At First Sound
"Hey! Kenshin! Come sit here!" Misao threw an orange peel at him to get his attention. Turning around, he came over and sat down next to Kaoru's favored seat.
"Does Kaoru know you're letting me sit here?"
"Not yet." Megumi said. "We wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead." Kenshin opened his lunchbox, pulling out a sandwich that looked like it had come out of a deli somewhere instead of his kitchen.
They eyed his lunch jealously for a moment, and then continued.
"S, you like Kaoru." Misao confirmed.
"Yes."
"When did you start liking her? And why do you like her?"
"It's a long story." He replied.
-----------------------FLASHBACK-------------------------------------------------------------------
It was that depressing first-day assembly funk, and one of the newer and chirpier teachers, aided by coffee, was giving a highly animated and highly boring presentation to the sleeping student body on the subject of the new, healthier school lunches. Since these same lunches were better in nutrition, no taste, this didn't catch the interest of the unwilling audience. Instead, they sat in the dirty chairs, enjoying the darkness. Some slept, some drew or wrote, and some whispered quietly, some did who-knows-what in the back rows and aisles.
In the foremost row, Kenshin, Aoshi, and Sano were suffering. Because they were too close to misbehave, they were forced to either sleep sitting up or listen to the dissertation on the beef stew. Sano, who had the advantage of being so tall he had no choice but to lean to one side anyway, was snoring on Kenshin's right, while Aoshi stared blankly on Sano's other side. Kenshin played absently with his pencil, watching as the teacher's feet crept closer and closer to the edge of the stage.
With a loud crash, she toppled off and hit the ground. Sano slept on unawares, while several students became murmuring quietly. The lights flickered on and the teachers exited, locking them in while the teacher was taken to the hospital. Immediately the noise level rose. Aoshi rose and slipped out a back entrance, going, Kenshin knew, to his locker to remove the thousand or so love notes they'd seen taped to it earlier.
And then she laughed, and with a snap his pencil broke in his clenched fist, the jagged ends stabbing into his palm. A thin trail of blood dripped down over his hand, but he paid it no heed.
She was laughing, and despite the thousand or so students talking at once he could hear nothing else. Leaning back subtly, he looked for the source of that sweet, bell-like sound. He didn't recognize it- he would have remembered her voice.
He wanted to see her mouth, to know if it matched the image that came to mind as he listened. He glanced around without moving his head too much- if someone noticed him, and with hair like his he was definitely noticeable-if anyone saw him they would ask him what he was looking for.
"...Misao! That's ridiculous, you shouldn't..." She broke off laughing again, and he turned toward the sweet sound of her amusement. He knew Misao Makimachi, knew she was a friend and fan of Aoshi's. He could see her braid bouncing around out of the corner of his eye.
She was sitting right next to Misao, sideways, one arm draped over the back of the seat. Her head was cocked slightly to the side, her dark, glossy hair pulled back by a bright ribbon that shimmered.
And he was several feet away, ten seats and three rows ahead, but he swore he could see the exact blue of her eyes and admire the natural pink of her lips, free of the telltale shine of makeup.
He wanted a name, dammit. Actually, he wanted much more than a name, but a name would do for right now.
If he knew her name he could look her up on the list of freshmen that was posted by the front doors. He could find some plausible excuse to go talk to her.
The bell rang, signaling a class change, and Sano sat up with a jolt. Kenshin flicked his bloodied pencil pieces at him and rose, shadowing her from afar like he was possessed.
He soon lost Sano in the crowd, and slid effortlessly up behind her. She didn't notice him, and he pretended not to notice her- to passersby it was as if he was simply following the crowd, looking for an opening to get ahead.
Someone before him stumbled, and he slipped around them, forcing himself to leave her side.
"Hey, Kaoru, wasn't your hair up before?" Misao asked suddenly, pointing at the dark wall of hair that was loose around Kaoru's shoulders.
'Kaoru. So her name is Kaoru.'
Feeling the back of her head with white fingers, she frowned. "Yeah, it was. Where's my ribbon?"
The feel of the pink silk against the inside of his wrist, within his sleeve, was smooth, the way he thought her skin might feel.
"And it was my favorite ribbon, too...weird."
A pang of guilt for stealing from her, but at least he has an excuse to talk to her now.
She glanced around her for a sign of the lost ribbon, and she resembled the full moon against the backdrop of night, white skin on black hair.
"Ah, well. It'll turn up, right? Who steals a ribbon from someone's hair, anyway?"
"A weirdo stalker?"
"Or your true love...like my Aoshi..."
Seven feet ahead of the two girls, Kenshin held the pink ribbon and smiled.
--------------------------END FLASHBACK---------------------------------------------------------
"So..."Megumi contemplated Kenshin's story, which he had edited for their sake. Telling them all the details he could remember might scare them. "You heard her laugh and you decided you liked her."
"Yeah."
"And you stole her hair ribbon without her noticing?" Misao asked. "How?"
"Very carefully." He replied. "I still have the ribbon."
"What did I miss? And why is he here?" Kaoru had arrived, carrying a Styrofoam cup of beef stew and a spoon. She glared evilly at Kenshin, sitting down in her seat and watching him warily. He offered her a Tupperware, which she took and stared at.
"It's a fruit tart. Perfectly harmless." She nodded and proceeded to eat the tart, making faces but finishing it in minutes.
"You missed Kenshin's story about how he started liking you." Misao said.
"Too many cheap drugs when he was younger?"
"Do you remember your first day of high school?" Kenshin changed the subject.
"It was an omen. I lost my favorite hair ribbon that day." She snapped. "My dad gave me that ribbon when I was a little girl. It was a sign, I tell you."
"Would this be the hair ribbon you were talking about?" He pulled it out of his pocket, still silky, shiny, and clean. Kaoru gasped and snatched it from his fingers, examining the end for the monogramming she had on all her ribbons.
"Where did you-you stole my hair ribbon?"
"I borrowed it. See? I'm giving it back and everything."
"Borrowing generally implies asking beforehand!"
"Generally implies. This was a special case."
"You-you hair ribbon-stealing, molesting, evil...I don't even have words for it!"
"...so, dinner at eight?"
"I'll strangle you, you fiend!"
"I have cookies!"
"Really? Nah, you're so lying. Death to you."
"Chocolate chip, Kaoru. Chocolate chip...you know you want them..."
"...now you die."
"I'm going to run away now. I'll pick you up at eight- don't throw your fork at me!"
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Just a little ficlet. I loved the ending...and the little thing with the hair ribbon. Done with Winter Sapphire's permission.
I should be doing Contraposition right now. God, that story hates me...on the bright side; I think Battousai will have to drug Kaoru in Part V. Wait, that's bad...
Review! Chickentyrant5, out.