Car Trouble?

It did not take long for Thursday to come around. Misao had spent Wednesday studying for some exams and spent quality time with her son, he having chatted a mile a minute about the night he had spent with Genzai-sensei, his grand-daughters and of course Sano.

Although Misao listened heartily to Shin's words her mind would not for the life of her stray from a certain man with intense green-grey eyes. Oh how they pierced through her soul to reach the depths of her heart without even asking for her consent to do so!

"Kachan you're not listening to me!" Misao jolted out of her thoughts and continued to wash the dishes from hers and Shin's breakfast this morning.

"I'm sorry Shin-chan, what were you saying?" She watched her son pout up at her but then he pointed towards the wall clock, making Misao turn around to glance at the time.

"I said its ti-"

"Shimatta! I'm going to be so late!" Misao yelled before running to her bedroom to get her things together. She had cut Shin off from saying anymore and raced back into the lounge room, picking him up along the way as she headed out the door slamming it locked behind her. Misao quickly dropped him off at Genzai-sensei's place, thanking him profusely for looking after him and being able to drop him off at school.

In no time flat Misao was off and riding to Aoshi's place, but now her stomach began to churn as thoughts of what to do now, of how to act in front of him after their night together.

* * * *

(Shinomori Residence)

Aoshi on the other hand hadn't truly noticed that time had flown by so quickly. He had buried himself under a mountain of financial reports as he was behind in looking over the reports from six of his companies.

Okon had been surprised that he was actually up before her on Wednesday morning, she not knowing about the "quest" that had stayed with him the entire night. It was usually her job to knock on his door, voice what the time was and that she'd bring him his tea and breakfast to his office at 8am. Aoshi however was already in his office meddling over paperwork when Okon came to wake him at 7:30am.

Aoshi had not left his office that day…well except to shower and change, but now as Okon knocked on the door to give Aoshi his breakfast he was again at his computer in his bathrobe. He really didn't seem to care what he was wearing while at home these days, but then again, what did it matter when it was your own home?

"Ohayoo gozaimasu Aoshi-sama, I've got your breakfast for you." Okon made her way silently towards the large mahogany desk after voicing she was here. She placed the tray down on a vacant section of the desk not occupied by paperwork and folders. She pottered around for a moment opening up his curtains to let in some natural light and take away his previous dirty dishes from Wednesday morning.

"Arigatoo…" Was all Aoshi spoke as he looked over some figures, his face showing as little emotion as it always did. Okon left Aoshi to be with his thoughts and paperwork, as she knew…actually all of them knew when it was the right and wrong times to disturb him…and today was one of the wrong times. Okon really did want Aoshi to get outside to see it was such a nice day, but she let him be as the serious look on his face meant 'do not disturb'.

The shrill ringing of his cordless phone broke his silence and Aoshi stopped glancing over some figures and reached over to pick it up.

"Moshi, Moshi…"

"Yes I'm looking over the reports right now Fukae. There are some issues on the report of Shinomori Appliances I'll need to go over with you." Aoshi stood up from his chair when he heard the clear sound of Misao's motorcycle heading up his driveway. Aoshi silently moved to the window that faced the front yard and peered down at the young woman while listening to Fukae and another associate arrange a time for a meeting with the managers running the appliance company.

"Yes half an hour should be fine, I'll meet you their Fukae." Aoshi hung up and silently watched as Misao got off her bike and unzipped her jacket. Aoshi lips had parted open as Misao was wearing a flimsy tank top with spaghetti straps; it cut low on her chest. He observed as she pulled out another top from her rucksack, an old grease stained one and placed it over the top while waving to Soujiro and Beshimi who were walking by as she headed for the garage to start work. Finally Aoshi's mind was free to wonder about what had happened late Tuesday night. As he backed away from his window Aoshi swore he could feel the heat rise in his own cheeks. He quickly brushed all thoughts aside and headed for his bedroom to get dressed in a business suit.

* * * *

(Downstairs…)

Aoshi was dressed in no time flat and was outside with his black briefcase in hand.

"Soujiro get the limo, I've got a meeting in twenty minutes at Shinomori Appliances."

"Yes Sir!" Soujiro spoke and ran to get the car, which was inevitably parked, inside the garage. Aoshi could have easily walked there, but he had been glued to his front steps as he didn't seem to have the will or courage to face Misao at the moment. It wasn't the right time to do so to begin with. Both of them had their jobs…and having one of your own companies in danger seemed a bit more of a concern for Aoshi at the moment. If Aoshi did not take care of his companies then hundreds of employees would be out of jobs.

"Expecting a busy day Aoshi-sama?" Aoshi turned to look back at Hannya who was dressed in his usual black and white suit, a white tea towel ever present in his left hand.

"Aa, there are problems concerning Shinomori Appliances, so I won't be back until late. Tell Omasu and Okon not to make dinner for me tonight as I'll probably have take out with Fukae and the Managers."

"Understood…" Aoshi silently glanced at Hannya, his face showing nothing but he knew Hannya wanted to say more then what he voiced.

"Is something troubling you?"

"Not really Aoshi-sama, I just wanted to ask whether it would be alright if we could have Miss Misao's company at dinner tonight? She brings some liveliness into the household and Hyotokko and the others have grown a liking to her, so I wanted to get your permission to invite the young miss back again."

"I see no problems with that Hannya. She does after all bring out the old man in you quite a bit these days." Before Hannya could react to what Aoshi spoke of, he was already inside the limo and heading down the driveway. Hannya jolted when he heard the garage side door open, Misao's genki loud voice breaking him from his thoughts of getting even with a born again cheeky young man.

"OHAYOO HANNYA-SAN, I'M READY FOR THAT WARM TEA!"

* * * *

(Hours have flown by…)

"Ah, all done…" Misao voiced triumphantly to herself as she finished the work on the Jaguar. To her it now purred like a cat. Misao placed her hands on her hips as she looked over the now polished deep blue car. Oh how she'd love a ride in that!

"Have you finished for the evening Misao-san?"

"GAH!" Misao squealed and whipped around to see Hannya standing inside the garage.

"You scared me half to death!" Misao complained and watched a small smile flutter over Hannya's usually impassive face.

"Would you like to freshen up and then come join us for dinner Misao-san? Aoshi-sama has stated that it is alright for you to join us again."

"Is that right? So where is he anyway, I haven't seen a glimpse of the quiet man all day." Misao mumbled while wiping her hands on an old rag. She had turned away from Hannya, hoping that he'd not be able to see the small blush on her dirt stained cheeks as her mind…yet again…flashed back to Tuesday night…and Tuesday morning.

"He's been in a meeting since this morning and stated that he'd be quite late getting home this evening."

"Problems or something?" Misao stated while turning off the lights in the garage and locking the side door as well.

"Aa, there seems to be issues concerning Shinomori Appliances so he's gone to sort them out. Knowing Aoshi-sama that would take hours upon hours to complete."

"That's what you get for running a business I suppose." Misao stated while shrugging her shoulders in doing so. She and Hannya entered the mansion and Misao placed her bag and jacket on the floor out of sight.

"Do you mind if I wash up in the bathroom and then ring Jiya to tell him I'll be late coming home?"

"Not at all Misao-san. You remember where the bathroom is I imagine?" Misao nodded her head affirmatively and headed upstairs to wash up.

* * * *

(Around 11pm - Shinomori Mansion)

Misao yawned as she sat slumped into the soft lounge in Aoshi's living room watching his cable television. She'd been having coffee with Soujiro and Shikijo, but they ended up retiring for the night, just like the others had done so earlier and said it was all right for her to finish the movie they had been watching. The movie had actually finished half an hour ago, but the warmth of the reverse cycle air-conditioning and the cushions on the lounge around her was making Misao so comfortable that she could fall asleep there and then.

As Misao's eyes began to droop closed she snapped them open when she heard the door being open and closed and then locked. She was bathed in darkness having turned the television off and stood up waiting for Aoshi to notice her but watched as he completely bypassed the lounge room and headed upstairs, his feet pounding heavily on the stairs in doing so. As Misao watched him head upstairs she finally realised that he must have had one hell of a day. A smirk crossed her lips as she headed upstairs after him and noticed he only just entered his bedroom the light flicking on, but the door was still open. Oh he was in for a big surprise for sure…

Aoshi had been so deep in his own thoughts that he hadn't even realised that Misao's motorcycle was still parked under the cherry tree when Fukae dropped him off.

Misao stood silently at Aoshi's door, his back to her as he had already stripped himself of his shoes and socks. Her eyebrow arched as she watched his suit jacket and tie being thrown carelessly onto his perfectly made bed. Aoshi's head was slightly bent, undoing the buttons on his deep grey shirt but haltered from taking it off when a soft laugh was heard behind him.

"I've got to be one lucky girl to have my own personal strip show…and for free as well."

"Misao what are you doing here? It's rather late…" Aoshi spoke while glancing down at his watch and then his gaze turned to Misao's sparkling eyes. She held a small smile as she shrugged her shoulders and walked into the room.

"Well, I had to come say hello sometime or else it would feel like I'm avoiding you because of what we shared together the other night…and I really don't want to do that so here I am!" Misao reasoned with Aoshi and watched as he turned back around to pull down the blankets on his bed and then she watched as he sat on the edge, his voice soft as he replied to her statement.

"Aa, I was thinking those exact same thoughts, but cannot visit you since I do not know where you live…" Misao swore she could feel the tiredness seeping from his voice and headed towards the slouching man. Part of his shirt had slipped off his left shoulder. Misao gulped at the way he looked…appealing.

"Here, roll over…" Aoshi peered up at Misao, wandering what she was up to but did as she asked. He was surprised that in a matter of seconds his shirt was gone, he was lying stomach down on his bed and Misao was resting above him her hands placed flat on his shoulder blades. Her pert bottom rested on his as she began to massage tense shoulders and neck. Misao smiled when a small groan escape Aoshi's lips, his eyes closing as his long bangs blocked off most of his face from her point of view.

"Rough day?" Misao asked softly, observing as Aoshi moved his head resting on the left side of his face now, the pale light coming from the ceiling casting a soft glow over his masculine facial features.

"There are concerns that Shinomori Appliances may be going bankrupt for unknown reasons. I've been in meetings and with bank managers trying to confirm a loan of 200 million dollars just in case the worst happens. If it is not approved by tomorrow then I'll place in my own families money to save the company…and then I'll decide on when they can pay off the loan." Misao hands stopped at hearing the 200 million dollars. Did his companies really mean that much to him?

"Wow, I wouldn't eve know what 1000 dollars looks like let alone think of what 200 million looks like."

"Its not that bigger deal Misao, its just money…and it won't buy you happiness." Misao stopped her massage of Aoshi's back when she heard him muffle this aloud.

"Says who? I know how much it would make me happy if I had more money then what I originally do." Misao gasped softly when she rolled off of Aoshi as he sat up off the bed and walked away from her for a moment. She watched his every move as he opened a chest draw and then headed back to her throwing a wooden carved box onto the bed in front of her kneeling form.

"Open it…" Aoshi spoke and watched Misao do so, her hand reaching in and pulling out crisp notes. Her eyes blinked up into his as he sat back down on the bed in front of her and voiced her silent question.

"It's a thousand dollars…two thousand actually. So does it make you happy now that you have it in your hands?" Aoshi watched Misao shake her head as she placed it back into the carved box and closed the lid.

"Of course not, I didn't work hard for it and I'd certainly never take it either." Misao watched as Aoshi picked it up and placed it in his lap.

"Then we are the same. I may have taken over the Shinomori businesses, but that doesn't mean I've ever received any profit for the amount of hours I've put in. All of this, the house, the businesses, the cars, everything is my fathers…nothing is mine…except for this two thousand dollars. This is all that I have ever earned on my own without any help from anyone. I am nothing without his fortune and I will not take what isn't mine, but I will use it to save a company since my father took his business very seriously."

"Your wrong…" Aoshi jerked his eyes towards Misao's, they staring intently into his as she was still kneeling on his bed, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and that flimsy tank top he'd seen this morning.

"You say you are nothing, but I say you are something. Shinomori Businesses would not be here today if the sixteen-year-old Aoshi hadn't taken them over. You sacrificed your life, a chance to be and do something different for the sake of your father's companies…and I know he'd be most proud of you." Misao was slightly startled when Aoshi moved closer, his lips brushing against hers softly. She had been wanting to kiss him since he arrived back in his home, but was so glad that he had started since she hadn't the courage to follow through with what she desired. Misao had been so engrossed in the kiss that when she opened her eyes she found herself lying flat on the bed with Aoshi leaning over her, one of his legs having been trapped between her thighs…because of her doing that…not him.

"Can you stay again, so I can hold you?" Misao's heart fluttered in her chest at hearing his soft voice mumble that into her ear as he hugged her close to him, even though his larger frame was on top of hers, pushing her into the soft mattress. Misao's heart had been stuck in her throat, she not really wishing to sleep with him again. Okay, so she did, but not at this very moment as all she wanted right now was to be in his arms…and on some wavelength that she never knew existed between them, Aoshi had felt the same.

"Okay…" Misao had whispered into the room and felt Aoshi pull away from her as he flicked off the lights and rolled into the middle of the bed, Misao following suit as she lay beside him. Instantly Aoshi's arms were around Misao, she resting on her left side snuggled into his warmth. She sighed happily, her eyes closing as she listened to the relaxed beats of Aoshi's heart.

"This is…nice…" Misao mumbled into Aoshi's bare chest. Misao's left arm was curled under her, but her right was placed over Aoshi's stomach, making sure she had a nice hold on him. Aoshi's own arms twitched every now and then as though trying desperately to pull Misao even closer towards him without placing her fully over the top of himself. His left arm rested on her right shoulder and his right arm was wrapped around her body, his palm resting on her hip and his fingers brushing small circles on her warm trim stomach. Aoshi let out a small noise akin to an agreement and then the room was silent once more.

* * * *

(Some early hour of the morning…)

Misao stretched her arms out from under the thick blankets that had been pulled up to her chin and gasped lightly when she felt the crispness in the air. Her arms went back under the blankets in a flash and she moved to her left to find the source of her warmth. She bolted awake however, the cold forgotten as she glanced to the side of the bed where the source of her warmth used to lay but wasn't anymore.

In a flash Misao was out of the bed, she scanning the darkness of his large bedroom to see he wasn't even there. The door was slightly ajar and Misao picked up Aoshi's discarded suit jacket and place it on while placing her small feet into his slippers. Sometime during the night Misao had taken off her jeans and had only been sleeping in her tank top and lingerie. It wouldn't be right for her to walk around like that and so she had grabbed the first thing she found…Aoshi's black jacket…well one of them anyway. It fell mid thigh region and she'd be a good three or four shoe sizes smaller then Aoshi, but that didn't matter, they were warm and her feet were cold.

Misao stepped into the hallway, blinking several times thanks to the bright corridor lights and headed downstairs as she could hear some strange noises, of what sounded like someone playing a grand piano, coming from the ballroom she had seen in the early days she had been here. Her assumption had been correct too. When Misao peered inside, she was struck speechless as a bare chested Aoshi sat at a polished black grand piano and was playing some classical music.

"Worrying about your company?" Misao spoke softly, making Aoshi stop playing as he turned his head to the left to watch her walk towards him.

"No, couldn't sleep actually." He replied and quirked an eyebrow when Misao came over and instead of sitting beside him she made him stretch out as she sat in between his legs.

"Why didn't you wake me then?" Misao spoke, as her hands drifted down his forearms to rest her own on top of his, they still very much on the piano keys were he had stopped when she first interrupted him.

"You look sweet when you sleep, peaceful and content and I do not wish to wake you from that state." Aoshi waited for a reaction from Misao, but all he received was she leaning her back against his chest and her head resting on his left shoulder, as she whispered softly to him.

"Will you keep playing…? It was nice…" Misao's hands followed Aoshi's as they glided over the piano keys playing one classical song after another, all the ones he could remember from having been taught long ago. Just when Aoshi too was relaxing even more, his head leaning lightly against Misao's, he abruptly stopped when he saw a flash from the corner of his eyes coming from one of the windows.

"Is something wrong?" Misao mumbled sleepily and felt Aoshi move away from her, a groan of annoyance escaping her throat as he did so. She observed as he headed towards a phone in the ballroom and watched him pick it up.

"I apologise for waking you Hannya, but do you think you and Hyotokko could do me a favour?" Misao was curious as to what Aoshi was on about but her eyes grew wide at his next words.

"We have a RAT. Arigatoo…" When Aoshi placed down the phone and turned back around to face Misao he was slightly intrigued as to why she was now standing up on the piano bench.

"Is something wrong?" Aoshi questioned while moving towards the young woman, her large blue eyes glancing down at him, as she was now taller then him for once.

"You said there was a rat! I'm not stepping on this floor until its dead!" Misao blinked in astonishment as for the first time she had finally heard Aoshi laugh. It was deep and rich…and suited him well. Although it thrilled her to hear it, she had placed her hands on her hips, his jacket parting to show off more of her thighs to him, as she grew annoyed.

"Oh and what's so funny?" Misao gasped for the umpteenth time as Aoshi scooped her up into his arms and headed out of the ballroom while mumbling a reply.

"I'll make sure it doesn't come within 100 feet of you Misao."

"Mou, you make me seem like some sissy girl!" She pouted cutely in his arms, relishing the fact that she was against him…and being carried back upstairs towards his bedroom as though he were some prince that had just rescued her from unknown terror…when in fact it was a nonexistent rat.

"Misao you are a girl…"

"You know what I mean!" Misao complained some more as Aoshi placed her back on the bed. He watched in great fascination as Misao took off his slippers, placing them beside the bed and then proceeded to discard herself of his jacket. Her eyes lifted up, a blush crossing her cheeks as she had gained Aoshi's full attention, those intense green-grey eyes crawling all over her body to memorise what she looked like.

"Do you have to stare so hard?" Misao mumbled lightly and crawled under the blankets facing Aoshi. She watched as he turned off the lamp and heard the distinctive sound of clothing being removed and soon Aoshi was under the blankets, facing Misao and wearing…nothing.

"Why can't I stare at what I like?" Aoshi mumbled to Misao before placing a kiss to her lips and turning his back to her. Silence filled the room but was broken by soft chuckling coming from Aoshi. He had embarrassed Misao once more…and enjoyed every second of it too.

"I hate you…" Misao spoke as she tried to get her blush down to a minimum even though Aoshi wouldn't be able to see it anyway. She moved closer to him, her arm wrapping around his stomach so her hand could entwine with Aoshi's left hand and then her forehead rested lightly against his back, her eyes closing once more at being so close to him.

"I know…now get some sleep." Aoshi lay awake listening to Misao's deep breathes as she was well and truly in the land of dreams. Distant rumbling of thunder could be heard, but still Aoshi could not rest. His mind was now plagued with the fact that the RAT, also known as the 'rather annoying trespasser' had been spying in on his privacy and not only that he was taking photos of Aoshi and Misao in moments that were only meant for their eyes and no one's else's. Aoshi only hoped that Hannya's and Hyotokko's mission at finding the RAT was successful.

* * * *

To be continued…

* * * *

Authors Notes: Well its long awaited I think…and was quite painful to write, so if it stinks I apologise. Noa really has no inspiration at the moment. Gomen… *pouts*