Hiya
Hiya. Thanks for still liking.
I apologize for the delay. Been watching various anime, been writing original material, been reading books.
I managed to complete White and Black a few years ago because for the most part I could write Aoshi separate from Misao. So writing Aoshi and Misao being together for any length of time is not easy for me, me being a KenKao writer foremost. Here's to hoping that, at the least, I do it justice. Here we go.
12:00midnight
It was a someone, a tall young man in a dark outfit, scowling at her in the shadows.
"Aoshi-sama."
He did not have to say anything. He only had to scowl. She knew what it meant.
She only needed to plead for mercy.
"Chou told me, alright? I had to know where you were. You didn't say where you were going. I was worried. Have you eaten?"
"Aa," was the reply she received.
He raised an open palm in front of him, and warned her not to take any more steps forward. He then jumped up to the nearest sturdy tree branch. Misao followed after him.
From the higher vantage point Misao found a series of ropes hidden in the bushes, some small bombs hidden in the branches, and extra supply of kunai, stars, and daggers in a bag hidden inside a tree trunk.
Misao assessed the situation. The okashira was setting a trap for someone, and he was doing at the grave where they found the corpse that was not her friend. He was even readying enough traps and snags, in case the someone came with other people with him. He kept working at it, not ignoring her presence, but avoiding interference or interruption by her presence.
She was used to his silence, but she also wanted to know, from his lips, what was going on. What was so important, and so dangerous, that she was not informed.
"Why didn't you tell me? Or tell Megumi-san to tell me?" she spoke in a voice uncharacteristically as soft as the squirrels. As she had been trained to use at such moments.
He kept silence.
"At least tell me what is going to happen."
He stopped for a few moments. He looked at Misao, and she felt his eyes piercing the darkness to reach her own eyes.
"I want to know, Aoshi-sama. Please? I won't get in the way, but I want to know."
He remained silent as he inspected the ropes and nets.
Finally he nodded, slightly. "Very well."
He kept checking the ropes while he spoke rapidly and quietly. "I am expecting the puppeteer for the Iwanbou models to arrive tonight. The dollmaker. Among all of the members of Yukishiro's group, he is the one most likely to talk if coerced enough. He shall be forced to reveal the organization hideout. He cannot fight to full advantage. He shall be trapped. Preferably, he shall be eliminated. His skills should die with him." He paused and put the final knot on a row of knots.
There was steel in his voice, sharpness to his breath. To him, this was no ordinary mission. "But why?" she asked.
He remained silent for several moments, while he finished the knots. Then he answered. "There is a debt to pay to Himura."
"What debt?" she asked.
He did not answer the question. He resumed his work.
She insisted. "What debt, Aoshi-sama?"
But he did not answer, and she was left to think though it as the okashira jumped onto the ground to assemble the knotted ropes, while she knotted some of the ropes he left on the branch.
Aoshi-sama never liked unfinished business, nor did he like unpaid favors. So, this "debt" he mentioned is probably his way of repaying a favor that Himura did for him. But which one?
That one. The only one.
Himura gave Aoshi back to her.
She heard the story of the fight from Sanosuke. A spectacular duel it was, evenly matched. Back then the tall rooster-head did not know her, but he heard her name mentioned during the fight. Himura had brought him back to his senses, made him see what was important, truly important, to him.
If this meeting with the man who made the corpse doll, if this meeting will finish the Kamiya case, then, yes, it just may help bring Himura back. Make him remember what is important. Aoshi would have indeed repaid the debt.
Aoshi returned to the branch Misao was on, retrieving the rest of the rope. He thanked her for finishing the rest of the net. He read the comprehension in her face, and he finished his statement. "Once the debt is paid, my work is done."
"What do you mean, your work is done? There is still the organization to maintain, the people to keep up. Your work as the Okashira is not done!"
He did not reply at all. He went down again, carrying the knotted net with him. He spread this net over the surrounding bushes. He also cast the net on the ground surrounding the gravesite. He covered the net with soil and dust. Misao could still tell where the net was, but it is unlikely anyone else would.
He assessed the entire area one more time. Satisfied, he jumped back to the branch where Misao was.
He held her by the shoulders. "Go back, Misao."
She wriggled within the tight grip. "No, I won't!"
"Go back."
"I'm not leaving!"
"It is too dangerous."
"That's why I'm not leaving!"
He released her, and proceeded to toss a counterweight for an overhead net onto a higher branch. She noted an almost imperceptible sigh as the counterweight flew up.
Something was wrong about this situation, she felt it. There was something he was still holding back, something he was not telling her. There was such determination in the way he prepared everything about this operation, it scared her. What, indeed, did he mean about his work being done?
Did he expect to die here?
She had to know.
"Aoshi-sama."
He paused from his work. "Hm?"
"Why do you want me to go?"
"As I said, it is too dangerous to stay."
"What about you?"
"Do not worry about me."
Of COURSE she was going to worry! Why was he being so fatalistic about it? Why did he want her to leave so badly? Why did he insist on doing this alone? Because he planned for this mission…to be his last.
Not if she can help it.
She made him face her. "You will swear to me, Okashira," she said with severity.
He frowned.
"You will not die tonight. Swear it."
He remained silent.
"Swear, Aoshi-sama!" Small tears now fell down her eyes. "Swear!"
He looked away, and peered at the traps and ropes. He looked at her.
"Aoshi-sama!"
He kept looking at her. Surely he must have seen the glisten of the tears through the moonlight.
"You will come back for breakfast this morning! I'll cook! I'll make Yahiko wake me up when you arrive! Swear it, Aoshi-sama! You'll come home!"
Their faces were inches from each other. She felt his controlled cold breath, in and out, passing near her cheeks. She barely heard him grit his teeth, as he thought about his answer.
Finally he spoke.
"Yes."
She looked up at him, and smiled with much relief. When he said yes, he meant it. That's why she made him promise.
He will come home. Battered and bruised, probably, but he will come home. Because he said so. He said yes.
"Now, go back, Misao."
She looked up at him again, gazed deeply into those deep and dark eyes. Further negotiation was out of the question.
"Yes, okashira. I obey." She sniffed a little and rubbed away the last tear.
He nodded.
Watching her feet carefully, avoiding the ropes and the nets on the ground, she backed away slowly, constantly finding his face in the darkness. She stepped into the woods.
"Take care of yourself," she whispered.
"Aa."
With a final glance at him, she disappeared into the shadows of the night.
………………………………
12:50 am
An onmitsu was still running through the dark city streets, moving farther away from her beloved.
A redhaired man in the outskirts of the city had fallen to deep sleep, kept warm enough to live by a thin blanket.
A whitehaired man had finally fallen asleep at his bed, bandaged arm rested beside him.
A young lady tossed and turned in an adjacent room, calling for someone in her nightmares.
A young doctor slept in drunken stupor, dreamless, keeping away nightmares.
A boy had kicked the blanket over him in his exhausted sleep.
A young man, in another prefecture, slept under the stars, wondering about the people he left behind.
A police officer and his assistant had dozed off, one snoring on the long bench, and the other with head nodding behind a desk.
An old man was snoring loudly over a bale of hay at the stable in the police precinct.
One man remained awake, waiting for another man to arrive.
ARGH! Writing for Aoshi is HARD! (pounds head on table, pound pound) Enishi is way easier, I swear! And the chapter after this is ALL Aoshi?! Waaaaah. (pound pound pound) Help much appreciated. The following two chapters will have a lot of Aoshi and a lot of description, two things in the world that I'm not so very good at, so please help.
Okay, I think I'm getting the hang of this horizontal break thing. I hope you liked the rundown. It's also for my benefit, to reassess where everyone is already. By the way, Sano isn't in the general mix (except the one-liner above), because I'm not sure where he is hiking at the present situation, and I'm terrible at geography (my own country's, much more Japan's). As it is, it's tough keeping track of the people who stayed in Tokyo. Thank you for your patience and support. Comments are welcome.
