Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Dawning Emotions ❯ Mirror Mirror on the Wall ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember is trees…" Soujirou was frowning with thought. He was looking at the calm figure of Chieko.

"That's an easy question to answer. My elder cousin found you in the woods not too far away from here. What he was doing out there at that time, I don't know," she shook her head despairingly, lips pursed in a thin line. She obviously disapproved of that.

"You have a cousin?" Soujirou asked, curious.

"Yes I do. Several in fact. They can be so annoying sometimes. Sometimes! All of the time." She let this out in an angry burst. "I live here with my Aunt and Uncle since my Father died. Say, do you have any brothers or sisters? I don't. I wish I had a sister. I think brothers would be like my cousins so I don't want one. I think a sister would be much better than having a brother, or a cousin," she smiled wistfully here, and for some moment stared off in the distance longingly.

Soujirou stared at her; amazed at all the emotions but gave a start when she gave him a pointed look "Y-yes, I did. But they died when I was a child…" he trailed off.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she then leaned forward and peered into his face and scanned his body, "How old are you anyway? You don't seem that old. Quite young really. Near my age. Not that old at all," she said rather abruptly, surprising him. Surprise?

"I'm seventeen years old. Do I really look that young?" Soujirou had never really noticed his appearance.

"You mean you don't see how young you look?" she was slightly shocked, he really did look quite young. Soujirou shook his head and in an unsuccessful attempt to look at himself, he made himself look quite stupid.

"Well, I suppose you may not have anything to look at yourself or have any comparisons. Is that so?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Yes… I have spent most of my life with adults. I never really thought of looking at myself that much," Soujirou explained, "How old are you?" he smiled slightly as he asked this question.

"Well it's not proper to ask a lady's age," she admonished and Soujirou looked embarrassed. "But I will tell you. I'm fifteen, or I will be in just a couple of days. Isn't that exciting?" she smiled brightly.

"Um… Yes," Soujirou didn't have much experience with birthdays, so he supposed it could be exciting if she said so.

There was silence for a while and then she stood up suddenly, a happy expression on her face, she exclaimed, "I've got it! My mother's mother, my grandmother had a mirror that she left too not to long ago as a gift. I forgot completely about it. I'll go get and you can look at yourself. Is that great? She was grinning down on him.

"Um… Yes," it must be great if she was happy about it. Would she get sad over something happy? Soujirou thought not.

She left the room in quite a rush, the door slamming behind her and her shadow figure waning as she did so. He could hear her hurried footsteps growing more and more distant with every second.

Soujirou felt excited. Or at least that was the feeling that he wanted to feel. He really wasn't that good at figuring out emotions, his or other people's. Everything thing confused him it seemed.

There was a sound of skipping footsteps. It wasn't a sound he could easily recognize but he did. Yumi had done it once. And never again. He had been forbidden to talk about it. Yumi could be strange sometimes.

The door opened revealing a smiling Chieko. In her hand was a small silvery object. She held it up and flashed in his eyes. He blinked at the sudden brightness.

Chieko skipped over then knelt next to the futon he was laying upon and eagerly showed him her mirror. She actually shoved it in face and once again, this time from the suddenness.

"Sorry," she muttered and pulled the mirror back a little before handing him the mirror in a gentle manner. He accepted it and looked at himself in the mirror. It came as a shock even through he didn't show.

He looked different from what he expected. But what did he expect? Soujirou really didn't know. After one last look memorizing his face, every last place and cheek. Eyes and hair. Everything stuck inside his mind; he handed the mirror back to Chieko.

Chieko. It was funny how he was calling her by her first name now. But only in his head. Soujirou wasn't that rude and impolite. Yumi had taught him some manners. Most he couldn't use. He was an assassin. There was no time for manners. Not a time or place for them. It would be rather dangerous if he was always well mannered. But… Now he could try to be better mannered. It would be for the best.

"Anything else you want to know?" Chieko asked, breaking Soujirou from his thoughts.

"I don't know," he didn't know. There was something he should ask he knew that. "Where am I?" that was it.

"You are at my family's residence, just outside of Kyoto. So you live near here? I haven't seen you around these parts. Are you from Kyoto? Your accent is rather strange," so he was near Kyoto.

"I live… near Kyoto. Outside of Kyoto too. But not near here, I do think. So I am not from Kyoto," he really didn't want to explain that just until a few days ago he was the right hand man for a man bent on taking over Japan. It probably wouldn't be the right thing to say. Even Soujirou knew that. He would cause a scene. And from what he had learnt from Yumi, causing a scene was a bad thing to do.

"Oh. Well. That's good, I guess," she paused and Soujirou wondered if there had been something wrong with his answer, "Doctor Endo shall be visiting later today. I have to leave you for some time. I have to do some chores. But if you need me, just call. Is that all right with you?" she asked him.

"That's fine," he could think until then, he had some important thinking to do.

"Are you hungry at all?" she questioned at the door as if just remembering something.

"No. I don't feel hungry at all. The tea must have filled me up." It must have for strangely he didn't feel hungry at all.

"Goodbye then," the door was slid shut and made a gentle tapping sound as it connected with the wood.

Soujirou began thinking. It seemed he would be doing a lot of that soon.

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AN: Thanks to all the people have reviewed so far.

The next update won't be to June. I've joined my school debating team, I'm entering some poetry contests and exams are coming up. So I'm going to be busy. After my exams chapters will come out faster.