**Sorry! I had to correct a few things!
I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
Fragmented Dreams
Chapter 5
Over the last few das, Misao had not received and gifts. She was glad enough of this change, but Aoshi however, was not. Aoshi suspected something from that man… no, boy. That man had no further business coming to the Aoiya either. Meanwhile, Aoshi's longing to make his presence known to Misao was eating him up inside.
~*~
Misao yawned widely, leaning on the kitchen counter as Jiya recounted a torrid love affair of one of the neighbors. The whole day had been excruciatingly boring and the night rush was over with. The Aoiya was going to close soon and she decided to go close the front curtain, in order to indicate that the restaurant was closed, but to still keep cool air in the main room. Jiya's soporific talks always bored her; Okon and Omasu were another story though. Misao yawned again, covering her mouth, then walked out to the main room.
To greet her was the same man from a few days before, waiting with a bouquet of irises. Misao's eyes widened at first, then narrowed with annoyance at him. He either did not notice or chose not to notice as he approached her, his arm outstretched with the flowers.
"As I was saying before, watashi wa Takahashi Shinichi.
"Hajimemashite," Misao icily replied, not even bothering to cover her tone.
An awkward silence followed. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself…?" the man questioned unsurely, gazing at her. "I purchased these irises for you."
Misao ignored his first question and said, "I don't want them." She quickly pirouetted and turned to go back into the kitchen.
"So it's true that you still hold on to the hope that a dead man will return," he spat angrily, his previously pleasant face now twisted into a rage.
"He's not dead." Misao's voice was dangerously low as she turned around to face the man. She had much difficulty controlling her actions and she was shaking with anger and her hands were clenched tightly into fists.
"Then he is just a coward," the man said while staring at Misao.
"Don't you dare talk about him! You have no right to talk about my Aoshi-sama! He will come back because… because he…" Misao broke down and began crying as she ran outside, not wanting to face the other members of the Oniwaban who had run from the kitchen at the shouting, apprehending the cause of the disturbance.
Misao ran as fast as she could with the kimono, tears streaming down her face. As she was running, she felt someone grip her arm and she was suddenly pulled into a dark side street. She began to scream out of instinct, but a hand quickly covered her mouth. Misao quickly hitched up her kimono, assumed her kempo stance, and began launching attacks.
Despite the rapid flurry of attacks, not one landed and every attempt was blocked, but her assailant made no move to injure her. Misao swiftly reached into her obi to whip out her kunai, or would have had her fists not been caught in her attacker's hands.Her fisted hands were gripped tightly and she could hardly kick in her kimono. She was spun around and her back was towards her aggressor but her hands still captured. "Nani…?" Misao said flustered, "Who are you?!"
"Who do you think?" whispered an all-too-familiar voice in her ear. Misao shivered and froze, feeling her entire body go cold. "Don't you remember your old okashira?" he whispered again, his hot breath tickling her ear, while he still held her no-longer-fisted hands gently.
Misao was speechless as she turned around and found herself staring into Aoshi's icy eyes, captivating her. The only thing running through her head was that night… that night he confessed his love for her and how he ran away.
Suddenly Misao was filled with a power-giving animosity that gave her control of her body. She shoved Aoshi away roughly and hissed vehemently, "What are you doing back?" She eyed him coldly as if assessing his appearance and Aoshi was expectedly quiet as he looked at Misao, his stoic face revealing nothing about his own thoughts. He looked away as Misao stared at him, her hands in his long forgotten.
After a lengthy pause, Aoshi said quietly, "I came back because… I… I still love you." He turned to look at Misao directly. Misao hurriedly turned away, suddenly shy as her stomach flopped and she felt chills and goose bumps all over her body.
Aoshi released her hands and reached out, lightly holding her chin as he turned her to look at him. Misao looked over Aoshi's shoulder as he said, "A lot has changed about me, Misao, but one thing that stayed the same was the way I feel for you and the way and everything I told you that night."
Misao finally met his eyes and suddenly slapped his hand away. "Well, Shinomori-san, thinks may not have changed for you, but I have changed."
A/N: Wow. That was a really clichéd story, I know. Sorry. -_- I don't want to sound really bitter about this either because I thought it was decent… I thought it was ok despite the complete cliché and OOCness. I got some good reviews, and I'm sorry the chapter wasn't longer, maybe next time? Umm, I think that's basically everything I wanted to say, so I would like to thank all these people that reviewed (you are all the greatest):