A/N : Standard disclaimers apply
Two men stood against the backdrop of Tokyo's magnificent sunset. The silence that hung in the air between them was palpable and their eyes were unseeingly set at a distance.
They had seen death often and the taller man was well acquainted with losing his men during a mission. However familiarity did nothing to reduce the impact and once again, every inch of him longed for justice, for revenge.
In his head, the last moments of Aoshi Shinamori played out again. The man had been defeated - just like the rest of the Oniwaban a few years ago - by machines. The sheer size and force of the impact had blasted the former Okashira into pieces and that sight would haunt Saito for the years to come.
"Shinamori you fool, Don't" He had called out to his newest ally.
The man hadn't slowed. Instead his Kodachi had swung out, used as a flying dagger to catch their target precisely on the neck. It was all Saito could see before the guns had blazed and the earth beneath him had been dislodged.
When the dust settled again, he knew it was impossible to so much as find the pieces of the other man.
"I will go to Kyoto at first light and personally inform-" Saito began to say when a firm voice cut across.
"I'll come with you" Kenshin Himura spoke, his tone voice leaving no room for arguments.
"First light. Don't be late" Saito acquiesced before turning away, leaving the redhaired man standing alone by the river bank.
There was no clock. He had stopped counting the days that came and went, he had stopped counting even the seasons that changed for time seemed a non-existent concept in wherever he was.
Souji Okita had discovered that to him, death was merely a life of solitude. He had learnt that he needed food and water and baths and everything normal. He now knew that training exhausted him after several hours and being dead did not mean he wouldn't fall to the ground again after seven hours of practice.
So over the years, however many they had been, he had found himself a routine. It was monotonous, but it kept his sanity. Besides, what was he to do to escape this seemingly cruel sentence if he was already dead?
Having a routine so firmly ingrained in a body that did not even seem to age anymore, he was shocked into a stupor when he heard a loud crash from the front garden. His first thought was that he must have imagined it, but after so many years his imagination had run dry. The second option was that a branch had broken off the tree there - though by what he couldn't tell.
Being too wary to even properly welcome the distraction, he walked out only to freeze halfway through. There was a man. There was another man there. Could it really be? Was he finally losing his mind? Okita stood staring as he tried to get his mind and body to function again.
Meanwhile Shinamori Aoshi stood up, flexing his shoulders as he did so. He had landed on the ground with significant force but it hadn't bothered him much. He caught the sun shining down on him in an otherwise quiet - garden?
He paused a minute to recollect what had happened. Ah, the mission he had taken with Saito to help deal with international weapon dealers. They had been at the docks hadn't they? Well he was obviously not there anymore, so the other explanation was that he was dead.
He mused on that idea for a moment. This wasn't quite what he had imagined hell to be like, infact the street outside seemed to lead into Kyoto?
At the thought of home though, his heart constricted. Misao. She was still waiting for him. But there was no doubt anymore that he was dead. He didn't remember feeling anything but he knew he had gone up against some gigantic new western gun….
While one half of him weighed down heavily with guilt, the other entertained the idea of finding his inner circle of Oniwabanshu. Yes, he had kept the four of them waiting long enough and he should find them again.
Just as he made his decision, he heard approaching footsteps. They had stopped a little distance away and Aoshi silently thanked the Gods that he still had both his Kodachi blades on his person. His hands paused before he could reach it though, for the Ki he was feeling was entirely unmasked, a surprising thing considering that it seemed powerful.
Curious, the former Okashira turned around to face a handsome man who looked to be in his early twenties. He frowned slightly at the man who was staring openly at him. He had never encountered him personally, but he knew the description well enough to know just who he was facing.
"Souji Okita, Captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi" Aoshi said out loud when it didn't look like the man was going to move anytime soon.
His own name struck a chord in Okita's mind and he willed himself to snap out of his daze and focus. The tall dark head in front of him was wearing a Shinobi outfit and a long trench coat. He could see the sheath of what looked like a Kodachi and he could tell that the man was well trained from his ki that being despite the fact that he didn't look much older than Okita himself.
"And you are?" Okita asked, pulling himself to his full height and trying hard not to sound like this was the first time he was speaking in goodness knows how long. Thank heavens for his loud practice sessions or he wouldn't have recognised his own voice.
"Aoshi Shinamori" The man began with a slight smirk but he needed no further details.
This man wasn't just some trained Shinobi, he was the best there was.
"Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, protectors of the Edo castle" Okita continued for him.
Both men fell silent for a moment, not entirely sure how to proceed from there. Unsurprisingly, it was Aoshi that made the first move.
"I suppose I will be off then" He said abruptly as he turned on his heel.
Okita was about to shout out a warning as he watched the man head to the doors but resisted. He wanted to see if Shinamori could leave. When the man walked right into the invisible barrier though, the Shinsengumi captain sighed
Was he relieved that he wasn't the only one trapped here? Was he hoping that Aoshi atleast could pass those barriers and back? He supposed, to be entirely honest he was still too shocked at another's presence to react to much else.
When he saw Aoshi stand up and stare at thin air with an uncomprehending look, Okita stepped forward.
"It looks like you can't leave either" He offered, making the man turn back around with raised eyebrows.
"I can't seem to leave the grounds and your luck doesn't seem much better" Okita explained.
Aoshi's eyes scanned the place quickly, taking in just how large the house and the yards were. He could still see the city of Kyoto beyond the walls but it didn't look like the man would lie to him about not being able to leave.
"Why?" Aoshi asked, knowing already that the other man didn't know. Okita only shrugged in response.
So he was trapped in a building somewhere in Kyoto with yet another wolf of Mibu and this time, he had no idea why. Was he meant to figure it out? What was he supposed to do with a man who had died - hold on just a second - suddenly Aoshi snapped his head towards his current company.
Okita looked taken aback at the sudden look of disbelief that he was getting from the Okashira. The shock seemed to have turned the taller man speechless and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do except wait for him to find words again.
"Who else is here?" Aoshi questioned.
Okita frowned and searched with his Ki. He didn't feel any other presence...why was the man asking that?
"No one I know of" he answered when he noticed that an answer was expected.
"You've been the only one here all this time?" Aoshi pressed and when Okita nodded, he frowned before continuing.
"And you said you cannot leave?"
"Haven't found any way out" Okita replied.
"And you died soon after Toba Fushimi?" Aoshi checked, just to be sure.
Okita arched an eyebrow. That was blunt. Was discussing death not considered rude in after life? The other man seemed to think nothing of his question though and Okita decided to answer.
"Two weeks after, yes" He said neutrally.
"So you are telling me you have been here alone for 12 years?" Aoshi questioned disbelievingly.
Okita stared in shock. Twelve years? When had all that time passed? Surely that wasn't true...maybe five or six...no, he had seen more winters here than that...but twelve? The shock he had sensed in the other's Ki suddenly made sense when the fact was considered….
"I didn't know it had been that long" Okita admitted before further explaining "There's no clock or calendar and I stopped counting after a while"
Admitting to something that honestly to someone he didn't personally know was generally not in his nature but the current shock was an excuse enough. He saw a flicker of something in the other man and those steel eyes seemed to softer slightly.
"Aa" Aoshi allowed himself to say.
Suddenly the Okashira felt tired. He had always wanted peace, a place where he could meditate with no one to bother him and he had had that these past two years. No one troubled him during his quest for inner clarity and of course Misao didn't really count as a bother...
So this new prospect of having no obligation to time and more importantly having no bright face to bring him tea and babble on about sweet nothings did not appeal to him at the moment.
It also didn't help to know that he wasn't going to be reuniting with his men in death.
A/N : Does anyone actually know how Aoshi died? I'm not really all that sure about it but this happens about a year after the Shishiyo incident...
Reviews are always appreciated :)