We arrived moments later and Aoshi spoke while taking Izumi from me.

"Well why don’t we meet down here in about 20 minutes and we'll walk around until we find somewhere nice to eat?" I nodded my head and ascended the stairs. Once I heard his door close I ran up the rest of the stairs and opened the door, slamming it behind me. I ran straight for my room and opened the cupboard up. What am I going to wear? I thought to myself. For god’s sake Misao it’s just a meal with Aoshi and Izumi, I spoke again. I calmed down then and rummaged for some nice trousers and a shirt. I ran to the bathroom and showered. I placed on the outfit but didn’t like it. Misao what is happening to you? I silently asked myself. I threw the clothes on my bed and found a dark blue summer dress with small silver-blue flowers on it in the back of the cupboard. I threw it on, placed my hair in a high ponytail, grabbed a jumper and tied it around my waist. I placed my wallet and keys into a small sling bag and placed it over my head and under my right arm. I grabbed my white sandals and left the unit. I was descending the stairs and got to the last lot to find Aoshi sitting on the stairs doing up Izumi’s sandals. She was wearing a light blue dress, that came above her knees with white butterflies on it and a matching knitted jumper. I descended the stairs and Izumi noticed me and gave me a bright smile.

"Oh wow Misao, you look so pretty! Don’t you agree daddy?" I faulted in my steps frozen at what Izumi said. I noticed Aoshi stand up and turn to look at me. He was wearing navy pants, with a button down black shirt and he had replaced his trench coat with a navy blue dress jacket that matched his trousers. I could feel his eyes looking at my outfit and the tension eased from my back and shoulders when he nodded yes. I smiled lightly and placed my sandals on and we walked out of the apartment blocks and down the street.

* * * *

Aoshi, Izumi and I were walking back to the units. We had been out for hours and it was 10pm. I was holding Izumi in my arms as she had fallen asleep in my embrace. We had actually gone to a small take-away shop and eaten in a different park, which had a lake nearby. Izumi had thrown some bread in the lake to feed the fish and ducks. She could hear the sound of the amusement park and so we went to win her a small toy and grab some fairy-floss. We walked casually around for a couple of hours just talking about family, friends, and school and growing up. I saw a few elderly couples look at us as though we were a family. I blushed when a married couple came up to us and actually said Aoshi, Izumi and myself made a lovely looking family. I was the first one to gather my voice and I spoke softly to them indicating we were only good friends. They smiled anyway and kept walking on, as did I, with Aoshi following slowly behind not saying or showing any emotion about that moment.

Aoshi is the eldest child of three. His younger brother is actually 18 while his sister is 12. His parents too were always busy and never went to any outings he, or his brother and sister had. Aoshi and his brother, Mariko, would go and cheer their sister on in everything she did to make sure she knew she was loved, even if it meant skipping classes. I told him that’s exactly what my brother did for me. I felt rather privileged that he had opened up to me and told me about him "growing" up still, even though Izumi was born. I saw his cheeks flush when he told me he actually cried when Izumi first spoke to him and even a few days after where she kept saying daddy over and over again. I had smiled thanking him for sharing such a private moment with me.

* * * *

I took a deep breath as we walked in silence. I held Izumi closer to me as a cool breeze picked up making her shiver slightly. I kissed the side of her head lightly and then turned my gaze to Aoshi and blushed faintly when I realised he was staring at us. I gathered my voice and spoke softly to him as not to disturb Izumi.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner. I had a really nice time."

"I’m glad." He had spoken softly back to me and then waited for me to enter the apartment block first and then he followed. I stopped at his door and spoke again.

"Would you like to come up for coffee?"

"No, I better not. I’ve got class first thing in the morning so I’ll need to check my notes and get some sleep."

"Poor you." I spoke back. He silently looked at me and so I spoke again.

"I don’t have any classes on Monday’s."

"Can I ask a favour then Misao?" He spoke while taking Izumi from my arms without waking her. I nodded my head and waited for him to speak again.

"I have classes all day and I need someone to look after Izumi. The lady that-"

"I’d love to." I interrupted him. I watched as he blinked a few times and then smiled at me. My heartbeat grew faster as he was rather handsome standing under his front door light and smiling like that at me. I bit my lip self-consciously and he spoke.

"Could you meet us down here just before 8:30 in the morning. I know its early put I need to get to class pretty early." I nodded my head, as he must have seen my face expression.

"Is it alright if I bring her to Uni for a bit. I just need to get some books from the library. Then I could take her to the park and she can help me with my grocery shopping." I watched him nod and I waved goodbye and began ascending the stairs. I opened my door and locked it behind me. I sat down on the couch and took my sandals off. My heartbeat still raced as I could still see him smiling in my mind. I walked to the bedroom, changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top and fell on my bed and into a blissful sleep.

* * * *

"MIIIIIISSSSSSSSAAAAAOOOOOOOO"

I groaned awake to hear someone yelling. I snapped my eyes open when I realised it was Izumi. I began cursing and looked at the clock to see it was 8:15. I wrapped my short silk robe around me and ran out the door not even thinking about changing or brushing my hair. I looked down to see Izumi coming up the stairs.

"I’m coming down Izumi!" I spoke loudly to get her attention and then jumped over the edge to fall through the gaps and land on the ground with ease.

"I’m sorry Aoshi, quick you better go now." I spoke while standing up from my crouched position and walking towards him and Izumi.

"Misao, your still in your bed clothes." Izumi giggled while wanting to be picked up. I blushed lightly but controlled it and picked her up.

"Here." I took the spare key to his unit and he leaned in closed to kiss Izumi. I watched his eyes divert to me and I knew I was blushing lightly while he didn’t show anything. He silently waved and then raced out the apartment block and into the busy morning traffic.

"Lets go upstairs Izumi. I’ll show you my place." I said while grabbing her small purple backpack.

"OKAY!" She yelled happily.

We arrived in my unit and I showed her to the second bedroom, which was full of things for Izumi to keep busy with while I showered and changed clothes. I dressed in my black pants, a white tank top with a black long sleeved shirt over the top. A silver dragon was printed on the back of the shirt as well. I placed on my socks and sneakers and only needed to brush my hair. I stood in the doorway of the bedroom that Izumi was in and found her looking at the many posters on the walls and holding the white teddy that I won for her at the park last night. She was dressed in a purple dress with a white shirt underneath and white sneakers with purple socks. Her hair was placed back in a ponytail, which was held together by a purple ribbon. I brushed and plaited my hair quickly and did it up at the end and spoke to Izumi.

"Hey Izumi do you wanna come to the university with me. We’ll see if we can find your dad and then we can go to the park and you can help me do some shopping as well."

"Okay Misao!" She turned and grabbed her small bag and came out into the main room with me. I placed the pack on her and then put mine on as well. We locked the door behind us and walked to the bus stop just down the street, as I knew one was coming soon.

* * * *

Izumi was holding my hand as we walked onto the campus grounds and we found numerous students sitting or standing in different groups. They seemed to stop their usual talking to stare at Izumi and myself. I felt a slight tug on my hand and bent down to Izumi’s height to see what was wrong with her.

"Izumi are you alright?" I asked concerned.

"Why are they staring at us Misao?" She spoke quietly to me. I smiled and spoke my answer to her.

"They are all just jealous because they have classes and we don’t."

"Plus they aren’t as pretty as us!" Izumi piped in. I giggled nodding my head in agreement and Izumi joined in. I stood up but watched Izumi hesitate again and so I lifted her up into my embrace and placed her on my hip and began walking again. She wrapped one of her hands around my braid while the other took a hold of my black shirt. I could see Kaoru walking towards us and I took a deep breath as some other students followed her to see who I had in my arms.

"Why Misao, who is this?" Kaoru spoke. My eyes shrunk in annoyance as she was acting like a total bitch.

"This is Izumi, you met her on the plane when we were coming over here, remember?" I spoke with no emotion in my voice. I wasn’t going to sink to their level.

"Oh…you mean his child." My blood began to boil when I heard her say this.

"Stop it Kaoru. I’ve had enough! You know nothing about him and yet you listen to and believe some stupid rumour! You never used to be like this before so why are you acting like this now? Is it all an act just for them? I can’t believe I considered you my friend when you act like this. The real Kaoru was never like this!" I spoke while walking past them.

"So that’s the bastards child hey?" I snapped when I heard that and with a blink of an eye I threw three kunais’ at him. They embedded him into a nearby tree. One on either side of him sticking into his shirt sleeves while the other was above his head cutting some of his hair. I placed Izumi on the ground and walked over to him. I squeezed his throat with my hand and spoke angrily to him.

"Say that again!" I dared him on. He didn’t speak and so I let go and he coughed for air and I plucked my kunais’ out, placed them back in their hiding place and strode over to Izumi.

"You leave daddy alone!" She yelled at them with tears in her eyes, as she knew exactly whom they were talking about. I turned around to see they all had surprised gazes on their faces. I bent down and wrapped Izumi in my hug and then stood up and walked off. She cried softly as she buried her tiny head under my chin. My heart ached at seeing this.

"Sweetie it’s alright. We taught them a lesson didn’t we? How about we go find your daddy?" I spoke softly to Izumi as she nodded her head while crying.

* * * *

I had been walking around for about half an hour with Izumi still clutching my shirt and sniffling softly. Those bastards! I silently spoke to myself. I walked to the administration and finally found what class Aoshi had at the moment and walked to the room. I had Izumi clutched to my chest with one hand under her butt holding her up while the other was wrapped protectively around her and my hand was stroking her back lightly. I finally found the room and knocked on the door. When I heard a reply from the inside I opened the door and made my presence known. I walked towards the teacher but he stopped me, when he heard Izumi sniffling and started talking.

"Aoshi a moment please?" The man obviously knew that this was his daughter.

"I’ll be two minutes Sir." He spoke from the back of the room helping another student with some work. The teacher was about to speak again but I cut in.

"I think you should come now." He stood up at the sound of my voice and turned to see that it was me who was standing inside the room. He grabbed his bag and coat and began walking towards us and I glanced around the room at all the curious pairs of eyes looking at me. I felt uncomfortable and walked out the door and into the yard and sat under a large tree.

"Daddy they were so mean!" Izumi spoke tearfully. Aoshi picked her up and she curled into his lap and he held her tightly to him while he had his head bowed and his eyes closed. Izumi buried herself into Aoshi’s chest and cried some more. My eyes frowned in sadness and my heart clenched, as Izumi would forever remember what happened today. I silently crawled closer and sat in front of them. I bravely placed my hand over Aoshi’s one which was on Izumi’s head and brushed some of his black hair away from his eyes. They snapped open to look at me and I watched as they changed colours.

"I’m sorry." I spoke quietly to him. I watched him nod his head but I could tell that this hurt him deeply as he showed it in his eyes. I squeezed his hand and then placed a light kiss on Izumi’s head and got up to leave them alone and left in the direction to go back to the apartment.

* * * *

I arrived and walked into Aoshi’s apartment to make them some food, which they could heat up straight away and not have to worry about cooking.

An hour passed and I had finished cleaning up the kitchen as though no one had ever been inside and walked back into the lounge room. I noticed a lot of pictures around the place and walked around to see them. They were pictures of Izumi growing up, her birthdays and Christmas’s with Aoshi, no one else. There was a couple with two other people, probably his aunt and uncle but that was it. I felt a bit sad, as Izumi would never know her grandparents.

I gathered my things and went back upstairs and into my unit and threw my stuff on the floor and walked to the bathroom. The next thing I remember is looking in the mirror to see I had tears falling down my cheeks. I turned the taps on in the shower stall and sat on the ground fully clothed and cried. It was shocking that I was crying but I let all my emotions out and cried about everything, growing-up, school and Uni, my parents, my brother, Kaoru, Izumi and Aoshi.

* * * *

An hour or so had passed and I turned the taps off long ago but I was still sitting in the shower just staring at the glass. My clothing was damp and my hair was soaked through. I finally decided to get up and look at how terrible I was in the mirror. My eyes weren’t puffy, only a little bit red, which was good. I heard a light knock on my front door and walked out of the bathroom and opened it up not even thinking about whom was there. I stood frozen when I noticed it was Aoshi. His mouth was slightly parted but nothing came out as his eyes diverted down and then trailed up to look at how terrible I was. Izumi had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Misao?" He spoke softly to me.

I stepped away from the door to let him in and he slowly entered the apartment. I pointed to one of the bedrooms were he could place Izumi and watched him walk to the room and place her on the bed and close the door. I could still feel his eyes on me as he began walking back to where I was standing. I couldn’t believe the way I was acting though, I was crying about what happened earlier and all the hatred wasn’t even directed at me. I placed my hands over my face to muffle my voice and spoke again.

"I’m sorry." And with that I cried softly into my hands. Misao! Get a hold of yourself! Stop acting like a small child! A voice inside of me spoke rather disgusted. Leave her alone, she needs to do this, another one spoke back.

"Misao?" I heard Aoshi’s voice again. He didn’t have a clue as to what was with me, but I was okay with that. I felt his presence standing right in front of me and was shocked when he placed his arms around me and let me cry into his chest. He was trying to comfort me and was succeeding perfectly. I dropped my hands away from my face and wrapped them around his upper chest and spoke quietly into his chest.

"I’m sorry Aoshi." He had bowed his head and placed it on top of mine to speak softly to me as well.

"What for Misao?" I shivered at his hot breath trickling down my neck and he hugged me tighter thinking I was cold, when it was him who made me do that.

"For those bastards. Kaoru was my friend, and I was beginning to be their friends but not anymore. Not after what happened today. What they said about you and the way it effected Izumi, I just wanted to take it away, to make her forget what happened. I know she’ll remember this forever and I’ll always know it was my fault because I was the one who brought Izumi with me and she had to go through with that."

I pulled away and walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I needed a moment to myself and didn't want to hear Aoshi's answer to what I said. I suppose I was afraid to listen to it. I washed my face and changed into a pair of loose black pants and a long sleeved baggy grey shirt that were lying on the bathroom floor. I undid my braid and dried my hair with a towel and placed it into a messy low ponytail. I walked into the main room to see Aoshi walking around looking at my photos. I walked slowly towards him and noticed he placed a few of his fingers on one of the photos and smiled. His eyes diverted to me as I picked up the photo to see what it was. I lightly blushed as I was wearing a dark green dress, which was quite daring. It was hitched all the way up showing off my right leg as the end was sticking into my black underwear. My left hand was holding onto a pole while my upper body was bent back, showing the top of my small breasts off and I was holding a flower in my right hand singing away as though it were a microphone. I had it up as my brother was in exactly the same pose as well as Kaoru and a couple of Tosh's friends who were like big brothers to me, just hanging onto different poles.

"That’s my brother Tosh. It was my 16^th birthday and he wanted to make it special because my parents were working, as usual, so we all got dressed up in fancy clothes and paraded the streets. I guess in some places we got a little too carried away." I turned my gaze towards him and found him staring intensely at me.

"Are you alright Misao?" He spoke, concern etched in his voice. I nodded my head my heartbeat racing at hearing him feeling concern for me.

We both turned when we heard the bedroom door open and Izumi came out looking at us. She ran towards us and stood up on one of the chairs.

"Misao we didn’t get to go shopping or to the park!" I smiled and sat down on the chair placing Izumi in my lap. It was as though she had forgotten about the events earlier on. I was about to speak but Izumi talking to Aoshi excitedly interrupted me.

"Oh wow daddy you should have seen Misao today! She was heaps cool!" Or not, I silently thought. I diverted my eyes over to Aoshi, as he seemed quite interested in what Izumi was talking about as he sat down on the coffee table to listen.

"They were being so mean and Misao got mad and beat them up."

"Is that right Izumi?" Aoshi spoke with interest. I bit my lip while looking over at him but his long bangs covered his eyes.

"Yep, this guy was being a big bully so she threw her kunais’ at him. She protected you from them daddy!" Izumi had spoken this to him while standing up and placing her small hands on his knees. I’m pretty sure Aoshi was staring at me so I quickly changed the subject while grabbing my sling bag and getting my wallet and keys.

"Hey Izumi, how about we go and do the shopping and we can stop in the park to eat some ice cream."

"YEAH! Come on daddy lets go!" Izumi spoke excitedly while grabbing her backpack and placing it on. I watched as Aoshi got up off the table and walked to the door to open it up. I walked past him with Izumi holding my hand giggling happily.

* * * *

TBC…

* * * *