DISCLAIMER: RK belongs to some other fortunate soul that is, most definitely, not me. No members of the cast belong to me; neither do any Bob Marley songs.
Quick Little Message from Author: Well, I would love to hear any suggestions or comments any of you may have regarding this fanfic. I am taking this someplace, all of these occurrences happen for a reason and I do think there is a plot in here, somewhere… Do review because, I appreciate the feedback and I like to know if someone is actually interested in the story. Enough said, on to chapter 3: be entertained!
Chapter 3: Sun is
Shining, the Weather is Sweet.
My feet sank into the sand. Daybreak at the beach was a luxury few could actually allow themselves to have. A stressful, active and tiring daily life demanded a minimum eight hour sleep ritual, hence waking up before sunrise was out of the question.
Ordinarily, sleeping in is one of my lazy and guilty pleasures, but every once in a blue moon I'm all for enjoying the sumptuous vibrancy of colors carelessly littering the sky on the promise of a dawning day.
Since I happen to live a few blocks away from sun, sea and sand, on those very rare occasions when I feel the urgency of bearing witness to a miracle such as a new day's birth, I drag my feet off to the beach and glue my eyes on the horizon. Then, I wait.
I wait for the warmth. I wait for the light. I wait for that one moment that will take my breath away.
There's something about the sea that beckons me. I can't quite place my finger on it but, when a ray of light pierces through the surface, when the waves gain glimmers and sparkle, that's when I realize I have to start breathing again or I'll surely faint, that my breath was taken away by this immense beauty and that, somehow, I have it in me to take it back.
The ocean is so strong and powerful that it can leave me breathless, but I'm so strong and powerful I can will oxygen through my nostrils and into my lungs one more time.
Empowerment, mesmerizing beauty and golden showers of light, all in a matter of minutes… It's a true privilege to live so close by to the beach.
As the foamy water tickles my feet I turn my gaze upwards and gasp: orange shantung and electric blue clash, swirl and unite. If ever I leave this place, this is the exact spot, the precise moment I will always come back to in my dreams.
The sun is shining, the weather is sweet and I had better be on my way to school or else I'll get suspension… again. After class, though, I think I'll come back here, lie down on the white sand and just be.
It is amazing how a miracle happens every single day and how so few of us actually take notice of it: the sun always rises.
I should remember that. I should remember every sunrise…
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Did you know that blue is the color of the oxygen that surrounds Mother Earth and Father Sky, set there to remind us that we belong both to the material and spiritual world?"
"Misao, are you Wiccan again?"
"No Kaoru, and I never have been- although, some of its philosophies are pretty interesting…"
"You're just saying that because you always wanted an excuse to buy a cauldron…"
"Kaoru! You know, being a wiccan is much more than spells and cauldrons!"
"Which is precisely what disappointed you about said religion; you just wanted to be the next "Charmed One" and, boy, did that backfire on you!"
"You know: maybe if you had been a tad more supportive of me, it might have stuck!"
At that I had to roll my eyes and laugh. Misao loved fun and games, but the more serious aspects of anything– relationships included– had her doing a one-minute mile. Technically, it's not a bad posture regarding life: we are young; why not enjoy things instead of sitting down and overanalyzing everything?
However, this position always made Misao somewhat irresponsible and flakey. I can handle that though; she comes through when you need her, every single time, and that's what counts.
"So, if this has nothing to do with a pentagram, then where did you come up with the Mother and Father references?"
"Well, if you must know, I'm taking a few aromatherapy classes and, right now, I'm starting to learn the basics on colors and scents. It truly is a fascinating approach to- oh, I don't know- everything!"
"I take it you're enjoying these lessons?"
"Very much! In fact, they have been quite helpful: now I know exactly what I'm going to wear and which perfume I'm going to use to make Aoshi's head spin at the party tomorrow night!"
Groan. I had totally forgotten about the stupid party Saturday night! Being Beshimi's date didn't sound very comforting at the moment. Maybe I should juts up and cancel… and incur the wrath of Misao? Groan.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and if I did anything to jeopardize Misao's plans regarding Aoshi she would be, beyond scorned, downright pissed and murderous. What was a poor girl to do?
Luckily, fate decided to throw a bone at this desperate puppy:
"Hey Kaoru!" said Patrick, setting his lunch tray on our table.
By this point I was tongue-tied and six different shades of red.
"Hey Pat-Rick!"
Groan. Since when did I have a problem with putting two syllables together?
"I heard you girls are going to that frat party tomorrow night…"
"Yep, we sure are!" said Misao in a perky voice.
Than God for Misao! As long as she's next to me, she won't let me fall for my own idiocy. Why is it that, whenever Patrick Lunn is around, my I.Q. crashes to below zero? Why does he get to me so much? After all, he's just any other guy- a very cute, dreamy, sexy 'any other guy' at that… Groan.
"I'm glad! I'm going too: I've got a friend who goes there, so me and the guys are gonna be able to get in."
"Cool! We know a guy too, so…"
"Yeah? Cool!"
Okay, why is this sad excuse for a conversation with my 'eternal crush' Patrick Lunn taking place only between him and my best friend? Why can't I, for the life of me, put a word in? Why are my lips sealed together? What did I do in a past life to deserve this horrible karmic payback? The guy isn't even that smart so, why do I even care?
Oh, look at those perfect white teeth! And what about those beautiful blue eyes? Oh, and that tousled hair!!! Fine, I get the drift: he's too gorgeous for me to remain unaffected by his presence. Groan.
"Well then, I guess I'll catch you girls there! Bye Kaoru!"
Did he just say goodbye to me? Did he just flash his perfect Pepsodent® smile my way?!! Aaawww….
"Kaoru? Kaoru!!! Snap out of it!!!"
"Hunh? Oh, sorry Misao, I was just…"
"Daydreaming about Lunn and his toned muscles? Figures: you space out on me every time he so much as smiles at you."
"Can you blame me?"
"Not really, although Aoshi is way cuter!"
Stars landed in Misao's misty eyes as she flew off to La-la-land with thoughts of the giant brick of ice taking over her.
"Misao… you need to get your eyes checked!"
Before she managed to beat me into a bloody pulp due to my negative remark concerning her Aoshi, the bell rang and lunch break was over. Sometimes loud buzzing can be a life saver…
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
In Dexter's laboratory, lives the smartest boy you've ever seen, but Dee…
An essential trait of these regions is the abundance of nutrients found in the sea, whereas...
…was not discovered by occidental science until 1869. The giant panda…
…professional warriors, the samurai, in a structure similar to that of the European feudal system. Despite fights between…
Sometimes, television programming can be seriously discouraging and frustrating. Zapping is known to be one of the world's most favored workouts. Between channel surfing and the Playstation®, man's fingers are sure to become the most exercised and strongest parts of the human anatomy, if they aren't already…
When opposable thumbs, and index fingers alike, are cramped and have reached their breaking point, with much reluctance and not enough choice, man finally presses the 'power' button and the once vibrant screen turns pitch black
Oh well, the day is beautiful, the sky is so blue and bright that… why not head off to the beach?
"Oi Kenshin, let's go to the beach!"
"Sano, don't you ever knock?" the young man sitting cross-legged on the bed voiced out as the well built Sagara Sanosuke slammed his room's door open and absently strolled in.
"If I did that, you would never let me in!"
"I guess you're right Sano" Kenshin acquiesced with a weak smile.
"So, what do you say? We could catch some waves, soak up some sun…"
"As much as I would like to Sano, I can't; I'm swamped!" he said, pointing at the piles and piles of books and papers messily strewn atop the bed.
"You work too hard! Come on, take some time off and remember what it's like to be alive for a change!"
"Sorry Sano." the redhead answered, smiling apologetically.
"Suit yourself. Well, I'm off; if the kitsune calls tell her I'm picking her up tonight at eight."
"Sure."
Sanosuke stomped out of the room, then froze, something important coming back to him:
"Kenshin listen, there's this frat party tomorrow night…"
"No Sano. You are not dragging me along to one of your little escapades again! Last time Megumi found out and, need I remind you-"
"Leave Megumi out of this and don't be so uptight! You might actually enjoy yourself, you know! Just stop stressing and give it a chance: living is not as bad as you make it look. Kenshin"
"Sano, just because I actually study doesn't mean that I don't live. The thing is that I have a huge test coming up and-"
"The thing is that you and Tomoe are history! You can't keep on lamenting yourself and being miserable; she got over you, didn't she? Well, there's plenty 'o fish in the sea my friend, but you won't know unless you swim from time to time!"
"You won't leave me alone unless I agree to follow you to my doom tomorrow night, won't you Sano?"
"Nope!"
Kenshin sighed: what choice did he have? If he didn't go, Sanosuke would never let him live it down. Also, the man kind of had a point; Kenshin was prone to brooding and pining. Since the break-up this natural condition of his had worsened. He had been studying all afternoon now, and would continue to do so till the wee hours of the morning. Maybe he could just relax a bit on Saturday, make it his official day off away from asphyxiating text books, and pick up right where he left off on Sunday.
Needless to say he knew he would regret this; doing the opposite of anything Sano said was the rational way to go about things. Kenshin sighed.
"Fine, I'll go. Now can I study?"
"Sure thing buddy! Oh and, don't worry, you won't regret this!" Sano announced, sprinting off to the front door.
Now that was laughable! Kenshin not regret following Sano's advice? That was like saying cats don't chase mice. SO, why was he doing this again? Oh, right, for the sake of sanity. Sano could really be annoying when he wanted to and, being his roommate, the last thing Kenshin needed right now was another disruption…
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Ah… nothing like me, the beach and Bob Marley, The Clash and Etta James, in the weirdest compilation CD of all time; don't you just love internet download engines?
So, there I was, enjoying myself in my own little world when some girl walks by and asks me why I am not in a bathing suit. Why dignify that with a response?
In a way, her question made sense but, it's a free country, had I been wearing a turtleneck, it would still have been my business and only my business. Some people are just horribly meddlesome.
As far as the clothes go, they may not have been a two-piece swimsuit, but they weren't that odd for beach attire: a thin indigo colored sweatshirt bustier with sakura petals down the front, faded denim hot pants and a pair of very worn white sandals. What was so suspicious or conspicuous about that? Apparently something, since the entire beach population kept staring.
Oops… Sometimes I get a bit ahead of my game and wade into the murky waters of paranoia: if you are as white as a sheet of paper or a cloud fleeting by in the cerulean sky, people with healthy tangerine tans are bound to stare. I forgot that I only generally find myself looking for seashells right around sunset; tanning can get a little complicated if factors such as that are taken into account.
Finally aware of the cause to people's wandering eyes and fed up by it all the same, I stood up and decided to walk back home. So much for the sun is shining, the weather is sweet, Bob…
Of course, with my luck, that decision could not go by without turning itself into a full fledged event. Why people who take pleasure in sunbathing at clean beaches leave their trash behind is beyond me, but, not entirely out of the norm, of all the persons hiking through the mounds of coral sand, it took only me ( my foot to be more precise), to make contact with that stupid bottle.
Tripping over the dejected beer bottle was the least of my problems though; my mind was by far too concerned with the airborne disc-man to concentrate on the loud thud my body would be making in a few seconds.
*THUD*
Great! Sand was in my mouth and my disc-man had suffered irreparable damage. My poor baby had survived too many dangerous water spills and uproarious falls for this not to be the final, fatal blow. Whimpering and cursing my bad luck, I got to my knees and an unknown hand pulled me up.
"This yours?" the baritone asked, shoving, my precious, unscathed disc-man into my field of vision.
"You saved it!!!" I squealed in delight, launching myself and clinging onto the stranger's neck like a leech. That's just how thankful I was that my small, delicate music life savior was, well, safe!
"It was nuttin' really." he said, running a rough hand through his brown spiky hair ½ sheepishly, ½ arrogantly.
"How ever can I repay you?" I asked, too caught up in the moment, in the reencounter with my beloved musical companion, to think clearly on what it was exactly that I was offering.
"Buy me lunch and I'll call us even!"
When I heard his thick, warm voice pronounce those words I scrunched up my face in confusion: wasn't he supposed to be a gentleman, some sort of knight in shining armor that recovered my most valued possession, then gallantly speak words like 'don't worry about it' or 'don't mention it' and leave it at that???
Nowadays, no good deed comes for free. That is a lesson I learnt upon meeting the infamous, rebellious, loyal, slightly conceited, Sagara Sanosuke; at least not where his stomach is concerned. That man will trade anything for food. I swear, his unquenchable appetite has more control over him than his own mind! Unsurprisingly, I came into touch with this basic fact of life upon our very first encounter:
"Freeloader!" was the first word to fly out of my mouth. How dare he take advantage of the situation and transform his heroic act into a means for a free meal?!!
"Fair trade?" he mouthed faking innocence.
"I could have caught the flying apparatus myself you know!"
"Not in a million years missy!" he ardently defended his meal ticket.
"You actually expect me to treat you to lunch?!!"
"It's only fair. After all, I saved your 'disc-man turned Frisbee' and you offered!"
"I did not offer to buy you lunch!!!"
"You asked me if there was any way you could repay me; I made a suggestion."
"Fine!"
By then, I was fuming and very angry at myself for being so dumb as to actually dig my own grave. The most irritating part of the whole ordeal was that, in a twisted, parallel universe sort of way, he was right, I had offered to repay him for his kind deed as he saw fit. Darn manners and darn pride! Yep: I dig up my own grave; I have to lie in it. Freeloading bastard…
"Fine, but I get to pick where we eat!"
"Fair enough." He added, a boyish grin lightning up his rugged features.
"You know, we are going to have to go over your concept of 'fair'."
"You wouldn't be the first person to tell me that."
"I wonder why…"
"So do I." he dared utter, flashing me another one of his falsely naïve smiles.
"Okay Mr. Smarty Pants, may I know the name of the absolute stranger whose lunch I am about to pay for?" I grumbled.
"Sagara, Sanosuke Sagara, at your service."
"Only if you get something in return…"
"It all depends on the cause missy."
"So you actually do stuff for free?"
"Well… it has to be a really good cause."
"I'll bet."
Conclusion: I should take my bokken with me, wherever I go; it would save me a lot of trouble, a lot of money too.
As we withdrew ourselves from the crowded oceanfront, the sun shone overhead and we continued to bicker ways ahead, unknowingly beginning to form a brilliant friendship under the clemency of the weather and blazing sunbeams.
# # #
Reviewer Responses:
To Luna Angel: Thank you for the encouragement: I plan to keep going.
To Ocean Fish: Hi!!! I'm so happy that you decided to check out the second story!!! As for your assumptions, as this chapter confirms, our beloved rurouni will be at the party only, it's not what you think… I think… unless maybe you aren't thinking what I am thinking you are thinking at all and then my own assumptions are wrong… I should stop that. Anyway, you will find out soon enough!!! And again, thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to read through this story as well! ^_^
To Tara: Thanks so much for the encouraging words; they were just what a girl needs to keep going! There is a plot, in here, somewhere… or, at least, me thinks there is one. Anyway, I'm glad you are digging the humor because, frankly, I always get REALLY angsty as soon as I start writing and, I needed a change of pace. There will be more humor, drama, romance, angst- it's gonna be quite the potent little cocktail, at least that's what I'm aiming for. Stick around for the next chappies, okay?
That's it people: chapter 3 is over and done with! Now, to write chapter 4… Stay tuned!!!