A/N: I have an important note at the end of the chapter regarding the updating of chapter 10, so please read it after you finish this chapter! (It's in bold for those who don't want to read my post-chapter rants)

Disclaimer: You know what I do own? This cool mini poster that came with the purchase of volume 28! It has that pic of Kaoru holding an umbrella for Kenshin (my personal favorite) and on the back it has the covers of all 28 volumes…it's pretty sweet.


Chapter Nine

When Kenshin got his car back, Kaoru was slightly disappointed. For a fleeting moment she wondered if she could still join Kenshin to practice. Of course, she dismissed the idea immediately because he would probably think she was a loser.

"Well…at least Misao will be coming home at the end of the week." Kaoru murmured to herself while lying in bed.

She wondered what Misao would think when she would find out that Kaoru and Kenshin were good friends. Especially since they only knew each other for three weeks. But Kaoru couldn't help that fact that they seemed to have clicked.

Kaoru decided that the best option was to tell Misao face to face. With that in mind, Kaoru called Misao's parents to ask if she could stay with Kaoru for a week before coming home. When her parents agreed, Kaoru still wasn't satisfied. She hoped that Misao wouldn't hate Kenshin.

For two days she went back to her former routine of waking up late and going to the beach. This time, she wore a hat so there wasn't any possibility of anyone making a certain comment about her face matching her Converse.

Stop thinking about anything related to the guy!

Getting frustrated with the book she brought, which clearly didn't keep her mind occupied, she got up and left the beach. Kaoru figured that watching a movie or a few episodes of That 70's Show would clear her mind.

However, after seeing the state of her room she decided to organize a bit. After all, being around Kenshin so much made her more conscious of unorganized things. She plopped herself in front of her closet and began taking out old clothes that would be donated to good will.

"God, what horrible taste I had." Kaoru grimaced as she put away a flowery shirt. When she stuck her hand to the corner, she felt the familiar feel of worn canvas, which she immediately realized as Converse.

"Did I manage to forget about a pair?" She asked herself as she pulled them into the light. She gasped when she recognized them.

They were her first pair. The shoes were a size and a half smaller than her size now and had silver writing all over the black canvas. Running her fingers over the words and drawings, she remembered each time she put something down with absolute clarity.

"Dad…" She murmured, gripping the shoes tightly. Her father bought her them over five years ago.

At that moment, her cell phone rang. She listened to it ring for a few seconds before slowly getting up. It was Kenshin.

"Kenshin?"

"Are you home?" He seemed to be very anxious.

"Yeah, why? You interrupted my walk down memory lane. I found my first pair of Converse in my closet."

"Do you think you could be our manager for the rest of the summer?" He asked quickly. Kaoru heard a lot of yelling in the background and vaguely made out someone saying, "Don't drop it on her now! She won't say yes!"

"Erm…can I ask why?"

"Well our manager's mother is ill and he's going to Germany where she's living and being treated."

"That's horrible!"

"We really need you. Please?" She heard some struggling on the phone for a moment until Sano's voice filled her ear.

"Please, please Missy? If not for Kenshin, do it for me?" Kaoru laughed. Everyone's voiced seemed more projected after Sano spoke. She figured she was on speaker phone finally. Sano hushed everyone to be quiet.

"If anyone, I'm doing it for him." She wondered why she said that out loud in front of the whole soccer team. "Fine, I'll be your manager – as long as Kenshin drives me there everyday." Everyone cheered loudly, causing her to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Saitoh says thanks. We do too...given that you just saved us from his frustration...which ultimately would've lead to us suffering wind sprints." Sano said.

"So when do I start?"

"Right now."

"Now?"

"Leave the house now!" Kenshin exclaimed this time. Kaoru ran down the stairs and struggled into her purple Converse.

"Okay, okay! I'll be there in a half hour." She hung up and ran to her car, all thoughts about her first pair of Converse erased from her mind.


"Hey it's Kaoru!" A boy yelled from the field as Kaoru stepped out of her car. She sighed as she put a pair of aviators over her eyes. She found them in the car's glove compartment, which meant that her father must've worn them before she was born, since she'd never seen them before.

As she walked up to the field, the entire team stopped what they were doing and called out to her.

"Kaoru!"

"Missy!"

Kaoru walked onto the field with a smile on her face. "Yes, I have arrived." She said dramatically, throwing her arms in the air. They all went to the ground on their knees and hailed her.

"Get up you morons! We have a game against Westfield next week and they're no pushover!" Saitoh yelled as he walked over to Kaoru. The boys murmured and resumed their drills.

"Thanks for coming." He said shortly before handing her a clipboard and pencil. Kaoru looked through the papers quizzically.

"What are these?" Saitoh came over to her side and flipped all the pages to the back where there were a few blank sheets.

"This is for writing whatever I tell these boys what to work on. So you better be listening to every word I say to them." Kaoru shuddered; this man was clearly all business. "The rest I'll explain to you before the game next week. You should also study this." Saitoh took out a small booklet that was titled "Rules of Football".

"Er…wrong sport?" Saitoh smirked.

"Football is English for soccer. This has all the penalties and calls in the game. Know them well because you'll be keeping track during games. Clear?" Saitoh explained, giving her a scrutinizing gaze. Kaoru flushed, glad that she decided to wear the sunglasses.

"Yeah."

"Good. Just follow me." Kaoru nodded and flipped to the back of the papers. She sighed as she followed him walk around the field. However, she stopped when he yelled, "Freeze!" a few moments later. Everyone followed his command. She saw them all panting. When she found Kenshin she smiled at him. He smiled back, still out of breath.

"Start running." With only that, the team stood together – with Kenshin, Sano, and Soujiro in the lead – and started to run around the field. Kaoru put her aviators on the top of her head and watched them.

"Himura is a very important player of this team." Saitoh said, startling Kaoru.

"Okay…" She didn't understand where it was heading.

"He shouldn't be distracted. This is an important year for him being a tri-captain in the fall." Kaoru's eyes widened as she stared at Kenshin. He never mentioned to her he was a captain. She then realized what Saitoh was suggesting.

"Hey, I'm not trying anything. We're just friends." She replied shortly, gripping the clipboard tightly.

"Don't make it any more than that."

"That sounds like a threat." Saitoh smirked. Kaoru really disliked his smirks.

"Hardly. Only a suggestion. Alright! Stop!" He yelled the last two exclamations. The team stopped. "Five minute water break." All the boys sprinted over to the benches and collapsed. Kaoru chuckled at them.

"Don't you laugh Missy! I'd like to see you run." Sano called as he dumped half his water bottle over his head.

"That's the last thing you're going to see me doing." Kaoru retorted.

"What did Saitoh tell you that got you pissed?" Kenshin asked as he sat down on a bench.

"He just told me to not flirt with you all." She lied smoothly.

"Oh? You don't seem like the person to openly flirt with multiple guys." Sano sniggered.

"What does that mean?"

"I think he's trying to give you a compliment, but it's not working." Kenshin whispered in her ear. She inwardly shivered as his breath tickled her ear.

"Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless you tell everyone!" Sano chanted.

"What are you, five?" Kaoru retorted. Kenshin laughed.

"Speaking of five, that was five minutes! Get back on the field!" Saitoh intervened. Kaoru laughed at the boys as they walked onto the field, mumbling that it wasn't even close to five minutes.

"I didn't say you could walk!" Saitoh yelled. Kaoru laughed even more as they groaned.

"You heard the man, get a move on!" She called, laughing. Kenshin turned around stuck his tongue at her and Sano gave her the finger. Saitoh smirked at her.

"You're bearable." She couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph.


It had been two days since Kaoru being forced into managing, and Kenshin had kept his promise of driving her everyday.

"When life gives you lemons…" Kenshin started as he turned onto the highway, leaving Kaoru to begin.

"Throw them at people!" Kaoru exclaimed, an innocent smile on her face.

"Make lemonade." Kenshin replied.

"Just shut up and eat your damn lemons."

"Ask for a diet drink to put them in."

"Stop sniveling and sell 'em on eBay!"

"Smile, return the lemons to the person who presented them to you, and then ask for the oranges that you requested in the first place!"

"Switch to limes, and try a mean margarita, chips, and salsa!"

"Pucker up!"

"Sue – it makes lawyers rich and leaves schmucks like you with a sour taste in your mouth!"

"Say thank you and run."

"Just add some vodka and have a party."

"Give them to a school food drive."

"Paint them lovely pastel shades – then you have a colorful and playful centerpiece!"

"Don't shoo the delivery driver."

"Grow your own orchard."

"Give off a refreshing fragrance."

"Grab life by the throat and demand chocolate."

"Find somebody you despise and squirt them in the eye!" Kaoru eyed Kenshin with praise.

"Keep the seeds and make your own lemon plant so you can give some other poor bastard lemons!" Kenshin thought for a minute but couldn't think of anything.

"I win!" Kaoru exclaimed gleefully. Kenshin childishly stuck out his tongue.

In two days, Kaoru had managed to understand most of the rules, calls, and penalties of soccer. This was thanks to the booklet Saitoh gave her, and to Kenshin who would teach her throughout their shifts at the Akabeko.

"Will we be able to get out of work?" Kaoru asked after a moment.

"I called Tae already for the both of us and she said that she could get her two nephews to take over whenever we had games. Those shifts we missed would just be taken out of our paycheck."

"Thanks for doing that for me."

"No worries." They were in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Misao is coming home on Sunday." Kaoru said quietly. Kenshin glanced at her before smiling.

"How shocked is she going to be when she finds out that we became friends?" She laughed nervously. "Okay, what's wrong? I know that face." She sighed.

"It's just…I don't know if she's going to like you…you know?" Kenshin sighed as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

"I don't see how you could be so poor of a judge of character. I'm sure that she'll forget the fact that I'm a 'jock' like you did. Besides, when she sees how close we are, she'll know that I'm decent...not to sound conceited or anything." Kaoru rolled his response around in her head before nodding.

"Yeah. That's true." He reached over and patted her hand.

"Don't worry."

"Hakuna matata!" They sung together before laughing.

"The Lion King was and still remains my favorite Disney movie." Kenshin stated.

"I love the Lion King. Personally, I like the Great Mouse Detective."

"What the hell is that?"

"You've never seen it? It's absolute genius. You're coming over one of these days and watching it." He smiled.

"Okay. As long as we get to watch the Lion King."

"Deal."

"Do you have it on VHS?" Kaoru asked.

"No! You want to know why?" Kenshin exclaimed.

"Why?"

"Because my stupid VCR ate the tape! I was devastated for weeks!" She gasped.

"That's horrible! Don't fret, I have it on VHS so we can have the full experience of watching the classics!"

"I had to buy it on DVD." He added scathingly.

"No!"

"Yes! It was horrible." Kaoru shook her head in disbelief and sadness.

"That's a tragedy." Kenshin took a deep breath and nodded, as if it was all a scarring event.

"Truly. Watching it was never the same." Kaoru patted his hand in sympathy. She looked forward and her eyes widened/

"Er…Kenshin? We just past the field…"

"What? Damn it! That's the second time we've done this!"


A/N: Note - The Great Mouse Detective is one of the most underrated Disney movies in my opinion, so I suggest to those who haven't seen the movie to rent it! It's great. Also, watching Disney movies is only fun when watching them on VHS – DVD totally ruins the experience.

Hello everyone! I don't know about you, but school has to die. Forget about John Tucker! School must die.

Believe it or not, I have midterms starting Thursday and Friday of next week (I know, my school is just retarded), so I will not be posting next Friday. However, I may post on MLK day depending on how much I actually do write next week. So I ask for you to wait just this once! Thanks!

So I've finished the first season of the RK anime series, which I found very fun and well done (when seen subbed, of course. The dubbed annoys me...actually, it's more that Kaoru's voice in English just pisses me off). I have one question - am I the only one who though Yutaro's hair was blonde?? In the show it's brown, but I could've sworn it was blonde...

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

MissGoalie