Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
Yup. Holy crap, I'm alive. You all probably hate me now…
Heh heh. I started getting into Naruto (as some of you know)
Kakashi's such a pervert . . .
He's still my favorite character though.
I had this cool idea for a fanart the other day.
Kenshin's doing laundry and Soujiro is:
also doing laundry right next to him, eyes wide in interest, trying to copy Kenshin.
OR
hiding behind a bush, writing in a book entitled, "How to Be a Good Rurouni".
I'm not sure which I should do. Which do you think will be cuter?
One more thing. I've never told anyone, buy I've always have been on a quest to find the perfect song that matched Aoshi. I had thought I found it several times, but none of them really had to do with Aoshi after he returned to the Aoiya.
Like, for instance, I happened to find a lot of Evanescence songs that had lyrics pretty good for Aoshi, but they didn't give me that 'feeling'. Also, the fact that the songs are sung by a girl made it sort of weird. It made it more like Misao's POV.
Then I found a song that fitted Aoshi during the shura thingy . . . part. It was "My Last Resort" by Papa Roach. My brother kept saying that it was about suicide, so therefore had nothing to do with Aoshi. However, Aoshi DID want to commit suicide . . . in a way, so HAH!!!!
Then I started to overload on reading Aoshi angst fics. Most of them have the same theme: Misao loves Aoshi. Aoshi loves Misao, but he won't allow him to because he believes he's such a horrible guy and he isn't worthy of her, or that he'll "taint" her. (That's where it branches off, either Misao goes to Soujiro, some crap happens and Misao and Aoshi get together, or Misao commits suicide.)
THEN it was the fateful day when I asked my brother if I could listen to one of his CDs, and he said yes. It just so happened that he lent me a 12 Stones CD, Potter's Field. The song I found was Stay. I was like, WOAH.
I'll show you the lyrics. See if you see what I see (;). Although, it helps if you actually listen to the song:
I walk to the edge again
Searching for the truth
Taken by the memories of all that I've been through
If I could hear your voice I know that I would be okay
I know that I've been wrong but I'm begging you to stay
Won't you stay?
Will you be here or will I be alone?
Will I be scared?
You'll teach me how to be strong
And if I fall down will you help me carry on?
I cannot do this alone
I wish that I could turn back time
Just to have one more chance
To be the man I need to be
I pray you'll understand
If I could hear your voice I know that I would be okay
I know that I've been wrong but I'm begging you to stay
Won't you stay?
Will you be here or will I be alone?
Will I be scared?
You'll teach me how to be strong
And if I fall down will you help me carry on?
I cannot do this alone
I need your hand to help me make it through again
Nothing compares to how I feel when I look at you
You never know You never know tomorrow
You never knowYou never know tomorrow
Don't walk away
Will you be here or will I be alone?
Will I be scared? You'll teach me how to be strong
And if I fall down will you help me carry on?
I cannot do this alone (2x)
I am not alone I know you're there
I am not alone I know you're there
I am not alone I know you're there
I am not alone.
So? What do you think? I might try to make a songfic, but I'd probably screw it up thought . . .
One MORE thing. In Betting: is EVIL (one), the letter that Okina wrote Hiko was originally supposed to be some big thing in the story, but I ended up scratching that. Just so you know, I think I got a review asking about it.
One MOOORRRE thing. I'm thinking about doing a FFX parody later on. So, what do you think of the main (good guy) cast?
Tidus – Kenshin
Yuna – Kaoru
Auron – Saito
Wakka – Sanosuke
Lulu – Megumi
Kimari? – Aoshi (don't worry, he'll still be human)
Rikku – Misao (I'm not sure if I'll be able to put a AoshixMisao pairing in, though . . .)
Whatever. Sanosuke would make a better Tidus, but Megumi would make a better Lulu, and I wand to keep pairings in check ...
XXXXX
"Bye everyone! See you in a week! Stay out of my room, okay!" Misao waved from the inside of her open window. Aoshi sat on the seat across from Misao's.
"Sure thing Misao!" Okon said.
"Be careful!" Kuro said.
"Hey, be sure to get me something, Misao!" said Shiro. Okon and Kuro whapped him on the head. Evidently, they wanted something, too.
"Remember, Misao, just a week! Then strait back home!" Okina said.
"Of course!" Misao replied.
"Have a good time! Both of you!" Omasu called.
That made Aoshi feel better. At least the SMART one acknowledged his existence.
And everyone else? They would pay. And they all thought all those little "mishaps" were Okina's or Misao's doing. THEY were not capable of such clever, devious, inconceivably well-thought-out – never mind.
ANYWAY, as the train began its departure from the station, Misao immediately sat down from the sudden movement. At first, she seemed somewhat frightened of the train moving on its own. She later got used to it. It was her first train ride, after all.
Actually, it was Aoshi's first ride too, but what did he care? As far as he was concerned, trains were meant for one thing: transportation. Then again, he wasn't concerned all that much.
The ride itself seemed to take a long time. Aoshi pulled out Shiro's "gift", and began reading. Misao stared out the window. Occasionally, she'd jump up and say, "Ohmygosh! Look at THAT!" bothering the people next to them.
Aoshi pretended to be too interested in his reading to notice. He wasn't sure he was doing too well though. Misao calmed down, and continued to stare out the window. Aoshi didn't get WHY Misao was staring out the window, however. She didn't seem to be in any deep thought, so what could she be thinking?
Tree. Tree. Tree. Lake. Tree. Tr- no, bush. Tree. Tree . . . .
Aoshi blinked. He shook his head ever so slightly. No, Misao wouldn't think that.
Would she?
He scowled, and shifted a little. These close were so . . . Well, uncomfortable wasn't exactly the right words. He was wearing the clothes Misao bought him a little less than a week ago. When he was living with him.
To tell the truth, he didn't like wearing casual clothes. Aoshi could probably fight in what he was wearing, but it was too weird.
He knew that he just needed to get used to them. Aoshi also knew that he'd probably lose his mind TRYING to get used to them.
Aoshi scowled again, he could just imagine the Myoujin kid teasing him about it. Or Sagara. Or both.
He did bring extra clothes, though.
He brought his meditation robe, obviously, and the shinobi uniform. Well- no, he didn't, just traveling clothes. It was the stupid purple thing he wore to pick up Misao from Tokyo, which he had quickly changed out of.
So, he brought his extra clothes, books, towel, and yes, paper too.
The kodachis stayed home. Besides, Aoshi was fairly certain they wouldn't be allowed on the train.
Misao? She probably brought extra clothes, kunai . . . and . . . How would Aoshi know? He didn't look through her stuff, and he certainly didn't know what kind of things women brought with them on trips.
Aoshi blinked again. He was surprised to hear himself think the word "women", not "girls". He shrugged off the idea.
He then decided to prepare himself for what to do when he got there.
One, he had to be polite, in other words, quiet.
Two, well, it depended on who was going to be there. He didn't really want Sanosuke to be there, but the chances of him NOT being there were like . . . like the chances of Aoshi deciding to get drunk in front of Misao. None to none.
Part of him also disliked the idea of Megumi being there. To tell the truth, she scared him. The time they were all standing at the Kamiya Dojo's doorway and she "threatened" him with the laughing potion, and those fox ears popped out . . . It freaked Aoshi out, although he didn't show it.
The chances of her being there were less than Sanosuke, but she might come to greet Misao.
Three, avoid Takani Megumi using any means necessary.
X
"So you invited Aoshi?" Megumi asked half-incredulously.
Kenshin nodded. "That's right. I'd think Misao-dono would enjoy it more if Aoshi would be able to go with her."
"That's true," Yahiko interjected, "but think about it. You invited Aoshi. What's he going to do?"
The redhead sighed. "Well . . . Sessha just thought . . ."
"Thought what?"
"Well . . ."
"Well what!?"
"Maybe Aoshi's more social now."
Yahiko and Sanosuke both started cracking up. Megumi shook her head. Kaoru scowled at their reaction, and had another sip of tea.
What annoyed her was that those two only saw that Aoshi was a cold loner. Technically, it was true, but Yahiko and Sanoske overlooked why Aoshi was a cold loner. Wait . . . that didn't come out right . . .
Sanosuke calmed down with a sigh, but Yahiko was still going. The four older people watched.
"Feel free to stop any time," Sansosuke said sarcastically.
About 40 seconds later, Yahiko was able to stop.
"Finished?" Kaoru asked.
Yahiko grinned and nodded.
Kenshin rose to stand. "Well, their train will be arriving soon. We should go to greet them, de gozaru."
Kaoru also got up. "I'll come too." She brushed off wrinkles from her kimono. "Yahiko, Sanoske, and Megumi-san can watch the dojo until then."
Kenshin and Kaoru started heading out the door when a small voice asked, "Ken-nii, where're you going?"
"Yeah, where're you going?" another, younger voice piped in.
Kenshin smiled down at the two girls. "We're going to pick up Misao-dono and Aoshi from the train station, de gozaru."
Yahiko couldn't help but notice the way Ayame's and Suzume's faces brightened at the mention of Aoshi's name.
"You mean Aoshi-niichan's coming?" Ayame asked. Yahiko, Sanosuke, Megumi, and even Kaoru couldn't help but stare at her. Aoshi-niichan? What was the world coming to?
"Can we come with you, Ken-nii?" Suzume asked. All eyes turned to her.
Kenshin smiled. "I'm afraid not, Suzume-chan. We'll be back soon. Don't worry."
"Okay!"
Kenshin and Kaoru turned and left.
"What was all that about?" Kaoru asked.
"I'll tell you later," Kenshin replied.
Back IN the dojo, Megumi called Ayame and Suzume over to her.
"Yes, Auntie Megumi?" they asked.
Megumi smiled and said in a soft voice, "Why is it that you want to see Aoshi . . . nii?" She had to force that last part out. Megumi also saw Sansosuke and Yahiko cringe slightly. She had thought she felt her eye twitch for a moment.
Ayame and her sister smiled. "'Cause before he played with us, and he made cranes!" Ayume announced.
"Yeah, he made cranes!" Suzume echoed. Megumi couldn't believe her ears, but these two wouldn't lie . . .
"I still have mine," Ayame said. "Gramps sat on Suzume's."
Suzume pouted as Ayame pulled out a sky blue crane, as big as her hand. "I take it everywhere."
Megumi tried not to twitch. Instead, she smiled. "May I see?"
Ayame, a bit reluctantly, handed the crane to Megumi. As soon as it was in her possession, Sanosuke and Yahiko scrambled forth for a closer look.
"Oh. My. Gawd."
X
"That train ride sure was fun!"
Aoshi followed Misao off the train. Crowds swarmed around them, either getting off the train or handling luggage or whatever.
That's when it happened. An icy chill moved its way up Aoshi spine. He suddenly had his doubts about coming here. Whenever it happened, something bad usually happened shortly after . . .
"Misao! Over here!"
Misao and Aoshi looked over to where they could see Kaoru waving to them. Actually, she was probably just waving to Misao. Kenshin stood next to her.
"Hey! Kaoru!" Misao began running up to them. She turned back while still running. "Hurry up, Aoshi-sama!"
Aoshi decided to follow, walking of course. Misao reached the other two and she and Kaoru hugged.
"Welcome to Tokyo, Misao," Kaoru said.
Misao grinned widely. "It's great to be here." She turned her head. "Right, Aoshi-sama?"
Aoshi was a bit surprised when Misao spoke to her. "Aa."
Kaoru turned to him and bowed politely. "Hello, Aoshi-san."
Aoshi hesitated for a millionth of a second, and then bowed his head in return.
Kenshin's smile seemed to brighten. "It's good to see you again, Misao-dono, de gozaru. You too, Aoshi."
What was this? 'Talk-to-Aoshi-when-he's-least-expecting-it' day!?
"Aa."
"Well, 'can't do much standing around here! Shall we go now?" Kaoru asked.
"Yeah, let's go!" Misao agreed.
Saying the walk to the Kamiya Dojo was boring would be an understatement. The two girls walked ahead, their chatter seemingly endless. Aoshi and Kenshin followed quietly behind.
Aoshi didn't seem to have a problem with this set up, but Kenshin was a different story.
"Soooo, Aoshi, how have you been?"
"Fine." True
"Is Okina-dono doing well?"
"Yes." True
"Has anything special happened lately?"
"No." False
Aoshi knew Misao wasn't going to blurt out their experience with Hiko, so he felt relatively safe lying.
Kenshin fell into silence, trying to think of something else to talk about.
"Yahiko and Sanosuke are at the dojo, de gozaru."
Kuso.
"Megumi-dono is there, too."
Double kuso.
Kenshin added in a lower tone, "Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan are also there."
That's nice.
"They know you're coming."
And?
"They wish to play, de gozaru."
Triple kuso.
Aoshi's pace slowed for a split second, before returning to normal.
Kenshin seemed to read Aoshi's thoughts.
"What are you going to do?"
Aoshi didn't reply.
By the time they had reached the gate, Aoshi had made up his mind. He didn't want to outright say to the girls, "I don't want to play." Still, if he couldn't get out of it, the least he could do was keep it away from over half of the inhabitants of the dojo. AT LEAST Misao.
"Hey everybody! Misao's here!"
This would be Yahiko. Megumi hurried out.
"Not so loud! Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan are taking their naps."
"Sorry . . . Anyway, welcome to the Kamiya Dojo, home of the two greatest samurai there ever will have lived!"
"You have the right to dream," Megumi muttered. "Well, hello, Misao. It's certainly been a while."
Misao smiled brightly in response. "Way too long," she agreed. She turned to Yahiko. "So shrimp, have you gotten any better?"
"You'll see. When we spar again," Yahiko said challengingly.
"Yeah sure."
Next came Sanosuke. "Well, lookie who it is. The itachi musume from Kyoto."
Kaoru and Yahiko both had to refrain Misao from lunging at Sanosuke while screaming "DON'T CALL ME ITACHI!!!"
Kenshin watched this, oroing like mad. Sanosuke paused to laugh at Misao's dilemma, but he then turned to Aoshi, his smile instantly leaving his face.
"Shinomori."
"Sagara."
The two stood there glaring at each other. It was up to Megumi to break the attention.
"Aoshi," she said garnering his attention. He looked over to her. "Welcome to Tokyo."
Aoshi curtly nodded. "Aa."
"We should go inside, de gozaru," Kenshin suggested. "I'll show Misao-dono and Aoshi to their rooms."
Misao and Aoshi followed Kenshin inside and through a hallway. The rurouni paused before turning around. "Do you two want to share a room?"
'WHAT!?' Aoshi's mind screamed. Had Kenshin gone mad? Or did Okon put some crap in Aoshi's tea that morning to make him imagine it… again . . .
"Huh? Nah. Two rooms are fine. I like to have my space," Misao answered. Kenshin smiled and nodded.
"All right, then. Misao-dono, your room is right here, Aoshi's room is right next to it. You should get some rest; the train ride must've taken a long time, de gozaru. Perhaps we can all have some tea later."
And so Kenshin went back outside. Misao scowled and blushed a light pink.
"Jeez! I can't believe Himura said that! I mean, really! Can you believe it Aoshi-sama?"
Misao's answer was the sound of a shoji closing.
". . . I guess not."
Aoshi roughly tossed his bag aside. What was Kenshin trying to pull? He felt uncomfortable with the idea of him trying to play matchmaker. It was irritating. Very, very irritating. And scary.
He decided to sit down and meditate. Then there was a light knock on the door, interrupting this.
"Is anyone in there?"
Who the hell…?
"Ano . . . I don't think anyone's there," came a slightly older voice, but still very young.
"But Ken-nii said Aoshi-nii was in here!" the younger girl argued.
"But no one's answering!"
"But he said!"
"Go check then!"
"Um . . ."
"What?"
"I'm scared."
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
"Why don't you open it?"
"Fine! I think I will."
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
"What if there's a monster?"
"Oh, for the love of-"
The shoji opened a bit, and two pairs of eyes peered inside.
Then the shoji opened more, and Ayame and Suzume ran inside, up to Aoshi, and hugged him. His face turned into a look of shock and considerable uncomfort for a second, but then returned to its normal, stoic, appearance.
"Aoshi-nii! We missed you!"
"Yeah, we missed you a whole lot!"
Aoshi forced a of a small smile. "It's been a while, Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan."
Suzume smiled brightly and said, "Aoshi-nii, can you make another crane for me? Grampa sat on the one you made me."
Aoshi nodded. "Sure," he said kindly.
Normally, he wasn't so . . . nice around people. However, even he didn't have the heart to be cold and distant to young girls. Aoshi just hoped Sanosuke wouldn't show up.
"Did you bring the special paper?"
"Yes, Ayame-chan, can you hand me my bag?"
"Okay!" Ayame hurried across the room and retrieved Aoshi's bag. She handed the bag to him, and Aoshi began to look through his bag. Then he pulled out some colored, square paper out of the bag. Hurray for the bag.
"Yay!" the two girls cheered.
X
"Six-hundred! That should do for a light workout."
Yahiko wiped the sweat off his brow. He admitted, he was bored. He hadn't really expected Misao to go to sleep as soon as she arrived.
Speaking of sleep . . .
Weren't Ayame and Suzume usually up by now?
Well, there was nothing to do so . . .
Actually, they got really whiney if they didn't eat after their nap, so Yahiko didn't want them complaining all day.
Yahiko went inside the house and walked down the hallway to the room that the usually slept. That's when he heard a small cheer.
"Yay!"
Huh?
Yahiko headed toward the source and found that it was in Aoshi's room. He scowled. What was going on here?! Yahiko quietly sneaked over to the shoji and barely cracked it open. Ayame, Suzume, and Aoshi were sitting in the middle of the room doing . . . something (Yahiko couldn't tell), with their backs turned to him.
He thought he saw Aoshi freeze for a moment, but it happened so fast, Yahiko wasn't sure if he imagined it.
He watched as Suzume cradled something in her hands. "This doesn't look like a flower . . ." she commented. Then Aoshi whispered something in Ayame's ear. She smiled brightly, and moved to the side of the room, out of Yahiko's vision, with the door only being opened with a thin line.
Yahiko continued to watch Suzume and Aoshi when . . .
Ayame jumped in front of the door and exclaimed, "BOO!"
"Waaaahhh!!!" Yahiko stumbled backwards and fell down. "Oww . . ."
Ayame laughed like a little mad person, and Suzume joined in. The two offered to help him up while Yahiko was rubbing his rear.
"You got scared!" Ayame laughed.
"You got scared!" Suzume echoed.
Yahiko grumbled irritably. He raised an eyebrow as he watched Aoshi. The boy went and sat next to him. His eyes widened as he finally realized what the three's 'project' was. He continued to watch Aoshi until he spoke.
"Can I help you?"
Yahiko couldn't help but flinch at Aoshi's sudden inquiry, and at the inquiry itself. A million things ran through his mind at that moment. And ONE certain thought just stayed in his mind. One about a certain young waitress.
"Uh . . . er . . . well . . . Um . . . This girl . . ."
Aoshi continued folding, not paying any evident attention of Yahiko's muttering.
". . . at the Akabeko . . . you know . . . I kind of . . . well . . . like her . . . and . . . uh . . ."
Ayame and Suzume stared, obviously bored out of their minds.
"Maybe . . . she'd . . . like it if . . . you know . . . I sort of . . . made her one . . . so . . .
". . . Well . . .
". . . do you think . . . that you could . . . uh . . . teach . . . me . . . howtomakethose?"
X
Misao yawned. She lazily rose from her futon, rubbing her eyes. How long was she asleep?
She let out a "mmph" and redid her hair. The young shinobi finished braiding her hair. She sighed. Aoshi was most likely awake, so Misao decided to go talk with Kaoru and Kenshin.
"Yahiko makes bad cranes!"
"They're so ugly!"
Misao blinked twice. 'Huh?'
She left her room and was about to open the shoji to Aoshi's, but then Kenshin stopped her.
"Ah, so you're awake, Misao-dono. Would you like a snack to eat? Or how about some tea?" he asked.
"Oh! Um . . . that's fine, hey is there someone else in Aoshi-sama's . . ."
"I know! Kaoru-dono bought some sweets the other day, and I do believe that we still have some cake left . . ."
"But I heard some voices . . ."
"Did you also want a drink? Sessha can prepare some tea for you, de gozaru."
And so, the rurouni dragged Misao to the kitchen, against the latter's wishes.
As soon as the two were out of sight, Megumi poked her head around the corned. She tiptoed to Aoshi's room, and opened the shoji.
"What the . . ."
"Ohohohoho! So THIS is what you've been up to!" Megumi laughed. She hadn't been expecting Yahiko to be there.
The boy scowled. "Hey, what do you want?"
Megumi ignored him and picked up two cranes, on much messier than the other. "Oh my," she said, gesturing to the crumpled one, "Which one of you made this one?"
Neither Aoshi nor Yahiko replied, and Ayame and Suzume watched.
"And THIS one (the good crane), this one is so much better; it's very neat."
"Why? Do you want one?" Yahiko blurted out. Megumi frowned.
"That depends; I'd choose this one over the crumpled thing any day. Oh! Maybe Aoshi'd like to make a crane for a fair maiden such as myself." Megumi had to fight the urge to pinch Aoshi's cheek.
"Aoshi-nii can make good cranes!" Ayame said.
"Yeah! Really good!" Suzume chimed in.
The doctor sighed, then she forced out a smile. "I'm sure he can. Maybe later. How does a snack sound?"
"Can Aoshi-niichan come with us?" Ayame asked.
"Aoshi-nii can play with you later," Megumi said. She new she'd have to wash her mouth later. With soap. Lots and lots of soap. Wait… would that be toxic?
"Awwww . . ."
Megumi, Ayame, and Suzume left, and Yahiko was soon to follow.
Yahiko paused in the middle of the doorway and looked back to Aoshi.
"Hey . . . uh . . . thanks."
X
One hour later
"What do you mean, 'kick us out'!?" Yahiko yelled.
"Well, Megumi-san, Misao, and I decided that since all of the girls went out last time, all the guys should go out THIS time."
"But I don't want to!" he whined.
"Hey, I don't want to either!"
"Nobody cares what you think, Sano!"
"Maa, maa . . ." Kenshin said as he tried to calm everyone down.
"I don't even qualify as a guy guy! I'm ten!"
"Oh? So Yahiko-chan would like to be stuck in a dojo with three other women?"
"Uh . . ."
"As I thought," Kaoru said.
XXXXX
Okay . . . why don't you get a snack break or something?
This chapter's rather long . . .
XXXXX
So, Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Kenshin were standing outside the closed dojo gate. This continued for a while until something finally clicked in Sanoske's mind.
"Hey, what about Aoshi?"
X
Meditation.
It's a strange word.
It's strange to think it's a strange word.
A lot of words are strange.
Aoshi sat in the middle of his guestroom with his legs crossed. He never had a chance to change clothes, so he was still dressed in THOSE.
He supposed he wasn't really meditating, in comparison of his train of thought in the temple or in his room at the Aoiya.
So why was he sitting here?
He decided to assume it was because he felt like being a loner.
Err . . . alone.
Aoshi opened his eyes when he heard his shoji slide open.
"Oh my . . . You're still here? You know, Aoshi, all the other guys went out. Shouldn't you go with them? Only Kaoru, Misao, and I are here."
'As long as you keep out of this room.'
Behind Aoshi, Megumi brightened. "I know! I just made a new batch of potions that I've been dying to try out! Especially my new laughing potion, I'm sure that I've at least tripled the effect! I think I'll go get them right now!"
Aoshi froze, not that he was moving before, but the fact that Megumi even had those potions with her scared him. Why? That was a story in itself.
After Kenshin had loosened up from meditating, he said that he had to do some chores, leaving Aoshi alone for a while.
That's when he decided to try Megumi's potion.
She had said that she made it with laughing mushrooms, making him curious on how strong it really was.
He looked through Megumi's things until he found a small, grayish bottle.
He got some water and took a drop of the potion, mixing them together. He then drank one sip.
It was more like one-half sip.
Aoshi's hand flew to his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
Crap.
He hurriedly put the stuff away and dumped the rest of the water/potion out. Then he walked outside to find Kenshin doing laundry.
"W-What are you doing, Battousai?"
By the time Megumi got back, she found that Aoshi was no longer in his room.
X
So, Yahiko, Sanosuke, Kenshin, and Aoshi were walking down the streets of Tokyo, glancing at shops as they passed by.
"So," Sanosuke started, "what do we do?"
'We can eat cheese. How does that sound?' Aoshi's mind asked sarcastically. He was probably going to go crazy if he continued walking.
They continued walking anyway. Yahiko looked to a certain store, and his pace slowed.
"Yahiko, is something wrong?" Kenshin asked. The boy blinked and shook his head.
"Nothing."
Sanosuke looked over to where Yahiko's line of vision was. "Er. . . Isn't that a toy store?"
Yahiko scowled. "Are you kidding me? I'm the son of a noble samurai! I don't have time for kid stuff like that!"
Aoshi wished that Yahiko would shut up about being a "great samurai". It was annoying. Then again, Aoshi knew that Yahiko was trying to cover up from wanting to walk over to that store and buying something.
"You ARE a kid," said Sanosuke. Yahiko let out a "humph".
"I know!" Kenshin said with a smile. "Speaking of 'kid stuff', Yahiko, why don't we find a suitable present for Suzume-chan? I do recall that it's her birthday in four days."
"So how old does that make her? Two?"
". . . She's four now I believe, Sano."
"Close enough."
"A birthday present, huh?" Yahiko pondered over this for a moment. "Sound's good to me."
"All right then. Yahiko and I shall go find a nice present for her. Sano, why don't you and Aoshi go . . . do . . . something?" Kenshin suggested, his voice rising awkwardly on the 'something'.
"Like what?" Sanosuke asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.
Kenshin made a shrugging gesture. "I don't know. Go . . . get to know each other . . . better."
Aoshi seriously wanted to laugh. Kenshin's attempts to make everyone like each other better were starting to get a little desperate.
"How?" Sanosuke asked again.
"You could . . . uh . . . Why don't you buy something nice for Megumi-dono and Misao-dono?"
Oh, so now he was trying to play matchmaker.
"Kitsune? Nah."
"Oro . . . Well, Yahiko and I are going now."
"Wha…? Oi! Wait, Kenshin!"
X
"It's good for girls to go out shopping, but it's also nice for us to stay inside and just do other girl things."
Misao nodded in agreement before redirecting her attention to the small mirror in front of her. Megumi sat behind her, as she combed Misao's hair. Kaoru sat nearby, playing with her own hair.
"You know Misao," Megumi commented, "You have so much hair, it's longer than mine! I bet that you're going to cut it one day."
"But I like my hair!" Misao whined childishly. It was always this length – for as long as she could remember.
'Why did I start growing my hair?' she thought. She pondered over this, wincing whenever Megumi's comb happened to find a knot.
"By the way, Misao . . ." Megumi started again.
"Yeah?"
"Have you been following those tips?"
Misao turned her head at Megumi and raised an eyebrow. "Tips?"
Kaoru grinned. "You know . . . thoselittle instructions?"
"Huh?"
What the heck were they talking about?
"In the sweet shop?" Megumi added.
Realization swept over Misao's face as she paled and blushed at the same time. "Oh . . . those . . . tips . . ."
"Well?" Kaoru looked like she was about to burst out laughing.
"Yeah . . ." Misao sweatdropped as she remembered how Omasu and Okon blackmailed her.
"Really? Has it been working?"
"Wh-what?"
Misao was snapped out of her daydream by Megumi's question.
"Are they working?"
"Uh . . . that's . . . really personal, you know!"
Kaoru shook her head. "Come on, Misao. We're all girls here."
"Um . . ."
X
They ditched them. Aoshi hated that. What was he supposed to do now?
"Any idea what we should do?"
Sanosuke's grammar was horrible, too.
"No."
The ex-gangster stuffed his hands in his pockets. The two continued walking, Sanosuke glancing at passing girls every once in a while.
"Some weather, huh?"
". . ."
"Anything happen in Kyoto?"
". . ."
"Are you deaf?"
Aoshi continued ignoring him and walked ahead.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going to find Himura."
X
Yahiko and Kenshin had found a pretty hairpin for Suzume. (Yahiko bought colored paper. He wouldn't tell what it was for.)
"I think we should go find Sano and Aoshi. It'll be getting dark in about an hour," Kenshin suggested.
"Yeah, okay," Yahiko agreed.
"Oi, Kenshin!"
"Oro?"
Yahiko and Kenshin looked behind them. Sanoske hurried up to them. Aoshi was soon to follow. "Where were you guys? I was looking all over for you!"
"We were right around here! How could you have not seen us?" Yahiko asked.
Sanosuke shrugged. "Whatever."
"So, what have you two been doing?" Kenshin asked.
"We walked," Aoshi answered. You can't get any blunter then that.
". . . Oh."
"Hey Sano, how about we head down to the Akabeko for dinner?" Yahiko gave him "the look".
This was the perfect situation for the bet.
Sanosuke returned "the look". "Sounds good . . . Oi, Kenshin, how about treating us?"
Kenshin let out an oro. "Well . . . Sessha does have some extra money, de gozaru. It wouldn't be such a bad idea. As long as Kaoru-dono doesn't find out . . ."
"All right!" Sanosuke and Yahiko cheered.
Later, the four reached the Akabeko and went inside. They were greeted by Tsubame. Aoshi paused to look around the restaurant. It wasn't too big; he was pretty sure the Shirobeko in Kyoto was bigger. Basically, the place was one hallway, with tables on the sides with thin walls separating them, and then there was a staircase in the back leading to an upstairs; the kitchen was back there, too.
The young girl who greeted them had brown, shoulder length hair, and it was a little puffy. She wore a customary waitress attire (much like the one Sae wore), and had a tray in her hands.
Yahiko cheerfully greeted her. "Tsubame! Hi!"
Tsubame bowed politely. "Welcome."
"Tsubame . . . where is Tae-dono?" Kenshin asked.
The girl put on a small frown. "She's sick today . . ."
Sanosuke spoke. "So you're running the place by yourself?"
Tsubame nodded meekly. "Yes . . . there aren't too many customers today . . . So it's no trouble, really."
Yahiko smiled. "Well, we're just here for lunch, busu stayed at home."
"Well . . . I'll just find you a table . . ."
"Err . . . Tsubame?"
"Hai, Yahiko-kun?"
"I – I made these for you . . ."
He held his hand out - one badly made crane, one REALLY badly made crane, and a badly made flower.
Tsubame's eyes lighted up. "Thank you! There so pretty."
The funny thing was, they were BOTH blushing. Behind them, Kenshin was smiling, Sanosuke was trying not to laugh, and Aoshi was trying to pretend he wasn't noticing this.
"Shut up, Sano!"
The food, Aoshi had silently admitted to himself, was really good. It even rivaled against Omasu's cooking. He was eating silently. Actually, everyone was. The guys were sitting in a half circle in this order from left to right: Kenshin, Aoshi, Sanosuke, and then Yahiko.
Sanosuke belched loudly, breaking the silence.
"Oro . . ." Kenshin muttered. Yahiko burst out laughing.
"Nice one!"
Sanosuke sighed and leaned back. "I've done better."
"Sano . . ." Kenshin said.
The Sanosuke smirked, paying no heed to his friend. He looked over to Aoshi, who was currently eating some rice. Then he paid closer attention to his . . . current attire. Ever since arriving, Aoshi had found no time to change. Yes, even when meditating.
Sanosuke was about to comment about it, but he decided not to. There was work to be done. "Hey Tsubame! How about a bottle of sake?"
The young waitress turned to him quizzically. "Um . . ." She glanced nervously to Kenshin. ". . . Are you sure that's all right?" All of Tokyo knew about the news of when Sanoske was drunk last – it wasn't pretty.
"It'll be fine, de gozaru. A few drinks won't hurt," said Kenshin.
"Okay then . . ."
X
"Where's Aoshi-niichan?"
"Where's Ken-niichan?"
Megumi was loosing her sanity. Once the two girls figured out that the guys had left, they had been whining non-stop.
"Auntie Megumi . . ." they continued.
She sighed. "They . . . went . . . to . . . They went shopping."
"Oh," the sisters said simultaneously.
The two left, so Megumi decided to help Kaoru and Misao in the kitchen. Kaoru couldn't cook, and Misao didn't really know how to cook, so the former was probably teaching the latter. Megumi didn't want the 'bad cook' disease to spread.
As soon as she entered the kitchen . . . "You're not supposed to boil that!!"
X
"C'mon Kenshin! Just one sip!"
"Yahiko, you're too young, de gozaru!"
"Yeah, and you wouldn't want to do something dumb in front of your girlfriend, right?"
"Er . . ."
"YYeeeeeeeeeaaaapp. Thought so."
"Shut up."
Aoshi tried not to sigh. What. A. MORON. No wonder Saito made fun of him so much. His insults were well placed. Aoshi also had to try to keep his irritation from showing. Kenshin had quite a few drinks, Sanosuke was downright drunk, and if Yahiko kept nagging, Drunk Kenshin would let him have a bottle or two. Making Aoshi the guy who had to make sure the drunken morons got home safely. Or at all.
He took another sip of tea and took a deep breath.
"Woah . . . dizzy . . ."
That showed that Yahiko had now in fact become "intoxicated".
"Oi, Shinomori!!!" Sanosuke yelled unnecessarily loud, "You haven't had a drink yet!"
Nope.
"What are ya waiting for? Drink up!"
"No thank you."
"Aw c'mon!" Sanosuke nagged.
"No," Aoshi repeated a bit more forcefully.
Sanosuke sighed. "I didn't think it'd have to come to this."
What?
"Shinomori, hold still."
Oh-
(Later that night)
Aoshi was mad. No, he was livid. Better yet, he was downright pissed.
After making sure the three stooges were in there rooms, preparing for the hangover to come, the three girls demanded to know what had happened.
And he told them. Big mistake.
THEN Kaoru accused Megumi of it being Sanosuke's fault of wanting sake in the first place, then Megumi shot back that it was Kenshin's fault that Yahiko had alcohol underage (again), and then . . .
Actually, it wasn't a mistake. It was actually pretty funny.
ANYWAY, Aoshi was mad/livid/pissed because Sanosuke had JUMPED him, thus making Aoshi throw him of. And stuff.
Well, Aoshi could always make fun of him in the morning.
He was fortunate that night, compared to the one before, at least.
"136, 137, 139 . . ." Aoshi carefully counted each swing of his bokken. Before he usually used a shinai, but bokkens were heavier, therefore providing more exercise. At first it felt awkward, but Aoshi had to adjust. It was necessary of course. Part of the junior ninjas' training. "Adapt or die." To be precise, it was "Adapt or fail," but to Aoshi, they seemed like the same thing.
He could feel Okina watching him. Two months after the incident, Aoshi, now seven years (and four days) old had taken training way more seriously than before. In front of others, Aoshi was still the hyper little psycho that everyone was use to. However, when alone, he trained his body to unimaginable limits for his age. Aoshi had promised to keep what had happened a secret.
Evidently, at eight or nine, each junior ninja was told the truth. Of course, there was always that one special case that found out early.
The boy's eyes shone with determination and discipline. Okina was sure he'd make a fine shinobi one day. He didn't think this extreme training would last, however, it was just a faze of dealing with what happened.
Aoshi had now switched to kunai. He threw kunai at a hay dummy at the vital points. His technique was off, but at least he hit the target. Okina sighed and walked toward him.
"Aoshi, isn't it about time you took a break?" he asked.
"This IS my break," Aoshi answered, flicking his wrist, sending a kunai threw the dummy's forehead.
Okina sighed. "Just don't over do it."
"I know. Overexertion is a key point to failure."
That wasn't really the answer Okina was looking for. Oh well, it was just a faze, right?
Omasu could also watch Aoshi train. Or take a break, as he put it.
He really had changed, even if it was just two months. He smiled much less, Omasu could tell. She wouldn't see Aoshi truly smile until about three years later, when Misao was born.
Four years later, a few days after his first kill.
Finally! Aoshi found an opportunity to sneak out. He ran until he came unto a small clearing. A small stone stuck out of the center. He tightened his grip on some of the flowers in his hand. He placed them in front of the stone and began praying.
Afterwards, he just stared until a voice interrupted him.
"You made a grave?"
Aoshi snapped around. "Okashira . . . I . . ."
Misao's grandfather walked toward the marker and bowed his head. Then he looked to Aoshi.
"You realize we disposed of the body."
"You burned it," Aoshi said. "But I was able to recover some of the ashes and I buried them here."
"I see," Makimachi muttered quietly. "You do know that you can't bury every person you kill."
Aoshi's fist tightened. "Yes."
"Good. Then, we should go back."
"Hai."
"And Aoshi?"
"Yes sir?"
"I forbid you to ever come back to this place."
". . . Understood."
About five months later, Aoshi witnessed his mother die at the hands of . . . someone he would kill in a week. His father.
"You are a traitor to the Oniwabanshu. Your punishment is death."
"You think you can kill me, brat? I'd like to see you try."
By the time Okina and the other's arrived, it was already over.
The kills became more and more frequent. Aoshi didn't bother to keep track anymore.
Those memories . . . Aoshi wasn't sure if they scared him or not.
XXXXX
FINALLY! ::cries with joy and does happy dance::
I'm DONE.
Next chapter is probably going to be up in the year 2008. T.T
IT Begins. Beware of Tae!