Daughter Figure

4 of 8

Revised June 18, 2011

When the next morning came around, Misao was reluctant to take tea anywhere near the Temple where Aoshi meditated. She was loitering around the kitchen wasting time and trying not to think about it when Okina appeared.

"Good morning, my little flower."

How was he so cheerful? What was there to be cheerful about? Him and Aoshi-sama were practically scheming to get her married. Men were such pigs, she thought nastily. Bossy pigs.

"Hey," she gave him a half-hearted greeting.

"Are you working in the Aoiya today?" he seemed to be grinning at her as though he knew something she didn't.

"No, it's my day off."

"So, why are you loitering? Have you taken Aoshi-sama his tea today?"

"No," she admitted weakly. "I was getting to it."

This only seemed to make his grin grow. "Ah, then you have saved yourself a trip. Aoshi-sama is waiting for you in the Okashira's office."

Eh?

What?

She walked out of the kitchen, still clutching a dishcloth and toward the office that was technically hers and a little pissed off about it too. Where did he get off -? She grit her teeth gother. She slid open the door without knocking.

"Come in, Misao."

He sounded so… commanding.

She obeyed and stepped into the office. He was seated at the desk, his back straight, his elbows propped up, and his hands folded together, his expression neutral. He looked like he was about to reprimand her and if he did…

"Aoshi-sama?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Will you relinquish leadership to me once more peacefully?" he asked. "Or must I challenge you for it?"

Her eyes widened. "You want to take over again? That's rather abrupt."

She trusted him implicitly, but she'd trusted him before and what had happened? Granted, she'd been a child then, but she wasn't any longer. This was her grandfather's organization, her family, not his. Did she want to try that again?

"Challenge me?" she questioned.

"If you will not relinquish the office and title of Okashira to me, there are two options. I will challenge you to a battle or you will accept me as your husband."

She stared at him like he'd suddenly turned purple and approached him quickly. Rashly, she reached out and touched his face. "Aoshi-sama, are you sick? Have you been drinking? Maye I should have Jiya call a doctor for you?"

He pulled her hand off his face. "Those are the options before you. The choice is yours."

She bit her lip. "That's too sudden to say. I think I need more time, one week, I'm not even sure we could have the proper doctors here in a week. "

Aoshi was still clutching her hand. "Misao."

"I'm not even sure what's proper when a person goes crazy."

"You told me, I needed to get a job," he reminded her.

"I didn't tell you to take this one," she pointed out calmly. More calmly than she felt.

"I'm a killer –"

"No, you're not."

"I'm a killer, Misao. What were you thinking I would do? Sell tofu? Build houses?" Clutching her fingers tight he turned her hand palm up and kissed her inner wrist. "This is all I can do. I will give you one week to decide. If you do not get back to me before then, the decision will fall to Okina by default."

She glowered at him. "I absolutely refuse."

He didn't betray feeling anything and she almost squirmed under his gaze.

"I have no intentions of giving something back to you that you abandoned. You walked out on us. You decided that the deaths of four members of this group were more important than the safety and well being of everyone else in it, me included. I loved them too, but what you did hurt. It hurt us. It's forgivable, Aoshi-sama, but it's not something I will simply give you because you had it before. You threw it away; you threw us away. We don't belong to you."

This time he seemed frozen under her scrutiny.

"You want me to leave?" he asked tersely.

"No. You belong here." Her eyes were sad as she stared at him. "You're important to me, Aoshi-sama. But I'm not blind and I'm not stupid. I will accept your challenge, even if I have no chance of winning, I'll defend it, my home and my family."

He nodded.

They stared at one another like strangers: he a battle worn man and she a young determined woman.

"Then let us battle," his voice was crisp and distant.

They stared at one another across the space and met the gaze of their biggest obstacle: one another.

"One hour…"

She nodded.

Her chance of winning was so close to zero it was almost a negative. Maybe if lightning struck him… in the middle of the dojo. Of course, she didn't want lightning to strike him. She just wanted to defend the honor of the group; she couldn't give him a free pass, no matter how much she loved him.

She had one thing she could use against him.

One.

And it wasn't something she'd ever wanted to try out on Aoshi, of all people, it was dangerous. If her 1 in 1000 chance popped up and she actually hit him with it, she might hurt him. Really, seriously hurt him. Not chop him down like he had Okina, but it would still hurt.

She had learned the unusual technique from a weird lady dancer who traveled around. The woman had looked foreign and talked that way, but the technique was cool in action. She'd loved it immediately.

For all she knew, Aoshi might have already seen or been exposed to something similar in the past and therefore, it would fail, but she didn't know that. So she had to give it her best shot.

She'd only used it on an enemy once and it had worked beautifully. After the thug had tried to abuse her she'd not only clubbed him good but also then robbed him. She was very proudly wanted in a couple cities for small thievery, but only as a small, unidentified woman in a cloak. Who would connect that to her, anyway?

Arriving first at the dojo, she stretched to relieve her anxiety. He followed in after, wearing his proper uniform and holding his swords. She cringed at the thought of him cutting her. The others followed in after. She had the feeling, though, that was more Okina's doing than Aoshi's.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you all be working?"

"We closed briefly for a family emergency," Shuro answered, as he and Kuro leaned against the back wall.

"Misao? Are you certain you wish to do this?" The old man didn't approach her. He stayed back by the sidelines along with the others. Omasu and Okon both had their hands folded, their fingers intertwined in front of their bodies nervously.

"I don't see I have any other choice," she answered.

Okina glanced helplessly at Aoshi. "Surely, marrying Aoshi wouldn't be so disgusting to you, Misao?"

Was he afraid she was going to get killed here or something? The rules of the Oniwabanshuu did not state that challengers to the Okashira title were to be killed in challenge matches, that was to be determined by the winner of the duel.

If Aoshi decided to cut off her head, which was extremely unlikely, she couldn't do anything about it. Nor did she have any such plans for him.

What was this worry over?

"Marry?" she shook her head sadly. "That would be too easy."

She watched as Aoshi calmly drew his kodachi before him, but kept the weapon sheathed. He stared at her impassively. He stared at an enemy and Misao prepared herself to be that enemy. She had one chance to make this work.

"Aoshi-sama… Whatever happens now, I'm sorry it had to come to this."

He nodded and bowed toward her and she did the same.

Misao stepped back from him and hunched herself into a defensive position. Into her hand she slid something long and thin and solid looking. The others peered at her, having never seen the strange item before.

Aoshi mirrored her stance but refused to unsheathe his weapons and instead held his kodachi at both ends as though to block a striking attack.

Misao smiled briefly and dashed. She turned her body, just slightly and her wrist flicked. With a flourish of sound, the soft grating of paper against paper, a fan unfolded. Into the air a white poof of smoke erupted, the air full of irritating white dust that only seemed to be spreading, quicker and wider, becoming denser toward the center.

Misao lost sight of Aoshi and moved backward, toward the edges of the cloud. She could feel it starting to settle on her skin and blinked her eyes to keep them wet.

Where was he?

Suddenly, spotting a blur of dark cloth she darted toward it, kunai in her hands.

She threw the fan aside and sighed disappointed as she heard the kunai strike the wall on the other side and quickly rolled to the floor and out of the direction in which she'd been standing. As she got to her feet, he appeared in front of her and she was slammed, hard, back against the dojo wall. He pressed her, bodily, against the wall.

It wouldn't work on Aoshi, the powder simply took too long to work, she needed much more time to dodge than she'd been able to get.

He had won.

"Accept me, Misao? Tell me you'll marry me…"

She grit her teeth stubbornly. "No." She heard a rustled slide, a sound she couldn't identify immediately. When she realized what it was, she felt her heart begin to pound in fear.

Was that his kodachi?

The sheathe dropped to the floor, one blade abandoned.

"This is an official challenge, Misao."

He brought the blade up into sight, but she determined to hold her ground.

"You cannot dictate the terms," he continued.

"Are you willing to kill me to become the Okashira again, Aoshi-sama?"

She was willing to bet he wasn't, and she was going all the way on that presumption.

"Misao!" Okina sounded panicked. "What are you doing?"

She didn't look away from the man towering in front of her. Maybe if she waited long enough her powder technique would work, after all, it wasn't a normal powder. Maybe he hadn't breathed enough of it in… He couldn't be immune that was impossible. She really shouldn't have used it indoors.

She stood tall as he brought the kodachi higher. She was out of her mind, she realized, being this close to him with him armed especially after using the powder.

Damn it! What had she been thinking doing that?

"Go ahead, Aoshi-sama."

Goading him, not a good idea.

"Butterflies!"

Eh?

Misao turned to peer past Aoshi and he seemed equally puzzled at the sudden, odd exclamation. Okina was now cupping his hands together, staring at something in front of him, as though he was trying to catch a butterfly.

Omasu had hands over her ears with her eyes clenched shut. Okon and Shiro were holding hands turning around and around in a small circle… Kuro was on the floor, blinking as he stared at the ceiling.

Uh, oh…

Had…

She felt a grin quirk her lips and she took a discreet glance at Aoshi. He was blinking. Her grin widened and she shifted, slamming her elbow into his abdomen. He grunted, his body crumbling forward slightly. He blinked again as though he couldn't quite focus. He shook his head slightly and then toppled backward. His body hit the floor hard and he didn't move.

Uh, oh!

AN: Oh, bad Misao!

I'm a busy gal these days. Being Okashira is done, my august challenge: This Year: Bless Us is done. Editing, editing... See you around.