Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Water on a Glass House ❯ Part Five ( Chapter 5 )

Written by: ChiisaiLammy (chiisailammyhotmail.com)

April 2004

Disclaimer: No! For the last time, they're not mine! You'll never pin it on me!

Several weeks passed by since the warehouse incident. True to the characteristic of life in Kanryuu's mansion, everything stood at a frustrating standstill.

In Aoshi's absence, Hannya oversaw the affairs of the army, acting as his okashira's eyes and hands throughout the healing process. He could tell that Aoshi was eager to recover. As an active man, Hannya could understand his restlessness.

Hannya had to wonder about their purpose here though. Several months ago, when Aoshi had received a letter inviting him to hold audience with the drug lord, Hannya was tempted to voice his concerns. The Oniwanshuu were above this. The last thing they needed was to involve themselves in the underworld, the exact same people who they, just years ago, tried to eradicate from the city. Certainly, they were above being the muscles for a neurotic gangster. Hannya, however, is not a man to question Aoshi's judgment. With a bow, Hannya followed his superior into the mansion.

This is the life of the warrior in the modern era when swords were banned; hardened warriors would have to choose between laying down their arms and delving into the other side of man's law. Sleep amongst the murderers and thieves, Hannya had once thought. For the Oniwabanshuu, the choice was clear. They were warriors. And in an era where no distinction was made between engaging in the art of war and murder, they would simply have to be murderers. Hannya accepted that much.

Hannya closed his eyes with a soft sigh. He was leaning against the walls of Aoshi's room and tossing an apple between his hands as Megumi finished changing Aoshi's bandages.

With a final tie of the bandages, Megumi stood with a respectful nod towards the omitsu.

As Hannya watched, glad that his amusement at his okashira's discomfort was hidden by his mask. He occupied himself by twisting the stem of the apple as the young woman bowed before she exited the room, lead by an armed guard.

As soon as she left, Hannya spoke, "Takani-sensei does not require an armed guard, does she?"

"You assume that she can be trusted to return to her laboratory?" Aoshi said.

"Ah. I suppose I cannot assume anyone would be happy to produce opium at no profit to them."

Aoshi looked sharply at his subordinate, "This is the life she has chosen."

Hannya bowed his head, "And it is your turn to assume, Okashira. Do you think that choice had a hand in her affair?"

Aoshi closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "Hannya, do you have a report for me?"

Hannya nodded and began to brief the bed-ridden Okashira about the status of the city.

Kanryuu entered the room in a flourish, throwing his arms out in wide arches as the doors swung open. He had a wide, childish grin plastered over his face.

"Good morning, Okashira." He greeted with eagerness.

Aoshi's cold eyes left Hannya's frame for a moment and flickered over to Kanryuu. His jaw twitched for a second, too quickly for inexperienced eyes to pick up, but Hannya noted his annoyance at the interruption.

Kanryuu pulled his pristine white gloves off and snapped his fingers. The shirking maid behind him hurried and began setting down an elaborate lunch.

"A formal lunch among gentlemen." He reached up and pulled a piece of sponge cake from the opened lacquered box. Tossing the piece of cake into his mouth Kanryuu said, "I also need to discuss with you the plans I have of expanding my army."

Hannya lowered his gaze and continued to lean casually against the wall idly peeling the apple in his hands.

Aoshi pushed himself off of the bed and steadied his gaze at the bespeckled man. "I did not know that there was a meeting today."

Kanryuu grinned and removed his gloves. "No, no. It is just a friendly lunch. A casual business meeting, at most."

Aoshi's jaw set another fraction of a centimeter. "I see."

Kanryuu began to pour a cup of tea for the younger man. He smiled over the steam, "I'm sure a cultured man like you would appreciate this tea. This is a young green tea from the mountains of British India, picked in the dew of the spring morning. It's supposed to have a delicate taste that a connoisseur such as yourself would appreciate. A true gentleman's tea, and the finest money will buy." Kanryuu finished pouring the two cups of tea and pushed one ceramic bowl towards Aoshi. He glanced at the other man meaningfully, "A man like me, a man with a vision can provide anything. After all, the Meiji is an era of opportunity, and with money, the opportunities are endless. You can buy anything that your heart desires."

Aoshi's head hung a little but he made no reply. His eyes were trained on the cup of tea before him, remembering the tea of his ordination ceremony as the captain of the Shogan's guards.

Kanryuu sipped his tea and helped himself to another piece of cake. He leaned back, crossing his legs before him. "Now, Okashira, about my army…"

Aoshi blinked once. His gaze remained intensely focused on the man in front of him.

"I have no interest in discussing the matter." He replied icily.

Kanryuu coughed. And sat up. "You are the captain of my private army…"

"And you are wasting your money by paying men to do nothing but sit around your compound." Aoshi replied.

"Nonsense. I'm building an empire, and an empire needs an army to demonstrate its strength."

Aoshi rose and drew his coat on. "Whether you take my advice or not does not matter to me. If you'll excuse me."

With a stiff bow, Aoshi walked away, with Hannya in tow. One out of hearing range, Aoshi turned Hannya. "He's planning something."

"Indeed." Hannya agreed. "I will watch him and report back to you."

Aoshi nodded and continue out into the courtyard.

Hannya had stood in the shadows watching Kanryuu's office for an hour now. As Hannya stood alone with his thoughts, he relieved when his waiting was soon rewarded by activity. A man he recognized as the business advisor for Hiroshi Kanaye entered Kanryuu's office. Yes. Kanryuu was not a fool, but good thing his plans and actions were as inconspicuous as a circus sideshow.

Behind his mask, Hannya's eyes narrowed. Cloaked in the shadow of the hallway, he slipped stealthily into the adjoining room and onto the balcony. Checking to see that the guards that surrounded the compound on the ground were preoccupied, he leapt noiselessly onto Kanryuu's balcony with sleek, feline grace.

Kanryuu's voice choked with frustration, "It isn't my fault that his weapons were confiscated! We had a deal. He can't sell the weapon to someone else. I ---"

The other man cleared his throat, "You should be lucky I'm just a messenger and not sent here to kill you. After calming down, Lord Hiroshi decided that he doesn't want to cut his business ties with you just yet but demands reparations before he delivers more weapon. He will take the money you raised for the gatling gun as payment for this shipment of lost rifles."

The drug dealer's voice was shrill, "But I've already paid for the gatling gun! In full, as we discussed. The rifle incident was a mishap. I cannot be accountable for-"

"As I said, Kanryuu-san, I am just a messenger. Hiroshi wants payment before he delivers the gatling gun to you."

"No, this is unacceptable-"

"He says that if you argue more he will be forced to terminate any further business dealings with you."

"No, no. You tell him that I need his connections with the Dutch. You tell him that- you tell him not to worry. I'll get his money, and our partnership can continue."

A pause. "Good answer."

She raised a quizzical eyebrow, an indication of her surprise, when she entered the room to find him waiting for her.

He had been waiting at her laboratory for nearly an hour now.

"I came to thank you for your medical service." He stated a bit stiffly as he picked up his sword.

Her eyes fell to the sheathed kodachi in his hand. She shook her head, "If you're thinking of practicing your sword work, you need to reconsider. I don't think-"

"Sensei." His tone of voice left no room for argument as he stood up, reaching for coat.

Megumi sighed in exasperation and returned his glare. "Just sit down for today and let your tissues heal over a little bit more before you to and ruin all of my hard work."

He frowned deeply. "There's work to do."

"Don't be an idiot."

His eyes widened a bit. In response, he stood up, "You underestimate the Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu." He stated blankly before striding towards the door.

She frowned. "Are you suggesting that the okashira isn't human? Or are you suggesting that I don't know how the body heals?"

Aoshi glared at her and started walking towards the door. "There is no point in an argument."

She sighed, "Just-well let me change your bandages first, unless infected wounds happen to be on the great Okashira's plan."

Aoshi paused and studied her for a minute before he slowly made his way towards the chair in front of her.

As she helped him push back his thick, black gi, Aoshi felt his skin explode like with thousand pinpricks. He swallowed, trying to calm the heat that radiated from her fingers.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the faint glow of her cheeks as her shaking fingers traced the air above the rivers of scars on his back.

"All this time, I never noticed…" She said under her breath.

He was certain that she hadn't meant for him to hear her, so he remained silent and began counting mentally in order to calm the sudden rapid beating of his heart.

One. Two. Three.

She continued to tug his shirt down and he could feel her fingers through the black cotton of his shirt.

Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen.

She leaned in closer to undo the knot of his bandage. Aoshi held his breath. She smelled like the jasmine-sweetened night air at Edo Castle.

Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven.

Her hair fell forward a bit, brushing whisper soft against his skin.

Eighty-five. Eighty-six eighty-seveneightyeightnineten-no-ninety. Ninety. Ninety-one. Ninety-two…

She turned with an almost violent sharpness. She cleared her throat, "I'll be back with some salve. I forgot." Her voice trailed off as she hurried out of sight.

He looked over at her worktable, his eyes idly memorizing he size and shape of all the objects on her table.

Opium woman. She was an opium woman. He repeated the words in his mind, turning it over and over in his mind until it was imprinted in his memory. The great heir to the Takani dynasty has fallen to a lowly opium woman. He could almost taste the poppy in the air.

His fingers gingerly traced the soft grain on the stack of lavender paper that she had used to fold the tiny packets of drugs.

He picked it up and almost unconsciously began to fold the paper into a small crane.

Flight.

He heard once that every crane was a wish. And as the bird took flight, it will ascend into the heavens, bringing your wish to the gods.

Aoshi's fingers moved from memory, animated with the spirit of the past. He had only one wish, only one question for the gods. With each fold, his mind formed only one wish, one plead for glory.

The Oniwabanshuu must have one more chance to prove themselves for battle.

She returned with a pan of water. He acknowledged her presence with a small nod and returned to his paper crane. Her gaze fell curiously to the paper in his hand. Without a word, she set to work unwinding his bandages.

"How many of there are you--the Oniwabanshuu-- I mean? My father would tell me stories about the Oniwabanshuu all the time. It used to terrify me." She chuckled softly. "But---you all don't seem so bad."

All he could think about was the feeling of her cool, gentle fingers as they danced lightly against the skin of his back.

His mind traveled back to the image of Okon, Okina, Omatsu, Kuro and Shiro.

"You should be terrified, we are your captors."

Her hands paused and he could feel their presence as they hovered just inches away.

He continued. "But there are about ten of us left."

He could hear her exhale as her hands began to move again.

After a length of silence, she finished washing his wounds with a soft cloth. If it had stung, she could not tell, for his face as cold and still as a Noh mask.

"Does it hurt?" She asked gently as she began to apply the salve.

He did not affirm or deny, saying instead, "I've experienced far worse." His skin was alive from the sudden intervals of burning and cooling as her gentle fingers trailed down the wounds on his back.

She nodded, her eyes traveling down the scars on his body, "I'm sure that during the war…"

He winced at her words. Misinterpreting his actions, she immediately pulled her hand back, "Oh, sorry."

He said nothing. Damn her.

They sat in silence for another length of time.

"I'm done." She announced as she wrapped the last of the bandage around his torso and knotted the ends together.

He stood and shrugged his gi back over his bare shoulders. Bowing, he said politely, "Thank you, sensei."

She nodded in return and reached for his hand. Wordlessly, she turned his hand over and pressed a tin of salve into his palm. Then she straightened and instructed matter-of-factly, "Put this on after cleaning the wounds when you change your bandages. It will help with the pain and allow it to heal faster."

She paused, her grip on him loosened but she did not let go of his hand. "And please come by when you can, so that I check to see if your wounds are healing properly."

He nodded and slipped her hand out of her grasp. "I don't believe it will be necessary."

She looked at him with a small sad look, but her voice was low and teasing, "As much as I'd like your lively company, Okashira, I'm more concerned that you don't overexert yourself and waste all of the effort that I put into patching you up."

He took the tin of salve and dropped it into his pocket. "Let us not complicate matters." His gaze rested on her left cheek for a moment, "Don't forget, Takani-sensei, that I am under Kanryuu's employ."

She lifted her chin, meeting his intense gaze. Her tone of voice became more serious. "Okashira, this," she pointed to him, "is healing, not making drugs." She closed her eyes. "So humor this fallen woman once and let me pretend that I am still a doctor."

In the awkwardness of his silence, Megumi turned around quickly and looked out of the open window. Aoshi's discerning eyes watched her as she wrapped her arms around herself as if trying to protect herself from the enormity of the truth that she had just revealed. She shivered and stalked over to shut the windows.

She turned to him and said in a light, casual tone. "I hate this place. With all the windows, you can't keep out the cold."

Sensing her discomfort, Aoshi nodded gravely and replied, "I don't care too much for this glass house either."

Just gotta give creds where they're due. Thank you, eriesalia, for providing that line. Sometimes it's the simplest things that gets a person stuck in a story.