"How are you dealing?"

Aoshi blinked, forgetting for a moment where he was. It seemed spacing out had become his new hobby. Staring down at the coffin before him, he eyes darted towards the smiling face his mentor donned. The old man actually looked serene and content. Aoshi never thought such an expression could exist after death.

"Shinomori-san?"

Aoshi blinked again. His attention finally shifted towards the smaller man beside him. "Himura-san, when did you arrive?"

Kenshin replied with a polite smile. "Just a few minutes ago." He placed a hand over the Okashira's shoulder. "We came to offer our condolences."

Aoshi nodded wordlessly in reply.

"How is everyone?"

Aoshi took a moment to collect his thoughts. He wasn't particularly in the mood to talk, not that he was currently eloquent enough to hold a decent conversation. "They all try to deal with things in their own way."

Kenshin nodded, sensing the Okashira's discomfort. "How has Megumi-dono been handling things?"

Aoshi blinked, unsure of how the lady doctor had been doing. It's been a few days since Jiya's death and he hasn't really been able to focus on anything but the funeral arrangements. "I apologize, but I believe I do not know."

Kenshin spared Aoshi a glance. "Has she decided?"

Aoshi turned his head to look at the smaller samurai with confusion in his eyes. "I beg your pardon?"

The red-haired man simply shrugged in response. "Whether she'll stay in Kyoto or not."

Aoshi looked away in silence. "I… do not know." He didn't want to admit it but he had forgotten all about the deal he had offered her. "There's not much reason for her to stay."

"What about you?"

Aoshi narrowed his eyes as he turned to face the former battousai. "What about me?"

Kenshin replied with a small gentle smile. "Wouldn't you want her to stay?"

Aoshi blinked, unsure of what the older man was insinuating. "It's not a decision for me to make."

Kenshin released a sigh. "It isn't. But if it were up to you, what would you want her to do?"

Aoshi stayed silent in contemplation for a moment. "I want her to do what she wants, not what she thinks others expect of her."

Kenshin narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want her to stay just because I burdened her with the sins of my past. It was as if I forced an obligation on her – a responsibility to stay." Aoshi paused, his gaze on the old man. "I don't want her to stay because she feels people expect her to or…"

Keshin kept his gaze on the taller man. "Or?"

"Or because she feels I need her to."

"What's wrong with needing her to stay?"

Aoshi closed his eyes and sighed tiredly. "She's done enough. Suffered enough. She doesn't need to carry the weight of my sins as well."

"And what if, regardless of all that, she would chose to stay?"

"Hey everyone! Dinner is served!" Misao yelled all the way from the front door of the Aoya, her signature smile etched on her face.

"It seems Misao-dono is calling." Kenshin stated with amusement in his tone. The younger girl had sent them a letter of invitation and had been very adamant that they would get together to 'celebrate' the life of the old man, not mourn over his passing.

Aoshi shifted his gaze down as he nodded and walked away.

Kenshin silently stared at his retreating back, noting the way the Okashira avoided his question.

The dinner at the Aoya was rowdy and fun. Stories about the old man were passed around as quickly as the downing of one bottle of sake after another. It looked more like a birthday celebration over a funeral. Sano kept on urging the members of the Oniwabanshu to fight him in a drinking battle. Yoshi tried his best to keep Kenji away from any form of alcohol. Kaoru was busy trying to fend Megumi off her husband, while Misao was too busy singing her heart out while devouring everything within her sight.

Aoshi glanced at the Aoya from the window of his room as he drank in silence, thankful that no one was trying to get him to join the party. After all, what was the purpose of celebrating life when it was already gone? Turning away from the window, Aoshi's gaze landed on the pair of tonfas lying on a silk cloth right beside his bed. He knew the old man probably would want to be buried along with them. But a part of him couldn't let go of those two old pieces of wood. Making his way towards them, he eyed every crevice, every scar, every blunt slope, every splinter of wood. This was all he had left.

Megumi woke up to the sound of someone pounding on her door. The loud heavy knocks seemed to be synching with her throbbing headache and it made her want to murder whoever was on the other side of the door.

"I'm coming in!"

Megumi glared at the person who dared to enter her room without permission.

Misao placed her hands on her hips in reproach. "It's half pass three in the afternoon. The funeral is in an hour."

Megumi groaned as she pushed herself off the futon to sit up, rubbing her tired and scalding eyes. Her throat was parched and her body was aching. She knew she shouldn't have drank that much. She sighed. "I'll be ready by then."

Misao nodded as she turned around to head out of the room. Just as she slid the door open, she paused. Mustering up whatever courage she had left, she turned around to face the Takani doctor. "Will you stay with us?"

Megumi narrowed her eyes in response, trying her best to focus on the girl before her. Hey eyes were uncomfortable under the full sunlight. "Huh?"

"Will you stay here in Kyoto?" Misao reiterated, her eyes locked on Megumi.

"I haven't given it much thought." Megumi turned her gaze down on the floor, contemplating what to reply. "I never really had time to sit down and think about what I would want for myself over the past few days."

"Well now you do." Misao insisted. "Off the top of your head. What's your answer? It's a yes or a no."

Megumi raised an eyebrow at the adamant demeanor of the tiny girl before her. "I admit the deal your Okashira offered is tempting. But I haven't had time to scout other potential offers-"

"Please stay."

Megumi blinked, not sure if she heard that right. "You're asking me to stay?" She stated it more out of incredulity than as an inquiry.

Misao balled her hands to her sides as her gaze dropped down. "You have no idea how different Aoshi-sama has become ever since you began to stay at the Aoya. Just your mere presence lightens him up."

Megumi sighed. "You're just giving meaning to things that aren't there. He was probably just more secure that a doctor was finally in the house and that the old man could be attended to."

Misao shook her head, her gaze still on the floor. "You don't know him like I do. You haven't lived with him long enough to tell. You were able to affect Aoshi-sama in ways no one could."

Megumi sighed again, preparing for a retort but when she saw the younger girl look at her with tears in her eyes, she remained silent.

"I love him. All my life I have. I don't think I'll ever stop loving him. But…" Misao raised a hand to wipe her tears forcefully. "I will never be able to make him happy. Not the way you can." Misao paused to look up, trying her best to still her tears. "You know, the way he looks at you? God, what I would give for him to look at me like that too." This time she rubbed her forearm over her eyes repeatedly, as if the gesture would erase all traces of her sorrow.

"So stay." Misao brought her gaze back to Megumi. "Please stay."

Megumi couldn't bring herself to call Misao back as she ran out of her room. Megumi blinked, feeling disoriented, unsure if everything that just transpired was real. It was only until she saw the image of Kaoru before her door that she began to snap back to reality.

"Can I come in?"

Megumi quickly stood up, willing herself out of the comfort of her futon. "Yes, of course. What can I help you with?"

Kaoru stepped in and slid the door closed. "I'm sorry. I overheard…" She paused, hesitant to bring it up.

"Oh that." Megumi waved her hand in nonchalance. "Well you know teenagers, so passionate about love that anyone who interacts with their object of affection is an instant threat."

Kaoru opened her mouth to retort for a moment, before stopping herself. "Can I be honest?"

Megumi narrowed her eyes. "Of course you can. Why would you need to ask?"

Kaoru sighed. "I also noticed changes in Aoshi. The way he would escort you inside a room, hold things out for you, the way he would gravitate towards you-"

"That is not true." Megumi cut her off in a matter-of-fact manner.

Kaoru continued. "The way your eyes would search for him. The way you both linger when you touch. The worried look on your face when you thought no one was watching-"

"Just what in the world are you trying to say, Kaoru?"

Kaoru kept her gaze on Megumi as if calculating something. "What is Aoshi to you?"

"Currently, my employer."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant."

Megumi folded her arms on her chest. "Is there any other way for me to have interpreted that question?"

Kaoru kept her gaze on Megumi for a few more seconds, as if searching for something.

"What?" Came Megumi's annoyed tone.

"You already know." Kaoru smiled to herself as she turned around and slid the door open.

Megumi narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Know what?"

Before heading out, Kaoru gave Megumi one more glance as she shrugged. "What Aoshi is to you."

Megumi could only look on once again, unable to find the words to counter that statement.

Megumi walked towards her room in the darkness of the night, thankful for the moonlight. The funeral took longer than she expected and her legs could only hold out for so long. She would never admit it to anybody but that was the first funeral she ever attended. Something about paying respects to the dead was something she felt unworthy of doing.

Rounding a corner, Megumi paused as she came face to face with Aoshi, leaning against the pillar across her door. She made her way towards him before she even realized.

"Do you need anything?" Megumi immediately scanned the Okashira's body, visually checking for possible injuries.

"I know it's late and you want to rest." Aoshi began, he sounded uncertain. "However, Kenshin and the others are leaving for Edo first thing tomorrow and…" He paused again, his hand instinctively went to the back of his head, as his eyes darted down. Aoshi couldn't understand why it was so hard to ask such a simple question.

"And?" Megumi continued, her arms folded in front of her chest.

Aoshi pushed himself off the pillar and stood up to his full height. Dropping his hands to his sides, his gaze rested on the woman before him. "Are you leaving with them?"

Megumi felt taken aback by the intensity of Aoshi's gaze. His eyes were speaking volumes, trying their best to say what his words couldn't. Megumi gritted her teeth, trying her best to stop herself from asking the question whose answer she was dying to know. But she knew she would regret it if she never did.

"If you could decide, what would you want me to choose?"

Aoshi failed to hide his surprise. He stood in silence staring at the woman before him waiting for an answer. "I… It's not a decision for me to make."

Megumi sighed in annoyance. "That's why I said 'if'. If it were up to you, what would you want?"

Aoshi cleared his throat, uncertain about what he should say. So he settled with stating the obvious. "Having such a skilled doctor such as yourself would be an asset to any organization. Having you as an ally to the Oniwabanshu would definitely provide a sense of reassurance. As for the district of Kyoto, I am well aware that there are many doctors within the vicinity but with the Meiji army establishing their headquarters here, I assure you they will need all the medical help they can acquire, be it for wounded soldiers or annual physical tests."

Megumi closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I was asking about you, not the entire population of Japan."

Aoshi blinked. "What about me?"

Megumi sighed. Did she have to spell everything out to this man? "What will my staying mean to you?"

"I don't think it matters what it means to me."

"Why would I ask if it didn't?"

Aoshi remained silent for a long period of time, irresolute on how to respond.

After what seemed like forever, Megumi sighed and raised her hands up in a gesture of defeat. "Forget I said anything." With that, she turned around to head to her room. "Good night."

Aoshi tried his best to formulate a response but he couldn't. He wanted to say something. Anything. But he couldn't. He wouldn't allow himself to. He didn't want to give her another responsibility that would chain her to him. To his past sins. To his chaotic present. To his uncertain future.

Only when the door finally slammed shut that he finally found his voice.

"Stay."

Misao ran as fast as she could, ignoring the looks and curses from the people she aggravated. She didn't have time for idiots like those. She had one particular idiot in mind she had to deal with first. And this one was the biggest moron of all.

Reaching the stone staircase, Misao took a moment to catch her breath, cursing flight of steps lying before her. Her gaze flew to the temple resting atop the grueling stairway. Gritting her teeth she ran up full speed, screaming her lungs out. She felt her legs go numb and her chest start to hurt but she kept going. This was far more important than any physical pain she was feeling.

Reaching the temple doors, Misao barged her way in, trying her best to reach her destination despite her wobbly legs and panting breaths. When she finally reached the corner most room, she kicked her way in much to the annoyance of the person meditating quietly in the empty room.

"A-Aoshi-sama!" Misao was still trying to catch her breath.

Aoshi stayed seated, his gaze on the younger girl admonishing. "Misao, this is holy ground. What do you think you're doing desecrating this place?"

"I don't care about this place!" Misao screamed, finally catching her breath. "Are you seriously fine with this?!"

Aoshi narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Misao was livid now. "Megumi is leaving right this second! Her things are packed and she's getting on a horse with that rooster head who always looks at her so lecherously!"

Aoshi stayed silent but his gaze was punishing. "I'll say this again. This is a place of peace, Misao. Keep your voice down."

Misao chuckled bitterly to herself. "I just told you the woman you love is leaving and all you can talk about is the volume of my voice?"

Aoshi sighed in annoyance. "I am in no position to command her to stay. Nor is she obliged to follow any of my demands. Our agreement ended with Jiya's funeral. The option to work in Kyoto under my protection was never revoked and yet she chose to head back to Edo. That is something I have no control over. It's her life and she has every right to live it in any way she deems fit."

"Did you tell her how you feel?" Misao looked Aoshi dead in the eyes. "Did you even try to ask how she feels in return?

Aoshi remained silent. He kept his gaze on the younger girl's passionate fiery eyes.

Misao continued, her gaze never faltering. "Did you at least ask her to stay?"

Aoshi looked away.

Misao's shoulders fell. The initial desire to drag Aoshi back to the Aoya faded. All that was left was disappointment. For the first time in her life, Misao cursed at the only man she's ever loved. "You're a fucking idiot."

End of chapter six!

Thank you for reading and hopefully you can leave me a review! I tried my best to keep them all in character. I hope I didn't make it seem OOC because I do pride myself in making my works seem like they could be canon. Ah man, now I'm anxious.

But any way, finally I'm able to update this story and yes it will end in the next chapter! I'm so happy I'll be able to finish another one of my stories because seriously the others need more attention from me but the fact that this is so easy to write and that it'll end sooner makes me want to work on it first.

Until next time! Hopefully I can update next month!