Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognize in this fic…
Author's Note: Hello. Here's the second chapter of this little trial story of mine. Thanks to those who gave me their opinion about the first chapter; I really appreciated any comments! This chapter has a small hint as to where this story is headed and will most likely give you guys a clue as to who Aoshi will be paired with. Well then, please don't forget to review once you've finished. Enjoy!
Chapter Two: A Chance for Penance
Aoshi Shinomori sat silently on a black leather sofa in Okina's office, his green eyes staring blankly at an arrangement of Lilies and Chrysanthemums on a coffee table in front of him. It had only been an hour since Misao had called for him, asking the assassin to drop by the Aoiya – a restaurant that doubles as the Oniwaban headquarters – for a brief but necessary talk with the oldest member of the Oniwaban group. With a quiet sigh, Aoshi wrenched his gaze away from the flowers and glanced at his watch, the tick-tocking sound of a clock echoing inside the well-lit room. Clearing his throat, Aoshi fixed his gaze at the young woman perched on Okina's desk, her attention currently glued on a thread sticking out of her shirt.
"Shinomori-san?" the girl suddenly said, unaware that she had just cut off the other person in the room, who was about to speak. Misao looked up from her shirt, her cerulean eyes fixed on the man sitting a few feet from her. "Please tell me you have no regrets over what you did yesterday."
Aoshi shifted his gaze onto the floor, an uncomfortable silence suddenly filling the room as Misao stared at the man with expectant and curious eyes.
"Are you not going to answer Misao's question, Aoshi?"
Okina entered his office with a flitting glance at the girl on his desk, disappointed that it had only been Misao and not some other young woman. Closing the door behind him, Okina walked towards Misao, leaning on his desk as he stood beside the girl, eyes patiently glued on Aoshi. When a minute of silence passed, the assassin not uttering a single word, Okina turned to the girl beside him. "Misao-chan, please leave us."
The old man walked behind his desk and took a seat as Misao, slightly put off at being kicked out of the room, opened the door to leave the two men alone. When the young woman finally closed the door, Okina turned his attention back to the assassin on the leather sofa, softly clearing his throat to get the younger man's attention.
"Well?" prompted Okina, propping an elbow on the armrest of his seat and resting his chin on his hand.
"The target was not alone," explained Aoshi, finally looking at the old man, who now had a closed, unreadable expression on his face, his chin no longer on his hand. "A woman, possibly the target's wife or daughter, was present in the room when I had…killed Ryusei Takani."
Neither of the two men spoke, each staring at the other as a heavy pause filled the room. "And you did not see this woman?" Okina asked, an eyebrow raised in question, breaking the tense silence.
"Only the target was visible from my vantage point."
"Why did you not execute her?"
"The target had already been taken care of," replied Aoshi somewhat coldly, slightly taken aback by the old man's question. With bitterness in his voice, he added, "Besides, I have not stooped so low that I would result to killing a distraught and grieving woman."
Okina leaned forward on his seat, resting both arms on his desk and clasping his hands together. "Are you telling me that, for the first time, you regret having killed a man?"
Taking Aoshi's silence as a reply, Okina slowly reverted back to his earlier position, resting his back onto the leather chair. Through a thin-lipped frown he muttered, "I see…"
~~*~~~*~~
A year later…
The sudden opening of Okina's mahogany door jerked Aoshi back to reality from his reminiscent thoughts. Wrenching his eyes open, Aoshi turned to the door, silently wincing as his eyes adjusted to the bright fluorescent lights on the ceiling, to look at the two people who had just entered the room: Okina and Misao. The old man nodded at the other man as he moved to take a seat behind his desk. Misao, flashing an energetic smile at Aoshi, perched herself atop Okina's desk.
It had been a year since his last conversation with Okina in the very same room. A year since he assassinated Ryusei Takani. A year since he last accepted an assignment. A year since he last killed.
"What do you want, Okina?" asked Aoshi, eyes glued to the old man, who had just pushed Misao off the oak desk with a disapproving scowl. "If you are trying to give me an assignment, you already know the an—"
"That is not what you are here for," Okina interjected, wrenching his eyes away from the girl, who was now leaning against the wall, a defeated pout etched on her lips.
"Then why, may I ask, was I summoned here?" Aoshi demanded, an eyebrow raised in question.
"I know your time is precious, Aoshi – and so is mine," began the old man, ignoring the younger man's rare, somewhat irritated tone. He cleared his throat, fiddling with his silk tie, and looked Aoshi in the eye. "But I am here to present you with an offer you would be foolish not to accept: an opportunity for penance."
Noticing the man's curious expression, Okina got up from his seat and walked around his desk, leaning against the bureau as he nodded at Misao, who held a red file folder in her hand. Misao handed the folder to the old man, returning to lean against the wall without a word – she was still embarrassed from being pushed off the desk in front of Aoshi.
"I am well aware of your resistance in being given a new assignment since your last. A pity, really, since you're the best assassin and everyone in our staff look up to you. I am sure you have your reasons – which I will not pursue," Okina said, tapping the red folder he held in his right hand. "You had mentioned before that a woman was present in the room when you had assassinated Ryusei Takani. However, you did not know the woman's identity."
Aoshi nodded in confirmation, regarding the old man with unblinking eyes. He slightly drew back when Okina walked towards him and threw the red file folder onto the coffee table in front of Aoshi, a photograph of an attractive woman clipped on the flap.
"Megumi Takani: the woman you saw hugging the target after his assassination," explained Okina, returning to sit behind his desk as Aoshi looked at the photograph he now held in his hand. "And, in my honest opinion, the reason for your withdrawal from killing another man."
"And how does she factor in on our conversation?" questioned Aoshi, gently setting the folder back onto the table, the woman's photograph still held in his hand.
"Megumi Takani's brother, Fumiya Takani, requests the Oniwaban group's help – he wants someone from our group to protect her," replied Okina. Noting the look on Aoshi's face, one that clearly says he needed more information, Okina continued. "As I am sure you know, shortly after Ryusei Takani's death, his eldest son succeeded him as CEO of Takani Enterprises. Despite the continuing success of the company under Fumiya's leadership, some people do not agree with this year-old arrangement. Fumiya and the Takani family have repeatedly received threats in an attempt to convince him to step down. So far, no one has been harmed."
"And who are these people so adamant in wanting Fumiya-san to step off as CEO?" asked Aoshi, his brows scrunched in curiosity.
"No one really knows. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that Kanryu Takeda – the man who commissioned Ryusei Takani's murder – is behind these threats," answered Okina, resting his chin on his hand. "Regardless, Fumiya Takani requested the Oniwaban group's help – particularly in protecting his younger sister."
"Her younger sister?" repeated Misao, face scrunched in question as she finally joined the conversation. "But what about his mother? Does he not want to protect her as well?"
"Fumiya-san's mother is in a secret location – possibly even out of the country. I don't know. But Megumi Takani lives in the family residence here in Tokyo."
A moment of silence passed, each person in the room left to his or her own thoughts. Finally, the quiet pause was broken when Aoshi asked, "But why does he need our services? Surely someone of his stature has extensive security."
"If I was in his position, I would ask for our help too," commented Misao matter-of-factly. She raised both her hands, palms up, in front of her. "I mean, would I rather be protected by some big, fat bodyguard who can't even run across this room OR would I rather be protected by an extremely talented and experienced (not to mention very good-looking, she added in her mind) man like you, Shinomori-san?" Misao moved her hands up and down, weighing in the choices. She looked at Aoshi with a sweet smile. "I think we know the answer to that question."
A small smirk made its way across Aoshi's lips, disappearing quickly, amused at the young woman's comment.
"Misao does have a point, Aoshi," said Okina, giving the younger man a knowing nod. "Besides, this is the perfect opportunity for you to, in a way, appease yourself of what you had regretfully done a year ago." He looked at the former assassin with unblinking eyes. "It's true that you took away Ryusei Takani's life in front of his daughter. It only seems appropriate that you protect the same man's most precious treasure: the woman who grieved in that room, his youngest daughter."
Aoshi said nothing, his eyes looking carefully at the woman on the photograph: her perfect eyebrows accenting sparkling eyes, her long black hair perfectly straight, her crimson-colored lips arched in a sweet smile. So this is her, he thought, the image of her sobbing over her father's body replaying in his mind.
"You do not need to tell me about your decision now," said Okina, noticing Aoshi's contemplative expression. Getting up from his seat, Okina leaned into the desk with his hands, a sigh that the conversation had ended. Misao moved to open the door as Okina said, "Just call us once you have made a decision."
Aoshi grabbed the red folder on the coffee table and nodded at Okina, giving Misao an undecipherable look as he exited the office.
"Do you think you convinced him, gramps?" asked Misao, her hand clasped on the doorknob, looking at the old man standing beside her.
"Aoshi is not the type of man who can be convinced – and you know that. He would never pursue anything or do anything unless he really wants to," said Okina, watching as the metallic-gray elevator doors closed in front of the man in question, his eyes on the photograph in his hand. "We just have to wait for his decision." He turned to face Misao. Without warning and as quick as lightning, Okina caught the young woman's ear in a painful pinch. "Now then, how many times have I told you: NEVER sit on my desk!"
Misao batted his hands away, rubbing her ear as she scowled at the chuckling man. "I'll sit wherever I want to, OLD MAN!" And with that, she stomped away from Okina, her face red in anger.
"Not on my desk, LITTLE GIRL!"
~~*~~~*~~
Megumi Takani stood in front of a gray tombstone, the wind blowing her hair in slight disarray as she placed a single iris on her father's grave. Mentally bidding her father a goodbye, she wiped a lone tear cascading down her cheek and turned to walk back to the silver Mercedes sedan waiting for her, half glancing at the new bodyguard appointed to watch and protect her.
He's different, thought Megumi as the man, wearing a black coat over a combination of charcoal-gray pants and a white button shirt, held the door open for her to take a seat in the car. She flashed him a small smile; he closed the door. Usually, the bodyguards assigned to me are large, muscular men who cannot stop talking. As the vehicle passed the cemetery gate, Megumi turned to look at the man seated at the other end of the seat. This one's a complete opposite of the other men.
He had only been her bodyguard for a week. However, due to his lack of conversational skills, Megumi knew nothing about the man. Heck, I'm not even sure what his name is, thought the woman as she continued to regard the man with an appraising look. She suddenly looked away – a blush creeping on her cheeks – when intense, green eyes met her curious, chocolate orbs.
With one last look (glad that he did not meet her eyes this time), Megumi sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head from side to side, an amused smile etching its way across his face.
You assigned an extremely mysterious man to protect me, Fumiya. An extremely mysterious man…
~~**~~~**~~
So…I hope this chapter wasn't that boring. I'm sure by now you'll get an idea as to whom I'll be pairing Aoshi with. But who knows? It might change as the story progresses. By the way, hopefully the flashback part transitioning to the present wasn't confusing…Anyways, please let me know how this was. I would really like it if you guys would review. I've been contemplating as to whether or not to continue this…so, yeah. Please review and let me know what I should do to improve this or what I should not do. Okay then. I will update if I get atleast 5 reviews for this chapter. Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
~~:AzaleaFaye:~~