Misao Makimatchi glared at her oppressor She yelled at him, kicked at him, and in her fury even ended up throwing all of her kunai. It did nothing. He still stood strong. Misao them proceeded to rand about all of the things that she Makimatchi Misao would do if he did not proceed to let her out right now. When that had no effect, Misao moved on to all the things that her beloved Aoshi would do if- no- when he came to her rescue. Or at least all of the things that she imagined he would do. Misao scowled at her oppressor before giving up and sitting down on the floor with a huff.

It had all begun last week. Okina had discovered that someone had been braking into their storage room. Okina had then taken every precaution as no one was supposed to steal from ninja. It had then been Misao's job to fix all existing holes in the storage room and Jiya even went so far as to have her fix all of the potential ones as well. It had taken Misao all week. It had even made her unable to bring Aoshi his tea. The horror of it all!

When Jiya had taken his final step however even Misao thought that he was taking it a little too far. Jiya had gone out and bought a western style door, and he spent two whole days with Misao trying to get it to work the way it was supposed to. When they had finally finished that, it was too late to bring Aoshi his tea. Needless to say, for the past week Misao had not been a very happy camper.

Misao slumped against the crates of Miscellaneous but useful items. For the millionth time she weighed braking the door down in her head. Jiya would probably be angry and it had cost him a pretty penny. Misao sighed. Jiya had gone wit the others to go shopping so he wouldn't be back until the next day at the earliest. Misao had been so excited to be alone with Aoshi-sama.

This morning she had walked into the storeroom and forgotten to prop the door open. It was now the afternoon. She had tried yelling for Aoshi-sama but he was too far away and had not heard.

If she was lucky, Aoshi would find her when he was done meditating. If she was not, Jiya would surly finder her tomorrow afternoon. Misao sighed again. Surely Aoshi would find her.

*

The cup in Aoshi's hand shattered. He concentration snapped. He cursed darkly at the shards. He had been trying to achieve inner peace for hours. He had gotten so close but somehow he had lost it again. Aoshi closed his eyes but this time he was searching for the reason why he couldn't focus. Misao... He hadn't seen her all week.

"Aoshi-sama!" his eyes flashed open and without thinking he stretched out his consciousness, searching for her ki. She wasn't anywhere near. Aoshi sighed. It had only been his imagination. His calm facade slipped. Was it so hard for her to come over? Why could she just come? Aoshi admitted he liked tea but really, she didn't have to bring it if she didn't want to. She didn't need to have an excuse to come see him. She just had to say his name and-

What was he thinking? Aoshi's hand curled into a fist. What right had he to think about her like that? Four of his best men were dead following him. There would not be a fifth. He could not watch even another suffer, least of all Misao. Aoshi could only hurt her in the end. Yes. It was better this way.

He looked down at the cup shards in his hand. Perhaps he could just finder her. If she would just say his name like she normally did, he would be content with that. Aoshi would have to be. Slowly he got up to search for her.

*

Misao sat curled up, both hands hugging her knees to her. she had thought that she would be fine all alone in the storage room but she was beginning to get scared. There was only one window. It was high up, small, and barred. Misao didn't mind the dark but as the day wore on, the window was beginning to cast long dark shadows.

Shadows that were far to familiar for her liking. They twisted and turned in the shapes of all of her demons. Her eyes squeezed shut. Aoshi-sama would find her. Aoshi-sama would find her.

*

Aoshi was starting to get a little worried. He had checked every where and could find no trace of her. Without him ever having to tell it to, his body began to pick up the pace. His eyes became sharper, his strides, faster. He would find Misao.

*

Misao sat alone in the ever growing darkness. Her heart was fluttering in her growing fear. She would not be afraid. Ninja are brave. Misao began to tremble. Her eyes flashed open. She would not be beaten. Makimatchi Misao was strong.

Her name was her good luck charm. No matter what happened she would always have it. The wind blew angrily against the walls of the storeroom. She jumped and her eyes snapped shut. She was trembling again.

Misao fought to gain control of her frightened mind. She had another good luck charm. A deeper, stronger one that she rarely used. Misao began to stand. Her eyes flashed open. She would be brave. With a rigid jerk, she took her fighting stance. "I, Shinomori Misao, will be brave!"

The effect it had on her nerves was almost immediate. She could feel the fear ebbing away. Breathing heavily she began to relax.

The door to the storeroom was opened in one violent motion. Aoshi-sama stood in the doorway. Misao shared at her dumbly for a moment before a hand clapped over her mouth. Her face began to heat up and she was sure that she was blushing heavily. For a moment she hoped he hadn't heard. His mouth twitched into a suppressed smirk. Misao began to feel lightheaded. Aoshi was smirking at her! He wasn't angry!

*

Aoshi escorted her back to the house. Once side of his mouth was curved into a smirk. He knew that he shouldn't feel this way but he just couldn't completely hold back the part of him that feeling quite amused and more smug than he was willing to admit. Aoshi had gone looking for Misao just to listen to the way she said his name. What he got however was far more amusing.

-

I found that too good to pass up. I hope you enjoyed it. ^.^

JAT