cue, the large woman noticed that there was a sudden draft in the room. Looking behind her, she noticed that the shoji had been opened noiselessly, and next to it was standing a short, thin man. He had a small, pointed beard, and a scar over his eye. But that was not the thing anyone noticed about him right away. His eyes were black as night, and glassy, and incredibly large. You could see no whites in them, only what seemed to be infinite darkness. A doctor once told him he had been born with a rare genetic disease, but as far as he was concerned, it was a blessing. Those eyes could see in the dark like no other.
"It's rude to sneak into a house without announcing yourself," the large woman said, both irritated and relieved at his presence.
"It's far ruder to have nothing to give me," he retorted haughtily, in a voice as thin as a reed. "I didn't see the need to stop by - you've had no merchandise for me in the past two weeks."
"It rarely rains here. But on occasion, it certainly does pour," the woman replied tartly.
"Don't speak in riddles, woman. Do you finally have something?"
"I have four lovely treasures. Look for yourself."
He walked silently and noiselessly to the window, looking through the paper. He hated to give the woman credit - the only thing she'd supplied him with recently were useless children. But four young women of childbearing age would do beautifully in the mail-order bride market. The West, especially America, had a fascination with Asian women, especially young ones. The youngest was obviously a virgin, though the other three probably weren't. One was decidedly plain, another was very exotic and beautiful. Maybe I'll keep her for myself, he thought. The one who was crying was small and wiry, and seemed to have a strong spirit, despite her tears. He could tell that she was in fighting shape - but she likely wasn't much of a threat.
"Make certain they don't leave, whatever you do. And get rid of that government dog who keeps sniffing down our necks."
"I can only do so much with the little you provide-"
He cut her off, irritated. "Need I remind you that when I found you, this inn had been burned to the ground? If not for my capital, you'd be a beggar on the streets. You should be thankful I give you anything." He stared her down.
"Of course, Shimuo-san. How forward of me." What she was really thinking was, One of these days, he won't take me so lightly.
...
Misao was slurping gently on her clear soup. The silence, she felt, was nearly deafening. Of course, Megumi, Kaoru, and Tsubame did all they could to make her feel better, but now that her secret was out in the open, she felt little to no relief. And Megumi kept looking at her as if she wished to say something, but keeping her lips pressed into a line.
Kaoru broke the stillness by declaring, "Misao, there's only one thing you can do. You have to ask Aoshi why."
Misao couldn't help herself from choking slightly on her soup, before responding more loudly than she should, "ASK HIM! Are you kidding?"
The three of them simply looked at her in stunned silence, before Tsubame piped in timidly, "You don't ask him anything? Ever?"
"Well, I suppose I ask him when he'll be coming home, or what kind of tea he's in the mood for, but I certainly don't ask him anything personal."
"Why?" Kaoru asked, looking at Misao as though she'd grown two heads. "Marriage is about trust, and communication. I ask Kenshin things all the time - not just about the household but how he's feeling."
"Of course, you can ask Kenshin those things - any of us can. But Aoshi is... different. He's very old-fashioned, you know."
Megumi laughed one of her pretty, tittering, slightly haughty laughs. "You mean he'll tell you to be silent as befits a woman? Or tell you to commit seppuku? Even Aoshi isn't that old-fashioned." Misao couldn't help glaring at her a bit.
"Of course not! He's just, silent. It's how he's always been. It doesn't mean he shuts me out - it's more like I feel as though I'm breaking something sacred when I ask him a personal question. He's the only person I don't ever feel comfortable picking apart. Also... this is a hard one to bring up. How do you say, 'Aoshi, why don't you make love to me anymore? Is it because my stomach looks like a map? Is it because I'm older now? Is it... because someone younger and prettier is more available?'"
Megumi cut her off, rolling her eyes. "You can assure yourself that it isn't any of those things. Do you really think someone like Aoshi is shallow enough to desert you based on that? He could have had almost any woman he came across - you know it's true - but he chose you. He doesn't desert his closest companions easily. I wanted you to ask him, because I believe there might be a reason you haven't thought of that explains it." Megumi looked at her with meaning.
"I think Megumi's right." Kaoru agreed. "I think you need to ask him right away, the next time you see him. Even if it isn't the answer you want, it's better than living like this forever. There has to be a reason."
They all fell quiet as the large woman brought in a serving of rice and yellow and red pickles for each of them, with a small piece of white fish on top. Misao instantly noticed that the woman made a quick glance at all of them, while trying to make it appear as though she wasn't looking. In particular, she paid attention to Misao's right thigh, where her kunai were always at hand. Misao had a hard time keeping her eyes from narrowing. How could she know? The other three didn't notice.
She decided to look around the room, and noticed that one of the tatami was slightly worn around the edges, as though it had been opened and closed frequently - a trap door in the floor, most likely. These were the things Hann'ya always taught her to notice - small clues as to the real use for a room. Of course, it could be nothing, but still...
She had a feeling of being watched ever since arriving. She felt the need to be on guard. The trouble was, how did she tell everyone else without being noticed by the large woman? She was sitting behind the shoji, listening to every word they said. The only way she could think of temporarily split them up, but Misao didn't see another way. If she made a move to have all of them leave the room, she'd be attracting unwanted attention.
"Megumi-san," Misao said suddenly, "I have to use the bathroom. Will you show me the way there? I forgot." Her smile seemed sincere to those who didn't know her, but Megumi could tell something was on Misao's mind.
"Of course," Megumi said, walking calmly in front. It was a lovely, cool evening, and the sun was just beginning to set. Once they were out of earshot of the large woman, Misao, as discreetly as possible, motioned Megumi to come closer. However, before she could say anything, Megumi spoke.
"Misao, now that we're alone, there is something I have to tell you-"
"Well, whatever it is, it'll have to wait," Misao interrupted in a whisper. "This place isn't safe. Something isn't right."
Megumi's face went from sorrowful and apologetic to confused. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I can tell we're being watched. What for, I'm not sure - but I can tell."
"Nonsense! This inn came highly recommended by a very close friend." But Misao could tell that Megumi had begun to have her doubts about this place, as well. Something just didn't feel... right.
"Well, I don't even know if we should stay the night here. There's no way I could sleep."
"And where would we go? The wilderness? There are just as many bandits outside in the mountains. There isn't a real village for at least 10 miles, and it's almost dark. I think we should stay here and simply be on guard. We can leave in the morning."
Misao was about to answer, but she immediately had her sixth sense kick in. Someone was behind her back, maybe a couple of feet, slowly inching closer. She took stock of her surroundings - in between two small buildings (the outhouse and the main building of the inn), with the tree branch of a weeping cherry about three feet above her head. Could she reach it? She wasn't sure, but she had to try.
"Megumi! Run!"
Just as she said it, Megumi was grabbed from behind by someone dressed as a shinobi. She sensed someone springing for her at the same moment, but she did a quick backflip as her attacker went after her, ending up behind him. Before he could recover from surprise, she ran forward, scaled the side of the outhouse for one step, and successfully grabbed hold of the cherry tree's branch, pulling herself up into it. Her attacker followed her, since she was easy to see (stupid bright white robe!). He was on her in a moment, but all her recent training had benefited her. Luckily, the tree was very old and had a nice, thick, steady branch on it that was pretty long and even. He ran for her, and as he got close, she took a slight risk, flattening herself against the tree branch, throwing him off guard. He was good, though and kept his footing. He made a grab at her, but she was too quick - sweeping her left foot low, she caught him on the ankle, and he fell out of the tree, since all the branches below were too small to grab onto.
Not wasting a moment, she ran toward the top, being small enough to carry onto the lightest branches. She jumped into the neighboring tree and was able to carefully lower herself down. She hid herself in a bush, scanning for her attacker - but he was nowhere to be seen - a bad sign.
What if they got the others? She knew they probably had - this was obviously a coordinated attack. She needed to shed this light robe, and quickly. Luckily, hanging nearby was a futon sheet that was much darker in color. She grabbed it, wrapping herself completely.
She looked about for commotion, but saw none - until she saw a short man coming out of the main house. He had her three friends in tow! They were bound and gagged, each one carried like a barrel of rice by three different men. Misao tried to stifle her anger, but it was definitely there.
I'll kill them, she thought.
...
Kaoru, used to situations like this as she was, was trying to maintain control. She was very afraid - after all, Kenshin was nowhere around here and couldn't know that she was in danger. He couldn't save her, this time. They would have to save themselves, and she wasn't sure they could do it - these men were experts. Though bound and gagged, she looked around her, and could see Megumi, whose eyes were closed, and whose body was limp. I hope she's okay, Kaoru thought. Tsubame had tears streaming down her cheeks - she was obviously terrified. Poor girl.
They were piled up at the back of the main building, not far from the hot springs themselves. She could see barrels stacked against the wall - the kind often used to ship humans for trafficking. I should have listened to Kenshin, she thought. Too bad it was much too late.
Where was Misao? Kaoru couldn't see her anywhere. Just then, she heard a loud voice.
"Where the HELL is the other one?!" Shimuo was standing in the middle of the courtyard, yelling at one of his shinobi - the same one who had let Misao go. "How could you lose her? She's just a woman - she should be no match for someone like you!"
"Sir, if you'll excuse me-"
"I do not!" Shimuo yelled back. His dark eyes looked as though they were going to swallow the man up.
He gulped. "Sir, this one was different. She was almost certainly kunoichi - she moved at least as quickly as we do. She's practiced."
Shimuo glared. "Do you dare to say that this woman is better than we are?"
"Of course not, sir. I make no excuses for my mistake. My life is in your hands." He looked at Shimuo with resignation.
Shimuo nearly shook with suppressed rage. "Very well. Kazuma, if you wish to even speak to me any longer, find what you have lost and bring it back to me. Otherwise, your life is forfeit." His hands shook with rage.
It was obvious to Kaoru that this leader had very poor self control. He may be quick, and good at coordinating attacks, but if his anger was stoked properly, he'd be easy to trick. However, it also meant that he might take his temper out on his captive goods - and that worried her.
Please, Misao, help us.