*Disclaimer: Kenshin and characters not mine... yadda yadda yadda... 
belong to many people who are not me... blah blah blah....please don't 
sue* 

Untitled 1

by Coochan (peacecraft@aol.com)

As it always does on warm summer evenings, when the air is thick and 
warm, and the earth seems to be holding its breath, a rainstorm came, 
unannounced. It fell softly at first, but rapidly grew in intensity 
until it was pummeling the earth, and the very distant rumble of thunder 
could be heard. From his study window within the Aoiya, Shinomori Aoshi, 
youthful okashira of the oniwabanshuu, observed the rain silently. With 
a sigh of mingled resignation and amusement, he turned away from the 
window and walked out of the study, towards the sheltered terrace around 
the central courtyard. Stepping out on to the wooden patio, he thought 
to himself, "Any minute now..." 

* * * * * * 

It is understood among those who are members of the oniwabanshuu that 
the okashira is the highest ranking and most highly respected fighter of 
all. As such, strict obedience and politeness are required when in the 
presence of the okashira. Although five year old Makimachi Misao held 
herself as the youngest oniwabanshuu (and was fiercely proud of her 
position), she was never one to adhere to rules. With her white tabi 
pounding against the polished wood floorboards of the interior of the 
Okina, Misao sprinted at top speed along the covered terrace toward her 
target, long blue-black braid trailing behind her. With the same joy, 
energy, and complete abandon for oniwabanshuu etiquette she had always 
had, Misao happily threw herself at her beloved okashira. 

"Aoshi-samaaaaaa!" 

Turning at precisely the right moment to catch the purple-clad ball of 
energy thrusting herself so zealously at him, Aoshi allowed the barest 
ghost of a smile to cross his face as he watched Misao attempt to wrap 
her short, thin little arms around his much larger frame in her own 
miniaturized version of a bear hug. 

"Aoshi-sama," she said breathlessly, "it's raining! I was outside 
practicing with Hannya when it started and I wanted to stay and play in 
it and Hannya said no I have to come inside and then I remembered that 
you were in your study and I was afraid you were going to miss it so I 
came to tell you," here she paused to gasp for breath, "it's raining!" 

A less kind man might have pointed out that his own powers of 
observation would have been sufficient enough to inform him that it was 
raining, but Aoshi merely smiled faintly and said, "Aa, raining rather 
hard, too. Hannya was right to make you go in." 

Stepping away from Aoshi's side, Misao walked to the edge of the roofed 
patio and stretched her small hand out of the shade of the roof to catch 
several raindrops. From her body language and enraptured expression 
Aoshi could tell she yearned to go out and play in the rapidly forming 
puddles. 

"You would catch a cold," he stated matter-of-factly as he could picture 
the train of thought going through Misao's head. Guiltily, Misao turned 
her head towards him for a moment, trapped in the embarrassing moment of 
having been caught before having even disobeyed. Sighing resignedly, 
Misao turned back to merely watch the spectacle before her, longing to 
play in the drops of silvery-clear joy. 

Abruptly, a burst of bright white light bloomed and glowed along the 
bottom edge of the gray clouds up above. Perplexed, Misao turned curious 
eyes on Aoshi, a demand for an explanation hovering on her lips, which 
died instantly as a low, loud rumble of thunder rolled past. 

With a squeak of surprise and fear Misao hurriedly retreated from the 
edge of the patio to the comfort of Aoshi's side, relieved by the feel 
of Aoshi's arm draped protectively over her shoulders. 

"N...nani kore?" 

"It's lightning. It happens often when it rains. Haven't you seen it 
before?" Misao shook her head vehemently, surely she would remember 
seeing something like this. Still, Aoshi-sama had never lied to her 
before, and he had certainly never been WRONG before, and knowing this, 
Misao began to doubt her memory. 

"Does it happen every time it rains?" 

"No, only sometimes, like now, when it's raining hard." 

"Oh." Feeling more assured that she had, indeed, never experienced this 
before, Misao watched another flash of lightning, and held her breath 
until she heard the following low rumble of thunder. 

Turning her head slowly to see Aoshi's face, Misao softly asked, "What 
does it mean?" 

"Nothing terrible. It just means that now you really shouldn't go out to 
play in the rain." 

Although Aoshi looked perfectly serious, Misao did not miss the amused 
glint in his eyes, nor the intended message in his words. Misao awarded 
Aoshi with a scowl, and purposefully stomped to the edge of the roof's 
cover. She leaped out into the rain and turned to give Aoshi a 
triumphant grin that all but screamed "Ha! I'm out in the rain and I'm 
not hurt!" 

It was not until the next flash of lightning lit up the sky 
(suspiciously close to her proximity, Misao felt), that that she gave a 
little shriek of surprise and went dashing into the cover of the terrace 
and Aoshi's suspiciously already outstretched arms. He could feel her 
trembling against him, whether from cold or fear or both, he didn't 
know. She had been out in the rain all of a few seconds, yet already she 
was soaked. Picking up Misao and holding her in the air, Aoshi situated 
himself in a sitting position, then settled Misao down in his lap and 
wrapped his arms around her little form to keep her warm. 

Almost reluctantly, guiltily, Misao mumbled, "Gomen nasai, Aoshi-sama." 

"Sorry for what?" Aoshi expected perhaps a tale of a broken vase that 
Misao had been unable to tell anyone about, or maybe lost throwing 
knives, perhaps, and was slightly unprepared and amused by what she said 
next. 

"I disobeyed you when you said I should not go out in the rain, and I 
didn't believe you when you said it would be dangerous to go out in the 
rain with the lightning and the cold. As an oniwabanshuu, I should have 
obeyed you. Gomen." 

Aoshi shifted slightly so that he could read Misao's expression, which 
was almost on the verge of tears. 

"As an oniwabanshuu, you should obey the okashira. But you should also 
respect and believe in him. If you do as I say without thinking that 
what I say is true, there is no trust between us. It is okay to test 
what I say, so that if it is correct you can believe what you are doing. 
You should never take up a cause, large or small, for me or for anyone, 
unless you believe that what you are doing is right. Do you understand 
what I mean?" 

Misao hesitated a moment, ingesting all that Aoshi had told her, then 
said, "I think so. It means it's ok that I disobeyed you, and if I do it 
again it's ok, just so's I understand when you are right and then I 
probably shouldn't do it again. Right?" 

"More or less, yes," he said, smiling as he watched relief flood over 
Misao's features and she cuddled in close to him. Sighing, he leaned 
back against the side of the house for support, and watched the slowly 
ebbing rain. The thunder had ended already, and the rain wasn't far 
behind. As the rain slowed and stopped, Aoshi realized that Misao's 
breathing had evened out, she had fallen asleep. With slight reluctance, 
as if uncertain as to whether or not what he was about to do was a good 
idea (she looked so peaceful), Aoshi leaned his face over next to 
Misao's ear. 

"Misao. Misao-chan." Slowly, Misao's eyes trembled open, and she blinked 
blearily for several seconds. 

"Misao-chan, the rain has stopped. Look." 

Misao rubbed at her eyes, watching as the blurry mishmash of colors 
before her slowly snapped themselves back into focus as she reached full 
awareness. 

Bright, beautiful evening sunlight filled the courtyard, in reds and 
oranges that were reflected in the many puddles that had now formed. 
Bright, clear beads of water clung to the tips of the leaves, trembling 
with their own weight. The sighs and sounds of the earth soaking up 
water could just barely be heard on the edge of her hearing. With an 
eager squeak, Misao briefly jerked forward to go dashing out to the 
puddles that were just waiting to be played in. Then she stopped, and 
turned slowly to look at Aoshi. Dragging her face up so that she was eye 
level with him, Misao seemed to search his face for a moment. Her 
bright, wide blue eyes met with his icy ones. 

"Aoshi-sama, may I pleeeeeaaaaasssse go out and play in the puddles?" 
she was practically bouncing up and down in his lap with impatience. 

Aoshi paused, stretching out the moments to watch the mounting tension 
in Misao's body as she desperately sought an answer. 

Then, "Yes, you may." 

He had barely said this before Misao had flung herself out of his lap 
and joyously sprinted out to the puddles. Aoshi watched, fascinated, as 
Misao danced in the puddles, her head flung back, her mouth open with 
laughter, caught in a moment of breathless joy. 

* * * * * 

Later that night, as Aoshi walked along the terrace, he could hear the 
sounds of a woman and a child shouting at each other from the direction 
of the bath. Omasu's voice, filled with scolding, came first. 

"Honestly, Misao-chan, playing in the puddles?! Not only are you all 
muddy, but your going to catch your death of cold!!" 

Misao's voice, filled with indignation, fired back, filled with 
confidence and not an ounce of apology, "Demo, Aoshi-sama said I could 
play in the puddles! He said it was ok! Stop SCRUBBING so hard!!" 

Aoshi gave the smallest of chuckles as he turned down the hallway to his 
study. 

"Oyasumi nasai, Misao."