A/N: And the spring vacation officially begins! Too bad mine isn't starting until mid-April XD

Standard disclaimers apply.

Vacation: 1

"Okay, Kaoru, I think that's enough." Kenshin said, trying to gently pry the beer from her hand.

"No! I'm having fun!" Kaoru said with a giggle.

Kenshin sighed. It was past midnight and Kaoru had been taking beer after beer, clearly trying to forget whatever happened earlier that night. "Come on, let's go home."

"I'm not going home." She said sharply.

After a moment, he realized why she was so vehement about staying. "I'll stay with you. You're not going to be alone. I'll be right with you." He said.

She paused for a moment before taking another swing of the beer. "Alright let's get in the car!"

Hesighed again. "You're kind of an annoying drunk." He muttered as he helped her off the stool and toward the exit.

"Hey, do you need any help?" Yumi asked with a hand on his shoulder.

"Nah, I'll be okay."

"Yumi!" Kaoru exclaimed before giggling. "I haven't thought about you in so long."

Yumi smiled sadly. "I figured you hadn't."

"But I really miss you. We used to have so much fun backstage." Despite Kaoru's drunken state, her words rang true.

"Yeah, we did. But we'll see each other more often, right?"

"Oh, def, def. You're so real, you know?" Kaoru tried to pat Yumi's shoulder, but awkwardly ended up patting her elbow.

"Okay, I think it's time to go now. Bye, Yumi. I'll see you next week?" Kenshin said as he hoisted Kaoru up more on her feet.

"Yep, good luck with preparing – you guys are gonna own." Yumi answered with a smile.

He carefully walked down the stairs with her, cursing to himself. Why did Strathmore Hall have to be on the second floor?

When he felt the cool breeze of the night caress his face he sighed. Kaoru was still giggling as he half-carried her to her car. On his way, he found Misao and Aoshi talking outside Urban Center's van, where he and Yumi had made out only an hour ago.

Misao turned her attention over to Kenshin and Kaoru and frowned. "What the hell happened?" She asked, pointing to Kaoru.

"Ah, well, she had a few drinks." Kenshin gritted as Kaoru laid more of her weight onto him.

Misao looked at her friend thoughtfully. "I wonder what happened at that party."

Kaoru's head suddenly snapped up. "I hate boys." She growled.

Kenshin and Aoshi were taken aback by her statement, Kenshin more openly.

"Should Misao take her home?" Aoshi asked, his eyes managing to reveal pity for Kenshin.

"No, let Kenshin do it." Misao said quickly, a spark in her eye joining the smile on her face.

"Right…okay see you guys later." Kenshin said, trying to wave awkwardly but gave up seeing it was impossible to hold Kaoru up with one hand.

He found Kaoru parked in a handicapped spot crookedly. He would've laughed out loud if it weren't for the fact that she was probably crying on the entire way over.

The ride was relatively silent, only disturbed by a few hiccups here and there. He was very thankful that Kaoru lived closer to downtown than he did, so he only had to drive the Volkswagen for a few minutes, which he decided was not a great car to drive.

"Alright, Kao, let's go to bed." He said, taking his key out and making his way to the passenger side.

When he reached over to take off her seatbelt, he got a generous whiff of her perfume. He groaned as he carefully got her out of the car. "Why must you torture me with that freaking perfume?" He grumbled to himself as he fumbled for her house keys. "I wonder if Yukishiro really appreciates it. You probably thought that if it got to me, it could get to him." He continued to mumble as he walked up the stairs at a crawling pace.

His arms were burning as he placed her on top of her blue comforter. She smiled at him in a drunken stupor, and he hoped that in the morning she would somehow remember that he brought her home.

He looked at her alarm clock which read half past midnight.

He started to pull the sheets out from under her so he could tuck her in. "Alright, Kao time for sleep." He said as if talking to a five-year-old, his hands on either side of her.

But before he could place the blanket on top of her, she pulled the collar of his shirt down, making him lose balance and to fall on top of her. He expected her to giggle, but was surprised to see her look at him with extreme seriousness.

She was definitely not a five-year-old.

He was too aware of her hips aligning with his and the way her shirt had ridden up so he could feel the heat from her stomach radiate into his. When her lips parted he couldn't breathe.

For a moment he wanted to indulge and kiss her. After all, it had been over a year since he last held her this close. He leaned in a bit closer. It wasn't as if she'd remember in the morning – she was too drunk at this point. But when her hot breath tickled his face, he smelled the alcohol and grimaced.

He didn't want their first kiss in over a year to taste like Budweiser, despite his love for it.

Instead, he placed a tender kiss on her forehead before removing his weight off her. She grabbed his arm and groaned.

"Stay with me, please?" She asked in a small voice.

He bit his bottom lip, staring into her wide, teary eyes. He nodded. "Yeah, I'll be right over there."

"Hold my hand until I sleep." She murmured before closing her eyes.

He placed his other hand on top of hers and watched her breathe.

After Kenshin was sure that Kaoru was asleep, he drove home with her car to sleep. He set his alarm to nine o'clock so he could be in her room when she woke up.

He drove back to her house in his own car for two reasons: one, not being able to drive her car for another time, and two, because he wanted to take her somewhere later and she wouldn't know where it was.

When he came into her room, he held three aspirin in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Thankfully, she was still sleeping. He placed what will be her first demands on her nightstand and watched her sleep for a few moments.

His eyes wandered around the room, taking note that most of it stayed the same except for all the photos were different. The pictures that used to be of her and Misao, her and Kenshin, and her with the band, were replaced with ones of Megumi, Tomoe, and Enishi. On her nightstand there was one of Enishi and her smiling in each other's arms, taken over the summer. He grimaced at it before gently putting it facedown. Then his eyes strayed to her purse that was dropped by her doorway. There was a light blinking inside. Curiosity overwhelming him, he took her phone out from her purse and saw she had ten missed calls. He opened the phone and looked at the numbers.

The earliest was from Megumi the night before, and she called twice. Tomoe also called her once.

Enishi called her seven times in a row, the earliest being at seven in the morning.

He gripped her cell phone tightly. Never in his life did he want to beat the living crap out of someone until that moment. But then he looked over at Kaoru and his expression changed from pure anger to sorrow. She didn't deserve this at all.

He sighed as he put her phone back her bag and took a seat on the cushioned rocking chair in the corner of the room. He automatically swung his leg over the armrest and closed his eyes, hoping to gain another hour or so of sleep. When he got home at one, he couldn't fall asleep right away. The warm feeling of having her beneath him kept him awake.

He heard groans after forty-five minutes of sleeping. Creaking an eye open, he saw her flop onto her back.

"Fucking shit!" She moaned, bringing her hands to her head. "Never drinking, again."

He laughed a little, causing her to sit up in fear. However, her headache made her clutch her head in agony. "God damn it!"

"You had five beers, in case you were wondering." He said after a minute.

"Figured." She mumbled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "To make sure you were okay."

She brought her hands to her mouth, gasping. "You brought me home."

"Indeed I did."

"And…" She groaned, bringing her hands to her eyes. "Did I do anything…?" She trailed off, knowing he knew what she meant.

He swallowed. "No, you passed out right when you got into bed."

She let out a snort. "Thanks for lying."

A smile grew on his face, despite her not being able to see. "It wasn't terrible."

"Of course it wasn't for you."

He smiled to himself. She was right, it wasn't too terrible. "Except for the fact that your breath smelled bad."

"Fuck you." She said with a hint of a smile. They sat in a comfortable silence until she asked, "Why are you here?"

He stared at her. "I just answered that –"

"No, I mean, you didn't have to come back. You can go now – I'm fine. I was fine when I got home and fell asleep."

He exhaled loudly and started rocking in the chair. After a few minutes he stopped rocking and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Okay, here's the thing, I'm not going anywhere." He stated simply.

She looked at him flabbergasted. "What do you mean you're not going anywhere?"

"I mean…I'm here for you. I know for a fact that if I leave now, you'll be a hermit for a week and not do anything, except bitch and moan about your horrible life. And frankly, my dear, that will not be allowed in this lifetime."

"And why the hell not? My life pretty much sucks right now." She snapped.

He sighed. "But it doesn't. I mean, it looks a little bleak right now, but…you're not alone." He nodded before looking down. "Remember what I said? Almost three years ago on that warm night in August? 'Despite everything that may happen after tonight, I'll always come back to you, no matter what. For anything.' And I stand by that." He was looking at her with an intensity that she never quite got used to, especially after a year with its absence.

Not knowing what to say, she took the glass of water beside her bed and swallowed the three aspirin. Why did he always say the right thing at the right time?

"Jesus, Himura, you sure know how to tug heartstrings." Kaoru said, taking another sip of water.

"It's more like…I mean what I feel and the words come after." He shifted in the chair. "After all, that's what all conversations should be like, reaching one heart to another. There shouldn't be any trickery or false pretenses. There shouldn't be double meanings or rules. Words should come from here," he pointed to heart, "otherwise there's no point in talking at all."

She nearly laughed. "Wow…I totally forgot how deep you can really get."

He shook his head. "No you didn't." He said with a straight face, his gaze intense once again.

Her face broke into a small smile as she looked down at her comforter. "You're right." She whispered.

After a minute he coughed before standing up. "So," he started, walking over to her bed and sitting on the edge, "what do you say?"

She shook her head in disbelief. "Why are you doing this? After hurting you all these months, why do you want to help me?"

A breath escaped from his lips. "Honestly?" She nodded. "Because getting dumped for being immature doesn't compare to being cheated on by the one who claims to love you."

Tears filled her eyes as the reality of the situation hit her. "Oh God." She refused to break down like she did the night before. At that moment she just felt embarrassed that he was able to figure out what happened and that he was probably gloating.

"Hey," he said softly while gently tipping her chin up so he could meet her eyes. "I'm not saying anything, okay?"

She bit her bottom lip before nodding. After managing to compose herself she said, "Can you get out? I need to change."

He grinned as he stood up. "We're going to South Harbor." He said as he walked out of the room.

"What's there?" She asked as she held the door knob.

His smile broadened. "The music store." He said before she shut the door.

She sighed as she turned to her drawers, her head still pounding. Searching through her drawers for something to wear was very easy – being in Kenshin's presence didn't mean she had to worry about how she looked. With that thought, she pulled out her favorite pair of jeans – they were slightly baggy and did nothing to show off her legs. She also threw on a white long-sleeve Polo. For a moment she wondered when the last time was when she walked out of the house looking like that.

When she was about to walk out of her room, she spotted her bag on the floor. She picked it up, about to check her phone, when she chucked the bag to the other side of the room to let out some aggression. Feeling better, she walked out of her room with a smile on her face.

"Dude, where's my car?"

He laughed at her confused expression. "At my house."

"Why?"

"Well," he started, unlocking the doors and getting into the driver's seat, "because, one, you don't know how to get to the store, two, I really don't like driving your car, and three, it's an excuse to come back to my house after this."

She smiled as she got into the car. "Alright then." She then started looking around the inside, a smile unknowingly gracing her features. She truly missed being in his car – it smelled like him.

"What do you want to listen to? You're the DJ." He said, handing her his iPod.

Carefully avoiding touching his hand, she took his iPod and scrolled through his massive list of artists. "What was that band you mentioned on Monday?" She asked quietly, making him pause, about to start the car.

A smile grew on his face as he turned on the ignition. "All Time Low."

She nodded as she found the band. She plugged the iPod into the cassette adapter and waited a few moments before a catchy guitar riff filled the car.

The ride to the music store held no conversation whatsoever. It consisted of Kenshin banging his head to the drums, Kaoru attempting to finish off lyrics, and both of them laughing. At a red light, a car-full of teenage girls was looking at them weirdly as they were doing a hand clapping game along with dancing to the lyrics.

"Whadda you lookin' at?" Kaoru asked them in a deep voice, causing Kenshin to burst out hysterical laughing.

"What the fuck was that?" He asked as the light turned green.

She laughed as well. "I don't know."

He pulled into a complex where there were five stores lined up next to each other. On the end was a small store named "Riff Notes." Kenshin exclaimed in triumph when he found a spot in front of the store.

"Hell yeah, today is a good day." He said as he turned off the car and got out.

"It really wouldn't have mattered if we had to walk from the other side, it's not that far." Kaoru said reasonably as they entered the store.

"Reminder numero uno: appreciate the little things in life, will you? No need to get so practical."

"Hey, Himura! What's up?" A man with spiked hair that dyed the color of green highlighter called out from behind the counter.

Kenshin grinned. "Nothing, really, yourself?"

"Nah, same old shit."

Kenshin looked over to Kaoru then back at the green-haired man. "Uh, Masaki, this is Kaoru, Kaoru, this is Masaki."

Masaki gave a charming smile as he walked over to them. "Pleasure to meet you." He said holding out his hand. After she shook it, he gasped. "Wait, is this…the Kaoru?"

She looked at Kenshin with an amused expression as he turned a delicate shade of pink. "Yes, what other Kaoru do I know?"

Masaki shrugged. "I dunno."

Kenshin rolled his eyes and Kaoru giggled. "So what're we here for?" She asked.

"I need picks…"

"Couldn't you have just gone downtown for that?"

"I could've…" a smile growing on his face.

She couldn't help but look down, his smile causing her stomach to do somersaults.

Masaki reached into his pockets and pulled out a pair of round glasses that were tinted blue. He put them on his face and grinned at the two of them. "Need anything else?"

"Yeah, don't you owe me twenty bucks? You know, so you could take that girl out for pizza?" Kenshin asked, taking a few steps toward Masaki.

"Oh…right…about that…" Masaki said slowly, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

With amazing speed, Kenshin plucked the blue glasses of Masaki's face. "Nice Lennon glasses you got here." He said, putting them on his own face. Turning to face Kaoru he gave her a peace sign.

She laughed. "Those look good!"

Kenshin turned around and gave Masaki a smirk. "Damn it! Fine, keep them." Masaki exclaimed.

"Nice." Kenshin said, bobbing his head. He then started walking away with a big of a drag to his step, almost as if he was stoned. "C'mon Kao, we gotta find some picks."

Kaoru shook her head at Masaki. "Gets into character." She said, pointing to Kenshin with her thumb.

Masaki smiled. "He's a good guy." He winked at her. "He likes you, a lot. So take care of him."

She bit her lip and nodded, not able to say anything.

Kenshin was on the other side of the store, looking at the vast selection of picks. She joined his side, looking at the picks with their array of colors and sizes, having no clue what the differences were.

He suddenly started humming a catchy tune to himself. She was about to ask what song that was before he gasped loudly.

"Holy shit, holy shit! Where's my phone?" He exclaimed, touching his back and front pockets before finding it in his left front pocket. Flipping it open, he pushed the record button and began humming the tune again, this time louder. After finishing, he began texting furiously. When he was done, he gave her a grin that she hadn't seen in so long – it was pure delight.

"What was that?" She asked amusedly.

"What you just heard was the chorus for the song we're playing at Battle of the Bands." He said, grabbing both her hands.

She squeezed them back tightly. "I was just going to ask you what song you were singing – I thought it was from one of your miscellaneous bands."

"I just sent it to Sou who's going to send it to Sano and Yahiko. I'm going to meet them tonight just to run through it. You wanna come? See how the song develops?"

He looked so happy that she didn't even think about refusing. "Duh, I will! I'm so excited." She said with complete honesty.

"Me too. This song is really something, Kao, I know it." He said in a low voice, his eyes twinkling.

"I can't wait to hear it."

He froze for a moment. "Wait…no. I don't want you to hear it."

"What do you mean?" She asked, clearly hurt and confused by his sudden change.

"No, no it's nothing like that," he said quickly, reading her mind. "I just realized that I want you to be surprised, that's all. I want you to hear the polished piece – it should only be heard in its perfection. Please?"

His phone started ringing in his pocket before she could answer. He held up a finger to her before taking his phone out. Reading the text message he laughed out loud. She looked over at his phone to see Soujiro had written, "nice shades – now you r a true musician. THAT WAS AWESOME! Meet my house 4."

She smiled. "Fine, I guess I can wait a few days."

He grinned before pulling her into a quick hug. "You're awesome, you know that? You won't regret it, I promise." He said as he threw the picks on the counter.

"I'll pay for them." Kaoru said, pulling out her debit.

"Why? They're not that expensive." He asked amusedly.

She shrugged. "Just to do something for you. This week doesn't just have to be about doing stuff for me, I'm not that selfish."

He felt as if he lifted a couple inches off the ground. This week. She was giving him an entire week. A week that would be completely out of time – the outside world wouldn't effect them. "But you're the one with the broken heart."

She snorted a little. "And yours isn't?" She asked softly.

They were silent as Masaki rung up the picks and handed her the receipt. She signed the bottom and kept the carbon copy.

Masaki waved to them as they walked to the car. When they got inside she said, "Just so you know, my heart really broke when we ended things."

Kenshin nodded. "Yeah, I guess, I mean…it shouldn't be…but you know it's hard. You were a big part of my life. The whole thing was just…sudden and not expected really."

She nodded, her throat getting clogged up. "Can we…not talk about this right now? Like…we can later but…not now. Let's keep it light today, my head's still hurting."

"Fine, I'll let you off the hook for now…just because you saved me some cash." He said with a small smile as he pulled out.

"Why are you scraping for money? You never have to."

"Eh, I owe Sozo twenty bucks."

"What for?"

"Well he washed my car and got me gas, so I owe him for our two trips to the diner on Thursday."

"Is Sozo coming to see the show on Friday?"

Kenshin shook his head. "Nah, school. Besides, it's not like he's going to come to all my shows or whatever. We're not going to be all, 'now we're best buddies for life!' because we're both fucked up for one reason or another…and it's not our thing."

"Of course, 'cause you're the big, strong, silent type that doesn't show his emotions involving love, especially to one for a guy."

He pushed her with his hand. "Shut up, you know what I mean."

"I know, I'm just teasing."

He side glanced to her. "You wanna go out to lunch?"

She nodded, her stomach feeling empty having not eaten since the night before. "Sure…but I wanna eat food that's really unhealthy. I want to eat my feelings."

He laughed, making her smile. "Okay, let's go to Ruby Tuesday, they have good burgers."

While driving to the other side of the town where Ruby Tuesday was, she couldn't help but smile when she saw a street sign that read "Ocean Avenue."

"Kenshin, we're on Ocean Avenue." She said.

His eyes widened before he snapped his fingers on one hand. "Put it on my iPod!"

She grinned as she scrolled to the bottom of his list of artists. Finding Yellowcard, she played the song "Ocean Avenue."

"Oh my God, this song was amazing." She gushed as the familiar opening began.

"Yeah, Yellowcard was awesome – that violin was so different." Kenshin said.

She smiled and shook her head. "So fun…that summer just blasting it. It's the soundtrack of summer. Whenever I hear a song from that album I just smile, you know? It's great."

An idea came to his mind. "Oh my God. You know what we should do?" He asked while his eyes widened behind the round, blue glasses.

"What?"

"We should totally make a playlist of all these songs. Like all the songs that define our childhood. Ranging from Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne, Journey, you know it. All those songs that just…you know…if you had a soundtrack for the first thirteen or fourteen years of your life, those songs would be on it."

She gasped. "Yes! Okay, we're so doing that! I probably won't get any sleep searching through my old music, but it'll be so much fun. But…what's it for?"

He chuckled. She knew that laugh – it was when he knew something that he wasn't going to tell anyone about. "You'll see. But I'll give you a hint, we're gonna go on a road trip tomorrow."

"Road trip to where?"

He smirked as he pulled into a parking spot. "You'll know tomorrow." He said before cackling.

"You're…crazy. You know that?" She said, but she was smiling as she opened the door for him.

"Nah, I think I'm pretty sane. I like to think that everyone else is crazy for being stiff, up-tight ass-faces."

After lunch, Kenshin and Kaoru began the long drive back home.

"I've come to a conclusion." Kaoru stated out of the blue.

"Conclusion about what?" Kenshin asked as he lowered the music.

"Guys are total assholes. The whole lot of them."

He paused. "You do know I'm a guy, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah, but come on, they are. They're just so childish and ridiculous and stupid."

"That's being a little harsh – not all of them are like Enishi. I certainly don't categorize myself with him." He said with a scowl on his face.

"I swear, Kenshin, guys are scum. Every last one of them. I don't know what it is about a penis, but my God they come with some bad genes or something."

"Hey now…" He said softly, but offended. "It just seems that way now because you were dating a scumbag. Not all guys are like that."

She snorted softly. "Like you?"

"Yeah, like me." He retorted, looking her dead in the eye for a moment before focusing back on the highway. She looked at him in shock. "Kaoru, if there's one thing you should take away from our relationship…it's that I never looked at another girl, understand? It was only you. Because that's what you deserved…what you still deserve."

Kaoru froze, not being able to breathe. Why did he have to say these things? Why did he always make her feel worth more than how she felt? How could he still be hung up on her after everything she had done to him?

"You're a good guy, Ken. You've been good to me this past year…even though I didn't turn out to be the best girlfriend or ex-girlfriend…but you've always been there for me, even when you could've just told me that I set myself up for disaster with Enishi and deserve all the shit." She admitted after a few minutes of silence.

He shook his head. "Nah. I'm not that nasty. It's just at the end of the day…you seemed happier with me." He paused. "I mean, I know I couldn't fulfill certain wants of yours socially, and I know I'm a bit of a jackass and I sometimes got my words and priorities mixed up…but you seemed much more relaxed back then…and I don't if it's just me thinking this, but we were happy together."

She nodded, turning her body so she could face her window. "Yeah, we were happy…" She whispered to no one in particular.

She didn't see him smile to himself for the rest of the silent ride home.

Kenshin dropped Kaoru at his house where her car was. He ran inside the house to get her car keys and his acoustic.

"Do you wanna go out for dinner or something?" He asked as he tossed her keys to her.

"I…kind of just want to chill at your house tonight. I'll make that playlist while you rehearse." She said.

He smiled as he got inside the car. "I'll see you in a bit then."

She beamed. "Yeah, see ya."

He waved before pulling out of his driveway.

Kenshin had no idea what the week ahead was going to lead to. He didn't know if they were going to get back together, just get back to being friends, or something else entirely. All he knew was that he was going to enjoy every moment of it.

Eight-year-old Ota answered the door for Kenshin. He beamed brightly when he saw him.

"Kenny!" He exclaimed before running into him and wrapping his arms around Kenshin's thin waist.

Kenshin laughed and hugged the boy tightly. "Hey, Ota, what's up?"

"I got all the words on my spelling test right yesterday!"

Kenshin grinned fondly. Those days seemed so long ago. "That's awesome! So where's your thickheaded older brother?"

"Right here," Sano said while walking out of the kitchen with a bag of chips in hand before mouthing "bitch." He pushed Ota into the kitchen.

Kenshin's eyes immediately strayed to Sano's forehead, where a red bandana rested.

"Why are you wearing that bandana around your head?" Kenshin asked.

"Why are you wearing those glasses?" Sano retorted.

Kenshin almost forgot that he was still wearing them – he didn't feel weird in them at all.

Sano sighed. "I dunno…I was looking through my shit for something and I just found it from boy scouts or somethin'. I kind of like it." He shrugged.

Kenshin shrugged too. It strangely worked on Sano. "I stole these from Masaki as payment." Kenshin answered with a shrug before saying, "You don't look like a tool, so I suppose it's okay."

Sano lightly punched Kenshin in the shoulder before turning back inside to the basement where Soujiro was strumming his guitar. Kenshin watched Sano dial a number on his cell phone. The person being called was Yahiko.

"I feel like shit." Yahiko said in a groggy voice.

"I'm sorry, Yahiko, I wish we could be with you." Soujiro called out with a frown.

"I'll probably feel better tomorrow…"

"What the hell did you do today?" Sano asked Kenshin.

"Did you hang out with Kaoru?" Soujiro inquired.

"Why would he hang out with her?" Yahiko asked.

"Oh, yeah, last night she came to Strathmore Hall totally devastated, drank herself to oblivion, and Kenshin brought her home." Sano explained, as if it was a normal occurrence.

"No way! What happened to her?"

Sano and Soujiro looked to Kenshin, unsure of the answer themselves.

Kenshin sighed as his hands clenched together by his knees. "He cheated on her."

There was a tense silence until Yahiko said, "What? I couldn't hear you."

"That…ass-face…cheated on her?" Sano asked sharply.

"Oh my God! But he was…she was…what the fuck?" Yahiko exclaimed.

Soujiro merely shook his head. "How horrible."

Kenshin nodded. "Yeah. So…I'm hanging out with her. She totally cut off everyone, including Megumi, so she's feeling a little…lost right now."

"That's good. She can hang out with us so she doesn't get sick of you." Soujiro said with a slight tease to his voice.

"Are you joking? After the way she treated you for a year? You're just gonna let her crawl back to you?" Sano asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Dude, the guy cheated on her! Her ridiculous friends would probably force her to make up with him, forgive him."

Every muscle in Kenshin's body froze. That was the last thing he expected or wanted for Kaoru to do. If she were to forgive Enishi, Kenshin wouldn't know what to do. A second chance? Since when did she believe in those? "She better not." Kenshin said out loud.

"Yeah! The dick doesn't deserve it!"

"Why would she give him a second chance? That's not very fair." Kenshin said softly.

There was another silence, but this time all three boys heard him clearly. They let Kenshin think to himself for a few minutes until Sano coughed loudly. "Alright, so you wanna play that melody? It was fucking A."

Kenshin smiled as he pulled his acoustic out of its case and tuned it. When he was done he stared down at the floor with an intense gaze. After a minute, he played the first few chords correctly, stopped, and then recorded the chords on a scrap of paper. This continued for about fifteen minutes until he managed to have the chorus memorized.

"Kenshin – that's so good. You just made me feel ten times better playing that." Yahiko said.

"Okay, Soujiro, let's come up with the kick ass harmony." Kenshin said, nodding to Soujiro. "Thanks, Yahiko. You better get better soon! Your part has to be sick for it to work."

"But it sounds too good acoustic. Maybe I should –"

"No," Kenshin said strongly. "It's one of those songs that sound good either way. Trust me, it'll work."

Soujiro smiled before looking down at the chords on the paper. His gaze turned serious as he focused on the notes. Kenshin played the chorus for him twice, and he grew to like it more the more he played it. Soujiro brought his guitar to his lap and got his hand ready by the frets.

"Let's do it." Soujiro said.

Both counted to three before playing at the same time, both with held breath.

"Jesus Christ, you guys never get it perfect the first try." Sano breathed when they finished.

Soujiro looked to Kenshin. "You're right – this song is it."

"Is it too much to say that we're gonna win?"

Sano and Kenshin looked to Soujiro, the most down to earth and logical person in the band. Soujiro smiled before shaking his head. "No…I think we have a really good shot."

Hearing that from Soujiro made Kenshin even more convinced that they were going to get some attention.

A/N: And so it begins! Thanks for being patient with this update :) I'm going to be a bit busier from now on since lacrosse has started once again! So exciting – especially since I have a protégé, this really sweet freshman girl. I swear I wish I the junior that I knew in freshmen year that was the goalie helped me…she was kind of a bitch actually…hm.

Please review!

MissGoalie