From: "Maria Vu" HANA YORI MISAO, PART 10 By Maria Vu Disclaimer: I wish I owned them *g* As always: Gomen for formatting, spelling and whatever else I did wrong. Misao carefully slipped through the front door of the tiny apartment she shared with her grandfather. She tiptoed through the living room, silently praying that Jiya was asleep. Luckily, she didn't have to worry, for her grandfather was nowhere to be found. "Oro? Jiya is out at this time of night?" Misao frowned, wondering where her grandfather was. *I bet he is at that club again, chasing underage girls around* She sighed. Not wasting anymore more time wondering over Jiya's whereabouts, she made her way to the bathroom. She paused at the entrance and shivered. She had been feeling a cold draft for over an hour now. Something was wrong. What was it? Misao brushed it off and surrendered to the soothing call of a nice hot shower. Kaoru paced back and forth across her living room floor. She held her portable phone in one hand and stress ball in the other. Where was Kenshin? Didn't he realize they had a date? It's not like she cared that he stood her up, but it was his idea to go out for coffee in the first place. "Hey you big troll! Stop standing in front of the televisio!" Yahiko gripes. Kaoru shoot a death glare at Yahiko, shutting him up immediately. "Be careful Yahiko, Now is not the time to make me take you to the garage and show you a little Kamiya power" She threatens. "Alright Alright. Sorry. What's wrong with you anyway?" Kaoru rolls her eyes at her younger brother, "You wouldn't understand!" "Try me", Yahiko says in a serious tone. Kaoru tilts her head to the side and studies her brother. Maybe he could give her a male perspective of why Kenshin stood her up. "Okay, you see I had this date and he was supposed to be here about an hour ago. And he hasn't called and he isn't answering at his house". "And you want to know why he stood you up?" Yahiko interrupts. "ano…..hai" "Come on Kaoru. The answer is simple" "It is?" "Sure. It/s because you are so butt ugly. I'm surprised he took an interest in you at all" Yahiko says, throwing down the remote. " Well, I' m tired. I think I'm going to crash. Oyasumi" He adds, ignoring the steam flowing from his sister's head. "B-Butt Ug-l-l-y" Kaoru stutters out in a seemigly possessed voice. If Yahiko hadn't know any better, he would swear Kaoru looked a lot like Linda Blair in the Exorcist. He gave a nervous laugh and bolted out of the living room. *Damn that was close. I thought she was going to.." Before he could finish the statement, he is interrupted by a videotape smashing against his head. His eyes swirled around and birds could be seen flying around his now knotted head, "hit me" He manages to finish, before his face met the floor. Kenshin sat stiffly in one of the waiting room chairs. He wiped his hand across his sweaty face. *How could this have happened again?* He shut his eyes, thinking back to that tragic day. The day that had changed his life forever. *Aoshi, you have to be alright. For both are sakes* Kenshin looks up to see a middle aged man in a white coat, string down at him. "Excuse me young man". "Hai" "Hello. I am Doctor Makino. Are you a relative of the patient?" The man asks. Kenshin hesitates a moment before answering, "Hai. How is he?" "He's unconscious but stable. He took a hard blow to the head and we will be running tests to see if he has a concussion. But for now he is in no serious danger". "Can I see him?" "Sure. But first, can you tell me what happened? Was there another vehicle involved?" "It all happened so fast. Our cars collided and I'm not sure what happened after that. I don't even know why I wasn't injured" ,Kenshin admits. "It appears you have the devil's own luck. You can go in and see him now. But don't leave. The police are going to want to question you." Kenshin frowned. He didn't need the police asking him questions. It all felt so familiar. *Déjà vu* He walked into the room the doctor directed him to. His eyes widened as he looked over a pretty bruised Aoshi. "Sumen" He whispered. He knew it wasn't enough. But it was all he could say. He turned to leave, when he heard it. It was a soft mumbling from Aoshi. What was he saying? He leaned closer to Aoshi's face a strained to his hearing to hear what it was Aoshi was saying. "Makimachi…..Misao" Kenshin pauses and then rushes out of the room. He knew he couldn't make up for it, but if Misao-dono is what Aoshi desired. Then Misao-dono was what he was going to get. Misao flipped through endless channels of nothing. How can we finally be able to afford cable, only to realize that we wasted what little money we have.*I want a refund* She threw down the remote and plopped back on the couch. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to take her somewhere else. So much had happened to her. Just a week ago, she was an ordinary student. How had everything gotten so messed up? She reflected over the club, getting drugged, waking up in the hotel room with neither clothes nor memory of what happened, finding out she was pregnant, confronting Soujiro and realizing he wasn't the father, being beaten by the entire student body and being saved by Yumi, and then there was Shinomori. Why had he proposed to her? Didn't he realize her situation? Didn't he know how serious things were now. What in the world possessed him to do something like that? "Shinomori no baka" She spat out. But as annoyed as she was at Aoshi, she realized that she wasn't as upset with him as she thought. She even found herself blushing just thinking about him? *What is going on?* She lectures herself mentally. *You are getting turned on over Shinomori? " "Iie Iie Iie". Misao is interrupted by a knock at her door. She pusheds herself off the couch and shook her head. She had to get these unnatural thoughts of Shinomori out of her head. "Hai?" Misao called through the door. "Misao-dono? It's Himura." "Himura-san?" Misao questioned, noticing the urgency in his voice. She opened the door and gestured for him to come inside. "Is something wrong?" Misao asked, the familiar chill washing over her. "It's Aoshi. There was an accident." Kenshin looks Misao over for a response. She stares back at him with a blank expression on her face. But he did notice how pale she had gotten. He wondered what the true nature of her relationship with Aoshi was. "Misao-dono?" Misao shook her head. *What's wrong with me?*, "Hai?" "Shall we go to the hospital?" Kenshin asks softly. "Naze? Why should I care what happens to Shinomori?" Misao snaps. "I think that is something you should ask yourself", Kenshin answers. "Well, there is no reason why I should care!" Misao states. "Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?" Kenshin questions. "Watashi……watashi" She pauses as down her face…..Himura-san?" "Hai" "I'm ready to go to the hospital now" "Hai" TBC I will revise l8ter….I hope. J --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Win a Digital Camera and Earn 6 Percent APY Interest! SFNB is reinventing Internet Banking with a 6 percent APY Interest Checking acct. For acct details and to sign up to win a digital camera: Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------