Okay! I haven't updated this story in forever due to all the other stories that I've been working on! T.T (cries) I know, it's horrible; I haven't been with my Kenshin chi in a while! Anyway, expect loads of updates soon! If I don't get to Chapter 5 by January 30th, you can hit me with sharp sticks!
(Everyone: secretly hopes that she won't finish so that they can get out their sticks)
HEY! STOP THAT! Anyway, as I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted…
Here's Chapter Two of "March Paper Delivery"!
April Kite Flying
"So…" Yahiko stood in the doorframe of Tae's apartment the next day, Sanosuke in front of him, decked out in his jacket and holding out a train ticket. "You're having a party in Okayama as an excuse for a drinking binge?"
"SHUT UP!" Sanosuke shouted, knocking Yahiko over the head, making Yahiko grow a considerable bump. "And after I was nice enough to come over here and invite you too!"
"Huh?" Yahiko's ears perked up as he heard the words "invite you too". "You were really going to invite me?"
"Of course, kid!" Sanosuke grinned, handing Yahiko a train ticket. "Jou-chan, the Weasel, Kenshin, Aoshi, and my old buddy Katsu are coming along too! Not to mention the fox."
"Sure, it sounds awesome!" Yahiko flashed Sano a smile and nodded to him. "So when is it?"
"Next Saturday," Sanosuke told him. "I'll be swinging by to pick you up, so don't be late, got that?"
"I won't be late!" Yahiko assured him. "I'm not a little kid!"
"Yeah, whatever," Sano laughed, walking down the hall of apartments and giving Yahiko a small wave. "See you around Yahiko!"
Yahiko didn't return the goodbye, he just stared at his train ticket, happy that he would be out of the apartment for at least a weekend. It wasn't that he disliked Tae or anything, but the apartment was crowded, stuffy, and Tae was almost always busy. He knew that a spontaneous trip to Okayama for a Cherry Blossom Festival would do him some good.
"Huh?" Yahiko's head perked up. "Wait…next Saturday? B-but that means I won't be able to see Tsubame!"
'She's going to be so mad at me…' Yahiko bit his lip, stuffing clothes into his duffle bag. His mind at been on Tsubame all that week, and that Saturday morning, he wasn't feeling any better about the situation. 'Tae already has someone covering my shift…but…'
"Hey Yahiko!" A resounding pounding came on the door, and Yahiko realized the voice to belong to Sanosuke. "I told you not to be late! Where are you?"
"I'm right here you dumb rooster head!" Yahiko snapped, throwing the door open. "Jeez, I'm ready already."
Megumi (wearing an odd attire of a tight shirt, Capri pants, a bandanna, and sunglasses) was standing behind Sanosuke; obviously he had picked her up before Yahiko. "The others are meeting at my dorm. Katsu should be arriving there soon too."
"Okay, I'm coming, I'm coming," Yahiko sighed, hoisting his bag over his shoulder and following the two through the hall, looking back at the door, still thinking of Tsubame.
'She's probably gonna be really disappointed…'
'She'll understand!'
'Are you joking? I promised her! She'll kill me for sure!'
'Don't be stupid…it'll be fine…'
His mind was racing back and forth all through the drive back to Sanosuke's house. His mouth remained silent; if only the same were true for his mind.
"Ya-Yahiko!" Yahiko stopped as Tsubame called his name. He turned around to see her smiling at him. "Yahiko…promise…promise me that you'll come to my house last every Saturday so we can talk…okay?"
"Tsubame…?"
"If…if you break your promise…I'll never forgive you…" Tsubame told him, "I…I really need a friend."
"She's…going to kill me," he whispered, furrowing his brow. Fortunately, neither Sano nor Megumi had picked up what he had said.
"Man, where is he?" Sanosuke asked himself as he opened the door a few minutes later. Katsu had not yet arrived, and Sanosuke was curious to know why. "Katsu's never late. What's going on?"
"I'm going upstairs to use the bathroom," Yahiko announced and Megumi turned around to face him, slowly taking off her sunglasses.
"Are you all right Yahiko?" she asked as Sanosuke stomped around the house, still wondering after Katsu's disappearance. "You seem kind of down."
"Ah-I'm fine Megumi," Yahiko assured her, holding up his hands as if to show his carefree attitude. "The bathroom is upstairs right?"
"You don't know where it is?" Megumi asked, and then quirked an eyebrow in suspense. "Upstairs, to the right. The one with the silver door handle."
"Th-thanks," he nodded, opening the door to the rest of the hall and ascending the stairs. He walked slowly, not wanting to make much noise on the clanging metal stairs. Slowly, he turned the corner onto the next floor to use the communal bathroom. He opened the door, stepped inside and noticed very fast that this wasn't a bathroom. It was a…
"Closet?" Yahiko asked as he stared around at the Janitor's closet he had found himself in. "B-but wait, Megumi said-"
"You are gullible Yahiko." Yahiko jumped a foot as the door opened and shut quickly behind him. He spun around to see Megumi standing over him, staring at him over her sunglasses. "Now tell me what's wrong, now that I've got you cornered."
"It's nothing, really!" Yahiko told her, growing slightly annoyed. "I'm not a kid, I know what I'm doing!"
"Well…" Megumi bit her lip. "It seems that I stand between you and the exit of this closet. So…until you tell me what's wrong, I can't see you getting out of here."
Yahiko looked at Megumi, then at the door, and decided that Megumi was right: there was no chance that he was getting out without her moving. He gave a sigh, knowing defeat, and decided to explain his predicament to Megumi.
"You see," he started. "I promised I'd meet a friend of mine today, but now I can't, and I feel guilty."
"Why didn't you just call them up and tell them?" Megumi asked and Yahiko shook his head.
"I don't have her number…" He knew he had said the wrong thing the minute it came out of his mouth.
"Oh ho!" Megumi's face was plastered with a smirk. "So it's a girl I see!"
"I-I-It's not what you think!" Yahiko assured her, putting up his hands in defense. "She's just a friend!"
"Of course, of course," Megumi gave another fox laugh, then opened the door to the closet. "Well, Yahiko, as I see it, you're in trouble."
"Yeah…I kind of realized that."
"Standing up a girl is a capital offense," Megumi explained to him, a glint in her eye. "And lying to a girl! Let's not get started on that subject, shall we?"
"So…what do I do?"
"You beg on your knees like a dog for forgiveness."
"HUH?"
"What?" Megumi turned around and lowered her sunglasses on her sunblocked nose. "I make Sano do it all the time. Only, of course, I put my heel on his back." Yahiko shivered at that image… "It's the only way to make amends."
"B-b-but…"
"Yo, guys!" Sano called from the bottom on the stairs. "I got bad news!"
"Hmm? Oh, rooster head is calling," Megumi sighed, pushing her sunglasses back up. "Shall we go, Yahiko?"
"I-I guess…" Yahiko mumbled, nodding. Megumi opened the closet for Yahiko, and he walked out with her, trying to think of a way to apologize to Tsubame without having to beg on the ground…
"What's wrong Sanosuke?" Megumi asked as the three settled into Sanosuke's dorm room, Sanosuke looking quite put out.
"Katsu's in America," he said bitterly. "Turns out his cousin in America is sick. He had to go take care of him. So, we got one extra train ticket."
"It's too bad he can't come," Megumi shrugged, sitting down at Sano's card table.
"Yeah, man, we were going to booze all night!"
"SANOSUKE!"
But the gears in Yahiko's brain were turning as Megumi started shouting at Sano and throwing couch pillows at him, follow by his radio when she ran out of pillows. One extra ticket…one extra ticket…
One extra ticket!
The doorbell rang, interrupting Yahiko's train of thought, and Megumi's violent onslaught. Sano, looking as if his Guardian angel had just rung the doorbell, smirked at Megumi and made his way over to the door.
When he opened it, Yahiko saw Aoshi, Misao, Kaoru, and Kenshin behind the door, all with bags and smiling, excluding Aoshi of course. The smiling part, not the bag. Yahiko walked to the door with Sanosuke while Megumi went to the back of the house to grab her purse.
"Hey…" Sanosuke sighed, his mood low again.
"What's wrong?" Kaoru asked him, her eyebrows high.
"Katsu ain't coming," he gave a great sigh, as if reliving his lost booze. "Turned out that his cousin in America got sick and he had to go visit him. We've got one extra ticket."
"It would be a shame to let it go to waste, that it would…" Kenshin frowned.
"Yeah it would," Kaoru nodded. "Hey, where's Megumi?"
"In my dorm," he jerked his head behind him to motion to Megumi. "She just came a few minutes ago like Yahiko!"
"Are we leaving?" Megumi walked out, purse and bag in hand. The gang gave her bright outfit and odd look.
"You look ridiculous," Sano blurted out.
"How dare you!" Megumi gave Sano a few sharp slaps. Yahiko was starting to feel very sorry for Sano... "YOU think I look nice don't you Ken-san?"
"Umm…you look great Megumi-dono," Kenshin laughed nervously and Kaoru gave him a look. Yahiko knew that she was going to full frontal "I'm jealous but not because I like you or anything" mode…
"Oh," she turned her nose upward, "and I suppose I just look drab, don't I?"
"No!" Kenshin quickly covered; he was obviously becoming overwhelmed. "You look wonderful too Kaoru-dono!"
"How do I look Lord Aoshi?" Misao asked with wide eyes. Yahiko rolled his.
"Good," he gruffly mumbled and Misao seemed to have a sort of seizure out of happiness..
"Hey, hey, hey!" Sanosuke shouted, bringing the group out of their odd conversations. He held out the extra ticket to them and pointed to it. "We need to decide who to give this extra ticket to!"
Yahiko was quick to react. He knew how he could make up his absence to Tsubame in a much less painful way then Megumi had suggested.
"I'll take it!" Yahiko's hand shot into the air before anyone else could get a word in. "I know who to give it to."
"Who?" Kaoru asked.
"We'll stop by her house on the way to the train station," Yahiko nodded to the group, his internal smile growing. "I can ask her then. But we'd better leave now if we want to make it on time."
Yahiko bounded out of the rented van the minute Sanosuke pulled up to Tsubame's house. He didn't even think twice about shutting the door as he sprinted down the sidewalk and up to Tsubame's front door. He gave it a hard knock and waited.
A few moments later, Tsubame came to the door, smiling. "Yahiko! Hello! Isn't it a bit early for the paper, though?"
"Hey, want to come to Okayama for a Cherry Blossom Festival?" Yahiko asked, holding up the ticket. He knew that this way of inviting Tsubame was slightly blunt, but he wasn't very good at being charming when inviting girls.
"A-A festival?" Tsubame asked, surprised.
"I-It's just for the weekened," Yahiko assured her. "We'd be back for school, except for Monday."
"That's all right," Tsubame smiled. "I have Monday off!"
"And we've got lots of adults with us. All of them are my friends. Want to ask your parents?"
"Oh, yes!" Tsubame nodded, smiling. "Thank you so much, Yahiko! I'll be right back!" She turned and then motioned Yahiko into the house. Yahiko stepped inside and waited for Tsubame to come back.
A few minutes passed, and Yahiko heard Tsubame talking to her mother. Yahiko hoped that her mother would let Tsubame go, since she knew Yahiko. A few moments later, Tsubame came back, a woman with brown hair wearing an apron behind her.
"So this is your friend?" she asked, smiling. "You can go Tsubame, but only if you promise to stay close to the adults."
"I promise Momma!" Tsubame nodded. She then turned to Yahiko. "Come on Yahiko! Let's go pack my things!"
"All right," Yahiko smiled widely and followed Tsubame up the carpeted stairs towards her room.
They reached the room, and Yahiko saw that Tsubame's favorite color was obviously pink. Pink and white covered the room, from her pink walls to her pink bedspread. He found it cute. He like feminine girls.
But there wasn't time to admire Tsubame's cute room. She had already gotten out her suitcase and was throwing a few outfits for the weekend into it. Yahiko helped her by arranging them as neatly as he could after she threw them into the case half-hazard. "Thank you so much, Yahiko-kun!" Tsubame smiled sweetly. "I can't wait to go to Okayama with you!" She blushed, then covered her mouth. "Umm…I meant that…that I've wanted to go to Okayama a lot!"
Yahiko blushed too. "Uhh…th-that's good," he responded lamely.
Tsubame finished packing and the two ran down the stairs, Tsubame kissing her mother goodbye and promising to be back Monday night. The two then ran out and jumped into the van where Sano and the others were patiently waiting.
"Thank you for inviting me," smiled Tsubame sweetly. Yahiko knew she was shy. She had met them all last month when they gone to dinner on White Day, but Tsubame was naturally introverted.
"No problem at all," said Sanosuke, grinning in her direction and already starting up the car. "After all, it was Yahiko's idea to give you the ticket."
"Oh really Yahiko?" Tsubame asked and Yahiko blushed furiously. Stupid Sanosuke…why'd he have to bring that up? "Thank you so much!"
"N-n-no problem…" he nodded to her as they group drove off toward the train station.
After a fiasco of fighting over who would sit next to Kenshin, Tsubame and Yahiko were now situated in their own seats across from Megumi and Kaoru (neither of which had gotten to sit next to Kenshin, by the way). As usual, Megumi and Kaoru had already broken out into an argument.
"I'd rather sit in the engine room than next to a fox like her!" Kaoru huffed to Sano, who had tried to calm them down unsuccessfully. Yahiko sighed; he could sense trouble brewing.
"Then why don't you go sit there Tanuki girl?" Megumi dared her, her eyes darkening.
"Well maybe I will!" Kaoru stuck out her tongue and began to walk down the halls, leaving Yahiko and Tsubame with Megumi, who looked all the more happy to be rid of Kaoru.
"Wait, Kaoru-dono it may be dangerous!" Kenshin ran after her as she stomped down the train. Yahiko watched Kenshin go, and Megumi got up to take his seat next to Sanosuke.
"Stupid Tanuki girl," Megumi sighed. "She thinks throwing a fuss and stomping off will get Ken-san to pay attention to her."
"It seems it worked."
"Oh shut up rooster-head! Who asked you, anyway?"
Yahiko decided to ignore the fighting adults and instead looked over at Tsubame, who was currently writing something on a pad of paper and looking outside. Tsubame quickly realized that Yahiko was staring at her and she turned around, blushing.
"What are you doing?" Yahiko asked, looking at the paper. It had words on it, and next to the words were boxes. Some had been neatly filled in, others were blank.
"I-I'm playing a train game," she told him, blushing slightly. "It's silly, you wouldn't want to know," she tried to close the booklet, but Yahiko stopped her.
"No, tell me! I'm curious," he told her. Tsubame blushed again and nodded.
"Umm…well…I write down things that I might see outside the train and then when I see them, I mark them off on the sheet," she explained, fumbling slightly with the paper.
"Oh!" Yahiko nodded. "Which ones haven't you found yet?"
"Umm…" she looked at the sheet. "A taxi, a potted tree, and a cow."
"Well, we'll be passing over the street soon, so maybe you'll see a taxi," Yahiko smiled, pointing to the bridge they were coming up on. "I'll help you look!"
"O-Okay!" Tsubame smiled as they came up over the street. "Look Yahiko! I don't see a taxi."
"I do!" Yahiko smiled, stretching his arm across her and pointing. "See it?"
Tsubame looked out and indeed saw the taxi cab. She smiled and marked it off on the sheet. "Thanks Yahiko!"
"No problem!" Yahiko grinned. "This is easy!" he bragged.
"Now we need a potted tree and a cow," she told him, smiling.
"Well, we're going underground soon, so I doubt we'll see a potted tree or a cow there," Yahiko frowned.
"Oh…" Tsubame frowned. "I guess we'll just have to wait until we're through the ground…"
Yahiko looked to his left, obviously now bored, to see a woman walking by with her bag and her young daughter. The young daughter had a backpack, and in on of the plastic pockets of the backpack was…
"A potted tree!" Yahiko exclaimed, tugging at Tsubame's sleeve. Tsubame looked over to see a small potted Bonsai Tree in the girl's backpack. "Look!"
"I think it has to be outside the train," Tsubame giggled.
"Ahh, c'mon, bend the rules!" Yahiko suggested, smiling. "We saw a potted tree, didn't we?"
Tsubame smiled at Yahiko, then took her pen and slowly filled in the box next to "potted tree".
They were still underground about a half an hour later, and no cow had been seen. Yahiko didn't have much else to talk about, so they had remained silent, searching for the cow in the tunnel or on one of the passengers. Misao and Aoshi had gotten up from their seats to get away from the incessant fighting of Sano and Megumi, and Kenshin and Kaoru had yet to return to their seats.
"Yahiko, look!" said Tsubame. Yahiko looked outside to see the tunnel end and daylight strike the windows of the train car. "We're outside again! Let's keep searching for the cow!"
Yahiko looked outside, as did Tsubame, but so far, they had seen no cow. Yahiko looked harder amongst the fields, but still, nothing came up.
"Would you like something to drink?" the children looked up to see a woman with a cart of soda in front of them. Tsubame smiled but Yahiko turned back to the window.
"I'll have a juice, please."
"That'll be 200 yen."
"Oh, one second. Let me just get my money. Sorry for the trouble."
Yahiko wasn't paying attention. He was looking outside. As he stared, he saw a field of grass go by. Tsubame was pulling out her money and giving it to the woman when Yahiko's eyes widened.
"Tsubame! Look, a cow!" He grasped her sleeve just as she was handed the can of juice. "Look! I saw it!"
"Where?" Tsubame looked outside, but they were far past the cow already. "Did we already pass it?"
"Yeah, but I saw it!" Yahiko told her. "It was right there, cross my heart!"
"Hmm…I don't know…" Tsubame wondered. "I think I have to see it…"
"Oh c'mon Tsubame!" Yahiko smiled at her and a pink blush went across her face. "Don't you trust me?"
Tsubame smiled, and then nodded. She took her pen and checked off the word "cow".
They had arrived in Okayama about an hour later with little delays. Sanosuke had driven them to their hotel in order to check into their hotel room and take full advantage of the Hotel Dinner buffet.
"You'd better not stuff yourself Sanosuke," Yahiko warned Sanosuke as the men piled into their room. The room was relatively plain, with a bathroom and four beds. Sanosuke quickly jumped into the nearest one he saw, while Aoshi took the bed by the window. Kenshin was already putting his things under his bed, and Yahiko made his way over to the last remaining spot to unpack his things.
"Hey squirt, I told you that I wouldn't!" Sanosuke laughed. "Tomorrow's the Cherry Blossom picnic! That's when we're gonna get drunk and be merry, right?"
"That's just like you," Yahiko said.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, squirt?" Sanosuke asked, grabbing Yahiko's head and rubbing his knuckles into his scalp.
"Ow! Let go of me stupid rooster-head!" Yahiko shouted, struggling.
"Sanosuke, please be careful with Yahiko!" Kenshin pleaded, looking extremely worried.
"C'mon Kenshin!" Yahiko growled. "I can take care of Sanosuke!" Yahiko then proceeded to give Sanosuke's arm a large bite, making him immediately jump off in pain.
"OW! Hey shrimp, that hurt!"
"I'm hungry," said Aoshi. He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him without another word. Kenshin smiled to his two companions.
"We should go join Aoshi, that we should!" he smiled. Yahiko and Sanosuke smiled.
"Oh yeah!" they cheered. "Food!"
Sanosuke had ended up not heeding his own advice and had eaten everything in sight. Yahiko himself had helped himself to quite a bit of food. After all, he hardly ever got to eat in a fancy hotel restaurant.
But the meal had ended and the two groups had went their separate ways. The girls had gone to their room, and the men had retreated to their own as well.
"Hey guys!" Sanosuke smirked. "I've got an idea!"
"What's that?" Kenshin asked, smiling.
"Well…" Sanosuke said, taking off his shirt, leaving him in only his pajama pants. Aoshi had already changed into his black pants, Yahiko into a long shirt and sweat pants, and Kenshin in magenta pajamas. "How about we play a game before bed?"
"Like Monopoly?" Kenshin asked.
"Nah," Sanosuke laughed. "Truth or Dare!"
"Oh c'mon," Yahiko drawled. "That's for kids."
"Well, you're a kid, aren't you?" Sanosuke growled.
"I am not a kid!"
"What kind of truth or dare Sano?" Kenshin asked, curious.
"The only kind! Random and cruel!" Sanosuke cheered, pulling a glass bottle from his bag. He put it on the carpet and sat down in front of it. "Sit down gentlemen! The game's about to start!"
"I have no wish to participate," Aoshi said curtly.
"Whatever," Sanosuke shrugged. "You're participating whether you like it or not, got that Mr. Shinomori?"
"I'd like to see you try…"
"ARRGH! What was that, you stuck up--!"
"Now, Sano," Kenshin laughed, restraining his friend. "Let's just play the game and Aoshi can participate when he likes."
"Fine, fine," Sanosuke sighed, sitting down in front of the bottle. The other two did the same, sitting on other ends of the bottle. Aoshi remained in his bed, reading a book. "The rules are simple! We spin the bottle and whoever it lands on has to pick truth or dare! You have to tell the truth and you have to do the dare if you get called on!"
"That seems simple, that it does," Kenshin nodded. "Will you start, Sano?"
"You got it!" Sanosuke nodded, spinning the bottle. It spun around and around until it finally landed on Kenshin. "Woohoo! Kenshin's the first victim!"
"Truth," Kenshin smiled.
"Oh Kenshin, don't be a chicken!" Sano laughed. "Anyway…tell me. Do you ever have sex fantasies about Jou-chan?"
"SANO!" Kenshin shouted, turning very red. "NO! Of course not!"
"That's perverted!" Yahiko snapped, also red in the face. Aoshi didn't say anything, but buried his face closer in his book.
"Hey, hey, I was just wondering!" Sano laughed. "Spin the bottle Kenshin!"
Kenshin did as Sano told him, and the bottle spun and spun until it landed on Sanosuke. "Dare me Kenshin! I'm so ready!"
"A dare?" Kenshin asked, thinking. "Hmm…"
"Oh c'mon!" Yahiko sighed. "Kenshin's never going to think of anything good! Let me! I dare you to make out with Aoshi's neck!"
"WHAT?"
"WHAT?"
Aoshi had dropped his book and looked completely mortified. Sanosuke had dropped his jaw and looked completely mortified. "Oh c'mon," Yahiko laughed. "You have to do it!"
Sanosuke looked at Aoshi, and Aoshi looked at Sanosuke. "You step one step closer and I'll kill you…" Aoshi threatened.
"Hey look!" Kenshin said, wiping his brow from the nerves of the entire setting. "A letter!"
The group looked down to see a letter that had "Sanosuke" written on it. Sanosuke, glad to be off the subject of the dare, went over and opened the letter.
"Hey guys! Listen to this:
Dear Mr. Sagara,
This letter is from a secret admirer. I saw you today at dinner
And I must say I've fallen in love with your unkempt hair, jolly no
Care attitude and huge stomach. You'll never know who I am but
I just wanted to make my feelings known.
Signed,
Your Secret Admirer.
Can you believe that?" Sanosuke asked. "I've got girls all over me in this hotel! Wait till I tell Megumi!"
Yahiko looked at the letter in Sanosuke's hand and sighed. It was obviously Megumi's handwriting. After being her paper boy for almost a year, he knew what her hand looked like. This was obviously a prank she was playing on Sanosuke. Hey…maybe…
"What do you think the girls are up to?" Yahiko asked.
"Who cares?" Sanosuke asked, tucking the letter into his pajama pants. "My turn to spin!"
"Hey! You didn't do the dare!" Yahiko said.
"Well duh," Sanosuke looked at Yahiko. "This fic is rated K+. Something like that would ruin its image."
"I guess you've got a point," Yahiko shrugged. "Just spin the bottle!" Sanosuke wasted no time in giving the bottle another sharp spin. This time, it spun and spun until it finally rested on the empty spot where Aoshi would have sat.
"Your turn Aoshi!" Sanosuke grinned.
"After that disturbing experience, you're crazy if you think I'd actually participate in this event." Aoshi looked at Sanosuke. "This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen, in truth."
"Truth! Okay!" Sanosuke smirked. Aoshi looked at him with rage seething in his eyes. "Tell me, have you ever kissed anyone?"
Aoshi paused, and a pink blush came across his cheeks. "No."
"BWAHAHA! Aoshi's a lip virgin at age twenty four!" Sanosuke laughed, punching the ground out of laughter. "I knew it! You're such a dork!"
"Spin the damn bottle before I come over there and force your head into it," Aoshi snarled, returning to his book.
Sanosuke spun the bottle, and it once again landed on Kenshin. "Kenshin, truth or dare?"
"I think I'll stick with truth, that I will Sano," Kenshin laughed.
"Man, such a wuss. Okay…have you ever wanted to grab Jou-chan's boobs?"
"SANO! NO!"
"That's the same as the LAST question Sanosuke!" Yahiko snapped, also very red in the face.
Suddenly, the group heard a knock at the door. They all looked at each other, and Sanosuke got up to answer the door.
"Hey Jou-chan! What's going on?" Yahiko peered behind Sanosuke to see a very red looking Kaoru at the door.
"C-C-C-Can I talk to K-K-Kenshin?" she asked, shaking.
"Hey Kenshin, Jou-chan wants to talk to you!"
Kenshin walked up to Kaoru and smiled. "Yes Kaoru-dono?" he asked. Kaoru stood, frozen to the spot. She leaned forward and…
"Can I borrow your toothpaste?"
"WHAT?"
Yahiko heard a shout that was quickly stifled and his eyebrow raised. "Who was that?" he whispered. Kenshin had already given Kaoru his toothpaste and she had already left. Yahiko watched her go, a nagging thought on his mind. "Something's funny."
"Kenshin get back in here!" Sanosuke called. "It's your turn to spin the bottle!"
Kenshin returned to the game and quickly spun the bottle. Yahiko had no more time to see what the girls were up to as the bottle landed on him. "Uhh…dare!" he said, knowing that Kenshin wouldn't be able to come up with anything good.
"Aha!" Sanosuke grinned. "Payback's a bitch! I dare you to go into the girls' room and sing to Tsubame!"
"Sing?" Yahiko asked, his eyes wide. "B-but I don't know any songs!"
"Oh c'mon! Just sing the first thing that comes to your mind!" Sanosuke said, pushing Yahiko out the door and into the hallway. He then slammed the door and Yahiko sighed and went up to the girl's room.
He knocked on the door and Tsubame answered the door. He looked in to see Misao hiding something behind her back, Kaoru in bed, and Megumi looking very flustered.
"What's wrong Yahiko?" Tsubame asked, smiling.
Yahiko gulped, and then began. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are, way up in the world so high," the girls were staring at Yahiko as he rushed through the lyrics of the song. Tsubame was smiling, "like a diamond in the sky." He finished quickly and Tsubame clapped.
"That was great Yahiko! B-but…why are you singing?" she asked, confused. Yahiko didn't say anything. He simply turned on his heel and walked back into the guy's room, slamming the door behind him.
"What was that about?" Kaoru asked.
"Oh who cares?" Misao laughed, pulling out a large bottle from behind her back and putting it in the middle of the carpet. "It's my turn to spin the bottle!"
The next day, the group had arrived at their picnic spot under a large Cherry Blossom tree for a nice lunch. Unfortunately, Sanosuke had already broken out the sake.
"Ya know Sanosuke," Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "We have two minors here."
"Hey!" declared Yahiko. "I am NOT minor! Watch this! This jug is no problem whatsoever!" he quickly took his jug and chugged the entire thing. "Ha!" he smiled and walked around drunk. "See, noth problemth at all!" With that, he fell over, spitting foam and eyes swirly.
"YAHIKO!" Kaoru scolded him, but he was already unconscious.
"You can have mine," Tsubame passed the jug to Sanosuke and he gladly accepted it.
Tsubame looked over at the drunk Yahiko as Megumi and Kaoru began to fight over who would pour Kenshin his sake. She tried to slap his face lightly, but he remained rather unconscious.
"Oh, Yahiko," Tsubame sighed.
"KENSHIN!" Sanosuke hiccupped."I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DRINKING CONTEST!"
"Um…Sano that may be a bad idea…" Kenshin laughed nervously."After all I'm driving us home aren't I?"
"Ahh Tsubame can drive!" Sanosuke smiled and gave Tsubame a pat on the back, "She's what…seventeen?"
"She's eleven you drunk moron!" Megumi hit him on the head.
"Huh?" Yahiko woke up, eyes still swirly, not really knowing what was going on around him "What did I miss?"
"Yahiko look!" Tsubame pointed to some people flying kites. "Oh that looks like so much fun! I wish I had a kite!" she noticed a vendor selling kites but her eyes looked down. "Too bad I don't have any money."
Yahiko felt in his pants and jingled some money. "Come with me," he smiled and led her toward the stand, now completely sober.
The two ran over to the Kite stand and Yahiko took out his money. "One kite, please. For her," he pointed to Tsubame and the man smiled.
"How about pink?" he asked, pulling out a pink kite. Tsubame smiled and nodded. Yahiko took the kite and paid the man for it.
"Come on!" he smiled. "Let's go fly it!"
Yahiko and Tsubame ran over to the group flying kites and Yahiko handed Tsubame the pink kite. Tsubame blushed as Yahiko put the string in her hand. "Okay! Now, just throw the kite into the air!"
Tsubame nodded, bit her lip, and threw the kite towards the sky. It caught a bit of wind, but fell back down almost immediately. Yahiko sighed and picked up the kite. "Give it more string," he instructed her and showed her by letting out more from the ball of string in her hand. "See?"
"Okay…" Tsubame said shyly. She threw the kite into the air again, and this time it caught the wind and began to fly.
"That's it Tsubame!" Yahiko laughed. "Let it out more! It'll go higher!"
Tsubame did as she was told, letting more string out. The kite soared through the sky, the wind taking it off. Tsubame felt herself being tugged along. "Aah! Yahiko!"
"Run with it, Tsubame!" Yahiko laughed, running after the kite. Tsubame followed him, the kite leading them along. "Just run with it, you know?"
Tsubame didn't say anything. She just smiled and watch the kite fly farther up into the air.
The next night, after a small kimono exhibition put on by the girls, the gang was now at the annual Okayama Cherry Blossom festival.
Yahiko and Tsubame had broken off from the group in order to get some Tayoyaki at a local vendor. Yahiko had barely enough money left, but had been able to buy both he and Tsubame some of the octopus snacks. "I'm really trespassing on your kindness, aren't I?"
"Oh, that's not true at all!" Yahiko assured her, putting his hands up. "I'm glad to treat you. This is loads of fun."
"Yes!" Tsubame smiled, nodding her head. "I've had a lot of fun on this trip Yahiko. It feels good to get out once in awhile."
"That's true," Yahiko nodded. "I'm just glad you didn't get mad at me for almost breaking our promise."
"Hmm?" Tsubame asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, really," Yahiko laughed. "I just came really close to breaking our promise to each other."
"That's okay," Tsubame smiled. "You came and saw me, didn't you? You didn't break our promise."
"I guess you're right," Yahiko nodded.
"Even if you did Yahiko…if I knew that you really wanted to be there, I wouldn't be upset," Tsubame smiled, and Yahiko looked at her, a blush covering his face. "It would make me happy to know you cared."
"Well, I'm happy that our promise means a lot to you…" Yahiko murmured. "That makes me happy."
Tsubame smiled at Yahiko, and Yahiko returned the smile. He looked down at her hand, and made a move to touch it when Tsubame gasped.
"Look!" she smiled, pointing to the sky. Yahiko looked up and gasped as a shower of shooting stars covered the sky. "It's so pretty!"
"Let's go watch!" Yahiko told her. With a defiant movement, he grasped her hand led her through the festival towards a hill.
"I'm never breaking our promise to Tsubame!" Yahiko thought as he ran along towards the top of the hill. "Never in a million years!"
Finally! I finished! I think I'm going to cry! That was so much typing! Merry Christmas everyone! And a happy new year!
Until then,
Ciao for now!