A/N. So sorry for the long wait, folks... This is kinda what was happening over the past few days:
Shiko-chan (wrestling with Misao-dono): Will... you... just... please... stay... put... so I can... angst you... up?!?!!?
Misao: Hah! Nobody angsts up the great Makimachi Misao!
Shiko-chan (swirly-eyed from all the kunai and Angry Demon Bird Kicks): ...I can't handle this...
glossary:
engawa = oops, have I neglected to define this properly yet?? Gomen gomen! Alternately translated/defined as a verandah, balcony, and porch, it's basically that open-air sort of corridor running around a traditional house
zabuton = big flat cushions to kneel on at table
otouchan (Kenji, "'toucha'") = daddy!
ki = spirit, energy, similar to the Chinese "chi". Really brilliant fighters were said to be trained to sense this
kawaii = basically, "cute"; but applies to a whole bunch of slightly differentiated situations and objects/people in everyday Japanese conversation
onmitsu = lit. "a person of the darkness" or "one who moves in darkness"; commonly known as ninja
yakitori = grilled chicken on a spit
-kun = suffix denoting a close male friend or relative (see more on this below)
okaachan = mommy!
Mune no Monogatari
by Mirune Keishiko
Eight: Motion, Stillness, Sound, Silence
Tokyo sweltered in the summer. The humid heat thickened the students' skulls, hardened Myoujin Yahiko's in particular, and honed Himura Kaoru's temper to truly dangerous levels.
As another round of insults and shouts echoed from the dojo where Kaoru was supervising Yahiko's training, Kenshin shook his head ruefully over his laundry. Some distance away in the shade of the engawa, sitting in a tub thoughtfully padded down with an old beat-up zabuton, nine-month-old Kenji played quietly with soap bubbles.
"We should probably take your Okaasan down to the ocean sometime soon, Kenji-kun." Kenshin walked over to his baby son and added another heap of soap foam to the mound that was rapidly evaporating. "She needs some cooling down."
He shut his mouth just in time as Kenji, face scrunched into a tiny baby frown, smeared soap bubbles across his face. Kenji then burst into giggles, proceeding to wipe suds all over his father's gi.
Kenshin laughed softly and picked up his son, shaking his head in half-hearted disapproval at the insolent mirth with which the baby immediately coated his hair with soap. Oh, well, he would be taking a cold bath soon enough anyway, with such a hot afternoon.
"Shao."
Kenshin's eyes bugged out. "Oro?"
"'Toucha', shao!" insisted Kenji, yanking hard on his father's hair. Kenshin was so stunned he forgot the pain; he sat down with a thump on the engawa, still clutching Kenji weakly, his mind reeling in surprise and joy.
Then, with his son still shouting "Shao!" in his newfound baby voice, he sensed it.
It was not killing ki, not even ki that was menacing in any way; but it was ki nonetheless, and it was extremely close—close enough for him to place Kenji carefully back in his tub and prepare himself.
"'Toucha'!" repeated Kenji irritably.
The ki was getting nearer. Kenshin tensed, probing that ki with all his might. He knew who it was, he was sure of it—it was urgently familiar, and his strange inability to identify exactly whose it was frustrated him. The unshakable sense of recognition made it equally likely to be that of a friend as that of an enemy. But what friend would be stealing into the dojo and stealthily approaching his child?
Kenji glared at his father indignantly. "Shao!"
"Kenji-kun..." began Kenshin soothingly.
"'Toucha'! Shao!"
A feminine shriek.
And then Kenji was glomping Misao as enthusiastically as he could, and she was cuddling him close with a delighted stream of babble that was only slightly less incoherent than his. Kenshin hit the floor in a daze of relief.
"Kawaii!! He's talking! He's talking! Didja hear that, Himura? He actually called my name! How long has this been going on? And at barely ten months, too! What do you feed this kid, Himura? Maybe he's a genius, or do I just have that charm with kids too? I spend a little winter with you guys and imprint myself on his memory forever. He's a lot more perceptive than his 'touchan. This little prodigy loves his Misao-basan, don't you, you itty-bitty widdle cutiekins?" Kenji gurgled excitedly as Misao stuck her beaming face in his. "Himura, your kid is just too... Himura?"
Misao arched an eyebrow at the spiral-eyed Kenshin, who was just recovering from the shock.
"Are you okay? Maybe heatstroke," murmured Misao, feeling Kenshin's forehead with her hand.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," said Kenshin cheerfully, blinking away the spirals in his eyes. "Good to see you again, Misao-dono. Were you creeping up on the roof?"
"Yep!" Misao struck a pose, as Kenji chewed and drooled on the end of her braid. "Makimachi Misao, onmitsu extraordinaire, mustn't let her skills fade even in this enlightened age! Although I could have made yakitori up on those shingles," she finished, rolling her eyes.
"Kaoru is with her class, but she'll be very happy to see you, that she will. She will also be pleased to know that Kenji-kun has spoken his first words." Kenshin beamed as he reached out for his son—just in time before Misao let out another shrill shriek that could have broken baby eardrums.
"Really?! First words?? So does that mean he only finally spoke today, and then he said my name?!" Laughing proudly, Misao cut a crazy dance across the courtyard. Kenji, watching her with avid interest over his father's arm, happily babbled, "Shao! Shao!"
" 'Misao, Misao!' he says! Smartest kid I ever saw!" Taking him from Kenshin and whirling him around till he squealed in delight, Misao finally planted Kenji on her shoulders and headed for the training hall.
Kenshin, smiling as he heard loud genki greetings interrupt the students' measured shouts, headed off to the kitchen. Pleasure and pride were quickly dissolving into fear and doubt, and he needed to be by himself to think things through. Misao was right: At less than ten months of age, Kenji was truly precocious to already be speaking.
As he set about slicing a watermelon for their guest, he remembered those deep purple eyes, staring solemnly up at him. People often said they were so like his own; and busy exclaiming over Kenji's antics, they also often failed to notice Kenshin's dismay.
Misao's last visit to the dojo had ended five months ago, and though he and Kaoru had occasionally talked about her and the others at the Aoiya, he didn't remember having spoken of her recently enough for Kenji to simply repeat the name at random. There were other possibilities to consider, of course, not all of them entirely improbable, but as Kenshin laid out the fruit on a dish, he couldn't help wondering—
Could tiny Kenji sense ki?
"Oei, Himura! I've just arrived and here you are moping in the kitchen! Over food no less! You should have more respect for such a delicious-looking watermelon!" Misao playfully bapped Kenshin on the head, eliciting a yelp of "Oro!"
They gathered on the engawa, Kaoru having momentarily assigned her students to do a thousand practice swings. Kenshin decided to dismiss his more serious thoughts for the moment. For now, as Misao cheerfully updated Kaoru on Okina, Okon, and Omasu, he was content to slice watermelon into small ruby-red chunks and poke them carefully into Kenji's hungry mouth one at a time.
"So what brings you here, Misao-chan? Or are you just passing through on your way somewhere else?" Kaoru paused in cuddling Kenji to let Kenshin wipe away a bit of bright red juice that had dribbled down the little chin.
Misao fell abruptly silent. Startled, Kenshin looked up. He and his wife exchanged concerned glances.
"Is something wrong, Misao-dono?"
"You don't know, do you? You haven't gotten word." Misao sighed.
This time, alarm was in Kaoru's mute glance. Kenshin quickly ran through the conversation so far; he hadn't been paying that much attention. "Does it have something to do with Aoshi?"
Misao looked up eagerly. "Have you heard anything?"
Kenshin shook his head, again meeting Kaoru's gaze. "We haven't had contact with him in over a year."
Crestfallen, Misao gloomily munched a bite of watermelon. "He left the Aoiya a couple of months ago. Not for good," she added hastily, seeing Kenshin and Kaoru both amazed. "On a... business trip. He's been to Osaka, Nagoya, and Yokohama, and he was supposed to travel through Tokyo too."
"You've been following him all this time?" Kenshin's voice was pure innocence. Kaoru shook her head in amazement—no matter how she tried, she never could mask her true feelings the way he could—and wordlessly devoted herself to Kenji, who wanted more fruit.
Misao flushed. "No, I just left Kyoto a week ago. I came straight here, hoping to head him off." She shrugged. "Guess I miscalculated, huh?"
Kaoru glanced at her husband over Kenji's auburn head; with no more than an answering flicker of his eyes, she knew he had noticed it as well.
"Mou! I wish I could stay here and chat, but I better get back to my class. Kids these days—they take any excuse to slack off." Kaoru clasped Misao's hand apologetically, then handed Kenji over to his father. "If you're staying in Tokyo for a while, Misao-chan"—she beamed—"you know you're welcome to stay here."
"Thanks, Kaoru-san." Misao returned the grin. "And congratulations on Kenji-chan. That was a major step he made today."
Kaoru grinned. "Thanks. He gets it from his Okaachan, you know." And with a parting wink, she was heading back to the training hall.
Kenshin watched Misao keenly as he fed Kenji another bite-sized piece of fruit. She was still cheerful, but something was lacking in her customary perkiness. Her eyes, as they fell on him and his son, held a deep, guarded sorrow.
On anyone else's face, it would have been unfortunate enough. But this was Misao, and Kenshin found himself grieving.
"Actually, Himura," she said quietly before he could speak, "I won't be imposing on you for more than a couple of nights. I have to keep moving if I want to catch up with Aoshi-sama anytime soon." She smiled at him.
Kenshin wished, somewhat foolishly, that she would stop smiling—or rather forcing herself to smile; he could not fail to see the emptiness in her eyes, the unhappy sag of her pretty face behind the lifeless curve of her mouth. But for her sake... he smiled back kindly, patting her hand.
"If you must, Misao-dono. But if Kaoru or I can be of any more help, you know you need only ask."
He realized then, as he gazed directly at her, that something had changed, and that he finally knew what it was.
"Thanks, Himura." She looked away, and her smile was genuine now, but sad. "I know."
Makimachi Misao, onmitsu extraordinaire, was learning to keep secrets.
Megumi prepared dinner for herself and Aoshi that evening, gratitude she was determined that he should accept in deed, if not in word. The tone of her voice must have made this clear to him; he said nothing for long moments, squinting down at her with an amusement that annoyed and then amused her, too, in turn. Satisfied, she turned and headed for the kitchen.
She could feel his eyes boring into her back. "I haven't said yes or no yet."
"Details, details, Aoshi-san." And she found herself smiling for the first time since leaving Oyakuen.
It was only after he had left, as she was changing into her night yukata, that she remembered the letters she had been given at the hospital earlier that day. Sitting down at her desk to comb out her hair, she drew out the two papers, now somewhat crumpled after the afternoon's events.
The first was from Orihara Kiku, in inordinately long paragraphs gushing her regrets that Mizuaki-san had decided to cut short the o-miai, and then gushing suggestions of two or three other prospects she already had lined up for Megumi. Megumi rolled her eyes and tossed the letter aside.
The second was from Oguni-sensei in Tokyo, and Megumi found herself frowning as she scanned the message. Ships from America arriving... recent fever epidemics in the midwestern States... the possibility of such an epidemic in the busy port of Tokyo... few doctors with real knowledge and experience in Tokyo, fewer still whom he trusted to keep their heads in the midst of a panic: too few to minister to the population. Could she, would she, spare at least a month to stay in Tokyo in case of an outbreak?
Megumi sat silently for several minutes, softly worrying the edges of the paper with absent-minded fingers.
Then she picked up a pen, pulled out a sheaf of notepaper, and began a letter of request for a leave. She was overdue for a visit anyway.
~ tsuzuku ~
A/N. groan. I know, I know, it's not much of a chapter. I'm sorry. After this long wait, all the bubbling and simmering in my head has come out to... just this. ^.^; On the other hand, all the material that my literary agonizing has somehow produced should lead to fairly frequent updates from now on. I hope. ^.^ On another note... gasp, could this actually be plot?! @.@
Some notes: According to my arbitrary perception of the RK universe, Kenshin calls his son "Kenji-kun" instead of the more age-appropriate "Kenji-chan" because he's still too, y'know, angsty about having his own son and all, and so even now he treats Kenji like the child is his own man (er, you know what I mean).
A bit of information from developmental psychology: Around 9-11 months, babies usually start building up a vocab of words they understand on hearing. They generally start talking around 10-12 months. Nine-month-old Kenji is, yes, statistically exceptional. Of course! ^.^
After all those incredibly heartwarming, ego-swelling reviews I got for the last chapter... I am now ashamed of my blatant, shameless review solicitation. T.T (tears of repentance) So, minna-dono, all your apologies are, as Aoshi would say, "misguided." It is I who should apologize.
I will from now on refrain from bludgeoning readers oh-so-subtly into feeding my pathetic excuse for self-esteem with reviews. (eyes burning with resolve) No matter how much those reviews mean to me in continuing with this fic!! ...Oops, just broke my vow. =.=
At any rate... as always, deeply grateful for everyone's C&C! ^.^ Cherie Dee, thanks so much for those words of... well, I perceive them more as comfort. Because I was really pretty much unsure of myself particularly while writing the previous chapter, and thus I couldn't rightly say whether I was getting heavyhanded. So thank you, thank you, thank you. ^.^ Same goes to ChiisaiLammy, who again has my gratitude for checking my mistakes ^.^ and PackLeaderT and Shimizu Hitomi, whom I will always revere for all her own lovely Aoshi/Megumi stories. eriesalia: ooh, an undercurrent of passion you say? I like that too! ^.^ And as for Megumi's feelings... nyarharhar... mij, nightmarish? Glad of course to have helped; hope everything turned out fine anyway. And thank you, conspirator, and Maia Serrelinda so much for the reassuring, thoughtful analysis of Aoshi's character. jojobilu, thanks for reading and reviewing! I really don't know that much about Japan (scratches head sheepishly), not least because I'm not Japanese at all; I'm sorry if I gave that impression... But I do seek to make my fics as realistic as possible, in part by doing lots of research on the Net. So all the Japanese stuff here is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. ^.^ Tasya, yup yup, Aoshi can be a big sweetie ne? I totally agree with your statement: I also wonder what's going to happen to them next... @.@ Rissi-Sama: I read "Hands Courtship" and I'm really happy to know you're thinking of a follow-up story. What exactly do you want to know? ^.^ dumdeedum, thanks to you too! I'm doing my best... I hope this will please as it continues to unfold. ^.^
I have also begun to cut down on my use of "gratuitous Japanese" in my fic/s of late after having happened across this really nasty site "bitchslapping" (their word, not this unworthy one's) anime fanfic for, among other counts, said unjustified use of Japanese. This is of course a personal judgment, so while I'm agreeing with them on that count for myself, I'm not advocating their views for other writers. (Does this make me a hypocrite?...) I enjoy picking up new Nippongo vocab from fanfic as long as there's a glossary, but other readers might not share this thing. At any rate, I'll be putting in Japanese terms only when necessary.