DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I also do not own either movie mentioned in this chapter.

I think I might have found a half way decent way around the lemon. I know it may be considered corny, but what can I say. I hope everyone likes it.

6/22/04

As they exited the club, Saitoh started. He was surprised to see the two together.

"Sayonara, asshole. Tell your wife to expect a phone call tomorrow."

Aoshi sent a confused look towards Saitoh, but shook it off and propelled Misao towards the curb with a hand on her lower back.

He raised his other hand to hail a cab, but Misao pulled his hand back down and pulled him along with her. "Follow me," she said.

"But, where are we going?" Aoshi asked.

"My place," was her simple answer.

As they walked, Misao began to shiver from the cool breeze. The jacket she wore just wasn't enough.

An arm wrapped around Misao, providing more warmth. Aoshi brought her closer with his arm, shielding her somewhat from the breeze.

They quickly walked the two blocks and Misao guided him to the elevator.

She pushed the up button and the doors opened almost immediately. 'I guess getting in at midnight does have its advantages,' Misao thought, hitting the button for the third floor.

The ride to the third floor was completed in silence. It was comfortable, though.

The doors dinged and slid open. Misao exited the elevator followed by Aoshi. She went to her door and unlocked it. Stepping back, she let Aoshi precede her inside. She flipped the light switch just inside the door on and instructed him in how to reach the living room from the front hall as she emptied her jacket pocket and returned her jacket to its hook.

Aoshi placed his trench coat over her jacket and headed towards the living room as she refilled her purse.

'What am I doing' Misao thought as she finished placing stuff inside her purse. 'I don't even know him and I brought him to my place. I'm such a fool!'

She leaned against the hall table to gather her wits. Sighing, she stood and headed towards the living room.

Entering the room, she was surprised with what she found. Aoshi had removed his shoes and settled in on the sofa. His feet were propped up on the coffee table and the TV remote was in his hand.

Aoshi was searching for something decent to watch. He knew she wasn't ready. Hell, neither of them was.

Surfing through the channels, Aoshi caught sight of Kiss of the Dragon. Backtracking, he found the channel and left it there.

Misao had not moved since entering the room. Aoshi motioned her over and pulled her onto his lap. Misao removed her shoes and curled up on his lap with her head resting on his shoulder.

They had only missed the first five minutes or so of the movie, so they settled in to watch it.

During the second commercial break, Misao went to the kitchen and retrieved a couple of Pepsis and some kettle corn. She returned and placed everything on the coffee table.

"I'm going to change out of these clothes. If you'd like to change too, my roommate, who just moved out, still has some clothes here."

As Misao turned to leave, Aoshi got up and followed her. Bypassing the first door on the left, Misao led him to the second one and turned on the light.

"He was about the same height as you, so the clothes should fit."

Misao turned around and headed back to the first door. She entered and gently closed the door.

Aoshi entered and headed for the dresser across the room. He opened the second drawer. This drawer contained shirts. Finding a black long sleeve shirt, he traded his blue shirt for it.

Reaching for the next drawer down, Aoshi found it contained shorts. He pulled out a pair of khaki cargos from the midst of the drawer. He traded the black pants for the shorts and removed his socks.

Aoshi left his clothes lay on the bed and exited the room, flipping the light switch as he left.

He stopped at the door Misao had entered. With a quiet tap, Aoshi accidentally pushed the door part way open. Inside, he saw Misao struggling to unzip her top.

Aoshi silently walked forward and unzipped the shirt for her.

Misao jumped at the feel of a hand on her back, but calmed realizing it was Aoshi.

As soon as it was unzipped, Misao's shirt fell and revealed her lacy, black bra. Her whole face flushed in embarrassment. 'Oh my god...'

'She is so adorable like that,' he thought. Planting a kiss on her nose, Aoshi turned and left. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against the opposite wall while waiting.

A few seconds later, Misao slipped out her door and stood across from Aoshi. Her gaze was focused on the floor and her face was still a deep red. "Um....s....s....sorry," she stuttered out, clearly embarrassed.

Aoshi placed a hand under her chin, pushing Misao's face up and forcing her to look at him. She tried to divert her gaze, but he wouldn't let her. "Why are you apologizing?" he questioned.

Her only answer was a shrug.

"Please, don't apologize without reason. There's no reason to now. Please, don't. Don't apologize, don't be embarrassed. Please?"

Misao nodded in reply.

He let go of her chin and pulled her into a hug. She willingly went, wrapping her arms around his torso. He brushed a hand over her hair, while keeping his other firmly around her waist.

He released her and took in her attire. She wore a pair of pajama pants and a spaghetti strap tank top. The pants were plaid with white, gray, and many shades of blue. She wore a dark blue tank to match. About two inches of her stomach showed. The make-up was gone and her hair was down. 'She looks even more beautiful without the make-up.'

The couple returned to the living room hand in hand. Aoshi led Misao to the couch and sat down. Misao curled up in his lap after retrieving the popcorn.

Though they had missed fifteen minutes of their movie, both had seen it before and weren't lost.

Sometime before the end of the movie, Misao had fallen asleep. Aoshi didn't realize it until the end of the movie when she didn't answer his question.

She had fallen asleep with a death-grip on the popcorn bowl. He had to pry the bowl from her fingers.

Not willing to wake her so he could leave, Aoshi began to watch Swimfan. The movie had started immediately after Kiss of the dragon. He had missed the beginning trying to wake Misao, but, as he wasn't truly paying attention, it didn't matter.

Aoshi drifted to sleep sometime after two and wouldn't wake until morning.
Taking my kids I babysit to the pool sure does have its advantages. I get plenty of free time to write this way. They swim and leave me alone and I get my writing down. The only bad thing is when it starts to rain and everything gets wet. I hate water spots on paper, but it's not like it will kill anything. I can still read what I wrote so it's okay.

Since I'm getting all this writing time, I should have another chapter out soon. I think I know where I want to go with this, but I may get stuck. I will only be concentrating on this story until it is done, so hopefully that will help me get chapters out faster.

Again, I hope everyone liked this chapter. I think it turned out pretty good, but I may be biased about my own writing. Please REVIEW! And I'm still looking for an editor if anyone is interested. Thanks.