Thanks for the encouragement everyone, it means a lot. :D

I did mean to get this chapter out a lot sooner, but school delayed me a bit. Hopefully there will be less time between each one now that I have vacation coming up!

Just a few general concerns:

-- I do know that my paragraphs are short sometimes… I do this in an attempt to keep myself from rambling. Regrettably, it doesn't always work. I'm silly like that.

-- And also, I totally didn't realize that I had the anonymous reviews disabled! Haha! Thanks for having that pointed out… Sorry for the inconvenience. I'm such an airhead. xD

Anyway, that's enough of me. Seriously.

Chapter Two

----- New Year's Resolution

Misao should have known that Sae was up to something. She kept engaging the ninja in conversation, almost as if trying to keep her from the door. Every time Misao suggested that she ought to be on her way, the restaurant owner would laugh it off and remark that no one should be out in such terrible weather. It finally came to a point where she had convinced Misao to stay for at least a cup of tea, and what could she do? Refuse? It hardly seemed polite.

It went without saying that she was surprised when Okon and Omasu appeared at the door, one with a fine bottle of wine and the other balancing a few gifts in her arms. Their faces were flushed red from the cold, but they looked extremely pleased about something, and Omasu grinned widely when she spotted Misao gaping at them, a cup of tea halfway to her lips. Okon set the wine on the table with a soft thud and hurried over with her arms spread, and before she knew it, Misao found herself engulfed in a warm embrace.

"Happy New Year's Eve, Misao! Aren't you excited?" Omasu cried from the other side of the room, still fumbling with the brightly colored gifts in her arms. "We've secretly been planning this for a while!"

Sae laughed at the woman's antics and moved over to help, and together the two managed to set the pile on a table just as Aiko and a young man walked into the room. The waitress muttered something about preparing the food and soon rushed into the kitchen, gone no sooner than she had appeared.

Okon pulled away, giving Misao a playful nudge. "You forgot, didn't you?"

Misao glared indignantly. "No…! I just…"

"How could you have forgotten such an important holiday!" Omasu tottered over, wrapping Misao in a hug of her own. "Oh, Misao-chan! It's going to be so much fun! Shiro and Kuro are going to be over later, and guess what? Kenshin and Kaoru may be coming, too!"

"And don't worry," Okon added with a wink. "We've managed to convince Aoshi to drag himself away from the shrine for a little while, at least."

The two women were nearly bursting at the seams with excitement. Omasu kept flitting around gaily, adjusting anything she could find as she helped clean the place up for the bash. Sae stood and watched her with some amusement, brewing enough tea for their incoming guests and checking up every once in a while on her two waitresses. She had closed down the restaurant once the last of her customers for the morning had left, and all that was left to do was prepare the lunch and wait for arrivals.

Misao had her hands full trying to keep up with Omasu, a damp rag clutched in her hand as she wiped down tables. She didn't really see the point of it; in such weather, there hadn't been many customers that morning to begin with, and the most they had left behind were a few crumbs or a stray drop of tea.

"You see Misao," Omasu began, holding up her right index finger. "First, we'll start off with lunch. It won't be very big, you see, as we won't want to fill everyone up before dinner. Dinner is going to be the big event of the night, and boy do we have a feast prepared!"

"So, when you said that I had to help you with dinner…" Misao began slowly, almost hopefully. "You were kidding?"

The other woman began to laugh. "Actually, no! I hope you enjoy peeling potatoes!"

From somewhere nearby, Okon snickered, and before she knew what she was doing, Misao had chucked the dirty rag at her older friend. This was shortly followed by a cry of dismay and a stream of protests, partially muffled by the wet strip of cloth that had obviously met its target. Omasu could only look on in some detached state of horror before bursting into a fit of hysteria, pointing, laughing, and eventually earning her due when the rag came flying at her head.

"Oh, dear…" Sae tilted her head, bringing one hand up to her mouth. "I do hope they don't break anything."

Spirits were high. It seemed that Misao had found just the cheering up she needed, and when Shiro and Kuro arrived with handfuls of decorations, the three women cried out in unison and immediately began to plan their placement. Soon the Shirobeko was transformed with strips of colorful paper, elegant candles, and an elaborate dragon that stared at them from the corner of the room.

Okon stood back to admire their work. "Looks good, girls!"

Misao, balancing on Kuro's shoulders to hang something from the ceiling, nodded distractedly. "Definitely! Do you know when everyone is supposed to get here? I can't-- Wah!"

Kuro swung around suddenly, nearly sending the small woman toppling to the ground. "Here's someone!"

The familiar redhead laughed softly as Misao struggled awkwardly to regain balance, only to slip humorously from the large man's back. Despite her embarrassment, Misao noted that it was nice to see that Kenshin was doing well. She had been worried that he would get himself into more trouble, but it seemed that things had calmed down considerably since Enishi's Jinchuu had come to a close. The ex-rurouni was settling into family life just fine.

Speaking of which, the appearance of Kenshin was immediately followed by a young boy who shot into the restaurant like lightning, gawking openly at the strange atmosphere and uttering an awed "wow!" every now and then. It wasn't long before he was distracted by the faux dragon, and soon took to finding a way onto its head, much to Kenshin's dismay.

Kaoru was the next to show up, trailing after her son with a stern look on her face. Her countenance changed completely when she spotted Misao, and her blue eyes lit up with warmth when she smiled. She hadn't changed much since their last meeting, but Misao could sense her blossoming maturity, even now. There was something about having a child that changed a woman in that way. It almost made her envious, to see Kaoru so settled and happy, a mother and wife.

Perhaps someday she would be able to have that, as well.

"Misao-chan!"

"Kaoru-chan!" Misao righted herself and sprinted over, nearly tackling her dearly-missed friend to the ground. "How have you been? It feels like ages since I last saw you in person!"

"Things have been well." Kaoru rested her hand on Misao's shoulder when they pulled apart. "Yahiko and Tsubame are sorry that they couldn't make it today. I just thought I'd let you know."

"Is that so?" The shorter girl arched an eyebrow curiously.

"Mm. Yahiko decided to take care of classes at the dojo, and you should know that things are bustling at the Akabeko this time of year. I'm actually surprised that Sae agreed to close today."

The aforementioned laughed offhandedly. "Don't be silly! I can afford a break every once and a while!"

The group eventually settled into light conversation, discussing any noteworthy events that had taken place since their last meeting. Misao couldn't say that she had anything interesting to say herself; after all, following their last adventure, she was almost glad to have a period of quiet. Things were just the way she wanted them to be, and a part of her was afraid that if something were to happen, everything that she had worked so hard for would be ruined. What if Aoshi were to leave them again?

The thought of him turning against them had already been horrible enough, especially after what had happened to Okina. She had promised herself then that she would protect them, even if that meant fighting the person she cared about most.

But that was the past.

After they had all eaten lunch, the atmosphere was content. Shiro and Kuro had engaged themselves in a board game and were sitting off to the side. Sae and her two waitresses, with the help of the man that had accompanied Aiko, were taking care of the soiled dishes. Okina, who had arrived a short while after Kenshin and Kaoru, was conversing with Okon and Omasu. That left Misao, Kenshin, and Kaoru, who were currently enjoying the fire Sae had lit before she had served their food. Aoshi was still nowhere to be found.

"Uh," Misao stood up suddenly. "I forgot something back at the Aoiya. Does anyone need anything while I'm out?"

Kaoru seemed worried for a moment, but the look disappeared in her smile. "No, I don't think so… but be careful out there, Misao-chan. It's quite a trip if you aren't dressed warmly enough. I would know, having come all the way from Tokyo."

She smiled back. "I'll be fine."

Misao was actually hoping that she could coax Aoshi to join them before dinner, but she wouldn't tell them that. Kaoru had mulled on enough about her love life already, and the ninja grew tired of all the hints thrown her way by so many different people. She could deal with herself just fine. She didn't need her friends trying to set her up with some stranger, and she was afraid that it was growing to the point where they were just that desperate.

'Agh! Kaoru wasn't kidding about it being cold…'

She trudged on nevertheless, determined to complete her goal before she succumbed to frostbite. The nerve of that man! The least he could do was come early to greet his friends! If it weren't for her, he'd probably shut himself up in that shrine all day, and that couldn't possibly be healthy.

"Well…" Misao muttered to herself, rubbing her arms. "What I said doesn't have to be a complete lie… Maybe I can grab a warmer cloak while I'm there…"

A particularly strong breeze rushed by, and as Misao shut her eyes against the stinging wind, she felt something bump up against her leg. In one startled movement, she tripped over whatever it was that had obstructed her path, and found herself face first in the freezing snow. The sudden cold was a shock, and she lay stunned for a moment before she could regain her senses, fingers numb and legs tingling. Muttering a few curses through chattering teeth, she twisted around to glare at her offender.

The green eyes of a stray cat blinked back at her. Misao usually would have left it be, but something quickly caught her interest. Clamped between the feline's jaws was…

Her change purse!

"What the--! Stupid cat, give me my money!" She made a lunge for the agile creature, and soon found herself eating more snow. "I won't let you get away, thief!"

The cat didn't seem very interested in her rantings, and shot off down a nearby alley, disappearing quickly from sight. Fully aware that her clothes were slowly becoming soaked, Misao started valiantly after it, brushing off the white powder as she sprinted to her best efforts. Unfortunately, she kept slipping over patches of ice and soon found herself lagging behind.

"This is definitely not my element!" She cursed as she rounded a particularly sharp corner enveloped with ice. "Why me?"

And there it was. She had spotted the cat atop a discarded box, and realized almost at once that it was no longer in possession of her missing pouch. Pulling at her hair, she vented her frustrations noisily and rolled up a ball of snow, chucking it at the cat and laughing bitterly when it mewed in protest and skittered away. There was nothing left to do but start searching the ground, and she realized with dismay that her pouch could be anywhere.

Anywhere within three blocks.

"I officially hate cats," she growled, clenching her fist and knocking herself on the head. "If I had watched where I was going, this never would have happened…"

Sighing heavily, Misao reluctantly began her search, thankful that at least it had stopped snowing. If her pouch was lying on the ground somewhere, she would have never been able to find it otherwise. It was a good thing that she didn't carry all of her earnings on hand.

Retracing her steps, she noticed something that, in her rush, she hadn't noticed before. There was a young man slouched against the wall, and for a moment she thought he might have been hurt. However, upon closer inspection, she discovered that he was only asleep.

Just the thought of someone sleeping out there in the cold was appalling, and she had to stop herself from gaping in order to decide whether she should wake him or not.

'What if he isn't asleep? What if he really is hurt, and has been knocked out? What if he's sick and dying? I can't just leave him here…'

Brows knit together in concern, Misao reached out hesitantly, grabbed his shoulder and gave it a light shake. When she received no response, she started shaking harder.

Still nothing.

'Either this guy is a heavy sleeper or he really has been knocked out…'

Grabbing both of his shoulders this time, Misao gave him another hard shake. "Wake up, you! Hello?"

She was just about to assume him dead, when violet-blue eyes blinked open and considered her groggily. Misao could only stare at him for a moment, bewildered, before he blinked again and smiled.

He smiled.

"Hello!" he greeted cheerfully, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. As if he had not just been konked out in the snow, collecting ice and frost.

Misao just stared.

I hate leaving it at this, but I must!

Until next time…