Dance But Never Forget
Chapter 1: The Dancers
Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like I own Rurouni Kenshin?! I think not! And if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't be just sitting here writing fics!
Lexi: Hello dear readers!!!!
Sano: ::Pokes:: Did you have sugar or something?
Lexi: ::Looks around room:: Of course not!
Sano: Suuuure, just like I haven't had saké in a month.
Lexi: Well anyway. We've all wondered what lengths to which Aoshi would go to get Misao to fall in love with him. Now we will know…
Sano: This should be good…
Lexi: Oh yes. Some of the characters might be slightly OOC and I tweaked some of the ages…Aoshi's younger and Kaoru's older but all the others are the same as of yet. Also, this starts out fairly light but it WILL get more dramatic, believe me.
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AOSHI:
'Damn this is embarrassing!' Aoshi thought. How many high school guys in their right mind would be trying on ballet duds? Love had made him insane. Ah, Misao. How he longed for her. But how could he, the mysterious loner who never smiled, get her attention? Misao was the popular, gorgeous junior who half the guys in the school were head over heels for. She could have any guy she wanted. Yet she was still single. And then he came up with his plan. The one true love of Misao was dance—ballet to be specific. Therefore, the way to her heart must be through ballet.
Aoshi quickly ducked back into the changing room. 'Damn again! I hope she didn't see me!'
"Aoshi!"
'She knows my name…damn it all she saw me!'
"I didn't know you did ballet! That's so cool!" She smiled brightly at him, a smile that almost made him smile. He quickly repressed it. He could never smile.
"I'm just starting."
"Oh cool, where do you go?"
"Erm…that place three blocks down from the high school."
"Hey, me too! Maybe we'll be in the same class."
'I know we are. But I can't tell her that, she'll think I'm some kind of freaky stalker!' "Er, yeah…"
"Well, um, see ya around!" Misao paid for her toe shoes and left the store. Aoshi sighed.
'There goes perfection.' He thought. 'I wonder if she remembers…'
--FLASHBACK--
"Hey Shinomori, where're those twin toothpicks ya always carry?"
"Gonna hit me with the toothpicks, Shinomori?"
The laughter of his taunters echoed in his ears. How hard he trained with his kodachis, carrying on the Shinomori tradition centuries old. He was the only one left, and they dared to call his swords "toothpicks".
"Hey, leave him alone you guys! Aoshi works hard to be good with those. Bug off Saitō." Misao glared at the other 6th graders, who retreated, not without a few mimicking glares directed at Aoshi.
"We'll be back Shinomori!"
Misao looked at Aoshi, who responded with his usual stony expression. "I don't need you to make them leave. I am Shinomori Aoshi, descendent of the great family of Shinomori, and I fight my own fights."
Tears began to form in Misao's eyes, and she ran away trying hard not to sob. This was what always happened to Aoshi. Someone would try to stand up for poor defenseless him. Well he would show them. Next time he would be ready.
And he was. He had a hard time explaining to the principal how 5-inch-long bloody slits found their way onto the arms and torsos of Saitō and friends.
--END FLASHBACK--
He sighed. She had stood up for him. And he had beaten Saitō's ass. Ah, good times. The candle in the dark. But he had made her cry; he had seen it. The candle flickered. Things had only gotten worse, and Misao had forgotten him.
MISAO:
She felt the familiar light feeling she always had after talking to him. She could almost fly as she walked home with her toe shoes. But noone could ever know how she felt. Misao the popular with a crush on Aoshi the loner? A loner that never smiled. She could never explain that to her friends.
And yet, she still liked him. A lot. She was so happy that he was taking ballet. Most guys thought it was girly, so she commended him for doing it. And she would have an excuse to see him for an hour and a half twice a week. This was turning into almost too much of a good thing. Was Aoshi…no. He didn't have any emotion. How could he ever love?
She fished around in her purse for the key to her house. Locating it, she opened the door and yelled.
"Mom, I'm home!"
"Why should I care, you lazy brat?"
"Shut up Kaoru."
Kaoru came smiling into the room. "Mom's out. Hey little sis."
"You're back from college? Why?"
"Break. Law school can be total hell."
"I'm not bothering with law school, I'm going to be a dancer."
"That's a million to one shot, but I think you can do it."
Misao was touched. "Thanks Kaoru. I think that's the first time you've been nice to me in years."
Kaoru glared. "Don't push it. One of my friends at college introduced me to this great thing called a bokkan…"
Our lovesick heroine departed to her room with a smile. Why shouldn't she be happy? She had dance tonight. And dance now meant Aoshi. She began to change into her leotard and tights, smiling like there was no tomorrow.
AOSHI:
'This is stupid. I can't believe I'm wearing tight pants. I'd be laughingstock if anyone ever found out. The things I do for love.'
Aoshi threw on black pants and a trench coat over his ridiculous ballet get-up. At least he could look respectable going there.
He walked to the ballet school, feeling for all the world like he was going undercover. He felt naked without his kodachis.
Once he slipped through the door, he was surprised at what he saw. It was a large, airy room, all the walls covered with mirrors. There were two doors on one side of the room; one marked "Girls", the other "Boys". He slipped through the appropriate door and had to work very hard to keep an emotionless face.
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Lexi: Hee hee hee, what does Aoshi see?
Sano: Do we want to know?
Lexi: You already know.
Sano: Well duh you told me.
Lexi: Do not worry, this cliffy will not be for long, I will update within three days! If not, well, I'm dead. So sue me. Oh, I didn't mean that. I love you all. Especially when you review.