She stepped timidly out of the small bathroom located on the train. Her fellow co-workers had let her borrow some of their clothes, and she thought she looked ridiculous. She borrowed a shirt from a boy named Soujiro, he was about her size, and pants from a man named Enishi, who was bigger than her. Soujiro gave her an old red shirt of his that he had grown out of, and Enishi gave her a pair of large brown pants. She was up set to see the colors clashed and the designs on the shirt were anything but feminine, but how could she complain?
Her shirt was tight, even the sleeves clung to her arms. The shirt was long sleeved but the sleeves were to short so she had to keep them rolled up. The shirt was very tight on her, almost enough that she didn't have to wear a bra, but she did anyway. The shirt was very short and had holes in it. Her pants were quite a few sizes to big for her. She tied a rope through the belt loops to keep them on. The pant legs were very long since he was so tall, she had to fold them two times so she wouldn't trip on them.
She looked so stupid.
She looked both ways before she rushed down the hall and towards the coal cart. It was windy and loud there. The furnace hummed noisily and the wind whipped in her ears. Her cheeks were red from embarrassment when she saw the two guys.
Soujiro was all smiles. In just the short time she had known him she had never seen that smile falter. He was kind and sweet and his large eyes were beautiful. She felt comfortable with him, like she could tell him anything she wanted, and when the time came for it, she knew she would. He was a great listener but was shady about his own problems.
Enishi is a tall, strapping man. He was handsome, his silver hair falling into his blue-green eyes. He was quiet but had opinions on just about everything. He was an observer, someone who took in the whole situation then made a witty or intelligent comment about it. He was like a big brother, very protective but loveable.
Seeing that both of them ignored her presence and continued to shovel the black soot into the furnace she grabbed her shovel and shoved it hard into the pile of small round black pieces. She lifted it up, with much difficulty, and tossed it into the furnace. However, her aim was not as good as the boys so a few pieces hit the side of the furnace and bounced back to her feet. Almost as if they were mocking her, telling her 'ya missed!'.
She glared down at them and heard a small snickering, like the laughter of a child. She looked over her shoulder at Soujiro who was standing upright, leaning on his shovel. She turned around, one hand resting on her shovels handle, the other planted firmly on her hip. The laughter abruptly stopped and he continued to smile at her.
He walked towards her and held out his hand. "We were never properly introduced, My name is Soujiro." He said as she took his dirty hand and shook it. She was used to being dirty, so she was fine with gripping his soot filled hand.
"Im Kaoru." She said, his smile was infectious and she couldn't help but smile too. Enishi, the man in the back who seemed to refuse to stand up and converse with them dropped his shovel and stood up. He took a deep breath and his aqua blue eyes locked onto hers. Right at that moment she felt like she could pass out from embarrassment and lack of air. She released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and that moment in her life seemed to freeze.
He started walking towards her and she felt her knees quiver. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him. He extended his hand and she just looked at it.
KAORU!
You're being stupid again!
Snap out of it, you have a "husband" remember?
Yea he's suave, and nonchalant, and hot, and he has beautiful eyes and...shake his hand Kaoru.
That last thought brought her back to reality and with a red face she took his hand and shook it. His hand shake was firm and manly, unlike Soujiro's who's was soft and loving. You could tell the kind of person they were just by shaking their hand.
"Enishi." Came a rumbling voice from his chest. It was rough but sexy, and Kaoru could tell she'd be hanging off his every word.
"Let me guess...Kaoru?" He said a smirk gracing his lips. Kaoru smiled and nodded shyly.
They broke contact and their moment was ruined. He turned around and picked up his shovel and Kaoru's eyes landed on his...well...him. Once she realized what she was doing she turned her head her face turning a light pink.
"Don't drool Kaoru." She heard a voice in her ears. Her body twisted around quick to se Soujiro, right in her face. He was kind enough to whisper that in her ear so Enishi wouldn't know, but it scared Kaoru silly.
She put her hand over her beating heart. "You scared me Soujiro!" She said breathing heavily and smiling at him. He just grinned widely and walked past her to shovel coal again. Before Kaoru got herself in any more trouble she dug her shovel into the coal once more and only focused on that. She refused to let herself look up from her work unless one of them was trying to help her. A few times Soujiro demonstrated to her how to hold the shovel and how to toss it all into the furnace. Though Kaoru wasn't as efficient as the other two she was a quick worker and didn't complain once. Before she knew it, noon had rolled around and they got to stop for lunch. Right before lunch they shoveled enough coal to let the train crews at a good speed for about half an hour, just enough time for them to eat. They walked into an empty cart, one with tables and chairs. The two boys sat down at a table next to a window on the right side of the cart.
Kaoru didn't have much food, she was starving but worked for free so she didn't even have money to buy more food. All she had with her was one rice ball. She chose to sit outside the cart, were the wind would blow through her hair. This cart had a small platform and railing on the side of it, so she sat there. She munched on her rice ball there, watching the scenery flash before her.
She loved this feeling, the creaking of the platform scaring her, making her feel like she would fall. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, the wind washing over her body. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew she wasn't supposed to be out there, and that's what made it fun. The only down side, the wind was so strong she couldn't hear if someone was coming up behind her, like Enishi was doing just then.
She felt the wind stop, her hair falling back into place and her eyes opening quickly. She saw a pair of legs. She blinked several times and followed the legs up to the face of Enishi. She smiled. "Hey." She said but the wind carried her voice away form her. He sat down in front of her. "You shouldn't be out here. Kenshin is serious about his workers, if you're injured, Soujiro and I will get in trouble." He said, his voice blowing right onto her face.
Kaorus lips were moving but Enishi couldn't hear her, she could barely hear herself. So she just stopped talking, knowing that there was no use. "I also brought this out for you." He said handing her half of a sandwich. She smiled and shook her head. But he insisted. When she refused to take it he set it gently in her lap and stood up. He brushed himself off and walked back into the cart. Kaoru ignored his words and continued to sit out there for the remainder of the break, so they wouldn't see how red her face was.
She was angry and embarrassed, she was poor and working for free, she didn't need their pity. But it was a kind gesture and she wouldn't yell at him yet. She was never one to turn down free food, but she did want them to think she was a beggar. All she could do was hope this wouldn't be an everyday thing. Once she figured the break was over she stood up, brushed her dirty clothes as clean as she could get them and walked to the coal cart. Neither of the boys were there, but she knew the break would end soon and they would join her.
So she began to shovel, her arms already feeling heavy from her first few hours of work. When the two finally came back in, laughing at a joke Soujiro had apparently told she smiled. "Trying to show us up?" Enishi asked, smiling. She nodded and laughed a bit. The two joined her and hey shoveled the rest of the evening.
Five 'o' clock rolled around and Kaoru, Enishi, and Soujiro were called off of work. She released a sigh and Couldn't help but sit down in a chair in an empty cart they passed through. Soujiro was the first to notice she was lagging behind and he retraced his steps and found her. He poked her arm, "Kaoru?"he asked. She groaned in response. "I know your first day of work was tough Kaoru, mine was to, but you should get up and at least move to the cart with beds." He said kindly. She looked up at him. "I have a bed?" She questioned.
"Well, I assume you would. If you're replacing Skipper's job you should be replacing his bed." Soujiro said. Kaoru stood and followed Soujiro reluctantly to a small cart with three sets of bunk beds. Soujiro explained that Skipper slept on the bottom of a bunk bed all to himself. Skipper was old and fat so he couldn't sleep n the top, and he had worked there the longest so that's why he didn't have to share a bunk.
Kaoru nodded. "But I'm the newest one here." She said confused. "Yea, so Shishio took Skipper's bed, Saitou took shishio's bed, I took Saitou's bed, and Enishi stayed were he was. So you get the top bun with Enishi." Soujiro said to her pointing to all of the different beds.
"Uh...Who's Saitou and Shishio?" Kaoru asked. Soujiro's face dropped a bit and his smile wavered ever so slightly.
"They're the night shift...try not to bother them, stay out of their way. Besides Skipper Shishio has been working here the longest, then Saitou. They are mean and not always very kind to women. Just hope Kenshin never makes you work the night shift, if they aren't giving you the cold shoulder they are being rude and mean hearted." Soujiro said looking her in the eyes with all seriousness. When Soujiro warned her about something it had to be important so she listened very carefully to him, fear beginning to bubble up in her stomach.
Kaoru just nodded and noticed happily that neither men were in their beds and Kaoru slept above Enishi and across from Soujiro. Slowly she could feel the train move slower and slower, and soon it stopped completely.
"Soujiro...why is the train stopping?" She asked fear present in her eyes, out of natural instinct.
"Hmm...?" He asked looking at her. "Oh, We must be picking up another load. Not only do we need more coal, but I believe at this stop we are picking up wood as well." He said his hand on his chin as he thought about it.
"Why do we need wood. I thought it was a strait ride to Kyoto." Kaoru said her voice a higher pitch due to worry.
"No, this is a freight train, we stop in just about every city before we get to Kyoto, we still have at least two weeks until we get to Kyoto." He said. Suddenly Kaoru could feel the world around her shatter. She didn't know it would take that long. At least two weeks, Sano might think she found a job by then, if Megumi isn't getting better, she could be dead by then. A tear formed in Kaoru's eye and her nose became red and stuffy. Her glazed eyes just stared into the distance as if she was reliving a memory.
She could hear her name being called in the distance but she couldn't pull herself out of this terriable reality that was crashing down on her shoulders. She felt a hand on her shoulder and her eyes began to focus and she took a deep shaky breath.
"Kaoru?" She heard loudly in her ear. She shook her head slightly and turned to look at a worried but smiling Soujiro.
"Yea?" She asked, her voice soft.
"You ok?" He asked. He led her to her bed, and helped her climb up into it.
"You should rest, you've had a long day, and you probably hurt already." He said pulling out a bottle filled with small white pills. He took one out and handed it to her. "Take this and go to sleep, work starts at nine. Right now I have to go see if I can help load coal and wood into the carts, but Kenshin never said you would have to do that so don't worry about it. Rest up." He said walking out of the room. She just nodded and before she even heard him shut the door her eyes were closed and she had drifted into a blissful darkness.
Here eyes snapped open, The sound of rain beating lightly against metal charged her waking ear drums and she flinched a bit from shock. She looked around her, she was in a bed, wrapped in a thick blanket, with the dull noise of snoring floating under the soft beating of rain. 'What am I doing here?' Her mind asked her as she sat up and fully scanned the dark cart.
'Oh yeah.' She thought as she remembered what had happened. She felt refreshed and a yawn escaped her lips. She hadn't slept in a bed in a very long time. She smiled, the feeling of the warm cotton on her skin was delightful. This kind of feeling was the reason she hated being a hobo, this was the reason she was looking for work, and this was the reason she needed to get to Kyoto.
She stretched her soar limbs, and took another deep breath.