A/N: Here is chapter four, because everyone knows chapter 4 is the best chapter ever! (Not really, I'm just bored…) For all those who don't know, the song used in the last chapter was Running Away by Fuel, one of the greatest bands in the world! Please forgive any spelling errors! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, the rights for the fabulous works of William Shakespeare, or the lyrics to any of the songs used in this or other chapters. Wow, that's a legal mouthful….
Riffs and Canvas
Chapter 4: The Battle of the Aoyia
Aoshi shimmied down the side of the deck, falling softly to the ground. He snuck around the side of the house, grumbling under his breath, and tucking his beloved coat under his arm. He peeked in one of the side windows, seeing if he could spot Misao and instead had to duck as her father thrashed about in the living room. Talk about overprotective, he thought with a shake of his head. Without a glance back, Aoshi made for Misao's truck like a spy from Mission: Impossible. He didn't want to risk making noise while getting into the cab, so he simply hopped into the pit of the truck and lay on his back, praying it wouldn't start raining, and waited for Misao to take him back to school. "And it better be soon," he said under his breath.
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"Misao."
She shivered at the sound of his voice when she walked into the room, trying to calm her heart and act strong. He stood amid a fury of overturned chairs and discarded cushions. His dark eyes were fierce and his scowl was threatening. Still, she would not let herself be overrun with fear so early on in the game.
Makimachi watched as she entered. She looked disheveled, her face flushed, her hair hanging loosely around her like a curtain. Her eyes met his and they were innocent and questioning. For a moment, he doubted what his guard had told him. After all, it was a well-known fact that Jineh was high-strung. Yet, there was something in his gut that told him she had been hiding someone in the house. Despite her innocent look, there was defiance in her.
"Dad," she said, bowing her head slightly. "What are you doing home so early?"
He took a step closer to her and saw Misao's body stiffen in response. "Where is he?" The words were each said slowly, dripping with threats and malice and promises of pain. Misao paled, but he couldn't tell if that was a sign of guilt or plain fear. "Well?" he barked, moving so that he was now planted firmly in front of her. For Misao, there was no escape.
"There's no one here but me," she said, assuming a familiar submissive position, praying he would simply get fed up and storm away. Misao was never that lucky.
Her father grabbed a fistful of her long hair, pulling it savagely until she whimpered in pain and fell on to all fours. She blinked furious tears from her eyes as he landed a swift kick to her ribs. "Where is he?" her father bellowed again.
"There's no one here but me!" she cried back, curling into a ball to protect herself as best as she could.
"Liar!" he yelled, towering over her small form. He looked down at her, sneering, for a moment longer before dragging Misao to her feet. "Jineh has been kind enough to keep an eye on you for the last few days, my dear." He brushed the hair from her face with false gentleness and Misao had to resist an intense urge to flinch. "He saw you leave school today with a boy. Was it Soujiro?"
"No," Misao denied softly.
"Remember what happened last time I caught you with him," he threatened, pressing on a particularly nasty bruise on her shoulder--one left by Jineh's beating on Misao over the weekend. She hissed in a breath of air, willing the sharp pain to pass. It did, but with the passing of pain, Misao's blood began to rise. That reckless abandon that had possessed her to bring Aoshi home in the first place rushed through her veins. Courage filled her, the only emotion that made her feel strong enough to lie to her father.
"Jineh is a drug addicted son of a bitch! He was probably seeing double of me," she shouted, squirming to try and escape his grasp. He only tightened his grip, nails biting into soft flesh and bruising. "I am as I always have been and always will be. Alone!"
In his disgust, Misao was released harshly and fell hard to the floor. "Get out." Simple enough a command that Misao needed no repetition. She scrambled to her feet and bolted from the room, but she mentally scorned herself.
Bravo Misao, you flee from him like a beaten cur once again.
She looked out of a window in passing, and saw no sign of Aoshi. He was either hiding, or had long ago left the property. He wouldn't blame him if he had. Sighing at her own weakness, Misao grabbed her bag, stuffed her hair back into her hat, and left the house for the safety of the Aoyia. It was the only place in the world where she felt at home.
Upon return to her car, Misao started it up, wincing a little at the pain in her ribs as she bent in her seat to look behind her before pulling out. Once she was a few streets from home, there was a knocking on the window panel, the one that led from the cab into the pit of the truck. When she turned around, Misao saw Aoshi calmly sitting in the pit, wrapped in his trench coat, looking rather miffed. She pulled over so that he could climb in the side door.
"Sorry," she said once they were driving again.
"What was that all about?" he asked in annoyance. "I thought you said he didn't get home until late."
"He usually doesn't," she commented. "But he has ways of knowing if I do anything wrong."
"And you bringing me home is wrong." It was a comment, not a question. She didn't respond, but the silence was enough of an answer for Aoshi. "Whatever," he said with a snort. It made Misao bristle.
The ignorant bastard has no idea what I just went through to save his sorry hide, she internally raged, gripping the steering wheel tighter. You brought it on yourself, her mother's voice said. You brought him home, knowing the risk, Misao. She sighed a little.
"Tomorrow we'll stay in the library," Misao said in a low voice as she pulled into the school parking lot, beside his car, and Aoshi climbed out without a 'thanks' or 'goodbye'. She hadn't expected one anyway. The air was once more thick with anger and tension. Parting ways, Aoshi took off toward home and Misao took a short-cut.
She parked in the parking lot of an abandoned building not too far from the Aoyia and commenced the difficult feat of changing from her clothes into her uniform while staying inside the small cab of her truck. Difficult, but Misao was well-practiced and was soon ready. The jeans were replaced with black leggings and her shirt was substituted with a sky-blue tunic. He hair, which had been messily stuffed into her hat once more, was released, brushed, and braided. Then she pinned it back using two black sticks. Only when she looked mildly appropriate did she start driving again.
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Aoshi drove back to the Aoyia while thinking to himself. It seemed to him that Misao's attitude changed quite suddenly. Sometimes she was like the fires of hell, and other times she was almost nice. She went from bitch to girl and back again before he had time to process. Still, she was defiant and sarcastic, but at the same time she was smart and, denial wasn't worth it, beautiful. Also, Misao was talented in her art. It seemed like such a great life that she had, but she seemed so…unsatisfied.
The real question, though, was why he cared enough to think about it.
The answer was simple, he would simply stop thinking.
For a simple answer, it was harder than it sounded.
Another question bit at him. She had seemed so freaked out when her father came home, almost terrified out of her mind. It was unnerving to him. The girl had been defying him every step of the way that afternoon, why had she suddenly crumbled? To many questions with no answers. It left him frustrated, and with a headache.
Also bothering Aoshi--besides the self-pity at his own plights--was the lingering doubts about his English class. Given, he and Misao hadn't studied much of their first session, but even what they did start, he didn't understand any of it! All a bunch of 'thee' and 'thou' and 'woe'. He needed an aspirin just thinking about it. To think, he was going to be tested on that garbage next week!
The only reason he cared was for graduation--and for Okina. He had passing grades in his old school, enough to graduate even if he failed the next two quarters in this school. Aoshi just didn't want to disappoint Okina and make him think that he was some kind of idiot, or worse, lazy. So he would go to these sessions, but there would be no more following Misao around like a lost puppy. After today's daring escape from her balcony, he was not going through that again!
Still, there was that uncontrolled part of him that felt freer that afternoon then since his mother's arrest. It was good to get an adrenaline high every once in a while, in order to remember he was alive. Hannya was always saying how he was a stone wall. Sometimes it was good to break a rule or two.
It was just as well that he arrived at the Aoyia. Further thought on this could lead to a serious problem resulting in a chocolate binge, or worse…a marathon of bad action movies. Then again, it could be worse. Upon entering the Aoyia, Aoshi waved his greetings to Okon as she served a few people who were seated for dinner, and retreated to his room.
"Aoshi," Okina called from down the hall.
"Yes Grandpa?" he called, hanging his coat on the hook of his door to dry and coming back out. Okina was coming down the hallway, primping himself like he was going on his first date.
"Look strapping, my boy." Okina suddenly beamed like he had won the lottery. "You're meeting my favorite girl tonight." Suddenly, he looked around, as if someone was listening behind the corner. "Just don't tell the other girls, okay?"
"Whatever Grandpa," Aoshi said with a shrug. He smiled again, slinging an arm around his grandson's shoulders.
"Ah, such a good lad," Okina crowed proudly. Aoshi rolled his eyes and walked back down to the restaurant with his grandfather towing him along. "You like her Aoshi, I know you will," Okina began again. "Beautiful, this girl is, and sharp as a kunai!"
"Uh-oh," Okon laughed from behind the counter.
"What?" Aoshi asked her with innocence. Okon, a pretty waitress in her late twenties, only smiled back at him and then looked to Okina.
"His 'pretty Misao' is working tonight. Better watch out." She laughed again as she headed back to the kitchen. Aoshi, however, just stared as she walked away. Had she said Misao? No, it had to be another Misao. It was a common enough name. She did say she had to get to work, the rational part of his mind said. Aoshi's consciousness fervently denied it though.
"Hmph," Okina snorted. "You stay here, boy," he said to Aoshi before following Okon into the kitchen. That was when the door opened and the annoying chime went off. Aoshi turned.
"Sorry I'm late Gramps!" Misao called out as she took off her coat and hung it on the rack just inside the door. "I got stuck up at home." She paused at the mirror next to the rack, adjusted her hair, and turned around. Only to find herself face to face with Aoshi.
For a moment, there was silence in the Aoyia. It seemed like time itself had suddenly come to a screeching halt. There come moments like that in life, when one second, one moment in time can mean the difference between destiny and disaster. There are moments in time that people will never forget, as long as they live. Other, perhaps more important, memories will fade and go as the years pass, but some small, seemingly insignificant moment in a life can stay with a person for all time. This was one of those moments, even if neither realized it.
"Gramps!"
"Grandpa!"
Their yells made the patrons jump and the other waitress look up from her tray, narrowly avoiding dumping six Pepsi's on a guy's head. Okina burst forth from the kitchen and saw them standing there. They had already turned back to glare at each other.
"What are you doing here?" they yelled in unison.
"What am I doing here?" they chorused in the next second.
"I live here!" Aoshi responded angrily, hands balled into fists and blue eyes glinting dangerously.
"I work here!" Misao retorted, not backing down an inch.
"Gramps!"
"Grandpa!" They both turned on Okina, who had been subtly inching his way back to the kitchen while their bickered. Now he was faced with not one, but two extremely hostile teenagers. He smiled rather weakly, making ready to bolt, but Okon blocked his way.
"No escaping this time, old man," she laughed.
"Aoshi, Misao," he said calmly. "Perhaps we could talk about this….elsewhere." They looked around and then only just noticed they were shouting in the middle of the Aoyia. Grudgingly, Aoshi and Misao--keeping a good distance between each other--followed Okina into the kitchen and then outside.
"Now, tell me," he said once out there. "What is going on?"
Granted, the first few attempts at speech, they overrode each other, both trying to tell the 'real' story. Okina finally had to tell each of them when they were and were not permitted to speak. Needless to say, it took a while to get up to speed, but when he was caught up, he looked thoughtful. After a moment of thought, he spoke. "Misao, go back inside and start working."
"Yes, Gramps," she said and scurried inside to do as he said. Once she was gone, he turned to Aoshi.
"I tell you this once, my boy, and only once," he said seriously--the most serious Aoshi had ever seen him. "Do not get mixed up with Misao Makimachi. Go to your tutoring or whatever you need, but then leave. Do you understand me?"
Okina had never before ordered him to do something, much less forbidden him from anything. It was strange, and a little annoying, but he bowed his head. "Yes Grandpa." Okina reached up and patted him softly on the head.
"That's a good boy."
They went back inside. Okina spent the remainder of the evening running around, teasing Misao and Okon, and charming the patrons. Aoshi spent the evening in his room, or in the restaurant, watching the others. Occasionally, Okon would get him to help her, but mostly he sat in the corner and watched. Misao took orders and brought drinks. She talked with some of the girls, and flirted with a few boys, but she seemed subdued in Okina's eyes. He also noticed way she would rub her ribs every once in a while, like she was in pain. He didn't mention it, knowing better, but it was sad to see.
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Misao was waiting in the study room, just like the day before. And like the day before, her feet were propped on the table and her nose was in a book when Aoshi came into the room, lugging his guitar, and sat at the table pensively.
"Hello, sunshine," Misao said with a sugary-sweet smile. It was fake, but points were given for the effort. "I think I've come up with a better system for the story then me making you read and them telling you everything anyway."
"Oh really?" he commented as he picked up the waiting copy of the play.
"Here's the deal," she said, leaning on her elbows as she studied his face. He gave nothing away, but Misao was not deterred. "I'll explain each level of the story for you at once, and then we'll read over the play, piece by piece. It's really the only way to cover all of the material in such a small amount of time.
"I'm with you so far," he said with a nod, not really interested.
"I also have the movie," she added with a frown. "It might help."
"Movies are good," Aoshi said quickly. Misao figured as much. Most people preferred to watch a movie over reading anything. Who was she to change the youth of America?
"Before we get to the movie, we'll have to get the important parts of the story itself."
"Sure, whatever," he said in a disinterested way. He leaned back in his chair and waited. Misao sighed, internally disappointed. She didn't know why she had expected better of him. It was just that he seemed smarter than the average guy. She should have known better then to put that much faith in a person. In some ways, they always let you down.
"The story is broken into three main parts," she began. Misao took on a tutorial voice, very serious and dedicated to the material she was about to cover. It occurred to Aoshi just how passionate this girl was about some stupid play. As if reading his thoughts, she glared at him. "You're never going to get anything in that hollow head of yours, if you don't at least pretend to pay attention."
"Fine," he said. "I'm listening."
Misao smiled and sat on the table Indian style, opening her paperback. "We already talked about the beginning," she said, flipping a few pages. "The wedding and the triangle of Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander. Now, we enter Helena." She paused to look over the cover at him. "She's my favorite character, all dramatic and lyrical. Very devoted."
"Yeah…"
Misao cleared her throat before continuing. "Anyway, Helena is in love with Demetrius, but he brushes her off for Hermia." Misao flipped a few more pages. "Helena and Hermia have been friends all their lives, so it is in Helena that Hermia and Lysander trust their plans. You see, they plan to run away together to go stay with Lysander's aunt, where they can get married without breaking the law. Helena, in an attempt to get into Demetrius' good graces, tells him they plan to elope, and that is how all four of them end up in the forest on one midsummer's night."
And thus the beginning of their new truce began. Aoshi even took notes of Misao's explanation in order to understand better. Misao loaned Aoshi her hardcover copy of the play so he could read over what they covered at home. When the timer went off, they parted in silence. Misao returned to her home, while Aoshi returned to his music at the restaurant.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Misao got home, her father was already home--in the den with the door closed, talking with a few of his employees. She was thankful for it, and silently made her way upstairs. She took a shower, washing away the tension in her shoulders, before heading to her studio. She put on an old sweat suit, pinned her wet hair up, and set up a new canvas.
Misao went over to the stereo in the corner of the room, and she set it on a low volume. She picked up a few separate brushes and a palette. Then she dabbed a few colors on the palette and set about her work.
The open canvas looked out at her, almost calling to be filled, but her mind once more drew a blank of what to fill it with. She had been coming up blank a lot as of late. Her mind and her heart was just absent from her work, and it left her feeling hollow. A song on the radio started up, loud and pulsing. Misao went and turned it up.
Her reckless abandon was building again. Anger at her helplessness and fear, frustration at her inability to make it better, sadness when her eyes fell upon the painting of her mother. Her beautiful mother, smiling out from canvas with green eyes and freckles. Everyone, especially Okina, had always told her how much she looked like her mother. Misao never saw it. Her mother had been tall and beautiful and fair and lively. Misao was small and dark and worthless. It made her bitter. Bitterness made her angry, and that anger fueled her work.
With a loud backdrop of harsh metal music, Misao slashed paint across her canvas savagely. Stroke after angry stroke, she filled the white with color and feeling. She didn't care what it looked like or if there was any divine meaning behind it. All it was, was an outlet. The canvas was simply a way to let Misao breathe in a world that stifled her beyond all life.
She couldn't be sure when the tears began to fall from her eyes. Maybe it was when she dropped the brushes and water to her drop cloth. Maybe it was when the palette fell and she just kept slashing. All she knew was that she kept going as long as she could before she dissolved, fell to the floor, and cried.
A/N: Okay, here is a chapter I wanted to get out pretty fast. The story is going to be leaping ahead a little bit faster now, so try and keep up! Now, for reviewer responses!
Miz: Yes, I know. I wrote him to be that way. I agree, but, sadly, there are parents out there who do victimize their children. Some hurt them physically, and some hurt them emotionally or mentally. Hehe, I'm really happy that you like my story. And, you'll see more of it as the story goes, they are kind of each other's muses. You'll see!
No one in particular: Thank you! I'm very pleased that you approve, lol. I like to keep my stuff as original as possible--and I know that there are ideas used over and over--but I like it fresh. Hope I can continue to amaze!
Susan: I can not say how happy I am that I have a reader who is so devoted to my work! And here is another update for you! Enjoy! *beams in happiness*
kitiara_uth_matar: All of Misao's fate will not be revealed for a while yet. I will update fast for you, worry not!
Iane: Here is my update, I'll get the other up quick! Yes, I like polar couples who have talent with the arts.
Tiian: Yes, both kinds of fan fiction have their good points. As for the Misao/Soujiro friendship, I didn't do it because other do, I just did it because they are close together age wise. Plus, I love Soujiro! I have another fan fiction staring him and a sequel that's half-done. He's probably my favorite character. Anyway, I just can't see them romantic wise though, I am totally Aoshi/Misao. I'm glad you like my story so far, I've been putting a lot of though into it. I'm trying to make it realistic, like something that would go on in my own little town. Misao's character is very complex and she shifts a lot, it basically depends on what's around her. Normally, Misao is a friendly, kind person, but when she is threatened or scared or has recently been near her father, she gets defensive and often aggressive. I try to make Misao out to be feisty, but a little closed off. Yes, I admit it, I am a Shakespeare fiend. I have read a lot of his works and I am using my favorite one for pointers in this story, just so you know that all I'm talking about is true. Thanks for the review, I love answering people who ask questions and make comments, it's so fun!
Tamakia'gss: Yes, he is the villain of my little story, so it is only right to hate him. Everyone thinks that Aoshi should run off and save Misao. I am all for hero syndrome, but I will resolve it in my own good time, so don't worry people! Thanks for reading!
Mariana-chan: Yes, you will get the full story of her father in another chapter, as well as more insight into Misao's life--and Aoshi's too. Ah, you are curious about the mural! Well, we'll get the finish product in a few chapters, so you'll have to wait, hehe. Thanks for the review!
Allin656: I'm glad you approve. I'm liking this story pretty well. Don't worry, we have a relapse in their anger toward each other right now, but it'll work out better in the chapters to come. Can't have it all peaches and cream right off, now can I? Thanks for the encouragement, I hope you like what's to come!
Silver Miko: I must say that I am a fan of yours, and am truly honored that you have deemed my lowly fic worth your reading time! Yes well, there is a special bond between a man and his coat. Everyone needs the romantic idea of Misao being rescued by Aoshi, but you'll see what goes down!
Darkmoon0829: I'm so glad it met your approval! All of Misao's secrets will be revealed in due course, but you'll have to give me time. She's not going to just tell the whole story one stormy night…dammit! I let my plan slip. Oh well, you can keep a secret, right? Here is as soon as possible, good enough?
