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Chapter 1: New beginnings

"Hey, Kaoru, I think it's him! Look!" Misao whispered. "Sorry, you say something?" Kaoru was busy drawing in her sketchpad. "There! Look now!" Tsubame hissed. "Yeah, look Miss blur head," Misao snapped. Kaoru looked up to see Houji sensei writing illegible words on the white board. Then she saw a red headed figure walking towards the classroom through the side windows. " That must be him, the new boy from Kyoto, I heard he's really smart!" some of Kaoru's classmates whispered among themselves.

Kenshin could not believe it, after travelling such a long distance, he had finally made it to Tokyo. He had never ever thought that he would have made it this far and his swordsmanship. After many years of gruelling training since the age of 8, he had finally made it into the best dojo in Tokyo. He had Seijuro Hiko as his sensei and he was treated like a foster child. But it was a huge price to pay to get this far. He had left all he had known in Kyoto, his family, his loved ones and even his girlfriend behind. He was sixteen, about 175 to 180 in height. He was rather skinny and a bit scrawny for his age. He had blazing red hair tied up at the back in a lost ponytail and had beautiful deep mauve eyes. It was really easy for people to spot him in a crowd; there weren't many red heads in Kyoto.

Every weekend at 5.30, Kenshin would get up; have a simple meal of rice and pickled vegetables before starting with the chores. After that, then would there actually be training from his sensei. On weekdays, Kenshin could get up anytime he wanted, but he was just enrolled into Tokyo High so he actually had to get up at least by 6. Tokyo High was the reputably the best school in the city and Kenshin was a particularly bright student, if not slightly lazy.

"Do your homework and study hard, or else you would be sent back to Edo and your parents would be terribly disappointed in you, now wouldn't they?" Sensei had advised him. Kenshin even showed the potential to become a swords master, or else sensei would not have picked him. Seijuro Hiko was very particular about his students and he seldom had one even though he was the most sought after swords master in many parts of Japan. He was famous for his Hiten-Mitsurugi style and even tough parents would pay a lot of money just to have their children to be taught by him, he would refuse.

Kenshin never was an early bird. He would sleep in until 6 on weekends. Hiko sensei would do anything to wake him up, even resorting to the old method of "pour a bucket of water over the head", but to no avail. Even with an alarm clock ringing and beeping, Kenshin would be able to sleep through it. But then, school came along and was starting on Monday, and Kenshin wasn't even prepared, "Where's my books? Where's my pencils?" and this would carry on for quite sometime. He would rush up the stairs to get some stuff, come down, dump it in his satchel, then run back up to get more stuff.

Houji sensei had told class 1/8 about a new boy coming. Kaoru had never expected him to be coming this soon. And now, Houji sensei was saying, "Class, pipe down! Be on your best behaviour, there is a new boy coming to our class. He his Himura Kenshin and comes from Edo. He just transferred here a few weeks ago. Please welcome him warmly," he snapped icily. 1-A of Tokyo High was the top class of the Form Ones. They were supposedly to be the brightest class in the school. "Yeah, like he didn't tell us a few days ago," smirked Tsubame. Houji sensei was the most hotheaded teacher in the school, but he was very good in his teaching method, that's why he taught 1-A. And he was totally forgetful, really short termed.

Kenshin entered the classroom wearing the school's uniform, white shirt and navy blue long trousers. He looked at the class and spotted 3 girls whispering. When they noticed him staring, a girl with long hair tied back by a sakura-pink bow blushed and waved her hand slightly. " Now Kenshin, please introduce yourself to the class," Houji sensei said.

"Good morning! I am Himura Kenshin from Edo. I am glad that I was able to join Tokyo High—"before Kenshin could even finish his sentence, Houji sensei interrupted, "Okay, Okay we get the picture, please sit behind Miss Kaoru, Kaoru, would you please stand up," he said sarcastically. Kaoru stood up and pointed to the empty seat behind her. As Kenshin walked past her, he realized it was the girl who had waved at her a few minutes ago. Kenshin smiled at her, as Kaoru blushed and sat down.

"Looks cute, you think?" Tsubame said slyly, "Your type ain't he?"

"Yeah, now coming to think of it, I think he is cute, but he's not my type, I've got my heart set on someone else," Misao replied.

"Yeah, you and your Aoshi-sama," Kaoru smirked. Kaoru turned around to see Kenshin staring at the 3 of them bickering. "Ahem, sorry about that," Kenshin apologized.

"It's okay, I'm Kaoru?" she said warmly. Kaoru extended her hand to shake his.
"Yeah, sensei told me." His hand felt warm and was rather comforting.
"I assume you don't really know this place, would you like us to show you around?" Kaoru asked.

"Ahem, aren't you forgetting the little people?" Misao tried to catch their attention.
"Oh, I totally forgot," Kaoru smacked her head, "this is Tsubame, and Misao. Tsubame waved her hand at the new comer, while Misao was staring dreamily at Aoshi who was sitting behind her. "The people sitting next to you are Soujiro, and Aoshi.

"Cool! New guy, nice to meet you. I was new around here last year. So, how's Kyoto?" Soujiro asked cheerfully. Soon, the six friends were engaged in a lively conversation about Tokyo and Kyoto.

"Misao and company? What do you think you are doing? Trying to get people in to trouble aren't you?" Houji sensei's voice sounded angry, "This is Himura's first day and you are not going to make him miserable, understand? One more time and you are going to get detention!" Misao shook her head and smiled," Don't worry about him. That's the best he can do, empty threats all the time. He's afraid he might be seen by the principal, and get kicked out. You can call it "principal phobia" if you get what I mean."

Kenshin nodded his head as the girls giggled. He surveyed the 5 people around him. Kaoru was a bit on the quiet side, she was very friendly and was quite pretty. Tsubame was quiet and she giggled a lot. Misao was more on the bubbly side, bursting with energy. Soujiro was the cheerful, friendly type, and Aoshi seemed to keep more to himself. "You were saying something about tours around the school?" Kenshin asked Kaoru. "Yup, are you interested?" Kenshin nodded his head," Fine by me, I lost my way coming down the many hallways."
"Yeah, and I got lost trying to go to the toilet..." Soujiro mimicked. He dodged a blow Kaoru was trying to land on him.

"Okay, here's the schedule for this week. We have even and odd weeks, and this week just so happen to be an odd one. School starts at 7.30 every morning; so don't be late. We have loads of breaks and one long recess. Breaks are at 8.30, a long recess from 11.30 to 1, and then the last is at 2. From 2.30 to 3.00, we have announcements and are usually let off early, latest by 3. Our form teacher is Sakura sensei. She's the best teacher we've had so far," Kaoru explained to Kenshin, pointing at the schedule, "I'll help you photocopy one for you. "Thank you very much," Kenshin thanked her.

"No problem. I am here to help!" Kaoru replied with a fake salute. "The coming break is 15 minutes long; the second one at 10 is 20 minutes long. The one at 2 lasts for 30 minutes," Tsubame explained. " We have history, Japanese, maths, science, home economics, foreign language, PE and lastly art. Total: 8 subjects."

Misao cut in," They're not tough, but foreign language is. You either take English or Chinese. I'm taking English, so is the others. Only Takeshi-san over there is the only one in our class who is taking Chinese, because his Dad is Chinese. " Well then, that means my decision is set, I'm taking English," Kenshin replied determinedly, "by the way, how many teachers teach us?"

"Houji sensei teaches us History and science. Sakura sensei teaches us Maths, Japanese, and foreign language. Saitou sensei teaches us PE. Our last teacher is Yumi sensei, she's my aunt too," Soujiro piped. Kenshin stared at the clock and heard some pupils counting down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! A melody started to play over the PA system. Houji sensei stopped teaching and said to the class, do pages 34 to 40 in your History workbook. Class dismissed."

"If you need my help on homework, call me!" Kaoru scribbled her telephone number and house address on a small piece of paper and handed it to Kenshin. "Ooh, looks like Kaoru has a new boyfriend!" Tsubame giggled. Kaoru turned red and yelled at Tsubame, "He is not my boyfriend! Stop it! I am here to help!" she aimed at blow at Tsubame's head. The girls giggled and mimicked her moves. Kaoru sighed; this was going to be a very long day.

"Who's up for one of my rice cakes?" Kaoru called out during the second break. There was a mad scrabble as the four other tries to get one piece. " Why aren't you taking one Kenshin?" Misao asked. " Yeag! Gaoru's rize gakes arz the bez in ze glass!" Soujiro told Kenshin, his mouth full of rice cake. Kenshin was finally persuaded to have one and after taking a small bite he said," Actually, they aren't that bad after all. They even have bits of nori inside! Interesting," Kaoru blushed at the comment behind her half eaten rice cake. After eating them, they went to the washroom to wash their hands." If you don't know how to uses the tap, Aoshi will teach you," Misao teased. " Haha," Kenshin mumbled. A few minutes later, the break was over and they had to go back to the classroom to have their lesson on Japanese. "You're bound to like Sakura sensei!" Aoshi told Kenshin. In the end, the lesson was indeed great and only one piece of homework was given.

During recess, Kaoru decide to show the Kenshin to canteen and get some food. The food was good and reasonably priced. The six of them had a great time talking and eating. "And this is the library, 3 storeys high with computers and really cool Japanese books. They even have Manga comics in here. And it is fully air- conditioned. Want to go in?" Misao explained to Kenshin the school's facilities enthusiastically. Kenshin shook his head and so they proceeded to the next stop, the gym. The gym was two storeys high and there were many people fooling around laughing and chatting. " Want to do the routine we've been practicing?" Tsubame asked Kaoru. " Erm, I don't think that's a good idea, after all, Kenshin is here," Kaoru replied apprehensively.

" Go on, I want to see," Kenshin said encouragingly. In the end the two girls went to get their items, the rope and the ball, while Aoshi, Misao and Soujiro explained that they did gym and Kaoru was also in modern dance and ballet. " So you can say she's multi-talented," Misao said briefly and pointed at them. Kaoru and Tsubame were the top gymnasts in the school, and they usually did double routines. The music started and the girls started dancing. Their routine was perfect with Tsubame ending in a split with the ball balanced on her palm, and Kaoru with her leg up in the air.

Many people cheers and even Kenshin was impressed. " Well done! You go girlfriends!" Misao shouted. "Yeah, it was excellent. I haven't seen such a good performance since my sister's routine a year ago," Kenshin whispered. Kaoru's face was flushed and looked pink, and it wasn't the heat.

It was after school and the six students had packed up and were ready to leave. At the school gate, Soujiro yelled and ran," I've got kendo practice in an hour's time, see you!" Soon, everybody had left leaving Kenshin and Kaoru alone.

" So, erm, what are you going to be doing this afternoon?" Kenshin asked nervously." Oh, I've got dance classes to attend and I think it's on the way back to your house," Kaoru replied shyly.

" So, you want to walk with me?" Kenshin asked. Kaoru nodded her head as they walked down the road. " How long have you been dancing?"

" Bout the age of 3. I always loved dancing." For the rest of the walk, the duo kept quiet, keeping their distances. After 20 minutes of walking, Kaoru pointed at a small centre with dance posters all over the place.

"Here's where I leave. Do you want to come in and watch? My teacher's French and so herz Japaneeze is horriblergh," Kaoru mimicked her teacher. Kenshin laughed," No thanks. I've got loads of homework to do."

Kaoru entered the small dance studio and went to the washrooms to change. There were two glass doors and a small room between the air- conditioned studio and outside. This was where the students left their shoes and bags. Kenshin sat on one of the benches resting. All he could think of was Kaoru.

Kaoru soon came out in her dance clothes: a loose shirt and a pair of short tights. She started her preparation exercises before joining the rest of the class. " Now Grande jete, plie, pirouette and pose," Miss Pinze said," keep them coming girls, by the time you're finished in my class, you will all become prima ballerinas! And Kaoru please bend slightly lower for the plie."

After a "few" minutes of watching Kaoru, Kenshin took his leave and walked back home. She's very beautiful and delicate at the same time, Kenshin thought, she was definitely a good dancer, if not the best, and she had a nice character too. Kenshin thought about Kaoru so much he almost hit a tree twice. By the time he was home, it was 4 o'clock. An hour to walk home. Fascinating.