If Only You Smile 3
AN: I think everyone knew Makoto was going to help Misao out in chapter 2. It was an obvious prediction but it was the only exciting thing I could honestly think up. As promised, this chapter has a lot of Misao and Makoto interaction.
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Misao had been alone for five minutes after Makoto had run off to get changed. That was something she didn't expect at this time considering how keen she was to talk about a very important subject but still the braided girl was able to rest from what happened today. Plus enjoy her drink in a very serene manner. She found the teahouse she was sitting in to be very tranquil. Only two or three customers were in the same place as her, drinking Sake and eating what appeared to be tofu and a whole fish. The young Oniwabanshu ninja tapped her index finger against the tiny cup that held fresh green tea.
Screaming from painful stretches by those three bastards was enough to make her throat extremely dry for so many hours. Thank goodness her drink was enough to refresh her body's insides. Makoto's friend Ayane owned this place and was always generous whenever friends of the tall brunette came to visit. And what made it more surprising for Misao was that it meant she didn't have to pay for this cup of tea sitting in front of her. She knew it was common for people to do that around their friends. Let them get free food because they were close to one another. She could do the same at the Aoiya.
"Hi, I'm back," Makoto's voice rang into Misao's ears. The latter turned around to greet the brown haired girl and wasn't able to say a word as she took in the new clothing displaying in front of her. Misao could see with her jade eyes that the Karate gi Makoto previously wore had now disappeared and a simple pink kimono had been replaced. It was as though she was talking to another female. Unlike in the previous brawl Makoto's green eyes didn't have that piercing look and instead had a charming gaze that blended well with her soft smile and the rest of her physical appearance. This girl almost reminded Misao of her friend Kamiya Kaoru. How was it that these two female fighters could stay feminine and not lose their fighting ability?
"Wow. I uh…didn't think you could wear a kimono so nicely," Misao complimented. "It took me a while to recognise you."
Makoto bowed appreciatively anyway. "Thanks for the comment uh…"
"Oh I'm Makimachi Misao," The ninja said, bowing slightly in her kneeling position. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I was so caught up in that fight with those jerks."
"That's okay. I did exactly the same thing when I first met them a while back," Makoto uttered understandably, her eyebrows curving with slight fury from the memory of today's opponents. "Man, I thought they were taken to the police. Maybe they've been let out already." But they couldn't have survived 'his' attacks. One guy had a fatal gash to his shoulder, didn't he? She put today's fight aside and cast her attention back to the awaiting female sitting opposite her. "So what is that you want to talk to me about?"
Misao took in the last drop of her green tea on the table and levelled her gaze with Makoto's jade eyes. Makoto didn't have to be told that this was indeed a serious discussion and sensed that the ninja girl didn't want to lose any of her time right this minute.
"What I wanna talk about is this," Misao explained, showing the now very familiar painting of Makoto. "It's got nothing to do with the artist but with the person who bought it."
"Oh so *you* weren't the one who bought it, huh?" Makoto was surprised. Already this topic was confusing her. Where did Misao find the painting then? Did she steal it off someone else? Misao's eyes weren't likely to become amused by any joke as she spoke on. It was as if they were stuck to being sharp and serious. Much like how Makoto's eyes were when in battle or focused training.
"I have to ask you a question, Makoto-san…" She stopped talking when Makoto lifted her hand to interrupt.
"Just call me Mako-chan," The auburn haired girl corrected in one quick sentence. Misao was a bit surprised by this suggestion of informality but went along like an obedient servant and took the comment in. However as Makoto observed the dark braided youth she noticed how slightly nervous she was becoming. Misao was suddenly biting her lip – hard as though she wanted it to bleed by purpose. Makoto decided to make the question come out in a simpler manner by asking, "Do you want to ask me if I know the person who bought this painting? Is that it, Misao-chan?" Misao's eyes lowered, staring at the empty cup in front of her hands and the portrait spreading across the table. Was Makoto seeing things or was the girl shaking a little? She bent down to try to see Misao's huge eyes and continued to simplify this difficult moment. "Just say yes or no. Do you want to ask me…?"
"Yes," Misao replied back. "That's the question I want to ask you…Mako-chan." Her face ascended so it was facing Makoto with incoming confidence. Good, this girl is over her brief sense of worry Makoto spotted. Well now that she knew what the question was, the next problem was to recognise the person who bought a portrait of her. During the past four months, she hadn't made that many new comrades. Everyone had been bitter to her up till this present year. Her time had been spent in Osaka, fighting supporters of Shishio Makoto and to look after Ayane when she was injured for a long period of time. Mako-chan wasn't exactly on good terms with people in her town. It was too hard for anyone to get along with her, especially when her day involved a lot of unnecessary brawls that lead to a huge mess on the ground.
So whoever owned this portrait of her was someone who respected her - unlike the people of Osaka who considered her a fighting monster with no brains. Could it be that the artist knew her parents when they were alive? Was he told how dazzling she would be as an adult, which was what led him to draw such a picture? Well for a start she had never heard of the artist Yuuki Takashi so that possibility was definitely out of the way. Unless he knew her of course. But Misao had clearly said this had nothing to do with the artist yet the person who bought it. So recognising the artist's name was most certainly out of the question. Makoto had two confirmed responses now that she thought about it more.
"Ooh nice portrait. Hang on, is that a picture of you, Mako-chan?" Ayane appeared out of nowhere to refill Misao's cup but the ninja declined the offer as she watched Makoto's older friend observe the painting with amazement. Like Makoto and Misao, the wonderful colours this portrait was giving off had also intrigued Ayane. It was the normal reaction people would show off at first glance. "Who did this?"
"That's what I am asking Misao-chan," Makoto answered.
"Ooh girl-talk," Ayane said then started to think in her head. "Well if you want my opinion I think a secret admirer painted this portrait. How's that for a guess, eh?" Raising her eyebrows curiously, she walked off with Misao's empty cup, leaving Makoto open-mouthed. Ayane wasn't even here since the beginning of the conversation hence what she suggested couldn't be true. Like Misao said it had nothing to do with the artist. It was the person who owned it.
Makoto returned her gaze to Misao and added, "Hey just ignore what Ayane said. She didn't hear every single word…"
"She was right on the secret admirer part," The braided girl replied. Makoto's emerald irises grew in surprise. What did she mean Ayane was right on one part? She thought her friend was kidding around. Well she was, right? "The person who had this painting originally *is* someone who knows you."
The brunette couldn't easily take in the words that Misao was giving out. Someone knows her. But who would know her? Was it really an admirer from her town? Was Misao just acting as the clueless messenger whose job was to make Makoto guess endlessly on who drew a wonderful portrait of her? If Misao's nervous behaviour a few minutes ago was all an act then Makoto had to admit she was doing a good job of it. But then again, she couldn't help seeing how realistically serious Misao was right now.
"I'm telling you Misao-chan I don't think I would know who owned this portrait. I don't have a lot of friends except Ayane. And it couldn't be my parents because they're dead…" It was Makoto's turn to bite her lip hard. She couldn't believe she just mentioned her parents out loud like that without giving much thought. Wasn't she going too far to let Misao know about her family? Misao somehow didn't look too convinced by Makoto's easy surrender into not knowing who owned the painting. The ninja shook her head angrily and bent over the table again, her hands becoming fists. Clearly she was becoming angered in some way even with her face not looking up. Makoto was about to ask what was wrong when Misao shot a sharp glare to her.
"Mako-chan, are you telling me you *don't know* who Shinomori Aoshi-sama is?!" She exclaimed in shock and disbelief. Makoto's mouth let out an automatic gasp, which almost felt like a knife had plunged into her heart. The sudden pant caused the other customers to stare into their direction, which worsened the embarrassing moment. Without thinking carefully, Makoto ran from the table and retreated outside the teahouse. Her heart was now beating so fast rather than ache in pain from the sharp strike past her chest.
She couldn't exactly think straight right now but she knew she wouldn't look more foolish since leaving the teahouse to prevent more silliness in front of the customers. As she stood outside the teahouse entrance, she felt her senses relax and her brain went into thinking mode. Shinomori Aoshi was a name she had almost forgotten completely from her mind though now that Misao had said it to her face Makoto's memories of him came flooding back like a fast flowing wave from a violent sea. Oh yes. What went on four months ago was coming back now. How could she forget the pools of ice blue that took her to another world? Or the emotionless façade that melted into the rest of his attractive features?
How could she also not recall the moment he let her call him Sempai as well? Makoto found her heartbeat speed up again. It wasn't because of embarrassment but because of thinking about Aoshi. She hadn't felt such warmth for so long. During the heated war throughout Japan against Shishio Makoto and the Juppongatana Makoto had had no chance of daydreaming about anything happy. She was too busy protecting her hometown Osaka from the enemies and hardly many people were willing to show their appreciation for her help, even if she was the respected daughter of a dead Karate master.
Ever since her parents' death, life as an adult hadn't been any easier. People thought her father spoiled her as a child and made her an aggressive demon, which was of course not true, since he had actually attempted to make good use of her natural born strength by training her in Karate. Naturally not many around here understood the reason or wanted to listen to such nonsense. Memories of what went on during the last war mixed unexpectedly with Makoto's reminiscence of Aoshi. Scenes of her battles sprang in front of her eyes but then dramatically switched to her private moments in the forest with the Oniwabanshu Okashira, leading to sensations of happiness.
"You know him, don't you?"
Makoto tilted her head to the right to see Misao observing her as she took out her buried face from her palm. "You scared the hell out me just now."
"I can see that," The ninja pointed out. "So tell me, how do you know Aoshi-sama?"
Aoshi-sama?! The taller brunette tried her best to control any more shocks to her body. She couldn't believe Misao referred to Aoshi with high respect. Very rarely did any youths use '-sama' after a person's name. From what she knew people used '-san' a lot more. '-Sempai' was something else. If Misao referred to Aoshi as Aoshi-sama then this had to mean something, right? But before she could ask questions to the small ninja, Makoto decided to satisfy the braided girl by providing some answers.
"Aoshi…-san helped me four months ago." She didn't want Misao to act fidgety if she used the term 'Sempai' in front of her. That would cause some discomfort between them no doubt. "I had a fight with those three guys a while back and he came at a good time." Makoto noticed some silence come between her and Misao. It must mean that her answer wasn't sufficient enough. It was as though the ninja expected more details to be given out. Noticing the expression 'Keep talking' around the ebony haired girl's face, Makoto went on. "The first time I saw him was on the night he was chosen as the new Okashira eleven years ago. We didn't exactly see or speak to each other a lot back then but I didn't expect him to remember my parents. Mother and Father got on well with most of the Oniwabanshu."
"So he remembered you after all these years," Misao remarked.
"I guess for someone who's amazing like him of course he has a good memory of the past," Makoto laughed for a split second though silenced immediately after seeing a lack of humour surround Misao's face. Perhaps that joke was bad Makoto noted in her mind. She rubbed the smile around her lips then started to wonder what this conversation would lead to next. Hold on! She rewound back to her last statement and tried to piece together the meaning of the sentence. Sure she knew he had a good memory of their brief greetings to one another eleven years ago, however this could have meant something else too. Did this mean he still remembered Makoto after he left Osaka four months ago? Was the portrait of her the result of this memory? All this did make sense, didn't it?
"Do you have feelings for him?" Misao asked. Makoto couldn't understand how this girl could be so desperate for her answers. All she could do was simply stare at her as though she was a strange object. Misao rephrased her question, her tone becoming more eager for a response. "Do you love him?"
"I…I…" Makoto really couldn't answer her. This sudden return of a familiar name had begun to screw around with her brain's functioning. Romance had not even been on her mind at all since he left her on that day. A week after he departed, Makoto eventually assumed that he would never be seen again and wished him well inside her heart, hoping that he would get the title of 'Strongest' as time moved on. Makoto's confusion came to a halt when Misao grabbed her arms roughly and forced her to look into her eyes.
"You DO love him, don't you?!" Misao cried. Perplexity was becoming stronger by the minute as Makoto looked at her. "Something tells me that he may have felt the same four months ago. Why else does he have this in his room?" She shoved the painting in front of Makoto's face to give her a quick reminder.
"Are you telling me you stole that from *his room*? Oh Misao-chan…" The auburn haired girl was afraid that this early presumption turned out to be true and shook her head in dismay.
"Who gives a damn about me stealing this?" Misao raised her voice that was loud enough to be heard from people sitting upon the roofs. "Do you have any idea how hard it's been for me to get Aoshi-sama's attention, to get him to see my feelings? I know he's emotionless and is still recovering from the whole fight against Shishio Makoto but he's not gotten any better." Makoto opened her mouth but Misao wouldn't let her say anything. "I've tried hard to show I care yet it hasn't worked."
Watching the ninja grip her arms more tightly was something Makoto did not anticipate from the top of her head. Over the past hour the desperation within Misao's voice and actions had grown rapidly. This wasn't an act at all. Now Makoto was starting to realise the truth. She could instantly tell how much Aoshi meant to this girl. Why else was she pleading like this?
"Do you love Aoshi-sama that much that you want to see him…smile?" Makoto questioned, already knowing what the answer would be.
After a minute of quietness, Misao nodded slowly to confirm the truth. "These past days I've realised that I may not be the one to make him happy." There was a flicker of sadness in her eyes but it drifted away into something that looked like hope and suddenly a gentle smile came into view. "YOU can help him, right?"
"What? I uh…"
"I know you can. I'm sure he still thinks of you up till this day; even behind that impassive face."
"Misao-chan, I don't know…" Makoto couldn't think of a decent argument to fight back with. Hesitation was controlling her ability to speak. The dark haired ninja still wouldn't remove her grip off Mako's arms as she continued to plead anxiously for help. What Makoto wanted to say was whether or not she still had the same feelings towards him from four months ago. What if she didn't? It would be a waste of her time to help get Aoshi out of his stoic shell, wouldn't it? However remembering who he was as a real person somehow managed to weave its way into Makoto's sensitive spots.
Visualising his recognisable and handsome appearance was something she couldn't resist doing when daydreaming. The last time she spoke with him she could tell he was certainly lost mentally. His eyes were filled with such sadness that Makoto could deeply understand in reference to loss and revenge. She detected her sympathetic thoughts towards her Sempai resurface like before.
Oh Aoshi-Sempai. Guess I'm still thinking about you after all Makoto gave in to her tender caring thoughts, swallowing the temptation to laugh at herself and looked at Misao to say, "Okay then."
"Huh? You mean you'll…?" Misao smiled and jumped in the air happily when she saw Makoto's face brighten into a grin. Oh she knew what the auburn female's answer was going to be all right.
"I'll do what I can to make him happy, ok?" Makoto was tempted to add that she would put in extra effort to make Misao happy as well although she thought it wouldn't make the situation any better for the younger girl. She guessed that Misao was more concerned about Aoshi than herself at the moment and perhaps it would be best to stay that way for now. "So what do I have to do?"
"Well for a start, you have to follow me to Kyoto because that's where he is," The ninja replied, took Makoto's arm then commenced into a sprint. "Come on! We have no time to waste. Let's get you to Aoshi-sama!" Makoto couldn't say anything to respond and let herself be taken to the one man she had longed to see after months apart.
TBC
Nanashi- Ah now that you mention Chibi-Usa I reckon it would be a nightmare to see her argue with Yahiko. We'd all need headphones and listen to J-pop music happily; rather than hear those two bicker or have tongue wars. I'm routing for Yahiko-kun to win of course :P. Pan/Trunks (Dragonball GT) is another similar pairing to Aoshi/Misao.
Sarien- Ha, you guessed correctly on those guys. I'm glad someone remembered them from the prequel ^_^ *awards ten house points to Sarien*. Thanks for understanding my Misao characterisation too ^_^. I'm trying to make her IC as much as I can.
