I'm trying to push myself and do a dreaded high school fic, just a short one. Let's see how this goes. If it isn't horrible I might try RK rave scenario oneshot. Seriously. Man, trying to remember what it was like to be 16 and mostly I just remember it being exhausting.

One more chapter after this one. Like I said, super short. T for bad language.

Mulling over a GaaSaku continuation as well, for those of you that like Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. You would know if I did because Rurouni Kenshin would have ended very differently.

Kaoru made it to lunch before she lost it this time. Yahiko had been trailing after her as usual trying to get her to promise to play doubles with him so he didn't have to get paired up with Tsubame again, (he was useless when they were on the court together) but she just didn't have it in her to hold her emotions in check today. Opening her locker, she spared the barest of glances at the mirror she had mounted inside and saw her red eyes with the bags under them. No amount of makeup could hide it from herself.

"Go away, brat!" She gave his shoulder a push and he practically flew into the person next to them. Yahiko gave her that look that she was going to hear about this from Kenshin soon enough, but he had to know she didn't mean to push him that hard! The kid had to barely weigh as much as her, and the huge backpack he wore made him top heavy. The dumb freshman tattled on her for everything to Kenshin, and then she'd have to talk to him. Oh god, she'd rather just skip tennis practice today than talk to Kenshin.

"Kenshin is going to tell you the same thing. I wouldn't bug you but he said I should partner with you. He thinks you can actually teach me some things, which is totally crazy!"

"Maybe I don't want to come to practice today. You'll just have to cope." She sounded childish, she didn't care. Her bag of lunch was crumpled in the back of her locker and even though she was hungry she left it there as she rearranged her books. They were in good enough order already but Kaoru needed to do something with her hands before she lashed out for no reason.

From the way he was turning red Yahiko was about to say something he would regret. "You're just afraid people will see your fat legs, ugly!"

Already on edge Kaoru's eye gave all of one twitch before she dropped her algebra book and lunged for him, hands like claws. They went down together and she knew she was yelling random obscenities when someone pulled her off of the kid who took the opportunity to pick himself off the floor and make a run for it. Surprisingly it wasn't a teacher, as she feared, but Sano. It just had to be one of Kenshin's friends-she would have preferred the teacher.

"Take a breather and chill!" Strong from basketball, he held her in place until her rage was just a quiver in her muscles. Without the anger she could feel the tears beginning to threaten behind her eyes and she fought the burning sensation. "You're lucky I'm here, you could have been in real trouble! Trust me." He'd been hauled into the office enough times for fighting, and she had never seen someone serve so many consecutive detentions last year. For being such a nice guy, the junior had some anger issues of his own to work through but he was making progress. Another disciple of Kenshin.

"I'm fine, let me go."

"Want me to go get Megumi, you like you need someone to talk to…" and he was not volunteering for the task. Normally Megumi's sharp tongue and clever observations made her laugh, but she was the last person she wanted seeing her right now.

Picking up her book now that the hallway had cleared out with small circles of friends chatting on their way to the cafeteria or the field, Kaoru looked up into Sano's brown doe-eyes and resisted the urge to run. Kaoru knew that if she ran Sano would chase her down with those long legs of his and it would just be another reason for Kenshin to come talk to her. That was entirely unacceptable. Kenshin couldn't solve all her problems, even if he wanted to try his hand at it. She was not a little sister for him to come flying to her rescue at every little bump in her day.

Straightening out her favorite purple band tee and brushing off her jeans, she collected herself together and announced the one thing she knew would get rid of Sano quickly.

"I'm fine, just go eat lunch. I need to go to the bathroom." Slamming her locker closed, Sano watched her go until she rounded the corner to the ladies' room. Just about everyone was at lunch and she had no one there competing for a mirror as she redid her high ponytail. Even if she liked it long she admitted she needed a trim as she felt how dried out it was. The split ends she saw made her cringe and her bangs were starting to obscure her eyes.

More makeup would be useless, she just looked tired. All the more reason she needed a strong front. Even when life falls down around you, you can't give up. Her dad told her that and to do anything less than succeed would be an insult to him, don't try when you can do. He was expecting her to be a daughter he could be proud of. Cringing, she reframed her thoughts in that slow deliberate way she had had to reframe her words the past month. He had expected her to be a daughter he was proud of. Past tense.

"Shit." The tears had started before she had even noticed and she could hear some girls rounding the bend towards the stalls. There was no time so she swiped at her wet cheeks and kept her head down as she practically barreled into them on her way out.

Unthinking, she twisted down the rest of the sophomore hallway and past the junior hallway only to take a side door that opened to the back of the building, next to the gym, and eventually to the field outside. She wasn't in the mood for soccer; she just wanted to be alone. A cement staircase that led up to a second floor door looked like a good place to hide and cry, and she was rounding the corner at full speed when she skidded to a stop on the bald soles of her yellow tennis shoes.

"Kamiya," the word hissed through his teeth along with the smoke from the cigarette he was exhaling.

"Yukishiro." She had thought he was suspended, or expelled, but she supposed the Yukishiros had enough money to keep him out of trouble. His platinum hair was starting to turn black at the roots but he didn't look any less alien with his aqua eyes pinning her to the floor. There was no way his eyes were that color, but she doubted he would wear contacts and glasses both.

"You had your look now shove off." He took a drag of his cigarette and leaned back more on the cement steps, elbows propping him up, arm muscles bulging below his rolled up sleeves. Sinfully handsome, it was marred by a bad attitude and multiple almost scrapes with the law. Just because he hadn't been caught yet didn't mean he wouldn't be eventually.

His sudden dismissal banished her tears neatly and all Kaoru could really think was that if she had been spoiling for a fight, here was someone who would give it to her. No one would break it up or tell her to be sensible or calm down. Kaoru could well and truly lose it here, with this villain, and who would blame her? Drawn to his darkness, her sorrow channeled to rage.

"Where are you friends? They all finally get kicked out?"

Enishi had been staring at the clear fall sky and continued to do so as he shrugged expressively from his prone position. She apparently didn't even warrant his attention yet. Well, Kaoru was going to get her release now that smashing tennis balls couldn't put a dent in her mourning.

"Daddy not rich enough to bail them all out?" Enishi looked up at that, startled that she would talk about his family's influence so brazenly. He sat up slowly, eyes narrowed at her. If anyone looked like a predator, it was this man, and she had his full attention now.

"Shall we talk about fathers, Kamiya, because if memory serves me you don't have one anymore." He emphasized his shot to her heart with a flick of his cigarette in her direction. It rolled to a stop right by her foot, and she stomped on it so hard it shock the ground a little.

The tears wanted to burn but she stuffed them back into her throat and ground out a response instead. "Fuck you, Enishi."

"I'd consider it," he said with a manic grin as he lay back down to stare at the sky.

She could feel the sob in her throat and as if she could get revenge for that display of weakness she stepped forward and kicked him hard in the shin, right above his combat boots. He came alive so fast she would have sworn he was inhuman. Kenshin had told her to watch out for Enishi before, and she hadn't really given any weight to that warning until now. He was a bogeyman, a name people gossiped about. Everyone knew he was in a gang. Everyone knew he did drugs. Everyone knew he was an evil person. Everyone knew it so it had to be true, and today Kaoru wanted to dance with the devil.

"Even if you're a cop's kid, he can't help you now. I'll tear you apart." He was practically on top of her, and all that was behind her was a ledge and a two story drop onto asphalt. Enishi was a head taller than her, taller than a seventeen year old had a right to be she thought, and in his army surplus pants and shirt he looked like a soldier on edge.

"Do it!" She didn't care, she wanted to invite pain in. After a month of crying and not sleeping, of ignoring looks of pity and dodging questions about her health she was ready for something real. She wanted a bruise she could watch heal, instead of feeling one inside she wasn't sure ever would. Her father may have taken the bullet but Kaoru got all the pain from it. "Hit me, I dare you."

There were the tears again, streaming down her face uninvited. A very wet sniffle followed soon after which she indulged in rather than have the snot drip out of her nose. He was going to do it, she saw his muscles clench and she braced for it with open eyes. Then all at once she saw something in his demeanor shift and he withdrew from her to crouch back by the stairs she had found him on. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it as he spoke to her without looking.

"Crazy bitch. Get out of here before I change my mind."

Shaking, crying, enraged and unsatisfied even if she was also relieved she said the first thing that came to her mind. "Coward."

As she retreated from his back she was waved off with his upraised middle finger.

"And I can see your roots!" she yelled, as if that were some sort of comeback. She would smash her face into her pillow that night over how stupid she sounded later.

"Kaoru!"

She stifled a groan as Misao came barreling out of nowhere, braid flapping behind her, once Kaoru stepped out of history class. There was still practice to dodge and Kenshin was so darn fast he would find her if Misao was chattering at her. Usually Kaoru could just point in a random direction and claim Aoshi was there and Misao would take off like a hound after a fox but Kaoru saw the gleam in her eye and knew she wasn't going to shake her so easily.

"I heard from Taki who heard it from Sakura who heard it from Shina who was bringing the soccer balls out to the field from the gym that he saw you talking to Enishi Yukishiro. You have to tell me if it's true or not or I think I'm going to die!" Misao pulled at the corner of her short skirt, a nervous gesture that usually made Kaoru laugh, but today nothing seemed funny.

"You're not going to die…" Kaoru was trying to move to her locker in a sideways scurry while practically whispering to Misao around the din of end of school activities.

Misao got all breathless. "So it's true!"

"I didn't say that." Kaoru hastily entered her combination, wishing her fingers to fly faster around the lock.

"So it's not true?" Misao looked incredibly disappointed at this thought, her cherubic face twisted into a frown. She looked a lot younger than sixteen and normally Kaoru would redirect by pointing that out and getting into a mock fight, but misdirection sounded too tiring and she might as well come clean.

"I didn't say that either." The excited shriek Misao gave was cut off as she clapped a hand over her own mouth.

Kaoru wasn't moving fast enough, and she spared a quick glance at the mirror in her locker before pounding her hand down on the base of it in frustration. His red hair was visible before he was, and Miaso naturally stepped aside as did many other sophomores who couldn't believe a senior would even appear in their hallway. Kenshin was as handsome as always, his smiling face answered by smiles all around him. Star of the tennis team, most popular guy in school, humble, nice, and oh so out of her league. As usual, Kaoru's heart ached to even be seen by him.

"Hi Kenshin…" Her voice thinned out, sounding weird. She was as incapable of being normal around him as she was of stopping the rapid beat of her heart.

"Kaoru, I heard some really troubling things today and I wanted to make sure you were ok." Nothing but shining sincerity, and a warm hand on her shoulder. He was no dummy, he knew exactly what went on today because Sano would have told him, and he had probably heard the Enishi rumor too but his first question would always be about her. She had learned last year that his selfless concern was not for her alone, and the only person that ever caught his attention the way she had wished to was Enishi's sister. And Tomoe was too perfect to be real. Kaoru couldn't compete with perfection.

Waving him away with a weak smile, Kaoru tried to ignore Misao practically oscillating with excitement next to her. "I'm just not feeling good today, I'm going to head home."

"You know you're always welcome to come back to the team when you're ready. You have my number right? You can talk to me anytime, you know that right?" The whole team had his number, and a month ago she might have melted into a puddle of happiness that he had spoken to her let alone asked her to text him. But this Kaoru, brittle and angry, felt cheated. This moment was supposed to be a triumph and instead all she could think of was Enishi's middle finger waving at her from the stairs.

She shrugged out from under his hand and gave her best attempt at a smile. "I know. I'll talk to you later Misao." Kaoru shut her locker with finality and took long strides towards the exit. She needed to get out of here, and fast, before Kenshin's kind smile broke her. Misao sputtered, telling her to wait, but Kaoru lengthened her strides as if she hadn't heard.

If she was home before dark her mom would say something. Kaoru needed to keep the same schedule so that she wouldn't know she had stopped going to practice. The tennis courts weren't an option, and since it was getting darker in the evenings she couldn't very well go to the park and text like she had been doing. School was safer, but she knew too many people and she didn't want to talk to them either. Almost with a mind of their own her feet brought her to the base of the steps from earlier. Secluded, no one would bother her here, and there was no possible chance she would encounter Enishi again.

"You again, what is your problem?" It seemed lightning could strike twice.

"Do you even go to school here? I mean, do you have classes or do you just sit here all day?" No longer on the edge of tears, she let her resentment show through. "Never mind, I don't care." Hefting her messenger bag onto the opposite hip, Kaoru turned to walk back down the stairs and away from Yukishiro. She was mumbling curses and digging in her bag for her phone when she heard steps from behind her. Unconsciously, Kaoru sped up, but it wasn't too long before out of the corner of her eye she spied a shock of white hair. Damn his long legs.

"What's the hurry, Kamiya?" She turned quickly to watch him push his glasses up his nose. It was a shame he was such a bad person when he had such a handsome face. His sister looked like a model, too, all pale flawless skin and long dark hair. The younger brother was like her opposite, with tanned skin and his bleached hair, and as spiteful as she was selfless.

"Don't you have some petty theft to commit? Leave me alone." Brave words, when she didn't feel very brave. The sports fields were just a scream away but she wasn't sure she'd even get a scream out with Enishi involved. Aoshi would be out there, he might even remember who she was and come help.

That same crazy grin lit his face. "You wound me Kamiya. To assume I would engage in petty theft."

She made a disgusted noise and turned sharply in the other direction. He followed her easily, so close his arm almost brushed hers. Continuing to dig into her bag again she finally pulled out her phone triumphantly.

"I need to make a call." She stopped walking and gave him her patented death glare. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he said, as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, obviously waiting for her to continue. "Pretend I'm not here."

"I'm trying." Kaoru grit out. Tapping out a quick s.o.s. to Kenshin all she got out was Help, behind south gym, ENISHI before she noticed he was nosing over to try to see what she was doing. She firmly hit send while he was watching and then looked at him as if she expected him to do something.

Laughter was not what she expected. "Calling in the cavalry, all because of little ol' me? Why Kamiya, I'm almost flattered." He blew smoke in her face, making her cough, and she pushed him away from her. Solid as a rock, he grabbed her wrist and snarled. "You have a bad habit of thinking you can push me around."

"Let me go!"

"Or what, you'll use some of that cop judo your daddy taught you? Guess you'll have to teach yourself now."

His words cut deeper than the punishing grip on her wrist, and she twisted out of his hand while giving him a ringing slap. He could have dodged it easily, but he didn't. "You're horrible. Go to hell!"

"Already there, Kamiya, if you only knew." Angry and red where her palm had connected, he shot her a feral look. In the distance she could hear Kenshin's yell and she watched him charge in like a white knight. There was something in Enishi's expression that made her pause because it was so familiar, and then like a flash he was gone, scaling the chain fence next to the parking lot like it hardly existed and gone from sight before Kenshin could even see if she was ok.

"Kaoru! Are you ok? I thought you had gone home already." Kenshin's words spilled out of him as he caught his breath. He had sprinted over and he was poised as if he wanted to go after Enishi, but other than a few searching glances in the direction of the fence he stayed put. In the distance she saw Yahiko running towards them. Kaoru certainly didn't need any more attention than she had just gotten and her skin was crawling with the desire to get the heck out of school.

As usual, Kenshin's presence had melted down Kaoru's brain and all she could sputter out was the first lie that occurred to her, "I thought I had a ride, but I didn't. I just… ran into Enishi. What's his problem anyway?" It didn't explain why she was behind the gym, and it was so flimsy even she couldn't believe she'd said it, but here she was with Kenshin making soothing circles on her back. Touched by Kenshin twice in one day and all she could manage was the tiniest spark of enthusiasm, oh how far she had fallen from her old self.

Yahiko and Kenshin entered into a very serious discussion next to her in which her name was mentioned a lot but she totally tuned it out as she thought about Enishi's devastated face. It was the same look she gave herself in the morning when she got up: hating the world and hating herself. That she could share something in common with Enishi Yukishiro that had seemed so personal and private until seconds ago shook something in her core. If the world had shifted under her feet, she gave no indication other than a considering stare at the cement staircase.

"Earth to Kaoru, hey!" Yahiko waved a hand in front of her face but when he started snapping in front of her she rolled her eyes and actually started to listen to him. He was ridiculous in his neon yellow tennis shorts and school jersey. It was hard to feel like you had been in danger when someone like Yahiko was part of your rescue operation. "Kenshin just talked to Tomoe and she's going to give you a ride home. She said she wants to talk to you anyway."

Kenshin made his excuses once he was off the phone, but as captain of the team he really needed to get back to tennis practice. Yahiko said he'd wait until Tomoe got out of the after school program where she tutored children. Kaoru wanted to just run home, but her insistence that she could walk or catch a bus was met with gentle but firm resistance. Tomoe was going to drive her and that was the end of it. As usual it was impossible to say no to Kenshin.

"You just didn't want to have to play with Tsubame, did you?" Kaoru said with a smile when Kenshin was out of hearing distance.

"Shut up, ugly," Yahiko said, but there was no force behind his words.

It was a BMW, and it smelled new. Both of those things alone made Kaoru not want to set foot in Tomoe's small car. No doubt a present from her lawyer step-mother and politician father, Kaoru knew that she'd be bussing it until she could afford to buy her own car. Every now and then Sano or Megumi would pick her up in their respective beater cars, but she always felt safer on a bus. Sano's brakes made weird shrieking noises and Megumi drove like she was invincible.

Elegantly, because Tomoe did everything with elegance, she gestured for Kaoru to climb in while Yahiko tried not to let his eyes fall out of his head. He was star struck by Tomoe the way Kaoru used to be by Kenshin. Whatever inside of her had been damaged, she wondered if she'd get it back to normal or if she was just broken now. Death seemed so unfair, just as it was unfair she couldn't remember the last time she told her dad she loved him. In retrospect she hoped she had said it that day. He had to have known.

Once Kaoru was buckled up, Tomoe gave her a slight smile and shifted into drive.

"Kenshin said that Enishi approached you today." The car moved with barely a purr from the engine. Definitely a new car. Tomoe's voice was smooth and even, and Kaoru wished she could look and sound as adult as the Yukishiro girl.

Kaoru maintained silence until the first red light, while Tomoe waited with infinite patience. "Sort of. Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"I understand he might have… assaulted you."

Thinking back on it she supposed it technically counted, but she was the one who had hit him first today. Twice even, and she was the one who had approached him both times as well. It would be a messy he said she said if she tried to take it to any other level and she just didn't want to bother. Kaoru could handle herself just fine.

"He got a little hands on, but I think he just wanted to scare me." She could have said more but she didn't want to have to detail anything. The weird kinship she had felt to him made her protective of her memories, unreasonably so.

Tomoe visibly eased as she leaned back into her leather seat. A small sigh let Kaoru know the paragon of virtue had been holding her breath. "Enishi has been… troubled… for some time now."

Kaoru couldn't help but mumble, "Tell me about it," before she blushed and looked down at her lap. She knew a little bit about their family, and her sarcasm probably wasn't very kind.

"It's a right here, correct?"

"Yeah."

There was another stretch of silence and Kaoru stole a couple looks at Tomoe. Up this close she couldn't even see a pore, and her skin was impossibly fair and glowing. If ever Kaoru felt inferior, it was at this moment. Kenshin seemed a million miles away from her, with Tomoe in between them and she couldn't even hate the girl like she wanted to when she was being so decent. Tomoe was a princess from a fairy tale, and Kenshin was a match for her in every way. If Tomoe had a flaw it might be that she was a poor conversationalist. It was weird to Kaoru that there was no music on, no talk radio, no noise, no anything. The stillness was oppressive.

They pulled up in front of Kaoru's old house. None of the lights were on and the sun had already set, making the creaky family home look deserted. The ache in Kaoru's chest intensified and she knew this was what she had wanted to avoid today.

"Hey, thanks for the ride home. I'll try to stay away from Enishi."

"Kaoru," Tomoe's voice was slightly urgent and she was surprised the girl even remembered her name. "I'm afraid now that you have his attention and he knows you're Kenshin's friend he might try something. He hates Kenshin so much…"

Every pause in Tomoe's sentences seemed loaded. Kaoru had heard the rumors, but who knows what the truth was. Some people said he was in love with his sister. Some people said he'd accused Kenshin of abusing Tomoe. Everyone agreed Enishi was a nutjob. Whatever had gone on two years ago when Enishi was a freshman and the whole problem began was a matter for their permanent records and parent-teacher meetings. All she knew was that her dad had been there the night the police had been called, but all he had said at the time was that people were making a big deal out of a fist fight between a couple of teenagers.

"He acts as though I don't exist at home. I'm practically dead to him. So I can't help you."

"I don't need anyone's help." Kaoru said brashly. She hated feeling like a victim, and she was regretting texting Kenshin for help when she should have just punched Enishi in the face properly and showed him she wasn't going to be bullied by the likes of him. This whole day was a mistake, maybe getting out of bed had been the mistake. "Thanks again for the ride."

Tomoe looked like she wanted to say more, but Kaoru was out of the car like a shot and had her phone in hand before she even made it to her dark front door and push it open. It was unlocked, something her dad never would have tolerated, but it was always unlocked these days.

"Hey mom, I'm home," Kaoru tried to put some strength behind her words. "I'll heat up some dinner in a sec!"

Her mother sat in the dark living room, TV flickering as she almost catatonically watched whatever was on. Today it was the nature channel, but Kaoru knew her mother didn't care what meerkats did in their spare time. Ever since dad had died her mom had retreated into depression so far Kaoru might as well have lost two parents. If it weren't for all the food that people from the precinct and the community had brought them Kaoru would have had to order out every night, as god knew Kaoru couldn't cook to save her life. She had forced herself to love casserole in all its forms.

The quick text she had shot to Misao was almost instantly answered by five more all with multiple exclamation marks. She reassured her friend that she was fine and they'd talk tomorrow before she pushed open the door to her messy room and crashed facedown on her pillow. Kaoru flipped on the radio and listened to random commercials before a nice loud song with heavy guitar started up and she sat up wearily on her bed. Bringing her pillow to her face she screamed her day's frustrations out until the song was done. Her throat ached and her head throbbed, but nothing was any different otherwise.