"Are you really mad at me, Aoshi?"

Misao blinked her wide, blue eyes and fiddled with the end of her long braid. She knew he was angry, even without asking. He was being very rigid and -while he was usually deathly silent- she could always sense his carefully hidden emotions. Inwardly, she was smirking. He thought that she really didn't know, but, in truth, she knew he was enraged with her.

His cool eyes stared into hers, unblinking, unemotional. He wondered what sort of thoughts were flitting through her pretty little head. She was probably trying to figure out if he really was mad or not and how she could weasel her way out of some sort of punishment.

"Aoshi?" She repeated. He was staring at something; something she couldn't see. Maybe something which didn't even exist. His eyes were focused on some point above her head, still unblinking.

He looked down at her. "Misao…Why do you cause trouble?"

"I hate school. Is that hard to understand or something? It's so boring." She blinked, her mind wandering as she stared at him. He's so handsome…I wonder if he'll ever see me as any more than a child. I'm eighteen…I'm almost done with this hell they call school. What are we going to do after that? We can't afford for me to go to college. Maybe…Her eyes widened…Maybe he'll marry me!

"Are you listening to me?" Aoshi's voice came sharp and firm. What the hell is she smiling about?

"Wha?" She blinked, her face flushing slightly pink.

"I said you shouldn't cause trouble because you're bored. Maybe if you put a little more effort into your work, you wouldn't have so much energy to get into trouble. Look at your last report card. How do you do so bad in everything?" His voice remained even, but inside he was quivering with anger. It was such a waste, how she let her grades slide. Misao was an intelligent girl. What was she thinking?

"None of that matters." She ran one finger across the table, "I'm not going to college anyway. There's no way I could ever afford it."

"Is that what all of this is about?" His expression softened ever-so-slightly, "You can go to college. You can do anything you want. We'll find a way." One of his calloused hands stroked her hair in a very un-Aoshi-like gesture, "Whatever you want."

"Ao-Aoshi…" Her voice wavered and she looked up at him. Her wide eyes were pools of unshed tears and she trembled at the touch of his hand. "I don't want to leave…I'm…I'm afraid of leaving and what I'll do without you. You're the only life I've ever known for the past ten years."

"You don't have to go anywhere, Misao." He held her close to him, pressing her face up against his chest. His hug was rigged and awkward, as if he had never had close contact with another person before.

God, he's hugging me! A siren went off in Misao's brain, telling her to just stay there in his arms. She let him hug her as he pleased, not pushing him into anything. God, I love you…

***

What do I want for dinner? Ren wandered aimlessly through the supermarket, looking at instant meals or TV dinners and trying to decide what would be satisfactory. She had a basket with a few things in it, but they were the basic necessities; milk, bread and peanut butter.

"Hello, Ren."

She turned at the pleasant sound of Himura Kenshin's voice. Kaoru's husband was pushing a shopping cart laden with various foods. Kenji sat in the child seat, reaching for things here and there, whining when his father reprimanded him.

She looked at them both for a moment. Both father and son shared the same shock of flaming red hair and the same cheerful smile. They were such a beautiful family, so loving and carefree. I want a family…I want a little baby, some one to take care of…

But that will never happen as long as he's around.

"Hi, Kenshin." She said softly, turning fully around to greet the man properly. She was beginning to dread looking people in the eye, knowing her face looked terrible.

"Ren, what on earth happened to you?" His expression became one of concern, his violet eyes widened and he looked very surprised.

"Take a wild guess." She said dryly.

"You should seek help to get rid of that man, that you should. Living in constant fear would not seem to be much of a life at all." Kenshin said firmly as he wrestled a package of cookies from his small son's hands. "No, Kenji. Not today."

Kenji frowned, his lower lip stuck out in a pout. Then he made a few whiney noises and strained to reach the shelf again. "Neeehhhhh…."

"I am getting help." Ren informed him. Why does every one seem to think my well-being is there personal business?

"If you ever need anything -anything at all- don't hesitate to come to us."

"I'm fine." She muttered, "Now if you'll excuse me…" She sauntered back down the aisle, in search of a box of wheat thins. It's better if you don't get involved anyway…

***

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Kamatari."

"Yeah. See you, Sojiro."

Kamatari looked at the smiling intern as he wandered out of the building for the night. How the hell could the kid be so happy all the time? What did he have to be so happy about? Oh, that's right. He was an abused orphan, rescued from the streets and given a better life. Of course he could be cheerful. No weight on his shoulders.

He sighed as he switched off the lights and locked the door. Seeing Ren had brought back a lot of painful memories. He could vividly recall the day he had admitted to her that he was a homosexual and had feelings for Yasuo, the boy she liked.

Her face had turned very pale and she had backed away as if afraid. Shaking her head, she just kept repeating "no. no, you can't be…no…." and he had insisted. Her hazel eyes filled with tears and she trembled for a moment, then began to scream at him about how disgusting he was.

He remembered every detail; every last bit of pain from that day. It still hurt him then, even after ten years had passed. She had been the first to ever treat him that way and he had thought she would understand. They were friends. He thought she would stay by his side.

I was an idiot to think that. I've always been on my own and I shouldn't have thought otherwise. He stuffed the keys in his pocket and started off down the street.

God, I'm so damn lonely. Where the hell am I supposed to meet people in this dumpy neighborhood? And why can't I get Ren out of my mind…?

***

Katsu was unlocking his door when he saw Ren wandering down the hall, a grocery bag in her arms. "Hey, you need any help?" He called to her.

"I'm fine." She grunted. She was sick of people being kind to her; sick of people treating her like she couldn't take care of herself.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" She whirled around, the bag dropping to the floor, "Leave me alone! I told you before; it's none of your business! I want every one to stop interfering with my life already!"

"But you're not fine, Ren. We all know it." Katsu said gently, "You're scared shitless by that guy and you don't know what the hell to do."

She stared at him for a moment, then burst into tears, sobbing noisily into her hands. "It's not fair. It's just not fair…What did I do to deserve this…?" She slid down to the floor, her back up against the door of her apartment.

"Sometimes things just happen." He said wisely, thinking back to his own turbulent childhood, "Sometimes there are things we wish didn't happen, but there's nothing we can do about them other than move on."

"I want to, but I'm afraid…" She blubbered.

Katsu stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. He'd never dealt with a situation like this before. Then he sank down to the floor beside her, pulling her into his arms. "It's okay, Ren. There's nothing wrong with being afraid. You've had it rough. It's okay to be afraid."

"I've been afraid for the past four years." She whispered, "I just want to be happy."

"I promise I'll help you out. Every one here will. We all care about you. We want you to be safe."

"Thank you." She sniffled, wiping her eyes, "That's so kind of you."

"Well, we're decent people. Are you hungry? I can make you dinner. You shouldn't be alone right now. You're pretty shook up."

"O-okay." She sniffled again, looking up into his blue-green eyes. He really is a handsome man…

***

"We're home, that we are!" Kenshin called as he struggled to open the door while holding his son and two brown grocery bags.

Kaoru appeared before him, taking Kenji in her arms. "How was your day?"

"Busy. A lot of people have been celebrating the upcoming holidays early and I've had a lot of business. If we keep saving, we'll be able to get that nicer apartment closer to the school Kenji will go to." He carried the bags into the kitchen and she followed behind, pulling Kenji's coat off. "How was your day, Kaoru?" He asked as he set the groceries down on the counter.

"Busy. Ren didn't go today because he was beating her again, so I was getting a lot of shit thrown on me."

"Yes, I know. We ran into her at the supermarket."

"And Yahiko was giving me grief again. That boy is nothing but trouble. I swear, he'll wind up in jail someday. I don't see why he can't be a good student like Yutaro…He's got so much potential to go far in life."

"You've had a very trying day." Kenshin said softly, "I'll get dinner started right away. You relax."

"That's not even the worst part. Misao was causing trouble again. The administration was in an uproar because she apparently was giving her substitute attitude -you know how she is when Ren's not there to control her- and he asked her to leave. Instead of just leaving class, she just up and walked out of the school."

"Aoshi will be displeased."

"He'll be furious. He's sick of getting calls from Okita about her poor attendance, her unconcerned attitude, and her over all lack of enthusiasm for anything. You know he tried to give her a good life when her parents died. He was only eighteen himself when he took her in and their life was tough. I bet he feels like a failure."

"Poor Aoshi." Kenshin was boiling water and wrestling open a jar of spaghetti sauce as he spoke, "But it's up to Misao to fix these things. There's not much we can do to help them."

"I know. But it seems so sad. Misao is a wonderful girl and Aoshi cares for her deeply. She's hurting both of them by throwing away her future."

A faint smile flickered across Kenshin's face. "Aoshi is the only one Misao trusts. Misao is the only one Aoshi cares about. Perhaps he will marry her after she graduates."

"She should go to college."

"Whether she should or not, it may not be what she needs." He said gently as he put the noodles into the boiling water. "College is not for every one, Kaoru. I think it would be best for Misao to get a job after she finished school. She needs to grow up and realize she cannot get whatever she wants without working for it."

"But Kenshin, she's so smart!"

"Perhaps we should talk about something else now. Misao and Aoshi's problems are none of our business." Kenshin turned to look at his wife, "Kenji was trying to grab things off the shelves again. Perhaps we should worry about our own child instead of other people."

Kaoru looked at Kenji where he sat in her lap. He grinned up at her innocently and she smiled. "He's just a baby, Kenshin."

"I know." He smiled from under his bangs, "And I'm sure he's a hungry baby. Why don't you feed him while I finish making our dinner?"

"Right."

***

Ren looked up when Katsu offered her a cup of steaming hot tea. She had been sitting nervously on his couch for a while, wondering what he would do to her. She hadn't had the best experiences with men in the past and she was slightly frightened. Suppose he was being nice to her just to lure her into a false sense of security.

"Here. I thought you might like something to warm yourself up while I whip up some dinner. You can watch TV if you want while you wait." He sounded just as nervous as she felt.

"I'm okay." She said quietly.

He nodded, understanding that she was indeed very not okay, but she didn't want to speak about it. "I'll go find something to eat."

She looked around after he wandered back into the kitchen. Their apartments had the same basic layout, only it was as if they had been mirrored. Things were all backwards. The little living room would have seemed so empty, were it not for his paintings that were hanging all over the place. He was an extraordinary artist.

He's being very good to me. I wonder why all the sudden interest after three years of barely even a hello. Perhaps he is interested in me, although I don't know why he would be. I'm hideous. I'm so ugly. I'm no good and he'd be better off without me.