Author: Phoebe Otaku

Title: College Life

Chapter 5: what is the world coming to?

Disclaimer: Io non possiedo niente.

Author's notes: don't really have anything to say that's new

Want new title, want a plot, and want some free time...

Also, have started the next chapter of betrayal...but don't know how much I'll be able to get done on that one...

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Sometimes it was amazing to Kenshin the number of female students that tried to flirt or throw themselves at Professor Fujita ('tried' being the operative word, for Saitou Hajime, a.k.a. Fujita Gorou, would have none of it.) On one level Kenshin could understand that some women found the forceful, strict personality attractive. On a completely different level, Kenshin also understood that Saitou was not quite as adept at hiding the vibe that exuded 'danger' which, for some reason, was sexy to the young women. It was one of the many mysteries of the world, it was. That men who acted like total assholes were sought after. The long and short of it was: if Saitou hadn't been a completely faithful and devoted husband, he could have been quite the playboy. This boggled Kenshin and led to many bemused 'Oros' as the female, and sometimes the odd male, students grilled the him about the professor he worked for/with.

Being Saitou's T.A. had its ups and downs. It gave him a daily dose of scathing criticism but at the same time it was almost welcome to spend time with someone that knew who he had been in the past. The men had been forced to work together as a stipulation of Kenshin's retirement. Saitou still worked for the government and, for now, a university professor seemed a good enough cover for him. Kenshin also had no delusions about the fact that Saitou would kill him instantly if he thought that Kenshin was 'acting up.' The flip side of it was that Kenshin would keep an eye on Saitou, a former enemy. The government had thought that there was little chance of collusion between the two men that had tried to kill each other for years. The day to day kept them both out of trouble and away from each others throats. The humor of the situation brought no lack of smirks to Saitou's face. This smirk was also considered 'sexy'. Kenshin really wished that students would stop confiding these things in him. Today, out of all the days of working with Saitou, had proven to be the one that made Kenshin want to roll on the floor laughing.

A beautiful woman had entered the lecture hall, smiled a perfect bright smile at everyone and taken a seat. Saitou had lectured on a particularly sticky point of ethics then opened the floor for discussion. Most of the students were, on some level, terrified of their professor. It was well known that he didn't tolerate stupidity and, to the delight of many students, made no hesitation in putting pretentious know-it-alls in their place. Saitou would typically argue you into the dirt, acknowledging only worthy points of discussion. Thus, the discussion did not pick up speed until the new woman, entered and began arguing adamantly with Professor Fujita. The class blinked in disbelief for a moment at the stranger, many didn't expect a woman that beautiful to be so intelligent. The incredulous looks on their faces had only progressed to shock when they realized that the woman was winning an argument against the professor. Professor Fujita had finally spread his arms in a gesture of defeat and smiled, actually smiled. Kenshin, in the mean time, was trying to contain his laughter. He was sure, however, that if he hadn't already known, the next pronouncement would have sent him into an apoplectic fit. Saitou shook his head and turned back to the class, gesturing to the woman.

"Class, perhaps I should introduce my wife...Tokio..." Mirth was not typically something that you saw expressed in Saitou's eyes, never outside of the presence of his wife, anyway.

"Oh, dear...now you've shocked them..." She murmured, breaking some of the stunned tension in the room, but not failing to notice that some of the girls still sulked.

"It's nice to see you, Tokio. Did you plan this?" Kenshin asked a bit later.

"Well, not completely...but the rabid girls were starting to bug my husband again. So, I thought I would visit. It's nice to see you too, Kenshin." She answered warmly. The class still sat in stunned silence. Kenshin wasn't surprised, the first time he had found out that Saitou was married he had been convinced she must have been an angel. Then he met the beautiful, intelligent woman who had 'tamed' The Wolf. She was a wonderful person, caring and considerate. Kenshin wondered sometimes if she had just married Saitou because it would look good on her sainthood application, but he knew that she truly loved her wolfish husband and would do anything for him, including bear his children. Saitou with children bothered Kenshin almost more than the thought of Saitou with a woman scared him. But they had already produced one mini-Saitou, adopted another, and were happily trying for more. Kenshin sought fervently to wipe away the mental images inspired by that last thought. The boys themselves, fortunately, were surprisingly normal.

"Oh, Kenshin? Would you mind watching the boys again this Friday?" Kenshin and Tokio took a moment to take in more shocked looks from the students still lingering in the classroom. Were they honestly blind to the prominently placed photo of his family that the professor had on his desk?

"Sure." Kenshin said with a smile, he honestly loved children. He was still surprised that Tokio had ever asked him and that apparently Saitou had agreed to it. But then again, who would you get to baby-sit the children of one of the most dangerous men alive? Oh yes, that's right, an ex-assassin who spent years trying to kill their father...

"Um...Kenshin..." Tokio said with a blush that turned into an almost feral look "Do you think you could take them to your apartment?"

"ORO?" Kenshin would never cease to be shocked by this...frankness. "Um, okay... I'll have to ask Kaoru."

"Kaoru?" Tokio asked. On one hand, Kenshin was glad to be changing the subject. On the other, he wasn't sure what to say now.

"She's my roommate."

"Living with a woman now, Himura?" Saitou interjected.

"Oh, that's exciting!" Tokio grinned. "I will have to meet her, I'm sure she's beautiful, and a wonderful person too, lucky girl!"

"Finally murdered the Ahou?" Saitou asked with a smirk. For all the derogatory comments Saitou made about Sanosuke, he grudgingly treated him like another adopted son. Sano returned the feeling. Words like 'asshole,' 'idiot,' and 'bastard' had become almost like fatherly endearments.

"You will have to bring her to the faculty reception." Tokio said, giving her husband a withering look. "But I'll meet her when I bring the boys over..."

"Ano..." was all Kenshin could say before Tokio turned to her husband and continued.

"Sanosuke is supposed to come to dinner tonight, he's apparently bringing Megumi." She smiled at that. "So, we should go to the grocery store on the way home." Everyone present knew that this was about the equivalent of Sano taking 'his woman' to meet his parents, a very big very serious step, especially for Sano. Saitou blinked for a moment in what could only be described as shock before mumbling "both those idiots have women...what is the world coming to?" in an almost bemused tone while his wife ushered him out of the room. The last few lingering students shooting Kenshin looks of utter confusion before he heaved a sigh and left the room.

Kenshin knew he was long overdue to have a talk with Kaoru about his past, but life kept interfering. 'Not to mention,' Kenshin thought to himself as he slid into the driver's seat of his car, 'the timing of an –I used to be the most feared assassin south of the polar ice caps- conversation is particularly difficult.' He knew that on one level that he was just putting it off out of fear and, he would admit, a little selfishness. He wanted to be close to her, even if he had to pretend not to have romantic feelings for her. Despite knowing that he was too tainted, too stained with blood, to be right for her, pushing her away was something he couldn't bring himself to do. Pretending to be oblivious didn't seem to work with her; he couldn't be mean or indifferent to her. And Kenshin had seen in the relationship between Aoishi and Misao just how well that coldness would work. He didn't expect it to be any more effective for him, but he couldn't even bring himself to try to be indifferent to Kaoru.

Now he had to ask her if she would mind helping him baby-sit Saitou's children on Friday. One couldn't very well go about asking someone to help him care for children and then announce, in passing, 'oh, yes dear, I almost forgot, I used to commit murder just about every night...so, how was your day?' Sarcasm aside, it just didn't work. Kenshin pulled into a parking space and collected his briefcase.

"I will tell her soon." He said to his rearview mirror with a sigh.

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