~Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Rurouni Kenshin
characters. This story was not written for sale or profit. Don't forget
to review.
A Reason for Love
Chapter 2: Remembering Love
~The fire raged through Shishio's stronghold consuming everything in its path. Lasting for days it slowly burned down to embers leaving only dark charcoal where once there had been an elegant haven.
The night wind caressed the burned broken pile of iron and steel that had made up the tower, sending the last wisps of smoke on its way to dissipate in the atmosphere. But close to the ground on the other side of the mountain, a small figure silently approached the six fallen arches of the dark stronghold. Staying in the shadows, he carefully avoided the policemen who were guarding the entrance.
Once inside, he went directly to Shishio's burned study. Searching with infinite care, he found the spot where he had been told to look, "Kuso!" he hissed when the site proved empty.
Certain that what he was looking for was gone, he retraced his path quietly slipping into the darkness of the night, unnoticed by the guards.
~After returning to the Aoiya, Aoshi stayed at the temple finding the peace and calm helpful to relieve the growing disdain that he felt for himself. The turmoil that had festered inside his head, making him believe that being the strongest was the epitome of his life slowly ebbed from his mind.
Although Misao was very happy that Aoshi had returned, she was also very impatient with his need to be apart from what she considered his home. She expected things to return back to normal, not realizing that Aoshi had his own demons to subdue before he could completely return to them. So she started her daily visits, bringing him tea at mid-day.
Misao's cheerfulness and warmth always managed to reinforce the link between Aoshi and his past. But some of the links to his past had been completely destroyed and would forever stay that way. For he no longer felt that he was worthy enough to take up the position of being the Okashira.
~One month quickly passed and it was now time for the people from Tokyo to return home. Misao tried her best to keep them in Kyoto as long as possible, but Kenshin's health had returned and Kaoru felt that the time to leave had come.
Misao returned to the Aoiya after seeing her friends off at the train station. A quiet had filled the space where noise had been for the past month.
While sitting on the back porch of the Aoiya late one evening, Misao sipped at a cup of tea. Thoughts of Aoshi ran rampant in her mind as she pulled the tea cup from her lips after taking a small sip. She had just acquired the taste for this particular tea since it was Aoshi's favorite and to spend more time with him, she would sit and sip a cup just to be with him. Although it did take a lot of restraint to just sit there and not say anything. But that only lasted one week before she started talking again, first just a piece of news then going into a full monologue which started the moment she saw him until she left the room.
Looking into the cup she studied the tea, as if there was some hidden meaning in the tiny leaves at the bottom of the cup. She had heard somewhere that you could tell the future by reading the remaining tea leaves at the bottom. Gently swishing the tea cup, she waited for the leaves to settle, sighing when the tea leaves refused to settle.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she closed her eyes before asking, "Have you talked to him?"
"I tried, but as usual, got no response," Okina slowly shuffled over next to her. Sitting down, he picked up his tea cup, taking a sip before returning it to the tray.
"When do you think he will return to us?" Misao asked wistfully, opening her eyes as she looked at the older man. Setting her tea cup down on the tray in front of her, she nervously waited.
"I don't know, Misao. I use to think that when he got tired of running from himself, he would return, but now I am not so sure," Okina replied gently brushing the stray strands of hair away from her face.
"I want to see him smile, he always looks so sad. I know that being there for him is a good thing but." the hurt and distress clearly audible in her statement.
"He just needs time to." he started to say.
"I would wait for him forever if I though that there was a chance to see him smile and truly be happy. If only I could know how he feels and if he is interested in me. Even so, I will continue to love him until the day I die." The words flowed from her mouth, becoming a mere whisper with the last word.
"Misao." Okina softly whispered.
~ Caught up in the daily activities that required her attention as the Okashira, Misao watched as the months swept past her. But no matter how busy she was, she always managed to spend a portion of every day having tea in the afternoon with Aoshi.
Misao could see that Aoshi was responding to her daily visits. Using the time she spent with Aoshi as a training session, she began to acquaint herself with the tea ceremony and honing her skills at conversation, something that she would need as the Okashira of her clan.
At first she would ask Aoshi questions where only a yes or no answer was required. Then she slowly moved on to questions that would take a bit more to answer until they would have a short conversation each day.
When after six months, during one of her visits, he announced that he would be moving back to the Aoiya, she was ecstatic thinking that he would return back to the Aoshi from her childhood memory.
But the only difference was the location, for Aoshi stayed the same. Undaunted, Misao resolved to try harder to help him return to a normal life. Her need to have him smile for her was indomitable.
She could see small signs that he was coming out of the shell that he had built around himself. Every look or movement that Aoshi made in her presence was an encouragement to her, spurring her on to make the most of the time she spent with him.
For over a year, Aoshi would sit waiting for Misao to arrive, greeting him as she came through the door and continue talking until after the tea was poured.
But today, Aoshi sat in complete silence, watching Misao gracefully pour the tea into two cups. She had arrived, completed the tea and still she had not said so much as a greeting.
Her pensive mood bothered Aoshi, making him alert to her every movement. The way she sat, poured the tea, even the way her face looked, far away and deep in thought. He was shocked to realize that she had arrived and was not thinking about him.
"Misao. Is something troubling you?" he asked softly.
Misao froze. The realization that Aoshi had spoke to her without her usual prying question and without the chan he usually attached to her name, prompted her to look up into his cool blue eyes. Shaking her head, she stuttered, "N. o. t. hing is wrong."
"Nnn?" Aoshi soft question encouraged her to continue, curious to find out the reason for her current mood.
"I received a letter from Kaoru today," she started, handing Aoshi his tea cup. "Himura asked her to marry him and they want us to come to Tokyo for the wedding." She waited for his reaction, hoping that he would agree to go.
"When are they to be married?" he asked before taking a sip of his tea.
"The date was set for next month but Kaoru wants me to come early and help her," Misao continued, the cheeriness returning to her voice.
"Would you like me to escort you?" Aoshi asked, his face softening as he watched her mouth drop open and her eyes go wide with surprise.
Unable to say anything, Misao just nodded then quickly reached for her tea cup, spilling the entire contents on the tray. Her face glowed as she picked up the tray. Giving Aoshi a small bow, she excused herself before retreating out of the room.
Aoshi smiled when he heard the squeals that came from Misao as she raced down the hall to tell the others. He would now begin the journey to find where he belonged.
~In the months that passed since Soujiro walked away from the burning mountain, he wandered from village to village, watching, observing and in general trying to find his own explanation for life. He began to visualize what Himura had been trying to tell him. And although being strong was good it had to be tempered with truth.
In his wanderings, Soujiro stopped and talked to as many people as possible, from farmers working in the field to merchants working their booths, young or old it didn't matter.
He took odd jobs not only to earn extra money but to have the experience of always trying something new and different. He once stopped to help a farmer repair his roof, giving him his first contact using a tool that served a higher purpose than taking someone's life. As he stood with the farmer, looking at the repair, a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and pride filled him.
At each village he came to, one of his first places to stop would be the local marketplace. He could get the feel of the town by watching as the merchants bartered with the local people, helping in his decision to stay for awhile or to move on.
On one such occasion, while walking past an open market, Soujiro paused, watching two men haggle over a hair ribbon. The younger man wanted it for his girlfriend and did not have the full price that the older man was asking. As the desperation became evident in the young mans voice, the older man relented, selling the ribbon to the younger man for half price.
Soujiro pondered on what he had just seen, trying to understand why the old merchant had given the young man the ribbon for half price, when a hand slipped next to his ribs. His first thought was a poorly trained pickpocket until he heard a familiar voice say, "Hi there handsome, it's been a long time."
Soujiro relaxed, placing his hand over the soft delicate hand and said, "Aa that it has."
"Have lunch with me, Sou-chan? I'll even pay," the voice pleaded.
Soujiro smiled, giving her a quick glance before leading the way to the local restaurant.
Neither spoke until they were comfortably seated across from each other sipping a cup of tea, waiting for their food to arrive.
"How have you been, Kamatari? Time has treated you well for you have blossomed into a beautiful woman," Soujiro said breaking the silence.
"Why thank you," Kamatari blushed, delicately taking another sip of tea, her dainty fingers smooth with red polished nails. Her blush turned into a genuine smile making her face glow, the western style hair cut accentuating the defined lines of her face. Her kimono was the softest pink with flowers, the same color as her nail polish, gracefully embroidered on the edges.
She sat nervously biting her lower lip before putting her fingertips up to stop herself. Noticing that Soujiro was watching her, she explained, "A nervous habit I picked up working overseas."
"Aa," he simply said politely.
Fixing his smile, he continued, "You haven't told me what you've been doing since." he paused, searching for the words he wanted to say, then finished with, ".I saw you last."
Either disregarding or completely ignoring Soujiro's discomfort with the past, Kamatari started rambling on about where she had been and what had happened to her since the defeat at the Aoiya.
Soujiro watched her talking, using her hands to emphasize some of her statements. He almost relaxed thinking that it had just been chance, them meeting like this. But he had relied on his instincts to much in the past to totally ignore them now.
"I am currently on vacation, enjoying just flittering around. And I am so glad that I bumped into you," she finished, as the food arrived interrupting her monologue.
Sitting across from her, Soujiro's instincts kept telling him that this was no chance meeting. But he would have to be patient and follow her, if necessary, until he figured out what she was up to.
Kamatari sat daintily eating her food, as if she had not a care in the world but Soujiro could feel the undercurrent of her emotions. So keeping his senses alert, he slowly ate his food, waiting for Kamatari to finish eating and hoping that she would let him know what was troubling her.
Finished with her meal, Kamatari picked up a cloth napkin from her lap dabbing at the edges of her mouth. A smile graced her face as she batted her eyes at Soujiro.
"Well, I have told you all about me now, where have you been?" she asked, putting the napkin on the table.
"I have become a wanderer," he answered, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "I have been traveling," he added hoping that his answer would satisfy her curiosity.
"Oh you are so precious, dear boy," she stated, winking at him.
Blushing slightly, he looked at the tea cup in his hands. Taking a small sip of tea, he looked over at Kamatari, who was still watching him.
As their eyes met, Soujiro knew that something was wrong. He set his tea cup down, just in case he would need his hands free to fight.
"You still have a thing for Shinomori-san? Cause if you don't then, I'm available anytime," she cooed to the profusely shocked young man.
"I couldn't. possibly." Soujiro managed to stutter. Since the day he had walked away from the burning mountain, he had purposely avoided Kyoto afraid that Aoshi had not made it out of the building before it collapsed.
"That's alright, I understand. I just wanted you to know that I am interested. You know, just in case. . . you ever need me," Kamatari gave him a big smile, when she saw the surprised look on his face. "Yes, he is still alive and single."
Soujiro slowly released the breath he had been holding. His heart wanted him to run all the way to Kyoto but his mind wouldn't allow him to move.
"Are you all right, Sou-chan?" Kamatari asked, her face becoming somber, worrying about the young man.
"Yes, I'm all right," he quietly answered, blinking his eyes.
"It has been very nice seeing you again. Why don't you stop by and see me sometime?" she asked, standing up to leave. "I am going to be staying in Tokyo for the next couple of months," she informed him, reaching out her right hand.
Soujiro looked confused at her extended hand.
"It's a western custom to shake hands," she explained, waiting for him to place his hand in hers.
He hesitantly touched her hand, returning the same grasp. Feeling a small piece of paper in the palm of his hand, he looked into her face.
Then she was gone as quick as she had appeared.
TBC.
A/N- I realize that Kamatari was a man who dressed as a woman. At the end of the Kyoto Arc, he worked for the government as a female spy. I am going on the assumption that he/she would pick up some western customs and for my story, tend to go more toward the female side. Now don't forget to review. If you have any comments, please feel free to email them to me.
A Reason for Love
Chapter 2: Remembering Love
~The fire raged through Shishio's stronghold consuming everything in its path. Lasting for days it slowly burned down to embers leaving only dark charcoal where once there had been an elegant haven.
The night wind caressed the burned broken pile of iron and steel that had made up the tower, sending the last wisps of smoke on its way to dissipate in the atmosphere. But close to the ground on the other side of the mountain, a small figure silently approached the six fallen arches of the dark stronghold. Staying in the shadows, he carefully avoided the policemen who were guarding the entrance.
Once inside, he went directly to Shishio's burned study. Searching with infinite care, he found the spot where he had been told to look, "Kuso!" he hissed when the site proved empty.
Certain that what he was looking for was gone, he retraced his path quietly slipping into the darkness of the night, unnoticed by the guards.
~After returning to the Aoiya, Aoshi stayed at the temple finding the peace and calm helpful to relieve the growing disdain that he felt for himself. The turmoil that had festered inside his head, making him believe that being the strongest was the epitome of his life slowly ebbed from his mind.
Although Misao was very happy that Aoshi had returned, she was also very impatient with his need to be apart from what she considered his home. She expected things to return back to normal, not realizing that Aoshi had his own demons to subdue before he could completely return to them. So she started her daily visits, bringing him tea at mid-day.
Misao's cheerfulness and warmth always managed to reinforce the link between Aoshi and his past. But some of the links to his past had been completely destroyed and would forever stay that way. For he no longer felt that he was worthy enough to take up the position of being the Okashira.
~One month quickly passed and it was now time for the people from Tokyo to return home. Misao tried her best to keep them in Kyoto as long as possible, but Kenshin's health had returned and Kaoru felt that the time to leave had come.
Misao returned to the Aoiya after seeing her friends off at the train station. A quiet had filled the space where noise had been for the past month.
While sitting on the back porch of the Aoiya late one evening, Misao sipped at a cup of tea. Thoughts of Aoshi ran rampant in her mind as she pulled the tea cup from her lips after taking a small sip. She had just acquired the taste for this particular tea since it was Aoshi's favorite and to spend more time with him, she would sit and sip a cup just to be with him. Although it did take a lot of restraint to just sit there and not say anything. But that only lasted one week before she started talking again, first just a piece of news then going into a full monologue which started the moment she saw him until she left the room.
Looking into the cup she studied the tea, as if there was some hidden meaning in the tiny leaves at the bottom of the cup. She had heard somewhere that you could tell the future by reading the remaining tea leaves at the bottom. Gently swishing the tea cup, she waited for the leaves to settle, sighing when the tea leaves refused to settle.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she closed her eyes before asking, "Have you talked to him?"
"I tried, but as usual, got no response," Okina slowly shuffled over next to her. Sitting down, he picked up his tea cup, taking a sip before returning it to the tray.
"When do you think he will return to us?" Misao asked wistfully, opening her eyes as she looked at the older man. Setting her tea cup down on the tray in front of her, she nervously waited.
"I don't know, Misao. I use to think that when he got tired of running from himself, he would return, but now I am not so sure," Okina replied gently brushing the stray strands of hair away from her face.
"I want to see him smile, he always looks so sad. I know that being there for him is a good thing but." the hurt and distress clearly audible in her statement.
"He just needs time to." he started to say.
"I would wait for him forever if I though that there was a chance to see him smile and truly be happy. If only I could know how he feels and if he is interested in me. Even so, I will continue to love him until the day I die." The words flowed from her mouth, becoming a mere whisper with the last word.
"Misao." Okina softly whispered.
~ Caught up in the daily activities that required her attention as the Okashira, Misao watched as the months swept past her. But no matter how busy she was, she always managed to spend a portion of every day having tea in the afternoon with Aoshi.
Misao could see that Aoshi was responding to her daily visits. Using the time she spent with Aoshi as a training session, she began to acquaint herself with the tea ceremony and honing her skills at conversation, something that she would need as the Okashira of her clan.
At first she would ask Aoshi questions where only a yes or no answer was required. Then she slowly moved on to questions that would take a bit more to answer until they would have a short conversation each day.
When after six months, during one of her visits, he announced that he would be moving back to the Aoiya, she was ecstatic thinking that he would return back to the Aoshi from her childhood memory.
But the only difference was the location, for Aoshi stayed the same. Undaunted, Misao resolved to try harder to help him return to a normal life. Her need to have him smile for her was indomitable.
She could see small signs that he was coming out of the shell that he had built around himself. Every look or movement that Aoshi made in her presence was an encouragement to her, spurring her on to make the most of the time she spent with him.
For over a year, Aoshi would sit waiting for Misao to arrive, greeting him as she came through the door and continue talking until after the tea was poured.
But today, Aoshi sat in complete silence, watching Misao gracefully pour the tea into two cups. She had arrived, completed the tea and still she had not said so much as a greeting.
Her pensive mood bothered Aoshi, making him alert to her every movement. The way she sat, poured the tea, even the way her face looked, far away and deep in thought. He was shocked to realize that she had arrived and was not thinking about him.
"Misao. Is something troubling you?" he asked softly.
Misao froze. The realization that Aoshi had spoke to her without her usual prying question and without the chan he usually attached to her name, prompted her to look up into his cool blue eyes. Shaking her head, she stuttered, "N. o. t. hing is wrong."
"Nnn?" Aoshi soft question encouraged her to continue, curious to find out the reason for her current mood.
"I received a letter from Kaoru today," she started, handing Aoshi his tea cup. "Himura asked her to marry him and they want us to come to Tokyo for the wedding." She waited for his reaction, hoping that he would agree to go.
"When are they to be married?" he asked before taking a sip of his tea.
"The date was set for next month but Kaoru wants me to come early and help her," Misao continued, the cheeriness returning to her voice.
"Would you like me to escort you?" Aoshi asked, his face softening as he watched her mouth drop open and her eyes go wide with surprise.
Unable to say anything, Misao just nodded then quickly reached for her tea cup, spilling the entire contents on the tray. Her face glowed as she picked up the tray. Giving Aoshi a small bow, she excused herself before retreating out of the room.
Aoshi smiled when he heard the squeals that came from Misao as she raced down the hall to tell the others. He would now begin the journey to find where he belonged.
~In the months that passed since Soujiro walked away from the burning mountain, he wandered from village to village, watching, observing and in general trying to find his own explanation for life. He began to visualize what Himura had been trying to tell him. And although being strong was good it had to be tempered with truth.
In his wanderings, Soujiro stopped and talked to as many people as possible, from farmers working in the field to merchants working their booths, young or old it didn't matter.
He took odd jobs not only to earn extra money but to have the experience of always trying something new and different. He once stopped to help a farmer repair his roof, giving him his first contact using a tool that served a higher purpose than taking someone's life. As he stood with the farmer, looking at the repair, a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and pride filled him.
At each village he came to, one of his first places to stop would be the local marketplace. He could get the feel of the town by watching as the merchants bartered with the local people, helping in his decision to stay for awhile or to move on.
On one such occasion, while walking past an open market, Soujiro paused, watching two men haggle over a hair ribbon. The younger man wanted it for his girlfriend and did not have the full price that the older man was asking. As the desperation became evident in the young mans voice, the older man relented, selling the ribbon to the younger man for half price.
Soujiro pondered on what he had just seen, trying to understand why the old merchant had given the young man the ribbon for half price, when a hand slipped next to his ribs. His first thought was a poorly trained pickpocket until he heard a familiar voice say, "Hi there handsome, it's been a long time."
Soujiro relaxed, placing his hand over the soft delicate hand and said, "Aa that it has."
"Have lunch with me, Sou-chan? I'll even pay," the voice pleaded.
Soujiro smiled, giving her a quick glance before leading the way to the local restaurant.
Neither spoke until they were comfortably seated across from each other sipping a cup of tea, waiting for their food to arrive.
"How have you been, Kamatari? Time has treated you well for you have blossomed into a beautiful woman," Soujiro said breaking the silence.
"Why thank you," Kamatari blushed, delicately taking another sip of tea, her dainty fingers smooth with red polished nails. Her blush turned into a genuine smile making her face glow, the western style hair cut accentuating the defined lines of her face. Her kimono was the softest pink with flowers, the same color as her nail polish, gracefully embroidered on the edges.
She sat nervously biting her lower lip before putting her fingertips up to stop herself. Noticing that Soujiro was watching her, she explained, "A nervous habit I picked up working overseas."
"Aa," he simply said politely.
Fixing his smile, he continued, "You haven't told me what you've been doing since." he paused, searching for the words he wanted to say, then finished with, ".I saw you last."
Either disregarding or completely ignoring Soujiro's discomfort with the past, Kamatari started rambling on about where she had been and what had happened to her since the defeat at the Aoiya.
Soujiro watched her talking, using her hands to emphasize some of her statements. He almost relaxed thinking that it had just been chance, them meeting like this. But he had relied on his instincts to much in the past to totally ignore them now.
"I am currently on vacation, enjoying just flittering around. And I am so glad that I bumped into you," she finished, as the food arrived interrupting her monologue.
Sitting across from her, Soujiro's instincts kept telling him that this was no chance meeting. But he would have to be patient and follow her, if necessary, until he figured out what she was up to.
Kamatari sat daintily eating her food, as if she had not a care in the world but Soujiro could feel the undercurrent of her emotions. So keeping his senses alert, he slowly ate his food, waiting for Kamatari to finish eating and hoping that she would let him know what was troubling her.
Finished with her meal, Kamatari picked up a cloth napkin from her lap dabbing at the edges of her mouth. A smile graced her face as she batted her eyes at Soujiro.
"Well, I have told you all about me now, where have you been?" she asked, putting the napkin on the table.
"I have become a wanderer," he answered, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "I have been traveling," he added hoping that his answer would satisfy her curiosity.
"Oh you are so precious, dear boy," she stated, winking at him.
Blushing slightly, he looked at the tea cup in his hands. Taking a small sip of tea, he looked over at Kamatari, who was still watching him.
As their eyes met, Soujiro knew that something was wrong. He set his tea cup down, just in case he would need his hands free to fight.
"You still have a thing for Shinomori-san? Cause if you don't then, I'm available anytime," she cooed to the profusely shocked young man.
"I couldn't. possibly." Soujiro managed to stutter. Since the day he had walked away from the burning mountain, he had purposely avoided Kyoto afraid that Aoshi had not made it out of the building before it collapsed.
"That's alright, I understand. I just wanted you to know that I am interested. You know, just in case. . . you ever need me," Kamatari gave him a big smile, when she saw the surprised look on his face. "Yes, he is still alive and single."
Soujiro slowly released the breath he had been holding. His heart wanted him to run all the way to Kyoto but his mind wouldn't allow him to move.
"Are you all right, Sou-chan?" Kamatari asked, her face becoming somber, worrying about the young man.
"Yes, I'm all right," he quietly answered, blinking his eyes.
"It has been very nice seeing you again. Why don't you stop by and see me sometime?" she asked, standing up to leave. "I am going to be staying in Tokyo for the next couple of months," she informed him, reaching out her right hand.
Soujiro looked confused at her extended hand.
"It's a western custom to shake hands," she explained, waiting for him to place his hand in hers.
He hesitantly touched her hand, returning the same grasp. Feeling a small piece of paper in the palm of his hand, he looked into her face.
Then she was gone as quick as she had appeared.
TBC.
A/N- I realize that Kamatari was a man who dressed as a woman. At the end of the Kyoto Arc, he worked for the government as a female spy. I am going on the assumption that he/she would pick up some western customs and for my story, tend to go more toward the female side. Now don't forget to review. If you have any comments, please feel free to email them to me.
