Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me.
A little hard to get: Chapter Six
Every summer since she learnt how to write, Misao would write a little invitation to Aoshi for the summer festival and place it at his door. Every summer until he left, Aoshi would always politely decline.
This year she decided to continue her little tradition, except this time, the words she wrote contained no hopes of his attendance. They were friendly words, caring nonetheless, but if he were to look for an underlying message, there was certainly none. In fact, she had not even considered sending it to him until the last minute for old time's sake, perhaps even to rekindle their lost relationship.
Was it that of the guardian and the child? Perhaps. The protector and the protected? Perhaps also. Lovers?
Absolutely not.
It didn't matter what it was though because she had also sent the invitations to everyone else. It didn't make him special. In fact, it could even be considered her little charity case. Poor Aoshi all alone at the Aoiya… how sad, how… tragic.
By the time Aoshi found the invite, everyone had already left for the festival. He had been out to the temple and didn't return till evening. Upon reading the invitation, he found himself thinking back to all the times he had told the young girl no. Back then he was her guardian, he was there to guard her and educate her. But attachment was not something he wished for and as far as taking her to the summer festival, it was not part of his job description. Let the girls do it, he would always tell himself.
Despite what he told himself though, he couldn't erase the feeling of dread in seeing Misao's disappointed face the next day.
"Aoshi? Are you still here?"
Aoshi looked up from the invitation and saw Okina standing at the doorway.
"Yes, by 'still' were you implying that I should be somewhere else?"
Okina didn't answer.
"If there's nothing else…"
"Come take a walk with me Aoshi." Okina said. His tone was hardly inviting but sounded rather instructional.
"Where are we going?"
Okina raised an eyebrow.
"Does it matter?" He asked.
For a moment Aoshi felt slightly patronized by the old man. He nodded and followed Okina as they made their way out of the Aoiya and onto the street. The younger man wondered what was going on but he showed no sign of any such emotion. For a while, neither said anything. There was only a quiet passiveness between them.
They walked for about twenty minutes, past empty stalls and were closing in on the market place where the summer festival was being held. It was then that Okina started talking again.
"Misao is leaving us."
"I suppose her engagement with Kai has been finalized." Aoshi said, staring at the ground as they walked.
"Yes." Okina said quietly. "Everything has been arranged."
"Good."
"Are you sure about this?"
Aoshi lifted his head and looked up at the sky, his eyes seemed glazed over. His throat felt dry and he seemed hesitant to answer.
"Okina, I am doing the right thing."
"She has no idea. Don't you even want…"
"It's better that she knows nothing."
"Aoshi…"
"You know this will be in her best interest. If you're as willing to protect her as I am, then you will stop creating possibilities that we will be together."
The pain in Aoshi's voice fought hard to stay hidden but it shook him up and it told Okina enough of the credibility of Aoshi's choices.
"Fine." The old man sighed, resigning in their discussion. "Just… make sure there aren't any loose ends."
"There won't be."
The two men came to a stop beside the king-yo stall where Misao held up bags and bags of fish that she had caught at the games booths. When she spotted Aoshi and Okina, she passed the bags over to Kai and ran over to greet them.
"Aoshi-sama! Jiya! You're here!" Misao exclaimed in surprise as she approached them. Kai trailed slowly behind her, and when he saw Aoshi, he gave him a slight but somber nod.
She will find a better place to fall asleep
She belongs to fairy tales that I could never be
Misao opened a bag of sweets and handed them to Aoshi.
"Would you like some?" She asked.
When he took the candy, her eyes showed surprise but then she smiled and offered him another.
The future haunts with memories that I could never have
And hope is just a stranger wondering how it got so bad
"It's really good, isn't it? I bought two more bags because they are so delicious." She told him.
Aoshi glanced over at Okina. The old man's face was pale, indicating he still thought Aoshi was making a very big mistake. Nevertheless, Aoshi had already made his decision.
He stretched out his hand and said to Misao.
"The fireworks are starting. Let's watch them together."
Again, the girl was surprised. She looked over at Kai who nodded and said he would catch up with them. Shrugging, she took Aoshi's hand as he led her away.
I die each time you look away
My heart, my life will never be the same
As they made their way towards higher ground, Misao thought he would have let go of her. But he did the opposite. His grip tightened around her hand. She tried to talk to him, but wasn't sure what was going on. She was still slightly baffled by his actions which were completely out of character.
"Aoshi-sama." She managed finally when they stopped in the middle of a clearing.
"Hush. It's starting." He said.
This love will take my everything
One breath, one touch will be the end of me
The dark velvet sky was empty that night, not even a dozen stars. But as soon as the fireworks started, the lonely canvas was shaken with bursts of red and gold raining down on the earth.
In a moment, Misao forgot all the awkwardness between her and Aoshi. The fireworks danced in the reflection of her eyes as she watched in wonder as more colors shot into the air. The fireworks were hardly of any interest to Aoshi though. He stood watching the girl, feeling his heart ramming against his chest.
Wishing I could find a way to wash away the past
Knowing that my heart will break…
The fireworks continued to light the sky for a while, but as it died down, Misao turned to Aoshi.
"Did you enjoy that, Aoshi-sama?"
He took a step towards her and leaned in.
"Yes." He whispered in her ear, his voice was low and dripping with an emotion he had never exposed to anyone before.
His cheek moved slowly against hers, every motion closing in on what he had desired to do for the longest time. Finally, he allowed his lips to touch hers for the first time. It was like a gentle brush of velvet, almost shy and strangely innocent.
With her breath trapped within his lungs, he pulled his face away and smiled at her.
"Goodbye, Misao."
…but at least the pain will last.
Misao remembered little of what happened the night before. There were a lot of tears as she watched him walk away. Everyone had tried to calm her down but it just wouldn't end. Eventually she collapsed into a deep sleep.
She woke up the next morning and believing that everything was just a really bad dream, she ran to Aoshi's room hoping to find him.
Outside his room, she took a deep breath.
He will be inside,
He will… he will… he will.
He has to be!
She opened the door just a peek, but what she saw made her push the door wide open because she could not believe it was true.
The room was empty. Everything was gone. The only thing that remained was the mattress that he slept on.
She knelt down beside the mattress and ran her hand over the sheets. Slowly, she slipped her legs beneath the blanket and tucked herself in. She placed the blanket to her nose and tried to remember what he smelt like, what he felt like, the sound of his voice.
She lay there until noon, and by then the tears that soaked his sheets had dried up. She stood up and made his bed.
"Goodbye Aoshi." She said quietly as she shut the door to his room behind her.
End of chapter six
Author's notes: Hello all. Sorry for the incredible wait. But there you have it! I've finished it. Please let me know what you think. And there's gonna be an epilogue! So wait around., teehee.
By the way, if you guys were wondering about the song, it's by Trading Yesterday – "Love Song Requiem".