Being Okashira

Chapter Six: Comrades, Buddies, Pals ... or Not


Misao watched Aoshi as he left the Aoiya not ten minutes later, a bag over one shoulder. He didn't look happy, but he didn't look unhappy either. The man was too expressionless for his own good or hers for that matter.

Not more than a few seconds had past before she heard a loud crash below and then spotted Kamatari running after Aoshi.

Chisato and Takeo were the youngest students at the Aoiya at the moment, adopted after their ninja parents had been killed on a dangerous mission. The last leader had decided it was not proper to abandon Oniwabanshuu members, even unofficial ones, and took in the children.

It was mere convenience that Aoshi had shown up when he had and the twins had been away. Sending him off to get them was a mere pretense. She wanted him away from her and simultaneously she wanted him to 'bond' with the family.

Despite everything being 'her choice', she knew, deep down, it really wasn't. It was all more like an eventuality. Still, she was in a position to make the upcoming transition from leader to wife easier on herself and him.

She wasn't prideful enough to think she could handle the organization better than Aoshi. She'd read the reports of his triumphs. She knew how he'd been leading ninja bands at age fifteen. She knew of his victories and heartlessness in battle, his ability to kill, and his ability to have mercy. Aoshi was a leader, and she felt overshadowed and inferior in the face of such a man.

For the moment, though, she was still very much in charge. Aoshi might be the perfect leader candidate, but he also had a lack of emotion that worried her. What lurked behind those icy eyes caused her fear and left her feeling powerless to either decipher or control it.

She'd spent most of her morning doing research on him, trying to find out who he was, where he was from, and dredging up as much background material as earthly possible. It hadn't gone unnoticed, unfortunately.

Jiya had immediately taken note of her unusual concentration on her work and plucked several papers from her hands while she was reading them. Jeers and taunts would then plague her until she kicked him out, but every time he showed up again another lecherous comment surfaced.

If that wasn't bad enough he'd told Omasu and Okon and now they too had gotten in on 'the game'. She groaned.

She had learned some interesting things. Shinomori Aoshi was twenty-six, ten full years her senior, something that had, at first, caused her to blink in amazement. He didn't seem that old. Still, when she thought about it, twenty-six wasn't Jiya's age, so he was pretty young after all.

His parents had been killed in the war when he was young. He'd been adopted by a local branch of the Oniwabanshuu near his home village. Details were scarce about his upbringing and training in the group.

Details hadn't been readily available until he became a section leader at the age of fifteen, since then he'd only seemed to improve and become near legendary among the Oniwabanshuu foot men.

She turned away from the window. Retrieving Chisato and Takeo was... a trust mission. Kamatari was trusted, Aoshi was not. She would see, via the twins, how he would care for potential children. That had to be important.

The Oniwabanshuu were all practically her "children" in a weird, not really sort of way. She shook her head, trying to knock loose all these strange thoughts.

"Misao-chan!" The door swept open and in stepped Okina. "You have work to do, unless you're thinking dirty things about Aoshi again."

She blushed. "I was never thinking dirty things, I'm not you."

"Oh-ho-ho! You're blushing!" he chirped.


Aoshi walked ahead, but Kamatari kept up at his side. He had long since ditched his happy expression and was behaving quite normally and to Aoshi's relief, quietly.

"So... You're the guy," Kamatari spoke after a lengthy silence. "I've heard a lot about you."

Aoshi ignored him.

"You're not what I expected though. Too tall and too broad and too quiet for Misao. Misao's such a sweet girl... Sourjiro, now he's a guy perfectly suited for Misao-chan. So loving and gentle, it's really too bad he's such a block head, although I can't fault him. Misao-chan is like a sister to me too, so I understand his not being able to fall for her."

There started the expedition to the next town over. Aoshi silently wondered if Kamatari was trying to be purposely annoying or if he was really like this. Kamatari prattled on for several more feet before he drifted off in silence.

Aoshi glanced at him once and determined to forget he had to travel with the strange cross-dressing man.

Who was this man, this man dressed as a woman no less, to tell him that he was unsuitable for Misao? Misao was Misao; the girl destined to bear the next Okashira, who was more compatible with her wasn't really the issue.

Who was suited to be the Okashira in her place was what mattered and neither Kamatari nor Soujiro was suitable for that job, he, Shinomori Aoshi, was.

Despite telling himself not to, he felt somewhat offended at the younger man's remarks, but let them slide. If he ever encountered the man in the dojo he'd repay him then, with a bruise or two.

Until then, he'd let it go.


He was thankful the next town was only a day's walk. They would get there near evening, spend the night, grab the tots the next morning and head back.

They traveled on through the day, Kamatari occasionally speaking, but usually giving up waiting on a response. Some hours after noon Aoshi finally conceded to stop for food and rest before they set off once more. It was barely sundown when they reached the small village where the kids were meeting with their archery instructor.

Aoshi kept to the skirts of town, settling beneath a tree for the night while Kamatari went ahead saying something about a party or gambling. Aoshi couldn't be entirely sure, as all that guys words seem to blur together.

He was dozing lightly listening to the gentle sounds of the night when he heard footsteps on the gravel path. His eyes shot open in the darkness, listening to the stranger's feet.

"Hey!"

He frowned.

Kamatari. Back again, already?

"Still out here, huh? I went all over town looking for you. Here," he tossed something that landed heavily in Aoshi's lap. He picked it up, examining the parcel.

"It's food," Kamatari explained. "I thought you should eat something. Despite being completely wrong for her, Misao does seem to like you. Can't have an unhappy Okashira."

"Do you think yourself a better match for Misao than I?" Aoshi asked, finally fed up with Kamatari's baiting.

"Me? Well, despite my perfection, no. I can't be the Okashira, everyone knows it. I couldn't be good enough for Misao either. Misao is just too important to everyone... ever since she was little running around tugging on people's kimono's asking for someone to teach her how to throw kunai."

He sounded so wistful, Aoshi thought, remembering the past. Of course, Misao would always be a child to those who had known her from childhood. Those who had been raised to be her 'brothers' and 'sisters' in the Oniwabanshuu. He had been saved that difficulty.

"Has she always used kunai?"

Information on Misao was surprisingly difficult to get a hold of. No one outside the Aoiya seemed to know anything about her. Reports were often conflicting and contradictory.

"Yeah," Kamatari replied. "Since the Aoiya is a restaurant it's been attacked a couple times by thieves. Once Misao was down in the kitchen when they broke in, she had been looking for a glass of water, although why she was all the way up in the restaurant, no one knew. She was probably half asleep.

"She was alone in the kitchen when she heard them. She watched from the doorway as they tore through the place, but one spotted her and tossed a set of kunai after her.

"She was terrified for a couple of days, but it wore off surprisingly quickly. The next thing everybody knew she was in Hannya's lap begging him to teach her how to 'throw the shiny knives just like the bad guys'."

He sounded so pleased with his recollection. It must be nice to have fond memories, Aoshi thought as silence fell over them and neither spoke again.


Aoshi watched the tots as they scampered ahead of him by Kamatari's side. They were not cheerful children, but quiet and somber like. Kamatari was the most animated of the group, talking and laughing with, and occasionally at, the kids.

He seemed to keep them amused, but there was a definite lack of happiness surrounding them. Perhaps he would ask Misao about it later.

Given they were relatively small; he expected they would have to make a couple stops along the way to rest.

They were small; both dressed in dusty colored knee length yukata's. Their hair was dark, but lighter than Misao's inky tresses. They passed along, walking the several hour trip.

It was boring, more so than he recalled other trips being. Perhaps because he could not clear his mind enough to wander. The children ahead of him held his attention. His eyes kept flickering back to them before scanning the fields surrounding them.

It was Misao, however, that lurked in the dark corners of his mind. Those bright luminous eyes, steadily gazing at him. Telling him in no uncertain terms he would not have the position he desired until he had her trust, and these children were important to her.

If she was like other females, she probably had a weak spot for children and he could use them to gain her favor. He didn't really consider himself an expert with children though, and worried slightly about his ability to win them over.

He could always try training with them and see how that went.

When the road up to the Aoiya finally came into sight he almost sighed. He stopped at the path.

"I'm going into town. I'll return later."

Kamatari turned to watch, as did the tots, but Aoshi didn't pause. He kept on, following the lonely path toward town.

As expected the place was bustling, people in every direction. Shops of all sorts were selling their wares. It reminded him of his old childhood days. Days he didn't like to remember, which was why he liked to avoid towns as much as humanly possible.

He was passing by an alleyway between two of the buildings along the edge of town when he thought he heard raised voices. Arguments and fights were not the type of thing to grab his attention, so he crept closer, wondering why this one had.

"Stupid, disgusting, pervert! How dare you touch me?"

Misao?

The shrill female voice raised in outrage and disgust immediately caused him to straighten.

He stepped into the alleyway, dodging a kunai as it whirled by his head.

Why was this not surprising? Was this girl a magnet for trouble?

"Oh you- eh?" She started and immediately paused as he neared.

The small figure paused, her body loosening from the fighting stance she'd tensed into.

"Aoshi?"

She blinked.

"What are you doing here?"

The man behind Misao rose. Aoshi leaned forward, tilting across, snagging the girl around the waist with one arm while extending the other in a punch. The man's head snapped back, his body impacting hard with the wall of the building before he crumpled to the ground.

Misao fell against him a moment, sighing deeply. "Oh, what a rotten day."

He released her and she moved a pace or two back from him.

"Your clothes are torn. You shouldn't be so reckless, where is your escort?"

She huffed, crossing her arms. "You mean, my babysitter? I ditched him a while back."

He stepped forward, raising his arms and caging her against the wall.

"I know, don't start the lecture, okay!" she pouted. "It was irresponsible and reckless, don't bother. I've heard it a thousand times."

She kept her gaze averted.

"You shouldn't be walking alone," he chided.

"I swear! If one more person tries to tell me what I can and cannot do -"

"Stop being childish, it's dangerous for you to walk alone. What would you have done if I was your enemy in this alley? Do you honestly believe you could have escaped me? Who could come to your rescue?"

She breezily ignored him, waving off his warnings slipping beneath his arm and moving to walk away. "Save the lecture for someone else."

He reached out, snagging her sleeve, twirling her back around to face him and pushing her with the palms of his hands straight back against the wall. He leaned down to her, his nose level with hers.

"Escape me then, show me that my concern was unwarranted," he growled, his breath against her face.

She shifted, hand sliding beneath her obi behind her back while she stared into his eyes uneasily. She moved deftly and swiftly arm coming up and impacting hard against the wall as his hand closed around her wrist intercepting the swing. The kunai in her hands clattered to the ground as her hand hit the wall, the force of the impact stunning her grip into loosening and probably bruising her knuckles.

She tried to focus on her stinging hand instead of his intense gaze, but could not as the pain lessened all too soon.

"If that's all you've got -"

"Most guys don't have your level of talent," she snapped.

"Perhaps not, but they're still physically stronger than you are," he replied.

"What business is it of yours?" she shot back.

He moved back from her, reaching to grab her wrist.

"I will escort you back to the Aoiya."

"What if I don't want to go back to the Aoiya?"

He ignored her, pulling her along despite her protests. She struggled trying to wrench her wrist free but his hand wrapped completely around her slim wrist making her fighting futile.

They passed by curious towns folk who averted their eyes if met directly as he continued leading her. It wasn't until they had reached the gravel path out of town before she thought of something to use to free herself.

"I am the Okashira, you know! You can't just drag me around!"

He stopped at once, back stiff. She, a pace behind him, couldn't see his expression to judge whether or not she'd angered him.

For a moment she expected another lecture like the others would give her on how she was behaving childishly yet again. When he turned, however, his intense blue eyes held no expression.

"Which is why it's important for you to take care of yourself. The Oniwabanshuu Okashira is an important position. The measures put in place to protect you are not there to make you feel important; they are there because you are important. It is not something you should handle carelessly; many people are depending on you."

She frowned. "You think I don't know that? I've had this miserable position for months. There's always people in and out. Papers, finances, customers, inventory, reports, property maintenance, injuries, children - I have to oversee everyone. Someone is always looking for me. I consider myself lucky to get any sleep at this particular point."

Their eyes met and held, but Misao looked away in discomfort.

This man. This Shinomori Aoshi, he was much more qualified for this job than her. If she gave it up to him though, she would have to marry him. Could she?

Without a word further, he began walking again, hand still clamped around her wrist as though he expected her to run off on him any moment.

Half way there his grip loosened and dropped, circling his hand around her slim fingers.

He brushed them lightly over the back of her hand, as though to apologize for his rough treatment of her, before he let go completely. They took their final approach to the Aoiya with several feet of space between them.


End chapter 6