A/N: Hi everyone! Yeah I wrote another story, but I think I got carried away O_O. LoL whatever but moving on, this takes place in the distant future; just something I came up with that was for my writing assignment in English class. You're probably thinking "Whoa! You write this kind of thing even in school???" Haha well.no not really, I changed the names when I turned it in. Okay enough of that let's get to the story shall we?

Just so you know Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me as do any of the others, though I wish they did. Don't sue me, I'm poor! This is for entertainment only and is in no way meant to be offensive, and for convenience of those who don't understand Japanese, I made it all in English so just enjoy it okay ^_^. Besides, you all should know that already. Aren't you tired of hearing it?

Dedicated to my aunt for helping to inspire me to write. I guess she's like my mentor in a way ^_^. Thanks a bunch, couldn't have done it without ya!

*~~* Denotes shifts in time/character perspective

** ** Denotes characters' thoughts

" " Well, I'm sure most of you, maybe all of you *sweat drop* would know what these mean but just for the heck of it, denotes characters' speech

That Which Does Not Kill You
Makes You Stronger

_________________________________________________________________________

"That which does not kill you makes you stronger." Those words remained
in my head throughout the entire day which seemed to go by like eternity.
**What did he mean by that?** I thought. **Was something going to
happen?** I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear my friends
calling out my name after school let out. I was in 9th grade.

"Kaoru, didn't you hear us calling you?" they all asked once they caught
up to me. "Sorry guys, I was just thinking," I replied. "Ooooooh, I bet
she was thinking about her crush," one of them whispered and they all
laughed. "Stop it Sano!" I yelled. "Oh come on, we all already know about
it," Megumi said. "But-but, t-that wasn't what I was thinking about," I
stammered. "Uh huh, sure it wasn't," Yahiko scoffed. "Watch it," I warned
forming a fist in his face. "Okay okay, take it easy," he said backing
off. Actually, I knew he wasn't really scared.

"Why don't you just tell him already?" Sanosuke told me. "It's already
been two years and you still haven't told him."

"It's not that easy," I sighed. I don't even think he likes me." Megumi
patted me on the shoulder. "I'm sure he does, I mean you two have been
close friends since 7th grade."

"Well, yeah but there are probably a lot of other girls who like him
other than me." I reasoned. Sanosuke brushed a stray strand of hair from
his face and smiled. "No surprise there, I mean, back at my old school I
had tons of girls crawling all over me." Yahiko rolled his eyes. "You
mistake them for fleas." Flames rose up around Sanosuke. "WHAT WAS THAT
YOU JUST SAID?!" he demanded. Yahiko hid behind me. "N-Nothing," he
stammered. I sighed. Sanosuke yelled again. "Yeah right, I know what I
heard, come and say that again to my face!!!" he growled. Yahiko sweat
dropped.

"Kaoru, save me!" he pleaded grasping my shoulders and hiding behind my
back. "Save yourself will you, you're the one who made him angry," I said
wrenching myself free. "Cut it out all of you, you're giving me a
headache," Megumi whined interrupting our quarrel. "Why don't we just get
going now, we're supposed to do our homework at my house this afternoon."
Sano and Yahiko stopped arguing. "Sure," they said in unison. I simply
nodded. But before we could leave, someone showed up. Megumi giggled
softly.

"Well, look who's here," she said glancing at me and pointing to someone
walking towards us. I blushed a light pink color and tried not to look at
him. He had flaming red hair that was tied back neatly in a ponytail and
dark, violet eyes. But I always wondered where he got that unusual scar
on his left cheek. It looked just like a cross. Perhaps I'll never know.

"Um, it's nice to see you Kenshin," I murmured trying not to show I was
embarrassed. "Hey Kaoru, it's nice to see you too," he answered waving at
me. I waved back and turned away before he could see me blushing again.
Sano and Yahiko covered their mouths with both hands to keep from
laughing out loud. I ignored them. However, Megumi noticed my disposition
and grinned. She yanked me over by my arm to her side.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" I asked trying to pull away. She didn't
answer. She just turned me around so that I was facing Kenshin. "Kaoru
has something she wants to say to you," she proudly informed, shoving me
towards him. Maybe just a little too hard. "Megumi!!!" I screamed as I
started to falter. But Kenshin was close by and he caught me before I hit
the concrete.

"What did you do that for?!" I demanded unaware that Kenshin's arms
covered my own just below my shoulders. Megumi didn't answer me. She just
giggled and turned her back to us cupping her hands over her mouth.
Sanosuke and Yahiko burst out laughing and started saying "Ooooooh" at
us. I, well, we just stared at them confused at first until I finally
noticed Kenshin was holding me, sort of.

"Oh!" I exclaimed blushing crimson and stared at the floor. Kenshin
looked at me for a few moments before noticing what he was doing. "Oh,
um, sorry about that," he murmured letting his hands fall to his sides.
"Are you alright?" I blushed again, remembering that Kenshin had saved me
from a nasty fall. "Y-Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, um, thanks for helping me
back there," I struggled to say. Kenshin blushed too and put a hand in
his hair. "Sure, it was no big deal." After everyone calmed down, Megumi
spoke up.

"Hey, if you're free, why don't you come to my house and work on your
assignments with all of us?" Kenshin smiled. "Sure, that would be great,"
he replied. "Then let's go!" Sano exclaimed happily. I felt rather
awkward walking next to Kenshin.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

"We're here!" Megumi proudly announced when we reached the shiny wooden
stairs of her front porch. Kenshin studied the gigantic place. "Man, I
forgot just how big this place is," he said staring at it. I did my best
to just act normal and go along with things, maybe then he won't notice
my disposition.

"Yeah, I got lost here the first time I came to her house," I told him.
He laughed. "Hey, so did I." Sano and Yahiko dropped their backpacks on
the porch floor. "It's pretty nice out here, why don't we work here?"
Yahiko suggested. It was nice out. The sun was shining and it wasn't too
hot since the porch roof provided shade. Megumi's porch was roomy and had
a large rectangular table with eight chairs in a corner and several
hanging plants decorating the entire ceiling.

"Not a bad idea," she replied. "Let's go to the table." I chose a spot at
the very end of the table and took out my textbooks, some paper, and a
pencil from my backpack. Kenshin walked up behind me. "Can I sit next to
you?" he asked, which made me embarrassed as well as nervous. "Sure, you
don't need to ask me, feel free to sit where you want." He smiled and sat
next to me, surprising me a little when he scooted his chair a little
closer so that we were almost touching. **Why did he do that?** He then
took out his homework. Megumi, Yahiko, and Sano giggled and scooted over
to the farthest end of the table, away from us. Kenshin and I gave them a
look of confusion.

"What?" We asked puzzled. They just kept laughing. "Is there something
wrong?" Kenshin asked. They shook their heads. "Then what is it?" he
asked again. Sano winked at us. "We're just giving you two lovebirds some
privacy." Kenshin and I both blushed now.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" I asked feeling quite embarrassed.
They were doing this to me again, just like at school. "You know what it
means," Megumi giggled. "This gives you two a chance to settle any
unfinished business." I started to protest. "H-Hey you guys don't do this
to me!" I pleaded. Kenshin seemed confused. They ignored me and continued
to do their homework. 'Some friends you are.' I thought. Kenshin looked
at me.

"What are they talking about?" he asked me. I just sat there blushing
more than ever and sweat pouring down my face. I didn't know whether I
should spit out the truth or keep my mouth shut. "Kaoru?" he asked in a
concerned voice. "Are you okay?"

"Um.well, the truth is that I.." I couldn't go on. I was afraid that that
I would ruin our friendship and I didn't want that to happen. That would
utterly kill me. Well, not literally. I felt Kenshin's hand on my
shoulder. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me now if you don't want
to," he told me. All I could do was smile. Kenshin opened his English
textbook. "We'd better get started on our homework before we fall
behind," he told me.

"Uh, right," I replied. I heard some groaning coming from the far end of
the table, or, to put it simply, from my friends. They seemed bored as
well as disappointed. They continued to give me that death glare. I
blushed and put my head down in the book I was reading in order to study
for the big exam tomorrow. Kenshin caught on to the situation and stood
up to face them.

"Stop it," he told them. "You're bothering her." I stiffened when I heard
him trying to defend me. "Don't worry about them Kenshin, they do that
all the time. I know how to deal with it," I told him. "Oh, okay," he
said sitting back down. "I just thought you needed some help." I smiled.
"No, it's okay, but thanks anyway." I looked over at the others who were
busily doing their homework. It was easy to tell they were annoyed that I
didn't confess about my feelings for him. But I just couldn't bring
myself to tell him. At least, not yet. I turned my gaze to Kenshin who
was wearing that same smile he always did ever since the first time we
met. He was doing his assignments intensively. Kenshin and I were some of
the top students in our class, although we were in separate classrooms.
**Kenshin.** I thought. **He always stood up for me.**

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

By 6:30pm everyone had managed to finish their homework and we were now
just sitting at the table wondering what to do now. Finally, Sano stood
up and stretched.

"I don't have to go home until 7:30, so can I hang out here till then?"
he asked Megumi. "Me too!" Yahiko added. Megumi looked at both of them
and nodded. "That's fine with me," she replied getting up. "But what are
we going to do, I'm bored."

"Let's watch a movie!" They said at the same time. Then Yahiko spun
around and gave Sano sly look. "Hey, I said it first, so I get to choose
what we watch," he said teasingly. Sano shot him a death glare. "You did
not!" he retorted. "Did too!" came an annoyed reply.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!!!"

"Did too!!!" I watched them and sighed, then turned and looked at
Kenshin, who was also watching them. "Those two will argue about
anything," I told Kenshin who sweat dropped when he saw Sano and Yahiko
now in a physical fight. "I can see that," he replied putting a hand in
the back of his head. Megumi was doing all she could to try to stop those
two from beating each other to a pulp until she finally had to whack each
of them on the head with her History book. While they were recovering,
she turned to us.

"You guys want to stay too?" she asked. I shook my head. "I'd like to,
but I need to get going. I'll see you tomorrow," I answered. Kenshin too
shook his head. "I've got to go too. Sorry," he said. Megumi nodded
understandingly. "Well then, I'll see you guys later," she said waving.
We waved back and started walking. As we were walking, Kenshin spoke.

"Is it okay if I walk you home?" he asked. I looked at him. "It's okay
you have to, I always walk-"

"No really it's no problem," he interrupted shaking his head. "I want
to." I slowly nodded. "Alright, if you want to." There was an awkward
silence between us for a moment before Kenshin spoke again.

"Did you study for the big exam tomorrow?" He asked looking straight
ahead. I started to twiddle my fingers. "Yeah, think we're ready?"

"I'm ready," he answered. I decided to ask him a question I was nervous
about. "Do you remember about the class party tomorrow?" I asked. "Yes,"
he replied.

"Are you planning to go with a date?" I asked. I felt myself blushing
slightly when I asked this question. "I want to," he answered. Here came
the hard part.

"Who did you have in mind?" I asked. Kenshin stopped causing me to stop
as well. There was a moment of silence before he turned to me smiling and
blushing at the same time. "You," he said blushing. That caught me
totally off guard. I didn't know what to say or how to react. "M-Me?" I
stuttered half surprised and half embarrassed. "You want to go with me?"
His blush deepened. "Y-Yeah, that is, if you want to," he said looking
down at the ground rather then at my face. I blushed and smiled at him,
regardless of whether he could see me or not. "I understand if you don't,
you deserve better than me anyway," he stated almost sure that I won't
decline. I don't why he said that. That was stupid, to think I deserve
better, that was just plain pathetic. If anyone deserved better, it was
him.

"I'd love to," I told him. His head jerked up. "R-Really?!" he asked
excitedly. I nodded at him. We had reached my house, almost passing it.
When I was getting ready to head inside, he waved at me. "I guess it's
settled then, I'll see you tomorrow," he said happily and walked off. I
waved back. **I can't believe he.actually asked me to the party.** I
thought. I didn't realize I was still blushing when I entered my house.
It wasn't as big as Megumi's. It was just a plain, ordinary place.

"Kaoru, what happened to you?" mother asked. You look like someone swept
you off your feet." I smiled. "Someone did." My mother's eyes widened.

"Really?!" I nodded. "Kenshin asked me to be his date at the party
tomorrow night," I said simply but happily. My mother gasped. "I'm so
happy for you Kaoru; I knew how much you liked him and how afraid you
were that he wouldn't like you back. But this proves that he does!" she
cried. "Stop it mother you're embarrassing me, and besides, you can't be
so sure. Just because he asked me to go with him doesn't necessarily mean
he likes me the way I like him," I told her.

"Doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't like you either, you can't keep
lying to yourself you know, I mean come on, he asked you to be his date.
He's asking you out! Doesn't that mean he likes you?" mother reassured
me. I smiled at her in response. 'Well, I don't know...' I thought. Then
my brother came out of the kitchen. Good things don't last very long at
my house, and this is why. My brother, who was in 6th grade.

"You can't be serious, how can anyone go out with you?!" he scoffed. I
shot him a death glare, like my friends do when they're angry with me.

"Stay out of this Kenji!" I retorted pointing a finger in his face. He
glared at me and bit my finger as hard as he could. "OW OW OW OW OW OW
OW!!! Stop it!!!!!" I yelled pulling my finger away. He had bitten so
hard I was bleeding. He did let go thank goodness.

"Kenji what were you thinking, Kaoru could be infected by your bite!!!"
she scolded. Kenji hung his head. "I sorry, I didn't mean to bite you
that hard," he apologized. "Just don't bite me at all," was all I could
say. My finger stung like crazy. Kenji just sighed and went back into the
kitchen. Mom and I followed soon after.

"OUCH OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!!!!" I screeched blowing on my finger. Geez and
I thought my brother biting me hurt. Mother sighed and screwed the cap
back on the jar and put it in the medicine cabinet. "It will help keep
the wound safe against infection, so just try to deal with it. It will
hurt for a while." I rubbed my finger. "I can see that, any more alcohol
and it'd probably hurt for the rest of my life," I grumbled. **Kenji had
better not do that again!**

"Are you hungry Kaoru? Supper's just about ready," she said. I shook my
head. "I'm not hungry thank you, I'll be in my room," I said heading down
to the end of the empty hallway where my bedroom was located. When I got
there, I changed into my pajamas and sat on my bed and took out the book
I had been reading called When Purple Settles. I was almost done with it.
I thought about whether I should go on or read it later. But I was soon
engulfed in my thoughts. I thought about what it would be like being
Kenshin's partner at the party. This would be the first time I'd be going
to a party with someone especially someone I liked. ...Actually, that
never was the truth. I've always loved Kenshin, but I never had the urge
to tell him. I didn't think he even likes me much less loves me. I
remembered the day we first met. He was an exchange student who was being
picked on and bullied a lot during recess. I remembered the one time he
was being bullied really bad and when he was about to be punched by one
of our worst bullies, I lunged in front of him and took that blast full
in the stomach. He helped me get to the office and we've been close
friends ever since. Right now, he has been pretty popular with girls and
he has a ton of friends, but we were always there for each other
regardless. I remembered all the things we did together, the good times
we've had in each other's company, partnering up in class projects and
field trips, encouraging each other during performances, even that huge
ketchup fight we had last year at my birthday. He was the only one left
at the party and we just got a little rowdy and started squirting each
other with ketchup bottles. I laughed as I remembered how we were covered
from head to toe with that slimy red stuff and how surprised my mom was
when she came into the kitchen. We had a lot of good times together and
we always comforted and supported each other in the bad times. I didn't
want that to be broken and I was afraid that was exactly what would
happen if I was to tell him how I felt and he didn't feel the same way.
That would kill me on the inside. Then I remembered. I remembered his
words. "That which does not kill you makes you stronger." Was this it?
Was this what he was referring to when he uttered those words? Could he
have possibly known my feelings all along? I spent so much time thinking
about these things that I didn't realize that it was so late and before I
knew it, I fell fast asleep.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

"AHHHHHHHHHHH, I'M GOING TO BE LAAAAAATE!!!!!!!" I screeched as I looked
at the time and leaped out of bed. Mother heard my screams and appeared
in my doorway. "How did that happen, you always woke up on time before,"
she told me shaking her head. "I forgot to set the alarm," I whined
yanking off my pajamas and throwing on my uniform. Kenji appeared in the
doorway too and shook his head. I felt like getting him back for biting
me. My finger still stung.

"Man, aren't you messy,'' he teased as he took in the sight of me running
like crazy about my room. I didn't bother listening to my brother's
ravings. "I don't have time for this Kenji!" I screamed and rushed past
them, down the hallway, through the living room and out the door. I had
only 10 minutes until school started and for me, that wasn't much time
considering that I had to walk two blocks to get to school and I had a
heavy backpack which slowed me down more. Because of this, I ended up
being 5 minutes late. And I got scolded big time by the teacher. Thank
goodness Kenshin wasn't in my class. That would've been utterly
humiliating.

Once the bell that signaled break time, and our exam had been taken,
Megumi, Sano, Yahiko, and I went to our lockers to get ready for the next
class. "What happened this morning, you've never been late before."
Megumi said once we got our supplies together and found a table to sit at
on the patio. I sat down and slumped my shoulders. "I forgot to set the
alarm; I went to bed late so I didn't get enough sleep either. Plus my
brother bit me so hard it bled and it still hurts," I murmured holding
out my finger, which was still a light red.

"Ouch," Sano said looking at my finger ringed with tooth marks. "Looks
like you've had it rough," Yahiko said shaking his head. "You can say
that again," I sighed folding my arms and resting my head on them.
Kenshin stopped by moments later.

"Hey guys," he greeted us in his usual, cheerful tone. Everyone,
including me waved and motioned for him to sit with us. As could have
been expected, he sat close to me, right beside me to be exact. It was
then that he noticed that I didn't look too cheerful.

"Hey, do you know what's wrong with Kaoru? She doesn't look good," he
said putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. That perked me up a bit.

"She's okay, just tired. She had it rough today," Megumi explained.
Kenshin patted my back lightly. "Her brother bit her too," Sanosuke added
taking my hand and showing Kenshin my finger.

"Ouch, I see," he said touching the bite marks. I cringed a little from
the pain. "Oh I'm sorry, do you think you'll still be able to go to the
party with me? I'll understand if you can't." I jerked up. "Oh yeah, I'll
still be able to, there's no way I'd want to miss it." He gave me the
most adorable smile. The bell rang signaling that it was time for the
next class. Kenshin got up.

"Well, I'll see you tonight then," he said and walked off to class. I
nodded. When I turned around, I saw Megumi and the others gaping at me.
"Uh, is there something on my face?' I asked. Megumi came over and
slapped me hard on the back. "Hey wha-!" I began.

"How come you didn't tell me that he asked you to go out with him?!" she
interrupted. I sort of looked at her, bewildered.
"W-Was it that big of a deal?" I asked. Sano whacked me over the head
with a loud "conk." "Hey!"

"No duh!!!" he yelled shaking his head. "What are we going to do with
you?!"

"Let's all meet after school at Kaoru's house, we've got work to do!"
Megumi claimed. "Right!" Sano and Yahiko agreed. "Actually, we'll just
wait for you guys."

"Fine," Megumi answered. I shrugged. 'Great. Something tells me this is
going to be a disaster.' But it was worse than that. Way worse than that.

Back at my house, it was like a nightmare for me only real.

"Hold still," Megumi ordered.

"But it hurts!" I complained.

"No one said beauty was easy, don't you want to look good for Kenshin
tonight?!"

"Well, yes."

"Then be quiet and hold still!"

"But it'll hurt!"

"I've almost got it, it won't hurt!"

"OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!!!"

"Hold on, just a little tighter." *Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiip!*

"Megumi, that was one of my favorite ribbons!!!"
"
It wouldn't have happened if you would stop squirming!"

"You were pulling it too hard!"

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were!!"

20 minutes later. "Quit running around like a crazed cow!!!"

"Then get those tweezers away from me!!!!!!"

"It's just a few stray hairs, it won't hurt that bad!"

"OW OW, HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! IF YOU DON"T MIND, I LIKE WHERE MY HAIR
IS NOW THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!"

"No, it's just that you're moving too much!"

"YOU WOULD TOO IF SOMEONE WAS YANKING YOUR HAIR OUT NON STOP!!!!"

"Hold on, I still need to finish fixing your hair!!!"

"NOT IF IT MEANS YOU'RE PLANNING TO CUT IT!!!!!"

"Oh come on, it's not like I'll cut it that short, just a few inches now
get over here!!!"

"NO CHANCE!!!!!"

"Now!!!!!!!!!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

"I thought you said you wanted to look good for Kenshin!!!"

"I DO, BUT YOU'RE MAKING ME LOOK THE OPPOSITE!!!!

"No I'm not I'm just trying to help!!!!"

"I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP!!!!!"

"I'm telling you, it's not going to hurt like that at all!!!!!

"STOP IT, I SAID NO!!!!!"

"At least let me put this clip in your hair that most definitely won't
hurt!"

"OUCH, STOP IT!!!!!!"

"How the heck can that hurt?!?!?!"

"BECAUSE THAT ISN'T MY HAIR YOU'VE GOT, THAT'S MY HEAD!!!!!!!!" You could
hear a series of loud noises if you were sitting next to my room. Come to
think of it, that was where Sano and Yahiko were!

"Sheesh, what is going on in there?!" Yahiko asked getting rather
impatient. "They've been in there for over half an hour! And what's with
all the racket?!" Sano was sitting on the floor apparently bored. "How am
I supposed to know?!" he retorted. "We'll just have to keep waiting."
Yahiko groaned "I don't wanna wait any longer!!! Why aren't they out
already we've been waiting for a long time!!!" Sano heard Yahiko bicker
and bicker and bicker. In fact, that's all he normally does, mouth off.
**That kid must know every word in the English dictionary except for two
words** he thought frowning. **Shut up.** After another 20 minutes, I
came out of my room dragging a terrified Megumi behind me. I spent more
time trying to stop her from turning me into a hideous monster rather
than getting myself ready. Sano got up and stared.

"What happened?!" he asked staring at my room, then at us. "What were you
guys doing in there, I mean, you guys look fine but what happened to your
room?!" My room was a total disaster. It looked as if it had been overrun
by 13 rhinos. I shrugged. "It's a long story, let's just go, I don't want
to be late." Yahiko added something he shouldn't have. "Long story huh?
From all that racket it sounded like you two were getting something on,"
he teased. That flared both me and Megumi up. "THAT WASN'T NECESSARY YOU
SICK-HEADED PERVERT!!!" we yelled. That shut him up. To think Tsubame was
in love with this nutbar. There was a difference between annoying and
bipolar. We were quiet the whole trip there. It's a good thing too
because I wasn't in the nicest mood. However, once we got there we
cheered up, even Megumi.

"Finally!" Yahiko sighed running past the nicely decorated school and
into the noisy cafeteria. That was where the party itself was being held.
Once we got in, Sano immediately left. Megumi and I headed into the
crowd. But I knew she wasn't about to stick around either. "Go," she
said. Kenshin is probably looking for you." Before I left I grabbed her
by the arm.

"You had better help me clean up my room sometime soon or else!" I
warned. Megumi gulped. "Yeah fine, now go look for him." I shrugged again
and left. My room was left a horrible mess when we left.

It wasn't going to be too hard to find him since this place wasn't that
crowded but it was crowded enough to the point that it wouldn't be too
easy either. After being pushed and shoved a score of times, I finally
found him near the exit leaning against the wall. "Hey Kenshin, over
here!" I called out to him. He smiled when he saw me and came weaving
through the crowd.

"Sorry for keeping you," I apologized. He shook his head and gave me that
silly smile of his. I thought that was the cutest thing. "Don't worry
about it, you look great," he complimented. I blushed at his statement. I
had to admit, he looked really.well.okay I admit it, he looked really
cute. There, happy? He was wearing a navy blue suit with a read tie and
his ponytail was up instead of hanging down, the way he usually wore it.
I was wearing a sky blue dress with cherry blossoms on it and my hair was
tied back with a dark indigo ribbon.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I replied. "So, what do you want to do
first?" he paused. "I don't know." In the end, we didn't know what to do
really, so we just sat down at a table chatting, oblivious to Megumi and
two other girlfriends which were Tsubame and Misao who were spying on us
from a table not too far from the one we were sitting at. That is, until
one of them snapped a picture of us. Apparently, they had forgotten to
turn off the flash, which obviously caught our attention having blinded
us. I was telling him about how Megumi was trying to make me look nice
for the party and she ended up making me look like a monster, which he
found hilarious. It was just as he was about to laugh that the blinding
camera light burst in our eyes. We got up from the table and ran about
the place till we thought they lost us, but we soon saw they were still
behind us trying to hide in the crowd, so we decided to ignore them.
After that, we just wandered around, seeing what our friends were up to.
Yahiko was over where the food was being served at one of the tables,
busily stuffing himself to the point of exploding, Megumi and the girls
were following us, unaware that we knew what they were doing, and after a
while, they gave up and went to where people were dancing, and Sanosuke
was about his usual routine he followed at parties, which was flirting
with as many girls as he could. I felt kind of sorry for him since he
never picked up very many. And after that, we all got together and danced
for a bit. I figured Kenshin didn't dance very much because he kept
stepping on my foot, not that it really bothered me. He started getting
the hang of it but he stepped on my foot again and this time he faltered
and fell. I tried to help him by extending my hand to him, which he
accepted. But instead of me pulling him up, he pulled me down, both of us
crashing to the hard floor. Other than that little misfortune, tonight
was fun. After dancing for half an hour, I left the party to get some
fresh air. It was fun dancing and hanging out with everyone, but it was
tiring too and I needed a break. Kenshin had followed me out and we were
now just standing side by side on the patio, staring at the dark blue
sky, dotted with bright yellow stars and a creamy white moon that was
half full. **Man.** I thought. **This has to be the most slow-paced
relationship in history!** I sighed and looked at him.

"It's nice out isn't it?" I said looking back towards the sky. Kenshin
nodded and looked at me, causing me to draw my gaze back to him. "Yeah,
it is." I squeezed my hands together uneasily. We were alone and I wanted
so badly to tell him my feelings right that moment but couldn't seem to
say a word. I was still afraid that he would turn me down and I would be
rejected. I really didn't think I would be able to handle it, and that I
would slowly be eaten away on the inside by regret and pain. But I
suddenly remembered what he told me, what I had been thinking about that
night I had forgotten to set my alarm clock. I remembered those words as
if I had just heard them. "That which does not kill you makes you
stronger." I had to tell him, no matter how scared I was. I knew another
chance like this wouldn't be easy to come by. At that, I spoke.

"Uh, Kenshin, I um, have something I want to tell you." He turned around,
locking my sea blue eyes with his amethyst ones. "Yes?" he answered
giving me that smile he always did. I thought I would faint. **Okay,
don't melt Kamiya, don't melt.** I kept telling myself as I prepared to
speak once more.

"I.I.I just wanted to tell you that I.uh, that I-" I was blushing bad and
sweating now.

"I love you too Kaoru," he interrupted teasingly, saving me from saying
those words and gently encircling me in a warm embrace. "Kenshin!" I
screamed, shocked, surprised, and embarrassed. And yet, I felt slightly
relieved. "Sorry, I couldn't help it," he explained pulling me closer. I
didn't move or resist. Actually, I was too surprised to do anything.

"Did you know about my feelings all along?" I asked curiously. He rested
his head on mine. "No, not until now, when we spent this night together.
I too was afraid that I would be rejected if I told you how I felt, but
that look on your face when you were trying to tell me how you felt said
it all. If it weren't for you being brave enough to do so, I probably
would've never told you myself," he told me. I felt my legs wobble.
**Don't faint, don't faint, don't faint, don't faint, don't faint!** I
stopped my self by laughing softly.

"I really was going to say it you know."

"Then say it Kaoru," he replied. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out,
nothing. Somehow, I couldn't say those words. Now he was the one
laughing. "Thought so," he giggled. I started laughing again.

"You're so bad," I laughed, pulling away. He grinned mischievously. "Oh
yeah, I'll show you bad." And with that, he pulled me back and started
tickling me. "Ahhhhhh!!!" I shrieked, laughing and trying to escape. But
Kenshin was pretty strong and trying break his hold wasn't going to be
easy. As hard as I tried to fight him off, he kept it up, our laughter
filling the air. I wasn't sure how long I could take this before I
suffocated. This caught Megumi's attention and she was well on her way to
see what was going on.

"Come on Kenshin, stop it!!! I get the message already!!!" I shrieked
again, freeing one of my arms and trying to pull away again. But Kenshin
caught on to that fast. "I don't think so Kaoru," he said, grabbing me by
my waist and hugging me to him again. We were both a bit exhausted from
laughing so hard. This time, I obliged by leaning against him.

"Finally, I needed to breathe back there," I sighed, still breathing
hard. Kenshin was breathing hard as well. "Breath while you can, before I
start tickling you again," he snickered. I glared at him playfully.
"Don't you dare." He smiled, tightening his hold letting his head rest on
my shoulder. "Don't worry, I was just kidding." We stayed like that for a
long time, until.

"Oh my god, look at them!!!" With jerked up and looked to see Megumi
covering her mouth and pointing at us and Yahiko and Sano whose mouths
were wide open stared. Neither of us moved, I didn't pull away, and
Kenshin never loosened his hold in me. We just stared at them.

"So you guys decided to settle things alone did you?" Sano teased. We
blushed. "You guys look so adorable! It's a shame that my camera is
full," Megumi sighed. We blushed harder. "Gross, I can't look at this
anymore," Yahiko said, heading back to the cafeteria. Kenshin went on
blushing but I glared daggers at him. Then Megumi got a bright idea.
Well, to her it was a bright idea but to us it was a really bad one.

"Hey Sano, let's go back to the party and tell all our friends that
Kenshin and Kaoru finally got together!" Sano nodded in approval and they
were soon sprinting back to the party

"What do you think we should do?" I asked. He just smiled and pulled me
as close as he could to him and kissed me softly on the lips for what
seemed like a long time leaving me red as a tomato. But it felt really
good.

"Let's just go along with it. After all, it's true isn't?" I grinned.
"No." He looked at me in surprise and became confused as well as uneasy.
"What, but didn't you just, didn't we." he stuttered. I started laughing.
He stared at me bewildered.

"What is so-"

"I was just kidding!" I interrupted, still laughing. He sighed in relief
and smiled at me.

"Now look who's being bad," he said pulling away and laughing as well. We
both did till our sides ached.

"Still feel like joining the party?" I asked. Kenshin nodded. "Sounds
good to me." I gave him a sly grin.

"I'll race you to the cafeteria!" I exclaimed and bolted towards it. He
laughed and sprinted after me.

"You're on!"

The End

Ikutsu namida o nagashitara

every heart

Sunao ni nareru darou. Dare ni omoi tsutaetara

every heart

Kokoro mita saereru no darou.

Nagai nagai yoru ni obieteita, tooi hoshi ni inotteta.
Megeru megeru toki no naka de, bokutachi wa ai o sagashiteiru.
Tsuyoku tsuyoku naritai kara, kyou mo takaisora miageteriru.

Donna egao ni deatara

every heart

Yume wo fumidasereruyo. Hitowa kanashimi no mukou ni

every heart

shiawase ukabete nemuru.

Itsuka itsuka subete no tamashii ga yasurakani
Nareru youni. Megeru megeru toki no naka de boku tachi wa
Ikite nanika wo shiru. Toki ni warai shugoshi niate. Kyou mo
Mada aruki tsuzukete iku.

Osanai kioku ni kata sumi ni. Atatakai basho ga aru soushi.
Hoshi tachi ga hanasu mirai ga. Itsumo kagayaite ita.

so shine

Meguru meguru toki no naka de, bokitachi wa ai o sagasgiteiru.
Tsuyoku tsuyoku naritai kara, kyou mo takaisora miageteiru.

Meguru meguru toki no naka de, boku tachi wa ikete nanika
wo shiru. Toki ni warai shugoshi naite. Kyou mo mada aruki
tsuzukete iku.

___________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading!