Disclaimer:
Rurouni Kenshin and its characters do not belong to me. This story and the original characters however are mine AND mine alone.
A.N.: Thank you so…so… much to everyone who read this story. And a special thanks to those who managed to spare sometime to even write reviews for the last chapter. I was so…so… happy bout having people reading it that I cried tears of joy. Anyways on with the story!!!! For those, who are expecting Aoshi / Misao pairing, I'm SO SORRY!!! I cannot help it, I just think Soujirou / Misao make a cute couple and I think that well they just fit together. But dun worry… I'll make the Aoshi / Misao phase rather long just for you
Chapter 2: Shukuchi: Soujirou's Gift From God!
The next day, Soujirou woke up to find himself in a foreign room and it took him a while to remember all that had happened to him so far. He couldn't help to form a happy and complacent smile on his face and with that he decided to search for his aniki. With that thought in mind, he folded up his futon and piled it together with his pillow and bolster neatly in one corner of his room. After that he opened the window to let fresh air and the morning sunlight enter his room before he finally opened the shoji of his room to go to the room next to his.
To his disappointment however he found that the room was empty, and he then decided to proceed to the dining hall from last night to see if he could find any of the other people he saw last night and he was right. All of them were having breakfast together and Soujirou greeted all of them. But he was surprised to see a little girl with braided hair and emerald coloured eyes sitting on Aoshi's lap, he was sure he couldn't remember her but then a flashback came to his mind
Flashback"Hai" Aoshi answered and smiled, taking hold of the younger boy's hand. He then continued, "Ah, and by the way Soujirou, you will even have an imoto back in Kyoto at the Aoiya – the place we are staying at. Her name is Makimachi Misao, I am sure she won't mind if you call her Misao-chan."
End of flashbackRealizing that the cute little girl was his imoto, he decided to greet her as well.
"Ohayo, Misao-chan!" he said cheerfully with a smile on his face.
"Ano… OHAYO, SOU-NII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Misao squealed in delight when she saw her new elder brother taking his seat next to her dearest Aoshi-sama.
"Ohayo, Soujirou" Aoshi said with a smile and then he took in the appearance of the little boy and noticed that the boy's clothes were tattered and dirty.
"Aa, Soujirou. You will go with Okon and Omasu to town later to buy clothes, I am sure they can help you in…" but Aoshi never got to finish his sentence as the two ladies were already screaming with excitement babbling about which colour would suit their dearest 'Sou-chan' and all. It took all of his will not to lash out in anger and he could feel a vein popping on his forehead, however, he managed to express his dislike of their behaviour in the next best thing namely by clearing his throat loudly.
"UHUM, as I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted by OKON and OMASU, Soujirou will go with them after breakfast to get new clothes. I want them to get him training attire as well and all that HAS TO BE completed in TWO HOURS and NOT MORE! After that, you, Soujirou, will be shown the way by Misao-chan here to the training ground. I will then train him personally with Hannya and Okina's help and no one is to disturb it. And…" but before he could continue, Misao was pulling on his sleeves trying to get his attention, which she of course did. Aoshi's features softened immediately when he saw her and he thus asked her what she wanted.
"What is it, Chibi-chan? Hmmm, did Aoshi-sama forget something?" he cooed, making the rest of the Oniwabanshuu- with exception of himself, Misao and Soujirou- trying hard to contain their laughter. After all, who could miss the chance of seeing their serious Okashira act like a gentle elder brother – or if need be – father? To Soujirou however, the scene that Aoshi and Misao made was not amusing in a hilarious way. Instead, he realized that he felt a pang of jealousy, as he never got to experience that kind of treatment himself, not even from his mother.
"Aoshi-sama… can I go shopping with Sou-nii? Pweaseeee???" she said, giving Aoshi her puppy dog eyes, which he -like always- just couldn't deny anything
"Aa…. You can go with Soujirou, but only if you keep on holding hands with him, Okon or Omasu, alright?"
Misao nodded and soon she was already jumping around the table telling everyone that she could go to town today. Soujirou on the other hand couldn't help but smile a genuine smile at her and he had to admit to himself that he started feeling fond for the little girl, who was his younger sister.
With that realization he continued his breakfast listening to the conversations held at the table, taking part in some of them, and breakfast went all well.
After breakfast"Sou-chan, come here!!! Why don't you try this, this, this…. And this!!" Okon said while passing a huge pile of different coloured gis and hakamas to Soujirou, who by the way still smiled his empty trademark smile though he was sweat dropping inwardly.
Little Misao, who was walking hand in hand with Omasu, giggled at the scene that Okon and Soujirou made. It seemed funny to her to see Okon in her hyper state while Soujirou was following her as fast as possible with the mountain of clothes in his hands.
To everyone else in Kyoto seeing the ninja lady, i.e. Okon, jumping from one spot to another within a shop -so that she only looked like a blur- was something usual. What caught everyone's eyes were however the smile which seemed to be permanently etched on the young boy's face. All of them –well except the Oniwabanshuu girls, who were too busy choosing the 'right' clothes for him – thought that his smile seemed to be rather disturbing, because his eyes did not show any signs of real happiness or joy. Many of them speculated that perhaps he was just insane; while others thought that he must have been put through tremendous pain to hide behind such an empty smile. Nonetheless they figured that it was none of their problem, the boy seemed to be content with his situation so they thought it would be all right not to meddle in his affairs. Not only that, people were certain that Shinomori Aoshi wouldn't be all to pleased to have strangers messing with the Oniwabanshuu household, so they kept their voices low while commenting on Soujirou.
Two excruciating and torturous hours –well for Soujirou at least- laterA cheerful Misao, who was holding sweets in one of her little hands, slid the shoji door of the Aoiya open to reveal a smiling Soujirou, who miraculously managed to balance all the boxes and shopping bags in his hands, and chattering Okon and Omasu behind him. Like usual the two lady ninjas were talking about the latest gossips in the neighbourhood, and Misao was of course rushing towards Aoshi's room just to greet him and hug him, telling him that they're back from shopping. Soujirou on the other hand went to his room to put down all the things that Okon and Omasu bought for him.
When Okon suddenly heard a scream, which suspiciously sounded like Misao, she and Omasu halted their conversation to see what the commotion was all about only to be rooted to the ground – so were the other Oniwabanshuu members including Aoshi - as they stared helplessly in horror at Misao who was slipping down from the top of the stairs. But they were even more startled to see a blur of blue leaping towards Misao, catching her before she made any contact with the stairs or the floor. When all of them recovered from the shock, the sight of Soujirou holding Misao in his hands greeted them.
"Misao-chan, are you okay? Are you hurt? Show me your hands and legs. Ah… yokatta. Not even a single bruise" Soujirou rambled on and on with a face full of concern, for once lacking his ever-present empty smile.
While Okon and Omasu were already squealing things which sounded like "AAAA, KAWAIII!!! Sou-chan and Mi-chan look so cute together!" Aoshi and Okina were deep in their thoughts.
Soon, Hannya spoke up. "Okashira, the boy. For a moment I thought that he was so fast that he seemed to have disappeared from sight. I think he is gifted with or has been trained a God-like speed. Iie, more like a super-God-like speed. Do you think…" but he never managed to finish his sentence because of Misao's excited exclamation.
"Sou-nii, YOU WERE SO… SO… FAST!!! Where did you learn to move like that?" she asked animatedly
"Are… I don't know, it just happened I guess" Soujirou answered with a confused expression in his face, which he quickly covered up with his trademark smile. His answer was the confirmation to Hannya's suspicion; the boy was indeed very gifted. This made Aoshi think even harder, evident in his furrowed brows.
"Really? Mou, I want to be that fast too, but first I have to be as strong as you. Do you think I can ever be as fast as you, Sou-nii?" Misao asked hopefully, with her puppy dog eyes plastered on her face.
"Hahaha, of course Misao-chan. When you have grown up you'll be as fast if not even faster than me." Soujirou said still with his mask on.
The lovely interaction between the two 'siblings' was, however, interrupted by Aoshi.
"Soujirou, I will see you at the training grounds in 5 minutes. We still have the training, remember? Don't be late and change in to attire that is fit for training." He said with his monotonous and cold voice, indicating that he has changed into the Oniwabanshuu's Okashira mode.
"Hai", Soujirou nodded and scrambled to his room quickly to change. He was excited and looking forward to his training. Numerous thoughts and flashbacks were racing through his mind while he was changing and walking towards the training area.
Soujirou's thoughts
Aoshi aniki and Okina-san are surely strong. Shishio-san was right, the strong live and the weak…
Flashback
"You are wrong, Soujirou. Your family treats you bad not because you of your origin. It's because you are weak." Shishio said
"The strong life and the weak die. The flesh of the weak is food for the strong"
End of flashback
Are? Maybe Shisio-san wasn't entirely right. After all, they did not kill my 'family'.
But then… what is right? Unh, I'll just worry about that later. For now, I will just train to be strong.
But if I am really weak, why am I still alive? Why did Misao-chan think I am strong?
Flashback
"Sou-nii, YOU WERE SO… SO… FAST!!! Where did you learn to move like that?" she asked animatedly
"Are… I don't know, it just happened I guess" Soujirou answered with a confused expression in his face, which he quickly covered up with his trademark smile. His answer was the confirmation to Hannya's suspicion; the boy was indeed very gifted. This made Aoshi think even harder, evident in his furrowed brows.
"Really? Mou, I want to be that fast too, but first I have to be as strong as you. Do you think I can ever be as fast as you, Sou-nii?" Misao asked hopefully, with her puppy dog eyes plastered on her face.
"Hahaha, of course Misao-chan. When you have grown up you'll be as fast if not even faster than me." Soujirou said still with his mask on.
End of flashback
Ah, it must be because I am stronger then her. She is still smaller then me, yet nobody is hurting her, that must certainly mean that she is stronger then me.
Ara, I better hurry. I don't want to be late for my first training.
End of Soujirou's thoughts
After pushing all the doubts he had to the back of his mind, Soujirou rushed out of his room and ran as fast as he could towards the training area. There, the sight of Aoshi, Okina and Hannya talking seriously greeted him. Afraid that he wasn't welcome to disengage them from their conversation, Soujirou settled on standing still, hoping that they will notice him soon.
In the meanwhile the trio of the Oniwabanshuu members were discussing Soujirou's talent and seriously.
"Okashira, the boy's speed is amazing. He will be a magnificent addition for the Oniwabanshuu." Hannya said.
"Aa, I suppose he would. But we don't know yet which weapon will suit him the most. He is not as frail as he seems to be, and I mean, considering how his so-called family treated him, I wouldn't be surprised if they had made him do all the chores. Yet…" Aoshi hesitated.
"What Aoshi?" Okina asked, "I know you have your doubts in teaching him kempo, believe me I have mine too. Even Misao-chan started earlier then him. But it is possible to train him in using weapons like the sword and regarding his speed, we'll just have to train him in Shukuchi." He continued.
Aoshi and Hannya nodded in approval. Just as Hannya wanted to point out something important to the two other men, however, Okina caught sight of Soujirou.
"Ah, Soujirou-chan! How long have you been standing there? Come over, we won't bite" Okina chuckled.
"Ano, gomen ne. It's just that you were so engrossed in your talk that I was afraid that I am disturbing you." Soujirou admitted with a small voice, trembling visibly though he was still smiling.
Hannya and Aoshi noticed this, though not by Okina who was busy patting Soujirou's head saying it is okay, and that Misao interrupts them all the time and that they are kind of used to it.
"Okina", Asohi suddenly said, "maybe you can let go of Soujirou now so that we can begin with the training?"
"Ah, of course Aoshi." The old man answered. He then turned to Soujirou and said, "Watch and listen carefully to Aoshi, Sou-chan. He is the strongest member of the Oniwabanshuu"
Soujirou nodded and looked up at Aoshi in awe,
"Aniki, do you think I can be strong too?" he said with hopeful eyes.
"Aa, Soujirou. Of course, as long as you train hard you can be strong too" Aoshi said and he was rewarded with a sincere smile from Soujirou.
"Now let the training begin" Aoshi said.
To be continuedA.N.:
So… what do you people think????
Keep the reviews going!!!
