Sound of Heartstrings [Three.]
Summary:Â Who would've thought that one night patrol would bring so much troubles? Okita didn't really want to travel 150 years into the future, neither to be involved in yokai business. But what other choice did he have?
You, a miko of local temple in 21st century Kyoto, never thought that you'd be taking care of time travelling samurai, but when was life ever easy for you?
''Akagitsune, no!" you shouted as the shikigami made once again an attempt to end time-travelling samurai's life.
You really wanted to say that the breakfast went peacefully, you really did. But when you got back to the temple you met with your grandma, who seeing your wet forms ushered you into the house with her broom. You heard Souji mumbling something about annoying old hags. Cursing under her breath, she told you to dress up and then you shall talk. And that you did. Almost. Because while you grabbed your shinre attire, Souji was still in his hospital clothes.
You went to your parents room, they were on, yet again, business trip and won't be home for a while anyway so you were sure your father won't miss one of his attires. And that's when you realized that having a samurai from 150 years back is not going to be easy. You made a mental check-list to go clothes shopping later. You grabbed one of your mothers fashion magazines too.
You presented Okita the clothes consisting of white kimono and blue hakama. You showed him into the bathroom and went to your room.
Akagitsune materialized beside you and sat on your bedding. The shrine was filled with spiritual energy, so he didn't have to take yours to have materialized from and his presence didn't tire you out.
You heard shuffling of the doors and saw Souji walking out of the bathroom. You nodded your head with approval.
''Will do,'' he said seeing your stare. He readjusted the collar and his katana at his side. You smiled.
''Then let's go eat breakfast!"
And that's when everything went to hell; Souji made his way after you and stepped on Akagitsune's tail. Seeing his expression and smirk, you were sure he did do this on purpose. The kitsune squeaked and jumped into the air. He growled and you could almost see thunderbolts between them.
''Come on!" you tapped your foot. Why was he picking fights?
Akagitsune leaped and almost bit Okita, if he wasn't faster and hadn't stopped him with his sword.
''What is happening here!?" your grandma's croaky voice resounded in the air. Everyone stopped. Under her glare Akagitsune only huffed and went to her side, Souji on the other hand sheathed his katana.
''What about breakfast?" he asked, smirk on his face.
''No breakfast for you, young man,'' your granny started, ''until you tell me who you are."
And that would be a hard part, you thought.
''Granny,'' you stepped beside Souji. ''This is Okita Souji-san of Shinsengumi. He, um, under some circumstances happened to be transported from the past to the present."
You smiled. Okita waved his hand at your granny with a Cheshire cat like grin. He was way too relaxed.
''We found him by the river, and he fought with a tengu, and I don't know how it happened but he's here and I already offered him to stay, so we can't throw him out," you breathed out. Your grandma's eyes were going between you and Okita.
''By the river?" she asked. She frowned, confusion evident on her face.
You and Souji looked at each other.
''Yes, ma'am,'' he confirmed. ''I was by that river in the past, I was thrown into it and appeared here. As crazy as it sounds."
He said, his voice a little tired. Your grandma was silent, until a kettle whistled. Your grandma, still in thoughts went to the kitchen.
''I think she's not convinced," you whispered.
''Oh really?" he whispered back. He rolled his eyes and stretched out. His brew twitched but he said nothing about his pain. Another note to your mental notebook. ''Come on, miko-chan. I'm hungry."
''Just call me by name," you said, not really into 'miko-chan' nickname.
He didn't seem to be wierded out, perhaps because your house was old and looked like a traditional Japanese household. That is, until you settled at the table and he saw a rice machine. He was staring at the boiling rice like a child first seeing a toy. It was kinda cute, you thought leaning on the table. He was poking it with chopsticks.
Your grandma was standing at the doorframe, with tea at her hands.
''What is that?" he asked, still wary. Then the sound signalling ready rice resounded without a warning. Okita tensed like cat with his hands ready on the katana, pushing the device away. The lid opened by the impact and rice woth of three serving scattered on the floor.
''Whoah!" you jumped up. Okita looked suspicious, but you definitely wouldn't allow him to slash it in half like your phone. You started to clean up while explainig the phenomenon of rice machine to Okita.
When you cleaned the mess up, and you finally ate breakfast, in peace you had time to think about plans for the day. You had to equip the samurai in everything he needed. And visit insurance, although you didn't think you'd be able to do much. You started to wonder whether not to insure all of your modern things. Was it even possible?
''Okita-san," your grandma spoke, snapping you from your thoughts. ''Tell me, you fought with Akagitsune this morning. Can you see him?"
''Huh?" he blinked. ''Of course, I can see it,'' he said.
''And my granddaughter said you fought with tengu?"
''That katana he has can slash yokai, granny. You've always said that weapoins must be special to be able to reach yokai, right?"
She clicked her tounge. ''Show me the sword, Okita-san."
''Why would you want to see it?" he asked. "Frankly speaking I don't understand what both of you are talking about."
She gave him an expectant look and asked once again. Okita with hesitation gave her the katana. He watched her every move, as she looked at the blade. She gave it back to him.
"You can stay at our household, Okita-san," she decided. "It seems your weapon has some spiritual energy forged within. I'm not sure if its because its technicallu 150 years old or for some other reasons. It is rather unprecedented..." she hesitated and seemed to look for correct words. "To have a time traveller. Well. I still have a hard time believing it. But I do have a condition."
''A Condition?" he challenged.
''Yes," she nodded, not backing down from his gaze."I don't know what your arrival suggest or danger such a Tengu in this region means. But Kunizuka family helps people as temple guardians and as onmyoji. If you wish to stay with us I would only ask you to not put my granddaughter at risk and have her protected. Some help at the temple would be reqired too."
''Granny,'' you interjected. ''I don't need a bodyguard. And just how long do you think he'll stay here?''
''You want me to babysit her?" Okita asked. Your grandma nodded.
''Babysit?!'' you shot your head at him. ''I don't need babysitting. Granny!"
Grandma's dark eyes flashed as the cup made contact with a wood. You went silent and waited for her words.
''Be quiet,'' she looked at you. ''Tengu do not appear this near the temple and people don't just randomly travel through time."
She glanced at Okita again.
''I might be old fashioned, but I lived as Onmyouji for forty years till I retired,'' she spoke. ''Something will happen soon and I can't leave _____ alone. Okita-kun, think of it as employment. In exchange for this girl's safety, I will make sure you have everything to make living here.''
Grandma bowed her head to the samurai and waited for the reply. You were fooling around earlier, but she was deadly serious. You were too caught up with bizzare situation of Okita being here to think more rationally about whole situation.
''Fine,'' Okita said, with a bow of his head. ''I'll take that offer.''
With a sigh you turned to him, and bowed like your granny did.
''I will be in your care, then.''
''You're tripping over your feet and you still wonder why granma wants a babysitter for you,'' Souji snickered as you held onto your dear life. You shot him a glare with flaring cheeks as you let go of a stone figure of a fox.
You decided that the earlier you did a trip to the city, the better and so as soon as the breakfast ended, which was late anyway, you took your purse and told Souji of your idea. Of course, when you made your way down the stairs you tripped.
You showed him your tongue and readjusted your clothing. Akagitsune was standing beside Souji, and you were sure he was snickering too. Dumb fox and dumb samurai.
''Is this yours?" a new voice joined. You turned around to see a familiar face.
''Kotobuki-san!" you greeted an eldery man. He was holding onto your necklace. You looked down and saw it missing from your neck. ''Yes! Thank you!"
You bowed your head to him, as he gave it back. You thanked gods for someone like Kotobuki-san, if you lost the necklace your grandma would kill you. She gave you the necklace few years ago, telling you to never lose it. You looked at the green jade at your hands, adorned with red pearls. Quite simple, but you liked it.
''And who is that?" Kotobuki-san asked, pointing at Souji.
''That, uh, that is," you tapped your cheek. ''Ah, he is, um, a new apprentice at the temple, yes. Oki..wasa... Soujirou."
Kotobuki-san blinked at you and leaned on his cane, ''I thought only woman can serve at your shrine."
''He's more like a janitor," you said, feeling daggers shot at you from Souji's eyes.
Kotobuki-san nodded and smiled at you, he patted your hands and walked forward, his cane clicking on the pavement.
''I see, I see. Then, till we see each other again, Okiwasa-san," he greeted Okita with a tip of his hat and went to the shinre. You waved and laughed, happy to see old visitor.
''A janitor, huh?" you heard Souji's whisper. A shiver run through you body.
''I had to think about something. People are going to ask," you said, trying to appease him. To no avail of course, he still looked. ''You could've always said something!"
''It was funny to see you struggling," he smirked.
''Rude." you pursed your lips.
''You look like a frog when you do that, miko-chan," he snickered.
''I don't, do I?" you turned to kitsune who followed you. Akagitsune cocked his head and after a moment nodded. Your eyes went wide, '' you traitor!"
You turned away from them and marched out of the gates, putting the necklace around your neck. You looked back just to see Akagitusne jumping on Okita's arm. The kitsune was small enough right now, in a size of a cat, so he could easily settle on Okita's shoulder. The said samurai glared at the shikigami and tried to shoo him away.
''Get off, furball," he clicked his tongue and hit him with a hilt of his sword. Kitsune huffed and only settled closer. Akagitsune usually did this to you, and you'd walk with him on your shoulder, but you guessed with Okita's bigger frame was more comfortable for the red fox. Okita turned to you with deadpan expression, ''take him of, miko-chan."
''I can't do anything,'' you shrugged your shoulders. ''He does what he wants, he is a kitsune afterall.''
Okita sighed and followed you.
''Hey, by the way, how old are you?" you addressed him, as he still tried to push the shikigami off his shoulder. ''you know, people can't see him, so you look weird.''
"I'm 23, why are you asking?"
"Just curious. You're my age. Kinda."
He only raised his brew at you.
''So we're going to the city now, and you will probably be surprised how much Kyoto changed."
''What are you hinting at?"
''I am saying that, no swinging at cars, trains, people or really anything you think is witchcraft."
You knew shortcut through the forest so you didn't have to walk through the main streer, but you were nearing the train station and you were able to hear the sound of the city. Perhaps it would be cultural shock for him, but it had to be done at some point. Sooner the better.
''If it's yokai," you continued, ''I will sense it, but the rest is just modern technology."
"All right," he said. You smiled. You even wore your shrine attire for him not to be only one out of the place. Although people would be used to mikos, a male with katana at his hip wasn't too common. You stopped at the train station and watched as he was looking around. His hand rested at the hilt of his sword, his muscles tense. Can't be helped, you sighed.
His head shot at the sound of arriving train. He frowned and watched as people shuffled in front of him. You grasped his sleeve and yanked him forward. He was standing frozen in his place.
''Oh come on," you pushed him from behind and into the train. The doors shut after you and Okita leaped to them. You jumped and held his hand, stopping him from unsheathing the katana. "No slashing, remember?"
He glared at you, and leaned on the wall. The train started and you almost fell down, again.
Souji's hand kept you in upright position as you grasped the handle. God, how idiotic you two must've looked like. You sat down and sighed. It would be at least thirty minutes of a journey if he wanted to stand, you'd let him. A kid near you looked at Okita.
''Hey, nee-chan, is that sword real?" he whispered to you. You smiled at him.
''Yeah, unfortunately for any modern equipment, it is," you laughed. The boy looked at you, surprised, his mother scooped him closer to herself. You couldn't blame her, though. You felt light stab in your shoulder and when you saw Souji's unamused expression you decided to ignore it. Gosh, you were so tired that you even made that stupid conversation with a ten year old.
Next minutes went, surprisingly, peaceful. Okita watched as suburbans slowly changed into full fledged city. His brown hair fell on his cheeks, and you finally had time to appreciate his futures. You weren't stupid, he was handsome. And looked damn good with kitsune serving as a collar. And a few highschoolers noticed that too, save for the kitsune, as you could guess from their giggles and murmurs. He was yet too absorbed in the world outside the window to take a notice of it.
Every announcement about next station made him a little jumpy, and you could see he was uncomfortable by the way he was clenching his hand on his katana. His head shot to you, when he noticed you standing up. And there you made a mental note to take him to the hairdresser.
''We're getting off here," you said and waited for the doors to open.
You were in the underground station, where the people were bustling right and left and to be honest you much preferred your suburbs of Kyoto instead of a rush of a city. You still held onto Okita's sleeve as you maneuvered in the crowd. You went to the moving stairs and finally you could breathe out as you made it to the ground level.
''First thing, clothing for you," you turned to Souji. He didn't seem to hear you, he was too absorbed in the street rush. You looked at the buildings surrounding you, all lighted up with monitors showing advertisements. Street lights changed from red to yellows and greens all the time. Cacophony of sounds, you were used to, made Souji jumpy.
A group of tourists tapped you on your shoulder.
''Hi, can we take a photo with you?" a blondie woman asked, showing you her camera. You guessed your clothing was foreign enough for them to think of you as attraction. Her family looked at you two curiously. You weren't sure what would Okita say, though.
''Sure," you smiled, and replied in English. You tugged at his arm making him finally look down at you. ''Just one photo, okay?"
''What?" he asked, and watched as foreigners surrounded you. Another man made a photo and they quickly shuffled on their way. Okita turned to you, ''What the hell was that?"
''Tourists, they wanted to take a photo. We're wearing shrine attire, so it's bound to happen," you shrugged. You were kind of used to it. When you were younger and used to run errands with your granny a lot of tourists would want take a photo. They still did.
He looked like wanted say something, but after a moment he just shook his head.
''Yessir~!" you smiled at him and tugged his sleeve. You turned back to him, ''you'll see, this age is not as bad as you think!"
You made your way to the clothing store. You rummaged through the shelves and hangers, thinking of an attire that would suit the samurai. You looked at the jacket in your hands and looked back at Okita, who was walking after you like a lost puppy. Not that you would tell him that. You eyed him and wondered, what would his size be. You took the same jacket, but smaller and compared. He wore your father's clothing, but your father was taller than him. So the smaller jacked would do. At least you hoped for it.
You gave it to Okita, and turned back to the hangers, ''take this, and this. And I think this will do too. Ugh, that looks awful, no, put that back. Okay and I think that scarf is perfect and you have to wear it."
You smiled at him as you put more and more clothing on his arms.
''Hey, miko-chan," he grumbled. ''It would be nice if I could see past these rugs."
''It's not rugs, Souji-san, these are latest fashion hits. I saw them in magazines!"
You giggled and pushed him into the changing room. You told him what to wear with what and with each change of clothes he looked more and more annoyed. You sat at the sofa with Akagitsune by your side. Be a stylist for a bakumatsu samurai was a chance that doesn't just appear before anyone.
''Good! We're buying it all,'' you sing-sang when he walked out in his last outfit. He readjusted his new green jacket. You made your way to the cashier to pay for it all and made him stand still as the teenager behind the counter checked the tags on the clothes he wore. She looked at you with a frown as you payed for all the clothing. You almost fainted when you saw the price, but your granny said you could spend as much as you wanted if it went from your pocket. There goes your savings.
You took of the tags off the clothes as soon as you left the store, and now only you were walking around in the shrine attire.
"Huh?" you asked when Okita handed you bags with his clothing.
''I won't be carrying this," he said. His smile had a nasty glint to it.
''Me neither," you huffed, trying to push the bags back to him. ''I'm not your servant!"
It turned out you were to be his servant for the rest of the day. Akagitsune went back to Okita's shoulder and nestled there, snickering at your miserable form. Traitor, you thought. Later you went to cosmetic shop and bought him basic hygiene items. And then you decided that you were hungry.
And that was whole another story of almost killing machine that would serve you the food. Because you should've though about it, but you didn't and made Souji try to order his food from a digital menu. You asked him what would he like to eat, you ordered and everything would go smoothly of not for a serving machine that happen to almost slashed by samurai.
The waitress looked at you and without much thought showed you out of the diner and onto the street.
''Thanks, I lost money and the food," you face palmed.
''Shut up, or you'll end up like this thing" he huffed. You took some food to go and sat down on the bench. Okita followed and with a disgusted face ate what you gave him.
You stretched out and closed your eyes. Whole day at the shop wasn't your favorite pastime, but you couldn't complain. You took it upon yourself to equip him. ''One last thing,'' you mumbled.
''Do we have to?" he grumbled.
You stood up and took the bags with you. Okita followed you to the shop. It was the worst you could serve him, as you took him to phone shop. But you really had to do something with your phone. You left Souji to play with phones, with a hiss no to slash anything and showed the cashier your phone.
He looked at it horrified.
''What happened to it?!" he asked, with eyes wide.
''Yeah, so," you started, and tapped your cheek. "My father's cousin has a son, and his friends father has a butchery. And I borrowed him my phone, he's middle-schooler and you know, they have weird ideas," you smiled and watched as the man tried to connect the facts. ''So they took knife and, wham!, they slashed it!"
''It was an experiment', they would tell me later! Can you imagine?" you threw your hands in the air. The cashier nodded. ''And they almost cried before me! I couldn't do anything but scold them."
You put your hand over your heart. Souji materialized beside you. You glanced at him and continued.
''And you know, middle schoolers, they don't have money. So my aunt told me, go to that shop. They will surely help you!" you beamed at him, one of your best smiles. ''And here I wondered, what would I do, it will cost so much money, and look at me, sir!" you pointed at yourself, with a frown. ''I'm just a poor miko. And then I saw your advertisement in tv. You said, you can help with anything."
"Y-yeah," he adjusted his glasses. ''But this..."
"Please!" you grasped his hands. ''I have a grandmother at home, she likes to call me and she'd get worried if I'm not picking up."
The cashier gave in and took the phone. He said he has to write a few documents and they would contact you, or rather your grandma, when your case will be considered done. You thanked him and bowed and quickly marched out of the shop until he saw how many bags you carried and that you could afford a new phone.
It was late in the afternoon, you hadn't even noticed how much time passed when you were out in the city. You were tired and you feet hurt and all you wished for was to be home again. You cursed under your nose, as you noticed that you forgot your purse. You told Souji to wait for you and you run back to the phone shop. Fortunately, your purse was there and you thanked the shopkeeper and havens. You tripped at the entrance, kicking your feet on the door frame.
Somebody pushed you and the necklace that was held with a strap was ripped off.
"Oh, nonono," you mumbled picking up the stones. You counted them all, put in the purse, and all that was lacking was the strap and jade pedant. "Where are you?"
You were on your knees, with your purse under your arm, slowly crawling through the alley. You cursed yourself and your bad luck. You got up and decided to go back in front of the shop, maybe you missed it. You almost bumped into somebody. You shot him a quick sorry, a two steps later you noticed he had your purse.
''Hey!" you exclaimed, holding onto the strap. ''Let go!"
You heard a snicker, and the man tugged at your purse. You clenched your fists and tried to hit him. He dodged your punch and yanked the purse from your hands. You shouted after him, but he was quick on his feet and soon, would be out of the alley.
You heard him gasp, as his bottoms made a contact with pavement. At the entrance to the alley stood Souji, with his sword gleaming in the light, pointing at the thief.
''Give the purse back," he said in almost bored tone. Okita made a step towards the thief and put the blade at his neck.
''Go away, you crazy bastard!" the thief exclaimed and you watched as the blood started to drop from his throat. ''What the hell?! Did you cut me?!"
Souji smirked and looked down on him.
''I can do much more, and I will in three seconds if you don't give me that purse."
The thief sat, paralyzed with fear.
''Give me back my purse," you hissed at the thief. You really wanted it back, and well, you couldn't let Souji strike that man. Maybe, if you were born in his era, maybe you'd be fine with it, or at least accustomed to. But you weren't. Killing yokai didn't faze you, but humans were all different case altogether.
The thief threw the purse at the ground and flew out of the alley. You let a sigh of relief.
''To lose the same thing twice a day is kind of an achievement," Souji said, as he showed you dangling from his hands jade stone.
''Oh my goodness, you found it!" you leaped at him, but the jade disappeared from your sight as soon as appeared. Okita was smirking down at you, with his hand raised high.
''What are you gonna do now?"
You puffed your cheeks, ''give it back!"
He clicked his tongue and waved his finger in front of you, ''perhaps it'll be safer in my hands, than yours."
You stood on your tiptoes and tried to reach the strap with the jade. ''Oh, come on!"
He let a little bit of the strap down, and you were this close to grasping it, if he didn't immediately yanked it back.
''Come on, you've gotta try more," he sing-sang.
"Souji-san!" you wailed, leaning on him even more.
Your little jumps were useless against his height, and you hated it. You weren't such a shortie, really. You puffed your cheeks even more. You were almost there, just a few centimiters, and jade would be yours. Just a little more.
''Um,'' you heard a cough. ''Is this yours?" you froze and saw the shop keeper from earlier. He was holding a red stone in his hand. Your eyes widened, and your jaw went down. You were sure you collected all of the red pearls. But perhaps the shuffle with the thief caused you to lose one of them.
You let Okita go, and nodded with a small smile. You thanked him and waved as he went back to the shop.
''Why things like this keep happening to me?" you wondered aloud.
Okita shrugged and threw the necklace back at you.
''Why do you even care so much for it? I've seen tons of jade necklaces magatama shaped."
You huffed and pushed the necklace inside your collar. "Grandma told me to never lose it."
''You are an liar, you know that?" Okita said. You cocked your head to the side, wondering what was he hitting at. You followed him out of the alley and he pointed at the phone shop. ''The story you sold that guy? Shouldn't miko be truthful?"
''I know," you sighed. ''But I'm used to this. I had to lie my way through all my life. Being an Onmyouji kind of makes you lie at the daily basis."
