Author's Note: Yo dudes! I apologize for not updating it for quite some time... really busy w/ assignments. Gomen-asai! Also, sorry for typing it close together, must've been hard to read... Anyways, hope you'll continue to enjoy the story! It's almost done... Nyahahaha! Oh Yeah, by "The Gang", I'm referring to Kenshin, Kaoru, Misao, Aoshi, Tomoe, Sano, Megumi, Enishi and Soujiro. Hahaha! Ok, alright... time to read!

Chapter 2: The Gang

Saturday

The gang made plans to go watch a movie; they decided to meet outside the movie house...

Descriptions!

Kaoru: red ¾ tank top, swamp-green cargo pants, sandals, beaded bracelet

Kenshin: dark purple shirt, white Capri pants, black rubber shoes, chain

Enishi: black long-sleeved polo with sleeves rolled up to the elbow, white pants, sneakers, and his very own Ban-like shades

Tomoe: white ¾ tank top with loose sleeves (I hope you know what I'm talking about... Ü), blue jeans, sneakers, charm bracelet

Sano: navy blue polo with a white shirt inside, beige cargo pants, T-Mac rubber shoes

Megumi: long-sleeved white turtle neck shirt, light brown vest, a LONG swamp green skirt (more like a dress!), black boots

Soujiro: long-sleeved dark blue shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow, brown baggy pants, rubber shoes

Misao: black long-sleeved shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbow, swamp green Capri pants, red sneakers

Aoshi: black long-sleeved polo with sleeves rolled up to the elbow, white dry-fit shirt inside, dark brown cargo pants, red wristband, rubber shoes

Descriptions done!

In front of the movie house...

"Hey, is everyone here?" asked Misao.

"Not yet, my very annoying best friend and that raccoon girl are still M.I.A.!" Sano answered while Soujiro just smiled (as usual...)

"I wonder why ONLY THOSE TWO are not here yet..." Megumi said. Tomoe frowned when she heard this.

"Ohoho!" Megumi laughed evilly when she noticed Tomoe's sudden change of mood. Suddenly, they saw Kenshin and Kaoru running towards them.

"We're (pant) sorry (pant) got (pant) held up (pant) by (pant) the train (pant, pant)..." Kenshin managed to say. Everyone said their "hellos" and Tomoe sweetly smiled at Kenshin. He returned the smile and turned to talk to Sano. Grabbing this opportunity (cause Kenshin wasn't looking), Tomoe quickly shot a deadly glare at Kaoru. She was bewildered,

"Why in the world does she hate me so much?" Kaoru softly asked Misao.

"You really don't know?" Misao asked, rather amused.

"I really don't..." Kaoru naively answered.

"Haay... Kaoru, it's like this, Tomoe likes Kenshin and since Kenshin likes you, she's jea-"

"He doesn't like me!" Kaoru exclaimed, cutting Misao off.

'Oops! I just said that aloud.' Kaoru thought to herself while looking around. Fortunately for her, only she and Misao were left standing there, the others apparently went inside the movie theater already.

"We better go in already..." Kaoru told Misao. So they entered the movie theater and started to watch.

After the movie...

"Wow! That was great! Don't ya think so, Shinomori-san?" a very genki Misao asked.

"Ya..." replied an expressionless Aoshi in a monotone. Kaoru was happily talking to Kenshin, Sano, Soujiro and Megumi while Tomoe was busy complaining to an almost fed up Enishi.

(A/N: btw, in this story, Yahiko and Enishi are the younger brothers of Tomoe; Sano is her older brother.)

It was still quite early so they decided to play in Timezone. Aoshi and Misao were playing air hockey; Enishi and Soujiro were racing against each other, Kenshin and Kaoru were playing Time Crisis 3; Megumi and Tomoe were dancing away in the Dance Dance Revolution machine and Sano was shooting hoops. Actually, Tomoe was only dancing because she hoped Kenshin would pay attention to her, but Kenshin was too busy enjoying with Kaoru that he didn't notice.

Tomoe's POV

"Hey! This song sounds cool! Let's do this one!" she said to Megumi and Megumi agreed.

I hope Kenshin notices me, I'm sure I look cool dancing! Where is he anyway…? (Tomoe looks around) What! What's he doing with Kamiya! That Kamiya girl is starting to get to me! If I can't have my Ken-san, NO ONE ELSE CAN!

Tomoe continued to shoot death glares at Kaoru hoping she would at least notice.

"Oi! It's about to start!" Megumi said.

"Oh yeah! I'm ready!" Tomoe replied, paying attention to the game.

Ken-san, please watch me...

Kenshin's POV

Wooow! It's so great to be playing with Kaoru! I wish we were like this all the time! A-re? What's the commotion over there?

Kenshin decided to sneak a glance at the dance machine when...

CONTINUE?

"Oro?"

"Aah! Kenshin no baka! What are you thinking? You died! Oh my goodness... at this rate, I'll have more points than you!" Kaoru teased.

"Oro... ok, ok! I wilL score more!" Kenshin then inserted a coin and continued to play...

Tomoe's POV

"Yatta! I did it!" Tomoe happily cried out. Surely Kenshin has his eyes on...

Tomoe glanced to see if her Ken-san has his eyes glued on her. She scanned the crowd's faces but could not find any redheads... when...

WHA-? Kamiya! Nande? So... all my effort... was wasted! GAH! That Kamiya's gonna pay! glare

Meanwhile...

Pressure was on her side now. Time's running short.

'I must act swiftly' Misao thought, wiping the sweat which trickled down her cheek and focused back on the game. The score was now 49-50, in favor of Aoshi. She had 45 seconds left... NO WAY was she gonna lose this one, not to Shinomori-san! Aoshi was amused at the expression Misao was showing -

dead serious.

Then a blur swiftly made its way to the puck, launching an incredibly swift thing swaying from side to side packed with overflowing velocity and power.

'I see it!' Misao thought. She quickly directed her hand towards the puck and...

'SUCCESS!' She had closed the score- there is no way Aoshi is...

EH! The puck did not go where she expected it to. Before she could say 'Oniwabanshu', the puck snuck its way into the hole on her side of the table.

'OH NO, NO, NO! I'm too late! I'm never gonna make it now!' Misao thought. Her eyes widened and she stayed in the same position for 5 seconds. Aoshi smirked. This was so amusing...

"Game Over" Aoshi slowly said.

"Aaaahh... I lost! Shinomori!" Misao cried.

"Care for another round?" Aoshi offered.

"No way, Jose!" Misao said, looking away.

"Hn. Makimachi, you're too serious. C'mon, don't take it too seriously." Now Aoshi was really amused.

"It may mean nothing to you but to me..." Misao bowed her head and her eyes disappeared.

"Makimachi..." Aoshi was about to put his hand on her shoulder when

"Just kidding! I'm not like that! What am I, crazy? Let's go grab a bite first! I'm starved!" Misao let out. She grabbed Aoshi's wrist and dragged him to a food stand.

'Huuuhh?' was all that came to Aoshi's mind. Then, he smiled a very small smile... 'This Makimachi girl sure is interesting...'

"Aaah! I lost! Mou!" Kaoru cried out.

"Haha. It was a very nice game, Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin said.

"I guess so... haha! Ne, Kenshin, shall we go get something to eat? I'm famished!" Kaoru offered.

"Sure, Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin replied, adding a smile. Tomoe saw this from afar and started to go ballistic...

"Kenshin?"

"Hai?"

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Kaoru asked, bewildered. Her eyes were opened WIDE and she spoke in a monotone.

"Haay... Kaoru-dono, leave them be, I know it's unbelievable but let them have their privacy and we can have ours." Kenshin said, worried that she might do something crazy.

"Hai then..." Kaoru replied, still in monotone and her eyes still glued on the couple.

"Really?"

"Yeah! Kaoru's really my cousin!"

"Hn. You don't look alike..." Aoshi coolly said..

'Coz you have clearer eyes and – agh, what am I thinking again?'

"Cousins don't necessarily have to look alike." Misao remarked while sipping on her melon shake.

"Yeah, whatever you say..." Aoshi replied while stealing a bite of his sandwich.

"Ne, Shinomori-san... what made you decide to come with us?" Misao nervously asked.

"Huh? Well... I had no other plans and I thought it would be nice to get to know you guys better." Aoshi said.

"Aa.. souka. So are you learning?" Misao naively asked.

"Definitely" Aoshi said, looking up and gazing at her clear blue eyes. That really made Misao blush.

'Fool, don't blush! He musn't see!' and with that thought, she looked away.

Everyone was having fun; they just kept on playing and eating (depends) until...

"Ne, Sano, I'm tired already..." Megumi said.

"Eh? Ah, souka... well, better head home, it's already late anyway," answered Sano.

"What! But I still wanna play some more!" said a still energetic Misao.

"We better go back, Makimachi-san, ne?" Aoshi remarked.

"Demo... Oh alright..." Misao answered.

"Ok everybody, let's go!" Tomoe exclaimed.

"Ano... guys..." Kaoru hesitatingly said. She was answered by a harsh "Nani?" from Tomoe.

"Enishi and Soujiro are still playing..." said Kaoru.

"I'll call them" offered Kenshin. He went to inform Soujiro and Enishi that they were leaving soon. (A/N: Btw, they're playing the racing game in case you forgot)

"Soujiro, Enishi, we're leaving now, come on... let's go already..." Kenshin said.

"Shut it, human! Stop disturbing us! Can't you see? I'm about to beat Soujiro, now go away!" exclaimed Enishi. Kenshin just stood there; he was speechless. For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence, then...

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Enishi's scream shattered the silence causing everyone in Timezone to look at them.

"Oro?" remarked Kenshin, swirly-eyed.

"I lost! Again! Darn it, Soujiro! I demand a rematch, now!" Enishi furiously said.

"Uhm... Enishi, don't you think we should go? After all, we've been playing non-stop for 5 hours already." Soujiro said with his never-ending smile.

"No way! We are NOT leaving until I beat you! We're gonna keep on playing until you finally lose to me!" Enishi said with a slightly crazy tone to his voice.

"Ehrm... I guess we'll be leaving you two here, then?" asked Kenshin nervously.

"YES!" came the angry answer of Enishi.

'Yare, yare... I'm in for a LONG night...' thought Soujiro wearily.

"So... I'll be leaving you guys now, bye!" said Kenshin, escaping from the two.

"How was it, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.

"Saa... They decided to stay a little longer but we'll go on without them" Kenshin said with a smile.

"Is it really ok?" a worried Kaoru asked.

"OF COURSE IT'S OK! THEY'RE OLD ENOUGH ALREADY!" Tomoe snapped at her.

'There she goes again...' Kaoru thought as she started to walk away.

"I'm... I'm staying" Misao said, much to everyone's surprise.

"Oro?"

"Huh? Why, Misao-chan?" Kaoru asked, worried once again.

"Let's get going, everyone." Kenshin called out, dragging Kaoru away.

'So this is what Makimachi really is... she... cares for her friends... very much. I like that.' Aoshi thought. And with that, they left Enishi, Soujiro and Misao at the mall... Misao started to walk towards Enishi and Soujiro; she was already near them when suddenly...

tun-dun!


M.I.A. Missing-In-Action

Author's Note: WHOO! How was that? Sorry have to leave you in a cliffhanger like that but... Get used to it! Nyahahaha! ANYWAYS, just review it please... Domo arigato! Ja mata ato de! Will try to update asap! ;)