She kept running. Running from her friends, from her family, from her...
'NO! I cannot think about him! I just can't!' Misao thought, ignoring the tears that ran down her face.
Until that day, I believed that
the days when you loved me uncontrollably
would last forever.
Who was the person you were with,
your arms around each other, under one umbrella?
Stopping in the middle of a clearing, she sank down, her shoulders heaving. Sweat rolls down her face, and then she began to sob. Harder and harder her shoulder shook till she couldn't take it. She threw up.
'God, I am so weak... Aoshi-sama... No I cannot think about him?' But memories still came... they filled her mind, her very soul. 'WHY? Why can't I forget him? Why can't I let my torture end?' Misao looked up at the moon and then screamed, before getting up and running away again.
Aoshi from far behind heard this, but another person closer heard it as well.
Tell me that it was a joke.
Please notice my presence getting smaller.
Hold me hard. Tell me that it is my misconception.
I am hurt
Stumbling a bit, Misao waded through the stream and then stopped at the bank. Looking back, she saw herself. Her hair very well trailed down to the back of her knees. It's silken length was cool against her skin. It sicked her. Taking a small dagger she had gotten on her 17th birthday from Okina, she hacked off the long braid, letting it and the dagger drop to the sandy bank below. The dagger glittered with faint blood as the cut on her cheek wept a thin trail of blood. Lifting her legs, she continued to run.
but I cannot ask you what is wrong.
I cannot do anything, just watching my telephone. My anxiety increases.
I have been paralyzed since that day, I am alone in rain.
I cannot get out of it. Far away.
Aoshi stopped in the field, looking for the faint trail that Misao left behind. Ignoring the pain in his legs, he ran. His heart was twisted into a tight knot of his own making...
"Aoshi-sama?" Misao asked as she entered the room, tea tray in hand. A off white kimono graced her form. He felt his heart quicken, and it scared him. She sat down gracefully as she prepared his tea and handed it to him. Taking it, she sipped it, finding it immediately to his liking. She knew him too well.
"Aoshi-sama?" She asked again.
"What is it Misao?" He said without looking at her.
"Can I ask you something?" Misao said, a tone of worry underlying her voice. She was worried about something... It couldn't be that...
"What is it?" He asked.
"Do you... happen to love someone?" She said shyly, a bit unusually for the girl Sano usually called 'Weasel girl'. But at this question he froze. She was... Did he?
"Yes... I do... But..." He paused. His tongue felt like it as a huge sponge. He panicked mentally and then looked at her.
"But what Aoshi-sama?" Was that hope under her eyes?
"But it's not you..." STUPID! He didn't mean for it to sound like that. But the damage had already been done. Standing up suddenly she put on a smile which he knew was fake. Barely whispering she waited from him to finish before taking the tray away.
That night at dinner she barely ate anything, only half a bowl of rice and a sip of miso soup. Then while the others were sleeping, she ran off. He knew she was gone, but he didn't start the chase for his heart was torn between her and the fact that he would only hurt her more.
You have just called me in a long while.
My heart dances. I am in a hurry
to come and meet you.
When I said hello to you trying to be cool,
there was that person right next to you.
Arriving at the bank he saw something glitter there. Quickly running across the stream, he stopped and stared with a tortured gaze as he picked up the severed braid of hair. She had cut off her hair. Gritting his teeth, he looked off to the side only to find that Misao wasn't exactly alone. Someone was following her. Narrowing his eyes, he stood up and began the chase again.
Tell me that it was a joke.
Don't give me an excuse. It just make me feel worse.
I cannot go back to you
and I am hurt
Misao sank to the ground, exhausted. Laying on her back, she stared up at the move and closed her eyes. The wind blew the grasses into her face, the scent of flowers nearby tickling her senses. If only she could disappear into this field. Then she wouldn't be feeling this pain, this torture. Suddenly there was a rustle and she bolted up. Suddenly she found Soujiro sitting beside her, smiling.
"Soujiro-san." She nearly hissed, but the look in his eye stopped her.
"Tell me." He said.
"Tell you what?" She asked, confused. She looked at him, staring into his eyes. The moon was behind him and his face was shadowed, his eyes glimmering.
"Why did you run?" He asked.
"It's nothing for you to know." She snapped hastily before turning away.
but I will not shed tears.
I would just turn around and tell you "good-bye."
I have been paralyzed since that day, I am alone in rain.
I cannot get out of it. Far away.
Soujiro stared at Misao as the moonlight played it's magic upon her. Her skin was as pale as pearls, her eyes becoming even darker in the moonlight's shine. He remembered what Himura had told him a year ago.
Soujiro stared absentmindedly at his hands when Himura came up beside him, sitting down by a nearby rock. Smiling that careless smile he had, Kenshin answered what had been on Soujiro's mind all this time.
"You'll find someone worthy of you. She'll think nothing of you're bloodstained past nor your hands." He said, closing his eyes.
Tell me that it was a joke.
Don't give me an excuse. It just make me feel worse.
I cannot go back to you
and I am hurt
Soujiro sighed. When he first heard it, he thought that it wasn't true for him. His soul was too deeply stained with the blood of the innocents on which he slaughtered. But looking at Misao, the spunky girl, no, woman in front of him, he felt different. The dark paths of death and onyx he had been presented with had disappeared only to reveal one of glittering light and gold. Her beauty, her way of life, it all intrigued him. He noticed that he was so caught up in his thoughts that she had fallen asleep in the grasses. Smiling softly, he brushed some of the stray hairs on her face. He knew that he had no right, but he couldn't just leave a woman here in the cold grass when his camp was nearby. Picking her up, he held her in arms. She was light, almost too light. Gazing at her face, he frowned. This close it looked like she had been starving herself, wanting to be skinnier and thinner. He had heard that in the west the 'beautiful' people were the ones who were as skinny as sticks. Tsking, he looked at her. She was beautiful now and those westerners didn't know the true vision of beauty. Kissing her forehead, he gazed at her. Laughing silently at himself, he said to nothing, "I'm slowly losing my heart aren't I?"
but I will not shed tears.
I would just turn around and tell you "good-bye."
I have been paralyzed since that day, I am alone in rain.
I cannot get out of it. Far away.
Aoshi growled as continued to follow the path of both Misao and the stranger. Suddenly the paths had stopped. Indications of 2 people sitting down were there, but nothing else. Standing there, Aoshi looked up into the sky. A breeze swept through, the scent of Sakura trees tempting his senses. It reminded him of Misao. Staring at the moon above, he then gazed at the stars.
AN: This is my first RK fic, so don't kill me. I do not own this great anime/manga, so please don't sue. Reviews are greatly needed and I'll get the next chapter up soon.
