I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Tanabata Madness
Chapter 4
Aoshi sighed as he slowly stepped through downtown Kyoto, carefully sidestepping daydreaming couples and the regular bustle. He was clad in black gi and a gray hakama, which contrasted with the many multi-colored outfits many were wearing. As he was trying to avoid the attention of the lonely girls that sat around, grouped like vultures looking for food, he stepped into a small, almost hidden, shop. He browsed for a while, looking at the various hairpins and ornaments in the trays that the owner had put out.
He bought a small, glowing green comb that looked like a flower and quickly left the shop when a gaggle of girls entered, eagerly chatting and speaking amongst themselves. He slipped out and wandered around more, looking for any other possible gifts to give Misao. He had liked his first gift a lot, but seeing as how it was in her possession made it difficult for him to give it to her. As he walked down the street purposefully, which was completely contradictory to his thoughts, he spotted a kimono shop headed by a shorted, elderly woman. A shadow of a smile graced his lips as he walked in, eyeing an emerald green kimono in the window.
~*~
Misao was immensely enjoying herself, loving the rich feeling of warmth radiating from the sun's rays. The weather was surprisingly pleasant—different from the regular hot, stuffy days of summer, but more like an overly warm day in spring. She grinned happily at the unusually large crowds of people, with almost nothing nagging at her.
'I wish Aoshi-sama was here…' she thought. She desperately wanted to spend time with him, but due to the circumstances, found herself unable to. It was irritating; she always made known to everyone how she felt, except when it came to Aoshi-sama. Her Aoshi. 'If only we could be like the stars** coming together…' Misao thought sadly. 'He'll never love me the way I love him…' Her previously cheerful mood was slowly spiraling downward—exactly what she did not want to happen today.
**Tanabata is supposed to celebrate the coming together of two lovers, or two stars coming together over the Milky Way.
Misao stopped at small shop teeming with young people. 'Hmm...' she thought, observing the young men who were sitting alone. She wouldn't dream of loving another man other than her Aoshi-sama, but a little jealously never hurt anyone...
She entered, concentrating on making herself seem shy and demure, but let a seductive smile appear as she put a slight switch in her hips, as well as she could, as she took tiny steps towards the counter. She was about to place an order for some kakiguri** to eat, but a young man stepped forward, causing her to halt her speech.
**Shaved ice… I'm pretty sure… -_-
"Good afternoon," he said, bowing slightly. "My name is Takahashi Ryoga."
"I am Makimachi Misao," she replied, smiling slightly as she met his eyes, then quickly averted her own. Takahashi Ryoga was a slightly built man—she could tell he had some muscle and his chocolate brown hair fell softly into his eyes. He looked at her through his bangs, meeting her "timid" gaze. He ran a tanned hand through his hair, mussing it slightly as he let it fall back into place.
Misao forced herself to look at him with sweet eyes, trying her best to act her part. The man behind the counter cleared his throat impatiently, looking at both of them. Misao opened her mouth again to order, but Ryoga cut her off.
"Miss Makimachi, would you like to take a seat over there?" he said, gesturing to an empty booth across the small shop. "I was going to meet someone here, but they didn't show up…" he trailed off, looking at her intently. Misao nodded her head and smiled at him. He flushed at her beaming grin, and walked over to a small booth near the back of the small restaurant. Misao kneeled down, hands quickly reached to her braid to tug it nervously.
Ryoga exuded suaveness as he waited for her to kneel first, and then took a seat right next to her. 'Wait… why is he sitting so close?' Misao began to panic and shifted to her left a little, trying to put some distance in between them.
Ryoga's silky voice complimented her, as he tried to get Misao to look at him. "Your hair is absolutely beautiful," he said, smiling flirtatiously, "it's like ebony, and your eyes are like a tempest in the ocean…" Misao shivered from his closeness, feeling disdain for this blatantly interested young man, and tried her best not to lose her temper. The forwardness of this man was appalling, but Misao did not to show it.
Misao smiled sweetly and said quietly, "Excuse me, Ryoga-san, but I must be going…" Ryoga looked incredulous and then slightly embarrassed, flushing deeply as he avoided eye contact.
"But…" he stuttered, trying to plead with Misao to stay. Misao hid her distaste for the lonely man before her and waited for him to stand up, refusing his proffered hand as she stood up.
She bowed politely and left the restaurant feeling irritated. She was planning on making Aoshi jealous, but if she had to use that man, she'd rather think of another plan. Misao let out a little growl as she continued her jaunt in downtown Kyoto, browsing the stores for a gift for her Aoshi-sama.
~*~
Meanwhile, Aoshi was in a different store a few blocks away, examining the jade kimono carefully, trying to think on his extremely little experience with kimonos. He felt like this was the right gift for Misao—despite the fact that she hardly ever wore kimonos, she looked good in them. He smiled inwardly as he thought back to the morning when they were in the garden…
Deciding in that instant, he motioned for the elderly woman in charge of the shop to come over, and he pointed at the kimono. "I would like to purchase this one," he said quietly.
"Of course. Would you like to purchase this golden obi as well? It would match beautifully," she replied, holding up a golden obi that shimmered like spun gold.
Aoshi had completely forgotten about buying an obi and looked at the kimono, comparing it. Immediately, he pictured Misao trying on the kimono and obi, looking dazzling in the green kimono with embroidered golden flowers, while smiling at him the whole time. He almost grinned, but caught himself, and nodded to the woman. "I'll take that also," he confirmed. "Do you think you could wrap it as well? It's a gift for… someone."
The woman smiled knowingly and completed the transaction as she accepted Aoshi's money. A few minutes later, Aoshi found himself heading back to the Aoiya with a bright pink package. He did not ask for pink and did not really want to turn back, so he tried to walk unnoticeably back.
~*~
Misao was frowning unhappily—a whole day gone to waste. Nothing had gone well during this Tanabata and she just wanted to go home and sulk in her room. Suddenly, Misao grinned as she remembered the present she had found. No one had claimed it, meaning… she was free to open it! Misao almost let out a cackle as she saw a very conspicuous and very familiar person walking in the same direction as her.
She trotted as best as she could in her kimono, trying to catch up. This person did not have the trademark trench coat, but who else could it be? She grinned happily, and shouted out, "Aoshi-sama!"
Several people turned to look at the young girl in a blue kimono half-walking half-running towards the very tall man who was carrying a bright pink package. Aoshi turned around from hearing his name and the clacking of shoes. His eyes widened slightly as he saw her trying to run towards him and stopped abruptly, Misao unable to stop as quickly, ran directly into him.
~*~
Aoshi had his arms around Misao, holding her softly at the small of her back. He had never imagined having someone run into him feel this wonderful, but he felt elated, holding Misao in his arms again that day. Misao did not want to pull her face away from Aoshi's chest, so she left her bright red face buried in his gi.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was only several minutes, Aoshi said, "Misao?" Misao slowly stepped back, breaking their hold, and looked at her feet as she wiggled her socked toes.
Misao looked up at Aoshi slowly, only to find his intense eyes staring down at her. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath, and just as she was about to explain, her eyes caught the wrapped pink present in Aoshi's hands. Her eyes widened and her mouth clicked shut as she looked at Aoshi questioningly with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly the tables were turned and Aoshi found himself at a loss for words.
"I, um… well…" Aoshi began and finished. He had the most confused look I his eyes, which made Misao want to just hug him. However, Misao was shocked. Never, in all her years of knowing Aoshi, had she seen him like this. She had never seen him this incomprehensible, nervous, or unable to speak intelligibly.
Thankfully for them both, Okina's loud voice cut through the silence. He was across the street and was coincidentally walking home. "Hey, you two love birds! What are you doing?" He ran up surprisingly quickly for an old man, ninja or not, and grinned lecherously. "There are so many lonely young girls out and about!"
Misao looked at him, and opened her mouth for the third time that day, preparing to speak, when Okina cut her off. "Why don't we all go home and have something to eat? I am famished!" he said dramatically, clutching his abdomen as if he really was starving. The three of them walked, Okina between a silent Aoshi and Misao, back to the Aoiya.
A/N: Um…yeah... I am so sorry for the extremely late update, but school has been busy—the only nice long break I've gotten away from any schoolwork was this Thanksgiving. Sorry about any typos—I didn't have any time to reread it or anything. Oh, and about Ryoga: I've been watching Ranma ½ lately. ^_^ This chapter is a little longer than usual… I hope everyone had a nice Turkey Day and a huge thanks to my awesome reviewers: ThiMonkey, Western Ink (AP classes are advanced placement classes… kinda like college level classes in high school. I'm glad you like my fic ^_^), nobody, MysticGohan3, inumara, Jaded Ayumi, Airen2, Suki, unique-starfish, Jiro Hikari, Namiko the anime wizard, Noriko, and Rissi-Sama. Thank you and please review!
