Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ To Prove You Wrong ❯ Teatime ( Chapter 4 )

To Prove You Wrong

By: EvilNekoEatsYourSoul

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. That's all, I won't be putting this up again. I'm sick of it!

Author's note: Heh… heh… it's been a while… Over a month actually, since I've updated. I just want to say: gomen gomen gomen gomen gomen!!!! Especially to Maylar who is my only reviewer for MediaMiner and after I said I would update soon. I just haven't been able to write since school started. Besides the fact that I have less time, I just got over my writers block. For the first time in over a month I felt inspired to continue the story. So hopefully my muse will hang around at least till I finish this story. Anyhow, there are only a few more chapters left. So please read and review!

Last time: This part of her plan she hadn't told Megumi about. But she knew the doctor would help, she had to because to be completely honest she had no idea how to go about doing it herself. She was the master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, her mother had died when she was young and her father had taught her swordsmanship till the end of his days. She figured it was pretty much the same with Misao, who had never been very feminine.

"Megumi, I need your help. I need you to make us look like Geisha."

Chapter 4: Teatime

~*~

"There. Done," exclaimed Megumi as she stood to look at the fruits of her labor. She was somewhere between being proud of her work and wanting to fall over and laugh at the sight before her.

Both Misao and Kaoru stood there in their kimonos, hair pulled up into simple buns. Their faces were nearly identical due to the amount of make-up they were required to wear in order to appear as Geisha. Their faces were painted white with just a centimeter of skin showing at the hairline. Cheeks and eyes were highlighted with a soft pink powder giving the appearance of a light blush. To contrast the light colors their eyes were outlined in crimson and black, and the center of their lips were painted the same deep red, leaving the outer edges their natural color.

Due to their lack of training in the finer arts that most females learned as children, Megumi had decided to dress them as Maikos (a/n: apprentice Geisha) rather then actual Geishas. When they screwed up, they could blame it on the fact that they were not done training yet. Megumi shook her head as she studied her work on the two girls.

"No good?" asked Misao in a hopeful voice, it hadn't been easy working on Misao. She had been difficult throughout the entire process, fidgeting when make-up was being applied, swinging her head when her hair was being done, jumping up and down when her obi was being tied. It had been quite a trial.

Again Megumi shook her head.

"Too good, if you ask me. You two would have made great Geishas, something to fall back on Tanuki, if the dojo never gets any students."

Kaoru shrugged, and looked out a window.

"We should be going now Misao-chan, getting ready took longer then I thought. The sun will be setting before we get there."

"Especially since I can't walk in this stupid thing," complained the young ninja, motioning to her kimono, "and my head feels heavy with all my hair piled on top like that, my neck will break when I fall over..."

Misao didn't have any more time to complain because without warning, Kaoru grabbed her arm and hurried out the door throwing a quick `Arigatoo, Megumi-san' over her shoulder.

~*~

The sun was just beginning to disappear as they reached the teahouse. Despite Misao's complaints about the kimono hindering her movements, they made it there with no mishaps. Now they stood outside the establishment, a clean, well-tended building that stood out in the shabbier part of Tokyo.

As they stood outside the door watching a few people come and go they were also aware of the looks passerby's were giving them. Obviously it wasn't everyday Geisha or even Maiko's stood outside in full costume watching the door. Feeling a bit foolish, Misao moved to hide behind Kaoru. It was somewhat difficult considering the fact that she was now taller then the Kendo instructor.

"Right." Kaoru said, straightening her kimono and nodding to herself, she turned to look at Misao.

"Ready?"

Misao took a deep breath. She was beginning to feel nervous about this plan. She had spent her life training to be a ninja, to become one of the Oniwabanshu. For once she felt out of place, what did she know about being a proper woman? At the Aoiya it wasn't a problem because there was Omasu and Okon, at Kaoru's dojo there was Kaoru herself who, like Misao, was not very feminine. In this place, she was at a disadvantage and there was no one here to train her or help her. It gave her a feeling of inferiority that she couldn't push aside.

"Daijoubu, Misao-chan?"

The young ninja put on her trademark grin and nodded. Trying her best to bury those thoughts, she went through the door first, head held high and eyes dancing.

~*~

His mind wandered, just as his body had before he met Kaoru. The hours passed with him thinking of odd things. Things like the way Kaoru-dono's hands felt like silk despite the fact that she practiced with her shinai everyday. Thinking about how she kept her skin so soft and why she smelt so good even when she was perspiring after a long afternoon of training in the dojo. The memory of her firm youthful body pressed against his and he couldn't remember why he hadn't done that more often. Her spirit, her personality, her strength, her eyes, her vulnerability...

"Ah. . . that is correct. Sessha remembers now. . . de gozaru yo."

The dazed rurouni heard snickering next to him and slowly turned his head to find the source. Sitting beside him was a young man, probably in his early twenties. Looking at the almost innocent eyes, he remembered something else. Before he could question the dark-haired youth beside him someone else spoke. This voice was more gruff, it held the tone of years of experience; it also sounded somewhat wistful.

"What is it that you remember, Battoussai?"

Confusion filled his head as Kenshin turned to the older man whom had asked the question.

"Battoussai? I think you are mistaken, de gozaru yo. . . Sessha is Sessha. . . Kaoru-dono."

This time the question came from the youth, and the former hitokiri was getting dizzy from all the turning of his already dizzy head.

"What do you remember about this woman, `Kaoru-dono'?" curiosity was evident in the young mans voice. But then again, who wouldn't be curious as to why the legendary hitokiri Battoussai was babbling about some strange woman.

"Sessha. . . Sessha, Sessha," he began to answer, he almost forgot what he was about to say but his own words reminded him. "is unworthy of her. That is why Sessha cannot. . . does not. . ."

The younger man snickered again as the Battoussai sighed dejectedly. While the older one turned away with a knowing smile on his lips. Just as the two guards thought Kenshin's rambling had come to an end for the night, he suddenly stood and shouted out.

"And she's so young!" before falling down and cradling his now spinning head.

Turning away from their mumbling captive, the two men huddled together.

"Perhaps next time we shouldn't put so much in his food." Said the younger man, holding a small pouch in his hands that contained a fine white powder. The elder man shrugged.

"It's better to have him making an ass out of himself rather then escaping." They both nodded in agreement before taking up their posts next to the legendary hitokiri Battoussai.

~*~

The two petite women wove themselves amongst the inhabitants of the hall. It wasn't particularly crowded, but there were a few geisha milling about carrying trays laden with teapots and cups. They blended right in. In fact, Kaoru had the feeling that if she and Misao were separated that she would find it difficult to distinguish her friend from the real geishas around them. She would have to thank Megumi again later for doing such a wonderful job of dressing them.

As they wandered down the hall, not really knowing where to start their search, a yell was heard from one of the rooms further down. But the voice was undistinguishable because the walls and the background noise present in a busy teahouse muffled it. Some of the women in the hall stopped to giggle daintily behind their hands. Kaoru shrugged, not having understood any of the yelling. Misao, not being a woman who giggled daintily, began to snicker rather loudly. She had heard the shout of `She's so young!' and could picture some forty-year-old merchant being smitten with one of the young geishas of the establishment. If she only knew the truth. . .

Elbowing her friend in the ribs to quiet her, Kaoru continued her journey down the hall. At the end it branched out into two corridors and directly ahead of them was the kitchen. `Now what?' she thought to herself. She turned to Misao and shrugged.

Sighing, the young ninja pointed down the right corridor.

"You check those rooms, and I'll check the ones to the left. I don't think we have to bother with the main hall. It would be too conspicuous to keep a prisoner in one of those rooms."

Offering Misao a small smile, Kaoru nodded and headed down her corridor.

Misao walked slowly through the dimly lit interior. Her footsteps were soft, barely audible to even herself. She opened the first two doors that were across from each other. One was a closet and the other held piles of kimonos and a large mirror. The third door she barely spared a glance for, it seemed to be some type of office. Closing that door quickly, she turned to open the one across it.

There was the quiet sound of a shouji screen sliding open as Misao reached for the door in front of her. She barely heard the sound, but her ninja training and natural sharp hearing made her aware of a presence behind her. But before she could even turn, two arms wrapped around her waist and dragged her into the office she had just peeked into. Obviously, she should have taken a better look. It was impossible for her to break the hold the two well-muscled arms had on her as they pinned her own arms to her sides. She tried to get away from her captor by stomping on one of his feet, but anticipating her move he easily avoided it. Misao's next course of action was to try to break his nose by hitting him with the back of her head; unfortunately the man holding her was tall. The only contact she made was with his firm chest. She felt her heart fill with dread and begin to beat erratically. His breath was hot against her ear as he spoke in a low voice.

"Hello, Misao."

In all her panic to get away she forgot to scream, the one thing that could have brought Kaoru to her aid in seconds. Instead, a tortured groan came from her mouth as tears began to fill her eyes.

~*~

It was hot and Kaoru was beginning to perspire. Not much air ventilated in the building, and the many layers of thick cloth she wore didn't help matters any. There was also the make-up that began to make her face itch. Muttering to herself irritably, she began searching the rooms.

Various parties had occupied the first three rooms she entered and Kaoru had left, whispering apologies and blushing profusely. Whispering voices from within stopped her hand before she opened the fourth door. One voice in particular brought the image of red hair and violet eyes to her mind. She put her ear to the shouji screen to listen in on the conversation. As she listened she heard the slurred words of her rurouni speaking with two other men.

". . . blue eyes. When she swings her shinai Sessha doesn't know whether to run or to kiss her. . ."

Actually, as far as she could tell it wasn't much of a conversation. It was mostly Kenshin going on and on about some woman while one of the men laughed and the other told him to be quiet. Another blush formed on her face as she realized the identity of the woman Kenshin spoke of. The blathering once again caught her attention when he mentioned her name.

"Kaoru-dono. . . She's so different from the other woman. . ."

The snickering came to an abrupt stop and there was silence from within the room. Kaoru found herself holding her breath, holding back the question burning through her mind and heart. `What other woman?' Just as she was starting to lose her control, before she burst into the room and asked the question herself, there was a rough voice. It sounded almost like a whisper, but the mans voice was naturally loud and she could hear his question.

"Who is this `other woman,' Battoussai?"

"Sessha. . . Sessha's wife, de gozaru yo. . ." there was a pause, "Tomoe, Sessha's dead wife."

She couldn't help it, Kaoru gasped as she released the breath she had been holding. For those four seconds he had paused, she thought the world had ended. In that short amount of time she had become a horrible person who wished for nothing but death. She had felt betrayed. But when he finished his sentence, when he told those two strangers what he had hid from her for so long, she felt calm. She realized why he had such a hard time showing her his feelings. It explained so much about his actions and kindness; his need to help everyone. Now more then ever, she was determined to get him back.

Only one problem, she felt the tip of a blade pressed against her back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's note: For information on Geisha you can go to: www(dot)immortalgeisha(dot)com