Under The Circumstances

an r.k fanfic.

 

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

"Surprises"

 

"I told him that he shouldn't upset her

and that he'd only be making it worse...

involving somebody else."

 

Elliot Smith.

 

 

 

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Saitou tapped the sheaf of reports he held in his white gloved hands against the surface of his desk, the ever-present cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Frowning, he set them aside and looked up at the tall, silent figure standing before him. Extracting the cancer-stick, he addressed the second person.

 

"He's in Tokyo," he growled, "But no one will pinpoint his location. Everyone is shit-scared of him, including his followers." He ground the butt of the cigarette into a well-used ashtray with a quick, deliberate movement. "We have no conventional means of locating him."

 

"My methods are never conventional," the cloaked figure stated simply in a soft voice, "I'll find him."

 

Saitou smirked, "Sou da ne?" he asked, his eyes going slant with the oncoming sarcasm, "I hoped you'd say that."

 

Unfazed, the figure bowed and turned to leave, "One more thing," Saitou interrupted. The cloaked form stopped and turned his head slightly so that Saitou could see his profile.

 

"He's a lot more useful to us alive." he said lighting up again.

 

The figure didn't flinch once, he simply continued to make his way out of the office, his trench coat making a soft rustling noise as he slipped out of sight.

 

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Misao lunged at him with a wild yell. Soujiro side-stepped her attack but he didn't make any attempt to retaliate. Barely allowing herself to land properly, she launched herself into the air again twisting to throw a handful of kunai at him. Closing his eyes, Soujiro adjusted his grip on the shinai and spun it around so fast that it created a small whirlwind. The kunai stopped in mid-flight and fell harmlessly to the floor.

 

Yahiko practically bounced up and down with delight. "That was so cool!"

 

Kaoru had been watching the sparring match with rapt attention, "Amazing," she said thoughtfully, "He must have learnt that from just watching Kamatari."

 

Soujiro stopped spinning his weapon and snapped it to his side. Opening his eyes he searched Misao's face. Nothing. Not even a glint in her eyes. Her pale skin glistened with sweat, and her hair stuck to her cheeks. Her eyes were slightly averted. Slowly she raised them to meet his directly, and she smiled impishly. "Alright then." she purred, lowering her voice to a sexy tenor. Her hands disappeared behind her back, and before he knew what was happening, she was holding the outer layer of her belt in her hands. Unsure of her intentions, he adjusted his grip on the shinai again.

 

Misao tossed her hair and winked at him. Then she jumped vertically, wrapping one end of the cloth around her fist. With a snap of her wrist she sent the other end down to wrap itself around Soujiro's shinai. She twisted, pulling the cloth taut. Her other hand holding the last of her kunai was flung back in preparation for the final blow.

 

Soujiro did the only thing he could. He pulled on the sash, hard. Misao felt herself being pulled out of midair and the next thing she knew she was falling straight into…

 

THUMP!!!

 

"Itai…" Misao sat up, one hand rubbing at the soreness in her lower back.

 

"Misao-chan, Soujiro-kun, dajoubu?" a chorus of anxious voices enquired.

 

"Hai, I think so…" Misao managed to answer, "Are you alright Soujiro-san? Soujiro-san? Where are you?!"

 

"Ara, under here." a strained voice replied. Apparently, Soujiro had cushioned her fall and unbeknownst to Misao, she was now perched on his stomach. When she realized what had happened her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh gods! Are you okay?" she asked scrambling off of him.

 

Soujiro blinked at the ceiling a couple of times, "I think so." he replied, "Nothing…feels broken."

 

"I'm am so sorry," Misao continued to apologize profusely, "I should have never tried that move, it's not perfected yet."

 

"Obviously…" Sano muttered dryly.

 

Kaoru smacked him a backhand to the stomach. "Mou, you almost sound like Saitou."

 

"OI!!!!"

 

Ignoring him, she helped Misao back to her feet while Kenshin and Yahiko looked over the swirly eyed Soujiro. The young ninja allowed herself to be helped up but she never took her eyes off of the young man sprawled out on the floor.

 

"Hey man, you okay?" Yahiko asked waving a hand over the dark-haired rurouni's face.

 

"Araa…" Soujiro repeated rubbing his sore abdomen, "She's heavier than she looks."

 

The worried look disappeared off of Misao's face to be replaced by a rather scary one. "Why you…" she growled grabbing Soujiro by the collar and shaking him, "You jerk! And I was really worried that I'd hurt you!"

 

"Ararara…"

 

"Am I interrupting something?" a smoky voice asked from the doorway. Everyone turned to see a tall, familiar figure casually leaning against the doorframe. Misao's eyes widened and she turned as white as a sheet.

 

"A…Aoshi-sama…"

 

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"I knew that he'd never forget her

while her memory worked in reverse...

to keep her safe from herself"

 

 

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If Aoshi Shinomori was surprised to see Misao shaking the life out of the Tenken he certainly knew how to hide it. Misao on the other hand, was thoroughly flustered by his sudden appearance and it showed in the way she behaved toward Soujiro for the rest of the morning. It did not matter that Aoshi already knew of the friendship between the two thanks to letters sent to Kyoto by Himura and herself. She simply was not comfortable with the complications the current situation created for her.

 

Soujiro noticed Misao's withdrawal from him the moment Aoshi appeared at the door. Even as he offered to help her with the tea she was preparing for their guest, her only answer was a slight shake of her head. It was as if she had folded into herself. It frustrated him more than anything else he had ever encountered before. Not even Kenshin's merciless taunting during their final battle hadn't been as maddening as Misao's silence was to him now. When the group met to discuss the business that had brought Aoshi to Tokyo, he found that he could only barely listen to what was being said. All his thoughts were on Misao, her silence as she served the tea, the blankness of her expression throughout the entire meeting. It was all too eerily familiar to him. She was hiding her feelings, and that could only mean that she was hurting inside. "But why?" he thought looking in her  direction.

 

That was a mistake. After their sparring match she had bathed and changed into a light blue kimono with a green obi. The soft material yielded to her body's curves and the simple tie of the obi emphasized her small waist. His heart throbbed at the sight of her. She really had no idea of how beautiful she was, even with that gloomy, closed look on her face she still shone like a North Star in the darkest of skies. Of all the women in Japan, why did he have to fall for this one? Surely she would want nothing to do with a penniless rurouni like him.

 

Misao looked down at her hands with a heavy heart and a troubled mind. It was not easy for her to be there in that room with Aoshi two places away speaking more words in that one sitting than he ever had to her in her whole life. He had yet to address her directly as well, no "Hello Misao-chan." or "Misao." Nothing. It made her feel awful to think that she wasn't even worth a simple hello. Suddenly she was aware that someone was watching her, was it Aoshi? Instead, she looked up to see Soujiro staring at her with such a puppy-eyed look on his face she had to blink in surprise. Then another strange thing happened…he blushed. Soujiro was embarrassed?! No way! A small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth, now this was interesting…

 

Soujiro looked away, his cheeks aflame at being caught staring at her like that. "Silly," he thought to himself. He cautiously glanced in her direction again to see if she'd noticed. She had. The amusement in her eyes made him feel both embarrassed and relieved at the same time. A shy smile crept across his lips. So what if he felt a little embarrassed? At least he had wheedled a real smile out of her, right?

 

The others were too engrossed in what Shinomori had to say to pay attention to the adorable little exchange going on right underneath their noses. Aoshi had been outlining the case he was involved in, explaining that the police thought that his research skills would be useful.

 

Misao's eyes lit up at the word " research ". She looked at Aoshi hopefully, "So you'll need someone to do some recon work then?" she asked eagerly.

 

Aoshi blinked a couple of times but other than that his expression remained stoic. It was obvious when Misao said "someone" she had meant herself, but he could not accept the offer. "Saitou has a trained officer already doing that." he announced. Himura, Saitou and I will be the head of the team that actually goes in to neutralize the threat. "It's better that way, there's less of a chance of having casualties." "And that's all there is to it," he added mentally.

Misao's smile disappeared from off of her face as quickly as it had come. "Oh." She said blankly, eyes wide and unblinking. "Excuse me." she murmured rising from her seat and walking out of the room straight-backed and silent.  

 

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