Battles of the Heart

Chapter 13: Of Necklaces and Kimonos

Aoshi sat, motionless in front of the sliding door to his room, light filtering through the thin material like a pastel blanket, thoughts whirring through his head. Misao-chan…she really enjoys Soujirou's company. I suppose the boy is better for her, he is younger and lets Misao-chan live a fairly normal life. He smiled bitterly. This way, she won't waste her life fruitlessly waiting for me. The life I live is too dangerous; she would be hurt. And besides, how can she bear to even look at me after what I had done to her, to Okina, to everybody. She shouldn't waste her sympathies on someone like me. But at the bottom of his heart, he knew his words held not an ounce of truth.

Misao crept up to the shoji, but her bad legs didn't help. Slight winces of pain, and silent 'ouch!'s escaped her lips, but nonetheless, she managed to make it to her target without too much noise.

Aoshi opened one eye. Someone was outside, sneaking around. He had a pretty good idea who it was, though. He heard a near-silent intake of breath, as if the silent stalker was in pain. His brow furrowed.

Misao paused, took a deep breath, and in one swift motion, opened the door and cried, "Ohayou gozaimesu, Aoshi-sama!" Her face shone with morning excitement.

Aoshi, whose eyes had closed again, snapped open, revealing the only evidence that he had been surprised. Just as I thought, he said to himself, It was Misao-chan. But he didn't expect her to jump in and shout like that.

Misao chuckled; it was evident that she had jolted him. I managed to sneak up on Aoshi-sama! Yatta! She congratulated herself proudly. She smirked. Aoshi almost smiled, but he held it in behind his cold mask. But, as Misao noticed, he couldn't hide the light that shone through his eyes. That was how she loved him. People talked about their true love's smiles, his affection, his gentleness, but Misao loved Aoshi for his eyes. Girls spoke of their sweethearts telling them this, and telling them that, and smiling, but Misao saw Aoshi's joy, concern, and sorrow through those sharp sapphire orbs of his. That was how she loved him. But the only thing she never saw was the one thing she wanted most. Misao sighed, which didn't go unnoticed by Aoshi. But he didn't say anything. Misao smirked, "So how are my ninja skills, Aoshi-sama?"

Aoshi nodded, "They are improving."

Misao beamed in delight at the compliment, "Arigatou, Aoshi-sama!" She skipped out through the open door and closed it behind her before practically jumping downstairs.

Aoshi lifted himself from the floor and left for the marketplace. He stalked past the stalls until he found the one he was looking for. It was a tiny stall, displaying plain jewelry. But in the top right-hand corner, the owner had placed a beautiful blue necklace. Misao had been eyeing it for ages, and he had vowed to buy it for her. Now was as good a time as any. He dropped a pouch of clinking money in the owner's hands and plucked the necklace delicately from it resting place, hanging off the edge of the stall canopy. Without a word, Aoshi walked away, leaving his confused, but grateful, seller behind.

He walked right up to his room and closed the door behind him. The light shone through the door still and illuminated the gorgeous accessory. This is truly a piece of jewelry fit for Misao. It was a string of blue beads, cut like diamonds so that the sun winked and bounced off it like sapphires. They were of a bright navy hue, similar to the color of her ninja outfit that so lovingly adorned her. It looked like a gem necklace, worth much more than it truly was. Aoshi, being that he was in the secret safety of his room, smiled. He was almost ready.

Yahiko sat up in his futon and, with a great yawn, stretched and stood up. Today I'll talk to Kaoru and buy Tsubame-chan her kimono. He grinned; she would be so happy. He stood up, changed out of his sleepwear into his yellow kimono shirt and green pants, and bounded downstairs to the kitchen, where Kaoru was once again daydreaming about a certain wanderer. "Kaoru?" she looked up at the sound of her name, "Can I borrow some money? I'll pay you back when we get back to Tokyo."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow delicately, "Oh really, you want to borrow some money? And what would you use it for?"

Yahiko fidgeted nervously. "Ano, to buy something…"

Kaoru looked at him curiously, "To buy what?"

He looked away, "Something," he turned back, "Does it matter?"

His teacher laughed, "Of course it does! Do you think I'd let you borrow my money so that you can buy free food or something? How do I know that Sano hasn't rubbed off on you or something? You'd probably go gamble with it!"

"Nani? Gamble? Why would I do that? I have a specific reason for borrowing your money and it's a damn good reason! Besides, how would you know what I want to buy, Busu?"

Kaoru's face turned red at this. "Busu? I was going to let you borrow MY money, but now I don't think I will."

Yahiko stared and sighed exasperatedly, "Fine, I'll ask Megumi-san for some money. I need that money, and if I have to go work for it, I will."

Kaoru's face showed her surprise. "Yahiko?" He turned around. "I…Gomen. I guess I'm just a little tired…" she smiled gently, "Hai, you can borrow some money! Demo how much do you need?"

Yahiko grinned. "Arigatou, Kaoru! I need…70 yen."

She face fell slightly. "Ano, Yahiko, I don't…I'm not sure…it's kind of a lot of money…"

Yahiko nodded solemnly. "Yes, I know, demo I really need it. I have 40 yen at the dojo, and I'll pay you that back when we go home, and as for the other 30 yen, I pay you back later, I need to make it. I'll go ask Sae for a job, and people give me tips at the Akebecko sometimes…" he trailed off hopefully.

Kaoru smiled at the hope in his eyes. "I'll give you the 70 yen, and I want 40 as soon as we get home, but the other 30 yen you can take your time getting. That seems fair, ne?"

Yahiko nodded vigorously, "Hai, hai! Arigatou nasai, Kaoru!"

Kaoru beamed, stood up, and ruffled his head affectionately before trotting off to her room. Yahiko kneeled on one of the mats and grinned blissfully, as if in a daze.

Kaoru stepped quietly into her room, leaving the door open. I wonder what Yahiko wants to buy. I'm sure he'll buy something nice, maybe he'll show me when he comes back. He looked so hopeful, and so happy when I agreed; how could I resist? She searched through her belongings, in all her bags and kimonos. Where could it be? she wondered. Then, it struck her. She reached into the back of her kimono and pulled out a small purse. Aha! I forgot, I put it there because I was going to go to town today. Purse in hand, she stepped out of her room, closed the shoji, and walked back to Yahiko.

Yahiko looked up as she reentered the kitchen. Kaoru held the purse behind her back, causing Yahiko to look curiously at her hidden item. She grinned and pulled out the purse. "Tada! The magic purse of the beautiful Kaoru Kamiya!"

Yahiko raised an eyebrow. "Arigatou, Kaoru! I promise I'll pay you back!" With that he skipped out to Tsubame's room. "Tsubame?"

She opened the door and looked questioningly at him. "Hai, Yahiko?"

Yahiko blushed, "Can I…borrow some of your money?"

Tsubame giggled. "How much?"

Yahiko blushed some more. "Ano, 20 yen?"

She looked down for a moment. "That's…all I have…but, sure!" She ran to the back of the room, retrieved her purse, and handed it to Yahiko.

Yahiko grinned. "Arigatou, Tsubame! I'll be back soon!"

He ran through the streets of the market until he reached the kimono shop. Flinging open the door, he ran in, panting for breath, and approached the surprised shopkeeper. "Gomen, miss," he apologized, "but I'm here to buy a kimono."

The shopkeeper stared, and recognition dawned on her young face. "You're the young boy who came in the other day! You're girlfriend was the young girl who tried on my white kimono. She looked stunning."

Yahiko smiled and nodded his head. "Hai. I would like to buy that white kimono, onegai."

The lady closed her eyes and smiled gently. "You would like to buy it for your girlfriend, ne?"

Yahiko blushed, "H-hai, demo she's not my girlfriend." She opened her eyes and raised her eyebrows. He showed her Kaoru's purse.

Her eyebrows rose even higher, "You have the money? How did you get it?"

Yahiko blushed some more, "It-it's all the money I own, and then I borrowed some…" he mumbled.

She smiled, eyebrows still soaring, "Goodness! And you're willing to pay all your money to buy this for her?" He nodded wordlessly. She bent down to his level and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Your willingness to sacrifice all your money for this girl, because I like you, and because you two remind me of myself not too long ago, I think I can make an exception. I need to make money, too, so I'll sell it to you for 80 yen. I know it's still a lot, but it's a good kimono."

Yahiko blinked, and grinned. "Thank you!" He took out 10 yen from his purse, 50 from Kaoru's, and, reluctantly, 20 from Tsubame's. After giving the woman the money, she gently picked the beautiful kimono from its display table and lovingly placed in a package, carefully tying it with a white ribbon. She gave it to the young boy and watched him walk with the utmost care away from the shop and in the direction of the Aoiya. Great! he thought, Tsubame will be so surprised! I don't think she'll mind me spending her money on this…I'll pay her back later, and now I just have to pay Kaoru back 10 yen. Still, I have to make 30 yen…I'll ask Sae for a job…

Yahiko hurried up to his room and placed his package behind his bed, where no one would find it, and ran down to the Shirobecko. "Sae-dono?"

Sae turned around to find Yahiko, panting slightly, in the doorway.

"Is that you, Yahiko-chan? My, I haven't seen you in a while."

Yahiko winced at the '-chan', but shrugged it off. "Sae-dono, can I have a job? I can help out with the serving."

Sae looked at him curiously. That's two of them already, she realized, amused. "Hai, of course." She led him to a small room opposite the kitchen and handed him a uniform. His eyes widened and he wrinkled his nose in mild disgust. "I have to wear that!" he exclaimed, "Men don't wear frilly aprons!"

Sae giggled. "Of course not, but if you want to make some money, you must be willing to make sacrifices."

Yahiko groaned, but accepted the uniform with a determined face. He changed in Sae's room, and walked out to report for duty. "Sae-dono, I'm ready."

She handed him a large pot of beef hot pot and sent him off to one of the back tables. He walked out bravely, looking for all the world like a soldier charging into battle. Sae couldn't hold back another giggle.

"Here you go, sir, miss," Yahiko smiled politely. He hurried back to the kitchen for the next order.

Sano ran back to the kitchen, carrying steaming beef pots back and forth. It was tiring; the pots were hot and burned him if he slipped, not to mention the embarrassment. He rushed back to the kitchen for yet another beef pot.

Yahiko placed the beef pot on the table and scrambled back to the kitchen again. This is just like the Akebecko. Sae is just like Tae, and the customers are all friendly, too. Even the actual building is similar! If only Tsubame were here… He was brought out of his reverie as he ran smack into a tall person. Yahiko didn't look up, merely muttering a quiet "gomen." He saw a pair of familiar white pants in front of him.

Sano hurried around all the customers, dodging the large chatting parties and swerving around the loners. Suddenly, 'oof!', he bumped into someone small. "Gomen," he mumbled at the same time as the kid. He looked down. The kid had familiar spiky hair.

Who has white pants…? "Sano!"

Black spiky hair, huh? "Yahiko!"

Their names were spoken in unison. Yahiko looked up to find that it was, indeed, Sano; and Sano looked down to find that it was indeed, Yahiko. Sano stared at Yahiko's apron and smirked. "Does a man where frilly aprons?"

Yahiko smirked back, "Iie, guess that means you're not a man."

Sano whacked him on the head, "Baka, of course I'm a man. Real men make sacrifices."

Yahiko sniggered, "Yeah, they make sacrifices. Is yours for a certain fox doctor?"

Sano snorted, "And so what if it is? Like I said real men make sacrifices."

Yahiko growled, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Guess, Yahiko-CHAN."

Yahiko jumped on Sano's head and chewed his hair. He picked the boy off like a bug. "I'm a real man; I'm making a sacrifice."

Sano snickered, "So Tsubame does mean something to you, huh?"

Yahiko blushed, "Same goes for you and Megumi-san, tori-atama."

Sano grumbled, "The things we do for those women. This is so embarrassing."

"Tell me about it."

And with that, they spent the next three days complaining about the unmanliness of their task.

"Hey Sano, why are you here, anyway? Lost all your money gambling?" Yahiko snickered.

Sano snorted, "You wish. I used up all my money, so now I need some more."

"So I was right."

"No, I bought something."

"What'd you buy? What'd you buy? What'd you buy?"

"A necklace, happy?" he sighed, exasperated.

Yahiko smirked, "For Megumi-san, ne? Ne?"

Sano shook his head hopelessly, "You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?"

Yahiko smirked some more, "I'll take that as a yes."

Sano glared at him, "Why are you here?"

Yahiko looked slightly dejected, "I spent all my money, and I borrowed some from Busu, so now I have to pay her back."

Sano grinned triumphantly, "So what did you spend it on? What could be so expensive, unless you have finally realized the exhilarating thrills of gambling?"

He sighed hopelessly, "Iie, I don't gamble. I bought something, same as you."

Sano chuckled, "Bet you anything it's for Tsubame, ne?"

Yahiko answered smugly, "If it's for Tsubame, then yours is for Megumi-san."

Sano shook his head and smiled, "Nice one. Looks like Yahiko-CHAN is growing up…"

"Why you…!" He jumped and began chewing Sano's hair.

"…but he's still not a man," he finished, having slight difficulty picking Yahiko off his head.

"Phew!" Yahiko wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. It had been five days of serving countless customers hot beef pots and other foods. He earned the money he needed, nonetheless, he was glad to finish. "Sae-dono, arigatou for letting me take a temporary job."

Sae smiled kindly at him. "Anytime, Yahiko-chan. You were a great help."

He skipped off with his newly earned 30 yen, Sano following behind. Now, time to give Tsubame her kimono! And Kaoru her money.

Sano grinned. Now I've got my money back, through honest means. I'll put this money to good use. Thank you, Tsubame, for giving me the idea.