True to Your Heart
By: Misumi Kanegawa
Chapter 2
When dismissal time came, everyone was rushing to get away from the school…
"So guys? Where do you live around here?" Yahiko asked as he followed the new students out the school gates.
"I'm moving to a dorm nearby…" Soujiro answered as the other two nodded at the same time.
"Really! Cool… my sis and me also stay at a dorm…" Yahiko replied cheerfully, "Which dorm do you stay at?"
"Hinata dorm…" the new students replied as Yahiko looked at them in surprise.
"Cool! That's the dorm where my sis and me stay!" Yahiko exclaimed as he suddenly stopped to look around, "Where is she anyway?"
"Stupid guys- best off without them, "Kaoru grumbled kicking an empty can down a small alley.
As she turned around a corner, she saw a woman standing patiently in front of a peach colored house. The house had a porch in front and a balcony in the top back part of the house.
"Is there someone new coming?" Kaoru asked herself as she ran to greet the landlady.
"Aunt Haruka? Is there someone moving in today?" Kaoru asked the woman in front of the house.
"Hai- three of them in fact!" the 28 year old woman said proudly, "One of them is staying in Room 5, the other in Room 2, and the last one in Room 7"
"Wait- hold on- one of them is staying right across my room!" Kaoru said, smiling, "So? Who's she?"
"She? You mean HE- and three of them in fact!" Haruka said smiling as Kaoru froze in shock.
Suddenly, they heard male voices from behind them. Kaoru turned around and saw Aoshi, Kenshin, Soujiro and Yahiko walking towards them.
"Oh… here she is!" Yahiko said as they turned to see Kaoru gawking at them in horror.
"No way! I hate this! I won't allow it!" Kaoru cried as she ran in the dorm, slamming the door behind her.
Yahiko sighed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Leave her… It's not her fault anyway that she's the only girl in the dorm…" Yahiko said, shrugging.
"Ah… Now it all makes sense…" Aoshi said to himself.
"Demo… Isn't Haruka-san staying in the dorm too?" Soujiro asked, looking at the landlady.
"Iie… I stay next to the dorm- I live at this white & blue colored house over here…" the landlady replied.
"Hey- you seem a bit quiet there Kenshin- Is there something wrong?" Yahiko asked as Kenshin suddenly looked at him as if he had just awoken from a dream.
"Uh… Were you saying something?" Kenshin asked as Yahiko shrugged.
"Nah… it's nothing…" Yahiko said with a sigh as Soujiro suddenly beamed, "C'mon! I want to see what my room looks like!"
Meanwhile…
"Baka… Why is it all happening to me!" Kaoru grumbled as she threw her bag to the floor while flopping down on her bed, "Why'd they have to be here!"
She sighed as she buried her face in her pillow.
"Mom… I wish you were here…" Kaoru said to herself as she heard noises coming from the hallway.
"Listen here. The first door right across the stairs is the washroom. The four doors next to it are rooms 1 to 4. Seta- you stay in room 2." Haruka explained as Soujiro nodded, "Now… this door next to the stairs is the broom closet… all cleaning tools are in there… The three doors next to it are rooms 7 to 5… Shinomori, you stay in room 7, Himura, you're in room 5…"
"Hey! We're right across each other!" Soujiro said smiling at Aoshi as Aoshi just ignored him.
"Oh- and Himura-" Haruka said to him as Kenshin looked up at her in surprise, "Before I forget- you and Kaoru have a window facing the yard, okay?"
"Uh…Hai…"
"Now-where was I- Ah yes- at the end of the hallway, right between room 4 and 5 is a door. Outside that door is a small balcony, there's also a small coffee table out there…" Haruka explained as they headed out the balcony door, "As you can see, the balcony does not reach the two windows of rooms 4 and 5, so I'm sure a burglar won't enter your room Himura-san…"
"Please landlady-san, call me Kenshin…" Kenshin said as the landlady just raised a brow at him.
"Um… what's down there?" Soujiro asked, pointing at a tiny house at the end of a huge yard.
"Ah-yes- that's the bath house. It has two doors to it of course-a male and a females' side- you have been in a bath house before, haven't you?" Haruka said as the three guys next to her nodded, "Good. And as you can see, we also have a small fish pond over here, next to the door leading to the yard downstairs…"
Haruka went back in the hallway followed by the three guys behind her.
"Now- follow me downstairs so I can show you where the laundry room is…"
Later that night…
"Oi! Guys! Dinner's ready!" Haruka called from the first floor.
Everyone then opened their doors to go downstairs.
"Oh… hi Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin said as Kaoru just slammed the door to her room behind her- and without even looking at Kenshin- bolted right down the stairs.
'Oro? She's pretty fast…' Kenshin thought wide-eyed as Yahiko came out of his room- Room 3.
"Hey guys! We better hurry!" Yahiko exclaimed as he ran to the stairs, "Sano might finish up all the food before we even get there!"
"Who's Sano?" Soujiro asked, getting out of his room.
"Hey Hey Hey! These must be the three newbies!" A tall guy with spiky brown hair said as he patted each of the new guys on the back.
"Newbies?" Soujiro asked curiously as Yahiko laughed, "Nani?"
Suddenly, someone hit Yahiko on the head, causing him to fling both his hands on his aching head.
"Mou- you're such a baka onii-chan!" Kaoru said as she placed some plates on a huge rectangular table, "Dinner will be ready in a sec…"
"MATTE! Don't tell me you're cooking!" Sano gasped in horror as Yahiko turned white.
"Well… what if I am?" Kaoru asked from the kitchen.
"Nande? What's wrong?" Soujiro asked as Sano whispered to the three "Newbies", "The tanuki over there totally stinks in cooking! It tastes like garbage for crying out loud!"
All of a sudden, a pan hit Sano on the head hard, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground.
"I heard that Asparagus head!" Kaoru exclaimed angrily as she put the food on the table, "And don't worry about the food- Haruka's the one who cooked tonight-"
"REALLY! Yahoo! I'm saved!" Sano jumped for joy as Kaoru hit him on the face with another frying pan.
"Humph! Serves you right!" Kaoru exclaimed as she grabbed a plate and some food, "I'm out of here…"
"Oro?"
"Where is she going?" Soujiro asked as Kaoru ran upstairs with her food.
"To the balcony of course! She knows she's the only girl in this dorm…" Yahiko said with a sigh as he sat down on a seat and reached for some food, "So she always eats up there…"
"Well… If I were her- I'd stop helping out in the kitchen!" Sano said while massaging his head, "Those pans are really getting to me…"
"By the way… Aren't you that girl's boyfriend?" Soujiro asked the spiky haired guy.
"Uh… if you mean Megumi, then yes…" Sano said as he joined Yahiko on the table, his mouth watering so much. "Oh- and sorry… I keep on forgetting things… I haven't introduced myself properly yet have I?"
The three shook their heads as they took an empty seat at the table and got some food.
"I'm Sanosuke Sagara… But my fans call me Sano!"
"Yeah right- as if you had any fans-" Yahiko said, smirking as Sano began strangling him.
"By the way… Where is the landlady?" Kenshin asked as Sano dropped Yahiko on the floor.
"Oh… she's at her house… she just comes to cook for us when she feels like it… But most of the time, we have to endure Kaoru's horrible cooking…" Sano explained with a sigh, "That girl's a nasty cook- but she is quite a good swordsman-woman- whatever…"
"She fights?"
Suddenly all heads turned to stare at Kenshin. Kenshin sweat dropped at their stares.
"Yeah… she studies kenjutsu with me..." Yahiko said as he grabbed another bowl of rice, "But really- no matter how hard I try- she's still better than me!"
"Wait- is she your older- or younger sister?" Soujiro asked, drinking some cha.
"Oh- she's older than me- didn't I tell you that?" Yahiko replied, wolfing down his food, "But really- I hate it when she calls me little! I mean… she's just older than me by a minute!"
"I really can't blame her…" Aoshi mumbled, getting out of his seat, "You're short for a sixteen year old…"
"Aw… shut up Aoshi…"
To be continued…