AN: Finally, inspiration as struck me again. This is dedicated to all the fellow band nerds/geeks out there ;
Disclaimer: I. Own. Kenshin. Damn straight. Purchased it on ebay -not- ):
Chapter One
Kenshin sat on the couch with his brother watching Rush Hour. He had never seen it before and mentally kicked himself for waiting so long to see it. He hadn't laughed so hard since Sanosuke skated right into an open car door on Water Street during spring break. His brother Rei sat emotionless beside him, his amber eyes fixed in a glare on the screen. Obviously his interest in the movie was very small.
"What's your problem," Kenshin finally asked as he chucked chips at his brother.
Rei glared. "Stop it! I don't have a problem. This movie is fucking shit. I've seen it so many times and your mindless giggling really isn't making it any better."
He rolled his eyes. "No one's keeping you here, y'know. Go to bed if you don't want to watch it. Besides, you have a TV in your room."
"Why don't you go to bed," Rei retorted. An oily smirk appeared on his thin pale lips, "Don't you have to get up bright and early for band, Freshman?"
Kenshin sighed heavily. He didn't forget about band camp but it certainly wasn't the first thing on his mind. There were countless other things he'd rather do than report to Central High School's band room at seven in the morning for marching band orientation. He didn't even want to join marching band and was full set on dropping band until his dear friend and long time crush Kaoru Kamiya said she signed up for color guard and couldn't wait to start learning flag work. How could Kenshin pass up an opportunity to get closer to her? Besides, he was absolutely positive his best friend Sanosuke Sagara would beat the bloody snot out of him if he dare consider dropping band and leaving him all alone.
"Whatever," Kenshin sighed, peeling himself off of the leather sectional couch. "I'm tired anyway. Unlike some who got baked all day, I actually went out and lived life." He quickly scrambled out of the living room while trying to keep his cool before Rei could crawl off the couch and beat his face in.
Kenshin climbed the steps two at time and went to his bedroom at the end of the hall. His door was plastered with posters of his favorite bands and random heart shaped and smiley-face stickers (courtesy of Kaoru, of course). He pushed the door into his messy room and made a beeline straight to his computer. The first site he went to was of course Myspace. His heart hammered inside his chest when he saw that Kaoru's default picture was of both of them taken at the lake a few days ago. He couldn't believe how amazing she looked in her orange bikini with little white daises on the bottom. It was all he could do to keep his hands to himself that day at the lake.
He tore his eyes away from the picture and browsed through bulletins, reposted surveys and checked his comments. Most of which were from Sanosuke leaving complaint after complaint of starting band camp and Misao who left random cute icons from Photobucket. A wide grin crept on his lips when he came across an animated icon of the little squid from Finding Nemo releasing a black haze into the water that said: "Aw, you guys made me ink!" Kenshin posted two or three icons on Misao's page, responded to Sano by telling him to quit bitching and then signed off. He kicked his shoes off and pulled his shirt off over to his head as he collapsed onto his comfortable pillow top twin. Automatically, his hands reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his iPod and drumsticks autographed by Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan. After scrolling through his mind-blowing playlist of punk rock, alternative, and some metal and emo, he started air drumming and lip-syncing to Skillet's "The Last Night," his favorite song of the moment.
Half way through the song, Kenshin stopped mid-drum with realization. He was starting high school. It hadn't sunk in until that very moment and he was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions he was unfamiliar with. His stomach tied into knots from the stress and anxiety of going into an unknown social community but his chest, heart and soul tried to part from his body from the exhilaration of starting a new chapter in his life.
Everything unfolds in high school.
He lowered his arms and closed his eyes. Visions of him and his friends dominating the school by senior year rolled through his head. He imagined football games (at which he'd be on the field marching like a good band geek), school dances, assemblies and half days where he and his friends would form tighter bonds and come closer than he ever thought possible. Thoughts of sharing his first kiss with Kaoru and becoming a couple also ventured through his fatiguing mind. A smile danced softly on his lips as he slowly fell asleep with images of her beautiful face and radiant eyes dancing behind his eyelids.
Kenshin practically fell out of his bed from the shock his alarm gave him by suddenly screaming in the dead silence of his still room. He didn't even remember setting his alarm clock the night before. In fact, he didn't remember using his alarm clock ever. The abruptness of his awakening left his body stiff and pained as he pushed himself off the floor and trudged over to the hated alarm clock. A note was draped over the face of the clock. Red sharpie ink bled through the folded paper in a script that obviously belonged to Kenshin's father. He sighed and flipped the paper open to read what it said.
Can't take you to school this morning. Have Rei give you a lift.
Kenshin groaned inwardly. The last thing he wanted to do was wake his brother up at 7:30 in the morning with the high possibility of him suffering from the hangover of a lifetime. That would be the last thing he would do in his short fifteen years. He threw the paper in the trashcan beside his desk, pulled on some clean smelling jeans he found on the floor, threw on a black Role Model shirt and pulled on his black Chuck Taylor's with random doodles and words written on the white rubber. He decided to not wake up Rei and instead grabbed his skateboard located near his practice pad.
He slid down the banister and snagged a bagel from the kitchen before running outside and jumping on his skateboard. The morning felt cool on his face as he skated as fast as he could without sweating too much to get to school. He took the shortcut through Yager Park where fellow skate-junkies were already tearing up the bowl and ramps. He wished to join them but kept on his way to school, the director sent letters to the freshmen telling them to be present for orientation at 7:50 and it was already 7:45. Though at first glance he seemed like a nonchalant punk with no respect for authority figures, he was quite the opposite and did not care to find out what would happen if he was late.
Central High School came into view from behind a thin patch of evergreen trees. The student parking lot was already occupied by cars parked close to the building and parents driving up to the school to drop off their freshmen. Kenshin flipped his board up onto the sidewalk and rolled lazily down the way. He felt big—top dog in town, that is…until the right front wheel of his skateboard hit a rock and sent him flying onto the pavement. He bit his lip as he pushed himself up to his knees and brushed off fine dust and rocks. His forearm and chin burned with a searing fire but what hurt worse was the large, ugly bruise throbbing on his ego.
With flushed cheeks and a bowed head, he climbed to his feet and picked up his board. Obnoxious, loud laughter caused him to snap his head up. He'd know that laugh anywhere.
"Oh Jesus, Kenshin, that was fucking graceful!" Sanosuke howled as he staggered over to him, doubling over and holding his stomach to keep himself supported from hysterical tremors. "Gold, man, just gold!" He slapped Kenshin on the back causing him to stumble forward a few steps.
"Shut up, Sanosuke," he snapped as he wiped beads of blood off of his chin.
"No way in hell I'm going to let you live that down. Jesus, I wish I had my camera!"
Kenshin rolled his eyes and ran up the stairs on the side of the school that led into the music hallway with Sanosuke at his heels. Upperclassmen wearing matching maroon shirts with "Trojan Marching Band 08-09" in gold letters jumped up and down enthusiastically as they greeted the new band members. Their pep and energy was overwhelming and entirely foreign. Never before had he seen such wide grins, obnoxious cheers and vigorous waves in his life. Kenshin felt embarrassed just looking at them.
They headed towards the band room with a few other freshmen and slowly ventured inside. Kenshin looked around, impressed with what he saw. The band room in middle school was small, with big metal lockers lining the walls, percussion equipment cluttering the back with excess music and an ugly stained carpet that devoured what sound the band produced but this room was entirely different. It was huge and spacious with acoustic-friendly fixtures places strategically on the walls and high ceiling. What percussion equipment that was out was covered with black slips and fuzzy blankets to protect the instruments from dust and outside damage. Chairs were set out in what Kenshin assumed were once neat rows but were now mixed and jumbled in the center of the room. Kids sat huddled together chatting away with their group of friends; some were quiet and said little with nervous looks on their faces, others were loud and boisterous, laughing at summer stories that were being shared. It was then Kenshin realized that it wasn't only freshmen that were present, but all members of the band.
"Hey there's Aoshi!" Sanosuke exclaimed as he nudged Kenshin and made his way across the band room to where Aoshi was sitting quietly while Misao yapped away. "What's shakin, fools?" He asked as he plopped down on a chair and kicked his feet up on Aoshi's lap. Aoshi shot Sanosuke an icy glare before shoving his feet off.
"Hi Sano!" Misao piped and waved energetically. "Nothing much! What's got you grinning?"
Kenshin groaned as Sanosuke retold his embarrassing wipe out on the sidewalk five minutes earlier. Misao tossed her head back and laughed musically and Aoshi smirked and watched Kenshin with amused eyes as he sat down beside Sano.
"Oh Kenshin, you're as graceful as a gazelle!" Misao chimed as she leaned over and hugged him. "I loved that icon you sent me last night! The one with Pikachu bitch slapping the other Pikachu. It's my headline on Myspace now!"
Kenshin smiled as he lazily returned the hug. "Thanks. Glad you liked it."
Misao sat back in her chair and brought her legs up to sit cross legged. "Oh I'm so excited! I couldn't sleep last night because I was looking forward to this!"
Sano rolled his eyes and put his feet up on a neglected chair. "Are you serious? Man, I've been dreading this since the beginning of August."
"Oh it'll be fun!" She chided and gave him a pathetic swat.
"If you consider waking up at an ungodly hour to run drills for three hours straight fun," Aoshi murmured. He took a long drink from his Starbucks coffee.
"Hey, no drinking in the band room!" An upperclassman with bright blonde hair shouted almost immediately. Aoshi choked from the rapidness of the warning and looked up with an uncharacteristic dumb look. The girl laughed and winked. "Oh, you can get away with it just this once, Freshie!" She giggled and turned back to her friends. Aoshi blinked twice before relaxing back to his lax state and took another sip from his coffee.
"Jesus," Kenshin breathed, "Everyone's on tweak or something. Why is everyone so energetic?"
A girl with an edgy blonde haircut and chunky black streaks and green eyes randomly popped up behind him and kneeled beside them. "Because it's band spirit, duh!" She answered and threw them all a friendly grin. "You'll catch it soon, don't worry. It's quite contagious!"
"I already have it!" Misao giggled. "I'm so excited!" Aoshi, Sano and Kenshin rolled their eyes and groaned.
The girl's grin grew wider, which Kenshin couldn't believe was possible. "Rock on!" She stuck out her hand and Misao gave her a high five. "I'm Anette but everyone calls me Pepper." She smiled and looked at them all. "Who are you guys?"
Misao straightened her back. "I'm Misao! And these guys are Aoshi, Kenshin and Sanosuke!" Each boy nodded their head when mentioned and grumbled a dull "hey".
"Sano," Sano corrected when Misao mentioned him.
"Excellent!" Pepper stood and clapped her hands together. "Y'all are officially my Frosh."
"Frosh…?" Aoshi and Sano ventured.
Pepper nodded her head and put her hands on her hips which Kenshin deemed to be dangerously curvy. "Yes. Frosh. Now, if you excuse me, my lovlies just arrived. Ta ta!" With that she skipped away to a tall guy with aviator sunglasses and a shorter girl with mocha skin who just walked into the band room.
"That was interesting," Sano muttered flatly once she left.
"I like her!" Misao said with a grin.
"Of course you do, her energy levels match yours exactly, if not more." Misao smiled, taking it as a compliment.
Just as the digital clock above the doorway changed from 7:59 to 8:00, a door next to the main band room entrance on the perpendicular wall flew open. A tall man with snowy white hair walked towards the director's platform behind the podium with a serious look on his face. Immediately, the upperclassmen began whooping and applauding for him. The director glanced up with stunning blue eyes and gave them all a nod. He shuffled through some papers on the podium and sat the stool on the platform. His back was erect and rigid as he waited for the kids to settle down and take seats or find places to stand. Once satisfied, he nodded once again.
"Okay, I'd first like to welcome the newest members of the Trojan Marching Band to orientation." A warm smile appeared on his lips and his eyes twinkled. "Thank you for coming. I am Mr. Vanderstuhl, your band director." The upperclassmen erupted into cheers again making him grin wider. Kenshin was growing used to constant cheers and random outbursts. Mr. Vanderstuhl waited for the cheering to die out before continuing. "I know it's early for most of you," friendly criticism was in his voice, "So let's get this thing going so we can get out of here." He stepped down from the platform just as a skinny boy with platinum blonde hair and fishy blue eyes jumped up in his place.
He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey band," he shouted, "What time is it?"
"Time to rock it!" Came the loud screaming answer from the entire band. The freshmen jumped, completely startled by such an unexpected response. A few upperclassmen chuckled.
The boy on the platform lowered his hands and continually shifted his weight from foot to foot. "That's right!" He couldn't stop smiling. "Okay, to all you new kids and freshmen out there, I'm your drum major Aaron and uh, yeah. This is going to be an awesome year…."
Kenshin tuned out while Aaron went on about the plans for band camp, what is to be expected performance wise, equipment and gear needed so on and so forth. Very, very boring. He sighed and spun the wheels of his skateboard while staring blankly at the drum major, feigning attention.
Aaron introduced all the important people in the band; the section leaders, squad captains, president, so on and so forth. It turns out that Pepper is a junior section leader for trumpets which struck him as odd; she seemed to be more of flute player like Misao due to her energy.
After all the introductions, cat calls and friendly threats to the section leaders, Aaron took the platform again. "Okay, Frosh and newbies, you're not done just yet; we need to get you all situated. So I want you guys to split up to different stations around the room to get music, lockers and uniforms! Will someone call the guard in now?" He jumped off the platform as the section leaders took their places at tables set up around the room. Kenshin sat up straight and looked towards the door. He had nearly forgotten about Kaoru not being present.
Misao tugged on his arm and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, Kenshin!" She grunted. "Let's go get those uniforms! They look so cool!"
Kenshin arched an eyebrow. "How can a marching band uniform be cool?" Aoshi nodded in agreement. Misao cast them dirty looks before jumping in the line for the uniforms. Sanosuke and Aoshi conversed casually letting Kenshin turn his attention to seeking out Kaoru. He scowled at not being able to see over the heads of the people congregated in the middle of the room and stood on his toes to try and see around them.
"Having some difficulties, Shorty?" Sano mused with a smirk on his face. Kenshin glared and socked his arm.
"Shut up, Rooster."
"Hey now, leave the hair alone!"
"It's rather difficult to since your spikes defy everything Isaac Newton dedicated his life to!"
A blank expression crawled on Sanosuke's face. "Who…?"
Misao threw her head back and laughed. "Did you pay attention at all during physical science last year?"
The expression on his face did not change. "I took physical science?"
Misao continued harassing Sano about his poor memory and his inattentiveness. The two made more noise than half of the band kids combined but no one seemed to mind. Kenshin set his skateboard on the ground to shove his hands in his pockets and look around the room. His stomach flattened and his heart heated when his eyes fell on Kaoru who was making her way over to him. She threw him an excited smile and waved.
"I thought you ditched me!" Kenshin called to her as he opened his arms for a hug.
Kaoru gave him a hug that was too casual for Kenshin. "They had the color guard meet in the auxiliary gym." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I just have to get a locker and I can leave."
Kenshin gave her a pouty look. "Don't leave meh!" He wailed, scooping her back into his arms and holding her close to him. The smell of jasmine pleased his senses. He took a deep breath of her, hoping she wouldn't notice.
"Kaoru!" Misao squealed. She batted Kenshin away and hugged Kaoru tightly. "OhI'vemissedyousomuchyouhavenoidea!"
Kaoru gasped and pried Misao off. "Oh my god, Misao, I saw you on Saturday!" Misao wrinkled her nose and offered her friend an innocent grin.
"Oh I know, I still missed you!" Her eyes suddenly turned to saucers and she danced from foot to foot. "Guess what guess what guess what!?" She jumped up and down with Kaoru's hands. "We haven't been here for thirty minutes and we're already someone's official Frosh!"
Kaoru arched an eyebrow. "Frosh?" She glanced at Kenshin who merely shrugged with an easy smile.
"I'm assuming it means 'Freshmen'," Kenshin explained.
Kaoru nodded as Misao continued to talk about the band and how excited she was at about a mile a minute. Kenshin watched Kaoru with an amused smile. He loved how frazzled she looked when Misao began talking at a mile a minute and couldn't keep up with her.
"Hey Role Model!"
Kenshin's attention snapped away from Kaoru and turned his mind to an obnoxiously tan Hollister girl sitting behind the uniform table. She smiled and bid him to come forward with her finger. Kenshin sheepishly complied.
"What's your name, Role Model?" She asked, glancing from his shirt to his face.
"Kenshin Himura."
The girl began to jot his name down. "Aren't you Rei's little brother?" She asked.
Kenshin groaned. He debated whether he should lie and tell her he'd never heard the name in his life or tell her the truth that he was, indeed, the town's most infamous misfit's little brother. The last thing he wanted is to have a bad reputation just because his older brother was a stoner and vandalizing sex addict.
"Yeah," he mumbled.
The girl smiled. "I love your brother. He cracks me up so much. What instrument do you play?"
"Percussion. Well, you can have him if you want."
The girl laughed lightly and handed him an index card with his name, grade and instrument. "No thanks. I know what he does behind the scenes." She pointed him to a line of students filing into a room behind the percussion equipment and yelled at Sanosuke to come forward.
Kenshin picked up his skateboard and meandered to the line. In the small room, upperclassmen were bustling around with different uniform parts, shoving jackets and pants in freshmen arms and pointing them to the bathrooms to try them on. He was pulled inside by one of them and was given black coveralls, a red jacket with a tail that went down to just below his buttocks, and white gloves. The jacket came complete with shimmering gold braids and a black, red, white and gold sash. The uniform fit him just fine but when he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, he cringed. His brother, without a doubt, will give him a nice punch in the stomach after his first appearance in it. He changed back into his jeans and black Role Model tee shirt and was given a bag to put the uniform in. Then the upperclassman that was helping him opened a cabinet and pulled out a gladiator styled helmet with cheek guards and a red plume. Kenshin's eyes brightened. He loved anything Roman and instantly fell in love with the helmet. He shoved it inside his uniform bag and went back to the main band room to find his friends.
He found Aoshi coming back from the bathrooms with the uniform in his arms. He didn't look amused. Kenshin almost laughed out loud at the image of Aoshi in the ensemble.
"Hey I'll meet you guys outside when you're done, kay?"
Aoshi merely nodded and walked back into the uniform room.
Kenshin went to a table by the door, was assigned a locker and picked up a folder containing many small half pieces of paper with music for all percussion instruments. His eyes widened at the size of the music and how much was packed onto just one little sheet. Even though he had sharp 20/20 vision, he had to bring the music close to his nose and squint his eyes to read the notes. How on earth was he supposed to read that? He groaned. He had a lot of practicing to do later.
Sanosuke, Misao, Aoshi and Kaoru met up with Kenshin about twenty minutes later after everyone had their uniform, music and locker. Kaoru's mother drove them to the burger restaurant Herfy's and bought them all milkshakes in celebration of starting high school. Kenshin didn't think it deserved celebration seeing as it was inevitable to start high school, but he would never say such a thing to Mrs. Kamiya nor would he pass up a free milkshake.
The six of them sat in a red leather booth as they waited for their food. The wait would be long, they were told, for it was noon and Herfy's was a hot spot for the lunch hour.
"Are you kids excited for band?" Mrs. Kamiya asked as she stirred sugar into her iced tea.
"Totally!" Misao and Kaoru chimed together. The boys just shrugged and grunted.
Kaoru's mother arched an eyebrow in amusement at the boys. "Ah boys." She said with a smile on her coral lips.
"The uniforms are crap," Sanosuke grumbled, "They couldn't find anything to fit me. Vanderstuhl has to bring his wife in to adjust the uniform for me."
Kaoru laughed. "You're so tall, Sanosuke! What else would you expect?"
"Some clothes to freakin fit! Not everyone is short like Kenshin!"
"Hey, I take offense to that!"
Mrs. Kamiya laughed at them. "I'm sorry, Sanosuke. At least you'll get something that fits." He simply heaved an annoyed sigh and sucked at his milkshake. "Excuse me, kids, I need to go to the bathroom." Mrs. Kamiya slipped out of the booth and walked to the back of the restaurant, her black heels clacking away on the tile.
Feeling oddly relieved that she was gone, Kenshin glanced up at Kaoru across from him. She smiled and waved. His stomach knotted.
Damn she's gorgeous…
"Does the color guard have a uniform?" Misao asked.
Kaoru nodded. "Yeah but we don't know what it is yet. It changes every year with the field show."
"Anything revealing?" Kenshin found himself asking before he could stop himself.
Kaoru turned a cute shade of pink and shook her head. "No, I doubt it. It has to be in the school dress code!"
"Horn dog," Sanosuke muttered into Kenshin's ear and shoved him lightly.
Kenshin flipped his bangs out of his face. "Oro! Hey, don't!"
"EMO!" Misao yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him.
He ignored her and turned back to Kaoru. "I haven't had the chance to ask you how you are today," he said with the sweetest smile he could muster, "So how are you?"
"Oh I'm doing just fine. I can't wait for tomorrow! I'm a little nervous though. Some of the older guard girls were glaring at all of us freshmen. It was very unsettling."
Kenshin placed his chin in his hands and looked up at her childishly. "You'll be fine, I promise. You'll have rifles and flags to defend yourself. And of course, my drumsticks of doom."
Kaoru laughed. "I'm glad I have your drumsticks of doom on my side."
He winked and leaned back against the red booth. "I know right?"
Mrs. Kamiya came back with their food just then and passed the orders out. Though the wait may have been long, Herfy's gourmet burgers were, without a doubt, worth it and they each took their time eating their meals, savoring each delish bite (except, of course, Sanosuke, who wolfed his down almost immediately and started picking fries from others).
They stood around outside once they were done with their meals. Mrs. Kamiya's van was a boiler from baking in the sun for two hours and she told them to wait while the AC worked its magic.
"Do want to come over and hang out, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked. She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the garish sun.
He sighed. "I don't think I can. School shopping and shit. Maybe later?"
"Yeah okay! I got some new CDs and I need someone to listen to them with."
He offered her a lopsided smirk. "Consider it a date." When Mrs. Kamiya gave the word that it was safe to get into the car, Kenshin couldn't tell if the pink in Kaoru's cheeks was from the sun or from his doing.
Kenshin lay on his bed later that night with his practice pad and drum sticks lying beside him neglected. A smile was trapped on his lips due to the memories of his "date" with Kaoru playing in his head. After two miserable hours of following his ill-tempered father and instigating brother around Office Max and the mall for school supplies and clothes, he skated to Kaoru's to listen to the new CDs she purchased. He wasn't fond of the first CD which was from BarlowGirl but the other two CDs got him hot blooded, not just because Bowling for Soup and Good Charlotte were two of his favorite bands, but because Kaoru said she bought them because of the shirts Kenshin wore. He had a ball teaching her how to headbang and how to play the air guitar.
It was clear to Kenshin she had no promising career as a professional punk air guitarist. He told her so and it earned him a few stinging swats.
Unfortunately, he had to leave and return to his house. Rei had a few of his friends over who were, without a doubt, playing Guitar Hero in the basement and getting baked off of whatever they scored in Seattle. He grabbed a sandwich from the kitchen and went to his room to look over the snare drum music for band. Never in his life had he seen such complicated snare work. There were ten measures where every other note was a flam, something he never fathomed before. After two hours, he finally was able to play through the first line of a song with few falters. He got frustrated after attempting to figure out the second line, threw his sticks and practice pad aside and lay back to think about Kaoru. Now sleep was overwhelming him and he drifted off into a black slumber.
Sorry if this was a little rough to read. I haven't written a fanfiction in years, so bare with me. I'm a smidgen rusty. :
Review please and thank you kindly. :D