A/n Hello Everyone! Yep this is yet another new story. I'm pretty sure I'm digging myself into a hole posting so many new stories. Eh, I like to punish myself I guess.
My two new stories seem to be doing alright, their first chapters got great reviews. The reviews dropped off on their second chapters though. I'm not sure if the stories are something people are willing to read. If you haven't, please hop over to "Steam" And "A Page and her Knight" And give them a read and let me know what you think.
This is also a Kenshin/Kaoru fantasy. But it's modern day, less epic, and a bit of Slice of Life. The rating WILL go up. Mostly for violence and physical and sexual abusive acts. Nothing hardcore but possibly upsetting for some.
Note: Even though this is a fantasy I TRIED to keep this as realistic as possible. However, I've never been to Japan, sadly. I did do research to try and seem like I know what I'm writing about, but I really don't haha. So please don't kill me for making very obvious mistakes. Gomen.
Kaoru swallowed hard, shifted her messenger bag on her shoulder and rubbed her sweaty hands on her blue and white plaid skirt. With a deep breath, then a second, Kaoru reached for the cool metal handle and gave it a turn.
She had a moment for her eyes to fall on the teacher when the older woman turned to her class.
"Ah, it seems our transfer student has arrived." She said to them.
Were they expecting her? Kaoru pushed to door wider and stepped inside the sun-lit room. Twenty-three pairs of eyes turned to her at once. Kaoru fought the blush that threatened, but heat pooled at the apples of her cheeks. All she could do was hope that she wasn't beet red. The teacher was bubbly and happy, a little younger than Kaoru had expected. She grabbed Kaoru and arranged her up front and center.
"I'm Mrs. Kurokawa, please, introduce yourself."
This was the first time Kaoru had ever transferred. She had often wondered what the transfer student thought about having to stand here in front of everyone and now here she was one of them. Thankfully, it was only three weeks into the school year; it would have been many times harder if she had come further into the semester. Even so, she could feel the blush in her cheeks starting to spread. But she tipped her chin up and gave a bow to the class. "I'm Kamiya Kaoru; it's nice to meet you." She straightened up. The girls she noticed, had already lost interest, the boys, however, took a few more moments to look her over.
Typical.
With her blue tartan, white blouse, blue blazer and her long hair tied in a pony-tail with a large blue ribbon…she didn't look much different than the next girl. But she was different, she was the new girl.
"Wonderful! Welcome to Abiko High School class 4b, 11th year." Mrs. Kurokawa nearly clapped as she directed her to a desk by one of the large windows. "Your seat is here beside Miss Sekihara here."
Kaoru smiled a slight tip of the lips at the girl as she stepped up to her desk. Her neighbor had light brown hair in a ponytail and she smiled brightly and gave her a slight wave filled with barely held in enthusiasm. This made Kaoru feel a little better as she slid into the seat. The girl leaned towards her.
"Hi!" She whispered. "I'm Tae."
"Hi." Kaoru said in a softer whisper as the teacher turned to write on the blackboard. This was enough for her to become Tae's best friend it seemed. The girl smile grew if that was possible and she seemed almost giddy as she turned back to the front of the class.
Kaoru slid down slightly in her seat. There was a boy sitting in front of her, and another girl behind her, but they both ignored her as Mrs. Kurokawa turned back to the students.
"We'll practice our English today by reading a classic novel." The teacher's voice faded to a slight drone and Kaoru tuned her out.
The worst part was over, it seemed. The introduction at the front of the class. Before she had always felt sorry for the transfer students when they had to stand up in front of everyone and mumble basic information about themselves. Seems things were simpler here. And though it looked as if everyone already forgot about her, except for maybe Tae, she knew the next hardest part was yet to come. Lunch hour.
… . . …
"So why did you move here?" Tae asked as she popped her chopsticks in her mouth.
"Yeah." Chirped a second girl. She was a 10th-year student named Misao. She had impossibly long hair and a body that reminded Kaoru of a pixie. But she had a bright smile and was nice despite her increased volume, voice wise. The three girls lounged in the grass under the shade of a tree. So far, lunch hour was going nice and smooth. Sure there were a few curious glances from the groups around her, a few more welcomes from students not in her class, but otherwise not as bad as she thought.
She had been surprised that the school was taking their lunch outside. It was common practice for schools to have lunch in their home room. Tae had informed her that their school liked to let kids outside when the weather was nice. Kaoru took the opportunity to enjoy the fresh chilly spring air and sunlight. It wouldn't be long before it got hot, humid, and rainy.
"Well, my father is a swordsmanship instructor. He was offered a job at the Dekon Dojo." Kaoru answered as she picked at the rice noodles and vegetables she had packed for her lunch.
The eyes of both girls went wide. "Oh, that's a popular dojo…lots of people try to get a job there." Tae stated.
"Yeah, what style does your father teach? Must be something crazy for Dekon to take him on." Misao added as she stuffed a small silver morsel of something that looked strangely like a tiny fish of some sort, into her mouth.
"My father teaches his own style. It's called the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu…it's a style that stresses defense and protection."
Tae's expression showed that she was impressed though she had little idea what was said. Misao, on the other hand, whistled low.
"Defense and protection, not much of that. No wonder he was hired. Hey, you should join the school's sword fighting club, Kamiya Sempai." Misao bounced in place. "Are you into sword fighting?"
Kaoru shrugged one shoulder. "Well yeah, but I don't know if I want to join a school activity or not. And please call me Kaoru."
"Well, we're starting sword-fighting in gym anyway." Tae added. "They sorted us out by skill yesterday. The sword-fighting club is being brought in to help.
Misao pouted. "Lucky 11th years." She stuck her tongue out, but both girls only fell into giggles.
Kaoru smiled a real, relaxed smile this time as she watched the two of them. "When is gym class?"
"Last hour." Tae informed.
… . . …
Kaoru found herself sitting in the school's large gym. The air was cold from the powerful air conditioning. She tugged self-consciously at the blue gym shorts and glanced down at the plain white shirt that made up her gym uniform. It wasn't much different than the one she wore at her own school. Students from classes 3b and her own 4b sat on the bleachers as they waited for the gym instructor to start class. At the moment he and three other boys from the two classes were pulling thick blue mats across the gym floor. Tae was chatting cheerfully beside her as Kaoru half listened as she quickly weaved her hair into a thick braid. Across the gym sat a few other students in school uniform. Tae pointed them out with a tip of her head.
"Those are mostly seniors who don't have a last hour class." She informed.
"Why don't they just go home?"
"Well some have after school activities, some stay to watch the activities too, or they wait for a younger sibling to get out of class."
Kaoru nodded. Her old school was a little smaller than this one. Though everything seemed the same, the after school actives and clubs seemed to draw a crowd of kids who had nothing better to do. That was fine with her. Kaoru glanced over at the groups again. They were almost all boys, but a few girls here and there. Two female upperclassmen had their heads together, whispering even though they sat at the bottom of the bleachers away from most everyone else who sat on the top half.
A whistle screamed shrilly, bringing Kaoru's attention as well as everyone else to the instructor. "Quiet down! Let's start class!" He called. But Kaoru's attention was held for only a moment as a door to the gym opened and in walked a dozen students dressed in deep blue gi's and white Hakamas, they carried bundles of wooden swords and bamboo bokkens. One student caught her eye, and it wasn't hard to see why. He had blazing red hair.
"Who are they?" Kaoru whispered to Tae. Across from her, she could hear the two senior girls failing miserably at trying to hold in their squeals.
"Oh! Those are some of the students in the sword-fighting club. Remember I was telling you about them?"
"Oh, yes, they are going to help with the sword-fighting lesson today." Kaoru nodded. Try as she might, she couldn't keep her eyes from wandering back to the red-head as he and the other teens set the equipment down and started to arrange the blue mats. His hair was long, impossibly long for a boy. Wasn't there a rule in the dress code for boys with long hair? And why was it so crimson? It couldn't really be his real hair color, could it? Even if one of his parents was a westerner with red hair, she had never seen such a color. It was tied tightly into a top knot, though the rest of his hair fell far below his shoulders. The top knot, as well as the sharp angles of his face, gave him a stern look.
Suddenly the instructor's body blocked her view. Startled Kaoru jerked back and looked upwards as he looked down at her. He bent at the hips just slightly.
"Ah, you must be the new transfer student. I'm coach Imuhiku…but everyone calls me Coach Imu."
"Kamiya Kaoru." She said back.
He had a tight, buzz-cut hair, but friendly eyes and a goofy big smile. His blue and white track suit had a large embroidered emblem at his chest pocket, the school's emblem. "We sorted all the students yesterday, it won't take but a moment to get you sorted too." He glanced over his shoulder. "Um….eh, Himura!"
"Uh-oh." Tae whispered as Coach Imu turned to walk to the red-headed teen.
"Take the new girl and see where she needs to be." The Coach said. The teen glanced over at her, just a jerk of the eyes really and gave a sharp nod. The coach turned to call over his shoulder. "Kamiya! Come over here, you're going to spar, don't worry, it's just to see your strengths and weaknesses, so we know what to work on!"
Kaoru stood and glanced at her fellow classmates. She was suddenly the center of attention. Some looked ready to burst into laughter, others shook their heads, a look of pity on their faces. She past one boy and overheard him whisper to another girl.
"He's gonna cripple the new girl, I didn't even get to talk to her yet." Other whispers joined in.
"Man that's not fair."
"This'll be fun to watch."
"Ten to one he puts that chick in the hospital."
"You can do it Kaoru!"
That last voice was from Tae, who shouted, throwing her fist into the air. Kaoru finally made it around the students, off of the bleachers and onto the gym floor. She quickly walked to the coach and the red-headed teen.
"This is Kenshin Himura. Himura this is Kamiya Kaoru, a transfer student."
"Hi." Kaoru said shyly. Now that she was closer, she was surprised to find the teen almost as short as she was, and his face didn't seem as angular as before, more feminine. He had a slightly faded scar that went from temple to chin across his cheek. Yet his lips were hard and his face nearly expressionless…but his eyes! Oh, his eyes were large and the strangest lavender color. Kaoru found herself staring. He stole a glance at her before turning his full attention back to the coach.
"The wooden swords or the bokkens?" Kenshin asked.
Imu thought for a moment. "The bokkens."
The teen gave a second curt nod and turned to the equipment as the coach wandered away looking at a chart of names and started calling the other students down one by one. Behind her, her classmates were abuzz of hardly contained whispers.
Kaoru's heart started to pound, her hands were getting sweaty again and she quickly rubbed them down the sides of her shorts before Kenshin returned with two bokken swords, one for her and one for himself. He held one out to her without a word. She took it.
"Thanks." She said, lifting her face high. This was a spar; he was her opponent, nothing to worry about.
"Relax, I'll go easy." He said over his shoulder as he walked a few paces away.
Go easy? What was that supposed to mean? Kaoru's face started to burn. She glared at the back of his head as she took the sword and fell into stance. Was it because she was new? Or was it because she was a girl? The students on the bleachers had been called to pair off and start sparring, but most took their sweet time, their eyes glued to her and Kenshin, wanting to see the outcome.
"No blows above the shoulder or the crotch." Kenshin stated as he turned, bokken up and ready.
"Alright, Himura." Coach Imu called a moment before his whistle gave a scream.
Kenshin lunged and he was fast. Kaoru lunged as well and blocked his swing to her side. It was a lazy attack, too easy. This only fanned the burning fuse of her temper. She dropped her bokken and lunged again before Kenshin could recover from the failed attack. "Hiya!" She swung at his legs, catching him at the knee. She followed through, easily knocking the legs out from under the teen. Kenshin went down in a billow of blue fabric and red hair.
The gym was silent as Kaoru straightened up. She glanced around. The students froze, even the other sword-fighting club members watched with open mouths. A second glance confirmed that even the seniors on the other side of the gym had been stunned into silence. The two whispering girls sat, one was so dumbstruck, she could only gesture with her hands while her mouth flapped uselessly, the other…a girl with straight black hair, pale skin, and gray eyes glared pure hatred at her. It was so strong that Kaoru felt a chill run down her spine as she looked away and back to her red-headed opposite. Almost at once she regretted her action, her temper sizzled out at once.
She watched as Kenshin climbed to his feet and was surprised to see those pressed lips start tipping upward in a smile as he straightened up. His hard eyes now seemed to dance in amusement.
"Very good." He said. "I've seemed to have underestimated you."
"Yes." Was all Kaoru could croak out. Slowly, life returned to those around her. Now a flurry of excited whispers went up as the students rushed to their places. "I…I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let my guard down around a newcomer. It was my fault I assumed little from you, that I did."
He didn't look at all embarrassed at being put on his backside by a stranger girl in front of his peers. Instead his sheepishness came in the form of his own mistake. But then Kaoru's brows knitted together. "You thought little of me?"
Purple eyes snapped open even wider. "Oh, no, not like that." He waved his hand in front of him in denial.
But Kaoru's temper fizzled out again. "Don't worry about it, it's alright, I know what you meant." Even though she had no clue. "Let's try again." She fell back into stance.
The serious face slipped back on as he too fell back into stance, but his eyes kept dancing. It distracted her. Kenshin lunged again and attacked. He swung harder, faster this time and Kaoru blocked the blow to her ribs again. The force of the bokkens striking each other sent vibrations to her hands and wrists and down her arms. But Kaoru didn't have time to dwell on the numbness the strike induced, for Kenshin grabbed her wrist and spun her around and pushed at the same time. Kaoru felt herself turn and fall, landing hard on her side on the blue mat. Gasping, she looked up and found Kenshin crouched in attack mode with both his and her bokken in his hands.
Somewhere a few boys whistled, the two senior girls clapped insanely, like it was the most impressive thing they had ever seen. And it was impressive.
At once Kenshin shifted one bokken to his other hand and he reached down to help her back on her feet. "You alright?"
"I'm fine!" Kaoru said, a little too loudly and she found her feet again. "Wow, I didn't even see you move. I've never been disarmed that way before."
Coach Imu stepped up and slapped Kenshin on the shoulder. "Himura here is a natural, been training since he was seven years old. Instructed by an old drunken master, right Himura?"
She pretended not to notice the slight flush that flashed across his cheeks.
"You looked good out there." The Coach turned his attention back to her. "You've been sword-fighting before. In your old school?"
"M-my father is an Instructor, he works at the Dekon Dojo now. That's why we moved here." She saw how they both had wide eyes for a moment.
"So you've had experience," Imu said. "Good." He slapped Kenshin again. "Himura here can be your partner for this month. You're the only student with experience enough. It wouldn't be fair to put you against your classmates." He chuckled as if it was funny. "You two play nice." He said as he turned to join the rest of the class.
A/n I've never been the New Kid in school. I think the anxiety of it would have killed me. I was painfully shy as a child. I was from a small school so the new kids were always instantly popular. If the new kid was from out of state our minds would be blown. Ah, small town life.
Anyway, Woo! Kaoru sure showed Kenshin...kinda. She's not as good as he is but good enough to catch his attention, that's for sure. None of the fantasy element in this chapter, but soon, hehe.
If you liked the story please give a review. Any questions, please ask, I'll always try and answer them. Thank you for reading!
