Tired of being treated like a little girl by Aoshi, Misao decides to try a new tactic on him. They do say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but somehow this recipe gets a little mixed up. Get ready for the fluff to fly! MisaoxSano
THE WAY TO HIS HEART
SANO'S DILEMMA
"It's my birthday," Misao said mournfully. She leaned against Sano's shoulder and looked up at him with soulful eyes. "I was expecting a gift from him, you know," she continued, somewhat unevenly. "I even told him just exactly what I wanted. I guess that's why he's not here."
"You mean Aoshi? So he forgot and had to run out to buy it, heh?" asked Sano while refilling their sake cups. He chuckled to himself at the image of Aoshi scouring the market for some trinket.
"Buy it? HA!" Misao laughed bitterly then downed her sake in one gulp.
"I'd forgotten how little it takes to get you going," Sano said, taking the sake cup from her. "How about you just lay off the sake for a while? You wouldn't want to be passed out before Aoshi gets here with your present, would you?" He smiled tolerantly down at her, thinking that she really was sort of cute. He'd never paid much attention to her appearance, but tonight she was actually wearing a kimono. That kind of change caught even his attention. Sano couldn't help but think of her like a kid playing dress-up.
Misao scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Stop talking to me like I'm a child, Rooster-Head! Besides, he's not getting me a present. Or at least not the one I want," Misao pouted. Then, to Sano's horror, tears began to fill her eyes.
"Hey! Hey now! It's your birthday! No crying allowed!" Sano said frantically. Misao hung her head and sniffled. Sano grabbed her shoulders and gave her a little shake. "Look, whatever it is you want, if Aoshi doesn't give it to you then I will. Okay?"
He was looking around for some escape when Misao raised her head and looked up at him. Immediately Sano knew that something was wrong. The look of adoration and excitement that was now in Misao's eyes made him supremely nervous.
"Umm, wait minute Weasel-Girl! Just what did you ask for? I don't have a lot of money you know," he began. Misao started laughing, though there was a brittle edge to the sound.
"I asked for a kiss," she said, looking down again at her hands twisting in her lap. Sano's jaw dropped.
"You actually asked him? For. . .for that?" Sano managed to stammer out. He couldn't even begin to imagine Aoshi's reaction to her request.
"It would be my first kiss. I just want to know what it's like. Other girls my age are already married and I've never even been kissed." She paused, then suddenly clutched at Sano's arm causing him to knock over the sake bottle.
"Kiss me, Sano? You said you would!" Misao pleaded.
Sano stopped trying to clean up the spilled sake. It took him a moment to digest what Misao was saying. "I did not!" he burst out when comprehension dawned.. He tried to scoot away from the drunken girl, but she crawled after him across the tatami mats.
"Yes, you said that if Lord Aoshi didn't give me what I wanted, then you would. That's what I want: a kiss." Misao flung her arm out, indicating the rest of the Oniwaban filling the restaurant. She nearly fell as her momentum overcame her tipsy senses. "As you can see, he isn't here to give it to me," she announced, righting herself again by grabbing the front of Sano's shirt.
For a split second, Sano was tempted to accommodate the girl. How bad could it be to kiss her just once? Misao's eager face was just inches from his own now. She was practically begging him after all, and since when had he ever turned down such a request? Aoshi apparently had no intention of obliging her. Aoshi. Sano blanched as a vision of the former Oniwaban leader's deadly glare and flashing kodachi came to mind.
Sano cleared his throat and leaned back, reaching for a new bottle of sake. "Look, Weasel, Aoshi's supposed to be here any minute and I really like all my body parts right where they are. There is no way that I'm going to . . . " Sano stopped.
Misao had sat back down again on her mat and looked at him like he had kicked her puppy. No, she was looking at him like the whole world had kicked her puppy and he had told them to do it. Even worse, her eyes were big and teary again.
Sano cringed and tried to think of how to salvage this situation. At all costs, tears must be avoided. If there was one thing that got to Sano, former fighter-for-hire and all around tough guy, it was feminine tears. Misao bowed her head and her shoulders slumped; the very antithesis of the weasel-girl he loved to tease.
Briefly he again considered whether he ought to just kiss her and get it over with. Something more than the threat of bodily harm kept him from acting on the impulse however. He thought of Kaoru and her seemingly endless patience as she waited for Kenshin to acknowledge their feelings. Someday, Kenshin would come to his senses and find her as pure and untouched as the day they had met. Even someone as jaded as Sano could see how wonderful a testament that was to their love. Sano realized he wanted Misao to be able to bring that kind of dedication to the man she loved. Even if it was Aoshi.
"You don't really want me to kiss you, right?" Sano asked. Misao began to nod her head, then shook it, then stopped, confused. She looked away and bit her lip. Sano continued, "If I kissed you now, then your first kiss is gone forever. You should save it for someone special, for the person you want to spend the rest of your life kissing."
Misao seemed to consider this, and Sano started to congratulate himself. It sounded like something Kenshin would say. In fact, he had almost added, 'That you should,' to the end. While Misao was deep in thought, Sano took the opportunity to retreat from the table. Safety in numbers was his objective for the remainder of the party.
Later that night, after watching to be sure Misao had gone to her room, Sano went out on the balcony at the front of the Aoiya. He wasn't going to take any chances on that girl finding him alone and trying again to get him to kiss her. His thoughts turned to a Tanabata festival when Kenshin had unwittingly proposed to Kaoru due to Tae's attempts at matchmaking. I should have taken my own advice and left things well enough alone, he thought morosely. Kenshin and Kaoru would work their feelings out, he knew it. Misao and Aoshi ought to work their problems out too. Somehow though, and he didn't care to ponder why, Misao was just different. He hated to see her enduring Aoshi's indifference.
Sano took a drink from the sake jug he had brought with him. He was not surprised when Hiko Seijuro suddenly appeared on the balcony. The presence of sake was a lure for the man. Sano passed him the jug and said, "Some party, huh? The main course didn't even arrive! I can't believe I went through all that trouble to plan this thing, and that cold bastard doesn't even show!"
"Well, I was there, so all the ladies were well entertained," Hiko proclaimed proudly as he poured some of the sake into a delicate cup he had pulled from the depths of his cape. He took a sip and closed his eyes. "This sake is actually quite good. It reminds me of a stream in springtime, swollen with snowmelt, rushing to her lover, the sea. . ."
"Actually, Omasu brewed it," Sano interrupted, hastily taking the jug back from the garrulous Hiten Mitsurugi master."Perhaps you should go thank her for it," he suggested slyly.
Hiko was silent, staring down into the empty street. Sano wondered if he had heard, or even realized that the sake jug was gone from his hand. Finally, the tall man turned and declared, "Ah, you are not quite as worthless as my stupid apprentice at least! A fine idea which I would have thought of myself in another moment!" He swept back inside and down the stairs, his cape billowing behind him.
Sano smiled to himself. Maybe I'm not so bad at matchmaking after all, he thought. He looked out on the deserted street below, wondering whatHiko had found so interesting. He thought he saw a flicker of movement, then caught sight of a flash of white disappearing into the shadows between the Aoiya and the building next door. Aoshi. Well, this should be interesting, Sano thought as he too made his way downstairs.