--AAAAAAAAA!!! runs screaming around the room I'm soooooooooo sorry! I've been meaning to update for a while, but school got started again, and I'm having issues adjusting out of vacation mood! Please don't kill me! Here's another chappie!!--

"Where are they?" Asked an impatient Sanosuke the next morning. His older brother Akira stood next to him, rolling his eyes.

"Honestly, Sano, we've got about fifteen minutes till school starts." Kaoru said, looking around. She caught sight of a classmate staring at her from across the lot. When she made eye contact with him, he looked away, as if he was never spying. Now it was Kaoru's turn to roll her eyes. Sano caught the eye roll.

"What is it? Is it that perverted stalker again?!" Sano said angrily. Kaoru was about to answer when she spotted Kenshin and Tomoe walking up to them.

"Hey!" Kenshin said happily when they joined the siblings at the tree.

"What took you so long?" Sanosuke asked, intending to sound irritated but he couldn't help smirking.

"Sorry, we took a wrong turn and got lost." Tomoe said hurriedly, sounding like that wasn't the real reason. Kaoru looked at the two quizzically, then blinked, suddenly remembering her manners.

"Oh! Kenshin, Tomoe, this is Akira. He's Sano's older brother." She said, pointing to the dark haired dark eyed guy next to her. "Akira, this is Kenshin and Tomoe. They're new to the town, so I thought we'd show them around."

"Okay. What's your schedules?" Akira asked, getting down to business. Kenshin took his paper out of his pocket, and Tomoe unfolded hers.

"I've got Fitness, English on 'A' days, Drawing on 'B' days, and third and fourth Release." Kenshin recited from his slip of paper. Kaoru blinked.

"That's the same as my schedule!" she cried, peering at his paper to make sure it was true. "Wow…Tomoe, what do you have?"

"Fitness, Calculus, Release, Release."

"That's the same as mine." Akira stated, looking thoughtful.

"Crazy! Sano said disbelievingly. A series of loud and annoying beeps sounded and the three flinched. "Ten minutes. Better hurry," Kaoru began to walk to the doors, but stopped. "Wait! Kenshin, Go with Sanosuke and Akira. I don't know where the guy's locker rooms are. Tomoe, follow me." Like a commando, Kaoru directed everyone around with authority, and, ten minutes later, they were all standing around in the gym, clad in gym shorts, tennis shoes, and old T-shirts.

"I wonder what we're gonna do today? With any luck we'll be doing something easy instead of something like the mile." Kaoru said, searching the gym for something.

"Surprise!" cried a girl about Kaoru's age as she jumped on her back, dark braid swaying.

"Misao, get offa me!" Kaoru commanded, and Misao obeyed.

"Sorry. Who're the new faces?"

"I'm Himura Kenshin."

"Yukishiro Tomoe."

"Nice to meet ya!" Misao was cut short by the shout of the teachers. "Roll call." She groaned. All the students plodded over to the yelling teachers, calling out when their names were read. When that was finally done, the students waited to hear what torture they had to endure today.

"Today, you'll be playing Dodgeball." Shouted one teacher, receiving cheers from all the kids.

"Wow! The teachers are being nice!" Kaoru said with mock surprise.

"Nooo! Lock all the doors and windows! Apocalypse! Apocalypse! Head for the hills!" Misao cried, running around in circles in an overly dramatic manner.

"Makimachi! Team two!" a teacher shouted, and Misao stopped immediately and walked over reluctantly. Next a teacher screamed at Akira. "Team One!" And that was much the fashion that continued until everyone was on one side or the other. Misao and Kenshin were on team two, and everyone else in their circle of friends, including her idol, Shinomori Aoshi., were on team one.

"Oh shoot!" Misao cried suddenly as she surveyed the opposition. "Sanosuke's against us!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Kenshin asked and Misao looked at him like he was insane.

"Only a lot! Sano throws really hard and fast. It's pretty much forfeit to face him."

"I see. He doesn't take it easy on friends?"

"Not usually. He just gets in that mind set and he gets scary. Sano's come awfully close to breaking the wall several times." Just then, the teacher blew the whistle, signaling the start of the game. There was a mad dash of students to the middle line, where all the balls were located. So, the mad frenzy of Nerf balls flying back and forth began. And Sanosuke did indeed live up to Misao's story. Within about five minutes, everyone was out…except Kenshin.

"Himura! Get over here right now! Just sit this one out if you don't want to be in pain till next Christmas!" Misao shouted over to him from the wall with everyone else who was out.

"Nah. Don't worry Kenshin. I won't go too hard on you." Sano smirked. Kenshin shrugged, and Sano, taking that as a signal, threw a large Nerf ball at him. Kenshin easily dodged to the left, and Sano threw another one. Again, Kenshin dodged. For about another five minutes this continued. At first Sano had been hoping to tire Kenshin out by making him run all over, but when Kenshin wasn't slowing, let alone getting tired, Sanosuke began going all out.

"Hope you're ready buddy." Was all he said before he bombarded Kenshin with fast balls. Had they connected, the poor unfortunate victim would have more than a few broken ribs. Kenshin was a bit surprised at the speed of the throws, but managed to stay ahead of them. The kids on the sidelines were speechless as several missed shots crashed against the walls, leaving large craters. There was one that forced Kenshin to jump up, which that in itself was impressive enough (considering the face that he was about twenty feet off the ground). Sanosuke recovered from his momentary shock and decided to use that to his advantage. He threw a small ball at Kenshin as hard as he could, realizing he couldn't hold back if he wanted to beat him. At first it seemed as if Sano's plan had worked as a loud 'thump' sound echoed around the walls of the gym. But to everyone's amazement, the ball was clutched firmly in Kenshin's left hand. Like lightning, Kenshin spun in mid air and shoved the ball like one would thrust a sword forward.

"No way-" was all Sanosuke was able to get out before the ball impacted with the force of a wreaking ball. Luckily Sano was a tough guy and the most he got was the wind knocked out of him from a blow to the chest. Kenshin landed lightly next to him and held out a hand to Sano, who took it reluctantly.

"Boy, never would have thought you'd be so tough. You're so skinny and all." Sano commented.

"You did well to. It takes a lot to still be standing after a hit that hard." Kenshin smiled.

"HEY! You two, sit out!" shouted a teacher who was pointing at them. Kenshin gulped and Sanosuke huffed. "Now! I don't want any more damage!"

For the rest of the hour and a half class period, Kenshin and Sano sat on the bleachers and just chatted while the never-ending Dodgeball game continued. Without the key player, neither team could defeat their opponents.

"That's pretty sad. They can't get anywhere. Except Missy and Weasel." A Nerf ball was thrown at Sanosuke as he said that from a not very happy Misao shouting something about not calling her a weasel.

"Speaking of Kaoru," Kenshin said, seizing the opportunity to do a little digging. "Why was Kaoru looking distressed this morning?" Sanosuke looked at Kenshin surprisedly.

"You saw? How?"

"I've been told my eyesight's above normal?" Kenshin covered desperately. Unfortunately, Sano saw through it.

"You expect me to believe that? What's the real reason? You can't expect me to believe that you've got eyesight that would make a hawk blind in comparison."

"But…um…" Kenshin was at a loss for words. Good thing he didn't say anything about the fact that he heard what they were talking about too.

"Kenshin!" Called Tomoe's voice, causing both boys to look in her direction. "The teacher wants you!" she shouted, pointing over atone of the teachers. Kenshin mentally breathed a sigh of relief and shot an apologetic look at Sano, hoping to not raise too much suspicion. He walked over to the teacher, who seemed to be engrossed in something on his clipboard that he didn't notice Kenshin's approach.

"Excuse me, sir?" Kenshin asked politely and the teacher looked at him. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. About that jump you did earlier," he hesitated.

"Yes?" Kenshin said nervously, fearing the worst.

"I was wondering if you'd consider joining track." Kenshin resisted the temptation to fall Anime style, sweat-dropping at the real reason. "I think you'd be really good at it, if you continue to perform like you did here." He said, handing a packet to Kenshin. "Tryouts aren't for a while, so don't get too excited."

"Thank you Sir." Kenshin said just as the bell rang. He made a quick exit through the doors to the locker room and changed faster than he ever thought he could. All to avoid another confrontation with Sano. He found Kaoru waiting for him outside the door (which was surprising because it's suppose to be the girls who take longer).

"Ready to go Kenshin?" She said cheerily. He nodded, smiling. Thankful to distance himself from Sanosuke. Best to let him cool down a bit before they talk next.

Kaoru led him off to English, being an 'A' day, which passed without any mishaps. In Kenshin's opinion, he screwed up enough today that it'd be a miracle if Sano didn't just try to beat the truth out of him.

The rest of the week proceeded in a similar pattern, Sano seemed to have given up probing Kenshin for answers, while Kaoru and Kenshin had become really good friends. Tomoe had formed a strong bond with Sano and Akira, after finding out they had a lot in common. Also, they met Megumi, who was Sanosuke's girlfriend, Aoshi, who Misao wants to marry and is friends with Sano, and Yahiko, a freshman who looks up to Sanosuke.

Before the two angels knew it, Thursday arrived, making it almost Friday! And the day was almost done for them at second period classes. While Tomoe was hanging out with Akira in Calculus, Kenshin and Kaoru were in drawing class, working on their latest project.

"Why'd she have to give us an imaginary assignment? I can't do imaginary stuff real well. I'm much better at sketching things." Grumbled a girl at the desk next to Kaoru.

"It's not all that bad. I rather enjoy it." Kenshin said absently, pencil scraping across the paper rapidly.

"Can I see what you're doing?" Kaoru asked, trying to peek over the raised desks at his paper.

"Only if you show me yours too." He teased. Kenshin picked up his sheet and held it up for Kaoru to see.

"Wow! That's really good! Are those Angels?" Kaoru asked, pointing to two winged figures among the clouds. Kenshin nodded, and Kaoru went back to looking in awe at the Black and white charcoal drawing. "They look so real. Where did you learn to draw such realistic wings?"

"I use to see them every day."

"Really? Where?"

"Oh, um, where we use to live I'd sketch birds. Don't know why but I liked to." Kenshin laughed awkwardly as Kaoru raised a curios eyebrow at him. Then she just shrugged.

"Mine's just a sketch of an Elvin landscape." She said, lifting hers up for him.

"That's really beautiful. You really have a talent for drawing Kaoru." Kenshin smiled.

"Really?" Kaoru asked quietly, blushing.

"Yeah. It looks fantastic! Honestly."

"Thanks Kenshin." Kaoru said, happiness filling her voice. And something about the way she said his name made him feel…warm. Happy. A rush. Something that was foreign to him, but he liked it none the less.

After school, Kenshin and Kaoru joined everyone else by the big oak tree, which had become their standard meeting place.

"Hey there. What do you two have planned this afternoon?" Sano asked the two when they got there, fish bone sticking out of his mouth.

"No, why?" Kaoru asked.

"Well, me, Akira and Tomoe were thinking about a hike in the forest. It's a perfect day for one, and we're all finished with our homework, so we decided to hit the trails for a couple hours." He explained, then added with a mutter "Plus it'd be good to do that before the winter weather sets in too much." Kaoru nodded.

"Okay, so that leaves me and Kenshin. Huh. Well, are you open this afternoon Kenshin?"

"Yes. I have no schedule at all."

"Cool. When are you leaving on the hike?" Kaoru asked Sanosuke.

"'Bout four."

"M'kay. Would you like to come over to our house around four Kenshin?" Kaoru asked sweetly.

"Sure. Why not?" Kenshin grinned, unable to contain the new emotions.

"Well, let's get back to the house and get ready!" Sano cheered, waving to them as he walked off, Kaoru and Akira following behind. Kenshin and Tomoe looked at each other then began trekking down the sidewalk back to the house.

"So, you're going hiking today." Kenshin commented. Tomoe nodded, looking very happy.

"Yes, I really can't wait."

"But you've never even gone hiking."

"I know, but it sounds fun, and plus I need to create some 'human' hobbies as a cover."

"Good point."

They arrived at the house a few minutes later, very excited for their upcoming afternoon fun. Kenshin set his backpack in is room, and they both changed out of their uniforms into more suitable clothes. Tomoe had on boots and a jacket with scarf, ready to go tromp around the forest, while Kenshin just dressed casual with a light jacket. By the time they finished getting ready, it was ten to four.

"Hey, we need to go!" Kenshin said, heading to the front door, then hesitated, turning to Tomoe. "Do you have their address? 'Cause I sure don't"

"Yes. Akira gave it to me, so don't worry." Tomoe took a slip of paper out of her pocket, heading out the door. Kenshin followed her out, and they began walking to the address written down, and he couldn't help but feel as if this wouldn't be any ordinary time.

--Well, was that good? Am I continuing to please? There was quite a bit of fluffyness in here...not sure if that's a good thing or not...don't wanna disapoint all my great reviewers! -x (I'd respond to all your reviews right now, but Mom's pressing me for time, so I'll have to do that later! Sorry!) well, I'll try to update real soon again! In the meantime, please gimme feedback! .; --