Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Curl ❯ Chapter 12

Aoshi was awake at his usual absurd hour of the morning, having had the habit of using the gym a couple of floors below every morning. What he didn't expect to find at five o'clock in the morning, to greet him at the elevator doors of the penthouse, was a very disentangled woman. She could nothing but blush beat red, and struggle to get her high heel on her foot, obviously in a huge rush to retreat. They brushed past one another as one exited the elevator, and one entered. The tall man took in the vision in full, as only his eyes could at that ungodly hour of the morning.

Smeared lipstick. Tousled hair. Lingering smells of… sweat, musk, alcohol, and other bodily fluids he didn't quite want to imagine at the moment. If he honestly found himself caring, he'd point out that she looked like hell. It didn't help matters, that even in this state, she was ogling his half-naked body. He stood there, oddly enough to the woman's surprise, to confirm that she was taking her leave. Her fascination dissolved into fear, as his glare turned murderous, her finger pushing at the elevator buttons frantically to get the doors to close.

'Sanosuke.' The man solemnly shook his head, patting his face with the towel slung over his bare shoulders. He shut the door behind him, and rested his back against it, breathing slowly to calm himself down. Aoshi's gaze fell to his black exercise pants, with buttons lined along the sides. 'What the hell did you get me into now?'

*-*-*-*

Misao was still curled on the bathroom floor when those cobalt eyes had settled in the general direction of her bedroom door. She jerked awake with a shiver. Her hands clutched the large dry towel to her scantily clad form… Wait. Towel?

She hit her head under the sink when she tried to bolt up to stand. The girl's voice sounded foreign to herself as curses spilled forth in a rather indignant manner. Her head rested back on the cold tiles, which was strangely consoling now. There was a pounding inside of her skull from the hit, and from other things. Thinking too hard, mostly. There wasn't a rest of the world on that floor. She was just numbly sprawled over it, trying to figure out what the hell the last twenty-four hours meant and why it had been such a surprise.

*-*-*-*

When she'd arrived to high school, the stories of her 'niisan's exploits were borderline infamous. He was a senior then, and every girl, guy, faculty member… hell, the rocks on the side of the gym knew who he was. (Lower and upper high school are separate faculties in Japanese education. Each is a three-year period, so when Misao would be entering, Sanosuke would have been a senior… as they are two years apart in age.)

Half of the girls in school hated him. The other half couldn't get enough. Misao didn't understand it in the least. She laughed at both teams. It was her big brother for crying out loud, he was a chicken head. What redeeming qualities could he possibly have?

Yeah, okay so he was kinda cute. You know, if you're into big, tall, and handsome. And he was an athlete, and martial artist… A man with grace, speed, and - well, okay, not wit. Grace was kind of lacking, too, for that matter. But, that knucklehead was pretty strong though. It was almost a curse to go to the same school, because Sanosuke couldn't keep his big trap shut. Everybody clamored around her as soon as she walked into the doors to try and get to Sano through her. Of course, it didn't take long for them to figure out she could break them in half if the moment suited her.

*-*-*-*

Misao also didn't know, Sano would've broken them in half if they dared to hurt her. He was more excited about Misao and him going to the same school than Misao was to get in. Finally he'd be able to keep those wily guys away from her. Every morning was a daily ritual of busting some poor unsuspecting jerk's skull, just to make sure the school could remember who was boss. He knew exactly which guy was trouble, and which weren't - mostly because 'trouble' (and its users) commonly followed him around. He made damn sure everybody knew that Misao was his imouto-chan, and if that didn't get them, he'd beat it into them.

The girls weren't spared either. Jo-chan (Sano's petname for Kaoru) was cool, but that's 'cause she took kendo, and wasn't using Misao to get to him. Then she'd have to be taken out. He was completely brutal to girls who used Misao to get to him, breaking them in and through and backwards. Not physically, no way. He wouldn't lift a finger against a girl like that, but there were so many more delicious ways to break a girl.

Unknowingly, Misao had started the one-man mafia of her high school by just showing up.

It was that one that got away. Soujirou. Sano saw no threat in the pansy. Okay, so he could hold a sword, but the guys thought he was good with a sword, since they thought he played with 'swords' in his spare time. Generally, Soujirou Seta just smiled his way through life, and said very little. When he did speak, he sort of sounded like a girl. Sano had no clue in hell that Misao would fall for that squirt. And damn, that boy could run.

*-*-*-*

Taking the stairs, two at time, Aoshi arrived in his sanctum before he could allow himself any more time to dwell on what he had just encountered. 'Another one,' he silently groaned as he turned on the taps to his sink. Looking at himself in the mirror, he practiced his personable faces. After all, he had to be a parent today.

He had offered, not because of desire to, but simply out of mere practicality. If Sano were to go in his place, Misao would likely get punted out of there just to keep him away from the girls. Where'd he find this one? For crying out loud…

Aoshi roughly washed his hands, recalling the past visits Sanosuke paid him in Tokyo. Every time they walked through the door, it was something. Girls seemed to flock into their line of fire wherever they went, much to Aoshi's annoyance. Just these little kids, they would line up in their high-pitched way since they thought that a bra meant womanhood. He knew that was the only reason Sano was here, but on the second bloody night?!

He hadn't asked for this. He didn't want to be the parent. The father. Hell, he barely knew his own. He wasn't a big fan of priests either, so he had neither images to draw from. Drawing his bangs back from his face, he bent over awkwardly and flooded his forehead with cool rushing water. He didn't get migraines either.

*-*-*-*

Usually, Sano loved cheerleaders. But when three dozen were smacking their batons around in his skull, they weren't welcome. She thought she'd left stealthily, but even in his state, he still had an eye open in the back of his head for her. His back had been to her when she crawled out of bed, thinking she could somehow quietly stumble around the room with a hangover the size of Mount Fuji. 'Dumb bitch.'

He could read the note now, "Gimme a call 'kay!?" when he had no number. Or, "Thanks for last night!" Or some idiotic one-liner that he'd given girls a thousand times before. The breath he'd been holding was set free when he heard the bedroom door close. Peeling his bed sheets off of him, they'd stuck on through the sweat of rounds three and four; he rolled his legs off the edge of the bed. Trying to focus what was left of his eyesight on a little white box on the wall, what were once the timer controls of his window shade - this was one of the many victims of his tantrum of the previous morning.

Morning? The bright red neon digits on his alarm clock shown, "4:45 AM." Great, just great. He looked at his dangling parts, and then up at the ceiling. Painkillers first, or take a piss. Painkillers… piss… piss… painkillers…

The binary function of his brain was halted when he reached the bathroom door. He was supposed to remember something about this door. Oh right. Knob has to turn first. Gotcha. So that was done… he decided since he was already set up to take nature's call, he strode over to the hover over the toilet, using every ounce of skill in his being to aim straight. It could've been his imagination, but it didn't look like it was working.

'Ew, fuuuck…' He hated when he forgot to take the condom off. They went through three? Four, some number like that. He couldn't remember how many rounds they'd knocked around, but the caked fluids on his member were not a welcome sight first thing in the morning. There was the echo of latex peeling off of skin, as he off-handedly chucked the obstruction into the trashcan by the sink.

With a little shake, the waters began flowing. There was one sigh, and then two. Two??... Sano lost his aim for a moment, and regained it quickly. 'Houston. We have a problem.' He wasn't alone. He glanced over his shoulder, really hoping it was his bedroom door he'd heard, and not the bathroom door.

Right. This was what he was supposed to remember. How the hell did he forget… "Misao." His conscience was going to make him pay for that night, if she didn't. Putting his mind back on the task at hand, he let the last drops drizzle out of his exhausted cock, turning around to see exactly how much shit he was in.

Right. 'I'm naked.' It was a good thing Sanosuke never tried to defend himself in court.

*-*-*-*

'Towel…' Misao took it up in her hand again, and looked at it as if she'd never seen one before. After her head had recovered, she slowly rolled out from under the sink. The towel found its way around her shoulder, trying to harbor what heat she could as she trembled where she stood. 'Note to self: get flannel pajamas.'

Why did she feel like the one who'd been drinking last night? - She smacked her forehead repeatedly, 'Not now not now not now…' The longer she didn't think about it, the longer she wouldn't have to face it. She took a quick survey of the bathroom, to see if anything else was just out of place. Towel? Check. Scattered bottle of aspirin on the counter?... check. Sniffing at the air, she grimaced. Why was the stench even stronger now? Certainly they hadn't…

Standing over the toilet, she almost sighed in relief. They hadn't been in here. At least, not both at the same time. This looked like Sano's handiwork indeed. She leaned over and flushed the toilet, retreating back to her own room, all cried out from the night before, and simply passing out onto her bed, towel and all.

*-*-*-*

"Sano-nii'?" Two bright blue eyes peeked over his shoulder, as he bounced a three-year old on his back.

"Yeah, squirt?" She seemed to shake with delight, and nearly hugged the life out of him.

"SANO-NII! Daisuki!!" Misao-chan screamed at the top of her lungs, sending Sano tumbling down from the sudden shock to his system. She knew about two dozen words that made up her entirely vocabulary, those being two of her favorite. He just laughed and rolled over, having a small little bundle straddling his stomach, that promptly started drumming on his chest.

"Oy, you little brat, I love you too," He reached up and ruffled her hair.