Memories on the Road
Walking quickly into the hospital Misao and Aoshi made there way straight to reception so they could find out exactly where Okina had been placed.
"Can I help you?"
"We are trying to locate a Kashiwazaki Nenji. This is his grand daughter." Aoshi stated in a professional calm voice as the woman smiled and then looked up Okina's real name.
"He's up in the ICU Department, but you'll have to locate his room number there. HEY WAIT, YOU HAVE TO SIGN IN!" The woman raised her voice as Misao rushed off towards the elevators.
"I'll do that for her, we've been driving since yesterday and she's extremely worried." Gaining the attention of the woman once more Aoshi signed himself and Misao in and then quietly thanked her before walking off. Aoshi slowly headed up the stairs to give Misao time alone with Okina. Well that was only half true as Aoshi climbed his way to the third floor. In truth, though he remained calm and collected, inside a small amount of nervousness began to grow. Just what would Okina say or do if he walked into the private room he was in? It'd been so long since he'd seen him last, the smack across the face was the last thing Aoshi remembered about the old man.
"What room is Kashiwazaki Nenji in?" Aoshi spoke quietly to the nurse behind the counter as he finally arrived. She voiced room 203 and pointed in the direction and on heavy feet Aoshi quietly made his way, not a sound emitting from his sneakers, towards the door. He now stood in front of it, hand poised to knock, but it instantly fell to his side when a faint sound of laughter could be heard from behind it.
Moving away from the door Aoshi sat down on a bench as he couldn't go inside. He wanted to, but Okina had only just woken up, perhaps he was tired and only wished to see Misao, so he'd leave it at that and come visit tomorrow. At least that was the plan rolling in his mind as he began to gather his coat up from where he placed it beside him but two figures stood before him as his eyes lifted up to gaze upon the faces of Omasu and Okon.
"It's been a long time Aoshi-kun." Omasu smiled at the younger man as she silently watched him rise from the bench.
"And you've gotten even taller too. I knew you'd be tall when you grew up." Okon piped up as well and lightly hugged the startled Aoshi.
"And rather handsome too. I wonder what Misao-chan thought when she saw you again?" Omasu contorted lightly and turned to eye Okon before laughing lightly to each other.
"You two...have not changed at all." Aoshi murmured as he looked over at the scheming sisters as there brown eyes warmed at seeing him after such a long time.
"How is Misao-chan holding up?" Omasu spoke, her serious voice back in place.
"Fairly well considering what's occurred. She's in with Okina at the moment." Aoshi didn't miss the looks Okon and Omasu were giving each other to his bland and non detailed response of "what's occurred" but instead they voiced nothing of it.
"Are you coming in to see him Aoshi-kun?" Staring at the wall in front of him, Aoshi remained as usual indifferent to what was around him, but to those that grew up with him, helped raise him too, they could read him well at times. Okon and Omasu knew Aoshi wasn't comfortable about being here and wasn't too sure about how Okina would react to him being back in Kyoto either. Sometimes the hardest to read were the easiest to figure out at such emotional times.
"Give me a few moments." Aoshi spoke quietly and watched Omasu and Okon nod and smile at him before they knocked and then headed into the room.
Aoshi didn't know how long he sat there, just staring blankly at the wall before him, but finally his hands clenched into fists as he stood from the bench, legs cramping a little from sitting too long and faced the closed door once more. With hand raised to knock lightly he stepped back when it was opened by Omasu.
"Ah, a little late Aoshi-kun, he's fallen asleep with Misao-chan right beside him."
"Aa..." Aoshi muttered back and looked into the room where he found Misao leaning forward in the chair, head resting on the bed and her hand grasping some of Okina's fingers.
"Why don't you come inside?" Okon whispered from behind Omasu and they watched as Aoshi stepped over the "threshold" and headed towards the bed. He stood at the foot of it, looking over Okina as an IV drip was injected into his left arm pumping him with continuous fluids, while his right index finger had a SpO2 Probe attached to it so the machine beeping quietly recorded his pulse. A mask was over his mouth, helping him breathe easier as his head was tilted close to Misao's.
"If you need anything just give us a call." Aoshi nodded at the two women before hearing the click of the door. Unfolding his coat Aoshi placed it over the slumbering Misao and then moved around to the side of the bed she wasn't sitting at and leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed.
Time seemed to tick by, the clock growing louder and louder in Aoshi's ears as the silence drew on. He was one for solitary, but right now he loathed it. This silence left him with past thoughts he didn't wish to surface. Positioning himself at the window Aoshi opened it up to let in the late afternoon breeze. The silence however was soon broken by a croaky voice.
"Is that Aoshi-kun?" Stiffening up Aoshi darted his head to face the dark eyes of the wrinkled man before him, watching as they widened knowing he knew whom it was without any further introductions.
"It is you Aoshi-kun; I recognize those unruly bangs from anywhere." It was not accustomed for the usual stoic Shinomori Aoshi to bite his lip or bow his head, but that is exactly what occurred right now. At a loss for words was truly how Aoshi felt. He hadn't returned for the funeral of Misao's father and nor his own fathers. Kyoto had become a hellish pit of bad memories for him and therefore he never wished to return until he felt he could face those demons. He'd been proud of his stubbornness, but when he heard of Okina's illness, dread surged through him on what Misao would be going through. That was when he found out Misao went to College in Tokyo and the urge to see her crawled up towards his chest and lodged into his heart instantly. The calmness he usually possessed was no longer around as he stared with slightly wider green eyes facing the bed Okina lay in.
"Come..." The elderly man voiced as he waved Aoshi over with his unoccupied hand. Taking small hesitant steps Aoshi headed for the bed and was silently told to bend down as Okina wished to say something to him...or so Aoshi had thought. He sat on a small amount of space on the bed and lent slightly forward trying to make out what Okina was mumbling under the mask. Green eyes widened once more when Okina lifted his hand to Aoshi's face.
"Here...is where I hurt you." Parting his lips Aoshi wasn't sure what to say or do, but it seemed Okina was not finished yet. "I had no right to."
"I deserved it. I lied to all of you."
"That doesn't matter. I was the adult, I was the responsible one and yet I let frustration take over. Makimachi-sama was appalled at my attitude towards you. He had said, such a fragile heart lay within you and one wrong move could crush it instantly. It appeared I had done just that to you. Sumimasen..." Lowering his eyes Aoshi stewed on how to respond.
"Mm, Jiya you woke up." Came a mumbled voice as the two men turned to face Misao who was rubbing one of her eyes with her fist like a small child.
"Ah, my Misao-chan has not changed at all." Okina smiled at the pouting Misao as she snubbed him at being called little. Aoshi rose from the bed and headed for the door.
"I shall leave you two be. It's good to see you both. Rest easy...Okina."
"Aoshi-sama!" He paused at the door and turned his head over his shoulder to look at Misao who was standing up, her eyes shimmering slightly.
"Arigatou..." Nodding his head Aoshi left the room and the entire hospital as he headed for his vehicle in the customer carpark. As he sat in the drivers seat of his car, leaning his head back against the head rest that one simple word from Okina lifted a lot of stress from Aoshi's shoulders. In one split second Okina had felt angered by him, but after the physical and emotional abuse had been done to him back then, Okina held nothing but guilt and regret ever laying a hand on him in such a way. It meant he and Makimachi-sama truly cared for him after all, but when he had disappeared they knew nothing of his whereabouts.
After all this running away, Aoshi now had nothing to run from and there was only one place left to go.
# Cemetery #
A light rain had begun to fall as Aoshi kneeled before the head stone of Misao's father. He'd blindly driven over town, searching for the correct cemetery and then had remained in this position, clothing sticking to his very body as he was soaked to the core.
"I want you to know that Misao...has grown up wonderfully. She has her head on her shoulders, her bubbly attitude is still within her and traits you have are there as well. Your daughter...is just fine."
"And what about you? Are you fine Aoshi-sama?" Snapping his head up Aoshi jerked around to see Misao puffing lightly as she stood in the rain drenched to the bone also.
"Has something happened to Okina?" Aoshi remarked with a small amount of urgency breaking into his voice as he stood up, only to have Misao thrust herself into his embrace.
"I'm scared...I'm so scared." She murmured against his damp chest, hands clinging to his black clothing.
"Okina is fine now Misao." Aoshi muttered as he stroked his hand through Misao's messy locks of hair.
"THAT'S NOT IT!" She yelled at him and pushed herself away from his warmth. Her eyes flashed with tears up at Aoshi as he blinked unsure of what she was referring to.
"How could you think I'd just thank you and then allow you to leave without...WITHOUT TELLING YOU HOW I FEEL!" A soft sob broke through Misao's lips as she bowed her head, forehead against Aoshi's chest as she mumbled to him, trying desperately to get him to understand.
"For so long...so long I wanted to see you again. When it never happened...I began to forget, forget what you looked like...and that crushed me more then I ever imagined. When you came back, told me who you were I was frightened...so frightened that if I reached out to you, you'd disappear once more, so that's why I was so bitter towards you. I loved you ever since I could recognize you and I wanted...to always be with you."
"Misao..."
"Don't...don't say you're leaving again. I can't...take it."
"I have to leave again...because my home...is in Tokyo...where you are Misao." Jerking her head up she found a light smile on Aoshi's face as rain dripped down his chiseled features. "I came to your father's grave to promise him that from now on I'll be there to see you graduate, to see you introduce me to your boyfriend and there for when you get married. I'll try to do everything he wished to but couldn't."
"Iie, I don't want that." Aoshi felt he'd been struck in the face by those words, but felt Misao's hands tighten in his clothing as she leaned forward and up on her toes, those mesmerizing blue pools pouring her entire soul into his own.
"I don't want Aoshi-sama to feel like he needs to be my guardian. He doesn't need to do what my father wanted to do. I just...I want Aoshi-sama to be around me because he wants to be around me. I'm so afraid that I'll be left alone and it hurts in here...so much Aoshi-sama." Misao whispered as she raised Aoshi's hand to her heart. "I want this loneliness...this pain and sadness to go away and I think...no...I know Aoshi-sama is the only one that can do it. I want to be rescued from loneliness Aoshi-sama, just like how you rescued me in the past." At first Misao was waiting for words like 'immature' or 'you're such a child' but they never came as she was thrust into an engulfing embrace. Aoshi held Misao close, wishing to mould her body into his own as he drew his head down to tuck it into Misao neck and shoulder area.
"Thank you for remembering me." Aoshi muttered into Misao's ear before captivating her even more as his moist lips fused with hers. His hands brushed her drenched bangs from her face and then he cupped her face, plunging his tongue into her mouth giving Misao yet another heart wrenching kiss.
"I want you to come with me." Misao quickly pulled away lest she go too far in front of her father's grave and pulled Aoshi in another direction after bowing before her father. The two of them remained silent, Aoshi gazing down at his joined hand with Misao's while Misao held a content smile on her lips as she weaved their way towards another section of the cemetery. When she stopped so did Aoshi and from the corner of her eye she watched as he fell to his knees before the two graves of his parents.
"I'm sorry for never being the son you wanted me to be." Aoshi remarked to the pouring rain as Misao stood behind him and a little to his side. He knew she was there, hearing everything he voiced, but this was something he had to say. "I promise you that the Shinomori name will always be remembered. I swear upon the both of you that I'll be proud to carry this name for you gave me life. And I thank you...for what you made me go through, I ended up finding the one that I want to be with." Misao leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Aoshi's shoulders as she placed her head on top of his.
After finishing off paying his respects Aoshi rose from the ground, wiping the smudges of mud from his jeans as he glanced at the smiling Misao.
"This time Misao...you were the one to rescue me." He watched her beam a smile up at him before they watched the sun break through the darkened clouds as the shower moved on. Taking a step away from Misao, Aoshi had his back turned to her, but in a clear deep sensual voice he spoke his heart.
"When Okina fully recovers and is able to return back to the Aoiya, we'll head back to Tokyo together." Ocean orbs widened as Misao looked over Aoshi's drenched form as his clothing clung nicely to that taunt skin hidden underneath.
"Together?" Misao repeated and watched as though it all occurred din slow motion as Aoshi turned around, the fading light of the setting sun beaming down upon his features as a passionate softness lay within his eyes and a full fledged smile graced his lips as he held out his hand to her.
"Mm...together..." A thousand watt smile broke over Misao's face as her eyes brimmed with unshed tears and her cheeks flushed pink with happiness. Her hand entwined with Aoshi's as she clutched at his strong warmth.
"I'd love to go with you." Pulling Misao towards him Aoshi guided the both of them back to the carpark and to his car. "We really should change into drier clothes before seeing Jiya again." Misao murmured quietly into Aoshi's chest as he held her possessively close.
"Aa... We have a lot of catching up to do after all." Misao didn't know if Aoshi meant that perverted or not but her cheeks burned red at the thought of changing within the vicinity of her Aoshi and instantly wrapped both of her arms around the tall handsome man.
"You bet we do!" And with that the two walked off into the setting sun.
# The End #
Authors Notes: See a cliché ending. YAY! Actually I'm not sure if I warned anyone of this cliché ending like I have in My Girlfriend's a Weasel, but oh well. I love cliché endings so there! Well thank Kami-sama that's over so woohoo!