I do not own Sengoku Basara – Capcom does (they do, right?)

Here's another chapter before exams come up. I'll probably update again after one and a half month. Until then, see ya!

Enjoy reading, kids! xD

As of late, it'd always been the raining-all-day kind of weather and the temperature had dropped a few degrees below the usual. It's never a good idea to leave home without bringing anything to shield yourself from the rain. But there were stubborn people, one of them being Sasuke, who don't seem to be aware of that – as if they haven't seen enough rain in a week to make them even consider bringing umbrellas or at least jackets with hoodies.

Sasuke had already walked about half the distance from That Bento Is Mine! – a local Japanese café he frequents – to campus when a heavy downpour started, giving him no choice but to run the rest of the way. Just a few blocks away from the campus gate, he almost bumped head-on with a girl he didn't recognize at first – thanks to her fast reflexes, they'd avoided the situation and bumped in the shoulders instead; still, the impact was hard enough to earn her complain. Before he could even look back through his shoulders and start apologizing, he was greeted by a loud, irritated voice.

"What is your problem, Sarutobi Sasuke?"

"Kasuga-chan," he said, his voice flat, but he sounded surprised at the same time. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" He could full well see her right hand massaging her left shoulder gently, but he interpreted it as an automatic reaction to the collision and not a sign that she was hurt. Without really thinking, and wanting to shield himself from the drizzle-turned downpour, he moved closer to her, ducking his head as he went inside the little safe zone created by Kasuga's umbrella.

This umbrella is too small for two people, he decided as he moved still closer to Kasuga. Her eyes widened ever-so-slightly at the sudden change in their proximity, but instead of doing something predictable, she averted her eyes away from him in the most bashful way he had ever seen. From where he stood now, a few inches away from Kasuga, a faint trace of what seemed to be mint shampoo and cotton-candy-scent perfume greeted his nostrils. The scent suited her perfectly – sweet, clean and feminine. He especially liked how her shampoo smelled just like the one he uses.

After what seemed to be eternity, which was in fact only a few seconds, Kasuga finally broke their silence. "I'm fine, it's nothing serious." She removed the hand on her shoulder to prove her claim. "But try to be more careful next time, will you?"

"Sure, ma'am." he said in the most polite tone he could – he even flashed a more-or-less-sincere smile to look more convincing.

"Whatever." She turned around and started walking again, and Sasuke followed on her side. Their arms were touching and although he was sure Kasuga felt the cold, wet feel of the rain as it seeped through the sleeve of her sweater, she didn't complain about it. More surprising is that she didn't even complain about their nearness at all.

"So, where are we going?" Sasuke turned his face to the side, admiring Kasuga's beautiful face. Even without knowing much about her, he was sure that her beauty had already captured the hearts of many guys, her grace admired by many girls – so why hadn't he seen her before with even one of her friends? It puzzled him to no end.

"We?." she asked back, her head turned to him, one of her brows slightly raised. "I'm going there all by myself."

"Let me at least dry myself first before you completely reject me." Sasuke said matter-of-factly, and he noticed Kasuga giving him a once-over, as if she wasn't aware yet that he'd been drenched.

She sighed a little, and he knew that she was trying her best not to shout. "You don't even have your bag with you?" She stopped walking, looked at her left hand that was clutching the umbrella and jerked it towards him. "Do you mind holding my umbrella?"

Coming to a stop beside Kasuga, Sasuke took the umbrella from her, and for a split second, their hands touched and he felt the smoother-than-baby's skin of her hand. Ignoring the contact, she rummaged through her satchel bag and seconds later, she was handing a bright blue hand towel to him.

Sasuke accepted the towel as quickly as she'd offered it. "Are you sure it's okay to let me use this?"

"Yes. But don't think of anything weird just because I lent that to you." Her lips were pursed in a most adorable, child-like manner, and she looked surprisingly innocent because of that.

"I'm just thinking how sweet you can be."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. Thanks." Sasuke knew that his voice was perfectly audible and Kasuga had heard him just fine, but he didn't want to say the same thing again and irritate her more.

After she retrieved the umbrella from him, this time without hand contact, he started wiping away the rain from his arms, neck and face, finishing in a matter of seconds. Working on his hair, he rubbed the towel through the thick locks forcefully enough to get Kasuga's attention.

"Your hair seems troublesome."

"Not really." Sasuke continued drying his hair, very much pleased to have Kasuga as his audience. He glanced sideways to return the favor, but she had already turned her eyes away from him. Contented about the work he'd done on his hair, he hung the towel on his shoulder and tried to tame his hair by repeatedly running his hands through it.

After a few more moments of walking, in silence, through wet pavements, Sasuke saw That Bento Is Mine's plain-looking sign overhead as they came to a short stop just in front of the cafe. "So that's why we were taking that route." Sasuke said, but it was more like thinking out loud. "I just ate here."

"I told you I wanted to come here alone." Kasuga said as she went inside the cafe. Sasuke followed her, and although he was full from the recent meal he had there, the pleasant aroma of Japanese food made his mouth water a little.

Kasuga walked over to where Sasuke was seated, convincing herself that it's going to be just fine. Although used to crowds, she was quite nervous of her first day at work. It didn't help that her first table would be the one occupied by Sasuke.

"Here's your order, sir." she said as she set the food-filled tray down the table. Sasuke looked up at her, and she'd swear her cheeks were bright red.

"Kasuga-chan?" The amusement in Sasuke's tone was overly-annoying, like discovering her working in this café was the newest, most interesting thing to him. "When did you start working here?"

She wasn't planning on answering any of his questions at all, since she'd come here with the intention of working, not chatting. "Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"I need your company." His lips were stretched in a playful smirk, and Kasuga felt her temper starting to boil. The smile on her face threatened to turn into a scowl, but she had to keep her composure and maintain her happy-to-serve-you work-attitude – she didn't want to have a bad start at her job just because of Sasuke.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, sir. As much as I'd like to keep you company, I still have work to do." Blushing furiously, she retrieved the number placard from the table and left without another word.

Once Kasuga had taken her place behind the steam table, she noticed the cashier positioned on the other end signaling her to come closer. She looked at the entrance first to see if there were any newcomers, then back to the kitchen to make sure there were no orders that needed to be served before she sauntered towards the cashier. She looked at the cashier's name pin, which read Farin, before speaking up. "What is it, Farin-san?"

"Kasuga-san, is the guy seated at table six your boyfriend?"

"What?" Kasuga practically felt the blood rush from her neck to her cheeks in a single heartbeat. "No…definitely not, Farin-san. He's just an acquaintance."

"It's just that the two of you looked so close to each other."

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"He's a regular here. Right there," – Farin pointed to where Sasuke was – "that's his spot. He always stays at that same table every single time he eats here." She paused for a while, as if to collect her thoughts, before continuing. "Most of the ladies here say he's cute and all, that he probably has a beautiful girlfriend, but so far we've only seen him with his male friends. No female friends at all. So I thought you were the girlfriend."

"I see." The idea of Sasuke being popular with girls didn't surprise her, but given that they'd tell her what's so attractive about him, she wouldn't even want to listen to them, let alone understand their perception of what attractive is. "But really, there's nothing romantic going on between us two."

"Well, he certainly looks interested in you." Before Kasuga could even protest against what Farin was saying, she'd spoken again. "Forgive me for asking you something personal so suddenly, Kasuga-san. I'm just always curious about things here. I hope you do get used to it."

"Oh, it's okay-"

"Kasuga-san! Order's up!" The cook's voice was so loud that Kasuga was tempted to cover her ears. She excused herself from the conversation, took the order and started for table twenty-five. Her eyes first fell on Sasuke, who hadn't even begun eating his meal – he was talking on the phone and looked like he had a bad case of boredom. Shifting her eyes away from him, she saw Nobunaga, Mori, and Mitsuhide occupying another table, the three of them sitting in a silence that was most intriguing. If Mori hadn't begun talking to Nobunaga, you would've thought the trio was the worst of enemies.

She had both caught the student council president and his ever-loyal assistant's eyes on her, but she thought it was natural, since they probably recognized her – and they weren't actually giving her an odd look, so there was nothing to be bothered about. But not Mitsuhide – his eyes weren't only giving her the I-know-you look, but something much more intense than any male gaze she had ever encountered before. He was obviously checking her out – and his stare almost felt tangible, as if it had invisible tendrils that were sending chills down her spine.

She didn't exactly think that her black-and-red-color-scheme uniform was the cause of all the attention he was giving her – the blouse, obi and knee-length pencil skirt were pretty much average-looking, although they were a little tight-fitting, revealing all her feminine curves. It was a God-given gift: her shapely body, and thanks to her ever-since-childhood judo training, she maintained a figure girls, and women alike, praised and envied. However, some men tend to look at her with a different glint in their eyes, and she didn't even want to start thinking about it.

"Kasuga-san, hurry up!" The voice of Farin pulled her from her deep thought and back to the café. She continued towards the trio's table, the zori she wore on her feet silent against the marble floor.

"Here you go, gentlemen." She set down the food on their table, her eyes fixed on no one in particular. "Can I help you with anything else?" This time she looked at Nobunaga, then to Mori, then back to Nobunaga again.

"Everything's fine." Nobunaga stated and Mori immediately nodded in agreement. When Kasuga had turned around to leave though, she heard a scarily low voice that was no doubt Mitsuhide's. "Miss…" Even though she hasn't actually heard him speak, the voice she'd just heard seemed to suit him perfectly. "The slit of your skirt had been dangerously torn all the way up to the upper half of your thighs."

With the way he described the damage on her skirt, Kasuga almost froze in shame. More than that, his voice was loud enough to be heard by the whole café. She didn't think what he just said qualified as offensive, but still, it wasn't something any girl would be happy to hear.

Noticing the eyes of many customers fixed on her skirt, she checked on it. Sure enough, the three-inch slit on the left side had grown by at least seven inches. Face burning red in embarrassment, although she'd managed to keep her composure, she held together the torn portions of her skirt with one hand as subtly as she could and even muttered a genuine thank-you to Mitsuhide before proceeding to the ladies' room.

Reviews, anyone? Thanks :D

Forgive me for the lame name of the Japanese cafe xD

Hmmm…the first part was Sasuke's POV, if you haven't noticed. Sasuke's a real sweet guy, and I really like his character, so I gave him more stage in this chapter. I just hope I did a good job on that.

Post Script: Kasuga's work uniform is actually badass (I guess). I even drew it before incorporating it in this chapter. Wanna see? (The drawing's not that good, though) xD