WARNING: Spoilers! If you don't know who Kenji is, please read at your own risk!
WITH DUE CREDIT: This fic was loosely spun off from two fics - "Over the Sting" by sasori and "Chronicles of a Rurouni", one of my earlier fics.
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Yesterday's Shadow is Tomorrow's Twilight
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Chapter 26: Dinner Discussions
Misao and Kenji were already in the spacious hall, laying out the floor cushions,
when Aoshi and Soujirou stepped in. The kunoichi turned instantly, her Aoshi-o-meter
possibly having alerted her to the presence of the taller ninja. "Aoshi-sama!"
She squealed with the same manner of innocent joy she had from since her younger
days. Bounding happily towards the man, she began to briefly update him about
the happenings in the temple.
"Himura-san," Soujirou took the opportunity to make himself scarce, stepping instead towards the morose boy. Holding out the clean hakama, the wanderer continued, "I found some spare clothes in the storehouse outside and thought you might appreciate having a new set of hakama. And well, because your current one smells kind of wrong, doesn't it?"
Kenji blinked once, then attempted to glare at the older person. "And whose fault do you think it was?"
The darker-haired person had the courtesy to look sheepish. "By the way, have you seen Yukishiro-san around?" He politely changed the subject, glancing about, as if believing that by so doing he would see Enishi disengage himself from one of the shadows in the corners.
"Not since we last talked to Okina," Kenji shrugged. He glanced tentatively at the cushions in his hands, then shot his companion an evil, intentional grin. Without a word, he pushed them all to Soujirou, leaving only the clean hakama in his hands. "You take care of the zabuton," Kenji gestured at the cushions, "I'll go change into something more suitable for dinner."
"Aa..." Soujirou was unable to really refute, "Yes, sure. Please go right ahead, Himura-san..." His voice trailed at the last word. Kenji had not remained behind to hear his well wishes - the boy had simply trodden out of the room with a happy skip in his step that was almost scary to watch.
Smiling, since that seemed like the only natural thing to do, Soujirou looked at the zabuton Kenji had handed to him and wondered what he was supposed to do with it. He was almost about to give chase after Kenji to find out when Misao stopped him with a holler. "Hey, Tenken!" Soujirou winced at her choice of calling. "Don't run away with the zabutons, lay them out on the floor already. We're going to have dinner soon. You'll need those cushions to get comfy and stuff."
"Okay, Misao-san," Soujirou nodded, a pained smile taking over his natural one. "But my name is Soujirou, not 'Tenken,' or any variation of it. I would really appreciate it if you stopped calling me that."
"Why?" The ninja girl was baffled. Genuinely baffled. "Everybody calls you that."
"No they don't-"
"Oi, Tenken," the shouji door slid open to reveal a calm, unsuspecting Enishi. "What's for dinner?"
There was a pronounced silence.
For a long, long time.
"What the hell's going on here?" Enishi was irritated by the lack of response to his question. He took a sweeping glance around the room and stopped abruptly when his glance fell on his long-time partner. "Nevermind. I don't want to die yet," he quickly covered for his previous statement. Apparently, he had been hanging out long enough around Soujirou to be able to read impending doom from the younger person's expression when he saw it. Wisely, he directed the question instead to the next available person. "Hey weasel, what's for dinner?"
It was at this point of time that Misao felt a slight twinge of understanding for Soujirou and his reprehension at being called by a nickname he did not like. "Food, you idiot," she decided that she should let it slide, just to demonstrate that she had trained her acceptance well throughout the years. "Things you eat to make sure you wake up tomorrow energized and not deflated."
Snorting, the pale-haired man took a seat beside Soujirou, who handed him a zabuton with a bit more force than usual. He accepted the cushion and carefully glanced at his companion, wondering if it was safe to sit beside him yet. Opposite them, Aoshi had already settled down comfortably, limbs folded and eyes closed in meditation. Beside the lively Misao, who flopped down beside him happily, the taller ninja was the very picture of tranquility. Misao attempted to make small talk, and Aoshi obliged by nodding or shaking his head to her queries. Before long, however, Okina entered the room, followed by Okon and Omasu, who brought along trays of prepared food for consumption.
The oldest person sat down beside Misao, scanning the room briefly. "Where is Kenji?" He asked, looking in Soujirou and Enishi's general direction. Then, a thought struck him and he turned to look at Misao instead. "You didn't drown him in the well or something, did you?"
"Jiiya!" Misao gaped. But before she could put up an argument, the boy in question stepped into the room quietly, cutting all intended conversation short. "Kenji!" She snapped instead, causing the boy to jump visibly. "Where have you been?"
"I-In the bathing room... changing my hakama... ?" He turned gingerly to face his aunt, a slight shiver precipitating through his skin. "My old one was bloodied..." he held said bloodied garment out, pointing at the large swab of blood swathed across the otherwise white cloth.
"Nevermind that, Kenji," Okina waved nonchalantly. "Sit down. We'll be having our meal soon."
Nodding, the fiery-haired boy settled down quietly beside Soujirou, who passed him a cushion as well.
The trays were set before them - a row of three guests facing a row of their three hosts. Anticipation was heavy in the air, made thicker by the suspenseful silence all in the room seemed to entertain. For a while, nothing but the shuffling of trays and clinking of porcelain could be heard. It was not until the food were completely laid out, and Okon and Omasu had departed with a cheery "Have a nice meal!" that one of the six presently in the room began to stir.
"We seem to be in need of an understanding," it turned out to be Aoshi who spoke up, surprising nearly everybody in the room, "so here is what has happened so far," he wasted no time in getting to the crux of the matter. "Saitou's predictions were right. The Oniwabanshuu acting as a decoy for the official spy network in the country has freed them to more ease of movement than if there had not been a distraction. At the same time, we were granted access to a host of spies and counter-spies who were despatched to ensure that we did not get in the way of the Yuugure organisation. That was their undoing, since we have gained some vital information through those spies. My men has just informed me about the validity of what we have gathered so far. What is left now is for us to put what we know into action."
There was an understandable, awe-struck silence after Aoshi's lengthy explanation. Even Okina blinked in surprise at his previous protege. He then coughed discreetly, so that all attention now shifted to himself.
"Aoshi is right," the older person nodded slightly, stroking his goatee. "The location of the Yuugure main headquarters is in Kyoto. And by that, we mean it to be the true base of operations, the head from which all commands and actions are sent out. This is a staggering, large-scale organisation bent on destroying this system and inciting civil uproar. And it appears we have finally secured their exact location."
"'It appears?'" Enishi raised an eyebrow at the notion. He leant away from his tray of untouched food, noticing with detached interest that none of the others had touched theirs either. "What do you mean? You say you have information but you can't confirm it. That can hardly qualify as information at all, then."
"Of course, a man of your experience will be aware of the dangers of jumping to conclusions," Aoshi cut in, looking meaningfully at Enishi, while the latter reciprocated with a challenging glare. "In this case, I assure you that it will be much easier to act when we have sterling, solid information." He paused, taking a cursory glance at his audience. "Sometimes, the hardest person to convince could be ourselves."
When the sinking silence took long enough to settle, Okina sighed at the stalemate. "The reason why we're being so cautious is really because the location this time involves an important building in Kyoto. As such, some crucial people are involved as well. It will be wise on our part not to rush in without knowing the full story. I think," Okina tapped the brim of his teacup thoughtfully, "that this is the reason why Aoshi has been keeping his silence from the official police until now."
Heads immediately turned to the tall, brooding ninja for a reaction of any sort, but were sorely disappointed to find none.
It was Enishi who eventually sneered, "That walking chimney isn't as dumb as you give him credit for." It was a jibe at Okina's defence of Aoshi, and all who were present knew it, though they knew better than to comment. After a brief pause, the white-haired man smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. "Well? What's the plan then? We gonna sit around and wait for more information to fall from the sky?"
"I have mentioned at the outset that we do need to take some form of action," Aoshi's annoyance was evident in his tone, and Enishi's smirk just grew wider when he noted that. "The Yuugure has been procuring a large supply of ceramic wares during the past few months, and we have been trying to trace that. They may wish to use these wares as an official cover for their underground work, so if we can pierce through that cloud of secrecy, we should be on the right track."
"Ceramic wares?" Soujirou spoke up for the first time since the discussion progressed into place, the light in his eye indicating that he remembered something that may be of importance. He looked to Enishi in a candid moment of confusion and enquiry, but was rewarded with nothing but a firm shake of the head on Enishi's part. His agitation ebbed slowly away, and the younger wanderer returned to staring at the food on his tray.
"There have been major, recorded trade in ceremic wares with the agents of the Yuugure," Aoshi confirmed again, choosing to ignore the silent conversation between Soujirou and Enishi. "We have been unable to track its sources yet, but information shows that there is going to be another large trade soon. This may be our one and only chance to trace the sources and fit the final puzzle. Then, we can pass the information to Saitou, and leave him to make the decisions thereon."
"Aoshi-sama is right," Misao had been playing with her pair of chopsticks and was now tapping it impatiently against her miso bowl. "Haste begets failure. What could be worse than wrong information at this point of time? It'll be better to approach this issue with caution."
Both Kenji and Enishi eyed the girl with caution indeed, both connecting her sudden words of wisdom with the possible presence of Aoshi in the same room. Only Soujirou remained poker-faced, as it was his usual expression anyway. "So," the darker-haired wanderer was saying, "how long more? How long more before we can take any sort of action at all?"
Aoshi appeared to consider the question, as he took his bowl of miso into his hand and held it at mouth-level. "Three days," he uttered in a voice that was neither loud nor soft. "Three days later, at the festival. One of the spies planted in this temple will be sure to have movement. We will commence action once that happens." Falling into silence, the tall man took a sip at the miso, before it got too cold for consumption.
On his cue, everybody else prepared to do the same. A lively jitter rippled through the air, and the tension eased slightly. While everybody else brought their food to their mouth, Aoshi set his miso bowl down and frowned more than he usually did.
"Misao," he addressed the younger ninja sombrely. "Who stirred the miso today?"
Blinking owlishly, the girl replied, "Kenji did."
"I see..." Aoshi stated mutedly, leaving all others to guess at what the problem was. Enishi took tentative sniffs at his own bowl of miso, while Soujirou courageously drank a mouthful. Everybody waited for his reaction, and got none, for he remained as poker-faced as ever. If it was even possible, his smile entered new levels of plasticity.
"Don't quote me on this," Enishi stressed, "but that look on his face probably means, 'do not touch the miso.'"
"But why?" Kenji protested edgily.
"Whatever is potent enough to shock the Tenken into that expression is reason enough for me not to touch it," the ex-mafia boss calmly explained. He then put a hand to his forehead. "Of all the things to pick up from your mother!"
Kenji's senses tingled, and he narrowed his eyes at Enishi. "How did you-" He had meant to question the comment about his mother, but could not finish his sentence when Misao cut into the conversation.
"And here I was, hoping I could set him straight before he fell into the dark side..." The ninja shook her head regretfully. Soujirou was still frozen in place, whilst Aoshi and Okina chose to concentrate on the edible food.
Distracted from Enishi's initial comment about Kaoru, the little redhead protested again, "But I didn't do anything to the miso!"
Beside him, Enishi snorted. "You stirred it." He pointed out.
"So?" Kenji rebutted, unable to see the connection.
"Your skill is so lousy you can't even stir miso without giving it new degrees of yuck." Enishi hadn't even needed to think before replying. "Must you really ask?"
Effectively shut up until he found a good way to refute that, Kenji sat through the whole of dinner with a face nearly the colour of his hair.
Nobody touched the miso anymore, and Soujirou recovered just in time for dessert.
... to be continued
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3/3/04
xd@tougenkyou.net
A/N: ya know, firuze? it works! O.Ox next time aoshi kicks
a tantrum and refuses to talk, just threaten to marry misao to soujirou. and
if there's still no response, threaten to marry her to enishi. :D he'll give
in. oh yes he will. XD XD XD many thanks to firuze also for helping me settle
some glaring plotholes in this chapter! m(_ _)m
And because I was in the mood:
VERY VERY VERY LONG REVIEW RESPONSES (don't worry, i don't do this often XD)
Zeromaru: i really want to read your HP fics but... *_*x i wouldn't have a clue what's going on! XD XD XD (i have never read a single HP book b4...) hey, don't worry bout them reviews :\ they'll come in! in the meantime, I have confidence in your abilities. on and on! :D
Sailor-Earth13: no one in the dojo knows where kenji is at this point of time, but we'll see. XD thanks for reading!
Silver Nightingale: thanks for sticking with me for so long! *glomp* if you forget about me, i'd be terrified! T_Tx really!
leblephenix: i'm glad you liked the suspense in the chapter! :D hopefully this chapter's got enough for you too! XD
Brittany67: thanks! XD i really appreciate that you remembered this fic. i'm always happy to know that someone out there's enjoying it!
Shahrezad1: HIII!! *GLOMP* yes, you three are the three 'S's! XD too bad the new character was just a random filler ninja. XD thanks for reading!
April-san: *tackleglompback* APRIL-SAAAAAAAAN!!! i wrote that aoshi and soujirou scene specifically with you in mind. :) i'm so glad you liked it! monday blues! just like me! XD hope everything's better now!
Chibi Kitten Paw Prints: bill cosby? o.Ox you guys write the strangest reports, you know that? XD XD XD O______Ox another poem SO WELL DONE! *grovels before the chibi kitten* i will bring that poem down with me to the grave this time!! *glomp* being a kid at heart is good! :D coz children are the most fascinating creatures in this world XD *glomps again* THANK YOU!
EEevee: mwahahahah! i left you and fyyrrose a note in 'cat fight' ^_~x really. the insanity you guys brew would put me to shame. i'm not sure about sasori though, she can metamorphosis into a new level of insanity altogether *runs and hides from sasori* school is good! XD just don't fall to the exams!
Fyyrrose: *too busy laughing to do a proper review reply* no, really XD you are right. you + EE = major insanity. XD i left you and EEevee a note in 'cat fight' ^_~x hope you enjoy my version of insanity. XD well, thanks for threatening me to not kill soujirou, because actually i had at one point of time... nevermind. i should not complete that sentence if i value my life. O.Ox i'm keeling over all right. XD in laughter. taboo? i don't think so. XD *pats fyyrrose on back* glad you had fun! XD
and... SASORIIIIIIIIIIIIII: *grovels and begs for more time* i swear, i'm working on the timeline! O.Ox here is ma latest offering in chapter, please accept it! in the meantime, where're the rest of MBoD??! XD XD XD *glomps sasori and refuses to let go until she posts more*
and thanks to all who have been reading!