Thanks for the review everyone! It really cheered me up. I've got this stupid cold that I caught last, last night. I sound all squeaky when I talk and I have to blow my nose and spit every minute. You didn't really need to know that, but I feel really crappy. Don't mind if this chapter is crap, my hormones are outta wack and I can't really think right now. Oh well, here's chapter 3:



Underneath it All- Chapter 3:



Disclaimer: I don't own anything. So I hope you got the point.



~*~*~*~*~**~~*~**



Kaoru got out of the bathtub, dried her hair, and put on the gorgeous dark blue kimono, with silver butterflies, Suzu gave her. She combed her hair with the brush they also gave her. She decided to leave her hair down as she put the brush down on the dresser. She took one last look at the mirror. The candles highlighted her cheek bones and her nose, while they seemed to make her eyes glimmer. She smiled and came out of the bathroom, to be led by Suzu down to the dining hall.



*Meanwhile*



Kenshin rushed out of the bathroom, dripping wet with a towel hanging down to his hips. That was the fastest bath he ever had in his life! Timed 1 minute and 47 seconds! (No, that's not impossible. Trust me, I once timed my mom taking a 2 minutes shower!). He dried his hair while slipping into a pair of baggy jeans and a white shirt. When his hair finished drying, he put it in a low ponytail. He looked at the mirror and scowled.



"No, this doesn't look good". He changed his shirt into a red one and looked back at the mirror.

"Grr. NO!". He went sorting through all his shirts, throwing all the 'No!" shirts into all directions. This was going to take a while.



~Back at the dining hall~



Kaoru was led into the huge dining room by Suzu who was holding a candle.

"Right this way Miss" said Suzu. Kaoru followed her to a seat that was at one end of the long table. Sakura sat at the other end. The table had many candles to light up the dark room. Even with all the candles, it was hard to see anything clearly.



"So, what's your name?" asked Sakura. Kaoru looked at her.



"Kaoru. Kaoru Kamiya" replied Kaoru. Sakura smiled at her.



"Kaoru..." said Sakura, closing her eyes. "What a beautiful name". Kaoru smiled at that.



"Thank you" she said, still smiling. Sakura opened her eyes and looked at her.



"I can see why my son likes you" she said. Kaoru blushed at that. Sakura chuckled. "You like him too, don't you?". Kaoru blushed a little more.



"Well.." she said. "It's ok, my dear. I understand, I won't barge into your feelings" said Sakura. Kaoru looked up at her.



"Um, if you don't mind me asking..." said Kaoru. Sakura replied with a "Hm?". "Well, I need to go to the bathroom".



"Again?" asked Sakura. "But you just came from the bathroom"

"Well, I kinda have to go right now"

"Oh, ok. I'll call Suzu down"

"No, it's ok. I think I can remember where it is" said Kaoru.

"Well, ok" said Sakura. Kaoru stood up and walked through the door where she came from.



~Kenshin's room*



"GRR! Why the hell don't I have any good shirts!". He had just gone through ever shirt drawer and closet he had and had not yet found the shirt he thought would impress her. He sighed in defeat and picked up the simple white shirt he first picked. Grabbing a candle before he left, he walked through the door and headed for the dining hall.



~Kaoru*



"Was it this way?" she said to herself, pointing down one hall. "Or this way?" she pointed to the other hall. She was starting to get scared of this humongous mansion. All she had left was her candle to comfort her. Suddenly a window gusted open from the storm, blowing out her candle, causing her to scream. She was all alone in the dark now.



~*~



Kenshin heard a faint scream down the hall to his left. He turned and headed down there. Another window flew open, blowing out his candle as well. He tossed it aside, seeing it was no use anymore. He ran faster down the hall.



He was about to sprint even more faster, when he hit something soft and smelt of jasmine. He fell to the ground along with the figure.



~*~



Kaoru heard footsteps coming down the hall. She was even more afraid now. She's heard of murderers who come into dark spooky mansions before, killing and resident they happen to run into. She was about to turn and run when something smacked into her, causing her to fall backwards.



~*~



Kenshin and Kaoru lay there on the ground. Kenshin's weight on top of Kaoru's small figure. Kaoru closed her eyes shut, too scared to see what was happening. Kenshin lifted his head and looked at Kaoru's moonlit face. She was quivering of fear as Kenshin continued to stare at her. His eyes scanned her bangs, her cheekbones, her eyes, her lips. He felt his face lower towards her as she shook even more. He managed to back off when seeing this.



"Hey" he said, his voice calm and warm. Kaoru stopped shaking and opened her eyes. Blue met Violet as they stared at each other. Several minutes passed before Kaoru finally broke the silence.



"Um, can you get off?" she said. Kenshin arched an eyebrow, wondering why, until the answer hit him.



He was on top of her!

Kenshin scrambled off her as fast as he could, blushing like mad. It was a good thing it was dark, so she couldn't see his face go as red as his hair. Kaoru stood up and smiled.



"I think we're late for dinner" she said. Kenshin stopped blushing and took hand, leading her to the dining hall.



~*~**~



Sakura looked up at the two teens as they entered the room.



"Well, it's about time!" she said. Kenshin and Kaoru stood at the door way and blushed.



The lights flickered on breaking the moment. Kenshin and Kaoru turned to each other and gapped. Sakura stood up from her seat.



"I guess the storm is over, but Kaoru, I really think you should at least have dinner with us and-" she stopped noticing the expression on both teens' faces as they looked at each other. Sakura arched an eyebrow.



Kaoru stared at Kenshin with her mouth wide opened, eyes bulging out of their sockets. 'Oh-my-God! It's him! It's that rude little bastard!' she thought.



Kenshin's expression mirrored her's perfectly. 'Oh shit! Don't tell me that I actually thought this girl was pretty! It's that loser girl from school!'.



Kaoru let go of his hand and pointed at him.

"YOU!" she hissed. Her eyes filled with anger. Kenshin's anger soon boiled up.

"YES ME!" he growled. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?!"

"I DON'T KNOW! WHAT AM I DOING IN YOUR HOUSE?" she snarled back. Suzu had just walked in holding Shinta.

"Come on Shinta we're leaving!". she grabbed Shinta from Suzu. She then turned to Sakura. "I would like to leave now" she said, her voice calming down.



"But I thought that we could all have dinner and-"

"SHE-" Kenshin yelled pointing at Kaoru. "IS NOT HAVING DINNER HERE!". Sakura backed away from her son's anger.

"Alright, please come this way Kaoru" said Sakura, looking down at the ground. Kaoru followed Sakura out of the room.



Sakura led her to the front door. "Are you sure you know your way back home from here?" she asked. Kaoru looked at her and nodded.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll find my way". Sakura glanced at her.

"I apologize for Kenshin's behavior. He's not usually like that" she said.

"You don't need to apologize for him. It's not your fault. It's partially mine" said Kaoru. Sakura smiled.

"You'd better be heading off now. The rain might come back soon". Kaoru nodded and headed out the door holding Shinta.



~*~*~*~*



Sakura walked back into the dining hall, seeing that Kenshin was quietly eating his dinner. She sat down and looked at her plate, remembering what Kenshin said to Kaoru.



"YOU SHOULD NEVER YELL AT A GIRL!" she screamed. This startled Kenshin, causing him to fall off his chair saying his traditional, 'Oro?"



"WHAT'S WITH YOU? FIRST YOU KEEP STARING AT HER AS IF YOU WERE IN LOVE, THAN YOU START MOUTHING OFF AT HER! TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" yelled Sakura, smashing her fist to the table. Kenshin stared at his mom, he had never seen her so angry before.



"You want me to tell you what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! She's a loser person who deserves no respect or gratitude!" he hissed. Sakura let out a long sigh.



"That loser person speech again, huh? I really thought you were attracted to her" she sighed.

"As if! Who on Earth would be attracted to her?" he said, stuffing a potato in his mouth.

"You would!" smirked Sakura. Kenshin choked on his potato, coughing his head off.

"Ex-excuse me?"

"Oh come on! I saw the way you looked at her. You couldn't keep your eyes off her!" grinned Sakura. Kenshin coughed even more.

"I have seen so much attraction between two people before. Even when you were mad, I still saw lots of fireworks going on". Suzu and Sakura started giggling.

"ENOUGH!" yelled Kenshin. Suzu and Sakura stopped giggling. "I NEVER WAS ATTRACTED TO HER! AND I NEVER WILL BE!" with that, he stormed up to his room.

Sakura grinned and turned to Suzu. "He's so in love with her". Suzu smiled and nodded.



~*~*~*~*



Well, that's chapter 3 for you. I have to get up early tomorrow, so that's why I'm leaving now. I apologize if this chapter was crappy, but remember that I'm sick and I'm really not concentrating right now. I've stayed in my pajama's all day and had soup and millions of glasses of ice and water. Oh well, here are the chapter 2 review responses:



Kaoru Gal: Thanks for the review. Ya, I know the dog is cool. I couldn't really think of name while I was typing chapter 2, so I just put Shinta.



Deity of Death1: Thanks for telling me that his pants are called "yukata". I had a feeling that it ends with an 'a'. I'm so stupid, it's not even funny. ^_^. Ya, I agree, highschool fics are awesome!



Kasumi: Thanks for pointing out those. You're so right! The weird thing is that, my friend who's editing this, says there's too much description and little conversation. Weird ne? Oh well. Oh! Seta is going to come later on in the fic. I don't know when, but I'll try to get him in as soon as I can.



13a13yanime: Ya, they didn't see each other because it's dark. Duh! Lol, jk. But remember that there was a black out. Ok? I'm glad you like my fic.



Dark Elmo: Thank you! I'm glad that my fic has you hooked! Be sure to wait one week from now when I update. Stupid teachers keep on pilling up on homework! I was supposed to update yesterday, but I had to do my homework. Grr.



I'LL BE UPDATING A WEEK FROM NOW JUST TO TELL YOU! AND IF I DON'T, THEN, YOU CAN JUST BLAME MY MEAN TEACHERS. @_@



Ttyl, bibi

*Dev

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!!