Mask of Popularity

by Darkened Memories

A deeper look behind the mask to what lies beneath, exposing wounds both new and old.

1. Chapter 1

:: Mask of Popularity ::

(Warning: Time skipping. Lines between paragraphs show when it skips to a different time—varying between a couple hours, days, and years. If you become lost, please forgive me for being so confusing.)

: Chapter 1 : Kenshin Himura :

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"

Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies
Deeply buried from human eyes;

And, in the hereafter, angels may
Roll the stone from its grave away!

--excerpts from Maud Muller-by John Greenleaf Whittier--

"You don't even know how to take care of him!" Kenshin's mother spat out, her violet eyes tinged with furious amber sparks. Her gleaming, silken mass of fire-bright hair illustrated the woman's temper, though the elegantly styled curling upsweep did not reflect her mood at the moment. Wishing she could pull at it as her temper mounted, she opted instead to take it out verbally on the man sitting across from her to the left of the attorney's desk. Her soon-to-be ex-husband.

He ran his hand through his short, ebony black hair. Trying to keep his temper in check was wearing at his fast-dwindling reserve of patience. Through gritted teeth he replied, "It isn't as if I haven't done it before! With your schedule, the nanny and I take more care of Kenshin than you do!" His Asian features, the birthright of the man's Japanese heritage, were scowling at the dismissive gesture his soon-to-be ex-wife made.

"It didn't happen that often."

"You're joking, right? It happened every week!"

A small child clung to a worn-out teddy, its scraggly shape comforting to the teary eyed boy. The stuffing squeezed slowly out of the threadbare material and through frayed seams slowly as the pressure upon the object increased sharply along with the abrupt rise in volume of the yelling in the room nearby. Crystalline tears poured like water from his confused amethyst eyes, their almond shape being the only thing that resembled his father. Wispy strands of fiery red hair clung damply to his baby-round cheeks. Tiny hiccups escaped between the muted, whimpered sobs.

The attendant felt a deep sense of pity for the tiny boy, no more than four years old and he had to face the cruel harshness of the world. Turning dark eyes to the thick door that led to the attorney's office, she wondered how on earth his parents could act like that. She thought of her own child at home, her husband, her home and life-and simply couldn't bring herself to imagine the horrid possibility that it could end just like this. A fervent prayer that her marriage would never come to this winged its way upwards to heaven, alongside a little boy's tearful wishes that Mommy and Daddy would stop fighting.

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A sign stating Breaking News flashed onto the 60" Plasma HDTV screen before a news reporter appeared. "Just two hours ago, multi-millionaire Kazuo Himura died of a heart attack in his home..."

The coffee cup Eden Himura was holding slipped from her nerveless fingers. With a sharp crack, the jade green mug hit the cherry-wood floor and dispersed into a thousand pieces. Tiny pieces of ceramic floated along on the tiny sea of coffee that slowly flowed along the dark, polished wood.

Instead of being divorced, she was now a widow. Somehow, the thought of that seemed worse by far than what she had braced herself to face. She would now never be able to see him again.

Tears welled up, hot and stinging, to cloud her vision. The woman sank to her knees with a loud cry, her slim body racked by wild sobbing.

Tiny feet pattered softly against the floor, making their way over to the weeping Eden. "Mommy?" Kenshin called to her softly, his tiny brows wrinkling with confusion and worry. He walked around what was left of his mother's cup of coffee and wrapped small arms about her shuddering form.

Eden stiffened slightly in surprise from the sudden contact, but slowly relaxed her body. Trying to control the urge to wail, scream, and cry her eyes out some more-she wiped at her face with the sleeve of her cream-colored cashmere jacket. A shaky smile found its way to her lips as she moved to hug Kenshin. "It's... it's okay, baby. I'm just... Mommy just doesn't feel very good right now." She stroked his silky fire-bright hair and sniffled a little, wondering what on earth she was going to do.

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"Hiko! Hiko, please!" she nearly started to cry again, and bit her full, lower lip to cease the trembling in her tones.

"Why won't you care for your own child? He's hurting as well." the man's gruff tone rebuked her for her weakness.

"I... I just can't!" Violet orbs darkened with pain before she closed them. A deep breath steadied her slightly. "He's too much like... him. I can't do this, Hiko. Not right now. It hurts too much!"

"He's your spitting image."

"The mannerisms, his ways of trying to comfort me, even the little wrinkle between his brows when he frowns is just like Kazuo!" she sank down on the small chair beside the phone, her voice cracking slightly under the influence of swallowed tears.

A brief moment of silence from the other end of the line had Eden's heart racing uncontrollably. "How long."

"What?"

"I hate repeating myself. How long do you need him to stay with me?" Hiko asked again, irritation prickling the question.

"A couple... Oh, I don't know." she nearly lost control of her tears as she tried to think about the situation. "Do you think I could transfer all parenting rights to you, just for now? I don't want to do anything stupid with Kenshin."

A snort came though from the other end of the line. "Too late for that, Eden."

"Please?"

"... Fine. Do note this is mostly for Kazou's sake."

Unperturbed by the brusqueness of the man's voice, she smiled slightly, "Kazou was lucky to have you for a brother."

She could almost hear him rolling his eyes at the statement. "Yes, yes, we all know. When are you two coming?"

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Kenshin stared up at the large, dark house looming in front of him like those scary movies on TV that Mommy had told him not to watch. He clutched the ragged bear to his chest tightly, looking up at his mother with fear-filled amethyst eyes.

"It's okay, Kenshin. This is where your uncle lives, and... this is where you're going to be living for a while." she smiled down at him, but her eyes betrayed her smiling lips.

Kenshin wondered why his mother looked so sad when she had told him constantly about how much fun he was going to have.

"Come on, slowpoke." Eden teased, trying to ignore the leaden weight of her heart sinking slowly in her chest. "It's going to be bedtime before you get to the front door."

The boy shook his head vigorously, denying that statement. One of the looser eyes of the teddy bear wobbled precariously as he trotted up to her side. Before the woman could ring the doorbell, a tall man opened the door.

Kenshin's eyes widened even more at this new turn of events. The man was a giant, in the little boy's eyes, with a long mane of dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, long bangs softening his chiseled face just enough to keep the man from appearing to be evil.

His Daddy had never worn his hair that long, Kenshin noted absently, his mind busy taking in everything. The man seemed to match his house--being tall, dark, and intimidating. Upon a closer inspection, the little boy was intrigued to see that the man's eyes were similar to his father's. While Kenshin was wrapped up in staring at Hiko, Eden handed the folder containing all the necessary documents to the man. "That should take care of everything." tears started to form at the edge of her vision.

Hiko cleared his throat, trying to think of something to save him from having to deal with waterworks. Women and tears were a notoriously bad combination. "Do you want to come in? The Chinese take-out came just a few minutes ago, if you're hungry."

"I... well, I guess a few minutes won't hurt." the petite woman gave him a shaky smile. "Kenshin, baby, what are you doing?" she nearly laughed at the boy's intent expression.

"He's big." came the brief reply.

A loud, barking laugh erupted from Hiko at this. "So I am, boy." He walked down the steps of the porch to kneel in front of him. "Are you scared of me?"

Kenshin looked at him, slightly puzzled. "No. Your eyes look like Daddy's."

Another laugh from Hiko followed this statement. He picked up the small boy and swung him onto his broad, muscular shoulders, earning a delighted peal of laughter from Kenshin. "Let's go eat."

Clapping his teddy-filled hands together, the red-head beamed. "Food!"

"Already knows the important things in life." Hiko chuckled, and was relieved to see Eden no longer bordering on a weeping spell. Ducking low to avoid Kenshin's head having an accidental meeting with the doorway, he walked with long strides to the kitchen, Kenshin giggling all the way. The tall man winced as tiny hands yanked sharply on his hair as the delicious smells of Chinese food drifted up to where the child was perched. "Down, please!" the boy demanded, adding the polite request word only out of the training he had received from his parents and nanny.

"Leave my hair alone and I might." he growled half-heartedly, removing the squirming child from his shoulders. As Kenshin made a beeline to the counter that had the food placed on its shiny, black surface, Hiko turned to open a cupboard, taking out two plates. He paused to glance at Eden. Her lavender eyes shimmered like a jewel as tears cast their watery sheen over the orbs. Her lips trembled as she turned her eyes to meet his.

He knew instantly that she was going to leave. Feeling a pang of pity for the boy, Hiko nodded in understanding.

Eden took in a shuddering breath before pasting on a smile. "Kenshin?"

Peeling his eyes away from the cartons that he knew held the wonderful smells, Kenshin turned to look at his mother.

"I-I have to go now, so be good for Uncle Hiko, okay?"

Kenshin looked confused for a moment, then reluctantly left the counter to walk over to his mother. "Why?"

She knelt down to wrap her slender arms about him, pulling him close for the last time. "Mommy's got to go, baby."

"Where are you going?" Anxiety crept up, wrapping ice cold fingers around the boy's heart, "Is Daddy coming?"

A strangled sort of noise escaped from Eden's lips, "No, baby, Daddy can't come. I've got a business meeting to go to, that's all."

His brows furrowed, making a tiny line in-between. Eden had been right, Hiko admitted, it looked exactly like Kazuo's frown. With more of his mother's fire to him, however.

"Are you coming back?"

She kissed his forehead and gave him a lop-sided smile, "Of course, now be good, will you?"

Her son's violet eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, but his still naive mind had yet to learn how to decipher hidden meanings in words and body language. Eden was grateful for his silence and walked to the door, Hiko and Kenshin following her out. "Thank you, Hiko." she hugged her brother-in-law warmly and blew a farewell kiss to Kenshin, "Everything will be fine, baby, so don't frown so much."

The boy put a round hand to his forehead and forcefully smoothed out the wrinkle that his mother seemed to dislike so much. He waved goodbye as the chauffeur opened the car door for Eden to slide in. She waved back, a tear sliding down her face, before closing the door. The car drove off, leaving behind a still waving little boy.

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It was the fifth night in a row. Hiko sighed as he leaned his frame against the wall, watching with somber eyes his nephew patiently waiting at the window. Kenshin perched on the large, dark leather sofa, his violet orbs peering out through the window into the night's darkness watching for his mother's car to pull up. She always came home at night. He slumped on the firm cushions with a tired yawn, he really hoped she came back soon.

Hiko was known to be rude, brusque, and a good many other adjectives that he personally would not quite place with himself, but that was neither here nor there. The fact of the matter was that even he did not possess a cold enough heart to tell the boy that his mother would probably not ever come back.

But to allow him to keep a false hope... Hiko couldn't decide whether or not it was kinder to tell him the truth or not. If the boy had been older, he would not have hesitated to inform him of the true situation.

He was actually starting to worry for the boy. Kenshin had grown quieter over the past couple of days. Boys his age were typically bouncing off the walls, as if they had consumed a ridiculous amount of sugar at all hours of the day, not quiet and wistful like this one. "Kenshin."

The boy looked up, his large eyes tired and his face pale. If it had been anyone else, Hiko would have said he looked haggard. Children weren't supposed to have such words associated with them, right?

"Mommy's not back yet." he whispered plaintively, lower lip trembling with turbulent emotion. "She said she was coming back."

A pregnant moment of silence followed, broken minutes later by the smallest of sniffles. Tears swam in Kenshin's vision, and he scrubbed at them with a chubby fist. His other hand was filled by Teddy's sympathetic figure whose loose eye wobbled woefully with the boy's movement.

If a picture was worth a thousand words, this scene had to be worth a million more, Hiko thought. A sudden flare of anger toward Eden burned white hot for a moment before dying with a puff of smoke. It wasn't quite her fault solely, he amended. Kazuo had his own part to play in the destruction of the child's world.

Kenshin fought valiantly to overcome the tidal wave of desolation that over-swept his young mind and brought a whirlwind of emotions that he was simply to young to understand or define to the forefront. As any young child would do when overcome by a strong emotion, he cried. Teddy became soaked with salty liquid as Kenshin buried his face into the reassuring object. Curling up into a ball, he wailed loudly as the surging emotions confused and plagued him.

The man stared at the weeping ball that was Kenshin in mild shock. After a moment of listening to heart-wrenching cries from the boy, he walked over to the couch with surprisingly soft steps and sat on the opposite cushion. Scooping up the child, he decided to ignore pride at the moment in order to ease both Kenshin's agony and the pain his ears were suffering. Two birds with one stone, he mused thoughtfully as the red-head's wails turned into loud sniffles. With a muted sigh of exasperation, Hiko noted morosely that the front of his black dress shirt was now extremely wet... and was that?!

Kenshin had decided to use a part of Hiko's shirt as a tissue for the time being. Wrinkling his nose in disgust and a tiny trace of amusement, the large man simply held the boy. Once the sniffles seemed to be almost over, he decided that he had adequately finished his job. He stood up quickly and made his way to the guest room. Flicking on the light switch with an elbow, the man dumped Kenshin onto the bed unceremoniously.

The boy looked up with startled eyes as he bounced a couple of times before becoming still. Wiping his runny nose with the sleeve of his forest green, long-sleeved shirt, his violet eyes questioned Hiko's actions.

"It's time for bed." he stated shortly, in answer to the unspoken question.

Wiping his eyes with the other sleeve, Kenshin raised his arms for a hug.

Hiko simply stared at the child as if he had suddenly grown two heads and a forked tail to boot. Until he noticed Kenshin's violet orbs start to water again, the man conceded slowly. Stiffly, he bent down and gave a quick hug before standing up straight as a ramrod again. He turned quickly to leave, turning off the light as he excited.

"G'night, 'cle Hiko." could be heard, muffled as it was by the pillow Kenshin's face had burrowed into.

"'Night." came the gruff response.

As soon as he stepped outside, Hiko hurriedly removed the black shirt, taking great care to avoid that... spot. His muscles rippled as he rubbed at his tense shoulders, wondering why on earth he had volunteered (more or less) for this duty. An image of his younger brother drifted quietly across his thoughts, and another image of Kenshin superimposed itself over the first.

That was probably why.

A frustrated sigh exited from his throat as he turned sharply on his heel to the laundry room. He sincerely hoped no more shirts of his would share the same fate this one had.

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A few years later found Kenshin sweating profusely in his uncle's dojo, conveniently connected to the back of the house by a wrap-around walkway. The wooden structure had been intriguing to the seven-year-old at first, until he had had to clean it.

The wakizashi, he had found to his dismay that he was too small at present for the katana, hung heavily in his hands as he leaned forward to stretch his aching shoulder muscles.

"Taking a break, idiot student?" Hiko's voice called out from the wide doorway, causing the boy to tense warily. "One hundred more swings, and then maybe you may take a break."

Several, not-so-nice things came to the child's mind at the moment, but he kept these things to himself. He had learned years ago that stating his opinion usually wound up in a lot more training or cleaning. Moving into the required position, he began to count off the swings. Beads of sweat swam in rivulets down his heated skin as he practiced, his eyes narrowed in concentration, his brows furrowed with repressed anger.

Hiko tilted up the bottle of sake he was carrying to swallow a mouthful. The boy was showing promising talent, much more so than the all other idiots combined that he had had to work with over the years. Kenshin would be the one he would make his apprentice, teaching him everything he knew of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, that almost lost and forgotten ancient style of swordsmanship. As he watched his nephew's swings with a critical eye, he decided to wait on giving the child that little bit of information.

Besides, a little waiting never really hurt anyone. With a sudden stab of guilt, he decided to rephrase that thought. Waiting for something good never really hurt anyone. Closing his eyes, the man retreated to his innermost thoughts. Eden had yet to come back for Kenshin. She called the boy on his birthday and Christmas and seemed to be content to leave it at that.

He wondered if he could ever be as cruel.

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"Yo! Kenshin, wait up!"

Kenshin turned, his violet eyes widened slightly as a lumpy package was sent hurtling towards his head at an alarming speed. Catching it deftly with one callused hand, he eyed it suspiciously. "What is it, Sano?"

"You know, putting on the whole surprised act works for everybody but me. I know better. You could've caught that with your eyes closed." the tall, lanky boy grinned widely as he straightened his long white jacket with jet black edging. He ran a broad hand through his brown hair, ruffling the messy spikes further. "Just open it." At his friend's wary look, he grunted in frustration, "Hurry up, you're killin' me!"

Kenshin opened the package, being deliberately slow while doing so, smirking inwardly as Sanosuke nearly starting hopping up and down in agitation. "Geez, Kenshin! You wanna wait 'til we both got grey hair or something?"

The plain dark blue wrapping finally came off, exposing s small boxed cake-only slightly mushed-and two envelopes. Violet eyes glanced suspiciously at the cake, wondering what exactly had happened to it before moving on to the envelopes. Both said, "Happy 17th Birthday!!" in bright, neon green. Kenshin assumed Sano had used his favorite highlighter to write the message, goodness knows he used it on pretty much everything else. Sano held out his hand to hold the cake, muttering apologies about its condition, the red-head caught something about his brother accidentally sitting on the package or something along those lines. Shaking his head, he opened the first envelope and stared at its contents in amazement.

"How'd you get tickets?!"

Sanosuke grinned from ear to ear, "I got contacts. You're lucky, man. It took forever to find someone who'd sell me a pair."

"Thanks, Sano." he couldn't help but grin widely as well, 'Hopefully Uncle Hiko'll let me have the night off.'

"Open the other envelope!" chocolate eyes twinkled mischievously as the second envelope was neatly ripped open.

Kenshin's jaw nearly dropped as he scanned the contents of the extremely brief letter, if roughly a paragraph could be called a letter, found within. Snapping it shut, he felt his forehead as if checking for a fever. "I've got to be dreaming, there's no way Uncle Hiko would have written this."

The taller boy shrugged and fell into step with Kenshin as they continued to head towards school. "It took a while, but he came around." 'After me promising to help clean the dojo for a week.'

"What's he making you do?" the red-head asked, eyes sliding over to view Sano's reaction which looked very suspicious all of a sudden. "So?"

Sanosuke whistled, trying to ignore the narrowed, searching eyes of his best friend. After enduring the unpleasant prickling sensation for roughly five minutes, he caved. "I'm gonna be helping you clean up the dojo, that's all."

"Hn." Apparently his uncle was feeling generous. Kenshin had expected something worse. "Thanks, Sano." he repeated.

"Don't sweat it." He gave his friend a mock glare, "Just make sure you don't invite some chick to go with you instead of me, got it?"

The shorter boy nodded his assent and they both walked the rest of the way in companionable silence. Or rather, they would have if they had been farther away from the schoolhouse. As it was, they were nearly at the front gate and were surrounded by hundreds of milling fellow students.

"Hey, Himura!" a loud, cheerful, and hyper voice made Sanosuke groan slightly and Kenshin brace himself firmly. Seconds later, a petite girl jumped on his back, wrapping her slim arms around his neck with a vice-like grip. What Misao Makimatchi considered a hug, most other people would consider strangling. "Happy birthday!" she chirped loudly into his sensitive ear, making him wince slightly. Out of nowhere, it seemed, she pulled a small, brightly colored square package and held it up in front of Kenshin's face.

His eyes crossed and lost focus as she shoved the package closer to his eyes. The bright orange paper shimmered in the light, and the lemon yellow polka dots seemed to be glittery... but at the distance said present was currently at, he couldn't be too sure. "Misao... I can't see."

"My bad!" Hopping down, she stood in front of the boy and held up the package for his inspection, her thigh-length ebony braid trailing merrily after her.

Well, he had been right about the colors. Taking the box from the girl, he opened it quickly, knowing from past experience that if Misao felt you were taking too long to unwrap something, she would assist. Usually, that was never a good thing.

Sano snorted as he noted the speed in which the girl's present was unwrapped, "Sure, be nice to the girls."

Ignoring the other boy's grumbling, Kenshin opened up one end of the box and peered inside.

Misao danced around him, amusement and excitement waging war for dominance in her expression. Her cerulean eyes glittered as Kenshin stared at the receipt that he had pulled out of the box.

"Oro?"

"After school, I'll take you to the shop and we can pick it up." she laughed at his confused expression. "I don't think they'll allow things like your present in school."

Both boys eyed Misao sharply, "You didn't get him a gun, did you, Misao?" "It's not a bomb, is it?"

She glared fiercely at both of them, "Don't be stupid, Rooster-head! Kenshin doesn't like guns, so why the heck would I get him one? And no, it's not a bomb. I couldn't find anyone who'd be willing to sell me any."

Chocolate and violet eyes narrowed at this cavalier statement.

Kenshin sighed as the bell rang, "We need to get to class." He took back the slightly squashed cake from Sanosuke and stuffed it in his backpack along with his other gifts before they walked up the steps, Misao busily chattering all the while about how Kenshin was going to love his present, and was that a new shirt? black really suited him, and Sano needed to get rid of that 'evil' sign he was forever wearing on the back of his jacket, but maybe it was okay considering it was his trademark symbol and all.

Both males opted to try to ignore her ceaseless jabbering.

As the group of three entered the building, the atmosphere inside changed within an instant. Many girls started to swoon, flirt, and drool over the two boys, and Misao's fan club of boys weren't too far behind them.

Kenshin Himura and Sanosuke Sagara were obviously two of the hottest guys in school, the others being Soujiro Seta, Aoshi Shinomori, and Akira Kiyosato. When the five of them hung out together, you could be sure that there would be an extremely large gathering of girls present. Kaoru was one of the few who didn't buy into the whole, "He's so hot! I've gotta date him!" routine. She was, however, best friends with Misao and younger half-sister to Aoshi Shinomori. Fortunately or not.

Misao dashed away from the crowd and jogged over to her best friend. "Whassup?" she asked cheerfully, absentmindedly fidgeting with the small green bow on her shirt. Kaoru inspected the shorter girl's appearance critically. With the lower half of her hair wound into a tight braid, and the upper half layered to frame her face, Misao was the epitome of cuteness. A shamrock green shirt with a green ribbon lining about the scooped out neck and the aforementioned bow at the right side of the neckline brought out the slight hint of green in her large eyes.

Kaoru personally could have done without the large, glittery shamrock in the middle and the words, "Feelin' Lucky!" underneath. She did love the black jeans her friend wore. In fact, she had a pair just like that somewhere. And the knee was ripped out in the same spot and...

"Misao!!" she hissed, sapphire blue eyes flashed with warning labels of all kinds. The most prominent stated, "DANGER!" in flashing yellow lights.

The smaller girl stepped from foot to foot guiltily, "You left them at my house, and I was going to return them tomorrow..."

The other girl snorted indignantly, "Right. Make sure you do."

"You should wear cuter clothes, Kaoru." she slyly adjusted the topic to remove danger of bodily injury to herself. Anyone else who got caught up in Kaoru's wrath was considered collateral damage. Not anything she was responsible for, anyway.

"What's wrong with them?" the girl checked to see if she had something spilled on herself. After making sure that she hadn't, she tugged slightly at her ocean blue t-shirt. "It's comfortable, and I've got Kendo practice today." Granted, she'd have to change out of the jeans she wore, but that wasn't a big deal. And the worn tennis shoes on her feet were comfortable and perfect for walking to and from school. Besides, if she ever tried to wear those stilts that Misao seemed to favor... well, she'd probably end up flat on her posterior or face. Or both. Knowing herself, she could probably find a way to manage it.

"Kaoru, Kaoru." Misao groaned, adopting a woebegone look. "I'm sure it is comfortable... but it's not cute. Or really flattering."

Before the indignant replies could roll off her tongue, the shorter girl had grabbed her arm and began dragging her off to class as the second bell rang warningly. "We'll go shopping after school."

Kenshin and Sanosuke watched the entire thing over the heads of the crowd. "Who was that?" Kenshin asked Sano as they tried to clear a path through the many girls.

"I guess one of weasel girl's friends." Sano shrugged. A sly gleam twinkled in his eyes, "Interested?"

The red-head shrugged nonchalantly, "Don't know yet. She looked different."

"Different?" the taller boy drawled out the word. "Different as in a good different, or as in freak show different?"

"Good different."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. "Remember you will need to turn in those projects next Friday!" the small woman that was their English teacher reminded them all with a fierce look. "Letter grades will be dropped according to how late some of you may be." she turned a meaningful stare towards Sanosuke who grinned up at her from his seat. At her nod of dismissal, the class filed out. Mrs. Asai was one of the few teachers who was able to keep the students in check with a mere glance, Kenshin thought as he scooped up his books and writing materials.

"Lunchtime!" Sanosuke nearly cheered, already looking much more animated at the thought of food than Shakespeare's and Whittier's works had ever been able to do.

"Walking stomach." Kenshin grumbled teasingly, earning a heated glare.

"Am not. I'm a walking black hole." he struck a super-hero-ish pose. 'And that's any better?' the red-head pondered, following his friend down the busy hallway to the cafeteria. There, they got into line with Aoshi and Soujiro.

Across the crowded room--Kaoru, Misao, Tae, and Sae were seated at a relatively clean, mostly gum-free table. All four poked at the dubious looking lunch, similar disgusted faces staring down at the odious mass. "Who's gonna go first?" Misao piped up, her oceanic blue eyes darting to the Asian twins. They shook their heads in unison, dark, almond shaped eyes glaring reproachfully at the smaller girl. "You first, Misao." Tae spoke up. "Yes, she who speaks up first must eat first. It's an ancient rule." Sae agreed, mischief dancing in the dark depths of her orbs.

"Yep. Don't go breaking such a time-revered rule, Misao-chan!" Kaoru chirped, "Eat up!"

"Since when has that been a 'time-revered rule'?" the girl muttered, glaring fiercely at the fork Kaoru so helpfully supplied her with. Too bad you can't melt utensils like that. With a long-suffering sigh, she ignored the fork Kaoru held up and grabbed her own, stabbing viciously at the thing claiming to be food a few times first. Just in case it wasn't dead yet.

"I wouldn't suggest doing that." a soft voice spoke up. Misao nearly jumped three feet into the air, causing everyone else to laugh. The four girls turned to welcome the newcomer to the table, their partner-in-crime, Tomoe Yukishiro. Known as the "Ice Queen" of the school, she constantly carried an air of mystery and dignity with her like a cloak. Rarely had anyone excited a laugh from the girl, Misao currently holding the highest known record of a half-dozen times. Of course, her mother had died within the past two years, leaving Tomoe to fill in the role as best as she could-so the girls were sympathetic and tried to help out as much as possible.

Meaning they stayed and chattered while looking busy. At least, attempting to look busy.

Kaoru grinned at Tomoe after the girl had seated herself by her. "So, how're you and Akira doing?"

Tomoe's eyes, darker than the night sky, slid over to glance at the sparkling blue depths of Kaoru's orbs. "Everything's fine. Why?"

"Lucky you. Misao's given me the pep talk earlier, warning that she's going to match up any of us who don't have a boyfriend yet." a roll of the eyes followed this statement from everyone but the hyper-active teen and Tomoe.

Tae sighed dismally, "All we have to do is go over to the nearest table and say, 'You want to go out with me?' and bam!" she slapped the table here for emphasis, "We'd have a long line of guys jumping at the bit to date us."

Sae laughed at her twin's dour expression, "At least we won't ever have to worry about being single!"

"What about you, Misao?" Kaoru drawled, still picking at the mess on her tray, a debate warring in her mind over whether it was better to sit through the remainder of class with her stomach churning or rumbling with hunger. Hunger seemed to be the better option than an upset stomach.

"What about me?"

"Why aren't you dating Aoshi? He's all you ever talk about." the girl sat back, pushing her plate away.

"I just haven't found the perfect opportunity!" Misao chirped, undaunted by the fact that she had yet to ask Shinomori out.

Tomoe opened up her backpack to produce a large package. The four girls stared in awe as she unopened it. Whatever else was known about her, the Ice Queen was known for her amazing cooking. Unlike Kaoru.

Kaoru was banned from the Home-Ec class until graduation, and even then she wasn't sure if she'd ever be allowed in. Not like she wanted to, but that was beside the point.

A neat lunch was then spread out, displaying finger sandwiches neatly wrapped, five bags of chips, a small container of sliced apples, and what looked suspiciously like a peach cobbler in another container. "I apologize. There was only time for a decent dessert this morning."

"Tomoe, you're a life-saver!" Kaoru grinned from ear to ear, hugging the girl with glee. The others expressed their similar emotions after pausing to swallow. Misao paused to glance at Kaoru and Tomoe respectively, comparing and contrasting going on in her mine. Tomoe's simple white-knee length dress was still too fashionable and feminine for Kaoru to pull off. Even the small, embroidered lilac jacket wouldn't quite have worked. What a shame.

The girls fell into the old routine of chattering about the day, classes, and plans for the rest of the day. Misao suddenly remembered that she had promised Kenshin to go pick up his birthday present with him, and to go shopping with Kaoru after school.

Kaoru was more than happy to put off the trip. "Go ahead, you promised him first. I don't mind at all."

"I know, but it's not getting you out of it." the shorter girl warned wagging a fork covered in peach cobbler remains. "You can just come with us!"

"What about her kendo practice?" Tae wanted to know. "No one likes to go shopping when they're all sweaty." Sae pointed out.

"There are shower stalls in the locker room, are there not?" Tomoe interjected softly, not allowing Kaoru clamp to onto the twin's reasoning. A tiny smile ghosted across the girl's lips as she ignored the scowl Kaoru sent her way. "It wouldn't take too long for you to shower and be ready to leave with them, right?"

"No." came the reluctant answer. Misao's face beamed, "All right! You guys want to come too?"

The table quieted instantly, leaving the hyper-active girl to look at everyone inquisitively. "We have a paper to catch up on." the twins finally stated. "Akira and I have a date." came the Ice Queen's excuse. Kaoru glared at the traitors, "Thanks." She couldn't honestly blame them though. Misao and clothes shopping were two things that should never go together. The results were empty wallets and purses, with an armload of bags filled with clothing that did-in all rights-look really nice, but they were nothing she'd ever wear out of choice in public. Groaning, she sank into her seat and wished the day were over with.

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End Notes

I've been playing around with the concept of this story for a while now, but lacked the inspiration required for this until recently. Please review and tell me what you think! I'm considering turning this into a chaptered story, so if you like it do tell.

Critiques are welcomed with open arms!