Author's Note: the second scene in this chapter was inspired by Itachi Misao – thanks for the idea! I initially wrote it off but the idea stuck in my head and demanded to be written, so here it is!

Aoshi stifled a yawn as he walked out of the elevator and headed tiredly towards his office. It was 7:47 a.m. and the halls were filling with legal professionals starting the morning. Aoshi tried to recall what day it was and for a brief moment, his mind drew a blank. Monday. Misao's last hearing was three days ago, he reminded himself and closed his eyes briefly as he felt the beginnings of a headache pricking at the base of his neck. He had been working seven days a week for so long that days and nights were blurring together; he was beginning to forget what it was like to wake up and not automatically prepare for another long day at the office.

Pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, Aoshi thought, I need a vacation. His overworked brain, churning with a hailstorm of data and problems, still had enough bandwidth to conjure up an image of Misao in a bikini, a deserted beach, pina coladas for two, and a gorgeous sunset with nary a legal brief in sight. Smiling faintly, Aoshi unfettered his imagination for a few indulgent moments, then resolutely walked through the door of his office.

"Good morning, Mr. Shinomori," Susan greeted him and he nodded at her as pleasantly as he could muster. "Interesting article in the paper today. I left it on your desk," she informed him without taking her eyes off the computer. Aoshi did indeed find the morning's copy of the Omaha World Herald with the Midland's section on top, a prominent picture of him and Misao decorating the front. Aoshi picked up the newspaper and was pleased to see that the shot was suitably flattering: Misao wore a determined, dignified expression and Aoshi was standing at her side, a hand placed protectively on her shoulder as he stared coolly at the media personnel swarming them.

The article did a nice job of supporting Misao and making Williamson University look like a greedy, manipulative institute run by narrow-minded white male chauvinists stuck in archaic practices and notions. While the article did skim briefly over Garrin's latest accusations against Misao, by and large the writer focused on the mishaps of Williamson University and showed a clear bias towards Misao's case. Although Aoshi generally preferred to receive his information as unslanted as possible, the lawyer in him was pleased to find such a flattering article splayed across the front page and he was interested to see what would happen as the morning's edition spread across Omaha. Many of Sullivan & Smith clients were alumni of Williamson and donated a good portion of their salaries to supporting the college. Most unfortunately for the institute, most of these same clients were also dedicated environmentalists with a keen philanthropic bent: they would be less than pleased that their alma mater had been accused of sexual discrimination and was trying to seize control of an important humanitarian invention.

Setting the newspaper aside, Aoshi made a mental note to circulate the article around the firm and see that it got into the hands of as many clients as possible. Nothing would take the fight out of Williamson like a sharp decrease in donations. He also thought of Misao and how she needed to see the article but as he reached for his Blackberry, he frowned, recalling that she had said Mondays were her busiest days. Instead, he opened his email and groaned quietly as a long list of unread messages flashed across the screen.

Aoshi was slogging diligently through the email onslaught when his office phone rang. "Mr. Shinomori, a call for you on line one." Aoshi picked it up and winced as Shura's loud voice clanged through the receiver.

"Darling man! How are you?" Shura babbled, her normally full-throttle voice even more resonant. Aoshi suspected a double latte was involved and he frowned into the phone. Ever since the engagement party back at the end of December, Shura had made periodic calls to Aoshi's Blackberry which he had either managed to ignore or end quickly. The woman was persistent, he had to give her credit for that. Shura hadn't gotten to the top of her profession by being demure and withdrawn, but Aoshi had made it abundantly clear, short of telling her directly, that he had no interest in any sort of relationship with her. Apparently she had decided to ignore his nonverbal stop signs and step up her game a bit. I'll have to speak with Susan about being more diligent screening my calls, he thought darkly. The last thing he needed was Shura badgering his office and taking up valuable billing time.

As if reading his thoughts, Shura breezed, "So sorry to call you on your work line, darling, but would you believe that I left my cellphone somewhere?" She sounded a fake laugh and continued to steamroll forward. "Anyway, Tae and I have been putting together a wonderful soiree for Megumi's bachelorette party, and I wanted to ask you if Megumi is scheduled to work April 25th or if she has any other plans."

"I don't know," Aoshi replied. "Megumi and I both have been so busy that we don't keep track of each other's schedules very much. You should ask her," he said pointedly.

"Oh no, this is going to be a surprise," Shura purred. "Telling her would ruin all the fun, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" There was a suggestive lilt to Shura's voice and Aoshi sighed quietly.

"So could you be a darling and find out for me, please?" Shura's voice was silky and Aoshi could practically feel her fingers poking through the receiver towards him, trying to stroke him on the cheek.

"I'll see what I can do, but you are better off contacting Kaoru or seeing if Tae can find out at the hospital," Aoshi said. Tae was the executive manager for the food services department at the hospital, and her position allowed her to know just about everything that happened in the entire building and surrounding areas. Knowing Shura wouldn't be content with that response, Aoshi was about to cobble together some excuse to hang the phone up when a real one appeared in the form of Susan beeping in through the phone's intercom system.

"Mr. Shinomori, Mr. Himura is on line two for you."

Gratefully, Aoshi said into the receiver, "Shura, I need to take this call. Have a nice day," and quickly hung up on her before she could protest. With a sigh of relief, he punched the other line, silently thanking his friend for the timely save.

"Hello Kenshin, how are the wedding plans coming along?" he said into the phone. The the past three months, he and Kenshin had been working together closely on a number of issues for Kenshin's firm and Aoshi had appreciated the chances to strengthen his friendship with the fellow swordsman.

A chuckle on the other end met him. "Could I possibly interest you in being a groomsman?" the red-head responded.

"I would be honored," Aoshi accepted.

"Excellent." Aoshi could hear the smile in Kenshin's voice but the man's next words caught him by surprise. "You might be relieved to know that you won't have to worry about a tuxedo."

"Indeed?" Aoshi's brow quirked. "And why is that?"

Kenshin laughed again. "Kaoru wants all of us men in hakama and gi with haori she is having custom made and also with swords. Or, in your case, kodachi."

"Really?" Aoshi said. Pondering this for a moment, he responded, "That sounds exactly like Kaoru and, come to think of it, you too."

"There will be kimono for the women," Kenshin added. Aoshi's mind, never one to miss an opportunity to plunge wildly into speculation, created a picture of Misao demurely attired in an elegant kimono, her eyes smiling shyly at him before seizing a handful of kunai and scampering off madly to go skewer something.

I need to get out more, Aoshi rubbed his forehead. My brain is starting to turn against itself.


"Can't read my, no he can't read my POKER FACE!" Kaoru caterwauled dramatically into Megumi's hairbrush as Misao accompanied with a mean air guitar solo and Megumi threw rolled-up socks at the musical duo while laughing hysterically. Lady Gaga blared loudly from Misao's Ipod and poured through Megumi's open bedroom door to fill the entire house with sound. It was 3:30 in the afternoon and three women were all so stressed and delirious from a multitude of demanding issues that they had reached the nirvana point of enlightened exhaustion where everything remotely amusing is automatically deemed hilarious. Megumi was practically brain-dead from wedding and job stress while Kaoru had three separate writing projects that needed to be finished yesterday plus she was still riding high on engagement euphoria and Misao was still battling through her lawsuit/grad school/money problems madness that was her life; when Megumi called the other two up and asked them to come over and try on the bridesmaid dresses that had just been delivered, they had dropped everything and ran for Kaoru's car. Misao had been over at Kaoru's apartment doggedly working her way through a pile of quizzes to grade, and she had gleefully abandoned them as quickly as Kaoru had kicked aside her writing projects.

Several bottles of Starbucks caramel latte drinks, a conspicuously empty bag of Dove dark chocolate, and a slew of crumpled-up foil wrappers littered the floor and were partly responsible for the high-octane giggiliness emanating from the room. Megumi lay propped up against her pillows watching and laughing as two of her bridesmaids capered around the room attired in matching dresses of soft lavender with a slim silhouette, twisted spaghetti straps, and a silky silver ribbon tied just under the criss-crossed empire waist bodice. The dresses were elegant and set off the women's figures splendidly, but the garments' beauty was rather diminished by the helplessly shrieking females writhing around inside them.

Kaoru ended "Poker Face" with a dramatic screech, then put the hairbrush down, gasping for breath. "I gotta take this thing off before I rip it," she laughed as she unzipped the dress and pulled it off. Misao, however, was running on three hours of sleep and far too much caffeine and when her Ipod switched from Lady Gaga to her favorite Abney Park song, a wild idea seized her fevered brain and inspired further insanity.

The opening bars of "She" poured over the speakers as Misao flashed Kaoru and Megumi a wicked smile and began rolling her hips suggestively, pushing the straps down her shoulders in time to the music and pouting seductively at them.

"Woo, whoo!" Kaoru caterwauled as Megumi sounded a woof whistle and giggled loudly. That was all the encouragement Misao needed; the zipper loosened and the silky dress inched slowly down Misao's frame as her two audience members catcalled and laughed uproariously, practically falling over each other in hilarity. Misao let the dress slide to the floor and slithered her way out of it, deeply feeling the beat of the music as her body responded to it enthusiastically. In her undergraduate days, she had squeezed in two semesters of belly dancing and had once taken a pole dancing class, and the lessons came back to her as she shimmied and rolled her way across the room, feeling the music dancing in her veins as exhausted delirium pushed away social constraints along with any sense of decorum, maturity or, come to think of it, sanity.

Megumi and Kaoru continued to catcall and throw rolled-up socks at Misao while they laughed uproariously at her seductive antics but as Misao swiveled expertly and gave her hips an extra shake in front of the two, she saw their amused expressions quickly turn to horror as hands flew to their mouths. Misao quickly whipped around and to her humiliation and alarm, came face-to-face with Aoshi who was standing in the door frame, a stupefied expression of utter shock written across his face. Most unfortunately, the song's vocalist was currently blaring out the most apropos line of "when she's screaming and when she's lustful" through the speakers as Aoshi's gaze enveloped Misao's nearly nude frame.

Aoshi's feet were rooted to the spot and no force on earth was currently capable of tearing his eyes away from Misao's lithe, feminine form writhing in full display in front of him and clad only in a hot pink bra trimmed with black lace and matching panties that scooped temptingly over her cheeks, partially exposing the lush roundness of her derriere. Misao's blue eyes were as wide as portholes as she turned around and realized he was staring at her open-mouthed. She gaped back at him, a furious blush filling her face like wine pouring into a glass. For a long moment, neither party moved or said anything, then Misao squawked loudly and dove for the bed, landing between Megumi and Kaoru and scrabbling frantically for the covers to pull over her nearly naked body.

"AOSHI!" Megumi and Kaoru screamed, springing up adroitly in defense of their friend and charging the tall man, pillows clenched in their fists. Aoshi quickly stepped back and pulled the door closed, keeping his hand on the doorknob as a flurry of blows attacked the door. At a loss for what to do next, Aoshi simply kept the door shut and waited for the chaos to die down; to his relief, within a few seconds, the volley of attacks dissolved into a gigantic fit of giggles and feminine yelps of merriment. Someone turned the music down, but that only emphasized the shrieks of mirth sounding from the other side of the door.

Aoshi finally broke in hesitantly, "Er, Kaoru, I just wanted to tell you that your left back tire is almost flat. Make sure to fill it up today."

"Ohhh...okay, Aoshi!" Kaoru called out breathlessly, ending her statement with another heartfelt laugh. Aoshi paused a moment.

"Em, Megumi, I'm going to lie down for awhile if...if you need me for anything."

"Sure, big brother!" Megumi snorted, barely getting the words out though her giggles.

Aoshi cleared his throat and waited a very long moment. "Misao, I..." Something solid hit the door, a shoe he thought, and he stepped back a pace. "I'm sorry. I really am," he said, but the other two were shrieking so loudly he didn't know if the object of his apology had heard him. Not really sure if there was anyway he could repair the damage aside from merely pretending nothing had happened, Aoshi backed away from the door and went to his room.

Lying down on the bed fully dressed, Aoshi closed his eyes, putting one arm across his forehead. After several weeks of non-stop work and a Monday morning that had started with a headache, he had decided that afternoon to go home early. Fatigue both mental and physical were dragging him down and affecting his efforts at the firm, and he knew he was essentially useless around the office at this point. When he pulled in the driveway, he had seen Kaoru's car and noticed the almost-flat tire, something Kaoru needed to remedy before it became an actual flat. The noise pouring from Megumi's room had been a good indication where the women were located, and the giggles and calls had made him approach the room with trepidation. However, nothing had prepared him for the sight of Misao, a vision in her fancy intimates, flowing and gliding seductively around the room in a way that made his brain glaze over and his jaw collapse to his ankles. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to push the image aside. It had been bad enough several days ago when Misao had chattered cheerfully to him about all the purchases she had brought home from Victoria's Secret but to see them so brazenly displayed in front of his astonished eyes was, well...

She's your client, Shinomori. Focus on the case and keep your mind out of the gutter, he ordered himself firmly. Luckily exhaustion was demanding priority over fantasy, and sleep quickly claimed him.


"Come on, Misao, out from under the covers," Kaoru ordered, tugging on the blankets.

Misao, buried somewhere inside the bowels of Megumi's bed, clung to the comforter with unyielding hands, refusing to let go. "No," she said.

"Come on," Kaoru coaxed. "Look, I know you're embarrassed out of your mind, but it could have been worse. Hey, at least you were wearing your cutest underwear," Kaoru pointed out practically.

A wail overlaid with a groan of agony sounded from the depths of the bed as the knot that was Misao curled even tighter into itself. Despite her brief spate of rebellion, Misao's carnal experiences had been limited to a few awkward make-out sessions with an unkempt teenage boy whose name she had long since forgotten. No male had seen her in her underwear since Gramps had accidentally walked in on a thirteen year old Misao dancing around her bedroom in a t-shirt and panties singing, "Baby One More Time." Although Misao was beginning to cherish hope that there would eventually be a day where she had reason and opportunity to display her vast collection of Victoria's Secret goodies to Aoshi's approving eyes, this was decidedly not how she had pictured that first incident panning out, and she shivered all over in embarrassed remembrance.

Sighing, Kaoru flopped down next to Misao and rested her chin on her friend's turned-up shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, you probably made Aoshi's day, if not his entire month."

"AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Misao burst up from the bed's innards, ripping back covers and sheets as she fought her way to the surface to flail at Kaoru wildly with a pillow. As quick as a flash, Kaoru grabbed another one and fought back as she yanked all the covers free, leaving Misao with nowhere to hide.

"Come on, girl, get dressed," Kaoru said, tossing her weapon at Misao after a few well-placed smacks. "This will all be hilarious eventually, believe me."

"Just promise me one thing," Misao groaned. "If by some miracle and far-reaching stretch of the imagination Aoshi and I somehow get married, don't mention this during your speech at the wedding. I can and will kill you about six dozen ways and believe me, I know how."

Kaoru smiled in a way that made Misao realize uncomfortably that she had just handed her friend an extremely big bargaining tool to hang over her head. "Don't worry," Kaoru said wickedly, "I promise my speech will be very memorable."

"Great. I'm just going to curl up and expire quietly right now," Misao crawled off the bed and slid back into her clothes as Megumi reappeared in the room with glasses of iced tea. Misao took one, trying to calm the furious blush in her cheeks.

"You know what, ladies? I think this calls for Red Mango," Megumi announced. "Drink up and let's go. I'm buying!"

Anything to get out of this house, Misao thought desperately, then groaned again in realization that she couldn't hide from Aoshi forever. Maybe I'll just forfeit the lawsuit and pretend this little event never happened, she pondered. Or just keel over dead. Yeah, that sounds like the best option right now.

Instead, Misao choked the tea down and followed the other two downstairs to Megumi's car, hoping desperately that a big bowl of hazelnut and chocolate frozen yogurt topped with berries and more chocolate would sooth away some of the embarrassment of the day. Either that or she would be suddenly hit by a stray meteor or wake up and find out that the entire day was actually a very bad nightmare or that Aoshi would suffer temporary amnesia from the shock of seeing Misao in her undies and repress the memory.

Fat chance of that. I am so gonna die the next time I have to see him, Misao groaned to herself. This calls for a really, really big bowl of frozen yogurt.

Author's note: I've taken a pole dancing class and it is actually very fun and quite challenging. Belly dancing is fun too! And Abney Park's "She" is incredible – look it up on YouTube.