Misao
Misao really enjoyed eating meals together with her family. When she was younger it used to be all of them, Omasu, Kuro, Shiro, Okon, Hannya, Beshimi, Shikijou, Hyottoko, Okina, Aoshi and her – crowded around a table, stuffing their faces, sometimes laughing, other times serious. Either way, she loved it. But that didn't last forever. Aoshi, Hannya and the other guys had left – and then didn't come back. Okina didn't sit with everyone then, he was too busy – and Kuro was almost always gone.
Years later, when Aoshi did come back, he was much more withdrawn. He took his meals in his office, plates lost among piles of papers and empty clips. Somehow, meals were no longer family meals. They were 'Family' meals. For Misao, this was inexcusable. One of her greatest wishes was to eat dinner – or anything, really – with her whole family again, just like old times.
But eating like this, just the two of them Aoshi and her talking, just the two of them… It sure as hell wasn't bad either. Not to mention that the food on the train was extremely good.
She noticed that there were fewer people in the dining car than before – Heishin's killing producing quite a negative effect on the passengers. Fear was in the air, so thick you could cut it with a knife. Absentmindedly, she chewed on her steak, until her teeth clacked against the metal of the fork. Aoshi glanced at her for a moment but said nothing. At the table for four right next to them, Himura Kenshin and the family sat down. Aoshi's story echoed in her head. 'Even as a killer-for-hire he had a strange set of ideals. Somehow, the woman's death was a result of his actions…' She quickly dismissed the thought. She didn't think that Kenshin would like her thinking of him like that and she had a good experience with him.
Misao waved at them, her mouth full of steak again. Aoshi nodded. To Misao, he looked preoccupied, thinking about something, probably something serious, but she did not pry. She sighed and began to devour her salad, chugging her water. As she was done, she felt someone poke her left shoulder.
She looked to the left and saw nobody. Her right shoulder was poked and she looked to the right, then grinned and looked to the left, seeing Soujiro's surprised face. "Oh?" he said. "Well, I'm caught!" he said with a smile. "Just wanted to say hello."
She smiled. "Hello."
Aoshi looked up, slightly surprised. He raised an eyebrow. "I do not think we have met." He said flatly.
Unflustered, Soujiro stuck out a hand with a big grin. "Hey! Nice to meet you! My name's Seta Soujiro!"
"A pleasure." Aoshi said dryly, shaking Soujiro's proffered hand. "Shinomori Aoshi."
There seemed to be a tension in the air, more like an aura of animosity from Aoshi, Misao realized. Soujiro seemed to cheerfully invite himself over to sit with them, cracking jokes, occasionally absentmindedly stealing a bit of food off Misao's plate and then apologizing profusely. Aoshi stayed mostly silent, occasionally shooting sharp glances at Soujiro, who seemed to be demonstrating the idea of 'getting too comfortable'. But he was friendly and good-natured about it while at the same time acting as if he didn't even mean to.
"What do you think about humans, Misao-chan?" he asked, a usual enigmatic smile playing on his lips.
"Humans?" Misao repeated, slightly confused. "I'm sure I don't really understand what you mean!" she laughed. "They're okay, I guess. But I think, as a human myself, I shouldn't be passing judgement on the rest of my kind. And usually, humans leave it up to someone, something else to judge them as a species. Like God."
"Hm… That's an interesting answer. I've never really thought of it that way…" the smile on Soujiro's lips widened and Misao almost got chills on her spine for a second. Then his wide blue eyes lit up and Misao blinked. What was that? Soujiro turned to Aoshi, who slowly took a sip of his tea. "What do you think, Mr. Shinomori?"
"What do I think of humans?" Aoshi set down his cup with a clink and stared at Soujiro for a little, then spoke slowly. "There are two kinds. The kind that people see as bad and the ones people see as good. Either way, the people who see them could be very wrong. What would a 'bad' person do to be seen as good? Who would he have to… Kill?" a sharp glance from Aoshi's icy eyes seemed to shoot towards Soujiro.
And Soujiro turned away with a sunny smile. "Who indeed, Mr. Shinomori." He said lightly. The smile somehow did not reach his eyes.