Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Curl ❯ Chapter 3

Author's Note:

I don't think I really established the "romance" half of the genre description… so I thought I should throw in some more sexual tension into the pot, just for kicks. This is a freebie… next time I'll really wait for reviews before I start posting again. =P

*-*-*-*

Misao lay on her back of her brand new room. It was pretty drab, but she didn't really expect anything spectacular. She'd grown up hearing terrible horror stories about Aoshi from Sano…So she hardly expected him to know how to decorate a girl's - young lady's room.

Her hands held up the pleated skirt that she would now have to wear. Jiya always went all out for his grandchildren... Well, technically she was his daughter - adoptive, of course. She couldn't remember her parents… the only parents she'd ever known was, well, Jiya. With regular visits from Sanosuke and his mother. Honestly, she couldn't remember Aoshi in the least, and before coming she was a ball of nerves. It's not like she honestly believed that he had weasel stew every morning for breakfast, but the stigma was there. 'Baka tori atama (rooster).'

She dropped her arms down, as she sprawled over her bed, her new skirt dangling from her fingers. Sano and Misao had quickly discovered which room was whose… The one with Misao's new school uniform obviously meant this room was hers. She didn't mind so much, although the notion of sharing a bathroom with Sano wasn't all that appealing. Speaking of which, what *was* he up to?

There was clattering coming from inside the bathroom and she assumed that it must be her "brother." She grinned, bouncing out of bed with a new vigor… Rapping her knuckles on the door, "OY! ROOSTER! This is the police! Come out with your wings behind your back! - ITAI! (OW!)"

Sano pulled open the door suddenly, dragging in the petite girl into a headlock and giving her a noogie, "You'll neva' get a holda' me, coppa'…" He smirked, although his impersonations were awful, it was all in good fun. He let her go and got slugged in the arm, he rubbed it to sooth the bruise on her ego.

"I was just wondering what you were up to - oh geez, no! No no no!" She stopped rocking back on her heels, and looked at the counter, and the array of bottles of cologne on it. "You are NOT turning this place into your own personal…" Her hands were edging and clawing at air, as she gestured madly, as she looked for the word.

"Orgy? Love den? Nest, perhaps?" He grinned simply, watching the shades of red his 'imouto-chan' ('little sister') took. "Oh, I see you like orgy the best, huh? I didn't know you were like *that*…"

"MOU! SAGARA SANOSUKE!" He found himself with a mouthful of soap, glaring at a girl who was wearing a satisfied grin, and clapping her hands together. She strode out of the bathroom with a victory slamming of the door, as she heard gagging and coughing coming from the bathroom. 'That'll teach him.'

*-*-*-*

Aoshi was on the other side of the apartment, sitting at his desk overlooking the sliding door to his private balcony. He had two phones in front of him, both of which were on speaker, a voice chimed in from one of them - a rather thick British English.

"Fellows, or chaps if I may, I don't believe this proposal is at all feasible in conjunction with paragraph four, sub-section 'c'… it would make the contract null and void…"

The other phone, with another English-speaker, however, not of British decent. There was a hint of an oriental accent, and Aoshi sat stoic as he watched - or rather, heard - the two bicker.

"Surely not, because if we concede to this new contract, we will certainly go under…" Aoshi pressed to finger tips to his temple. High-stress occupations are truly only for masochists. The conference call was scheduled for two, and Aoshi had made it with just a bit of time to spare.

He shook his head slowly, 'Those two… I swear…' He mistakenly let half a chuckle out.

"Mr. Shinomori. Do you find some comedy in all of this? Because I'd certainly love to know what it is, as I see no humor in this situation whatsoever."

"Gentlemen, if you would please just take a moment…"

"Do you not understand what we're up against here?! What's at stake!?" Aoshi took this as a cue to lower the volume on both telephones. He leaned back in his office chair, swinging around in a circle, taking a quick survey of his quarters. He'd made it entirely self-sufficient… His king-size bed, with navy silk sheets and down comforter, a small collection of books that he never got a chance to read under his night table. He had his own furo (Japanese bath tub) in his bathroom that took up the whole back of the room, facing the staircase. Then his "office"… consisted of his laptop, a couple of phones, and a desk. Oh, and the mini-fridge. 'Can't go without the mini-fridge.' He gingerly patted the white savior of freezerdom that was neatly tucked away under his desk. By now he had entirely stopped paying attention to the men on the phones.

"Gentlemen," he stated in a rather decisive tone, commanding silence from both of them. "If you would kindly submit both proposals to my secretary by the end of the week, the firm will take care of the details, as we always have. Now as I recall, this call should've ended over half an hour ago." It was already four… amazing how old men could waste time. And then he acknowledged some forms of farewells or goodbyes, he really didn't care, and hung up on them both.

Aoshi popped opened his fridge, and yanked out a lavender eye pillow, cool and soothing to rest over his eyelids. At first, he thought that such an "accessory" would challenge his masculinity. But first of all, it was a gift from his secretary, and second of all… if anyone were to challenge his masculinity, they wouldn't see what hit 'em. He allowed himself a smirk.

*-*-*-*

Sano stood in the mirror, examining himself. He wasn't sure about how he would keep his grades up in Todai, but frankly, he didn't care. He was here for the chicks. Stripping off his shirt, he began to model in the mirror. 'You, Sagara Sanosuke, are just what Tokyo's been waiting for.'

He stood with his back to the mirror, turning his head over his shoulder. His hands clasped together, as he deftly flexed, and did a little dance with his shoulder blades. 'You're good, Sagara.' Quickly turning around, as though the moment of his masculine beauty would be fleeting, he leaned close to the mirror, and inspected his teeth. 'Damn that Misao,' he could still taste the soap, and spotted one or two invasive bubbles between his front teeth. 'Oh but she'll get hers… in that all girls Catholic school-' his chuckling paused a minute, 'All girls?... Catholic?... uniforms? Oh Sagara, you dog you.' He grinned at himself as he leaned back and caressed his abs. He briefly tried to recall what the age of consent was…

*-*-*-*

Misao started unpacking her clothes… the other hint that this was supposed to be her room, was that there was a quaint little dressing table, complete with mirror tacked onto the wall. There were still two huge bookshelves against the walls on either side of her bed, she guessed her room used to be the study. But they weren't all that offensive looking… And if she took some of those books out, she'd have room for all of her pictures and things…

She slumped onto the edge of the bed, kicking at the floor. She was going to miss her old friends from school. Although the idea of moving to Tokyo sounded so glamorous and spectacular… she couldn't help but feel a little sad. But Misao was not one to stay unhappy for too long! 'No! Defeat is not an option!' As she shook her fist in front of her. Reaching into her now open suitcase, she fished out a picture of her with her best friend, Kaoru. For a while she suspected Sano having a thing for her, but let it slide due to his outrageous hormones. She wondered what Kaoru was doing right then at that moment.

'If I were back home, we'd be getting some ice cream right now at the corner shop…' she licked her lips and rubbed her stomach as she fell back onto the bed into a heap of clothes. 'I hope they have good places to eat in Tokyo… oh of course they do, Misao! Get a grip!'

Misao took a deep calming breath. Her senses were tickled by the smell of… sandalwood? It reminded her of home… with Jiya. This wasn't helping. She hopped off the bed.

"Time to explore!" she declared to herself as she marched out of the room to inspect the rest of the apartment.

Unfortunately, to Misao's dismay… there weren't many "nooks and crannies" to Aoshi's apartment. The only real mystery was Aoshi's room. 'Now, Misao. Behave.' She could almost hear Jiya's voice in the back of her head. She got this silly picture of 'the great Okina' shrunken to a little chibi, with wings, hanging over her shoulder. Oh and the halo! She covered her mouth to prevent from laughing out loud… 'Jiya with a halo… hah!'

But no matter how much she tried, she paced around the whole downstairs, in and out of her room… and the more she thought about it the sweeter did the forbidden fruit look. She looked up at his room again, and saw nothing but dark navy curtains. She wondered what he was doing in there… what he did in there…

Misao's hands clapped over her cheeks that had begun to heat up in geometric proportions, 'MISAO. BEHAVE.' She shook her head furiously, bouncing from one foot to the other, until she stumbled into the pit, right onto the couch. She bolted upright, looking around to make sure no one saw her. 'Geez… okay. Everything's okay. You're just a normal eighteen-year-old girl who lives with two eligible bachelors who aren't really blood related, and you'll be prancing around in some of the shortest skirts known to man… fulfilling at least three different fetishes at any given moment in time…' Her eyes widened as she smacked herself to bring her thoughts to a screeching halt. She fell back onto the leather upholstered couch, and stuffed a throw cushion onto her face.

'This is going to be a long… long year.'