I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Tanabata Madness
Chapter 5As soon as Okina, Aoshi, and Misao arrived at their destination, the Aoiya, Misao mysteriously disappeared into her room and Aoshi into his office. Okina was left alone in the main room of the restaurant, pondering what to do next.
'Hmm,' he wondered, stroking his beard thoughtfully, trying to think of a way to bring Aoshi and Misao together by the end of the day. Suddenly, he stopped mid-stroke and grinned mischievously, as a "brilliant" idea came to him. He rushed to the kitchen, looking for Okon and Omasu.
~*~
Aoshi sat in a comfortable silence as he stared at the fluorescent pick package. (A/N: Did they have fluorescent pink back then…? -_-) He reached out a tentative hand to touch it, trying to imagine himself handing the present to Misao calmly and very suavely. As he lightly held the gift, his daydream suddenly morphed into a horrendous situation where Misao rejected his gift and laughed in his own, shocked face. He dropped the box as if it was a burning fire and stared at it in fascinated horror.
'I can't do this,' he thought mournfully.
~*~
Meanwhile, Misao sat in her own room, in an almost similar conflict. She sat on the floor, with the mysterious wrapped present from earlier in her lap. She looked down at it, mystified and curious. She wondered what was in it—would anyone even know that she had opened it? It surely was not meant for her… But then wouldn't that mean she had to return it?
She shook her head jerkily, as if trying to rid herself of her own ambivalence. Finally, she came to a decision. Whosever gift it was, she had it now and there was no way she could find the owner. Well, excluding the part where she could ask the rest of the Oniwaban, but she somehow overlooked that minor detail.
As Misao slowly picked up the package, she teased the thin paper away, trying to do little damage to the crudely wrapped gift for some unknown reason. She had barely begun unwrapping when she could hear the shouts of Omasu and Okon combined.
"MISAO! Come here! We need your help! It's VERY important!" they shouted in unison, stressing the "very" greatly. Misao sighed loudly as she set the present away from herself, looking at it longingly as she smoothed out her kimono and left her room to find Okon and Omasu.
~*~
Misao found Okon, Omasu, and Okina in the main room, waiting for her. The presence of the three immediately put her on edge. She gave each a wary stare and approached them with small steps.
"Yes?" Misao said as sweet as possible, giving them all a what-are-you-up-to smile. They all returned the smile happily and pleasantly, their grinning faces revealing nothing.
"Why, Misao-chan, we just wanted to know if you'd like to put anything on the wish tree. Anything at all," Omasu said, her voice dripping honey.
"Yes, anything at all," Okon chimed in as she smiled even brighter, if it was possible.
"Yes, Misao-chan, anything," Okina echoed, his gray beard bobbing up and down as he spoke.
"What are you all up to?" Misao growling dangerously, a violent look coming into her eyes. She paced towards them threateningly, fists clenching spasmodically as her fingers itched for her kunai.
"Nothing at all!" they chorused together, smiling brightly. "We just wanted the beautiful little bamboo tree to be covered with happy, romantic wishes!"**
** During Tanabata, bamboo trees are set up for people to hang wishes on.
Misao rolled her eyes. "Fine. Where's the paper?" she said none-too-gently, "I'll write it, but if anyone reads it…" she ended threateningly, giving them each death glares.
"Hai, hai, Misao-chan," Omasu said, "We'll make sure no one will read it…"
"But when you're done, Misao, would you give Aoshi some paper? I'm sure he has unfulfilled wishes that he would like to put up!" Okon said as their plan came to surface.
"Demo, Aoshi-sama is very busy, and…" Misao's aggressive manner had vanished leaving the timid and shy Misao in her place. She fingered the end of her plaited hair and looked nervous. "Ano, I'm sure Aoshi-sama doesn't want to write down his wish…"
"No no, I'm very sure he would like to Misao," Okina said slyly.
"But… He's never written anything down before…" Misao looked hesitant.
"Because no one has ever asked him," Okina finished.
Misao had finished writing and folded her paper twice, taking the pin that Okon handed to her and stuck it through the folded paper. "All right, I will take him some paper and ask him…" Misao shuffled through the stack of papers that was sitting on a table and looked for one she thought would suit Aoshi best.
She pulled out a deep green and blue paper and grabbed another pin. She let out a little yelp as the pin stuck its tip into her skin. "Itai!" Misao hissed, pulling the pin out quickly, which let out a drop of blood that bubbled at the entrance of her wound. She looked at the pin in disgust and left Okina, Okon, and Omasu smiling at each other happily.
~*~
Aoshi was still in his office, looking at the pink package. He still couldn't think of a good way to give Misao the gift. As he sat in the semi-darkness—the sun was going to set soon and the Aoiya was closing early tonight so the various occupants could go out after dinner—and in silence, he mused over several new ideas and poked the present every few minutes.
He stopped thinking for a moment, hearing soft footsteps in the hallway outside his door. Aoshi could see the candle Misao held in her hand through the thin walls and wondered briefly what she was doing. The door slowly cracked open an inch, and Misao's eye looked through, only to find Aoshi staring intently at her in the dim light.
"Aoshi-sama?" Misao said quietly, waiting for Aoshi to say something. "Um… May I come in?" Misao was still at the doorway, but the door was now open.
"Aa." Aoshi watched her as she stepped in, shutting the door behind her. He could see something in the same hand as the one that held the candle. It looked like a piece of bluish paper.
"Aoshi-sama, would you like to… um…" Misao looked extremely uncomfortable, "Um, would you like to write a wish to hang on the tree…?"
There was an awkward silence as Misao awaited Aoshi's response, only the sound of the slight breeze that could be heard outside. Misao fidgeted under Aoshi's intense gaze and smiled slightly at him.
Aoshi stared for a second more and only nodded his head slowly. Misao stepped forward and handed him the paper and the pin, only to have Aoshi grasp her hand swiftly and turn her palm up.
"What happened to your hand?" Aoshi said suddenly, scrutinizing Misao's small finger with the pinprick.
Misao didn't think Aoshi would have noticed—or cared for that matter—about the tiny wound on her hand, but she almost grinned at the fact that he did.
Aoshi was surprised himself at his quick reaction to something he knew was minor, but he couldn't help himself, and now, with both of them suddenly still, and Misao's hand in Aoshi's, yet another awkward moment ensued.
"I pricked it with a pin…" Misao said, looking up from her hand in Aoshi's to Aoshi's face. Her face was flushed and she looked embarrassed from Aoshi's reaction. In fact, Misao's stomach was doing somersaults as she relished the rare and pleasant physical contact with Aoshi, especially when initiated by Aoshi.
"Oh…" Aoshi didn't say anymore and gently released Misao's hand, to his and her dismay, and took the paper and pin from her.
"Would you like me to hang it for you? Or…"
"I will hang it up later, Misao." The candle flickered, sending dancing shadows on the walls.
"Oh, and dinner is almost ready…" Misao said softly, still gazing at Aoshi, who was writing something quickly with a brush that was on his desk.
Aoshi nodded and picked up the paper, waiting for the ink to dry. "Shall we go down for dinner then?" Misao swallowed slowly and thickly and nodded her head, wondering what had brought the slight, but noticeable, change in her Aoshi-sama.
A/N: Yes! Another chapter finished in less than a month! ^_^ Haha, well, I hope everyone liked this chapter… I might be able to get another done within the next two weeks… That's a maybe, but I'm going to be home all winter break, so, yeah… But, anyways, thanks are in order, so thanks to unique-starfish, Namiko-Daughter of Sekhmet, Sweet Chaos, Mia, yume no naka, Jaded Ayumi, ThiMonkey, hotohori (Yes, everything is happening in one day… one very long day ^_~), Crystal Renee, Noriko, Airen2
