A/N: If I can not own Kenshin... can he own me? *puppy eyes*
Okay, so there are a few questions about Kaoru's past. I think it would be boring to just let you know all of it in a semi-biography-like chapter, so it will occur with lots of drama. and zing. Alright, let's get the show on the road!
Tokyo in Love
Chapter 4 – Settling In
After teaching 4 classes, it was time for lunch. Kaoru sat at her desk, letting her exhausted feet take a break.
Man, it's tiring standing that long without ever sitting! No wonder everyone here is so skinny!
Kaoru sulked as she took out her bento. After a few bites, she quickly consumed it, surprised at how delicious a convenient store bento was. Once she was done, she headed over to the back where multiple trashcans awaited her. She looked into one that was filled with clear wrapping paper and plastic bags. Another one had milk cartons and newspaper in it. Another had plastic bottles in it. Another had foil in it.
What the hell! I just want to throw away my chopsticks and bento!
Confused, she cast her gaze across the teacher's office for help. There were teachers sprinkled here and there, eating their own lunches. (A/N: Teachers generally eat with their homeroom class. If they do not have a homeroom class, like Kaoru, then they eat in the teacher's office) Her eyes saw only unfamiliar faces until it reached a certain redhead quietly eating at his desk. Face suddenly brightening, she walked over to Kenshin.
Sensing her approaching him, he set down his bento and chopsticks to turn towards her. "Is there something the matter, Miss Kaoru?" he asked, feeling a little embarrassed as she stared at his bento. She had reason to stare at his bento because the food he had looked like it came from a 5-star restaurant! The tempura he had looked freshly crisp, the vegetables had a vibrant array of green, orange, and yellow, and his rice looked whiter than any rice she had ever laid eyes on. To top it off, his bento box was made out of traditional bamboo. The damn thing seemed to be emitting an aura of gold.
"Miss Kaoru?" he asked, knocking her out of her daze.
"Oh yes, sorry! Your bento looks amazing! Did your… wife make that for you?" she asked, almost hesitantly.
"Actually, I made it myself, as I do not have a wife, that I do not." He smiled as he scratched the back of his head. "I really enjoy cooking! How about you? Do you make your own lunch?"
Pfff. "Haha, no I don't really cook that well. I bought a bento from the store today for lunch. Which reminds me, can you help me separate the trash from my lunch? All the trashcans really confuse me…" Kaoru reached one hand to her opposite elbow, rubbing it in embarrassment as her eyes drifted in another direction.
"Oh, certainly! Americans don't separate their trash like here, do they?"
"Nope! Not even close! Figuring out this trash separation thing is like learning a foreign language in another foreign language! I don't quite understand what's going on…"
Kenshin chuckled and headed to the back of the teacher's office with Kaoru quickly following him. He grabbed her bento she had left near the trashcans and rinsed out the leftovers in the sink. After shaking it lightly to get rid of the excess water, he put the plastic bento box inside the trashcan with the plastic bags and threw the chopsticks into the trashcan with the cartons.
"Oh my god, that's so much work to just throw away your lunch!" Kaoru exclaimed with her hand up to her mouth.
"It's not that much work!" He said with a surprised look on his face. "This is normal here."
"Haha, I'd just dump everything in one trashcan at home!"
Kenshin smiled at her and shook his head. "By the way- earlier, you had asked me if we would be teaching together today. Unfortunately, we aren't scheduled for any classes together this week." Was there a tinge of regret in his voice?
"Oh… Well, if you need help with anything, I'd be happy to help you!" Kaoru tried to hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Same here." Kenshin grinned at her. "So Miss Kaoru, how are you liking Tokyo? Have you been all around the city yet?" he asked. They stayed in the back chatting, as this was the only area to talk privately without seeming suspicious of anything.
"I've only been to a few places- like Shibuya. But not much. I don't really know where to start! Where would you recommend I go?" Kaoru tilted her head in curiosity.
"Hmm… How about I show you around Tokyo? Miss Makimachi can join us as well!"
"That sounds great! When should we go?" Kaoru asked.
"Let me check my and Miss Makimachi's schedule, but it will definitely be on the weekend, that it will."
"Sure, that's fine with me. Let me know when you find out."
"Yes, so now… You're husband won't be upset that you'll be going out with me and Miss Makimachi now, will he?" Kenshin humored.
Kaoru blushed at his assumption and turned her face to the side, lifting her nose high up in pride. "I'll have you know that I am not married nor am I seeing anyone."
"Sorry, sorry!" Kenshin raised both his hands in defense. "I just thought that perhaps you were married to a Japanese man because your Japanese sounds pretty good from what I've heard so far. Please take it as a compliment!"
The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. Kenshin's eyes widened as he realized that he barely got to eat his lunch because of his conversing with Kaoru. Quickly excusing himself, he went back to his table to quickly down his food while Kaoru went back to her seat and waited for the next class to begin. Peeking at Kenshin's back from behind and from the side of her eyes, she felt herself wanting to talk to him more. About anything and everything. Whenever they talked, she could feel his eyes admiring hers. Whenever she was looking in another direction, she could still feel his eyes on her. He never stopped looking at her for a second whenever they talked.
Waiting for the perfect time when they next spoke, she would prepare herself to catch the way he would look at her. She would try to figure out what it was that was in his eyes. Such kind, unwavering lilac eyes…
"Okay Jou-chan, let's get going!" Sano hit her lightly on the head with his folders. Blushing and playfully swatting his folders from her head, she stood up, straightening out her bangs from the ruffle.
"Mou, Sano! A girl's hair is not to be taken lightly!" Kaoru playfully scowled at him and followed him out the door. The English teachers really made her feel welcomed already. As she walked towards the door, she couldn't help but feel like there were a pair of eyes on her. She did her best not to look back and shut the door to the teacher's room behind her.
Kenshin glanced over at Kaoru's figure leaving the teacher's room, internally sighing. She was the most beautiful ALT the school has ever had. And it was hard to take his eyes off of her. They really were lucky to have such a cute ALT! Kenshin smiled to himself thinking about being her tour guide around Tokyo. He would make sure that she would have a memorable time in Tokyo! Tying his bento with a furoshiki (A/N: A traditional Japanese wrapping cloth), he placed it back in his drawer and quickly left for his classroom. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year with Miss Kaoru here, that I am.
A couple of days later, it was Kaoru's turn to teach with Misao. Misao taught English to the 2nd year junior high school students (A/N: 8th graders) and Kaoru was excited to see how these kids would be like. She waited at her desk, but Misao was nowhere to be found in the teacher's office. The first-hour bell rang, but still no sign of Misao. Turning around to face Kenshin, she asked worriedly, "Is Misao alright? We're supposed to be teaching together."
"Oro? That's strange, she's usually always on time." Kenshin placed his pen down and politely asked the principal about Misao's whereabouts.
"Oh, that high-tempered-Misao is reprimanding a student in the counseling room right now for picking on another student. She may be a few minutes late for class." The principal answered.
Standing up, Kenshin looked over to Kaoru. "Shall I take you to the classroom? You can wait there until Miss Makimachi arrives."
Nodding, Kaoru got up and contentedly followed Kenshin out of the teacher's office. "How are the students?" Kenshin asked as they began walking up the stairs.
"Oh, they're great! I've only taught with the third-year students, but they seem very enthusiastic!"
"That's good to hear, that it is!"
Kaoru noticed Kenshin climbing the stairs a bit faster than she was, so she quickly tried to catch up. Why do men always walk so much faster-
Click-clack, THUMP
And yet again, she tripped on a step. Unfortunately, Kenshin wasn't able to catch her this time because he was walking ahead of her. He quickly turned around to see Kaoru sprawled awkwardly on the stairs. He impulsively hopped down a few steps to her side as she struggled to get up. Her chin had made a direct hit.
"Oro? Miss Kaoru, what are you doing down there?" Kenshin asked half jokingly as he helped her stand up.
"Oh, you know, just getting a nice view of you from down there." Kaoru was masking her embarrassment with slight sarcasm. Kenshin chuckled lightly but suddenly turned serious as he saw Kaoru rubbing her chin in pain.
"Are you alright? Let me take a look." Leaving no room for arguments, he cupped Kaoru's chin with one hand and gently tilted it up so that he could check for any wounds. "Hmm, there seems to be a bruise forming. You should go to the nurse's office after class. Miss Megumi will take great care of this for you. She is our school's nurse."
Glad that his eyes were focused on her chin, she felt her cheeks turning pink from his proximity and touch. "Oh, I'll be fine. I've done worse before." Kaoru gently stepped out of his grasp and gestured for him to continue leading her to class. Nodding with a worried gaze, they continued up the stairs and to the classroom. Upon opening the sliding door, Misao was already inside, passing out papers to the students. A few gasps were let out as the students stopped what they were doing to stare at Kaoru.
"The new ALT!" the students whispered to each other.
Giving a light laugh, she looked back to the door as it was being silently shut. Kenshin gave her a smile and a wave from the window before turning around and walking away.
"Kaoru! Oh my gosh! I totally forgot that today you would be joining my class!" Misao gushed forward at Kaoru with wide green eyes and worried eyebrows. "I had to deal with some naughty students and forgot to get you!"
"It's okay! Kenshin was kind enough to show me the way to your classroom!"
"I'll have to thank that Himura later!" Misao gave her a big grin and turned to face the front of the class. "Okay kids, this here is Miss Kaoru, our new ALT! She will be joining our-"
"Sensei, does that mean there's no quiz today?" A student interjected.
Misao glared at the student in the back who had interrupted her. She wadded up a piece of notebook paper and threw it at the student. Pointing a giant finger and giving a deep frown, she exploded, "NO INTERRUPTING TEACHERS UNTIL THEY'RE COMPLETELY DONE SPEAKING! And just for that, only YOU will be receiving the quiz today."
"… Hai…" the student replied meekly as all the other students giggled.
Because of her small size, it was hard to take Misao seriously in her fuming state. She was actually kind of cute when she was angry. No wonder the students love her so much…
And so the rest of the day continued normal, though Kaoru grew tired of her own self-introductions the more she did them. Tomorrow would be Friday, the day she would get to teach the first year students(A/N: 7th graders). She was especially excited for this because the first year students still looked like cute elementary school students. Though she had no idea who the first year teachers were, she just knew there were two of them. She caught a glimpse of one them before she had went home, but was unable to speak with him as he had a meeting to attend to. He was almost an entire torso taller than she with black hair and ice blue eyes. His demeanor even seemed cold…
To be continued…
A/N: Okay, this chapter was a bit long! Also, it's kinda hectic right now! I'll try to update once more next week, and then it's back to Tokyo for me, so please sit tight as I look for an apartment! Lol I've already got a start onto Chapter 5, so I promise it'll be out next week! If you liked what you read, please review! Any mistakes, thoughts, etc. please let me know!
Some cultural notes:
- All Japanese teachers do not have their own classroom. Instead, the students have their own, shared classrooms and it is the teachers who come to them. That is why the teacher's office is a bit craaaaazy
- Teachers have the option to eat school lunches or bring their own. Many bring their own because the calories of school lunches are ridiculously high to support growing children
- Trash separation is a nightmare in Japan. There's just too many categories lol I've personally snuck outside in the middle of the night to take out my trash in fear of not separating it properly...
- I don't know what it is about Tokyo... but I always tripped. The ground is always uneven! It's like there was once a really old road, and then they placed a step and a new road next to it without any warnings. I think I trip about once a week. LOL
Lastly, a quick thanks to melay, Compucles, CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, jenbow, and momsy for suggestions and encouragement! Greatly appreciated! ^^