A/N: In no way do I own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters. I do, however, own this story.

Tokyo in Love

Chapter 2 – The meeting

Kaoru woke up to her first alarm ring. She was wide-awake and ready to tackle the day head on! She quietly got ready and had breakfast because Yumi did not have to wake up as early as she. She quietly closed the front door and typed in a code on the keypad to lock the door. She took one last look down at her clothes and dusted off a few pieces of lint on her skirt. She was wearing black heels, a black skirt, a cream striped button-up with a bow tied in the front, finished with an elbow length blazer. She also had her hair tied up with a ribbon. She felt professional and confident.

Off to school!

After a long train ride to the school, which thankfully wasn't crowded because the direction she had to take was leaving the center of Tokyo, she arrived at the ticket gate and met with one of the coordinators from her company, ILS- International Language Services. In addition to teaching business classes in the evenings (generally from 6 p.m. till 9 p.m.), she would be teaching at Higashi Moriyama Junior High School from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

The coordinator showed Kaoru the way to the junior high school, which Kaoru was grateful for but damn was it hot! Why did she have to wear black of all days? They had been walking for what felt like 30 minutes in the sweltering heat until they finally reached the school. She could feel sweat beads rolling down her back as she tried to play it off by quickly excusing herself to the restroom.

Okay Kaoru, quickly clean yourself up and make a good impression! Remember, first impressions are the most lasting impressions! Damn, I forgot that I wouldn't be driving a car to work everyday… I would so love to blast cold ac at my face right now if I had a car...

She grabbed a handkerchief from her purse and quickly dabbed away at the sweat on her face and lower back. This restroom had no paper towels… Not to mention… She went up to one of the stalls and slowly pushed one of the doors open with her foot. She stared in horror at what she saw. This was not what she was expecting at all in this day and age! There, in the stall was a… was a…

Japanese-style toilet!

Oh. My. God.

No, not the awesome kinds of toilets that spray water at your asshole, warm your butt cheeks, or plays jingles for you. These were traditional types of toilets where you had to squat down to relieve yourself. No wonder it smells like piss in here! Kaoru opened each stall only to discover that each and every one of them were traditional Japanese-style toilets to her dismay. I guess I'll try my best to just hold it in all day…

"Miss Kaoru, are you done yet?" the coordinator called from outside the bathroom door. "The principal, head teacher, and English teachers are all ready to meet you!"

"Yes, I'm coming!" Kaoru quickly left the bathroom and stared at the coordinator with knotted eyebrows. "The bathrooms are… kind of scary…"

The coordinator looked at Kaoru and wrinkled her nose. "I know, I've been working with this school's area for years. They're one of the oldest schools in the city!"

Okay, let's not let one small thing get you down, Kaoru! Time to meet some co-workers!

They walked into a small room with an oversized circular desk in the middle. 5 different people greeted Kaoru and it was hard for her to remember their names as they introduced themselves very quickly. Kaoru and the coordinator sat on one side of the table while the Japanese English Teachers (JETs) sat across from them. The principal sat at an adjoining seat while the head principal stood next to him. Kaoru glanced around the room a bit nervously as she felt all eyes were on her. "Kochira wa Kamiya Kaoru-san degozaimasu. Nihonjin no haafu desukedo, kanojo wa Amerika de soudachimashita…" The coordinator immediately began introducing Kaoru in Japanese, but the conversation became more business-like and difficult for her to follow along. Kaoru looked over at each of the JETs sitting across from her. The person sitting on the left was a small, short girl with a long braid cascading down her back. Her face seemed so down-to-earth that she had a sudden strong urge to befriend her. She looked at the girl's nametag that hung from a lanyard around her neck. Misao … okay, I can't read the kanji of her last name. But I have to remember that that is Misao. (a/n: Kanji are Chinese characters)

Moving her eyes to the next person, her eyes slightly widened in surprise as she saw that he was staring directly into her eyes. She quickly looked down at the papers sprawled all over the table, pretending to read them. She could still feel his intense gaze on her as the time passed. In the few seconds that she had looked at him, she could tell he was a handsome man. She had caught a glimpse of his brown, almost red-like hair tied down in a low ponytail. His eyes were also a strange hue of… was it violet that she saw? It was hard to remember, but she didn't want to be caught staring at him again. Slightly looking up again, she peeked at the man to the right of the handsome teacher. The last teacher was incredibly tall and lanky with ruffled brown hair. He looked like he didn't care for much of anything and… was that a toothpick sticking out of the side of his mouth? His nametag read: Sanosuke For some reason, Kaoru's eyes were drawn to the man in the center. She tried to play it cool by pretending to glance past him, but she saw from her peripheral that he was staring at her again. Feeling her face getting flushed from his gaze, she tried focusing on random objects in the room. Various student photography hung around the room, plaques for who-knows-what, etc. She looked anywhere and everywhere except for where that man was sitting.

Suddenly everyone stood up and began bowing to each other, to which Kaoru quickly followed suit. Everyone began leaving the room one by one, and just as Kaoru was about to exit, the red-haired teacher stopped her. "Miss Kaoru, could you understand all of that?" he asked her with perfect English.

"Umm, some of it. I got lost after awhile and began to space out, honestly." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly as she looked at him in the eyes. They were violet! How odd yet intriguing. "Actually, there are a total of 5 JETs here, 2 of them are busy with the morning assembly at the moment. If you have time, won't you introduce yourself to the students right now?" he asked. Kaoru was a little bit shocked at how firmly he held his gaze. Most of the men she had managed to start a conversation with in Japan were too nervous to maintain eye contact. But this teacher kept his eyes directly on hers, not flickering for a millisecond.

The coordinator took a quick glance at her wristwatch. "Oh yes, Miss Kaoru, please join the morning assembly and introduce yourself to the students. I must get back to the office now. Do you remember how to get back to the station from here?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, I think I do. Thank you for taking the time to introduce me to the school!" Kaoru bowed slightly and gave her a gracious smile.

"No problem! Good luck with classes! Please contact me if you have any further questions!" and just like that, the coordinator left.

"Miss Kaoru, please come with me to the auditorium." The red-haired teacher beckoned her to follow him.

"Oh yes, sorry!"

"It's okay!" he smiled.

"By the way… I'm sorry, but earlier I couldn't catch your name when everyone was introducing each other. What was it again?" Kaoru asked politely.

After a few seconds of thought, he answered "… Ken Watanabe".

"Ehh, uso! You're kidding, you have the same name as the famous actor Ken Watanabe?"

"You know him, do you?"

"Of course I do! Almost everyone knows who he is! The Last Samurai, Inception, Godzilla…" Kaoru counted off with each finger.

"Hahaha, I'm just joking with you. My name is Himura Kenshin. Please call me Kenshin." He reached out his hand for her to shake as they continued to walk down the halls towards the auditorium. Kaoru readily extended her hand to shake his, looking at him directly into his eyes. His eyes are really unique... Time seemed to slow down a little bit as they shook hands and locked eyes on each other. But because of this, she didn't realize that the ground became uneven directly between the hallway and the auditorium, and you guessed it- she tripped and yelped, almost falling on her face if it wasn't for Kenshin's hand she was holding onto.

"Are you alright, Miss Kaoru?" Kenshin asked as she lifted her head to look at him.

"Ah, yes, I am. Sorry, I'm such a clutz all the time." Kaoru sheepishly grinned at him. Blushing, she immediately let go of his hands and stood up straight.

Kenshin smiled, not sure what "clutz" meant, but assumed it meant something like clumsy. "Well, this is the auditorium. Let's enter and have you introduce yourself!"

And as they walked into the auditorium, Kaoru's eyes grew wide in shock at what she saw. Over 300 students dressed in dark blue uniforms were all lined in rows with equal distance between each other and they were all staring at her! They were all staring at her because… well because she had just screamed at the entrance.

So much for a good first impression…

Kaoru awkwardly laughed and waved at all the students as Kenshin led her down the aisle and towards the stage. She could hear all the students whispering to each other as she walked past them.

"Who's that?"

"Eh, kawaii!"

"She's beautiful!"

"The new ALT?"

Kaoru felt her face turning pink from their comments. They stood beside the stairs of the stage for a while as the principal continued talking about the importance of doing their best in school despite adversities. This was how morning assemblies usually were in Japan and man were they boring. She peered into the rows of students and saw Misao reprimanding a student for talking while the principal was speaking. Noticing Kaoru's attention on Misao, Kenshin offered her some information about her. "That's Miss Makimachi. The students love her a lot because of her fun attitude. I think all people from Okinawa are naturally fun to be around, that I do."

"Oh, she seems really nice!" They briefly smiled at each other before turning their attention back to the principal. Kaoru began to space out again as the speech was getting her sleepy when suddenly Kenshin nudged her and whispered to her that it was time for her to go on stage and introduce herself. "Please speak slowly for the students!" Kenshin added in at the last second, giving her a smile for encouragement. Kaoru looked down at the five steps to the stage, careful not to trip this time. She could hear the students giggling as she did this. When she reached the podium, she leaned into the mic and spoke loud and slowly, "Hello everyone! It's nice to meet you all! My name is Kaoru and I will be your new ALT! I look forward to teaching you in class!" and then she leaned away from the mic and gave a small bow. The students applauded and she could here the students' comments again.

"Kawaii!"

"Could you understand her?"

"Man, her pronunciation is too difficult to understand!"

"Well duh, she's a native English speaker."

"Her voice is so cute!"

She quickly walked off the stage and stood next to Kenshin in relief. "Thank you, you did well! The students seem to already like you, that they do!" Kenshin smiled again at her. Kaoru gave him an awkward laugh in response. "I really hope so!" she replied.

A/N: Yay, they met! I also don't get the Japanese-toilet system. They are either of 2 extremities- super high-tech or primitive. Why not just a normal toilet?! *sigh*

I had a great time writing this and I wish I had brought my laptop with me during my weekend vacation because I really wanted to continue working on this!

Please comment your thoughts! They are greatly appreciated! I need your constant motivation! :) I will reply to reviews in the next chapter, so look forward to it!