A/N: I'm attempting to address the confusion without overloading you with boring exposition. Thank you for all your feedback! I find short chapters annoying myself and am trying to correct this fault. Please bear with me as I try to adapt.

Chapter Two (A)

Aoshi wasn't sure why his bathhouse was so much larger today, but he wasn't complaining. Sinking down into the steaming water, he let the heat loosen some of the tension in his shoulders. He only had an hour until he was summoned again, and he finally had new information. Battousai would be pleased.

The shoji door slid open, startling him. Misao slipped in, wearing nothing but her thin yukata. She seemed surprised at first to find him there, before breaking into a delighted grin. The corners of his mouth turned downward fractionally. He didn't feel like playing her games at the moment.

'Whatever you were planning, you can just turn around right now.'

Her grin broadened. 'Planning, Aoshi-sama? I was just going to take a bath!'

She watched his eyes flare ever so slightly in alarm as she loosened her braid until her hair streamed down her back in black waves. Then, before he could guess at her intentions, slipped the robe from her shoulders. Aoshi slammed his eyelids shut, but not before the image of her lithe, naked form was burned into his mind. 'I believe you have your own bath, Misao. Go there.'

She delighted in the strained timber of his voice. 'Ah. Now we have reached the crux of the matter. This is my bath.'

'What?' He was a bit distracted. Although his eyes were still shut, he could hear the gentle splash of her climbing into the tub and his imagination was working overtime. Any progress the hot water had made relieving his tension was instantly wasted.

'It seems our living quarters have merged together. We're sharing now.'

'The hell we are!' Aoshi's eyes opened angrily, the first real emotion he'd shown so far. Misao felt like laughing at the way his eyes stayed trained on her face, but she managed to limit her reaction to a twinkling in her eyes as she simply pointed to the door where she'd entered. He was able to see her rooms clearly through a door where there had only been wall before.

'This is absurd. He has no right to dictate inside my living quarters!'

'I doubt it was done consciously, Aoshi. Since the new moon, his power has been spilling over. It took me an hour to find the kitchens yesterday. For some reason, they ended up near Sano's rooms.'

Aoshi stared at her, trying to process her words. She'd turned her back on him to pin her hair up out of the water. He could see damp tendrils clinging to her nape invitingly. 'Are you saying the castle will continue to shift until she's brought back?'

'I'm saying, the castle is the least of our worries if she's not found.' Misao leaned far enough over the edge Aoshi could see the dimples on either side of her spine above the curve of her backside. He repressed a groan. Keeping her back to him, she calmly began soaping the cloth she'd snagged. 'The freedom to jump in and out of the mortal world, our immortality, enhanced senses, superior battle skill—they are all tied to Battousai's power, which in turn is tied to—'

'Misao.'

'Don't be silly. I'm not that powerful.'

Aoshi gritted his teeth. He had cut her off because she was dragging the soapy cloth across her skin like the caress of a lover. Watching her trail the washrag down her outstretched arm and back was straining his control; he was pretty certain she knew it too when she turned her face toward Aoshi, looking at him from beneath her lashes and held up the washcloth. 'Wash my back?'

Chapter Two (B)

Aoshi didn't know whether to be irritated or relieved that, in addition to merging his and Misao's rooms, his suite was now only one hall away from Kenshin's chambers. When he emerged, flustered, still damp, and late for his summons, he found he only had a short walk to the Battousai's receiving room. Soujirou had been listening for him apparently, because the door slid smoothly open to admit his entrance. Aoshi halted regardless, out of shock.

Kenshin's chamber was a large open hall with columns flanking the vaulted ceiling in the center. To the left and right past the columns, the ceilings dropped to a more comfortable level. In pleasant weather, the paper screens that closed in the hall could be opened to the gardens beyond, turning the whole room into a giant pavilion.

Battousai sat stoically on the floor in the center of the dais facing the hall. His form was remarkably similar to the one he'd been trapped in for so many years, except his face seemed harder, and his eyes more often flashed gold. Everything was familiar, however, normally, beyond the raised dais upon which Battousai surveyed his court, another series of screens separated the audience chamber from Kenshin's personal rooms. Those screens were gone.

Behind him was a vast blackness, darker than a storm cloud, without even the meager light of a night sky. There was simply nothing there. Aoshi recovered from his brief hesitation and approached the stage to kneel before his lord. He found it hard to focus on Kenshin with the emptiness churning just behind the redhead. Why would Himura's private rooms disappear?

'Aoshi.'

The narrow, amber-eyed gaze of Battousai captured Aoshi's attention.

'Have you found her yet?'

Aoshi shook his head. 'There has been no trace of her power since the surge during the new moon. I don't know how she could possibly have disguised it, but without it, I have no way of tracking her.'

'And what of Shishio?'

'Gone also, but I have learned he might have been in contact with her sometime between your mortal death and ascension. We've found he can be tracked and have discovered his location.'

Kenshin smiled predatorily.