CHAPTER TWO

A/N: sorry it took me forever to put this up! Like I said, I get writer's block all the time. I wrote this chapter like 4 times (well, really started them, actually), but then in the end, I ended up combining them a bit together and stuff. Thanks for the reviews I got, too! It might not have been many reviews, but I am still really happy I got reviews! I didn't think I'd get any reviews! Oh, did you guys know that this fic was really an assignment I had for my English class. Of course names, places, and some things were changed (and the Kenshin in that assignment was a girl). Dude, the first draft of this story sucked. It really did. I should put it up here sometime, so people can see how bad I really write (but I threw it away already, so oh well)! It was way different from the story I actually ended up with, too. For that, I am uber glad. Dude, this is so not fic related, but, I have an 'a' in honors biology! Happy, happy me! Plus today is my older sister's 19th birthday and my younger sister's 14th birthday is tomorrow! I'll stop chatting about nothing! Well, thanks again to the reviews! Love you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, whatsoever! sigh

Kaoru awoke to the soft pattering of rain outside the next morning. She groggily got up and checked the time. 7:03. She quickly got up to get ready for school. She took a quick shower and did all necessary things needed when getting ready (i.e. brush teeth, pick outfit and wear it, tie hair up, etc.).

She went downstairs to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Her father and aunt were there already, eating. She nodded to them in acknowledgment and went and got a bowl of cereal. She silently ate her cereal, face, of course, still as unemotional as ever.

She thought of Himura Kenshin, the annoying nuisance of yesterday. Kenshin had chattered on and on and on and on and on and…you get the picture. Of course, his smooth alto voice hadn't annoyed her, just his conversation. He talked of such nonsense, it annoyed the hell out of her.

She sighed. Her father and aunt looked at her, wondering what happened that made the stoic Kaoru sigh. They glanced back each other and shrugged. Kaoru got up and put her bowl of cereal in the dishwasher. She grabbed her backpack on the couch in the living room and headed to the front door to leave for school.

When she reached for the knob, the bell rung. She nearly jumped, freaked out, obviously. She quickly composed herself and opened the door. Outside she found a certain red head with a grin on his face, his right hand holding an umbrella.

"Morning!" he greeted in a cheerful voice. Kaoru stared at him.

"I was just thinking of walking you to school. You know, I only live a few houses down, heh. I can walk with you, right?" he asked.

Kaoru looked at him, and walked right past him, closing the door behind her. Kenshin quickly caught up to her, holding his umbrella above the two. He opened his mouth, poised to talk about nonsense.

"Don't even think of talking right now," Kaoru threatened. Kenshin closed his mouth. He was surprised Kaoru actually said something; he was astonished.

"You're talking! You must like me if you're talking to me. You don't even talk to your dad or aunt!" Kenshin chattered, obviously ignoring what Kaoru said. Kaoru decided to just not talk to him anymore. She quickened her pace, but Kenshin easily kept up with her, managing to keep the umbrella above the two.

…………………………

"Ohmigosh, nice to meet you, Kaoru!" the green-eyed, black haired girl greeted Kaoru at school in Japanese. She stuck her hand out, a big grin on her face. Kaoru stared at it, as if contemplating whether she should shake it or not. She decided to be polite. She took the short girl's hand and shook it briefly.

"Kaoru, this is Makimachi Misao. As you can see, she is and always will be genki," Kenshin told her. Oh, and you're not? Kaoru thought to herself. "She wasn't here yesterday, so you weren't able to meet her. And that person behind you," Kaoru turned around to face a tall guy with brown spiky hair, "is Sagara Sanosuke. Coincidentally, he was absent yesterday, too."

"Nice to meet you, missy," he greeted, also in Japanese. She nodded her head at him in greeting. The bell rung and they split to get to their classes. Kenshin walked beside Kaoru.

"Well, you don't look so cold anymore. And it's only been a day! Wow, this school must really be doing you some good!" Kenshin said. Kaoru, as always, ignored him. They got to their class with Kenshin talking gibberish.

During their class, Kaoru had to endure Kenshin translating the whole lesson. She didn't understand why he just didn't write it down, so the teacher wouldn't always have to stop so he could translate it to her. She decided to ask him, twenty minutes into the lesson.

"Why don't you just write it down? It would be easier for you and me. I wouldn't have to listen to you much, then," Kaoru suggested quietly.

"Good idea, Kaoru! I was scared my voice was going to go hoarse before second period," he exclaimed. He set out writing the whole lecture in Japanese. At the end of the class, Kaoru had a couple pages of notes written down in Kenshin's horrible chicken scratch. She sighed inwardly; she knew she would have trouble deciphering these.

"You know, I think this school really is doing you good. You talked today. Four sentences. Your dad and aunt couldn't even manage that (actually, they couldn't even manage a word)! Wow, maybe it's just me. Oh, is it? You've only ever talked to me!" Kenshin said later during lunch. He chuckled quietly to himself.

"But you know, you should talk to your aunt and dad sometime," he said, suddenly serious, "They worry for you. You're aunt called me yesterday, thanking me for coming over. When I told her that I managed to make you speak, she cried.

"You know, all this mourning should stop. You're not the only one who is devastated by this. Your father, I can tell, is still depressed, but he won't show it because his daughter has become a mute to him. He doesn't have time to worry for his late wife, because he has to worry for his daughter who won't even speak to him, but will speak to a stranger.

"You're not the only one who's lost a parent," Kenshin told her. He gave her a grin. "Come on, we're going to be late for 6th hour, Kaoru. Hurry!"

Kaoru was confused about his seriousness suddenly gone all happy-go-lucky. She shrugged her shoulders, though the words he said still rang in her head.

"Come on, Kamiya!" Kenshin shouted.

……………………………

"Oh, Kenshin, please come inside! It was nice of you to walk Kaoru home, too!" Yumiko exclaimed when Kaoru returned home from school, Kenshin right behind her.

"Okay. I was just going to walk her to the porch, but I s'pose I'll come inside too, Ms. Kamiya," Kenshin agreed. Kaoru bowed to her aunt in greeting, but quickly went walked up the stairs to her room. She thought of just staying in her room and ignoring Kenshin and her aunt, but before she could lock her door, and arm shot out from the small opening of the door.

"Hey Kaoru!" Kenshin said, pushing the door opened. Kaoru considered closing the door on his arm, but knew her aunt would think that was disrespectful, so she didn't.

Kaoru turned around and flopped onto her bed. She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them, Kenshin's face was hovering right over hers. She looked at him stoically, then pushed his head away so she could sit up. He sat next to her, a grin on his face.

"Your aunt invited me to stay for dinner, if that's alright with you, that is," he told her.

She shook her head. She decided she would never say anything to this Kenshin character ever again because he was just too damn annoying. She ignored him.

Kenshin realized that she wasn't going to say anything. He decided to oblige and not say anything either. They sat like that for five minutes, but then Kaoru's aunt popped her head into the room.

"Hey you two! Why don't you guys do anything? Sheesh. It's so quiet in this room. Kaoru, be polite to our guest and show him around the house or something!" Yumiko suggested and left the two alone again.

"Wow, can I look at your collection of books?" Kenshin said, finally noticing two bookshelves against Kaoru's wall on the left side of the room. There were many books, of many variety. He noticed that they were American books, though translated to Japanese.

"Wow, like your manga section. You have a lot of anime, though you collect just as much fantasy, too. Ella Enchanted. Saw the movie with a girlfriend last year. Way different from the book a/n: so different, I hate it," he told her. He started telling her which books he liked out of her collection. Kaoru stared at him. He was fascinated by her books? Her friends in Japan had always called her a book worm, since she read as much as she could and her friends barely read a page from a book.

Kaoru laughed very quietly, though Kenshin managed to pick it up just slightly. He directed his gaze from the books to Kaoru. The smallest of smiles was on her face for a brief moment, though it was so small, it wasn't very noticeable-- just a small tilt of the lips.

"Are you smiling?" Kenshin asked in awe. Kaoru didn't even know that she had smiled, so she stared at him, confusion showing vaguely in her eyes.

"What?" Kaoru answered. She scolded herself mentally because she wasn't supposed to say anything to Kenshin anymore. She looked away from him.

"Nothing, forget it," Kenshin said, though he knew that she had smiled. It's cute, he thought. I hope she can smile for real sometime. Kenshin again shifted his gaze to the books, saying a comment about every so book.

……………………

"That was delicious, Ms. Kamiya," Kenshin commented after dinner that evening.

"Thank you, Kenshin! It's nothing, really. And call me Yumiko," Yumiko said. He nodded in agreement.

"Tell us about yourself, Kenshin. Kaoru hasn't, uh…said much about you," Koshijirou added.

"Well, I live with my uncle, Seijuurou Hiko, a couple houses down," Kenshin started, "I am on the cross country and track team. I do swimming as well. The National Honor Society is a must for me because Uncle Hiko wants me to be the best in all, excelling at sports and academics. I'm trilingual; I speak English, Japanese, and German. I want to be a surgeon or maybe anesthesiologist (a/n: my parents want me to be one, eek!) and plan to get my masters in half the time it usually takes others."

"Wow, you seem to be an excellent student. Kaoru sure knows how to pick friends," Yumiko said, ecstatically.

"Yes. You seem to be a nice, young man who seems to know what he's doing. Kaoru, on the other hand, has no clue what she wants to do," Koshijirou added.

"Oh, you give me too much credit. This is just what I plan, I may not do any of it, Mr. Kamiya," Kenshin said. He looked at the time.

"Oh! I have to go. I'm sorry for cutting this short, but I have a curfew. Thank you so much for dinner, Yumiko and letting me stay, Mr. Kamiya and Kaoru," Kenshin said, bowing.

"Kaoru, walk him to the door!" Yumiko ordered. Kaoru, who had been silent all through dinner, looked at her aunt and sighed inwardly at her aunt's order. She got up and led Kenshin to the door.

"Well, Kaoru, you didn't say much today!" Kenshin said, "Thanks for letting me stay. Do you want me to walk you to school tomorrow too?" When she didn't answer he just sighed, but grinned nonetheless.

"I'll take that as a yes, I s'pose. Good night. Thank you again," he thanked. He leaned in and laid a chaste kiss on her lips. It was a quick kiss, but Kaoru was beyond surprised. Her eyes widened slightly, a blush quickly dominating her face.

Kenshin leaned back and looked at her reaction. He grinned even larger than before; happy with the result he received.

"Good night," he repeated and left the house, leaving a dazed Kaoru.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter is all boring and stuff. Hopefully, my next chapter won't be so boring and all! Now, to my reviewers:

PEACH: thanks for being the first reviewer! Wow, I didn't even realize her persona was like Aoshi's (I'm dumb and slow, so I don't realize who my people are like) thanks for reviewing! And sorry my updating took long!

Nilnil: yeah, Kenshin is pretty persistent in this fic (not like he never is!) thanks for reviewing! And don't forget, second is the best (haha, my sister always says that to me, so I couldn't help but write that)

Mika: yeah, it was, I s'pose! And even if Kenshin was The most annoying person ever, he would always be cute! Thank you!

Czarina: thanks for your review! Yeah, it's a ken/kao fic, don't worry! They are my FAVORITIST couple! Glad you like it.

Gabyhyatt: thanks for your review!

Erica6060: glad you're starting to like it. Hopefully after this horrible chapter, you still like it! Thanks!