Who was that Skateboarding Fool!

By Altia

A/N: Wow… I feel really inspired to write this chapter. Maybe because it's finally the moment of truth: The moment when Kaoru reveals why she hates skaters. I've been contemplating this since the first chapter, and finally the time has come. Be warned, there will be angst among other things that I can't mention here or else it would spoil it. Just be aware this chapter may contain mentions of things that could be sensitive to some readers. You have been warned, so please don't flame me later. Here we go!

Chapter 28: Memories Revisited and Pasts Revealed.

Kaoru's gaze shifted to the floor, her eyes closing slowly. She took a deep breathe, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy. She was about to unlock the box that held many painful memories after having hid them for almost four years. She turned her gaze towards Kenshin, believing she was ready to tell him.

Kenshin sat in silence, watching her carefully. 'Something really painful must have happened to her,' he reasoned. However, he was here for her, even if she wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

"Well, I guess it all started back in the 9th grade," she began, her voice soft and lacking her normal confidence.

:OoO:Flashback:OoO:

A happy Kaoru waved goodbye to her new friends Misao and Megumi, glad to have met such nice people after her first week at high school. She usually had a hard time making friends, since not a lot of people appreciated her being basically a loud mouth that told everyone what she thought about them.

Sadly, she did not live in the same direction as her friends, but she didn't think it would matter. She got to know the route from her home to the school rather quickly. The only thing that made her nervous was having to walk by the skate park that had just recently opened.

It wasn't the park that made her nervous as much as the people who went there. They were mostly upperclassmen and seemed to be involved in the wrong crowd. They always dressed in colors of the local gangs, and were always blasting their rap music from either their cars or their portable boom boxes.

Kaoru sighed, knowing that the longer she delayed her walk home, the more of those people would show up at the park. Of course, no matter the time of day, there always seemed to be a lot of them there, since most skipped school anyway. Not to mention that today was Friday, which meant even more then on a normal weekday.

It was a rather cloudy and gloomy day for early September, but the weather that year had been strange anyway, so Kaoru didn't give it a second thought. The only thing she regretted was not bringing an umbrella since it seemed like it would start raining at any moment.

And wouldn't you know her luck? The instant she thought about rain, the sky unleashed it's fury and rain poured down. Many students began running home; they seemed to have forgotten their umbrellas as well.

Kaoru groaned slightly, realizing she had worn the wrong kind of clothes for this weather. Her attire for the day were semi-tight jeans and a pale baby t-shirt. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest and began walking home at a brisk pace, hoping to get out of the rain before she caught a cold.

Kaoru grinned, knowing she was making very good time as she came to the skate park in a matter of five minutes. Normally she took twice that.

However that day, she wished she had went home in her normal pace.

Just as she was walking past the entrance of the skate park, a group of 7 skaters walked out. Kaoru ran right into the leader of the gang, falling backwards onto her butt.

"Ow… Sorry about that," she said, looking up at the older boy.

"Sorry? Ya think a sorry's gonna be good enough! Huh!" he demanded, his voice slurred from the obvious consumption of alcohol. In fact, the whole group reeked of booze and drugs.

Kaoru knew she was in trouble, big trouble. However, the man angered her by refusing her apology. "Hey, big mouth, I said I was sorry! What else can I do?" she yelled, getting up and glaring at the skater who was at least two heads taller then her.

"Why you…!" the man yelled, pulling his arm back, ready to punch.

Another skater quickly grabbed his friend's arm. "Hey, man. Relax. This one's a looker. No need to bruise that pretty face of hers," he said, his gaze going up and down Kaoru's body.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes, these punks really were getting on her nerves. Inside her mind, she heard a voice that told her to run, but by the time she heard it, she was already surrounded.

"Yer right… She's quite a hottie for a freshman," another said, reaching out and trying to grab Kaoru's shoulder.

Somehow, she avoided his grasp, only to be grabbed by another. She turned scared eyes towards the one who grabbed her. It was the leader of the group, and he had an almost evil look on his face.

He tightened his grip on her. "Alright, boys, who wants the first go at her?" he asked, his voice no where near as slurred as it used to be.

There were a bunch of calls, some trying to reach for Kaoru first. The leader pulled her away, keeping her just out of their reach. He turned to one of the others, pushing Kaoru towards him. "There ya go. Have fun, but dun ferget to leave us some," he said with a chuckle.

The man's eyes sparkled with delight as Kaoru was pushed against his chest. Kaoru had been screaming this whole time, trying to fight her way out of their grasps, yet her yells were drown out by the others.

:OoO:Return to present:OoO:

Kaoru paused in her story, unaware of the tears that had been falling from her face. She took a long, slow shuddering breathe, trying to calm herself so she could continue.

Kenshin's eyes were wide. Had she gone through what she was implying with that story? He didn't want to jump to conclusions, however he felt a strong swell of anger from deep inside him. He gave her hand a light squeeze and flashed a reassuring smile her way.

Kaoru looked up to see Kenshin's smile. She took another deep breathe and continued her story.

:OoO:Now back to the Flashback in progress:OoO:

The skater, who wasn't exactly small by any means, grabbed a hold of her shirt. However, before anything could be removed or done, a good Samaritan saw the group of boys and the yells of a girl. He ran over to stop them, after calling the police on his cell phone.

This man began pulling the half drunk teenagers away, knocking them to the ground before finally finding the scared Kaoru in the grasp of one. The older man was enraged at the audacity of these teenagers to attempt something like this in the middle of a busy area.

Just then, the sound of sirens were heard right around the corners, and the skaters quickly bolted, leaving a terrified, sobbing Kaoru in a heap on the ground. The man who had tried to help knelt beside her, worry on his face.

The police pulled up, some running after the boys that they could still see. One of the officers joined the man at Kaoru's side, draping a blanket over her shoulders.

There was not much else they could do until she calmed herself down.

:OoO:Back to present again:OoO:

By the time Kaoru finished with her story, she was sobbing in Kenshin's arm. She had no idea how she was able to tell the whole thing, but she had managed to do it.

Kenshin held her close to him, slowly rubbing her back in a comforting manner. Her face was buried into his chest, so he gently rested his chin atop her head. He said nothing, not really sure what he should say in a situation like this. He had never known anyone who had nearly gotten raped, so this was a new experience for him.

Kaoru's sobs slowly subsided as the memories of that day faded from her mind. She turned her teary gaze towards Kenshin, who quickly wiped away the remaining tears.

"Were they ever caught?" he asked slowly, anger still pulsing through him. If they hadn't been, he was tempted to go and hunt them down himself. However, he quickly dismissed that thought, knowing that it was impossible.

"A couple were caught and turned in the others. They were only sent to juvie for a couple of months, since they were still underage. The only reason they got that was because they were drinking, not for attempted rape. I think the courts also ordered them to be separated. I don't know what happened to them after that. They're probably either died or in jail by now," she said softly, finding herself still crying slightly.

Kenshin tightened his arms around her again, lightly kissing her head. "Did you ever find out who that man was that helped you?" he asked.

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, his name was Okina. I found out later that he was Misao's grandfather who was out doing some shopping when he saw that," she said, smiling at the memory of Misao's face when she heard her grandfather punched out some teenage punks.

Kenshin chuckled lightly, somehow relieved that it had been Misao's grandfather instead of just some random person. "I guess I can understand now why you hate skaters," he said softly. "I'm just glad you gave me a chance."

Kaoru nodded, smiling. It was then she realized she had been sitting in his lap for most of the story. Her face flushed a nice shade of red as she slowly moved from his lap back to the couch next to him.

Kenshin's smile slowly spread at the light blush on Kaoru's face. His hand slowly reached up to trace the cross shaped scar on his cheek.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin, a bit worried. "Something wrong, Kenshin?" she asked, watching him as he fingered his scar.

He slowly shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, Kaoru. It's just… my past isn't as nice as it could be either," he said slowly, his hand returning to his side.

Kaoru scooted closer to Kenshin, gently touching his cheek with her hand. "You want to talk about it, Kenshin?"

Kenshin smiled slightly, but slowly shook his head. "Maybe another time, Kaoru. It's pretty late right now, and I don't like the idea of you walking home this late. I'll give you a ride home," he said. The true reason was he didn't want to bother her right now with his past at the moment.

Kaoru looked out the window and was shocked to see it was near sunset. "Yeah, maybe I should get home now. My dad's probably worried," she said, standing up and stretching her arms.

Kenshin stood up also, grabbing his car keys. He opened the front door, holding it open for Kaoru. She nodded her thanks as she walked outside and over to his car, getting into the passenger side. He closed the front door, locking it before walking over to the car and getting in. He started the car, pulled out of the drive, and drove to Kaoru's house.

The ride there was shrouded in a comfortable silence. Soon, Kaoru's house came into view and Kenshin stopped his car in front.

"Thanks for the ride home, Kenshin," she said, looking over at the red headed skater.

He smiled. "It's no problem at all, Kaoru," he responded.

Kaoru leaned over, kissing Kenshin lightly on the lips.

Kenshin blinked, but quickly returned the kiss, soon turning the light kiss into a not so light kiss.

Kaoru slowly pulled away from the kiss, slightly breathless and face slightly flushed. She coughed nervously, a small smile on her face. "Well, uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

Kenshin nodded, an almost silly grin spreading across his face. "Yeah. I love you, Kaoru."

"I love you too, Kenshin," she said, stepping out of the car and running to her front door. She turned at the door, waving good bye before going inside.

He returned the wave, making sure she was inside before he drove away. Now that he knew her past, he would do whatever he could to keep her safe. He promised himself that, and made a note to promise Kaoru that too.

He pulled up to his house, parking his car in the drive and going inside. He ate another small snack before heading to bed, knowing he needed as much sleep as he could get.

:OoO:OoO:OoO:OoO:

Kaoru walked inside and saw her father sitting on the couch, reading the evening newspaper.

"I'm home, father," she said, walking into the living room to sit with him.

"Welcome home, Kaoru. I don't mind you stopping by your friend's house, but please call me when you do," he asked, not looking from his paper.

Kaoru winced slightly, knowing she really should have called. "I'm sorry, father. I will next time. Is dinner ready?" she asked, looking towards the kitchen.

Her father nodded. "It's in the microwave," he said simply.

Kaoru stood, walking into the kitchen and grabbing her food. She quickly ate it, knowing she still had her homework to do. Once finished with her food, she walked upstairs and into her room, getting her homework out of her backpack and starting on it immediately.

Luckily that night she only had a few math problems to do, or else she would have been up all night. She closed her math book and gave a triumphant sigh. She changed into her pajamas, glancing at the clock which read 11pm. She practically jumped into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

:OoO:OoO:OoO:OoO:

A/N: Fast update and a longer chapter! I'm so spoiling you guys. So spoil me and leave me some kind words in a review. Please note, this is the most angst I've ever written, and the first attempted rape scene, so please be kind. Also this is one of the few flashbacks I've written too. Leave a review! Be like these wonderful people!

enchantedsleeper: I never did, though I was tempted to put it in this chapter, but I figured it would be better as it's own chapter. Kaoru had an idea earlier, and I'm not saying it's right or not. I hope this was a good reason for hating skaters.

Anime Girl: Thanks.

ImmortalSlayers: Thanks. Enjoy the new chapter.

The Mystic Firefly: Yeah, well I figured since Sano's the type to freeload, he wouldn't complain about what he's eating anyway. I hope I did a good job with this chapter. To tell the truth, I'm a bit nervous about it. Hopefully this is enough Kaoru drama for right now.

Universal Fighter: Thanks a lot. Well, how about a next day update? Thanks again.