Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin; it belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and all the associated distributors.
On her first day of kindergarten, Makimachi Misao announced to the world that she had met the man of her dreams. His name was Shinomori Aoshi and she declared that she would love him until the end of time. Well, she really said until the ninth grade, but that was pretty much like the end of time anyway.
After his first day of kindergarten, Seta Soujiro proudly showed his abilities to color within the lines to his beaming uncle Souji.
The night after his first day of kindergarten, Shinomori Aoshi stood on the roof and tried to count the stars.
On the night before she started first grade, Makimachi Misao dealt a reeling personal blow to one Seta Soujiro as she 'accidentally' flushed his crayons down the toilet in a fit of rage.
"That is the LAST time he messes with me!" Her yells could be heard throughout the house and amused the other residents to no end. That is, until they realized exactly how much the plumber would be charging.
On the night before he started first grade, Seta Soujiro made the mistake of finding a book hidden under his good friend's pillow. Being the curious young boy he was, he read it. What he didn't realize, of course, was how big the mistake he was making really was. Until his good friend found him, I mean.
On the night before he started first grade, Shinomori Aoshi watched uninterestedly as a small boy was thrown from the front door of the Aoiya by a screaming little girl. After all, there were more pressing matters to attend to, namely the brand new PlayStation2 just waiting to be played over at Hannya's house.
The day after she started the second grade, Makimachi Misao beat up a bully on the playground and was suspended for a week. She didn't care at all.
She, of course, would do anything to defend a friend's honor.
The day after he started second grade, Seta Soujiro was teased by a group of sixth grade boys. They called him all sorts of mean names and, when they finally found his weakness, jabbed at his family.
"Naah, why don't you live with your parents, Sou-kun?"
"Oh, haven't you heard, Koji? It's because his parents threw him out!"
He closed his eyes, trying to will it to stop. And it did. When he worked up the courage to open his eyes again, he caught a brief glimpse of the same little girl who flushed his crayons down the toilet and caused a few hundred dollars' worth of damage the previous year with a victorious look on her face before being dragged away by a teacher, who was yelling at the top of her lungs.
That little girl was Makimachi Misao.
The day after he started second grade, Shinomori Aoshi stood with his four best friends, Hannya, Hyottoko, Shikijou, and Beshimi, watching a little girl completely, for lack of a better word, own three sixth grade boys.
"I think she has some major issues to deal with," he remarked offhandedly as he plucked a blade of grass, stuck it between his hands, and tried to make it sing. It sang; it sang in an unbearable shriek.
On her first day of third grade, Makimachi Misao's parents were killed in a car crash. She didn't go to school that day, and just stayed in the house and cried while her cousins and grandfather tried their hardest to console her. She did not eat for nearly a week afterward.
On his first day of third grade, Seta Soujiro lost the people who were the closest things to parents beside his uncle Souji. He did not go to school that day, and snuck to Makimachi Misao's house and grieved with her. They held each other for hours that day. It was the first time that Seta Soujiro had ever been hugged by a girl.
On his first day of third grade, Shinomori Aoshi went to school, like any other day. He met up with his four best friends, and they went off and did what any normal third grade boys did. He noticed that two familiar faces were missing, but he didn't think much about it. After all, there were more pressing matters to attend to. One example being Hyottoko's brand new Game Cube, still in its original packaging, just waiting to be opened the minute school was over.
On her hundredth day of fourth grade, Makimachi Misao brought one hundred cookies to share with the class. They were all ordinary chocolate chip cookies. All except for one. She had given every other student a cookie, save for Aoshi. His groan could be heard from across the room when his cookie was placed in front of him.
On his hundredth day of fourth grade, Seta Soujiro sat down happily with his big chocolate chip cookie. Everything that day had gone perfectly. He was about to bite in when he heard a loud groan and turned to see where the noise originated.
On his hundredth day of fourth grade, Shinomori Aoshi was publicly humiliated by a crazed stalker. He would never forget how everyone snickered when Misao set down the pinkest, ugliest chocolate chip cookie decorated with the words "Misao and Aoshi 4ever" in sloppy red icing.
On her thirtieth day of fifth grade, Makimachi Misao kicked her 'true love' in the shins. She could be seen storming off, fuming. Mutters of "Who does he think he is? I'll show HIM weak!" could be heard as she passed.
On his thirtieth day of fifth grade, Seta Soujiro was suspended from school. When confronted about it by Makimachi Misao, he simply replied, "Just think of it as me repaying you for that day in second grade."
"You still remember that?" Her eyes went wide in shock. "I hardly even remembered that!"
He simply smiled sadly as he was dragged off by an irate teacher, who by now had certainly had enough of these children and couldn't wait to retire.
On his thirtieth day of fifth grade, Shinomori Aoshi was punched in the face for the first time.
On her ninetieth day of sixth grade, Makimachi Misao failed her first test. She broke down when the results were handed back. She just couldn't figure out what she had done wrong. She had studied so hard, too!
On his ninetieth day of sixth grade, Seta Soujiro helped a friend with math for the first time after school. He liked helping people; it made him happy. His uncle Souji smiled when he told him this.
On his ninetieth day of sixth grade, Shinomori Aoshi helped his friend help a friend with math after school. It was the first time he had helped anyone. After all, there were more pressing matters that he could've been attending to, one example being Beshimi's new trampoline. He enjoyed helping people almost as much as he enjoyed trampolines. He pondered this for a while as he jumped up and down later that day.
On her eightieth day of seventh grade, Makimachi Misao had the flu. She was stuck at home all week, and Aoshi and Soujiro took turns bringing her homework. Aoshi would stay no longer than the five minutes needed to drop her books off, which made Misao sort of happy. It would of course have been better if his visits had lasted more like an hour, but any time with Aoshi was time well spent for Misao.
Soujiro, on the other hand, would stay for hours on end, talking, playing cards, and helping her with homework. He would visit until he was either kicked out by her grandfather or his uncle Souji came to drag him back home. It was the first time that she realized that people cared that much about her.
On his eightieth day of seventh grade, Seta Soujiro visited a sick friend. He neglected his own schoolwork for a week in favor of spending time with them. One day when his uncle Souji came to walk home with him, a touchy subject was brought up.
"Nee, she must be very special if you'd neglect your schoolwork for her, Sou-kun," Souji remarked when they were about halfway home.
"W-what are you implying, uncle Souji? She's my best friend! You're thinking of something that is most definitely not going on!"
"Oh. Okay. Sorry, Sou-kun. I didn't mean to hit a nerve," replied his uncle, a faint smirk on his face as they kept walking.
On his eightieth day of seventh grade, Shinomori Aoshi disgustedly wondered what was happening to his smiling friend.
On her seventh day of eighth grade, Makimachi Misao got a new backpack. Not just any new backpack, but a light purple backpack. She was so happy that she skipped the entire way to school. Disaster struck that day at lunch.
One of the boys in her class had been carrying a soda when he tripped, which shook the soda up. Not noticing, he opened the soda anyway.
Right on her new backpack.
And the boy happened to be one of her -very- good friends.
The boy offered to get her a new backpack, but she refused. She still uses that light purple backpack, the one with a large brown soda stain on the front, to this very day.
On his seventh day of eighth grade, Seta Soujiro spilled soda on Makimachi Misao's brand new backpack. He offered to get her a new one, but she simply said no. Even now, so many years later, he can't help but smile whenever he opens the hall closet only to be greeted by a large brown soda stain seemingly smiling back at him.
On his seventh day of eighth grade, Shinomori Aoshi recalled a promise that a little girl made to him way back in kindergarten. What if her words rang true the next year? What would he do then? Oh well. Now was not the time to think about that. Besides, there were more pressing matters to attend to, like beating Hyottoko's copy of Tales of Symphonia after school.
On her first day of ninth grade, Makimachi Misao kept her promise. It was pretty much nothing really, she walked into school one morning, and all of a sudden, she didn't care any more. It was rather liberating, really.
On his first day of ninth grade, Seta Soujiro noticed a change in his best friend. It was a change for the better, in his opinion. It would surely be healthier for her now that she'd gotten over this obsession.
On his first day of ninth grade, Shinomori Aoshi's love life went from a small spark to absolutely nothing with the simplicity of a single step through a doorway.
On her fifteenth day of tenth grade, Makimachi Misao started falling for a boy, and all because of those damned stairs. She had gotten lost, found herself by a stairway, tripped on a stair and almost fell. She closed her eyes, awaiting the fall, but it never came. Instead, she was caught by someone. She opened her eyes and looked into the face of her rescuer.
On his fifteenth day of tenth grade, Seta Soujiro saved his best friend from falling down a flight of stairs. She had probably gotten lost, and he couldn't help but laugh when he thought about it. Misao could get lost in the grocery store for days, given the opportunity. When thanked, he just smiled and replied "That's what friends are for, right?" He then waved to her and continued on his way to class.
On his fifteenth day of tenth grade, Shinomori Aoshi became truly alone on the planet. Hyottoko, Beshimi, Shikijou, and Hannya were all killed in a house fire that had occurred the night before. Rumor had it that it involved a local drug dealer and guns. There was only one survivor, some girl named Takani Megumi, apparently a hostage of the dealer. He let out a heavy sigh. Those four… they were probably going in to rescue the girl. That was so like them. He left school early that day, and shut himself his bedroom. After all, there were more pressing…
On her hundred and tenth day of eleventh grade, Makimachi Misao went on her first date. They saw a movie and had dinner at a little diner. In Misao's mind, it couldn't have been any more perfect.
On his hundred and tenth day of eleventh grade, Seta Soujiro went on his first date. His uncle Souji gave him a bit of a hard time before running off to phone one of his old war buddies, Isami, to tell him what was happening. Soujiro just sighed. Those two were almost as bad as middle school girls sometimes.
When the time came to finally pick up his date, Soujiro was, for the first time he could remember, nervous.
His worst fears were never confirmed, however, because the date couldn't have been, in Soujiro's mind, more perfect.
After all, anyone who wouldn't have a great time on a date with Makimachi Misao had to be insane.
On his hundred and tenth day of eleventh grade, Shinomori Aoshi retreated into himself. He meditated constantly and wouldn't answer when either Misao or Soujiro tried to talk to him.
On his last day of high school, Shinomori Aoshi realized the true meaning of life as he watched the scene unfolding before him.
On his last day of high school, Seta Soujiro asked Makimachi Misao to throw caution to the wind and spend her life with him.
On her last day of high school, Makimachi Misao threw caution to the wind.
I was struggling with chapter twelve when I came up with this idea... so this is either known as Cricket procrastinating or Cricket getting her creative juices going.