In Our Garden of Snow and Roses
"Between the conception,
And the creation,
Between the emotion,
And the response,
Falls the Shadow."
- T. S. Eliot
(The Hollow Men)
The Little Ninja Girl
Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the
small, it enkindles the great.
- Comte de Bussy-Rabutin
(Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules)
The forest they entered was lush and green. The little white car rumbled down the walk steadily until night darkened the path before them and evening settled in merrily. Seta Soujirou rambled on about his life for much of the journey while Kaoru dozed in the backseat. Her amiable driver chattered on and on about the town he used to live in and the people he knew. Kaoru learned about the morning milking and the song of the autumn festival; she learned how the church bell sounded in the afternoon, signaling the end of the working day; there was the interesting tidbit about the distinctive rattling that always sprouted forth from the throat of Old Man Moony as he laid snoring on his porch in the daylight hours only to get up during the night to watch the graveyard. Kaoru even learned about the local girl that the young man liked to have asked to the dance of the Winter Solstice if he had been around for that. So time went as the luxurious car that Megumi and Sanosuke bestowed upon Kaoru, with all the well-wishes they could give her, rumbled its way back once more into the real world.
The moon was a half smile in the sky when the two of them stopped at a warm and merry looking inn by the side of the dark road they traveled. The old bulb-light on the front porch flickered like a small flame, dimming and then brightening in an incessant pattern of dancing shadows. The muted boisterous music crept from beneath the door of the inn and filled the quiet woods with echoing sounds of human warmth and company, a strange and startling contrast to the unnaturally quiet surroundings.
Kaoru stepped out of the car with a grateful smile at Soujirou, who held her door opened for her in a very gentlemanly manner. His smile seemed more natural now than the one she had seen reflecting back at her from the rearview mirror, earlier. A hint of shy pink graced his cheeks when their eyes met awkwardly over the top of the car door for the first time after hours of being together, but not face to face, and they stumbled a bit on who was to lead the way as their breath misted the cold, night air.
The woods seemed dark and strangely ominous to Kaoru's eyes as she glanced curiously behind her to the other side of the dirt road Soujirou ended up leading the way up to the inn so he did not take note of her uneasiness. The densely populated trees somehow lacked the familiarity of the forest she grew up next to and the atmosphere itself seemed strangely forbidding when just a few hours ago the forest had seemed quite inviting. Shaking her head at her unease, Kaoru hurried after Soujirou and they entered the welcoming glow of the old roadhouse together.
The door opened and immediately they were assaulted with light and sound. The boisterous music they had heard hints of when they had approached the door was turned just loud enough to fill the entire hallway they stepped into with the warmth of welcome, but it was also just low enough prevent too much of the sound from slipping outside. The receptionist desk was empty, but a bell sat with a small red ribbon tied to its richly painted brown handle. Kaoru looked around at the pictures collected in the hallways of people that either worked there or travelers passing through. The muff that Megumi and Sanosuke had given her had kept her hands warm from the frosty air, but after stepping into the inn, it felt strangely inappropriate to keep her hands buried within the soft fur.
The tinkling of the bells made Kaoru turn and see that Soujirou had scrutinized the bell enough to experimentally ring it. The boyish look on his face made her smile, and the hostess that came to answer seemed to have felt the same way. "May I help you?" The woman asked as she swept gracefully into the room, eyes kind but shrewd as they eyed Soujirou.
"Oh yes!" Soujirou eagerly replied with a grin. "We're mighty hungry and looking for a place to stay for the night, as well," he said as he patted his stomach. "Do you have any available rooms, here?" he inquired.
"Yes, we do," the woman answered excitedly. "You're the first customer we had in days. Rumors of bandits have been keeping everyone away!"
"Bandits?" Kaoru inquired at the unsettling news before Soujirou and she shared a look of puzzlement at this declaration. The woman's eyes seem to gleam as they landed on Kaoru, or rather, the material of Kaoru's clothes as the young girl was scrutinized as well.
"Why, didn't you hear?" The hostess asked innocently, "There have been rumors of bandits around these parts for the last few years!"
Soujirou scratched his head thoughtfully. "Ah! So this is the place I've read about in the newspaper!" He grinned happily when he remembered.
Kaoru glared at him a bit harshly at this, not at all pleased. "Idiot!" she huffed, "I can't believe you would forget such a thing!"
Looking extremely apologetic, the young man waved his hand in front of himself, trying to placate the agitated looks he was receiving from the younger girl. "Sorry, sorry!" he chuckled in unapologetic good humor. "I don't get out much so this particular tibit escaped my thoughts. Truly I'm sorry, but I was so excited about the trip that I did not think of the dangers." There was a gleam in Soujirou's eyes that made Kaoru doubt his words. The young man did not seem to be an adventure seeker, but Kaoru was beginning to pick up in the things that Soujirou told her of that there was more to this young man than meets the eye.
Kaoru sighed. It was too late now, so she shot Soujirou another stern look before turning to the amused hostess. "A room for two then," she said as primly and as adult-like as she remembered seeing Megumi acted with such admirable grace.
"Method of payment?" the hostess asked with a nod of her head. Kaoru rummaged through her bag to pay but Soujirou put his hand gently to halt her movements.
"Megumi San and Sanosuke San insists that all such things be provided for from them," Soujirou smiled down at the bewildered Kaoru.
Surprised by this, she stared at him wide-eyed as he inquired for the price and began to lay the money on the table. "I-I can't let you do that!" Kaoru cut in angrily. "They have done so much for me already, and so have you! I can't accept anymore of your aid." she insisted.
"No," Soujirou cut her off firmly, his smile almost disappearing from his face but it was the firm and stubborn glint in his gaze that quieted Kaoru from further protests. "They insisted," Kaoru was left sputtering before the amused hostess as Soujirou walked inside where the hostess had pointed them in the direction of dinner.
"Hey!" Kaoru waved and chased after him. "I'm not done with you yet!"
"Do you think...?" the hostess inquired as a shadow fell upon her after Soujirou and Kaoru disappeared down the hall.
"Rich enough for a profit to last us through winter," the voice answered. "Too bad she's so young, she'd be a beautiful woman one day." The voice lamented.
The hostess sighed in utter exasperation at this. "Hentai," she muttered as she cast a pitying glance at the doorway their young guests disappeared into.
-
Kaoru sipped her soup with care as her eyes wondered over the warm wood paneling and framed pictures. From outside, the noise was loud enough for her to have thought that the place was packed, but she soon discovered that hardly anyone was here. Maybe the other guests have already retired, but the hall was empty and so was the dinning room.
"It's eerily empty, isn't it?" Kaoru inquired after Soujirou. All the stories that Kenshin told her about bandits and robbers came to mind as she sipped her soup. She was suddenly very unease over the entire situation.
"It is a roadhouse," Soujirou scratched his head thoughtfully. "Traveling season has long passed, so it's not too unexpected that we'd find such a place lacking in guests."
"Still," Kaoru insisted as she bit into the bread, "something seems off here." Beneath the warm music and delicious food, something seemed off in the inn to Kaoru. Everything seemed to be a surface facade, and Kaoru wasn't sure she wanted to know what was beneath the warmth. Looking this way and that, she couldn't help but feel as if the very place came from a book and she had just stepped into somebody else's story. Her watch told her it was approaching midnight, and Kaoru felt suddenly like Ali Baba trapped within the thieves cave, waiting for his executioners to return. It was a strange feeling that she could not describe or explaining the origins of, but it was there like the silent forest on the other side of the road waiting to be acknowledged.
Shrugging off her unease, she forced a smile at Soujirou. "Bed time?" The young man inquired innocently.
"Yup," Kaoru yawned into her hand as she stretched. "This is far past mine. I'm so sleepy." She picked herself up from her chair as a wave of dizziness hit her. "Soujirou San..." she murmured as she fell back onto the chair. "My body feels... heavy..."
The alarms in her head started to fade as Soujirou's slumped form fuzzed before her eyes and all things went into darkness. Somewhere, she heard someone's clothes rustling and voices falling away.
"Are they asleep?" a man's voice inquired.
"Of course, they are," another answered haughtily. "I know what I'm doing!"
"Maybe we should slit their throats first," another suggested.
A ruckus ensued as a sultry, feminine voice protested fiercely. "Let her live! I want a playmate and she's my age! Did you see? Did you see? I've found a boken in her pack as well! I'm sure we'll have much in common!"
"Misao Chan! Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" a stern male voice rasped.
"What?" the voice demanded, all seductiveness gone from its tones. "Why, I ought to..."
And it was then that Kaoru found the words fade into the distance as she was hurled into darkness.
-
Kaoru was playing by the riverside with Kenshin. Her little hands grasped at the stones to throw into the rushing river. The sky was dark overhead, but there was a lot of light for some reason, a dancing river of rainbow colors and stars. Kaoru paused in her stone throwing to watch the light show overhead and it was then that Kenshin reached over and grasped her wrist. "I need that piece," he said to her.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru looked down to see him writing in hiragana with the pebbles in his hands. Endearingly, she noticed he was just as bad at placing the stones correctly as he was at writing it with a pen. In her heart, she knew, Kenshin hadn't really changed in all this time. Her fingers wrapped around his cold ones, while her eyes clouded with worry. "Where are you, Kenshin?"
"Right here," he answered. His amber gaze was as cold as his touch, yet she knew he had no idea what she had meant when she had asked him her question. "How do you write Eternity in Kanji, Kaoru?"
Kaoru blinked at him in surprise. "Eh?"
"It's time to wake up, Kaoru Dono," he told her instead without waiting for a reply. And then, Kaoru woke up, not sure why Kenshin was saying her name so strangely.
-
Somewhere, a wolf howled into the night. Kaoru snapped her eyes open with a start. "Wake up Kaoru," an insistent voice broke into her sleepy haze as she glanced around with surprise. She tried to move her hand to brush away her bangs, but discovered they were bound, and so were her feet. Kaoru gasped in surprise, wide-eyed, disoriented and filed with dread, she froze for a moment as the voice came from behind her. "Kaoru," something wiggled against her back. "Are you awake?"
"Sou-Soujirou?" she murmured in relief as the familiar voice registered in her mind.
"Apparently we have found our bandits," Soujirou said, his very voice filled with a smirking cheer that made Kaoru raise a brow in the grey-darkness.
"What are we to do?" Kaoru asked as she felt a shudder go through her, remembering all the tales she was told of. She certainly didn't want to turn up like Ali Baba, that's for sure! Or any of the other unfortunate souls that had fallen victim to bandits and thieves in similar stories that warned one about the seedy dealings of the underground world.
"This is quite exciting though, isn't it?" Soujirou said instead, his breath catching in the dark. "And to imagine, I might have lived a boring life in the village. The real world hold so much more in store for us... How could I have imagined living my life as peacefully as to milking cows all day, living in the relative safety, and security that once appeased the lives of my ancestors?"
Kaoru frowned. "I don't see what's so exciting about being bound and having our lives threatened by bandits," she grumbled darkly.
"Why did you leave your home if not for an adventure?" Soujirou challenged. "Were you content with where you were and what you had?"
"Yes," Kaoru replied, "I was." She felt Soujirou stiffen behind her with surprise.
"Then why leave?" he asked after a period of silence.
"Because the real world had stole away the person most important to me. The one who I had wanted to share my small and sheltered life with is now gone. That man went out into this world and never returned as he had promised me," she murmured with a sorrowful smile on her lips. "I looked for him in the world we grew up in, under ever rock and crevice, but he was gone. So I went to look for him here, in the real world. I haven't found him yet, as this world is so much larger than the one I'm used to. To see him again, to find him... I would give up anything and everything."
Soujirou looked into the darkness then. "How do you know he wants to be found?" he asked after a long pause.
Kaoru leaned her head back tiredly against Soujirou unconsciously seeking support for the answer she had been telling herself in silence. "I don't," she said smiling as the feelings in her worst nightmares and moments of insecurities came flooding back to haunt her. A small tear glided down her face as she blinked away the moisture. "But, I love him, you know?" her small hands tightened against the material of her shirt, shivering in the darkness with more dread than from the cold. "I can't bring him back if he does not wish to, but something inside me makes me move forward because I know he is out there somewhere, waiting for me to find him. And maybe, when I do, he will be someone different than the boy I once loved so much. But, Kenshin is Kenshin. No matter who he becomes I will love him always. I don't know if he knows that anymore, if he remembers me and all the things we used to share. After all this time such precious memories of mine may no longer be recalled by him, living as he has in the excitement of the real world. But even if we are completely different people now, even if he finds me a stranger, I would still want him with all of me and love him with all of me. I want to say those words to him from the bottom of my heart, things that can never be said enough. Even just once, I want to be able to say them to him so that I will not wonder my life away at what could have been or would have happened otherwise. Haven't you wanted, at least, a chance to say goodbye?"
Soujirou lowered his head then, shoulders shaking as a chuckle escaped from his lips, startling Kaoru. Yet, turning, she heard a small sound of sadness escape his throat, like a choked sob of distress under such a carefree sound. "Someday," he finally said after he had calmed down, "maybe someone will love me like that." Somehow, in the times that would pass in the future, Kaoru would always remember Seta Soujirou as he was in that moment. Bound to her, yet back turned to her back, leaning away from her in the darkness as far as he could and crying under his laughter. She would remember him as the shadowed warmth who's laugh was hollow, a boy who was searching the world for someone to love and who would love him in return.
Kaoru smiled a real smile then, one filled with hope at the small honesties escaping such a strange boy. "Soujirou, we all have someone like that in the world. Small, large, boring or exciting a world that they live in, I am sure you will find that special person. The life you discover with that person then will be worth more than any of the adventures you can discover by yourself."
Kaoru could not see his face, but Soujirou moved his back against hers once more, and tiredly replied in a voice that she would never hear him use again. "I hope you are right, Kaoru. I hope you're right."
It was in that moment that light flooded into the room as an energetic girl came bouncing through, followed by a group of men and women whose faces were obscured by shadows, outlined as they were by the harsh light behind them. "You're both awake," a cheerful voice cried out enthusiastically as both Soujirou and Kaoru were momentarily blinded and wincing from the pain of the sudden light. "Good," the voice turned sly, "now we can talk of a negotiation."
-
Makimachi Misao would never admit herself to being a spoiled child, though Kaoru found it difficult to describe the girl without the word coming up at least once. Determined, cheerful, energetic and willful to a fault, Misao would grow up to be a woman to be reckoned with, no one could deny that. But spoiled would also not be an adjective far from the truth. The only child and heir of a deceased but still infamous ninja leader, Misao would one day come to rule the underworld she was born into, and already the younger girl was confident to the point of arrogance, and used to getting her way no matter the consequences. And that was how Kaoru found herself becoming the official "playmate" of Makimachi Misao, though "slave" or "hostage" would have been a far more fitting title.
Ranging from hair care to playing dress up, Kaoru discovered herself forced into various activities that once she would never have dreamed herself doing. And then, there was the sparring. Trained as she was, Misao and Kaoru had two completely different fighting techniques, and though it made sparring interesting, Kaoru had to come up with new ways to fend for herself, at least she had to learn to do it quick if she didn't want to lose any precious limbs. When Misao trained, there was an intensity about her that made Kaoru see that truly, this younger girl had a potential to one day become a dangerous and strong opponent against any adversary. But for now, in a small courtyard, they were just two girls practicing the art of fighting the way they knew best one bent on maiming the other while the latter was bent on remaining whole for another day.
Kaoru had counted two weeks passing at the inn, and already she was growing restless to leave and continue her mission to find Kenshin. Yet, no opportunities came up, as everyone at the Aoiya was a fully trained fighter, dedicated to stealth and keeping Kaoru and Soujirou within. She could see the frost creeping over grass and the glass of windows in the early mornings, lasting longer by each passing day. Her thoughts were filled with Kenshin, but still the ninja group that had captured them demanded her presence. Soujirou had eagerly requested to join their ranks in return, much to the surprise of the Oniwaban. And he had skillfully dodged the round of fists that Kaoru sent his way once she figured out that he had planned this all along. It took three people to haul an angry Kaoru off of Soujirou, but immediately the ninja group taken a liking to both of them even if Kaoru could have lived without any of her capturers' admiration for her spunk or Soujirou's hidden skills and talents.
Still, having never had a close girl friend, Kaoru was surprised by the intimate conversations that Misao would entrust upon her when Misao tired of doing whatever strange, exotic ideas the younger girl could fathom. Makimachi Misao, though strong and spoiled and determined, was still a girl. She was innocent, brash, naive, and surprisingly open in more things than she was willing to admit to or let on; though, at the same time, Misao was far wiser than Kaoru in other things. All of these were qualities that were hard to separate from the equally hot-tempered disposition that Misao showed to the world. In the few days that Kaoru had known the girl, she was finding herself liking the other easily.
It was hard not to like Misao, and Kaoru found herself to be no exception when she started to enjoy the time she spent with the future leader of the Oniwabanshu more and more. However, this was not one of those moments as Kaoru barely dodged an expertly thrown kunai while barely warding off the second one that came shadowing the first. "Damn," Misao swore as she let loose a flying kick, "you're getting used to my attacks already!"
Kaoru quirked her mouth grimly for she wasn't the only one. Misao was quick as lightening and Kaoru found it hard to keep up with her younger counterpart as the two weaved back and forth, in and out of each other's range. It would have lasted forever if Misao's lecherous Grandfather hadn't come out and nearly choked the girl in mid-attack. "Lunch time," the white-haired man sang, remaining blissfully unaware of the murderous look on Misao's face as she was turning purple in his grip. "My Misao darling, you mustn't starve yourself. You're as skinny as a pole already! How are we ever going to find you a husband if you continue to eat like a bird and look like a boy?"
"Jiya!" Steam seemed to puff angrily out of Misao's ears as she growled out her guardian's name. The ugly shade of purple that colored Misao's face seemed more from her anger now than from a lack of oxygen. "Demon Bird Kick!" the young girl screamed as she skillfully evaded out of the older man's grip and then proceeded to nail him in the forehead with her foot.
"So cruel," Jiya mumbled out brokenly from his place on the ground.
Kaoru covered up her laughter behind a cough, innocently looking away as Misao shot her a heated stare. "Lunch time, Miss Misao!" Soujirou looked out into the courtyard with an easy grin on his face. "Ah, Miss Kaoru, you seemed to have gotten better." Kaoru blinked at this surprised. She admit she might have improved now that she had found a sparring partner, but it was not like the strict instructions she had been put under when learning the way of the sword with her Father...
Father.
For a moment, Kaoru turned her gaze to the winter skies and thought of the home she left behind worriedly. "What would he think of me now if he were to see me?" She wondered out loud.
"Who?" Misao inquired curiously.
Surprised by the other's nearness, Kaoru blinked at her companion. "What was your Father like, Misao?" she asked instead. Misao was as curious as a cat, the only way to avoid her millions of questions was distracting her with others. Still, eventually, Misao would come back to the topic at hand. At the moment though, Kaoru didn't want to think of the things she left behind and the life she had abandoned to search for Kenshin.
"Father?" Misao asked as she linked arms with her new-found friend to walk into the house. "He was very tall," Misao said, "at least that's what everyone tells me."
"You don't remember him?" Kaoru asked surprised. "That's rather sad."
"No it's not," Misao said with a smile. "Everyone that I know and love is here and with me. What is there to be sad about? I admit that I don't know my father or my mother, but Jiya tells me about them enough so that I won't have to wonder too much anyway. After all, I can't really miss what I never had." Misao's face was hidden by her bangs as the shorter girl leaned against Kaoru's shoulder. "There is... someone..." Misao said softly, almost as if to herself. "Someone I miss very much." But by that time they had reached the dining hall and their conversation was left unfinished.
-
In the evening, Misao dragged Kaoru to her cave behind the house. It was a very strange cave with shallow caverns located in a place where a small, rocky wall stood, as if testifying to a time when a mountain had once resided there instead. In the cavern animals of all shapes and sizes lived. It was Misao's pride and joy, and she commanded most of them with an enthusiastic vigor that made even the most vicious creatures quail. This day, Misao led Kaoru deeper into the cave than they had ever gone before and in the furthest corner, deep in the Earth, a chain could be heard rattling and dragging against the rocks.
"Misao?" Kaoru asked with curious dread. The air was cold, Kaoru's own breath misted before her eyes before disappearing from sight as they climbed closer and closer to the dragging sound up ahead of them.
"Shh," Misao warned as she put a mischievous finger to her lips. Blue-green eyes sparkled with mischief as they descend the last steps.
Twin golden eyes, predatory and dark peered out from the shadows as a deep, rumbling growl can be heard. While Kaoru took a surprised step back, readying herself into a defensive position, her playful companion only laughed before throwing a kunai straight into the darkness. Kaoru felt her hand tightened against the handle of her wooden boken as the golden eyes suddenly disappeared and then slowly the creature appeared from the shadows, growling and defensive. Misao carelessly stuck her tongue out at the beast. "Bad dog, no biscuit."
"Don't insult me, Weasel Girl," the beast spoke. "I am no dog." Misao though was too preoccupied with being insulted herself, and proceeded to toss kunai at the chained animal who gracefully dodged each precise projectile easily, even in the confined space it was placed within.
"Weasel girl?" Misao screeched, making both the wolf and Kaoru grimace at the sound. "I'll show you! Demon Bird"
"Misao!" Kaoru was alarmed and promptly held back her friend and captor as the younger girl struggled to land a blow on the smirking animal. "Be careful of the wolf," Kaoru warned. "It is a wolf, after all."
"The Tanuki is right, you know?" The wolf flashed his fangs in a menacing, golden-eyed grin. "Get too close and I'll bite." He emphasized with a vicious snap of his jaw. The wolf's teeth were sharp and jutting, two rows of raw-white fangs that gleamed menacingly in contrast to the surrounding shadows and his eerie golden gaze.
Misao fumed a bit before smiling deviously. "No you won't, or actually, you can't." The ninja girl easily escaped Kaoru's loosened grip and bounced over, petting the growling wolf's head. "You're an enchanted wolf," Misao winked. "You're bound."
Kaoru blinked in question at this curious statement. "Bound?" she asked when she saw that the wolf could only glare as Misao stroked his fur.
"A foolish animal indeed," Misao sighed. "A witch had put a spell upon him so that he may speak, I think. But what a surprise when he came to this place and the Oniwabanshu caught him and put him on a leash." Misao practically purred in satisfaction as the wolf shot her a menacing look. "A talking wolf would make quite a profit at the fair next spring, you know?"
"You don't know the half of it, Weasel Girl." The wolf snarled at them as he evaded the ninja girl's grasps and lay in the shadows. "When the moon is full, when the sun is dark, true forms are revealed. I am not a wolf that speaks like a man, I am a guardian in the form of a wolf. I patrol the lands under my domain, and you bound me here like a useless pet." The wolf narrowed his golden gaze, voice filled with contempt as he spat out the words with distaste. "No witch can bind this wolf. If you want a dog, go get yourself a dog. But a wolf is a wolf, remember that well. For given the chance, I shall bite off the hands that had once sought to tame me. For I am not a toothless beast, nor will I ever bow down to a foolish, human master." Chest rumbling with an indignant growl, the wolf's eyes glowed with something of a promised threat.
Kaoru tilted her head to the side with a curious expression as she focused on what the beast had said earlier. "You have patrolled these lands?" she whispered as his words sunk in. The wolf turned his dark head in Kaoru's direction and their gazes met. She did not back down in fear as she faced him forcefully, ignoring the shiver that threatened to engulf her and the urge to turn away from the piercing, scrutinizing gaze of the wolf. It was a hungry gaze, a predatory gaze that only a hunter could have. It was a gaze that promised death and vengeance.
"Another foolish human," the wolf licked his lips with a threatening smile curving his mouth into a snarl over jagged fangs. "Do you not have ears to hear? I patrol all that remains in my domain. The justice of the lands is: Aku Soku Zan." The wolf flashed his white fangs that gleamed like ivory against his dark fur. Ferocious eyes of power, barely restrained, stripped away at any pretenses Kaoru might have had about him. Even with the promised safety of a spell that bound the wolf in his supposedly harmless state, Kaoru did not feel safe. "But you desire something from me, girl? A question, perhaps, that only I may answer?" the growling-purr was as dangerous as the fangs the wolf possessed.
"I wish to know if you have, perhaps, seen a boy?" Kaoru struggled to keep from stumbling over her words as she refused to back down from that challenging stare. Misao turned curiously to her friend then, startled by the eagerness that made Kaoru's voice tremble in the cold night air. "A boy with hair as red as a cardinal's feather and one eye the color of spring irises while the other is like that of a tiger's eye. I have been searching for him long and hard, but hardly have I heard news of him."
"Perhaps I've had such a thing for dinner once." The wolf's eyes held her gaze for a few moments longer before a deep, rumbling laugh came shaking out of his chest at her absurdly horrified look. "A foolish girl, indeed!" the wolf observed. The rumble in his throat and his careless words made Kaoru's expression turn from fright to fierce and angry determination. "That foolish boy you ask, I have seen." The wolf replied, ignoring the initial glare and the latter surprised gasp from Kaoru. "Deep in the grasps of the Snow Queen, he has gone. So far north they have traveled that the sun comes shining full days for months until darkness falls to night in equal times. That is where my domain meets hers, where the sky is a blaze with fire and light. It is home for me there, and far from here," the wolf held a faraway look, almost forlorn, as if he was reminiscing. It was a human look on a wolf's vicious features, sharp, handsome and fearsome, all at once. Yet, the moment quickly passed. "That boy is as good as dead," said the wolf. "His heart should be as black and blue as the ice of her majesty's palace. For when I saw him passing in her shadow, his lips were already turning blue from the coldness in his soul. And she, a ruler of despair and hopelessness is no better of. No, that abomination of a woman is less of a ruler and more of a cursed being."
Kaoru shook her head then, stepping so close to the wolf that they were nearly nose to nose. The wolf's warning growl did nothing as fierce blue eyes bore into him. "Kenshin," she corrected. "His name is Kenshin and not 'boy.' He is far stronger than you think him to be. And he is not dead. I know it from the bottom of my heart that he is not dead."
Misao watched with wide-eyed surprise at this, and the wolf's sardonic expression became a serious one. "Your Kenshin is dead," the wolf expressed slowly. "He may live still in the body, but his soul has been taken over by the ice of the Snow Queen's touch and the hatred stemming from all of mankind. You cannot save him, child that you are. No one can. In all the years I've lived, long before your birth or his, long before your parents and their parents, none have resisted the curse of the Snow Queen's touch, not even herself."
Kaoru smiled then at the wolf and his strange words. "I may not be able to save him," she answered bravely, "but I will never give up on believing in Kenshin. Even if the whole world believe him gone or dead or hopelessly lost, so long as I can feel him in my heart, so long as I love him, I will search for him and I will believe in him. That Kenshin I feel inside of me and have known since birth, he has the strength needed to save himself. This I have always known and I will always believe it to be so."
"Foolish girl," the wolf shook his great head. "Foolish."
Misao stood silently in contemplation before she finally spoke. "I shall let you go, Wolf, if you would lead my Kaoru to her Kenshin, wherever he may be."
Kaoru turned her head in surprise at her new-found friend. "What?" she asked surprised.
"I know a girl like you Kaoru," Misao smiled. And the childish face melted away to show that of a young woman who constantly sought the sky on a grey day, the face of a woman waiting for someone precious to return. Kaoru recognized that face, for she had seen it in her times of sorrow, before she had set out into the real world. It was a face between resignation and despair, a face that she would have continued to carry upon her expression if she had not ventured out into the world as she had. "That girl had loved a young man fiercely as a child, but he too was called away by the outside world. She had wanted to run away and look for him, but she was afraid that when she found him, if she finds him, he would turn her away. It has been over a year since he had left to test his wits against the world, leaving this little girl behind in this isolated place in the middle of nowhere, far behind him. She had waited long enough," Misao grinned then, all her sorrows melting away. "You have given that girl hope again, Kaoru. Because that girl is Makimachi Misao, and being afraid of such things is foolish, especially for her. Now I see, waiting here by the roadside, afraid to step out into the real world, that was someone not meant to be me. I will never again accept such a person to be the one I define as myself. I am not waiting for him to come back anymore. I will find him and show him I'm strong enough to be by his side, always."
"Misao," Kaoru murmured in admiration.
Misao shook her head as if clearing it of nostalgic memories. "Deal, Wolf? I know you have ears enough to have heard my proposal the first time." The ninja girl mocked with a smirk on her face.
The wolf flashed his fangs lazily at them. "The proposal before your sentimental speech?" the wolf teased, "I heard you, Weasel Girl." Misao glared daggers at the wolf and her kunai might have landed if the beast was any less swift and skillful at dodging them. "You are not afraid I will eat her?" The wolf questioned, eyeing Kaoru with a predatory look in his eyes.
Kaoru held her hand to Misao's mouth before the girl could start a fight. "If you give me your word of honor, on your belief of Aku Soku Zan, I will agree to Misao's proposal."
The wolf tilted his head cunningly at Kaoru before nodding. "Alright," said he, "I shall take you to the edge of my domain and the beginning of the Snow Queen's country. From there, you're on your own, foolish Tanuki."
Kaoru felt a twitch just beneath her eye at the nickname. "Idiot wolf," she muttered to express her growing annoyance. She could see the wolf heard her well enough as his ears turned this way and that, catching all the sounds from far and wide. Perhaps, that was how the beast heard of Kenshin's passing. Annoying and arrogant as it appeared to be already, if Kaoru wanted to find Kenshin, she would have to work with the wolf. As if reading her thoughts, the wolf caught her gaze and flashed his gleaming white fangs at her. It was a menacing and sardonic smile that reflected the very atmosphere of the dark, wet cave the wolf was chained within.
-
By the fire, Kaoru and Misao exchanged parting gifts. The dark-haired girl had seen the gleam in Misao's eyes upon finding Kaoru's muff placed within her hands. A murmur of approval escaped from the girl when Kaoru had first let Misao run her hand through the soft fur, but now there was only the delighted joy of possessing the muff shining in Misao's eyes. Misao in turn gave Kaoru an outfit able to endure the coldness of the far north that the dark-haired girl was traveling to, along with gloves so large that they ran up to Kaoru's elbows. In secret, the two exchanged the car keys that Kaoru had stolen from Soujirou as a trade for the freedom of the wolf.
"I think Soujirou is fitting in quite well, don't you?" Misao asked with admiration in her eyes as the two girls watched Soujirou spar with Omasu and Okon once the transaction was over with.
"He has talent," Kaoru dismissed off-handedly. She had yet to forgive the boy entirely for his earlier deceptions, and hence, Kaoru refrained from giving him any direct compliments.
Misao giggled behind her hand. "He's kind of cute. If I wasn't so taken with my Lord Aoshi, I might have fallen for your Soujirou." Misao had a far away look in her eyes, perhaps thinking of what could have been as her young eyes followed the flowing form of Soujirou's movements. "If I didn't know Lord Aoshi, I might have had my first kiss already." Misao sighed dramatically.
Kaoru looked surprised at this. "Misao?"
"Knowing him, loving him, I can't imagine sharing special moments like that with anyone else. Even kind, smart and handsome Soujirou can't sway my emotions." Misao made a face at her own words. "How annoying," the younger girl toed a pebble. "I've loved him so long I can't remember not loving him, nor can I imagine loving someone else like this... Feeling this way, I can't imagine being able to feel this way again."
"Who's Aoshi, Misao?" Kaoru inquired after a long pause had settled between the two of them.
"Lord Aoshi?" Misao smiled dreamily then, her mind going to the past now, traveling the lines of time. "He came to us fourteen winters ago. He was an orphan with no parents, running away from home. My father picked him up and adopted him into the Oniwaban, trained Lord Aoshi himself, Jiya tells me." Misao looked into the night sky, their warm breath materializing in puffs of fog. "He was the best fighter here, a genius right from the start. He was able to beat my father before he was barely fifteen years of age, and he earned himself the title of strongest by the age of sixteen. But then, the world changed, and there were no more need for ninjas anymore. So he set out into the world to find a place for himself with some of the men that had helped raise me with him, after my father had died. I remember how he didn't even say goodbye, sneaking off into the night like that." Misao growled angrily. "When I see him, I'll give him a wallop for leaving me like that! So ungentlemanly. He puts all my father's teachings to shame he can't even treat a woman decently."
"Misao darling, you're not a woman yet. You're just a child still." Jiya cackled after sneaking up on the two unsuspecting girls. "But when you become a woman, I'll fend off all your suitors valiantly until a brave, lone suitor is able to defeat me!"
"Jiya!" Misao exclaimed, glaring and snarling at the same time at her cackling guardian. "Stop eavesdropping you old pervert! And stop acting like such a lunatic!"
It was how the last night at the inn was spent. Late that night, after the inn was mostly asleep, the two girls quietly crept out after having drugged the soup for everyone except themselves. Misao and Kaoru hugged under the moonlight before parting. "Good luck, brave Kaoru," Misao grinned. "I hope you find this Kenshin of yours well."
"Thank you, Misao. And good luck to you too," Kaoru said a little sadly. Misao and Kaoru held each other tight one last time. "I am sure your Lord Aoshi will be as happy to see you as you are to see him when you find him."
From the shadows gold and silver glittered as the wolf stealthily crept out. A blanket rested over his fur as a silver chain hung from his neck. Golden eyes surveyed the area around Kaoru and Misao before landing on the two girls by the white car. "Let's go," said the wolf. The two girls looked at each other one last time, knowing this might be the last time they will ever see each other again.
"Goodbye," they whispered in the dark before their paths diverged down the same road in opposite directions.
to be continued...