A/N: Hey, there, people..! Yep, it's been such a long wait... Okay, here's another chap. I won't promise anything more regarding updating schedules, seeing as to how hard it was to actually write something lately. What can I say? I'm lacking in the inspiration department.
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Misao entered the training hall. She looked strange, as if timid. As soon as she realized Aoshi was still not there, she sighed in relief. She went to the locker room, left some things there and took out some others and then went back to the gym to start with her training.
Her teacher was not there yet. Now that was weird. An assistant was... err... assisting the rest of the class, but Misao trained on her own, seeing as to how high a level she reached.
After some minutes, somebody standing by the door cleared his throat. Aoshi was there.
"I'm sorry for the tardiness."
He greeted the assistant and started warming up. He then grabbed his kodachi and did some tricks here and there, using some of his kempo skills as well.
Meeting was inevitable. So, Misao decided to be civil and greet him.
"Hello." There. Done.
"Good morning."
"..."
"..."
After some moments of awkward silence, Misao spoke up with a short and sweet "Uh... I'll get back to training."
And, ever the talkative guy, Aoshi just nodded and turned sideways to continue with his moves as well.
After some hours of intensive sweating, the class finished. Misao went to ask the assistant if he knew why her trainer didn't show up, but he just shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and walked away.
It was raining outside, Misao noticed once she attempted to go back home on foot. 'Great. And I didn't even bring the umbrella. *sigh*'
"Need a lift?"
'Aoshi! Wow, nice car..!' "Uhm, if you don't mind... yeah."
"Get in."
Misao gave him the directions to her house and relaxed a bit, a thing she had found difficult to do lately.
Both stayed silent, every now and then turning to see each other, but nothing much. Ten minutes later...
"We're here." Aoshi commented matter-of-factly.
"Thanks for the lift, Aoshi."
"It was nothing."
"I know it wasn't." Misao replied, giving him a side smile.
"No big deal. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, till then."
Misao opened the car door, closed it and entered home. She quickened her pace while at it, not because of the heavy rain, but because she felt way inclined to say something to Aoshi regarding their past, or to invite him in, or to even kiss him on the cheek; and she was sure he would freak out. ...right?
-..-..-..-..-..-
"When is she coming back? I told you this wouldn't work."
"Let me remind you that she went away because she found your journal over the desk."
"Well, forgive me if I have to be more careful when lying to my daughter..!"
"Come on... we don't need to argue about this. She's a grown girl now, she'll know when to come back."
"Yeah, as if. You know how stubborn she is. She won't be coming back..!"
"Not now, but you don't have to be so drastic. She needs to realize we did this for her."
"Excuse me, but we said that we were doing this in case Aoshi got killed during War. Fortunately, he was not. So I guess the whole plan was a waste of time. If the plan had worked, then Misao would be now dating any other guy, instead of growing attached to somebody she doesn't even remember."
"It was all about protecting Misao. You know it's not just War. Misao needs to be protected and I don't trust Aoshi very much, actually."
"Telling her and letting her decide would have been better. Now she's off to find him, whatever it takes."
"She won't find him."
"She's got something from what she read and found out. She'll get her way through this mess sooner or later."
"I doubt it."
"Better not."
-..-..-..-..-..-
A couple of days went by. Aoshi caught himself staring at his pendant. Misao. Him. How could it be so hard to remember? Sure, Misao looked good and all, but there had to be something else.
'Okay, Aoshi, let's pay her a visit.'
-..-..-..-..-..-
Misao had just reentered her house after a two-hour jog around the park. She had a quick shower and put on her pajamas; then turned on the tv and started zapping. After some 15 minutes, she turned off the tv and turned on the radio.
Minutes later, the doorbell rang. Guess who was there.
"Aoshi..! Come on in."
Misao led him to the living room and both sat on the sofa.
"What brings you here?"
"Nothing in particular. Actually I was near here and thought I'd come say hi." 'Yeah, right, liar.'
"You wanna have something to eat or drink?"
"Coffee will be fine."
"Ok, give me a sec and I'll have it done."
"I'll help you."
Both stood up and went to the kitchen.
"Well, I'm not exactly looking my best, with my pajamas and all, but oh well."
Aoshi chuckled. "It's ok, really. You working tonight?"
"Yep---" Misao was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Aoshi asked.
"No, not really." Another knock. "I'll get it. I don't know why whoever it is don't use the doorbell, anyway."
Misao opened the door with a "Who is it?" that was interrupted when the stranger pushed Misao. She tripped and ended up sprawled on the floor over the now-broken glass coffee table.
"What are you do---" Misao was cut off again when the man caught her by the neck.
With all the noise metres away from him, Aoshi rushed towards the entrance. "Who the hell are you??!"
Noticing him for the first time, the stranger threw Misao's body towards Aoshi's and ran away. He caught her in mid-fall but when he went to chase the attacker he was already nowhere to be seen.
Aoshi helped Misao up. She was coughing and holding her neck which now sported some marks-soon-to-be-bruises.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, I think so. Geesh, who was this guy, anyway?"
"Come on, let's clean up this mess. You sure didn't get hurt with all the shattered glass?"
"Just my hand, apparently." Misao said while checking her right one. It had a cut a bit deep but there was no sign of any piece of glass there.
"You have any first-aid kit here?"
Both of them went to the bathroom where Aoshi applied some ointment to Misao's hand and then bandaged it up.
"Where did you learn how to do this?"
"In the Army."
"... oh."
"Does it hurt?"
"Just a bit."
"What about your neck?"
"Hurts as much as a couple of bruises would. No big deal."
"You'd better stay home and not force that hand of yours that much."
"Yeah, I'll call Mrs Tae later. By the way, thank you."
"You'll just have to be more careful next time."
"I know. It's just that this guy came forward all of a sudden and before I could even raise my hands and use some self-defense, I was already down. But, hey, I'll be ready next time, if there is one, that is."
-..-..-..-..-..-
"Sir."
"Yes?"
"Problems with the little girl."
"I thought you said you could handle it."
"Former boyfriend. He was there. I had almost no weapon to deal with him, it would've been useless."
"Then the girl'll have to wait. Stick to the rest of the plan and then go back to her. But no more mistakes, or else you could have a tragic accident. Perhaps several tragic accidents."
"Understood. It won't happen again."
"Drop the clichés and get to work." *click* The line went dead.
-..-..-..-..-..-
When Misao told Tae what had happened that afternoon, she gave her the rest of the week off. Aoshi stayed for dinner, cooked by him and gladly accepted by Misao. They had been sitting on the sofa for quite a while and Aoshi decided it was high time he went back home.
"You sure you don't wanna stay a little longer?"
"You should rest. I'll call you tomorrow, as usua--- Wait a minute, no, I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that last part..."
"O-Okay. Never mind, I guess."
Aoshi and Misao walked towards the front door. She opened it and Aoshi stepped forward.
"You know, I never really got to tell you why I came. I thought we could talk about us a little, try to remember something. To see if anything sounded familiar to any of us. But, well, maybe later."
"Yeah, maybe later." Misao replied, absently.
"Rest and don't open the door to any stranger."
That caught Misao's attention. "I'm not a little girl, Aoshi, don't talk to me as if I were one..!"
"You did what I just told you not to do some hours ago---"
"Well, you don't have to rub it in my face..!"
*sigh* "I'm just worried, okay? This whole thing is strange and I don't want it happening again. That's all."
"I'll take care. Is that okay enough for you?"
"I guess."
Aoshi placed his hand over Misao's left cheek and gave her a gentle kiss on her right one. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
And without further ado, he turned around, got in his car and drove away.
Semi-stunned Misao managed to close and lock the door behind her. Then she just stood still for a while and, some time later, went to sleep trying not to think too much about anything. "Anything" being a certain blue-green eyed hottie.
-..-..-..-..-..-
A couple of days went by pretty smoothly with nothing out of the ordinary. This day was a hot and sunny summer day. Saturday. At around four in the afternoon, Aoshi's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi. It's me, Misao."
"Hey, how do you do?"
"Actually, I'm pretty bored and was calling to ask if you'd like to meet somewhere."
"Sounds good. Where?"
"I dunno, the park? It's just that it's such a nice day."
"Fine with me."
"Okay, when?"
"In an hour?"
"Sure. Let's meet at the same place we met the first time, remember?"
"First time?"
"Well, the first time after we forgot almost everything."
"I'll see you there, then."
"Okay, buh bye."
-..-..-..-..-..-
Misao was at the park a bit early and decided to sit for a while. She closed her eyes for a moment. And it was then that Aoshi arrived and went to meet her.
"Sleeping already?"
Misao opened her eyes quickly. "Hey, Aoshi. How are you doing?"
"Fine, I guess."
"..."
"..."
"...This is weird. I wish we could chat just like we used to. I'm feeling uncomfortable."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not you." *sigh* "Okay, where to start?"
Misao and Aoshi talked about themselves. At first, it was a bit awkward; but then they just got used to it. They discussed what the liked and disliked, their hobbies and their lives in general for about two or three hours.
"It's... getting late." Aoshi said after some minutes of silence.
"Yeah, maybe I should be going..."
Both stood up.
"I'll drive you home." Aoshi suggested.
"Thanks, but I drove as well, so I'm with my car now."
"Well, then I'll walk you to your car." There was definitely a ghost of a smile lingering there, on Aoshi's face.
Misao smiled. They started walking and, once in front of her car, both stopped for a moment.
"I... err... It was nice spending the afternoon with you, you know." Aoshi said, to Misao's complete shock.
"Thanks. I had a good time too."
"So... I guess I'll see you later."
"Yeah---" Misao's keys dropped from her hand. She went to grab them back, but Aoshi had already taken them in his hands. He straightened himself once again, and remembered a little too late he had closed the distance between Misao and himself. So he stood still, right in front of her, mere inches away. She was taken aback as well and for a moment neither knew what to say or do.
"I... uhm... Your keys." Aoshi said, stepping back.
"T-Thank you."
"So... see ya."
"Yeah... bye."
Then, Aoshi turned as Misao opened her car door. A bit out of the blue, Aoshi's inner self decided to lead his nice ass back and go to Misao again. Aoshi did just that. She turned her head and was surprised to see Aoshi once again standing there. Close. And then, *snap* he was placing his lips over hers. He had his hands cupping her cheeks, and the kiss was not more than a simple lip-lock that lasted a few seconds. Then Aoshi let go, looked right into her eyes and said nothing more than "bye" before going back to his car, leaving Misao to bring herself back from the lala land attack.
-..-..-..-..-..-
"Who are you??"
"..." Not a word from the strager.
"Stay back. Call 911." He directed to her.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that..." That would be the one and only line they'd ever hear from him.
Things happened almost simoultaneously. A shot was heard throughout the entire house. A yell. Desperation. Another yell that died almost before it could come out of her throat, silenced with another shot.
Then nothing but calm footsteps getting away.
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A/N: There, that was it. It was short, but that's all I could come up with _ I hope you'll like the 'action twist' I'm introducing here, for a change. Again, sorry for the wait.
Here are the review responses and don't forget to leave a review on your way out..! =)
-CHAP 4-
Girl-who-sings-the-blues – Hallo! *hugs G-w-s-t-b* The trainer-teacher-guy? Well... haven't thought about him, but you may have something there *wink* As for your RK fic, get it started and let me know about it..! And as always, thanks for the support, I hope you enjoyed the chap..! Tell me what you think about it..!
Flopi – Keep the jealousy at bay, gal. You know I love you..! You're the bestestest!! ^_^ Pero yo a vos te veo seguido, así que te lo digo personalmente ^_^ Lo sabés, pero por si todavía no te quedó claro: you rock! Yay! Girl-power! *wink* Espero tu próximo review! =)
unique-starfish – Interesting? Well, thanks so much! Hope you stay tuned all the way..! Here's the update..!
purpo kitee katx – Thanks for the cheering..! Hope you liked the chap, and review again if you got a moment..! ^_^
kitty-jinxx – Thanks..! I'm still working out the getting-the-memories-back thing, trying not to rush nor delay the story too much. You'll just have to wait a bit more. Thanks again and I hope to hear from you soon!
And now, ... more review responses! –ADDED A/N-
kitty-jinxx – Well, here it is. Hope you like it.
Girl-who-sings-the-blues – Thanks so much for those ideas! I'm quite sure I could use some of them, let's see how it goes from here. I added some action, so that it's not super cheesy and romantic. But there'll be more of AxM!! [soon, I hope]. Thanks again!
gaby (hyatt – Thank you and here's the other update..! Hope to hear from you soon..!
MiraiGurl – Yay..! Newcomer! *clears throat* ^_^ Alright, thanks a lot for the tip and the encouragement. Looking forward to hearing from you again!
windari – Thanx! Hope you like this new chapter..!
Now people out there... review and tell me what you think about this..! (and I'll give you plenty of chocolate) ^_^