Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not sanity, not normality... but whatever.
Just for fun, I'm going to write out the play cast right here.
Benevolio: Yahiko (he's older. Hey, they could be related, him and Sanosuke. I mean, they have the same hair...) Mercutio: Misao (yes, she's a girl. Lets pretend that's she's wearing a short wig. Okay?) Friar Lawerence: Kenshin Tybalt: Saito The Prince: Aoshi Paris: Kanryuu (Sp?!) Nurse: Kaoru (Hm. Funny because she's younger than Megumi. Never mind.) Hm... no more big parts, huh? Sorry Yahiko, you're kind of left out of this. Heh.
Dance Time!
The play rehearsal was weird, both of them would admit. The rest of the cast could feel the energy in the air, and so could Mr. Malprin. All of them knew by the end of the day that that something was going on between the two leads.
A tip of was the fact that they went to huge lengths not to make eye contact with each other. Especially during the love scenes this was evident. Sanosuke looked right over her shoulder, and she focused her gaze on the top of his spiky hair. In the middle of the balcony scene Mr. Malprin got fed up with it all.
"Stop it! Stop it! What the hell is going on here? You guys have chemistry, but not the right type. What's wrong with you?" He yelled from the back from the back of the auditorium.
"What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong." Sanosuke said, putting on his straightest face. Not good enough, though. Misao, who had been watching from backstage, steped out onto the stage.
"He's blushing!" She pointed out. This, in turn, made his face go from pink to red, and made Megumi blush too. Misao opened her mouth to point this out, but was cut off by an angry drama teacher.
"That'll be enough now, Misao." He growled. She slunk backstage again. "Look, I don't know what's going on between you two. But I expect you to sort it out by the night of the play. It's less than a week away. Get it together by then, or..." he trailed off, but both of them knew what he was thinking. "Rehearsal is dismissed!" He stood and walked out of the auditorium. Megumi glanced at her watch and read that it was only five. Thirty minutes early. Mr. Malprin must have been really mad to let them out this early. For a week before the play, it was almost unheard of.
Love springs on you in strange ways. If you don't see it coming, it comes slowly and gently, sweet waters rising in your heart until you are filled with the emotion. It's a different story, though, if you realize what is happening to you early.
Then it's like if someone had crept behind you and slipped soft fingers around your neck. Just as you start to feel the fingers and realize what is happening it's too late and love throttles you hard. It even shakes you back and forth as it strangles you.
This was what was happening to Sanosuke at that moment. The question of what he felt for Megumi had grown from a small question to a large and very scary answer: he was in fact in love with her. And love, like the bitch it was, decided that it wanted to shake him.
Everyone in the cast noticed it. He seemed preoccupied, quieter than his usual rowdy self. The teachers held an emergency meeting on why he was not making trouble in class. Basically, everyone that was close to him was worried. Even Megumi, who was thinking of her own issues, noticed.
"Sano." Kenshin said, cornering him after practice.
"Yeah?" Sanosuke replied without any thought.
"Dude, what's up with you?" Kenshin asked.
"Nothing." Sanosuke says, waving him off with one hand.
"That's a lie. What the heck is wrong with Sanosuke? You haven't been yourself all day. What's on your mind?"
Sanosuke blushes slightly. "You've got it wrong. I'm fine."
"Whatever." Kenshin left Sanosuke sitting on the stage, along with his thoughts. Kenshin grins to himself, knowing all to well by how his friend was acting what was on his mind.
He was in love. The only question was, with who?
On the road to the Gym
Since Megumi lived far away from the school, she usually prepared in the locker room for dances. This time was not different. Kaoru too lived in a far away neighborhood, pretty close to where Megumi was. They had become such close friends from carpooling for three years. As Megumi and Kaoru walked down the gym together, Megumi could tell that something was on her mind.
"Megumi, you know-" Kaoru paused. "Never mind." It was the fifth time that she had done that in one night. Megumi was just about ready to kill her.
"What is it already, Kaoru?" Megumi snapped. Kaoru giggled.
"Somebody likes you."
"What?" Megumi stops dead in her tracks. What could Kaoru possibly know?
"I know someone who has feelings for you." Kaoru smiles devilishly.
"Who?" Megumi asks.
Kaoru considers whether she should tell her friend or not. She was feeling pangs of guilt just from thinking about it. Megumi could figure it out on her own. "I can't tell." Megumi almost fell over.
"You-can't-tell. Then why the hell did you tell me in the first place?"
"I can't keep these things in forever, you know!" Kaoru said. Megumi sighed. Kaoru had a tendency of not thinking out things that she said.
"Whatever." Megumi breaths, but the question nagged at a corner of her brain.
AT THE DANCE
As always, the music was way too loud.
Sanosuke sulked in the corner like the bad ass that he was, trying to pretend that he wasn't watching Megumi out of the corner of his eye as she danced with her friends.
He didn't really know why he came to the dance. Well, probably because Mr. Malprin was blackmailing him. But he had other reasons, and he knew it.
A slow song comes on. Sanosuke sunk further into his sulk.
Megumi, on the other hand, was amused as she headed towards Kenshin, intending to ask him to dance. She didn't really have much interest in him, it was more to annoy Kaoru. She figured after what happened this afternoon she was due a little bit of revenge. Plus it was just fun to watch how Kaoru reacted to her throwing herself all over the red headed boy.
"Oh Ken, dance with me!" She throws her arms around Kenshin. Sure enough, Kaoru was twitching in the corner. Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, she was not the only one that was twitching.
Sanosuke felt sick to his stomach and was starting to see red. Kenshin. She was dancing with Kenshin. He felt like he needed to puke. His best freaking friend. Why didn't he see it?
He stormed out of the dance room, needing something to take his anger out on. Kenshin looking over Megumi's shoulder as she clung to him saw him leave. What had Sanosuke looking so mad? He was looking right at him, too.
A switch flipped in Kenshin's mind. Could it possibly be that Sanosuke was in love with Megumi? It made a hell of a lot of sense. The way that they acted around each other was a clue. There was some wicked chemistry between the two.
He pulls her hands away from his neck.
"I think Sanosuke needs to talk to you. He's outside."
Sanosuke, fuming, looked for the first non-human thing that he can find to beat senseless. It just happened to be a metal elevator. Filled with an illogical anger at everything in the world, he punched the elevator lightly. 'That was for how much of a flirt Megumi is.' He thinks. He punches the elevator again, harder. His knuckles start to throb slightly. 'That was for how strange love it.' He punched the elevator door again, harder than he knew he was able to. Pain exploded up his right arm and he slumped backward, nursing his right hand like a broken animal in his lap. His knuckles were bleeding and bruised. 'That was for how much of a damn idiot I am for falling for her.' With amusement he notices that he has made a large dent in the face of the elevator. (AN: Heh... Ria.)
Megumi slipped out of the dance into the blissfully quiet hallway. What had Kenshin been talking about? In front of her in the hallway was a figure slumped over, laughing slightly.
From the mass of brown spiky hair, she realizes that it's Sanosuke in front of her.
"Umm... Sanosuke? Are you all right?" She leans down and asks.
"Not really. Have you ever done any nursing before?"
"Yeah. Both of my parents are doctors, so I kind of picked a few things up."
"Than can you fix me?" He asks, holding out his bloody hand towards her.
"Jesus! What did you do to your hand?" She asks.
"Never mind. Can you help me?" He asks. She sighs, but nods. They both head towards the nurse's office near the gym. After picking the lock on the door with a hairpin, Megumi took a few bandages and some alcohol.
"You messed it up pretty well. Can you move all my fingers?" Sanosuke nods.
"Then hopefully nothing is broken." She expertly ripped open the packet and smoothed the sheet over his cuts. He grimaced, but doesn't say anything. "How did you do this to yourself? You really would have to beat the crap out of someone..." she paused while unwrapped the bandage. "You didn't... did you?"
"No. I didn't hurt anyone." He sighs.
"Good. But then what did you hit?" She asked, pulling his hand into her lap and bandaging it. Occupied with her work, she does not notice the strange look on his face.
"A metal elevator door."
"An elevator door? Why the hell did you hit a metal elevator door? Hard, too, by the look of it."
"I was just kind of mad at myself."
"Why?" She asked, leaning in closer towards him.
"I wasn't aware that you were supposed to interview me while you fixed my hand." He snaps. She jerks back, a little surprised by his tone of voice. He sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
"Why were you so mad at yourself anyways?" She leaned in again, natural curiosity getting the better of her.
"You really want to know, don't you?" He asked. "Fine. I think I'm falling in love with someone."
"Really?" She asked, looking strangely foxy. "So mister tough guy has fallen for a girl? Why would you be so mad at yourself for falling in love?"
"It's kind of hard to explain. First of all, it's a bad time. Second, I'm pretty sure that she doesn't feel the same way." Why the hell is he telling her this? It hurt him in his chest just to think about it. Kenshin and her... eugh.
"Who is she? I could talk to you for her." She was almost done bandaging his hand.
"I don't think that I should tell you."
"Why not?" She put on her most innocent face. "I won't tell anyone!"
"Look, you just don't want to know." She finished his hand. He got up quickly, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"You can't just leave me now!" She stomped her foot on the ground. The sound of her heel on the tile echoed through the silent hallway. "Now I really want to know!"
"You really want to know?" His voice starts low, but rises. "You want to know?" Silence falls heavily in the hallway.
"It's kind of funny that we're talking about this now." He said just loudly enough so that she can hear. "Because it's you."
She stared at him, who in turn stared at the ground.
"What?" She asked, in shock.
"Look, I have to go Megumi. I'll see you on Monday." With that he walked out of the gym.
Kaoru, having just noticed that her friend wasn't in the dance, steps out into the hall to find her standing and staring into space towards the door.
"Megumi? What's wrong? Why aren't you in the dance?" Kaoru asked. Megumi seemed to shake herself out of a trance.
"What? Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong."
"Then let's get back in there!" Kaoru grabbed her arm, dragging her back into the crowded room. Megumi follows her hesitantly, very confused.
With her free hand she felt the back of her neck. She could have sworn she felt someone touch it softly...
AN: Yay! I feel really proud of this chapter, though there is no humor at all. I think it's some of my better writing. SCHOOL IS OVER!!! YAY!!!
Just for fun, I'm going to write out the play cast right here.
Benevolio: Yahiko (he's older. Hey, they could be related, him and Sanosuke. I mean, they have the same hair...) Mercutio: Misao (yes, she's a girl. Lets pretend that's she's wearing a short wig. Okay?) Friar Lawerence: Kenshin Tybalt: Saito The Prince: Aoshi Paris: Kanryuu (Sp?!) Nurse: Kaoru (Hm. Funny because she's younger than Megumi. Never mind.) Hm... no more big parts, huh? Sorry Yahiko, you're kind of left out of this. Heh.
Dance Time!
The play rehearsal was weird, both of them would admit. The rest of the cast could feel the energy in the air, and so could Mr. Malprin. All of them knew by the end of the day that that something was going on between the two leads.
A tip of was the fact that they went to huge lengths not to make eye contact with each other. Especially during the love scenes this was evident. Sanosuke looked right over her shoulder, and she focused her gaze on the top of his spiky hair. In the middle of the balcony scene Mr. Malprin got fed up with it all.
"Stop it! Stop it! What the hell is going on here? You guys have chemistry, but not the right type. What's wrong with you?" He yelled from the back from the back of the auditorium.
"What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong." Sanosuke said, putting on his straightest face. Not good enough, though. Misao, who had been watching from backstage, steped out onto the stage.
"He's blushing!" She pointed out. This, in turn, made his face go from pink to red, and made Megumi blush too. Misao opened her mouth to point this out, but was cut off by an angry drama teacher.
"That'll be enough now, Misao." He growled. She slunk backstage again. "Look, I don't know what's going on between you two. But I expect you to sort it out by the night of the play. It's less than a week away. Get it together by then, or..." he trailed off, but both of them knew what he was thinking. "Rehearsal is dismissed!" He stood and walked out of the auditorium. Megumi glanced at her watch and read that it was only five. Thirty minutes early. Mr. Malprin must have been really mad to let them out this early. For a week before the play, it was almost unheard of.
Love springs on you in strange ways. If you don't see it coming, it comes slowly and gently, sweet waters rising in your heart until you are filled with the emotion. It's a different story, though, if you realize what is happening to you early.
Then it's like if someone had crept behind you and slipped soft fingers around your neck. Just as you start to feel the fingers and realize what is happening it's too late and love throttles you hard. It even shakes you back and forth as it strangles you.
This was what was happening to Sanosuke at that moment. The question of what he felt for Megumi had grown from a small question to a large and very scary answer: he was in fact in love with her. And love, like the bitch it was, decided that it wanted to shake him.
Everyone in the cast noticed it. He seemed preoccupied, quieter than his usual rowdy self. The teachers held an emergency meeting on why he was not making trouble in class. Basically, everyone that was close to him was worried. Even Megumi, who was thinking of her own issues, noticed.
"Sano." Kenshin said, cornering him after practice.
"Yeah?" Sanosuke replied without any thought.
"Dude, what's up with you?" Kenshin asked.
"Nothing." Sanosuke says, waving him off with one hand.
"That's a lie. What the heck is wrong with Sanosuke? You haven't been yourself all day. What's on your mind?"
Sanosuke blushes slightly. "You've got it wrong. I'm fine."
"Whatever." Kenshin left Sanosuke sitting on the stage, along with his thoughts. Kenshin grins to himself, knowing all to well by how his friend was acting what was on his mind.
He was in love. The only question was, with who?
On the road to the Gym
Since Megumi lived far away from the school, she usually prepared in the locker room for dances. This time was not different. Kaoru too lived in a far away neighborhood, pretty close to where Megumi was. They had become such close friends from carpooling for three years. As Megumi and Kaoru walked down the gym together, Megumi could tell that something was on her mind.
"Megumi, you know-" Kaoru paused. "Never mind." It was the fifth time that she had done that in one night. Megumi was just about ready to kill her.
"What is it already, Kaoru?" Megumi snapped. Kaoru giggled.
"Somebody likes you."
"What?" Megumi stops dead in her tracks. What could Kaoru possibly know?
"I know someone who has feelings for you." Kaoru smiles devilishly.
"Who?" Megumi asks.
Kaoru considers whether she should tell her friend or not. She was feeling pangs of guilt just from thinking about it. Megumi could figure it out on her own. "I can't tell." Megumi almost fell over.
"You-can't-tell. Then why the hell did you tell me in the first place?"
"I can't keep these things in forever, you know!" Kaoru said. Megumi sighed. Kaoru had a tendency of not thinking out things that she said.
"Whatever." Megumi breaths, but the question nagged at a corner of her brain.
AT THE DANCE
As always, the music was way too loud.
Sanosuke sulked in the corner like the bad ass that he was, trying to pretend that he wasn't watching Megumi out of the corner of his eye as she danced with her friends.
He didn't really know why he came to the dance. Well, probably because Mr. Malprin was blackmailing him. But he had other reasons, and he knew it.
A slow song comes on. Sanosuke sunk further into his sulk.
Megumi, on the other hand, was amused as she headed towards Kenshin, intending to ask him to dance. She didn't really have much interest in him, it was more to annoy Kaoru. She figured after what happened this afternoon she was due a little bit of revenge. Plus it was just fun to watch how Kaoru reacted to her throwing herself all over the red headed boy.
"Oh Ken, dance with me!" She throws her arms around Kenshin. Sure enough, Kaoru was twitching in the corner. Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, she was not the only one that was twitching.
Sanosuke felt sick to his stomach and was starting to see red. Kenshin. She was dancing with Kenshin. He felt like he needed to puke. His best freaking friend. Why didn't he see it?
He stormed out of the dance room, needing something to take his anger out on. Kenshin looking over Megumi's shoulder as she clung to him saw him leave. What had Sanosuke looking so mad? He was looking right at him, too.
A switch flipped in Kenshin's mind. Could it possibly be that Sanosuke was in love with Megumi? It made a hell of a lot of sense. The way that they acted around each other was a clue. There was some wicked chemistry between the two.
He pulls her hands away from his neck.
"I think Sanosuke needs to talk to you. He's outside."
Sanosuke, fuming, looked for the first non-human thing that he can find to beat senseless. It just happened to be a metal elevator. Filled with an illogical anger at everything in the world, he punched the elevator lightly. 'That was for how much of a flirt Megumi is.' He thinks. He punches the elevator again, harder. His knuckles start to throb slightly. 'That was for how strange love it.' He punched the elevator door again, harder than he knew he was able to. Pain exploded up his right arm and he slumped backward, nursing his right hand like a broken animal in his lap. His knuckles were bleeding and bruised. 'That was for how much of a damn idiot I am for falling for her.' With amusement he notices that he has made a large dent in the face of the elevator. (AN: Heh... Ria.)
Megumi slipped out of the dance into the blissfully quiet hallway. What had Kenshin been talking about? In front of her in the hallway was a figure slumped over, laughing slightly.
From the mass of brown spiky hair, she realizes that it's Sanosuke in front of her.
"Umm... Sanosuke? Are you all right?" She leans down and asks.
"Not really. Have you ever done any nursing before?"
"Yeah. Both of my parents are doctors, so I kind of picked a few things up."
"Than can you fix me?" He asks, holding out his bloody hand towards her.
"Jesus! What did you do to your hand?" She asks.
"Never mind. Can you help me?" He asks. She sighs, but nods. They both head towards the nurse's office near the gym. After picking the lock on the door with a hairpin, Megumi took a few bandages and some alcohol.
"You messed it up pretty well. Can you move all my fingers?" Sanosuke nods.
"Then hopefully nothing is broken." She expertly ripped open the packet and smoothed the sheet over his cuts. He grimaced, but doesn't say anything. "How did you do this to yourself? You really would have to beat the crap out of someone..." she paused while unwrapped the bandage. "You didn't... did you?"
"No. I didn't hurt anyone." He sighs.
"Good. But then what did you hit?" She asked, pulling his hand into her lap and bandaging it. Occupied with her work, she does not notice the strange look on his face.
"A metal elevator door."
"An elevator door? Why the hell did you hit a metal elevator door? Hard, too, by the look of it."
"I was just kind of mad at myself."
"Why?" She asked, leaning in closer towards him.
"I wasn't aware that you were supposed to interview me while you fixed my hand." He snaps. She jerks back, a little surprised by his tone of voice. He sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
"Why were you so mad at yourself anyways?" She leaned in again, natural curiosity getting the better of her.
"You really want to know, don't you?" He asked. "Fine. I think I'm falling in love with someone."
"Really?" She asked, looking strangely foxy. "So mister tough guy has fallen for a girl? Why would you be so mad at yourself for falling in love?"
"It's kind of hard to explain. First of all, it's a bad time. Second, I'm pretty sure that she doesn't feel the same way." Why the hell is he telling her this? It hurt him in his chest just to think about it. Kenshin and her... eugh.
"Who is she? I could talk to you for her." She was almost done bandaging his hand.
"I don't think that I should tell you."
"Why not?" She put on her most innocent face. "I won't tell anyone!"
"Look, you just don't want to know." She finished his hand. He got up quickly, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"You can't just leave me now!" She stomped her foot on the ground. The sound of her heel on the tile echoed through the silent hallway. "Now I really want to know!"
"You really want to know?" His voice starts low, but rises. "You want to know?" Silence falls heavily in the hallway.
"It's kind of funny that we're talking about this now." He said just loudly enough so that she can hear. "Because it's you."
She stared at him, who in turn stared at the ground.
"What?" She asked, in shock.
"Look, I have to go Megumi. I'll see you on Monday." With that he walked out of the gym.
Kaoru, having just noticed that her friend wasn't in the dance, steps out into the hall to find her standing and staring into space towards the door.
"Megumi? What's wrong? Why aren't you in the dance?" Kaoru asked. Megumi seemed to shake herself out of a trance.
"What? Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong."
"Then let's get back in there!" Kaoru grabbed her arm, dragging her back into the crowded room. Megumi follows her hesitantly, very confused.
With her free hand she felt the back of her neck. She could have sworn she felt someone touch it softly...
AN: Yay! I feel really proud of this chapter, though there is no humor at all. I think it's some of my better writing. SCHOOL IS OVER!!! YAY!!!