Chapter 8: Blessings
Misao glared at the tall figure of the policeman from Hanabi's carriage. He never cared about anything except his Aku-Soku-Zan. With him around it would be ten times more difficult to get around. Now with the extra seven policemen, all supposedly hand picked by Saito, she and Hanabi would have to work out their role-switching with extreme attention to detail.
Thankfully, the arrival in Tokyo went smoothly. The ninjas were apparently a last effort on the part of the conspirators - at least for now. Misao, carefully swathed in the veil, stared out of the curtained as they rolled into the courtyard of the Katatomi household. She couldn't help but stare at the luxurious two-storied house with its brilliant red tiled roof and the spotlessly maintained outbuildings. A line of servants knelt in front of the main house who quickly began unpacking the carriages. The plan to smuggle Misao in was for her to squeeze into a small personal trunk which would be taken directly to Hanabi's room. Hanabi transferred all of the makeup, hairpins, and various items into a pillowcase, and would pass them off as toys for Kitai.
After a few tries, Misao managed to tuck herself into the trunk on her side, tucking one knee up to her chest, while the other would end up pressed uncomfortably against the lid to accommodate her arms. Hanabi assured her that she would be waiting in the room the instant the servants brought the trunk in to unlock it. When the trunk closed and Misao heard the brass lock slide into place, she had to fight a moment of panic. Then she heard the muffled voice of Aoshi.
"May I assist you with that, Lady Hanabi?"
Hanabi answered, "Shinomori-san, I thank you, but these are my personal things."
The box moved, and Misao grit her teeth at the abrupt jerk as it was lifted. "Besides, they will go to my room, and it is most inappropriate for you to follow me there."
Aoshi relented with a quite pardon.
After endless jostling and one un-gentle bump that made her ears ring, Misao heard the most welcome scraping of a key and the lid few open.
Gasping for breath, she rolled out of the trunk. "I never want to do that again!"
Hanabi giggled. "You look like a turtle who has just lost its shell."
Misao gave her a good-natured glare. "Just because I'm a little smaller than you doesn't mean you can stick me in a box whenever you wish." She turned back to the situation. "Where will Jiei be sleeping? Your father believes that I am a man, so there is no way that I will be next door. Aoshi-sama, believes that I am you - so it will not be so bad if he sees me sneaking in. But if either one catches us in the same moment, then the cover is blown."
Hanabi began repacking the trunk with it's rightful contents. "But we are in my home now, do you not think that the attacks will stop?"
Misao shook her head. "If Saito is right, and that some drug lord is after you for ransom, I don't think he would be giving up after trying so hard. We gave the enemy a run for his money and he's going to want it back in some way."
Hanabi sighed. "I suppose you are correct. If only my father were not so concerned with his income and would let me marry someone not so vitally influential. I would be happy with a three-room home if my husband had some care." She moved to her closet and pulled out a black velvet dress. "I have something for you. That outfit of yours looks rather unprofessional." She took out a pair of shears and ruthlessly cut the dress in half.
"Hanabi!"
The noblewoman merely shrugged. "I didn't like it anyway. It was drab - something my father had me wear at my mother's funeral and I've hated it ever sense. It is redeeming to know that it is going to a much nobler cause."
With a sigh, Misao let the matter drop and took the time to look around the room and take note of the delicate wall hangings, elegant furniture, and the silken pillows. Everything was first class material, and it was only one room.
A window doubled as a balcony overlooking a side garden with koi swimming in two pools linked by a small waterfall. Carefully cultivated trees created a miniature landscape that descended into a second rock garden. The small stones had been raked in a classical ripple to signify water that curled around carefully chosen boulders.
This was a house fit for a lord but owned by an accountant. Misao's curiosity was piqued.
"Hanabi, how much underhanded transactions go on with your father?"
Hanabi paused and looked shocked. "Under handed? You mean does he accept bribes? I have no idea."
Misao frowned. No, she wouldn't have any idea what went on in a man's world. Noblewomen were meant to be seen and used as tools. The mere fact that Hanabi had been so extensively trained with the sword was unique to her class.
"I think I'm going to go check some things out later - if you do not mind pretending not to be here."
The older woman's eyes were dark and confused. "Of course."
She hated to do it, but for the sake of her new friendship she would have to risk it. Besides, if Aoshi believed that Hanabi was Jiei, they could manipulate him to concentrate on the house by letting Hanabi be herself while Misao slipped out.
Misao donned her disguise, and waited for Hanabi to return from her early dinner complaining of a pain in her head. Carefully closing the door behind her, the two waited for first Rikoteki, then Aoshi to check on her. Then Misao slipped open the window and crept through the gardens to the side gate. Taking a look at the rusted hinges, Misao opted to simply jump the wall. She immediately made for the closest Oniwaban contact - an old couple named Shuma and Che.
They were understandably skeptical at the appearance of a black-clothed stranger, but Misao quickly drew the Okashira sign in the dirt and they were obligated to cooperate. She sent off her request and then took off to her second errand. There were only two more days before Kenshin and Kaoru's wedding. Her friends deserved some explanation for her absence and this would most likely be the only chance she would have before Aoshi would become suspicious. Darting through the alleys and occasionally across rooftops, Misao pulled her veil off, and unwrapped the braid from her head so that it fell in its old-fashioned way, though shorter, down her back.
When she was a block away, she unstrapped the sword from its hiding place against her spine and wrapped it in the veil before tucking it behind some trash in the last alley. She would still look odd, showing up to congratulate a betrothed couple dressed in black, but that could not be helped. Determinedly putting on her old genki smile, she marched up the road to the Kamiya dojo.
She caught Sano lounging on the porch chewing a twig. He sat up and called out,
"Hey everybody - the weasel is here!"
Kaoru emerged from the dojo wearing her old yellow kimono with the sleeves tied back and a dust mop in one hand. "Misao! We were worried you weren't going to make it! How -" She paused at the sight of the young ninja's cloths.
Kenshin came around the corner of the house with his own greeting. "Miss Misao, we were worried when we hadn't heard from you..." He also paused, sharp violet eyes taking in her outfit and her demeanor. "Miss Misao, has something happened?"
Misao kept her smile firmly in place. "I just came to offer my best wishes for your marriage. I'm sorry that I will not be able to attend, but some things have been going on that interfere with the schedule."
Sano frowned. "When did you get so formal, weasel?"
Misao looked down at her feet, unable to think of a proper answer. Kenshin, with his intuition, answered for her, "It is Aoshi, isn't it. Has he done something to hurt you again?"
Kaoru sighed almost silently from behind him and Misao was struck with the urge to defend the ex-Okashira. "No - well yes, it is about him, but I've chosen to do this on my own. My decision has nothing to do with him."
Kenshin smiled gently. "Perhaps it would be best if you came inside and explained."
Misao shook her head. "I don't have time, and I'd appreciate it if you pretended I had never been here. Aoshi is trying to find me, but I've decided that it is best for the both of us if I learn about myself without my dependency on him. I want to be stronger - for him, and for me."
Sano stood and walked up to her, looking straight in her face. "Ya know, that's the sort of thing that sent Ice Man over the edge in the first place."
"Sano!" Kenshin reprimanded.
Misao didn't flinch. "I know that - but I am not doing it for any title. This is to see if I am still just a child, or if I can move on - and if I do move on, will my feelings change? Or will they hold true. I have to know."
Kaoru set her mop down and came forward to give the younger woman a strong hug. "Take care, Misao. I understand your reasons and if you ever want a place to rest, the door will always be open."
Kenshin was still eyeing her closely. "However, I do not think Aoshi will be so quick to let you go, am I right? He has followed you, has he not?"
Misao slowly nodded.
"Is that not enough? There was a time, I recall, that you said you would never stop searching for him. And now he is searching for you. Are you willing to inflict the same concern on someone you love as they did to you?"
Tears began stinging her eyes, but she faced Kenshin without hesitation. "I have Aoshi back now, but he only sees his weakness. That is all he has seen for nearly two years. What is the use of offering my heart when he cannot see it with his own? Because I have become so concerned with what he believes, I have lost myself and I want to get it back. Is that so wrong?"
Kenshin closed his eyes and relented with a slight bow. "Then I offer you my hope for you and Aoshi in the future."
Misao laughed and swiped at her tears. "And I was the one coming here to offer my blessing to your wedding."
Sano tugged her braid. "It's a good thing Yahiko is at the Akabeko, he couldn't keep this secret for two minutes. How ironic that this time around the Ice Man is chasing the weasel."
Misao indiscreetly stomped on Sano's foot and ignored his curses. With one last smile she turned back to the gate.
Kenshin spoke just before she closed the door, "Don't worry, Miss Misao, we will keep your secret, so long as you are not harmed by it."
She gave them her old victory sign. "I'll be fine!"
Returning to where she had hidden her weapon, she backtracked to Shuma and Che. The report had just come in, and she read the paper with narrowed eyes. Tossing the couple the remainder of her savings, she tucked the report into her uniform and sprinted back to the Katatomi household.
Omura was definitely a new power in the underground - however he was not new in organizing his resources. He had no great need for money. So why would he organize a complex and dangerous scheme like abducting a future nobleman's wife? And why did Fujita Goro's name show up as an inside contact for the drug lord? A piece of the puzzle was still missing.
He had to give her respect for her technique. Aoshi passed by Rikoteki's office on his third round of the evening. Each time he had done so by Hanabi's room, he had been forced to listen very closely to pinpoint if she were still present. Then on the fourth round, when everyone had gone to bed, he had felt a slight change in the air flow in the hall. A window was open inside. Aoshi silently passed through the entrance to the main house and moved to the garden.
In the dim starlight, the flash of honed steel caught his eye. Carefully watching his footsteps, Aoshi entered the rock garden and stood in the shadow of one of the carefully trimmed pines. Jiei, dressed in new cloths of velvet black was slowly moving from pose to pose, his sword dipping and curling through the air pausing in some extension counterbalanced by an arm or leg. Elegantly, the weapon danced, the wielder seemed only to follow. Aoshi recognized it as an exercise of control, the slim figure twisting, the motions gaining speed as he moved the sword from hand to hand.
He frowned, sensing no fighting ki from the bodyguard. When he thought back on the matter, he had never sensed any offensive energy when he had battled side by side. Emotionless - perfectly unreadable. It would be some cause for alarm, had he not also witnessed the open surprise in the disguised woman's eyes. She had been trained in some martial arts that channeled her emotions to somewhere other than the actual battle. Perhaps she could give the Battosai a challenge.
It was rather frustrating, though beautiful to watch. He was hard pressed to read each motion. Aoshi paused again. Frustrating? Wasn't an emotionless state ideal for battle? Misao had always fought with her heart, her determination shining like the sun and fueling her every move. Yet it made her predictable. He could always tell when she had reached her patience limit by the flashes of green in her eyes, just as the deepening blue revealed the process of her musings that made her such a good leader.
There had been a time when he had fought with his heart - for the love of each perfectly executed attack or defense. The passion that drove him to be the best, drove him above all others not for the glory, but for the satisfaction that he could do no better. How could this woman move so perfectly without harnessing her heart?
Then he felt a flicker of something, a split moment that teased his senses. His eyes narrowed, catching a falter in the sword's movement. The figure halted, poised, then relaxed.
"Why are you here, Shinomori-san?"
Aoshi did not respond, waiting for Jiei to face him. When he did, the shadows hid his eyes. The low, half-whispered voice came again, as if afraid to wake the slumbering garden.
"Why do you watch from the shadows?"
Aoshi slowly stepped closer, feeling the other tense. "I was remembering a time when someone I knew would train at any hour of the day to prove themselves."
"Do you speak of yourself?"
"Partially." Jiei turned his back again as Aoshi came within a few feet. "And I also am thinking of someone dear to me."
"A girl."
"Aa, a strong girl, though not as disciplined as yourself."
Jiei made a slight noise that was indecipherable. Aoshi pressed on, "Why do you do this?"
"It is my job."
"No, it is mine for the time being. Are you angry with your father? Do you wish to risk your life for a few moments of artificial freedom?"
Again he felt that strange flicker from the disguised woman. She answered coldly, "Artificial? So, they may be, but I will take what I can."
She stepped away and in three bounds, had leapt to the balcony overlooking the garden. Aoshi watched the window slide shut before returning to his rounds.
