Standard Disclaimers Apply

AN: First off, I humbly apologize for spelling Kaoru's name wrong. That's what happens when you pull an all night Physics study marathon. ^^;; But I do apologize, I didn't mean to do so. Anyhow, this is a reincarnation fic. I've resisted to jump on the bandwagon for so long, but today I'm succumbing to it. I don't want to give too much away, but the majority of the flashbacks of the story are from the Revenge Arc with the resident *kawaii* psycho Enshin. Another important thing you need to know is that none of the Kenshin-gumi survived the Revenge Arc. There will be references to Kyoto as well. So with that in mind, enjoy the story.

Italics=thoughts

//Italics// = flashbacks

What Keeps Us Alive

Prologue: Well It's Better than the Spanish Inquisition…

She was a January Girl.

She never let on how insane it was.

In a tiny, kinda of scary house.

By the woods.

By the woods.

By the woods.

Tori Amos, "January Girl"

"I can't believe we still have an assignment," her best friend Keiko whispered from the seat next to her. "I mean the woman's the principal for god's sakes! I know we get off easy sometimes, but this is completely ridiculous. She just had twins!"

Kaoru rolled her eyes as Keiko continued ranting like crazy. Their history teacher, also their principal had left on maternity leave a little earlier than expected for them at least. It turned out that the woman had planned 'an in case of emergency assignment' for them. It turned out that the hormonally-charged Tsukiyo-san liked her own idea so much that she had decided to give the whole school the same assignment and call the week 'Learning About Our History'. The real kicker was that the partners were mixed. So as a junior, she could be partnered from anywhere from a freshman to a senior. She sighed. Great.

"And you know what the worst part is?"

"Iie," Kaoru said sarcastically. "But I bet you'll tell me."

Keiko ignored her friend and let out a melodramatic sigh. "I bit, just to spite me she partnered me with my crush, Ryu."

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh."

The substitute professor made his way up to the front of the room, the students in the room falling silent at his entrance. It wasn't so much as any of them were worried about the assignment per say. It was just a matter of who each of them were going to be partnered with. Oh she hoped it wasn't one of Megumi's friends. Granted her older sister was smart, but her friends, oh god her friends, didn't even carry within an ounce of brain cells.

"All right people, I know everyone's anxious enough all ready so I won't ramble any longer. The assignment is simple, report on a specific time period of history using any artifacts from that time. Be creative of curse and its due in three weeks, first thing first period. "

The teacher paused, pulling out a thick packet and flipping to the second to last page. Kaoru leaned forward, becoming just as anxious as the rest of the kids in her class to see who her partner was.

"And without further adieu-"

There were some groans and whispers. She winced as chairs slid forward, screeching as the metal made contact with the cool concrete. Alright, already!

"-Hashiba Keiko and Mizuko Ryu. You will be doing the Spanish Inquisition."

Keiko shot her a pale 'I-told-you-so" look and she let out a small giggle. Well, it was her own fault she didn't even try to confront her crush on Ryu. At least, she didn't have do the damn Spanish Inquisition. European History wasn't one of her favorites. The fates had decided take matters in to their own hands.

She froze, her thoughts grazing a past familiarity of some sort.

//The fates have decided to take matters into their own hands. You need to earn your second chance.//

She let out a hiss of pain. Her head had started to throb.

"Hajime Kaoru and-"

**

"And I *thought* senior was supposed to be a goddamn breeze," Sagara Sanosuke muttered, leaning back in his chair. His girlfriend, Hajime Megumi rolled her eyes and smacked him in the back of his head.

"You're a complete baka sometimes," she muttered.

"Only to please you, my dear kitsune."

Kenshin chuckled and shook his head. Before one of the couple's ever famous fights could start, their history professor entered the room.

"All right people, it's time for those group assignments I was talking about yesterday. So I'll get right started. Sagara-san? You and Hajime-san will be working together."

Sano pumped his fist in the air in excitement and proceeded to slap him in the back, nice and hard. "Hai! Hear that Kenshin? Me and the kitsune are working together!"

Kenshin winced at the soreness in his back and gave his friend a cheerful smile. Sano slapped him in the back once more, excitedly.

"Oi, Sano! I don't think Ken-san can take anymore of your insane jabbering," Megumi exclaimed, catching her boyfriend's arm in mid air.

"Just excited to be with my woman, kitsune. You understand."

"You're a baka. A total fool, you want me to introduce you to my father?"

"Oro?"

Kenshin lurched forward as the expression escaped his lips.

// "You said Oro!" Her brilliant blue eyes were wide with amazement and something akin to laughter. Her lips curved into a beautiful smile and he felt himself slowly becoming spellbound by the woman that stood before him. That is until he felt himself in a chokehold.//

He looked wide eyed, meeting the hardening gaze of his teacher. The older man was tapping his foot impatiently.

"If both Sagara-san and Hajime-san could stop sharing the wonders of their premarital problems with the rest of the class and Himura-san would come back to the living, I could continue with the assignments."

"Gomen seishi," came the mumbled responses of the three.

"Good. The married couple will be doing the French Revolution, a topic I find very fascinating. Shinomori-san, you will be paired with a freshman, Hajime's sister Misao."

Cat calls and whistles were heard throughout the room from the male population of the class. Although he only knew Megumi personally, Kenshin had never met the other two sisters or even knew their names being a senior transfer student. But they were famous in the school for their beauty, brains, athletics, and well, their father. Rumor had it that the girls' father was a force to be reckoned with.

"-Dutch culture. Himura Kenshin and Hajime Kaoru will also be working together on the-"

**

"-Meiji era was post-revolution in Japan," Keiko read from her old notes from last semester. "Remember? We talked about the Hitokiri Battousai and his legend in detail with Tsukiyo-san before the maternity leave was designated official."

Of course she remembered. She spent most of her time daydream about mastering kenjustsu and a faceless man. Keiko had made fun of her for weeks. The y headed down the stairs to the cafeteria.

//She loved his eyes, regardless of what he though of himself. Violet was cool and calming. Violet was warm and open. Home. Amber was passion and fury. Anger and sadness. Amber was possession. Both were love.//

"Kaoru-chan?"

"Huh?"

"Kaoru-chan, this is the second time you've spaced out today," Keiko scolded. "Focus on the task at hand, which is finding your crazy sister and having her introduce you to Himura Kenshin or whoever the hell he is."

// "You will never see, the Battousai again," he hissed. "I will take you away from him just like he took my oneesan away from me."//

She shook her head, a chill running down her spine. What was wrong with her? The daydreams were never even this vibrant when they were studying the Meiji Era in class.

"Kaoru-chan!"

"Coming!"

It could have been worse. It could have done the Inquistion with Ryu. Her eyes wandered over to Keiko and Ryo. She grimaced as she watched Keiko's eyes go starry-eyed while Ryu wiped incoming snot.

Ewww…

**

Preview of Ch.1

Kenshin and Kaoru are introduced by Megumi at lunch. Aoshi literally collides with Misao. And our resident psychopath makes an appearance. No, no Saitou only gets like that wen the girls bring dates home. Which is almost never… ^^;;

AN: Just to clear somethings up. Sano and Megumi are already a couple, but Aoshi and Misao and Kenshin and Kaoru respectively are not. Saitou and Tokio are the girls' parents and do play an important role eventually. This is a K+K major focus, but it does not mean I won't drop scenes with other couples. In terms of the genre, it may seem light and a little fluffy now. But I guarantee it'll get darker which is why it's R and a Romance/Drama. Gotta keep my reputation for tormenting characters. ^_^

Feedback would be much appreciated!