I arrived at the block of units and made my way to the top floor and let myself into my new place. The unit was quite spacious as all the furniture was moved around to compliment the place nicely. I noticed there were two bedrooms, a large bathroom to hold a bath, shower, toilet, sink and a cupboard. There was a separate room for the laundry as well. The lounge was the main room with a small eating area and a kitchen. It was very nice. I walked into the main bedroom to see the walls painted a deep blue colour and silver curtains hanging from the window. No bed was placed in here as my parents had told the landlords to take it out as I had my own coming. I walked out of the room and into the second one to see the room painted a light purple. There were posters of baby animals on the walls and the room was filled with toys and a single bed just below the large window. A family obviously used to live in this apartment but I had no idea of why the room was left like this. I shrugged my shoulders thinking nothing of it and walked into the main room once more. I sat down on the nice black leather couch and closed my eyes.

* * * *

"MISAO OVER HERE!" I heard Kaoru say as I was walking onto the campus of the university. She had a bunch of people hanging around her already and it had only been about an hour. This was only orientation for god’s sake! I was wearing a pair of black jeans and a grey shirt with a baggy black shirt over the top. I really felt out of place when I reached Kaoru as she was wearing a yellow summer dress, as were the other females, but different colours. I saw their glances but didn’t care what they thought of me. I took a few deep breaths, placed a fake smile on to greet these other students and walked around the university to get a feel for the place.

* * * *

Hours seemed to pass and I had my schedule in my hand and I was sitting under a tree with Kaoru and a bunch of others. I stood not wanting to be with them anymore and excused myself to walk around by myself.

I walked to an area with heaps of dark green tables and chairs and found only two people occupied the area. One was seated in the chair with their back to me while the other was sitting on the actual table funnily enough. I squinted my eyes as I thought I knew who they were. I walked a little closer and recognised the little girl who had turned her gaze my way. I saw her eyes widen in surprise and she got off the table onto a chair and then jumped to the ground and began running towards me while yelling my name.

"MISAO!" I bent down to pick her up and hugged the small girl.

"Izumi what are you doing here?"

"Daddy is studying here Misao." I looked over to see Aoshi standing at the chair he occupied moments ago looking over at us.

The wind blew around his long trench coat. His thick black hair glistened in the sunshine as the breeze was also whipping it around. My legs had started walking on their own getting closer and closer to him. I knew my heartbeat was faster than normal but I had no clue as to why it was doing this. I was now standing in front of him and he smiled his greeting at me. My heartbeat grew faster and then I realised it was Aoshi who was making me feel like this. I controlled myself remarkably well and smiled nicely back at him.

"I see you made it to your place Misao?"

"Yes. So this is were you go to university Aoshi?" I spoke while placing Izumi on the ground once more.

"Mmmmmm, It is quite a good place. I was able to bring Izumi with me so I came to this one." I nodded my head in understanding and Izumi piped up.

"Daddy got a lot of offers because he’s real smart but he came here so I could come with him cause he loves me soooooooo much, right daddy?"

"Of course Izumi." Aoshi chuckled while placing one of his large hands across her small cheek. He sat down in his chair and I sat in the one opposite from him and picked Izumi up, as she wanted to sit in my lap. We sat in silence and Izumi and I watched Aoshi as he read in a textbook then took notes on paper. I leaned back against the chair so Izumi could rest her back and head against my chest and stomach. I wrapped my arms loosely around her small body and smiled as she placed her small hands over my arms.

"Daddy, tell Misao what you are studying?" I glanced my eyes over to him and saw his widen slightly and change again as he realised that I was holding his daughter like a mother would. I chewed my lip nervously thinking I had done the wrong thing but he finally spoke.

"Teaching actually. I want to be a Martial Arts Instructor."

"Really! Me too!" I spoke excitedly to him. His expression was a little shocked that we really did have something in common. We were interrupted by Kaoru’s voice.

"MISAO COME ON!" She was standing metres away not wanting to come over near Aoshi or Izumi. I seethed inside at how rude she was being. I placed Izumi on the table and kissed her forehead and placed a hand on Aoshi’s shoulder and smiled goodbye and walked over to Kaoru. I turned around before I left with her to see Aoshi still staring, I knew a faint blush crept on my cheeks but I was lucky he was too far away to notice. I waved and was pulled away by Kaoru around the corner so I couldn’t see them anymore.

"STOP IT KAORU!" I yelled irritated and yanked my arm out of her grip. I walked off to leave the campus.

"MISAO COME BACK!" Kaoru yelled at me. I totally ignored her and walked in the direction to go back to my apartment. I’ve had enough for one day. I was still seething that she would believe rumours. No one was giving him a chance and so I decided I would.

* * * *

I arrived at my apartment and saw a delivery truck outside. I ran up the stairs to find two men standing at my door, supposedly waiting for someone to answer. I couldn’t believe my parents didn’t even ring me up and tell me they were coming. I walked past them and opened the door so they could bring my stuff in. I watched as the men came up and down the stairs numerous times and so I went to help them bring my stuff up. They had there work finished quicker then normal and so I signed the paper and they said there thanks and left to go back downstairs. I closed the door, clapped my hands together and began to unpack my things.

* * * *

Hours past as I sat exhausted on the couch. My belongings had been placed around the unit nicely and I had only just finished putting my bed back together. I reached for my backpack and retrieved my books and began packing what I had for tomorrow. I walked to the cupboard to find a packet of 2-minute noodles and cooked them up. I knew I would need to buy a few things from the local store so I made a list and placed it on the counter so I could remember to take it with me when I left for Uni in the morning.

* * * *

The rest of the week had past and I hadn’t seen Aoshi or Izumi at the green tables and chairs. I felt a bit sad actually, which was very strange. Do I like him? I silently asked myself. Oh stop it Misao, you don’t even know him properly, I spoke again. And yet you still like him anyway, I concluded. I sat down in the chair he occupied 4 days ago and watched a few other students mingle around and sit in others.

"Hey Misao what are you still doing here?"

I looked up to see that it was Jade. I began grabbing my things and waved goodbye not saying a word and walked a different way to my unit.

* * * *

It was about half and hour later I came across a park. It was lush and green and full of different flowers. I walked around and found various mothers resting under trees watching their children play. My observations were interrupted when I heard an excited voice.

"Come on daddy, you gotta catch me!" I stopped in my tracks when two figures came running out of a large area of trees. The smaller one was Izumi and the larger was none other then Aoshi who was jogging behind her pretending to try and catch her, his trench coat flapping in the breeze. I smiled at the scene as Aoshi "swooped down" to pick Izumi up and spin her around in the air. I heard some sighs behind me and saw some women looking at them as well.

"Such a handsome young man and a truly loving father. To think he was just 18 when she was born. Just a young boy himself." One had spoken.

"When he falls in love again, he’ll want it to be forever with her." Another mother said.

"She will be the luckiest woman on Earth, but I know he won’t have anyone who can’t love sweet Izumi too." Yet another mother spoke.

I knew my face was slightly flushed but that didn’t stop me from walking closer towards the two of them. I watch as Aoshi fell to his knees in the lush green grass and hugged Izumi to him. He loosened the hug slightly and I smiled when Izumi brushed his long bangs away from his face while giggling happily about something. I stopped my walking when Aoshi spoke again to Izumi and then pointed my way. I observed as she turned around to face me and her body shook with excitement as she ran towards me, her arms out ready for a hug. I caught her in one as she began speaking to me.

"Misao, I haven’t seen you in ages. I was missing you!" She spoke with emotion throughout her voice as she placed her small arms around my neck to hug me.

"I missed you too Izumi." I spoke sweetly back to her and brushed my fingers through her silky hair.

"Really?" Her eyes were glowing with happiness. I nodded my head affirmatively and began walking towards Aoshi who was still kneeling on the grass. Before I knew what I was doing I offered my hand to Aoshi to help him get up. Electricity buzzed through me when his hand connected with mine as he stood up. We walked to a large tree and sat under it. I placed Izumi on the ground and sat down as well while listening to Izumi speak.

"This is where daddy and I always sit, right daddy?"

"Absolutely. Why don’t you run off and play Izumi?"

I watched as Izumi bounced off with so much energy to go and play in the flowers. She giggled happily as she found some various insects to chase after as well.

"Aoshi, may I ask you a question?" I had blurted out before I knew I was aware I was going to ask him. He nodded his head and I spoke up while looking over at Izumi.

"I hope you don’t mind me asking but, is the rumour true?"

"Which one?" I turned my shocked gaze back to him and found him staring at me.

"Oh I’m sorry, I just, I didn’t know-"

IDIOT! I yelled at myself. I knew my cheeks were stained with a light blush from being so embarrassed. I heard Aoshi chuckle once more as he waved me off and spoke again.

"So which rumour was it anyway?"

"Well Kaoru actually said this, ‘He’s dangerous okay. He met this girl, they obviously liked each other and that little girl is the result of him forcing her to, you know, and she killed herself after she had the baby because her parents disowned her.’ I-" I was soon cut off when Aoshi began to chuckle lightly.

"I haven’t heard that one in a while." I silently looked at him and spoke once more.

"Oh… I’m sorry, you don’t have to tell me. It’s your private life." I spoke weakly and shyly to him. His gaze was on me but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

"It’s alright. I met Izumi’s mum when we both were in school. She was a couple of years younger then I but she was real beautiful. My heart would beat faster whenever she said hello or smiled my way. We started going out and we grew closer and closer together. It came to the moment when we both decided we wanted to go further but she soon backed out feeling a little scared. I was disappointed about it but I didn’t force her. After a couple of weeks I was sick of her apologising all the time about her "backing" out, so I said ‘lets do it and get it over and done with’. She was shocked but agreed. So we did. A Month later she found out she was pregnant and I stuck by her side. She didn’t want to kill our child so we kept it a secret for awhile. Then she started to show more and we broke the news to her parents first. They did disown her and so it was my turn to tell mine. They disowned me too so I went to my Aunt’s who was so pleased for us. We stayed there and went to all the pregnancy classes. 9 months went so quickly and soon she was in labour, but there were heaps of complications, and we had to make a choice whether the baby was to live or Yooko. She told me she was sick before I met her and so she told the doctor that Izumi was to stay alive. She was our miracle, but now she’s just mine. I don’t regret anything at all either. Look at her, how can I? I love her to pieces. I thank Yooko everyday for giving me Izumi."

"I’m sorry Aoshi, I truly am." I spoke kindly towards him while looking into his eyes. I noticed they changed colour but thought nothing of it when I heard Izumi giggling happily.

I stared over at her as she was picking flowers. I noticed she stopped giggling as she was having trouble with one of the so-called "stubborn" flowers that wouldn’t come out of the ground. I laughed and rummaged in my backpack and then got up to help her without even asking Aoshi. I stopped in my stride and turned to face him asking my silent question and he nodded. She was still trying to pull at it and so I lay down next to her on my stomach to watch her.

"Misao, please help me." She had spoken while tugging the plant.

"Alright."

With a flick of my wrist the flower was cut away and Izumi fell on her butt in the lush green grass. I giggled as she did and her eyes lit up at having the flower and she spoke excitedly.

"Misao, how you do that so fast?"

"With this Izumi."

I showed her one of my kunai’s. These belonged to my ancestors and were handed down for family members who were interested in using them. I saw my brother use them when I was growing up and wanted to learn as well.

"Oh wow Misao, that’s so shiny." Her eyes glittered excitedly.

"But very sharp so you mustn’t touch them, okay Izumi?" She nodded her head and went back to grabbing some flowers then bringing them to me to cut them cleanly.

Silence filled the area but was usually broken from muffled giggles or squeals from Izumi as she successfully pulled other flowers out of the ground. Izumi sat down in front of me and smiled brightly. Yep, Aoshi’s right she is beautiful, but all I see is he and nothing of Yooko even though I don’t know her. I guess she truly is his miracle, I silently thought.

"Misao, you are so pretty. Can I put some flowers in your pretty hair?"

"As long as I can place some in yours too Izumi." She nodded and then I did as well. She grabbed a few flowers, stood up and sat down on my back so she could place many flowers through my long braid.

"Which ones do you like best Izumi?"

"Purple ones, because daddy said that’s what mummy’s favourite colour was."

So he did tell her about her mother, I’m glad, I thought to myself again.

"Misao I saw a really pretty flower, I’ll just go get it."

I watched as she raced off and I placed my head down on my folded hands and closed my eyes for a small rest.

"Izumi, don’t go too far."

I opened my eyes to see Aoshi sitting down in front of me. I picked up two flowers, tilted my head slightly to look up at him and handed them to him.

"What are they for?" He asked me curiously.

"For you and Izumi. You now she looks just like you, only a girl and she is adorably cute."

"So you think I’m adorably cute huh?" His eyebrow was raised slightly and I knew I was blushing. I didn’t mean it like that.

"I’m joking Misao."

I smiled and glanced over to see Izumi carrying a particular flower. My eyes widened, as I knew what it was. I jumped up, raced to grab my pack and ran towards her. Aoshi had risen as well but was rather confused at the way I was acting. I ran past him towards Izumi while yelling.

"Izumi, drop that plant right now!"

I watched as she stopped running and dropped the plant. I was now standing in front of her and kicked the plant away with my sneaker and then kneeled down in the grass.

"Hold out you hands sweetie." She complied and I opened my backpack and pulled out my small first aid kit. I placed some gloves on and got the disinfectant out as well as my water bottle. I looked into her eyes to see them filled with tears.

"Oh sweetie it’s alright, I’m just going to clean your hands okay?"

Izumi nodded her head and I soaked her hands in disinfectant and then scrubbed them clean. I opened the lid of my water bottle and poured the water over her hands. I gave her a small cloth to dry them off and took the gloves off and threw them in a plastic bag. I placed everything back in the pack and zipped it up. I picked Izumi up and placed her on my hip so I could talk to her.

"Izumi you must never ever pick that plant again."

"Why though?"

"You’ll get really sick and you don’t want your daddy to worry do you?" She shock her head indicating no and so I kept talking knowing that Aoshi was standing behind us listening.

"You can pick all the other flowers but not that one. Its very poisonous, do you understand?" She nodded and spoke to Aoshi.

"Daddy, Misao saved me again."

"How did you know about that plant?"

"Actually that’s all my brother ever wanted to do since he was little. So whenever he went for walks I would go with him and he’d tell me all about the different plants and trees we spotted."

Aoshi grabbed Izumi from me and spoke again.

"It’s getting late. Would you like to have dinner with us Misao?"

"Yeah please Misao?" I turned my gaze to Izumi’s blue-green eyes and then looked into Aoshi’s intense ones and nodded my head.

"Okay, what about the-"

"Actually I still don’t know my way around here very well so you might need to draw me a map." I had cut him off.

"Well why don’t Izumi and I meet you at your place and we can go from there? I recommend a few places too eat and then you can decide okay?" I nodded and placed the map that Jade had drawn me as I still took it with me. My eyes widened when he laughed and placed it back in my hands.

"Is something wrong?" I had asked him.

"No of course not, it’s just that I live there too. Well I live on the ground floor while you live on the top floor." I stood silently looking at him. Izumi speaking happily snapped me out of it.

"Oh wow Misao, does that mean you can come play with me?"

"Yep! But it’s got to be alright with your dad first."

"Oh please can Misao play with me daddy?" He nodded his head and she laughed with happiness. She thrust her arms out wanting to be hugged by me and I bit my lip hesitantly but relaxed when Aoshi placed her in my arms. He grabbed his bag and we began walking back to the apartment block we both lived at.

* * * *

TBC…

* * * *