A/N

Kneels down I'm soooooo sorry for bringing this update so late! Gomen, minna . . . looks at everyone with puppy dog eyes I'm really, really sorry . . .

Well, since this is very late, I decided to make it a bit more eventful ... Hope you all enjoy this!

And thanks to:

Kitsune Kenshin: I owe you a lot! For the encouragement – especially recently, which encouraged me to write this! Hope you like this! And thanks once again!

darkwateryoukai: I thought i'd include Kenshin and Kaoru 'fluff' in the next chapter ... i decided to let this one focuse a bit on everyone ... thanks for your reviews! Hope this chapter's good!

Sarcasmsage: Thanks for you review! Hope you enjoy this!

RSMB: Well ... i'm continuing now ... hope it's okay!

Angel of Saturns Silence: Thanks for your review ... and yes, I thought that the 'wolf's backside' thing sort of 'fitted' Saito ... and the 'good-looking burglar' ahh ... if only he were alive ... heh, hope you like this!

Unique-purple-starfish: Here you are! And thanks for your review once again!

Leila Jenkens: Please don't kill me ... it's being updated and will continue to be updated! Heh, thanks, and hope you like this!

gabby (hyatt: Thank you, and i hope you enjoy this.

tikigurl 293: Here it is! Thanks!

kitty jinxx: Thanks!

Luna: I am very sure that Saito will be damned to hell ... (although there IS the slight problem that he's not alive in the first place). Oh well ... we can imagine. Heh, thanks for your review, and hope you like this.

Kiryuu-500: Hmm ... you've interested me now ... with your suggestion ... Thanks for your review! And sorry for the delay!

Rkfan930: Well ... it's here (i did it for the 'love of anime') thanks for your reviews ... and hope this satisfies you!

Well, here it is ...

Chapter seven: Aftermath

Kaoru sat at her desk, trying to concentrate on revising her physics work. It was quite dark outside. Looking at the clock on her desk, she saw that it was almost 7:30 p.m. Deciding that Misao should be at home by now, she stood up and walked downstairs. She had a few things to discuss with her best friend. Things like 'good looking burglars.'

She met her mother going upstairs as she went downstairs.

"Ah, Kaoru, have you seen Aoshi anywhere?" asked Mrs. Kamiya, rather worried.

"He's not back yet?" asked Kaoru, surprised. "He said he was going for athletics practice . . . but they should have finished by now . . ." Mrs. Kamiya bit her lip, rather worried. Where was that boy?

"You don't think he could have lost his way here, do you?" she asked, knowing it was impossible.

"Kachan . . . I think Aoshi san knows the way here quite well," said Kaoru, reassuringly and wondering why her mother was so worried about Aoshi. "Oh that reminds me, Kachan, I found out about Misao's 'good looking' burglar!" A smile crept up on Mrs. Kamiya's face.

"Really?" she asked, picturing a red faced Misao looking at Kaoru. "What did she say?"

"Nothing much. It was actually Aoshi san that sort of helped me," said Kaoru. "By saying that Misao chan was at our place and that she met him. Then I said that thing about the 'good looking' burglar and Aoshi san also said that he had heard you saying that to Misao. I can't believe it. My best friend is in love and she doesn't even tell me!"

"I don't think she's in love with him, Kaoru," said Mrs. Kamiya, reasonably. "She most probably just thinks that he's good looking." Kaoru shook her head.

"I don't think so. You should have seen her today when he came and sat down with us," she said.

"I don't think you should be telling me this, Kaoru," said her mother, smiling. "Anyway, you were going somewhere, weren't you? Tell me if you see Aoshi anywhere, okay?" Kaoru nodded.

"Hai." Kaoru walked down the stairs and outside into the garden. Looking over at Misao's house, she saw that there was no light on in Misao's room. That was strange. Where could she be? Deciding to see if she was there anyway, she walked over to the gate and towards the open gate that led to Misao's house. Misao would just jump over the fence and save time, but she wasn't that athletic.

Reaching the front door, she rang the doorbell and waited for a minute. No one came to answer the door. Kaoru rang the doorbell again, thinking that everyone was probably busy … or eating or something.

After two more minutes, the door was still closed, and she was standing outside it, surprised. Had Mrs. Makimachi and her father gone somewhere? Then … where was Misao? Had she gone with them as well?

"Well, there's no point in standing here until they get back …" she said aloud. Turning around, she walked back to the gate and back to her house, hoping that everything was alright with them.

Meanwhile:

Kenshin watched Sano and Yahiko walk up and down the corridor, similar expressions of anger, hatred and worry mixed together on their faces. Looking at the wall opposite him, he saw Soujirou leaning against it, his head slightly bowed, making it difficult to see his face.

He sighed. This was going to be a long day. Glancing at his wristwatch, he saw that it was almost eight o'clock. Aoshi had done the best that he could for Misao's knee, but the swelling wouldn't stop, so they had called an ambulance, after Aoshi had wrapped Misao's knee tightly with a crepe bandage. By the time the ambulance had arrived, it had been 6:15. They had given Misao a few painkillers, and she had fallen asleep a little while after that.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a tall figure dressed in baggy black trousers, and a white sleeveless t-shirt walked towards him. He watched as he glanced at Soujiro, Yahiko and Sano, before stopping next to him.

"Aoshi …" he said, pleasantly.

"I should get going now …" said Aoshi, in his quiet voice.

"Aren't you going to wait around until they finish with her?" asked Kenshin, somewhat surprised.

"There's no reason for me to stay …" muttered Aoshi, nodding at the other three boys. "I just came to tell you I'm going …" Before Kenshin could try to convince him to stay, he turned around.

"Aoshi."

" … …"

"Arigato … for helping Misao chan …"

"Hnn …" said Aoshi, walking down the corridor. Sano glanced up as he walked away.

"You know who he reminds me of?" he asked, sourly. "He reminds me of that bastard." Kenshin didn't need to ask who he meant by 'bastard.' He understood why Sano was so angry. Hell, he had been close to murdering Saito himself. His eyes narrowed in anger as he remembered their 'captain's' indifferent attitude when the ambulance arrived, and how he coolly demanded that the rest of the time stay and continue practicing. Sano, Yahiko and Soujirou wouldn't listen to him at all, and had come with them. As for him, it was his responsibility as the vice captain anyway.

"Soujirou, are you okay?" asked Kenshin, seeing the boy with his head still bowed. All he received was a nod. Kenshin frowned slightly. "Soujiro?" Soujirou looked up at him, sighing. Kenshin could see the worry in his eyes. "She'll be okay … you know that don't you?"

"Hai … Himura san …" said Soujirou. His expression hardened somewhat. "I would love to walk into Saito in a dark alley …" Yahiko and Sano raised their eyebrows surprised, worried though they were. Was this Soujirou implying that he would like to physically hurt their captain?

"Let's not get too carried away with all of this …" said Kenshin nervously, as his brain conjured up the image of a newspaper with its headline in big, bold letters, saying; 'Students of Mitsurugi High School's athletics team murder their captain and await punishment from the law.' No, that didn't sound nice.

"Kenshin how's Makimachi san?" asked Sano, suddenly, for he hadn't been there when Mrs. Makimachi had arrived to see her daughter. Kenshin smiled.

"She's not … hysterical or overly panicked or anything …" he said. "Neither is Kashiwazaki san. That's a relief." He paused. He hoped they hadn't panicked or anything now.

"That's because you spoke of her injury as though she had tripped and got a scratch on her knee," pointed out Yahiko, who had been with Kenshin at the time Mrs. Makimachi and her father had come to see Misao. Kenshin turned red.

"Well there's no point in worrying them, is there?" he asked, smiling weakly. Sano shook his head.

"What about her dad?" he asked. Kenshin glanced at Soujirou. The boy was conveniently staring at his feet. He had a feeling that Kenshin was starting to figure out what was going on between Misao's parents …

"He's … away on a business trip ..." said Kenshin, hurriedly. He hadn't called him, knowing that there was something wrong with him and Mrs. Makimachi. Soujirou sighed in relief. He could just imagine what Mr. Makimachi would say when he arrived and saw his daughter injured – he'd probably say that it was his wife's fault.

At that moment, a middle aged man dressed in a long white coat walked towards them, a clipboard in his hands. He stopped next to them, taking in their shorts and t-shirts (which they had worn for athletics).

"You're the ones that brought Makimachi Misao here?" he asked. Kenshin nodded.

"Hai," he said.

"Well, her knee has been fractured in two places …" said the doctor, slowly. Kenshin didn't need to look at his friend's to know how they felt.

"Is … is that bad?" asked Yahiko. The doctor looked thoughtfully at him.

"Well … she's lucky that that's all that has happened to her knee …" he said. "Although she has received other injuries …"

"Where?" asked Sano.

"From the x-ray we took of her ankle, it appears that she has sprained it – probably when she was running or something …" said the doctor.

"Will she be able to walk?" asked Soujirou.

"She will definitely be able to walk on her own in a month or so …" said the doctor, positively. "But until then, she will have to take care of herself well – if she doesn't, the injuries could take a longer time to heal or won't heal at all. That would be disastrous for her future." Everyone was silent as they let this bit of information sink in.

"She … won't be able to run or anything, will she?" asked Kenshin, knowing the answer already. The doctor shook his head hurriedly.

"Oh no, if she tries to do that, she'll injure herself more, and possibly will be unable to walk for the rest of her life …" he said. He caught the look of horror on Yahiko's face and sighed slowly. "I do not mean to scare you like that," he said, smiling at him. "I just thought I should exaggerate a little, to tell you what can happen if she doesn't take care … its standard procedure for us doctors to do that so the patient takes greater care of herself …"

Yahiko sighed in relief. He had been getting quite worried. " … Man …"

"How long will she need to stay in hospital for? Or can she go home immediately?" asked Sano.

"Well … she can go home now – well, possibly tomorrow – if she likes …" said the doctor. "It's just that when they're in hospital, they can't try anything stupid and get injured again … they have to stick to our rules here, and we can be quite strict if we need to. When they go home, patients tend to try and be normal and forget everything, if you know what I mean." Kenshin nodded.

"So … she'll be okay …" said Sano. The doctor nodded.

"She will need a cast for her leg – at least for a while – and will then need to get her ankle bandaged …" he said. "I think she will need crutches to help her around …"

"Crutches?" spluttered Sano. He could just imagine Misao walking around with crutches, hitting everyone she despised as they walked by. He could only imagine the amount of times he would get whacked by one of the crutches, not because she despised him, but because she just liked whacking him.

"Yes," said the doctor. "Don't worry, they're not that difficult to use." Kenshin, Yahiko and Soujirou nodded, all three of them getting the same mental image of Misao with crutches as Sano had. Soujirou sweat dropped. Well … at least it would be fun … "Well, I must be on my way," said the doctor. "She's sleeping now, so it would be best if you didn't disturb her. Her mother and grandfather are with her anyway …" He nodded them. "And you'd do well to go and get some rest … good evening – er night."

They watched him walk away, before looking rather questioningly at each other. Kenshin resisted the urge to slap his hands over his ears as they started.

"What will she say when she finds out she can't come for practice anymore?" asked Yahiko.

"Forget that, what'll she do?" asked Sano.

"She'll probably kill the person that tells her she can't run or anything," muttered Yahiko.

"But I'll kill Saito before that," said Sano. Soujirou sighed.

"Maybe we should all go home and get some rest," he said. Kenshin smiled at him.

"Yes, that is a brilliant idea, Soujirou," he said. "But … we should first tell Makimachi san …" Followed by Sano, Yahiko and Soujiro, he walked to the room Misao was in.

That night:

Mrs. Kamiya sighed as she washed the dishes she had just served dinner in. Glancing at the clock in the kitchen, she could see that it was almost 8:30 p.m. Where was Aoshi? She had a sinking feeling that something was wrong … If he knew his way back home, even if he had stayed for athletics practice, he should be home by now …

The sound of the doorbell ringing made her jump slightly. Wiping her hands with the brown serviette nearby, she walked out of the kitchen, heading towards the front door. Opening it, she came face to face with a rather tired looking Aoshi.

"Aoshi! Where have you been?" she asked, looking relieved and sounding worried.

"There was a problem during our athletics practice …" said Aoshi, rather wearily. "Sorry …" he added, as an after thought. Mrs. Kamiya shook her head.

"No, there's nothing to apologize for," she said, smiling at him. "You must be hungry … why don't you go and have a shower and come down again? I kept some food for you …" Aoshi wondered, for what seemed to him the millionth time, why Mrs. Kamiya was so … worried and concerned about him …

" … Arigato Kamiya san …" he said, walking down the corridor and heading towards the stairs. Mrs. Kamiya closed and locked the door behind him and walked back into the kitchen, preparing to heat the food she had kept aside for Aoshi. She smiled tenderly as she put the dish into the microwave, knowing that Aoshi was probably wondering what was going on and why she was always so concerned about him.

Who wouldn't be concerned about their –

She shook her head. It was no point in her thinking about it when she couldn't tell him about it. She wished that she could tell him the truth … but that would involve Hisashi … and Kaoru … and would possibly lead to her family being torn apart. She didn't want that to happen …

Aoshi was about to open his room door – thinking he should go inside before he fell asleep in the corridor – when the door behind him opened. He turned around as Kaoru walked out of her room, stopping when she saw him.

"Aoshi san …" she said, surprised. "You're back. Kachan was worried about you." Aoshi nodded. So he had noticed.

"Hnn …" he said, wondering if he should tell her or not. From what he had observed that day during the midday break, he had got the impression that they were friends …

"Well … I'll let you change …" said Kaoru, smiling and making to walk away.

"Your friend …" said Aoshi, suddenly, making her stop. She turned to look at him.

"My friend?" she asked, more surprised that he had said something that wasn't 'yes', 'no', '… …' or a nod.

"Makimachi san … she's in hospital," said Aoshi. He watched Kaoru's facial expression change from one of surprise to fear.

"H – Hospital? Misao chan?" she spluttered. "Why? What happened to her?"

"She had some trouble with the hurdles during practice," said Aoshi, the image of a smiling Saito coming into his head. "I don't think it's anything serious – "

"That's why no one was at home then …" said Kaoru, remembering how no one had answered the door when she had rung the bell at the Kashiwazaki residence. "Will she be okay? Who took her to the hospital? Why wasn't I called?" Aoshi sighed inwardly. He shouldn't have told her …

"I think she'll be okay, Himura san and her three other friends took her to hospital, because Himura san said that you shouldn't be worried and that he'll tell you tomorrow …" he said, making a mental note that that was probably the longest sentence he had said … in quite a long time. Kaoru had no time to be amazed at the length of his 'speech.'

"I must see her – " she said, moving to her room, probably to get changed. Aoshi stopped her. "Aoshi san – "

"Visiting hours are probably over by now," he said, quietly. "And she was fast asleep – no one got to see her except, probably, for her mother." Kaoru sighed. He was right.

"Sou ka …" she said, looking at the ground. "Where were you all this time then?"

"At the hospital …" said Aoshi, not pleased at the way Kaoru's eyebrows almost reached the ceiling.

"You? H – Hospital?" she stammered. Aoshi had … actually gone to hospital to see Misao? She had thought that someone as uncaring as he was would just have shrugged it off and come straight home. Aoshi glared at her. That was the problem with helping people out … that was why he hated it when he got himself involved in other people's problems. People always showed their surprise that someone with 'his' character would actually help someone …

" … …" He turned around and opened his room door, closing it behind him. Kaoru stared at the door, still surprised. She guessed that she shouldn't have shown her surprise … but still … it was something to be surprised about …

"Kaoru? Is something wrong?" asked Mr. Kamiya, walking out of his room and seeing Kaoru standing outside her room, staring at the closed door of the room in front of her. He frowned. That was Aoshi's room.

"Otosan …" said Kaoru, turning to her father.

"Did something happen with … that boy?" asked Mr. Kamiya, his expression hardening. Kaoru shook her head hurriedly.

"N – no …" she said. "But he said that Misao chan's in hospital …"

"What?! Why?" asked her father, concerned. Misao was practically a family member.

"She had an accident during her athletics practice …" said Kaoru, now beginning to wonder if he friend was really going to be okay.

"Hmmm … I always thought that she was a little reckless …" commented her father. Kaoru grinned. Reckless wasn't the word for Misao … but something told her that this wasn't her fault … that something had happened for her to get herself in hospital …

The next day at school:

Kaoru wasn't listening to what her classmate was telling her. She was busy staring at the door to the class, waiting for two familiar figures to enter.

" – Kaoru chan are you listening to me?" asked the brown haired girl, seeing her far away gaze.

" – Huh? Oh … yeah, Saori chan …" mumbled Kaoru. Saori sighed.

"Never mind …" she grumbled. Kaoru was rewarded when she saw them walk into the class. She jumped out of her seat at once.

"Yahiko! Soujirou!" she exclaimed, startling them. "How is she? What exactly happened? Will she be okay?" Soujirou smiled weakly at her. Being Misao's best female friend, he guessed she had every right to worry about her.

"Long story, long story, long story," said Yahiko, sitting down at his desk and yawning as he answered her questions. Kaoru glared daggers at him before turning to Soujirou.

"Soujirou? Please tell me what happened …" she pleaded. Soujirou sighed.

"To cut a long story short, we were five minutes late for practice and Saito decided to punish us by making us jump hurdles till the end of practice," he said, emphasizing on Saito's name and making Kaoru frown. "The hurdles were placed too close to each other – as there was not much space in the field – but he still made us jump. Misao chan couldn't keep up with her timing and fell onto the hurdle – her knee taking the impact of slamming into it." Kaoru winced.

"That must have hurt …" she whispered. Soujirou nodded.

"It did … she was trying her best not to cry out …" he said, remembering the way she had clutched his hand as Aoshi had massaged her knee.

"You know what?" asked Yahiko suddenly. "I've changed my opinion of that Shinomori guy … he's not as bad as he acted during break …"

"What do you mean?" asked Kaoru. "And are you talking about Aoshi san?"

"Yes," said Yahiko. "He was the first one to do something about Misao's knee … and he came with us to hospital before he went home …"

"What … did he do to Misao's knee?" asked Kaoru, now more surprised than she had been last night when Aoshi had told her about Misao.

"He massaged it, trying to quench the swelling," said Yahiko. Kaoru's jaw hit the ground.

"He did that?" she asked. "Aoshi san did that?" Soujirou smiled at her surprise.

"Yes he did," he said. Kaoru shook her head to get rid of her shock.

"Is Misao going to be alright?" she asked. Soujirou and Yahiko exchanged wary glances.

"Well … she's fractured her knee in two places," said Yahiko, slowly. "And she has also sprained her ankle."

"Oh no … she – she won't be able to walk for sometime, will she?" asked Kaoru. Soujirou nodded.

"The doctor said she might need crutches, but if she's staying at home she won't need it …" he said.

"But that also means that she won't be able to run …" grumbled Yahiko. Kaoru understood why the two boys were looking wary.

"It's good because she won't have to deal with Saito again …" said Soujirou, speaking the senior's name with a trace of venom in his voice. Kaoru wondered what he had done to make someone as easy going as Soujiro to speak of him like that.

"What … what did he do?" she asked, at last.

"He didn't listen to us when we told him it would be dangerous," said Yahiko. "And he didn't care about Misao being hurt – he demanded that we all continue practice, even when the ambulance came to get Misao …"

"Talk about a wolf's backside huh?" asked Kaoru, lamely. None of the boys said anything as the bell rang, conveniently interrupting their conversation.

"I won't forgive him … ever," said Yahiko, before turning to his desk.

"But … isn't that just the type of person he is?" asked Kaoru, turning to Soujirou for help. It wasn't that she didn't think that what Saito did was correct – she felt like giving him a piece of her mind – but … she just thought that different people reacted to stuff in different ways. Maybe there was a reason as to why Saito had acted like he had apparently –

"No, Kaoru … Yahiko's right …" said Soujirou, startling Kaoru as she expected him to back her up, being the rational person he was. His eyes gleamed. "I don't think I'll be forgiving him anytime soon either."

Kaoru could only sit back at her desk, looking from one boy to the other as their teacher walked in for registration. She had a bad feeling in her gut …

At the same time:

"WHAT????? You're JOKING!!!" Kenshin winced as Kurogawa sensei turned and glared at them. He kicked Shogo from underneath the desk, trying to get him to shut up. "YOUCH! What was that – "

"Amakusa! Himura!" called Kurogawa sensei.

"Ahaha … gomen, sensei," said Shogo, flashing another smile at her. She rolled her eyes before turning back to the diagram she was drawing on the board. Shogo turned back to Kenshin the moment she turned back to the board. "Is she going to be okay? Why didn't you tell me? I would have come at once!"

Aoshi rubbed his left temple as he heard Amakusa whisper … although his whispering was more like a normal tone of voice. He saw Kenshin turn to him with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Gomen, Aoshi …" he said, thinking he wanted to concentrate on his lesson.

" … …"

"Kenshin! Tell me!" whined Shogo.

"She's fine, I already told you," said Kenshin, refusing to explain the whole accident and outcome to him again.

"Fine? Fine? You call having two fractures on her knee and a sprained ankle fine?" asked Shogo.

"We're going to see her after practice today … you can tag along …" said Kenshin, smiling innocently at him. Shogo glared at him.

"Is she still in hospital?" he asked. Kenshin shook his head.

"I think they're taking her back home today … I'm not sure …" he said. Shogo sighed.

"She doesn't even know who I am …" he said. "No point in me going at all …"

"She knows who you are alright," said Kenshin, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. "She remembers the incident during the school fair when Amakusa Shogo almost killed Soujiro with death glares, thinking that Soujiro was going out with her …" Shogo turned red.

"I – I wasn't giving him death glares!" he said. "I was … I was just thinking how lucky he was … er – she was …"

"Hai hai …" said Kenshin.

"At least it wasn't a car accident or anything …" said Shogo, sighing. "When you told me she met with an accident … man, I thought she had died or something in a car accident …"

He didn't notice Kenshin's smile disappear, as he was looking relieved at his book.

Kenshin turned grave as the words 'car accident' replayed themselves in his head. He wished his friend hadn't brought them up … He shook his head. No, it was a good thing that he did bring the words up. There was no point in him hiding from reality … he had to learn to accept what had happened two years ago … The failure of the car brakes … the failure of the attempt to overtake the van in front of them … the failure of his duty as her –

" – shin? Kenshin?" Kenshin looked up hurriedly.

"H – Hai?" he asked. Shogo gave him a weird look.

"You okay? You sort of spaced out there …" he said. Kenshin laughed.

"That's me, Himura 'spacing out' Kenshin," he said. Shogo shook his head.

"Why I hang out with demented people like you really puzzles me …" he said.

"Oro???"

"See what I mean?"

Later on:

"I would like to get my hands on him," said Megumi, her eyes slits in her face as Sano finished the story of yesterday's accident. She may be a conniving, annoying person, but she cared about her friends.

"You so wouldn't be the only one," said Yahiko. Soujirou chose to stare at his untouched tray of food.

"I've half a mind not to go for practice today …" said Sano, poking at his salad.

"But if you do that, our school will suffer … not Saito …" said Kenshin, sitting down next to Kaoru and smiling at her.

"Ken san …" said Megumi, smiling at him as well.

"What do you mean our school will suffer?" asked Kaoru, glaring at Megumi and trying to smile at Kenshin at the same time which was impossible.

"We need all the support and team members we can get to defeat … no, to win the Athletics tournament this year," said Kenshin. "It won't happen if our good runners start dropping out of the team or if they stop attending practice. It'll only make Saito happy as he'll think you've chickened out."

"WHAT?!" spluttered Sano. "Chickened out?" he said, lowering his voice as people around them stared at him. Kenshin nodded.

"We need to put up with whatever he chooses to dish out to us," he said. "And prove that … we can survive him … no matter what he does to us."

"But … it's because of him that Misao's might not even be able to take part in the tournament!" protested Yahiko. Kenshin sighed.

"Yes, there is that point …" he said.

"But she'll get better, won't she?" asked Kaoru. "If she rests, she'll get better in time for the tournament … won't she?" Sano, Yahiko, Soujirou and Kenshin exchanged glances.

"Let's hope she will …" said Soujirou. Silence reigned around the table. Megumi sighed.

"It sure is quiet with her here …" she said. Everyone nodded. Misao was probably the loudest of them all – except of course, Sano and Yahiko.

"I hope she gets better soon …" said Kaoru, slowly. Kenshin smiled warmly at her, understanding her concern for her best friend.

"Don't worry, Kaoru san," he said. "It's Misao chan after all …"

And finally:

Aoshi sat down in front of the 'cabin' again, finally deciding that that was the one peaceful place in the whole compound. He stared at the sandwiches on his tray, not really feeling like eating. He turned to stare at the area around him, when he sensed a familiar presence. He scowled inwardly.

Great. Just what he needed.

"You again …" said a voice, sounding resigned.

"My sentiments exactly," replied Aoshi, curtly.

"Hnn … have you decided?" asked Saito, standing in front of him.

"What?" asked Aoshi.

"About the athletics team …" said Saito, rolling his eyes and slipping the cigarette into his mouth.

"You expect me to join the team under your command?" asked Aoshi.

"No, I expect you to join the team under the chicken brain's command …" said Saito.

"I don't think so," said Aoshi, ignoring the attempts Saito made to incense him. Saito snorted, sending out puffs of smoke at him.

"Yes well, a chicken will always be a chicken …" he said, lazily. Aoshi's head snapped up as he glared at him.

"Excuse me? Did you just call me a chicken?" he asked.

"Oh, lookie, the kid's gotten smart!" said Saito, sarcastically.

" … … Yeah, he's gotten smart enough to realize that joining your team is sheer suicide …" said Aoshi, counting to ten mentally.

"Heh," said Saito, grinning evilly. "By the way, how's the weasel?" It took Aoshi a second to realize who he was talking about, and when he did, he fixed him with a cold glance.

"Why do you want to know? You got her into that accident in the first place …" he said.

"Touchy …" said Saito.

" … Apparently two fractures on the knee and a sprained ankle …" Saito smirked.

"That means she won't be coming for practice for a little while …"

" … You sound happy …"

"Oh I am. Very happy …" Aoshi shook his head. Sometimes, he really wondered if he was related to this guy. He really disgusted him. He stood up, taking the tray of food with him, his appetite, once again, deserting him. If he didn't do something about it soon, he was going to starve himself to death.

"They won't let this go easily," he said, indifferently, before walking away.

"Like I'm afraid of some puny first years and a punier third year …" retorted Saito.

A/N

Well … I hope that was okay! I can always re-do it if it wasn't, but I hope it was. The next update will come as soon as possible …

Reviews are most welcome!

See ya soon!

Siriusgirl1