The Date

A/N: Wow… this has got to be the fastest update in a really long time… well, here it is! Chapter 5! (I can't believe I've continued this fic even more…) Beware… OOCness galore!

Saito stared across the cafeteria at his (oh my gosh… am I really writing this…?) CRUSH. A forkful of gray mac-n-cheese fell with a splat to his plate. Okita gave him a strange glance.

"What're you looking at?"

"Shhh…" Saito hushed his friend as he stared at the young girl in the lunch line. Okita followed his gaze and found its target—Sophomore hottie, Tokio Takagi. Okita's mouth spread into a mischievous smile.

"You… you liiiiike her, don't you?" Okita asked. Saito snapped out of his Tokio-obsessing funk.

"No," Saito said plainly. "I do not liiiiike her." There was a minute of silence. "Well… she's… kinda… attractive…" He stared for a minute longer.

"You should ask her out." Saito just about hit the ceiling with a squeal (Wow… how frightening…). Okita grinned. "Come on! You'll never know unless you ask."

"I'll wait," Saito said, a slightly pink hue crawling across his face. It was then that Tokio walked toward their table with two other girls, giggling.

"You haven't asked Himura-san yet?" Tokio asked one of the other girls. Saito recognized her as Kaoru Kamiya, a freshman. They whispered a few other things Saito couldn't hear.

"I can't," Kaoru replied as they sat down at a table close to Saito's. "He just broke up with Tomoe a week ago! I'm sure he's still devastated." Tokio thought a moment. Saito strained his ears to hear the rest of their conversation.

"I know! We can make it a group effort! Misao here can ask Aoshi, and Megumi will talk to that idiot, Sano, who's so obviously into her!" Tokio said. Misao nodded in agreement. Kaoru sighed.

"Well… who would you go with? And where are we going!" Kaoru asked, showing slight, but skeptical, interest. It was then that Saito stopped listening. Okita glanced at his scheming friend.

"What are you scheming?" Okita asked through a mouthful of mac-n-cheese.

"I've gotta get her to ask me," Saito said, thinking hard. Okita smiled.

"You should ask her," Okita said. For once, Saito listened to his friend's weird idea. "Trust me, it'll work."

Saito leaned casually against his locker, heart pounding. He watched as Tokio stopped at her locker, dumping two books in and taking out another. She closed the locker and gathered her things. Saito passed a quick glance at Okita, who was sitting behind a trashcan, and slowly approached her. She looked up.

"Uh… hi," she said before he could say anything.

"Hi," he said, trying desperately to keep his sweat glands in check. He could hear Okita giggling from behind the trashcan. He made a mental note to kill the boy after this little task was done. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to say something.

"Hey, me and a group of friends are going to the movies on Saturday," Tokio stated. "You wanna come?" Okita's giggles stopped suddenly. Saito's brain stopped suddenly as well.

"Uh… sure!" Saito said, trying to stay calm. "I'll have to check my schedule, but…" Tokio grinned, adjusting her grip on the books in her arms.

"Good. We're meeting in the mall at 6:30," Tokio said. "You'll see us there." Saito nodded, in a daze. Tokio gave another small smile.

"Okay, see you," Saito said, his tongue falling limp after the last word. He hoped she didn't ask any more questions.

"Later," Tokio said, brushing past him. As soon as she was out of earshot, Saito just about melted into his shoes. Okita jumped out from behind the trashcan, crashing into a random senior that just happened to be walking by. He muttered an apology and dashed over to Saito.

"You did it!" Okita said, grinning. Saito turned to him.

"I didn't," he said. "She asked me." Okita gave him a confused look.

"Don't stretch the truth," Okita said, patting his shoulder. "No one will believe that." Saito stared at his friend. Didn't he just hear the whole thing! It was then that Saito spotted the "Rurouni Kenshin" manga in Okita's hand and knew that Okita hadn't been paying attention.

"Right," Saito said. "No stretching the truth."

Saito walked coolly into the mall, looking around for Tokio and her 'group of friends.' As he scanned the mall, he spotted a kid with bright red hair, tied up in a ponytail.

"Hnn… it's Himura," Saito muttered, walking over to the redhead. As he approached Kenshin, he noticed that Kaoru was there, too. He realized that this was Tokio's 'group of friends' that she had been talking about. He slumped for a moment, but straightened as soon as he saw Tokio chatting with Megumi about… something. Meh, who cared? He meandered up to them, trying not to look eager.

"Hey, Saito-san!" Tokio called, waving him over. He slowly approached Tokio.

"Hey," he replied. Tokio quickly introduced him to the others (Kenshin gave a little smirk) and brought them over to a shop that was near the theater.

"Okay, everyone! We'll have dinner, and then we'll go to the 7:30 movie!" Tokio announced. Everyone nodded his or her approval. They headed toward the eating facility nearby. And… to Saito's horror…

(I'm sure you all can guess)

… it was a pizza parlor. And not just a random pizza parlor, it was the same pizza parlor that had caused him all his grief for the past few weeks. He froze.

"Uh… Tokio?" Saito asked, trying to get her attention. She turned to him.

"Yes?"

"Uh…" then the thought struck him that if he told her about his pizzaphobia, she'd think he was cracked. "You look great." He gave a Goro Fujita smile (He wondered who the heck Goro Fujita was).

"Thanks, you're sweet," Tokio grinned as they followed the others into the pizza torture chamber. They stepped up to the counter. After contemplating which pizza to get, (Saito decided on sausage: it was the only kind he hadn't eaten too much of) the group stepped up to the register to order.

"I'd like Hawaiian," Misao said. Aoshi decided to just have a Coke, since he'd already eaten. Kaoru and Kenshin had a slice of pepperoni each, and they decided on sharing a milkshake (oooh…). Megumi and Sano bothhad the bacon, pepperoni, and sausage combo. Tokio ordered a plain cheese. Then, Saito stepped up to the register. And nearly fell to the floor in shock and dismay. It was the SAME pizza delivery man who had stalked him so many weeks before, sporting the SAME yellow and green hat, wearing the SAME green polo shirt with the SAME logo on the shirt pocket, wearing the SAME striped green and yellow pants, and the SAME dorky smile plastered on his face.

"hhhhhhHHHHEEEEeeeeeLLLLLOOOooo, sir!" he said. "MmmmMMAAAAAYYyyy I taAAAaaake yourRRrr oOOOOoorder?" Saito couldn't take it. He grabbed the man by the collar.

"You've got to be the most annoying person in the world!" Saito snarled in his face. "You and your stupid Pizza-sama, and your stupid shirt and logo and hat and pants and dorky smile, and the way you change tone every second! You and your stupid pizza zombies and your stupid shoot the pizza pop-ups and your stupid spam and junk mail, and I DON'T CARE IF THEY'RE THE SAME THING!" He stopped for a breath. The man's lip quivered as the silence weighed down on them.

"Pizza-sama…" he squeaked. Saito dropped him and turned to the group behind him. Tokio was staring, holding the plate of pizza in front of her, Aoshi was as icy as ever, sipping his Coke (but he was actually very terrified), Misao was trying not to stare, Sano was frozen, his pizza halfway to his mouth, Megumi was trying not to spit out the pizza in her mouth, Kaoru was cowering behind Kenshin, and… Kenshin was continuing on like nothing had happened.

"Sa…Sa…Saito-san?" Tokio asked carefully. Saito gave a groan. Well… that was it for her. She'd never like him now. By now, the pizza man had recovered.

"M-May I take your order?"

A/N: Well? You like? I'd like to thank all of my reviewers:

Cleo: Okay… I won't answer, then.

GreenEyedFloozy: Nah… Kenshin isn't evil! He's just Saito's greatest enemy!

Saitou Ryuuji: Huh… gets him back… maybe in later chapters (if I continue) but at this point, Kenshin'll just get away with it.

AnimeRoX aka Alyssa: Thank you. I'm not so sure this one was as good, but I hope you like it anyway!

Burnt Up Old Sausage: Thanks for reading! I'm glad youl liked it!

Komo Pinconeseed: I'm not a -sama, but thank you for thinking so. Popups... heh... Oh, did I confuse you?

And those of you who read but didn't review!