Wish I Had Moved
Part II
First period was for gossiping, for laughing, for socializing and maybe even learning. First period, especially five days from the dance on Saturday, was the worst time for an assembly. Only the fact that it was about the dance kept Kaoru awake. She leaned on Misao, who leaned on a disgruntled Megumi, and they walked, swaying like drunkards into the auditorium. There the principal waited with a very long pointer and an enormous overhead screen.
The three filed into the front row and sat down gratefully. Kaoru leaned her head back to sleep, relishing the utter darkness of the room. It was like a movie theater- no one ever noticed what you were doing. Couples made out, answers to tests were exchanged, and occasionally drugs were distributed. Sleep was no problem, or so she thought. Something was touching her hair.
Turning around, she saw Kenshin sitting directly behind her. He was twirling a lock of her hair in his fingers. She jerked her hair out of his grasp, wising she hadn't broken her last hair tie this morning, and stared straight ahead. Misao was asleep next to her, and Megumi was somehow doing her makeup in a tiny compact without any light. She tried to sleep again, but it was hard to do without leaning her head into Kenshin's reach. Finally, she gave up and waited for the assembly to start.
"Good morning!" The principal called out to the crowd. The students made no attempt at enthusiasm, instead mumbling a greeting in reply before returning to their earlier pursuits.
"I'm sure some of you have heard of the Socially Equal School Program. For those of you who haven't, it's an organization that promotes fun, wholesome school activities. Their goals are to create perfect equality within high schools and their activities- like dances. So, this year with their help, we're going to help promote equality by banishing the usual system of bringing your own date. Instead, next period, you will all be assigned a buddy for the dance. You'll arrive with them, stay with them, and leave with them. Hopefully you'll all make new friends. In order to get into the dance, you must have the tickets you'll receive with your buddy's name. And just so you can get to know your buddy, today everyone will eat lunch with them as well. I hope that this new system will eliminate the conflicts that always seem to accompany these activities, and instead we'll have a safe, fun, socially correct dance."
There was a dead silence among the student body. Kaoru stared at the principal as though she were crazy. Assign them their dates? What the hell was that?
"Since we wanted to make sure everyone got a new person, we had a group of students of all grades help assign buddies. Now, if there is some problem, you can come to the guidance office and we'll help you resolve your conflicts. To help you better understand our goals, I have a slideshow I'd like to share. If you could all direct your attention to the screen?"
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Misao and Kaoru sat stiffly in their seats, watching with baited breath as their dance tickets were handed out. The seemingly harmless pieces of festive pink paper were in fact the weapons of mass destruction. Students were fidgeting, craning their necks, stabbing things with pencils, anything to relive the sudden stress. Misao was playing with her braid, wrapping it around her arm and then unwrapping it like it was a bandage. Kaoru was carving random words into the desk with her pencil.
The teacher stopped in front of Kaoru and laid a face-down ticket on her desk. Kaoru eagerly turned it over, her face falling as she saw just who she'd been assigned.
'I'll put down money he was one of the students who helped assign "buddies"...I knew this system was rigged...'
Misao was staring wide-eyed at her own ticket. Kaoru leaned over and saw with relief that it was her long-time crush, Aoshi Shinomori. She showed Misao her ticket, and Misao broke her pen in half. Ink spurted out onto the desk.
"They rigged it?" She said. "That sucks!"
"Tell me about it." Kaoru said, groaning. 'Looks like I'm rotting in hell after all.'
When they were finally released to go to lunch, they met with Megumi in the hallway. She was stalking down toward them, tossing her hair angrily. "I got assigned Sagara." She told them. "I have to eat with him!"
"Definitely rigged." Kaoru sighed. "I got Kenshin and Misao got Aoshi."
"At least we can all have lunch together." Misao offered. She bounced up and down at the thought of lunch with Aoshi.
"Yeah." Kaoru snorted, pulled her bag up on her shoulder and picking up her pace as she walked. Her heels clicked loudly on the floor. "We'll be like one big, happy family."
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"I really, really hate you." Kaoru said, holding her head in her hands. She had to admit that Kenshin was indeed nefarious. He had somehow gotten the other four to leave for perfectly plausible reasons, leaving him alone with Kaoru in an empty classroom.
"I know." He said cheerfully. "What should I pick you up for the dance?"
"Seven forty-five." Kaoru yawned. "Dance starts at eight, right?"
"You don't want me to buy you dinner? There's this great Mexican place I know..." He wheedled. 'When in doubt, offer food...'
"What part of 'rot in hell' didn't you understand?" Kaoru asked dully. "If I didn't have to do this, we would never have this conversation."
"I'll make you dance with me." He threatened.
"You'll get your ass kicked is what'll end up happening." She growled at him.
"Yeah, right." He played with a lock of hair almost lazily, and she tugged it out of his gap. He picked it up again and laughed. She scowled at him, yanking her hair away.
"I'd like to see you try and hit me, kitten."
"Don't call me that." She snapped.
Kaoru stood up, stretched, and grabbed her bag, intending to go somewhere else until the bell rang and she could retreat to her classroom.
'At least he hasn't started the spontaneous kissing thing again...'
And as if he had heard her thought, she was suddenly between him and the wall. He wasn't kissing her, only looking at her. Her pulse jumped, and she was sure he could hear her heart dancing in her chest. She tried to push him away, but he didn't even feel it.
"Get off." She ordered. He only bent his head closer. 'If I asked him to come closer, would he back away? Probably not...he'd probably listen to me and kiss me some more...which is bad!'
His eyes were shining amethyst again, a bright, unearthly color that made her spine tingle. It was so distracting, the way his eye color melted from amber to violet whenever he looked at her...
"Your-your eyes changed color." She blurted out. Mentally slapping herself, she waited for his sardonic comment.
"Yes, they do that." He drawled. Their eyelashes were almost tangled, noses brushing, arms pulling her closer then she could have ever dreamed. His lips were barely touching hers when they were rudely interrupted.
"Hey! Kenshin!"
Her knees and palms stung from her crash to the ground. She leaned on the wall behind her, panting a little. Kenshin was now a good three feet away from her, sitting on the floor as though they hadn't almost been caught in a compromising situation.
'There are girls in this school who would kill to be between Kenshin and a wall, and yet he continues to bother me...'
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It was the dress from hell, and Kaoru wanted no part of it.
It was cream-colored, patterned with black paisley. There was a crimson band just beneath her bust. The hemline fell to the knee. But the single worst thing about this dress was that it was strapless.
Misao was putting sparkly things into her hair, and Megumi was filing her nails into perfect roundness. There was tasteful makeup on her face, and jewelry around her neck. Earrings dangled invitingly on either side of her head.
Kaoru sat there, tired from two hours of the evils of playing "dress the Kaoru" with her two best friends. When they finished with her hair and nails, and tried to drag her into the bathroom so she could see herself in the mirror, she put her foot down.
"I don't care what I look like." She insisted. "I'm sure that you've done a good job with me-"
"You will look at yourself even if I have to hold your eyelids open for you! Okay?" Misao grabbed her head and pointed it at the full-length mirror.
"Do you want him to pounce on me?" She asked. "Because this dress is just asking for it."
"So you'd rather look ugly." Megumi said incredulously.
"Hell, yeah!"
"Too bad. You will look unbearably hot, and you will like it...or else." Misao informed her.
The sound of a car passing brought them all to the window. A shiny black vehicle was parked right outside her house. Kaoru saw two other cars, presumably Sano's and Aoshi's, park behind him. The three guys started walking up the drive.
The girls waited patiently for Koshijiro, Kaoru's father, to call them down. Misao nervously examined herself in the mirror. Her bizarre, electric blue dress was short with a plunging neckline. Megumi didn't even look at herself, but the tapping of her nails against the bedpost betrayed her anxiety. The older girl's dress was long, forest green, and off the shoulder. Its elegance suited her perfectly.
"Kaoru!" Kaoru walked slowly to the door and descended the other two at he heels. Not wanting to look eager, Kaoru let them go in front of her. She stopped on the last step for a moment, steeling herself for the horrors that awaited her. Then she went over to greet Kenshin for her father's benefit- no good in letting him know how much she hated her 'date.'
After a few tense moments, the three couples exited. After exchanging hugs and promises to sneak into a restroom and text each other, they set off.
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"How the hell did you get a driver's license?" Kaoru asked weakly. She was leaning on the side of his car in the restaurant parking lot, panting. "You were doing eighty!"
He laughed. "I've never even been ticketed."
"Did you rig that, too?" She asked.
"I don't rig things. I'm just extremely lucky."
That wicked purple spark was back, and a little pang of excitement bubbled up in her chest. She stomped on it mentally.
'Well, I am on a date-ish type thing with the hottest guy in school...even if I hate him...and he broke every speed limit between here and my house...'
Yellow Mexicana, the restaurant, was aptly named. All the furniture, all of the walls, even the floor was yellow. They served yellow corn chips and yellow salsa and cheese, and there was no meal that didn't come with their special sunshine sauce. However, the aroma coming from the kitchen was divine, and Kaoru sniffed appreciatively.
A waitress recognized Kenshin on sight and led them to a back table in the corner. She gave them canary-colored menus, with black, curling script. Sipping her waer, akoru struggled to read the fancy lettering.
"I recommend the special." Kenshin offered.
"Do you now. Are you planning to drug my food?"
"No. Are you planning to poison mine?"
"Yes."
"Then you should know I drugged your water."
"Can we just order?"
"Sure." A waitress scurried over and efficiently took their orders before leaving them to make civil conversation. At least, Kenshin tried to make civil conversation.
"You look nice."
"Whatever."
"You're not much of a conversationalist...or you're awed by my presence."
Her head snapped up and her eyes flashed with anger. "Excuse me? Why would I bother talking to you?"
"So you are awed by me?"
"Awed by your ego, maybe."
"Presence, ego, same thing."
"So you admit you're full of it?"
"I admit nothing."
"Hmph."
"You don't believe anything I say, do you?"
"I have problems with your so-called sincerity. You do seem to enjoy playing with me."
'I could have worded that better...'
"I haven't lied to you yet, kitten."
Thankfully, their food arrived before Kaoru could accidentally say something humiliating. Digging into her meal, she found it was as delicious as Kenshin had promised. Watching her face brighten, he resisted the urge to touch her face and ate his food unwillingly. When she was done, she pushed her white plate away. Kenshin was already done, watching her with amusement.
"Dessert?" He asked.
Kaoru shuddered. There were too many ways to interpret that single word for her to be comfortable. "No."
One of the ever-attentive waitresses ran over with the check. She laid it in the middle if the table, cleared their plates, and turned into the kitchen. As soon as she was looking away, they both grabbed for the bill. He was quicker and held it out of her reach while he signed it and counted off his money.
"We're splitting it!" She protested.
"That would be rude, Kaoru. And I know you...disapprove of rudeness."
"Give me that! You can't just pay for everything!" She protested loudly. He ignored her, signed the receipt, and gave the bill to one of the waitresses before she could say anything else. She followed him out angrily, her heels clicking loudly on the floor. When they got into the car, she slammed her door and violently nearly cracked he buckle on her seatbelt while fastening it. He made o comment on her rough treatment of his car, only held her hand while he drove despite hr best efforts to reclaim it. It didn't slow him down; the speedometer still stayed above fifty until they pulled into the school parking lot.
As they walked towards the open double doors of the school, Kaoru had to watch her footing. The gravel didn't agree with her stilettos, and since Kenshin was forcibly holding her arm linked with his, she ended up leaning on him. Cursing Misao and Megumi for putting her into the spiky heels, she yelped when Kenshin grabbed her around the waist and half-carried her into the school. He didn't let her down until they reached the gymnasium door and handed in their tickets.
The decorating theme was sparkly, or so it seemed to Kaoru's eyes. The walls were hung with silver, glittery sheets, and there were balloons and streamers with sequins tied to everything. The lighting had been softened, and there were well-dressed couples milling around while the DJ got set up.
They were standing in the middle of the area that was supposed to be the dance floor when the music started. No one danced however.
"Why is there ballroom dancing music playing?" Kaoru asked.
"Parent complaint. Something about exposing youth to sexual content being immoral." Kenshin said idly. "I don't suppose you know how to dance?"
"I know perfectly well how to dance. I just choose not to with you."
"Right. Admit it, Kaoru, you can't dance at all, can you?" Kenshin jibed.
"I can so dance." She sniffed.
"Prove it." He challenged. "What, are you scared?"
"Scared? Why you-fine!"
'I'll bet he can't dance at all...'
As it turned out, Kenshin danced effortlessly and gracefully. It almost made her jealous. She'd seen him on their kendo team, but it hadn't occurred to her that those skills might apply to dance. She let him lead, and regretted it when he held her a little bit closer than necessary.
It was easy to forget who she was dancing with.
They were the best on the floor. A crowd was gathering to watch them dance. Some even tried to imitate, with mixed results.
A casual look at the clocks surprised her.
'Have we really been at it for two hours?' Now that she was aware of the time, a slight pain in her feet attracted her attention. She jerked from Kenshin's grasp.
He followed her to the wall and herded her into a dark corner.
'This is a really bad habit...he really, really, really likes dark corners...you'd think I would have learned to avoid them by now...'
She felt unreasonably warm. Kenshin was an assault on all of her senses...the way his eyes melted from amber to violet when he looked at her, the low voice he took when he spoke to her, the smell of ginger, the feel of his arms, wrapped around her whenever she let her guard slip...she forced herself not to think of taste.
'I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd think he liked me or something...'
"Kenshin, do you-"
WEE-OOO!
Some idiot had just pulled the fire alarm.
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Muahahaha...cliffhanger. Thanks for all the reviews! Winter Sapphire thanks for mentioning my poor imitation in your story! I feel special now...Depending on how many reviews I get, the last part will be up. Earliest will be latest today, latest will be Wednesday. After that I'm going on vacation...so...no updates til the new year after next week!