Author's Note: I had this done for a while, but I kept on making changes to it. (and plus I normally update at school, since our school requires us to have laptops, but this week, the network (or internet) was down, so now I had to save this fic to a CD and transfer it to my home computer in order to update…that's why I was kind of slow this week…sorry!!!) I wasn't entirely happy the way this turned out, but I think this is the best I can get it. It got a little more serious last chapter, and I believe this one will be a little more serious also. You DO know that humor is only the secondary genre, right? This fic is also a ROMANCE fic!!! Don't kill me if you don't like it either. I have already started the sixth chapter, and I PROMISE that the next chapter will be A LOT better, okay?
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin…don't you people find these disclaimer thingies so damn INTERESTING? Oh well, on with the fic…
Chapter 5
Aoshi-sama…if only you knew how much I love y—
"Misao…? MISAO!!!!" Omasu interrupted her thoughts.
"Huh?" Misao answered, sounding, um…VERY intelligent. (A/N: Don't you just hate it when you're thinking of something important and then someone interrupts your thoughts, making you sound, um, VERY smart when you FINALLY realize that it's YOU that person is talking to? Um…enough random comments…on with the fic…)
"You were thinking of Aoshi, weren't you? Well, WEREN'T you?"
"I – " Misao started to answer.
"I KNEW IT!!!! I JUST KNEW IT!! YOU LOVE HIM!!!! YOU LOVE HIM, DON'T YOU??? Omasu asked loudly and excitedly. Okon looked at Omasu oddly. She had just figured out that Misao loved Aoshi now? DAMN! Omasu was slower than she thought…and that was kind of hard to do. Misao had shown OBVIOUS affection for Aoshi for the majority of her life, and Omasu only figured out just now? She wouldn't blame Omasu for not figuring out that AOSHI'S feelings for Misao, but MISAO'S feelings for AOSHI? Well, she never expected Omasu to be SMART…
Misao looked down at her hands. Did Omasu have to be that loud? What if Aoshi heard? Was it THAT obvious?
"Oh, Misao…you just HAVE to tell him!"
"B-but…what if he…rejects me?" Misao wasn't afraid of deadly ninjas with fifty foot swords, nor was she afraid of perverted old men (cough, cough OKINA)—well maybe a little…—but she WAS deathly afraid of being rejected by her Aoshi-sama…
"Misao, he loves you," Omasu said. Okon looked at Omasu in surprise. She knew!? But how did she…clearly Omasu was SMARTER than she thought…
"And you love him. If you don't tell him, you will NEVER know what the answer is, and that is even worse than getting rejected. If you truly love him, you would take the risk of being rejected. Are you that much of a coward? You TELL him, do you hear me? You tell him how you feel."
Omasu giving advice!? Okon began to wonder...these past couple of days have sure been ODD. Then Okon realized something. Was Omasu just calling MISAO of all people a COWARD!? MISAO wasn't the one hiding behind her screaming, "Don't kill me, kill Okon!" (A/N: You remember that, don't you? Chapter two…I think…) Okon had been meaning to confront Omasu about those particular words…Okon shook her head and decided to think about THAT later.
"I-I'll…I'll do it. I am no coward." Misao squared her shoulders and whipped out her kunai. Taking out her kunai when she was determined had become one of her habits, and in Okon and Omasu's opinions, it was a dangerous one. Not dangerous to HER, but to THEM. Okon and Omasu shrank back.
"U-um…um, Misao? I don't think telling Aoshi your feelings involves the use of your kunai…at least I hope not…" Omasu said timidly. Okon gave an inward sigh of relief. Omasu was back to NORMAL now…she wasn't sure if she liked the wise, advice-giving Omasu.
Misao looked down at the four kunai she was holding in her hand. "Um…oops…"
Where are Okon and Omasu? They have to bake a cake! Okina sighed…looks like Shiro and Kuro have to do it. That was NOT a good thing.
"SHIRO! KURO! I NEED YOU TO BAKE A CAKE!!!"
Shiro and Kuro came scrambling in the kitchen. "We get to bake a CAKE!? YAY!!!"
Okina sighed again. The ENTHUSIASM was there…if only the SKILL was there too…
Shiro and Kuro happily put on frilly pink aprons and began fumbling around the kitchen for some ingredients and the recipe, though they usually never used it. They thought improvising made the cake have a lot more quality. (A/N: hey…this is MY fic…if I want to make Shiro and Kuro weird and scary I WILL!!! )
Aoshi headed back toward the temple, still clutching the package tightly in his hands. It would be a while before the "cake" was done. He opened the doors of the temple and stepped inside. The monks took one look at him, and decided to run, his death-glare still engraved in their minds.
Some monks tried to be brave. They reasoned that Aoshi had already had his TEA now…he should be okay to approach. But they too took one look at his tall muscular figure and decided not to risk it.
Aoshi tried to concentrate on 'clearing the mind of all thoughts' but somehow little images of chibi Misaos kept flashing into his mind, invading his thoughts, thus, making it impossible to 'clear his mind.' Aoshi didn't know what was going on with himself—well he kind of knew, since Okina gave him a few HINTS. Okina took every opportunity to smash the word LOVE into his face. Did love make people have chibi Misaos flashing through their thoughts? He doubted it. Maybe chibis of the ones they LOVED…that meant MISAO was the one HE loved—obviously…
Perhaps he was just being plain stupid…or crazy…do NORMAL people have chibis zooming around in their heads? He highly doubted it.
What ever happened to clearing his mind of all thoughts? Aoshi figured that right now, he had too many thoughts in his head to manage, so clearing them was OUT of the question. He just needed to think some more…
Okina had actually given him some good advice…somehow the old man had given Aoshi the courage to tell Misao his feelings for her. He felt that his mind was in utter chaos, yet strangely, he still felt kind of…happy.
Little did he know, Misaowas feelingthe same way.
Misao took a satisfied glance at herself in the mirror. She was beautiful, TRULY beautiful. There was nothing anybody, not even Aoshi could say that was wrong with her. Her hair had been combed out; gleaming rich dark waves flowed down her back.
"You look GORGEOUS, Misao." Okon smiled warmly while Misao blushed.
"Thank you Okon…I think I'll go take a walk outside…" Misao needed some time alone to gather her thoughts. She glared at the looks on Okon and Omasu's faces.
"Um…d-don't ruin THIS kimono, okay? You know kimonos allow less fr – "
"Yeah, yeah…kimonos allow less freedom!!! I WON'T RUIN IT, OKAY!? I'll be careful." Misao stomped out of the room, AGAIN forgetting to be 'careful' in her kimono.
(THUD) Okon and Omasu winced as they heard Misao fall and quietly listened to Misao's string of angry curses before she left, this time actually being CAREFUL. Where had she learned that kind of language? It didn't matter. Omasu had realized that there were more pressing matters at hand right now.
"Um…Okon? Isn't there something Okina told us to do?" Omasu asked.
"You know what Omasu? I could have sworn there wa – "
"OH CRAP!! THE CAKE!!!!" Omasu and Okon yelled in unison. The worst had happened. Okina had threatened that if they failed to show up in the kitchen today and bake a cake, he would have Shiro and Kuro do it. And that wasn't good.
"We might as well choke and die right now." Omasu suggested sadly. Okon and Omasu BOTH knew from past experiences the danger of having to eat one of the 'Shiro-and-Kuro-made cakes.'
Shiro and Kuro were having lots of fun in the kitchen.
"What flavor should the cake be? Chocolate?"
"Chocolate would be boring. We should do something exotic…like…how about CURRY?" Kuro happily suggested."Everyone likes curry!"HE didn't seem to think that he was poisoning the whole Aoiya.
Shiro looked thoughtful for a moment…
"Hey…that's a GREAT idea!!! CURRY FLAVORED CAKE IT IS!!!!"
Unbeknownst to Shiro and Kuro, Okina was secretly spying on their attempt to make an 'exotic flavored' cake. And when he heard the word 'curry' his stomach gave an unpleasant lurch. What had he done? He had believed that Okon and Omasu would actually show up when he threatened to do this…
What if Aoshi died while he was confessing his undying love for Misao? Or what if, what if…MISAO threw up and died while SHE was confessing HER love? Their relationship would be RUINED!!! Misao's birthday would be RUINED!!!
And it would be all his fault…
Misao stood under a tree, and stared at the temple, where her Aoshi-sama was. Was he thinking of her now? Did he feel the same way she felt about him?
Today was the day he would know her feelings for him. I have to be prepared to take BOTH answers…if Aoshi rejects me…
Misao shook her head. NO. She couldn't think like that. Aoshi DOES love me. Even OMASU knows it. But if that is the case, why do I feel so insecure? I don't think I could be ready to take no for an answer…but that is a possibility I have to be prepared for…
As you all probably know, Aoshi wasn't meditating. Instead of meditating like he was supposed to, Aoshi was thinking of Misao (OBVIOUSLY!!!!). Images of her big blue eyes and long braid kept flashing through his mind. Is Misao thinking of me too? I've known she had an infatuation for me since…since she was little. But I always though it was just a crush. Who knew it would be LOVE?
He sighed and looked around. Not a monk in sight.
But today would be the day that Misao would know his feelings for her. Is that what she wanted?
Okina had said that it wasn't a matter of deserving, yet…yet…why did he feel like he didn't deserve her? He shook his head. Who knew that an eighteen year old girl would have this kind of effect on him?
Aoshi decided not to worry about it until the time came.
Author's Note: SO…there you have it…the fifth chapter of my story!!! I don't know…I'm not exactly THRILLED with the way this chapter turned out…but…am I ruining the fic? I seriously think that this chapter wasn't that great. But it's the best I could come up with, so don't kill me. What do you think? Do you like? Or do you not like? If you don't like this chapter, I can always pretend that it never happened!!! I'll REWRITE it if I have to…(sighs) the things I do for my readers…But I PROMISE that the next chapter will be MUCH better, okay? Don't abandon my fic just because of one lousy, cheesy, corny, crappy, etc. chapter…again, I'm REALLY sorry if you don't like it…
Thanks to all who reviewed!!!!