Author's Notes: Greatness or lack there of is the attributed to the absolute stress I have been under as of late.
And on that note.
WYLD STALLIONS RULES!!
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Chapter 4: Rain, Leather, Wind, Feathers
"For the last time NO!!!!" Misao yelled as Aoshi dragged her out of their room as others watched from there doorways at the commotion. It was quite a sight seeing the cool and stoic Shinomori Aoshi impatiently dragging out the short, screeching Misao.
"Makimachi...Shinomori...what's going on here?" Saitoh asked, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall with a toothpick in his mouth.
"Makimachi sustained injuries in our match yesterday and refuses to go to Takani-sensei for treatment."
" I see...and you?"
"Overrode his decision as his superior and upperclassman."
"Aoshi-senpai I will kick you if you don't let me go..ow!" Misao yelped as she aggravated the bruise on her shoulder.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about Misao. You always refuse to see Takani-sensei. Wether you are afraid of doctors or not as President of the Kendo Team I am ordering you as my second in command to seek medical attention."
"Or what?" she spat out.
"Or you're off the team. I won't tolerate neglect."
Misao shut her mouth and scowled. That Aoshi would go that far....perhaps he was worried, which made her slightly happy, but going to Takani-sensei was trouble. If the doctor knew her secret...
"Maaa maa, Aoshi, I'll take Misao-dono to Takani-sensei." Kenshin offered, and Misao shot him a grateful look.
" I suppose it will suffice."
"Good, wonderful now all of you shut the hell up. You're ruining my morning." Saitoh ordered as he marched back to him room as everyone blinked at him.
"Making him an RA was the worst idea ever." Sanosuke muttered.
"Indeed." Misao agreed.
"Come along Misao-dono." Kenshin said and Misao nodded and followed.
Aoshi groaned and rubbed his eyes.
"I must ask Himura sometime his secret with handling Makimachi." Aoshi mumbled.
"It's really no secret. Kenshin is friends with him and talks to him. Once you really get to know Misao well he's easy to figure out. Oh, and I suggest you not break him in as you did me. He may not be as lenient as I was about the handcuffs and really smite you for it."
Aoshi glared at Sano.
"You stole all my clothes and hid them for three days as revenge."
"Yea, but I left you your trench coat."
"It was ninety-degree weather."
"Yeah well, unless you're a beautiful woman intending on straddling me, don't handcuff me."
Aoshi blinked and shook his head.
"Broke the fourth wall didn't I?" Sano said slightly embarrassed.
"Aa."
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Misao followed Kenshin to the Health Offices whistling. Kenshin stopped and sighed, turning to face Misao.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Misao-dono...perhaps it would be easier for you if you told Aoshi the truth. I doubt he'd tell anyone."
"NO WAY!! No no no!"
"But.."
"Look Himura, seeing as I live in the same room with him, have seen him in states of undress, and that he sleeps four feet from me, I don't think the fact of my gender will make him go 'Gee Misao, that's A okay! I won't tell!'"
Kenshin blinked and made an 'oro' face.
"Forget it, Himura. Listen and listen up good. I have no intention of Aoshi-senpai ever knowing my secret. He's...someone I respect more than anyone else and I don't want to ruin whatever friendship there is between him and I."
Seeing her expression...the glimmer of sadness and longing in her eyes...it made sense suddenly.
"Misao-dono...you love hi.."
"Don't say it, Himura. Please. Get some bandages so you can fix me up. I'll be in the greenhouse."
Kenshin watched her run away and shook his head softly. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it earlier. It was no wonder Misao was both happy and panicked at rooming with Aoshi. She was in love with him.
He would keep her secret that he would. Because she also kept his.
Walking into the Health Offices, Kenshin approached the desk and smiled at the black haired woman behind the desk.
"Megumi-dono, good morning."
"Ah, Ken-san morning! How may I help you?" she asked politely.
"Can I get some bandages and some liniment?"
"Sure thing. Get into a fight?" she asked with a foxish laugh.
"No no. It's for a friend."
"Ah, that baka roosterhead? Tell him if he injures his hand again this year I won't fix it."
"Uh..it's not for Sanosuke."
"Oh? Very well then." Megumi said as she disappeared into the back and quickly returned with a roll of bandage and the liniment.
"Thanks, Megumi-dono."
She smirked and patted his hand.
"It's no trouble Ken-san? But how will you repay me?" she asked in a suggestive tone.
Kenshin began turning red and laughed nervously.
"Ah..I have to go practice..uh..class! Goodbye!!"
And with that Kenshin ran out.
Megumi laughed and sat back down. She really did love teasing Kenshin. Shaking her head, she returned to her task at hand as she flipped a page in her manga.
"Ah...Yuki in leather. God bless Kaikan Phrase."
And thus a productive day began for Takani Megumi.
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Aoshi sat before his computer typing out a report, casually sipping at a cold green tea soda. It was nice and quiet with Misao out for the day and he could finally concentrate on the work at hand. His uniform shirt was unbuttoned revealing the black tee-shirt underneath and he had on his thin-framed reading glasses.
::beep beep::
He watched as his Instant Messenger window popped up.
NinjaBeatsPirate8: Aoshi-senpai! Whatcha doing?
He sighed. Exchanging screen names with Misao had seemed like a good idea the semester before, but now he was re-examining the fact.
IndigoOkashira: A report.
NinjaBeatsPirate8: Oh? That's sux! I think I have one due tomorrow or something like that.
IndigoOkashira:...Shouldn't you work on it?
NinjaBeatsPireate8: Che! I'll do it later! It's not due till like 3-ish.
IndigoOkashira: You know the Academic Probation Rules.
NinjaBeatsPirate8: I'm going to do it! I have to finish up here first.
IndigoOkashira: Where are you?
NinjaBeatsPirate8: Covering watching the pool hall. I have three more hours to go.
IndigoOkashira: Did you go to Takani-sensei?
NinjaBeatsPirate8: Yes. I'm all bandagey.
IndigoOkashira: Alright. I have to work.
NinjaBeatsPirate8: Probably...I'm boooooooored.
IndigoOkashira is currently unavailable.
Misao scoffed and closed her Instant Messenger.
"Can't believe he signed off and didn't say goodbye. Bastard. Ow." she groaned, rubbing her shoulder.
She loved kendo yes. Pain. No.
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"Now really Shinomori-san, it's not THAT bad what I'm asking! It's only for two and a half hours and it's for a good cause."
Aoshi closed his eyes, feeling a slight dull pain forming at his temple.
"Tokio-san, I am quite flattered that you have asked...but I really must..."
The tall burgundy haired woman narrowed her amber eyes, going from innocent to menacing is two seconds flat.
"Shinomori-san, I reallllllllly didn't want to resort to this but...if you don't comply with my request I must make this little piece of information public knowledge." she said in a low voice, waving a file in front of his face.
Aoshi grabbed it, opened, and sweat-dropped.
"What time?"
"1pm until 3:30 pm tomorrow afternoon. The illustration majors really appreciate it greatly."
"I'm sure they do." he muttered.
Takagi Tokio was a teacher's assistant who worked at the neighboring college, Himawari College, and worked for the art department. She was relatively nice...but utterly devious when she needed to get something accomplished.
Since the campuses were quite close, both colleges shared a building for the Art classes and this the boys at Ajisai weren't THAT quite deprived of females...but most of the students at Ajisai didn't really study art anyway.
Tokio had sought him out to model for the Illustration 2 class who were to draw a certain image for an assignment Tokio had said was called 'Fallen Angel'.
"Well Shinomori-san, I'll be leaving then. Oh, say hello to your resident wolf for me, ok?" she said with a wink and walked away.
He assumed she was referring to Saitoh, who appeared to be the object of her affection. He wasn't sure whether he pitied Saitoh or not.
Sighing again, Aoshi spun on his heels and walked back to him dorm to take a long needed break.
As she headed back to Himawari, Tokio saw the familiar blue-black head of Misao and grinned.
"Hey! Makimachi!!!!"
Misao stopped and turned, blinking.
"Yes?"
Tokio ran up to her and threw a hand over Misao's shoulder.
"Makimachi buddy ol' pal! I got a favor to ask of you!"
Misao grimaced. Tokio asking a favor was usually not a good thing.
"What is this favor?"
"Well you see, your grumpy RA seems to be ignoring so I was just wondering if you could give this to him!" she said, handing Misao an envelope.
"Uhhh..what is it?"
"That's none of your concern. Just get it to him....and I'll let you come to class with me tomorrow."
"Why would I want to go to Illustration class?"
"Because, I managed to coerce a certain kendo team captain into modeling for us."
Misao gulped.
"A..Aoshi-senpai...modeling? Will he be...naked?"
Tokio laughed.
"Oh no no, my little in the closet friend. But trust me, for what's required you'll love it."
"Um..I'm not in the closet." Misao grumbled.
"Oh riiiiiiiiight. And that's why your heart does a little thump thump for Shinomori-san? I admit he is a damn good looking male specimen, although I prefer more wolfish types."
"Yeah. Your tastes are questionable."
"Makimachi!"
"But I guess...ok we have a deal."
"See. You're gay for Shinomori-san. Admit it!"
"I AM NOT!!! He's my superior, my captain..."
"Your secret love..."
"I'm leaving!!!" Misao said as she walked off waving.
"Don't forget about my letter!!!"
"YEA! FINE!" Misao yelled and ignored the looks she got.
If she wasn't pretending to be a boy, she figured Tokio would most likely be her best friend...but as it was...she was a pain in the ass.
Feeling slightly devious, she looked at the envelope and with a sly grin opened it and read...and laughed her ass off.
"My my Tokio...I so would love to see Saitoh's reaction to this."
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"No."
"But you agreed."
"No!"
"Okay, but then you deal with it when Ajisai discovers about your old extra-curricular activities at Toudai."
".........."
"Glad to see you see it my way." Tokio said proudly as she handed Aoshi the bag and ushered him to the closet where with a look of annoyance he stepped in and she shut the door for him to change.
As the room of students set up their sketchpads, Misao walked in carrying a soda with her.
"Did you give it to him?" Tokio asked, walking to stand next to Misao at the back of the classroom.
"Yes. Well..I told him it was an important letter from one of the departments."
"Good thinking, Makimachi. Now get ready for your reward. I swear to God I'm a genius." Tokio smirked.
"A mad genius."
"Touche."
Suddenly the closet door opened and Aoshi walked out looking slightly peeved.
Misao's jaw dropped.
Aoshi was wearing a pair of leather pants with chains dangling from the waist and had a pair of fake black wings hanging from his back.
He really did look like a fallen angel. A sexy, tempting angel.
"You really are so gay for him. Stop drooling." Tokio murmured, whipping out a digital camera and directing Aoshi into a pose.
As Aoshi complied, he then noticed Misao and almost stumbled. He had no clue as to what his second in command was doing there...but for some reason Misao looked shocked, flushed, and almost...aroused?
'Don't think in that direction!' his mind yelled.
Aoshi got into the requested pose, which was to stand slightly at a 3/4 angle and have his head face the class.
As the artists sketched, Tokio snapped pictures.
"I'll sell ya each pic for 1000 yen each." Tokio murmured to Misao.
"A...A...shut up." Misao said embarrassed.
She tried to look away, and began gulping her soda down rapidly feeling suddenly flush. She knew Aoshi was good-looking and sexy and all...but like this...he was temptation personified. This was bad...because it was hard enough dealing with pretending and her crush on Aoshi...but now....she heard thunder clouds in the distance.
'Oh good! Nature's providing the cold shower!!'
Two and half hours later, the students got up and left as Misao hung her head out the window and watched it rain.
"Hey Makimachi, your wonderboy's leaving. Go catch up! He didn't change out of the leather."
"He..what?"
"You heard me. Now get your ass out there and be a cliche. It's raining, he's your bishounen hero..go."
"This isn't a yaoi anime."
"Might as well be."
"You're a strange one, Tokio."
"Hmm, but at least I'm honest about my feelings."
"Right, I'm going!" Misao said and ran after Aoshi as they stepped out into the rain and began walking back to the dorms.
"Misao, what were you doing there?"
"Um, Tokio invited me."
"Why?"
"I...really can't say. I guess she thought it would be funny if I were there when you were posing. Since we're on the same team and all." Misao said, praying he didn't see through her lying.
"I see." he murmured, and as the rain poured on him Misao decided then she would never meet a man as handsome and beautiful as Shinomori Aoshi.
Aoshi watched Misao brush her bangs to shake off drops of water and for a moment it was as if he was looking at a very pretty girl. And that scared him. He had been celibate for some time now, and he hoped his strange thoughts lately about his petite room mate were just some warped result from it.
"Aoshi-senpai, how did Tokio manage to coerce you?"
"That's personal information, Misao."
"Okay." she replied, wishing she had kept her mouth shut.
As they made their way back to their floor, Aoshi got out his keycard while Misao shook out her braid.
"Makimachi! What was the meaning of this?" Saitoh asked, suddenly appearing behind them.
Misao fought the urge to laugh and shrugged.
"Eh, she said it was department business! Don't look at me!" she replied, and as Aoshi opened their door Misao walked in quickly and laughed as Aoshi shut the door.
"What was that about?" Aoshi asked, peeling off his jacket, leaving him shirtless as he went through a drawer to get a dry shirt.
"Oh...Tokio wrote him a letter. A very...interesting letter." Misao said laughing.
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Saitoh looked at the letter in his hand again for the hundredth time that day. Takagi Tokio...she was something alright.
'Dear Hajime,
I can't understand why you ignore me so much. Do I bother you? Perhaps you're just not used to having pretty girls flirting with you? Maybe I am a bit overzealous but I can't help my feelings.
I like you. A lot.
I love the way you walk, even smoke. I almost envy every cigarette that touches your lips because my lips want to feel yours. I want to feel your lips.
I've seen you a couple times at the clubs and I wonder what you're doing there cause you seem so serious sometimes. I notice some girls have approached you and it's all I can do to bite my tongue and not walk over there and do something to get them leave. Ah, but you don't welcome their advances.
Perhaps sometime if I approach you, you won't reject me. I've always wanted to dance with you. Among other things. I'm really more interested in horizontal dancing. I hope my boldness doesn't startle you.
And if you think I'm seriously writing all this then guess again pal!! HA!!!
But really, you know I like you. Stop making me wait around already and give me an answer already.
Yes or no?
Much love,
Tokio.
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La la la! HYPER!!! THERE! I UPDATED! GYAH!!!
