Part 6: Will you be mine
Megumi was pleased what she have done, and decided she will need a breath of fresh air. It is about time someone has to stand up against that bastard, she thought. And never did she imagine she had the strength and confidence to face up with her fear. Maybe it's been the years, of being deprived of family and being used by others that finally she cried enough. Or probably, knowing that she had well-loving family in the place of the oniwabanshu's that she learned to trust herself again. She headed inside the house, very pleasant and roomy with a lot of people, but none that she recognized. It's mostly composed of foreign dignitaries and diplomats in a sea of black penguin-like suits, there are few women, some in kimonos and in dresses, but they are busy in talking about politics that she knew little of. She looks for Misao if she is doing fine, and is very relieved to see her tagging along with Yutaro, with his German guardian in tow. She recalled that the man is a doctor himself, and she decides to approach him and talk something finally, she can relate to.
But the crowd of people makes it difficult for her to move. Maybe it's not a good idea to struggle and ran after them either, for her formal kimono has restricted her movements. The babble of conversations, people moving each in every crowded directions, plus the splendid orchestra playing at the living room area made her drained and exhausted, she decided to climb the wide winding stairs, which lead to one of the mansion's balcony.
Outside the long, narrow stone balcony was deserted and poorly lit by a few small, flickering gas lamps that created tiny pools of feeble yellowish light surrounded by dark shadows. In Megumi's desolate mood, the lonely gloom of the balcony was infinitely preferable to the romantic excitement of the mythical forest that the house and garden decorations had created, and she was spared the painful irony of having to listen to the orchestra playing, "Fool falls for love"
Hoping to be out of sight of anyone else who might decide to go outside, Megumi turned right and walked far away from the doors as possible, stopping only to the point where the balcony ended at the corner of the mansion. Standing at the white stone balustrade, she flattened her palms on the cool white stone and bent her head, staring blindly at her splayed fingers. In her one finger, she wore a ring with a stone set on it, an emerald. She noticed that when she looks at it, it reminded her of the cold chilling gaze Enishi has, so cold that it seems to pierce to her, and twist like a knife in the core of her being. Those green emeralds that turns into deep jade..
She immediately shook of the ring in her finger and mindlessly threw it away. In the last few days, with the moment that they met in the garden yard is still fresh, her emotions had veered between the lethargic helplessness she felt now and the sudden bursts of angry energy that made her a whirlwind of mindless activity in front of him. It seems that she questioned it from the start. She and Enishi have a secretive affair. An affair. What was she thinking? She could have left him to die in the forest, if she just know how pain in the neck he would be right now. With them finally over, she worries at the possible blackmail propaganda he will be planning. She could imagine the betrayed look of her dear friend Kenshin Himura and her other friends' way back at Tokyo. Or the resentful despite imprinted in Aoshi's face. A new resolve has dawned on her, no way would she let Enishi destroy her life again, she already find herself a righteous home in hearts with the people who cares for her and she won't let him just take them away from her. She had enough.
She had enough.
She gazed through the yard below, and she still sees Enishi.only engaging himself in a conversation with a group of people, he later dismissed himself and turned around to go inside. She quickly leaned off so there is no way he could easily see her, and she hopes.would not attempt to look after her.
In the mood of self-loathing, Megumi wished that she have altered her looks when she left Tokyo, so that the dangerous man wouldn't have followed her---to Kyoto, and to the party. She could have her hair colored, probably deep brown or have it cut or braided in an effort to depart from her conservative look. She could have changed in a different mode of clothing, into something much bright and vivid. She could have also changed her name.
The bang of the metal door slamming closed made her look around in a wary alarm toward a tall man in a tuxedo who had just emerged from the lobby. Her relief that he was apparently one of the foreign diplomats or guests, rather than Enishi, was immediately supplanted by irritation that he was moving in her direction and not away.
Cloaked in the shadow and silence, he kept coming toward her, his step slow, purposeful. His arms were bent at the elbows, and he was holding something in each hand. For a split second her fevered imagination conjured up a pair of revolvers in those hands; then he passed through a pool of gaslight and Megumi saw that in his two hands he was holding.
Two glasses of champagne.
She gaped at them, and then at him he closed the remaining distance between them. At close range, he seems remarkable tall and slender, the shadowy light made little of his features but she made out that they are sharp and a stern face, but his eyes are light and pale blue that seems disconcertingly amused as they gazed into hers.
"Konbanwa," he greeted in a deep resonant voice, and then she figured that the man must be Japanese. "Nice to see you, Megumi."
Megumi tried to smooth her features into a semblance of polite confusion when what she wanted to do is stamp her foot and tell him to go away. Good manners however, and confusion had made her incapable of unprovoked rudeness, "Gomen, but if we have met, I don't recall it."
"We've definitely met," he assured her dryly. "Many times in fact." He held out a glass to her. "Champagne?"
Champagne is one of the classiest version and counterpart of Sake with Europeans, and they drink them in thin tall glasses. Megumi shook her head, and tried to dismiss the stranger politely. "Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else."
"I'd never mistake you with someone else," he teased, and the man slowly approached to the mild light. "Not with that white ivory orchid, that sets your gown to perfection."
"You have definitely have me confused with someone else, I've never met you bef-----"
"How is Misao, Meg-chan?"
When she heard the nickname, she gaped when she saw the man finally approached towards the light, and in burst of shock and delight, Megumi recognized him. The intense pale blue eyes,
"A-Aoshi-san?!" she gasped, "It's you!"
Aoshi saw the pleasure that lit up her face when she recognized him, and it warmed him with astonishing intensity, softening for a few brief moments the cold, hard streak of cynical indifference that was his norm. "Yes, in the flesh." He replied with a small smile, ".or more accurately, in a tuxedo."
Megumi can't get over the shock that Aoshi, of all people is wearing a tuxedo. But she had to admit, the formal black suit did make him more handsome and his features much arresting, "I still can't believe they made you wear that!" she exclaimed,
"You know the type of people here in this event, if you want to get along with the diplomats and the dignitaries you had to dress up the part." He explained, "It's not much difference with the fit that I usually wear, but this one made me look like a penguin."
Megumi made a small laugh, a real one. And he finds himself somehow relieved that in these past few days, she managed to get back to herself. "Aoshi-san, I think I forgot! Maybe Misao is."
"Don't worry; I met with her and Yutaro downstairs. She is busy with her group of friends, and she who pointed out that she saw you hurrying here the balcony and all alone."
Megumi shuddered, "I just need a little fresh air,"
"Well then," he said casually, "Shall I propose a toast?" "Make the toast, I'm still shocked to think of one," she forced a smile, as she held the glass in her hand. Aoshi raised his glass, and clinked it lightly with hers, "Then I shall toast for the luckiest woman in the world, Takani Megumi."
Megumi's smile faded and her lips quivered, "Oh forbid!" he obviously didn't know what happened to her, and she quickly tried to pass off her reaction with a casual shrug. "What I meant was, I should be luckier-----"
"What could be possibly luckier than escaping from that son of a bitch?"
The remark is so outrageous and so unquestionably loyal that Megumi has twin urges to laugh and cry. He had probably seen Enishi berate her at the veranda before he caught her falling down the steps those few days ago. "You're right" she said instead. And to avoid his gaze she took a quick sip of her champagne; then she hastily changed the subject. "I ran through some of Misao's requirements before I left, there is a small enrichment program school near here in Kyoto that could help her prepare for exams and other lessons. It's not that I'm saying I don't know much, but the school has credentials and it offers summer courses, and study sessions are just for one month with all subjects covered. So by the time she takes schooling in Osaka, she will be much prepared."
"Let's start with an important question," Aoshi interrupted firmly, like a father figure trying to figure out his young daughter, and Megumi felt like a child again; confronting a much older, wiser male. "How are you holding up to this?"
"I'm fine." Frustrated by the quiver from her voice, Megumi took another sip of her champagne. "I'm okay; it's nothing that I can handle."
"I think you knew that man is Yukishiro Enishi, he is an adversary of the Kenshin-gumi, and that includes us. I don't know how he returned so well and alive, and in this event even."
Megumi replied tersely, "I knew who he was,"
"What does he wants from you?"
"It's something---personal."
Aoshi glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the sound emanating from the living room hall. Illuminated by a yellowish light lamp near the exit door was a man with the platinum white hair, who jumped back in the shadows when Aoshi looked into his direction. Even without the tinted glasses and speaking of the devil, he knew pretty well that it's Enishi. His first impulse is to attack the stalking adversary; and his next impulse is to make use of him. Aoshi decided on the second alternative for the moment. With his free hand, he reached out and tipped Megumi's chin. "Listen carefully and don't move."
Her eyes widened in instant alarm.
"Enishi is watching us, waiting for you to be surely alone and harass you. I suggest we give him a moment that will give him things to finally change his mind and leave you alone."
"N-Nani?" Megumi whispered in panic, "Are you crazy?"
"No, I had simply had more experience with negative encounters with stalking people and adversaries. He is not going to leave until he sees you alone, unprotected." Aoshi continued for awhile, from the corner of his eye, he watched Enishi step out of the shadows and lift his head for a clearer view. "You have a choice; you can either let Enishi think that you are a hapless woman without anyone to turn to, or you can let him see me kissing you, which will make him wonder that if I've been your lover all along and no way am I going to let you go."
Megumi recalled the last statement she told Enishi.and the irony that Aoshi has a similar plan in mind! Megumi's thoughts were whirling with alarm and horror and glee, as well as the effects of a drink of champagne in an empty stomach. In a brief moment she hesitated, Aoshi made the decision for her.
"Let's make it convincing." He ordered softly as he set down both of their glasses. His free hand slid around her waist, curving her body into his arms.
It happened too quickly to resist, and then it seemed to happen in slow motion as Megumi felt her legs press into his thighs and her bosom against his chest, followed by the sudden shock of his warm lips covering hers.
He lifted his head a fraction, his blue eyes looking into hers, and she thought he was going to let her go. Instead, his hands shifted, one of them drifting upward over her back, while the other tightened, and he bent his head again. Megumi's heart began to pound erratic, confused beats as his mouth settled firmly on hers, slowly tracing each curve and contour of her lips. His tongue touched the corner of her mouth, and her body jumped in surprise. Instinct ordered her to pull free immediately, but some deeper, more compelling voice rebelled at such unjust reaction to his gallant efforts.
His tender efforts His persuasive efforts
Besides, Enishi must be so surprised that he hasn't seen closely what is happening. So Megumi acted on the side of justice and prudence and slid her hands up his jacket and tentatively, uncertainly kissed him back. The pressure of his mouth increased invitingly as his hand slip up and curved around her nape, his fingers shoving into her hair.
A loud burst of music and thunder of applause inside the living room hall below announced that the festivities are underway and snapped them both back to the present. Megumi pulled away with a self-conscious laugh, and he shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, gazing down at her with his brows drawn into a slight frown. Aoshi looked to see if Enishi was still present and was glad to see that he had apparently got confused and left.
"I-I can't believe we did that," Megumi said nervously, trying to smooth her hair as they walked toward the door and to the stairs. He shot her a sideway glance that was filled of meaning that she didn't understand. "Actually, I wanted to do those months ago," he said reaching out and opening the heavy door for her.
"You did not." Megumi rolled her eyes in smiling disbelief.
"The hell I didn't." he said plainly, his gaze averted by the bustling energy at the living room hall. "I'm just finished with my business with here, and I don't have much plan to stay till the late night festivities, if you're not feeling that well, you can go home now with me."
"What about Misao?"
"I talked with the doctor, Yutaro's guardian. He will see it personally that he will drop her home. It seems the kids are having much fun and I won't spoil it for them."
It's rather odd for Aoshi to set his daughter aside, and for what reason it is.might be something personal. She wondered if it has something to do with the kiss awhile ago. "Will be she okay with that?" she said, referring to Misao, trying to continue the conversation.
"Aside from that Megumi, we will have to talk of important matters. As soon as we get home, change on your much relaxed clothes and meet me at the library." He sounded like he reverts back to his self-assured commanding self, as she have guessed and wondered what he would want to talk to her about. It must be of relevance; after all he did call her Megumi instead of Meg-chan.
*****
It took Megumi several minutes to bath and change herself to the much comfortable clothes she prefer, and when she emerged in the library she was surprised that Aoshi has not change his clothes at all, or didn't bother to greet her. He still wore the "penguin" outfit he irritatingly refers, minus the coat and the black bow by his neck is loosened up as well as his crisp white shirt is unbuttoned to the chest and rolled up to his elbows. He is facing back and is observing outside where he is across the deep carpet to the window. She looked at his back, and he was as handsome and commanding from his behind as he was from the front. Well.not quite. His eyes made the difference. When they are unsmiling, his arrogance is unnerving. The moment he turned and walked toward her she knew something is on his mind. He came to desk and sat at the edge of it. His arms folded across his chest.
"Do you think you're still in love with Yukishiro Enishi?"
If he had said that she had sprouted horns overnight she wouldn't have been more surprised.
"I know you knew about Enishi.but."
"You mentioned him when you are delirious and sick few days ago. Are you in love with him?"
"No! But if I were it's none of your business!"
He smiled, but his blue gaze is unsettling. "I didn't think you were in love with him, but I wanted to hear you say it." He placed his hands firmly on the arm rests in front of her, to where she sat. "Are you contented with your life, Meg-chan?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, mystified.
"Do you ever wish for a home, a family and security?"
She was silent, her eyes stunned and wide. "I'm no different from anyone else. I suppose that's what most of us want."
"I'm an impatient and busy man, Meg-chan. And I realize that sometimes I'm not a very kind one. But when I make up my mind about something I like to act as quickly as possible. I think it would be your advantage and to mine if we were married. How does the idea strike you?"
She looked at him as if he had just dropped from outer space, "It strikes me as insane. You are not in love with me and I'm not in love with you." Yet as she spoke those words, she knew that, at least as far her feelings were concerned, they weren't true. She recalled the kiss they have at the balcony at the party few hours ago, and she deeply tells herself now, it's just all an act.
He looked at her, stood up and then looked away. "You're wishing for that old-fashioned relationship between one man and one woman, Megumi. To be honest with you, I think that story book; idealistic love is doomed to extinction. It's better to grow love with someone you respect. One with whom you share mutual reaction. I don't repulse you. I can tell that much."
The cool assumption stung, she glared up at him. "You must know that marriage between two people from different lifestyles, who scarcely know each other, wouldn't work. How could you possibly be considering taking me into your family? You don't know anything about me."
"I know everything about you. If you have forgotten, I came from a clan." "Of Ninjas."
"More accurately, spies." He said dryly. "I know everything that is needed to know Megumi. The tragedy that had befallen you from Aizu after that great fire left you as the only survivor of the Takani family, your father was actually killed by a conspiracy and later you were forced to do opium with these evil men. You are lucky to encounter an understanding man like Kenshin Himura who had rescued you from the clutches of the past. With your excellence in medicine, he refers you to Dr. Gensai and work full-time under him and he lets you live there for free. Life seems very grateful from there, but then.You have an affair with Yukishiro Enishi, although you know too well that he is the enemy; and now repays you by his manipulative nature and using you as his motive for revenge, haunting you from Tokyo to Kyoto like a plague.I also knew of your fear and helplessness when he left you.wondering that he'll do all in his will to make you look like a distrusting woman in front of me and the Kenshingumi."
He paused briefly, "I also know.that how he used you, in a way.he even got you pregnant for his own twisted scheme."
Megumi wished she could die. The bastard! The fact he is the leader of the oniwabanshus, a clan of ninjas and spies means he could do anything within his power to gather and access other people's information and lay bare every private aspect of her life. He might even have pressed Okon to confess it, since she is after all the only person in the household Megumi confided. And it left her feeling raw, scrutinized and stripped naked with all the skeletons of her past out to see. She felt like she's in the presence with Enishi.
"That is the most malicious thing anyone has ever done to me in my whole life! How dare you pry in my background? You had no right!" Tears of embarrassment and humiliation ran down her cheeks. "You have no right to drag my life out for ridicule!" She was crying and sobs were shaking her voice.
"That was the last thing on my mind, Megumi. I am not certainly ridiculing your life. You have conducted yourself admirably. All I learned about you convinced me more than ever that I wanted you for my wife."
She was a bit ajar with those words, Okon had placed it very well.Aoshi is NOT looking for a relationship, and all he wants is a private tutor for his little girl so it won't involve personal feelings. He sat in the chair in front of her, quietly observing her as he leans to her closely as he gently spoke placing his palms over hers, "Megumi, you are a beautiful, intelligent woman with good taste and charming manners. You are a good influence on Misao. I believe you will be an asset to my home, and in return I'm prepared to take care of you, be a faithful husband and an attentive father. That seems to me to be a sound basis for a happy and lasting marriage."
"I can't believe you! Why? Why do you want to do.this? Don't tell me it's out of pity!"
"It's not, and that's a fair question. I want Misao to have an Okaasan. I want a home to come back to with more than a houseful of loyal aids in it. I want a woman in my home to make love to and sons I can watch grow into men and to carry my name."
"Then why don't you marry the Okashira of the Sanada clan? It's what your sensei wants."
"I don't happen to like Misanagi. As many hours as I will spend with my wife, I want one that I at least like."
"Am I to take that as a compliment?"
"That is the way I meant it." Warmth ran over her skin, for he gave his words a sensual meaning.
"I don't expect you to give me your answer right this minute, Meg-chan. Think about it." Then abruptly he moved and gathered her into his arms. His mouth had found hers before she could turn her head. It was not merely like the staged kiss in the balcony, nor was it like a light kiss of affection. He kissed her as though she were a woman with whom he would share more intimate caresses. She opened her lips to his as the intimacy of the kiss increased and felt a strange helplessness in her limbs, as if his sensuous mouth is absorbing her.
"We'll be good together, Meg-chan. It's a start." The muttered words were barely coherent, thickly groaned in her ear as he kissed the warm curve of her neck.
"I think you'd better go." The strangled voice sounded miles from her ears.
He cupped a hand behind her head and pressed hard fingers under her long hair and drew her flushed face onto his shoulder. "It was unfair of me to spring this on you now. I should have waited when you are well-rested. Rest now and I'll come back much later this evening." He stroked a strand of hair behind her ear and he stood up. When he left, she ran the tip of her tongue around the velvety inner side of her lips as his had done minutes before and her heart gave a disturbing throb. Oh god! Why did she suddenly feel like she was in the ocean swimming against the tide?
(Translation: Okaasan = mother)
Megumi was pleased what she have done, and decided she will need a breath of fresh air. It is about time someone has to stand up against that bastard, she thought. And never did she imagine she had the strength and confidence to face up with her fear. Maybe it's been the years, of being deprived of family and being used by others that finally she cried enough. Or probably, knowing that she had well-loving family in the place of the oniwabanshu's that she learned to trust herself again. She headed inside the house, very pleasant and roomy with a lot of people, but none that she recognized. It's mostly composed of foreign dignitaries and diplomats in a sea of black penguin-like suits, there are few women, some in kimonos and in dresses, but they are busy in talking about politics that she knew little of. She looks for Misao if she is doing fine, and is very relieved to see her tagging along with Yutaro, with his German guardian in tow. She recalled that the man is a doctor himself, and she decides to approach him and talk something finally, she can relate to.
But the crowd of people makes it difficult for her to move. Maybe it's not a good idea to struggle and ran after them either, for her formal kimono has restricted her movements. The babble of conversations, people moving each in every crowded directions, plus the splendid orchestra playing at the living room area made her drained and exhausted, she decided to climb the wide winding stairs, which lead to one of the mansion's balcony.
Outside the long, narrow stone balcony was deserted and poorly lit by a few small, flickering gas lamps that created tiny pools of feeble yellowish light surrounded by dark shadows. In Megumi's desolate mood, the lonely gloom of the balcony was infinitely preferable to the romantic excitement of the mythical forest that the house and garden decorations had created, and she was spared the painful irony of having to listen to the orchestra playing, "Fool falls for love"
Hoping to be out of sight of anyone else who might decide to go outside, Megumi turned right and walked far away from the doors as possible, stopping only to the point where the balcony ended at the corner of the mansion. Standing at the white stone balustrade, she flattened her palms on the cool white stone and bent her head, staring blindly at her splayed fingers. In her one finger, she wore a ring with a stone set on it, an emerald. She noticed that when she looks at it, it reminded her of the cold chilling gaze Enishi has, so cold that it seems to pierce to her, and twist like a knife in the core of her being. Those green emeralds that turns into deep jade..
She immediately shook of the ring in her finger and mindlessly threw it away. In the last few days, with the moment that they met in the garden yard is still fresh, her emotions had veered between the lethargic helplessness she felt now and the sudden bursts of angry energy that made her a whirlwind of mindless activity in front of him. It seems that she questioned it from the start. She and Enishi have a secretive affair. An affair. What was she thinking? She could have left him to die in the forest, if she just know how pain in the neck he would be right now. With them finally over, she worries at the possible blackmail propaganda he will be planning. She could imagine the betrayed look of her dear friend Kenshin Himura and her other friends' way back at Tokyo. Or the resentful despite imprinted in Aoshi's face. A new resolve has dawned on her, no way would she let Enishi destroy her life again, she already find herself a righteous home in hearts with the people who cares for her and she won't let him just take them away from her. She had enough.
She had enough.
She gazed through the yard below, and she still sees Enishi.only engaging himself in a conversation with a group of people, he later dismissed himself and turned around to go inside. She quickly leaned off so there is no way he could easily see her, and she hopes.would not attempt to look after her.
In the mood of self-loathing, Megumi wished that she have altered her looks when she left Tokyo, so that the dangerous man wouldn't have followed her---to Kyoto, and to the party. She could have her hair colored, probably deep brown or have it cut or braided in an effort to depart from her conservative look. She could have changed in a different mode of clothing, into something much bright and vivid. She could have also changed her name.
The bang of the metal door slamming closed made her look around in a wary alarm toward a tall man in a tuxedo who had just emerged from the lobby. Her relief that he was apparently one of the foreign diplomats or guests, rather than Enishi, was immediately supplanted by irritation that he was moving in her direction and not away.
Cloaked in the shadow and silence, he kept coming toward her, his step slow, purposeful. His arms were bent at the elbows, and he was holding something in each hand. For a split second her fevered imagination conjured up a pair of revolvers in those hands; then he passed through a pool of gaslight and Megumi saw that in his two hands he was holding.
Two glasses of champagne.
She gaped at them, and then at him he closed the remaining distance between them. At close range, he seems remarkable tall and slender, the shadowy light made little of his features but she made out that they are sharp and a stern face, but his eyes are light and pale blue that seems disconcertingly amused as they gazed into hers.
"Konbanwa," he greeted in a deep resonant voice, and then she figured that the man must be Japanese. "Nice to see you, Megumi."
Megumi tried to smooth her features into a semblance of polite confusion when what she wanted to do is stamp her foot and tell him to go away. Good manners however, and confusion had made her incapable of unprovoked rudeness, "Gomen, but if we have met, I don't recall it."
"We've definitely met," he assured her dryly. "Many times in fact." He held out a glass to her. "Champagne?"
Champagne is one of the classiest version and counterpart of Sake with Europeans, and they drink them in thin tall glasses. Megumi shook her head, and tried to dismiss the stranger politely. "Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else."
"I'd never mistake you with someone else," he teased, and the man slowly approached to the mild light. "Not with that white ivory orchid, that sets your gown to perfection."
"You have definitely have me confused with someone else, I've never met you bef-----"
"How is Misao, Meg-chan?"
When she heard the nickname, she gaped when she saw the man finally approached towards the light, and in burst of shock and delight, Megumi recognized him. The intense pale blue eyes,
"A-Aoshi-san?!" she gasped, "It's you!"
Aoshi saw the pleasure that lit up her face when she recognized him, and it warmed him with astonishing intensity, softening for a few brief moments the cold, hard streak of cynical indifference that was his norm. "Yes, in the flesh." He replied with a small smile, ".or more accurately, in a tuxedo."
Megumi can't get over the shock that Aoshi, of all people is wearing a tuxedo. But she had to admit, the formal black suit did make him more handsome and his features much arresting, "I still can't believe they made you wear that!" she exclaimed,
"You know the type of people here in this event, if you want to get along with the diplomats and the dignitaries you had to dress up the part." He explained, "It's not much difference with the fit that I usually wear, but this one made me look like a penguin."
Megumi made a small laugh, a real one. And he finds himself somehow relieved that in these past few days, she managed to get back to herself. "Aoshi-san, I think I forgot! Maybe Misao is."
"Don't worry; I met with her and Yutaro downstairs. She is busy with her group of friends, and she who pointed out that she saw you hurrying here the balcony and all alone."
Megumi shuddered, "I just need a little fresh air,"
"Well then," he said casually, "Shall I propose a toast?" "Make the toast, I'm still shocked to think of one," she forced a smile, as she held the glass in her hand. Aoshi raised his glass, and clinked it lightly with hers, "Then I shall toast for the luckiest woman in the world, Takani Megumi."
Megumi's smile faded and her lips quivered, "Oh forbid!" he obviously didn't know what happened to her, and she quickly tried to pass off her reaction with a casual shrug. "What I meant was, I should be luckier-----"
"What could be possibly luckier than escaping from that son of a bitch?"
The remark is so outrageous and so unquestionably loyal that Megumi has twin urges to laugh and cry. He had probably seen Enishi berate her at the veranda before he caught her falling down the steps those few days ago. "You're right" she said instead. And to avoid his gaze she took a quick sip of her champagne; then she hastily changed the subject. "I ran through some of Misao's requirements before I left, there is a small enrichment program school near here in Kyoto that could help her prepare for exams and other lessons. It's not that I'm saying I don't know much, but the school has credentials and it offers summer courses, and study sessions are just for one month with all subjects covered. So by the time she takes schooling in Osaka, she will be much prepared."
"Let's start with an important question," Aoshi interrupted firmly, like a father figure trying to figure out his young daughter, and Megumi felt like a child again; confronting a much older, wiser male. "How are you holding up to this?"
"I'm fine." Frustrated by the quiver from her voice, Megumi took another sip of her champagne. "I'm okay; it's nothing that I can handle."
"I think you knew that man is Yukishiro Enishi, he is an adversary of the Kenshin-gumi, and that includes us. I don't know how he returned so well and alive, and in this event even."
Megumi replied tersely, "I knew who he was,"
"What does he wants from you?"
"It's something---personal."
Aoshi glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the sound emanating from the living room hall. Illuminated by a yellowish light lamp near the exit door was a man with the platinum white hair, who jumped back in the shadows when Aoshi looked into his direction. Even without the tinted glasses and speaking of the devil, he knew pretty well that it's Enishi. His first impulse is to attack the stalking adversary; and his next impulse is to make use of him. Aoshi decided on the second alternative for the moment. With his free hand, he reached out and tipped Megumi's chin. "Listen carefully and don't move."
Her eyes widened in instant alarm.
"Enishi is watching us, waiting for you to be surely alone and harass you. I suggest we give him a moment that will give him things to finally change his mind and leave you alone."
"N-Nani?" Megumi whispered in panic, "Are you crazy?"
"No, I had simply had more experience with negative encounters with stalking people and adversaries. He is not going to leave until he sees you alone, unprotected." Aoshi continued for awhile, from the corner of his eye, he watched Enishi step out of the shadows and lift his head for a clearer view. "You have a choice; you can either let Enishi think that you are a hapless woman without anyone to turn to, or you can let him see me kissing you, which will make him wonder that if I've been your lover all along and no way am I going to let you go."
Megumi recalled the last statement she told Enishi.and the irony that Aoshi has a similar plan in mind! Megumi's thoughts were whirling with alarm and horror and glee, as well as the effects of a drink of champagne in an empty stomach. In a brief moment she hesitated, Aoshi made the decision for her.
"Let's make it convincing." He ordered softly as he set down both of their glasses. His free hand slid around her waist, curving her body into his arms.
It happened too quickly to resist, and then it seemed to happen in slow motion as Megumi felt her legs press into his thighs and her bosom against his chest, followed by the sudden shock of his warm lips covering hers.
He lifted his head a fraction, his blue eyes looking into hers, and she thought he was going to let her go. Instead, his hands shifted, one of them drifting upward over her back, while the other tightened, and he bent his head again. Megumi's heart began to pound erratic, confused beats as his mouth settled firmly on hers, slowly tracing each curve and contour of her lips. His tongue touched the corner of her mouth, and her body jumped in surprise. Instinct ordered her to pull free immediately, but some deeper, more compelling voice rebelled at such unjust reaction to his gallant efforts.
His tender efforts His persuasive efforts
Besides, Enishi must be so surprised that he hasn't seen closely what is happening. So Megumi acted on the side of justice and prudence and slid her hands up his jacket and tentatively, uncertainly kissed him back. The pressure of his mouth increased invitingly as his hand slip up and curved around her nape, his fingers shoving into her hair.
A loud burst of music and thunder of applause inside the living room hall below announced that the festivities are underway and snapped them both back to the present. Megumi pulled away with a self-conscious laugh, and he shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, gazing down at her with his brows drawn into a slight frown. Aoshi looked to see if Enishi was still present and was glad to see that he had apparently got confused and left.
"I-I can't believe we did that," Megumi said nervously, trying to smooth her hair as they walked toward the door and to the stairs. He shot her a sideway glance that was filled of meaning that she didn't understand. "Actually, I wanted to do those months ago," he said reaching out and opening the heavy door for her.
"You did not." Megumi rolled her eyes in smiling disbelief.
"The hell I didn't." he said plainly, his gaze averted by the bustling energy at the living room hall. "I'm just finished with my business with here, and I don't have much plan to stay till the late night festivities, if you're not feeling that well, you can go home now with me."
"What about Misao?"
"I talked with the doctor, Yutaro's guardian. He will see it personally that he will drop her home. It seems the kids are having much fun and I won't spoil it for them."
It's rather odd for Aoshi to set his daughter aside, and for what reason it is.might be something personal. She wondered if it has something to do with the kiss awhile ago. "Will be she okay with that?" she said, referring to Misao, trying to continue the conversation.
"Aside from that Megumi, we will have to talk of important matters. As soon as we get home, change on your much relaxed clothes and meet me at the library." He sounded like he reverts back to his self-assured commanding self, as she have guessed and wondered what he would want to talk to her about. It must be of relevance; after all he did call her Megumi instead of Meg-chan.
*****
It took Megumi several minutes to bath and change herself to the much comfortable clothes she prefer, and when she emerged in the library she was surprised that Aoshi has not change his clothes at all, or didn't bother to greet her. He still wore the "penguin" outfit he irritatingly refers, minus the coat and the black bow by his neck is loosened up as well as his crisp white shirt is unbuttoned to the chest and rolled up to his elbows. He is facing back and is observing outside where he is across the deep carpet to the window. She looked at his back, and he was as handsome and commanding from his behind as he was from the front. Well.not quite. His eyes made the difference. When they are unsmiling, his arrogance is unnerving. The moment he turned and walked toward her she knew something is on his mind. He came to desk and sat at the edge of it. His arms folded across his chest.
"Do you think you're still in love with Yukishiro Enishi?"
If he had said that she had sprouted horns overnight she wouldn't have been more surprised.
"I know you knew about Enishi.but."
"You mentioned him when you are delirious and sick few days ago. Are you in love with him?"
"No! But if I were it's none of your business!"
He smiled, but his blue gaze is unsettling. "I didn't think you were in love with him, but I wanted to hear you say it." He placed his hands firmly on the arm rests in front of her, to where she sat. "Are you contented with your life, Meg-chan?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, mystified.
"Do you ever wish for a home, a family and security?"
She was silent, her eyes stunned and wide. "I'm no different from anyone else. I suppose that's what most of us want."
"I'm an impatient and busy man, Meg-chan. And I realize that sometimes I'm not a very kind one. But when I make up my mind about something I like to act as quickly as possible. I think it would be your advantage and to mine if we were married. How does the idea strike you?"
She looked at him as if he had just dropped from outer space, "It strikes me as insane. You are not in love with me and I'm not in love with you." Yet as she spoke those words, she knew that, at least as far her feelings were concerned, they weren't true. She recalled the kiss they have at the balcony at the party few hours ago, and she deeply tells herself now, it's just all an act.
He looked at her, stood up and then looked away. "You're wishing for that old-fashioned relationship between one man and one woman, Megumi. To be honest with you, I think that story book; idealistic love is doomed to extinction. It's better to grow love with someone you respect. One with whom you share mutual reaction. I don't repulse you. I can tell that much."
The cool assumption stung, she glared up at him. "You must know that marriage between two people from different lifestyles, who scarcely know each other, wouldn't work. How could you possibly be considering taking me into your family? You don't know anything about me."
"I know everything about you. If you have forgotten, I came from a clan." "Of Ninjas."
"More accurately, spies." He said dryly. "I know everything that is needed to know Megumi. The tragedy that had befallen you from Aizu after that great fire left you as the only survivor of the Takani family, your father was actually killed by a conspiracy and later you were forced to do opium with these evil men. You are lucky to encounter an understanding man like Kenshin Himura who had rescued you from the clutches of the past. With your excellence in medicine, he refers you to Dr. Gensai and work full-time under him and he lets you live there for free. Life seems very grateful from there, but then.You have an affair with Yukishiro Enishi, although you know too well that he is the enemy; and now repays you by his manipulative nature and using you as his motive for revenge, haunting you from Tokyo to Kyoto like a plague.I also knew of your fear and helplessness when he left you.wondering that he'll do all in his will to make you look like a distrusting woman in front of me and the Kenshingumi."
He paused briefly, "I also know.that how he used you, in a way.he even got you pregnant for his own twisted scheme."
Megumi wished she could die. The bastard! The fact he is the leader of the oniwabanshus, a clan of ninjas and spies means he could do anything within his power to gather and access other people's information and lay bare every private aspect of her life. He might even have pressed Okon to confess it, since she is after all the only person in the household Megumi confided. And it left her feeling raw, scrutinized and stripped naked with all the skeletons of her past out to see. She felt like she's in the presence with Enishi.
"That is the most malicious thing anyone has ever done to me in my whole life! How dare you pry in my background? You had no right!" Tears of embarrassment and humiliation ran down her cheeks. "You have no right to drag my life out for ridicule!" She was crying and sobs were shaking her voice.
"That was the last thing on my mind, Megumi. I am not certainly ridiculing your life. You have conducted yourself admirably. All I learned about you convinced me more than ever that I wanted you for my wife."
She was a bit ajar with those words, Okon had placed it very well.Aoshi is NOT looking for a relationship, and all he wants is a private tutor for his little girl so it won't involve personal feelings. He sat in the chair in front of her, quietly observing her as he leans to her closely as he gently spoke placing his palms over hers, "Megumi, you are a beautiful, intelligent woman with good taste and charming manners. You are a good influence on Misao. I believe you will be an asset to my home, and in return I'm prepared to take care of you, be a faithful husband and an attentive father. That seems to me to be a sound basis for a happy and lasting marriage."
"I can't believe you! Why? Why do you want to do.this? Don't tell me it's out of pity!"
"It's not, and that's a fair question. I want Misao to have an Okaasan. I want a home to come back to with more than a houseful of loyal aids in it. I want a woman in my home to make love to and sons I can watch grow into men and to carry my name."
"Then why don't you marry the Okashira of the Sanada clan? It's what your sensei wants."
"I don't happen to like Misanagi. As many hours as I will spend with my wife, I want one that I at least like."
"Am I to take that as a compliment?"
"That is the way I meant it." Warmth ran over her skin, for he gave his words a sensual meaning.
"I don't expect you to give me your answer right this minute, Meg-chan. Think about it." Then abruptly he moved and gathered her into his arms. His mouth had found hers before she could turn her head. It was not merely like the staged kiss in the balcony, nor was it like a light kiss of affection. He kissed her as though she were a woman with whom he would share more intimate caresses. She opened her lips to his as the intimacy of the kiss increased and felt a strange helplessness in her limbs, as if his sensuous mouth is absorbing her.
"We'll be good together, Meg-chan. It's a start." The muttered words were barely coherent, thickly groaned in her ear as he kissed the warm curve of her neck.
"I think you'd better go." The strangled voice sounded miles from her ears.
He cupped a hand behind her head and pressed hard fingers under her long hair and drew her flushed face onto his shoulder. "It was unfair of me to spring this on you now. I should have waited when you are well-rested. Rest now and I'll come back much later this evening." He stroked a strand of hair behind her ear and he stood up. When he left, she ran the tip of her tongue around the velvety inner side of her lips as his had done minutes before and her heart gave a disturbing throb. Oh god! Why did she suddenly feel like she was in the ocean swimming against the tide?
(Translation: Okaasan = mother)