Notes: This is all in the past. It's a shorter chapter, just to help you understand Misao a bit more. and a few other things too.

xxXxxCHAPTER 3xxXxx

"Aoshi-sama!" an eight year old Misao called. The tall thirteen year old came to her call; he always did. She had added on the honorific when they watched an old movie, where a man named Aoshi had been the leader of a ninja clan. "Aoshi-sama, I made Mommy a present! Look!" She held up a piece of paper with plastic sequins and butterfly cutouts glued on it messily.

"It's very pretty, Misao, I'm sure she will love it," Aoshi told her after gravely inspecting the little masterpiece. He smiled slightly at Misao's laugh of delight.

"I'm going to give it to her as soon as she gets home," Misao announced, running to lay it on the table by the front door. Then she skipped her way back to the living room to Aoshi. Her parents, along with her aunt and uncle, were out at a dinner party. Her cousins Omasu and Okon were staying with her and Aoshi until their parents returned.

"How's it going?" eleven year old Okon entered the room with a book under her arm. Flopping onto a couch, she began to read without waiting for any response to her question. Omasu followed her in, with her grade seven textbook and a pencil case. Lying on her stomach, she produced some lined paper and started writing.

Aoshi glanced at the clock. "Almost dinnertime," he commented nonchalantly, "Omasu, what did you bring?"

"Tempura and rice," The older girl replied. She had been put in charge of their evening meal, being the oldest and possibly the most mature. Of course, Aoshi's maturity could match hers but he refused to cook.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes or remind her that she had promised Misao dessert as well, Aoshi lay down across the sofa and closed his eyes. It was not long before he felt a small something climb up and snuggle in beside him. Without opening his eyes, he put an arm around Misao, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

About half an hour later, smells of food filled the air. Omasu walked in holding two trays followed by Okon with another two. Aoshi rose from his place and gently shook Misao awake.

"We're going to eat in here tonight," Omasu announced. At Aoshi's raised eyebrow, she added, "None of our parents are here. I won't tell if you don't tell."

"I won't tell!" Misao sang happily, "I promise! I won't!" Dancing around the room excitedly, she almost knocked Okon's soup to the ground. "Aoshi-sama, you won't tell right?" He shook his head rather indifferently and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV. He flicked lazily through the channels and nodded at Omasu as she set his tray of food in front of him.

"Hey, look at that," Okon pointed at the TV with a grimace on her face. The news was on, showing the scene of a horrible car accident. A minivan had been thrown off the side of a highway, landing upside down on the ground below. There had been four passengers inside the car. The reporter said that the driver and two passengers had been killed on impact and the fourth passenger----a man----was alive but in critical condition.

Before any of the other children in front of the TV could react, Misao let out a piercing scream. She was staring wide-eyed at the screen where firefighters were lifting a bloody body out of the wreck. It was a woman, her silvery green kimono outfit stained in dark red.

"Mommy!" Misao's wail formed a single word. "Mommy! Mommy! That's Mommy!" She continued screaming and screaming. The others froze for a moment before Aoshi hurried to take her in his arms. She stopped screaming and then buried her face into his chest and cried. Omasu and Okon fumbled with the remote to turn the volume up. A second body had been extracted----a man in a suit----and Okon gasped.

"No way…." Omasu breathed, "That's Dad. Holy sh---" She glanced at Misao and cut off. Omasu started to cry, clinging to her older sister. The news channel had finished with the traffic accident and was moving on to the weather forecast.

"Aoshi-kun," Omasu whispered, "What's going to happen?" She turned the TV off.

He shook his head, "I…don't know."

The four of them sat in silence, save for the sounds of soft crying, for a long time. Misao had fallen asleep in Aoshi's protecting arms----she always slept after she cried. Omasu had her arm around a sobbing Okon. Aoshi and Omasu exchanged looked frequently, both trying to keep calm. Makimachi-san's clock ticked loudly on its shelf.

The door bell rang. Omasu and Okon both jumped and Aoshi unconsciously tightened his embrace around the still-sleeping Misao. The three older children looked out of the room in the direction of the front door. All of them were wondering Who could it be?

As if on cue, Misao woke up and rubbed her eyes. "Mommy's home. I had a bad dream. Mommy and Daddy are home now, and Uncle and Auntie too." Omasu buried her face into the nearest cushion as Omasu glanced at Aoshi. Misao looked around confusedly. "Why aren't we going to open the door? They must have forgotten their key. Daddy's going to get mad." She wriggled out of Aoshi's hold, but before she made it out of the room Aoshi came up behind her and scooped her into his arms again.

"Hush, Misao," Aoshi told her when she struggled and protested, "Something's happening. Something's wrong. It is not your parents coming home." The doorbell rang again, followed by a frantic pounding on the door. Misao's eyes widened in fright and she whimpered quietly, clutching at Aoshi.

"Are the Makimachi children in there?" There was a round of collective gasps from said children (plus Aoshi). "Open the door, please. This is the police." Omasu jumped up and ran to the door, followed by Okon. Aoshi put Misao down but took her hand before following the other two.

"It really is the police," Okon reported after peeking through the blinds on the window beside the door. Omasu took a deep breath and opened the door. Three uniform-clad policemen were standing outside, one with his hand raised to knock.

"Konbanwa," They chorused politely.

"They're good kids," a tall officer remarked to the mustached one beside him. The three policemen exchanged glances, making the four children feel extremely uncomfortable.

"You are the Makimachi children?" The officer who had been knocking asked, "Strange, nobody mentioned anything about a son." He stroked his goatee and peered at Aoshi standing behind the two older girls. Then he noticed Misao clutching Aoshi's hand and offered her a sad smile.

"No, my name is not Makimachi, it is Shinomori," Aoshi said in his usual expressionless voice, although his hand tightened around Misao's. "I have been living here with Makimachi-san since I was seven and my parents died." The officers nodded thoughtfully.

"You'll be coming with us," Mustache spoke for the first time. "Something has happened, but we were instructed to only be your escorts. I'm sorry, I cannot tell you anything."

"Get ready to leave," Goatee instructed briskly, "You have five minutes."

"Hai," they chorused with the exception of Misao who was hiding behind Aoshi. Omasu hurried to collect their unfinished dinner and brought the trays to the kitchen. Aoshi ran upstairs to his room and grabbed his wallet and MP3 player, stuffing them into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Omasu was helping Misao with her coat and called up to Aoshi to get her purse for her. Aoshi came down the stairs with the pink and white shoulder bag and handed it to the older girl.

"Thanks," she whispered, going to get her own coat. Okon was putting on her shoes already. Aoshi pulled his own coat on and jammed his feet into his sneakers before kneeling to tie Misao's shoelaces for her. The little girl had all but frozen in place where she stood, trembling as silent tears flowed down her delicate face.

"We're all ready, sire," Omasu said when they were all lined up by the door. The three policemen led them outside where two cruisers were waiting.

"Two of you will go with me, and the other two with them," the tall officer instructed. Obviously, he was a man used to being obeyed, especially by children. He was no prepared, however, for the reaction of one little child.

Misao screamed. She had her homemade artwork for her mother clutched in her small hand. She knew that it was her mother's body that had been on TV. If she got into this car, she would die too. No, no, no, no, no.

"Misao-chan!" Omasu hissed anxiously, "You'll make everybody think something bad has happened! The neighbors will all come running!" She realized what she had just said and cringed.

:Shush, Misao-chan," Okon tried to wipe the tears from the screaming girl's face but her hand was slapped away.

"No! No, no, no, no!" Misao wailed, "Don't you get it? Something bad DID happen! Mommy! Mommyyy!" She fell to the ground and pounded her fists against the paved driveway. The three police officers exchanged uneasy looks. This wasn't really part of their training.

"Misao, come on," Aoshi bent down and picked her up in his arms. "Why don't we go and see what it's really like? Maybe you can still give your mommy that present you were working on."

Watery blue eyes fixed him with an oddly mature look. "That vehicle will kill us all, just like Mommy." She told him sagely.

"No, don't worry," Aoshi whispered to her, "I'll protect you no matter what. I promise."

Misao sniffled. "What about Omasu and Okon? Who will protect them? I won't leave unless we all go together." She crossed her arms across her chest and stuck her chin up defiantly. In another situation, it would have been cute.

"Alright, you know what?" The tall policeman finally said, "The oldest one can sit in the front with me, and the other three will sit in the back." Ignoring the looks he got from the other officers, he opened the door of one of the cruisers and motioned for them to get in. Omasu sat in the front as instructed.

When they were all buckled in a ready to go, the officer put the key in and they drove off into the night.

xxxXxxx

Responses

TheUniverseBeyond: Hmm…yeah I guess her reaction is pretty weird. But um I haven't really said this anywhere but this is sort of based on when my grandfather died. I cried that night but I never cried at all after that until the funeral. I'll try to explain it in the next chapter, okay? Misao's not going to be all emotionless for long. T.T poor girl.

Wanderinglunatick: yes, about that. I was going to make it a very short and possibly very fluffy kinda thing that had a different idea. I changed my mind. P

Sharpie-kun: yes, nerd. You even follow instructions! O now, if only…nevermind ) thanks I hope this cleared up some more.

Natarie: Sorry! Aoshi's coming! I promise P I didn't want to rush it. it would be a bit ooc if he did anything like now.

Everybody else: thanks for reviewing ; )

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin storyline and characters belong to Watsuki-san. Standard disclaimers apply

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