It was not the three men or anything they carried that interested the shadowy man. It was only a coincidence that they were heading in the same direction. Like them, he had things to deliver, but what he carried were not things given to him, or any of the persons he had dealings with, but things still valuable nonetheless -- the treasures that had been created from the Takani knowledge.

He had been nervous when the neighbor had entered the house with the three men from Tokyo. He had heard rumors of the sorts of men that Megumi Takani had been acquainted with.

But it wasn't that he feared them; rather it was that he was concerned that they would take the very things his leader had ordered him to go back and retrieve.

To his relief, the boxes that interested him the most had been largely untouched. These things his leader coveted for his own.

There was only one thing else that needed to be done, and his leader had already set out others who would tend to that task. There was still one more Takani at large, and although she was merely a child, his leader desired to possess her and the potential lore that had been passed from father to daughter.

When morning came, he found himself again in Tokyo and he was simply another unassuming businessman stepping off the train and sleepily wandering off to his next destination.

As ordered, he left his box of items at a rather unremarkable looking streetside storefront. Where it went to from there he would not know, as his leader would likely use a series of messengers and go-betweens to obtain the box through innocuous means. In the box, again, were things that wouldn't look all that valuable to the casual onlooker. And the note, well it would be meaningless to most as it consisted of nothing more than a simple reference to a well-known city.

But it was the place where his leader would find the young Megumi Takani.

~

On her third day at the Aoiya, young Megumi Takani was already a handful.

She wandered repeatedly and randomly over the buildings and grounds, and then would be found in the oddest places. under a table, hiding behind a screen or digging in the dirt.

It had started when Misao had left with Soujiro the previous day. Misao had been able to entertain Meg-chan for the most part, and Soujiro's gentle spirit kept the little girl's behavior in check while the two of them were present. However, Meg-chan knew none of the other people and so refused to mind any of them.

"Aoshi," Okon and Omasu cornered him in his office and thrust the delinquent child at him. "You have to keep her with you. She won't listen even to the older women and she keeps putting herself into trouble."

Okina peered around the open door behind them and sighed. "And there is only so much candy I can offer her before her teeth become rotten."

"Megumi-chan," Aoshi looked at the exasperated women and then cleared a space on his table. He took Meg-chan from the ladies' hands and placed her where the books had once been. He knew he should scold her, just as he used to scold Misao when she was young, but it didn't feel right. At least not yet.

He paused for a moment as he looked at the child's insolent expression. Given all that happened, her behavior wasn't all that unexpected. With all the change, he remembered that some rituals needed to be consistent. One of the things Misao had told him about before leaving was about the child's love for tea.

"Would you like to have tea with me?"

"Tea?" The girl's eyes gleamed for a moment and then slowly she nodded.

"Good," he sighed slightly. "Okon-"

"Of course," Okon's eyes widened with relief, "I'll have the kitchen staff prepare the-"

"No. Just ask them to prepare the water. Okina will do the honors."

"I will?" Okina nearly fell over.

"You're quite good at it, as I recall." Aoshi gave him a slight smile. "And our little Megumi-chan is a true connoisseur. She'll be able to appreciate your talents."

"Eh? Is that so?" Okina straightened up. "Well then, how can I possibly pass this chance up?"

"And I take it I should go take care of this little messy girl first?" Omasu sighed as she noticed Megumi-chan dripping soft mud onto the floor and the table. She resignedly flashed Megumi a small smile while she held out her arms.

The child stared back dubiously.

"Well then," the woman grabbed the girl without warning. "We'll go wash up and dress for tea!"

Megumi-chan screeched with something that sound like laughter as Omasu took her under her arm and went bounding out the door, down the hall and up the stairs.

Okina and Aoshi blinked for a moment, before they also walked out and moved in the opposite direction from which Omasu and Megumi-chan had disappeared.

"Eh, Aoshi." Okina looked uncomfortable. "Do I really have to pour tea? Isn't that a woman's --"

"Her father used to do it," Aoshi leveled a look at the man as they walked across the courtyard towards one of the tea rooms. "He was a trained herbalist and was an expert. It'll make her adjustment to here easier.."

"I see," Okina said thoughtfully. "Does this mean that you intend for her to stay or will it only be until you can talk to the Himuras?"

Aoshi hesitated. "I-"

"-- don't know?" Okina sighed as he opened the door to the tea room. "I guessed you'd say that. After all, what claim do you. . . I mean do we have on the child?"

He waited until Aoshi had followed him inside before handing him something. "I forgot to give you this before. Given all the news that has been coming out these past few days, and how busy everyone has been. I just forgot. It was the letter that was inside the other one from Saitou."

Aoshi's eyes opened slightly as he looked at the letter Okina had placed into his hand. He didn't need Okina to identify the letter; he recognized it as soon as Okina had taken it out. He had been looking for it the other day, but said nothing when it didn't appear. He thought he had simply misplaced it and had resolved to look for it. "Okina, you shouldn't have . . ."

"I know," Okina looked away for a moment. "I read it, and then meant to give it to you right away, but then Misao came and it seemed like a bad time. Even now, I'm not sure that it won't seem unnecessarily cold to give it to you, but it concerns Meg-chan."

Aoshi opened the letter and upon recognizing the handwriting , closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"I'll leave you alone for a moment," Okina gave him a studied, yet sympathetic look before stepping out and sliding the door again shut behind him.

After a moment's hesitation, Aoshi began to read the letter.

'Shinomori-san,

I hope this letter finds all of you in good health. Meg-chan and I are a bit relieved to find things in Aizu as we left it. We're finishing unpacking and repacking many things at the moment and trying to settle things here.

I hope that it won't be too much to impose on the Aoiya while we visit Kyoto. Meg-chan is looking forward to seeing the Aoiya and the city and has been talking of it regularly. She has seen very little of city life and Kyoto will be a good experience for her. I appreciate how much all of you have done for the both of us already, and this additional kindness is something which I can not thank you for enough.

Gensai-sama and I talked at length about what you had said the other day about Kyoto. His counsel was to consider what you had said seriously. Tokyo has grown so much over the past few years and he is concerned that there are more doctors there now than are necessary. He also has a number of colleagues in Kyoto who he thought would be good to consult with. I have already written to some of them and will be meeting with them when we are finally able to tear ourselves away from here. In that way, we will hopefully not burden you any further.'

He paused for a moment. After all they had been through together, she was - or rather had still been worried about being a burden to others? Hadn't she understood anything of what he had told her before?

He continued on, noting that there was a distinct change in tone.

'There is one matter that I also have to address with Okina. I am glad that you had mentioned something to me about a matchmaker. It seems that she created a number of problems both here in Tokyo and in Aizu. In all utter seriousness, I would encourage you, I mean all of you, to avoid her services. And let Okina know that if there is anything he wants to know about me, he can ask me himself than having some strange woman ask all my neighbors and friends. Of course, I'm sure as Oniwaban, you all more than capable of wrestling out of me whatever sordid details of my life you wanted to know -- not that there is much to tell at this point. But don't be too rough on him. If you hurt too much now, I won't have the heart to inflict more damage on him when I get there.'

His eyes darted in the direction of the door, where Okina was still standing. Okina had failed to mention this particular part of the letter. He would talk to him, if . . . if now there were any point.

'There is something else I wanted to ask of you, but I wonder if it's amusing or practical enough to write here. It has been on mind for a while, but I don't know how to or whether to ask it. ."

"Ask what?" Aoshi said aloud, puzzled by the abrupt end to the letter.

He didn't have a chance to think on it further. Suddenly the door slid open and Okina, with Megumi-chan washed and attired in a fresh kimono stumbled inside. Okon suddenly appeared after them, with a tray in hand.

Aoshi noted the slight pout on the child's face.

Omasu came in sheepishly afterwards, bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry it took so long. Megumi-chan wanted a particular kimono, and we had to unpack another chest in order to find it. And then she wanted to bring something else -but we couldn't find it."

Aoshi looked at the child, whose somewhat sour expression now made sense.

Okina suddenly spoke up rather brightly. "Well now, I'm glad that you took some extra time. Omasu and Meg-chan picked out a very nice kimono didn't they? And I'm sure, Meg-chan, that we'll be able to find whatever you're looking for after some tea. Omasu and Okon are very tired now and would like tea too, Meg-chan. Would you ask them to stay?"

Okina's sunny disposition seemed to have softened the little girl's disappointment. She looked back at Omasu, who Aoshi noticed, did look a bit out of sorts and nodded. "Omasu. Okon. Stay."

Aoshi frowned slightly. The way she made her request left something to be desired. He reached out across the table and placed his hand over her much smaller one. She looked up at him obediently. "Megumi-chan," he spoke quietly, "It's please. please stay."

"Please stay," she repeated back at him and then to the women. "Please . stay."

"Yes, Megumi-chan." Aoshi nodded as the women smiled suddenly and quietly removed his hand. As he watched the other three adults happily brew and pour the tea, he quietly observed the delight which the child brought to each of them.

And silently, as he looked again at that child, his thoughts once again echoed the phrase he had tried to teach her.

'Please . . . stay.'

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Too long!! Therefore, go on and read the next part for the explanation that you guys all feel you deserve!