A/N: As I was going to update yesterday so that as a birthday present to me I wouldn't have to update again for at least two days but since the stupid thing won't upload my documents I guess I'll update tomorrow. Anyways… R&R!

Thank you iceprincess421 and flip-flop108! And to answer iceprincess421's question I am now 14 years and two days old now. .

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Mansion of Secrets

Good Things Never Last Long

Misao placed her plate back in the cabinet from which it came because since her dinner had been Stouffers it had remained in its plastic container and there was no point in placing a clean plate in the dishwasher. She carefully maneuvered her way between Sanosuke and Megumi who were almost done cleaning the kitchen and made her way back to the living room where everyone else was waiting. Kaoru was reading her book on her makeshift bed near the fire. Kenshin was sprawled out on the couch and staring at the ceiling. Aoshi was sitting on the ground with his head leaning against the footrest belonging to the chair to the right of the couch. Both Saito and Hiko were sitting on the window seat farthest away from the door. Misao looked over her options: the two seats by the fire and the other window seat across from the fire. Misao chose the later and made her way across the room. She sat down and pulled the blanket around her legs, after all she was only wearing a mini skirt. She then pulled the sleeves of her shirt down and over her hands before crossing her arms over her chest.

Misao looked out the window and noticed that the sun had almost set. She realized, with a little bit of surprise, that she hadn't even noticed the time pass by. A month had already gone by in what seemed, to her, to be two weeks. She had grown closer with everyone who lived in the mansion. She, Megumi, and Kaoru almost always stayed up late watching movies and eating junk food. She had cooking and cleaning duty with Kenshin on Monday and Thursday. She thought that he was a kind and caring person, always knowing what to say. He was a little shy but his heart was gentle and he was a great person to tell your problems to. He almost fit into the mother role, especially since he's probably the best cook in the house. She'd often played video games with Sanosuke and was almost always beaten. He was fun and energetic. It was often hard to find him because he would be wandering around the mansion grounds. His jokes were funny (even thought most of them were about Megumi, the 'vixen'), and he always seemed able to lift people's spirits.

However, Misao felt that the person she had made the most progress with was Aoshi. At first he had been a stranger (a really hott stranger) seemingly emotionless and uncaring. Deciding she was going to change that Misao had started to more active in his life at the mansion than anyone else. It had started with the math lessons (she had a lot of pleading to do before he finally agreed). Misao really did need help but she would often get bored and most of the time ended up doing it all at the last minute. (So in truth Aoshi was only there to make sure that she finished her homework, but he doesn't need to know that.) Once she felt that he was comfortable in her company, she began to drag him downstairs to watch movies and play games with everyone else. However, she considered her greatest achievement to be her first raid of Aoshi's room last night.

Misao smiled fondly at the memory. She had snuck into Aoshi's room when he was usually outside practicing his swordsmanship. She hadn't really planned on as to what she was going to take from his room so she had started rummaging around his doors. At one point she had found his i-pod and had started listening to some of her favorite song as she continued to raid Aoshi's drawers. Maybe that was why she hadn't heard the bathroom door open, why she hadn't heard him come up behind her. But she knew that because of this he had wrapped one arm around her waist, the other he used to put her into a headlock. She knew it was the reason why he had leaned over and pulled out the left earphone. It was the reason why her heart had started to beat ten times faster when she felt his breath against her ear. It was the reason why he had whispered, "What do you think you are doing?" before proceeding to tickle her as a form of punishment.

Unfortunately good things never lasted long in her life. For example, things had just started to go well in school. Misao had changed from the shy girl she used to be to the one full of energy and life. She had made many more friends than the only two that she had in her old school (she now had seven) and her grades were considerably harder. However, about a week after spring break in her first year, her father had picked her up early one day and in the car ride home had told her that her mother's plane had crashed somewhere in China. She had forgotten the details by now and it made her feel somewhat guilty. However, she did know that exactly one month and three days later, the doorbell had rung and she had opened it assuming that her father had forgotten his keys, only to find out that her father had been driving drunk and had driven over the side of the road. They had placed him in intensive care but it didn't matter since he died two weeks later anyways.

Misao heard the door to the living room had closed and opened her eyes, only realizing just then that she had closed them. She watched as Megumi and Sanosuke took seats on opposite sides of the fire in the only two chairs available. Hiko and Saito got up from their spots on the window seat and stood in front of the fire. They gave out the next batch of homework before getting onto the matter at hand.

"Every year there is a town party held at the local school at Halloween."

"We asked if you could attend this year and they said yes," Saito said, finishing off what Hiko had been saying.

Shouts of happiness arouse from the people before her and Misao found herself smiling a bit. 'It would be good to get out of this house for a little bit.'

"We also decided that we'd let you go out this weekend so that you can pick up your costumes before all the good ones are gone," Hiko said which earned another round of cheers from the teenagers before him.

Once the time of pick up had been arranged the two men left, leaving the excited teenager to talk amongst themselves. Misao smiled with happiness thinking about all the things that she could do to Aoshi at the party. She lied down on one of the pillows and a wave of tiredness suddenly hit her.

Her smile turned into a frown as the porch lights turned on outside. She watched the gold and red leaves get blown of their branches, and instead of landing at the bottom of the tree they were carried a couple of yards away before finally dropping. The leaves danced around each other creating a pleasant effect on Misao's mind. Deciding that spending one night out on the window seat wouldn't be so bad, Misao prepared to fall asleep only to have her cell phone start ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby. Did I wake you up or something?"

"No," Misao said, immediately recognizing the voice on the other side. "I just feel a little tired that's all."

"Oh. Well the reason I called is that I have some cousins that live down by where you're staying and they told me that you guys had been invited to the Halloween party."

"So?" Misao asked after a short silence on the other end.

"Well, I figured that since it would have been our one year anniversary the day before that you might want to spend some time with your boyfriend on your favorite holiday."

"Huh?" Misao asked, the full meaning of the words hadn't yet registered in her head.

"I was saying that I thought we should spend Halloween night together," he said, raising his voice a little bit in frustration.

"You're going to drive all the way down here?"

"What? You don't want me to come?"

"No, no, no," Misao protested as she sat up again. "I just think it's unfair to you that you have to drive all the way up here." Meanwhile she was thinking, 'Shit, shit, shit! How the hell am I supposed to spend anytime with Aoshi now! I'm not even sure if I still like-'

"Hello?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. What did you say?"

"Nothing important."

"Oh."

"Are you busy or something?"

"Not really. I just stayed up late last night so I feel kind of tired."

"What have I told you about movies on school nights?"

"Well it's not really school."

"What did I tell you?"

Misao sighed before answering. "Not to watch them."

"Yep! Now you know why."

"Anyways, I should probably go soon," Misao said, desperate to end the conversation.

"Okay. So I'll see you on Halloween?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"See you then."

"See ya."

"Bye."

"Sayonara."

'Yep,' Misao thought as she looked out at the expectant faces in front of her as she closed her cell phone. 'Good things never last long.'

A/N: Ooooo, the mysterious boyfriend. . Anyways sorry about the long paragraphs, they really couldn't be broken down into smaller ones. Now all you guys who asked me to focus a little bit more on Misao and Aoshi know how effective your reviews can be although I was planning to do something with them soon. silence Anyways I'm going to go to Maryland until Friday and then I leave the next day for Seattle so I don't know if I'll have time to write anything on Friday so if I don't I'll update as soon as I get back from Seattle. Have a nice July!