The next morning Misao softly slid Aoshi's draped arm off her shoulder. Despite her gentle movements, he was awake and watched as she rolled out of bed. Misao knew he was watching her. She knew she would never catch him unaware. Except, of course, leaving the Aoiya had surprised him. Silently, she dressed into her kimono. She left the room, kneeling outside in the hall as she softly slid the door closed on its frame. Aoshi quickly dressed and put away the futon.
"Oh good morning," he heard a voice eagerly tone somewhere in the house.
"Good morning Kaoru, thank you for allowing us to stay here for the night," Misao answered politely.
"Oh not at all, of course, we could have given you a room to yourself if you had wanted it. There is plenty of room."
"Thank you, but the accommodations were fine," Misao stated, her voice just muffled through the thin rice paper walls of the house. Aoshi heard more womanly noises, but he moved to the Dojo to find Kenshin kneeling on the porch.
"Good morning, Aoshi," the swordsman called, waving brightly. Aoshi answered with a cold stare. "Lovely weather we have been having, I do enjoy fall," Kenshin continued, warming his hands around a steaming cup of tea and inhaling the air and exhaling little clouds into the chill. Aoshi knelt beside the man he had attacked, again, only the previous day.
"Aoshi," Kenshin began again, though his tone became much more serious. "What has happened to our little Misao?"
"I don't know what you mean, Himura" Aoshi answered coldly. Kenshin paused before continuing.
"She seems somehow, quieter, more sedate." Silence hung in the courtyard. "And I can't help but notice that you demanded the use of only one room last night."
Aoshi stiffened. "I don't believe that's any business of yours."
"No, perhaps your right, but things seem different," Kenshin replied so coolly that Aoshi was once again tempted to begin a fight. He gripped his kodachi.
"Himura, you don't understand the Oniwanbanshu. It's my right."
"Your right?" Kenshin asked, raising a brow.
Aoshi sighed and waited a few minutes before continuing. "She's my woman; it's what she was brought up to be."
"I thought she was a ninja."
"Of course she is. She has been trained nearly from birth to have all the skills necessary to contribute to the clan. But I'm a man, and the Okashira, and all members of the clan in a sense belong to me."
"Does she mind belonging to you?"
"That's not what has been troubling her, she knows her place," Aoshi growled warningly. He slid one short sword millimeters out of its sheath. Kenshin sighed and placed his cup onto the smooth, wood floor. Aoshi silently notched the sword back to its hilt without looking at the man beside him.
"Misao told me she had gone to find you."
"She needn't have gone looking, I returned to find she had left."
"Where were you, if you don't mind this humble one asking?"
At that moment, a door across the courtyard opened and Misao appeared at the threshold. Aoshi completely forgot about Kenshin and his question. She looked so regal, like an empress. She and Aoshi locked eyes and both knew it was time to leave. None of these people, as good as they were, truly understood their duties to the clan and to each other. He knew she would lay down everything for him. Though she was severely below his rank, he knew he would do the same for her. And that's how it had been since she had been born. They were partners.
"Himura, I don't know why Misao came here. I suspect she feels some sense of comradeship for you and your people, but I've come to take her back home," Aoshi stated firmly. Kenshin shrugged slightly and shook his head.
"No I guess you're right, I don't understand you or Misao," the red headed swordsman sighed. Another door slid open across the courtyard and Kaoru stepped onto the porch to join Misao. The older woman looked softer, bundled in a quilted kimono jacket. The two women laughed together over some small joke, which Aoshi presumed was about himself and Himura. Misao giggled, but her eyes searched across the garden space towards Aoshi.
"We will return to Kyoto today. Thank you for your curtsey, Himura," Aoshi stated, and bowed almost imperceptibly to his host. Kenshin returned the bow formally.