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Chapter 5: Family

All evening, Kenshin could not stop thinking about Kaoru. Her long, silky, raven hair, her beautiful big blue eyes, cherub cheeks, she was pretty! Just thinking about her made Kenshin drooling all over his bed. In the end, he made up his mind: he was going to see Kaoru and ask her out! Atta boy! He thought. Then again... maybe not, after all, he had only known her for about 8 hours...

Kenshin was about to walk out of the house for a short walk to refresh himself after his bath. " Where are you going baka-deshi!" Hiko sensei asked him," Finished your homework yet?" he carried on angrily.

Kenshin slapped his forehead lightly, oh shoots! How could he have forgotten? When he took his satchel up to his room, and took out his homework, he knew he was dead meat: Calculus and Trigonometery! He should have told Sakura sensei that he sucked at these two subjects! And that when tests came out on these, he was always close to failing it. Nuts! He usually used his other subjects to pull these two up for good grades. Gosh, why was I always the one getting in trouble? Kenshin thought. "Well, it's worth a try," Kenshin frowned.

Kenshin tackled calculus first for half an hour and he wasn't even closer to the second question!" I give up!" he hollered, dropping his pen and paper on the floor, dropping himself on his bed. " I guess I'm just going to find someone to teach me," Kenshin muttered under his breath. He ransacked his satchel to find something that had somebody's number or something! Just then, a small piece of paper fell out from his satchel. He picked it up, curious what it held.

He saw pencil marks all over it. Curiosity killed the cat, but who cared? He read it and recognised it as Kaoru's address and telephone number. But somehow, he could not decipher her telephone number, sigh. Guess I'm just going to go to her house then.

"Baka-deshi! Where are you going?" sensei demanded at the leaving Kenshin. Kenshin flinched after hearing his sensei yell "baka-deshi". " I'm just going to my friend's house. I need her to teach me calculus," Kenshin explained casually. Sensei spat out his sake. "A girl! When did Kenshin ever ask help from a GIRL?"

"What's wrong? I see no difficulty asking. And I'm desperate! I've got homework to hand up tomorrow and I really need to go!"

"Fine! Just help me get some food back from the supermarket or something, okay? Oh yeah, don't forget, don't comeback by 11."

" Sure, whatever." Kenshin left the house in jeans and a blue top; he wore a sweater to keep the cold out too.

The walk didn't take more than 15 minutes from Kenshin's house. " Well, at least somebody's home," Kenshin told himself. Before he could even ring the bell, a little girl rushed out to meet him, followed by a taller girl. " Good evening, come in now! Okasan is worried sick about you," the first girl said. She was wearing a lime green kimono and her brown hair was tied into a loose pigtail.

" Oro?" Kenshin muttered, utterly confused. He didn't even live here!

" Little sister! It's not older sister! It's a boy with red hair!" the second girl said, she was wearing a kimono too, but it was a bright red one, and her hair was tied loosely behind her.

" Ohh," the first girl said," then, what do you want!" she demanded." Well, I'm erm, looking for a girl called Kaoru Kamiya, does she live here?" Kenshin asked nervously.

" Yes, she does, but she isn't back yet. She will be back home soon hopefully," a tall pretty lady behind the girls replied warmly," Do you have something to ask my daughter, young man?"

" Oh, sorry to intrude, and it's not really that important, it's only about homework," Kenshin replied hastily.

" Never mind, come on in. It looks like it's starting to rain. Suzume and Ayame, come in, I'll open the gate," the lady ordered the two young siblings.

She opened the gate as rain started pouring down the roofs. " Arigatou," Kenshin thanked her. The lady nodded her head and ushered him in.

As Kenshin entered the house, the non-stop chatter of Kaoru's sisters immediately greeted him. They were shrieking and laughing. Kaoru's father came up to Kenshin and Kenshin bowed serenely. "Oh, it's alright boy. Everybody is welcome in my house," Kaoru's father boomed cheerfully in his deep voice. "Thank you very much, sir," Kenshin replied politely, "I actually wanted to talk to your daughter over the phone, but the writing wasn't clear, so I had to come down. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience caused."

"Oh, nevermind about that. I'll ask Kaoru to give you her handphone number and house number," Kaoru's mother waved her hand lightly, "it's not that big a deal anyway."

Dinner was served shortly later and Kaoru's mother invited him to the table. Being too polite to refuse, Kenshin took a place on the tatami and sat down. The dinner was simple yet delicious. It consisted of steamed egg, tofu, potatoes in soy sauce and French beans sautéed lightly with sliced carrots. " Delicious cooking ma'am. I bet Kaoru learned cooking from you. She is a wonderful cook too," Kenshin said. Everybody stared at him for a while before bursting into laughter. "Oro?" was all Kenshin could muster in his state of confusion.

" You must be mistaken young man, Kaoru only makes rice cakes, that's what she is best at. She can't cook anything else besides that!" Kaoru's father laughed heartily, tears running down his cheeks, "Even Sano's dog won't eat her cooking!" Kaoru's sisters piped up in unison. "Well, I see. Thank you for pointing that out to me," Kenshin laughed along with the others, slightly embarrassed. The rain grew heavier steadily as the 5 people savoured every bite of their meal.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and in came a dripping wet Kaoru. She was wet from the head to toe, and was talking a mile per second. " Wow, what a day. Firstly, this really cute boy called Kenshin turned up in school. Then I go for dance classes and Miss Pinze picks me to do a dance in the competition, then this beautiful day ends with having a monsoon when I'm on my way home, cursing my day, and I forgot to take my umbrella and I'm now soaked to the skin..." Kaoru started raving on and on until she noticed a pair of amethyst eyes watching her intently.

Kaoru gaped seeing Kenshin in her house, what was he doing here? "Busted!" Suzume and Ayame chorused.

I am so dead, she thought. I just said Kenshin was cute to my family and HIM. Great! My life was fine until now! "Busted!" the two younger girls called out again. " Shut up!" Kaoru yelled at the two girls. There was peace: for 5 seconds. Whatever she did wouldn't keep the girls quiet.

"What are you doing here, Kenshin?" Kaoru tried to keep her embarrassment out of her voice. She had turned red and she thought Kenshin would laugh at her. On the contrary, Kenshin stood up and bowed to her. "Kaoru, please to not be angry. I need your help with some homework Sakura sensei handed to us today. Can you help me or is this an inconvenience to you?" Kenshin asked cautiously, bowing. Kaoru nodded her head furiously and squeezed her drenched hair," Okay, erm, could you follow me? I'll lead you to my room." Kenshin nodded and followed her up the stairs mutely.

When they had disappeared, Ayame whispered loudly to her mother," Okasan, is that onisan's new boyfriend?" her mother smiled gently at the small girl," Just wait and see, just wait and see..."

Kaoru brought Kenshin to the second level, turned to the right and opened a door. Kenshin was immediately greeted by a haven for mess. " Gomen, but I haven't had the time to clean up yet," Kaoru said hastily, seeing the amusement rise in Kenshin's eyes. " Oh, that's really okay," Kenshin replied.

Kaoru flung her bag onto her bed and grabbed a towel and some dry clothes. She told Kenshin to stay in her room while she took a shower and grab some food. She was out in 20 minutes, drying her hair with her wet towel and went downstairs to get some dinner. " Kaoru definitely needs some help with her room," Kenshin muttered staring around the room distastefully. Kenshin picked up the magazines littered all over the room and stacked them in a neat pile at one corner. Candy wrappers and scrap paper went into a purple bin Kenshin found under Kaoru's bed. He even laid out Kaoru's wet books on her bed to let them dry. The room looked ten timers cleaner than it were before.

As Kenshin stooped down to pick up a piece of trash near the door he had just spotted when Kaoru burst into the room. She collided with Kenshin and landed on top of him, faces inches away from the other. Kaoru blushed a brilliant shade of red and scrambled to get up on to her feet again. Kenshin slowly got up, momentarily processing what had just happened a few seconds ago. Kaoru muttered a quick sorry and went to get her books on her bed.

" I'm impressed. The room looks much cleaner now," Kenshin muttered something like "it was nothing" and sat down on the floor. Kaoru noticing this, took a chair and ordered Kenshin to sit. " You should not be treated as a stranger." Was what she said. " I couldn't do the Calculus homework Sakura sensei gave us," Kenshin explained. Kaoru laughed and replied," We're supposed to hand that in on Friday, weren't you listening in class?"

" Well, since I'm here, maybe you can teach me now." Kenshin asked Kaoru, scratching his head. Kaoru nodded his head and took some rough paper and motioned Kenshin to bring his chair next to hers by the desk. "C'mon, let's get started then," Kaoru said cheerfully. They worked together comforted by the warmth the other radiated and just by the presence.

After an hour or so of "teaching", Kaoru slapped her book shut and asked Kenshin tiredly," Think we should be stopping here." She was tired and Kenshin could hear it in her voice." Well, I guess I should get going. It's 10.15 already." He threw his books in to his satchel when Kaoru said to him frankly," You are different."

Kenshin stopped short. What was that supposed to mean? But all he said was," What do you mean different?"

" A boy has never asked me to teach him anything. Not even Sou-chan. Not under any circumstances." Was her reply.

" Interesting." Kenshin flicked his long amber fringe expertly to the back of his ear," I really should be going. I haven't even got Hiko sensei food to eat."

" Wait. Okasan will have something. Is that okay for him?"

Kenshin followed her down the stairs into the kitchen. She took out a plastic container and put in all of that night's dinner, some rice, and even a small peach. " You really don't have to do that you know," Kenshin said. Kaoru nodded her head absently and pushed the container into his hand.

" I'll walk you out." Kaoru opened the door to let the red headed teen out. " Jya ne, see you at school tomorrow then," Kaoru yelled at the distant figure. The young man turned around and waved his hand before walking down the road. A solitary figure illuminated by the failing lights of the lampposts.

Kaoru sighed as she saw the teen walk home. How was she ever going to tell him?