Disclaimers: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me and will never do. This is for entertainment purposes only!!!

Aoshi-sama's MINE:

"Aoshi-sama..." Misao chanted looking for Aoshi, searching all over Kaoru's dojo. They have been staying at the Himura's for about a week now.

Misao spotted Kaoru coming out of the bath-house holding onto Kenji.

"Kaoru-san... have you seen Aoshi-sama?? I can't seem to find him this morning." Misao pouted.

"hmm...He might be with Kenshin. I saw the two of them talking earlier." Kaoru responded diverting her attention back to Chibi-Kenji.

"Arigato Kaoru-san!!" Misao yelled back searching for Kenshin. She was quite desperate to find her Aoshi-sama as soon as possible.

Kenshin came out to the yard to do his laundry. He figured Misao was looking for Aoshi as she was holding a tray with tea. "Looking for Aoshi?" He questioned.

"Yup.. Kaoru said he was with you." Misao commented.

"Oro... Sessha left Aoshi in that room a while ago." Kenshin responded pointing to one of the guestrooms. "Eto... Misao-dono, you shouldn't go in there just yet.." Kenshin warned.

"Why not?" Misao questioned curiously.

"Because it is not-" Kenshin realized Misao was no longer paying attention as she had already walked away from him. 'Yare, yare.. I guess she'll just have to find out for herself then...' He thought getting his mind back to doing the laundry, before Kaoru starts making a fit again.

Misao walked towards the room to see if Aoshi was in there. Just as she was about to open the door, she heard a familiar voice. 'Megumi?' Misao thought. 'Why in the world is she in there?'

"Want some more tea, Aoshi" Megumi asked.

Finally, Misao got the courage and slid open the shoji. She found Megumi serving tea to her Aoshi while he was meditating. Her hands were all over him.

"Misao" Aoshi called turning around and seeing her standing by the doorway.

Misao glared at the women serving Aoshi his morning tea. She began fuming. "M-E-G-U-M-I what are you doing???"

"Oh HOHOHOHOHOHOHO...Ohayo gozaimasu, sleepy head," teased Megumi.

"MEGUMI!!!" Misao screamed. "You little fox!!"

"Come on Misao-chan... you were sleeping like a little baby so I decided to give Aoshi his tea so he wouldn't have to wait." Megumi responded giving Misao a careless excuse.

Misao left her tray on the floor and ran out of the room and closing the shoji behind her. "Aoshi-sama no baka!!" She screamed in her thoughts.

"Ah.. don't worry, that little girl will come back soon." Megumi responded while continuing to serve tea to Aoshi. 'This is going to be an interesting experiment.' Megumi thought. "Ohohohohohoho!!!!"

Misao jumped onto the rooftop of that room and decided to listen in on their little conversation for the rest of the morning.

"Shinomori-san...how long can you stay in that position??" Megumi began wondering. "It's been at least an hour since you last moved."

Aoshi glanced at Megumi and went back to his meditation.

'What's with Megumi's little sweet talk with Aoshi-sama anyways??' Misao thought in frustration.

Finally Misao spotted Yahiko walking towards her way.

"Lunch is ready!!!" Yahiko yelled, calling everyone to the dinning room. 'Damn.. why does Kaoru always tell me to do her dirty work??? I could be eating by now.' He thought.

'It's about time I eat something, I thought I'd have to starve myself' Misao thought sarcastically hearing her stomach grumbling.

Sanosuke, as usual, was the first to dash into the dinning room for his food.

Yahiko went into the guestrooms and found Aoshi leaving his room along with Megumi holding onto him. "Um... is Misao there?" he asked.

"Nope, she ran away.." Megumi replied still trying get more of Aoshi's attention. "...think she's in her room or something."

"Really??? ..I didn't see her there earlier..." Yahiko wondered. "Geez..And I though was going to have a match with her today..."

Misao sat up and look down at Yahiko. 'Hehe...I have totally forgotten about that...'

Aoshi's attention flew right back to their conversation.

He looked up and realized that Misao was on their rooftop the entire time. 'She must have been eavesdropping this entire time.' He turned around and continue walking away as if he knew nothing. Aoshi wasn't about to get into this kind of thing.

Just as Yahiko walked away, leaving Megumi alone, Misao jumped down and landed right in front of Megumi.

"Ah la~~ the little girl has came back." Megumi teased.

"What are you doing with Aoshi-sama?" Misao questioned suspiciously. "keep your hands off of him!!"

"Jealous... are you not, Misao-chan. I just want to have a bit of fun with Shinomori." Megumi replied playing with her hair.

"Aoshi-sama's MINE!!!" Misao blurted out.

"Oh really???" Megumi questioned sarcastically. "Since when? I don't even think you belong with him. I, on the other hand, seems to fit just right for Shinomori." Megumi diverted her attention away from Misao and ran to catch up with Aoshi.

Misao let out a slight blush, "Who asked you??" Misao whispered as she followed Megumi into the dinning room to join the others.

Misao showed up a second later and decided to take a seat next to Aoshi and to keep an eye on Megumi.

Yahiko stared at the food that was placed in front of him. "Is this safe to eat??" he questioned.

--------------------

Megumi thought of an idea. "Misao-chan" she called.

"NANI?!" Misao replied rudely.

"I should poison your food if you don't behave like a little girl should." Megumi commented holding out a small pouch of powdered herbs.

Misao paid no attention to Megumi's jokes but decided to keep an eye on her food before something does happen to it.

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Kaoru glared at both Sanosuke and Yahiko. 'These freeloaders are going to get it!!!' She rampaged in her mind.

"Don't worry...I cooked it.." Kenshin commented, noting that their lunch isn't poison.

"Ya...if this busu cooked my meals everyday, I would've died the second I lived here." Yahiko commented pointing at Kaoru.

"Yo, Jo-chan, when will you start learning to cook like Kenshin anyways?" Sanosuke questioned.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!" Kaoru fumed picking up raw fish ready to throw it at them.

"Maa.. Maa..." Kenshin cooed. "Let's not have a fight...Min'na let's eat."

"Ya.. Misao-chan, let's not start a fight..." Megumi said agreeing to Kenshin. She was well aware that Misao had sat next to Aoshi to make sure Megumi would keep her distance.

After lunch, Misao stalked Megumi. Every where she went, Misao tailed behind. Misao didn't even bother hiding herself.

"Keep away from Aoshi-sama!!!" Misao ordered Megumi angrily when she turned around.

"Or else what??" Megumi responded bringing some afternoon tea to Aoshi.

Misao remained silent while watching Megumi walking into his room. Then she hid out on their roof once again.

"Ahh.. you know...Misao was following me like she was my "shadow" Megumi complained.

"Arigato." Aoshi thanked Megumi when she handed him a cup of tea along with snacks to go with it.

"I couldn't find any good snacks around this place so I made some ohagi myself." Megumi explained. "..How is it???"

"Arigato Megumi, it's good." Aoshi commented.

Megumi felt flattered after hearing it.

However, when Misao heard it she ran into the forest and stayed off the main road so people wouldn't see her. She finally got tired and rested up on a tree.

At last, Aoshi felt restless. He couldn't concentrate on his meditation. 'Something's missing.. or rather someone...' He thought to himself. 'It seems a bit too quite.' Then something hit him. "Where's Misao?" Aoshi asked Megumi.

"I don't know?" Megumi responed looking around for her. "Last I saw her, she was stalking me...she might be on the rooftop again...

Aoshi got up and opened the shoji. He stared up to the rooftop and didn't see anyone. He jumped up to the roof top and looked down, to see if Misao could be spotted anywhere from up-top. There was no sign of her.

"Shinomori-san, where are you going?" Megumi asked.

"..to find Misao." Aoshi answered.

"Awww..." Megumi whined. 'hm...I guess he does care for her... even more than I thought' Megumi finally came to the realization and decided not to get in the way of things.

Aoshi sensed Misao's ki coming from the forest. He ran in to look for her. Aoshi finally found Misao sitting up on a tree.

"Misao..." Aoshi called.

Misao turned around staring back at Aoshi. "Oh.. it's you."

"What are you doing in here?" Aoshi asked.

"What are you doing in here??" Misao questioned back at him, pouting.

"...Looking for you..." Aoshi responded softly.

Misao was a bit shocked. "I thought you were occupied with Megumi." Misao spoke again, "She is the one who has been with you all day." She said, grinning.

"Misao" Aoshi called again. He let out a sigh. "Come with me...I have something to show you... and to you only."

"Nani??" Misao looked up at him cluelessly.

Aoshi got sown from the tree. Misao jumped down as well and followed Aoshi deeper into the woods. Aoshi slowed down, as they soon came to see four stones lined up in the middle of nowhere.

"Aoshi-sama... are these what I think they are??" Tears slowly began to fill Misao's eyes.

"A-Are these the gravestones of our comrades, who are buried under these soil??" Misao spoke softly then staring at Aoshi.

Aoshi took a few steps closer to the stones. Misao walked up along side with him. "Aa.." Aoshi slowly replied kneeling down on his knees. "These are the four that gave up their lives to protect me when I couldn't protect myself." Aoshi finally spoke with some sadness.

Misao was a bit surprised to see Aoshi with a bit of emotions. 'So I finally get to see them in their resting place...' Misao stared at the four stones then back at Aoshi. Misao moved herself in front of Aoshi, facing the four stones. "Arigato Min'na-san, for protecting Aoshi-sama for me..."

Misao couldn't help but let her tears run down her face. Aoshi realized that Misao was crying. He moved himself next to her and embraced her for the first time. "Misao, I never told you this but now seems like a good time." Aoshi whispered into Misao's ears, "Aishite'ru..."

"I love you too, Aoshi-sama... And I always did." Misao immediately replied back looking at him.

"Misao-mine...There's no need for you call me by that anymore."

"Hai...Aoshi." Misao jumped onto him. "There's just one thing I must do." She told him.

Aoshi glanced at Misao. "What is it?"

Misao looked up, as she has just got an idea. "hmm... can you wait here for a few minutes??"

"I'll wait for as long as you want me to...Misao-mine."

"Ja...then I'll be right back!!" Misao ran quickly out of the forest.

In less then 10 minutes, Misao headed into the forest again.

When Misao finally caught up to the grave site, she saw Aoshi trying to clean out the area a bit. "Aoshi...I got something..." Misao chanted happily.

Aoshi turned around and saw Misao hold up his weapons and a basket of flowers.

At first, Aoshi was a bit surprised, but nonetheless he took his kodachi from Misao and started to carve their names on the stones.

"Ne.. Aoshi...which one is Hannya's?" Misao asked, hinting that she wants to carve Hannya's name onto his stone.

"This one.." Aoshi replied pointing to a stone on the far left.

"Arigato" Misao walked up to the stone and pulled out her kunai. A letter at a time, she finally completed it. Aoshi was just about done carving the names on the other three stones as well. Misao grabbed the basket and laid out some flowers in front of each stone.

"There, that should do it," Misao commented after giving the finishing touches.

"I can finally give you guys piece at last," Aoshi mumbled.

Misao turned around and looked up at Aoshi who was currently in satisfaction. "Aoshi.. Let's go back to Kyoto together tomorrow."

"Aa.." Aoshi said in agreement, walking out of the forest holding onto Misao.

-- END -- 7/15/04