Fireflies

Digi*girl: Second chapter up!

Disclaimers- Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me.

*** different POV¡¦s

Chapter two¡X first encounter

I was paralyzed when I saw her, standing gracefully in front of me. The first thing I noticed about her was¡K eyes. Kami, I feel like she was looking through me exterior into my very soul.

Neither of us spoke for a minute, just breathe.

¡§Your eyes¡Kthey¡¦re lavender.¡¨ She said unexpectedly afterward. I couldn¡¦t help but smile.

¡§Yeah well¡Ka lot of people said that,¡¨ I said sheepishly, scratching my head.

Then she smiled. I swear I could¡¦ve just melted right then and there; she looked like an angel sent from heaven. Because of that smile, I finally got the courage to say, ¡§I¡¦m Rurouni, you can call me Kenshin.¡¨

¡§I¡¦m Kaoru. Kamiya Kaoru.¡¨

¡§I know, you mind if we go now? Fireflies won¡¦t wait.¡¨ I handed her the helmet I was holding earlier and motioned her to come. She obeyed obediently and hopped onto the backseat.

The vehicle roamed through the broad road and swept through dark tunnels. Wind blew passed us as my hair swayed with them. The sky was painted in lovely shades of orange, pink and purple.

¡§Oh yeah, Kaoru, you¡¦re different that I thought. You¡¦re look splendor,¡¨ I yelled to her.

¡§What? What do you think of me in the first place anyway?¡¨ she asked from behind.

I shrugged, ¡§I don¡¦t know. I guess I¡¦m just a bit shocked.¡¨

She giggled. ¡§People say that too, I¡¦m the most popular girl at school you know!¡¨

That wasn¡¦t a surprise. I laughed.

Soon, the night had fallen. Darkness loomed over the mountains and the moon came out.

It¡¦s not exactly quiet in the mountains at night, I figured, the sound of chirping could be heard anywhere. It makes me feel relaxed.

¡§Kenshin, are we there yet?¡¨ Kaoru asked and I could feel her head turning to look around.

I grinned, ¡§You¡¦ll be surprised. We¡¦re surrounded by them now.¡¨

¡§Really? How come I didn¡¦t see any of them?¡¨

¡§You don¡¦t believe me? Heh suit yourself.¡¨ I closed the lights. As soon as the lights died out, spots of green light embedded our vision. Fireflies.

Kaoru gasped slightly behind me, she stepped down from the vehicle and her hands went up to her mouth, ¡§Kenshin¡Kit¡¦s beautiful,¡¨

¡§Told you.¡¨ I smiled. I stepped down from the vehicle also and stood beside her, watching as the fireflies danced in the midst of the night.

¡§But¡Kit makes me want to cry for some reason,¡¨ Kaoru wiped the tear from her eyes. I watched, stunned.

Was it harmony? Why is she crying¡K?

I tried to cheer her up, ¡§Watching those fireflies makes me thought about the old memories from my childhood,¡¨

She stopped.

I continued, ¡§My family and I would gather together under the stars on a night like this,¡¨

She peered at me and her tears stopped flowing. I smiled back at her. Suddenly a thought popped in my head. I walked over to a bush and clasped my hands together, catching a firefly. Then I walked back to her, revealing the green light in my hands, ¡§Here, for you.¡¨

Kaoru was speechless when I handed it to her, accepting the beautiful gift.

¡§It¡¦s very pretty, if you open your hands and see,¡¨

Kaoru slowly opened her hands and her eyes lit up as a smile touched her lips.

Suddenly, I stopped my breathing and my eyes became misty.

Because there, in front of me, was the most beautiful creature that I¡¦ve ever seen. The way the moon reflected her raven-black hair, and the way the fireflies underneath lightened her warm features.

¡§You¡¦re so beautiful,¡¨ I blurted out.

She lifted her head and smiled at me sweetly, ¡§Really?¡¨

My mind swirled.

***

My eyes were locked with his lavender ones. His eyes were so gentle, yet mysterious at the same time. I wanted to get to know him better. I want to¡K

Kenshin motioned me to sit down beside him on a log, and he started talking with me. I felt like we were long time friends, and a familiar feeling rushed through my body.

Happiness.

At last, around 11:30 we said good byes to each other reluctantly.

I supported my tiresome body all the way to the door and when I opened it, I was met by a pair of big turquoise eyes, staring worriedly at me. ¡§Kaoru! Where have you been?! It¡¦s WAY too late for you to come back at this time!¡¨

¡§Mou Misao! Don¡¦t worry I just came back from the mountains with Rurouni. His real name is Kenshin by the way.¡¨ I entered my room and fell flat on my soft bed, yawning.

Misao walked over to me and her eyes extended, ¡§What? The first time you two met and already you¡¦re going in the mountains?¡¨

I opened my eyes lazily, ¡§Yeah, what¡¦s wrong with it?¡¨ another yawn.

She backed away from me and her eyes glowed with suspicious, ¡§Brave of you Kaoru, very brave.¡¨

¡§Kenshin and I are friends for half a year already Misao, nothing to worry about.¡¨

¡§Yeah okay, whatever.¡¨ Misao sat down on her own bed and yawned, stretching her arms at the same time.

Unexpectedly, I opened my eyes and asked in a soft voice, ¡§Misao¡Kdo you believe in fate?¡¨

¡§Yup! Definitely!¡¨ then her eyes narrowed, ¡§You¡Kyou fell in love with Kenshin?¡¨

I waved my hands in the air quickly as a blush rose on my cheeks, ¡§No! Of course not! It¡¦s just that¡Kwhen we first met, it felt like¡KI¡¦ve always known him. And every time I gazed into his lavender eyes...I¡¦m trapped in them.¡¨ I caught a glimpse of Misao¡¦s confused face, causing me to sigh, ¡§Never mind, I don¡¦t know how to say it.¡¨

Misao shook her head and sat down beside me, and patted my back in comfort. ¡§It¡¦s alright. I guess that¡¦s what you called fate. Here¡¦s the trick, introduce him to me sometime, and I¡¦ll see.¡¨ Misao gave me one of her famous smiles as I hugged my best friend.

She was so good.

I sank back onto my bed and yawned again, ¡§I¡¦m tired, I¡¦ll take a bath now,¡¨ I stood up weakly and gathered my belongings, heading towards the bathroom when Misao¡¦s voice stopped me.

¡§Kaoru, what about your sempai?¡¨

¡§Sempai? Which one?¡¨ I raised my eyebrow, didn¡¦t catch the meaning of her words.

¡§You know the one who taught you how to use the BBS and e-mail¡Kwhat was his name?¡¨

I smiled in realization, ¡§You mean Sano,¡¨

¡§Yeah! Sano. What about him? Isn¡¦t he good to you?¡¨ Misao stepped closer.

¡§Eh? That¡¦s impossible Misao, we¡¦re just friends, that¡¦s all.¡¨ I explained. What was she thinking?

¡§Just friends? Are you sure?¡¨ a look of doubt was shown clearly on her face. I nodded my head.

¡§Seriously, there¡¦s nothing between us. You think too much.¡¨ I guess I was too tired at that time, so I turned and left.

Misao turned her face to the computer screen, seeing Sano¡¦s name flashing on it. She sighed, clicking to sign off, ¡§Poor Sano.¡¨

After I finished my bath, I seated myself in front of the computer and signed in.

Kenshin wasn¡¦t online.

¡§Maybe he just came back so he took a bath.¡¨

I waited for a few minutes before giving up, so I entered my e-mail account.

To: Rurouni

Hey Kenshin,

I must admit, I had a blast today! It¡¦s the first time that I¡¦ve actually seen so many fireflies! It brought some memories up within me. Thank you so much. This is the best night I had.

PS. Do you believe in fate?

I stretched out my arms and stiffened a yawn, before closing the computer. That night, I drifted to sleep with a smile on my lips.

The second day, Kenshin replied back.

To: Tanuki

Kaoru,

I¡¦m glad that you like the fireflies. I love them too!

And yes, I do believe in fate. We just don¡¦t expect it; it will come to us naturally. So, in a place where we don¡¦t know so well, they will touch us. You¡¦ll be surprised for what they do to you.

The first encounter between two people will always be special. Remember that.

When I received this letter, my mind became numb. The guy who always smiled at me, who used simple sentences to enlighten my mood, had such an intricate mind. He¡¦s beyond wise for his age.

The next day, I went online again. I waited for my Rurouni patiently to appear in the user list.

An hour passed and finally Rurouni appeared. Slowly, it became a habit. One o¡¦clock at midnight online was my every day job.

Sometimes we chatted for half an hour, to suppress our strains of the day.

Sometimes we¡¦d talk on and on, with a cup of coffee in hands, our goal is the whole night.

Not only do we contact through BBS, but e-mails also.

We¡¦d go out after the night of Fireflies too, to watch a movie together. At last my pretty dresses can be shown! I remembered that night Kenshin wore a black jacket with a pair of dark blue jeans. He looked so cute.

***

Because we¡¦ve got classes tomorrow, so our agendas were quite crowded. We can¡¦t find any spaced out time to talk, there¡¦s only enough time in the theater. When the movie ended and most of the people had gone out, Kaoru had fallen asleep on my shoulder.

I watched her silently, my eyes staining with affection. I felt the urge to hold her until the end of the world.

After I escorted her back to her home, I swept through the busy crowds of Tokyo. I leaned against a wall, thinking wordlessly. I thought about the day since we met, until now, all the events that happened.

Love was growing inside of me.

I should¡¦ve realized my feelings earlier, because the thing that I needed the most right now, was courage.

Our third encounter had etched deeply into my mind. It was the most special.

This time I didn¡¦t have any reasons, only a simple request of dinner together. Kaoru agreed freely.

I took her to an expensive-looking restaurant, when I was about to open the doors for her; I felt a tug at my jacket.

¡§Kenshin, this is too expensive. I don¡¦t have to eat anything like this luxurious.¡¨ Kaoru said in a small voice and held me back.

I smiled broadly, ¡§It¡¦s a special day today, my treat. C¡¦mon, it¡¦s fine.¡¨

Under my urge of insists, Kaoru didn¡¦t say anything after.

But when we¡¦re ordering, Kaoru picked the cheapest set of food. Her care for me had touched me deeply. So I said, ¡§Kaoru, you think too much of the people around you, while you forgot all about yourself. Today¡Ktoday¡¦s my birthday.¡¨ I smiled.

Shocked filled her delicate featured as she stared at me in surprise, ¡§Really?¡¨

I nodded my head, ¡§Yup. Once a year I¡¦ll be this nice. Your loss if you missed it.¡¨ I grinned.

She giggled, ¡§Okay, you said it. Then I¡¦ll pick the most pricey one!¡¨

As we ate in delight, she stopped and asked, ¡§Didn¡¦t your other friends celebrate your birthday? It¡¦s always a group celebration in my class.¡¨

¡§I lied to them, I told them my birthday was yesterday, so they celebrated for me already.¡¨ I replied calmly.

Kaoru¡¦s eyebrow went up in wonder, ¡§Why did you that?¡¨

I sipped my cup of ice tea, and took a deep breath.

This is it.

¡§Because, this special day, it¡¦s for you, Kaoru. Only you.¡¨