Subject: Aching gifts: cpt 2: Shadows of guilt Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 23:27:22 -0000 From: NVRPARRIS@aol.com To: rkfanfics@egroups.com What you are about to read is a fanfic for entainment purposes only! I have used characters (Aoshi, Misao, Jiya etc.) from the manga/anime by Nobuhiro Watsuki that i did not create. Please don't sue me, because you won't be happy with what you get, and because this is for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONly! so take your shoes off and cuddle with Aoshi and Misao!! I hope you enjoy part 2 of my spinoff series... Aching gifts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shadows of Guilt The rain continued to fall. Unceasing, persistant. The sky was dark and bleary. The future was bleak, covered in dark clouds. There was chance of a flood. It had been two days since Misao left...Worry seized the hearts of all, filling their chest with grief and pain... and guilt. But no one was more guilty than Aoshi. Bitter remorse egged and gnawed at his heart. He paced nervously through the trees surrounding the temple, 'Misao' The name hit him like bricks. The mere sound of it weighed heavily on his bruised heart. He could still see the very same day that he, with his very own hands, had pushed away the one that was dearest to him. It was as clear as glass or crystal, as real as a bitter nightmare. Over and over he played the scene in his head. He could hear the dialouge. He could feel the breezes that carelessly rushed passed, Yet he was just a helpless spectator. He couldn't change the script, or stop what happened. He could just watch... Misao stood, her long black hair bound in a single braid. She turned to him. Tears flooding in her eyes, tears for him. 'Aoshi -Sama' The disturbance in her voice was evident...she was desperately seeking him. Beseeching him, begging him... but he didn't want that. He didn't need her. He wasn' t looking for her, He was looking for the Battowsai. Only one desire filled his heart. Revenge. There was no room for love, and he made sure he made that clear. 'I don't want to see your face ever again'... and he walked away. But that part of his life was over. Two years had passed. He had found the battowsai, he was paying in full for the crimes he committed in the name of the deceased Oniwa Banshuu... He was paying in full for the crimes he committed against her. He would give anything to take back those words. He had broken the delicate bond that took so long to build. with his own hands, he pushed away the one dearest to him. Slowly reality began to creep back into her mind. There was a man and a woman...Aoshi... Then there was another man and woman...in the street... then she trained. The trees turned into enemies. She showered countless kunais at her wooden foes...Yes, she was winning... until... her arm... yes her arm... the pain trickled down her arm, along with raindrops and blood...and then she passed out. Misao slowly but surely fell back into reality. She could feel again... She was naked... and there was a warm, and heavy weight atop her. she could feel her mouth was open...there was another mouth atop her's?...Yes... Kissing her... deeply, purposefully...she was too weak to move. A sudden rush of something moved throughout her body. Warmth enveloped her body, rushing through her insides, strenghthening her... it was...Chi? He could feel her slightly stirring. Her body felt warmer and warmer, as she began to emerge out of her state of comatosis. Her heart began to pound regularly against chest, and her breathing was stabilizing. No...not so soon... He could feel the brush of her eyelashes against his skin, tickling teasingly, urging him to move. He didn't want to move as yet. Her warmth was too comforting. He felt safe. He wanted to give her all the chi he had, but she didn't need his aid anymore. Her half-opened eyes searched finding a man on top of her. He was blurred. He moved slowly away from her mouth, still supporting her head. He looked into her eyes. They were shining weakly. deep. startlingly blue. Lightning flashed across the outside skies. A loud peal of thunder followed carelessly after causing her eyes to fully open. 'where am i?' she said weakly, ignoring the press of his weight against her. Her eyes sketched the room, assesing her surroundings. She then examined the man in front of her. His eyes were yellow... almost a golden hue. His hair was shoulder length... and light brown...slightly golden as well. Trapped in his gaze, she froze. She could feel the warm breath coming out of his nostrils, she trembled as the warm fingers of his exhalation touched her cheek. He was close, close enough to smell her, close enough to inhale her. His lips were so close, too close, she could feel the air part with his lips "Are you okay". he said...he seemed concerned...Who was he? She was afraid to move or speak, until she registered the weight of his body against hers. She began to panic... Had she been...raped? Her fear changed into anger and panic... "What did you do?" she asked, still weak from something. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyelids. 'What did you do?' she asked again anger evident in her tone... If it was what she expected, she could never get married...she would be shameful, shunned...She could never go home again... And Aoshi...what if she got pregnant... this could not be happening... this absolutely could not be happening to her. The man sensed the fear and anger in her voice. He smiled, not moving to get off of her... "I see, you're back. I thought I lost you there." She could hear the relief and concern in his voice... "Don't worry, nothing happened. I had to take off your clothes because they were soaked, and also because my magic wouldn't have been as effective if our clothes were on." Misao was immediately relieved. She sighed loudly, and continued to listen to the man, confused, trapped in his golden gaze. All she could do was listen... "You had a high fever and were unconcious for two days." "two days?" she echoed... "two whole days... I realized after you hadn't gotten up for awile, that that bastard used a poisoned arrow. The poison weakened your chi, so I used my bochu magic to give you some of my chi." Misao was speechless. She had nothing to say...What could she say? All that she knew was that she had to move. Forgetting that he was atop her, Misao jerked forward as if to get up. The swift motion forwards caused their bodies to collide for a couple of seemingly long seconds. The feel of her bare breasts pressed rubbingly against his massive chest sent a flurry of emotions through both of them. They could do nothing but blush. The man then drew nearer so he could raise up... "sorry" he said as he moved off of her. He seemed confused, he was disturbed...Guilty? He left Misao by herself on the floor along with the thin blanket they had used. He went to get dressed. "Aoshi" jiya said, evidently startling the shaking man. "oh, it's you" he said weakly. "go get some rest. You've been up for two days straight...You look aweful" "And you don't exactly look good yourself" he said calmly trying to hide his own insecurities by bringing up his. "Don't worry, I know Misao is fine...she told me so" "Old man you are going senile." he turned around. "No, you're the one going crazy." At that the old man turned to leave. "Be sure to tell Misao Happy birthday today...It's her birthday." At that Aoshi's lips curved slightly, forming a slight smirk. As they sat eating, Misao broke the unearthly quiet. "Thanks for saving me." she said. "I had to." he said looking away. His eyes were distant, troubled. It was quiet again. He then turned around abruptly "Misao!" he said... "Don't you remember me?" Misao sat there, confused...What was he talking about...She had never met him in her life... and why did he know her name? " It's me...Tamoru." At that the Misao froze for a second. She looked at the stranger. "Misao...How could you forget me?" He said. He stared at the young woman ...those blue eyes...he knew them from a mile away... She then covered her mouth, eyes widening. He watched as the confused look melted away, and bittersweet joy came over her. The confident yellow of his golden eyes gazed at her in amusement. Crossing, and folding his muscular arms across his broad chest, He looked at the girl, as if to mock her. He pushed his shoulder length, light brown hair towards the top of his skull. The strands of his hair that onced framed his face were moved backwards only to fall back down, parting exactly in the middle of his diamond face. "Yes. It's me... Tamoru... I returned." She ran over to him, embracing him. He in turn embraced her. "Tamoru-kun...Where were you? Jiya told me that you ran away from home...That was about 10 years ago... what were you thinking, leaving home at the age of 11...We thought you were dead!" "Well I went to go train... I wanted to learn all kinds of stuff abroad. I just couldn't stay there and become a farmer like my dad." "Well anyways i'm glad that you're back." The two let go of each other, shocked. The look on their faces was more effective than a thousand words. It was a small world indeed. "Wow Misao... You really grew...and in all the right places..." PCHHH,her hand turned his head with a stinging smack. "You haven't changed much..." "neither have you." "Come on, let me take you home." "Okay, let's go." "Look Aoshi!" Toko came running towards the figure. "It stopped raining." "I can see that." Said Aoshi, almost sarcastically, He didn't need her right now. "Toko... you should leave." he belted out coldly. "What do you mean Aoshi..." she said... almost pleading... Aoshi was tempted to tell her what he meant, tempted to destroy this artificial nonsense right then and there... but instead... "Get out...of the wetness." Walking along the sunlit path, the clouds began to clear in the late spring sky. The sun began to shine with vengence, as the two tarried throught the busy streets. Misao began to think about what happened...She had recieved her first kiss...It wasn't exactly a kiss, but his lips touched hers... It wasn't exactly with the person she had imagined, but the thought of it was equally pleasing. "Happy Birthday Misao..." Her thoughts were disturbbed immediately. "Happy Birthday... You are 19 today right?" He remembered! "Yes... how'd you remember?" "I still kept count after I left...some things are too important to forget." At that Misao blushed. He reached for her hand and held it in his, possesively. She in turn enlosed his with her slender fingers, and The two continued walking to The Aoiya, hand in hand. Aoshi moved from the temple, to stand in the entranceway. He was to say the least confused, and still worried. He tried to make sense of what was happening... He paused... Could it be?... he felt more than he saw someone approaching. He felt her chi...He knew who it was. He looked up, cautious, as to prevent the emotions in his heart from showing in his face. He looked up... only to see two figures approaching? One was a woman, and the other was a man. They seemed young from a distance. He then began to make out the features of the woman. She had pale white skin, and a long braid falling carelessly to her waist. A man stood by her side, they were hand in hand. By the time they were close enough for him to see her eyes, he recieved confirmation on who the woman was... Misao...hand in hand with another man. He wanted to run and hide. He couldn't let her see him, but it was too late. He couldn't say or do anything. He wished he wasn't there, wasn't seeing what she was seeing...Had she eloped? When did she and this guy meet? Who the hell was he? But he just stood there. A flash of lightening ran across the sky, and aoshi grinned at the loud thunder that roared hastily after. The thunder was a little too late. And Aoshi grinned again. He was too late. Too late to follow helplessy after. And Aoshi acknowledged quietly to himself... they made a great couple. TO BE CONTINUED ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: 1. Tamoru is Back!! well, I made him up... And he and Misao were good friends because Jiya and Marun (his made up father). Used to be good friends. They actually were betrothed...but Tamoru ran away and they thought he was dead, so, it was called off. 2. Parts of this chapter went by fast. The reason is... uh...um... hmmm...oh yeah! This part of the story only takes place from morning to afternoon... yeah...cough, cough(Excuses, excuses...) 3. Aoshi does get suspiciously emotional in this chapter...He actually Jokes around with Jiya (wow!)...and did he grin? Well that's because he can't bottle up his emotions all the time, especailly when his mind is in confusion... 4. Tamoru's Bochu magic will be used far later in this series again...only a different method...well maybe...I still have emotional conflicts about Misao and her virginity...can someone tell me what i should do about that. 5. Don't worry, I haven' forgotten about that police mission...that is one of the main aspects of my plot...That guy that attacked Misao is one of the convicts...you'll see in the next episode 6. Oh yes... Next episode we hear about Tamoru's feelings towards Misao... Toko and Aoshi do something...and SOMEBODY may get jealous... The next episode will be rather...intense... So until Chapter 3: 'The Dawning of Emotions'. 7. It' now time for our pretending ending song sing-along. SO EVERYONE SING ALONG: (warning: there is some imagination required... actual music not included!) 1, 2, 3 Kisetsu Wa oda-yaka ni O-wari O tsu-ge-tane Iro dor-a-reta Kioku ni Yo-se-te. Sayo-narra Ai o ku-reta Ano hito wa Konno hitomi ni yura mei-te-ita. Ku-useki ni tsumerareta tai kutsu na kyu-jitsu-wa. Owaru koto naku anata ga. Na-gare tsu-zu-ke-te-iru. Wakatetsure itemo kuzukanai furi o shite. Oboeteta itsutemo. Dareka no ko-to Omotsuteru yoko ga o demo suteki da-tsu-ka ka-ra! Kisetsu Wa oda-yaka ni O-wari O tsu-ge-tane Iro dor-a-reta Kioku ni Yo-se-te. Say-narra Ai o ku-reta Ano hito wa Tooi sora ni KO-i ko-ga-re-te... Konno hitomi ni yura mei-te-ita... Utsuru yuku machi nami ni ta-me-iki wa ko-bo-re-ta...