Opening Notes

Disclaimer: In the words of my good friend Seashah, I was what I was and I is what I is. And I is nor was owning the Rurouni Kenshin.

Author's Notes

Midi: Geez, this is ridiculous people. V.V So many...reviews...

Last Time:

The teenage boy turned around, pausing in his act of putting on an apron only to be met with a hard smack upside the head. "IfI ever catch you using that sort of language around me again, punishment will be much worse than a hit in the head."

Kenshin shivered at the threat that lay beneath his stepfather's words and saluted only to be met with a stern look. "Just work the counter. Before I forget, Sano called to say he was coming by with a friend and that you were to be nice."

The redhead deadpanned. Sano? Friend?

Shit. Sano plus friend equals...

Kamiya.

- Shifting the Blame -

- Story © Midi Tenshi -

Chapter Five

Chapter Warnings: Cursing.
Music Suggestions: Er..."Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better!" -laughs at her own stupid joke-

"Alright, Kaoru, I'm going to treat you to a little something known as pizza," Sano told his friend, stopping at the red light like a good boy even though there was hardly anyone else on the road.

Kaoru grinned and patted him on the head. "Good boy."

Sanosuke gave her a dry look.

"You keep your eyes on the road," she snorted, pushing his face forward toward the windshield.

"Geez, lady, no need to smoosh my nose into the glass!" he retorted, sitting up straight once more. "Anyway, how goes it with Misao? Talk to her lately?"

Kaoru shrugged but then nodded. "Last night, actually. She seems to be doing alright." Misao and Sanosuke had been introduced at Kaoru's fifteenth birthday party and had hit it off rather well.

"Still being bugged by ol' whatsisname?" Sano inquired dubiously, actually looking a bit concerned. Kaoru laughed at his apparent affection for her short friend. She'd always known those two would be great friends, it had just taken them some time to realize it themselves.

"Aoshi isn't necessarily bugging her, you know," she defended loyally, hands spinning circles in the air as she tried to search for the correct term. "He's actually more...ignoring...her still."

Shinomori Aoshi was six feet tall, dark, handsome, and Misao literally lusted after him. Too bad Shinomori was rather blind to the affections of the green-eyed girl.

Sanosuke snorted as they made a left turn onto Main Street. "You know, it's bad enough listening to her whine and praise the jerk all the time," he began, and Kaoru knew the trip was suddenly going to seem very, very long. "But to have even him not realize it? How thick could the guy be?"

Kaoru sighed and reached down below herself to pull the lever that would lower her seat so she could lay back."Apparently very thick," Kaoru mumbled dutifully, throwing her arm over her eyes, blocking the sun.

As Sanosuke rambled on about the stupidity of a guy he'd never met but knew plenty about, Kaoru tried to rest her eyes. She'd been feeling kind of tired lately; it was probably just a side effect of her medicines, but it was beginning to get annoying.

Ten minutes later, they had arrived at a nifty little pizzaria that she'd never seen before. "Dude, this is so cute," Kaoru laughed, getting out of Sano's truck and slamming the door behind her. "Where are we? I've never been here before."

Grinning evilly, Sano rubbed his hands together and opened the door for his friend. "A...friend...of mine's family owns this place," he said mysteriously, voice thick with his own little conspiracy.

Kaoru arched an eyebrow at his tone but entered nonetheless, sliding up to the counter without taking her eyes off of him. "Sano, you're wierding me out."

"Damnit, Sanosuke!" a voice suddenly cried angrily, and hands slammed down onto the counter in front of her, scaring the crap out of her.

Kaoru's vision went dark for a moment, and she felt a strange but familiar pins-and-needles feeling in her legs, but it disappeared and she was faced with a concerned Sanosuke. "Hey, Kao, you okay?"

Glancing around, she caught a glimpse of red hair and deadpanned. "It's YOU!" she shouted, springing back.

Sure enough, there was Kenshin, arching an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong, Kamiya? Miss me or something?"

Kaoru's eyes darkened. "Suddenly, Sano, I've lost my appetite."

Kenshin laughed darkly, eyes flashing; he leaned forward on his elbows staring at her from across the counter. "You obviously haven't tried my dad's pizza before, Kamiya." He grabbed a dish towel from the ground and threw it over his shoulder. "Sit." It was an order and Kaoru was feeling weakened by her petit maul, so she sat, though grudgingly.

Her only comfort (and even now she was angry with him for bringing her here, knowingly tormenting her) was Sanosuke, who slid into the chair at the bar beside her.

"Do you serve a decent meat-lovers or are you going to reduce me to eating plain cheese?" asked Kaoru dryly, giving him a curt stare.

Sano slapped a hand over her mouth and gave Kenshin a half-smile, eyes frustrated. "Meat-lovers, Kenshin, just bring out the meat-lovers."

Himura rolled his eyes and ventured into the back to fufill his order.

"Saaaanooo," she began, tone dripping with biting sweetness.

He gave her a scared look. "Uh...yes, K-Kao?" he stuttered, attempting to move away, but before he knew it, Kaoru's hand was around his shirt collar and her face was in his own.

"When this is over. You. Are. Dead."

He gulped.

I had a lot of fun with this latest chapter; I'm sorry it isn't more than it is. I have to get off the computer and I feel as though ya'll deserve an update. See ya.

Here's a tad bit of a vocabulary lesson for those that are still confused by what some of the terminology is.

Epilepsy: Any of various neurological disorders characterized by sudden recurring attacks of motor, sensory, or psychic malfunction with or without loss of consciousness or convulsive seizures.

Petit Maul: A form of epilepsy, occurring most often in adolescents and children, characterized by frequent but transient lapses of consciousness and only rare spasms or falling.

Grand Maul: A severe form of epilepsy characterized by seizures involving spasms and loss of consciousness.

I need not remind you that I suffer from all of the above as well as stress-related seizures. Some people sleep when they're stressed out; I convulse uncontrollably!

- Midi-chan.