When Misao left her room after four days of self-confinement (two and a half more than he would have thought she'd take), the first thing she did was not seek out Aoshi, or try to prove than the she was now much more grown-up (and therefore, presumably more attractive in his eyes). No, the first person she sought out was Okina, and the first thing she did was … plan a party. According to her, just before she and Okina had closeted themselves in a room for almost five days straight (with occasional breaks and "shopping trips"), it had been far too long since they had seen their friends in Tokyo, namely Himura and his adopted family, and that needed to be remedied.
Either Misao-chan was much more resilient then even he had thought, or she was a very good actress. Aoshi would bet at the latter, if he hadn't already known that Misao could no more hide her feelings than she could defeat Himura in combat. So far, though, it didn't seem to be affecting her as much as it should be. Aoshi wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or concerned about that.
Also, she and Okina hadn't let out any but the most vague and confusing ideas about what they were planning for the upcoming party. They had sent out list of those few supplies that they were unable to get at themselves, but that had only left the five remaining not-quite-ex-Oniwabanshuu even more confused. The small, random explosions coming from the chosen "Super-Secret-Party-Planning-Room" weren't very reassuring, either.
Aoshi sighed, and then braced himself against a wall in what had become almost second nature as another mini-explosion shook the walls of the Aoiya. At least she wasn't brooding away into a melancholy husk.
Another explosion followed close on the heels of the first, and Kiro's muffled cursing played harmony to the tinkling melody of breaking plates. Another sigh and Aoshi went to help clean up the mess.
Then again, was this really all that much better?
***************
Hmmm …
This was supposed to have been up yesterday … Oh well. I'll just put up two chapters today. (This is, by the way, one of the only scenarios in which I will do so, if anyone cares.)
And now, to April-san, my one reviewer (one more than I expected!): THANK YOU! Hehehe … sorry, I'm kinda hyper here. Ignore me. I do appreciate your comments though … just not enough to tell you the pairing. I'm going to be all third-grader here and say "it's a secret!" It's not Sano though, and it won't be Kenshin (and Soujiro does not feature in this story … *pouts*). If Sano is going to anyone in this, though, he's going to Saitou. No questions about it. Buuut … I'm still deciding whether or not to pair him up at all so right now it's a fifty/fifty for Sano/Saitou or Sano/nothing.
I'll see how it turns out.