Samurai X Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ A Game Of Hearts ❯ Chapter 3: Frayed Loyalties ( Chapter 3 )

Author's Notes:

 

Explanation of cultural/language elements:

 

Oyako don: A bowl of rice served with egg and onion cooked in mirin sauce.

 

East and West: To a Japanese, as can be observed on any Japanese map, Japan is near the centre of the world (in much the same way China calls itself the Middle Kingdom), so to its left would be the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. In the middle is the Pacific Ocean. To its right would be the continents of North and South America. Hence, technically, “West” refers to the conventional East when spoken of by a Japanese. In the case mentioned in this chapter, “West” refers to China and other Eastern countries like India, which were a source of many interesting fruits, such as dragon fruit, milk fruit and durian. I presume that it would be around the time of this story that trade would be on the rise as the treaties Japan made with the West entitled the West to use Japan as a stopover port on ships' routes to China and the East. Hence, new varieties of fruit and produce would start to come into Japan.

 

Nani yo?!: What on Earth?! Or something like that. Like an emphasised “What”.

 

Itachi: Weasel, Misao's nickname.

 

-sama: Honorific... something to the extent of “Lord”. It holds more respect that -san. However, in this context, it was used sarcastically.

 

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Chapter 3: Frayed Loyalties

 

“Well, what are you dawdling around for? The clock is ticking,” Hiko interjected Aoshi's thoughts. The poor bloke probably can't believe that he's neglected noticing Omasu. Hiko himself had expected Aoshi to have noticed that on his own. Emotional involvement then... it's well known to cloud objectivity. He must have been suspecting that his enemy had used the weasel all along.

 

“Aa. I need you to help me execute my plan now, then. We have to both return to the Aoiya to keep a check on, or even restrain, Omasu and Misao,” Aoshi explained. “I need you to help me look out for Misao too, just in case I was wrong about Omasu.”

 

Wise to let me take Misao on, Hiko thought. He nodded and the duo sped off towards Kyouto without another word, Hiko taking the lead and extending it rapidly. He didn't bother slowing down for Aoshi, because it was tactically better that he be seen in Kyouto before Aoshi was. It would leave any scouts with an amount of uncertainty, buying Hiko enough time to get to Misao, probably the more important target, with his god-like speed, whereas if Aoshi had been seen in Kyouto first, alarm bells were sure to go off immediately in the enemy's camp.

 

Just before Hiko broke out of the woods, he took his mantle off without breaking his rhythm or compromising his speed and carried it slung over his arm. He would need as little attention as he could get once in Kyouto, just in case he had to wander around for some time looking for Misao should she have left the Aoiya.

 

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Along the bustling street outside the Aoiya, an average-looking man carried a scarlet pile of folded cloth in front of him such that they rested on his forearms. He stopped to face the inn's entrance and stood there for a while, not in a hurry to go anywhere.

 

Inside the inn, in the dining hall on the ground floor, Omasu cheerfully delivered a bowl of oyako don from the kitchen to the waiting guest. Setting the bowl in front of the guest, she caught a glimpse of scarlet from out of the corner of her eye and yawned. Then, not knowing why or how, she decided that she had to see Misao, and quite immediately at that.

 

Quickly changing out of her duty attire, she exited the inn, hurriedly walking past the man with the scarlet cloth, who still stood there looking uncertain, as if he contemplated having his breakfast in the Aoiya. Apparently deciding otherwise, he shrugged and continued along his journey in the original direction in which he had been heading.

 

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A young boy with a characteristically spiky hairstyle carried a tofu tub, headed towards the market which served his area of Toukyou. He threw the tub to the floor vehemently, muttering incoherently and annoyed by some issue presumably related to the tub, then kicked it ahead of him as he walked along, in much the same way he would dribble a ball.

 

A passing bicyclist ran over the tub, cracking it on one side and warranting a rebuke from the boy, which in turn resulted in a dispute between the two.

 

The bicyclist finally gave in, inducing the boy to smirk. “Well, I suppose it will cost me less to just give you a tub of mine, since it's cheap enough.” Sighing once more, he beckoned, “Follow me to my home, then.”

 

The boy trotted along behind, but was told to go ahead when they entered a narrow alley between houses as the bicyclist had to dismount. Seconds after taking the lead, the boy saw the bicyclist's shadow cast over him, but didn't have the time to be disturbed by it as a sweet smelling cloth was pressed over his nose and he gave in to blissful oblivion.

 

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Aoshi leapt from rooftop to rooftop, his heart pounding ever more vigorously as the Aoiya came into view. He sensed neither Misao's presence, which was disturbing, but neither did he feel the Mitsurugi Ryuu master's ki, which left a small measure of comfort as it implied that Hiko was on Misao's trail. That was quickly crushed when he realised that Omasu wasn't in either. Finally, landing on the Aoiya rooftop, he frowned as he surveyed the street outside it, hoping to catch sight of his quarry.

 

Instead, his eyes fell on a certain cloth peddler. Something about him screamed for Aoshi's undivided attention. Perhaps, it was the peculiarity and intensity of the colour of the cloth, which made him stand out like a gaijin in the countryside. Perhaps, it was his refined way of walking, which normal peddlers could not spare the time to cultivate. Or perhaps, it was the fact that judging from the way he carried the cloth and from the lack of a variety of colours, he had to be an errand boy, not one who was looking to sell his wares. Yet, he was no boy, judging from the motley of varicose veins which bulged from his calves.

 

Aoshi's eyes narrowed. He leapt along the street on the rooftops towards the peddler and pounced on him from behind. The peddler's smaller frame was slammed into the ground, his cloth falling after him. In the moment that the peddler took to be stunned as he took stock of his situation, Aoshi quickly recovered into a standing position, wrenching the peddler up with him by gripping the back of his gi and locking his neck in a stranglehold with the crook of his right arm. Not pausing to give the peddler any respite, Aoshi swiftly immobilised his legs by lifting them and locking them up against his body with the crook of his left arm, positioning them at an unnatural, twisted angle with respect to the rest of his body. This drew a choked cry from the smaller man.

 

With the quarry securely and snugly anchored to him, Aoshi shot himself into the alleys to avoid the consummate attention of the crowds and kept darting through the labyrinth of back streets until he was sure he could not have been followed. Hurling the peddler to the ground and snapping him back up, Aoshi pinned him to the wall, once more immobilising him.

 

“Where is Omasu?” Aoshi practically spat at the peddler.

 

Knowing that to feign ignorance would be futile, the peddler glowered back at Aoshi and maintained his silence.

 

Upon discerning his intentions, Aoshi promptly reached down to the peddler's right hand and grabbed his index finger, “Then you will not lay this upon me.” The peddler's eyes widened as Aoshi snapped the peddler's finger backwards, bringing his finger nail to touch the back of his hand. The peddler howled as the skin on his palm-side stretched and ripped.

 

“Tell me,” Aoshi demanded, not loosening his grip on the peddler's tortured hand.

 

When the peddler had regained his breath and his wits, he hissed, “I don't know! She's gone to find the girl, wherever she is.”

 

Aoshi dropped the peddler and vanished into the rooftops again, but not before he heard a string of expletives from his victim.

 

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Misao was miffed when she had found out that Aoshi had still been out training by the time she awoke. That meant that Aoshi would not be back until evening. It also meant not delivering lunch to him and missing their time together, a disturbingly regular occurrence as of late. Hoping to distract herself from the frustration, she had decided to spend the time, normally taken up preparing Aoshi's meals, taking a stroll through the marketplace. She loved feasting her eyes on the colourful toys and lanterns which constantly evolved from season to season as toy-makers tried to outdo each other in creativity to attract more sales, spurred on by the new influx of Eastern ideas. She also enjoyed nosing around the fruit and vegetable stalls in hopes of spotting new types of fruit which had been recently imported from the West. Whenever she had spotted something new, she had taken the liberty to buy back enough for all the occupants of the Aoiya to sample. After all, it was pretty much in line with her unspoken motto of carpe diem.

 

She chanced upon a store selling a pinkish fruit with plastic looking skin and a leafy exterior. The “leaves” started out solid pinkish magenta from the base of the fruit and narrowed as they folded upwards and away from the fruit into green or yellow tips. Layers of these “leaves” overlapped each other slightly, converging at the top of the fruit like newly-planted shoots which had unusually thick “leaves”, much like the top of a pineapple would look.

 

“Excuse me sir, what are these called and where are they from?” Misao inquired of the stall owner.

 

“Ah, good morning miss! Yes, interesting, aren't they? These are dragon fruits, from Vietnam, I believe. Would you like some?” The stall owner perked up at Misao's interest.

 

“Vietnam?” To Misao, that was a must-have.

 

After further probing, bargaining, threatening, curry favouring, and finally winning sympathy, Misao had the stall owner agree to an amount of money she was willing to part with and ended up buying a crate of the fruit. That would also mean the end of her little escapade through the market, but at least she would have something to do with her time now, which was, namely, preparing the fruits for the guests' lunch.

 

Lugging the crate along, Misao was in the midst of muttering something along the lines of how the rest of the Oniwabanshuu should appreciate her when she heard her name being called.

 

“Omasu-chan?” Misao responded as she spotted Omasu running and nudging her way through the crowd towards her from her right.

 

“There you are, Misao!”

 

“What's up?” Misao asked as Omasu approached her. Her eyes widened in shock as she realised that Omasu would not stop when she reached her. Misao barely had the time to unconsciously drop her crate of fruits as she braced herself before Omasu rammed into her, pushing her into the ground.

 

“Nani yo?! Omasu?!” Misao yelled, trying to push the other lady off her. Misao realised that Omasu was resisting her efforts to get back up just as she noticed that Omasu was holding a kunai in her hand, then lifting her hand to strike.

 

“What're you doing Omasu?!” Misao panicked, not knowing whether to protect herself or her friend.

 

She realised that she didn't have to make that decision when a tall shadow loomed over them and Omasu's hand came down harmlessly on Misao without the kunai in it. Omasu spun around to kick the hindering party in the groin, only to have her leg caught in an iron grip by her ankle and lifted up so that she was hung upside down.

 

Above Omasu's thrashing legs, Misao caught sight of her rescuer and his red and white mantle draped over his arm, then gasped to herself, “Hiko Seijuurou... ”

 

She gasped again when Omasu pulled out more kunai, hoping to embed them into the man. Raising his eyebrows, Hiko promptly dropped her and kicked her over before she had the chance to react, such that she was lying spread-eagled on the floor. He anchored her to the ground by planting a boot on her back, over her obi, and quickly gathered up her two arms by the wrist in his free hand, rendering her harmless. Nevertheless, Omasu still jerked her arms around, futilely trying to break his vice-like hold.

 

“Tsk tsk. Rabid, aren't we?” Hiko commented, glanced at the gathering crowd, somewhat amused and yet also somewhat grave, and turned to see if Misao was all right. She wasn't. He frowned.

 

The adrenaline had worn off and Misao had started to cry after she had realised that another was dealing with the problem for her. She wasn't sure what she was crying for. However, seeing Hiko restraining Omasu in such a violent way, she was confused for a second.

 

“What are you doing to her you bastard?!” Misao charged at Hiko, raining punches down on his midriff, which happened to be at a most convenient height for her. “Let her go!”

 

Bastard, eh? Hiko raised an eyebrow. Obviously, Hiko didn't let go, and the punches didn't faze him at all. Instead, with the arm he held the mantle with, he pressed Misao up against him not only to neutralise the force of any further punches, but also to comfort her. He had realised that Misao must have been in a very unstable emotional state after seeing one of her most trusted friends and confidants attacking her, and then watching as someone else whom she trusted only with reservation rough handling her friend.

 

“Quiet now girl... Your Aoshi-sama will be here soon,” he said grimly, yet not unkindly. He knew that the familiar reference would put Misao at ease, who had given up her attack and started clinging to Hiko for support, burying her tear-ridden face in his dark blue shirt.

 

Seeing that Omasu had given up struggling and sensing from under his boot her regular rhythm of breathing, which indicated that she had fainted, Hiko sighed and let go of her wrists, lifting his foot off from her back to stand upright again. He decided against moving out of the limelight, knowing that it would enable Aoshi to arrive sooner.

 

Sighing again at the very people-full predicament he had once more wound up in, Hiko thought, Well, at least itachi-sama here has stopped soaking my shirt. He started on the arduous task of coaxing Misao off him by gently prying her away, then leaving her to sit numbly, staring at Omasu's now still form, as they waited.

 

Hiko smirked when he sensed Aoshi's approaching ki. Thank the heavens! Now he can deal with all this mushy emotional stuff. Still, not exactly Aoshi's forte, is it? Hiko noted with some amusement.

 

“Misao,” Aoshi caught her attention when he leapt into the small clearing in the now dwindling crowd that watched them. Jerked out of her reverie, relief washed over her face and Misao now ran to Aoshi to embrace him.

 

“Aoshi-sama! What is going on?! Why did- ”

 

“Hush... Other things are needful now,” Aoshi hoped that was enough for the time being. “So it really was her,” he looked to Hiko, seeking confirmation on the issue.

 

“Obviously.” Hiko walked over to where he had dumped Omasu's kunai and picked it up, sniffing it. He had taken the liberty to put his mantle on again while Aoshi took care of Misao. “Seems like they had her use some kind of sedative. Planning a kidnapping, perhaps?” Hiko had been careful not to imply that it was Omasu's own doing.

 

Aoshi nodded, taking in the scene before him while Hiko and Misao waited patiently. After a while, he nodded at Hiko again and turned to Misao, “Misao, will you allow Hiko to accompany you to the Aoiya? I'll be there shortly with Omasu.”

 

Hiko noted that Aoshi had chosen to ask, and not to order, softening the statement for Misao.

 

Misao nodded, already beginning to recover, and Hiko initiated the journey back, but not before Misao “Oh”-ed and picked up the crate of fruits.

 

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Hiko chose to stop outside the Aoiya's back entrance with Misao to wait for Aoshi's return with Omasu. He certainly didn't want to be the one explaining the whole mess to the Oniwabanshuu, and neither was Misao in any condition to receive an onslaught of questions and concern.

 

Aoshi soon returned as well, carrying Omasu in his arms. He had tied her hands and feet together very securely, placing pieces of cloth between the ropes and her skin to minimise any pain inflicted. Wordlessly, Aoshi passed Hiko by and entered the Aoiya.

 

The kitchen greeted them first, followed by an Okon who only realised that she had questions to ask when she noticed Hiko, then Omasu's tied limbs. Aoshi quickly shook his head at her to stave off any probing, then motioned with a turn of his head for Okon to go upstairs. She promptly obeyed, also automatically knowing to gather the rest of the Oniwabanshuu. Leaving the crate in the kitchen, Misao brought up the rear of the small procession and headed upstairs as well.

 

By the time Misao had ascended the last step, Okina and the three other members had already gathered in the training hall, the only place in the Aoiya open enough for them to confer.

 

“Before you explain, Aoshi, a passenger pigeon delivered this note to you. I suspect it has something to do with all this?” Okina slid the note over to Aoshi after he had set Omasu down in their midst.

 

Expressionless, Aoshi calmly unfolded the note and read its contents. The only outward appearance of surprise he let on was a slight quickening of his breathing. He crushed the note, closed his eyes for a brief moment and looked up at his colleagues with resolution, then proceeded to explain everything as he experienced it, chronologically and leaving no details, save emotions, out.

 

“So we now have to figure out how to get Omasu out of this psychological mess,” Okina frowned.

 

“And what about the note?” Hiko asked.

 

Aoshi paused once more, then answered, “Apparently, they've now targeted our friends in Toukyou.”

 

Hiko raised an eyebrow in curiosity at this.

 

Aoshi continued, “They've repeated what they've done to Omasu on someone at Toukyou. So that's the new threat. If we do not help Kuroda out, Himura and his friends will be in grave danger.”

 

“Clearly, it will not be Sagara or my baka deshi... any one with half a wit will know that it's too dangerous to attempt them.”

 

“How about Kaoru-san?” Misao worriedly asked.

 

Hiko remained unworried, apparently having already figured out the answer to that one. However, it was Aoshi who first answered, “Probably not. It would really trigger a dangerous reaction from Himura.”

 

At Misao's continued failure to comprehend, Hiko explained, “While he does care for all in his lot quite a bit, it is well known, albeit except to himself, that his feelings for that Kamiya girl go well beyond caring. In other words, she is the one person he loves most.”

 

“Oh...”

 

“The children who often play in the doujou would be too small to cause much harm, and the old doctor Genzai would be too old and weak to be formidable,” Aoshi went on.

 

“Then there's the Tsukioka Tsunan guy,” Okina wondered. “No, he's not closely enough associated with them to do anything. The only contact that Himura and the rest have had with him was passing or during battle. Anyway, he's moved out of Toukyou recently.”

 

“Myoujin is a feasible one,” Aoshi finally concluded.

 

“Or Takani, who would be an even better bet, since if they get any wounds, she would be the one tending them,” Okina added, knowing that Aoshi had not wanted to bring it up that Takani was a good target.

 

“I'm afraid to say that in all your arduous wondering, you've neglected a very important issue,” Hiko interjected. Once he had their expectant looks, he continued, “Even after neutralising the threat like we've done today, not to mention the difficulty of even attempting to get to Toukyou without setting off alarms, we still have to get this ninja gang that you've mentioned to undo the screwy bits in Omasu's and the other victim's heads, if at all possible.” He paused to allow their inferior intellects to digest his words. “Which means we will have to track down Kuroda Shouin, wheedle the information we need out of him and incapacitate him so the same old sop story will not repeat itself,” Hiko looked pointedly at Aoshi, who immediately diverted his eyes to a spot on the floor somewhere between Omasu and himself. Hiko chuckled inwardly... had the situation not been so grim and the threat so ominous, he would have thought that Aoshi deserved to be taught a lesson or two on the subtlety of maintaining cross-gender relationships.

 

Thankfully for Aoshi, he now had the attention of all only because he was the only one who had had contact with Shouin. “I will go to meet him if he summons,” he confirmed.

 

“Hmm,” Okina pondered. “We cannot depend on him to summon you again, however. He doesn't trust you now. Even so, if you do anything to him, he holds the cards - he probably has some protocol to carry out the threat in Toukyou... which was probably how the threat was so swiftly executed here.”

 

Hiko was beginning to get impatient that they had yet to snag onto the really obvious solution, which, quite frankly, displayed their inadequacy. What idiots. We could just take out the scouts sent to watch us, then wring out of them the method by which they keep the Kuroda guy updated. It can easily confirmed if they're telling the truth by interrogating them separately, then confusing them by saying that the other cracked and told the truth... Then of course we can crash both Toukyou and Shouin's office to nullify any said threats. Such a simple matter which solves all sorts of problems, and yet they're beating around the bush...

 

Hiko, however, was not inappropriately arrogant. They were the onmitsu here, not him (precisely why they should be ashamed), so if he had brought the solution up, he wouldn't have been helping by having them doubt their own abilities. No, that wouldn't do. I think I've said enough already. It was better to insult them the way he usually did - outright and without justification, so they'd know he did not mean to undermine their abilities, than to point it out to them in such a painful way. Besides, he was also wise enough to correctly estimate their abilities - that they would eventually figure it out. Instead, he rose to his feet and, grinning, excused himself, “While you small brains strain yourselves over this issue, I shall better spend my time checking out your sake supply. Oh, and you might want to further sedate Omasu to protect her from emotional distress.”

 

Misao finally found familiar ground to tread on, “Why you arrogant jerk! Don't you know how serious th-” and the shouji slid shut in her fact. She was about to go on grumbling when she caught sight of Okina's still grave expression and lapsed into silence to let the more capable people do their thinking.

 

Finally, however, they came to precisely Hiko's conclusion and followed his advice for Omasu. It would, indeed, be far less painful for her to have slept through the entire ordeal. It would be tomorrow that the operation would start.

 

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Author's notes (again):

 

Judging by the lack of reviews... I *have* to ask the question... is there anything so disturbingly wrong about my story?

 

Anyway, on other things...

 

Hmm, I understand that Misao is supposed to be quite a strong character. However, she did become quite numb on a few occasions. One was when Usui nearly killed her. Instead of escaping, she froze in surprise, so her reactions aren't that quick and she probably experienced panic then, which caused her to be stunned. Another occasion was when Okina told Kenshin to kill Aoshi. Misao noticeably fell quite silent during that exchange, instead of being her normal fiery self and arguing with Okina over the issue. Then, she proceeded to cry when Kenshin told her that he'd bring Aoshi back. Also, she had that stunned look back when Aoshi was fighting Okina.

 

Hence, here, she's in that stunned mood again. I've decided on that because of the reason that Hiko thinks of... because she's shocked to see that Omasu of all people is the one who attacks her. She's also frozen in panic because she doesn't know whether to fight with Omasu, which might get Omasu hurt. Then, there's the third element of surprise, compounding Misao's trauma, because Hiko, which she presumably hasn't seen around much, especially in Kyouto, suddenly jumps into the picture and treats Omasu so aggressively (ok, it's not counted as aggressive, coming from Hiko, but still, it must have looked so to Misao). Furthermore, Hiko looks like he's been expecting the situation, especially so because the comment on being rabid doesn't at all express surprise at the situation he finds himself in. (He didn't say, “What have we here?” Compare that to what he did say, “Rabid, aren't we?”)

 

Yeap, so I hope that it explains the totally useless (in this chapter) Misao.

 

On Hiko's “superiority”... I think his strength is certainly wisdom and intelligence. I'm not portraying him as perfect... his other flaws such as his pride are very real issues, even if he keeps his them in check as is the case in this chapter. Despite being kept in check, his pride could, for instance, prevent him from helping until it's too late in some circumstances, or could, in another instance, hurt him emotionally when he decides not to trust anyone but himself, making his existence a very lonely one. It also makes it very painful when he DOES make mistakes, which should be inevitable for an human being no matter how wise he is.

 

Also, there're other flaws in his philosophy... despite being compassionate and wielding his sword to protect people based on personal justice, where lies the compassion in divorcing himself from the real world by secluding himself in the mountains when his help would sorely be needed by many, as Kenshin's wandering years have proven?

 

Yeap, so all that I'm saying is that he may look “perfect” here, but that's just because it's only been a short while that we've glimpsed him in this story, and because it doesn't show the other facets of his life.

 

If there're any mistakes like

1) English mistakes (eg. grammar, spelling etc...)

2) Loopholes in the plot

please do tell me! I will correct them. Thank you for reading. Please comment if you can!