Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own RK
AN: Wow. Arigatou to all who reviewed! You all are so supportive of my crappy FF! Well, I'll just write now 'cause I know you wanna hear Kenshin talk instead of me :)
Night passed peacefully and the sign of a bright morning came as the sun crept from the clouds. Its rays poured into the guest room revealing Kenshin, sitting on his bed deep in thought.
"What happened last night? What did this all mean?" were a few of the million questions racing through his mind. He desperately tried to make comprehend a logical explanation to his actions last night.
"We're just friends yet why did I commit those actions?" pondered Kenshin. Was he falling in love? Or was it his caring nature that guided his actions. One thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't help but feel happy about their occurrence. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the time was already 5:00AM.
"Time to get up" he told himself. Not wanting to wake up Kaoru, he slowly progressed to the washroom to shower. Applying a lather of shampoo onto his fiery red hair, he began to hum his favorite theme song from RK. He was really getting into it, dancing and making actions with his hands. While in the middle of his dance, a burst of concern struck him. Yahiko would be home by 7:30AM.
"If Yahiko finds me in the house alone with Kaoru, I'd never hear the end of it! And neither would she," he concluded. With that, he decided to leave extra early just in case.
After using the washroom, he decided to cook breakfast for Kaoru and him. He had never cooked for Kaoru before and after last night, he wanted to leave a good impression on his house skills. He decided to whip up an omelette with cheese, green peppers, mushroom, and cut pieces of beef hot dogs wrapped inside.
"Maybe it would be wise to heat the pan while I prepare the ingredients," Kenshin thought. After giving himself a pat on the back for his brilliant idea, he absent mindedly set the heat too high. Minding his own business, he began chopping the vegetables while humming RK in his head. The pan got a little too hot and the oil began to light on fire.
Kenshin got a whiff of the smoke. Alarmed by the unusual smell, he instinctively turned towards the origin. To his surprise, he saw a huge flame ball building on the pan. Rushing for the fire extinguisher, his mind was focused on one thing – Take out that flame before it wakes Kaoru up. Luckily, the Kamiyas kept their extinguisher in the closet room beside the kitchen.
In an instant, he pulled the safety pin and fired away at the pan. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu!" Kenshin shouted, imitating his favorite anime. "Take that!" he triumphantly boasted after extinguishing the small flame. Realizing the mess he had made, he groaned aloud "Not a good impression to make Kenshin"
At least he noticed Kaoru was still in bed. He could hear her snore from where he was.
Kenshin grinned, "I gotta make fun of her snoring one of these days". He quickly cleaned the oven and proceeded to make the omelet on the burnt pan. Having left the food on the table, he had one last thing to accomplish before leaving – double check Kaoru's alarm clock to wake her up in time for school.
Sneaking ever so quietly into her room, he reached for the alarm clock to check. Surely enough, Kaoru forgot to set the alarm.
"I remember High School used to start at 8:30AM for me so I better set the alarm for 7:00," he thought to himself. After doing so, he placed the clock back on her study desk but not without causing an accident. Clumsily, he knocked a book onto the carpet in her room. As it hit the ground, the book flipped open and landed face up as it stopped its awkward roll on the carpet.
Kenshin picked up the book and was about to close it but something in the book caught his attention. It had said "Dear Diary".
An evil grin befell his face. With the intention of discovering Kaoru's deepest secret, he anxiously read. What he read, though, left him shocked as hell.
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"80…81…82…" Misao mentally counted as she stroked a brush through her hair. Inspecting herself in front of her vanity mirror, she carefully brushed her hair from all angles so that none would go out of place. Another beautiful weekend came and gone, giving way to her most dreaded day of the week – Monday.
"Man, that's another five days before I get to see my Aoshi-san!" complained Misao inwardly. She had a huge crush on Aoshi for a very long time now. Both Aoshi and Misao's family have been friends ever since they were little. In fact, Aoshi was selected to be the god brother of Misao's younger sibling, Suzume.
"98… 99…100!" shouted Misao. She quickly got up from her seat and went to put on her school tie around her neck. Taking one last look at the mirror, she gave a nod of assurance to the image in front of her. She modeled her new white collared top, complimenting her green school kilt with the matching tie she wore. To complete her morning rituals, she ran to the bathroom and went straight for the weighing scale.
Timidly, she closed her eyes as she stepped on the scale. Taking a peek at the number on the scale, she nearly fell off when she read the number.
"What! 100 lbs! I gained weight since last Monday! How could Aoshi fall in love with a girl as fat as me?" She had felt her harsh comments were justified. She made a vow to herself to lose weight over the summer. Dejected, she went to fetch her school belongings.
"Misao, Kaoru is already here to pick you up! Don't keep them waiting," she heard her mom shout. She picked up her pace, walking down to the kitchen to give her mom a goodbye hug.
"Where's dad?" asked Misao.
"He left for work honey. Hurry up already! You're fortunate enough to get a ride with Kaoru every morning, you shouldn't keep them waiting." Her mom replied.
Before she finished her sentence, the door had already slammed and silence befell the house.
As Misao walked towards the vehicle, she saw Kaoru impatiently tapping her feet in front of the car staring straight at her.
"Late again Misao?" Kaoru said in a sarcastic tone.
"Sorry! It's not my fault perfection takes time," replied Misao.
Both girls giggled at her comment. Kaoru went in the front passenger seat while Misao sat in the backseat.
Misao and Yahiko exchanged greetings as she climbed into the car. During their drive to school, Misao was gabbing with Kaoru
"So how's everything going with your debut?" asked Misao.
"Very stressing but everything will be ready soon," Kaoru said with a hopeful tone.
"Guess what Kaoru? I gained weight last week! I look so fat!" whined Misao. Before Kaoru could comfort Misao, Yahiko began to chuckle
"Keep that up Misao and you'll look like Bruno, the trained ape on the discovery channel!" commented Yahiko who couldn't contain it anymore and burst with laughter.
In that instant, Misao felt a rage burn within her. She had the urge to beat him up senseless.
"Did he just call me an ape?" she asked herself. Having thought twice, she decided to pull and twist on his ear instead
"Act like a little boy and I'll treat you like one," she retorted. It took all of Yahiko's concentration to keep the car from swerving while he was attacked.
"Ok I give," pleaded Yahiko. "Stop it before we get killed or something! I'm still driving"
While the two quarreled, Kaoru sat in her seat quietly. Deep in thought, her mind preoccupied with the events that happened last night. She began to think if her relationship with Kenshin had changed. The way Kenshin acted around her last night was much more intimate than any other time he had been. What confused her more was the way she reacted to it.
Many unanswered questions had Kaoru's head spinning. She decided to push her thoughts aside for now. She had her debut to worry about and to top it all off, it was her last year in school and she had hoped to excel in her studies. She had applied to go to University of Toronto to take their linguistics program. The best in Canada, U of T had very high standards when it came to admission to study in the school.
Kaoru's thoughts were interrupted when she overheard Misao's conversation. "So Yahiko, how's Kenshin doing? You guys are keeping out of trouble right?" Misao asked as if reading her mind.
"I called him last night but he wasn't home," he replied. Kaoru began to blush. Had the whole world turned against her? She felt uneasy being reminded of last night.
"I think being his friend would be best for now. I'm not even sure if last night meant anything anyways. Besides, I'm way to busy to worry about this" she thought.
The car turned into their high school's entrance. The school and the words "Cardinal Newman High School" etched into the rickety structure had been a common sight for Kaoru and Misao.
"Here we are girls," said Yahiko. With that they said goodbye to Yahiko and got off the car.
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"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Okita sprinted through the hallway with the look of worry in his face. He had run behind schedule today which had caused him to be late.
"Oh crap! I'm 2 minutes late! I better pick up the pace," cried Okita. In one hand was his bag and in the other, a bottle of iced tea. He sprinted as fast as he could, pushing students out of his way and causing a huge scene in the hallway.
"Yes! I made it before she did," Okita sighed. Reaching to open the locker, he started to perform his morning routine. He placed the iced tea into the locker. He then reached in his back to grab a red rug and placed it from the doorway to the locker.
"Good, it is only 8:29:40. I've got 18 seconds to spare. With that, he knelt to the ground and began to bow.
…… he waited patiently……
Bam! Before he knew it, he was seeing stars. He had stood a bit too close to the door and it had hit him while it opened. Regaining his balance quickly, he got up infuriated. Sure the person who opened the door had injured him but what was unforgivable was that the person would be walking on the rug. Only one person had the privilege to walk on it.
"Excuse me! Watch where you're," he began saying but as soon as he looked up, he had noticed the person that was walking on the carpet and the one who had permission was one in the same people.
"I'm very sorry Hime-sama! I didn't notice it was you who opened the door," Okita uttered. He resumed his position on the floor but this time he reached for her hand and started to kiss it.
"You look so beautiful today Kaoru! I'm so glad you honored me with your presence," he said.
Kaoru looked down at the boy and a look of embarrassment flushed throughout her body. Although she was accustomed to Okita's shower of affection, it had still embarrassed her to see everybody in the hallway look their way. Every Monday, Okita would go out of his way to make her feel wanted.
"You can get up now," Kaoru mumbled. She quickly pulled him to his feet and took a step away from him to cling onto Misao. Kaoru had hoped that she would luck out from this embarrassing moment today. She then began to think evil thoughts of Okita contracting a deadly airborne virus.
"Yosh! What's up all?" a booming voice echoed down the hall
The familiar voice grabbed the three's attention. Looking at their direction, Sanosuke strut towards them. Wearing his usual skullcap and big headphones, a sense of cockiness and pride could be seen with ever step he took.
Finally arriving by the locker, he began to play fight with Okita. They began wrestling each other. Sanosuke being the bigger of the two quickly won that bout though.
Having seen this, both girls instantly turned towards their lockers ignoring the other two's presence.
"This is why I'll never have a boyfriend Misao. They all act so immature!" Kaoru said disgustingly.
"Speaking of which, did you decide on who your escort will be?" Misao asked.
"I dunno" answered Kaoru. "All the people in my grade are immature and wouldn't fit the role well"
"How bout Ken-san?" said Misao adding a playful tease to the tone of her voice.
Kaoru instantly blushed at the unexpected mention of his name. He never thought of having Kenshin as her escort. Now that she thought of it, he would have fit the bill. Kaoru knew he had the strength and muscle to do the exhausting lifts that her dancing would require. It was at the beach they went to last summer camp where she had saw them for the first time.
Kaoru remember how his abdomens were perfectly ripped into six robust pieces. He had broad shoulders that had to have been the fruit of countless of bench presses and workouts he went through.
"I think you're right Misao. Maybe Kenshin would be worthy enough to be my escort," Kaoru said.
At that moment, the bell rang indicating school had started.
"See you guys later," said Misao and Kaoru giggling. Both guys were still wrestling. Sanosuke had won the second bout. He had pinned Okita to the ground with his body on top of him.
In that instant, the door opened. After hearing a few footsteps, Sanosuke could see the leather shoes those footsteps belonged to. His eyes traveled its way up to reveal his principal looking at their direction with a confused expression written on his face.
"What are you doing on top of Okita?" asked Saitoh. Before Sanosuke could explain himself, Saitoh continued his speech.
"You know that it is forbidden and illegal to engage in sexual intercourse on school property"
With that, Sanosuke's face turned pale. He jumped to his feet. Okita laid there half dazed. He had been gasping for air the whole time Sanosuke was on top of him.
"Hurry up and go to your classes before I give you detention from now until the end of the school year" snapped Saitoh.
Okita got up in a hurry and bowed at his principal and began to walk quickly to class. Sanosuke did the same, not wanting to feel Saitoh's wrath.
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Night had captured the beauty of the sun. Walking through the lonely streets and tainted parks of downtown, Kenshin had little control of what he was doing. He had been walking aimlessly since his class had ended. This day was quite overwhelming for him to take
He crossed the street without even looking both ways for safety. He kept his head lowered. His face had confusion and irresolution written all over; his heart, filled with sorrow and hurt.
"Did my eyes deceive me?" Kenshin asked, hoping that what he read in her diary had been an illusion. It couldn't have been though. Each word written on that page had been a dagger piercing a mark at Kenshin's heart. The very words written in the diary was etched so deeply into Kenshin's mind.
"I'm sorry Akira-kun…… I never did show my true feelings for you. Now that you've died, I can't help but feel dread in my heart for not telling you. I love you Akira."
Kenshin was haunted by these very words ever since he read them this morning. Walking through a park now, he continued to reflect on the events that took place earlier.
Kenshin remembered feeling numb while reading the diary. Feeling very weak, it took all his strength and composure to control his overwhelming emotions.
He went to place the diary he couldn't control a tear rolling down his cheek and onto a picture of Kaoru pasted on the cover of the diary. He quickly regained composure and had decided to rush out of the house as quickly as possible.
Kenshin also remembered an incident while attending school at Ryerson University. He had bumped into Aoshi who claimed to have been waiting for him by their lockers. They usually spent breaks together and Monday was no exception. They would go to the arcade across the street to play their favorite games like D.D.R and Street Fighter.
Aoshi noticed there was something troubling Kenshin when he didn't bout with his usual fighting spirit.
"Yo man! What's wrong with you guy? You seem to be in space," Aoshi muttered in his usual nonchalant tone.
After a long pause of silence, Kenshin decided to keep it to himself.
"Don't feel like beating you today. I better head off now," Kenshin answered monotonously.
This shocked Aoshi. He had never seen Kenshin's body language speak like this before. A look of defeat beheld Kenshin's eyes and a look of pain throughout his body. Kenshin looked like he was beat up. Yet he saw no blemish on any part of his body.
He knew better than to pry though.
"Well I better go back to class," said Kenshin. "See ya"
Returning back to the present, he had reached the end of the trail to the park which connected to a main street in downtown. He hadn't realized it but he walked quite a distance in the hours he spent doing so.
He was about to enter the city of Scarborough now.
Kenshin kept sulking, his mind still plagued with confusion. Again he began to cross the street without paying attention to anything but his thoughts.
Little did he know that a car was speeding just a few meters away heading straight towards him.
(To Be Continued)
Author's Note: I'm sorry but I had to make you guys hang on this one. *grins evilly* I learnt that from Chiki! Well I'll do some shouting out to people cause you guys are so kind to me!
Ai-chan: You freak! You were supposed to edit my grammar well! EE-Diot! Lol! J/K thanks a lot for you support through my first chapter!
Chiki: Hehehe! What makes YOU think you're Kaoru? You can never be her! J/K! I hope you like the next chapter and thanks for the encouragement!
Makenshi-Shou: Yo! I'm so sorry for doing this to ya in this chapter man! But I hope you understand! Nothing personal! Thanks a lot for the feedback and review!
Tokyo-Rose: Wow! You're my first and only reviewer who I don't know personally! LOL! I hope you enjoy this Fanfic. I'm sorry if I didn't mention it to you earlier but this is going to be angst. I hope you don't mind. Thanks for your support!