Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

I'm only doing this to further my writing abilities.

Thanks to roxyravette, ESP, and Kurtain for reviewing. You guys helped me get on to the next chapter, so here it is.

Chapter Two

'I can't believe I have to go back all the way to the Aoiya because of that stupid smiley jerk.' fumed Misao as she barged through the hostel's doors, with a look of displeasure etched on her face. 'The nerve of that kid, staring at me like that. Aoshi-sama would never be so lecherous. I'm glad that I don't have to see that person ever again.' she thought.

'But it would be nice of Aoshi noticed me sometimes' Looking around, she observed, however, that the Aoiya was a little crowded. Though not jam-packed or anything of that sort, it looked as if she would have to forget about Aoshi's tea for the time being.

The next day:

"My my, when Himura-san said that I've been suppressing emotions, he wasn't kidding." Soujirou said to himself, remembering the events that passed the day before. Most of his life, he had been around appealing women because of the unscrupulous places he had to go for information and contacts and because of Yumi, but he had never really thought of them as beautiful. Actually, Soujirou never really thought about much anything except for Shishio's campaign for Japan and being the strongest. He even wondered sometimes why Shishio was attracted to Yumi in such a way seeing as she was weak and could not benefit Shishio's plans in any way. But that was changed when he lost to the Battousai.

The first few weeks after the battle were like a personal hell for the Tenken. Though outwardly he still seemed as like the emotionless killer he was before, new feelings and influences raged inside him. It seemed as if every action he performed was governed by these new sensations. He even found himself crying for no reason or feel unbridled rage over petty annoyances.

But there was a brighter side to all of this as well. He began to notice little things about the world around him that he would not have under Shishio's philosophy. All around him, he saw examples that blatantly contradicted his master's teachings. Children playing in the streets, in the past, would have seemed liked nothing to him, and to an extreme he would feel a twinge of jealousy for his own lost childhood. Now, he saw them as what they were. Children playing. They didn't need a reason but to feel happy and be with their friends. A mother's care with a child, young lovers show of tenderness, and older couples out for strolls, all of them that once puzzled the Tenken with silly notions such as love and affection now seemed like they could be explained, and he wanted to learn as much as he could.

Of course, there were a few surprises that caught him off guard, such as the incident with the police officer. Though he could have easily outrun the man, he found it... refreshing that he was treated with such equality. He was treated as a citizen of Japan, not an emotionless killer to be revered and feared by his underlings. He wasn't the right-hand man of a takeover force, or the Tenken. To the officer, he was a young, albeit effeminate, lawbreaker who needed to be straightened out. Someone who still had a chance to repent for a crime he committed.

Repent. Soujirou held that word with respect now. Even though he still did not understand much of his new position in life, he understood that some of the things he did were unspeakable terrors. He might not find the answer to his search this year, maybe not the next, or maybe even not at all, but he was going to try anyway. Plus, if being repentant would bring interesting encounters with the fairer sex, all the better for him.

So caught up in his "Oh-thank-God-I-got-my-ass-wupped-by-a-legendary-swordsman" mode, Soujirou failed to notice he had begun to wander into the accommodation area of the city.

Aoiya:

Misao was tired. "Dumb Jiya..." she mumbled as she placed crushed tea leaves into a strainer. "...What kind of idiot would hold a 'hotdog eating competition' in the middle of Japan. It's not as if this country's ever going to get famous for a bunch of skinny guys stuffing their faces." she complained to anyone who was unfortunate enough to share the kitchen with her at the time. "Although that Kobiyashi kid did eat 20 of those gross things in one sitting."

It seemed as though the moderate crowd that gathered in the Aoiya were not "regular customers", but 'competitive' eaters. Not only was she put into overtime with washing dishes and cooking up those American wiener things, she also had to endure a messy 'clean-up' after some of the more inexperienced eaters showed the crowd firsthand how many hotdogs they could eat and then some.

As she placed the leaves into a pot of water, she hears the doors of the Aoiya creak open. Looking around to see if anyone would get the door, she sighed as she was only met with silence. "It figures. As soon as we have a big job done, they all take their sweet time to sleep in and leave me to all the work." Misao once again took up to grumbling. "But these aren't very busy hours either. I wonder who could be around at these times." She speculated seeing that it was still very early. Shrugging it off, she went to meet whomever it may have been, unbeknownst to her that Lady Luck might be throwing her a win-or-lose hand...

Somewhere in the hotel district:

'Now how did I end up here.' Soujirou thought, looking around at the hotels and inns that seemed to be the majority of the buildings in the area. 'Must have been thinking a little too deeply there.' Soujirou deduced, and chuckled a bit at his own little mistake. While he was sniggering to himself, Soujirou was interrupted by an earsplitting yell. "Hey you, swordsman. You look like you need a few days rest. How about staying at the 'Gray Dove' hotel for a while." Shouted a barker, only to be interrupted by another equally annoying voice. "Don't listen to that old fool. If you go with the 'Blue Moon' Inn, we guarantee that you'll sleep so soundly it's like you're at your own bed, only better."

"Yeah, if you like your bed full of ticks and fleas."

"HEY! I thought we said no more muckraking!"

"Well you shouldn't have sabotaged my sushi bar!"

"That was only to get you back for putting itching powder in all my bed sheets, you half-deaf money-hog!"

"Looks at Old Man Scrooge calling the kettle black. I've seen you take a rusted penny out of a prison latrine!"

"The only reason you saw that was because you were going for it too, but I got there first!"

'Heh heh. Such colorful people they have here...' Soujirou thought with a nervous smile as he very slowly backed away from the bickering advertisers. After he turned a curb, he shot off like a bullet. Even an assassin knew when it was time to leave well enough alone. He soon stopped however, when he heard another shout. Not like the barkers from the hotels, but one from a girl...

Aoiya:

All Soujirou heard was a shout. I didn't specify what was being shouted about. "AND DON'T COME BACK, YOU LOSERS!!!" a ticked off Makimachi Misao screamed at a couple of would-be bandits, fleeing from the wrath of the green-eyed firebrand. "Humph...that'll show em'." she said, patting her hands off.

It looked as if a couple of amateur robbers thought that they could rob the Aoiya out of all the places in the area just because the knew it would have more money because of the eat-off. They didn't know that it was the headquarters of one of Kyoto's most influential groups, or was it filled with experienced ninjas and spies. And they certainly didn't count upon a ill-tempered girl like her could hit so hard.

"Now to get back to Aoshi's tea..." Misao said, going back inside the Aoiya to ready the tray.

Back to Soujirou:

'This is where I heard the shout.' the Tenken thought, going inside the hostel. 'Doesn't seem that there's any trouble, but I might as well check anyway.

In the kitchen:

"Hey Misao." Okon said as she came into the kitchen. "Hello Okon. I had to run out some two-bit thieves just a minute ago." Misao snapped. 'Well someone's in a bad mood today.' Okon mused, seeing as the ninja moved like she was angry at something. "I'm going out to visit Aoshi, so you hold the fort for a while, ok?" Misao said as she went out the back door of the kitchen. "All right, Misao..." Okon replied.

As she began to clean up the tealeaves left behind, she heard the front door open. "Oh, must be a customer..." Okon thought out loud, going out to see to the person...

Author's notes:

So this one's done, on to the next.It looks as if people think of my fic as cute, and I'm okay with that. The only real problem I have is that there are so many fics being added or updated to the RK section that this one doesn't get much hang-time. On a lighter note, I'd like to report that the number of Soujirou fics are growing in the fanfiction library. I'm seeing them pop up in all sorts of places that have no connection with RK whatsoever. I'd like to see this trend continue. The only question I have left is that do people consider Misao-Soujirou couplings an alternative or real pairing yet? I'd like to know your opinion.

As always, press that review button, and speak your mind.

-FPotM