***Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Journey, Rurouni Kenshin or it's characters. This is a Misao and Aoshi fanfic with dribbles of KArou/ Kenshin and Sano/ Megumi. It is rated M for later lemons and limes. ENJOY and REVIEW****
Part 1:
(Aoshi's POV)
Aoshi Shinomori rubbed his tired eyes and cracked his neck; trying to alleviate the achy pain he felt. At 28, he was in impeccable shape, but after a 20 hour stake out with his partner, Kenshin Himura, he was done and shot and ready to crawl into his bed and not come out for a week. It was now 5:15 in the morning and in 15 minutes they would be relieved from their shift. Currently, his partner was out on a coffee run, but he'd return any minute with Aoshi's green tea. They had been on the case of crime boss Shishio Makuto for the past four months and presently were set up in an old office building across the street from where Shishio was conducting a rather large arms dealgoing down at one of his hangouts. For the past 20 hours they recorded all conversations and took numerous pictures of the deal going down and now thanks to the department's surveillance and case work, they would have enough to arrest him and make the charges stick. Aoshi and Himura had arrested Shishio so many times that the crime boss didn't even try to run anymore instead mocking them every time the case got thrown out of court for insufficient evidence or a witness backing out.
Not this time, thought Aoshi with a smirk. He was going away and this time for a long time.
"Hey Iceman! Ready to go home?" Aoshi was snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Detective First Class, Sanosucke "Sano" Sagara stroll in with his partner Tsukioka "Katsu" Katsuhiro and Kenshin following close behind.
"Sagara, Katsuhiro," Aoshi acknowledged their presence with a nod as he stood up and grabbed the 7-11 cup from his partner with eagerness.
"You ready to end this son of a bitch?" said Sano and he picked up the headphones to listen to the conversation occurring across the street.
"Oh yeah, we got everything and now it's up to your wife and her office to make the charges stick this time. Hopefully the DA won't muss it up again this time," Aoshi said with poison on his tongue as Sano narrowed his eyes at him.
"Hey! Watch it Shinomori! Megumi wants him out away probably more than you do, but it's not her fault that Shishio has deep pockets and one hell of a defense team. The DA works within the law remember? So watch it!" Sano balled his hands into a fist while Aoshi took a step further. At 27, Sano was usually the full loving jokester who took everything with a grain of salt, however, that was not the case when anyone said anything about his wife, Assistant DA, Megumi Takani-Sagara. They had been on and off for 10 years (meeting when he was 15 and she was 14) before they finally decided to get married two years ago. She was his one weakness and Aoshi knew he hit a nerve.
"Now, now, you guys, let's relax. There's no reason to fight each other, that there is not," interjected Kenshin as he stepped between his two best friends. "Sano, you know Aoshi doesn't mean it." Aoshi saw Sano's stance relax slightly, but he never took his eyes off of him. Kenshin continued, "You know that Shishio and we have a history so Aoshi and I are just a little keyed up and tired from this stake out." Kenshin turned to Aoshi and met his eyes, "Right Aoshi?"
Aoshi sighed and nodded; running a hand through his hair, "Sagara, I'm sorry. I know it's not Megumi's fault. I'm just over tired I guess and really want this SOB to be locked up for good." He paused and stuck out his hand. "Truce?"
Sano stared at Aoshi intently, before shrugging and giving Aoshi his hand in a hard shake, "Truce man! I know your anxious; hell we all are. Sorry man, just you know how I am with Megumi. She off limits to everyone." Aoshi felt Sano squeeze and pull him closer, "Got it?"
Aoshi nodded and Sano released his hand, turning to the window.
"Listen you two get some sleep ok? We're here for the last 20 hours," said Katsu as he pulled out his phone and opened a game app. "We'll call you if something big goes down ok?"
The two partners nodded and made their way out of the building into Kenshin's Red Camaro. While Aoshi had a nice car, a brand new white and black Mustang, they often took Kenshin's car when out on a case, because Aoshi liked to be the one to be the first one out of the car. Getting into the car, Kenshin brought the car to life with a loud rev of the engine and the two were off.
"You know Aoshi, you shouldn't blame Megumi for Shishio not being in jail. You know how she blames herself for him being out," Kenshin shot Aoshi a side glance. While his partner lacked the physical size, Aoshi knew better than anyone that he was a scary guy to be around.
They made an unlikely pair and had started off as bitter rivals in the academy, but over time they developed a closer friendship and now had been partners for the past 3 years. At 6'2" Aoshi was tall and physically powerful, but agile and light footed. However, he was nothing compared to the speed of his 5'7" red headed partner who sported an intimidating cross scar on his cheek and had eyes that darkened to amber when mad. Aoshi would never admit it to his partner, but the guy scared the crap out of him sometimes.
"You're right Himura. I just can't have him out and free. He doesn't deserve it, not after…" Aoshi trailed off thinking of his old SWAT team buddies, Han'nya, Beshimi and Shikjo who were all killed in a raid of Shishio's factory when the crime boss set a trap causing the whole building to blow up.
"My friend, you need to find peace. It is not your fault your friends died. We had a tip and sent word ahead that SWAT was needed. Your friends died doing their job. You should not blame yourself for taking the promotion and coming over to Homicide."
Aoshi nodded at his friend's words, but turned away to look out the window. He did still blame himself, had he not taken the position in Homicide he would have been there and that fact had haunted every day since his friends were killed. They drove in comfortable but tired silence as they came to a red light. While Kenshin searched for a song on the radio, Aoshi looked out the window, when he noticed a white and baby blue mustang pull up beside them. Aoshi began to look away when movement in the driver's seat caught his eye. Turning to look, what he saw brought a smirk to his lips. Sitting in the driver's seat was a tiny woman with a long dark braid. Her window was cracked and she appeared to be dancing in her seat while performed an impromptu drum solo on her steering wheel. While his interest peaked, Aoshi rolled down his window to hear her belting out the lyrics to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" Aoshi was entranced. The pure joy on her face and the obliviousness of her actions made Aoshi's heart fluttered. He chuckled to himself, but a bit too loudly, as the girl's eyes snapped open and met his own. He saw her blush and she turned down the radio, but Aoshi couldn't pull his eyes away, her eyes. They were the same color as her car, baby blue and almost sparkled under the glow of the traffic lights. He had never seen a woman so beautiful.
When the light turned green they both took off but seemed to be heading in the same direction until she turned off into the bodega by his apartment. Pulling into a spot he hopped out of Kenshin's car and tossed him a wave after a brief conversation about the case and he made his way to the elevator to his apartment. Getting into the elevator the doors started to close when he heard a voice cry out, "Please wait, hold the elevator!" Instinctually, Aoshi stopped the doors from closing and when they opened up again; his eyes were staring into a pair of sparkling baby blue ones. Standing in front of him was the girl from before, staring at him with her mouth slightly agape.
"You!" she stammered out while staring at him and blushing.
Aoshi smiled, "Good morning. Going up?"
This seemed to snap her out of her embarrassment as she nodded and stepped into the elevator with him, "Thank you for holding the elevator," she said sweetly. "Fourth floor please."
Aoshi hit the button and took a step back to drink in her appearance. She was dressed in a pair of black capri spandex and what looked like a tank top underneath a mint green zipped sweatshirt. She was carrying a gym bag and, if Aoshi had to guess, a brown bag and coffee from the bodega. She was more beautiful in the light and he could tell she had an amazing body from her attire. "Coming back from the gym?"
His voice startling her as she jumped but turned to him with a smile, "Yup. 4:15 am spin class. I like an early work out before school, but then I'll probably end up at the gym again tonight afterwards." She shot him a beaming smile as she looked him up and down. "Coming back from a date?"
Aoshi smirked as he shook his head. Not very subtle, he thought. "Unfortunately, getting in from work."
She winced playfully, "Ouch that hurts, well I hope you at least get to go to bed now and sleep." She paused and then extended her hand to him, "I'm Misao by the way. I just moved here from Kyoto."
Aoshi took her hand and marveled at how soft her alabaster skin was, "Detective Aoshi Shinomori, sixth floor."
"Ooo a detective huh?" she cooed while quirking an eyebrow at him, "Good to know the building will be nice and safe."
Aoshi smirked as they returned to a comfortable silence as they neared the fourth floor. Aoshi was smitten with this petite woman. As the doors opened to her floor, Aoshi placed his hand over the doors to prevent them from closing.
"It was nice to meet you Detective, guess I'll see you around the building," she turned to leave, but he called out to her. Hearing her name she turned around.
"If you'd like to maybe have a cup of tea with me sometime I'm in apartment 6B," when she smiled Aoshi smirked. "Maybe you can give me tips on how to properly rock out in my car next time Journey comes on."
When she blushed, Aoshi felt his heart quicken, "Sounds like a plan Detective, but for now, get some rest. Good night."
With that Aoshi let go of the doors and they closed taking him to his floor. As he made his way to his door, he knew that while he'd have no trouble falling asleep, he had a feeling that a certain tiny like gym rat would be invading his dreams. For the first time in a long time, Aoshi smiled and walked into his apartment.