Hey boys and girls! Sooo, I was traveling for a little while and couldn't upload a new chapter until I got back to my laptop. Unfortunately, even though I'm back home, my computer charger has decided to die... That has left me with no access to any documents on my laptop (sorry that I am not a cloud-er. No idea how the mythical cloud works). BUT, on a positive, I've created some filler on my iPad, haha. I've been thinking about making a spin off focusing on Misao AFTER this story ends. So, while this chapter centers on her, I won't really follow her personal story line in this story, but if people like it enough I may consider fleshing it out into a new story. Anyway, enough chatter... ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I'm poor and jobless, I clearly don't own RK.
Side note- there's an RK movie! Like, with real ppl! If anyone has seen it plz leave me a comment with a review!
Side note #2- shout out to Shab. Thanks for the PM ;)
Friends are supposed to be those consistent people that you can always count on. They shouldn't just flip the script on you. At least, not without a little warning...
"I was just starting to get bored when the craziest shit happened!"
I absently murmured "uh huh" as I encouraged the girl to finish her story. It was Monday evening and I was in the dojo adjoining my parents' huge mansion. I'd been running through some routines with my knives. Sweat dripped down my torso as I shifted into a crouch. As the girl's voice continued to droll over the speaker phone, I tried to breathe and center myself. I hadn't practiced throwing my kunai in weeks. Ever since I started dating Riu it seemed like I was missing a lot.
For instance, I had missed yet another party; the biggest party of the year (so far). Rui was busy (nothing new) and I hadn't wanted to go alone. I briefly thought about asking Kaoru to go with me, but Kaoru didn't do parties... At least, that's what I'd thought. The entire day I'd been hearing people murmur her name in the hallways. When I went to find her, I realized she had ditched school. Her disappearance spoke louder than it should have. She was hiding.
I flipped my braid over my shoulder, took a breath, and waited for my freshman informant to continue her story.
"So I'm totally standing in the kitchen talking to this girl about Megumi and her college boyfriend..."
"I still don't get that..." I muttered before re-centering myself and leaping up into a spiral. With a flick of my wrist, I threw a single kunai toward the target at the other end of the room. It hit, but it wasn't a bullseye. I was releasing too slow, I assessed and lowered myself back into a crouch to start again, grabbing a new kunai in the process.
"Then that loner girl that you're friends with, the mean girl..."
"Kaoru?!" I said incredulously as I sunk down a little lower to get more leverage.
"Yeah, she came in completely wasted and staggering." I spun up into the air and watched my knife fly off course and lodge itself into the wall. I immediately stalked across the room, snatched the cordless phone out of its stand, and pressed it to my ear.
"What?!" I exhaled sharply.
"Oh my God, she was crazy drunk! She started to get naked and sing Britney Spears songs!" the girl dissolved into giggled.
"Like a strip show? Are you sure it was Kaoru?" I couldn't hide the concern and confusion in my voice. I started to pace, my kunai completely forgotten.
"JUST like a strip show! And of course it was her. She was there with her hottie boyfriend."
"ok, if you're just going to lie..." I said, feeling my face warm, but I was quickly cut off by the girl. "Why would I lie?! She was with that new guy; the red head. He totally dragged her off to have sex. Some guys from my class were saying that they were caught by the police doing it in his car, but the red head-"
"Kenshin..." Misao supplied, weakly.
"-is actually rich and he paid off the officer not to arrest them."
Without meaning to, I hung up the phone. Ok, it was rude of me, but what in the world was going on? The first part of the girl's story had sounded off... Like Megumi would really dump Jason for some strange college guy (who sounded suspiciously like Sano). But this...? Kaoru and Kenshin...? Ok, I'll admit that I could see them together. I had even been rooting for it to happen. But strip teases? Possible arrests? No way. And most of all, I hadn't even gotten a text from Kaoru about any of it.
It can't be true, I told myself, but still had to blink back tears. I jumped as the phone started to ring in my hand. It was the girl calling back, no doubt. She was a nobody at school. A really nice nobody, but still a nobody. Being raised in the Makimachi household had taught me how to use my resources and to compensate well. There was no reason for the girl to lie, especially if she wanted VIP tickets to the hottest concert in the city (as I'd already promised her). But, unable to deal with it, I hit the ignore button on the phone.
Suddenly a booming voice came from behind me, "Misao, I've taught you better than to avoid your problems like that." I whirled to see my father outlined in the doorway.
"Father. How long have you been there?" I asked with a slight squeak in my voice. Hopefully he hadn't noticed, though he probably had. The man had the sharp eyes and ears of a hawk.
"Long enough to see you blatantly ignore a phone call." He said, coldly. He walked further into the dojo and surveyed it like he hadn't seen it before. I briefly wondered if he ever had. His dark, tailored suit looked odd in this context, but I wasn't fooled. My father did not create his empire by merely sitting in board rooms.
Realizing that the silence was stretching, I finally said, "It was a telemarketer. I didn't feel like answering." The lie easily passed from between my lips. My father looked at me for a moment before turning and walking toward my target and the knives protruding from it. I watched his eyes flick to the single kunai that was embedded in the wall, far from the target that I had set up. An embarassed blush crept up my neck. To make matters worse, an icy rumble came from the door, "your aim has gotten worse."
For the second time, my head whipped toward the sound, but this time I found Aoshi's impressive height standing just within the frame of the door. I briefly thought, no wonder father's behaving especially cold. He's being followed by a walking iceberg.
"Don't encourage her," my father said with disapproval clear in his voice. "Misao, it's that time of year again," Father suddenly changed the topic; he was never the type to engage in too much preamble. Either way, I'd already known that his dinner party for the up and ups at his company was coming up. The only time Aoshi dared to come to the house was during, "that time of year." All other times, he asked to be sent anywhere else; any task that would take him further away from here.
Despite Aoshi's presence, and with miraculous strength, I managed to stay quiet.
"I want you to make sure Riu comes," my father said, easily pulling a knife from the target and balancing it in his hands to feel the weight of it.
"Yes, Father," I said automatically. I would have invited Riu anyway, but I knew my father was only going through the trouble of telling me because he didn't want me to mess things up before then. Marrying my family to Riu's was a major power play that Father wanted desperately. Though arranged marriages were frowned upon, I was still basically being pimped out for the good of the company. And while I liked that Father needed me, I didn't like that I was pushed into a relationship with Riu. But, having a very attractive boyfriend didn't hurt. I glanced at Aoshi, "Riu loves parties," I said with a small smile. He didn't even blink. Jerk.
"Good. Everyone at the company will be excited to meet him," and see that his family has allied itself with ours. I smiled and nodded dutifully. The phone began to ring again and I quickly hit ignore. My father looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Can I invite some friends?" I asked suddenly. The phone had reminded me that I had some business to deal with: Kaoru... Why hadn't she said anything about Jason's party?
I watched my father's lips press into a thin line and prepared myself for a 'no,' but he surprised me with a curt nod. "The board of execs would love to see you happy," but do YOU want me happy? I almost sighed, but Father continued, "I have to go. The party is this week." This time I couldn't swallow my reaction faster enough and rolled my eyes at his late notice. I knew he saw it because he paused mid stride to the door.
Seconds passed and then I saw a brief flash in his eyes before I felt a sharp pain in my arm. My hand automatically reached up to cover the shallow wound. With lightening fast speed, my father had thrown my kunai with a slight flick of his wrist. I ground my teeth together. I hadn't even seen him move.
"If you insist on learning to be a true ninja, at least be good at it," my father said coldly. He moved past me while I fought back tears. My arm stung where the knife had skimmed my skin, but it wasn't the cut that made my eyes water.
I shut my eyes and concentrated on breathing. Soon enough, I felt a hand gently pry my own hand off of the cut. I stood patiently while the cut was quickly cleaned and lightly bandaged.
"You're still blinded by feelings. Never let people distract you with words," he rumbled.
As his rough hands released my arm, I opened my eyes to look up into blue, icy depths.
Aoshi held my gaze for a moment before turning away and exiting the dojo. I couldn't stop the tears from falling after that.
