Fate Beckons

Chapter 4: Reunion

Disclaimers apply. The train announcements belong to SMRT…believe me, I listen to them everyday, it kind of sticks in your mind after a while.

Sitting in the MRT on her way to Orchard where they would meet the Shinomoris, Misao had never felt more nervous. She knew she looked good—guys kept shooting glances in her direction. However, she had butterflies in her stomach…people changed over time and she had known a few who had changed too much. Leaning against the partition, she sighed inwardly.

"This train goes to Boon Lay. Next stop, City Hall Interchange. Passengers going towards Woodlands and Yishun, please cross the platform and transfer to another train." The mechanical voice announced over the speakers. After a while… "City Hall Interchange."

A large crowd, Misao and her parents included, filtered out as the doors opened slowly. Walking toward the opposite platform, Misao stole a look at the display, which counted down to the next train. 3 minutes. If she had been going to school, she would have been impatient—every minute counted. Even a minute would determine the difference between being "Late" and "Punctual" for school. Right then, however, she was torn between wanting to be late for the meeting( so that she would have time to calm down before feeling nervous in front of the Shinomoris) and early (so that her fears that Aoshi had changed beyond her liking would be proved to be wrong sooner).

She stared at her spookily translucent reflection in the glass sliding doors of the platform, which separated her from the dirty brown walls and tracks. Her heart thumped in her chest. Suddenly, she glimpsed another silhouette in the glass—no, two familiar figures and a third not-so-recognizable one. Before they registered in her mind, the 2 people whom the familiar silhouettes belonged to were exchanging greetings with her parents. She spun around in surprise and curiosity.

"Oh, look, this must be Misao!" Mrs Shinomori took a step toward her. "How old is she, Miyako? Sixteen, right?" Mrs. Makimachi nodded, smiling.

"She's grown so beautiful I can hardly recognize her," Mrs. Shinomori continued, causing Misao to blush redder than her scarf. "Secondary Four, right? Which school is she in?"

"St Nicks'", Misao whispered shyly. [Should I use that or a fictional name?] This elicited a squeal so loud that the other waiting passengers on the platform turned to stare. Ignoring that, Mrs. Shinomori began praising the school and Misao(for doing well enough to get into it), albeit in a quieter voice. [It's happened to me! Kinda hao lian of me to put that in you know but not all people from the top schools like everyone to know what school they're from—kinda puts pressure on us to behave well etc especially when your school has "spies all over the place"]

Mr. Shinomori and Makimachi joined them then. "We know—Misao has improved her behavior ever since she got into that school," Mr. Makimachi added, ignoring the murderous glare his daughter shot him.

Suddenly, Misao's eyes rested on a tall, muscular young man who was leaning against a pillar; intense eyes a calm bluish gray. His hair had been shaved into the mandatory(for NSmen) but was beginning to grow back. He was still familiar to her although he had changed so much.

As though she had read Misao's thoughts, Mrs. Shinomori shot Aoshi a look that nobody else noticed. Aoshi straightened up immediately and began walking toward them, looking like he would rather not be there.

"You remember each other right?" she asked them. Misao nodded.

"Hi, Misao," Aoshi said in his deep, sexy voice, which sent shivers of nervousness through her. She managed to compose herself, forcing her fear deep inside where it could not be felt. But somehow, she still stammered, which was rather unnatural for her.

"H-hi A-aoshi. It's good to see you again." Her voice came out lower than it's normal pitch.

She had never felt so shy in her life. True, they had been friends and playmates, but that was ages ago. And Aoshi had never known how Misao felt about him.

The train arrived and saved Misao's day.

By the time they reached Orchard, Misao had (thankfully) calmed down a considerable bit. She was joking with all the rest again, being the lively girl she was. Aoshi, however, remained quiet—a far cry from his past behavior. Whenever Misao glanced at him, there seemed to be an odd sadness around him, which he appeared to be trying to hide. She wondered why, but also knew that she could not force it out of him if he did not want to tell her.

Telling funny stories about her school life seemed to captivate her audience, therefore she went on. Even Aoshi smiled occasionally, though it was hardly noticeable to anyone who was not looking closely.

"Yeah, and right after the false alarm, my Sec 2 Geography teacher told us about how she accidentally set off the fire alarm in her hostel overseas when she decided to burn some waste paper," Misao related animatedly. " My whole class was like, 'Where got any so stupid, burn paper in the hostel." [Translation: Is there anyone so stupid that she will burn paper in the hostel?] "We really hated her then, and we were so glad she wasn't teaching the upper secondary, otherwise they would probably fail their Os. But we were very upset about having her as our geography teacher as well—she didn't even bother to make lessons fun. I'm glad I don't have her now."

"So which was worse, a geography teacher which eats soil or one which nearly fell into horse manure?" Aoshi asked. Misao blushed a little, but soon regained her composure. "Well, the one who nearly fell into horse manure. No one sensible stands right behind a horse lest you get kicked."

By then, they had reached Pizza Hut, where they had decided to have lunch in. Their parents took four seats next to each other, forcing Misao and Aoshi to sit beside each other. Misao fumed and shot icy looks at them, but inwardly she was pleased.

Crossing her legs demurely, she picked up the menu from the table in a graceful motion, hoping to leave a good "second impression" on Aoshi. Her efforts came to naught as when she turned to him, he had already begun to read the menu. Frowning, she reached for the glass of iced water in front of her and jerked it toward herself with so much force that some water spilled out of it onto the table. Unfortunately, it was right at that moment that Aoshi looked up.

"My, still as cho lor [Hokkien (?) for rough, clumsy] as you used to be, aren't you Misao?" He teased, his eyes actually sparking for the first time that day, although there was still something deep and incomprehensible in them.

Misao pouted. "I'm not!" She slammed the glass back onto the table, which only resulted in Aoshi's widening grin.

"You have to learn not to contradict yourself." With that, he turned back to the menu, oblivious to Misao fuming at him.

"Well, looks like someone has not completely learned to control her temper," Mr Shinomori laughed. Misao turned red.

"Oh, just give her time, James. Sometimes you can't help but to explode, right, Misao?" Mrs. Shinomori gave her a knowing wink.

"With that kind of temper, I wonder if I'll ever be able to marry her off in the future," Mr Makimachi joked. "No man loves a hotheaded wife or wants to be a hen-pecked husband."

"Well, opposites do attract," Mrs. Makimachi looked at the Shinomori couple, a real-life example. Mrs. Shinomori caught her eye and shot her a wink, which Misao saw, and almost immediately became curious about. What are they up to?

tbc……

Notes: Sorry for that lousy chapter before this, I really didn't know what to write. In response to some of your remarks, I'll try to make my chapters longer.

If I ever get too carried away bragging about this and that, put me down to earth ok? I'll try not to blow my own trumpet…

Just wondering…what will Kenshin be like as a drill sergeant? Hehehe…(evil look).

Sorry for the OOCness, I can't capture characters as well as some other fanfic writers but I'll try ok?