Author's Note: So sorry for not updating for a very, very, very, long time! I lost my inspiration! Ehem, this chapter will be a bit of a Misao/Aoshi. OOCness!
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Chapter 5: Hope Is On The Run!
"What about this one?" Kaoru prudently asked Misao as she showed her a blue sleeveless top with a design of yellow sunflowers, seemingly dancing around hand in hand on it. Misao shook her head vigorously. "NO I will not even think about wearing THAT!" She said, giving the top a menacing look.
Kaoru pouted. "Come on! First you don't want the black tee, now you don't want this? What am I doing wrong?" Kaoru asked no one in particular.
"It's the style! That tee was way too tight and it shows my belly and that one… will NEVER get on this body with that kind of design!" Misao pointed out.
Kaoru sighed in defeat. They were at the Teen's Shop and were trying on some clothes. Misao had tried some clothes on herself, but she never found satisfaction with them. "All the good ones are always taken!" She said. Kaoru offered her help but all of the clothes she had handed Misao were all rejected.
"I'm tired! Let's find something to eat!" Misao said as she dragged Kaoru out of the store.
They roamed the gigantic malls for something to eat. Kaoru couldn't deny the fact that she was hungry for some burger. She caught sight of a burger stand near them, which Misao never took notice of. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered as she took in the scent of freshly cooked burger. The only thing peculiar about the stand was that there was a doggie mascot entertaining some kids. By the word 'entertaining' he was just standing still there as the kids were using him as a human monkey bar and pulling his ears and tail.
"Hey Misao?" Kaoru called.
"Yeah?" Misao asked, obviously busy dragging poor Kaoru.
"Firstly, It'd be better if you stop dragging me since people are staring." Kaoru said a bit sternly.
That said, Misao stopped abruptly as she looked at the many people whom were looking at them strangely. She let go of Kaoru's shirt and laughed. "Okay, so what did you wanted to tell me?"
"Why don't we eat at that burger stand over there!" Kaoru said, pointing at the stand where the delicious aroma came from. Misao's mouth watered. Misao didn't waste anytime. She immediately ran to the stand asking for a burger, taking no notice of the mascot. Kaoru laughed at her silliness as she walked towards her.
"One Super- Deluxe-Cheese Burger and a soda please!" Misao ordered.
"I'll have a medium size burger.." Kaoru said, sweat dropping from Misao's order. 'This girl can sure it.'
"One Super-Deluxe-Cheese Burger, a soda and one medium size burger coming right up!" The guy in the stand (whose occupation name escapes me) said, he gave them their burgers (Which Misao's was so big that I can't possibly describe it.), and the only thing left was her soda. The guy started having problems with the soda machine. Apparently, the soda wouldn't come out.
"Hey, Shinomori, can you help me out with this one?" He asked someone.
'Shinomori?' Misao mentally thought. 'Aoshi-sama is HERE!' Her head started to turn in every way, trying to find her Aoshi-sama. But… Aoshi was actually…
"Sure, why not?" the mascot said as he pulled his head off, revealing…
"Aoshi…. Sama?" Misao asked, stunned and frozen once more.
'Uh-oh, here we go again.' Kaoru thought as she looked at both Aoshi and Misao. 'Strange! The cool and composed hunk in school is the doggie mascot in some burger stand.' Kaoru thought, a little weird out as Misao was.
Aoshi didn't take notice of the two girls who gawked at him in shock. He didn't seem to care that he was in a doggie costume.
"Here you go…" Aoshi said, stopping when he was face to face with Misao.
Silence…
And
Silence…
The man serving them looked a bit puzzled. "Umm… do you know each other, Shinomori-san?"
No answer…
"Ehehehe… We're schoolmates!" Kaoru answered for them. She looked at the flabbergasted Misao. A nudge was enough to wake her up from her daze.
"Oh! I'm sorry! It's… It's nice to… umm… See you… A- Ao…Ao…" She stammered in embarrassment.
"Aoshi.." Kaoru helped her finish.
"RIGHT! Aoshi! Ehehehe! Silly me… I… uhh… must've…. Must've been day dreaming a lot." She gave her self a mental kick on the shin. 'BAKA, MISAO-CHAN! How embarrassing!'
Aoshi nodded. "It's nice to see two again." He said, giving them a small smile.
Before Misao could make a fool of herself and before utter silence can be produced to make the situation more awkward as it was, Kaoru spoke up. "Aoshi-san, are you busy? Maybe you'd like to come with us for a stroll around the mall?"
A surprised Misao stared at her in disbelief. "What? Kaoru, we still need to… uhh… to… Fetch Tsubame and Yahiko! That's right! We need to fetch them! I mean… they might get bored and all…" Misao tried to reason out.
"Oh they won't get bored at all! In fact, they'll be glad to know that we're staying for a while!" Kaoru said. 'Sorry, Misao-chan… but I don't want you to experience what I'm experiencing now! You should act now if you want to get his attention!' She thought.
"So what do you say, Aoshi-san?" Kaoru asked Aoshi.
Aoshi thought about it. He still had his job to take care of. "Aww, go on, Shinomori-san! You deserve a break!" The man behind the counter said.
Upon hearing this, he agreed to come with them. "I just need to take this suit off." He said as he turned to go to the employee's room.
"Ummm… Aoshi-sama?" Misao started. Aoshi turned to face her. "Yes?"
"Well… Uuhhh… I'm sorry I stared at you like that… Well… the truth is… I… I…" She said, blushing ten shades of red. She looked at Kaoru, asking for help. Kaoru said nothing.
'What a friend you are!'
Aoshi was looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to say what she needed to say.
"Well… the truth is… you… I… you… YOU LOOK REALLY GOOD IN THE SUIT!" She blurted out. She cupped her mouth. 'What did I just say!'
Aoshi just looked at her.
She bowed as low as she could. "I'm… I'm sorry! I… I didn't mean it like that!"
She felt a hand on the top of her head. She looked up to see Aoshi, a smile on his face. "Thank you." At that said, he went in to the employee's room.
Misao fell down to her knees, still dazed of what had happened.
Kaoru looked at her. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked.
At the sound of Kaoru's voice, she stood up and looked at her friend furiously. "Why did you have to do that?" She asked her angrily.
Kaoru looked at her innocently. "C'mon! The more the merrier!" She said. Before Misao could say anything else, Aoshi came out.
'That was fast.' Kaoru thought as they went off.
Misao, Kaoru, and Aoshi were walking together in a bazaar. Kaoru was in the front and Misao and Aoshi were in either side of her. She caught Misao glancing at Aoshi and blushed. Aoshi was still himself, although she swore that he saw him glancing at Misao and had a tiny, speck of smile on his face.
Kaoru decided… to slow down, leaving the two together.
Misao realized that Kaoru wasn't beside her anymore, and she was beside… Aoshi. She turned and saw Kaoru following them quietly. She swore she had a grin on her face. 'Oooh! I wonder how this Kenshin guy can cope with you!'
"Kaoru! What are you doing there?" Misao asked her, stopping.
"It's alright if I'm here!" Kaoru said.
"I might be interfering with you're merry-making here. Should I go?" Aoshi asked.
Kaoru saw disappointment reflected in Misao's eyes. She decided to…. Act.
"Ooooh… Misao-chan… I don't… feel… good…" Kaoru started, almost falling down.
"Kaoru, what's wrong with you?" Misao asked worriedly as she let her friend lean on her.
"Should I call somebody to fetch you?" Aoshi offered.
"NO!" Kaoru blurted, but was able to cover herself in time. "I mean… It's okay. I just feel a little bit dizzy, that's all. Aoshi-san, can you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Well… I feel guilty for being sickly like this that I can't continue this little walk with Misao… so… can …. You…. Can you keep her company for me?" She asked in a dreary tone.
"WHAT! Kaoru, I can keep you company!" Misao said, realizing what Kaoru was trying to do.
Kaoru shook her head. "Ie… it would be inconvenient… considering the fact that I invited Aoshi-san in the first place… so please… I'll just sit somewhere!" Kaoru said.
Misao looked at her in disbelief. "Kaoru—."
"Please, Aoshi-san! Promise me that you'll take Misao-chan with you and enjoy the rest of the afternoon?" Kaoru said before Misao could even protest.
"Okay." Misao heard him say. She turned to him to see if he really did say it. "Where do you want to go?" He asked her. She gave him an embarrassed smile. "Anywhere, really!" She said. She turned to Kaoru… only to find that she wasn't there anymore.
"Kamiya Kaoru… you will pay for this…" She muttered angrily.
"Come again?" Aoshi asked her, apparently, he heard her say something.
"Oh! Nothing! Nothing, Aoshi-sama… I mean… Aoshi-san!" She said to him.
"Well, shall we go?"
She smiled. "Of course."
Kaoru was hiding in one of the bars. She smiled at the sight of Misao and Aoshi going off together. Misao just gave him a smile, one of the happiest smiles she ever saw on her friend's face since she met her. And she saw Aoshi smile too… another small smile. But there was something different in his eyes… something that she couldn't distinguish.
She felt envy to Misao. "At least… it's still not to late for you… May you be happy, Misao-chan." She whispered. "Kenshin… I wonder if you still think of me today? Probably not… Get real Kaoru. He just sees you as his friend… Nothing moe…" She told herself sadly. 'Although… I hope you think of me everyday…' She added mentally. She decided to check up on Yahiko and Tsubame.
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Kyoto. Dojo…
Kenshin was practicing his moves for the meet the next week. He didn't know where it was held though. Although he desperately wanted it to be in Tokyo so that he could have the chance to see Kaoru again.
Kenshin sighed in frustration. 'I want to see you so badly, Kaoru! So, so badly!' He thought as he started attacking his opponent. His opponent ducked, sighing in relief, but he was still hit when Kenshin caught him off guard.
"Dang! You're to fast, man!" He cried as he took off his mask. "No doubt that we're gonna have the chance to win this!" He said enthusiastically.
Kenshin also took off his mask. "Yeah…" He said dully.
He went in the showers. And just passed through his friends.
"Oh, just because we haven't seen each other for the whole week means that you'll stop acknowledging my presence?" A boy asked him, smiling.
He turned to see who it was.
"Soujiro! We're have you been?" Kenshin asked him.
"I was busy! I was kept a prisoner at home since the periodicals are coming up. I was only allowed just now to come out of the shadows since the meet is already a week away!" Soujiro said, his smile still intact.
Kenshin smiled at him. 'Still the same Soujiro.' He opened his locker to get a spare towel.
"Hey, what's up? You usually talked more about how practice is and a lot more! Why so silent now?" Soujiro asked him.
Kenshin didn't answer.
"Is this about Kaoru-chan?" Soujiro asked.
Kenshin looked at him. 'Darn… can this kid read minds or something?' "No." He lied.
"Kenshin… you can't hide it to anybody! Everyone knows all about it!" Soujiro said, putting on his kendo gear.
Kenshin was silent. 'Does the whole school know?' he asked sarcastically.
"The whole school doesn't know… just your friends." Soujiro said, giving him a sheepish smile.
"Seta Soujiro, can you read minds?" Kenshin asked.
"No… I just have a strong gut feeling… plus you said the last one out loud!" Soujiro said as he went out of the room.
"You shouldn't lose hope, Kenshin." He said before going.
"Hey, wait! I have a question." Kenshin called out for Soujiro. "Where is the meet going to be held?"
Soujiro thought about it first. "Well… Sano might know for sure, he was assigned to be the equipment manager and Katsura-san told him where it'd be! Rumor had it that it might be in Tokyo!" Soujiro said as he went out, leaving Kenshin all alone.
"Tokyo? Sagara Sanosuke! You didn't tell me anything?" Kenshin asked no one in particular.
Kenshin changed as fast as he could and headed for the library. He just had a gut feeling that Sano would be there.
"You are so dead!" He muttered as he tried to find his so-called best friend. He didn't know what he felt…
Anger?
Happiness?
Or maybe…
Hope?
'Will I... Will I be able to see you again, Kaoru?'
TBC
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Author's Note:
Wheeee! I must be inspired today! I finally finished chapter 5! Nyahahahaha! Sorry again for updating sooooooooo late already! It's sure horrible if you experience Author's block! I can't promise or guarantee that I'll be able to update soon! But I'll try!
Reviews please! Please! Please! Reviews make go round!
Ja ne!