CHAPTER THREE
Disclaimer: Don't own rk at all!
Kaoru woke to the sun peeking in through the cracks of her curtain. She stared at the time and realized that she had woken up early. She could almost smile; this meant that she could leave her house before Kenshin came. The last three days, Kenshin had been coming to her house to walk her to school, and she did not want him to.
She hurriedly got up and dressed, rushing through everything that she usually took time doing. She raced down the stairs to grab a muffin or something. Unfortunately, when she reached the kitchen, who was there with her father and aunt, but the most annoying person alive: Himura Kenshin.
She stifled a sigh.
"Good morning Kaoru!" Kenshin greeted. She returned his greeting with a cold stare, hoping he'd catch on to her don't-bother-me act. He was too dense to realize it though.
"I woke up earlier today so I decided to come early as well. And it seems like you woke up earlier today too; we have 45 minutes before school starts," he chirped.
"Isn't that nice of him, Kaoru? He walks with you to school everyday; do you thank him?" Yumiko asked. Kaoru stared at her aunt, not saying anything. She grabbed a muffin and took off, giving her aunt and father a bow before leaving. She didn't even wait for Kenshin.
"Hey. Do you wanna ditch?" Kenshin asked, catching up to her. Kaoru stared at him, eyes widening just a fraction.
"Yeah, today will be pretty boring. We have an assembly for most of the morning and afterwards, it's just boring classes. So, do you wanna?" he asked again. Kaoru shook her head quickly. She was not a delinquent, and she wouldn't start being one anytime soon.
"Come on, Kaoru! It'll be fun. Sanosuke and Misao will be there too!" he added, encouraging her to come along to. He grabbed her wrist and looked at her, eyes puppyish, pleading. Okay, yeah, she was supposed to be all emotionless and stoic right now, but how could she say no to that face. It was adorable!
She slowly nodded her head in agreement. Kenshin grinned.
"I knew I'd be able to persuade you! Oh, and Sano and Misao won't be there; Sano met this one chick and Misao is still at school (she'd never ditch)," he said, looking all innocent. That frickin' liar! Kaoru fumed to herself. She was about to shake her head in disagreement again, but his hand that was latched onto her wrist quickly drew her closer to him, and he picked her up, bridal style.
He ran quickly down streets, ignoring the small, almost invisible glare she was giving him. Kaoru had wanted to shout in protest to his picking her up, but she knew it wouldn't matter; he wouldn't put her down even if she whined about it (she'd never do that though).
"Yeah, yeah, stop giving me that cold look. If I told you that it was just you and me, you'd never agree. Plus, you seem to be a lot more, uh…not so cold around Misao and Sanosuke," he explained to her, still running.
He stopped abruptly. Kaoru stared at her surroundings, surprised. It was a secluded park with a small playground. She walked over to the swings, and sat in one. Kenshin followed suit, happy that she didn't look dissatisfied with the place he brought her to.
"Nice, huh? Knew you'd like it. I suppose we're lucky no one is here right now," he said quietly. She nodded slowly in agreement. Kenshin stood from his swing and walked behind her. He grabbed her swing handles. She turned around to look at him in surprise.
"Do you trust me?" he whispered quietly, face serious. She stared at him, sapphire eyes losing the cold look for just a second. His face was so close that if she leaned over just a few inches, their lips would touch.
Her face flushed slightly, remembering the innocent kiss he'd given her a couple of days ago. Suddenly, he grinned, his face losing all solemnity.
"Do you trust me to push you? I used to push Misao on swings all the time, and she said I was dangerous," he said, voice light and joking. Kaoru was a bit confused by his sudden change in mood, but she nodded her head.
Kenshin pushed her on the swing, a silence placed over the two. The two stayed in that position for ten minutes, Kenshin pushing Kaoru's swing and Kaoru sitting in the swing.
"So, do you miss your mom still?" Kenshin asked quietly, breaking the silence. Kaoru remained silent however. Kenshin stood behind her, hoping he might get some kind of answer (doubtful, but still, one can hope, ne?).
"So, you've never ditched school, huh?" he asked.
Silence.
"I'm sorry for bringing your mom up," he apologized.
Silence.
"How come this situation reminds me of something? Déjà vu?" he asked, "Ah, the first day we met, that's what."
He let go of the swing for a few moments to look at the time. 10:36.
"Would you like to do anything right now? You know, it's only little past half after ten," he told her. She shook her head.
"Oh, I knew you liked my company. You finally admit it!" he said jokingly. He chuckled quietly to himself.
Kaoru got off the swing abruptly and started walking towards the picnic tables. She sat at one of them, a thoughtful, though still stoic, look on her face. Kenshin followed her to the tables, sitting on the bench across from her.
"Want me to tell you a stupid joke?" he asked her. She simply stared at him.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said, "Okay, so there's this wife and she's always worrying about what would happen if she were to die. So, one day she decides to ask her husband. She goes up to him and asks, 'Husband, if I were to die, what would you do?' And he replies to her with this, 'I would be sad.' 'Would you remarry?' she asks him. 'No, I would never!' came his reply. 'But don't you like being married?' she asks him. 'Yes, I do,' he replied. 'Why wouldn't you remarry then?' she asks. 'Oh, I will if you wish me to,' he said. 'You would?' said the wife. 'Yes, I would, dear,' he said. 'Would you two share our bed?' she asks. 'I s'pose I would,' he said. 'Oh. Would you let her wear my old clothes?' she asks. 'If she wanted to, I would let her,' came the reply. 'Would you replace my pictures with hers?' she asked. 'That seems like a logical thing to do,' he said. The wife, who had gotten angry throughout the conversation, said, leaping to her feet, 'Oh, and you'd let her play with my golf clubs, too, huh?' And he replies, 'Of course not, dear. She's left-handed.'" Kenshin cracked up at the joke a friend had told him.
He heard a sound coming from Kaoru and found Kaoru stifling a smile and laugh. He grinned, happy that she had gotten the joke and had made her a tiny bit happy.
"You know, you should smile. You never smile. I think a lot of people would like to see you smile, Kaoru," he suggested. She shook her head, an almost shy look on her face. She sure is different already, and her first week at school isn't even over yet! Kenshin thought to himself. He was glad that she wasn't as cold as she was the first day; she didn't talk at all, but at least she didn't look so emotionless.
There was a heavy silence placed over them. Kenshin cleared his throat, not knowing what to say now (Shocker! He usually has so much to jabber about! Kaoru thought).
"Do you wanna go eat an early lunch?" he asked her. She shrugged her shoulders. Kenshin took that as a yes obviously. He stood up and grabbed one of Kaoru's hands in his, guiding her out of the park to a restaurant to eat.
Kenshin didn't see the small blush that formed on Kaoru's face as she stared at their entwined fingers.
………………………….
"Oh, out of luck this time, people are starting to come here," Kenshin said. They had returned to the park about an hour later, to find that the park was not secluded anymore, but a few people were roaming about.
"Oh well though, right?" he said. He grinned at Kaoru.
They spent the rest of the afternoon at the park. Kaoru did not utter a syllable while Kenshin just talked nonsense as usual. At around five, the twosome left the park, Kenshin talking still and Kaoru with a small smile on her face.
Kenshin walked Kaoru home, though he decided in his mind that he'd stay at her place for a bit. He liked Kaoru's company even though she spoke no words.
When they reached Kaoru's house, Kaoru just walked in, leaving the door open; she wouldn't even try anymore to get Kenshin out of her house. Kenshin followed Kaoru up to her room, a grin on his face.
Kenshin flopped onto her bed, leaving Kaoru to stare frostily at him. She decided to just sit at the floor of her bed. Kenshin looked at her sitting on the floor, admiring her.
"You know, you really should consider what I said earlier. You should smile more. I don't think I've seen you smile," he recommended. She looked up at him, silently telling him to shut his mouth. He obviously did not comply with her silent demand; instead, he started talking even more.
Even though Kaoru would never admit it, she liked hearing Kenshin talk. His smooth alto voice always had such enthusiasm and spirit in it. Kaoru rested her head on her bed, listening to Kenshin talk. Before she knew it, Kaoru had fallen asleep. Kenshin noticed this and got off the bed.
He looked at Kaoru's sleeping form for a second before picking her up and setting her on her bed, tucking the blanket around her. He studied her innocent face and then placed a kiss on her forehead.
He left the sleeping girl and walked down the stairs, saying good-bye to Kaoru's dad and aunt.
A/N: hopefully you enjoyed this chapter that was basically just stuff, nothing important. Yeah, as you can see, I haven't really gotten into the plot, but don't worry, I have great plans ahead for this fic, and hopefullys, you'll like them. Sorry that nothing happens in this chapter! Ohmigosh, you know, I'm uber happy! I finally got the 14th book for the RK manga! Hehe. Yeah, yeah, it's been out a few weeks already, but I finally managed to get my mom to give me money to go buy the book! Hehe, I'm happy! Halfway with the RK series, only 14 more books to go…sigh. Oh, and for that joke in the chapter…heh…I had writer's block at that moment and decided to just add it in!...hehe. Anyways, thanks for reading this!
REVIEWERS:
PEACH: thanks for reviewing! Wow, I'm glad you like the second chapter (and like my fic despite my writing being very bad!)! Yeah, the kiss wasn't supposed to be in that chapter, in fact, ch. 2 had a way different ending, but I was all like 'what the heck' and just added it in. hehe. Yeah, Kenshin will most definitely develop feelings for Kaoru!
Sou-chans' gurl 4-ever: thanks for your reviews! Thank God it's not boring (though it probably is, I am a boring person and tend to make other things boring). Thanks again!
KissKenshin7: Glad you like the fic so far! Yeah, I've decided to update this fic weekly! Wow, since you were 12…, my parents and I only planned it out for me last year during my 8th grade, making me, uh, 14 then. It's pretty ironic really considering the fact that one doesn't find many who wants to become anesthesiologists.
legolasEstelstar: thanks! Hehe. Wow, I suppose I am just frickin lucky to be getting good grades (I'm such a procrastinator and all so I don't really know how that's possible…hehe…) I s'pose it's b/c of my memory. My memory is pretty good for school stuff, though if you ask me to repeat what I said in the last minute, it would be impossible!. Hehe. Wow, bilingual too! Hehe. Thanks for reviewing!
Desanera: Oh, thanks for reviewing. Yeah, I realize that my summary sucks and I did change some things. The summary isn't really up to date with my fic! Hehe, I've been meaning to change it! Hehe…Oh, more detail on her decision for no talking? Well, she didn't really decide to do it, it just happened…hehe…the move over to the states you mean? Well, I hate writing too much detail, and nothing would've happened so I didn't write anything for it (though if you guys want me to, I will add another scene for that). Yeah, at first I did want Kaoru to not speak at all throughout the fic, and speak her first sentence at the end of the fic, but I got this other idea and decided to stick with that idea. Hmm, maybe I should write a version of this fic with a non-speaking Kaoru totally!...hmm…well, thanks again for the advice and all; I'll get a new summary written!
Adrian St. James: glad you like my fic. Thanks for reviewing!
Neko-Yuff16: yeah, poor them! Hehe. Kenshin is pretty dense, haha…thanks for the review!
Lynn-Minmay: thanks! Wow, I never thought of my fic as cute..haha…funny…hehe…glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!
FullMetalChic: oh, okay, I get what you're saying now. When I first read your review, I was all like 'What the fudge is this person talking about?', then I remembered that I reviewed a poem you wrote. Hehe. Yeah, I would try to write 'bout Kenshin in the revolution, but sadly, I wasn't born with the talent of writing action. Hehee…well, glad you like my fic. Thanks for the review!
Krystle: oh, should I be flattered that you say 'i actually like this story'? hehe. Well, glad you like my fic (yeah, yeah, I know I'm saying that a lot, but hey, it's not my fault. Sheesh, cant think of brill ways to say that). Just read to find out if ken gets her trust or not! Thanks for the reviews!
Gray Rose: thanks for the review! hehe