Chapter 2:
Kaoru yawned and rolled herself out of bed to land on all fours. Groaning at having to wake up at 6 AM just for school, she straightened up and pulled her shades open to let in the rays of the just barely rising sun. Yawning once again, she turned to go and get ready, when she suddenly saw a glimmer of red out her window overlooking the sidewalk and did a double-take. Jogging down the street was a certain red head and by the looks of it, he had been out running for a while. He was wearing black sweatpants and a loose-fitting white tank-top, practically see through with the amount of sweat drenching it. His crimson red hair was pulled up into its customary ponytail and stuck to his back and shoulders as he jogged towards his house.
Just as he was about to pass her house, he seemed to sense that someone was watching him and turned his head upward straight toward her. Their eyes met, and Kenshin offered a small smile and wave as he slowed down to a stop right in front of her two story house. Grinning, Kaoru yanked her window open.
"How long have you been running?" she asked. "You're drenched in sweat." She scrunched up her face to emphasize her point.
"About an hour," he answered back breathlessly. "Been up since like 5."
"Dang! You've got lots of self-discipline. I'd never be able to do that!" she exclaimed. "…Or did Hiko force you into it?"
Kenshin scoffed. "Well, I gotta stay fit don't I?" he said.
"I guess so. …You are going to take a shower before school right?"
"Of course not, why would I do that?" he said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Ewww, well than you're not coming to school with me."
Rolling his eyes dramatically and shaking his head, Kenshin couldn't help the smile that lit up on his face. "Of course I'm taking a shower. What do you take me for? A sweaty pig?"
"Maybe." Kaoru giggled. "Anyway, I gotta go get ready, I'll see you in a bit."
"A'right, see ya," he said before turning and walking across the lawn to his house next door.
Sliding her window closed, Kaoru smiled brightly and began her morning routine to get ready for school. By the time Kaoru was done and zipping up her gym bag for kendo practice after school, her doorbell rang. Quickly going down the stairs, she figured that Yahiko had answered the door and saw that he was pulling his own backpack on and shouldering his gym bag.
"Oi! Busu, Kenshin's here!" said Yahiko loudly without turning around.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," she said in an annoyed tone. "And don't call me Busu!" A fist came down on Yahiko's unsuspecting head. Walking passed her younger brother to join Kenshin outside, she ignored the glare coming from the spiky haired boy. She heard him grumble as he pulled the door closed loudly behind them. Rolling her eyes, she started walking down the sidewalk with Kenshin beside her. He had changed out of his sweaty clothes and into the navy blue uniform from their school.
"Hey Kenshin," said Yahiko with an inquiring tone. "Were you going to join the kendo team?"
He shrugged. "Dunno…"
"Aw come on Kenshin. Don't tell me you gave up Kendo."
"Naw, don't worry, kenjutsu is still very much a part of my life."
"But you don't know if you're going to try out?"
He shrugged again.
"Is Hiko going to try and coach the kendo team, like he used to?" asked Kaoru.
"Uhh…I think so," responded Kenshin. "He did mention something about helping out, but don't you guys already have a coach?"
"Yeah, but he never really wanted the position. He was kinda forced into it, cuz none of the other teachers at our school are qualified," explained Kaoru. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind having Hiko around."
"Yeah, so that means that if you decided to join, you wouldn't even have to try-out," said Yahiko.
"I guess, but I'm still not sure yet."
"…What's there to think about? I thought you loved Kendo…"
"Stop pressuring him Yahiko," scolded Kaoru giving her brother a whack to the head.
"You stop pressuring him!"
"Good one," said Kenshin wryly earning himself a glare from Kaoru. "I was just kidding," he murmured.
As he watched Kaoru and Yahiko bicker on their way to school, a small nostalgic smile crossed Kenshin's face, before it was overshadowed by a more melancholy expression. Things weren't the same anymore. Back then, Kenshin would have found their squabbling amusing, but now…it just made it so much more painfully obvious to Kenshin that his friends were still so young and innocent. That while their lives had continued on normally, he had been forced to give up his childhood and his innocence, which would never be regained.
Kenshin started and blinked when he felt Kaoru's hand touch his shoulder. He turned his head toward her and was met by concerned sapphire eyes.
"Kenshin, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…Why?" asked Kenshin pushing aside his thoughts.
"Uhh…Well we're here…"said Yahiko casting Kenshin an odd look at his uncharacteristic lack of awareness.
Kenshin blinked and realized that the boy was right and that they were standing right in front of the school's gates. "..Oh yeah…" Kenshin said sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"Uhh…okay, well I'm gonna go now," said Yahiko, "I'll see you guys later."
"See ya," replied Kenshin a slightly curious look in his eyes.
"He's gonna go and wait for Tsubame," Kaoru provided and Kenshin nodded as understanding dawned. Letting his eyes scan the school courtyard, he realized that they were still really early. There were barely any teenagers around the campus and the redhead didn't miss the less-then-innocent stares of the few girls that were already there.
Choosing to ignore them the way he had for the past few years, Kenshin followed Kaoru into the building. "So where are we going?" he asked.
"You need to get your schedule right? And come to think of it, you need a locker too…"
Kenshin nodded and walked with his childhood friend into the office where he collected what he needed and followed Kaoru to where his locker was located. Finally arriving at his locker, Kenshin organized his new books into it and took a look at his schedule, moving it so that Kaoru could take a look as well.
Kaoru suddenly started squealing and pointed at his schedule with an excited look on her face. Kenshin looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"We have first period together!" she exclaimed happily.
"Really?" Kenshin looked down at where Kaoru was pointing and froze at what he saw.
Period 1 : Japanese History – Saitou
"…But didn't you take that class last year?" she asked, not noticing Kenshin's sudden stiffness.
Kenshin coughed and pushed his shock aside. "Uhh…no, in Tokyo, we did things in a different order. I took World History last year and was taking Japanese History this year….Is that Saitou as in Hajime Saitou?"
"Yeah, he was your PE teacher when you were a freshman right?" said Kaoru leading Kenshin towards her own locker, which was located nearby. He nodded and watched as she opened it and pulled her history book out.
"He's still here?" he asked his voice carefully controlled to reveal nothing but curiosity.
"Well, he left a bit after you did for a while, but he came back at the beginning of this year," she said. "But don't worry, he isn't that bad of a teacher as long as you do the work and pay attention."
"…Aa…"
Suddenly, they heard someone yell out from behind them. "Oi! Jou-chan! Kenshin!" Recognizing the voice instantly, Kenshin turned his head and allowed a grin to cross his face at the sight of his old friend Sanosuke, as well as his girlfriend Megumi beside him, and Aoshi with Misao clinging to his arm. Sano hadn't grown much considering his already tall physique when they parted ways, but his shoulders had grown broader and his voice slightly deeper, but other than that, he was exactly as Kenshin remembered him. Aoshi on the other hand, had changed a bit, his boyish looks replaced by high cheekbones and more mature features.
"Hey Dude!" cried out Sano raising a hand in front of him.
"Sano, it's been a long time," said Kenshin grasping his hand and giving the taller boy a one handed brotherly hug.
"Yeah, it has!" he said grinning widely. "Dang! You actually kinda grew!"
Choosing to ignore the comment, Kenshin turned to Megumi and Misao.
"Hey ladies," he said taking note of the changes in appearance in each one of them. They had both matured nicely, developing nice curves and pretty features, though he still couldn't help but to prefer Kaoru's natural beauty over theirs. Not that they weren't beautiful or anything, because they were, in their own way.
"Wow, Ken-san, you've grown up," said Megumi with a smirk on her face, while giving him a slight hug.
"Yeah, you look kinda different. Didn't really expect it," said Misao circling him and taking note of his looks causing everybody else to sweat-drop.
"Ano…thank you?" murmured Kenshin watching as Aoshi put a hand on the energetic girls shoulders to stop her seeming inspection of the redhead.
"Kenshin," he nodded.
"Hey Aoshi," said Kenshin giving him a frat hug as well, and stepping back to find them all somewhat staring at him.
"…What?" he said hesitantly.
Sano's brows furrowed in concentration, "There's something really different about you…" he said.
"…Really… well it has been 2 years…I'm sure you guys have changed too," he said his face completely blank.
"...Yeah, I guess you're right," said Sano a broad grin suddenly replacing the serious expression. "So, how you been?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kaoru sat down in her desk and motioned for Kenshin to sit in the empty desk beside her. Pulling out her textbook, and notebook, she missed the raised eyebrow that Saitou sent Kenshin as he walked into the room and the returned glare that would have surprised her. While paying close attention to her teacher as he began a lesson on the Bakumatsu, the blue-eyed girl couldn't help but to glance several times at her redheaded friend. It was somewhat of a surprise to find him not only not taking any notes, but also staring blankly out the window, not bothering to at least feign attention. The Kenshin she remembered always had the best notes from class. She used to borrow his old notes to study for tests whenever she was having trouble with a class that he had already taken. He was extremely smart and excelled in his studies, but this older Kenshin seemed bored and uncaring.
As he shifted in his seat and leaned his chin to rest on the palm of his hand, Kaoru realized just how much attention his glinting red hair was drawing from the girls all around the room.
"He's hott," Kaoru heard a girl behind her whisper to her friend.
"No kidding," she whispered back. "You think he has a girlfriend?"
Rolling her eyes and pushing the jealousy rising in her chest aside, Kaoru turned her attention back to the narrow-eyed teacher giving a lecture in front of the room.
"…During that time, there were four samurai that became known as the four hitokiri of the Bakumatsu. They were said to be on the side that was against the Tokugawa Shogunate and they were considered to be elite warrior that were undefeatable to the common people…" he said writing some key facts on the board. At the sudden silence, Kaoru looked up and her eyes widened as Saitou's narrowed eyes were focused on an unsuspecting Kenshin. To her and her class's complete surprise, instead of his usual warnings and threats, Saitou suddenly grabbed an eraser on his desk and faster then the eye could see, chucked it at the redhead staring out the window. Not once had she ever seen any teacher actually throw something at a student for not paying attention.
Horrified, Kaoru expected the eraser to hit Kenshin square in the face, but to her amazement, the eraser suddenly disappeared with a swipe of Kenshin's left hand. Turning lazily towards their teacher, Kenshin resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Yes, Saitou-sensei," he said with what sounded to Kaoru like slight mockery. The whole class held their breath. Nobody ever spoke to Saitou in that tone and got away with it. What happened to Kenshin? He used to be so respectful and prudent, especially when it came to teachers.
"I expect you are paying attention Himura," said Saitou curtly.
"I am," he responded tersely.
"Then would you please tell the class the names of the four hitokiri of the Bakumatsu."
"If this is a test of my attention, you haven't mentioned them yet," answered Kenshin matter-of-factly, "but their names are Kawakami Gensai, Nakamura Hanjiro, who was also known as Kirino Toshiaki, Tanaka Shimbe, and Izo Okada."
Kaoru gaped openly at the redhead, much like most of the class, and Kaoru saw a Hiko-like smirk cross Kenshin's lips before an emotionless expression replaced it and he continued his gazing out the window. All around Kaoru, amazed and admiring whispers broke out before they were quieted by Saitou's amber glare. Despite the fact that Saitou had continued his lesson, Kaoru couldn't help but to allow her mind to wander back to the redhead beside her. Apparently his skills hadn't diminished at all over the years. If possible, his senses and reflexes had grown more acute. Besides that, it was somewhat of a relief to her that he was still paying attention, even if it didn't look like it. At least that meant that he still cared about his grades like he used to.
Kenshin sat at his desk beside Kaoru near the window, impassively staring out at the sky above, ignoring all of the looks being thrown his way. He sighed inwardly. He should be used to this type of thing, but he couldn't help but to be annoyed by their constant staring. The morning before class began passed so quickly that before they knew it, the bell had rung and Kenshin and Kaoru found themselves scrambling to the other side of the school where their first period was located. He had to admit that it felt so good to be able to somewhat reconnect with his old friends after so long. He hadn't felt so…normal in a long time, and it felt good to be just a normal boy in school for once, though deep down he knew that he could never be a completely normal high school teenager.
Suddenly, the bell signaling the end of class rang loudly, and if it hadn't been for his ingrained self-control, Kenshin would have jumped in his seat. Feeling somewhat surprised at actually having zoned out the rest of class, Kenshin gathered his things and got up to follow Kaoru out of the class. Right as they passed by Saitou's desk, the redhead stiffened and moved to avoid what he knew was coming, but due to mass of students all trying to fit through one door, Saitou's hand was able to painfully grasp Kenshin's forearm and yank him back somewhat forcefully. Narrowed amber eyes facing steel blue ones, Saitou glared at the youth and said in barely a whisper, "I better not ever catch you blatantly disrespecting me again or you'll find yourself in so much trouble that you'll find it extremely difficult for you to carry on your extracurricular activities. Is that understood?"
Kenshin narrowed his eyes at the implications behind the sleek-haired bastard's words and nodded stiffly. "Hai."
"Good," smirked Saitou releasing his grip on the teenager. Resisting the urge to rub his somewhat throbbing arm, Kenshin made his way out of the now empty classroom to Kaoru, who was waiting outside of the room with a confused look in her eyes. "What'd he want?"
Kenshin shrugged and took the lead towards their lockers. "Nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?" asked Kaoru jogging to catch up to Kenshin in the crowded hallway. "He wouldn't have kept you back if he wanted nothing."
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing," he said.
"Aww, come on Kenshin," she said.
"It's nothing."
Eyebrows furrowed in frustration, Kaoru huffed and continued walking beside him towards their lockers. She had forgotten how stubborn and hard headed he was. As soon as they exchanged books from their lockers, they parted ways and didn't see each other again until after school. Kaoru and the others couldn't even find Kenshin during lunch time. It seemed he had disappeared during lunch and seemingly reappeared after school, shrugging off their questions.
"But seriously dude, where were you? We looked everywhere – random classrooms, the cafeteria, our old hangouts, the library, everywhere man. Where the heck where you?" questioned Sano as he and Kenshin headed over to the gym where they promised to meet Kaoru and Yahiko before Kendo practice started.
"Sano, just drop it. I told you I was talking to one of my teachers about something."
"The whole lunch? Come on just tell me what's going on."
"I told you Sano," sighed Kenshin.
"Okay then which teacher was it?"
"Don't worry about it. Besides, we're here anyway," replied Kenshin stepping into the dojo-turned-gym filled with students in the traditional hakamas and gis, each holding a wooden sword. They were mostly boys – actually all but Kaoru were boys, and she was on one side, lightly sparring with Yahiko who had a determined look on his face. Seeing Tsubame watching from the bleachers, Kenshin and Sano took a seat beside her.
"Hey Tsubame. How've you been?" asked Kenshin. Turning to her left, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the matured redhead.
"Kenshin-senpai. You're here! I-I mean I've been well. How've you been? How was your first day back?"
"It was alright," Kenshin smiled gently.
"Kenshin!" cried out Yahiko excitedly. "Did you decide to join the team?"
Turning toward the dark haired boy and his sister, he smiled slightly and shook his head. "Just here to observe for today. Besides I didn't bring any of my stuff anyway."
A frown marred Yahiko's face as he crossed his arms. "I still don't see why you need to think about it."
Rolling her eyes at her brother's hard-headedness, Kaoru took at step towards Kenshin. "And where were you during lunch?"
"Uhh…" said Kenshin knowing that his half-answers wouldn't satisfy the fiery girl again.
"OI!" a voice cried out loudly in the gym. "What are you two doing? Why haven't you begun the warm-ups like everybody else?" yelled Saitou as he entered the gym
"Crap," mumbled Yahiko.
"Sorry Saitou-sensei!" cried out Kaoru as the two immediately scurried off to join the rest of the team.
"Saitou's the coach?" said Kenshin in surprise. He really should have expected it. What other teacher at this school new swordsmanship as well as Saitou? Although, he had to admit that if he had known that Saitou was the coach, he would have reconsidered his decision to watch the kendo practice.
"Mhmm," mumbled Sano. "And he pushes them pretty hard too."
"I wouldn't expect any less from him."
"You got that right."
"Well well well," leered Saitou as he caught sight of them on the bleachers. "If it isn't the little trouble makers Himura and Sagara. Don't tell me you're here to join the team Himura. I'm afraid you'll have to try out just like everybody else."
"Don't worry Saitou. I don't intend on joining your team."
"Why not?" cried out Yahiko having overheard their conversation. "We already know that you're good enough."
"Yeah, Himura," smirked Saitou. "Why not? We could have a tryout right now." By then, the entire gym's attention was on Saitou and Kenshin. "What do you say team? Wouldn't you like a demonstration from the legendary Himura? For those of you who don't know, he won the championships here his freshman year."
Awed chatter broke out around the gym.
"You should've seen him back then. Only 14 years old and the best one out there!"
"Yeah, he was even better then Enishi-senpai. I heard he was the co-captain that year too."
"Oh wow, and he's thinking of joining the team again?"
"Dang, I hope he agrees."
"Yeah, me and Kaoru have known him all our lives! You won't believe how fast he is!" exclaimed Yahiko talking to his fellow freshmen.
Great! Just great!Thought Kenshin as the gym began to quiet down at Saitou's signal.
"So Himura, what'll it be?"
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline," he responded.
"And why is that?"
"I don't have my stuff." Such a stupid excuse.
"Oh, well we have plenty of spares," said Saitou signaling for a boy to hand him his shinai.
"I can't use wooden swords," murmured Kenshin, hoping that it would get him out of this fight.
Raising an eyebrow, Saitou turned on his heel. "I see…very well then. I'll speak to you after practice."
Sighing, Kenshin ran his hands through his hair. He knew what was coming and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of the gym without Saitou's noticing. He would have to face the Wolf after practice and there was nothing that he could do about it. At least he didn't have to worry about the whole kendo team watching the match though. Saitou would most likely wait until everybody had left before taking out the katanas that he knew lay in the storage room because he knew as well as everybody else that using the katanas for anything other then a demonstration or self-defense could bring a lot of trouble, not that he was afraid of the trouble. On the contrary, Kenshin was sure that Saitou only thought that it would be bothersome to have to deal with the consequences of breaking the rules.
"Dude, what'd you do? Saitou already seems to hate you, and it's barely your first day. I mean I know we caused some trouble during freshmen year and all, but it wasn't so bad that he would be so eager to fight you," said Sano, a slightly worried look in his eyes.
Kenshin shrugged. "I guess he never really liked me much."
"Why don't you just leave now? We'll tell him you had to go," mumbled Tsubame worriedly.
"Believe me, he'll notice. Besides, I have History with him, so if I don't face him now, I'll have to tomorrow morning."
"Good point," said Sano.
Sighing inwardly at his fate, Kenshin watched as the 2 hour practice progressed all too quickly and the team was dismissed. Remaining in his place, the redhead watched as the gym was quickly cleared of the students eager to return home. Soon, the only people still in the gym were Saitou, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sano, Tsubame, and himself. As Kaoru and Yahiko came towards the bleachers, Saitou purposefully strode to the storage room and, opening the doors, promptly drew out two katanas. With a quick jerk, Saitou sent a sword sailing towards Kenshin, who easily swiped the weapon out of the air.
"Well there you go, no wooden swords," he smirked.
"Wait a minute, you can't use those!" cried out Kaoru realizing just what was in Kenshin's and Saitou's hands. "They're not sakabatou! You're not allowed to use them against a student!"
"Stay out of this Kamiya. It is Himura's fight."
"Why are you so intent on getting me to do this?"
"Because we haven't fought in a few years, and I haven't had a good challenge in the longest time. Besides, your classmates really want you to join our team," he said with mock innocence. "Also, I hear that you've made quite a name for yourself back in Tokyo and that your names spread all throughout Japan." Kenshin's eyes narrowed slightly.
With the ever present smirk on his face, Saitou turned on his heel and headed toward the middle of the gym. Standing up in between Sano and Tsubame, Kenshin pulled his navy blue uniform jacket off to reveal a white button-up shirt underneath.
"Are you sure you wanna do this Kenshin?" asked Sano. "Saitou isn't gonna go easy on you just because you're a student and now that you're using real swords, you could get hurt."
"Of course I don't want to do this Sano," said Kenshin placing his jacket down and grabbing a hold of his borrowed sword. "But it doesn't look like I have much of a choice."
As Kenshin was about to step down, he felt Sano place a hand on his shoulder. "I got your back," he grinned. The redhead nodded and, making his way down the bleachers towards Saitou, Kenshin gracefully moved through the mess of gym bags and backpacks littering the seats and walkways of the bleachers until Kaoru stopped him at the bottom.
"Kenshin don't do this," she pleaded, eyes filled with worry. Stepping up to her, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright."
"Kick his ass Kenshin!" said Yahiko from beside his sister. "…and I'm sorry for getting you into this mess. I didn't mean for you to get stuck with a fight against Saitou. I was just thought that the idea of being on the same team was pretty cool, you know."
"Hey don't worry about it Yahiko. This match was inevitable from the moment I met up with Saitou this morning. It's not your fault." Forcing a smile onto his face for the sake of his friends, Kenshin stepped past them and walked up to Saitou.
The wolf's amber eyes held a crazed and excited look as he stepped back and unbuttoned his jacket.
"Let's see if you're as good as you were last year, Battousai," murmured Saitou barely loud enough for even Kenshin's acute hearing to pick up.
AN: Sorry for the extremely loong wait. I haven't updated any of my stories in ...forever. It's my junior year in high school and the work load is crazy. Besides that I haven't been in the mood to write much lately. Anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be filled with action. I hope to get it out faster, but I'm not promising anything except that i will get it out eventually. Please leave a review. Also i'm working on getting updates out on the rest of my fics.
