READ THIS ( read the whole thing okie ? )

author's notes :


I'm sooo sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter ... it's just that with so much homework and all, aaargh ! anyway, to make up for it, i've made this chapter really long ... there is a teeny bit of ' adult ' situations, so this is a warning ... ah yes, there's a lot of swearing, but very mild, so you don't exactly have to cover your eyes or anything like that ... don't forget to read the notes at the end of the chapter ...

thanks so much to everyone who had written a review, please continue to write comments / criticisms ... they are very much appreciated ... hmph, i'm sure you guys know by now that no review = no new chapter ... bwahahaha ... ok, that sounded really egotistical ... GOMEN ! ... you have to understand that reviews inspire me ... sorry, i'm begin to babble ...

anyway, this chapter, as promised, is focused on the start of Misao and Aoshi's relationship ... sigh, i know i also said that there would be K & K sparks, but the chapter just got so long ( and i ran out of time ) so Kenshin will meet up with Kaoru again in the next chapter, not in this one ... sorry again ... SORRY TO THOSE PEOPLE EXPECTING K&K FLUFF ... the title of this chapter is kinda sappy, but as you read it, you'll understand why i chose that title ...

to ' joshi gurl ' ... how the heck do you know that i'm filipino ? it's the cell phone / texts info that gave it away eh ? either that or you're from canada ... ( that sounded kinda weird ... it's just that i have a friend in canada whose boyfriend is named josh ^_^ )

before i forget, i don't own any of the characters in rurouni kenshin ... nothing at all ...

ENJOY !


anata ^ _^




Chapter Five - For The One That You Love




As he raced through the impossibly slow traffic, Kenshin's mind began envisioning ways of torturing the scumbag who had dared to touch Misao. Bloody murder, in this present day and age, was unfortunately, no longer an option unlike in the good old days. The many different possibilities surged through his mind, only to be overshadowed by an image of his sister sobbing. Each stop light he had to wait for, every second that passed, only encouraged the rage building up inside of him.

' I'll sue his ass off and make sure that he ends up in prison for this lifetime. No - make that for the next three lifetimes. Damnit! Why wasn't I there for Misao when she needed me the most ? She's all that I have left and yet - '

He smiled bitterly, as he recalled the reason why he had turned off his cell phone, why he had not known Misao was in trouble, and why he had not been able to rescue her in time - he had been with another woman. He tapped his fingers on the dashboard impatiently, and somewhat guiltily. His thoughts drifted to ' her '. Heck, he didn't even know her name and there he was thinking about her when he should have been concentrating on getting to Misao. What kind of a brother was he ?

Kenshin's thoughts were suddenly cut off as he caught sight of the house he had just left the night before. Screeching to a halt, he jumped out of his car and raced towards the front door. The sight of the police cars parked in front of the house only served as fuel to his already agitated state. A crowd of onlookers composed of nosy neighbors watched in interest as Kenshin, in his full ' bathrobe ' clothed glory began banging on the door. He made a mental note to himself to never leave house keys in the pocket of his shirt ever again, as he wryly recalled what had happened to his shirt last night.

When the door cracked open, Kenshin took a deep breath and walked in. Hiko grimly stood there, allowing him entrance to the house like some sort of butler. Kenshin rushed past him and two other police officers as he ran up the stairs to Misao's room. With a mighty and heroic kick, similar to the one he had bestowed upon the unfortunate bathroom door in the motel, Kenshin entered. He had expected to see Misao in tears, or shaking in fear. He had expected her to be upset or afraid or anything, so he was prepared to comfort his poor little sister who was - sitting on her bed, laughing and snuggling with a seemingly familiar guy beside her ? Kenshin could only gape in stupefaction.

The couple on the bed jumped guiltily apart as they gazed upon the unwanted redhead hero standing in front of them. Misao, sensing the slight change in color of Kenshin's pupils, quickly stood up to hug him, while the guy she was with stealthily inched his way towards the exit.

" Hold it. What's your name? " rang Kenshin's steely voice in the midst of the awkward silence that had befallen the room, as he faced the somewhat panicked teen who had almost, but not quite, gotten away.

" My name is Aoshi. Aoshi Shinomori. " he coolly replied, seemingly unafraid.

" Sit. " commanded Kenshin, his voice tinged with menace.

Aoshi sat down. In his mind, he had wanted to refuse, but seeing the furious expression on the fiery redhead's face erased all thoughts of disobedience. He cringed inwardly for seeming like such a coward. He reassured himself with the thought that he would be the one receiving the brunt of Kenshin's anger, rather than Misao.

With a satisfied nod, Kenshin turned his attention to Misao. He began shouting incoherently at her, half lecturing, half comforting, with an oro or two added in between. Kenshin felt angry, confused and somewhat betrayed. He had been worried sick about her, but there she was all happy. Even worse, she was with a guy in her bedroom. What else would an overprotective older brother do rather than jump to incredibly high conclusions ?

Kenshin was trying to express his pent-up anxiety, but words seemed to fail him. In a mad effort to be understood, he began to wildly wave his arms in front of Misao, who was still clinging to him in case Kenshin would suddenly decide to attack her friend.

Mistakenly interpreting Kenshin's actions as violence, Aoshi wedged himself between them in order to protect Misao from any blows that might be inflicted upon her. Being much taller than the two height deprived siblings, Aoshi was rest assured that he would be sufficient as a shield. In his efforts to act as a barrier for Misao, he had shocked Kenshin into silence.

Both Kenshin and Misao were both staring at Aoshi in surprise, but with different reasons altogether. Kenshin was surprised because no one, much less a high school student, had ever challenged his authority. That simple action of Aoshi's had involuntarily gained him Kenshin's grudging respect and acceptance. Although Kenshin had not expected or appreciated it, he understood exactly what had gone through Aoshi's mind. The fact that Aoshi was willing to face his wrath in order to protect his little sister was enough to change Kenshin's opinion of him. In the span of a few seconds, Aoshi had changed from nasty perverted ass into a decent respectable ass. He was still an ' ass ' though, because Kenshin still couldn't get the image of Aoshi and Misao snuggling on her bed, out of his mind.

Misao, who had been admiring the view of Aoshi's delectable backside, had hearts in her eyes. She hadn't expected Aoshi to do something so, well - heroic ! He was like a prince from a fairytale, despite the fact that he had jet black hair, an amazingly well muscled torso, gorgeous midnight blue eyes that reminded her of the night - more of an exotic prince charming, actually. Misao soon lost her train of thought, as she got caught up in her fantasy.

Aoshi was just plain confused.

He got even more confused when a relatively calm Kenshin took his hand and began to vigorously shake hands and introduce himself as if nothing had happened at all. If someone had walked in the room at that moment, he would have assumed that Kenshin and Aoshi had just met for the first time by the looks of the situation.

Someone did walk into the room at the moment. It was Hiko. He quirked his brow when he noticed Kenshin's hand attached to Aoshi's, but said nothing. He was already used to Kenshin's ' moods ' after knowing them for so many years. After Hiko cleared his throat a couple of times, everyone got the hint and took a seat on the floor. It took quite a while though, before everyone got settled enough for Hiko to begin talking.

" I'm sure all of us know what had happened last night. " started Hiko.

" No. I have no idea what the hell is going on. First I get tons of text messages from Misao with ' HELP ' written on them as well as messages from you, Hiko, about a family emergency and that I should get home as soon as possible. What else am I supposed to do expect panic and rush home ? Next thing I know I find my little sister, who's only in high school, with a guy on her bed ? What the hell is happening to the world ? Everything is so messed up and no on wants to tell me why. Don't anyone dare to tell me I'm overreacting because I'm not. " ranted Kenshin, his previous fire igniting once more.

" You didn't bother reading the messages that came afterwards, didn't you ? " Hiko sighed.

" Uh, no ? " answered Kenshin sheepishly.

Everyone groaned in unison.

" We assumed that you read them and that you knew what had happened because you only showed up this morning. Hmmm, so since you don't know, that means your cell phone was closed last night. That could only mean one thing eh ? So who were you with last night Kenken ? " teased Misao.

Kenshin, who was blushing profusely, could only sputter in reply.

Hiko sternly ordered Misao to ' quit it ', and at the same time, ordered Kenshin to get a hold of himself. He cleared his throat once more, to gain everyone's attention.

" As you all know - " Hiko began.

" Let me tell Kenshin. It was my fault and well, he is my brother. " interrupted Misao.

" Fine. " Hiko icily replied, slightly miffed about being interrupted.

Misao took a few deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling until she was relaxed enough. All the while, Aoshi, who had been sitting beside her, held her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze, despite the narrowing of Kenshin's eyes.

" I'm sure you remember last night was the prom. After Aoshi had dissed my lack of sexiness and height - yeah Kenshin, he's ' that ' guy who hurt my feelings and all. " Misao smiled, as she noticed the guilty expression on Aoshi's sexily remorseful face.

" Anyway, if you can recall afterwards, I was dancing with Jake, the blond football player. Anyway, during the course of the dance, he had invited me to go clubbing with him and a couple of friends after the prom. I wanted to go, very badly in fact, but I knew that you wouldn't allow me. Either that or you would tag along, and that's even worse. No offense meant ! " she hurriedly added as she noticed the evil look Kenshin was throwing at her.

" Sigh, here comes the bad part. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry, it's just that I wanted to hang out with them, you know, be cool like the popular people in school. So I decided to sneak out after you had left. " explained Misao apologetically.

' So the flickering lights I saw last night as I was backing out of the driveway were not my imagination after all. It was Misao all along. ' thought Kenshin to himself.

" That was wrong, but I still went along with Jake. I didn't know that he was drunk. I didn't know that he was going to - " Misao started sobbing as she recalled what had occurred.

Aoshi then continued the story, realizing that Misao was in no condition to do so.

" I was in the club too, actually, but I had no idea that Jake had invited Misao along. I haven't known Jake for that long, but I knew enough that when he was drunk, he would get really wild. So when I saw him, ummm ... " halted Aoshi nervously.

" Saw him doing what ? " pressed Kenshin angrily, as he clenched his fists tightly.

" He started touching me. He wouldn't stop even though I kept saying no. He wouldn't stop - " whispered Misao as her heart wrenching sobs grew stronger.

" Did he ? " asked Kenshin in a voice filled with loathing for ' Jake '.

" No. He didn't. I saw Jake following Misao into the washroom, so I went after him. I think that was where she was sending Kenshin the text messages for help. It was a unisex toilet alright ? Geez, by the looks on your faces you'd think I was a major pervert or something. Misao was shouting and she was struggling. I think she even kicked him in the crotch. Anyway, when I saw what he was doing to her, I convinced him to stop. " concluded Aoshi humbly.

" He sure did ! With some sort of karate kick, Aoshi knocked Jake unconscious ! Of course, that was after Jake started attacking him because Aoshi had tried talking with him to stop groping me. We called the police, but Jake had gotten away already. Hiko and Aoshi accompanied me home to ensure that nothing would happen in case Jake tried to come here. Aoshi was nice enough to stay with me. We even got to talk and I learned a lot about him. Apparently, he was really nervous last night when he saw me, which was why he insulted me. " Misao added, as she blew her nose on a Kleenex tissue that Aoshi had handed to her.

No longer was Aoshi an ' ass ' in Kenshin's mind. In fact, Kenshin had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was a feeling he rarely experienced - gratitude. He hated owing anything to anyone, no matter how small the favor. Unfortunately, Kenshin realized that he could never repay Aoshi for what he had done.

" Thank you. " was all Kenshin could say.

" Too bad Jake got away though. " Aoshi added.

" Actually, he didn't. " muttered Hiko.

All three of them turned to face the policeman in confusion.

" If you had bothered to read the messages I had sent to you afterwards, Kenshin, you would have found out that Jake's body, or should I say corpse, was found a few hours later. Specifically at four a.m., near the bar where you were in last night. To make matters worse, a few strands of red hair, which are being tested for DNA samples right now, where found near his body. " explained Hiko.

Kenshin had a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was bad enough feeling ' gratitude ', but now this ? He would probably start getting ulcers really soon. Everything happening seemed like some sort of movie, or soap opera, or possibly an anime - too bad this was reality.

" So what ? " asked Misao, who was now on the verge of tears once again, after hearing the news of Jake's untimely death. She felt so bad for feeling happy that he was dead, that she began to cry.

" What he means is ... " said Aoshi somberly.

" Kenshin is the main suspect. " finished Hiko.


to be continued ...



hehe, the end of this chapter isn't exactly a cliffhanger, but i'm hoping that it entices you guys ( the readers ) to read the next chapter ... ... and sooo, if you want to know what happens next, i expect reviews ... *evil laugh* ... is the plot seemingly becoming like a soap opera ? hopefully not ... by the way, I DO HAVE ANOTHER RUROUNI KENSHIN FAN FIC ... IT'S CALLED ' THE KISS ' ... I SUGGEST THAT YOU READ IT ! IT'S ALREADY AT CHAPTER SIX ... DON'T FORGET TO ALSO DO A REVIEW FOR IT ! ... actually, this isn't just advertising for ' The Kiss ' ... i'm kinda looking for someone to finish it for me, so if anyone actually reads it and is interested in continuing it, please email me ... pleeeease ... i can't really concentrate on it anymore because i'm currently working on this fic ( Angel ) ... thanks

oh look at what comes right after this sentence - it's the box for writing a review ... HINT HINT ... *sweatdrop*