*Disclaimer: Kenshin and characters not mine... yadda yadda yadda...
belong to many people who are not me... blah blah blah....please don't
sue*
Untitled 1
by Coochan (peacecraft@aol.com)
As it always does on warm summer evenings, when the air is thick and
warm, and the earth seems to be holding its breath, a rainstorm came,
unannounced. It fell softly at first, but rapidly grew in intensity
until it was pummeling the earth, and the very distant rumble of thunder
could be heard. From his study window within the Aoiya, Shinomori Aoshi,
youthful okashira of the oniwabanshuu, observed the rain silently. With
a sigh of mingled resignation and amusement, he turned away from the
window and walked out of the study, towards the sheltered terrace around
the central courtyard. Stepping out on to the wooden patio, he thought
to himself, "Any minute now..."
* * * * * *
It is understood among those who are members of the oniwabanshuu that
the okashira is the highest ranking and most highly respected fighter of
all. As such, strict obedience and politeness are required when in the
presence of the okashira. Although five year old Makimachi Misao held
herself as the youngest oniwabanshuu (and was fiercely proud of her
position), she was never one to adhere to rules. With her white tabi
pounding against the polished wood floorboards of the interior of the
Okina, Misao sprinted at top speed along the covered terrace toward her
target, long blue-black braid trailing behind her. With the same joy,
energy, and complete abandon for oniwabanshuu etiquette she had always
had, Misao happily threw herself at her beloved okashira.
"Aoshi-samaaaaaa!"
Turning at precisely the right moment to catch the purple-clad ball of
energy thrusting herself so zealously at him, Aoshi allowed the barest
ghost of a smile to cross his face as he watched Misao attempt to wrap
her short, thin little arms around his much larger frame in her own
miniaturized version of a bear hug.
"Aoshi-sama," she said breathlessly, "it's raining! I was outside
practicing with Hannya when it started and I wanted to stay and play in
it and Hannya said no I have to come inside and then I remembered that
you were in your study and I was afraid you were going to miss it so I
came to tell you," here she paused to gasp for breath, "it's raining!"
A less kind man might have pointed out that his own powers of
observation would have been sufficient enough to inform him that it was
raining, but Aoshi merely smiled faintly and said, "Aa, raining rather
hard, too. Hannya was right to make you go in."
Stepping away from Aoshi's side, Misao walked to the edge of the roofed
patio and stretched her small hand out of the shade of the roof to catch
several raindrops. From her body language and enraptured expression
Aoshi could tell she yearned to go out and play in the rapidly forming
puddles.
"You would catch a cold," he stated matter-of-factly as he could picture
the train of thought going through Misao's head. Guiltily, Misao turned
her head towards him for a moment, trapped in the embarrassing moment of
having been caught before having even disobeyed. Sighing resignedly,
Misao turned back to merely watch the spectacle before her, longing to
play in the drops of silvery-clear joy.
Abruptly, a burst of bright white light bloomed and glowed along the
bottom edge of the gray clouds up above. Perplexed, Misao turned curious
eyes on Aoshi, a demand for an explanation hovering on her lips, which
died instantly as a low, loud rumble of thunder rolled past.
With a squeak of surprise and fear Misao hurriedly retreated from the
edge of the patio to the comfort of Aoshi's side, relieved by the feel
of Aoshi's arm draped protectively over her shoulders.
"N...nani kore?"
"It's lightning. It happens often when it rains. Haven't you seen it
before?" Misao shook her head vehemently, surely she would remember
seeing something like this. Still, Aoshi-sama had never lied to her
before, and he had certainly never been WRONG before, and knowing this,
Misao began to doubt her memory.
"Does it happen every time it rains?"
"No, only sometimes, like now, when it's raining hard."
"Oh." Feeling more assured that she had, indeed, never experienced this
before, Misao watched another flash of lightning, and held her breath
until she heard the following low rumble of thunder.
Turning her head slowly to see Aoshi's face, Misao softly asked, "What
does it mean?"
"Nothing terrible. It just means that now you really shouldn't go out to
play in the rain."
Although Aoshi looked perfectly serious, Misao did not miss the amused
glint in his eyes, nor the intended message in his words. Misao awarded
Aoshi with a scowl, and purposefully stomped to the edge of the roof's
cover. She leaped out into the rain and turned to give Aoshi a
triumphant grin that all but screamed "Ha! I'm out in the rain and I'm
not hurt!"
It was not until the next flash of lightning lit up the sky
(suspiciously close to her proximity, Misao felt), that that she gave a
little shriek of surprise and went dashing into the cover of the terrace
and Aoshi's suspiciously already outstretched arms. He could feel her
trembling against him, whether from cold or fear or both, he didn't
know. She had been out in the rain all of a few seconds, yet already she
was soaked. Picking up Misao and holding her in the air, Aoshi situated
himself in a sitting position, then settled Misao down in his lap and
wrapped his arms around her little form to keep her warm.
Almost reluctantly, guiltily, Misao mumbled, "Gomen nasai, Aoshi-sama."
"Sorry for what?" Aoshi expected perhaps a tale of a broken vase that
Misao had been unable to tell anyone about, or maybe lost throwing
knives, perhaps, and was slightly unprepared and amused by what she said
next.
"I disobeyed you when you said I should not go out in the rain, and I
didn't believe you when you said it would be dangerous to go out in the
rain with the lightning and the cold. As an oniwabanshuu, I should have
obeyed you. Gomen."
Aoshi shifted slightly so that he could read Misao's expression, which
was almost on the verge of tears.
"As an oniwabanshuu, you should obey the okashira. But you should also
respect and believe in him. If you do as I say without thinking that
what I say is true, there is no trust between us. It is okay to test
what I say, so that if it is correct you can believe what you are doing.
You should never take up a cause, large or small, for me or for anyone,
unless you believe that what you are doing is right. Do you understand
what I mean?"
Misao hesitated a moment, ingesting all that Aoshi had told her, then
said, "I think so. It means it's ok that I disobeyed you, and if I do it
again it's ok, just so's I understand when you are right and then I
probably shouldn't do it again. Right?"
"More or less, yes," he said, smiling as he watched relief flood over
Misao's features and she cuddled in close to him. Sighing, he leaned
back against the side of the house for support, and watched the slowly
ebbing rain. The thunder had ended already, and the rain wasn't far
behind. As the rain slowed and stopped, Aoshi realized that Misao's
breathing had evened out, she had fallen asleep. With slight reluctance,
as if uncertain as to whether or not what he was about to do was a good
idea (she looked so peaceful), Aoshi leaned his face over next to
Misao's ear.
"Misao. Misao-chan." Slowly, Misao's eyes trembled open, and she blinked
blearily for several seconds.
"Misao-chan, the rain has stopped. Look."
Misao rubbed at her eyes, watching as the blurry mishmash of colors
before her slowly snapped themselves back into focus as she reached full
awareness.
Bright, beautiful evening sunlight filled the courtyard, in reds and
oranges that were reflected in the many puddles that had now formed.
Bright, clear beads of water clung to the tips of the leaves, trembling
with their own weight. The sighs and sounds of the earth soaking up
water could just barely be heard on the edge of her hearing. With an
eager squeak, Misao briefly jerked forward to go dashing out to the
puddles that were just waiting to be played in. Then she stopped, and
turned slowly to look at Aoshi. Dragging her face up so that she was eye
level with him, Misao seemed to search his face for a moment. Her
bright, wide blue eyes met with his icy ones.
"Aoshi-sama, may I pleeeeeaaaaasssse go out and play in the puddles?"
she was practically bouncing up and down in his lap with impatience.
Aoshi paused, stretching out the moments to watch the mounting tension
in Misao's body as she desperately sought an answer.
Then, "Yes, you may."
He had barely said this before Misao had flung herself out of his lap
and joyously sprinted out to the puddles. Aoshi watched, fascinated, as
Misao danced in the puddles, her head flung back, her mouth open with
laughter, caught in a moment of breathless joy.
* * * * *
Later that night, as Aoshi walked along the terrace, he could hear the
sounds of a woman and a child shouting at each other from the direction
of the bath. Omasu's voice, filled with scolding, came first.
"Honestly, Misao-chan, playing in the puddles?! Not only are you all
muddy, but your going to catch your death of cold!!"
Misao's voice, filled with indignation, fired back, filled with
confidence and not an ounce of apology, "Demo, Aoshi-sama said I could
play in the puddles! He said it was ok! Stop SCRUBBING so hard!!"
Aoshi gave the smallest of chuckles as he turned down the hallway to his
study.
"Oyasumi nasai, Misao."
(
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