Author's Note: Send off for Shin. Yo ass best be back soon, chica.

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Chapter 5: Kidnaping Shinomori

Aoshi read his newspaper from the back of his car, ignoring the fact that Misao was driving him. He had woken up not only feeling mentally drained, but his legs weren't in good shape either. Maybe she had been right, maybe he was overworking himself.

'Maybe I need to stop thinking of her.' he mused.

Ever since that kiss...what had he been thinking? Surely he knew at the time it was wrong, and yet still...those lips were just so inviting.

Perhaps he had thought about it briefly the moment she walked into the door. She was such...a force. An amazingly bright energy with cerulean eyes.

It wasn't right to think of her like that. She as his employee, nothing more. So why couldn't he even believe that.

It wasn't until the tall buildings and the city-scape faded that Aoshi realized the wrongness at the moment.

They were not in city limits anymore.

"Misao, where are we? This is not the way to the office."

"Well Aoshi-sama..." she began, her voice raising, "I thought it was time for you to take a little vacation."

"Excuse me, what?"

"A va-ca-tion. That thing people do where they don't work for a period of time. Normal people that is."

"I know what one is."

"Obviously you don't! For one, I you're running yourself ragged, two: you can afford the time away, and THREE: you have no choice so shut it!"

He blinked.

"Did you just yell?"

"Indeed. Now don't bother trying your phone, I yoinked it when you weren't looking. You are going to relax, Mr. Shinomori, if I have to duct tape you down and make you go sleepy time."

Aoshi sighed, rubbing his temples.

She was ungodly frustrating.

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The destination that Misao had hijacked him to turned out to be a rather charming, for even Aoshi had to admit it was, hot springs resort. They were in the mountains and near a lake and Misao smiled at the view, taking it in.

"Come on Aoshi-sama, even you have to admit this is beautiful!"

She turned, looking up at him with a small smile, her eyes large.

"Aa...beautiful..." he murmured looking down in her face.

'Don't go there, Shinomori. You will only be sorry. You told yourself so many things about this, just needed to take a look in those eyes to remind me. She is...off limits.'

And so Aoshi worked of fortifying his mental walls. He would not cross that line.

He followed her inside the lobby of the inn, watching as she checked in and took their room keys, and followed her.

"Are our rooms next to each other?" he asked, finally speaking.

"Oho? Talking again are we? Actually Aoshi-sama, the thing is..."

He did not like where this was going, the tone of her voice was indication of that.

"The thing is, there was only one room available...this is a pretty popular resort and all..."

"So in other words we share a room."

"I asked for two futons. I mean you'll be okay in a futon and all? It won't be uncomfortable?"

"A futon is fine, Misao, but this...does not make me happy."

She pouted at that, and threw her hands in the air.

"Well too bad! You need to relax before you wear yourself out. I know you've been having more difficultly lately, I've seen you limping more and tripping over things."

His jaw clenched. All she said was true, he just didn't know she'd seen it. He was hoping she wouldn't find out.

"Tell me, Aoshi-sama, why did you put out an ad for an assistant? It's obvious you're too stubborn for anyone's help."

He sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"It was more Hannya's insistence. If I had my way I'd be left alone."

Misao found their room, opened the door for him.

"Again, too bad. I won't leave you alone." she murmured, shutting the door behind her as she moved to go look out at the balcony.

He watched her lean against the railing and he looked away. He found a comfortable looking chair and sat down in it, preferring to remain silent. He was irritated at her for this. He had work to do, there was no time for a holiday. But she was so stubborn and he knew he was stuck there. With her, in the mountains...

"Come on Aoshi-sama, let's have some lunch. It's a nice day, we can eat out on the grass."

"Excuse me?"

"Like a picnic? You've never been on a picnic, I take it."

He sighed, closing his eyes.

"No, Misao. I have not."

She bounced over to him, grinning.

"Well then, we'll just have to fix that!"

She grabbed his wrists lightly, prompting him to his fate and handed him the long, black wooden cane he had been using the past few days.

He begrudgingly followed, watched as she locked the door behind them and followed her down to the lobby and towards the kitchen area, stopping to cheerfully ask for a two bento lunches. With the two boxes in hand, she took Aoshi outside to sit on a nice stretch of bright green grass under an oak tree.

It was a lovely day really, and even Aoshi admitted it was peacefully calm. It was the perfect type of day for meditating.

"Here." Misao said, plopping one of he bento boxes into his lap. He opened it, noting it was a simple meal of rice, sashimi, and coconut fried shrimp. Picking up and breaking apart the chopsticks, he began eating slowly.

He looked over at Misao, almost expecting her to be devouring her meal. He was surprised at the grace and politeness in her eating. She took slow bites, didn't drop a grain of rice.

She looked over at him, mouth full of rice, and started giggling.

"What? Surprised at my manners? Really, I grew up at a respectable restaurant. Jiya always stressed polite eating."

"Aa." he replied, going back to his own lunch. He wondered why that little detail about her was so surprising.

Maybe he didn't have her as figured out as he thought.

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The water of the hot springs was soothing against his aching muscles as Aoshi sat alone in the misty green-amber colored water. It was a clear night, not too cold, and he could gaze at the stars as he soaked.

He had to admit, it felt good to relax. His legs hadn't bothered him much and he didn't have that twisting, burning, panicked feeling in his stomach. There was a word for that, which Aoshi chose to ignore- stress.

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and leaned his broad back against the flat stones of the wall of the springs. The steam, the water, the night was getting to him. He felt as though he could fall asleep easily there, and easy sleep was something Shinomori Aoshi rarely had.

Perhaps there was no need for him to be so stubborn towards Misao. She seemed ballsy enough to kidnap him, crazy enough to threaten him, concerned enough in her motives. He had let Hannya talk him into hiring an assistant, perhaps he did need her.

'Lord knows, you need somebody at your side.' Hannya had said to him in exasperation.

Aoshi sighed loudly.

"What's that sigh for?"

Aoshi sat up straighter, looking around to find the source of the familiar voice. He noticed a small stone wall, and waded his way towards it.

"Misao?"

He asked, looking up at the wall.

A few moments later her head popped up from the ledge of the wall.

"Evening!" she said, giving a little wave.

Aoshi noticed her hair was pinned up, and he could see the tantalizing skin of her bare shoulders.

Not good.

"Misao, aren't you uncomfortable?"

"Nah, the women's spring is higher up than the men's. I'm actually touching the bottom with my feet. Wow, you look short from here." she said, grinning.

His face was blank, and Misao imagined that if he could, he would have pouted at that.

"So..." he began.

"You know, this is kind of stupid. We're the only ones here, we could easily share a spring."

Aoshi's eyes widened a bit.

Misao...naked...with him.

"I do not think so, Misao. Remain in your own spring, please."

Misao made a 'psh' noise and waved her hand.

"Afraid of nekkie Misao, eh? That's fine." she said, her head disappearing as she sat against the wall.

There was a moment of silence, but with Misao...it did not last very long.

"Say, Aoshi-sama...when you were a kid- what did you want to be?"

He leaned his head back against the wall, thinking...and a brief smirk appeared on his face.

"A ninja."

"A ninja? Really! That I couldn't picture."

"Aa, I used to read about ninjas as a child. Then I grew older and lost myself in the business world."

"You make it sound like you had no choice, like you're trapped there."

Aoshi closed his eyes.

"At first I suppose that's how it felt...but I made my business grow. It's my life..."

"That sounds...rather sad. There's more to life than work."

He opened his eyes again.

"It provides me with my lifestyle."

"I'm sorry, but all you do is work...how is that a lifestyle?"

"And what about you, Misao? What did you want to be?"

"Ummm...a lot of things. An actress, a singer, a bride, a model, a writer. Basically, I just wanted to do something that made me happy."

"Are you happy, Misao?"

Misao blinked, taken aback by the question.

"I can't complain. I mean, no one is completely 100 happy all the time, but yea. I'd say I'm pretty happy."

'Are you happy...with me, Misao?'

Aoshi closed his mouth, the question remaining in his mind.

The warm water, the steam, the stars...her...it was all getting to him.

"Hey Aoshi-sama, let's get out of these springs and check out the sky. It's a good night for stargazing."

He heard water from her side and moved to the edge of his own springs, grabbing a yukata and dressing.

He met her fifteen minutes later, she dressed in a simple beige yukata, as they went to their room and sat out on the balcony next to each other.

She was playing with her braid, the end slightly damp, as she looked up at the sky.

"Jiya and I used to watch the stars when I was a kid. He used to tell me what all the constellations were and I would just nod my head."

"You sound like you had a good childhood."

"Didn't you?"

"I...was orphaned at a young age. I had some nice times, but mostly I was usually alone." he murmured, gazing at her, noticing the closeness of her face...so pale in the night. So perfect.

"That's terrible...no one should be alone." she whispered.

"You get used to it." he replied softly.

"Aoshi-sama..." Misao asked, her eyes seeming so large and bright, "Are you...still alone these days?"

He couldn't help but move closer to her, feel her breath against his face...

Self-control...forget self-control.

"Not so much anymore, Misao."

He wasn't sure which initiated the kiss, he only knew the warm softness of her lips as he coaxed her lips apart to delve his tongue into her mouth. He pulled her closer, sprawling her across his lap as his hands sought to feel her smooth skin, fumbling with the tie of her yukata, her hands tracing the plane of his chest...

He didn't remember how they left the balcony and got inside, he didn't remember the moment her yukata hit the floor or his for that matter...he didn't care to remember. All he cared about at the moment was her, the two of them...together.

And when he took her, he would never forget the breathy way she murmured his name. After that, he was lost into the madness, lost into the whirlwind of emotion...lost in Misao.

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Mmm mmm mmm! Update and smexin!

There. I updated. Let the email harassin end!

Miko is sleepy dammmitt::Cries:

Oh well. Bye.