Chapter Three

Life in the Mad Dog Ward

Kaoru tapped her pencil rhythmically against her desk. It occurred to her that she should have been paying attention, but the sights and sounds of the classroom were much more interesting than her history teacher. There was the noise of the chalk scratching against the board, the smooth purr of snores, combined with the excited murmur of covert whispers. Kaoru often found herself temporarily fascinated by the faces and mannerisms of her classmates. She enjoyed staring at students when they weren't paying attention. Their features would contort into the strangest variations of boredom, annoyance and fatigue. For a few fleeting moments, It was fascinating. Then she would return to her own reality. A reality in which she envisioned herself walking along the beach, practicing kendo, teaching or sleeping.

Kaoru moaned to herself and wondered why high school wasn't an option. For Kaoru, social life in high school had gone from annoying, to bad and then worse. While Kaoru was friendly, kind and high-spirited by nature, she was also loud, emotional and outspoken by the same nature. From the beginning, Kaoru was an oddball.

Most of the students in her high school were from wealthy or prominent families and carried themselves that way. From the start, high school was a competition. Entering the classroom was like walking on stage. Everything was on display for the evaluation and judgment of her peers. It was a contest of fashion, the ability to trash one's peers and sexual knowledge. Kaoru failed on each count. While she cared about fashion, she couldn't conform to the latest trends. She didn't have the interest or desire to search, discover and expose the faults of her peers. She was still curious about sex and as a freshman in high school didn't have much experience to brag about. That was soon to change, somewhat to Kaoru's dismay.

At thirteen Kaoru had been short, skinny and a completely flat chested. A rebellious, tomboy she had been somewhat ignored by the opposite sex. Kaoru didn't lack for crushes, but she refused to play the flirting game prevalent among her age group.

At fourteen Kaoru "blossomed". According to her mother, Kaoru had simply blossomed fast. While she was still short, skinny and very much a rebellious tomboy, she now had hips and breasts (which only served to throw her balance in kendo). The older, opposite sex quickly took notice.

Even when she gained experience, Kaoru couldn't find the motivation to brag or even remotely discuss it with her overzealous peers. Kaoru had many casual friends and wasn't necessarily disliked. Still, she couldn't find a place among her peers, especially the girls. There was one girl, Misao, whom Kaoru could relate too. Misao was louder than Kaoru and had no problem making fun of her peers. Soon, Misao and Kaoru became partners in crime, literally. (Misao was a thief, among other things.) While Kaoru was very against stealing and made her opinions known (she had a very strong sense of righteousness), she couldn't really speak against her only friend. Misao's attendance was sporadic at best and soon the young girl dashed off to Kyoto with her boyfriend, Aoshi. Kaoru hadn't heard from Misao in years. Kaoru wondered what became of the spirited little criminal…

High school became much more unbearable after Misao ran away. But it wasn't in her nature to give up or quit something she'd started. Plus, she assumed that she'd need at least a high school diploma if she wanted to continue teaching martial arts or perhaps go into law enforcement (despite her issues with the system). She couldn't shame her parents by becoming a dropout.

Absently, she pulled at the tops of her tall socks and shuffled her feet. Thoughts of yesterday's prison fiasco floated to the front of her mind, along with ideas of skipping the rest of the day. She was just too tired and stressed to stay in school. She wasn't paying attention anyway.

'How does Megumi do it?' Kaoru lamented to herself as she let her head drop to the desk. Megumi was just too cool and mysterious for words. Not only was she tall and beautiful, but she was a medical school student (a productive member of society) who consorted with prisoners and dated their guards. Not that Kaoru wanted anything to do with jailbirds. She had enough drama in her life.

While it was true that Kaoru felt somewhat envious of her boarder, and friend; her feelings, were not entirely that of jealously. Rather, she felt left in the dark and somewhat abandoned by the older woman. When Megumi came into her life, Kaoru was depressed, broken and confused. The death of her father, continually fresh in her heart, wounds from the loss of a mother torn open and bleeding, the memory of a lover and friend tarnished and ruined, Kaoru was hurt and alone. There were voids, emotions, needs that Kaoru had unbeknowingly expected Megumi to fill, with her presence alone. The silence had become deafening.

After the death of her father, Kaoru had initially found the silence of her home to be a haven of sorts. It was easy to loose herself in the silence. Her home was the dark eye of the tornado from which she could hide from the chaotic world. Besides, it shamefully allowed her a bit more privacy with a certain friend. Privacy she might not have had if she'd accepted Dr. Genzai's command (he was her legal guardian) or Tae's offer to share their homes. Memory of that friend made Kaoru frown. She didn't want to think of him.

That existence was a double-edged sword. While the silence allowed for some warped sliver of peace it also affirmed Kaoru's notion that she was truly and utterly alone in the world and that her friend was indeed a loser. There were others, there were true friends of her family who cared, Tae and Dr. Genzai to be specific. But for a 16-year old Kaoru who had just lost her mother a year and half ago, these friends seemed wholly inadequate. She only wanted to be alone. Or so she thought. Then came Megumi.

Beside her loneliness, she found that she could use the extra money that Megumi would bring as her boarder. While her father had been a rather wealthy and prominent man as Chief of Police, her mother's long bought with cancer had cost them considerably. Not to mention the cost of Kaoru's education. High school wasn't free, and her father had made sure that Kaoru went to the best of high schools, even though her grades were marginal at best. Kaoru still wondered if her father bribed the officials at the school to take her, or if they were simply afraid to refuse the daughter of their Police Chief. Either way, she'd fought with her father for days about accepting something she hadn't earned herself. Her young pride was hurt. She didn't want anything she hadn't earned and she hated the idea of being forced. Kaoru smiled slightly at the memory of her wounded emotions. Her father had been both angry and pleased with her. He loved her tenacity, her need to earn her own way. It was how he taught her to be. However, his joy was soon abated as Kaoru began to find trouble at her new high school. She never paid much attention in certain subjects. In high school her grades had went from bad to worst (her private life in high school had been somewhat dramatic to say the least) and her father had spared no expense on tutors. Then there were the constantly increasing costs of her mother's medical care and later her funeral. Her father's funeral came next. Then there were the lawyers and the price of her protection against the press who attempted to ruin her family's good name…

Besides, Megumi had come well recommended. It might be better to say, that Dr. Genzai continuously implored her to take Megumi as her boarder, if she would not come live with him…

Megumi was a young student in her second year of medical school that volunteered at Dr. Genzai's clinic. Having no family of her own to support her, Megumi was in dire need of a place to say, as the price of living in student housing was astronomical and far above her budget.

However, Kaoru did not doubt that Dr. Genzai had other motives for pushing Megumi on her. She suspected that he felt the older woman could be both friendly confidant to Kaoru and a watchdog for him. They both had lost their families in their teens and were winging it alone. Kaoru had tiny hopes of bonding with Megumi, and perhaps relating to her a bit. While Megumi was friendly enough, Kaoru soon discovered that the woman had her own issues and secrets. So at times their friendship seemed superficial (according to Kaoru) at best.

Megumi was of an entirely different opinion. Their visit to the prison was a perfect example of their conflicts in perception. Megumi thought she'd opened up to Kaoru tremendously by sharing that part of her life. Kaoru reflected on Megumi's way of introducing her to Kenshin after she called him a fool. Kaoru had been very embarrassed. For some reason she couldn't stop herself from calling him a fool…

'Ken let me introduce you to my little friend,' Megumi said with a small smile.

'This is Kamiya Kaoru.'

"Ken" cocked his eyebrow at the mention of her surname, an intense questioning and slightly perplexed look passing over his face.

'It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Kamiya.' He bowed deeply, unknowingly placing emphasis on her surname, a strange smile on his face.

'My name is Kenshin. Himura Kenshin.'

Megumi sighed and crossed her legs.

'Well, now that's over. Sano you can take her outside.'

While it was utterly foolish, Kaoru could not forget the look in that man's eye, or the condescension in Megumi's tone. Kaoru found his polite way of speaking and the emphasis he placed on her surname to be particularly interesting. Did he know something about her or her father? If he did, Kaoru wanted to know the score.

Kaoru laid her head on her desk, long dark ponytail falling over the side, catching the attention of some of the more attentive boys in the classroom. At the moment, she could care less about the boys in her class. Suddenly, Kaoru felt a sharp yank on her ponytail. This tug was not a tug of friendly affection; rather it was full of prickly cruelty. Kaoru simply reached out and pulled her hair over her shoulder, flopping her head back on to the desk. She could care less about the gossiping girls who had on more than one occasion threatened to snip her hair at the neck or to rip it off her head. No, at this time Kaoru's mind danced with a certain prisoner. His selective stuttering and pitiful apologies coupled with enigmatic eyes that picked fights and bore into hers, these were all an intriguing mystery to her.

Kaoru smiled a little at the thought, and she wasn't sure why. On some level, she wanted to discover more about this Kenshin, and the vague details she got from Megumi only made things worse.

It had been a few hours since Kaoru and Megumi returned home from the prison. Megumi had retreated to her room in the basement, saying she had to study. Though she was curious about Megumi's prison connections, Kaoru wasn't in the mood to talk either. The day had demanded a bit much and she'd need time to center herself before she grilled the tight-lipped graduate student.

After she'd spent an hour online reading fanfiction and engaging in other escapist activities, Kaoru decided it was time to pry Megumi for information.

Stumbling downstairs, Kaoru giggled as she noticed the attractive med-school student had fallen asleep over her books. Her mouth was open and a little drool stained the open book.

After calling her a few times the doctor in training shook herself awake.

"What's up girl?" Megumi gurgled through her sleepy haze. She figured Kaoru would come calling tonight. She decided to take it easy on her. She knew she was truly lucky to have found Kaoru while helping out at Dr. Genzai's clinic. At the time she was a struggling, homeless student, barely making ends meet. Graduate school was extremely expensive and she had just been kicked out of the dorms, unable to pay. Kaoru had graciously opened her home to her and for that she was grateful. She was almost regretful that she would be moving out soon, she almost wanted to stay, despite her new scholarship.

"I just um…um…"

"You want to know about Ken?"

"Yeah."

Megumi sighed as the memory of Kenshin brought back her own painful memories of her time under a drug dealer's heel.

"Ken is the sweetest, kindest man I know. He's had a hard life." Megumi paused, and pursed her lips. She wanted to choose her words carefully, providing just enough information to bait Kaoru.

"All I can say is that he does what he thinks is right, even if society disagrees."

Another thoughtful pause.

"He does what he thinks is right…regardless of the consequences, " Megumi said, her voice quivering.

Kaoru sat staring, slightly riveted. Megumi could tell by the expression on Kaoru's face that she had struck a nerve. Kaoru had a real soft spot for radical righteous causes.

"And…" Kaoru started, hoping Megumi would spill something.

"I don't know much Kaoru, if you want details you better ask him yourself," Megumi said, smiling.

Kaoru doubted that Megumi was being completely honest.

"But, I just want to know what he did to end up in prison."

"Ken doesn't tell me anything. But I think he needs to talk about it with someone. I think he needs something. I rarely see Kenshin, he doesn't take well to visitors and I know he doesn't talk to that fool Sano."

"Why doesn't he like visitors?" Kaoru knew Megumi was hiding something. If he didn't tell her anything, how could she consider him a friend? How did they meet in the first place?

Megumi was quiet. "So will you do it?"

"Huh?"

"Idiot. Will you go see him?" Megumi hadn't missed the way Kenshin looked at Kaoru; maybe the raccoon's stupid smile would brighten his day.

"I don't know," Kaoru muttered, looking at Megumi cautiously.

"Maybe."

Why was she dwelling on this? Perhaps it was because Megumi seemed to want her to visit Kenshin. Or maybe it was because she knew on some subconscious, instinctive level that these little mysteries concerning the prisoner would eventually lead to some sort of trouble that she should just pass up. Kaoru sighed to herself. Once she felt compelled, or even slightly curious there was no stopping her.

'Besides if he was in prison for doing what he thought was right, then he deserves to have friends,' Kaoru reasoned to herself as she lay her head back on the desk, wondering why she had to make things so complicated.

This chapter was mostly exposition, but I think it's necessary at times. I know the title is a bit off. It's a special reference. Shoot me a line.