High School Crushes are for Wimps

Kenshin walked around the library to check on each of his students and to see if they had any questions for him on what the oral assignment should entail. He always wished for his students to take the initiative and do what they wanted…just as long as they used certain science/biology words, like how the organs related to other organs inside the body and so on. Kenshin had sighed for the third time in the past half an hour as he proceeded towards Sanosuke Sagara who was again mucking around with one of his classmates and not doing any work. He didn't know why Sanosuke was the way he was, but maybe he didn't like to think of himself as a smart student, because if he worked that's exactly what Sano was. Maybe he was trying to impress a certain young female but going about it entirely the wrong way…

"Himura-sensei, can we make up some props for show?" One of his female students questioned as he walked past the table they sat at.

"Of course you can. It won't necessarily get you better marks then the other students, but creativity is always something to look forward to when trying to explain organs to others. He watched the two girls smile at him and then they huddled closely together to decide just what they were going to do next week. As Kenshin kept walking, his eyes swiftly moved over towards the table that Takani Megumi was sitting and was surprised to see that Sano had moved to sit next to her and pointed out a couple of things in a book he had actually gotten from the resource shelves. Oh, Megumi was surprised that was for sure, especially the way she blinked silently up at him numerous times, but with the wave of her hand it obviously meant it was time for Sano to take some notes.

Kenshin's violet eyes had now drifted to the two quietest students in his class. They sat further away from everyone else, on a table that would normally fit four people but took it up with papers and a couple of books. They sat on opposite sides of the table; no conversation breaking out between them to discuss anything and instead they each silently read the information Misao had printed from the internet.

"How is everything going over here?" Kenshin spoke once he reached the table Misao and Aoshi sat at. Their silent peaceful time had been interrupted and he watched as both of his students simultaneously placed down the pages they were reading and stared up at him saying nothing.

"Do the both of you have any questions? I just had one of your classmates ask if props could be used and I have allowed it." Still he received no questions or responses for that matter and nodded his head silently knowing his students probably heard the girls question since the library was pretty dead quiet to begin with. As Kenshin turned to head back to the front counter where he could sit and watch over all his students he heard some shuffling from behind him knowing Aoshi was turning around to look up at him.

"Himura-sensei is it possible for myself and Makimachi to borrow two of the science lab coats?" Kenshin turned around after registering Aoshi's question and noticed the slight confusion flicker across Misao's face as he obviously hadn't told her about his own plan yet.

"I don't see any problem with that." Aoshi nodded his head in affirmation at hearing his teachers consent and went back to highlighting some of the sentences on the sheets of paper in front of him. Kenshin continued to walk off with Misao blinking several times, her eyes pointedly on Aoshi's bowed head.

"Are you planing on telling me your idea?" She spoke in an emotionless tone of voice and Aoshi sat up straight, his hands lifting above his head as he stretched in the chair and yawned.

"First I need to find a mannequin and then I'll tell you my idea."

"A mannequin?" Misao repeated Aoshi's words but watched as he stood up when the bell went signalling they could have a short five minute break to go to the bathroom or grab a drink.

"I'm getting a soda, want me to grab you one?" Aoshi asked Misao as he fished in his pockets for some loose change. He quickly caught the money Misao threw at him and heard her mumble a coke behind the papers she was reading. Aoshi turned to leave, Misao's eyes drifting away from the heart diagram she had been staring at and instead rested on Aoshi's back.

"Lab coats, a mannequin, just what is he thinking…" Misao mumbled to herself, but sat up straight when she saw a younger student scurry past with a handful of books only to trip over the strap of Aoshi's bag lying on the ground. She collapsed in a heap and Misao sighed as she stood up and moved around the table to notice it had been the same girl from before.

"Do you have some sort of record for how many times you fall over in a day?" Misao questioned the girl, observing as she brushed her short brown hair out of her face and began collecting some of her books together.

"Gomen nasai…" She spoke in a soft whisper and Misao shook her head while grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her to her feet.

"Why are you apologising?" Misao asked again, but watched the girl bow at her, which made her raise her eyebrow in curious wonder.

"I apologise for distracting you from your studies Makimachi-sempai." Now that really caught Misao off guard. How was it that this girl knew who she was?

"How do you know my name? You are clearly a grade 10 student."

"Everyone knows the ice queen." Misao heard the girl gasp in horror at her own words, her brown eyes growing wide as she stared at Misao in fear.

"What's your name?" Misao spoke as she completely ignored the ice queen remark for some odd reason.

"S-S-Sanjou Tsubame, it's a pleasure to meet you after all the run in's we have had because of me."

"Well Sanjou Tsubame shouldn't you be running along to class before you get detention for being late?" Misao watched as she gasped in shock and then bowed mumbling a quick thank you and then raced towards the counter to loan out the books she selected before racing out the door, almost tripping again but kept on her feet and headed for her next class.

"Who was that Makimachi?" Kenshin questioned as he stood beside Misao having noticed she was having a conversation with the other short girl. He watched Misao shrug her shoulders as she went back to sit in her chair and pick up her printouts once more.

"Some strange girl that keeps falling over in my vicinity." Misao replied in boredom as she picked up the highlighter Aoshi had been using previously and marked some sentences on the paper.

"I saw you having a conversation with her…" Kenshin spoke as he sat on the edge of the desk looking over Misao and observed as she sighed placing the page down and picked up another one.

"I told her to watch were she was going and if she ever tripped near me again I would have to beat her up." Kenshin's eyes had grown wide at the serious tone in Misao's voice.

"I seriously doubt you'd truly inflict physical pain onto any student since they already cower at your icy death glare Makimachi." Came a remark from behind Kenshin and he sat up from the desk to watch Aoshi sit back down in his chair and wordlessly hand the can of coke over to her.

"Eh, I've never been one for physical strength so I gotta have something to make them leave me the hell alone."

"Spoken like a true ice queen." Aoshi retorted instantly as he opened his bottle of water and drunk half its contents. Misao spoke of no cocky remark as she took a drink from the coke can and went back to reading.

"What, no hasty reply to that?" Aoshi spoke with a raised eyebrow.

"Himura-sensei was still behind you so I thought it best not to cause a complete commotion."

"And now?" Aoshi questioned once more, watching Misao place down another paper and pick up a book this time while replying to his little statement again.

"The moment has already passed and I don't feel like verbally abusing you at the moment."

"Is that right. So you mean you'll just save it for a later date huh?" Misao glanced over at Aoshi, her eyes blinked as she could have sworn there was a smirk on his lips for about two seconds. She had caught some odd flicker in his eyes, but his long bangs and his quick facial reflexes sent him back into emotionless Shinomori Aoshi before Misao even had a chance to analyse it all.

* * * *

The class ended quickly, making the school day draw close to an end. Misao was currently placing her loose notes and the printed matter she got from the internet into her folder and placed it in her bag. Her eyes wondered over to other students noting most were already packed up and waiting for the bell to go. Her blue eyes drifted to Aoshi's standing form as he spoke quietly with a dark haired girl. Misao remembered that her name was Takani something, but never paid enough attention to get her first name. Except for that Sagara Sanosuke guy since he was always the person to get in the most trouble. He knew that girl sat next to him and constantly smacked him over the head for stupid reasons. Misao would have thought someone like Sano would have snapped back…unless…

Misao drifted her eyes back to Aoshi and the Takani girl and watched as she laughed lightly, one of her hands brushing over Aoshi's right arm as she did so. Misao's lips had turned into a frown just by watching that and she quickly darted her gaze away. Aoshi was at the photocopier and was copying some pages he had marked with scrap paper from the books he found on the resource shelves and was only half listening to what Megumi was talking about. She seemed intrigued to want to know the ins and outs of Misao in which Aoshi had shrugged his shoulders and told her if she was so interested then go ask the girl herself.

Misao's eyes had not drifted back to Megumi and Aoshi as they parted ways so he could come back and grab his folder and bag. Misao scribbled a note on a piece of paper and placed it out for Aoshi to take.

"Meet me here at about 11pm tonight." Aoshi unfolded the note glancing down at the street address and turned to see Misao dump some books on the return shelf and head out of the library not saying anything more then she had to.

"Aoshi-kun are you coming?" Megumi spoke loudly to grab Aoshi's attention which snapped him out of staring down at the note, he stuffing it into his pocket, grabbing his folder and his bag and headed towards Sano and Megumi whom were waiting for him as they walked back to their lockers together.

"We're hanging out at my older brothers place this afternoon Aoshi-kun, wanna come?" Sano spoke as he headed out the school grounds, untucking his uniform shirt in doing so and met up with Megumi, Yume, Tomoe, Enishi and Soujiro who were already at the gates waiting. Aoshi glanced down at his watch noting the time and replied while waving goodbye to everyone and headed in the opposite direction.

"Maybe another day Sano I've got work this afternoon, see you guys tomorrow."

* * * *

(Shiro's Mini Mart)

"Shiro-san I'm here, did you want me to close up tonight?" Aoshi spoke as he headed out the back to get changed into the uniform he had to wear for work. He watched the elder man who was probably in his late thirties bring out some boxes as Aoshi had to restock the shelves like he did every second night of the week.

"I would most appreciate that Aoshi. I swear my wife is going to get serious on the divorce issue if I'm not home early tonight. Now I'd like you to start restocking the shelves in lane 3 this evening. We seem to be running low on canned food these days."

"You know she's only joking Shiro-san and I'll get right onto stocking the shelves for you." Aoshi responded towards his boss while placing the boxes on a trolley before heading out to lane 3.

"Aoshi, is everything all right?" Shiro questioned the young man as he noticed the drawn look on his face…and the black eye.

"I'm just a little tired that's all. I finally decided to finish my high school certificate and went back to school…and what happens I got hit by a softball on my first day. Not to worry though I'll be fine. Oh, Shiro-san I've got a new activity to attend to after school so I was kind of hoping we could change my work schedule around a bit." Aoshi spoke and watched the elder man nod lightly.

"I see no problem in that. When you have a break come see me in the office to discuss your changes."

"Arigatoo Shiro-san!" Aoshi spoke with a bit more happiness in his voice and headed out of the back and down lane three to stop in front of the canned fruit section. He glanced at his watch noting he had exactly six hours before he would be meeting Misao at that location she wrote down. Lucky for him that Shiro's mini mart closed around 10:30pm, which gave him enough time to head to the address given to him on the paper.

* * * *

(11:15pm)

Misao was tapping her foot impatiently on the concrete floor of the alleyway. It was cold, dark and not exactly a smart idea to be by herself in an alleyway, but she still waited for him. Could he have gotten lost? Or was he just plain stupid and forgot to meet her here in the first place? Misao's began to seethe on the spot but jumped nearly ten feet in the air when a hand tapped her shoulder making her shriek in fright and whip around to attack the stranger in self defence.

"Take it easy Makimachi, it's just me." Aoshi responded as he caught Misao's fisted hand in his left hand before it connected with his abdomen.

"Don't do that, have you ever heard of voicing you are here! You men have no sense of time what's so ever!" Misao fumed and then promptly turned around snubbing Aoshi and proceeded to head further into the alleyway.

"So where is it that you are taking me exactly?" Aoshi spoke walking a metre or two behind Misao, he trying not to step in all the water puddles as he only just bought these pair of sneakers a couple weeks ago, but Misao didn't care whatsoever as she sauntered through in some boots.

"To get you your bloody mannequin of course!" Misao snapped at him and then stopped in front of a large dumpster bin. Aoshi stared blankly at it, observing as Misao turned around and waved for him to jump in. He crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and stood stock still not moving an inch.

"Oh if you're going to be that much of a baby then give me a boost so I can get inside Shinomori." Misao quirked up while placing her hands on the cold metal of the bin when Aoshi gave her a boost and then she fell inside, her body connecting with whatever was lying inside. Aoshi could not see inside, it was an extremely tall dumpster bin. He heard several noises coming from the bin and then quickly caught a pair of mannequin legs that were thrown out by Misao. Next came a head, two arms and then upper body. He saw Misao grab the edge, sit on it and then watched her jump down to the concrete, her hands brushing off some left over food that had been in the rubbish bin for god knows how long.

"Shop here often?" Aoshi question with a hint of humour in his eyes that Misao hadn't noticed. He caught the legs Misao threw at him as her reaction to his question and he watched her pick up the other pieces and began walking towards the main City Street.

"Not really, I just occasionally come down here, get dressed up in my leather and go searching for guys who want sexual favours. It's my night off tonight though." Misao retorted back in a bland tone of voice.

"Damn…and I could have been one of those guys too." Aoshi responded instantly and stepped out into the light of the busy street, numerous pedestrians glancing there way at wondering what two young teenagers were doing with a broken mannequin.

"Your sick." Misao responded and started walking across the road without even using the traffic lights.

"I'm sick you're the one that started up on the sexual favours not me."

"So what do you want the mannequin for? I've got the goods for you so tell me what you're going to do with it." Misao questioned Aoshi as she stopped walking on the other side of the street; she not moving until Aoshi gave her reason too.

"So how far from here do you live Makimachi?" Aoshi questioned knowing that he was testing her patience.

"About 15 minutes in the direction, why?" She spoke and yelled 'hey' in doing so as Aoshi headed off in the direction she had pointed in.

"Its cold, its late, the mannequin needs a home to stay in and I'll tell you my idea on the way so start walking Makimachi." Misao bristled at his orders but mumbled something Aoshi couldn't hear and walked silently beside him, she trying not to look at the embarrassing way the mannequin's legs sat across his shoulders.

* * * *

(An apartment building)

"I'm not inviting you up." Misao spoke instantly as she punched in a code to open the front doors to the apartment building.

"I never said I wanted to come up, so I'll just leave Betty here with you." Aoshi dumped the legs on the ground and began walking off. He could almost feel the anger rising within Misao now.

"Wait a minute! I'm not making two trips up so you come back here and pick up Betty's legs you jackass!" Misao stomped her foot for effort and Aoshi turned around to see she held the door open…inviting him up.

"Well that was harsh, but I knew you'd see it my way in the end." Aoshi spoke as he placed "Betty's" legs over his shoulders again and headed towards the lifts with Misao. She was fuming, her face slightly red from the outburst as she hit the button waiting for the lift doors to open.

"You really shouldn't yell so much Makimachi, you could wake up your neighbours." Aoshi stepped into the lift watching Misao hit floor '8' and heard her mumbled her reply as she leaned against the back wall of the lift.

"I had to verbally abuse you some time…"

"Aa…" Aoshi mumbled in reply and followed Misao out of the lift and walked towards an apartment with 802 on the wooden door which was directly opposite the elevators. Misao dumped the mannequin head on the ground and fished through her bag to grab out her key to unlock her door.

"Shouldn't your parents be pissed off at you for staying out this late?" Aoshi spoke softly and was shoved into the apartment by Misao as she slammed the door closed since she had her heater going and didn't want any warm air to escape.

"They don't live here." Misao spoke as she walked down the dark corridor and entered the main living area, which consisted of the kitchen, the dining and living rooms. She flicked on a corridor light and a couple of lamps in the lounge room, her hand waving Aoshi to come inside.

"Wow, what I wouldn't give to live by myself… So do they live in another city?" Aoshi questioned again as he placed the mannequin legs on the ground.

"You ask a lot of questions." Misao retorted back as she headed for a spare room to dump the mannequin parts in. Aoshi finally figured out what she was doing and followed her inside the cluttered room.

"So tell me to shut up and mind my own business then."

"Fine, shut up and mind your own business." Misao repeated Aoshi's words as she grabbed the legs from him and placed them on the ground besides the rest of the body.

"So do they live in another city?" Aoshi contorted once more as he stepped back into the lounge room, Misao pulling a face at his question.

"Didn't I just sa-"

"Doesn't mean I'll actually listen." Aoshi spoke while heading towards the door knowing he was already testing her patience to the limit. He wouldn't really want to piss off the ice queen lest he receive another black eye now would he.

"You are a pain in the ass…and if you must know they sleep peacefully in a cemetery. Good night…" Aoshi stood in the hallway of the level Misao was on with a closed door in his face. He held a smirk on his lips for the fact that he actually pried something from the girl, but also a flicker of sadness as Misao had no family at all.

"So I'll come by tomorrow morning and help you carry Betty to school, later Misao." Aoshi replied and headed for the lifts, he not even realising he called Misao by her given name. Misao on the other hand had and she stood stock still at her door looking at his retreating form through the 'peep hole' in the door as he pressed the elevator button to head back downstairs. She watched him silently from her spot behind the door as he wrapped his arms around himself trying to keep warm, but Misao observed as his lips turned into a frown. Just what was h thinking about?

* * * *

Aoshi left the apartment building, a cold breeze blowing through the quiet streets of Kyoto as he starting flagging down a taxi just a block away from Misao's home. As he got inside, telling the driver where to drop him off, his frown deepened when he hadn't even been home yet and forgot to unlock his bedroom window to creep inside. Now he had to take the front door inside and Aoshi's began his silent preys of hoping his father was already unconscious.

* * * *

(Aoshi's home)

The door creaked open, Aoshi cringing as it sounded way to loud in the deadly silence of the house. The car wasn't in the driveway; Aoshi sighing as his father hadn't driven home drunk like he had many times before. However, luck was never on Aoshi's side as out of nowhere a figure grabbed him roughly and pushed him into the lounge room making Aoshi collide with the coffee table, his heavy form snapping it in two. The wood finally gave up after being mistreated too many times.

"Where the fuck have you been boy?" Was his father's crude comment as he landed a quick kick to his side when Aoshi didn't answer.

"You pathetic…useless…good for nothing kid!" Everytime Aoshi's father verbally abused him he brought it along with a kick to the side…or tried to attack his head.

"STOP, STOP!" Aoshi yelled as he placed his hands over his face, he feeling the front of his uniform being jerked up, he knowing his father was ready to slam him into the broken wood of the coffee table and maybe even try and punch him in the face yet again. Aoshi's instincts to fight back finally broke, his feet curling up into his abdomen no matter how much it hurt as he yelled and kicked with all his might.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU PHYSCO!" Aoshi heard a crashing sound, his father being flung away from him, but paid no attention as he was up on his two feet and ran out of the house, ran as far away as possible from his abusive home. Aoshi heaved for air, his side and legs aching, his head pounding and yet he still ran, ran as much as his legs would take him until he collapsed…and collapsed Aoshi did, falling to the grassy field situated in a park. He gasped for air, silent tears falling down his cheeks from all the running he had down even though his body had protested him not to run. Aoshi curled into a fetal position, this being the only comfortable spot he could rest in and promptly fell asleep in a park, darkness surrounding him as he had fallen under a large maple tree, its thick brunches casting out the moonlight.

* * * *

To be continued…

* * * *