Sweet Mistake

Faith

By Seabreeze

AN: I'm being positive. This is the last tough (writer's block-wise) chapter I have to write before this story gets insanely fun to write. So I'm gettin' it over with. Plus it'll be short.

Disclaimer: Only the idea is mine, and trust me, you don't want that.

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Kenshin ducked easily as Kaoru's bokken swung high over both their heads, aiming for his right shoulder. Dodging to the left, he whirled and swung his bokken back at her, only to have it, to his great surprise, blocked. Behind the defending bamboo stick was Kaoru's face, triumphant. Kenshin backed off a little, his own bokken still raised.

"Good, Kaoru, very good, but don't get cocky. Always remember that your opponent could be holding back on you." Before he finished the sentence, he charged her straight on, face livid. Kenshin saw a small smirk on his apprentice's face: good, she saw and ignored his scare tactic. However, she was still being too cocky. At the last minute he swiveled around her and swung his bokken in a blow that could've broken her neck; however he slowed the force so that it only tapped her there. With his back to her, he heard her gasp of surprise. Teaching students not to get too cocky was easy. He turned and bowed to her before walking back a few steps, bokken lowered.

"And you see what I mean when I say not to get cocky. The only space you have in your mind while fighting is the space for two things and two things alone: 1. your sword, and 2. your opponent's. If you have time to think about anything else or even feel anything else, you're not concentrating hard enough, and against a good enough fighter, you've no chance of winning."

His student's face was blank in awe. She nodded.

"Its so easy to become over-confidant for acheiving a strike or blocking a blow," she said, humbled. Kenshin smiled, setting his bokken down for a moment.

"Yes, but it is nothing compared to achieving many strikes and blocking many blows and winning a match. If you must feel pleasure for doing such things, wait until the match is over. But even then, you can't let that carry into the next match. If its one thing this one's learned, its that humility will help you a lot, no matter what path you take."

"That's for sure," Kaoru agreed, wiping her brow of sweat with a tired hand. She smiled and took a breath. "Can I try again?" Kenshin's violet eyes widened in surprise.

"Already? Of course. I'm glad to see your endurance is improving." He lifted his bokken into defensive stance. "ready?" he asked, and Kaoru lifted her own bokken, copying her sensei, nodding.

"Ready." The two fighters bowed, and Kaoru immediately made the first attack. Kenshin watched her movements and her face, and decided she was ready for a simple but difficult to block counter-attack: one in which he attacked during her own attack. Neophytes were usually shocked by this attack; usually the pattern of the spar was simply attack, counter attack, defend, and repeat. As Kaoru neared, he suddenly moved his bokken and made a sharp stab towards the left side of her stomach. Kaoru's eyes filled with genuine surprise, but to his amazement she rolled over his attack, twisting midair to land on the right side of his bokken, completely unharmed. Keeping the surprise and happiness off his face, Kenshin attacked again, and ended the spar only a few moves later by letting her tap his arm with her final attack. Breathing heavily, Kaoru glared at Kenshin.

"First you use an illegal move and then you let me win," she accused, holding a small stitch in her side. She and Kenshin bowed to eachother, and he moved to take her bokken and set both on the wall to his left. Once they were set on their hooks, he turned to her, grinning.

"That move is only illegal for beginners, and you avoided it beautifully. The ballet class was a wise investment, your flexibility is beyond what mine could ever be." He smiled at her in such a way that she felt blinded, and she stared at him for a moment, taking in his words. Then she grinned.

"Take all the credit, Himura-sensei – you taught me."

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Kaoru and Tae were quite excited to meet Tomoe in the ice cream shop after ballet. They had been waiting all week, it seemed, to talk to the former ballerina and their new idol. Kaoru couldn't wait to pound her for advice on learning new steps, and Tae was still mystified by a dancer who had been en pointe. Tomoe was quick to console Kaoru.

"Every dancer has been baffled by petit allegro some time or another in their career. Its the most difficult part of ballet, some believe. At least I think so. Don't worry too much about it, Kaoru-san, just try your hardest. Your teacher knows you're new and struggling, she'll help you out if she can."

"Yeah, Kaoru, petit allegro is definitely my least favorite part of ballet. Did you see how badly I messed up? That was terrible!" Tae added. Kaoru slurped the rest of her ice cream moodily.

"It wasn't anywhere near as bad a train wreck as mine was – did you see me? I just stumbled around, looking confused." She sighed miserably and set her head down on her crossed arms. "I'll never get the hang of it." Tomoe and Tae both frowned.

"Don't give up, Kaoru-san, or you'll never get it." Tomoe warned wisely.

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A bell tinkled as the door to the smallest dance studio opened. Magdaria, in dance clothes and with her hair up, looked up to see the strange, somewhat rude man who occasionally came to pick up Kaoru, Ayame, and Suzume.

"Hello," she said tentatively, smiling politely. As the man – Sano, was it? – laid eyes on her, a suave smirk lit his lips.

"Hello yourself. How've you been?" he leaned on the counter, and his jean jacket opened slightly to reveal a bare and muscular chest. Magdaria either ignored this or did not notice.

"Classes have been going well," she replied levelly. "Can I help you with something?"

"Well, I'm looking for two things." He said, grinning. Magdaria stared at him blankly until he continued. "My friend Kenshin's apprentice," he said, looking more full of himself than ever, "and a date for Friday night." Magdaria picked up a few cds and put them in their cases, her mouth in a taut line.

"Kenshin-san must not have told you that Kaoru goes out with a friend after ballet. They're at the ice cream shop on 35th." Her voice was frigid.

"Thank you. And the date?"

"Not a chance."

"Come on," he had dropped the terribly cheesy macho act, and his voice and face were genuine enough to make her turn around. "I know I'm not the type of guy you see around here much, but I promise you we'll have a good time." He watched imploringly as she seemed to consider. "Give me a chance. Just one date. That's all I'm asking." By now he sounded so sincere that Magdaria sighed and dropped her hands.

"All right. One. Friday." She agreed. Sano grinned and ran a hand through his ridiculously spiky hair.

"Seven o'clock ok with you?"

"Its fine."

As he left the studio, Magdaria couldn't help but wonder: why had she agreed? She hadn't wanted to, but before she knew what was happening, she had agreed to go on a date with that strange man…

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A few weeks later, Kenshin's suv pulled quietly into his driveway at about 1:30 in the morning. In the night silence, they heard the loud slamming of their own doors. Kaoru held something silver and shiny in her hands, handling it with the utmost care. Before they parted to their respective homes, Kenshin put a hand on her shoulder.

"Third place, Kaoru," he said, gentle voice proud. "I couldn't ask for anything better for your first tournament."

Kaoru was glad the dark obscured his vision of her face, because his gentle satisfaction made her cheeks burn.

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A/N: Ok, so that was really, really easy to write, and it's a lot longer than I expected. Who knew you can solve writer's block just by… writing? I'm so glad. The next chapter will be a-mazing. At least to write, I dunno if it'll be good to read. Sorry about the short, "hey, Kaoru got third at the tournament… end of that story" thing there at the end.Also, I just realized, I love writing fighting/action scenes!

And personal note about Kaoru's troubles with "petit allegro" – petit allegro is not something that would be introduced to beginning ballet students, like Kaoru, but I had to put it in because I had my first run-in with it on Tuesday (I'm pretty beginner myself, but I've taken it for a year), and like Kaoru I "stumbled around and looked confused". My friend, a wise dancer (lol, I'm such a nerd) gave me nearly the same advice Tomoe gave Kaoru when I told her how badly I fumbled it. Petit allegro is generally a combination of small, fast steps. It sounds easy, but… its not. When I said I "stumbled around and looked confused", I'm not exaggerating in the least. Usually I have SOME semblance of an idea what I'm doing in dance, but not that time… anyway, I just needed something balletic for them to discuss, and my amazing ballet teacher provided me with the perfect material. Thanks, Matt!

Finally, Thank You's:

Crazed T.V. Girl – unfortunately I must tell you now that Tomoe's dancing has very little to do with anything other than the fact that it gets her and Kaoru to be friends, and perhaps that Kenshin has a fetish for dancers ;) Also, I hope I updated soon enough but it will be frequent – weekly, if I can help it. Thank you for the review, it made me very happy.

Clemen – yeah, but I'm getting back into the groove. Things will just get longer as I get more into what I write, but there are only 5 chapters or so left. Thank you for your kind review.

Mega Kenshin Fan – I hope my story didn't freak you out, but even if it did, apparently you like it anyhow thanks for reviewing, and here's some tea!

ASKinfinity – I wasn't planning on making dance a very big part of the story, but I guess its not a bad idea to have at least a little bit of it in each chapter. I understand your passion for dance – I'm not very good, but I get so excited to go to class! I especially love jazz (which I've been doing for several years) and lyrical (which I just picked up). Its great to see another anime otaku who also dances – there should be a club for us! Anyway, thanks for the review. I hope the dance in the story (and indeed the story itself) are satisfactory.

Royal blueKitsune – heh, you should read Honeysuckles and Moonlight Shreds by EvilKaryta. Now there's an age difference for you, and an amazing story. Anyhow, I kept Kaoru and Kenshin at their real age difference- 10 years. In the series, Kaoru is 18 and Kenshin is 28. But I wanted to make her younger, closer to my age when I began the story, so that I could get into her head more realistically. At 15, what would I know about being 18? However now that I am nearly 18, it seems that I am exactly the same as I was back then. Oh well, hindsight is everything. Thanks for the review.