Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters.
A/N: Ummm… what can say for not updating for six months… sorry? I'm so sorry! I'm such a lazy person! Please forgive me!
By the way the poll looks it appears that everyone wanted the same person so I think I pretty much know how the stories going to go now… Thank you everyone!
Chapter 3:
The ceiling fan was hypnotically spinning above her head as she stared at it. It was 3:00 AM and Kaoru couldn't sleep. She had tried everything, sleeping pills, watching TV, reading dull books, but nothing came out of it.
She was an assistant kendo instructor for the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu and in a few hours she would have to train her students for a kendo competition the next week. Throughout the time she was in foster care she worked as many jobs as she could to pay expenses for the dojo so that she could get it back to it when she was legal. Unfortunately all of her father's students had moved on to other teacher's so Kaoru had to start from scratch.
It was kind of sad that her first student was a thief who had tried to steal her wallet, Yahiko Myojin. She ended up taking him in to get him out of his life on the streets. He lived in her apartment and though she'd never tell him, she considered him the little brother she never had. He had really helped her through Enishi's death and there was no amount of thanks she could give him to repay him.
After Yahiko came Yutaro Tsukayama. After losing to a duel with Yahiko at school he had insisted on becoming stronger. He came to her only to see what kind of person could teach someone who could beat him. He then eventually became a student.
Her last and most delicate student was Tsubame. Tsubame also knew Yahiko and Yutaro from school and after being saved many times due to them, she decided to stand up for herself and join. She was still very shy, but she was opening up more every day.
Kaoru wanted so badly to fall asleep for their sake. She was no use to them if she was dead-tired the next morning. But she couldn't help it. Lately she could think of nothing but Enishi. Around this time last year was when the accident happened. It was so hard for her to get over him!
Just 9 hours ago she had sat with Kenshin on their date.
'More like grief counseling if you ask me.' She thought miserably. Nothing could fill this void nothing. She got out of bed again and got some crackers to munch on as she watched an old rerun.
Feeling tired again she climbed back into bed. For some reason Kenshin's face came into her mind again and it made her smile slightly, maybe he could help her… just maybe. She drifted off.
Kenshin had gotten no sleep the night before. He had gotten called after his date about an emergency problem from work which lasted until 7:00 AM. It didn't really help that it was around this time last year that his fiancé had died and he was currently having confusing feelings about another raven-haired girl.
He yawned and rubbed his eyes and continued to stare blankly into space as the meeting proceeded. Sano nudged him and whispered, "Where were you man? I called you last night at your house and you weren't there."
"I was…out"
Sanosuke looked suspicious, "Doing what?"
"I was out at a restaurant."
"With someone?"
"I was with a girl…" Kenshin tried to explain more but Sanosuke interrupted.
"A girl? So you're finally dating someone? Congratulations!" He had said this a bit too loudly and the entire table turned around to stare at the two.
Kenshin blushed and sunk further down his chair.
Misao Makimachi was not one to be messed with when she had PMS. She was crabby, touchy, irritable, and altogether bitchy. It really didn't help when she was forced to wait through a long line of traffic to get to her job at the Aoiya. She was one of the cooks there and Okina might actually fire her this time if she was late. The one person who would listen to her complaints was her best friend Soujiro.
She dialed his number and after a few rings she could her someone stifle a yawn as they answered "Hello?"
"Soujiro why aren't you up yet?"
"Well I had the day off. My teacher wanted to give me a break."
Soujiro was fresh out of college and had studied to be an architect. He automatically started off with being the apprentice of one of the best architects in all of Tokyo. His teacher really had given him a day off of work because Soujiro was an extra hard worker.
"You sure Mr. Shishio would do something like that?"
"Hey! He's not all that bad!"
"Whatever you say…." The light turned green and Misao proceeded in traffic.
"Why did you call me anyway? Aren't YOU supposed to be at work now?"
"Well I'm in a bad mood and the traffic is moving too slow."
Soujiro was about to ask why when he remembered what time of the month it was. He had been Misao's friend since puberty, so he knew all about it.
"Okay."
The other side was quiet until Misao mumbled, "Do you think Aoshi likes me? I guess he's actually started to sort of kind of smile at me, but I don't know."
Soujiro sighed and decided to answer honestly, even though it hurt him, "Misao, I'm sure he just has trouble expressing himself. He's just not a very social person. I don't see how he can resist you."
Misao stayed quiet for a little bit then hesitantly spoke, "You really think so?"
"I really do."
"Kaoru I don't want to do these exercises! We do them everyday and they don't seem to be doing anything!" Yahiko complained as he continued his 'katas'.
Kaoru sighed. "You're not going to win if you don't know basic form!"
"Miss Kaoru," a hesitant voice called, "Could I rest a bit? I'm feeling a little dizzy." Tsubame quietly whispered as she looked down at her feet sheepishly.
Kaoru smiled at the girl and replied in a sensitive tone, "Sure thing."
"Hey! Why does she get to stop?" Yahiko complained.
"Yahiko, you're not very considerate are you? I can't see how Tsubame even stands to be around you!" Yutaro snapped.
Kaoru yawned and watched the two bicker for the fifth time in this class session. It was no secret that both of them had a crush on Tsubame, but neither of them was brave enough to admit it.
Kaoru turned around to see Tsubame shaking and shuddering. A few seconds later she crashed to the floor. The boys stopped their arguing and ran over to help her.
Kaoru pressed the back of her hand against Tsubame's forehead and gasped. Her temperature was well over 100 degrees!
She scooped Tsubame into her arms and ran to the near-by clinic as quickly has she could.
"I'm really sorry, Kenshin. I didn't mean to bring that much attention to you."
"It's alright, Sano. There's nothing to worry about."
Sanosuke nodded and then suddenly grinned, "Hey! Do you want to meet the fox lady?"
"The who?"
"The fox lady! She bandaged up me hand after that fight I was in the other day! She's got that 'warmness' about her that'll make you feel better. I saw that when she was with the other patients."
"Why didn't you see it when she examined you?"
"Well… she doesn't like me too well. In fact I'm pretty sure she hates me."
"Why?"
"I kind of well… hit on her."
Kenshin rolled his eyes, typical Sano. "So where is she?"
"She's at the small clinic right over there." Sano pointed at a petite structure directly across from them as they walked over to the crosswalk.
When Kenshin entered the building he saw the doctor from the back and slight recognition hit him. Before she turned around, he heard footsteps running up the clinic and slamming the door open.
The doctor turned around and Kenshin could hardly belief it. It was her! It was the doctor! The even more shocking thing was the person who was at the door.
"Please help her!" Kaoru whimpered as tears streamed down her face, "Please help!"
A/N: Sooo… how did you like it? I wanted Megumi to be a major character so I thought that this would be the perfect way to bring her back. I also wanted to add a bit of S/M of course too!
Please review and tell me what you think!
-rm/bo
