Disclaimers: I DO NOT OWN any of the characters in Rurouni Kenshin.
Chapter 12: Confound This Inn
Feeling much more at ease, Katsuya withdraws back inside the restaurant and proceeds to the comfort of a warm bed, leaving poor Soujiro in the streets to battle the severe weather. The snow continues to get heavier by the hour, and within three hours the stormturns into a full-blown blizzard. Soujiro continues to sit huddled under the fleeting shelter of Ayasaki's black umbrella. Soujiro cannot tell whether his nearly frost-bitten hand is what actually is keeping the umbrella securely in place or whether the umbrella is naturally stable against the unyielding winds. One thing for sure is that he can no longer feel the cold steel against his pale stiff fingers. Absentmindedly, Soujiro begins to reminisce the comforts of the time spent under Shishio Makoto, where he has been somewhat pampered and conditioned away from his dreadful past: rich housing, lavish attire (Dresses similar to Yutaro who is a rich boy from Part 1 of RK), well-known swords, a giant room of his own (Room of No Space), people at his bidding, etc. Nevertheless, the dark skies, the blistering winds, the sub zero temperature remains still all too familiar as not so fond memories invade his thoughts; Soujiro winces his eyes tightly to force out the painful images of his childhood past; Soon enough, Soujiro's now carefree nature prevails, recalling the fact that his rigorous training have long rendered him with the endurance and the will to survive most harsh conditions. Moreover, it has subconsciously empowered him to remain optimistic and unmindful of the fact that this storm may very well be the end of him.
With the angelic smile fixed upon his blisteringly dry face, Soujiro deliriously awaits. Suddenly a soft breeze of warm air drifts across, tinkling his skin, as the front door of the inn slides open a slight crack revealing a small hazy light from an oil lamp. Despite his curiosity, his stiff neck debars him from turning his head to look; however, his ears though also frozen remain as sharp as ever. Soujiro can hear the pitter patter of footsteps coming from the inn's entranceway as it narrows the distance between them. The person soon stops right in front of Soujiro, who from the mere observation of the footwear clattering against the floor, deduces that the person is male.
"Sir, please go home!" The waiter bends down to Soujiro's sitting height and holds the oil lantern out in front of him.
"I…I...don't…ha…ve…a…home."
"Then, sir, at least go get shelter somewhere! It's freezing cold out here! If you want, I can arrange some shelter for you for special a price," declares the waiter flashing his business smile.
"I…dddooo…n.'t haaave….aannny…mmmmoneeeey," replies Soujiro, apparently unaffected by the waiter's grin.
"Don't have money!" The waiter jerks back; his smile no longer visible. Pointing a taunting finger at Soujiro, the waiter berates, "Well, if you don't want to freeze to death then I suggest you get off our front entranceway!"
"Bbbuttt…I'm….waaaaiiitting…ffffooor…someonnne."
"Who?"
"Ayyyyyaaaasaaaaaaaaaaki-san."
"Ayasaki? That stingy guy? Sir, I suggest you not wait for him." The waiter begins to blow on his hands to keep them warm. "The storm is going to get heavier, I suggest you go find shelter sir."
"I…I…dooooon't miiind."
"Suit yourself! Ohhh…so cold." The waiter quickly darts back inside the inn, and reports, "Boss! He refuses to leave our front steps!" The entrance doorway soon slides shut, cutting off the momentary source of heat from poor freezing Soujiro.
Meanwhile, Katsuya continues to lie under the comfort of the cozy blanket until a knock at the door disturbs his rest. Displeased, Katsuya slips out of bed and proceeds to open the door.
"Why are you standing there like an absentminded fool," reprimands Katsuya, annoyed at the waiter's sudden silence, "Utter what you come to say, or else disappear from my sight lest I am tempted to punish you for this impudence."
"Sir, I am sorry to disturb your rest," The waiter is surprised to see Katsuya still so formally attired at this late hour. He tends to sleep in regular day clothes in case of attempted assassinations or other cases of emergency; this most often pertains only to his travel duties outside of the home. "But there is a young man outside who refuses to leave our front doorsteps. I tried to rid of him, but he claims he is here with you," the male waiter waveringly explains.
Katsuya raises an eyebrow, indicating his wish to hear an explanation on why it would pertain to him (Katsuya). Getting the hint, the waiter uncomfortably continues, "I am afraid he might die out there in the blizzard. My boss would not be pleased to find the guy dead on our front porch."
Heaving a sigh, Katsuya nods his head and pulls on a cloak. He then follows the waiter downstairs and out the front entrance, to see Soujiro still sitting where he was before, however, this time he is halfway buried under a feet of snow. The sturdy umbrella remains in the position where he last saw it, but the face it hovers over is much paler than the faded light blue gi he wears. Katsuya removes his cloak and places it over the frozen Tenken, who strains to whisper a thank you; however, it seems he can only afford to nod his head in show of appreciation.
"Come inside," commands Katsuya in a rigid voice, as he attempts to reclaim the umbrella from Soujiro's frozen hands. Apparently, he is too frozen stiff to even budge. Katsuya turns around to look for the waiter, who has obviously retreated inside to hide from the bustling storm. Sighing, Katsuya plucks the umbrella away from Soujiro's hands and lifts him up by the arm, out of the mound of snow to direct him inside. The greedy waiter scurries over to their side and leads them both to an empty booth.
"Get him some hot tea," orders Katsuya to the waiter as he kindly places Soujiro in a sitting position, and proceeds to neatly roll up his umbrella.
The waiter hesitates to make an exit, "Sir, it is nighttime, and I am currently off duty."
Katsuya narrows his eyes in displeasure, "I will compensate you for your services."
The money-grubbing waiter grins in delight, "Yes, sir, right away, sir!"
After watching the penny-pinching waiter exit, Katsuya returns his attention to the iced up Tenken. The smile that he saw before remains fixed upon his gentle frozen face despite his lengthy stay in the storm, a truly shocking ordeal.
"Does he ever stop smiling?" wonders Katsuya. "Or could it be that his face is too frigid to move?" His curiosity, managing to dominate over his better judgment, impels him to slide the back of his hands over Soujiro's face to feel his temperature; icy cold yet delicately warm. Soujiro turns to look straight at Katsuya.
"Is ssssomething the matttttter, Ayyyyyasaaaki-san?" asks Soujiro shakily.
Surprise at Soujiro's mobility, Katsuya immediately withdraws his hands and tinges slightly in awkwardness.
"Gomen-nasai, Seta-san." Katsuya twirls around and occupies himself with lighting up an oil lamp lying in the middle of the empty table in front of Soujiro. A short while later, the waiter returns with a kettle of hot Sencha tea, and then proceeds to pour it out for Soujiro.
"Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?"
"Itadakimasu." Quite defrosted by now, Soujiro pleasantly sips the warm tea.
"Waiter, prepare this gentleman a room."
"That would be quite impossible, sir. With this big storm, all our rooms have been booked tight. I am quite sure the other inns in town are booked also."
"Confound it," mutters Katsuya.
"But sir, your room is the biggest room in the inn, perhaps you can share with this gentleman."
Katsuya looks at Soujiro who amiably smiles in response, "Confound this inn. Confound this storm. Confound it all!"
Author's Notes:
Ohayo! First off, thank you my reviewers Valanice, PhoebeOtaku, DustyFall, moonlight2, Crescentstar, Akira, moguera, Nuriko, Takuya, and Angelique for taking the time to review my story, appreciated as always.
About the timeline of this story, it takes place after the Kyoto Arc where the Kenshin gang and Saito are dealing with Yukishiro Enishi so Iwanbou is still the gruesome dead body part puppet.
I hope everyone is happy with Soujiro getting real shelter ne? Softy Katsuya only goes after really evil people. That's the reason why the character is so hesitant on capturing innocent minded Soujiro
Regarding the formatting, I will only italicize the thoughts from now on. Bolding doesn't seem to be very popular, and besides, it took me a while to add all by html coding for ch 11. I finally learned the easier way with Word. Okay, a final note, this is a Non-Yaoi fic; there I said it. I hope I don't lose readers cuz of this.
Till next time,
Kiriakis