Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Honest Nothing ❯ Place of Peace ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Well, I don't own this, so don't presume to believe so. But I'll tell you, don't get on the lawyer's bad side, they hurt! Aiko and Takara belong to ione_girl.

A/N: I rewrote my rewrite for the beginning of this. It was so hard, you can't even begin to imagine the countless hours of sleep I lost because of this! And believe it or not, I'm STILL not happy with the outcome of it . . . OY! But anyway, here you have it, the next instillation of HN!

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Honest Nothing

Chapter Three:

Place of Peace

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"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

~ Robert Frost

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"I know this story Aiko, I lived it." Okita spoke, interrupting Aiko's story.

Sighing to herself, she answered, "But Soushi, you don't know all of it yet. You don't know the small pieces that led up to everything."

Noticing the name she called him, Okita studied her face, finding in her eyes a need to tell, a need to go on. "Then please, continue."

She smiled, and Okita mentally noted that it seemed to be a smile worn down by a life she lived. He wondered, briefly, what life she had lead since she had left him for her past.

As Aiko continued to look into the eyes of the man she had once loved so dearly, and still continued to love, she could only smile on the memories of their first meeting. Then she had thought of it to be such a serious matter, but looking back on it now . . . it was a memory she would hold to her heart with every last ounce of strength she had.

With a light chuckle playing with her words, Aiko proceeded, "I'm sure you remember our first meeting, it would be hard to forget it. I was so mad at that time. I didn't want to see people cower in fear of their lives. So I took matters into my own hands . . ."

* * *

"Okita, what do you make of that?"

Okita looked to where his companion was looking. The scene before him was quite rare, and his response was a quirked eyebrow and a smile that spread across his whole face. Okita couldn't help but think that the lady in the middle of the road made for quite a comical scene. A young girl, he guessed no older than seventeen, standing alone with her arms crossed.

"Perhaps the young lady is merely lost, and wants to ask for directions?"

The look Hijikata gave him was comparable only to when he actually asked for directions himself. A scary look indeed.

Within minuets the duo was standing infront of Aiko.

Okita watched as the young lady uncrossed her arms and planted them onto her hips. He watched as her mouth moved without sound. The way the light breeze played with her hair, the way that the two feathers seemed to be trying to escape from their confining stands. One word came to his mind, a simple word, but meaning so much; innocence. She looked to be so innocent, as if she was still untouched by the hatred of others.

Hijikata spoke first, his voice leaving no room for argument, "Move."

Okita inwardly sighed. If there was anything Hijikata lacked, it would be the ability to speak to others without insulting them.

"No."

The only effect her word had on Hijikata was a slightly narrowing of his eyes.

"Move."

"No."

"Move girl."

"As I said before, no."

Okita's smile grew wider. So someone was actually brave enough to stand up against Hijikata? The girl was either incredibly stubborn, or unimaginably stupid. Okita knew Hijikata was getting annoyed, and all he wanted to do about it was point a finger and laugh.

"You should be the ones who leave. You're the ones who strike fear into the good hearts of the towns people. You're nothing but the vile trash that lurks at night."

Okita wanted to point out that, no, they in fact weren't the "vile trash that lurks at night," as she had so eloquently put it. But the one she was speaking of was not just one, but a clan, a choshou clan.

Aiko let her emotions fly from her, leaving her as an empty shell. She wasn't scared, she wasn't frightened. Her heart was racing, true, but she had been in this situation a countless amount of times, she was prepared to do what she must. She knew it would be clumsy, but she dropped down into a fighting stance anyway. One she knew so well from her practices with her sister. She wasn't perfect, but neither was she a novice.

"Hn." Without reaching for his katana, Hijikata also moved into a stance. He had no intention to kill her; that would be going against his code. But he could teach her a lesson, one she would likely not forget.

Okita knew that this would be a one sided fight. The girl was wearing a kimono, thus hindering her movements to a great deal. He knew exactly what was going to happen if he allowed this to continue. The girl might be able to hold herself if she was skilled enough, but the ultimate outcome would be of her losing by the inability to move. He normally didn't make it a habit to interrupt Hijikata's fights, but this time, he felt compelled to do so.

Okita quickly placed his hand on Hijikata's shoulder, whispering a simple command of, "Wait."

Not taking his eyes off of the girl in front of him, Hijikata turned his head in Okita's direction. He knew his companion had a reason to stop this, he always had a reason for his actions. Okita took this distraction to his advantage, as he moved to stand infront of Hijikata. Him being probably the only person alive who would turn their back on Hijikata.

Okita smiled at her and raised his hands in a gesture he hoped would lessen the tension that was pulling at his friend and her.

"Please, calm down. We," Here he pointedly looked over his shoulder at the now impassive Hijikata, "don't want to fight you."

Aiko straightened herself back up, but didn't fully drop her guard. The man before her seemed incapable oh hurting a fly, but nonetheless, he still carried a katana. One and one makes two, two and one makes three. She still didn't waver in her thoughts however. The town's people had to have a reason to fear these people. She would do whatever was possible to try and free them from it.

Well, it was reasonable to say that before this Okita really was surly bored, but now he just might have something to do. He looked back over to Hijikata, knowing the man would understand he had to do this. He had to get answers, he had to find out, he had to . . . Suddenly the means seemed to overly justify the ends.

Okita smiled back over towards Aiko, as he held out his hand to her.

"It's such a wonderful day today, would you care to take a walk with me?"

Aiko was taken aback by his question. Last she knew they were in the middle of trying to get her out of the road. It was a ploy then, the taller of the two was obviously using the shorter one to get her to move. She held fast, not quite willing to be alone with this man. But then, she reasoned she could at least get some information as to what was going on. With that thought in mind, she accepted his invitation for a walk.

Eyeing him as she tentatively placed her hand in his, she said, "Alright."

Hijikata kept a watchful eye on his companion as he led the girl away. Then, sliding back on his blank mask, he calmly started back down the road.

~ * ~

Loud silence surround them as they walked along a dusty road, devoid of life. The place seemed dead, not a soul moved. Aiko frowned at this. Just where was the small man taking her? She wasn't afraid that danger would occur, she knew how to protect herself regardless. And for some unexplainable reason, she felt as though she could trust this man, this man she knew nothing about. Neither his name nor his reasoning. But she felt oddly comfortable, walking along in this silence. It gave her time to think about her actions today. Maybe she had been too hasty to cast judgement on the two, but she doubted it so.

She paced herself behind him, two spaces back, as a lady should. She was no lady herself, grew up as quite the opposite, but she figured that hiding her true nature seemed to be most prudent. Her actions earlier might have coasted her that though.

The man turned around toward her and smiled.

"This way."

She didn't speak, just continued on after him. She wanted to talk, she wanted to ask questions, she wanted to know what was going on. Where was he leading her? Her comfort was slowly growing thin by each step. She lacked patience, something her little sister seemed to be quite abundant in. Making a mental note to work on that aspect, she continued on in silence. Waiting, waiting for answers.

She had been so busy trying to stay patient that the scenery had gone unnoticed to her. But as soon as the man had sat down did all start to dawn on her. No longer were they in the dead section of Kyoto, but now were in a small park like area. The trees spotted the little square of land, and grass grew plentiful. Aiko saw what looked to be a small stream that cut across the back most portion of the land.

It was beautiful, the place seemed to be so full of life. It reminded her of home, of the woods the family lived in. She smiled a sad smile, she really did miss that place. It had been her only escape for so long that it had grown to be so much a part of her life. She longed to go back and run along the trees, free to take in the peace the woods would offer to her. But she would give it all up if she could stay away from the family, leave her past behind and grasp what she wanted so tightly. The woods and her sister, her only solace from fate . . .

And then she remembered just who had brought her here. Leaving her memories behind, and taking her gaze off the greenery, she looked back to the man now sitting on the grass. She asked, with slight confusion lacing her words, "Why did you lead me here?"

He just looked at her, his smile plastered on his face. And then to her astonishment, he laid down, almost successfully ignoring her question.

Fire blazed in her eyes, he had asked her to follow him, and she had. She had staid quiet through out the whole walk to this place. She had acted like a good little lady, and what did she get in return? Him ignoring her, that's what! She wanted to hit something . . .

"Please, come and watch the birds with me."

Now she wanted to scream words that weren't meant to pass a lady's lips. Placing her hands on her hips she glared.

"Why. Did. You. Lead. Me. Here?" It was a simple question, she thought. A question she believed she deserved an answer to. She wasn't used to being ignored. Always in her past had people answered her questions. Well, if they were answerable that is, she mentally corrected. Her status in the family didn't practically demand answers, but she normally got them when she asked.

Almost as an after thought, she continued, "There aren't any birds around her anyway."

The little man looked up at her, seemingly to finally notice her existence. "How can you say there are no birds when you have not yet looked?"

Aiko didn't know what to say, she was speechless. He had a good point, she really hadn't looked around for birds. She had just known they weren't around. Hadn't heard the distinct sound of them.

She smiled at him, feeling for the first time in a long time the need to laugh. She raised her hands to her head as she let out a slow sigh. All the while with the smile at her lips and a gleam in her eyes.

Sitting down on the grass by her odd companion, Aiko looked once again at the greenery surrounding her. Allowing herself to fall back into her few good memories. Her eyes watched for nothing really, just merely watching. Half of her was expecting her father to jump out from behind the trees, the other half knew it to not be possible. But then again, one of them HAD been sent to look after her. The memory of that lady's face haunted her. It seemed so familier, yet not. It was as if a ghost of the past lived on in the face, particularly in the eyes, of the lady. She wanted to know more.

Okita watched as the girl's eyes took on a distant look. He was unable to look away, as if her eyes had captivated him with a source of overwhelming sadness. Okita was mildly happy that Hijikata wasn't with him right now, as he knew Saitou would be laughing on the inside at him. That, he believed, was Hijikata's scariest weapon he had. Okita shivered.

Smiling up at the girl, Okita broke the silence once again.

"My names Okita Soushi, and what would yours be?"

Aiko was drawn out of her thoughts when the silence was broken. Turning her head in the mans direction, she said her name, the only one she would give.

"Aiko."

Okita laughed. So she didn't want him to know her whole name, that was fine with him. At least he now had a name to go with her face.

"Well, Aiko-san, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Aiko nodded at him, knowing she had to respond.

"Okita-san, the pleasure is all mine."

Both faces turned up to the tree tops, surprise written on one, knowledge on the other.

Up in the trees the birds chirped merrily and sang their bird-y songs. Glad that the cold season had finally come to a close. Glad to be back in their age old homes to start their own family.

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Its not a cliffy at least, right? ::Ducks down to hide from the onslaught of tomatoes:: Eww . . .

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Next Chapter:

Emotions collide!

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Character Notes:

Aiko: Her reasons behind her thoughts aren't quite too clear yet to you guys, but all will come in all due time.

Aiko's Father: All we know about him at this point is that he's a cruel bastard who didn't give Aiko the kind of love she needed. I reserve the rights to say no more about him yet.

Takara: Well, yeah, as before, she's Aiko's only sister.

Hijikata: I love him, you just have to love him. His whole cynical bastard attitude. But yeah, Hijikata is still Hijikata, though I may have messed up on him. I'm trying people, really I am!

Okita: He is the hardest character I have ever had to write! Okita is Okita. He feels drawn to Aiko. It might have something to do about the aura she gives off. Who knows? I surely ain't going to ruin it for all you.

Strange lady that was mentioned in chapter: Bwahahahahahhaa, the lady from last chapter. Other than that, I'm not telling!

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To the reviewers:

Ione_girl: quit being anonymous! I know who you are! I know where you sleep! Bwahahaha! Have you ever read "Truth's Tears," by mysticinca? Aiko's not having flashbacks, what it is, is that she's telling Okita (though he lived through the whole escapade) the story of their lives. See I start out with her talking, then I go into the story part. So it's not a flashback, it's a telling of a story. Yeah, if you didn't understand that, ask mysicinca, she can tell you all about it. Yeah, I figured I would still Takara from you too. Tee hee! Glad to hear you know who the guy in blue was, must say I made it quite obvious. Lol. Lol, yeah, I think that the whole Okita part in last chap was indeed funny. And in this chap, I like the Saitou and Aiko part. So sorry if I got Okita wrong, like I told you, I need to compare notes with you so I can get Okita right. The strange lady's identity will come later. Much later. Ah haha, ah haha haha! Okay, this is a LONG thing, so I'm going to end it . . . now!

Lillithan aka mysticinca: You knocked off a point from grammar because of one stupid word!!! Oy! I be not perfect you know! LOL. Thanks, hope you find this one good too. Actually, you better, cause I lost sleep because of it! I thought that was a good place to end it! Tee hee! At least this chapter isn't such a cliffy. Um, no, I must say that though I love the nephew, he's too much of a Devil and I would have to set Sano and Naraku on him. I'm too nice for that one, plus I don't want to share! Tee hee! Okay, so your reviewer response is slightly shorter than ione_girls, but hey, she gave a longer review. LOL. So yeah, I still love you though master! Please for give this baka denshi!

::thinks about it real hard:: Well, at least I know I have two faithful reviewers! Woohoo, ::spreads pocky to them:: And theres plenty more where that came from if anyone else wants to review. Tee hee!