Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Water on a Glass House ❯ Part Four ( Chapter 4 )

Written by: ChiisaiLammy (ChiisaiLammyhotmail.com)

April 2004

Disclaimer: Because I have neither a legion of powerful lawyers, nor a cool artists' hat like Watsuki-san, I will state now that this is all in good fun. Rurouni Kenshin and it's affliates do NOT, I repeat NOT belong to me...my vast empire consists of the half-drunken bottle of diet coke, some leftover Chinese takeout and a gigantic pile of dog-eared poetry books. And really, you don't have to sue me to help yourselves to those.

A/N: Another short chapter. Quasi Aoshi-Megumi moment warning. Sano-Megs and Aoshi-Misaos you are forewarned. ;)

Hyottoko nearly pulled the door from its hinges as they barreled into her room. Megumi jumped, startled, out of her bed. Her scream dissolved in her throat as she watched the panic-stricken look on Shiki-jou's blood streaked face.

She pulled her sleeping yutaka closer around her throat as she hurried towards the men.

"What happened?" She asked, her brows knotted in worry.

"Okashira is wounded." The giant Shiki-jou said as he tried to swallow his impending tears.

Hyottoko cleared Megumi's work table with one sweep of his gigantic arm. Shiki-jou hurried over and deposited the unconscious Aoshi on top.

"He's so cold." Shiki-jou whispered, wringing his blood-stained hands with worry. "He shouldn't be so cold."

Megumi took over, barking orders at the men for all of the things she would need. Boiled water, her instruments, and fresh bandages.

As the Oniwabanshuu members darted about collecting the requested materials, Megumi donned her medical smock and tied her hair. As she did this, she caught Kanryuu's absent-minded gaze.

His eyes rested on Aoshi's prone figure, his face was at once mournful and longing. Slowly, he walked up to the unconscious okashira and reached his shaking fingers towards Aoshi's face.

"What-" She began to ask him.

Kanryuu jumped back immediately and let out a startled gasp. He pulled his hands closer to his body for a moment, completely petrified by her presence. He looked as if he had been caught doing something forbidden.

After a second, his scowl returned. "Fix him." He spat curtly to her as he exited the room.

On his way out, he ran into a bandage-bearing Hannya. Kanryuu turned to the masked omitsu and spat in a disgusted tone, "I want your men out there as soon as possible. I still want to secure those guns, got it?"

Hannya nodded.

Kanryuu opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it. As Hannya began to walking into the open doorway, Kanryuu seemed to find his voice. "I hired the Oniwabanshuu because of their unparalleled reputation in battle."

Hannya paused but did not turn around. So Kanryuu continued with a voice laced with venom. "How could you have failed tonight? You could have subdued them. You were supposed to be the best. I paid for the best. My life should never have been in danger."

Hannya's head bowed for a minute as he struggled to think of a suitable reply. "You left the warehouses alive. That itself is a testament to Oniwaban strength. Considering the information given to us, I think we excelled in controlling the situation. We do not read minds."

Kanryuu spat, "Just remember that I paid you to do a job. Remember that. You work for me. I paid you to keep me safe. Understand?"

Hannya bowed before to continuing into the room. Megumi, who had been watching the entire exchange with a curiosity, averted her eyes quickly.

Hannya appeared next to her and handed her the bandages. Their eyes met for a moment before Megumi broke her gaze.

He bowed deeply to show his reverence. His voice was gentle and respectful. "Please tell this one how he can be of service to help the Okashira."

She nodded and quickly assumed her authoritative tone. She asked Hannya to start boiling her medical instruments.

"Keep pressure on your okashira's wounds." She told Hyottoko before she started work on Aoshi.

She started cleaning Aoshi's wounds as Hannya the held the light steady for her.

"Takani-sensei, your father was a field medic in the Boshin wars, was he not?"

Megumi gasped sharply and her fingers stilled as she struggled to regain her composure. Swallowing her shock, she looked up and asked softly, "How did you know?"

"Your accent." Hannya nodded to the unconscious Aoshi. "Luck must be with us tonight, for we have a descendant from one of the greatest medical families in all of Japan with us."

Megumi laughed ruefully, she couldn't dull the edge of contempt as she turned her attention back to her work. "This isn't luck." She casted a mournful look at Aoshi, "It's circumstance. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that a woman like me repels luck."

He awoke to the faint scent of flowers. Basked in the pale blue light of the moon, the room took on a strange ethereal appearence. It took him a few minutes to notice the striking, enigmatic fox-woman's head lying near his shoulder. He watched her for a second, fascinated by the contrast between the white of the bed sheet and the ivory of her skin. She must have fallen asleep at some point in the night as she watched over him.

He inhaled sharply as he adjusted his position to look at her. Pain shot through his torso from the wound in his shoulder.

Watching her peaceful slumber and calmed by the soft sounds of her steady breathing, he allowed his mind to wander back to his days in Edo castle.

Nestled in the safety of the castle's keeps, Aoshi had been certain that within those walls, the world around him could collapse and the legacy of the Tokugawa could live on forever.

He had been so wrong.

She stirred in her sleep and Aoshi quickly looked away, his eyes turning instead to the softly glowing moon.

Okashira Makimachi was a great lover of poetry and Aoshi would remember that he would order young Aoshi to read from an age-thinned Tales of Ise scroll. Aoshi wasn't much into poetry, but the way of the warrior was to excel in both the pen and the sword that much he understood at least. Makimachi used to tell him that the most fundamental principle in the art of war was to let neither one's weapons nor wits dull. Aoshi believed it too.

He blinked. As he watched her, a thought flashed across his mind like the silent walk of a ghost. She could have walked straight out of a verse. Her classic face seemed to invoke all of the words from his childhood that he thought he had long forgotten. He was fascinated, despite himself. He watched as the luminous skin of her face emerge like the moon from the mid-night black of her hair whenever she moved.

He closed his eyes, trying to push the image from his mind. His voice, floated through the years to him from the distant past and entered his mind uninvited.

With all my heart
I willed it to be otherwise,
and yet on this,
the final day of springtime,
the shades of evening fall

Kami-sama help him. He must be delirious from the pain. He couldn't make sense of anything in his mind anymore. He cast one last glace in her direction. On a night like this, he could almost forget who he was.

1. The poem is lifted from The Tales of Ise , a collection of poems and anecdotal stories from the early Heian period. Chapter 91.

2. Next chapter of Glass House is penned and awaiting editing, its substantially lengthier than this. Will be posted as soon as I finish the chapter that follows it.

3. ...and uh...please don't be afriad to tell me that I stink at romance. So if you didn't dig the quasi-romantic waxing on Aoshi's part, let me know what didn't work, ok? Now if you DID like it---well, that's another story. :) Let me know too, so I'll keep heaping on the sugah where-ever I can while adhering to the continuity, of course.

Responses See? all the cool kids are doing it!

PackleaderT , Rissi-Sama thank you! hides from rissi's evil because of this chapter Indigo That's ok. Its a good sign when an Aoshi/Misao fan is enjoying this. I'm glad you liked it. Eriesalia - I agree w/ the shout-outs, but look at the frequency of my updates! sigh I'd feel bad if respond though. Mistress of Ice1 Welcome! I stand by all of the stories on my faves list. If you're looking for great Aosh/Meg stuff, check out "The Shrine of Ice and Fire" Cherie Dee Hannya IS cool. I love Hannya too. ;) Mirune Keishiko Yo, 'Desperado' rocked. heh.

(Thanks to Mirune Keishi for bringing this up in her review:)
Re: Samurai and the Takani's Watsuki (through Gensai) said that the Takani clan disliked the rigid class stucture of the Tokugawa. Their class, however,was never mentioned. My reasoning/justification/butt-coverage is this: 1)the "warrior" class of the Tokugawa was diverse and often had little to do with actually being a warrior. In the relative peace, swords became more of a symbol of rank. The way of the warrior at this time became more of a philosophy than a description of lifestyle. 2)Also, given the choice of classes that I had: artisans, farmers/peasants and merchants, Samurai seemed like the most logical class for the Takanis, given their affluence (not that Samurai weren't poor), influence and educational level. I would also think that because they were patronized by the Shogan Yoshinobu, they would be the creme de la creme of the elite Tokugawa society. Coming from a commoner's class would just not make sense. (long winded explanation, I know but it's all speculative of course and based on my knowledge of Japan)

Thanks for reading!