Hiker…

(The next morning…)

A small amount of light filtered through the entrance of the cave making Misao, whom was now fully lying on top of an already awake Aoshi squirm lightly. He had been awake ever since Misao had moved atop him, he not being able to sleep any longer.

Her young curves were pressed against his lean form, his mind absently commenting on her softness. He began berating himself for thinking such thoughts but as he stared down at Misao's slack form his eyes softened hearing a content sigh escape her pink lips. A small smile broke onto his lips as her right hand fisted into his shirt holding him close, not wanting him to leave even though she was deep in slumber and didn't know she was holding him like she was. Yep, she was just too damn cute and although Aoshi hated that very much, he couldn't help but wrap his arms around Misao, holding her that that little bit closer to him. What the hell was this girl doing to him? Aoshi really didn't have time to think on that question as Misao stirred once again, ocean blue eyes blinking to gain focus and then they finally met his gaze.

Aoshi waited for her reaction as to the situation they were in…and all he received from the very silent schoolgirl was a slightly parted mouth and flushed cheeks as she leaned up from him to stare down into his green-grey eyes.

"O-Ohayo…" Aoshi heard Misao mumble and felt her move, his hands instantly unlocking from around her back to let her get off of him, much to his silent disappointment of course. Aoshi slipped out of the covers to start up the dead fire and began boiling some water to make the two of them some tea. What was he supposed to say to her now? Aoshi was at a loss for words.

"Gomen…for lying on top of you…I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable." Misao was trying to voice her words carefully but to her she still felt like an idiot. Her eyes bore into the back of Aoshi's head wanting desperately to find out what was rolling around in that scientific/nature mind of his.

"Its nothing Misao, you're actually the lightest woman I've had in my…err…forget what I said just now." Aoshi began mentally slapping himself for voicing what he was thinking in his head. Sure it was true she was the lightest, but did he really have to go and voice it aloud?

"Its okay, I'm the lightest female you've had to share a bed with…well a sleeping bag in this case right?" Misao watched as Aoshi glanced back at her, his eyes hidden from hers thanks to his long bangs. He had watched Misao's eyes waver slightly, but she quickly wrapped the sleeping bag around her, the cave quite cool at such an early time in the morning.

"Of course I'd be the lightest…I'm just a stupid high school girl remember?" Aoshi cringed at hearing Misao berate herself just because she was still in high school. He had heard her fake laugh, trying to cover up her unease at really wanting to know what was going on…wanting to know what the kiss was for…wanting to know what he thought of her. Misao was young and still trying to get through high school, technically her grade was just the beginning of high school so she still had two more years until she'd be "mature" enough for him…in her mind that is.

"Misao when I got to the campsite I was waiting for a punch of brats who wouldn't care for nature much…care for anything really, but even though some of them were exactly that…you are not. You're probably the smartest and most mature high school student I know of, well besides your close friends and Meg-chan. I know you think your immature and young but I don't care about age differences because…I think we get on pretty well don't you?" Aoshi had turned around voicing the truth and watched as Misao's head had jerked up at his words. Her eyes sparkled over at him, joy rushing through her and in the spur of the moment Misao stood up wanting to race over and hug him to death for making her feel wonderful and confident than she had ever felt in her entire life! However, in that spur of the moment Misao was not thinking about her injured right ankle.

Her eyes had watered in an instant, both feet stumbling on the cold stone of the cave floor as her sore one tangled with the sleeping bag. Her eyes grew wide as she began to fall, but watched as though it all happened in slow motion as a pair of arms lifted up in an instant, Aoshi now kneeling up on his knees as he caught her in his embrace, their eyes locking in an intense stare.

"You…are such a klutz Makimachi Misao." Aoshi spoke, his breath flowing across Misao's left cheek, he watching as she blushed in embarrassment from his words. Not to mention the fact that she was wrapped in his snuggled embrace once more. Misao's hands were draped over Aoshi's shoulders, her fingers brushing the strands of his hair falling down the nape of his chilled neck.

"G-Gomen…" Misao muttered, her eyes travelling down to look at the small curve on Aoshi's lips. He was…he was smiling at her! Wait, was he laughing at her as well? Misao couldn't decide but when she eyed him once more they held amusement at being in such a situation with her yet again. Misao lips parted her thoughts wondering far and the inevitable happened…she voiced them aloud.

"Are you…going to kiss me again?" Aoshi observed, with a mild bit of shock at Misao's blunt question even though his own thoughts wondered to a straight answer of yes! He could swear that if there were some sort of record for blushing…Misao would have been the victor at doing it so many times in front of him. Not to mention the deep colour crossing her entire face as well. Aoshi had never actually thought that shade of red ever existed.

"Do you want me to?" Aoshi had responded instantly, watching as Misao's mortified face tuned into surprise at his own question. Did she want him to kiss her? Her mind turned back the time to the kiss that Aoshi 'stole' from her the other night…and maybe…just maybe this time he would help teach her to respond. Green-grey eyes stared intently watching as Misao nodded once in affirmation…allowing him to continue the descent upon her lips. She held her breath, her eyes glancing between Aoshi's lips and his own half-lidded gaze. His lips…they looked so soft…everything about him seemed soft. Just as Misao closed her eyes, she gulping in nervousness, lips parting instantly waiting with baited breath…but nothing ever came. A loud clap of thunder rumbled from outside, Aoshi jolting away from Misao as he raced for the entrance of the cave to go have a look. He had left Misao slightly breathless even though he hadn't even kissed her!

She sat on the cold stoned ground, her head slightly bent, but she finally composed herself and snapped her head up when she heard Aoshi's running footsteps head back into the main area of where they had camped. Misao watched as he rummaged around in his pack, placing things into an even smaller pack that clipped around his waist much like a bumbag did only a little bigger.

"We've got to leave right now or else we'll be walking in the storm…and that can get dangerous." Aoshi spoke without even glancing in Misao's direction.

"Ha-Hai…" Misao had mumbled and carefully stood up placing all of her weight on her left foot. Only seconds passed by as Aoshi was beside her now, a poncho being placed over her petite form just in case they did end up walking in the rain. Aoshi crouched down silently, Misao getting onto his back as he stood to his full height and began walking out of the cave.

"What about your stuff?" Misao questioned as she glanced back at his travelling gear, the now doused fire and his unwrapped sleeping bag and blanket that lay carelessly on the ground.

"I have to come right back here once I drop you off, so my stuff should be fine on its own." Aoshi replied instantly and hefted his arms under Misao's pert bottom and headed down the slope of the mountain.

* * * *

(Hours roll by…)

Misao's arms had wrapped tightly around Aoshi, her head pressed into his right shoulder and neck area. Rain pounded against her head, her ears picking up small pants coming from Aoshi every now and then as he practically walked blindly down the mountain. Ever time she tightened her grip on him he had to reset his arms around her bottom to keep her up lest she fall off and he go with her. Misao had tried to wrap her legs around his waist as best she could just to help him a little bit more but never got a good enough grip to hang on for long periods of time. Every now and then he had to place her down to catch his breath, have a drink of water and wipe the rain from his face.

Misao had watched him silently as he took off his long sleeved top saying it was pointless to wear something that was weighing him down and wrapped it around his waist instead. She had openly gazed at his lean and yet slightly muscled form as he bent over to retie his sneaker shoelaces. His black singlet plastered to his drenched skin…showing of his chest muscles, as did his black pants with his leg muscles and tight butt. His jet-black hair was drenched like the rest of him, his hand reaching up to brush his long bangs away from his eyes every now and then. Misao had gulped as Aoshi placed his hands on his lower back, stretching lightly, head turned upward as he seemed to like the feel of rain splashing against his face. Once his five to ten minute rests were up Misao was carried piggyback style, feeling as guilty as anything for being such a weakling and yet Aoshi never seemed to fuss over it.

"Why don't you have a girlfriend?" Misao mumbled softly into his ear, she needing to be that close to him so he could hear her over the pounding of the rain anyway. She had felt him stop, one hand moving away from under her and Misao lifted her head to find out what was wrong and watched as he moved a thick branch out of their way to see if he could notice a change.

"We are close…it must be the outskirts of Tokyo." Aoshi mumbled not even listening to her previous question and Misao replied instantly with a question of her own.

"How can you tell?" She knew she wasn't going to get anything out of him and decided it was best not to pry any further since he was the one taking her back to Tokyo.

"Can you not smell the change in the air?" Aoshi replied, but Misao was surprised when he chuckled lightly at his own words.

"I sound like I've lived in the forest way too long." His only answer was the tightening of Misao's arms around his shoulders.

"Come on, you'll have to get off, we have to be really careful from now on." Misao grudgingly got off of Aoshi's back, disappointed at loosing the warmth he seemed to create, but felt him step close to her, his arm moving around her shoulders as they slowly headed down the steepest part of the mountain. So maybe she would get a bit of that warmth back after all.

"Aoshi…when you found me, what was I wearing?" Misao questioned loudly trying to get over the pounding rain. She had wrapped her hand around Aoshi's waist he being the only one that could tell which way they were headed in the rain and Misao trusted him enough to guide her.

"Your regular clothes but you long sleeved top was ripped pretty badly and frankly I didn't care very much at all. What I cared about was the fact that you weren't breathing and you were starting to suffer from hypothermia." Misao lips had parted into a small 'o' at hearing him voice this even though she was quiet. A gasp quickly escaped her lips another thought breaking into her mind. Aoshi turned to glance down at her hearing that gasp and hoped she was okay for now as he wished to press onwards lest the weather turn worse then what it already was.

"My locket!" She spoke, her hand slipping from around Aoshi's waist as did her feet as they slipped out from under her and she fell over a large boulder not concentrating enough to stay on her own two feet. Misao let out a shrill scream thinking she was going to plummet to her death, but her wrist was clasped tightly by a hand, her eyes blinking up to look at Aoshi's strained face. He held onto a tree branch with his right hand, his left holding Misao's weight as she hung over the edge of the large round boulder.

"Don't let me fall!" Misao spoke in panic as Aoshi began reefing her up, he falling over in doing so, landing heavily on his right hip and thigh area, Misao lying atop him in his half embrace once more.

"What the hell were you thinking? Stupid girl! You could have gotten us killed!" Aoshi spoke in anger as he reefed himself up, making sure to take Misao with him. He glanced down at her slightly bowed form but his nice facade was slowing ebbing away. Aoshi grabbed Misao again, placing her onto his back and muttered for her to hold on as he moved away from the death drop and headed in another direction.

"I just…my locket…gone…" Misao mumbled softly…sniffling every now and then which happened to make Aoshi cringe as though he was the bad guy even though he had saved the both of them from near death!

"Misao leave your past in the past and get over it." Aoshi snapped at her and finally found a path to move down that seemed relatively safe even though the weather was not letting up.

"Coming from you that's pretty rich!" Misao snapped back angrily, one hand wiping her tears away even though the rain did a good enough job of doing it. There was no come back from Aoshi, just silent trudging through the bushes and trees aligning the mountain. Misao's mouth had gone dry at her own words, her lips parting, wishing to apologise, but by the time she had the courage too Aoshi was already in a suburban street on the outskirts of Tokyo heading down the road obviously knowing where he was going.

* * * *

Misao sat on a couch, wrapped in a couple of blankets and sipping some hot chocolate. She was dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a longsleeved blue and grey top, much like a pyjama set you'd wear in winter. Her chilled feet were wrapped in thick socks, her right ankle bandaged and wearing white slippers to boot. Her cheeks were flushed indicating her blood was circulating perfectly after having a nice warm bath, clean clothes and of course something wonderful to eat. Misao didn't actually know were Aoshi was headed and instead stayed silent as he had knocked on the door, the front light flicking on and a beautiful woman with long brown hair gasped in surprise at seeing him and opened the door wider for them to walk inside.

An hour had passed by, Misao rarely seeing Aoshi much in that time…since he was either eating somewhere other then the lounge room, bathing himself, contacting people or talking with the unknown woman.

She broke from her thoughts as she heard muffled voices and Misao tilted her head to catch Aoshi and the brunette talking in the hallway…and then hugging in the hallway. The woman disappeared into another room and Aoshi moved down the hallway heading towards her. Misao curled into the couch, back to Aoshi as though never seeing anything and placed the steaming cup of hot chocolate to her lips.

"How are you feeling?" His soft deep voice reached her ears and Misao eyed him for several seconds, then placed the drink on the wooden coffee table and answered him honestly.

"A lot better thanks to you and your…girlfriend?" Misao wasn't too sure what to say and opted for the best one of the woman being his girlfriend. She wasn't really sure about relationships but the body language between the two of them…well…she could tell there was something there for sure.

"She's the twin sister of the ex-girlfriend actually." Aoshi replied a bit too casually as he sat in a chair opposite Misao. He watched her eyes dart towards his in surprise but then they glanced away once more…then returned again for a longer look then she retreated back into her quiet self which seemed rather rare from the days he'd spent with her in the mountains. She was always so cheerful and snappy back then.

"Aoshi…" Misao spoke in a soft shy voice, but got no further as there was a loud wrapping noise on the front door. It creaked as it was opened, probably from the owner of the apartment as a few pairs of feet raced down the hallway to glance around the lounge room to notice Misao sitting on the couch and looking a little surprised to see them.

"Misao-chan! Daijoubu?" Her brothers spoke coming over to hug her from sheer worry at thinking the worst had happened to her when they had received the news.

"Arigatoo Shinomori-san!" Misao's eldest brother spoke glancing over at a silent Aoshi. He nodded his head and Misao's other two brothers helped her up and headed down the hallway, much to Misao's protests as she glanced back at a now silent and standing Aoshi.

"Teishi!" Misao uttered loudly, her eyes still very much on Aoshi as her brothers halted from leaving the apartment and she finally detached herself from them and hobbled back over to Aoshi, he meeting her half way as he didn't want her to place all her weight on her ankle.

"You better go get that checked out tomorrow morning Misao." She nodded her head and quickly kissed his cheek, just like she had at the fire back in the camp days ago and whispered a thank you and an apology to him before turning around and limping back towards her brothers.

"Take me home guys, I'm dying for my bed!" Misao spoke listening to them laugh lightly as they headed down the hallway. Her head turned over her shoulder once more catching a limping Aoshi following them down the hallway to meet the still unidentified young woman as she placed her hand around his waist obviously asking him if he was all right. Misao frowned not knowing why he was limping, but had no time to ask any questions as the door closed behind her. Her brothers helped her towards the eldest ones car as she hoped into the passenger seat and they all got in driving away. Misao's eyes had turned to look at the number of the unit, not to mention the street name as she was still wearing the clothes the woman had provided for her. She would have to return them when she was better…and hopefully she might get to see Aoshi once again…but hopes faded as she knew he was a university student and she a mere high school student. What were the chances of them meeting again?

"Misao-chan, daijoubu?" Her brothers asked simultaneously as she was too quiet for their liking. Misao smiled at them and nodded her head, her eyes closing as she mumbled her reply and then promptly fell asleep.

"Hai, its time to leave the past in the past and move on."

* * * *

To be continued…

* * * *

Authors Notes: Dear gob his is finished at last! Its been hanging in the breeze for ages! I had only done half a page like a month ago and now I've finally got the rest done! T least it's a chapter of something I guess.

Actually…I wouldn't be surprised if this has been forgotten by many.

LOL!

Ah well, you get that for writing too many fanfics at the same time. Its all Noa's fault of course.

At least Al-chan can stop bugging me on this one for now…what's next? Himura Designs eh? ^_~

Ja ne…and hopefully someone is still reading this… *sweatdrops*