Angelus

Rurouni Kenshin copyright Nobuhiro Watsuki

Chapter 2.

NOTE: This story is a sequel (or, if not, a follow-up story) to "A Road Less Traveled," and it takes place nearly a year after the events outlined in the latter. Furthermore, "Angelus," like Road, does not follow the RK storyline in terms of the manga ending, though there might be a reference or two lurking somewhere in the later chapters. While the reader does not really have to read Road first in order to understand this story, Angelus does make a lot of references to aforementioned. Those who are interested can find Road here:

ated, then stood up, faltering, before she put out a hand on the table to steady herself. "Whoa. I'm out of it, aren't I? I knew I shouldn't have stayed up too late reading those crappy love stories." She tried to laugh. "Thanks for the offer anyway, Omasu. I think I'd better go change now. Jiya probably has a lot of errands for me to run. Have you gone shopping already? You should have woken me up."

"It's no big deal," said Okon after another glance at Omasu. "You were looking tired last night, so we let you sleep in. Besides, Okina will boss you around the entire day so we thought we should spare you what we could. And now you owe us." Misao's smile seemed to widen a bit at that. "He said something about hiring an open carriage for Kenshin-san and Kaoru-san. He's getting rather carried away."

"And the horses will be wearing matching blinders, designed exclusively by Thomas-san," said Omasu.

This time, Misao's laughter sounded genuine. "You mean Jiya met him?"

Omasu smirked. "Let's just say it was love at first sight."

"The dirty old man!" exclaimed Okon. "Milkmaid bonnets! Honestly!"

"You should have seen them," said Omasu. "If you'd only stayed up instead of--" Okon nudged her sharply. Omasu coughed. "Well, we'll tell you about it later after you've dressed."

"Where is Thomas-san by the way?" Misao asked.

Okon shrugged and began to unload the contents of her basket, Omasu following suit quickly. "He went back to the shop with Shiro. He said to tell you he'd be back tomorrow. Okina invited him to the dinner party."

"Did he take the kimono with him?" said Misao, as if as an afterthought.

"What? Oh, what that suspicious young man left," Okon replied. "Yes, Thomas-san brought it with him. I think he means to clean it up. He said he'll do his best."

Misao pushed her hair absently away from her face. "That's good."

Omasu was already busy at the oven. "Why? If you're worried Thomas-san will damage the material--"

"No," said Misao quietly as she headed towards the door. "I'm not worried."

"Well, then, the expense," continued Omasu. "But I've known Thomas-san to work for next to nothing as long as he's interested in the material. He told me this is the first time he's encountered something like that kimono. I didn't get to see it last night but he said you did. What does it look like anyway? Is that what you're planning to give Kaoru-san? Misao?" She turned when no one answered. "Ara? Misao-chan?"

Okon shook her head and motioned at the open doorway.

Omasu sighed. "That girl has been acting so strange!"

"Do you think we should tell Aoshi-sama?"

"He's probably noticed himself," replied Okon. "Ohhhh, I could wring their necks. Why can't they just talk about it?"

Omasu was silent for a moment. "I think Misao is tired."

Okon blinked. "What do you mean?"

"After what happened that last time..." Okon shook her head again.

"It isn't like Misao to give up. Do you think she still blames herself for what happened?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. But there's more to it than we think, Okon." Omasu picked up her knife and began to peel a carrot. "There are some things even Misao can't bear, and which Aoshi-sama probably doesn't know how to."

"I still want to wring their necks."

Omasu glanced at the untouched cup of tea. "I hope they do it themselves."

"I give them a week."

"Less."

"Deal."

End Chapter 2

Note: This isn't just vague, it's also morbid and disoriented and all of it at the same time ;_; I'm not sure even now that I want the story to take this direction -- I mean to say that after writing and deciding on this chapter there's another unexpected and dubious ramification to the plot (i.e., it's not just a ghost story anymore goddammit) -- but oh oh it would be a more logical explanation for Misao -- I'm trying to keep her in character, just sort of, for a hopefully intelligible reason, argh. And there's Aoshi, who defeats logic sometimes. Bad boi.

And I don't really have to write OLH any more after this, do I? ;_; As the dynamic is basically the same, only this time, it's a hell of a lot more confused.

Next chapter: More Angst _ Kenshin and Kaoru arrive in Kyoto. And Misao--reacts.