| The Letter Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. All characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, and all other affiliates. A/N: This is my submission to TFME�s Winter Fanfiction contest! Hope you all entered it too! J It�s supposed to be my interpretation of this particular proverb: Tsuki ni muragumo, hana ni arashi- Clouds over the moon, a storm over blossoms It takes place after the Seisshou Hen, so that gives you some idea of what it�s about. Enjoy! * * * * * * The letter felt heavy in his hands. The former Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, Shinomori Aoshi carried the piece of rice paper into the house, and slid the door shut slowly. He was surprised to receive a letter from this person, but it unnerved him more than anything. He tucked the delicate paper into his pocket and walked inside padding quietly over the wooden planks of the bridges that connected the Aoiya restaurant with their home. She spotted him immediately. �Aoshi!� she called, and waved to him. He smiled a small smile and gazed at her for a moment before he headed in her direction. She balanced their baby on one hip as she held a basket of laundry against the other. This always irked him somewhat since she never thought to ask him to watch their child while she did the wash. He hurried over and slipped the baby out of her grip. She sighed and bent to rest the laundry basket on the ground. �I keep telling you that you don�t have to fuss so much. I�m okay,� she insisted eyeing him with humor as he ignored her and coddled their seven-month old son, Harushi. He raised the child in the air and leaned in to blow loud raspberries against his belly. The baby giggled wildly. �If you keep that up he�s going to pee on you again,� she warned casting him a wary look and inching out of the line of fire. He chuckled lightly and lowered Harushi so that he cradled him securely with one arm. He wrapped his other arm around his wife. �Misao, if memory serves me right, I believe it was you he released his excitement on,� he said and lowered his hand and brushed her side playfully. He knew how ticklish she could be and sure enough her knees buckled and she fell into a fit of laughs. Someone sighed wearily. �Kami-sama they�re at it again. All I need is another little brother to take care of.� Aoshi turned his head slightly and gave the owner of that voice a cool glare. �I thought I told you that your training wasn�t to end until I came by to check on your progress. I suggest you go back to your sensei.� �My sensei sent me home. He had an emergency to tend to,� came the calm reply. Aoshi narrowed his gaze. �Then practice on your own in the training yard. I�ll be there shortly to see how you�re doing.� �Oto-san, I�m supposed to help Oka-san with the laundry, give Harushi a bath, and get ready to open the Aoiya. How am I supposed to squeeze in any more practice time? Besides, my muscles hurt�� her voice trailed off when she saw the look on her father�s face. She quickly rearranged her schedule in her head. �Um right, more training in the yard, which is where I will be if you er- need me. I�ll see you later,� she said and bowed before she left their presence. When she was out of sight Misao turned her head to look up at Aoshi. �How do you do that?� Aoshi shrugged. �It�s just a look I learned about from Okina. He used it on me when I was very young. It was quite effective.� �When did it stop working?� �When I found out that Okina was a perverted old skirt-chaser. That�s when I learned what blackmail was,� he said matter-of-factly and winked at his wife. �But that won�t work for Ona. She�ll find out soon enough that there�s nothing she can use to blackmail me.� �Aoshi take it easy on her. She�s only fourteen years old. She�s supposed to be intolerable and constantly aggravated. As far as she�s concerned now, we�re the most unappealing people in the world to her. And you know what, I�m glad she feels that way about us because at least she has us. You never knew your parents and I never knew mine. We had no parents to embarrass us or get on our nerves. We just had, Jiya.� Aoshi relented as always when it came to his daughter. No matter how many headaches she gave him he knew that under all the surfacing teenaged rebellion she was still his little sumomo. She was only fourteen. Not too far in age from the child of their old friends back in Tokyo. How long had it been�? �You know Aoshi, I wonder about how things are in Tokyo with Himura, and Kaoru-san, and their son Kenji. He�s not that much older than Ona is he? I remember when Ona and Kenji met. They were inseparable.� Misao paused in her memory of the good old days and gave her husband a mournful look. �I really wonder how they�re doing, Aoshi. We haven�t heard from them in so many years. They don�t even know about Harushi. How did we end up losing contact with them?� Aoshi wished he had an answer to that question. He didn�t know why they had not spoken to their friends for nearly ten years breaking their promise to keep in touch. He was about to tell his wife anything to comfort her when he suddenly remembered the letter- the letter from Tokyo, which had been sent to him by Miyojin Yahiko and Miyojin Tsubame. It couldn�t be good news. Why would the inheritor of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu feel the need to contact them in Kyoto? Aoshi silently handed Harushi to his mother and reached into his pocket to pull out the letter. Misao�s eyes grew wide. �Kami-sama! Is that a letter from Tokyo? That�s so eerie. We were just talking about them! Isn�t that weird?� Aoshi didn�t answer her. He held the envelope out to her so that she could see whom it was from. Her eyebrows slowly knotted together, and he wasn�t sure if it was from confusion or distaste. Even though they were all adults the last time they had seen each other Misao still had the same love-hate relationship with the young samurai, Yahiko. The insults flew and a challenge inevitably followed with his wife beating the young man once again as always. At least that was what she thought. Aoshi knew that Yahiko had allowed her to win their last battle, and that was something he intended to keep to himself for the rest of his existence. Misao shot him a questioning look and he reluctantly opened the letter and slowly read its contents. When he was finished his face was an unreadable as ever. Misao knew it had to be bad. Misao watched the letter fall to the ground. She was tempted to lunge for it but that wasn�t an option for her since she held a groggy baby in her arms. She had no idea what to do. �Aoshi, wait! When do we leave? How long are we going to stay? I have to know what to pack for Ona and Haru-� �They�re not coming with us,� Aoshi said stopping just long enough to say over his shoulder, �This isn�t a casual visit to our friends. We are going to a funeral.� * * * * * * He watched her for a few moments unnoticed, but she soon felt his presence and couldn�t concentrate on her kempo training anymore. She kicked up higher than she intended and fell flat on her back. She lay there for a few seconds until the figure came to loom over her. She sighed in frusteration. �Oto-san, why do you always do that? You know I mess up when you just stand there and watch me. Sensei does that to me too.� Aoshi helped Ona up and instructed her to get into her stance. �You�re going to have to get over that. If this were a real situation you wouldn�t be worrying about how you looked or how well you performed. You�d be worrying about surviving the battle-or at least you should be. You look like you�re thinking your way through this routine and at this point you should be beyond that. These drills should be second nature to you by now. Give me a Kecho Geri.� Ona looked at her father, hesitating. He raised his eyebrows. �Right now.� Ona pivoted and aimed right for her father�s head. He dodged it easily and with a swipe of his hand he sent her rolling on the ground. Aoshi pretended to cringe. �Goodness, if your mother saw that�� he said letting his voice to trail off for emphasis. Ona was on her feet in an instant and back in her stance. She stared down at the ground. �I�m not good at this.� Aoshi moved slowly around her as if he were contemplating something against her. Ona continued to stare at the ground. Suddenly he lunged at her from behind and came within inches of closing his arms around her, but then the world flipped over and he found himself flat on his side before her. She released him and held her hand out to help him up. Aoshi was impressed. �That was excellent. Where did you learn that move?� Ona looked sheepishly at him. �The last time we went to Tokyo, Kaoru-san showed me a few moves. I practiced them over the years but I haven�t had much use for them in kempo so I forgot about them.� �You didn�t forget anything. That�s what I�m talking about when I say that this has to be second nature to you. That was very good, Ona. I think that�s enough for today. There�s been a change of plans. Your mother and I have to go to Tokyo for a few days and I�m going to need you to keep an eye on things while we�re gone. Harushi shouldn�t give you much problems and Okina is here to help too where he can.� Ona nodded. �Is there anything wrong?� Aoshi decided it was best to keep her in the dark for now. �I�ll explain everything when we get back. We have to leave right away and we�ll be back very soon so don�t get too comfortable with our being gone.� Aoshi hugged her briefly and then turned to head into the house. Before he stepped inside he called to Ona over his shoulder,� Ona, remember. I can tell if there�s anyone other than you, Harushi, or Okina in this house so be a good girl.� * * * * * * How could this have happened? He was supposed to be the stronger one. I fought him twice and both times he proved that he was the strongest. How could something like this happen to him? Aoshi couldn�t accept what was written in the letter. Misao had picked it up, read it and immediately burst into tears. She was calm now but Aoshi knew that the news had affected her deeply. He put his arm around her and held her close. The train had left Kyoto that afternoon and they were expected to reach Tokyo in a few hours. He had the urge to turn back. When they reached their destination he knew that they would be closer to confirming that the letter had not been a hoax. He wanted to believe that it was a lie. An excuse to get their sorry selves out of Kyoto and on a train to visit their old friends, but in actuality that is exactly what the letter was. They were leaving Kyoto and they were going to see their old friends, but it wasn�t under the circumstances that they had hoped for. He certainly never expected to outlive the strongest person he had ever known, and Misao never expected to lose her best friend so early. �You�re supposed to be old when your friends die on you! I�m thirty-one years old and I�ve lost two people at once. Tell me where any of that makes sense!,� she had screeched and then fell into another fit of tears. The scenery held no interest to either ninja and they spent their somber time sitting close together. Aoshi put his arm around Misao, and stole a glance at her face. She had dried tear marks on her cheeks, and her eyes were glassy with the threat of more tears to come. She shifted in her seat and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I wish Jiya could have come. The news made him so sad. I�m sure he would have wanted to see them for one last time.� �Okina can�t handle these long trips anymore. He would have collapsed long before we reached the train station. His knees can�t take the pressure anymore. I don�t want us to stay away that long. His condition worries me.� �Jiya�s old so it�s expected. He knows that and he doesn�t mind it so much. I still think we should have brought him.� Aoshi sighed and decided not to discuss it any further. He knew Misao was looking for an excuse to get her mind on something else, but he figured an argument wasn�t the ideal distraction for her. His arm tightened around her. �Himura is so stupid.� Aoshi�s breath caught and he looked cautiously at his wife. A single tear trailed down her cheek. �Misao�� �And Kaoru-san is just as dumb. I wouldn�t have neglected my child just to wait for my husband to come home. Himura went to war! What did she think, that he was only going to be gone for a few days?� �Misao.� �That�s why we never heard from them anymore. Himura went away and she stayed home and waited for him. He went off to wander again- and he left Kaoru, and Kenji behind. He�s so goddamned stupid.� Aoshi saw more tears fall from her eyes. �Misao, I think the Battousai had his reasons for going off again. Perhaps he still felt that the world was not a safe place for his family. You know how he was. He felt the welfare of the country was his responsibility. Maybe he felt he hadn�t fully repented for his past as the Hitokiri and he needed to prove that he was worthy of a peaceful life with a wife and child. Maybe he felt he wasn�t good enough for them.� Misao sat up and shrugged his arm off of her. �What did Himura think he had to do? Die for the country! Because that�s exactly what he did but guess what, he took his wife with him! You never felt the need to go off and fight anymore. You stayed.� He studied her closely. �That�s because I vowed never to pick up my swords again. I faced the Battousai twice and was beaten by him. Remember the promise he had made to you? I wasn�t in my right mind and blaming everyone else for the death of our friends when it was my fault that they died. He had promised you that he would bring me back to you, and he kept his promise. The Battousai is someone who I admire greatly. He made me see my mistakes and he made me see that there was more to life than being known as the strongest. So I made my vow and I thank the Battousai for that.� Her tears had dried and she sat there thoughtfully, looking at him. She leaned against him once again. �He�s still a jerk.� Aoshi nodded in agreement. �I would say he was very misguided. I wish I had his wisdom. I could have given him the kind of advice he gave me, then maybe things wouldn�t have turned out as they did.� �What do you mean? If Himura was so smart then why didn�t he just follow his own advice?� �Because sometimes you need to hear it from someone else. The Battousai knew how to help others but had no idea how to help himself. Sometimes other people can see the things that we don�t see, the potential for good things to come about and the paths we could follow to achieve them. It was easy for him to be optimistic about someone else�s situation because he could see it more clearly than his own. The sad thing is that he had no one to look at his situation. Since he was the strongest we all depended on him yet we never thought that he might need some guidance of his own.� Misao moved to rest her cheek against his chest. She felt his heartbeat and it lulled her senses. Her eyelids grew heavy. �Kaoru-san loved him so much. He didn�t need someone to tell him that.� �No. He knew she loved him more than her own life. She didn�t want him to die alone.� After some moments without a response Aoshi leaned over to check on Misao and found that she was asleep. He turned his attention to the window and the passing countryside. It would be a while before he came to Tokyo. Perhaps he might never set foot in the city again. What was there now? An empty dojo, and an orphan who would most likely make a trip back to Kyoto to live with his father�s master. As the trees passed by Aoshi made a promise to himself. He promised to tell the child, Kenji that he had family in Kyoto besides Hiko Seijuro. The Aoiya would be open to him Aoshi would make sure of that, and if the boy needed someone to look at his situation then he would step in and tell him all he needed to know. He had some wisdom of his own to share now. He owed it to his friends. He looked outside the window again and saw that the sun had begun to set. Then he leaned his head against his wife�s and went to sleep. Fanfiction Archive Main Page |