Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters in it. (Breaks down into tears) Whaaaaaa!
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His heart pounded in his throat as he slowly peered past the fence at the large grey build centered in the middle of the ground. He raised a shaking hand, making sure that his long hair covered his left cheek. His tightened his grip on his school bag as he took a deep breath, taking a tentative first step onto his new school's property. He let out a sigh, gazing at the group of teens milling about on the grounds. He began to cautiously make his way towards the front door, his long red hair swaying in a ponytail behind him. He stepped inside hesitantly, his violet eyes flickering from side to side as he quickly surveyed the cloakroom. Kenshin let his breath out, allowing himself to relax slightly, seeing that he was alone.
"Hey, I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?" asked a deep voice from behind him. He froze, his violet eyes going wide as he whirled around to stare fearfully at the tall boy behind him. Kenshin swallowed nervously taking a step away from the other. "I'm Sanosuke Sagara." The tall teenager introduced himself. Kenshin's eyes flickered over Sano, taking note that despite they were both wearing the same school uniform, Sano's looked unkempt, even tattered in a few places, he was also wearing a red bandana just below his unruly spiky hair.
"Kenshin Himura," he replied after a moment.
"Ah, so you do know how to speak," Sano mused, Kenshin said nothing lowering his head so he could hid his face more. He gave a nervous tug on the hair over his left cheek. "What school did you transfer from? Kinda odd doing that half way through the year, don't you think?" The sound of the bell rang through the halls, telling them it was time to head to class.
"Sano!" shouted someone from outside.
Sanosuke looked up, a grin spreading across his face. "Hey Kaoru." He called as she ran up beside him. "You're late again."
"I am not," she retorted. "You should talk anyway, standing around here by yourself."
"What?" he asked in confusion turning back to Kenshin, only to find that the fiery hair boy had vanished. "What the..." he exclaimed with surprise.
"Come on," Kaoru ordered pulling him along. "If we don't hurry up we're going to be late."
"Right..." he murmured his eyes still on the place where Kenshin had been standing.
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The day dragged by slowly, it seemed like forever to Sano before it finally came to an end. After the last bell had gone, he once again found himself standing in the clock room with his friend Kaoru. "Megumi's busy with some club or other today, so it's just you and me." Kaoru informed Sano as she closed her locker; her homework held in her other hand. She glanced over her shoulder at Sano who wasn't paying any attention to her. He was standing on his tiptoes staring out over the people searching for something. "Hey, what are you looking for?" she asked.
"I ran into a new kid this morning," he answered still skimming the crowd for the red head. "I thought I'd be nice and show him around."
"That's got to be a first," snickered Kaoru.
"Well it's about time I had someone other then you girls to hang out with."
"What's that suppose to mean?" She growled her eyebrows twitching slightly.
Sano swallowed nervously. "N-nothing." His eyes caught sight of four boys running across the yard in pursuit of a fleeing red hair boy, Kenshin. A growl escaped Sanosuke's throat as he took off out the door after them.
"Sano!" shouted Kaoru running after him.
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Kenshin was breathing hard, as he tore around the corner of the building. He knew he could easily out run the four boys that were chasing after him. Unfortunately though, this was his first day and he hadn't quite figured the lay out of the school yet. He came to a screeching halt, his eyes going wide as he searched frantically for an escape. The storage sheds on his right hand side, along with the high fence, which lined the perimeter of the school building made a wonderful three-wall dead end. He could hear his pursuers voices approaching, they'd be on top of him in seconds. His heart pounded as he, in a last desperate attempt, lunged at the fence scrambling up the mesh. Struggling to put as much distance between him and the gang.
"Get him!" He heard laugher as several pairs of hands gripped his ankles. They yanked him down, throwing him face first, onto the ground. His body slammed into the dirt, his right knee colliding with a rock, before scrapping across the gravel. He struggled to sit up, choking on the dust that whirled around him. He gritted his teeth as he felt the beginning of a stinging pain in his knee. He pushed off the ground, trying to make a get away, only to be tackled by two of the larger boys and forced down again. His chin smacked against the small rocks causing a small cry to escape his throat. He heard laughter above him, he opened his violet eyes glaring up at the boy towering over him. "We're part of the Oniwaban group," proclaimed the black haired boy who, Kenshin took to be the leader of this small group. "Prepare to face your punishment." Kenshin struggled trying to throw the boys off his back. His eyes went wide with terror when he saw their leader pull a small knife from his pocket, slowly began making his way towards Kenshin.
None of them noticed Sano charging towards them. "Leave him alone!" he shouted eyes burning with anger. He grabbed hold of the leader's wrist twisting it, forcing him to drop the knife. With a swift move Sano flung the leader over onto his back, before turning and kicking one of the boys that was pinning Kenshin down in the jaw. The third member charged at Sano while the other remained pinning Kenshin. Sano gave a malevolent grin as he easily stepped out of the attackers way slamming his own fist into the teen's stomach.
"Bastard," growled the last member as he shoved Kenshin into the dust before lunging forwards, to pick up the knife his leader had dropped and charged at Sano's exposed back. Kenshin's eyes narrowed as he swung his foot out, tripping the last opponent. Sano turned as the last member fell to the ground. Sano then stepped slightly on the guy's fingers to convince him to let go of the knife.
"That's what you get for tripping over your own two feet," Sano laughed glancing over at Kenshin, who was still sprawled out on the ground. "You alright?" Kenshin gave a slight nod.
"You'll regret this Zanza!" shouted their gang leader as he struggled to his feet. "Our leader Aoshi will hear about this! He'll make both of you pay dearly!"
Kenshin shrank back slightly but Sano stood his ground glaring dangerously at them. "Get out of here before I decide to really clean your clocks." The leader stiffened swallowing nervously, as Sano cracked his knuckles. "Beat it." They didn't need to be told twice, as they scrambled to their feet scurrying away. Sano turned offering Kenshin a hand up. "You should be more careful, the Oniwaban aren't something you should mess with." Kenshin excepted the hand as he stood up.
"Sano what the heck did you do?" demanded a voice. They turned to see Kaoru approached them with an angry step, her eyes glaring at Sano.
He gave a nervous grin. "Giving Kenshin here, a helping hand. He managed to piss off a few members of the Oniwaban group and it's just his first day! I can't wait to see what other trouble you'll get yourself into." Kenshin looked away tugging at his hair over his left cheek.
"Don't mind him, he's always like this," she explained, ignoring the glowering look Sano gave her. "I'm Kaoru Kamiya." She gave him a bright smile. He nodded his head sheepishly in response.
"Hey, are you alright?" Sano inquired, noticing that Kenshin wasn't putting much weight on his right leg.
"It's alright, that it is" he tried to assure them. He sifted his position trying to hide the pain he felt jolting up his leg when he put more weight on it.
"Like hell you are," snapped Sano. "What do you think we should do?" he asked Kaoru.
She thought about it a moment, glancing down at her watch. "The school nurse won't be here anymore."
"This one is fine, indeed he is," Kenshin intervened, Sano gave him a skeptical look. Kenshin took a step trying to prove his point but instantly regretted the decision as his knee buckled completely. Sano grabbed hold of the red head as he fell, lowering him to the ground. Kenshin sat there grimacing against the pain.
"What should we do?" Sano asked again.
"I'll grab my bike, he can ride on it so he doesn't have to put any weight on that leg," answered Kaoru. She hurried off across the grounds, coming back with her bike in tow.
"This one's house is close by. Just two blocks down, that it is." Kenshin told them as they helped him onto the bike seat.
"Alright then," Sano replied pushing the bike out of the schoolyard with Kaoru's help. "We'll head there." They slowly made their way along the sidewalk that Kenshin indicated. The bike jumped as it went over a crack in the sidewalk causing him to wince. Kaoru looked up at him guiltily.
"Sorry about that," she apologized.
"How did you mange to piss those guys off so badly?" asked Sano after a moment. Kenshin glanced over at the other, their eyes meeting.
He gave a shrug, looking away. "This one does not know." He lied. Sano gave him a suspicious look so Kenshin quickly asked, "Why did he call you Zanza?"
Sano smirked. "Before I became friends with Megumi and Kaoru here, I pretty much got in on any fight I could. I was known as Zanza fighter for higher, willing to fight for anyone, and depending on how much I enjoyed it, that would be the basis for my price. I'm the best fighter there is."
"You mean thug," corrected Kaoru.
"I was not a thug," he snapped back. "Thugs are what you'd call those guys over at Mizuki High." Kenshin's hands tightened on the bike. "You know, that one lead by Shishio."
Kaoru gave him a blank look. "Shishio?" she asked. "Do you mean the Juppongatanna?"
"That's the one," Sano nodded his head solemnly.
"But I thought... someone else was their leader."
"Not anymore," He answered lowering his voice. "Shishio apparently ousted the last leader, killed him out right. I've also heard that Shishio and Aoshi have been on good terms with each other lately. They've started striking deals. It'd be best to avoid getting to tangled up with the Oniwaban group especial with the Juppongatanna supporting them."
They continued in silence for a while thinking over what had been said. After a little while Kenshin pointed up a driveway, they turned onto it making their way towards the small white house that stood there. Kaoru noticed that the tension in Kenshin seem too lax slightly. Sano stopped the bike at the top of the driveway, as Kaoru jogged up the stone path onto the wooden porch and ran the doorbell. Sano helped Kenshin off the bike and giving the teen a hand as he crept up the path towards the door. There was a loud click as the door opened and Kaoru took a step back as a large man appeared at the door. He was dressed in simple slacks with long wild hair that flowed passed his shoulders. His eyes narrowed as he glared down at her. "Yes?" He asked curtly in a gruff voice.
"I..." she stammered losing her nerve under his gaze. "I-I'm a friend of Kenshin-"
His eyes caught sight of the red haired boy limping up the path with Sano. A look of concern appeared on the man's face. "Did you get into another fight, you idiot." he exclaimed moving out of the doorway and down the porch to help.
Kenshin's face turned a light shade of red. "It wasn't like that Hiko."
Kaoru was surprised that Kenshin had said Hiko. "Then again," she thought. "They don't look alike."
Hiko scoffed at Kenshin's comment, helping him up the steps. "Feel free to come in as well." he said over his shoulder at Sano and Kaoru. The two followed after them, passing through the main entrance into the living room. Kenshin slowly sat down with his right leg stretched out across the couch. "I'll be right back." Hiko told them, as he turned into the hall on the left. He came back, a few minutes later, holding a small load of supplies. He knelt down beside the couch, pulling the pant leg up carefully as he could, to get a better look at the knee. Kenshin hissed with pain as the cloth brushed against the injury. He turned his head away not wanting to see what it looked like. "What happened?" Hiko asked as he began to dab at it with a cloth. Kenshin winced at the contact, several layers of his skin had been torn off and was bleeding slightly in several places. Hiko was glad to see though that there wasn't any major damage.
"Well," began Sano deciding to answer the question. "Kenshin here, got into a tussle with a few members of the Oniwaban uh, they're a thug problem our school's been trying to deal with. Lucky for him, I was there, since one of them had pulled out a knife."
Hiko's face darkened as he looked up from the wound. Kenshin refused to meet the man's eyes. "What started this Kenshin?" There was an edge in his voice.
Kaoru noticed that Kenshin had stiffened again. "This one simply helped a girl, that he did." After uttering those few words he immediately clamped up again, his eyes fixed on the carpet.
Kaoru sifted uncomfortably, her mind wondering why Kenshin didn't refer to himself in first person. Hiko stood up sighing, the first aid kit held in his hand. "Would you two like something to drink? I'm not sure what we have though."
"If that wouldn't been to much trouble," replied Kaoru.
He gave a warm smile. "Kenshin could do with the company. His knee will be fine, just sore for a while."
"Thank you Mr. Himura," she answered with a bow.
He gave a start at that. "J-just call me Hiko." He told her quickly trying to regain his composer. He turned walked out of the room. His hand tightening on the plastic container. "Mr… Himura." He muttered sadly, shaking his head.
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My first Kenshin fanfiction! Wahoo! I've been a Rurouni Kenshin fan ever since a friend handed me the first three mangas. I blame her for my anime addiction…
Anyway, this is my second fanfic I'm writing, not counting my collection of one shots, it is though, my first time going solo on a large story project, which is to say I'm writing and editing it all by me little myself. So if there's errors please let me know! Cause otherwise I'm going to keep making them and we don't want that, right? (laughs nervously) And as my closing note please REVIEW!