Hi! So, here it is my new chapter of the crossover. I'm already working on the next chapter. I've been on exams and they are still not over, so this took a little longer. But as soon as I get on vacations I'll work harder on my fics.

Disclaimer: Aoshi, Misao and Saitoh aren't mine. I just used them for a while to entertain myself.

Even through eternity

Chapter 9

It wasn't that Saitoh was missing him or that he was preoccupied with the guy. The man could bloody well do whatever came to his mind. Hell, he could bloody well kill himself, for all he cared! But he could at least have left a note saying where he was going, or that he was leaving in the first place! So, Saitoh now sat in his leather chair, smoking one of his cigarettes, thinking about the phone call he would have to make, informing Misao that her dearest friend, Nicolai, had just disappeared off of the face of earth. He exhaled a cloud of smoke while dialling Aoshi's mansion in Tokyo.

After three rings a serious voice, which Saitoh recognised as Aoshi's butler, Shirai, answered the call.

"Shinomori-san's mansion, this is Shirai speaking." Said the dignified butler.

"This is Saitoh." Saitoh answered in his turn.

"Ah! Saitoh-san, Shinomori-san has expressed his wish to speak with you." That was one of the things Shirai always told him, that Aoshi wanted to talk to him. Saitoh was starting to believe that the butler told him such to remind him that he hadn't been forgotten. "Please hold on a few moments while I call the Master."

He could make out the sound of the phone being laid on the table and the rustle of fabric, then after two minutes Aoshi picked up the phone.

"Ohayo Saitoh. What news do you have?" Aoshi asked and Saitoh could almost hear a smile in the man's happy voice. If Saitoh hadn't known with whom Aoshi was living, he might have made a comment about men that got laid, after years of celibacy.

"Just called to tell you and weasel that her friend Nicolai has vanished." That would wipe the smile off his face.

"What? When did you realise this?"

"Well, first he stopped calling me to ask if I had news about Misao and then, the afternoon before yesterday, I went to the apartment and it was empty. His clothes were gone. The only things there, are Misao's clothes and a pile of dirty dishes that the slob left."

Aoshi digested the information. This disappearance was just too sudden and it had to have a cause behind it. Aoshi was certain the man had been secure, that no one knew about his evolvement in all that was going on. But Timon had know about them and had seen pictures of Misao running around that corpse in Kyoto, so maybe they had known about him after all. But what would they gain from kidnapping him? Well, he could very well be dead, but then why conceal the body? What they would have done would be to expose the body, to show their superiority. Maybe the guy just got sick of waiting for information. One, he could have left for Prague again, or two, had decided to summon information himself.

"What do you think happened to him?" Aoshi asked, after some moments of silence.

"Well, there are no signs of struggle in the apartment and I don't think a guy that gets killed takes his clothes with him. So, we have little choices. HH

hHHe either left for his dear old city; or he decided to look for Misao, but that shouldn't mean he would have to leave the apartment, so I would disregard that one. Another possibility is that he isn't what we thought he was." Saitoh answered, leading Aoshi to his conclusions. "We always knew the guy wasn't exactly Mr. Brave. You've never met him, but he's more worried with Misao than he should be. I told him she was alright, but he kept questioning me, about her. I never did like him, I just hope he isn't one of those double-crossing types! I love to kill those guys."

"And if he is, what do you think he has been doing here since the beginning?" Aoshi asked.

"Well, he was the only way to get Misao here, so this pretty much fell in his lap, but maybe he just grabbed the chance and made the best out of it." Aoshi could hear Saitoh puffing his cigarette on the other side of the line.

"And why would he want to do anything to Misao? As far as we know she has done nothing wrong to him and she fully trusts him. Why would he want anything to do with those guys?"

"Well, Aoshi, he was her lover. Ex-lovers always have some history left uncovered. And as for Misao trusting, that girl would trust Darth Vader, for Christ sake!" Saitoh answered. "Well, I don't want to stay here all day, making up situations. I'm going to try and access the Watchers web and check out the guy's history, in detail this time."

"Speaking of Watchers," Aoshi said " my team found some photos of a Watcher, shooting two Immortals during a fight. It appears they have been trying to stop the fights, but only the fair ones. Apparently they made a deal with that group of back-stabbing Immortals, because they don't meddle in their fights and the Watchers assigned to watch them have been missing or have been found dead."

"Where did you find that, Aoshi? Is that contact of yours on the inside?" Saitoh got no answered, just a quick goodbye and then the line went dead. "How nice!"

Misao woke up with a maid opening the curtains, letting the bright sunlight enter the room. She tried to turn around and drown in Aoshi's warmth, like she had done the entire night before. But he wasn't there anymore and Misao had no problems realizing he had left her hours ago to work. She couldn't be all that angry with him, after all he had spent the entire previous day with her, riding and talking.

But there, on his pillow where his head had laid some hours before, now lay a beautiful blue rose. Since she was little she had always harboured a preference for blue and purple roses, but she didn't know that he knew until the day before that one.

The maid had started to walk around, collecting the trays of food they had left on the floor and opened the windows to let the pure air inside. Misao could see, when she got out of bed only dressed in a flimsy night-gown, what were the maid's thoughts about what she and Aoshi had done the previous night. In fact, they had kissed a lot and things hadn't got out of hand because Aoshi remembered her wish to take their relationship slowly. Damn him!, Misao cursed, with an ironic smile. She still remembered his hard, but gentle hands caressing her body and his lips on her neck and shoulders. And those eyes! Those eyes burning in her skin, like hot coal. But, even after they stopped their activities, Misao hadn't been able to escape Aoshi's caresses and his ever-present hand just below her breasts, all night.

The maid left the room and Misao went into her bathroom to have a shower. She felt kind of guilty for taking Aoshi's prints off her skin, as well as his smell, but she made a promise to herself to get them back when she saw him again. Misao had to admit she was completely addicted to that man! She couldn't wait to spend her eternity with him. Misao turned off the water and stepped out of the tub. She decided to leave her hair down and to dress extra special for him, that day. Misao opened her huge closet and looked inside. She chose a pair of white pirate pants, with slits on the sides, a purple top, that left nothing to the imagination and a pair of high heals sandals. Over the years, she had learned how to use her image. Even if she would never have one of those bodies that stopped the traffic, she now knew that, with the right clothes and attitude, she could catch the attention of those she wanted to. Adrien had first taught her that her femininity was a weapon that she should use and not hide or underestimate.

Misao exited her room and made her way to the stairs, where she found Shirai giving orders to a maid. When he saw her though, he stopped and smiled at her, showing her he was at her disposal.

"Makimachi-san, good morning. I trust you had a good night?" Shirai asked, with a knowing smile. Misao couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Hai, Shirai-san. Could you please tell me where Aoshi is?"

"Shinomori-san is now in his office, going over some papers. But he asked me to tell you he is waiting for you." When Misao thanked him, he turned around and continued speaking with the maid. Misao got to Aoshi's office and knocked on the door.

"Yes? Come in." Misao entered the room and smiled at Aoshi. "Ah! You're finally awake." Misao crossed the room and circled his table, to kiss him on the lips. After just a couple of moments she was sitting on his lap, her legs tossed over his armchair. "Misao," he said, when he finally stopped kissing her "Saitoh called and, apparently, you friend Nicolai is gone." Misao opened her eyes in alarm.

"Gone? What do you mean gone? Did he return to Prague?" She asked.

"I don't know and neither does Saitoh. He just packed his belongings and left." Aoshi answered. He didn't want to admit it, but he was kind of jealous of her concern over that guy. "But I'm sure nothing bad happened to him, because he did leave with his clothes and sorts." Misao nodded.

"What is Saitoh doing to find him?" She asked.

"Nothing, that I know of." He watched her do a surprise gesture. "Misao, he disappeared off of the face of the earth, the day before yesterday! And Saitoh is up to his head in work and so are we. Antonio managed to get us the address of that mulatto Sarah killed and I want you to go over there with me."

"What?! Aoshi, he is my friend, I can't just leave him wherever he is. He might be dead or near dead!" She got out of his lap and stared wandering around the room.

"Saitoh and I agreed that it is very unlikely that he is dead. If they had killed him, they would have shown us his body." He answered, while getting up too. "Now, will you came with me to that guy's house or not? If you want, I can get you a plane ticket to Kyoto and you'll be there in two hours. I just don't promise you'll find him that easily." Aoshi said, with a cold voice. It was obvious that he was upset about all the 'Nicolai stuff'. Misao looked at him, with a sorrowful look.

"I'm sorry, Aoshi. You're right. Even if he has been kidnapped, I have no leads or anything at all. We better work on what we do have." Misao said, placing her head on his chest. Aoshi recognised that move as a peace offering and couldn't help but be reminded of the old Misao, always going out of her ways not to upset or hurt him. Aoshi kissed the top of head and hugged her briefly.

"Well, in that case we'll have a small lunch and then we'll go. Is that alright with you?" Aoshi had decided not to tell Misao about Saitoh's mistrust in Nicolai. She trusted the man and, if she heard that, she might get totally pissed off at Saitoh.

"Yes, it's alright." She got on the tip of her toes and kissed him lightly on his lips.

Aoshi decided to take a more inconspicuous car this time and settled for a dark blue Mercedes. Even after he had calmed her down and along with the help of the leather seats and soft music, Aoshi could still feel Misao's anxiety. He took his right hand off the steering wheel and placed it on her thigh. She seemed to relax down a bit more and placed her own hand over his.

He stopped the car at a red light and looked at her. The calm voice of The Wallflowers' singer was in the background and they couldn't help but get closer and closer, until they were kissing. As most of their kisses were, this one was filled with passion and need. They only woke up from their own heaven, when the car behind honked. Aoshi looked ahead and got the car moving again, but his right hand remained on her thigh.

After five minutes driving across downtown Tokyo, Aoshi stopped the blue Mercedes in front of a small private condo. The main gate was opened and anyone could see the large garden greeting the person that entered. There was a small trail, but the rest was just grass and huge trees and flowers. Aoshi looked at it, from inside the car and then decided to park on the nearest corner, and after both of them got out, they parted ways. Aoshi headed inside the condominium and Misao was supposed to stay inside the coffee shop across the street.

Misao sat at a table right next to the large window and after half a minute an adolescent waiter approached her with a small notepad. She asked for an espresso and picked up a newspaper that was laying over the table, but kept an eye on the other side of the street. After Aoshi entered, everything looked very calm. The only person surrounding the perimeter had been an old lady that had left the condominium. Her espresso came quick enough and Misao continued her pretence of reading the newspaper. She even went so far as to look at the people passing through in cars, to see if anyone had seen them entering the guy's house.

Aoshi crossed the garden in ten large steps, looking around trying to locate the house and to see if someone was watching. Close condominiums usually don't have new faces and everyone knew each other, especially on the small ones. He looked at the windows, but he couldn't see anyone behind the curtains. Well, it was still very early in the afternoon, so most people should be at work.

Finally he located the house he was looking for, number 31. Outside, it looked like any other house: a green painted door, with a golden doorknocker, large windows with white frame and light blue curtains. Aoshi looked behind him again and, when he made sure no one was watching him, circled the house and forced open the lock of the backdoor. He slowly opened the door and looked inside to what looked like a kitchen. It had the usual utensils a kitchen has and over the table were still the leftovers of a meal of some sort. Aoshi started opening the closets, looking for something out of place or uncommon, but found nothing besides the normal kitchen appliances.

Aoshi walked out of the kitchen and entered a living room. There were only three one-person couches, but they were old and bits of pizza could still be seen over one of them. On the coffee table lay a TV Guide and a used glass. The room didn't have much furniture, just the essentials. Next to the large window, that Aoshi had seen from the front, was a round table, with photos carelessly thrown over it. Aoshi glossed over the pile, and from the middle of them all, found one of Misao kneeling next to a grave. The other pictures were of a guy with dark brown hair, tall and skinny. Looking more closely at him Aoshi could swear he had seen him somewhere before. But where? He grabbed one of the photos and placed it in his pocket. When Aoshi turned, to move to another part of the house, his eyes caught sight of a row of white powder. Apparently the Brazilian had been taking a sniff before leaving the house. At the back of his brain Aoshi asked himself if an Immortal was capable of zoning out, or if the body healed itself right after. Aoshi dipped his pinkie in the powder and took it to his mouth, only to spit it out again.

"The guy should be happy he was Immortal! Any mortal guy who sniffed this shit would O.D in no time." He whispered to no one, blowing the powder away.

He moved to the hall and entered the room just in front, which turned out to be the sleeping room. As if not to contrast with the rest of the house, the bed covers were all over the floor and, to Aoshi's utter disgust, he saw two used condoms lying there as well. Besides the bed, there was only a chest of drawers, but Aoshi didn't really wish to look inside them. Only Kami knew what could come out of them! So the only rooms left were the bathroom, which Aoshi didn't care much, and another one, that turned out to be a study.

Aoshi opened the first drawer on the secretary and found a little black book, which by the looks of it was one of those with female addresses and phone numbers in it. Aoshi picked it up, as well as a gold chain laying besides it. On the second drawer he found four joints and another thing that looked like acid. Aoshi's eyes widened, the guy was a real junk! Next to them, however, was laying another small phone book, but this one also had guys numbers and, to Aoshi's happiness, he found the numbers of people like Diego, Timon, etc. Finally something productive. Then, just out of curiosity, Aoshi looked in A, to see if they had his number, but they hadn't. Then he looked up M and found the strangest entry:

Misao (Nicolai's) – 24896125

Before he had time to think what they meant by that or even look up in the N, he felt an Immortal come close to the house. Aoshi looked around and hid between a large cupboard and the wall.

Misao was still in the middle of her espresso, for she was trying to make it last. Truth be told, she was becoming bored out of her mind and Aoshi had entered the condominium just two minutes before. She was starting to believe she should've gone with him. Sure, one of those lousy Immortals might show up, to pick something up, but they could take him. Well, on second thought, a fight in the middle of downtown Tokyo, in the middle of the day, wasn't exactly what they needed.

So, with nothing better to do and with the paper read, Misao stared at the street and started wondering where the heck Nicolai had gone? Sure she hadn't been very nice to him. She had disappeared and then when she called him, she hadn't said much, had she? But she found it strange that he had gone back to Prague. After all he had been the one to drag her back to Japan. She didn't know why but she felt like something was out of place, like something that she was supposed to know was escaping her. What could be giving her that impression?

Then something happened. She didn't feel him or anything, after all he was on the other side of the street. But while she was pondering his whereabouts, Nicolai Mastny walked over to the condominium gate and, after checking around, walked inside.

"What the…?"

Whatever she was expecting to see, Nicolai Mastny entering the house of their enemy, wasn't it. What was he doing there? Had he followed her there? Maybe that had been the reason for his disappearance; he had gone searching for her. But how had he done it? How had he found her? And if that was the case, why was he walking around as if he were a followed man?

Without thinking twice about it, Misao rose, left money on the table for the coffee and a large tip and ran outside. She crossed the street, not even minding the cars, and entered the condominium too. She didn't even notice the garden, except when she had to hide behind one of the trees to see if Nicolai was somewhere in sight. But he was nowhere. Misao tried real hard to remember the address Aoshi had told her when they were driving there. She wouldn't have made it, if she hadn't followed the sound of someone opening a door. She found the house just as Nicolai closed the door to enter.

She walked closer and checked to see if the door had been left open, but with no such luck. She was so close now that she could feel the presence of the two Immortals inside and they could probably feel her. So in a moment of brightness, Misao remembered that Aoshi must've opened the backdoor. So she circled the house and, just as expected, found the backdoor open. She entered a kitchen, just in time to hear Nicolai talk.

"Oi! Someone home? I can feel you, so might as well save me the time and show yourselves." The sound came from the nearest room. Once again, without thinking, Misao stepped inside the living room. Nicolai didn't see her right away, because he was looking into the hall, but he soon heard her.

"Do you mind telling me what the fuck are you doing here, Nicolai?" Misao asked. Nicolai turned around quickly and stared at her, as if she was the ghost of Christmas past. "Well?"

"Misao… hi!" He looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. She saw him look around, as if trying to remember something to say. Right there Misao discarded the chance of him being there to find her, but she still couldn't understand what he was doing there. "Well, well! You could've told me you were in Tokyo, Misao." Nicolai said, with a raspy voice and his eyes didn't seem capable of looking at her straight.

"As if you didn't know she was here." Aoshi's cold voice said behind them. Nicolai looked at him and Misao couldn't help but notice his tight fist and his glare at Aoshi. The situation was turning out really weird.

"What do you mean, Aoshi?" She asked him, trying to set everything straight. But Aoshi just looked at Nicolai, as if trying to remember something. Nicolai took turns looking at them both. Misao was amazed by the pure hatred his eyes carried. Then Aoshi stepped closer to her, moving around Nicolai, who moved back.

"So, you're Nicolai. Have you lost the title, Duke?" Aoshi asked, with the same cold voice. Misao looked at him, ** confused, but didn't have time to ask any questions because Nicolai threw himself at Aoshi, who in turn pushed her out of the way.

Misao fell over a small table and could hear the sound of glass breaking behind her. But she paid no attention. Her mind was frozen, while Aoshi defended Nicolai's attacks. It was clear Nicolai was out of control, because his attacks were the clumsiest she had ever seen. But it was also clear that Aoshi didn't want to kill him, even if he managed to wound him a bit and kick him.

Nicolai was fighting with two hands on the hilt and just took swings at Aoshi, as if trying to catch something. Aoshi just walked back and, from time to time looked at her to see how she was accepting all that. After a while, Aoshi got tired of that fight and managed to circle Nicolai and hit him in the nape, with the hilt of his katana. Nicolai fell on the floor unconscious. Misao got up from the floor and looked at both men.

"What the fuck just happened?" She asked Aoshi, who was cleaning the small stains of blood on his katana blade.

"Do you know who this man is, Misao?" Aoshi asked, walking over Nicolai towards her.

"He's Nicolai, my… friend. But why did he attack you?"

"Remember when I told you I had a lover in Russia?" Misao nodded. "Well, it appears that she was married. I didn't know at the time and I only found out when her husband walked in on us. He had been gone for some time and she had used that time to seduce me, and others I believe." Misao just looked at him, trying to understand what all that had to do with Nicolai. "Well, the Duchess' husband was no other than this man, Nicolai."

"What?! That's impossible!"

"No, it's not. You only met him in London, some years later. I remember his face and he must remember mine too, because he attacked me just now and, I'm sorry, but he is the same guy that attacked me at the party. I recognised his style. Or lack of it."

Aoshi understood that it was all too much information for her all at once, but they had to move fast. They couldn't stay there, waiting for him to wake up and pick another fight. If they were going to fight, they had to do it somewhere isolated. But how could they take him there? They could drag him to their car, but someone might see them do it and he might wake up in the car and try to kill them there. Or they could leave him a note, setting a place and time, and he might be stupid enough to follow them there alone. Most probably he would appear with a "friend", but they had to take that chance.

Aoshi had to trust he would go there, so he picked a piece of paper and wrote the place and hour. After that, he dragged a dazed Misao out of the house and into the car. Once they were ready, Aoshi stepped on the gas and took them back to his house. When they arrived he prepared a drink for them and sat with Misao in his living room.

"I don't understand. If he recognised you, then he knew we were… acquaintances. He had seen a photo of you before, when he was with me in London." Misao said, taking a sip from her drink. "Look, Aoshi, I really can't believe he did all this!"

"I know it's hard, because you've known him for some time, but he is what I'm telling you. Think about it: he disappears a couple of days ago, a masked man appears at the party and…"

"No, it's just… why would he attack you for that affair you had such a long time ago?"

"I don't know, Misao. That time he let me go with no fight at all! I think at that time he understood that I had no idea she was married. Maybe something happened afterwards that made him change his mind."

"But what?" Just as Misao had asked that, the phone rang right next to Aoshi's chair. Aoshi picked it up and Misao could only sip her drink while he talked with whoever was on the phone. After five minutes, Aoshi hang up and looked at her.

"It was Saitoh. When he called me this morning he said he was going to check on Nicolai, to see if something suspicious appeared. It looks like he and that Diego guy you killed yesterday have been old friends. Look Misao, I left him a note setting up a meeting between us, tomorrow afternoon. You'll came with me and we'll find out what happened in that nut's head."

"Very well." Misao said.

For the rest of the day she just tried to remember something she had done or said, to make him hate her and Aoshi so much! But even if he had a good excuse, she couldn't forget that he had betrayed her and lied to her. Most likely, after all the explaining is finished, if he decided to fight Aoshi again, Nicolai would end up dead after tomorrow's meeting.

So, I want to read lots of reviews or else you won't get the next chapter any soon. Kidding! No, it's ok. I hope you liked it. Next chapter Aoshi vs Nicolai…

MaRiAnA