Disclaimer: Nope... Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me... surprise surprise…
A/N: Well… this is my first ff … and well… you get the picture =/ …
So please, consider that and read it with luuuuuv, care, and an extreeeeeemely *I mean EXTREEMELY* open mind… .
Please review… anything helps =P
Chapter 1
Sano walked down the street, whistling a cheerful tune, contemplating the feeling of having a satisfied stomach as he left the Akabeko, oblivious to the increase of his debt to the restaurant.
Spotting a red headed figure ahead, he quickened his pace towards his friend. Noticing a few slight changes on the rurouni's usual look, Sano was ready to joke around. "Oi, Kenshin!" he called out, "What happened to your l-o-v-e-l-y pink gi? Green does work better for you, but wearing your hair down reeeeeally doesn't…" Upon being totally ignored, Sano closed the distance between them and called out once more, "Hey… are you ignoring me? Dude, I was just joking… HEY KENSHIN!"
Coming to a halt at the sound of that name, the red head turned around briskly, revealing a fair female face with large violet eyes, clearly shocked at what she had heard.
"What… what did you call me…?" she asked, in a barely audible whisper.
"Oh! Oops… I'm sorry; I've mistaken you for someone I know… Ah well, easy mistake to make considering your height and hair…" he said with a confused frown, amazed at the resemblance and apparently not having heard her question. Noticing the girl staring at him, Sano felt a little awkward and decided to resume the conversation and head to the Dojo where the 'real' Kenshin should be. Suddenly feeling an urge to tell him exactly what he had just seen.
"Er… okay, so… sorry about that. I'd better get going…"
He turned on his feet and left for the Dojo. The girl, rooted to the spot, watched him walk away, not saying another word and lost in her own thoughts.
Still rather puzzled from what he had seen, Sano came to the conclusion that a female version of Kenshin was pretty attractive. Finding the thought somewhat disturbing, Sano shook it off laughing to himself.
Later on, at the Kamiya Dojo:
"… seriously Kenshin. I was spooked! The girl was the very image of you." Sano said, sitting down on the front porch of the Dojo while Kenshin hung up the freshly cleaned clothes.
He seemed to be thinking hard about what Sano had just told him, but didn't really say anything.
"Although… if you think about it, it shouldn't be all that surprising really… considering your 'manly' look… not to mention hobbies…" he added with sarcasm and a smirk.
Kenshin simply raised a brow at him in an annoyed expression, which was enough to warn Sano that he was walking on thiiiiiiin, thin ice. Catching that, he thought it better to change the course of things with another *smart* joke.
"Man, are you sure you ain't got some lost relatives wondering around Japan?"
He lost his smile when he saw that instead of responding, Kenshin dropped his glare at him and seemed lost in thoughts once more.
At that, Kaoru came from the kitchen looking for Yahiko. "Have you guys seen Yahiko? I've got lunch almost ready and still no sign of him …"
*…no wonder…* thought Sano.
"Oh… aaaahhh that's too bad. I was hoping to catch some lunch here, but since YOU made it… for my stomach's sake, I ain't gonna risk it…" he said, sounding disappointed.
Kaoru's face went five different shades of red with fury. Fuming, she screamed at him, grabbing and shaking his neck, "WHY-YOU-GOODFORNOTHING-FREELOADED-BUM-"
"Er… Kaoru-Dono…" said Kenshin, in a timid, 'not-so-audible' voice, noticing a thick, black smoke coming from the kitchen.
"IF IT WASN'T ENOUGH THAT YOU COME IN HERE AND EAT FOR FREE WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE"
"… Kaoru-Dono…"
"AND INSULTED MY OH-SO-PERFECT COOKING-"
"… Kao-"
"YOU JUST HAD A FREE MEAL FROM TAE!"
"…Kaoru-Dono…"
"SO DON'T YOU EXPECT OR EVEN THINK FOR A MOMENT-"
"…Ka-"
"THAT YOU WILL BE GETTING A SINGLE GRAIN OF RICE FROM ME!!!"
"… no… he wont…" came Kenshin's voice.
"Huh…? Why are you so sure?" She asked him, finally letting go of Sano's neck and staring at him.
Kenshin, eyes hid behind his red bangs, lifting a single finger and pointing towards the kitchen, his head hanging down, explained in a painful voice, "Because no grain of rice could make it through that…" She looked back and squeaked, running at top speed into the smoke-filled kitchen.
"Nonononononononoooooo….. not agaaaaain…" came her whining voice from inside.
"Like I said, I'll not risk it." said Sano in a casual tone, standing up and walking towards the gate. "Good luck taking Jou-chan and the brat to the Akabeko my friend… I hope you have money cause, you know… Tae's probably still a bit worked up about all the 'eating-and-not-paying' thing…" and without looking back, he left.
Taking in what Sano said last… Kenshin blinked hard… "Oro????"
Later that night, in the Akabeko:
As Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko entered the restaurant, they spotted a new waitress, she had her back to them, serving another family. They noticed her long, shinny red hair falling down to the small of her back. As the girl turned around they gasped in surprise. With a loud CRASH, the new waitress lost her grip on the tray and it fell to the ground, her eyes wide, staring straight into Kenshin's, who seemed equally hypnotized.
"Katsumi! What happened?? Oh dear… look at this mess.." came Tae's voice. Snapping back to reality, the girl got down on her knees and picked up the pieces of china from the ground, clearly troubled.
"I'm sorry Tae! I-I don't know what happened… I'm sorry, it'll be cleaned up in a second!" with that, she stood up ad took the shattered pieces back into the kitchen so fast that it seemed as if her life depended on it.
"Kaoru! Hey guys! It's been a while since you came here!" Tae greeted as she turned to them. Kaoru could only ask, "Tae, who was that?" Tae, noticing they're awed expressions, explained with a soft smile: "Katsumi… she came in just today, looking for a job. She's a very good girl, I was amazed at her dropping the tray just like that… but I guess it was just a lapse." The she turned to Kenshin, "She reminds me a lot of you when you first came here, Kenshin…"
"Wonder where you got THAT from…" snorted Yahiko sarcastically, only to smacked over the head by Kaoru.
But Kenshin did not answer, only looked at the direction Katsumi had gone.
*What's wrong with you???* Katsumi thought to herself, sat outside of the restaurant with both hands on her head. *You've thought of this your whole life and now that you've found him you completely freak out!* "Baka, baka BAKA!", she repeated to herself, pounding her fists on her forehead.
Too nervous to get up, she just remained on that spot until it was time to clean up the place and shut down.
A/N: yeah… a little short… but its kind of an introduction to things =P …