Possession
Donna8157
Chapter 16 : Camp
"Hiko, have you heard what your idiot son has done?" Mrs. Seijuro berated with her gray eyes flashing dangerously. The woman was pacing back and forth in Hiko's study with fumes literally coming out from her ears.
Hiko looked up from his the pile of bills and other paperwork. He adjusted his glasses with his forefinger as he narrowed his eyes. "What now? What has my baka deshi done?"
Claire Seijuro marched towards his desk and slammed down the papers in her hand on top of her husband's mahogany desk.
"This!" she spat out as she shoved a couple of papers that Kenshin had filled out towards Hiko. Those were the papers that officially made Kaoru a student at Three Willows College Preparatory. Hiko widened his eyes as he reached out for the papers and slowly read through them.
He's changing, he thought. A small smile appeared on his face as he set the papers down on his desk. His instinct had told him that this girl could possibly help Kenshin get over his past and he was happily pleased that the boy seemed to open up little by little.
Meanwhile, the wife stood there with her arms crossed in front of his desk as she waited for her husband's response. "Well?" She impatiently tapped her foot on the carpeted floor.
"Well, what?" Hiko asked. "So Kamiya-san's a student now. What's wrong with that?" He gazed up at his wife with his brown eyes.
"Well," Claire sputtered as outrage began to fill her petite body. "Well, she sold herself to him!" She frantically waved her arms as she stomped around the room once more. "That little whore is probably manipulating him! He's so stupid!"
Hiko's brown eyes flickered with flames of intolerance. "Claire! That's enough! I don't have time for your little temper tantrums!" Even though he was not Kenshin's biological father, he still felt protective of him and over the years had grown to love him. Although that was something he would never openly admit.
The wife stopped in her steps as she looked up at her husband. A biting anger filled her senses as she jerked her head away from his direction and walked out the door, making sure to slam it as hard as possible. When she left the room, Hiko sighed and massaged his temples. He wished he had never gotten married.
Three Willows College Preparatory School
"Oi Soujiro!!" Sanosuke called out as he waved his hand in the air trying to catch his friend's attention.
Soujiro looked up from the crowds of people around him on the field and found a familiar patch of spiky-hair from afar. He grinned and picked up his bags as he maneuvered around the other students to walk towards the aforementioned person. "Sagara-san," he started as they neared one another, "when did you get here?"
Sanosuke wiped some sweat off of his brow as he sighed. "I've been here about twenty minutes already. The buses are already lined up." He motioned towards the row of tour buses parked next to the field. Soujiro nodded as he looked towards the parking lot. Today was the day that the seniors were going to go to the Sports and Arts camp and everyone was dressed in casual clothing. It was a big event and everyone around them seemed to be in the highest of spirits. Laughter and talking seemed to fill the wide field.
"Is . . umm . . Kenshin coming?" Sano asked as he readjusted the duffel bag that he had over his shoulders.
The blue-eyed young man shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure if Himura-san is coming or not. It never seemed to be a good time to ask him."
"Che," the spiky-haired man said under his breath as he kicked the grass beneath his feet. "It's his last year. He should have some fun. Or at least not deprive jou-chan of some fun."
Soujiro looked suspiciously at Sanosuke. It almost seemed as if he was really serious about her. "Well . . maybe they'll come. Let's look around, Sagara-san."
The two of them searched wandered around the area searching for them, but alas they were not there.
"OKAY STUDENTS! LINE UP TO GET ON YOUR ASSIGNED BUSES!" the gym teacher yelled out through a megaphone. Everyone around Soujiro and Sanosuke quickly gathered their belongings and went on to their respective buses. Once it seemed that most of the people had gotten on the bus, Sano and Soujiro too started to make their way to the parking lot.
"I guess Himura-san decided not to come, " Soujiro sighed.
At that moment, a large black limo pulled up in the parking lot. The seniors in the buses pressed their faces against the windows trying to get a look at who was in there.
It was Kenshin and Kaoru.
As the two of them got out of the limo, the students and faculty widened their eyes in surprise. Himura Kenshin had never attended any school activities ever in his high school career. Soujiro saw the both of them and his bright blue eyes lit up and he quickly made his way over to them.
"Himura-san!! Kamiya-san!! You came after all," the boy said with a grin.
"Yeah, it's good to see that you could come, Kenshin." Sanosuke strode up next to them with a half-smile on his face. His relationship with the red-haired man had become a bit rugged since that incident in his apartment. But he shrugged off those feelings of apprehension as he made it a point to himself to enjoy the trip.
Kenshin nodded as he saw the both of them come towards him.
"Hello, sir," Kaoru said as she bowed her head down towards Sanosuke and Soujiro.
"Hello Kamiya-san," Soujiro said as he returned the bow.
"Hey there jou-chan! It's nice to see that you came!" Sano exclaimed. It was then that he realized what the two of them were wearing and a small chuckle erupted from his throat. Kaoru looked up at him awkwardly.
The spiky-haired man pointed at the attire they were wearing. "Are you guys going to some party or something? What is up with the suits? I mean . . I can see why Kenshin would wear those suits all the time . . but jou-chan?" Kenshin was wearing a black suit and Kaoru was wearing a dark gray pants suit with low heeled shoes. Clothes that were definitely not suitable for camping.
The young woman looked down at the clothes she was wearing and she laughed at herself inaudibly. Really, she thought, we're going camping and I'm wearing this Versace suit.
"Well, we'll see you there," Sano chimed with a wave as he pushed Soujiro towards the bus. The two of them watched as the other two left.
"Kaoru-san!!"
"Kaoru!"
Kaoru looked up when she heard tapping on the windows of the bus. It was Ryuzaburo and Shura. She waved and smiled at them. Kenshin seemed to ignore everyone and just walked onto the bus. The blue-eyed woman followed him with bags in hand. She still couldn't believe that he had actually consented on going on this trip. It was rather sudden when he announced to her that morning that she was to pack up her things and get ready to go.
When Kenshin got onto the bus, the once noisy atmosphere became incredibly quiet. The red-haired man ignored their reactions and headed towards the seat in the back. He sat by the window and closed his eyes as he crossed his arms. As Kaoru got onto the bus, she felt how stiff the mood had become and carefully moved towards the back to sit next to Kenshin. She could literally feel the hatred that pulsed from all directions towards the young man. The young woman looked over at the other to see his reaction, but Kenshin remained expressionless.
The students who had once thought that the bus ride to the camp grounds would be lively suddenly felt agonized when they saw that Kenshin was going to be on the bus. It seemed as if the bus ride was going to be quiet from then onwards.
Tap tap
Kaoru turned to the side when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. Ryuzaburo and Shura were sitting across from her and smiled while waving. The blue-eyed girl gave them a half-hearted smile before turning back and closing her eyes. The next moment, the engines of the bus started roaring and the driver started to close the door.
"WAIT!" a familiar voice called out. Two people quickly got onto the bus and seemed to be a bit short of breath from running.
"Thank you." The two self-invited guests looked around the bus and went towards Kaoru when they saw her in the back. She lifted her head and opened her eyes when she felt someone stand in front of her.
Kaoru widened her eyes. "H-how?" She looked back and forth between Sanosuke and Soujiro. Somehow they too got on the bus, even though they weren't assigned to it.
Sanosuke grinned heartily as he and Soujiro decided to take the empty seat right in front of Kenshin and Kaoru. "We asked someone to change buses with us. They seemed to be delighted with the idea and agreed." The tall man then looked around the bus and noticed just how quiet it was, almost to a suffocating degree. He surmised that it was probably because Kenshin had gotten on that bus also. He thought back to the people that had exchanged seats with them. "I can see why they were excited by the idea of changing buses with us now."
Soujiro then turned around to face the people behind him. He noticed that Kenshin had his eyes closed. "Is Himura-san sleeping? How can he fall asleep during such an exciting time?" He shook his head sadly.
"Well, this is boring! We're supposed to be on a trip," Sano exclaimed with a heave. "I'm just gonna have to fix it!" The tall man got up from his seat and began walking to the front of the charter bus. He picked up the microphone and tapped it to see whether or not it was turned on.
"Testing . .testing. One, two, three." The microphone seemed to be loud enough. Sano grinned as he looked at everyone. "Hello. The reason that this devilishly handsome self-invited passenger is on this bus is to help you, the people on this bus, escape from this cold ambience. Until we get to the camp grounds, I'm willing to sacrifice myself to make you guys enjoy the bus ride." He then pointed to various people on the bus and narrowed his eyes playfully. "And . . if any of you oppose my being up here or find it uninteresting, you girls can come up here and do a strip show for all of us." He winked at some of the girls on the bus. They started blushing.
Everyone seemed to remain quiet and just watched him.
"Okay! Everyone seems to be in favor of me staying up here so I'll begin now. For our first show, we will have a famous dance instructor come up and do a dance routine!" Sanosuke gestured towards the back and winked at Soujiro.
The blue-eyed man widened his eyes in disbelief as his mouth dropped open. Sano widened his eyes a bit, trying to plead with the boy nonverbally. Still in shock, Soujiro pointed to himself asking whether or not it was him who the man was referring to. The spiky-haired man nodded his head rapidly with a grin on his face as he again motioned for the other step up.
Soujiro narrowed his eyes coldly as he stared at his so-called friend and pushed himself up from the cloth chair. As he walked towards the other, he mouthed the words, "I'll get you back for this, Sagara-san."
A small sweat drop appeared on Sanosuke's forehead and he smiled uneasily.
"All right! Let's give a round of applause for Seta Soujiro!" Sanosuke clapped as he then turned on some music on the bus's radio and signaled to the other to start dancing.
Soujiro grit his teeth together as he stood there in the front. This had to be the most embarrassing situation he had ever been in and the worst thing of all was the small, hard fact that he just could not dance. He then felt Sanosuke jab him in the shoulder, telling him to start. Soujiro sighed helplessly and took a deep breath.
tap tap
The boy lifted his pant leg and tapped one of his feet on the floor and then switched to the other, making sure to keep in rhythm with the music. The dance looked rather odd and seemed more like the boy was hopping back and forth on either foot. Sano watched and had to hide the eruption of laughter that was threatening to burst from his mouth with great difficulty. Once the music was over, everyone clapped surprisingly. The students who were near Kenshin clapped with less gusto as they looked over at the red-haired man making sure not to aggravate him. And Sano motioned for Soujiro to go back to his seat.
"Hmm . ." he thought in contemplation as he tapped his finger on his bottom chin. "Who should go next?" His grin widened mischievously as he looked towards the back. "You know . .I've always wanted to hear this person sing. I don't know how everyone else feels about it." Sanosuke slurred the end of his words and fixed his cinnamon eyes on Kaoru. Everyone else's gaze seemed to follow Sano's and turned to girl.
Blue eyes widened when she realized what he had just signed her up to do. Ryuzaburo grinned when he saw Kaoru's reaction.
"Kamiya Kaoru!" Ryuzaburo shouted when he understood where Sanosuke was going with it.
Ryuzaburo and Shura clapped their hands wildly when and shouted for her to go up and sing. Everyone on the bus, except for Kenshin, seemed to be rooting for her to do it. Kaoru felt heat rise up in her cheeks as she looked at Sanosuke, perplexed.
Soujiro smiled broadly as he urged the girl to go. "Go on, Kamiya-san. Whatever you do will be ten times better than my dancing."
Sanosuke cocked a smile as he gestured for Kaoru to walk to the front. "I never said who, but I see everyone wants to hear jou-chan sing. Hurry up here . . we don't want to keep the audience waiting." Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Kaoru sucked in her breath and walked to the front. There was no getting out of it.
"All right. What is the title of your song?" the man asked as he handed her the microphone.
"Ano . . it's . . eto . . 'Scarlet' by Sawachika Hirosuke."
Kaoru took the microphone steadily into her slightly trembling hands and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
mune ni afurete tsunoru omoi
Her voice was a bit shaky at first, but it gradually grew smoother as the song went on. Although she did not hit all the notes and her voice broke at times, everyone was still captivated by the sweet sound that came out of her mouth. The emotion that burst through that song was so very palpable to the other students.
Kenshin slightly opened his eyes when he heard Kaoru's voice. He looked up and saw her standing there singing with her eyes closed and a deep crimson blush staining her face. As he sat there, her sweet voice seemed to submerge into his mind.
Three hours later the bus finally arrived at the campsite. The students quickly got off the bus and rushed to their assigned cabins to put away their things. Afterwards, they started getting ready for lunch. Kenshin watched all of this with uninterested eyes. Why had he agreed to this in the first place? He sighed as he walked away with his hands in his pockets and went towards the woods.
Kaoru watched him as he walked towards the thicket of trees and shrubs. She was about to follow him when she felt Ryuzaburo tap her on the shoulder. She turned towards him and found him smiling.
"Kaoru-san, let me draw you," he asked. The young woman looked down and noticed the art supplies in one hand and the canvas tucked underneath his arm. "Please. For a friend."
The girl nodded almost unwillingly and the boy grabbed her hand and led her towards the woods.
As they started walking, Ryuzaburo looked over at her with excitement twinkling in his eyes. "I saw this small waterfall over there when I was exploring the area. It's really quite beautiful and I instantly thought of you. I'm sure you'll like it a lot."
Not knowing how to respond, Kaoru only nodded.
As she was led farther into the woods, they finally stopped at a small clearing. The place that Ryuzaburo had taken her looked like an unfrequented area and was hidden by trees and bushes. Because it was pretty far off from the campgrounds there were only sounds of water flowing and the occasional sound of birds chirping.
"How is it, Kaoru-san? Isn't it breath-taking?" he asked triumphantly as he let go of her hand and began to set up his art materials. He looked around with an "artist's eye" and motioned to the young woman to sit on the rock right in front of the waterfall. After he adjusted her hair, he began his work.
"Hey Kaoru!!" Shura shouted as she searched around the area for her friend. A minute ago, Kaoru had been standing near the cabin where Kenshin was, but now she could see neither of them. She sighed and asked another person. "Have you seen Kaoru?"
"Yeah, she went off with Ryuzaburo towards the woods. He said something about painting her," the other student replied as she pointed towards the direction they had gone.
"Thanks!" Shura said with a quick wave and ran off.
Kenshin pushed aside a few branches of the trees as he walked further into the woods. Then he heard the sound of rushing water. He decided that he would follow that sound. He soon came upon a large rock structure with a small waterfall. The scenery was absolutely priceless and the only thought that popped into his mind when he saw it was –
What would Kaoru say if she saw this?
He shook his head and tried to get those thoughts out of his head. He looked up at the rocky structure and thought about walking closer to get a better look.
"Turn a bit towards that way, Kaoru-san," a masculine voice stated.
Kenshin stopped in his steps as he quickly hid himself behind the tree. From the side of the tree, he saw two people on the other side of the area. One he recognized as the boy that he had beat up the other day and the other . .the other was Kaoru. His eyes seemed to drift towards her. The sun cast a brilliant shade of black on her hair and her face was turned towards the side. Her nose high and her lips firmly set. But what drew him in the most was her eyes. They seemed to radiate underneath the rays of the sun and burned an electric blue color. Those eyes captivated him even from afar.
Stop it, he berated himself. She'll only hurt you. He finally forced himself to turn around, but at that moment he heard someone scream.
"BEAR!!!"
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- To be continued
Author's Notes :
Please review! Thanks! I hope you enjoyed the chapter =D
1.) Seijuro Hiko and Claire:
Yes, there is a reason why they're married. It will be revealed later in the story. I'm sure you guys are wondering why he married such a woman. Hehe. Or rather, why he ever got married at all.
2.) "Scarlet" sung by Iwao Junko/composed by Sawachika Hirosuke
English translation of the part that Kaoru sang:
And also I just wanted to reiterate that Kaoru doesn't have such a great singing voice (not in this fic). It's her emotions and sweet tone of voice that captivated the others.
Special thanks to Ryoga, June, HitokiriSky, Honeyz-Rinoa, cyjj, flaming-amber, cutie-chan-XD3, kirie-kun, Katana Midori, super, Lendra-chan, Just aboy, Boomerang-chan, kik-ting, Chibi Kiki, InuLimbo, Piper, Himura-chan, Eternal-senshi-s, Kitsune Kenshin, saotome, Koukeisha, Kiichi Dazai, Falconess106, stranger, RKfan86, Karen, Jade Catseye, Lizzie, Ochanoko, Tenshi-no-Hana-chan, Sugar-Crazy-Fox, nobody, Reignashii, Spike-Faye, De Lazy Lime, whitesparkles99, anna, ;) bratty, Coodle, JouChan, S3R3nity, andy, D-lolo, ariel, rain angst, Oni Tokage, Miaka, midnight pysch, and KKfan4ever for reviewing! Thanks so much for all of your support. ::hugs and passes out anji-flavored brownies?::