Kaoru woke up to the eerie feeling that someone was watching her. It was in the middle of the night, a bad time to be waking up when they have school tomorrow. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was in her room…watching her. She's been having this feeling for the past month.
She sat up, pulling the covers from her. "Who-who's there?" She asked, afraid that someone might actually call back. When no one did, she laid back down in her bed, snuggling into her covers.
She tried to forget about her temporary paranoia at the moment, and just concentrated on being comfortable in her bed. '
'I'm just being paranoid. No one is in here.' She thought, trying to convince herself.
'This is your room. The windows are down and locked, your door is shut. Besides, who on earth would stalk you? You are one retarded person, Kaoru.' She began to ramble inside her head, hopefully to drown her annoying paranoia.
To convince herself of her contradictions, she got up and turned on the light. Walking over to her window, she checked to see if they were locked. They were. Next was her door, she walked over and shut the door all the way closed. Once she head the satisfying click of the door closed, she checked all around her room to see if there was someone in her. She checked all the corners, even the closet, just to satisfy her annoying thoughts. This has been her routine for the past month.
'Damn it, Koaru! There is no one in your room. Get that through your thick, paranoid brain!' She thought, yelling at herself inside her head. Once she was convinced that no one was in her room, she went back to bed and fell asleep, her last thought being:
'Tomorrow is Valentines Day. I am going to enjoy it.' Even though she had no one to share it with.
The presence that was in her room was amused by her paranoia. She knew that someone was in her room. Just until she convinced herself that no one was there. He smirked to himself. She will soon find out that it wasn't paranoia eluding her.
He was out in the hall, standing against the wall. He held a red rose in his right hand, and brought it to his nose to smell. He loved the smell of roses. They had a beautiful fragrance to them. He got up from leaning against the wall, and opened her door quietly. Luckily, the door didn't squeak. He walked in stealthily to her dresser and laid the rose on top. In his pocket, he pulled out a small folded note and set it beside the rose. He knows that when she wakes up, she will know many things when she's the rose and the note.
He turned toward her bed and walked over, still careful to not make a sound. He stood by her, his dark shadow looming over her by the moonlight that was cast through her window above.
Staring down at her relaxed features, he studied her like he did every time he saw her. Her black hair was sprawled across her pillow, her eyes closed, and her head positioned downward, leaning on the left side of her face. She looked beautiful when she was asleep. He reached his hand out and caressed her porcelain cheek.
The instant he touched her, she moved. He drew his hand back, forgetting that she was a light sleeper when her mind was on alert. He had to go before she woke completely. Walking quietly to the door, he slipped out unnoticed with one thought in his head:
'She'll know tomorrow on Valentines Day.' With that, he slipped into the night unnoticed.
Kaoru woke up, banging her alarm clock into silence. She turned in her covers and groaned. Another wasted night of paranoia. She wanted to sleep a little longer but knew that she couldn't, so she got up in search of clothes. She went to her dresser and opened her top drawer. She paused when she saw a red rose and a note.
'Must be from my parents.' She thought. She shrugged and opened the note. It said:
"Kaoru, this is not from your parents. This is from someone different.
Meet me on the bridge tonight at seven pm.
Love,
Your secret Valentine.
P.S. Don't stand me up."
Kaoru dropped the small folded paper in shock. So it wasn't just paranoia….she was right. She had a creepy stalker.
'Oh god, I have a creepy stalker. Yikes! Don't panic, everything will be fine. Just go about your day and act normal. When you go to meet the creepy stalker tonight, grab some pepper spray and spray him in the eyeballs.' She thought with panic. She continued on with her morning, acting normal around her parents.
When she got on the bus, she saw Kenshin in the first seat. She sat down beside him, smiling.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked nudging her shoulder.
"Err…nothing." She answered, her smile quivering. Kenshin narrowed his brows in concern, asking, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She answered, turning her head sheepishly. She didn't really want to explain anything to Kenshin, so she didn't talk for the rest of bus ride to school.
Kaoru saw Misao skipping towards her with glee to her locker. Kenshin was beside her. "Hey, Kaoru. How are you?" She asked, chirpy. She had her school books in her hand for her first period classes.
"I'm good." She answered. She knelt down to get her German book and binder from her locker.
"What's wrong?" Misao asked. Kaoru sighed. She could never hide anything from her friends, no matter how hard she tried.
"Nothing." She repeated, standing up. "Alright, whatever." Misao mumbled.
"So do you have a secret Valentine?" Misao asked, happy. Kaoru didn't know how to answer that. She told Misao about her little paranoia, but she didn't believe her. Maybe she could make her believe her now?
"Actually, yes." She turned towards Misao and shut her locker. Misao looked surprised.
"Who?" She asked eagerly. Kaoru looked at Kenshin, who had a his signature smile on, then looked at Misao again.
"Um, you know that little thing I told about that I've been getting for the past month?" Kaoru asked in code. Misao looked quizzical for a moment, before answering, "Yeah."
"Well, it turned out to be true." Misao got a big smile on her face at the news. She lunged and threw her arms around her.
"You finally have a boyfriend." She yelled, happy. Misao has been wanting Kaoru to get a boyfriend since her and Aoshi have been going out.
Kaoru almost fell backwards if Kenshin hadn't caught her.
"What are you guys talking about?" Kenshin asked with puzzlement.
"Kaoru has a secret Valentine." Misao blurted out.
"Really now?" Kenshin smiled like he had a secret. "Who?" He added.
"That, I don't know. I'm supposed to meet him at seven tonight." Kaoru replied.
"Ohhhh, romantic." Misao cooed.
"No, not romantic. He might be a psychopathic killer." Kaoru bellowed. Misao moved back a few feet. She whirled on Kenshin, who still had that smile on his face.
"What are you smiling at?" She asked, her face contorted into anger.
"Nothing, you just amuse me. That's all." He answered.
"Well, I'm glad I amuse you both." She retorted. With that, she turned and headed to her classes.
Through the whole day, Kaoru tried to forget about the meeting tonight. She concentrated on her classes to get through the day. She didn't talk to Kenshin and Misao much either. If they tried to talk to her, she came with a reasonable explanation of why she had to leave.
When she got home from school, she saw the rose and note still on her dresser. She reread the note to see if she could identify the handwriting. No luck. She gave up after a half hour of looking at it.
'Damn.' She thought with frustration. She had a few hours to get ready. She took a shower, then went to her closet to pick a decent outfit.
Looking through her tops, she picked out red button down top with a knee-length black skirt. Nothing to dressy, she didn't want to dress up to nice. She was very puzzled about this guy. For her shoes, she ended up wearing black-calf length boots. She let her hair down to frame her face. She didn't bother with make-up, she figured she didn't really need it.
It was twenty minutes to seven. She started her walk to the bridge. Once she got there, she didn't see anyone. She waited a few moments before she heard snow crunching footsteps approaching her. She turned and saw a redhead.
"Kenshin?!" She called, shocked.
"Yup, it's me." He answered. He held a pink rose similar to the one he gave her last night.
"Yo-you're my stalker?" She asked, still shocked.
"Stalking is going a little far." He said, sheepishly.
"Excuse me? You were in my room." She bellowed.
"Just once, just to give you the rose and the note." He corrected gently. He held the rose to her. "Here. This is for you." He said, apologetically. Kaoru calmed down slightly then looked down at the pink rose. It was beautiful, she thought. She took it, smelling the sweet fragrance.
"Thank you." She said, smiling slightly. "You're welcome." He answered, his gentle smile on his face.
"Errr, can I ask you something?" She asked.
"Sure."
"Why did you have to stalk me?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"I didn't stalk you. I just watched you from afar." He answered simply.
"Afar?" She questioned with a litlt of her head.
"Yeah, I just watched you when I saw you. Sorry if I creeped you out." He apologized.
"It's ok, just…" She paused for a second. "Don't do it again. It made me paranoid as hell." She confessed.
"I won't. I just like you a lot." He took a few steps toward her until he was just inches from her.
"I like you too." She smiled.
"Will you be my Valentine?" He asked, looking into her eyes.
"Yes." She answered softly. They sealed it with a kiss under the winter cherry blossom trees.
-A short Valentine's story. Sorry if it isn't that great. Please R&R. Also, criticism is allowed.-