A/N: Sorry, I guess I did sound pretty desperate last time. ^ ^' I was paranoid about my portfolio thing, and I guess the tension went into my fiction. I'll just be doing a bit of fanfic wandering. Started way too many fics… Anyway, it's story time! ^-^
Misao nodded happily, before she became passive. Aiteru, not wanting to disturb her thoughts, remained quiet as she watched Misao. Curious, Aiteru looked in the direction of Misao's gaze and noticed Soujiro looking in their direction. In her heart, she knew, even if her mind didn't, Soujiro wasn't looking at her.
Roadside Troubles:
"That looks like a good camping spot!" Aiteru cried excitedly. Everyone turned and looked at her in disbelief.
"What?" Aiteru complained.
"Look at the sky," muttered Misao.
"Are you tired?" Soujiro asked politely.
Chou settled for looking highly puzzled.
Aiteru, feeling very embarrassed, raised her reddening face to the setting sun, unable to look at her friends in the eye. "Well… Chou always made us stop around this time… I just thought he was tired by now," she explained sheepishly.
"No wonder I caught up with you guys," Misao muttered.
"We'll make camp if you're tired," Soujiro smiled.
"Nope! I'm not!" She smiled as she marched past them, taking the lead. Behind her back, the other two gave Chou a questioning look, but none of them said a thing.
Misao walked in the long shadows of the trees, nibbling on a snack. Does it have anything to do with the reason they left? Perhaps… Okon says that Aiteru didn't look too well before they left. But, if she wasn't well, then why take the trip north? The cold weather would make her sicker. So that can't be it…
Soujiro had wondered why their pace was so slow. Soujiro knew that one should not question things, but setting camp before the sun went down? Soujiro shook his head. There were so many things he couldn't understand. Ever since Kenshin defeated him, the world no longer made sense. Soujiro peered about him, searching for clues as Shishio had advised him. Aiteru appears exuberant enough, so she cannot be at fault. Misao, being newly recruited, cannot have anything to do with it. Everyone well knows that I can travel great distances in a short period. Soujiro scrutinized Chou, who was lagging behind all of them. Perhaps Chou has become older than I thought…
Another few hours passed, the company merely enjoyed the calm silence. Aiteru fell back, keeping her dear Uncle Chou company as Soujiro and Misao continued in front of them, consciously keeping their own distance away from each other.
"Are you okay?" Misao asked as Aiteru had sat down by a tree at the edge of the forest.
Aiteru yawned greatly as she rubbed her feet, "Just a moment, I'm not seasoned warriors like all of you."
Soujiro smiled apologetically as Chou nodded. Misao sat next to her, a look of worry evident on her face.
"I'm fine. Really, Misao-chan," she yawned again as she leaned on Misao.
Chou, wanting Soujiro 'disposed' of, sent him into town to buy them rooms for the night. After Soujiro left, Chou sighed in relief as he began to trudge behind.
Chou groaned as he rubbed his temples. Even with Shishio dead, he's still a mindless errand boy of his. Chou had sent Soujiro ahead to pay for the rooms they were to spend the night in, and had just recently sent him out again to look for the girls who stayed behind due to Aiteru, who complained about her feet aching.
"Don't you dare drop her Tenken!" Misao hollered audibly from outside the inn.
"Makimachi-san, please do not worry so. I can very well carry her," Soujiro assured her, his voice now echoing in the building.
"I'm warning you! If you do anything funny to my best friend, I'll Tobi Kunai you!"
The door opened, revealing a very harassed Soujiro who carried Aiteru in his arms with Misao screaming behind him.
"What's with all the rukus?" Chou grumbled.
"Tenken just picked up Aiteru and headed to town!" Misao complained her face flushed.
"Anou… She was and still is asleep," Soujiro explained nonchalantly as he laid Aiteru onto a nearby futon.
"Misao, just trap it. There are guests already sleeping," Chou warned.
Misao growled, "I'm turning in, now get out of our room!"
"Anou…" Soujiro murmured sheepishly, his hand scratching the back of his head. "There's only one room." Misao blinked. But her face blushed at the implications the very moment it registered in her mind.
"SOUJIRO NO BAKA!" She hollered as she attempted to skewer him with her barrage of kunai. Soujiro, not understanding the concepts of allowing a woman to gain satisfaction, was chased out by an angered weasel-girl, who demanded another room.