Author's Notes:

Streetwise Girl: Haha, I quickly cleared things up between them because I don't think Aoshi is that dense when it comes to relationships. And hey, I do want to keep Hiko in the story... he's my favourite character! - Watch out for more of him here. Aoshi-Misao would be my close second (I like them both, and I like them paired, so I can't quite decide which I like better.)

Skabs: Wow! I didn't expect someone to review so long after posting. Thanks! Yeah, one forgets how young Misao is.

Also on Misao, people always marvel about Aoshi becoming the Okashira at 15, and yet, Misao, despite being a girl, took the title at 16 (or was it 17?), albeit in a different time and situation.

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Chapter 5: Favourable Positions

Dawn had yet to descend upon Kyouto as her residents began to stir. The coarse shuffling of sliding shouji became ever more frequent as sloppy columns of smoke rose from heating breakfasts to meet the cool morning air, ushering the day in.

Amongst the earliest risers was Hiko, who had taken a walk out to a nearby field to enjoy some time to himself. Few truly understood just how much he valued his solitude. It gave him time to reflect on what he had observed around him, to contemplate the chaos that he had decided was life itself.

Thus, it was with the first hints of the coming bedlam that he picked himself up to participate in the minutiae of Aoiya life. As his feet carried him there, he turned his thoughts to a certain member of the Oniwabanshuu. He was grateful, albeit in an admittedly somewhat perverted way, that Omasu had not yet had the chance to interact with him as herself and that she was to be kept unconscious until some time later, whenever it was that Kuroda was finally apprehended. He had begun noticing Okon tensing up the slightest bit whenever he was around her and being very aware of everything he did. It was delicate enough for a normal person not to have noticed at all and hence not to have been bothered by it, but he was, after all, a genius. In any case, he figured that he should be glad he didn't have two of them pining after him.

Still, Okon's behaviour was quite different from the glimpse into her character he had gotten after the battle with Fuji. Then, he distinctly recalled her as another one of those annoyingly ditzy girls who had no subtlety whatsoever... someone whose attention he could gloriously soak in at times and yet dread at others, but whose interaction he would never really enjoy. He still wasn't sure about the parts of his conclusion regarding attention and interaction, but he was quite certain now that the "ditzy" part was erroneous. Not that he had made a mistake, of course. He simply had less to go on that last time, and with insufficient information, not even a genius would conclude accurately except through a stroke of luck – and he knew how irrational it was to depend on that.

As the Aoiya came into view, however, he was reminded of a graver matter and, pushing the distracting thoughts aside, mentally ran over the discussed plan of action.

It had been decided that Hiko would pretend to go back to his mountain home, giving the Oniwabanshuu enough of an opening by reducing the number of scouts trained on them, as some would be forced to follow Hiko. Aoshi and Misao would be sent into town on an errand of sorts. Both Hiko and Aoshi them were to sense the lapse in ki, when the scouts first changed shifts, before taking any action.

Hiko scowled at the thought of the precarious plan that was to follow that, sliding the shouji of the back entrance open. It certainly is iffier than anyone in the Oniwabanshuu would be comfortable with, but it's the only plausible one. Hn.

Upon entry, his eyebrow unwittingly shot up at the scene before him. Indeed, his attention wasn't the only one rapt with the unfolding situation.

"Mou, Aoshi-sama! Why did you order that Omasu be tied down? It's too undignified a way to treat a lady! Imagine how she'll feel after she wakes up!"

Aoshi let a little pause elapse and eyed Misao as she squirmed emotionally, before finally retorting, "How is gender relevant?"

Stumped for a second, as if flustered by Aoshi not seeing the obvious, Misao quickly gathered her words, "Well, women are– "

"The drugs. She won't know," Aoshi promptly cut her off, the curtness drawing a smirk from Hiko. "But the dose is small – should she awake..."

"Oh, I thought you said that she won't know because of the drugs, and now you're telling me she might awake." Misao didn't look like she was about to be placated any time soon.

That last bit of nitpicking by Misao amused Hiko to no end. Ah, I see, already into the bickering stage, eh? I wonder what happened yesterday, Hiko thought as he ran his eyes over the bewildered faces of the other Oniwabanshuu, then relaxed, folding his arms, and let himself be entertained.

"Why can't we increase the dosage?" Misao suggested.

At that, Aoshi raised an eyebrow, "'Dignity' in exchange for a splitting headache?" Surprisingly enough to the Oniwabanshuu, the sarcasm in his voice was hard to miss.

"So cocky about your wit are you, Aoshi-sama? Well, it doesn't matter – as Okashira and a woman, I order her untied and the dosage increased!" Misao finished impertinently as a reign of silence took over, the spectators not knowing whether to laugh or to become terrified.

"Hmm," Aoshi thoughtfully soothed the silence, playing a peculiarly strange role this time, Hiko decided. "Then as a dutiful man, I challenge you for the title of Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu."

Catching a gushing nosebleed from the corner of his eye and hearing a jaw connect with the ground somewhere else, it dawned upon Hiko that the two had set the whole thing up. What better way to transfer the title than over such a trivial issue and with two contradictory view points between which it would be hopeless to decide. It was done so deliberately amusingly that it met its probable goal of dispelling tension, both over the issue of the title and over the anticipated events of the day itself. Hiko let out a chuckle as the thenceforth notorious duo proceeded to the training hall.

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Misao had no words to describe just how she felt, being able to plan and execute the plan with Aoshi. In a sense, her fantasies were already coming true... Today, finally, she had been able to be in on a secret just between Aoshi and herself, leaving the rest of the world to marvel at what the two of them were accomplishing. It was really gratifying to the selfish and possessive part of her to have Aoshi giving her the preference of his trust over everyone else in the world.

The other perk of the bantering that transpired was how tickled she'd been by Aoshi's expressions and tones. It took every ounce of self-restraint she had not to burst out laughing and, perhaps, throwing a cushion at Aoshi half-way through. But Misao was not to be thought of as undependable... especially not by Aoshi.

Perkily, she padded after Aoshi to the training hall, Shiro, Kuro and Okon in tow.

However, the moment her foot hit the training hall floor, she snapped out of all the wistful emotions that she'd allowed herself to indulge in. She had to give this battle her all, to really concentrate and put her soul into this fight.

She had one less worry about the script. There was no way Aoshi was going to be beaten by her. That was obvious. Still, she could not be seen to give up without a fight in front of the rest. Besides, having such a duel with Aoshi was a thought that both the dignified, adventurous and sentimental parts of her truly relished, and yet she had never, never seriously pitted herself against him, not even during the interval between the Shishio affair and going off to face Enishi.

Even if she lost, she would show Aoshi just how much she'd improved, after her travels in search of him, seeing Himura's strength of character and sword skill, defeating Kamatari, soaking in the five spirit-driven battles on Enishi's island and, most compellingly, thrusting herself to the very limits of her strength as she trained intently and relentlessly by herself, venting her frustration over Aoshi's attitude towards her and charging herself to live up to his high standards.

Lost in thought as she reached into her memory and spirit to find her strength, she found that the stage was set for the duel to begin. She had unconsciously picked up her kunai and stepped to face Aoshi, now holding his kodachi, in the middle of the hall, and the audience was expectant.

He would make the first move. After all, he was the one who had challenged her.

Then, he was at her, closing the distance between them in the time it took her to register his movement. Her body moved to retaliate before her brain knew to tell it to, dropping under him and moving too close for the useful range of his kodachi... too close, even, for her to be seriously hurt should he attempt to kick. Planting her hands firmly on the ground between and just in front of his legs, she swept her own up from beneath her into a high and powerful kick vertically upwards at his chin.

Pulling his lagging left arm backwards, Aoshi swung away from Misao's feet, spinning clockwise, and moved to kick her now vulnerable back, which was still upright and facing where he had been due to her over-committed kick.

In the time that Aoshi took to break his spin and shift his weight, Misao yanked her body down, dropping herself low to miss his kick. Then, in the same fluid movement, she spun around on the floor in a low kick to Aoshi's supporting right leg, swinging in the same direction as his own kick and remembering to draw her kunai as she did.

Aoshi barely managed to back-flip over Misao's sweep, only to find five kunai coming at him. However, he had no difficulty dodging two and sweeping the remaining three aside.

After seeing Aoshi move right to dodge her two of her kunai, Misao easily predicted the arc which his right kodachi would take, and, throwing another two kunai to the right of the original five and to where Aoshi had now shifted his balance, she lunged forward on her left foot and made to swipe across at Aoshi's knuckles, thrusting with her torso the flat of her left hand and hoping to knock his right kodachi off.

However, her hand met thin air. Instantly coming to the conclusion that he must have jumped over all her attacks and was already either on top of or behind her, she cart-wheeled forwards, hoping that she could put some distance between them to have the time to defend what he might throw at her.

She didn't stand a chance, as Aoshi kicked forwards at her tummy as she was upside-down in middle of her movement, increasing the momentum of her forward flip so drastically that she lost control and fell hard on her back.

She forced herself to recover from the rude jolt and the subsequent shock, just in time to catch sight of Aoshi's heel coming down at her chest in a downward heel-thrust. She rolled to the side and converted the kick into a painful and coarse, but much less powerful, brush to her side. Still, she managed to jump up and recover fully into a guarded, standing stance before Aoshi could next attack.

Assessing the situation, they were pretty much back at square one by tactical and positional considerations, both standing a few feet apart and facing each other, but Misao was perspiring and panting heavily in contrast to Aoshi's cool and controlled demeanour.

She had the sinking feeling that she would lose in the next bout, but she pushed that thought aside, concentrated and drew three more kunai, knowing full well that that thought would be half the battle lost. Once more, Aoshi would have to initiate the attack, but this time because Misao was too tired to initiate one effectively, what with Aoshi fully on guard for anything from her.

Again, Aoshi closed in quickly, but this time, knowing that Misao could deal well with high attacks, swept his kodachi low at her feet. Misao promptly leapt above him, but because he seemed to be half expecting that, he had committed little in his low arm attack and could still turn upwards to face her, initiating an upward swipe with his other blade.

Misao, being in the air, had little recourse to avoiding that swipe by moving her body away. Instead, she desperately flung kunai at him, at two odd positions outside the arc of his strike, that he would, hopefully, have to thwart the angle of his cutting line and miss her totally... which he did.

Finally able to return to the ground relatively unscathed, with Aoshi still in his position of a high air-ward attack, Misao threw a simple, forceful punch at his side, which Aoshi simply blocked with the fist which still grasped the hilt of his other kodachi, stopping her a mere inch away from his side.

Kicking upwards at his hand to break the lock between their fists, Misao tumble-rolled across his legs behind him. Suddenly, she gasped and froze as she saw blood on her hand. It was a wrong move, though, and as she heard further gasping from those watching, she also felt a leg fall heavily upon her back, thrusting her towards the ground once again, spread-eagled.

Before she could even possibly recover from such a vulnerable position, Aoshi had put his knee on her back and his kodachi to her throat, and it was all over.

"Ok you win, Aoshi-sama...," Misao stumbled through the words distractedly flustered. She wasn't worried about losing to him at all. Instead, her mind was racing to find out just where the blood had come from, and whose it was.

As if knowing her thoughts, Aoshi's voice cut through her confusion, answering, "It's mine," as he got up off her and put his hand to his side.

Sitting up, Misao blinked at him, bewildered and disbelieving. "Huh?"

"You punched with a kunai," he patiently explained.

Kunai... Hadn't she thrown them at him when she had been in the air?

"Weasel!" Hiko broke into her thoughts.

"What! Stop calling me that!" Misao snapped back, irritated and not wanting to spare even his insults any thought, then picked herself up.

"It seems you threw two, but neglected one of your kunai. Apparently, Shinomori here didn't expect that to happen either. Hah," Hiko elaborated on Aoshi's answer and put on a smug look. "It's the first time I've seen carelessness actually pay off even a little... Hmm, although not so much for you as for Shinomori."

"I see, Misao didn't mean for her punch to be that way," Okina commented, amazed.

When it dawned upon Misao just what had happened, her eyes widened in shock and she gasped again, eyes darting over to Aoshi. Then, she hesitantly stepped towards him, "Aoshi-sama! Gomen! Are... are you all right!" All along, Misao had never believed that she could actually hurt Aoshi... not even emotionally, let alone physically.

"Aa. I'll survive the scratch." Seeing Misao blush profusely at his belittling his injury, his comment on her misplaced anxiety and her naïveté which believed that the blood she saw meant a serious wound, Aoshi quickly added, "You did well, Misao." Against his best intentions, Misao blushed all the more furiously.

"Hn!" Hiko couldn't resist the unspoken jest and wasn't overlooked by Misao, who shot him a death glare. It was, however, easily interrupted.

"Misao-chan, a good job you did!" Okon shuffled hurriedly up to Misao and hugged her.

Still feeling silly, but a lot better, Misao returned the hug enthusiastically and beamed at everyone, then started to laugh in relief, and probably at herself too. Glancing up at Aoshi, she saw that he, looked happy enough as well, although he hadn't actually gone to the point of smiling with his mouth yet.

"Well then, Aoshi... No, Okashira... " Okina paused and bowed solemnly, prompting Shiro, Kuro and Okon to follow suit. After a while, Misao realised what was happening and, berating herself mentally for, once again, having slow reactions for the umpteenth time that day, quickly bowed as well. "Please call a final briefing for the operation today," Okina continued.

Aoshi nodded at them when they stood upright once more. They promptly assembled in the centre of the training hall and took their normal positions in meetings.

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Gathering up his belongings, Hiko stepped out the genkan and fitted his boots on. Then, nodding at Aoshi and Misao, he set off briskly along the street in the direction of his home, and soon locked on to the ki of a scout watching him from the rooftops.

It was easy doing so, as Hiko was moving at a speed faster than anyone else on the street, and it was not hard to detect another that had to keep up. He smirked to himself, then turned grim again.

Having detected the scout, he now had to buy time until the second shift came along. It wouldn't be good to be too far away from the Aoiya when he cracked down on the scout, because time was of the essence.

Catching sight of a sake store, he turned off the street to check it out, and struck up a conversation with the store owner while purchasing some of his finest. To Hiko, it felt like it would be the longest conversation he would ever have...

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"Ja, Jiya!" Misao waved to Okina and bobbed off after Aoshi, who hadn't delayed like Misao habitually would and was thus a few metres ahead already.

After Misao had caught up with him, Aoshi spared her a glance. He hadn't realised just how good she had become in combat. What she lacked in strength and speed, she made up for in tactics and flexibility. She must have known that fighting close to the ground would be to her advantage, which was why her first move in the duel had been to drop close to the ground. She had also fought very close to him, nullifying any advantage his long arms and legs gave him in range. Indeed, she had come close enough for his kodachi to become useless. Not only that, the other advantage for coming up close to him in the fight was that she, being flexible, could easily manoeuvre herself around him in a very confined space.

As a result, he had stopped holding back after Misao had first flung kunai at him. Still, he had been careless, as his small wound proved. Indeed, she should be very proud of herself, as he already was of her. Perhaps, he didn't have to worry all that much about her safety after all.

And yet, despite all that, it was her surprise at the sight of blood that reminded him of how much she had yet to find out about true combat. Rather than initiating her, it had always been his conviction to protect her from the realities and horrors of fights to the death. No, those were one of the few things in life that a person can, should afford to miss out on.

His restoration as the Okashira had also been very... liberating to him. He had least expected it to feel that way. After coming back from Mt Hiei, he had felt burdened by the consideration of taking up the leadership role once again. For quite a while immediately after that battle, he had even dreaded responsibility. Part of him felt that he was not worthy of such an honourable position. Another part was simply tired and weary.

It seemed, then, that he had both been forgiven and rested, both extrinsically and intrinsically. And taking up that role confirmed and reinstated his recovery. Now, with a solution to the Kougikinsei dilemma also within reach, he felt better than he had in a long, long time... too long, really.

Hmm... I had better pull myself out of this introspection, or Misao will get nervous. Already, she was casting side glances at him out of the corner of her eye. However, before he had the chance to break the silence, she beat him to it.

"Aoshi-sama?"

"Aa."

"I know you said that I fought well... but I can't help but feel that... anou... hmm..." she trailed off.

Aoshi waited patiently.

"Anou, I mean, surely that's not good by your standards...?" She turned to him with an uncertain and expectant look.

He knew perfectly well what she meant. Perhaps, it was frankness she sought from him.

"Aa. You were careless to pause when you saw that either of us had been injured, like Hiko observed."

"Hai... gomen," she half-muttered, a little sheepishly. "I suppose in a real battle, it would be a really terrible mistake, ne?"

Scrutinising her, he found that she was somewhat downcast, and yet relieved, so he added, "Don't condemn yourself. You will learn from it."

"Hai," she simply stated. Still crestfallen, Aoshi thought.

"Misao."

"Hai?" she looked expectantly up at him.

I think I know what would cheer her up. "Shall we go to the market after?"

Expectedly, she gave a huge, weasel-reminiscent Misao-patented beam, her bounce restored, and, for a moment, looked like she was tipping toes and on the verge of throwing him a hug... but then she simmered down and nodded contentedly.

Inwardly, Aoshi chuckled at Misao's open readability and tremendous show of self-control. He sincerely hoped that they could at least drop by the market before the shift changed...

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Hiko narrowed his eyes when he felt a flicker in the concentration of the scout. It was time, it seemed.

Sure enough, he felt the ki of another taking the place of the first, along with a slight relief from the one moving off. Ensuring that the relief stayed until he could no longer sense the first scout, he rounded off the conversation with the sake store owner and picked up his newly-acquired jug. Thank goodness. He was relieved too.

Striding onto the street, he walked along and took a remote route that he had used to get back to the outskirts of the city before. Obviously, the scout took the bait and followed him.

He rounded the corner of a large-roofed building, ensuring that the scout lost sight of him, and waited. As soon as he had heard the scout's footsteps, he sprang out from the blind corner and deftly, speedily brought his sheathed sword across in a wide and quick arc, striking him on the head hard enough to take him out but let him regain consciousness in time. The scout didn't know what hit him, literally.

Turning the scout over, Hiko nearly let out a gasp when he realised that the scout must have been no more than twenty years old. In fact, he looked about seventeen or eighteen. Scowling, he allowed himself to idle no more and, picking the scout – no, boy – up, he darted through the alleyways, back towards the Aoiya.

He would brood over the boy's fate later on, when he could afford to.

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"Misao, look here," Aoshi leaned slightly over a stall selling miscellaneous items, pointing at its wares, and also at nothing in particular. He murmured so that the stall owner wouldn't hear, "First's shift gone. Hundred and twenty three degrees, fifty metres. Beige gi. I'll handle the other."

Straightening up, he gestured to a dango store to their left instead. "Want some?"

Misao played along and nodded. As Aoshi departed, Misao pretended to wander off as well, but in the direction of the scout, feigning interest in the gizmos which the strange stores presented. It came naturally enough to her. The scout was standing next to a kite store.

If Misao wasn't wrong, scouts were trained not to flinch or try to move away should the subject casually approach, or it could be too conspicuous. That played perfectly well into Misao's hand.

Sauntering along while gazing at the products of the stalls, she managed to walk right up to him and even inquire about the kites. Halfway through her badgering the owner, she began to rub her tummy, and tone down. Then, she looked utterly miserable, excused herself to the stall owner, and staggered out of the crowded streets slightly bent over as she put her hand to her mouth, leaving the stall owner to call after her in concern.

When she had entered a quiet enough street, she bent over, as if to puke, then retrieved her kunai and, whirling around to face the scout who had trailed her, embedded ten kunai in the scout's leg. He yelled out in pain as he fell, but was soon silenced as Misao instantly followed up on her kunai, pouncing on him and knocking him out.

She picked his arms up and dragged him to where Aoshi, but not the crowd, would see her and waited.

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After Aoshi had taken note of what Misao had chosen to do, he proceeded to actually buy a packet of dango from the stall, then pretended to look for Misao along the more deserted residential streets. She had given him a good excuse for him to isolate his target.

He called out her name a few times. Then, he spotted an outdoor table that belonged to a resident of the area and, leaving the dango there, spun around and started to chase. No point in wasting good food.

He was fast and had no need to worry about the scout getting away once he'd realised that he was discovered. The scout barely ran a few metres before he was tackled.

Aoshi flipped over the scout and wrapped his arm around his neck, strangling until the scout just passed out. Checking that the pulse was still present, he slung the scout over his shoulder, doubled up to pick up the food and headed straight for where Misao was. If there was another ki he knew as well as his own, it was hers.

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Okina had taken care of the scout that had stayed watch over the Aoiya. Presently, all four victims were in separate rooms, in the far-flung wings of the Aoiya. Aoshi, Okina, Shiro and Kuro each took to interrogating one of them.

Hiko, having to ensure that he was available at a moment's notice as soon as the interrogations were concluded, could not do much solitary reflection, so he resigned himself to whatever social situation he would find himself in at the only remaining retreat he had – the kitchen. Not much of a "retreat", really.

As he approached the kitchen, he sense the anxiety very distinctly. It was expected, because the interrogations were the most precarious part of the plan, which had the constrains of a time limit that would test their abilities, and because the consequences of failure were quite unthinkable.

Misao was chewing on the dango she'd mysteriously returned with and Okon was washing up the last of the dishes from breakfast. She wouldn't have had much to do – the restaurant being closed for business and the inn to new visitors, so they only had to attend to their current guests, altogether a much more manageable situation.

"Ara, Hiko-san! Is there anything I can prepare for you?" Okon promptly offered as soon as he stepped in.

"Yes, a 'Do Not Disturb' sign, if it's not too inconvenient," he replied dryly, nonchalantly sweeping his gaze over Misao, who took up the perceived challenge. Better dispel the tension... I could almost cut it with my sword.

"Why you, it's not like I'll even want to bother with you. You sound like you're so popular when you're quite the opposite in my opinion! Besides, I wouldn't have even had to say this to 'disturb' you if you hadn't made that uncalled for comment!" Misao huffed.

"Hn. Unpopular eh? Maybe Okon here would beg to differ." And perhaps now's the time to see what she's like, Hiko mused.

"I beg nobody, Hiko-san. Misao might not put things too succinctly or palatably, but she makes good points," Okon pointed out, tightening a corner of her lip in a half-amused smile.

It was nothing Hiko didn't already know. What he was looking to know, however, was that Okon just might make good company after all. His prodding, however, was over for now, and, nodding and smiling graciously, answered Okon's original question, "I would appreciate some sake."

It was a response which puzzled Misao to no end, Hiko saw, and he took delight in that at her expense. He also noted, however, that she was wise in keeping her mouth shut when she knew nothing of what was going on.

"So I hear from Misao that besides kenjutsu, your other area of specialty is ceramics?"

"I have many other areas of specialty – a true genius is an all rounder," he smirked. "Anyway, what about it?"

"You strike me as a practical, sometimes coarse, man. Why would you waste your time on such a tiresomely dainty exercise?" Okon asked.

Hiko raise an eyebrow. If he was right about her motivations for her actions – that she was still interested in him, then he had to admit that she was very deftly going about achieving it. "Coarse" and "dainty" – the right words and the right topics. He knew that she believed none of the implications on the art of pottery her comments held, but was merely trying to tease out the response she desired of him with the provocative words. However, he knew many ways to play along and yet sidestep that, without even lying.

"It would be unfortunate to waste such fine words of wisdom on unperceptive fools." He had both answered the two facets of her bait and challenged her to find a way not to compromise her true motives for asking her original question by having to prove that she wasn't actually a fool.

Upon hearing the last two words, Misao got jumpy again. "What a gentleman you are, calling women unperceptive fools!"

"Since when did I call anyone, much less women, anything?" he casually countered, leaving Misao on the brink of looking like a sputtering dolt once more. Okon didn't help things for her when she had amused herself very much over the exchange between Misao and him and let out a little laugh. Fortunately for Misao, she reverted to her original strategy of holding her silence when uncertain.

Presently, Okon took gave her incumbent response, "Apparently, though, you have decided that I do not belong to that category at all, or you wouldn't be going through so much trouble to pick your fine words."

Nicely done. Hiko was truly impressed, for once in his life, at a person's ability to mould the conversation with such grace and dexterity. So simply, she had addressed his opinions, exonerated herself, and even reconciled, so that in their little game of a conversation, she no longer pitted herself against him.

By now, even Misao had caught a little hint regarding what was going on, and maintained her silence now to also give them their space.

"Hn," he let a knowing smile escape, but quickly converted it to his usual smirk. "Why would I have to go through any trouble at all? My words are always so."

"Then why are your 'fine' words always a pain... too fine, maybe," Misao muttered, at which Okon laughed once more.

"Yes, as Misao-chan says, too fine then," Okon said determinately, then continued before anyone could add anything, gesturing to the dish from which Misao had consumed her dango, "Misao-chan, let me clear this for you. You had better go check on their progress. They'd better settle it soon or we will become late."

"Hai," Misao nodded and hurried out.

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Aoshi had just stepped out of the room when Misao turned into the corridor.

"Aoshi-sama?"

"Done," he nodded, visibly relieved as he turned to face her.

Okina, Shiro and Kuro followed him out of the room.

"I thought you were conducting it in separate rooms...?" Misao inquired, puzzled.

"We're done, Misao. We have the information we want. We've shifted them here because this room is secure," Okina replied in Aoshi's stead. "Hurry along and summon Hiko-san and Okon to the training hall. We have to move fast."

"Hai!" Misao acknowledge and was swiftly out of sight, having turned the corner.

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Author's notes:

Sensing another pairing? XD Ok, about Okon, there's obviously not much in either the manga or the anime about her. I've reread her lines in Maigo-chan's, and I think that my interpretation of her character is within the bounds of what can be reasonably imagined. Also, another reason for such a mature and sensible interpretation would be her hairstyle. I'm not stereotyping here, but I do think that people consciously (or sometimes subconsciously) reflect their personalities in their fashion sense and hair. Okon has longer hair, which could suggest she's not as perky as Omasu, who comes across that way. Instead, it suggests (at least, to me... I might be a bit biased here) mellowness.

Also, I chose Okon over Omasu because, as I said, Okon does look older and might match Hiko's age a bit better. Besides, I don't think Hiko would have a thing for bright, perky and young girls, from my interpretation of his character. He comes across as more sophisticated to me, judging from his extreme introversion, complex contemplation (I think some of the comments made in the Tsuiokuhen / Trust & Betrayal were extremely deep and wise), and choice of pottery as a profession to back his sword-wielding one up. Hence, I would expect that if he feels romantically attracted to any female, it would have to be up to his standards. That could be a reason why he's been single for so long in my story (although I acknowledge that there's a possibility of fitting a lover into the original timeline in a perfectly reasonabl way, like some fics portray).

Er... did you understand all of that rant?

Anyway, oh yes, in case I've been too vague about it, italics can mean three things:

Foreign (Japanese) terms

Emphasis

Thought

genkan – entrance / doorway

kunai – Misao's weapon of training, the small little knives which have the function of darts.

kodachi – a blade shorter than a normal sword, but longer than a wakizashi (those short swords carried as part of a pair by samurai, used for seppuku or traditional Japanese suicide)

gomen – "sorry"

mou – (in this context) refers to an expression of exasperation

ja – "Well then!" or "Bye then!"

gi – an outer overcoat that looks like a kimono from the top, but is of a shorted length and is usually of thicker material

dango – Japanese glutinous dumplings (think Soujirou eating those round things from a stick when he was wandering). The ones I tried are kind of sweet. Sometimes crispy on the outside, but always soft past the outer layer. Eaten with ground soya bean power, red bean paste, sesame seeds or soy sauce.

hai – Yes (More accurately, "Yes, that is so." However, it is often used loosely.)

anou – "Well..." or "Er..."

ne? – "isn't it?" or "eh?" (in the confirmatory sense at the end of a comment/sentence)