Subject: [KFFDISC] Kaoru no Hatsukoi?? 1/3 and a small intro Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 03:03:16 -0500 From: "Megan L. Lavey" Reply-To: kffdisc@nabiki.com To: kffdisc@nabiki.com Minna, ohayo ::bows:: I'm also new to this list. I've been lurking for awhile, but this is my first RK fanfic. I've written Sailormoon fanfic for awhile now and have been writing in general for umm...six years now? Anyhow, please accept this poor offering from a poor college student's first attempt at writing for a new series. ::bows once more:: ***** "Kaoru no Hatsukoi???" by DQBunny (mlavey@simplecom.net) Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine. Too bad. I could use a red-haired rurouni in my life. Oh well, he, Kaoru, and the others all belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro. The original concept for "Ami-chan no Hatsukoi" belongs to Takeuchi Naoko. Author's Note: This pitiful attempt at a first RK-fic (hey, you have to start somewhere) is loosely based off the Sailormoon SuperS special "Ami-chan no Hatsukoi." In fact, some scenes in this fic play out like the scenes from the anime version of the story. That's what you get for daydreaming about Kenshin stories while listening to music from another anime. Anyhow, enjoy this humble piece of work ::bows:: Also, the title itself means "Kaoru's First Love?" although we all know who that really is ;-) ***** Part One - Kaoru's Mysterious "Errand" The early spring sunshine streamed through the windows, bathing the face of the young woman lying asleep on her futon in light. Her nose scrunched up and she tossed one arm over her eyes to shield them from the brightness. After a moment, the tantalizing smells of breakfast greeted her nostrils. Kaoru yawned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She stretched her muscles, then looked out the window at the birds that were busy building a nest in the tree outside. She smiled, enjoying the feeling of relaxation and complete peace with herself. "Busu! Breakfast!" A shrill, young voice echoed down the hall. Yahiko had to destroy it. Kaoru's head's head snapped toward the door, her hand moving instinctively for her shinai to give her student a good whack upside the head. Her gaze landed on her red kimono laid out across the room, and she forgot about getting revenge on Yahiko for ruining her morning. Remembering what day it was, she got up and started to dress in her kimono instead of her usual practice gi and hakama. In the kitchen, Yahiko quickly scarfed down the bowl of rice set out for him, cramming a few pickles into his mouth as well. Kenshin watched this with great amusement as he scooped out a second helping of rice for Yahiko. The boy looked like a gopher with his cheeks stuffed full of rice and pickle. "You're hungry this morning, Yahiko," he commented, handing the bowl to him. Yahiko swallowed some of the food, but his cheeks still puffed out. "He..grwin by ha ta ea lot!" he managed to say while working through the rest of the food. "Just be sure to leave some for Kaoru-dono." Yahiko managed to get the rest of his food down. "Busu better get her butt up if she wants any breakfast then. She doesn't need the beauty sleep that's for sure." Before Kenshin could come to Kaoru's defense, her voice floated down the hall to the kitchen. "I heard that, Yahiko," Kaoru said. She walked into the kitchen dressed in her kimono, but clutching her shinai in one hand. "You can do 500 practice swings on top of scrubbing the dojo floors as usual plus anything else that Kenshin needs help doing today while I'm gone." "NANI?" "You look nice today, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said as quickly as possible to avoid a fight. Besides, it was the truth, he thought as his eyes raked the length of her body. He quickly turned his attention back to the kettle, not quite seeing what was inside. "So, where're you going?" "Just on an errand," Kaoru's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Some errand," Yahiko nudged Kaoru when she sat next to him. "It's gotta be something important in order for you to look as nice as that!" Kaoru blushed, fighting for the right words to say. She looked at Yahiko's mischievous eyes and Kenshin, who seemed to be very interested in the kettle at that moment. "It's not that important, Yahiko," she flustered. Kenshin started to scoop up Kaoru's portion of rice, but his spoon hit the bottom of the kettle instead. He peered inside to see a few grains of rice clinging to the bottom and sides of the kettle. Yahiko had eaten it all. Without hesitating, he picked up the bowl of rice that he had set aside for himself and handed it to Kaoru. "Arigato, Kenshin," Kaoru accepted the bowl and narrowed her eyes at him. She was no fool, she saw what he did. "So, come on, tell us what's going on," Yahiko urged her. "It's none of your business," Kaoru replied, eating as quickly as she possibly could. She placed the half-finished bowl of rice in front of the rurouni, who had taken a seat across from her. "I'm finished! It was good, Kenshin." "Can I have the rest?" Yahiko asked, reaching for the bowl. A well-placed shinai hit to his wrist caused him to snatch his hand back. "Iie. That's for Kenshin, since I noticed that he gave his breakfast up for me. Probably because a certain student of mine had to be a pig and eat it all. I refuse to have a student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu turn into a roly-poly." "Busu. You're getting all high and mighty," Yahiko muttered, rubbing his wrist. Kaoru ignored him and rose to her feet, inspecting her kimono to see if anything had dropped on it. She stared at her reflection in the window, then pinched her cheeks and bit her lip to bring natural color to them. Using her hands, she smoothed down the hair in her ponytail while her disgruntled student and entranced rurouni watched. Yahiko reached over and poked Kenshin. "Why don't you ask her again where she's going?" he whispered. "She listens to you. She normally tells us where she's going, especially looking all nice like that." Kenshin shook his head. "If Kaoru-dono doesn't want us to know her business, then sessha doesn't have the right to ask." "Chicken," Yahiko muttered. "I'm off!" Kaoru said, waving to the guys. "I'll see you this afternoon!" "Ja ne, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin replied, cheerfully. Still, Yahiko had a point. Usually Kaoru was very open with her whereabouts. Part of his mind started to wonder what she was doing. ***** The next morning... "1,000 strokes plus cleaning the floors in the house as well, Yahiko. I told you not to hog all the rice!" "Not fair, Kaoru!" "So, Kaoru-dono, you look nice today. Where're you going?" "Oh? Just on some errands. I'll be back tonight! Ja!" ***** The third morning... "Having fun on your errands, Kaoru-dono?" Kaoru, dressed in her red kimono for the third day in a row, frowned at Kenshin. "It's none of your business, you know." Kenshin held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Hai, hai, sessha knows this. We just miss seeing you around the dojo lately." "Oh. Well, I hope I won't be as long today. Ja!" ***** The fourth morning... "Ohayo, Kaoru-do..." "Ohayo and ja ne, Kenshin! I'll be back this afternoon!" Kaoru ran out of the dojo, bypassing breakfast completely. ***** The fifth morning... Kenshin thought he was going to go out of his mind. Once again, Kaoru had sailed into the kitchen, ate a little breakfast, yelled at Yahiko and left on "errands." If today was going to be like all week had been, he would listen to Yahiko complain about Kaoru all day. As dark approached, Kenshin would some how place himself near the dojo entrance so he could see if she came home safely. Always, after dark, she would return to the dojo. Her face and hands would be dirty and her kimono mussed. But, she looked ecstatic. They would eat and she would go to bed early just to have it all repeat again the next day. The first and second days, he didn't give a second thought to Kaoru being gone all day. By the third day, he had begun to wonder. By now, he had declared himself mentally unstable, his mind running with every single possibility from her being blackmailed by some evil guy out to get him to her having fallen for a man somewhere. Kenshin quickly banished the latter thought from his mind. It disturbed him even more than the former did. Yes, surely Kaoru was being blackmailed. He had to follow her before she got hurt. Of course, it had to be today that undid the rest of his logical thinking. This morning, Kaoru wore a gorgeous dark blue kimono with white lilacs edged in violet on it. The color brought out the blue in her eyes and made her blue-black hair shine, rendering him speechless. She looked so happy and excited, that he would give the world to share that excitement with her. If only she would let him. If only he would allow himself. Kenshin's inner voice chimed in. "Urusai," Kenshin muttered to himself. "Oy, Kenshin. Mooning over Jo-chan, aren't you?" Sanosuke walked into the yard and over to Kenshin, who stared at his reflection in the laundry tub. "Huh? What makes you say that?" the rurouni asked, red staining his cheeks. "Because that's my shirt and you've just rubbed a hole in it on the scrubbing board," Sano growled. "Oro?" Kenshin held up the large shirt, which now had a hole in the stomach. Was he that far gone that he didn't notice that the shirt didn't belong to anyone in the dojo? He frowned at his friend. "Since when did we start doing your laundry anyhow?" "Well, it just seemed convenient," Sano shoved his hands in his pocket. "Anyhow, I suppose you could make it up by treating me and the boy to lunch at the Akabeko." "Oro?" "Hey, Yahiko! Kenshin's buying us lunch!" Sanosuke yelled, grabbing Kenshin by his gi and hauling him as he strode across the lawn. Yahiko stopped swinging his bokken and walked beside Sanosuke as he dragged an "Oro"-ing Kenshin out the gate. ***** Small Japanese/English list: Urusai - shut up Busu - ugly Arigato - Thanks Hai - Yes Ohayo - Good morning Ja ne - See you later Kaoru no Hatsukoi? - Kaoru's First Love Megs ********** mlavey@simplecom.net AIM: MegsLeigh ICQ: 3447399 http://www.geocities.com/collegesenshi/