Disclaimer: I no own Rurouni Kenshin…
Hidden in Study – Chapter 6 – By Cherry Chibi
Two days later… after the school had been fixed to an acceptable state…
It was late in the afternoon and everyone was seated in the classroom listening as their literature teacher spoke and taught them new characters of kanji. Misao however, was on her day off so she had to just help the teacher. The last class of the day was about to be finish. 'I hope that Kaoru gets better soon… Dr. Takani said that Kaoru wouldn't be able to get out bed until a day or more…' Misao thought, 'She's missing out on a lot of stuff.'
"Taka, can you please give this to Akai?" Tae handed Misao a small pile of papers. "These are the things that he'll need to study when he can." Misao nodded while she accepted. The class finished off and everyone packed up their things and rushed out of the room.
Misao caught up with the others and followed them. She smiled to herself, 'This group has grown pretty big…' The group stopped at the dining hall and seated themselves while every one, besides Misao, spread out their notes to look over.
"Hey, Kenshin, let me see your notes…" Sanosuke nudged Kenshin a bit to hard. "I didn't get much down." Kenshin passed Sanosuke sheets of paper with writing scrawled all over. Sanosuke's face screwed up. "Man… you've got bad writing…"
"If you can't write your own notes then don't complain about someone else's." A highly feminine voice spat.
Everyone silenced while Sanosuke's face turned furiously to a Fox-girl. "Who said that you could talk to me?" He stood from the table abruptly. Megumi flashes him a wicked smile.
"I am your friend and I was only giving you advice." Megumi said. "Anyway, you'll need all the help you can get."
Soujiro, Kenshin, Misao, Aoshi, Saitoh and Aya looked onto Sanosuke preparing for his outburst of violence. However, none came. Instead, Sanosuke just smiled back at Megumi. "Why is it that you always torment me and no one else?" Sanosuke asked calmly with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "Is it because of my charms that just get you attracted to me… or…"
The table exploded into laughter. "Way to go Sanosuke!" Soujiro laughed. Saitoh and Aoshi had even cracked a small grin. Misao bit her lower lip in attempt to stop herself laughing so hard so that she could breathe.
"Ack! Me attracted to you?!" Megumi's cheeks reddened. "No way!" She crossed her arms in defense. She growled exasperated and rushed out of the room.
"Bye-bye!" Sanosuke waved at Megumi when she took a glance back. He settled into his seat. "Chee, never thought that Fox would ever react like that."
* * * *
"You should've been there Kaoru!" Misao said as she finished off reporting the whole day to Kaoru who was seated upright on her futon. Kaoru had pink tinged cheeks from laughing.
"I wish," Kaoru said, "Three days sitting in here gets really boring and lonely." She flipped through the sheets of learning material that had accumulated over the days. "At least I'm up to date with the study." Misao nodded. An abrupt pull slammed over the door revealing a very annoyed looking Kenshin. He stepped into the room and closed the door shut.
"Is something wrong?" Misao asked. Kenshin didn't reply, instead it shoved his sword into the closet. Misao turned to Kaoru and whispered, "I better get going." Kaoru agreed and Misao left quietly and unnoticed by Kenshin.
"What's wrong?" Kaoru asked. "Has Hiko-sensei been…" She stopped and withdrew her breath quickly when Kenshin's eyes glowed amber for a moment before returning to their normal amethyst colour. 'That… no. It must have been the trick of the light.' Kaoru thought.
"Hiko-sensei has such an ego that gets me so pissed." Kenshin growled while he tended to his small minor cuts. He changed into his yukata.
"Uh-huh." Kaoru said under her breath.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Kenshin sighed and smiled weakly. "Sorry Akai, I shouldn't have let my anger go like that, I should apologize to Taka tomorrow…"
"It's normal to get angry." Kaoru said. "You're not like Soujiro who is the master of being cheerful."
"I guess." Kenshin agreed. "How's your recovery?" He unfolded his futon. "Dr. Takani said that you should be out and about in a couple of days."
"Everything's OK." Kaoru replied, "I think that I would be able to walk around tomorrow but I'll need to take it easy. The wound has pretty much closed up." Kenshin was kneeling beside her and then he found something tucked under the pile of textbooks. He pulled it out. Kaoru heard her breathing stop.
"These are…"
"I can explain…" Kaoru stammered. 'How am I supposed to get out of this one?' She felt her cheeks burn up as Kenshin held the little parcel that contained hair ribbons and a small bottle of perfume.
Kenshin chuckled. "Probably it was meant to be given to someone else," He said, "The name on the parcel says Kaoru." He put it on top of the pile of books. "The person who handed the parcel to you probably gave you the wrong one."
Kaoru let out a breath slowly. 'Lucky…Lucky for me that Kenshin is so dense at these things…'
"Alright, good night."
"Night."
* * * *
Misao hid her parcel that she had received from Kaoru's parents in a hole under a loose floorboard. 'I have this feeling that Kaoru and I won't be able to pull this thing for any longer than a couple of years… it's getting harder…Not to mention that Saitoh's and Aoshi's have already cracked…' She ruffed her short black hair.
"I need a bath." She slowly grabbed her things and slid out of her room silently. On the way to the bathhouse, she spotted Aya. "Hey! Matsu!" Misao hissed. Aya's head perked up and said hi to Misao with a shy smile. "What are you doing out so late?"
"I need a bath." Aya said quietly. "It's hard to find a time where there aren't any guys in the bathhouse."
"Well, I'm heading to take a bath as well, we can takes turns on keeping a look out." Misao said, Aya nodded. They hurried to the bathhouse and rushed across the yard to the back. It was a cold night and a harsh wind blew.
The two girls stepped walked up the wooden steps.
"You go first." Aya said.
"Ok, thanks." Misao said. She opened the door and stepped in.
"ELEPHANT!"
"WAH?!" Aya tripped down the steps after Misao crashed into Aya's back. The two stumbled on top of each other. "Misao, you blew your cover." Aya hissed.
"Um… ah…" Misao's face was burning like a camp fire as she rose to her feet while rubbing her head furiously. She covered her cheeks with her hands and shook her head. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." She wanted to slap herself for reacting like that.
"What on earth was wrong?" Aya questioned. Misao was just mentally kicking herself while shaking her head left to right really quickly. "Taka?"
"I'm so stupid!" Misao said embarrassed. "Don't you know who was in there?! Argh! I'm so stupid!" Aya heard the bathhouse door close shut and a tall figure stepped out. She covered her mouth while she blushed feeling embarrassed for Misao.
Misao turned around still with her hands on her cheeks. "Um… ah… so… no point hiding myself to you now huh?" She asked while forcing herself to stare into the guy's face. Her hands felt like that were being fried on hot plates.
"That'd be a good start." Aoshi said feeling his cheeks slightly burning too.
* * * *
AN: Hey everyone! Hope that you all remember me! (of course you do… I think) I'm SOOOOOO sorry for the long wait but as I said, I've been traveling a hell of a lot and now I'm just tired… Tired of traveling so I'll be staying put for now. :p Well, I've finally been able to get onto the internet so I can update! I thank you all for waiting and for reading! ^o^x
Chibi Sana: I know what you mean about the time jump. But I made sure it wasn't like a big major thing. Hope you liked the chapter!
Silver Knight 7: Thanks! ^o^ ^.- ^-^ V
MP1: OH DARN! Really? I didn't know that I made that mistake… thanks for telling me! I guess that I'm gotten too used to typing 'Himura'. Hehe, well, thanks! ^o^x And about when Kaoru and Misao are exposed… hehe… you'll have to find out. ^.-
Syaoran's Blossom: *pulls SB up* No need to say sorry for sort of forgetting. As long as you enjoy it that's all. I'm glad that you've caught up though! ^-^x
Ixchen: Here's another chapter and I hope that you liked it. ^.- Thanks for reading and reviewing!
The Sacred Night: Yep, I can see a lot of funny stuff happening to Misao and Kaoru since their moving into their teenage years. Hehe… You're going to have to see how long Misao and Kaoru can hide as Taka and Akai.
Kik-ting: What are they going to do? Can't tell you that but wait and see. (hopefully Cherry won't make reviewers wait too long again…) Tee hee…
Baka: Alright, remember to calm down now and breathe… *in… and out…* I'm overwhelmed that you really like my fanfic. ^o^x Lol.
Nee-chan: I'm glad that you're happy with Aya, just point me out when you want Aya to do something in a decision making position k? Yeah. BTW, Perth is the capital city in Western Australia. I live in Melbourne which is on the eastern side of the country. ^-^x
Dark Girl 2: Updated as soon as I could. Hope you liked this chappy! ^o^x
Thanks everyone! Hope to update soon. Until next time…
~ Cherry Chibi