From: L X Gomen nasai minna! Apparently, Misao DID see Soujiro before so I corrected that part again. I'm really sorry about posting this for the ...i dunno...third time i think. if there are any more corrections, i'll just post the link to the page it can be found(as soon as i make one), ok? BTW, instead of posting the entire fic, i just posted it up to the revision. Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin doesn't belong to me. It belongs to its respectful owners . Standard disclaimers apply. SPOILER ALERT: I don't believe there are any, but if you do find spoilers here, please let me know. Thanks! VINDICTIVE SPIRITS(Super revised!) by lily-dono -------------------------------- Chapter One: Changes -------------------------------- "Sano, I don't think we should see each other anymore." Those words tore like knives into Sanosuke's fragile heart. He could not believe his ears. "But why, Megumi?" Megumi bit back tears as those words left her lips. She almost couldn't hold back the tears brimming in her eyes as she heard the pain in his voice. She hadn't wanted to break up with him. She really didn't, but lately, he seemed like he wasn't there anymore. He often spaced out and was missing for several days. Megumi recalled several sleepless nights waiting and worrying about him. It had stressed her out and made her very unprepared for her work. She couldn't take it anymore when because of her lack of concentration, a young boy died at the operating table. "Sano...I don't feel like I know you anymore," Megumi whispered, barely audible. "What?" "You space out quite often and you never seem to be you anymore. You just seem to be someone else," Megumi began, "Sanosuke, you never act like you used to. You disappear often and I'm tired of waiting up and worrying about you." "What?" Sano recalled those days he wandered off, "Oh...I see. I'm...I'm sorry Megumi. I can explain...." She cut him off. "Don't even start, Sano. It's too late. It's over. You're not the Sano I knew and fell in love with. You're...you're someone else" She then ran off, leaving a hurt Sanosuke standing alone in the shadows. She reached the clinic in record time and collapsed on a bed. It was then, the tears streamed down her delicate face, followed by the rain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aoshi watched as a young man returned Misao to the Aoiya gates. He opened the gates out for her and was bidding her a good night when she pulled him in an tight embrace. He seized the moment and stole a quick kiss from her. Misao giggled and kissed him back. "Good night, Soujiro. See you next Friday?" Misao said happily. "Good night to you too, Misao. I'll pick you up at 8. Dancing, right?" Soujiro replied. "Hai! I'll be waiting until then." "Have fun in Tokyo, Misao." "I'll bring you back something, and you better not start protesting. I'm bringing you something back and you're not going dissuade me!" "Ok. Sweet dreams, angel," Soujiro replied, grinning as usual. Misao giggled again. "You are sweeter than sugar, Sou-chan. Sweet dreams to you too." Then, they parted. Misao quickly stumbled to her room. Aoshi watched, emotionless as usual. "It is good, she's finally found someone who deserves her." Misao saw out of the corner of her eye, as she entered her quarters, a large figure watching her from the shadows. "Aoshi..." she whispered as she closed the door behind her. It had been almost half a year since the incident where she met Soujiro. She'll never forget it as long as she shall exist on this earthly world. <<<>>> 'That's is. I'm giving Aoshi up! He obviously thinks of me as only his little sister. His little nuisance is more like it. If I truely care about him, I'll leave him alone and stop pursuing him." Once Misao made up her mind, she couldn't be persuaded otherwise. The first week was almost unbearable. As if to make it worse, Jiya sent her on a mission with Aoshi. "Jiya...he has some nerve," Misao fumed as she and Aoshi went to spy on a group believed to have been associated with a recent chain of murderers. Everything had been going well, for the mission that is, until their cover was blown. A spy that was supposed to be helping Aoshi, had betrayed him. Aoshi and Misao were spying in a tree overlooking the group's hideout. All of a sudden, daggers were flung at the two. Aoshi had noticed and pushed them both out of the tree, as the daggers embedded themselves in the tree, inches from slicing them. Aoshi tried to cushion Misao's fall, but he failed and she hit the ground hard. Howling in pain, Misao gripped her throbbing, left leg. She tried to move it, but it only caused immense pain. "I'm sorry, Misao. I think I broke your leg," Aoshi tried to apologize while he stood up, unsheathing his kodachi. "It's ok, you were only trying to save us both," Misao replied, removing her kunai. Lucky for her, she had landed in a position where she could easily sit up. No sooner had those words left her lips did a swarm of ninjas emerge from the shadows. They attacked the two simultaneously, but Aoshi's kodachi and Misao's kunai held them back, barely. Misao's kunai quickly ran out and she grabbed a nearby tree limb to hold her attackers off. Aoshi, however, was having no problem defending himself. Misao realized she would need help so she tried to drag herself closer to Aoshi, to protection. Aoshi noticed what Misao was trying to do and he inched himself closer to her. She didn't notice that this would leave her very unprotected since she only had one free hand to fight, since she needed on to drag herself. This left her very vulnerable, but she was quick to pull herself. Although, not quick enough. A ninja took advantage of this and was about to strike her from above, by her neck, a fatal strike, but his sword was deflected by another one. This sword was much too long to be Aoshi's. Misao casted a quick glance at the sword and believed it to be a sakabatou. The sword used was not a sakabatou, but a nihontou, the sword of a certain smiling TenKen. "Himura? What are you doing here?" Misao gasped. However, the swordsman was not Himura Kenshin. The swordsman was clad in blue with fairly long hair. His clothes were tattered from wanderering. With a tap on his foot, he was gone and became a blur as he attacked the ninjas. Misao watched in awe as the blur fell the ninjas with quick strokes of his sword. She felt that the young man felt very familiar. Then, the blur slowed to a stop as all the ninjas lay dying. She then noticed that the blades on the sword were not reversed like Himura's sakabatou. He was smiling with bright blue eyes unlike Aoshi's ice cold ones. Misao's eyes locked on his and they stared in silence for a moment before it was broken. "Arigatou, Soujiro-san, for your assistance," Aoshi said quietly. 'Soujiro! I knew he looked familiar,' Misao thought. He walked over to Misao and extended her his hand. Misao placed her petite hand in his and he clasped his hand over her firmly, but gently. Any traces of Aoshi left her mind as it focused on Soujiro. She tried to stand on her left leg, but winced as it caused immense pain. Soujiro saw the pain on her face as she tried to walk on her left leg. "Here, lean on me. Me and Aoshi'll take you to the Aoiya, right Aoshi?" Soujiro said. "It looks like you've pretty much got it. I'd pretty much be in the way," he said and started walking towards the Aoiya. "I'll lead the way. I don't know if you still remember where it is." <<<>>> 'That must have been when I fell in love with him,' Misao thought as her mind quickly played the days to come as he helped care for her leg, how close they grew over the years, and their dates, which to Misao was like heaven on earth. Aoshi watched until Misao glanced towards his direction before closing the door behind her. Soon after, it began to rain. Aoshi hopped off his perch in the tree and began to sprint for his room. Then, he stopped. He stepped out into the rain and walked slowly towards the zen temple. He lifted his face up to the sky, the water coursing down his face. He stopped walking and just held his arms out and let the water wash over him as if it could wash all this troubles away. There was a faint hint of a smile on his face as he lowered his head and arms and continued on his way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GOMEN NASAI for posting this for the third time. I think I've pretty much worked the kinks out of this chapter by now. ^_^ lily-dono ^-^ ___________________________________________________________________ Why pay more to get Web access? Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW! 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