Omigosh! Thanks you guys! I absolutely loved your reviews! You made me so happy!
lone saiyan woman: Thanks for the two reviews for both chapters! (Ya sometimes fanfiction won't let me see the updated chapters which kind of angers me…) Well…here comes Kenshin in this chapter!
Angel of lonleyness: Hopefully all the sadness is over…and thanks for reviewing for the two chapters as well! Here's the next chapter…and I'm glad you like it! That makes me feel good…
nilnil: Oh ya…I know her dad is really and truly like the greatest and nicest dad around…but I forgot to add that this is an OOC…I hope it doesn't bother you too much…)
antica: I'm trying to make this as exciting as I can…I don't know…I have a feeling that this chapter is pretty much a big bore. Help? Any suggestions?
ALASKANCHIKKAz: …I hope it is interesting…thanks for reviewing! Hopefully this doesn't get uninteresting…because that would really suck…
Reignashii: Yep, Kaoru is alive and doing well…well, sort of…So, here she is in the next chapter and she gets to meet Kenshin! Whee!
princess828: Mucho amore for reviewing! I'm glad it's different…sometimes same kind stories can get old…but it all depends. Anyways, here's the next chapter!
WOW YOU GUYS ROCK!Chapter 3
10 years later…
17-year old Kaoru sat slumped in her chair. It was the beginning of the school period and already people were whispering about her.
"What's got HER in the dumps?"
"SOMEONE'S not a happy camper…"
"She probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed…again…"
Kaoru rolled her eyes. They were all being immensely stupid and it was driving her insane!
Frowning harder she glared at all the gossipers, who immediately shut up.
It was practically like this everyday. She'd come to school and overhear the not-so-quiet gossip about her.
Once, it was worse than what she heard this morning. Once, it was, "I heard she killed her mother with a gun when she was a kid…then the father drove here to escape the police and protect his daughter…poor dad…he doesn't deserve a kid like her."
That stung like hell and it almost made her want to cry. But no more tears. She hasn't cried since she was 7. She hasn't cried for the past 10 years…
After that harsh remark, Misao, her best friend (not to mention, only friend,) had promptly kicked their ass with her ninja moves.
Misao Makimachi was Kaoru's only friend ever since the day they met in second grade. They were both 7 then, and Kaoru came stumbling into school with puffy eyes and a bruised face.
Misao, being the nice little girl she was born and raised to be, raced over to help Kaoru while the other kids backed up, thinking she was attacked by rabies or something.
"Are you okay? What happened? Here…lemme help you…" Misao helped Kaoru limp over to the health room.
"Thank you, Miss Makimachi, I will handle your friend from here." The nurse said.
"NO! I wanna stay and see if she's okay…" Misao stubbornly persisted.
"Fine…can you tell me your name?" The nurse directed the question at Kaoru.
Kaoru sniffed. "Kaoru…Kaoru Kamiya."
"Do you go to this school?"
She shook her head.
The nurse blinked. "So…uh, then…"
"I mean…it's my first day…"
The nurse nodded, understanding.
She treated Kaoru then, cleaning up her face and all her cuts and bruises had medicine applied to them. She was then sent to class, along with Misao.
"So…what happened?" Misao piped up after a moment of silence.
Kaoru didn't answer at first. "If I tell you…do you promise not to tell?"
Misao stuck out her pinky. "I promise…besides, I'm a Ninja-In-Training, meaning I have to keep LOTS of secrets!" She boasted.
Kaoru allowed a ghost of a smile. "Okay…well…I came all the way from Kyoto…"
And she spilled the whole story, her sapphire eyes growing harder and harder while replaying the whole thing in her mind.
By the time she was finished, her eyes were practically black.
And that's how they are to this day.
"…….and then he totally just booted us out of the house and we were like, 'Oh, thanks Gramps, we love you too,' but he yelled, 'GO BOOST YOUR BRAINS!' and then threw our bags at us and we were on our way."
Kaoru was snapped out of her reverie by Misao's bubbly babbling.
"Hey Misao…" Kaoru said.
"Hello Kaoru! How was your morning?"
"Like hell."
"Again, huh?"
"Mm…"
"Are you coming to practice today?" Misao asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Of course…I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Misao knew all about Kaoru's predicament. Since the day she met her, she invited Kaoru to come over to her place, so she could train in a martial arts.
"I thought maybe you'd want to, in case your dad ever decides to beat you up and you can protect yourself." Misao had added thoughtfully when they arrived at her dojo.
Kaoru was more than ecstatic and immediately wanted to train. She had decided to do kendo…it seemed like fun.
Besides, she hated staying in that hellhole her father calls a home for the rest of the day.
The bell ran and it was time for everyone to take his or her seats. Class has begun.
The teacher walked in. "Good Morning, Mr. Saito…" the whole class chorused. It was a morning ritual to their dear teacher, Hajime Saito.
"New student today," he stated gruffly.
Everyone started whispering. A girl said to her friend, "I hope it's a guy. Seriously, this place has NO guys to go out with."
Her friend nodded. "I hope he's hot."
The guys were also whispering amongst themselves. "It's a chick! I just know it!" one guy said.
"How do YOU know?" his friend asked.
"Dude, I can, like, see her hair and it's like, red." He replied, looking out the door.
Saito rolled his eyes. "Come in," he called out the door.
In walked a guy. He had fiery red locks pulled out in a high ponytail. His bangs shaded his eyes and a few strands of hair framed his delicate face. He was kind of short; it looked like Kaoru topped him by a few inches. He was well built, you could tell by seeing his abs through his semi-tight black shirt and the way his jeans really fit him well…
But of course, Kaoru didn't pay any notice.
"Class…" Saito sighed. "This is Kenshin Himura."
All at once the class erupted into whispers and giggles and other obnoxious noises the girls were making.
"He's mine." You could here the girls arguing over him. Kaoru rolled her eyes and quietly snorted. He was probably a snob…thinking he's all that and a bag of skittles…
Well…he's not.
Kenshin Himura lifted his head and quietly scanned the whole room. The class went silent.
Kaoru looked up to see why the noise suddenly stopped. It was strange…just moments ago they were bursting with irritating giggles and longing sighs.
Well it's no wonder. He has amber eyes. A piercing amber, they were. They were quite remarkable, Kaoru had to give in to that. His eyes looked like he could see right through you…like one look and he'd know everything about you. Maybe that's why everyone was overwhelmed and quiet.
Kenshin was mentally disappointed. He didn't want to be friends with people were scared of him. And it looked like everyone was scared of him. Part of him was glad so that maybe he'd be pretty much left alone by the annoying folk…
Except for one young man. He gave him a cocky grin right back. Kenshin raised an eyebrow. The rooster head did the same.
Sano was having fun with the new kid. He looked intimidating all right, but he was puny, and he looked like Sano could just sit on him and he'll be squashed to death. Besides, he wasn't scared. Why should he be? He was new here.
Kenshin quickly accepted that this kid with the brown-spiky hair would most likely become an acquaintance of his.
He looked around furthermore. There sure were quite a lot of students here in this class, he thought randomly.
Finally his eyes landed on the girl in the very back row. She was alone with this other girl who had a long braid going down her back. Braid Girl had pretty blue-green eyes. She smiled shyly and looked down.
The other girl had long black hair, tied in a high ponytail very much like his own. When they made eye contact, he expected her to flinch or duck her head back down. Instead, she glared right back.
He was kind of surprised, but all the while very amused. But what struck him odd was that her eyes were black. Was it possible for someone to have black eyes? He sensed something wrong with her…just, what was it?
"Take a seat by Miss. Kamiya." Saito finally said.
Kenshin nodded and hesitated for a bit, just wondering…who exactly is 'Miss. Kamiya?'
Misao bobbed up and down. "Ooh! Over here! You sit by Kaoru over here!" She exclaimed pointing rather excitedly at her unemotional friend.
Kenshin nodded his thanks and quickly walked to the back of the room and took his seat.
It was kind of…awkward sitting by this girl who seemed almost as heartless as he was.
And he thought he was cold.
"You're Kaoru Kamiya, I suppose." He stated. For the first time in a long time, the silence was getting to him and he didn't like it one bit.
The girl, known as Kaoru Kamiya nodded without glancing his way.
Kenshin slowly nodded.
Kaoru was somewhat irritated that she had to share her row with the New Kid. Sure she was sharing it with Misao too, but Misao was her best friend.
She could feel him glancing at her every now and then and that was getting on her nerves too. She couldn't wait for this boring period to be over.
History was never exciting.
She was relieved when it was finally over. They were given some free time before they were excused to their next class.
People started shuffling about, sitting next to their friends and chattering about whatever was on their minds.
Well…that's what normally happens during free time.
This time the Back Row was flooded with girls all flirting with Kenshin. Their arms draped all over him, their hands running through his hair and one girl actually had the nerve to sit on his lap.
Now this thoroughly disgusted Kaoru so she stood up and walked to the front of the room where it was deserted with Misao trailing right behind her.
"Wow…he's kinda hot." Misao whispered to Kaoru.
"…"
"But of course, he's no Aoshi…" she sighed dreamily.
Kaoru was silent again.
For the rest of the period she listened to Misao's chattering, nodding at the right times, frowning when Misao frowned, and all that other stuff she usually does when Misao talks.
Finally they were released and Kaoru was headed off to Biology. She was a loner this time. Misao had Chemistry.
Walking down the hall she was just about to enter the classroom when,
"Kamiya."
She turned just to see the New Guy standing a couple feet behind her.
"What, Himura."
"Is this Chem.?" He asked.
Kaoru glanced pointedly at the sign saying CHEMISTRY across the door. "I guess so." She muttered sarcastically and walked in the door.
Kenshin stood outside. He made a fool out of himself twice already in front of Kamiya. His pride was slowly dissipating, and all in one day! He scowled and entered the room.
Introductions to the New Student went similar to the period before, all with the whispers and giggles and whatnot.
Kaoru sighed irritably. She'd rather listen to the boring lecture than this crap.
When it was time for him to take his seat, he was assigned the desk in front of her.
Great…now I get to stare at the back of his head for the whole period…Lucky me…Class was same old, same old. Boring and uneventful.
Well except for when Kenshin slipped that note on her desk.
He glanced at Kaoru briefly. She gave a small glare and frowned a bit before picking it up and reading it.
Are you okay?
Kaoru cocked an eyebrow. A note just to ask if she was okay? How dumb.
She wrote back.
No.
She crumpled it up into a small ball and tossed it at his head.
He rubbed his head and gave a small glare.
Kaoru smirked.
He picked up the note and read it. He narrowed his eyes a little at her reply. Looking behind him she smirked again and shrugged a little.
Care to talk at lunch?
He tossed it right back at her. It thwacked her in the face.
She scowled hard and picked up the note. She scribbled her reply but held onto the note.
Through the rest of class Kenshin wondered what was taking her so long to toss it back. He's been expecting her to beam it at him moments ago, but it never came.
Finally at the end of class while he was putting his books away, he heard her call him.
"Himura."
He turned.
"Wha-MMPFH!"
Kaoru had promptly stuffed the paper note into his mouth. She smirked once again, picked up her bag and strolled out the door to meet Misao for their next class.
Kenshin was left dumbfounded. How dare she make a fool out of him THREE times already! She had some nerve. Maybe she needed to learn a lesson…
He opened the note.
Not exactly.
He almost laughed. This girl sure is interesting.
He wanted to get to know her…
"…and then he threw the stupid note at me so I stuffed it in his mouth after class." Kaoru finished her story to the laughing Misao. It was Lunch now and they were walking to the café so Misao could eat.
"That's hilarious! But really, maybe you should meet him! Maybe he'll be good for you…"
"No. Misao, only you and the gang know, and I expect it to stay that way for a while."
Misao pouted. "Well…okay…but you know…he seems like he really cares. Maybe he can become a part of the gang."
Kaoru remained silent.
They found a table and sat down. Misao took out her sandwich and began to eat. Kaoru sat watching, while sipping her water.
Suddenly Kenshin came around and took a seat next to Kaoru.
"Would you like to eat lunch with me?" he asked while raising an eyebrow.
Kaoru glanced at him. "I thought I made it clear: Not exactly."
"Well why not?"
"I don't eat." She replied.
He took a good look at her. He guessed that what she said was true. She was extremely thin and kind of pale. Was she anorexic or what? That really bothered him for some reason. He didn't want to see her like that.
He opened his mouth to say something more, but he was interrupted.
"Excuse me Jou-Chan, but can I borrow your boyfriend for a bit?"
As Kaoru blew up into a big fit, Kenshin looked up to see that spiky brown haired kid from History. Behind him were two other guys.
"He's not my boyfriend rooster head!" Kaoru growled as she chucked her water bottle at his head.
Rooster Head easily caught it and handed it back to her. "Here. You need it more than me." He said caringly.
Kaoru huffed and looked away.
That got Kenshin thinking. Are they close?
"Anyways, the name's Sanosuke Sagara. But everyone calls me Sano." He grinned that cocky grin again.
"Actually, everyone calls him Rooster Head." Misao piped up.
"Shut it, Weasel Girl."
Kenshin stayed quiet. Was this a school or a zoo?
"Ya well, these two are my buddies." Sano gestured to the two behind him.
"That's Aoshi Shinomori." He pointed to the taller one. And boy, was he tall. He had black hair and icy blue eyes. They looked just about as cold as Kaoru's.
"And here is Soujiro Seta." He pointed to the shorter one. Soujiro smiled and waved a small hello. Kenshin could tell his smile was fake. It never quite reached his blue eyes.
"This here is the Gang!" Misao squealed excitedly. "Well excluding Megumi. She's not here right now."
"Ya, where is The Fox?" Sano asked thoughtfully.
Misao shrugged. "I think she's sick today. She went home early yesterday, remember?"
Sano nodded. "Oh, well I guess I better visit her today then."
"Psh…like she'll be happy to see YOU Rooster Head."
"Hell ya Weasel."
"I'M NOT A WEASEL!"
"WELL I'M NOT A ROOSTER HEAD!"
And they continued to argue while Kenshin glanced at Kaoru. She had her head on the table.
"Is this bothering you?" Kenshin asked.
"No…they're always like that." Kaoru replied, not picking her head up.
"Then what's the matter?"
"Nothing you should care about." She said harshly.
"And why do you say that?" Kenshin asked stiffly.
Kaoru didn't say anything.
"Kamiya."
"Just…leave me alone Himura."
"No."
"Why not." She demanded, whipping her head up.
"I want you to answer me first."
Kaoru turned her head away.
He jerked her chin towards him. "Tell me, Kamiya."
She shoved him away and stood up. "Because nobody cares!" she screamed and stormed out of the café.
She was fuming as she ran outside. How dare he make her lose her cool…and in front of the whole school!
She hated him. Oh how she hated Kenshin Himura.
She finally stopped at the huge Sakura tree. She started to climb when Kenshin called out to her. "Kamiya…wait."
She ignored him and continued to climb up.
"Kamiya…I didn't mean to pry into your business."
"Well you did. Happy?"
"Why are you like this?"
"Because I just am! Why can't you accept that?" she tried reaching for a high branch.
"Careful! I did accept that! It just seems…"
"What?" she just barely reached the branch.
"I don't know…I feel like that's not you." He winced as she almost slipped off the branch.
"I've been this way my whole life. Get used to it."
They were screaming now at each other as she climbed higher and higher until she finally reached the top.
"Are you getting down now?" he asked.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're down there."
"So if I'm not down here, you'll come down?"
"Duh."
"Okay." And with that he started to climb up the tree.
"What are you doing!" Kaoru hollered frantically.
"Climbing up," he responded.
"But why?"
"You said if I was down there you wouldn't come down. So now I'm going up so you can go down." He was almost halfway up the tree.
"But that's worse!"
"You said…"
"I know what I said Himura! I'm not stu-AHHHH!"
Kaoru lost her footing and slipped off the branch. "Shit!" she cried as she tried to regain her balance. But it was no use. She was free falling.
"Kaoru!" Kenshin gasped. He swung upside down on a branch. Hanging by his legs, he caught Kaoru.
Unfortunately the force of her fall caused him to lose his grip on the branch. He tucked her head into his neck as he somersaulted in the air to land on his feet on the ground.
Kaoru was breathing hard, her eyes tightly shut.
I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead…"Kamiya." Kenshin whispered. He was worried. She never moved since they hit the ground.
She looked up. In her eyes he saw pure panic.
She was scared.
"You're okay now," he said gently.
Kaoru was scared beyond reason. As she was falling she could have sworn she saw her father laughing at her. She remembered thinking, Great…I'm going to die as my father laughs.
She didn't remember being caught by Kenshin or even hearing him talk to her. It wasn't until a few moments later that she snapped out of her stupor that she realized her position.
Kenshin was holding her in his arms, bridal style. Her hands were clinging tightly in his hair. She could smell his scent. She found comfort in his scent…
"Put me down!" Kaoru managed to gasp.
He did as he was told.
They stood there for a while in the most awkward silence ever.
"Uhm…thanks…" Kaoru murmured.
"No problem." He replied.
Finally finding some peace they turned to walk back to the cafeteria, where the Gang was waiting.
"You're wrong." Kenshin finally said, breaking the silence.
"Huh?"
"People do care. You just don't realize it."
Kaoru didn't say anything back.
Kenshin just left her alone after that. She's been through enough and he didn't want to bother her any further.
They reached the building and Kenshin graciously opened the door for her. "My lady." He bowed.
Kaoru snorted and walked in. Before he could follow her, she stopped him.
"And Himura?"
"Hm?"
"You called me Kaoru."
And with that she turned on her heel and walked back to the Gang's table.
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