It was his senior year of high school. Technically he had already graduated, but Katsura thought it best to have at least one year of socialization.
Taking the last turn towards the building he stopped to take it in. It wasn't one building like he had thought it was. He'd traveled all over the country and every time he happened to see a school it was a large several story building lined with windows, with a large field out back. This one was made of up several buildings. Eight to be exact; just how big was this school?
Taking a look at his watched he was pleased to note he was an hour early. Just enough time to survey the grounds and get to the principles office before school started.
One must always know all the escapes and any places enemies could hide.
Walking behind the large building in the front he was able to see the other seven easily. All eight buildings created a large circle that seemed surrounded a giant track field/ soccer/ football field. Glancing from building to building he notices large plaques on the walls next toward the doors with a list of different subjects that were taught there. The first building, the largest and at the front near the gate, taught different kinds of sciences, math's, computer programs, and held the offices. Walking to the next building, in a clockwise fashion, he scanned the plaque; history, writing, foreign courses. Building three made him stop in his tracks. It was a dorm. A woman's dorm. Walking faster he read the plaques on buildings four, five, and six. Another woman's dorm and two men.
Kenshin clenched him hands. Katsura purposely didn't tell him he had to live on campus. He thought he could just go to school and run back to whatever apartment he had gotten for him. To hide in the shadows like he always did. He literally made it to where that was now impossible.
Kenshin flirted with the idea of just walking away back into the shadows and refusing to go, but he had made a promise…not only to katsura but also to his men. He promised his fellow fighters he would take a year of high school and learn to be a kid. It was the one thing the 'men', not officials asked of him, and they did it because it was best for him. How could he go back on his promise after that?
Turning to check the last two buildings he stopped when he saw something behind the fifth and six building. Off in the distance a little ways was the largest building, the ninth building and in giants blue letters it said 'Gym'.
Reading the plaques on building seven he smiled; performance art/art/martial arts. He had never tried the first two, but that last one seemed promising, although he wasn't use to wooden swords. He may have to actually use the reverse bladed one his long time friend, Akira, had given him for a parting gift.
He had enough looking around. Glancing at the last building on the way to the main. Shaking his head he knew he never wanted to enter that building; government, economics, and business. He had dealt with all of those enough for the last eight-years. He didn't want to do it again.
Walking around to the front of the first building he stood there, looking back over his predicament. Could he really do this? The legendary Bottosai doing homework, wearing little gym shorts, and performing presentations in front of a class. He barely ever talked with the rest of the men he fought beside, how was he supposed to sit in a class all day? Ok, so he had never been in a real school before so he didn't know what would happen, but he always thought it was like the privet tutors he had, but with more students.
The large wooden double doors seemed to stare back at him, challenging to him to enter. It seemed that the spirit of the building didn't think he could do it either. Walking up the six steps he grabbed one of the large door hands and pulled the door open. It was surprisingly light, causing the door to fling open and hit the outside wall with a loud bang noise that seemed to eco throughout the building halls.
Frowning he stepped inside, the door closing behind him. That was not a good start. Maybe he should turn around and run for it.
"Kenshin Himura." A voice sounded to the right of him.
Kenshin went to reach for his sword, only to find it not there. Right, you weren't supposed to wear swords in school. Katsura made him leave it with him. Turning toward the man who called him he bowed respectfully. Straightening up his mouth fell open at that man that stood there. His heart stopped, and ached in protest. "M-master?"
Hiko Sejirou the Thirteenth. The man who loved his solitude, was standing in his hakama's in the middle of a school building. His arms were crossed and he looked quite proud of himself standing there, starring down his apprentice. "Well, look who finally graced us with his presence."
Kenshin's head bowed ashamed.
"Well, my stupid apprentice, I don't know how they managed to talk to into coming here but lets get you set up. There was only room for one more student here, and that spot was saved for this occasion." He turned and walked away.
After hesitating for a moment, Kenshin followed. Reaching a large wooden door Hiko opened it and walked inside like he owned the place, leaving Kenshin to follow. He followed his master threw what looked like a waiting room with a receptionist desk, past a door that read 'Nurses Office', which looked like a rather large room, and into a large office in the back. His master sat down on the large chair behind the desk, leaving Kenshin to stand in front of it, waiting to be noticed again.
"Sit"
Kenshin did so. The chair was soft and bouncy. If Kenshin had less restraint he would have bounced in his seat just to test the buoyancy of it.
"Hey, stupid apprentice." Hiko called for him.
Kenshin undivided attention was on him now. You could tell that he had spent many years under the command of somebody important.
Hiko on the other hand wanted to belt the stupid kid. What had those bastard government officials done to his apprentice? He wasn't acting defiant like he use to and his eyes. They weren't the soft lavender they use to be, but hard and blue.
"Lets get one thing straight idiot apprentice. I will not accept Battosai into this school. He is not welcome here, Kenshin Himura, on the other hand sounds promising, but if you have nothing but air on top of those shoulders of your, at least it will be a hell of amusing year."
Kenshin glared for a second with lavender eyes before reverting back to his hard blue ones. "Yes Master"
Hiko noticed this before smiling. They hadn't completely destroyed his adopted son completely. Taking a folder from his desk drawer. Kenshin looked up to look at his Master when he noticed a shinny copper looking nameplate. Kenshin didn't think he was prepared for the words. He read the words out loud before he knew it.
"Sejirou Hiko the Fourteenth, Principle"
"Got a problem with that?"
Kenshin looked up into the man eyes. "I just never thought-"
"That's right, you never think. That's what got you in this problem to begin with isn't it?"
Kenshin bent his head down in shame once again; his bangs covering his eyes.
"If you're done hollowing in self pitting now, lets get this over with. I am a very busy man you know."
"Yes master"
Opening the folder he handed Kenshin a piece of paper. "This is your class schedule. Katsura made if for you. It has you're dorm number a locker number for in the gym. School hasn't started yet, so today is the first day. Don't be late. You will notice that every student here is in their own way special"
"Special?" Kenshin asked, is that why he was sent here, because he was special.
"That's right special. If you are going to constantly make me repeat myself then this will take all day."
"Sorry master"
"I was told you were coming in enough time to fix you up with the right room mate. His name is Sanosuke Sagara. I thought him the best match for you"
"Thank you master"
"Now get out of here. I have things to do."
Standing Kenshin bowed before walking toward the door.
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" He said as if Kenshin knew what he was talking about.
Kenshin turned just in time to see a backpack flying at his head. He caught it with ease. Testing its weight it was surprisingly heavy.
"All of your books for your classes, paper, pencils, and everything you need are in there. You're stuff was brought in yesterday to your dorm."
"Thank you master"
Hiko crossed his arms like he was irritated. "Just go, I have more important things to do that sit here and reminisce"
Smiling small he bowed his head once and walked out. Heading out side he made his way toward the back of the buildings looking for his dorm. He read the list in his head, memorizing it immediately. Boys building one, room 93. Walking around the track field he made his way toward the dorm. Looking at the door he glared. A five-digit code was required to get in. Looking back at his paper he read down a few lines until he reached it. Apparently every person had his or her own code. His just happened to be 95841.
Typing in the code he made his way into the building. Walking down the first hallway he wanted to laugh at a few posters that had been taped to some of the doors. The things teenagers' thought were funny.
At the other end of the hall was the elevator. Pressing the up button he waited until he heard the annoying ding noise before it opened. Stepping inside he looked over at the buttons. There were five stories and next to each number were the room numbers that were on them. Each floor had twenty leaving Kenshin on the top or fifth story.
Making his way out of the elevator he eyed the numbers beside each door. Walking down the hallway he saw it, number 93, the seventh on the left.
The door needed a key to get in but when he turned the knob it was unlocked. What kind of an idiot didn't lock the door while he slept?
Opening the door he wasn't able to open it very far, something was in the way. Pushing open the door with all of his might he gasped. The rays of sunshine that flowed threw the windows showed the lump sleeping on the bed and the hundreds of soda cans, food wrappers, clothes, and anything else you could imagine. The whole floor was dirty. Every surface was dirty, except for his bed. His bed was made and looked like it hadn't even been touched; not a wrinkle, except for the small indent from what looked like three keys on a key chain.
Tiptoeing to his bed be dropped his backpack in it. Turning toward the sleeping Sanosuke an evil glint flashed threw his eyes. He would teach him. Preparing himself, he leapt from the spot he was at onto Sanosuke's bed. He landed in just the right spot to give Sanosuke enough air while he flew off of the bed onto a pile of what looked like trash.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sano stood up ready for a fight, when he looked into hard blue eyes. "Who the hell are you?"
Leaping back into the spot he was in before he faced Sanosuke once again. "It seems, Mr. Sagara, that you have made a mess in our room. You will pick up all of the trash before school starts"
"Like hell I will" Sano cussed. Great he was stuck with a bastard. "Who the hell do you think you are coming in here…bossing…" Sano stopped. The boy's eyes turned gold. That wasn't normal, and defiantly not something you would want to mess with. Grabbing an empty box, from moving in there, he started to pick up all of the trash and threw it in. Every once in awhile he would wad up some wrappers or paper and jumped up as if he was trying to bake a basket.
Noticing that there was indeed carpet in the dorm room Kenshin was quitely please, except for that fact that now he had to try and make friends with somebody he manages to scare and piss off in less than two minutes, or his whole year was going to be less than manageable.
Looking around he took in the room. There were two twin beds that sat parallel to each other on the wall opposite the door. A decent sized window sat between the beds. On the left of Sanosuke's bed and the right of Kenshin's were closets. They were normal, nothing special. No walk in or anything. Across from both of the beds were their dressers with a TV and VCR/DVD player on each. Between each of the beds, under the window, were two mini fridges that sat side by side. Between both of the beds and their closets two identical desks sat with a cordless phone and what looked to be a pretty nice computer and printer set. The monitor was even a flat screen. The school must have been pretty well off to give every student their own personal computer, telephone line, tv, and dvd player.
Noticing that Sanosuke was done with the trash pick up he grabbed a pair of clothes from the pile on his desk, a towel, and walked out of the room in a huff.
Kenshin hung his head after the door slammed shut. This defiantly wasn't a good start.
Looking threw his dresser he noticed a new wardrobe he had never seen before, but it was all his size and colors he likes. Walking toward the closet he opened the doors. The first thing his eyes laid on was the reverse blade sword his friend gave him. Lifting it up he unsheathed it about a foot before sheathing it back up again. Closing his eyes he placed it back down in the corner of the closet. With any luck he won't ever have to use it, but just in case, he needed to know it was there.
Hung up in his closet were more peaces of clothing. Mostly thins like Kendo Uniforms, track uniforms, winder clothes, and formal wear. Down at the bottom of the closet were a few pairs of shoes. There were track shoes, grappling shoes, A pare of Van's, sandals, and slippers. Did he really need that many pairs of shoes?
Walking back into the room Sanosuke was drying it hair, making it stand up in some kind of gravity defying way. He must have some thin hair. Kenshin watched him walk around the room getting ready like he wasn't there. It would have bothered him if it weren't for the fact that Sanosuke's Qi wasn't angry, but it was laid back and normal.
It took Sanosuke a few moments to realize that Kenshin was standing there starring at him. "Hey, sorry about the mess in here. I was told I was getting a roommate but the way they made it sound it didn't seem like you were coming for some time." Sanosuke smiled.
Kenshin nodded, a little bit of a pleased look on his face. This guy bounced back easily.
Sano held out his hand "Names Sanosuke Sagara. You can call me Sano if you like. I don't like those stupid formalities. They make me angry, so unless you want a fist to the head, just call me Sano"
Kenshin couldn't help the small smile. "Himura. Kenshin Himura" He took the man's hand and shook it.
"Well Kenshin, do you mind me calling you that?"
Kenshin shook his head.
"That's a good thing, because I would have anyway. Now if this your first year here?"
Kenshin nodded.
"Wow, you must be really special then. People usually come here in their freshmen or sophomore year."
"Why is that" Kenshin sat down on his bed. What a shame that it was wasted on him. He hadn't slept in one since he was eight.
"You will see later, but the people in this school are, well, special" Sano scratched his head. "The people here have a special interest in fighting of some kind."
Kenshin eyed the boy. He wasn't a swordsman, and by his reaction to his earlier assault he wasn't into defense.
As if reading the redhead's mind Sano smiled. "In case you were wondering I don't practice swords or anything. I'm one of the two people in the world that knows the futai nokiwami."
"A fist attack designed to take away part of the resistance resulting in annihilation" Kenshin spoke as if it was common knowledge.
Sano's mouth dropped open. He thought not very many people knew about it. Then man must be something else.
Kenshin was looking threw his dresser drawers looking for something appropriate to wear. The clothes he wore had seen many battles and endless amounts of death. Not appropriate for high school.
"How did you know about that?" Sano followed Kenshin out the door.
Kenshin held a pair of khaki cargo's, boxers, socks, the vans, and a blue T-shirt. "Sano, if you could please show me to the showers I will tell you on the way there"
"Sure thing buddy. Follow me. The showers are on the last floor and the second floor." Walking down the hall from the elevator they entered a room that was nothing but showers, sinks, and toilets. The toilets had stalls, but the showers didn't.
"Thank you Sano, and regarding your earlier question, I fought Angi not six months ago."
"You did? Did you win? He's not dead is he?"
Kenshin placed his clothes on the counter and undressed. "No. He is not. He is currently in a prison paying for his crimes."
"Crimes?"
Kenshin made no move to answer. He just rinsed off with what appeared to be boiling water.
"Where did you get those?" Sano looked over his back, chest, arms, and legs. He had so many scars. There was no way that happened all at once.
"I do not wish to talk about it" Kenshin whispered. He turned off the shower and headed toward his new warm clothes.
"Here" Sano pulled out a towel from a cupboard under the sinks and handed it to Kenshin.
"Thank you" Kenshin dried off, dressing in his new clothes and putting his hair back in a high ponytail. In all honestly he felt strange in then. He wasn't use to wearing anything but his uniform. Now he was living in a dorm, wearing normal clothes, and talking to a guy his age.
"You know, if you don't want people to know about you or ask you better keep those scars hidden. I know the cross-shaped one will be hard to hide, but that doesn't matter. It's not as bad as the others.
Kenshin raised his hand and touched the scar. Painful memories flooding back.
"Hey man, don't space. We have fifteen minutes to get to class." Sano patted his back rather hard, knocking the air out of him.
Kenshin looked at the door Sano just walked out of. That man was unbelievably strong. Add that with Sano's Futai Nokiwami at it would be a deadly attack.