Chapter 14 - A Truce?

Misao stood outside in the hallway of the apartment building, silently staring up at a shocked Aoshi. She thought it odd that he was dressed so plainly, but began to chide herself when her thoughts began to turn into compliments of how nice he looked being casual and even a little messy. Not even someone like him could stay so prim and proper every minute of the day. Misao coughed lightly and spoke when she got her voice back.

"Ano, you left the mountains without any word and well Kenshin-san didn't even know where you were and he was going out of his mind hoping everything was okay. He was really worried about you."

"How did you come across this address?" Aoshi replied a little harshly, observing as Misao flinched at his powerful voice.

"Well I…I um know a few things about computers and well, I found your address by looking in a directory file on Tae's computer while she wasn't at her desk and then I came here." Misao lied weakly, her eyes quickly glancing into Aoshi's sceptic ones and then darted away.

"You have no business being here!" Aoshi retorted bluntly yet again, watching as Misao's shoulders tensed up, she almost reeling back in shock at his anger.

Surprise came over Aoshi as he observed Misao bow to him and listened to her shaky voice, nervousness taking over her usually genki and straightforward attitude.

"Gomen nasai Shinomori-san. You see we all knew how much pressure you had been going through over the death of your father, trying to be strong and all. Megumi was surprised to see…um Yume was her name right…and the same was for Kaoru and Kenshin, but I didn't know about anything and then watching you race off and they began to worry when you said you're going to kill someone. You were so composed earlier on, but then that woman arrived and you seemed to shatter and then you raced off and Kenshin couldn't contact you and…well they were just worried…and it made me worry for you as well."

"Please stand up Makimachi…and stop babbling." Aoshi spoke his hand nudging Misao's shoulder trying to get her to straighten up. He watched as her blue-green eyes turned sad, gazing into his unemotional stare. She was…showing concern for him…worried about him no matter how much they seemed to argue over the stupidest things at work.

"Thank you for your concern…but I am fine Makimachi. I just need some rest that is all." Aoshi hoped this would satisfy Misao's curiousness and he relaxed on the inside when she nodded her head in understanding. He became slightly confused when she began to laugh lightly and wave her hands around trying to explain herself more.

"You probably think I'm an idiot coming over here…not to mention down right weird, but I've seen this happen before. I witnessed someone I know go through a death in their family without venting any of their emotions or feelings out loud. You see, my friend lost his older brother…and when I saw you…I just wanted to help because I didn't want to see another broken soul…not again…" Aoshi stared curiously down at Misao, not voicing any opinions on what she spoke of. What was it about this small snip of a woman that seemed to make him feel attracted to her? It irked him to no end, but still no matter how hard he had tried Misao was someone he found quite interesting to be around.

"Here, I bought you some food from my grandfather's restaurant. Um, Nanami-chan said this was your favourite meal and I got some other dishes for you as well just in case you were really hungry. Actually these other dishes are ones I usually order, but they are nice I promise."

"You are rambling again Makimachi." Aoshi responded and watched Misao snap her lips shut, a soft blush crossing her cheeks as she held out the shopping bag waiting for Aoshi to take it from her. Aoshi tentatively did and Misao observed as his gaze left hers to peer back into his apartment when noise came from the lounge room, the television being switched on.

"Oh, forgive me, I am intruding when you obviously have other company." He noticed Misao turn on her heel, ready to walk away from him, but quicker then she could his right hand was out and closed around her thin left wrist. Misao had gasped in surprise as she turned half way back around to look up at Aoshi one more time.

"Please don't go." Aoshi abruptly let go of Misao's wrist when he realised what he had said and done.

"Does that mean…you are inviting me inside?" Misao uttered softly, her eyes wavering as they gazed into his. A thick silence began to grow between them.

"Take her inside Aoshi-san. She's such a pretty thing." An elderly voice broke through and jerked Misao and Aoshi to turn and stare at her.

"Obaachan!" Aoshi muttered threateningly and all he received was her chuckled laughter as she entered her own apartment while waving her hand. She had been Aoshi's neighbour four about five years now.

"Don't mind her, she's always been like that." Aoshi tried explaining and noticed Misao was still looking away from him and blushing prettily.

"So, was that an invitation to come inside?" Misao questioned and watched as Aoshi parted from the doorway allowing her to walk inside.

"You television is on…are you sure you want me here? I thought you would have other comp-"

"Wait! I mean you can't…I mean there is someone…I haven't told you about…" Aoshi's words became all jumbled, but it was too late anyway. Misao was already standing in the lounge room, her large blue-green eyes taking in the sight in front of her. The television was on, viewing some children's anime program Misao hadn't seen in such a long time. On the floor a metre or two away from the entertainment system sat a small boy, dressed in light blue pyjamas, his black hair still dripping wet and dampening the collar of his pyjama top.

"Shinomori-san…who is…this?" Misao spoke lightly as she glanced back at Aoshi, observing silently as he moved forward and passed her to crouch near the boy, who was now staring between Aoshi and herself. Aoshi closed his eyes for several seconds, knowing there was no way he could avoid telling Misao the truth. His eyes opened as he stood to his full height, Seiji now sitting on his left hip.

"This is Makimachi Misao, can you say hello to her?" Aoshi spoke softly and watched as Seiji toyed with the collar on his black shirt while turning his purple eyes to Misao.

"Konbanwa!" He spoke a bright smile crossing his lips; not even realising his father was extremely tense.

"Makimachi-san works with Uncle Kenny and myself at the office in the city." Aoshi explained and watched Seiji nod his head in understanding, not to mention watching as he placed out his hand waiting for Misao to shake it.

"Uncle Kenny?" Misao muttered lightly, her eyes gazing into bright purple ones…innocent purple ones. Why did they seem so familiar to her? Misao's eyes grew wide in realisation when an image flashed through her mind.

"That woman…Yume…her eyes are just like this boys…" Aoshi's eyes narrowed as Misao was mumbling to herself, but watched as she walked closer and took Seiji's small hand into hers and shook it lightly.

"Makimachi, this is…my son…Shinomori Seiji." Aoshi observed as Misao sucked in some much-needed air, not coming to the conclusion that he'd voice something so bluntly to her. Her eyes were wide with shock; her mouth moving but nothing came out.

"Ne tochan, Misao-san looks like a fish!" He spoke and began to giggle thinking it was funny. Aoshi bent over, placing him back on his own two feet and spoke softly asking him to go to his room for a moment while he talked with their guest. Aoshi and Misao watched as he raced off heading into his bedroom and closing the door behind him.

"I…I…don't really know what to say." Misao spoke flabbergasted at this new realisation. Her boss…well one of her bosses, but then one she answered to had a child! Misao watched still silent, her words not being able to escape her mind as Aoshi began to pick up some toys and placed them in a box near the entertainment system.

"Why must you say anything Makimachi? No one was to know about Seiji…it was only myself and Kenshin in the company that knew about him…that is all I permitted to know."

"He is…your mistake?" Misao spoke softly, watching the toy that Aoshi had been holding drop to the floor at her words. She was reciting what he spoke up in the mountains back at him and clearly it had struck a cord.

"He is not my mistake, he is my saviour." Aoshi abruptly replied while snatching up the toy and throwing it into the box. Misao jumped lightly but stood stock-still.

"But you said…"

"My life was pretty screwed up before Seiji came, but everything changed for me because eof him that is why he is my saviour. I now had something to live for and be proud of even if I hardly ever saw him over the past four years. I said those words because I was pissed off and frustrated at you Makimachi. What I truly wanted was for you to go back into your bedroom for the evening and leave me alone, but you didn't…you stayed…and pestered me to no end."

"Pestered you? I did no such thing!" Misao retorted back with a fisted hand. Her eyes grew wide as Aoshi stepped closer to her, much like he did on the balcony and peered down at her.

"You still linger in the past…and I can see it frightens you that you might have to open up to someone one day. Your emotions can not stay locked away forever Shinomori. They were your exact words were they not Makimachi? You would have to be one of the nosiest people I've ever come across and frankly that pisses me off! My business is my own and if you dare think about telling anyone about Sei-" Aoshi abruptly stopped when he heard Seiji's bedroom door open. Misao quickly moved away from him and turned to watch his head pop out of the room.

"Ne tochan, what's for dinner? I'm starving!" He spoke dramatically and moved into the lounge room not wanting to be in his bedroom anymore. Misao glanced back at Aoshi watching as he sighed lightly and then cleared his throat answering Seiji while walking past Misao.

"Makimachi actually bought some food for us, so why don't you be a good host for her and tell her where the plates are kept in the kitchen okay? I'll go clean myself up."

"Misao-san this is the kitchen." Aoshi heard Seiji confirm loudly as he pointed to the kitchen. He heard Misao giggle lightly and watched as she picked him up and placed him on the preparation bench. She walked around the kitchen opening up cupboards that contained dishes; plates and glasses while the draw contained chopsticks and serving spoons.

Aoshi shook his head and closed the bathroom door behind him. He knew of Misao's lie about getting the information off of the computer. He knew Kenshin had something to do with it. Anything that seemed to involve himself and Misao these days always had traces of Kenshin around.

"You will pay dearly for this my friend." Aoshi muttered to himself, his hand posed on the shower tap when he heard loud giggles of his son and Misao coming from the lounge room. He tested to make sure the water was warm and stepped under it. Water streamed down his lean form, Aoshi content in just standing there for now as he was deep in thought.

* * * *

A small amount of time had passed as Aoshi stepped out of the bathroom, a mist of heat escaping as he did so. He was dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a plain black button down top. A towel was draped over his left shoulder while he held part of it in his right hand brushing it through his drenched hair. He moved back into the lounge room and haltered as he saw Misao sitting behind his standing son, she combing his messy damp hair.

"Okay my turn now!" Seiji spoke in his usual genki voice and raced to stand behind Misao as he yanked on the hair tie clasping her braid in place. Aoshi watched, as his son's little hands parted Misao's locks and picked up the brush and began to move it through her hair like she had done for him.

"Misao-san you have really pretty hair. It even longer then my kachan's by heaps!" He spoke and Aoshi cringed at the mention of Yume.

"Why haven't the two of you begun to eat dinner yet?" Aoshi interrupted not wanting Seiji to speak anymore about Yume and not wanting Misao to ask any questions about her either. He wasn't too sure whether Misao knew the mother of his child, but he would have guessed she had noticed Seiji's purple eyes before and would have put two and two together. He watched the two of them jerk in surprise and turn to look at him, wisps of Misao's long blue-black hair floating around her as she did so. A small alarm went off from the kitchen and Misao got up raced towards the oven to turn it off.

"We were waiting for you tochan. Come and sit here." Seiji spoke while patting a spot near the coffee table for him, their backs facing the television, the both of them watching Misao as she got the food out of the oven having heated them up.

"Ne tochan, Misao-san looks pretty with her hair down don't you think?" Seiji whispered to his father, watching as he gazed down at him and then over at Misao who hadn't even heard a thing.

"A-Aa…" Aoshi replied softly and got up to help Misao bring over the food. She took the last dish of steamed vegetables over while Aoshi opened the fridge and grabbed out a bottle of juice. As Misao dished out portions of food, Aoshi ended up pouring everyone a class of juice. He picked his up for a drink and choked on the contents at Seiji's next confession.

"Misao-san, tochan thinks your pretty. Its true, he told me so while you were in the kitchen." As Aoshi coughed he felt a soft hand patting his back, which was none other then Seiji and knew Misao would be looking at him. He finally looked up, his eyes watering slightly as the orange juice seemed to go down the wrong way and found Misao's cheeks a faint shade of pink. She quickly diverted her gaze away and glanced elsewhere the two grown ups embarrassed while Seiji grinned.

"Let's eat!" Seiji spoke happily and picked up his chopsticks and dived into his dinner. The three of them ate in silence, Seiji glancing over at Misao and then beside him to look up at his father. His eyes frowned as he voiced his question to him.

"Ne tochan, did I make you angry?" Misao glanced over at the two Shinomori's and observed as Aoshi placed down his chopsticks, his right hand lifting up to cup Seiji's left cheek.

"You'll never anger me Seiji, I'm just thinking that is all." Misao couldn't help but smile at this side of Aoshi. He was so gentle and gentle with his son. She thought it quite a shock that someone could keep up a facade like this for so long. At work his attitude was another story. Demanding and bossy, but in such a competitive business Misao began to understand why he was the way he was. He had been right, work was work and was meant to be left in the office whereas his personal life was his own and he could do whatever he pleased.

"Thank you for dinner Misao-san, it's yummy!" Seiji spoke snapping Misao out of her own thoughts. She held a small smile on her lips as she nodded her head in silent recognition of his words.

* * * *

Time passed quickly as Aoshi and Misao began placing the left over food into the fridge and started cleaning the dirty dishes.

"I'm sure you have better things to do then staying here Makimachi. It is getting late so you can go. Seiji has to go to bed soon anyway." Aoshi spoke softly while he handed her another plate. There was a groan of annoyance coming from the lounge as Seiji heard his name and 'go to bed' in the same sentence. Misao couldn't help but laugh lightly as she replied.

"Looks like someone isn't ready for bed. Actually you are right though, it is getting late and I have work tomorrow. Can I borrow your bathroom before I go though?" Misao asked as she dried off the last plate. Aoshi nodded his head as he took out the plug and wiped down the bench with the wash cloth.

"Ne tochan?" Aoshi turned too look at Seiji, he standing in the lounge room with his arms raised in the air.

"Okay, just one time though and then it's off to bed for you." Aoshi spoke as he dried his hands on the teatowel and walked over to Seiji.

Misao came back into the lounge room to see Aoshi lying on the carpet, his long legs curled up into his lower stomach region, his feet flat with Seiji's on top of them, the bottom of their feet touching. He was standing up, balancing on Aoshi's feet and talking! Misao's eyebrow raised as Seiji's arms were horizontally out, but the both of them were rock solid even though Seiji was chatting a mile a minute. Aoshi's arms cradled his head as he too spoke back to Seiji, Misao leaning against the wall as she looked at the both of them, the only difference was probably their eye colour and the fact that Seiji was so high spirited and carefree like a child is. Aoshi was one to notice someone watching him straight away, but it was as though when he was with his son, nothing mattered but him.

Misao's lips parted open when Seiji seemed to loose his balance and fell forward but Aoshi's hands shot up and clasped him under his arms and placed his feet on his chest.

"You did that on purpose." Aoshi spoke and pulled a face while sitting up.

"Come on I'll give you a piggyback to your room."

"But I want to see Misao-san before I go to bed." Seiji complained as Aoshi stood up to his full height.

"You'll see her again Seiji so don't worry."

"Is that an open invitation to come visit again?" Misao questioned as she leaned away from the wall and stepped forward heading for a silent Aoshi and a giggling Seiji who decided to chant 'yes' over and over again.

"Come on you." Aoshi spoke and began ignoring the whining noises Seiji was making about wanting to stay up a little bit longer. Misao laughed lightly and shook her head as she grabbed her sling bag and waited for Aoshi outside Seiji's bedroom knowing it was rude to leave without saying goodnight.

Aoshi turned off Seiji's light as he now had a night-light and closed the door. He walked Misao silently to the front door and opened it up so she could step out into the hallway.

"You know, we only argued once tonight. Must be a record for us." Misao jokingly spoke and even earned a slight smirk from Aoshi in doing so.

"Your not as half bad as I thought you'd be too." Aoshi ended up saying, reading into Misao's message.

"Can't place anything passed you can I Shinomori?"

"How about a truce? We'll always have our differences, especially in opinions, but I'm sure we can work them out. You don't necessarily have to keep calling me Shinomori either." Aoshi voiced, his hand placed out and Misao took it without a second thought.

"Okay a truce and the name's Misao as well." She winked at him and then pulled her hand free of Aoshi's and grabbed her keys from her sling bag.

"Well I better go, It's been an…interesting night that's for sure." Misao didn't know any other way to place the evening she just had with him.

"Aa that it has. I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything to the others."

"Of course I won't say anything. You are just one big mystery Aoshi Shinomori, but your business is your own and I accept that. You rest easy and take care of that genki little boy of yours. I'm sure he'll run you ragged soon enough. Good night Aoshi." Misao waved lightly and headed for the elevators. He watched her enter the lifts and lifted up his hand to wave at her as the doors closed.

"And you say I'm a mystery." Aoshi spoke softly to himself while he closed his door. Apart from Misao's resume there was absolutely nothing he knew about her. He knew she had lost her parents, but that was it. If his life was a bloody mystery then just what the hell was Misao's? He shook his head of thoughts when Seiji's door opened.

"Ne tochan can you sleep in the room with me until I fall asleep?" He spoke softly and Aoshi headed inside and closed the door. Seiji still wasn't used to sleeping in a room by himself or having a room to himself for that matter, but Aoshi knew he would try and make Seiji's life a lot more happier then it had been for the past six months.

"Tochan, Misao-san is a real nice lady…I like her a lot…" Seiji mumbled sleepily as he curled on his side his hand gripping Aoshi's shirt. Aoshi gazed down at him and then over to the night light as he replied softly to him even though he was probably already asleep.

"Aa, I like her too Seiji-chan."

* * * *

To be continued…

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Authors notes: Bah! Who reads these anyway…?