AN: Remember, this is a revamped fiction! :)
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Chapter 4
It was Monday, the day she despised the most in a week. Not only does this particular day starts off another week, but her classes on Monday were boring and uninteresting, and the idea of going through them were not at all appealing.
Sighing to herself, she walked through the busy halls, a textbook in her hand.
"Good morning, Kaoru!" a cheery voice greeted her. She looked up, and couldn't help but smile at the cheerfulness Soujiro was displaying at 7.30 in the morning.
"Good morning, Soujiro." She greeted back.
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
She was about to answer, but her stomach beat her to it by letting out a growl. She smiled sheepishly, and he laughed, "Well, I guess you haven't then."
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Soujiro and Kaoru were at the school canteen, ordering some breakfast. It was an unusual sight, seeing the canteen so empty. Usually it would be flooded by people who would be chatting away with their companions and friends.
He ordered a tuna sandwich, and she followed suit. After Kaoru argued and insisted that she could pay for her own breakfast (but lost the fight terribly to Soujiro since he was part of the debate team), they grabbed a table at the far end corner of the canteen, and sat down.
Eating while conversing to one another, it was plainly enjoyable. They were talking about alot of things under the sun, from Soujiro's childhood tale to elephants, bananas to musical instruments, ice cream to toilet paper.
It wasn't a surprise that they were not aware of the bell ringing when it did. Too absorbed with their conversation, everything just seemed to have faded around them. And the funny thing was, because of where their table was located, the canteen workers did not notice that they were even there.
"…Telling me that it was my fault, So I told her, this is absu-" he was halfway telling her one of his amusing stories, when his eye caught hold of the ticking clock on the wall. His eyes widened abit, but after a few seconds, his face broke into a huge grin. Kaoru looked at him quizzically, and after noticing her look of confusion, he asked rather slowly,
"Do you know what time is it?"
"Well, it has to be ar-" she replied, but stopped as she glanced at her watch.
"Oh hell no." she muttered, slapping her forehead as realization seeped in.
"Heaven yes." He replied, laughing. It was ten o' clock, just ten minutes away from recess. They've been sitting and talking for about two and a half hours, she thought, groaning inwardly. Wondering what in the world was she going to explain to her teachers later for not showing up in class, she frowned.
Oh wonderful time it would be.
"Since we're only a few minutes away from recess, why not just return back to classes after recess?
She leaned back, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And to think that I half expected you to panic, but you look like you've done this a million times-"
He grinned.
"-…before."
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During recess, Soujiro and Kaoru came up with a plan to escape detention from cutting class.
Kaoru entered the nurse's office, while her partner in crime sneaked in quietly, without the nurse knowing.
Letting out a dramatic "Oh!", Kaoru pretended to faint as she dropped to the floor. Straight away the nurse rushed to her aid, asking her if she was alright, telling her repeatedly to inhale and exhale.
While the scene was mid-way unfolding, Soujiro quickly went over to the table and grabbed two slips silently. He slipped out of room, and gave Kaoru the thumbs up sign. Noticing it at the corner of her eye, she slowly got up, and assured the nurse that she was okay.
As she excited the room, she hurriedly went to Soujiro's side. "I can't believe I just did that." She huffed.
He grinned, as he handed her a pen to fill in the appropriate spaces in the slip.
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When school ended, Kaoru was all smiles. Knowingly that she had developed a small crush with Soujiro all this while, their "act" today just led her infatuation with him one step higher. Walking out of the school gates, she was not paying attention as she hummed to herself.
And sure enough, she banged into someone, someone no taller than her, someone with fiery-orangey hair, someone… who just loves to knock into her.
"Dammit." Both of them mumbled simultaneously. Whipping their heads up, Kaoru sighed tiredly as she saw who she bumped into.
"We really got to stop meeting like this, you know?" she said as a matter of fact.
He let out a soundless chuckle, nodding his head in agreement.
"So, why are you heading back to the school compound anyways?" She asked curiously.
"Book, Class, Left it." Came the very much lazy reply.
"You're a man who loves to paint a picture that's worth a million words, aren't you?"
"………………………………………………."
"That sure answers everything."
"………………………………………………."
"And oh yes, did I mention your silence is truly astounding?"
"………………………………………………."
"Anyway, while you stand here and not say a word while I blabber away, I got to go now."
"………………………………………………."
"I just love talking to a brick wall, don't you?"
"………………………………………………."
"Goodbye Kenshin," Kaoru sighed, giving up as she walked away.
When she was out of eyesight, he secretly smiled to himself as he went back to class to retrieve his book.
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"Class, you have a new student today," The substitute teacher announced to the noisy class. "She's all the way from Kyoto too," he added. "So let's welcome Miss Misao Makimachi!"
Kaoru nearly fell down the chair.
'Oh God, could it be her?' she wondered, as excitement and anxiety filled her senses.
"Kaoru, are you alright?" Soujiro whispered, after sensing the sudden change of mood in Kaoru's face.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Don't worry bout me." Came the distracted reply, as she waved him off.
The new student entered the class shyly, as she whispered a soft "hello". The class chorused a "hi" in reply.
Scanning the room filled with her new classmates, she heard a stifled scream at the back of the class. Eyes quickly darting to where it came from, she spotted a familiar face. Her eyes widened in surprise, hands covering her mouth to stop her screams from emerging.
The teacher, not knowing what was going on -since he was standing behind her, told her to sit at the empty seat (which ironically,) was in front of Kaoru. He told the class to "continue doing their own work," as he went back to the table to resume filling out his report.
The class resumed back to "doing their own work," which was, being noisy.
Misao practically flew to the seat, and straight away jerked her head to face her childhood friend. "Oh Gosh, I can't believe you're here!!" she squealed delightfully. Kaoru grinned, as she gave her a light hug.
"So what are you doing back here in Tokyo?" Kaoru asked, when Misao settled herself down.
"Dad's job got transferred back here. So I guess I'm staying for good, this time." She replied, grinning ear to ear.
"Awwh, man! Damn," she replied smiling, feigning disappointment.
Misao laughed, as she punched her shoulder playfully. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, weather you like it, or not."
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When school ended, the two friends were still yakking about anything and everything, making up for lost time. "Say, where are you going now, Kao?"
"Home. Why?"
"I have to go do some stuff. Want to come along? Maybe we can have lunch together or something."
"Sure, but I have to go home first though. I'll need to tell my mom that I won't be staying for lunch."
"Okay then. I wouldn't mind dropping by to pay your mom a visit anyway. And after that –we'll party all night long till dawn breaks! It's been a hell of a long time since you and I did stuff together!" she replied, a small glint dancing in her blue-green eyes.
Kaoru bit her lip. So she forgot to tell her. Shit.
"Um, Misao? I think I might have left out something… Something you still don't know about." Kaoru started. She knew how this would end up. Drastic.
"Hmm? What, you forgot to buy a toothbrush?" she asked humorously.
"Nothing like that." She paused, exhaling. "I have work to go to in the evening."
Silence.
"WHAT???!?!?"
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So the weather man proved himself accurately correct today. Predicting that thunderstorms were to erupt in the neighborhood, advising that everyone should keep their windows shut. And perfect timing too, she thought sourly.
As soon as the news about her working processed through Misao's brain, she could feel small water droplets on her head.
She had been working at other places before back then. Misao had greatly detested the idea about her working, ever since one of her perverted employers' tried to take advantage and make a move on her. Luckily Misao was there witnessing the whole scene, as she gave the employer a powerful black eye.
But she needs the money, it's an undeniable fact. Sighing deeply as she left Akabeko, she headed home in the midst of the night.
As she reached her house, she saw a figure sitting down at her doorstep.
"Misao? Is that you?"
Misao's head whipped around, jumping up. Kaoru walked over to where Misao was, and before she could utter a word, Misao opened her mouth started talking, face downcast.
"I'm really sorry Kao. I know I shouldn't have stormed off this afternoon. It's just that I was… well… You know I just don't like you working." She finished, looking up.
Much to her relief, Kaoru all but smiled broadly in response.
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AN: Please review!