Author's notes: Okay, before the expected "throttle and kill the author because she didn't update for ten years!" bit, I have five logical explanations: 1) severe author's block. You all know how it is. @_@ 2) school problems. Our class has two very emotional male teachers pissing off on us. No, not literally. 3) computer break down. For two whole weeks. Imagine how I survived. *feels around* Am I TRULY alive??? 4) I'm practically a typing corpse right now. Complete with eye bags, coffin, and a shovel to bury myself with. 5) *blink blink* Huh? What? (minnie me: she's a BIT disoriented.)

Oh yeah, if you want a tour of my enigmatic talent of imagination and hallucination, please refer to the end author's notes. *blank faces* Okay, they're a bunch of explanations about some things from the previous chapters, kaput?

On with your bloodlust, people!

Disclaimer: *monotone voice* Don't. Please. I've had enough suffering. Don't take this away. Ah. (I don't even have the energy to be my usual blissfully happy self. Sad.)

Mission: Frustration!

By Tesuka- chan

Chapter 13

Some… Complications

Crap. I STINK.

Misao tried not to squirm and scrounge up her face. Though she might be a burglar, she was one burglar who was very particular about hygiene. She usually brought a basic hygiene kit, but because she was in a hurry, she had forgotten. Now, after all she had been through, she was stinking up worse than a skunk. She needed a bath. Badly.

Aoshi watched her adjust her knapsack for the hundredth time. They had been walking along the passage from some time now and from the looks of it, it's still a long way to go. He was getting a bit tired, especially with his injured side. He glanced at the woman in front of him. He felt something amiss. She squirmed again. She was obviously uncomfortable about something. He decided to ask.

"Is anything the matter?"

Misao almost jumped out of her skin. Then a vein immediately ticked in irritation. Geesh, I almost forgot about him. He's just too damned silent. I'm dirty, I'm smelly, and HE's here. Kami- sama, I need a miracle… "No."

If she had turned back to glance at him, she would've seen an arched eyebrow shoot up high on his forehead. As it was, she didn't and ignored him as usual, trudging on, wishing with all her might that she was at home having a nice, warm bath.

A few minutes passed by and she felt that not only was she reeking, but she was also getting more tired after every step she took. Just when she decided to tell the almost-non-existent-icicle that they should stop and sleep for the rest of the night, she turned on a bend on the passage and stopped. Her eyes widened in awe and she stood stupefied at the sight in front of her. The almost-non-existent-icicle stopped short not far behind her and stared quietly.

This was what they saw:

The plain, solid walls that lined the passage was carved out of widened into a cavernous cave. A shaft of moonlight coming from an indiscernible location high above where the roof opened into the night sky gave the cave an eerie, mystical feeling. There were exquisite rock formations glittering with crystals and unknown luminous substance surrounding the whole place, adding to its unearthly atmosphere. And there, a good distance away from where they stood was an underground lake stretching far beyond their sight, its waters superbly clean and crystal clear. It was certainly a sight to behold, especially for two worn out travelers on a mission.

Thank you Kami- sama!

Misao was beyond weeping with relief. Though there was an odd nagging feeling at the back of her head, she was already halfway on the last few meters of the carved passage, the water ahead just begging for her to come and take a bath. She didn't even thought for a second that something might be wrong in this whole setting. She strode determinedly towards it.

She felt something shift under her right foot.

She didn't notice it much; she didn't care anymore. She was at the point of being delirious. Her strides turned into a desperate run, her body clamoring for cleanliness and the purging of vile odors and disgusting sweat.

The ground began to shake.

"What the – " she started, her warped mind finally registering that something was wrong. She stopped, annoyance quickly overtaking her brief period of happiness. Argh! What's with underground caves and shaking floors? Am I in some kind of a natural blender or something? This is just getting old! She quickly glanced behind her to see if Aoshi was doing fine on his own, but to her surprise, he was actually right behind her. She blinked. Weird.

The shaking stopped.

"Thank goodness that's over," she mumbled under her breath as she shook off the dust from her hair and shoulders. "I'm getting used to these quakes."

"You should. After all, there's an average of five minor earthquakes happening everyday, one just doesn't feel it all the time," Aoshi quipped behind her.

She stared at him. She began to wonder if his being a 'professor' might not be just a disguise after all. Nahhhh… she shrugged and said, "okay… whatever you say prof."

It might be that the tiring trek was taking its toll on her or maybe it's just the fact that he's there, but for some weird reason, she found that funny. So she laughed. She laughed so hard, she couldn't breathe, and her stomach began to cramp up. Soon, she was giggling hysterically on the floor.

An eyebrow was raised yet again. "Something you find amusing?"

"Oh no… i- it's just th- that… I- I don't… BWAHAHAHA!!!"

"…"

"I- I mean, for a moment there I thought that… hahaha… y- you're a real professor or something… teeheehee…" Misao wiped the tears from her eyes.

"But I am."

The laughter stopped. "What?"

"I am a real professor." Though his face remained stoic, his eyes told her that he was a bit amused and irritated at the same time. And that he was telling the truth. But her poor brain still couldn't accept that fact, not just yet.

"Stop pulling my leg, prof. It's not funny anymore." It wasn't. She completely stopped laughing.

"Then how do you propose I know all about all the things I teach to the students?"

She shrugged off- handedly. "Easy. Extensive research."

"My doctorate and I.D.?"

"Forgeries."

"All the people I know, and all those who know me as a professor?"

Misao hesitated. She was already doubting herself. "Maybe you took the identity of a well- known figure."

He smirked. "A well- known figure with the same face, the same name, the same attitude?" He moved close to her, a bit too close for comfort in Misao's opinion. "Remember this Misao, there's only one Aoshi Shinomori in the world." His long, lean fingers cupped her cheek and her jade eyes widened, entranced by his blue ones. Even though she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to step back. It was as if some invisible force was holding her in place. But do I really want to?

"And you know it, Misao. You, of all people, know it so well. Know me so well." He leaned closer. She held her breath as her eyes flickered close. I… I do know you. And I… I do want this…

… and the ground shook yet again.

Alarmed and completely flabbergasted, she jumped back and turned away from him. And at that moment, she knew that this quake isn't the ordinary five-a-day quake. That's because at the end of the carved passage in front of her, a wall was quickly rising up from the ground, blocking their way towards the lake. They were going to be trapped.

Her training took over completely. The only thing important now is survival. She looked at Aoshi and nodded. She knew that he wouldn't fail her. They had practiced a lot of times before, even if it was ages ago, after all. There was no time to waste.

The wall was halfway up, twice the height of a man…

He quickly positioned himself beside the rising wall. Jade Jaguar tightened the straps of her knapsack and ran as lithely as a cat.

… it was already three- fourths high and still rising…

Flaming Ice hoisted Misao on top of the moving wall. She gracefully landed on the wall and crouched. He jumped quickly on a nearby boulder for leverage.

…only four feet left, the wall about twenty feet high…

He jumped towards Misao.

… three feet…

Pain on his left side exploded. Time seems to slow down as he hung suspended in the air, his arm outstretched, ready to grasp something, anything.

But there was none.

And then he started to fall. Everything seemed surreal. The wall was inching upwards in slow motion. And then amidst everything, a small hand shot out, strong and confident, and gripped his hand securely. From there, everything went so fast.

Jade Jaguar pulled Flaming Ice up, and with not time to lose, the both of them jumped off the twenty- two feet wall.

… the wall shut the passage with a loud *THUD*.

*SPLASH*

The two rolled on the ground, got a bit entangled with each other, and rolled straight to the lake. Hence, the splash.

Misao spluttered after surfacing and her first thought was, I didn't mean to bathe with my clothes on! Yeesh! She shivered. The water is so cold! She looked around and saw Aoshi surface the water not far from her. He was also soaked to the bone. Both of them started wading out towards the shore.

Upon reaching dry ground, she flopped on the floor, completely exhausted. She had to rest. Everything is just too much for the moment. She sighed. That was close. Too damned close. She didn't know if she was thinking about the wall… or something 'else'. Maybe both. But whatever it is, it's over. For now. She glanced at the man beside her.

He was in the same position as her, lying down peacefully with his arms and legs outstretched. He was breathing normally, rather peacefully. His clothes were all soaked. Then she instantly frowned when she saw something else other than water soak his clothes.

Without small effort, she stood up and moved towards him. He kneeled at his side with a determined expression on her face. She took off his trench coat and looked at the crude bandages she had made earlier. They were thoroughly soaked with blood. She began taking them off.

Aoshi's eyes flickered open. "What are you doing?"

"I'm redressing your wounds, you nitwit. You shouldn't have pushed yourself too much. Baka." She said this in monotone, seemingly concentrating on her task.

He stared at the woman before her, her whole person soaked wet. Her tank top clung to her skin, as well as her baggy cargo pants. Her hair was really messy, her face smudged with grime. He wondered about her sometimes. How she could be so haughty at one minute and then so selfless the next. He knew about her hygiene thing… and yet, she still helped him with his wounds even though she was obviously itching to clean herself. She really was full of contradictions.

"Okay, don't move. And that's an order." She took out the last of the rags and put them in a pile beside her. Then she looked inside her knapsack, looking for something. After some searching, she gave up and hesitated, looking at him. He had closed his eyes because of the piercing pain. Having no other choice and decided to do it before she chickened out, she turned her back on him (a show of modesty on her part) and took out her tank top, wrung it dry, folded it neatly, and put it over his wound.

Aoshi opened his eyes.

Misao only had her black sports bra on, and her face was as red as a Washington apple. She had a great deal of self- control, he'd give her that, she not fleeing the instant he opened his eyes. How very brave of her. But he couldn't really help observing her flawless milky white skin, her small, yet nicely shaped breasts and her flat stomach. He hadn't really realized much that little Misao had grown into a beautiful woman until that moment. How she had grown.

She felt his eyes on her. Hey, I'm doing this for him! I have no bandages left on my bag and he's going to bleed to death if I don't stop his blood flow with something. She felt her face turn crimson, like a Washington apple. Crap this. She steeled herself and stared straight at his eyes.

"Hey, don't have any ideas buster. I'm just letting you use my shirt as a bandage for a while until I wash these rags." She huffed, took the rags, stood up and walked towards the edge of the lake. It took her a great deal of self- control not to cover her breasts with her arms. Pride, you know. By now, she had also eradicated from her brain how his eyes had looked back at her, a dark, midnight blue color. It had sent shivers up and down her spine.

Thankfully, he kept quiet. She didn't think she could take it if he made a comment on her actions. She didn't know what she would do. There was an electric charge in the air as she scrubbed furiously.

Finishing up, she wrung the rags dry and left them to dry on a boulder. She then hunted around for dry twigs, as dry as she could get them. After all, there was water here and where there was water, there was usually plant life. She knew as much as that. When she had found enough, she made a pile, brought out her waterproof matches – thank kami-sama I remembered to bring those – and lit a small fire. Not much, but it was enough.

And now she did what she had been avoiding doing for the last few minutes – that is, to look at him.

He was still staring at her.

Misao got annoyed, her embarrassment fading away. She snapped at him, "Well, what are you looking at?"

One corner of his mouth jerked up.

"Well?" she demanded haughtily.

"You're pretty cute when you're angry… and half naked."

Her face fired up. I can't believe this guy! Here I am, practically saving his life, and all he does is spite me? Damn him! She couldn't reply. She wouldn't know what to say anyway. So she stalked off to the farthest side of the shore. "I'm going to bathe and if you so much as move one little finger towards this direction, I am going to break each and every bone in your body!" She called back to him, meaning every word. She vanished behind a rock formation.

Aoshi chuckled lightly and tried to go sleep.


Misao came back, squeaky clean, though still a bit damp. She peeped at the edge of the rock formation to see what he was doing. He was still at the same place, at the same position from the time she left him. She really did mean to just check out if he moved but she couldn't help staring a bit longer. Besides, even though he's an egotistical, megalomaniac, chauvinistic pig, that doesn't change the fact that he's really handsome. Gorgeous even. No, downright hot. And beautiful things are nice to look at.

She took one last look and turned away. Oh, this is NOT good. Just TRY to keep away, okay? Geesh, I'm like a swooning schoolgirl. She shook her head in self- disgust, composed herself, and walked back. She checked the rags, found out they were dry enough, and decided to get her tank top back. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself for the task ahead of her.

He was asleep. Good. That makes things a lot easier for me. She then hurriedly took out her tank top, noted that the blood stopped flowing, and bandaged it again with the clean rags. Finishing all that in record time, she heaved a sigh of relief. Go me! Smiling happily for the first time that night, she began to walk towards the edge of the lake to wash her tank top. She wouldn't want his blood all over her. No, Siree.

She washed her top with great gusto. She even hummed a Britney Spears tune. After scrubbing forever, it finally got cleaned, but not without a few stains. She shrugged. That couldn't be helped. Finally finished at last and looking forward to the long sleep ahead of her, she remembered something: his head wound.

Ah shit. She scowled. I'll check that, then I'll sleep. Kami- sama, I'm hopeless. I'm just too nice. Another voice popped to her head. To everyone or only to him? She pushed that little voice off the cliff. She approached the sleeping figure and gently lifted his head to look at the wound. It doesn't look too bad, looks like its healing.

"Why were you peeping at me behind that rock formation?" said a groggy voice.

Misao's throat clogged. She slowly looked at the head on her lap. His eyes were still shut. But it was him alright. Sneaky bastard.

"What do you mean?" She answered, a bit too innocently.

When he didn't answer her, she thought he had fallen asleep again. When she was about to put his head on the ground, he spoke again, two little words, "thank you."

To say she was surprised was an understatement. "Well… ah… your welcome."

"That's already the second time you took care of me." He opened his deep blue eyes and stared at her. "Even though you didn't need to."

A faint flush tinted her cheeks. She sniffed. "Well, let's just say I'm too nice. After all this, I'll be as dangerous as before, I promise you that." After all this, I won't ever see you again.

A ghost of a smile was on his lips. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

For the first time since she met him again after all those years, she gave him a genuine smile.

For the first time since he met her again after all those years, his heart thawed and began to beat again.

Misao suddenly realized what she was doing and looked away, putting his head back on the ground. That prep talk didn't do much good. She moved away, carefully avoiding looking back at him. She made a big deal out of fluffing up her knapsack for a pillow and looking for a comfortable position to sleep in. After a while, everything was silent. She didn't face him.

"What happened to you, after all these years?" A low voice asked quietly.

For a time, she didn't answer. And then, "I made myself stronger. Better."

"I can see that. You are stronger and better now."

"Nice of you to notice."

The fire cracked and cackled.

"Do you still remember the gang?" He asked.

Her back stiffened. "No." I don't want to remember.

"I do." He paused. "Those were the best days of my life." He stared at her across the fire.

Why are you doing this? Why are you torturing me? Didn't you know that those were the worse days of my life? Didn't you know that I didn't have my own life because of you? Because you stole it, being a burglar that you are. You stole it. My life, my heart. But now I've stolen it back. And I don't want it to be stolen again. She didn't comment on that.

"Misao, I think that – "

"Go to sleep Aoshi. We have a long day tomorrow." She retorted coldly before he could say anything that he will probably regret later on.

"Good night then, Jade Jaguar." His voice was stone.

She wanted to weep. But she never weep, never cried. She couldn't.

So she slept.


The new girl, Misao, was quiet. She wouldn't speak with the other members, wouldn't even look at them. She was always alone. Scared.

He felt it again. That feeling called pity and something else stirring his heart. It probably won't go away if he doesn't do anything about the girl. So he made a decision.

He had told her to meet him one afternoon by the river, his favorite place to contemplate. She came, looking as sorry as ever, her green eyes dull. For some unknown reason, he became angry. He gave her a long fighting stick, like the one he was holding. Then he told her to attack. She kept shaking her head, no. So he attacked.

The girl definitely has skill. She instinctively blocked each attack, though barely. Her eyes were wide and panicked, like a deer's. But when he tentatively hit her on her hand, she got angry and started to attack him on her own. Then she hit his hand. She stepped back, triumphant. Then her expression suddenly became scared, the deer look back again.

"Good." He said. "If you want, I'll teach you how to fight on your own so you won't look that scared anymore." He gave her an appreciative nod.

For the first time since he took her back with him, she smiled at him, her face lighting up and her eyes the shade of beautiful jade.

For the first time since his father died, his heart thawed and began to beat.


A/n: Oh, what a sappy chapter. I'm that depressed, eh? *sighs* Oh well. At least I finished it! *hooray!*

Explanations:

the gel- like black water thing – that says it all. Just imagine Jell-O, or something with that consistency, only gray or black. It's not that flowy because it isn't water, so when the door opened, it didn't gush out like a river. It stayed in that form. If you put your hand in it, it will give way. It's more dense so it pressed more on Misao's lungs than ordinary water. The ancient people put it there as another protection thing. (okay, I invented that. ^_^)

the golden map – imagine nine coins. Make a three by three square from it, with the coins touching side by side. The map's like that when it's opened. Its closed form is the size and shape of one coin. When you twist it in a particular way, it opens up. It closes when you touch the middle coin. This shows the way to the treasure, though it doesn't show the booby- traps. (hey… don't think like that!!! *stern face*)

The moving wall – Hmmm… you know the doors in Star Wars (or some other space movie) when the automatic doors slam down? It just like that only that it slams up and it's twenty-four feet high. Not to mention it's made of stone. Ancient people are geniuses. Hehe.

Hm… oh well, I suppose that's it. If you need any more clarifications, please tell me in your reviews! ^_^ Speaking of reviews, thanks so much to the following people!!

Babyg2988: wow, you dance the hula? *starts singing pearly shells* Haha! Thanks for reading my fic! ^_^

Moonstorm: You wouldn't want to know what "Tae" means in our language if you pronounce it differently. *laughs hysterically* Ok fine, it means – (minnie me: STOP! You'll corrupt the poor reviewer!) *pouts* fine, fine. I never have fun these days. *pouts* Sorry for the late update! :P

Machoman: Arigatou! SO sorry for the late update… you didn't have a heart attack, did you? *prays for you* Well, as I said, I had some… plans. *laughs evilly*

Misao Mei Mei: Thanks much! Yeah, it's sort of the stage name of her voice actress. Hope you like this one too! ^_^

Dusk- angel: Yeah, I love making fun of Aoshi… making him weak while Misao is as strong as ever is fun. Sort of like a blow to his ego. BWAHAHAHA. Well, I'm sure you have that imagination thing inside you. You just need to push the button! But not too much… see what happened to me? *pities self*

Innocent Dreamer: Well, thanks for that! ^_^ No Kenshin here, but lots on the next chapter. He'll go all mysterious, I promise! *grins*

NatsuNoAme: Heehee, I hope this chapter sort of satisfied your curiosity. ^_^ Curiosity is a good trait! Just don't let it kill the cat. Teeheehee… (minnie me: don't mind her. She's delirious.) Hm. Yeah, too bad I can't kill my alter- ego. *pffft* Gomen ne, I really am trying to do my best with Kenshin. But he's really a bit mysterious here so he's not as polite. Anyway, thanks!

Melissa: Thank you very much! I'm so glad you liked it so far! *grins* Yeah, it does seem a bit weird but that's what I like about fanfiction… you can make the characters weird! Hahaha! ^_^ Thanks again!

Wahh… I have to go and read Les Miserables. Our homework for English. *sigh* Well, inspire me, people! Please read and review! (hell, flame me even! I welcome it with open arms! MWAHAHAHA!) ^_^