If Only You Smile 6 (epilogue)

AN: It was difficult to think up a proper happy ending. If this does sound unusual I'll revise it.

Revised: 5 August 2003

****

"Makimachi-san please put your weapons away," Soujiro displayed another one of those familiar smiles to the angry-looking ninja who was standing in front of him. "I didn't come here to kill anybody."

"Don't give me that crap," Misao shrieked. The sharp ends of her Tobi Kunai drew closer to Soujiro's chin as she moved herself forward slowly. Why the hell did someone from the Juppongatana have to return to Kyoto? Why now? Didn't the innocent people here deserve peace? Misao didn't want to go through that war again. Not when they had just recovered from a brutal battle. Her mind drew away from recalling her previous fight and focused on the enemy in front of her.

Soujiro didn't seem to notice how very close one of the Kunai was to cutting his chin swiftly. His gaze was too indulged with the fury lurking within Misao's jade orbs. For someone of her age she seemed to have the aura of a determined fighter and didn't seem to be the kind to surrender so easily in a fight. She really was serious on taking him out. The steady fighting stance was proof of this expression as well as the fixed glare.

"Ten Ken, there's no way you're gonna kill anyone from the Oniwabanshu or take an innocent life away. Not when I'm here," The braided girl warned, expecting a snappy comeback from him. Still, he continued to smile. Despite the furious plea this young female was making. He thinks this is funny, doesn't he? Misao thought. How in the world was this guy capable of keeping a very sweet smile on his face? Did he have extra facial muscles? "Get up and fight me, Seta." Each of her Tobi Kunai managed to prick a certain area on his chin when she said this. The disgustingly cute grin on his youthful face had now been wiped off ever since she made that comment. What replaced his expression was something of surprise.

"What's wrong? You're not afraid of Makimachi Misao, are you?" She said, curious to the change of emotion. Soujiro could see this girl had bravery behind those irises and this reminded him of someone else he met not so long ago. From what he had observed the Ten Ken could see that Misao must have had a good teacher to train her. He had to admit that glare Makimachi-san was giving to him was impressive for a young female fighter but he could sense impatience growing around her. That was what let her down here.

"Oh it's not that I'm afraid of you," Soujiro replied. "What you said on not letting me kill anyone…it intrigues me."

"What?" She simply replied from hearing the last sentence. An abrupt sound of laughter echoed from the grocery store and it caused Misao to jump in shock and automatically turn to her left where two men were patting one another's shoulders in friendly gestures and laughing their heads off so that the entire town could hear them.

Her gaze had been completely fixated with the boy sitting in front of her that she didn't pay any attention to other things surrounding her, which would explain the sudden sense of being startled by something else. It was as though she had taken herself and Soujiro to a place where nobody was going to listen to their conversation.

"Makimachi-san?" Soujiro's sweet intonation brought Misao back to reality and her head turned back to see the boy…wherever he was. The Ten Ken wasn't sitting in front of her any more although the food load he was carrying remained in its original position. She then realised there was something else missing and immediately shrieked in horror. The hand that was threatening Soujiro with sharp objects was magically empty.

"M-My Kunai…" Misao said, searching everywhere on herself and the ground for her missing weapons. "W-where…? H-how?"

"You lowered your guard just now."

Misao swirled herself around to find Seta Soujiro standing a few feet away, smiling in that weird way of his and holding the Tobi Kunai he quickly snatched from her left hand. Well he sure was fast. How could she not feel her Tobi Kunai being taken away? Oh damn those two men for taking her eyes away from the Ten Ken. If they hadn't laughed so loud then Soujiro wouldn't have escaped and she would have still kept her focus.

"Give me back my Tobi Kunai!" She ordered. "Then we'll really fight."

"Makimachi-san, I told you already I'm not here to kill anybody. I'm a..." Soujiro's voice faded when the dark haired ninja charged at him straightaway. She jumped into the air and he knew she was about to perform a flying kick on her way down.

"Gecho Geri!" She cried, aiming her right foot towards his face. However the kick connected to thin air rather than Soujiro's cheek. Misao landed back on the ground firmly then turned back to face her opponent. Her temper was flaring up inside each time she saw that sweet, calm façade on that guy. When was there a time when he would NOT smile and express something else? "Dammit!" She cursed aloud. This humour was nowhere near funny. Even Jiya could do better at cracking jokes. This guy was winding her up rather than making her laugh. Misao didn't care whether she was catching the attention of other people as she went in for another attack towards Soujiro. If he wasn't going to fight willingly and give her back the Tobi Kunai then she had to use force. Anyone who was from the Juppongatana was not to be trusted. They were everyone's enemy.

Unfortunately no matter how many times she got close to Soujiro he was able to dodge her punches and kicks with such speed. No wonder Himura had trouble fighting him before. He was as fast as the former Battousai. Soujiro didn't seem to be using a lot power as he glided past Misao's strikes. It looked like he was taking things easy around her yet was still able to miss any hit from his opponent.

"Makimachi-san," He calmly said and dodged a right hook to his face, "I'm a Rurouni now. I don't kill anymore."

"Yeah right," The distrust was clear in her reply as she attempted another Gecho Geri. This girl wasn't paying proper attention to what he was saying. She was thinking only on attacking him. How was he going to try to get her to listen? He could easily give her back her Tobi Kunai although it would prove difficult to do if she was all steamed up like this.

"MISAO!" Okina's voice beckoned to her loudly and the small group of staring onlookers broke away. Landing back on the ground, the young ninja's head turned to her left to see her grand father running towards her. Great! Now she was going to be in big trouble with Jiya. "What are you doing?"

"Jiya…" Misao was about to explain her reason when Okina looked over her shoulder to see the young brown haired boy standing one or two feet away. By the way he raised his eyebrows Misao could see that he recognised the stranger in an instant. His eyes then spotted the huge bag of food that lay on the ground. Murmuring a silent 'hmm' under his breath he strolled towards the bag and saw a small piece of paper attached to the string keeping the food inside.

"Oh, it's the special delivery for the Aoiya," Okina chuckled. "Seta, were you going to deliver this to us?"

"Yes that's right," Soujiro laughed too. "I work for Yui Ayane-san and she sent me to deliver the food to you." His face then went into a surprised façade – just like before when he heard Misao something that caught his attention and intrigued him. "How did you know my name?"

"We heard what happened to all the Juppongatana," The old man replied. As Okina's voice grew serious Soujiro lost his smile and Misao wasn't sure whether he was frowning or not. It was quite a change in character for him to not smile. At first she found it quite scary how the former Juppongatana member would keep on showing that cheerful face. However this was another matter. Soujiro was trying hard to keep the familiar smirk although this time seemed to have a lot more difficulty doing so. Misao saw into his blue eyes and felt a pang of sadness creep into her as she observed his face. Was he actually upset?

She thought this guy had no emotions whatsoever. Oh of course! Himura told everyone at the Aoiya what happened. Soujiro wasn't able to control his emotions when he was fighting the red haired Rurouni for the second time. Something tragic had happened to Seta Soujiro in the past and he was hiding it all behind those fake happy faces he pulled off.

"I take that you two were in a fight," Okina said.

"Jiya, he could have come to kill us one by one. I didn't want that to happen," Misao insisted.

"Misao, you overreact sometimes," The old man said, patting her shoulder. "Please forgive me for Misao's behaviour, Seta-kun."

"Oh don't apologise.  I think Makimachi-san did what she thought was best," Soujiro gently stated. "She saw I was the enemy and wanted to attack me in order to protect those she cared about." Those smirks didn't seem to popping up as much as before. Okina must have accidentally touched a sensitive nerve when he said he knew what happened to all the Juppongatana. "Makimachi-san was very brave to do such a thing."

Misao's face straightened spontaneously. Did her ears just hear things or was that a compliment she picked up? Did he just say she was…brave? Of all people, Seta Soujiro said a nice comment to her. Why couldn't Aoshi-sama say something like that to her more often? Someone from outside had called her brave. This was unbelievable. The anger towards Soujiro was dramatically dropping for the ninja. She found herself grinning without any reason and also felt a light blush decorate her girlie cheeks. What was wrong with her today?

"Misao?" Okina disrupted her happy moment.

"Oh uh…" Realising what her grandfather wanted to, she bowed. "Seta, sorry for attacking you like that."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Makimachi-san," The Ten Ken handed back her Tobi Kunai.

"Hey just call me Misao, ok?" She suggested, offering a small smile of encouragement. Soujiro mimicked the tiny grin in return and told her she could him by his first name in order to even the odds between them.

Okina could see the little misunderstanding that had taken place was out of the way and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Seta-kun, why don't you stay at the Aoiya for a while, since you're here? Seems like we have much to discuss, don't we?"

****

The first thought that went through Makoto's mind was 'How long had we been doing this?' Her body was close to Aoshi's chest, her hands raking through his smooth dark fringes and her green eyes staring up into those pools of ice blue. Evidently she had lost track of time ever since she let herself in that heated moment and Sempai must have had the same thought as her, judging by the slightly puzzled look on his stoic face. Hardly many words had been exchanged between the two of them while they had been kissing one another non-stop this afternoon. All Makoto seemed to remember from the top of her head was Aoshi's electrical touch on her skin and the tender kisses that greeted her lips with such intensity.

They could hear each other exhaling fast underneath their loud heartbeats and their clothes were clearly not exactly in a tidy fashion.  Makoto and Aoshi hadn't even given themselves some air during their moment and a little voice was telling them both that perhaps they ought to have a temporary break before deciding to continue their amusement. However it proved difficult to recover their strength after experiencing something truly fascinating.  Looking at Aoshi's cold face always reminded Makoto how beautiful he was up close. Even without a smile he was always handsome. It was those blue eyes that enhanced his masculine features. Also sensing his body was listening to his brain's commands once again, Aoshi was able to heave his strong body off of Makoto.

He let her break away so that she was sitting erectly in front of him, giving her some air to breathe. However a strange magnetic force pulled her back in immediately and Makoto's head leaned back into Aoshi's chest, just like before.  The heat coming from his torso livened up her face like magic. He could hear her humming delightfully through the position she was in and her arms wrapped around his slender waist. She had such a gentle touch he noticed as he watched her. In return Aoshi caressed the long curls of Makoto's ponytail and the back of her neck to make her more comfortable.

He could hear her murmur on how nice this position comfortable was, which amused him in secret.  Makoto had clung close to him for God knows how many minutes and it seemed her resistance to leave his embrace was too weak.  Aoshi then noticed he had to think twice on thinking that statement as he saw Makoto's head pull back soon after.  Looked like she realised she was getting carried away by this crazy behaviour and had awakened at last.

"Sorry I just got…oh my! S-Sempai, y-you're…" Her sentence seemed to come out in unusual babbles once her eyes met Aoshi's face. This was totally different to the façade she had grown used to (as well as admired). Sempai didn't have an impassive exterior this time. He was smiling! In the same way that Makoto did towards him. He was like another person in front of her eyes. He appeared like a much kinder man who showed his caring side very clearly. Was this the face that Misao could also see underneath that cold demeanour? Was this the face of Shinomori Aoshi she wanted to see for real?

Makoto found his smile to be so gentle looking and it weakened the piercing glare that was held in his cerulean orbs. "Sempai, your smile…it's wonderful." Her right hand touched his left cheek, near to where his smile was displaying itself in public. Their hands interlocked as they stared at each other once more. Makoto felt her lips curling into a grin as well and the two of them were in a minute of heart-warming silence – until someone spoke.

"I want to show you something," Aoshi said. Makoto was taken aback when he spoke normally at last and gladly let herself be guided onto her feet. She straightened her Kimono as she walked alongside Aoshi, her hand still attached to his after the door slid open. Her comfort of feeling Aoshi's powerful hand holding her grew much more when she took in the sight of the garden while standing by the back door. The bright green grass and the colourful flowers that bloomed outside reminded her of the forest that linked to Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto i.e. the forest where she and Aoshi had their privacy four months ago.

"Sempai, I recognise some of the flowers," Makoto said after spotting freshly bloomed Sakura on the taller trees and also some roses.

"I found a few of them on my way to Tokyo," He replied. "I thought they reminded me of you." Seeing him grin to her lightly, she blushed automatically and inner voices were tempting the girl to kiss him for the rest of the day to show her appreciation for his comparison between herself and flowers.  Now wasn't the time to get desirable thoughts running in her head she reprimanded herself. Besides they already had their fun and should they go back to their business, it would mean getting into the problem of being stuck together again.

"The garden is amazing," Makoto instead commented.

"You blend in so well with the bright colours," Aoshi stood in front of her to compare the tiny landscape of the garden alongside the young brunette female. He was right. The flowers he had picked and grown over the months did go with Makoto like a perfect puzzle. He could just sit by the door and stare at her for hours while she stood in the garden, admiring the flowers and the trees around her.

"Aoshi-Sempai, you say such kind words," She complimented and moved in to kiss him softly. As their lips touched with each other teasingly, Aoshi began to notice how these past minutes of bliss was starting to clear his inner confusion up; especially when it concerned Misao's strange behaviour a while ago.

When he thought about it over and over again, Aoshi realised that it wasn't much of a surprise that Misao had done all this - that is to say brought Makoto all the way from Osaka to Kyoto to see him after four months. After all, she more than just admired the Oniwabanshu Okashira as a person. If the young ninja hadn't found the painting in the first place then the opportunity to hold Makoto in Aoshi's arms would never have happened. And neither would these endless kisses. Sometimes Fate had such unusual tactics when it came to reuniting people together, didn't it?

While they kissed, Makoto's hands dug past the collars of Aoshi's shirt and stroked the warm skin that made her face very comfortable. However the tiny second of excitement broke when the main door to the temple opened and a familiar voice shouted indoors. As they uncoupled themselves, Makoto and Aoshi adjusted their clothes so that they were presentable as usual. They managed to finish this stunt at a good time when Misao ran to the back door.

"H-Hey, Misao-chan," Makoto greeted. She hoped she wasn't blushing too much in front of the visitor. True there was some heat still lingering underneath her skin but it surely wasn't making her look foolish on the outside, right? Misao didn't seem to see any signs of being flustered, as her emerald eyes had fixated onto Aoshi himself.

Like Makoto's reaction before, she cried in delight at the wonderful sight that was in front of her.  "Oh my God! Aoshi-sama!" Misao shrieked repeatedly.  I knew she could do it.  I just knew it She was too happy to even say anything else to the Okashira other than 'Oh my God.'

"Thank you," The ninja then mouthed soundlessly to the other girl.  The excitement was making her speechless.

"No thank YOU, Misao-chan," Makoto insisted, understanding the message. "You were the one who suggested I come here. It is I who should give you my thanks." The braided girl still couldn't say much as she turned her eyes to see Aoshi show that warm smile she had wanted to see for so many years. Oh this was like a dream come true! Misao had been appreciated more than once today. She didn't know why it was her lucky day today. Was this a present from the Gods above for her gallant act as the temporary Oniwabanshu Okashira? Makoto spotted another shadow lurking further away and when all the colours started to mix against one another smoothly, she seemed to distinguish a familiar face. "Hey isn't that…?"

"Oh hello, Makoto-san," A young boy with a sweet face appeared by the door, peeking inside shyly once he saw that someone noticed his presence.

"Ten Ken," Aoshi said out of nowhere. Makoto didn't know why he said that and followed his gaze towards the front door. He must have referred to the young baby-faced boy standing by the doorway, smiling strangely.  Seemed like they both recognised the boy named Seta Soujiro. He was one of Ayane's new workers who started not long ago at the Teahouse.  What was he doing here in Kyoto?

"Wait Aoshi-sama, he's not a threat," Misao became very worried at what could happen next when she saw him scowl spontaneously at Soujiro. Makoto pulled on Aoshi's sleeve to prevent him from doing something over the top to the other visitor. "He's a Rurouni like Himura."

"A Rurouni?" Aoshi said, sceptical.  Oh of course.  Aoshi-sama wasn't there when Chou came to explain what happened to the Juppongatana.  He wouldn't have known at that time.  Then Misao remembered that Okina did tell him in person about what happened to the enemies later on but it seemed that the news wasn't exactly convincing enough to the Okashira.  Perhaps his thoughts were 'I'll believe it when I see it.'

"Misao-chan is right. He won't kill anyone." Makoto agreed then nodded in greeting to the young boy. "Hey Soujiro-kun, how are you? Did you come to Kyoto to deliver something?" She knew who he was all right. This guy was one of the Juppongatana but had now become a Rurouni who was trying to find answers about life and to make up for the number of murders he had committed while working under Shishio Makoto. That was what he told Ayane when he first met her a month ago. Who would have thought that a charming and friendly guy like him could be a former killer? At times Mako-chan found it hard to keep that fact in mind. It was almost the same for Aoshi-Sempai too. She never expected a cold man like him to be able to show he had a caring side.

"Ayane-san told me to deliver some food to the Aoiya. I think she knew you were here after you left the teahouse," Soujiro said as he entered the temple.

"Really?" She laughed nervously and remembered how smart Ayane was as an older lady.

He nodded. "She said you don't have to worry about the teahouse any more because I'll be there to help her from now on." Makoto didn't quite get what he was saying here. Was Ayane firing her?! But she hadn't done anything wrong – unless one counted the number of times she had to stop people from fighting in Osaka. Not that that was a bad thing of course. She was only acting by her rules of defending victims.

"She thinks you'll be happier here," Soujiro added when he saw a blank look on Makoto's face. "I take you know what she means." He smiled to Aoshi to indicate he had an idea what was going on between the Okashira and the young lady standing next to him.  Fabulous! Now Makoto was the one being twice as speechless.  She was getting more flustered inside.  And it was killing her, giving her slight difficulty in picking up the tray of food and drink she had carried with her earlier today.  She wouldn't be surprised if Aoshi was more self-conscious than she was inside.  Soujiro had such a weird way of making people timid over sensitive matters.  That smile bugged her during the brief introductory moments of getting to know him in Osaka.   

She tried to take her attention off her embarrassment by observing the two young visitors to keep her mind focused.  Funnily when she compared Soujiro and Misao standing next to each other she saw that they seemed to be quite a duo.  And if Makoto wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn that there were small trails of leftover blushes all over Misao's cheeks.  Well now that was interesting.  It almost reminded Makoto of herself during her earlier session with Aoshi-Sempai but it also gave her the impression that the young ninja was happy about something else, other than seeing somebody smile.

"Mako-chan, is there dirt on my face?" Misao asked, her face frowning in a curious manner when she saw the nineteen-year old look at her strangely.  She rubbed her hands over her face in case there *was* anything on her skin.

"Looks like you've been doing some blushing yourself," Makoto mentioned, grinning in a very convincing way (unlike Soujiro).  The braided ninja's eyes grew larger in surprise.  Where did that comment come from? How could she…? How could she notice? Misao had cooled down while Jiya was talking to Soujiro in the Aoiya, didn't she? Her face wasn't bright red or filled with heat.  The delight in being complimented by someone else had left her briefly flustered and warm inside.  Surely Makoto wasn't that perceptive to pick out such a thing from her.  But then again…Misao's fluster from earlier was starting to rise back to surface again. "Misao-chan, what were you doing with Soujiro-kun before coming here?"

"Huh?" Misao exclaimed innocently. "Nothing! We just bumped into each other outside.  Pure accident, you know." Makoto smirked albeit this time it appeared to be of a teasing manner.  She didn't seem to believe the denial the sixteen-year old was showing.  The ebony haired girl grew more defensive. "Oh don't even go there, Mako-chan!" Why were these two girls the only ones blushing now and then? Was Makoto trying to beat her into making her more embarrassed about boys? After a minute of quiet, the two girls suddenly exchanged giggles at each other and nearly forgot that Soujiro and Aoshi were standing next to them, acting laconic (or smiling constantly in Ten Ken's case).         

"Gee, talk about something else, ok?" Misao suggested.  Like she cared about the blush on her face! Makoto seemed to be ignoring the heat that was burning HER cheeks as well.  "I've got a good question for you, Mako-chan…why don't you stay here in Kyoto, since Seta says he's taking over your job?"

The brunette female was hesitant to provide a good answer to a question like that. "Oh…I don't know." Everyone looked at her as well, expressing what a good idea it would be if she said yes. This thought was quite tempting. 

"Makoto?" Aoshi beckoned her in that deep voice of his. 

Makoto's hesitation halted when she felt a recognisable grip on her hand and almost sent her into a swooning sensation, which was pretty much a bad idea to do considering that there was an audience in front of her. If she did live in Kyoto then what could happen? Dammit wasn't it obvious? She could be with Sempai all day. Spar with him in the garden. Spend some 'private time' with him. In other words just be beside Aoshi for as long as she wanted. Wasn't that what she wanted? What did Aoshi think about the idea? Maybe his answer was obvious. It could be seen in the strong hold he was giving to Makoto's hand.  And the strong gaze he was giving her.

"Oh come on, Mako-chan," Misao persuaded. "It would be so cool to have you here. You can cook some of that great sushi…and have some fun." She winked, getting her back with similar teasing.  Makoto couldn't help but laugh. Looked like she couldn't say no to someone like Makimachi Misao, could she? And she knew what the little ninja was talking about when she said 'have some fun.' It was obvious she meant doing things with Aoshi-sama when they were alone. Well Makoto had to admit if she did stay here then she would be in an environment where many people respected her and her deceased parents.

The remaining Oniwabanshu members were aware of her family's reputation and apparently showed their respect to them in clear gestures. The Oniwabanshu were perhaps the ONLY other people to appreciate her as a person rather than classified her as a fighting monster and for that she owed them a huge amount of gratitude for treating her with generosity. One look into Aoshi-Sempai's breathtaking face and she instantly knew what the right answer to give was.

When she saw the flicker of tenderness being exchanged between the two older figures, Misao cheered happily. "Tee-hee.  Guess we know what her answer is.  Come on, Seta! We have to celebrate." She grabbed his hand and ran out of the temple. 

"Slow down, Misao-chan," Soujiro told the sixteen-year old.  As the other two sprinted down the stairs like fast cheetahs, Makoto and Aoshi took their own sweet time leaving the temple. Their eyes didn't leave each other and Aoshi's arm didn't leave her shoulders as he held her close to him. It wasn't just a good day for Misao but it was also a good day for these two. Never had either one of them felt this fantastic ever or had even smiled so warmly to someone else before. Aoshi and Makoto were no longer alone, suffered sorrow or were deprived of love. They had each other now and it was going to stay that way.

END