Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and it's related characters do not belong to me. Any names in here that resembles those from other fanfics are purely coincidental.

Chapter 2

"Good morning Sanosuke-kun!" A bright cheery voice called out to the spiky-haired teen, sending a shiver down his spine. No one, except for Kenshin and maybe Kaoru, has ever said 'good morning' to Sanosuke before, let alone shout the greeting at him in a corridor packed with people. Sanosuke forced his head to turn behind, joints squeaking, fearing the worst.

Sanosuke groaned. Oh God, did you have to hate me so much? It was Megumi.

Varying reactions were observed on the faces of both the general school population as their ears caught wind of Megumi's greeting to Sanosuke. For the males, it was hard to say. Expressions akin to blissful happiness was observed due to the fact that they have just heard Megumi's angelic voice with their own ears. Hatred and disbelief were registered too because she wasn't greeting them but Sanosuke, very last person on their list of People Who Thou Shalt Be Greeted By Thee Goddess Incarnate. As for the females, they weren't really affected by Megumi's voice, but they still held looks of utter horror on their faces, hardly able to believe that she would greet that delinquent.

Sanosuke could only gape like a fish out of water while he forced himself to wait for Megumi, who was skipping her way to his side. Other then that, he also had to bear with the immense killing aura pouring out from the males in the corridor. 'Oh, why must something like this happen to me...' Sanosuke couldn't help but repeat this sentence for the 564th time.

3 months have passed since Megumi first stepped into the school compound. Everyday Megumi will be greeted by great crowds of students, with the guys blushing at the sight of her and the girls envying her for being so beautiful. Of course, Takayashi Kenzaki of class 2-A is of no exception, with him being seen either asking Megumi out for dates which many will predict would end with Megumi's loss of her virginity. But luckily for the gal, she was smart enough to see the obvious trap laid out in front of her for countless times (not that she cared to count the number of times Takayashi asked her out).

But still, Megumi's goal in school has never changed: becoming bosom friends with Sanosuke and showing the fun of being with other people. Unfortunately, the said male has no intent of going by her plans.

'No matter what, I have to drag him out of that isolation of his!' This thought in Megumi's head was what drove her on during times when she gets very annoyed by Sanosuke's reaction to her hard work. But even goals have the negative side of them, which in this case is Megumi's drop in her academic results. Saito has again and again reminded that she cannot afford to let her results drop any further. If so, she would be forced to be transfered to another school. Megumi doesn't want this to happen too, but how do you change a mind of a very stubborn girl? Thus the only solution to this problem is to cope between these two. Another problem is that she finds herself constantly staring into space, often in the direction of Sanosuke.

"Hey, Megumi, are you listening to me?" An exasperated Kaoru was often heard repeating this sentence in front of Megumi. And the latter's answer would always be: "Hmm? Uh, yeah, I guess..." Surprisingly enough, the both of them don't seem to get tired of this routine that happens whenever they're talking to each other.

"As I was saying, the shopping district near here is currently having it's annual sale. So, on the fact that you only just returned to your homeland, let's go there together later, 'kay?"

"Er, I can't stay out for long, I have a curfew and I don't know how my parents would react if they knew that I came home late (I do not even want to know that myself!). Also, I'm not in the mood to go, so if you don't mind-" Megumi's sentence was cut as Kaoru used her 'almighty' puppy-eyes upon her. 'Oh no, not this again...!' Megumi broke into cold sweat. She just could not resist that!

"F-fine, I'll follow you, happy?" She muttered back to Kaoru. She has got to learn how to resist it from Kenshin, who seems to be the only person whom Kaoru has done it on before to be able to stay indifferent.

The bell for the end of school rang, accompanied by the clattering of tables and scraping of chairs as everyone rushed out of the classroom, bading friends goodbye along the way. Soon, Megumi and Kaoru were seen passing the windows of the many shops in the district. Occasionally, Kaoru would stop to coo at some stuffed animal or another before Megumi dragged her away from the window pane impatiently.

"Is it you or me that's supposed to be looking around here?"

"You, of course. But they just look so cute! Aww, aren't they simply adorable?"

"Yes, and they cost a bomb too. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking about. As you stare at these stuffed animals, you're imagining the scene in which Kenshin presents it to you. Well? I've correctly stated your wish, hadn't I?"

"Fine, you win." Kaoru's face was now red with embaressment, seeing that her greatest wish was so easily seen through by the new classmate, whereas in the case of her old classmates, they couldn't even see it yet.

"Alright, it's nearly 5. I really have to go, okay? See you around next week." Megumi hurriedly ran in the direction of her home, leaving Kaoru staring at the stuffed toys wistfully before she, too went on her way home. 'Damn, it's already so late?' Megumi pondered in her head while she turned into a secluded alley. She didn't notice Sanosuke's presence at the other end of the walkway, coming towards her direction and noticing her. Sanosuke couldn't help but notice her, seeing that she was one truly weird girl who still hadn't given up on the thought of being friends with him. But his eyes narrowed into slits as he saw two drop-outs point at Megumi's direction and slipped into the alley after her. That was an obvious sign for trouble.

'If I don't hurry, I'll definitely-' Megumi's thoughts were pierced by a sudden voice ringing in the narrow alley that clearly stated the fear of many young ladies: rape. "Well, well, what do we have here...?" Megumi breaths grew shallow as she pondered the chances of her escaping from here unscathed. Very small, unless you count the fact that a hero comes in to save her, which was even more impossible. Crouching low, Megumi pumped all her energy on her right foot, springing about two-and-half metres which gave her a head start in escaping from their clutches. Even so, guys would be guys. They reacted quickly to her attempt to escape, and soon caught up with her. One of them used his own body to slam her heavily on the wall, causing her to slide in and out of unconsciousness. Seeing this chance, the two boys quickly made a grab for her uniform, before a voice broke the atmosphere.

"To think that I'll see some lowly-being doing away at my classmate. Why, are you both tired of living?"

They froze. Somewhere in their minds they could feel that this voice's owner could just kill them if he wanted to. They tried to see how their intruder would look like but they were spared the trouble of turning their heads around to see him for a kick at their heads already forcefully spun them around, slamming their bodies at the wall, just like the way they had done to Megumi.

"And that's for what you've done to her, bastards." Sanosuke leered at them before he turned his attention on the barely-conscious Megumi. He knelt to her height to stare at her after seeing her lips move slightly to his name.

"Sano-suke-kun, th-thanks..." Barely able to hitch a smile onto her face, she slid to her right and was caught by Sanosuke, who couldn't bring himself to leave her at there. The gentlemanly side of him just couldn't let him do that.

To be continued.

A/N: I'm soo sorry that this chapter had to take about 2 months to write. I was so distracted, but in other words you could call me lazy. I'm not so good at writing those action scenes so I really hope all of you won't mind my shabby work!

Thanks to all readers who had read my first chapter and left such wonderful comments to it! I promise I'll be more hardworking from now on! So, keep on supporting me!