Summary: Aoshi must once again leave the Aoiya to take care of an old enemy of the Oniwabanshuu. Misao disobeys Aoshi by following him. But what happens when she meets a certain rurouni along the way? SouMi
A/N: Yo there! The name's Moronicus and I really haven't really written any story in BTW, I love SouMi! For y'all SouMi fans out there, a big hello and I hope you enjoy the fic!
Disclaimer: I no own RK.
The Answer is Love
"Aoshi, this is serious. And dangerous, if I do say so myself. You simply cannot go! "
It was a quiet and dark night at the Aoiya and everyone was asleep except for and old man who tied his beard with a pink bow and a tall, serious-looking man with ice blue eyes. They were sitting in a room lit only by a single candle. Okina, the old man, had just finished reading a letter addressed to Aoshi. His face was not only solemn. It was also tinted with a little shock and quite a lot of fear.
"Okina, you know very well that I must leave to protect all of you here." Aoshi replied. His tone was monotonous but his words spoke of concern. "This man will kill all of you if I don't show up in Hokkaido to face him." Okina wanted to say something to stop Aoshi from leaving but he didn't seem to have the right words at the moment. Aoshi patiently sat and waited for Okina to say something, Okina opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. Why can't I think of anything good to say! The old man thought to himself, disappointed.
"Okina, I can take care of myself and I am sure that I will return here as soon as I finish my business there. Trust me." At those words, Okina no longer needed to think.
"OK Aoshi, you win. When will you leave?"
"If it were possible, tonight. But I have a feeling that you aren't going to let me leave yet."
Okina smiled a little smile and said, "What do you think of me? Of course not! You will leave tomorrow and you are going to explain yourself to my angel Misao! She's bound to run after you if you don't tell her everything yourself!"
"Okina, I think that Misao would feel better if I left without telling her."
"Telling her what!" came an irritated voice from outside the room. The owner of the voice entered the room. Yes, it was the voice of a seventeen year old girl with long black hair tied in a braid. Yup, it was Misao Makimachi. Okina's eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped open but Aoshi remained cool and composed as usual. This was not going to go well.
"What are you going to tell little old me?" she repeated, a little more relaxed when she saw her Aoshi-sama's face. Aoshi technically doesn't belong to anyone but himself, but Misao absolutely, positively loved him and thus took him possessively. Considering that Aoshi raised Misao for most of her life, she had a "right" to think that way about him. Aoshi sighed inwardly. Why do things like this happen?
"Jiya! As the okashira of the Oniwabanshuu, I demand that you tell me what you were talking about!" Misao was getting impatient. Why are they keeping secrets from me? Do I look like some kid who can't keep secrets? I'm a beautiful and mature woman for Kami's sake!
Okina was too shocked to answer. Being a lot older than both Misao and Aoshi put together, terribly shocking things like a girl suddenly shouting in your ear wasn't good for dirty, perverted old men like him. "Well, um, er, you see, Misao, um… how do I put this…um…?" Misao got angrier and she then proceeded to strangle our dirty old man, shouting incoherent profanities about how unfair he was for not telling her anything.
"I'm leaving for Hokkaido tomorrow for some personal agendas." Aoshi said flatly. He had to say it out straight. The cat's out of the bag. If only Okina had just let him go…
Misao slowly put down Okina's neck as she tried to comprehend what Aoshi had just said. He was leaving again? "I don't understand… why are you leaving, Aoshi-sama?" her voice trembled a little. Why?
Okina had recovered and was now ready to talk. "Aoshi-kun is going to Hokkaido to take care of Ryu Teshimine. He was a member of the Oniwabanshuu who turned bad when he didn't receive the title of Okashira. He was Aoshi's self-proclaimed rival and now he's back to seek revenge. Teshimine sent a letter challenging Aoshi to a duel. A duel to the death." Okina looked very scary; his eyebrows were down and his face was fixed to one that was about to go to battle.
Misao tried to laugh. "Haha, good one Jiya. You got Aoshi-sama to do this joke too. Impressive! Wow, Aoshi-sama, great joke. You sure scared me!"
"That was no joke, Misao. I am leaving Kyoto to go to Hokkaido to kill Ryu Teshimine."
Misao felt her heart break. Someone wanted to kill Aoshi? No, scratch that. Someone wanted to make him kill again? This wasn't good. She thought for a while then she suddenly smiled. It was a very small smile that looked quite unsure.
"But Aoshi-sama doesn't kill anymore, right? Plus we could report this psycho son of a jackal to the police right? Aoshi-sama doesn't have to go."
Okina and Aoshi looked down at the floor. This is going to be tough to explain to Misao Aoshi thought. "That is one thing that we cannot do." Okina said grimly. Misao's face contorted itself into a confused one.
"Why not?" she voiced out her thoughts.
"Because Ryu will kill send his men to kill you if we do. By you, I mean you, Okina, Omasu and Okon and Kuro and Shiro." Aoshi said simply. "Ryu became a rich man after he left the Oniwabanshuu and he could always bribe the police if he wanted to anyway."
Tears were starting to form at Misao's brilliantly green eyes. There was no way to stop Aoshi. And it wasn't even sure that he would come back. She tried to think but she couldn't. Aoshi's announcement was killing her inside.
"Aoshi-sama, you cannot leave. As the okashira of the-"
"Misao, you cannot use your authority for such things. You must think of the Oniwabanshuu. You must protect them while I am gone."
"But Aoshi-sama! Jiya can take care of them! Can you at least take me with you?" Misao pleaded, tears flowing from her eyes. She was crying and was now at the brink of breaking down. She tried her best to keep her composure but her best wasn't good enough. Okina just stood there, wanting to comfort his "granddaughter" but she seemed unapproachable. Aoshi suddenly stood up and did something much unexpected. He walked over to Misao, took her in his arms and gave her a small hug. Misao's tear-shedding eyes widened at what Aoshi had done. "Aoshi-sama…"
"Misao, I cannot take you with me because you might get yourself killed because of me. I'm doing this for your own good and for the good of the Oniwabanshuu. I just don't want you to get hurt." Misao wanted to say something but Aoshi told her to keep quiet. His voice was still emotionless to those who didn't know him but Misao and Okina knew very well that Aoshi was in his "caring and loving" mode, shown only when needed.
Okina gazed upon them and thought to himself how touching and emotional the moment was. Misao felt good as she embraced Aoshi back, feeling the love that he hadn't expressed for a long time.
However, it would've been perfect for her if Aoshi hadn't said,
"You were the sister I never had."
Misao jumped back and stared. "I'm the sister you never had?" she inquired weakly in disbelief. Aoshi closed his eyes and nodded. Aoshi was smart, a genius even, but he wasn't gifted when it came to girls or women. In that field, he was totally dense or so we all think.
Okina slapped his forehead. Aoshi, you dimwit! You just made things worse!
Misao ran over to the corner of the room, sat there and buried her face in her hands. Aoshi-sama thinks that I am his LITTLE SISTER! He thinks that I'm some sort of kid! This really sucks, damn it! Okina had had enough so he went to Misao and started to comfort her. "There, there Misao, at least Aoshi hugged you, right? Aoshi doesn't hug anyone! He doesn't even hug his own pillow! Feel proud!"
"Hey, it's the middle of the night! Can you keep it down there!" was heard from somewhere in the house. Okina rolled his eyes.
"Misao…" Aoshi said. What did I do this time? Himura said he did this to the Kamiya girl and nothing went wrong. Misao is unpredictable. I will not trust him with things like this again. Aoshi stood there, once again emotionless.
Far away in Tokyo, a red-haired ex-manslayer sneezed in his sleep.
Misao was howling in misery but that didn't mean that her brain wasn't working. It was almost like lightning hit her. The idea had come easily. Aoshi was good at planning and he had raised Misao for half of her life. Surely, some of his skills rubbed off to Misao.
"Misao…" he said again but now he was cut short by Misao. It was strange. Her eyes were still teary but she was grinning like nothing happened. Okina smelled something fishy but he couldn't quite put his finger into it.
"Aoshi-sama, I permit you to leave! You will leave tomorrow and you will come back, victorious! I, the okashira, will protect the Aoiya and the Oniwanbanshuu!" Misao declared, fingers doing the v-shaped peace sign. "Just make sure you leave very early in the morning, when no one is awake yet! And oh yeah, I love you!" Misao hugged Aoshi briefly before retreating back to her room where she was going to secretly fully devise her plan.
Aoshi was shocked at Misao's sudden change of heart but then again, it made everything all the easier. He would leave and Misao wouldn't follow him. Wait, things couldn't be this simple. Misao may be planning to follow me. But I must trust her. I know that she is mature enough to understand the consequences if she followed me. After all, I raised her half her life.
"Okina, I'll be off to my room to pack my things for tomorrow. I will leave as soon as I wake so as not to create another eruption from Misao. The last thing I would like to tell you is to take care of Misao and the Aoiya. Good night and see you in a few weeks." Aoshi departed to his room.
"Good night and good luck Aoshi. Be careful!" Okina said as if he were leaving already. Okina forgot about Aoshi and now all he could think of was Misao. He frowned for a while but he smiled goofily again.
I know what you're thinking Misao. But I will not stop you. I know that you'd run off even if I tie you to the wall in a room full of traps guarded by a thousand skilled ninja and surrounded by a moat full of deadly crocodiles. You be careful yourself. I hope you meet someone to help you too. After reflecting on that, he blew the candle that lit the room and proceeded to his own room to dream of pretty women and their womanly "secrets".
Meanwhile, in some forest approximately three kilometers away from the Aoiya…
"Ara… the stars are very pretty tonight." A young man clad in blue said, admiring the flaming balls of gas in the sky. His clothes were a little tattered because of his one-year journey and he carried only a few things; a small bag which held no food at the moment, a katana, (now a little dull because of the boy's relentless rubbing of it on rocks to for it to lose its sharpness), a small journal notebook, including an ink stone and a calligraphy brush, and the clothes that were on his body. Besides that, he had nothing. He was now nineteen but he still had the features of a boy who barely passed manhood: he still had the same emotionless blue eyes, the same eternal smile, the same brown hair (regularly cut by the blade he had) and the same thin but strong body. He looked innocent. But the truth was he was once a cold-blooded killer, the reason why he wields a dangerous weapon like a katana. He was the one called Soujiro Seta, the Heavenly Sword, the Tenken. However, at the time we meet him now, he is now just a rurouni; a wanderer in search of the truth.
It's been a year since Himura-san told me to search for my true self. I still haven't found any answers except that it is never safe to anger a dog.
Soujiro chuckled as he remembered an instance in which there was a big lion-like dog in the middle of a thin road. He tried talking to it but the dog just growled. He tried smiling wider but the dog just got more annoyed. Out of desperation, Soujiro had tried pushing the dog out of the way thus, getting himself battered and trampled by man's so-called best friend.
"When will I find the true truth? Himura-san and Shishio-san found their truths in ten years. Should I wait that long?" Soujiro asked himself, still gazing at the stars in the sky and still smiling. He was deeply confused. What was he to do? He didn't know anything except to fight and smile without feeling. Of course, he knew the basic stuff like speaking, eating and breathing but he didn't know how to feel or at least he was just beginning to learn how. He didn't know how to be truly happy, to be truly loved. The boy sat down to think.
"Love…" Soujiro mused to himself. "I wonder what it is. I've heard a lot about it but I never truly understood." Having never felt the love of anyone, what would he know? He was never loved and he never showed love. All he had heard from the people he met was that love changes many things. Was it love that made Shishio-san and Himura-san the way they were? Is that what they found in those ten years? I guess only the stars know…
"Ara, it's getting late! I'd better get to sleep!"With that, the boy took his bag, used it as a pillow and he lay down. I guess finding out what love is would come along in my ten-year journey too.
Soujiro closed his eyes and slept.
He didn't know that his journey would be over in a couple of weeks.
A/N: This is my first fic and I'm really nervous because I am NOT that good at writing! In fact, I'm not even sure if this is good. Please read and review to tell me what's wrong. I really think that they are all OOC, especially Aoshi and Misao! Sorry to all Aoshi and AoMi fans! Please help me by reviewing! Thanks!
