When no one was looking

By Menolly Harper

Summary: She had left. In a time where you couldn't trust anyone, in a place where turmoil reigned: they found each other. Aoshi/Misao.

Rating: PG, may go up, maybe for cursing or suggestive situations.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Standing in the crowd, always blending in, always staying silent. Black bangs swayed in the breeze as the young woman shuffled through the busy street, the sun highlighting blue within black. Gripping her knapsack the young woman detached herself from the crowd, milling through the outskirts of Kyoto. Eyes darting, she made her way past the sparse buildings into the forest, the rays of light filtering through the leaves of the trees. She was escaping. That was for certain. She was tired of it all, she didn't want to take the coldness anymore, the silence. Makimachi Misao made her choice. She gave up on the 'block of ice' that she cared for so much, vowing to forget him; to forget the name Shinomori Aoshi.

What had he done to make her leave? He did not do anything; he did nothing to stop her, nothing to respond to her. After all the time she had spent looking for him, all the time she had spent taking him meals or tea just to be near him. It had been years, instead of the jubilant 16 year old she was then, she was now 20 years old, and her flamboyant nature somewhat dampened by 4 straight years of rejection. "I hope Okina with understand, and Omasu and Okon…." Misao tried to reassure herself as she walked down the forest path, "But I doubt that Aoshi-sama will care…" Her heart clenched as she thought about the older man. "Because even after all of these years, he still thinks of me as a child, and not the adult I am." It was true, Misao had grown up, but Aoshi had failed to realize this maturity. She shivered a little at the temperature drop, the sun was starting to set, and the wind died down a bit. Deciding that she could just go on traveling through the night, Misao pushed on, squinting her eyes as she looked into the direction of the sun.

Little did she know, a pair of eyes were watching her every move.

--------------------------------------------

Aoshi looked toward the doorway of the temple as the sun set, expecting Misao to bring him his tea like she always did. As the time went by, and dusk had arrived, Aoshi started to get worried. His brow furrowing in minor distress, he started to get up when a figure stood in the doorway with a tray.

"Gomen nasai Aoshi-sama. The Aoiya is rather busy tonight…" Omasu apologized and trailed off in an explanation.

"Where is Misao?" Aoshi asked, hiding his puzzlement and concern into the same dull tone he used all of the time; his face in its usual expressionless mask.

Omasu started to fidget under his unwavering gaze, and looked at him nervously after she set the tray down. "A-ah…Misao-chan, she um, well…she left."

Aoshi blinked, taken aback. "What do you mean she left?" On the last word his voice developed a bit of a frightful edge.

If Omasu wasn't nervous before, she would be now. "Well, as I had said M-Misao-chan left, she left the Aoiya..." Omasu bowed her head down and averted her eyes. "We don't know where she went, and she is unescorted."

Aoshi just stared at her for a while, watching as she squirmed uncomfortably under his steady icy gaze. "Surely she did not tell you herself that she was leaving?" he inquired.

"No, she left a note." Omasu replied hesitantly.

"Which said why she was leaving?"

Omasu only nodded mutely.

"And just why did she leave?" Aoshi questioned impatiently.

"You."

Aoshi almost didn't hear the reply. But his eyes widened when she said it. "Me? Why would Misao leave because of me? I thought that she…" Aoshi snapped out of his thoughts and moved to pass Omasu.

But Omasu blocked him.

"What are you doing?"

"You've hurt her enough Aoshi-sama." Omasu looked him in the eye.

She was right, he had hurt Misao. By leaving, by ignoring her, but he did all that because he didn't deserve her, deserve happiness.

"She cares about you a great deal Aoshi-sama, and I say I am surprised that she lasted this long in waiting for you. But she is a grown woman, and you take her too lightly."

For once in his life, Shinomori Aoshi was left speechless. Mouth slightly ajar, eyes widening even more, he stared in astonishment at Omasu.

"Now," Omasu thought, "this is a bit more unnerving than him being silent or angry…"

Aoshi suddenly cracked from his reverie. Practically running Omasu over, he fled to the Aoiya.

-------------------------------------------

-growl-

Misao ignored her demanding stomach and trudged on, even though it was well after dark. She knew that she needed to ration her food because she hadn't the time to pack all that much, plus it would weigh her down.

-GROWL-

"OH FINE!" Misao shouted to herself, sick of hearing her difficult appetite.

Sitting down against a tree, she opened her pack and started to dig for the food she had packed. While eating, she had some peace to reflect upon what she was actually doing. "I am the Okashira….but no one ever respects me and treats me like one….some don't even acknowledge me." She whispered to herself bitterly. Chewing on a piece of bread, she heard a snap. Reaching for her kunai and her eyes darting, she never noticed the hand come up behind and close around her mouth, muffling her terror stricken scream…….

----------------------------------------

"Okina." Aoshi growled for the fifteenth time in the past five minutes.

"-I'm sure she'll be back by morning, she's probably sitting up in a tree waiting to see just how worried we'll get, just as a prank." Okina told Aoshi laughingly. But inwardly, he knew that Misao would never try to worry everyone so viciously with a prank like this. He knew that Misao meant it. By leaving that is… but as for never coming back…especially because she even said why she was leaving – he did not know what to make of it.

"Misao…please come back. Please be alright." The old ninja thought desperately, hoping that Misao would show back up in the morning after a night all alone.

----------------------------------------

Well what do you think? I hope you like it, and I promise a longer chapter next time if you review!

Until next time,

Menolly