o-o-o-o-o-o

Dec 10, 2011 : Format fixed

Speech - Thoughts

Speech - Memories

o-o-o-o-o-o

Don't kill meeeee! *cringes and hides under the bed*

I know I said a week, but something happened. I…got…a job! *startled gasps* Yeah, I know, the world is coming to an end. Really, me? Working? Yeah, my innocence days are over. At least I'll feel like I have money, as the job is in a bank.

Enough with the babbling. On with the fic!

Disclaimer: I found a $100 bill under the sofa! Unfortunately, it was a monopoly one…

o-o-o-o-o-o

Chapter 11

o-o-o-o-o-o

Have you ever felt the need to look constantly over your shoulder, because you have the feeling something is going to happen? As if the world is about to conspire against you, because your life can't always be easy, and Destiny just happens to be bored?

It had been one week. A WHOLE week of peace and quiet. Well, sorta, we're talking about the Aoiya here, after all. Anyway, that's not the point. Point is that in those 7 days, 168 hours, and some exorbitant number of seconds she wasn't about to calculate right now, everything had gone alright. No crazy schemes to make her life a hell, no strange situations to make her want to open a hole and bury herself upside-down six feet under. Life had never been that easy for her.

That's not the way her life went, it had never been.

She had settled into a comfortable routine, taking care of her duties as Okashira and occasionally working at the Aoiya. She trained with Aoshi until the sun settled, and got her butt kicked every time. There wasn't a sense of anxiety any longer. Strange how she had accomplished in one week what she couldn't in two years. Easy, I hadn't let him use me as a punching bag before. She thought amusedly. Yup, you read right. AMUSEDLY. Their training had moved from basic learning to a full exchange of kicks, punches and dirty tricks. She found herself more relaxed in Aoshi's presence.

*flashback*

Misao adjusted her messy ponytail and dabbed at her sweaty skin with a wet towel. Aoshi was sitting on the steps leading to the dojo, not bothering to do the same.

She grabbed another towel and got behind him. Carefully, she placed the wet towel on his forehead, smoothing it a little, causing water to fall along the curves of his face, her other hand resting comfortably on his shoulder.

She had worked hard to be able to do this without freaking out. Her heart no longer stopped at the contact of his skin. Deciding this was a definite development, she began to enjoy being able to be near him without feeling weak at the knees. Did that mean she no longer was in love with him? That was a tricky question.

She shook her head. Now was not the time to think about that. Feeling his fingers over hers, she released the towel in mute understanding.

"Thanks" Aoshi said, wiping the visible parts of his chest with the towel. She shook her head and turned around, sitting directly behind him, resting her back against his, her head against his shoulder. She stayed there, dozing off.

"You make a good pillow, you know" Misao said, nuzzling against his back a little.

"…" he didn't answer, but instead leaned against her. Well, he had finally gotten his answer. He WAS a good pillow. Go figure.

*end of flashback*

Relaxed indeed. If someone had told her a month ago that something like that would happen, she sure wouldn't have believe them. Who would? This was Aoshi we are talking about, definitely he did NOT fit your average man description.

She surveyed her surroundings again and sighed. Okon was out shopping, Omasu close at her heels. Those two were acting strange lately, but fortunately for her, the object of their wrath seemed to be Okina, and that couldn't be a bad sign, ne? Okina was probably spending time with Miyamoto-san yet again (most likely escaping the two ladies mentioned before), she hadn't seen Sae in days, Aoshi was at some business meeting, Saitou hadn't given any signs of life (not that it bothered her too much) and she was… well, here.

She felt a slight pressure on top of her head. Misao opened one eye to encounter Soujiro's face looming over hers, using his index finger on her head as support.

Oh yeah, she had forgotten she was supposed to be meditating. For Soujiro had finally agreed to help her develop her ki-sensing skills and had told her to meditate before disappearing who-knows-where to do who-knows-what. As you can see, she didn't accomplish much.

"You're not concentrating, are you?" It was more of a statement than a question. She silently shook her head and shrugged a little. Her eyes became questioning when Soujiro deposited a cloth bundle besides her.

"I hate meditating" Soujiro just nodded.

"Let's try something different then" He then opened the bundle, letting a large quantity of small rocks loose. Misao blinked a few times before picking a pebble and blinking at it in confusion again. "Every person has a different way of learning" he went on "and it usually goes accordingly with their personalities"

Misao just nodded, but Soujiro could tell she wasn't listening. He sighed. Women.

"Misao-san?" He sat across from her. He had started addressing her like that after a certain episode involving an old lady asking Misao for her husband, followed by the young ninja almost throttling the older woman. He had been afraid of suffering the same fate. What was it with women and getting older anyway?

"….uh?" intelligent, very intelligent answer. She sighed and uttered a single, almost inaudible word. "…confusing…"

*Thump*

Soujiro blinked looking at the place her head was moments ago. Upon investigation, he discovered her sprawled on the floor, eyes locked onto some unidentifiable spot on the ceiling.

O…okay. He blinked at the sight before him. If all his years near Yumi-neesan had taught him something, it was how to deal with women. Or how to avoid them, depending on the case.

Misao was feeling, for lack of a better term, restless. Nothing was happening the way it was supposed to. Theoretically, she should be leading a different life. Granted, there wasn't much she could do in a week, but… Okay, let's stick to the truth. That was not the reason. A few seconds before being 'awakened' by Soujiro, she had come to a realization. In all this time, she had remained as attached to Aoshi as she hadn't wanted to. And that was NOT supposed to happen.

"If it depends on personality, what made you think I could stay in one place long enough to meditate?. Okay, don't tell me, ki-sensing is a matter of focus and all that crap, and that's why you went away" Misao regained her sitting position, and once again started toying with the pebbles on the floor.

Soujiro smiled.

"Ki-sensing it's different on every person. Same bases, different ways to apply them"

Misao fingers stopped moving and a puzzled expression came over her features. Then why in Buddha's name had she spent the last two hours sitting still for?

That was Soujiro's clue to move behind her and tying a black cloth over her eyes. Shuku-chi style. He wasn't about to tell her he had stopped by the kitchen to eat a few leftover ohagi.

"What the…" Misao felt herself be lifted from the floor and be turned around a couple of times before being set on the floor again. A hand grabbed her right wrist and placed if over some strange round objects she recognized as the pebbles.

"Try to feel my ki Misao-san, and when you think you've felt it, throw a stone at it. I'll move slowly"

Soujiro the sitting duck? A determined smile appeared on Misao's lips.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Three shadowy figures huddled in a dark corner of a quiet place. For once, their voices were low and hushed as they discussed matters of the uttermost importance.

"What is our current status?" One of the figures asked, obviously the leader of the dangerous gang.

"Objective #1 accomplished: the subject acknowledged it's female condition. Reports say she even went shopping yesterday, breaking her own two hours mark"

Sae nodded, for she was the leader. Once you identify her, it wasn't difficult to know the identities of her two dangerous allies.

"She's even learned the skills of a real shopper, getting Soujiro-kun to carry the boxes. I felt so proud when I saw him staggering behind her…" Smiles around the table.

"Now for our next objective. What do we have on that Okon-chan?"

"Now. This…" she put a teacup upside down on the middle of the table. Curiously, it had a small black yarn-pigtail attached to it, and a set of big blue eyes.

"…is Misao" Nods followed her statement.

"Subject Misao has known, in her life, only a handful of men. We have Okina, Shiro, Kuro, Himura, Sagara, Soujiro-kun, Kouga, Saitou-san, Hannya, Beshimi, Hyottoko, Shikyjo and of course, Aoshi-sama" a small teaspoon followed each name. Each of the spoons had eyes, hair, and a characteristic drawn in ink. Himura's had an 'x', Okina's had a pink bow, Kuro's had two lines instead of eyes, Sagara's had a white bandage around it, Saitou's had a cigarrete, Soujiro's had a smile, and so on. Aoshi's was the only blank one.

"Out of which only the five last ones have been of major importance in her life. We can rule out Okina as an spectator" Omasu said, taking the spoon with the bow and putting it away from the group.

"Right. Now, Kuro has always been like the kind older cousin. Not close enough to be considered as a brother" She said, answering the inquiring looks. "Shiro's been the annoying little brother. And yes Sae, I know he's older than her, but that's only physically. Kouga is the reliable one, but that's kind of recent. So, we can rule them out" Okon moved the three more spoons away from the group.

"We can rule out Saitou-san as well. We know they just despise each other" Sae placed the cigarrete-holding spoon away from the group.

"You know, it's no use even considering these two" Omasu deduced, playing with Sano-spoon's bandage. Nods around the table. Sano-spoon and Kenshin-spoon were ruled out.

"Childhood infatuation. Puppy love. Whatever it was, began when the subject was a child. With these five around, and the age difference, it's obvious it had to do with admiration"

"But out of the five, only one was good-looking enough" Chimed in Omasu.

"Exactly. Now, if you're a child and the Aoiya is your world, choices are few. So we have the subject faced with little or no option. Not knowing better, she settled for…. Aoshi-sama" Okon waved the blank spoon in front of her.

"Ano… Okon… you used to have a crush on him, remember?" Omasu said, still playing with Sano-spoon's bandage.

"Well my dear, I was 7, and also faced with the lack of options. Besides, that was until he refused to eat my cooking" Okon explained, tapping Aoshi-spoon lightly with a finger, as if talking to it.

"…it was a mud cake, Okon-chan"

"I know, but a girl's got feelings. And he wasn't exactly careful when he spit it out!"

"You saw him? You must have been upset!" Sae inquired. She tried hard to imagine a gagging and spitting chibi-Aoshi.

"Actually, I didn't. He turned around before spitting it out" Sae got a questioning look after hearing this.

"On Shiro. The poor guy always had bad timing" Omasu added for Sae's benefit.

The three ladies looked at each other and burst out laughing. A miniature brawl and a one-way ticket to the Okashira's office followed that little episode. Double cleaning duties and training sessions for a week.

"Ladies….*gasp* , ladies. Back to the situation at hand, please.*giggle*" Sae said, hitting the low table lightly with Okina-spoon.

"These individuals have plans for subject Misao" She said raising Okina-spoon. Quickly, she added a Miyamoto-spoon next to it. It had two circles on each side of the face, remembering the man's plump cheeks.

"By arranging subject Misao a date, they confront her again with limited options" Okon said in a mock growl

"Arranged dates are so old-fashioned. A girl must see the options, live her life!" Omasu added, a righteous look on her face.

"Will we allow old men to get in the way of true dating?"

"No!"

"No way!"

"We will help Misao to find Mr. Perfect!" Sae said, painting a small '?' symbol on the first blank spoon she found and waving it around, oblivious to the fact it was Aoshi-spoon.

"Yoshi!" Twin closed fists and a spoon-holding one were raised.

By this time, the three of them were too far gone to notice the fact that they were trying to do exactly what they were against Okina and Miyamoto-san for.

o-o-o-o-o-o

If Aoshi ever wondered the reason why Okina had been so reluctant in giving him the management of the Aoiya, he had no doubts now. He silently accepted a cup of freshly brewed tea from the hands of a geisha.

Japanese businessmen dealings were made the traditional way. Meaning, they were made in teahouses. The old men had fun, drunk sake, leered at the geishas and forgot all about business until the other was drunk enough to manipulate. Even if usually this manipulation backfired due to the fact the manipulator was as, if not more so, drunk that the manipulated.

Ah. Politics.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to not wince. One of the men, a certain old man named Miyamoto, who just happened to be as drunk as hell, was currently trying to do a duet with the leading geisha singer. The poised woman just smiled while other poured yet more sake for him. Really, those women were martyrs.

A young man chose that moment to plop himself on the seat directly in front of him. And promptly gulped down an entire sake bottle. His cheeks were flushed, but to Aoshi, it was evident it had nothing to do with the sake. Especially when he managed to squeeze himself under the low table.

""Ryoh? *hic* funnhy, I tshought I shaw *hic* 'im" Aoshi looked impassibly at the departing (swooning, drowsy) Miyamoto, and entertained himself with looking at the young man's efforts to get out of his hiding place. Not that they were exactly successful.

Finally feeling sorry for the guy, he lifted one side of the table a little, just enough for the poor man to get out. He didn't blame him at all, having barely escaped Miyamoto himself just a few hours before, when the old man had decided Aoshi was in need for one or twelve cups of sake. Ice blue glares and leave-me-the-hell-alone stares perfected for years, had been enough, thankfully. As for the man next to him, after he wiggled from under the table, Aoshi was able to take a good look at his face.

If there was something very few people are capable to say to a true extent, is that the never forget a face. True, many people claim to, but most of the time, they are gloating. Now, on the other hand, Shinomori Aoshi doesn't gloat. Sure, he forgot little things like birthdays (including his) and had forgotten his beliefs on occasion while trying to murder people, but he never forgot a face (how ironic is that?). The hand still holding the table twitched a little, and Aoshi debated whether or not drop it. Over the man's legs.

Aaanyway, that's not the point. Recognized to be the one seen shamelessly flirting with Misao in the Aoiya more than a week ago, the man in front of Aoshi was oblivious to the looks he was being given. In fact, he was….. thanking him? Oh, an innocent, from a species nearly extinguished. Surprise, surprise.

Aoshi examined the guy. Tall, maybe just a head shorter than him (which would still make him fairly tall), dumb green eyes, brown mop of hair. Aoshi blinked a little at the… shall we say… contempt? he regarded the man with. He had no idea of who he was, so there was no reason for it. Except for the circumstances he had last seen the man in. He spent a long time trying to figure out if he was referring to the fact he had seen the guy flirting with Misao or the fact she had actually let him, and flirted back.

o-o-o-o-o-o

End of chapter 11

o-o-o-o-o-o

o.o

O.o

O.O

100+ reviews? Wow, I'm amazed. I luv you all!

Chibi Summanaro: *sniff!* thanks for the understanding sugar. I'm glad you liked the chappie, and I hope you liked this one too

Gravity: I'm in your favorite's list? Yay! Thanks for the compliments, I really try to keep things simple when describing things. Glad you decided to review at last *gives you a pointed look* hehe.

Nanakilover/Brukaoru: Thankies!

Liemtenshi: Who said I intended to get her out of the trouble I caused her? *wicked look* That's not the way it works, hehe. *runs away from your murderous look*

Cat H: Oh yes, Aoshi is starting to notice some stuff. Hopefully he will make sense of all of it before alcoholic tea is invented.

Tesuka-chan: Aoshi would NEVER say those things. But then again, I'm allowed to mess with his brain as much as I want to *pulls at Aoshi-puppet strings*. Normal? Well, yeah, I suppose he would be kinda normal... if only he wasn't so Aoshi. As for your assumptions... Wait and see, my child, wait and see.*smiiiiiiiiiles*

Mary-Ann: Thanks for the concern sugar! *wipes eyes* I feel loved. You liked the 'fight' scene, I see. Good. Good. ….. reaction? Aoshi? That's one tough cookie. And hey, you're welcome to write me out off my lazyness!

VenusDeOmnipotent: *uses The Eyebrow on you* O…okay….. if you say so… *hides Sou-chan*

Foxxie-Kitty: 0.0 Hormonal Inner-Aoshi? ! *falls of chair* As of what's up with Aoshi, heaven knows. No, he still doesn't know about Okina's plans, but will soon.

Airen2: Eat. Check. Sleep. Check. Do fun stuff….. *looks around in search of something fun to do* Well, two out of three. Soujiro definitely knows something about fashion, he DID live most of his life with Yumi and Kamatari. And he did use a western style shirt under his gi (though not sure if that's what I'd consider fashionable….*shrugs*)

Soujiro-fan: You're completely right. Kurama youko is just….. HIM. *slips into fuzzy ear dreamland*

Seri-chan: He's definitely the one. Hope you liked the chappie!

Lebleuphenix: Oh yes. Aoshi won't know what hit him. *evilness radiating from her* He's a rational man, but unfortunately, this isn't a rational world *smirks*

Jbramx2: *gives you a dough Soujiro to poke* I just imagined a chibi-Soujiro being dressed up by evil Kamatari….

Ice Demoness: My first death threat! Yay! *starts bouncing around* waittasec… *her eyes widen and she stars running around* Here's next chapter, here's next chapter! Hey, nice gun! *remembers her own 7.65 caliber fusil*

Tatsumaki: *teary eyes* Thankies!

Alderine: Sorry for the wait. Here's the chappie!

Menchi Pie: I updated late, I know *sheepish face*. But I planned torture, aren't you happy?

Babyg2988: Let's kill IE. But hey, you're my 100th reviewer! *gives you Soujirou-spoon*

Starfire: Aoshi insane nice =). I'm trying to draw a pic of Misao in the western dress. As soon as I finish it, I'll place it on my bio page.

Kitten Kisses: *dusts mould out of you* here's next chappie darling, I'm sorry for the wait *cheeks to see if you sprouted roots as well. Finds none* So I was not THAT late! *smiles* ….er….Amanda….put down that kunai…. Aieeeeee!

Okay I think that's everyone…. went crazy and didn't email me all the reviews, grr… Aaanyway, keep the reviews coming!

Review!

Verito-chan