Misao

Aoshi seemed unusually quiet at breakfast (even for him!). Misao watched him carefully. Is there something he's not telling me about the Heishin situation? Did something else happen? Did I accidentally guilt-trip him with my nightmare?

"Misao."

Misao almost dropped her fork. "Y-yeah! What's the matter?"

"What do you want to do in New York?" he asked. "We are only planning on staying for several days, however that is ample time to appreciate the city."

"Wow! Thanks!" Waving her hand, Misao grinned. "Hell, it doesn't matter, Aoshi-sama! I'll go wherever!"

"I remember, a year ago, you said you really wanted to see the ocean. Chicago is almost as far away from the coast as you can get, but New York harbor is huge – and Long Beach is a rather nice place, from what I have heard." Aoshi said.

Misao laughed. "You remembered what I said a year ago? Wow! You have a real good memory, Aoshi-sama. Thanks a lot! Yeah, I'll take some time off and visit the harbor." she smiled to herself as she happily shoveled bacon and scrambled eggs from her plate to her mouth. Then she stopped. "Uh actually, there's something I was meaning to ask you, Aoshi-sama."

"What is it?"

"How do you know Chinese?!" she exclaimed, pointing at him with her fork. "You never told me you can speak Chinese!"

"I taught myself." Aoshi said with quiet amusement. "We have dealings not only with organizations inside the US but outside as well. I learned as many languages as I could." he raise an eyebrow. "I know English, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Cantonese. Passable Spanish."

Misao's jaw dropped. "…How…" she blinked. "That's absolutely amazing!" she yelled, almost standing up.

Aoshi shook his head a little. "Quiet down a little." he said gently.

She nodded, then continued in a strained stage whisper. "What were you and Heishin saying before? In Chinese?"

Aoshi looked a bit discomfited by the question. "I asked him how his trip was, and he said that it wasn't bad. Small talk, really."

"And then?" Misao asked excitedly, leaning over the table. "You seemed really like… You were enjoying yourself." she grinned, swinging her legs. "You were almost smirking."

Taking a sip of green tea, Aoshi waited a little before answering, seeming to formulate a reply – to think before he spoke. "…He asked me if I always brought my- A woman to business transactions." he took another sip of tea, avoiding Misao's widening eyes. "I said that I did not always bring you, but when I did – you were better than the best man." he paused. "…I said nothing much after that. There was even more small talk." he cleared his throat.

"Wow…" Aoshi-sama said such things about me! And Heishin thought that I was Aoshi-sama's woman? Do we really look that close? Misao thought elatedly, shoveling mashed potatoes into her mouth, supplementing with an occasional bite of sausage.

Looking up, Aoshi tapped her arm. "It seems that the 'bangs like antenna and eyes like a psychopath' chain-smoker wants to talk to us." he said quietly, barely moving his mouth. Misao quickly chewed and swallowed, glancing up as well. It was obvious that he was making his way over to their table. Once more, Misao met his eyes and he smirked.

"My name is Saitou. Saitou Hajime." he said upon reaching them. "I would like to speak with you, Mr. Shinomori." Saitou Hajime! Thought Misao. No wonder I thought he was so familiar! He's that cop that showed up out of nowhere seven years ago and started enforcing the hell out of the Eighteenth Amendment. There've been whispers that he used to be part of the Shinsengumi. I have no idea how many speakeasies got shut down because of him! Thank goodness not ours though. Jiya's got the cops tightly in his pocket. …But… Why is he here? What is he doing? He warned me yesterday – even though it's obvious that I'm with Aoshi-sama – whom he knows to be the Boss of the Oniwabanshu! What is going on? She fixed Saitou with an unwavering stare.

Aoshi raised an eyebrow. Indicating a seat, he spoke formally and tonelessly. "Please sit down, Mr. Saitou." As Saitou sat down, he took another sip of tea, and fixed him with a glance of his icy blue eyes. "How may I help you?" he asked. "I am surprised that a Lieutenant of our country's glorious police force and an ex-Captain of the Shinsengumi would have anything to speak to me about." he said dryly.

Aoshi-sama knew? Or maybe he recognized him just now like I did… Saitou slowly smiled and Misao almost shivered. This guy seems like a scary person….I can even see that he has a gun in his jacket. "…I have a question about Mr. Takeda Kanryuu of the Takeda Financial Group." Saitou said. "I was… Informed at some point that you may know him rather well, Mr. Shinomori."

W-what?!

With a deliberate slowness, Aoshi picked up his teacup and took a long sip. "I do not know Mr. Takeda Kanryuu very well at all. We have had some… Dealings in the past – but currently we have no points of contact. I do not know if I can answer your question, Mr. Saitou."

Saitou glanced sideways at Misao. "If you keep staring at me like that, Weasel, do you think that I'll catch fire or something?" he drawled.

Misao blinked, sitting up straighter. "Whaddaya mean, 'catch fire'? I wasn't even staring." she said with a pout. "…And don't call me a Weasel, you old Wolf!" As Aoshi glanced at her, she quickly covered her mouth. "Ehh… That is…"

At that moment, the door to the dining car crashed open and a man with freakishly tall blond hair appeared, panting as if he had been running. "Yo!" He yelled. "What the fuck! Is this for real, here?! Heishin's dead!" There were surprised mutters, a few shouts and a terrified scream.

Misao and Aoshi exchanged glances as Saitou stood up without a word and almost ran out of the dining car, bumping the man with the tall hair as he strode by. Someone found out this early? What was that guy doing in Heishin's suite, anyway? One of the staff tried to calm everyone down. "Please continue your meals, we are sure nothing of the sort has happen-" he was roughly pushed out of the way as a crowd of people pushed by him.

Soon enough, the only people in the dining car were Misao and Aoshi, the Himura family and a group by the window, a young man with large blue eyes and smooth-looking hair, a very fashionable young woman, the blond man who was just shouting – and a huge hulking man with deep-set eyes who seemed to be praying. At the Himura family table, Kenji was taking advantage of the situation to grab a slice of bacon off of Kenshin's plate. Yahiko was arguing with Kaoru, as he wanted to go and see – and Kenshin was calming the two of them down.

Aoshi stood up. "I might as well see what the damage is – according to the rest of the passengers. I want to see who they come up with as suspects." he drank the rest of his tea. "And how Saitou fits into all this."

Misao nodded. "Sure. I'll wait here then, Aoshi-sama."

He nodded and was off. Misao continued to eat her potatoes and sausage until a smiling voice distracted her. "You aren't going to go and see, Miss?" it was the young man with the blue eyes.

Misao swallowed and gulped down her coffee to clear her throat. "No, I'm not." she said. "I'm sure it's just a prank. Seeing as you haven't gotten up even as your friend here has surprised and terrified all the rest of the passengers." she said coolly.

He laughed. "Oh, Miss… You really don't mince your words, do you. I'm Soujiro. Seta Soujiro." he gestured at the man with the vertical blond hair. "And Chou-kun isn't really a friend per se. He's more of a colleague whose words I know well enough to take with a grain of salt." he smiled and then turned to Chou and the others. "Hey, Chou-kun! I'm talking smack about you behind your back to the lady!" he called. "It's what you deserve!"

She tried to hold in her laughter at the man's affronted expression. "Yo! That ain't fair, man!" then he stopped, his eyes widening and almost falling backwards off his chair. "Oh… I… I uh…" Misao quickly glanced at Soujiro but she could only see his smile widen – nothing to merit Chou's terrified reaction.

Then Soujiro turned back to her with a pleasant smile. "Ah, what am I saying… We may not get along, but Chou-kun is actually rather nice when you get to know him."

Misao shrugged. "I'm sure he is." she said noncommittally. "By the way, Mr. Seta-"

He wagged his finger at her. "Nuh-uh. Soujiro-kun. Sou-chan." he smiled wider. "…I can't have a beautiful lady like you calling me by my last name, now can I?" he smiled. "Let's get along!" Misao shook his outstretched hand, also standing up.

"I'm Misao." she said. "Makimachi Misao. Nice to meet you, Soujiro-kun." she smiled. He's a bit weird but he's rather nice. And calling me a beautiful lady? She almost snorted. He sure has a sense of humor.

"Say, Misao-chan…" Soujiro suddenly pouted. "That tall scary-looking man with blue eyes who just left… Who is he?" he winked. "I don't want to be beaten up for flirting with a married woman, although if it was you – I'd take the beating!"

Misao laughed. "Aw, you're too funny." she said. "No, he's my Boss." she laughed again. "What do you mean, scary-looking?"

Soujiro leaned in. "He's probably twice my height. If someone's taller than me, they're scary." he grinned. "That's why I don't like going outside very much." Misao laughed at that too, seeing as Soujiro was just barely taller than her – no easy feat to be that short. "We of small height should stick together, don't you think, Misao-chan?"

Laughing again, Misao glanced up and saw Aoshi entering the dining car. "Ah, and there's Aoshi-sama." she said.

He looked up and slowly smiled. "However much I want to meet Mr. Shinomori…" he said. Wait. When did I ever tell him Aoshi-sama's family name? Does he know him? "I'll wait until later, because now is not the time." What does that mean? Who is this guy? Misao looked at Soujiro in surprise and confusion, but the latter simply smiled and nodded to her, and then went to sit down with his group. "I'll see you around, I think, Misao-chan."