Standard Disclaimer Applies Here
Chapter Three: Forgetting and Mysterious Partners
Forgetting the person I care the most about? Where's the happiness in that?
-Makimachi Misao
The salty sea air disappeared from the passenger's surroundings as the large ship; LSS Atlantic entered the path of the Thames River. However its scent did not disappear from the clothing of the passengers that stood on the deck. It was probably the reason why the middle-aged Japanese man who had just met Misao was wrinkling his nose.
He bowed stiffly in front of her. "Miss Doyle, I welcome you to London. A carriage is waiting for you nearby. We are having your baggage placed inside it as of the moment." He informed her in English without any trace of a Japanese accent. He straightened himself up and pointed to a sleek black carriage ten meters away.
"If you will follow me please Miss Doyle." He uttered and started towards the carriage.
It took Misao a few seconds before she started following him. She cringed inwardly because she knew it was because he addressed her as "Miss Doyle".
"You've been known as Miss Emily Doyle, half-Japanese daughter of an English merchant for the last five months Misao. You should be used to it already." She chided herself softly even if she knew that it was almost useless. Even if her name was changed for a hundred times, she would always be Makimachi Misao.
The man helped her enter the carriage and climbed up quickly after she had settled in. He shut the door tightly and turned to look at her, his face sterner. He did not speak until the carriage started to move noisily, blocking out all sound coming from the outside and the sound from its interior to escape out.
"Miss Doyle or Makimachi-san." He began grimly. "I will stop using your pseudonym as of this moment." He coughed before continuing.
"I am the head of Japan's underground organization in London. You may refer to me as Mr. Hiro in public and private. I am sure that Hajime Saitou has told you the details of your mission."
Misao nodded. "Yes, he said…"
"Very well." Mr. Hiro interrupted. "We will be taking you to a restaurant where we will be introducing you to your partner. He will be briefing you on some information about the mission that you may not know yet."
She blinked. "A partner?" she repeated. "I have a partner?"
The man's eyebrows furrowed to her discomfort. "You were not informed by Saitou Hajime that you have a partner?"
"I'm afraid not." She replied, cursing Saitou silently. The nerve of that man, not telling her about having a partner, the ignorance of that essential information would not give the underground organization head a good impression of her.
"Perhaps he was misinformed?" she suggested awkwardly.
"I suppose he was." Mr. Hiro replied doubtfully. "Your partner was supposed to be in France but we changed our mind and decided to send him to this mission. It will also be his first time to pose as a foreign exchange student."
Misao raised her eyebrows. So she had a male partner. Who will he pose as? Will he pose as her father or a distant relative?
"Who will he be then? Will he be acting as my father?" she asked.
A wrinkle appeared on the man's forehead, making his aged face look even older. "No, he will act as your sibling and like I said, he will be posing as a foreign exchange student."
Misao slapped her forehead, disgusted with her ignorance. Of course, he mentioned a foreign exchange student but it was a little strange. Would he be studying with her?
"As my sibling?" she repeated. From what she heard, she was going to be sent to study in an exclusive boarding school for women, which was close to the opium dealer, Edward Murray's house. She certainly couldn't have a brother studying with her?
"I am going to a boarding school for women right? Will my brother be staying nearby?"
She did not receive an answer from him because of the coughing fit that had suddenly come upon the man.
"Mr. Hiro?" she asked worriedly and patted the old man's back to ease the violent cough. "Are you alright?"
He cleared his throat and nodded. "I am fine Makimachi-san. I suppose I am still not use to the English climate and to the smog." He gestured towards the window.
"Now why don't you just watch and enjoy the view outside Makimachi-san?" he suggested hastily. "It is not everyday that a young Japanese woman like you would get to visit such a fine city, even if I would prefer the temples of Kyoto to the Tower of London, if you asked my opinion." He said.
Misao frowned at the sudden change of topic. "Yes, London is nice Mr. Hiro, but I want to know about my partner? Where will he be staying?"
Another wrinkle appeared on the man's forehead. "That is a question that will be answered when you meet him, now…" he turned and pointed to a sight outside. "There is a view of the Tower of London, which you'll find very interesting…"
The rest of his words did not seem to enter Misao's head as she tried to restrain herself from nagging the man about her new partner. He did not seem pleased with her partner from what she observed, making her feel a little wary. She had wanted to badger Mr. Hiro more, but she knew it would not make a good impression on her superior.
She looked out and viewed the city she had heard so much about. She had heard a lot about London from the foreign and merchant customers at the Aoiya and had secretly wished to visit it. Misao had always imagined herself secretly saving money for a trip to visit the city for a long vacation and adventure from Japan. Sometimes her imagination showed her traveling and exploring the city alone and sometimes she had a companion along, a tall man…named Shinomori Aoshi.
Misao flinched a little at the memory of his name. She had vowed ever since she left not to think of him, the man who deceived her so that she would stay in Japan and not disgrace the Oniwabanshuu's name with her possible failure at this mission. She was determined to keep this vow and had even left her prized golden pocket watch back in Japan because it was a present from him.
She had a hard time keeping that promise during the first part of her journey, but it became easier as she was distracted by the sights she had seen during her trip. A slight smile crept on her face as she remembered seeing India, Hong Kong and several other places where the ship had stopped by. It seemed that the farther she was from him, the easier it was for her not to think about him.
But the difficulty in keeping the promise was coming back. She had only thought of him only a few times during her trip and wanted to keep it that way. It was ironic to think, to compare to her current situation with her observation of it being easier not to think of him, the farther he was from her. Misao knew that he was practically on the other side of the world as of that moment, but it was strange that she felt that he was even nearer…
"Miss Doyle," she heard Mr. Hiro, his voice interrupting her thoughts. "We are now at the restaurant."
"Oh!" she gasped, only replying after ten seconds and cringed. She was still having a hard time adjusting to her new name.
"Oh, yes, umm, please lead the way." She mumbled incoherently.
Fortunately, Mr. Hiro ignored her and proceeded to exit the carriage. He offered her a hand as she stepped out, careful not to stain her stiff gray crepe dress. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance as she was reminded of the disadvantages of wearing Western dresses. How she wished she was wearing her shorts instead of this right now!
She arranged her skirt and looked to see a small but stylish café in front of her. It was filled with people, most women in fashionable dresses and accompanied either by their husbands or female friends. They took no notice of Misao and Mr. Hiro as they entered and continued on with their animated conversations.
Mr. Hiro chose a table on the far right end of the restaurant, just below a painting of an English family of four having a picnic. For a moment, Misao felt herself enter the picture. She was the mother, dressed in a white crepe dress and a bonnet on her head. She was smiling at the two small children running around her while a tall man, the father, walked up to her, his long bangs flying around his face.
"Miss Doyle?" Mr. Hiro spoke, jolting her once again from her thoughts.
"Would you like to take your seat?" he asked.
Misao felt her cheeks slowly heat up as she sat down on the wooden chair, cushioned with scarlet pillows, as red as her cheeks probably was now.
"Oh great," she murmured disapprovingly to herself. This was the second time the underground organization head had caught her spacing out and it was not a good impression. A good spy was always aware of his or her surroundings. Hopefully, her future partner was one.
Speaking of her partner, it seemed that he was nowhere to be seen yet.
"Mr. Hiro," she began after the man had taken his seat. "About my partner, where is he?"
The man began to cough again. Misao was beginning to suspect that the poor man had symptoms of a lung disease.
"I am sure that the w-man will be arriving here any moment." He answered in between coughs and did not reply again until a several seconds later.
"From what I heard," he added. "He-His ship left from Japan two days earlier than the LSS Atlantic and has been staying somewhere nearby."
"Oh, I see, what is his name?"
Mr. Hiro cleared his throat and fortunately did not cough again. "I am entirely not sure what his name is but I am sure he can confirm that later." He then opened his menu and asked the approaching waiter to bring him a glass of wine.
Misao wringed her hands under the table, feeling nervous. She was getting suspicious about her partner. From what she had observed, it seemed that Mr. Hiro was not comfortable with this partner of hers; it was evident by his eluding the subject and his coughing whenever it came up.
She remembered being told by Chou the day of her departure from Japan that the Juppongatana were not the only criminals offered jobs to spy for the government. A lot of criminals with skills that could benefit the government were offered to spy abroad.
Misao felt the hairs on her skin stand up at the thought and rubbed her arms roughly. She shivered slightly. What if her partner was a criminal? She did not like the idea of working alone with a criminal in this mission especially with a male one, whom she knew that she could never trust. She shuddered at the thought of what a man might do to her on a chance that they may be alone together.
She felt her right hand move towards the set of throwing knives hidden under her skirt. She silently swore to herself never to go anywhere with that man, whomever he may be without a weapon, not that she had ever walked around without carrying a weapon before. She had always been cautious even if she had not always been aware, a flaw that might lead to a possible downfall, which almost happened the night the she, the Oniwabanshuu, Kaoru and Yahiko stopped a fire from spreading in Kyoto.
Yes, she was bumbling idiot that night, not that she wasn't one right now. Her lack of self-awareness had almost cost her life. She had been to busy showing off to the people of Kyoto when she had become unaware of the presence of one of the strongest members of the Juppongatana behind her. It was fortunate that the monk was there at that moment and had stopped the blind tortoise-like man from killing her.
She had sworn the day after that embarrassing incident, never to lose her awareness again; it irritated her that up till now, that she still hadn't changed.
Misao looked up from her lap, which she had been staring at the last few minutes and caught a peculiar sight from the window. A man of height stood outside, his face covered by the tall hat he was wearing. He was glancing inside the restaurant and it seemed that he was looking straight at her!
Misao felt her heart skip a beat. He was wearing Western clothes that would have made him unrecognizable to most of his acquaintances, but definitely not to her! Shinomori Aoshi. Had he followed her to London?
She blinked and looked out again and was surprised to see the absence of the man outside. She sighed in relief. It was only a hallucination, yet it discomforted her as she learned the fact.
Will she ever learn to forget him? It seemed to her that he haunted her, following her to London through their memories together.
Misao gripped the folds of her skirt tightly with her hands. She will learn to forget him. If she had almost succeeded in doing it during her journey to London, she will learn during this mission, which was enough of a distraction from him.
She almost laughed out loud if it weren't for the presence of Mr. Hiro in front of her, sipping through his second cup of wine while reading the day's newspaper. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she wasn't sane enough for her role.
But it was quite funny, the irony of it all. She remembered last year when she had first met Himura Kenshin while she was searching for her Okashira. As soon as she learned that the redhead man knew him, she chased him even to the point of having to jump from a cliff. She remembered the words she had told him that day.
Forgetting the person I care the most about? Where's the happiness in that?
Yes it was an irony at the present. A year ago, she claimed that forgetting about him would be losing all of her happiness and now it seemed that forgetting about him was what would lead her to happiness.
"Mr. Hiro," she heard the waiter say after he poured the Mr. Hiro's third wine refill. "There is a woman looking for you outside. Her escort just left her and asked us to bring her to you."
Misao's eyes narrowed as she watched Mr. Hiro's face pale.
"Yes," he replied and cleared his throat for the nth time. "Please bring her here."
Misao felt her suspicions heighten. A man left a woman for Mr. Hiro to meet in the restaurant? Was the man that had escorted the woman to the restaurant her mysterious partner?
It was strange, if her inference was true, that he decided to leave the woman with them instead of coming to meet them straight up. Perhaps he had left a message for them, which the woman would convey.
Misao felt herself grabbing her kunai again. She did not like this. For all she knew, the man would be asking to meet her in private and might have plans to harm her. She was going to be ready.
"Mr. Hiro." A soft feminine voice came from behind her. "I'm sorry I was late. I had a hard time trying to pick what to wear."
Mr. Hiro nodded gravely. "It is alright. Miss Doyle had just arrived earlier, would you like to meet her?"
"Of course."
Misao turned around slowly to see the female standing behind her. She gasped when she saw who the woman was.
Smiling prettily in Western clothes was Honjou Kamatari.
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A/N: Yes! I'm finally done with this chapter. I'm really sorry for the late update (I was really busy with school) and I hope you all like it, it's shorter then usual but I hope you'll all enjoy it. I really love the quote on the top of the chapter, it's one of my favorite from RuroKen, anyway thanks for the great reviews! I'm going to reply to them right now.
Reviewer Replies:
legolasEstelstar: Wow! You guessed what was going to happen in the last chapter. Anyway, I hope you like this!
Rkfan: Thanks! I hope you like this update.
Purple skye: Thanks for the review! Don't worry, I'll be updating MTJHTM after this but I'm still not sure when. :sweatdrops:
Insomnia's Child: Hotdogs? Ah! I can't believe how corrupt your mind is! Hehehe. See you in school!
Smiley's chaos: Thanks Gina and for beta-reading too!
Elowen Elrondrion: Hey, thanks! I hope you like this chapter too!
Rikku: Hey! Thanks for liking the previous chapters, I hope this won't disappoint!
Black Metalmark: Yeah, he did, but that didn't stop her from reaching London!
Crossfire: Thanks a lot for the review! It made me smile!
S.J. Kidd: I'm sorry for the late update! I love stories with strong-willed women too, which is why I love Misao so much!
Neko-Yuff16: Well I've hinted what Aoshi has done already, but he's not going to show up yet!
Marbles: Yay! A fellow pinoy! Thanks for the review! It made me smile!
Cassie: Sorry for making you wait so long! I'll try to update sooner next time!