Disclaimer: In the city, you must fight to survive. He wrote fanfiction on the corner, and the mob wanted in...

Mob Boss "I don't know who this guy is, but I want him and his stories DEAD!"

He had one chance, and his chance was to fight back.

Jared Christiansen "Listen to me, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, but these are my Fan Fics, and I'm not going to give them up!"

In a city where they didn't know his name.

Koishii "Anata, who are those men who came here? What's happening?"

Jared "Listen to me, keep your head down... They're trying to take my IDEAS!"

One man, one solution. This Summer, Jared Christiansen is... Little Fanfiction boy...

Authors Warning: My new semester just started, and I'm taking my school's Culminating Project class, as it is a requirement for us Seniors (Yes, I'm bragging about being a senior) Anyways, depending on how much strain the class puts on me, I might start posting less often and my chapters might take a cut in length. This chapter is only half as long as normal, sorry about that, and the delay in updates, but I'm just testing to see if this helps keep my stress level to a minimum, so I don't burn out or something. This project will determine if I graduate or not, so yeah, you get why I'm taking this so seriously. I'm also trying a nicer, more clean cut version of writing, so that should make things easier for some of you.

Special Thanks: I think all the people worth thanking already know how much I appreciate them, and they know in their hearts that they're the reason I write. Ok, that's a load of crap, but I'm lazy, and reviews have slowed down to a trickle so I'm not feeling very grateful. I know that sounds really mean, but why thank those who give me no reason to? The people I've thanked before know how much I appreciate their contributions, so I don't feel the need to thank them YET AGAIN. Except for

Anyways, I'm rambling. Let's get this show on the road... LONG LIVE THE PILLOWS! MAY THEIR MUSIC LIVE ON FOREVER!

A High School Story:

Chapter 8

Enjoy The Silence

Kenshin sighed, Sanosuke had been complaining for the past two hours. Sure they were each carrying a few bags each, but the girls were happy, and wasn't that the point of going out with someone, to make them happy? He grimaced, if he thought about Sanosuke's strange way of looking at things for much longer, he was going to start complaining himself. Kenshin gave Aoshi credit, he kept up his unreadable face and said nothing unless Misao asked him something, to which he usually replied with a simple nod or shake of his head. Kenshin looked at Kaoru and smiled, she was smiling and chatting with Megumi and Misao, trying to figure out where to shop next.

"What about Victoria's Secret?" Suggested Misao in a very bubbly tone.

Megumi laughed. "You may want to flaunt yourself off to Aoshi, but I'm going to make my idiot work for it."

Misao glared with a pouty look as Megumi laughed evilly and Kaoru stifled a laugh. Sanosuke took this opportunity to fluster Megumi up a bit.

"Oh really? I didn't have to work very hard the other day." He grinned stupidly even as Megumi's hand connected firmly with his face, leaving a stinging red mark.

"It was worth it. But I better go get her." Sano mumbled to Kenshin as Megumi walked off with a 'Hmph'.

Misao watched as Sano took off after his girlfriend. "You know Kaoru..." She said, a smile developing on her face. "It might be nice to split up and spend some one on one time with our boys, right?"

Kaoru grinned, she had wanted to be alone with Kenshin all day. "Yeah, I'd like that. Do you want to meet up later, or should we say good bye now?"

Misao's eyes gleamed as she caught Kaoru's hidden message. "I'm not sure if we'll end up seeing each other later, so why don't we just say good bye now to be on the safe side?"

They grinned and nodded at each other as they grabbed their respective boyfriend's arm and dragged them off in different directions.

A figure watched them from the food court on the upper level of the mall as they walked into a clothing store. (They're alone, now's my chance...)

"Kenshin, what do you think of this?" Kaoru asked as she walked out of the changing room, wearing a light pink blouse with a purple lotus on the chest and a long flowing violet skirt.

Kenshin stared for a moment. "You look beautiful Kaoru He smiled softly as her face tinged slightly.

"That's what you've said about everything I've tried on today." Kaoru said as her blush went away. Even though she had heard it so many times today, she still loved hearing him say she was beautiful. The way the words ran from his tongue like a gentle river of silk soothed her soul, lifted her heart, and filled her with a level of happiness that was still new to her.

The figure that watched them frowned as he entered the store. These two idiots were the people that Yumi had sent him after? It was ridiculous, the guy looked like a complete fool, smiling the whole time. Could he have really been the one who sent Enishi to the hospital? And the Girl, she was the main cause of Yumi's concern, but she didn't look like a threat at all, in fact, she didn't even look that good up close. (Oh well...) He thought to himself as he readied for his strike. (Here goes nothing...)

Suddenly the moment between Kenshin and Kaoru was ruined. A boy, who looked about thirteen ran up and crashed into Kenshin, snatching the bags that Kenshin dropped, and started to take off, but Kenshin grabbed his ankle and dragged him back.

Kenshin looked at the boy, his face a mixture of confusion, amusement, and a trace of anger. "Any reason why you just tried to steal my girlfriends clothes?"

The boy smirked. "And your wallet."

Kenshi patted his pocket, feeling that his wallet was indeed missing. "Well kid, I'm sure you must feel proud, now give me back my wallet and explain yourself."

The boy glared at Kenshin. "Let go of me first."

Kaoru laughed. "Look boy, you're in no position to be asking for a compromise."

"Don't you ever call me boy, you ugly girl. No wonder Yumi hates you..." The boy Snarled.

Kaoru's eyes hardened. "Yumi? That's who put you up to this?"

Kenshin looked confused. "Yumi? That girl from school, what does she have to do with anything?" He tightened his grip on the boy and pulled him closer when he tried to squirm away.

"Let me go!" He demanded. "People are watching!" Indeed, people inside the store had begun to gather around the scene.

Kaoru grimaced, they needed to get this over with quickly. "I'll tell you later Kenshin. Now boy, if you give Kenshin back his wallet right now, and promise not to run, I'll tell Kenshin to let you go."

The boy huffed. "I told you, don't call me boy! I have a name, and it's Yahiko Myojin.Here's your stupid wallet." He tossed Kenshin his leather wallet, Kenshin checked to make sure everything was still there, then slowly let go of Yahiko's leg.

Yahiko pulled away and sat up. "Thanks." He said gruffly. "Now what do you want?"

Kenshin glanced at the bags spilled around them, some of Kaoru's clothes were lying on the ground a few feet away. "Why did Yumi send you to do this, and why would you do something like this for her? Even if you don't like it, you're still just a kid."

Yahiko stiffened at Kenshin's words, he hated being called a kid, but the way Kenshin said it just made him feel so inferior... "Yumi told me to screw up your day, I didn't question her motives, that's it."

Kenshin looked at him knowingly. "But why did you do it? Do YOU have a reason for doing this?"

Yahiko averted his eyes at this, looking down at the ground. He mumbled something to himself.

"What was that?" Kenshin asked.

Yahiko suddenly stood up. "Forget it, if I tell you, then they definitely won't let me hang out with them, I'm out of here." He started off towards the exit.

Kaoru grabbed him and spun him around. A loud SLAP echoed out as she struck him hard, causing a pained tear to escape and slide down his cheek. "Where do you get off thinking you can just walk away from this? Take responsibilities for your actions, if you can't even do that then you deserved to be called boy. Attempted robbery is a crime, so you better give me a damn good reason why I don't have the store call security and have them hold you until the proper authorities arrive."

Yahiko almost collapsed in her arms, breaking down into sobs. "What am I supposed to say? They're my only friends, I have to do what they say. If I don't...then I'll be all alone..."

Kenshin's heart melted, the kid was just trying to fit in, trying to be appreciated, he probably didn't go to school, and now that he looked closely, Kenshin noticed that Yahiko's clothes were a little ragged. The poor boy was most likely homeless. Kenshin didn't know what to do. (Yahiko is just as alone as I was... I have to help him... but how?) An idea formed in his mind, it was perfect.

"I've got it." Kenshin began as he watched Karou begin to cradle the poor boy. "Why don't you come with us Yahiko? I'll buy you some ice cream or something, and then we can go to my house and watch tv or something, you can stay there tonight if you want. I'll wash your clothes for you, I have some old clothes of mine you can wear while I'm doing that."

Kaoru's mouth opened a little, she was comforting the boy, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. But what Kenshin was doing... was just so generous, and to someone who had just tried to rob him? How could Kenshin trust this kid so easily?

Yahiko slowly looked up, pulling himself together. "Why?"

Kenshin was slightly confused. "Why what?"

Yahiko took a breath before continuing. "Why are you being so nice? I don't want your pity, I just tried to rob you, so stop acting like you don't care. Be angry, yell at me, I know you want to."

Kenshin walked up to Yahiko and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am angry, but not because of what you did. I'm angry that the people you call your friends make you do these kinds of things just to fit in. Nobody should be taken advantage of that way Yahiko, I want to show you that true friends don't ask anything of each other. So what do you say, do you want to come?"

Yahiko mustered up a smirk, trying not to seem weak. "Hang out with a weakling and girl that looks like a racoon? Sure, let's go."

Kaoru smiled at Kenshin, giving him a 'we need to talk' look. She twacked Yahiko on the head lightly. "That's no way to treat a friend, especially one who's letting you get off the hook for trying to steal from them."

They all stood up as Kenshin picked up Kaoru's clothes and put them back in her bags. "Well, let's buy the clothes Kaoru has on, then get out of here." Kaoru and Yahiko nodded, both smiling.

Red eyes watched them as they left, smirking as they entered an elevator. So that was the kind of man Kenshin was. (It's a shame that we lost Yahiko for this though, having a kid to do all our work was nice... but I suppose I shouldn't have had Yumi send a child to do a man's job. Well, I'll crush him when the time comes.) He laughed as he left the mall, loose bandages fluttering about.

Yahiko grinned, eating his ice cream slowly as they walked down the street to Kenshin's house. (How did this all happen to me? I tried to ruin their day and they end up making my day one of the best ever, what's going on?) He looked at Kenshin and Kaoru, who were holding hands and smiling, Kaoru was leaning her head on Kenshin's shoulder.

"Hey... Kenshin... Kaoru..." Yahiko said slowly.

"Yeah?" They asked in unison.

"Thank you..."

Chapter 8: End

YES! I AM A FUCKING GENIUS! God I love this chapter, I don't know why, so don't question me. I introduced Yahiko, and I dunno, everything just fits in my mind, this is fucking great. I should have another Chapter out soon, and this time I mean it, I totally have the inspiration to do it. I know this chapter ends a little abruptly, but I like it, so once again, bear with me folks.

TIME FOR A VOTE!

People, I need your input, I want to know if I should start responding to people's reviews at the end of each chapter. It sounds fun, but I won't do it if people tell me not to.

Anyways, have fun. TILL NEXT TIME!