Xtreme Dating Challenge
Chapter 6: Bachelor Number One. . .
By Seabreeze
A/N: I'm so anxious for the end of this story, if only because it. . . wait, I can't tell you guys! :P Ok well enjoy this chapter. We finally get to see more of Kenshin.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin and neither do you. Nyaa.
Kenshin sighed again as he headed up the stairs. Reality t.v., and especially dating shows, were not quite his thing. And this wasn't even a normal dating show, because the girl hated men. . . protecting her would NOT be easy.
He had arrived at the mansion when everyone else had, but for some reason his bags had been lost and it had taken them this long to get here. As he reached the door at the end of the hall, to the right, he turned the handle and pushed gently. . . the door opened silently, and he sighed. Good, it was his room. Now he could unpack and take a nap.
Kenshin let his bag slide to the King size bed and went to close the door. He sat with his hand on the door handle silently for a few moments, listening to see if he could hear anyone around. No one. Good. He looked around quickly by habit and flipped out his flat black cell phone. He pushed one button, and a voice immediately came from it.
"Are you in, baka deshi?" the sinister voice asked. Kenshin scowled.
"Yes, Master Hiko. I'm in."Kaoru sat, annoyed and impatient, on the couch as the cameras filmed her. She was waiting for Seta Soujiro, her first interviewee, to arrive. He was late. The more time she was forced to be on camera, the less happy she was. She tried in vain not to look completely pissed off. With a sigh of disgust, she pointedly looked at her watch. A small noise at the doorway caused her to look up, and a smiling, brown haired young man stood sheepishly.
"Pardon me, Miss Kamiya. Somebody locked the door to my room." He walked over as Kaoru stood, and the two shook hands.
"Don't worry about it too much," Kaoru said, relieved she had someone to share her camera time with. "Would you like to sit down, Seta-san?" Soujiro obliged happily.
"Call me Soujiro, please! I'm quite glad you're not half as intimidating as they'd made you out to be. You seem pretty friendly." He smiled in such a way that made Kaoru feel, if anyone else had given it, it would've been fake. She smiled awkwardly.
"You flatter me." She replied flatly. "So tell me about yourself, Soujiro- san."
The conversation went on, Kaoru being cold and calculating as she was supposed to be but inevitably charmed by Soujiro's endless smiling. She wondered if his cheek muscles ever hurt, or if it got tiring being happy all the time. Of course none of this was conveyed, and Soujiro felt that from the start, he had no chance. This girl wasn't about to be friendly with him, let alone open up even a little. However, he would never know what kind of person she was if he never tried, so try he did.
One of the cameramen held up a card that told Soujiro and Kaoru that they only had a minute left to go. Kaoru let out a relieved sigh.
"Well, we've only got a little bit of time left. I'm glad we had the chance to talk." Soujiro smiled at Kaoru and she returned it reluctantly.
"Yes, it was nice." She agreed, her voice soaked in exhausted happiness that the first "date" was almost over with. Soujiro cocked his head to the side. The director called "cut", and the cameras were turned off. "You seem rather pleased that we're done if I'm not mistaken, Miss Kamiya." He noted smilingly. Kaoru looked horrified.
"Its not that! I'm sorry, Soujiro, its just that, as you know, I don't like dating and I also don't like cameras. I would've enjoyed talking to you if the situation had been different, I promise." She grabbed his hand in a means to show her earnesty. Soujiro watched her with an odd look of contemplation on his face, and grinned.
"No problem, Kamiya. We can just be friends, and that'd be nice. Don't you think?"
"Oh, you have no idea!" Kaoru breathed another heavy sigh of relief and slumped against the back of the couch. "Being on this stupid dating show is absolute insanity to me. I'm not going to really date any of you, and forcing me to do it for entertainment is just sick."
"Very sick," Soujiro agreed. 'You have absolutely no idea HOW sick, though,' he thought in his cheerful voice. "Well, I'm going to head off, since I'm sure you've got some other dates to prepare for. Good luck, Kamiya! Ja ne!" Soujiro gave a friendly wave and was off. And Kaoru smiled inwardly. She had another plan. Just convince every man to be her friend and ONLY her friend and she'd be fine.
'Thanks, Soujiro,' she thought happily.That personal interviews-slash-dates continued, round the clock, or so it seemed to Kaoru. Almost all of them were awkward, and Kaoru was really beginning to loathe Megumi for getting her into this. In reality, she had only met with three men today, but that meant there were MILLIONS more to come. MILLIONS. Kaoru groaned. Tomorrow she was meeting with three guys who she couldn't remember. She was less than excited.
As the director told her she could go, she decided that she would gather up Megumi and Misao and see if they wanted to de-stress with her. A spa, maybe? Yes. It was on the budget of the show, after all. She grinned. There WERE perks.
She found Megumi in her room, pouring over a book on Cardiology. She knocked needlessly on the open doorframe.
"Still studying to be a real doctor?" she teased. Megumi looked up, missing the jest, and nodded.
"I had always wanted to be a Pediatrician, but lately Cardiology has. . . caught my interest."
"Oh, really? Gosh, Megumi, that's really ambitious of you. 'Takani Megumi, Cardiologist'. Yep. It works!" Kaoru smiled. Megumi, now thoroughly distracted, shut the book and set it beside her.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tanuki. How'd the first dates go?" she asked, and Kaoru came over and flopped down beside her friend on the bed.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said tiredly. "But I came here to see if you and 'Sao wanted to visit a spa with me. I'm kind of stressed, and if we can GO to the spa everyday without paying a cent, I say, why not?" she said. Megumi brightened.
"Hey, good idea! I'll go get Misao if you get my stuff ready for me. Meet you here in ten?"
"Deal!"
Megumi headed off and Kaoru pulled herself into a sitting position and hopped off the bed. All they'd need. . . was really just bikinis and comfortable clothes. The spa would most likely supply towels and robes for them. She dug through Megumi's bags and found one (of 4) bikinis, the terry cloth skirt, and a t-shirt. Then she went through the door connecting their rooms to grab her own stuff (bikini, sweatpants, tank). She changed in Megumi's bathroom, and when she came out Misao and Megumi were waiting for her. Misao had on shorts and a bikini top and Megumi was wearing the clothes Kaoru had set out for her. ("I changed in your room, Kaoru, I hope you don't mind.")
"Ready?!" Misao squealed. Kaoru grinned.
"More than," she replied.
"Alright! My car, here we come!" Misao yelled, leading them down the stairs and out the front door. Megumi and Kaoru exchanged amused looks in response to their energetic new friend. They were off to the spa. Kaoru was so looking forward to it that she momentarily forgot that tomorrow, she had three more stressful dates to live through.
Kenshin tugged the strap of his diagonal backpack and checked his watch. The dating show was so stupid to him. When he wasn't trying to "compete" for and protect some bratty girl, he had absolutely nothing to do. He had gone out to the park to see if there were any kick boxers or runners about, but that had bored him quickly. His superior study of all fields of martial arts and impressive indurance in running guaranteed this. He crossed the busy intersection connecting the park to a line of shops. As he began reaching the other end, he noticed that Makimachi Misao, the host of the show, and Takani Megumi, Miss Kaoru's best friend, were waiting there. He lifted an arm to wave and greet them, but a call interrupted.
"I'm coming, Megumi!" From that moment on, everything moved in slow motion. He turned to see Kaoru jog across the intersection. . . get halfway there. . . and stumble, falling to her knees. . .
Right in front of a speeding sportscar.Uh ohhhhh. Whew.
Thank yous!
Bishie Chaser- Thanks. And ahhh! I'm hurrying! stresses This is kind of a rough and awkward part for me, so once I hit a certain point, the chapters'll come easier for me. No worries!
ESP- Thanks to you too, and I will!
Unicornfan- Yay I love it when people are as excited about things I write as you are! Granted, its undeserving, but its still nice to hear! I, too, agree that Kaoru and Kenshin are too cute for words. (BTW, there are –plenty- of faults with this'un. It bothers me cause I don't have sufficient time to plan it and make it nice. Oh well!)
The-Lone-Lemon- Hey thanks! I 'm glad you like it.
Yotaka- Lol. Thanks a lot. I never seem to build suspense pretty well, I always draw it out or end it too quickly... meh. Thanks for reading! When I saw your name I thought it said "Yomama". It made me happy.
RK-128- What to say what to say what to say. Hehehe, I'm so glad you're having fun with this. I am too! Misao and Aoshi are going to be fun. I seriously can't wait. I'm going to have an absolute blast writing it. Who needs alcohol when you can have fanfiction??? Not me!!!