Starstruck, a rurouni kenshin fanfic

A/N: Little one-shot action inspired by Dashboard Confessional's new song Vindicated. This comes from my eating bagels at 10:00 at night, dreaming of my summer vacation, and blaring music in my basement. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I do not own Dashboard Confessionals. I own nothing. weeps

Star-struck

Misao Makimachi was a girl with a lot of things happening in her life. She worked full time--granted that it was waitress-ing at her grandfather's restaurant. She went to college full time. She was still looking for a new place to live, still without a boyfriend, and still trying to dodge her well-meaning friends.

One would call Misao the baby of the group, the youngest of all her friends at the ripe old age of twenty-one. Not that she minded being the youngest that is. It just irked her that they tried to make decisions for her. Like when she wanted to go to school in California--they talked her out of it and landed her in community college instead. Or when she had been engaged to her high school sweetheart--they talked her out of that too and the result was a swinging-single Misao for the past two years. The clothes she wore, the music she listened to, and the men she dated were all scrutinized utterly.

Basically, she loved them, but she couldn't stand them. Kaoru was too sickeningly happy with Kenshin, her husband of two years--she kept trying to set Misao up on blind dates with some work-friend of Kenshin's. Megumi was too fickle--she had too many relationship problems with her off again-on again boyfriend, Sanosuke, to give Misao any love advice. Okon, when she wasn't pining over her crush Hiko, wasn't much better than Kaoru. Omasu didn't care whether or not Misao got laid, as long as she wasn't on drugs or in prison.

The only one of her friends that she could stand to be around for longer than twenty minutes at a time, was Soujiro. Best friends since the first grade, Soujiro and Misao were as close as a man and a woman who weren't related and were both heterosexual could be. All her other friends had always thought it was weird that Soujiro and Misao were so close, but had never gone out. The pair of them knew it was because they were too much alike, and knew too much about each other. It would just be creepy. Soujiro had moved from their home town after graduating High School to go to college in California--the very one that Misao had dreamed of going to--so Misao only saw him when he came home for holidays.

The story starts when Misao--twenty-one year old waitress with eyes as teal as the sea and long hair as black as midnight who lived in a matchbox sized apartment and was charged an arm and a leg for rent, tuition, and car insurance--was sent an invitation and a letter one day, totally out of the blue.

She had been late coming home. Misao had stayed late to work some overtime at the restaurant, and then had gone to the 24-hour convenient store to grab a quick restock for her refrigerator. Coming into her tiny apartment, grocery bags in one hand and the day's mail in the other, she shut her door with her foot and tossed her keys on the table before making a face at her stained uniform that smelled suspiciously like hamburgers.

There, on the very top of her mail pile, was a letter written in familiar handwriting. Dropping off her bag in the kitchen and kicking off her shoes, Misao turned on the kitchen light and hopped up to sit on the counter. She turned the envelope and slit it open with a long nail. She was grinning from ear to ear as she opened and pulled the letter out.

"Dear 'Sao," she read aloud. "If you are reading this, then I am sure that your life is boring as hell. Who really wants to read mail anymore. Am I right?" She paused just to scoff and shake her head. The boy would never change.

"I am writing this to extend a long arm of invitation to you. My roommate is going out west for the summer, and I'm going to staying in our beachside apartment all along for the next two months!" Misao whistled through her teeth. "I haven't seen you since Christmas, and I'm sure that you need a vacation by now. Some tanning will do you some good. Please say you'll come down for a week or two or more... Love, Soujiro."

Misao smiled, rubbing a knuckle over her eyes. "Oh man." She was sorely tempted to go, wanted to go. No, she really really wanted to go. School was out until September...but she wanted to work more this summer and get ahead on the next tuition payments. She only had one more year to go until she got her degree. Still, Gramps could spot her a week or two vacation, right?

Grinning a little to herself and wondering what her best friend would be doing at midnight, she grabbed the phone and called Soujiro's number. Everything else could wait until morning. Right now, she just had to torment him.

------------------------------------------------

"Don't forget to put on sunscreen," Kaoru lectured yet again, tossing another bottle of SPF 50 into Misao's carry-on bag.

"Kaoru, the point of going to the beach is to get a tan," her pint-sized friend commented with a grin.

"I'm only thinking for your safety," she mumbled a little before hugging Misao.

"She just doesn't want you to get skin cancer or something like that," Megumi commented with a smile.

"I know, but I'll be back in two weeks." Misao grinned, ready to go off and board the plane as soon as these farewells were done.

Megumi gave Misao a loose hug around the shoulders. "Take care of yourself, kiddo."

"Don't kill Sano until I get back," Misao joked. She pulled the sunglasses that were over her eyes down just enough so that she could lift her eyebrows suggestively in her friend's direction.

"That's a promise."

"My turn," Okon declared. She hugged Misao from behind, slipping a disposable camera into her bag. "Take me lots of photos, especially if you see any movie stars."

"I'm not going to LA Okon," Misao laughed. "This is northern California. I doubt Mel Gibson is going to be up that far."

"Oh well, just in case," her pretty friend pushed. "I'll cover for you at the Aoiya, but you better make it worth my while."

"Scout's honor," Misao laughed, holding up two fingers.

"Don't worry about your fichus," Omasu said with a smirk. "I'll take good care of him."

Misao placed the back of her hand to her forehead. "Halleluiah. My mind is now at ease for the duration of my trip."

"Good, it should be," her friend laughed, hugging her goodbyes just as the flight attendant called the general boarding for Misao's flight to California.

"I'll see you guys in two weeks," Misao grinned with a wave. Her friends waved her off until she was down the terminal and out of sight.

"Do you think she'll have a good time?" Okon asked.

"I hope she gets laid," Megumi laughed.

"Megumi!" Kaoru cried indignantly. "You shouldn't say that."

"Why not?" the other woman responded, baiting her friend. "It's not like she has anyone to cheat on. Besides, Misao needs a good fling."

"Amen to that," Okon and Omasu chimed.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"That can't be my wild girl!" a familiar voice called when Misao walked down the terminal into a California airport. Whirling, she saw Soujiro a few feet away, sunglasses over his gray eyes and a grin breaking over his face like a sunrise. Misao squealed, running across the seating aisle--despite wearing heeled sandals--and leaping into his arms.

"Soujiro!" she laughed happily, pulling back to look at him properly.

"How are you Misao?" he asked, leaning forward enough to kiss her quickly before letting her go to grab the bag she'd dropped at her feet. Looping an arm around her waist, Soujiro lead Misao toward baggage claim.

"I'm a whole lot better now than I was a few hours ago," she laughed. "You look so good!" Misao laughed, grabbing his chin in her hand. "You clean up nice."

"Not so bad yourself," he commented, lowering his glasses enough to give her a once over. "Who would have thought that you had a figure under that Aoiya uniform."

Misao laughed, elbowing him in the ribs. It was like they was sixteen again, giggling helplessly at flung insults and inside jokes only the two of them had any idea towards. A few people looked at them funny--the tanned boy with sandy hair and a Hawaiian shirt walking with the pale girl with black hair and wearing a tee shirt reading "New Jersey, where the weak are killed and eaten".

"You'll love it out hear, Misao," Soujiro told her once they'd picked up her suitcase and began leading her to his car.

"I'm sure I will too," Misao agreed. "I've needed a vacation forever. Stress is making me cranky."

"We'll have to remedy that, now won't we?" Soujiro asked with a devious smile.

"No outlandish ideas," Misao warned him with a stern look. Of course, it would have been pulled off better had she not burst out laughing a few minutes later.

"Nothing too outlandish," he agreed. "You'll just have to come to my summer job and then we can think of something after that."

"You have a summer job?" she asked incredulously. "I don't believe it!"

"Oh, it's true," Soujiro agreed with a grin. "Hard as it's been to convince everyone."

"What do you do?" Misao asked.

"Wait and see," he said cryptically before stepping in front of a large, rusty jeep. "Like my ride?" he asked. "It's really good for picking up chicks."

Misao whacked him with her carry on bag when getting in. "So you know, we don't like being referred to as 'chicks'." Soujiro only smiled.

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"This is where you work?!"

They stood out in front of a small brick building with dark curtains over the bay window and a glowing neon sign that read 'psychic'. Smaller signs advertised palm readings, tarot cards, crystal gazing, and a small magic shop within the walls.

"Yeah, so?" Soujiro asked defensively.

"I should have known," Misao said with a nod. Soujiro was and always had been a devote follower of the paranormal and the supernatural. His college major was Astrology and Mythology. His family came from money, so he could easily pay his bills, go to school, and work at a shady psychic store without worrying. Misao, who also had a love of all things mystical, was an astronomy major--minoring in Literature because no one would let her simply pursue a career of star-gazing.

"I knew you'd appreciate this," Soujiro smiled.

Misao smiled back. "Since you work here, does that mean I get a discount?"

"Come on in now and I'll read your cards."

"Really?"

"Sure, come on." Grabbing her hand, Soujiro lead Misao inside. Immediately they were affronted with the scents of heavy incense, candles, and herbs. Misao became drossy with the heady mixture, but Soujiro only smiled and led her deeper inside, passing a few waiting costumers.

"Hey Esmerelda," Soujiro called to a young woman dressed provocatively sitting over a crystal ball.

"Hello Soujiro, dear," she called with a wave of red-painted nails before going back to predicting some poor man's terrible fate.

"Your boss?" Misao asked.

"Yeah. She's hysterical and the pay is great."

"Not many men psychics apart from John Edwards, huh?"

Soujiro grinned. "Nope."

When they reached the room in the very back, Soujiro flipped on the lights and retrieved a deck of tarot cards from the back shelf. Sitting on one side of the small round table covered in a red cloth, he signaled for Misao to sit in the other. She promptly sat. Soujiro set the deck on the table between them.

"Okay Misao, I want you to shuffle the cards twice, then cut the deck into three stacks." She did just that. "Now, place eight cards in a circle where I tell you to." Soujiro instructed and Misao followed. Once finished the remaining cards were put to the side and Soujiro quietly examined his friend's future.

"What do you see?" she asked after a silent moment.

"You have a juicy future," he said with a grin--but actually sounded serious. He pointed to the first card. "This deals with your business, your financial future," he explained. "A slow start, perhaps, but you'll be set for life after a while."

"Right," Misao laughed.

After a few more rounds of good family news, bad working news, and neutral friend news, Soujiro got to the juicy part. "According to this card, my wild girl," Soujiro said with a grin. "A tall, dark stranger will enter your life."

Misao openly laughed at that. "Dude, if I wanted someone to tell me that a tall, dark stranger will enter my life, I'd go ask Esmerelda."

"I'm serious Misao," Soujiro whined. "This card says you'll find love. You like 'em tall and you love 'em dark, so it's safe to assume he'll be tall and dark." Misao was still shaking her head and giggling. "Trust me here Misao," Soujiro vowed. "If you don't meet a man by the time this vacation is over, I'll eat my shirt."

"Soujiro, I will hold you to that."

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Soujiro's beach front house, was in fact a beach front house. Misao was sure the rent was sky high, but he did have a rich roommate. The house was huge, full of broad glass windows and modern styles--the kind of place Misao had always dreamed of living in. The beach outside was equally beautiful and Misao was happily surprised to see a moderate population of surfers hanging around.

"Beach bums," Soujiro pointed with a laugh. "They all rent or work around here. A lot of them even go to school nearby, but in the summers, the beach is always full."

"Mayhap I should make a pit stop down there?" Misao said with a smile.

"If you're up to it," Soujiro laughed.

"Will you be joining me?" she offered, waving the bottle of sunscreen Kaoru had given her in front of him.

Soujiro grinned, then looked pained. "I would totally take you up on that offer, but I am actually working this afternoon. Go down to the beach, have a great time, and I'll bother you tonight."

Misao shrugged. "Your loss," she said with a wink.

After briskly changing into a black bikini, Misao pulled on a pair of shorts, grabbed her shades, a towel, and her carry on bag. Then she headed to the beach, all while Soujiro grumbled about adult responsibilities and left for work. She felt a little bad about ditching him, but that was just part of being friends. They tormented one another easily.

The sun was warm on her bare shoulders, and Misao once more prided herself on taking the initiative and taking this offered vacation. Her entire body was always strung tightly, like a coiled spring, but as she lay on the warm sand and simply breathed, she felt relaxed. The first part of relaxation that she hadn't felt in all her adult years.

Kaoru's sunscreen was put to little use because Misao's objective was to obtain the level of bronze skin that she used to get every summer in her teen years. She was one of those lucky people who never burned, and tanned perfectly in one sitting. Envy of her friends, she was. Too bad Misao almost never had the opportunity to put this genetic talent to use.

Misao spent two hours lazing around on the beach, watching the very attractive young surfers as they rode waves with precision and skill. She had always wanted to learn how to surf, but she never had to opportunity. Maybe she could convince Soujiro to teach her later--since he was always boasting surf-skills.

Misao got to her feet after a while due to her muscles stiff. Unaware of a few appreciative male glances from other nearby beach blankets, she arched her back and heard the satisfactory crack from each vertebra. Yawning, Misao bent down and grabbed up her towel from the ground, shaking out the blanket and made ready to head back up to Soujiro's house.

As she turned, she didn't notice someone walking by and smacked right into the surf board he was carrying. Unceremoniously, Misao was deposited in the sand and found herself looking up at a very tall surfer. She couldn't make out features because the light was too his back, casting his entire frame in that violet-black shadow that came when looking at the sun for too long.

"I'm sorry," Misao apologized.

"Yeah," said the surfer. "Are you ok?" It seemed more of a reflex than him actually being interested in her well-being.

Misao, miffed by the indifference, scoffed. "I hope I didn't hurt your board."

At that, the surfer seemed to actually look down at her. Slowly--ever so slowly--the surfer extended his hand. "Let me help you," he offered.

Misao was satisfied now and accepted the offer, taking hold of his hand in a tight grip and pulling herself forward, back on to her feet. She overestimated the pull he offered and found herself on her feet faster than she could gain balance, therefore leaning into him a little more than she would have originally had to. In the close proximity, she was able to do a quick assessment of her assailant.

Tall. She only came up to his shoulders. Blue eyes the color of ice, or crystal. Black hair, darker even than her own, that fell into those same blue eyes. Handsome. Scratch that--gorgeous. Misao was so caught off balance by the man she forgot to breathe for a moment, but then she blushed and took a step back.

"You should be more careful where you walk," Misao informed him.

"You should as well," he replied. This time, there was humor in his voice.

"I'm just a girl," she said with attitude. "You're the giant with the board."

He made a sound suspiciously like a scoff. "I may be the giant with a board, but you're the one with a sharp tongue."

"Have I cut you with my words?" Misao taunted.

"Maybe you have," he said evenly. "Or maybe you have not."

"Cryptic, aren't we?"

"Women like a man of mystery," the surfer replied.

Quickly, Misao leaned down to scoop up her towel while trying to think up a reply. When she looked up again, he was already turning to go. "Thank you for help me," Misao called to him. "Even though you did knock me over to begin with."

He turned just long enough to give her a once over, to smirk slightly, and to nod once before heading toward the water. Misao was left tingling to the tips of her toes as she quickly dug around in her bag before pulling out the disposable camera that Okon had given her. Clicking off a shot of the surfer as he left, Misao turned and walked back to the beach house. "Mental note," she commented aloud to no one. "Make Soujiro read my cards again."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She did just that too. When Soujiro came back that night, she begged and begged him to read her cards once more. Only after he agreed did she tell him about her interlude with the breath-taking surfer.

"Don't be so surprised, Sao," Soujiro told her with a smirk. "You really are a knock-out."

"I'm not exactly that well endowed," Misao told him with a shake of her head. "I'm too scrawny."

"For your size, you're a dish," Soujiro persisted. Misao was, in fact, highly attractive. Being of small size, she wasn't the most buxom of beauties, but she had a pretty face and a trim frame. Maybe she was an acquired taste, but a man would have to be blind not to notice her.

"Enough with the flattery," she said while wrinkling her nose. "Read the cards."

Like before, Soujiro had her shuffle and cut the deck. Then she placed the cards in the circle on the table for Soujiro to read. Excitedly, Misao waited impatiently for him to begin. "This is interesting," he commented right away.

"What?"

"Well, your tall, dark stranger has moved position." He pointed to the card at the very top of the circle. "This means you'll be meeting him again, and soon. These four cards," he indicated the four in each side, "foretell possible happiness, but these two at the bottom tell me that it might be difficult to obtain."

"Why?" Misao pressed, leaning forward eagerly.

"The last card says that you will be swayed."

"Swayed by what? By who?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Soujiro spoke with a thoughtful frown. "I really can't say."

"Some psychic," Misao scoffed.

"If you want a psychic, go talk to Esmerelda," Soujiro said with a grin. "I'm only the tarot boy."

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Misao spent the two weeks at Soujiro's beach house spending time with her beloved best friend, and was ever on the look out for her gorgeous surfer boy. Much to her disappointment, she wasn't able to locate him again. Still, the vacation was just what she had needed.

The night before she was set to return home, Misao readied herself for a bonfire party on the beach she would be attending with Soujiro. Showing off her perfectly tanned complexion, Misao wore a red and white Hawaiian print skirt that was cut open at the middle of her left thigh and fell to her ankles at the right side with the top of her black bikini. Hair down, feet bare, and no sunglasses in sight, Misao was joined by Soujiro just as the sun was set.

He was dressed much as he was the day he picked her up at the airport. Wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt left open over his bare chest and a pair of khaki shorts, he looked like any beach bum should. Offering her his arm, Soujiro smiled. "May I escort you, my lady?"

Linking her arm through his, Misao grinned. "Of course."

Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of it has caught my eye

The music from the beach met them as they walked the path from the house to the shore. Misao could already see the top of the bonfire glowing in the distance, already hear the shouts and laughter from the partiers. Her heartbeat picked up in anticipation. It was her last night in California and she was going to spend it right.

And roped me in
So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated

When they got there, several people greeted Soujiro welcomingly. Misao was introduced--or reintroduced if she had met them before. After getting a drink and making the rounds, Misao excused herself from Soujiro's side in favor of strolling along in the sand on her own.

Misao had never seen the Pacific Ocean before this trip, and she was taken in by it's exceptional beauty. The light from the full moon glittered over the waves like a thousand diamonds. Turning her gaze heavenward, Misao let out a deep breath. The stars were much clearer out here than they were back home. There were less lights out here, more sky.

"Perfect," she breathed.

I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along

"They look better in the Midwest," someone said from behind her. Misao yelped, jumped, and spun. It was then that she saw the surfer, the very one who had assaulted her on the beach her first day out here. He was casually seated a few feet behind her, no board in sight.

"You mean the stars?" Misao asked, trying to remember her previous thoughts while looking at him.

"Yes," he responded. "Though they are lovely when over the ocean."

Misao nodded, looking from him to the sky. "The constellations are so clear when you look at them over water," she said with a smile. "Makes it seem as if the sky goes on forever."

The surfer got to his feet and moved to where he stood beside Misao. Titling his head to one side, he followed her gaze. "The only constellation I remember is the Big Dipper," he commented.

Misao laughed and looked up at him. He was watching her with a guarded expression. She only smiled back and pointed up. "You see the small star chain to the left. That's the Little Dipper. And those three in the straight line over there, that's Orion's Belt. The belt is the easiest to find when identifying that cluster."

And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

"Is astronomy that interesting that you'd devote your life to it?"

"Yes," Misao said with a nod. After identifying a few more constellations, the pair had begun walking down the surf line, away from the drunken shouts of the bonfire party. The topic of conversation had drifted from constellation mythology to his travels then to Misao's major. They had established that Aoshi was twenty-five to Misao's twenty-one and that he had graduated college with a degree in finance, though he worked as an instructor at a martial arts school while Misao was still in school for astronomy and worked at her grandfather's restaurant. It was just an ongoing conversation, nothing more.

"So one day you'll work at NASA?" he asked.

"Maybe," she laughed. "I could have a white coat with my name stitched into it."

"And that would be?"

"Be what?"

"Your name."

"Oh," she said with a grin and a blush. "I'm Misao."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Misao. I'm Aoshi." They shook hands, officially introduced.

So clear
Like the diamond in your ring
Cut to mirror your intentions
Oversized and overwhelmed
The shine of which has caught my eye

"I can't believe that you, one who has traveled most of the United States, has not gone to one psychic," Misao laughed.

"It's true," Aoshi said with a nod. "I always mean to go to one. I am rather superstitious. Somehow, i just never find the time."

"Oh, if Soujiro heard that, he'd kill something," Misao laughed.

"Would Soujiro be your boyfriend?" Aoshi asked. He noticed her walk down to the beach before, arm in arm with a man he knew to live in one of the beachfront houses.

"No," Misao said with a shake of her head. "We grew up together, Sou and me. We've been best friends since practically the first grade. When he asked me to come out and stay for a while, I leapt at the chance." Misao took a deep breath and turned to the water. "I never saw the Pacific before."

Aoshi looked over at her, at how much the simple sight of the water seemed to entrance her. "It is a beautiful sight."

She looked over to him and smiled a little sadly. "I'm going to miss it."

And rendered me
So isolated, so motivated
I am certain now that

"When do you go back?" Aoshi asked her. It was the question that had been weighing on both of them since they began their conversation a few hours before.

"Tomorrow afternoon," Misao sighed.

"Tomorrow?" He sounded upset and that made Misao smiled.

"You going to miss me?" she teased.

"Yes." He said it without any hesitation or awkward pause. Misao, for once, was speechless. "You're the first real conversation I've had since I left school for the summer."

"Well if there is anything I'm good at," she said once she found her tongue. "It's talking."

"I'm sure there is something else you're good at," Aoshi prodded.

"Oh yeah," Misao laughed. "I can make the best grilled cheese sandwiches you've ever tasted."

I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

The bonfire party was ending. The drunk were getting rides home, or were left to sleep it off in the sand for the few hours that were left before dawn. Misao had seen Soujiro head back up to the house an hour or two before. She didn't want to go--back to New Jersey or back up to the beach house.

California was better than she had imagined it to be. Had she ignored the pull of her friends, she could have been out here with Soujiro, pursuing her dream. She could be in a better school and Soujiro had always extended the vacant third room in the beach house top her so she would have a better place to stay. Misao was not without skills, so she could get a better job. Still, her life was in New Jersey.

Aoshi walked her up the beach to the house. Their conversation was dwindling now that they were almost there. Neither wanted to break company with the other. Misao knew the minute she walked in that door that she'd never see her tall, dark stranger again.

"I hope you had a good time out here in California," Aoshi commented.

"I had the greatest time I've ever had," Misao said, and meant it. She'd just have to come back next summer, that's all.

They were at the door now. "Have a safe trip home, Misao," he told her. The way he said her name made Misao shiver even in the warm night air.

He turned to go and Misao had the intense urge to stop him. "Aoshi?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning back. For a minute, all Misao could do was look at him, pinned in her spot by the intense look in his blue eyes. For a moment, she thought about what he friends would tell her--for all their prodding of her to find a man. Then she pushed all thoughts of her friend's scolding out of her mind as she took the three steps between them.

Aoshi met her halfway.

So turn
Up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall forever
Defense is paper thin
Just one touch and I'd be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current
So let me slip away
So let me slip against the current
So let me slip away

How they made it inside, Misao was in too much of a haze to remember. All she knew was that they had to cross the entire expense of the kitchen before they could get to her side of the house, and they had to do it without waking Soujiro. Damn the boy for being a light sleeper.

Once they reached her side, Aoshi backed her toward the door to her room. Her hand fumbled for the knobs, successfully opening it and shutting it soundly once they were both inside. Now he had her back pressed against the cold wood, kissing her deeply before pulling her back to make their way to the other side of the room.

Misao's fingers gripped the bottom of Aoshi's shirt and lifted it over his head. Their mouths met and broke apart. His lips roaming over the skin of her neck. Her fingers running through his hair. Clothing was shed without much effort. Misao could barely breathe when he touched her.

Suddenly, they reached her bed. Misao pulled him down with her and resumed their activities with desperate heat. It had been a long time for Misao, a longer time for Aoshi, but neither had ever felt the drive as strong as they did that night for each other.

The sun filtered in through the huge glass windows, falling across Misao's face. Her teal eyes blinked open slowly. Her head felt light, and her body was still spent. She closed her eyes and smiled before arching her back. She felt like a cat who had been well scratched and well loved.

Misao turned to her side, holding the sheets over herself as she did so, but no one was beside her. Sitting up, Misao looked around the room, but all his clothes were gone from the floor as well. She had woken up alone.

At first she wondered if the night before had just been a dream created by her love-starved mind, but she shook her head against it. His scent still clung to the sheets beside her, a heady smell of salt water and something unalterably male. She blinked away tears that filled her eyes unbidden before dragging herself to her feet and heading toward the shower, still clutching the sheets around her naked body.

Aoshi was gone.

Slight hope
It dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption...

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"I am going to miss you, my wild girl," Soujiro said, hugging Misao tightly. "The house will seem so dark and small without you."

"Just wait until your roommate gets back," Misao said with a smile. "Or until you get yourself a girlfriend. Then you'll forget me."

"Forget you?" Soujiro said with a quirked smile. "There is no one on this Earth that could ever forget you."

Misao inwardly flinched. Someone had forgotten her already, of that she was sure. But she couldn't tell Soujiro about the one night stand she had just the night before. To hide the oncoming tears, she clutched Soujiro to herself once more.

"I'll call you when I get home."

"Yeah," Soujiro said, pulling back when the flight attendant called for boarding. "Here, before I forget." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a single tarot card, he handed it to her.

Misao took the card and examined it before looking up at her best friend questioningly. He surprised her when he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Don't let anyone sway your heart from what you really want," he told her seriously. "Always remember that there are no real goodbyes. There are only different paths that take us to where we need to go."

With that, he hugged her once more before forcing her to walk down the lonely terminal and head back to her life. Soujiro watched her pensively. He knew that her mood was not entirely due to leaving--espeically since she didn't tell him to eat his shirt.

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"Welcome home Misao!" Kaoru called from the terminal, waving like a madwoman.

Okon and Omasu rushed forward to hug her and beg for every little detail about everything she did. Misao told a few, but was too exhausted to go into great length. Megumi recognized this and warned the others to lay off.

"Here Okon," Misao said with a yawn in the backseat of Kaoru's SUV. She tossed the disposable camera at her friend. "Most of the shots are just me and Soujiro acting retarded. There are a few good ones too. Enjoy."

Okon squealed. "Thanks Misao!"

"You look like hell," Omasu commented from beside Misao. "What did you do to deprive you of much needed sleep? You knew you were coming home today."

"I was at a party last night," Misao commented. "At the beach."

"You met a guy, didn't you?" Megumi asked. Misao went ridged and refused to talk anymore. "She totally met a guy," Megumi told to Kaoru.

"Oh Misao, did you really?"

"What if I did?" the smaller girl snapped. "It's my life."

No one talked to her any more on the ride home. Misao was not in the frame of mind where she would care.

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In the days following her return from California, Misao didn't seem to be her sunny self anymore. It seemed that everything in New Jersey made her miserable. The drab apartment she called home, the dead-end job at the Aoiya, and even her tiny and well-landscaped community college.

More and more, she looked at Soujiro's tarot card and wondered if this was really what she wanted with her life. What she wanted was to go back to California, to beat the hell out of Aoshi whatever-his-last-name-was, and to stop feeling like her entire life was a waste of time.

Her friends tried to cheer her up in the days after her return. After a while, Misao did start becoming her old self again. In fact, she became renewed with some kind of determination. She wanted to find the right life for herself, and she would not rest until she was sure she had found it.

One evening she had off from work, Kaoru had invited her over for dinner. Misao was sure that it was some kind of lame attempt to set her up with someone or other, but she didn't care. A free meal was a free meal.

When she reached the Himura residence, Misao knocked on the door and a smiling Kaoru answered. "Misao, you came!"

"Why wouldn't I?" her friend asked with a lopsided smile.

"Well, you never seem to want to come over anymore," he friend pouted, ushering her inside.

"That's because you keep trying to set me up with Himura's friend."

"We just want you to meet him," Kaoru defended herself. "Aoshi is a nice guy."

Misao froze, eyes wide, as she watched her friend disappear into the kitchen to finish cooking the evening meal. Had she just said...Aoshi? No, it couldn't be the same man. It just couldn't. He was out in California and Aoshi is a fairly common name. Yes, that was what she rationed to herself as she started breathing again and walked toward the living room where Kenshin was.

He was not alone, however. Sitting on the couch beside him was a man that Misao had never thought to see again. Aoshi looked up when he saw a movement at the entrance to the room and froze when his eyes met hers.

"Misao!" Kenshin greeted. The red-head got to his feet and walked over to her. Aoshi got up, but didn't move any closer. "Didn't think you'd show."

"H-hello Himura," Misao said, tearing her gaze from the man on the couch and trying not to swallow her tongue.

"I want to introduce you to my friend, Aoshi Shinomori," he continued, oblivious to the tense stare going on between the two other people. "Aoshi, this is Misao Makimachi."

"Pleasure to meet you," they intoned simultaneously. Neither meant it.

"Now that we're all introduced, I'll go check on the food," Kenshin said with a nod before scurrying off to the kitchen. He was eager to leave the pair of them alone.

There was thick silence between them for a long moment. Misao was the one who spoke first, barely above a whisper. "You left."

He nodded once, eyes intense. "I didn't want to see you leave," Aoshi replied.

"You should have stayed," she said a little more forcefully.

"I'm sorry," he said. He wasn't all that convincing.

"No you aren't." Tears burned her teal eyes as she glared at him. "I'm not the kind of person who normally does the one-night stand thing."

"Neither am I," he said seriously. "I couldn't be there when you woke up and realized what we did."

"Why?" She couldn't stop the few tears from falling anymore than she could stop the fact that she had already forgiven him, just from the anguish in his eyes.

"I didn't want to see you cry," Aoshi breathed, moving to stand in front of her. He reached out, brush the back of his finger across her cheek, catching a falling tear. "I didn't want you to regret it."

"I didn't," Misao told him, gripping his hand in both of hers. "Not for one second." The intensity of her words washed over him and they lapsed into silence again for a few moments, until Misao gained the courage she needed to push on. "When I woke up and saw you were gone, I thought that everything I felt was just me being a naive little girl."

"If you felt half of what I did," he whispered to her, looking at once both confused and determined. "Then you know how hard it was for me to leave."

"Will you stay this time?" she asked. His eyes widened slightly. "You live here, Kaoru told me that. You work with Kenshin so you have to live here some of the time. Couldn't we...I don't know, take a chance at dating or somethi--"

She didn't finish because his mouth was already on hers. All the doubt that had crowded Misao's heart over the past weeks in New Jersey, all the thoughts of her choosing the wrong life for herself, all notions that everything she had done had been a lie, melted away in the fire of that kiss. Misao knew that, maybe it had been her friends who suggested it, it had be her who made every decision. Soujiro's heart was in California, but hers was in New Jersey. Even more so now that she had finally found someone with whom to share it.

Maybe she should have listened to Kaoru sooner and just come to dinner with Aoshi before. Then again, the tarot card in her pocket reminded her that there were different paths to take her where to go. Her path was to eventually come to Aoshi, and she did. Misao Makimachi was happily star-stuck.