This is my first high school AU. I don't know what compels me to write it, but I've been bored and I don't want to work on my other story. Anyway, Kaoru is a punk/ Goth wannabe who is just trying to fit in, and Kenshin is a gamer nerd who wants nothing to do with her. His best friend, Sano, is almost a street racer, and Sano's girlfriend Misao is a ninja of sorts who pines for another man. That man happens to be (of course) Aoshi, who happens to be Kaoru's quiet and artistic older brother. Megumi is a girl with a bad reputation for toying with guys and dealing drugs, but has a secret fear of actually getting involved with anyone. Her 'friend' Tomoe is an emotionally abusive prep who uses Megumi to feel better about herself. Soujiro is the new kid, so we don't know much about him yet. Let's get started…

"Hey, Kenshin, check these out!"

"Hold on a second, Sano… Shit, I got killed by Flonne again! What is it?"

Sano triumphantly held up one of a set of fancy new rims. "What do you think?"

"Very nice. Now which of your vast amount of cars are you going to put those on?"

"Hey, shut up. I'm working on it alright? This stuff is all for when I get my car, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever." Kenshin turned back to Makai Kingdom. "To hell with this. I'm getting out my Gameshark. I found a cheat on the Internet that's supposed to level you up to the highest level possible once you strike an enemy. Unless you want to play me in Soul Calibur III?"

Sano shook his head "Nah. You always kill me with Mitsturugi."

"Well, if you'd choose a faster character, you might win once in a while."

"Hey, Nightmare's cool!"

"Is not. He's so slow, it's not even funny. I mean, that's okay if you know how to use slow characters, but you really don't. And he's possibly the ugliest character in the game, excepting Astaroth and Voldo. Lizardman is better looking. You know, I once saw a fan comic where Nightmare was gay. Funny as hell."

"No way. Who with?"

"Mitsurugi."

"Oh, that is funny."

"Yeah."

"But, his weapon is really cool."

"Uh, we've been through this before. If you have to use a character with the huge- ass sword, use Siegfried. His voice is better and he isn't ugly as sin."

"But his lines are gay!"

"If you'd been possessed by a demonic sword for the past four years, slaughtering innocents mercilessly, with almost no control over your own body, you'd probably be saying the same things he does. I mean, unless you like slaughtering innocents mercilessly. Anyway, are you going to play or not?"

"Only if you don't use Mitsurugi."

"Alright, I'll use Tira."

"That's just as bad if not worse!"

"Talim? Setsuka? Cassandra? Sophitia? Taki? WELL WHAT CHARACTER CAN I USE!" Cried Kenshin, as Sano shook his head at every suggestion.

"We'll use the same character. And, since you're so set on him, we'll use Siegfried. Alright?"

"Fine. Get ready to be owned."

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"AOSHI! Have you seen my CD!"

Aoshi looked over at his younger sister, who had just flung open the door and upset the gentle quiet of his room. He sighed and put down his pencil. "Which one?"

Kaoru was already digging through Aoshi's carefully sorted notebooks and art supplies. "You know… That one…"

Aoshi didn't know which one, but he did know that every step Kaoru took left a trail of wreckage in its wake. Now she was rifling through his clothing.

"I don't know which one, and I probably don't have it anyway. I don't listen to your music."

This was very true. If by some unheard of coincidence, he happened to like one of her CDs, he would go out to buy it for himself, so that it could be filed away in alphabetical order with the rest of his music. Kaoru was quite the opposite. She preferred to have her music sorted by means of tossing it down wherever she happened to be. This resulted in a carpet of CDs in her room, most of which would have a very short lifespan.

Suddenly, she jumped up. "I think I know where it might be!" She rushed off, leaving Aoshi to clean up the destruction left by Hurricane Kaoru. It was only a few moments later that he heard a snapping sound and a cry of despair from the next room. She returned holding the sought CD. In two pieces.

"Well, it looks like you found it. What are you going to do now?"

"Buy another one, I guess."

"You don't have any money left."

"Oh. Right. Aaaooooshiiii?" She asked sweetly, turning puppy eyes on him.

Aoshi was unaffected. "No."

"Aw, come on! You have money! Share, share!"

"I'm saving it. And anyway, I just bought you that Chinese dress last month."

"Can I have the CD instead?"

"No, the dress is already paid for. And I'm not returning it. You should be happy with it. Do you know how much that cost?"

"No."

"Well, trust me, you could have bought nine CDs for the price of that one dress. And you haven't even worn it yet."

Kaoru sighed as Aoshi went back to his drawing.

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Megumi jumped as her cellphone rang. Half- expecting a customer, she answered. "Hello?"

"Megumi? It's Tomoe. I'm coming over." click

Megumi sighed as she flicked the phone closed. Of course Tomoe didn't ask if Megumi already had plans, or if she was busy. Not that she did have plans, but it would be nice if Tomoe thought of someone else once in a while. Megumi shrugged it off. It wasn't like Tomoe was going to change anytime soon, and, apart from her customers, she was Megumi's only friend.

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Misao gazed out over the world, from her position on the rooftop. The ground seemed far away, as it always did fro up here. She braced herself for the jump, and then suddenly backed down. She wasn't ready. Physically, she knew she could take the jump, but psychologically she was still unsure. Giving up, she climbed back down. Maybe tomorrow… With a grimace, she remembered tomorrow was Monday. School… It just took time away from her 'training'. Oh well.

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Soujiro watched the fields roll by, sitting in the car next to his social worker. Another one… Always passed from foster family to foster family, Soujiro kept his outward appearance upbeat. He never questioned why no one seemed to want to keep him, but inside it tore at him. He tried so hard, but soon there was always a phone call and Ryuuzaki- san came to tell him that it hadn't worked out. "They just don't know how to handle children" she always said. Soujiro didn't bother telling her he hadn't felt like a child for years. And so, as time passed, he changed hands again and again…

Chapter One, end.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.

Is this a Kenshin/Kaoru fic?

Uh, probably not. I'm not sure.

How about Sano and Megumi?

Nope.

Misao and Aoshi?

shakes head

Misao and Soujiro?

Dunno.

Wait, this isn't a Yaoi/ Yuri fic, is it?

Not to my knowledge. Any more questions?

…no…

Okay. Anyway, I'm REALLY sorry for not posting on my other story… Just not motivated…

Thanks to WeaselGirlSama for telling me about the Soul Calibur comic!