Author's Notes: I had posted this up at years ago, and took it down due to, well, having my account suspended, but I've decided to repost it once again. I have yet to finish the last chapter, but it can finally get done and will be up soonish and sorry it took years because well..it's silly and was due to me not finding a translation to a particular song.

Sounds stupid, but it was the ONLY song that felt right to me.

Anyway. For some, have fun with re-reading this, for those who never read this before..enjoy!

(Note- I've edited out random useless Japanese that was originally in this story cause..it wasn't needed and the English greetings are fine.)

I've also made really slight revisions.

DUET

Chapter 1: Dreams

A light breeze blew throughout Tokyo on the perfect spring day. The Ginza shopping district was bustling with the usual business of the city as a petite young woman with long blue-black hair walked down the street, her braided hair covered by a red baseball cap.

She paused in front of a music store, looking at the television display that was playing a music video.

With a smile she quietly sung along and went on her way.

A muffled ringing made her pause in her step as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Hello? Ah! Yumi-san! I'm on my way now! I won't be late I swear!"

Hanging up the phone she placed it back in her pocket and walked a bit more quickly.

"Since when is running part of being a singer?" she quietly groaned, beginning to break into a run.

From her plain denim jeans and black tee-shirt, no one would guess that the girl in a hurry was Makimachi Misao, the newest J-pop idol.

She paused outside the doors of W-N Records, huffing for breath as she walked quickly into the building towards the elevators.

"Ah! Hold the elevator!!" she yelled a couple feet from the elevator as she noticed the doors about to shut. She flung herself into the elevator, holding out her hands to absorb the impact of the elevator wall.

With a relieved sigh she placed her hands on her knees, bending as she caught her breath.

"Thanks..." she said weakly, standing back up to look at the other person in the elevator.

Her mouth opened slightly at the tall form standing at the other end of the elevator. He was tall with an athletic build, black hair with bangs that fell sexily into his eyes. She couldn't see his eye color. He wore slightly baggy faded denim jeans that hung low and were belted with a black leather belt with a silver buckle that resembled something like a mix of a heart and a pentagram and a plain black tee-shirt with the words 'RAZORBLADE ROMANCE' written across the chest. She also noticed he had ear piercings.

She closed her mouth noticing he was staring at her.

'Well no wonder, Misao, you're pretty much drooling over this guy. He's probably just some errand guy.' she thought, breaking eye contact with him.

She couldn't help but attempt to sneak some side-glances. It wasn't everyday she found herself in the company of such a good-looking guy, or in such a small space no less.

The elevator reached the 10th floor, Misao's stop.

She quickly walked out of the elevator, but was unable to help but glance back at the man in the elevator. She gasped noticing he was smirking at her.

Shaking her head she walked off quickly.

Aoshi leaned back against the elevator wall, crossing his arms in amusement.

"Strange girl." he commented to himself, still smirking.

'She was probably some assistant or something,' his mind rationalized as he got off at the 15th floor.

"Yo Icicle! You were almost late!"

Wearing cut-up jeans and a white tee-shirt, Sagara Sanousuke grinned at his friend, a tooth pick in his mouth.

"Yes, but not quite." Aoshi murmured as he walked to stand next to Kenshin, a short man with long red hair wearing khaki pants and a red shirt.

"Are Saitoh or Hiko here yet?" Kenshin asked, scratching his nose.

"They're inside already. We were just waiting on Shinomori here." Sano murmured.

"Well I'm here now so lets get to business." Aoshi replied.

The three walked into the conference room where Saitoh and Hiko sat waiting.

"Ah, and here are the rest of the girls now. Have a seat." Hiko said gruffly as he kicked his feet up onto the table.

Kenshin looked around and blinked.

"Oro? Isn't Megumi-dono here yet?"

"She's in another meeting at the moment with W-N's newest little idol. That girl who just came out with that single 'Dearest'. Makimachi something or another." Hiko said.

"Oh? I thought we were supposed to meet. About promoting the band." Sanousuke said, leaning back in his chair.

Aoshi frowned, crossing his arms.

"I guess the newest pop gimmick is of higher priority. Saitoh, give me a cigarette." he murmured.

Saitoh reached into his shirt pocket to pull out his pack.

"I thought you quit two days ago."

"That was two days ago. I'll be back in five minutes." Aoshi said, standing up and excusing himself.

"What's up his ass?" Hiko asked, pulling out a small flask of sake.

"Icicle doesn't like pop singers. He thinks they're basically talent-less media whores." Sanousuke murmured.

"I'm sure Aoshi put it more mildly. He's just very passionate about music. I think he's getting a little restless." Kenshin explained.

"Maybe he just needs to get laid." Saitoh suggested, lighting up a cigarette. While Aoshi was polite enough to smoke outside, Saitoh honestly didn't care.

He was a drummer not a saint.

Kenshin was on keyboard, Sanousuke on bass and vocals, and Aoshi was guitar and lead vocals of their band.

They had been playing together for five years, the band starting with Aoshi, Kenshin, and Sano when they were in high school. Saitoh had joined them two years ago as drummer for the, at the time, nameless band.

Each member studied martial arts and swordsmanship, each preferring a different type of sword.

Kenshin's choice was the sakabatou, and his skill earned him the nickname 'Battousai'.

Sanosuke with his strength had favored the zanbatou, and had been known in the street fighting underworld as 'Zanza'.

Saitoh used kitana and had been nicknamed the Mibu Wolf for he favored attacked derived from the Shinsengumi's techniques.

And Aoshi, he used kodachi and with his demeanor was nicknamed 'Okashira', as well as Icicle by Sano.

The name just came to them one day sitting around Kenshin's garage and six beers laters.

Aoshi had suggested Razorblade, and Sanosuke added the Romance part.

Razorblade Romance.

Exactly half an hour after arriving, Misao stomped through the hallway of the 10th floor, biting her lip.

'Why do I EVEN bother coming to these meetings. It's just Yumi-san doing all the talking.' she thought, frowning.

Komagata Yumi, a curvaceous woman with dark mauve hair piled up into a bun and sharp mauve eyes, had been Misao's manager for a year now.

She was a sharp business woman, but Misao couldn't help but feel disgruntled. It was always Yumi doing more of the talking and it seemed sometimes that Misao had little control over her career. The meeting with Takani Megumi, CEO of W-N Records, was to discuss ways of promoting Misao.

She couldn't believe the bizarre things suggested.

"Special Guest Flight Attending? Where does she come up with this stuff?" Misao muttered as she stood alone in the elevator.

For as long as she could remember, Misao wanted to sing. Growing up with her adoptive grandfather she had waited tables in her teens at the Aoiya, the restaurant he owned in Kyoto. Even through doubtful times she still held onto to her dream. To sing.

In high school she spent a lot of time doing karaoke, and was always scribbling down lyrics in her notebooks.

Then one night a year and half ago at the Aoiya's open-mic night, she had been approached by Yumi and was eventually signed to W-N Records.

Megumi had liked what she heard.

"You've got a lot of potential, Misao-san. I'm looking forward to having you as an artist." she had said that day in her office.

Since then she had been training, writing, and recording songs and doing performances at small clubs here and there in Tokyo.

Days after her twentieth birthday she moved into a modest apartment in Tokyo, but still visited Kyoto as often as she could.

Now she was months away from her twenty-second birthday. It felt like so much had happened in such a short time. No matter what happened though, she vowed to stay the same Misao she was in Kyoto.

Standing outside the W-N building she slumped her shoulders. It was then she smelled it.

Cigarette smoke.

She looked to her right to see the man from the elevator sitting on the short stone wall, his back resting against the building.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have another cigarette would ya?" she asked.

She hadn't smoked since she was seventeen, but this last meeting had left her nerves in a jumble.

"No." he replied flatly.

"Ahhhhh...damn." she groaned, slapping a hand over her face. She looked at him from between her fingers.

'Yep, he's still fucking gorgeous.' she thought bemusedly.

Aoshi glanced at the girl from the elevator and stood up walking towards her.

He paused as he stood next to her and took the half smoked cigarette from him mouth and handed it to her.

"Knock yourself out. I have to get back inside." he said, his voice edged with irritation.

"Bad day at work?" she asked, before taking a drag of the cigarette.

"Bad day, bad week, bad month. Enjoy." he said simply and walked back inside.

Misao watched him go and sighed.

"What a lovely disposition." she murmured, and placed the cigarette in her mouth then smiled.

"Just like falling in love...our voices synchronizing...a kiss!" she sang softly. After all, the cigarette had just been on his lips.

She glanced at the doors leading into the lobby, a small smile forming.

'I wonder who that guy is. He looks so...cool. Like ice.'

Sliding long fingers over the thick acoustic guitar strings, Aoshi closed his eyes as notes and riffs translated from his mind into music. He sat in a worn black chair covered with a velveteen furnishing in the middle of his living room.

It was a small apartment, painted in blues and furnished in blues, whites, blacks, and violets. The vinyl blinds were half closed as the sun waned low in the sky.

He stopped strumming his guitar and leaned in head back, sighing.

He felt dissatisfied.

It had been that way lately for Aoshi, a dissatisfaction in his inability to finish songs lately. He just couldn't find the words, the notes...

A soft ringing interrupted his thoughts as he reached for his phone.

"Hello?"

"Aoshi, it's Kenshin. We're heading over to Akabeko for dinner, will you join us?"

"That's fine." Aoshi replied.

"Oh good. You can finally meet Kaoru-dono."

Aoshi didn't miss the excitement in Kenshin's voice. Kamiya Kaoru, who ran the Kamiya dojo, was the girl Kenshin had begun dating recently. After a rough break up with his last girlfriend Tomoe, it seemed Kenshin was finally moving on with his life.

"What time do you want to meet?" Aoshi asked, setting his guitar aside.

"An hour from now."

"Sure. I'll see you later." Aoshi murmured, and clicked the phone off.

Standing up, he walked into his bedroom and stripped off his tee-shirt, then his worn jeans and stood before his open closet clad only in a pair of black boxers.

He grabbed a pair of black jeans and a blue button down shirt headed for the bathroom for a quick shower.

Ten minutes later he emerged clad in his black jeans and blue shirt, hair wet. He decided not to blow dry it, since it was a warm night and it would dry on the walk to the Akabeko. Grabbing his housekey he headed out of his apartment and outside.

"Itsuka eien no nemuri ni tsuku hi made...dou ka sono egao ga taema nake aru you ni..."

Kaoru watched Misao from the bar with a grin. Misao jumped off the stage and walked over to Kaoru smiling.

She was still wearing jeans but had changed into a black tank top with a short sleeve light blue shirt over it and a blue baseball cap.

Kaoru shook her head and handed Misao a Coke.

"You know, Misao-chan, I think you're the first person to sing their own song on karaoke night." she commented.

"There's no one around, I figured it was safe and I should start practicing for when I start performing live."

"Yeah, whenever that manager of yours gets off her ass and starts getting you booked." Kaoru muttered, furrowing her brows.

She made it no point to hide how much she disliked Yumi, and repeatedly warned Misao to watch herself.

"I think this time I agree, but I got a lot more promoting to do. Anyway, enough business talk. So who is this guy of yours I'm finally getting to meet?" Misao asked, arching a black eyebrow.

Kaoru blushed.

"Actually, he's a musician. His name's Kenshin and he's so sweet." she beamed.

"What does he play?"

"Keyboards for this rock band. I'm not too sure. I told him my best friend is a singer so I always hear stuff about music so we don't talk about it as much."

Misao chuckled softly.

"See I keep telling you Kaoru-chan, maybe you should of learned an instrument instead of swordsmanship."

"No thank you! Ah! Here is now!!! Kenshin!" Kaoru yelled, waving.

Misao bowed and shook her head.

'She's so obvious.'

She looked at Kenshin noticing he was accompanied by two or three other men.

"Ah, Kaoru-dono, I brought the rest of the band with me since you said your best friend was going to be here too. "

"That's fine, I've been wanting to meet your friends anyway since you always talk about them." Kaoru said with a smile.

"Well, I should introduce them. This is Sagara Sanosuke..."

Sano winked at Kaoru and Misao.

"Hey ladies."

"Saitoh Hajime." Kenshin continued, and Saitoh simply raised a brow.

Kaoru and Misao glanced at each other with sweat drops.

"And that's Shinomori Aoshi." Kenshin finished, indicating the tall man standing behind Saitoh.

Kaoru nodded, and Misao tried to catch sight of Aoshi, but being only 5'1" she couldn't seem him clearly behind Saitoh.

"Nice to meet you all! I'm Kamiya Kaoru and this is my friend Misao." she said, making a note to not mention Misao's full name.

"Nice to meet you all." she said, debating on whether to get up on a bar stool to see the mysterious Aoshi but then decided not to. She'd get a good look at him soon anyway.

"Let's get a table." Kaoru suggested as they walked off to a table.

As everyone sat down, Misao finally got a good look at Aoshi when he sat.

"Hey, it's you, elevator guy. Still having a bad day, bad week, bad year?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

Aoshi glanced her over, recognizing her.

"Oh? The elevator girl. How was the smoke?" he asked, glancing down at the menu.

Misao's mouth opened and she lowered her head, sensing the imminent lecture.

"Misao-chan! Since when did you start smoking again!!! I thought you quit years ago! That's so bad for your voice!" Kaoru lectured.

"I know! I was really stressed okay, Mom?" Misao said huffing.

Sanosuke chuckled.

"So Kaoru-san, how did ya meet our Kenshin here?" he asked, giving Kenshin a pat on the back.

"We met at my dojo actually. I run the Kamiya dojo and he just showed up one day since he knows Yahiko, one of my pupils."

"Oh. The brat. My condolences." Saitoh murmured, lighting up a cigarette.

"Want one, Shinomori?" he asked.

"No. I quit." Aoshi murmured, not missing that Misao was discreetly glancing at him occasionally.

"For today I suppose. And you Weasel Girl?"

"W..Weasel ..Girl?" Misao said blankly, her face reddening.

"Oh crap." Kaoru groaned, slapping her hand to her forehead.

"Kaoru-dono?"

"You'll see." Kaoru muttered.

"Who the FUCK are you calling weasel girl you pasty asshole!!" she yelled, slamming her hands on the table and throwing one of her chopsticks at him.

He caught them and smirked.

"Saitoh, quite messing around." Aoshi said sternly, giving Saitoh an icy glare.

"Very well then."

Misao sat back down and crossed her arms.

"Please excuse Misao-chan, she can be..tempermental." Kaoru murmured slightly embarrassed.

She was just glad the Akabeko was used to Misao's random outburts.

"Shit, I haven't seen rage like that since someone stole Hiko-san's sake bottle last month." Sanosuke remarked.

"So Kaoru-san says you guys are a band? Rock right?" Misao asked, changing subjects as she calmed down.

"That's correct, Misao-dono. We've been playing since high school."

"Oh? How old are you Himura?" she asked, taking a sip of tea as the waitress had arrived and poured each person a cup.

"Thirty."

Misao spat out her tea in surprise.

"Are you kidding me?! You look so much younger!" she exclaimed, blinking.

"Erm, thanks?" Kenshin said, his cheeks reddening.

"How old are you, Misao? Like seventeen?" Sano asked.

Misao's eye twitched.

"I'm twenty-one, actually." she said flatly, staring down into her tea.

It was probably one of her biggest pet peeves, but she was always ALWAYS mistaken for being younger than she was. She had to often whip out her id to prove her age.

"What is it you do, Misao?" Aoshi asked out of the blue, changing the conversation.

Misao blinked, then gave an appreciative smile.

"I'm a singer actually." she answered.

"Really? I thought you were an assistant or something when I met you in the elevator."

"Yes, well I thought you were a disgruntled delivery boy. No offense, but you don't exactly display a sunny disposition." Misao murmured.

Aoshi's band mates and Kaoru looked at Misao like she grew another head.

Aoshi simply glared at her, then smirked slightly.

"I suppose I really am a brooding musician." he replied, then sipped his tea.

Misao blinked, then laughed softly.

"You're a guitarist, I bet. Vocals too, right? I could tell from your voice." she said.

"Yep, Icicle here is lead vocals, believe it or not." Sanosuke said, crackling his knuckles.

"What is it you sing, Misao-dono?" Kenshin asked.

"Honestly? 'Dearest'." she replied, adjusting her hat.

Kenshin, Sano, and Saitoh blinked.

Then Sanosuke grinned mischievously.

"I know who you are now! That Makimachi chick signed to W-N Records. I'll be damned, our manager Hiko was talking about how famous you're getting just this morning before our meeting with Megitsune."

Misao blinked.

"Megitsune? You mean Megumi-san? Isn't it like career suicide to insult the record label president?" she asked.

"Not when she called him Rooster head right back. They love to argue. It alleviates their sexual tension." Saitoh said, then proceeded to order some soba noodles.

"Shut up!" Sanosuke growled, trying to punch Saitoh, who just merely brushed his fist away.

"Really, Sagara it was a joke." Saitoh murmured with a smug grin.

"Whatever. Anyway, as I was saying, yes. You're getting quite a name for yourself Misao! Why, Aoshi's here is quite a fan of yours."

Aoshi's face darkened.

Was it really illegal to murder? Yes, sadly.

Misao glanced at Sanosuke, then at Aoshi.

His featured were cold, sexy, but cold.

"Somehow, I doubt that." Misao said stiffly, taking her hat off and fixing her hair.

Aoshi made no reply.

"Um, well anyway. What's the name of your band?" Kaoru asked, trying to ease the tension.

"Razorblade Romance." Aoshi mumured.

"Oh so THAT was why it was written on your shirt." Misao commented.

"Oh? Staring at Icicle's chest? Guess you really do have some sort of appeal." Sano murmured, shooting Aoshi a grin.

With Saitoh seated between them, there was little Aoshi could do.

Suddenly Sanosuke lurched forward a little and a thud was heard from under the table.

"Ouch my shin!" Sano mumbled.

"Now now, let's eat." Kenshin said, sweat dropping.

This evening was progressing quite chaotically in his opinion.

Misao glanced at Aoshi for a moment, then glanced away. She wondered what he really thought of her singing, surprised by her thoughts.

It was quite rare for her to care, but something about him...she was dying to know.

The song 'Dearest' is by Hamasaki Ayumi.

'Razorblade Romance' comes from Finnish band H.I.M. It's the name of one of their albums that I own. Aoshi's belt buckle is a heartogram buckle, the heartogram being H.I.M.'s logo.