Misao: Aoshi-sama will fall to my plans this time!
Kaoru: What do you mean by plans?
Megumi: Hohoho, Kaoru, are you still that naive?
Kaoru: Shut up! -holds up bokken threateningly-
Kenshin: Oro! Kaoru-dono, don't-
Megumi: -puts hand in front of mouth- My, what a child.
Kaoru: Let me at her!
Kenshin: Maa, maa, Kaoru-dono... -restraining angry tanuki-
DM: That's enough! I need to start the story! -shooting everyone death glares-
Misao: Sheesh, and I didn't even get to reveal my plans... -pouts-
Before the chapter starts, I'd just like to thank everyone for reviewing. Thank you so much! You've no idea how much I appreciate it, it's really encouraged me to keep going with the story. : ) You all are the greatest!
There will be a minimal fluff moment, since I have had people who wanted it. For the most part, Aoshi will be dark/possessive like originally planned-thank you all for voting on it! I guess you all know by now that I ramble hideously, so apologies for that. This chapter starts the beginning of their relationship, mark the word beginning. Nothing too deep just yet.
Okay! Disclaimer: -sigh- Still don't own it...
--Chapter 7-Misao's Rival!--
Misao and Okina said their final farewells and parted ways. Turning back to wave one last time at the disappearing figure cloaked in shadows and leaf-patterned moonlight, the girl walked quickly back to Aoshi's horse and began to clamber up.
She squeaked in dismay as she felt herself being suddenly lifted up and placed on the saddle.
The men chuckled quietly at the noise startled out of the girl.
Sending glares their way, she was sent backwards slightly as the horse began to canter. Blushing a deep red as she felt the man's arm wrap itself about her waist again, she tried in vain to forget it and get some sleep. Leaning back, she sighed quietly. "Goodnight, Aoshi-sama." was the last thing he heard before she nodded off.
For the first time in his life-he was feeling strange. He sorted through a list of feelings that he was comfortable with... and came up with... protective? Why on earth was he feeling protective of a female he had barely met?
The tiny form in front of him snuggled closer, unconsciously seeking his warmth-removing temporarily his train of thought. Holding her closer, he urged the tired horse on-they would stop to rest in a few hours. The other two followed his example and picked up the pace.
Puzzled, Aoshi tried once again to sort out the strange feelings this tiny girl-no, he corrected himself, this woman caused.
Han'nya came up to ride beside him. "I'll take the girl if you are tired, Aoshi-sama."
"I'm fine." was the only response he would give.
For some unfathomable reason, he couldn't quite relinquish the woman to Han'nya.
Aoshi did not like feeling confused.
Not one bit.
She was a puzzle, a mystery, and he was going to figure out why he was feeling like this about her. Then, once he figured her out, he could forget about her. It shouldn't take long to do, she would most likely be just like all the other women who had been interested in him. It wouldn't matter to him whether her feelings were hurt or not-how many others had he done the same thing to? Far too many to count, but Aoshi would not commit himself to a shallow female. If this one turned out like all the others, then he would have no remorse for his actions.
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Misao's POV
I woke up to the sound of the men talking and the smell of something cooking over a campfire.
Yawning lazily, I stretched and sat up. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I tried to gather my bearings. It seemed that we were almost clear of the forest, for which I was grateful. The further I was from my father, the better. I just hope that Mother is doing well, though Father would never do anything to harm her. Too bad I couldn't be in the same category.
I slowly got up, and noticed I still had Aoshi-sama's coat about me. Smiling slightly at the thought, I moved towards the campfire where Han'nya-kun was busy heating up some of the traveling supplies for breakfast.
"What'cha making, Han'nya-kun?" I was surprised at the fact that I barely sounded tired. Maybe having such a high level of energy has its perks?
"Breakfast."
I pouted jokingly at his short answer, "Fine, be that way."
A small laugh came from behind his mask, "It is only a fruit and bread concoction a friend showed me a few years ago."
"Oh." I seated myself by the tall man and sniffed tentatively, "It smells great!"
"It should, Han'nya's the best at making that stuff." Shikijo had finished putting the tack (1) on his horse and wandered over to where we sat.
Han'nya-kun chuckled dryly, "That's only because you can't cook anything to save your life." Shikijo grunted in response to Hannya-kun's jab.
I looked around quickly, not seeing the tall stoic man I had ridden all night with. "Where's Aoshi-sama?"
"Meditating." the men answered simultaneously.
Feeling puzzled at this, I merely shrugged and stood up.
"I wouldn't suggest bothering him while he's meditating, kid." Shikijo shot me a warning glance.
"Don't worry, I won't bother him." I waved cheerily and set out, besides, I had to return his coat.
About twenty-five minutes later I found myself tired, hungry, and still unable to find Aoshi-sama. "Darn that man." I growled underneath my breath.
Deciding to check the campsite to see if he had returned, I slowly got up and froze.
There, just a little ways in the distance was Aoshi-sama meditating... with a female at his side.
"No way!" I snarled angrily. I then heard the sound of my tone, where the heck had that come from? There was no way I was jealous of... I moved closer to see the woman better--that curvaceous, long-legged, mature looking...
Crap.
I was jealous-really jealous. And she dared to hang onto my Aoshi-sama's arm like she belonged there!
'Wait a second, did I just use the word 'my' in relation to Aoshi-sama!' I shook my head violently, man did I have it bad. But that woman was so not going to pull a move on him while I'm here, not if I can help it!
Stalking back to camp, I removed Aoshi-sama's cloak and tossed it on the ground. It was easier than pummeling the man himself. I sat down and glared at an offending ant that dared to crawl in front of me.
"Misao-sama?" the smell of food caught my attention. I looked up at Han'nya-kun's masked face, "Yes?"
"I saved a bowl for you." he offered the food to me and settled himself down beside my side.
"Thanks." I responded quietly, not bothering to hide the lack of the normal chipper tone I seem to typically have. After taking a few bites, I noticed Han'nya-kun watching me. "What?"
"There's something wrong." he stated.
I rolled my eyes, "Not really, unless you count that woman trying to hang onto Aoshi-sama's arm when I finally found him!" My voice grew louder at the end, I guess I was still mad about it-but wouldn't you be?
Han'nya-kun remained silent, but Shikijo snorted loudly.
"Don't worry about that woman, kid-she's nothing Aoshi's interested in." he gave me a lazy smile, "Ya know, you almost sound jealous."
"Pfft, as if!" I glared daggers at the irksome man, wishing I could use a few of my kunai on him. 'Yes, make him into a human pincushion!' I gave an inward evil laugh at this thought.
"Sure, but if you want to know something-Ayame has been trying to get Aoshi's attention for a few years now. Hasn't worked yet, so I don't think she's be able to now." he smiled slightly at my now happy expression.
"Thanks, Shikijo!"
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"Aoshi-san!" I heard a loud voice call out as Aoshi-sama walked slowly back towards the campfire. I had just finished helping Han'nya-kun and Shikijo to finish packing everything up, so I was busy lounging on the ground-having tired of trying to look for Aoshi-sama.
The... woman... stomped after him, her long black hair cascading down her back like a silk waterfall. Jade green eyes flashed with temper as Aoshi-sama continued to remain silent. "Aoshi-san!" I took in her features with a slight sense of anger welling up, she wasn't even prettier than me! Okay, she looked older and more mature, but it's not like I'm exactly lacking in beauty. Granted I still look somewhat young for my age, but that's something I can work around.
Shikijo looked away, his face showing evident traces of disdain for this Ayame. Han'nya-kun remained silent as he watched the two come towards our group.
"Get ready to leave, we are going to catch up with the others within the next two hours." I sat up quickly at this.
"Aoshi-sama?" I tried to get his attention, then gulped slightly as his icy gaze shifted towards me. The look in his eyes reminded me of a wild animal who was on the hunt, and I had a feeling I didn't want to know what his prey was.
I stood up quickly and handed him his long coat back, "Thank you for letting me borrow it." I noticed the woman's eyes narrow with anger as she heard this. --Score- 1 Misao 0 Ayame--
'Take that!' I inwardly crowed. Then frowned as I saw her looking me up and down, probably assessing her competition. Apparently I didn't seem to be much of a challenge judging by the look on her face, but I'd show her... now to figure out how.
Aoshi-sama remained silent. He motioned for Han'nya-kun to bring the horses over.
They champed at the bit, as if anxious to get moving again. Aoshi-sama's horse-who had turned out to be a dark chestnut color-pawed the ground, stirring up dust clouds.
"Who am I going to ride with, Aoshi-san?" I gritted my teeth at the flirtatious tone she used. 'Who the heck did she think she was!'
"Either Han'nya or Shikijo." was his flat reply as he hoisted me up into the saddle. I couldn't help but smirk at the infuriated woman, though I was polite and tried to keep it as a small smirk. Then Aoshi-sama turned around before I could wipe it off my face.
His eyes flashed with an unknown emotion, then he swung up behind me.
Needless to say, I was embarrassed-but also oddly pleased. At least he hadn't said anything, like he would though, right?
Wrong.
As we set off, I felt him lean down. I shivered as I could feel his warm breath on my ear, the reaction causing heat to pool in the bottom of my stomach.
"Pleased?" his deep voice vibrated pleasantly in my ear, causing even more shivers.
'Oh man, I was wrong. Who knew he'd say anything!'
I gulped, forget looking at him-I was too nervous to even answer! I could feel my heart trying to beat a mile a minute as I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do.
He seemed to be okay with my silence, because he straightened and didn't say another word. He moved his arm around my waist, and if I didn't know better-there was something in his hold that was slightly different than last night. I couldn't really place it, so I gave up and decided to enjoy the scenery. The scenery meaning sneaking glances at Ayame's irked expression. I felt really bad for Han'nya-kun, having to put up with her didn't look like fun.
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I guessover an hour passed, and that irksome woman had been trying to captivate Aoshi-sama's attention for almost half of it!
Feeling sorely empted to rip her throat out, I tried to quell the bloodlust that was threatening to take over. Heh, I don't think even Shikijo would appreciate me doing that at the moment. It would have taken too much time to bury the body...
"Aoshi-san? Did you hear me?" she stopped prattling long enough to ask, breaking into my thoughts unpleasantly.
Practically grinding my teeth together at this point in anger, and trying to quit feeling angry, I tried to concentrate on the road as Aoshi-sama remained silent.
The forest was thinning, which meant we'd be clear of it sometime today if we kept at the same brisk pace.
My thoughts then turned back to what had occurred earlier. Aoshi-sama hadn't spoken another word since we started, and right now I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or disgruntled. At least I could take satisfaction in knowing that Ayame hadn't gotten a word out of him. Cue evil laughter.
Still, the way he had acted earlier puzzled, excited, and simply ticked me off all at the same time. I had no clue whether I wanted to muse over this some more or strangle the man. Maybe I could do both when we stopped? Or daydream about strangling him, seeing as how I wouldn't have much of a chance to do it in real life.
Needless to say, I was still confused about the whole thing. I was enraged that he dared make me feel like that, and at the same time I had to wonder if that meant he was interested...
This was not helping matters.
I shook my head violently to try to clear these thoughts and only succeeded in making myself somewhat motion-sick as the horse bounced at the same time I tried to get rid of the pesky thoughts.
Groaning softly, I held my head in both hands and tried to get my stomach back under control.
"Aoshi-san!"
'That's it!' Turning slightly in order to see the irritating woman, I glowered at her as best I could from my half-hidden point. Right now, I could snap at anyone and not feel bad later-this woman wouldn't even make it to my list of 'must apologize later to-insert name.' "Could you please shut up! Aoshi-sama isn't going to respond, I thought you would have got that by now!" I practically yelled at her, startling her into a brief moment of silence.
Her look darkened, "How dare you talk to a member of the Oniwabanshu you little wench! I'll-" She froze at the looks the three men... well, two-sorry Han'nya-kun, but no one can see what your expression is-gave her. Settling for mouthing, 'I'll get you later.' she lapsed into silence, which was all too good for me.
'Hn, part of the Oniwabanshu did she say? How the heck did she manage to make it acting like that!' I mused, then tucked away those thoughts to ponder later as Aoshi-sama began to reign in the horse.
The other two slowed their mounts to a stop, the horses fighting against the lack of movement every step of the way.
Two men dressed in similar apparel to some of the people that stayed with Gramps back at the Aoi-ya emerged from the forest soundlessly a few feet in front of our party.
"Okashira." They greeted and bowed politely.
Aoshi-sama nodded, and my jaw dropped slightly as I noticed the faces of the two.
"Shiro? Kuro?"
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--END NOTES--
(1) tack-now if you have ever worked around horses, you would know this definition. If you haven't, this applies to the saddle, bridle, etc. As my little brother would say, "Basically the stuff you put on a horse." lol : )
Okay! I promise Ayame will be the last OC! I swear! Well, any that play a mentionable part in the story... I had to have someone who'd try to flirt with Aoshi to get Misao riled, so Ayame was selected. It was either that, or mess up Okon or Omasu's characters, and I just couldn't bring myself to do that... Just think of Ayame as one of those obnoxious characters you need to fill out a story. I don't like her, at all, I'm rather disappointed with how she turned out--but this is the 4th time I've revised the chapter and I'm through messing with it! For those who wanted fluff... I tried to mix some in the story, but that was super hard! Especially as I tried to get Aoshi to do a little... XP That's why he might sound a little OOC up top. Really didn't do much fluff-wise with Misao in this chapter, so next chapter will contain some from her. Then I'm done with fluff for a while!
Also, tried to start Aoshi's possessive streak in this... so hopefully ya'll didn't find it horrible. If you guys don't like it, I'll take it down and revise it. My sis liked the fact that Misao had competition... so I was brave enough to post it to find out if it is acceptable, lol.
-sigh-
That's about it... well, since I rambled so much, I won't do the conversation at the end. You all are probably breathing a sigh of relief, lol. Anyways, please review and tell me what you think! Please?