Misao Makimachi leaned against the trunk of a leafless tree, her typically breezy wardrobe that was fit for a young schoolboy replaced with a heavy winter kimono.
She enjoyed looking at the wonders of nature, especially Aoshi Shinomori... with "Aoshi-sama", she corrected herself.
However, an argument could be made about Aoshi... Shinobi Genius, Leader Emeritus of the Oniwabanshu, and Lord of Bishonen Coolness... being a wonder of nature all his own.
Her cheeks blazed at the notion.
All the same, they had reached the Kamiya Dojo's gates and were now declaring their presence to the homeowners care of several polite knocks on the wooden entrance.
Misao scratched her head and thought seriously for a spell. Nobody was trying to answer any of Aoshi's knocks, and she was a bit worried about the fact. 'Has something happened inside? Is Himura and the others under attack? Oh wait, he's 'Kamiya' now, isn't he?'
She felt the wandering wind tease and dishevel his unruly, sharp, and banged hair as they approached their intended destination, his ornate overcoat flapping in every which direction.
His leather, westernized shoes treaded their way effortlessly unto the snow towards the familiar and instantly recognizable entryway in almost the same manner that they did many years ago.
She averted her eyes at the person before her as he shot her an offhand, momentary gaze, even though she was fully aware that he could detect her stare on him. She sensed her face burn up, but she paid the fact no heed.
She shook her head, did a mental equivalent of an embarrassed cough, squirreled away her girlish thoughts, and focused on the situation at hand.
Embarrassed, Misao hit the tree beside her with her signature Kecho Giri. It quivered slightly from the strike, forcing the accumulated snow to fall directly atop her head.
Infuriated beyond words, the Replacement Okashira of the Oniwabanshu shook her head to get the wet sludge of white out of her now-damp hair. She then noticed Aoshi's mouth curve upwards.
"Oh, come on, Aoshi-sama!" Misao protested, her face flushed with a burgundy color before further disclaiming, "I don't do prop comedy!" despite the fact that, six years ago, she acted just like a prop comic in a rather lame skit designed to cheer Aoshi up after his second defeat against Kenshin Himura.
She possessed a short, selective memory, after all.
"Good thing it was snow that fell on your head, instead of a leaf," was something uncharacteristic for Aoshi to verbalize, but he did so anyway.
Sanosuke might quip that, Yahiko could definitely say that, Kenshin might tactlessly make that kind of thoughtless remark, Saito could probably come up with something nastier, but Aoshi?
Not a chance. Still, that knowing, "blink and you'll miss it" flash of a grin on his face said it all.
"The 'leaf on the head' shtick is for raccoon dogs, not weasels!"
"So you admit you're a weasel?"
"AUGH!"
Rurouni Yahiko
A Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction Continuation by Chester Castañeda
And now for something different. A meeting of the minds care of the Kamiyas and the Oniwabanshu.
Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.
Chapter 31: The Tale of Two Shinobi
Just in front of the Kamiya Training Hall's entrance, around wintertime, four months after Yahiko departed from Asakusa, Tokyo...
Misao knelt down and bowed her head in shame. That cute upward curve on Aoshi's mouth was too much for her to bear.
By reflex, she seized all her kunai and threw it at the Oniwabanshu Okashira, fully expecting him to dodge or otherwise catch them all. Once he did so, she jumped and kicked him on the head.
"Your follow-up attack is getting faster. Excellent."
Aoshi wasn't just flattering Misao either. He actually bothered to dodge the Kecho Giri using his water-like movement instead of merely blocking the attack with one hand.
"What are we doing in the Kamiya Dojo in the dead of winter anyway? Don't we have our reunions with the Kamiyas during the spring?" Misao asked. Calling Kenshin's family the "Kamiyas" still sounded weird to her ears though, especially since she was so used to calling the ex-hitokiri "Himura".
"There's a change in the winds, and the air now has a hint of blood in it," Aoshi said. "Even though it's been nearly a decade since I last heard from them, I did not expect the Sanada Ninja Clan to still be active and growing after all these years."
The Onibawanshu Leader closed his azure eyes. "It seems that they're now involved in matters of great consequence, which is why we need to further investigate their current activities as soon as possible."
"Sanada Ninja Clan? They must be one of those secret organizations, 'coz I've never heard of them," Misao confessed with a pout. She sure wished that Aoshi mentioned to her something about ninja clans and whatnot before they departed from Kyoto.
Then again, she should've asked. She had other ideas as Aoshi whisked her away on the first train to Tokyo. Ideas that made her face warm and her head giddy.
"I haven't heard of them either," Kenshin revealed after his carrot-topped head abruptly popped out of the now-slightly ajar wooden gates like a curious gopher. "Hello, Misao-dono. Aoshi-dono. It's been forever."
"Greetings, Battousai," Aoshi bid his hellos as he bowed and regarded Kenshin with a clinical glance. "How's your health?"
"It's gotten better," Kenshin distantly answered as his eyes darted away from Aoshi's before altogether settling down on the taller man's outfit.
The shinobi leader still wore his signature trench coat that hid his weapons quite well, but even then, Kenshin couldn't see his double kodachi in their usual false nodachi sheath.
Kenshin gave Aoshi a brief once-over. "You're armed, right? You're not carrying your weapons with your fake longsword, though."
Aoshi nodded. "I'm carrying them separately," he revealed. "They're easier to hide within my trench coat."
"Okay," Kenshin said. "Is there any particular reason why you've come here in full yet hidden battle gear? And what does this all have to do with the... 'Sanada Clan'?"
"Everything will be explained in due time, Battousai. We, the main representatives of Oniwabanshu, have visited you in concern of Myojin Yahiko's last duel here in Tokyo," Aoshi replied without answering any of Kenshin's questions as of yet.
"KENSHIN! You get back here right this... Oh. OH! Welcome back, Misao-chan! Um... Aoshi. So what brings you two here?" asked Kaoru Kamiya as soon as she spotted the pair while hiding the bamboo blade she was chasing her husband with behind her back.
"Hello, Kaoru-san! It's been a while, hasn't it? Aoshi-sama and I came by because we're investigating... stuff," Misao answered in kind while scratching the side of her cheek with her index finger.
The forthright, thirty-something ex-wanderer forced a toothy, dogged grin at the pair as he queried, "So what brings you here, Shinomori Aoshi? Misao-dono? I mean, I haven't seen you two since our 'Spring Reunion Picnic' a year ago."
Aoshi didn't start with a trite, "I thought you'd never ask!" response, but by the tone of his voice, he might as well did.
"I heard through the grapevine that Myojin Yahiko has fought a certain old ninja by the name of Takae this September. We actually came here to investigate the circumstances surrounding the event. You'll take us inside your premises so that we can take a look around, yes?" the Okashira ordered, not requested.
"Well, that's some grapevine," Kaoru remarked with a mouthy pout, her right eyebrow raised way up.
"But of course! Oniwabanshu Intelligence is one of the best in Japan, let me tell you!" Misao proudly stated, barely keeping herself from laughing a haughty, Megumi-Takani-like cackle. "That, and we tend to sort through people's mail before it gets to them."
"HEY! No wonder our mails were frayed, crumpled, and easily torn once it got here! It's all your fault, you interloping snoops!" Kaoru protested at a rather hangdog Misao as a large nerve pulsated on the side of her forehead.
"Oh, come on, Kaoru-san! We were just doing our job!" Misao whined, scowling like a petulant, stubborn Kenji Kamiya who wanted to win some sort of vague, petty argument he'd taken a fancy to just for the principle of it (or so Kaoru surmised). "It's not like we're doing it out of spite. It's nothing personal, just... shinobi business, okay?"
Without missing a beat and before the situation regressed any further, Kenshin got in between the two quarrelling girls and said, "With all due respect, Aoshi-dono, I'd like to know why you're hunting down Takae Masahiro in the first place. Since you've read through our mail, I think it's safe to assume that you're aware that Takae had already passed away. So why exactly are you running after a dead man?"
"Yes, I am aware he's dead, and you've made a good point," Aoshi confessed as he made his way into the dojo proper, greeting Kenji Kamiya, Outa Higashidani, Kosaburo Shinichi, and Tsubame Sanjo with a curt nod to each and every one of them as he passed them by.
The four waved weakly at the tall, fierce-looking man, feeling more than slightly anxious by his imposing presence. "Takae is merely a small piece of a much larger puzzle. This mission has more to do with his affiliations to the Sanada Ninja Clan than with himself."
Kenji was about to pipe up with some sort of inquisitive, socially awkward remark when Tsubame wordlessly hushed the kid by grabbing hold of his mouth and pulling him into the living room, closing the sliding door behind them with the balls of her socked feet.
That left Outa and Kosaburo to stay stock-still and observe everything like statues. Heavily sweating statues. 'Take us into the room with you, Tsubame-san,' was what their moist eyes pleaded.
'Not now, the adults are talking,' was a familiar admonishment for the young Kamiya boy to hear, so out of respect for his common sense, short fuse, and self-perceived righteous indignation concerning the oft-repeated reproach, his "surrogate sister" didn't even bother telling him that.
Meanwhile, Kenshin rubbed his chin as he, a slightly miffed Kaoru, and a mutely upset Misao followed the Oniwabanshu Boss inside the Kamiya Dojo's training room: Aoshi had visited their home once or twice before, so he knew his way around, much to Kaoru's growing chagrin.
Due to the mitigating circumstances surrounding the meeting, the Kamiya Matriarch forced herself to keep her cool as she demanded, "As I was saying, I fail to see what this mission of yours has to do with any of us here at the Kamiya Dojo, Aoshi."
"In a word: None. If anything, there's nothing but a tenuous connection between you and Takae Masahiro, so worry not. Nevertheless," Aoshi's eyes shifted to the side, nigh-flinching, as he adjusted his trench coat's collar as though it were a hangman's noose around his neck, "Takae's elite ninja group from the Sanada Clan is on the prowl, and I believe their ex-leader had come out of hiding for good reason."
"Sanada Clan? No, no, no... Takae said that his techniques were under 'Takae Ninjutsu', as though it originated from his family or something," Kaoru interposed, tugging on her husband's sleeves for support and beckoning him to back her up.
Finally, after much deliberation, Kenshin mentioned, "You keep bringing up this supposed Sanada Clan, but Takae mostly affiliated himself with his namesake Takae Clan. Also, when I fought him, he was acting more like a mere henchman than a mastermind to Hitokiri Gasuke's plot. I don't quite understand what it is about Takae that makes him important enough for you, the Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, to go all the way out here to learn more about him."
"Takae Ninjutsu is merely part of a larger body of ninja arts, which is essentially what Sanada Ninjutsu is. The Sanada Ninja Clan is actually composed of nine intermarried families from the Sanada Ten Braves or the Sanada Juyushi led by Sarutobi Sasuke; they assisted warlord Sanada Nobushige during the Sengoku Period," Aoshi clarified as he surveyed the remnants of Takae's kunai cut marks on the tatami mats, floorboards, and the edges of wooden columns with keen interest.
"Sanada Nobushige...?" asked Misao.
"He's more popularly known as Sanada Yukimura," answered Aoshi.
It had been almost four months since Yahiko's momentous fight with the aged ninja master, so most of the more worn-down boards had been replaced by now. However, the subtle yet tell-tale sign of an earlier struggle... mostly the minute nicks and scratches which did not escape the raven-haired shinobi's notice... was all the evidence he needed to properly assess the situation.
"I couldn't possibly be mistaken. Takae had made use of the Praying Mantis Trap, the Iron Cleaver, and the Invisibility Trick during your fight. These shallow grooves that grow deeper and deeper after each and every strike have all the earmarks of Takae... no, Fuuma Clan Ninjutsu," Aoshi murmured softly to himself as he crouched down and traced his finger on one of the ruts, his face incomprehensible, his grave undertones containing an indistinct hint of either awe or concern.
"Wow. You were able to tell that Takae used all those techniques by merely looking at those grooves. That's... impressive, if a bit creepy. Please don't use your crime-solving shinobi skills to stalk people," Kaoru pleaded in all seriousness as she herself checked out the spy's observations while wrinkling her nose.
"Kaoru-san, we're not stalkers! We're spies! Those two things are totally different!" insisted Misao.
"Yes, those were the techniques that Takae used against us when he and the rest of Gasuke's gang invaded our home. I had a particularly hard time with that Minamo Gakure of his," Kenshin confirmed, paused, then continued.
"For a man his age, Takae was quite the formidable opponent. He made himself disappear in ways that made both his physical presence and his battle aura completely undetectable. It was kind of like fighting Seta Soujiro, except the ninja was using something other than pure speed and utter lack of emotion to hide himself."
"What the Ten Ken does to 'vanish' in the middle of battle is completely different from Takae's camouflage. For a Fuuma Clan Ninja to truly disappear, he must be able to not only stop interacting with the world around him, but keep his ki from interacting with other people's ki as well. He must have absolute control of his presence in order to hide himself in a truly effective manner," informed Aoshi as he surveyed the dojo for more clues.
"Oh, I see!" Kenshin beamed as he palmed his fist in eager realization. "In retrospect, Yahiko-kun was lucky to have even survived fighting the ninja. That Invisibility Trick is one highly advanced technique, let me tell you."
Kaoru gave the two former rivals-turned-comrades a half-lidded look, her arms crossed as she tapped her sandaled feet. She felt as though she were talking to two little boys who were debating over which of their stag beetles had the strongest 'pushing power' or something.
"Although I do find this little 'talk' of yours fascinating, I still fail to see what's this Takae or Fuuma person's connection to your so-called mission, Aoshi. Can you please get to the point?"
Completely misunderstanding his wife's sarcastic remark, Kenshin went to Kaoru's side and grinningly cooed, "The technique is actually easy to figure out, Kaoru-dono; it's just nearly impossible to execute! Let me explain."
Before Kaoru could even squeak out in protest, her husband had already taken her hand and enveloped it with his own, wrapping her with the warmth of his embrace, sandalwood scent, and close proximity.
"Your senses can be placed in two categories: Active and passive. Eyesight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch are all passive senses. They automatically record information from the world around you and pass it through your brain in order for it to interpret the data."
Kenshin soothingly traced his fingers over Kaoru's skin before covering her eyes and ears, pinching her nose, and tickling her sides as he enumerated each of the five senses.
"On the other hand, your ability to emit and scan ki are both active senses because you need to consciously send out a bit of your energy in order to detect what it interacts with. Still with me so far, honey?"
"Uh-huh. R-Right. Of course, Darling."
Kaoru gasped and gulped, feeling a bit woozy, giddy, and frustrated because of Kenshin's obliviousness. Although he behaved like an innocuous wimp most (if not all) of the time, all it took was one simple... albeit accidentally intimate... gesture from him to send her mind asunder and her heart aflutter.
Worst of all, he didn't even seem to realize this seeming influence he had over her. 'Damn him.'
Kaoru's heartbeat and breathing rate slowed as she tried to listen to her surroundings. The first thing she heard was Kenshin's own breath, followed by his pulsing heart. She could also discern the subtleties of their tempo and tranquil cadence.
"The Takae Clan's camouflaging technique renders its members invisible because..."
Even so, Kaoru's heightened senses aside, she failed to hear the rest of her husband's lecture once she became quite aware of his hands enclosing hers yet again.
His intimate actions called away all of five, perhaps even six, of her active and passive senses while pulling at her heartstrings. She did get the gist of it, though. Takae Stealth Ninjutsu somehow had the ability to block both active and passive senses through camouflage and ki manipulation.
Time finally sped back to its normal pace once Kaoru managed to gently yet reluctantly pull her hand away from Kenshin's grip. She sighed, then subsequently blinked after she realized her current visitors' lack of a response. She wasn't the only one sidetracked by traveling thoughts.
"Er, Aoshi? Hello? Are you still there?" she asked as she bent down and waved a hand in front of the taller man's face while he remained on a kneeling position. "Earth to Aoshi, are you still with us?"
Aoshi felt the collective gazes of Kaoru, Kenshin, and Misao upon him as he remained where he was, crouching stock-still.
"Aoshi-do... I mean, Aoshi? What have you found out?" the ex-rurouni probed.
Shinomori licked his lips, let out a silent yet belabored breath, and said, "In 1848, the leader of the diminishing Takae Clan... descended from the Legendary Fuuma Clan... Takae Masahiro, intermarried into the Ancient Sanada Ten Braves Clan to form an alliance of sorts and ensure the survival of their brand of Stealth Ninjutsu into the Twentieth Century.
"The plan worked to a degree, and more than a decade after the merger, Takae had the manpower he needed to establish the Brigands Guild... an international group dedicated to taking part in wars, feuds, and armed battles for material gain without actually being a national or a party to the conflict... alongside someone codenamed the Puppet Master to further preserve Ninjutsu Warfare in modern-day settings."
He halted briefly as he recalled the countless documents he browsed through in order to confirm that the Sanada Clan wasn't a myth or legend of sorts.
"Indeed, during Okina's time, the shogunate-backed Oniwabanshu and the Legendary Sanada Ninja Clan went in head-to-head competition for the title of Japan's Best Spies."
"Brigands Guild? Puppet Master?" Aoshi's three companions echoed in wonder as a wave of vague and uncertain familiarity washed over them. Misao let out a small squeak of forthright understanding before she averted her gaze from Kenshin and Kaoru's direction.
"Hmmm. I've heard of that name before," Kenshin mused as he tapped his pointer finger on his chin. "Not the 'Brigands Guild', but the title 'Puppet Master'. I just can't put my finger where I first heard it..."
"Well, it should be familiar to you, Battousai. And to the rest of you as well, especially Kamiya Kaoru," Aoshi revealed as he rose from his crouching position. "It's only been six years ago, after all."
Kaoru seemed taken aback by Aoshi's claim. "What? Me? What do I have to do with this 'Guild' of yours?"
"Gein," Aoshi curtly answered, as if the mere mention of the strange name was enough of an explanation for each and every one of Kaoru's aired and unaired questions.
The out-of-the-blue statement had the expected effect on the Kamiya couple; all the color from Kenshin's face drained as his wife's crestfallen eyes went straight towards the tatami mats.
The Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Training Hall fell silent. A suffocating calmness typically felt within the depths of undisturbed crypts permeated their consciousnesses. To think, the mere mention of one name caused all this quietness.
Gein was an old, experienced shinobi; a great craftsman who was part of both Makoto Shishio's Juppon Gatana and Enishi Yukishiro's Six Comrades.
A Puppet Master in the truest sense of the moniker, Gein was infamous to Kenshin and company for pretending to be a savage wild man known as "Iwanbo", for creating three versions of that terrible automaton, and for sculpting the hyper-realistic corpse doppelganger of one Kaoru Kamiya in order to better serve Enishi's brazen schemes.
Enishi Yukishiro... brother of Tomoe Yukishiro, Kenshin's first wife... wanted to kill Kaoru as revenge for what Battousai did (accidentally kill Tomoe). However, he couldn't bring himself to kill the kendo girl because she reminded him of his sister, so he had Gein create a body double of her to make it appear like he killed her while kidnapping the real her.
Although Gein couldn't care less about its consequences, the creation of Kaoru's body double affected a lot of people in ways he couldn't even begin to comprehend or appreciate.
To the Puppet Master, the Kaoru marionette was his greatest masterpiece, an art piece born out of the culmination of his years of experience, innate talent, and supreme dedication to his special brand of martial arts.
To Kaoru, the entire chain of unusual events merely felt... surreal; bizarre. Dream-like, almost. The mere idea of a madman making a body double of herself for whatever reason was beyond her ken. But to Kenshin Kamiya (nee Himura), seeing that dead body of hers for the first time was Hell on Earth.
"Battousai?" Aoshi prodded. However, all he drew from the former Ishin Shishi assassin was a blank, abysmal stare.
"Himura... I mean, Mister Kamiya," Misao echoed as she combed back her ebony bangs with two fingers. She couldn't blame Kaoru and Kenshin's reactions, though; Enishi's Jinchuu (Earthly Revenge) negatively affected, perhaps even traumatized, the Kamiya couple and most anyone remotely involved with them in a multitude of ways.
"Don't let your bad memories get in the way of your better judgment," Aoshi asserted to the unresponsive Kenshin, adding, "In unsure times like this, you must make rational, absolute judgments that are unaffected by any sort of feelings or emotions whatsoever to fully understand the situation."
"Y-You're heartless! Have a little more sympathy! You don't understand what Kenshin and I went through!" Kaoru spat, which made Misao exclaim, "W-What? I didn't totally understand what Aoshi-sama was going on about, but I understood that! I demand an apology, Kaoru-san!"
Still, the weasel girl couldn't help but give her impassive Okashira a hesitant, sidelong glance of apprehension. Shamed as she was to admit, Kaoru did have a point.
Nonetheless, Kaoru decided to not push the issue any further by quickly offering, "Oh, never mind. I'm sorry, Misao-chan. Aoshi."
Afterwards, Kaoru went beside her inert husband and clasped her hand over his, intertwining both their fingers together for a perfect fit.
Kenshin whirled his head in surprise, leaning hard against a nearby wall as his heart skipped exactly one and a half beats. She afterwards smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
The middle-aged swordsman had conquered armies, slew hundreds of men, led individuals on battles and vengeance quests aplenty, and had a ten-year stint as a wandering vagabond who helped people in need the best he could.
However, he had yet to learn how to deal with a woman who had just thrown herself into his arms and wordlessly put his head on her shoulder in mute understanding of his melancholic feelings.
Kaoru didn't say anything as she embraced her husband. Kenshin didn't really mind the hug, even though he was mostly perplexed by the gesture, and put his arms around his wife for comfort all the same.
He then realized what she wanted to convey. She was there. She was alive. The corpse he saw six years ago with a cross-shaped scar and a sword stuck in her chest wasn't her, but a scarily realistic meat puppet created by the mad genius known as Gein.
Kenshin winced and recoiled. His head ached. Minutes passed until he spoke again. "Please continue, Aoshi. I apologize for ignoring you and delaying this conversation. It's just that your mentioning of Gein..."
"It's quite all right. I myself must apologize for my insensitivity." An oppressive air hung across the training room as Aoshi slowly slid the slightly ajar doors of the hall shut. He took a moment to prepare himself before continuing.
"He is Edward Gein. Don't be fooled by the name, he's not a foreigner. 'Gein' is just one of his many aliases. He's one of the last remaining descendants of a small group of ninjas who mastered the art of mechanics in the middle ages; a talented yet heartless assassin who uses shadow techniques for his own selfish purposes. Ergo, he's the target of my pledge and my last mission as the Oniwabanshu Okashira."
Kenshin looked over his wife's shoulder and absently nodded to Aoshi's statement. "Yes, of course; your pledge. You yourself told Gein during your fight with him that from then on you will use your shadowy strength to consign to darkness all shadowy villainy."
Kaoru waited for all of three seconds before she giggled, "Eh? Use his 'shadowy strength' to 'consign' into darkness all 'shadowy villainy'? Who says that?" which made the formerly sympathetic Misao grouse, "Humph! If there's anyone who can pull that cheesy quote off, then it's Aoshi-sama!"
Kenshin went into full 'peacemaker' mode as Kaoru continued to suppress her mirth at Aoshi's ham-fisted oath, much to Misao's obvious vexation. "I admit that it was quite the heavy-handed speech, but if it works, then it works."
Undeterred by the off-tangent side comments, the shinobi leader put his hands in his pockets and stared wistfully at the ceiling.
"I perused a great deal of documents to prepare for the position of Okashira. I remember a record of similar shadow techniques in the books left by my forebears. In the Warring States period, generals would leave substitute 'shadow warriors' in their places to ensure their own security.
"But training shadow warriors took a great amount of time and expense. What was developed was a secret method of constructing dolls out of corpses that couldn't be distinguished from real people at a glance. Gein was a master of these techniques, and he was supposed to be the last of his kind. Takae himself believed that ninjutsu was slowly dying out in our Modern Meiji Era.
"The Brigands Guild is Gein and Takae's way of keeping the shadow arts from dying out in this new era. More to the point, the Guild was specifically founded in order to continue the evolution of ninjutsu, and because of the Sanada Ninja Clan's obsession to constantly refine its techniques, it became a virtual treasure trove of information when it came to the long-lost shinobi arts.
"The members of the Brigands Guild were adept with surgical, disguise, chemical, concealment, and mechanical arts. They knew an eclectic mix of Taijutsu (unarmed combat techniques), Shinobi-Iri (silent movement techniques), Hensojutsu (disguise techniques), Intonjutsu (camouflage and escape techniques), and Boryaku (strategy), which they taught to the rest of their fellow clan members to further promote the development of these skills.
"They also fostered relations with other countries and similar secret organizations from all around the world... something that was almost unheard of at the time because of the Tokugawa Government's Isolationist Policies... so that they could also adapt Western Knowledge and Technology to their Ancient Ninjutsu Martial Arts."
To himself, Aoshi mused, 'The five original members of the Guild had code names corresponding to their specific specialty: The Phantom, The Puppet Master, The Hands of God, The Alchemist, and The Faceless. 'The Phantom' obviously refers to Takae and his high-level skill of camouflage, while 'The Puppet Master' probably refers to Gein and his use of cadavers to create his shadow puppets. That only leaves three more people to hunt down and silence.'
"So?" Kaoru asked, not seeing Aoshi's point. "What of it? Takae has retired from his post as the Sanada Ninja Clan's Leader and both he and that bastard Gein have kicked the bucket. Two of the founding members of the Brigands Guild are long gone. What's the problem?"
"The problem is the fact that the Sanada Ninja Clan's clandestine activities have actually increased instead of decreased after Takae stepped down. That's not normal. By my estimations, there's a disturbing connection between Takae's retirement and the Sanada Clan's current state of affairs. Something's definitely afoot," Aoshi responded at length.
"And what connection is that?" Misao found herself asking the question for Kaoru's sake without her realizing it, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"I daresay that the Sanada Clan made Takae step down in order to get a younger, more ambitious leader to pursue their goals. I certainly don't believe that the Brigands Guild disbanded after both Gein and Takae died. They're instead regrouping and are now embroiled in something big. It's perhaps their one last, great mission before the turn of the century. In any case, as far as you're all concerned, the Sanada Clan's objectives are beside the point.
"Now, imagine a guild, or even a clan, full of Geins running amuck. All they really need is a cause, a goal, or a mission for them to wreak havoc with their shadow arts. For Gein, it was Enishi's Jinchuu or Shishio's rebellion. For Takae, it was Gasuke's revenge. For a member of the Brigands Guild, it doesn't matter what the goal is, as long as he could use it to further the development of his ninjutsu. All I'm saying is that wherever the Brigands Guild is, trouble is sure to follow."
Kaoru did wince a little at Aoshi's revelations. But why wince? Her husband was a retired swordsman, and she herself didn't care about any of those...
Yahiko. He was definitely involved. And, even still, Kenshin himself, despite his attempts at achieving a peaceful life at long last.
Most, if not all, of the "Kenshingumi" were deeply involved in this Brigands Guild business, and Aoshi knew it: Yahiko for getting caught up in Takae's death, and Kenshin for simply being the Hitokiri Battousai... a man that all of the surviving Brigands Guild members would want to test themselves against.
Aoshi kept a close eye on Yahiko and the Kamiya Family ever since he discovered Gein's true affiliations because, one way or another, the Brigands Guild would eventually enter their lives to unleash their unique kind of mayhem for whatever reason they saw fit.
After all this time, after all the sacrifices they'd endured to live an ordinary life... even with Kenji around, even with the sense of normalcy they'd regained after going through hell and back... it was starting all over again. 'It's not fair. We already have our own share of problems, what with Kenshin's declining health and all.'
"You understand now?" Aoshi asked after watching Kaoru's emotions play out through her face. "Whether you like it or not, this issue concerns you as well, Kamiya Kaoru. Though you'll only have to cross that bridge when you get there, it'd be in your best interest to keep in mind that you will have to face the Brigands Guild sooner or later. Your husband, your son, your students, your friends and family... all of them... are..."
"Okay, okay," Kaoru interrupted. "No need to get all melodramatic on me. I see what you mean. But like you said, we'll only cross that bridge once we get there, right? That's what I intend to do. So thanks for the warning, but... we can take it from here. Right, Kenshin?"
"Oro?" Kenshin muttered, as though he had only woken up from a deep trance. "Hmmm. Yes, of course. Whatever problems may arise, we can handle it."
He smiled and brushed back a limp strand of hair that dangled on his wife's face, but he then furrowed his eyebrows after seeing her suddenly flinch at the intimate gesture. "Kaoru...?"
Kaoru bit her lip at what she saw: His hand. Kenshin's hand was shaking, just as Megumi warned. The secondary symptoms of his body's degeneration had finally appeared. First the dizzy spells, and now this.
The years of turmoil, pain, guilt, and suffering were apparently not enough to atone for his sins. A decade of wandering and protecting people with his reverse-edged sword wasn't enough either. Damn the gods, for nothing could ever be enough to save Kenshin from his own damnation.
Then there was Yahiko. Though Kenshin's weakening condition was half of the reason why he gave up his sakabatou to the Descendant of Tokyo Samurai, the other half rooted from the fact that the boy seemed up to the task of wielding the sword. But how ready was he? Could he really handle something like the Six Comrades or the Ten Swords all by himself, or would he be overwhelmed by such a heavy yoke?
Kaoru imagined Yahiko going through the same kind of arduous, deadly battles that Kenshin went through in order to protect the weak, the innocent, the defenseless, and his loved ones... and she inwardly screamed a shriek that would've torn apart her vocal cords had she done it for real.
She saw that kid grow up to be a man. She had no intention of crying at his grave before he did hers.
This type of event should have stopped happening six years ago. Kaoru had long pushed her memories of such unpleasant matters deep into the recesses of her mind after Enishi Yukishiro was finally defeated; after Jine, Kanryu, Raijuta, Shishio, Gein, and various other lions, tigers, and bears... all their other "natural predators"... disappeared from their lives forever. But still...
"It just never ends, does it?"
"Excuse me?" Kenshin asked, surprised that Kaoru's ponderous stillness was abruptly broken. Right then, she at last noticed the red-haired man's puzzled stare as he continued to hold onto her arms like a drowning man caught in his own personal rapids would to a lone, wooden flotsam.
"...You've always thought of everyone else's happiness except your own. Maybe it's now your turn to let someone else think about your happiness for once," Kaoru said as her demure eyes gazed at the dojo floor.
Before the ex-rurouni realized what was going on, Kaoru quickly pulled her arms from his and turned, hoping that he didn't see the teary look in her eyes before she strode away and announced, "Thank you for the warning, Aoshi. Misao-chan. If you don't mind, I'll be doing my chores now. Make yourselves at home. If you want, you can stay for dinner."
Kaoru tried her best not to seem too hasty as she opened the door out of the dojo and went to the patio to sweep up the snow and clear her mind of tumultuous thoughts.
Then came thirty seconds of unnerving calm that the three of them felt forever. Kenshin and Aoshi's eyes met briefly in mute understanding. Old wounds did heal as time passed by, but the scars still remained: It was a legacy of suffering chiseled into the heart itself.
Kenshin stood there for a few more moments, thinking about what had happened and what he had just learned. 'Kaoru-dono... Kaoru isn't just worried about the Sanada Ninja Clan, but my condition as well. And I really can't blame her for being concerned. To again face the likes of Gein, Shishio, or Enishi is upsetting enough as is, but...'
He winced as a migraine erupted from his temples, 'I may have come to the point where I might not be able to handle such challenges anymore. Furthermore, Yahiko is now the one tasked to carry out my lifelong mission in my stead. Taking nothing away from him and his skills, I really do think he may have bitten off more than he could chew.'
Meanwhile, Outa and Kosaburo felt their lower limbs go through pins and needles because they had yet to move from their spots. "Hold on a little longer, Outa-kun!" Kosaburo cheered the young boy beside him on as a prickly sensation traveled through his own feet.
Misao sniffled and felt her throat constrict after seeing the wordless dialogue between Kenshin and Kaoru: An elegant, almost insufferably heartrending dance. Hurriedly wiping away her tears off, she fumbled for the closest piece of cloth... which happened to be the sleeve of Aoshi's trench coat... and loudly blew her nose.
For Kenshin's part, he opted to squat beside Kosaburo and Outa in order to meditate "along" with them.
Realizing what she had done only after the fact, she turned bright red and stammered, "A-Aoshi-sama...!"
Aoshi stared at Misao with no specific expression on his features. However, as she stared up into his blue eyes, she saw the imperfectly concealed signs of past suffering and regrets... of persistent memories of his own personal demons that he struggled to leave behind.
Her thoughts drifted back to their earlier conversation inside the Kamiya Dojo, then she put it together with the scene she had witnessed between Kenshin and Kaoru.
'Just like with Kenshin's guilt over Tomoe's death and Kaoru's fake demise, you still carry your own guilt over the deaths of Hannya, Beshimi, Hyotoko, and Shikijo in your heart. Somehow, this mission of yours is dedicated to them, isn't it?'
She felt her chest tighten.
'So all this time, you've been so emotionally distant because you feel unworthy of... being cared for by me? You don't want to contaminate me with this dirtiness you think you have. Is that why you only let the least amount of caring and emotion show if you can help it?'
Something boiled over inside Misao. Without any warning, she grabbed the collar of Aoshi's clothes and yanked his head down to her level. Hissing softly in his ear, she said, "Don't you dare clam up on me again, Lord Aoshi! I've just had it up to here the last time you did that, and I don't ever want to go through that again!"
"Misao...?" Even though he was as stone-faced as ever, that one raised eyebrow of his hinted either confusion or skepticism on his part.
Keeping her voice low while ignoring Kenshin's presence and utter bemusement, she snarled, "I understand that this is your last and most important mission as Okashira. I also understand why you had to be so brutally honest with Kaoru-san in regards to the Kamiya Family's link with your assignment. I get it. This truly is a matter of dire consequences for all of us concerned. However, that's no excuse for you to start acting so cold and aloof!"
Aoshi eyed her with the same pitiful stare that a person might bestow upon a cute little weasel gone rabid.
"Now that you're already starting to open up and regain some of your lost humanity, you better not lose yourself again because of some stupid mission! I'm not about to let you go crawling back behind your walls and become a walking block of ice again, got it?" Misao growled into Aoshi's ear, her hot breath searing his earlobes.
Understandably, Aoshi didn't quite know what to answer to that. The shadow warrior leaned next to Misao in the corner of the training hall and nodded along with her words. He mulled over what she said.
If there was one thing an Okashira such as he knew, it was difficult life decisions. Even in some of his less violent roles in the past, he had led people into battle over one issue or another. There were insights one made during such a colorful lifetime that an inexperienced onmitsu such as Misao could not.
Aoshi studied the incensed (but totally well-meaning) girl who yearned for his agreement with her line of reasoning before he formulated the words he needed to make her understand his side of the story. Words could be used weapons and traps made for catching people off their guard. They could also hurt.
After pondering upon Misao's heated contentions and adorable candor some more, Aoshi steeled himself and asked, "Misao, have you ever been forced to kill women or children?"
"W-Why would you ask such a stupid question?" she blurted out, feeling completely unprepared by the sudden, one-eighty degree turn of their conversation. "Of course I haven't! Why would I, Aoshi-sama?"
"Every living creature deserves a chance at peace, Misao," Aoshi stated. "Living in fear or pain is a horrible thing to bear. I should know. We have to do what we can in order to attain this peace, even if we ourselves have to sacrifice something in return. Let me ask you another question. If faced with the decision where you'd have to kill women and children for the needs of the many, would you do it?"
"N-No! Never! For the needs of the many? What good is that? I would never...!" Misao's voice wavered as the true, heartrending message behind Aoshi's words dawned to her.
'Oh no. So it wasn't just Hannya and the others' deaths that made your heart so calloused and unfeeling, Aoshi-sama. They were simply the straw that broke the camel's back.'
Kenshin got up from his seated position and, with a gentle hand on the ninja girl's shoulder, said softly, "Misao-dono..."
"S-Stay out of this, Himura! I mean, Kamiya!"
Meanwhile, Aoshi and Misao's respective gazes met and locked with a proverbial metallic clink.
As Misao stared at Aoshi, her hand missing the wall that she was supposed to lean on, which made her nearly slip from Kenshin's grasp as she almost fell on her posterior, the Okashira returned the gaze in kind with a deadpan look and remarked, "I want you to understand why things are the way they are. Just ask Battousai. He knows these types of moral dilemmas from firsthand experience."
Misao's eyes turned toward Kenshin, who slowly removed his hand from her person and shifted uncomfortably under her stare. He eyed Aoshi with no particular expression on his face as, out of habit, his other hand pawed at the nonexistent hilt of his missing sakabatou.
After pausing for a moment to get over her ongoing befuddlement, Misao sharply retorted, "This conversation isn't about Himura! I'm talking about you and your condition, Aoshi-sama! Please stop changing the subject and give me a straight answer already!"
However, the conviction behind her voice felt rather weak and halfhearted. In not so many words, Aoshi told her to get off his case because it wasn't exactly the easiest of tasks to regain his humanity after suffering through a variety of traumatizing events all throughout his life. Being a cold, unfeeling bastard was merely his way of coping, after all.
Kenshin chimed in, "Can't you understand, Misao-dono? Back then, it didn't matter who it was... man or woman, adult or child. If anyone interfered with what we perceived to be our duty, then they died. For Aoshi, the Oniwabanshu missions were of the utmost importance to him, regardless of 'collateral damage'. For myself, it was defending the lives of the members of the Ishin Shishi by whatever means necessary."
"I already gave you an answer by asking you all those tough questions. I'm sorry I had to introduce you to these truths in such a terrible way, but there is no soft method to prepare you for what being a member of the Oniwabanshu entails. We do what we must to survive," was Aoshi's somewhat sympathetic but mostly adamant reply.
He finally hit the last nail of the coffin right on its head... or something to that effect, since Misao wasn't good at quoting metaphors, mixed or otherwise.
After everything was said and done, Misao glared at the two of the three most important men in her life (the third one was Okina, her Oniwabanshu caretaker), fists clenched at her sides as she wished the ground would swallow her up, trying to think of some way to save face and prove that she was... what?
That she was right? That she could change the way Aoshi thought of himself with her silly antics, utter stubbornness, and constant, unremitting cheerfulness? That she wasn't merely some inexperienced, naive kid who could afford to be eternally optimistic simply because she had yet to be hit by a brick wall full of real life on the face?
Instead, she turned and screamed in frustration as she stormed off into the room directly adjacent to the training hall, pushing the petrified Kosaburo and Outa out of her warpath in the process. What else should she have done?
Speaking of which, Outa and Kosaburo at last unfroze from where they sat and scampered out of the dojo like it was on fire while everyone else was distracted. There was only so much awkwardness the pair could take.
Misao slammed open the nearby sliding door. What was this nonsense that Aoshi told her about life? Never mind that all of it was true, that was totally uncalled for! She was only trying to help get him out of his shell! What a jerk!
Misao bumped midriff-first into the huddled Tsubame and Kenji, with the former covering the confused latter's ears. Apparently, Misao was mumbling her livid thoughts (complete with colorful language) aloud, as further evidenced by Tsubame's reddened, burning ears.
"Oh, it's you guys," Misao acknowledged, stepping around them in order to get to the hallway. But the hyperactive Kenji, to Tsubame's chagrin, blocked her path again. And again. "Hello, Auntie Misao!" the young tot cheerfully greeted.
Misao's vision turned red as she protested, "I am not that old! DON'T CALL ME AUNTIE!"
She then lifted Kenshin's only begotten son from the ground and whirled him around on her shoulders while Tsubame pleaded for her to stop. A dizzying moment later and all three of them were sprawled on the floor in a boneless heap as the living room kept on swirling around them like a carnival ride.
"That was mean, Auntie!" Kenji whined, his face scrunched up and looking a bit green because of his unexpected trip that led to nowhere. "And it was yo idea anyway! You wanted me to call you 'Auntie' coz people always kept thinking yo wa a little gal and you wanted to feel gwown up!"
Misao groaned in repentance. "Sorry 'bout that, little guy. I was only venting. Oh my gosh, I think I'm gonna...!" The kunoichi blanched and shuddered after getting a taste of her lunch for a second time.
"What is this all about anyway, Misao-san?" Tsubame politely inquired as she got up and covered Kenji's mouth. Never mind that the pair of ersatz siblings already knew what happened because of their eavesdropping earlier, so there was no need to ask that question: Misao didn't need to know that, the Akabeko waitress mused.
Misao disclosed, "The mission. Aoshi-sama's mission. My mission. My future. Just... Aoshi-sama, in general. Lots of stuff. Everything, really."
Tsubame sighed and relaxed. Although Misao's sentences came in short, undecipherable fragments, she knew by instinct what the older girl was trying to say. This type of conversation felt more familiar to her. Not that she was an expert on the subject or anything, but at least this was a topic she knew something about. "So you're now... 'involved' with Aoshi-san, aren't you?"
Misao thought she'd recoil at the allegation, so she surprised herself by stammering, "Oh, no! I mean, not that much. Not... seriously. He didn't think it was serious... I think," while correcting herself each time.
She bit her thumb and twirled her hair. "We have so much in common. We grew up together and we both love ninjutsu. I mean, even if he's ahead of me by," she counted the years on her fingers, "a decade and a year, and he treats me more like a kid sister than anything else, I still do... care a lot about him, dammit!"
The kunoichi struggled to calm herself down before continuing. "And, though it doesn't look like it, we've actually spent some time together, chatting and sharing our thoughts with each other. We've talked about all the cool stuff going on in the world, and what the future might bring now that the nineteenth century is about to end and all."
"You two had problems seeing eye to eye at some point in your... uh, relationship, right?" Tsubame hypothesized, having a slight inkling on where the conversation was going.
"W-ell... not exactly. This current mission of his is supposed to be his last: His one final hurrah before he settles down ('with me,' Misao added to herself) as the innkeeper of Aoiya. So we actually have a common goal this time around. Still, I can't help but think that because this is his last mission as Okashira, he's now becoming rather obsessed about it. More than usual, at any rate."
The ninja girl shrugged and slumped down on the floor. "Oh well. Like he and Kaoru-san said earlier, it looks like we'll just have to burn that bridge after we cross it, not before." The onmitsu sighed as she stared at nothing in particular.
"Er, I don't think you're using those idioms correctly, Misao-san," Tsubame said, hastily wiping the drip of sweat off of her forehead.
"Whateva! Enough talking about missions! I wanna know what happened to big bwotha alweady!" Kenji persisted as he waved the pages of Yahiko's letter in front of the two women before their girl talk took up all their attention.
"Humph. That Myojin kid sure loves to write," Misao said as she shook her head and swiped the pages out of Kenji's tiny hands. "Let's take a look-see at his latest exploits, shall we?"
"HEY! I thought you alweady wead it!" Kenji griped as he tried to take the letters back from the Unofficial Okashira of the Oniwabanshu.
"Huh?" Misao raised an eyebrow at Kenshin's son. "Oh. Oh! So you think that I've already read everything when we first intercepted the letters, huh? Silly boy, we only read the important parts of Yahiko's letters and skimmed the rest of it. That self-absorbed brat can sure go on and on about his little misadventures, let me tell you."
After a few minutes of speed reading... an Oniwabanshu specialty... Misao's body stiffened as she gave the inanimate sheaf of paper a peculiar double-take. "I don't believe it. What are the chances of this happening?"
"What is it, Misao-san?" Tsubame queried as she looked over the older girl's shoulder to see what all the hubbub was about. "Did something bad happen to Yahiko-san in the later paragraphs?"
"So Yahiko has somehow met that big, idiotic lug of a felon... Huh. It's a small world after all. Still, it begs the question: What the hell is Gan doing in Shinsushin?" asked Misao to no one in particular with an upturned nose and a scowl.
"Eh? Gan-san? What about him?" Tsubame asked. "Have you met him before?"
As the short-haired Misao's eyes darted back and forth the rest of the contents of Yahiko's letter, all the blood in her body seemed to rush forth her fuming head, siphoned by her own fury, madness, or something approximating those extreme emotions.
The jaws of both Tsubame and Kenji (metaphorically) dropped on the floor as Misao suddenly tore a page of Yahiko's letter in half and threw them in the air. It would seem that the contents of the Tokyo Samurai Descendant's letters were quite rip-and-tear-worthy.
"I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL THAT BIG, OVER-MUSCLED PEEPING TOM ONCE I SEE EVEN A HINT OF HIS GOOFY BANDANNA AND LONG SIDEBURNS, I SWEAR!"
Tsubame retrieved the torn halves of Yahiko's letter from Misao's grasp and browsed what was written on them.
"Wait, NO! Don't read that, Tsubame-chan...!"
The Akabeko waitress reacted accordingly. With the awkwardness of a daughter listening to her mother tell her the speech about the birds, the bees, and the facts of life, she covered her ears with her hands and thought of songs she could sing to counteract the uncomfortable images currently circling around her head.
"Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, on meadow hills and dale. As far as you can see. Is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the morning sun. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, flowers in full bloom..." Tsubame sung in Japanese. If the lyrics above really were in Japanese, they would've had the added bonus of actually rhyming.
Meanwhile, the steaming, tomato-faced Misao tried to explain why Gan's revelations to Yahiko were utterly incorrect, but was doing a terrible job at it.
"It's not what you think! Gan totally misinterpreted what I was doing! I was just daydreaming and saying Aoshi-sama's name aloud, I swear! He shouldn't have been in that portion of the hot springs anyway, and now he's spreading bald-faced lies about me without checking his facts! Sure, I'd never talk to him about it, but that's because it's none of his business! Not that I had anything to hide, but... I can't believe he'd stoop to actually telling Yahiko his wrong impressions and... This is NOT FAIR! I swear, the next time I see him and his lying mouth, I'll turn him inside out like a... like a...!"
Both girls went at it for quite sometime, with Misao blabbering sailor-worthy death threats and frantic explanations while Tsubame sang herself to ignorant bliss, up until the kunoichi, in spite of her embarrassment, decided what was done was done, what was read was read, and what was revealed was revealed, and gently shook the Akabeko waitress out of her medley of folk song classics.
"I'm fine now. There's no need to ignore me anymore. I won't talk about what Gan said in that letter if you won't talk about it either... Okay?"
Tsubame nodded mutely at the pensive Misao, her chest heaving and her lungs gasping for air after her continuous performance. "O-Okay."
Misao nodded in kind, then pleaded, "Can't we please shred that part of the letter now? I think we've all had our fill of awkwardness for the day," to which Tsubame eagerly gave her assent, her hands just about ready to tear the halved page into tinier shreds. Things should have ended then and there if not for a certain someone calling out, "Misao, it's time for us to go."
It was Aoshi. Dissatisfied with Kenshin's dull and muted response to the brewing conflict left to the inexperienced Yahiko's hands (and realizing that he and Misao had no business left there in Tokyo), the Official Okashira of the Oniwanbanshu decided to take his ward back to Aoiya before starting his personal quest to hunt down the last remaining members of the Brigands Guild alone.
Misao would probably cry and complain at Aoshi once she found out what he had planned for her, but he decided to let things be. There was no way he was going to needlessly risk her life for a mission he entrusted to himself. His hunt for present-day shinobi wasn't only for the sake of honoring his four fallen Oniwabanshu comrades' sacrifices; it was also for the sake of the young Makimachi's future.
Before the girls could protest, Aoshi took the two sheaves of torn paper from Tsubame's hand, asked a cursory, "Has the boy written something of use to us, Misao? Let me see," and began speed-reading the forbidden notes with clinical swiftness.
Neither Misao nor Tsubame knew how to react to Aoshi's sudden arrival, the both of them seemingly frozen in time as he finished up scanning Yahiko's written account of Gan witnessing Misao's most embarrassing moment. Then, without even batting an eyelash, he tore the offending pieces of papers apart into neat little squares and gave them back to Tsubame's trembling palms.
From there, Misao's knees buckled in flabbergasted shock. On impulse, her hand flew up and grabbed Aoshi's shoulder for support as she fell against him.
"Misao," Aoshi began, looking down in dull "surprise" at Misao as she missed her target and fell face-first onto the tatami-matted floor with a muted thud.
"Mmph?" Misao mumbled.
"You've fallen face-first on the floor for some reason," Aoshi stated the obvious, then inadvertently added insult to injury by further berating, "Don't do that. You're in another person's home. It's rude."
Misao cringed at each and every last word of Aoshi's admonishment, because not only was he talking down to her, but he apparently wasn't showing her the sympathy she hoped she'd get.
Her plans to fall into Aoshi's arms foiled (but her plan to distract him from the full implications of what he just read somewhat succeeding), Misao got up from her unintentional pratfall, only to have her cake and eat it too when Aoshi helped her up her feet.
Aoshi and Misao were now in a position she imagined herself in when she first sort-of-but-not-really-shut-up "fainted". They looked into each other's eyes, Misao's green ones fluttering demurely while Aoshi's blue ones were looking as bored/blank/straightforward/calculating/whatever as usual.
'What's going on in that head of yours, Lord Aoshi?' Misao speculated as she sightlessly stared into the invisible horizon from inside the Kamiya Residence. Aoshi's penetrating gaze that seemed to peer into her soul's depths was itself ironically unreadable. His were eyes that were pools of whirling nimbus accentuated by crescents of blue luminescence.
"Misao," Aoshi repeated, waking her from her meandering thoughts.
"Y-Yes?" Misao squeaked, her heart thundering loudly beneath her heaving bosom.
"You're not breathing," he observed.
Misao exhaled, scratching her head giddily and acknowledging, "Yes, you're right. I'm not."
In contrast to the subdued acknowledgment of Aoshi's understatement, Misao's mind was practically screaming, 'Aoshi-sama! Please don't believe what was written on that page! It's all a misunderstanding! Don't think ill of me!'
Tsubame could only offer her condolences to the thoroughly flabbergasted Misao in the form of bowing and whispering her "excuse mes" and "sorries" repeatedly. There was nothing else she could do at the moment.
"Okay, Misao. Let's go," Aoshi announced to the stunned Makimachi girl, his face as expressionless as always. In contrast, Misao herself looked like death, her complexion as white as a freshly laundered bed sheet hand-washed by Kenshin Kamiya himself.
"Goodbye, Uncle Aoshi! Auntie Misao!"
"Don't call me Auntie, Kenji-kun!"
"Uh, farewell, A-Aoshi-san! Misao-san!"
Misao might have lost years in her life thanks to the fateful events that unfolded that day.
She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. She had never felt so embarrassed in all her life, save of course during the infamous events that the "Shaved Gorilla" Gan outlined to the equally idiotic Yahiko.
'Note to self: Once I meet Yahiko again, I will kick the back of his meddling, spiky-haired head so hard, his eyeballs will pop right out of their sockets.'
Speaking of which, Misao cautiously looked at Aoshi's cool-blue eyes as she brushed her pageboy-cut hair to the side. Was he angry? Ashamed? Mortified? Disgusted? Uncomfortable? Afraid? Sad? Hopeful? Lonely? Happy? Giggly? Anything? Anything at all? She couldn't tell. She never could, come to think of it.
And so, as Misao and the enigmatic Aoshi went to the training hall and bid their farewells to the Kamiya couple, the Kyoto onmitsu couldn't help but wonder what the heck was Aoshi's real reaction in knowing her secret shame. More importantly, did she want to know?
"I like Auntie Misao. She's silly," Kenji whispered to Tsubame.
Next: Rurouni Soujiro.
It's now Soujiro's time to shine once again.
Say my name,
Abdiel