A/N: Okay, here is chapter 4. This chapter is more set up than interaction. We get a little more background on Soujiro and Aoshi, and we're setting it up for the next chapter. I had hoped to get this chapter out sooner, but these things can't be rushed. The genius of my co-author and myself must be given time to grow, and believe me when I say we have many a conversation over this story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, anything as remotely good as Aoshi or Misao or Soujiro, or even my own car. I don't even have a job...what does that say about me?
Safer On The Outside
Chapter 4: "Sink On You"
Soujiro Seta sat in the back of his van. Thousands of dollars worth of computerized and robotics equipment littered the floor and walls around him. He sat in a small computer chair on wheels, tapping freely at a coverless keyboard, a lit cigarette hanging from his lips and a digital clock display behind his left ear blinking past two in the morning.
Yes, he had promised both Misao and Kamatari that he would quit smoking for years, and he had mostly kicked the habit except for a stick here and there to calm his nerves. Right now, he would risk the wrath of his siblings to get through the night.
The van's radio was playing The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' song Maps quietly, giving him a rhyme to type along with. Soujiro was a very musically oriented person. It helped him concentrate. It had been that way since his early days, when his tyrannical father used to make him drill martial arts from dawn until dusk. He'd use the music, something else to concentrate on while his body went through the motions. Something to block out the hated voice and make him forget the stinging pain in his body.
It had been over ten years since his father died, since Kamatari had opened his doors to his estranged half-brother, a fifteen-year-old boy with no one else in the world. That had been Soujiro's first taste of family, or freedom, of some semblance of existence beyond the edge of a blade. He remembered-- in vivid detail-- all the shit he used to put Kamatari through, all the curses and moods and misplaced anger. Through all of his issues, the older Seta never wavered in his devotion, and it had eventually won him over. The real change, the real whirlwind that made them a family came in the lithe form of a sixteen-year-old Misao.
Soujiro kicked back in his chair, moving to the other side of the van and swiveling in the chair, keyboard still in his lap as his face upturned to another screen. His long fingers danced across the keyboard, entering more codes, tracking down this and that, checking message boards and gathering info. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed the butt from his mouth and jammed it in the ashtray on the table beside him before kicking back to his original position on the other side of the van.
After another ten minutes of searching and recon, the back door to the van opened and Misao climbed in, a small covered tray under her arm. "Hey," she smiled.
"Good evening," Soujiro greeted, taking a break from his screens to see what she was up to.
"You've been in the van all night," she commented.
"Research," he replied.
She nodded. "I know." She placed the tray on a small table and lifted the lid, revealing a rather tasty looking cheeseburger and fries. "I thought you'd like a midnight snack."
"Even though it's more like a three AM snack," he quipped.
"Yeah, well, I thought you'd be smart enough to come inside the hotel Himura is putting us up in." He grinned up at her in a very easy-going manner. "As usual, the great Soujiro can never be predicted."
"I'd lose my mystery," he argued.
"Whatever you say," Misao laughed. "Now don't let my three fifty go to waste." Soujiro happily dug into the food offered him as his sister sat herself on the floor of the van and looked over a few of the active screens. "Do you know anything about the sword we have?" she asked after a while.
"So far, all I know," Soujiro commented while chewing, "is that we have the second of the set of four. It's the smaller of the two broadswords. I was looking it over with Sanosuke and Kaoru earlier, and we saw that the design in the blade, leading up to the hilt, is a sort of ivy or vine plant pattern."
"Ivy? That's symbolic for life isn't it?" Misao questioned, looking up at the largest screen as Soujiro tapped in a code on his board and pulled up a few schematics of the blade.
"In mythology, yes," he agreed. "Ivy is seen as the plant of life. The hilt itself also has wrought iron vines design around the signet stone in the center of the handle. We can tell it's the second because the stone at the very tip of the handle," he paused to point it out for her, "is green. An emerald. The first sword has a ruby."
"Did you find any other tidbits?" she asked.
Soujiro leaned back in the chair, arching his back to smooth out the kinks and running his hands through his hair. "None so far. I'll probably find out more once our researcher comes back in the morning." On a reflex, he reached behind his ear and pulled out an unlit cigarette and popped it in his mouth before lighting it with a small blue plastic lighter from the pocket of his jeans. Misao watched him with a level expression. "I know, I know," he commented after taking a drag. "I'll quit tomorrow."
"I wasn't going to say anything," she commented, getting up and grabbing the cigarette from his mouth. Placing it in her own, she took a few puffs before handing it back to him. "You know it's mostly Kamatari who hates us smoking."
"I thought you quit!" He said in mock exasperation.
Misao rolled her eyes. "What he doesn't know can't hurt him."
"Speaking of our beloved brother…"
"He's getting cozy with Megumi," Misao said with a yawn, taking the cigarette back again. "They have a room together next to mine. I think he likes her, which is always a good sign."
"Yeah, considering he hates most doctors." Soujiro stretched once more before getting to his feet. "Well, I think I should be getting to bed, sweet and darling little sis."
"Before you take off," Misao quietly halted him as he reached for the door handle. "Did you find anything on him?"
Soujiro waved his cigarette toward the smallest of the screens set up in the van. "Google's finest," he said with a nod. "Night 'Sao."
"Night," she called after him before settling into his chair and wheeling over to the screen with the keyboard in her lap. With a few keystrokes, Misao was met with a multitude of information on a thief dubbed by the press as 'Ashen Shadow'.
Aoshi sat in his small room, deep in thought. He went over every moment he had spent in the warehouse with Misao Makimachi, went through every movement made when they fought and every word exchanged. He had to be better prepared for when they faced one another again. She might have gotten away with the first sword, but he wouldn't let her get any of the others.
The room was dark where he sat, not a single light on except for the revolving lighted words on the screen of his cell phone. He had no doubt that Shishio would soon call him, to taunt or to berate, or to order him to do something else. Aoshi knew that he would do anything he asked just as well as he knew the bastard would be calling. It wasn't for money that he was Shishio's slave. There was no amount of money in the world that could make him be a slave to such a vindictive master. Aoshi Shinomori was a man who could not be bought.
But that didn't mean he couldn't be blackmailed.
A year earlier, before he had ever heard the name of Shishio, Aoshi was living a fruitful life as a martial arts instructor. Of course, his nightlife was filled with more danger and a lot better pay since he worked as a thief for hire with his four companions. They had been making quite a name for themselves, the five of them, for pulling off rumored impossible jobs.
That was when a man named Hoji, who worked for a wealthy backer named Shishio, had approached them. They wanted to hire Aoshi and his team for a risky job, which involved breaking into the home office of Himura Towers. The five thieves were cocky, but not stupid, so they turned down the offer. Shishio had not taken the rejection well.
A few months later, Aoshi found himself in the middle of a mess, with the lives of his four friends of the line. Now he was Shishio's puppet, doing whatever his master commanded, no questions asked, or else his friends would be killed. Aoshi had looked for them, done intense research, but every time his leads took him somewhere, they were silenced. Shishio had him on a short leash and would not have this dog bite the hand that fed him.
The phone began to play the familiar ring and Aoshi reached out, deftly flipping it open and bringing it to his ear. "Yes?"
"You let the first sword slip right through your fingers," Shishio said lightly. Aoshi had known him long enough to take the hints he gave in his voice, and right now Shishio was extremely upset. "I don't like that."
"I needed to feel out my opposition," Aoshi commented. "The other three will be mine soon."
"The other three are worthless without the first," Shishio hissed. "I need the complete set of four."
"I'll get the other sword," Aoshi said calmly, distantly. "You just have to be patient."
"I understand," Shishio said, his voice falling back to that vindictive note. "But remember this, for every sword you let Himura have, I will kill one of your little friends." Aoshi stiffened at this remark. "You have two days to get me that sword," Shishio continued, heedless of Aoshi's silence. "Have a nice evening." The click at the end of the line signaled his hanging up.
Aoshi took a few deep breaths, stilling his anger and repressing the urge to hurl the phone against the wall and listen to the sweet sounds of cracking plastic. The phone itself seemed like a mark of his obedience. It had the power to make him sick to his stomach at how far he had fallen in so short a time.
"Bastard," he whispered to the silent room. His mind began running before he could control it. Who would be the first taken in Shishio's anger? Beshimi…he was the smallest. Or maybe Hannya, since he was the closest to Aoshi. How would he do it? Would it be slow? Would it hurt?
He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the images with physical effort, before rising to his feet and padding into the bathroom. A hot shower would help clear his mind, help him plan for the coming confrontations. He needed to be relaxed if he was going to plot out how to steal from a thief, a thief that could be very well better than he was.
Kamatari was woken in the middle of the night when Soujiro attempted stealth when entering the room they shared. It was when he stumbled over a footrest and let out a low string of curses that alerted his older brother of his presence.
"You smell like cigarettes," the older Seta mumbled to the dark.
"Forgive me," Soujiro said, his voice still carrying a note of anger. "Stress is a bitch and my jit sticks are the only thing that keeps me calm."
"Ever hear of yoga?"
"Cut the shit, Kamatari," Soujiro snapped as he sat on the twin bed nearest the window and clicked on the small table lamp that sat on the dresser between them. "It's been a long night."
Kamatari shielded his eyes from the suddenly light and glared as best he could in the general direction of his younger brother. "It will be longer still now that you woke me up."
Soujiro sighed, throwing himself back on to the comforter. "I've been researching the sword, but Sanosuke will have to finish for me tomorrow. I'm tapped out and I still have to fix Misao's gadgets for the next pull."
"We could wait a day before going on to the next destination," Kamatari suggested. "Himura said we have unlimited time, and I don't like where Misao's head is right now."
"I wouldn't be a ball of sunshine if I were her either," the younger man commented dryly. "She got hurt in a bad way with this mission. There's no guarantee this other thief won't kill her the next time, and from what Misao told me, he's a better fighter than she is."
"You could go with her next time," Kamatari said. "I could man the floor plans and relay to you. There's no one who could keep her safer than you."
Soujiro smiled, preening a bit at the compliment. "You know as well as I do that it's harder to get two people in and out than one. I'd just slow her down, and speed is the key to this job."
"I know, I'm just giving out ideas," Kamatari sighed. "She was up here prowling like a caged tiger before. This other guy must have been pretty tough to get her that riled."
"The weird thing," Soujiro whispered, more to himself than Kamatari, "was that he wanted her to know who he was. Misao said he voluntarily took off his mask and gave her his name, like he wants to be caught or something."
"Strange," Kamatari mused, then smiled. "Was he cute?"
Soujiro rolled his eyes. "I didn't get that great of a look and in case I failed to mention to you, brother dear, I do like women."
Kamatari laughed. "There is hope for you yet, my boy." Soujiro only grinned, not having enough time to respond before Misao burst into the room with a triumphant look and a computer print out.
"Aoshi Shinomori!" she declared with pride. Both of her brothers blinked at her. "That's his name," she elaborated. "I did a few searches and I even called one of our old informants from the guilds. Seems he and his team were really hard core up until around six months ago when they all disappeared."
"Think Shishio pocketed them?" Kamatari asked. "A man like that has enough money to keep a pack of hired thieves for life."
"I don't think so," Misao commented. "He didn't seem particularly inclined to get the sword. I mean, he could have taken it from me pretty easily before Sou arrived, but he didn't."
"You suspect foul play?" Soujiro questioned. "Blackmail, threats to go to the cops?"
"Who knows," the woman sighed, settling on to the mattress beside her brother and leaning her head on his shoulder. "If it is blackmail, he could get desperate."
Soujiro wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Desperate men are the most dangerous," he warned. "He could become a problem when we go for the other swords."
"I know," she replied.
"Well, I guess there's only one thing to do, kiddies," Kamatari commented with resolve. Both of his siblings looked at him for the answer. "We just have to get them first, fast, and get them back to Himura before anyone's the wiser."
Misao gave him a bland look. "Thanks for the revelation Kamatari."
"Don't get sour with me, little bird," her brother scolded. "Both of you need sleep. You'll think better when you're rested and alert. And not smoking."
"Fink," Misao laughed, elbowing Soujiro in the side.
"I didn't tell him," her brother whined. "He could smell it, like a bloodhound."
"You two should know by now," Kamatari laughed while reaching for the switch on the lamp. "You can never fool your big brother." Collective groans were muttered, chuckles were had, and then sleep finally took them. It was easy to cast off their worries until the morning light, to shed the weight on their shoulders until their bodies were rejuvenated enough to bare them once more. Come morning, everything would be back.
Come morning, they would be leaving England for the next destination, for the next sword. And it just so happened that the second sword was in Italy, hidden beneath the streets of Rome to be more exact.
A/N: Hey everyone, know what time it is? You guessed it, time for review responses! cheers My favorite part of the chapter, where I get to respond to the reviews given me by you, my beloved readers!
indigo chipmunk: I'm happy that you like Aoshi's nickname. It was actually inspired by a little help, and a conversation, had with a great Aoshi/Misao writer: Silver Miko. This is not that great a chapter, but the next one promises great action and a few insults thrown between my favorite pair. You know what they say, when in Rome…
Sonia: Not a stupid question. As of now, Misao has the first sword. I'm very happy that you like this fic and I do hope you'll keep reading. Thanks for the review.
Tiian: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, we wanted to make this one filler before going straight into the mission of the next sword. Yes, there are people who really can do that, steal from a group of people unnoticed. The song was actually my (Jesse's) idea. I'm very much into foreshadowing, and that song held a few lines that I thought would be as a plot device. Ah, true, no thief should give info on himself to anyone--least of all his rival--but Aoshi wants them on even ground, you see. He knows all there is to know on her, so now she knows all she can on him. More will be explained in the next chapter when they meet up again.