She decided to make a break for it. ‘If I go down,’ she thought determinedly as her persuers footsteps bounced down the alley after hers, ‘I’ll go down kicking and screaming.’The boy in the alley got into a crouch and held his arms open to block her escape. As she got closer Misao realized he was too big to push out of the way."Shit!" She spat. She whirled to charge her other assailent over and ran into his arms.

"Gotcha!" He snarled. Misao began to sturggle. She lashed out at his shins, his ribs, his face, anywhere and with everything. He grunted once or twice, but his strong arms didn’t loosen at all. His partner grabbed her shoulders and held her still. More boys entered the alley, panting and out of breath. Misao smelled alcohol."Didja get her?" One asked in anticipation."Yeah," the first said. "I got her, I get her first."

"NOOOO!!" Misao screamed."Shaddup!" The one holding her snarled, jerking her back against him. Misao arched away in fear. With an annoyed grunt he twisted her arms behind her and held them there with one hand. With his other he muffled her cries.The first boy approach, lust heavy on his features. Misao felt her coat being removed one arm at a time. She was wearing her dance outfit and her skirt. The one piece leotard was still tucked into the school-uniform skirt."Hey, hand me a knife," the leader ordered. Two boys went to pockets or belts. One shrugged, the other handed a switchblade to his boss.

The blade flashed out with a loud menecing sound. Misao froze. ‘Don’t sturggle!’ She screamed against her instincts. ‘One wrong move and you could end up gutted!’As the knife blade inched closer, Misa felt a strange feeling pour through her. A wave of hot power and strength rushed through her arms and legs. It crashed against her brain and washed the panic away. A thought floated to the front of Misao’s mind.Quickly, she ducked her head down and pulled her knees up. With a groan of annoyance, the boy holding her pulled Misao up against him. She curled into a tighter ball. He lifted her clear up into the air by leaning back. The leader advanced, the knife upraised.

Misao kicked her foot out and the knife flew in a perfect flip ten feet into the air. Misao raised her legs into the air so high she nearly touched her knees to her face. The boy over balanced and released her to break his fall. In a blur of motion she backflipped in place and landed, one foot on the boy’s stomach. He gaged and reched. The alley smelled strongly of alcohol and vomit. The knife fell into her expectant, open palm.

With a battle cry she had no idea she knew, Misao lunged at the boys, wielding the knife like a sword. She cut and slashed, chopped and sliced. But half the time she missed due to her expectation that the weapon was longer than it actually was. Her melee lasted a few moments, but two or three boys were layed out on the ground before the knife was wrenched away from her and she was thrown on the ground. Another figure came running down the alley from the direction of the school yard. ‘Oh-no!’ Misao thought in dispair, breathless from the brutal fall. ‘I’ll never be able to escape now!’

The sight of the tall, slim and strong young man sent Misao over the edge. ‘He’s too strong. I couldn’t beat him in a fair fight, let alone now. He’s got to be the leader. Nobody that strong is going to let himself be pushed around.’ He reached the edge of the circle of boys as Misao blacked out. ‘Exit Misao; stage right,’ she thought as the first one fell and the world went dark.

Aoshi stood panting in the middle of the alley. A tirckle of blood ran down his chin from his mouth. All of the the other people in the alley were laying prone on the ground, but for some reason he was disguisted with himself.‘They drew blood!’ he noted in annoyance, wiping the trickle away.He had arrived just in time. A dozen boys were gathered around the girl as she was pinned down on the grimey street. He had been waiting for her to come out of the school, but when she never came, he began to worry a little. Then he had heard her paniced scream and figured it out.

As he had caught sight of the scene he froze. Then a surge of power cleared hesitation and fear from his mind. His body knew what to do. He dashed into the fray and began to attack everybody.As she battle lust began to fade and exaustion sank in, Aoshi turned to the girl he had saved. She was small, no more than five foot two. Her thin arms were tossed wide and her slender white legs seemed to glow in the dark alley. Aoshi knelt at her head and lifted her up a little. Her face tipped toward him.

Again Aoshi felt the thrill of recognition, but the name was just out of reach. Large eyes with long, curling eyelashes; thin, dark eyebrows; full, smiling lips. It all echoed of something…

…bright laughter that stirred something deep inside…

…tears that pulled at his heart…

…her almost comical anger…

…a smile that brought light to a dark room…

"…I brought some tea…"

The girl’s eyes opened. Aoshi felt a shock hit him in the cheast. He remembered the blue eyes, the face, the name…Reverently, he whispered, "Misao…?" At the same time she murmured, "Aoshi-sama…" then quietly passed out again.Aoshi quickly pulled her into his arms and stood. He had never held her before. She was so light. Her body seemed to be made of poceline, ready to break in a moment. He stared down at her in shock. ‘Misao,’ he repeated silently. ‘Makimachi Misao. How could I have forgotten you? Misao…’

A siren blared on the street at the end of the alley. Aoshi glanced over his shoulder and saw a pair of police officers step out of the car and head down the alley. One paused and called something over their shoulder. Two more officers appeared. The first on unclipped a light from their belt and fidgeted with the switch to turn it on."Damn!" Aoshi heard him say. "It’s outta batteries."

"Lemme see that," the other officer said, holding out their hand. Aoshi knelt down again and scooped up Misao’s bag and slung it over his shoulder before dashing off towards the school yard.He paused just outside the alley and watched as the flashlight beam played across the fallen thugs. He heard the surprised exlamations of the officers and took a deep breath before heading away.Back in the alley, a young female officer knelt next to the young man that had fallen first. He had a cut on the back of his head from where he had fallen and vomit on his clothes. He sat up slowly and leaned against the wall.

"Can you tell me what happened here?" She asked sternly. "We found this," she said as she held up one of Misao’s school shoes, "and this." She showed him the bloodied knife. He let out a huge sigh and rested his head on his knee."There was this girl," he began. "She was coming from the school an’ we were gonna surprise her. Just jump out from behind a trash can or something. Maybe tease her a little, but nothing serious.

"Then he," he jerked his thumb at the still unconcious leader, "got this bright idea. I don’t think I need to tell you what it was. I held her still but she somehow got the knife away from him and took me down in the same ten seconds!""That’s not all," another boy said, standing against the wall. His left leg was obviously paining him. "She lost, eventually. Then this guy comes outta nowhere and trashes the rest of us. I mean," he went on, "there were at least six of us, and he took us all out! All of us!"

The officer stood and whistled slowly. "And all she left was a shoe," she whispered. "Just like magic…"Aoshi sat silently next to the couch. Misao lay neatly across the cushions with a blanket tucked around her body. Her face was twisted by nightmares. Aoshi reached across the distance to shake her awake but his hand froze above her shoulder.‘She probably dreaming about those yakuza,’ he thought, withdrawing his hand. ‘To wake her now would make her afraid of me.’ For some reason that thought was absolutely terrifying to Aoshi. ‘She may kill me for it later, but I’ll let her sleep.’His conscience apeased for the time being, he rose and sat down at the table. His dinner sat there, cold and unappatizing. He scrutinized it for a moment, then dumped it in the trash and put some water on to boil. As the steam rose out of the kettle, he turned back to look at Misao’s still form.