By Shin Sankai
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Misao hummed a merry tune as she made her way upstairs. She just finished helping Shiro and Kuro in the kitchen with the lunch rush and was now free to head upstairs and do some paperwork. Of course paperwork was never something she liked but she knew Aoshi would be there to help her if she had any questions.
They both shared the upstairs office, which looked out onto the side of Okina's blooming garden. Misao had a small desk stacked with paperwork for her to go through near the window while Aoshi's much larger one, that he sat at and occupied when he was only 15 still remained centre stage and was the first thing one saw when walking inside.
As Misao walked towards the office she hoped Aoshi was here this time. For the past few days she hadn't been able to see or bother him, under Okina's strict rules as he stated he was dealing with important clients. Misao wasn't so sure she believed the old man. Things just seemed…fishy to her.
With her hand on the closed shoji, Misao's eyes had taken its usual glance to Aoshi's private quarters only to notice with surprise the shoji was pulled slightly open. Intrigue was something that flowed through Misao often, ever since she was a young girl, and so dressed in her Aoi-ya uniform and tabi, Misao headed on over and poked her head through the gap.
Her blue eyes blinked several times looking into the overly clean room. The shutters from two windows situated in Aoshi's quarters had been drawn open letting in the sunlight as it streamed onto the polished floorboards. As usual Misao always scanned her whereabouts and Aoshi's quarters was no different. It was much different from when she remembered being in here only once or twice when she was about 5 or 5, but the thought instantly left her when her eyes roomed to the floor and to the futon, which usually wasn't rolled out during this time of day. Nor was it ever occupied this time of day either.
"A-Aoshi-sama, gomen, I…" Misao faltered however when the man did not stir and on cautious feet, Misao padded towards Aoshi, her eyes very much wide and alert, heart thumping in her chest as she drew closer.
Dear god the man was naked!
There, in a futon of beige colouring lay her beloved. Aoshi's blanket, too thick for the warm weather happened to be riding low against his bare hips, instantly fusing the lump in Misao's throat higher then it already was.
"Aoshi-sama…" Misao spoke his name in a flurry of emotion. The creature before her, of male perfection in her young eyes, was sprawled on his stomach with hands slack at his sides as though he'd just stripped and fallen into the futon with a loud thump. His face was half buried in what she noted to be a western style cushion. And to make her heart flutter even more as she kneeled beside the oblivious man was the complete slackness of slumber within his facial features. She'd never seen the man look more relaxed then he seemed to be at this very moment. There wasn't a crease of concern against his forehead as his long silky ruffled bangs rested over his face and spiked against his pillow. Eyes were closed, black lashes brushing against his slightly pinkish cheeks and his mouth was slack from its usual thin line as he drew in long calm breaths.
Misao never knew the man slept this deeply and couldn't ponder anymore of it as her shoulders stiffened when she knew someone was at the opened shoji, even more so now that he spoke with slight confusion in his voice.
"Misao-chan, what are you doing in Aoshi-kun's room?"
"Ah, Jiya, I was…" Misao stalled slightly, eyes darting about until she came upon a basin of water with a cloth floating in it. "I was just coming to change Aoshi-sama's basin." She hurriedly finished, got up from her seated position and picked up the basin.
"Well, fortunately for you, I was doing that myself." The elder of the Oniwabanshuu voiced and stepped into the room. Misao stood awkwardly, not sure whether her grandfather believed her or was saving her from embarrassment as he placed down the basin near Aoshi's head and then took the other from her hands.
"Is…Is Aoshi-sama alright?" Misao spoke and then quickly added to her stuttering question not liking the knowing look in her Jiya's eyes as he too had obviously realised by now that Aoshi slept in the buff…and Misao had seem him this way too. "I mean, I never thought someone like him would sleep so soundly…and especially when we are in here as well."
"Mm, the last I heard from Aoshi was that he was going for a walk and when he didn't come back I got some of our members to try and track the man down, however…" Okina placed his hands against Misao's shoulders, watching her eyes fill with worry as she pit her bottom lip.
"He continues to over exert himself and Shiro and Kuro located him passed out leaning against the Aoi-ya front fence and carried him back." Misao's shoulders relaxed, but the worry was still flickering within her. She observed Jiya huff lightly as his crinkled eyes glanced down at Aoshi's scarred body. "I told him not to overdue it. I didn't think the mission was that important for him to travel to Osaka and back within 24 hours, especially when he'd been up doing background work for it over the past 2 days as well."
"Mission…? What mission?" Misao eyed her grandfather who buttoned his lip, obviously not meaning to let slip that Aoshi had shot away during some god forsaken hour and returned so that she wouldn't know he'd gone alone.
"Well look at the time, I really should make sure everyone is happy in the Aoi-ya." Okina had slipped away from Misao's clutches, for now that is, and darted out of Aoshi's room and closed the shoji with a defiant click.
Misao's eyes narrowed down at the poor unsuspecting Aoshi and this time took in his sleeping features at a different angle since he had rolled over onto his back. Aoshi nearly made Misao faint with his movements as the blanket sunk a little lower.
Bright red to the tips of her hair, Misao diverted her eyes, as much as she felt like it, since when would there be another chance to ogle the sleeping man and sat down beside his head once more. As her shaky hands inched the blanket up his lower body to secure herself from not dying of excessive heart palpitations, they stopped on a makeshift bandage resting just above his left hip bone. He'd obviously been lying on his injured side too much, had rolled over and now Misao had seen why the basin and a small medical kit was for.
"Oh Aoshi-sama…" Misao muttered lovingly, perhaps even a little motherly as she pressed her hand lightly, tentatively against the bandage. Taunt skin around the area quivered against the touch, but the man did not budge.
Now that Misao was 20, she'd learned several things travelling backwards and forwards from Kyoto to Edo. Since she timed her trips well, Misao would make her way to Aizu, to visit Takani Megumi who at a small fee would teach her many things when she had the spare time. Doctors were few and far between and so Misao, with her own keen instincts to learn something other then the skills of a shinobi took upon the role as herbalist and medicine woman if anyone was ill or injured amongst the Aoi-ya. To a certain degree of course.
As gently as Misao could muster, her fingers pulled away the seeping bandage and with a clear mind (well besides the general fact that she now knew Aoshi slept naked) Misao bent her head to sniff lightly at his wound. Though his skin smelled of honey and musk there was a potent scent surrounding the wound and Misao instantly knew it was slightly infected from poor treatment and also…from poison.
Acting quickly Misao clipped up her hair on top of her head with spare clips she carried with her in the sleeves of her kimono and opened the small medicine kit. Locating exactly what she needed Misao set to work, tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she did so.
Minutes passed as Misao pat Aoshi's wound lightly. It was thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and dressed, the gauze strapped to Aoshi's bronze skin with western surgical tape holding it in place. She couldn't very well wrap a bandage around his waist for the man was too heavy for her to lift, the wound wasn't overly huge and he was naked. She was certain that if she moved him the blanket would come free and she would see more of Aoshi then even Misao knew she was ready for.
Pushing the basin to the side Misao watched Aoshi's head flop to the left, to the side she was sitting at and she just couldn't help but touch him, even just once as her dainty fingers brushed his bangs from his eyes.
"I'm sure you didn't even truly realise you were injured. I know you must of felt weak, faint even and yet would have grown uneasy as to not knowing what was truly upsetting your own body. After 3 days of no sleep and malnutrition, even someone has strong as you Aoshi-sama would have succumbed to the poison eventually. I bet you never noticed the nick at your side until you…stripped here."
Misao sighed again, her eyes blinking several times as she now finally noticed she was resting on her knees and her body was leaning over Aoshi's unconscious one. Her hands were placed on either side of his head, thumbs brushing the softness of the cushion, while her eyes couldn't help but be drawn to his parted lips.
"What am I going to do with you Aoshi-sama? You're a vision I'll never be able to keep from my mind." When she'd stumbled upon him, sleeping so serenely it was like he made sleeping an art form.
As she looked down at Aoshi, Misao could have sworn her face was growing closer and closer to his as she muttered several of her inner most thoughts about the man lying before her.
"Sometimes, I wander if you are real at all. Sometimes I stop and wander if you're an artwork placed before me by the gods to test my skills to see if I can truly understand you at all. I'd study you Aoshi-sama, watch your every move and be by your side if you'd allow me to. I'd wait for you, for all eternity Aoshi-sama. Do you know that?"
Misao eyes were wide open as for the first time she felt her lips come in contact with another's, but not just anyone's, these lips belonged to her sleeping Aoshi-sama. This of course wasn't what Misao had intended. She'd gotten carried away within the moment, but now it had arrived and she wouldn't be able to take back the kiss or forget it. And it appeared, neither would he.
With heart thumping in her ears Misao watched dreamy green eyes drift open to reveal cloudy emotions beneath. What she dared to make out hidden within those orbs was the fact they were laced with sleep. As Aoshi's eyes blinked several times, Misao dared not move for many more seconds, her lips still brushed lightly against his.
"Misao…?" The surge of her own name against her lips as Aoshi had murmured it, parted mouth moving, vibrating against her sent a tinge of pink to her cheeks and fluttering to her stomach region. She instantly broke away from Aoshi's lips and quickly darted away from him, turning her back to his questioning eyes and fiddled with the medicine kit.
"Ah, I was coming to do paperwork and saw your shoji open and then saw you asleep and got worried when you didn't snap awake and then Jiya said you over exerted yourself and then I saw your untreated wound and thought it best that I treat it before it got more infected and…" Misao rambled as she always did in such situations and felt her back stiffen when the palm of Aoshi's left hand rested against the small of her back.
"You kissed me awake." Misao shrunk her head into her shoulders and placed her chin against her chest. She really hated the fact that Aoshi's deep sleep laden voice sounded so sexy after he slept for what seemed like over 10 hours and yet no matter what had happened, he was forever straight to the point, never beating around the bush.
"Ah, well, I…" Misao was stumped with what to say. Was he displeased with what she did without his consent? Perhaps even angered? The thoughts were endless until she felt his hand tug at the sleeve of her kimono, almost in a child like manner.
"You're like the prince in that story Makimachi-sama told me before you were even born." Misao eyes bugged slightly at his murmur and turned to look down at his soft features.
"Aoshi-sama, are you drugged?" She nearly fell over when a soft tired chuckle broke from his thin lips.
"Mm, did he not ever tell you it Misao?" With the shake of her head, a soft squeal broke from her lips when Aoshi's grip grew stronger, his strength coming back to him as he pulled her down, her head lying against his chest while her feet curled out to the side of her.
"The princess lays asleep, awaiting for a kiss from her prince to awaken her from her endless slumber." Misao chewed on her lip listening to the rumble of Aoshi's voice while her eyes drew closed as the beating of his strong heart thumped against her ear.
"You are hardly the princess Aoshi-sama."
"True, but stories can be altered to accommodate for the memory of others."
"Is this…a memory you wish to keep Aoshi-sama?"
"Besides having to put up with Officer Saitou, his smoking and his constant prying of whether I'd grown a backbone and made a move on you yet, I'd say it's a memory to keep."
"You must be drugged Aoshi-sama, you're never this…um…open." Misao let off a small gasp when Aoshi's hand lifted up to wrap around her, his hand sinking into her dark tresses.
"I'm not drugged, just tired." Misao lifted her head slightly, to look down to see the truth within his half lidded eyes. "Though why I took that dart, which I'm one hundred percent sure was meant for him, I'll never understand."
"Besides making him owe you one you mean? Saitou really hates owing favours to people, so you could punish him and remind him of it every now and then."
"Mm, your plan is a little immature, but at the moment…I like it."
"Aoshi-sama, does this mean I can…ah…kiss you again?" Hope flickered within her gaze as a twitch against Aoshi's lips was a definite sign that a smile could be formed against them.
"Perhaps when I don't feel so numb." He watched Misao's head tilt and decided to elaborate a bit more for his young beauty. "That way, I can gentlemanly return the act." A happy blush rushed over Misao's cheeks as she nodded her head and beamed a smile down at him.
"I'll wait."
"I know you will." Her eyebrows creased at his muffled confession, almost not being able to hear it, but she couldn't voice anything back as his arm tugged her back to his chest. There she lay, her thoughts finally clicking into place that he must have heard her previous confessions.
Now was not the time to voice anything more on the matter as Misao basked within Aoshi's grip, her body growing slack against his. Only when Aoshi felt Misao let out a dreamy sigh did he close his own eyes and drift back into slumber, hoping to met Misao somewhere within their dreams…and this time, his lips curved upwards.
His sleeping beauty was finally able to be within his arms.
Xx The End xX
Author Notes: Ah, truthfully, all I had was the image of Aoshi sleeping naked, Misao coming upon him and she thinking that he made sleeping look like an art form and yet this oneshot came about. So, ah, yeah, well hopefully people read it with silliness bubbling within them because that's all that this is. Thanks for reading!