RK: Im Back! I know, this has taken forever to get up, I'm sorry! And i have to excuse cause ive had it written before i posted the first chapter!
Cai: Your just lazy.
RK: (looks around) And, your point is? Oh, and to my beta, Someone Really Special, I am so sorry about posting this now, but im going on vacation and i wanted to get a chapter up before i left! SO SORRY! (cringes) don't kill me!
Disclaimer: (Nobuhiro Watsuki standing behind RK holding the owners papers to the RK series) I do not Own Rurouni Kenshin. He belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki, the over lord of said series...NOW GO AWAY! God, stupid manga artists...
RK: OK now, on with the second Chapter!
PE Madness
The next morning, when Kaoru went to go wake Kenshin up, she found his door open, his bed empty, and his gym bag missing. 'Wonder where he is?' She wrung a towel around wet hair as she walked down the stairs. Then she heard the sounds of cooking in the kitchen and silverware pounding on the table. She ran down the last few steps and swung into the kitchen. The sight that greeted her left her speechless.
Kenshin was at the stove, long red hair pulled back, apron tied around his light pink shirt and white pants, both of which were new. Sanosuke and Yahiko were sitting at the table, a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, beating on the table. Kenshin was looking back at them every so often, shaking his head at their childish antics.
"You're cooking breakfast?" Kaoru asked in astonishment. Usually, she just had a piece of toast or something.
"Yes. This one is making bacon and eggs. Would you like some?" Kenshin asked innocently.
"YES PLEASE! KENSHIN COOKS SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU KAORU!" Yahiko yelled over the sizzling of the bacon, a grease spot on his moth evidence to his rendezvous with the bacon. Sano hit him on the head.
"I don't think he was talking to you idiot." Sano told him. Yahiko began to yell back, but abruptly shut up when Kenshin handed out the plates of food. Then he stared at it for a second, as in disbelief, but as suddenly as the food was there, it was gone, vanished in the blink of an eyes, as was Sano's. Kenshin and Kaoru stared.
"Their just as inhuman as Kenshin is." Kaoru whispered. Said inhuman teen handed her a plate, an eager look on his face. Kaoru ate a bite, then her face contorted into a disgusted look.
"Do you not like it?" Kenshin asked, a look of crestfallen hope on his face.
"I just don't like it when people cook better then me, that's all." She said contemptuously, turning from Kenshin to finish eating. Kenshin did a face-plant, a sweat drop forming on his head. "Besides, we need to get to school. It's almost six, and we need to meet up with Megumi and Misao. School starts at seven thirty." Kaoru turned and picked up her bag. Sano and Yahiko had a dejected look on their faces as they pushed themselves beck from the table and picked up their own bags. Kenshin finished eating, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door, following the others. Kaoru locked it behind him, then ran to the head while Sano and Yahiko hung back with Kenshin.
"Why do you carry that gym bag, instead of a regular one?" Sano asked, looking pointedly at the boy's blue bag slung over one shoulder.
"Yeah, why do you?" Yahiko repeated. Kenshin just shrugged.
"Well, this one prefers a gym bag to a regular bag, and besides, one can carry almost anything in a gym bag." Kenshin said, his tone neutral. They walked the rest of the way to school in silence, well, almost in silence, if you discounted the three girls, who were talking animatedly to each other about homework, boys, and other stuff that didn't interest the guys. As they arrived at the school, Aoshi was unfortunate enough to be getting off the bus at that exact moment. The silent teen blanched as he heard Misao's voice. It's not that he didn't like Misao, it's just that she was so…..so….clingy. It might be easier if she didn't hang on him almost twenty four-seven.
"Man, he looks like he just saw a ghost." Kaoru chuckled, looking at Aoshi.
"Maybe he did. Misao can be pretty ghoulish when she wants to." Megumi replied, also laughing. They watched as the two of them walked into the building, Misao hanging onto Aoshi's arm.
The five of them stood outside until the bell rang, then headed inside to first period. They walked in dejectedly, or at least Sano and Kenshin did. Yahiko had run off to his first class, while Kaoru and Megumi were excited. They wanted to hear what everyone else had heard about the battosai. Kenshin was depressed. All he had heard about the whole morning was the battosai this, the battosai that. It was getting old. Actually, it had gotten old a long time ago. Like, yesterday. And now they had to discuss it in class, again. Oh god.
"Ok everyone. Pull out your homework and put it on the desk. When I call your name, you will stand up and read whatever you wrote last night. OK, let's get started." Mrs. Omasu said. Kenshin groaned. She started alphabetically, and since Kenshin's last name was before the rest of his friends, he was pretty close to the front. Actually, he was the fourth person on the list.
"Himura, Kenshin. You did do your homework, right?" Kenshin nodded. "Well then, read it, out loud if you please." Kenshin gulped, but picked up his paper and began.
"Hitokiri Battosai is an infamous assassin and soldier in the army. He was said to have used a Japanese sword, instead of a gun, but it worked well enough for him. Just over a week and a half ago, battosai disappeared, both from the government and the army. He left without giving a word of where he was going, or why he left, though I believe it has something to do with his morals. He might have decided that, after seven years of killing, he finally got tired of it, and left."
"He was young, only a teenager, some say. He became known for his skill with a sword, and the fact that only those who were meant to see him lived to tell the tale later. He might have regretted taking all those lives, even if they may have been for a greater cause, or so said the government. But you can't really trust them, can you? Anyway, battosai is still young, and probably went to a place that he could blend in, be a normal kid, or he might have just gone home, where he belonged before he left."
"But, for whatever reason, it's reasonably safe to say that the government is after him, most likely as we are speaking. And, if the government catches him, they most likely will want their precious machine back, for he was the only one who could carry out their dirty work in secret, until the cops found the bodies, that is." Kenshin sat down, his voice disgusted. Sano looked at him, surprised at the vehemence in his voice. It sounded as if Kenshin was talking from experience, though that couldn't be possible. Kenshin, an assassin? The infamous one? Highly doubtful. The kid probably couldn't even lift a sword, much less fight with one. Those things were heavy!
After the rest of the class had gone, the teacher was writing different theories on the board and she remembered the one a strange kid in the back had said. That maybe he was tired of killing, that he didn't want to kill anymore. Certainly odd, but one that sounded almost plausible, so she wrote it down as well.
"Copy each of these down and place them in your folder. I expect you all to look at each carefully and choose which might be the most likely. You will write at least a paragraph on why. I'm also going to hand out books, The Anthem. Read chapter one and be ready to discuss by tomorrow." Mrs. Omasu began to hand out books, writing down the name of the student who received it on a sheet of paper.
"Man, why do we have to do this stuff the first week of school?" Sanosuke complained, writing the theories dejectedly down on his paper.
"Because the teacher said so. Anyway, we also have to read tonight, so don't go getting all weird on me now. If you collapse from depression, I'm just going to leave you lying there." Megumi commented from the far side of Kaoru. Sano looked up, confused.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" He asked. Megumi didn't answer. She just continued to write. Sano sighed. Megumi was a puzzle in herself.
The teacher handed out the last of the books just as the bell rang. She clapped her hands together, happy, and ushered everyone out the door. The four walked together until they reached the split between their separate classes.
"See ya later!" Kaoru yelled back at them. Sano and Kenshin waved.
"Math. I hate math." Sano muttered. Kenshin nodded his agreement. Math just wasn't his best subject in the world. As they walked into the class, the teacher looked up.
"Ah, Sano. How are we today?" He asked, his tone sickly sweet. Sano shrugged and walked to the back of the room, sitting down. Kenshin followed.
"So, Sano. What are we supposed to be doing today?" Kenshin asked in a whisper.
"For all I know, we could be doing simple adding and subtracting, or some other such thing. You never know." Sano leaned back in his chair.
"You're helpful." Kenshin muttered. He really didn't like math. Lucky him, they didn't do much. In fact, all they did was stare blankly at the board while Mr. Hoji went on to talk about math's basic principles. Even Kenshin could do this, so he just sat, alert on the outside and asleep on the inside. When the bell rang, he got up gratefully and followed Sanosuke out to meet the girls.
"This one didn't know any class to be that boring." Kenshin yawned. He didn't know someone could talk for that long and not need to breathe, or else he just wasn't paying attention. It sounded as if it was one long, run on sentence.
"HEY! SANO! KENSHIN! YOU COMING?" Kaoru yelled over at them. Kenshin nodded sleepily. Next was PE. Shit. They caught up with the two girls and walked down the stairs to the PE room. After roll, they were ordered to dress in, and ff they went, to change into their workout clothes. 'How much fun' thought Kenshin wryly. He wasn't all too sure about the whole changing out thing yet, but he changed, reluctantly, into the black shorts and red shirt, then walked out with Sano and Yahiko to join the three girls. This was the only class that all six of them had together. They lined up, waiting for instructions.
"Ok, today we are going to first run the mile, then do the fifty and hundred meter dash. And don't complain. Would you rather do it later this week?" She said when the whole class, with the exception of Kenshin, groaned. He didn't see the problem. They walked, resignedly, out to the track and lined up at the 'start'.
"Hey, lets see of Kenshin can break the school record set by Aoshi last year. Bet you can't. He's that fastest kid here! He ran the mile in 5 minutes flat. Pretty fast huh?" Yahiko teased, knowing Kenshin would never beat it. Kenshin just shrugged. That wasn't really all that fast to him.
"Yeah, we haven't seen how fast you can run yet Kenshin. Let's see if you can beat me!" Sano boasted. Kenshin smirked again. Sano was in for a major surprise. Kaoru and Megumi watched in interest. It was well known that Sano was one of the fastest, and strongest, in the school, only beat by Aoshi Shinomori. It would be interesting to see how this turned out. When the whistle blew, they all blinked.
Kenshin had disappeared. Well, to be accurate, he sort of wavered, then vanished, his speed to great for them to follow. They looked around the track, searching for the missing teen, but, not a minute later, gasped when they felt the air beside them rippling and the form of Kenshin Himura whip by before it was gone.
"Uh, Sano? I think the kid beat you." Megumi muttered. Actually, nobody had moved since the whistle blew. They were all to busy trying to follow Kenshin, though no one was having any luck with it at all.
"Like I told you all, he's not human." Misao confirmed, her eyes trying desperately to track the teen.
Kenshin came to a halting stop beside Sano, done with his mile.
"You're done? Already? But…hey, Mrs. Shurra! How many minutes has it been?" Sano yelled over to the teacher, who was standing, dumbstruck, at the red headed child.
"Oh, uh, three minutes, twenty seconds, give or take five seconds." She said, fumbling for the timer. In her mind, moving that fast wasn't humanly possible.
"Oh, that slow? This one knew he was out of practice, but not that much." Kenshin muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Sano and the rest of his friends heard.
"Do you mean to say that you can go faster then that?" Sano exclaimed. Kenshin nodded sheepishly. "Won't believe it till I see it. I refuse to." Sano turned his head. Kenshin sighed. He knew this was a challenge, and in front of this many people, he couldn't back down. He was muttering curse words in his head and thinking of a couple unpleasant things he could do to the poor boy. 'You know, if you wanted to, I could probably make some of those come true." Voice offered. Kenshin slammed that door he was becoming accustomed to have joyfully.
"Fine. This one will race you to that side of the track. That ok?" Sano nodded. He thought that since Kenshin had just run the mile, and that fast, he would be pretty tired, even if he didn't show it. Sano crouched down, into a runner's starting position. Everyone crowded around the two, betting on who would win. Kenshin stood straight up, hands at his side.
"One…two…three…GO!" Kaoru yelled. Sano took off, looking behind to see if Kenshin was following. Kenshin wasn't there. He was already done, standing at the proposed finishing line. Sano gaped. Everyone gaped. They hadn't even seen him move.
"Shit, that's fast." Sano said quietly under his breath. He wasn't even fifty feet from the starting line, and Kenshin was done. The teacher seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Ok, I think that settles it. Kenshin is not human." Misao muttered to Yahiko, who nodded in agreement.
"Um, ok everyone, line up at the starting line, and on my whistle, start. All except you, Mr. Himura. You stay with me. Kenshin walked reluctantly over to the teacher and stood at the side of the track, staring over at his friends. He wished he was running with them. He could have slowed down, he thought.
The whistle blew, and the class started out, with the usual shoving and pushing to get to the front. Sano got the lead.
"So, Mr. Himura. What the heck are you trying to pull? We all know that it isn't physically possible to move that fast, so how are you doing it? Hand over whatever makes you look like you disappear and reappear. Now, or I'm sending you up to the dean's office for possession of illegal electronics." Kenshin was, well, let's just say shocked is an understatement. His eyes were wide and his face was like it would be if you told a child that Santa wasn't real.
"But…but this one isn't using anything. Nothing at all!" Kenshin looked up into the teachers face. It was disbelieving.
"Sure, right. Now, you have one more chance to give me whatever you are using before you go to the office." Kenshin blanched. 'Man, this lady is persistent. Poor you. What are you going to say? I highly doubt she'll believe the truth.' Voice was back, but Kenshin didn't much care at the moment. He was too busy trying to convince the teacher that he wasn't in possession of illegal electronics in school.
"But this one doesn't have any electronics at all! One swears!" Kenshin was practically begging at her feet. He was seriously considering calling a well known mental facility. This lady needed one.
"Well then, how did you jump so high yesterday? Or run so fast? It's faster then the world record! And then you say that it was SLOW! Dean's office! NOW!" She pointed towards the school, and Kenshin trudged resignedly up to the office, thinking that maybe he should have slowed down a bit, but he didn't really know how at the moment. And he really didn't jump that high, did he? He wasn't paying attention as he walked up to the office, and he ran into someone.
"So, where are you going, Kenshin?" It was Hiko, his old master and now his teacher. He was looking at Kenshin with a sly look.
"The dean's office." Kenshin said shortly. Hiko looked startled.
"What did you do? I thought you weren't going to kill anyone." Kenshin glared at his master.
"They seem to think that this one is using illegal devices to run or jump, because apparently what one was doing is not normal." Kenshin bit out harshly. Hiko smiled.
"So, why do they think that?" He goaded, knowing his former student had a thin wall of patience when it came to teasing, for the most part, though he could be incredibly stubborn sometimes.
"We ran the mile today, and did the vertical jump yesterday." Kenshin muttered. Hiko smirked.
"So, how fast?"
"3:20" Hiko frowned.
"Isn't that a little slow?" He contemplated. Kenshin nodded.
"One was just warming up, but it seemed to be a little fast for them." Kenshin said, happy that someone understood him.
"Ah, so how high did you jump that surprised them." Hiko was waiting for an answer that he knew would most likely astonish him a little. Kenshin had excelled at leg strength.
"Only about twenty feet. The ceiling was in the way." Kenshin said nonchalantly.
"And now this one has to go to the dean's office, most likely to get stripped searched. Bye Master." Kenshin walked off, depressed, while Hiko just stood there and chuckled. His pupil would have to find out on his own. No more help from him. 'Besides,' Hiko reasoned, 'the kid is nineteen now. He needs to get to know the modern world.'
Kenshin walked into the office, and was directed to the dean by stern faced teachers. Apparently, Mrs. Shurra had already called up. Kenshin still thought that charges were ridiculous.
The dean looked friendly, but looks aren't everything. Since Kenshin used to make a living out of reading people, he could tell that the dean wasn't all too happy.
"So young man, I got a call from your PE teacher saying she suspects you of using electronic devices to increase speed or your power. Now, if I could just see these devices?" The man asked, his voice coldly polite.
"But, sir, one is not using any devices at all." Kenshin protested. The dean frowned.
"I have evidence of you jumping twenty feet or so to the ceiling of the gym. Do you need to see it?" Without waiting for a reply, the dean swiveled in his chair and pressed a few buttons, bringing up yesterday's tape from the gym. It showed Kenshin, standing beside the wall. Then, he wasn't there. The camera just reached the ceiling, and it showed the teen standing on the beam, balancing quite well. Then, he jumped, landing on the floor gracefully.
"Would you care to explain that to me? How you managed to do that without any sort of device at all? It is well known that new inventions are being made all the time. If you have one, give it to me now, please." He held out a beefy hand. Kenshin was furious. Do these people just not get it?
"WHY DO I HAVE TO REPEAT EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE? I DID NOT USE ANY SORT OF DEVICE TO DO ANYTHING! AND IF YOU WANT PROOF, YOU CAN PAT ME DOWN AND THEN WATCH ME DO IT AGAIN! GOD PEOPLE!" Kenshin was fed up with them all, enough so that he dropped the third person speech. They were just so annoying. The dean was backing away just a little.
"Ok, we can do that. Uh, lets go to the gym. May I bring a witness if I want to?" Kenshin nodded, glad that he wasn't going to be asked the same annoying question. The dean was back in an instant, and following him was none other then Hiko. Kenshin stared for a minute, then began to laugh.
"What's so funny young man? Mr. Shiko here is a highly recommended teacher and swordsman. Show him proper respect." Kenshin abruptly shut up and bowed to his former master, who did the same, which caused the dean to look funnily at the two of them. "Well, other then Mr. Shiko, I am bringing the principal with me. Come along Mr. Himura." The dean turned out of the room.
"Why are you here master?" Kenshin asked in an undertone. Hiko smirked.
"I figured you could use a hand. And anyway, I wanted to see what they would do to you in the first place. Thought it would be amusing." Kenshin glared.
"Evil, conceited masters always getting on former apprentices nerves and following them around…." Kenshin muttered. Hiko looked at him.
"Be nice. I thought I taught you that much at least. Besides, you were the one who left. But let's not get into that at the moment." They walked in silence to the gym, where Kenshin was summarily patted down. When they were satisfied that he had nothing on him, they stood the teen against the wall.
"Ok, now, to see if you were telling the truth. Jump, Himura." The dean pointed accusingly at the teen. Kenshin looked helplessly at his former master, who just smirked at him, again. Kenshin thought over the possibilities.
If he did leap up, just as high as yesterday, he would be asked questions, or given to the government for examination, or just stared at in awe. If he didn't they would ask him questions and think that he used some device yesterday, and search his locker until they were happy, or even worse, search his bag. Weighing the possibilities, he decided on the first option. If he was given to the government, at least he would save his friends the trouble of knowing who he was.
Bending his knees slightly, he sprang up, and landed lightly on the ceiling beam, once again. He peered down from his perch at the people below. Hiko looked as if he understood his reasoning, at least slightly. The rest were just staring at him in astonishment.
"He's not human…." The dean said, his voice weak. Kenshin stared down, then, deciding in a split second, he jumped off.
"What the hell?" the principal exclaimed, her eyes wide. "He's gonna kill himself doing that!" Just as before, her worries were unfounded. Kenshin landed gracefully, no broken bones or anything. Hiko walked over.
"So, why did you decided to actually jump normally? I mean, you could have just hopped a little bit." Hiko whispered.
"If this one had only sprang up a little, they would want to know how one jumped so high yesterday, and suspect an illegal electronic device, or some other such matter, and they would search one's locker and bag, and this one has that in his bag, and, well, let's just say that it wouldn't be pretty if they found it." Hiko nodded in understanding. In the same position, he probably would do something similar. But then again, he would be smart enough to not get caught in this predicament. The dean cleared his throat.
"Um, okay, since that's cleared up, how about that thing with you disappearing? No one can disappear." The dean was nervous. He had no idea what this kid was. He sure as heck wasn't human in his book. The teen glanced at Mr. Shiko. A look was exchanged, and the boy nodded. He stood up and faced the dean and principal.
"This." The boy wavered and vanished, then reappeared on the other side of the room. The two officials paled. This kid wasn't human.
"I recommend you not tell anyone what went on here." Hiko walked up to the two school officials and laid a hand on their shoulders. They looked up into his face, fear evident. Both nodded, heads shaking like a roller coaster or something.
"Well, Kenshin. I suggest you get back to class. They will be almost done. And tell your teacher that they cleared you of using any electronic device. Though where they even came up with that idea, I have no clue. Sorta stupid if you ask me. Well, get going now." Hiko turned to his former apprentice. Kenshin bowed.
"Yes master." He took off outside, where his PE class was still exercising.
"And it would be best if nothing spoken here was taken from this room. All that needs to be known is that Kenshin did not use any sort of electrical device to do anything. Now, I must leave you." Hiko turned and walked out the double doors that were the entrance. The dean and principal stared after him, eyes flicking from the door that Kenshin had left from and the one Hiko and gone through.
"Those two are very strange." The principal commented after a while.
"Yeah, that's for sure." The dean stared off into the distance for a moment, then turned to the principal. "I think we should listen to Mr. Shiko. Nothing spoken should go beyond these doors." After a minute of consideration, the principal agreed, but both filed Kenshin Himura under their mental 'Watch' list, along with Sanosuke and Aoshi. These people were just a little stranger then normal.
As Kenshin walked glumly outside, he was slightly glad Hiko had been present. At least someone he knew was there. And maybe the dean and principal wouldn't be telling anyone what had happened.
"HEY! Mr. Himura! I thought I sent you to the office!" The teacher called. Kenshin walked straight up to her.
"They let this one out. They didn't think one was using electronics, though Mr. Shiko did want to know where you got the idea from in the first place." Kenshin said. His head turned when he heard someone calling his name.
"HEY! KENSHIN! GET YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE BUT DOWN HERE!" It was Sanosuke. Kaoru, Megumi, Yahiko and Misao were all with him, waiting at the starting line of the 100 meter dash. Kenshin walked over.
"What are you five doing?" Kenshin asked, his tone puzzled. Sano grinned evilly.
"It's our turn to run, and since there are six line to run in, why not a race? Just a little friendly competition between friends." Sano said, looking over at Kenshin. The teen sighed. Sano was hopeless.
"This one already beat you though." Kenshin protested. Sano waved a hand. He didn't seem to care.
"That was a fluke, a misjudgment. Won't happen again. So, how about it?" Kenshin shrugged. Why not. It wouldn't hurt anything. They all lined up at the teacher's mark, then started on her whistle.
While Kenshin once again seemed to waver and disappear, Kaoru caught a glimpse of him, only one, that showed his legs moving faster than the speed of…..well….of something. When Kenshin had shown up at the finish line only a couple seconds after the whistle blew, they all confirmed the well known fact that Kenshin wasn't normal. No normal person could do that. The only good thing was that no one seemed to notice Kenshin's disappearing act.
As the six of them trudged back to the locker rooms, Kaoru turned to Kenshin.
"What was that all about Kenshin? Why did the teacher want you?" Kenshin shrugged, his face blank.
"The teacher went mental, and thought that this one was using electronics to enhance power, or some other such nonsense, so this one was sent to the dean. Teachers are weird." Kenshin told them. Sano laughed. "What's so funny?" Kenshin hunched over, his face scowling.
"You got sent to the dean's office! OH MY GOD! YOU BEAT ME! SO, did you get in trouble?" Kenshin shook his head as they walked into the locker rooms. Sano and Yahiko exchanged a look. Kenshin was hiding something, but whatever it was, they had no idea. They changed in silence, then joined the girls after the bell rang.
RK: So, how did you like it? It was kinda cheesy..(ok, really cheesy) Ok, now to thank the reviewers!
Someone Really Special: Tanks for Betaing! Im so sorry about putting this up early! Forgive me please!
DragonWolfStar: Thanks for the review! Here's the update!
Starfriut-22: Thanks for the review! Here's the next Chapter!
Cavalyn: Well, i have a lot of the story typed, so that shouldn't be a problem, though ideas would be nice! Thanks for the review!
RK: so you know the drill, five reviews and another chapter! Thanks again!