A/N: I hope that you enjoy this next chapter of Reaching True Feelings. Whee! We're up to 28! Such progress. This chapter will introduce a new saga with twists, turns, and some hurting. It may or may not be what you were expecting all along... (dramatic pause) So see for yourself just what horrors will unfold in future chapters to come! (laughter)
Next week came: a town wide festival was taking place! Everyone was to dress up in traditional clothes and gather together for a flock of games, an eating contest, as well as many other interesting things. Kaoru's mother had just gotten back home from her business trip on time so that they could go. It seemed that the festival time was Kaoru's favorite time of year. It occurred in the month of November but even so, it wasn't very cold outside. Besides, she wore a beautiful and elegant kimono to keep herself warm. I just love these festivals...because I wish that I could have lived back then. It seemed so wonderful. With all of the traditions and styles of clothing...not to mention, no homework. She stood up in front of her mirror which was in her room and modeled for herself. It seemed that the kimono that she wore was a perfect fit, not to mention absolutely stunning. The shoes in which she wore were very comfortable as well. They were very much unlike the high heels that she could never get used to.
Trotting down the stairs, she saw her best friend Laura sitting on the sofa. "I'm sorry Laura. How long did I keep you waiting?" She smiled and waved a hand, signaling that it was no bother at all to be waiting for about twenty minutes. "Is this your first time coming to one of these festivals?" Kaoru asked as she reached the bottom of the staircase.
"Yes. Back in America, we didn't really have traditional fairs and festivals. And even though I've been your friend for quite a while, I've never heard of this kind of party! I'm really excited, Kaoru!" She clapped her hands and stood from the sofa. "I can't wait to see what we can do there! And I really love this kimono! I've always dreamed of having one when I was back in the west." Kaoru smiled. "Well should we get going now? I'm so excited that I don't want to wait anymore!" They nodded and her mother came down just in time. She too was dressed in traditional attire and she looked a lot like Kaoru, actually. The three women exited promptly and headed for the silver car that would take them to the party.
They all were in the car...silence erupted and it seemed to dominate above all else. Laura was very excited, as she said many times before they left. Kaoru's mother was just concentrating on the road for the time being, and Kaoru herself wondered if she would see any of her classmates there. Even though Kenshin did forgive her a little too easily, there were her peers who would spill the beans to everyone around. But why would they? It was actually big news. Since the town was so small, many people knew each other quite well and so if word got out that she and Youko kissed, her mother would never let her hear the end of it. Mom already wants me to go out with Youko because she thinks that he's a saint. Such a well behaved boy. Well screw that because I know that he's not! And there's no way that I'll go out with him if she asks me to. I already have Kenshin. Kaoru folded her arms and looked out the window at the animated scenery that passed her by. It was nice and peaceful that day. Weather still in the eighties, the sky a pale blue, a good atmosphere all around.
They had been driving for about ten minutes when suddenly, her mother spoke up to the girls. "I hear that they're preparing a feast fit for kings there this year, girls. Isn't it great?" They both nodded. "You know, these festivals have taken place ever since I was your age and oh, I can't tell you how much fun they are. Laura, you'll want to keep coming back every year for the rest of your life because there are people to see, things to do..." She nodded happily. "And everyone's there! Who knows, you might even see friends from your school or your relatives." Laura looked over at Kaoru, smiling but when she saw the look of disgust on Kaoru's face, her eyes widened. Immediately, she leaned over and whispered into her ear.
"Kaoru? What's up? What's with the sudden weird look? You okay?" Kaoru forced herself to smile and she nodded. It seemed that her best friend didn't buy that she was feeling okay but she didn't want to question her when her mother was right there. They both directed their attention to the windows again. Silence. No one really felt like talking at that moment in time. They just wanted to get there and have a good time. They all deserved that.
The car pulled into the parking lot after a grand total of twenty minutes. All of them were very eager to free themselves from the stuffy car and out into the fresh air where all of the festivities would be held. Kaoru scoped the area and gasped when she saw Tsukane and her group of friends walking toward the entrance. "You know, I think that I left something in the car..." Kaoru said as she fidgeted with the sleeves of her earth toned kimono. It was clear that she wanted to stall until they were all out of her sight. It would be a bad thing if she were to run into them during the festival. They would never let Kaoru live it down for punching Tsukane, the most popular girl in Sakomotou High.
As Kaoru opened the door to the car, she took a deep breath, hanging over the seats. "Well what do you know? I guess I didn't leave anything in here after all!" She exclaimed quite cheerfully. Laura and her mother looked at her with puzzled expressions on their faces but Kaoru simply waved a hand, letting them know that it wasn't important. To her, she just wanted to get into the festival without any distraction...that meant getting by without being seen by her peers.
The welcoming gate was beautifully decorative that year. Streamers and banners hung from the highest of places and hundreds of balloons were tied everywhere. The color scheme was beautiful as there were many red tones as well as orange. It was a warm and inviting pattern of hues. "Wow! I can't believe it! Look at everything!" Laura exclaimed as she put a hand over her mouth. There were many games to play, food to be eaten, and activities to be enjoyed. The children who came to the festival seemed to have a grand time, smiles enveloped their faces and they seemed giddy enough to begin dancing at any given moment. "Let's go in!" She grabbed Kaoru by the wrist and ran inside towards all of the festivities. "See you later, Mrs. Kamiya!" They both waved goodbye to her and in they went.
"So, Laura...I see that you're anxious about this. And because of that, I'll let you choose what you want to do first...how's that?" She nodded. "Well, go ahead! Look around because there's plenty of stuff for us to do right now. Who knows, if we go to the snack bar, we'll probably see Sanosuke over there stuffing his face!" The girls laughed. "Seeing how you're his girlfriend now, you wanna go over there or what? I don't mind eating one or two things myself," Kaoru said happily.
"One or two? Try the whole table of food. I know that you're such a glutton!" Kaoru gasped and started to laugh. "With sweets especially...but remember! You have to watch all of those calories that you're taking in! I know that it would be bad for you to get a little overweight just because you can't help yourself whenever you see a piece of candy or worse...cake!" Laura came closer and casually said something else that made Kaoru a little embarrassed, "And what about Mr. Himura? You have to watch it for his sake too don't you? It would be bad to gain some weight while you're dating him a lot...wouldn't you agree?"
"That's enough, Laura!" Kaoru said as her face color changed to a bright red. "And what about you and Sano, huh? Yeah, now you see how it feels!"
"Uh, uh...I don't eat as much candy as you do. No one does." She folded her arms and looked at all of the partygoers. "Well anyway...I would like to see Sanosuke if you didn't mind. Oh, what am I saying? What with all of the free food and all of your commenting, you'll have the time of your life won't you? Fine then, let's see if we can get to the snack bar without being trampled on by all of these people." They began to walk into the heart of the mob scene, trying to get themselves to the tasty goods brought by so many different people. There were also many dishes from around the world and so it seemed like its own international buffet. I can't believe that so many people are here...and it's not even noon! I just wish that I could see Kenshin here. But I don't even know if he came to this thing. Kaoru looked left and right but saw no one who she could recognize.
They finally caught sight of the snack bar and Kaoru immediately ran over to grab what seemed to be a rice ball desert. "Oh wow! They look so great!" She sang as she twirled around with the food in her left hand. Because she was not paying attention to what she was doing, she bumped into a man and her rice treat bounced several times...onto the floor. "Oh no! That was the last one too! Oh darn..." She sucked her teeth and looked away.
"You're such a pig. You care too much about food that you can't even see that I'm right here!" He bent over to pick up her rice ball and threw it in the nearby wastebasket. She locked eyes with the man and noticed that it was Sanosuke. "Finally, you came back to reality! I swear, Jou-chan, you've gotta be the only person with a one track mind for food." Laura came up to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. He did the same. "Don't get me wrong here, missy. I mean, no one can resist this stuff! Myself included!" He grabbed a dumpling and was about to eat it when suddenly, someone bumped into him in a rather hard way. "NOOOOO! MY DUMPLING! DAMN IT!" He cried.
"Oh and you have the nerve to call me a pig! You're worse than I am, Sanosuke!" Kaoru looked at the man who collided with Sano and saw that it was....Youko. He looked at her before anyone else and smiled contently. "Hey, Youko. I didn't know that you came to these things...I would have thought that you would be training for football practice...or something like that."
"Practice was over two hours ago so I figured, why not come over here?" He looked down at Sanosuke who was now crawling on the floor, searching for his lost dumpling. "Erm...sorry about that Sano...didn't mean to run into you. I was just trying to get away from this girl." All three of their eyes widened at him. "What are you all looking at me like that for? I was just trying to get away from Tsukane! Wouldn't you do that too Sano?" He nodded quickly and then went back to looking for his long lost foodstuff. "My mom wanted me to go with you, Kaoru but when I called, you had already left. So then Tsukane called me about a half hour later and wanted to know if I wanted to come with her. And since my mother eavesdropped on my conversation, she made me accept." He let out a heavy sigh. "I told Tsukane that I wanted to go to the bathroom but she followed me and I've been running away from her ever since."
"Poor Youko..." Kaoru mimicked as she pouted. "You get to run away from the most popular girl in our school for the entire day! Who wouldn't want to be you?" All except for Youko began to burst out in wild laughter. They knew that he wasn't having a very good day so far. "Well, you better start running. I think I hear girlish screams coming this way! C'mon! Show us that famous football training of yours! Run!" Kaoru said as she clapped right in front of his face to get him all riled up.
"If I'm going, you're coming with me Sanosuke..." Youko said as he grabbed his wrist and started to run away. "I'll see ya later if I can, Kaoru!" He shouted as he ran into the inner workings of the crowd...and then he was gone. Laura and Kaoru smiled because of that little incident. It happened so fast but they both got the basic gist of it. It was simply that Youko was being chased by screaming adorers.
Kaoru looked back at the food and took a few crackers...thinking about what Laura had said about all of those extra calories. Her best friend quickly took notice of this and handed her a dumpling. "I was kidding about all of that! You don't have to diet! Trust me!" Kaoru smiled and took a huge bite out of the dumpling. "There, that's the Kaoru that I know!" They both started to laugh when suddenly, two arms encircled Kaoru's body and pulled her into a different tent...pulling her away from her friend...
A/N: I hope that this chapter was cute and fun but of course, the trademark cliffhanger MUST be included! Gomen ne, but they're just so much fun to write? Well who do you think took Kaoru away? Comments? Questions? I will always be happy to answer lingering thoughts via email. Arigatou!
Son Christine
