The Trip

Chapter One

AN: ADULT CONTENT! PLEASE DON'T READ ON IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE ADULT SITUATIONS, ETC. FAIR WARNING TO ALL. LATERZ…

A tall dark haired man with crystal blue eyes walked into the plush bedroom of his palatial New York apartment. He has a black terry robe on over his broad shoulders and pats his wet hair dry with a towel. Looking back at the sleeping form of his long time girlfriend still in bed, he lets out a defeated sigh and crawls back under the covers next to her.

"Mmmh…" she mumbles as he nuzzles his lips against her neck, and breaths in her warmth. She was lying peacefully on her side and was now aware of a firm warm presence wrapping itself around her.

"Time to wake up Misao" he whispers as his strong hands wrap around her tiny waist.

She giggles at the wetness of his hair falling in small cool drops on her skin. "Aoshi, you're soaking me" she barely mumbles.

Not wanting it to stop, she presses herself closer against him as his hands begin to roam all over her frame. "Mmmmh, stop" she coos, hardly meaning a word of it.

He flips her onto her back as he props himself onto his side. He slips a hand under her slinky camisole, and cups a smooth warm mound. Gently he toys with the hardening point and coaxes her to awaken. She only gasps in response and keeps her brilliant emerald eyes tightly closed. The only thing that she can feel is his hand roaming freely all over her.

Equally excited by her reaction, he casually slips his hand down further and feels the lacey edge of her panties before finding her hot sweet spot. He toys with her at first and only rubs his fingers against her juicy folds through the thin fabric.

She moans. He recognizes the urgency in her voice and immediately pushes under the soft fabric of her panties. Teasingly he massages the tender area several times as she begins to sway her hips in response. Finally, putting an end to her torture, he plunges his fingers inside of her and feels the intense heat of her core.

She arches her back upward and he takes the opportunity to close his wet mouth over her pointed nipple. The fabric of her camisole becomes instantly soaked under his tongue and she buries her slender fingers into his wet hair. His tongue flickers back and forth over the mound as his fingers continue their own assault still buried deep inside her.

Devilishly she manages to find his warmth and gently wraps her hand around it. A small breath hitches in his throat at the sudden sensation and he only intensifies his fingers speed in an out of her.

Her full lips part and quiver and her brow furrows from the intensity. He looks up at her perfect features and just as she bites down on her lower lip to keep from screaming, he muffles her with his mouth. Their tongues meet and twist as they hungrily taste each other.

She moans into his mouth and his lips start a trail, suckling kisses down her throat inching towards her breasts.

"Aohsi" she breaths just as his hands slip the straps of her camisole off of her shoulders.

He flickers his tongue up and down the smooth curve of her shoulder and moves to her ear lobe. "Say it again" he huskily whispers to her sending shivers down her spine.

She only tightens her hold of his manhood in her hands and continues to pump. "Aoshi" she repeats, her voice dripping with ecstasy.

He grunts in response and quickly takes position, hovering over her. His fingers move to his mouth and he licks the juices there. She looks lovingly back up at him as his sensual blue eyes drink in her beauty.

She prepares for him to enter, her body begging for him to fill her.

RING RING, RING RING, RING RING

"What?" she's snapped from her thoughts as the loud ringing of the phone now fills her mind.

"Argh" Aoshi grunts, "don't answer!" He continues to plant wet kisses on her bare skin; but the magic has been broken. She pushes his chest away from her and looks up at him.

"It could be important. Answer it." She stops her movements and hikes up her camisole straps.

He grunts disapprovingly moves away and snatches the receiver from the base. "HELLO?" he snaps.

"Ash?"

Immediately his frustration and anger dissipates as the feminine voice on the other end comes into focus.

"Kaoru?" he asked disbelievingly.

The woman on the other end giggles slightly, "Yes it's me. I hope I'm not bothering you?"

Aoshi looks over his shoulder and sees Misao looking at him. Her face is graced with a beautiful smile and he can hardly control himself as his lips curl up into one as well.

"Of course not Kaoru. I'm just surprised to hear from you after so long." He thinks back to the better times when he would speak to his dear cousin regularly. She was the younger, mischievous sister he never had and he was as protective of her as any older brother would be.

"I'm sorry, I guess I haven't been very good at keeping in contact" her voice quivered with emotion and he noticed the softness in her tone. The once bouncy and vibrant energy that she spoke with was long gone.

"Kao, you know I'm never upset with you. I'm just surprised to hear from you that's all and I hope this is a friendly social call, but if you need anything just ask!"

A familiar soothing laughter came from the other end, "No Aoshi, nothing serious. I just wanted to hear your voices. How is Misao?"

He looked back over at his love, "She's good, annoying as ever" he waited for a response from the petite woman.

She didn't disappoint him, by immediately frowning and crossing her arms across her chest. He couldn't help but smile.

"That's good to hear. She emailed me some time ago, and I'm ashamed to say that I only recently even logged on to check my account. I hope she's not angry with me."

He was surprised at the information as his sweetheart made no mention of that to him. "Uh, no I don't believe so. But why don't you ask her? Hold on…"

He handed the cordless to Misao.

"Hello? Hi Kaoru! How are you? Oh my gosh I miss you soooo much!" she started her energetic rambling.

Another short round of chuckles from and other end, before Kaoru answered. "I'm good Misao. How are you? I miss you guys too! I hope you're taking good care of my cousin!"

Misao blushed and giggled as Aoshi sat on the edge of the bed and watched her in fascination. Her expressions and vibrant tones always left him breathless and in awe.

"Yes of course! So did you get my email?"

"I'm ashamed to say I only got it last night when I finally forced myself to log onto the email account. I'm so sorry Misao. You'd sent that email almost a month ago."

"Don't worry about it, I'm just so happy to finally hear your voice after all this time" she trailed off remembering when she'd last seen her beloved's cousin.

An uncomfortable chuckle from the other line broke through Misao's thoughts.

"So you guys are coming for a visit?"

Misao's eyes gleamed mischievously towards Aoshi as a smile spread from ear to ear. "YES! We wanted to come see you soon. In fact, um, what about next week? I wanted you to have enough notice so we don't just barge in and bother you. Oh and why not take a few days off from the university?"

Aoshi cocked his eyebrow and looked in sheer confusion towards her as she spoke on the phone. Misao only smiled sweetly back and winked at him.

"Having you guys here wouldn't be any trouble at all. I look forward to it!"

"Great! Then we'll see you next, ummmm, today is Thursday…" she rambled thoughtfully. "OH RIGHT! So we'll see you Monday!"

Aoshi's mouth dropped open as the girl in front of him continued to giggle on the phone. "Bye Kaoru, I can't wait to see you! Muah!"

She pressed the end button on the receiver and looked innocently up at him. "What?"

"What are you planning you little devil?"

She giggled, "Just a small trip! I emailed her and told her that we wanted to visit. I knew she would eventually respond. After all, we're still friends and family!"

"Misao…"

"Oh don't say no! Please? Please!" her emerald orbs twinkled under her frown. She inched closer towards him on the bed and swung her arms around his neck. "Please?" she whispered while kissing his neck.

"I have work! What am I supposed to say to them?"

"Who cares, you're practically the boss! I just think it's important for us to see her! I mean it's been two years since, and it is as if she's just stopped caring, stopped living. Besides, I think she'll love seeing you after so long."

Aoshi sighed and thought about that. It was true that he hadn't seen his baby cousin in years. True that he worried over her constantly, but couldn't convince her to move back to NY or even visit. True that he does want to see her after all this time, and hopefully inspire her to rebuild her broken life.

"Alright, you have a point. We'll go for a few days…"

"Days?" she interrupted. "That's all the time you have for your family? NO! We're going away for a few weeks! Make the arrangements and I'll worry about packing!"

She was a stubborn one, but that's why he loved her. The only woman that could ever dare to put him in his place.

"Alright, I'll make the arrangements. I have to get into the office today and let them know about this so I might as well go and get ready."

Still clinging to his neck Misao didn't immediately allow him to get up from the bed. "You know" she trailed her tongue up his slender and well toned neckline to nibble on his ear, "we can still finish what we started."

He smirked, abruptly rose from the bed and pulled her up into his arms. Grabbing her by her rear, he hiked her up as she swung her legs around his waist. He shoved his hands into her thick hair and kissed her intensely while walking towards the bathroom.

"What a way to start the morning…"

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"Aoshi you're taking time off? Since when?" A man with spiky brown hair walked into the large corner office, unannounced as always.

He wore a tailored blue pinstripe suit that did nothing but only define his broad shoulders and chest. He'd been the outspoken, annoying, but very energetic partner Aoshi had been working with for years.

"Since I wanted to" he simply replied.

Sano smirked, "Right! You mean since the wifey ordered you to!" he laughed.

Aoshi frowned slightly, not wanting to involve his personal life with his professional even if Sano had been his close friend for years.

"No" he replied irritated, "we're actually going to go see a cousin of mine in Europe. We haven't seen her in years and she recently called."

"Oooh, good-looking cousin?" Sano laughed. He had always been a playboy, even after meeting his match with Megumi.

"Damnit Sano, get your head out of your ass for once in a while. She's the same cousin that moved after the accident a few years back. Remember the funeral? Kaoru?"

Sano immediately quieted down, his smile fading, "Oh man, Kaoru?"

Aoshi raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you remember her name…"

"How could I not. Such a pretty girl and what a horrible thing to happen at such a young age. I felt so bad for her. How is she these days? Wait…where is she?"

"Italy, andwe'regoingtovisitherforafewweeks" he quickly tried to avert, as he said it in one breath.

"What? What? A few WEEKS? What the hell?"

Aoshi sighed heavily, "Misao's idea."

Sano burst into laughter, "I knew you were whipped…"

Aoshi stared daggers at his long time friend, "Fuck off."

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Later he sat waiting at the outdoor table of the bistro and looked down at his wrist watch. "12:01 pm, he's usually never late" he thought.

"Yours must be fast, because mine says 11:58!"

Aoshi looked up to see the red haired man walking up to the table. He wore a black suit and grinned pointing at the watch on his wrist.

"As always you're on time. I wish I could say the same about Sano" Aoshi replied.

"He's probably caught up with another cute face in a short skirt" the redhead replied sitting down across from him. He placed his briefcase beside him on the floor and picked up the menu.

Aoshi had known Kenshin almost as long as he'd known Sano. In fact it was Sano that introduced him to Kenshin in the first place. All three attended colleges near and around each other. They later, even managed to find jobs around the same area; with Sano and Aoshi eventually working together for the same company.

"So I hear you're taking a little time off?" Kenshin asked not looking up from his menu.

"Sano's mouth is as big as his head I see. Yes, Misao and I are going to Italy for a few weeks."

Deep amethyst eyes looked up at the stoic man. "Serious? What a coincidence, I'm going to be there in another week. The company is hosting some important celebrity luncheon for a charity and wants me to go for a few days. Very nice, maybe we can all sit down for dinner some time?"

"Interesting. You've been there before?"

"Yea a few times, but always on business. You know how this job is."

"Oi there you two lovebirds are!"

Aoshi and Kenshin paled at the comment as they realized where it had originated from. Sano smirked devilishly towards a young waitress as he made his way over to them and sat down. Kenshin could hardly hold in his laughter as Aoshi only shook his head.

"So you heard about the iceman's get-away?" Sano nudged Kenshin.

Aoshi looked up for a moment and then turned his attention back down towards the menu.

Kenshin laughed and answered, "Yeah actually I was telling him that I'll be in Italy on some company business in the next week myself. By the way, where will you be staying Aoshi?"

"With a cousin of mine that's been living there for a few years. Actually the trip was planned just to go and see her."

"Hold on a second, you mean both of you louses are going away and I'll be stuck here?" Sano interrupted.

"Sano, you've already taken two vacations for the year and it's only May!" Aoshi reminded.

Kenshin could only chuckle in response as the young waitress came over for their orders. She smiled shyly at all three men and blushed profusely when Sano gave her a wink along with his order.

"If Megs ever finds out half of the shit you do outside, she'd circumcise you herself!" Aoshi joked.

"Me? Nah! She loves me too damn much, and there's no harm in looking right? As long as I don't touch!" Sano laughed.

"I think either way Megumi would have your head" Kenshin reminded.

"Aoshi, this is where I'll be staying for the time there" Kenshin handed Aoshi a card with an Italian hotel's information. "They already booked my room in advance since I'm there practically every year."

"I wonder how far this is from Kao's place?" Aoshi thought aloud.

"Where is your cousin?"

"She not too far outside of Milan, a smaller village I forget the name right now but I'll email you the details once I find out."

"Oh Milan? Excellent, the luncheon will actually be held in Milan so I won't be very far! Maybe I can get you guys tickets?"

"I'm sure Misao would appreciate that, but Kao's not very interested in attending those types of events" Aoshi quietly replied.

"Oh…ah, well that's nothing. We'll just meet for lunch whenever you guys have time" Kenshin bounced back.

"This is irritating!"

Aoshi and Kenshin turned towards Sano. He looked like he was fuming over with anger. "I'm gonna be stuck here while you two are livin' it up in Italy?"

"Sano it's just all a coincidence!" Kenshin tried to sooth.

"You're the idiot that just had to go to the islands in the beginning of the year" Aoshi snorted.

The waitress came back and set their plates in front of them. After moments of quietly eating their respective meals, Sano looked up with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I still have a few weeks of sick and personal days left!"

"What?" Aoshi asked.

"Yea, I could pool all of those days together and get a weeks worth of vacation time with you two in Italy!" he announced valiantly.

Kenshin smiled back at his friend.

"You're hopeless…" Aoshi snorted from his plate.

Sano chuckled happily and took another bite. "So when are we leaving Aoshi-sama?" he asked.

Aoshi nearly choked on his drink as Kenshin could only laugh.

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Misao ran about the suite busying herself with packing and the final arrangements of their trip. They'd have to catch their flight tomorrow morning and she wanted to have all the preparations taken care of before Aoshi arrived for the evening.

Taking a break from her packing, she sank into the couch and saw the cordless phone sitting on the coffee table.

"Yep, that's a sign" she mused to herself and grabbed the phone from the table.

After a few rings on the other end, a soft voice answered.

"Kaoru?" she asked excitedly.

"Hello?" came the weary reply.

"Oh Kaoru, it's me Misao, I'm sorry for waking you" she stammered.

"It's okay Misao, I'm always happy to hear your voice. When are you guys arriving here?"

Misao giggled mischievously, "Actually our flight leaves tomorrow at 9 am and with the one hour stop in England, we'll be there a whole 10 hours later!" she joked.

"Tomorrow? Are you serious? Wow, well I'll meet you guys at the airport then. Which airlines?"

"No, no, no! Aoshi said that we're not there to bother you or anything, so we'll just meet you at home."

"But that's insane! Just let me pick you guys up…"

"No way Kaoru! You want him to yell at me?" she teased.

Kaoru chuckled, "Alright, alright."

"There's just one thing though" Misao squirmed.

"What's up?"

"Um, you remember Sano?"

"Mmm, let me think, tall, loud guy? He wears way too much hair gel?" she asked.

Misao laughed, "That's the one! Well he's coming down as well, I'm sorry for not letting you know sooner. Is that a problem?"

"Misao, you know that I wouldn't mind. The more the merrier, and Sano's a good guy despite his wandering eyes! The house is certainly big enough, so why not?"

"Great! Well let me get off the phone. Aoshi said that I'll say everything over the phone and have nothing left to speak about when I see you!"

They both laughed.

"Alright then, I'll see you guys soon!"

"Bye!"

Misao hung up and slouched back into the couch. A smile graced her features as she thought about her longtime friend. "I wonder how you've been all this time? I'm so excited to see you finally Kaoru!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. She sprang from her spot on the couch, knowing full well who it was on the other side of the door at this hour. Immediately after opening the door, she couldn't help but smile at the towering frame before her.

"Why don't you ever use the keys?" she asked feigning anger and blocking the entryway.

He only smirked in response as she quickly leapt into his arms and gave him a kiss.

"Okay, okay you two…god!" came the signature voice from the side.

Sano pushed his way past the embracing couple and walked inside. Misao looked at Aoshi as he set her back down on the floor and they walked in behind the spiky-headed man.

"Nice to see you too Sano" Misao teased.

Sano chuckled in response and plopped down on the couch, grabbing the TV remote.

"I figure I'd keep you two company and we can all leave for the airport in the morning together."

Misao looked over at Aoshi with a confused expression. Setting Sano's bags down he looked at her and sighed, "Megumi kicked him out of the apartment since he didn't tell her about him going with us."

"She did not KICK me out! I left out of my own free will" Sano retorted.

Misao could barely control her laughter as Aoshi only shook his head and noticed his cell phone was ringing.

Recognizing the number, he immediately answered. "Kenshin."

"Gees, you know how creepy that is? What about hello?" came the familiar voice of his friend on the other end.

Misao brightened at the name, "Oh tell Kenshin I said 'hi'!"

"You heard her?" Aoshi asked.

Kenshin chuckled, "Give her my regards as well. I just wanted to call and say that I got my flight changed to yours so we can all travel together. The luncheon isn't for another week, and that way we can all tour around Italy."

A huge anime-style sweat dropped from Aoshi's brow as he closed his eyes in disbelief. "Yea, that sounds like fun" he answered dryly.

"Great, I'll meet you guys at the airport tomorrow morning."

"Uh-huh" Aoshi hung up the phone.

"What's up?" Misao asked handing him a glass of water.

He took a huge gulp and looked back at her, "Kenshin. He'll be coming with us tomorrow. He got his flight pushed up."

"So what's so bad about that?" she giggled. "Kaoru said, the more the merrier!"

Aoshi looked down at her, "Misao I just don't want everyone barging in on her. Everything she's been through…"

Misao took his hand into hers, "Don't worry about it. She needs to be around old friends and maybe some new ones. She can't keep running away hoping everything will fade from memory forever!"

"I know, I just…she's still not over everything" he replied.

She warmed at the soft words and gave him a hug, "I love it when you're so sweet!"

"Damn you two are just never ending with that crap eh?" Sano interrupted the quiet moment.

The two parted from their hug and looked at him irritably. "Rooster, go to bed already. You know where the guest bedroom is since you're there practically 11 months out of the year when Meg's kicks you out!" Misao teased.

"Funny!" he snorted.

"Kenshin will be coming with us tomorrow morning. He got his flight changed" Aoshi informed him.

"Whoot! Yea! It'll be the guys and some very hot Italian chicks" he chuckled until he caught sight of the death glare Misao was giving him. "Uh…oh yea, sorry, and you too Misao!"

Misao grumbled a few profanities under her breath as Aoshi led her away. "Kaoru, I pray for you" he thought about the pack of animals he'd be traveling with tomorrow morning.

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"So you were just going to stand there and wait for me to come around and pay for your food?" Aoshi asked irritably of his brown-haired friend. They were waiting on the boarding of the flight after checking in their luggage. Kenshin had met up with them as well and all four sat in the food court of the large international airport.

"Of course!" Sano replied as he stuffed some french-fries in his mouth.

Misao and Kenshin only chuckled at the minor feud going on between both men.

"Did you at least call Megumi you lug-nut?" Misao asked.

"Yea" the man responded, "Of course I did."

"And?" she asked.

"Like I said, no problem!" he confidently replied. "I invited her along but she has her stupid residency to worry about at the hospital so she can't come. I promised I'd buy a bunch of nice Italian purses and clothes for her."

"She bought that excuse?" Aoshi asked.

"No, but she will when I get back!" he announced.

The other three nearly fell out of their chairs at the statement.

"You're a dead man" Kenshin laughed.

After going thorough the security check, they continued waiting for the boarding time as they rested comfortably in the chairs of the waiting area.

"So what's this cousin like?" Kenshin asked of Aoshi.

Aoshi's brows furrowed at the question, "Why?"

"Ah, no, I meant to say you mentioned she doesn't like going out very much and hasn't been back to the states where she grew up in over 2 years. I just don't want to offend her or anything when we get there" Kenshin replied.

"You weren't around when this happened, and actually haven't met her before. But all you need to keep in mind is something terrible happened to her while she was here. She left because she needed to get away from everything here and the last thing I want to do is remind her of why she left. I haven't seen her in over two years and that's why Misao set this trip up" Aoshi stoically instructed.

Kenshin's eyes were wide with wonder over the young lady he'd never met and yet meant so much to Aoshi. He'd never seen the man speak in such volumes about anyone in his life. "I'll be completely respectful" he replied.

Aoshi only nodded slightly as Misao smiled sympathetically. Her fiancé was deathly overprotective of everything and everyone he regarded dearly.

"Don't worry Kenshin, she's a sweet girl. You'll enjoy your trip" she added uncharacteristically in a soft tone.

Kenshin smiled and nodded back, "Although I wonder what the big tragedy was to send her off like this" he questioned. It was definitely not a good idea to bring it up with Aoshi again. Perhaps if he'd get a chance, he would ask Misao later.

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