Disclaimer: Come on, peoples, this is the fifth chapter, do I STILL have to
do this?
* lawyers walk up behind her * Ulp... me no own you no sue! Oh yeah, new
addition to disclaimer: I don't own the song Uptown Girl. Billy Joel does.
And I am not his manager. Whoopee-doo.
Author's Notes: Okay. I KNOW this is incredibly late. And I KNOW you are all probably VERY angry with me. I have some explanations. 1: I was diagnosed with holiday trauma (not literally a disease, just STRESS). 2: I had a science project and a seven page math report due. 3: Mid-terms. And half-year course finals. Lots and lots and lots of them. 4: I play violin. Okay, well, I started taking lessons at the beginning of the school year. I've been very focused on learning to play well. 5: The end of the school marking period is always a rough time. 6: Grammar lessons... I will never look at a semicolon the same way again... And, finally, 7: Bad, BAD, B-A-D case of writer's block. I swear on my honor I will TRY and update quicker, now that most of the stuff just named has been taken care of. Well, now that you have read all the crud I had to say, please read the next chapter. And review, if you want.
Dedication: If you have ever helped me, or offered to help me, this is to you. You know who you are.
The Message to Her Heart - Chapter Five - The Uptown Girl and the Downtown
Man
Kenshin found himself lugging a duffel bag and a backpack containing everything he found necessary to keep away from Misao's storage room to Kaoru's house. Of course, she being the Good Samaritan she was walked his bike, but that made this a good old hike. And Kenshin hated walking very, very much. Okay, to the hot dog stall down the street was one thing, but all the way across the two halves of the city was another. His feet were killing him, and he could feel another hole forming in his sneaker.
"We're almost there Kenshin!"
"That is a good thing, that it is." he groaned back, starting to feel very puny from his lack of stamina and how Kaoru was fine.
'Then again, she wasn't pushing bike pedals and trying to keep the front wheel from popping up from extra weight for three hours.'
Kenshin saw the familiar house he recognized from yesterday, and sat down on the front stoop as soon as he could. Kaoru smiled and laughed a little.
"Kenshin, you have the wrong house, mine is the one NEXT to it!"
A woman came out of the house, with long black hair and cherry lipstick. Her eyes were deep brown, and she gave a flirty laugh as Kenshin oro'ed and backed away behind Kaoru.
"And who is this, Kaoru-CHAN?"
"Megumi, I'm not a kid anymore! You know, for a famous pediatrician, you really aren't a people person, despite the fact that you have the most possibly CRUMMIEST boyfriend with the CRUMMIEST job out there. This is Kenshin; he's going to be staying with me while his apartment is being fixed after a fire, so keep out!"
"Ah, know I recognize you, you're Sano-chan's friend. Why, hello, Ken-san. Would you like to stay with me instead of that sweaty little tanuki?"
"Oro!"
"I take that a yes."
"No, Megumi-dono, I think I would be more comfortable with Kaoru- dono, that I do."
Megumi glared at him, and stormed off into her house. Kenshin walked to the next house, and looked at Kaoru first to see if he had the right one. She nodded, holding in her giggles, and watched him plopped down on the stoop.
"I exhausted myself, that I did."
"Iie, your baggage that you refused to let me carry did. We better get in, the sun's almost down."
Kaoru unlocked the door to her house, and Kenshin looked inside. It contained a small living room, what looked like an extremely messy kitchen, and hallway that branched off into other rooms. There was a staircase, and Kaoru led Kenshin up. There were even more rooms linking off of this hallway.
"By the way, did you give Misao-chan your phone number?"
"Yep, why?"
"Expect a few calls from Sanosuke and all the other friends of mine she knows. I call her 'the wind'. She blows things around a lot."
Kaoru almost found herself uttering one of Kenshin's classic "oros". He grinned at her, and everything seemed to melt at that moment. Like the only thing that was important was his goofy smile. She felt the warm tingle in her cheeks and the corners of her lips being tugged into a grin of her own. Kaoru yawned just then, mentally kicking herself for soiling the moment.
"It has been quite an exciting day for you, indeed it has. I'll start to unpack; you should continue that nap, that you should."
"But-"
"No buts, Kaoru-dono, I can handle myself. Just point me to the room."
Kaoru pointed at one of the doors, and walked into the one next to it. Kenshin walked into the room, and was amazed by how nice it looked. The bed had light blue sheets with a dark blue quilt, and white pillows. The walls were light blue with a dark blue border, and a dresser sat opposing the bed. There was a window that led to a small balcony, and a door.
'It must be a closet...'
Kenshin opened the door in curiosity, and didn't like the sight before him. It was Kaoru, in her underwear, about to get into her pajamas.
"ORO! IswearIdidn'tknowtheroomswerelinked!" (I swear I didn't know the rooms were linked!)
"Kenshin, slow down! Okay, what's- oh crap!"
Kaoru quickly covered herself with her quilt, threw a shoe at him, slammed the door shut, and locked it. She climbed into her bed groaning about perverted red heads, and Kenshin decided to avoid her as much as he could for an hour after she woke up. Kenshin started unpacking, and only had to work for around five minutes until everything was in place. He walked onto the balcony, and watched the sun set. The buildings glowed orange with the reflection of the changing sky in the distance. Kenshin stayed on the balcony for hours, gazing above at the night sky and drawing patterns in the stars with his finger until he was so tired he could barely walk back into the house. He knew that the day had really worn Kaoru out, and she would probably just sleep through the night and wake up earlier than normal the next day. He figured waking her up now would be kind of pointless, and he would probably only get a whap up the head for intruding. Not to mention, he couldn't pick locks without making a racket.
As Kenshin slid into his pajamas, and climbed into the bed, burying his face in the feathery goodness of the pillows, he mentally confessed something.
'If I could... I think I would have just wanted to kiss her goodnight.'
--- Morning ---
Kenshin woke up to the familiar scent of waffles cooking down the stairs. He grinned; just like he had predicted, Kaoru was up before him. He quickly threw on a dark blue buttoned T-shirt with black jeans, and started to walk down the stairs. Halfway down the steps, he heard something that sounded like an atomic bomb exploding from the kitchen, and Kaoru swearing in four different languages. He flew down the rest of the stairs, and ran into the kitchen.
"Kaoru-dono, what's wr- ORO!!!"
Kenshin ran right into a gooey puddle of waffle batter, slipped, and slid right across the tiled kitchen floor, which was also paved with the gross tan-gold mixture. He accidentally hit Kaoru's feet, which caused her to slip and fall across his stomach. Kenshin continued sliding, and when he finally crashed into a wall, the force jolted Kaoru's head and face back and upwards, and her lips were smashed against his. She pulled back after a few seconds of realizing what was going on, and blushing, told her story.
"I was making... waffles... and... the iron... blew... up."
Kenshin grinned a little, his cheeks a bright red. He wiped a smear of the batter off Kaoru's cheek before helping her up and walking out of the room to get a mop from the closet. When he came back in, he saw Kaoru already starting to scrub the floor with a few rags and paper towels. Kenshin began to mop, but there was a knock at the door. If Kenshin knew any better, he would have guessed it was Kaoru's neighbor asking what the explosion was, but, it was none other than...
"Sano!? What are you doing here!?"
"And why are you covered in... vomit?"
"Waffle batter."
"I won't even ask. I'M here to take YOU to work. I think you should get some new clothes on though..."
"Let me guess: I have ANOTHER shift set up with shisho because..."
"If you were going to say Misao blabbed, yeah, it's true. Well, go get dressed; you know how your 'master' is when you're late for work."
Kenshin quickly ran out of the doorway, right past Kaoru, who quickly asked where he was going.
"Work. Misao got a new shift set up for me."
"Okay... here though."
Kaoru handed him a fruit bar, and Kenshin took it in his mouth as he ran up the stairs, changed into a double of the clothes he was recently wearing, and run back out the door, crashing right into his friend.
"Slow down there, buddy boy."
"Thank you for doing this, Sano."
"Oh, I'm only doing it because Misao begged, gave me the puppy eyes, and Katsu agreed with her."
"Oro..."
"Chill, pal, chill! I was kidding!"
Kenshin sighed, and climbed in the cab. He saw Kaoru looking at them from out the window, and he smiled, and waved goodbye. She returned with a weak smile, and waved her hand quickly before walking out of the window. The cab started moving, and Sanosuke started flipping through the radio stations.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, more crap, cr- Wait a second, this is good!"
Kenshin let out an oro as he realized that Billy Joel was playing on the radio.
"Sano, didn't you call this guy a prissy?" (no offense to Billy Joel fans, I am one myself)
"Yeah, I did, but you like him, right?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Well, gotta please the customer!"
^ Uptown girl
She's been living in her Uptown world
I bet she never had a backstreet guy
I bet her mama never told her why
I'm gonna try for
An Uptown girl
She's been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for a Downtown man
That's what I am ^
As the song continued, Sanosuke lowered the volume a little and started to chat with Kenshin.
"You know, Kenshin, this song reminds me of someone."
"Oro? Who, Sano?"
"You, ya idiot."
"ORO!!!"
"Aw, c'mon, don't tell me this song doesn't remind you of you and the little miss!"
"Oro... Sano, she doesn't WANT a Downtown man."
"And why the hell do ya think that!?"
"Well.......... Uhm..............."
"YA CAN'T FIGHT BACK! See! She loves ya!"
"I never said that, Sano."
"Who cares?"
"Oro........"
Kenshin continued listening to the song, and when it was over, Sano shut the radio off entirely.
"By the way, Kenshin, you know Katsu, right?"
"Indeed I do, Sano."
"Well, we both got a couple of errands to do out on the island."
"Oro? Manhattan Island?"
"LONG Island, ya idiot. We thought you and the little missy may have wanted to come with us, ya know, see the island, get a break from all the maniac road raged drivers, take a vacation from your job, get some quiet time to kiss the missy until she chokes..."
"ORO! Sano, how could you think I would DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?"
"Chill, Kenshin, you seriously need to chill."
"... Fine, I'll go on the trip."
"Okay, I'll tell Katsu later, meanwhile, I think you should beat it, because you're just about late for work."
Kenshin hadn't even noticed that Sano had already parked in front of Hiko's house, and he bolted out the door and into the one belonging to his shisho.
OWARI (for now)
Whoopee. Another chapter. Well, the next one shouldn't be as belated, because I have a good idea! At last! Okay, well, here's the translations:
-chan: 1: a term used for people younger that 15. 2: a term of endearment (used between close friends and family also) (in the case of a younger person saying it to an older person, it is an insult)
-san: Mr., Mrs., Ms. (in the case of Megumi calling Kenshin it that up there, it was "Sir Ken"... Don't ask, I'm not Japanese, I wouldn't know.)
tanuki: raccoon
oro: Kenshin's way of saying huh or what
-dono: basic translation is "Miss"
iie: no
shisho: master
owari: end
Author's Notes: Okay. I KNOW this is incredibly late. And I KNOW you are all probably VERY angry with me. I have some explanations. 1: I was diagnosed with holiday trauma (not literally a disease, just STRESS). 2: I had a science project and a seven page math report due. 3: Mid-terms. And half-year course finals. Lots and lots and lots of them. 4: I play violin. Okay, well, I started taking lessons at the beginning of the school year. I've been very focused on learning to play well. 5: The end of the school marking period is always a rough time. 6: Grammar lessons... I will never look at a semicolon the same way again... And, finally, 7: Bad, BAD, B-A-D case of writer's block. I swear on my honor I will TRY and update quicker, now that most of the stuff just named has been taken care of. Well, now that you have read all the crud I had to say, please read the next chapter. And review, if you want.
Dedication: If you have ever helped me, or offered to help me, this is to you. You know who you are.
The Message to Her Heart - Chapter Five - The Uptown Girl and the Downtown
Man
Kenshin found himself lugging a duffel bag and a backpack containing everything he found necessary to keep away from Misao's storage room to Kaoru's house. Of course, she being the Good Samaritan she was walked his bike, but that made this a good old hike. And Kenshin hated walking very, very much. Okay, to the hot dog stall down the street was one thing, but all the way across the two halves of the city was another. His feet were killing him, and he could feel another hole forming in his sneaker.
"We're almost there Kenshin!"
"That is a good thing, that it is." he groaned back, starting to feel very puny from his lack of stamina and how Kaoru was fine.
'Then again, she wasn't pushing bike pedals and trying to keep the front wheel from popping up from extra weight for three hours.'
Kenshin saw the familiar house he recognized from yesterday, and sat down on the front stoop as soon as he could. Kaoru smiled and laughed a little.
"Kenshin, you have the wrong house, mine is the one NEXT to it!"
A woman came out of the house, with long black hair and cherry lipstick. Her eyes were deep brown, and she gave a flirty laugh as Kenshin oro'ed and backed away behind Kaoru.
"And who is this, Kaoru-CHAN?"
"Megumi, I'm not a kid anymore! You know, for a famous pediatrician, you really aren't a people person, despite the fact that you have the most possibly CRUMMIEST boyfriend with the CRUMMIEST job out there. This is Kenshin; he's going to be staying with me while his apartment is being fixed after a fire, so keep out!"
"Ah, know I recognize you, you're Sano-chan's friend. Why, hello, Ken-san. Would you like to stay with me instead of that sweaty little tanuki?"
"Oro!"
"I take that a yes."
"No, Megumi-dono, I think I would be more comfortable with Kaoru- dono, that I do."
Megumi glared at him, and stormed off into her house. Kenshin walked to the next house, and looked at Kaoru first to see if he had the right one. She nodded, holding in her giggles, and watched him plopped down on the stoop.
"I exhausted myself, that I did."
"Iie, your baggage that you refused to let me carry did. We better get in, the sun's almost down."
Kaoru unlocked the door to her house, and Kenshin looked inside. It contained a small living room, what looked like an extremely messy kitchen, and hallway that branched off into other rooms. There was a staircase, and Kaoru led Kenshin up. There were even more rooms linking off of this hallway.
"By the way, did you give Misao-chan your phone number?"
"Yep, why?"
"Expect a few calls from Sanosuke and all the other friends of mine she knows. I call her 'the wind'. She blows things around a lot."
Kaoru almost found herself uttering one of Kenshin's classic "oros". He grinned at her, and everything seemed to melt at that moment. Like the only thing that was important was his goofy smile. She felt the warm tingle in her cheeks and the corners of her lips being tugged into a grin of her own. Kaoru yawned just then, mentally kicking herself for soiling the moment.
"It has been quite an exciting day for you, indeed it has. I'll start to unpack; you should continue that nap, that you should."
"But-"
"No buts, Kaoru-dono, I can handle myself. Just point me to the room."
Kaoru pointed at one of the doors, and walked into the one next to it. Kenshin walked into the room, and was amazed by how nice it looked. The bed had light blue sheets with a dark blue quilt, and white pillows. The walls were light blue with a dark blue border, and a dresser sat opposing the bed. There was a window that led to a small balcony, and a door.
'It must be a closet...'
Kenshin opened the door in curiosity, and didn't like the sight before him. It was Kaoru, in her underwear, about to get into her pajamas.
"ORO! IswearIdidn'tknowtheroomswerelinked!" (I swear I didn't know the rooms were linked!)
"Kenshin, slow down! Okay, what's- oh crap!"
Kaoru quickly covered herself with her quilt, threw a shoe at him, slammed the door shut, and locked it. She climbed into her bed groaning about perverted red heads, and Kenshin decided to avoid her as much as he could for an hour after she woke up. Kenshin started unpacking, and only had to work for around five minutes until everything was in place. He walked onto the balcony, and watched the sun set. The buildings glowed orange with the reflection of the changing sky in the distance. Kenshin stayed on the balcony for hours, gazing above at the night sky and drawing patterns in the stars with his finger until he was so tired he could barely walk back into the house. He knew that the day had really worn Kaoru out, and she would probably just sleep through the night and wake up earlier than normal the next day. He figured waking her up now would be kind of pointless, and he would probably only get a whap up the head for intruding. Not to mention, he couldn't pick locks without making a racket.
As Kenshin slid into his pajamas, and climbed into the bed, burying his face in the feathery goodness of the pillows, he mentally confessed something.
'If I could... I think I would have just wanted to kiss her goodnight.'
--- Morning ---
Kenshin woke up to the familiar scent of waffles cooking down the stairs. He grinned; just like he had predicted, Kaoru was up before him. He quickly threw on a dark blue buttoned T-shirt with black jeans, and started to walk down the stairs. Halfway down the steps, he heard something that sounded like an atomic bomb exploding from the kitchen, and Kaoru swearing in four different languages. He flew down the rest of the stairs, and ran into the kitchen.
"Kaoru-dono, what's wr- ORO!!!"
Kenshin ran right into a gooey puddle of waffle batter, slipped, and slid right across the tiled kitchen floor, which was also paved with the gross tan-gold mixture. He accidentally hit Kaoru's feet, which caused her to slip and fall across his stomach. Kenshin continued sliding, and when he finally crashed into a wall, the force jolted Kaoru's head and face back and upwards, and her lips were smashed against his. She pulled back after a few seconds of realizing what was going on, and blushing, told her story.
"I was making... waffles... and... the iron... blew... up."
Kenshin grinned a little, his cheeks a bright red. He wiped a smear of the batter off Kaoru's cheek before helping her up and walking out of the room to get a mop from the closet. When he came back in, he saw Kaoru already starting to scrub the floor with a few rags and paper towels. Kenshin began to mop, but there was a knock at the door. If Kenshin knew any better, he would have guessed it was Kaoru's neighbor asking what the explosion was, but, it was none other than...
"Sano!? What are you doing here!?"
"And why are you covered in... vomit?"
"Waffle batter."
"I won't even ask. I'M here to take YOU to work. I think you should get some new clothes on though..."
"Let me guess: I have ANOTHER shift set up with shisho because..."
"If you were going to say Misao blabbed, yeah, it's true. Well, go get dressed; you know how your 'master' is when you're late for work."
Kenshin quickly ran out of the doorway, right past Kaoru, who quickly asked where he was going.
"Work. Misao got a new shift set up for me."
"Okay... here though."
Kaoru handed him a fruit bar, and Kenshin took it in his mouth as he ran up the stairs, changed into a double of the clothes he was recently wearing, and run back out the door, crashing right into his friend.
"Slow down there, buddy boy."
"Thank you for doing this, Sano."
"Oh, I'm only doing it because Misao begged, gave me the puppy eyes, and Katsu agreed with her."
"Oro..."
"Chill, pal, chill! I was kidding!"
Kenshin sighed, and climbed in the cab. He saw Kaoru looking at them from out the window, and he smiled, and waved goodbye. She returned with a weak smile, and waved her hand quickly before walking out of the window. The cab started moving, and Sanosuke started flipping through the radio stations.
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, more crap, cr- Wait a second, this is good!"
Kenshin let out an oro as he realized that Billy Joel was playing on the radio.
"Sano, didn't you call this guy a prissy?" (no offense to Billy Joel fans, I am one myself)
"Yeah, I did, but you like him, right?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Well, gotta please the customer!"
^ Uptown girl
She's been living in her Uptown world
I bet she never had a backstreet guy
I bet her mama never told her why
I'm gonna try for
An Uptown girl
She's been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for a Downtown man
That's what I am ^
As the song continued, Sanosuke lowered the volume a little and started to chat with Kenshin.
"You know, Kenshin, this song reminds me of someone."
"Oro? Who, Sano?"
"You, ya idiot."
"ORO!!!"
"Aw, c'mon, don't tell me this song doesn't remind you of you and the little miss!"
"Oro... Sano, she doesn't WANT a Downtown man."
"And why the hell do ya think that!?"
"Well.......... Uhm..............."
"YA CAN'T FIGHT BACK! See! She loves ya!"
"I never said that, Sano."
"Who cares?"
"Oro........"
Kenshin continued listening to the song, and when it was over, Sano shut the radio off entirely.
"By the way, Kenshin, you know Katsu, right?"
"Indeed I do, Sano."
"Well, we both got a couple of errands to do out on the island."
"Oro? Manhattan Island?"
"LONG Island, ya idiot. We thought you and the little missy may have wanted to come with us, ya know, see the island, get a break from all the maniac road raged drivers, take a vacation from your job, get some quiet time to kiss the missy until she chokes..."
"ORO! Sano, how could you think I would DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?"
"Chill, Kenshin, you seriously need to chill."
"... Fine, I'll go on the trip."
"Okay, I'll tell Katsu later, meanwhile, I think you should beat it, because you're just about late for work."
Kenshin hadn't even noticed that Sano had already parked in front of Hiko's house, and he bolted out the door and into the one belonging to his shisho.
OWARI (for now)
Whoopee. Another chapter. Well, the next one shouldn't be as belated, because I have a good idea! At last! Okay, well, here's the translations:
-chan: 1: a term used for people younger that 15. 2: a term of endearment (used between close friends and family also) (in the case of a younger person saying it to an older person, it is an insult)
-san: Mr., Mrs., Ms. (in the case of Megumi calling Kenshin it that up there, it was "Sir Ken"... Don't ask, I'm not Japanese, I wouldn't know.)
tanuki: raccoon
oro: Kenshin's way of saying huh or what
-dono: basic translation is "Miss"
iie: no
shisho: master
owari: end
