Episode 5: And then…
***
"The bunsen burner's flame is too high!" she screamed ducking to reach the gas knob on their work bench. "You're gonna get us all killed!" she turned to the two boys sitting behind her. Shiro was mixing two chemicals and the orange bubbles seeping out of the beaker was not a good sign. Sano on the other hand was sitting with his feet propped up on the desk, reading a comic book.
"Shut up and do your work!" Sano called over his comic.
"Mister Himura!!! Mister Himuraaaaaaaa!" she called waving her arms, she turned just in time to see him make a beeline to the lab technician's room. She turned back to their table just as Shiro's experiment exploded in their faces.
"Shoot me, please." she whispered wiping the acid from her face.
***
"You will not leave the laboratory until you have cleaned this mess." He said looking at the two orange colored students.
"But it was Tanada's stupid experiment!" Misao protested.
"You three are a group, all of you are responsible for the other's actions so that goes for you too Mr. Sagara." he called over the two in front of him.
***
Misao was sitting on the floor wringing the rug over the bucket beside her, uttering every curse she had ever heard of when a t-shirt was thrust in her face. She looked up seeing Shiro in front of her.
"Hey sorry I got you in this mess." he said sheepishly.
"Don't I get a shirt too?" Sano shouted from across the room. "Tanada you fag!"
"She's soaked to the bone we don't have to be jerks about it."
"Don't worry Makimachi, he isn't coming on to you. Shiro here's a bonafide fairy!"
"Shut up!" both of them said simultaneously.
"Anyway Tanada you're ok." she smiled.
"Have you forgotten that she is the enemy?" He looked at the two of them laughing at something Shiro said and ignoring him completely. "Yuck this is gross." Sano said throwing his arms in the air.
Sure they had known Misao since freshman year and they have made her life a living hell since then. But Sano had always noticed how she smelled like peaches in the morning, he had always noticed how her cheeks burned after gym, he had always liked teasing her and getting snappy retorts in return. He had always found her amusing.
***
"Wow it looks like you guys will be done in another thirty minutes!" Kenshin joked as he entered the lab. He looked at Misao inside the oversized shirt. "Nice shirt." and he smiled when she blushed.
"Isn't that Shiro's shirt?" he asked seeing the same blue shirt inside the classroom a couple of times and reprimanding Shiro every time because blue undershirts were not part of the school uniform. To his surprise the two of them turned red.
"He…uh he let me borrow it." Misao muttered looking at the floor. Kenshin smiled even wider, he could almost forget that he had to speak to Enishi's mother that…
"Oh shit! What time is it?" he screamed remembering the appointment, the three looked at him dumbfounded never had they heard him curse before. "What time is it?" he prompted once more.
"Uh it's a quarter to five sir." Shiro answered.
"Shit I completely forgot!" he began heading for the door. "Oh and I'm sorry for cursing and return the cleaning materials and lock the door when you leave please." he shouted over his shoulder.
***
He sprinted all the way to his classroom, congratulating himself for being such an idiot.
Shit how embarrassing! And to think I would be lecturing her about Enishi's conduct in class and here I am late for our meeting! Jeez way to go Kenshin!
His shoes shrieked to a stop at the door, thanking all his lucky stars he had worn sneakers that day. He fixed himself hurriedly and walked inside the room. She was standing by the window looking out into the courtyard.
"Mrs. Yukishiro! I am so embarrassed! Please forgive me for my tardiness I was detained by three of my…" he stopped as she turned around. "Ms. Tomoe?"
"Hello Mr. Himura."
"I..d..don't…understand." he managed to stutter.
"Oh, I am his sister." she said stepping closer to him.
"Tomoe Yukishiro? That's your name?" he said congratulating himself once more for his stupidity.
"I am sorry I never gave you my last name did I?"
"No."
"What has Enishi done now?" she asked frowning.
"Oh yeah!" he said suddenly aware of the purpose of this meeting. "Where is your mother?"
"Mama is out of the country you see."
"Oh, well you see I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to know how she disciplined your brother because…"
"She is never home." she interrupted him. "You probably know more about Enishi than she does."
"Oh." well that was articulate!
"Mr. Himura please understand, Enishi has always had a problem with authority he never follows anyone, save coach Makoto."
"I see, but Ms. Yukishiro I can't have him embarrassing me in front of my students. They may not respect me anymore and that could become problematic." he stopped. "I'm sorry why don't we sit down?" he motioned realizing that they were standing in the middle of the room.
"Now what I want to know is how do I get to Enishi? How do I stop him foaming at the mouth everytime he sees me?" he stopped hearing her chuckle.
"Enishi's a good boy, he just has trouble getting along with people he doesn't like."
"Well he already told me he doesn't like me." he said crestfallen. Tomoe smiled, he really was sincere about getting through to Enishi.
"There really is nothing you can do Mr. Himura, let me talk to him."
"I really appreciate it." he smiled.
"Thank you for not bringing this to the principal. One more offense and I'm afraid he might get kicked out."
"I don't understand why he's so angry."
"Well you see all he's asking for is attention. Our parents are always overseas or out of town, I practically raised him. Ever since I could remember it's always been just him and me."
"I think Enishi's got a lot of potential if he didn't hate academics so much. He can't rely on basketball forever, he's got talent but it'll take more than that to make it to the big league. An education will always benefit anyone who has one."
"Is that why you stopped playing Mr. Himura?" she asked.
"Me?" he stopped caught off guard with her question. "I loved playing ball its like nothing else matters when you're on the court. And just hearing the crowd roar when you send a ball sailing will always echo in my head. But we must grow up someday. I had four great years with this school and that's enough for me. Oh lets not talk about boring stuff. I do hope you can cope with your parents not being around."
"You get used to it." she smiled sadly.
"My mother died when I was young and I cannot for the life of me understand why your parents would throw away time they can spend with their children. For me there never seemed enough time to be with her or chances to say I love you." he stopped.
Tomoe looked at him, his sad smile etched upon his face. From the pain in his voice and the lost look in his eyes she could tell that he knew what it was to love and to have to let it go. And yet something inside her felt hollow. Something told her that in all of his smiles there was always sadness. Something told her that he still carried that pain no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Something told her that there was so much more to Mr. Himura then he would let others see.
"Do you have any children Mr. Himura?" she asked blushing when he caught her looking at him.
"Haha I can't even get a woman to say yes to me, let alone have children." he smiled.
"But you're good-looking!" she blurted out.
"I don't think so. Besides teaching is my first love now. If she comes, she comes but as of right now I have my hands full just by keeping your brother's class in check." he laughed. "It would be great having a family though, who knows what a couple of years may bring."
She smiled at him then.
***
Tomoe slid the door shut behind her and leaned on the door. How sad he seemed, how lost.
She peered through the rectangular glass window on the door, seeing him sitting alone on his desk, watching the sunset. How sad he seemed.
****
Kenshin waited until nothing was left of the sun save the orange stain in the sky before he tore his eyes from the window and put all of his things inside his bag. Speaking to Tomoe brought back memories he had long since tried to forget. Something about her brought all his pain to the surface, opening him up, exposing him to the whole world. And then soothing it all away and telling him it was alright.
As if she had come to take all of it away.
He shook his head and made his way back to his car. She was beautiful and smart and young. He told himself that she reminded him what it felt like to be her age. That was all it was.
***
***
"The bunsen burner's flame is too high!" she screamed ducking to reach the gas knob on their work bench. "You're gonna get us all killed!" she turned to the two boys sitting behind her. Shiro was mixing two chemicals and the orange bubbles seeping out of the beaker was not a good sign. Sano on the other hand was sitting with his feet propped up on the desk, reading a comic book.
"Shut up and do your work!" Sano called over his comic.
"Mister Himura!!! Mister Himuraaaaaaaa!" she called waving her arms, she turned just in time to see him make a beeline to the lab technician's room. She turned back to their table just as Shiro's experiment exploded in their faces.
"Shoot me, please." she whispered wiping the acid from her face.
***
"You will not leave the laboratory until you have cleaned this mess." He said looking at the two orange colored students.
"But it was Tanada's stupid experiment!" Misao protested.
"You three are a group, all of you are responsible for the other's actions so that goes for you too Mr. Sagara." he called over the two in front of him.
***
Misao was sitting on the floor wringing the rug over the bucket beside her, uttering every curse she had ever heard of when a t-shirt was thrust in her face. She looked up seeing Shiro in front of her.
"Hey sorry I got you in this mess." he said sheepishly.
"Don't I get a shirt too?" Sano shouted from across the room. "Tanada you fag!"
"She's soaked to the bone we don't have to be jerks about it."
"Don't worry Makimachi, he isn't coming on to you. Shiro here's a bonafide fairy!"
"Shut up!" both of them said simultaneously.
"Anyway Tanada you're ok." she smiled.
"Have you forgotten that she is the enemy?" He looked at the two of them laughing at something Shiro said and ignoring him completely. "Yuck this is gross." Sano said throwing his arms in the air.
Sure they had known Misao since freshman year and they have made her life a living hell since then. But Sano had always noticed how she smelled like peaches in the morning, he had always noticed how her cheeks burned after gym, he had always liked teasing her and getting snappy retorts in return. He had always found her amusing.
***
"Wow it looks like you guys will be done in another thirty minutes!" Kenshin joked as he entered the lab. He looked at Misao inside the oversized shirt. "Nice shirt." and he smiled when she blushed.
"Isn't that Shiro's shirt?" he asked seeing the same blue shirt inside the classroom a couple of times and reprimanding Shiro every time because blue undershirts were not part of the school uniform. To his surprise the two of them turned red.
"He…uh he let me borrow it." Misao muttered looking at the floor. Kenshin smiled even wider, he could almost forget that he had to speak to Enishi's mother that…
"Oh shit! What time is it?" he screamed remembering the appointment, the three looked at him dumbfounded never had they heard him curse before. "What time is it?" he prompted once more.
"Uh it's a quarter to five sir." Shiro answered.
"Shit I completely forgot!" he began heading for the door. "Oh and I'm sorry for cursing and return the cleaning materials and lock the door when you leave please." he shouted over his shoulder.
***
He sprinted all the way to his classroom, congratulating himself for being such an idiot.
Shit how embarrassing! And to think I would be lecturing her about Enishi's conduct in class and here I am late for our meeting! Jeez way to go Kenshin!
His shoes shrieked to a stop at the door, thanking all his lucky stars he had worn sneakers that day. He fixed himself hurriedly and walked inside the room. She was standing by the window looking out into the courtyard.
"Mrs. Yukishiro! I am so embarrassed! Please forgive me for my tardiness I was detained by three of my…" he stopped as she turned around. "Ms. Tomoe?"
"Hello Mr. Himura."
"I..d..don't…understand." he managed to stutter.
"Oh, I am his sister." she said stepping closer to him.
"Tomoe Yukishiro? That's your name?" he said congratulating himself once more for his stupidity.
"I am sorry I never gave you my last name did I?"
"No."
"What has Enishi done now?" she asked frowning.
"Oh yeah!" he said suddenly aware of the purpose of this meeting. "Where is your mother?"
"Mama is out of the country you see."
"Oh, well you see I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to know how she disciplined your brother because…"
"She is never home." she interrupted him. "You probably know more about Enishi than she does."
"Oh." well that was articulate!
"Mr. Himura please understand, Enishi has always had a problem with authority he never follows anyone, save coach Makoto."
"I see, but Ms. Yukishiro I can't have him embarrassing me in front of my students. They may not respect me anymore and that could become problematic." he stopped. "I'm sorry why don't we sit down?" he motioned realizing that they were standing in the middle of the room.
"Now what I want to know is how do I get to Enishi? How do I stop him foaming at the mouth everytime he sees me?" he stopped hearing her chuckle.
"Enishi's a good boy, he just has trouble getting along with people he doesn't like."
"Well he already told me he doesn't like me." he said crestfallen. Tomoe smiled, he really was sincere about getting through to Enishi.
"There really is nothing you can do Mr. Himura, let me talk to him."
"I really appreciate it." he smiled.
"Thank you for not bringing this to the principal. One more offense and I'm afraid he might get kicked out."
"I don't understand why he's so angry."
"Well you see all he's asking for is attention. Our parents are always overseas or out of town, I practically raised him. Ever since I could remember it's always been just him and me."
"I think Enishi's got a lot of potential if he didn't hate academics so much. He can't rely on basketball forever, he's got talent but it'll take more than that to make it to the big league. An education will always benefit anyone who has one."
"Is that why you stopped playing Mr. Himura?" she asked.
"Me?" he stopped caught off guard with her question. "I loved playing ball its like nothing else matters when you're on the court. And just hearing the crowd roar when you send a ball sailing will always echo in my head. But we must grow up someday. I had four great years with this school and that's enough for me. Oh lets not talk about boring stuff. I do hope you can cope with your parents not being around."
"You get used to it." she smiled sadly.
"My mother died when I was young and I cannot for the life of me understand why your parents would throw away time they can spend with their children. For me there never seemed enough time to be with her or chances to say I love you." he stopped.
Tomoe looked at him, his sad smile etched upon his face. From the pain in his voice and the lost look in his eyes she could tell that he knew what it was to love and to have to let it go. And yet something inside her felt hollow. Something told her that in all of his smiles there was always sadness. Something told her that he still carried that pain no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Something told her that there was so much more to Mr. Himura then he would let others see.
"Do you have any children Mr. Himura?" she asked blushing when he caught her looking at him.
"Haha I can't even get a woman to say yes to me, let alone have children." he smiled.
"But you're good-looking!" she blurted out.
"I don't think so. Besides teaching is my first love now. If she comes, she comes but as of right now I have my hands full just by keeping your brother's class in check." he laughed. "It would be great having a family though, who knows what a couple of years may bring."
She smiled at him then.
***
Tomoe slid the door shut behind her and leaned on the door. How sad he seemed, how lost.
She peered through the rectangular glass window on the door, seeing him sitting alone on his desk, watching the sunset. How sad he seemed.
****
Kenshin waited until nothing was left of the sun save the orange stain in the sky before he tore his eyes from the window and put all of his things inside his bag. Speaking to Tomoe brought back memories he had long since tried to forget. Something about her brought all his pain to the surface, opening him up, exposing him to the whole world. And then soothing it all away and telling him it was alright.
As if she had come to take all of it away.
He shook his head and made his way back to his car. She was beautiful and smart and young. He told himself that she reminded him what it felt like to be her age. That was all it was.
***