Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or the characters.
AN: Sorry for the long wait.
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"Because he killed your brother."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face Cassandra who was standing there.

"Look at the time." Sano said. "We need to get to school."

Kenshin quickly nodded his head in agreement. It wasn't a secret that Misao and Cassandra didn't like each other. And for some reason, Cassandra loved to set Misao off. Talking about her brother was sure to get a reaction. Judging from the death glare Misao was giving her, things were bound to get heated if they didn't get them away from each other.

"Let's go Misao." Kenshin said as he grabbed her hand.

With his free hand, he grabbed Aoshi's present and began pulling her to the door. Surprisingly, she let him. Cassandra's next statement stopped her cold.

"What kind of person are you that you'd forgive your brother's killer?" she asked. "I pity your father for having a daughter like you."

Karou gasped.

"Oh hell." Sano groaned.

Kenshin sighed but didn't say anything. He was too busy trying to think of ways to get Misao out of there. After, Cassandra's last comment, it was going to be nearly impossible without a fight.

"I suggest you shut up about things you know nothing about." Misao hissed.

"Aoshi got drunk and rammed his car into a tree. He survived and your brother didn't. Did I miss anything?" she asked smugly. "He should be in jail not serving community service."

"Like I said, you know nothing so just mind your own damn business."

"Your father is my business. You forget that I was here when he got the call. And where were you while your brother lay dying Misao? Somewhere dreaming about his killer. You prefer that he died and Aoshi survived don't you?"

There was a brief second of silence before Misao reacted. She jerked out of Kenshin's grasp and lunged at her. Cassandra let out a scream as the force of Misao's body slammed her into the wall. Not wasting any time, Misao went for her throat. Before she could get a tight enough grip on it, she felt herself being was dragged away.

"She's not worth it Misao."

"Let me go."

"Listen to Kenshin Misao." Karou said.

"Yeah, Weasel, she's not worth it."

"Neither your brother or Aoshi would be happy to see you like this."

God, they played dirty, Misao briefly thought. Using the two most important people in her life against her. She stopped struggling so Kenshin was able to pull her back some.

"You can let me go now." she said.

"Misao."

"I'm fine. I promise."

He let her go but kept on guard. Misao glared at Cassandra, who was slumped against the door holding her neck, for a minute then turned and left. With a quick look back at Cassandra, Kenshin, Karou and Sano followed her. To say the ride to school was tense was an understatement. Once they got there, Misao jumped out of the car.

"Hey Kenshin, I need to put Aoshi's present in your trunk. The last thing I need is to get in trouble for having weapons at school." she said. "Although I can do with the vacation. That way I can skip out on any tests and use the time to finish up many of my art assignments."

Kenshin opened the trunk and she put the present inside. She finally noticed everyone's expression and gave them a small smile.

"My god you guys, nobody died. Liven up."

Variations of only because we were there floated through the other three heads. But saying that would only upset her even more so they didn't say anything.

"Misao are you..." Karou said.

"I'm fine." she said interrupting her. "But I won't be if I don't go turn in my English paper. It's already two days late."

With a huge smile, Misao turned and walked away.

"She's really not okay is she?" Karou asked.

"No." Sano said.

"I didn't know it was that bad." Karou said. "I heard the rumors but... God, poor Misao."

"It was the only thing anyone could talk about for awhile but then everyone moved on to the next big thing. And Misao, doesn't ever talk about it. Even when it happened."

"How does she deal with it?"

"Cassandra or Aoshi?"

"Both."

"You've seen how she deals with Cassandra. This won't be their last fight." Kenshin said sighing. "As for Aoshi, I don't know. Like I said before, she doesn't talk about it."

"Is that why you don't approve of her and Aoshi?"

Kenshin looked at her with a slightly shocked expression.

"I don't disapprove of her and Aoshi. The accident and her forgiveness is between her and Aoshi." he explained. "I just think she should be aware of the trouble getting involved with him will cause. Her father will hit the roof."

"Oh. I forgot about him."

"Yeah. To say he was angry with Aoshi is an understatement. When Aoshi was given community service and probation instead of prison, he attacked him. It was a huge mess. Still is."

"Wait a minute. If he hates Aoshi, why does he let Misao stay at the Aoiya knowing Aos..." Karou said trailing off as something occurred to her. "Her father doesn't know."

"No. Aoshi hasn't always lived there so I don't think Misao's father has given any thought to where he lives now. And he doesn't have anything to do with Okina or the Aoiya so they wouldn't cross paths there." Kenshin explained.

"What would happen if he did find out?"

"Aoshi's a dead man." Sano said.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." Kenshin said at the same time.
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Once she was where they couldn't see her, Misao slipped into an empty classroom and slumped against the nearest wall. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She was caught between wanting to curl up and cry like a baby and lashing out angrily. More than ever, Misao despised Cassandra. In fact she had been close to trying to choke the life out of her. Aoshi, her brother, and the accident was none of Cassandra's business and she had no right bringing them up. What business was it of hers, or anyone else's for that matter, if she "forgave" and loved Aoshi in spite of the accident? It was between her, Aoshi, and her brother. No one would ever understand anyway. They didn't know what she knew. At that moment Misao desperately wanted to run and find Aoshi. He understood what she felt and just being around him would make her feel better. Right? But I can't go to him, she thought bitterly. He was a teacher's aid and any personal interaction was frowned upon.

"So what." Misao mumbled. "It's not like he's a teachers aid because he wants to be."

He was only doing it so he wouldn't flunk out of school while he was serving his probation. Okina had somehow pulled some strings and had gotten one of Aoshi's professors to agree to let him substitute working as a teacher's aid as a class credit. Besides, she had loved him long before any of this had happened. He had been her brother's best friend. From the moment the three year old Misao met the tall angel, her description of him then, she had been hooked. Instead of her feelings decreasing as she got older, like everyone said they would, they grew. And damn it, she wasn't going to give them up just because people said she should. Misao jumped slightly when the bell rung. She stood up straight and sighed. She really didn't feel up to dealing with school. With that thought she walked over to the window, said a thanks that the class was on the first floor, and jumped out.
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Aoshi stood by the window and stared out. He should've been eating lunch but he wasn't hungry. Something was wrong with Misao. He hadn't seen her yet today. Most people would put it down to her being busy or the fact that their schedules had them on opposite sides of the school but Aoshi couldn't. Everyday, no matter what, Misao made sure he saw her at least once. She'd pop out of no where smiling brightly, wave and then wish him a good morning, or afternoon.

Or maybe I'm so used to her doing it I expect her to show up, he thought. And when she doesn't it makes it extremely obvious how much I look forward to it.

His thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Aoshi said as he turned from the window.

He was slightly surprised when Misao's friend Karou walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt you but do you have a minute?" she said. "It's about Misao."

At the mention of Misao, she had his full attention.

"What about her?"

"It's really none of my business but Misao's my friend. She says she's fine 1but she really isn't."

"What happened with Misao?"

"Cassandra."

Aoshi leaned against the window as Karou told him about the last fight between the two. Despite looking expressionless, Aoshi was furious by the end of the story. What the hell was wrong with Cassandra? How could she throw something that painful back in Misao's face? Aoshi looked at Karou.

"Thank you for telling me this."

"It's for Misao. Someone really should be with her and we all know who she'd prefer."

Karou smiled slightly and then left. Aoshi looked at the clock and cursed inwardly. He wanted to go make sure Misao was alright but couldn't leave school. The main condition of his probation was that he was basically under house arrest. The only exceptions were work, his probation officer, and anything to do with his community service. And without a good excuse, he couldn't leave work either. Damn it. He didn't like not being able to go to Misao. Even if he could, it would look suspicious if he and Misao both left school. Aoshi sighed. No matter what he did Misao kept getting hurt.
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After leaving school, Misao didn't have any planned destination so she just walked around. Over the next few hours she walked, window shopped and anything else that would temporarily take her mind off her problems. She didn't return home until late. Since she didn't want to talk to anyone, she snuck into her room. Misao was only slightly shocked that Aoshi was waiting in her room. Normally she would be ecstatic at having Aoshi in her room but she knew he was there to talk about what happened. She was still so angry that talking was the last thing she wanted.

"You skipped school."

"I had things to think about."

"I heard what happened."

"Of course you did. Look, I don't..."

"Change into training clothes and meet me outside." he said interrupting her.

"Wha..."

She was once again cut off as Aoshi walked out the door. Training clothes. That meant Aoshi was going to train with her again. A small smile graced her face but it quickly turned to a frown. She should have been more happy, ecstatically jumping for joy actually, about training with him but she wasn't. He wasn't doing this just for the sake of training her, of being with her. Aoshi knew her enough to know that this was the quickest way to get her to open up and calm down. As Misao changed clothes, her mood slowly improved. So what if Aoshi was doing this to get to the bottom of what happened, at least he cared enough to try. Sure it would have been better if it hadn't taken Cassandra to bring it about. But Misao took a sick pleasure in knowing that it was Cassandra's nastiness in trying to discourage Misao to keep away from Aoshithat delivered him into her hands. After she finished dressing, she went downstairs to find Aoshi waiting outside for her. He too had changed into his training clothes and was looking absolutely delicious. They then silently walked to the training hall. Misao had barely closed the door when he attacked. She cursed and the started fighting back. As he fought with her, Aoshi couldn't help smiling to himself. She was so focused on fighting him that nothing else mattered. This was exactly what she needed and truthfully, so did he. After who knows how long, they started slowing down. It was at this time that Aoshi was able to ask her questions. Actually, he only had to ask her what happened and she told him everything. Once again Aoshi had to hold in his fury. Sure, Karou had already told him, but hearing it from Misao made it worst. He had never wanted to kill anyone as much as he wanted to kill Cassandra at that moment. Not only had she hurt Misao deeply but she had enraged her to the point that Misao had tried to choke her. A quick kick to his stomach made Aoshi aware that he hadn't been paying enough attention to Misao.

"Who the hell is she to think her opinion is worth anything to me? No one, that's who. It's my life, my business. She has no right to be in it. NO RIGHT!"

Misao went to go for another kick but instead of going through with it, she froze for a second and then then let herself fall to her knees. She was breathing hard and trembling lightly. Aoshi went and knelt beside her.

"Why does she get to me? She doesn't understand. Always making assumptions about things she knows nothing about. Yet it still hurts." she whispered. "How many times will this happen before I learn? Ranting, fighting and crying is useless. In the end it won't change anything. People are going to assume what they want, Cassandra will hate me for reasons even I don't know, my father will continue to ignore me and try to run my life at the same time, my brother will still be dead, and you and I will still be circling each other."

Misao leaned forward and buried her face in his chest, fighting hard not to cry. For a few seconds Aoshi tensed up and didn't move but then he slowly wrapped his arms around her. Without thinking, he begun to stroke her hair. Misao felt his hand but didn't react. She was feeling too miserable to find any joy in that fact that her beloved Aoshi was holding her. Just thinking that made the tears roll down her cheeks. She pressed closer to him and they stayed that way for a little while longer. Even though she didn't want to, Misao finally pulled away from Aoshi. She brushed her hand against the wet spots on his shirt that her tears made.

"Sorry about this. Last thing you need is some teenager blubbering all over you."

"It's okay."

"Actually, it's not. You shouldn't have to always come straighten me out."

"I don't mind. You know that."

"You do too much for me." she said. "I love you for trying though."

"Misao."

"Sorry. Well, not really. And you know what, I'm not sorry for this either."

Before he could ask what, Misao leaned forward and kissed him.