---Chapter One: The Somebody and the Nobody---
Kamiya Kojiro and Reiko, Himura Seijiro and Okon. My parents and Kenshin's parents have always been friends ever since their high school days. I learned eventually that Seijiro-jisan and Okon-basan (Uncle Hiko and Aunt Okon) were betrothed when they were still in high school. Right after high school, Okon-basan got pregnant so they decided to get married right away. Right after college, the two moved out of Kyoto and took a shot at living somewhere in the island of Hokkaido and since then, both them and my parents haven't seen each other until that rainy night.
Since our parents are best friends and we live right across each other's houses, one might think that Kenshin and I would have been the best of friends. However, that wasn't what happened… Himura Kenshin and I, we are worlds apart. We belong to different crowds, we are completely two different persons and we exist in two different worlds that don't coexist.
You cannot say that is was for the lack of trying on my part. Ever since our first meeting, I have always tried to approach him, asking him to play with me, offering him some food, and all those childish activities. I guess for the first few years it worked and you can somehow call us "friends" during our grade school years. He was always the shy one and I was always the one who would take the initiative. We would often go to school and come home together after. We often visit each other's houses and play for hours. Back then, you can say we were happy together…
However, when junior high school came, everything changed. We suddenly stopped speaking to each other and went our own separate ways. From a very shy boy, a whole new different person emerged. He became handsome, cool, distant and extremely popular in school. The present captain of the Kendo team (despite his still being a 2nd year high school student) can be hardly seen unaccompanied and the whole school worships the very ground he is walking on and all the girls are sending tons of love notes in his shoe locker, trying to win his attention and hopefully someday his attention. In the simplest of terms, he is a very big somebody.
While me? From a very approaching and friendly girl, I became the exact opposite. Compared to Kenshin, I'm an introvert, shy and a geeky nobody. I'm the exact opposite of Kenshin, very few people wanted to be with me and I don't even know if Kenshin himself remembers if I exist. Probably he does but he barely acknowledges my existence. I can practically count with my fingers how many times he has spoken with me in junior high. It's like suddenly; we don't know each other… at all.
You might be wondering, why in the world should I care? So what if Kenshin is the most popular guy and he doesn't give a damn about me? I can answer you in three small words: I like Kenshin.
Once again, for as long as I can remember, I sat by the window overlooking the Himura house, waiting for him to go out for school. It has always been like this, at exactly 7am in the morning he would go out of the door with his school bag in one hand and an apple in another. His gorgeous long red hair that is tied in his usual ponytail, swaying lightly as he sauntered slowly from their front door to the gate, he will walk as if he doesn't have a care in the world. Then he would lean back on their gate as he waits for his friends to arrive. While he waits, he would polish his apple to his black school uniform (black pants, white polo shirt and black coat with the school emblem on the right chest part) that suits him perfectly and eat it as if it is the most delicious food in the world.
Just as he is about to finish his apple, a silver BMW convertible would pull up bearing Kenshin's best friend Shinomori Aoshi a senior student in our class and co-captain of the kendo team along with his friend. Kenshin would push himself against the gate and toss his bag inside the car with a smile. And then the car would speed off once again, ending my morning watch for the day.
Every morning, every school day, it has always been like this…
"Kaoru! We will leave in five minutes. Please get ready," Mother said as she descended down the stairs.
"Hai, okaasan," I replied. I took one last glance at the window and stood up from my seat. I grabbed my schoolbag from a nearby table and checked myself at the mirror once again.
Plain and boring shoulder-length black hair that is always tied in a pony tail, check. Glasses, check. Clean pale face, check. Neat and proper uniform, check (white long sleeves, black vest with the school emblem on the right chest part and black skirt), check. Nothing seems to be out of place, everything is still the same. I guess I'm on for another day.
-----
"Kaoru, how come Kenshin-kun doesn't ride with us to school?" my father asked.
I scanned my eyes through my homework, checking if there are mistakes that I have overlooked. "Kenshin goes to school with his friends otousan."
This is another part of my daily routine. My father, sometimes with my mother, drops me off to school before going to work. Father owns a very big telecommunications company and an information technology business. Right now, he is the CEO of both corporations and is a very busy man. My mother, on the other hand, belongs to the board of directors and occasionally goes to the Kamiya office to attend the board meetings and stuff. So I guess I can say my family is kind of well off, actually we're plenty well off and partly, you can attribute that to why I have a non-existent social life. My parents hardly allow me to go out of the house, preferring that they will drop me off to school every morning and have me fetched by the driver every afternoon. Along with that, I always stay at home during vacations and weekends because they discourage me to go out during those times. When I was younger, I remember asking them why I'm not allowed to go out unlike Kenshin and Akira, the Himura's eldest child, whom I can see through the window are always going out with their friends.
"Because you are a girl sweetie. You are more prone to danger than Kenshin and Akira who are both males. You might get kidnapped, you might get robbed, you might…"
Yeah right. I don't think their protectiveness of me is the only reason why they are doing this. My father has trained me in kendo and my knowledge is enough for me to defend myself in times of trouble. Part, or majority, of the reason is they don't want me to get mixed up with the wrong kind of people.
"But you and Kenshin are friends right? Why don't you invite him to join us sometime?" Father suggested. He always has this notion that his best friend's youngest son is my very good friend. I hate to disappoint them so I kind of concealed my true relationship to Kenshin and let him think what he wants to think.
"I'll try to invite him Otousan; however, I'm not sure if he'll agree," I lied having no intentions to mention or approach Kenshin about this. I was saved from producing more of my bluffs as the car skidded to a stop in front of the school. I immediately scrambled out to evade further more questions for they might notice my uneasiness with the topic. "I'll just see you at home later otousan, okaasan.
"Ok Kaoru-chan, have fun in school," Mother said and waved at me as the car went on its way.
I sighed as I watched the car leave and disappear from my sight. I can't believe that just told my parents that I'd try to invite Kenshin, the most popular and gorgeous guy, to go to school with plain old me sometimes. That is synonymous to telling my mom that I'm the most beautiful and popular girl in school. 'That would be the day when the world will turn upside down.' What a very bizarre thought.
Turning on my heels, I faced the school and breathed in deeply, mentally preparing myself for another hard day at school. Once again I saw the long cemented walkway leading to a three-storey white building with a grotesque fountain in front. This is my school, Hanasaka Private High, one of Kyoto's most prestigious high schools. It's quality of education is well-known throughout the entire country; however, only few students seem to appreciate that high esteem. Most of the students here are occupied with nonsense things such as fuss over their juvenile and loveless relationships and live a happy-go-lucky life. These are some of the activities that make a student popular in our school. Himura Kenshin is the most popular guy in our school; you do the logic.
My first stop for the day—my shoe locker. As I approached it, I can see my one and only true friend in this school, Makimachi Misao waiting for me to arrive. She smiled and waved at me as she saw me coming.
"Ohayou Kaoru-chan," She greeted
"Ohayou," I replied. I opened my locker and pulled out my shoes. To my dismay, several crumpled papers fell on the ground. I immediately crouched down to pick them up.
"Not again! Why are they always doing this to you?" Misao sat down to help me pick up.
This happens almost every morning, a bunch of jerks would place crumpled papers inside my locker as a way of making fun of me and make me feel miserable. They have always been acting this way towards me, ever since high school started. That is why sometimes, no many times, I can't help but wish for high school to immediately end. Unfortunately, I still have to wait for almost two years for that to happen because I'm only in my junior year and would not graduate until next year. I immediately stuffed the crumpled papers inside my schoolbag, trying hard not to feel so frustrated.
Neither of us said anything as we quietly marched towards our classroom. Upon entering the classroom, we greeted some of our classmates who are already there. As always, I went straight to my desk, which is situated in the farthest of the second row exactly beside the window overlooking the open basketball court below. It is still quite early, that is why many boys are still playing basketball down below. Most of the boys playing are the most popular boys in school; this is the reason why many of my girl classmates are hanging out this early beside this particular window—to feast on the gorgeous scene below.
"Isn't Himura-san the cutest?" one the girls watching uttered.
"Oh, definitely," one agreed immediately.
Now, do I need to mention that one of the boys playing are Kenshin and four of his other friends namely Aoshi Shinomori, Shishio Makoto, Sawagejou Cho and Uunoma Usui. Gosh, those guys have always been a mean bunch to me all throughout high school, except for Kenshin (and Aoshi) who instead of picking up on me chose to ignore me completely. Big difference. But I still like him anyway… What a stupid heart I have.
My eyes followed Kenshin as he stole the ball from his opponent and raced towards their side of the court. One guy attempted to block him but Kenshin did a fake, went past him and did a lay-up flawlessly. Several of the girls beside me cheered as Kenshin did the shot and that got his attention and caused him to look up in our direction.
Our gazes connected for a moment making me feel embarrassed for being caught looking at him. I averted my gaze immediately and looked down at my hands feeling a blush creeping up my cheeks.
"Go Himura-san! You're the best!"
Stupid stupid Kaoru, why do I need to feel shy for being caught looking, its no as if I'm the only one. There are about a dozen girls beside who are not feeling the least bit of shyness. 'You only made yourself more obvious'
Maybe it's because I'm different compared to these girls beside me. It's like instinct for me to look away whenever I'm caught looking because I've been watching Kenshin not only in school like this but also at home for the longest time. I've always been the girl who is watching him through the window. I don't know if that makes me any better or any worse than these girls.
"Look Tomoe! It's your boyfriend, showing off again," Komagata Yumi's voice suddenly appeared in the background making me break from my thoughts and look in front at the crowd before me. There in front of me stood Komagata Yumi and Honjou Kamatari, two of the most popular (and meanest in my opinion) girls in junior year. Along with them is the luckiest girl in the world, Yukishiro Tomoe, Kenshin's girlfriend.
Yukishiro Tomoe is one of the most beautiful girls I've ever known in my life. If I were asked to describe her in simple words, I'd say that she is 'almost perfect'. She has this long black hair that she always keeps hanging around her shoulders, round black eyes, perfect complexion, radiant smile and has a nice personality to boot. But if I were to describe her honestly right at this very moment, I would say that she is the luckiest and happiest girl that I would always be envious of because Himura Kenshin is in love with her.
"Hey Kamiya, looking boring again, how was your weekend? Did you have fun doing all of our assignments?" Yumi asked, towering over me with her hands on her hips and with a cruel smile on her face. At the corner of my eye, I can see Kamatari and Tomoe looking at me.
"Ano…" I was really hoping that the morning would pass peacefully without me encountering these girls; however, I will always be unlucky with that wish. I gripped my notebook tightly, not knowing what to respond to Yumi.
Kamatari came forward and snatched my notebook from my grasp. She flipped it open and scanned through the pages. "It's all here Yumi. All nicely done and complete."
Yumi smiled as she patted me on my shoulder. "You really are a great help to us Kamiya. If this keeps up, who knows, we might treat you better sooner or later. We'll return your notebook later after we have finished copying it." She turned on her heels and headed to her desk followed by Kamatari who is already clutching her own notebook and pen, eager to copy my assignment.
Tomoe's gaze lingered on my direction, making me look up and stare back at her. Among the three of them, Tomoe is always the quiet and passive one and is not really doing anything to harm me. Well, just like Kenshin, she's not doing anything either so it seems like they really are perfect for each other.
The bell rang suddenly signaling the start of today's activities. I placed my elbow on my desk and leaned my forehead on my hand. The morning hasn't even began yet and for the second time this day I'm once again feeling sorry for myself. 'I'm such a loser.'
------
Ever since I was a child, spring is always my favorite season. I always love to watch the Sakura trees because they seem so beautiful and never fail to give me a peaceful mind.
It's already lunchtime and I'm outside the school building sitting beside my favorite spot, under a Sakura tree near the school gymnasium. Usually every lunch, I am with Misao on this spot, eating lunch and chatting endlessly about anything whether it is senseless or not. However, She needs to rush her English paper so I'm here all alone with my thoughts.
'Why am I such loser? Why can't I fight for myself?' I asked slowly eating my food, watching the soft falling of the sakura petals. Misao said that the reason why they continue picking on me is because I let them. But how should I stop them? Not to mention that Yumi is the granddaughter of the owner of this school, I'm afraid that if I retaliate, their treatment could get worse and would probably get me kicked out of the school. If that happens, my parents would get devastated and I don't want that to happen. Not only that but they could also harm Misao which I couldn't bear to happen. Besides, I just want to live a very simple life and not get things complicated. Two years is not a long way to go, high school would be ending soon and I won't encounter those mean people again, well except for Kenshin who is just living right across the street.
Why do I like Himura Kenshin? I guess it's because I have always known him ever since I was a child and I know that he is genuinely a good person. Even though we were distant, he was very kind to me back then. In contrast to his shallow friends who don't really take things seriously, Kenshin is a very deep person and I had known that when we were still children.
Suddenly there were the sounds of footsteps nearby, making me break free from my thoughts. It is strange because nobody really comes here except Kasumi and me. I looked at my side to see who is coming and I thought my heart has stopped beating when I saw the person I've been thinking about walking towards my direction with Tomoe on his side.
Before I was able to stand up and slip away without being noticed by the couple, they spotted me just seconds after I saw them.
Tomoe looked surprised as she saw me sitting under the tree. "Kamiya-san."
I stood up and slightly bowed my head in greeting. "Konnichi wa(Good Afternoon/Hello) Yukishiro-san, Himura-san."
Kenshin didn't say anything but acknowledged my greeting by slightly bowing in return.
"Did we bother you? I'm sorry we didn't know that you were here," Tomoe apologized tugging Kenshin's arm steering him to a different direction. "We would leave you then Kamiya-san."
I felt a pain in my heart as I see Kenshin and Tomoe so close together but ignored it and gave them a smile. "No, no. Ano… I was just about to leave so you stay here and don't mind me." 'Just as you always do.' I bent down and picked up my bento box and my book and walked towards the building not wanting to look back at the couple. The wind was softly blowing as I headed towards the school, the sakura petals dancing with the breeze. I wished to have enjoyed this peaceful moment alone but I can't deny these two the very romantic scenery.
"Kamiya-san!" I heard Tomoe called out.
I stopped on my tracks and with a smile glued on my face I looked back.
Tomoe surprised me by bowing and muttered, "Gomen nasai(I'm sorry). I'm sorry for the way my friends are treating you."
I was shocked and speechless for a moment, as I did nothing but stare at her. My glance briefly fleeted towards Kenshin and he seems to be surprised as I do for his violet eyes are looking at his girlfriend in surprise. Once again I have proven that Tomoe is an almost perfect person because she is very to apologize in behalf of her friends though she is not really doing anything bad to me. It is no wonder why Kenshin is crazy about this girl. "It's ok. Don't worry about it. I'm fine, really." Now I was able to give her a genuine smile. "Yukishiro-san, arigatou gozaimasu." I turned my back on them once again and walked towards the school building feeling lighter but sadder than usual. Now I know that there is absolutely no way Kenshin would let go of a girl like Tomoe… They seem so perfect for each other; both are good-looking, intelligent and kind. More than that, the two belong to the same world wherein both of them are a Somebody…
