A Date with a Senpai

By Yuki

(You can flame me at [email protected])

Warning:

This is my first attempt at posting a fanfic. I'm a lousy writer, but I have quite a vivid imagination. I'd be really grateful if one, even one, would at least e-mail me for their C&C. If, by any chance, someone out there liked my fic and would ask for one more (probably to give me a chance to redeem myself) anyway, to sum things up…I have a very fragile heart…breaks easily…be as kind as you can. More in a little while. I hope no one gets turned off with long author's notes…here's the fic…Oh, yeah standard disclaimers apply

A Date With A Senpai

Chapter 1

Beseeching Blue eyes

ask you nothing but love

why do you hold back?

The morning breeze was warm on her fair skin, adding a rosier color on her cheeks. The sky above her was almost as blue as her eyes. She could faintly hear the birds as they sang gleefully, welcoming a new day.

Kamiya Kaoru loved spring mornings. The newness around her, the fleeting caress of the wind on her hair and her lips. On days like this she was on her best moods.

But not today.

Grumbling on her way to the dojo, she was compelled to scream and curse and rant, unfortunately she didn't have the energy to do so. She was just so damn tired!

She stopped halfway, closing her eyes, calming the irritation slowly building up inside her…wishing nothing more than to be home, bathed, cleaned, and sipping hot green tea beside Kenshin his violet eyes laughing…

It didn't work. Usually, when she was in this lousy of a mood, she would just think of her rurouni and everything would be fine. It was as if he had this power to take the heaviness off of her mind and body…her heart.

Instead the thought of her rurouni was accompanied by an image of his worried face, violet eyes shadowed over and ever so slightly tinged with the color of feral gold. She shivered at the thought. 'Kenshin would sure have a fit' she thought resuming her walk.

The sole of her feet hurt, actually, her whole body was aching. 'All the more reason for him to fuss over me. Mou!'

Not that she didn't like the extra attention, Kami-sama knows how she much she yearns for it. But not this way. Not like she was a fragile chinaware that would break so easily. She wanted care and attention and more than anything - respect. She deserved it. It was his constant care that hurt her the most.

The way a man would care for a lost little child.

'I am not a child anymore! When will he see that?' she asked herself as she rounded up a corner and came to the gate of her dojo. 'And I definitely don't need him as a brother or a father, not even as my protector.'

She paused by the gates; a small smile playing on her lips as she found her three men huddled together by the door of her home. Yahiko, flaked between Kenshin and Sanosuke, was snoring; sleeping like a boy his age and not the 'Tokyo Samurai' he would often announce that he was. Both the ex-gangster and the ex-hitokiri were wide-awake.

Sano was the first to greet her as she stepped into the house, kicking off her geta. His tired eyes glared at her, but in the soft morning light, it made him look almost as is he was an older brother ready to reprimand his sister for being out so late.

'I wish it had been like that. It would be a lot better than what had actually happened' she thought as Sano stood up and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Che. I thought you decided to run off and become a rurouni too."

Not a nice, open arms 'welcome home' she was expecting. At least not from the rooster boy. Ignoring Sano, she turned towards Kenshin who had already stood up from his position.

They didn't seem to care that Yahiko had toppled over the floor, snoring and drooling away.

Their eyes locked, though she couldn't fathom what was in his violet eyes. "Tadaima." She greeted softly.

"Okaerinasai Kaoru-dono" he answered just as softly.

"Ignoring me, ne?" Sano muttered, spitting into the ground then looking back up at

Kenshin and Kaoru. 'In a count to three Kenshin is gonna fuckin' say: Daijoubu Kaoru-dono? Sessha was really worried about you last night. And Kaoru's gonna go ballistic after fifteen minutes of: I'm fine, really, I am…now stop worrying…I said I'm fine…'

One.

Two.

Three.

"Daijoubu Kaoru-dono? Sessha was really worried about you."

'Am I right or am I right?' Sano silently asked himself.

"Hai. Just a little tired." She said a little breathlessly. The look on Kenshin's face…

"Hontou ni?" Kenshin asked, knowing he was starting yet another round of 'I'm fine' and 'Are you hurt de gozaru.' Nevertheless, he needed to know that she was indeed unhurt. And that her absence last night didn't have anything to do with his past or his enemy trying to trap him by using Kaoru. But more than anything, he just needed her presence. Her absence last night had cause such a big gap in his mind and heart even in his soul, it seems, that it had tire him. For that short time, he had missed her so much.

'Kuso! I'm not gonna have this for breakfast!' Sano thought. Before Kaoru could even answer he interrupted, somewhat rudely when he put himself in between the two, "Where the hell did you go off to last night?" he roared.

Yahiko snored peacefully and louder even, unfazed by the ruckus about to start.

"We almost turned the fuckin' town upside down looking for you. We thought you'd probably went to Tae-chan, but when ya failed to show up at dinner, we had to knock on every freakin' house askin' if they'd seen a tanuki girl. We even went looking for ya at Yaminobu-sensei's dojo where you we're s'pposed to be teachin' kenjutsu. And guess what, you left three fuckin' hours ago. So what were you up to Jou-chan?"

"Boy, you have it pretty bad today Sano." Kaoru answered back dully.

"Just answer the damn question, or we'll be hearing this one," he said stepping back pointing at Kenshin who was watching with a wide oro-eyes. "groveling 'till next month on why 'sessha' didn't come for you."

"Humph!" Kaoru said stomping her foot on the mat ignoring the tinge of pain it resulted from hitting the floor. "I don't have to tell you! Punk!"

"Oi, being dragged out of a winning streak at a gambling house just to walk around town until four in the morning, non-stop, looking for you isn't my idea of fun. You could at least tell us why we had to endure such a stupid activity when you had been fine all along while we worried our asses out."

"Onegai Kaoru-dono. Sano's right. Sessha just wants to be sure that you're ok." Softly pleading, Kenshin had to stop himself from pushing Sano aside and taking Kaoru in his arms. Not a very easy task when she looked so vulnerable and cute.

There he was. Doing it again. And there was nothing she could do but melt whenever he used that tone on her. "Gomen. I, uh, I was…" she paused choosing her words carefully. This wasn't particularly very nice news. "A friend of my father has a dojo at the next town and I found out from Yaminobu-sensei that a small yakuza had been hassling him to give up his dojo. So I went there to talk to him, coz, you know, the stuff had happened to me and I just wanted to give him some advice, anything to ease him. He's already old, Tomizawa-sensei, that's his name. Anyway, he had been so nice to me when my father died…" her words were faint.

She didn't like mentioning her father's death, it opened old wounds. It hadn't been long, she hasn't healed completely, but she would never admit that, although she knew her friends could sometimes see right through her. She sighed again, "Anyway, I wasn't planning on staying, just a visit, but then…"

"To sum things up, thugs came and you joined in the brawl. Kicked a few butts and got kicked too. Am I right?" Sano asked, his voice had gone back to normal; in fact he sounded just a teensy-weensy bit worried.

"It wasn't like that at all!" Kaoru protested.

Sano just arched an eyebrow.

She muttered something and stared at the ground, "the brawl part is highly overrated Sano." She answered softly.

"Are you hurt Kaoru?" Kenshin asked completely forgetting his usual politeness.

Kaoru smiled, noticing the slip. "Iie, just a little sore. Buncha losers won't get the best out of me."

"Che, Jou-chan, your unbreakable spirit moves me to tears. You're unhurt, bruised ego, nothing serious ne? So can we now move on with our lives?" he asked, hearing rather than feeling the rumbling in his stomach.

Kaoru nodded in agreement, happy that she didn't have to tell the rest.

"What happened to the men who attacked the dojo?" Kenshin asked, not yet ready to drop the matter. 'A little sore' Kaoru had said, but she was probably downplaying it, she might have some injuries. A mental picture of Kaoru being attacked by men form a Yakuza seeped into his brain, and somehow it made him want to…maybe even just smack one of them for laying a hand on his Kaoru. Such possessive thoughts were bright and equally dangerous, because the walls he had build between them was slowly, but surely crumbling. Something he wasn't ready for. Not yet.

"We had the police from that town arrest them and some of the police from here also came to help. Thank Kami-sama, The Wolf wasn't there, I would have died of embarrassment if he called me Tanuki in front of Tomizawa-sensei's students." She explained trying to erase the guilt in Kenshin's eyes. 'Why do you have to do that to yourself?' she asked silently. 'Always blaming yourself, don't you know that I understand. That you can't always be there for me. To protect me.' She wanted to say those words to him, out loud. What good will it do when he won't listen. 'Mou! Kenshin, for someone your age you sure are too stubborn!'

"Are you sure you're unhurt Kaoru-dono? If you want I could go and fetch Megumi-dono to take a look at you." Kenshin offered.

Kaoru frowned. "I'm fine." She said curtly.

"Maybe you should lie down a bit de gozaru. Just to be…"

"I said I'm fine already! Do I have to tattoo it across my forehead?" she asked gritting her teeth in pure frustration.

"Hey! Don't get all snappy at Kenshin. He's just worried about you." Grinning playfully Sano added, "Maa, mama, futari-tomo"

When the two stared at him with surprised eyes, he shrugged, "What? I never get to say that. Besides, sometimes the two of you act worse than me and Yahiko-chan here."

Somewhere from beneath them they heard a soft cry of protest. "Don't you CHAN me you punk!" followed by a short snort that resembled more of a snore.

"Baka! Is he awake or what?" Sano muttered darkly, stepping away. If the kid was indeed awake, retaliation would be expected. The child remained still. Sano cursed again, bought his head back up and watch Kaoru apologize. 'Heh, don't get to see that always.'

"Gomen Kenshin. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just tired and you always worry too much about me…and…and…" Her voice was a mix between lightly scolding and slightly flustered, she blushed knowing that she was barely making sense at all. "Anyway, point is, I'm fine, please stop worrying." She said with a small smile, trying to coax the worry out of Kenshin's violet eyes.

"Daijoubu Kaoru-dono. You don't need to apologize. Wakatta." He bowed slightly, the fall of his bright red hair shadowing his face. It was the only was he could think of to cover the look of pure need in his face. The need to hold her in his arms, carry her in his arms, take her to bed and make sure no one tries to hurt her again. But he refused himself of that inner desire. It would be too soon. For her, for him. For both of them.

Slipping back in his playful but polite rurouni mode he asked teasingly, if not coyly, if Kaoru wanted him to prepare her bath offering that warm water would soothe all her soreness.

Blinking at the sudden change of his demeanor, Kaoru gladly accepted "That'll be great. Arigato Kenshin. I'll just go get my clothes. Have it ready in five minutes." With that she hurried off to her room. Absently thinking the hidden meaning in the undertone Kenshin had used on her. He seemed to be loosening up a bit. 'Well, all the better.' That would mean that she didn't have to use Ichiro-san…

She immediately blushed at the young man who had proposed to her just hours ago. 'Talk about lightning fast! If only Kenshin applied that principle in his personal life she wouldn't have agreed on going out with Ichiro-san. Not that she was interested but…'

'Well, whatever, I still have a whole day to decided if I would take up his offer.' For now a hot nice bath is waiting for her.

Outside, Kenshin added a few more logs, making sure that the fire would stay. Kaoru loved to take long baths. Sometimes while he was just outside, he would let the smell of jasmine wash over his senses and be content on listening to her soft humming. He wondered how it would be to share such a private thing with her.

Rubbing her back, kissing her neck, her long black hair clinging lovingly at her chest…

"Here you are!" Sano's voice brought him back crashing into reality. Painfully.

Kenshin turned beet red. What the hell was he thinking! He couldn't possibly have

imagined…

"Oi! What the hell's wrong with ya?" Sano said squatting down, peering into Kenshin's face. The rurounin looked like he was blushing. "Why are ya lookin' like ya just seen Jou-chan naked?"

Kenshin sputtered a protest that had somehow worked its way into his throat

resulting in a coughing fit.

Sano slapped Kenshin at the back almost causing the red-haired to topple over. He laughed heartily. "Atta, boy Kenshin, never thought ya had in ya!" he said congratulating the still coughing, sputtering and blushing rurouni. "Well, does she have bigger tits now?" he added as a joke.

A bad one, he realized instantly as Kenshin gave him a death glare. Had his eyes been the color of yellow, Sano would've have run faster than one could say 'oro'.

"Sano."

That was all the warning he needed. "Che, Kenshin, I was just kiddin' around." Sano said with a flippant wave of his hand, his only way of making an apology.

"I know you are Sano. Just try not to talk about Kaoru-dono like that. She'd be extremely upset if she heard you"

'Yeah right Kenshin. I'm sure she'd be as upset as you are now.' He thought. "Hai. Hai."

Kenshin stood up, reluctantly leaving, mentally noting the smell of jasmine in the air, signaling Kaoru descent unto the warm tub, he still heard her soft sigh of pleasure as the warm water lightly lapped against her bare skin. He blushed again. "Anyway Sano, what are you doing here, I thought you had went to Megumi-dono's clinic to tell her that Kaoru-dono has returned safe?"

"Well, I sorta forgot to tell you something after you asked Kaoru if she wanted her bath." Sano said following Kenshin as he entered the porch of the dojo.

Neither took notice of Yahiko, still dreaming into the tatami mat.

"What was it that you forgot to tell me Sano?"

Sano cleared his throat and bellowed: "What the hell we're you thinking?!"

"What do you mean Sano?" Kenshin asked, confused.

"Where was the tear-jerking, earth-moving reunion I had been so agonizingly anticipating? The passionate embrace? The fiery kisses? The promise of love?" he asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Oro?" Kenshin repeated, if anything, seemingly at loss at the dramatics of Sanosuke.

"Don't you fuckin' oro me! Kenshin, you idiot! You let another perfectly good opportunity pass you again! How could you?!" Sano demanded, disgusted at Kenshin's overbearing shyness.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kenshin protested, somewhat feebly.

"You damn know what I'm getting at!" Sano sneered.

"No. I don't." Kenshin said calmly. Hoping to avoid the coming tirade, which by now, he had partially memorized.

"Jou-chan! I'm talking about Jou-chan here!"

"You are?" Kenshin asked feigning innocence.

Sano stepped over the sleeping Yahiko and grabbed Kenshin's gi. Shaking him senseless. 'Che this is Jou-chan's job, but if this is what it takes to get this through your thick head…'

"What is wrong with you?! She goes home after being roughed-up by a bunch of losers and instead of taking her in your arms to comfort her, you went ahead of yourself to play the merry maid of Japan and went on to prepare her bath!" Sano's breath was hot against Kenshin's face. "Now tell me what the hell was that all about?"

Swirly eyed, Kenshin pried Sano's hand from his gi. "Preparing her bath?" he asked after the cows and stars disappeared from his sight.

"Kuso! Kenshin! You're absolutely hopeless! And don't tell me that you didn't want to take her into your arms. I saw the look you had in your face. What's stopping you from finally admitting what you feel?"

"Kenshiiiiin! The water's turning cold! Are you trying to freeze me or what?"

"I'm coming Kaoru-dono." Kenshin replied, silently thanking whoever god was looking over him. He wasn't ready to answer Sano's question.

"Kaoru-dono!" Sano mimicked walking away.

"Hey, Sano, where are you going?" Kenshin asked watching Sano's retreating figure.

"I'd tell you that this is another opportunity to just burst in that door and warm her yourself, but I'd figure you'd just 'oro' me. What's the use. It's not like you're ever going to come around and realize what you're missing. Maybe, you never will." Sano pause and turned around. "One day you'll realize and it's gonna be a little too late. There are many guys out there, most of them got good eyes too and the courage to go and ask Jou-chan out. I'm not saying she'd jump at any guy out there, but at the rate you two are going. I wouldn't blame her either if she did." With that Sano turned and continued to walk away. The word 'Aku' catching the first ray of the rising sun.

"Sano!" Kenshin called out, desperate for his friend to tell him that he was kidding, that Kaoru would wait for him, that she belonged only to him.

Sano never turned back, he shrugged and told him, with all the sarcasm he could muster: "I'm off to the Fox's clinic…where I'd be playing the merry maid, cleaning her syringes." His shadow disappeared as he turned at a corner.

Leaving Kenshin standing alone. Feeling alone. He sighed, letting Sano's words sink in. He knows well enough that it was the truth, but if another, more worthy boy did catch her attention, would he just step aside and watch her go? That he wasn't so sure of anymore.

Author's Note:

Ok, that wasn't so bad was it? But then again, how many fics have you read with the same story line? Ugh! I just hate it when I know what's wrong with my story. C&C are most welcome. On to part 2 (is this the time to beg now?)

*I love haiku. I wrote the haiku, with Kaoru (obviously) in my mind. I hope it sound ok.