Disclaimer: I don't own RK.

Chapter Three Pink Aprons

"Hello, anyone here?" Soujirou called out as he entered the empty Aoiya. 'I swear I heard a scream coming from here.' thought the Tenken, looking around. 'Must have been my imagination.' he concluded. He was just about to leave when he heard someone coming in to the hall.

"Good morning. Welcome to the Aoiya. How may we help you today?" Okon said to the Tenken. 'Oh well. I might as well get breakfast.' Soujirou thought, turning back to the dining hall.

The Temples:

Misao walked through the silent corridor with a calm that reflected the early morning. Bringing tea to her Aoshi-sama over the years had brought to her a sort of balance, as if she herself were meditating as the sun crept up the sky.

As she walked through the hallways, the monks of the temple flicked their eyes up for a moment but dismissed her as soon as they saw the trademark braid and her emerald eyes. A couple of years ago, it was very uncommon for a woman to come up to the temple by herself, and Misao's youthfulness took a couple of the monks by surprise. But after her almost daily visits, they had gotten used to her presence as they had over Aoshi's statuesque meditation sessions. A couple even gave her a friendly smile, which she returned with a smile of her own.

The temple did calm down Misao's temper a bit, as her daily routine fell into place. Yes, she liked things this way.

In a temple room/hall:

Shinomori Aoshi sat deep in concentration. The Okashira of the Oniwabanshu had spent many a day contemplating over his thoughts in this place. Mostly it was about Hanyaa and the others, the way he acted when he wanted revenge against Himura. But today, his thoughts were preoccupied by a certain young ninja. "Misao..." Aoshi said, is voice barely above a whisper, both confirming the name and arrival of the said ninja.

Misao respectfully bowed even though Aoshi's back was facing her. "Good Morning Aoshi-sama..." Misao began, placing the tray quietly on Aoshi's side. "I brought you tea." she said, sitting beside Aoshi. "I see." Was all Aoshi said, but didn't take the tea. There was a comfortable silence between them, almost as if there was no other way for them to be. Aoshi reached for his side and took a cup in hand, drinking it slowly, savoring the heat and the taste.

"How is it?" Misao meekly asked. "It's very good. Thank you for bringing it, Misao." Aoshi replied, his stone mask still on but a sort of shimmer in his eye told Misao that he appreciated her company. "You're welcome, Aoshi-sama." Misao said, turning to face her knees to hide her small blush. Even though she told people that she would never change, Misao definitely did mature over the years, even if she never showed this quiet, sensitive side to anyone other than Aoshi.

As Aoshi finished his tea, he remembered the reason why he was thinking about Misao so much this morning. "Misao. I'm going away to visit some of my old 'friends'." Aoshi began, stressing the word friend, meaning the graves of the old Oniwabanshu. "I might be gone for a month in the least." he added, before taking the cup back to his mouth, giving Misao time to digest the information. "Oh. Do you want me to come along, Aoshi- sama?" Misao questioned, her voice with a hint of hopefulness. "No." Aoshi simply stated. "Oh..." Misao said, lowering her head. "...I want you here to look over Okina and the others. I want you to guard the Aoiya in my place of Okashira." Aoshi continued. "M-me, Aoshi-sama?" Misao whispered. "Don't worry. I trust you." Aoshi said, finally finishing his cup.

Aoshi turned his back again, and closed his eyes. "I'm finished with my tea Misao. Thank you for coming." he said, before once again meditating on the world. Misao gingerly took the tray up, but inwardly she was jumping for joy.

The Aoiya:

"Here you go." Okon said, bringing another plate to Soujirou. "Ah, thank you very much." He said, taking the hotdog. "My, these things are good..." he said, taking a big bite. "My compliments to the chef." he said, his smile slightly wider. "That would be Misao. She's not here right now but I'll make sure she gets the message." Okon replied.

"Misao. That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that name before?" Soujirou thought out loud. "Oh, you know Misao?" Okon said, perking her ears up. 'My my, Misao. You never mentioned that you knew such a nice handsome young man.' "Did I say that out loud?" Soujirou said in mild surprise. "It looks like I'm thinking too deeply again." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Well, here's the bill." Okon said, bringing him the tab. "Oh, just let me get my..." Soujirou began, but his eyes grew wide as he reached into his non-existent sleeve, remembering that the policeman still had his coat. "Uh, it looks like I forgot my wallet in my jacket this morning..." he squeaked as the normally amiable Okon suddenly looked as if she would grow fangs and bite his head off. "Eh heh... heh... heh?" Soujirou laughed nervously.

Okon dragged the jacketless rurouni into the kitchen, gave him a pink apron, and pointed to the pile of dishes that didn't get washed yesterday. Soujirou just sighed and picked up the scrubs and soap. It looked like he might get to compliment the chef after all.

Back in the front of the Aoiya:

"I'm back, everyone." Misao cheerily said as she came back to the Aoiya. "Well someone did a 180 on the emotional ramp..." Okon said, smiling to see Misao in a good mood. Misao only nodded with a big smile, not letting on about anything that happened that day.

In the Kitchen:

Okina was bored. Having his fun yesterday with the eat-off, he found himself with almost nothing to do with his time. He sighed, shaking his head. "Sometimes retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be." he said to no one in particular. He was wondering where Misao was since he knew Aoshi told her about her responsibilities. His thoughts were interrupted by a jovial whistling coming from the kitchen. And being the bored old man he was, Okina decided to check it out.

Soujirou was busily washing dishes with amazing speed when Okina came in. With a smile on his face and a tune in his heart, Soujirou cleared one stack of plates after another. "Well well, what do we have here..." Okina said, making his presence known. Walking over to the young man, Okina was amazed to see the rurouni take out so many dishes that took his own employees a good few hours to clean.

"Ara?" Soujirou said, seeing nothing great or spectacular about his performance. Okina looked Soujirou over. "Ah, did Okon or Omasu hire you, Miss?" he said. Soujirou smile seemed to crack. 'Why do guys always think that I'm a girl?' he asked himself inwardly. "Actually, it's sir." Soujirou replied with a twitchy eyebrow and his cracked smile. Okina's eyes nearly bugged out. "Y-you're a guy?!"

The yard:

"Hey Kuro. Have you seen Gramps? I need to talk to him" Misao asked. "Oh, Sir Okina was in the kitchen the last time I saw him, with that new girl." he said, pointing towards their direction. "Thanks." Misao said, skipping that way, humming the same tune Soujirou was whistling purely by a lucky chance.

The Kitchen:

"I see. SO that's why you're wearing the pink apron." Okina said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, well. It's really my fault that I lost my coat. This was the way Miss Okon thought of me paying for my meal." Soujirou said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I think you've learned your lesson." Okina replied amusedly, pointing towards the mountain of sparkly clean dishes. "Ara. I guess I got carried away." Soujirou chuckled. 'Man this guy is gay...' Okina groaned inwardly at the giggling Tenken '...but.'

Okina got a sparkle in his eye. "Soujirou, how would you like to work for the Aoiya for a while. It looks like you need the money, and judging by that pile over there, you're going to work hard." Okina suggested. "Sure, why not?" Soujirou replied, not even taking time to think about the proposition. "That was quick." Okina amusedly said in mild surprise. "Ah, life is short and easily wasted, Okina-san. I'm trying to live what's left of mine in peace and to the fullest." Soujirou said with his smile, not really answering Okina's question but satisfying the old spy nonetheless. "Well, you seem like an honest man, Soujirou..." Okina said, starting to get up. "... I don't think you will cause us any trouble." he finished walking out. "I certainly hope not..." Soujirou whispered under his breath, his smile dropping as he remembered why he was in Kyoto in the first place.

"Well, no use in thinking about that right now." Soujirou said, putting his rurouni smile back on. Turning back to the dishes, Soujirou saw that the water was a bit murky. 'Looks as if I have to change the dishwater.' he thought, picking up a bucket and heading to the water pump.

The front door of the kitchen:

"Jiya." Misao called, looking around the empty kitchen. 'Guess he's not here...' Misao thought. "Wow, somebody's been working overtime..." Misao thought out loud seeing the mountain of dishes on the counter. Backing up to take a better look at the pile, she didn't notice the back door opening.

"I think this much'll do." Soujirou said to himself, checking the heavy water-filled bucket, oblivious to the girl backing into him.

"Ara?!"

"HEY!!!"

Again a flash of white and blue occurred as the two teens crashed into each other. "Umm...oops?" Soujirou said in his tiny voice, seeing as he had once again soaked the female ninja head to toe. "You again..." Misao snarled, her eyes blazing at the sight of the smiling rurouni. "Eep..." Soujirou squeaked as the emerald-eyed ninja mouthed two words. "Start running..."

Author's Notes:

I just realized that if I tack on Misao&Sou on to this fic, more people will review. Truly I see the power of the alternate pairing (though in my mind this will still be one of the very best). I've noticed that most people have come to expect regular main character pairing, such as K&K, Megumi/Sano and the rest of their like, but people seem to rally at the idea of alt. pairs. Maybe it's because of the fierce loyalty they hold to their favorite characters, or some other unforseen force, but it is a great to see such dedication of the fans to fics like these. Well, on lighter notes, for a highly trained assassin/swordsman and ninja, Misao and Soujirou seem to be totally oblivious to each other's presence when they're in the same room. Perhaps it's because they both learned how to hide their presences, but I personally like to hold it to the fact that they are destined lovers whose aura's are so much like one another's that they are comfortable in the presence of each other and will ultimately be drawn together like the moon to the earth, like magnets of opposite charges, like... uh, I'm out of attractions, but I'm sure they've got a hell of a lot going for each other. Now for my reviewers.

Chaosu: Pinoy ka rin pala, a. I know that there are a lot of Filipinos on this site, but I never thought a kabayan would review on mine. It looks as if Misao has matured in more ways than one. Though the sparks haven't flown yet, the match is getting ready to strike.

Kurtain: Hmm, I never thought about Misao and Aoshi's relationpship like that. This'll make it a little bit easier for the inevitable Soujirou and Aoshi comparisons Misao will have later on. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm sure I'll be able to put them to good use.

Oro and Squeaks: I'm glad that you like it. I hope this chapter satisfies you for now. I read your story, and though I haven't reviewed on it yet, it seems that it'll be a MisaoxSoujirou classic.

Well, that takes care of everyone so far. Hope you guys will review again, and for those who are reading but haven't commented yet, press that button and tell me your opinion.

You know who wrote this- FPotM