Chapter 3- Distant Emotions
Disclaimers: Standard RK disclaimers apply. This fic is strictly for entertainment purposes. I don't get paid so please don't sue.
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"Oi, Misao-dono? Misao-dono? Daijoubo ka?" asked Soujiro as he waved a hand in front of Misao's face.
Misao flushed as she snapped back to reality. She gave Soujiro a haughty look and Soujiro just smiled and offered her a potato he cooked over the campfire.
Misao smiled at him and held onto her supper, feeling the hotness of the vegetable sear her hands. It was strange... this companionable feeling with Soujiro Seta, a former hitokiri.
But then again, Misao felt comfortable with Kenshin and Aoshi too then most men. She sighed. She must have a psychological defect that makes her so attracted to the wrong kind of men.
Misao felt a scowl growing on her face as the more she thought. 'Why, she could get married to any guy she wants! So why the heck is she still dangling after Aoshi when he so plainly and cruelly told her he didn't feel the same way?'
Soujiro cleared his throat. Misao whipped her head to glare at him as he smiled and said, "Misao-dono... your face is really scary."
"Nani wo utennen?" screeched Misao as she jumped to her feet angrily and began eating her supper with huge bites.
Soujiro just shrugged and resumed eating his dinner with moderate bites. Misao finished eating and snatched Soujiro's half-eaten potato and gobbled it up before Soujiro could even blink.
Soujiro gave her a disgruntled look that Misao of course never noticed. Misao was too busy pacing back and forth in front of Soujiro and when she turned around, a fire was blazing in her eyes.
"Soujiro, I'm not ugly am I?" asked Misao in a no-nonsense voice that dared him not to make the wrong answer.
Diplomatically, he shrugged and said, "Iie, you're not ugly Misao-dono."
Misao stopped in front of Soujiro and she gazed at her figure speculatively. "I have a pretty nice figure too right?" asked Misao.
Soujiro took a slow look at her figure. She was petite, slender with a tiny waist his hands could easily encircle but when his eyes drifted up Misao's chest...well, he couldn't help himself, he blushed.
At his look, Misao turned red and pinched his ear. "ETCHIIII! You weren't supposed to look! You just had to agree with everything say!" exclaimed Misao.
"Itai! Hai! Hai! Misao-dono, you are too violent," complained Soujiro as he rubbed his sore ear. Misao placed a threatening fist in front of Soujiro and immediately, he quieted.
"Aa, you have a pretty nice figure too," said Soujiro ruefully. Misao gave him a smile for his agreement and resumed pacing. Soujiro leaned against a tree and tilted his head up slightly to gaze at the night sky.
Misao ranted and raved for a couple more minutes before she realized that Soujiro wasn't paying attention to her. She gave him a thoroughly disgruntled look which he never noticed as he stared up the stars. Finally realizing that Soujiro was in his twilight zone, Misao then noticed the night's chill. She shivered and rubbed her arms. Now where the heck did she put her blanket?
Even though Soujiro wasn't looking at her, he shifted a little lifting the other side of his blanket invitingly.
Misao looked at him silently for a moment. He looked relaxed, half reclining against the tree and a warm looking blanket covering him from waist down. 'His bangs fell against his forehead in a really cute way,' realized Misao.
Without another word, she walked over to Soujiro and slid in beside him. He shifted a bit closer and rested his arm against the tree trunk. Misao immediately snuggled closer and used Soujiro's arm as her pillow, not noticing Soujiro's wry smile.
Misao smiled contentedly too as she basked in the warmth of Soujiro's body. 'I just wish Aoshi-sama could be like this...' she thought sleepily before falling into the depths of slumber. She was far too under the hatches to feel Soujiro's arms encircle her fully and notice Soujiro and Aoshi give each other lethal looks.
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'What is this?' thought Aoshi dazedly as he made his way back into his own camp not far from Misao's camp.
His chest felt weird. Or was it his heart? He really didn't know. The image of Misao held protectively in Soujiro's arms made his gut tighten with a flurry of emotions.
Kuso! What emotions? Isn't he the icicle of Oniwabanshuu so what the heck were these emotions doing, rioting so madly inside his heart? He was above emotions, wasn't he?
But now it seems that his emotions weren't so distant after all.
TBC
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Author's Notes:
Wheeeeee! Oi Seranida, I finished chapter three already! Bwahahahaha! You said you wanted a love triangle right... well, is this love triangle enough for you? *evil grin* Well, I hope your fic has the next chapter ready, I'm really excited to read the next installment. JA! Should I continue minna?
