Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Water on a Glass House ❯ Part Two ( Chapter 2 )
It begins when Aoshi meets with Kanryuu and finds out that his deal with the devil may be much more than he had bargined for.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.31.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 288 | Status: Completed
Written by: ChiisaiLammy (ChiisaiLammyhotmail.com)
April, 2004
Disclaimer: RK = watsuki-sama's property. fic = product of ChiisaiLammy's procrastination. lawsuit = no good.
A/N: The much anticipated part two of Glass House. It's light on the CL-patented introspection. I'm supposed to be writing my research paper. So I'd best get some reviews. Aww. Nah. I would never hold a fic in hostage for reviews. But um, it's nice to hear from you and see what you think! Regardless, please enjoy.
Part Two
Kanryuu ran his fingers across the mahogany red desk with a gloved finger. A small smile graced his long, pointed face. It was a smile that reminded Aoshi of some grotesque funhouse image of a gleeful child.
"The great Okashira of the Edo Oniwabanshu."
Aoshi sat motionless as studied Kanryuu's face. Without moving his eyes, Aoshi's mind started cataloging all of the details in the man's office.
A small letter opener rested on his desk. A leather bound ledger was stacked neatly underneath a pile of well worn, ink-stained parchment. A bound ream of paper labeled with western writing lay underneath the lamp. A sheet of unused white paper laid ready for use in front of Kanryuu, speckled with ink from the fountain pen that lay next to it.
Aoshi continued this catalogue as he listened to Kanryuu's speech.
"I can pay handsomely. We both know that I am a more than generous man."
"What is it exactly that you want from the Oniwaban?" Aoshi finally said.
"I have a vision." Kanryuu said. He paused and pulled out a black lacquered box from his desk. Leaning over, he indicated to the neatly arranged row of cigars inside. "From America." He said proudly as he offered Aoshi one.
With a slight shake of his head, Aoshi declined.
Kanryuu pulled out a sterling silver cigar cutter and removed the end before he lit his cigar. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixated on Aoshi.
"You look like you're a man of vision too, Okashira. Rather, you look like you're a young man in search of a vision."
"What do you want from the Oniwaban?" Aoshi repeated calmly, his steely blue eyes flicked over to the office as his continued his internal catalogue.
Kanryuu chuckled, "Always the spy, always concerned with the details."
If Aoshi had been startled with this observation, he did not show it. He sat calmly and tried to discern what Kanryuu had meant by what he said. Did he know about Aoshi's internal catalogue? He worried that Kanryuu was sharper and more perceptive than he had appeared. If he was, Aoshi would have to be more careful. The most dangerous men are the ones who look like fools and acted like sages.
"I am building an empire. And I want you, Okashira, to help me build it."
He wandered the grand, expansive corridors with its the high ceilings and labyrinthine construction. The architecture only added to the sense of grandeur and confusion. Aoshi thought it funny that western houses, with its endlessly confusing veins of corridors and overuse of glass windows, was the pinnacle of modernity. This dimly lit spiraling corridor, an instrument of enclosure and of entrapment, was the way forward towards civilization. He would laugh at the irony, if the architecture of this place did not remind him so much of his beloved Edo castle's keeps. It was designed to confuse the enemy and entrap him until the castle guards arrived to dispose of him.
Under Aoshi's reign, no one escaped alive unless he allowed it.
He and his men arrived at Kanryuu's mansion on the promise of battles. To his restless self, it seems like time was in suspension, as if he had somehow slipped from his old life and trapped in purgatory. He was waiting, as he had been for nearly ten years, for one final battle. It seemed that he wandered these corridors, trapped and waiting for a way out.
Of course, he chose to fight his way out of this stagnant life. It was just a matter of time.
Meanwhile, within these expansive plaster walls, time stood painstakingly and unforgivingly still.
He entered Kanryuu's office without ceremony.
"Ah. Okashira. Welcome." Kanryuu greeted as he nursed a glass of whiskey in his hands. "Have a seat."
Aoshi nearly gasped when he saw a figure slumped against the chair. He noticed that a small purplish bruise had already started to form on her left cheek. He dismissed it. Instead, his eyes only widened a bit before he flashed Kanryuu a pointed look.
Following Aoshi's gaze, Kanryuu smirked. He indicated towards the barely conscious woman sitting in the plush leather chair. As he did, whiskey splashed out of the crystal tumbler in his hand. "Might I introduce the treasure of my empire, Takani Megumi."
Aoshi said nothing, his eyes were fixated on her neck, fascinated by the thin trickle of sweat that seemed to glitter like frost against the creamy white of her skin. He quickly returned his gaze to Kanryuu and watched as the other man's eyes travel up the woman's prone form.
"Excellent specimen of a female, isn't she? And so very precious." He said as he took a sip.
Aoshi sat silently as Kanryuu waited eagerly for the younger man to ask him to elaborate.
Finding no conversational cue, Kanryuu continued, sobered. "When I told you that you and your men will be protecting my business affairs, I mentioned the safeguard of a very important cargo."
Aoshi nodded, remembering.
Kanryuu walked over to the woman in the chair, his gloved hand lingered a few centimeters over her face.
"This, Okashira, is my very important cargo." He said conspiratorially.
Aoshi raised his eyes to Kanryuu and remained silent. He almost laughed at the fool who rested his empire on some petty whore. Or maybe she was a geisha, a kept woman. He knew plenty of men who were undone by the charms of women. He knew this man was a fool.
Her eyes fluttered open slowly.
"Megumi." Kanryuu chuckled in a sing-song, trailing his fingers along her jaw line.
She jerked her body back as far into the chair as possible. Snarling, she spat, "Get your hands off of me."
"My poppy." He said softly, like a lover wooing his object of affection. "Is that the attitude you should be taking to your master?"
Megumi raised her eyes defiantly at him, "You had to have your muscled goon beat me in order to make your disgusting drugs, you coward! I'll tell you one last time, you are not my master. I am not your whore. Touch me again and I will kill you."
Incensed, Kanryuu grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up, "How dare you try to embarass me! I don't think you're in the position to make any threats, Megumi. Now we have company, so unless you'd like another lesson on how to properly treat a man, I suggest you sit down and behave."
He tossed her down into the chair and stalked over to his desk, pouring himself a fresh draught of whiskey.
Her eyes darted over at man who sat in the other chair and watched the exchange silently as if she had only registered his presence at that moment.
"My men have returned from the docks. Your army has secured the cargo from the Dutch ships last night. They're in your store rooms currently." Aoshi stated matter-of-factly. He was eager to go. This was clearly none of his business. Without another word, he stood to leave. "If that is all…"
Kanryuu's lips twisted into a frown, "I haven't dismissed you."
Aoshi's eyes flashed for an instant before his stoic expression returned. To calm his mind, he began to take a mental inventory of the items in the office. Ledger. Bound papers. Parchment. Lamp. Fountain pen.
Aoshi blinked, once, in confusion. Where was the letter opener? His concentration was broken when Kanryuu began to speak.
Kanryuu sidled up to Megumi, "She poisoned the fifth guard posted at her door this week. And she almost escaped too. Had to have one of my men deal out the punishment. Unfortunate, really."
Megumi winced as Kanryuu touched the bruise on her left cheek, "I want you to post your men in front of her door. I hope, Okashira, that your men can outwit this cunning woman."
With that he stood back and said to Aoshi, "Take her to her chambers. Make sure she kills neither herself nor anyone else. Anything else is up to your discretion. Just make sure she does what she's supposed to do. And then give the ok for my army move the goods from my storehouses. I want the goods out and in the city by midnight."
With a small nod, Aoshi stood. He watched the woman with the distaste of an unwilling caretaker and waited with measured patience for her to stand. To Aoshi's great annoyance, she shakily followed him out of Kanryuu's office looking as if she had just walked from one level of hell and into another.
AN Short chapter...I'm trying for plot, people! Plot. Hmm. We'll see about them Dutch ships soon, eh? Maybe? Who knows. However, I will promise sex, drugs and violence! Er, maybe not, but at least two out of the three. ;)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed.