Aishiteru – Part 2

Aoshi sat alone at a cafeteria table quietly eating rice while he contemplated as to why the hair on the back of his neck was standing at attention. It was like something was not right, like something was being discussed which would soon involve him, but he shook it off as being paranoid and lifted his eyes when he watched trays hit the table he sat at.

"Man was Saitou-sensei's class like major boring or what?" A spiky haired teenager with cinnamon eyes complained loudly as he sat to the right of Aoshi.

"Sano-kun, you were sleeping all the way through it." Explained a girl with black-violet hair placed up into a ponytail as she sat opposite him and to Aoshi's left.

"Which is why I end up falling asleep in it all the time." Sano tried reasoning as his eyes darted to the redhead that placed his tray beside the dark haired girl and sat quietly down next to her. He seemed to have a slightly apologetic look on his face as he sided with Kamiya Kaoru, his girlfriend of nearly six months.

"Unfortunately Sano, you sleep in all your classes. Well except maybe PE that is."

"Che, whatever…it was still boring." Just when Kaoru was about to snap at him, a group of young girls walked over, one blushing furiously as she held a pink envelope in her hands, she having been pushed to the 10th graders table by her friends.

"A-Ano…Shinomori-sempai…?" The girl squeaked out as the group of four turned to glance at the blushing 9th grader. Aoshi for his sake was the last to gaze at her, his eyes first taking in the envelope knowing it was going to be a letter of confession to him from yet another girl.

"Please take this!" She voiced quite loudly, numerous students from other tables stopping to stare at the display in front of them. Reluctantly (so as to not embarrass the girl any further) Aoshi took the note from her clutches and pocketed it instantly. Though he always refused to date any of the school girls that had crushes on him, he wasn't a bastard to refuse them bluntly in the presence of the entire school and would do so privately. It was his rule after all. They'd gone out of there way to create something for him and he'd have no part in rudely declining them like several of the seniors at his school did to completely mortify and crush the girls heart.

"Arigatou…" She voiced, cheeks darkening in colour before she scampered away with her trio of friends.

"Wow, is that like the first girl to give you a note on the first day back at school Aoshi-kun?" Kaoru voiced as she shoved some bread into her mouth.

"Yeah, usually they flank you right in front of the gates." Sano chuckled lightly knowing how uncomfortable Aoshi felt at receiving numerous letters from the girls in their grade and sometimes ones younger or older then them too.

"They did." Came Aoshi's quiet reply, one hand moving into his trouser pocket to finger the other five letters he'd received today.

"Oh? So how many did you get?" Aoshi remained quiet and continued to eat his rice.

"He was flanked at the gate once, stopped again twice before he even made it into the building and another two times before he even made it to home room." Glaring green eyes had captured the smiling face of Himura Kenshin as he happily ate lunch, not once taking notice of the frown on Aoshi's lips at spilling all to the other two.

"You know, if you just said yes to one of them, the girls would stop harassing you Aoshi." Sano replied back, thinking smartly…or at least that's what he thought.

"I suppose so, but think what they'd do to the girl who I'd be dating. She'd be a moving target without me around her all the time." The image of some poor defenseless girl being harassed by a pack of wild Shinomori Aoshi fan girls' brought sweat drops to the table and the four went back to eating and quiet chattering about how their first day back had been. Aoshi though, lost himself in thought at how to reply to the unread letters as he already knew what was written inside them.

Xxxx Back at the Shinomori Residence xxxX

"Does she not have any other family?" Came the whispered voice of Megumi, Aoshi and Soujiro's mother as she stood in the archway looking at the six year old girl hugging a bear to her chest while her eyes were glued to the large television screen.

"I'm afraid her father died in the crash and her mother is in a coma. She has an elderly man that always watched over her and would be happy to adopt her while her mother is ill, but unfortunately he's become quite ill himself at the moment. The adoption process will take longer because of this. We don't know what else to do as placing her in an unfamiliar home could be a very bad idea. You knew her family right? Couldn't you just take care of her even for a short while?" The woman with brown hair voiced pleadingly.

"It's not initially up to me to decide. We do know her, but she hasn't seen us for two years and so I gather we are mere strangers to her six year old mind. Also, I can't take this decision lightly as I have my three children to think about as well."

"I understand…" She spoke softly once more as they headed back to the table where her husband sat, newspaper not obscuring him from view this time.

"She'll be fine here."

"Anata!" The mother of the household spoke in surprise as the two women stared at him, even though he was looking at the little girl.

"The others are old enough to not refuse us of this request at gaining a new member into the family. We'll discuss the issue with them when they come home from school and work, but she will stay here for now. Beside, you my dear would not be pleased if I turned a child away." Dark eyes turned to stare at his wife's glistening ones as she placed a smile on her face knowing she couldn't hide that truth from her husband of many years.

"I thank you for looking after her." The woman got up, bowed lightly to the parents and then headed into the living room. "Misao-chan, you'll be staying here for awhile so be sure to be a good girl alright?" Large ocean blue orbs looked up at the gentle gaze of the woman that had been with her for two days now and the unusually quiet girl nodded her head affirmatively, her fingers clutching at her bear a little tighter.

"I'll see you very soon." Heading towards the door with the guidance of Mrs Shinomori the woman left as soon as her taxi showed up.

XxxxX

Heading back into the kitchen she noticed that her husband was standing in the archway, his eyes very much focused on the quiet girl sitting on the floor.

"Do you like this show?" He questioned in his deep voice, trying to lighten it slightly so as to not scare Misao away. He watched her nod her head, eyes not turning away from the screen as she brought her knees to her chest, chin resting atop them as she continued to watch, knowing full well the large man sat in a chair and silently watched the cartoon with her. Mrs Shinomori did nothing but smile as she began cleaning up her kitchen even if it was practically spotless already.

Xxxx Back at Aoshi's High School xxxX

The bell indicating school had finished for the day finally rang and jolted Aoshi from staring out the window. He wasn't usually a daydreamer, but something was off today…he could feel it. Rising from his seat, he grabbed his things together and headed for his shoe locker to change shoes. As much as he wanted to get his "sorry I don't wish to date anyone at the moment" out of the way (and to do it six times too) he couldn't for it was his turn to pick up Souji from school. Usually Megumi would do this as she drove past on her way home, but today he knew she would probably be working back late as she'd just gone back to work after a two week vacation.

"Ano, Shinomori-sempai…" Aoshi stopped walking down the hallway to see one of the girls he'd gotten a letter from was fidgeting with the hem of her short school skirt and seemed to be awaiting his answer. Suppressing a sigh Aoshi turned to face the girl, lips parting ready for the 'gomen' but was interrupted at the sound of his cell phone going off. Fishing it from his pocket he noticed it was his sister's name flashing on the LCD screen. Had something happened to his mother or his father or even Souji for that matter? Instantly accepting the call Aoshi placed the speaker to his ear but before he could even greet Megumi she yelled at him to get his butt home immediately and then hung up.

"I have to go." Aoshi blurted out and raced for his shoe locker. Slipping into his sneakers and throwing the white shoes into the locker he was out of the building and school grounds at the blink of an eye, his long legs taking him all the way home as he cut through a park filled with young children playing on swing sets or in sand boxes.

XxxxX

Skidding to a halt in front of his home, Aoshi pushed open the gate, not bothering to close it shut and raced up the three steps before shoving the front door open, panting lightly as he did. His green eyes scanned the area but found it void of his family. He'd rushed home to an empty house?!? Boy was his sister going to get it when he'd not only skipped club practice but also six rejections as well.

Taking off his shoes Aoshi padded into the living room, adjacent from the kitchen/dining area and there his eyes gazed upon a young girl sitting on a cushion. Aoshi observed as her eyes darted from the television to look back at him and instantly she stood up, her height only just reaching past his knees. Not a single word was spoken as green and blue orbs caught each others gazes.

"Aoshi-chan hurry up already!" He was snapped from the staring contest at Megumi tugging him away from the lounge room by the collar of his shirt and dragging him into the kitchen area.

"What's going on?" He remarked as he leaned against a counter with his arms crossed. He'd just run all the way from school to come home to a house as quiet as the dead. He knew quiet, he loved quiet, but this household was never quiet.

"Misao-chan you can come in now." Aoshi darted his eyes over at Megumi to see her guide the little girl, now known as 'Misao-chan' into the kitchen, her left hand hugging the bear to her side while her teeth sunk into her lower lip as she gazed shyly about the room as four pairs of eyes were glued upon her small form.

"Misao-chan this is Aoshi, he's going to be taking care of you from now on." Megumi muttered as she crouched to Misao's short height and pointed over at Aoshi who was now standing up straight, hands by his sides as he stared between the cute little girl with large ocean orbs and the scrutinizing maroon eyes belonging to his sister.

"Say what?"

# To be continued #