Author's Notes (3-24-05): Hehehehe. Here's the next part. I don't have enough time to do review comments so let me just say, "Thanks for all the reviews!" You guys are my inspiration. This chapter is dedicated to Aoshi/Misao lovers and haters (and there's a bit of Hiko, too). Hope you get a kick out of it!

Disclaimer: Don't own it.


Juunishi Part 18

The Thirteenth Master of Hiten Mitsurugi sauntered out of the Labyrinth of Doom in record time. He'd easily discovered the "correct" exit that the rest of them had been searching for. He smiled to himself at his own brilliance.

He'd reached the living quarter section of the Souma Clan's fortress. It was decked out like the Emperor's palace but Hiko didn't bother being impressed.

There was very little on the earth that could evoke such emotion in a man of his caliber.

Hiko suspected that his fan club was being held somewhere nearby. He opened each door he passed, stopping only long enough to check for occupants. Each room he inspected was curiously empty. It looked like everyone was off having fun in other parts of the fortress.

It was quite irritating. Hiko would have enjoyed fighting off a few hundred ninjas while he searched for his women.

Anything to pass the time.

He opened the door to a particularly opulent room that appeared to be empty. He would have kept on going, but something caught his eye. He stepped into the room and headed toward one of the exquisite items decorating what appeared to be some kind of throne room.

Hiko approached with reverence, admiring the craftsmanship of a beautiful vase. It was pure perfection. The shape was sublime and it bore testament to the hands that had crafted it, the hands of a true aesthetic master.

The enameling and glaze work were beyond perfection. A tiny yellow bird alighted upon a dark branch of a humble plum tree. The bird was poised, preparing to launch itself into the air at any moment. Of course, the bird would never actually take flight. There was something sad about it, the hint of lost potential. The artist had captured a fleeting moment, drawing a striking parallel to the impermanence of all things.

It practically took Hiko's breath away. Compelled by its beauty, he reached out, hefting the solid weight of the vase with surprisingly gentle hands.

"I see my intruder has a fine taste in art."

Hiko silently chided himself. He'd been so distracted by the vase that he hadn't even sensed the faint presence. He turned casually, letting his possible opponent know that he didn't give a damn that there was anyone else in the room

When Hiko took in the sight of the other man, he knew that there wasn't going to be a problem.

A frail man leaned against a window frame, taking in the clean night air and Hiko's presence with the same measure of disregard. "If you break that, you'll pay dearly."

"Why would I destroy a masterpiece?" Hiko countered.

"You do have an eye for art." The stranger seemed about as pleased as he probably ever was, judging by his sulky demeanor. "It's my favorite piece. One of my men found it for me at some rundown potter's in the mountains."

Hiko scowled. "My house isn't rundown. It's quaint."

The frail stranger blinked and raised his head slightly, looking at Hiko as though for the first time. "Are you saying…?"

"I made this." Hiko shifted the vase in his grasp, showing the bottom. "Here's my signature."

"You're the mysterious Greatest Potter in the World?"

"Naturally. Seijirou Hiko the Thirteenth, at your service." Hiko gave a small bow, letting his mantle swirl around him. He smiled like an arrogant bastard.

"The way you were staring at that vase, I thought you'd never seen anything so beautiful in your life. And you're telling me you made it?"

"Are you implying that I shouldn't appreciate my own handiwork?"

"Hmph." The man was trying his best to seem uninterested. "I never would have thought that the great master of Hiten Mitsurugi would have such artistic talent."

"I excel in all areas." Hiko replied casually.

The stranger inspected his fingernails idly. "It's a pity that my men are going to kill you. Japan is suffering from a severe lack of talented potters."

"It would be a waste to destroy someone with all my amazing talents." Hiko admitted thoughtfully. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"I'm not worried."

Hiko placed his vase back on its pedestal. "Anyway, since you show such a heightened artistic sense, I'd be willing to do some commissioned work for you."

"Really?" The stranger perked up and then seemed to reconsider. "Wait a minute. There's no point in even having this discussion. My clansmen are going to kill you 'till you're quite dead. A dead potter is about as useful as an unlicensed ninja."

Hiko chuckled. "Yes, well. We can talk prices later. After I defeat your men and rescue my women, of course. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where they've been taken, would you? You could really save me some time."

The stranger smiled. "Are you in that much of a hurry to die?"

"Death doesn't concern me." Hiko waved away the question. "Only the weak fear death."

"You're neither afraid of death or failure." The frail man sat up straighter, a deeply contemplative look crossing his pale face. "You're practically oozing confidence. You completely believe that no one can defeat you." It wasn't a question.

Hiko didn't bother responding. They both knew the answer.

The stranger nodded and grew introspective again. "If a single one of you doesn't die, my entire clan is in a bit of a predicament. But not one that we haven't dealt with before."

"I'm both sorry to hear it and unable to care." Hiko smirked.

The stranger seemed to be able to read him perfectly. "We've already lost, haven't we? I don't believe that any forces under my control can stand against your indomitable strength and willpower."

"It's highly improbable." Hiko agreed.

"We miscalculated then. If I could have met you earlier, I would have called this whole thing off." The stranger went back to sulking against the window frame. "It's a shame that so many of your friends will die this night."

Hiko shrugged. "If they die, then that's the extent of their will to live."

The stranger seemed to like the comment. "Your women have been taken to the Room of Fire in the Labyrinth."

"Drat." Hiko sighed. "That place annoys me."

The stranger pulled a folded sheet of paper from an inner pocket of his robes. "Here's a map of all the secret passages. You can get there easily." He tossed the map to Hiko.

Hiko grinned. "Finally. Someone who can contemplate my superiority. Tell you what. I'll even give you a 10 percent discount on all vases, pots, and tea cups."

"Thanks, but that's unnecessary. The recent behavior of my clan compels me to pay not only the full price, but an extra 15 percent for your exquisite pottery."

Hiko almost laughed. "Don't be stupid. This is the most fun I've had in years. 10 percent discount. And that's my final offer."

The stranger shook his head in wonder. "You're incredible."

Hiko smiled, turned, and started walking away. His mantle trailed after him, making him look especially cool. "I know."


The more he thought about it, the colder he seemed to get.

Without a ninja license, he was nothing. Nothing but a walking punch line. Everyone would mock him mercilessly.

"Are you ok?" Soujirou sounded concerned.

Aoshi's teeth had started chattering. "I'm f-fine."

Soujirou raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't think so. You look kind of cold to me. Your lips have turned a lovely shade of blue."

Aoshi didn't want to know why Soujirou was staring at his lips.

He brushed aside the happy man's concern with a single dirty look and went to get to his feet. He could brood later, for now he needed to find Misao and rescue her expertly.

"Let's g-get going." Aoshi didn't like the way his voice was all stutter-y all of a sudden and he really didn't like the way his knees buckled when he tried to stand.

Soujirou was at his side in a flash, catching him before he could fall. Aoshi didn't like that either.

"Don't die!" Soujirou pleaded.

Aoshi would have smacked him for his stupidity, but he was overcome with a wave of shivers followed by the most acute sense of lethargy he'd ever experienced.

Even his brain began working in slow motion. "What's... going... on...?" It was like trying to run through waist deep water.

"Um, um, um." Soujirou looked around frantically, trying to come up with some kind of reasoning behind the strangeness. "Oh crappiness! Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

Aoshi blinked slowly and glared up at him. "What...?" If this was somehow Soujirou's fault, Aoshi was going to enjoy placing the blame.

"The room!" Soujirou pointed to the closed door of their final destination. "Where they're holding Misao!"

Aoshi craned his neck, slowly yet inexorably upwards until he could read the sign posted above the foreboding wooden doors.

"The Room of ICE!" Soujirou announced unhappily. "And you're nothing but a cold-blooded reptile! What're we gonna do?"

Aoshi gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering. The painful irony of the situation was only equaled by the rage welling up inside him. "We're... so... dead..."


"Take that! And that!" Misao hurled her kunai with all the force and precision of a trained ninja assassin. They hadn't made her okashira for nothing.

As her opponents successfully dodged each of her attacks, she spared a moment to consider exactly how she'd become the leader of the Oniwabanshu in the first place. Yeah, she'd pretty much made the decision on her own... maybe she wasn't really worthy of the title?

"She sure is angry!" One of her captors called to the other cheerfully.

They weren't taking her seriously at all.

She angrily rushed one of her opponents, but he jumped out of her way and hid himself behind a large block of ice. She slid on past, accidentally slamming into an ice covered wall.

The whole place was like some kind of twisted winter wonderland. Of doom. Large icicles covered the ceiling, hovering dangerously above the frigid room. Misao spared a glance upwards, hoping that she hadn't displaced any of them.

It would sure suck to be skewered by a giant icicle.

A poofy snowball hit her in the back of the head and she heard her captors laugh.

"Nice shot!"

She spun around threateningly, but her ninja sandals didn't have enough traction to keep her from continuing her spin. She felt like some kind of mentally challenged dancer as she twirled helplessly to the floor.

They laughed harder.

"She's so cute!" The younger one squealed his delight. He hopped over to her and patted her on her dizzy head. "Really Misao-chan. You shouldn't be trying to fight us in here."

She smacked his fluffy mitten away from her hair. "Back off!" She shouted and tried to stab him with a kunai. He leapt back nimbly and when his spiked boots hit the floor, he stayed where he landed. Misao wished she had a pair of them.

A coat would have been nice too.

And maybe some ninja gloves and something to keep her ears warm.

The green-eyed cross dresser stepped out from behind his ice block, tossing another snowball up and down casually.

"She really is adorable." He said with a smile. "But she's not quite my type."

"That's fine with me." The young blonde Souma guy said happily. "I called dibs anyway."

Green-eyes tossed the snowball at the back of his companion's head, playfully. "Now, if I could just get my hands on that Shinomori Aoshi." He did a weird little sexy tiger-growl thing that Misao found particularly disturbing.

She got to her feet, clenching her fists with determination and unbridled rage. "Nobody... touches Aoshi... but ME!" Misao's voice seemed to echo off the icy walls.

"Um. Should I drop him then?"

Misao, Green-eyes, and Blonde-boy all turned in surprise to appraise their two new visitors.

"Aoshi-sama!" Misao shouted and then did a double-take. "Why are you hugging Soujirou?"

He had his arms draped limply over the Tenken's shoulders. Misao didn't bother noticing the way his legs were dragging uselessly or the dangerous scowl on his handsome face.

Green-eyes cheered once and clapped twice. "There's hope for me after all!"

Aoshi looked up slowly, eyes widening with something akin to fear. "Oh no. Not you again."

"Aoshi-samaaa!" Green-eyes took off toward the pair, arms held wide.

Misao felt strangely out of place. The whole scene was hurting her brain.

"Quick Soujirou." Aoshi pleaded. "Kill him."

"Um, sorry partner. I don't do the whole killing thing anymore. Not since Himura beat me back at Shishio-san's evil fortress."

"You can make exceptions." Aoshi argued. The cross-dresser was getting closer. "Kenshin wouldn't hold it against you."

"I dunno." Soujirou said thoughtfully, but there really wasn't any time for him to puzzle the whole thing out. It would probably take him ten years or so.

"Well, at least knock him into a permanent coma." Aoshi didn't like feeling helpless. There was only one way for him to convince his dimwitted companion. "Do it for Misao."

That seemed to help Soujirou make up his mind. He slowly lowered his useless pseudo-ninja burden to the freezing ground with an apologetic smile. "You just wait here then. I'll go rescue her." Soujirou drew his sword and started off toward the green-eyed man.

Aoshi suddenly reconsidered. Could he just lay there and let Soujirou steal the show? Thoughts of his heroic rescue were shattering. "Wait!"

Soujirou was surprised by the sudden outburst and he tried to pull himself to a stop. Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated the slipperiness. He lost his footing but continued forward, sliding straight toward green-eyes.

The green-eyed man dodged out of the way at the last minute and then continued on toward helpless Aoshi. "Sorry Souji-chan." He called back over his shoulder. "You're cute, but I need a bit more hunk in my men."

Soujirou was mildly confused and seriously out of control. He slid on, trying futilely to stop his forward momentum. Misao could only watch in dumbfounded horror as her rescue became the farce of the century.

Blonde-boy gave her a shove from behind and she slid forward, directly into Soujirou's path. They crashed into a snow bank with a poof of white smoke and a few colorful expletives.

Before Misao's brain even registered what was going on, Blonde-boy did a flying tackle, landing perfectly on the pile of twitching clothing at her side. Fluffy snow shot into the air like a mushroom shaped cloud.

"Bunny!" He shouted stupidly and cheerfully. Misao had to reassess his age and mental stability. Then she realized that Soujirou was probably in a lot of trouble.

Blonde-boy had somehow managed to catch an unhappy Soujirou-bunny by the ears. There was no telling what he would do to him.

Misao reacted without thinking, not that that would come as a big surprise to anyone. She jumped on top of the prone man and his bunny, straddling him and pinning his arms to the snow and ice covered ground. She punched him once across his boyish face, startling him so soundly that he lost his hold on the rabbit.

Soujirou took off like a bolt of fuzzy lightning, kicking up a dust cloud made entirely out of snow. Misao was just glad that the super-cute little bunny wouldn't be harmed, at least not until the bad guys managed to get their evil Souma hands on him.

"Misao!"

It was Aoshi.

She'd kind of forgotten all about him. It happened to be the first time in 20 years that that had happened. She decided to chew herself out later, for now she needed to be at his side.

She flipped off her opponent before the guy could try and counterattack. She managed to stay on her feet when she landed and immediately headed off toward her man.

The scene that befell her eyes would linger in her memory for the rest of her life and sometimes reply itself in her worst nightmares.

Aoshi was lying there on the icy ground, his head cradled in the green-eyed cross dresser's lap. Green-eyes gently brushed Aoshi's perfect hair out of the ninja's perfect face. Misao had no idea why Aoshi wasn't resisting. It was terrible!

And then, it happened.

Green-eyes gently lifted Aoshi, bringing their faces about an inch apart. Misao didn't want to watch, but she could not tear her eyes away.

They kissed.

It was the most romantic thing Misao had ever seen. Green-eyes captured Aoshi's perfect lips with his own while he tenderly ran his fingers through hair that Misao would have killed to run her fingers through.

Aoshi still wasn't resisting.

She could see Green-eye's jaw working as he parted Aoshi's lips with his tongue. He plunged into a deeper, more sensuous kiss than Misao's brain was capable of comprehending with her limited experience in the area.

She only knew one thing.

She couldn't stand it any longer. She ran and ran and ran, hoping that she would be able to end the most horrible moment of her life, but no matter how hard she pumped her legs, the two of them remained tauntingly out of her reach.

The kiss seemed to go on forever. It was like neither of the men even needed to breathe.

Misao could feel tears welling in her eyes and she pushed herself harder, trying to break the mysterious barrier that kept her in place. When the kiss heightened in passion, Misao felt like her eyes were being seared from their sockets. She looked down at the floor, unable to witness the scene any longer as Green-eyes slid his hand into Aoshi's ninja shirt, sliding the dark fabric away from Aoshi's perfect, though horribly scarred, chest.

As she stared down at the floor she realized that she was, quite literally, running in place. The icy floor was to blame.

She stopped her pointless running and tried to fight back pesky tears.

A strange, yet all too familiar, poofing sound awakened her to a whole new world of confusion and despair. She looked up to find Green-eyes cradling a long disgusting serpent in a gentle, loving embrace.

Aoshi had been transformed by the kiss.

Misao was sure of it. Somehow, all their theories had been wrong. It didn't require contact with the opposite sex. As long as someone was totally turned on, they'd transform even if contact happened between two men!

Misao's despair instantly turned to pure, distilled anger.

Her eyes burned with the fury of woman spurned. Even during her darkest hours, she had never imagined that Aoshi would ditch her for a man. As she took her first steps toward her new arch-enemies, the ice shattered under her feet.

Green-eyes looked up at Misao and smiled cruelly. "You can't have him back." He drew a slim dagger and held it against the limp snake. "I'm going to seal our love for eternity by sending Aoshi into sweet oblivion."

In a ninja instant, Misao's hands were full of pointy kunai. Her voice was cold and terrifying as she replied. "Not if I kill you both first."

She was broken.

As she prepared to throw her ninja daggers, her expression became quite ruthless. His green eyes widened in alarm as he realized that she was seriously going to kill them.

"No wait! You don't really want him to die, do you?" He held the snake in front of him, inadvertently making Aoshi an easy target for the enraged ninja girl.

"I do." Misao pulled the daggers back. For crimes against her heart, Aoshi would have to pay, with his life. It was the way of the ninja. Or at least, it was the way of really pissed off, hormonal, ninja girls who's would-be boyfriends ran away with cross dressers.

"DIE!" She screamed.

Naked Soujirou came out of nowhere and threw himself on Misao at the last possible moment. "Don't do it, Misao-chan!"

They were buried in another snow bank. It only took Misao a moment to melt her way to the top, she was so mad her body was giving off waves of heat.

She poked her head out of the snow and stared angrily at the little snow covered bunny. "Soujirou..."

"Misao, listen." Soujirou sounded understandably frantic. "Have you forgotten that Aoshi's a reptile? Remember what happens when he gets cold?"

It took Misao a minute to maneuver through her rage-clouded memories. "He... transforms..."

"Yes, and he gets all weak and mostly useless." Soujirou added helpfully. "He's been powerless since we got close to this ice filled room!"

Misao could only hope and pray that it was true. "Really?"

Soujirou nodded his bunny head and then shot off like a bullet as Blonde-boy came racing after him, laughing insanely.

Misao pulled herself out of the snow and looked toward Green-eyes and his pet snake.

A disembodied voice floated up from the general direction of the serpent. "Mi... sao..."

He'd only spoken her name, but she knew him well enough to decipher the hidden emotions.

"Aoshi?" Her voice almost caught in her throat. She could sense such pain and longing from her man. He needed her. He was so ashamed and so helpless and so desperately hopelessly absolutely and utterly in love with her.

How could she have not seen it before? The world may never know.