I do not own Sengoku Basara - Capcom does (they do, right?)
Riding the train was a real pain at this time of the day, 7 o'clock pm to be exact. You would consider yourself lucky if you were able to ride the train, much more if you were able to sit on one of those blue train seats that could be occupied by up to six persons. Kasuga's luck wasn't too good today – she had gotten inside the train, but all the seats were occupied by the time she had entered. Now that she thought about it, it seemed that she was able to get inside the train without much problem – must be the handiwork of the commuters at her back who pushed and squeezed through with all their might, hoping to get inside the train as soon as possible, only to push Kasuga further inside the train instead of themselves.
Inside, it was hot and stuffy, despite the constant release of cold air from the air conditioners. Kasuga hadn't noticed at first, but she had gotten in the middle part of the train car, directly in front of a seated person, except that she had her back to the person. She was about to turn so she could grab hold of a safety handle, but she was sent backward when the train suddenly stopped. Backward since left, right and front didn't qualify – there were too much people standing that there was no room left to move on.
Kasuga lost her balance and fell backwards, so that she was in the lap of whoever the seated person was. She was immediately up on her feet, bowing and apologizing to the person. For the second time today, she found herself in a situation where the people's eyes were on her. "All is good." was all that the man said. Kasuga lifted her head to look at the man, who had such a deep and somewhat soothing voice, and blushed furiously when she saw Kenshin. "I..I'm truly sorry mister!" was Kasuga's flustered reply. Kenshin just smiled at her, then asked "Would you like to sit down, lovely lady?". Kasuga shook her head, the blush on her face seemingly permanent. "I insist.", Kenshin stood, and Kasuga was overwhelmed as he took his place in front of her.
He was tall – she was at least as tall as his shoulders. And he smelled nice – some heady perfume he must be wearing. Her heart was beating so fast, so loud, that she could almost hear the steady beat despite the noise around her. She was tempted to just stay this way and memorize the way it feels to be this close to Kenshin, but she was afraid he might feel the angry pounding at her chest. "Are you sure it's okay, Kenshin-san?" Kasuga asked, not looking up at him, slapping her face mentally for addressing him by his name. "Go ahead." Kenshin said, not so surprised that she knew his name.
Hesitant, Kasuga took the vacant seat in front of her, ignoring the questioning stares she had earned from most of the female passengers. Were they envious of her because a gorgeous guy like Kenshin offered his seat to her? The idea made her want to laugh. But there was no other reason that came to Kasuga's mind but that.
She looked up at Kenshin, but when her eyes met his cool, blue orbs, she had to avoid them to keep from stuttering her thanks. "Thank you very much, Kenshin-san." she said, after which she looked at Kenshin, and watched as his lips curved into a smile that is enough to weaken any woman. "No problem. Besides, I wouldn't want a lovely lady such as you struggling to stand in the crowd like that." Embarrassed, she diverted her eyes away from him, then to the girls and women seated beside her. All eyes were on Kenshin. If I had been one of them, surely I'll be staring at him like that.
"By the way, what is your name again?"
"Ah. It's Kasuga. You can call me Kasuga."
"Kasuga – it's a beautiful name, it suits you."
How could he say such embarrassing things in a place like this? Kasuga thought when her cellphone rang. "Excuse me, Kenshin-san. I've got a call." She fished out her cellphone from her skirt pocket and, to her disappointment, saw Sasuke's name on the screen. She answered the call, nonetheless.
"Kasuga-chan!" Sasuke greeted from the other line.
"Good afternoon. What do you need?" Kasuga asked coolly, although her face was contorted in a slight scowl. She never knew the reason, but every single time she hears Sasuke's voice, or see him for the most part, her patience just disappears. Before Sasuke could even speak, she added "And how did you know my number?"
"I'm sorry for calling on such short notice. Your number I got from the student advising center, and what I called for is your service."
"Service?" Kasuga asked in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"
"You see, Shingen-san told me to ask you if you're interested to join the judo club. He recently discovered that you won gold in the national tournament held last month."
Without hesitation, Kasuga stated "I'm sorry but I have no intention of joining in. I'm afraid that if I do, I won't be able to spare time for training, considering my tutoring duties and my training at grandpa's. Please tell Shingen-san I'm so sorry. I'm really honored to be offered something like this, but I hope he understands my circumstances."
"Ah. It's such a pity that you can't join, don't you think? And I was so looking forward to training with you, Kasuga-chan."
Kasuga sighed, although she really wanted to shout into the mouthpiece and make Sasuke's eardrums bleed. "Stop saying stupid things."
"Why so serious? Or could it be that you want to train with me too?"
"You..! I'd never want anything like that! And why is this call taking too long?" Kasuga struggled to keep her voice down to minimum, but it was coming out even louder than she imagined.
"Easy there, Kasuga-chan. I still have something to tell you. The-" Sasuke said, the rest of his statement drowned out by the loud blare of the train, headed opposite the direction of the one they were riding, as it passed by and left in a matter of seconds.
"Is everything all right, Kasuga?" Kenshin asked, no longer able to ignore the bright red flush on Kasuga's face, as well as the don't-mess-with-me tone she had put on since answering the call. If she thought she had done a thorough job of keeping her annoyance from her voice by keeping it low, she was definitely wrong.
Covering the mouthpiece of her cellphone, Kasuga smiled, her eyes bright and her lips curved in a timid smile. "Ah. Of course it is. Don't mind me, Kensh-"
"Was that Kenshin-kun? Wow. So, how are you two doing, Kasuga? Gotten closer yet?"
Kasuga gave out an exasperated sigh, trying her best not to blow up in anger. She was all game to beat Sasuke into pulp right now, but that would have to wait until tomorrow maybe. "It's none of your business. And don't call if you plan to say more than what's important. Goodbye." Without waiting for Sasuke's reply, she hung up, turned her cellphone off and shoved it back into her skirt pocket.
"I hope the caller didn't bring bad news." Kenshin said, pulling Kasuga back to the current scene. She had felt off the page while she was talking on the phone with Sasuke, as if the train and its passengers were not there, only her, Kenshin and Sasuke's persistent teasing.
"He didn't. In fact, I was informed that the judo club captain wanted me in the club. I turned the offer down, because I know I'll be forced to sacrifice training time for other school works if I didn't-" Kasuga stopped, realizing that she had said too much to a schoolmate who, besides knowing his name and his popularity in school, she knew absolutely nothing about. She bowed her head down, deeply embarrassed, and looked at her lap.
"Arriving at Central station." a female train announcer declared twice, her voice, which came from the speakers overhead, having the crystal-clear articulation and modulation of a DJ.
"Kasuga," Kenshin called out, his voice cool. "I have to get moving now. It was nice to know you, and thank you for the company. Be sure to take care on your way home." What came after that was a stone-melting smile, and a 'see you tomorrow' that sounded like the sweetest promise ever.
Kasuga was too mesmerized that she almost forgot that she had to get off that station too.
Fortunately, she managed to make her way out of the sea of people inside the train - with much difficulty though. Outside, she didn't spot Kenshin on the platform or near the turnstiles, so she hurriedly made her way out of the station, her heart still racing from all that happened just a while ago.
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