When Dreams Come True
But you must be the reason,
And just what I need.
For every day of the season,
Perfection indeed.
Chapter fifteen – Don't
It was interesting to see how Misao had changed in the past few days. She bounced around as she used to, but it was still different. She pulled her same little pranks, but there was some maturity to them. All the while, Soujiro was happy for her. But something was different. Something so faint, he even wondered if Minako had caught it. And he didn't want to tell anyone because if this was the person Misao wanted to be, so be it. But just…the thing kept bothering him.
"Minako-sama, can I ask you a question?"
Soujiro and Minako had been spending quite a bit more time together. Misao was still out and about, but there was a gap still left from previous events that kept them apart. It hurt Soujiro so much to know that Misao might never look at him the same way. Well actually, she didn't. She looked at him in a way that when he made eye contact with her, she would turn right away.
Was it something he had done?
"What Sou-chan?"
He felt kind of bad for hanging around Aoshi's girlfriend so much but, where was Aoshi anyways? He hadn't seen the whole while since he arrived.
"Have you noticed anything's been up with Misao?"
She turned to face him directly, "What do you mean?"
"I mean," he didn't know what he meant. He didn't know what the hell he was talking about, "I mean, have you noticed she's been acting strangely?"
She tilted her head and giggled. She always did that to him, "I haven't noticed any change whatsoever in Misao," that was odd, he thought Minako could catch anything like that…, "but have you ever thought that maybe you're the one acting strangely? Maybe you're the one who's changed?"
What?
She turned her teacup ever so slightly before picking it up and sipping on it gently. Soujiro couldn't help but look at her in an odd way, what was she saying anyways?
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
After opening one eye, she finished the rest of her tea and set down the empty cup, "The point of your journey was to heal, right?" I nodded, what she said was true, "Well, maybe you're done healing. Maybe you've grown out of you're shell."
She looked down into the empty cup. After a few seconds of staring off into nothing, she took a peek at Soujiro who was now looking outside.
She noticed something had changed about him. There was a certain air about him that seemed different, that seemed so grown up. And believe it or not, that was the first straight answer she had ever given anybody in her entire life.
And Sou on the other hand, he had never really thought about it. Maybe his journey really was over. But, didn't he have to wander for ten years or something just like Mr. Himura had done? It only made sense yet, it didn't. He did feel different than he used to. Maybe Minako was right, maybe he had grown out of his shell. But looking at it that ways, Minako was always right.
But the thought kind of scared him a little.
The end.
Those two words seemed so bold.
He healed so quickly, he never even planned on what life would be like outside of wandering and finding himself. The problem was that he felt as if he didn't find himself. He felt as if he had made no progress in the past week. He didn't actually need to either thought since he planned on trying to find himself for another nine and a half months but, he didn't need nine and a half months…he needed…
"Misao."
He looked up. Had Minako just said what he thought she said?
She looked up and met his eyes, "Oh sorry! She was just on my mind."
Soujrio blinked a few times and looked back down. Minako was a very interesting individual once he thought about it. So interesting in fact that, "Minako-san, were you thinking about Misao because I was thinking about her?"
She still held eye contact with the young man who's face was now distraught for reasons unknown to either of them.
"And what do you mean by that?"
He set his hands on the table and leaned forward as he gazed out into the skies through the door once more, "I mean…I don't know what I mean. I just thought…I don't know."
He continued to look out the window. It was so peaceful just to enjoy the view before him. The leaves were a golden brown, ready to fall from the branches that kept them alive. There were brief patches of snow here and there that just added to the scenery too. Everything seemed so perfect. Life seemed so perfect. Maybe that was just one of the signs Soujiro was supposed to catch. But, there was a slight imperfection in all the perfection.
Maybe it was the fact that he always remembered the thing that bothered Misao?
"You'll have to excuse me Minako-sama, I have work to do."
He sat up, bowed, and silently left the room. As she watched him go, she couldn't help but smile and think to herself, 'You're what's wrong with Misao, Sou. That's what she looses sleep over.'
With that, he exited the room. But shortly after, there was a slight knock on her door, "Come in."
The door slid open gracefully and there in the doorframe stood the towering leader of the oniwabanshuu, Aoshi. No words were needed for the two as Aoshi slowly walked over and took a seat next to her. He stared down at the table long and hard.
Minako set her pale hands on his own, "Sometimes I worry about you, you know?"
He looked up and took both of her hands in his, "I don't see why."
She giggled and removed one of her hands. She brushed his bangs out of the way of his eyes and then began to stroke his cheek softly, "Sometimes I worry so much about you, because you worry so much about Misao."
His eyes shifted to make eye contact with her. His lips opened slowly as if he were to speak, but no words came out. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "Sometimes I just don't want to see those two together…the Tenken."
She stopped stroking and patted the top of his hand a couple times, "And that's exactly why Sou-chan doesn't understand what he feels or how much he's healed," she set her hand on his and looked down, "Because he doesn't believe…he doesn't want to believe."
He looked down as well, "Why wouldn't he though?"
She smiled, she was glad Aoshi was starting to care about the young warrior, "Because he's still afraid. He has so much doubt in his mind that he doesn't want to make a single mistake. Just think of two decades worth of buildup of worry and regret. Wouldn't that make you want to live the rest of your life without those complications?"
He paused, then nodded.
"Then that's why the only thing left to heal, is his hope and his expectations in life. Until then, I can only imagine the great man he will be…"
Aoshi looked up to Minako as she stood up to leave the room. But before she did, she leant of over Aoshi's shoulder and whispered, "A greater man than you…?"
He chuckled a little as he heard footsteps towards the door and then the noise of the door sliding shut.
Sometimes, the greatest of problems have the simplest of answers.
If only everyone knew that…
…especially Sou.
Speaking of Soujiro…
He was now sweeping the front porch while the wind laid dormant while the winter weather picked up. All the birds had long flown south, and the days seemed just to get shorter and shorter. He wondered if this winter was going to be different than others he had previously lived through. With Mr. Shishio, he would spend his entire winters inside training. He would barely see the snow that fell on the ground. Anji would describe the weather, but Soujiro never really understood it since Anji's words were sometimes too wise.
He saw something in the distance. It was small and white, and fluttered down to the ground as if swaying whichever way the wind carried it.
Soujiro set the broom down on the ground before he stepped out a few steps to find out the substance falling to the ground.
Snow…
It had been so many years before he felt it, since he saw it. As soon as it touched his skin, the cold feeling spread throughout his body. He watched it melt in the palm of his hand while he gazed up to the sky only to find more snowflakes falling down towards him.
"Do you like the snow?"
It was Misao, "Yeah I do," he replied while turning around. She was leaning against the doorframe smiling. He looked back up to the clouds above him as Misao began to walk over to him.
"I always love the first snow. As a kid, I would always play in it."
She stopped when she stood next to him and gazed up to wherever he looked as well.
"I just get so cold though…"
Soujiro looked down at her and smiled, "I could get a blanket for you if you wanted?"
She shook her head, "I want you to stay out here with me."
She then took his hand in hers, "See?" she asked, "I'm getting warmer by the moment."
Soujiro smiled. Misao then pulled herself to him and set her pointer finger on the middle of his forehead, "And you seem to be pretty warm yourself. You're one of the lucky ones, aren't you?"
He twisted his smile, "I guess I am."
Up from the balcony, Okon and Omasu watched the two from up above, "Wow!" Omasu exclaimed, "Those two are basically flirting now, aren't they?"
Okon nodded, "Yeah, and what's sad is they don't even know it."
Omasu sighed, "Maybe we should do something to further their relationship? I'm not saying we should push them along the road, but I was thinking we could nudge them down a quicker one."
Okon nodded, "So how long do you think we should give them before we do something?"
Omasu brought her pointer finger up to her lower lip as if she were in deep thought. Okon, who was expecting a much quicker answer, replied for her while chuckling, "How about…tomorrow?"
Omasu giggled, "Alright."
Okon looked down at Soujiro and Misao. There was something that seemed so right about it. There was something that seemed so hopeful with those two. It was the kind of thought that always made you smile whenever you thought about it. It was the kind of idea that made you want to live through those experiences on your own.
Later that night, Soujiro took a visit back memory lane.
He stepped close next to the closet in his room. He held the panel and sighed deeply. Then quickly, he slid the door open and out of the closet in his room, he pulled out the sword he once used just a few months ago.
He slid the door shut behind him and leaned his back against the door. He held the sword in his hands and let himself slide down the wall.
He sat on his rear and stared into the blade's reflection as he unsheathed it. He closed his eyes and saw himself in his imagination. He was…sitting.
Sure it didn't sound like anything interesting but to Souijro, it was a big change. Usually, he would have dreams or visions about him killing people or going practically insane. But this…this was different because after living a life of battles and bloodshed, it was nice to get away.
A sign of change?
Hopefully.
At that moment, there was a knocking at the door. He stood up and set the sword back into the closet for another who knows how long. He walked to the door and slid it open to find no one there.
He did look around, and when he looked to his left, he saw a note signed to him.
It read:
Sou! When the moon comes out, meet me outside. I want to show you something!
Misao
Sounded nice. But just the mention of Misao and him under the stars above sounded nice. He stood in the doorway just thinking about nothing until the sun was already basically set. He ran back inside his room, folded the note and set it under his pillow. After that was done, he hustled down the stairs and out the door.
As he exited the building, he looked around, no Misao.
"Hey! Over here!" Someone whispered somewhere to the right of him. He looked down and saw that Misao was squatting by a bush while paying deep attention to whatever was going on inside the brush.
He walked over and squatted next to her, "What's this?"
She just smiled a little, "Take a look!"
He turned his head to look a little closer to what Misao was viewing.
His eyes widened at the sight before him. A little nest of baby birds laid tweeting and fluttering in front of him. They rested in a pile of twigs surrounded by a well-worn apron.
Misao picked up one of the birds as Soujiro watched her intently and asked, "Since when did this happen?"
She shrugged as she brought the tiny bird closer to herself, "I don't know, I just found a little nest by the side of the river a couple days ago and I decided to take care of them. I guess the mother had died or something like that. It's weird though that they were born in the winter…I thought they were usually born in the spring."
Soujiro picked the last two birds up, "Well, it's a good thing you did. I hardly doubt these birds could've survived on their own."
She smiled and looked down, "Yeah, it was a little project that I wanted to do all on my own."
Well Soujiro was beginning to feel better. She had just answered his questions to why she wasn't around the Aoiya as much as she was. And maybe this was Misao's way of accepting the fact that Aoshi wasn't there for her as much as he used to be. She was now stepping out into the world of independence. It was quite interesting, really. To see someone go through a specific and serious change in their life? Now that was definitely something to stick around for.
He petted one of the bird's heads while Misao watched him. Soujiro then said, "That was a very good idea you came up with. Very impressive."
A smile appeared on her face for a slight second as she cuddled the little bird even more.
He watched her subconsciously as she concentrated her attention on the bird. Subconsciously, he smiled and lowered the lids of his eyes. She was wonderful.
He just couldn't stop smiling.
The two stayed out with the birds for a little while longer until the sun began to set and the clouds began to roll in, "Maybe we should go back inside, Miaso?"
She shook her head, "Just a little while longer, please Sou?"
He couldn't really argue with her I mean come on! It's Misao!
"I guess," he sighed as they waited a little longer.
After a while, Misao set down the bird she was playing with and began to pack snow together, "What are you doing Misao?"
She snickered as she continued to pack the snow into a ball, "You'll see if you set the birds down."
He did as she said into their nest as he faced her. But just as he was about to ask her a question, a ball of snow just hit him square in the face.
His back hit the snow as he heard Misao cackling in the background, "I got you Sou! I never got someone so bad! You should've seen you're face! I think I'm about to die from laughing so much!"
He sat up wearily as he continued to watch Misao laugh as she fell onto her back.
He sighed but soon got a brilliant idea asBAMBAMBAM!
Several snowballs hit Misao in the face.
"Hey!" she bellowed as she hopped back up, "You can't do that!"
Soujiro smiled as Misao scrambled on the ground to try to pack snow together as fast as she could. He chuckled as Misao bounced up and fired away. …She missed obviously and Soujiro only laughed that much more, "I'll…get…you…back!" she huffed while the snow kept slipping from her hands.
Misao wasn't smooth.
She apparently wasn't that graceful either.
She tried to live life as fast as possible, and missed some of the best moments in life.
If she just slowed down just a little and saw more good now instead of what was to come…
…she might just see how he cared.
'I see you…'Smack.
But she did hit him in the chest with a snowball.
"You got me!"
She held a snowball in each hand and cackled as Soujiro shook his head in amazement. He hadn't really expected her to get him so quick.
If only he could get her…
"Look!" She exclaimed as she ran over to him and fell into his chest, "Look how pretty the stars are out now!"
Well, yeah he was looking at the stars, but he wasn't exactly paying attention to them. He was holding Misao in his arms while a certain feeling arose in his stomach.
"Misao…"
She was too caught up in the beautiful view of the stars to hear Soujiro. But Sou needed her to move. The feeling was growing and he felt as if he were aobut to do something irrational.
…If you know what I mean.
But he needn't say more. Misao sensed there was something wrong so she gently pulled away, "Are you alright Sou?" she asked as he rubbed his temples soothingly. She then led Soujiro over to the bench as they sat down next to each other.
"Sou, are you ok?"
He nodded as he set down his hand.
He…hurt. But the hurt felt nice. Maybe hurt wasn't the right word but that's all he had ever grown up to know.
She smiled and leaned on his shoulder as the feeling arose again, but this time it was much more subtle.
He heard her sigh as she shifted a little to get in a comfortable position. He gazed down at her and took her hand in his while wrapping the other arm around her shoulder. He continued to gaze down at her for quite some time until something in the sky caught his eye.
A shooting star.
He leaned his head gently on Misao as he closed his eyes and subconsciously made a wish. He wished for understanding. So he could understand what he was feeling. When he opened his eyes, the snow was gently falling to the ground.
He watched her sleep for some time. She seemed so peaceful. And he could tell she was dreaming about something because she kept shifting positions.
But what caught his attention was when she murmured his name in her sleep.
"Sou…"
He turned his head to face her. Now why would she say that in her sleep?
"Don't…"
She must be having a pretty bad dream.
"Go again…"
She sounded finished. But that was weird. 'Sou don't go again.' Where did he go in the first place?
"Shishio…"
Oh, that. But he would never go again. Not with the life he had just discovered. Nothing was better than this.
"Thanks…"
It was like she was answering his questions!
"Yeah…"
Now that was weird.
He looked down on her face. She seemed much more at peace now that the thoughts were out of her head.
He petted her hand a few times before he actually took a good look at her face.
Misao really was a beautiful young woman. Just everything about her was so in place. Now that he thought about it, all he wanted was
"Sou?"
He picked up his head a little. Apparently he was staring right at her for quite some time, "Sou, are you…are you alright?"
But he couldn't bring his attention away from her face.
She lifted her head from her shoulder and gazed into his eyes.
She spoke, "Sou…" but he cut her off by placing his hand on her cheek.
And he just stared into her eyes.
Nothing really happened after that. He didn't lean in, he didn't whisper her name gently into her ear, he didn't slowly pull her into a kiss.
Instead, he blinked a few times, regained his composure, and patted her cheek, "I think we should go back in, it's getting late."
He stood up with her still staring at him in confusion. He offered his hand and she took it. They walked inside and that was that.
Misao was a little disappointed.
And Soujiro was a little lost.
The next day came…
Soujiro's door slid open as hard as it could and slammed the wall. He still laid in bed with the covers over his head while Okon stormed in and hollered, "WHAT DID YOU DO?"
He snuck his out from out of the sheets, "Huh?"
Okon walked over and sat crossed legged in front of his mattress while she huffed, "I asked, what did you do?"
He lifted himself a little and leaned on his elbows, "Well I woke up…"
Then she went nutty.
She grabbed him by his collar and yanked him back and forth with perfect timing to make him incredibly dizzy, "DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! I KNOW YOU AND MISAO WERE OUTSIDE LATE LASY NIGHT AND I'M ASKING WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER TO MAKE HER SHUT HERSELF IN HER ROOM!"
After he regained consciousness, he stared outside the door, "Misao won't come out of her room?"
She rolled her eyes, "NO!"
Never once making eye contact with Okon, Soujiro slowly sat up and left the room with Okon still behind him. As he left, she smiled to herself.
Then, Minako and Omasu walked by and stood in front of the room that was occupied by Okon, "So is he going?" Minako asked.
"Yeah," Okon replied as she lightly chuckled to herself and looked down. Sometimes she felt bad for being so deceptive. But, that was her and she wasn't planning anytime soon.
Soujiro leant his head on Misao's door. He didn't want to go in, but he wanted to see what was up with Misao. He set his hand on the door and slid it open slowly.
The room was dark. There was somewhat of a lump in the middle of the room, which he assumed was Misao. He walked up and sat down next to her, "Misao…" he whispered to get her attention. Nothing happened though.
"Misao?"
He set his hand on what he thought was her head and asked softly, "Misao, speak to me…did I do something wrong…?"
"Damn right you did."
Soujiro stopped in his tracks. The voice he had heard was quite manly for Misao. It kind of sounded like…
"Jiya?"
Okina popped up from under the covers and glared at Soujiro right in the eyes and said in a dark voice, "If Misao isn't home by 8:00 pm tonight, we'll be serving YOU for dinner."
Soujiro sprinted out of the building and kind of just stood there and thought to himself, 'Wait, Misao ran away? What…?'
He just stood there and thought to himself where she could've gone. She wasn't at the Aoiya, and that was the first place he would look for, so he was completely lost.
But then a memory popped up into his mind. He remembered the time he saw her behind in the bush on the edge of town that one day. So that's where he decided to go.
It took him until sunset to get there, but it was well worth the wait. As he arrived, he stood behind the bush and waited. He didn't hear anything, but he could still tell she was down there. Every time he heard a rustle, he tried to keep his heart from leaping out to her and begging him to forgive him for whatever he did wrong.
It took half and hour for him for gain the confidence to round the bush and face her face to face.
When he did so, his heart fell all the way down to his toes. Her expression had seemed so….what did he do anyways?
"Misao?"
She turned her head a little, but it wasn't enough to look at him straight in the eye. And it was weird too, he felt bad, but he wasn't even sure what he was supposed to feel bad about. All he knew was that Misao needed him now.
"Misao, what's wrong? You can tell me…you can tell me anything…!"
He took her hands in his and squeezed them while leaning in and repeating, "Please, you know I care about you."
After that, Misao glanced up and murmured, "Don't say that Sou…"
He leant in a little closer, "Why?"
She pulled her hands back from his and looked up into the sky, "You know what Sou? Just don't say anything like that anymore! Just don't tease me about these things! Don't play with me! I know what you're doing! I know how you work, just stop…stop it…"
He looked up to her with scared eyes, "Misao, I really don't know what you're talking about!"
SLAP
"Don't mess with me…I don't want to have my heart broken again."
He looked up, "Is that what this is about! You think I'm trying to build you up just so I can ignore you and break your heart? Don't you know me better? What are my motives!" he grabbed her shoulders and brought her close, "I'd never…"
She held onto his hakama and stared into his eyes…
"I was scared you liked Minako more than me…"
His face looked stupid, "What? That's all?" he laughed a little, "Misao, trust me, she's no you."
He looked down at her as a wide grin spread across her face, "Really?"
He shook his head, "Now Jiya's going to have me for dinner all over this…"
"Huh?"
"Nothing…it's nothing."
They walked home and during the whole way home, Misao held Soujiro's hand. There was something about their conversation too. It wasn't normal and casual like they used to be, there was a certain air about it. She could never look him directly in the eye, and he couldn't always get the right words out. They were always fumbling with their words and their hands, it's as if they were…
…flirting?
When they arrived at the Aoiya, things got awkward.
"Misao, can I ask you something?"
She turned around to face him, "Sure, what?"
He diverted his eyes away and handled his sleeve a little, "Well, I wanted to ask why you were so worried that I cared more for Minako more than you?"
Her eyes widened by just a little while blushing as she replied, "I just overreacted…that's all…"
He paused for a moment.
He hadn't expected that at all…
But he didn't really expect his actions either. He felt like something else had taken over him…but he wasn't really thinking about that now. He was only thinking about how beautiful Misao looked under the moon.
He took a few steps closer and placed his hand on her cheek. As he leant in, he whispered softly, "I'm sorry if I hurt you…"
Then he gently placed his lips on hers.
It was brief kiss and probably lasted less than a second. A bit mediocre, but still decent. It was fumbled yet sweet. And neither of them really knew what had just happened.
"Sou?"
End.
Oh, geez. Don't even start with me on this one. Sorry but I need to get re-inspired on this one and it might take a while. Also that means Truth Is might be delayed and the new story which is the one with lots and lots of DRAMA! Yay! Anyways, I'm workin on it, I'm halfway done with it, and I have writer's block. I know everything I need to write and stuff like I've already taken notes but you know that feeling when all these ideas pop into your mind and you just can't stop writing? Yeah well, I haven't had that feeling in a long time and I really don't want to disappoint all of my readers so it you don't mind, I'm going to take a bit of a break. It might be a week, it might be a month, I just hope it ends soon. And maybe I'll redo the end of this one because I feel there was so much more I could've done, but I didn't, so I'm agitated.
Sorry if you didn't like this chapter or the past few. I promise the others will be better. And about my new story, I might enter the first chapter then see where it leads from there.
Bye for now!
NaiALUG!