Act 12: Continued Chaos in Kyoto
Disclaimer: To say that I own Rurouni Kenshin would be like saying pigs can fly. In other words, I don't own it.
Notes: Whee! Heyllo again, minna-san! At long last, the next 'story arc', such that it is! I've really been looking forward to the Aoshi x Misao chapters, in part because I've got a full-blown "to do" list specifically dealing with them and their daughter Kumiko. Anyways, one more quick note before we dive into the upcoming silliness- I'm all set up to email people (even though only two have voiced interest in an update notification list), so if you'd like to be alerted when I add a chapter, lemme know so I can add you to the list.
"'Tousan?"
"Hn? What is it Kumiko-chan?"
"'Kaasan is resting, an' she said I should come
play with you."
Aoshi looked down at his daughter from some papers
he had been reading. "I'm trying to work-" His protest crashed and burned
before even getting off the runway. The dark-haired chibi turned piercing
blue puppy eyes on her father.
"Pleeeeease, 'Tousan? Pretty pretty please?" Kumiko
hopped up and down in place.
"... All right." Aoshi put the information he had
been looking at away. "What do you want to play then?"
"Yay!" Kumiko pounced Aoshi. "I want to play tea
ceremony! All the other girls are busy though."
"Kumiko-chan, what does that have to do with playing
tea ceremony?" Aoshi raised one eyebrow.
"So first we get to play dress-up!" Kumiko announced
happily, taking her father by the hand and leading him to her room.
Two pairs of ice blue eyes regarded each other warily,
each sizing up their opponent across the subject of dispute- an old pink
and blue kimono that was too disgustingly cute to legally exist without
a license.
"Pleeeeeease, 'Tousan?"
"I am not wearing that, Kumiko."
"But 'Tousaaaaaan!" Kumiko stuck her lower lip out
and pouted. "It's supposed to be tea between two girls! And since none
of the other girls can play..."
The former okashira found himself unable to withstand
the assault as the six year old chibi handled the kimono, looking about
ready to burst into tears at her father's unwillingness to play dress up
with her.
"... All right, Kumiko-chan." Aoshi relented the
battle. "So long as no one else knows."
The chibi brightened up immediately. "Okay, 'tousan!"
Thus, when the stars of our story arrived, this was
the sight they saw...
Shinomori Aoshi, famous for his coldness, renown
for his fighting ability with his twin kodachi... was sipping tea, while
wearing the most disgustingly adorable pink kimono ever. Apparently the
chibi had also managed to talk him into doing his hair, as he had a pair
of hairsticks haphazardly in place, since his hair was far too short for
odango of any kind. Meanwhile, the little girl was similarly dressed in
an adorable kimono, with her raven hair up in a bun.
Kaoru had to clamp both hands over her mouth to
keep from bursting into hysterics on sight, and Shinta's eyes had widened
to the size of large dinner plates, while an almost inaudible 'oro' escaped
his lips.
"'Tousan! You're doing it wrong!" The chibi pouted
and insisted. "You need to hold it like THIS!"
The two ghosts watched with amused grins as the
little girl scolded Aoshi and drilled him on how to PROPERLY drink his
tea.
Not having a very long attention span, the little
girl quickly grew bored of the game, and allowed Aoshi to return to wearing
his normal attire. While he was getting changed, Kumiko glanced toward
the far wall and looked confusedly at the two ghosts.
"Who are you?" She asked, toddling over to an equally
confused pair of ghosts.
"Oro..." Shinta was at a loss.
Kaoru smiled and knelt down in front of the chibi.
"I'm Kaoru, and this is Shinta." She handled the introductions easily.
"What about you, chibi?"
The little girl puffed up with pride. "Shinomori
Kumiko. My 'tousan led the Oniwabanshu-" She stumbled a bit over the big
word, but continued. "-an' some day I'm going to, too!"
The two ghosts exchanged looks briefly. "Is that
so?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.
Kumiko nodded enthusiastically. "But 'kaasan's in
charge now, so I gotta wait."
"Kumiko-chan, who are you talking to?" Aoshi returned,
pulling on his trenchcoat.
"My new friends, 'tousan!" Kumiko beamed. "Don't
you see them?" She gestured in the direction of the two ghosts, who tactically
remained hidden.
Aoshi shook his head and looked down at the chibi.
"More invisible friends, Kumiko?"
She nodded, which earned a slightly exasperated
sigh from her father.
"I wanna play outside now, 'tousan!" Kumiko climbed
up onto a handy chair and jumped into Aoshi's arms. The two ghosts tagged
along, exchanging grins.
While Kumiko was running around in the Aoiya's garden,
Aoshi used the time at least somewhat productively and attempted to meditate.
Attempted because, well, with Kumiko running around laughing and shouting
and getting into the mud and then climbing onto his shoulders and then
into his lap, actually SUCCEEDING with his meditation was another story
entirely.
Aoshi stoically regarded the mud that the little
girl had tracked all over his clothing, and then looked down at her. "What
is it, Kumiko-chan?"
"I wanna horsey ride!" She beamed at him. "An' you
can't say that getting dirty is an excuse not to! 'Kaasan's going to make
us BOTH take a bath now!"
Aoshi regarded the chibi carefully. So she'd had
a plan in mind when she went jumping in those mud puddles and then climbing
all over him? The girl was extremely intelligent and clever for her age,
and coupled with her mother's spunk... in short, she was a handful.
While two very amused (or was that 'stunned senseless'?)
ghosts watched, Aoshi shrugged out of his soiled trenchcoat and got down
on his hands and knees for the little girl, who jumped up onto his back
and nearly made the former Oniwabanshu okashira kiss the dirt. At Kumiko's
urging, Aoshi started forward and paced in a large slow circle in the garden.
This was all fine and dandy for the little girl at first, but in short
order she was bored of the pace. "Faster, 'tousan! Horseys GALLOP an' go
fast!"
Aoshi sweatdropped. He was already certain that
he was going to need to beg a back rub out of Misao after this, and his
daughter wanted him to go faster? He tried to protest, but one long pleading
"Pleeeeeeeeease, 'Tousan?" from Kumiko and he was helpless to resist.
After several minutes of Aoshi running around on
all fours with a delighted chibi on his back, Misao emerged on the porch
and grinned at the sight. It had taken her some time to get through the
former okashira's icy exterior, but it had been worth it. Any of his remaining
coldness was more of an act than anything. When Kumiko had been born, it
hadn't taken the baby girl more than a minute in her father's arms to wrap
him around her little finger.
"Aren't they so adorable together?" Kaoru whispered
to Shinta.
"Oro.... Aoshi.... 'adorable'?" Shinta sweatdropped.
"Oh come on, Shinta." Kaoru LOOKED at her redheaded
hubby. "Kenji had you wrapped around his little finger just as much as
Aoshi's daughter has him. Granted, Kenji never made you play dress up..."
"He was more interested in yanking my hair and biting."
Shinta sweatdropped at the recollection.
Meanwhile, perhaps due to Aoshi trying not to get
any muddier than he already was, he had failed to notice Misao watching.
"'Kaasan!" Kumiko shouted and waved happily, suddenly
springing from Aoshi and catching him completely by surprise. Showing remarkable
agility for her age, the little girl landed on her feet. Aoshi, meanwhile,
unintentionally showing his age just a little, was caught off guard by
his daughter suddenly leaping off, and he slipped and fell face-first into
a particularly muddy patch.
Kumiko pointed and giggled at her father and he
peeled himself out of the mud. Misao nearly bent over in hysterics at the
fact Aoshi was trying and failing spectacularly to look as calm and cool
as he normally did. Dripping mud certainly ruined the effect.
The two ghosts were similarly laughing at the scene,
completely unaware of five other ghosts also watching the scene from the
roof with bemused grins.
"It's not funny." Aoshi stated flatly.
"Come on, Aoshi-" Misao managed between giggles.
"-you should SEE yourself!"
"'Tousan's all dirty!" Kumiko giggled happily.
"I wouldn't go calling your otousan dirty, Kumiko-chan."
Misao eyed her similarly muddy daughter.
"But he is!" Kumiko protested.
"So are you." Misao pointed out.
"That was to get him to play horsey with me, 'kaasan!"
Kumiko beamed with pride at the success of her little plan.
"I see." Misao raised an eyebrow and looked over
at Aoshi, who had cracked a slight grin at the total absurdity of the situation.
"Dinner's going to be ready in awhile, Aoshi. You and Kumiko had better
be all cleaned up by then!" Misao fixed the pair with a bemused glare.
"See, 'tousan?" Kumiko looked up at Aoshi. "I told
you 'kaasan would make us both take a bath!"
Aoshi nodded slightly at his daughter's observation.
"We should take care of that then." Aoshi picked the muddy chibi up and
headed in the direction of the bathhouse. Knowing Kumiko-chan, the simple
act of bathing is going to turn into a game.
The two ghosts listened as a series of splashes,
squeals, and other random noises were emitted from the bathhouse a short
time later.
"Oro..." Shinta's eyes widened at a particularly
loud crash from within.
"... Her father's intelligence and her mother's
excessive spunk." Kaoru sweatdropped. "Bad combination."
"Ano... Kaoru-dono, weren't you the one squealing
about how adorable she is?" Shinta glanced at the bathhouse as Aoshi's
voice was suddenly muffled and Kumiko could be heard laughing about her
father's 'new hat'.
"Well, she is adorable!" Kaoru protested. "I'm just
glad I'm not the one who has to take care of her!"
"Aa." Shinta sweatdropped.
"Long time no see, Himura-san!" A familiar, but
unexpected voice announced from behind.
"Oro-?" Shinta glanced over his shoulder.
Author's notes: Oh, evil evil me! Another cliffhanger! You can probably
guess who the other ghosts are =p I know the ghosties didn't do much this
chapter, but I wanted to help establish Aoshi and Misao as they are fifteen
years after the series before diving more thoroughly into the ghostie business.
For those who are wondering, Kumiko is six years old (going on seven),
has black hair part way down her back, and has blue eyes like her father.
As I'm sure the chapter made clear, she's also quite adorable, and more
than a handful. *snicker* And for those who are interested in Enishi, Fi-chan,
and Haru... well, if there's any authors out there who'd like to write
something of a side story about them, be my guest, since I don't feel I'm
quite capable of expanding more on those characters and doing a good job
of it. And I have to thank Jeanie-san for the idea of Aoshi playing tea
ceremony with Kumiko. >=D
Other things of interest... If there's anyone out
there with artistic talents who'd like to try and draw Aoshi and Kumiko,
please, let me know! Also, I'm still taking volunteers for the Hijinks
of Heaven and Hell chapter, and I've got an email list set up for people
who want to be alerted to a new chapter being posted.
And my recommended reading for this chapter... A
nifty reincarnation fic, "Surfacing Hearts" by chibi-angel is a good read,
though tenses occasionally get mixed up. It's a very good read. Also, if
you want to see ALL the guys (including some of the secondary guys) get
picked on, and if you don't mind falling off your chair in hysterics, go
read "Juunishi" by Arashi. It sort of crosses over some stuff from Fruits
Basket, but you don't need to have seen Fruits Basket to enjoy the mayhem
that befalls the RK guys =p
So... next time, we find out about the other ghosties
hanging around the Aoiya, and more chibi chaos ensues!