Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor any of its characters. The
story is mine though.
Author: I know, this is really late. This challenge was made a long time ago, during the time when I didn't write myself. Now I want to make a fic starring Misao and Enishi and this challenge is perfect for that. I don't want to make any long fic that I would battle with for a long time, I want to make one short fic (One-Shot) about them. I remembered this challenge and thought -Perfect- and started writing.
(Though I did fail since I started writing 13th Hour. It will be the death of me.)
So what was this challenge about? Two people (you choose from RK cast) in cold with only one blanket.
:NOTE: Big thanks to Midori for her fic White Tiger and Jade Concubine! It is really amazing and it has inspired me to write this and 13th Hour. Enishi & Misao pairing has been on my head for some time already, but I just haven't got anything out. White Tiger and Jade Concubine really pushed me forward, so thanks to Midori! You are doing a great job with it! This is for you! :NOTE:
Nagoya is a big city (at least now). If you draw a straight line from Kyoto to Tokyo Nagoya is a bit under it, closer to Kyoto.
I don't know how many of you have seen the "Last chapter" (six colour pages), but this is after it. They were having a picnic. Kaoru had Kenji in her arms, both Kenshin and Misao have cut their hair way shorter, Megumi came and so did Yahiko with Tsubame. Aoshi was there also. Saitou was shown to be in Hokkaido on some kind of mission. The gang received a letter from Sanosuke who was in Mongolia. It is 16th of Meiji. That's 5 years after the battle with Enishi. I guess Misao would be 21 years old. (She and Aoshi didn't seem to be together/married or anything.)
This is some time after it.
"Talking" *Thinking*
Blanket Scenario (Enishi & Misao)
Author: Tiian
Summary: Being forced to work with her past enemy Yukishiro Enishi, Misao founds herself in Hokkaido cutting loose ends in yakuza affairs. Hiding from snow in a small cottage a fire starts burning.
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It was snowing real hard. It was actually hard to see where one was going. Misao stumbled forward following the man before her. How had she managed to get herself into this kind of situation? One moment she is investigation yakuza operation in the warmth of Nagoya and the next moment she was freezing in Hokkaido, walking on Asahi-mountain. Sure, she had proper amount of clothes on her, but the chilling wind still seemed to pierce through all of them with no problems. She wanted to go home. There was never this cold in Kyoto! She wanted something hot to drink and eat, warm, clean and dry clothes, nice company and laughter. But no. Here she was. Freezing to death, she could swear, and her only company was a man almost as silent as Aoshi. Not that Misao had anything against Aoshi being the way he was, but he could talk to her sometimes. She was always the one to start talking.
Misao sighed. No use of worrying about him at the moment. She looked at the broad back of the man before her, making sure that he was still there. When Misao had started to investigate the matter of yakuzas with Saitou, she hadn't expected to collide with Yukishiro Enishi. Collide? Yep, literally.
She had bumped into him while running from about fifty angered men. She could have taken them out, but not without some damage and without time. At that time the information she had was more important. She had to take it to Saitou. Besides she had had a cut on her left arm, nothing big but still painful. Then suddenly Enishi had appeared out of nowhere and she had tried to run over him. They had both fell to the ground. At that point the men chasing after her reached the place. They recognized Enishi and got even angrier. So, both Misao and Enishi ended up running away, together, both staring at the other one with annoyance. Enishi had been forced to run merely because he had no weapon on him and no will to draw attention to himself. He was very well aware that he was still on the wanted list.
It seemed that the yakuza were after Enishi also. He was tied to the same matters that Misao and Saitou were investigating and so in exchange of his freedom, he had agreed to help them. Or rather Saitou had forced him to. Misao hadn't really been so very thrilled. She had no good memories of Enishi, bad on the other hand she had plenty. True, he had saved Kaoru's life when that second hand of his called Wu Heishin almost shot her, but he had also kidnapped her, almost driven Himura out of his mind, tried to kill him and the list continued.
She had been even less thrilled when Saitou had ordered both of them to investigate the matters in Hokkaido. He had been there himself already, but there were loose ends that needed to be cut. He gave that job to them. Misao sighed again. "Why me?" She complained and continued walking. According to Saitou, there should a cottage around here somewhere, but the problem was finding it. He had said that it was close to a river, but they had not seen either river or cottage yet. They were probably lost. Not her dream, really.
If only they could find the river, then the cottage would be easier to find. Saitou said that he had left some wood there so they would be fine. Now, river. Where could that be? They walked and walked and seemed to get nowhere! Her legs were freezing, her hair was frozen, and she felt miserable. Left, right, left, right. She repeated those words over and over in her mind. If she wouldn't have, she would have already passed out. She was tired.
Suddenly she heard a strange sound. It took her three seconds in her tired state to realize what it was and then it was already too late. It was the sound of ice breaking. She had found the river.
Unfortunately for Misao, she made closer contact than needed with it immediately. The ice that covered the river broke easily and Misao found herself in the river. It was not deep, but surely deep enough. Sitting in the bottom meant that only her hair could be seen above the water. Her mouth was full of cold water and she stood up spitting the water back to the river. Her clothes were heavy, wet and cold. Great. How come Enishi had been able walk over it with no problems and she was the one who fell in? Especially since he was much heavier than she was.
Speak of the devil and it will appear. In this case "think" was closer. Standing in the river she saw him walking to her. He had heard her surprised scream and came to see what was wrong. She could see him trying to suppress a smile and laughter. "Oh, you found the river. Nice job."
Yeah, right. It was easy for him to make fun of her, he was not the one standing in a freezing river wet from head to toe. He placed their bags on the ground. He was friendly, and foolish, enough to offer her his hand to help her out of it. In any other situation or with a different person, that would have been a good idea. But with freezing Misao who was not in the mood for being laughed at... Well, it was foolish.
The moment Misao got a firm grip on Enishi's hand, she pulled as hard as she could. For Enishi, who was crouching and unprepared, it meant a cold bath. Misao laughed and falling in water again was no problem for her. Seeing Enishi soaked was most certainly worth it. She could see that he was angry, but somehow it didn't bother her. She knew he would not harm her, at least not too much.
"Why you little --! What was that for?! Now we are both wet!" He sure was furious, but Misao just laughed. "That was for laughing at me." Then she climbed out of the river. It was even colder than before, she was practically one big icicle herself. *Aoshi-sama would feel like home here.* At least she was not frozen inside like he seemed to be.
She stood there and waited for Enishi to get up from the river. The harsh wind blew cold air and huge snowflakes at her. If she would keep standing still, she would soon become a snowman, or snow-woman in the matter fact. Hopefully at least her memorial snow-woman would have shapes of a woman. Unlike her, she thought a bit bitterly. She had grown older, but her body had stayed pretty much the same. She was often mistaken to be a child and it annoyed her to no end. Even those who knew still sometimes treated her the same way as when she had been 16 years. None seemed to be able to see how much she had grown.
Enishi was also up, took their bags and without saying a word or even a glance to each other, they continued walking. Now that they knew where the river was, they just needed to follow it and hope that they were going to a right direction. They honestly had no idea of where they were or where they were going. Misao was worn out and freezing. Her clothes seemed to weight a ton and she was totally, utterly exhausted. But she was also determined not to show weakness before this man. She would not have him carrying her, she would stand on her own feet till the end. And if they would not find the cottage soon, the end was close.
Misao looked ahead. She saw Enishi's back and their bags, which both hung over his shoulder, but beyond him she saw a shadow.
"Enishi." He stopped walking and turned his turquoise eyes to her raising an eyebrow. "Do you see a shadow ahead of us?" He turned his back to look. "Didn't Saitou say that the cottage was at the edge of a forest? Could that shadow be it? The forest I mean." Even speaking was tiring now. She could hardly feel her body, but knew she was shaking and when she had spoken, she hadn't felt her lips. Her voice sounded dull and weak.
Enishi kept silent for a moment before nodding. "It may be. Let's go and see." And they resumed to the calm space of walking. Left, right, left, right. Misao resumed to the same rhythm she had used before. She could hardly walk, her body was protesting her every move.
She had done a lot of travelling when she had been searching for Aoshi and others, but luckily for her, they had never went to places like this. Having to stretch her strength to the most was still quite strange for her. She had never had to use all of it for this long time. Of course Enishi would be familiar with such things. He could probably still go on for miles, but Misao knew that she would be unable.
"You were right. Look." Enishi had stopped walking and Misao almost bumped into him. She looked past him and saw a small cottage made of brown wood. Behind it started a dark forest that she had seen. She sighed in relief. At last she would get some rest. They speeded up a little both anxious to get inside as fast as they could. Any place where the wind didn't reach was better than the open snowfield they had been walking in.
They were at the door in no time. It didn't have a lock, but a wooden pillar resting on a holder held it closed. Enishi took a hold of it and seemingly easily picked the thick snow-covered deal plank up and placed against the wall. Then he opened the door and entered the house. It was dark, all windows were closed and for warmth it was a good thing. Misao followed him inside quickly and tried to close the door behind her but failed. The wind kept opening it. Enishi went outside and took the pillar back inside with him. He closed the door with it. The harsh wind blew outside, but the cottage was well done and it kept the wind outside.
It was really dark and Misao opened one of the windows so that they could see something. It was dark outside, but even darker inside. In the middle of the cottage was a fireplace and in one corner was a pile of wood, ready to be burned. In the same corner were one blanket and one lousy mattress. And nothing else. Well, the cottage was smaller than she had thought. With two people there, it was already almost full. It was clearly made for just one person. She shivered. Now what had she learned about situations like this? When she was cold, wet and alone with an ex-enemy who happened to be a young and strong man? It was easy to answer to the cold and wet part. To avoid catching a disease, she should make a fire and take of her wet clothes and wrap herself in the blanket. Now what to do with the _ young and dangerous man_ part?
Misao looked at the blanket and then she looked at Enishi. He was looking at the blanket also. To avoid the fight she knew that they would have about the ownership of the blanket for now, she offered to start a fire and suggested that he would bring her wood for it. Enishi nodded and headed to the woodpile in one corner while Misao headed towards their bags Enishi had left to the door. There should be matches in hers and something to start a fire with. She found them quickly. She had to, she was about to freeze up. She wanted to just feel warm again for once in her life.
Enishi had piled up firewood into the fireplace when Misao returned and he was making a smaller pile next to it. Misao's hands shook when she tried to start the fire, in which she succeeded after few minutes. She blew gently more air to the fire and sat back feeling a little bit proud. It had not been much, but it was something necessary. As well as the What-Do-We-Do-Now conversation she had avoided earlier. The fire was spreading nicely and Misao could already feel a little bit of heat emitting from it. She took off her soaked cloak and so did Enishi. She knew that if they wanted to avoid sickness, they would have took of all of their wet clothes, which meant all of their clothes. She had some change clothes with her, but it still felt strange to change with Enishi so close. She also knew that her clothes wouldn't be enough to keep her warm. And there was just one blanket.
Misao looked at her feet for a moment, she was still shivering of cold and fatigue. She wanted to rest, but knew that the fire had to be kept burning. She sighed. If Enishi wouldn't open up his mouth, she would. "We're both wet, we need to take our clothes off and warm up. I want that blanket and I am sure you want it too. How big is it?" Enishi, who was still standing, walked to the corner and took the blanket. As he spread it out from its folds, they noticed that it was indeed rather big. "Is there any way of sharing?" Misao mumbled under her breath. She hadn't meant for Enishi to hear it, but he did.
"If you are ready to sit in my lap without clothes, yes." Misao blushed. Enishi was smiling at her in the most annoying way. It was a manifestation of a do-it-I-dare-you look. She was too tired for that kind of games. She just wanted to sleep, it was hard for her to keep her eyes open. She stared into nothingness. She didn't have strength to do anything else. She wanted to sleep, rest. So what if she would never wake up? She could at least rest. Her eyes were closing by themselves. Misao couldn't summon enough strength to keep them open anymore. They closed and Misao allowed herself to relax. She had a faint memory of hearing Enishi call her name, but it was gone now. What was left was silence, darkness, rest and warmth.
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The fire was too bright, it was hard to look at it even with eyes closed. It was warm, Misao felt that. There seemed to be two sources of heat. One behind her and one before her. She was in some kind of sitting position, leaning onto something warm and soft behind her. She sighed. She was hungry but she felt already better.
"Are you awake?"
She heard a whisper and felt air touching her ear as he spoke. Enishi. Yes, she was in a cottage with Enishi. She nodded. She slowly forced her eyes open and looked around. The fire was burning merrily before her, the pile next to it was smaller if she remembered correctly. Their clothes were drying close to the fire. The mattress was gone from the corner, she was sure that they were sitting on it. They?
Wait a second. If their clothes were there, what were they wearing? Misao blushed and her face felt warmer. There was something tightened over her breasts and waist. Yes, the strips of clothes she tightened over her breasts were still there. She had already understood that she was leaning onto Enishi, but since she didn't feel his skin, there was something between them. She turned in his lap and looked at Enishi. Usually she avoided looking at him directly cause in her eyes he was a monster. He had done so much to hurt her friends and that way hurt her that she had refused to look at him, but now she wanted to see. For some reason she just wanted to see. He had helped her when there was no need for him to.
He was indeed handsome, no way around it. His blue eyes matched well with his silvery hair. She could see his shoulders and arms. He had wrapped the blanket around only his waist. His upper body was bare. Most of the blanket covered her and his arms wound around her waist kept her in a sitting position.
"I am glad you're awake. I was worried."
Misao's eyes widened. Worried? He had been worried about her? She had been rude to him, she had been impolite and she had pulled him in to the river... Why had he worried about her? She could see the relief shining in his eyes. She was confused. He had to be sick or something. The blanket covered her more than him so it was likely but still. "Why?" She had to know. Why did he worry about her when he practically didn't know her at all? Wasn't he a monster?
"Saitou would have my hide if something happened to you. And so would Battousai." He smiled jokingly. It was not all, Misao could sense it. There had been humour in his voice, he had not been serious. She looked into his eyes. After so many years of trying to read Aoshi's eyes, she had become a master in it. The worry was still evident in them even though he tried to hide it. He was also glad, she could tell by his smile that still lingered in his lips. When she though about, she had never seen him happy. Before he had been grazed by his sister's death and now he had seemed pretty passive. Sure he smiled and stuff, but he never smiled like he did now. She could see his smile also in his eyes.
Well, he really hadn't many reasons to be happy. First his beloved sister was killed and then he had found out that killing Himura had not been her will. He must have been very confused and lost during those hard times. For the first time Misao felt sympathy towards him. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person, he was just lost. Misao smiled to him gently. Maybe he would become a person worth knowing in the future.
She could see that her smile surprised Enishi. "Thank you." And her words even more. He really looked like a lost child. Misao giggled at the thought and leaned back against him. It was warm there and for some reason being so close to him didn't bother her. If he wanted to do something bad to her, or hurt her, he could have done so while she was asleep. She heard his stomach rumble. She smiled. "Are you hungry?" She said it with a teasing voice. To her surprise, she wanted to get to know this person and the reasons that kept him going from one day to another. What gave him the will to live after all he believed in was gone.
She had changed a lot herself. Sure she was still cheery and all, but she had also learned to look at things from the point of view of another person. She usually still acted like before, but she knew when to be serious as well. She had had a tendency of judging people too soon and never change her view of them. Now she would probably have to change her view of Enishi. He was nothing she had thought that he would be. Maybe he once had been, but no more. This person with her now, was very different from the man that had fought against Himura at the island.
Misao leaned against him as if it would have been the most natural thing to do. Somehow only few words and things changed her whole view of Enishi. He had helped her. Even now he was thinking of her making sure that the blanket covered her when he himself remained half uncovered at the same time telling her that he would eat later. She was still very sleepy and her thoughts were getting cloudy again. "Are you cold, Enishi?"
Weird. Why did she call him Enishi? She had called him Enishi from the very beginning. Not Yukishiro, not Enishi-san or anything. Aoshi was Aoshi-sama, Kenshin was Himura, Kaoru was Kaoru-san. Why Enishi remained Enishi? During this time she had spent with him being the only person near her, she had learned a great deal more of him. A great deal... And it had changed her view of him dramatically. To her great surprise, she had actually come to like him. A lot.
"Mmm. I am fine." She heard Enishi whisper before she returned to the dream world.
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Next time Misao awoke was when Enishi tried to do some tea. To do it, he had to move and it disturbed Misao's sleep. "Enishi?" She murmured and slowly opened her eyes. Enishi moved back to his former position and tightened the hold he had of her. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Mmm." Misao shook her head. "It's fine. I would have awoken sooner or later anyway. What are you doing?"
Enishi smiled, but Misao didn't see it. "I was trying to make some tea and maybe some food, but I wasn't really all that successful."
Misao smiled sleepily. "Maybe I can help." She rose into a sitting position, no longer leaning on Enishi and leaned for their bag pulling it to her lap. She opened it and took out two cups, a kettle and tea ingredients. She also took out an apple and gave it to Enishi. "You are hungry, right? Begin with this." She smiled to him. He took it and nodded.
Misao took out also a bottle filled with water and poured some of it into the kettle. She prepared everything and then carefully placed the kettle onto the hot remains of wood.
During the time that Misao had used for the tea, the blanket had dropped lower so when Misao leaned against Enishi again, she leaned against his bare warm chest. That caused her to blush and automatically move a little further away before leaning back. Enishi didn't seem at all disturbed, he just continued eating the apple Misao had given him. He did stop long enough to smirk at her, though.
Misao considered if she should fix the blanket to its previous position, but she felt a little too embarrassed to do so, so she left it be.
They stayed quiet, the only sounds coming from the fire. It took some time for the water to warm, but soon Misao was already pouring tea to two cups. She almost burned her hands in the process. The cups were hot, but both welcomed it after so long time in the cold. Misao also made some noodles for them and both ate eagerly and hungrily. Enishi was the one to get the snow from outside for it.
Meanwhile Misao put on her normal clothes, which were dry, cause they had been in their bag. Enishi also put on a pair of shorts, but for some reason Misao didn't understand he again left his upper body to the cold. She tried to avoid staring at him and his absolutely magnificent chest and muscles. He was gorgeous.
Her cheeks blushing slightly, Misao returned to his embrace as he sat down. A part of her, the wiser one, told her to stay away, but the cottage was cold and his arms were warm and so she sat back down. What Misao noticed almost immediately, was that now that he was satisfied and no longer hungry, Enishi looked calmer than before. Misao bit her lip, took a deep breath and spoke the question that had plagued her mind for some time now. They had traveled together now for some time and as she had came to know him better, she had started to wonder.
"Enishi... Umm, I have a question." She said hesitantly. She was feeling a lot more comfortable with him now than in the beginning when they had just started to travel together, but she about to ask sometime pretty personal. It made her nervous since she knew that if she asked this, she would admit to herself that she thought him to be her friend.
Enishi looked at her slightly surprised and nodded.
"After the battle with Himura, after you escaped from the police... What has kept you going on?" Misao said hesitantly. She was afraid that she would offend Enishi in some way.
He looked at Misao for longest time, pondering her question even though the answer was clear in his mind. The same thing that had kept him moving before still kept pushing him forward. But this time it was different.
After all he had done to hurt others, after having hurt the very speaker of the question by hurting her friends, an answer was deserved. "Onee-chan's smile. After Battousai. Himura killed her, the thought of revenge and my sister smiling upon me were the things that kept me going. Now all I want is for her to smile to me again. I want to be worthy of her smile so I'll try to make amends. Slowly, but surely."
"You still love and miss her very much." Misao whispered after a moment of silence. A man with so much love in him twisted by the war and fate. It was sad.
Enishi looked at Misao and then smiled slightly. "Yes, I do."
Misao turned her eyes away from him and stared at the fire. "I was the only child and my parents died when I were very young. I can hardly remember them. My grandfather died when I were five. He was my last blood relative. So I really can't understand or claim that I understand how you feel about your sister. My friends that were my family left with Aoshi-sama, but didn't return. They were killed in a place far from me. I have been all- alone for so long... Aoshi-sama found me when I was a child and then he left me alone not soon after we had met. Now, even though he is back in one sense, I still feel alone." She said sadly and wondered why she had told him this. She had never told anyone just how lonely she was, but now to him. Why? It felt so easy to open up to him.
One tear slid down Misao face. With a tender touch Enishi wiped it away.
"Do you feel alone now? At this moment?" He whispered to Misao's ear and pulled her into his arms. He embraced her in a protective manner and she didn't resist, but rested against him.
The first time ever he had seen her, had been on the island and there he had been so concentrated on Battousai that he hadn't paid attention to her. Next time had been when they had bumped into each other. After that when he had learned more of her while travelling with her, he found himself liking her. She had a cheerful nature, quick tongue and temperamental mind. She looked like a young girl, no more than 16 and still he knew that she was over 20. She had strained that fact often enough. A woman. She hardly ever acted like one and so many mistook her for a girl. But she was a woman. Very strong woman who still needed to find a cure to loneliness. Just like him she was alone. Like him, she was lost.
"No. I don't really understand why, but I don't feel alone. With you... here... I am not alone." Misao whispered against his chest her warm breath teasing his skin. She didn't understand and she didn't want to understand because for the first time in 15 years she didn't feel alone. Enishi was there, she was leaning against him and his hand moved tenderly up and down her back. She was not alone. She had never experienced this kind of closeness with anyone.
Jiya often hugged her and since he had raised her, he knew her. Yet he failed to understand her. Aoshi always preferred to have a personal space around him and didn't want it to be invaded. She didn't even remember when she had touched him last time. He was very distant to her even when he was physically close.
No one had held her like Enishi did now. No one.
"I am sorry." Misao continued. "For pulling you to the river." Misao did not know how he would react to her words, but laughter was something she had not expected. For the first time since her sister had died Enishi laughed from his heart. He shook his head and looked at the woman in his lap. She wore the most adorable expression of surprise on her face. That expression he would remember all of his life.
He cupped her cheek gently. "I don't think you're sorry at all. Would you be before the same situation again, you would do it again. Without hesitation." He smiled at Misao. His chest felt tight. He saw as multiple emotions flashed on her face before settling on a playful smile and a nod. "You are most probably right about that." She giggled.
Then the smile died from both of them lips and they just stared at each other. Misao looked deep into Enishi's eyes, some unknown feeling building in her chest. It was getting hard to breath, his eyes bore deep into her, to the very core of her being. She was naked before his eyes, her very soul was bared to him.
She felt the warmth of his hand against her cheek and the strength of his body against hers. He leaned to her very slowly. Misao understood what he was going to do, what he wanted to do. It was plainly written in his eyes. Misao saw no sense in stopping him since he had been the one to rid her of loneliness. Even if it would be only temporary for now...
She wanted to...
His lips pressed softly and gently against hers. They moved across hers and Misao opened her mouth.
She wanted to be...
His hand that had cupped her cheek now moved to the back of her head. His lips caressed hers and hesitantly his tongue invaded her mouth. At first it was a testing movement, but noting no resistance but only acceptance, he pressed her tighter against him and the kiss caught more fire.
She wanted to be with...
Her lips were heaven. He couldn't control the sudden and unexpected strength of his own desire. He had never felt anything like this and what made it even better was the fact that he could feel her passion. She was now after a moment of hesitation kissing him with as much passion as he was her. She would burn with him.
She wanted to be with... him.
Misao couldn't think. Her head was empty, emptied by this man. Enishi. She had never thought that she could feel something like this fire that now burned inside of her. She was on fire, but it was not lonely fire. She was not alone. His muscular body pressed tightly against hers. His strong hand pressed against her back and another cupping her head. He was burning her.
His lips moved fiercely against hers and it felt so good. She could still sense his passion and the thought that she could raise such passion from a person was satisfying and arousing. She never wanted this to end and when his lips moved from her lips to her neck sliding along her sensitive skin, she didn't protest. She shivered at the sensation and bent her neck back. His teeth took a hold of her earlobe for a passing second and she moaned, electric shock running trough her body. Then his lips were back on her already reddish ones.
He took a tighter hold of her body, moving his hand from her head to hold her. Then with amazing speed he moved her onto back on the mattress and placed himself above her. He reclaimed her lips with fiery passion. Misao matched his with hers.
His hands took a hold of her hastily tied obi and opened it with ease. At the same time Misao moved her hands along his chest enjoying the feel of his warm skin under her hands. She moved her fingers drawing out the lines of his muscles and then played with his nipples. Enishi moaned into her mouth and then it was his turn to play with her.
He moved his hands slowly along her sides and felt Misao move under him. He raised his hand up, cupping her small breasts and tweaking her nipples as his lower body rubbed against Misao's and his left leg pushed itself between her thighs and pressed hard against her sensitive place in there. Misao arched from the mattress and pressed herself against Enishi's leg rubbing herself against him.
Enishi left her lips and moved down along her skin to her breasts. He took her left nipple into his mouth and heard Misao gasp. Her hands buried themselves to his hair and she pressed him closer to her.
Enishi moved his hand and took a good hold of Misao's top. Misao helped him to take it off of her and then eagerly returned to his embrace to enjoy the feel of her naked skin against his, to enjoy of their closeness.
Not able to go forward patiently Enishi quickly undressed them both and then stopped to look at her.
"Misao..." The whisper of her name escaped his lips as he watched the beauty of her naked body in light of the fire. Fire that burned inside of them both...
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Even knowing herself to be reckless, thoughtless and fiery woman, Misao had never thought that she would be capable of this kind of thing. Because of one moment when she had not felt alone, when he had filled the place beside her, she had gone this far. Somehow things had moved so quickly and easily that she had been caught up with the flow. And she had... slept with Yukishiro Enishi, man she knew not much about. She had given her virginity to him.
She had forgotten Aoshi. For one moment he had been out of her head and it had been filled with Enishi only. Trough it all she had known that she was with Enishi. Aoshi had not existed in her life during those passion and fire filled moments, but now after the fire had extinguished, she really understood what had happened and just how irrevocable it was.
How would she continue from here?
She had always dreamed of Aoshi, always dreamed of marrying him and living with him. But now she had given herself to another man, she was no longer untouched, innocent. What course would her life take now? Where would she go?
Misao lay down silently, unmoving. Even now, she was leaning against Enishi. Their bodies were entangled with one another and his scent filled the air for her to inhale.
Misao was not stupid or ignorant. She knew that she might get pregnant and what would she do then? What would he do then? If--- If he wanted her to go with him, be with him... Could she do that? Be with a man she knew next to nothing about, man who had once brought such pain and sorrow upon her and her friends.
Before her future had gotten just one direction, Aoshi. Now it seemed as if suddenly she would have to look into other directions as well. Even though she had understood that Aoshi may not want her, not in the same way she had always wanted him, she had been reluctant to accept the information, reluctant to let go of her dreams of life with him.
Misao looked at Enishi who slept on peacefully. Previously it had been she who had slept, it seemed that it was his turn now. He really looked different, almost innocent, asleep. The marks of self-irony, pain and anger were gone. Was this who he really was? Beyond that mask and beyond his pain, was this the person he could have became had his sister survived?
Tangled with the present at that sorrowful time, Misao had been unable to really think about the past and Tomoe. She had been more worried about her friends and had simply judged Enishi to be the bad guy, inside outside. She had not considered the events that had led to that situation, had made Yukishiro Enishi what he was.
Not knowing was an easy way to live, that Misao had learned. When you knew, you had a lot to think about before acting. So Misao often left that part to the others. Now she would have to clear everything for herself.
Who was Enishi and what was he to her? How did she truly feel?
She knew that she did not love him. A feeling as strong as that did not appear out of nowhere, especially since she loved Aoshi and had not let go off him. Maybe now was the time when she would have to leave her past life behind her and look into the future from a different point of view. She knew she did care for Enishi, considered him to be a friend and now.a lover. What a strange situation she was facing.
Enishi moved slightly drawing her attention. He opened his eyes for a second and smiled, then fell asleep again. There was nothing sinister in that smile. It had been real and sincere. Meant only for her to see.
Misao smiled. No matter where her future would lead her, she had a feeling that it wouldn't be far from him.
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Author again: Remember that they have known each other some time before this fic already (as said in the beginning) so don't start saying that it was too sudden.
Anyway, I liked writing this and that's good. I have thought of writing fic with pairings such as Kenshin and Misao, Saitou and Misao. *gryn* Seemingly impossible, I know. But I would like to try. After all, I write for myself and what I want appears on the papers. What a feeling of power it gives!
Tiian
Author: I know, this is really late. This challenge was made a long time ago, during the time when I didn't write myself. Now I want to make a fic starring Misao and Enishi and this challenge is perfect for that. I don't want to make any long fic that I would battle with for a long time, I want to make one short fic (One-Shot) about them. I remembered this challenge and thought -Perfect- and started writing.
(Though I did fail since I started writing 13th Hour. It will be the death of me.)
So what was this challenge about? Two people (you choose from RK cast) in cold with only one blanket.
:NOTE: Big thanks to Midori for her fic White Tiger and Jade Concubine! It is really amazing and it has inspired me to write this and 13th Hour. Enishi & Misao pairing has been on my head for some time already, but I just haven't got anything out. White Tiger and Jade Concubine really pushed me forward, so thanks to Midori! You are doing a great job with it! This is for you! :NOTE:
Nagoya is a big city (at least now). If you draw a straight line from Kyoto to Tokyo Nagoya is a bit under it, closer to Kyoto.
I don't know how many of you have seen the "Last chapter" (six colour pages), but this is after it. They were having a picnic. Kaoru had Kenji in her arms, both Kenshin and Misao have cut their hair way shorter, Megumi came and so did Yahiko with Tsubame. Aoshi was there also. Saitou was shown to be in Hokkaido on some kind of mission. The gang received a letter from Sanosuke who was in Mongolia. It is 16th of Meiji. That's 5 years after the battle with Enishi. I guess Misao would be 21 years old. (She and Aoshi didn't seem to be together/married or anything.)
This is some time after it.
"Talking" *Thinking*
Blanket Scenario (Enishi & Misao)
Author: Tiian
Summary: Being forced to work with her past enemy Yukishiro Enishi, Misao founds herself in Hokkaido cutting loose ends in yakuza affairs. Hiding from snow in a small cottage a fire starts burning.
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It was snowing real hard. It was actually hard to see where one was going. Misao stumbled forward following the man before her. How had she managed to get herself into this kind of situation? One moment she is investigation yakuza operation in the warmth of Nagoya and the next moment she was freezing in Hokkaido, walking on Asahi-mountain. Sure, she had proper amount of clothes on her, but the chilling wind still seemed to pierce through all of them with no problems. She wanted to go home. There was never this cold in Kyoto! She wanted something hot to drink and eat, warm, clean and dry clothes, nice company and laughter. But no. Here she was. Freezing to death, she could swear, and her only company was a man almost as silent as Aoshi. Not that Misao had anything against Aoshi being the way he was, but he could talk to her sometimes. She was always the one to start talking.
Misao sighed. No use of worrying about him at the moment. She looked at the broad back of the man before her, making sure that he was still there. When Misao had started to investigate the matter of yakuzas with Saitou, she hadn't expected to collide with Yukishiro Enishi. Collide? Yep, literally.
She had bumped into him while running from about fifty angered men. She could have taken them out, but not without some damage and without time. At that time the information she had was more important. She had to take it to Saitou. Besides she had had a cut on her left arm, nothing big but still painful. Then suddenly Enishi had appeared out of nowhere and she had tried to run over him. They had both fell to the ground. At that point the men chasing after her reached the place. They recognized Enishi and got even angrier. So, both Misao and Enishi ended up running away, together, both staring at the other one with annoyance. Enishi had been forced to run merely because he had no weapon on him and no will to draw attention to himself. He was very well aware that he was still on the wanted list.
It seemed that the yakuza were after Enishi also. He was tied to the same matters that Misao and Saitou were investigating and so in exchange of his freedom, he had agreed to help them. Or rather Saitou had forced him to. Misao hadn't really been so very thrilled. She had no good memories of Enishi, bad on the other hand she had plenty. True, he had saved Kaoru's life when that second hand of his called Wu Heishin almost shot her, but he had also kidnapped her, almost driven Himura out of his mind, tried to kill him and the list continued.
She had been even less thrilled when Saitou had ordered both of them to investigate the matters in Hokkaido. He had been there himself already, but there were loose ends that needed to be cut. He gave that job to them. Misao sighed again. "Why me?" She complained and continued walking. According to Saitou, there should a cottage around here somewhere, but the problem was finding it. He had said that it was close to a river, but they had not seen either river or cottage yet. They were probably lost. Not her dream, really.
If only they could find the river, then the cottage would be easier to find. Saitou said that he had left some wood there so they would be fine. Now, river. Where could that be? They walked and walked and seemed to get nowhere! Her legs were freezing, her hair was frozen, and she felt miserable. Left, right, left, right. She repeated those words over and over in her mind. If she wouldn't have, she would have already passed out. She was tired.
Suddenly she heard a strange sound. It took her three seconds in her tired state to realize what it was and then it was already too late. It was the sound of ice breaking. She had found the river.
Unfortunately for Misao, she made closer contact than needed with it immediately. The ice that covered the river broke easily and Misao found herself in the river. It was not deep, but surely deep enough. Sitting in the bottom meant that only her hair could be seen above the water. Her mouth was full of cold water and she stood up spitting the water back to the river. Her clothes were heavy, wet and cold. Great. How come Enishi had been able walk over it with no problems and she was the one who fell in? Especially since he was much heavier than she was.
Speak of the devil and it will appear. In this case "think" was closer. Standing in the river she saw him walking to her. He had heard her surprised scream and came to see what was wrong. She could see him trying to suppress a smile and laughter. "Oh, you found the river. Nice job."
Yeah, right. It was easy for him to make fun of her, he was not the one standing in a freezing river wet from head to toe. He placed their bags on the ground. He was friendly, and foolish, enough to offer her his hand to help her out of it. In any other situation or with a different person, that would have been a good idea. But with freezing Misao who was not in the mood for being laughed at... Well, it was foolish.
The moment Misao got a firm grip on Enishi's hand, she pulled as hard as she could. For Enishi, who was crouching and unprepared, it meant a cold bath. Misao laughed and falling in water again was no problem for her. Seeing Enishi soaked was most certainly worth it. She could see that he was angry, but somehow it didn't bother her. She knew he would not harm her, at least not too much.
"Why you little --! What was that for?! Now we are both wet!" He sure was furious, but Misao just laughed. "That was for laughing at me." Then she climbed out of the river. It was even colder than before, she was practically one big icicle herself. *Aoshi-sama would feel like home here.* At least she was not frozen inside like he seemed to be.
She stood there and waited for Enishi to get up from the river. The harsh wind blew cold air and huge snowflakes at her. If she would keep standing still, she would soon become a snowman, or snow-woman in the matter fact. Hopefully at least her memorial snow-woman would have shapes of a woman. Unlike her, she thought a bit bitterly. She had grown older, but her body had stayed pretty much the same. She was often mistaken to be a child and it annoyed her to no end. Even those who knew still sometimes treated her the same way as when she had been 16 years. None seemed to be able to see how much she had grown.
Enishi was also up, took their bags and without saying a word or even a glance to each other, they continued walking. Now that they knew where the river was, they just needed to follow it and hope that they were going to a right direction. They honestly had no idea of where they were or where they were going. Misao was worn out and freezing. Her clothes seemed to weight a ton and she was totally, utterly exhausted. But she was also determined not to show weakness before this man. She would not have him carrying her, she would stand on her own feet till the end. And if they would not find the cottage soon, the end was close.
Misao looked ahead. She saw Enishi's back and their bags, which both hung over his shoulder, but beyond him she saw a shadow.
"Enishi." He stopped walking and turned his turquoise eyes to her raising an eyebrow. "Do you see a shadow ahead of us?" He turned his back to look. "Didn't Saitou say that the cottage was at the edge of a forest? Could that shadow be it? The forest I mean." Even speaking was tiring now. She could hardly feel her body, but knew she was shaking and when she had spoken, she hadn't felt her lips. Her voice sounded dull and weak.
Enishi kept silent for a moment before nodding. "It may be. Let's go and see." And they resumed to the calm space of walking. Left, right, left, right. Misao resumed to the same rhythm she had used before. She could hardly walk, her body was protesting her every move.
She had done a lot of travelling when she had been searching for Aoshi and others, but luckily for her, they had never went to places like this. Having to stretch her strength to the most was still quite strange for her. She had never had to use all of it for this long time. Of course Enishi would be familiar with such things. He could probably still go on for miles, but Misao knew that she would be unable.
"You were right. Look." Enishi had stopped walking and Misao almost bumped into him. She looked past him and saw a small cottage made of brown wood. Behind it started a dark forest that she had seen. She sighed in relief. At last she would get some rest. They speeded up a little both anxious to get inside as fast as they could. Any place where the wind didn't reach was better than the open snowfield they had been walking in.
They were at the door in no time. It didn't have a lock, but a wooden pillar resting on a holder held it closed. Enishi took a hold of it and seemingly easily picked the thick snow-covered deal plank up and placed against the wall. Then he opened the door and entered the house. It was dark, all windows were closed and for warmth it was a good thing. Misao followed him inside quickly and tried to close the door behind her but failed. The wind kept opening it. Enishi went outside and took the pillar back inside with him. He closed the door with it. The harsh wind blew outside, but the cottage was well done and it kept the wind outside.
It was really dark and Misao opened one of the windows so that they could see something. It was dark outside, but even darker inside. In the middle of the cottage was a fireplace and in one corner was a pile of wood, ready to be burned. In the same corner were one blanket and one lousy mattress. And nothing else. Well, the cottage was smaller than she had thought. With two people there, it was already almost full. It was clearly made for just one person. She shivered. Now what had she learned about situations like this? When she was cold, wet and alone with an ex-enemy who happened to be a young and strong man? It was easy to answer to the cold and wet part. To avoid catching a disease, she should make a fire and take of her wet clothes and wrap herself in the blanket. Now what to do with the _ young and dangerous man_ part?
Misao looked at the blanket and then she looked at Enishi. He was looking at the blanket also. To avoid the fight she knew that they would have about the ownership of the blanket for now, she offered to start a fire and suggested that he would bring her wood for it. Enishi nodded and headed to the woodpile in one corner while Misao headed towards their bags Enishi had left to the door. There should be matches in hers and something to start a fire with. She found them quickly. She had to, she was about to freeze up. She wanted to just feel warm again for once in her life.
Enishi had piled up firewood into the fireplace when Misao returned and he was making a smaller pile next to it. Misao's hands shook when she tried to start the fire, in which she succeeded after few minutes. She blew gently more air to the fire and sat back feeling a little bit proud. It had not been much, but it was something necessary. As well as the What-Do-We-Do-Now conversation she had avoided earlier. The fire was spreading nicely and Misao could already feel a little bit of heat emitting from it. She took off her soaked cloak and so did Enishi. She knew that if they wanted to avoid sickness, they would have took of all of their wet clothes, which meant all of their clothes. She had some change clothes with her, but it still felt strange to change with Enishi so close. She also knew that her clothes wouldn't be enough to keep her warm. And there was just one blanket.
Misao looked at her feet for a moment, she was still shivering of cold and fatigue. She wanted to rest, but knew that the fire had to be kept burning. She sighed. If Enishi wouldn't open up his mouth, she would. "We're both wet, we need to take our clothes off and warm up. I want that blanket and I am sure you want it too. How big is it?" Enishi, who was still standing, walked to the corner and took the blanket. As he spread it out from its folds, they noticed that it was indeed rather big. "Is there any way of sharing?" Misao mumbled under her breath. She hadn't meant for Enishi to hear it, but he did.
"If you are ready to sit in my lap without clothes, yes." Misao blushed. Enishi was smiling at her in the most annoying way. It was a manifestation of a do-it-I-dare-you look. She was too tired for that kind of games. She just wanted to sleep, it was hard for her to keep her eyes open. She stared into nothingness. She didn't have strength to do anything else. She wanted to sleep, rest. So what if she would never wake up? She could at least rest. Her eyes were closing by themselves. Misao couldn't summon enough strength to keep them open anymore. They closed and Misao allowed herself to relax. She had a faint memory of hearing Enishi call her name, but it was gone now. What was left was silence, darkness, rest and warmth.
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The fire was too bright, it was hard to look at it even with eyes closed. It was warm, Misao felt that. There seemed to be two sources of heat. One behind her and one before her. She was in some kind of sitting position, leaning onto something warm and soft behind her. She sighed. She was hungry but she felt already better.
"Are you awake?"
She heard a whisper and felt air touching her ear as he spoke. Enishi. Yes, she was in a cottage with Enishi. She nodded. She slowly forced her eyes open and looked around. The fire was burning merrily before her, the pile next to it was smaller if she remembered correctly. Their clothes were drying close to the fire. The mattress was gone from the corner, she was sure that they were sitting on it. They?
Wait a second. If their clothes were there, what were they wearing? Misao blushed and her face felt warmer. There was something tightened over her breasts and waist. Yes, the strips of clothes she tightened over her breasts were still there. She had already understood that she was leaning onto Enishi, but since she didn't feel his skin, there was something between them. She turned in his lap and looked at Enishi. Usually she avoided looking at him directly cause in her eyes he was a monster. He had done so much to hurt her friends and that way hurt her that she had refused to look at him, but now she wanted to see. For some reason she just wanted to see. He had helped her when there was no need for him to.
He was indeed handsome, no way around it. His blue eyes matched well with his silvery hair. She could see his shoulders and arms. He had wrapped the blanket around only his waist. His upper body was bare. Most of the blanket covered her and his arms wound around her waist kept her in a sitting position.
"I am glad you're awake. I was worried."
Misao's eyes widened. Worried? He had been worried about her? She had been rude to him, she had been impolite and she had pulled him in to the river... Why had he worried about her? She could see the relief shining in his eyes. She was confused. He had to be sick or something. The blanket covered her more than him so it was likely but still. "Why?" She had to know. Why did he worry about her when he practically didn't know her at all? Wasn't he a monster?
"Saitou would have my hide if something happened to you. And so would Battousai." He smiled jokingly. It was not all, Misao could sense it. There had been humour in his voice, he had not been serious. She looked into his eyes. After so many years of trying to read Aoshi's eyes, she had become a master in it. The worry was still evident in them even though he tried to hide it. He was also glad, she could tell by his smile that still lingered in his lips. When she though about, she had never seen him happy. Before he had been grazed by his sister's death and now he had seemed pretty passive. Sure he smiled and stuff, but he never smiled like he did now. She could see his smile also in his eyes.
Well, he really hadn't many reasons to be happy. First his beloved sister was killed and then he had found out that killing Himura had not been her will. He must have been very confused and lost during those hard times. For the first time Misao felt sympathy towards him. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person, he was just lost. Misao smiled to him gently. Maybe he would become a person worth knowing in the future.
She could see that her smile surprised Enishi. "Thank you." And her words even more. He really looked like a lost child. Misao giggled at the thought and leaned back against him. It was warm there and for some reason being so close to him didn't bother her. If he wanted to do something bad to her, or hurt her, he could have done so while she was asleep. She heard his stomach rumble. She smiled. "Are you hungry?" She said it with a teasing voice. To her surprise, she wanted to get to know this person and the reasons that kept him going from one day to another. What gave him the will to live after all he believed in was gone.
She had changed a lot herself. Sure she was still cheery and all, but she had also learned to look at things from the point of view of another person. She usually still acted like before, but she knew when to be serious as well. She had had a tendency of judging people too soon and never change her view of them. Now she would probably have to change her view of Enishi. He was nothing she had thought that he would be. Maybe he once had been, but no more. This person with her now, was very different from the man that had fought against Himura at the island.
Misao leaned against him as if it would have been the most natural thing to do. Somehow only few words and things changed her whole view of Enishi. He had helped her. Even now he was thinking of her making sure that the blanket covered her when he himself remained half uncovered at the same time telling her that he would eat later. She was still very sleepy and her thoughts were getting cloudy again. "Are you cold, Enishi?"
Weird. Why did she call him Enishi? She had called him Enishi from the very beginning. Not Yukishiro, not Enishi-san or anything. Aoshi was Aoshi-sama, Kenshin was Himura, Kaoru was Kaoru-san. Why Enishi remained Enishi? During this time she had spent with him being the only person near her, she had learned a great deal more of him. A great deal... And it had changed her view of him dramatically. To her great surprise, she had actually come to like him. A lot.
"Mmm. I am fine." She heard Enishi whisper before she returned to the dream world.
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Next time Misao awoke was when Enishi tried to do some tea. To do it, he had to move and it disturbed Misao's sleep. "Enishi?" She murmured and slowly opened her eyes. Enishi moved back to his former position and tightened the hold he had of her. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Mmm." Misao shook her head. "It's fine. I would have awoken sooner or later anyway. What are you doing?"
Enishi smiled, but Misao didn't see it. "I was trying to make some tea and maybe some food, but I wasn't really all that successful."
Misao smiled sleepily. "Maybe I can help." She rose into a sitting position, no longer leaning on Enishi and leaned for their bag pulling it to her lap. She opened it and took out two cups, a kettle and tea ingredients. She also took out an apple and gave it to Enishi. "You are hungry, right? Begin with this." She smiled to him. He took it and nodded.
Misao took out also a bottle filled with water and poured some of it into the kettle. She prepared everything and then carefully placed the kettle onto the hot remains of wood.
During the time that Misao had used for the tea, the blanket had dropped lower so when Misao leaned against Enishi again, she leaned against his bare warm chest. That caused her to blush and automatically move a little further away before leaning back. Enishi didn't seem at all disturbed, he just continued eating the apple Misao had given him. He did stop long enough to smirk at her, though.
Misao considered if she should fix the blanket to its previous position, but she felt a little too embarrassed to do so, so she left it be.
They stayed quiet, the only sounds coming from the fire. It took some time for the water to warm, but soon Misao was already pouring tea to two cups. She almost burned her hands in the process. The cups were hot, but both welcomed it after so long time in the cold. Misao also made some noodles for them and both ate eagerly and hungrily. Enishi was the one to get the snow from outside for it.
Meanwhile Misao put on her normal clothes, which were dry, cause they had been in their bag. Enishi also put on a pair of shorts, but for some reason Misao didn't understand he again left his upper body to the cold. She tried to avoid staring at him and his absolutely magnificent chest and muscles. He was gorgeous.
Her cheeks blushing slightly, Misao returned to his embrace as he sat down. A part of her, the wiser one, told her to stay away, but the cottage was cold and his arms were warm and so she sat back down. What Misao noticed almost immediately, was that now that he was satisfied and no longer hungry, Enishi looked calmer than before. Misao bit her lip, took a deep breath and spoke the question that had plagued her mind for some time now. They had traveled together now for some time and as she had came to know him better, she had started to wonder.
"Enishi... Umm, I have a question." She said hesitantly. She was feeling a lot more comfortable with him now than in the beginning when they had just started to travel together, but she about to ask sometime pretty personal. It made her nervous since she knew that if she asked this, she would admit to herself that she thought him to be her friend.
Enishi looked at her slightly surprised and nodded.
"After the battle with Himura, after you escaped from the police... What has kept you going on?" Misao said hesitantly. She was afraid that she would offend Enishi in some way.
He looked at Misao for longest time, pondering her question even though the answer was clear in his mind. The same thing that had kept him moving before still kept pushing him forward. But this time it was different.
After all he had done to hurt others, after having hurt the very speaker of the question by hurting her friends, an answer was deserved. "Onee-chan's smile. After Battousai. Himura killed her, the thought of revenge and my sister smiling upon me were the things that kept me going. Now all I want is for her to smile to me again. I want to be worthy of her smile so I'll try to make amends. Slowly, but surely."
"You still love and miss her very much." Misao whispered after a moment of silence. A man with so much love in him twisted by the war and fate. It was sad.
Enishi looked at Misao and then smiled slightly. "Yes, I do."
Misao turned her eyes away from him and stared at the fire. "I was the only child and my parents died when I were very young. I can hardly remember them. My grandfather died when I were five. He was my last blood relative. So I really can't understand or claim that I understand how you feel about your sister. My friends that were my family left with Aoshi-sama, but didn't return. They were killed in a place far from me. I have been all- alone for so long... Aoshi-sama found me when I was a child and then he left me alone not soon after we had met. Now, even though he is back in one sense, I still feel alone." She said sadly and wondered why she had told him this. She had never told anyone just how lonely she was, but now to him. Why? It felt so easy to open up to him.
One tear slid down Misao face. With a tender touch Enishi wiped it away.
"Do you feel alone now? At this moment?" He whispered to Misao's ear and pulled her into his arms. He embraced her in a protective manner and she didn't resist, but rested against him.
The first time ever he had seen her, had been on the island and there he had been so concentrated on Battousai that he hadn't paid attention to her. Next time had been when they had bumped into each other. After that when he had learned more of her while travelling with her, he found himself liking her. She had a cheerful nature, quick tongue and temperamental mind. She looked like a young girl, no more than 16 and still he knew that she was over 20. She had strained that fact often enough. A woman. She hardly ever acted like one and so many mistook her for a girl. But she was a woman. Very strong woman who still needed to find a cure to loneliness. Just like him she was alone. Like him, she was lost.
"No. I don't really understand why, but I don't feel alone. With you... here... I am not alone." Misao whispered against his chest her warm breath teasing his skin. She didn't understand and she didn't want to understand because for the first time in 15 years she didn't feel alone. Enishi was there, she was leaning against him and his hand moved tenderly up and down her back. She was not alone. She had never experienced this kind of closeness with anyone.
Jiya often hugged her and since he had raised her, he knew her. Yet he failed to understand her. Aoshi always preferred to have a personal space around him and didn't want it to be invaded. She didn't even remember when she had touched him last time. He was very distant to her even when he was physically close.
No one had held her like Enishi did now. No one.
"I am sorry." Misao continued. "For pulling you to the river." Misao did not know how he would react to her words, but laughter was something she had not expected. For the first time since her sister had died Enishi laughed from his heart. He shook his head and looked at the woman in his lap. She wore the most adorable expression of surprise on her face. That expression he would remember all of his life.
He cupped her cheek gently. "I don't think you're sorry at all. Would you be before the same situation again, you would do it again. Without hesitation." He smiled at Misao. His chest felt tight. He saw as multiple emotions flashed on her face before settling on a playful smile and a nod. "You are most probably right about that." She giggled.
Then the smile died from both of them lips and they just stared at each other. Misao looked deep into Enishi's eyes, some unknown feeling building in her chest. It was getting hard to breath, his eyes bore deep into her, to the very core of her being. She was naked before his eyes, her very soul was bared to him.
She felt the warmth of his hand against her cheek and the strength of his body against hers. He leaned to her very slowly. Misao understood what he was going to do, what he wanted to do. It was plainly written in his eyes. Misao saw no sense in stopping him since he had been the one to rid her of loneliness. Even if it would be only temporary for now...
She wanted to...
His lips pressed softly and gently against hers. They moved across hers and Misao opened her mouth.
She wanted to be...
His hand that had cupped her cheek now moved to the back of her head. His lips caressed hers and hesitantly his tongue invaded her mouth. At first it was a testing movement, but noting no resistance but only acceptance, he pressed her tighter against him and the kiss caught more fire.
She wanted to be with...
Her lips were heaven. He couldn't control the sudden and unexpected strength of his own desire. He had never felt anything like this and what made it even better was the fact that he could feel her passion. She was now after a moment of hesitation kissing him with as much passion as he was her. She would burn with him.
She wanted to be with... him.
Misao couldn't think. Her head was empty, emptied by this man. Enishi. She had never thought that she could feel something like this fire that now burned inside of her. She was on fire, but it was not lonely fire. She was not alone. His muscular body pressed tightly against hers. His strong hand pressed against her back and another cupping her head. He was burning her.
His lips moved fiercely against hers and it felt so good. She could still sense his passion and the thought that she could raise such passion from a person was satisfying and arousing. She never wanted this to end and when his lips moved from her lips to her neck sliding along her sensitive skin, she didn't protest. She shivered at the sensation and bent her neck back. His teeth took a hold of her earlobe for a passing second and she moaned, electric shock running trough her body. Then his lips were back on her already reddish ones.
He took a tighter hold of her body, moving his hand from her head to hold her. Then with amazing speed he moved her onto back on the mattress and placed himself above her. He reclaimed her lips with fiery passion. Misao matched his with hers.
His hands took a hold of her hastily tied obi and opened it with ease. At the same time Misao moved her hands along his chest enjoying the feel of his warm skin under her hands. She moved her fingers drawing out the lines of his muscles and then played with his nipples. Enishi moaned into her mouth and then it was his turn to play with her.
He moved his hands slowly along her sides and felt Misao move under him. He raised his hand up, cupping her small breasts and tweaking her nipples as his lower body rubbed against Misao's and his left leg pushed itself between her thighs and pressed hard against her sensitive place in there. Misao arched from the mattress and pressed herself against Enishi's leg rubbing herself against him.
Enishi left her lips and moved down along her skin to her breasts. He took her left nipple into his mouth and heard Misao gasp. Her hands buried themselves to his hair and she pressed him closer to her.
Enishi moved his hand and took a good hold of Misao's top. Misao helped him to take it off of her and then eagerly returned to his embrace to enjoy the feel of her naked skin against his, to enjoy of their closeness.
Not able to go forward patiently Enishi quickly undressed them both and then stopped to look at her.
"Misao..." The whisper of her name escaped his lips as he watched the beauty of her naked body in light of the fire. Fire that burned inside of them both...
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Even knowing herself to be reckless, thoughtless and fiery woman, Misao had never thought that she would be capable of this kind of thing. Because of one moment when she had not felt alone, when he had filled the place beside her, she had gone this far. Somehow things had moved so quickly and easily that she had been caught up with the flow. And she had... slept with Yukishiro Enishi, man she knew not much about. She had given her virginity to him.
She had forgotten Aoshi. For one moment he had been out of her head and it had been filled with Enishi only. Trough it all she had known that she was with Enishi. Aoshi had not existed in her life during those passion and fire filled moments, but now after the fire had extinguished, she really understood what had happened and just how irrevocable it was.
How would she continue from here?
She had always dreamed of Aoshi, always dreamed of marrying him and living with him. But now she had given herself to another man, she was no longer untouched, innocent. What course would her life take now? Where would she go?
Misao lay down silently, unmoving. Even now, she was leaning against Enishi. Their bodies were entangled with one another and his scent filled the air for her to inhale.
Misao was not stupid or ignorant. She knew that she might get pregnant and what would she do then? What would he do then? If--- If he wanted her to go with him, be with him... Could she do that? Be with a man she knew next to nothing about, man who had once brought such pain and sorrow upon her and her friends.
Before her future had gotten just one direction, Aoshi. Now it seemed as if suddenly she would have to look into other directions as well. Even though she had understood that Aoshi may not want her, not in the same way she had always wanted him, she had been reluctant to accept the information, reluctant to let go of her dreams of life with him.
Misao looked at Enishi who slept on peacefully. Previously it had been she who had slept, it seemed that it was his turn now. He really looked different, almost innocent, asleep. The marks of self-irony, pain and anger were gone. Was this who he really was? Beyond that mask and beyond his pain, was this the person he could have became had his sister survived?
Tangled with the present at that sorrowful time, Misao had been unable to really think about the past and Tomoe. She had been more worried about her friends and had simply judged Enishi to be the bad guy, inside outside. She had not considered the events that had led to that situation, had made Yukishiro Enishi what he was.
Not knowing was an easy way to live, that Misao had learned. When you knew, you had a lot to think about before acting. So Misao often left that part to the others. Now she would have to clear everything for herself.
Who was Enishi and what was he to her? How did she truly feel?
She knew that she did not love him. A feeling as strong as that did not appear out of nowhere, especially since she loved Aoshi and had not let go off him. Maybe now was the time when she would have to leave her past life behind her and look into the future from a different point of view. She knew she did care for Enishi, considered him to be a friend and now.a lover. What a strange situation she was facing.
Enishi moved slightly drawing her attention. He opened his eyes for a second and smiled, then fell asleep again. There was nothing sinister in that smile. It had been real and sincere. Meant only for her to see.
Misao smiled. No matter where her future would lead her, she had a feeling that it wouldn't be far from him.
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Author again: Remember that they have known each other some time before this fic already (as said in the beginning) so don't start saying that it was too sudden.
Anyway, I liked writing this and that's good. I have thought of writing fic with pairings such as Kenshin and Misao, Saitou and Misao. *gryn* Seemingly impossible, I know. But I would like to try. After all, I write for myself and what I want appears on the papers. What a feeling of power it gives!
Tiian