Nanami: Hello everyone! Finally, here is my Rurouni Kenshin fic. In fact, I went a bit over board. I should have another Kenshin story out really soon. This story is going to be so awesome, it came out of nowhere and I like it better than stories I've poured over for months.
Megumi: Whats the pairing? Do I get Kenshin?
Kenshin: -backs away slowly-
Nanami: Sorry, no one gets to know their pairing until its obvious. I like the suspense…
Kaoru: -blushes-
Nanami: Kaoru, you need to wear heavier make up. You blush WAY too often.
Kaoru: -blushes again-
Megumi: Aren't you supposed to put up a disclaimer?
Nanami: Oh shoot!
DISCLAIMER: I own none of Rurouni Kenshin or any of Avril Lavigne's songs. They are owned by Watsuki and Avril Lavigne. And nobody else.
(GOAL: 11 PAGES 3750 WORDS)
Kaoru Kimiyra rushed through the street as she sorted through her bag. First day of school and already she was half an hour late. All due to the bus being late, then of course there was the fact of her overly protective mother putting her clean uniform she had taken out for today into the washer so she had to sort through her drawers to find a spare.
Rushing down the street, she failed to notice a red haired teenager step out of the door of a shop in front of her. Still preoccupied she ran straight into the unsuspecting stranger.
"Oro?" Came the astonished shout.
"Oh my gosh!" she gasped, stepping back and dropping her bag. "I am so sorry! I didn't see you."
The teen pushed his violent hair back and gave her a nervous grin. "Its all right." he told her. "This one is fine."
"Are you sure?" she insisted. "I am so, so sorry."
He smiled back at her. She realized with a shock of surprise that he only a few inches taller than her. A real shock as she was only around 5 feet tall.
"Its fine." he assured. "No problem at all."
She breathed a sigh of relief and reached down for her back pack.
"Here," he said, reaching down and picking up the back pack up for her. "I see we are going to the same destination, I can take it."
"Wha-?" she looked up at him questioningly. "How'd you know that we are going to the same place?"
He chuckled and pointed to the garish uniform. "I doubt more than one school is willing to spend money on these hideous outfits."
She blinked and looked down at her orange blouse and dark blue skirt and burst into laughter. "I guess so. Well, thank you. But I think I can carry my own pack."
"No, no." he insisted. "This is heavy. Let this one carry it, if only to be polite."
She blushed and took her hand from the pack. "Fine." she muttered. He smiled then started to trot down the street at a fast pace.
"Hey!" she cried, taking after him. "Slow down!"
He looked back at her in surprise. "You want to be late for our first class?"
"Wha-?" she asked, then looked down at her watch. "Oh crap! Run!"
He laughed at her astonished face and started back down the street with Kaoru already ahead of him.
(Well, she has met Kenshin now. Except they still have no idea who each other are)
"Kaoru!" Two voices called out when Kaoru had run through the school door. She blinked at them in surprise.
"Megumi, Tsubami?" she called. "What are you two doing here?"
The two identical twin sisters ran over to Kaoru, hugging and giggling. "We convinced mother to switch us here. The other school was horrid." Megumi told her, Tsubami agreeing with a wrinkle of her pert nose.
"That is so awesome!" Kaoru squealed. " But why aren't you two in class?"
Tsubami raised her eyebrows. "You haven't heard? Some goon pulled the fire alarm. We didn't even get to class!"
Megumi poked her sister. "Yeah, and Tsubami likes this 'goon', don't you." she waggled her eyebrows at her astonished sister.
"I do not!" Tsubami protested.
"Yes you do, you didn't take your eyes off him for ages."
Tsubami glared at her sister. "I was only making sure he didn't pull something else."
"Yeah, sure." Megumi agreed. "I think he likes you too."
Tsubami blushed and turned away. "Liar. You're just trying to make me admit it."
Megumi raised an eyebrow. "So I guess it was just me when I saw him watching you leave the room. I swear, his eyes didn't leave your back."
Tsubami glared at her, then turned back to Kaoru. "So why were you late? School started forty five minutes ago!"
"I know!" Kaoru wailed. "First my mother put my uniform into the wash and I had to find a spare. Then my bus was fifteen minutes late, then I ran into some guy on the street while running because I was tired of waiting for the second bus. And he goes to our school too!"
Tsubami's brow wrinkled. "Who does? The second bus?"
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "No, the guy I ran into. He insisted on carrying my bag for me."
Megumi's eyes widened. "Really? Is he cute? Is he in our grade?"
Kaoru shrugged. "I don't know. He looked like he was a senior though. Even though he was really short."
Tsubami and Megumi looked at each other. Both of them were on the taller side of the scale. "Oh," Megumi said. "We'll leave him to you then."
Kaoru gaped. "I resent that! I never said I liked him."
Tsubami patted her shoulder. "Girl, its all over your face."
Kaoru shook her head violently. "No. Besides, why would I go out with a senior? And I am way too busy anyways. Besides, I don't like him. Honest. What kind of geek insists on carrying your pack?"
"The good kind." Megumi insisted. "Sano refuses to carry my pack. And he calls himself the perfect boyfriend."
"Actually." Kaoru broke in. "That's what you say. I still think this boyfriend of yours is imaginative. When are you going to introduce us to him?"
Megumi pouted at her. "Tsubami has met him."
Tsubami shook her head violently. "No I haven't. You showed me a picture and I answered the phone once. That is not meeting him. I think you're dating a college guy."
"A college guy?" Megumi protested. "That's just wrong. Sano is only a year older than me."
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Sure. Look, we'll believe you when we meet him."
Megumi sighed. "But I don't get enough time with him myself. When am I going to be able to introduce him to you?"
Tsubami wrinkled her nose. "Not enough time? Megumi, you're never without him. You're either talking to him on the phone or on a date with him. I agree with Kaoru. We have to meet this guy." Kaoru nodded violently.
Megumi wrinkled her forehead. "Are you sure?"
They both nodded and she sighed.
"Fine. In two days we are going to the roller blading rink, Sakabato, at 5. If you two are there when we are I'll introduce you."
"Yes!" Tsubami and Kaoru high fived each other. "Thank you so much, Megumi!" they chimed together. She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Just make sure you're there."
"We will." The bell rang and Kaoru jerked her head towards the sound. "Oh good, class is starting. Lets go!"
All three ran off to their class room. Oblivious to the blue eyes watching from around the corner.
(Now, lets see. Who has blue eyes that might be watching them?)
"Kenshin!" The red haired boy jumped away from his hiding spot, his heart pounding wildly.
"Oro? Yahiko!" he chided. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Hey, man." The spiky haired teen said as he walked up to Kenshin. "I pulled the dang fire alarm for you because you were late. You should be thanking me, not getting after me like an obnoxious mother."
"Oh, did you do that?" Kenshin asked.
"Yeah, you think I'm going to let you get into detention again this close to the competition?" Yahiko scoffed. "No way."
"Well, thank you. I guess."
"Yeah, you'd better. Who is she?" Yahiko jabbed a finger at Kaoru's vanishing back.
Kenshin shrugged. "I don't know. Someone I ran into on the way here."
Yahiko looked at the three girls going into their class room. "Her friend is cute."
"Hmm?" Kenshin turned to him. "Which one?"
"The short haired one." Yahiko turned back to Kenshin. "So what took you so long this morning?"
Kenshin winced. "Alarm clock."
"What? You killed another clock?" Yahiko burst into laughing. "I can't believe you! I swear you kill one every single morning!"
Kenshin knocked him on the head. "Shut up. Just because you don't have morning problems doesn't mean you perfect or anything."
Yahiko laughed, dodging another blow. "No, but it makes me a hell of a lot better!" With a laugh he evaded Kenshin's blows and ducked into his class, Kenshin a few feet behind him.
(Ha, ha. Megumi was right. Yahiko DOES like Tsubami. In a way)
Kaoru's eyes became heavier and heavier as she sat in class, closing then jerking open again as she fought the battle to stay awake. Normally she found Math interesting and a easy class to focus on, but this teacher seemed to find pleasure in babbling about things she had learned back in 4th grade.
As she lost the battle to sleep, a paper airplane flew out of the oblivion and smacked her dab on her nose.
"Uh, fourteen?" she drowsily asked, not quite awake. The teacher looked at her oddly.
"Excuse me?" he said. "Do you have a question?" The class laughed loudly as Kaoru's face turned a vivid red.
"No sir, sorry." she mumbled into her sleeve. The teacher turned back to the black board to explain another simple fraction.
Picking up the fallen aviator, Kaoru opened it and read Tsubami's messy scrawl. 'Do you want to go to the mall this afternoon?' it asked. 'Me and Megumi are picking out new coats. Your welcome to come.'
Kaoru picked up her pen and wrote on the other side of the paper. 'Sorry, no can do. I need to go somewhere tonight.' Folding the paper, she flew it back to the twins.
Megumi caught it and read it quickly, with a raise of her brow she handed it to Tsubami who looked positively gleeful. A few seconds later the poor pilot crashed back into Kaoru's hard skull.
'What do you have planned?' it read. Kaoru could practically hear Tsubami giggling in the short note. 'Boys?'
Kaoru huffed loudly. Grabbing her pen roughly she started scribbling, 'Of course…'
"Miss Kamiya." Kaoru jumped as she realized the teacher was at her elbow. "Would you like to share with the class what you are writing.
Kaoru blushed as she stared down at her unfinished letter. "Um, I'd really rather not."
The teacher smirked down at her. "I don't believe that is in your ability to decide. Let us see what your letter says." Picking it up, he strode back to the front of the class.
"Hmm," he said. "It seems you had an accomplice. She will have to be found out as well." he cleared his throat. "She wrote, 'What do you have planned. Boys?'" The class giggled as Kaoru turned an impossible purple color.
"And," he continued. "You wrote back, 'Of course.'" Kaoru turned royal plum as the majority of the class fell out of their seats with laughter. It was a common fact that the shy Kaoru would rather jump from Kyoto's highest building then date while still in school. Most had found out in the process of asking her themselves.
Kaoru hid her face from the bold laughter in her hands as the bell rang, saving her as she grabbed her books and fled from the class room. Leaving her class mates in giggles on the floor.
"Who's chasing you?" Kaoru's heart burst mid beat at the sudden voice behind her. Turning, she met the gaze of a certain red haired smirking boy.
"No- no one." She gasped, hand clasped to her chest in a desperate attempt to save her tortured organs from rupture. "Hi."
"Hi to you too. So why were you in such a rush?" he asked.
She shook her head tiredly. "Just couldn't wait to get out of class." she lied. Well, it was sort of true at least. Any longer in there and she would have died for sure.
He smirked, then held out a hand. "Himura Kenshin. Forgot to introduce myself this morning."
She reached out and grasped the outstretched hand. "Kamiya Kaoru. I forgot as well. I guess I was in a rush to get to school. Which turned out to be worthless anyways."
"Oh, yeah." Kenshin shook his head. "That was a friend of mine. He pulled it so I wouldn't get detention."
Kaoru raised her eyebrows. "Wow, that's unusual."
Kenshin pulled at his tight shirt collar. "Yeah, he didn't want me to miss practice again." Twitching nervously he changed the subject. "So what grade are you in?"
Kaoru started to unlock her locker. "Just started 10th. You?"
"Twelfth." he said, verifying Kaoru guess. "Graduation this year."
She nodded, pulling out her jacket. "Lucky. I've got two more years. Well, I've got to go. See you tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Okay, sure." He watched her as she ran out of the school, admiring her flashing legs.
"Sure you don't." Kenshin's heart received a similar beating from the surprise of a voice from behind him. He turned to the smirking Yahiko.
"One more time, Yahiko." he warned. "One more time than you're getting the same punishment as my alarm clock! And what do you mean, 'Sure you don't?'"
Yahiko pointed at the closing doors. "Her. You said you didn't know who she was. And you're flirting with her?"
Kenshin blushed. (a/n, yeah, guys blush too.) "I am not flirting with her! I was just talking."
"Whatever." Yahiko grabbed Kenshin and drew him closer. "Look, I'll leave you two alone, IF, and only if, you get her to introduce me to her friend."
Kenshin pulled away from him. "I can't do that! I don't even know her, I can't ask her to match make our friends. No."
Yahiko turned away. "All right, I'm sure Seijuro won't mind learning of your little girlfriend."
Kenshin gaped, then snapped his mouth shut and grabbed Yahiko back. "I'll try, alright? But if you tell a word of this to Seijuro the janitor is going to be cleaning your brains off the walls for years to come. Got that?"
Yahiko backed off. "Yeah dude, keep the death threats down, will you?"
Kenshin snorted, then turned to his own locker, about ten down from Kaoru's, and grabbed his back pack. "Look," he said, turning back to Yahiko who had been smirking behind his back but had quickly hidden it. "I'm going to practice. You'd better hurry. Okay?"
Yahiko nodded, then spotted Megumi and Tsubami behind Kenshin, still giggling about the happenings in class. "Yeah, sure. I got to go now." he sped off in Tsubami's direction. Kenshin turned to watch him go.
"I don't know what he sees in her." he muttered to himself. "The girl beside her looks exactly the same."
(Is it just me or does Kaoru blush a lot? And it seems to be rubbing off on Kenshin as well…)
Kaoru sighed in relief as she stepped of the bus in front of 'Hiko's Dance Studio.' "Finally," she said to herself. "I thought I'd never make it." It had taken three buses and two wrong turns to make it here.
She stepped inside, making a bell ring in the back. The front room was empty, but the bell had alerted the owner as he hurried to the front. She glanced around the room as he advanced towards her.
The walls had been painted a violent mix of colors, including orange, red, black, and an almost annoying shade of lime green. From the back a speaker pounded with the sounds of Avril Lavigne's 'Anything But Ordinary.'
"How can I help you?" the owner said, breaking her concentration. All the courage she had collected to come here flew out the window.
"Well, um." she stuttered, pulling nervously at a strand of her long black hair. "I was wondering if you have classes here."
He nodded, motioning her towards a chair. She took a second to look him over as she sat down. He wore a pair of black leather pants and a white wife beater. His long black hair was pulled into a ponytail and if she was ten years older she would have been swooning. He was gorgeous. Especially for someone who looked at least mid twenties.
"I'm Hiko-san," he said. "What kind of classes are you looking for?" he asked as he settled into a chair behind a garishly painted pipe desk. (A/N those things are so cool! I want one for my room)
"Um, I was thinking of Modern, or maybe Jazz." she said nervously.
He nodded, pulling out a few sheets of paper and handing them to her. "Jazz is 15 dollars a class and meets three times a week. Modern is 10 dollars and meets twice a week."
She took the papers and gave them a quick peruse. "Why is Jazz more expensive?" she asked.
"Jazz is a lot harder to learn and you need more equipment." he said. "Modern is more of a 'fun' dance so to speak. Most people just dance Modern for exercise or weight loss."
Kaoru's brow wrinkled as sorted through the new pages he had handed to her. "How do you sort me into a class?" she asked after reading an interesting portion about classing.
"Experience. Talent." he said. "It really depends on how well you dance, trained or not."
Kaoru's gaze shot up to him. "You mean I have to dance before you decide what class I should go to?" she asked worriedly. He nodded in the affirmative and she winced.
"If you want," he said. "I could class you now before you start, if you're nervous."
Kaoru bit her lip. "Well," she said. "I guess. I really want to learn how to dance."
He smiled and handed her a form for her to fill out. "What class would you like to attend?" he asked.
She had already made up her mind. "Modern, I don't want to get into anything over my head."
He nodded and waited for her to finish filling out her form. When she had finished, and had handed the completed form and ten dollars over, he ushered her to a open door in the back.
Nervously, Kaoru followed him into the empty room. The walls were a light green and pads lined the walls. It was about half the size of a basketball court, she realized. The building appeared to be quite a bit bigger than she had originally thought.
A voice broke through her thoughts and she jumped guiltily. "What did you say?" she asked him.
He smiled at her. "Do you have any preference to a kind of music to dance to?" he asked again.
She shook her head. "No," she replied. "How do I dance? I've never had lessons before in my life."
"Many people ask that." he said, picking a CD out of a large pile and opening the player. "You don't really need to know how to dance to dance Modern. Its more of just moving to the beat."
Kaoru bit her lip nervously as music came from the speakers. She faintly recognized it as another Avril Lavigne song. This time it was 'Complicated' She raised an eyebrow. "I guess someone likes Avril Lavigne." she said to herself.
Hiko- san however caught the tail end of it and smiled. "Actually, a long time ago, a student here donated all of these Cds when he broke up with his girlfriend. Apparently she didn't want anything he had given her. We just found they are a lot of fun to dance too."
Kaoru's lips twitched. Then her foot. The music coming from the speakers compelled her to dance and she gave in. The beloved movement took over and she stepped, jumped and danced to the beat entirely forgetting the eyes watching her.
"Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?
(yeah yeah)
I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else
Gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break and you take what you get
And you turn it into
Honestly, you promised me
I'm never going to find you fake it
No, no, no
(no, no, no)
No, no
(no, no, no)
No, no
(no, no, no)
No, no"
As the music closed to an end, Kaoru stopped dancing and met Hiko-sans eyes with a blush. He was staring at her awestrickenly and she slowly took a step back, smiling sheepishly.
"Well done." he whispered reverently. "I thought you said you'd never learned dancing before."
Kaoru bit her lip. "I haven't. I make up most of my moves and once in awhile I dance things I see on TV. Was it okay?"
He shook his head slowly. "Kaoru. That was more than okay. Let me give you a proposition."
Kaoru wrinkled her brow. "Um, okay?"
He thumbed quickly through a hand held calendar that had been in his bag. "Lets see, I want you here for private lessons on Tuesday, Thursday, and Fridays. Wednesdays and Saturdays I want you here for practice. For the lessons I want you here at 4 'o clock in--"
"Hold up!" Kaoru interrupted. "Practice for what?"
"The '2007 Modern Dance Out' of course. I'm having you join my National Team. In fact, they're just in the other room. Come meet them."
"Whoa," Kaoru held up her hands. "How much is this going to cost? What if I totally embarrass myself? What if--"
"No more what ifs." he broke in. "You don't have to pay anything, if fact if this all works out I'll be paying you. I highly doubt you'll embarrass anyone. And the other questions can wait. Come."
Kaoru's mouth had stopped working and she was wordlessly pulled out of the green room and shoved along to a door on the other side. Stopping at the door, Hiko-san knocked loudly to be heard over the music, then stepped back. The music stopped and a loud crash started off loud laughter then the door opened and a red head poked itself out.
"Kenshin??" Kaoru gasped. Kenshin gaped at her.
"Kaoru?"
(This story is so predictable)
Nanami: What do you think?
Kenshin: Are we all like the same age?
Nanami: You are two years older than most characters mentioned. Hiko-san is around mid to late twenties. Sano, who hasn't been seen yet but will be a main character, is 17. The others are 16 and Kenshin is newly 18.
Kaoru: Are the Japanese Dance Outs real?
Nanami: I hope not. I made up the name in hopes that there wouldn't be any. I could be like sued if there was.
Megumi: Was Hiko-san inferring that Kaoru needed to lose weight when he was explaining why Modern was cheaper than Jazz?
Kaoru: Oh gosh. -blushes-
Avril Lavigne: You guys are dancing to my songs?
Nanami: -shell shocked- Guys, I think Avril Lavigne is making a guest appearance. I'm so excited!!!
(12 PAGES 3931 WORDS. Made my goal!)