Chapter 4 – "Oro?!"

Disclaimer: I do not own RK, unless you mean the DVD collection.

Author's Note: What's up guys!? I am truly sorry about the last chapter it was, really bad. I will try and make it up to you guys on this one. Aight!?

On with the story:

            Soujiro kept the phone as far away from his ear as Kaoru yelled from the other side. He knows that he's in trouble and is a bit responsible for Kenshin's little accident. Even from arm's length away from his ear, he could still hear her yelling. Kenshin took notice of this and asked, "Who are you talking to?"

            Soujiro just thought as fast as he could to come up with an answer but to no avail all he could manage to say was, "Why don't you find out?" and handed the phone to him.

            Kenshin who had no idea who he was speaking to manage to say, "He..ll..o…"

            "Who is this now?" said the person on the other line.

            Kenshin found the voice very familiar and very cute. He thought he should introduce himself to her, "It's…Himura Kenshin," he manage to reply. "I'm Soujiro's friend. May I ask who I am talking to?" he asked as politely as he could.

           "I am going to be your worse nightmare come true, you sick perv!" the voice yelled which made Kenshin's head ring.

            "Oro?" he managed to squeak at his end of the line. He didn't know what he did to offend her.

            "Put Soujiro back on the phone! I wanna have a little chat with him!" she managed to say with more of a calm and less deafening tone.

            As Kenshin looked around he noticed that Soujiro was paying for his ticket and was trying his best not to make eye contact with him. "He's kind of busy with something…" Kenshin replied.

            "Look you perv, I don't want to see or hear from you ever again!" yelled the girl as she slammed the phone on Kenshin.

            Kenshin confused and startled at the fact that he doesn't even know why she was calling him a pervert. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, it was Kaoru he was talking to.

            "Man, she must really hate me," he thought.

            Seeing that he hung the phone up, Soujiro approached Kenshin and apologized. "I'm truly sorry Himura-san, I tried to talk to her and ask to give you another chance but it seems that she still hasn't cooled down from yesterday."

            "It seems that way, but did you have to give me the phone to me?!" Kenshin yelled.

            "I really don't have an excuse. You were there and you asked me who I was talking to and…well I guess it just my reflexes to avoid all her yelling," Soujiro explained. "But, seriously Himura-san you have done such a perverted thing, it's very likely she won't forgive you so easily."

            "I won't give up though! To tell you the truth, I really like her," confessed Kenshin. "Man, me and my darn luck. I swear…" Kenshin stopped his whining as he noticed the line behind him grow impatient. He looked at the ticket booth and saw that he was next in line. Kenshin bought his ticket and headed with the gang to get something to eat. As they approached the counter Kenshin found a familiar face waiting for him.

            "And where exactly were you? You were supposed to pick me up at school! And now you're a half hour late at our meeting place," Tomoe exclaimed.

            "I'm sorry, I bumped into a couple of friends and well you know," explained Kenshin. As Tomoe looked around a disappointed face began to show on her face. Tomoe wanted to be alone with Kenshin on this date. Kenshin saw this and asked, "I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to disappoint you or anything."

            "Forget it, let's just go and watch the movie," Tomoe said as she turned her back on Kenshin.

            Kenshin grabbed her arm firmly yet gently and pulled her to the counter. Kenshin ordered a couple bags of popcorn and drinks. "It's my treat."

            "Thanks…" Tomoe replied. She felt a bit better, but she's still disappointed at the fact that they couldn't go on a date alone. She wanted this to be when she tells him that, she liked him.

            As they took their seats, Misao fought against Sanosuke for the seat beside Aoshi. After a minute of face shoving, Misao finally won and Sanosuke took the seat beside her. Soujiro took a seat beside Sanosuke at the end of the row. Kenshin found that there wasn't a seat available near his friends. Tomoe was now feeling a lot better she can sit with Kenshin and not have any distraction from his friends.

            The two found a couple of empty seats near the middle of the theatre and decided to sit there. As the lights darkened she felt as if it was only her and Kenshin in the theater. As the movie started she held onto Kenshin's arm and put her head on his shoulder. Kenshin was surprised at this didn't know what to do. Tomoe felt Kenshin stiffen up and decided not to keep her head on his shoulder, however, she kept her hand on Kenshin's. Kenshin felt a bit more comfortable, she never showed him a lot of affection before and she's just suddenly all over him. Kenshin was so confused; he didn't know what Tomoe's real feelings were.

            Misao couldn't keep focus on the movie since she was sitting beside her Aoshi-sama. Aoshi who noticed that the girl was staring at him for nearly 10 minutes straight felt really uncomfortable and excused himself to the washroom. Sanosuke and Soujiro were laughing at one of the many inside jokes the movie had to offer. Misao was getting annoyed at Sanosuke. She doesn't like loud mouthed men; she liked people who kept cool and mature. That's why she 'loves' her Aoshi-sama so much. He's everything she hopes for in a guy. As Aoshi came back he noticed an empty seat near the top row. He decided to take that seat, instead of going to back to his normal seat. Misao didn't notice this and began to wait for what seemed like an eternity.

            Tomoe began to slowly put her head back on Kenshin's shoulder. This time however Kenshin didn't pay too much attention to it since he was more into the movie. Tomoe loved the fact that she can finally get close to him without him being too suspicious. They stayed that way until the end of the movie.

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Kaoru played with her food as she sat on the dinner table. Her family gobbled up the food, they really loved her cooking. Yahiko couldn't bear to cook for Suzume and Ayame who always seem to have some complaint about his cooking. He was glad her sister was feeling better, and admitted in his mind that this family would fall apart without her. Kaoru was too peeved to eat anything; she lost her appetite after speaking 'the two idiots.'

"Are you alright? You don't seem to be eating your food," her father asked.

"Yeah I'm alright," Kaoru lied.

"She probably broke up with her new boyfriend over the phone," said Yahiko.

"Shut up you little brat!" yelled Kaoru. Trying to keep her calm was getting harder.

"You have a boyfriend? I will not let you go out with any man until I see what kind of a man he is!" her father added.

"I do not a have a boyfriend!" Kaoru screamed.

Silence swept the table. Suzume and Ayame both stared at each other and asked, "What's a boyfriend? Can we have one too?"

"Not yet! Not for a long time. Believe me you wouldn't want one anyways," explained their father.

Yahiko turned quiet; he knew what kind of woman her sister can turn into when she's pissed. He decided not to say anything or get in her way for a while.

"I'll eat in my room," informed Kaoru as she picked up her plate. Dead silence was filled the room as she left.

Kaoru left the food on her desk and decided she should watch some anime. She loved her anime collection. She especially loved this one anime about a wandering samurai who protects people with his sword to try to atone for his days when he was an assassin. (A/N: Sound familiar) He loved his red hair and scar it made him look cool. Then she thought, it kind of reminded her of Kenshin. "How can I even compare that hunk to Kenshin!" she thought. She decided to watch an episode or two while she ate her dinner.

After she finished, she went to the kitchen to find the dishes washed. She was surprised and asked Yahiko who did the dishes. Yahiko admitted it was he who did them. He doesn't want to piss off Kaoru anymore than she already is. Kaoru thanked him and washed her own dishes. She decided to watch another episode of her favorite anime before going to bed.

When she has finished watching the anime, she thought about how she treated Soujiro. She didn't mean to yell at him, it wasn't his fault. She decided to give him a call on his cell phone to apologize to him.

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            As the credits rolled, Kenshin found that Tomoe has fallen asleep in his arms. He figured she was probably tired from all her studying. Tomoe was a great student; she was a straight A student, pretty and an amazing friend. At least this is what Kenshin thought of her. He was really glad that he had a friend like her.

Misao was getting worried, Aoshi never came back. As Sanosuke and Soujiro began to leave, she noticed Aoshi in the back row. She walked up to him and asked, "Why didn't you go back to your seat?"

            "I actually wanted to hear what they were saying in the movie, Sano and Soujiro were too loud," he lied. He really didn't mind those two being loud or laughing; he just didn't like the way Misao was staring at him.

            "Well anyways, what do you say we go and get something to eat…sometime," asked Misao, her eyes glittering.

            "Maybe," he said trying to hide the fact that he really hadn't found anyone he was interested in yet. And she really isn't his type.

            "Alright, when guys say maybe it's actually a YES!" Misao thought. "OK, then let's go to lunch sometime."

            "That's fine by me," Aoshi replied.

            "Great! Let's go and catch up with the others," she said enthusiastically.

            Aoshi just nodded and they both made their way down the steps. As they approached Sanosuke and Soujiro, they saw that they were looking at Kenshin who seems to be in a situation. They all agreed to just leave them be and made their way out the theatre.

            Kenshin felt very awkward being this close to Tomoe. Although he found her very attractive and very beautiful, he just couldn't bear to even try to go out with her. He couldn't risk it, not if it meant losing a friend if they broke up. He didn't want to hurt her, so he doesn't pay attention to the signs given to him by Tomoe. Just then Tomoe opened up her eyes and yawned. "Where am I?" she asked.

            "You're at the theatre with me. Remember?" explained Kenshin.

            "Oh yeah! Oh! The movie's over?" Tomoe said disappointed at the fact that she wanted to hold him longer.

            "Yeah…we should get going," he said as he began to stand up. "I'll walk you home."

            "That would be great," Tomoe said cheerfully.

            As the two left the theatre it was late at night, the sky was dark and no stars can be seen. The only light in the sky was the moon. As they reached Tomoe's house, she pulled him up to the front gate. "I had a nice time tonight," she said.

            "I did too," Kenshin replied. Kenshin turned around, "Oyasumi," he said as he walked away.

            Tomoe ran up to Kenshin and pulled his arm to her. "Kenshin…" she began, "I really like you…a lot. I want to ask you, would you like to become my boyfriend?" she asked with as much hope as she could wish for.

            Kenshin was at a loss for words. He doesn't know how to respond. In one way he wants her to be happy, but he doesn't want to hurt her. He couldn't decide, he will have to hurt her eventually and he doesn't want to do that. He feared the worst.

            "I'm sorry," Kenshin apologized. "I'm not ready for this type of commitment."

            With a disappointed look, Tomoe nodded. She was hoping he would say 'yes'. Tomoe thought that if he's not ready then she can wait for him. Until then, she will stick close to him and never leave his side as a friend.

            "It's ok," Tomoe responded.

            "I'm truly sorry. Good night, Hime," Kenshin said as he walked away.

            Tomoe couldn't believe her ears. It had been so long since Kenshin had called her that. It was a nickname given to her by Kenshin when they were kids. Kenshin used to be the heroic knight and Tomoe was the princess who needed to be saved. Ever since then Kenshin called her by the name 'Hime.' She liked it a lot, however as time passed by he started calling her by her real name. Tomoe just smiled and looked at the moon before opening the door to her house.

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            As Kenshin opened up the front door, he could hear the T.V. from his father's room. He was watching the all popular show "American Idol." He wouldn't miss that show for the world. Kenshin changed into his house clothes; which contains a tank top and shorts. As he walked by his father's room he yelled, I'm home," and made his way downstairs. He decided he's going to cook some hotdogs; the popcorn he ate at the theatre didn't really fill him up.

            As he ate dinner he thought of Kaoru and how he could possibly make it up to her. He just didn't know how to approach her. He ate all the hotdogs he cooked and made his way back to his room upstairs. As he entered his room he heard a distinct ringing sound. As he searched the pockets of his pants, he found Soujiro's phone.

            "I forgot to give it back to him," he thought.

            He thought for a while and decided to answer the call. He could just the person to call back later. As he received the call and greeted with a friendly, "Hello," a familiar voice came from the other end of the line.

            "Hey, Soujiro. It's me, Kaoru. I want to talk to you about something," she said with a worried voice.

            Kenshin didn't know what to do therefore a moment of silence hung in the air. What should he do? Kenshin thought that there was only one thing he can do. He pretended to be Soujiro.

To be continued….

A/N: Thank you so much you guys for the reviews. It is gladly appreciated. And for those who asked, yes this is going to be a K+K fic. I am making it really hard for those two to get together though. Anyways, hope you guys like this. If there are any big grammar errors I apologize. I'll probably fix those as soon as Chiki helps me with my grammar! :D Arigatou Hime-chan ß-Chiki.