By: Shin Sankai
-------------------------------
Misao blinked her eyes open, squinting them slightly as all that came to her was darkness and the soft glow of a flame far off in the distance revelling what appeared to be a cave wall of hard rocks and moss. She tried moving but her legs ached, her head thumped with a painful headache and her wrists bled. Starring down at her hands, or trying to, Misao came to the conclusion that the predicament she was currently in was not something from one of her wild fantasies. She was confined in chains, dirty and still sweating from her earlier training. Shaking her head Misao tried to remember what had happened.
-------------------------------
She'd been training in the woods, the hot sun beaming down upon her dark hair, grunts and groans of exertion coming from her throat as she punched and kicked this way and that. Though Aoshi had kissed her and she him, the answer to her question still hadn't come. It had been driving her insane and so she'd escaped the countless young men who tried to woo her back at the Aoi-ya and decided to do some heavy training.
As time went by, the air grew thicker, humid around her until Misao slumped onto a boulder, chest heaving for air. Having reefed her gi off, she sat in her training shorts and the wraps protecting her breasts from exposure and poured a bladder of cool water on her face and down her chest.
"Aoshi-sama…" She mumbled to herself before the hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention. Not turning around and arming herself quickly enough Misao was out cold when something hard smacked against the side of her head.
-------------------------------
"Dammit!" Misao muttered as she jerked at the chains. Realisation struck her instantly as she'd been kidnapped. Why? Who the hell knew? "What do I have, a permanent target on my forehead for stupid bastards?"
"Come, come now, we aren't all stupid." Misao's eyes darted towards that slow, dull voice coming from a blackened corner of the cave. The light glittered against the man's facial features but still Misao could not make out her captor.
"I beg to differ." Misao muttered and drew in a sharp breath when the man came closer, reeling over her in all his lanky form. He was dressed perfectly in a western business suit. "I-It can't be!"
"Hmm…" He murmured, hands coming up to touch Misao's face. His eyes crinkled happily when she jerked away, blue eyes watering slightly.
"YOU DIED!" Misao shouted, almost hyperventilating as she jerked her wrists against the chains. "YOU'RE MEANT TO BE DEAD!" She was staring up at the man who had haunted Aoshi day and night.
"Its amazing what one can do when you have money. After all, I was able to persuade some of the policeman who came to take me away to let me go."
"You bastard…" Misao muttered but a cry of pain broke through her lips when an umbrella of all things smacked across her injured thigh. "What do you want from me?" She nearly sobbed out.
"Have I become so famous that I reach the knowledge of a lowly woman?"
"You killed those who were important to me!" Misao stood on shaky legs, her blue orbs meeting the death within Kanyruu Takeda's. "You've shattered the life of the one I love."
"Hmm, so that worthless dog Shinomori is still alive I see?" Misao eyebrows furrowed and she fought the urge to spit on him. What frightened her though was the fact that this lunatic was too far-gone that she couldn't read his actions properly. This knowledge chilled her to the bone as he drew closer to her quivering body. She tried to be strong, tried to be like Aoshi, but this psycho could obviously read her fear perfectly. "I only needed you as insurance for him to come to me. Once he is within my reach, your life is meaningless."
"He will not leave me to die here." Kanryuu barked with laughter, it echoing off the rocks. He took off his glasses to clean them, before placing them back onto the bridge of his nose. Misao intently watched his hands and observed him reach into his pocket and pull out a knife.
"Whoever said I'd wait for him to reach you before killing you?" Misao's jaw set even though every fibre in her being wanted to scream for help, for Aoshi's help.
"Even if I do die, he will track you down and inflict the most unbelievable pain you can't even possibly imagine in your puny brain."
"Are you certain of this?"
"Yes…" Misao spoke boldly, her voice loud, proud and echoing through the cave. "He'll come for me because he's my ninja." This comment had Kanryuu tilting his head.
"Your ninja? Has my luck just gotten better that I've kidnapped his wife?"
"No." The reply was short and bittersweet.
"Betrothed?"
"No." It cut her deeply as she shook her head at her captor.
"Lover?"
"No…" Her voice grew small.
"Then you are nothing to him. Why do you have such confidence in a man who got his companions killed?"
"You killed his companions, not him. And even if I'm not his wife, betrothed or lover, I am and will always be his shinobi. He's different then what you remember. He will never leave a member of his organisation to die without trying to protect them."
"How…pathetic!" Kanryuu swiped at Misao, the blade slashing a gash against her chest, ripping some of her wraps. With the small sharp blade at her throat Misao had no choice but to gaze up into Kanryuu's crazy eyes, his bony hand holding her chin in check. "Why on earth would you presume such things if you can't even have him for yourself?" Misao grinned slightly, blood trickling down her mouth to her chin. Her previous wounds were finally catching up with her internal organs. It was getting harder to focus, harder to breathe. He'd done quite a number on her while she was unconscious. It made her shiver within his grip, all the horrible thoughts of what could have happened to her while she was unconscious. She couldn't remember it and instantly tears lodged within her eyes.
"Maybe I am pathetic, but no matter what you do to me, I will survive. I promised myself all eternity to wait for his answer."
"I could…take his place for you my dear." She tried not to vomit when his tongue licked her wet cheek, his warm breath fanning over her ear while his hand headed south.
"I'd rather you kill me first!" Misao spat out before plummeting into darkness when the same something from earlier smacked over her head once again.
-------------------------------
"Untie me…"
"There are no chains around your wrists anymore Misao. You are home now." Blue peeled open at hearing the softness, deepness of Aoshi's voice right at her side. She looked up at him, noticing something flicker within those deep green pools and closed her eyes once more.
"There is something wrong with my eyes." She croaked out, her throat parched.
"Your eyes are fine. They are doing a lot better then the rest of your body."
"No, there is something wrong with them. I thought I saw…relief…happiness in your eyes when I looked into them." The quarters fell silent and Misao opened her eyes once more as she watched Aoshi rummage around, picking up clean bandages and ointment.
"I will summon Okon and Omasu to clean your wounds and change your bandages." Misao chewed on her quivering lip as he rose silently to his feet, long bangs covering his eyes from view as he headed towards the shoji.
"Aoshi-sama!" She gasped out, having reefed her blanket away from her and sitting up. Pain shot through her body, every muscle ached like hell, but he was just…walking away from her! She couldn't allow that. "Please…I need to know! Did you…" She stopped there when her fuzzy eyes watched Aoshi pad quietly towards her, resting himself on his shins as his hands lay lightly against her bare shoulders, directing her backwards into her futon.
"You need to rest." When he tucked her blanket under her chin, one of Misao's bandaged hands gripped one of his gloved ones.
"Can you not look at me Aoshi-sama? I need to see you…" She flinched slightly when his hands gripped hers a little too tightly.
"If I look, I'll break." Misao sucked in air at those softly spoken words and her heart thumped erratically within her ribcage as enraged green orbs locked with her frightened blue ones. "What that bastard did to you makes me want to pick up my kodachi again."
"Aoshi-sama…" Misao murmured as her bandaged hands rose to cup his face. She observed the rage against his face soften, but it still flashed across his eyes.
"I want to kill him." Misao dropped her hands from his hardened facial features.
"I know you do."
"Does that not scare you Misao? Does it not revolt you?"
"It scares me to no end, but I know you Aoshi-sama. If death is what you believe Kanryuu Takeda deserves then so be it." She watched him jerk back slightly.
"You would allow me to kill, just like that?"
"I don't want you to kill, but I cannot ask you to be someone that you are not. If death is the answer for him, for what he has done to our companions, to you and to me then I will welcome it."
"This is a game to him Misao." Aoshi voiced and watched Misao's head nod slightly. Her eyes were drooping closed, she wanting to rest. "He wants me to join in, to be part of his game. If I were to do so…" He witnessed sapphire eyes snap open, desperately fighting off sleep to hear him out. "…could you wait for me?"
"I don't know…" Misao mumbled uncertainly. "I cannot bare the idea that you would leave again. What if you never return home?" Tears glistened in her eyes and several spilled out when Aoshi cupped her cheek. The hidden message in that was of course what if he never came back to her. What if the sudden rise of Kanryuu Takeda would reverse his character, making him become a bloodthirsty murderer once again?
"I cannot make any promises Misao, this you know." He watched her head nod, a soft sob breaking from her lips and it tore at his heart. Looking down at her reddened blotchy face, the large bandage covering her head Aoshi took in a deep breath. "I'll marry you Misao." This made her eyes shoot straight open. Seconds, minutes even ticked by and Aoshi's heart clenched when blue orbs saddened rather then glowed with joy.
"No…"
"I don't understand. Don't you want me to marry you?" He was certain that if Misao had the strength she would have raised a hand and slapped him across the face. Instead she shifted in her futon, eyes watering once more as they filled with sadness, bitterness and disappointment.
"You know that is my most treasured wish, but how dare you sit beside me and say it so casually." Aoshi's lips parted but he voiced nothing as Misao continued to speak. "I don't need you to marry me, as though it would be some parting gift to give me as you venture off to kill Kanryuu Takeda."
"Misao…"
"I want you to love me!" Tears spilled down her cheeks and Misao turned her head away in shame. "I want you to marry me not out of duty or to try and protect me, but for love." She turned her back to him, lying on her side and even though it hurt, it was far less painful then having to stare up into his face. "Please leave…"
"If that is what you wish." Aoshi quietly replied and rose to his feet. He shifted on silent feet towards the slightly ajar shoji and stopped once more when Misao called his name.
"If you are to leave, please go now. Please go while I cannot run after you." She did not hear her screen click shut and she dared not turn over to look. She knew within her head, within her heart that Aoshi would not be there.
The other Oniwabanshuu members didn't dare voice a thing as they watched Aoshi (who already had a satchel of belongings in his hand) place some bread and cheese into another smaller bag and quietly walk out of the Aoi-ya, down the pebbled pathway, out the gate and vanish like smoke into the sunset stricken street.
Misao, one the other hand, cried herself to sleep.
(End)
Stage Six – The Passing of Time
Authors Notes: Well, I did tell you I wanted to get it out…so there it was. Phew! I need a break now. I hope everyone is enjoying this!
