Love Generation was a Japanese TV series that ran in 1997 which I liked a lot – along with Long Vacation, and the Beach Boys, it brings back lots of nice nostalgic memories : ). Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to share the story with more people. I'm not really sure if this adaptation will work, as both sets of characters are so well-drawn, it's hard to make them fit together without OOC on both sides : P – I dunno, you have to tell me if its working!
Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated parties. All rights and privileges to Love Generation belong to Fuji TV, Koiwai Hiroyoshi, Nagayama Kouzou, Kimura Tatsuaki; Asano Taeko and Ozaki Masaya; The characters of this series are used without permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit. So don't sue.
Summary: When everything seems to go wrong, Kenshin can't help longing for simpler high school life and the lost love he never quite forgot. A chance to recapture the past is tempting … until a new colleague invites him to "throw our troubles away together". Can he move forward? (AU/J-Drama Adapt)
Act 1:0 Meetings
The digital clock flashed 1.06 am as Kenshin vaulted the turnstiles at Shibuya station. He tore up the stairs to the platform... just in time to see the last train pull away. He let out an explosive breath as he lifted the long hair off his neck, glowering after the departing cars.
"Great, just great." he grumbled. Now what? He was just about stranded.
Adjusting his back pack, he turned to leave. Making his way out of the station, he headed to the guard rails lining the road, swung himself up, and watched the winking lights of the Tokyo skyline as he mentally ran through his options. Cab? Bus? Walk? He groaned, realising his best bet was to curl up on a parkbench somewhere.
A compact hatchback screeched to halt a short distance away, and he looked up, startled.
"- You WERE ogling her … Hey! Why are we stopping here?!" The streets were so quiet, the female voice carried clearly over to where he sat.
"Correction - you're stopping here." The driver struggled to keep his voice calm. "I've explained a million times and I'm sick of it! - Just get out and quit bothering me. The stations' right there."
Kenshin watched in interest as a girl clad in a slim tailored shirt and a pencil skirt struggled ungracefully out of the car. She bent her head to peer through the car window. "You know what, this is great! 'Cause your immaturity was driving me up the wall!"
"Wonderful - glad we agreed on something." The man reached over and slammed the passenger door shut, before he peeled away, tyres squealing.
"OH YEH, THAT'S REALLY GROWN-UP!!!!!" She pulled off her kitten heeled shoe and lobbed it at the car. It landed ineffectually three feet away from her. With a snort of frustration, she hobbled over and retrieved it, before slinging her bag up her shoulder and stalking down the road, nose in the air.
"Er...are you alright?" Kenshin asked cautiously as she strode by. She turned around, noticing him for the first time. He shifted under her narrowed gaze, and nodded in the direction of the car, mumbling, "I mean...even if you were quarrelling... he shouldn't have done that - left you at a station, I mean...most guys would send the girl home."
"Well, thanks for your opinion - but you know what?" she tossed her head haughtily, "It's really none of your business." She turned away and started walking in the direction of the station.
"Um - the last train just left." Kenshin supplied.
She glanced at her watch & then back at him, sighing in annoyance. She shrugged her shoulders and let the bag fall to her side as she made her way to lean against the rails next to Kenshin.
"Great. Just great" she muttered under her breath.
Silence descended.
"Um... Have we met somewhere before?" Kenshin asked after a brief pause.
She turned to look pityingly at him. "Is that your usual pick up line?"
"I'm not trying to pick you up...." He looked quickly away and they watched the skyline silently for a few moments. "Uh....how about going for a drink together?"
She gave a short laugh. "Right." She pushed herself away from the rails, "Sorry, I've better things to do - like - look for a place to stay for the night." She reshouldered her bag and mock-saluted him, before walking away.
Kenshin watched her as she left, considering his rather thin wallet. What he had wouldn't cover a room for one, but if they pooled - "Hey..." he called out before he even realised what he was doing. "It ....it looks like it's about to rain...and I know this hotel - "
She stopped & turned around "...Hotel?"
Something about the way her eyes were glinting filled him with a nervous sense of foreboding.
*****
It was one of those cheap, generic hotel rooms you found all over Tokyo - a double bed that dominated the room, a narrow couch pressed against the wall and a beat-up TV cabinet that stood across from it. Everything was blandly coloured, save the carpet which was a garish magenta. An awkward silence began to develop as they stood in the doorway, drinking in the sight.
Suddenly, the girl let out a squeak and launched herself at the TV cabinet, throwing it open. "Karaoke!" she was on her knees in an instant, flicking on switches and scrabbling through the wires.
Kenshin could only watch, aghast, as she launched herself (off-key) into a cheesy sentimental song. The kind they played in shopping centres. The kind they played in lifts. As she sang, she waltzed enthusiastically all over the room, inspecting everything.
She yanked open the mini bar. "Oooh," she hollered into the mike, "Can I drink this?!!" He nodded numbly, wondering how he'd managed to make an inconvenient situation terrible. And how karaoke never failed to reveal a person's dark side. He winced as her voice broke on a high note.
"The next Ayumi Hamasaki...not." He slid his nerveless body onto the sofa, pulling his backpack protectively against him. Ouch. He extricated the remote from under him, staring at it as an idea began to form.
"Did you saaaaay something...?" she sang into the mike as she jumped on to the bed and continued belting out her song.
"Oh, nothing." Kenshin watched silently for an opportunity. Spotting it when she began to throw herself into a frantic dance routine, he aimed the remote at the machine. The music turned off suddenly.
"Oops, how did that happen...sorry...I meant to turn it up..." He tossed the remote over his shoulder before she could look in his direction.
"H-ey... I was just getting into it...." She pouted, staring at the empty blue screen before her. "Oh well, never mind!" She hopped off the bed and sank to the floor, reaching for the songbook, "I can always start over. There's thousands of songs in here..." She began flipping through the pages efficiently. "Now where's that remote? Ah - "Kenshin groaned inwardly as she reached under the sofa pulled it out. "Now how did that get there...?"
"You know..." Kenshin frowned at the head bent studiously over the song catalogue. "...I have to work early tomorrow..."
"I don't mind," she said distractedly, tapping the mike down the pages. "Go ahead and sleep first if you have to..."
He grimaced as she began to punch numbers into the remote to call up a song. As if anyone could sleep over that racket. Sighing in resignation, he moved to seat himself on the bed behind her, promptly losing his balance. "Argh!!!" The bed covers were made of some ultra shiny, very slippery synthetic stuff - he slid helplessly over the edge and landed facedown on something soft....
The next instant he was clutching his ears in agony as she screamed deliberately into the mike.
"WHAT is your problem?" he hollered unscrewing his eyes... realising in horror that he had landed face down in her lap.
"YOU PERVERT!" She spoke distinctly into the mike, her voice echoing hollowly around the room (and the hotel corridors). "So you WERE trying to pick me up - and get me to a HOTEL… I knew it. You have that look about you."
"Are you kidding? " He pulled himself up and leaned back against the bed, staring at her incredulously, "Don't flatter yourself! I just needed a place to spend the night..." He shook his head in disgust. "Anyway, if you thought I was trying to - be funny – why'd you agree to share a room in the first place...?"
"I like to give people the benefit of the doubt," she said loftily. "Pervert." She added.
Kenshin snorted. "Unbelievable," he muttered as he pulled himself to his feet. "Fine, think what you will. Sing all night if you have to... " He headed determinedly for the shower.
"Sukube (Pervert)" she said accusingly into the mike. "Sukube, sukube, sukebe."
He shut the door firmly behind him.
*****
Ten minutes later, Kenshin remerged, feeling like he could take on all the bad singing in the world. The room lights were still on but ... The girl was curled up under the sheets. He considered her for a few moments before picking up the mike and turning up the volume to the maximum. He held it under her nose for a full five minutes, amplifying her snores for the benefit of anyone who might be passing the room. Eventually he put the mike away and curled up on the sofa to sleep, content with the warm cosy feeling of having paid back in full.
*****
The phone was ringing itself off the hook. Kenshin groped for it, "Hello?" he asked groggily.
"Good morning sir, this is the front desk! It's time to check out!" An impossibly bright voice chirruped perkily down the line.
"H..huh? Sorry?" Kenshin pulled himself up.
"It's 10 am, sir! Time to check out!"
He stared blearily at his watch. "Uh... I got it... I'll leave right away." He stood up, rubbing his head dazedly, "I'm late..." he mumbled, as he caught sight of a note on the table.
"Good morning, Sleepyhead! I don't want to be late so I'm making a move. It's so tough being an Office Lady....you don't have much cash, but the hotel will take your credit card (I checked)."
He scrunched the note up in disgust before gathering his things and rushing out the room.
*****
The photography shoot was in full swing by the time he arrived, but he lost no time throwing himself into the thick of things, calling out directions and making creative changes. He was in the midst of tearing someone's work to pieces when his mobile started to ring.
"Look, just do what I said – 'scuse me," He pushed the test shots back into the poor kids nerveless hands and scrabbled for the phone, "Sorry, Himura speaking... Buchou (section chief)? ... Where am I? In the middle of the soft drink shoot, where else... Huh? Return to headquarters now?"
*****
"Transferred?" Kenshin's jaw hung slack.
"Transferred to Accounts Management." His boss repeated unsympathetically, looking up from the work spread over his desk.
Kenshin began to recover from the initial shock. "Excuse me, sir - but I think I'm entitled to an explanation!" He got no response, but forged ahead forcefully. "I'm doing well here and I know my stuff. To be frank, this office will lose all its creativity if I go. It doesn't make any sense to transfer me - I find it hard to believe..."
His boss leaned over, cutting him short, "You think you know your stuff? Good for you. Take that attitude with you to the business department." He gestured to prevent Kenshin from protesting, "You need to learn that life isn't always going to be easy." He began to turn back to his work.
"The soft drink shoot..."
" ..will be given to someone else with an equally good understanding of what its about," his boss supplied, before firmly turning his back.
Kenshin blew out his breath. "Where the heck is Accounts Management anyway...?" he wondered.
*****
Half an hour found Kenshin tottering under a weight of his personal effects, studying the building directory located outside the lift lobby. "Accounts management....Accounts management..." He shifted his overflowing boxes before spotting it - the 8th floor.
He stepped out of the elevator and made his way down the corridor. The Accounts department was surrounded by transparent glass walls, and he surveyed his new workplace and colleagues as he gingerly balanced his way to the door, feeling his heart sink lower with every step. The rows of tidy cubicles and neat black lever arched files were a far cry from the story boards, mood boards and drafting boards he was so used to.... Shouldering the glass door open, he grimaced slightly before announcing to the room, "I'm Himura from Creative."
"Himura," a man seated at the furthest end of the room looked up.
Kenshin tottered his way over.
He shifted nervously as the man gave him a steely eye-over. My new boss, he thought. The name plate on his desk read Saitou Hajime. He forced himself to focus when he saw Saitou open his mouth to speak -
"Your suit -" Saitou said distinctly. Kenshin glanced down cluelessly at his day-old shirt and jeans outfit - "will be blue. Your shirt," he narrowed his eyes at Kenshin's checked horror. "will be white. Neckties -" he flicked his golden eyes over Kenshin's splayed collar, "are not optional. Shoes," he dismissed Kenshin's boots, "-have to be black. No long hair. No... earrings." His gaze finally settled on Kenshin's simple silver stud, where it began to sizzle a hole through his ear.
A corner of Saitou's mouth turned up slightly. "Forget about the way you used to work." he said softly. "Individuality, expressing yourself - put it aside. Do you understand me?"
Kenshin nodded numbly.
Someone else approached. "Saitou-san? Can I have a moment?". Kenshin's new boss stood to go, calling as he left, "Kamiya? Himura from Creative has just arrived. I want you to show him the ropes."
Kenshin was left staring at the empty space Saitou had occupied.
"Umm, hey you, Himura - do you think you could give me a hand please?"
He shook himself out of his stupor, and left his boxes on Saitou's desk, before heading for the source of the sound. As he rounded the filing cabinets he came face to face with... That girl from last night!
"Boy, you look so familiar. I wonder where we could have met before," he said sarcastically, ready to round on her for the hotel bill (which had come to a lot - she had cleaned out the fridge).
"Its so nice to meet you for the first time," she said, grinning broadly as she stuck her right hand in his face. Kenshin could only shake his head in disbelief.
*****
The entire department had gathered round the conference table for their weekly meeting. Kenshin sat listening sullenly, bored out of his skull, eyes slightly glazed. Saitou was addressing the table.
"I want to open by saying that this department has only achieved 80% of its quarterly target. Everyone needs to try harder to meet it - exceed it."
"Hai!' the rest of the table chorused enthusiastically.
"So lets get to the specifics. How's the Shibuya advertising deal coming along?"
"We're deciding on the budget....3,000...."
"Make it 3,500!" Saitou shot out. "Hioki? What about Nippon News?"
Hioki nodded "Same as usual...."
Kaoru made her way round the table sliding cups of tea to everyone, "You don't get any." she whispered to Kenshin as she brushed past his elbow. He rolled his eyes and ignored her.
"It's tough squeezing more out of that account...." Hioki was saying
Saitou regarded Hioki under lifted eyebrows "It's your responsibility to squeeze everything you can. I'm not going to accept excuses like this." He let Hioki sweat it out under his amber gaze for a few moments before turning away. "Ah, I nearly forgot....this is Himura who transferred from our creative department today. Don't let him dismiss us out of hand. Everyone, look after him."
Kenshin pulled himself to his feet to introduce himself "I'm Himura, pleased to meet you. I have a lot of experience, so don't worry."
Saitou considered his words before smirking at him. "A lot of experience -? We'll see about that. I'll assign you your work tomorrow." He dismissed Kenshin by turning to look at someone else. "Hosaka? What's your report?"
Kenshin slumped back down in his seat, eyes beginning to glaze over again as the meeting droned on around him. He didn't know how much of this sales talk he could take. He began to think longingly of his old desk and his assignments - more likely than not whoever they gave it to would mess the whole thing up... a stab of genuine pain flashed across his heart.
Kaoru had seated herself across from him at the end of the table and was taking in his every expression bemusedly. Watching him wince, she leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"What's wrong? You look like you didn't get any sleep..."
"What would you know?" Kenshin muttered back irritably, nervously making sure no one else had overheard. "An office lady like you - there are lots of things you wouldn't understand."
Kaoru chuckled and whispered back wickedly, "Oh you poor boy - losing sleep just because you couldn't make it with a nice girl… you have to learn that your charms are not always irresistible, you know."
"THAT'S - NOT - IT!!" Kenshin tipped over the edge, slamming both fists on the table infuriatedly as he glared angrily at her. Oh Crap!! He realised belatedly that the entire meeting had been stunned into silence and was staring askance at him.
"Anything the matter?" Saitou asked coolly.
Kenshin relaxed his fists deliberately. "Ah - ". His mind raced as he tried to come up with something. Suddenly he clapped his hands together in the air.
"...Darn mosquito..." he nodded apologetically all around, as he lowered his arms back down to his side, meeting Kaoru's gaze briefly.
She bit on her lip as she considered him whilst the meeting began to relax around them.
THWACK!!! The table jumped again as she reached out and smacked him resoundingly on the forehead.
"I killed it." she announced to the stunned table as she waved her closed palm in the air, "Please - continue."
Saitou sighed imperceptibly. "Where were we?" He called the meeting back to order again, as Kenshin shot daggers at her whilst nursing a very sore head...
*****
Later that evening, Kenshin navigated his way around the imposing Public Prosecutor's building, feeling out of place amongst all the suits and lawyer-y types milling about. Coming to an office, he stuck his head cautiously round the door.
"Aniki (older brother)?" he called.
Aoshi lifted his head up from his readings. "Kenshin? This is rare." He shut his book and gestured for Kenshin to enter. "Anything the matter?"
Kenshin pulled himself into the room and dropped himself into a sofa infront of his brothers desk, careful not to upset anything. "Oh you know, thought I'd come by and check up on you," he mumbled.
"Right - " Aoshi allowed himself a wry smile as he got up and headed to the ancient coffee machine in the corner of his room. He was dressed in a tweed three-piece suit - as neat and well-pressed as Kenshin was scruffy and crumpled.
"So - what case are you working on these days?" Kenshin eyed the stack of files piled high on the low coffee table before him. He cocked his head as he tried to make it out, "E-do.." he began reading upside down.
"The Edokawa case - have you heard of it?" Aoshi watched as the machine coughed and spat into two mugs .
"Uh." Kenshin was more awake now, "The murder case? Are you asking for the death penalty?" He pulled the topmost file into his lap and began flipping through it surreptitiously.
"That - should be obvious." Aoshi deposited a steaming mug of coffee infront of Kenshin before reaching out to shut the file right under his nose.
"Hai, hai" Kenshin raised both hands in surrender and allowed his brother to remove the file and other sensitive documents to his desk. He observed Aoshi's deliberate movements as he took a sip from the coffee.
"You're just as determined as ever," he commented obliquely.
"What's that?" Aoshi sat himself in the chair next to Kenshin, reaching out for his own mug.
"You know - " Kenshin continued, "Once you make up your mind, there's no persuading you to do otherwise. Like when you decided you wanted to be a public prosecutor - you were only just a kid, but here you are. How many people end up doing what they say they will? I had a friend who wanted to be a cop, but he's doing something completely different now..."
Aoshi shrugged. "I'm just hard-headed, I suppose. That has its drawbacks too - a bit of a problem when you're looking for a job, for example... Anyway, look at yourself - aren't you working hard at something you love too?"
"Not really," Kenshin muttered into his mug.
"Sorry - ?" Aoshi looked at him absently.
"I mean, yeh," Kenshin forced himself to sound heartier than he felt. "I'm working like a slave - but it feels like I'm getting someplace at last." This last with a bitter laugh that Aoshi failed to detect.
*****
It was eight by the time Kenshin got home - home being a tiny box of a room located on top of Komala's, an Indian restaurant. He waved a greeting to Sanjay, who manned the restaurant door, and made his way up the steep side stairs to the narrow corridor that led to his apartment. He was pretty much used to the permanent smell of curry that floated about the air. Fortunately for him, he was blest with a tiny balcony which didn't lie in the path of any unpleasant fumes - handy for drying his clothes on.
He fiddled with the key and sighed in relief as he stepped inside. The room was a tight squeeze - a small dining table with four chairs stood directly in front of the main door. Directly behind them was his bed, pushed horizontal against the facing wall. All his storage was ranged on either side of the main door, and a tiny little kitchen opened up to his right.
He let his back pack slide to the floor as he made his way to his bed. Bending down, he reached under it to retrieve his highschool yearbook which he proceeded to flip through aimlessly. His phone rang and he picked it up.
"Kenshin?" The voice on the other line came through crackily.
"Sano? That you?" Sano was an old friend.
"Yeh - hey I just got a call from Chou - the old classmates are meeting up tomorrow at Fu-Ra... he's bringing along some air stewardess' he knows...." Sano let off an evil laugh. "You're coming right?"
"Air stewardesses huh?" Kenshin was still absently flipping through the yearbook. "....I don't know ...."
"Whaddya mean you don't know? ... Idiot - do you even know what's good for you? 'Course you're coming! Everyone's going!"
"..." Kenshin paused momentarily, "Hey, Sano..."
"What, you idiot?"
".. I was wondering...when you're in a tight spot or a tough situation - is there - I don't know - someone's words or maybe someone's face that comes to mind?" Kenshin flopped onto his bed, rolling over so he faced the ceiling.
"Huh?" Sano thought for a minute. "Urhm... well, recently, when I have to work really hard, the theme song from Eva (the anime Evangelion) starts playing in my mind...why?"
"Theme song from Eva huh?" Kenshin considered this. "So that's what gets you through tough times...." He lifted the highschool yearbook onto his stomach, "For me - what I think of - is that time from high school... D'you remember the basketball match when I sprained my ankle? It was killing me but the whole team was counting on me - and somehow I managed to pull it off, and we won. Anyway, that's what I think of when I need encouragement ... and I was thinking about it just now...."
"Er - are you in some kind of trouble?" Sano sounded dubious.
"In trouble?..." Kenshin fiddled absently with the telephone cord, "Maybe...Can a person carry on working at a job he doesn't like?"
"Er ... okay. You - ah - are you sure you're all right? You're sounding really strange...." Sano sounded a bit freaked. "But hey, talking about high school," His voice perked up, "guess who I bumped into the other day?" dramatic pause," - Yukishiro!"
"W-what?" Kenshin sat up, blinking himself awake.
"Remember? Yukishiro - Yukishiro Tomoe, our team manager..."
"She's in Tokyo...?" Kenshin felt more lucid than he had been all day. Reaching into his yearbook - he didn't even have to look for the right page - he pulled out a dog-eared photograph and brought it to his face, studying it thoughtfully.
*****
Notes:
Okay - how you like so far? ^_^. Sorry - I know its really out of character... but Kenshin might have become just like this (a little arrogant, a little grouchy) if he was born in the present don't you think? You know, cushy pampered life, no war, no problems beyond what to wear the next day….
Have to warn that updates will not be very regular or frequent – I really am swamped at work, which is partly why I'm posting too, 'cause reviews always brighten up my day, and – my days need brightening! Also, I'm trying to be much more careful with these chaps than my earlier fics (hey, go check them out in the meantime! - shameless plug) – I used to pound them out and post them fresh. Now I fuss over them obsessively.