Cheese and rice! An update! Sorry if there are mistakes in this chapter, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. ; I seem to remember Misao calling Okina 'Jiya'. Ah well...
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is in no way owned by me.
Chapter 3- Lost Kunai
"Do you think she's okay?"
"I don't know. She's barely here to take her meals and when she is it's almost like having another Aoshi around. Only a lot... sadder."
"You can't exactly say that though. We see Aoshi even less now, if that's even possible. And without Misao around here to cheer people up, this place has become so quiet. It's like working in a funeral home but without the dead bodies."
"Do you mind, Omasu? I'm trying to cook and I don't think the guests will appreciate vomit in their breakfast."
"Sorry..."
Falling silent, the two women continued their work in the kitchen. Each was lost in thought, trying to figure out how things had become sour over the last two weeks.
Okon shook her head, thinking how Aoshi had gotten even more reclusive. He no longer took his meals at the Aoiya, and she doubted he ate at any other restaurant. The rare times he was seen, he looked lost, a hunger in his eyes that had nothing to do with food or fighting. She shivered, thinking of the heat trapped in that glacier blue.
With a small sigh, Omasu paused in her cutting of the vegetables, mulling over the other half of the problem. Misao. Misao just wasn't herself since her confrontation with the former Okashira. She had built a wall around herself, almost as cold as Aoshi's, if not so solid. Omasu could feel a lump form in her throat at the thought of the sadness that seemed to radiate from her friend when she let her guard down...
"That's it!"
Nearly dropping the pitcher she was carrying at the sound of blade meeting wood, Okon turned to look at a furious Omasu, who still had a death grip on the handle of the knife quivering against the cutting board.
"We've got to do something, Okon! We can't let them keep torturing themselves! They want each other, it's as simple as that! WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!"
"I know, Omasu. I know..."
"I can't just stand by and watch them suffer anymore. We need help though... Okina will help. Even if I have to drag him by the beard every step of the way..."
"I don't think..."
"And Hiko Seijiro. He doesn't live too far away, closer than Mr. Himura anyway, and if there's anyone here close enough to talk sense into Lord Aoshi it's him."
"Omasu!"
"Yes?"
"What exactly are you planning on doing?"
"I haven't quite figured that out yet, but I'm sure we can figure something out."
With an inward sigh of resignation, Omasu had said 'we' so many times there was no backing out of her scheme, Okon gave a curt nod of her agreement.
"Alright. One of us should go for Hiko now. We need to get our two Okashiras together as soon as possible."
"I'll go get Hiko."
Both women paused a moment before bursting into giggles. Either of them would be more than willing to fetch the handsome swordsman, it was only a matter of who claimed the honor first.
"We've got the beginning of a plan. Let's put it in action!" Okon agreed, nudging Omasu in friendly competition. "It's just too bad you get to see Hiko first and not me."
Morning light spilled through gaps in the leaves, creating a mosaic on the forest floor. The birds sang softly, their calls echoing back at them over the rustle of leaves and small animals going about their morning rituals. Nature was at peace with itself, but others were not.
Misao did not notice the harmony around her, being too busy trying to untangle the chaos of her mind and emotions.
'Two weeks... I haven't spoken to him in two weeks... That's good right? I'm doing what I told myself I would do, what is best for the both of us, so why does it hurt so much? What am I talking about?! It's what has to be done, no matter how much it hurts. C'mon Misao, pull yourself together. You've faced tougher situations then this before.... Not really, but that's beside the point....'
Groaning, she sat down, rubbing her temples.
'I've started talking to myself. I must be going crazy...'
She frowned at the ground, pushing a fallen leaf around with her foot as an image of Aoshi turning away forming in her mind.
'His back is always to me... So I've got to continue having mine to him...'
A small voice in the back of her mind protested, 'not always', but she quickly quelled the thought, pushing to her feet and brushing off the leaves stuck to her legs.
'I better get back to the Aoiya. Omasu will never let me hear the end of it if I don't keep my promise and help her in the kitchen.'
For once in his life, the temple offered no peace to Aoshi. No amount of sitting and trying to clear his thoughts brought him comfort, and he could feel his left leg getting numb from putting too much weight on it all morning.
Shifting his weight and flexing the soreness from his neck and shoulders, he settled back onto the mat, wondering why he was sore at all.
'It must be the tension,' he thought, reaching up to massage the back of his neck. 'Ever since Misao stopped speaking to me I can't seem to relax...'
A faint creaking of floorboards outside the door announced someone's prescence, and by the sound of it, it was a woman.
"I brought your tea, Aoshi-sama."
With a nod of acknowledgment he crushed the small fluttering of hope at seeing Misao with her breakfast tray and nonsense gossip, and watched as Okon entered and set about preparing his morning tea. She and Omasu had started taking turns at bringing him sustenance since the one who usually did it was giving him the cold shoulder.
He gazed at the woman in front of him coolly when she remained sitting on her haunches in front of him.
"Yes?"
"You should at least try to talk to her, Aoshi-sama. I don't know what happened between you two, but it can't possibly be as bad as it seems."
"Leave me, Okon."
"But..."
"Leave!"
Rising quickly to her feet, Okon hurried out, glancing over her shoulder only once and shaking her head in what Aoshi could only identify as pity.
He tried to calm himself, focusing on his breathing and rubbing his temples, but one fact kept resurfacing and throwing him off balance, brought on by the memory of Misao turning her back on him. The fact that he had kept hidden, even from himself, for so long that it almost hurt to face it now.
Bending his neck to pray, to whoever may be listening, for guidance, he jerked upright when something struck him across the back of the head. No one else was in the room, and there was no way someone could have snuck in without him noticing. Perplexed, he surveyed the bare floor, finding the offender not even a foot to his left.
Picking up the miniature kunai, he rolled it across his fingers, feeling the smoothness of the wood and noting that the blade was still sharp, even after being stuck in a rafter for years.
"I'd forgotten about that..." He said, voice so soft he may as well have not spoken at all.
The memory came back in a flood...
"Aoshi-sama! Look! Hannya finally gave me my first real kunai!"
A seven year old Misao came running up to the temple, rushing in through the open door and stumbling at the last moment, one of the blades in her grip flying upward.
"You shouldn't be running with real weapons until you are proficient in their use, Misao."
"I'm sorry, Aoshi-sama. I just wanted to show you first..."
Tears welled up in her eyes, and that's when Aoshi noticed the blood running down her delicate fingers.
"You've injured yourself."
"It's okay. It doesn't hurt..."
"That's not the point. Come here."
Ripping strips of fabric from his inner garments, he wrapped each of her hands and was about to send her to get them properly taken care of when she smiled brightly and asked when they could begin practice now that she had the real thing to train with.
Staring at the miniscule weapon, he half-smiled. He knew how to fix his problems, he just hadn't let himself think he could.
With a flick of his wrist the kunai vanished, and the Okashira stood to face his worst nightmare and sweetest dream.
Sorry this is so short and riddled with mistakes. I'll fix it later. ; Oh, and would anyone like me to change 'Lord Aoshi' to 'Aoshi-sama'? It sounds better to me, but please tell me your opinion.
Extra: Did some major revision on these first 3 chapters. Oo
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is in no way owned by me.
Chapter 3- Lost Kunai
"Do you think she's okay?"
"I don't know. She's barely here to take her meals and when she is it's almost like having another Aoshi around. Only a lot... sadder."
"You can't exactly say that though. We see Aoshi even less now, if that's even possible. And without Misao around here to cheer people up, this place has become so quiet. It's like working in a funeral home but without the dead bodies."
"Do you mind, Omasu? I'm trying to cook and I don't think the guests will appreciate vomit in their breakfast."
"Sorry..."
Falling silent, the two women continued their work in the kitchen. Each was lost in thought, trying to figure out how things had become sour over the last two weeks.
Okon shook her head, thinking how Aoshi had gotten even more reclusive. He no longer took his meals at the Aoiya, and she doubted he ate at any other restaurant. The rare times he was seen, he looked lost, a hunger in his eyes that had nothing to do with food or fighting. She shivered, thinking of the heat trapped in that glacier blue.
With a small sigh, Omasu paused in her cutting of the vegetables, mulling over the other half of the problem. Misao. Misao just wasn't herself since her confrontation with the former Okashira. She had built a wall around herself, almost as cold as Aoshi's, if not so solid. Omasu could feel a lump form in her throat at the thought of the sadness that seemed to radiate from her friend when she let her guard down...
"That's it!"
Nearly dropping the pitcher she was carrying at the sound of blade meeting wood, Okon turned to look at a furious Omasu, who still had a death grip on the handle of the knife quivering against the cutting board.
"We've got to do something, Okon! We can't let them keep torturing themselves! They want each other, it's as simple as that! WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!"
"I know, Omasu. I know..."
"I can't just stand by and watch them suffer anymore. We need help though... Okina will help. Even if I have to drag him by the beard every step of the way..."
"I don't think..."
"And Hiko Seijiro. He doesn't live too far away, closer than Mr. Himura anyway, and if there's anyone here close enough to talk sense into Lord Aoshi it's him."
"Omasu!"
"Yes?"
"What exactly are you planning on doing?"
"I haven't quite figured that out yet, but I'm sure we can figure something out."
With an inward sigh of resignation, Omasu had said 'we' so many times there was no backing out of her scheme, Okon gave a curt nod of her agreement.
"Alright. One of us should go for Hiko now. We need to get our two Okashiras together as soon as possible."
"I'll go get Hiko."
Both women paused a moment before bursting into giggles. Either of them would be more than willing to fetch the handsome swordsman, it was only a matter of who claimed the honor first.
"We've got the beginning of a plan. Let's put it in action!" Okon agreed, nudging Omasu in friendly competition. "It's just too bad you get to see Hiko first and not me."
Morning light spilled through gaps in the leaves, creating a mosaic on the forest floor. The birds sang softly, their calls echoing back at them over the rustle of leaves and small animals going about their morning rituals. Nature was at peace with itself, but others were not.
Misao did not notice the harmony around her, being too busy trying to untangle the chaos of her mind and emotions.
'Two weeks... I haven't spoken to him in two weeks... That's good right? I'm doing what I told myself I would do, what is best for the both of us, so why does it hurt so much? What am I talking about?! It's what has to be done, no matter how much it hurts. C'mon Misao, pull yourself together. You've faced tougher situations then this before.... Not really, but that's beside the point....'
Groaning, she sat down, rubbing her temples.
'I've started talking to myself. I must be going crazy...'
She frowned at the ground, pushing a fallen leaf around with her foot as an image of Aoshi turning away forming in her mind.
'His back is always to me... So I've got to continue having mine to him...'
A small voice in the back of her mind protested, 'not always', but she quickly quelled the thought, pushing to her feet and brushing off the leaves stuck to her legs.
'I better get back to the Aoiya. Omasu will never let me hear the end of it if I don't keep my promise and help her in the kitchen.'
For once in his life, the temple offered no peace to Aoshi. No amount of sitting and trying to clear his thoughts brought him comfort, and he could feel his left leg getting numb from putting too much weight on it all morning.
Shifting his weight and flexing the soreness from his neck and shoulders, he settled back onto the mat, wondering why he was sore at all.
'It must be the tension,' he thought, reaching up to massage the back of his neck. 'Ever since Misao stopped speaking to me I can't seem to relax...'
A faint creaking of floorboards outside the door announced someone's prescence, and by the sound of it, it was a woman.
"I brought your tea, Aoshi-sama."
With a nod of acknowledgment he crushed the small fluttering of hope at seeing Misao with her breakfast tray and nonsense gossip, and watched as Okon entered and set about preparing his morning tea. She and Omasu had started taking turns at bringing him sustenance since the one who usually did it was giving him the cold shoulder.
He gazed at the woman in front of him coolly when she remained sitting on her haunches in front of him.
"Yes?"
"You should at least try to talk to her, Aoshi-sama. I don't know what happened between you two, but it can't possibly be as bad as it seems."
"Leave me, Okon."
"But..."
"Leave!"
Rising quickly to her feet, Okon hurried out, glancing over her shoulder only once and shaking her head in what Aoshi could only identify as pity.
He tried to calm himself, focusing on his breathing and rubbing his temples, but one fact kept resurfacing and throwing him off balance, brought on by the memory of Misao turning her back on him. The fact that he had kept hidden, even from himself, for so long that it almost hurt to face it now.
Bending his neck to pray, to whoever may be listening, for guidance, he jerked upright when something struck him across the back of the head. No one else was in the room, and there was no way someone could have snuck in without him noticing. Perplexed, he surveyed the bare floor, finding the offender not even a foot to his left.
Picking up the miniature kunai, he rolled it across his fingers, feeling the smoothness of the wood and noting that the blade was still sharp, even after being stuck in a rafter for years.
"I'd forgotten about that..." He said, voice so soft he may as well have not spoken at all.
The memory came back in a flood...
"Aoshi-sama! Look! Hannya finally gave me my first real kunai!"
A seven year old Misao came running up to the temple, rushing in through the open door and stumbling at the last moment, one of the blades in her grip flying upward.
"You shouldn't be running with real weapons until you are proficient in their use, Misao."
"I'm sorry, Aoshi-sama. I just wanted to show you first..."
Tears welled up in her eyes, and that's when Aoshi noticed the blood running down her delicate fingers.
"You've injured yourself."
"It's okay. It doesn't hurt..."
"That's not the point. Come here."
Ripping strips of fabric from his inner garments, he wrapped each of her hands and was about to send her to get them properly taken care of when she smiled brightly and asked when they could begin practice now that she had the real thing to train with.
Staring at the miniscule weapon, he half-smiled. He knew how to fix his problems, he just hadn't let himself think he could.
With a flick of his wrist the kunai vanished, and the Okashira stood to face his worst nightmare and sweetest dream.
Sorry this is so short and riddled with mistakes. I'll fix it later. ; Oh, and would anyone like me to change 'Lord Aoshi' to 'Aoshi-sama'? It sounds better to me, but please tell me your opinion.
Extra: Did some major revision on these first 3 chapters. Oo