A/N: It was spring break when I wrote this! Haha what a coincidence :)
By the way, you do know that the dates in this story coincide with last year's actual calendar, right? I just wanted to point that out because the movie that K&K are going to see in this chapter actually came out that weekend.
Note: If they're any random f's in this chapter again, I apologize - it's definitely fanfiction's fault - I tried to get rid of them, but I'm human.
Standard disclaimers apply.
Vacation: 3
Kaoru was more than surprised when she found herself face-to-face with Misao on Monday morning.
The doorbell and rung, and she assumed it was Kenshin, but for the second time in two days, she was wrong.
"You haven't called me back. How are you?" Misao asked with her arms crossed.
"I turned my phone off…I'm being a hermit."
Misao snorted. "Liar. You're hanging with Himura." Kaoru looked down at her feet. Misao sighed. "I was worried. I am worried. Megumi and Enishi are too – they keep calling me."
"Why you?"
"Because they assumed that you would be with me, I guess. I don't know."
"Did you tell them that I'm with Kenshin?"
"No, I'm sure one of them will figure it out eventually. I'm not about to make it easy for them." Misao answered with a grimace.
"Why not? If you say they're as worried as you, then why don't you reassure them?" Kaoru challenged. "Not that I really give a shit about Enishi at the moment – you can make him worry. But why not tell Megumi?"
Misao looked into Kaoru's eyes with boldness. "Because as childish as this sounds, she took away my best friend, and since she holds my old title of Best Friend, I would expect her to go to be with you immediately after you withdrew from the real world."
Kaoru was completely taken aback by her response. "Megumi's not my number one best friend, Misao."
Misao barked a laugh, tears in her eyes. "Oh yeah? Then why do you hang with her all the time and block me out? I got shafted, Kaoru, and you know it."
Kaoru bit her lip and looked away. It was true – she knew that she distanced herself away from Misao.
"You know, I wasn't the only one that got shafted and was hurt by it." Misao said in a low voice.
Kaoru swallowed. "Break ups are supposed to hurt."
"Are they supposed to break and change people too? Because when I broke up with Shoji two years ago I don't think I changed very much. And I don't think I cried as much as you did." Misao shook her head. "I don't know why you did it, but that was probably the dumbest thing you've ever done."
"Don't you dare judge me; you don't know the half of it!" Kaoru yelled. "Is that why you came here? To insult me and make me feel worse than I already do?"
"No, I just want you to realize you two had…still have…a deep and complex relationship that couldn't be severed by a stupid break up. I hope you know that now."
"Of course I knew that, silly Misao." Kaoru whispered. "Why else did I go to him after catching Enishi?"
This time Misao looked away. "I also want you to know that it really sucks not being as close as we used to be."
Kaoru brought Misao into a tight hug. "I'm…so…sorry. But if it makes you feel any better…I haven't laughed nearly as much this year…and I think it was because of not hanging out with you."
"That does make me feel a little better." Misao mumbled, making Kaoru giggle.
Kaoru pulled away. "Just so you know…Megumi is a good friend too. I'm gonna try balancing out my life more. I think this year sucked in balancing my old relationships with the new."
"True dat, homie." Kaoru laughed and pushed Misao away. "So what're you doing with Kenshin today?"
Kaoru shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know – it's a surprise everyday with that kid."
Misao smiled. "You know he wouldn't be going through all this shit with just anyone, right?"
Kaoru sighed. "Don't start, we're just friends."
Misao looked as if she wanted to say something, her lips parted for a moment but then she closed them and shook her head. "Okay, Kaoru." She said in a tone that clearly showed that she didn't believe her. She flipped open her cell phone and her eyes bugged out. "Shit! I gotta go – I'm meeting Aoshi for lunch."
"Wait…Aoshi? The Aoshi? From Urban Center?!" Kaoru asked incredulously.
Misao beamed, and it was different from every other grin Kaoru had ever seen – there was something special about this guy. "Yeah! We were talking on Friday and we just clicked."
"Are you sure we're talking about the same Aoshi? He doesn't talk."
Misao scoffed. "Of course he does – he just tends to keep to himself."
"You do most of the talking."
"…True. But he does contribute!"
Kaoru smiled. "That's awesome – I'm really happy for you. Have fun with him – and you have to call me and tell me how it went – give me all the details."
Misao's eyes sparkled, her grin still on her face. "I sure as hell will! Ciao!" She skipped away toward her car and honked as she drove away.
The smile on Kaoru's face faded as she shut the front door. She rested her head on it, thinking about Misao's expression – it reminded her of when she went on her first date with Kenshin. She distinctly remembered looking in the mirror in her bathroom before going downstairs to meet him – flushed cheeks, smile that reached her eyes, making them crinkle. Come to think of it, she hadn't smiled like that in a long time.
Kenshin had spent a good hour or so at the school setting up his and Kaoru's next activity. There was one thing that he truly appreciated being a Himura for was the ability to keep things organized, which included the garage, making it really easy to find what he needed.
When his parents were celebrating one of their wedding anniversaries, he vaguely remembered his mother wanting to play the wedding tape outside on a warm July night. He remembered Hiko buying a screen and setting it up with a projector in the backyard.
Nobody had touched them since.
But that morning Kenshin decided that it was time to pull it out. It took quite a while for him to figure everything out, but he was very pleased with himself when he finished. He drove straight from the school to her house. When he knocked he heard her yelp from the other side of the door. When she opened the door a second later, he quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Care to explain why you were right by the door?" He asked, making her flush. "Were you so excited for today that you slept in front of the door or something?"
She cracked a smile. "No…" She was about to tell him about Misao's visit, but she could tell he was holding back his immense excitement and decided to relieve him. "What're you so excited about?"
"Okay, come with me." Kenshin said with his eagerness fully apparent on his face. She stared at him with confusion until he grabbed her hand and ran over to her car. "I'm glad you put the top down in your car – I was setting it up this morning and I don't know how long we can have it up for."
"What the hell did you do?"
"Let's go! Drive to the school parking lot by the east entrance!" He said.
"Okay, I'll give you a hint. You've seen Grease…right?"
"Duh, who hasn't?" She replied while rolling her eyes.
"Alright, then what's the place where everyone thinks that Rizzo is pregnant?"
She thought for a moment before exclaiming, "At the drive-in!" while clapping her hands with glee as they got in the car. "A drive-in! I've never been to one before! I've always wanted to."
"I know." He said with a knowing smirk on his face.
She then turned to him with a serious expression, although he could tell she was hiding her amusement. "You're not going to get me pregnant, are you?"
His eyes went wide, and much to his complete embarrassment, he turned a little pink. "Woah! Kaoru, how inappropriate!" He said in a motherly tone, which made her laugh.
When they got to the parking lot she gasped. "Are you kidding? Kenshin, you did this? How?"
He gave her a mysterious smile. "I'm magical."
She snorted. "What're we watching?"
"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's showing will be the 1999 film The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves. This sci-fi thriller will run 136 minutes. We ask that you please turn off all cellular devices and babies and refrain from shouting across the theatre. Please keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times."
She smiled, crossed her legs, and looked at him. "Did you plan on this irony – watching a science-related movie on the English-History side of the school?"
"Surprisingly, no, I didn't. Although I love my daily dose of irony, I didn't realize it until I just said this movie was a sci-fi thriller."
"Alright, we can't watch a movie without popcorn. Please tell me you came prepared, Himura."
He grinned as he reached over the edge of her car to a shopping bag that was beside the projector. She silently admired his ass for a few moments before shaking her head as he sat back down. "Alrightay, I have caramel popcorn drizzled in delicious milk chocolate – a good comfort food."
She sighed. "You know me too well," she said as she took the large tub from his hands.
"I also have Dr. Pepper, duh, and some assorted candies which include Sour Patch Kids and M&Ms."
She snorted. "Only you can have Sour Patch Kids this early in the morning."
He opened the bag and snickered. "I love Sour Patch Kids." He then reached into the tub of popcorn in her lap and stuffed his face. "And I love caramel popcorn."
She laughed as she popped a kernel in her mouth, unintentionally smiling at the deliciousness. "Yum, amazing goodness." She paused for a moment before saying, "I haven't seen this movie in years, why this one?"
"Because it's a kick ass movie that really makes you think. Now shhh, it's starting."
They looked at the wall and saw black along with a flashing green bar. After a few moments of listening to dialogue Kaoru said, "That sounds really sketchy: 'You like him, don't you? You like watching him.' What a sleazebag."
He snorted. "Do you remember this movie at all?"
"Well yeah, he's the bad guy – he betrays them all, right? Cyborg!"
He burst out laughing. "Cypher."
She waved her hand dismissively. "Whatevs."
His smile faded at the use of that word just put a finger to his lip, signaling her to stop talking. She picked that up from spending the past year with people like Tomoe and Megumi, the thought making his stomach churn.
They watched silently for a while until they saw Neo pull out a dated cell phone from a package. "Wow, can you believe how primitive that looks? Seriously, now cell phones are thinner than a deck of cards! Crazy!" She pointed out as she took out another handful of popcorn.
Kenshin turned and shot her a look, making her pout, sinking back into her seat. Her outbursts became more and more frequent as the movie went on – during one scene in the beginning when Neo was debating with himself to go out to the scaffold. "Do it! Do it now!" She urged.
He sighed. "You've seen this movie before. Are you sure you remember this at all?"
She shot him a glare. "I forget these things! I've seen a million movies from the last time I've seen this, which I think was with you as well."
Later during the scene where Cypher (Kaoru still called him Cyborg) had gotten out of the Matrix and was on the phone with Trinity unplugging people, Kaoru leaned into Kenshin and whispered, "Who's going to stop him?! He can't kill the One. What's going to happen?"
He leaned back into his seat, a little frustrated and whispered back, "Why don't we watch and find out together?"
She immediately closed her mouth and he watched her withdraw into herself. He supposed he was a bit harsh – after all hearing her say things that would've made her cringe over a year ago made him pissed. But then he remembered that she was with him now, she chose to stay with him this vacation for a reason, which was why when Tank had killed Cypher he exclaimed, "Yeah! What a BAMF!"
She nodded. "Yeah, that was pretty bad ass."
Later in the movie when Morpheus was running toward the helicopter where Neo and Trinity were, Kenshin and Kaoru both screamed, "GO, RUN! FASTER!" before cracking up with laughter.
Near the end of the movie when Trinity proclaimed her love for Neo, Kenshin scoffed. "This ruins it."
"What, why?" She blurted. "Is this some kind of macho thing where 'love has to be in every movie' kind of thing?"
"No, it's just…it could've been done better."
"How?"
"Like…it didn't need to be so…so cliché."
She gave an exasperated sigh. "Well what did you expect? Not all actors can correctly portray the Look of Love, you know? Besides, this movie is basically every geek's fantasy – the hot chick in leather admitting her love and bringing the hero back to life. Of course for people like you and I it sounds ridiculous and beyond cliché, but that's because we've actually had experience in that field."
He shook his head. "Saying 'I love you' isn't necessarily the most meaningful way to express your feelings."
"But it's the most obvious and straightforward." She retorted.
This time it was Kenshin's turn to close his mouth and withdraw – he had nothing to say.
As the closing credits rolled, Kenshin decided to push that conversation to the back of his mind to contemplate on later and reached over the side of the car again to bring up four movies. "What should our second movie be?"
"Oh, we're having a movie marathon?" She grinned, pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged on the seat. "Let's see them!"
"We've got these shitty movies and of course, my favorite, Harold and Maude."
The smile on her face faded a moment as she looked at the last movie. She knew he wanted to watch that one; it was obvious the way he threw the other three movies at his feet. She sighed. "Fine. We'll watch Harold and Maude."
He grimaced. "I thought you like this movie."
She sighed. "I do like it…a lot actually…but…I don't know…it kind of depresses me."
"It's not supposed to – it's supposed to make you happy…lighter, almost."
"Yes, I know…but just the ending and it's just so sad."
He sighed as he put the movie in. "Yes, it shows how sad life can be…but it also shows that what the dead teach us through living is enough to help you through that time of sadness…so you can be happy."
He lived by that movie, she knew that. Surviving his mother's death had largely to do with watching Harold and Maude, what she'd like to think of as her constant support, and playing the guitar. Because if there was one thing that he desired the most after her death was consistency.
That was the worst part about breaking up with him – she knew she was shaking his world, giving him unnecessary disturbances in his life.
But when they were halfway through the movie she suddenly realized that it wasn't just the fact that she ruined the perfect balance in his life, she also ruined hers – she messed up and made poor decisions after distancing herself from him.
After they had finished packing all the equipment in the back of her car, Kenshin offered to take her to a movie.
"Ugh, I don't know, we already watched two. Could you really go for another?" She groaned.
"Today is Movie Day, I have decided. We have to go to the movies. Disturbia just came out – let's go to that."
"Oh God, Ken, you know how I get at these kind of movies."
He grinned mischievously. "I know."
She glared at him. "I can't believe you – so immature."
He laughed out loud. "Come on, I'm teasing. But just so you know, my arm will be ready for your abuse."
She didn't say anything, at first not agreeing to go to the movies. But when she got on the highway, she couldn't help but watch that beautifully slow smile adjourn his face.
When they parked in the lot, Kenshin urged her to stick the tub of caramel popcorn in a large tote bag that she surprisingly had in the back seat of her car.
"Are you kidding? That's so obvious!" She chided him.
"Come on! Why waste money on disgusting buttered popcorn when we have the goods already?" She laughed. "Come on, live a little! If they check, then who cares, we'll put them back in the car…make them hold it behind the counter, whatever."
Sighing, she stuffed the tub into the bag. "I'll look like a freak, but whatever, who cares, right?"
He grinned. "Exactly."
They fought over who would buy the tickets, and eventually Kaoru won by flipping a coin. Kenshin was overly traditional in the sense that he had to pay for everything, but she had to constantly remind him that it was a completely different century and women could pay for their own things too.
The theatre was moderately empty, given it was lunch time.
"See, I told you it would be fine." He said, referring to the popcorn in the bag.
"Yeah, but we got some weird looks."
He snorted. "Whatever. Now we can enjoy some more delicious popcorn."
"I'm going to be fat by the end of the day."
"Technically that's not possible –"
She nudged him. "Shut up. I haven't eaten anything today except caramel popcorn – that's pretty disgusting."
He shrugged. "It's a good comfort food. You'll stop eating when you realize that you don't need it."
At that moment the lights began to dim, signaling the beginning of the string of previews, one which included something involving Mars and a couple of seconds of recording. Judging by everyone's faces, it seemed pretty interesting. However, everyone laughed as the title was completed, reading "Transformers."
"How retarded, I can't believe they're making that movie. Seriously, the movie industry is just desperate now." An obnoxious guy in front of them whispered.
Kenshin shook his head. "It's going to be good." He stated with confidence.
"How do you know? It probably will suck." She said, having been guilty of laughing along with everyone else.
"That's what they said about Raiders of the Lost Ark." He shook his head. "It's going to shock people – it'll be good."
She smiled. "Okay – we'll go see it together when it comes out."
"Done." He reached a hand into her popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth. She giggled at him. "Wha sa funnah?" He asked with a mouth full of popcorn.
"You're just…" She shook her head, not quite sure what she was going to say.
There was no one word to properly define him.
Throughout the movie, Kaoru did abuse his arm by grabbing it multiple times. The first time, however, she grabbed his hand, which she used to do when they were going out. But when she turned to look at his face, seeing that all-too familiar little smirk, she released him and grabbed his arm for the duration of the movie.
At the end of Disturbia, the two were quiet as people rushed past them.
"That…was weird. Flashback, right?" Kenshin said, trying to smile, but he couldn't quite manage to.
"Yeah…" Kaoru trailed off, unable to look at him.
The idea that a film could exactly portray an event that happened two years ago was beyond her – everything from the wacky best friend filming the couple to the middle finger given to the camera. It was too close for comfort.
No words were spoken until they had gotten back in the boundaries of town.
"Can we talk about us for a second?" She blurted, forcing herself to keep her eyes solely on the road.
"Uh, yeah, what about us?" He asked with a half smile, feeling his pulse quicken a little despite his mind's protests.
"I mean…the way it kind of fell apart."
The smile on his face dropped. "Way to damper the mood."
"Hey! I'm trying to be serious here. In case you don't know, you're supposed to have serious conversations with people. It's not all about laughs and fun." She said with a glare.
"So am I! Kaoru, do you really think that we could figure everything out by just sitting in this car talking? Hell, we would need to be in an isolated room with endless amounts of time. We can't possibly talk about what happened."
"And why not? I want to set it all straight. What's wrong with that?"
He gave a frustrated sigh. "Just...damn it, Kaoru! We've been through so much shit together! Good and bad – hell, I was the first person to know that you got your per –"
She gasped as her face turned a pretty shade of pink. "I told you to never mention that day again!"
"Before your own mother! What was her reaction, by the way? When she saw my sweatshirt covering that stain?"
Her scowl turned very ugly. "That's not fair. I was a desperate sixth grader…I was too embarrassed to go to the nurse."
His gaze softened. "In protecting your dignity I got the flu."
She bit her lip guiltily. "Yeah…but how was I supposed to know you were going to miss the bus?"
"And how were you supposed to know it was going to be one of the coldest days of the year?" He smiled at her, the smile that made her heart melt every time. "Look, all I'm saying is that we were each others' first for a lot of things. We're really important to each other…even though we're not together and sometimes we go weeks without speaking, we still think about each other often. We can't forget how much we were in each other's lives."
"I know."
"You do?" He asked, not really sure that she did know.
"Yeah, of course. I'm not an idiot, Kenshin. My feelings when I broke up with you were real. It was hard. Actually…it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do." She said the last part quietly, almost hoping that he wouldn't be able to hear her.
"Then why did you do it?"
She remained silent, gathering her jumbled thoughts together. "It was a lot of things, Ken."
"I know the student government was behind it, Tomoe and all, but why did you give into it?"
She ran her tongue over her front teeth to the back of her molars while avoiding his gaze. Although she knew he would be able to read her like always, she still thought that maybe there was a possibility that he wouldn't know her complex reasons for leaving him.
He snorted with a humorless laugh. "Of course." He shook his head at the obviousness.
"What."
"Kaoru Kamiya, president of the student government. It does have a nice ring to it."
"It wasn't just that."
"Ah, but it was a huge reason – Tomoe told you to dump me and you would be the top candidate for presidency by junior year. I was holding you back – I did nothing for the school community and it would only bring your image down. But, if you had a boyfriend, say, like Enishi, you would be an absolute shoe-in."
Her eyes widened. What he said was almost verbatim to what Tomoe had told her.
"Mmm, I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" He shifted in his seat a little. "Well, it was obvious that we weren't having any problems. It was always smooth sailing for us. I don't think we ever got into a huge fight. Even our break up wasn't a fight – can you believe that? Not only were we best friends, but we dated for over a year and never fought about anything beyond what we were going to order in for dinner or what movie to watch."
"Yeah…we were really content…weren't we?"
"Not only that, but we had crazy fun. We always laughed, danced, sang. It was great…it was what life is supposed to be about."
She didn't say anything for a moment. "Life is serious too, Kenshin. It's not all about having fun. You have to do things you don't want to do…it's all part of growing up."
"I think I've had enough serious in my life, don't you think?" He said quietly.
"It's hard losing someone, but you can't just completely give up on a solid future just because you had no parental guidance for a while. You're really smart. It's innate. You have so much potential."
"And the things we learn in school are important, how? Who cares about functions and radians and transformations?"
"Kenshin! You need good grades in order to get a good job! How else could you support anyone, let alone yourself?" She exclaimed.
"I'm not going to work in a law firm like Yukishiro. I already know what I'm doing, and it doesn't involve school."
"The odds of First Absolute getting big are minimal."
"Oh, so now you're an expert in statistics? Have a bit of faith, Kaoru. Besides, we're good, and you know it." The last part was not meant to sound obnoxious or arrogant; it was merely a statement of fact. He knew there was no point in being humble in that sort of business – their band was good and had what it takes.
"Yes, you're really talented, but a lot of really talented people don't make it."
He looked up at the sky with a carefree expression on his face. "Playing my guitar and singing my lyrics are what I've always wanted to do. Those two things make me very happy…and you should do what makes you happy. You don't want a miserable job…every job that's out there will make me miserable…except maybe teaching kids how to play the guitar…opening the doors to the young would be very satisfying."
She shook her head, wondering why she had ever decided to argue with him on this subject – this was the lifestyle he leaned on – without it, he wouldn't be the Kenshin she had fallen for years ago.
She gave a small smile as she pulled into his driveway. "Everyone should take after you."
He smiled back. "No, everyone should take after Maude."
She suddenly grinned. "'You have to reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can.'" She quoted.
"'Go team, go!'" He continued, grinning.
"'Give me an L!'" She pumped a fist in the air, laughing.
"'Give me an I!'" He pumped his own first in the air as well.
"'Give me a V!'"
"'Give me an E.'"
"'L-I-V-E, LIVE!'" They both exclaimed at the same time before laughing.
"'Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.'" She finished, still smiling.
He smiled at her warmly. "I was wondering when that smile was going to come through. It's there…just hidden."
"What smile?" She asked curiously, turning a little pink against her will.
"The one I used to see all the time – that carefree one where you squint your eyes because your smile is just so dazzling."
The smile completely faded from her face. "Kenshin…" She said warningly.
"I'm being honest here. There's no reason to fake anything. I can't fake how I view you…or my feelings. Maybe you should really be honest with yourself and with others."
She unlocked the doors. "I think that's enough for today." She said.
He nodded before stepping out of the car to get his projector. She reached over to grab the bag which held the caramel popcorn.
"Oh, no, you keep that. I think you're still gonna be eating that." He said as he shut the back door.
"Uh, I don't think so – I've eaten half this tub already – I have to be a complete pig to finish this off."
He shrugged. "Comfort food, Kao, doesn't have a proper serving size – it's all relative. See you tomorrow."
She closed her mouth, the sensible part of her brain wanting to say, "No, Kenshin, we can't keep seeing each other like this because old feelings are just going to resurface and I might do something that I'll regret." But the less sensible side took over and said out loud, "Yeah, but this time, please let me sleep in – it's vacation for Christ's sake!"
He grinned. "Yeah, no problemo, chica. Hasta!" He said with a wave before walking into the garage, leaving her to sit in her car for a few moments to think about everything.
She opened the tub of popcorn and began eating again. However, when she thought about tomorrow and the endless possibilities, she put the lid back on. She didn't need it anymore.
A/N: Uh, yeah, sorry that this took a bajillion years to get out. You know, school, lacrosse, the usual. I thought vacation would totally relax me…yeah, right. I played lacrosse ALL break. I didn't even sleep in! It was ridiculous – especially since I ended up catching a really bad cold (I have a box of tissues by me as I write this)
Please review! It'll make me feel loads better :)
MissGoalie
