Disclaimer: By now, you probably know the routine. Not mine -- not now, not ever.

Without Words

Chapter 10-The Street Whispers

Tires squealed their protest as Aoshi backed the car out of the street, crouched in his seat to avoid the bullets that were headed straight for them. He had one hand on the steering wheel, while the other forced Misao down to sit on the car floor. Beneath his touch, he felt her wince slightly as one bullet took out their side mirror. She shuddered yet again when their windshield was hit. Aoshi was grateful that she was out of sight; that last gunshot was right on target. All thoughts of Yumi's untimely demise were now from his head. The only thing that was important now was to protect Misao from Shishio's men.

But the other car was relentless.

Aoshi reached the adjacent street and did a quick U-turn. He floored the gas pedal and the Subaru shot forward. "Are you okay?" he asked her, shooting her a glance. He imagined her to be scared out of her wits. But to his surprise, the journalist had her mobile out and was looking at him expectantly.

"Got their license number?" she demanded. "We can call the police and --"

Another bullet hit their back window. Aoshi swerved the car and wove through the streets in an effort to lose their pursuers. "No plates," he replied. "Don't worry, it won't be long before the traffic police will be on our heels as well."

Misao tried to shrug his hand off her shoulders and push herself back onto her seat. "Stay down," Aoshi growled at her. He neared an intersection, cursing himself as he saw the red light that flashed at him. He had enough trouble as it was without having to worry about her.

"Are you crazy?" Misao shot back, as if she had read his mind. "Quit worrying about me and keep your hands on the wheel!"

Aoshi took her advice without another word, using both hands to control the wheel as he veered sharply to the left. A swift look at the rearview mirror told him that the other vehicle was rapidly closing the distance. There were about three people in the other car, a driver and two hitmen. Aoshi lowered his head as the barrage continued, riddling his Subaru with more bullets. That back window could shatter any moment now.

"Gun in the glove compartment," he called out to Misao.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" the journalist charged, rifling through the compartment to retrieve a .45. She gave him a lopsided grin. Aoshi wondered how she could still smile at a time like this. "Point and shoot, right?"

Easier said than done.

Aoshi reached across and released the safety catch for her. But he had no choice; he had to depend on her this time. "Try not to get yourself killed," was the only thing he could say.

They rounded another corner at breakneck speed, and the Subaru jumped on the sidewalk, scattering pedestrians. The car skidded and Aoshi struggled for control, finally managing to bring the car back to the road.

Misao clung to her seat. "I won't," she assured him. "I have you to do that for me."

Before he could protest, she carefully maneuvered near her window, keeping herself as low as possible. Then she flicked the window open, raised the gun and fired away.

She took out a headlight.

He barely even glanced at her when she scowled at him. "Don't say it. Aim higher. You're so predictable."

What the hell was she talking about? He didn't say anything. He didn't even think it … yet.

She fired two quick shots just before they turned another corner. Now Aoshi realized why she had been aiming so low. Both her attempts hit their pursuers' front tire and the vehicle skidded crazily through the streets before slamming into a lamppost.

Misao's face was lit up with glee, just like a little girl opening her first present. She even had the audacity to wink at him. "Wasn't I good?" she bragged. "They should have thought of that earlier."

Aoshi fought not to look at her. Granted, she was quick on her feet, but the woman was insane. Did nothing ever faze her? "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" he asked instead.

"I used to throw knives around when I was a kid. My grandfather helped me practice ever since," she explained. "I'm always right on target, you know."

Not this time, he wanted to tell her. If she had been on target, she would have avoided this whole mess and spared herself the trouble. He had to shake some sense into her before she went running off to God knows where. He pulled over and faced her, ignoring the look of panic that briefly flashed through her eyes at the thought of them stopping after having a bunch of gun-toting maniacs follow them from one end of Kyoto to another.

But Aoshi was no longer worried about them. "Okay, let's make things clear. No more little excursions for you," he told her firmly. "From now on, you have to listen to everything I have to say. Trust me on this, Misao. I won't let anything happen to you."

She was silent for a moment, dropping her eyes on her lap. Aoshi couldn't tell what was going through her mind. Then she looked up at him with a sad smile. "I guess what I'm doing can wait much later." Aoshi recalled her mentioning something about her father, and it was too bad that her search had to end a little abruptly, at least this time. She took a deep breath. "I'm putting my life in your hands, Aoshi."

Her clear blue eyes looked up at him so innocently that he felt a strange pang in his chest. From behind them, he could hear the distant wail of a police siren. It wouldn't be long now before they would catch up to them for disturbing the peace and breaking nearly every traffic rule in the book.

The wheels in his head began working overtime.

He grabbed her shoulders. "Do you trust me?"

"I just told you --"

That was all the reassurance that Aoshi needed to hear. "Don't tell them anything. But you'll be safer there than anywhere else. I'll come back for you, I promise."

"Safer where?" Misao's forehead was wrinkled in thought. "Aoshi, you're not making any sense."

But he had already opened his door and stepped out. Then he reached back into the car and dragged Misao to the seat he had just vacated. She squirmed under his grasp. "What are you doing?"

"You said you'd trust me, Misao," he reminded her. "This is the best way, I promise. I just need you to stay put in some place safe for a short while."

It seemed that the full impact of his words hit her only then. "You want them to arrest me so I can be safe at the police station?"

"They'll hold you for a couple of hours, but it'll be okay. I just need to do something right now and I don't want you around," he said.

Misao smirked. "I have seen a man pee before --" she began to tease, but when she looked at the serious expression on his face she stopped in mid-sentence. Aoshi wasn't laughing. "Okay, fine," she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and slumping against the seat.

"Trust me," he repeated, as if to reassure himself. Then he took the gun from her hands and fled down the street. When he turned back, the first of two police cars had stopped beside his Subaru. He could see Misao staring at him through the windshield, as she slowly raised her hands in surrender.

***

"I need to call my lawyer," she demanded, as the same blond haired officer that had seen her kiss Aoshi earlier escorted her into a small room. "Don't I get one phone call? Don't I have rights? Hey, watch your hands, buddy!"

The officer sighed as Misao refused to enter. "When the traffic division said that they were sending me a little present, I didn't think they meant a headache. When we charged you with reckless imprudence and destruction of property, not to mention all those traffic violations, and you wouldn't say a word. Now you've got a mouth on motor-gear. What gives?"

"Phone call," Misao snarled. Damn Aoshi for putting her through this. And damn her for listening to him.

"Fine," the officer gave up. He gestured towards the one hanging on the wall near the cells. "Make it quick. Or post bail. Try the latter and save us the torture."

Misao stuck her tongue out at him before striding towards the phone. She chewed on her lower lip. Now, who would she call? Omasu, probably? But what help could she be? Aoshi wanted her to stay put here, and her new friend would insist on posting bail. Okina was definitely out of the question. Love him or hate him, she didn't want him to suffer a heart attack at hearing that his precious 'granddaughter' was stuck in a Kyoto cell. But since she was going to be here for the rest of the day – and maybe even through the night – then she might as well make good use of the time and get some work done.

"Yes, this is Himura Kenshin," her friend answered when Misao's call finally got through. She didn't wait for him to say another word. Everything that happened in Kyoto came spilling out and Misao could only imagined the look on his face. She ended with their wild chase and how she got herself arrested on purpose. "Now I don't know where that idiotic professor is. But he said that he'd come back for me, so I'm just going to wait here. In the meanwhile, I need an address for this Sadojima Hoji and this man who was allegedly the last one to see my father. A Hanazawa Kazuma. From what I remember, he used to work for the Oni Times here in Kyoto, so I just need an address. Plus you still owe me for that info on Aoshi."

"Misao!" Kenshin protested. "I have work too, you know?"

"Two minutes!" the blond officer called out.

Misao rolled her eyes and ignored him. Instead, she turned on the charm as she continued talking to Kenshin. "But Kenshin, I'm stuck in this dinky cell with hardened criminals and that's all you can say? I'm not even asking you to spring me out, just this small favor. Just look them up for me." She dropped her voice slightly. "I know you won't turn me down, especially after everything I've done for Kaoru when she was going through labor..."

Misao smiled to herself. That had always been her ace against Kenshin. That time, he had been assigned to a really important case at Tokyo headquarters, leaving Misao to look after her pregnant best friend during Kaoru's last weeks in labor. In fact, she had been the one who drove Kaoru to the hospital when she was about to give birth.  She could already sense Kenshin giving in on the other line.

"Okay," he sighed. "I'll probably have to talk to Captain Saitou to get all these information to you, and I'd hate to be the one to tell him that you managed to get yourself caught in all this Juppongatana stuff."

Misao brightened. "You're a pal, Kenshin. Thanks a million. You won't regret it."

"Why do I have a feeling that I already am?" Kenshin's voice grew serious. "I don't know how you get yourself into these things, Misao. Be careful. I can have Okina down there in a flash if you need help, you know. But once you've crossed the Juppongatana, I doubt that coming back to Tokyo will solve anything."

"One minute!"

Misao groaned at the officer's reminder. "Listen, I've got to go for more questioning or whatever it is they do at these things. But Aoshi said I should just shut up and that's what I'm going to do."

"Starting now?" There was a teasing quality in Kenshin's tone that she couldn't quite place.

"Yup, starting now. I do know how to keep my mouth shut, you know. It's not like I'm going to start blabbering to the first person I see how all this mess started. You think that I --"

"Misao?" Kenshin broke in.

"Huh?"

"Shut up," he laughed softly. "I'll have the information you need in a few hours, count on it. And take care. Kaoru, Kenji and I are counting that you'll come back to us in one piece."

Misao nodded at his concern. She was glad that she could always turn to Kenshin and Kaoru for help. "Thanks, Himura."

When she replaced the receiver, the police officer walked up to her and squinted at her. "Finally. Come on, there's still a lot of paperwork before us."

Misao groaned. She hoped that Aoshi knew what he was doing, wherever he was.

***

The early evening air blew through Kyoto in soft whispers. It whipped through his hair like a lover's touch, belying the fierce tension that it carried with it. His rented room had been undisturbed, and Aoshi took the chance to equip himself. He might not get another opportunity later.

His old kodachis were back in the sheath at his left. On his right was a small revolver. Shishio went too far when he had Yumi killed, when he went after Misao. Aoshi stepped out on the streets, boldly challenging Shishio's men to come after him.

He had things to protect.

And promises to keep.

End of Chapter 10-The Street Whispers

Author's Notes: Gomen nasai for this slightly delayed update. I'll try not to let it happen again.