AN: This was a transitional chapter. I know it's awful, but I just can't bear to go back and change it yet. I blame all annoyances because it's high school. Apologies.

And I promise, high school is officially done for this story.

Also, the 2003 RKRC Awards (Rurouni Kenshin Readers Choice) are back up and running. Please go to the website, read the rules, nominate stories and

Lastly about the story… the setting is in a made up place of alternate reality with no limitations. It is set in neither America, nor Japan. It is pure fiction from nemo.

"…" = dialogue

'…' = thoughts

italics en masse= flashbacks

= transition

Reviewer Response [short and sweet]:

marstanuki- glomps Where are youuuuuuuu? 3s on you.

Dylynn- Thanks for the encouragement. Apologies- I have to say now, this will probably be the story that is updated most slowly.

icebluedragon- Thanks for the review. I hope you still remember this story...

MightyMightyMunson- Where did you go? snivels You've left me. Please come back. I miss you.

Moonseeker- huggles Heh- I hope you're still around, and that you have a terrific sophomore year!

signourney- Thank you much. I hope you don't mind me updating so late...

Kisune KeNsHiN- I'm glad you like the summary, and I do hope to make this story quite close to real life.

Babo-laughs Yes, updates probably would get it more attention. I shall work on that, but this is a special story, that may only be updated annually.

Psychotic Tanuki- I hope this chapter doesn't kill you. [It nearly killed me] -High school id definitely not the focus of this story. That I can promise you.

Kouu Sabishii- I know, I'm a bad girl. =[ Maybe for more regular updates, one of my other stories could be more dependable. Thanks for the enthusiasm. I worked really hard to keep this realistic but not overbearing.

mz.amber eyes- laughs I will say I currently have no intention of writing in Tomoe whatsoever, so please, rest assured. I hope I can also say that this story ought not to be too similar to many out there.

THANKS FOR READING, LOVES.

Juxtaposition a story by infinite nemo

Chapter Two: Milestones

Kaoru's looked up, studying the drop ceiling of the music hall she was currently sitting in. Experimentally, she bounced on her seat cushion, and then stood to perch on top of the edge of the seat once it had sprung up.

"Kaoru?"

"Yes?" Kaoru turned around when someone tapped her on the shoulder, then ignored her classmate, focusing instead on one of the strangest faces she had ever seen—one that was currently being made at her from a few rows back.

"Hello-- Tsunan is that the face you're going to make while we're walking?"

He blinked then resumed contorting his face grotesquely. "Absolutely, dude."

Kaoru chuckled. "That would make for a most memorable commencement. You know, the vampire will absolutely eat you." She joked, referring to the French teacher also National Honor Society advisor who treated the high school graduation ceremony as she would a cherished child. Stories had been passed down through the years about the insane things she had done to make sure commencement ran smoothly.

Playing along, the class clown widened his eyes as much as possible only adding to the comical affect. "No way!" As he spoke, his face returned to its normal rather attractive form. "Kaoru-dude! Guess what I ate with some of the other guys last night?"

"Do I want to know?"

"We went to the burger joint and all got double half pounders!"

"…" She processed that. "Double half pounders… A pound. Ew. Why don't they just call it a one pound burger? And ew! You ate one pound of cow meat?"

"Well, no, I didn't finish."

"Good."

"But Souzo did!"

"He did? He's so small- that's just really surprising."

"I know! It was awesome, after he finished, we punched him in the stomach to try to get him to throw up!"

Unable to help herself, Kaoru laughed, even though she felt badly for the poor lad. "Poor Souzo. You boys are terrible. Absolutely awful."

"I know." He grinned. "But hey, you're the one laughing."

Kaoru fumed playfully. "Grr- do you wanna die?"

"No-no!" He waved his hands in front of him. "Anyway, what did you do last night?"

"Well I definitely didn't go out and try to consume a pound of low grade beef."

"Touché. But you're a tough broad, Kaoru, I'll bet you could… almost do that...."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Tsunan."

"You know it." He winked.

Again, Kaoru laughed. "Sometimes I really wonder how you got voted as prom king Tsunan."

"Hey, you and me both." His pointed his fingers approximating the action of a drum roll in pure goofball manner.

"So anyway, why on earth did you punch Souzo to get him to throw up?"

Tsunan had the grace to almost look sheepish. "It would have been funny And it wasn't my car."

Kaoru chuckled helplessly while Tsunan simply looked at her. She rolled her eyes. "Boys."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment their class principal stepped on stage. The matronly woman cleared her throat.

"If you would all settle down, we'd like to get this going so you all know what to do tonight, and we can all get out earlier."

"Catch you later dude- er, Kaoru!" Tsunan mouthed, before Kaoru turned around in her seat.

Ring

"Hello?"

"Jo-chan!"

"Hi Sano." She smiled into the receiver. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to call my favorite coz and chat a little…" He paused dramatically. "And tell her congratulations!"

Kaoru chuckled. "Thanks, I appreciate it. It was really sweet of you to remember."

"You're welcome. It's not every day a raccoon graduates from high school." He joked before saying smugly. "I'll bet I'm the favorite cousin now, aren't I?"

"Actually, Aoshi called last night."

"Hah. I should get more love than him- my idiot brother didn't even know what day it was!"

Kaoru snorted. The words that had just come out of Sanosuke's mouth were nothing but weird. "Uhm, well, he said he called early so he wouldn't disrupt today, or call me at a bad time… and actually, Sano, I have to be there in less than an hour, so I kinda have to go…"

"Oh right. Sorry." Feeling he was acting too henpecked, he added roguishly, "I'll bet you need all the time you can get to pretty yourself up, Tanuki-chan."

"Sano…" Kaoru growled. "I'm gonna hang up!"

"Heh- just kidding Jo-chan. Go on, and gimme a call when you have more time, all right? We haven't been able to catch up for a while."

"I know, I've been so busy and you've had midterms and finals." Kaoru apologized. "But I will call soon."

"Good." He said gruffly, and then added, in typical Sano fashion, "Don't trip!" Knowing how strange Kaoru was about superstitions and omens and random auspicious things. And also how prone she was to stints of bad luck.

"Sano!" click Then a dial tone. "Ohh… he's so gonna get it…"

Kaoru looked at herself critically in the mirror. 'Well, at least everyone will look as generally stupid as I do.' She signed and straightened her cap and fretfully plucked at the edge of her stick on collar that hadn't come with any sticker tabs that she had been able to find. 'At least dad ironed it for me…' After making sure her skirt wouldn't peep out under the hem, Kaoru quickly took off her commencement gown so it wouldn't get wrinkled on the car ride to the music hall where the ceremony would take place.

Kaoru settled in her chair then focused on the shock of red hair in the row in front of her. 'How ironic that Himura Kenshin, biggest cause of all the drama and angst in my life is sitting right in front of me…' She repressed the urge to kick his chair- hard- deciding she was too mature for that. Also, because he was mostly clueless to all the irritation she felt towards him. Which, she supposed, was all for the best. She had quite a while before she had to do anything- which wasn't all that much- line up with the rest of the kids alphabetically, only after all the speeches had been made and the top ten- "honor students" had done their thing. Sighing, she let her mind drift. Unsurprisingly, prom - another supposed milestone- and its preceding events came to mind.

Kaoru's eyes scanned the note. The last sentence caught her attention.

"You look like you need a hug."

She looked up. "I do." She admitted to the amethyst eyes that were studying her expression carefully. The bell rang, and she walked out of the classroom proudly, not looking back, unwilling to accept the sympathy he offered. After spinning in her combination to the built in lock and opening her locker, Kaoru turned to see Misao looking at her with a strange expression, one eyebrow arched. Giving her a questioning look, Kaoru then saw Kenshin standing at the edge of the row of lockers.

"I'm not leaving until I give you a hug."

"You can't—Suzume and Yahiko are waiting for you." She retorted. "You're going to be late and get caught behind all the buses."

"I know. That's why you have to hug me now."

Won't you ask Sayo to prom? You know that's why I even brought it up with you in the first place. I was supposed to see if you'd go with her!" Kaoru panicked.

"I'm going with you, and I don't want to go with her." He said simply.

"Why not?"

She was met with silence. "Right. Ugh."

He surprised her with his next words. "Now it's my turn. D oyou want to go to prom with me?"

And then the girlfriend-- even though she hadn't been one at the time…

"You know," Kenshin said casually as he drove, glancing at Kaoru who was sitting in the passenger seat of his father's Camero convertible. "She didn't know we were going to prom… and asked me to go with her."

Kaoru blinked. "She did? I thought she had a boyfriend."

"Yeah. They just broke up. I guess she's liked me for some time… it's interesting. I've had a crush on her since freshman year."

"But you've had what, 2? More? Girlfriends in that time period?" He shrugged, and didn't bother answering. Kaoru looked away. "Do you want to go to prom with her?"

"I'm going with you." Was his simple, yet irritating reply.

Kaoru felt her heart crumble a little.

At prom, she had sought Kenshin out while he and Kaoru were sitting at one of the tables talking. For once channeling all the antagonism she felt for herself outwardly almost derisively Kaoru had told her, "He's all yours." Ignoring the slight pang she felt. Only until later did Kaoru realize they'd left her during "the prom song." Again, she cursed herself for telling Kenshin he wasn't allowed to date anyone until prom was over. In doing so, she had just made everything so much more complicated.

"I'm sorry you didn't have a good time." Kenshin said quietly as he drove her home from after prom.

"Oh no- It was fine. I don't know why you said that." Kaoru lied as convincingly as she could at the time. Never mind she had spent every slow dance and all of after prom imagining she'd gone with someone—anyone else, and that she had just wanted to curl up and disappear. 'Oh Kenshin… it would have been so much easier if you'd never asked me.' Even those ridiculously large prizes in the backseat were no consolation.

He walked her to the door- mostly to help her carry the tv/vcr and the vcr she'd won, Kaoru supposed. They hugged soberly, and he left. Kaoru went to her room, stripped off her dress, pulled out all the pins and clips from her hair, intent on counting the next day how many had been needed to keep her mane up and tamed, and let her exhausted and emotionally overwrought body rest.

Kaoru blinked as the boy next to her poked her. 'Oh right- time to stand and go get my diploma case now.' She shook herself slightly, then stood up, pasted a smile on her face, and hurried to join the rest of the line.

Less than two hours later, Kaoru fought against the mass of well over a thousand bodies to try and find her parents—or just someone she recognized. Looking around at the ecstatic faces of relatives and her former classmates, she realized something. 'I feel… really detached for what ought to be one of the most important milestones in my life…'

For the second time that night, Kaoru found herself studying her reflection. 'I wonder if Kenshin will be there…' She snorted. 'Right… never mind.' Even though she was on her way to Sayo's house to hang out with the rest of their sizeable group of friends… her relationship with her… friend had been strained since mid-March. In a way, Kaoru was a little hurt and disappointed, but the sheer ridiculousness for the cause of their strife made her feel a little less badly. 'First of all, I'm totally over Kenshin, and he has no romantic interest in me whatsoever. She has no reason to be jealous or mad at me at all!' Kaoru made a face at herself, ignoring the taunting voice in her head that said she'd been "over Kenshin" for over a year now, and that she should stop fooling herself. Unbidden, more prom memories came to mind, and Kaoru wanted to smack herself. 'Not going to think about that now. Not only was that an event met with no positiveanticipation, my dread only amplified during the event.'

Sighing, she pulled up her hair and smeared on sparkly eye shadow. Feeling celebratory and obligated to "dress up a little" for the special event of going to the first get-together since graduating, after dressing with a bit more care than usual, she attempted to blend both blue and white shimmering liquid shadow on her non-occidental eyelids. 'Even a monkey can put on makeup the way I do… slop and smear.' She eyed the tube of mascara on the counter from one of her mother's countless sample gift bags, but decided to leave well alone, as opposed to poking herself in the eye and permanently damaging herself.

While Kaoru was driving to Sayo's house, she indulged in a few minor teenage fits of glee at having graduated. 'My next milestone will be turning 18.' She realized as she attempted to parallel park on the street. She stepped on the emergency brake then got out of the car and surveyed her work. 'Not bad…' She stepped up to the house and knocked tentatively, taking a deep breath and preparing herself. She was greeted with many shouts of,

"Kaoru! Hi you made it!" as they room's inhabitants looked at the door.

Kaoru smiled. "Congratulations, graduates!" She exclaimed exuberantly, animated arms outstretched as she walked into the house. She joined in the giddy conversation, effortlessly easing into the group.

Stepping out of the shower, Kaoru expected to be exhausted- it had been a big day, after all, and in some ways, she was. But she also knew that sleep wouldn't come easily that night. Kaoru sighed. Even though she had been sincerely welcomed at the get-together pseudo party, she had sensed how detached and distant both Sayo and her mother had been.

In a way… it fit. 'Kenshin no baka. You didn't even really do anything, but you managed to ruin my friendship with Sayo, who incidentally controls all social activity in my group, you caused all these girls to hate me, and you made me become the angstiest I've ever been in my life. And I still don't even really know why.' She wished she had the courage to say that to him openly, just because she ought to be able to.

Kaoru tossed her commencement gown- if it could be called that- into her closet, eye catching on her prom dress. She lightly smacked the plastic protecting the dress in exasperation, then quickly stepped back and shut the door. Sadly, the memories weren't closed off as easily.

The other side.

"Sayo, are you mad at me?"… "Sayo?"… "Sayo!" Kaoru's expression was pained.

"No- Why would I be mad?" Then the girl turned away and promptly continued to ignore her.

When class was over, Kaoru went to put away some of the supplies they had been using. She returned to her seat to gather her own things only to find that Sayo and Tsubame had left her.

'Too bad prom sucked too… can't the suckiness just be over?!'

"She told me she's mad at you, and I can see why…"

Kaoru stared at Misao in disbelief. 'My own supposed best friend?' "I asked him to ask her! He wouldn't- and did you know Sayo stalked him over the summer? She would show up at his house uninvited when he had a girlfriend! And she knew it! And we're just going as friends! He liked Suzume, but she had a wedding to go to- which she asked him to attend with her, but it's during prom so he declined and asked me… and then I found out another girl asked him—one that he's had a crush on for the past four years- because she didn't know he asked me because I was trying to keep it on the DL because I didn't want to upset Sayo…and this is my fault?!"

Misao, wisely, was silent.

Kaoru twirled her honor cord idly in her hands, looking at it with a sardonic expression. 'Really, none of this even matters.' She smiled wryly, 'Well, if nothing else, I guess its good both Sano and Aoshi in all their overprotective glory were gone during the whole ordeal, otherwise Kenshin might've gotten quite an ass-kicking…' Although to be honest, sometimes she wished they had been around to do just that. Sighing, she set it down as she turned off the lights with a flip of the switch. She flopped on her bed and buried her face in her battered feather pillow.

"God," she mumbled, half to the pillow, half to the omnipotent being she suspected was somewhere out there, "I am such an idiot."

AN: Many thanks to Istoria for beta-ing and listening to me rant and be silly, and also to Nahui, for letting me whine about anything, always.

If you want to be notified when I actually post new chapters or stories, leave a note in your review and I'll add you to my list. Or drop me an instant message- my screen name is in my profile, which I actually update every so often. sweatdrop

Again, the 2003 RKRC Awards (Rurouni Kenshin Readers Choice) are back up and running. Please go to the website, read the rules, nominate stories and support. http: tfme. net/rkrc/ index.php -take out the spaces.

Thanks!

Beat the heat. [This new system of uploading is going to kill me. I'm sorry, I hate it.]