Aoshi Shinomori groaned as he stepped out of his car into the cold snow. Why his sister had wanted him to meet her at this shopping center on Christmas Eve was beyond him. Aoshi had nothing against Christmas and buying gifts, but he was the kind to get it done early and online to avoid the shops all together because of the maddening craze like the one he was witnessing right now. His sister, Megumi, however, was always rushing to get things done last minute. Especially since she began working at the City Hospital. As one of the best pediatric surgeons in the country, Megumi was always so busy, so it was even a miracle that she remembered it was Christmas.
"Aoshi!" hearing his name, he snapped out of his thoughts to see his sister waving to him wildly, while clutching her daughter, Nila's hand.
"Uncle!" Aoshi braced himself at his 3 year old niece launched herself into his arms. Aoshi, despite his sour mood, smirked and hugged his grinning niece. "Uncle Aoshi, did you know Santa is coming tonight! I hope he brings me a new Barbie and stuffed dinosaur."
Placing his niece on his shoulders, Aoshi greeted his sister, " Well, Nila you've been such a good girl this year I have absolutely no doubt Santa will be good to you." Aoshi said hugging Megumi.
"Hey, Aoshi, Merry Christmas!" Megumi smiled as she began pulling him into the store.
"Megumi, why am I here?" he groaned. "I finished my shopping in November. Why must I suffer these crowds so you can shop?"
"Ugh, you're such a Grinch. I need your help with momma, daddy and Sano, that why," she said with a huff.
"Well, mom and dad are easy, but your husband? Shouldn't you know that better than me? Besides can't you just give him sex," he whispered the last part as he looked at his niece who had crawled off of him and skipped slightly ahead on her mother.
"As much as he loves that, I can't give him something he gets every night now can I? ohohohoho." Megumi laughed as her brother grimaced in disgust.
Sanosucke Sagara was Aoshi's brother-in-law, who despite his gruff exterior was one of the city's top detectives with the police department. While Aoshi had been shocked to meet his sister's then boyfriend at the time, he soon came to realize just how great he was for his sister and the two became fast friends.
"Where is Sano tonight? Don't you guys usually endure this torture together every year?" Aoshi asked as they walked into the smoke shop to get his father a box of his favorite cigars.
Suddenly, Megumi's face when dark and her eyes glistened with unshed tears, "Oh that's right I forgot you didn't know. Um, well, you know Katsu? Sano's partner?"
Aoshi nodded and furrowed his brows contemplating what the long haired Narcotics cop had done to upset his sister. Megumi fiddled nervously with a peace of her hair as she continued, "Well, he was shot tonight during a bust, Aoshi. He's in really rough shape. Sano is at the hospital now with Katsu's fiancé, Tae to hear if he's going to be ok."
Aoshi's mouth hung open in shock as they left the shop having paid for their purchase. Megumi continued, "I ran into them as I was leaving to meet Sano and when I saw the fear in Sano's eyes I knew it was bad. He was shot three times with one in his stomach, one an inch from his heart and one embedded into his spine. There's a good chance he's going to be paralyzed. Sano is a mess, but he's putting up a brave front for us because he doesn't want us to worry or ruin Christmas, but Aoshi, that could have been my husband." Aoshi crushed his sister into a hug as she silently wept scared tears.
His sister hardly ever cried, but this was life or death, so he understood her fear, but as quickly as she started crying, she stopped and straightened herself up again to the poised doctor she was. "So, hopefully we'll hear good news tonight and he can relax and enjoy tomorrow a little."
"Sano's tough Megumi, you know he's too damn stubborn to die and you'll be there to stitch him up if he gets hurt," Aoshi said with tenderness not seen by many.
"Mommy! Look! It's Auntie Misao!" Aoshi and Megumi were snapped back into reality by Aoshi witnessing his niece with her face contently pushed up against the glass of the beauty parlor they were in front of now. "Can we go wish Auntie Misao Merry Christmas Mommy?"
"Of course! Oh, Aoshi you've never met Misao have you? You remember her. Karou's cousin who we went to college with," Megumi said as they opened the salon door.
Aoshi shrugged but followed his sister. He truthfully had heard the name but had never met the girl he had heard so much about, so he was, if nothing else, curious to put a face to the name.
Megumi was greeted by a tall woman with her hair in a high bun with chopsticks in it, "Omasu, Merry Christmas! Nila wanted to come see Misao is she here?"
The woman nodded, but as she opened her mouth to speak they heard a loud crash and high pitched female voice come from the room in the back, "GET OUT YOU NO GOOD LYING PIECE OF SHIT! I LEFT YOU A YEAR AGO FOR A REASON ENISHI! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY SHOP NOW!" What then sounded like a struggle was followed by another crash.
The woman, Omasu ran into the back with panic in her face as all the members of the shop looked on with terror.
"Oh no! Misao!" Megumi ran into the back with Aoshi following and what he saw when he got back there left him stunned and boiling with rage.
When Aoshi finally got to the back room with Megumi, he said a large muscular man with white hair holding a petite woman by her long blue, black hair and pushing her up against the wall. Aoshi quickly, and without much thought, jumped in front of the women besides him to quickly secure the man into a headlock. "Let her go," he said calmly, but firmly.
"Hey *gasp* let *gasp* me *gasp* go," the man choked out as his grip on the woman lessened. "This doesn't *gasp* involve *gasp* you!" Aoshi tightened his hold and repeated, "Let her go!"
The man struggled a little but then let go of his vice like grip on her hair as Aoshi let him go causing him to drop to the floor. Stepping in front of the woman as the man struggled to get up, Aoshi noticed that the man had several scratches on his arms and face and a decent size black eye forming around his left eye. This woman must have put up one hell of a fight.
"You son of a bitch, I'll kill you!" the man stammered as he stood in front of Aoshi with rage in his eyes.
"You can try, but I bet you won't win," Aoshi said as he stared down the man.
The two men stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity, until they heard the voice behind them. "Omasu, call Saito! Tell him Enishi is breaking my restraining order terms."
Upon hearing the woman's voice, the man snapped out of his staring contest with Aoshi to turn his eyes on the woman behind Aoshi. "you bitch! This isn't over!" And with that he turned on his heels and ran out the back door.
With the man out of sight, Aoshi turned to the tiny fighter behind him and suddenly forgot how to breathe. In front of him was a petite woman with the most amazing blue eyes he had ever seen. Her body with small had a proportionate curve to it that made Aoshi feel suddenly aroused. They had locked eyes and a small blush of red was beginning to creep its way onto her face.
"Oh, Misao are you ok?" Aoshi heard Megumi say as she rushed forward to hug the woman and examine her wounds.
"Misao, what happened?" said the other woman, Omasu.
Finally, breaking eye contact with Aoshi, Misao turned to her concerned friends.
"I was taking out the trash for the day and once I turned to reenter the store I felt someone grab me from behind and push me into the wall. Next thing I knew, Enishi was slapping me across the face and squeezing the life out of my wrists. We struggled for a good bit until this guy, " she hitched her thumb at Aoshi, " came in and you know the rest." She turned to Aoshi with soft eyes. "Thank you so much for your help! Never fun when the crazy ex-boyfriend shows up to your job on Christmas eve."
Aoshi smiled a small smile and nodded as the women continued talking. "Misao," Megummi said as she smoothed some hair behind Misao's ear. " What did he want?"
Misao sighed and looked down at the floor, "What else does Enishi care about? Money. He was claiming that I was a bitch for taking away his apartment, even though I had that place way before Enishi and my name is on the lease. Whatever, I'm done with this and I'm fine, so let's start over ok? Merry Christmas!" She smiled and bright smile that Aoshi knew would haunt him the rest of his life.