Chapter 2

The redhead entered the classroom, and he could feel the entire class staring at him as he stood in front of the teacher's desk. He passed Saito a note and waited while the professor read it over. Saito's yellow eyes narrowed as he looked from the note back to the new arrival. The professor spoke loudly to address the entire class. "Himura Kenshin is joining our class. You are late so find a seat and get to work."

Kenshin held the professor's gaze and nodded before turning to walk towards the back of the class. As he made his way down the aisle, every person in the class watched him walk towards the back. This is going to get old fast. Just be patient Himura. He forced his features to stay indifferent and looked for a place to sit. He found an empty seat at a table in the back and looked to the person sitting next to it. His eyes fell on azure and his breath caught. Kenshin hardly noticed her messy bun, pale skin, and rosy lips because he was losing himself in her seemingly endless river of blue. Floating toward the empty seat, he could not find it in himself to pull his gaze away from those deep, blue eyes. He continued to stare at her while taking his seat. The warmth he felt in his gut was spreading over his body. It was an electrically charged pull.

Saito cleared his throat loudly. Kenshin found it quite difficult to unlock his eyes from hers, and he noticed that she didn't look away until several moments later. He could tell that she looked slightly embarrassed as a light blush spread across her cheeks. He opened his book and began the reading assignment. With much difficulty, he didn't dare look toward this girl that was next to him for the remainder of class. He was rather startled by the strange feeling that was so close to overwhelming him. There was a pull towards her, and he was straining to seem normal and unaffected. Through his peripheral line of sight, Kenshin saw the girl's name on her journal written in decorative, squiggly handwriting. Kaoru.

Kenshin could smell jasmine all around him and was drowning in it. This Kaoru was affecting all of his senses. He needed to get away from her so he could think. Outside was sounding really good right about now. Most people in the school wouldn't tell him anything anyway. He was a new kid and so they would steer clear as he was unknown.

Kenshin saw the girl continue to peer over at him and it was becoming too much for him. He was counting down the seconds that the bell would announce the end of the class. This madness needed to end and quickly. He didn't know what would happen if he looked into her eyes again. It was becoming very tempting for Kenshin just to glance over because he could feel her warmth right next to him. He wanted to reach out to touch her. No one would even notice.

Ring. The bell rang loudly. Kenshin moved lithely out of his seat and headed towards the door without looking back. He knew that she was watching him with a wide-eyed stare. The further he moved down the hallway to go outside the more he wanted to turn back and find the girl. He could still feel the warmth but he was losing it the longer he stayed away. He caught himself frowning at the thought.

Kaoru watched in shock as the mysterious redhead almost jumped off his seat in the most graceful move and made a beeline to the door. She thought he would have tried to talk to her after that - whatever that was. Kaoru got nothing. Not a hi, a bye, or even a backward glance. She felt a little lost at this point and could feel the pull becoming less and less. The feeling of something missing was coming back full force and it hurt. She could have sworn he had felt something when they made that visual connection. Was she wrong? Had she just imagined it.

Kaoru looked down momentarily to gain control of her wondering thoughts. This would have to wait. She reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. As she reached to gather her things, she looked up to see aquamarine eyes waiting almost expectantly.

"What was that all about?" Misao struggled to keep from jumping up and down. Kaoru had never showed any interest in any one person so Misao was more than interested to know why this guy caused a change in her friend's typical lack of interest.

Kaoru looked back at her friend with a blank look on her face and Misao bit her top lip to keep from smiling. "I...I...What?"

"I saw you staring at the new guy. Did you know he is a senior? Wow! He is so in to you. Sooo, what are you waiting for? We better hurry to our next class while you explain yourself."

"Oh right. Let's go." Kaoru paused to finish getting her things and hurried with Misao trailing. Kaoru had become pretty good at deflecting Misao but that required much concentration. Right now she just didn't have the ability to focus on anything other than violet. So she did the only thing she could. She ran. Kaoru knew Misao would attack her at some point to try to get information from her, but she would have to wait until later. Much later.