AN: Ah, yes, I FINALLY advance a little in the plot! And who really *is* Ling? Put two and two together and you'll find out later ^^.

Oh, yeah, I know Aoshi is in a state of denial right now ^^. Come to think of it, him and Kenshin are similar in a way, ne?

Chapter Thirteen ~ The Red Scorpion

After what had seemed like hours of crying, the tears stopped coming. Instead, the sadness was replaced by a void of emotion. For some time Misao just sat there behind the door, gathering her thoughts. She didn't even know why she was crying the first place. Aoshi wasn't her husband or anything so what was the point of crying? He didn't do anything to her to make her feel this way.

"Maybe I'm stressing too much over it," she muttered to herself.

A knock came at the door, startling Misao out of her solitude. "Ne, Misao-chan?"

Misao quickly stood up, brushing the dust off her clothes. "Uh...nani, Iku-chan?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Ikumi asked from the other side of the door.

"Anno...hold on for a minute," she replied and hurriedly ran to the mirror to make sure that there were no signs of her crying. Her eyes were a bit red and puffy but other than that she looked somewhat normal.

Misao walked back to the door and opened it, greeting her "sister" with a smile plastered on her face.

"What is it, Iku-chan?" she asked again.

Ikumi eyed Misao for a moment, noticing the slight puffiness around her eyes. She pretended that she didn't notice, adjusting her daughter in her arms.

"Ne, can you look after Set-chan for a while?" she asked in a soft voice so to not wake up her daughter. "Ryu and I have to go with Jun into the city and see if her husband's there and sensei is busy teaching the students, so..."

Misao nodded, getting the message. "Sure! It's no problem. You know me anyway."

"Arigatou," Ikumi said, gently handing over Setsuko to her. "She's been out for half an hour, so I'm guessing that she'll be awake in another hour or so."

Misao giggled lightly as she cradled the little girl in her arms. "Had too much fun with her otousan?"

Ikumi rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. No need for okaachan anymore. Set-chan had too much fun chasing butterflies with Ryu that she completely forgot about me and the others."

Misao's smile widened, completely forgetting her depression. "Sou ka..."

"So, how's my brother."

"Um..." Misao hesitated for a minute. "He's...he's awake now. I gave him his medicine but I'm not sure if he drank it or not..."

Ikumi pondered for a moment, apparently not seeing the hint of hesitation in her friend's voice. "Maa, he'll go back to normal. That's a good thing, I guess. Anyway, I won't keep you long. If she wakes up before we come home, tell her that otouchan and okaachan are trying to find Isamu-nii and she'll understand."

Misao nodded again. "Hai."

She watched Ikumi go before she sighed and walked back into her room. She carefully set Setsuko down on her bed, covering her with a thick blanket. Even though it was a beautiful day outside, it was also fairly cold since they were up in the mountains during autumn. Misao yearned to be outdoors, exploring the school, but she had to watch Setsuko and that limited her activities. So Misao grabbed a piece of paper and the brush/ink set, dragging a stool as quietly as possible to the bed. She placed the ink on the end table and that was behind her. Dipping the tip of the brush in the black liquid, Misao began to draw.

<Aoshi's room>

After a few more tries on sleep, Aoshi frustratingly tossed the covers off him and sat up in bed. The window near him was still open and a cost gust swept through the room, but Aoshi didn't even feel the cold even though he was only wearing pants and was barefoot. He welcomed the cold. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as the wind circled around his body.

If it wasn't for his good hearing, he would have missed the slight thump noise that sneaked into the room.

His eyes snapped open at the sound, and he looked over at its source. On the floor of the room was a small roll of paper that had been apparently thrown in through the window. Aoshi slowly got out of bed, a bit woozy from the lack of food. However, he kept his balance and walked towards the item. Wrapped around the paper was a thin black ribbon. When the sunlight reflected off of it, he could see intricate blood red scorpions sewn into them. Aoshi's eyes narrowed. The only group who would wrap their messages that way was the group that Aoshi had dreaded seeing again.

"Azuma," he whispered as he picked up the parchment and unrolled it.

He didn't bother to see who had thrown in the message; the ninja was already gone.

Funny how we became Edo's guardians when they were the better clan, he mused to himself. They haven't changed, even after the Bakumatsu.

He unrolled the paper to his full length, letting the ribbon fall to the floor. An unfelt level of anger surged through him as he read:

You're lucky that your girl isn't a dead corpse...yet. Better keep an eye on her or your poison is going to be much worse than the last.

He crumpled the paper in anger and took a glance out the window even though there was nothing except fro the false serenity and calm of the mountains. They were toying with him, he knew. Yet they were dragging Misao into his mess, using her to distract him. Uttering a low growl, he shut the window and began to gather his things. He paused in the middle of buttoning the last on his shirt as he regained some sense of control. What was he doing?

Only one word crossed his mind: Misao.

He wanted to make sure that she was okay, that was all. Make sure that she's all right, he mentally repeated to himself. Nothing else. Don't let the note scare you.

He again stopped at the thought. The note was making him afraid? Of what? Of Misao's safety?

Yet this was a martial arts school, so there was no need to worry. The Wandon School was the school whose students mastered the wind, an element as unpredictable as water. Misao could also take care of herself. He remembered him silently observing her as she trained day after day when Shishio's little escapade had ended. Her accuracy on the kunai had improved and her kempo was a bit stronger than before. This still did not get rid of the feeling that Aoshi had in the pit of his stomach. It was the exact same feeling he had when something bad happened. His parents' deaths during the Azuma raid when he was child, Ikumi's kidnapping when he had first been appointed okashira, and more recently, the deaths of the very men who had stood by him: Hannya, Beshimi, Shikijou, Hyottoko.

After slipping on his shoes, Aoshi unconsciously grabbed his kodaichi as he left the room. The pain in his side no longer ached, the dizziness had disappeared, the effects of the poison faded to a minor irritation. Aoshi hoped that his gut feeling of tragedy wouldn't ring true.

There was no drug like adrenaline.

<Temple>

Ling was correcting a student's stance as she kept a careful eye on her surroundings when she noticed Aoshi watching from behind the shadows of the great pillars of the temple. She called to her assistant and approached Aoshi, keeping a bright smile on her face.

"So you're awake," Ling greeted, pretending to not notice the flicker of apprehension in his eyes. "The poison has worn off, then?"

Aoshi simply nodded his gratitude. Ling could tell that his walls were becoming impenetrable once again.

"Where's Misao?" he asked in a harsher tone than he had liked.

Ling looked at him questionably. "I thought she was with you?" Getting no reply, she continued, "Maa, she's probably in her room then, taking care of Setsuko-chan. Your sister left with Ryu and Jun a while ago."

Again Aoshi nodded. "Sou ka..."

Ling tore her eyes away from his gaze, pointing down the hallway to her left. "Her room is down this hall before it turns right, on the left side. It's pretty easy to find; her room is the only one with plants outside."

Aoshi blinked in surprise as he managed to say, "Arigatou."

As he began to walk away, Ling called out, "Oh, Ao...Shinomori-kun!" He stopped, turning back halfway. "Turn your kodaichi around so that you can't draw them. I don't want my students to feel intimidated."

Aoshi simply nodded and followed her requests before continuing on his way. Ling watched his figure disappear from her view and she sighed to herself, shaking off forgotten memories, before returning to her class.

<Misao's room>

After drawing for half an hour, Misao's eyes began to droop with sleepiness. She yawned silently and crept cautiously over to the bed, leaving her drawings out to dry. She gently eased herself onto the bed and wrapped a comforting arm around her "niece", letting the sleep overcome her. It had been a rough day, and she was getting tired of having to fight it. Misao just wished that everything would be over with.

Too deep in her sleep, she didn't hear someone enter the room, slowly taking out a dagger from its sheath and getting ready to draw blood.