My Sanctuary
by Ori Oscuro
Author's note: I read some cheesy romance novels, and i was bored---then again i was inspired. Another Soujiro x Misao pairing! I just never get tired of it--a hint and a crossover of Yogotte ittemo Utsukushii's plot--- and there you got a story :9 Don't you just love re-inventing?
X'ss: I think ffnet kinda made the format of the work confusing especially in the one on one conversation part. Oh well, try to find your way--- (
Chapter 1: Black Winter
Late at Night,
It's dead of winter down at Kyoto, indicating that the soon enough it will escalate to a blizzard...with the cherry blossom trees in the pleteau swaggering wildly to the cold night air, most of them are nothing but thin frail black braches with the pink leaves having been swept away by the icy air. Makamachi Misao, in her wide white cloak she rides through the bleak weather on a chestnut horse. Away from the nearest town, away from her hometown Kyoto
But with the climate being harsh, and already miles from god knows where, Misao struggled to keep her eyes open, as she made her way to recover her map from her side pocket. It's no use,upon pulling out the thin roll of brown paper, it was carelessly been torn away from her hand by the blizzard's angry howl. Without it, she instead tried to focus on the view ahead, to see any sign of a nearest house...or a person nearby. Little did she know, that hot wet tears are streaming down her eyes---she can't tell whether this has something to do with the hopelessness of her situation or her dire lack of maturity way back at her place in Kyoto.
Its so silly to behave like a child, she muttered to herself. She swept away her tears, that are starting to crust like dried icicles to her cheeks. And to behave like so, right in front of Aoshi-sama.
It's been no secret of her infatuation with her guardian, Aoshi---the former leader of the oniwabanshu. She knew that her love for him goes unrequited, and he could care less on what she feels about him. Only what matters is that he is her guardian--someone who have to look after her. But with her maturity and age, it seems there is less responsibility for him to do so. If he does show concern on her, he is poor to show it. That early evening during dinner, Kenshin and Kaoru drops by for a visit--with a new bundle of joy with them. The two have been shortly married sometime last year, and they were blessed by a baby boy, called Kenji. The little one resembles Himura-san so much with a thick mop of red-hair, and it brings Okina to the topic of Misao's possible future.There is no harm in doing so, Misao readily accepted the teases and the comments during dinner time--- Kaoru is just near about her age, and she has settled luckily with a man like Kenshin on her side. The old man brought about wistfully that motherhood brings out the true beauty of a woman and he wonders why Misao isn't getting any suitors. One of the oni's joked, that probably men find Misao intimidating. She laughed out the notion quickly, but Aoshi..doesn't see it that way.
" We are not getting any younger, Misao" he started, although it was intended good-naturedly, his tacit expression made another impression otherwise. He made a comment on every little detail, he said that Misao dresses a little to tight and too short--she acts a little to brash, too carefree. If she keeps acting so, she'll miss the important things in life-- and it would be too late soon enough by the time she realized it. But it was the last straw, when he starts to compare her lifestyle to Kaoru's. Feeling she was being embarrased in front of her friends, she answers back to Aoshi-- to where was he when she was growing up, what does he know about enjoying a carefree life, and his selfish attitude when he left her for his personal desires without telling her where he went and so on...
" How will you know? You never even tried!" she cried, and left furiously at the dinner table. Everyone is shocked, as well silenced to Misao's sudden outburst. Probably the most affected of them all was Okina, who after all the one who actually raised her during Aoshi's long abscence. He is the first to speak out, but she was so enraged that she couldn't hear properly what he was saying. Probably scolding Aoshi, but it would also be so useless...
Very useless...
Aoshi-sama might be so right, she said to herself again. She needs alot of growing up to do...it was so stupid of her to ran off in the middle of the harsh winter. She ran off in impulse to cool off, but when the road she trekked became more and more increasingly hazardous--its too late to turn back. The last time she looked at the map, she was in Kobe, but after a few hours travel more; she guessed she was already in Yokkaichi---near enough to one of Japan's trading capital, Osaka. Maybe if she could get there, she'll get some rest--- then probably, if she have enough resources left she would drop by Tokyo and weep her heart out to the Kenshin-gumi...that is, if they can come home at this weather.
She also wonders if Aoshi is starting to get worried now.
" The nerve of him!" she managed to said out loud, and following that came a thud. She fell down the ground
Her horse also fell down, hard.
She gave it a kick, shaking the animal so it could get back to it's knees.
But the animal is not moving either. Not even a budge.
"Oh no, don't fail me! Not you too!!" she whined, " Great! This is just great...of all the rotten luck.." There she was, stranded blindly by the raging snow storm---not seeing where, without her map...and the temperature dropping greatly, somehow numbing her senses. No wonder why the animal died, any sane living thing would get hypothermia at this rate. The only thing sparing her now is the thin white cloak she is wearing. The poor animal only has its hide.
Having no choice but to spend the night in the snow covered barren road, she thinks its best to snuggle to the animal for the time being---it still looks like it has some thermal heat left, but it wont last long either. Misao is so desperate, that she remembered one of Okina's "survival tips".
"Slice it open, then snuggle yourself within it..." "WHAT?"
"..i know its a sickening thought, but if the animal is dead...the body heat escapes least from within its insides. You have to go and put in yourself there like going in a sleeping bag..."
" To be surrounded by buddha knows what! Eww, NOT in my life!"
"Well, you have to do what it means to survive---"
She shuddered at the thought, Some weird advice Okina gave her..."I'm not gonna slice the poor animal! Never!" she said outloud, but then again---she couldn't stand a chance also against mother nature. Breathing heavily, she tried to search her pockets for any kind of sharp instrument...nothing.
Maybe there is one at the road, any sharp branch perhaps...she thought, and she stumbles few steps forward. Even her feet is burrowing down, the snow has grown to inches deep from the ground.making it difficult for her to walk. She prayed to merciful Buddha, that she might find something to keep her warm for the night. For who would be crazy to stay out at this weather?
**********
As if the fickle finger of fate have an answer for that, for what seems a delusion, she hears some horse steps and breighing noises---not one but two. And they are heading to her direction. In a matter of few minutes, she saw a dim , flickering faint lantern light-like a lost firefly in the snowstorm and behind it is a caravan with indeed, two horses in tow. She gaped, what seems to be an answer to her prayer, has materialized in front of her very eyes. In the front, she can see a shadow of a man in cloak, who upon noticing her, held the animals to a sudden stop. Misao does not care if this is an old hermit or a drunken man aimlessly wandering down the road, she is desperate to take in shelter.
She instantly ran, and threw herself in his mercy, " Tasukete Kudasai!! Mister, my horse has died by the road--- if its o."
" It's okay----young lady, I'm here " the man replied back warmly, and he took off his hood. With the lantern light close by, she made out his features. The rider is nonetheless is a far cry to any road traveler, for what stood before her, is a black-haired young man, around his early 20's. For an instant, she noticed that he has the most beautiful luminescent indigo eyes she ever saw, that made him appear even more younger. He smiled, a warm one. " You are going to catch hypothermia if you don't get in, green eyes."
"H-hai." she bowed down, very grateful for the offer; and quickly slipped in behind and within the caravan. The youth just called her "green eyes."
"You can use some of my blankets, feel free to use them," he spoke, urging her to do so. " I have also some food brought from the past town, they are still warm---you can have some if you want,"
Misao was so lucky at the generous offer, she was so tired and hungry and cold.that she lost to herself and quickly threw off a blanket and starts to eat. He quietly observed her, in the corner of his eye. Misao looked up and noticed it.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry! I hope you don't mind---" she stammered,
He turned around, and flashed her a friendly amiable expression, "call me Soujiro---really, its okay.'sides I always have enough food more than for myself."
She wiped her one hand, and stretched it out, " My name is Misao--- I." she was at loss of words.
"What are you doing in the road at this weather?" they both said in unison, after that they both laughed, breaking the ice between them. Soujiro is the first to speak out, " I'm a traveler Misao---I just go where the road takes me---"
" Don't you have a family? "
"No green eyes, I---they were killed long time ago when I was a boy."
" Gomen, I don't know." the smile, the friendly face---the youth called Soujiro, suddenly, she took interest in knowing more. She rarely gets to meet someone her age around Kyoto, more or less a young traveler. and the exciting rush to know him which reminds her when she met Kenshin Himura sometime ago.
"How about you--- do you have a family?"
" Yeah, sort of." She said, digging in a big rice ball to her palms and making a big bite. " I ran away from my guardian, you see. My parents were killed when I was only a baby, and some members of the cla---" she paused, thinking its not a good idea to reveal she is a ninja. ".I mean some family friends, decided to adopt me. I have an adoptive father, but we are not in good terms as of now."
"Why?" " Hold it, you want to know?"
"I'm just curious, green eyes."
"STOP calling me that! I had a name, its M-I-S-A-O! Misao! "
Soujiro scratched his head, "I'm sorry.I just can't help it. I don't see anyone with that eye color in these parts." his smile slowly faded, ".you have been doing a lot of crying, don't you?"
"What made you say that?" she was amazed, at his perception.
"Your eyes, they are wet, and quite red too---it seems it has nothing to do with the weather."
"You are quite right, its been hell of a fight with Aoshi-sama."
Suddenly there was a loud breighing sound, and the caravan went into an abrupt halt, Soujiro pulled the reins quickly, and Misao who wasn't able to finish her conversation--- she nearly choked on the rice ball. She was about to protest, "Is there something wrong with your horses or is there something that I said?"
"Actually its both-" he said. " I think I have to pull at the side of the road, to get the animals some rest."
"You knew of Aoshi?"
"Just an encounter," he put it tacitly. " Its been---in one of my travels," and he hoped to put it just that. If he is not mistaken, there is ONLY one Aoshi Shinomori and the young lady with braided hair could be Makamachi Misao, his adopted ward and current leader of the new oniwabanshu clan. He already grew suspicious when she halted awhile ago, when she was about to said she was adopted by the members of the oniwabanshu. So she is Misao, he said to himself---she is much more feminine looking than he expected her to be. He also admired her strong sense of being a rebel, knowing from experience that their stronghold is at Kyoto---and that she wandered at the fierce weather to reach this far, just because she can't get along with her guardian.
" You are lucky to have a family, gre--- Misao. Maybe Aoshi said all that because he cares for you. After all, you said he is your guardian."
" He wants me to change," she grumbled, covering herself tightly with her cloak. She tries to cover her oniwabanshu ninja uniform---the only thing she is wearing underneath. She was the type who hardly wears any female clothing, and most of the people are too conservative when they notice. Maybe that's another thing why she is considered "intimidating". She tries not to show any skin that might surprise Soujiro.
" If it's for your own good, then there would be nothing wrong with it."
"IT is for my own good, but he compares me with other people." Misao tried to mimic Aoshi nagging her to act like an adult would to a misbehaved child. "It's not good, he does not know me that well---go figure, if you left someone for more than 8 years!"
"Maybe he is just trying to help you, he just cant show it well " Soujiro suggested, "Maybe it's the only way he knows, "
Misao look at him with a frowning look, Soujiro has stopped his caravan, stepped down and starts to hoister the horses down to a tree nearby, and didn't even bother to look back as he spoke. " You really want to side with Aoshi do you? " she yelled at him.
Soujiro is far from hearing her words, he is observing a stump by the tree that is blocking a good path for him to put the horses in a comfortable spot. Still wearing a thick animal hide as a cloak for the harsh winter, he draws out his small hand---that Misao notices, have protectors. Then with a light gleam from the dark, harsh blizzard he drew out a long sharp sword from its hidden sheath. With an ample flick of the wrist, he sliced it through with such ease. Misao gaped in surprise, this young man--- brandishes a sword. She knows a few good deal about wanderers, but this one is different. There are strict protocol that does not allow the use of the sword with present meiji restoration, and obviously Soujiro looks like he is born during this present regime. Even with the simple move, she can tell that Soujiro is a pro. He handles the sword as light as a feather.
"I'm sorry, are you saying something Misao?" "You have a sword."
" Yes I do, but I don't really use it that much really," he spoke, as if he has no further interest of probing at the matter. " Did I hear right, something about Aoshi you say?"
"Oh, ah yes.."
Misao told him what she said earlier, and to which he replied calmly. " Maybe I can take you home to Kyoto then, its no use I mean--- if you struggle more to this weather just because of family matters. You have them and they do it because they care. They might be terribly worried by now."
"Soujiro.the weather, and we are already in Yokkaichi. It would be another town away!"
"Then we'll wait for the weather to subside."
"But you must going to somewhere else important!"
"Nothing much, green eyes. I'm a wanderer for a couple of years. I don't really have much business. "
"Will you stop calling me green eyes?"
Soujiro smiled, and Misao could see that his indigo eyes are smiling as well, but there is something lonely within those depths. "Because I never seen any common Japanese girl having those eyes, you strike to me as different. Pretty unusual, even the way you are."
" I'm not your typical Japanese girl, of course", she said proudly. " I never been helpless in little things, I can defend myself."
The youth shook his head, as he moved inside the caravan and nestling in the layer of blankets few feet in front of Misao. " I don't see defending yourself in running away from miles of nowhere because of a small fight, and you are almost next to being helpless when I find you out there."
Soujiro got a point, but his advice sounded like stiff lecture, very blunt and similar to.
" YOU are starting to sound like my adoptive father right now, do you know that?"
"I sounded like an old wise man do I?" he said softly, as if he see the situation with jest. Misao is starting to sense that he find it amusing that she gets easily misled and furious in the little comments that he make. "Most people I met says that, they said it didn't sound coming from someone who just turned 24.."
"YOU are already 24?" she remarked with some surprise, so Soujiro is older than he looks like. And the way he speaks, far much older.
" I look much younger than what they think," he replied curtly, " How about you? You seem to be barely in your 20's."
"I AM in my 20's. I just turned 21!'
Soujiro gave her a surprised baffled look, and it has nothing to do with her blurting her age out right. There they are, two young adults who could pass as teenagers stranded in strange circumstances in a fierce snowstorm, and he was used in taking a couple of homeless strangers to his small caravan, but Misao is different. She still finds the energy to be inquisitive, and to argue---even in her tired state. As she pointed out her legal adult age, her cloak fall off to reveal her ninja outfit that to Soujiro's eyes have left all the possibilities of fantasizing about the opposite sex to zero, to him she is dressed in a way he could think an ordinary Japanese woman would be stripped wearing her unmentionables. Misao later noticed that he was looking at her strangely, and soon enough he was blushing scarlet. She looked down, and didn't wonder enough. About a few men she met seems to object silently at the way she dresses, to include Kenshin himself. They all say the same thing,
"Y-you dress up a little too short and tight."
" I know, I know! I wore it everyday, no one seems to bother about it."
"It didn't bother me, I was just surprised." he said scratching his head, his voice in an unexplainable tone. " Does it not make you feel cold? You have to wear something much more covered if we will have to go back to Kyoto." Soujiro wondered how this untamed wildflower of a girl survived many miles of travel just wearing those thin layers as a clothing item. In a brief glimpse before she pouted and covered herself with more blankets, he noticed she is indeed wearing the oniwabanshu colors. She is wearing her high-ranking ninja outfit, and with a pretty pink ribbon tied to her small waist as such. Her loyalty with the clan must be so much, maybe Aoshi might be objecting that its getting the way in making her look more feminine-he thought. Then the last statement he said before that echoed in his head, why was he fascinated about her small waist? A vivid imagination come to his head, as if in the deep recesses of his mind some desire starts to flicker--- he never thought of it before, but it has been a long time since he have a yearning for a young woman. He never thought much about his so called stale love life, but when he met Misao few hours ago. he felt strange. The thought of those lonely nights without companionship, no one to share his feelings with all starts to stir inside. Its unnatural for a man to be only with himself, but who would like a young man with a dark past--- that brandishes a sword, escaped from a possible sentence.eluding authority for a couple of years in a row? Then as if a seducing temptation lingered once to his brain, something else whispered--- who cares about the past? What matters is the present, the now. What it would be like, your small hands snuggled right to her ample waist, to feel her close to you.how will she react if you kissed her.have you kissed EVEN anyone for that matter...Soujiro? Have you really fall in love for anyone, at least?
He shook the little voice of his head, what was he thinking? After those few minutes he finally went back to reality, he noticed that Misao have setlled nicely and quickly asleep among the thick layers of hides and blankets. Its going to be one long, cold night
"See you in the morning Misao, good night." He said softly, and also rested down to sleep.
by Ori Oscuro
Author's note: I read some cheesy romance novels, and i was bored---then again i was inspired. Another Soujiro x Misao pairing! I just never get tired of it--a hint and a crossover of Yogotte ittemo Utsukushii's plot--- and there you got a story :9 Don't you just love re-inventing?
X'ss: I think ffnet kinda made the format of the work confusing especially in the one on one conversation part. Oh well, try to find your way--- (
Chapter 1: Black Winter
Late at Night,
It's dead of winter down at Kyoto, indicating that the soon enough it will escalate to a blizzard...with the cherry blossom trees in the pleteau swaggering wildly to the cold night air, most of them are nothing but thin frail black braches with the pink leaves having been swept away by the icy air. Makamachi Misao, in her wide white cloak she rides through the bleak weather on a chestnut horse. Away from the nearest town, away from her hometown Kyoto
But with the climate being harsh, and already miles from god knows where, Misao struggled to keep her eyes open, as she made her way to recover her map from her side pocket. It's no use,upon pulling out the thin roll of brown paper, it was carelessly been torn away from her hand by the blizzard's angry howl. Without it, she instead tried to focus on the view ahead, to see any sign of a nearest house...or a person nearby. Little did she know, that hot wet tears are streaming down her eyes---she can't tell whether this has something to do with the hopelessness of her situation or her dire lack of maturity way back at her place in Kyoto.
Its so silly to behave like a child, she muttered to herself. She swept away her tears, that are starting to crust like dried icicles to her cheeks. And to behave like so, right in front of Aoshi-sama.
It's been no secret of her infatuation with her guardian, Aoshi---the former leader of the oniwabanshu. She knew that her love for him goes unrequited, and he could care less on what she feels about him. Only what matters is that he is her guardian--someone who have to look after her. But with her maturity and age, it seems there is less responsibility for him to do so. If he does show concern on her, he is poor to show it. That early evening during dinner, Kenshin and Kaoru drops by for a visit--with a new bundle of joy with them. The two have been shortly married sometime last year, and they were blessed by a baby boy, called Kenji. The little one resembles Himura-san so much with a thick mop of red-hair, and it brings Okina to the topic of Misao's possible future.There is no harm in doing so, Misao readily accepted the teases and the comments during dinner time--- Kaoru is just near about her age, and she has settled luckily with a man like Kenshin on her side. The old man brought about wistfully that motherhood brings out the true beauty of a woman and he wonders why Misao isn't getting any suitors. One of the oni's joked, that probably men find Misao intimidating. She laughed out the notion quickly, but Aoshi..doesn't see it that way.
" We are not getting any younger, Misao" he started, although it was intended good-naturedly, his tacit expression made another impression otherwise. He made a comment on every little detail, he said that Misao dresses a little to tight and too short--she acts a little to brash, too carefree. If she keeps acting so, she'll miss the important things in life-- and it would be too late soon enough by the time she realized it. But it was the last straw, when he starts to compare her lifestyle to Kaoru's. Feeling she was being embarrased in front of her friends, she answers back to Aoshi-- to where was he when she was growing up, what does he know about enjoying a carefree life, and his selfish attitude when he left her for his personal desires without telling her where he went and so on...
" How will you know? You never even tried!" she cried, and left furiously at the dinner table. Everyone is shocked, as well silenced to Misao's sudden outburst. Probably the most affected of them all was Okina, who after all the one who actually raised her during Aoshi's long abscence. He is the first to speak out, but she was so enraged that she couldn't hear properly what he was saying. Probably scolding Aoshi, but it would also be so useless...
Very useless...
Aoshi-sama might be so right, she said to herself again. She needs alot of growing up to do...it was so stupid of her to ran off in the middle of the harsh winter. She ran off in impulse to cool off, but when the road she trekked became more and more increasingly hazardous--its too late to turn back. The last time she looked at the map, she was in Kobe, but after a few hours travel more; she guessed she was already in Yokkaichi---near enough to one of Japan's trading capital, Osaka. Maybe if she could get there, she'll get some rest--- then probably, if she have enough resources left she would drop by Tokyo and weep her heart out to the Kenshin-gumi...that is, if they can come home at this weather.
She also wonders if Aoshi is starting to get worried now.
" The nerve of him!" she managed to said out loud, and following that came a thud. She fell down the ground
Her horse also fell down, hard.
She gave it a kick, shaking the animal so it could get back to it's knees.
But the animal is not moving either. Not even a budge.
"Oh no, don't fail me! Not you too!!" she whined, " Great! This is just great...of all the rotten luck.." There she was, stranded blindly by the raging snow storm---not seeing where, without her map...and the temperature dropping greatly, somehow numbing her senses. No wonder why the animal died, any sane living thing would get hypothermia at this rate. The only thing sparing her now is the thin white cloak she is wearing. The poor animal only has its hide.
Having no choice but to spend the night in the snow covered barren road, she thinks its best to snuggle to the animal for the time being---it still looks like it has some thermal heat left, but it wont last long either. Misao is so desperate, that she remembered one of Okina's "survival tips".
"Slice it open, then snuggle yourself within it..." "WHAT?"
"..i know its a sickening thought, but if the animal is dead...the body heat escapes least from within its insides. You have to go and put in yourself there like going in a sleeping bag..."
" To be surrounded by buddha knows what! Eww, NOT in my life!"
"Well, you have to do what it means to survive---"
She shuddered at the thought, Some weird advice Okina gave her..."I'm not gonna slice the poor animal! Never!" she said outloud, but then again---she couldn't stand a chance also against mother nature. Breathing heavily, she tried to search her pockets for any kind of sharp instrument...nothing.
Maybe there is one at the road, any sharp branch perhaps...she thought, and she stumbles few steps forward. Even her feet is burrowing down, the snow has grown to inches deep from the ground.making it difficult for her to walk. She prayed to merciful Buddha, that she might find something to keep her warm for the night. For who would be crazy to stay out at this weather?
**********
As if the fickle finger of fate have an answer for that, for what seems a delusion, she hears some horse steps and breighing noises---not one but two. And they are heading to her direction. In a matter of few minutes, she saw a dim , flickering faint lantern light-like a lost firefly in the snowstorm and behind it is a caravan with indeed, two horses in tow. She gaped, what seems to be an answer to her prayer, has materialized in front of her very eyes. In the front, she can see a shadow of a man in cloak, who upon noticing her, held the animals to a sudden stop. Misao does not care if this is an old hermit or a drunken man aimlessly wandering down the road, she is desperate to take in shelter.
She instantly ran, and threw herself in his mercy, " Tasukete Kudasai!! Mister, my horse has died by the road--- if its o."
" It's okay----young lady, I'm here " the man replied back warmly, and he took off his hood. With the lantern light close by, she made out his features. The rider is nonetheless is a far cry to any road traveler, for what stood before her, is a black-haired young man, around his early 20's. For an instant, she noticed that he has the most beautiful luminescent indigo eyes she ever saw, that made him appear even more younger. He smiled, a warm one. " You are going to catch hypothermia if you don't get in, green eyes."
"H-hai." she bowed down, very grateful for the offer; and quickly slipped in behind and within the caravan. The youth just called her "green eyes."
"You can use some of my blankets, feel free to use them," he spoke, urging her to do so. " I have also some food brought from the past town, they are still warm---you can have some if you want,"
Misao was so lucky at the generous offer, she was so tired and hungry and cold.that she lost to herself and quickly threw off a blanket and starts to eat. He quietly observed her, in the corner of his eye. Misao looked up and noticed it.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry! I hope you don't mind---" she stammered,
He turned around, and flashed her a friendly amiable expression, "call me Soujiro---really, its okay.'sides I always have enough food more than for myself."
She wiped her one hand, and stretched it out, " My name is Misao--- I." she was at loss of words.
"What are you doing in the road at this weather?" they both said in unison, after that they both laughed, breaking the ice between them. Soujiro is the first to speak out, " I'm a traveler Misao---I just go where the road takes me---"
" Don't you have a family? "
"No green eyes, I---they were killed long time ago when I was a boy."
" Gomen, I don't know." the smile, the friendly face---the youth called Soujiro, suddenly, she took interest in knowing more. She rarely gets to meet someone her age around Kyoto, more or less a young traveler. and the exciting rush to know him which reminds her when she met Kenshin Himura sometime ago.
"How about you--- do you have a family?"
" Yeah, sort of." She said, digging in a big rice ball to her palms and making a big bite. " I ran away from my guardian, you see. My parents were killed when I was only a baby, and some members of the cla---" she paused, thinking its not a good idea to reveal she is a ninja. ".I mean some family friends, decided to adopt me. I have an adoptive father, but we are not in good terms as of now."
"Why?" " Hold it, you want to know?"
"I'm just curious, green eyes."
"STOP calling me that! I had a name, its M-I-S-A-O! Misao! "
Soujiro scratched his head, "I'm sorry.I just can't help it. I don't see anyone with that eye color in these parts." his smile slowly faded, ".you have been doing a lot of crying, don't you?"
"What made you say that?" she was amazed, at his perception.
"Your eyes, they are wet, and quite red too---it seems it has nothing to do with the weather."
"You are quite right, its been hell of a fight with Aoshi-sama."
Suddenly there was a loud breighing sound, and the caravan went into an abrupt halt, Soujiro pulled the reins quickly, and Misao who wasn't able to finish her conversation--- she nearly choked on the rice ball. She was about to protest, "Is there something wrong with your horses or is there something that I said?"
"Actually its both-" he said. " I think I have to pull at the side of the road, to get the animals some rest."
"You knew of Aoshi?"
"Just an encounter," he put it tacitly. " Its been---in one of my travels," and he hoped to put it just that. If he is not mistaken, there is ONLY one Aoshi Shinomori and the young lady with braided hair could be Makamachi Misao, his adopted ward and current leader of the new oniwabanshu clan. He already grew suspicious when she halted awhile ago, when she was about to said she was adopted by the members of the oniwabanshu. So she is Misao, he said to himself---she is much more feminine looking than he expected her to be. He also admired her strong sense of being a rebel, knowing from experience that their stronghold is at Kyoto---and that she wandered at the fierce weather to reach this far, just because she can't get along with her guardian.
" You are lucky to have a family, gre--- Misao. Maybe Aoshi said all that because he cares for you. After all, you said he is your guardian."
" He wants me to change," she grumbled, covering herself tightly with her cloak. She tries to cover her oniwabanshu ninja uniform---the only thing she is wearing underneath. She was the type who hardly wears any female clothing, and most of the people are too conservative when they notice. Maybe that's another thing why she is considered "intimidating". She tries not to show any skin that might surprise Soujiro.
" If it's for your own good, then there would be nothing wrong with it."
"IT is for my own good, but he compares me with other people." Misao tried to mimic Aoshi nagging her to act like an adult would to a misbehaved child. "It's not good, he does not know me that well---go figure, if you left someone for more than 8 years!"
"Maybe he is just trying to help you, he just cant show it well " Soujiro suggested, "Maybe it's the only way he knows, "
Misao look at him with a frowning look, Soujiro has stopped his caravan, stepped down and starts to hoister the horses down to a tree nearby, and didn't even bother to look back as he spoke. " You really want to side with Aoshi do you? " she yelled at him.
Soujiro is far from hearing her words, he is observing a stump by the tree that is blocking a good path for him to put the horses in a comfortable spot. Still wearing a thick animal hide as a cloak for the harsh winter, he draws out his small hand---that Misao notices, have protectors. Then with a light gleam from the dark, harsh blizzard he drew out a long sharp sword from its hidden sheath. With an ample flick of the wrist, he sliced it through with such ease. Misao gaped in surprise, this young man--- brandishes a sword. She knows a few good deal about wanderers, but this one is different. There are strict protocol that does not allow the use of the sword with present meiji restoration, and obviously Soujiro looks like he is born during this present regime. Even with the simple move, she can tell that Soujiro is a pro. He handles the sword as light as a feather.
"I'm sorry, are you saying something Misao?" "You have a sword."
" Yes I do, but I don't really use it that much really," he spoke, as if he has no further interest of probing at the matter. " Did I hear right, something about Aoshi you say?"
"Oh, ah yes.."
Misao told him what she said earlier, and to which he replied calmly. " Maybe I can take you home to Kyoto then, its no use I mean--- if you struggle more to this weather just because of family matters. You have them and they do it because they care. They might be terribly worried by now."
"Soujiro.the weather, and we are already in Yokkaichi. It would be another town away!"
"Then we'll wait for the weather to subside."
"But you must going to somewhere else important!"
"Nothing much, green eyes. I'm a wanderer for a couple of years. I don't really have much business. "
"Will you stop calling me green eyes?"
Soujiro smiled, and Misao could see that his indigo eyes are smiling as well, but there is something lonely within those depths. "Because I never seen any common Japanese girl having those eyes, you strike to me as different. Pretty unusual, even the way you are."
" I'm not your typical Japanese girl, of course", she said proudly. " I never been helpless in little things, I can defend myself."
The youth shook his head, as he moved inside the caravan and nestling in the layer of blankets few feet in front of Misao. " I don't see defending yourself in running away from miles of nowhere because of a small fight, and you are almost next to being helpless when I find you out there."
Soujiro got a point, but his advice sounded like stiff lecture, very blunt and similar to.
" YOU are starting to sound like my adoptive father right now, do you know that?"
"I sounded like an old wise man do I?" he said softly, as if he see the situation with jest. Misao is starting to sense that he find it amusing that she gets easily misled and furious in the little comments that he make. "Most people I met says that, they said it didn't sound coming from someone who just turned 24.."
"YOU are already 24?" she remarked with some surprise, so Soujiro is older than he looks like. And the way he speaks, far much older.
" I look much younger than what they think," he replied curtly, " How about you? You seem to be barely in your 20's."
"I AM in my 20's. I just turned 21!'
Soujiro gave her a surprised baffled look, and it has nothing to do with her blurting her age out right. There they are, two young adults who could pass as teenagers stranded in strange circumstances in a fierce snowstorm, and he was used in taking a couple of homeless strangers to his small caravan, but Misao is different. She still finds the energy to be inquisitive, and to argue---even in her tired state. As she pointed out her legal adult age, her cloak fall off to reveal her ninja outfit that to Soujiro's eyes have left all the possibilities of fantasizing about the opposite sex to zero, to him she is dressed in a way he could think an ordinary Japanese woman would be stripped wearing her unmentionables. Misao later noticed that he was looking at her strangely, and soon enough he was blushing scarlet. She looked down, and didn't wonder enough. About a few men she met seems to object silently at the way she dresses, to include Kenshin himself. They all say the same thing,
"Y-you dress up a little too short and tight."
" I know, I know! I wore it everyday, no one seems to bother about it."
"It didn't bother me, I was just surprised." he said scratching his head, his voice in an unexplainable tone. " Does it not make you feel cold? You have to wear something much more covered if we will have to go back to Kyoto." Soujiro wondered how this untamed wildflower of a girl survived many miles of travel just wearing those thin layers as a clothing item. In a brief glimpse before she pouted and covered herself with more blankets, he noticed she is indeed wearing the oniwabanshu colors. She is wearing her high-ranking ninja outfit, and with a pretty pink ribbon tied to her small waist as such. Her loyalty with the clan must be so much, maybe Aoshi might be objecting that its getting the way in making her look more feminine-he thought. Then the last statement he said before that echoed in his head, why was he fascinated about her small waist? A vivid imagination come to his head, as if in the deep recesses of his mind some desire starts to flicker--- he never thought of it before, but it has been a long time since he have a yearning for a young woman. He never thought much about his so called stale love life, but when he met Misao few hours ago. he felt strange. The thought of those lonely nights without companionship, no one to share his feelings with all starts to stir inside. Its unnatural for a man to be only with himself, but who would like a young man with a dark past--- that brandishes a sword, escaped from a possible sentence.eluding authority for a couple of years in a row? Then as if a seducing temptation lingered once to his brain, something else whispered--- who cares about the past? What matters is the present, the now. What it would be like, your small hands snuggled right to her ample waist, to feel her close to you.how will she react if you kissed her.have you kissed EVEN anyone for that matter...Soujiro? Have you really fall in love for anyone, at least?
He shook the little voice of his head, what was he thinking? After those few minutes he finally went back to reality, he noticed that Misao have setlled nicely and quickly asleep among the thick layers of hides and blankets. Its going to be one long, cold night
"See you in the morning Misao, good night." He said softly, and also rested down to sleep.