Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, hence why I am writing fanfic…
XXXXXXXTime/scene/ POV change
Last Chapter:
'Alright, thanks a lot,' said Sano's voice.
'No problem,' he answered.
'Also, we won't be back until about 4 o'clock cuz Kaoru needs to pick something up at a friend's house. So you can just drop the brat off at the apartment, if you want, or entertain him or whatever you want.'
'Alright. So I guess we'll see you at four?'
'Yep. Bye'
Kenshin snapped the phone closed and glanced at the boy in the passenger seat. The scowl on the boy's face had grown deeper. A smirk appeared on Kenshin's lips, before he asked, 'Are you hungry?'
Yahiko glared at the redhead before turning to look out the window and grudgingly nodding his head.
What a jerk! A bit of Japanese my butt! He speaks it perfectly!
Chapter 8:
Yahiko glared unblinkingly at the redheaded man sitting across from him in the In-n-Out restaurant, as his violet eyes stared blankly back. Kenshin raised an eyebrow as the unannounced staring contest played out and smirked when he noticed Yahiko finally blink and look away, his ever present scowl deepening on his face.
"You don't like me do you?" said Kenshin amusedly taking a bite out of his cheeseburger.
"Now how'd you get that idea?" said Yahiko wryly as he too began to eat his own lunch.
Kenshin shrugged. "I don't really care if you like me or not, but just to let you know, I'm Sano's new roommate, so you're going to have to get used to me."
Yahiko's eyes widened slightly. "You're the kid they were talking about?"
Kenshin shrugged and continued to eat his burger and fries. Yahiko frowned and turned back to his lunch. Continuing on in silence, the two finished in less then 15 minutes and got up to leave.
Just as the two exited the fast food restaurant, Yahiko suddenly froze as he yanked his hands out of his pockets and stuffed them into his back pockets. Not finding what he was looking for, he turned around and looked through the glass doors towards the table that they had been sitting at.
"What's wrong?" asked Kenshin.
"Uhhh….nothing," he murmured, his dark gaze scanning the floor that they had just walked by.
"Are you looking for this?"
Yahiko's head whipped around and his gaze fell on the slender cell phone in Kenshin's hands. His face, Yahiko realized, was fixed with a cocky smirk and amusement was apparent in his purple eyes.
"How did you…I thought I…" Yahiko gaped, his eyes wide open in astonishment. "It…it was in my pocket when we sat to eat…" he finally managed to get out.
"I know," said Kenshin.
"But when did you…"
"When we got up," the redhead shrugged.
"How did you know I took it?" asked the young boy, awe still clearly apparent on his face.
"Slip of the hand? Anyway, what do you wanna do?" asked Kenshin as he unlocked his car doors and shoved his car keys into the ignition.
"What do you mean? Aren't we going to meet with Kaoru and Sano?"
"Naw," he said, "They got things to do and they won't be back to the dorm till around 4. So what do you wanna do?"
Not satisfied with their current situation, the young boy glared out of his window and said, "How should I know? I just got here."
"Good point," murmured Kenshin nonchalantly. "Uhh…You like go-karts?"
"….I guess so," mumbled Yahiko without turning around. Turning his keys, Kenshin started his car and backed out of the parking spot.
"Where are we going?" asked the young boy a few minutes later, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.
"Speedzone."
"Speedzone?"
"Speedzone," repeated Kenshin not bothering to elaborate. Except for the radio humming in the background, the ride there was a silent one, and unlike his sister, Yahiko wasn't freaked out by Kenshin's tendency to drive above the speed limit. On the contrary, the boy seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, if the slight grin on his face was anything to go by.
XXXXXXXX
Yahiko gripped the plastic blue gun in his hands tightly, eyes set unflinching upon the Time Crisis arcade game in front of him. Stepping on the peddle, he aimed and began to shoot, only to realize that the points were being added to Kenshin's rapidly growing score once again, nearly three times that of Yahiko's. Doubling his efforts, the young boy threw aside his inhibitions at getting hit by the enemy and started shooting at all of the men rapidly. Despite his efforts however, his recklessness got his character killed faster and once again, Yahiko was stuck watching the redhead play on his own until he too finally lost the rest of his lives.
"Damn," murmured Yahiko. "You win again." The older boy had beaten him at practically everything that they had done. Kenshin was a better driver on the tracks outside, video gamer, golfer in miniature golf, and even a better pick pocket then him.
"What's next?" asked Kenshin allowing the boy to pick out the next game. Scanning the arcade with his dark eyes, Yahiko's eyes landed on the glowing air hockey table on the other side of the room.
"Air hockey," he said leading the way. As they arrived, Kenshin swiped his play card and the table lit up, expelling air out of the hundreds of tiny holes all over the top. Determined to win at least one game against the redhead, Yahiko pulled out the puck and hit it with the white mallet. After several passes, Yahiko began to get frustrated and started to violently attack the puck.
No matter how hard the young boy tried, however, Kenshin seemed to be faster then the puck and effectively defended his goal. Yahiko was getting so frustrated and forceful, that he even caused the puck to rebound and enter his own goal a couple times, eliciting an amused smirk from the redhead standing across the table. Yahiko's scowled deepened, and when he finally managed to score on Kenshin, he had the distinct impression that the older boy had allowed it to happen.
"You did that on purpose," accused Yahiko tossing his mallet back onto the table as the game ended.
Shrugging, Kenshin smirked. "Maybe."
"You're a jerk, you know that?"
"That's what I've been told."
Yahiko scoffed slightly. While his expression didn't show it much, he had actually grown to like Kenshin during the past few hours with the guy. Yeah, it was rather annoying and irritating to lose to him time after time at everything that they did, but any guy willing to spend nearly $80 at an arcade with a boy he barely knew, was cool in the 10-year-old's book.
"We should get going," said Kenshin glancing at his cell phone.
"But we haven't finished up all of the money in the cards yet," responded Yahiko holding his out in his hand.
Kenshin shrugged. "It's fine, we'll use it next time." Yahiko followed Kenshin out of Speedzone and got into the car.
"Hey, are you loaded or something?" asked Yahiko eyeing the card that still contained nearly $10 of the forty it originally had. "I mean no sane guy would spend that much money at an arcade for no reason whatsoever."
"Naw," said Kenshin glancing at his rear-view mirror. "I'm freakin' po."
"Po?" Yahiko raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'm so poor that I can't even afford the rest of the word," he said smirking at the confused look on Yahiko's face.
"That was lame."
"Maybe… but it's true."
"Then how can you afford to spend eighty bucks at an arcade in one day? You have like a… rich uncle or something?"
"Something like that," Kenshin replied.
"What do you mean 'something like that?' You either do, or you don't."
"We're here," said Kenshin killing the engine and effectively ignoring Yahiko's question.
"Hey wait," said Yahiko running to catch up with Kenshin as he entered the building. "You still haven't answered my question."
Okay, so maybe not so effectively…
Kenshin shrugged. "You're really persistent, you know that?"
"Well I did live with Kaoru and Sano, didn't I? It kinda comes with the territory."
"Good point."
"So, your uncle's rich?" asked Yahiko as he followed Kenshin up the stairs.
"Uhh…I guess so," said Kenshin resignedly, leading the boy to his dorm room. Shoving his keys into the door, he allowed Yahiko to enter first, before walking in himself and locking the door behind him.
"So, is this Sano's dorm?" asked the younger boy, his eyes wandering around and taking everything in.
"Mine too," said Kenshin throwing his keys onto the table and heading into their small kitchen.
"Oh, right," murmured Yahiko as he looked through a collection of CD's that were thrown lazily on the coffee table in the living room.
"You want anything to drink?" Kenshin called from the kitchen, half his arm already in the refrigerator pulling out a bottled water.
"Uhh…sure, what'd ya got?"
"…Pepsi…coke…lemonade…water…" listed Kenshin, "…beer."
"Let me guess," replied Yahiko. "It's Sano's beer."
"Aa."
"Uhh, I'll take the coke then."
"A'ight," said Kenshin pulling out the aluminum can and shutting the fridge behind him. With drinks in hand, Kenshin sprawled out on the couch and turned the TV on. Yahiko got up from his position on the floor and took the other sofa, reaching over to accept the coke can being offered to him by the redhead.
"Thanks," he murmured, watching as Kenshin flipped through channels, before he was offered the remote.
"Here," said Kenshin handing the boy the remote control. "Watch whatever you want."
"What are you gonna do?"
Kenshin shrugged and settled himself more comfortably on the couch. With his bottled water placed carelessly on the coffee table, and his feet drawn up on the couch, shoes and all, the boy shut his eyes. He listened as the voices on the TV were occasionally silenced as Yahiko changed the channel, and after several minutes, he started to peacefully doze off.
"So, how much longer till Kaoru and Sano come?" asked Yahiko thoughtlessly, causing Kenshin's eyes to snap open in slight annoyance.
"Dunno," mumbled Kenshin shutting his eyes again. "Pretty soon." Silence fell between the two once again as Yahiko continued to flip through the channels on the television. Finally, after what seemed like only five minutes, Kenshin began to sense Yahiko becoming restless. Sighing, Kenshin sat up and turned to the boy who was watching him.
"Bored?" asked Kenshin placing his feet on the carpeted floor.
"A bit," murmured Yahiko throwing the remote onto the table. "Wanna arm wrestle?"
Kenshin raised an eyebrow, before finally sighing once again and nodding. "Sure, why not." Sliding onto the floor, he placed his elbow onto the coffee table and watched as the spiky-haired boy settled himself across from him. Grasping hands, Kenshin waited for Yahiko to give the signal to go.
"Ready?" Kenshin nodded. "Go!"
Kenshin sat with a bored look on his face as the boy across from him began to exert all of his energy. Allowing Yahiko to believe he was winning, Kenshin let the boy push his hand down so that it was inches from touching the table beneath them. He watched in amusement as Yahiko's face flushed red in his effort to slam Kenshin's hand down. In the background, Kenshin heard the door open - though Yahiko was too engrossed in their arm wrestling match to notice.
"Hey Sano," Kenshin said without turning around. Yahiko's head snapped up in surprise, and a second later, the boy's hand was slammed.
"H-hey! You cheated! You did that on purpose!" he spluttered jumping to his feet.
Smirking slightly, Kenshin shrugged and leaned back against the couch behind him. "Maybe."
"Why do you have to be such a jerk?" he grumbled, hands crossed across his chest.
Sano laughed loudly and circled around the couch to place his hand on the boy's spiky-black hair.
"It means he likes you, Yahiko-chan!"
"Don't call me -chan!" he exclaimed slapping the older boy's hand off of his head.
"Did I just hear – Oh my gosh, it is you!" said Kaoru from the door, dashing towards her brother. "Yahiko! How'd you get here? When did you get here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" she said all in one breath, as she encircled Yahiko in a great bear hug.
"Ack! I can't breath Busu!" he said his voice muffled. Yahiko suddenly found himself with a big bump on his head. "Itai! What'd you do that for!?"
"Don't call me Busu," she huffed angrily, before suddenly turning back into a worried motherly figure.
Kenshin watched from his position on the floor as the seventeen-year-old fussed over Yahiko. He watched her turn from surprise, to anger, to worry, to confusion, all in a breadth of a few seconds, and he couldn't help but get dizzy from the violent mood swings.
"…Kenshin picked me up from the airport," Yahiko said drawing Kenshin's waning attention at the mention of his name.
"Kenshin picked you up?" Kaoru said in surprise, her eyes widening as if she had forgotten that the redhead was even in the room. Turning to him, she grabbed his hand dramatically and pulled him to his feet. "Thank you so much for taking care of Yahiko for us Kenshin-san!"
What's with the –san?
Kenshin rolled his eyes, before pulling his hand gently out of the girl's grasp. "No problem, Kaoru-dono."
"Kaoru-dono?" Yahiko raised an eyebrow.
Kenshin stared at the boy for a few seconds before nodding. "Uhh…yeah, you know, your sister, Kamiya Kaoru. Her," he said slowly pointing to the girl standing in front of him.
"Yeah I know who she is!" he ejaculated causing Kaoru to giggle. "But what's with the –dono?"
"What about it?"
"Why do you use it?"
"Why not?"
"Well, it's kinda old-fashioned…"
"And…?"
"And nobody ever uses it anymore."
"So?"
"So it's weird."
"I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Never mind!" Yahiko threw his hands up in exasperation, and Kaoru and Sano sniggered.
Smirking to himself, Kenshin ran his fingers through his red hair and sat down on the couch. He had to admit, he actually didn't mind hanging out with the boy as much as he had thought. His antics kept him entertained and he couldn't help but to be impressed with the amount of cunning and knowledge the boy possessed, despite his obvious childhood innocence.
Turning towards Sano, who had taken a seat next to him, Kenshin asked, "Where's Megumi-san?"
"Kitsune? She had to go to her internship last minute," said Sano grabbing a hold of the water bottle on the table and helping himself to a waterfall. "So what'd you two do for like 4 hours anyway?"
"We – "
"4 HOURS!?" exclaimed Kaoru effectively cutting Kenshin off. "What do you mean four hours?"
"I took him to Speedzone," said Kenshin ignoring Kaoru's outburst.
"Speedzone huh? Nice," said Sano grinning.
"Yeah, Speedzone's pretty cool," Yahiko piped in.
"I bet Kenshin beat you at every game," laughed Sano causing Yahiko to glare at him.
"It's not like you could beat me either Sano," smirked Kenshin causing Yahiko to snigger in return.
"HELLO?!" yelled Kaoru suddenly. The three boys turned and stared at her blankly causing her face to redden slightly.
"Yes…?" Kenshin urged.
"Don't tell me Sano made you pick Yahiko up four hours ago," she said arms akimbo.
"Okay then, I won't," replied Kenshin.
"Sano!"
"What'd I do?!" he said a slightly surprised look on his face.
"You made him pick Yahiko up four hours ago?! And you expected him to take care of a kid he doesn't even know, for four hours!"
"I…But…"
"Four hours is a long time Sano!" reprimanded Kaoru loudly.
"Yeah, but…"
"I bet you didn't even give him money to take care of Yahiko."
"He…"
"Four hours at Speedzone is a lot of money, not to mention lunch," she said. "You did feed my brother didn't you?" she said suddenly turning on Kenshin with eyes that made him wince inwardly.
"Hai." SCARY! Note to self: never piss her off! thought Kenshin.
"Sano! You're going to repay Kenshin for his help!"
"Wait! But Kaoru…"
"No buts!"
"But he…"
"Maa maa," said Kenshin placing a hand on both of their shoulders. "Sano didn't make me do anything."
"But he could've done it himself," she protested stubbornly. "If he wasn't such a lazy…"
"But then it wouldn't be a surprise for you."
"I guess, but…"
"Alright then," Kenshin said stepping passed the two and into the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Yahiko asked seeing as Kaoru had gone back to glaring at Sano.
"I'll be in my room."
AN: I actually had this written a few weeks ago, but I was planning on making a few changes. Turns out, I'm not really sure how I want to change it, so here it is. Let me know what you think of it please!
