Chapter 15
A.N - Okay. I'm going into a really heavy loaded workload next semester so it might be a while before I can really get updating! But anywho here's 15 for your enjoyment!
Standard disclaimers apply!
~*~*~
The night was a sticky and hot one; there was no relieving breeze or the slightest hint of rains. The mid day heat had lingered into the cool of the eve for you see Tokyo had found itself amongst a heat wave, and all seemed to suffer even when the sun had set.
Kaoru had become restless under the thin layer of cotton sheets. Everything clung to her and she felt itchy and sweaty everywhere.
'MOU!' She yelled in her head out of sheer frustration and exhaustion.
She finally pulled herself out of her bed finding the virgin white sheets were clinging to her desperately. It seemed to make her even angrier. She ripped them off and flung them to floor in a coil. Kaoru headed stomping lightly to the door and tried to grip the doorknob with her sweaty palm.
When she finally managed to get through the door she expected to be hit with a wave of cool, but it was just as muggy in the main room as it was in hers.
She sighed dejectedly. Was there no relief? She walked lethargically down the stairs and sat on the leather chair. Her damp skin stuck to the upholstery and made Kaoru grimace every time she moved.
Kaoru was so tired, the green numbers on the VCR indicated it was 12:00, but of course it wasn't set. Her eyes felt so heavy and began to droop uncontrollably; she was about to nod off when there was a snap!
Kaoru immediately came to consciousness. The snap had come from a door closing. In the darkness Kaoru could make out the silhouette of some one coming out of Misao and Kai's room. Judging by the height of the shadow it was Kai.
"Kai?" Kaoru asked out into the darkness. The shadow immediately jumped.
"OH Kaoru-chan! You scared me!" She whispered loudly, "What are you doing up so late?"
Kaoru sighed, "I couldn't sleep with this damned heat!"
"Kaoru-chan! Why didn't you come to Misao and Mine's room? We have the AC running full tilt. It's really cool in there, actually Megumi came in at around one o'clock to sleep. Whew it's bloody hot out here!" She said fanning herself.
Kaoru wanted to cry out in irritation. Kai merely smiled and patted her shoulder, giving words of encouragement,
"There, there Kaoru-chan. Lets get you to bed. You can have my bed, whadda ya say?"
"Kai, your so kind to me." She said leaning tiredly on Kai for support as both stumbled back to the coolest room in the loft.
~*~*~
The sun had risen in the cloudless sky for yet another scorcher of a day. All in the apartment 10A had been beyond relieved that the internal air system for the apartment had finally been fixed.
Everybody seemed so sluggish this morning. Kai sat solemnly dipping her fingers in a saucer of ice water, occasionally splashing it on her face. Megumi stood beside the fridge with its door open, cooling her and Misao sat at the table with her head down on the cool table.
"Is anybody going to wake up Kaoru?" Megumi asked trying to end the endless silence inhabiting the apartment.
"Nah, she had a rough night. She didn't realize that Misao and I had set up our own air condition." Kai piped up.
"You two are strange. Really why would you install that thing in an apartment with central air?" Megumi inquired bending an eyebrow in curiosity to their quirkiness.
"Hey don't knock it! Where was the central air last night? If it wasn't for that I doubt any of us would be our normal selves!" Misao defended. Megumi smiled and laughed.
"Now, now Misao-chan don't get your panties in a bunch.Ohohoho!" This only enraged Misao further. Misao was about to bite back with a ripping comment when something wet and cool splattered on her face. It was Kai flicking water onto her.
"You need to cool down." Kai giggled. To this Misao smiled evilly. Kai too late knew her fate was sealed. SPLOOSH ! The whole saucer of ice water was on Kai's head. Misao would have keeled over with laughter if it wasn't for the fact that Megumi had just snuck up behind her and slipped an ice cube down her shirt.
It was quite a sight indeed of seeing Misao wiggle and whirl trying to get the damn ice cube out while Megumi and Kai were crying with laughter.
"Oh I'll get you for this!" Misao growled between her teeth. Quick as lightening was Misao's revenge for in a flash the extendable sink tap was in her hands and dousing Megumi with freezing water. But then Misao went too far and decided to spray Kai. Which was well worth it. Misao was buckling over in hysterics and before she saw it coming both Megumi and Kai had jumped her, prying the hose from her hands and spraying it into her shorts.
It was a mixture of screams and laughter as the girls wrestled on the ground. They were having so much fun that they didn't even notice when someone entered through their front door.
The thing that did catch their attention though was the loud THUD that echoed through the apartment.
~*~*~
Shinomori Aoshi was not the best morning person in the world, especially on Mondays during one of the hottest heat waves in Tokyo history (or so it seemed).
Not only was it a Monday morning, not only was it debilitating humid outside, but he was also out of green tea. And even worse was that last night Himura had called and told him that his car had broken down and that he needed a ride! Not only that, but Aoshi had already arranged to drive Seta Soujirou into work since his eccentric roomy Kamatari had stolen his car for a weekend get away.
It was painfully clear that Shinomori Aoshi did not like people in his car and it was painfully clear that on this morning he was going to be even more anal about it.
Aoshi was obviously a man of routine and schedule; he woke precisely at 6 am, took a fifteen-minute shower, dressed and groomed, drank his tea and had his breakfast and was out the door by 7 am. He would arrive at the office at 7:30 and if traffic was bad it was 7:45. It was like that every morning and had become an integrated part of his life. If you throw off the schedule, you throw off Shinomori Aoshi and you do not want to throw off Shinomori Aoshi.
So far Aoshi was on schedule, but a little grumpy without his tea. He arrived at Seta Soujirou's apartment at exactly 7:15. All was well; he got out of his car reluctantly into the brisling warmth and buzzed Seta.
"Be down in a minute." Crackled in response. Before Aoshi could lift his finger off the speaker button Seta Soujirou was standing beside him with the usual grin pasted on his face. He had to hand it to the kid, he was fast.
So far so good, now just to pick up Himura. Aoshi tried to remember what Kenshin was like in the morning, but couldn't recall ever having to pick him up in the morning anytime before this date. On average Kenshin was on time and organized, so he shouldn't be late right?
Wrong.
Aoshi walked into the apartment and asked the concierge to call apartment 10B. No one answered. Aoshi could feel his lateness looming over his head. Five minutes passed and Soujirou had joined him out curiosity or impatience, Aoshi couldn't tell. 10 minutes had passed and the concierge tried again. Fifteen. Aoshi was tempted to leave, but Soujirou asked the concierge if they could go to the apartment and check. Surprisingly the doorman agreed, saying that the apartment building was having some technical problems due to the heat. So up the two went.
Aoshi knocked on the door and waited. No answer. Soujirou just shrugged. Aoshi knocked a little louder. No answer. Shinomori Aoshi was now officialy late. Aoshi began to bang on the door.
At long last the door opened. There standing in the door way was a very disheveled Himura Kenshin. His hair was a complete mess and he only stood in his boxers. After rubbing the sleep out his eyes, the purple pupils widened in horror,
"GOMEN NE! Sessha over slept! Come in! I'm soooo sorry! I couldn't sleep last night, the central air conditioner in the building broke down and -" Kenshin blundered around the large living room trying to get his suit on, hopping around with his pants around his ankles and tie around his head. Aoshi would have found this humorous and even smirked at the display except for the fact that he was now for the first time ever, late. Soujirou just stood smiling, as usual.
"Okay I think I'm ready to go!" Kenshin said huffing a bit while working is fingers through his tangles.
"Good" Is all Aoshi said in reply. They began to walk down the hall when Kenshin exclaimed,
"Misao-dono!" This peeked Aoshi's interest, 'What about Misao?'
"What about Misao-san?" Soujirou asked before Aoshi could.
"I drive her to work!" He said turning around and speed walking down the hall. Aoshi was now very exasperated. Now he had to pick someone else up!? He didn't even know where Misao lived! But much to his surprise Himura went to the door across his and began to knock.
'Misao lives next door to Himura?' Aoshi was very surprised indeed, but did not show it. He walked towards the apartment 10A followed by Soujirou.
Kenshin knocked again. No answer. This was beginning to become repetitive. But there was definitely somebody at home; all three men could here the giggles and screams of people.
Himura knocked again. They waited.
"What are you guys doing?" Came from behind them. It was none other than the chicken headed Sagara Sanosuke.
"We are trying to pick up Misao-san for work, but nobody will answer the door." Soujirou retorted. Sano developed an irritated look on his face.
"For god's sake! Just go in they don't lock the door anyway." Before anybody could stop him, Sano barged in, but after a few strides stopped dead.
Kenshin, Soujirou and Aoshi stepped into see what was wrong and saw a sight none of them would soon forget. There in the middle of the kitchen on the floor where three sopping wet women in pajamas and shorts wrestling.
All four males gaped at what they were beholding. Then there was a thud. The three girls became alert at the sound. Seta Soujirou had fainted.
"I GOTTA GO GET MY CAMERA!" Sano screamed in joy bolting out of the room.
The three girls untangled themselves revealing their identities as Takani Megumi in the PJs, Ryusaki Kai in the shorts and the tank top and much to Aoshi's horror (and delight) Makimachi Misao in the now invisible white blouse. Aoshi could of sworn Kenshin looked disappointed. But, hey at least for Shinomori Aoshi it seemed like the morning was definitely shaping up.
Everyone was peering at the incapacitated Seta Soujirou when someone cut in.
"What's going on in here?" Asked a new groggy voice asked. All eyes went to semi-awake Kamiya Kaoru standing in the living room rubbing her eyes. She was only wearing a black tank top and a pair of white panties for all to see.
There was another loud THUD.
Himura Kenshin had fainted.
~*~*~
"This would be really really funny if it just wasn't so sad." *Click* Sano snapped a shot of a swirly eyed Kenshin's head sitting in a concerned Kaoru's lap who now actually had pants on.
"Shut up Sano" She hissed softly, not disturb the poor red haired man.
Sano moved towards the couch where Megumi tended to the rather large lump on Soujirou's head as Kai poked at him in amusement.
*Click*
"Chicken Head would you stop that! You'll probably post them on the internet knowing your hentai ways!" Megumi frowned trying to block the invading flashes.
"Oh don't worry fox lady these are for my own private collection." He shot back with a wink and a *Click*.
Next thing Sano knew was his head was throbbing in pain and he was sprawled out on the ground. Megumi checked to make sure none of her nails had broken.
"Oow" Sano whined cradling his injured cranium.
Kai giggled,
"That what he gets for being perverted." Then a maniacal grin lit her face, this was a very rare thing to see especially when Kai was in the company of others, Misao and Aoshi after spending time with her knew it was not a good sign.
"Kaaaaaiiiii, what is your evil little mind plotting?" Misao asked hestitantly.
"I have an idea how to wake these three up. Of course we'll have to chip in, even you Shinomori." Who surprisingly nodded, hey! They made him late for the first time in 3 and a half years.
"So what's the plan?" Megumi inquired inheriting Kai's evil grin.
~*~*~
Sano's head ached as his eyes slowly opened, when they came back into focus he observed something very strange. He saw the world side ways and it was bouncing up and down.
He looked up to see Kai and Megumi hauling him by his feet and his arms.
"He's coming too," Megumi whispered quickly.
"Well we better hurry up." Kai shot back. There was more jostling.
Sano still half dazed heard a loud sploosh! and a loud gurgling "oro" and then some laughing.
'What the hell was going on?' He wondered with a hint of panic. Then a rather horrifying scene came into view. There was Kenshin sputtering and flailing in the pool's cool blue waters, and even worse was the vision of Misao and Kaoru swinging Soujirou's small body by the ankles and wrists on the count of,
"1.2." and on "3" Seta found himself joining Kenshin. Sano knew that this would be his fate as well.
He could now see the edge of the water.
'If I'm going down I'm taking someone with me.' He thought bitterly as began their count. If this was to work he would have to time it just right.
"2.3!" He felt Megumi's hands release his wrists and quickly he grabbed hers. He watched in amusement as her eyes widened in horror for she knew she was now destined for the pool and there was nothing she could do. Her mouth open as if to scream but before he could hear her shrill shriek his ears were full of water.
He returned to the surface gasping for air. Megumi did the same only splashing ungracefully in shock.
"CHICKEN HEAD! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!" She shrieked trying to drown him with her hands.
"Hey Fox lady now you look more like a drowned rat than a fox!" He gurgled at her when surfacing for air.
"Why you!!!!!!" Megumi continued on her tirade.
Meanwhile as everyone was crying in amusement (Except Aoshi) Kenshin doggy paddled toward the edge where Kaoru stood smacking her thigh in laughter.
"Kaoru-dono would be so kind as to help sessha out of the pool?" He asked in his sickeningly polite tone. Kaoru frowned. Kenshin shouldn't belittle himself so.
"Uh sure Kenshin" She reached out her hand out towards Kenshin's. She felt a jolt of electricity spike up her spine as he grabbed her hand. Then something very strange happened, Kenshin's warm purple eyes flickered to blazing amber! His grip tightened and he pulled on her arm with some invisible strength that Kaoru was still surprised by. There was a hard yank and Kaoru found herself plunged into the Chlorine filled water.
"KENSHIN!" She screamed after spitting the water out of her mouth. Kenshin was surprisingly half way across the pool and about to get out!
'Your not getting away after what you did!' She growled in her head. In a flash she was grabbing Kenshin's collar, yanking him back into the pool and beating him with a foam pool noodle for lack of a shinai.
"ORO!"
~*~*~
Misao was laughing so hard she thought she was going to pee her pants. She never thought Kenshin was so daring as too ensue Kaoru's wrath, but nobody ever said her boss was a bright man.
It was a cute picture, there was swirly-eyed Kenshin being beaten into submission by an enraged Tanuki and jetting around the pool in circles was a panicked Chicken being chased by a vengeful fox. Then something caught Misao's eye, Kai squatting by the edge of the pool talking to Soujirou while watching this scene, completely unawares of the exposure she was leaving herself too.
As quiet as a weasel invading into a chicken coop, Misao tip toed behind an unsuspecting Kai, flattened her palms forward, pull her arms back and like a coiled spring released pushing on Kai's back, ultimately propelling Kai into the water. Unfortunately Kai landed right on Soujirou, in a rather intimate position. Her chest had found there way right into Soujirou's face.
There was a loud scream and a splush! And Soujirou floated to the surface even more swirly-eyed than Kenshin! Misao began to howl with laughter, as Kai cradled Soujirou tapping his face with hand saying,
"Soujirou-san, Soujirou-san. Oh please wake up!" Just as Soujirou began to come to, she said, "Please wake up! I don't want to have to give you mouth resuscitation!" The mere thought of that made Soujirou black out again and sent Misao rolling on the pavement.
Misao stood at the edge of pool laughing.
"Oh man that was classic! You didn't even see it coming-" Before Misao could finish she felt a hard thrust on her back making her lose her balance and fell forward into water!
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" She squealed as she came for air.
"It appears that you lost your balance Misao." A deep voice said above her. It was Aoshi-sama standing in his pristine suit on the pavement without a drop of water on him.
"AOSHI-SAMA! YOU PUSHED ME IN!" She shrieked in indignation. Aoshi was unfazed.
"And what evidence would lead you to that conclusion?"
"THE FACT YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE NOT IN THIS POOL!"
"You were quite close to the edge, maybe you lost your balance from laughing so hard and fell in." Misao's mouth gaped open as he turned on his heel and headed towards the Apartment.
"AOSHI-SAMA!" Misao yelled shrilly jumping out of the pool. He didn't not respond. 'Ooooooooo' She growled infuriated at being ignored. She'd show him! She jetted after him, grabbed him around his waist in a lame attempt to tackle him. Unfortunately this did not have the desired effect. When Misao released him there was a huge wet spot on his beautiful and no doubt expensive suit. She gasped and covered her mouth with her pruney hands. Aoshi looked down and wringed out the water from his jacket. Misao was in for it now
"Oops"
Everything was silent now, even the birds seemed to stop chirping. All eyes on the two, eager to see how Aoshi was going to react. But Aoshi only turned curtly and began to walk away.
'Oh just great job Misao!' There was no worse punishment than Aoshi's disregard. Misao squinted her eyes shut to keep the tears from forming. But her eyes refused to remain closed when the feeling of warm fuzzy cotton wrapping around wet form. There standing in front of her was Aoshi's expressionless face as he pulled the towel around her. Misao was shocked to say the least. But even more shocking was when he leaned in close to her face, making it burn red and put his head beside her ear and said oh so softly,
"Misao don't you remember what I taught you about tackling?" Misao's eyes widened as the lesson returned to her, he continued "Always go for the legs" and with that he released her and walked inside.
~*~*~
"So, I found out that it's Sano's birthday in a couple days." Kai said as she toweled dried her hair.
"Oh yeah?" Kaoru said after pulling her head through her t-shirt.
"So how old is the Rooster going to be?" Inquired Misao sitting on the couch, still engulfed by the beach towel.
"I dunno, but we should do something special, he's our boss and not to mention our friend and neighbour." Kai said with a very diplomatic air.
"So what do you suppose we do?" Kaoru inquired raking her fingers through the tangles.
"I have an idea. I think a period piece would be fun!" Kai clapped with glee.
"A period piece?" Megumi arched her eyebrow at the idea.
"Like music from the sixties or something?" Piped in Misao. Kai smiled,
"Not quite. I was thinking something from thirties, forties. Actually I have one in mind, it's from a movie called "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"! It's a song by Jessica Rabbit."
"Jessica Rabbit?" All speculated. But before any of them could get a straight answer Kai had zipped in out of her the bedroom with a videotape in hand.
"When I was a little girl I went to the states for a while and I saw this movie and got hooked!" She said eyes twinkling with nostalgia. She popped the tape into the machine and Megumi, Misao and Kaoru huddled around her in curiosity. It cut into a male actor sitting in a decadent lounge bar and there were some hoots and hollers of men. The music began and a foot stepped out, clearly animated. Out stepped the cartoon singer with a red sequin strapless dress with purple gloves, pouty red lips and red hair covering half of her face and a bosom that could poke some one's eyes out. The girls were almost hypnotized by this drawn character's sexual mystique as she sang those haunting words as cool as a cucumber. Kai stopped the tape.
"So what I was thinking was we could get a piano and a bass fiddle wear some pin stripe suits and have Kaoru sing it dressed like her!"
"NANI? NO WAY NO HOW!" Kaoru shrieked. Kai shrugged and turned towards Megumi.
"Don't you look at me! Why don't you do it?" Megumi shot accusingly. Kai looked unimpressed,
"Do you know anyone who can play a Bass Fiddle for the song, hmmmm?" Kai pressed, but turned her eye to Misao, who automatically put on a horrified face.
"Don't you dare ask me Kai! I haven't a tenth of the bod to fill that dress!" Kai sighed in defeat, but after a moment snapped her fingers with a quick smile and ran towards the kitchen. Some drawers were drawn and Kai came rushing back with a smile of pure confidence on her face.
"Okay if none of you girls want to be the singer we'll draw straws! Longest strong gets first choice, second longest get second choice and shortest gets the unwanted position!" She extended her hand towards the three, who all looked at each other hesitantly and plucked the straws out her hand. All three inspected their straws.
"Okay, lets see who got what." The all opened their palms towards her.
"Misao-chan your straw's longest you get first pick."
"Drums!" Misao blurted out in some instinctual fear that someone might steal her position.
"I thought you might pick that one. Okay Kaoru your next."
"Piano!"
All eyes turned to Megumi who sat staring at her straw. Kai put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, eyes reflecting amusement and pity
"Megumi looks like you are going have to serenade Sano-"
"Did somebody say my name?" Sano asked popping his head through the door. Megumi was still in too much shock to react.
"No." Misao, Kai and Kaoru chimmed.
"Okey dokey I guess I'll see you lovely ladies later!" He said with a wink and a smile, "Oi fox lady don't stare at the straw too hard or you may get wrinkles! Haha!" He laughed and left. Megumi looked up at the closing door and got up.
"Excuse me but I think I'll go and through up now." Megumi walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The three other girls just shrugged,
"She's way too over dramatic."
TBC
~*~*~
Has anybody seen the movie "Who framed roger rabbit?" I love that movie. And the song Jessica rabbit sings just seems so suiting if you heard it.
Okay has anybody noticed there isn't actually a lot of performing in this story? I get mad at myself for not putting in more but I gotta really build the relationships first! Plenty of KxK, SxM and AxM moments! Wasn't that moment between Aoshi and Misao with the towel so cute! I could just perfectly imagine it happening!
Ookey about Kai! You notice how she and Soujirou are getting kinda friendly well, that's just in Kai's character and Soujirou although he has a thing for her. Now I want reader advice of who I should pair Kai with because I haven't decided yet and I prefer to see what my readers could concoct because you guys have some great ideas!
I should have the next chap out sometime next week (that is if I don't get writer's block) because I have some time off! (Finally) So I'm going to work on it the best I can but no promises. Sigh and I fear I may be adding on to my workload, there is a story that I've thought that I can't get out! UGH! *pulls hair in frustration* Well I've babbled enough! So I'll conclude by saying:
Read and REVIEW it's good karma and inspiration!
Til' Next Time
A.N - Okay. I'm going into a really heavy loaded workload next semester so it might be a while before I can really get updating! But anywho here's 15 for your enjoyment!
Standard disclaimers apply!
~*~*~
The night was a sticky and hot one; there was no relieving breeze or the slightest hint of rains. The mid day heat had lingered into the cool of the eve for you see Tokyo had found itself amongst a heat wave, and all seemed to suffer even when the sun had set.
Kaoru had become restless under the thin layer of cotton sheets. Everything clung to her and she felt itchy and sweaty everywhere.
'MOU!' She yelled in her head out of sheer frustration and exhaustion.
She finally pulled herself out of her bed finding the virgin white sheets were clinging to her desperately. It seemed to make her even angrier. She ripped them off and flung them to floor in a coil. Kaoru headed stomping lightly to the door and tried to grip the doorknob with her sweaty palm.
When she finally managed to get through the door she expected to be hit with a wave of cool, but it was just as muggy in the main room as it was in hers.
She sighed dejectedly. Was there no relief? She walked lethargically down the stairs and sat on the leather chair. Her damp skin stuck to the upholstery and made Kaoru grimace every time she moved.
Kaoru was so tired, the green numbers on the VCR indicated it was 12:00, but of course it wasn't set. Her eyes felt so heavy and began to droop uncontrollably; she was about to nod off when there was a snap!
Kaoru immediately came to consciousness. The snap had come from a door closing. In the darkness Kaoru could make out the silhouette of some one coming out of Misao and Kai's room. Judging by the height of the shadow it was Kai.
"Kai?" Kaoru asked out into the darkness. The shadow immediately jumped.
"OH Kaoru-chan! You scared me!" She whispered loudly, "What are you doing up so late?"
Kaoru sighed, "I couldn't sleep with this damned heat!"
"Kaoru-chan! Why didn't you come to Misao and Mine's room? We have the AC running full tilt. It's really cool in there, actually Megumi came in at around one o'clock to sleep. Whew it's bloody hot out here!" She said fanning herself.
Kaoru wanted to cry out in irritation. Kai merely smiled and patted her shoulder, giving words of encouragement,
"There, there Kaoru-chan. Lets get you to bed. You can have my bed, whadda ya say?"
"Kai, your so kind to me." She said leaning tiredly on Kai for support as both stumbled back to the coolest room in the loft.
~*~*~
The sun had risen in the cloudless sky for yet another scorcher of a day. All in the apartment 10A had been beyond relieved that the internal air system for the apartment had finally been fixed.
Everybody seemed so sluggish this morning. Kai sat solemnly dipping her fingers in a saucer of ice water, occasionally splashing it on her face. Megumi stood beside the fridge with its door open, cooling her and Misao sat at the table with her head down on the cool table.
"Is anybody going to wake up Kaoru?" Megumi asked trying to end the endless silence inhabiting the apartment.
"Nah, she had a rough night. She didn't realize that Misao and I had set up our own air condition." Kai piped up.
"You two are strange. Really why would you install that thing in an apartment with central air?" Megumi inquired bending an eyebrow in curiosity to their quirkiness.
"Hey don't knock it! Where was the central air last night? If it wasn't for that I doubt any of us would be our normal selves!" Misao defended. Megumi smiled and laughed.
"Now, now Misao-chan don't get your panties in a bunch.Ohohoho!" This only enraged Misao further. Misao was about to bite back with a ripping comment when something wet and cool splattered on her face. It was Kai flicking water onto her.
"You need to cool down." Kai giggled. To this Misao smiled evilly. Kai too late knew her fate was sealed. SPLOOSH ! The whole saucer of ice water was on Kai's head. Misao would have keeled over with laughter if it wasn't for the fact that Megumi had just snuck up behind her and slipped an ice cube down her shirt.
It was quite a sight indeed of seeing Misao wiggle and whirl trying to get the damn ice cube out while Megumi and Kai were crying with laughter.
"Oh I'll get you for this!" Misao growled between her teeth. Quick as lightening was Misao's revenge for in a flash the extendable sink tap was in her hands and dousing Megumi with freezing water. But then Misao went too far and decided to spray Kai. Which was well worth it. Misao was buckling over in hysterics and before she saw it coming both Megumi and Kai had jumped her, prying the hose from her hands and spraying it into her shorts.
It was a mixture of screams and laughter as the girls wrestled on the ground. They were having so much fun that they didn't even notice when someone entered through their front door.
The thing that did catch their attention though was the loud THUD that echoed through the apartment.
~*~*~
Shinomori Aoshi was not the best morning person in the world, especially on Mondays during one of the hottest heat waves in Tokyo history (or so it seemed).
Not only was it a Monday morning, not only was it debilitating humid outside, but he was also out of green tea. And even worse was that last night Himura had called and told him that his car had broken down and that he needed a ride! Not only that, but Aoshi had already arranged to drive Seta Soujirou into work since his eccentric roomy Kamatari had stolen his car for a weekend get away.
It was painfully clear that Shinomori Aoshi did not like people in his car and it was painfully clear that on this morning he was going to be even more anal about it.
Aoshi was obviously a man of routine and schedule; he woke precisely at 6 am, took a fifteen-minute shower, dressed and groomed, drank his tea and had his breakfast and was out the door by 7 am. He would arrive at the office at 7:30 and if traffic was bad it was 7:45. It was like that every morning and had become an integrated part of his life. If you throw off the schedule, you throw off Shinomori Aoshi and you do not want to throw off Shinomori Aoshi.
So far Aoshi was on schedule, but a little grumpy without his tea. He arrived at Seta Soujirou's apartment at exactly 7:15. All was well; he got out of his car reluctantly into the brisling warmth and buzzed Seta.
"Be down in a minute." Crackled in response. Before Aoshi could lift his finger off the speaker button Seta Soujirou was standing beside him with the usual grin pasted on his face. He had to hand it to the kid, he was fast.
So far so good, now just to pick up Himura. Aoshi tried to remember what Kenshin was like in the morning, but couldn't recall ever having to pick him up in the morning anytime before this date. On average Kenshin was on time and organized, so he shouldn't be late right?
Wrong.
Aoshi walked into the apartment and asked the concierge to call apartment 10B. No one answered. Aoshi could feel his lateness looming over his head. Five minutes passed and Soujirou had joined him out curiosity or impatience, Aoshi couldn't tell. 10 minutes had passed and the concierge tried again. Fifteen. Aoshi was tempted to leave, but Soujirou asked the concierge if they could go to the apartment and check. Surprisingly the doorman agreed, saying that the apartment building was having some technical problems due to the heat. So up the two went.
Aoshi knocked on the door and waited. No answer. Soujirou just shrugged. Aoshi knocked a little louder. No answer. Shinomori Aoshi was now officialy late. Aoshi began to bang on the door.
At long last the door opened. There standing in the door way was a very disheveled Himura Kenshin. His hair was a complete mess and he only stood in his boxers. After rubbing the sleep out his eyes, the purple pupils widened in horror,
"GOMEN NE! Sessha over slept! Come in! I'm soooo sorry! I couldn't sleep last night, the central air conditioner in the building broke down and -" Kenshin blundered around the large living room trying to get his suit on, hopping around with his pants around his ankles and tie around his head. Aoshi would have found this humorous and even smirked at the display except for the fact that he was now for the first time ever, late. Soujirou just stood smiling, as usual.
"Okay I think I'm ready to go!" Kenshin said huffing a bit while working is fingers through his tangles.
"Good" Is all Aoshi said in reply. They began to walk down the hall when Kenshin exclaimed,
"Misao-dono!" This peeked Aoshi's interest, 'What about Misao?'
"What about Misao-san?" Soujirou asked before Aoshi could.
"I drive her to work!" He said turning around and speed walking down the hall. Aoshi was now very exasperated. Now he had to pick someone else up!? He didn't even know where Misao lived! But much to his surprise Himura went to the door across his and began to knock.
'Misao lives next door to Himura?' Aoshi was very surprised indeed, but did not show it. He walked towards the apartment 10A followed by Soujirou.
Kenshin knocked again. No answer. This was beginning to become repetitive. But there was definitely somebody at home; all three men could here the giggles and screams of people.
Himura knocked again. They waited.
"What are you guys doing?" Came from behind them. It was none other than the chicken headed Sagara Sanosuke.
"We are trying to pick up Misao-san for work, but nobody will answer the door." Soujirou retorted. Sano developed an irritated look on his face.
"For god's sake! Just go in they don't lock the door anyway." Before anybody could stop him, Sano barged in, but after a few strides stopped dead.
Kenshin, Soujirou and Aoshi stepped into see what was wrong and saw a sight none of them would soon forget. There in the middle of the kitchen on the floor where three sopping wet women in pajamas and shorts wrestling.
All four males gaped at what they were beholding. Then there was a thud. The three girls became alert at the sound. Seta Soujirou had fainted.
"I GOTTA GO GET MY CAMERA!" Sano screamed in joy bolting out of the room.
The three girls untangled themselves revealing their identities as Takani Megumi in the PJs, Ryusaki Kai in the shorts and the tank top and much to Aoshi's horror (and delight) Makimachi Misao in the now invisible white blouse. Aoshi could of sworn Kenshin looked disappointed. But, hey at least for Shinomori Aoshi it seemed like the morning was definitely shaping up.
Everyone was peering at the incapacitated Seta Soujirou when someone cut in.
"What's going on in here?" Asked a new groggy voice asked. All eyes went to semi-awake Kamiya Kaoru standing in the living room rubbing her eyes. She was only wearing a black tank top and a pair of white panties for all to see.
There was another loud THUD.
Himura Kenshin had fainted.
~*~*~
"This would be really really funny if it just wasn't so sad." *Click* Sano snapped a shot of a swirly eyed Kenshin's head sitting in a concerned Kaoru's lap who now actually had pants on.
"Shut up Sano" She hissed softly, not disturb the poor red haired man.
Sano moved towards the couch where Megumi tended to the rather large lump on Soujirou's head as Kai poked at him in amusement.
*Click*
"Chicken Head would you stop that! You'll probably post them on the internet knowing your hentai ways!" Megumi frowned trying to block the invading flashes.
"Oh don't worry fox lady these are for my own private collection." He shot back with a wink and a *Click*.
Next thing Sano knew was his head was throbbing in pain and he was sprawled out on the ground. Megumi checked to make sure none of her nails had broken.
"Oow" Sano whined cradling his injured cranium.
Kai giggled,
"That what he gets for being perverted." Then a maniacal grin lit her face, this was a very rare thing to see especially when Kai was in the company of others, Misao and Aoshi after spending time with her knew it was not a good sign.
"Kaaaaaiiiii, what is your evil little mind plotting?" Misao asked hestitantly.
"I have an idea how to wake these three up. Of course we'll have to chip in, even you Shinomori." Who surprisingly nodded, hey! They made him late for the first time in 3 and a half years.
"So what's the plan?" Megumi inquired inheriting Kai's evil grin.
~*~*~
Sano's head ached as his eyes slowly opened, when they came back into focus he observed something very strange. He saw the world side ways and it was bouncing up and down.
He looked up to see Kai and Megumi hauling him by his feet and his arms.
"He's coming too," Megumi whispered quickly.
"Well we better hurry up." Kai shot back. There was more jostling.
Sano still half dazed heard a loud sploosh! and a loud gurgling "oro" and then some laughing.
'What the hell was going on?' He wondered with a hint of panic. Then a rather horrifying scene came into view. There was Kenshin sputtering and flailing in the pool's cool blue waters, and even worse was the vision of Misao and Kaoru swinging Soujirou's small body by the ankles and wrists on the count of,
"1.2." and on "3" Seta found himself joining Kenshin. Sano knew that this would be his fate as well.
He could now see the edge of the water.
'If I'm going down I'm taking someone with me.' He thought bitterly as began their count. If this was to work he would have to time it just right.
"2.3!" He felt Megumi's hands release his wrists and quickly he grabbed hers. He watched in amusement as her eyes widened in horror for she knew she was now destined for the pool and there was nothing she could do. Her mouth open as if to scream but before he could hear her shrill shriek his ears were full of water.
He returned to the surface gasping for air. Megumi did the same only splashing ungracefully in shock.
"CHICKEN HEAD! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!" She shrieked trying to drown him with her hands.
"Hey Fox lady now you look more like a drowned rat than a fox!" He gurgled at her when surfacing for air.
"Why you!!!!!!" Megumi continued on her tirade.
Meanwhile as everyone was crying in amusement (Except Aoshi) Kenshin doggy paddled toward the edge where Kaoru stood smacking her thigh in laughter.
"Kaoru-dono would be so kind as to help sessha out of the pool?" He asked in his sickeningly polite tone. Kaoru frowned. Kenshin shouldn't belittle himself so.
"Uh sure Kenshin" She reached out her hand out towards Kenshin's. She felt a jolt of electricity spike up her spine as he grabbed her hand. Then something very strange happened, Kenshin's warm purple eyes flickered to blazing amber! His grip tightened and he pulled on her arm with some invisible strength that Kaoru was still surprised by. There was a hard yank and Kaoru found herself plunged into the Chlorine filled water.
"KENSHIN!" She screamed after spitting the water out of her mouth. Kenshin was surprisingly half way across the pool and about to get out!
'Your not getting away after what you did!' She growled in her head. In a flash she was grabbing Kenshin's collar, yanking him back into the pool and beating him with a foam pool noodle for lack of a shinai.
"ORO!"
~*~*~
Misao was laughing so hard she thought she was going to pee her pants. She never thought Kenshin was so daring as too ensue Kaoru's wrath, but nobody ever said her boss was a bright man.
It was a cute picture, there was swirly-eyed Kenshin being beaten into submission by an enraged Tanuki and jetting around the pool in circles was a panicked Chicken being chased by a vengeful fox. Then something caught Misao's eye, Kai squatting by the edge of the pool talking to Soujirou while watching this scene, completely unawares of the exposure she was leaving herself too.
As quiet as a weasel invading into a chicken coop, Misao tip toed behind an unsuspecting Kai, flattened her palms forward, pull her arms back and like a coiled spring released pushing on Kai's back, ultimately propelling Kai into the water. Unfortunately Kai landed right on Soujirou, in a rather intimate position. Her chest had found there way right into Soujirou's face.
There was a loud scream and a splush! And Soujirou floated to the surface even more swirly-eyed than Kenshin! Misao began to howl with laughter, as Kai cradled Soujirou tapping his face with hand saying,
"Soujirou-san, Soujirou-san. Oh please wake up!" Just as Soujirou began to come to, she said, "Please wake up! I don't want to have to give you mouth resuscitation!" The mere thought of that made Soujirou black out again and sent Misao rolling on the pavement.
Misao stood at the edge of pool laughing.
"Oh man that was classic! You didn't even see it coming-" Before Misao could finish she felt a hard thrust on her back making her lose her balance and fell forward into water!
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" She squealed as she came for air.
"It appears that you lost your balance Misao." A deep voice said above her. It was Aoshi-sama standing in his pristine suit on the pavement without a drop of water on him.
"AOSHI-SAMA! YOU PUSHED ME IN!" She shrieked in indignation. Aoshi was unfazed.
"And what evidence would lead you to that conclusion?"
"THE FACT YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE NOT IN THIS POOL!"
"You were quite close to the edge, maybe you lost your balance from laughing so hard and fell in." Misao's mouth gaped open as he turned on his heel and headed towards the Apartment.
"AOSHI-SAMA!" Misao yelled shrilly jumping out of the pool. He didn't not respond. 'Ooooooooo' She growled infuriated at being ignored. She'd show him! She jetted after him, grabbed him around his waist in a lame attempt to tackle him. Unfortunately this did not have the desired effect. When Misao released him there was a huge wet spot on his beautiful and no doubt expensive suit. She gasped and covered her mouth with her pruney hands. Aoshi looked down and wringed out the water from his jacket. Misao was in for it now
"Oops"
Everything was silent now, even the birds seemed to stop chirping. All eyes on the two, eager to see how Aoshi was going to react. But Aoshi only turned curtly and began to walk away.
'Oh just great job Misao!' There was no worse punishment than Aoshi's disregard. Misao squinted her eyes shut to keep the tears from forming. But her eyes refused to remain closed when the feeling of warm fuzzy cotton wrapping around wet form. There standing in front of her was Aoshi's expressionless face as he pulled the towel around her. Misao was shocked to say the least. But even more shocking was when he leaned in close to her face, making it burn red and put his head beside her ear and said oh so softly,
"Misao don't you remember what I taught you about tackling?" Misao's eyes widened as the lesson returned to her, he continued "Always go for the legs" and with that he released her and walked inside.
~*~*~
"So, I found out that it's Sano's birthday in a couple days." Kai said as she toweled dried her hair.
"Oh yeah?" Kaoru said after pulling her head through her t-shirt.
"So how old is the Rooster going to be?" Inquired Misao sitting on the couch, still engulfed by the beach towel.
"I dunno, but we should do something special, he's our boss and not to mention our friend and neighbour." Kai said with a very diplomatic air.
"So what do you suppose we do?" Kaoru inquired raking her fingers through the tangles.
"I have an idea. I think a period piece would be fun!" Kai clapped with glee.
"A period piece?" Megumi arched her eyebrow at the idea.
"Like music from the sixties or something?" Piped in Misao. Kai smiled,
"Not quite. I was thinking something from thirties, forties. Actually I have one in mind, it's from a movie called "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"! It's a song by Jessica Rabbit."
"Jessica Rabbit?" All speculated. But before any of them could get a straight answer Kai had zipped in out of her the bedroom with a videotape in hand.
"When I was a little girl I went to the states for a while and I saw this movie and got hooked!" She said eyes twinkling with nostalgia. She popped the tape into the machine and Megumi, Misao and Kaoru huddled around her in curiosity. It cut into a male actor sitting in a decadent lounge bar and there were some hoots and hollers of men. The music began and a foot stepped out, clearly animated. Out stepped the cartoon singer with a red sequin strapless dress with purple gloves, pouty red lips and red hair covering half of her face and a bosom that could poke some one's eyes out. The girls were almost hypnotized by this drawn character's sexual mystique as she sang those haunting words as cool as a cucumber. Kai stopped the tape.
"So what I was thinking was we could get a piano and a bass fiddle wear some pin stripe suits and have Kaoru sing it dressed like her!"
"NANI? NO WAY NO HOW!" Kaoru shrieked. Kai shrugged and turned towards Megumi.
"Don't you look at me! Why don't you do it?" Megumi shot accusingly. Kai looked unimpressed,
"Do you know anyone who can play a Bass Fiddle for the song, hmmmm?" Kai pressed, but turned her eye to Misao, who automatically put on a horrified face.
"Don't you dare ask me Kai! I haven't a tenth of the bod to fill that dress!" Kai sighed in defeat, but after a moment snapped her fingers with a quick smile and ran towards the kitchen. Some drawers were drawn and Kai came rushing back with a smile of pure confidence on her face.
"Okay if none of you girls want to be the singer we'll draw straws! Longest strong gets first choice, second longest get second choice and shortest gets the unwanted position!" She extended her hand towards the three, who all looked at each other hesitantly and plucked the straws out her hand. All three inspected their straws.
"Okay, lets see who got what." The all opened their palms towards her.
"Misao-chan your straw's longest you get first pick."
"Drums!" Misao blurted out in some instinctual fear that someone might steal her position.
"I thought you might pick that one. Okay Kaoru your next."
"Piano!"
All eyes turned to Megumi who sat staring at her straw. Kai put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, eyes reflecting amusement and pity
"Megumi looks like you are going have to serenade Sano-"
"Did somebody say my name?" Sano asked popping his head through the door. Megumi was still in too much shock to react.
"No." Misao, Kai and Kaoru chimmed.
"Okey dokey I guess I'll see you lovely ladies later!" He said with a wink and a smile, "Oi fox lady don't stare at the straw too hard or you may get wrinkles! Haha!" He laughed and left. Megumi looked up at the closing door and got up.
"Excuse me but I think I'll go and through up now." Megumi walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The three other girls just shrugged,
"She's way too over dramatic."
TBC
~*~*~
Has anybody seen the movie "Who framed roger rabbit?" I love that movie. And the song Jessica rabbit sings just seems so suiting if you heard it.
Okay has anybody noticed there isn't actually a lot of performing in this story? I get mad at myself for not putting in more but I gotta really build the relationships first! Plenty of KxK, SxM and AxM moments! Wasn't that moment between Aoshi and Misao with the towel so cute! I could just perfectly imagine it happening!
Ookey about Kai! You notice how she and Soujirou are getting kinda friendly well, that's just in Kai's character and Soujirou although he has a thing for her. Now I want reader advice of who I should pair Kai with because I haven't decided yet and I prefer to see what my readers could concoct because you guys have some great ideas!
I should have the next chap out sometime next week (that is if I don't get writer's block) because I have some time off! (Finally) So I'm going to work on it the best I can but no promises. Sigh and I fear I may be adding on to my workload, there is a story that I've thought that I can't get out! UGH! *pulls hair in frustration* Well I've babbled enough! So I'll conclude by saying:
Read and REVIEW it's good karma and inspiration!
Til' Next Time