A/N: Sorry for the delayed update! I was suppose to edit this last week but then had the login problem so I delayed it and editing took a long time since I had a had time with the scenes and the story here and hopefully no one goes after because of what's going to happen here. '
Standard Disclaimer Applies Here
Chapter Five: Storytelling Over Tea
"Will you be ordering anything else?" the waitress inquired on her restaurant's two customers.
Kenshin shut the menu closed. "I think that will be all Miss." He handed the menu to the waitress, who left to bring their orders. The woman took it and left the two in silence.
Kenshin looked at the man seated in front of him. "I know you've been wondering why I asked you over to lunch Aoshi in short notice."
Aoshi nodded grimly. "You are right. Do you need anything Kenshin?"
Kenshin shook his head. "Not really, but I'm going to ask you a favor and since this is the only time I can find to talk to you about it, I've decided to tell you now." He paused and sighed. "It has something to do with Kaoru-dono."
Aoshi narrowed his eyes at him. "What about her?" He growled.
Kenshin gave him a small smile, one that did not reach his eyes. "I want you to look after her Aoshi after I leave." He looked at his friend and didn't seem to feel unnerved under his cold glare. "I'm moving away for good." He admitted.
Aoshi tried to look as calm as possible even though his eyes were blazing. "Why are you going to do that?"
Kenshin looked out the window beside their table, his face in a daze. "Do you remember my guardian and old master, Hiko Seijurou?" he turned to look at Aoshi and saw him nod and he continued. "He just has been offered a job in San Francisco to teach Hiten Mitsurugi by an American who has heard about our style. He knows that teaching and spreading the style around the word has been my lifelong dream and recommended me to be his assistant and I've been offered the job too."
Aoshi tried his best to control himself from punching Kenshin. "How long have you been planning this? What about Kaoru?" he asked angrily.
"Not too long ago, it has only been less than a year since my master has received the offer, I never thought I would get their approval as their assistant but I did, my master called me up as soon as I arrived from Singapore and told me about the offer and I've accepted it." He looked up at Aoshi. "I know you're mad because I'm going to leave Kaoru-dono but she wouldn't like it in San Francisco, her life is here in Japan. She won't be happy there." He said softly, sadness in his eyes.
Aoshi almost snorted. "She'd be happy there, she has you. You know that Kaoru loves you, she'll come after you."
The two friends stopped and paused as a waitress came and served them their drinks. The two sipped their drinks silently for a few moments before Kenshin finally spoke.
"Kaoru will be hurt, but she changes her mind easily, she will learn to love you." He said.
Aoshi almost choked on his drink. "What makes you say that?" he asked. "Kaoru truly loves you and why would she love me?"
Kenshin smiled grimly. "Aoshi, I know you love Kaoru-dono even though you've never come out and admitted it. Kaoru-dono will need someone to comfort her for a while and I know she will run to you and you too will be very happy together."
Aoshi slammed his drink on the table. "Are you out of your mind Kenshin? Kaoru is not fickle. She loves you." He stopped and looked down and tried not to lose his temper and released his hold on his drink. "Do you not care for her Kenshin? Why are you doing this to her?"
"I do care for her Aoshi and I was so happy when we started dating, but I do not think that she loves me as much as I love her."
"So this is the reason why you're leaving her, because she does not satisfy your love?"
To Aoshi's surprise, an expression of rare anger appeared on Kenshin's face.
"Do not accuse me of such things Aoshi. I love Kaoru-dono and only want the best for her but I feel that she would not be happy in the United States with me and during our relationship and… I've noticed that her feelings for me are more daughterly than romantic."
"What makes you think that?" Aoshi said incredulously. "Kaoru has loved you ever since she was five."
"Do you remember how we first met Aoshi? Kaoru was suffering from the lost of her father and I happen to arrive in her life. I was very much older than her and had happened to look like her father. She followed me around to the point that I was helping her mother raise her." Kenshin said.
"I see." Aoshi spoke softly. "So you believe Kaoru sees you as her father figure but believes herself to be in love with you."
"Yes and I've only realized it now." Kenshin told him, looking a little lost. "Please Aoshi, try to understand. I believe that I'm taking advantage of her innocence. Please take care of her and confess to her your true feelings. She will be very happy with you."
Aoshi glanced down. "Alright, I will do what you have asked me to do, but when are you going to tell her?"
Kenshin sighed. "I am not sure yet, but I hope I'll be able to do it soon."
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Aoshi inspected the engagement ring. It had a shiny diamond in between two small sapphires. He could see the color of his blue pools reflected by the diamond. He lowered his hand that was holding the ring and gave it back to the grim-faced jeweler.
"It is a beautiful ring but I am not planning to buy one yet, will more rings with a similar design be arriving in the future?" he inquired.
"I believe so sir." The jeweler answered.
Aoshi nodded. "I hope to be back in the future then." He said, lifted his head to them as a gesture of goodbye and exited the jewelry shop.
The jeweler's feminine-looking male co-worker approached him. "Anji-san, was that Aoshi Shinomori? The Aoshi Shinomori?" he asked eagerly, with his eyes sparkling. "Is he coming back? Can you get me an autograph when he does?"
"He is coming back Kamatari and was apparently looking at some engagement rings."
Kamatari looked like he was about to cry. "Aoshi Shinomori? Getting married! No! That can't be!" he wailed.
"He may be only looking at some rings for a friend." Anji said.
Kamatari blinked. "Maybe or…" he grinned wickedly. "Maybe the press hasn't heard about it yet." She headed for the phone on the other side of the room.
"Anji, hand me the phonebook, I'm going to inform several newspapers what they need to know."
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"YOU TRAITORS! COME BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU TWO YET!" Misao yelled as she ran after Sanosuke and Megumi, waving her kunai filled hands on the air. She wasn't going to throw it at them yet. She was too busy trying to run while wearing three inch heeled boots.
Megumi and Sanosuke turned swiftly to an alley on the right. Misao made a quick turn on the alley and unfortunately tripped on her boots and let out a string of obscene curses that made a mother standing nearby cover her five year old daughter's ears and send Misao a vicious look, which she didn't see, as she was scrambling up to run after her useless friends.
"Ah, damn these stupid boots!" she screamed and took her footwear off and started running after Sanosuke and Megumi again. She didn't give a damn if her feet would get dirty right now; all she cared about was not letting the couple escape from her again.
Misao ran, catching up with the couple, little by little. She grinned. She was trained incredibly well in martial arts and running and was known to be one of the fastest kids in school when she was in high school and was even offered a position in the track team, which she had turned down because she wanted to focus on martial arts.
She stared ahead and saw that Sanosuke and Megumi were only a few feet ahead of her. They couldn't have forgotten that she was that fast, didn't they? She sped up her pace and prepared herself for her big jump.
"KECHO GIRI!" she shouted and jumped and placed a fleet and powerful kick on the back of Sanosuke's head.
"ACK! WEASEL!" Sano screamed and fell to the ground stomach first and tried to scramble up, but Misao didn't allow him too and readied her kunai.
"Kansatsu Tobikunai!" she shouted again and Sanosuke found himself pinned to the ground by sixteen throwing knives.
Misao laughed angrily and started hitting Sanosuke with her bag. "You friggin asshole! How dare you! How dare you sell my house?" she screamed.
Megumi screamed as she watched Misao beat her husband up. "Misao-chan! Stop it please! You're hurting him!" she pleaded and tried to pull Misao away but was pushed slightly aside.
"Like I care, as if you didn't hurt me by what you did, you idiots!" Misao yelled at her and continued hitting Sano.
Megumi started to cry. "Misao-chan! Please! If Sano…" she wailed. Suddenly, she stopped and held her belly and started breathing heavily. She dropped to the ground and started wailing and screaming.
"My…my womb…" she screamed. "It hurts!"
Misao stopped hitting Sano and dropped her bag and saw Megumi crying, with her arms around her belly and gasped. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "Megumi-chan, are you alright? Is the baby alright?" she asked worriedly.
"I…don't know." Megumi sniveled. "But it really hurts!" she complained blatantly.
"We need to get you to the doctor! Sano, help me!" Misao screeched and started pulling the kunai out of his clothes. Once they were all gone, they rushed to Megumi and helped her on Sanosuke's back.
"I'll get you a cab! Wait here!" Misao told them and ran out of the alley and frantically tried to hail a cab.
One of the cabs finally pulled up. Misao opened the door to the passenger seat beside the driver's seat.
"Wait sir! I'll get the couple, who'll be riding with me first!" she told the driver quickly and ran back as fast as she could back to the alley.
"Megumi! Sano! The cab's here!" she called as she arrived back where she left them. She stopped still. Megumi and Sanosuke were nowhere to be seen. She grabbed her hair and screamed in frustration when she realized what had happened.
Misao dropped to the ground and felt tears in her eyes but unlike the last time she felt her tears, she cried and let all her hurt out in her tears.
Her two closest and only friends had tricked her again.
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Aoshi contemplated on his decision as he drank his tea. After his talk with Kenshin earlier, he had decided that he would finally confess his feelings to Kaoru and ask her to marry him. He had no plans to propose anytime soon, but he was an actor and he wanted everything to be perfect, which is why he was going to practice his proposal everyday starting tonight.
He set his cup back and leaned his elbows on the table as his spoke. "I know that you may think this is a little too soon, but I've loved you for almost my whole life. I could never bear the thought of not being with you, which is why I want to ask you if you would agree to be my wife." No, it wasn't right…
"Okay." An answer came from behind him.
Aoshi turned to Misao, who was leaning against the refrigerator while holding a cup of tea. He sighed, feeling grumpy at being interrupted in the middle of his practice. "You're supposed to be in bed already so why are you still up?" he asked a little hotly.
Misao shrugged and scratched her spaghetti strapped shoulders. "You're not the only one who drinks tea to calm their selves." She spoke. "Besides calm is what I need to be right now after running into my two useless friends to day!" she muttered softly, but audible enough for Aoshi to hear.
"You ran into them? Did you collect the money?" he questioned even though he could tell from her foul mood that she hadn't.
"No, they escaped from me before I even had a chance to ask them for the money." She grumbled and took a seat across from Aoshi and rested her head on the table. "What were you saying a while ago? Were those lines from a movie?" her eyes looked up at Aoshi. "Did you mind that I answered your proposal? I felt like trying to help you to get into the scene by answering. I thought it was going to make it more realistic." She asked.
"Yes, I did mind." Aoshi replied.
"Fine, suit yourself." Misao grumbled. "What's the movie about anyway?" she said curiously.
Aoshi sighed. He had a feeling that if he didn't answer her, she was probably going to bother him for the rest of the night and tomorrow"It's about a man who has been in love with his close friend for a long period of time but the problem is; his friend is in love with another one of their close friends, who loves her back. It has hurt him greatly to see the both of them together but he tried his best to be happy for them."
"I can so relate to him." Misao remarked unhappily. "You know, about your two close friends, who're a couple and together they hurt you. It's not like in your movie but it still sucks to be hurt by your childhood friends."
"I see, shall I continue now?" Aoshi asked her. Misao nodded and he continued.
"It was until one day when the couple broke up and his friend's boyfriend moved to America and was left behind to comfort the woman. He finally decided to confess his feelings to the woman and…"
"Oh I know!" Misao interrupted suddenly and lifted her head and supported it with her hands. "He decided to propose to the girl right?" she queried eagerly.
"Yes, how did you know?" he said incredulously.
Misao's face had molded into an expression of complacency and smugness. "Of course I know! I'm a writer! I think up stuff like that all the time!" she grinned, "I'm sure I can guess what happens next. He does propose but he gets rejected because the girl is still in love with her ex-boyfriend."
Aoshi's face shot up from the mug of tea he was scrutinizing as he spoke. "You think so?" he questioned, feeling a little worried. He couldn't believe it. Misao had just blurted out all of his fears.
Misao nodded. "Yup and he got so depressed that he drove all the way to the sea and tried to drown himself by jumping into the water, but unfortunately for him, a poor fisherman and his daughter were in the sea just in time to see him jump. The beautiful fisherman's daughter jumped and saved him and took care of him while he stayed in their small fishing village on a small island. He decided to start a new life as a fisherman and lived with them as he started living his new life. He and the fisherman's daughter often fought but they slowly fell in love even if they haven't admitted their feelings for each other but…" her eyes widened as she continued on. "His childhood friend came looking for him and found him there and told him that she loved him back and offered him a chance to return to the mainland and get married. The man was in a dilemma, whom would he choose? The woman he had been in love with since he was a kid or the poor fisherman's daughter that he often quarreled with but still loved?" she grinned.
"He picks the fisherman's daughter of course and his childhood friend went back to the mainland and married her ex-boyfriend while the fisherman's daughter and him started a large fishing company and became wealthy and they all lived happily ever after!" she looked at Aoshi eagerly. "So, what do you think? That was pretty good, right? I could use it for my second novel."
Aoshi sighed. Why he even listened to Misao's silly story was a mystery to him. "Go to bed." He ordered. "Don't you remember the rules? You're not allowed out of your room when I'm home unless I tell you to order you to leave it. Now, go to sleep." He growled and got up from his chair and left the room hastily.
Misao scowled. "Well, he didn't have to be so grumpy about it." She croaked.
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The Full House's front door creaked open as Misao went outside to fetch Aoshi his newspaper. She bent down carefully to grab it from its location under the gate and scanned its pages as she walked unhurriedly back to the house. She took a small peek at the entertainment section and her eyes enlarged as she read the article in it. She fastened her pace and ran to the kitchen where Aoshi was having his usual breakfast with tea.
"Aoshi-sama!" she said as she entered the kitchen and waved the article in front of him. "Read this! It's about you!" she exclaimed.
Aoshi grabbed the article and read it while Misao continued to chatter.
"Wow, I didn't know you were planning to get married soon; who is it then? Is it Tomoe? Wait that can't be her, I just read an article yesterday about her getting engaged to her non-celebrity boyfriend, so who is it then?" she asked and watched Aoshi as he read the article.
She noticed his eyes blaze then suddenly turn cold, like ice. His hands shook as he crumpled the article and threw it to nearest trash can.
"Don't believe that rubbish." He told her sharply when the kitchen phone started ringing. The phone was nearer to him so he beat Misao to it and answered the phone.
Misao sniffed and started bringing Aoshi's used eating utensils to the sink. "He could have told me that more nicely."She grumbled softly to herself as she heard snatches of Aoshi's phone conversation.
"They're not true. I'm not engaged." She heard Aoshi say. He paused. "Call the newspapers later or ignore them as usual." He sighed. "Goodbye Hannya." He hanged up and turned to Misao.
"I'm going to train at the back for an hour. You can start cleaning while I'm there." He ordered coldly and exited the kitchen swiftly.
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Misao tied her purple bandanna around hair and grabbed a bottle of furniture polish, a rag and a feather duster. She was now ready to clean the living room furniture.
Misao decided to start with the small table in front of the couch first. She wrinkled her nose as she saw how the table was littered with unopened mail. She collected them and started to put them on a stack.
"How messy of him." She muttered as she stacked the mail, when a black invitation envelope caught her eye. She turned it over and read the back, her eyes growing large. She jumped and ran outside, taking the envelope with her.
"Aoshi-sama!" she called as she ran to the backyard. "Aoshi-sama can I talk to you!" she asked and reached the backyard just in time to see Aoshi practicing his water flow technique. She stopped and watched in awe as Aoshi move faster and faster in different speeds and direction and soon she could see that there was eight of him. He continued on for a few more minutes and started moving slower and soon enough, there was only one Aoshi again.
Misao clapped. "That was so cool! Where did you learn that? I want to do that too!" she exclaimed eagerly.
Aoshi turned to her with an expression of slight irritation on his face. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be cleaning the house."
Misao nodded and tightened the knot on her bandanna. "Yeah, I was but don't worry I'll go back to it later, I just want to talk to you about this." She waved the invitation in the air. "It's an invitation to Kenshin's magazine anniversary party."
"I know what that is. If that's that the only thing you came here about, you can go back inside and…"
Misao interrupted him. "I'm asking you if I can go with you. Can I? I'm sure Kenshin will be inviting a lot of publishers and I want to talk to them about my story. Please can I go?" she begged.
"No." Aoshi replied.
Misao pouted. "Why not? I'll stay away from you the whole night and I promise not to make any trouble! Please!" she pleaded.
"No." Aoshi said again and grabbed his kodachi and went to sit on the lawn chair and started cleaning his twin blades, his back to Misao.
Misao glowered. She needed this opportunity! She walked slowly to Aoshi and folded her arms. "Fine then, I'll still go to the party, I don't have to go with you anyway!" she grumbled.
"You can't go, you don't have an invite." Aoshi told her, his back still facing her.
"Well I'll call Kenshin and ask him to send me an invite then but if he can't… I'll find a way to sneak in then!" she said confidently.
"Security will catch you." Aoshi reasoned.
Misao simpered. "I'll just tell them to call Kenshin and I'm sure he'll let me in."
Aoshi placed his kodachi back to their sheath and turned to Misao, his face almost blank and he sighed. "You'd do anything to get published."
"Of course! I'm so sick of internet love story writing and it's the only way I can pay you back and it'll get rid of me sooner, remember? So please bring me with you!" she whined and stuck out her lower lip to him. He sighed.
"Fine, you can come with me as long as you don't make any trouble." Aoshi relented.
A wide grin appeared on Misao's face. "Really? Yes! Thank you Aoshi-sama!" she chirped happily. Her eyes widened. "Oh, yeah can you teach me that really cool technique of yours? I really want to learn how to do it!"
Aoshi frowned. "You can't do fighting arts."
Misao huffed. "Oh, yes I can! How was I able to kick you after we ate at the restaurant then?" She smiled smugly. "I know how to use kunai and happen to have a brown belt in karate and taekwondo!" she bent down slightly and demonstrated a neck chop and a kick. "See! I can do fighting arts pretty well so please teach me!" she asked him.
Aoshi stood up and turned away from her. "Just go back to work." He ordered coldly and left Misao again as he did earlier.
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A/N: Ah! Don't kill me if you didn't like what happened here. I'm sorry that KK might break up because it's part of the story, but don't worry because it might all work out in the end. I stillknowthat Kenshin's action and reason to break up with Kaoru may not be clear enough for you, but I will try to explain it in future chapters in the author's notes or maybe in the story. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner or even sooner if I get a lot of reviews, (evil grin) and it won't be a sort of filler chapter like this one and something really important will happen. On to the replies!
Rkfan: Yeah poor Aoshi so stressed out even here. Thanks for liking my fic and I hope you also like this chapter!
Darkest Protector: Thanks for liking chapter four! I hope you like this one too!
The-Lone-Lemon: Thanks for reading and liking this! I hope you like this update!
Crossfire: Thanks for liking the last chapter, I hope you like this too!
Miki: Yeah, what they did sucked anyway thanks for liking my work!
Varyalanis: Hey, thanks for the great review! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
LegolasEstelstar: Thanks for the great review! I'm sorry that Sano and Megumi escaped and I didn't show Misao's dark side since the chapter was already finished when I received your review, anyway don't worry they won't escape again and Misao won't forgive them easily.
Rachel: You saw Full House too? Yeah it was great; anyway I hoped you liked it!
Zelianyu: Yeah it's like the tv show and I based the fic on the tv show because I haven't read the manga. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this!
Jazzy Uchiha: Hey thanks! Your review made me happy. I hope you liked this chapter too!