When Shinomiri came into the room, I wasn't sure if he knew I was awake or not, so I decided to play it safe and let him make the first move (if he would make any move at all). For all I knew, he had had an extremely rough day and just wanted to go to sleep.
I heard him getting ready for sleep, slipping under the sheets on his futon, and then go quiet. So that was how it would be.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
… or not. It almost wasn't a question, really, but, then again, Shinomiri spoke so softly it was hard to make out any inflection at all. For a moment, I considered replying with "talk about what?" … but I did not think that he would be very appreciative of that tactic.
"No." I hoped he would leave me alone after that. I had been clear enough, and Shinomiri was a reasonable man; there was no reason for him to press further.
Apparently, though, there was.
"Will you or anyone around you be in any danger because of it?"
Well, that was certainly to the point. It was a sensible question, actually – Shinomiri would want to protect his friends, and I'm not at all loathe to protect his.
"No." No possible way. K-kijou is a spoiled rich brat, and very little more. She can threaten and scream all she wants, but she can't do a damn thing to me now that I'm not her little pet anymore.
It's a good feeling.
Shinomiri said nothing, but he didn't really need to. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to hear someone raise their eyebrow?
"She's harmless Shinomiri, or else I would already be five leagues out of city by now." Ooops. I think I may have let on a bit more than I wanted to there. Well, no fixing it now.
"She?"
Now … how to answer this with the minimum possible words ...
"An old … lover."
I winced the moment I let that title pass my lips. Kijou would never deserve such a fond name.
"Ah."
How does he manage to fit so much meaning into a single syllable? I'll have to ask him later.
"Yes … well …" God, could this get any more uncomfortable (for me)? "Sleep well, Aoshi."
Oh. He might not appreciate being called by his personal name by – technically – a stranger.
"Sleep well, Katsuhiro."
Looks like he's not easily offended. Well, that's a relief. But … how long has it been since someone called me by that name? It's been "Katsu" or "Tsukioka-san" or "Tsunan" since almost before I can remember.
I think it was … the first time I saw Sano after the Sekihoutai were betrayed … yes, that was the last time anyone has called me by "Katsuhiro." It feels awkward in my mind, referring to myself like that.
Katsuhiro.
I almost forgotten it was my name.
…
It's a strange feeling, really.
It is.
**************************
Damn. Am I moving this relationship thing slowly or what? Hehehe. Not really fond of this chapter, but it's the best I could come up with for today – sorry!
Nicky: Just a bit strange, yeah. ^_^ … And I forgot to write in any innocent bystanders freaking out over that little fact. D'oh! *smacks head*
Yeah, 'bout that. Well, now you know she's a psycho. And she will get worse as time goes on. Well, she won't actively get any worse, but you'll realize that she's always been a lot worse than what you thought.
Anaii: Look, Kenny's got enough fanfic already. This is not his time to shine. But Aoshi will be demonstrating even more stunning levels of Aoshiness (*finger cross*), so that should be good enough for you. ^_^ (It is, right?)
Lychee2: Be afraid. Be very afraid. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Can't comment of the DBZ stuff, but yes, Kijou will be very surprised – as will Katsu, just by the way she jumps to her conclusion. And Aoshi may or may not use his kodachis – I'm not that sure, really. It's a ways to go yet. And I really think Sano gets a lot less credit than he deserves – he's uneducated, yeah, but he's actually pretty smart. You know he's observant enough – when he was introduced, what did he get about Kenshin that no one else did – not even Kaoru, who had known him for at least a week or so by then, and is supposed to be definitely not stupid? And I don't blame Sano, either. I want Katsu to be okay. ^_^
Kuroiyousei: Thank you for your forgiveness. ^_^ And um, yeah, $40/month is … a bit … out of my range. I can't afford the $12/month price. I do want my own domain name eventually, too, though. I don't know about the subdomain – I mean, ideally, I would want some to categorize my stuff a bit more, but if there wouldn't be enough, I don't know if it'd be worth the bother. … A lj code would be nice – I've actually been thinking about just using one of those as my site, if there would be a way for me to get it divided into the layout/subsection/things I want (I think I could do that if I got a paid account …). Oh, wait, have I given you proper thanks yet? Well, here's some anyways: *GLOMPS* Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!! ^_^
Yeah, she's pretty scary, isn't she? Rich bitch is right, as is your description – I've had the unfortunate chance to meet far too many of them for my liking (one would be way too much, though …) And isn't it great? She's going to freak when she realizes what's going on – and, oddly enough, she'll be the first to know. *blushes* Aw. I love you, too. (Even though you said you love my story, which is not actually me. It still works.)