I pray faithfully to Hiko every night, but Rurouni Kenshin still isn't mine.

Misao left Kaoru to sleep off her little panic attack in their room and trudged up the long staircase to the Dean's office, cursing softly enough to escape punishment as the coarse grey wool tangled up in her legs. After Kaoru's 'performance' for the first-years, she would have to make yet another report on her partner and charge, something she always hated doing. When she was finally at the top of the stairs, she knocked briskly on the dark oak door, then, casually letting herself in, dropped down into a chair in front of the Dean's imposing desk with a sigh.

Now remember, Makimachi, you're sweet, earnest, and as slow as a cow, she thought fiercely. It would not do for the Dean to realize who she really was. Her mask was firmly in place by the time the old man looked up from his paperwork and looked down his nose at her.

"So what brings you here this time, Miss Makimachi? From the look on your face it can't be anything good," he said affably. He liked to think of himself as a kindly, old father figure to the students in his academy, and he looked the part. He was a solid man, well padded from years of fine dinners and snifters of brandy, with sparse white hair haloing his head. His deep-set eyes were heavy with wrinkles, but a cunning intelligence, slightly dulled by long and easy years, still shone out from the depths.

"I'm afraid not, Sir," she replied, simpering and looking up at the old man with wide, earnest eyes. "Kaoru-chan had another of her little episodes, and this time it was right in front of an entire first-year class that we were teaching together. I just barely got her calmed down, and the poor kids! They were so scared!" She toyed nervously with the end of her long braid, then seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly sat on her hands. The Dean began to write up another one of his reports, presumably on Kaoru. "…Sir?" she asked hesitantly. The Dean looked up, slightly disgruntled by the interruption. "Sir, is it possible that Kaoru's faith is a little too…single-minded? I know she's on the field-agent track, and that she's almost as strong as Deltographers come, but she is so easily upset and I just get so worried about her…" Misao trailed off lamely.

"You're a smart girl, Miss Makimachi, and here in the administration we have come to generally the same conclusions as you. We can't, however, afford to lose an agent as strong as Kaoru, so we've decided upon an alternate plan. You, Miss Makimachi, will accompany Miss Kamiya on all her operations to…how shall I put this?—to help her maintain her equilibrium. Do you think yourself equal to the task?"

Misao beamed. The old man was a god-send, even though he didn't know it. She thought she was going to have a tough time tracking Kaoru down on her first mission once they both graduated, but this was playing right into her hands! She found herself answering the old headmaster without hesitation, and though it wasn't entirely in character with Misao's timid, slow school-character, he interpreted her enthusiasm as girlish high spirits. "I only have one question, Sir. Where will we be assigned first?"

Though his voice was gruff, she sensed a silent approval of her 'courage'. She took it as a compliment on her acting abilities. "Your first assignment will be in Thorse, near the capital, where you can call for backup if you need it. You and Kaoru will need to infiltrate a group that meets in the Mirror Club. They are a group of burgeoning heretics. Though we don't believe that they have any connections to the Seasonal Mages, I would use caution. This is, after all, your first assignment. Cause chaos within their ranks and expose them to the public eye, local law enforcement can take care of things from there. I expect you back within a year of your graduation. I know it's a bit irregular, informing you of your assignment before graduation, but you're a level-headed young woman, and I know I can trust you to keep this quiet until you've graduated. Is everything clear?"

"Oh, yes sir!" she gushed. "I know that you'll be pleased with my work. Thank you so much!" and she scurried out of the office before she could burst out laughing at her good luck.

Graduation was over, the parties had been long-since quelled by the dormitory mothers, and Kaoru and Misao were spending their last night in the Spartan room they had lived in for the past three years. As they were lying in their beds in the day, Kaoru spoke up.

"Misao, are you awake?"

"Mmhmm…" she replied sleepily.

"Mi…this is our last night together, isn't it? I mean, after this, we'll be off on our missions and we'll never see each other again…" Her voice was wistful and sad, with a dangerous undercurrent of self-pity. Misao, however, was instantly alert. This was the perfect opening for what she had learned in the Dean's office.

"Actually, Kao…we're assigned together. The Dean told me last week, but made me swear not to tell you until after graduation," Misao said, rolling over to face her friend. Though the room was almost totally dark, a stray puddle of moonlight showed Kaoru's ecstatic face, and Misao worried for a minute about how dependant her friend must be on her. Without any other friends and a family that was tolerable at best…Well, all that would change soon.

"But they never assign agents together…why is it that they did that with us?" Kaoru mused. "Not that I'm complaining, of course," she tacked on hastily. Misao winced internally. This is where the lying started, and she hated lying to her best friend, even if it was necessary.

"I think it's because they're sending us into the fray right away and want us to have fast backup. We're all the way out in Verlassbrun, near the boarder. There's apparently a group of heretics that have been trying to contact the Seasonal Mages for assistance. They haven't managed it yet, but we need to get out there soon and disrupt their operations before they do. Now, I know you're hot stuff when it comes to Delting, but maybe I'll be some help?" With a daredevil gleam in her eye, the young woman reached out to take her best friends hand, clasping it tightly.

"Mi," Kaoru choked out around the lump forming in her throat, "Thank you. I'd rather be working with you than doing anything else in the world. I mean, I thought we'd have more time before we got out into the real world, but…"

"But what?" Misao chirped, loathing herself for deceiving the friend who trusted her absolutely. Aoshi-sama asked me to do this. I'm the only one who can, and he's depending on me. Everyone's depending on me. And if I'm going to be a real spy like Aoshi, I'm going to have to lie and cheat and trick people. I just wish it wasn't my best friend… "We'll be fine—the Dean trusts us enough to let us out on our own, doesn't he?" Kaoru had a great respect for authority figures, and Misao was manipulating it shamelessly.

"So you think we'll be all right?" Kaoru was still slightly nervous. Well, she does have a right to be. After all, what we've got planned is gonna be a shock to her system…

"Kaoru, we are going to be better than all right. We're gonna be legends in our own time, just with this one mission, even! People are going to be talking about us for years to come!" And honey, you don't know how right I am… "Anyway, I grabbed our travel allowance earlier, so we can start out bright and early. You know how uncomfortable those train compartments can be, so we better get to sleep now,"

They spoke a little longer, mostly about what they were leaving behind and what they were looking forward to, eventually lapsing into silence. It wasn't long before Misao, lying in her own bed, could hear the deep breathing and soft snoring of her friend, but between excitement and guilt, it was a long time before she slept.

AN: All right! Second chapter up, and I've got most of the backlog of what I've written before worked through. I'm probably rubbing some people the wrong way by making Kaoru a religious fundamentalist, but the way I see it, her idealism could have been perverted early on in the wrong kind of family. Don't worry, she'll get better. Misao's a good influence. Anyway, next chapter: Confrontation! Bwahahaha…