31_days | [Nov 22] [Rurouni Kenshin] The Other Side of the Night

Title: The Other Side of the Night
Day/Theme: November 22 - I dwell with a strangely aching heart
Series: Rurouni Kenshin
Character/Pairing: Aoshi/Misao
Rating: PG

It used to keep him up at night. The look that she would give him, her eyes shining with such devotion; almost to the point where it frightened him. She was still so young, yet she was completely enamored with him. If there were a chore little Misao-chan refused to do, all one would have do was simply ask Aoshi to get her to do it, because then she would listen. That was why, he assumed, that he was given the task of putting the girl to sleep at night. But even then, the young Okashira struggled with Misao's relentless energy that refused to let her sit still for more than a few seconds. The one thing that he found would calm her was the sound of his voice.

So, Aoshi began to tell her bedtime stories. Only then would she sit still, watching her Aoshi-sama with such rapture. This became a custom between the two of them. The members of the household knew all too well about this nightly tradition, but when Aoshi was asked about it, he only would give the smallest of smiles, but say nothing.

Every night, Aoshi would tell Misao three stories. The first, which she always insisted to be a tale of adventure, would be so she would change into her sleeping yukata. The second usually was a fable, which would get her to lie down. The third she would listen to as she drifted into sleep. As Misao got older, she also got smarter. Before Aoshi would tell her the third story, she would look to her Okashira and say, "Please lie down with me, Aoshi-sama." And he would comply.

"What would you like for your final story to be tonight, Misao?" he would ask.

Snuggling close to his warm body, Misao would whisper, "A story Aoshi-sama likes."

Sometimes his breath would get caught as he watched her sleep. Her soft black hair gently caressed her pale face, hiding the pink tinge on her warm cheeks. And, even in sleep, she smiled. How could he not be so attached to the young girl?

When she would finally fall asleep, Aoshi would quietly untangle her arms from his neck, and cover her small body up properly with her blanket before leaving her room.

And so this routine transpired every evening, no matter what the circumstances were.

Until one day in the fall of Misao's sixth year.

Aoshi was sitting on the porch looking out at Okina's garden. The rain had recently visited the city of Kyoto, leaving reminiscent gray clouds in the sky. The red maple leaves contrasted beautifully against the light gay sky. To the right of him, a cup of green tea was cooling in the autumn breeze. The floor beneath him was cold, but Aoshi had long since learned to block it out. Closing his eyes, Aoshi said, "What is it Hannya?"

From behind him, Hannya's demon mask appeared upside down. "A letter has just arrived, Okashira. It is from a Hayama Yoshiro in Okinawa, requesting your aid immediately."

"Okinawa?" Aoshi sighed. "So far?" After drinking deeply from his cup of tea, Aoshi looked over his shoulder. "Does he say what the duration of the task is?"

"He does not," Hannya replied.

"You know you do not have to come with me, Hannya. There is no sense in all of us stooping to the level of mere henchmen."

"As long as I follow you, I have nothing more to want, Okashira."

Sighing again, Aoshi turned away. "We shall leave tonight then. Tell the others."

Hannya bowed his head in obedience. But before leaving, he asked, "Are you going to tell Misao-sama?"

Without looking back, Aoshi replied, "I gave you an order, Hannya."

Bowing again, Hannya disappeared into the same void that he came from, leaving the Okashira alone once more.

Aoshi lowered his head and closed his eyes. Misao would be upset that he would be leaving her for an unknown amount of time. She was still young enough for days to seem like years to her. If he told her he was leaving, there would most certainly be a scene. She would break down and cry, he knew, and above all people, Aoshi was the person hated to see Misao cry the most.

A thunderous pounding came from his right. Aoshi looked over to see Misao being chased by a young Omasu, who was failing her arms in the air. "Misao-chan, you come back here!"

Misao let out a peel of laugher as she jumped into Aoshi's lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I wanna stay with Aoshi-sama!" she exclaimed. Aoshi noted that Misao's braid had been undone, and in her hair were grass roots and globs of dirt. In fact, she was covered in dirt from head to toe. Raising her tiny mouth to his ears, Misao whispered, "Save me, Aoshi-sama! Su-san is being mean!"

"What did you do, Misao?" Aoshi asked, looking amused at Misao's state.

"She was playing in the mud," Omasu said, stopping next to Aoshi. She put her balled fists on her hips and glared at the young girl. "After I told her not to. She tracked mud all throughout the house, Aoshi-sama. I told her that she needed to help me clean it up, but she insisted that you would disagree with me."

Trying to look disapprovingly, but fighting from smiling at little Misao, Aoshi said, "You know better than to play in puddles, Misao."

"But playing in puddles is fun, Aoshi-sama!" Misao hopped up and down on Aoshi's lap. "We used to do it all the time!"

Aoshi put his hand on the top of Misao's head, and smoothed over the frayed strands of her hair. "Yes, but you are getting to be a big girl now. You should not be playing in puddles any longer." Misao opened her mouth to protest, but Aoshi interrupted her, "Take a bath and then go help Omasu clean up the mess you made."

With a loud sniffle, Misao nodded. "Okay, Aoshi-sama," she said, somberly. Slowly standing up, she slumped her shoulders and followed Omasu over to the bathhouse.

If Aoshi did not pity Misao in having to suffer the wrath of Omasu, he would have almost laughed at how hilarious the scene of Omasu looming over the tiny girl as they walked away. The small interlude had almost made him completely forget about the situation that he had been dwelling. But then again, it also opened up his eyes to just how much Misao really relied on him as part of her daily life. Perhaps it was for the best that he was leaving.

It still would be hard for him to leave her for a long period of time. For as much as Misao relied on Aoshi, he relied on her presence much more. Her smile, her innocence, and her love—it made the sins of his life less burdensome. Out of all the difficult missions he had ever been on in his sixteen years of life, this was going to be the most painful to bear. With another sigh, Aoshi pushed himself up to stand. It was time to prepare for his departure.

Aoshi did not come to dinner later that evening. Misao looked kept a constant watch over the empty seat next to her. Omasu had told her that Aoshi-sama was too busy to come down to dinner and that he would eat later. She took it with a nod, but now she was becoming worried. Aoshi was acting very strangely, even for him.

"Okay, Misao-chan," Omasu said, taking away Misao's empty bowl of rice. "Time for bed."

Instantly, Misao's somber face lit up. "I'll go get Aoshi-sama!"

"Aoshi-sama told me that you're to go straight to bed. He's too busy to tell you any stories tonight."

Blinking, Misao replied, "But he always tells me stories. I can't go to sleep without Aoshi-sama!" Ignoring what Omasu told her, Misao jumped up from the table and thumped up the stairs to Aoshi's room, her braid swinging back and forth like a tail. "Aoshi-sama!" she yelled in front of his door. "It's time for bed!"

"Goodnight, Misao," Aoshi's voice said through the closed shoji door of his room.

Cocking her head to the side, Misao narrowed her eyes in thought. Maybe he just didn't hear her correctly. "I said, it's time for bed, Aoshi-sama! You have to come tell me stories now!"

"Not tonight, Misao."

"But-"

"Go to bed, Misao." The voice replied.

"But you always..."

"Go. To. Bed."

Misao balled her tiny fists at her sides, as tears began to brim in her eyes. "Why are you being like this?" she meekly asked. First he made her clean with Omasu, then he did not come sit by her at dinner, and now he was breaking their nightly ritual?

When he gave her no answer, Misao let out a long breath. "Fine! I'll go!" She took two steps in the direction of her room, and then shouted, "I hate you, Aoshi-sama!"

From within Aoshi's room, he sat looking at his door. Sighing heavily, he lowered his head and whispered, "I am sorry, Misao."

Misao had fallen asleep much easier than Omasu had predicted. There was no fighting, no whining. It was as if someone had just swept the life out of Misao's step. In one way, Omasu was relieved, because it made getting Misao ready for bed all the easier, but she was also worried about the young girl. What would happen when Aoshi and the others weren't there when she woke up in the morning? How would she take that? Especially since her last words to her Aoshi were I hate you.

Okina walked into the room, a forced smile on his lips. "Is she already asleep, Omasu?"

Nodding, Omasu moved to the door. "Yes, you could say Aoshi knocked all of the fight out of her."

"They are about to leave," Okina motioned with his head outside of the door. "If you would like to say goodbye."

"Thank you, Okina," she said as she exited Misao's room.

The old man walked over to his adopted grandchild and lowered himself to his knees. He watched her peacefully for a few minutes, listening for Omasu to be out of earshot before he attempted to wake the little girl up. "Misao?"

She didn't stir. Her blanket was already half kicked off of her, as Misao sleep deeply. Her braid was tossed to one side, as her arm was extended out on the futon. Okina smiled at the adorable sight. It was a shame to wake her up, but if she didn't get to say good-bye to Aoshi, she would never forgive herself. "Misao?"

From behind him, the door opened. Okina looked over to see Aoshi. The Okashira had dressed himself in a modified version of his Oniwabanshuu uniform, covering the whole thing up with a strange gaijin jacket. Okina shook his head, at Aoshi's choice of clothing, but what good would it do to say anything about it? The old man turned his attention back to the sleeping child. "Misao?" he whispered loudly. "Your Aoshi is leaving the Aoi-ya."

The young child continued to sleep. Aoshi took a step forward. Okina looked over to his Okashira and nodded before getting up. The old man left the room, leaving the door open.

Aoshi walked over to the sleeping child and knelt beside to her. Gently pushing his right hand through her hair, a pang of guilt hit him. Who knew how long it would be before he would see her again. Would she still remember him? Suddenly, he realized how much it would hurt him if she did not. But the mind of a child was fleeting, and what was not in front of her, she would forget. Perhaps it would be better if she did forget, he realized. It would make it easier on them all.

"Goodbye, Misao," Aoshi whispered before lightly kissing her forehead.

As Aoshi left the room, he looked to his right, where Okina was still standing. "You could have at least tucked her in this evening, Aoshi."

"It is better this way," Aoshi replied. "If she hates me, then she will not miss me. And maybe," he added regretfully, "She will forget me."

Okina snorted. "No matter what you do to her, she will always love you."

The Okashira took a step forward. "Take care of her for me, Okina," Aoshi replied as he walked away from the room. He closed his eyes, repeating to himself that this was the right decision.

In the darkness of that night, five shadows left the city of Kyoto, searching for a place to belong in an era that did not want them.

When Misao awoke in the morning, all she did was cry. Someone had come and stolen her Aoshi-sama in the night, never to return.

Never to tell her a bedtime story ever again.

Fin

Notes:
Um. Happy birthday, Misao? Let me pour some lemon juice on the wound that I brought up.

Since it was my suggestion for bedtime stories to be the theme of this month's challenge, I thought it would be pretty lame of me to not contribute something, despite my lack of doing the SL challenges lately. I've been really busy, I swear!

Anyway, in order to get this story to fit into cannon, I re-watched and re-read the scene of Aoshi leaving the Aoi-ya several times, making myself cry every time. I didn't have the five of them leaving for Kanryuu's, because I honestly don't think they worked for him for ten years-- in fact, it's pretty obvious that they didn't. So, other jobs, yes? Yes.

As a little interesting trivial note, this is my fiftieth story on fanfiction dot net. Holy cripes, I've been writing for a long time. And what percentage of those stories are Aoshi and Misao stories? Most of them. Haha, oh, there's no denying what my fandom is, no sir.

Title taken from an ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION song. Because I'm not a loser. No, not at all.

Disclaimer:
This fiction was written for entertainment purposes only. The characters of Rurouni Kenshin belong to Watsuki-san.